drama has ensued
As Hermione began her walk from the common room to the Great Hall, she enjoyed the silence. It allowed her to just take a moment and breathe. Normally, she would have been up earlier so she could enjoy her breakfast with just a book before everyone joined so she would not hear all of the din and clatter of everyone else eating. However this morning was different, she had woken up late so her moment of silence came as she strolled through the empty corridors filled with sunlight. As she got closer to her destination, the smell of bacon, eggs, pancakes, and syrup hit her like a brick wall. Immediately, she was taken back to her last breakfast with her parents. She saw her parents laughing in the kitchen as they prepared breakfast together. She saw her father making coffee because he was not a tea drinker which would make any other British person cringe. She saw her mother placing butter and warm syrup on the table in their comfy dining room with the sunlight hitting just right to make it look like her mother was glowing. She saw herself joining in the fun, by helping flip pancakes, adding them to a growing stack.
Hermione forced herself out of the memory before it took a dark turn. She was no longer hungry but knew if she didn’t show up to breakfast the boys would be worried. She had already told them she had detention for a month, but not the real reason. She had lied, telling them Umbridge had caught her leaving the library after curfew and gave her a talking to and when Hermione had argued, made it a whole month of detention. This had caused Harry to nearly erupt in anger.
“She can’t do that to you. She cannot make you be in that much trouble for going to the stupid library. I swear if she uses that quill on you…” Hermione had tried to soothe him, but to no avail. Therefore because of his reaction last night, she knew she had to show up or else hell would happen. Hermione kept her head down as she walked to her normal seat. She pulled her bag up onto her shoulder more as she had to maneuver through people to get to her friends. She sat down with a small sigh and gave Harry and Ron a smile.
“Good morning, ‘Mione,” Harry said, more cheerful than he had been in some time. Ron just waved as he shoveled a piece of pancake into his mouth dripping amber syrup all over the front of his shirt.
“Morning, Haz. And charming Ronald.” Hermione managed to say. Ron’s display had managed to make her already upset stomach sink. She only half listened as the two began to talk about Quidditch starting up soon. Opening her journal, she tried to calm herself down from the flashback memory she had only moments before, but the noise of everyone eating and talking was filling her brain. She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, but the voices and the scraping of silverware on plates began to resemble nails on a chalkboard in her mind. All she wanted to do was grab her head and scream. This was why she always ate early. She felt as if she was drowning in all that was happening. Anxiety had already had its claws into her that morning when she woke up when she realized even more so what her detentions would mean. She looked up from her journal where no words were written to see Dean and Seamus also shoving food into their mouths as if it was a competition. Even Ginny was enjoying the Saturday breakfast. It seemed like everyone was but her. At once it all became too much when both Ron and Harry said her name at once.
“I’m sorry,” she managed to breathe out before getting up and grabbing her bag. Once again she kept her head down as she weaved between people towards the huge wooden doors that would lead to her freedom. She got closer and closer and her feet began to move faster. She was almost there. She was almost able to breathe again when one of the worst things that could have happened happened. She accidentally rammed her shoulder into someone else while she was making her escape. The contact pushed her back some, pain rising up her arm.
“Ouch!” her half-breathless voice said in unison with a deep one. She looked up at the person she had run into. Brown eyes met silver and for a moment, everything around her and in her brain went silent. It was as if time froze. She couldn’t smell anything, hear anything, see anything. She was still. Finally, everything was still. It broke when Draco spoke up, “Oi Granger. Watch where you are going. You are going to get me in trouble again.”
Hermione immediately reacted, “Me? Get you in trouble? You are the one that was being nosy and followed me into the office!” Her hair began to get wild as her anger grew. “You shouldn’t have just walked into the room if you didn’t want to get into trouble. You should have just left me alone! Besides, it's your fault we got caught. If I could have just left when I got what I needed, none of this would have happened!” she yelled. This caught the attention of the people sitting closest to the Great Hall doors. They immediately elbowed their friends who got the people next to them to be quiet and so on. Like a domino effect, people got silent. They stopped eating and stared at the pair in front of the doors. The girl with the crazy curly hair and the tall boy with platinum hair who stared down at her petite frame.
