Clairvoyance and its Consequences

Chapter 12______________________________________________________________

Draco sat on the tree trunk in which Hermione had been bound upon a short time earlier. His face was shadowed but it was evident he was very much conscious. The left arm of his robes was pulled up to his elbow and the pale skin of his forearm pointed up at the blackened sky.

"You would've made your father proud, Malfoy," Voldemort hissed as his face came into view. His red eyes were gleaming as Draco sat quite still. "This future has been planned for you since you were born."

Draco stayed silent and still as Voldemort pointed his wand at Draco's arm. Draco watched with an unreadable expression as Voldemort ran the polished tip of his wand over Draco's smooth skin and waited for the words to exit the Dark Lord's mouth.

"Morsmordre Velius," Voldemort said clearly and carefully, taping the skin of Draco's arm with the wand. Slowly, lines began to work their way across he pale skin, eventually forming a dark image of a skull made up of stars with a serpent exiting its mouth like a tongue: the Dark Mark.

Draco stared at the image on his arm and fingered it lightly, his expression clearly showing he wasn't sure if he liked it at all. But there was one thing he was sure of: he was now a Death Eater whether he liked it or not.

As Hermione woke later that morning, she honestly didn't know what to think. The vision of Draco sitting there on the log as he watched the Dark Mark being imprinted upon his skin was fresh in her mind and she was astounded how he had just sat there and let it happen. Here she had been, reading the letter he left for her which indicated that he would never become a Death Eater or receive the Dark Mark and then she had fallen asleep to see him betraying his words. True, there was a possibility that what she had seen hadn't been clairvoyant at all, but she didn't think it very likely.

Hermione sat up and wiped a tear from her face, too confused to continue thinking any longer. She needed to see Dumbledore and tell him everything she was capable of remembering; if anyone was able to help Draco at this late stage it was him.

Getting up, she winced at the pain that overcame her. Hermione looked at herself in the mirror on the back of Draco's door and tried hard to ignore the dark circles that surrounded her eyes as she massaged her ribs with her right hand. The ache within her muscles and bones didn't cease though, and she knew there were bound to be horrible bruises there from where that ropes had her, but she didn't dare look at the moment.

Exiting the room, she was glad not to come across anyone as she made to the stairs and headed down them. She was surprised, however, when she rounded the corner into the common room and came face-to-face with all the other occupants of the quarters, which, with a strange pang of her heart, included Harry and Dumbledore.

"Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed. "Hermione, Harry's awake! We don't know how, but he's awake! Hermione?"

Hermione was staring at Dumbledore, who was gazing back at her gravely as though he already knew everything she wished to tell him.

"Hermione?" Ginny repeated, looking from Dumbledore to Hermione and back again. She swallowed thickly and looked around. "Hermione, where's Malfoy?"

Hermione's eyes prickled at the sound of her boyfriend's last name and slowly headed over to sit in a vacant armchair, wincing at the pain the movement caused.

"I don't know," she said quietly, her voice coming out as though her throat was partially closed up. "Voldemort has him but I - I don't remember how -"

"You mean you were ... taken last night?" Ginny asked in a very quiet voice. "You-Know-Who transported you with a Portkey?"

Hermione nodded numbly but didn't look at them; her tears were very close to breaking through their barriers.

Harry suddenly moved and grabbed Hermione's hand. "Hermione," he said weakly, "can you remember anything from your encounter with Voldemort?"

"Little bits," Hermione said quietly. "I think maybe Voldemort put some sort of Memory Charm on me before he sent me back but I can still remember little bits and pieces and the more I concentrate, the more I remember: The paddock, some of the things Voldemort said to Draco, the way Voldemort had looked at me, the pain of being bound to the trunk and ... and the Cruciatus Curse. And 'sweet dreams'..."

Harry stirred slightly in his seat. "He used the Cruciatus Curse on you?" he asked angrily.

Hermione nodded weakly. "And Nott Stunned Draco," she said, "and I don't know what they're going to do to him -" She refused to tell anyone what she had seen in her dream - and that was all it was, a dream, she told herself hopefully. Another tear ran down her cheek and Harry's grip on her hand tightened.

Dumbledore stepped forward. "From what Harry has told me," he said, "he was indeed in a world of his own. The place in which Voldemort sent him was a place where Harry had access to every piece of information Voldemort wished him to hold. Hermione was sent to the Land of No Horizon, where Voldemort has been hiding over the last two months. Miss Granger, you were sent to the Land by Portkey, which Voldemort cleverly made from your hair ribbon and he placed a small Memory Charm on you before sending you back. That Memory Charm, however, will be very easy to break when I feel the time for you to remember has arisen."

