Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy Estate cordially invites you to attend the Pureblood Annual. Please RSVP through the same owl. Your distinguished date would be delighted if you accepted. He furthermore requests your company in picking out evening wear for the event. Thank you honorable pureblood heir for your attendance at this most sought after and enigmatic affair of your young life.
Hermione literally saw red as she clamored down the stairs and headed straight towards Draco's rooms. She banged loudly on the deep cherry wood and then tapped her foot impatiently, her arms crossed, trying not to start screaming at the top of her lungs for him to come out.
"Looking for me?" Draco asked from the portrait entrance of their common room. She whipped around and stomped over to him, getting right up into his face.
"What the fuck is the meaning of this? Is this some sick joke you've concocted out of boredom?" She shouted, the deep blue parchment in her hand as she shoved it into his chest, he took a step back from her, looking down on what was still clutched in her tight fist. What little color in Draco's face disappeared as he stared, he looked up at her again with understanding stealing across his face.
"No…" He breathed, she raised an eyebrow.
"It says you'd be delighted if I accepted, you don't look fucking delighted," she hissed menacingly at him, her warm hazel eyes looking as cold as an ice storm.
"Look Hermione, I'm sorry about all of this. You don't have to go…it's…" He trailed off then gently pushed past her, sitting down in front of the merry fire that didn't even begin to warm his toes.
"What is going on? Why did I get this?" She asked, towering over him.
"Hermione…you aren't a mudblood," He glanced up at her, first there was shock then anger.
"I know who my parents are!" She exclaimed.
"They aren't your parents!" He got up, she shook her head.
"How the fuck would you know that?" She screeched, Draco took a deep calming breathe so as not to get completely drowned in her torrid emotions.
"Because only Purebloods can go to a fucking pureblood annual you nitwitch," He growled, snapping the invite out of her fingers. "Obviously you aren't part of that stupid muggle family of yours. Obviously you were placed there by someone the same as Harry bleeding Potter was placed in that horrid muggle family of his. You were probably sent there to be protected. Don't you understand anything? Magic doesn't lie," He hissed, waving the invite under her nose before dropping it at her feet in a crumpled mess.
"I would think it does after all the things I've seen Voldemort do," she crossed her arms over her ample chest; Draco threw up his hands and walked away from her.
"Go if you fucking want to. You're the only one that I can go with so make up your mind quickly. Oh and don't forget, we have to match," he said over his shoulder before slamming his door behind him. She fumed silently, feeling her rage course through her before she finally got fully in control over it and went to her room, slamming her own door and collapsing onto her bed. She needed answers but she didn't know who to get them from…
Draco sat down on his bed, rage ripping through him and draining him of all strength and energy. He wanted to buckle under such pressure and curl up in his bed, moaning from a feeling that didn't originate from him but from that blasted girl still standing in the common room. He wanted to scream at her to go away, to leave him alone but he knew that she would only ask questions, questions he couldn't possibly answer. He looked up at a light tapping on his window; it was a stately and expensive looking owl, probably his own invite to the Pureblood Annual. He wanted to scream at it to go away. His mother had told him all about the Annual ever since he was a young boy, describing it in such a way that he always craved it, always wanted to go. His mother had told him that the perfect Pureblood girl was already picked for him as soon as he was born and that he'll never know who she will be until his invite actually came. It was fairytale all Purebloods were raised with and one that endured through the ages. Narcissa and Lucius went to the Annual together which sealed all hope for Draco.
