forbidden love (y/n malfoy x hermione granger) gxg

Chapter 4: Point of No Return

See notes at end for more.

September 7th 1996.

Three attacks on Muggles in a week: The Ministry of Magic appeals for calm. The bold writing and the picture of a now abandoned house could not be bigger on the front page of the Daily Prophet.

Only a week back at Hogwarts and things were already getting out of hand. The Great Hall fell silent as owls dropped copies of the Daily Prophet on the tables one by one. Those who were awake, and not half asleep on the table, started to whisper and spread the news. It was not how I had imagined my first weekend morning at Hogwarts would be like.

This first week had been uneventful, as usual. Compared to last year, we had even more homework and less free time. You'd think, without OWLs, that this year would've been less of a busy year. How wrong.

Teachers kept reminding us of our NEWTs. Constantly. Professor McGonagall was by far the one who was the most insistent. For our very first class, she had already asked us to submit two twenty inches long parchments — one on the Switching Spell and one on the Vanishment Spell — for the next week. She wouldn't stop emphasizing that the Transfiguration NEWT exam was one of the hardest. Even Professor Trelawney was stricter than the previous years. She predicted failure for all students who wouldn't take part in her 'divination club' at least once a month. Guess I'll be failing divination, then.

Taking a sip of my morning tea, my eyes skimmed over the newest edition of the newspaper, looking for answers. It seemed to have been deliberate attacks, but the victims had been chosen at random. Two in Hampshire, the last one in Surrey. They were normal muggle families with no links to the Wizarding World. The Auror department has yet to investigate, but they are suspecting that Death Eaters have orchestrated these attacks. Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour will be holding a press conference next Tuesday, it said.

"Mattheo," I said, nudging the boy's arm, his head resting on it droopily. He hummed, not opening his eyes once.

We were the only ones from our friend group who were here, and it was only because I practically dragged Mattheo out of bed to come eat breakfast with me. He wasn't very happy about it, he wanted to sleep in for his first weekend here. After a bit of whining from his part, he agreed to come with me, and I had to guide him out of the common room up to the Great Hall because he kept his eyes closed. Not to wake up, he had said.

"There has been three attacks just this week," I said, and he straightened up, blinking profusely to get rid of his sleepiness.

"Gimme that," he snatched the Daily Prophet off of my hands and began reading the front page. His expression changed as he read further, his once peaceful and sleepy face turning into a scowl.

"Theo—"

"He can't give me one week of peace, can't he?!" He slammed the table with his hand angrily, attracting the attention of the students around.

"They don't know if it's him or not," I said, shushing him down, but I wasn't so convinced myself. "The Aurors have yet to investigate."

"Of course it's him!" he hissed, crumpling the newspaper and taking a hold of his wand. "Incendio." The crumpled newspaper caught on fire instantly, its flames brighter and hotter than usual. Mattheo's anger was influencing his magic.

"Trying to burn down the entire school," Pansy said playfully as she approached our table.

Blaise and Draco followed behind her, looking wide awake. Only Draco looked tired, and I assumed he hadn't slept at all last night. I took a mental note to check on him later. For now, however, my attention was focused on the jet black haired boy who looked at the flames with rage in his eyes.