During his sixth year at Hogwarts Harry's feelings for Hermione are put to the test when she accidently gives Malfoy the perfect opertunity for revenge. [Chapter five is up, reading and reviewing would be appreciated - I'll try and answer any questions unless people ask otherwise.]
From the Unofficial Portkey Archive: https://portkey-archive.org/story/2268/
Disclaimer: I am in no way related to, or a part of the Harry Potter franchise.
There were very few hours in the day or night when Hogwarts was almost perfectly silent. Two of these hours spanned between two and four in the morning. The entire castle seemed to be gripped by sleep, however light or restless it may be.
Harry's eyes suddenly snapped open; in the dark and without his glasses the room was almost indefinable. He lay perfectly still. Something told him that he was awake for a reason. Reaching slowly he felt for his wand - it wasn't in its usual place. He moved his hand across to where he'd left his glasses but they were gone too. Nervous panic dragged him into being fully awake. Inch by inch he pulled himself into a sitting position making as little noise as possible. Something creaked near the end of his bed. He recognised the sound almost instantly, a hinge on his trunk he'd been meaning to fix for a while now. Throwing caution to the wind he leapt forwards hand outstretched. With a grim satisfaction he closed his fingers around a handful of cloth covered flesh.
"Ron! Wake up! I've got someone…" His shout was cut short by a fist flying out of the darkness and colliding with his forehead. For a few seconds stars danced on the edge of his vision, whoever it was managed to slip through his fingers as he released his grip in surprise.
"What the?! Bloody hell!" Ron, finally realising what was going on leapt for the door but a blue flash collided with him in mid air sending him back onto his bed and pinning him down to the mattress. "Lumos!" He managed to splutter lighting his wand. For a second Harry saw someone standing framed against the exit, but his befuddled mind wouldn't work fast enough to recognise him or her. Then the figure made a sweeping movement around their shoulders and disappeared.
"What's going on?" Neville asked from between his bed curtains.
"Neville, did you see who it was?" Harry turned to squint at Neville through the wand-light.
"Who what was? What happened?" Twitching the drapes aside Neville stared from Harry's open trunk to the door wide eyed. "Have you been robbed?" Harry gave one quick nod and turned back to Ron who was struggling to his feet.
"Any idea?" Ron gave up trying to stand and sat on the edge of his bed. He stuck his wand behind his ear while he reached for his shoes.
"Couldn't say mate, they certainly knew what they were doing though. What's missing?"
"My wand, my glasses and I think, maybe, my old cloak." As he spoke Harry gestured to the other beds in the room with his eyes. Very few people knew about his invisibility cloak and he'd like to keep it that way.
"Bloody hell, that’s not good is it?" Ron walked over to Harry's still-open trunk. "Should I see if anything else is missing?"
"Yeah, go for it." Harry slumped back onto his bed, feeling useless and frustrated.
"I'll go and get a teacher then, shall I?" Neville piped up.
"Whatever." Harry didn't bother to turn and watch Neville run across the floor. By now everyone was awake and staring at him. He couldn't see them but he could feel their eyes sweep over him.
Half an hour later Harry was sitting in Dumbledore's office. The yawns floating out of the paintings were infectious and he was finding it hard to stay awake now that the drama was over. Professor McGonagall was pacing the room decked out in a tartan dressing gown, her eyebrows were knitted together angrily and she looked ready to spit poison.
"So, Harry, are you sure you have told us everything about what happened?" Dumbledore looked at Harry over a spindly desk his head resting on laced fingers. The old wizard looked sharp eyed and awake, Harry doubted that the headmaster slept at all.
"Yes, I grabbed them, they punched me and then Ron got hexed or something." McGonagal's pacing came to a stop just behind Harry before she spoke.
"And did Mr. Weasley see anything?"
"No, well he didn't mention anything so… no he can't have done." Harry stifled a yawn and gave up trying to crane his neck around to speak to the head of Gryffindor face to face.
"Well then Harry, as you've helped us all you can I think maybe you should get back to bed. Don't worry about not having your wand for the time being it is a weekend after all. And about your glasses…" Dumbledore rummaged in his desk as he spoke and produced a pair of silver thick-framed spectacles with green lenses. "I'll give you these for now, I'm sure they're not as stylish as your old pair but they should be better than none at all."
"Um, thank you professor."
Harry stood outside Dumbledore's office for a long while. How could they be so calm about it? If the thief had wanted to kill him tonight they may well have succeeded. Now what was he to do? He had no wand and worse, the invisibility cloak was missing. He'd managed to steer around that subject with McGonagall. As long as they found his wand then the cloak wouldn't be far behind… or so he hoped. He put on the new glasses and walked through the school towards the Gryffindor tower. After a while he stopped and blinked. Taking off the glasses he looked at them properly for the first time. The lenses reflected his puzzled face back at him in shades of green. He put the glasses back on and carried on walking, curious - night vision.
By the time he reached the common room it was almost six, there was no sign of the sun yet but he could hear the sounds of birds singing somewhere in the distance. He was about to make his way back to be but a voice from the fireside stopped him.
"There's not much point going back up there. Everyone's been awake for the last hour and you look shattered." Hermione shifted Crookshanks from Harry's usual seat onto her lap. "You can sit here if you like, I'm not making much noise."
"Thanks." Harry collapsed into the chair and didn't speak for a long while. "I suppose you already know what happened?"
"Yeah Ron said," she pulled out a length of parchment and began scratching away at it with an ink-stained pen.
"Didn't you already do that essay?"
"Huh? No, no that was only a first draft." She put the paper to one side and looked at Harry. "What are you going to do about lessons? Not having a wand will effect all sorts things. Maybe not potions, or history of magic… but charms definitely." Harry laughed cynically.
"Well as long as I can still do potions…" He caught the look on Hermione's face; it was halfway between a frown and a grin.
"Maybe I could give you extra lessons?" She picked up her things and began to move towards the girls' dormitories.
"Extra lessons?" He turned in the chair to look at her, was it his imagination or had she just gone bright red?
"You've got the weekend to think about it." She took the stairs two at a time leaving him sitting by the fire feeling bewildered. He pulled off the glasses and began to study them again.
"Hi Harry." Neville appeared at the bottom of the boys' stairs. "Any news on the person who took your stuff?"
"Not yet." Harry returned the spectacles to his face.
"Well, I expect you'll catch them soon… everyone's been awake talking about it. I wouldn't like to be the thief when you're through with them."
Harry collapsed further into the chair while lifting a hand to his head, he felt a strong headache coming on which was probably something to do with being punched. He sat somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, trying to review the night's events in his mind. Why did everyone think he was going to tackle the thief? Why, for once, couldn't he just leave it to the teachers? He yawned suddenly breaking his concentration it was a while before he was able to find it again. Hermione, she was a problem too. The extra lessons might be a good idea if he couldn't get his wand beck but people might get the wrong idea about them… He yawned again but this time sleep took over before he could dwell on anymore problems.