“Oh my gosh, Granger! I am so sorry that I was curious about what the stupid Gryffindor Princess was doing, messing around in a professor’s office.” Draco yelled, sarcasm dripping from his words.
“It was none of your business. You should have just walked away like a normal person would have. Also when you came in, it was after curfew. You should have just gone on your way so you wouldn’t have been out of bed when you very clearly need beauty sleep so you aren’t cranky. Not only that but any other teacher could have given you detention for being out after curfew because you weren’t on prefect duty. Besides, if all you wanted to do was get me in trouble, karma is a bitch because you got in just as much trouble as I did.”
“What the hell is karma?”
Hermione groaned, wanting nothing more than to slap her palm onto her forehead, “It’s a muggle thing about exchanging energies. You get what you give type of thing. Maybe you should have actually paid attention in Muggle Studies so you wouldn’t sound ignorant.”
Draco’s face grew red at Hermione’s words, “Stop being a stupid, stuck up, swotty know-it-all mud-” Before he could even finish his statement Hermione’s wand was at his throat.
“Remember what happened last time we were in this position? Two years ago? Ring a bell? Oh yeah that's right I punched you in the nose, and you had to go and get it fixed by Madame Pomfrey. Want that to happen again?” Hermione’s chest was heaving as she finished her words, her wand still pointed at Draco’s throat. Draco’s face had just a hint of fear at her words. “I’m guessing you do remember. So watch your words, Malfoy, or else you better hope that Madame Pomfrey has a lot of pain potions and time to spare because they will be needed to fix your face. I’ll see you in detention later." With that Hermione left the Great Hall in a deafening silence. Draco yelled after her, “Just tell everyone everything, Granger.” Now everyone knew that she had punched Draco in third year as well as the fact that they were in detention together for being in a teacher’s office the night before. The Hogwarts rumor mill would certainly have fun with that story.
Hermione forced herself to take a deep breath as she finally stopped running through the corridors. She had run all the way from the Great Hall to the Astronomy tower. The fresh fall air helped her calm down. She looked out at the Dark Forest. The dark green evergreens were stark against the clear blue sky. It was calming to look out and see a peaceful scene that was so different from the swirling thoughts within her own head. She enjoyed her moments of silence. She sank down to the floor just staring out at the sky, unaware of the complete chaos she had left behind.
Draco stood at the doors of the Great Hall as if he was made of stone. He had not expected Granger to say some of the things that she did. He turned to walk to his table but was greeted by every student's eyes on him. “Well that was awkward,” he muttered to himself. He started to head towards the Slytherin table. As soon as he sat down, everyone immediately began to whisper and talk. What had been deathly quiet where a person could hear a pin drop, was now a flurry of whispers building up a storm. Draco tried to ignore everything, but even the people at the Slytherin table were looking at the prince weirdly and whispering about what they had all seen. Draco finally had enough. He took his still-full coffee cup with a swirl of cream and four spoonfuls of sugar with him. He felt everyone’s eyes on him as he escaped from the room, holding his bag on one shoulder and his mug in the other hand.
Unbeknownst to Draco and Hermione, there was another scene that was happening near the Great Hall for all the students to watch. Professor McGonagall and Umbridge had an altercation in the stairways. Hermione would have been happy to know that Professor McGonagall confronted Umbridge.
“Excuse me, Professor Umbridge,” Professor McGonagall said as Umbridge was walking up the main staircase.
“Yes, dear?” Umbridge asked, turning in her walk, a smile plastered to her face.
“Maiming a student as a form of punishment is not acceptable. We ask that you stick to the recommended list of punishments.” Professor McGonagall told her gravely.
“Are you questioning my authority in the classroom, Minerva?”
“Not at all, Dolores.”
“Well to question my authority, is to question the minister himself. You would be disloyal.”
“Disloyal?” Professor McGonagall scoffed, taking a step back. She shook her head as she regarded Umbridge with veiled disdain. Umbridge regarded all of the students and teachers that had gathered. “Things at Hogwarts are worse than I had thought. The minister will want to know and take action immediately.” With those final words, she marched up the stairs and disappeared from the watchful eyes of the students and staff. For the second time that day, the students were in a flurry of whispers and wide eyes.
