The Serpent's Curse

The raindrops pattered against the library window one by one; Hermione could feel each droplet as if they were pattering down upon her soul. The letters of her Transfiguration textbook swam off the page until she finally gave into the sleep that had been creeping up on her and closed the book. It wasn’t like Hermione to fall asleep in the library but the stress from her classes and the encroaching war was getting to her. The time on the clock continued to tick by as the light got darker outside the windows. She felt a tap on her shoulder as she was pulled out of her dream.

“Mm,” she grumbled

“You fell asleep, it’s time for dinner,” Draco Malfoy said as he stood over her.

What time was it? How long has she been asleep? And why was Draco Malfoy waking her up?

“Oh um thanks Draco,” she mumbled while quickly packing up her bags.

He stood beside her table quietly. His gaze was transfixed on one of the books she was reading. A Guide to Muggle Protection by Bathilda Bagshot. He ran his finger across the spine of the book before Hermione put it in her bag. He asked her, “What do you need this for?”

“Well in case you were not aware there is currently a war upon us and my parents are muggles. Therefore I am reading up on muggle protection spells. God forbid anything happen to me… but I would never forgive myself if something happened to them,” she said curtly.

“They won’t come after your parents”, he responded, “I mean- not that I would know- it’s just that Harry’s the one they want and your parents don’t seem to have any connection to him.”

Hermione gazed out the window at the Scotland landscape and sighed. “I hope you’re right. Besides, how would you know?”

“Oh, um just an assumption.”

Hermione had a feeling that his observation was based on more than an assumption. But she didn’t press him and he didn’t say anything else, they just walked to dinner together in silence. It felt odd walking to dinner with Draco Malfoy. They walked in silence but she could feel his presence next to her. She could hear the sharp intake of his breath, as if he wanted to say something but thought better of it. Everyone in Gryffindor tower had been teasing Hermione about “liking” Draco since they started their tutoring sessions. She didn’t. She doesn’t. He is her peer. Her colleague. How embarrassing to even consider liking him. She wasn’t even friends with him- not really. Although he has been considerably nicer than she ever expected him to be. Maybe all along he just needed to be away from his Slytherin cronies to be a decent person. They went their separate ways as they approached the Great Hall. But their walking in together did not go unnoticed. Parvati Patel gave Hermione a knowing smile. What an idiot. Thinks she knows anything about my life. Lavender Brown, who was sitting next to Parvarti, giggled uncontrollably, and promised Hermione she wouldn’t say a word to Ron. Hermione just shrugged nonchalantly.

“You can tell him if you want, Lavender. There’s nothing going on. We just walked to dinner together, that’s all,” Hermione said brusquely.

“Sureeee,” Lavender said before she erupted into a fit of giggles.

Hermione needed a break from all the dramatics. She opened up her copy of Jane Eyre that her neighbor Lucy from back home in Oxfordshire had gotten her. Lucy’s messy handwriting was scribbled in the margins, since the book had belonged to her first. Hermione chuckled softly to herself as she thought about her muggle friend. Lucy was a year older than Hermione and she had ginger hair and blue eyes. They had grown up together. She was funny and somehow always knew the right things to say. She was a great friend and while Hermione wrote to her often, she still missed her. As far as Lucy knew Hermione was off at a girls preparatory school; she had no idea about an upcoming wizarding war and the danger upon them. Hermione’s fond memories of summers with Lucy were quickly tainted by fear of death eaters tracking her down, demanding answers on Harry. She tried to shake the thought out of her head, but she couldn’t help but imagine poor, unknowing Lucy denying knowing Harry dazed and confused while death eaters torture and kill her. Would Draco be one of those Death Eaters? No she couldn’t start thinking like that.

Dinner was uneventful on the evening of September 12th. Ron was busier than usual, with Lavender taking up the majority of his time. Harry discussed his plans for the quidditch game Saturday; and Hermione ran through a mental checklist of all the homework assignments she needed to complete this week. She put her head in her hands as the sound of Harry talking to Ron grew more urgent in the background.

“Yes Ron, I’m sure. I’m absolutely sure. I saw him. He was lurking about the corridors on the seventh floor with nobody around him, muttering something under his breath. He saw me and told me to piss off but not before I already saw him,” Harry started.

“You don’t reckon he’s really working for you know who?” Ron inquired

“No, of course not. Harry, just because you don’t like Draco doesn’t mean that you get to assume he’s become a dark wizard,” Hermione retorted.

Harry threw her an annoyed glance, but she just shrugged her shoulders.

“If I didn’t know better I would think Mione’s starting to get a crush on Malfoy,” Ron chuckled.

“Oooh Mione and Malfoy! Your names sound so cute together,” Lavender squealed.

“Yeah except for the fact that he’s a right prat,” Ron chided.

Hermione slammed her book down, “Ronald you are so immature! We are fri- colleagues! We are colleagues! There is no romantic intention on either side so I suggest you either talk about something else or keep your thoughts to yourself.”

Ron put his hands in the air as if admitting he lost the argument, and went back to snogging Lavender. Harry looked at Hermione sympathetically and turned to Ron, whispering in a soft voice, “Really mate you oughta drop it.”

Hermione had enough though. She picked up her books and headed back to the common room for an early night. That night in the dormitories Hermione was going through her bag and pulling out her notes from earlier. Ugh Potions. She pulled out her essay notes for Defense Against the Dark Arts- the essay she had been working on in the library before she fell asleep- and noticed somebody else had scribbled in dark messy handwriting in the top corner of her parchment. Frustrated, she pulled out her wand to erase the quill markings and then she paused.

