Silver Eyes (Dramione)

Chapter Four

"It isn't like Hermione to miss classes Ron!" Harry said whispering above the noise. They were sitting in the DADA classroom with the Slytherins, waiting for their new professor to show up. There had been no announcement at the start of the term feast about the position, and the seat that Snape had occupied last year was still vacant at the head of the Great Hall.
"She's probably ill Harry. We'll go check on her after dinner tonight, but there's no need to send out a red alert. Hey, do you think that if they haven't appointed a new professor to teach the class we can leave early today?"
Harry grabbed his DADA book out of his bag and slammed it on the table opening it up to a random page, pointedly ignoring Ron. His best friend could be so thick sometimes. Hermione wasn't okay by any means. Plus she always let them know if she wasn't coming to class. It just wasn't like her.
"Harry, I'm sorry. But really you're making something out of nothing."
"Maybe." He said, shutting the book with an idea in mind. He quickly scraped back his chair and headed to the back of the room looking for one student in particular.
"Hem hem." He cleared his throat, obnoxiously reminding himself of Umbridge. This attempt had gone unnoticed by the couple whose attention he was trying to get. They were sucking face quite disgustingly in a dark corner of the room, Pansy on the desk and Malfoy standing in between her legs.
"MAL-FOY." Harry said slowly and clearly. Draco took both his hands from Pansy's legs and pushed her back from him. She didn't look put out in the least at being manhandled.
"Go away Pansy, Potter clearly needs to say something that can't wait."
She pouted unhappily, but jumped off the desk all the same, giving him one last wink as she headed to another table a few feet away and began talking to Millicent.
"What do you want Potter?" Malfoy drawled leaning on the desk that Pansy had just occupied.
"Have you seen Hermione today?" He asked seriously. Hermione had told them all about Malfoy being head boy at dinner, and Harry was as happy about the roommate situation as she was.
"I don't keep tabs on her, I just live with her. What do I care what the little mudblood does?" He retorted fingering his wand delicately between his fingers.
Harry did not miss this movement. He was aware Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater. He was aware that Hermione was living in close quarters with him to keep a better eye on his movements. But he also knew that Malfoy had lowered his wand last year in the idea of taking another person's life. He doubted he was capable of seriously hurting Hermione; he just wanted to know if Malfoy had seen her at all.
"Watch your language Malfoy. I just want to know if you happened to see her in the common room this morning."
"Haven't seen her since last night," He smirked as if sharing a pleasant secret with himself. "She was rather rude to me, and went off to bed early."
Harry turned to go, sick of Malfoy's insults on his friend.
"I'm pretty sure she's still in her room Potter, never fear." Malfoy drawled sitting back in his chair as McGonagall swept through the room shutting the door behind her. She was clearly going to be teaching the class until she found a replacement. Harry nodded at Malfoy once then resumed his seat next to Ron near the front.
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"You can try Harry, but I doubt he'd give it to you." Ginny said later that day sitting in the Great Hall for lunch.
"Yeah mate, it's his password too after all. Malfoy isn't just going to give you the password to the room. You could try asking McGonagall if she's heard from Hermione." Ron said as he bit into his fifth chicken wing.
"I wish we could hear from her, I just want to know she's okay." Harry said playing with his food.
It was at about that time that the afternoon mail came in and the owls swooped around the hall landing in front of various people. Hedwig was nowhere in sight, she must have been off in the Owlery, resting. It was in thinking about Hedwig that Harry pushed his plate back and picked up his bag, muttering about having to go take care of something to the other two who merely nodded with indifference.
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Hermione was drooling slightly. Her tamed hair had resumed the bushy state it was in back in first year, the result of having not taken a shower yet that day. She had been up all night, terrified that Draco Malfoy might find a way into her room sometime in the night. While awake, she had gone over what she could possibly do next.
Telling McGonagall had been a possibility, but one that she had ruled out. She was afraid that if she tried to tell her the story, Malfoy might get wind of it and do something even worse next time. McGonagall might even take away her head badge for her safety, which frightened her in that she was the only person who could keep an eye on Malfoy without surveillance seeming suspicious. The idea of no one watching Malfoy scared her more than being attacked again by him. She would have to face him soon, and when she did, she just couldn't let her emotions get the best of her like last time. When she was armed with a wand, Malfoy would be blown out of the water. Hermione was the best witch in her year after all. She might not use any unforgivable curses but she knew spells that would make him wish she had used one. She just needed her wand back.
She might tell Harry. He said he was always there to talk, but in telling him, she ran the risk of him wanting her to relocate as well. Worse, he might attack Malfoy, and Malfoy might alert the Death Eaters to Harry's situation within Hogwarts, something The Order feared greatly. For now, they wanted it to seem as if Harry, Ron, and Hermione were just sitting ducks. Unaware of any way to defeat Voldemort, just waiting to see what the Dark Lord would do next.
After a long fearful night, Hermione had heard Draco leaving for classes in the morning and finally felt safe to go to bed. She knew she was missing classes, and she knew she couldn't hide out forever, but it was something she needed to think through before prancing off to class as if everything was fine. Not to mention Malfoy still had her wand.
For now, Malfoy was in classes and Hermione was safe to sleep, so sleep she did until a beautiful white owl soared in through her window and landed on her stomach.
"Oof!" She exclaimed, afraid that Draco had come in from classes early. She sat up and was nearly face to face with Hedwig, who had a simple scrap of parchment tied to her leg.
Hermione scrambled over to it and pulled the scroll out to read:
LET ME KNOW YOU ARE ALIVE.
