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Peace in the Darkness	By : UpTheHill Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 19332 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not own any of the characters nor the setting from the Harry Potter world. There are plot details that are not mine either. I make no profit out of this story in any way as I am writing for my personal enjoyment.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Chapter 12: Acceptance
When the Clock Tower chimed at 4pm on Monday, Hermione was already standing at the door to Professor Snape’s office, nervously rubbing her fingers. She raised her fist to knock, but before her knuckles touched the door, it swung open by itself. Snape was sitting at his desk, his eyes drilling into her skull. Classic.
Hermione stepped inside and approached the professor.
“Sit, Miss Granger,” said Snape, gesturing at the chair in front of the desk. Hermione obeyed immediately.
Her heart was galloping in her throat, making her swallow every few seconds.
It’s no news Snape was very intimidating.
Hermione knew why she was invited into Snape’s office. I would like to discuss recent events with you, said the professor in his note. Recent events… like what, attack on Draco? Or Hermione’s tears after she saw the white-head bleeding on the floor? Probably both. She knew that Snape had given an Unbreakable Vow to protect Draco, as Harry overheard in December. The incident in the bathroom ended up well, Draco is fine, but it must have made the professor very angry at Harry.
Snape and Hermione were sitting in strained silence for a minute, the professor’s unblinking black eyes pinned on her.
“I presume you are aware of the reason why you are sitting in this office at the moment,” Snape spoke slowly in his low voice.
“Yes…” she tried to say, but her voice was very hoarse and she had to clear her throat first. Nerves. “Yes,” she repeated now clearly.
It felt as Snape’s eyes were trying to read her mind and were succeeding at it. It was very uncomfortable.
“Please, tell me what you know about the duel between Mister Potter and Mister Malfoy, which took place on the sixth floor, on May 21^st.”
Well, there was nothing to lie about, she could tell the professor the truth. Although perhaps she would keep some particular details to herself.
“I know that Harry walked in on Malfoy in the bathroom after he heard him crying,” Hermione began explaining what Harry had told her. “Draco was the first one to attack, Harry defended himself.” She saw the scowl on Snape’s face intensify. “Malfoy tried casting one of the Unforgivable Curses, Cruciatus, but Harry reacted first and used a curse, which was unknown to me until now, against him.”
Hermione wondered whether her voice was shaking. She wasn’t afraid, not really, but she did feel a mildly distressing pressure.
“Were you aware of Potter’s plans to attack Mister Malfoy?”
“There were no plans!” Hermione frowned. “He accidentally walked in on him, as I said. There was nothing for me to be aware of.”
Snape curled his lip. He made a pause before his every question, as if scanning through her brain and examining the content, trying to determine whether Hermione was telling the truth or not.
Did he blink, ever?
“Why were you on the sixth floor at the time of the fight, may I ask?”
Here was the question she didn’t know how to answer to. She initially planned on lying to the professor as to not expose the “relationship” she had with Draco, but now, when she felt like Snape could easily see through her, she wasn’t sure anymore…
Hermione kept quiet, but she knew that silence wouldn’t excuse her from answering the question.
“Why were you on the sixth floor, Miss Granger?” Snape asked again more bitterly, if that’s possible.
Hermione exhaled heavily and gulped.
“I was going to meet Draco.”
“For what purpose?”
“To… talk,” she forced down another gulp.
“What about?”
Hermione remained silent.
What should she do? Should she trust Snape and tell everything she knew about Draco and everything that was happening between them, or should she not?
Snape pursed his lips for a second.
“Was the meeting planned beforehand?” he asked a different question.
“Yes.”
“How often do you meet with Mister Malfoy?”
“We have Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts together so…”
“Outside the classroom,” he said through gritted teeth. “One-on-one.”
Well, she tried… but there was no way out of it. Hermione wouldn’t dare to lie to Severus Snape. His presence and glare worked as well as Veritaserum.
“Once a month or so, I guess.”
“For what purpose, Miss Granger?”
“To talk and…” How should she put this? She didn’t dare saying that out loud. Hermione swallowed. “Well, we rarely plan to meet, it just… happens…”
How uncomfortable, how embarrassing.
“Why was your reaction to seeing Mister Malfoy injured so… dramatic?”
No way out of this.
“Because I… I care for him.”
The pause felt incredibly tense and infinite. The tremor in her heart quickened.
“Do you and Mister Malfoy share romantic feelings to one another?”
Hermione was blushing like a tomato.
“I… I don’t know…” she shrugged embarrassingly. “I guess…”
She couldn’t really speak for Draco, could she? He never actually told her how he felt about her, and she wasn’t exactly ready to acknowledge her own feelings aloud either.
Snape sighed and blinked. After a minute, during which the professor seemed to be rather lost in his thoughts instead of reading Hermione, he spoke again.
“What do you know about Mister Malfoy?”
Hermione knew what the professor was asking. He definitely didn’t want to know about Malfoy’s family or what classes Draco was taking.
“I know he regularly visits the seventh floor,” she said.
“More specifically?”
“The Room of Requirement.”
“Have you ever been there with him?”
