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Chapter Eighteen

The Fireplace

Hermione swallowed, reading again the four words written at the bottom of the first page of the book that indicated who owned it.

Giorgio Malfoy himself had written it in his own handwriting.

Was it a diary of his life as a Veela? And why didn't Draco want her to read it?

With trembling hands, Hermione turned the next page.

It was all written in Italian.

Sighing, she reached her right hand into her coat pocket and grabbed her wand.

Something told her this was a very, very bad idea. Draco would be furious if he found out that she had read a single paragraph of that diary.

But curiosity was too strong.

Placing the tip of her wand on the book, Hermione hesitated again.

His words just before they had their first date made her heart shrink.

I trust you, Granger.

If she went through with it, she would be betraying that trust that had been so hard to win.

But he had promised never to lie again, and she knew he wasn't telling her the whole truth.

Hermione pursed her lips, staring down at Giorgio Malfoy's cursive handwriting.

All she had to do was mutter the duplicating spell and she would create a copy of that diary in less than a second. She could put it in her handbag and read it later without Draco knowing what she had done, using the translator spell.

But Hermione couldn't see herself betraying him like that. Draco had become important in her life, he was helping her with her bill without asking for anything in return, and it hadn't even been a week since they'd started sharing kisses.

Would she ever be able to look him in the face again if she did this?

Her wand trembled over the pages but she didn't move, indecision torturing her mind.

She wanted to know the truth, though she didn't want to throw away her good relationship with Draco.

Hermione let out a long sigh. She wished Harry was around so she could ask his opinion.

What should she do?

"What are you doing here?"

Hermione gasped, dropping the book. Several yellowed pages peeled away and scattered across the floor.

The bathroom door was open and Draco had stepped out wrapped in a dark green bathrobe. His gaze dropped to her feet and Hermione saw his eyes widen as he recognised the diary.

When he looked back into her eyes, the coldness she detected on his face made her shiver.

With four long strides, he was in front of her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Granger?" he asked, slurring his words with hatred.

Hermione closed her eyes, cursing herself inwardly. She had given it too much thought and now he had caught her with his precious book in her hands.

"Sorry," she mumbled, opening them again and pointing her wand at the diary. "Reparo," she added, and the loose pages fell back into place.

Draco bent down and picked up the small silver book, standing up again.

Hermione looked into his eyes and could almost see the fire in them. He was really angry.

"You come into my room without permission, and you think you have the right to snoop through my things," he hissed, clenching his free hand until his knuckles turned white.

A silvery glow appeared around his irises and his whole body began to tremble. Hermione tensed, knowing what was about to happen.

The huge silver wings appeared behind him, piercing through his green bathrobe without shredding it. The long nails of his left hand were digging into the spine of the diary so Draco threw it onto his bed.

Hermione stiffened, unable to look away from his face.

"No... I didn't come through the door. I appeared here by using the Floo Network," she whispered, pointing with her hand to the fireplace at the foot of the bed.

His eyes narrowed.

"Liar. Only I can use that entrance."

She clenched her fists, the rage making her react.

"I'm not lying."

Draco clenched his jaw, arching one of his eyebrows.

"And you didn't take that book without permission either, did you?" he pointed to the diary with a jerk of his chin.

She sighed, looking away from him.

"I couldn't resist when I saw it but I didn't read anything."

Draco snorted, unclenching his fists and taking a step closer to her.

"As usual, the insufferable know-it-all can't control herself even when it means invading someone else's privacy."

Hermione gasped, feeling a painful knot inside her. It had been years since anyone had referred to her that way.

Tears were gathering in her eyes but she blinked them away and stood up, pointing a finger at Draco.

"Don't call me that! I know you're keeping things from me!"

"You're not ready to know the whole fucking truth!" he shouted, taking another step closer with angry eyes.

She flinched and Draco blanched, backing up until his back hit the wall.

"Do you think I would hurt you, Granger?"

