Chapter 4, Tears

They were running. On either side of her she saw the two faces she had longed to see. The long, lean figure of the red headed young man that she so desperately wished to hold was there, by her side, running with her. And on her other side was her best friend, Harry Potter, the sparkle in his eyes signalling that everything was going to be alright. Though where were they running to? What were they running from?

"Don't look back." His voice was stern and hurried as he quickly glanced over his shoulder to the oncoming danger. "Trust me." As he quickly entwined his fingers within hers, squeezing it as a sign of assurance that there really was nothing to fear.

"But Harry..." Her voice rose at the shock that Harry wasn't there anymore. Ron had grasped Hermione into an embrace, shielding her. Suddenly everything went quiet. The rustling of the trees of the forest blew a cold wind through Hermione's neck, caressing her skin. Ron's warm body tightened his hold on the girl he had not held in what seemed like years. Looking deeply into his eyes, her voice managed a whisper. "What's happening?"

Ron looked down at her with a soft enthusiasm in his eyes and a warm smile that lingered on his lips. "Hermione, I…"

Suddenly she awoke, looking around dazed; she noticed the pillow she was clutching onto for dear life had been entwined around her arms like an embrace. It wasn't Ron. Her emotions unexpectedly got the better of her as she lay in her bed, weeping silently at the beautiful dream that involved her two best friends was now fading from her memory. Silently she lied there, bringing her legs towards her stomach as if to protect herself from any danger, thinking about the last time she had Ron by her side.

"Granger, are you awake?"

Draco was standing at the other end of the room, hidden in the shadows, his grey eyes glistening from the reflection of the sun. He stepped forward cautiously but wavered and stepped back, searching for approval from this delicate young woman.

"Y-yes. Why, have you been awake for long?" She propped her arms to hoist her up, quickly throwing a hand through her hair at the tight curls that had formed overnight. Facing Draco, she could see that he was concerned. He remained silent for a few moments before taking the chance to speak.

"You've got a letter." His arm extended towards Hermione, a thin brown envelope in the midst of his fingers engulfed the scrawny handwriting of Ronald Weasley. She looked at it curiously, eyeing Draco's expression as she warily took the letter from his hand, crackling the paper as she did so.

Sitting upright, she gazed at the letter for a few moments before deciding to open it. Her eyes scanned the paper quickly as her heart started to race at the badly written letter she had in front of her. Tears formed at the ends of her eyes as she reached the conclusion of the letter that Ron had quite obviously rushed. Looking up at Draco, his face was anxious as he stood awkwardly looking at Hermione's reaction, and that was it. He walked over to the door of the small tower and left the room, looking back in Hermione's direction and seeing her head fall into her knees, crying.

Shit, I knew I shouldn't have given her that letter. Draco descended the stairs, two steps at a time, almost in a sprint. By the time he'd got to the bottom step, he reached for his wand and held it out in front of him. Up ahead, Blaise was leaning against the stone pillar, holding his head in his hands. He was dishevelled and making slow grunting noises, every so often his body jolting at every grunt. Presuming he was asleep, Draco prodded him with the end of his wand making Blaise's body rock to the side.

"Blaise, wake up," his voice being stern as he placed his hand on his shoulder and shook him from his sleep. "Look, it's not safe here. Just go up to the tower where Hermione is and sleep there. Aren't you freezing?" He looked around at the hall, a few rays of sunlight hitting his skin. The cold winters air blowing outside, whisking away any stray leaves.

Blaise groaned as his eyes opened a fraction. Looking up at Draco he was suddenly at ease, his body relaxing as he stood up to flex his muscles. "Look I'm sorry for last night; I sort of just lost it." Blaise held out his hand towards Draco, waiting for him to shake it. Draco stared at his hand for a moment then clutched it in a tight shake.

"You do that to me ever again and you'll be the one that ends up with the bruises." Draco's eyes grew dark as he held onto Blaise's hand for a moment longer, tightening his grip, and then letting go as he saw the expression in Blaise's face change, filling with unease. Blaise stepped back and took his palm and started to massage it with his other hand, realizing that Draco had just threatened him.

