Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Verto Vitae	By : RynStar15 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 40710 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Harry Potter nor do I make any money or intend any copyright infringement by using the characters therein.

Chapter List
- 4
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- 6
Hermione hugged her cloak closer, the air unseasonably cold from the presence of Dementors all over the country. She glanced around nervously and told herself to stop fretting, that she had been preparing for this for months, though she wished she'd had a few more days to acclimate or at least enough time to wake Malfoy…
Her feet made no noise on the dewy ground as she slipped beneath the shadows of the Forbidden Forest and trekked the path she and Malfoy had walked more times than she cared to remember. The quarter moon filtered weakly through leaves of the swaying trees above her and the soft sounds of animals rustling unseen made her clutch her wand tighter in her hand. She should have woken Malfoy, as was the protocol if either of them left the castle, but she didn't want to linger any more than was necessary. She had no way of knowing how long the note had been there.
She came to the clearing, a little winded from the rush, and looked around, her eyes straining through the night for she dared not light her wand. Malfoy had warned her that Death Eaters worked in the darkness and the light would give her away immediately.
The clearing had been made strategically for these meetings. When Malfoy had surreptitiously joined their side, he had warned that he would need a safe place to communicate with his father, so this small chink in the wards had been crafted. Though Malfoy had claimed his father had no desire to lay siege on a school full of children, they took no chances, making it so only a Malfoy could pass the barrier while others would be incinerated on the spot.
Once perfected, Malfoy had insisted to his father he had found the weak spot in the wards himself and proceeded to meet his sire in secret, relaying all information back to their ears. He'd walked Hermione here many times over the last few months so that she may make the trek alone in case something happened to him, though she knew he'd be peeved when he found out she'd gone alone tonight.
A twig snapped to her left and a tall cloaked figure emerged from the gloom.
"What kept you?"
Hermione was taken aback. The voice was feminine and familiar but Hermione couldn't quite place it. It wasn't, however, Lucius, the man she had figured she was meeting with. But the Malfoy crest on the scroll… Narcissa?
"Extra potions lessons with Slughorn," Hermione replied, keeping her voice even as if she had known who she was meeting all along. Narcissa lowered her hood, her brow raised in suspicion. She was just as strikingly beautiful as the first time Hermione had met her at the Quidditch World Cup. She looked, perhaps, gaunter, as if the last few years had taken their toll.
"You have fallen behind. That is not acceptable."
Hermione attempted to produce the most indifferent, arrogant expression she could. She didn't figure Valouris as one to apologize.
"Has Zabini proposed yet?" Narcissa asked, her steely eyes hard.
"No, but Greengrass overheard him speaking of it to Nott. He was supposed to tomorrow but Slughorn has made sure that won't happen."
The older woman's face grew hard. "You have been putting this off too long, Valouris! We haven't much time. Your year is almost up; we have less than three weeks to pull this off. You must secure this, do you understand? Do not tarry! Make a date for Sunday; your father will see a ring on your finger before the next meeting. You know what will happen if you do not."
Hermione nodded and swallowed. This match with Blaise, it seemed, was far more important than she had originally thought. "It will be done."
"Be sure it is. Have you been taking your potion?"
"Yes."
"Every night, do not miss a single one. We must ensure you are as fertile as possible; we only have one chance at this. We are counting on you."
Hermione nodded again, barely able to conceal her shock. Fertile? She was taking a fertility potion?
"Good. I don't know why your grades are suddenly slipping but you must excel; do not let your father know you are falling behind. Top scores on your N.E.W.T's will secure your position in the Ministry. If everything works as it should you needn't worry, but we must always be prepared."
"Yes ma'am."
Narcissa eyed her for a moment. "You received your father's note?"
"Yes. Monday at-"
Smack!
"Shut your mouth!" Narcissa hissed as Hermione gasped and clutched her cheek. "What is wrong with you, child?"
Hermione knew better than to answer. She straightened her back and looked the woman who was now her mother in the eye.
"Nowhere is safe, do you hear me? You know better than this, have we not taught you better than this? Answer me!"
A second slap followed the first and Hermione had to grit her teeth against the stinging pain before straightening once more. "Yes."
"If your father were here…" she breathed, her face inches from Hermione's, her jaw clenched in anger. "We will not tolerate anything less than perfection from you, do you understand me?"
"Yes."
"You are in enough trouble as it is. The Dark Lord does not forget your failure last year. If you had been the son we wanted we wouldn't be in this position, but as you decided to take that option from us the day you were born you must work harder to prove yourself. You have one last chance at redemption, do you understand?"