She didn't answer, though the pounding of her heart gave her away. Draco brought a hand to his face and ran it through his hair in frustration.

"You're afraid of me..."

Hermione hesitated as he turned his back to her.

"It's not that, Draco. It's just that I've never seen you this angry before, and I..."

"Go away."

He'd said it so quietly that Hermione wasn't sure if she'd imagined it.

"What?"

"Leave, Granger. I want to be alone."

The lump in her throat wouldn't let her reply. Hermione nodded, walking slowly towards the fireplace. She grabbed a handful of powder and looked over her shoulder, thinking of what she could say to make Draco understand why she had done it.

He was still avoiding her gaze and had leaned both arms against the wall, hiding his face between them.

It broke her heart. Hermione shook her head and a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

As soon as he heard the roar of flames, Draco let out a groan.

"Fuck," he growled, slamming his fist against the wall.

The day was going from bad to worse.

Harry and Ron looked at each other as they heard the fireplace in the living room.

"Hermione? You're back already?" Harry asked in surprise.

He stood up and walked out into the hallway, looking for his friend and freezing at the sight of her tears.

"What happened?"

Ron was next to him in an instant with a frown on his face.

Hermione was walking down the hallway with slow steps, her hands covering her face. They both heard her sobs and Harry approached her, wrapping his arms around her.

"Are you all right?" he questioned in a whisper.

She rested her forehead on his shoulder, shaking her head.

"Enough. That ferret's going to hear me," Ron hissed, walking past them to the living room.

Hermione grabbed his shirt with a hand, pulling at him to stop him.

Ron cursed under his breath but sighed as he felt Hermione grip his shirt tighter. He took a step back and joined the hug, resting his chin on her head.

"I'm going to make some tea and you can tell us what happened. Is that all right?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently.

At her nod, Ron sighed again and disappeared behind the kitchen door.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Harry insisted in a concerned voice.

She let out a shaky breath, grimacing as she saw that his shirt was wet with her tears.

"I've screwed up, Harry. I don't know if he's going to forgive me," she murmured, sinking her face into his neck.

Harry pulled her tighter into his arms, snorting and rolling his eyes.

"Of course he'll forgive you, he's crazy about you. Come on, it'll do you good to have a hot drink."

Without letting go, he walked with her to the kitchen where Ron was sitting in one of the chairs, arms folded and looking grim-faced as he waited for them.

"If he's done something bad to you, I'm going to..."

"He didn't do anything to me, Ron. It was my fault," Hermione cut him off, turning away from Harry and wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

"Why are you crying, then?" he asked, confused.

She let out a sigh.

"I don't want to talk about it right now."

Harry nodded, waving his wand until the teapot rose above their heads and poured the tea into the three mugs.

"Take your time, Hermione. We're here for you."

Draco heard the door to his room creak open but he didn't move. He was lying on his bed face down, the room completely dark.

His mother's soft footsteps circled the mattress until she sat on the edge.

"I thought you were back at Grimmauld Place by now, but Rinny told me you were here," Narcissa murmured, reaching up to run a hand through her son's blond hair.

"I'm not going back," he replied, his voice muffled on the pillow.

Narcissa sighed.

"Why are you so depressed?"

Draco turned his head until he could look her in the eye and saw her frown. He probably didn't look too good after what he'd been through.

"I've fucked everything up, Mother."

She gave him a small smile.

"You're overly dramatic, Draco. I'm sure it's no big deal."

Draco shook his head, sinking it back into the pillow.

"Granger's afraid of me. I thought she knew I could never hurt her."

"And why did she get scared?" Narcissa asked, her hand still stroking his hair.

He hesitated.

"I... I might have been too angry with her."

"You need to learn to control your emotions better, my dear. I can understand why Hermione might have been scared if..."

"I've even transformed," he added, interrupting her.

Narcissa gasped in surprise.

"Well, you must have been really angry. Why?"

Draco clenched his jaw and rolled onto his side.

