little miss perfect ; hermoine granger

chapter 32

Am I really doing this?

I wondered, as I sat in the chair across from Dumbledore, getting ready to tell him my secret. There was only one thing that I knew for sure, and it was that I couldn't tell him about me being Voldemorts daughter. If I did, who knows what'll happen?

"So, what is it you wanted to tell me?" Dumbledore asked again, probably thinking that I didn't hear him the first time, but really, I was debating about how to tell him. "I...heard some other students talking about something, well, kind of concerning." I told him. Hopefully, it sounded convincing enough.

He didn't say anything, so I went on. "They were talking about the ball. Rather, what's going to happen at the ball. And not like, spiking the punch or anything. They were talking about...the dark lord, professor." I told him, and eyes widened in surprise. I don't know why, but I thought that he would know that it was coming somehow. I guess not.

"They said that he's...coming to the ball?" He asked me, I could tell that he was trying not to look as concerned as he actually was. "I think they said that he's planning something. I don't know what, though. All I know is that it involves Harry." When I said that, he didn't look too surprised. Voldemort has wanted to kill Harry for his entire life, but has failed every time so far.

"Interesting. What students did you hear talking about this?" He asked, and my mind went blank. Shit. That was the only word that my brain could think of. I couldn't just throw random students under the bus. "Well, it wasn't really like a specific voice, I couldn't see them I could hear them though, but I couldn't make out who it was. Sorry." Hopefully, my excuse was good enough.

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, and folded his arms. "Ana, I know there is something that you're not telling me, and that's alright, you have your reasons. But, if there is anything else important that you know, I suggest you tell me now."

I could never tell him that I'm the Dark Lords daughter. Dumbledore would think that I was evil, just like my father, and I couldn't have that. I'm not a bad person. Well, I don't think I'm a bad person. All I know is that I will NEVER join them.

"I can't really think of anything, professor, sorry. I just, thought you should know." I told him, as I stood up, and started to walk away. "And, Ms. Alcott?" He called after me as I reached the door. I turned my head and looked back at him. "I can see that you're conflicted about something. My advice is to follow your heart, don't think about other people. Think about yourself for once."

I mean, the advice was pretty basic, but hey, I'll take it. I nodded at him, as I turned and walked through the door, going back out into the hallway. As I walked down, my mind was flooded with thoughts. Should I have done that? Was that a bad idea? Is he going to find out?

It had been an hour since I had gone to Dumbledores office, and I was now waiting in the astronomy tower. Hermoine wasn't here yet, which was probably because I came like 15 minutes early. I was just really excited about this, and was kind of hoping that she'd be early too.

Then, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, but it wasn't Hermoine. It was Draco. "Draco, what are you?" I said, as he cut me off, by locking his lips on mine, without saying a word. I banged on his chest, pushing him away, but he whispered in my ear "Play along. They're watching." I did as he said, and grabbed his hand, but then, in the corner of my eye, I saw Hermoine, standing in the stairwell, with tears in her eyes.

"Hermoine, please, this isn't what it looks like!" I yelled, as she ran away. I tried to run after her, but Draco grabbed my arm, and said "You have to stay. They'll hurt her if you don't. You know that I don't care about anything that'll happen to that mudblood, but I know that you would. So don't try anything." He whispered, and with tears streaming down my face, I listened. He took my hand, and we walked to look over the side of the tower, looking up at the sky. "What's gonna happen to us?" I said quietly, through sobs, trying not to be obvious about it.

"I don't know." He said, and then paused. "But if we don't obey, whatever happens won't be happening in our favor." I looked over at him, and saw a tear rolling down his cheek, as he looked at the ground, and I did too. "I don't like to say this often, but I'm sorry, Ana. No one deserves to have to help that man. To have to give up everything for him, with no say in it." I lowered my head, as I let out a sob, but then heard footsteps running up the staircase, I turned around, tears still streaming down my face, and saw that it was Ron, Harry, and the twins.

"What, so you're joining THEM now, Ana? Hermoine told us everything." Ron yelled, and I just stared at him, I was speechless. "You're really going to be with someone like him? I thought you were better than this." Harry said, and he seemed so disappointed in me.

That's when I let it all go. I didn't say anything, but I choked out a sob, and put my hand over my mouth and put my head down, as I cried into my hands. I could feel all of their eyes on me, judging me, but I didn't care. I couldn't help it. "You're only doing this because you got caught. How long has this been going on?" Ron asked in a nasty tone, but I couldn't answer. I couldn't control my breathing. I was having a panic attack, but no one cared.

"Ron, lay off. Look at her." Fred said, defending me. "No! I mean, REALLY look at her! She's obviously becoming one of them! Hell, she's probably gonna get a dark mark soon! This is just the beginning." Ron yelled, and I put both of my hands on my mouth, gasping for air, but tried to cover it up. Then, Draco yelled "IT WASN'T HER FAULT! IF YOU'RE GOING TO BLAME ANYONE, BLAME ME." I was surprised, but I couldn't say anything at the moment, because I couldn't breathe.

I saw that the twins were looking at me concernedly, as Harry uttered "What?" "I, I made her do it. I forced her to do it. I thought that she liked me. Obviously not. It's my fault. She didn't want any part of it." I rested my head in my hands as I continued to gasp. I could barely even hear what they were saying, over the sound of my rattling sobs. "So she didn-" Ron started to say, and Draco cut him off by saying "No." and walking out of the tower.

I sat there, still gasping, as the boys stared at me, and then the twins ran over. "Hey, hey, it's alright, it's all gonna be alright, you just have to breathe, all right darling?" George said, as he grabbed my hand, and Fred added "We didn't believe it for a second, promise." Fred said, cupping my cheek. I burrowed my face into Fred's shoulder, sobbing into it. Ron and Harry stayed silent, watching me. They probably felt guilty, and it felt mean to say, but I hope they did. They should feel bad.

As I continued to cry, overwhelmed by everything that was happening in my life, I realized that the biggest thing I had to worry about was Hermoine.

What was I going to say to her?