Hello again, I was looking at my story the other day, and I realized that it might be grammatically incorrect but I am trying. Reviews are nice, and I hope my story is worth reading to you guys.
Yay another update!
So yeah, I just want you to know that I spend a lot of time on each chapter in order create a realistic Dramione fanfiction that is in character while doing a plot that hasn't been overdone. Well that's what I am trying to do, not sure about how I am actually doing it. So let me know thoughts.
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Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter nor do I own any lyrics that I quote in each chapter.
Chapter Twenty
Headstrong
"Circling your head,
Contemplating everything you ever said,
Now I see the truth I got a doubt,
A different motive in your eyes,
And now I'm out, see you later,
I see your fantasy,
You want to make it a reality paved in gold,
See inside, inside of our heads, yeah,
Well, now that's over,
I see your motives inside,
Decisions to hide…"
Headstrong by Trapt
Friday October 18th, 1996
One in the afternoon- Inside the Hospital Wing
Wincing from the how sore she felt while tugging on a black over coat overtop her dress robes, Pansy sighed softly to herself while she looked out the windowpane in the direction of the ashen sky. It was the first day this week that it wasn't raining, which meant tomorrow was most likely the rescheduled Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and today she was allowed to leave the hospital wing.
"I'd like to know the logic behind, 'If you go missing for less than a day then you must spend just short of a week in bed afterwards'… It's completely mental." Pansy muttered sharply while she gathered the rest of her things off the side table and turned around to see Draco standing there at the foot of the bed.
"Going missing while on school grounds warranted you some extra time for you to rest while the school took additional measures to ensure the school was still safe," he spoke with confidence, the kind one could only pull off when being said by a Malfoy. "Whatever that means, and as for it being a week, I recall how you were found unconscious and not to mention injured, incidentally with no recollection of the past month or so…"
Scoffing loudly, she started towards him slowly, unsure about how much she should let on about what she knew. She sighed as she gave him a small shrug while she pursed her lips together in annoyance and stopped in front of him to reach up and straighten the neckline of his suit. It wasn't that she wanted to keep secretes from her friends, but after what happened, in the moment, she decided faking memory loss was her best course of action. Well, until she had the right plan to move forward which needed to be thought out with care so that nothing could go wrong.
"No recollection, right, there's that I guess." She huffed handing him a small bag of her things to help her back to the Slytherin dormitories while he took it she noticed that his facial expression remained the same.
Wanting to avoid that subject, she started walking quickly out of the Wing and into the hallway knowing just behind her was a newly suspicious Malfoy. It wasn't as if she wanted to keep him in the dark, she just had to keep her story sound, believable in every way, thus there needed to be no room for error.
"What are you on about Parkinson?" he inquired causing her to glance over her shoulder as he stopped walking. Keeping Draco as well as the rest of the school in the dark about her lack of missing memories was priority, even if meant lying to him about it.
"Nothing really, it just seems a bit excessive to me is all," she said while she started walking once more down a set of stairs. "And didn't that mudblood Granger lose a bit of her memory as well? She didn't have to stay in bed for a week… just saying."
"Are you comparing yourself to Granger over there Parkinson?" Draco asked with a hint of amusement in his voice while he followed closely behind her.
The statement alone made her eyes widen in disgust causing her to stop walking. Shaking her head vigorously, Pansy groaned while they stood upon a spiral staircase leading down to the dungeons. She then looked over to see Malfoy who glanced quickly towards his watch that was in hand right before he placed it back inside his pocket.
'That's odd. Where in Salazar's name did he need to be?' she wondered to herself, the she looked at him closely only to see that he looked tired and somewhat irritated about something. Narrowing her eyes she choose to pretend as if she hadn't saw it and decided that she would find out what was wrong eventually.
"You are absolutely right, I obviously needed the time to rejuvenate and I probably need more time if I compared myself to that rubbish." She scoffed aloud looking over towards him one last time before she continued walking down and out of the staircase.