“No,” she said without thinking, but then reconsidered. “Well, yes, in the Room of Requirement, but I don’t exactly know whether we were in the actual room Draco goes to.”
“Describe the room, please.”
“It was… empty. There were candles and a chair. Nothing else,” she explained. “We were hiding.”
One more pause.
“What else do you know?”
“I know that… Well, I assume Draco has a mission.”
“Do you know anything about it?”
“No.”
Silence again.
“Anything else you know, Miss Granger?”
Time to reveal the trump card…
“He is a Death Eater.”
Snape’s jaw clenched and his nostrils twitched.
“How do you know?” he asked stiffly.
“I have seen the Dark Mark on his forearm.”
Here you go, Professor Snape.
“Do you know anything about Mister Malfoy’s plans on his… mission?”
“No. He won’t tell me.”
“Do you think you could persuade him into sharing his plans with you?”
What?
“No, I don’t think so.”
For the first time today, the professor directed his stare elsewhere. He licked his lips and inhaled.
“Miss Granger,” he began, “I’m afraid I must put the relationship between you and Mister Malfoy to an end.”
What?!
It’s none of his damned business!
Hermione scowled and opened her mouth to tell those words aloud, but Snape held up his hand, and she shut up.
“You can no longer continue meeting Mister Malfoy. I urge you to stay away and to not interfere with whatever he is doing.”
Hermione’s mouth fell open again in shock and fury.
Is he serious?! He has no right to interfere with my personal life!
“Why?!”
“Because it is very important, Miss Granger. It doesn’t involve you personally, you must understand.”
This is unbelievable.
How dare he tell me what to do and not to do?!
“Please, keep your thoughts to yourself.” Snape knew exactly what she was thinking. Can he read minds? “You are dismissed.”
Hermione glowered at the professor for a few more moments, unable to comprehend what was happening and why. Then she stood up sharply, gave another stinging glare and stormed off.
Unbelievable. Un-be-liev-a-ble.
After Hermione returned to her dorm after dinner and homework, she pondered the conversation with Snape.
The main trouble was to decide whether to trust Snape or not. If the professor is reliable, then he must know what he was talking about, telling Hermione to stay away from Draco. However, if Snape is on the Dark side, then she might want to do the opposite. And, in addition to that, regret that she confided her knowledge and secrets to the professor.
What a dilemma, honestly.
But again… it was possible that Dumbledore already knew everything. He trusts Snape. And if he does, so must everyone else, right?
Perhaps I should stay away from Draco? At least for my own good?
And so she did.
Draco was back in classes, and she noticed he looked confused as to why Hermione continued avoiding him at all costs. After all that… fun in the hospital wing, he probably figured that they were back on speaking terms—well, secretly. But no, Hermione kept being indifferent and ignored Draco’s presence as much as she could.
Draco, you’re a Death Eater, for Merlin’s sake… why so surprised?
Maybe because you willingly keep returning to him to shag?
Yeah…
Anyway, Draco made attempts to draw Hermione’s attention when he though it was safe, but vainly; the girl determinedly kept her distance from the Slytherin and forced herself to focus on different matters.
For example, what happened to Draco—argh, he’s everywhere!—that night in the bathroom encouraged Hermione to keep researching the identity of the mysterious Half-Blood Prince. It was his—or her—fault that Harry endangered Draco’s life. This person, who created such a horrible curse, had to be sick, and Hermione had to know who he or she was.
That’s why she continued visiting the library not for her schoolwork only. Most of the library’s books have most certainly seen Hermione’s nose at least once, but only when Hermione turned to the stacks of old Daily Prophets she could clap in triumphant excitement.
Eileen Prince, Captain of the Hogwarts Gobstones Team was written under a photograph of a skinny, sullen-looking girl with a long pale face.
That’s it! Hermione thought and grinned to the newspaper, when she felt someone’s presence near her. She raised her eyes and met the very familiar grey ones, as Draco Malfoy appeared to be towering over her across her desk.
“Hermione,” he spoke, his unreadable face directed at her.
Hermione pursed her lips and quickly dove her eyes back into the Daily Prophet with Eileen Prince’s photograph.
“Look at me,” Draco demanded. “It’s important.”
Hermione gave off a forced sigh and dramatically rolled her eyes, reaching Draco’s face.
He was looking serious. What’s going on?
“What?” she asked after she furrowed her brow, starting to feel a bit uneasy.
Draco gave a few glimpses around, then leaned forward, supporting himself with his stretched arms on the desktop. His head drew closer, and his face sank in the yellow beams of desk lamp’s light.
“Look,” he whispered, “things will be happening tonight at Hogwarts. I want—”
“What things?” Hermione asked immediately.
“Let me talk, I don’t have much time,” he closed his eyes for a second and clenched his jaw. “I want you to know that everything I’ve ever said to you—this year, I mean—was true. You have to understand that I never meant harm, I never—”
“What are you talking about?
Draco was starting to seriously scare her. She listened to his every word, holding her breath and afraid to move.
“I never wanted any of this,” he went on, ignoring her question. “Whatever I’m doing, I’m doing for my family. I ask you to trust me.”
