Title: All's Fair in Love and War
Author: Silverhair Theory
Disclaimer: I own nothing. J.K.Rowling owns everything. If you sue me, all you'll get is my sweet stash and my teddy bear, and he bites. I wouldn't advise it.
Chapter 6
The night air was cool and fresh as Hermione, Gabrielle, Ginny, Brie, Pansy and Persia shut the front door quietly and went down the garden path. They had waited until the boys were all safely in their rooms before sneaking out.
Pansy and Persia were there because of a conversation overheard by Pansy when Gabrielle and Hermione had been preparing the dinner. She had barged in and demanded to be told the whole story.
In a spirit of friendship, Gabrielle had explained all about Gareth and his invitation to the nightclub. Pansy had liked the idea extremely and before long Hermione had found herself discussing with Pansy, Persia and the rest of the girls a plan on how to get out the following evening and go dancing, without alerting the boys.
Persia had unexpectedly come up with a plan, which was in fact quite good. The Gryffindor girls had all gone along with her, and now it about eleven o'clock. The boys had all gone to bed earlier, and faint snores could be heard through the floorboards. There were particularly loud snores coming from underneath Brie and Ginny's room, which was over Ron and Harry. Ginny had said Ron could snore the Ministry of Magic down. Hermione didn't doubt it.
They had all gone to their rooms as normal, but as soon as all creaking sounds had stopped from the lower floors they had changed into their party clothes and had sneaked out together.
The garden, or small squares of grass either side of the garden path, was wet with dew. Most was overgrown but there was a small section near the hedge where Ginny and Brie had been working on the terrible weeds. The hedge in that area had been pushed back a lot as well.
They set off down the road to the alleyway where Gareth and some of his friends were standing. He looked a little surprised to see six of them, and as they set off together Gareth leaned into Hermione's ear and whispered. "Who are those two girls. They weren't with you at the park, were they?"
"No." Hermione whispered back. "Their names are Pansy and Persia. They're staying in our flat as well and heard about this and wanted to come. We couldnt really have said no." She took Gareth's hand and smiled at him. "You dont mind, do you?"
"Not at all." He smiled back, squeezing her hand. "In fact, I think Jedd and Sam are rather taken with them. Good thing I brought them, eh?" He indicated the two boys, who were walking next to Pansy and Persia with expressions of rapture on their faces as Pansy wittered on about something. Persia was holding her head high, serene and composed.
They had walked quite a way, and now turned a street corner to be faced with a row of old shops, and at the end of it, a two storey warehouse which had been converted into a nioghtclub. It was called the Final Lotus and was beautifully painted in swirling dark blue and green colours. Blue light shone from the windows marred by shadows stirring inside, and strobe lights flickered. There were a few people milling about outside, some of whom were holding drinks, and a bouncer wearing shades at the door.
They went up to the door and Gareth flashed ID at the bouncer, who nodded and ushered them in.
The noise hit Hermione like a wave. Lights flashed in front of her eyes as she pecieved a dark swaying mass in front of her, clustered round a stage where a band was playing a song so loud she could hardly tell what type it was. The singer was shouting at the top of her voice but was still deafened by the rest of the noise. Lights were coming from various lanterns and bulbs in all colours, blinding Hermione.
They were all steered over to the bar, and Gareth went to get them a table, while the boys called Jedd and Sam ordered drinks for everyone. One of them asked Hermione what she wanted to drink, and she ordered. After a while the drink was put into her hands and they were propelled forwards again towards a small table in the corner where Gareth was waiting. They all sat down.
Hermione watched Pansy talking to the boys, Jedd and Sam, who were listening, or pretending to, with mouths open. Persia was sitting back, surveying the room from the shadows. Hermione looked at Brie, Gabrielle and Ginny.
Gabrielle was talking animatedly with another one of Gareth's friends, who was tall, dark and handsome, clichéd as it was. Brie and Ginny were not near the two other boys, but chatting to each other and giggling. The two other boys were also next to each other, but were silent.
"Do you think we should get them to talk to each other?" Hermione said quietly to Gareth, pointing out the two pairs.
