Temptation
Pour Deux
by
Annie
Adrienne
Chapter
4
The
Water Gets Higher...
“Ron,
did you bring the butterbeer?”
“Ginny
was supposed to bring it!”
“I
thought I was?”
“No,
Harry, we’re doing rotations, remember? You had two weeks ago!”
“Ah,
well, no matter. I brought enough, Gin, love, are you still with us?”
“Right
here Harry! It’s a bit dark, though…”
“Just
a minute, lumos!”
The
end of Harry Potter’s wand tip lit, revealing a good portion of Gryffindor
tower, seated in the center of a large,
comfortable
lounge. Ginny and Harry were curling up together on one of the plush couches,
while Ron and Hermione
took
separate overstuffed armchairs, next to the fireplace. Ron pointed his
wand at it, and soon the room was toasty
warm
and dimly lit, vaguely reminiscent of the Gryffindor common room. Vaguely,
because there were absolutely no
traces
of green, silver, blue, or black in the Gryffindor common room. It seemed
as if the prefect’s lounge had been
made
purposely to accommodate all of the houses.
“We’re
so lucky you’ve been made a prefect, Herm.” Ginny said, yawning and taking
a sip from her boyfriend’s mug
of
butterbeer, too comfortable to reach across the table for her own. “This
room is the only nice place to meet
after-hours,
you know. None of the other prefects would be out this late.”
“Mmm.”
Ron agreed, also seeming as happy as his sister in the red chair closest
to the fire. “Plus, you can take points
from
all the Slytherins.”
Harry
and Ginny laughed, but Hermione strangely didn’t find it quite as funny
as she used to. Was it because of Draco?
Or
because she was finally beginning to realize that the Slytherins were people
too, just ones with more money?
“Anyway,
now that we’re all here-” Hermione started, trying to change the subject
before her mind ran away with her
again.
“Harry, Ron said something was up Voldemort? I figure we’re as safe to
talk here as we would be any place.”
Harry
and Ginny shared a worried look, and the youngest Weasley reached up to
run a hand lightly over his scar. He
kissed
her softly, causing Ron to squirm in his chair a bit, and then turned back
to Hermione.
“Basically,
Hermione, it’s just the scar again… except it always used to hurt just
for a few seconds, or a few minutes
at
most. Now it’s been dully aching for two days or so- makes me think that
Voldemort’s up to something big.
Something
so big, he’d have to be killing people left and right himself…”
“I
thought the Death Eaters did most of his dirty work.” Ron said, a scowl
coming to his face only from talking about
it.
Ron was on track to be an auror, Hermione knew- he wanted to fight the
Death Eaters. He probably hated them
more
than Voldemort himself, that he always left up to Harry. But Death Eaters
were everything that Ron hated in a
person-
proud, cruel, spineless and on the whole disgustingly rich.
“Not
all the Death Eaters are as powerful as Voldemort himself.” Ginny thought
aloud, shivering even in the warmth
of
the fire and Harry’s arms. “Sometimes, when a particularly powerful good
witch or wizard comes along, he’ll need
to
take them on himself. Moody told us all about it when he came to dinner
last year, remember Ron?”
“I
wasn’t paying much attention.” He laughed, stretching out on his chair
and sipping at his butterbeer. “Mad-eye’s all
right,
but a bit boring in the conversation department I’d have to say. Sirus,
though- he told me he’s going to work on
getting
me a job as a junior auror as soon as I graduate next year.”
“Really?
That’s wonderful!” Hermione smiled, feeling a rush of pride for her friend.
Sirus had been cleared of all
charges
about a year ago, when Peter Pettigrew revealed himself as a Death Eater
in Voldemort’s inner circle, and
was
now working as an auror, tracking Peter and the others down. He’d taken
quite a shine to Ron, inviting him (and
Ginny)
to stay at his house in Scotland with Harry over the summer. He’d invited
Hermione, as well, but she’d told
him
she was going home-
“Going
to enjoy your summer with the muggles, Herm?” Ron asked sympathetically,
unknowingly following her train
of
thought as close friends often did. “I can’t see why you don’t just tell
your parents you’re going to stay with Gin at
The
Burrow, and come with us-”
“I
want to see them, Ron.” Hermione lied, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
“They’re growing worried about me,
I
haven’t gone home for break in ages-”
“I
understand.” Ginny said, looking between the two. “I don’t know what I’d
do if I couldn’t see mum every once in
a
while, and don’t pretend you’re not the same, Ron.” The redheaded boy only
laughed, grinning at his little sister.
“I
daresay my life would be a good bit easier if I didn’t have to face mum,
Gin. Now it’s getting late, what say we all
head
back home? I know our very own little prefect’s got to get some sleep,
what with OWL’s coming up and all…”
Hermione
shook her head, holding in a laugh and pretending to look scandalized.
“Like
I’d waste precious studying time with sleep! Ronald Weasley, I thought
you knew me better!”
“Oh
come, Hermione.” Harry said, helping a very sleepy Ginny to her feet. “We
all need some rest. None of you lot
should
be worrying about Voldemort, anyway.”
“Harry,
we’re your best friends and girlfriend, respectively.” Ginny smiled, wrapping
an arm around his waist
affectionately.
“It’s our job to worry about you, and protect you from anything that’d
try and harm you.”
Ron
nodded, ruffling Harry’s hair with a grin, and they headed out of the prefect’s
common room together, Hermione
heading
up the rear. She tried to ignore the pang of guilt she felt at Ginny’s
words- but the youngest Weasley was right.
What
the hell was she thinking, agreeing to spend the summer with Malfoy? Yes,
she wanted very much to know what
it
was like on the other side, but what would she be sacrificing to satisfy
her curiosity? What would she have to do?
Cast
the imperious curse on a muggle like her parents? Avada Kendavra, even?
Would she be asked to help in a plot
against
Harry?
She
knew it was wrong, terribly wrong to even consider going with Malfoy, but
something about him- about the way
he
spoke to her, the things he said, made it impossible for her to resist
his offer. She didn’t want to betray Dumbledore-
never
mind Ginny, Ron, or most importantly Harry. But what if Draco was right?
What if there were only two sides,
two
separate and equal sides to the war, fighting against each other? And what
if she could change things for the better,
maybe
even help Harry?
It
was a risk she had to take, she decided, steeling herself for whatever
questioning emotions she’d be feeling in the
months
ahead. After all, how hard could it be to simply keep up appearances for
a week or so more at school? She
had
to be strong.
“Hermione,
are you coming?” Ron called from the top of the stairwell, interrupting
her thoughts with a familiar cheeky
grin.
“I swear, I can’t leave you anywhere anymore. Someday you’re going to find
yourself cornered by those bloody
Slytherins,
and then what are you going to do? Your brains and beauty won’t save you
from that rubbish, I’m telling
you-”
he stopped in mid-sentence, sensing the third person who had just appeared
at the top of the staircase.
Oh,
bloody hell.
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