Disclaimer: And just how many of these have been used for a Harry Potter fanfiction?
A/N: Thank you all for supporting me through this, it means alot to me! I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one and give me just as many reviews!
Dun. Dun. Dun.
The 26th chapter is here!
Chapter 26: Choices and Honesty
"You what!" Stephanie screeched like a banshee. About an hour ago, Draco had come in through the Slytherin common room, dragged Stephanie out, and made his way towards his private dorm. She immediately knew that something was wrong just by all the emotions that played out across his face once they were alone. After asking him what was the matter, he started to explain what had conspired between him and Ginny, not even twenty minutes before. When he got to the part where Ginny found out about the bet that was made, Stephanie went crazy.
"So Pan-" he stopped in mid sentence, alarmed and confused at her sudden screaming. "What do you mean, I what?"
"You made a bet with Blaise?" Her voice was dangerously low.
"You didn't know about that?" he asked, bewildered. "How could you not know about the bet?"
"I don't keep up with your Death Eater shit, Draco!" she snapped.
He shook his head. "It wasn't even about that, not at first anyway. You know how Blaise and I have this list of conquests, he thought it would be fun if Ginny was one-"
"So this was his idea?" Stephanie interrupted. "I cannot believe that filthy bastard would-"
"It wasn't just his idea. I went along with it too," Draco said, trying to save Blaise from his cousin's wrath later on.
"And that is exactly why I never found out about this!" Stephanie yelled at him. "If I knew that you and Blaise had that bet going on, I wouldn't have let you go through with it in the first place, because Ginny is my best friend!" she rambled on, truly ashamed of him for the very first time in her life. "How could you do something like this?"
Draco couldn't help but feel guilty at the disappointment that shone through her eyes. "She wasn't supposed to find out."
"Well of course she wasn't supposed to find out about it!" she snapped angrily.
He winced, "I didn't mean it like that." Draco sat down on the green chair by the fire, sighing wearily. "At first, everything between Ginny and I was a bet." He smiled slightly at the memory of their late night rendezvous in the library. "I was always attracted to her for some reason, I won't lie to you about that. There was...there was always this pull...like we were connected somehow. It all makes more sense now that I know she was the mystery girl and everything."
Stephanie listened carefully, not missing one word. Draco had never been this open about anything, so she wasn't going to pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity. "And?" she pushed him to continue.
He shrugged. "You pretty much know the rest. Ginny and I started spending time together, and I tried harder than anything to convince myself that she meant nothing to me." He laughed bitterly. "I don't think that it worked to well. The night of the dance, standing there with her in my arms... I came to realize that I cared for her more than anything in this world and I wasn't about to give her up." He shook his head, forcing the memory of Ginny's face out of his mind. "So, the next day I broke off the bet with Blaise."
"And he let you break the bet? Just like that?" Stephanie asked doubtfully.
"Yeah, he did. Come to think of it, he seemed kind of off that day. Have you talked to him lately?"
"I talked to him the other day and he seemed okay to me," she said, "Maybe a little more annoying than usual, but still normal," Stephanie added.
"Good. At least he's acting normal. Something must've been bothering him that day," Draco replied thoughtfully.
"I guess. You should ask him the next time you see him," she suggested.
"I don't know," Draco replied skeptically. "If it's about a girl, its not like I could help him. Maybe you should talk to him."
"Sure, I'll talk to him," she said, not really caring about Blaise since he had something to do with the bet in the first place. "As for Ginny..."
"There isn't anything that I can do," he finished. "Not after what Pansy saw today."
"Ugh!" Stephanie screamed in frustration. "I could ring that bloody girl's neck! She just had to come and ruin everything! Merlin only knows how long it will be before you can talk to Ginny again."
"If I ever get talk to her again," he said bitterly. "Why can't you explain it to her for me?"
"There isn't anyway to tell her without mentioning your meetings with Voldemort."
"Great, so I guess I won't ever talk to her again."
"Hey!" Stephanie sat on the floor, facing him. "Don't even think like that! Do you see Voldemort and the Death Eater's running my life?"
"Only because Voldemort thinks you're going along with his plan. I don't have an excuse to just walk up to Ginny and start talking to her," Draco pointed out. "And you know that."