Draco Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy.

Signed Draco Malfoy.

Why on earth was Draco writing on her essay? In the top corner of the parchment Draco had scribbled a note that she knew was intended only for her.

Hermione, 

I’m not sure when you will see this but I have a question for you. About Defense Against the Dark Arts. I can’t ask Snape. Nor can I ask Slughorn. The two gits won’t understand. As much as I hate to admit it since you’re a gryffindor and all, you’re the best student in the year. Meet me at midnight across the corridor from the Barnabas the Barmy’s tapestry on the 7th floor. I’ve heard there’s a hiding place there. 

Draco Malfoy 

Hermione’s heart was racing and she wasn’t quite sure why. Of course she would never sneak out of the common room after curfew to meet up with somebody she hates. Certainly not to meet up with Draco Malfoy. It was only 10pm now. She had two more hours until he would be expecting her. There was some irrational part of her that wanted to leave the Gryffindor common room right now and wait in the seventh floor corridor for two hours. Why the seventh floor corridor? The Room of Requirement is on the seventh floor but surely Draco doesn’t want to go there just to ask a question. And what kind of question does he have that Slughorn wouldn’t understand? Hermione’s three dormmates came in to go to bed shortly after eleven and only Fay Dunbar stayed awake until Hermione had to leave to meet Draco. Hermione got out of bed quietly; it was too late now to borrow Harry’s invisibility cloak.

“Hermione, where are you going?” Fay asked

“I’m starved, Fay. I-um- I well, I left dinner early. I’m sneaking down to the kitchens to get some dinner,” Hermione answered hoping she didn’t sound too guilty.

“Oh alright then. Bring me back some pumpkin juice,” Fay said sleepily.

Luckily Fay didn't question how out of character it was for Hermione to sneak out.

Hermione shuffled out of the dormitory and down the steps, making sure to be quiet as she closed the portrait of the fat lady. Anxiety swirled around in her stomach. She had never snuck out by herself before. She had considered asking Harry for his invisibility cloak but then him and Ron would want to come with her. As she approached the seventh floor she started getting even more nervous. What if Harry was right about Draco? What if he is a death eater now? Is she setting herself up in a trap? He is still the same boy who called her a mudblood all those years ago. Hermione got to the seventh floor just as the clock struck midnight and there he was. Draco Malfoy. He was wearing a black suit and tie and he was carrying nothing but his wand. He had started wearing suits and ties more often than his Hogwarts robes lately.

“Draco,” she approached him.

“Hermione,” he replied back.

He had dark circles under his eyes, giving the impression he hadn’t slept at all. His voice was raspy when he spoke like he had just been yelling.

“What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Shh not now”- he said putting a finger to his lips “Filch could be lurking about. We have to wait until….” he trailed off.

“Wait until what?”

“Just give it a second, it should work.”

“What should work?”

Draco walked back and forth, pacing in front of a stone wall until a door magically appeared in front of them. The Room of Requirement.

“Brilliant,” he said with a considerable amount of awe in his voice.

“Draco, why do we need the room of requirement?”

“I just wanted to see if it was real and I needed a reason for it to open to me,” he said.

“So you don’t have a question? This was just a setup to get yourself into the room of requirement?” I should’ve known. He didn’t actually need me. He just wanted to use me to trick the room into opening for him.

“No. Hermione I wanted the room to open for us. I have something I want to ask you. But I can’t ask out here- where people could hear,” he said looking down.

“Oh” Hermione continued, “Draco, if this has anything to do with something we could cover in our tutoring sessions we could save this for next week, really.”

“No. I need to ask you this now. I cannot wait any longer,” his voice was hard, but something in it sounded as if it was about to break. Hermione nodded solemnly.

“So shall we go inside,” he inquired.

Everything in me told me to leave. To go back to the Gryffindor common room and go to bed. Everything in me told me that this was a trap. He’s a slytherin. Don’t trust him. But I never claimed to be strong, so I followed him into the room.

The room of requirement was cold and dark. A so-called “blank slate.” When Harry, Ron, and Hermione had used it to form Dumbledore’s Army it felt so much more comforting. Now the room was seemingly empty with nothing except the sound of her heartbeat to make up for the lost noise.

“So you have a question for me?” She asked. “Yes, I do,” Draco responded. He paused for a moment, as if he was unsure he even wanted to ask this question at all. He almost seemed nervous, which was very unlike Draco.

He swallowed before gathering up the courage to ask, “Do you know- um do you- do you know if there is any sort of magic that can undo an unbreakable vow?”

Hermione was taken aback.

An unbreakable vow. That was very advanced magic. Why did he need to know? “I’m- I'm not sure, why?”

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you. I just need to know if you know of any magic that can undo the vow.”

“As far as I know there isn’t any. It’s common knowledge that if a vow is broken then whoever breaks it will die.”

“Yes but is there a way around it?” Draco’s voice was tense and he sounded as if he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

“I really don’t think so. But Draco, this is incredibly advanced magic. I really don’t recommend you meddling in unbreakable vows. Everybody knows they are fatal,” Hermione said urgently.

Draco didn’t say anything for a moment. He just stared at the ground. Then he looked up with a very grim look on his face. The next words that Draco said were barely audible. His voice was an octave barely above a whisper. “I just don’t want anyone to die on my account,” he said softly. On that note he put his hands in his pockets and walked out of the room leaving Hermione alone, confused, and conflicted.