Temptations | By : Nikkilicious Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 16325 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any part of the franchise. This is a work of fanfiction, written solely for the enjoyment of myself and other fans. No profit is being made off of this work.
AN: This is a bit of important information: I use some famous witches and wizards, as well as a few wizarding events, in this chapter that are from the books but I tweak them a bit! Just fair warning. I do not know what houses these people were really in or if they even went to Hogwarts. But for my fic, I made it up. ^_^ I hope you don’t mind too much.
SINCERELY SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!
Thanks again to my beta: me_4_ever
And enjoy!
“A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you're looking down, you can't see something that's above you.”
-- C. S. Lewis
He dragged her along the corridors of the first level of the Ministry. By the time they actually stopped, Hermione was very much out of breath and very angry. Expressing that anger was becoming extremely difficult and Draco watched amusedly as she tried desperately to yell at him while at the same time attempting to suck in a much needed deep breath.
“Don’t even bother, Granger. We’re here.”
She hadn‘t even paid attention to where he had taken her but when she looked at the large metal doors looming in front of her, there was no doubt where they were.
“The Hall of Famous Witches and Wizards.” Her attention snapped back to Draco. “This is where you brought me to prove the esteem of Slytherins?” She actually laughed at the notion.
Draco didn’t appreciate it very much and glared at her, warningly.
“Yes, this is where I brought you. You’ll see all the famous people throughout recorded time in here. You’d be surprised how many were from my house.” He said, gripping the collar of his robes, not even trying to hide his arrogance.
Hermione rolled her eyes but Draco didn’t see it, his face hidden in the shadows. He had turned to open up the huge doors that would lead them into the hall.
It was a miraculous place. The walls were bright blue and the white floor almost seemed to glow as they stepped onto it. Hermione wasn’t sure where the light source was coming from but it illuminated the entire place, making everything shine. But if the look of the place was magnificent, it was nothing compared to the size. Just the vastness was enough to make Hermione‘s jaw drop. The hall was wide enough for her entire house to stand in a straight line across. And the length! From where she was standing the end of the hall looked like a miniscule black dot in the distance.
“Wow.” Hermione whispered. She was cut off once again when Draco grabbed her hand and headed down the passage, dragging her along with him.
When they stopped, Hermione’s eyes widened.
“See?” He said, smug as could be.
Right in front of them an entire portion of the wall was sectioned off for famous Slytherins of the past. As Hermione’s eyes briefly scanned over the portraits and the information tiles, she realized that there really were many. Hermione knew wizarding history like the back of her hand. Better, even, but she had never actually paid attention to the different houses that the people belonged. Unless it was her own of course.
“And don’t think that they weren’t all that great either Granger. These people contributed immensely to wizarding society.” He moved closer to the wall and pointed at a portrait of a middle aged woman. “Bridget Wenlock was a famous Arithmancer. She was the first to recognize the magical properties of the number seven.” He pointed to another. “And Montague Knightley was a Wizard Chess Champion. Lord Stoddard Withers was a magical creatures expert and bred flying horses. And Flavius Belby was the only wizard to survive a Lethifold attack.”
“Yeah, probably because he ran away like a coward.” Hermione muttered under her breath, ignoring the deathly glare that Draco sent her way. She just shook her head. Really, she was quite impressed. In all actuality the man probably couldn’t have run from a Lethifold if he’d tried. They were dangerous creatures and could only be stopped by Patronus charms.
But still… she‘d heard of better.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. There have been famous Slytherins. But you know what? There have been famous Gryffindors too! I’ll show you.”
And show she did. She walked farther down the hall and crossed to the left side where the section for famous Gryffindors was located. Without even measuring it, it was obvious that the Gryffindor wall was much larger than the Slytherin.
“If the size isn’t enough to convince you that Gryffindors are better, than let me try.” She pulled out her wand and used it as a pointer to indicate different witches and wizards. “Ignatia Wildsmith was the inventor of floo powder. Gifford Ollerton was a famous giant slayer.” Though, Hermione had to admit she wasn’t exactly pleased about that little bit of information. Giants were dangerous, yes, she knew from experience, but they were also misunderstood creatures as Hagrid always said.
