A Future Uncertain

Chapter 21: Stranger

Hermione had been screaming for hours- no maybe even days.

The dark cell they kept her in just made her want to sleep away all her time. There was nothing to do- nothing except wait for them to come for her again.

She had cuts all over. Deep cuts. Some even ran as deep as the bones. She couldn't remember how she got them, but she was glad there was some sort of spell keeping them from bleeding. The spell was enough to keep her from bleeding out, but not enough to subside the pain.

She could barely get past the filmy haze in her head to scream, but when she did, she wasn't sure if she was screaming for help or because of the pain at this point.

However, every time she thought about stopping, she would think about a tall blond with grey eyes who was waiting for her.

Draco's blood was running cold as he stared at the girl across the bar.

How could Blaise have done this to him?

He narrowed his eyes at the young girl. She hated him as soon as she had met him... And now he hated her too. Some girl, a fourth of his age, and he resented her for something out of her control. But he just couldn't help himself.

"Draco!" Mrs. Zabini yelled with her wand pointed at him.

He must have looked half crazed, because even though the girl in the back of the bar looked at him as loathsome as he felt towards her, the entire bar was staring in his direction.

Draco excused himself and ran up the stairs.

"I'm not going to think about it," he said out loud towards the wall.

He laid down on the mostly-clean bed and closed his eyes.

He had been so sure that Hermione loved him before everything at the manor happened. How could he think that now? After seeing what he just saw?

He still felt awful, but the facts remained facts- and the fact was that something changed. Maybe she didn't love him.

Tears began filling his eyes. He swore he would never cry about a girl, but he was sure this wasn't what he meant when he had initially made the vow. This was different. He loved her, and she loved him, but she chose someone else entirely. It had only been a day since they kissed, and now she had a kid with his best- his only- friend.

Yeah, this was worse than he could ever imagine.

Draco awoke to a pounding on the door. The house cleaning here is really getting aggressive, he thought while opening the door.

"Mr. Malfoy," said a man dressed in old tattered robes. "I'm sorry about the inconvenience, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

He didn't sound sorry. "Why?"

"Well," the man said, as though he was about to start a long list of reasons. "Last night-"

"Enough." Draco wasn't interested in listening to a poor bar manager tell him why he wasn't welcome anymore. "I'm leaving," he said, pushing past the man and walking down the hallway.

As soon as he was outside, he apparated home.

The manor looked as it always had, if not a little more aged. He walked straight for the library. It didn't matter that Hermione was with Blaise in the future. He had her in the present, and he had to help her. Whatever happened to this Hermione to make her love Blaise wasn't going to happen to him. He'd never let her see Blaise again if that was what it took.

The library had an entirely new section added to it towards the front. He figured he'd start there.

He was three books down before he found anything worth noting. Those responsible were either dead or in Azkaban, but there wasn't even a list of was almost no details of the account. Like it was covered up.