Return to Eden

Return to Eden

Chapter 19: The Turn of the Screw

"Have you suddenly decided to become my shadow, Potter?"

Harry faced the Slytherin witch with much amazement present in his emerald eyes. He'd snuck out of the tower once again, but this time he'd been looking forward to spending some quality time with his Firebolt. When he had reached the pitch, broom in tow, the last thing he'd been expecting was to find Pansy Parkinson alone for the second time in as many days.

Caught up in the sheer coincidence of it and the way she was openly peering at him from the second level of the Slytherin stands, the Gryffindor had a hard time constructing a response. "Um, no?"

The blonde girl raised a single eyebrow in a look of calculated distrust that all Slytherins seemed to have mastered. "I don't believe you. Are you following me?"

Harry looked aghast at the question and the slight possibility that he was starting to believe it might be true. Why had he been running into her? "Of course not. I simply came to practice."

Letting her posture relax, she resumed the leaning position she'd held before sighting the boy walking toward her. Pansy was skeptical. She didn't believe in coincidences. "This is my fault."

Confusion spread through him as he watched the normally confident Slytherin avoid his eyes as she fidgeted with a box of cigarettes. Harry took a seat on the bench in front of her and set his broom down to the side. "What do you mean?"

She tossed her head, curls bouncing freely, and finally looked him directly in the eyes. Harry was astonished to note that her sapphire blue eyes were wet with unshed tears. The girl inhaled a deep drag of purple smoke from the cigarette she'd just lit before replying. "Everything." She exhaled up into the clear, autumn air with a sigh of intense melancholy. "Everything is my fault."

The boy was perplexed. "I still don't understand what you mean. How can everything be your fault when you're not responsible for it?"

A humorless chuckle escaped her at that. Typical Gryffindors. They were always jumping to conclusions. "But it is my responsibility." She ran her fingers through her hair as she looked up into the inky sky spotted with the twinkling lights of the stars. "You do-gooder types should understand that. When one of your own falls, everybody feels the blow."

"Oh." Shyly, Harry looked away realizing what her admission meant and the significance of her isolation from her house in these private moments.

Pansy sighed. "Yeah." She pulled her robe closer around her searching for comforting warmth she just couldn't seem to discover. Taking a chance and trusting in her instincts, she decided to confide in him. "The whole house is in shreds right now. Our political hierarchy and everything we exist for is no longer there. Draco is too distraught to lead and Hermione is completely focused on him. Even Snape knows of the disintegration and can feel the changes taking place. Slytherin is now in total disarray and everyone can feel her death as if they were the ones who had fallen. There's nothing anyone can do. Not even me."

Folding his hands in his lap, the Gryffindor gazed up at her earnestly with his eyes wide and honest behind the lenses of his glasses. "Why can't you?"

The Slytherin witch stared at him, her bright eyes dancing with shame and guilt like fresh scratches upon her soul. "Isn't it obvious?" Her tone had risen in pitch until it was just breaking the level of hysteria she felt churning inside of her. "I wasn't there. It sounds so simple, but it's the truth." She took a deep breath to even out the cracks in her voice. "I was so caught up in my own pettiness and self-involvement that I wasn't there for my friends when they needed me the most. Blaise and I used to be good friends, but we'd grown so far apart that she didn't even tell me anything about her life anymore. Now she's gone and I wasn't able to do anything. Don't you understand? I couldn't even say anything to Draco after it happened." Wiping away the tears that had finally broken through, she continued to puff on the cigarette as she whispered. "I don't deserve the standing I have. The way the younger years look up to me with awe. It makes me feel sick inside."

Needless to say, Harry was quite shocked to hear an open confession from someone he didn't know could have such feelings. He'd always been convinced the Slytherins kept everything bottled up inside and would rather die than to let it out, especially in the audience of a Gryffindor. She looked like she felt better now that she had gotten all of it off her chest, even if he still didn't quite understand what exactly it was she'd been ranting about. He didn't try to understand the politics and methods of Slytherin house, but one thing she'd said caught his attention.

"And what were you so distracted by that you stopped paying attention to your friends?"

A sly expression crossed her face and the wetness on her cheeks was forgotten. She glanced into his eyes as a slight smile peeked upon her lips. "You, of course."

Completely taken aback by her answer, he scrambled to stand up and ended up falling over himself in the process. Looking up from his tangled position on the grass, a single thought formed into a word. "What?!"

