THE EIGHTH YEAR

CHAPTER 5

The Wrath of a Lover

By: hermioneeeeeee

It was a Saturday evening and two people were hatching a plan. Ron was still trying to get Hermione to date him. However, his so-called love was clouding his vison and this plan seemed to be taking it five steps too far. His plan was to sling Hermione into a sack and take her into the Forbidden Forest and use the Sectusempra curse on her and leave her by one of the trees and pretend that he was Draco hurting her. He and Hannah had talked together about their plans and, while Hermione was out in the Forbidden Forest, Hannah would be able to flirt freely with Draco. Then, he would come and get her later and pretend to save her as Ron. It was very risky and he could kill her but he wasn't himself anymore. He was going to do whatever it took to get her back.

Hannah was still angry from yesterday. She hadn't done anything wrong! She really did like Draco, even though if it was only because of his looks and skills of kissing. While Hermione was bleeding in the Forbidden Forest, she would go find Draco and flirt with him to try and get him to like her. She knew what she and Ron were doing was wrong and bad but they couldn't help it. Love certainly was blinding.

Hermione, Ginny, and Luna were all questioning Astoria about Ernie. The two had already met up that day and the girls, particularly Ginny, wanted to know if anything serious was going on.

"Are you dating?" Ginny asked, cutting straight to the point.

"No." Astoria answered.

"Do you want to?" Hermione asked.

"Yes."

"Have you kissed?"

"Yes."

"Do you think that you will date?"

"Maybe."

Three questions later, the girls had finished.

"Let's go back to the common room. Ernie might be there!" Ginny teased.

"Okay! Just don't do anything." Astoria said, knowing Ginny well enough now to know that Ginny could be a little forceful.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley promises not to do anything to force your relationship." Ginny said loudly as she entered the common room.

"Who's relationship?" a confused Ernie asked.

"Now you've done it, Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed. Astoria sat down with her head between her knees, uncontrollably blushing.

"Oh, Astoria! I've been meaning to ask you something." Ernie said. Astoria stood up.

"Me too. You go first, though." Astoria said nervously.

"I had so much fun yesterday with you and today was even better. I'd like to keep enjoying my time with you. Would you want to be my girlfriend?" Ernie asked anxiously.

"YES!" Astoria squealed and started to hug and kiss her new boyfriend.

"Well done, Ginny." Luna congratulated. Ginny winked at Hermione and the girls walked out and left the new couple alone in the common room.

Ron and Hannah were having a heated discussion about the plan.

"Do you want to do this or not?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Then stop being so nervous."

"Me? Nervous?"

"Yeah, you."

"You're the one trying to kill someone!"

"Kill? I'm trying to get her to date me! Idiot!"

"Don't call me an idiot."

"I came up with the plan."

"I suggested that we work together."

"Like teamwork solves everything."

"Shut it!"

"You shut it!"

"I see why Hermione doesn't like you anymore."

The two stopped arguing, seeing that it was pointless to keep talking. It was late now and it was already pretty dark outside. The plan was going to put into effect.

"Alright. I need to find Hermione." Ron said.

"Okay. She's probably with your sister. She always is." Hannah said. They crept along the hallways until they found Hermione. Ginny was there with her. An invisible Ron crept out with his invisible sack and swept Hermione up into it. Ginny screamed. Hermione shouted. Ginny ran to tell someone. Hannah hid and waited until the time was right to find Draco.

Ginny ran into the common room to find all of the Heads and Prefects together.

"Hermione's gone! She just disappeared! I heard her shout but, I don't know where she is!" Ginny panted.

"What? You're probably overreacting She might've left to go to the bathroom or something." Blaise said. Ginny, doubting herself, agreed and sat down to wait for her friend to come back. It didn't sound right that Hermione would just disappear and shout for help when all she needed to do was go to the bathroom but then again, the castle was pretty dark and Ginny was tired. She went to bed and the other girls followed her.

"HELP! PLEASE! WHAT'S GOING ON?" Hermione screamed. Before she knew it, she was dumped out of the sack and rolled into the Forbidden Forest. The person aimed their wand at her and uttered a spell that sounded like a curse.

"Sectusempra!" Ron whispered. Hermione's blood began to immediately spill onto the forest's floor. Ron cast the curse again to make sure that her wounds would be bad. He tied her against a tree so that she couldn't move.

"Who? Are you?" she whispered hoarsely.

"Draco Malfoy." Ron said barely convincingly. Hermione started to sob but then saw a flash of red hair as the person ran away. Why would Ron do this? It made her want to scream out in anger but she couldn't talk. Or move. She was going to die here, wasn't she? She closed her eyes and tried to soothe her aching body...