"Even if Voldemort didn't want me around Harry, I would find a way," she said firmly. "And you know that."
Draco nodded.
"We'll find a way to make this better," Stephanie promised.
"Unless Voldemort and all the Death Eater's vanish, then I wouldn't bank on anything happening soon," he said sourly.
"You need to have faith, Draco."
"I did," he looked down at Stephanie, "but I lost all of it, when I lost her."
"That isn't true," she protested. "Ginny wouldn't ever fall in love with a faithless person. And I know that she cared about you before you were ever with her."
Draco pressed down the feeling of hope that welled within him at her words. He wouldn't hope for something that he knew he couldn't ever have. "Only a miracle could make this better," he said.
Stephanie smiled. "Well, then I guess we'll have to wish for a miracle, won't we?"
"Well then I guess we'll have to wish for a miracle, won't we?"
Ron walked into the Gryffindor Tower that afternoon, praying that Hermione wouldn't be anywhere in sight. He sighed in relief when he didn't spot her, but scowled at the people who sat on the couch.
"What are you two still doing here?" he grounded out in anger.
"We wanted to apologize before we left," Fred and George exclaimed in unison.
"Okay, you just did. Now leave," Ron demanded.
"Listen little brother, we didn't mean for that to happen last night," said George.
"Honestly, we didn't mean anything by it," Fred replied.
Ron looked at his older brothers and could tell that they were, surprisingly, truly sorry for what they did. "Fine, I forgive you," he finally relented. "But that doesn't mean that I'm not still mad at you."
They grinned at him. "Good enough."
"Well, we ought to be going, got to apologize to the girls too," George said, starting for the portrait.
"Yeah, don't want Angelina being to angry with me." Fred smiled, following him.
"Bye Ronnikens!"
Ron smiled in amusement and then turned, just to stop dead in his tracks. Hermione, who now had on a t-shirt instead of the very revealing clothing that she had worn last night, was heading down the girl's staircase and had yet to notice him.
"Hermione!" he said, startling her so much that she tripped on the last stair and would have fallen if he hadn't caught her in his arms.
"Ron," she breathed, "you scared me half to death." Hermione blushed when she realized that she still resided in his muscular arms and scrambled away.
"Right...um," he started awkwardly, "are you okay?"
She gave him a small smile. "Other than a very bad case of having a hangover, then yes."
"Same here," he said grinning, then faltered when he remembered what exactly had occurred last night. "Um, Hermione?"
"Yes?"
"Do you remember what happened last night?" asked Ron, looking somewhat afraid.
"Only bits and pieces." She seemed to be in deep thought. "I remember that you and the twins were fighting about something, but I have no idea what you were fighting about."
"Nothing you need to worry about," he assured, relieved that she didn't remember his almost proposal.
"Okay," Hermione replied simply. "Wait a minute...when you asked me if I remembered anything about last night, it wasn't because I made a fool of myself, was it?" she asked hurriedly, a look of horror crossing her face.
Ron laughed. "No, no. Trust me, you aren't the only one whose wondering what happened last night."
"I guess that could be a good thing." She scrunched up her face, "But I cannot believe that I actually got drunk."
"Hey, everyone deserves to let loose once in a while. Even you," Ron rationalized.
"It didn't hurt to have some fun," Hermione agreed.
"Of course it didn't." He looked at her, suddenly realizing how much he really missed talking to her, how much he missed being with her. "I've missed you," Ron let out, without realizing that the words were tumbling from his mouth.
Hermione smiled. "I've missed you too, Ron."
"Can we...can we start out as friends? For now?" he asked apprehensively.
"I'd like that alot," she said, positively glowing inside. This would be the first step in gaining their relationship back to what it once was, and it was something she really did want, no, she needed. Hermione stepped towards him, giving him a hug that lingered a little longer than necessary.
Ron pulled her to him, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. He had missed this so much and there was no way in hell that he would screw it up again.
"So, where is everybody?" asked Hermione after pulling away. She now noticed that the common room was very empty.
"I imagine that they're all still in bed," he replied, already aching to have her back in his arms.
"Harry's still asleep?" she asked, somewhat concerned.
"Yeah, but don't worry. I think that Stephanie wore him out more than the party did," he replied in between a grin and a grimace. He was happy that Harry was enjoying himself, but it was still with a Slytherin.