I'm not sure about this chapter. I've read it and reread it but I probably should have found someone to beta as well. Anyway if it turns out terribly I'll have to do a rewrite before moving on to number three.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, the books were all written and created by JK Rowling… my shoddy work in no way reflects their true brilliance.
>>()<<
It was eleven by the time Harry woke in a stiff knot on the chair. The common room was empty and the fire had all but burnt itself out. Harry stretched and made his way to the dormitories where he planned to wash and change into something other than his dressing gown. He briefly wondered where everyone had gone but by the intense sun shining through a nearby window he guessed most people were outside.
>>()<<
Hermione stood between a faded tapestry and the girls toilets in what she hoped was a casual way. For the last ten minutes she'd been watching people coming in and out of the boys toilets a little way down the corridor. A scrawny first year left the room and hurried off leaving it empty. Hermione seized her chance. Taking a sweeping glance to see if anyone was coming she pulled the carefully folded invisibility cloak from her bag and threw it around her shoulders. Running, but managing to stay reasonably quite, she slipped through the boys' door and crouched by the sill of a high window. She dropped her bag to the grimy floor and retrieved Harry's glasses and wand from the pile of house elf clothes she'd wrapped them in. Looking around again she stood up and placed the stolen items on the windowsill. She allowed herself a small smile of relief, in spite of her racing heart beat she'd managed it. Soon someone would find Harry's things and hand them in to a teacher. As she turned to leave a sudden thought struck her, what if whoever found them didn't hand them in? She turned back to face the windowsill, could she really just leave Harry's things here for anyone to find? It had seemed like a good idea when she first thought of it. Dejectedly she reached forwards and pocketed the wand and glasses. Behind her someone clapped, as they did so she felt the cloak, which was already half off, slip from her shoulders.
"Very good Granger, I must say for a mudblood I'm impressed." Draco Malfoy stepped from one of the cubicles. He had a thin cigarette clasped between two fingers that was leaking acrid green and red smoke. He also has an evil smirk on his face that could only mean he'd seen everything. "Tell me, is the cloak Potter's as well?" He paused for a moment. "Of course it is, why would a filthy mudblood like you have something like that?"
"Go away Malfoy!" She pulled her wand from her back pocket, she'd started keeping it there ever since she'd seen Harry do the same.
"I don't think so Granger… I mean, you wouldn't want to get yourself into even more trouble would you?" He produced his wand from somewhere and waved it lazily. "Accio." The cloak bunched itself up and flew into his hands closely followed by the wand and spectacles.
"I'm warning you, you insidious ferret - give them back!" Brandishing her wand she stepped forwards ready to fling hexes. Draco held the cloak up triumphantly.
"If you hex me you'll hex this, don't fool yourself mudblood there's no worming out of this one. But, I suppose I could just give you them back."
"Do I look or sound as stupid as you?" She flexed her grip around her wand, there had to be a way out of this somehow. She was good at answers why wasn't there one here? She looked at Malfoy, who was still smirking madly; he gave the cloak a little twirl while he waited for some response. Blood rose to her face. It was Harry's cape, Harry's! How dare he have it!?
"Give up? It's quite simple really. You stop Potter from playing in the next quiditch match and I'll give it back… I'll even hand it in to a teacher, I could say I found it somewhere."
"I hate you."
"What are you going to do about it? Cry?" Malfoy threw the spent cigarette into a nearby toilet bowl and walked out, stowing the cloak away as he did. "Think about it." Hermione suddenly she felt giddy and something welled in her throat. Leaning over a sink she wretched violently.
"Hey! This is a boys toilet!" A high-voiced second year stared at her incredulously from the doorway.
"I'm a prefect! What's your excuse!" She shoved the still gawking student out of the way rather harder than she meant to and bolted towards to girls' room tears stinging her face.
>>()<<
Harry walked towards the quiditch pitch feeling considerably better than he had done since the morning's early start. The fresh air was clearing his head and, despite all that had happened he still had his firebolt, which at this moment was slung over his shoulder.
"Your awake then?" Ron, already in the air, called down to him.
"Yeah, I thought I'd get in at least three hours practice today." He was about to mount his broom and take to the air when Ginny came to a stop just above Ron.
"Oh, Harry. - Sorry I didn't think you'd be playing for a while. I was sort of standing in for you…" Harry stared up at them puzzled. It wasn't long before the whole team had stopped to look at him.
"Why wouldn't I be playing?" Although as he spoke he remembered what Neville had said that morning.
"Well, aren't you hot on the trail of the person that took your stuff?" Ron landed smoothly next to Harry and moved his head close. "Look, mate, I wouldn't normally ask you to skip a practice or anything but Ginny's doing really well."
"We have a match in three days," Harry whispered back.
"I know, I know but its not like you need the practice. Plus with you busy somewhere else it looks like I'm in charge of the team for a while…" Harry looked over Ron's shoulder and saw a group or Ravenclaw students sitting at the base of one of the stands. "Besides," Ron's voice became even quieter, "aren't you a bit concerned that this might have something to do with 'you know who'?"
"Fine, I'll go and look around or something." Returning his broom to his shoulder Harry turned and walked back towards the school.
"You know where I am if you need me!" Shouted Ron behind him but Harry, who didn't bother replying, half suspected he was saying it for the benefit of the audience rather than him.
After cleaning and checking his broom (although it hardly needed to be done) Harry made his way slowly towards the hall. It was slightly too early for lunch but he hadn't eaten yet. As he walked he thought about the thief, it wasn't Voldemort's work, he felt sure of that. There was something unprofessional about the whole thing. He tried to picture the thief from what he'd managed to make out. Rather a short man with a strong punch, somehow - no matter how he twisted the idea in his head the description wouldn't quite fit his memory.
"Nice glasses Potter, where'd you get them? The Weasly's yard sale?" Malfoy entered from the opposite side of the large room. Flanked by Crabe and Goyle he looked particularly ferret like, or maybe it was just the way he was grinning.
"No, it's just that someone seems to have taken my other pair." Harry felt for his wand. Damn…
"Lost anything else? Carelessness is a muggle trait Potter… but any real wizard would know that anyway. It must be terribly hard living with all the half-blood impurities your mother gave you." Malfoy took a step forwards, his hand hovering close to where he'd fixed his wand to his belt.
"As a matter of fact I have." Harry's eyes flashed dangerously. "I was wondering, Malfoy, maybe you'd like to give me a hand in looking. I could use the help of someone with experience. I hear crime runs in the family."
"Don't you talk about my father Potter." Malfoy took another step forwards, drawing his wand like a sword. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could utter a sound the house tables flew across the room and landed in their mealtime positions. Students and teachers flooded into the room destroying any chance Draco might have had to cast a spell.
Harry ate quickly deciding it probably wasn't a good idea to stay near Malfoy undefended, no matter how many people filled the room. He was so preoccupied with eating that he didn't notice Hermione's absence until he found her sitting in the common room about ten minutes later.
