On Storm Tossed Seas

Chapter 8: Under the Stars

Hermione had just reached the tower when she realized that she'd left her cloak behind. With a sigh, she debated if she had enough time to run back down to grab it. She left her bag by the door, and began to run down the spiral staircase.

Whipping quickly around the last revolution of the stairwell, Hermione ran hard into a solid object.

She braced herself for the fall.

~**~

Deep in thought, Draco turned down the hallway. He had to pull himself together. He had made his decision. When a Malfoy made a decision, he stuck with it. He couldn't figure out why he'd bought that damn necklace. Somehow, he'd just have to get it back. He reached the foot of the stairwell, and started on his way up.

He looked up just as Hermione came around the wall, she ran into him. Without thinking he grabbed her.

A sound of surprise escaped her lips. Bolts of electricity entered her body where his arms pressed against her.

Their eyes met. Silver melted; amber liquefied. For a flicker of heartbeats, time froze.

The next instant, a sneer plastered itself on Draco's face. He opened his arms, letting Hermione's fall continue.

"Next time, Mudblood, watch where you're running." He glowered at her. "Where are you going, anyway? Afraid I wasn't coming?"

Hermione picked herself up off the ground, brushing her robes in an attempt to straighten them back out. She returned his glower. "I forgot my cloak. I was going to run back and get it."

"Do that, and we won't have time to work with the nocturnal," he spat. She answered with a heartfelt glare. A feeling of disappointment washed over him as he watched her turn to go.

"Granger, hold on."

She paused.

"You can," he hesitated, "you can borrow my cloak."

In disbelief, she turned to look at him. "Why?"

'Good question,' he thought, but answered, snidely, "Because, if we don't do this tonight, then you can forget my help with it." He pulled off his cloak, and held it out to her.

Hesitantly, she reached for it, stopping halfway. "What about you? Won't you be cold?"

"Malfoy's don't get cold," he smirked.

"Oh, forgive me. I forgot that you have ice running through yours veins."

"Look, Granger," he held the cloak out a little farther, "do you want to use my cloak, or do you want to freeze? Choose, now," he demanded.

Without further argument, she reached for the cloak. She pushed her arms through the long wool sleeves, and pulled the front closed. She glanced down and noticed the Slytherin crest emblazoned on the left breast.

"You look good in my cloak, Granger," he murmured.

Hermione's eyes shot upward. They were met by Draco's back as he continued his interrupted climb up the stairs. She swallowed. Hard. She could have sworn she had heard his voice quaver when he said that. Shrugging of the feeling, she lifted up the cloak, it was a good five inches too long, and trailed behind him.

They moved across the stone flooring towards the section of wall where they worked on their calculations. They busied themselves getting out their books and instruments. Hermione unclasped the case containing her nocturnal, and turned to Draco.

"Okay. I don't know why, but I just can't seem to get the hang of how this works. I understand that I need to line up the arm with either Ursa Minor or Ursa Major. I also get that I need to be able to sight Polaris through the center, and I know that I need to set the dial to the correct date. But, other than that, I'm a bit lost."

He felt a gentle smile tug at his lips as she blushed at this last statement, but managed to keep his face straight.

"What about the dial for Ursa Minor or Ursa Major?"

She blinked blankly at him.

"That's your problem, then. You have to remember to turn the inner dial to point to Ursa Minor or to Ursa Major first, depending on whether you want to read solar time or sidereal time."

A light appeared in her eyes. "That's what my problem was! I kept trying to read both the sidereal and solar times on the same dial." Giddy with excitement, she turned to face the sky, lifted the nocturnal, and began to fiddle with the mechanics.

Draco, struggling to ignore the cold air, felt his heart begin to beat faster as he watched her. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so carefree. Always, he was calculated. Okay, so maybe lately, around her, he'd been behaving strangely.

With a silent sigh, he gave into his inner voice, again. He stepped quietly behind Hermione, and reached his arms around her, grasping her hands, and the nocturnal. He felt her stiffen.

"Here, like this," he murmured, close to her ear. 'Damn, her hair smells nice.' He felt her shiver, or maybe it was he. Draco helped her sight Polaris through the center hole, and aided her in moving the arm until it was lined up properly with Ursa Minor.

