What Once Could Never Be...

What Once Could Never Be...

Chapter 7: The Discovery

Draco awoke the next morning from a fitful night of sleep. He reached up to brush the hair from his eyes, and his hand came away wet. He kicked off his tangled sheets and climbed out of the four-poster bed. His room was silent in the early morning hours. It gave him a feeling of foreboding. He sat on the edge of the bed and thought back to what he had dreamed when he was sleeping.

The dream that had awaken him seemed very real. It had been more like a nightmare. In it, he had been flying over an immense forest on his Firebolt with a sense of urgency. He had been flying faster than he ever had before. If he didn´t get there in time, something horrendous would happen. He arrived at a window and through it he saw a hooded man in a dark cloak holding a mirror that emitted a bright red light. The man was yelling at a figure on the floor. The dream Draco had squinted his eyes to make out who it was on the floor, but it had been too dark in the room. The man whispered something to another man standing in the shadows that Draco had not seen. The other man stepped out of the shadows and grabbed the figure up from the floor. Draco could make out that it was a dark-haired girl. Then, he watched in horror as the man bared her neck and pressed a dagger against it, pulling it across, and making a clean slit across her throat. He tried to cry out to her, but no noise came from him. The last image of the dream that had startled him awake had been the girl lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

Draco shook thoughts of the dream out of his mind, and brought himself back to reality. Suddenly, a shiver ran down his spine and he felt as if the room had dropped twenty degrees in temperature. Something´s wrong. He looked around his room and saw nothing out of place or missing. He shook his head as he made his way to the window. Living with my father for all those years is starting to make me paranoid. What am I saying?! That would make ANYONE paranoid. He gazed out of the window across the grounds of Hogwarts. The coming storm was shadowing the light of dawn, making it seem like evening. He decided that the day fit his mood.

He should have been happy. He was to some extent, but that still didn´t change things. It was true that the girl he loved returned his love and they were together now, but he couldn´t tell anyone and he had to continue to hate her. If my father ever found out, she would be in great danger. He would certainly kill her. That´s why no one can know about us. A single tear escaped the corner of his eye and fell down his cheek, but he quickly brushed it away. It is the only way I can keep her safe.

He erased those thoughts from his mind and walked away from the window. He crossed the room to his wardrobe and began getting dressed for breakfast. Draco had a busy day ahead of him. Not only did he have more classes today than any other day, being Quidditch captain of Slytherin, he was scheduled to begin tryouts this evening. Since he only had one class with Hermione today, Care of Magical Creatures, he probably wouldn´t see her much. For the first time in his life, he was happy to have double classes with the Gryffindors. Of course, he couldn´t really BE with her, but he could at least see her. He finished dressing in his robes and started down to breakfast. It was early still, only about six, so he didn´t expect that many people to be in the Great Hall.

When he walked through the doors, he saw that he had been right. He took his usual seat at the Slytherin table being the only one at that table. There were three Hufflepuffs scattered across their table and one Ravenclaw seated at theirs. He smirked at the empty Gryffindor table. I guess we know who is the laziest house. His feelings for Hermione did not change his perspective of Gryffindors. He was still a Slytherin after all. Just because he did not wish to devote the better years of his life to a dark wizard that should have kicked the can quite a long time ago, didn´t mean that he did not posses the qualities of a Slytherin. In fact, he had a sneaky suspicion that Hermione had been sorted into the wrong house. She was as clever and cunning as a Slytherin.

He started to flip through the pages of the book he had brought with him to breakfast. When he found the page he wanted, he set it across from his plate that he had piled with pieces of toast and potatoes. He read it as he started making his way through his plate. The book, Diabolical Potions and How They Fit Into Your Plans, had been given to him by Snape for extra reading in the class. Draco had a true interest in potions and a talent for them that was matched only by Snape himself. The page he was currently reading was about one called Menjareum. This potion, given to a person, would make them transparent like a ghost, but it also had the ability to melt through solid objects. Draco thought that this would be a good thing to have on hand. Snape was very well aware of Draco´s abilities, and he encouraged them. He wasn´t his favorite student for nothing. Draco had been given special permission in the past to experiment making potions that were well above his year. He had been successful in every attempt, and was hoping to maybe create some of his own this year.