He finally let the bird in and snatched up the deep indigo envelope, opening it. It said exactly what Hermione's had said only in reverse. He snorted and let the invite drop onto his bed. He would have been surprised that Hermione wasn't a mudblood if the world hadn't already gone crazy on him. He went to his bathroom and filled up his spa bath, stripping down and letting his legs dangle as the water rose up to meet him. He wanted some peace and quiet for once but all he could hear was Hermione grumbling about her homework…wait, Hermione grumbling…He could hear her as clearly as if she was in the same room. He blinked a couple of times before groaning, he had suddenly turned into a full-blown telepath. He wanted to scrub his brain free of all the abnormalities he suddenly inherited from his father. The Malfoys had always been notorious for not being entirely human. Too bad his father was too busy with the war and on the wrong side as him to explain what else besides homeo sapien resided in his genes. He eased into his bath, trying desperately to breathe in deeply, to find his center and then build up a wall around his brain so he could at least sleep a little bit tonight. His Occlumensy and Legimency lessons with Snape at a young age helped him but they weren't designed for naturals like himself.
~~~!~~~
Hermione had patrol that night, she found herself walking down towards the Astronomy Tower when she spotted movement from one of the alcoves behind a set of armor. She slowly snuck up to it and was just about to expose the snogging couple when she recognized Ron's deep red hair. She froze, wasn't Ron supposed to be in love with her? She took a sharp intake as it registered that the person Ron was passionately kissing was not a girl, in fact it was a Slytherin. She dissolved into the shadows, curious as to why Ron of all people would be kissing Blaise Zabini. Had he finally flown completely off his rocker? They all knew he was getting a bit eccentric but this was complete madness. Suddenly Ron stumbled away from Blaise, his hand over his burning lips.
"What are we doing?" Ron asked the other, Blaise leaned against the wall next to the alcove they were just occupying.
"What does it feel like?" Blaise finally asked.
"I think…I need to go, right now," Ron hurried past the rust red headed Slytherin but he was having none of that. He snapped his hand out and latched onto Ron's upper arm, halting him.
"Oh no you don't…you're the one that came onto me," Blaise grinned evilly, whipping the other around.
"I think I was going a little crazy, you know with the stress and everything," Ron sounded slightly hysterical. At least he wasn't talking in riddles like he had gotten into the habit of lately.
"Aw…is little Ronnie-kins going to run off and hide in a corner away from what he really is? Is he going to cry because he's a little-" Blaise had an evil grin set on his impish features.
"Don't you dare say it," Ron growled darkly, advancing on the other.
"Say what? That you're nothing but a cute piece of ass?" Blaise crossed his arms over his chest, raising his eyebrow at the other in a very becoming manner.
"That's not what you were going to say and you know it," Ron brandishing his finger at the other.
"Fine, Ron Weasley, you are a poof the same as I am and there's no denying who you are," Blaise said with a very Draco-like smirk.
"I hate you," Ron bit back.
"Let me tell you exactly what you are doing, you are searching for a stress reliever, you want to find someone who will curl up next to you and not tell anyone the next morning. You don't want some gossipy bitch like Lavender Brown to tell the whole school how good or horrible you are. You don't want the drama of a relationship and you definitely don't want something ordinary. You want something you can hold onto and you think you can hold onto me even though we are in a real live war here and you can't hold onto anything but you'll try. You want me to make it all better well let me tell you something Ronald Weasley, nothing is going to truly make it better. You will still feel sick in the morning just like you have for the last month, you will feel like you don't want to live one more day but you will have me and that is all I can offer you," Blaise explained bluntly. "Either you take it or turn around and walk back the way you came because I am not giving you a second chance." Silence permeated the hallway for a long time before Ron slowly walked toward Blaise and slid his arms around the other. Blaise simply held Ron before leading the other past Hermione and down the stairs. Hermione was smiling without even realizing it.
She looked towards the Astronomy Tower and the smile slowly vanished. She didn't really want to lose the small ball of happiness swirling around her stomach. Finally it looked like one of them was going to be okay. She took a deep breath and walked up the spiral staircase. She slowly opened the door and looked around, she didn't see any one but she wanted to make sure Harry hadn't come up here again. She eased the door closed and walked around the tower, nothing. She sighed and leaned over the battlement, looking out onto the moonlit grounds, everything had a silvery glow…a sense of peace washed over her for the first time in a long time. Suddenly she heard a soft clatter of metal striking the ground. She spun around but saw nothing out of the ordinary; she looked closer and spotted a thin piece of metal lying on the ground. A cold hand suddenly wrapped itself around her heart. She numbly walked towards it and picked it up, it was a razor blade. She reached forward and pulled off the invisibility cloak revealing Harry curled up against the wall, shivering. He slowly looked up at her, extremely pale.
