Stormy Weather

Draco carefully sketched a slightly curved arm, and frowned. I can't concentrate like I want to. That shower didn't really do as much good as it should have. I still keep thinking about her. Of course that could also be because he was drawing her. Or to be precise, he was drawing the image of her with her back turned, with that beautiful butterfly there.

The soft flutter of wings interrupted him as the family's owl flew in. There was only one person who would send him something at this hour of the night. "What does he want this time?" He untied the letter from the owl's leg and glanced at the feathered mail carrier. "Go on, I don't have time to write back to him tonight."

As it flew away, he unfolded the letter and read through it quickly.

My dear Draco,
I do hope that you are well and that your studies have been profitable. I've heard from my sources that you seem to be spending slightly more time than is appropriate with a certain Hermione Granger. I believe I don't have to remind you of the difficulties that could come about if you make an unwise decision in your love life, and as we both know, one such as her would not be a wise decision.

Your mother and I will be coming to the Parents' Weekend in April. Please have a suitable mate chosen by then. I'm certain you know the consequences of failure.

Your father,

Lucius Malfoy

Draco glared at the letter; it was obvious who had been in touch with his father. There was no one else it could be. "Goyle." He threw the letter against the wall, then went back to his drawing. There was something very satisfying in denying his father, even in this small way.

Slender streams of golden sunshine slid into Hermione's room, brushing briefly across her eyes before moving on. She shifted around a little, her mind stirring out of sleep, then sat up. Morning. The first thing she noticed was Crookshanks curled up on her leg, flexing his claws just a little as he slept. He does this every morning. She carefully pushed her cat off of her before getting out of bed, and in true cat fashion he curled up where she was and went right back to sleep.

That scream last night sounded like Draco. I'll have to talk to him about it. She didn't think he was prone to nightmares or anything else, but the fact it had quite obviously been loud enough to be heard from the Slytherin dungeons up to where she was in the Gryffindor Tower worried her.

Hermione quickly gathered up the things she needed and headed into the shower room. I love mornings. At least until everyone else starts to get up. The silence gave her lots of time to think and to plan out her day, and the warm feeling of hot water all around her was pure bliss. She closed her eyes and let it wash all over her, wiping her mind clean of all kinds of stress. This was just so nice.

"Hermione?" She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed Ginny coming in. She did, however, notice when she lost her footing and slammed down on the tiled floor. "Sorry about that!"

Hermione shrugged a little as she got up. "It's okay, it wasn't your fault." She rubbed her rear end lightly; that had not felt good.

"When did you get the tattoo?" Ginny wondered, heading over to a bench and putting her things down.

The older witch carefully rubbed her hair through a towel, doing her best to get all the tangles out of it. "After my fourth year. Do you like it?" Ginny nodded slightly, a faintly amazed look in her eyes. Hermione sighed briefly as she sat down on the same bench to tug her shoes on. "Thanks. You know, I think your brother officially hates me now. And I'm not all that certain if I want him as a friend if this is how he's going to act." She glanced at Ginny, then stiffened as something else occurred to her. "What is your father going to say about his daughter's friend dating a Malfoy?"

Ginny shrugged a little. She knew that Hermione had always valued her own parents' opinion of her, and this was definitely going to be a shock. "I'm not all that sure. I know that you're a smart person and wouldn't let him do anything to hurt you, but you know how Dad and Mr. Malfoy can be."

"I know." Hermione glanced down for a moment. "Draco is nothing like he acts. Well, he is but he isn't. He doesn't let people inside his head too often. I've only seen a little bit of it myself." She considered for a moment, thinking over things. "He's a puzzle...and a wonderful kisser!"

The youngest Weasley laughed. "That's a good trait in a guy!"

"You're right." Hermione stood up and grabbed her towel. Glad it's the weekend and we don't have to wear the robes. Since this was the first Christmas since Voldemort's defeat, a few rules had been relaxed, but not many. You could still only go to Hogsmeade on certain weekends, but no one was going to pass out at the sight of a few people running around in non-school robes or something of that nature. "Look, meet me tonight after dinner, and we'll chat?" It had been quite a while since she'd had a long talk with another female.

Ginny nodded. "Sure, no problem."

"I'm going to be meeting Draco before breakfast." Hermione's lips twitched a little. "I hope he doesn't mind."

"Was he the one who screamed last night?" Ginny wondered. Her friend nodded.