"I was in a bad mood because I'd overheard her talking about... another man with Weasley. When I came out of the bathroom, Granger was here and she had Giorgio's diary in her hands."

Despite the darkness, he saw his mother's blue eyes open wider. She hadn't expected that answer.

"Hermione read the diary?"

"And she came in here without asking permission. She said she appeared in my fireplace when she tried to come to the manor, but she was lying."

Narcissa pursed her lips, remaining silent for a moment.

"She's your soulmate, Draco... Perhaps the ancestral magic of this house has recognised her as such and that is why it has allowed her access to your room."

He snorted, shifting the pillow until he could wrap his arms around it.

"It doesn't matter now. Granger won't want anything to do with me after what's happened, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to trust her again."

Narcissa groaned, holding a hand to her face and rubbing her temple.

"Everything has a solution, son. Have some rest and talk to her tomorrow."

"No."

Draco grunted as he felt his mother's hand punching his back.

"Don't be stubborn. You have to fix this, and you will do it tomorrow," she added in a hard voice, narrowing her eyes in his direction.

He said nothing and his mother walked away, leaving him alone with his thoughts again.

Draco tried to imagine himself going to Potter's house, looking for Granger to talk to her, staring into her eyes again...

No, he didn't want to do that. She had betrayed him and, besides, it scared him to think of what she might have read.

What if she already knew everything?

'Shit.'

"Minsy."

The elf appeared at the foot of his bed a second later.

"Master Draco?"

He moved until he was sitting on the mattress.

"I want you to block the entrance to my room with your magic."

The little elf gasped but Draco ignored her.

"No one can go through that door again, Minsy."

"But, Master Draco..."

"I want you to seal it," Draco insisted in a cold voice.

Minsy swallowed, nodding.

"Okay, Master. Minsy will seal it."

Narcissa was walking down the corridor of the west wing when she heard the irritated voices of several people. She followed the noise until she reached the front of the manor, where she found a very overwhelmed Rinny arguing with his son's three best friends.

"Tell him we want to see him! He can't keep avoiding us any longer," Pansy snarled, kicking the floor angrily.

"Calm down, Pansy. It's not the elf's fault," Theo mumbled, draping an arm around her shoulders and pointing at the little creature with his green eyes.

She clicked her tongue, crossing her arms.

"It's the second day he hasn't shown his face! I want to know what's wrong with him."

"Rinny can't get into Master Malfoy's bedroom. It's sealed with elven magic and Minsy stays inside with the Master. No one can enter until she lifts the spell."

Pansy was grunting something under her breath just as she noticed Narcissa's presence.

"Hello again, dears," the woman greeted, approaching them slowly.

"Is that idiot still locked up?" Pansy asked, her lips twisting downwards.

"I'm afraid so."

"This is the second time he's refused to see us," Blaise commented, rolling his eyes.

"It's not just you. My son doesn't want to see anyone."

"Why is he like this?" Theo asked, puzzled.

The three Slytherins looked at Narcissa who let out a long sigh.

"He's been having trouble with Hermione and he knew I was going to force him to go and talk to her, so he's locked himself in."

Blaise furrowed his brow.

"Did they have an argument?"

"Something like that," Narcissa muttered, rolling her eyes. "I think it was more of a misunderstanding, but Draco doesn't want to try and sort it out."

Pansy snorted so loudly that Rinny jumped.

"Stubborn as ever," she protested, turning away from Theo and backing away to the main fireplace. "I won't be long. I'm going to find Granger."

Before anyone could stop her, she disappeared into the green flames.

Narcissa watched the two boys and clicked her tongue.

"I was going to give him one more day to change his mind, and then I'd have blown up the wall. Draco wasn't going to be able to hide much longer."

Theo and Blaise chuckled.

"I'd love to see that," Theo confessed with sparkling eyes.

Hermione emerged from the fireplace at Grimmauld Place. Harry, who was sitting on the sofa reading a magazine, looked up and smiled at her.

