Disclaimer: *checks herself in the mirror* OMG, I'm JK Rowling! And now I can hear police sirens outside my window… fine, fine I'll drop the pretense XD
So, if you still do not get it after putting this damn thing for twenty-eight chapters already, then you must be mental.
I'm WickedlyAwesomeMe!
A/N: Here's chapter twenty-eight, and I swear it's the chapter you've all been waiting for. *grins widely* So, no more spoiling you. Just read it! Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Find Hermione Granger
"No, I think the Draught of Living Death is better, Weasley," Hermione said for the umpteenth time, tiredly rubbing her face with her hand.
The Gryffindor glared, stubbornly crossing his arms across his chest. "Well, I say we go for my idea of brewing Felix Felicis." His face was hard with determination the brunette in disguise found herself scowling darkly as she continued to stare at him, frustrated.
"Felix Felicis will be finished after six months," she emphasized through gritted teeth, restraining herself. "And we need to finish a potion before the end of terms, which is five months from now. Do the math, Weasley, and tell me if we will be able to pass it on the due date. First years will immediately get what I'm trying to say."
Ron's baby blue eyes visibly darkened with rage. "What are you trying to insinuate, Austen?" he growled dangerously.
Instead of flinching, Hermione lifted up her chin in defiance. "Think whatever you want to think," she stated confidently. "Brewing the Draught of Living Death will be done a month before the due date. We will still be able to make a report about it. This potion can actually pull up your grades, Weasley. Stop complaining."
"Why you little - ."
"Ten points from Gryffindor," Severus Snape suddenly snarled, sidling up beside Ron.
The said Weasley turned into a terrible shade of red. "What for?" he scowled.
"Ten more for questioning my judgment."
"But - ."
"Five more, Weasley," the Potions Master sneered, his eyes glinting dangerously.
"I didn't - ."
"Twenty more points from Gryffindor, Mister Weasley, and detention."
Ron was seething so badly now. He was about to retort something back but numerous glares from his Gryffindor Housemates had shut him up. Loosing a total of forty-five points for one single period was absolutely enough for now.
Embarrassed and furious at the same time (but mostly enraged), the Gryffindor merely satisfied himself by tightly clutching his quill to the point of almost breaking it.
Hermione, on the other hand, looked gratefully at Snape as he swept back to the front of the room, his black robe billowing with every stride. She hated his favoritism but right now, she did not give a damn. As long as Ronald Bilius Weasley kept silent for the remaining period, all might end well.
She placed her hand on the parchment on the table and smoothed its creases. She dipped the tip of her quill on the ink bottle and wrote with great care the words 'Draught of Living Death'.
The look Ron had shot her was so murderous; she had to keep on repeating to herself that he was her best friend, is her best friend, and as much as he infuriated her, she had to remember that she loved him still.
"Pass your outputs," Snape suddenly said to the whole class.
There was a great shuffling as some students stood up from their stools and one-by-one placed their parchments on top of the teachers' table. Hermione lethargically trudged towards Snape's desk whilst rubbing an itching eye and was able to unceremoniously bump against Harry.
"Watch it, Austen," the Gryffindor hissed. When Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, he inconspicuously offered her an apologetic smile. He was apologizing for Ron's bastardly behavior today.
Hermione merely rolled her eyes and went back to her desk. Ron was nowhere to be found now and she just sighed and shouldered her bag, marching out of the dungeons without a glance back.
Draco carefully scrutinized the brunette eating distractedly across from him. She was acting a bit… odd for his own liking and he couldn't shake off this inkling feeling that she was hiding a deep and dark secret from him and their other roommates.
Hermione had been awfully quiet and fidgety for two weeks now. Her strange demeanor had started the day after they visited his mother in St. Mungo's. At first, he thought it was merely exhaustion she was showing. After all, she had been awfully spending a lot of time in the library for two weeks. She even barely touched her food, like now.
"You're not eating," Blaise pointed out, voicing out Draco's observation.
She looked like she hadn't heard the Italian, which had made the blond frown more.
"Hermes?" Blaise repeated.
Once again, she hadn't heard it at all.
Frustrated, Malfoy leaned a little closer to the table and poked the her neck.
She gasped, stifling a shriek, as she whipped her head around and glared at Draco. "What was that for?" she asked, absentmindedly rubbing her neck.