"I'm almost certain, and I want to know why." Hermione started to get dressed carefully. I hope no one faints at the sight of this. I don't know what Samantha was doing sending it to me, she knows we don't usually wear Muggle clothes here. But one day won't hurt. It is the weekend. She carefully adjusted the blue jeans and tank top, then headed out to the Great Hall. This was going to take some guts. But she wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing.

As soon as she got into the Great Hall, she looked over at the Slytherin table. Draco sat there, strapping a note to his eagle owl's leg, then sent it off.

"Draco!" She headed over to him quickly, glancing up and down to make sure he was unharmed. "How are you? You are all right, aren't you?"

He raised one eyebrow at her. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I think half of the country heard your scream last night." Hermione told him. He just shrugged as he sipped his pumpkin juice.

"What scream?"

She wasn't buying it, but if he wanted to pretend, she could. "You didn't hear it?"

"Apparently not."

Hermione shrugged. "Weird. So, what are your plans for today?"

"A couple of assignments I need to finish." He touched the stack of books beside him, and she nodded. He put in as much work as she did to maintain his grades. Well, almost as much. She still suspected he had some kind of deal going with Snape for potions. "You?"

"I'm going for a ride after breakfast, then homework. I'm supposed to have a chat with Ginny after dinner, too." She met his eyes firmly. "Would you like to join me for a quick ride?"

The frost-haired Slytherin nodded casually, as if the two of them did this every day of the week. "Certainly." His eyes flicked briefly over to the Gryffindor table, then back to her. "I believe you told your House about us, correct?"

She nodded. "Yes. Before I left. Why?"

He jerked his head slightly across the Great Hall. "Then why are they staring at us?" She glanced the way he was indicating, turning her back on him for a moment. What in the world is their problem?

"I'm going to have to take another cold shower," she heard Draco murmuring from behind her, and turned to look at him sternly.

"Cold shower? Just what did you see last night?"

For a moment she wondered if he were going to deny it again, then he shrugged. "Everything."

Well, that was nice, he'd...he'd what? "Everything?" He nodded slightly, and Hermione's cheeks began to burn. "And...a cold shower was what you were screaming about?" There was the slightest nod of his head. "Maybe we'll have a storm while we're riding and you won't have to worry about that shower."

He nodded once more, just a quick jerk of his head, his gaze occupied at the moment by his pumpkin juice. She headed over to the Gryffindor table, glaring slightly at them.

"What is wrong with you guys?" Her gaze was fixed right on Ron and Harry, both of whom suddenly seemed more interested in their plates than anything else. "Spill it, Ron!"

He jumped a little. "When did you get a tattoo?"

"Oh, that." She glanced at her shirt and realized that the way it was cut, her back and her decoration were both highly visible. "After our fourth year as an early birthday present. I thought I wrote you about it." Both of them shook their heads and she blinked as she sat down to one side of Harry. I could've sworn... "Sorry. I really thought I did."

Ron muttered as he forked some food into his mouth, "It's all right. Everyone makes mistakes." He gulped, then coughed some as the food tried to go down the wrong way. Hermione glanced back over at Draco, and chuckled a little as she saw him having the same problems that Ron was.

"Is something wrong with the food?" Ginny came in and sat down next to her brother. "No one's eating."

Harry shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong with it." He stared into his plate as intently as if he were trying to burn a hole through it with his eyes alone.

"Then why isn't anyone eating?" Ginny wondered. Harry glanced at Hermione for a moment, and the younger girl followed his gaze. "Hermione?"

Hermione glanced back at her. "Huh?" She had no idea what the heck Harry was talking about!

"Tattoo." The Boy Who Lived murmured lightly, and his friend blinked. Oh, that thing again. Really, you'd think they'd never seen someone who had one done before.

She pushed her plate away, her appetite suddenly gone. "Just so you know, this was my little secret, and I am allowed them. I got it because I wanted it, nothing else." She stood up carefully. "And I'm not hungry. Excuse me."

No one said anything as she left. Hermione could almost hear the deafening silence, until the doors closed behind her. She stared out at the vast expanse of green before the castle, an unusual sort of calm surrounding her. I don't care that this was supposed to be some kind of sham relationship. That's not what I want anymore.

She knew he was there without having to hear the doors open and close quite silently. She just knew it was him. "Looks like rain." The early morning sunshine was now being hidden behind thickening clouds. Typical weather. "You won't need that shower." She murmured softly.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Draco murmured back to her. She grinned ever so faintly.

"Still want to go?" She caught his nod out of the corner of her eye, then blushed in memory of what had been going on in the Great Hall. "You know, I never knew I had that kind of effect on people."