"Harry?" She breathed, he slowly reached towards her, his unnaturally pale hand shaking, then she saw it, blood everywhere and it was all his. Stained his sweater and pants and dripped from his shirt cuffs. She gathered him to her body, not caring that his blood was washing over her as she picked him up. She was surprised at how light he was.
"Hermione…no, leave me," he rasped into her ear as she hurried down the stairs, trying not to slip in his blood. She wasn't thinking, just was on auto as she ran down towards the infirmary. She burst through the door and Madam Pomfrey looked up from a book. She instantly stood and gingerly took Harry from her.
"Sit down child," Pomfrey instructed her as she turned to lay Harry on the nearest bed. Hermione tried to swipe at the tears running down her cheeks, not knowing that she had smeared blood all over her face in the process. She was still so numb and cold at seeing Harry lay in that white bed, not moving at all. His eyes were closed and his breathing barely noticeable. She wanted to scream, do something to stop the onrush of emotions. It didn't feel right to just sit there and watch him slowly fade away. Why hadn't she just kept going? Why had she stayed and watched Ron and Blaise tussle? Why hadn't she felt some kind of urgency or just known? She felt like she had somehow betrayed her best friend by not getting there fast enough, by not knowing instinctively that he was dying. Soon Pomfrey had him comfortably tucked into his bed, completely bandaged up and in a clean medical gown. She turned to Hermione, performing a cleaning spell so she wouldn't have to walk back to her dorm covered in blood.
"It's okay my dear. He'll be fine, you got to him just in time," she murmured, pulling Hermione up into a motherly hug, she squeezed her eyes tightly closed, feeling that same desperate rage start to build up in her stomach out of the hurt and pain. She managed to say goodnight to the nurse and leave. She felt so completely exhausted that she didn't notice that Draco was studying on the couch when she had walked by to go to her room.
"You look like shit Granger," Draco commented, Hermione stopped and slowly looked over at the other.
"I hate you! You are the slimiest, most horrible creature I have ever laid eyes on! You never think about anyone else, you are the most selfish, egotistical brat I have ever had the displeasure to ever come in contact with. You are nothing, nothing at all and you will never be anything. You will never grow up and you will die knowing that your life is meaningless," she screamed at him, she finally dissolved into raw screams punctuated by long drawn in sobs as she slowly sunk to the floor, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Draco hopped over the couch and tried to put his arms around her but she shoved away from him, literally crawling in the other direction.
"Hermione!" Draco shouted, crawling after her and tackling her, she screamed again, trying to hit him but he held on as her fists pounded his chest weakly. She was too caught up in her own emotions to physically put anything behind it.
"Calm down, please," He held her even closer, trying to just force her into accepting his hug, she finally relaxed, leaning against him as he rocked slightly.
"All. My. Fault," she said between deep sobs and gasps.
"No it's not, none of it is your fault," He breathed into her silk hair, trying to calm her down mentally as well.
"He almost died! He-" Hermione shouted, trying to push him away again.
"But he's still alive isn't he? You saved him, you got there in time. You can't be everywhere at once," Draco murmured soothingly.
"Should have known," she pouted, her arms were snaking around him as she leaned fully against him. It felt good to be comforted for once, for someone to hold her and allow her to fall apart without a time limit. No one had ever done that for her, not really. Madam Pomfrey and Molly Weasley had given her soul recharging hugs but soon they were on to the next crisis. She had felt guilty for even needing that much from the older women. Soon she was calm, her arms tightly wrapped around Draco as he rocked them lightly. She couldn't guess how much time had passed, it felt like a blur.
