Hermione's mind finally registered the danger she was in. It had taken a moment for it to catch up with what was happening to her but she instinctively bit down on the palm that was smashed roughly against her mouth. She didn't bite hard enough to draw blood, though she did think about it. So far there was no reason to seriously injure anyone, even if they were attacking her from behind. Better to let their Head of House decide the consequences once she was able to get away...
Her mind ran through all of the self defense moves she had learned from the books she had studied up on the summer after Third Year. The summer she had realized that her life was going to continue to be anything but ordinary because of her association with Harry. When her attacker wouldn't let go she slammed the heel of her left foot onto their toes.
He cried out, "Holy Harpies Granger. I just wanted to talk!"
She whipped around and pointed her wand at his throat, ready to cast Stupify if she needed to. Slowly her eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the alcove and she glared at the shadowed figure of Blaise Zabini. "What in the actual hell do you think you are doing?!"
He raised his hands, showing her that he didn't have his own wand handy and was telling the truth about his intentions before he reiterated, "I just want to talk…"
She lowered her wand but kept it ready at her hip as she glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching. A newly acquired nervous habit since hanging out with Slytherins had become a current part of her life, apparently. When she looked back at the womanizer standing in front of her she raised an eyebrow. "You do know asking to speak to someone works much better than trying to kidnap them right?"
"I was not trying to kidnap you. I just had something I needed to say and I didn't think you would show up to any type of summons from me." Blaise answered in response to her sarcasm.
She bowed her head in acknowledgement that his guess rang true. She wouldn't have met up with him, especially not in a private setting. Her first thought would have been it being a trap or even worse... An attempt at getting into her panties based on inaccurate assumptions from last night. "You have my attention. What did you need to tell me that you were desperate enough to attack me in the middle of the night?"
He winced at her assessment of his actions, but did not argue with her. Most likely because he knew that she spoke the truth. She watched as uncertainty overcame his features, not a trace of the usual bad boy playfulness to be found. He cleared his throat and looked her in the eye for the first time that night. "I wanted to apologize for Sue's behavior last night."
What? Had she heard him correctly? Was a Slytherin actually admitting to wrongdoing, much less against her? Merlin... Things were just getting weirder and weirder. Her eyes narrowed in unearned suspicion at the sincerity found in his words.
"Ummmm... Okay?" Hermione said brilliantly.
"Look... I get it. I do. She was a horrid little wench, okay? And I just want you to know, I informed her of such after you left. Told her I would never entertain such trash... And I could not stand the thought of you thinking I would condone behavior like that. I mean, I know what you must think. Just because I am a Slytherin I do not have limits and I could not blame you for that notion, considering... Everything! But I do! I used to tell Draco and Pansy to leave you alone all the time, not that it ended up doing any good... I guess, I just wanted you to know that we are not all horrible conniving prats you know? I honestly did not know who you were. I wasn't a part of any conspiracy against you. I swear... Look at me rambling on, I am going to quit talking now." He rushed out guffawing at himself at the end.
Once again she found herself overwhelmed by the straightforward sincerity. She doubted that she had ever heard so many words said to her by a Slytherin without there being an insult thrown in. Draco hadn't even been able to say that much without having to turn to silence to stop himself from returning to old habits. And this was the first time she had heard mention of a conspiracy? She couldn't stop the smirk that crossed her lips as the Twilight Zone theme song started to play in her head. It triggered Blaise to think that she had not taken his words seriously, so he went to start up again…
"I know, I know..." He got out before Hermione interrupted him by clearing her throat.
"Thank you. That was... uh... sweet of you. You know... For being such a nasty vile Slytherin that is." She joked, hoping she would set his mind at ease that way she could carry on about her business. It was time for her world to go back to normal. Not for it to continue to throw Slytherins in her path for the sole purpose of messing with her head... At that point she would not have been surprised if Pansy burst out from around the next corner and offered to braid her hair!
He let out a sigh of relief at her attempt at camaraderie. "Thank you Granger. I had this compulsion to let you know that not all Slytherins are the same. Some of us are milkies hidden among the corals."
He was, of course, referencing how milk snakes and coral snakes were nearly indistinguishable. One of the only ways to tell between the two species was the coloring variations in their scaling patterns. The coral snake's being red, yellow, black, yellow with a black head. While the milk snake was black, red, black yellow with a red head. Oh and the coral snake was known to be extremely venomous... So his comparison made a sick sense that had her imagining a slithering mass of the creatures, causing goosebumps to break out across her arms.
"Well... Thanks for that too, I guess..." She told him, still unsure on how needing to tell her that constituted covering her mouth and dragging her into a dark corner.
"You know since I have you in here..." Blaise said with his best attempt at jokingly allure. He must have been uncomfortable- now that he realized how she had taken what he had done and was reverting back to his playboy humor to save face.