He snorted briefly. "What do you know about yourself? Not much from what I've seen."

"I know." Hermione glanced away for a moment, then looked back at him. "I'm learning, though." She stepped towards the doors and smiled. "Let's go fly. I feel the need for speed."

Before too long they were over the Quidditch pitch, soaring easily. Hermione stroked the broomstick almost lovingly and smiled. This feels so right. So completely right. Maybe she should've taken up recreational flying a lot sooner. Who knows, it might have even helped her get through fourth year without halfway losing her mind with the Time Turner.

She glanced over at Draco and smiled briefly, then something caught her eye. Someone was below them on the pitch, someone she couldn't place as a student. They were too big and burly to even be seventh years, and none of the teachers were quite like this.

Whoever it was pointed a wand at them, and she heard a faint Stupefy coming up. Her head snapped around to where Draco was, just in time to see him falling off of his broom. No! She zoomed as swiftly as she could towards him, barely hearing another Stupefy.

She did feel it, though, as a cloak of dark warmth wrapping over and blocking out everything.

Minerva McGonnagal stepped out of her office and closed the door behind her. I suppose I should be grading those essays but I need a little fresh air. Even she liked to relax once in a while. I might have to speak with Miss Granger about that tattoo of hers. It's all well and good if she wants body art, but I don't think it's something that should be flashed around the Great Hall like that. I almost believe I caught Severus staring at it!

"Professor!" She turned slightly to see Harry Potter racing up to her. "Professor! I was watching Hermione and Malfoy flying, and someone kidnapped them! Whoever it was used Stupefy, then they vanished. I think they must have had an Invisibility Cloak."

McGonnagal frowned darkly. It can't be Death Eaters, none of them could've gotten past the Hogwarts' wards anyway. This is something else. "Follow me, Potter." She headed for the dungeon, Potter on her heels, and banged on Snape's door. "Severus, I need your assistance. Two students have been hurt and possibly kidnapped."

The Potions Master raised one eyebrow slightly. "And just who might those two students be?"

"Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy were attacked while they were flying over the Quidditch pitch. Mr. Potter here saw them, and informed me."

Snape turned his gaze on Harry darkly, and Minerva remembered vividly several other occasions where he had turned his well-practiced vitriolic tongue on the younger boy for far less than this. "Very well." She was surprised by his calm, however. "Let us see what has been going on."

The three of them hurried out to the pitch, and the first thing that caught McGonnagal's eye was a shattered broom. She glanced down at it, shuddering when she saw a smear of red liquid along the handle. She didn't even have to sniff it in cat form to recognize it for what it was: blood. "Harry, please go get Professor Dumbledore. Ask him to come here, but don't tell anyone just yet. Until we know more, this has to remain a secret."

As soon as the seventh year had gone, Minerva turned back to her colleague. "There has to be some kind of sign, if only a footprint. Whoever this is, they can't have gotten away that cleanly."

Snape made no verbal comment, but started to search the area for any signs. She did the same thing, taking a different area and her cat form in order to sniff out any strange scents.

"What has happened?" Both turned to see Albus Dumbledore coming towards them, a fire burning in his eyes. Snape strode over and quickly filled him in on what they had discovered so far, which was a depressingly small list. "We must contact their parents," the Headmaster decided. "And perhaps we should have a familiar face inform Miss Granger's family, as her mother has not yet fully recovered from her illness."

McGonnagal nodded, shifting back to her human form. "Perhaps Potter could?"

"I believe the Weasleys would be a better choice, since they know each other somewhat. Snape, I wish you and Hagrid to join forces in the search. Use Fang, he may be a coward, but he has a good nose." Dumbledore declared. Snape sniffled slightly, but nodded his agreement. "Minvera, please owl the Weasleys and see if they could come here. I will contact the Malfoys."

As the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress headed inside, Snape strode firmly towards Hagrid's door. This was not something he particularly enjoyed doing, but it was what was necessary. He rapped firmly on the half-giant's door, hearing the incessant barking of Fang as he did so.

"Professor Snape?" Hagrid blinked at him as he opened the door. "What can I do for ya today?"

"It appears that Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger have gotten themselves into some kind of trouble, and the Headmaster has decreed that we are to search for them." Snape indicated Fang with a thrust of his jaw. "Using that beast of yours to track them down."

Hagrid blinked a couple of times, then firmly grasped Fang's collar. "Was there anything of theirs left at the scene? Makes Fang's job easier."

