A Hundred Storms
Chapter Six: Time Won't Wait
For all you broken hearted lovers lost
Go find another one
'Cause you know time won't wait and you'll be late
White rabbit's on the run
-Carousel, by Vanessa Carlton
The walk to the Owlery was, by all accounts, completely awkward. Hermione trailed about half a step behind Draco, who didn't seem particularly inclined to conversation. Hermione found this entire situation surreal. Despite what he said about not apologizing, Draco had insisted she not roam the castle alone, and wasn't that sort of like he was looking out for her? His actions spoke volumes to Hermione, but she couldn't quite figure out what they were saying. Hermione almost said as much to him, but she couldn't bring herself to break the silence.
As ten o'clock neared, Hermione noticed the chilly corridors become more sparsely populated as students returned to their dormitories before curfew set in. She studiously avoided the curious looks from the other students as the pair navigated to one of the highest towers in Hogwarts to where the owls spent most of their time.
No one was to be seen as Hermione and Draco ascended the tower stairs. Despite her earlier bravado, Hermione was secretly glad for the company. She spent so many sleepless nights worried about the monsters that lurked in the dark that she was grateful to have another body nearby, even if the other body belonged to Malfoy.
The barn smell of straw and owl droppings assaulted her nose as Draco pushed open the door to the circular room. The tower was colder than the hallway due to the lack of windowpanes that gave the owls the freedom to come and go as they pleased. Hermione shivered and made her way to one of the barn owls the school provided for the students. Hermione saw Malfoy make his way to a snowy owl that resembled the late Hedwig, and Hermione felt another pang in her heart. The owl was obviously Malfoy's personal owl, as it nipped at him in a familiar, friendly way. Hermione offered a treat to one of the brown owls and watched as Malfoy did the same to his. It made her smile to see him act so familiar with another living thing. She gave the two letters to the owl and told him where he could find Harry and Ron. She hoped they would respond quickly. Logically, Hermione knew they'd been apart for less than a day, but it felt like she had been away from her two best friends for much longer. When she was away from then, it was like she was missing a couple fingers. She could still function,but it was in a way that she would never be truly comfortable with.
Hermione felt a deep melancholy settle over her. She stood staring out after her departed owl even after she lost sight of him. The sky was clear and the moon illuminated the grounds so that Hermione had a clear view of one of the paths leading up to the school from the pale light. Hermione let her eyes go out of focus as she watched the squid float lazily on the surface of the lake, basking in the moonlight. She was just about to turn away and see if Malfoy was done with his letters when a flicker of movement to the right of the lake, near the path, caught her eye.
She sucked in a sharp breath, and her hand flew to her wand, but as soon as she focused on the movement it was gone. Her moment of trepidation was not lost on Draco, and he crossed the room in just a few strides.
"What is it?" he demanded.
Hermione inclined her head towards the lake. "Someone is skulking about out there," she replied softly.
"Are you sure?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the scene below them.
"Of course I am," Hermione snapped. "I only caught a glimpse, but it was most certainly a person. He or she dashed out of sight before I could get a good look."
Draco remained still, continuing to survey the vast grounds. After a few minutes, he relaxed and turned away.
"Well, whatever it was, it's gone now," he said.
"You believe I saw something?" Hermione couldn't help the note of surprise in her voice.
Draco smirked. "You are many unfortunate things, Granger, but incompetent is not one of them. If you think there is something out there, then there probably is."
Hermione felt oddly gratified over the backwards compliment. "Thank you for that," she said. "Usually I have to fight Harry and Ron tooth and nail before they take my word for it."
Draco stiffened at the mention of her two friends, which Hermione found odd.
"That's because they are both morons," he said flatly.
Hermione wondered if this was another thinly veiled compliment to her or just another insult to her friends, or possibly both.
"They're my friends," she said. "I would appreciate you not calling them names. They're just stubborn."
"Why do you even bother with those two?" Draco asked. "I mean, Weasley? Really?"
Hermione cocked her head. "Ron? What are you talking about?"
"Well, you have been together for years, right?" Draco said it as a statement, not a question. "You do realize he's an idiot. I believe there's a correlation between idiocy and the number of freckles one possesses."
Hermione was now staring at Malfoy somewhat dumbfounded.
"Are you speaking romantically, Malfoy?" she asked. "Because if so, you're a little off-base. I'm not involved with Ron like that."