Stepping down from her seat, Pansy offered a hand to help him up as she smiled, more like a smirk with teeth really. "You," she repeated. "My complete and total obsession with you."

Harry studied her warily, exactly like a man who knew he had many enemies, before he took her outstretched hand and let himself be helped off his backside. "Thanks," he said gruffly.

Shifting her eyes away from him, she glanced around at the empty pitch to avoid the glimmer of agitation she knew she'd find in his emerald orbs. "You're welcome," she replied softly. The girl was getting ready to bolt at any show of hostility from the Gryffindor. Honestly, she was just trying to put him off his guard not blurt out one of the biggest secrets she'd always kept concealed. Draco was right. Her mouth would get her into trouble one day.

Imagine Pansy's shock when instead of condemning her where she stood, Harry grasped her by the elbow and resumed his seat on the first bench. A morbid curiosity had overtaken his predominant sense of 'evil, plotting Slytherins' and for some reason, he wanted to know the whole story. Since the death of a Hogwarts student had occurred, he didn't believe it would be as simple as house against house any longer. Much more complex things were in the works and soon, the whole world would be brimming to the top, ready to spill over.

Harry was also not one to believe in coincidences. When shit happened, there was usually a reason and there had been too many abnormal events in just a few short months. Okay, yes, every year he'd been at Hogwarts had been abnormal, but this was bigger, something intangible pressing down on everyone. It made him think of a choking breath slipping into his lungs without warning. All the occurrences; Hermione's heritage, the dorm room, Ron's reaction, Blaise's death, Draco's power, and now, the chance meetings between himself and Pansy; somehow, they were connected. And he knew, without knowing really, that he couldn't control the outcome. It wasn't going to be a battle he could strategize or research.

So, he lifted the chin of the blonde girl sitting beside him quietly and spoke with a deep, reserved calm.

"I want to know."

----

Meanwhile, bumping along in a carriage packed with their trunks and other possessions, Draco and Hermione, accompanied by baby Madison, were on their way to the manor. The silence between them in the small space was deafening. Hermione was in shock over everything that had been revealed to her, and although seeing Blaise had relieved the majority of his grief, Draco was still in mourning at losing his friend.

Following his collection of Hermione and the baby from the hospital wing, Draco backtracked to pay Madame Pomfrey a visit after leaving Madison in the Slytherin common with the Head Girl. A quick memory charm later and the school nurse forgot there even was a second baby. Little did he know that Hermione had already told a little white lie to the woman convincing her that the baby was his and would be best left here at Hogwarts without informing the girl's parents. Technically, since Blaise was of age, she was not required to do so, and Hermione, having read Hogwarts: A History, knew this. But one can never be too careful when trying to cover something up. Fortunately, the nurse had not yet alerted anyone else, not even Dumbledore, to Madison's existence. He also fixed the nursery while he was there and it now appeared as if it had never been there at all.

When he returned to the Slytherin dorms and found Hermione packing their belongings to leave, he let loose his frantic apprehension on her.

"Do you know how dangerous that was?! Flaunting the baby to Ginny Weasley?!"

"Draco, I don't understand what you're talking about."

He grabbed her by the shoulders and bent down until they were nose-to-nose. "Do you want her to be taken away from us?" he asked with deadly promises in his voice.

Hermione's eyes grew wide as she gaped at him. "Of course not!"

"Well then you have to start being more careful!"

"You have to start telling me things! I will not stand idly by and let you control everything! I cannot allow it!" Hermione was outraged that he seemed to no longer see her fit to share his thoughts and feelings with. Were they in a relationship or not? That's what she really wanted to know.

Draco crossed the room to pick Madison up. Their loud voices had upset her. Rocking the baby gently, he threw an uncaring response to the brunette girl over his shoulder. "Sure you can. I've got everything taken care of."

She was incensed. "Draco!"

Tiredly, the blonde glanced at her, not realizing how upset she was getting by the minute. "What?"

"I refuse to go anywhere with you until you tell me what the bloody hell is going on." She lifted her hands palm-up in the universal gesture of pleading when his eyes turned angry. "Please," she added barely above a whisper.

Reluctantly, he nodded his acquiescence and walked back over to the Head Girl. Bewilderment appeared on her countenance as Draco handed Madison to her.

"Look at her."