Everyone in the room watched as Dumbledore swept from the room and Hermione broke down the moment the sound of his footsteps had disappeared.

*

Three days had passed since Hermione had visited the Land of No Horizon. Draco was yet to return, but Hermione had come to remember more from the night and had begun to accept the fact that maybe Draco really had received or was to receive the Dark Mark on his arm. She knew that it wasn't likely to be his choice for she knew that Voldemort had a lot of power and could've charmed him in order to accept it being burnt into the pale skin of his forearm.

Hermione sighed and ran a hand through her hair. It was the middle of the day and she was in the study having (uncharacteristically) refused to attend classes to digest everything that had passed through her life and mind over the last couple of days. She didn't know when to expect Draco to return ... if he ever did. She also didn't know how she was going to react once the whole truth was out; she was upset as it was and seeing the putrid tattoo on Draco's skin, right in front of her, would most likely make it all seem much worse than she already saw it.

Hermione tapped her quill upon the wooden surface of the table, staring ahead through the glass window at the clear sky. Wherever Draco was, wherever the Land of No Horizon lay, she had no idea what was going on. How much had Voldemort done to Draco? Was he dead or alive? Was he branded by the Dark Mark?

There was a creak as the door behind her opened but Hermione ignored it as she gathered it would just be Harry checking on her. Harry had, after all, spent most of his time in the presence of her since his return to consciousness, calming her thoughts and beliefs and comforting her inner pain. The voice that spoke, however, was not Harry's at all.

"I hope you haven't sat in here worrying since you came back."

Hermione turned in her seat in lightning speed, hoping her ears weren't deceiving her.

"Draco!" she cried, jumping to her feet and running forward. She flung her arms around his neck, ignoring his wince of pain as he hugged her back and kissed her forehead.

"Are you OK?" she asked. "I've been so worried - ask Harry! Draco, what happened, what did Voldemort do to you?"

Draco looked at her hesitantly. "You ought to sit down," he said quietly, not really meeting her gaze, causing fear to rise in Hermione's chest; she had been expecting this sort of attitude.

Hermione slowly sat back down in her seat, not taking her eyes from him as he looked around awkwardly. "Draco, what is it -?"

"You've got to understand this, Hermione," Draco said, pacing the room, "I was never flawless. I always had a different sort of blood within me that I wasn't really proud of. What happened at the land of No Horizon was my choice and I did it for a good reason. I went there to save you and I'm doing this to save you and Potter."

Hermione's breathing was slightly shallow. "Draco, what are you -"

"I said in my letter that anything the Dark Lord did to me wouldn't change me. This has but not in the way you might think once you know what he did to me -"

"Draco," Hermione interjected fiercely, her throat once again feelings as though it had closed up, "show me your arm."

Something flashed through Draco's eyes before he lifted the left sleeve of his robes to reveal his pale skin.

"Not that one, the other one," Hermione demanded, forcing herself to contain the tears that threatened to appear. "Show me your right forearm."

"Hermione, you have to understand, I -"

"Show me, Draco!" Hermione said in a shaky voice.

Draco took a deep breath, hesitating before very slowly lifting the black material that covered his right arm. The light from the window glistened upon the smooth and creamy skin of his forearm until it landed upon the rotten image of a snake protruding from the mouth of a hideous human skull.

Hermione stood and breathed in deeply, keeping the tears out of sight as she sobbed into her hand. "You let this happen, Draco!" she wailed hopelessly, honestly not knowing what to expect any longer. It seemed nothing good could possibly take place anymore. Her world was falling to pieces. "You let this happen! I saw it!"

"Hermione, I didn't do this because he wanted me to!" Draco said hurriedly, covering the Mark. "I didn't do this for the reasons he wanted me to! We were right; he wanted me to be his new inside Death Eater, he wanted me to spy on everyone who's going against him in this bloody castle and eventually lead him in and to them, especially Potter! But I didn't do this for that reason!"

"What?" Hermione said, her heart beating frantically, not sure whether to believe what he was saying. "Did you do it in memory of your father or something?"

"Hermione, I was the one who killed my father!" Draco snapped in a tone that suggested she was stupid. "Do you really think I'd go and do this for him?"

Hermione stayed silent for a moment, not looking at him. She had seen this happen; her whole acceptance of the idea of Draco becoming a Death Eater after her vision had vanished the moment she had actually seen that it was all very real and true. She didn't know what to think; she wanted to believe that Draco had done it for a reason of good but right now she doubted she'd ever be able to accept that...

"Why did you do it then?" she asked, trying to find some bravery within her for when the answer came.

"I did it for you, for Potter and for Dumbledore," Draco said, taking a few steps closer to her and getting ready to wrap his arms around her and assure her that he wasn't evil at all. He'd done this for a good outcome.

