Thanks for all the reviews… You guys are real nice!
"But… why?"
"It's complicated, Hermione…"
"Will you be back?" she asked quietly.
"I don't know," Draco said. "I really don't know…"
Hermione leaned on his shoulder as they sat by the staircase. Draco pushed back her hair and wiped her tears away, kissing her forehead.
"I love you, Hermione… you never gave me a chance to explain," Draco said sadly.
"I was hurt, Draco… but I never stopped loving you, no matter how hard I tried…" Hermione said, struggling to stop crying. "I thought we could just fight for a while and then maybe see how it goes later in the future… but now, the future no longer exists."
"Don't say that," Draco whispered, closing his eyes. "I'll come back for you… I swear."
On Saturday night, Draco packed his stuff while Hermione watched. She refused to help him pack and just sat there, tears streaming down her eyes like a leaking faucet. She made several attempts to unpack Draco's things with her wand, but she stopped when she knew this was a losing situation. Draco had to go, and there was nothing she could do about it.
"We're from two different worlds," Draco whispered to Hermione. "My love isn't enough for you."
"No, Draco, your love is all I'll ever need. You can't leave!" Hermione pleaded, tugging his arm.
"Go," he ordered Hermione out.
Hermione looked at Draco, hurt mixing with the salty tears from her eyes. She looked away and walked out of the room, afraid that if she looked back at him, she wouldn't be able to live.
Draco sighed and took his stuff down to Dumbledore's office. He waited patiently for Dumbledore to come out, and soon enough, the gargoyle by his office stepped aside, and the door opened revealing an old, wise looking man.
"Ready?" Dumbledore said. Draco nodded solemnly and they walked out of the school, heading for the Forbidden Forest. They strolled into the depths of the woods until Dumbledore told Draco to stop, and they waited.
The forest was misty, mixed with an eerie silence, giving Draco a chill down his spine. He shivered and rubbed his arms as the cold breeze passed him, as if he was surrounded by evil.
Someone seemed to be walking out of the mist, and Draco assumed it was his father. Sure enough, Lucius Malfoy appeared and stood in front of Draco and Dumbledore, a cool look on his face.
"Albus," Lucius greeted.
"Ah, Lucius! How wonderful to see you," Dumbledore greeted politely. He gave Draco a slight pat on the back, and Draco walked towards his father.
"Dad," Draco said quietly.
"Draco," Lucius nodded.
"Well, thank you for understanding, Albus. We're on a tight schedule, so we'll be leaving now," Lucius said. He took out his wand and lifted Draco's luggage, tying it to the back of his broomstick.
"Very well then. Goodbye, Draco. Save trip home," Dumbledore said with a smile, but Draco noticed a flinch of sadness in his eyes. Dumbledore knew something he didn't, and he wanted to know why he had to leave school… and Hermione.
Draco decided that he wouldn't be getting his answer now, so he followed behind his father, obediently got on his broomstick, and they were off.
Draco turned around and saw Dumbledore waving at him, the same sad eyes, and looked up at Hogwarts, tears falling down his cheeks. The beautiful castle with a hundred windows, balconies, secret passageways before him, as enchanting as ever in the dark night. The best school of magic ever, where his life really mattered. And from a distance, he saw a girl he recognized as Hermione running out of the school in tears, watching him and his father fly away, leaving her behind.
"I love you," he whispered to Hermione, although he knew she couldn't hear him. But somehow she felt him whisper those words in her heart, and she looked up at the little speck disappearing into dark sky, wiping her tears away.
"I love you… too."
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"Hey, Hermione. You look awful! What happened to you?" Ron asked her on Sunday morning. Hermione looked like a zombie with saggy eyes, her hair messier than ever, acting as if she had just spent the night in a black hole.
"I'm not in the mood to answer that question," Hermione snapped, and sat down beside him. They were chilling out by the lake, Ron still nibbling at a piece of toast from breakfast. Harry and Ginny were resting under a tree nearby, sitting there and staring at each other, saying nothing as usual. Harry called it 'speechless love', but Ron called it 'wasting time'.
"Look at those two idiots staring at each other again, grinning like fools. Can't they say anything?" Ron muttered. Hermione wasn't listening though. She was busy wondering how happy Harry and Ginny must be… they didn't know how it felt like to lose someone they love… they had each other, and they were happy… but her? Her love just flew off to his mansion with his lunatic father for God knows what reason, and she was stuck listening to Ron criticize the two lovebirds under the tree, and she looked like a freaking horse who looked like she had been forced to sleep in a basket full of Snape's unwashed underwear. Why did she even bother living!
Seamus walked towards Hermione and Ron, a big smile on his face.
"Hi, Hermione," Seamus blushed. Hermione didn't even bother to look at him. She continued to stare at nothing in front of her, wondering why life had to be so horrible for her.
"Um.. Hermione?" Seamus tried again.
"What? Huh? Oh! Sorry Seamus, I'm kinda busy now… talk to you later," Hermione said quickly. Seamus looked at her for awhile, looking hurt and angry.