Hermione grimaced. "I didn't want to know about Harry's sex life."
"I don't think that he has a sex life..." Ron grinned, "yet."
"Again, nasty! He's like a brother, Ron," she said, shoving his shoulder, but couldn't hide her grin.
"Okay, okay," he laughed. "You think you can hold down some food? They're serving lunch in the Great Hall."
"I'm not to sure that my stomach can handle it, but I'll try." She smiled at him teasingly, "We both know that you won't have a problem eating."
"We could go to Madame Pomfrey for-Oi! What's that supposed to mean?"
A week later, Ginny found Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting on the couch in the Gryffindor common room, each of their heads stuck in a different book. She stood at the bottom of the stairs and observed the trio with a smile. She was happy that they were all best friends again, even though it was painfully obvious that Ron and Hermione wanted to be more.
The same day that Ginny had found out about the bet, her older brother had come up to her to ask if she had remembered what happened the night before. That wasn't the first time that she had gotten drunk, and she was the type that remembered everything when she was pissed out of her gourd, unfortunately. Ron had said that she wasn't to mention to anyone what had happened that night, under any circumstances whatsoever. Of course she wouldn't dream of humiliating him like that (unless he deserved it), after all, it was her fault that Hermione almost found out about his proposal.
"What are you guys doing studying on a beautiful day like this?" Ginny asked, sitting across from them.
Both Harry and Ron turned to Hermione, telling Ginny all she needed to know. "What? Oh honestly," Hermione huffed, "I had to make them sit down and start studying for the NEWTs. They're only two months away!"
Ginny grinned at the boy's helpless expressions. "Looks like they aren't to happy about it."
"I don't care if they are." Hermione crossed her arms. "I'm not about to let my best friends fail all of their NEWTs."
"I wish you would be here next year, so you could push me to study," Ginny said. "A friend like you would be a life saver."
"Thank you, Ginny," she smiled. "At least someone around here appreciates me," Hermione said, glaring at two very bored males.
"Hermione," Ron and Harry groaned.
"We appreciate it really," Ron replied, "but it's Sunday and Harry and I have to go to Quidditch practice. We have a game in three weeks and as my responsibility of being the co-captain and Harry being the captain, we should both be there," he explained, knowing that the part about responsibility would hit her hard.
"Alright," she caved, and they were already headed out of the portrait, "but don't come to me when you need help with your studies!" Hermione yelled to them.
"Sure thing," Harry called to her over his shoulder.
"You know she'll help us if we need," Ron told his best friend.
"Of course she will." Harry grinned.
Hearing the boy's words, Ginny giggled and Hermione narrowed her eyes.
"They know you to well," Ginny said.
"To well," Hermione agreed, sighing.
"So, were you going to study all day?" Ginny asked, looking at the pile of books that laid on the floor.
She nodded, "I was planning on it."
"You could come down with me, instead of being cooped up on a day like this. Stephanie and I were going to take a walk around the lake or something," Ginny offered.
Hermione smiled. "Sure, I don't think that it would hurt getting a little sunlight." She gathered up her books. "But before we go, I wanted to ask you something."
"Um...okay," Ginny replied, confused as to why she just didn't ask in the first place.
"I wanted to ask you if you were okay. I would have sooner, but I've been pretty busy since all the professors seem to be piling us with homework," said Hermione, wincing at the thought of how much more studying she would have to do. Yes, she did love to read, but she didn't feel like doing it every hour of every day.
"I'm going to be fine," Ginny assured her. No one could possibly understand how much she was hurting, how badly she wished that Draco Malfoy had never come into her life. On that terrible day that she had found out about the bet, Hermione had caught Ginny crying her heart out. The two girls had stayed up until three in the morning, calling Draco every name in the book. It had helped ease the pain...for about a minute.
"You're sure?" Hermione asked her doubtfully.
"I will be okay, but it will take some time. It takes more than a week to recover from getting your heart ripped out," Ginny said bitterly.
Hermione gave her a sympathetic look. "If you ever need anything, you know you know you can come to me."
"Thank you," Ginny smiled sincerely.
"Your welcome." Hermione didn't even want to think how it would feel if Ron did to her, what Malfoy did to Ginny.
