An Unexpected Twist of Fate || Dramione

CHAPTER 8 - Library Run-Ins

"Don't move..." Harry said in a barely-there tone. Ron, who lacked the courage of a Gryffindor at the worst possible times, completely disregarded Harry's words, and let out a deafening shrill of fear, sounding a lot like a pig being slaughtered.

The birds outside took flight, chirping loudly. Harry wanted to hex him then and there, but they turned to make a run for it instead. The boys didn't stop running until they reached the castle, out of breath and flushed.

"Harry... I think Aragog's back...and he doesn't look very welcoming at all." Ron said with fear coating his shaky voice.

"No Ron...that wasn't Aragog... Aragog's dead... but that was something much, much worse." Harry said, blood draining from his face.

"Why the hell does this always happen to us? Wrong place, wrong time? It seems to be out talent, you know, finding trouble and then having to escape death fixing it." Ron muttered, and Harry silently agreed.

That was true.

"Well, what was it?" Ron asked finally.

Harry shook his head; he had no idea... "I don't know Ron. I just have a feeling that it wasn't Aragog... You know...since I saw him dead?" Ron looked unimpressed at his answer.

"Let's just as Hermione." Ron suggested but by the time they got back, she was already in bed asleep. They hadn't noticed how quickly time past.

"D'you think we should tell Dumbledore?" Harry asked. Ron shook his head and suggested that they talk to Hermione first.

"You know what, Harry? I am absolutely positive that without Hermione, we would have most likely not survived our first year...let alone the rest of them..." Ron laughed as he realized that Hermione was the real Hero.

"I am shocked that you only realize that now!" Harry teased his friend. Together they sat on the couch and thought back to all the times Hermione had saved their reckless and irresponsible arses. The list was endlessly endless...and that's not even a thing.

***

Sunday morning was quiet and peaceful. The students were smiling and talking quietly. It was a relieving feel for them after having fought in such a huge war. Ginny walked into the great hall, took her seat next to Hermione and ate her breakfast.

"Hermione... Yesterday, we went down to Hagrid's hut, but it had been completely destroyed... He was nowhere to be seen and blood was dripping from the roof. There was this huge spider in the corner. It looked exactly like Aragog! But...it can't be him...right?"

Hermione dropped her spoon into her bowl of cereal, sending splutters of milk around the table and onto Ginny. Ginny scowled at Hermione, but she was waved off.

"What do you mean "not Aragog"? There's no way it could be something else!" Hermione half screeched out.

"It had these huge eyes, lots of them too! The way it looked at us like we were something to eat was terrifying 'Mione! You should have seen it!" Ron winced at the memory as he recalled for Hermione.

"So, I'm assuming you want me to figure out what it is, right?" Hermione said almost annoyed.

"Yep." They said simultaneously. She rolled her eyes and took another bite of her breakfast.

"You two thick heads are aware that without her you would have died an unquestionably painful death a long ago, right?" Ginny said in an obvious voice with a sarcastically amused undertone.

"What makes you think it's not him?" Hermione directed her look to Harry, referring to the spider.

The look in Harry's eyes made it clear that, though he was not sure why he thought it, he just knew. Silence took over the table as Hermione rushed to get to the library, starting yet another wild quest to stop something she didn't know about yet.

***

The chair in front of Hermione shifted on the wooden floor and someone sat down. Her nose was stuck in the book, so she took no notice to the person.

"What you got there, Granger?" Much to Hermione's distaste, the deep voice of the Slytherin prince interrupted her research.

"What do you want, ferret?" she snapped back at him. She had no time for his petty remarks right now.

"Do tell, Granger, why is it that every time I see you in the library, your nose is glued inside a book from the restricted section?" He said smugly, the smirk he wore was obvious by his voice. Hermione froze... He did make a point...

"Why do you care, Malfoy? Don't you have something better to do than to sit here bothering me? Don't you have some first years to torment or something?" she questioned roughly.

Draco chuckled, "Indeed, Granger, I do. But why pass up the opportunity to ruffle your feathers a bit?" he winked.

Hermione glared at him. "What? Grown tired of calling me a Mudblood?" Draco flinched, and she knew she had hit a nerve.

"Those days are long gone... I no longer believe in that. I do, however, still see you in the same way I did before; a stubborn, know-it-all bookworm with nothing better to do with her time than to get on the nerves of everyone else...even the patient Hufflepuffs." Hermione scoffed, expecting the insults.

"Sod off, Malfoy." She barked and shut the book with a loud bang, leaving Malfoy with a smirk on his face.

Malfoy should have been pleased with her retaliation, but instead he felt guilty. This was weird.

Hermione had found nothing about the creature Harry and Ron discovered in the wrecked hut. Everything led to the conclusion that it was just an over-sized, flesh-eating spider. Hermione knew, however, that when Harry felt something was off, it usually was, so she continued her search for information anyway.

She tried to concentrate but the bloody ferret was infesting her mind. However hard she tried to push the feelings away, she was ashamed to say that his words had hurt her more than they should have. Memories of her first year replayed itself in her mind. Ron and Harry had said it too.

Hermione's eyes began drooping and she yawned, suddenly feeling very tired. With no success at finding anything on the freakishly large spider, she put the books away and headed to her dorm, drifting off to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She was at peace...for now.

The night brought silence to the world and soon a calmness settled throughout the castle hallways. The week was uneventful for the most part - with the exception of the golden trio as usual. The students hoped that the rest of the year would be like this, but they were wrong...

Very wrong.

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A/N

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Edited: 25/07/2020