Later that week, the Gryffindors ended their day with transfiguration. Despite the fate of the world hanging in the balance literally and politically, Hermione still found time to worry about her NEWTs. She was grateful for professor McGonagall who was strict through and had even given them a talk in their very first session of the career opportunities that awaited them after getting NEWTs in her subject. Hermione had been performing exceptionally as usual so when the Professor asked stay a bit after class, she was more curious than worried. Once the students had left, McGonagall shut the doors of the classroom and a red magical wave passed around the classroom.
"Have a seat Ms. Granger…" McGonagall said taking a seat herself
Hermione sat down still unsure of what this was about
"Ms. Granger, I wanted to commend you on your quick thinking on last Saturday night, you quite literally saved the headmaster's life… However, in the future do refrain from making an instant portkey, the explanation and paperwork is exhaustive and tedious… and the ministry as you know is no friend of Dumbledore's at the moment…"
"I'm so sorry mam… it was the first thing that came to mind…" She said genuinely apologetic
"No need to apologise, I merely indicating that I expect you to get your apparition licence this august…" She smiled a little and Hermione relaxed a bit "… Now…I understand that the purpose of your visit was to discover a Horcrux?" McGonagall asked
"I uh…" Hermione began confused how much to share
"… Miss granger I assure you Sirius has filled me in on the details of your…. Excursion with the headmaster… I will have you know, I think that was reckless and foolish of him… you… however miss Granger, are anything but…" McGonagall finished with a gentleness Hermione didn't know the witch could possess "Now, I have a task of my own for you… you will find it has a twofold objective… However, I must insist you keep the details of this a secret from Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley…"
Hermione was unsure but she nodded
"This is about Malfoy… I am aware that you are both… well seeing each other…" McGonagall said sternly "… as I'm sure you're aware, he has been marked by the dark lord as a Death Eater and he has been given a very specific mission… He needs to fix the vanishing cabinet in the room of lost things that manifests in the Room of Requirement…"
"Why?"
"So that the Death Eaters can attack Hogwarts… I believe they want to train the students young and keep them here as captives to be able to control most to the Wizarding families in Britain…" McGonagall said with venomous disgust
"With all due respect Professor, Draco wouldn't… He has friends here…" Hermione said remembering his warning to her. Suddenly everything was making sense
"I'm afraid young Mr. Malfoy might not have any choice in the matter… the point is I want you to help him and keep me apprised of his progress so that the order can take the necessary steps…" McGonagall said
"You want me to spy on him…" Hermione said flatly
"Not so much as spy, as having a separate task altogether in the same room…" McGonagall said shrewdly
"Separate task?"
"Yes… You see we've discovered that the Dark Lord made more than one Horcrux… so far we have found a locket belonging to Slytherin, a chalice belonging to Hufflepuff and Tom Riddle's Diary that Mr. Potter destroyed in his second year… We believe that there may be something belonging to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw that were made into a horcrux… While we aren't sure what it could be, I am of the opinion that one of them might be hidden in the room of lost things… you see many years ago, when I had just started teaching at Hogwarts, Tom Riddle had come to ask Dumbledore for a job as the Defence agents the Dark arts professor… I believe he like Professor Slughorn wanted to recruit as many bright young minds as possible and radicalise them at an early age… He was denied the job and apparently he cursed the position… or so it has been believed… regardless, the point is that when he had come to visit headmaster Dumbledore, all the staff offices were located on the 7th floor…"
Hermione's eyes glimmered with understanding
"here…"McGonagall said handing her a slip case "This is a record of all known artefacts of the Hogwarts founders that have surfaced over the years only to have disappeared again… a friend helped me procure it… I need you to look for anything from this list that you can find in there… I doubt Mr. Malfoy will mind your company…" she finished evenly "and miss granger… please do let me know the whereabouts of your parents… after the last meeting of the order, I send Kingsely to check in on them and set some wards and alarms on the house but they were not there… No one seemed to know where they had gone… You are one of our own, we will do everything in our power to keep your family safe…"
Hermione's eyes teared up a little. She took deep breaths to control herself
"What is it child…" McGonagall said reaching across the table and placing a hand on her shoulder as Hermione sobbed uncontrollably "Hermione… please tell me what has upset you?"
Hermione wiped her eyes and looked up sniffling. She stood up and said "Don't worry professor my parents are safe. I won't let you down…" she said gesturing at the slip case in her hand before McGonagall could say anything else she ran out of the classroom.