"Are you okay?" He said as soon as he noticed the red streaks down her face. Almost immediately he wished he'd said something else. Of course she's not, she's been crying. "Well… um… what I mean is do you need help with anything?"
"It's okay Harry, there's nothing you can do." She brushed he hair out of her eyes as best she could and tried to smile at him.
"Anything you want to talk about." She shook her head sharply.
"No, I'm fine now - I just messed something up that’s all." She mopped at her face with what looked like a half finished bobble hat. "You can sit here for a bit though… if you like."
"Yeah, sure." He walked over to the chair slowly with measured steps. There was something about the atmosphere of the room that made him move carefully. Everything felt like it was made of glass. He stopped before sitting down, way she was sitting; hunched up and miserable made him put his hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly and turned to face him, her eyes wide and shimmering. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…" This is far too awkward, I must look like a right git.
"Its okay." Slowly she rested her head against his hand. Her hair was damp with what he guessed to be tears and she sighed gently. He knelt beside her and felt a shard pain in his leg like he'd knelt on a stone.
"Ouch, sorry, knitting needle." He picked up the offending needle and its partner and placed them on the arm of the chair. She shivered against his grip, he looked up to find her quaking with fresh sobs.
"No, I'm sorry Harry… you're so nice to me but I'm… I'm not worth it." Scrabbling up she ran towards the girls dormitories still crying."
"What was that about?" Ron clambered through the portrait hole holding a leftover sandwich from lunch limply in his hand.
"I'm don't know, anyway, I'm off for a while." Harry stalked up the stairs towards his bed the day's frustration suddenly coming to fruition. He kicked his trunk as he passed a bubble of sudden rage bursting in his head. Why does everyone keep asking me for answers? It's no big deal, anyway; what am I supposed to do? Go around and curse every other student I meet until I find one who confesses to having my stuff. Besides I think I know who did it. He pulled a half-finished essay from the pile of papers by his bed. He was surprised that they hadn't been stepped on last night. Sitting on the edge of his bed he began to add to the work. After five minutes, in which he'd made more crossings-out than words, he was seriously considering getting extra lessons.
>>()<<
Hermione sat cross-legged on her bed. She'd put a silencing charm around the curtains and pulled them tightly shut but it didn't matter, she was beyond crying, she just sat feeling wretched and melancholy.
Why do I keep hurting him? I just wanted to do one stupid spell and now look where it's got me. She pulled a glossy magazine from under her pillow and flung it towards the nearest bin. The title, which was in big red letters, read: 'Compatibility Charms - See if someone is right for you.' I knew there was a reason for me hating those stupid magazines.
Disclaimer: As usual I don't own Harry Potter, nor did I invent it.
>>()<<
As lunch ended people gradually trickled back out onto the castle grounds, leaving the Gryffindor tower empty of all but a few students. Harry, having given up on work for the time being, paced the common room back and forth feeling increasingly bored. He tried to force his head around the problem at hand - his missing things. Unfortunately every few seconds his mind would ramble out towards the Quidditch pitch. He ran a hand through his hair and cast about for some sort of inspiration.
>>()<<
Hermione sat on the edge of her bed with a large book balanced on her lap. She looked and felt considerably more composed than she had done a few hours ago. The curtains were no longer closed and the silencing charm had been lifted. She finished the last page of the book and closed it gently adding it to the pile of other recently completed books. Standing rather stiffly she stretched and yawned, discovering that her neck had developed a rather annoying crick during the time she'd been sitting. Stretching again she decided to head down to the common room for a change of scenery.
>>()<<
Harry continued to pace around the large floor. He'd been puzzling at his problem for the last half an hour but was still stuck in the same place. - He felt sure it was Malfoy, but then how had he managed to get in and out of the tower without knowing that password? For a few happy moments Harry contemplated locking the Slytherin student somewhere and force feeding him truth serum. When Hermione appeared at the foot of the girls' stairs, however, he jumped on the chance of a distraction.
"Hi, feeling okay?" He stopped walking and leant against the back of a chair.
"Yes thanks… Why aren't you out playing Quidditch or something?" She froze, as he stood smiling at her she could feel guilt well up like bile.
"The team think they're being kind by giving me time of to sort things out. Why? Not pleased to see me?" He grinned at his own joke.
"No, no its just I didn't expect anyone would be here…" Her eyes darted for something to look at other than him but slowly she forced herself to speak normally and to calm down.
"Sure your okay? You've gone very pale." He pushed the silver framed glasses back onto his nose, they seemed slightly too big for him. His smile turned to a look of concern.
"I'm fine Harry, if you were busy with something I can leave if you like." She half turned back towards the dormitories. But before she'd got any further he stepped forwards and caught her hand in his. She tugged for a second but his grip, although gentle was strong, something developed from Quidditch no doubt.
"Something's bothering you, I can tell. You can't stay in your room all day, I tried something similar when I thought Voldemort was possessing me - It didn't help." She turned to face him, standing on the first step of the stairs she was taller than he was but not by much.
"Thanks but you can't help me. I've just messed something up and need to deal with it on my own." He frowned at her words his expression somewhere between worry and thoughtfulness.
"I understand, but it doesn't sound much like you." He said eventually, still holding her hand - it was almost as though he'd forgotten he was. "But then I suppose even super smart, good looking prefects make mistakes sometimes." He smiled again, reassuring this time.
"I'm sorry, did you just call me good looking?" Of all the things he could have said, that would have been on the list of least expected. He released her hand as though it were suddenly covered in needles.
"… … I've got to go - good luck with the problem thing." Harry bolted from the room, trying desperately to look as though he weren't running from anything. 'Idiot' he hissed at himself. 'Why didn't you just think before speaking…' Come to think of it; why had he called her good looking? Well he supposed she was. Her standing on the step had put him in rather an appraising position… "She's your friend!" He scolded himself - needing a distraction more than ever.
>>()<<
Hermione sank onto the stone step, for a long time she didn't do anything but stare blankly forwards. A part of her felt glad, ecstatic almost. Beneath the joy however, was a guilty taste. It finally seemed that he was taking an interest in her - she couldn't just throw that back in his face by submitting to Draco. 'But what else am I to do?'
>>()<<
Harry hurried through the corridors; he could still feel the warm glow of embarrassment seeping from his face. He was walking so quickly that, at first, he failed to notice the series of dripping sounds that he was heading towards. He stopped suddenly and turned to face the freshly white washed suite of armour. Peeves the poltergeist floated a few feet away admiring his work, a dribbling paint pot swinging in one hand.
"Ah-ha!" He exclaimed gleefully. "It's potty wee Potter!" Peeves discarded his decorating equipment and zoomed towards Harry.
"Get lost, I think there's a statue near Filch's office that needs painting." Harry turned quickly but the poltergeist zoomed after him, bursting into song as he went."