"Are you humming?" She asked, looking up at him, Draco shrugged.
"Do you want me to stop?" He asked, she snuggled up to him some more.
"No, it's comforting," She murmured, closing her eyes.
"I don't think the floor is very comforting though," Draco pointed out, she blinked open her eyes then blushed, pulling away from him. Reality seeping back into the situation.
"Sorry," She got up and dusted herself off, Draco following.
"No, it's fine," Draco shrugged and turned away. Trying to not over analyze what had just happened.
"I didn't mean what I said," she started.
"You did, you meant every word and you're right or you would have been about four months ago but something big happened," Draco sat down on the couch and curled his feet underneath him as Hermione followed and sat down next to him. Feeling completely out of place but strangely comfortable.
"He was an amazing person," Hermione breathed, she still had not grieved fully over the former Headmaster.
"I wish I could have seen past my own goals, my own family," Draco breathed, looking into the fire blankly.
"We all get pretty blind sometimes, it's a part of life," Hermione pointed out.
"But I was more than blind, I was refusing to see anything. I wasn't just ignorant," He looked over at her; she really did possess a beauty and elegance every woman strove for. Something he prized in all creatures that were blessed with such gifts but she could pull it off exceptionally well.
"What?" She asked, smiling slightly.
"Harry Potter is a very lucky person," Draco told her, she tilted her head slightly in question.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"He's got you as a best friend," Draco gave her an actual smile, it was warm and fragile.
"What about Blaise and Pansy? They don't seem so bad now that they aren't rampaging around like stuck up rich kids," Hermione returned his smile.
"They're fine but Pansy would faint at the sight of blood and Blaise wouldn't have been much better. No you've got guts," Draco pointed out, Hermione frowned darkly.
"I never told you what happened with Harry or…even that I was with Harry," she murmured, looking to him for an explanation. Draco suddenly felt like an idiot.
"Just a guess…I mean he's not stable, anyone can see that and you looked like you had just done something heroic…" Draco tried to keep the nervous stammer out of his voice.
"Do you think me that dense to believe that lame excuse? How do you know? Were you there?" She asked.
"Well I saw you on your way down to the hospital wing," Draco latched onto her question; she nodded slightly, looking to the fire in contemplation.
"What were you doing out of the rooms so late?" She asked.
"I was on my way to finish up some astronomy homework," he answered.
"But you don't take astronomy," she blinked, frowning even deeper, he wanted to disappear. He was never a good liar when it came to stuff he didn't really understand. He could convince the Dark Lord that the sky was deep red and that Harry Potter willingly turned himself into a monkey but when it came to lying about his unknown abilities…he had no real clue how to cover them up.
"Okay look, I don't know why but I can feel what other people feel and lately, as in the last day or so I'm suddenly able to read minds. It's unnerving and I don't know why I can. I don't even know what I am," Draco explained, Hermione just stared back at him.
"I don't know how to answer that," she responded bluntly.
"Then don't, just forget I ever said anything and I promise to stay out of your mind as best I can but sometimes I can't block things because they're too emotional. I'm not fully trained so I can't block everything out," Draco explained.
"I never thought," Hermione trailed off, looking away from him.
"Don't worry, I won't pry into your head. Trust me, I'd rather not," Draco got up and started towards his room.
"I accept," Hermione said, Draco stopped and turned around.
"What?" He asked.
"I accept, I'll go with you to this Pureblood Annual," she clarified, looking up at him, he slowly let his smile come back. In the back of Hermione's head she acknowledged how different that smile was. It was genuine and exposed him like nothing else she had encountered. She felt like he was just as broken as she was but there was a vein of deep strength underneath the cowardice and masks, a strength that had just weathered her uncontrollable temper.
"Then we'll go shopping tomorrow," Draco told her before disappearing into his room.
TBC