AN: I know, this update is late. I have not given up on this story, I promise. But I was ready to post this chapter last week and realized that I hated it. It just wasn't right. So I had to go back to the drawing board and start over again. Of course, this means a complete re-write of this chapter, and some serious editing of the next 5 chapters that were finished but now need to be changed. Eh. It is what it is. The story is writing itself, when it says make a change…I make a change.
Anyway, I am much happier with this version, and I hope you will be, too.
{ 36 }
Giles glared daggers at me. Hatred oozed off of him. His wand, gripped tightly in his hand, rose slowly until it was pointed directly at me.
My own wand is still in my hand. It took physical effort on my part to leave it at my side rather than lifting it in a defensive stance. Within a few seconds I felt Hermione's hand settle on my wrist. I don't have to look to know that she has her wand in her other hand, at her side, but ready to use if needed.
He shifted his stance slightly, just enough to aim his wand at her instead of me.
Without conscious thought, my hand twitched. Only Hermione's hand on my wrist stopped me. He can threaten me, but he better watch threatening her.
His lip curled up in something between a smirk and a sneer.
"Lower your wards, Miss Granger." He growled.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her tilt her head to the side. I can imagine her eyebrow is raised as well. I didn't dare take my eyes off of him long enough to see.
"Or what, exactly, Professor Giles?"
He took half a step closer before he seemed to think better of that move.
"Or I will make sure your boyfriend goes to Azkaban Prison, where he belongs."
A shiver ran down her spine. Her hand tightened around my wrist in a quick pulse.
"That is not going to happen." I spoke low enough that she could hear me but he could not. Despite my words of encouragement, my heart squeezed in fear.
It would not take much, after all. My probation is quite strict.
I forced my breathing to remain steady, even though the pressure in my chest is increasing moment to moment.
"Do you make it a habit to threaten your students, Professor? Or is it just us, for some reason?" Her voice was hard. Clipped. Her hand tightened around my wrist and held steady.
At first, she held my wrist to keep me from raising my wand. Now it is more like she is holding on to me to prove I am still there.
"I assure you, it isn't a threat." He sneered. This time he did step forward, closing the distance between himself and Hermione. "Release the wards so I can leave."
I glanced over at her just in time to see her lip raise on one side in a smirk.
"No one is stopping you, Giles." She released my wrist and took a step closer to him.
My heart froze in my chest. She is way too fucking close to him. He can grab hold of her at any time, if he wants to.
"I lifted the wards right after Draco sent his patronus to the Headmistress."
His eyes darted to the doorway, as though he would be able to see if the wards were still there or not.
He moved fast. I'll give him that.
His arm darted out. His hand wrapped around Hermione's wrist. He pulled her towards him and twisted her around so that her back would be against his chest, his arm around her waist, and his wand at her throat.
I didn't have time to react.
She did, though.
I saw the momentary fear in her eyes as he turned her around. Instead of fighting him, though, she turned with the force of his arm. And she kept turning. She twisted, turned and flipped him in the air like he weighed nothing at all.
In an instant he was lying flat on his back. His arm was bent at an odd angle, obviously broken. His leg looked to be broken also. Hermione backed away, but had her wand pointed at his face.
I recognized the move. It was the same one she had used on me that day in the forest.
"You held back on me." I don't know why that was the first thing I said.
She didn't answer me.
On the floor, Giles was not moving.
The whole scene was oddly similar to the way I had found her that day, after the final battle was over, standing over the man that had ruined her life.
"Hermione?" I stepped closer, but didn't dare touch her. I have learned my lesson the hard way on that one.
She still didn't answer me. She didn't move.
Fucking Hell.
"Hermione. Breathe." I stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the unconscious, injured man on the ground.
Her eyes are glassed over.
This is not good. McGonagall will be here any minute. Hermione is having an anxiety attack. And Giles is bleeding all over the stone floor, with at least two broken bones.
My mind raced. This could very well be what lands me in Azkaban after all.
You could leave. Take Hermione up to the suite. McGonagall will find Giles. He'll be fine.
Right. Because nothing says 'I'm innocent' like running away and hiding.
You could heal Giles and obliviate him before McGonagall gets here.