"It seems Mr. Potter is easily lead,
He's moving quite quickly - his face is all red,
I think he's running - but not from all this,
He really quite likes it when Peeves takes the…"
Harry disappeared around a corner, cutting off the out of key singing. He carried on walking while deciding on a destination for two reasons. The first was that Peeves might just catch up and he didn't like the idea of ending up like the armour. The second was that as soon as he stopped keeping busy he knew he'd have to think about what had happened with Hermione.
"Ooof!" He doubled over suddenly as something collided with his stomach. As soon as he felt able to move he started to reach for his wand, but then remembered that it was absent. He stood cautiously but received another sharp jab between his ribs, this time sending him sprawling onto his back. He searched for his unseen attacker and found no one. He tried to stand again, this time stepping to the side at the last second. Something made of material shot past face, he couldn't see it but he recognised the gauzy feel of the invisibility cloak. Another punch, this time to his face removed the borrowed glasses, which he managed to catch them as they brushed past his fingers. Harry struck out directly in front of him but by that time whoever it was had changed position. Awkwardly he pushed the spectacles onto his head and ran forwards full tilt…
>>()<<
Hermione picked her way through the library's assortment of books and scrolls as quickly as she could. Normally she enjoyed the hushed atmosphere and the gentle faded colours but today they were wasted on her as she hurried. The book she was lifted down from the shelf was one of the largest she had ever seen. She was barely able to lift the black covered tome, let alone place it on one of the spindly reading tables. Instead she lowered it to the floor and began to flick through the thousands of tallow coloured pages. The 'Hogwarts Book of Rules for Students, Teachers, Visitors and Other Staff" was not, it seemed, designed for easy reading.
>>()<<
Harry continued to speed through the near-empty school. The footsteps of his invisible attacker rang in his ears. Gasping for breath he had not yet regained from being punched he skidded inside a vacant classroom. Clinging to the door he listened hard to the approaching unknown, their breathing was heavy with fatigue but they were still travelling at a fair speed. They turned and began heading towards him, picking up the pace as they did. Harry waited and then, at the last second, slammed the door fast. He was rewarded by the sound of whoever it was meeting with the ancient wood and staggering backwards then falling flat.
"It's a very bad idea," Harry said in a satisfied way, "to try and use my own things against me." He walked forwards reaching out with his foot to locate the attacker. "You might as well give up, there's no way you can take me after…" A wand blast from somewhere to his left cut him off in mid sentence.
>>()<<
"Can you tell me your name?" He opened his eyes blearily but they were aching from the light that suddenly filled his vision. His head gave an almighty thud and he felt himself lapse back into unconsciousness. "Come on," said the voice, "you need to tell me your name." His eyes opened again, this time they caught a glimpse of someone leaning over him before once again clamping shut. He forced himself to speak.
"Harry… name's Harry." His mouth was dry, rough and coppery with the taste of blood.
"Okay, good, now can you remember anything about what happened?" He risked opening his eyes again but with the blinding light that followed came a wave of irrepressible nausea.
"Invisible… couldn't see, there was a flash and then I fell or something." The more he spoke the easier speaking became. "Someone hit me with a hex and then everything goes blurry… I remember a bright flash and the floor moving towards me."
"Not exactly Harry. We think you ran into a door on the second floor. There's certainly the dent there to prove it. But don't worry, you'll be fine - just drink this." Madam Pomfrey offered him a beaker of something hot and deep blue. He sipped at it and soon fell back into a deep sleep on the hospital bed.
>>()<<
Hermione skimmed over the third page of the books forth index. The school seemed to have policies on almost everything but they were hardly ever implemented. A shadow fell across the page she was reading causing her to look up.
"Hello Granger - It's nice to see you've finally learnt to sit where you belong." Malfoy flicked the book shut with his foot and dropped something over it. "I think your looking for this. I had a friend of my fathers look into it for me." She picked up the neatly rolled parchment and got to her feet whilst pulling it open angrily. Without taking her eyes off Malfoy she scanned the paper. One sentence practically screamed at her from halfway down the text. 'In short, anyone found in serious breach of the schools rules on theft will be immediately expelled and escorted from the grounds.'
"Why should I believe you? For all I know you could have written that yourself." She wasn't going to let him push her over this time.
"You may be inferior in every other way but you're not stupid." Draco's look of smug satisfaction increased as he drawled. "Can you really afford to risk it? Will you really go back to being a stinking muggle in some hovel somewhere?"
"You can't prove I did anything - you've got the Harry's things not me." She glanced towards the rest of the library not wanting to be heard by anyone else.
"That had occurred to me, but why tell them when I can show them? I happened to notice a pensieve in Snape's office the other day, I'm sure he can be persuaded to let me borrow it for the good of the school… you see Granger? You have no easy way out." By now his eyes were almost bulging from his head in malicious joy.
"I'll tell him anyway - they might expel me for stealing but lets see what they do to you for blackmail." She took a step forwards and shoved the parchment towards him, which he snatched and folded away.
"Just make sure Potter doesn't play for Gryffindor." He turned and stalked off.
>>()<<
Harry sat up in his bed. All he knew was that it was sometime late into the night. For the first time since arriving he took a good look at his surroundings. Everything was either sterile white or sterile blue and there was very little of everything to go around. A thin window channelled a small amount of moonlight into the room by which he could make out the bed he was sitting in and a small table. Resting on the table were Dumbledore's glasses and a small note. Using the strange green lenses Harry was able to read the neat writing on the paper perfectly.
'Dear Harry, I thought I'd return these to you, as I still believe you have a use for them. Please be careful, I can do nothing about your lost things without first getting a permit from the ministry allowing me to search students property, it seems Umbridge's work still needs undoing.'
Harry placed the note and the spectacles to one side. Why was Dumbledore always away when he needed him the most? He yawned suddenly; the potion seemed to be working again. He lay back and fell asleep almost as soon as his head brushed the pillow.
>>()<<
Sunday morning came and went without anything unusual happening. For most of the students it followed much the same pattern as Saturday had done. Harry was sitting in the small side ward of the hospital wing in which he'd spent the night.
"Can I go now?" He called to the matron as she hurried past the door on some unknown errand. She stopped briefly and studied him shrewdly.
"You can go at twelve, I'm still not sure your over the concussion and I want to make sure you get a decent meal - none of that Honeydukes rubbish." She was about to carry on her way but he persisted.
"I feel fine."
"That as maybe, but half an hour ago you were spouting nonsense at me about someone hexing you in the corridors." Her attitude towards his retelling of the garbled story from before didn't seem to have improved.
"They did." He sat up straighter and tried to look as honest as possible.
"I'm sorry Harry but you collided with a door at high speeds and knocked yourself cold. You've just got to accept that you're still a little confused." She spoke in a firm but not unkindly way and then left to continue her duties. To begin with Harry sat moodily, he tried to harbour dark thoughts about what he would do to his assailant but revenge was not an easy task while he was still half doped on sleeping potion. His mind ticked towards thoughts of Hermione and the day before.