"That's not what he said in the..." Draco faltered. "Room of Requirement."
Hermione flinched, remembering how they were all almost burned to a crisp.
"We were together briefly," Hermione said, all the while wondering how the conversation took this very odd turn. "We had a falling out about my coming back to Hogwarts."
"He didn't want you coming back?" Draco asked, still not quite looking at her.
Hermione chuckled darkly. "He told me I couldn't come back."
Draco whistled and finally looked at her. Hermione stifled a giggle. He looked amused. "Even I know," he said, "that the easiest and quickest way to piss you off is to tell you that you cannot do something."
Hermione didn't bother holding in her laugh this time. "That's because you have dedicated most of your young life to pissing me off, Malfoy."
His smirk resembled something closer to a grin, and Hermione felt something quite animated somersault in her lower abdomen. To her absolute horror, she felt a blush creep across her face and thanked every deity she had ever read about that the moonlight hid the flush on her cheeks.
"We should probably get back," Hermione said briskly. "It's getting late."
"It's not that late, Granger," Malfoy said lazily. "Let's go see if we can figure out what was wandering about after hours."
"No, thank you," Hermione said firmly. "We have class tomorrow."
Draco's semi-grin faltered with what looked like disappointment. "Aren't Gryffindors supposed to be brave? Where's your sense of adventure?"
Hermione could hear the undertone of a challenge in his voice but was well beyond susceptible to being baited. "My sense of adventure worked a lot of overtime last year, Malfoy," she said. "And it is currently on sabbatical indefinitely."
Malfoy didn't have the decency to pretend to be abashed, and so Hermione led the way out of the Owlery and back into the much-warmer corridor. The silence continued for a few more minutes while they made their way to the staircase that led down from the owls' tower. Draco went first, his wand lighting the way for the two of them, while Hermione followed a few steps behind.
They were only halfway down the long staircase when Hermione felt a deep cold, as if she had walked directly through a ghost, and then a ghastly horror as she felt a solid push on her lower back and began to fall headfirst down the stone steps. She uttered a small squeak, barely audible, and reached out her hands to try to shield her head from the pounding it was about to take.
Before he could even think, Draco reached out for Hermione's falling form and braced himself on the stairs to prevent the two of them from plummeting into the darkness. Nothing but the reflexes of a skilled Seeker kept them both from tumbling down the solid stairs while he swung her around and rammed her smartly into the stone wall, gasping slightly for the air he momentarily forgot to breathe.
Hermione fell against the wall with a thud and cracked her head slightly on the recoil. It all happened so quickly she thought for a moment that it had been Malfoy to push her, only to save her at the last second. That was impossible, though, he was several steps ahead of her. The problem being was that Hermione knew something had pushed her. Hermione was no ballerina, but she was always careful on the dangerous staircases of Hogwarts.
"What the hell was that?" Draco demanded of her, his hands still gripping her shoulders painfully from when he grabbed her. His face was dangerously close to hers, and she was only able to stare up at him with wide eyes. When she didn't answer immediately, he shook her-and not very gently.
"Granger," he growled. "Answer me."
Hermione gulped. "Something..something..I was pushed. From behind. Did you feel that cold?"
Draco tensed and gripped her shoulders tighter, making her cry out quietly in alarm. He eased his hold on her but didn't let go. "Pushed?" he asked. "By what?"
Hermione was dazed momentarily that for the second time in the same night, Malfoy hadn't bothered contradicting her but took her word as truth.
"It felt like I passed through a ghost," she managed to whisper. "And then I felt two hands push me on the back, deliberately. Something tried to make me fall down the stairs."
"I didn't see any ghosts," Draco said. "Nor did I feel any. What direction did it come from? Could you tell?"
Hermione shook her head. "I thought I was walking into it, but maybe it only came at me from behind. A ghost couldn't have pushed me, though. It was definitely corporeal."
Draco dropped his wand arm to his side but kept one hand firmly on Hermione as though she would fall again if he let go.
"Let's get off of these stairs; if something wants to try for you again, I don't want to tempt fate with heights being against us."
Hermione was all too eager to comply and began to twist out of Draco's grip, which he then in turn held on tighter again.
"Hang on, I'm not letting you fall to your death anywhere around me," he said in an odd sort of voice. "Merlin knows your friends would love to send me away permanently."