Still, he had saved a town and become famous. She continued.
“Bowman Wright created the golden snitch. Artemisia Lufkin was the first woman to become Minister of Magic. Oswa-” Draco cut her off.
“Yeah, yeah and you have your fair share of dingbats as well.” He exclaimed. “Derwent Shimpling ate a poisonous spider because of a bet and spent the rest of his life purple. Archiblad Alderton blew up the hamlet of Little Dropping while trying to magically mix birthday cake batter. Real legends you have there.”
Hermione stomped her foot like a petulant child and shoved her finger in Draco’s face.
“Your house isn’t completely free of its idiots either, you know. Fulbert the Fearful was such a coward that he never left his house and died when his roof collapsed. And Thaddeus Thurkell had seven squib sons and was so sickened by them that he turned them into hedgehogs!”
“Good riddance!” Draco screamed at her. Hermione was so taken aback that she stopped, frozen, her mouth hanging open. It figured that he would respect the man for harming his children just because they didn’t acquire magical abilities. Even if it wasn’t their fault. It didn’t matter. Not to people like them.
The more time she spent around Draco Malfoy, the more she was disgusted with him. But finally, she regained her senses.
“Well at least my house doesn’t condone needless torture and mass homicide.” She said icily, her voice barely above a whisper.
Draco’s eyes hardened on her and she could almost feel the hate from them coming at her in toxic waves. He moved closer, taking slow, threatening steps. Hermione backed away, suddenly very fearful, though she tried not to show it. She kept her face hard, her eyes set into a glare.
Until her back hit the wall.
He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and for a moment she was reminded of what they’d done together in the forest. But that thought was quickly whipped from her mind as she realized this was not going to end like that. Not at all.
“You don’t know anything Granger. They say you’re the smartest witch of our age but you-you are so blind. Open up your big brown eyes and take a look around. If you did, you might see past your own senseless prejudices. They’re obviously clouding your vision.” He pulled her forward a moment only to slam her forcefully back against the wall. “Most of the Slytherins don’t believe in that stuff. But they don’t run around like you idiotic Gryffindors and try to save the world because their scared! Who wouldn’t be?”
“I-” He cut her off again.
“Us Slytherins, we’re cunning. We are ambitious and will do anything to achieve our goals. It just so happened that the most powerful wizard ever was in our house; he had a goal and he went for it! Success by any means, Granger. But you don’t see it that way, do you? No, you only see a bunch of sick cowards who get off on hurting others. Well you are dead wrong.”
“Bu-” Again, he interrupted.
“And you Gryffindors think you’re so special. It makes me sick. You are stupid! Not brave, not heroic. Running head first into the Dark Lord’s grasp isn’t smart. But you are all so quick to blame everyone else. You say that we are bigots because we are purebloods and don’t approve of muggle-borns. I say you’re a bigot and a hypocrite because you don’t approve of Slytherins. Have you ever once given them a chance? No. You judge them just like everyone else. You judge me just like everyone else!”
He was breathing hard and his face was pink from the effort. His fingers tightened around her upper arms and Hermione could feel his nails digging through the fabric of her cloak and cutting into her skin.
“Bravo. Nice speech.” She said, sarcasm dripping from her tongue. He stared at her incredulously for a moment and she took advantage by pushing him back and struggling out of his grasp.
“But you’re wrong.” Though he really wasn’t. She was prejudiced, just like he was. Somewhere deep inside of her, she knew it. Right now though, she couldn‘t let herself think about it, couldn‘t get sidetracked.
“Slytherins are a bunch of sick cowards, as you so eloquently put it. Because even if they don’t agree with Voldemort, and even if they don’t have prejudices against Muggle-borns, they still don’t do anything about it, do they? No. They cower and hide and bow down because they are too scared to do anything else. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, Malfoy, and all you scared Slytherins are on it. You don’t want to hurt people but you do it anyway because you are selfish.”