"So, anyway, where's Hermione? What are you even doing with her? I thought you two hated each other."

Looking up at the unexpected question, Draco began to rattle through his head for the perfect answer. His eyes shifted from Blaise to the marble stairs of the tower where Hermione was crying, looking back at Blaise he was taken aback. "She's up in the tower. Leave her. She's being all emotional at the moment I honestly couldn't stand it. It's none of your business what I'm doing with her, we just happened to run into each other during the battle, she's very resourceful," he stepped into the sunlight, closing his eyes as the breeze caressed his face, "and we do, very much, still hate each other. I haven't a clue as to why you would think differently."

"It's because you're with her. Out of all the people you could be with, you're found with Hermione Granger."

"Didn't you listen to what I just said? She's resourceful and we ran into each other. Remember the saying, keep your friends close but your enemies closer, well yeah, we're living up to that." Draco's attention shifted to the clearing. "Right, I'll just leave you to whatever it is you're doing, I'm off for a walk." Draco turned and started walking towards the direction of the Quiddich pitch, wand at the ready.

"Oi, are you mental? There could be death eaters out there!" Blaise's voice echoed around the hall, bouncing from wall to wall until it hit Draco.

"There is no death eater here. They're looking for Potter; do you really think they'd be that stupid to come back to the school?"

He turned away from Blaise and carried on striding ahead. The wind grew colder as he walked deeper towards the pitch, looking at it from afar, he could see that it was destroyed. The goals had cracked and some had fallen onto the pitch, it was a sorry sight. Draco paused for a moment, scanning the horizon for any movement. For a quick second he saw it. It was Potter, running through the forest. But it couldn't have been, he was miles away like Ron had wrote in the letter, so who was it that he'd just seen? All too suddenly, the clouds moved in, covering the warming sun, hiding it from view. The air grew cold and bitter as Draco looked at the clouds as they formed dark grey circles. Turning to a light jog, Draco began his short run back to the tower.

She was wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand as the light left her face. She couldn't move. The letter was fixed to her hand as she began to fall back onto the bed. Closing her eyes she wished of a better place, a place where he was. Dropping the letter on the floor, she got up and gazed at the sky, her chocolate eyes glistening whilst she began twirling her hair; starting to search her mind as to what to do to help Harry and Ron. A moment later, Draco burst into the room. He was soaked from the rain and out of breath.

"Don't look at me like that; it's been a while since I've gone for a run." A cheeky smile played on his lips.

Hermione cocked her head to the side, scrutinising his every move. Her mouth parted slightly, the words holding back in her mouth, not able to come out. Looking down at her hands, her mind encouraged her and the words just came out. "Can we go help Ron?" She dare not look at Draco; it was hard enough to ask such a thing from him as she suddenly felt exposed. Slowly pulling her head up, she saw Draco sigh. He locked his gaze with hers and she suddenly knew the answer.

"Why not? He's hurt, he needs my help!"

"You know why. It's too fucking dangerous; it'd be too easy to walk into a trap. What if that isn't even Ron or Harry? What if that letter got into the wrong hands and they want to lure us in?" His voice became harsh as he spat every word out with distaste.

"We both know it's not a trap. Harry isn't equipped enough to help Ron, they need me!" She stood up and strode to her handbag at the other side of the room. Bending down to grab her wand, Draco locked his hand around her wrist, holding her tight.

"Don't even try it Granger." His touch, somewhat scolding her skin. "I won't let you go." He began to drag her out of the room, gripping his hold as they hurried down the stairs.

"Where exactly are we going?" She shrieked in his ear, clawing at his hand.

"To show you that Ron isn't fucking hurt!" He spat repulsively.

As they neared the bottom step, Draco stopped to an abrupt halt as his eyes caught up to Blaise who was fixed closely against the cold wall, looking at them with a somewhat confused expression as he caught sight of the two of them in such close proximity. With the sudden change in direction, Hermione walked straight into Draco's hard back, slightly losing her balance for a moment, before trying to look around him at what had stopped their journey.