"Now, what is the solar time?" he murmured against her ear. This time he was positive, she shivered, slightly. His knees began to feel weak.

"11:10." Her voice was breathy. She had a hard time focusing with his strong arms around her, and his warm breath caressing her cool cheek.

"Now, turn the dial to Ursa Major." His voice was getting husky; his heart was thumping in his ears. "Now, resight Pola--" his voice died out.

With his left hand, he pulled Hermione around to face him. The nocturnal clattered to the stone floor beneath them, ignored. Her cheeks were flushed; her cinnamon eyes were luminous. The fingers of his right hand reached up and gently traced along her temple, down her cheek, and back into her unruly brown hair.

They gazed into each other's eyes, neither wanting to interrupt the moment by speaking. Unconsciously, Hermione wet her lips with her tongue. Lightening shot through Draco. He tore his gaze from her eyes, glancing down at her now glistening lips, before staring into her eyes again. 'I want to kiss her,' the thought shot through his brain.

With a deep, ragged moan, he broke his eye contact with her a second time, and enveloped her in his arms, crushing her against his chest. He could feel her body shaking. Part of him suddenly feared that her shaking was from fear; fear of him. Closing his eyes tightly he attempted to banish the thought from his mind. Fear. No, he did not want her to fear him. But how could he expect anything but fear from her? The path his life followed embraced fear. He was sure she could both feel and hear how fast his heart was beating. It felt like it would tear from his chest. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself to pull away from her.

Hermione couldn't believe what had just happened. It felt good, though, being wrapped in Draco's arms. Her heart was racing. She took a deep breath. He smelled so good. Her arms, finally, wrapped themselves around Draco's body and she felt his muscles relax; his whole body relax. Resting her head against his chest, she could hear his heart. Its furious tempo matched hers. Slowly, she stopped shaking; so, he was nervous, too. She allowed a small smile to grace her face.

"Gran--Hermione?" he whispered, hardly daring to believe that she hadn't pulled away; hardly daring to believe that her arms were tightly wrapped about him.

"Hmmm?"

He loosened his grip on her the slightest pulling back from her a bit. His right hand reached up and cupped her cheek. His eyes bore into hers; she felt as if he was penetrating her soul. His thumb slowly rubbed against her soft cheek. He glanced down to her necklace. Now he was glad he'd given it to her. He'd made the right choice, at least about that.

"Hermione," he said again, to feel the sound of her name on his lips. His hand left her cheek, and reached down to pick up the necklace around her neck. "There should have been more to that note."

"Huh? What note?" Her brows knit together in confusion.

Taking a deep breath, he allowed that new voice to take over. "I meant to write more." She opened her mouth to speak; he placed a finger gently across her lips. "Shhh--let me speak." He closed his eyes, briefly. "I meant to say--"

A loud bang interrupted him. Hermione and Draco whipped their heads towards the sound. A red-faced Ron and a pale-faced Harry, wands gripped tightly in their hands, stood in the open doorway. They stared slack-jawed at the sight before them.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

Harry and Ron had finished playing Exploding Snap with Fred and George. They were in the midst of playing a game of Wizard's Blitz Chess* before they had to leave for Astronomy class.

"Queen to B7," Ron shouted. The piece slid across the board, decimating Harry's pawn.

"Knight to E3," Harry yelled, grinning at Ron as his Bishop was pulverized.

"Castle, C3," bellowed Ron.

"Castle, C3."

Ron glared as he watched Harry's Castle pound his own.

Still glaring, Ron yelled, "Knight to C3." He watched in glee as his Knight bore down on Harry's Castle.

Harry glanced at the **chess clock; he had five seconds left to finish the game. With a smirk, he announced, "Queen to C2! Checkmate!"

Ron glared; Harry continued to smirk.

Slowly, Ron extended a hand; even slower, Harry extended his. Their eyes narrowed. Suddenly, both boys broke into huge grins.

"Good game, Harry!" Ron congratulated, giving Harry's outstretched hand a firm shake.

"Couldn't have done it without all those lessons," he replied, returning Ron's grip.

"So, shall we play another? It's only 11:07. We could easily play 3 more games before class." Ron started to set up the regenerated pieces.