Draco rolled his eyes and leaned back on the bench, crossing his arms and merely raising an eyebrow. Hermione's eyes narrowed at his strange demeanor, which made her glare darker.
"Are you all right?" Teddy asked from beside her, lightly touching her arm to get her attention.
Her glare mellowed as she looked at the carefree Slytherin, concern clearly etched on his handsome face. Guilt bubbled at the pit of her stomach and she immediately looked away, not wanting him to see the new emotion on her face.
"I'm fine," she said. Draco raised an eyebrow at her obvious discomfort.
"Fine, you say," he voiced out. Hermione's head snapped into his direction and he coolly met her brown eyes. "Nuisance, eat."
She blinked back countless times, surprised at his sudden order. "I'm… eating," she said, lamely gesturing at her plate. Her cheeks inflamed upon seeing that her words were contradictory to what she had seen. "Err… maybe a little."
"Are you hiding something?" Draco lightly accused, narrowing his eyes, scrutinizing. "You're awfully squirmy the whole week, Austen."
Hermione mentally cursed in her head and broke their eye contact. 'Stupid Malfoy, too perceptive for his own good,' she grumbled inside. She tried to look nonchalant as she ran a hand through her hair, meeting his silvery orbs once again. "Nothing," she said. "There's nothing to hide."
'How ironic,' she thought, trying in vain to conceal the smirk growing on her face, 'I've been hiding about my true identity ever since.'
"You can tell us what's bothering you, you know," kind Blaise said. Hermione turned her head around to stare apologetically at him.
"Nothing's bothering me, guys, I swear," she said. "I'm not hiding anything. What gave you that idea?"
Draco was about to retort something back but Teddy had beaten him. "Okay, if you say so," the carefree Slytherin blurted out, giving the blond a glare that clearly told him to shut up. "We're not going to force you to say anything you do not want to say."
The Malfoy heir merely rolled his eyes and went back to eating his lunch and chose to be silent and surly for the rest of the meal.
Hermione warily glanced at the blond's scowling form and absentmindedly toyed with her food once again. Malfoy was not mistaken; she was hiding a secret, excluding the fact that she was Hermione Granger.
Something stirred in her heart after seeing Draco with Narcissa on the day that they visited his sickly mother. She had tried in vain to brush it off, knowing that if she finally succumbed to its wishes, the fiasco that had happened between her and Rookwood might have happened again.
But remembering him with his mother had made her realize that she missed her parents. Of course she did miss them. So much, in fact. But the longing for her parents' love had increased a hundred-fold as soon as Narcissa Malfoy gave her son a butterfly kiss on his cheek.
And so, she only did one thing she could think of that time – plan. She sought the sanctuary of her beloved Hogwarts library and poured her whole free time over all the books she deemed useful for her mission. She had taken note of everything she discovered. She also listed down numerous strategies in a notebook that was kept inside the hidden compartment of her trunk. She could already predict Malfoy's reaction if he had seen her muggle notebook; she was so sure he would not talk to her for a full month, even more.
Their training this coming Saturday would be the last day of her observations. She would make sure that everything she had planned for two, grueling weeks would happen smoothly. She would make sure that she would not encounter any Death Eaters on duty. She would also take note of the possible scenarios that would happen if ever she was caught or worse… killed.
Oh no, Draco could not know of the plan brewing in her head and written in precise details on her notebook. She knew he would do everything… anything just so she wouldn't act on it and most probably put herself in a very dangerous situation. A silent treatment from him for months seemed disheartening. After all, they were actually friends now. But knowing that her parents were in danger of one day being killed? Draco's silent treatment seemed more promising than the latter.
Her mind snapped back into the present when Teddy lightly touched her elbow.
Confused, she looked up at him.
"The bell just rang," he said, now standing up beside her.
True enough, when the brunette looked around the Great Hall, the students were quickly piling out of the room. She could see Blaise waiting patiently on the side. Draco… she could not see him anymore.
With a sigh, she stood up from her bench and followed Teddy and Blaise out of the Great Hall to their next afternoon class.
"Draco?"
"What?" The blond looked up from his Potions textbook to stare at his Italian best friend.
Blaise rolled onto his side so that he would be able to clearly see Draco. "Do you have this… feeling that Hermes is hiding something?"
Draco released a noncommittal sound behind his throat.