'If I died tomorrow I'd never be able to tell her that what I said was true…' It was a grim thought but it opened his eyes. When would he work if she weren't there every night to help him or chivvy him into studying harder? What would he look at if he couldn't rest his eyes on her when they were tired from too much time on the pitch? There were a million different situations and they all seemed to rush into his head at once… He suddenly felt changed, but couldn't say why or how.
"Harry!" The girl in question sped through the door and ran to his side. "I would have come sooner but I only found out a few minutes ago. How are you doing?"
"Well apart from no one believing me that I was attacked and hexed into last week - I'm fine thanks." He swung his legs around so that he was sitting on the side of the bed and forced her a smile.
"What! Who attacked you?" Instead of sitting she walked over to the window and stared out worriedly.
"Malfoy - and don't think he isn't going to pay." Harry stretched; he could feel a bubble of restless energy growing inside him and he itched to do something about it.
"He attacked you in broad daylight?" Instead of turning towards him she gripped the narrow windowsill nervously.
"He was invisible - he had my cloak. That must have been his plan all along. Steal my things so I was defenceless and then beat on me without being seen." He played with the silver-framed glasses in his hands. "Well, at least I've had some time to rest and think about some things that have been on my mind." He stood slowly and joined her at the window. His limbs felt stiff and he was still, in yesterday's clothes. He couldn't see it but he was pretty sure his hair was messier than ever. This defiantly wasn't the venue he's have chosen but something told him it was now or never.
For a long time they gazed into the distance, both lost in though and not really taking in the view.
"I need to ask you something." He said quietly.
"I need to tell you something." She said at the same time, equally as quietly.
"You first then." He stepped back and sat down to listen.
"Harry," she still didn't look at him, she couldn't bring herself to see his face as she told him, "I'm the one who took your things…"
Disclaimer: Nothings changed since the last chapter, I still don't own Harry Potter - All the characters, places, etc. are the property of J K Rowling.
>>()<<
--Flash back to last chapter--
For a long time they gazed into the distance, both lost in thought and not really taking in the view.
"I need to ask you something." He said quietly.
"I need to tell you something." She said at the same time, equally as quietly.
"You first then." He stepped back and sat down to listen.
"Harry," she still didn't look at him, she couldn't bring herself to see his face as she told him, "I'm the one who took your things…"
--Chapter Four--
Harry's nausea returned with vehemence, he tried to stand but fell back into sitting before he'd managed to drag himself even half way up.
"You're the one who what?" He looked at her with burning, accusation filled eyes. The small hospital room seemed to stretch between them, without moving an inch she was further from him now than she'd ever been and still the gap seemed to increase with every passing second.
"I'm sorry… It wasn't…" Her fingers turned white as she increased her grip on the window ledge.
"You dragged me," he said darkly, "higher than I've ever been only to throw me down lower than before… and I hope it makes you happy." He threw himself to his feet, grabbing the bedpost until he could stand unsupported.
"Wait… I need to explain, please Harry." She stepped forward and caught his arm as he tried to leave. "Please just let me explain… then… then you can hate me all you want."
"Don't touch me!" he pulled himself from her grip and pushed her backwards, where she fell heavily onto the bed with a frightened gasp.
"But…"
"For once just shut up!" He yelled, the sound of his venting anger blocking out anything else she might have to say. A mixture of concussion and disbelief brought him to his knees, he was vaguely aware of a loud popping sound somewhere. When he opened his eyes again the room was filled with downy white feathers. Hermione sat hunched and afraid on the bed clutching at the remains of a singed pillowcase. Struggling to his feat he kicked the door open and stormed out of the infirmary.
"What do you think you're doing! There are people here trying to recover and your noise is not helping!" Madam Pomfrey practically shrieked as he exited.
"You haven't seen sick until you've met Hermione Granger," he managed to spit before slamming the door behind him and disappearing into the school. The pain from a few moments ago echoed in his head.
>>()<<
Hermione slowly battled with her pulse until it returned to somewhere near normal. She'd never seen anyone, let alone Harry, so enraged. For a long time she sat watching the feathers whirl in circles around her head. One drifted from the room and out of the window, she turned her head slightly to watch the white spec phase into the distance. This, she decided, was how she would remember Hogwarts, because she had the feeling that soon she was sure to be thrown back into the muggle world with no wand, not magic and no friends.
>>()<<
It was getting late into the evening by the time Harry calmed down enough to recognise his surroundings. His furious rambling had taken him out by the lake, which was reflecting the lengthening shadows like pooled glass. He sank back against a tree and felt the chill from the ground work its way up his legs and into his torso. The good weather seemed to be coming to an abrupt end but he didn't really care, he'd barley had the chance to enjoy it.
As he sat brooding a slight breeze began to run across the ground. He ignored it, too wrapped in his feelings to care. As he sat getting colder and colder the wind increased, as it passed him it dropped something into his lap, a small white feather. He picked it up and studied it; it was battered and broken by the elements. He was about to throw it away but something made him pocket it instead, its sorry state reminded him of his own problems.
A splash from the bank brought him out of his thoughts just in time to receive a sharp blow from an accurately thrown pebble. Feeling he was in for the worst he ducked to one side, avoiding another stone.
He froze behind the tree listening hard. Unlike the corridors there were plenty of opportunities for his attacker to make unwanted noise. Hearing a twig snap to his right Harry seized the moment and lashed out savagely with his hand. He connected with something hard and pointed that crumpled under his blow with a sickening crunch.
"You'll pway fur dat Pwotter." Said a distorted but familiar voice. Before the speaker could fulfil his threat Harry yanked at the air in front of him. His hand came away full of gauzy cloth, which he quickly wrapped up and held fast to his chest. Standing before him was Draco, his nose oozing blood slowly.
"You'd better not have got any blood on my dad's cape." Harry felt his tone take on a menacing edge, his rage form earlier cannoning back.
"You pwunched me!" Shouted Malfoy in confused indignation. Feeling fully justified Harry delivered another blow, this time to the blond boy's stomach. "Howb dware you!" Malfoy straightened and brushed the rabidly congealing blood from his face. He sneezed violently and winced but seemed to regain the full power of speech. "Hit me again Potter and I'll make sure that dirty mudblood tramp gets kicked out within the hour." Draco stepped backwards warily but seemed to be returning to his snide and evil self.
"What did you do to her?!" Harry fought against the urge to pay Draco back in full for his earlier injuries.
"Nothing, I happened to find her wandering the school with your things in tow. The only thing that stopped me from taking her to Professor Snape on the spot was that I thought I could use her for a little revenge… and here we are Potter." Malfoy pulled his wand from beneath his robes and pointed it forwards.
Harry raised his fists again, "prove it."