"Well, we better go or else Stephanie will bitch at me and say that 'I kept her waiting," Ginny imitated her friend's voice on the last four words.
Hermione laughed, "We wouldn't want that to happen."
"I have been waiting out here for twenty minutes!" Stephanie yelled in aggravation. She had really only been waiting at the Willow tree for about five minutes, but who's counting?
"See, I told you that she would start bitching," Ginny said, making Hermione laugh again.
"You know me to well." Stephanie grinned. "So," she turned to Hermione, "have you and Weasley started shagging again?"
"Wha-what are you talking about?" Hermione choked, blushing brightly.
Ginny giggled, "Hermione, you have to excuse my dear friend. She likes to joke around, when she should just stick a foot in her mouth."
"Should I stick a foot in my mouth?" Stephanie asked, acting ditzy.
"You should," Ginny confirmed.
"She's right," Stephanie laughed, talking to Hermione. "I'm just joking with you. What I meant to say was, are you and Weasley back together yet?"
"No! And wha-what makes you think that we'll get back together?" Hermione stuttered, still blushing.
"Oh please, when I am around you two, you can cut the sexual tension with a knife." Stephanie rolled her eyes.
"No, you can't!" Hermione denied.
Ginny snorted. "Are you trying to convince us or yourself?"
"She's trying to convince herself," Stephanie replied, grinning.
"That is so not true!" Hermione faltered at their knowing looks. "Are we really that obvious?"
"Yes!" Stephanie and Ginny exclaimed.
"I can't help it," Hermione groaned. "It's like being near a bunch of chocolate that you can't eat or-"
"Stop right there!" Ginny demanded. "This is my brother we are talking about, so I don't want to know."
"I do," said Stephanie, "Keep going, please," she prodded Hermione.
"Don't even think about finishing that sentence!" Ginny demanded hotly.
"You're no fun," Stephanie pouted.
"Well excuse me for not wanting to hear about my brother in a sexual way," the fiery redhead replied sarcastically.
"It's okay, I'll tell you later," Hermione promised, laughing at the look of delight on Stephanie's face. "Why do you want to know anyway?" she asked curiously.
Stephanie shrugged. "I like hearing what people's sexual fantasies are."
Ginny made a gagging sound in the back of her throat.
"What?" Stephanie said defensively. "It gives you plenty of ideas for what you want to do with your own boyfriend."
"Yes, I know that, but why in the hell would you want to hear about my brother?" Ginny gagged again.
"Well, the bloke is pretty hot," Stephanie admitted reluctantly, "but totally stuck on Hermione, whereas I am stuck on Harry."
"HELLO?" Ginny waved, "can we please stop talking about my brother now?"
"I guess you're right," Hermione said, ignoring Ginny's pleading. "Listening to other people's experiences would make you more experienced."
"You sound like a book, Hermione. Oh, and I don't think Stephanie needs anymore experience in the sex department," Ginny joked.
"Yeah, I know. I am pretty good," Stephanie said arrogantly.
"Spoken like a true Slytherin." Ginny snorted wryly.
Stephanie grinned. "Damn right."
Hermione laughed, getting up from the ground. "Well, I would like to stay longer, but Professor Binns is giving us this big test tomorrow and I have a Transfiguration essay to go over. Preparations for NEWTs and all that good stuff."
"I don't want to be a seventh year if you have to do that much studying," Stephanie complained.
"Aww it won't be that bad, Steph," Ginny reassured her. "And if it is, you'll get over it." She ignored Stephanie's glare and turned to Hermione to salute. "Good luck with the studying."
Hermione smiled deviously. "I think you'll need to give your luck to Harry and Ron, seeing as how I won't be helping them study. Oh and don't worry so much, Stephanie. Once you get past all the tests, and studying... and NEWTs, being a seventh year isn't that bad."
"Sounds like hell," Stephanie muttered.
Hermione smiled. "I'll see you guys later."
"Bye, Hermione!"
"Do you think that we'll even make it to our seventh year?" Ginny asked seriously when Hermione was out of sight.
"I don't know," Stephanie answered her truthfully, " but I hope so." She looked at her best friend curiously. "Do you think we'll make it?"
Ginny raised a brow. "You want me to be honest with you?"
"No, I want you to lie to me," Stephanie said sarcastically. "Of course I want you to be honest with me!"