"Why should I believe you?" Hermione said, looking back into his eyes as he advanced. She saw a flicker of pain flash through his eyes' grey depth.

"Because I love you and you love me," Draco said, standing right in front of her and making to wrap his arms around her.

"Don't touch me!" Hermione said, stepping backwards so her backside hit the table. "Draco, I can't handle this right now! I want to believe you, I really do but I can't. I don't know absolutely everything that happened while you were with Voldemort and really I don't know if I want to -"

"Dumbledore believed me and accepted it!" Draco said, unable to keep the pain out of his voice. "He said that he'd been thinking about getting an un-loyal Death Eater on his side for a while now that Snape's backed out!"

Hermione toke a deep breath. "I know that it's more than likely that this is all true but I can't handle it right now. I can't just turn around and accept the fact that my boyfriend, who I once always suspected was right in with his father and Voldemort and the Dark Arts has gone and become a Death Eater. Whether he's a loyal Death Eater or not, I really can't speculate right now even though I believe, in my heart, that he isn't. I'm sorry Draco, but I really can't do this right now. I need time to consider this whole matter. Our relationship is on hold."

With that, Hermione ran from the room and towards her own, tears now steaming waterfalls down her flushed cheeks. She slammed the door shut, happy Ginny and Luna weren't there to interrupt as she flung herself onto the bed and sobbed hopelessly into her pillows.

"Why?" she screamed into the fluffy surface. "WHY?!"

She didn't know what to think. She had seen it happen, she had accepted it, but seeing it ... seeing it all was another thing and she found herself doubting the person she loved more than anything ... doubting him in the worst way she could think of...

Yet she couldn't find a reason not to, even when he gave the explanation of his reasoning that she desperately wanted to believe the most but couldn't. She felt horribly betrayed and her trust for Draco had slipped...

A knock on the door sounded and Hermione turned over slightly. "Go away, Draco!" she sobbed loudly before returning to her pillow.

There was a squeak of the doorknob turning before a creak from the door being pushed open. Slow footsteps followed before Hermione felt the right side of her bed sink under the weight of someone else. Fingers ran soothingly through her hair and she turned her head again to see who it was.

Harry's bright green eyes looked at her warmly behind his round glasses, the fingers of his left hand still running gently through her hair.

"I knew you wouldn't have taken well to the news," he said softly, wiping a tear from her right eye. "No one but Dumbledore took well to it. Malfoy saw him first you see. Ron and I don't believe him yet. Do you?"

Hermione sobbed and rolled over so she lay on her back. "I'm not sure," she said, wiping another tear away and giving a great sniff, her entire figure shaking due to the emotional strain it was experiencing. "I want to, I just ... can't, really..."

Harry smiled and pushed a strand of her hair back behind her ear.

"I saw it you know," Hermione sobbed as Harry ran a finger down her cheek, attempting to sooth her. "I saw it! The other morning after I came back. He took it so willingly! I refused to believe it but I accepted that it could've happened in real life. Seeing it, though... I didn't want to believe it, Harry, but my boyfriend now has this putrid mark on his arm. He's got the Dark Mark and I can't handle that! I don't want to be in a relationship with someone with that horrid thing printed on his body every time he kisses or hugs me! I really don't!"

"Shhh..." Harry said, pulling her into a hug as the tears streamed down her cheeks. "I'm sure it'll all work out in the end ... somehow, whether it works out how you want it to or not..."

"He took it so willingly..." Hermione repeated in a gentler tone. "He wanted it..."

"Hermione, try not to think about those aspects of it right now," Harry said. "You're upset as it is; thinking about the somewhat Darker aspects of Malfoy's receiving of the Dark Mark wont make that any better..."

"I chose him over you, Harry," Hermione said, not really aware of the path her brain was now taking. It was a path she would normally avoid. The emotions running in her veins were taking over her sanity. "You'd never get the Dark Mark even if it meant saving the world from harm; you'd think of something less betraying."

"I would've done it to save you, though, Hermione," Harry said quietly in her ear.

Hermione leant back and looked at Harry's eyes, they were so warm, so caring. Her heart pounded in her chest as his hand came to rest on her cheek, brushing away yet another tear with his thumb.

"If Malfoy loves you as much I do than he is without a doubt telling the truth," Harry said softly. "I would've gotten that damn tattoo if it meant saving you from any form or great harm."

Hermione stared into his eyes which gleamed with truthfulness beyond her imagination. "Harry, I -"

She didn't continue for she didn't know how to express the strange emotion that had suddenly reappeared within her. Her lips crashed down on his, kissing him softly as he sat stunned a moment before responding.

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