I could. But Bones is checking my wand still. Obliviate is not on the list of spells I am permitted to cast during my probation.
Hermione took a short, gasping breath.
Fuck it. Take care of her first. Deal with McGonagall and Giles later.
"That's it, Love. Breathe." I took a step closer. I moved slowly, though I am positive she isn't seeing me at all. I braced myself as my hand wrapped around her wrist and lowered her wand to her side.
She didn't resist. Her eyes blinked slowly. Then she was in my arms, pressed against my chest with her hands gripping the shirt on my back.
"Oh, Gods!" She buried her face against my shoulder. She started to shake, shivering beneath my hands that had nothing to do with being cold.
"It's alright." I rubbed my hands against her back. "You are alright."
She is not alright. I think she is going into shock.
I hate to call on Bones again. Or Edinfield. But one or the other of them has to know what to do, right?
And where the fuck is McGonagall? She should have been here by now!
I had to focus to cast my patronus and send it to Professor Bones. If anyone would know what to do, it would be her. It certainly isn't me. I am shaking almost as bad as Hermione.
I continued muttering words of encouragement and rubbing my hands across her back in soothing patterns until I heard the stone moving down the corridor and footsteps moving quickly on the stone floor.
Bones.
She came around the corner and stopped short when she saw us standing there.
"Oh, Merlin!" She stepped forward slowly as her eyes darted around the room. She checked on Giles first. Once she was satisfied that he was still breathing, she focused on me.
"What happened?"
Before I could answer, another set of footsteps echoed down the hall. McGonagall entered the room moments later.
She faltered. Surprise flitted across her face, quickly replaced with concern.
"Mr. Malfoy. What in Merlin's name is going on here?" She brushed passed Professor Bones and knelt beside Giles on the floor. Then she summoned a house elf to transport him to the medical wing.
Bloody fucking hell.
"Hermione." My voice cracked. I cleared my throat. I looked to Bones, hoping she would understand. "He grabbed her."
Bones' eyes widened. She did understand. Thank Salazar for that.
"Miss Granger!" McGonagall threw her arms up. "We have discussed this before. You cannot just go around hurting people."
Hermione's fingers dug into my back. She inhaled sharply and held it.
"Breathe." I whispered in her ear.
She released the breath she had been holding and took another.
"Headmistress," Professor Bones turned to glare at the older witch. "In this case it may have been warranted."
"She put a Professor at this school into the hospital. How could that possibly be warranted?" She scolded Bones.
"He threatened her." My voice was stronger that time, and tinged with anger. "He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her backwards. He deserved what he got and then some."
I can see the rest of the questions forming in her mind. I'm finished answering them, though. I turned to Bones instead.
"She can't stop shaking." It was a statement, and a question.
I have seen her have anxiety attacks, panic attacks, and emotional breakdowns. This is different. She is shaking like a leaf. Her breathing is shallow. Her hands are gripping me like a vice, but she hasn't said a word. I don't even know if she is aware of the two older witches in the room.
"Miss Granger?" Bones took a tentative step closer.
McGonagall seemed to notice the condition Hermione is in at the same time as Bones.
"Fine." Hermione took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. Her hands relaxed and spread out against my back. "I'm fine."
For the record, she is not fine.
But at least she is talking. That has to be a good sign, right?
"Here. You should sit." Bones transfigured the bench behind us into a loveseat.
Now that she mentions it, I could stand to sit for a while.
Once we were settled, she called on a house elf to bring mugs of hot chocolate and a blanket.
Again, good call. Hermione is still shivering. The mug of hot chocolate is shaking in her hands. She is sitting beside me, staring ahead at absolutely nothing.
McGonagall watched with her lips pinched together and her brow furrowed. After several moments of silence, she cleared her throat.
"Mr. Malfoy. Tell me what happened." Her eyes darted to Hermione, then back to me again.
She doesn't know. About the assault.
That is not my story to tell. I can tell her what took place today, but that is all.
"Giles was waiting here when we got back from dinner. He seemed very irate. Kept on about how we aren't taking the project serious enough and people's lives are in danger." I ran my hand through my hair and released a deep sigh. Maybe we shouldn't have pushed him, after all.
McGonagall pinched the bridge of her nose and made a type of growling noise deep in her throat.