"Draco, I'm serious," he said, slowly sitting up from his bed. "I'm worried."
With a sigh, the blond closed his Potions book and stared squarely into Blaise's eyes. "Don't be, you're wasting your time," he said. Then, "He's a nuisance, what do you expect? He's a primary cause of a huge headache. I won't be surprised if the Draught of Living Death he's going to brew with the Weasel will blow up."
Blaise frowned and looked at his hands. "I don't want anything to happen to him, you know," he said.
His tone was laced with something else; it had completely caught Draco off-guard. His lips pursed into a firm line and his brows met together.
Blaise couldn't be…?
Before he could dwell deeper into his weird presumption, his best friend stood up from his bed and told him he was off to the kitchen to have a nice, hot cup of tea.
Draco shook his head as soon as he was gone. 'No, he couldn't be.'
"Draco?"
"Bugger off, Nott."
"Drrrraaaacoooo!" the carefree Slytherin whined, forcing Draco to irritably let go of his Charms book and place it with a dull thud on the library table.
"WHAT?" he thundered, which was followed by a loud hushing tone from Madam Pince.
Teddy pouted and sighed, placing his chin on his folded hands on the table. "I have a problem."
He rolled his eyes. "Wow, really now?" he spat back sarcastically.
His best friend was unfazed by Draco's irritation. Instead, he released yet another sigh. His head fell down into his arms and he released an almost inaudible groan. "I can't shake off this feeling that something's wrong with Hermes."
"Not you too," Draco growled.
He lifted his head and stared at his best friend, surprised. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Blaise was worrying over the nuisance, too," he said. "Like what I've told Zabini, worrying over Austen is a waste of time."
Instead of being affronted, Teddy merely raised an eyebrow. "Well, aren't you?" he asked.
The blond blanched. "E-excuse me?" he asked.
Teddy rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Explain your sudden cold shoulder towards our roommate, Draco," he expounded. "What's with the bitter attitude? It's so obvious that you grew upset when he did not tell us about a secret that he is obviously keeping."
Unable to think of anything to say or do, Draco glared. "He's a nuisance. What do you expect from him?" he asked.
"Oh, admit it," he said, "he was finally able to squeeze his little self into that miniscule heart of yours. He might be annoying at times, yes, but he's a good… friend. Isn't he?"
Malfoy scoffed and rolled his eyes at the ridiculous grin that had spread over the carefree Slytherin's face. Of course he suspected about the sudden… feelings Teddy had over Hermes Austen in disguise. It was glaringly obvious, in fact. Those secret, coveted glances. How he fought unwaveringly just to claim the empty seat beside the brunette. How he went goggly-eyed when he was complimented by the nuisance. How he went all green-eyed when she continued to get letters from secret admirers…
It was comical, to say the least. Seeing Teddy so smitten was so ridiculous, especially if the objection of his affection was a guy.
But then again, Hermes Austen was not a guy. He was Hermione Granger incognito. Draco wondered how Teddy would react if he discovered that the guy he had been unconsciously pining was actually a girl and a gorgeous one, in fact.
Paling, he shook his head to get rid of rubbishes from his mind.
Thankfully, the school bell rang, signaling for the impending curfew. Without any word, he stood up, gathered his things and went back to the Slytherin common room, Teddy in tow.
"Draco?"
Silence.
With a sigh, Hermione fully walked inside their room, eyes firmly glued to the Malfoy heir sitting silently on his bed, nose buried behind his Transfiguration book.
"Come on, Malfoy, you can't forever be mad at me," she said, sitting down on Teddy's bed directly opposite Draco's.
"What, are we back to last names now?" he snapped.
The brunette made an angry noise at the back of her throat. "Can you please close that blasted book of yours and look at me?" she asked exasperatingly.
Draco angrily growled under his breath but followed her order, nonetheless. He begrudgingly stared at her across from him and noticed the worry all over her face. His anger mellowed, but he did not dare show it.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" she asked.
He raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"But I can't tell you every single thing about me, do you understand that?" she asked.
He harrumphed, affronted. "For your information, nuisance, I am not interested in your deepest, darkest secret," he snarled.
To his surprise, she flashed a little smile. "Really now?" she asked. "Does that mean you won't be angry with me for not telling you about something I'm hiding?"