They silently made the rest of the way into the dormitories but she almost couldn't keep walking when she saw Theo Nott sitting causally upon a black leather couch wearing a stoic expression that reminded her of Malfoy. Instantly she knew that he was looking right at her.
"You are looking positively knackered Pans," Theo said as he stood up and walked right over towards the two of them. Anger knotted inside her slowly, while the wanker got closer, which made her want to yank out her wand in offense. But instead she just stood still as he stopped just a foot away from her and then reached up to brush his thumb against her bandaged eyebrow. "Looks like a right bump on the head that does. Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine, just need a bit more rest while I heal and I will be good as new, minus a memory or two, and maybe with a few additional scars." She said quickly with a petite hollow laugh just as her eyes wandered landing upon his hand that was wrapped up in white cloth nice and tightly.
Pride swelled inside her as she noticed a small fraction of the damage she infected upon him from that night. With a twitch of her left brow, she started to stride past him but she felt his hand slide from her forearm and gently stopped her by the crook of her arm. Looking back at Theo, for a second she almost thought he was going to grill her, question her about that night.
"One last thing," he said to her reaching into his pocket while she stiffened lightly. "I found your wand outside, it was near the spot where you were found."
Taking her wand slowly, she nodded to him in a short thanks hoping that he believed her most of all.
"Thanks, I shall see the both of you later this evening in the Great Hall," she looked between the two of them as Malfoy handed her a bag. With one last reassuring smile, Pansy then continued in the direction of the girls dormitories, where she took her things leaving the two friends alone.
'You messed with the wrong witch Nott…' she thought as she continued towards her bed.
After what she'd seen Theo capable that night, she had a feeling that she would never be able to look at him the same way and in those past few moments, she was right. Flashes of that night came back to her and all she could do to stop the rage from coming was remember the crucial fact that her life, for now at least, depended upon on her ability to live in her lie.
"On the ground I lay,
Motionless in pain,
I can see my life flashing before my eyes,
Did I fall asleep,
Is this all a dream,
Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare,
I will not die (I will not die),
I will survive…"
Time of Dying by Three Days Grace
Saturday October 12th, 1996
*A Memory*
Half past midnight- In the Hallway
A flash of lightning followed by a booming echo that sounded just outside the window to Pansy's right while she contemplated her choices. She could run away in attempts to wake someone for her own safety, or she could put up a fight with the slim possibly of surviving the night. Siding with Theo meant he would contact the Dark Lord and inform him that she wanted to be initiated to the ways of a death eater, which she did not.
"I really think it's best if you decide quickly Pansy, you know what must happen if we happen to be in disagreement…" Theo spoke evenly, even his voice held no remorse with what he was about to do and she knew it.
Shakily, Pansy slipped her fingers inside her robe pocket, feeling around for the cool smooth handle of her wand while she watched his eyes darken. In that moment she realized that he had already made up his mind, she could tell by the way he too reached for his wand, that it would be a fight to the death.
"I think you and I both knew where this was going the moment I called death eaters extremist, but I do appreciate the courtesy of you saying I still have a choice …" Pansy said as she tightened her grip upon her wand while she saw Theo's lips twitch slightly in both an apologetic yet slightly amused way.
"You don't have to do this," he said taking a step towards her while she scoffed and moved backwards. The repetitive drumming of rain pour against the castle wall intensified as she shook her head once more. It was obvious to her that his words were empty, that he knew killing her was now the only sure way to keep his secret still that.
"I'd say the same thing to you," she whispered feeling the ridges of her wand dig into the palm of her hand while her eyes burned from the tears of her friend's betrayal. "But I can see that your mind is already made up Nott…"
Before she could do anything she saw his wand swiftly move up, then send a flash of sapphire light followed by a blast of the spell headed right towards her. Quickly, she threw up her wand to block the attack in stride, then she threw two consecutive spells of stupefy in his direction but they missed him as he changed into a torrent like wisp of black smoke that twisted against the wind from the storm.