His eyes didn’t let go of hers. He had her full attention for the first time in weeks.
“You have to be careful. Stay out of everything. Perhaps remain in the Gryffindor Tower or something… just stay safe.”
Hermione let out a pant and opened her mouth to say something but was once again silenced by the young wizard’s voice.
“You have to promise me, Hermione,” Draco slowly shook his head and a shadow of fear flashed in his grey eyes. “Promise you’ll take care of yourself. You must.”
“But what—” she stammered desperately in between Draco’s words.
“Promise.”
Hermione stared at the Slytherin, trying to understand what he was talking about, trying to read the truth in his countenance. But she wasn’t Snape, was she?
“Why?” she asked.
Draco bit his lip and broke their eye contact. She saw his Adam’s apple rise and fall as he swallowed his Malfoy-ish dignity.
“Why, Draco?”
She had to know. She needed him to tell her. And, apparently, it had to be now.
The Slytherin fastened his gaze back on her. Even though Hermione had her eyes pinned on his grey irises, she could see his pulse violently beating at his throat. A tip of his tongue flashed as he moistened his lips before saying it out loud.
“I care for you.”
Yes. Hermione and Draco shared the exact same feelings towards one another—care, affection, fondness. They both felt that and they both finally accepted that.
Hermione’s heart was twirling in her chest. She had a sudden urge to cover those lips in front of her with her own, but she didn’t dare. Not when people were already stealthily watching two enemies whisper to each other in such an unusually close proximity.
“Will you trust me and keep yourself safe?”
“I will,” she exhaled. She couldn’t promise him anything; she didn’t know what she would be dealing with, but it seemed he desperately needed her reassurance, and she provided it.
Hearing her response, Draco made a barely visible nod and, after Hermione felt his fingers gently flick hers in a way nobody could had noticed, turned on his heel and darted off.
Hermione sat there with a stunned expression on her face, her cheeks blossoming in bright lovely pink both from Draco’s words and other people’s stares. She almost pressed her fingers upon her lips as if she had just experienced her first kiss. It almost felt like it.
I care for you.
The more she avoided Draco, the stronger feelings he provoked in her when they met, and the harder it was to forget him.
What was happening to her? What was happening?
Had Draco completed his mission?
Hermione quickly cut the article out of the newspaper, gathered her stuff up and headed to the Gryffindor Common room. She didn’t know whether she should tell her friends any of what just happened. Draco came to warn her about possible danger because she mattered to him, but Hermione’s friends mattered to her as well, and she wanted them to be safe, too, so she had to warn at least Harry, hadn’t she? But again, how would she explain the situation exactly?
Hermione entered the Common room and saw Harry and Ron sitting beside a window, writing and reading. She dropped into a seat between them.
She figured she should start with the thing she went to the library for in the first place. And maybe that would lead her to Draco’s warning.
“Harry,” she said, and the green-eyed friend turned to her with a rather dreamy look on his face. “I want to talk to you about the so-called Half-Blood Prince.”
Harry’s eyes focused on her and he groaned, “Oh, not again…”
But Hermione pressed on. She showed her friend the piece of paper from the Daily Prophet with Eileen Prince’s face on it and explained that this girl was most likely to be a former owner of Harry’s Advanced Potion-Making textbook. Harry, of course, was very disbelieving and refused to admit that the Half-Blood Prince could be a female.
“I can tell it’s not a girl,” he said. “I can just tell, Hermione.”
Hermione sat there, holding that crumbled piece of paper, staring at that girl in the picture. An irritated frown decorated Hermione’s face.
Harry was being very annoying. She came here with proof that a nickname “Prince” didn’t make the person automatically a male, and still he denied her point.
Then Jimmy Peakes appeared before Harry, handing a roll of parchment to him.
“It’s from Dumbledore!” said Harry excitedly. “I think it’s about the Horcrux! He wants me to go to his office right now!”
He jumped to his feet and hurried out of the room before Hermione could yell “Draco’s a Death Eater”. She did cry “No, wait!” after Harry, but to no effect.
Oh, no, no, no…
Harry’s stubbornness distracted her from the main concern she wanted to discuss, and now he was gone for who knows how long.
Could she tell Ron about what Draco said to her?
No. Ron wouldn’t understand her. The sensitive and fierce-tempered prat he was, he wouldn’t understand. Hermione couldn’t tell him. At least not yet.
Okay… so, according to Malfoy, something serious and, as it sounded, dangerous was about to happen in the castle. But Hermione had so many questions that she couldn’t figure out how to deal with the situation.
Did Dumbledore or anyone else know about this? Was there a way to prevent any possible threat? Was staying in the Common rooms enough for students to be safe?
If Hermione kept quiet, would she be responsible for anything that could happen?
It’s not my responsibility. Hogwarts is the safest place on the planet.
But suddenly Hermione’s face dropped and she felt her heart melt into her stomach.
Only then she realized that, if Harry was off for the Horcrux hunt, Dumbledore, along with Harry, wasn’t going to be in the castle for an unknown length of time while Draco predicted big things to be happening tonight.
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Peace in the Darkness