It was Saturday so most of the students were out and about, relaxing or doing homework. Draco had escaped to his dorm room. He was lucky that he was a Malfoy and was able to have a private dorm room. He couldn’t believe what had happened between him and Granger. He had been joking even if it was with a sarcastic smirk. He hadn’t meant to set Granger off. Was it fun? Absolutely. But never did he mean to start a yelling match with her in the Great Hall in front of everyone. That would be too much attention on him which would go back to his parents. They would be displeased with his display because it was not “suitable” for a Malfoy.
The darkness of his room was calming but offered nothing to help with his predicament of today. He groaned, bored out of his mind. He had nothing to do until his detention that night. He had finished all of his homework because he liked to keep his weekends free to hang out with his friends, but for the first time in quite some time, he did not want to talk to them because he knew that they would interrogate him about what happened and why Granger had the reaction she did. He sat in silence and ran his hand over his plush green blanket. He could take a nap. He definitely had time, and maybe it would help him relax a bit before he talked to his friends or went to detention.
He carefully untied his shoes and placed them next to the bed. He undid his tie and put it on his desk chair. Gently, he pulled back his sheets. They rustled slightly in a way that would suggest that they were expensive silk. He slid into the sheets. Laying on his back, he stared at the ceiling, begging his brain to let him sleep. After ten long minutes, he sat up annoyed that his body was no longer feeling tired or wanting to rest. The silence was prevalent in his room. No sound except his shallow breaths in a perfect rhythm. Looking over at his bedside table, he saw his wand and an unfinished muggle romance book, Pride and Prejudice. He could read some more, so he sat up and plumped his pillow behind his back to soften his headboard. He grabbed the book and flipped to the bookmark that came with it.
He was transported to the world of Darcy and Elizabeth. What had separated the pair eventually brought them together. The theme was prejudices are often baseless. Draco did not think about the irony within the pages and his own life. He was entranced by the language and the twist and turns of Jane Austen’s world. The door slammed open hitting the wall beside it. Draco jumped, being forcefully drawn from his book. In walked Theo, Blaise, Pansy, and Daphne. Theo immediately jumped onto the bed, “So Dray…anything you want to tell us about Granger?”
Draco slowly put his bookmark into his book and closed it, before gently placing it back onto his bedside table. “Nothing exciting happened.”
Pansy rolled her eyes, anger radiating off of her. Draco knew that he and Pansy had an on-again-off-again relationship and would see his interaction with Granger as a threat to “her man”. “Oh really, Draco? She was ‘messing around in a professor’s office’ so you were ‘curious’ and got detention, but no nothing happened.”
Draco opened his mouth to say something, but Blaise beat him to it, “Aww Pans. Are you jealous?” A hex was shot at him, “Ow shit Pans. Chill.” Draco groaned, here was how he had expected Pansy to react. Daphne was silently watching him, her eyebrow raised. He had always been closer to her than Pansy. She was like a sister to him because of how close their parents were which by default meant that she spent plenty of time at the manor. That had created a bond between the two that was very different from some of their other friendships. He knew that she was mentally asking him what was happening. Blaise was doing a similar look to Daphne, but his was more of a smirk.
“I mean I would be curious about Granger being in a professor’s office. I would definitely join her because she is hot.” Theo announced to the group after the awkward, tension-filled silence that was prevalent after Pansy and Blaise’s little conflict. Pansy rolled her eyes, “She is not hot. She is a mudblood with an unmanageable nest of hair with no manners.”
Blaise laughed, “Oh puh-leeze. She has grown up. Her hair has gotten so much better since the first year. She even has an actual figure now. You are just jealous that hers is better than yours. Granger has actual curves.” Draco rolled his eyes, Blaise was going to get himself severely injured or killed by Pansy if he wasn’t careful. Daphne decided now was a good time to step in. “You are both beautiful, Pansy. Just in different ways. Now Draco, tell us what actually happened.”
Draco sighed, “Granger was rummaging around in Umbridge’s office last night. I was on my way back to our common room when I saw her there. I didn’t know who it was at first, but after she said something, I recognized her voice. I walked in and scared her. She had a quill that she believed Umbridge had-” Draco stopped, he trusted most of his friends implicitly, but something about telling them about the quill before he knew it was true seemed unwise. Plus if it was true, it would be spread throughout the entire school in a matter of days by Pansy because she was a notorious gossip. His pause had caught Daphne’s attention and once again she raised her eyebrow at him. He gave her a tiny nod, letting her know he would tell her later. She gave him one back and gestured for him to continue.