His eyes narrowed. "What are you hiding?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you just tell me that you're not interested with my deepest, darkest secret?" She laughed when his cheeks colored. "Nope, I can't tell you right now. I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"
He released an exhausted sigh, which made Hermione smile, before hiding his face once again behind his textbook. "Go paint the whole school red with Potter and bugger off, Granger."
She smiled, despite the fact that he called her by her real last name.
She was forgiven now.
"Okay," she said, a tad enthusiastically. Behind his book, Draco scowled. "But Malfoy… before I leave, I have one random question."
"Do make haste, I'm studying, you know."
If he was looking at her right now, he would be able to see how her smile drastically wavered. "Only… females are allowed to visit my parents' room in your manor, right?"
His book snapped shut and he stared at her, nonplussed. By now, Hermione had worn her guard again and merely smiled. "Yes," he carefully answered, watching for any weird behavior from the former Gryffindor. There were none.
"Okay."
"Why?"
"Excuse me?" she asked.
"Why are you asking weird questions suddenly?" he asked.
Something flashed in her eyes. Draco's confusion grew. "Nothing," she plainly said. "Just making sure."
Before he could further question her, she bounded out of the room.
"Where are you going?" Draco demanded as Hermione stood up from their study table.
Both Teddy and Blaise looked up at Hermione in surprise and confusion mixed together.
She coolly looked from one roommate to another before showing off a small smile. "I was called earlier to our… meeting," she said. By the word 'meeting', she meant the Death Eater trainings.
"Already?" Blaise asked, looking at his watch. "It's only eight o'clock in the evening. What can possibly be urgent for you to arrive there… two hours earlier?"
She sighed, feigning curiosity whilst running a hand through her hair nonchalantly. "I actually do not have any idea," she said. "Last meeting day, I was asked by one dea… um… senior of ours to arrive earlier than the precise meeting time."
"Do you want me to accompany you?" Teddy asked, making a move to stand up but Hermione shook her head. "It's dangerous!" he whined.
Hermione hummed softly then smiled. "I'm a big boy," she said, shouldering her back. "I can take care of myself."
"Keep saying that to yourself," Draco snidely said.
The brunette glared then rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I'll be late," she said. "I really have to go. I'll see you later then."
"Be careful," Teddy called out as soon as Hermione jogged out of their vision.
As soon as Hermione arrived at the West Wing of the Malfoy Manor, she released a huge sigh of relief. She had been holding her breath ever since she apparated in front of the Victorian manor. Thankfully, it was too early for the Death Eater meetings. Some Death Eaters were present already, although they were either in the drawing room with Voldemort or patrolling the East Wing.
She had been careful upon entering the manor. Like Hogwarts, it was surrounded by magical barriers, which she was able to penetrate after weeks of researching in the library. It was fairly easy, after all. Despite the barriers being of dark magic, it was less powerful than the almost impenetrable Hogwarts' barriers. Also, having the Dark Mark on her left arm was an advantage for her. She knew from eavesdropping that one powerful trap would only be triggered if people not associated with Voldemort broke through the barriers.
And so, here she was now, walking as noiselessly as possible in one of the abandoned corridors of the Malfoy Manor…
'Dressed as a girl,' she mused, failing to hide an amused smile that was growing on her face.
After planning and planning, she came up of a strategy of removing her disguise as Hermes Austen. But of course, since Hermione Granger was supposed to be dead, she donned her bewitched glasses just as a precautionary measure. Being Hermione Granger would probably be dangerous, especially because a few meters away was Voldemort himself. But if she put her plan into action as Hermes Austen, there would be a huge chance that Rookwood would appear once again and upon remembering her face, would not hesitantly drag her to the Dark Lord. And besides, the only people who were allowed to enter her parents' room were females. It would be less suspicious if a random Death Eater patrolling the corridor would see a girl opening the room of the Grangers.
Slightly shivering, she wrapped her red cardigan tighter around her form. She mentally berated herself for forgetting her Death Eater mask and robes on her bed. The robes, although foreboding, gave her warmth and comfort, which was absolutely ironic, since she had to wear it to identify herself as a Death Eater, a supposedly cold and heartless being.
She was finally in the corridor where the portraits of the numerous Malfoy family members were currently residing. As soon as she stepped in, a loud hush rang all throughout the room, although most were indistinguishable. Hermione guessed it was probably because they had never seen her before.