"I think that we'll be in the middle of a big war," Ginny answered.
The seriousness in Ginny's voice struck a nerve in Stephanie. "Will you fight?" she asked her.
"If it comes down to it in the end and if I'm needed, then yes." Ginny's bright eyes turned dark. "Nothing else would bring me more joy than to see Voldemort die."
"You aren't the only one who would be overjoyed. I don't blame you either, not with everything that happened in your first year," Stephanie reminisced.
"You know, its kind of ironic how Lucius Malfoy gave me that diary. Like father, like son," Ginny said bitterly.
"Draco isn't anywhere near as cruel as his father." Stephanie shivered, thinking just how cruel her uncle really could be.
"You're kidding me, right?" Ginny asked her in disbelief. "Draco is nothing more than a fake. He's cold, mean, and a liar. He's like a replica of his father."
"He isn't," Stephanie said firmly.
"How can you say that? After everything he's done to me?" Ginny asked, getting mad.
"There are reasons," Stephanie tried to explain, "reasons as to why he acts the way that he does."
"What kind of reasons? What could excuse could he possibly have? Tell me, Stephanie," Ginny said, hoping that deep down there could be an explanation.
"I can't say," Stephanie replied, wishing that she could.
"Why can't you just tell me?" She decided to vent her frustration by getting up to pace.
"Because it's complicated," Stephanie reputed tiredly.
"It has something to do with Voldemort, doesn't it? I know that Draco is a Death Eater, that's no secret to me. So, if you say that there is some reasonable explanation for his actions, then all of this has something to do with Voldemort," Ginny said stopping in place, everything suddenly coming together.
Stephanie looked at her in amazement. This girl was way to smart for her own good. "It does have something to do with Voldemort," she finally confirmed.
"Why didn't you just tell me that to began with?" Ginny asked, exasperated.
"Like I said, it's more complicated than you think," Stephanie repeated.
"You aren't going to tell me what is going on, are you?" Ginny asked knowingly.
Stephanie shook her head, "I'm sorry, I can't."
"Not can't, won't," she argued.
"Ginny, it's more com-"
"Complicated than I think," Ginny finished for her sourly. "Whatever you say, Stephanie. But, I'm really tired of all this bullshit, ok? When you and Draco decide to let someone in, or more importantly where your loyalties really do lie, then you know where to find me." And before Stephanie could say another word, Ginny turned and walked away.
"Do you think that something else is wrong with Malfoy?" Ron asked Harry and Hermione, after practicing his mind-blocking charm. The trio were currently in DADA, their first class of the day.
Miss. Holly had been their teacher in Defense Against the Dark Arts for surprisingly, almost a whole three years now. After having a fake Moody in their fourth year, Dumbledore decided to take precautions, so he interviewed every person very thoroughly for the job. For a whole school term, students tip-toed around Miss. Holly, afraid that she might shoot the killing curse at them. Finally, many people started to relax around her, which wasn't pretty hard since she was a very open and considerate person. Now, she was a favorite among everyone, even the Slytherins.
"I dunno," Harry shrugged. "When did you ever care what Malfoy was doing anyway?"
"Since he started fucking around with my sister," Ron said matter-of-factly.
"Ronald Weasley, do not curse around me!" Hermione scolded, smacking him upside the head.
"Ow!" Ron yelled, then grinned at her cheekily. "Yes, mum."
Hermione rolled her eyes, hiding a grin of her own and Harry laughed.
"I mean really though, look at Malfoy," Ron started again, "and tell me if he looks normal to you."
Hermione and Harry studied Draco for a moment. "He does kind of look a little down," Hermione replied, knowing a few reasons as to why he was acting the way that he was.
"Yeah, I guess," Harry said. "And why do we care, exactly?"
"We don't," Ron responded, "but he isn't acting normal, so it's weird. He hasn't even insulted my heritage or the fact that Hermione's a muggleborn."
"That is kind of weird," Harry admitted.
"Innit? And watch what he does if I do-."
"Ron, don't you dare do anything stupid," Hermione warned him.
He waved her off, "Don't worry, it won't hurt either one of us." He walked over to Draco's desk and he swore that he could hear Hermione clucking her tongue in disapproval, twenty feet away.