Taking this as an advantage, Hermione tried to pry her arm from Draco's clutches but with no use. His grip only tightened at her weak attempts of getting free. Pulling her in front of him with a harsh tug of her elbow, he placed his palm over her mouth as he carefully took out his wand and held it in front of them as they began taking slow, quiet steps towards Blaise.

Clawing at the hand that was attached to her mouth, Hermione was able to free herself from Draco's clutches. Taking a strong step to the side, she turned to glare at Draco. Her mouth slightly parted as she prepared to fire an attack on the two Slytherins who were so obviously taunting her with a trick.

"Hey-" her words were cut off when Blaise beckoned her to be silent as his finger was slowly brought up to his lips.

"If this is a trick-" She begun, but was silenced again as Draco leapt to her side, jabbing his wand onto her neck and grabbing her by the elbow.

"Silencio." And she was quiet.

Blaise gave the two fighters an irritated look before moving effortlessly towards the second hallway which led to the main staircase of Hogwarts. A few moments passed before Draco and Hermione followed in his tracks, his wand poised for attack.

Out of character, Blaise cried out an ear shattering scream. But not a moment too soon and Draco and the silenced Hermione were by his side, looking for the possible attacker. Draco's eyes studied Blaise for a moment, a wave of embarrassment flowing through him as he followed the path that Blaise was looking towards. It wasn't an attack. It was the bloody Gryffindor house ghost, Sir Nearly Headless Nick, who had frightened him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Draco exhaled, prodding his wand at the humiliated Slytherin.

"It's easy to make a mistake when this place is fucking deserted. It could have been anyone, now lay off Malfoy."

"It's a ghost, what the fuck could he have done to you? Were you scared?" His voice grew louder as the corners of his mouth turned into a slight smirk, "You're such a bloody baby."

"Back off Malfoy."

Blaise turned towards Draco, straightening his back as if to add height to his already full frame. His hand twitched towards the wand that was prodding his leg in his pocket, his fingers slowly brushing the tip of his wand.

The air grew cold as the two young Slytherin's faced each other. Draco's lips tightened into a long contour on his face, his eyes scrutinising his opponent whereas Blaise had a hold of his wand and was slowly spreading his legs wider on the hard stone ground, to steady his next moves.

Before the fighting could begin, Hermione blocked their contact by leaping in front of them, holding up her palms towards the both of them. A distressed look spread across her face that tinged with irritation as she detested not being able to communicate through words. Her head spun from Draco's to Blaise's, locking both of their gazes towards her. Draco shifted uncomfortably as Hermione's eyes widened and her eyebrows arching as he could see the pain that the silencing charm was having on her. Taking a deep sigh of defeat, he released the charm and marched straight towards her, standing between her and Blaise.

"What is wrong with the both of you? Having a petty fight in the middle of a war is so egotistical of the both of you to say the least." Her eyes fixed on Draco, stepping back to have a better look at him. "And you. How dare you do that to me! You dragged me out here without my own accord and you just silence me like a stupid bloody doll?" Her arm rose sharply and sent a fast blow to his face. Staggering back, his eyes narrowed.

"Filthy mudblood. Who's to say it wasn't the bloody ghost and you were going about screaming your head off, giving us away? You're not so clever are you Granger?"

Hermione turned on her heels and started to make her way back to the flight of stairs they'd just come down from, her curls bouncing uncontrollably as she stumbled up the stairs towards the tower. Her hand reached for the handle but was quickly stopped when a warm hand turned her around by the shoulder. It was Blaise. His face somewhat remorseful at the young witch as her eyes drooped to her feet, unable to keep eye contact with the young Slytherin.

"Come back Granger. Malfoy wants to show you something." Patting her gently on the shoulder, he pulled at her arm to follow suit. He moved awkwardly down the stairs, slowly turning around every so often to see if she was keeping up.

Arriving back in the presence of Malfoy made her feel uncomfortable; she'd never been content with him in her company. Looking at him through her eyelashes, she was able to mumble a few words out of her dry throat, trying hard to keep her emotions intact.

"What is it Malfoy?" She breathed, focusing her attention back to her hands which were now fidgeting with the hem of her jumper.

"Just follow me. I can't say more than that."