Alarmed, she whipped out her wand. Although the portraits were perfectly harmless, she was still apprehensive. She was thankful that the beings inside could not move from one portrait to another; she had read it somewhere that once they went inside their portraits, they could not move out. Therefore, they could not alarm other portraits if there were mysterious people roaming around. Hermione never really understood why, but she guessed it was probably because they could probably run away or the likes.
Hermione arrived at the very last end of the corridor with Draco's immobile portrait hanging innocently against the wall. To her dismay, she could not help but look at his handsome form. Just like the first time she saw his portrait, the first thing she noticed was his smile and his dimple.
Her hand unconsciously shot up to the butterfly hairclip, which was given to her by the blond for his Christmas gift. She never really knew why she suddenly thought of clipping her hair with the said clip, but she just did. And she was somehow thankful for it. Just feeling it with her fingers gave her some minuscule comfort.
With a blush, she looked away and scowled. 'Damn Malfoy for making me distracted again,' she cursed inside. 'Focus, Hermione. Focus. This will probably be your last time in this manor.'
She took a deep breath and continued her journey. The Slytherin retrieved her hand-drawn map from her pocket and checked it for the last time.
After memorizing each and every corridor, room, hidden traps, etc…, she pocketed her map and nodded in conviction.
Finally, she arrived in front of the bookshelf hiding the door that would lead to her parents.
Hermione halted in front, raised her wand, and with a determined stare, she started to remove the magical barriers one-by-one.
"I think he was lying."
"Drop it, Blaise."
"You think he's lying too, don't you?"
"Well…"
"Nott…"
"I guess. Oh Merlin, he was lying!"
"See, I told you!"
Draco rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time and finally closed his hardbound book with a loud 'bang'. Teddy jumped an inch or two and Blaise almost fell off from his seat in surprise. "SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" he hollered, glaring at his two best friends.
The carefree Slytherin whimpered under his breath and Blaise sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Someone is trying to study here, you know," Draco pointed out after taking in a few calming breaths. With a tired sigh, he looked at his watch and gathered his things. "Come on; forget about the nuisance for a moment, will you? The… 'meeting' is about to start. We'll see whether he'd injured himself or not."
The other Slytherins followed his lead and gathered their books placed messily on their study table before standing up. They towed behind Draco as he climbed up the stairs in their common room.
Finally, they arrived in their room and started preparing for their Death Eater training.
Blaise, who was the closest to Hermione's bed, chanced a glance at the brunette's bed. To his surprise, her Death Eater robe and mask were placed neatly on top of it.
"Hey," he said, "Hermes… forgot his Death Eater attire."
Draco's head shot up from his trunk. "What?"
"His things," the Italian repeated, "he left them."
"Oh no," Teddy gasped in alarm. "The Malfoy Manor is abnormally cold! He might be freezing to death now!" He scrambled towards her bed and scooped up her robes and mask into his arms. "Come on, we should make haste."
"Really, Nott," Draco said, slowly striding towards the brunette's bed. "The nuisance is not that stupid, you know. He could produce a warming spell if he wanted, too."
His eyebrows knitted together as he stared at Hermione's Death Eater attire. 'Strange,' he mused. 'Granger is rarely forgetful.'
The blond's eyes landed on her bedside table and noticed that her drawer was slightly ajar. Curious, he slowly opened her drawer only to see that the butterfly hairclip he gave her was missing. She always kept it inside; he knew because he had checked it four or five times to find a spare quill.
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he fell down into fours and groped for her Disillusioned high-heeled shoes that were given to her by Potter for his Christmas gift. It was, after all, her only pair of female shoes. He had probably guessed that if she were to keep numerous of them, it would be downright suspicious.
"Draco?"
'Shit,' he thought, eyes widening in alarm. He muttered a soft 'Finite Incantatem' but still, her shoes did not materialized.
Apprehension started to grow at the pit of his stomach. Her shoes were also missing.
"What's wrong?" Blaise asked, noticing the panic that was shown clearly on Draco's face.
"Draco, mate, are you all right?" the carefree Slytherin asked. "You're… paling."
Draco looked frantically under her bed, her bedcovers, her pillow, etc… He ignored his roommates' inquisitions. He was too preoccupied in looking for her missing hairclip and shoes.
