Hermione felt sick, her stomach was churning. She always felt ill when she was nervous and she was nervous now. The thought of standing in front of the whole class and delivering Malfoy's presentation terrified her. She picked up his notes again and scanned them, trying to memorise the points he had set down. It was complicated, apparently he had made a lot of effort on this presentation. She doubted she could do it justice with no time to practice. She was going to mess this up and she knew it. Still, Professor Vector had to give her some leeway, this was not a good situation and it wasn't as if Malfoy had planned on missing class. Her eyes darted to the teachers desk and the Professor. Vector didn't seem to be paying any attention to the presentations at all, she was staring off into space. It wasn't hard to guess what she was thinking about – Malfoy!
Thinking about Malfoy made her feel even worse, she couldn't imagine what he was going through, maybe she didn't want to. She hadn't actually seen what was in that box, but her imagination was doing fine on its own, and that was just making her nausea worse. Her eyes settled on a small doodle in the corner of one of the cards, a dragon twisted and coiled into a jagged letter 'M'. Looking at it brought back the strange sensation of deja-vu that had dogged her all morning. Had she really seen this moment coming? Had the dream been real? The crest was drawn onto the card exactly as she remembered it from the dream, exactly! She knew it was impossible, even ridiculous but the realistic part of her was all but certain that her dream had been real, she had seen the future.
Dragging her mind back to the present, she ran her thumb across the drawing on the card. Looking at it, Hermione recognised the Malfoy family crest from his cufflinks. He had told her that being Malfoy was all he knew, it was all he was. What did that make him now? She set the cards down and held her breath as her stomach churned with renewed vigour. There was a round of applause as Justin and Hannah finished their presentation. Hermione hadn't heard a word of it but she joined in with the applause anyway, it was only polite. There was only one more presentation to go before it was her turn. Her attention returned to the notes in front of her, 'Gotta sort this mess out,' she said to herself. The class continued to show their appreciation for Justin and Hannah. The sound of each clapping hand rocked her. 'How long are they going to applaud them for?' The noise of the class clapping was getting louder.
Hermione shut her eyes against the noise, it continued to drone on. The sound started to hurt her head. She winced in pain as it started to gain rhythm, buzz…buzz…buzz. Her eyes opened as she realised it was her alarm going off. It was time to get up. She was lying in her bed. The card, the presentation had been a dream. She lay there playing it again. Her dreams were definitely becoming more and more vivid. She scratched her head and got up.
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Etean, Draco and Pansy walked along the corridor that led from the Slytherin dorm to the stairs. Pansy was prattling on and on about something or other, Etean tuned her out, adding the odd nod or grunt to feign interest. He looked at Draco strolling beside him, he too was completely ignoring Pansy's attempts at conversation but he wasn't even trying to seem interested. His attention was firmly on the stack of note cards he had in his hand. Etean knew what they were for, Draco had a presentation to deliver this morning. He could sense how tense Draco was even though he tried to hide it. He had claimed that whatever fascination he had had about Hermione was over, but Etean didn't believe him for a second. He knew all too well from personal experience just how hard it was to forget that girl once she was under your skin. He shook his head as he climbed the stairs, this was one situation that he definitely could not help Draco deal with, there was nothing he could do short of physically realigning his mind to make him forget about her and he respected him too much to do that. No, Draco would have to cope with this on his own as best as he could.