"I dont think it matters." Gareth said. "Its not like Jay and Mike would be interested in them." He looked at the two guys, who were simply sitting in silence.
"Why not?" Hermione asked, outraged. "Are they not pretty enough?" She was appalled that Gareth would be so rude as to insult her friends like that in front of her.
"No, no." Gareth said, smiling and putting a hand on her clenched fist. He said quietly; "Its just that, well, they're... gay." He gave a meaningful look at her, and she felt understanding dawn on her.
"Ohhhh." She said. "I'm sorry. I thought you were insulting them!". There was an awkward silence.
"What's your drink called, Herm?" Gabrielle asked, leaning over. "It's just that Leon here thinks it looks nice and wants to know what it is." Her tall, dark and handsome male was looking expectantly at Hermione.
"Its called a Green Eyes." Hermione said. "Its one quarter Blue Curacao, one quarter Mint liquor, one quarter Malibu and one quarter Vodka. It's served with ice." They looked at the green cloudy drink, and Gabrielle stood up.
"I'm going to get myself one." She said, and went back over to the bar.
Now that Hermione could see properly, she inspected the room again. They were in one corner, which was filled with tables, and next to the bar, which ran along one wall. On the opposite wall was the stage, which jutted out into the middle of the room. There was the door on the wall in between them and she saw in one corner some stairs, leading up and down.
The band finished their song and they were deafened by cheering. They took up another one, with more easy rhythum, simpler to dance to. Hermione felt a pressure on her hand, and heard Gareth whisper in her ear.
"Want to dance?" He said, in a low voice which sent shivers down Hermione's spine.
"Okay." She whispered back and he took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor.
They began to sway, moving with the other bodies all around them, some waving lighers, many with their hands in the air, singing along with the music, although many of them didn't know what the song even was, they sang anyway. The air was perfumed by something heavy and sweet, Hermione breathed it in and felt alive.
She took Gareth's hands and looked into his eyes. They were sparkling and he was smiling at her with those blue pools and his perfect mouth...
He leant forward and kissed her.
It was surreal. The world just seemed to pause around them, turning to look. Hermione felt arms wrap around her and she melted into his embrace, her lips on his.
She broke away and opened her eyes to see his blue ones only an inch away from hers. The pupils were small from the flashes, and Hermione felt as if those blue eyes were searching her soul.
She lowered her eyes from the piercing gaze, unable to take it, and snuggled up to him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see Gabrielle grinning at her and Ginny watching her, smiling. She saw Leon stand up and offer Gabrielle her hand, and they joined Hermione and Gareth on the dance floor.
Hermione twisted around in Gareth's arms and suddenly felt a sharp pain just below her shoulder blade, her knees giving way. Gareth caught her and guided her back to the table. He disappeared for a moment and came back with another Green Eyes, which he put next to the empty glass of the first one. The drink fizzed and bubbled.
"Drink this." He said. Hermione took a sip, and found that her body seemed to just relax as she sipped, becoming totally at home in the chair.
She watched Jedd dance with Pansy, and Sam dance with Persia, in a sort of daze as they gazed at their beautiful partners. Even on the dance floor Pansy seemed to have not stopped talking, but Persia and Sam were sort of slow dancing to the fast music, heads on each others shoulders.
Hermione saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and saw Ginny, Brie and the two gay guys, Jay and Mike, in conversation. After about a minute they all stood up, and went out and danced, Ginny with Jay, Brie with Mike. They were talking still, with each other and with the opposite partners, but Hermione couldnt tell what they were talking about.
The room seemed to be going a little hazy, and Hermione found herself leaning on Gareth's shoulder, struggling to keep her eyes open.
Gareth gently leavered her off him and got up. Hermione lay across his chair until he came back, when he put her arm round his neck and got her up.
"Come on, we're going home." He said. "I've told your friend, this way." He led her across the room and out of the door. The cold air hit Hermione in the face and she buried herself in Gareth's neck. He picked her up so she lay in his arms like a child, arms round his neck, and he carried her down the road.