"That's the third time you've pushed me away so far. You were so nice and friendly to me a few days ago, what went wrong? I guess that Hermione that day wasn't the real you. I knew it was odd, the way you just got up and said hello to me all of a sudden. You're a faker, Granger," Seamus spat.
"Hey, don't you dare talk to Hermione like that! She's got a huge problem now that she's trying to deal with, can't you see?" Ron yelled at Seamus.
"Yeah… I'm sorry, Seamus, I just wanted to get to know you better. And I still do, honestly. I'm just going through a rough time now…" Hermione said softly.
"Oh," Seamus blushed. "I'm so sorry for losing my temper that way… I want to get to know you better too, Hermione." Hermione turned red and looked away, making Seamus laugh.
"Stop flirting Seamus and get lost," Ron snapped, jealousy heating through him. Seamus rolled his eyes at Ron and walked off, waving at Hermione.
"What a suck up!" Ron commented. Hermione paid no attention, showing the same blank face she had worn since she woke up.
"Where's that Malfoy, anyway? Haven't seen him all day…" Ron said, trying to make small talk with Hermione.
She got up all of a sudden and stormed off, startling Ron.
"Hermione… what's wrong?" Ron said, but she didn't bother turning around to answer him.
Hermione ran into the school and headed for the girl's bathroom. She turned the faucet on and splashed water on her face, trying to clear her thoughts. She tried to hold back her tears, but it was no good. She let herself fall to the ground and leaned against the dirty wall, bawling. She was worried for Draco. Lucius was an evil man, and he might have been planning something dangerous for Draco. What if… what if she never sees him again?
Ginny walked into the bathroom and gasped when she saw Hermione.
"Oh, Mione!" Ginny said, running to her. "Tell me what's wrong."
Hermione sniffed and looked up at Ginny with red eyes. "He's.. he's gone."
"He? Who's he?" Ginny asked, pulling Hermione up.
"Draco… he left… and I don't know if he's coming back."
Ginny looked at Hermione with sympathy and hugged her tightly.
"He'll come back if you pray hard… if you really do love him. Everything's going to be okay, Hermione. Now let's get you out of here," Ginny said, and they walked out of the bathroom. Hermione knew Ginny was doing her best to make her feel better, but nothing could make her feel happy then. Absolutely nothing.
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Draco and Lucius walked into the Malfoy Mansion and put their things down. Draco breathed in the stale smell of evil, and frowned.
"Father… something's wrong here. Smells just like death…" Draco commented.
"Shut up boy. I like the smell of death; do you have a problem with that?" Lucius snapped. Draco shook his head quickly in fear, and followed his father up the stairs, taking his luggage along with him.
He walked up the stairs in silence as his father entered his room to freshen up. Draco sensed that something was wrong and turned around, shocked to see an aging woman called his mother lying on the ground, lifeless.
"Mom!" Draco yelled, running over to her to see what had gone wrong. "Father, father! Mother's down and she's not moving! Help! Somebody, HELP!"
Suddenly he felt a strong hand force himself backwards, away from Narcissa.
"You are not to touch that bitch, you filthy dog. Do you understand me?" Lucius ordered, threatening Draco with his wand. Draco turned to look at his mother, his eyes filled with tears, and saw bruises and blood trickling from her head.
"What did you do to her, father? Did you… did you beat her?" Draco whimpered.
Lucius laughed aloud, craziness dancing in his eyes. "You stupid little boy. Don't ask me so many questions, and just unpack your things. We're leaving tomorrow night to get my job done."
"Get what job done? What are you talking about!" Draco said frightfully. He tried to stand up and run back to his mother, but Lucius pushed him back again.
"I told you not to touch her you imbecile!" Lucius shouted. Narcissa stirred from all the commotion going on, and open her eyes slightly.
"Draco…?" she whispered weakly. "Draco, honey… you're in danger.. stay aw-.."
"SHUT YOUR FILTHY LITTLE MOUTH!" Lucius yelled, losing control. He slapped Narcissa and started to kick her.
"No!" Draco pleaded. "Stop father! She's had enough!"
Lucius grinned as Narcissa coughed out blood and closed her eyes again, her head tilted to one side. Draco fell on his knees and cried as Lucius dragged his wife to a small broom closet and locked her up in it.
"I knew bringing you home was a bad idea, but we need you," Lucius muttered.
"Who? Who needs me? Answer me!" Draco yelled.
"The death eaters. So many of the Lord's followers are locked up in Azkaban. Some have died and some have decided to betray the Lord and turn to the good side. We don't have enough death eaters, son, and we need more," Lucius explained.
"So you're saying…" Draco trailed off, his worst nightmare about to come true.
"You are to become a death eater, Draco Malfoy."
Extremely short chapter, I know. I'm sorry! Totally ran out of ideas.. getting writer's block now, and I've only done 7 chapters.. I'm such a sad case! I'm trying I'm trying… so sorry again! Please review me on what you think of this chapter.. and if any of you have any ideas, could you review me and tell me? Maybe I could use it for my next few chapters because I seriously don't know what to do here! Thanks and bye!