Hermione held the tiny infant delicately and peered down into her little face. Madison looked the same as the last time she'd seen her.

"Look at her eyes."

Madison's clear, blue eyes stared back at her, but the Head Girl still didn't understand what the blonde boy was trying to convey to her about the baby.

"Do they look familiar to you?"

Then, she abruptly connected all the dots. Stunned, her voice was nearly inaudible, "Draco, these are - "

"The Weasley blue. I know." His expression was saddened as he took the baby back and placed her in a cradle they had transfigured from an ottoman. "Do you understand now?"

Hermione's face had set into an expression of deep resolve as she watched the back of the Head Boy. "Yes." Resuming her packing, she processed what this meant. "We have to keep her an absolute secret."

Draco nodded as he drew his wand from the inner recesses of his robe. Tapping it once against each of Madison's temples, her eyes turned the same slate gray of his own as she blinked sleepily from beneath her duvet.

As she passively watched Draco do this, Hermione knew she had to do one last thing before they left.

"How are we traveling?"

The blonde gazed up from his perusal of the child at the question. "By carriage. Floo is too unpredictable when it comes to luggage and babies. And Apparation is out of the question."

Hermione nodded. "Fine. You finish getting everything together and call the house-elves to pick it up. Madison's things are already packed. I'll meet you and her at the front entrance in fifteen minutes."

He was perplexed. "Where are you going? Dumbledore has already promised to send our schoolwork by owl while we are away and the prefects have taken over our duties."

"There's something I've left unfinished," she called as she exited out into the common room. Draco just took her place gathering things up as Madison glided into slumber, totally unaware of the fuss going on around her.

Hermione easily traced the familiar steps to her old haunt of Gryffindor tower as if she had never left it. Standing before the portrait of the fat lady, she quickly gave the password, thankful not for the first time for being made Head Girl, and stepped inside.

The common room was dotted here and there with students, but it seemed like most had abandoned the cheery space for the warmth and comfort of their dormitory beds. It was, after all, quite late and classes continued early the next morning. The few people still present fell silent upon her entering.

Not wanting to get held up, Hermione quickly searched out the bright shock of red hair she knew she'd find there. She walked over confidently to the youngest Weasley where she was seated by the fire.

"Can I have a word with you, Ginny?"

"Of course you can. Please, sit down." Ginny patted the cushion next to her.

Glancing around to where gossiping ears were listening, Hermione lowered her voice. "I meant, in private." Without waiting for a reply, the Head Girl swiftly turned and swept out of the room knowing the younger girl would follow.

As soon as they were out from under the fat lady, who was also known to be a gossip hound, Ginny spoke up.

"What's this about, Hermione? Is this about the -"

"Obliviate!"

The redhead blinked a few times before the fog in her mind cleared. She was surprised to find herself only a few meters from the Gryffindor portrait hole and standing in front of the Head Girl who was looking at her expectedly.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. My mind must have wandered. Did you say something?"

The brunette suppressed the smile of accomplishment willing to break through the look of gravity she was trying to carry off. "I just wanted to let you know I'd be gone for a few days. Draco wants to go back for the funeral."

Ginny shook her head somberly. "Yes, it's just terrible about what happened." She pulled the Head Girl into a hug. "You take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will," she said as she returned the squeeze of her friend. Not looking back, she left Ginny there as she made her way towards the front entrance, her heels clicking smartly against the stone floors as she went.

Hermione thought about all of this as she sat across from Draco on the way back to see Lucius and Narcissa. Although her actions were justified, the girl felt uncomfortable about twisting her friend's trust in such a devious way. Every day she spent in the company of Slytherins made her think and act more like them, doing things she would have never considered in the past. And honestly, she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Finally, the large gates of the manor came into view, and after a few minutes more, they were stepping out of the carriage while house-elves began unloading their luggage. As soon as they walked in the front door, the lord and lady of the manor descended upon them with greetings and questions.

"Draco! You had us so worried. I thought your mother was going to start having fits."

Draco waved his mother and father's concern off as he handed his and Hermione's cloaks over to yet another house-elf. "Anything you have to say to me will have to wait until morning. Hermione and I have had a very trying day. I'm sure you understand."

Narcissa nodded her head as she drew back from the soft hug she was giving Hermione. She looked overjoyed to have them both back at the manor. "Of course, dear. You both must be exhausted."