The school had never looked so lifeless before. All the paintings were strewn across the walls at odd angles, some with gashes through the middle and none of them holding the witch or wizard who had once graced the canvas. The staircases had been attacked, some with gaping holes in the centre of them with their banisters broken or moving at altered speeds. A cold breeze shot throughout the entire building, windows had been smashed which let the frosty wind effortlessly fly through the castle. They had been heading towards the North tower.

"Malfoy, what are we doing here?" Her gaze caught the steps leading to the North Tower. It was Divination. She'd remembered the frustrating moments in her third year when Professor Trelawney had stated that she didn't have the gift to read into the future. Books can only take you so far in this field. Her features frowned as Draco turned towards the two Hogwarts students, pointing his wand towards the lock on the door.

"Hold out your wand Blaise, if there's anyone in there we'll need to be ready for attack. Granger, just stay in the shadows or something, don't open your mouth again until it's all clear." He gave her a stern look before nodding his head towards Blaise.

Hermione edged back into the shadows, annoyed that she had forgotten her wand whilst looking at Blaise and Draco as they stepped on either side of the door, directing their wands precisely towards the door lock. With a faint alohamora the door clicked open. A gasp quickly erupted from within the room as Draco and Blaise threw themselves inside. But it was neither of them who the gasp had originated from. It was a woman.

Curiosity got the better of Hermione as she edged closer to the door, unarmed and defenceless. She heard the scurrying of feet as Draco and Blaise tried to find the source of the gasp, turning over tables and throwing bits of furniture around the room. Her head twisted in the doorway as she peered inside, locking her gaze with the terrified professor.

"Miss Granger!" She shrieked, beckoning her to help her. The teacher was worn out, her hair puffed and tangled into unmanageable curls and her glasses bared a small crack in the left hand side. Her clothes were dirty and unkempt, small coffee stains had marked her clothes and her eyes were bloodshot, with many sleepless nights filled under the bags beneath her eyes. The witch tried to steady herself as she rose to her feet, her whole body shaking as she did so. Her eyebrows furrowed into a deep line above her eyes as she tried to comprehend her intruders.

Draco and Blaise had stopped in their positions, looking from the professor to Hermione, their eyes wide with revelation. Draco took a deep breath and sighed with relief, slowly crouching on the ground nearest the window. His eyes fixed on the professor as he steadied his position on the floor.

"I'm so glad you're here."

"So tell me again, what happened?" Hermione was standing in the corner, making tea for the reluctant professor that had managed to calm herself after their encounter. Stirring the spoon in a clockwise direction, the tea began to heat up and she stopped just as the heat began to steam from out of the mug.

"The battle happened, Miss Granger, I'm sure you're capable of figuring that out for yourself."

"Professor, I just want to understand how you ended up in your room. Surely it wasn't the safest idea you could have come up with?" Her hand held out the tea for the nervous professor, her face filled with sorrow as she studied the older witch's features. She most definitely wasn't saying something to her and it was irritating.

"Miss Granger, before the Battle of Hogwarts, I had looked into the crystal balls and they told me that you three would turn up. I was to give you a message, but what that is I'm not sure of. Mr Malfoy was to tell me. I just hadn't expected you three to turn up here so suddenly, but I'm glad you did. The castle was turning dark; the magic was getting lost in the shadows." Her gaze drifted off towards the ceiling, a sob escaping her lips as she took a sip of the warm tea which engulfed her senses.

"Malfoy, what did you need to tell her?" Hermione placed her hand on the back of a chair and leaned forwards, staring at Draco with an intrigued expression on her face.

"I brought you here so you could see that your precious Potter and Weasel-bee are safe. I hadn't expected Trelawney to be here but that's just a bonus since you were never good at crystal reading." He gave her a short smirk, before his eyes darted towards the professor, who was now swallowing down the tea as if her life had depended on it.

"Oh yes. Would one of you care to pass me my crystal ball?" Blaise looked at the ball that was glistening on the table next to him. His moves were careless as he almost managed to drop the sphere but managing to catch his balance just in time. "Oh do be careful Mr Zabini."

"Fucking carpet." He cursed under his breath as he placed the glass ball into her quivering hands.