They entered the Great Hall and headed to the Slytherin table. Etean looked over and caught Ginny's eye as he sat down. He winked at her, she blushed slightly and smiled back at him. He held eye contact for a moment before a familiar sound filled the air and distracted him. He turned and looked at the ceiling as Regal dropped like a stone through one of the openings. Etean watched as with a mighty screech he fell down and just barely managed to arrest his dive before hitting the ground,
"Great," he heard Pansy exclaim behind him, "It's back," Etean turned to glare at her,
"Regal is not an it," he let his tone fill with ice as he raised his arm and whistled. He held his stare into her eyes, watching them water with effort until he felt Regal land, his claws dug into his forearm, causing the merest twinge of pain,
"Hello boy," he turned back to stroke Regal's feathers, "No post this time eh?" Regal ruffled his feathers and nipped at Etean's hand before turning his head to stare at the pile of bacon on the table. Etean laughed, "Hungry boy?" he asked as he set the bird down. Regal wasted no time in attacking the food. Etean didn't bother to suppress the smirk when he saw how the other Slytherins drew back in fear. Millicent appeared behind him and sat down next to him before she even saw Regal. Based on the look on her face, she probably regretted not paying more attention,
"Is he…dangerous?" Etean looked at her and raised an eyebrow,
"He's an eagle Millicent, not a teddy bear" he reached out and tugged the strip of bacon that Regal was eating out of his beak, smiling as the bird lunged and snatched it back, "A born hunter," he lifted his hand and stroked Regal's head, "but he's not viscous,"
"Well," she raised a hand and hesitated, "can I touch him?" Etean cocked his head to the side,
"I'd say that's up to him wouldn't you?" he nodded to her. Millicent slowly extended her hand toward Regal. He turned to look at her, his beak opened and he puffed up his feathers, a gesture Etean recognised as a warning. He lifted his hand and stopped Millicent,
"Something tells me he doesn't like you," she dropped her hand,
"Oh," her voice sounded nervous, Regal continued to stare at her for a moment before returning to his breakfast, "he wont attack me will he?" Etean laughed,
"Not unless I tell him to," he laughed again at the look of horror in her eyes, "Relax, it's been at least a year since I set him on anyone," she laughed but Etean could tell it was false. She paused and looked down at the table,
"Erm Etean, could you pass me some bacon?" Etean picked up his fork and stabbed a couple of strips for her, keeping them out of Regal's reach as he passed them over. He heard Pansy's exasperated sigh and he turned to her,
"What's up with you?" she pointed at Draco, he was staring at his notes,
"It's like talking to a rock," Etean looked over at Draco, he apparently wasn't even really aware of them, he shrugged,
"Looks to me like he just has a lot on his mind," she rolled her eyes, Etean caught sight of Hermione entering the room out of the corner of his eye. Pansy saw her too,
"I know, and it's all Granger's fault," Etean felt the wave of emotion roll out from Draco, apparently he hadn't tuned the conversation completely. Etean spared him the tiniest sideways glance, his attention was still focussed on his notes, "Fancy the little mudblood bookworm making him do the presentation alone. He should have been excused from it anyway what with his injury and all," Pansy sounded sulky, Draco slapped the note cards down and looked at her,
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here Pansy," he growled, "I don't like it," Pansy stared at him for a moment,
"I was trying to talk to you, but you were ignoring me as usual," she pouted and folded her arms, Draco sighed and picked up his notes again,
"I'm not ignoring you, I'm just busy that's all," he started to read again, "And don't pout, it makes you look ugly." Etean looked over at him as he said that, his voice had been flat but it had an edge that he hadn't heard Draco use before. Pansy scowled and stabbed at her breakfast, stirring the food about but not eating any of it. Neither of them seemed in the mood for any conversation anymore so Etean turned away. His fingers idly ruffled Regal's feathers. Lacking any alternative, he turned to speak to Millicent before the noise of the mail arriving distracted him and he looked up. Regal ruffled his feathers and clicked his beak in disgust as over a hundred owls dropped into the room.
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"Ouch watch where you're going," Hermione hissed as she bounced off the banister. Pain exploded from her side as it hit the stone. The wound in her stomach didn't hurt nearly as bad as it had at first but the bustling of clumsy Gryffindors didn't help matters. Colin Creevy didn't even look back when she scolded him, she barely heard him shout,
"Sorry," over his shoulder as he ran ahead down the stairs. Hermione gingerly rubbed her side then froze, this was familiar. She had been here before, Colin had bumped into her before in that exact way. 'But,' she thought to herself, 'that was a dream.' She shook her head and looked around, everything was familiar, everything was the same. The crowd, the way they moved, the noise they made, everything. She had done this before too, she remembered walking down the stairs feeling the same eerie sense of familiarity. Her mind raced as she remembered the way she had remembered everything in the dream. Remembering that she remembered that she remembered that she…she shook her head to break out of the loop, 'No, it was just a weird dream, ignore it,' she settled her mind and continued down the stairs, trying to ignore the creepy feeling that was nagging at her mind.