His fists tightened at his side but he kept his mouth clamped shut. Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and went on.
“Us Gryffindors… we at least try. Yes, it may be stupid. And yes, we may just be asking for trouble. But at least we stand up for what we believe in. We have goals too. And we have the drive to reach them.” She took a deep breath, trying in vain to exhale some of her annoyance and anger along with the air. “But this isn’t about our houses anymore. This is about us. And you know what? When it comes right down to it Malfoy, I’m better than you. Simple as that.”
She was so convinced of what she was saying was true that she didn’t even feel the need to elaborate. She was better and that was it. And that just pissed Draco off even more. The nerve of her!
“I’m still a pureblood!” He burst out. “And no matter how good you are at this or that, or how many friends you have or people you save, it doesn’t matter Granger. I know you don’t think blood is important but it is. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you‘re someone. I’m a pureblood and you are nothing but a worthless mudblood. I’ll always be better.”
Hermione felt tears prickling the back of her eyes as she stared at him. But she refused to cry in his presence and give him the sick pleasure of seeing her in pain. He wasn’t going to win and he wasn’t going to hurt her with his deluded beliefs anymore. She stood up taller and uncrossed her arms, stuck out her chin.
Hermione Granger was a fighter, plain and simple.
“You know, I can’t believe I ever felt envious of you.” That caught his attention and he blinked, unsure that he’d heard her correctly. It was huge boost to his ego but only lasted for a millisecond. “Really, I pity you.”
Draco felt his stomach twist and churn at that awful word. Pity. He hated it. He didn’t need anyone to feel sorry for him. He was just fucking fine. And granger could shove her pity up her ass for all he cared.
He wasn’t having it.
“Hit a nerve?” She asked, smirking slightly. “Well, good. Because this is the truth. I pity you for your family and the way you were raised. You had every material thing in the world but none of it was enough to make up for the lack of love and compassion. You were brought up to believe ridiculous lies and now you’re so far gone that its too late to save you. You could have been a good person. But now you are lost. All you wanted was to be accepted. I know it! I saw how hard you struggled with your task. I saw it because it was all Harry could talk about last year. You tried so hard. You say you didn’t have a choice but I think you had a choice all along. You could have gone to Dumbledore, you could have gone to Snape! But no. You chose to do it on your own. To prove that you were worthy.”
He wasn’t going to let her talk anymore. Everything she’d been saying had washed over him and soaked into his skin, filled his pores like acrid poison, suffocating his entire being. She was right. She was always fucking right.
But not this time. He’d shove her words back in her face.
With that thought he lunged at her, determined to prove her wrong.
Harry stood in the center of the Room of Requirements, watching as the last of the people filtered out. Most of them had been reluctant to go and he didn’t blame them. Hogwarts was no longer a nice place to be. Ever since the Ministry had been informed of Hermione and Malfoy’s disappearances, they’d gone completely bonkers and taken over the place. The quiet, dead atmosphere that had clouded the place before was now panic filled and tense. Everyone was on edge.
It didn’t help that, once again, Hogwarts was overrun. The rules were just as bad as they’d been in fifth year; no going outside alone, lockdown on dormitories after eight, Forbidden Forest off limits. To enforce these rules, there were Aurors and Ministry officials everywhere! Normally, Harry wouldn’t have minded. He was glad that the wizarding world was finally paying attention and recognizing the danger that loomed around every corner. But Hogwarts was the safest place he knew and the Ministry was wasting its time guarding it.
They could have been out looking for Hermione and Draco. Should have been. But, according to them, it was too late.
And then there was the DA. With someone around all the time, it made it extremely difficult to gather for meetings. This had been their first one in days. It wasn’t good. Everyone knew they were running out of time and with them not being able to train as often… he wasn’t sure if anyone would be ready for the battles ahead.
“Good lesson today.”
A voice broke his thoughts and Harry turned to see Theodore Nott standing off to the side, his books clutched lazily in his hand.
“Yeah,” Harry nodded. “I think they are really getting the hang of this.”