"He's going to get in trouble," Hermione said, clicking her tongue in disapproval.
Harry stayed silent, waiting for an interesting scene to unfold.
"What do you want, Weasley?" Draco drawled, continuing to read his DADA book.
"I was just curious as to why you've been so down lately," said Ron, clearly not caring at all.
Draco lifted his head and scowled. "Bugger off."
"What's wrong, ferret? You're starting to freak people out. This isn't about my sister, is it?"
"You, the other two Gryffindors, and Stephanie are the only one that have seemed to notice that something is wrong," Draco said, getting annoyed. "When in fact, there isn't anything wrong with me. So would you leave me the bloody hell alone?"
"Okay," Ron said slowly, eyeing the blonde as if he were insane.
"Well?" Harry asked when Ron came back to their table.
"Its official," Ron commented, "The git has lost his bloody mind."
"You shouldn't mess with people, Ron," Hermione tutted.
"I don't think that it would hurt to mess with Malfoy, since he's been messing with us for... oh I don't know," Ron raised his voice, "the last SIX YEARS of our lives."
"He does have a point," Harry agreed.
"The both of you are very immature," Hermione insulted, "just as bad as Malfoy. By bothering him, all you're doing is stooping down to his level of ignorance."
"She does have a point, Ron," Harry replied.
"Harry?" Ron gave him a pat on the back. "Do me a big favor?"
"What's that?"
"Shut up."
A couple of nights later, Harry lay in his bed, soaked in sweat. A sequence of horrible images playing over and over behind his closed eyelids.
Dream-
"You fell in love with him?"
"Yes," Stephanie spat, cringing at the sight of this monstrous being in front of her. She was handcuffed to a cement wall, blood dripping from an open wound on her forehead.
"You disrespect me, by falling in love with a mudblood loving fool." His voice was eerily calm.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that I needed your permission to do so," she said sarcastically. "I'll be sure to ask you next time, Daddy."
"I must say, you can definitely hold your own," Voldemort praised her, gliding closer and placing a bony finger on her bare shoulder.
Stephanie flinched, but hid the fear in her bright brown eyes.
"Do you want to explain to me," he pushed his sharp nail deep into her skin and she cried out, "why you disobeyed me?"
She kept on breathing deeply, trying to block the tears that wanted to escape.
"Answer me!" he roared.
"I ne-never," she struggled with her words, "obeyed you in the first place," her old glint appeared back into her eyes and she smiled, "you. sick. fuck."
He smiled evilly, putting his wand to her temple. "Crucio."
She screamed and writhed in pain for a full minute, before a person ended the spell.
"No!" Harry flung his body at Voldemort, knocking both of them to the ground.
Voldemort stood quickly and picked up his fallen wand, pointing it at Harry. "Do you really think that you can beat me, Potter? There's nothing left, no reason for you to live."
Harry wiped the sweat from his face, his wand pointed forward as well. "You're wrong, Tom. I still have one person that loves me."
"Look again, Potter," Voldemort said, an evil grin forming.
Harry's eyes widened at the sight of Stephanie's limp and mangled body hanging from the chains. She wasn't breathing. "No!" He ran to her, gently lifting her head. "No, no, please don't be dead," he murmured, tear tracks swirling with the dirt on his face.
"You're all alone now," Voldemort taunted behind him. "No reason to live."
"No reason to live."
"NOOO!"
End Dream-
"NOOO!"
"Harry! Harry, wake up!" Ron yelled, moving his friend's shoulder back and forth.
Harry eye's snapped open and he looked at Ron, who looked back at him in concern.
"I had to wake you up because you were screaming. What the hell was that?" Ron asked, sitting down. "It wasn't Voldemort, was it?"
"No, I mean, yes, I mean.." Harry sighed, taking a deep breath. "It wasn't a vision, I don't think. Just a bad dream."
Ron smiled shakily. "Well at least it wasn't a vision."
"Yeah, not a vision," Harry said, ignoring the nauseous feeling that welled deep within his stomach.
"What was it about?"
"I don't really want to- can we just go to breakfast?" he asked, noticing that everyone else had already gone down to the Great Hall. Harry wanted to keep his mind off of that dream as much as possible.
