Temptation
Pour Deux
by
Annie
Adrienne
Chapter
7
The
Deciding Factor
“…
so, naturally, I want to test Draco’s theory out.”
“I’m
taking her home with me this summer, Professor, to do a little bit of schooling
on my side. I’ll be getting the dark
mark,
this year… at least I think… and she’ll be able to see exactly what it’s
like.”
Draco
and Hermione paused in their account, looking to Professor Snape, who hadn’t
said a word thus far. His
almost-black
eyes darted back and forth between the two entirely opposite students…
thinking. Calculating. Deciding
whether
to tell Dumbledore, perhaps? Deciding to kill Malfoy on the spot? Tell
Lucius? Or, least likely of all, at least
in
Hermione’s mind, help them? She knew Snape didn’t like her, but surely
he could respect what they were trying to
accomplish.
Surely, out of anyone, he’d understand. Finally, he broke eye contact,
looking down at his desk and
shaking
his head.
“You’re
both very, very foolish.”
Hermione
and Draco shared a worried look.
“You
do realize how difficult it’ll be for me to set things in order?”
Draco
laughed, relieved, taking Hermione’s hand under the table. It sent shivers
down her spine… just the miniscule
show
of affection from him. Draco had always been so cold, to her and everyone
else. Was she changing him? Was
that
a good thing?
“So
you’ll do it, then?” Draco asked, barely able to contain his enthusiasm.
“You
can be my niece, Miss Granger… at Durmstrang. Of course, we’ll have to
fix your looks… brown hair and
freckles
won’t do. But if I mix the potions, you’ll only have to take it once
a week. And, of course, the memory
charms-
we can start working now. Mr. Malfoy, fetch me Slistarch root, and powdered
Kurlac… Miss Granger,
two
rat’s tails and a couple dried cockroaches…”
*****
“Hello,
mother.” Draco said, face-to-face with what could only be described as
an apparition of Narcissa Malfoy.
But
it wasn’t a ghost, it was only spell… and a very well guarded one at that.
There was a tiny bit of dark magic
involved,
and people had been expressly forbidden to use it inside of Hogwarts.
“Draco,
my darling. How have you been?” the woman asked, reaching forward and embracing
her son in a hug.
She
knew he couldn’t feel it, but it was comforting to at see his mother’s
arms around him, all the same.
“Fine,
mother, fine. And I’ve got good news.”
“Oh
really, dear? Did you finally make top of your class?” she asked, a hopeful
light coming to her silvery-gray
eyes.
He
smirked.
“No,
mother. But I’m bringing home a girl for you to meet.”
“Oh!”
she cried. “Even better! A good girl, I trust? I don’t know how many girls
there are out there worthy enough
for
my son, especially at Hogwarts-”
“She’s
from Durmstrang, mother, I don’t think you’d know her.” He lied, feeling
and trying to ignore a bit of heat
under
his collar. She arched an eyebrow at him.
“Not
that Pansy Parkinson you were so fond of?”
“Pansy’s
a lovely girl mother, but she’s not Hermione. She’s brilliant- would have
been in Ravenclaw if she’d come
here.
Or possibly Slytherin. The girl’s more ruthless than even me.” He laughed
self-deprecatingly, trying not to meet
his
mother’s eyes. Fortunately, she seemed to believe him, growing happier
with each word he spoke. Oh, would
Hermione
have fun this summer.
“She
sounds absolutely delightful Draco! Your father will be so pleased.
We were beginning to worry about you,
you
know. Now she’s pretty, I trust? We wouldn’t want to muddy up the family
bloodlines, now would we?”
“Of
course she’s pretty, mother. Like I’d settle for anything less than absolute
perfection in a woman.” He told her,
sticking
his nose up in the air like she’d taught him to so many years ago. At least
Hermione’s beauty he didn’t have
to
lie about.
“I
can’t wait to tell your father. A girl from Durmstrang! Perhaps we know
her family…?”
“She’s
Professor Snape’s niece, mother. Her parents are dead… he sent her to Durmstrang
himself. He knows how
terrible
Hogwarts is in teaching the Dark Arts, wanted her to grow up right.”
“Oh,
and Severus is such a wonderful man. I’ve not a doubt in my mind about
the girl, dear. Now you just
concentrate
on your studies- I’m off to tell your father.”
“I
love you mother.” He said, genuinely looking into her eyes. She seemed
preoccupied.
“Oh,
of course dear. Goodbye.”
She
disappeared. Draco sighed. For what certainly wasn’t the first time, he’d
flat out lied to his mother. But for some
reason
he felt guilty.
Hermione
in herself should be enough to impress his parents. Beautiful, even if
she wasn’t exactly the Malfoy definition
of
beauty… and the most intelligent witch of his generation. Even with Muggle
blood, she’d still managed to beat out
everyone
in Hogwarts for years over. His father should be proud of him, able to
convince such a powerful ally to
spend
some time getting to know their side.
But
no, he had to lie. It was always about lies.
*****
“Have
you taken your potion already, Hermione?” Draco asked, staring at her plainly.
She glared at him.
“Of
course I have, Draco. Don’t treat me like a child.” The roots of her hair
had already begun to turn black- she’d
told
her friends she was tired of being mistaken for Ginny Weasley in torchlight.
Her eyes she was going to leave
brown
until the last minute possible, where they’d decided to change them to
green. His father had always had an
obsession
with eyes, and green was a Slytherin color.
It
was all about being Slytherin. That was the only way to stay safe. Snape
had given Hermione specific instructions
on
how to act- quiet, but not demure. Death Eaters were not weak, the best
of them simply bided their time and spoke
when
they had something useful to say. He told her not to hide her intelligence,
but only to show it when prompted by
Lucius
himself. He was the first step, the most important one to impress. After
him, they’d begin worry about
Voldemort.
For
now, his only worry was her safety. He wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted
to show her- or even why he was
bothering.
But there was something about Hermione Granger that brought something out
in him- something he liked.
Maybe
that was too selfish for ‘love’… but he wasn’t entirely sure that love
existed as people said it did. After all,
didn’t
they say love was how the other person made you feel? And then, naturally,
you’d want to protect that feeling
and
the person it came from. Yes, that was it- he was going to keep her safe.
And close to him, as long as he could.
Narcissa
had owled Snape, inviting him to stay in the second month of summer to
visit Hermione. He’d accepted,
saying
he could replenish her potions then, and give her a new one it would take
him some time to create. Voldemort
could
read a person’s conscious thoughts, which had been the death of many past
Death Eaters. The potion would
place
her conscious thoughts in her hands, in another conscious hands, so she
could mold them to whatever
Voldemort
wanted to hear.
Voldemort’s
plans, though, were not apparent to any of the group, even Lucius and Narcissa
Malfoy. They knew
he
was planning something- the Death Eaters had been meeting almost once a
month, now, carrying out seemingly
random
tasks and striking random mudblood and muggle houses.
Something
was happening, Draco thought, feeling a bit lost as he started at Hermione.
And they were going to be
right
in the thick of things.
Thanks so much
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