Crystalline
At half past three in the morning, he slid out of the castle, walking towards the western boundary of the forbidden forest and Hogwarts, where the school's enchantments were at its weakest. He had received an urgent notice while sitting alone in the Slytherin Common Room from his aunt. On the edge of the forest, he saw three cloaked figures.
Bellatrix revealed herself, along with Fenrir Greyback and Nott's father, Theodore Senior. Draco was surprised to actually see Nott's father. He knew that Nott senior has been biding his time as well, waiting for information to leak out, and possibly not through Theodore junior's own doing.
"Do you have it?" Bellatrix hissed.
Draco nodded and showed them the elongated chest. He saw his aunt's eyes gleam with greed and he knew she was imagining another tearful and beautiful reunion with the Dark Lord. She smiled, her teeth shone, reflected by the moon's light in waxing gibbous phase.
"If this is not the right one, I'll bite your heart out first," Fenrir growled. "Or maybe infect you; I'm sure the aristocracy won't mind."
Bellatrix shot him a glare. "You'll do nothing of the sort, lest you want to die by my hands."
Draco placed the box in his aunt's hands. She eagerly opened it, but found it locked. She looked at Draco, impatiently.
Draco slowly took out the pendant. "I think this belonged to an ancestor of ours," he told his aunt. "It was sold across that tiny antiquities store across the Shrieking Shack. I figured it was the best pendant to fit the key to the chest," he added, placing the pendant over it and opening the bandages on his palm.
His palm looked sore, evidenced by blood drying at the sides and the wound still fresh in the centre. The three adults looked on, listening to every word.
"You need this pendant and my blood alone, since I'm the first one to open it in years. I recently found out a book that was placed in the Restricted Section, which needed the same pendant," Draco explained, letting blood seep out of his wound, the blood dropping on the box and pendant. The box shone for a moment, a greenish like haze rose from it.
Bellatrix quickly opened it, relishing the moment.
Fenrir cursed. "What the bloody fuck is that? It looks like a rag!"
Bellatrix glared again at Fenrir and smiled serenely at Draco. "You've done it, my dearest nephew. What else do we need to know?"
"That rag," Draco emphasized the second word, "Is a part of the Elder Wand, once a legend now a fact."
"Yes, but we still need to break in to Dumbledore's tomb..." Nott senior muttered.
"I can't disarm the enchantments," Draco told them. "That is beyond my control and not for my use but the Dark Lord's. This wand's leather encasement however can mimic the Elder Wand's prowess, only to an extent, but it needs to be placed on a host wand, if placed on the Elder Wand, the casing will lose its powers since the Elder Wand is its true master."
"Marvellous," Bellatrix murmured. "We must make haste for the Master."
"Who is Areatha Lestrange?" Draco suddenly asked.
Bellatrix's happy disposition faded. She looked at Draco thoughtfully. "Where did you hear her name?"
"I found out about her while I was researching for this."
"Some ancestor. I was too young to recall, but I do remember her name was blasted off of the family tree years after she left them for awhile but put up again after her father had a change of heart when she did die...she was supposedly a purveyor of dark charms. Why do you ask?"
"I think she might have had some connection to the wand's encasement and keeping it locked up like that."
Bellatrix smiled. "Ah, how wonderful. To have the pleasure of serving the master in our bloodline always!"
Daylight broke into Harry's room and he squinted and stretched, yawning in the process. He found his roommates snoring gentler this time. He quickly stood up and headed for the showers, the hot water splaying all over him, and he shivered and dressed quickly into warm clothing, planning to visit Hermione first without Ron's presence.
As soon as he stepped into the bright hospital wing, he found Hermione grimacing over some potion that Madam Pomfrey intended her to drink. Her eyes brightened, seeing his face from across the hall.
"Harry!" she said, placing the spoon down quickly along with the bottle.
"Hermione," Harry greeted, "How are you?"
"Fine actually. What happened to me?" she asked. "I woke up and found myself here and Madam Pomfrey said that I got dizzy and all last night. Do you remember anything, Harry?"
"You... you fainted near the Great Hall," Harry said slowly.
"And you found me?"
"No, uh...Ron found you and he called for us, the Aurors were with us, do you remember?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't really remember much..."
