Chapter 15
“An Unbreakable Vow?” Harry asked again.
“Yes Harry, for the umpteenth time –“Hermione began exasperatedly.
“Alright, alright, don’t bite my head off ‘Mione, I’m just – it’s a lot to take in that’s all. He really said he’d make an Unbreakable Vow?”
Hermione nodded at her best friend, shrugging. It felt surreal to her too, barely believable.
“Who’s the binder?”
“I don’t know. He said he knew someone.”
They slipped past the back gate of the castle, treading as quietly as they could down the muddy hill leading down to the greenhouse.
“How does Malfoy just know someone who can cast an Unbreakable Vow?” Harry cast out a steading arm as Hermione stumbled over a mound of hardened mud, inconspicuously concealed under the long blades of grass that skimmed her knees. “That’s not even on the NEWT syllabus. Do you think it’s Snape?”
Hermione made a dismissive snort. “Don’t be ridiculous, Harry. He’s a professor and a member of the Order. Whether you like him or not, he’s not some vigilante running around doing side quests at school, trying to help us make an alliance with Malfoy.”
Harry sniggered at the image of their greasy Potions professor, sneaking around behind Umbridge’s back, endeavouring to help Malfoy and them put years of animosity behind them for the sake of ‘the greater good’. Hermione couldn’t help but join in.
“I suppose if he knew what we were doing he’d either be swooping over us right now giving us both a year’s worth of detention or set Molly on us with a few howlers.” Harry mused, cheerfully thinking back to the chaos created by Mrs. Weasley’s howlers to Ron, often in front of everyone at breakfast.
“Well, here we are.” Hermione smiled at Harry nervously, and the boy returned his own crooked grin.
“You sure this is a good idea?” he whispered as he toyed with the door handle to the greenhouse.
“No.” Hermione breathed, her beating of her heart suddenly much more audible. “But I think the Malfoys know things… things that no-one else seems to know… or at least things that we couldn’t find out any other way. And he’ll make the Vow. Seems like a worthwhile trade-off. Worst comes to worst their information is worth nothing, and Malfoy is still magically bound to not get in our way, right?”
Harry grimaced, not liking the idea of making any sort of deal with Malfoy one bit. “I guess.” He finally sighed, pushing open the door and allowing Hermione to step in first. “I still don’t trust him.” He added in an obstinate tone.
“Neither do I.” she replied grimly.
The two exchanged a look as they entered the greenhouse, the warmth of the heated conservatory prickling their skin, quite frozen from the chilly air outside.
Hermione rubbed her arms, letting out a huff of cold air that left a trail as it travelled up the room to reach the glowing ceiling, magically altered to provide 24/7 sunlight to the plants growing underneath.
The various greenery swayed with the gentle breeze. The greenhouse was like a manufactured incubator, always maintaining the perfect condition for Sprout’s little (often very vicious) darlings.
“You’re late.”
Malfoy stood against the opposite wall of the greenhouse; his body slightly obscured by the silently twisting Tentaculas growing from the soil between them. Their venomous spikes glistened from the red vines, its small ivory fangs peeking threateningly through the slightly agape mouths hanging from the stems. They curled into and away from each other in a slow snakelike movement below Malfoy’s waist, emitting small balls of smoke that rose as it swirled around him, making his pale face glow against the fog.
He looked… intimidating, his hard-set jaw clicking tightly as he pursed his lips, surveying Harry with contempt before his stormy grey eyes turned on her, making her instinctively let out a short breath.
Hermione couldn’t understand why Draco Malfoy was suddenly having this effect on her, whatever this effect even was. Until this year, he’d been an annoying back-ground character in her already chaotic life. She’d treated him with an even dislike, irritating but not overtly harmful. She’d kept her distance, but she’d never cowered from him, simply choosing not to engage with his school-yard theatrics.
But now… they’d never been this close before. Well… close wasn’t the right word. They weren’t close. They were just… more engaged with one another, forced to spend time together in a way she never thought she’d have to.
She felt stifled in his presence, finding it a struggle just to breathe normally whenever he was in proximity. Everything felt too intense, too close. Sometimes, in the few heated moments that they had shared, she could have sworn she could feel his magic. Even with his wand away, there was an uncomfortable energy that she couldn’t explain, buzzing around her, pulling… no, caging her in.
“Ah, let them be Draco. You can’t blame them. I’m sure neither of their parents ever took the time to teach them proper manners. Well, being muggles and, dead, wizarding etiquette is probably lost on them.”