"Don't think I can't." he risked a condescending smirk. "So here's the deal. You stop playing quiditch as of now and every Sunday you come here after the curfew and I get to beat on you. If not, if your just a second late or even look at a broom funny then I'll have her kicked out right under Dumbledore's nose."
"Why would I care what happen to the thieving little…" A sudden pang of hidden guilt cut him short.
"You must think I'm as stupid as Ron Weasly. Don't think I didn't see that little display in the infirmary. If you really hated her then you wouldn't be here now." Malfoy twirled his wand mockingly. "So, do we have a deal?" Harry felt torn. The choice was clear, Hermione and whatever Malfoy would to him or quiditch.
"Fine… but if you do anything to her, if you even tell her this is happening I'll make you wish you were stuck in Azkaban grovelling for your worthless fathers protection." For a second Malfoy turned a livid red that could have rivalled Vernon's.
"Still infatuated with the mudblood then Potter?"
"No, now I just hate both of you."
"Excellent, seeing as it's Sunday lets begin shall we… Crucio!"
'He wouldn't!?' Harry's world suddenly exploded into pain. The scenic grounds slipped from his vision as he doubled over in agony. Through the blackness he could almost make out the strained blood being forced through the veins in his eyes as they rolled upwards. After what seemed like epochs Harry was allowed to stand and gasp for breath. "Git!"
"Crucio!"
The pain over-boiled and Harry collapsed again. After a while, perhaps a little longer than before he managed to stand and face Draco again. He braced himself this time but it seemed to make no difference.
"Crucio! Don't worry Potter, this can go on for days before the insanity starts to kick in."
Harry's fingers dug into the soft ground as he fought against the cruel spell. "I swear I'll find some way of getting you back…"
"Idle threats Harry, idle threats." Draco administered a sharp kick to Harry's ribs as he waited for him to recover enough to curse again. "I wonder if the dark lord did this to your mother before killing her? Crucio!" As Harry blacked out his hand closed around the bent and broken feather in his pocket, the only comfort he had in the drawing darkness.
>>()<<
Hermione sat in the hospital room for a long time. She was sure the matron has seen her at least once but the woman seemed to sense something was wrong and left her alone. The fine weather faded with the day and dark clouds began to gather. Hermione sat with the pillow on her lap. She'd gathered all the remaining feathers into a neat pile with her wand and absently repaired the bedding Harry had destroyed.
What had happened that afternoon had scared her, that she could cause such emotion in Harry as to do magic without a wand was a shocking revelation. She put the pillow aside and left the room cautiously. No one had come to expel her, which meant Harry hadn't told anyone. Did that mean he didn't hate her? 'No', she though to herself, 'I've done enough damage - I owe it to Harry never to get in his way again.'
>>()<<
Large drops of cold water brought Harry back from where his mind had taken him. It was almost pitch black and raining heavily but the glasses allowed him to see. Thankfully he still had the invisibility cloak clutched close to him; Malfoy must have run into problems prizing it from his unconscious grip. At first he found he couldn't move, his limbs were still burning from the spell and felt like lead. The sky suddenly flashed an eerie purple as a bolt of lightning divided the horizon in two. The storm looked to be in full flow and, as sudden summer storms often did, planned to go on for some time. With an unpleasant squelch Harry pulled himself up from the mud and staggered towards the castle trying to bundle the cloak together as he went.
The hall was empty and the tables pushed up against one of the walls. He pulled the glasses from his face, the green lenses had somehow stayed in tact, and wiped the water from his face as best he could. The room seamed to appear and disappear as the enchanted ceiling mirrored the flashes from outside. Wrapping the cloak around his shoulders Harry set off for the dormitories intent on sleeping for a week.
"Password?" Said the portrait sleepily, not really taking in his condition.
"Rapture," Harry replied feeling none of it. He clambered into the common room and realised that he still had no idea what time it was. He looked at his watch but the rain had rendered it useless. He battled his way up the stairs and peeled off his mud-covered clothing before sinking into his bed and falling asleep immediately.
>>()<<
"Harry, Harry - Wake up." Ron shook him until he could no longer pretend not to notice.
"What time is it?" Thankfully Harry realised that the after effects of Malfoy's torture no longer racked his body.
"About half-six," Said Ron who was up and dressed.
"Then why are you awake? There's still time for sleeping." Harry tired to gesture to his bed but found that it was entirely too much work.
"I thought we had a quiditch match after lessons today and couldn't sleep," Harry noticed the glum tone in Ron's voice for the first time. "One of the bloody hoops got struck by lightning though, bloody thing's been blown off its feet."
"Thank God" muttered Harry and fell back onto his pillow closing his eyes. Ron looked at him in confusion before heading off to inform the rest of the team.
>>()<<
The first lesson of the day was transfiguration which, although hard, Harry normally found bearable. He and Ron were the first two people in the room due to their early start. They sat in their normal places and pulled out their books. Hermione entered soon afterwards, she ignored both of them and chose a seat near the front that was normally unoccupied.
"What's that about?" Asked Ron quietly. "She wasn't talking at breakfast either."
"We had an argument." Harry tried to halt the conversation before too many questions were asked.
"Want to talk about it?" Ron's whisper was rather too loud for Harry's liking, he glanced up to see if she'd heard and then said rather audibly:
"Not really, there's not much to say." He opened his book at a random page and pretended to have a sudden interest in basic creature to furniture spells. The room was silent for a few minutes.
"… I still think the Slytherin team vandalised the pitch to stop us from playing. They were probably scared we'd win. All it would take was one good curse and…" Harry turned the page as loudly as possible. He didn't want to get mad at Ron, he needed friends right now but 'Slytherin' and 'curse' were not words he wanted to hear. "Come to think of it Draco looked really happy about something today." Harry turned the page again, this time almost ripping it clean of the book. "I think I'll go and ask Hermione about it, she's smart, she can probably tell me what curse it was and stuff - I'll talk to you later Harry."
"The only thing she knows about curses is how to inflict them on other people." Harry thought out loud.
"What's that mate?"
"Nothing - I'll see you later…" Looking up from his pseudo-reading Harry saw that the rest of the class had entered and were chatting amongst themselves, just as Ron sat down near Hermione McGongal entered and the talking ceased.
"It's nice to see your enthusiasm Mr. Potter but today's lesson will be practical." She waited for Harry to put the book down. "But seeing as though you still do not have your wand special conditions have been arranged. - The headmaster can tell you more than I can, he's expecting you in his office." Gathering his things Harry left the room as the lesson began around him. Ron and Hermione were chatting animatedly; she still looked slightly worried but apart from that appeared to be deep in conversation. He frowned as he made his way through the school, she'd almost completely ruined his school life, he couldn't be jealous? Could he?
Disclaimer: All the characters are the property of JK Rowling, this is a non-profit work of fiction and I am in no way linked to the official Harry Potter books or the cannon there-in.
I wish I were better at writing disclaimers. Anyway, hopefully this chapter should be better than the last - I think I went into overkill with the curcio curse and possibly in some other places.