When he was through eating he looked at his watch, Care of Magical Creatures didn´t start for another hour and a half. He left the Great Hall and went back towards the Slytherin dormitories. He muttered the password, "Snake Blood," and made his way to his room. The one thing that was definitely worth being a prefect was being able to have your own room. He stood at the door and said the password, "I hate my father." He entered the room and grabbed his books for class. He set the book he had been carrying on his desk for later inspection before he left. He closed the door behind him and retraced his steps out of the dorms. He wasn´t in a hurry to get to his least favorite class, but he wanted to talk to Snape beforehand. Snape told Draco to make arrangements with him about times to use his classroom for potion-making. I can´t wait to begin making my own. Maybe I will invent a useful new potion. He thought about all the new potions he could make on his way to the dungeons.

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"Urghh."

Hermione groaned as she struggled to open her eyes. A sharp pain was digging into her spine and she felt sore all over her body. Why do I feel like I´ve been in a triathlon? Upon opening her eyes, thoughts of the night before came rushing back to her. She remembered being taken from her room and trying to get away before her abductor had knocked her out. The sight in front of her was enough to make her very scared.

She had been locked in a small cell enclosed in bars. The cell was in a dark dungeon that seemed to go on for miles in each direction. The location she had been taken to obviously had a vast underground. She squinted her eyes in the dark, but she couldn´t make out any other prisoners in the cells surrounding hers. Apparently, she was alone for the time being.

She rolled off of what was pushing into her back to discover it had been a jagged rock. She decided to try out her legs and walk around to see if she could spot anything else. She shakily stood up and crossed to the door of her cell. She didn´t see anything that would help her figure out who had captured her. She wondered if this had anything to do with Harry. He was always the one that had somebody after him. This was all new to her. She turned away from the door and went to sit against the wall. She reached into her pocket. Damn! She had left her wand on top of her desk. She leaned her head back until it touched the wall and closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do to get out of here on her own. I wonder if anybody even knows that I´m gone yet. I wonder if Draco knows. I hope he´s okay.

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Draco was hoping that the storm would be bad enough to cancel Care of Magical Creatures. It was just his luck that the storm had held out long enough for him to attend that class. He had arrived on time followed by the rest of the Slytherins, but the Gryffindors were already standing outside of Hagrid´s house. He came to a stop opposite of the two Gryffindors he hated the most. Crabbe and Goyle were standing directly behind him, and Hagrid had not yet come out to start class.

He threw a glare in their direction and placed his trademark smirk on his face. "Well, if it isn´t Potty and the Weasel? I heard you two both have girlfriends now. How much did you have to pay to get them to go out with you?"

Ron´s face was turning red. "Shut your face, Malfoy. We´re not the ones that have to pay for our girlfriends. Unlike you."

"Well, I guess not since you don´t have enough money to buy decent robes let alone anything else. Then she must be the ugliest girl in the whole school to go out with you," Draco retorted. At his words, a cry came from one of the Gryffindor girls. He presumed her to be the girlfriend of Ron.

Harry took a step towards Draco. "Why don´t you leave our girlfriends alone? They haven´t done anything to you. We´re the ones that you have your fight with."

"Well, I´m just making them see how stupid they are for going out with a couple of prats like you two." Draco took a step towards Harry.

Harry looked like he wanted to pound Draco´s face with his fist, but he was restraining himself next to Ron.

Ron looked like he could do worse than Harry if given the chance. He looked Draco straight in the eye and his voice sounded as if it could cut glass. "Malfoy. Leave. Hermione. Alone."

Draco let out a little chuckle. "And if I don´t?"

Ron had a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Then, we´ll have to make you."

Draco let his voice drop to a violent whisper. "Don´t you ever, EVER threaten me again. Or else you´ll find out what being a Malfoy means."

