The Abuser

Untouchable (Year 6)

One, two, three, four. Tell me that you love me more. Sleepless long nights, that is what my youth was for. Old teenage hopes are alive at your door. Left you with nothing but they want some more.

- 1234 by Feist

.......

"Hermione! Oh, you look so lovely- but what happened to your eye?" I pull away from my best friend's arms, gazing searchingly into her eyes. Or at least, one of her eyes; the other is swollen and blacked, so that she can hardly open it.

"It was nothing, really! Just one of Fred and George's little pranks. I have a remedy right here!" She fishes a tube of paste from her jeans pocket, grinning. "What brings you here? I didn't think that the DeLuces were frequenters of Nockturn Alley."

"We're not. This place gives me the absolute creeps!" I grimace, looking around at the dark and dreary shops. Reasonably enough, this side street is almost entirely deserted; with the return of You-Know-Who, now is not a good time to show an interest in the Dark Arts. "To be honest, I'm looking for Draco. I know that his family frequents Borgin and Burkes. He's nowhere to be found in Diagon Alley, but I'm sure he's here; Dean Thomas said that he was lurking around earlier. Um, you haven't seen him by any chance?" My boyfriend, Draco Malfoy, has always been an extremely touchy subject among my friends in Gryffindor, as he is practically their arch-nemesis.

Hermione glances around, lowering her voice confidentially. "Yeah, here's the rub; he's up to something." She places a quelling hand on my shoulder as I open my mouth to politely protest, and continues. "Sorry, but it's the truth. He's just come out of Borgin and Burkes, after threatening Mr. Borgin! He needs something fixed...I don't suppose that he's mentioned anything odd to you?" she adds, hopefully.

I sigh. "I'm sure it's nothing. He's bought loads of stuff from Mr. Borgin, maybe one of them broke. Plus, you know Draco, he kind of threatens everyone! As for anything odd, well, our correspondence has been extremely limited of late. That's why I want to see him! We haven't even written all summer!"

Hermione nods, and motions to the dark, blank, outer wall of the Dark Arts shop. "Personally, I thought the same thing. I shouldn't have been so accusatory, and I'm sorry. Harry and Ron, though..."

"Hello!"

I immediately recognize Ron's cheery voice, speaking to me directly from the wall! I gasp, before remembering that the Golden Trio is in possession of an invisibility cloak. "Ron, you prat!" I chuckle, good-naturedly, fixing my gaze on the general location of his voice. "I suppose that you're here to Harry?"

"Yeah. Hello, DeLuce." Harry's deeper voice is lowered to a near-whisper. "Listen, Hermione was just about to go wheedle some information from Mr. Borgin-"

I interrupt him with a laugh. "Hermione?!" I turn to her. "I'll go in, for your sake, not to dig up dirt on Draco, though. I'm his girlfriend, so I'll be more convincing. You'll see that he's not doing anything wrong! I'll be back in a moment." Gracefully, I ascend the steps to the shop, opening the door with my chin held high.

The shop interior is dark and dingy, and I'm repulsed by the nasty assortment of Dark Arts artifacts. How can Draco shop here?! I think, as my gaze flits over human bones, bloody cards, and glistening necklace. I look up, starting as a stooped man enters from a back room.

"Ah. Hello, young lady. May I tempt you with this stunning purchase?" He gestures grandly towards a moldy looking eyeball, which is rolling around in a glass jar. Honestly, I find nothing stunning about it, and it's an effort to resist the sudden urge to retch.

"Oh, thank you sir!" I reply, delicately. "I'm actually not shopping for myself today, though." Lowering my voice coyly, I lean forward. "You see, my beau's birthday was last week, but I was vacationing in Spain, so I missed it."