Digging her feet into the stone floor, Pansy raced towards a set of stairs but was stopped when Theo landed right before them and mumbled something under her breath. Throwing up her left arm to protect herself from the coming spell, she gasped at the sudden searing pain that pinched the skin of her left forearm that caused her to cry out in pain. Turning her attention to it, she saw the now pooling vibrant crimson beginning to seep through her white sleeve.
Hugging her arm closely, Pansy whimpered.
Lifting her wand she shouted, "Flipendo!"
Watching the searing bleached light expelled from the tip of her wand and land directly into the square of Theo's chest, she observed him as he was sent flying backwards in the air towards a glass case. The second she heard the flourishing sound of wood breaking and glass shattering throughout the empty picture-less hallway she hoped that someone had heard.
Taking this as her chance to go find someone, anyone, Pansy turned quickly making her escape down a narrow stairway that she had never seen before. Leading to a room that was one level above the grounds outside, Pansy looked out a window into the storm as thunder applauded noisily. Using her wand as a dim light, she slowly passed the window and made her way into what looked to be an empty classroom filled old dusty shelves.
'Nice work Pansy. Let's piss off the obviously bloody insane death eater…" she thought through a panted huff followed by a wince of pain from her bleeding arm. She then heard footsteps echoing from right outside the door as she hid behind a shelf close to the rows of windows that lined the classroom. With the creaking sound that came from the door, Pansy then listened to his shoes scuffling against the cool stone.
"I know you're in here Pans. I'm not exactly sure if you realized, but you left a trail of blood." He said quietly while she tried to steady her aim. Preparing, she pointed her wand shakily towards the direction she heard him from and the second she had him in sight she sent a spell of stupefy at him, which he then blocked.
Running from him towards the direction of door, she stopped when a book went flying right past her with such force that it partially shattered a widow next to her. Rain whipped inside as did loose shards of glass that landed at her feet. Turning to look as another book flew towards, Pansy gasped threw up her non injured arm to block the impending book but in the process slipped upon the now wet floor causing her to fall onto her back.
Feeling around for her now missing wand, Pansy saw Theo saunter towards her while she felt around on the floor and grabbed a shard of glass. In shaky breaths, still upon the ground she scooted lightly backwards, right into the ledge that led to the broken window behind her. The glass dug into the skin of her palm but she was too scared to notice the pain that screamed for her to stop. When Theo stuck out his hand towards her in what looked like a false attempt to 'help' her, she lunged at him.
"Pans just wait, wait- Ah," Theo tried talking but she wasn't letting him, especially as the glass connected with the palm of his hand.
When he cursed aloud, she was about to take this as her chance to get out but he reached out towards her, she hit her back against the ledge behind her. Struggling against him, Pansy then felt him shove her backwards and right into the bits of broken glass.
In slow motion she reached out for anything she could get her hands on, but there was nothing there as she felt water starting to hit her face. The window sluggishly grew smaller and smaller as did Theo who stood inside it, when she realized she was falling to the ground below. Agony filled her body as she landed upon the grass with a thud that echoed throughout her body in the form of pain.
Opening her eyes to the dark storm above her, water collecting upon her skin and robes, she moaned. Pansy painstakingly rolled onto her side in the mushy wet grass trying to catch her breath. Coughing loudly, she crawled forward knowing that she needed to get away, and the closest place to go was the Forbidden forest just within walking distance.
'What am I going to do…' she thought, the freezing wind and rain surrounded her as she made her way through the grass towards the borderline of trees.
"I got love on my fingers,
Lust on my tongue,
You say you got nothing,
So come out and get some,
Heartache to Heartache,
I say run little monster…"
Little Monster by Royal Blood
Friday October 18th, 1996
Quarter to Five at night- Outside the Library
After a nice long study session in the library alone, Hermione left the library in hurry in the direction of the Great Hall for dinner. It had been a whole week since Ron basically attacked Malfoy, which she thought was completely irrational considering the fact she had dealt with him for the most part. Hermione wasn't some damsel in distress from the big bad Slytherin nor was she incapable of dealing with her own problems.