"They said it was stress. Madam Pomfrey thinks so too. You've been pushing yourself too hard with examinations and ball preparations, Hermione." He didn't mention the part where Draco had some strange concern for her.
"I have?" she sounded surprised. "Oh, yes. I recall feeling very tired last night..." her voice trailed off.
Harry's brows rose. "Ron didn't tell me you hit the floor..." he joked, "What's the matter with you? Did you conk your head too hard?"
Hermione laughed. "I hope I didn't. That would disqualify me for honors."
"Drink up," Harry prodded her, hearing Madam Pomfrey enter the room once more. Hermione made a face and stuck her tongue out, the spoon steaming with green liquid. She shut her eyes and took a spoonful and began to gag.
Harry took a step back, afraid she would vomit all over him. Hermione stopped and laughed and took the bottle in her hands.
"I actually like it," she said. "It looks like boogers, smells like a sewer but tastes just like mint chocolate."
Harry eyed the bottle. "Do you think you could pilfer me some?" he laughed.
The day of the Valentine's Ball arrived and the committee had their hands full, literally. With the preparation in complete swing, even the Slytherin prefects were seen seriously carrying out the plans (others assumed it was suppressed enthusiasm) as they worked on the Great Hall's Entrance. An unused classroom served as a temporary dining hall for the lower years who could not attend the ball, some complained, of course, about the age limit set. Hermione had arrived an hour after the set-up began. Terry stepped beside her and patted her shoulder.
"And how is the overstressed Miss Granger?" he asked.
Hermione smiled mildly. "I'm pretty perked up."
"Did you have some of that nasty smelling Anti-Faint potion?"
"Yes, I did."
"Smells like hell, tastes like heaven," he quipped. "But that pretty much saved my life back in fifth year. Remember that nasty Potions exam?"
Hermione laughed and nodded. "Had I known this existed earlier..."
"I just want to know where this is supposed to be," Susan interrupted Terry, pointing to a large ice carving, a snowflake that looked curiously like a heart.
Terry excused himself and Hermione took a seat on a thin but gilded chair, reserved for special occasions and vehemently cleaned by Filch every month. Filch himself was guarding how the chairs were handled by the prefects, sulking in the corners of the Great Hall once in awhile, yelling in a hoarse voice if the chairs flew by too fast.
She hadn't seen Harry since he visited her at the infirmary. He wondered where he was and where Ginny was...Draco stepped into the hall along with Theodore Nott and Daphne. She blinked, remembering she hadn't seen Draco in days. He looked pale but surprisingly, he also looked annoyed at the commotion for the event later that evening. He saw her across the hall, looking definitely healthier than last night before he had decided to erase parts of her discoveries.
She saw her give him a small smile. Theodore Nott saw it too. He cleared his throat before Draco could react, and immediately, Draco spun around to prevent any emotion seeping out of his face. Draco saw Nott's stern face and he almost shook his head.
Daphne looked at him questioningly, noticing both young men looking tense and wary.
"What's wrong? Did you swallow a toad?" she snapped, picking up a chair and carelessly flinging it to one corner with her wand. She saw Filch narrow his eyes and she smiled wickedly, enjoying Finch's reaction.
"Nothing," Draco said irritably."I hate these kinds of occasions."
"It's a perfectly good time to show off wealth and beauty," Daphne said haughtily. She eyed Ginny Weasley who had stepped into the Great Hall with another prefect. "Even if you have nothing left to show off for," she added, seeing the pretty redhead enthusiastically helping a fellow prefect. She felt her upper lip curl in disgust. She had almost liked the Weasley girl and had wanted to be friends- Ginny being pure blooded and attractive... too bad she hung out with the dirty sort. Like Hermione Granger.
"Draco, would you like to get to know my sister again?" she said, changing the subject.
"Which one?" Draco asked, trying to give interest.
"Astoria, of course."
"Ah," Draco said. He remembered the dark haired beauty that once visited their manor together with the other Greengrass members. She went to a different school, though. He had flirted mildly with her back in fourth year and she was barely in her teens. "Why would I forget?"
"She's still very taken with you," Daphne said with a malicious grin.
Draco laughed hollowly. "I hope that lasts a lifetime."
Daphne smiled, spun around and came face to face with Hermione. Hermione nodded once, knowing if she smiled, Daphne would never smile back. Daphne pursed her lips and walked away, Draco watched Hermione's reaction. Did she hear of their conversation?