"Their broomsticks, with a trace of blood on one of them." Snape crisply informed him. "But there wasn't much else."

The other nodded. "That may 'elp, but if we can't find 'em today, need to get something else, like their robes." The three of them headed back to the Quidditch pitch, ready to do whatever they had to do.

Albus sat behind his desk, waiting patiently for his incoming visitors. This promised to be a rather volatile meeting, given who was involved. He looked up as the door opened and smiled politely as the Weasleys entered. "Ah, Arthur, Molly. Please, have a seat."

Mrs. Weasley looked quite nervous as she sat down. "What has our son done this time?" He couldn't blame her; Ron wasn't quite as much a troublemaker as the twins had been in their day, but of the two Weasleys there, he was the only one who they could probably think of that would require a visitation.

"Nothing. Ah, Lucius, Narcissa," Dumbledore smiled politely once more as the door opened and the Malfoys entered. Predictably, Arthur shot his old nemesis a very dark and angry look. There had never been any love lost between them, and with Lucius' actions during the war against Voldemort, there probably never would be.

Dumbledore cleared his throat lightly. "Now is not the time, Arthur. We have two students that have vanished."

"Ginny?" Molly clutched at her chair, memories of her daughter's first year flickering through her mind visibly. Dumbledore shook his head.

"No. Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy. They were flying over the Quidditch pitch and their brooms were shot down."

Lucius looked at him with cold narrowed eyes. "What was that?"

"I said, that Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were flying over the Quidditch pitch and someone Stupefied them, and carried them away. We have a search party out right now, and the Ministry is sending more people to aid us in locating them."

Arthur's brow furrowed in confusion. "Albus, I am worried about Hermionne, but why did you call us?"

"And what was she doing with his son?" Molly glared over at the Weasleys. It was rather obvious she had never truly forgiven them for some of the things that had been said about her family over the years.

Albus shook his head slightly. "Unfortunately, Miss Granger's mother is in no condition to travel at this moment, and Minerva and I thought that friends would be able to break it better to her. As for why she is with his son." The Headmaster indicated for Lucius to fill in that little gap.

The senior Malfoy's grip on his cane was tight as he looked over at the Weasleys. "It appears that Draco has made an ill-advised choice for his romantic life." The disapproval and distaste was thick enough to choke someone.

"She's dating your son?" Molly looked first at Lucius, then over at her husband. "When did she and Ron break up?"

"I have no idea." Arthur looked a little put out at not knowing things like this. Narcissa leaned forward slightly, a slightly amused grin on her face as she spoke.

"From the last letter I received from Draco, your Ron dumped her for another girl just a few weeks ago, before the Christmas holidays."

Arthur's hands gripped the ends of his chair arms. No one liked to hear such news from a family they considered mortal enemies, and he was no exception. "I'll have to speak with him about that."

"Perhaps it's for the best, though," Narcissa oozed, not missing one moment of Arthur and Molly's reactions. "They were required to do the Verus Amo potion for their class, and Draco saw Miss Granger in his." She glanced briefly at Lucius, noting the very mild flick of his eyes that indicated his startlement. "Yes, dear. Just as you saw me. He saw-" she pulled a rolled parchment out of her robes and read it over silently. "Ah, yes. Hermione."

"Fate needs to be taught a few lessons, I believe." Lucius murmured lightly, and Arthur looked as if they had actually found something they could agree on.

Narcissa interrupted quickly. "Perhaps we should send some of our servants to aid in the search." She caught the Headmaster's gaze. "May I take a look around my son's room? Perhaps I can find something that might give us some aid."

"Of course." Dumbledore agreed. "Will you all be staying for dinner? I will be informing the students of what has happened then." Receiving affirmatives from all four, he leaned back. "Would anyone care for a lemon drop?"

Hermione swam back to consciousness, her eyes fluttering open only to see solid blackness. Her arms were pulled over her head, and she did her best to pull them down, only to find that someone had chained her there. She heard a groan from elsewhere in wherever she was, and tried to look around.

"Draco...?" It had to be him.

"'mione?" It was him! Hermione tugged harder at her restraints, and bit back a cry of pain as the metal clenched tighter around her wrists, and a sharp stab of pain shot down her right arm.

"My arm..." Had she broken it when she'd been Stupefied off of her broom? She couldn't be sure, but it definitely hurt.

She could hear Draco fidgeting on something a few feet away. "What happened?" He sounded even more annoyed than she was about the whole thing.