"We asked him to explain. He refused. So I sent you a message asking you to come here." Perhaps that is where I made my mistake. We should have just let him go.
"That's when he started to make threats. He had his wand pointed at us. He said he would make sure I live out my life in Azkaban where I belong."
"He said I have been corrupted by evil." Hermione's voice startled me. I turned towards her. She was still staring off into the ether, but obviously listening to us.
"He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, twisting her around at the same time so he would be behind her, and lifted his wand to her throat."
Bones lifted her hand to cover her mouth.
"I didn't think. I just reacted." Hermione dropped her head against my shoulder.
"You were brilliant, Miss Granger." Bones assured her.
"You know what is kind of funny about the whole thing?" Hermione asked with a ghost of a smile on her lips. She still stared off into the distance, not making eye contact with anyone as she continued. "We already know. He refused to tell us, and it doesn't even matter. I just wanted you to admit you had lied to us about the whole project from the beginning."
She lifted her head off my shoulder and sat up straight. Only then did I notice she has stopped shaking.
"We know you lied about all of her Professors agreeing to this project because she was being disruptive in class. None of them even knew about this project until after we had signed the contract." I paused to take a sip of my hot chocolate.
"We know that you lied about knowing that Ravenclaw wrote that book and that it was written in a code." Hermione continued. "The wards are so strong around it, there is no way you could know either."
"And we know that you and Giles are both hoping to find something in that book regarding the wards around Hogwarts, which are failing." My eyes rose to meet McGonagall's gaze. She hid her surprise well. The only tell was a slight raise of her eyebrow on one side.
"The only things we don't know are why you believe Ravenclaw wrote that book, why you insisted I come to Hogwarts this year, only to force me out of my classes…and why you lied to us about all of this in the first place." Hermione's voice sounded much steadier than it had. She was still focusing efforts on breathing, but the shaking has subsided and color is slowly returning to her cheeks.
"Those sound like fair questions, Headmistress." Professor Bones smirked as she turned to McGonagall.
"Indeed." The Headmistress sighed. Her shoulders slumped for a moment before she rolled them back, stood and moved to stand in front of the book in the glass case. "Along with this book, there were four other items hidden in the statue. There was an amulet that was left by Helga Hufflepuff that has protective charms imbued into it. There was a shield left by Godric Gryffindor, one that matches the Sword of Gryffindor, in fact. There was a map of the school grounds left by Salazar Slytherin. And then there was this book."
"Something from each of the Founders." Just as Ravenclaw had noted in her letter to us.
"Exactly." McGonagall flicked her wrist and a scroll appeared in her palm. She looked at it for a moment, then handed it to Hermione. "This was also found with the objects in the statue."
Another ancient scroll. Brilliant.
Hermione stared at the rolled parchment in her hand for a long moment. With a deep sigh, she unrolled it and cleared her throat.
"Blood will be spilled on these grounds. After the battle is decided, the wounds left behind will remain. Wounds that will fester and destroy all. Only one born from pure magick and one born from olde magick will be capable of restoring what has been lost.
"The time has come."
It was signed with all four of the Founder's signatures and marked with the seal of Hogwarts.
"This is why you insisted I come back for this year?" She asked after a moment. "One born of pure magic? A true muggle born."
"It is." McGonagall confirmed. "I thought of you as soon as I read that. Of course, it might not be referring to you at all. It could be another muggle born witch or wizard."
I can tell by the tone of her voice that she does not believe that at all. She knows it is Hermione. She has known it all along.
"You should have shown us this when we started this damned project." Hermione dropped her head into her hands and inhaled deeply. "Actually, no. You should have shown it to me this summer, when I petitioned to take my NEWT's early."
"Yes, well, it seems I continue to make grave errors in judgement when it comes to you." The elderly witch sighed. She sank down into a chair, looking even more exhausted than she had the last time I saw her.
"Just…stop trying to manipulate me. Alright?" Hermione curled her legs underneath her and leaned her head against my shoulder. She is exhausted. I can tell. I put my arm over her shoulder and she instantly relaxed into me.
Silence hung thick in the air for several long moments.
"How did you know?" Bones cleared her throat and looked back and forth between us. "About the wards around the castle?"