"Nope!" Hermione said, popping the p just like Ginny did. She shook her head at him before she continued. "I do not have the time to play these games with you Mr. Zabini. And if I were you I'd be heading back to my dorm. That way I wouldn't have a certain Professor at my door in the morning asking questions about how I accosted a Prefect."
"Ouch!" He responded with a shrug of his shoulders. "Your loss."
"I am sure... Have a wonderful night! Don't make me regret my decision to send you off with only a warning okay?" She asked him, a small smile playing on her lips so he knew he didn't have to be worried. Not that he had seemed too scared by the threat in the first place…
"Good Night and Farewell M'Lady." Blaise said with a bow of his head before slipping around her and heading off in the direction of the dungeons.
She sighed and shook her head again, this time in outright disbelief. She gathered her wits and started back on her trek through the Hufflepuff's domain. Once she was done she would be able to switch shifts with Ron and go back to her warm bed. The place that was fast becoming her escape. Somewhere she could forget everything going on and sleep. No worries about the chaotic mess her life had turned into. No dwelling on hastily made decisions.
She replayed the conversation with Blaise in her head again and again. The one sentence that jumped out at her was the milk snakes cohabitating with corals. It was easy to figure out who he meant were the corals. The Blood Purists. The ones who wanted to infect their venom throughout the rest of the Wizarding World by any means necessary. Including following a mad man.
That was all scary enough.
Yet why did she have such a hard time getting the concealed black mamba in their mists out of her mind? She shuddered at the thought.
-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-
In her dream that night Draco, the real Draco, stood there frozen in the moment he had looked back at her out of the corner of his eye. Without warning he transformed into the deadliest known snake on the planet. Made up of languid onyx he twisted and slithered down the corridor disappearing into the darkness... She awoke and had to scream into her pillow so she did not wake her dormmates. In the dead of night she vowed to keep the Death Eater's son from her thoughts. And when she finally fell back asleep all she could do was hope she would be able to fulfill the promise to herself...
-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-
By the time Wednesday night had rolled around things had pretty much gotten back to normal. Other than the sneers when she passed one of Sue's friends and an occasional taunt thrown her way when Ginny was not around... But her friends had stopped looking at her like a kicked puppy and she was fairly certain she would be getting an A on both the Potions and Ancient Runes essays. Yes, as normal as things got for her.
Hermione had been sitting in the far back corner of the library surrounded by tombs on old family trees, still trying to find something about Harry's Halfblood Prince. It was tricky because there had been many halfblood princes throughout Europe after King Arthur died and all the way up into the last century. None of them had gone to Hogwarts though, instead they were either homeschooled or sent abroad.
Frustrating to say the least, but she liked it back there. No one ever bothered her. It was sporadic at best that a student would have need for any of the books that were covered in thick sheets of dust. From the unusual signs of disuse she doubted Madam Pince even made it this way much…
She had just gotten done returning "The Last Known Gareia'' by Ottilie Rickenshaw to the shelf when an origami kitten jumped up on the shelf next to her. It sat down on its haunches before unfolding into a normal looking note. She stared at the piece of parchment before resorting to the suspicious act of checking over her shoulder.
No one was there. Of course there wasn't... She slowly turned back to the note and picked it up. Taking a deep breath before breaking the generic seal with her finger allowed for a few seconds of procrastination, but as soon as the parchment laid open in her grasp her eyes rushed over the elegantly scrawled contents-
There once was a fierce dragon that knew only despair.
And a princess who had remained untainted from the pain of his world.
The dragon grew jealous of this beautiful princess.
Unable to control himself he lashed out at her kingdom.
He burned her castle to the ground and murdered all of her subjects.
She was terrified of the beast. And rightfully so.
One day he decided that it was not enough.
Even though he had taken everything she had loved. He was not satisfied.
He went to the princess intent on delivering a death blow.
When the terrified princess saw the dragon she did not run.
She stood and stared at the foul beast unwilling to show her fear.
As she stared she noticed things about the dragon.
For the first time she saw the scars that were seared into his body using the brands.
She saw the pain of his world and she wept for the dragon.
He was baffled by the maiden's tears and stopped in his tracks.
No one had ever cried for the dragon before. Not once in his extremely long life.
They only scorned and tortured him for his origins.
The young and trustful princess walked up the dragon.
And she was the first to show him a kind touch.
The dragon cried for the pain and terror he had brought to such a kind creature.
Feeling the beast's pain the princess leaned forward and kissed one of the scars.
As if by magic the dragon transformed into a man.
A hero who had been cursed by an evil sorcerer hundreds of years before the princess' time.
Unknowingly her act of kindness in the face of fear had broken the spell.
The hero spent the rest of his life showing her his gratitude.
He rebuilt her kingdom. And slayed any beast who threatened them.
But it was never enough to claim the princess' heart for his own.
For he had taken far too much and understanding was one thing.
While forgiveness was another.
-Meet me where Rowena's Daughter cries. Tonight at 11.
She easily deduced who the note was from.
The real question was…
How was she going to talk herself out of going to meet him?