Nothing Else Left

Chapter 4

Nothing really unusual happened over the following weeks school. Classes came and went as they always did, and as always, Hermione reached top marks in every subject. Quidditch season started and Harry, who was the captain of the team, and them practicing three times a week. Harry was still the seeker. Seamus was Keeper. Ginny and two third-years, Kori and Olivia, were the Chasers. The Beaters were, coincidently, two twins named Cliffe and Thorne. The team was excellent, probably the best in the school, although Slytherin was always a tough match.

Two years ago, a new rule was issued for Quidditch. It was ruled unfair for teams to have different broom makes, so all players on each team had the same broom model bought by the school. The school was fairly wealthy, so the teams always had the best and newest model at the start of each season. This year, the new model was the Lightspeed 300, a major breakthrough in the broom business. The broom was the fastest one ever made, able to reach speeds of up to 150 mph (although that wasn't advised) in less than ten seconds. It had the ability to change directions on a dime without losing speed. What's more is that it had a built in radar and compass. Of course, the Golden Snitch was blocked from radar, for sake of a decent game, but you were able to see other players, Bludgers, and the Quaffle.

On the morning of the first Quidditch match, Hermione woke up to find herself feeling a bit under the weather. Truthfully, that was a huge understatement, but that's what she told Harry and Ron at the breakfast table. The truth was, every movement that she made caused a sharp headache. If she moved to fast, she got dizzy and slightly nauseous. She felt as if every muscle in her body weighed thousand pounds. Several times, she had to lean against a wall for support.

On her way to the Quidditch field with Ron (Harry was already down there getting ready), she stumbled and nearly fell as a fresh wave of dizziness hit her. Ron grabbed her arm to steady her, a concerned look coming to his face. "Hermione? Maybe you should go to the hospital wing. You really don't look very good."

Hermione shut her eyes tightly against the pain of a new headache, then opened them to look at Ron. "No, I'm fine. Besides, there's no way I'm going to miss Harry's first game." She started to walk again. Ron shook his head, but didn't make a move to stop her. After all, he would've said the same thing.

Hermione searched the stands, finally spotting Draco gesturing to them. She and Ron made their way through the students, muttering "sorry" 's and "pardon me" 's as they clumsily stepped on robes and accidentally elbowed people. Hermione found that she could now walk straight, and her strides were getting stronger. She still didn't feel perfect, but she had hopes of getting better before the day ended. She poked Ron. "See? I feel better already."

Ron sighed, but nodded. As they reached Draco, he moved aside to make room for them. Hermione sat beside her boyfriend, and he kissed her temple, breathing in the scent of her hair. "How are you feeling?"

Hermione considered the simple question. "Fine," she answered truthfully, surprising herself. Just a few minutes ago, she couldn't even walk without support. Now her head was as clear as ever. She cast her thoughts aside as Ron pointed down to the field. Hermione's gaze followed his hand, and she saw that the teams were entering the field. The match was to be Gryffindor versus Slytherin. The sky was bright and there wasn't a single cloud to be seen. It was the perfect day for Quidditch. Draco had quit the Quidditch team after his first year. He knew that there were much better Seekers than him in the school, and he had been right. A second year student had replaced him. Draco had been amused when Crabbe and Goyle had joined the team as the Beaters.

The Gryffindors looked magnificent in their red robes, their hair shining in the sunlight. They met the Slytherin team, clad in dark green, halfway across the field. They shook hands, as was custom. Madame Hooch, who was refereeing this match, let loose the Snitch and the Bludgers. Not having much time before the Bludgers shoot off towards a victim, all the players hovered in the air above her. She blew her whistle and threw the Quaffle straight up. The match began.

Hermione watched intently, cheering on Thorne when he knocked a Bludger towards one of the Slytherin Chasers. Draco still rooted for his team, besides the fact that Hermione was his girlfriend. This was one agreement that they had together. Draco groaned when Ginny scored ten points for Gryffindor and Ron clapped wildly. Hermione gasped when she saw Harry rise upwards rapidly, a speeding red blur, towards a barley visible golden speck. Then, in seconds, the match was over. Gryffindor won, 160 to 0. It was the fastest game that Hermione had ever seen. She was almost disappointed until she realized that this meant she had the rest of the day free. She glanced at Draco to see him looking at her, that familiar smirk on his face. Hermione raised her eyebrows suggestively. Draco's face lit with surprise. Hermione was rarely ever the one to make a move. Hermione, seeing his face, stood up teasingly, walking over to congratulate Harry on his win.