"We got a little too close. The wards knocked us clear off our feet." Hermione answered before I could.
I had something else on my mind anyway.
"I'm curious." I had to ask. "Who did you think the other person was? The one born from olde magick."
Beside me, Hermione huffed a short laugh.
"I bet they never guessed it would be you."
No. I bet they didn't. Not that I blame them.
"I must admit, your name was not mentioned as a possibility, Mr. Malfoy." McGonagall pursed her lips together. "It was not until a few weeks ago that I realized it was most likely you."
Not most likely. It is me. And Hermione. It is a prophecy about the two of us.
"We will need the rest of the items that were in the statue, along with anything you have already learned about the wards." Hermione stood and walked over to the table holding Ravenclaw's book. She paused to push her hair back. Her eyes met mine.
I get the feeling she is about to do something I might not like and she is asking me to understand. I raised my brow and motioned for her to continue.
"I don't feel safe working on this project here, in this room, any longer." She crossed her arms over her chest. Her fingernails dug into her forearms. "We are going to move our research to a different location within the castle. Somewhere we can work around the clock if need be to solve this problem."
"Miss Granger," McGonagall sighed. "What, exactly, are you suggesting?"
"It is not a suggestion. We are moving to a different location. An undisclosed location. So we can focus on this problem and save this damned school." She leaned her hip against the table.
McGonagall tapped her fingers together and studied first Hermione, then me.
"What if the scroll is not referring to the two of you at all? It could be Luna Lovegood and Justin Finch-Fletchley for all we know."
"Can you imagine?" I huffed a short laugh. "We would all be doomed."
Hermione tried to hide her smirk as she rolled her eyes at me.
"It's referring to us. I think we can all agree on that, yes?"
"There really isn't a way to confirm it, is there?" Bones interjected.
There is a way to confirm it, actually. My eyes lifted to find Hermione's. She chewed on her lip for a moment, thinking the same thing as I.
Show them? Or keep it a secret?
Right, then.
I joined her at the table, directly in front of the glass case.
"There is one more thing that we know about this project." Hermione unlatched one side of the case, whilst I unlatched the other.
I lifted the case and set it on the table. There was a sharp intake of air from Professor Bones. McGonagall raised a shield and stared at us with wide eyes.
Almost immediately, a sense of calm and warmth washed over my body.
I reached with my left hand. She reached with her right. Our fingers wrapped around the leather cover at the same time.
The book lifted easily into our hands.
"Good Godric." McGonagall held one hand over her heart. The other, she had her wand in hand and a shield charm protecting her from the effects of the book.
My eyes met Hermione's. She bit into her bottom lip and looked up at me through her lashes. My lip tilted up in a smirk.
We have already read the contents of the book. It is a story. Our story. Written hundreds of years ago.
McGonagall cleared her throat. We both jumped a little at the sudden sound. Hermione huffed out a short laugh and averted her eyes.
We set the book back down and replaced the glass cover.
"I think it's best that no one knows about this development for the time being." I looked to McGonagall and Bones and waited for them to nod in agreement.
"Of course." She still had her eyes on the book. After a moment, she cleared her throat and called for a house elf, giving him instructions to bring the remaining items from the statue.
She wants to ask questions. I can see it in her eyes. Instead, she shook her head and mumbled to herself something that sounded like "I should have known."
"How?" Bones was not quite as accepting. She wants answers.
"You told Draco that you didn't know how we could work in here with this book, because the wards were so strong." Hermione lifted her shoulder and let it drop. "We couldn't feel anything. Until the glass case broke the other day. It just felt, I don't know. Warm and inviting."
"Amazing." Bones took a step closer, but stopped short. "Have you read it?"
"Not yet." Hermione answered first. "You were right. It's written in a code of some kind."
Lies.
"You will let us know when you do?" There was a glint in her eye that I haven't seen before.
Curiosity.
"Of course, Professor." Hermione readily agreed, knowing that we would not tell them anything until we are good and ready to do so.
[ - - - ]
Neither one of us moved until we heard the stairs moving away from the landing. Then Hermione turned and stepped into my arms. She released a deep sigh and collapsed against my chest. I enveloped her in my arms and held her close.