“But its not enough, right?” Harry stared at him, shocked. It was almost as if he’d been reading his mind.
Nott, almost sensing Harry’s discomfort, turned his attention to the wall with Hermione and Draco’s pictures on it.
“It won’t ever be, Harry, I hate to tell you.”
Harry just stared at the back of the boy’s head, knowing he was right. No matter how much preparation they had, it wouldn’t matter. When the time came and it was real Death Eaters they were dueling, all their training would just go out the window. It would be instinct, then. Pure and simple.
“I know.” He said. “But at least this gives them something to do.” And himself, he thought.
Nott turned back to Harry then and walked a bit closer, still keeping his distance.
“You’re a decent guy.” Harry murmured his thanks. He wasn’t used to compliments from Slytherins and, even though he hated to say it, he was still very wary of them.
“Just remember, for everything you think about us, we think the same about you, you know.” Harry met his eyes then, curious as to what he meant. “Evil is a point of view. And even though most agree on that point of view, there are some who see things differently. You can’t judge someone until you’ve walked in their shoes, as the saying goes.” Nott stopped there and Harry pondered all that he’d said, trying to pick apart the meaning. His thoughts were once again interrupted by the door swinging open as Ron and Pansy walked through.
Harry arched an eyebrow in their direction. Neither had been at the meeting but Harry had just figured they had got caught up by one of the officials roaming around. He certainly didn’t think they were together though.
“Harry, mate, we figured it out!” Ron said, rushing at him, a book in his hand. Pansy was right behind, coming just as fast. Excitement shined on both their faces.
“Figured what out?” He turned to look at Nott to see if he understood anything but Nott simply shrugged and turned to leave.
Ron went over to the table at the far end of the room and motioned for Harry to follow. He went over and stared down at the book that Ron had lain out and was flipping through.
“Ron what is going on?” He glanced meaningfully at Pansy but she only looked back to the book.
“We have been researching for hours in the library about it.” Harry was Dumbstruck when Ron said this.
“Researching? You and Pansy? I wasn’t even sure you remembered where the library was.” He muttered. Ron either hadn’t heard him, or ignored him.
“We were getting sick and tired of just waiting around for them to come back. So we decided to find them ourselves.” By them, Harry knew he’d meant Hermione and Malfoy. Ron went on. “We started thinking about it, right? And then it just clicked.”
He stopped flipping through the book and stood straight, looking at Harry in the eye.
“Its so simple. Hermione and Malfoy went into the forest and never came back. But they aren’t in the forest anymore. Its like they disappeared.”
“Right…” Harry nodded, not sure where Ron was going with this.
“So maybe they did!” He exclaimed excitedly. Harry could see Pansy nodding enthusiastically behind him.
“Yeah, Ron. We know that.” Harry said. He was completely confused as to why they seemed to be so thrilled about this piece of information when everyone had figured it all along. It was obvious to anyone with a brain that Hermione and Draco were no longer anywhere near Hogwarts. Everyone just assumed that they’d been taken or something.
“No, I mean, actually disappeared.” When Harry still stared at them blankly, Ron tried to continue but Pansy cut him off.
“What he means, Potter, is that they just went poof. Out of thin air. Think about it.” She stepped to the side so that Harry could see her clearly. “Hermione and Draco weren’t captured or anything because there wasn’t any signs of a struggle. It was like one minute there were there, the next they weren’t. And we think we know why.”
She went around to the other side of the table and Ron turned back as well. Their attention was focused on the book as they once again flipped pages until they found the spot they were looking for. Harry read the chapter title.
Alternate Dimensions: Do they really exist?
“You guys are bonkers.” He said as he looked up at the two again. The pair only rolled their eyes.
“No mate, we’re not. Listen, it makes sense. It is all explained right here. You know how when we went to the World Cup, we stayed in the tent and it looked really small on the outside but was huge on the inside? And how even this room expands or shrinks to fit our needs without changing appearance from the outside? Well its all about altering the dimensions of the place. Magic is used, obviously.”
“Right.” Harry said in agreement. Ron brightened up.