'She can't be,' he said. 'Damn her. DAMN HER!'
He tried to assure himself that what he was thinking was merely a probability. There was still no proof. What if she merely misplaced them? Or… or house-elves who usually cleaned their room had kept them in a safer place?
But then, one recent memory came rushing into his mind.
"But Malfoy… before I leave, I have one random question…"
He closed his eyes, suddenly feeling sick.
"Only… females are allowed to visit my parents' room in your manor, right?"
Draco's eyes snapped open upon feeling Teddy's hands tightly clutching his left arm.
"Snap out of it!" he cried, alarmed. "Draco, what the hell is happening to you?"
His eyes stared deeply into Teddy's eyes, then to Blaise's. "Hermes is in grave danger," he blubbered out quickly, his cheeks now inflaming in unadulterated fury.
Teddy staggered back in his sudden outburst. "How did you…?"
"I have no time to explain, Theo," he snarled back. "We have more pressing matters to think of. We… we have to immediately go to the manor. That… that reckless nuisance!"
"Draco, calm down," Blaise said, getting more alarmed by the crazed look on Draco's face.
"Calm down. CALM DOWN? I…" He closed his eyes once again to calm himself down. "We have to leave now. NOW!"
Both Teddy and Blaise immediately scrambled to their respective beds to retrieve their Death Eater robes and masks.
They kept up with Draco as he ran out of their room. The other new Death Eaters were still nowhere to be found, seeing it was an hour earlier than their supposed meeting time.
Draco ignored his best friends who were trailing behind him. All he could think of was Hermione Granger and her bloody stupidity.
'Die and I'll resurrect you and kill you again,' he thought in his head, a wave of helplessness washing over his form. Sure she had her wand with her but still… but still…
'What if?' he asked.
He pushed those thoughts aside as soon as they emerged out of Hogwarts. They rushed to Hogsmeade, apparated to Diagon Alley, and then ran to Knockturn Alley. As soon as they were in front of the Malfoy Manor, they were out of breath.
"D-draco," Teddy panted, placing both of his hands on his knees. "What… what the hell? Stop, please."
The panicked Slytherin was panting, too, as he opened the gates of his childhood house and rushed inside. "We can't waste time," he said in one breath. "Hermes is in danger."
"What are you saying?" Blaise hollered. "Draco, what the hell is going on?"
Draco whipped around. Blaise and Teddy took a step back, astonished with the raw emotions running through his face. His mercurial orbs were dark with worry, of anger, of something more…
"Hermes Austen is in danger," he repeated, his tone ice cold. "And I have no time to explain just… just…"
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, his eyes were as hard as steel.
"Find Hermione Granger."
She finally did it.
She finally removed all the magical barriers guarding her parents' room.
After months and months of waiting and researching and resting and all, she was finally able to be a doorknob away from her parents.
Surprisingly, her plan had gone pretty smoothly. Nobody had ever seen here there. Or if ever someone was able to, they probably thought she was just the female-on-duty. She was positively thankful for thinking of removing her disguise and coming here as Hermione Granger.
So now, here she was, mere meters from her ultimate goal. Emotions overwhelmed her being and she had to try hard to restrain herself from sobbing hysterically. She could not afford to be all weepy now that she was close to success. No, she had to focus with her task.
And so, taking a deep breath, she reached for the doorknob. As soon as her hand settled on the cool material, she released an involuntary shiver.
"This is it," she mumbled to herself.
Hermione twisted the doorknob and was about to push it open when…
"OI!"
She closed her eyes and cursed. 'Not again!' she wailed inside.
When she whipped her head around, she was surprised to see Macnair staring at her with his ugly, scarred face. "Is there a problem?" she asked as calmly as possible.
"The Dark Lord perfectly told us not to visit their room for a week, didn't you hear him?" the Death Eater said, taking a few steps closer to the brunette.
Out of instincts, she slightly cowered back in fear. "I-I forgot," she stammered. She cleared her throat and forced herself to look nonchalant and stand tall and confident. "My apologies. I will be returning now."
She was about to scuffle away when his hand shot to her arms. She released an astonished gasp as he stared at Macnair's scrutinizing eyes.
"Hey, are you new?" he asked, raking his eyes from her head to toe. She felt suddenly self-conscious. "I haven't seen you before, lassie."