Hermione’s head turned sharply towards the snide voice coming from the end of the greenhouse. Too transfixed on Malfoy, she hadn’t realised there was another boy present.
She glared as Theodore Nott shot her an arrogant smirk.
“Nott. You’re the binder then?” Harry bit out, his expression wary as he eyed the much taller wizard with a cautious disdain.
“Potter. Granger.” Nott greeted them tauntingly, ignoring Harry’s question as he pushed himself off the windowsill he was leaned against to walk towards Malfoy. “Where’s the ginger? I thought you always travelled in your little pack.”
“Don’t act like you don’t know.” Harry sneered back. “It was your lot that did it.”
Nott didn’t react, but merely gazed at Harry in amusement, an arrogant brow arched in mock disbelief. “My lot? Potter I haven’t the foggiest what you mean.”
“Your lot. Death Eaters. Voldemort’s little minions.” Harry hissed, anger rising in his face.
Hermione could see Harry was about to pop off at any moment and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
We need them. She signalled with her eyes.
Harry merely shrugged her off, too heated to lend voice to reason.
Malfoy’s expression darkened at Harry’s accusation, but Nott remained calm, unaffected.
“If Weasley’s had a run in with Death Eaters, it’s news to me Potter.” Nott replied tauntingly, rolling up his left sleeve dramatically. “As you can see, I am not a Death Eater.”
He waved his pale forearm at them in a mocking salute, the teasing grin still plastered on his face.
“Enough. I want to get this over and done with.” Malfoy snarled, shoving Nott’s arm away.
“Alright, alright. You’re no fun tonight.” Nott whined, giving his glowering friend a slap on the shoulder as he settled on the sill next to him. “So, this Unbreakable Vow business…Draco’s filled me in on the basics, but with the consequences being… well death…”
“I don’t trust you.” Harry interrupted, glaring petulantly at both Slytherin boys with venom in his voice, as they tittered childishly in response. “Hermione, I know you think this is our best option, but we’ve come this far without needing the help of snakes. And adding Nott to the mix?” he snarked, gesturing rudely at the smirking boy opposite him. “This is a bad idea. I don’t care what Malfoy knows. Nothing could be worth putting up with this.”
Nott sniggered, causing Hermione to glower at him as she turned to face Harry. “I don’t trust them either, Harry.” She sighed, running a tired hand around her neck. “I’m not asking you to do that. But I… I think Altaire is worth this. I don’t trust her… yet… but I think she can be a real asset. Especially with everything that’s happened with the Weasleys… we need all the help we can get to get ahead of whatever Voldemort is planning. And if making an Unbreakable Vow with Malfoy means getting him off our backs… please, just trust me on this?”
Her last words were pleading as she looked at him intently with the best puppy dog eyes she could muster.
Her recent run-ins with Altaire… her inner curiosity was burning to know more, to hear whatever it was that she was holding back. And Malfoy… he was a giant 6-foot 5 boulder that was frustrating her at every turn. If an Unbreakable Vow was all it took… at no cost to herself or Harry… surely it was worth the trade off?
Harry clenched his eyes shut in frustration, pulling at his tie in annoyance.
“Fine.” He responded shortly, letting out a huff. “But if this goes sideways- “
“Altaire?” Nott’s voice cut in, his tone no longer light or teasing. He rounded on his best friend, a deadly look passing over his handsome features. “You said the Vow was about you involving yourself with the Order, not Teri.”
Malfoy gave Nott a half-hearted shove away from him, his pale lips twisting in annoyance. “It is about me involving myself with the Order. I’m doing it because that insufferable swot won’t leave it alone with Teri. You know better than anyone else, no-one is going to stop Teri from doing whatever the hell she wants to, so this is the best solution I could come up with to protect her. But glad to know you care more about my sister than me, Theo,” he grumbled.
The murderous look on Nott’s face did not budge at Malfoy’s words.
“I wasn’t aware that was even a question.”
Malfoy made a face but did not retort, instead rolling his eyes to level on Hermione, who returned his gaze with a lost expression.
This dynamic between the Slytherins and Altaire… she couldn’t even begin to make heads or tails of it. It seemed like everyone around her were hell bent on protecting the younger Malfoy, but why? She was a pureblood witch from one of the most affluent and influential families in the Wizarding World. She was hardly a marginalised member of the community. In fact, she was practically untouchable. From what she had heard from the Gryffindors in the younger years, even Umbridge didn’t dare punish her for speaking out of turn in class, and what she had said was no different to the words that had landed Harry in a month-long torture session with the toad.