“Well it works for anything,” Pansy started. “You can magically adjust a place any way you want if you know how to. And apparently that isn’t all you can do.”
“Yeah. Try creating places just from nothing!” Ron said excitedly.
“Wait, I don’t follow. What does this have to do with Hermione and Malfoy?” Harry asked.
“Well its simple really. If a wizard is powerful enough, they can magically create a place, any place, that they want. Like another dimension. It will look real, feel real. Don’t you see Harry?” Ron asked. “That is what happened. Someone created this other dimension and somehow Hermione and Malfoy ended up in it!”
“But how?” Harry questioned. This made Pansy and Ron’s faces fall slightly.
“Well, that is the thing. We aren’t sure yet. According to this book this is all just theoretical and if someone were to create a place like this, there would have to be a gateway of some sort. Like a door or something. And I doubt my Draco would be stupid enough to just wander through some door or portal or whatever.” Pansy said
Harry rolled his eyes and turned to Ron, who had his arms crossed over his chest.
“Do you really believe this Ron?”
“Yes, of course!” He defended. “Look Harry, I know it sounds crazy but it is the only thing that makes sense. Where else could they be?”
“They could be anywhere! And like you said, they wouldn’t just go through some gateway. No. Its got to be something else. Hermione and Malfoy were taken. it’s the only explanation, otherwise they would be back by now.”
“That’s it!” Ron’s eyes lit up then and he held up his hand triumphantly. “You are right.” Harry and Pansy both stared at him, obviously confused.
“They were taken. Or rather, trapped. Someone made this dimension and hid the portal somewhere in the forest. Hermione and Malfoy must have accidentally went through!”
All three of them silently considered this for a moment and none of them could think of any reason why it wouldn’t be right. It made perfect sense and it definitely explained why there was no trace what-so-ever of the two missing students.
But if it was true, then that meant that Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were trapped somewhere together. Somewhere completely unknown.
An all new type of fear rushed through the three of them when they realized what this all meant.
Angry screams bounced off the Ministry walls and echoed through the empty building. Hermione and Draco were in the Atrium staring each other down as they fought.
After Draco had literally attacked Hermione in the Hall of Famous Witches and Wizards, they had fought on the ground like children. Eventually they found themselves back into the main area of the first level, as they still went at each other. Wands had been whipped out and spells had been cast. But the fighting seemed to stop quickly enough and once again they were back at a battle of words.
“You are never going to understand. Ten years from now you’ll be sitting in a cell in Azkaban, cold and alone, and you still won’t get it! You’re just a waste of air, Malfoy. You don’t even deserve to live.” Her words were harsh but his were harsher.
“You’re one to talk. You’ll never accept that you’re wrong, will you? No, because you’re Perfect Hermione Fucking Granger. Well I hate to tell you princess, but no one is perfect. And you least of all.”
“I hate you.” Hermione choked out. And she meant it.
Draco was about to reply but suddenly he clamped his mouth shut.
He felt really dizzy and the Ministry was spinning all around him. He knew this sensation. It meant that they were leaving, going somewhere else.
But why?
The thought left his mind as soon as it had come because in that instant they were gone. Nothing but darkness.
And light.
Looking around, Draco saw the bright white snow, the pale sky, the thick ice… and he knew. They were standing right in the middle of the Black Lake at Hogwarts. It was frozen over like it always did in the winter. That was the first clue that they weren’t home.
It wasn’t really winter at Hogwarts. This was just another trap.
But if he was supposed to be worried, he wasn’t. All he was thinking about was how much he hated the girl standing across from him.
They were both silent as they stood and stared. The wind was blowing, ruffling their hair and their robes.
And then it stopped. Everything was silent. Calm. Peaceful.
They took that as their signal to attack.
AN: Mwuahahahah! Well, that was a semi-cliffhanger, lol. Please REVIEW! IT MAKES ME HAPPY! ^_^
Next time: The seventh and final sin… wrath. Will they make it out alive? Will they make it out at all? And more from Hogwarts.
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