"Sure." Harry reached over to reset the clocks.

"Hey, guys." The boys turned their heads to see Lavender standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Yeah, what?" Harry queried, reaching for a few pawns.

"Where'd Hermione go?"

"She had to complete her navigation homework with Ferret Boy," Ron informed her.

Lavender rolled her eyes at Ron's juvenile name calling. It was common knowledge that she found Draco stunningly handsome.

"Why do you need to know?" Harry asked.

"Well, I noticed that her bag was gone, but she left her cloak behind. She'll probably need it, don't you think?"

"Yeah, she will. Ron, let's take it up to her. She might appreciate an excuse to not have to be alone with Fer--Malfoy," he corrected, with a glance at Lavender. "Do you have her cloak?"

Lavender produced it from behind her back, walked to the table, and handed it to Harry. She thanked him, and headed back up to her dorm.

"Well, let's go." They raced up to their room, grabbed their bags, and cloaks and left for the Astronomy Tower.

"So," Ron began, fingering his wand, "what hex shall we put on Ferret Boy when we reach the tower?"

"None."

"Oh, come on! It's the perfect spot. Filch never comes up there, and Hermione won't care. She'd probably be grateful."

"Ron, Hermione will let us know if she needs assistance. She's a smart witch."

"Well, it would still be fun to hex him," Ron pouted.

The two boys continued down the hallway for a few minutes before reaching the foot of the stairwell. They wound their way up to the top of the tower. When they reached the door, Ron turned the handle and pushed it open. He stepped through and froze. A moment later, Harry stepped beside Ron, and followed suit.

Across the expanse of the stone floor, they saw Hermione, arms wrapped around Draco. He had one arm around her, and was cupping her cheek with the other hand. They watched in stunned silence as Draco's hand slipped off her cheek and picked up her necklace. He muttered something to her, and she answered. Frozen, they watched as Draco opened his mouth to speak again, putting a finger across Hermione's lips.

By this point, they both had their wands out. Ron, who was still holding the door, released it behind him, letting it slam against the stonewall. The reverberation echoed around the nearly empty platform. Hermione and Draco whipped their heads towards the sound.

"Let go of her, Malfoy," Harry hissed, his face white with anger. He stepped forward, Ron, red-faced, keeping pace with him. "I don't know what spell you cast over her, but let her go, now." His low-pitched voice took on a dangerous note, and sparks began to sputter from the end of his wand.

Hermione, still in Draco's arms, went white. Forcefully, she pushed herself away from Draco, who tried in vain to keep a hold of her. In confusion, she looked from Harry's vivid emerald eyes to Draco's silver ones. Slowly, she backed away, until she was pressed against the low parapet behind her. Draco's eyes never left her. He almost seemed to have forgotten that Harry and Ron were standing there.

"Ron, go get Hermione," Harry instructed in a low voice. Ron strode over to her. "Malfoy, stopping staring at her, and answer me. What the hell did you do to her?"

Suddenly aware of his surroundings, he snapped his attention to Harry, who was dangerously close. Reacting with the instinct of one raised in a Death Eater's home, Draco stepped back, flicking his wand up simultaneously.

"So, are we to duel then, Potter?" he sneered.

Without pausing to answer Harry muttered, "Inligo restis." Ropes shot from the end of his wand flying across the short distance between Draco and him. The ropes quickly snaked their way around Draco, who managed to free his wand arm before being completely bound.

He tapped the rope and muttered, "Cassium." The ropes changed into a spider web-like material, which he quickly broke through. He flicked his wand at Harry, and incanted, "Abundonis!"

Fur sprouted on Harry's face, quickly spreading down his neck and arms.

"Parsinus abunda!" Ron shouted, from behind Draco. Leeks began to sprout from Draco's ears.

He spun, pointed his wand at Ron, and screamed, "Crucio!"

Ron, screaming, fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

In stunned disbelief, Draco dropped his wand.

Hermione ran to Ron's side, eyes wide with shock.

Harry stared at his downed friend before joining him at Hermione's side.

The sound of silence was punctuated by the whimpers coming from a shaking, recovering Ron.

"I--I didn't--I didn't mean--" Draco backed away from the fallen Ron, eyes filled with terror at what he'd just done.