Ron had no time to respond for at that moment, Hagrid came out of his door with a crate in hand. He gave Draco a last glare and turned his attention to the class.

Draco didn´t understand why Harry and Ron were being so protective of Hermione when they weren´t even speaking to her. He figured they were still loyal to her though because she was still a Gryffindor, and had at one time been their friend. But I swear that if they hurt her again, I will make them pay. With that last thought, he directed his attention to the class.

Throughout the class, he kept sneaking glance over to the group of Gryffindors and he didn´t see Hermione amongst them. I wonder where she is. She NEVER misses class. Something serious must have come up. He made a mental note to try to find her later.

His classes passed that day without any significance, and by dinner he was seriously worried about Hermione. He had popped into the library in between classes and asked Madam Pince if she had seen Hermione. She had responded a quick no and bustled by him muttering about work to be done. He had checked in with Madam Pomfrey to see if she was there, but she wasn´t. He had even asked a Hufflepuff if she had been in class, and the Hufflepuff said that she hadn´t seen Hermione all day. He had finished with Quidditch tryouts before dinner, and he decided to use the secret passage to get into her room immediately after dinner. If he didn´t find her there, he was going straight to Professor Dumbledore.

When the table was cleared, Draco stood from his seat and made a beeline out of the Great Hall. He made a few quick turns to make sure that he wasn´t being followed before ducking into an unused classroom and closing the door behind him. He waited a moment for any sounds before crossing to the opposite wall of the room. A portrait was hanging there of a man dressed in sapphire blue robes. He had a pointed blue hat on his head and he greeted Draco with a smile.

"Ah, the young man who wished to get into the Gryffindor prefect dorms. Back again I see. The person you wish to see must be very special."

"Yes, she is. I´m sorry, but I can´t stay to chat. It is imperative that I get to her room."

The portrait swung open to reveal a hole in the wall, and Draco climbed through it. He made his way through the passage at a near run. Please let her be in there. He arrived at the end of the passage. He reached up to knock on a certain stone three times and the wall in front of him disappeared to reveal a hole. He stepped out of the hole into the room he knew to be Hermione´s. He glanced around the room, and noticed that it had not changed in any way since he had been there last night. She´s not here. Where is she?

He walked around the room to take everything in. He noted that the window was open and had been opened for some time since the area surrounding it was wet. It must have been opened either before or during the storm earlier in the day and left open. Then, he saw it. An envelope lying on top of the bed with one word scrawled on it. Draco. He grabbed it and ripped it open to the letter inside.

Draco,

I have taken your precious little mudblood for safekeeping. Why you want to lower yourself to such filth, I have no idea. Have I not taught you no better than that? You disgust me to even look upon her with anything else but pure loathing. She does not even deserve half of the man that you will be.

Your decision to not join our ranks has greatly saddened me. However, it is in the best interest of everyone to change your mind. Lord Voldemort wishes to express your own importance to you. If you ever want to see the mudblood again, you might want to reconsider your choice. If you continue to refuse, she will be killed. You are very lucky because the Dark Lord does not give second chances.

Father

Draco gasped as he strung the contents of the letter and the memory of the dream together. He burst out of the room as fast as his legs could carry him with the letter still grasped in his hand. He paid no attention to the people staring at him in the Gryffindor common room as he shot out of the portrait hole. Draco sprinted through the corridors and up stairs until he came to a familiar gargoyle statue. "Ice Mice," he shouted. He ran up the moving staircase and ran through the door without bothering to knock.

Professor Dumbledore was sitting in his chair and Professor McGonagall was seated in front of him. They both stopped their conversation and snapped their heads up when Draco Malfoy came rushing through the door.

Dumbledore stood up with concern lining his face as he gazed at Draco trying to catch his breath.

"Professor...Dumbledore -" he managed to get out in between breaths.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy? What is wrong?"

Draco held up the letter in his hands. "Hermione´s been kidnapped!!!"