—
Draco and Hermione we assigned to the north wing of the castle for their rounds. Draco had flirted endlessly with Hermione as they made their way up to the Astronomy tower. Hermione ran up first as Draco chased her. It was a beautiful night. Hermione was almost grateful for the lack of electricity in the Wizarding world as the night sky was always dazzling and the full moon was more glorious than ever…
"The moon shines bright. In such a night as this. When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees and they did make no noise, in such a night…." She said as the braze swept the curls from her face
"Shakespeare…" Draco whispered holding her from behind
"I see you've been borrowing books from Blaise…" She turned to face him
"Don't tell my mother…" He smirked and then kissed her
When they broke apart she said "This is exactly what we're here to ensure no other students do…"
"Good thing we have a badge that makes us different form them…" He said trailing kisses down her jaw as she ran her hands into his hair
"You are a bad influence on me…" She moaned
"The worst…" He said making her erupt in gooseflesh as he sucked on a vein on her neck
Their hands slipped under each other's shirts as their lips reunited and Draco pushed her against the stone wall. They touched and stroked and grabbed and rubbed against each other as if wanting to melt into a single being. She felt him get hard and she pushed him gently to seat him on the stair as she sat in his lap and ground into him
"'Mione…" He moaned
"I want you…" she breathed in his ear
"Here…" He asked
"Now…" She trailed kisses along his neck as she unbuttoned his shirt
He pulled her sweater off and peeled off her bra to suck on her pert nipple while rolling the other one between his fingers. She threw her head back in pleasure and ground harder into him. Her hands undid his pants and began to stroke him. His ministrations had already soaked her underwear. He reached under her skirt and pushing her underwear to the side dug two fingers into her and began to pump her. He cupped her butt with the other hand and his mouth worked its magic on her chest.
Hermione slipped off him and took his member in her mouth. It was Draco's turn to moan and loose all sense of reason. He held her head as licked, sucked and swirled her tongue around tingling every finer of his body. When he was close he lifted her head off and kissed her. Reaching for his wand he cast the contraceptive charm on her as she lowered herself onto him. They rocked against each other till they climaxed, panting and kissing.
Hermione got off and cast a Tergeo on the both of them cleaning them up. Draco accioed her clothing before he began to button up himself. When they were both decent, he cast a scourfigy on the steps just to be sure and pulled Hermione into the balcony of the astronomy tower
"I love you…" He said looking deeply into her eyes
Hermione started to respond but he put a finger to her lips
"no.. shush… let me finish… I love you and I can't tell you how I nearly died that day when you got snatched. Just the sight of you in my house with Nott Sr there… Please 'mione… I can't ever and I mean it EVER let anything happen to you. It's only going to get worse and messy from here and I KNOW" he said shushing her as she began to protest "I know, I know you love me and you are a brave, loyal and strong Gryffindor, but please, when England turns into a battlefield, I really don't want you to be here… And if you won't do it for me, then please, do it for your parents…"
Hermione sighed "Draco… my parents are safe… "
"The order and their pathetic wards are not going to keep your parents safe!" Draco said snapping "even if they do, what if your parents get snatched on the way to their practice? What then!"
"They won't okay… Just trust me…" She said getting hysteric
"You don't know! Hermione you really don't! That man is in my house! In the wing that was meant to be mine! I see what he does to muggles on a daily basis, I have been to revels and I promise you! You do not want your parents to end up as the entertainment for one of them! Just listen to me…"
"NO! You listen… that will never happen!"
"How can you be sure?!"
"I can!"
"How!" Draco shook her grabbing her by the shoulders
"Because I wiped their memories and changed their identity and sent them off to Australia!" Hermione yelled and then broke down into sobs crumpling to the floor
Draco was left standing stunned staring into nothing as Hermione sobbed uncontrollably. He looked down at her and slowly sat down in front of her asking softly "Hermione… please tell me that was lie…"
She just shook her head sniffling
Draco covers his mouth in shock. He took a few deep breaths to come to grips with the grit of this amazing woman in front of him. He then pulled her into a hug and held on tightly with one hand as the other stroked her head whispering reassurances
"It's okay… I've got you… I get it… you had to… you can cry… I've got you… you've got me… I'll be your family… don't worry… you're a good witch…"
That night Blaise kept waiting but Draco never made it to the Room of Requirement. The nip in autumn air also had the decency to disappear as Draco held Hermione who'd fallen asleep in his arms after finally crying her heart out.
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