"Someone hit us with Stupefy while we were flying. I tried to get to you before I got hit myself. Are you hurt?" Not that she could do anything about it if he was. But it would be nice to know.

"I don't think so. What about you?"

She struggled again, and winced as the pain increased. "I think I might've broken my arm. And this isn't exactly the most comfortable position, either."

After a few more tugs, she gave it up. No wand. No idea where we are or who has us. This is insane. She stared out into the darkness, hearing Draco's fairly inventive curses continue to spew out. I wonder how many syllables that one was...and if that is even humanly possible with magic!

Hermione had been in quite a few scrapes and odd places over the seven years she'd hung out with Ron and Harry, but this definitely had to take the cake. As far as she could tell, she was on some kind of a cot or bed, with her arms chained above her. When she stretched out her fingers she felt wood, but she couldn't move around enough to be certain if it were a headboard or the wall itself. Either way, she couldn't get away from it. She strained her ears as far as possible, but no sound came from outside wherever they were.

That changed with a sudden scrape, and a pale globe of light entered the room, a Lumos spell on the end of a wand held by someone. There were two of them, as far as she could tell, and one of them pointed his or her wand in her direction. She blinked at the sudden intrusion, then heard two whispered words: "Petrificus Totalus!" Every muscle in her body locked up, and she lay there motionless as the same spell was repeated on Draco. The one who had petrified them came over to her and with a wave of his wand and another spell released her wrists from their bindings. She could hear the other one speaking to Draco as she was picked up.

"Don't even try to get out, or change shape, because if you do, I'll make sure that your girlfriend dies." The deep voice wasn't one that was familiar to her, but she most certainly recognized the tone of threat.

Draco didn't really appear to be that scared, or at least he didn't sound that way when he asked, "Who are you?" There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh, and the man hissed,

"None of your business."

The kidnapper holding Hermione pointed his wand back into their holding area and with Finite Incanteum released Draco from the Full Body Bind. The door slammed shut, and this time, sounds could be heard from the other side.

The sounds of torture.

Draco had no idea how long the sounds of a whip hitting human flesh ripped through the air, or how many times he heard Hermione scream. All he knew was that it was too long. At last the door was pushed open again, and he caught a glimpse of her being shoved back in, the door slamming behind her. "'mione? What did they do?"

She moved closer, and with his dark-adjusted eyes he was able to see a little. Her shirt was ripped and bloody, and her jeans were almost...what did the Muggles call them? Well, he wasn't all that certain, but they didn't cover all of her legs anymore. She reached up to start fumbling at his restraints.

"You have to get out of here." Hermione told him quietly, looking at him the best she could in the shadowy murkiness.

Draco shook his head. There was no way he was going to leave her there to be tortured to death by these people, whoever they were. If she can survive Voldemort and everything else, then she's going to survive them. "So do you."

"I'd slow you down, and they took our wands," Hermione reminded him. Draco was firm on this, though. He knew his father would kill him for it, but he couldn't really bring himself to care. I don't even know why I'm doing this...it's just what has to be done.

"Then I'm not going." He was unshakeable on this, no matter how much she tried to persuade him. This was something they'd gotten into together. Even so, it had to be because of him they were there, after all. She wasn't from an old, powerful wizarding family like he was; she couldn't have that many wizarding enemies. Not ones who'd also take him.

She touched his hand with one of hers. "He'll kill us both if you don't. You can get help if you leave."

It was entirely possible that she was right, but he didn't care. "How? I don't even know where we are, and there's no guarantees I'd find a way out in time." He was Slytherin, he used any means necessary to get what he wanted...even if it meant lying. He knew he could get out and get to help; all he would have to do would be to shift to his Animagus form, get out of wherever they were being held, then Apparate as close to Hogwarts as he could. The Ministry of Magic could trace where he'd Apparated from and find Hermione.

But he wouldn't do it. Even as simple as it was, his escape would take time, time that they could use to kill her, and that wouldn't be tolerated. I don't want to have to put up with the Weasel and Potty screaming at me for not being a stupid Gryffindor and saving her.

She curled up against him a little, and he carefully pulled his arms down now that they were free, and put one around her. She winced as he did, and he started to pull it away. "Sorry. I forgot you're hurt." He was about to move the arm away when she put up her hand and held it where it was.

"I almost wish I'd eaten," she murmured as her stomach growled angrily at them both. "How long do you think we've been here?"

He shrugged. "A few hours, at least. It's hard to say." She nodded as she leaned closer to him, and they stayed just like that.