“...One that she had believed Umbridge had taken from her after class. I had stopped her from leaving because I did not entirely believe her. Then Umbridge came in and got mad at us. She then gave us a month’s worth of detention. Oh, and she lectured me on the company I was keeping and how my father would be okay with her punishing me.”
Blaise whistled, “For real? I don’t think Draco Malfoy has served detention since first year.” Theo also had something similar to say, “She gave you a month’s detention for being in her office with Granger? Seems like she had something she wanted to hide.”
Draco shrugged, “I dunno.” That was his sign to tell Theo the truth later. He was just as close to Theo as he was to Daphne and for the exact same reason. He had grown up with Theo due to Theodore Nott Senior being a regular visitor at Malfoy Manor. It was also the fact that Theo had been sort of adopted by his mother. She was very protective of the boy due to his rough home life, so even when Nott Sr. was not around, Theo was often at Malfoy Manor. His mother wanted to protect Theo as much as she could from the abuse. Draco watched as Daphne and Theo made eye contact and with just a nod and a whispered word, Draco knew that they would both find him later.
Pansy had been silent after Draco had told of his encounter with Granger and Umbridge. It was as if she was contemplating whether or not she believed him. “Alright, fine. If you say, you did not do anything with Granger then I believe you. However, it is weird that you can recognize her voice.” Blaise once again had to laugh, “Pansy, she answers every damn question. Anyone would recognize her voice.” Everyone laughed at that, even Pansy.
Once the air had been cleared, the five friends sat together on Draco’s king-sized bed and talked until it was time for lunch. The group made their way to the Great Hall, laughing and gently pushing together, happiness radiating off of their group. Draco drew back a step and watched his friends. He was grateful. He knew that loyalty was technically not a trait of the Slytherin house, but it was something that was practiced. Loyalty was something that was fought for and something that was not to be taken lightly. As he watched his friends ahead of him, he felt blessed that he had them, and even as a bit of anxiety started to move into his mind about going back to the Great Hall and facing all of the whispers and looks again, he knew that his friends would have his back. The sunlight filtered into the hallway as the group got closer to the Great Hall, and the smell of food wafting through the open, wooden doors was making Draco’s mouth water. He was starving since he hadn’t eaten breakfast. He rejoined his group of friends and entered the Great Hall as if there was no reason to be nervous at all. He was a Malfoy after all, and Malfoys deserved respect.
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Meanwhile, across the castle, Hermione was still in the Astronomy Tower. She had managed to fill over half of her journal with her thoughts. It felt good to get out all of her thoughts and put them on paper. She was undisturbed and just enjoyed listening to the birds chirp just outside of her little area. After about an hour in the Astronomy tower, she pulled out the blankets she had shrunk and spelled them back to their original size. She made herself a comfy little corner. Hearing her stomach growl pulled her from her writing, and grabbed a muggle granola bar from her bag. She munched on it, pausing from her journaling to once more focus on the world that was around her. She watched as a small sparrow got curious and hopped up to her, its black eyes watching her every move. Breaking off an oat piece from her bar, she threw it toward the little brown bird. It eyed the piece of oat before gingerly picking it up and eating it. It then watched Hermione as if it was waiting for another piece. She let out a small laugh which helped free her from a bit more of the pain that she had been feeling. She broke off another piece and threw it once more to the little bird. Once again, the bird looked at the oat as if debating whether or not it could eat it, before slowly taking it into its mouth. The two had a staring contest, the little black eyes silently begging for more, while honey eyes looked a bit brighter than they had before. Hermione broke off more pieces and threw them at the bird. The little brown bird chirped happily in its victory, and Hermione had to laugh once more. Loud footsteps coming up the stairs alerted both bird and girl that their solitude was no longer a thing. The bird greedily picked up the last few pieces and flew from the floor where it had been perched. Hermione quickly muttered a privacy spell on her journal before watching expectantly to see who was coming up the stairs. It was Ron and Harry.