She took several deep breaths. With each inhale, her hands gripped the back of my shirt. As she exhaled, her hands relaxed against my back.
After several long moments, she muttered against my shoulder, "How long do you think he was here?"
Fucking hell.
My breath caught in my throat.
This morning, when we apparated from the study, we did not come back to the third floor. We went downstairs, to an alcove near the Great Hall for breakfast.
We have not been back here since last night, before we found the secret passageway to the Serpent and the Phoenix suite that Ravenclaw created for us.
My eyes met hers for a moment, then darted to the door for the empty room. It is still closed, but does that mean anything?
It took me four long strides to reach the door. I opened it quickly and stepped inside.
The portrait remains above the door, but the stairway is gone.
I breathed a sigh of relief. If he had snooped around inside that room, he would not have found anything.
"Draco." Hermione's voice carried from the office, across the lecture hall.
As soon as I stepped through the door, I knew he had been in the office. The desk drawers were open. The parchment on the desk had been shuffled through. The books we had checked out from the library were scattered about.
That wasn't what Hermione was looking at, though. She stood with her back to the wall and her hand over her chest. Her wide eyes were staring straight ahead, directly at the open door to the sitting room.
"Fuck." We didn't set wards on the door before we left. We were not planning on not coming back when we went to look at that portrait.
I stepped forward and pushed the door open the rest of the way. My wand was in my hand as I walked into the sitting room that has felt like home for weeks.
Like the office, there was evidence that someone had been there. We have not left many personal effects in the room. Hermione keeps it all in her bag, which she always has with her.
There were a few things, though, that we had left when we went in search of that portrait.
"Thank Godric I took my sketchbook and we put Ravenclaw's book back in the case." Hermione muttered from behind me.
Yeah. No shit.
Our tea mugs are still sitting on the table.
Hermione's heavy cloak is draped across the back of the chair.
The pajamas she had set out for the night were laying on the bed. Not folded neatly as they should have been. Someone had picked them up, crumpled the fabric, and tossed them on top of the now wrinkled bedspread.
She turned and buried her head against my shoulder. I spread my hands across her back and held her close.
Lucky for us, we never have to sleep in that bed again.
"We have someplace safe now," I spoke quietly in her ear. "Somewhere in which no one else has access."
"Brilliant." She stepped back and ran her fingers through her hair. "Let's go then."
We cleaned up the living quarters and eliminated any trace that we had ever stayed there.
This place is no longer ours.
Together we apparated to the rooms we found last night. To our suite.
"Ravenclaw built these rooms for us to use, right?" Hermione sighed as she set the box on the table in the study. "It's sat empty all these years, waiting for us. We might as well use them."
I did not point out the obvious. Mere hours earlier we were both cursing the existence of this place, as well as the assumption that we would willingly take on this job.
I suppose we just needed a minute to get used to the idea.
And one creepy Charms professor that invaded the rooms on the third floor.
She stepped back from the table and wrapped her arms around herself, physically trying to hold herself together.
"Gods, Draco." She visibly shuddered.
I put my arms around her and she collapsed against me.
"Did you see the way he looked at me?" Her hands gripped my shirt.
A fresh wave of anger flushed through me.
Yes, I saw it.
"You were brilliant. You know that, right?" I searched her eyes. The last thing she needs is to feel guilty for hurting that arsehole, like she did when she broke Theo's nose. "He never knew what hit him."
Her lip tilted up on one side.
"I tend to break bones first, ask questions later."
She isn't wrong.
I leaned my forehead against hers, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This entire day has been a nightmare. I just want to end it already and try again tomorrow.
"I wouldn't have kept it from you." Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
It took me longer than it should have to understand what she was talking about.
The vision she had of Tristan.
I thought we had already resolved this.
"I have kept a lot of secrets from a lot of people." She stepped back and ran her hands through her hair as she crossed the room. She stopped in front of the fireplace with her back to me, and stared into the fire. "You know damn near everything there is to know about me. I haven't held anything back. And I just…I need you to know that I won't."
I waited for a moment, to see if she was finished. When she stayed silent, I crossed the room and stood behind her. I placed my hands on her hips and slid them around her waist to her stomach.