“I see you forgot about our little conversation, Granger. I was so sure we’d understood each other.” Nott turned his gaze towards her, his tone cool but biting.
Harry raised a brow at Hermione in question as Malfoy shot Nott a sharp glance. Clearly, Nott hadn’t told him about their run-in either.
Nott merely shrugged, ignoring Malfoy’s questioning stare.
“I didn’t forget, I simply don’t answer to you,” she sneered back, silently willing herself to remain calm under his implied threat.
“Feisty one you are.” He smirked. “I see why you’re so taken with her,” Nott drawled, slapping Malfoy on the shoulder.
Malfoy brushed him off with a look of annoyance. “No-one’s taken by anyone. She’s an insufferable know-it-all who’s made it impossible for me to go about my life with what little peace I have. Now let’s get this over and done with so I can get back to the castle before Umbridge comes looking for me again.”
“Umbridge still keen on recruiting you then?” Nott asked, his green eyes still fixed coldly on her.
Hermione and Harry shared another bewildered glance.
Recruiting for what?
“Keen? The bitch has been following me around all term.” Malfoy huffed, pushing himself off from the windowsill. “Anyways, we can catch up later. Teri will be here any moment and I want to get this over with before she throws a fit or decides she wants in on the whole matter. Potter, I assume Granger filled you in on the terms. Theo, get your wand out. Let’s get this over and done with.”
“And what are the terms exactly?” Nott asked, still eyeing Hermione suspiciously.
“Malfoy will swear not to interfere with Order business or purposefully act against the Order, now or in the future. In return, Harry and I will promise to keep Altaire’s involvement with us a secret from the Order and anyone else who may pose a threat to her. If we are left with no choice but to reveal our source to the Order, we Vow to say it is Draco Malfoy, not Altaire Malfoy who is involved.” Hermione spoke calmly, trying not to let her voice shake as she fixed her posture to give the illusion that she was not at all terrified at the prospect of making a Vow bound by death.
Malfoy’s expression was impassive, but Nott’s was enraged, his jaw clenched, and his lips pressed tightly against each other.
“You idiot, Draco.” He hissed, “This isn’t a deal, it’s a slave contract.”
“Crabbe and Goyle have been watching Teri.” Malfoy responded monotonously. “They’ve threatened to report back to their parents about her antics in Umbridge’s class if I don’t set her straight. She’s reading muggle books out in the open and refusing to befriend anyone but that loony Ravenclaw girl. She doesn’t need more heat on her right now, and Granger here tells me that the Order already knows a Malfoy has offered them an alliance. I don’t see how I have much bargaining power in such a situation, do you, Theo?”
Harry turned his head towards Hermione with an alarmed expression, to which Hermione subtly shook her head, signalling him not to give her lie away.
“And how has the Order come across such information?” Nott asked, his tone ice, as he leaned forward towards her, across the plants, his posture tense, as if ready to pounce on her at any moment.
“I told them.” Hermione responded, mustering the courage not to flinch as she met his eyes. “Like I said, Nott, you don’t scare me. Neither of you do. I’m going to continue to do what I have to, to protect the people I love from Voldemort. If you want to do the same, I suggest you make that Vow now.”
If Hermione had thought that Nott’s expression had been murderous before, the look that came over his face now was genocidal, as if he might decimate the whole greenhouse and everyone within it with one breath.
Why did he care so much? Malfoy, she could understand. But Nott? From the looks of things, it was Zabini, not Nott that Altaire was close to anyways.
“Fine.” He finally ground out, stalking around the greenery to make his way towards her.
She found it in herself not to shrink away.
“Potter, Granger, step into the circle, Draco you too.” He barked as he swiftly conjured a glowing ring on the soil floor of the greenhouse.
Giving Harry one more reassuring smile, Hermione stepped into the ring, flames dancing around her ankles and singeing the small hairs on her legs as the heat travelled up her body.
“Don’t.” Malfoy ordered as Harry began to follow. “Just one of you will suffice.”
Harry frowned, casting a withering glare at the pale wizard as he made his way to the burning ring behind Nott.
“What’s your game, Malfoy?” he sneered, suspicion lacing his voice.
“Lay off, Potter.” Malfoy shot back, his voice sounding almost tired, as he loosened his emerald tie lazily. “The Vow is a contract between two parties. It’s hardly necessary for both of you to make it, since each of you represent yourself and the other in the binding, and having three will only make the spell more complicated.”