Huffing at the new reoccurring thought of the week, she shuffled through the hallway with slight hopes of having a nice quiet uneventful evening that led up to the Quidditch match tomorrow. As for Malfoy, whom she was currently ignoring with surprising ease, there were no words exchanged about her- moment of temporary insanity- as of yet. But she knew that at any moment that could change and she was prepared to defend that it was a singular moment that won't be happening again.
As soon as she made her way past other students into Great Hall, Hermione spotted her Harry sitting with Neville and Ginny. 'Thankfully there was no silent moping Ronald in sight…' she thought to herself before she dropped her things upon the table with a sigh and a smile.
"I finally finished," Hermione reached for a round piece of bread inside a bowl before her and continued, "Writing my parchment on the differences between Curse's and Hex's, and the proper way to use both, of course. Oh, and I had some extra time to study a bit on my Advanced oral reports. What about the two of you? Any luck?"
Neville smiled and nodded, "I too got a bit done. I chose to do my report upon Herbology, specifically on the 'Venomous Tentacula' and its useful properties that it provides. Which, did you know, is quite a few? I mean, aside from how dangerous it can be-"
"Honestly Neville, no offence but do you think I could barrow 'Mione for a second." Harry interrupted as he stood up from his seat shooting a glare in Hermione's direction. "It's really important."
"Yeah, sure," Neville nodded with a small smile as he then turned to Ginny and continued talking as Hermione narrowed her eyes at Harry's abrupt and slightly uncalled for behavior. Gathering her things once more, and taking her roll with her she followed him out into the hall.
"There's something called tact Harry, and you have none," Hermione said with a slight bite to her words while Harry gave her a pointed look and she knew that he was angry for some reason. "Now what in Merlin's name was so important you couldn't tell me-"
"You kissed Malfoy?" Harry growled the words as a question and the second the words hit her ears, she froze. With her mouth hanging open eyes wide, she went to deny it but Harry shook his head and pushed up his glasses.
"I did not- whoever told you this is obviously telling you things that are nothing more than vicious rumors Harry!" she spat at the accusation as if it were just that, an accusation. Panting from the anger, not because Harry knew but because that arse had to of told people, there was no other explanation. Tightening her grip on her books, she groaned as the only name that came to mind at that moment was- Malfoy. "It's bloody Malfoy! To spite me for what Ron did, can't you see that?"
Running a hand over the back of her neck, Hermione looked around the room at the faceless students that passed them by without a care. Looking back towards Harry, she saw him reaching in his pocket where he pulled out an envelope that he handed it to her. Ripping it open quickly she read a small note on top of what looked to be a picture.
'Can you really trust anybody these days?'
Then she looked down at the picture to see a picture of her grabbing Malfoy and proceeding to snog him into some sort of a stupor. Seeing the affronted photo she couldn't think past the hurt and anger that came with it. Hermione then watched it spark slightly right before it went right up in a puff of smoke right in her hands along with the envelope and note. Gasping after she looked up towards Harry who looked just as shocked as she felt.
When he finally looked at her, Harry stood still for a second in need to process what just happened. Shaking his head in disbelief before taking a step backwards away from her, he rubbed his face for a second then ran a hand through his disheveled mop of hair.
"H-Harry, I didn't- It isn't-" she tried to explain, tears started to burn her eyes while she watched as he shook his head one more time before leaving her right there in the hallway. If someone took a picture of her kissing Malfoy that meant there was a second person in on the whole thing. And she was obviously part of some elaborate prank to hurt the mudblood just like she originally thought.
With the back of her hand, Hermione wiped away the tears, wanting to scream from the boiled fury she felt as she stormed back in the direction of the Great Hall. Where ever that prat was at, he was about to feel the brunt of her wrath even before he had the chance to say 'Mud-'.