“Mione!” Harry called, “There you are. We have been looking all over for you. Have you been up here ever since breakfast?” Hermione nodded, eyes drifting to Ron. He looked slightly put out.
“Are you alright, Ron?” she asked cautiously, not entirely sure what his mood was like at the moment.
He looked at her for a moment, “Not entirely, Hermione. You lied to the both of us.” Hermione felt her heart sink a little. “I know and I’m so-” Ron cut her off, “And you’re sorry. Of course. We deserve an explanation.” Hermione’s eyes then moved to Harry. He didn’t look upset like Ron did or even super hurt. He just gave her a small nod.
“I was going to go to the library. It was third on my list. But I went to McGonagall first because I was upset about what happened to you, Harry. It sucked seeing you hurt and not being able to fix it. I’m sorry I didn’t tell the truth about that.”
This time Harry tried to speak, but Ron interrupted him, “I don’t care about that part Hermione. I care about the fact that you were with Malfoy.” He spit out. Hermione was slightly taken aback by the venom that was in his voice.
She began again, but this time her voice was quieter and a bit unsure, “I then went to Umbridge’s office. I wanted to find the quill that she used on Harry. I had overlooked it the first time I went through her desk. I heard a voice from the doorway that said to check the other side so I did, and I found it. But I also found two others just like it. Then I realized that there was someone at the doorway. It didn’t click at first that someone had spoken. It almost felt like I had just thought the words. It was Malfoy at the doorway and we started to argue and that is when Umbridge came in. She said some stuff about Malfoy hanging out with the wrong people and that type of thing. And she gave us a month's worth of detention. OH! And she said that my month's detention was for ‘violations’ which is weird because she did not specify.” She watched the boy's reactions. Harry looked concerned while Ron still looked miffed. She took a deep breath of the sweet, fall breeze to calm herself. She focused on the smells then. She caught whiffs of the earthy ground, a hint of cinnamon, a bit of vanilla from her perfume, and the sharp, spicy scent of the cologne that she had gotten for Harry last Christmas.
Harry spoke first, “Hermione, I’m sorry. I hope you know that I would not have been upset with you, if you had told me last night.” He moved closer and grabbed her hand. “I appreciate you trying to defend me even if I didn’t really act like I deserved it last night. I understand why you didn’t tell me last night, especially because of how angry I was. Are you okay?”
Hermione looked at him, surprised at his reaction. She had expected rage to be coming off of Harry rather than his concern. Gently, she squeezed his hand, grateful for his warm one in her own cool hand. Ron, however, was not as understanding. “Really, Harry? You are not angry at her? She lied to you, mate.”
“She did, yes, but she also did it because she didn’t want to make me more upset. She was being a good friend, either way, Ron.” Ron rolled his eyes, “Whatever, Harry.”
Hermione looked between her two friends, “Ronald, listen. I didn’t tell you two because I thought you two would be angry with me. I was going to tell you both eventually, just not right away. I wanted to figure out what I was going to say. I’m sorry.”
Ron looked at her for second, different emotions warring on his face. He sighed, “Okay.” And that was all he said. Hermione nodded slowly. She was still holding onto Harry’s hand, and she felt a faint blush cover her face. Harry looked at her questioningly. Shaking her head, she squeezed his hand and let go before her face got any redder. She could slightly feel the heat on her face, and that was not a good sign. Ron looked at the two of them, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Are you guys ready to go to lunch now…or?” The two nodded. Hermione stood and muttered a quick shrinking spell on her blankets. She kept them with her at all times because sometimes the random little nooks she hid in to read or the library could sometimes be chilly. She put them back into the special pocket of her bag. She gathered her pen and her journal and put them into their places as well. She reached down to grab her bag, but Harry beat her to it. She looked at him, her eyes slightly wider than usual, confusion written on her face. “I feel bad,” was his only explanation. The two of them followed Ron down the stairs toward the Great Hall. As they got closer to the Great Hall, Hermione wanted to walk slower and slower. Anxiety was rising up inside of her because of the incident that had happened that morning. She had not wanted anyone to know about the incident, but of course, her anger had gotten the best of her and she had said it anyway. Harry noticed Hermione’s pale face in comparison to her normally tan, olive skin tone. He reached over and grabbed her hand. She gave him a small smile and enjoyed the comfort that it brought. They held hands the rest of the way to the Great Hall, and when Hermione smelled bangers, mash, and mac and cheese, she did not feel sick. Her stomach growled, letting her know that it wanted more than just an oat and honey granola bar.