Hermione didn't know how long they walked for, but when Gareth put her down it was on cool grass. She opened her eyes and stared up at the stars above them, bright eyes watching her. She looked around and saw Gareth lying next to her on the grass, arms folded behind his head, looking at her.
They stared at each other for a long time. Hermione felt like she was drowning in his eyes, the bright blue pools of water sucking her in.
Gareth got up on his elbows and kissed her.
It was just like before. The night stopped and turned to watch them, kissing on the grass. Hermione felt Gareth move and when he pulled away his hot breath was coming from straight above her. She opened her eyes and saw him on all fours over her. His eyes were blazing as he leaned in for another kiss.
She felt his tongue on her lips, and opened her mouth to him. He licked her teeth, and light flickered on the back of her eyelids. She reached up and put her arms round his neck, savouring the taste of his lips and tongue. They tasted of alchohol, but whether it was his drink or hers she was tasting she couldn't tell, and frankly, didn't care.
Suddenly she felt his hands caressing her neck. He had such smooth hands, perfect nails, with no sharp edges to scratch her with. He moved his hands like a masseur, brushing over pressure points, stroking her neck. The tension in her shoulders loosened up and she lay, perfectly content in his arms.
His mouth joined his hands and she felt his hot breath on her neck as he kissed her skin, butterfly style, the light pressure making her gasp. The hands moved to her shoulders, rubbing them in smooth circles. He pulled her to him, then he wrapped his arms around her, under her back.
Her dress pinched her skin at the back under his hands and suddenly came loose. The tiny pin which held the back of the strapless dress together, and indeed kept the whole dress from simply falling off her, had come undone. Or had been undone.
Hermione jolted out of the dream and reaslised Gareth was trying to take her dress off. Could that be right? He wouldn't do such a thing. Would he? She tried to sit up, taking her arms from around his neck and putting them on the ground but he pushed her back down again, knocking her arms out of the way.
She opened her eyes and saw that his brow, not two inches away from her eyes, was furrowed, whether in concentration or annoyance she couldn't tell.
She broke away from the kiss and took a deep breath to scream but Gareth closed her mouth with his, swallowing her air. She was forced into a brutal kiss, her eyes watering. Gareth must have felt the tears on his face because he opened his eyes. Hermione screamed into his mouth.
They were no longer smiling. Instead the had a hard, angry look which frightened Hermione. She whimpered and the eyes smiled again. But it wasnt a kind, caring smile like the ones earlier. Those smiled had been of happiness, pride, maybe even love. This one was full of hate, passion and lust.
She moved her leaden arms and tried to push him away but he grabbed both of her wrists in one hand and pulled them up above her head. With the other hand he began pulling her strapless dress down.
She wrenched her mouth away from his and screamed. She heard the scream echo over the houses far away, and the wide open space all around them.
Gareth slapped her across the face, perfect nails scoring deep grooves in her skin and the scream tore from her mouth, she was left panting and crying.
He collapsed on top of her, thrusting his pelvis onto hers. She writhed but this only exited him further, and he was squeezing the air out of her, suffocating her, she was losing breath, the world was spinning, all she could see were those two blue eyes, staring into hers, she shut her eyes so she wouldn't see them, but still felt them on her eyelids, burning her...
Suddenly he was gone. She was cold, alone, eyes shut fast. She curled up into a foetal position, sobbing. Her hair was messed up and her dress was ripped and loose.
A roar came from near her. She screamed and sat up, backing away from the sound. What she saw shocked her.
Gareth was on his back on the ground, wrestling with someone. The someone was dressed in dark jeans and a black hoodie, with the hood up.
He was punching Gareth and Gareth was punching him in return. But it was obvious that the boy in the hoodie would win. He was stronger and his punches were aggressive, he seemed not to notice Gareths blows, as if all his energy was focused onto hurting Gareth as much as possible.
Gareth was the one who had roared. The other boy was wearing a ring, small, silver, but with something spiky on it that had torn a gash down over Gareth's eye. The cut was bleeding profusely and Gareth must have been part blinded by blood.