--Chapter 5--
Harry's head was heavy with unanswered questions as he trudged to Dumbledore's office. Part of him still reeled from last night's events. He wanted to hate Hermione, as far as he could see she was the reason behind all of this, but something prevented him from doing so. Every time he tried to build a negative picture of her in his mind he remembered how she'd looked at him after confessing. Her eyes, such pretty eyes, had been wide with fear - a fear that he couldn't protect her from, a fear he himself had created. Every time he thought about hating her he ended up hating himself all the more.
The passage to Dumbledore's office lay open ahead of him, he supposed that he was expected and continued into the study.
"Come in Harry, and please sit down." The old wizard's voice was grave but not unkindly as Harry crossed the floor quickly and sat facing him across the desk.
"You wanted to see me professor?" Dumbledore nodded slowly.
"Yes, I have some new glasses for you, the same type as your old ones." He reached into a pocket, withdrew the new spectacles and handed them to Harry.
"Thanks," said Harry, confusion temporarily waylaying his gloomier thoughts. "Did you need the old ones back or something?"
"I decided that it was probably for the best," said Dumbledore cryptically, lacing his fingers beneath his chin and watching Harry intently. "Is everything all right Harry?"
"Yes everything's fine…" Dumbledore continued watching him as though he had expected something more. "…Thank you."
"I see, well, anyway, I decided that seeing as you can't take part in lessons you might find your time more usefully occupied in looking around." What Harry had said seemed to be what Dumbledore was hoping for and the old wizard didn't seem so preoccupied as he continued.
"Looking around?" Harry questioned.
"The library. Going over things you may have missed so far this term." Harry paused to think for a moment; was Dumbledore giving him the time he needed to work things out? It certainly seemed so…
"Well, do you agree Harry?"
"Huh? Oh, yes, thank you…" Sensing that the conversation was over Harry left the office quickly.
>>()<<
"You've stopped spying on him then?" Asked a painting to Dumbledore's left, which showed a rather tall wizard leaning on a goblin statue.
"For the time being." Dumbledore stowed the silver-framed glasses in a deep drawer.
"And your not going to stop this Draco boy from carrying on?" The other paintings stirred slightly, getting closer to the conversation.
"If Harry's life is in danger then, no doubt, I will save him but until then I trust him to solve his own problems. If he cannot overcome someone like Draco there is no way he will be able to defeat Voldemort." The headmaster stared into the distance sadly, talking half to the paintings, half to himself.
"You expect him to kill the boy?!" The painted figure almost slipped from the statue in shock.
"No, I expect Harry to save him... Someone has twisted Draco beyond reason with revenge, he believes that his actions are justified. If Harry can forgive him then he will have achieved a far greater victory than killing him, Voldemort can create evil but it is no great skill… but to create a force for good…
>>()<<
'So Dumbledore had some idea of what was going on?' He wasn't sure if that made him feel better or worse about the situation. He wondered how much the headmaster had seen, he already knew that Malfoy had been watching his falling out with Hermione… There she was again, sneaking into his thoughts when he least wanted her to. Malfoy, he decided, could wait - he had until next Sunday to deal with him, for now he would deal with getting her out of his head for good. Picking up the pace he headed towards the Gryffindor tower to try to organise his thoughts.
>>()<<
Hermione sat glumly at the front of the transfiguration lesson. By now she'd successfully transformed her pot plant into a watering can, turned it back and then changed it into a desk-tidy. As there were no other objectives set she was left with nothing to do but think for a while. Ron was temporarily engrossed in preventing his watering can from wilting off the table but it didn't really mater, without Harry to bridge the gap between them the conversation had quickly died. "Maybe if I just told him I was sorry enough he'd like me again… No! I can't… It's over."
"Don't suppose you could help…" Ron's watering can was now rapidly sprouting odd smelling flowers. She sighed and turned it back into a fully functioning plant.
"You keep getting the pronunciation wrong." She was sure she'd explained this bit before. "When you say…"
"So, do you fancy Harry or something?" He suddenly asked.
"What?!" Her voice became shrill with surprise.
"Well you two had a fight or something and you've both been in a bad mood all morning. Why do you think I came to sit here? Harry looked ready to throttle me" Ron prodded neatly ticked off the evidence on his fingers.
"He just upset me that’s all…" She tried to stop herself turning red.
"Thought you did." He grinned. "Never mind, plenty more frogs in the chocolate…"
"Do you want help or not?" She said angrily, cutting him off.
>>()<<
Harry crumpled another piece of parchment and threw it to the floor where it landed amongst the other ruined letters he'd been attempting to write. He started again, 'Hermione,' but then stopped. 'Hermione' sounded to open, too much like everything was okay. Throwing down the quill he sighed in annoyance, these botched attempts were wasting the time Dumbledore had given him, he should at least have some idea of what he was going to do about Draco by now. Before he knew it lunch time was upon him.
"There you are mate, been looking everywhere." Ron said from somewhere behind him. "You still in a bad mood?"
"More or less." Harry quickly kicked the evidence of what he'd been doing beneath the table.
"Well if it makes you feel any better Hermione's upset that you two fell out." Ron seemed to pause, wondering if he'd said the right thing.
"Hmmm…" Harry didn't know how to answer. It did make him feel a bit better for a second but as soon as he realised that it had made him feel worse.
"Why weren't you in lessons?"
"No point really, without a wand."
"Ah right, well I'll leave you to whatever your doing then - see you at practice?" Harry suppressed groan the last thing he needed was to be reminded that he could no longer play quiditch he didn't feel like explaining and so lied…
"Yeah sure," his mind cleared a little "hey wait a second." He scribbled something along the bottom of the parchment and ripped it off. "Can you give this to Hermione?"
"Can I read it?" Asked Ron, sounding interested and relieved that Harry wasn't yelling at him
"Yeah, if you like." It simply said, 'Need to talk - astronomy tower after dinner.' On impulse Harry gave a small smile, it suddenly felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Bye Ron and thanks."
"Bye" Said Ron as he went to get something to eat wondering what he'd done.
>>()<<
For the rest of the day Harry watched for Draco, the Hermione problem temporarily dealt with. Even with the invisibility cloak it was hard to follow the Slytherin student from lesson to lesson. Every few moments Harry had to move to avoid being stepped on or ran down by a speeding student. As far as he could tell Malfoy was acting normally, which was to say horrible to most people. When the last lesson, history of magic, ended Harry expected to be heading to the dungeons but to his surprise Draco practically ran to the owlery. In spite of the cloak the birds seemed to sense he was there, fortunately Malfoy didn't seem to notice the uneasy shuffling amongst the shelves. He set a rather grumpy looking grey and black owl out into the sky and then turned to leave. The sudden arrival of another bird caused him to step to one side sharply as a result he brushed past Harry on his way out. It took a few seconds for the Slytherin to register what had happened, and by the time he'd turned to see what he'd touched Harry had escaped. Moving as quickly as stealth would allow Harry slid back into the corridor and stood pressed against a wall waiting for Malfoy to carry on, which he did suspiciously. Every few seconds he would stop suddenly and he looked as if he was listening hard.