She figured that Harry was going to let go of her hand when they reached the Great Hall, but he didn’t. He led her to their normal seating area, but instead of her sitting next to Ron, she was sitting across from them. He still did not look happy, but food would hopefully help. Hermione felt the questioning looks from everyone as she was holding hands with Harry Potter in the Great Hall in front of all of the students and staff. The rumor mill was once again going to have something to say.
Harry let go of Hermione’s hand once they were seated and able to put food on their plates. Hermione took a little bit of everything that was in front of her and enjoyed the hot, delicious food. The noise of everyone eating was not as overwhelming as it had been on breakfast but that could be attributed to the fact that Harry’s knee was resting against hers in a show of solidarity and comfort. Her eyes wandered over the Great Hall. When she looked over at the Slytherin table, she made eye contact with piercing silver eyes. They stared for a moment at each other, before Hermione ducked her head down and returned her eyes to her food. She shook off the feeling that Draco’s eyes left her with. Soon lunch time was over and the Golden Trio made their way back to their common room. The plan was just to relax and do some homework until dinner. Hermione per usual had already finished her homework which meant that she would be helping the boys while reading a book. It was a moment of normality in what was a weird start to 5th year.
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Once Draco had finished eating, he looked over at Daphne ready to have their conversation over with, but also hoping that she and Theo would be able to shed some light on the situation and see if they thought Umbridge would be capable of that act. Daphne met his eyes and nodded. She nudged Theo to get his attention. He paused before shoving the last bit of his cookie into his mouth. Daphne rose from the table. “Alright Draco and Theo, time to come help me with my potions homework.” Both boys made the appropriate groaning noises before getting to their feet. They followed Daphne from the Great Hall back to Draco’s dorm room. Once they were in there, he cast a quick muffliato charm and made sure the door was locked.
“Okay, here’s the thing. Hermione thinks that the quill that she took was a cursed one that was used on Harry Potter.”
Daphne looked shocked. “When you say ‘cursed,’ what exactly do you mean?”
“I mean one that uses the writer’s blood while carving into the back of their hand the words that they are writing.”
Theo whistled, “That is some dark shit. I know my dad has one, but those are pretty rare.”
“And get this,” Draco added, “There were three in the box that Granger took one from.”
Daphne shook her head, “Are you sure?”
Draco nodded, “I mean, I haven’t gotten a close look at Potter’s hand, but Granger mentioned that she tried multiple healing spells on his hand and all they did was stop the bleeding.”
Theo and Daphne were silent, both processing what they had heard. Daphne had a look of disgust while Theo looked distant.
Theo spoke first, his voice grave and slightly unsteady. “That is definitely a cursed quill. Dad used that on me before. No healing spell could fix it. Dray, the only thing that could get the scar to go away was that special cream your mom made for me.”
Draco raised his brows. “Shit. This is bad. I have detention with her tonight.”
Daphne looked between the two boys, her brow creased, concern very obvious on her face. “Draco, owl your mom and ask for more of that cream.” She paused. “Actually, no. Theo, you do it. It will seem somewhat normal for you to ask.”
Theo nodded and Daphne continued. “Ask for four jars. One for Draco, one for Granger, one for Potter, and one for us to try and figure out the ingredients used so we can make it on our own. That way if Umbridge keeps using the quills on people we have a way to keep it from being a permanent fixture on people’s bodies.”
Theo nodded, “Okay. I’ll go do that now before it gets any later. You can’t use it though until the wound has fully healed, and it’s no longer bleeding or an open cut.”
Draco nodded his understanding. “Okay, thank you Theo.”
Daphne still had more to say apparently, “Now Draco, you and I are going to go to the library to try and find out everything we can about cursed quills.” Draco nodded again and the group split up into their different directions to complete their tasks.