-Harry
Hermione couldn't help but laugh out loud. The sound felt strange to her in the silent room, and stranger still in knowing this was the same room she stayed up late crying in.
"Hang on a second Hedwig." She said, leaning over to grab a quill and ink from her bedside table. She quickly wrote out:
I'm alive. But, sick. Come by after classes. The password is: Marblemento. Make sure Malfoy doesn't see you use it, or he'll be furious that you know it. He's got head duty patrol after classes for an hour according to my schedule, so that should be enough time. Bring Ron...unless he's being an idiot.
-Hermione
She sent Hedwig off and two hours later Harry arrived at her door.
"Hermione let me in. I don't know the password into your room. I brought you dinner."
Hermione jumped off her bed, throwing down her current book to open the door. Harry being here meant a few moments of safety. She opened the door to find him standing with two plates full of pasta and garlic bread. Her stomach growled, and she remembered she hadn't eaten since dinner yesterday.
"You're my hero. Come in, we'll eat on the floor."
Harry walked in and Hermione made to shut the door.
"Before you do that, did you know you left your wand right outside the door? It's just sitting there. I would have grabbed it, but." Harry gestured to the plates in both his hands, turning away to set them down on the floor.
Hermione hesitantly stuck her head out of her door. The common room was empty. She took a step out and looked over to her right. Sure enough her wand was sitting in front of her door, only it wasn't the only thing there.
A small scrap of paper was sitting under it, something Harry had thankfully missed. Hermione picked up her wand and read the slip:
This isn't over.
"Hermione? Everything okay?" Harry called from her room. She hadn't moved for what felt like minutes. Hermione quickly shoved the note into her pajama short pockets and came dazedly back inside.
"Yeah, of course, I'm fine. Just a bit dizzy, you know being sick and all."
Harry looked up from his plate. "Are you sure?"
"Positive." She said sitting down with him to eat. "So I'm guessing Ron is being an idiot." Hermione observed her other friend had not been brought along for the visit.
Harry laughed, his mouth full of food.
"A bit." He swallowed and took a swig of pumpkin juice.
"Well that's to be expected. I would have invited Ginny to come along with you only...she doesn't know anything about what I want to talk to you about."
Harry sat his plate down knowingly.
"You've missed a lot since you've been..."
"In zombie land." Hermione finished for him, and when he looked questioningly at her, she elaborated. "That's what I call where I've been the past few months. You know, walking around like a dead person. Unaware of what's going on, just kind of...breathing."
Harry smiled. "A well put name to your previous condition, although thankfully it comes without the whole 'eating people' thing."
They laughed for a bit, taking a few more bites of pasta before getting down to business.
"Well I filled you and Ron in about horcruxes at the end of the term last year, as you know." Harry started, and Hermione nodded in encouragement. "Well, Dumbledore said there should only be four left: The cup, the snake, something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's, and the locket. Well Ron and I left the burrow a few times over the summer. You might not have noticed having been locked up in that room the whole time."
Hermione looked down ashamed, she hadn't noticed at all. Not wanting to hurt her feelings by making the observation, he quickly continued.
"Well we found out who R.A.B is."
"You did!?" Hermione sat up straighter.
"Yeah, it was Sirius's younger brother, Regulus Arcturus Black. We found out over at Grimmauld place in Regulus's old room. It turns out he did destroy the locket, we found out from Kreacher. Regulus was a reformed Death Eater."
"Hm, so those do exist?" Hermione joked, but suddenly thought of Malfoy. Why her mind went there she had no idea. He would never reform. She shook her head of the idea.
"Apparently. Dumbledore also told me that he believes the only thing left of Gyffindor's is the sword, which he left me in his will. McGonagall gave it to me at the start of the term, it's in my trunk in the tower. Hermione, I think it destroys Horcruxes. That's our theory at least. What do you think?"
Hermione was pleasantly surprised that Harry had asked her opinion. It had been so long since they asked her for anything and it gave her hope that things could go back to normal.
"Yeah, I mean it makes since. I read in Hogwarts, A History, that the sword was made by goblins. It's very powerful, and very comparable to a basilisk fang, which as we know destroys horcruxes."
Harry looked pleased at this confirmation. They spent the next half hour talking about how to kill the snake, where the locket might be, and what sort of item might Ravenclaw have that it is now a horcrux. They agreed that Ravenclaw's item and Hufflepuffs cup where somewhere in Hogwarts. The snake would only be available to kill if Voldemort was near. If they could destroy Hufflepuff's cup and Ravenclaw's item before facing Voldemort and his snake, they might have a chance.
They stopped talking when they heard the sound of the front common room door open and a high pitched giggle. Hermione raised her eyebrows at Harry, sure that Malfoy could never make a noise like that.
"Pansy Parkinson." He whispered then relayed the details of his conversation with Malfoy earlier that day.
Hermione was relieved that Draco was clearly occupied in his room, so Harry was able to sneak out easily without being detected. Harry thought the precaution was unnecessary especially since Pansy was here as well, but Hermione insisted that he'd know Harry knew the password if seen.
It was with a friendly goodbye that Hermione shut her door behind Harry, hearing him exit the front portrait and out of the common area. Draco's door was shut still and Hermione was thankful that she hadn't had to deal with him that day. She was more thankful that tomorrow was the weekend, and she could really begin planning out what to do with this Malfoy situation without missing classes. Hermione sighed, moving to the bed and resumed the thoughtful state she had been in before Harry's owl had arrived earlier that day.