Things got worse when she entered the Great Hall. Everyone was sitting exactly where they should be, the way she remembered seeing them. Of the sixth years, Lavender and Pavarti were closest to her, bent over a book that she was strangely certain would turn out to be a Divination text. Ron was further along the table sitting opposite Harry. Harry was focussed on his conversation with Neville and Dean. Ron looked up and stared at her as she headed over to the table to sit down beside Lavender. He watched her but didn't speak to her, something she was glad of. She was still too mad at him to speak to him. Thinking about Ron immediately turned her mind to Malfoy, her eyes instantly darted toward him. He was sitting hunched over with his back to her. She sighed and shook her head, trying to dislodge the hollow feeling in her chest. She looked down at the table, it was laden with food, a dozen different choices for breakfast. None of them interested her anymore.
THUNK! Pavarti moved her arm and knocked her goblet of milk over, spilling it across the tabletop. Hermione's eyes were drawn to the liquid as it spread across the surface, the way it moved brought the eerie sensation back. This was too weird, it was all exactly the same as her dream. But then that would mean…her eyes lifted toward the ceiling, she was scanning the rafters a second before the first wave of owls came into view. A lump formed in her throat as she saw what she was looking for, the single grey owl dropping below the others, loaded down with a large white box. Hermione felt her mouth drop open as she followed its flight toward the Slytherin table.
The owl delivered its load and landed. She saw the huge wings of Eteans golden eagle flap and wave in the air, an open gesture of hostility directed at the newcomer. Hermione saw the owl fly off but she didn't pay it any attention. She watched in agonising suspense as Malfoy straightened and opened the box. The lump in her throat sank and landed like a lead ball in her stomach as she saw him stand up and draw back. His arms flailed as he tripped over the bench and disappeared from view. A chorus of surprised gasps and giggles erupted across the room. Hermione's gaze moved to Pansy Parkinson as she stood and leaned forward. Her mouth opened, she was probably going to ask if Malfoy was alright but she never got the chance. Even from this distance Hermione could see her pale as she looked into the box, she lifted a hand to her mouth and screamed.
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Draco growled under his breath and kept his attention on his notes. He was getting nowhere. The more he read over his notes, the more complicated the presentation seemed to get. He shook his head, stuffed the cards into his robes and sighed, he was as ready as he was going to be. He looked up to see Regal staring at him, the look the bird was giving him made him uneasy. He was about to ask Etean to call it off when the bird looked away, turning to look upwards at the ceiling. The bird fluffed itself up and made a sound with its beak that seemed to Draco to be strangely like 'Harrumph.' He turned to see what the bird was staring at, the air above his head was filled with owls. One in particular, a large grey bird that Draco didn't recognise was headed along the Slytherin table carrying a large white box. The bird dropped the box in front of Draco. It hit the table with a thud as the bird landed beside Regal. Draco reached out to the box then drew back as Regal drew up and raised his wings in a show of aggression. The owl that had delivered the box was clearly afraid of him, it turned and flew off. Etean reached out and stroked Regal, the bird calmed instantly and went back to devouring the bacon on the table.
Draco returned his attention to the package, it was a gilt card box with a golden trim, tied with a heavy purple ribbon. There was a card attached to it. Draco pulled it free and opened it. A tight cramp of fear tightened in his gut as he read it,
'To my son,
Lucius,'
"What is it?" Etean asked. Draco felt numb, his fingers trembled as he passed the card to Etean. He turned back to the package and undid the ribbon. Taking a deep breath he lifted the lid,
"No…" he stammered and stood up. His mind flashed, stuttered, spun, and then caved in on itself. All thoughts and conscious awareness disappeared, buried and crushed by the sudden terrible pain and fear that filled him. The back of his legs encountered the bench and he fell, watching the world spin around him for a second before he hit the ground. His head collided with the tile and stars exploded in front of his eyes. The world seemed to be moving in slow motion, he heard people laughing, the sound echoed in his mind. Then Pansy screamed.
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Etean took the card, he could tell Draco was worried by it. He frowned as he read it.