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Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room after dinner, waiting for Harry to come back from his detention and to go to hers. Anxiety was wreaking havoc on her mind as she tried to read a book on cursed quills. Her focus was unsteady, and she had already reread the same page at least ten times. Finally she gave up, and just sat staring into the fire. The warmth of the fire would normally be too much in the late summer, but it was comforting for Hermione as she sat there. There was a part of her that was angry with her detention, but another part of her was scared. She knew that she should not have been in her professor’s office, but she needed to know what type of quill was used on Harry in case there was a way that she could heal him or reduce the damage. For that reason, she was glad that she had done what she had. The other part of her was anxious because she knew that she might have to deal with the same punishment, and she had never been one that was good with blood or injuries. She looked at her watch. She had ten minutes before she had to be in detention, and Harry had still not returned. Hermione put her book back into her bag after putting a charm on it to hide the actual title. The last thing that she needed was for Umbridge to find it. To be fair, she was nearly positive that Umbridge knew that Harry would have told her or that she would have figured it out. The Brightest Witch of the Age. Hiking her bag up on her shoulder, she made her way through the common room to the portrait hole. She pushed it open and began to walk to Umbridge’s office for the second day in a row. As she walked through the corridors, she passed surprisingly few people. It was a Saturday night, and she had been expecting many people to be laughing and talking. Shaking her head, she continued on her walk. Halfway there she passed Harry, he gave her a weak smile. They stopped across from each and shared a look. Harry reached out and squeezed her hand. With that, the two parted ways. Harry was headed back to the common room while Hermione went to detention.
When she reached the door, Hermione paused, unsure. She didn’t know whether or not Malfoy was there yet or not. Her answer came when she heard the deep voice of Draco Malfoy from behind her. “Going to knock, Granger?”
Hermione turned. “Duh. I just didn’t know if I should wait on you or not.”
He quirked an eyebrow, “I’m here now.”
Rolling her eyes, Hermione knocked on the door, “obviously you are,” she muttered under her breath.
Umbridge opened the door, and then looked at her watch. “Right on time.”
The two students shared a small glance filled with anticipation. They both had different things on their minds. They knew they were not friends in any way, but there was a small feeling of truce due to the fact of what they thought was going to happen. The two walked into the room and saw two desks facing each other in front of Umbridge’s desk. Each desk had a small stack of parchment and a quill, with no ink pot to go with it. Umbridge pointed to the desk on the right in front of them, “Miss Granger, you sit there. Mr. Malfoy, the other is your seat.” The two students silently made their way to the desks, neither one of them showing any emotion. Umbridge spoke to Draco first this time. “Mr. Malfoy, you shall write, “I will keep better company and follow the rules.”
Draco raised his eyebrows, “How many times?” he asked, his face completely void of emotion except for a small sliver of fear due to the stack of parchment. A small, yet sinister smile made its way to Umrbidge’s face as she ignored his question. Turning to Hermione, she said, “You shall write, ‘I must accept that I have violations, and I will follow the rules.’ Are we clear?”
Hermione just nodded, she could feel the air getting tighter and tighter in her lungs. This was an outrage, and she felt as if she should fight, but her anxiety over her situation seemed to be crowding it out.
“As for your question, Draco, you have 8 parchments in front of you each. You must write lines on both sides of four of the parchments and if the message has not sunk in at that point you will have to do another four pages.” She looked harshly at both students all while still wearing her fake sweet smile. She was daring them to object and tell her no, and neither one did.
Hermione consented first and began to write. She managed to get two lines done before she felt a small burn on the back of her hand. Taking a deep breath, she continued to write. The pain flared, intense like a burn. Hermione gritted her teeth, trying to get a grip on the pain she was feeling. Looking up, she watched Malfoy as his hand shook as he tried to write his lines faster and faster, seemingly in hopes that it would make the whole experience go by faster. He felt her honey-brown eyes on him and he looked up, pausing in his furious writing. He raised an eyebrow before sneaking a look over at Umbridge at her desk. She was not paying attention at this point, so he mouthed to Hermione, “How does it feel?”
“It burns,” she mouthed back. He nodded before dropping his gaze to his hand. It was blistered at the moment and the words were there just not bleeding yet. Hermione’s hand was looking the same. After a few deep breaths, the two begin to write again. The clock ticking and the scratch of quill against parchment filled the rooms. Sometimes a suppressed grunt or groan was heard, but barely loud enough to give Umbridge any satisfaction. By the time the two had finished writing four pages front and back, it had been over an hour and a half. Their hands were bleeding and their skin was raw and covered in blisters. Crimson blood had dripped onto parts of the parchment on both of the students' lines. The two stood, almost in perfect unison as they went to hand Umbridge their lines. Both were numb.