"Gather round." She motioned the students towards her by flailing her arms in the air. Each student took a seat around the crystal ball, crossing their legs on the damaged carpet. Hermione's face lingered closer to the ball, her eyes analysing it intently as thoughts of Harry and Ron filled her mind. A few moments passed before she noticed that her breath was fogging up the glass and each pair of eyes were looking at her.

She jolted her neck back and shook her head quickly and turned to face the professor once more. Feeling out of place, she began to fidget with the buttons on her sleeve, causing one to come off completely.

"Granger, stop fucking fidgeting and focus. It's distracting and more than slightly irritating to see you do that." Draco growled towards her, his eyes turning a dark shade of grey.

"Oh, sorry." Glancing back up, she focused herself on the crystal ball once more. "You can continue."

An eerie silence clouded the room as Professor Trelawney engrossed the crystal ball. Obscure images began to appear and small breaths left the witches mouth as her eyes widened at the new revelations. Out of nature, she grabbed the tea cup and hurled it towards the window, causing the window to break and send little shards of glass careering towards them. Hermione threw her arms up in front of her face and hid her head behind her legs as the small pieces of glass gently came into contact with her body. Looking through her hands, she could see that Trelawney had stood up and was now pacing back and forth in front of the window.

"P-professor? Is everything alright?" Facing the teacher, Hermione walked cautiously towards her, extending her palms to show her she wasn't armed.

Professor Trelawney's face jerked in the young witch's direction, her eyes hollow with grief. Her robes making quiet scraping noises on the floorboards as she continued pacing back and forward, muttering inaudible arguments to herself.

A creek in the floor made Hermione spin to face Draco, their faces only inches apart. It was beyond uncomfortable at their close proximity and so she made to step back before he had placed a tight grip on her elbow. Jerking slightly, she held his gaze as he looked down at her.

"Don't freak out." He cautioned, his breath lingering on her face. The smell of peppermint and musk began filling her lungs.

"It really does depend on what you're going to say to me Malfoy. Now let go of me, it's not like you saw what the crystal ball was saying."

"Actually, I did."

She was taken aback and stood there with her mouth parted as the information began to rush though her head. What had he seen that had made the Professor react so fearfully? The realisation that Ron and Harry could indeed be injured clouded her thoughts and she was forced to slump down to the ground in the most undignified way at Draco's feet.

"Malfoy, what did you see?" Blaise's voice sounded anxious as he glanced at the delicate witch that was on the ground. He placed a firm grip on Draco's shoulder and spun him around, forcing him to look him in the eyes.

"It was Potter and Weasley. As always, they've gone and got themselves into danger. Don't they ever learn? For fuck sake." Draco spat, kicking a stool nearby, sending it crashing to the opposite wall.

"I knew it." Hermione whispered under her breath, driving her hands into two tight fists until her nails dug deep into her skin. Her head hung low as her feelings were too strong to be able to look Blaise or Draco straight in the eye. Why couldn't she be with them? Her thoughts were buzzing and it was hard not to picture all the memories she had with them. A silent tear left her eye lashes and found a course down her cheeks until it dripped off the end of her chin. Pulling the sleeve of her jumper, she forced herself to stand up and wiped the remainder of her emotions off her face. Rotating in Draco's direction, her hair swaying, she grabbed the sleeve of his top hard and pulled him down to the same level as her, their faces only a few inches apart.

"Tell me where they are." Her breath stalked up his face and down his throat, sending a small shiver down his spine as he focused his eyes onto her dark coffee glare. He'd never seen her so determined before and there was a small drive that lingered at the back of his mind that liked this new Granger. But it was soon overpowered by his resentment to the witch and threw her back, stepping away from her as far as he possibly could.

"Don't you touch me, Granger. Keep your muddy hands away from me." He spat, quickly brushing his shirt with a few swift movements of his hands.

"TELL ME! THIS IS NOT A JOKE!" Her chest heaved as the resentment filled her body, her hands opening and closing at the uncooperative Slytherin.

"Malfoy-" Blaise started, only to be cut off by the Professor who was now standing still by the window, looking out onto the land.

"The forbidden forest."