* * *

Ron and Harry had both retired to the Gryffindor common room after the game to play wizards chess. Hermione and Draco were left alone to decide what to do. Not that there was much to decide.

Draco took Hermione's hand and led her off towards the Quidditch field again.

"Where are we going? We just came from there."

"I have a place that I've never shown to anyone else. Come on, it's not far." He led her out past the field. There was a small pond that she had never noticed before. Draco pointed to a door in the ground next to the pond. He bent down and opened it. There were steps leading down into darkness. By the door, a few steps down, Hermione saw two torches. Draco took them and gave one to Hermione. He gave a quick wave of his hand and they both lit. He took her hand again. "Come on. It's ok, I come here a lot when I need to be alone. Wait until you see it."

Hermione let herself be guided, keeping her torch away from her body. When they reached the bottom, she saw a tunnel, maybe twenty feet long in front of her. Draco led the way down the tunnel, but stopped just before they reached a turn.

"Close your eyes." Hermione obeyed, curious as to what she was about to see. She trusted Draco completely. He took her by the hand once again, and led her around the corner. They walked along for a few moments before Draco stopped. "Look."

Hermione opened her eyes, then gasped. It was beautiful. They were in a gigantic sparkling cavern. The walls were every color in the rainbow. There were stalagmites and stalactites everywhere, every single one of them shining from the light of their torches. Hermione turned to Draco, who was watching her with a pleased smile crossing his face as he took in her reaction. "It's gorgeous. How did you find it?"

Draco chuckled softly. "Potter isn't the only one who snuck away late at night to do some exploring. I found this place in my fourth year, just before the final task of the Triwizard tournament. I was moping around the grounds, thinking how I should have been picked instead of Potter, when I found myself beside the pond. I had never seen it before, so I started walking around it, and I found the door. Well, naturally, I had to see what was down there, and I ended up here. I'm glad you like it."

"I do." Hermione turned back to take in the cavern again. She put down her torch gently, careful not to extinguish the flame. She sensed Draco doing the same. Anxious to explore, Hermione started to walk towards a particularly large crystal close to the middle of the cavern. Draco stayed in step slightly behind her.

As she got closer to the crystal, she saw that it was glowing softly. 'Is that normal?' she thought. She wasn't sure if there were certain crystals that could produce their own light. It was light pink in color, the shade of the end of a sunset. As she approached, she felt a warm spot in the hollow of her throat. At first, she ignored it, assuming it was a reaction to her excitement. As she got closer, though, the spot grew to take in her entire throat. Soon it started to hurt, growing painfully hot. She could feel her skin start to burn, the smell of burnt flesh acrid in her nose. She whirled around to face Draco. She reached up a hand to touch her neck. She instantly snapped it back, the tips of her fingers throbbing from where they touched the locket.

Draco, seeing this, stepped forward to help.

"Help...it hurts..." Hermione's pained voice shot through Draco's heart as if someone had shot him. He hurried to her side. He grabbed the locket in one of his hands and ripped it from her throat. He threw it ferociously in back of him, not bothering to look where it landed. Draco took Hermione's shoulders and pulled her into an embrace.

"Are you okay?" he asked. When she didn't respond immediately, he stepped back to look at her.

She put her hands up to her throat, touching the spot where the necklace had burned her. He moved her hands away from the wound so that he could see how bad it was. His eyes narrowed as he saw that both the locket and the chain it had been on burned their shapes into her skin. There was a delicate red burn all around her neck, and sitting in the hollow, as though still there, was the shape of the tiny sun. Draco traced a slim finger along the burn, quickly pulling it away when he saw Hermione wince in pain.

"I think I'm ok. Hopefully it won't scar. Why do you think it burned me like that?" She faked a smile for his sake. She knew he didn't buy it, but she hoped it offered some comfort just the same.

"I don't know. I don't know what's been going on this year. Let's just get out of here." He led her back, not bothering to pick up the locket.