Hermione didn't argue with him. If that was his logic and it kept her marginally safer, who was she to disagree? They descended the staircase as quickly as possible, and Draco finally let go of Hermione's arm when both of her feet were safely on the ground and away from the staircase.
"We have a problem," Hermione said as soon as she caught her breath. "Well, I should say I probably have the problem, and I was just lucky enough to be in very quick company."
"What are you going on about, Granger?" Draco didn't sound bored exactly, but now that the initial excitement had worn off, the aloof candor of his voice was slowly returning.
"What feels like a ghost, can be invisible like a ghost, but can still touch things, unlike a ghost?" Hermione asked him, sounding strikingly like a professor asking one of her slower students a question.
Draco stared at her for a second. "Are you talking about a poltergeist? You think Peeves did that?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, not Peeves. He's a bit reckless, but he would never intentionally try to seriously hurt a student, not to mention he would want to be sure there was no doubt that he was behind it. You're right, though, a poltergeist has all those qualities, but they are not by nature malicious and cruel. No, I'm talking about a maliceptor. I think that was a maliceptor."
Draco only looked at her. "Refresh my memory, Granger. I know they're in the poltergeist family, but what's the difference?"
Hermione brightened at the opportunity to explain something. "A poltergeist can only be created one of two ways: either a skilled sorcerer has to conjure one to do his bidding, in which case the poltergeist isn't very strong, or, the more natural way, a spirit is created from the emotions of a large body of adolescents, which makes Hogwarts an all-you-can-eat buffet for Peeves. Peeves has been around since the beginning, and once he was created from the emotions of the first students at Hogwarts, the Founders wove enchantments into the school to prevent any other poltergeists from being created. That said, while a poltergeist is created from all the emotions of teenagers, a maliceptor is a spirit that is either again conjured by a sorcerer or created from all the angry and hurt emotions of adolescents. A maliceptor is incredibly dangerous because it only knows hurt, fear, confusion, anger, every bad and uncomfortable feeling we have as teenagers amplified ten times into a spirit that can remain invisible while still retaining the ability to hurt those around it."
Draco put up a hand before Hermione could continue her lecture. "Are you saying that we're either dealing with a pissed off spirit sorcerer or a pissed off teenager?" he asked in a voice that revealed nothing.
Hermione was quiet for a moment then nodded. "Most likely. That or someone has an invisibility cloak and cast a chilling charm on me at that precise moment, but that would be stretching it." Hermione looked up at Draco then looked away, seeing something unfamiliar in his eyes. She hung her head a little, feeling slightly defeated but not knowing why.
"What is it?" Draco asked.
Hermione didn't look up. "I'm tired. Let's go back."
"You're not even going to suggest we talk to one of the professors?" Draco was incredulous.
"I'm not bothering them at this hour," Hermione replied. "Besides, it was probably nothing." She went to turn to walk towards their dorm.
Draco jerked his hand up and grabbed her roughly by the arm, stopping her in mid stride. "What the hell are you talking about, Granger?" he asked angrily. "Don't tell me that you went up against the Dark Lord by bloody ignoring your instincts, what the hell is wrong with you?"
Hermione was shocked into silence, so Draco continued.
"Honestly, what has gotten into you? Don't you care that there is obviously something malevolent that just tried to make you the school year's latest corpse? What happened to that Granger that didn't take things lying down? Where the hell is that Gryffindor bravery? Answer me!"
Hermione yanked her arm away from Draco's tight grip and balled her hands into fists at her side. "Don't presume to know a damn thing about me, about anything, Malfoy," she said quietly. "What happened to that Granger that didn't take things lying down? I've changed! We've all changed! Everyone except for you! I'm tired of fighting the bad guy. I'm so very tired I could cry. So forgive me if, just for tonight, all I want to do is go back to my dorm, curl up in my familiar bed, and pretend that this is just another school year and no one is out to spill my dirty Muggle blood. Assuming no one is going to assault me in my sleep, action and adventure can wait until tomorrow."
Draco was taken aback by the venom that dripped from Hermione's words. What did she mean when she said he hadn't changed? Of course he had changed! Why the hell would he be standing in a dark corridor of Hogwarts arguing with Hermione Granger about her own mortality?
Taking his silence as his normal, cool demeanor, Hermione nodded to herself as though coming to an understanding about something and turned away again, leaving Draco bewildered in the drafty hallway.