"Oh, Draco got more sweets!" Millicent cooed in his ear, "He always gets really nice sweets sent to him," her tone became sour, "he hardly ever shares them though," Etean turned to her, palming the card before she could read it, he fixed the mask on, keeping a firm mental eye on Draco as he spoke,
"Is that right?" she nodded,
"He keeps them all to himself, we hardly ever even see them,"
"Terrible, don't you get sweets sent to you?" she shook her head and tried to make herself look sad,
"Not as nice as the ones he gets. All Mother ever sends me is…" Etean tuned her out as he felt the panic explode out from Draco, he turned to look at him as he stood up. Etean reached out to read him but Draco's mind was frozen, he could determine no clear thought from him. Draco tripped and fell back, vanishing from sight. The table exploded with gasps of astonishment. Pansy bounced to her feet and shouted at Draco, getting halfway through asking him what had happened before she froze. Etean looked up at her, she was staring into the box on the table. She lifted her hand to her mouth and screamed.
Etean stood up and looked into the box,
"Merlin's ghost," he exclaimed. He looked down at Draco, he was lying on his back staring straight ahead. He turned to Pansy, she was still staring at the box. Millicent stood up to see what was going on, Etean grabbed the lid of the box and slammed it home before she or anyone else could see. He waved his hand and magically retied the ribbons as Draco got up and bolted for the door,
"Shit," he turned to follow him, Millicent stopped him,
"What is it?" he shook her off,
"Not now Millicent," she reached for the box, Etean stopped her, "No," he barked, "Just leave it. Regal," he pointed at the bird and snapped his fingers and pointed to the box, "Take it to Dumbledore," he heard flapping as Regal responded to his command. Trusting that none of the Slytherins would dare interfere with Regal as he took the package away, he jumped over the bench and took off after Draco. He charged out of the Great Hall. Draco had a good start on him, he was already clearing the doors before Etean even caught sight of him. Swallowing a curse, Etean stopped and pointed at Draco's legs,
"Bindus," he winced slightly in pain as the spell jumped from his fingertips and shot at Draco, it collided with his legs and locked them. Draco went tumbling over and landed in a heap by the door, he spun over and glared at Etean as he crossed over to him,
"What are you doing?" his voice was shaky,
"Keeping you from making a mistake," Etean hunkered down as Draco struggled to move his legs and stand up,
"Let me go," Etean looked at him, he could feel the anger and fear in him,
"No," he said quietly, anything else would have sounded hollow. Draco glared at him,
"Let me go now Etean," Etean knew full well where Draco wanted to go, Lucius plan was all too clear,
"I can't let you go Draco," he was aware that other students were beginning to flood into the hall, for now they were keeping their distance, Etean kept his voice low so they wouldn't hear, "That's what he wants," Draco sat up and lashed out, seizing Etean's neck. Etean felt his fingers close around his throat, cutting off his air supply,
"I'm going to kill him," Etean ignored every reflex he had to pull away and stared at Draco,
'No,' he couldn't speak so he sent the thought, 'You are going to get yourself killed, and you will accomplish nothing,' he put a lot of force in the last part, more than he really intended to. Draco reeled for a moment then tightened his grip on Etean's throat,
"Stay out of my head Etean," Etean didn't move, he just continued to stare into Draco's eyes, watching as the storm of emotion raged inside him. Fear fuelled anger, blind anger that, now that he couldn't go anywhere, had nowhere else to go but toward Etean. Draco's eyes filled with tears, his arm started to tremble but his grip remained constant. He gasped, the breath he had been holding shot out of him as the tears started to flow. He closed his eyes and shook his head. Etean watched as he tried and failed to keep the anger constant. Etean knew what he was feeling, he didn't need to read his mind, he could remember it all to well. The pain was too much, thinking hurt, living hurt. Anger was a shield, it was the only way to hide from the pain, but it didn't last long, it couldn't. Already he could see it fade away. Draco's eyes opened and he looked at him again, his arm trembled harder and harder, his breathing became ragged and shallow.