“I’m perfectly capable-“ Nott started.
“A simple testator spell from you after the Vow is complete will suffice. There’s no reason to convolute an already complicated life-or-death situation.” Malfoy snapped. “I’ll make the Vow with Granger. Theo will bind and you can witness.”
Nott’s expression was visibly puzzled, and his confusion only unsettled Hermione further.
Was this another ploy?
But what ploy would that be? He was still making the Vow. The conditions were the same and the parties involved were unchanged.
Maybe he was telling the truth? Would the Vow be more complicated, the bigger the parties involved?
Trusting Malfoy… Hermione snorted softly. That was something she could never get used to feeling.
In a few long strides, Malfoy made his way towards her, stepping into the ring briskly. The distance between them now was only a few inches apart and suddenly, Hermione could feel magic, buzzing around her, pressing down and enveloping her in a strong grip. Malfoy looked as if he could feel it too, his forehead crinkling as the heavy magic pressed against her back, pushed them closer to one another.
She felt as though she couldn’t breathe.
It was the same feeling that she had felt the last time Malfoy and she had been in such close proximity, only stronger, more powerful, more intense.
The unsettled fluttering at the base of her throat, the dizzying tension in her head, the constant humming in her ears… she wanted to convince herself that it was this magical ring that Nott had drawn up that was having this effect on her, but her body rejected her hopeful thinking. It recognised the magic. It recognised its effects. This was something different. This was… this was something to do with Malfoy.
She looked questioningly at the boy opposite her, but he avoided her gaze. A few beads of sweat hard formed along his hairline, his veins pulsing against the skin of his neck as he stared fixatedly at the rough soil below his feet.
“Right, take each other’s left hand then, lovebirds.” Nott teased, earning him some colourful language from Malfoy. “Tsk tsk. No swearing when we’re about to perform sacred magic please, Drakey.”
“Give me your hand then.” Malfoy spat, brusquely extending his own slender fingers towards her.
Hermione gulped, flushing as she slowly extended her own hand towards him.
Malfoy grabbed it roughly, causing her to stumble slightly into him, the strength of his pull catching her off guard.
She gasped as their skin collided. She could hear Malfoy hiss lowly too, beyond the loud pulsing in her ears.
It felt like touching a boiling pan. The heat from his palm was scalding, and what felt like static electricity jolted between their hands, prickling her skin as his grip tightened on her much smaller hand.
She looked up at him, confused, but Malfoy’s gaze was still fixed to the ground, his expression stoic and frozen. It was only his shallow breathing that gave away any notion that he was also experiencing the strange reaction of their bodies.
What’s happening to me?
Her heart was pounding so loudly she could barely stand straight, her vision blurring from the perspiration that fell past her eyes.
“I SAID DO YOU SOLEMNLY VOW?” Nott’s bellow broke her out of her hellish reverie, her neck snapping so quickly towards him that she would have fallen out of the ring had it not been for Malfoy’s burning iron grip.
“Ye-yes. I vow it.” She stammered. She could feel her cheeks burning up, her palm almost dripping with sweat in Malfoy’s clasp.
“THANK YOU.” Nott snarked sarcastically, waving his wand lazily at her feet to extinguish the flaming circle.
Hermione stared dumbly at the burnt patch of soil around her, hardly registering as Malfoy wrenched his hands from hers, practically flying as he stormed away from her.
As the distance grew she felt the oppressive magic around her soften, the clenching around her heart relaxing, as the loud thudding in her ears subsided.
“Mione you ok?”
Harry rushed to her side, steadying her as she swayed, still dazed from the intensity of what had just occurred.
“Ye-yes. That was just… more intense than I thought it would be.” She replied weakly, giving Harry a small smile.
She cast a subtle glance toward Malfoy as she pressed against Harry’s solid frame. He was leaning against the greenhouse wall, seemingly nonchalant, but the tremors in his wand-arm suggested he was more leaning for support than his usual arrogant stance. His face was pale. Paler than usual. His expression was contained, but his grey eyes betrayed his unsteadiness. They were wavering, fighting between trying to focus on whatever Nott was gestulating at and flitting towards her.
So, he had been affected too…
Hermione forced herself to look away as Harry led her to a chair in the corner of the greenhouse, not wanting to make eye contact with Malfoy. After the moment they’d just had, she didn’t think she could look at him the same. Something was definitely wrong. Nothing in the textbooks about the Unbreakable Vow had suggested anything near what she’d felt was a possibility…
“Am I late to the party?”