"You had your reasons for keeping those secrets to yourself." I understand why she did so. I am not naive enough to believe that she will never feel the need to keep things from me, as well.
"I did. With you, it's different, though." She turned in my arms and linked her hands together behind my neck. She stared deep into my eyes. I don't know what she was looking for, or what she found there. "I trust you, Draco, to be my protector, my partner, my equal. We are in this together. I'm not holding anything back from you."
My heart is beating so loud in my chest that I'm sure she can hear it. Maybe she can even feel it beneath my skin.
"Merlin and Salazar, Witch." I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her shoulder, gripping her tight against me. "I don't know what I did to deserve you."
"Same." She held on to me just as tight as I was holding her.
We stayed there for several long minutes, just holding onto each other. Neither one of us wanted to let go.
[ - - - ]
In the bathroom, I stood in front of the mirror for several minutes. The image looking back at me has changed so much from the beginning of term. My face is no longer hollow. My eyes are not haunted. Tired, perhaps, but not haunted.
I lifted my shirt over my head and tossed it in the hamper. The pendant around my neck caught my eye. It lay against my chest, right over my heart.
"You can't change your past. You can only change your future." The mantra that I have repeated to myself every night for months.
Ironic, isn't it? Here is a question to ponder: Have I actually been changing my future, when it was predicted hundreds of years ago that I would be here, now, with Hermione by my side?
With that thought, I released a deep sigh. I am too tired to ponder such things right now.
I pulled on a pair of black sleep pants and a gray t-shirt and returned to the bedroom.
I found Hermione there, sound asleep on top of the blanket, still wearing her uniform. I sat on the bed next to her. My hand settled on her arm and slid from her elbow to her shoulder and back again.
She inhaled deeply and curled closer to me.
"Hermione, Love." I shook her shoulder gently.
She sighed. Her eyes fluttered open.
"Hmm?" Her eyes closed again.
"Come on," I chuckled to myself. "Let's at least get your shoes off, okay?"
Her eyes fluttered open again.
"Mmmkay."
She didn't move to sit up. She just looked at me for a moment and closed her eyes again.
Alright then.
My hand skimmed down her arm to her waist. She sighed.
I continued over her hip and down her thigh. Her eyes opened and locked on mine.
I hooked my hand behind her knee and pulled her foot towards my lap. Slowly, carefully, I unlaced her boot and pulled it from her foot. I removed her other boot as well. When I looked back, she was watching me. Her eyes were wide and there was a slight smirk on her lips.
"Good night, Love." I leaned down and kissed her slowly.
"I love you," she whispered against my lips.
It doesn't matter how many times I hear it, a shot of warmth spreads through my heart every time. I still have no idea how I managed to make her fall in love with me.
I pulled away and settled on the mattress beside her.
I was getting ready to extinguish the lights when she released a long sigh, then rolled up to sit on the edge of the bed.
She unbuttoned her blouse and slid it slowly off her shoulders. Beneath it, she was wearing a white top with thin straps. Her back was to me as she reached her hands behind her back and deftly unfastened her bra. I was fixated as I watched her slide the straps off her shoulders before pulling the contraption out from under her shirt and discarding it on the floor as well.
She stood, released the zipper on the side of her skirt and let the fabric fall to the floor.
I swallowed hard around the sudden lump in my throat.
Merlin and Salazar.
This witch is going to be the death of me yet, I swear it.
She turned around. Her eyes locked on mine and she stopped. Her lip tilted up on one side.
She pulled the blanket back and slid under the covers.
"Good night, Malfoy." She leaned in and kissed me quickly before rolling to her side.
I released the breath I had been holding. My hand settled on her waist as I rolled to my side as well.
"Good night, Granger." I placed a kiss just below her ear. She sighed as she sank further into the pillow.
With a snap of her fingers, the lights dimmed until the room was completely dark.
Within moments, she had fallen back to sleep and I was not far behind.
AN: Yes, I definitely like this version better. Giles gets some comeuppance. Hermione knows the real reason she is at Hogwarts. McGonagall and Bones know that Ravenclaw's prophecy is about Draco and Hermione, though they are still unaware of the bigger picture of the Serpent and the Phoenix.
As always, I post this and patiently await your thoughts. ;)
Until next time.
-mezy