"Did he come?"

Just like the day before, his smile faded and he shook his head.

"Malfoy hasn't been here. How was work?"

She sighed, moving over to the sofa and sitting down next to him.

"Fine. Harry... Do you think I should write to him?"

His friend looked down at his fingernails.

"Do you think he'd write back?"

The answer came to her mind immediately.

'No.'

Draco was hurt and he was very proud. If she sent him an owl, chances were he wouldn't reply.

She rested her head on Harry's shoulder, sighing.

"It's been two days since I've heard from him, and I'm worried that something might happen to him because we haven't seen each other for so long."

Harry rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"Nothing's going to happen to him for a couple of days, Hermione. Maybe he's taking some time to think, but tomorrow I'll go and talk to Narcissa and ask her about him."

"Thank you, Harry," she said, smiling up at him.

"And I'll drag Malfoy here if I have to," he added in a low voice.

Hermione giggled.

"You're the best."

"I know."

They were both startled when the flames in the fireplace roared again, changing to emerald. And they were even more surprised when they saw Pansy Parkinson emerge among them.

The Slytherin girl shook the front of her dress and gave them a reproachful look.

"So touching. You know Draco suffers if you're that close to her, don't you, Potter?" she hissed, raising an eyebrow.

"Not if he doesn't see it. What are you doing in my house, Parkinson?" Harry questioned, turning away from his friend and furrowing his brow.

Hermione raised her head as well, watching Parkinson with curiosity and some trepidation.

She was Draco's best friend. What if something bad had happened?

Parkinson narrowed her eyes in Harry's direction but didn't add anything else. Her gaze turned to Hermione, who couldn't help but tense up.

"You have to come with me, Granger."

"Where to?" she asked in surprise.

Parkinson rolled her eyes, clicking her tongue.

"What do you think, that we're going shopping together?"

Harry stood up.

"Don't talk to her like that."

"Shut up, Potter. We're going to Malfoy Manor, Granger. Draco is being stupid and someone has to do something."

Hermione got to her feet as well, feeling her heartbeat quicken.

"What's wrong with him? Is he all right?"

"We don't know, though I suppose he is. That elf wouldn't have kept obeying him if she saw that Draco was in danger."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Hermione insisted, growing increasingly worried.

"It's a long story, Granger. Come on, let's go," Pansy said, stepping closer to her and grabbing one of her arms.

Hermione looked back, exchanging a confused glance with Harry, and stepped through the green flames with Pansy.

A few seconds later they appeared in the entrance hall of the manor. Blaise, Theo and Narcissa's eyes locked on both of them.

"How quick," Blaise muttered, giving them a crooked grin.

"Granger's going to knock on his door. Maybe he'll answer it," Pansy commented without pausing, walking past them.

"He's not going to open the door, Pansy. Not even to her," Narcissa murmured, sighing heavily.

Hermione tugged on her arm, stopping her, and Pansy grimaced as she looked back at her.

"Do you have a better idea, Granger?"

"Actually, yes, I do. I can get in through the fireplace in his room."

The three Slytherins furrowed their brows at the same time.

"Only Draco can use it," said Blaise.

"Well, I appeared there two days ago," Hermione replied, tilting her head to look at Narcissa.

She was silent, one of her blonde eyebrows raised.

"Is that possible?" Theo asked, searching the woman's gaze.

Narcissa cleared her throat and pointed to the fireplace with her hand.

"Just try it, dear."

Hermione nodded, smiling in her direction.

"I'll try to reason with him, though I don't think he'll listen to me."

Hermione retraced her steps, re-entering the huge fireplace. She threw a handful of Floo powder and green flames surrounded her. She closed her eyes, thinking of Draco and his bedroom.

"Malfoy Manor."

Pansy, Theo and Blaise gasped as she disappeared.

"Did it work?" Pansy asked, very surprised.

Narcissa was smiling.

"My son is in for a big surprise."