Hermione nearly snorted in derision. Yes, as a newborn she was completely responsible for a difficult birth, plotting against her parents so that they couldn't have any more children. Was this woman serious?
"Yes ma'am."
Narcissa drew herself up to her imposing height, her eyes never leaving Hermione's. "Get back to your dorms and not a word of this to your father. If he asks, you received this in the mail. Make sure you look presentable, I don't know what is wrong with you today but it's despicable. You must not lack in anything, especially appearance. Kiss your mother now and hurry back."
Hermione grabbed a small black box from Mrs. Malfoy's cold fingers and tucked it in her robes. Without looking at her, Hermione dusted a chaste kiss on the woman's cheek and took off back the way she had come.
She waited until she was far enough away to not be seen and ran full-out, the cold air rushing against her, branches and thorns tearing at her cloak and hair. Eyes on the dark path so as not to trip over exposed roots, she let out a startled shriek when she ran into something hard and warm.
"Shh, it's me!"
The sound of Malfoy's voice had her knees weak with relief and he gripped her arms tightly as she swayed.
"Are you alright?" he asked nervously, his wand at the ready, his eyes searching for danger.
"I'm fine," she panted, but his free arm curled around her, dragging her into his chest, stilling her movements.
"Someone might have heard you," he murmured, his wand aloft in Moody-like vigilance. He held her tightly and looked around; making sure no one had overheard her yell. Hermione didn't even dare to breathe, her ears straining past the rush of blood for any sign of an intruder. They stood there, Hermione clutching the front of Malfoy's robes, his arms protectively around her, for several moments to be sure any danger had passed. When he was satisfied they were alone, Malfoy drew her back roughly, his eyes murderous.
"What the bloody hell are you doing out here?" he hissed.
"I should ask you the same thing!"
"Following you! I saw you from the window, where were you off to in such a hurry?" he questioned scathingly. Her heart dropped. Was he really accusing her of sneaking around behind his back?
"To meet your mother," she snapped, irritated, shrugging from his grip.
"My-what?"
"Your mother. There was a note summoning me immediately when I got to my dormitory."
"Why didn't you tell me? You shouldn't be out here alone," he growled.
"I didn't have time," she huffed. "Besides, I think I can handle myself."
"That's not the point, Granger." His eyes bore into hers and she felt the heat climb into her cheeks despite the chilly air. "What did she want?"
Hermione's stomach churned as she relived every word of their conversation. When she told him about being slapped he studied her cheek, running his fingertips over the still sore skin. His eyes showed long-held pain and Hermione could only imagine what he had gone through as a child. Her heart ached for him; for all that he'd been through and never shown.
He was quiet for a while after she finished as he chewed over what she'd said.
"Are you sure she said 'fertile?'"
"Very sure," she scoffed.
"So they plan on impregnating you?" His voice sounded as incredulous as Hermione felt.
"It seems that way."
"But you're not even out of school, why would they be concerned about that now?"
She sighed. "That would be the question of the hour." When he looked confused at her Muggle saying she shook her head. "Never mind. I really don't know why they would need me to conceive immediately. I suppose they're anxious for the Zabini-Malfoy heir."
"Possibly… but it just doesn't make sense that they would be so concerned with it this early."
"None of this damnable world makes sense," Hermione sighed and he growled in frustration, scrubbing his hair.
"Well, I suppose you can't put him off, then. You'll have to make the date on Sunday," he said, glancing at her apprehensively. Hermione hugged herself, hearing the unspoken words. She nodded, knowing there was no other choice. They were both quiet for a moment until Hermione started shivering.
"Come on, you need to get to bed," Draco said bracingly, motioning towards the castle.
Hermione led the way and neither of them spoke a word. They parted ways at the staircase, their eyes locking for an infinite moment. Hermione wanted to say something, anything, but the words wouldn't come to her. She settled with a stiff smile and headed down to the dungeons.
.
.
.
Draco crumpled the Invisibility Cloak and chucked it in his trunk as soon as the door shut on his private dormitory. Cursing the air blue, he grabbed the shrunken bottle of Firewhiskey he'd snuck in his satchel, enlarging it and taking a swig. Even the soft lick of flames in his throat wasn't enough to settle him. He could still see the welt on Hermione's cheek from his mother's hand; still see the fright in her eyes as she'd run away from her. He had felt the trembling that had stolen through her and knew that it had nothing to do with the fact that she might have alerted someone and everything to do with the possibility of having to give birth to Blaise Zabini's child.