"I-I was recruited two days before," she said, pulling her arm away. She took a few steps back just to get away from the creepy Death Eater. To her dismay, he cautiously took a few steps toward her.
"You look familiar, lassie," he commented, narrowing his eyes. "Have I seen you before?"
'Don't panic,' she firmly told herself. 'Do not freakin' panic, Hermione Granger, you hear me?' "N-no, I swear. I was recruited two days ago." She took two more steps back only to have her breath knocked off from her lungs as she crashed hard against something. When she turned around to look at what she'd bumped into, two arms wrapped firmly wrapped around her waist, trapping her.
"Macnair."
She gasped, recognizing Blaise's voice. Indeed, when she looked up into his face, she saw her Italian best friend. He was not looking at her. Instead, his eyes were firmly glued on the older Death Eater.
"Young Zabini, what brings you here?"
Hermione peeped over Blaise's shoulder and almost fainted right into his arms. There were both Draco and Teddy, standing a few meters away from Blaise with expressions that greatly varied from each other. Draco had this murderous look on his face; she was driven to look away. Teddy, on the other hand, was so pallid in surprise. She couldn't help but to look away, too. Not wanting to look at any of them further, she chose to bury her eyes in Blaise's shoulder once again.
"I'm sorry," Blaise continued as Macnair cautiously approached the two of them, "I've totally forgotten to tell my girlfriend that I have Death Eater trainings tonight."
The brunette internally groaned. 'What's with these guys these days? Claiming to be my boyfriend,' she thought.
"Girlfriend, you say," Macnair said in surprised. "A new one, perhaps?"
"Indeed."
"Ah, a lovely flower, she is," the Death Eater commented. Hermione felt his arms tighten more around her. "But then, she claims to be the female-on-duty. She said she was recruited two days ago."
"That is true," Blaise said.
"But I haven't seen the lass before," Macnair said. "Not ever."
"She used to live in Hampshire before receiving her Hogwarts letter. Of course she is new here," the Italian shot back. "She's an Austen, heard of them? One of the purest, most powerful Pureblood families of all times."
"Really now?"
"She supports the Dark Lord with all of her heart," Blaise said in a rush. Hermione even noticed that he had to say it through gritted teeth. "She knew I work for him. And she supports my decision whole-heartedly. I forgot to tell her that I have training for him today."
"I see," Macnair said. Hermione could hear the surprise in his voice. She even suspected a hint of slight suspicion.
"She plans to be a Death Eater next year," Blaise continued.
"Oh." That did it. Hermione did not have to look at Macnair to see that he completely bought Blaise's lie. "Well then, it is nice to meet your lovely girlfriend."
Hermione stiffened when Macnair nonchalantly patted her shoulder.
"Well then, make haste," Macnair said. "Your trainings are about to start. We do not want to disappoint our Dark Lord now, do we?"
"About that," Draco said, talking for the first time that night, "we cannot join the Death Eater trainings today. Dumbledore had called us to have a meeting with us today and he couldn't take no for an answer. We cannot afford to make our Headmaster suspicious of us."
Hermione wasn't able to see Macnair's expression but she was sure it was nowhere near pleasant.
"I see," the Death Eater said after moments of silence. "I will inform the Dark Lord. Now, off you go, young ones."
She bit her lip when Blaise none-too-gently grasped both of her arms and strode away. They both passed Draco and Teddy but Hermione did not dare look at their way, afraid of the reactions that might be present on their faces.
She distinctively heard their footsteps as she and Blaise emerged out of the Malfoy Manor. Before she could completely disapparate, she chanced a glance at the blond behind her.
Hermione soon wished she hadn't because if looks could kill, she would probably be really buried on her fake grave now.
With a sigh, she followed Blaise as he disappeared with a pop and apparated back to Hogwarts.