The hooded guy seemed to relent as Gareth's punches slowed. He pushed the other guy off him and got up, shooting a last look of lust at Hermione before half running, half limping away towards the distant houses.
Hermione watched him go, then looked in fear at the person who had been fighting him. The person was breathing harshly, hands on knees, looking in the direction that Gareth had run off in.
He glanced at Hermione, who tried to get a look under the hood, but the shadows were too deep. He straightened up, and made like he was going to come over, but stopped. They stood there for a few seconds, Hermione feeling like a damsel in distress who had just been saved by...someone. The boy looked down at his hands, turning them over, the silvery ring flashing deep green in the moonlight, then he turned away and walked back the way that Gareth had gone, away form Hermione, leaving her all alone in the middle of the park, dew-soaked grass soaking through her dress and making her shiver violently.
Hermione watched him go, as she had watched Gareth, but with despair instead of relief. The person who had saved her, protected her from Gareth had simply walked away and left her. She put her head on her knees and sobbed.
After a while she realised that crying wouldnt help anything. She got up and with some difficulty as her arms were still sore, did up her dress. Then she headed in the direction that Gareth and the other boy had gone, still wondering about the identity of her protector. In her mind his ring turned on his hands, flashing green.
After a while her knees started to ache. Her head spun from the slap and the marks across her face stung. One of her silver shoes had broken and she stood wrong-footed on it and collapsed onto the ground.
She propped herself up on hands and knees and saw the dark figure of the other boy at the edge of the woods. He seemed to be looking back, but she couldnt quite tell. Her head gave a massive throb and the grass and stars spun above her, then the night sky came down, and all went black, the green flash of the ring still emblazoned behind her lids.
SGSGSGS
Gabrielle was walking back from the Final Lotus, hand in hand with Leon. It had been a good evening. She had had fun, she was pretty sure that everyone else had too and she knew for certain that Hermione, Persia and herself had been kissed.
They were all walking in a group now, the boys had offered to drop the girls off at their flat before returning home. She was hoping to run into Gareth and Hermione somewhere along here, as this was the way they had gone.
Up ahead, they could see someone. It looked like Gareth, but they were limping, so how could that be? Leon called out."Gareth, mate? Is that you?"
The figure turned under a street light, and Gabrielle gasped. It was indeed Gareth. His clothes were torn in places and he had several large bruises on his arms and face. One side of his face was a crusted mess of blood, the other side was sporting a terrific black eye.
He groaned, and fell to the floor in a heap.
For a second, everyone just stood staring at him. Then Jedd and Leon rushed forward to their friend, yelling followed closely by everyone else. Gabrielle looked over Leon's shoulder.
Gareth was a mess. He had fainted and Leon was using a bottle of water and a hankerchief to mop up the side of Gareth's face that was crusted in blood.
As the blood was wiped away, a long gash could be seen, starting just above the eyebrow and ending at the corner of his mouth. It was still bleeding a lot, and looked extremely painful.
Gareth moaned and his eyes flickered open.
"Who did this to you?" Leon asked. Gareth pushed himself up, wincing as somthing cracked, and brushed the grit off of his hands. Then he put one hand to his face, touching his black eye. He looked up at them all.
"Some guy." He answered slowly, his voice hoarse. Leon gave him some of the water and he drank heavily before going on. "He was wearing a black hoodie and jeans." Gareth said, gulping more water, his voice growing in strength. "He had blonde hair, I think."
They all looked back down the alleyway as a sound was heard. It had been a snapping of a twig. From the shadows, a person emerged. They were wearing a black hoodie and jeans.
At the sight of them, the person froze, then took to their heels and ran. He was a very fast sprinter, and was wearing well worn trainers, instead of heeled shoes and posh trainers, and so had an advantage over the rest of them. He was soon out of sight.
Those who had tried to chase him made their way back to Gareth. Suddenly Gabrielle had a thought. "Gareth, can you hear me?" He nodded. "Where's Hermione?" She asked.
He looked up at her, pain written across his face, his eyes filled with emotion, one still red and bloody. He looked back down the alleyway, and pointed weakly.
"Down there." He said.