He cleared his throat and passed by Hermione, hoping she wouldn't be offended. After all, all she remembered were the good times with him and not that ugly confrontation in the school infirmary. She stopped in place just as Draco passed by, suddenly feeling cold and unfamiliar beside him. Draco didn't look back, afraid others would see.
Hermione suddenly felt an odd sense of betrayal that something had secretly gone wrong somehow, even if her brain was telling her no one knew of their secret and that Draco would never renege on his vow. She slowly turned around to see Draco exit the Great Hall with Daphne Greengrass chatting animatedly about her sister again. She had never felt more abandoned in her whole life without even knowing the reason.
Theodore Nott saw her slip out of the Great hall moments after Draco exited. He quickly followed her out. He saw her walking quickly up ahead for the second floor. Draco was nowhere to be seen. Her steps had gone faster now, as if trying to catch up with the arrogant blonde that had ignored her completely earlier.
"Granger," Nott panted out.
Hermione paused and saw Theodore Nott looking tired from the quick pace. "Yes?" she said tersely. "How may I help you?"
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked her, shoving her into an empty classroom and shutting the heavy door.
"What?" Hermione said with a raised brow. "What the hell do you want from me?" she asked, clearly annoyed at why this Slytherin who never spoke to her directly could be so rude.
They were inside an Arithmancy classroom. Boards were filled with complicated calculations and side notes. Nott looked around the room, making sure only the walls could hear them. "Sit," he ordered her curtly. "You should be more careful-"
"What the bloody hell is going on?" she asked, refusing to sit and clenching her wand tighter, ready for a hex to hurl at the gawky, mousy haired adolescent across her.
"Are you trying to get yourself noticed?" he hissed. "Draco is in a far worse predicament than you would ever know. Don't try to state the obvious that you two are-"
Hermione's knees nearly buckled. "Wh- what?" she whispered. "You- Why? I don't understand...I-"
Nott's eyes widened. Was she playing some stupid joke? How could she pretend at a crucial time like this? "Are you daft?" he spat out, trying to internalize what was going on.
Hermione stood still, turning pale as Theodore Nott folded his arms just a few inches across her. "What's going on?" she asked.
"Merlin...you...you don't remember, do you? Don't you remember-"
"My memory is very accurate as far as I'm concerned. Don't mess with me, Nott or I'll see to it that you get expelled-"
"I know you know already. I've seen the way Draco looks at you, like it could be his last-"
"Stop it!" she gasped, unable to understand his reasoning.
"Don't you remember that night at the prefect's classroom? Remember what I told you?"
"You're the one that's absolutely bonkers!" she said, shoving him rudely out of the way.
"Stop loving him, Hermione!" he nearly shouted, exasperated.
Hermione's hand paused above the door's knob. She slowly turned around again, her eyes wide. "What did you say?"
"You heard what I said. Did he do something to you? To make you forget? To sugar coat the lies he gave you?" Nott began bitterly. "If I could just protect you, I would do so myself. But things didn't work out for me. He doesn't deserve you at all, no one does," he ended, feeling his cheeks splay themselves with red.
Hermione's head pounded painfully. Did Draco do something? She should have felt it, right? She trusted him after all. Did that explain why she felt so alone earlier? Did that explain why Draco wouldn't look at her? What was he hiding from her? Did it have something to do with Harry?
"Don't feed me with lies," she said.
"What should I do to make you trust me?"
"Nothing," Hermione snapped, feeling a massive headache coming on. Without warning, Nott walked right up to her and grabbed her whole body with unexpected strength, crushing her lips with his. Hermione's eyes widened and she jumped away, slapping him in the process.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she gasped, trembling all over. She felt violated and worse, betrayed now, by Draco.
"Is that not enough?" Nott said in a hurt tone. He looked down, somewhat feeling dishonour for his actions, realizing he was still a pureblood and she a mudblood. Realizing that she was possession of the only ally he had in life...
"I meant that," he said drearily. "Maybe it will make you see that he can hurt you in far better ways than I can."
Hermione spun around and fled from the classroom, running away from the castle, tears streaming down her face.
A/N: I have taken the liberty to place the White Tomb on a little island in the Black Lake. I do know it is situated beside the shore, though. I thought it essential to my story. ^^