Hannah snuck out of the broomstick cupboard that she was hiding in and went into the Heads and Prefects commons to find Draco. Luckily for her, Draco was the only person still awake.

"Draco!" she called.

"Hermione? Is that you?" Draco called.

"No. Better! It's Hannah."

"Go away."

Hannah didn't go away. She stepped closer and proceeded to kiss him. Out of surprise, Draco fell over as Hannah's lips moved over his. Draco tried to push her off but it was like trying to pry a barnacle off of a whale. Hannah finished kissing him.

"What the Helga was that?"

"It was a kiss! Listen, I really like you and I want you to be my boyfriend. Yes?"

"NO! What's wrong with you? You don't just ambush someone and ask them to be your boyfriend! I'll never date you! Never! Now go away and get off of me."

Hannah clung on and rested her head near his. Draco reached for his wand and blasted her off. He went up to the dormitories and left Hannah alone. Before lying down, he looked out the window. His view was perfect; the Forbidden Forest was all lit up by the moon. He paused. What was that figure down there? He looked closer. The lump was unmoving. His vision was good enough to see that the creature had hair. Maybe it was a trapped unicorn. He raced out of the common room and out of the castle.

Ron looked at the time. He had to get a move on! He ran out of the castle and went outside. It was strange, though. Another person was there already. The loophole in the plan was too big and someone had beaten him to it. The real Draco Malfoy.

It wasn't a unicorn at all. It was Hermione! Ginny was right, she was in trouble. She was bleeding a lot. A dangerous amount of blood was on the floor. Was she trying to commit suicide? Why would she be here?

"YOU!" Ron bellowed.

"What the? What are you doing here?" Draco asked.

"Trying to save her life!"

"Well, it's okay. I'm here."

"That's not the point! I was supposed to save her!"

"What do you mean 'supposed to'?"

"It was my plan."

"Plan?"

"Plan to get her to like me! I did this, okay? I used Sectusempra on her and tied her to a tree! I made it look as if you had done this and I was supposed to come in and save her. The hero. So she would dump you and date me."

"ARE YOU CRAZY? SHE COULD BE DEAD BECAUSE OF YOUR JEALOUSY!"

"I realize that now."

"YOU NEEDED TO REALIZE THAT BEFORE!" Draco yelled, infuriated. He untied the ropes and cast a quick spell to help heal her wounds a little bit. He picked her up and carried her back to the castle. Ron followed him up to the common room feeling guilty.

Ginny couldn't sleep. Hermione hadn't returned yet and Ginny was getting nervous. She put on her dressing gown and went into the common room. Surprisingly, Hannah was on the ground of the common room.

"Hannah?"

"What?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Basically, your brother and I had a plan. He put Hermione into a sack and carried her into the Forbidden Forest. He acted as if he was Draco and used a curse on her to make her bleed. He left her there for a little while and was going to save her later. I was meant to find Draco and have my chance at getting him to like me. I know that that sounds wrong now. Before you yell at me, I'm sorry." Hannah explained. Ginny had a feeling that Hannah wasn't sorry. Just then, Ron, Draco, and an unconscious Hermione entered the room. Ginny apologized early for everyone trying to sleep and began to scream at Hannah and her brother.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? YOU TRIED TO KILL ONE OF YOUR BEST FRIENDS JUST SO YOU COULD DATE HER? AND YOU! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM? IF YOU KNOW THAT YOUR CRUSH IS ALREADY DATING, YOU DON'T TRY AND GET THEM TO LIKE YOU! SO NOW MY BEST FRIEND MIGHT BE DEAD JUST BECAUSE YOU TWO WERE JEALOUS. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" Ginny shouted, yelled, and screamed. Everybody was awake now. However, none of them were mad because they saw Hermione lying unconscious on the floor. They were all staring angrily at Hannah and Ron. Draco and Ginny were tending to Hermione's scars with Essence of Murtlap and some healing spells. Soon, the wounds were healed but Hermione still wasn't awake.

"No offence guys but, could you leave? I don't think having a crowd would be great for Hermione." Draco said. Everyone went back to bed.

"No, Ginny. You can stay." he said quietly. Ginny smiled.

"She's not waking up. What should we do?" Draco asked.

"I don't know." Ginny said. They sat in silence. Then, Draco bent down and kissed Hermione. Ginny smirked as Hermione's eyes fluttered open. They both hugged her, relieved.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Ginny exclaimed.

"We were so worried!" Draco said.

"What happened?" Hermione asked groggily.

"We'll explain in the morning." Ginny said, going up to bed. Draco picked Hermione up and set her on the couch. He walked up the stairs to his dormitory.

"Wait." Hermione said as loudly as she could. Draco paused and came back down.

"Can you stay with me?" she asked. Draco obliged and laid down on the couch with her and the two fell asleep together peacefully.