She looked over the parchments with a weird sense of glee coming off of her. Hermione focused on the sound of an owl swooping by the window and the small draft that caused the hair on the back of her neck to tickle. Draco focused on the throbbing of his hand as he watched Umbridge look over their papers. The pain made him angry. He focused on his anger to get him through the moment. Finally, she put them down. “Very well. This is enough for tonight. I will see you at the same time tomorrow. You may leave.”
Once again they seemed to move in unison and headed for the door. Neither one looked back as they escaped. Hermione felt one hot tear drip out of her eye and sneak down her face. Malfoy said nothing as they walked along the corridor. By the time they reached the steps, tears had fallen from both of their eyes at the searing pain that was shooting from their hands all the way to their shoulder. A figure stood by the staircase, back in the shadows barely visible. The figure stepped out when they approached.
“Let me see your hands,” Theo said. Hermione’s eyes widened and side-eyed Malfoy. How did he know what had happened to them?
Hermione wearily watched as Draco stuck out his hand. Her eyes took in Theo’s grimace and shudder, his green eyes filled with a look of sorrow and disgust. There was something definitely hiding in his eyes. Theo pulled out his wand, and Hermione flinched just a bit at his movement. It was an obvious move that Theo caught. He gave her a soft, reassuring smile. “I am not going to hurt you, I promise. Just watch.” Hermione’s face burned red, but she nodded, thankful that Malfoy had not looked at her. Theo cast two different cleaning spells and one healing spell that Hermione did not recognize. She watched as the blood and blisters were removed, and how Malfoy’s shoulders immediately lost some tension. Grabbing a jar from his pocket, Theo unscrewed it and gently plopped some of its lavender contents onto Malfoy’s hand. Theo then put the lid back onto the jar and pulled out some cloth and gently wrapped it around Malfoy’s hand before securing it in place with a sticking spell. Draco took a deep breath. The balm that Theo had put on his hand was cooling and took away the sting that he had felt. The pain was no longer in his whole arm. He wondered if it had numbing ingredients in it. He rolled his shoulders and focused on the anger he felt rather than the humiliation. Now it was his turn to watch Theo as he worked his magic on Granger. Draco had kept his eyes shut during his entire process due to the fact that he was trying to occlude. He was not very good at it yet, but Severus had been helping him. He knew that if he didn’t work on it, his anger would come out in waves, and he would hurt the two people around him. He didn’t care too much about Granger, but Theo was his best mate and was helping the two of them even if he didn’t have to.
He watched as Granger gingerly stuck her hand out. Before Theo cast anything, he handed Draco the jar of balm that he had used on him as well as a jar with blue goop. Draco watched the process. He recognized the healing spell as one from a pureblood book that was guarded among the families. It was more of an ancient type of magic.
Once Theo was done, he handed Granger not only the jar he had used on her but three others as well. Granger looked at him questioningly before taking both. “Two for you and two for Potter. The one I used is just a basic cleansing balm that will keep the wound from getting infected. The blue one is a special balm that will keep the scars from being permanent. You can only use it once the wound is fully healed.” Theo supplied. “It will help you both.”
Granger just nodded, “Thank you, Nott. We both appreciate it.”
Theo gave her his gentle smile, “No one deserves it, Granger. Also, it's Theo. Nott is my father’s name, not mine.”
Granger nodded again, “Hermione.” was all she said before giving Theo a real smile before rushing up the stairs toward her dorm.
“Yeah, thanks Theo,” Draco said, his voice breaking a bit because of his efforts to keep his emotions. Theo put his arm around his friend’s shoulders, “Anytime, mate. Now let's get some rest. I know Daphne will want to know all about this in the morning.”
The two boys walked in silence the rest of the way to their dorms. As Draco walked, he thought of ways to tell his father and mother about what was happening. The thought of their anger for him calmed his mind. He would sleep and then write to them in the morning. They would take care of everything for him.