The Slytherin boy leaned down and scooped Madison up from the cradle Hermione was holding in her right hand.

Narcissa clasped at her chest as Lucius stood frozen to the spot. "Goodness! There really is a baby."

"Yes, mother. Her name is Madison. Will you take her for tonight?" Draco handed the baby gently over to his mother along with the cradle.

"Of course I will. She's precious," Narcissa replied.

"Okay, we'll see you in the morning then." With that, Draco calmly made his way over to the stairs after taking Hermione by the hand. They ascended the steps with purpose and turned onto the corridor housing both of their rooms.

Without even asking, Draco pulled Hermione into his room and shut the door behind them.

He fell on her with unbridled passion spouting into his kisses as he pressed her down on his bed. Barely taking the time to correctly undo their clothing, they tangled underneath the sheets with an unrelenting fury. As soon as he had her open beneath him, he took her hard and fast, not slowing down for anything and finding himself lost in the rhythm. She clawed at his back as she felt him push and retreat within her at an inhuman pace. The wave crashed over them both with a new intensity as they contorted to its whims.

Coming down from it, she stilled when she heard him sniffle above her. Delicately, Hermione wrapped her arms around him and soothingly stroked his hair as he silently cried into her shoulder. There were no words simply because there weren't any. They stayed that way for a long time until they drifted off to sleep.

----

Strolling along the halls of Hogwarts after curfew was, admittedly, not a very smart thing to do, but Luna had her reasons. Just like she had reasons for doing everything.

She knew most everyone thought she was crazy, but that was okay. Being cursed with the Sight was not easy, and according to her, it was definitely a curse. The rubbish that Trelawney taught about how the Sight's a gift was a lie.

It was something she'd never told anyone about. Luna had inherited the Sight from her mother and up until her death, she'd always told Luna not to tell anyone what she saw about them. Most people were not ready to deal with that sort of thing, and so it was best to keep it under wraps. Still, Luna's power had been much stronger than her mother's, and the older she grew, she found her mother's advice helped less and less.

The thing that made it a thousand times much worse though was she honestly believed her special insight had been distorted somehow. She didn't just see one future; she saw several for each person she encountered. Some futures she saw were years away and far-reaching, while others were upon her at the very moment she could see them and quite miniscule. However, some people were harder to read than others and sometimes it was hard to make out just which path was the right one. Sometimes she couldn't intervene at all for fear of throwing the entire future off-balance.

Luna was certain this time. She knew what she had to do to make things right.

If it had been within her power, she would have saved the Zabini girl, but it had been one of those ambiguous visions. She'd seen Ronald's intention of harming Malfoy, but she'd had no idea that the girl would protect her friend at all costs. Luna had seen her death as soon as she began flying to put herself between the bludger and Malfoy.

She'd felt so helpless as she watched the contents of her vision play out in front of her like a macabre recitation. But that wouldn't happen again. She had to stop being so passive and actually do something that might be of some help.

Cloaking her footsteps with a silencing spell, Luna made her way to the Astronomy tower. The fate of two people was currently hanging in the balance, and she had to make sure one of them survived while the other did not.

----

Snape was in a very black mood.

He wasn't taking Dumbledore's news very well. In fact, it wouldn't be unfair to say that he was completely livid about it. His two best students were leaving to attend the funeral of one of his other students, a bright girl who had been far too young to be killed. And to top it all off, Slytherin house was in a position it had not been in for centuries. The students were without a leader.

The next morning, after the departure of the Head Boy and Girl, he stopped by the Slytherin common room. His students were milling around aimlessly in a way that reminded him of drones without their queen, or king as it may be.

The whole situation was off-putting and had he not taken such delight in tormenting the Gryffindors, he might have cancelled Potions for the day.

As it were, he threw himself into his work in-between the usual humdrum of the school day as he continued to discover the culprit behind the decimation of the Head Girl dorm. Just because more misfortunes had occurred did not mean he would abandon his effort.

Sometime after his one o'clock fourth year class, he stumbled upon something quite strange. Through a process of trial-and-error, he was able to pinpoint the presence of individual wands in the room. Most of them had been Ms. Granger or Mr. Malfoy, but the name of a person that had no business being there and casting spells came up.

Snape looked back over his findings to make sure he'd read the name right before speaking aloud for the first time since stepping foot into his laboratory.

"Hannah Abbott?"