Draco released his grip, Etean rocked forward onto his knees as Draco lowered his head into his hands. Ignoring the pain in his throat, Etean reached out and laid his hand on Draco's shoulder. He looked up to see half the school standing about, staring at them. Then he heard Dumbledore's voice boom around the Entrance Hall, ordering everyone to leave. Reluctantly, they complied. Etean saw them start to break up before he was surrounded by teachers and bustled out of the room.
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Hermione ignored the pain in her gut as countless people collided with her in the rush to leave the Great Hall. Everybody wanted to know what was going on, why Malfoy had rushed out like that. Lavender and Pavarti were gasping and hopping on the tips of their toes, trying to see over the heads of the people in front of them. Hermione didn't share their obvious excitement, it was morbid dread that drove her on. In the crowd of curious students she felt alone, they were all seeking to find out what happened, hoping for it to be something good, a good bit of gossip to talk about. She was growing more and more certain that she knew what it was and was hoping, no, praying that she was wrong. She pushed and shoved her way forward to find her path blocked. Professor Dumbledore along with Professors Snape and McGonagall were charging through the crowd. Dumbledore's presence alone was enough to restore order.
When he reached the front of the crowd, the Headmaster turned and addressed them,
"I want this hall cleared immediately," his voice had a stronger edge to it than Hermione ever remembered hearing, "All students should report to their respective classrooms immediately and await their teachers. All those who do not have a class to attend should return to their common rooms and stay there." Nobody in Hogwarts would ever dare to argue with Dumbledore, with an almost tangible air of disappointment the students started to disperse, Hermione found herself carried along with them. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't pay any attention to where she was going and, by the time she realised, she was halfway to the Divination Room,
"Shit," she shouted, Lavender and Pavarti spun to look at her,
"Hermione!" they said in unison, apparently surprised at her language,
"What are you doing here?" Pavarti frowned at her, Hermione shook her head,
"I wasn't watching where I was going," she turned around and headed off, "I have to get to Arithmancy," Hermione dodged through the crowd that was moving against her as she ran as fast as she could through the corridors. She checked her watch as she turned the last corner, she was five minutes late for class,
"Damn it!" she exclaimed then stopped in her tracks. Professor Vector was pacing in circles outside the door. As she approached she saw that the usually stoic Professor was upset, really upset. Her face was pale and she was sweating, Hermione could hear her babbling to herself. The Professor didn't seem to notice her standing there, it wasn't until she reached out and actually touched her arm that Vector saw her. When she did, she jumped, making Hermione jump too,
"Sorry Professor, I didn't mean to scare you,"
"What?" she sounded confused, "Oh, Miss Granger what are you doing out here? You should be in class, shouldn't you?" Hermione nodded,
"I know, I'm late, sorry Professor," Vector nodded,
"Yes well," she waved her hand in a circular motion, "run along then, don't let me keep you," Hermione was confused,
"Em, Professor," she pointed to the door, "You're supposed to be teaching the class," Vector turned to look at the door. After a moment, she laughed and shook her head,
"Why yes, I am. I don't know how I forgot, where is my head this morning," she made to step forward and open the door. She paused and turned back to look at Hermione again, "Oh, I almost forgot," her tone changed as she changed the subject. She reached inside her robes and drew out a stack of cards which she handed to Hermione, "Here, Mr. Malfoy…" she paused, a visible shudder went through her, "He will not be attending class, you will have to give the presentation for your project alone I'm afraid," she made to open the door, Hermione reached out and stopped her,
"Professor, what's going on? What happened in the Great Hall earlier," the words came to her as if she was reading a script, everything was still playing out exactly as she remembered it. Vector turned to her, she had to struggle to keep herself from speaking Vector's response along with her,
"I'm…not sure I should discuss that with you Miss Granger, the Headmaster asked that we not discuss it with the students,"
"Please, I…I have to know Professor. Tell me," Vector considered it for a moment then sighed,
"It seems Mr. Malfoy received a package…from his father,"
"What was in the package?" Hermione felt herself start to shake, Vector stared at her, then paled even further, she opened her mouth to respond, then hesitated and closed it again. She shook her head, then whispered,
"It was his mother's head!"
A/N: Ouch!!! Sorry for all of you that were feeling sorry for Draco before, I guess you really are now eh?
Trust me, it had to happen.