"Potter," he said quietly, "Is that you? If I find it is I swear I'll have that filthy mud blood of yours put down like an animal…" Harry practically shook with rage, he strained against the urge to pound Draco incomprehensible. After waiting a few more seconds, in which Harry had been entertaining a very violent but satisfying daydream, he started to move again.
This time Harry felt for sure that he'd end up in his quarry's common room. But at the last moment Draco changed direction and headed for a different location. Harry was beginning to notice a definite change in the selfish boy. For one his lackeys and bodyguards didn't surround him and for another he looked almost gleefully expectant.
Being careful not to catch the hem of his cloak on the increasing number of steps he found himself climbing. Harry eventually reached the top of one of the towers; being under the cloak restricted his vision so he had no idea which. Draco stood silently by a thin window and stared out, his eyes peeled. Having nothing better to do Harry sat and waited. A draft ebbed across the room slowly; absently Draco nudged the door shut unknowingly imprisoning Harry.
'Damn! If I try to leave before he does he'll see me…' Harry searched for another exit but he already knew that there wouldn't be one. As he remembered this tower was nearest to the astronomy section and wasn't usually used for teaching because it was so far away from everything else. 'Astronomy… He was supposed to meet Hermione later… Damn you Draco - Hurry up!' But his companion didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave. Again Harry was tempted to repay the blows he'd been dealt earlier but there was something here to be discovered and acting too soon could get Hermione expelled. A pinprick on the horizon slowly grew larger and then soared towards the window and landed on the sill. The owl from earlier had returned to it's sender, around it's leg was a large parchment rolled into a neat scroll. Draco garbed at it greedily and shoed the owl away, moving further into the tower he unrolled the parchment and muttered something. The paper glowed briefly and Harry could just make out letters swimming into place on the surface. Trying not to breath Harry crept closer and scanned the letter over Draco's shoulder.
Draco - It is getting more and more complicated for me to smuggle you these letters to my contact in Hogsmede. I hope you are making the most of the knowledge I impart to you. Through you actions we will both become stronger in the eyes of the dark lord. You will make a fine leader amongst the death eaters once you have proved yourself worthy.
The letter carried on like that for some time. Full of praise for Draco although nothing was specific, most of it was based around if and when things would happen. Harry read on, eyes glued.
Regarding the use of 'curcio': for the maximum pain and least damage to the subject then I suggest you try this type of wand movement. Although I have discovered several others which are just as effective so if the target is expendable then I be creative.
In places the letter was punctuated with grizzly diagrams all drawn with a bizarre mathematical precision.
Remember that hurting Potter is the key to my escape - If his spirit is broken then it will be far easier for the dark lord to destroy him completely. - Your Father, Lucious.
Draco read and reread the letter with a sadistic gleam in his eyes. When he finally finished he folded it carefully and took another, older letter, from his pocket and began to read it. After a quick glance Harry could tell it was very much the same, full of empty praise and descriptions of how to perform some of the darkest of dark arts. 'He's been completely brainwashed…' Harry thought and began to feel increasingly uneasy around Malfoy.
>>()<<
Hermione looked at the scrap of parchment that Ron had just given her. As a window into Harry's feelings it wasn't much to go on. She'd tried questioning Ron but he didn't seem to want to get involved all he'd told her was that Harry was out of lessons until he regained or replaced his wand. She ate quickly that evening, not wanting to be late - although that was slightly ridiculous, as he hadn't given her a time. As she headed to the tower she began to feel uneasy. Would he still be mad? She didn't know what she'd do if he flew into a rage again - it seemed so unlike him to become so mad at her, almost as if she'd created a monster out of her friend. She shivered as she stepped into the night and eyed the gathering clouds warily wishing she had a coat.
>>()<<
Draco finally tired of reading the letters and left the small tower room. Harry breathed a sigh of relief before running to the window to check the time by the darkening sky. If he craned his neck far enough he could just make out the top of the astronomy building and a figure etched against the clouds. Pulling off the cloak and slipping it under his clothes he sped from the room. Throwing caution to the wind he skidded around a corner and ran full-pelt down the next corridor.
Panting hard he burst onto the tower-top.
"Hermione? Sorry… I'm late." He put his hands behind his head and sucked in as much of the night air as his lungs would let him. She jumped slightly at his sudden arrival but disguised it quickly.
"Harry I'm really, really sorry about what I did." She turned to look at him, her face sincere and doleful. He didn't say anything. Everything he'd planned to ask or tell had left his head. After another moments silence she continued. "… And I know that I shouldn't have told you when you were just getting out of the hospital wing for hitting your head."
"I didn't hit it." He said, trying to keep the anger from his voice. "Malfoy did, repeatedly."
"Oh, Harry… I'm so, so, sorry." As she spoke her calm demeanour slipped giving way to tears that ran slowly down her face. "Did he do anything very bad?"
"Not the first time." He took a step towards her but then stopped, trapped between being angry and the sudden need to comfort her.
"Then, you should go… and you should hate me, and be very angry…" She turned away, not wanting to watch him leave.
"I am angry, but I won't hate you Hermione… so don't think you can make me try." The battle between the feelings in his head raged on but he ignored it, his head had no say in what he did with his heart. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I've made you cry."
"Your sorry!" She turned suddenly. "Here I am trying to spill my heart at you and you tell me your sorry." The wind picked up twisting her hair around her head. "Don't you get it Harry? It's not your fault - not this time." He walked forwards as she spoke, braving the tirade. Gently, for fear that she might run or that she might shout more he placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Okay, okay… I guess I'm not sorry then." He said softly as she eyed him fiercely through her messy fringe but didn't try to move away. She shivered against his hands. "You're freezing."
"I've been waiting, I didn't want to be late and make you mad. You're not mad are you?" She shivered again, feeling the cold more now that her burst of anger was draining.
"You sound scared." He kept his voice as gentle as he could.
"You're very brave and strong, powerful too - but sometimes, sometimes, that makes you frightening as well." She felt his grip on her shoulders lesson, worry splashing across his green eyes.
"I didn't mean to scare you, I'd never mean to scare you…" He tried to take his hands away but she caught them tightly.
"I think I deserved to be scared… I'm sorry Harry, really I am."
"I know, you said." He gave her a small smile, which after a while she returned.
"You said you had something to tell me…back at the infirmary." As she spoke she put her head to one side slightly and looked at him inquisitively, more of her normal self shinning through.
"It seems stupid now," he admitted, "but will you go out with me?" She let go of his hands and flung her arms around him.
"You forgive me?" Her voice was muffled from the hug.
"I don't know," he said truthfully, "But it won't stop me loving you."