Ron nodded in understanding. "Sure, mate." He was curious as to what had shaken up his best friend so bad, but he didn't want to upset him further. When Harry was ready for him to know, he would tell him.
It had been more than forty-eight hours since Stephanie had spoken to Ginny, but to Stephanie it seemed longer. Dropping a few dragon scales into her potion, Stephanie turned to gaze at her best friend, well, ex best friend. Ginny didn't even acknowledge the fact that she was there, much less her partner. Stephanie knew that when Ginny decided something, she didn't go back on her word. She wouldn't be talking to her unless it had to do with Voldemort and his plan. There wasn't anyway that she could tell Ginny about the plan without someone close to her getting in danger, so that's why she had come up with another alternative.
When class was over, Stephanie pretended to copy the notes off of the board, watching as the other students left the dungeon.
"Ms. Anderson, is there something that you needed?" Professor Snape asked, standing in front of her.
"Yes, actually there was something," Stephanie answered. She looked to the door of the classroom and he followed her line of vision.
"We can discuss it in my office, if you like," he offered. Obviously he knew that there were too many eavesdroppers at Hogwarts.
Stephanie nodded and followed her Head of House into his office, closing the door behind her.
Snape sat at his desk, casting a silencing charm over the room. "Now, what is it that you needed?"
"It's more like having to tell you something," Stephanie replied.
"Alright," Snape said in confusion. Stephanie was one of his star pupils and he had noticed that lately she had been acting very strange. "What do you need to tell me?"
"I know that you're...well you're a..." she stumbled uncomfortably.
"Would you just get one with it, Ms. Anderson? I don't have all day," he said, becoming impatient.
"I know that you're a traitor to Voldemort!" she blurted.
Well that definitely wasn't something he expected her to say. Snape looked at her in shock. "What are you talking about?" he hissed.
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "You don't have to worry about it, I won't tell anyone. Well, I told Draco, but that's beside the point. I found out because I overheard Harry-"
"Potter!" Snape growled. "I should have known that he had something-"
"Are you even listening to me?" Stephanie asked, annoyed. "This doesn't have anything to do with Harry or you for that matter, so would you just shut the hell up and listen?"
Snape narrowed his eyes. "Twenty points from Slytherin for disrespecting a teacher and ten more because it was me that you were talking to."
Stephanie threw up her hands in aggravation. "I could care less if you took away one hundred points! I'm trying to tell you something important!"
"Very well," he said, weirdly amused and a little concerned with her behavior.
"Voldemort is planning something," Stephanie said calmly, but serious.
All amusement of the situation instantly disappeared. "If this is supposed to be some kind of joke-" Snape started angrily.
"Professor Snape, you know me personally," Stephanie interrupted, "do you think that I would ever joke about something like this?" she asked.
He suddenly looked grim. "What do you know?"
Stephanie didn't know any other way to say it, so she just did the only thing that she could do, "Voldemort and Lucius have been planning to kill Arthur Weasley," she deadpanned.
Snape's black eyes widened in shock. "Do you know when they plan to do this?" he practically demanded.
"Draco thought that it would be two to three months. It's been six weeks so far," she told him, guilty that she hadn't figured out to come to him with this sooner.
"You and Draco have know about this for six weeks?" he asked angrily.
Stephanie winced, "Sir, it was complicated. We didn-"
Snape stood up abruptly, "It doesn't matter right now. I have to inform Dumbledore immediately," he opened the door, his permanent scowl back in place, "I'll deal with you and Draco later," with that said, he slammed it behind him.
Snape strode through the halls and twisted through the corridors, heading for his destination. Reaching the statue, he spoke out the password and hurriedly made his way up the spiral staircase. Coming to a stop, he knocked loudly and prayed, for the first time in his life, that Dumbledore would be there.
"Come in," the old man's scruffy tone echoed through the walls.
He walked through the door at his invite, immediately speaking, "Headmaster Dumbledore, I have news of Voldem-" Severus trailed off. Grief and deep sorrow were clearly written into every single wrinkled feature on the Headmaster's face.
And in that moment, he knew.
It was too late.
Evil Cliffhanger? Yeah I know it was. I truly am sorry about that, but doesn't this make things more interesting?
:PLEASE REVIEW: Asking with the puppy dog eyes. Puppy dog eyes always work, don't they?
LilyK