Gabrielle took Leon and they went down the alleyway to the park. They looked across it and saw a heap of silver material and brown hair. Gabrielle started sprinting towards it. In that second nothing else mattered but that she got to Hermione.
"Hermione!" She yelled. The figure did not stir. She heard Leon come up behind her as they reached Hermione. They bent down to look at her. Gabrielle gasped, and she heard Leon intake breath sharply.
She was spreadeagled on the ground. Her previously perfectly combed hair was in a halo around her face, which was white and had a pained expression. Four deep red cuts ran across her cheek, oozing drops of blood, like she'd been slapped hard. Her beautiful silver dress was ripped, muddy and wet. Gabrielle took her hand and fought an urge to scream. It was cold as ice.
Leon picked her up in his arms, Gabrielle still holding her hand, which was still cold. As they came back to the crowd around Gareth, Ginny gave a little scream of horror and rushed forward, grabbing at her other hand.
"What's happened to her?" She said in a small squeaky voice. "Did that boy do things to her as well? Is she very badly hurt? What happened? Why is she so cold?" She asked them.
"That is a lot of questions." Leon said, reminding Ginny of Viktor Krum, from the Triwizard tournament. Leon was very like Krum. Tall, silent, dark and mysterious, but he also seemed to be more in control of himself and his surroundings, more aware. He would be good for Gabrielle.
"She has suffered a blow across the face, but she is not badly hurt. I do not know why she is cold, thought depending how long she was lying on wet grass in a ripped dress for, she could have hypothermia or pneumonia or she could just be very cold. I assume that boy who ran off was the culprit?" He asked Gareth.
Slowly, Gareth nodded, wincing in pain. He was looking at Hermione with an unreadable expression, but which seemed to Gabrielle to have an air of hunger.
"Come on everyone." She said, with authority. "We need to get Hermione home. I think you guys ought to take Gareth back to his house as well." She organised Jedd and Sam to haul Gareth up, arms around their necks. The rush of blood to his head must have made him faint because his head lolled back and his eyes rolled back in their sockets.
Gabrielle was assumed to be the strongest so Ginny and Brie positioned Hermione on Gabrielle's back, with Hermione's arms hanging round her neck. Then they set off back to the flat, with Ginny and Brie holding Hermione up, Pansy and Persia walking ahead looking out for the boy in the hoodie.
About three minutes later, as they were turning into the second last street before their flat, they saw him. He was slouched on a bench with his head in his hands. His back was shaking but no sound was coming from him.
They approached cautiously, knowing that this was the person that had wrecked Gareth's face, and caused Hermione to be unconsious on Gabrielle's back at this very moment. They just had to try and sneak past without him noticing.
But Pansy, it appeared, had other ideas. Going round the back of the bench, she reached out for the boy's shoulder, even as the others all froze solid, watching her.
She put her hand on his shoulder. He jerked up and spun away from her, into the empty street. As he pulled away Pansy's fingers caught the edge of his hood and it fell back.
Pansy gasped. Persia started. Brie and Ginny shrieked and backed away to the fence behind them. Gabrielle gave a strangled yell and let go of Hermione, who slumped to the floor, Her head cracking on the hard tarmac.
Standing in front of them, breathing raggedly, hands clenched so that the knuckles of the hands were bone white was the boy. He had blonde hair and grey eyes, which were red, but dry. He had not been crying.
It was Draco Malfoy.
SGSGSGS
Author's Note: Wooo! So, Is Draco gonna get blamed for Hermione's state? What are the other boys going to do when they find out? And Why wasn't Draco crying? Review!
p.s Heres a little snippet of what Chapter 7 contains:
"She's still unconscious. Its very strange, she should have been awake by now. Its nearly midday." All three of them glared pointedly at Malfoy, who sighed and turned around, going down the stairs to the basement, where he was now sleeping. "Honestly." Ginny said, eyes narrowed at Malfoy's retreating back, talking loud enough that she knew he could hear her. "Snape really is letting him off too lightly. I doubt his father will even do anything. Gareth was a muggle and Hermione is a mudblood, he'll probably be proud of Malfoy for beating them up!"
