𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐇𝐀 | 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦

eight

"What did you talk about?" Harry asked Hermione when she handed the phone back to him. Something amused flashed over her face, something that he had never really seen in her before. "Oh, nothing much. Draco and Blaise say hi."

"Have you seen the paper, Abraxas? I can't find it anywhere," Harry called to his fellow Auror. Abraxas shrugged lightly in response. "I don't think they have in delivered out here."

"Oh," Harry said. The signal on his phone had died after the call, somehow, so there was no way that he could look it up. He tilted his head slightly at Hermione. She'd been different, really. Was she alright?

-

"Draco's about lost his mind," Blaise said in a hurried voice to Luna. "He believes all of that rubbish Hermione'd said to him-"

"I still don't think that was Hermione," Luna said with a shake of her head. "I know Hermione, and that- I don't know, Blaise."

Her phone rang. Draco, speak of the devil. His voice sounded tinny and very, very far away on the phone. "Luna?"

"Hello, Draco."

"I'm in Scotland."

Luna was silent. Blaise looked incredulous before muttering, "Of-bloody-course, I leave the man alone for one minute-"

"Just letting you know," Draco hedged when he heard nothing from her end.

Luna said, "Alright. Don't do anything stupid."

"Alright," he said. Then he hung up, and Blaise said, "This is going to be bad."

Luna shrugged. "He can be sensible."

"It's Abraxas that we're talking about. Do you know who Abraxas practiced his manipulation on? His little torture games?"

Luna tilted her head, not quite comprehending. Blaise said, "It's Draco, Luna. Those scars all over him- not all of those are from sixth year."

Her mouth opened, her eyes wide in horror. "Are you- as a child?"

"Draco doesn't have sense when it comes to Abraxas. It's fight or flight, and when he chooses fight it gets bad."

"We have to go, then," Luna said simply.

"He won't like that," Blaise said.

"Then we don't tell him," Luna responded, rolling her eyes.

-

And of course Ginny came too. The second Blaise mentioned Hermione was possibly in danger, she refused to stay behind.

Ginny wanted to invite Pansy too, but was greeted at the door by Theo who said in a low voice, "If it's about Abraxas- she can't handle that, Ginny, I'm sorry. He's done things to her in the past that... are unforgivable." His eyes darkened for a second before he shut the door in her face with a sympathetic expression.

Ginny looked at Blaise incredulously. "And you let him go with Hermione?"

Blaise put his hands up. "She had Potter!"

Ginny muttered angrily as she Disapparated back to the flower shop, where Luna waited. Blaise followed meekly.

-

Tilly came by once a day to drop off meals for Hermione. She enjoyed the house-elf's company, and Tilly was slowly warming to her, much to Tilly's own chagrin. Hermione had managed to get some more information out of the creature in the past few days.

Abraxas and Natalia were aiming for the same thing as Voldemort, but on a much more horrible scale. Everyone who was muggleborn, a half-blood, or even connected to Muggles in any way would be wiped out. First to go were Harry Potter and the Weasleys, and the Malfoys.

Especially the Malfoys, Tilly had told her. They were very angry that Narcissa had lied to Voldemort at the battle, and even more angry that Draco had decided to date a muggleborn. Tilly had said that last thing shamefaced, as if worried that Hermione would take offense.

Tilly told her all about the horrid things that Abraxas had done, to Draco, to all of his other colleagues. When Tilly learned that she was friends with Pansy, Tilly had told her of what Abraxas had done to her.

And that was it for Hermione. Her fear and whatever neutrality she had left dissolved, replaced solely with white-hot fury. She understood, now, everything that the Slytherins had told her about him, and she regretted not listening sooner.

She would escape, and she would make sure that he got everything he deserved.

-

Draco didn't really know what he was doing here.

He knew that Blaise thought that he was being ridiculous and that anything to come out of this was probably awful, but- he had to talk to Hermione. In person, and not over the phone, because anything involving Abraxas could be a trick.

He threw the Daily Prophet in the bin after seeing yet another photo of Abraxas and Hermione, looking perfectly content. Potter was nowhere to be seen, which was yet another reason for suspicion. Although Potter could be an idiot, there was no way that he would abandon any of his friends.

Draco looked out over the balcony, at Wizarding downtown.

Tomorrow.