But what could they possibly want with the child? Sure, they would expect the young couple to produce an heir, but they had years…why now? What was so different in this world than in the real one? What had Valouris been doing for her intermediate year? For it was the law of the Death Eaters; anyone wishing to join had to prove themselves for one year by doing horrific tasks that the upper Death Eaters deemed necessary. Draco still had nightmares of Dumbledore's death. His failure had led to another year of these so-called tasks, all of which he'd told the Order about on Snape's insistence. They had welcomed him readily and were surprisingly understanding about his position, knowing that in order for their plan to work he had to carry out the tasks he was given, however heinous they seemed. And heinous they were, indeed.
He couldn't believe how lucky he'd been that the Order had taken him in with hardly a word elsewise. Apparently, Dumbledore had been trying to use Snape to get Draco to join them as soon as he was told of Draco's task, so when he had failed to kill his Headmaster, Snape had drug him to Headquarters just before he was murdered for completing Draco's task without permission. The murder of their spy left the Order in a tight spot without any way of knowing what the Death Eaters were up to.
At his own insistence, Draco had gone double-agent for the Order, but without the Mark he had limited access to information. So it was with Draco's help that they were able to formulate this ridiculously complicated plan, which is where Granger had stepped in to save the day. There was plenty of backlash against her proposal, but she refused to back down. She was of-age, perfectly placed, and there was no way the Dark Lord would see this coming.
Only Purebloods and a very select few half-bloods could join the ranks of the Death Eaters. If Draco had completed his mission and taken the Mark, he would have been the youngest Death Eater since Voldemort's rise to power. His failure had led to abject punishment and another year of servitude at the end of which he was to complete another mission: to find the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.
He had led them on to believe he was gaining the Mudblood's trust to take him there (Granger's idea). When Draco learned that only Secret Keepers could reveal the location, he was stumped as to how he could tell the Death Eaters where to go. Since Granger herself was a Secret Keeper she could lead them to it, but if she showed her face to the Death Eaters she would be murdered on the spot.
It was not long after this complication that she came across a spell in which they could change lives to the outside world but stay themselves to each other until they drank the counter potion – which unfortunately takes a month to make. Granger would take Draco's place and subsequently, his Mark. They would return to their normal lives and she would be summoned to a meeting. When they took her prisoner and tortured her for information, she would tell them where Headquarters was, leading the Death Eaters into a well-placed trap.
But that wasn't all. Granger could be taken prisoner at any time. With the Mark, she was able to infiltrate all of the Death Eater dwellings without alerting anyone, even ones hidden within the Manor itself. She would be the perfectly placed spy, able to find where the snake was being kept and the top Death Eaters resided. She would be able to lead Order members to them and take them out, leaving the Dark Lord vulnerable for the final attack.
And even if the spying and being taken prisoner wasn't enough, there was still one last thing for her to do in Draco's stead.
Draco knew that when someone took the Mark they had to kill. Lucius had already informed Draco of who his victim would be. His mother. It had torn Draco at the thought. He couldn't…she was the only person in the entire world who had possibly loved him, the only person who had shown him any bit of compassion and understanding…the only person who had treated him like a human being, something more than a Death Eater's lackey.
Until Granger, anyway. Granger had always seemed to have an ear, a shoulder and a Shield Charm when he'd felt the need to throw things. She was the only person to stand up for him against her peers, to take away the hardest task he would have ever had to do and shouldering the burden herself. Because that was the type of person she was. She was willing to sacrifice her sanity and her life to help him, the Order, and the entire world as they knew it. When Draco had told her of the things they would do to her to get information she hadn't batted an eye. She would give anything, she said, to see an end to this once and for all.
So now the rest of the Horcruxes had been found and destroyed, the new Headquarters set up, the current one rigged, and all that was left was for the two of them to get through this preposterous alternate-universe month and trick the Death Eaters into a trap before killing the snake and a horde of elite Death Eaters.
Oh, and there was also the little thing about seducing Granger in less than twenty-four hours so Blaise wouldn't know she was a virgin and sending her to get the Dark Mark and possibly her death and letting her kill his mother and allowing Zabini to impregnate her with his child.
Shouldn't be too hard, right?
With a groan, he threw himself on his bed and closed his eyes. He was going to need some rest before tomorrow.
.
.
.
A/N: Hope that cleared up some answers! Nice and easy task as you can see. Shouldn't be any problem at all ;) sorry this one was short, but the next one will be nice and long and oh, so delicious…
MotekElm: I hope you enjoy the re-write, there will be lots of changes! Sticking to original plotlines, of course ;)
XOXO
RynStar15
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