Review Responses (Anonymous and Others):
Nocturnal Rose: Well, you did not review anonymously but for some strange reason, the site is denying me from responding to your review. They're saying that you've blocked the "private messaging" blah. Haha, okay, whatever. Back to my story… Well, thank you that you are loving my story so far. Now that this chapter is posted, what do you think? So, thanks for reviewing!
victwi: You're not an anonymous reviewer, either, but again, you've blocked the PM feature so… I'm replying my review to you here :D For starters, your review is insanely long... AND I LOVE IT! Haha, aww, you read for three hours? But it's good to see that it was worth it *blushes* Darn, now I'm blushing again. Eep, sorry, it's not yet done. There are more than ten chapters left, just so you know. Ooh, and "Hana Kimi". I've watched the live-actions and I loved them, too! Well, this story is not really based on that manga, but whatever XD As for Hermione hugging Blaise… *grins evilly* We'll see. And aww, yeah, I've been making her hug Teddy. But I'm biased, because I think Teddy is adorable XD And thank you about the glasses charm. I just invented it. Good to see that most think it was a clever idea XD And gah, must you really praise me that much? *glomps you* Haha, well, I'm not really a fan of rushed love stories, too. I want to make it nice and slow until they become… err… physical. Sex scenes, though, make me a little queasy :D ANYWAY, thanks for your ridiculously long yet adorable and awesome review!
Fawzie: Hehe, I absolutely adored the last chapter! And to see that all of my reviewers voiced out their adoration, too… squee! XD Well, I don't really mind if you read it later, as long as you read it *wink* *wink* And of course, review it *nudge* *nudge* Haha, anyway, thanks for your review!
Meg: Haha, I at first thought you did not leave a name. But, anyway… Aww, I also loved this side of Draco. I think he would be sweet son to Narcissa. Or maybe he had been sweet all along, JK Rowling just did not want to focus on that. And who cares for deep and profound reviews? As long as my reviewers say that they love my story, then that makes me happy already! Don't pressure yourself to say meaningful reviews :p And, I like Dramione stories wherein the authors really build up their relationship. I agree, it would be more realistic if they just "don't jump into each other's pants* And goodness, writing lemons and smuts would be very awkward to me… seeing that I've never even kissed a boy XD Haha, and Teddy and Blaise's constant squabbles are cute. Because of Herms, even Blaise is turning immature. Aww, talk about his love for the brunette XD Oh, and I always update on Thursdays. No excuses. So, yeah, no need to worry. Anyway, thanks for your awesome review!
supbrawh: Thank you for commenting my writing. I really try my best to make it the best as much as possible. And *blushes* yup, I agree with you. I think I have this fond habit of overusing "the brunette" and the likes. Haha, do you have any suggestions? Anyway, thanks for your review!
CrayolaBox16: Sigh, another reader who disabled the PM feature *blows raspberry* Haha, kidding XD Anyway… aww, I adored the Dramione moments in the previous chapter, too! And Hermione's always stubborn, what do you expect? It's just hilarious if she showcased it to Draco, who is equally stubborn himself XD But since he's secretly in love with her for years… he had no choice but to succumb to her wishes, huh? *blushes* One of the best writers, huh? I still have a lot to learn regarding the English language, seeing the I'm Filipino. If you just saw my English scores… Haha, so, anyway, thanks for reviewing!
A/N: And, done! What did you think :p Aww, Teddy already knows. Their reaction, especially the adorable Nott's, will be revealed next chapter. I mean, this chapter's a little cliffie, eh? So, review!
And, now you've noticed that I sent most of you review replies through PM. I just realized that the "side bar is deceiving" (AHEM, you know who you are) if I posted all of my responses to your reviews. As you can see, I tend to ramble nonsense just to let you know that I'm happy for your reviews XD So, I hope that you received them. If not, then I just wasted half of my day writing my thank yous to everybody *glares warningly at the site* :)
I'm feeling extra "in love" today, even though I'm still boyfriend-less all because of this ADORABLE Asian movie I watched with my sister two nights ago (and my golly, the main actor was so DAMN gorgeous) XD I mean, as opposed to the Hollywood style love stories, this one was so ridiculously sweet and innocent. I mean, no offense to Hollywood scriptwriters and directors out there, but most of the love stories we see in film are basically like this: "Oh my god, I love you already. Now fuck me." HAHA, right? Right? *wink* *wink* But this movie I saw was SO sweet and their tagline was SO true: It's based on the true story of everyone. I mean, hello, who still haven't had their first love…. Oh right, me! But I'm still young. He'll arrive someday. But you can't blame me for being impatient already XD
… and once again, I'm blabbering. GOSH, I must stop this habit XD
I'll end it here now. Again, review my beloved readers! Make me happy :D
With love,
WickedlyAwesomeMe