Hermione, eyes blazing, imperiously stood. She stepped around Ron, who was being lifted into a sitting position by Harry, and advanced on Draco.

"Malfoy, that was uncalled for." She reached up and ripped the necklace from her throat. "You were trying to tell me that this was from you, correct?" She waited for a mute Draco to give a miserable nod of his head. "Well, I don't want it. I want nothing to do with you. We will meet here every night to complete our navigation homework; we will meet Monday nights after dinner to complete our homework for our sailing class. Other than that, I don't want to see you or speak to you outside of class. Is that understood?" Without waiting for a reply, she shoved the necklace into Draco's hand, removed his cloak, unceremoniously dropping it to the ground, lifted her head, and turned.

Harry had one of Ron's arms around his shoulders; Hermione lifted Ron's other arm. The three left a miserably mute Draco standing alone on the platform.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

"Ron, are you okay?" Hermione asked, worry filling her brown eyes.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he mumbled.

Hermione shared a worried glance with Harry over Ron's hanging head. They picked up their pace a bit.

"Madam Pomfrey," Hermione called, as the three stumbled through the double doors of the Infirmary.

"Oh my, what happened?" Madam Pomfrey questioned, taking in the sight of a furry Harry and a pale Ron.

"Malfoy cu--" Harry was interrupted by Hermione.

"We had some wand problems," she shot a glance at Harry, who gave her a questioning look.

"Well, no matter, let's get you two boys in bed and fixed up."

Madam Pomfrey bustled about tucking Ron and Harry into a couple of clean cots. She rushed away to her storage area and retrieved some bottles. After having both Harry and Ron down some particularly nasty potions, she gave Hermione permission to stay for a few moments.

"Hermione, why did you stop me from telling Madam Pomfrey about what Draco did?" Harry, decidedly less furry after taking a potion, sat up in his bed.

"He didn't mean to do it," she glanced across Harry's bed to the adjacent one, where the sleeping form of Ron was. "Didn't you see his reaction when he realized what he'd done?"

"That's entirely besides the point. You have no idea the pain involved in that curse, Hermione." His voice lowered to a whisper. "I do. I know how it feels." His voice came back strong. "We have to tell on him. If he knows how to do that curse, it's likely he knows the other two. I mean, his father's a Death Eater, who's to say--"

"Can we deal with all of this tomorrow?" she interrupted. "Look, get some rest. I'm going to go back up to the Tower and grab our bags. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Hermione helped Harry get tucked back into the bed, gave him a peck on the forehead, glanced at Ron, and left to head back to the Tower.

Now that the shock of what had occurred to Ron was diminishing, she was able to allow other thoughts entrance. Draco had given her the necklace. Her hand reached for her neck to finger her necklace. She fumbled for it a moment before recalling that she'd given it back to him. Why had he given her the necklace? There had to be a reason. And, being Draco, she refused to believe it was a good reason.

He'd been about to tell her something, something about the note. She wished Harry and Ron hadn't interrupted. Yet, she was glad they had. The emotions she had been experiencing before they burst onto the platform had been confusing. After all, this was Malfoy for whom these emotions were being felt. She had held hate for him for so long, that to feel anything else was uncomfortable.

Had she really enjoyed being held by him? If the speed of her heart was any indication, she did. But how could she? This was the jerk who'd tormented her and her friends relentlessly for four years; the son of the Death Eater; the Mudblood hater. And now he had cursed one of her best friends. As she thought about it, her anger built.

She finally reached the top of the flight of stairs to the Tower. Her classmates would be arriving for class in fifteen minutes. She certainly wasn't in the mood for class tonight. Maybe she'd go to the library. She reached the door of the Tower and put her hand on the handle.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

Draco watched as the three Gryffindors left for the Infirmary. The door shut, and he was alone. He slumped to the ground in a heap. He wanted to cry, but the Malfoy in him refused to let him. The Malfoy in him was proud of what he'd done. But the look in her eyes -- it would haunt him forever.

He'd been so close to giving completely into that voice. It had felt good. Never had he felt emotions so clearly as he did that night. Vehemently, he choked back another sob. He was not going to cry. He couldn't allow it. Tears were for weaklings. Yet, he'd already allowed tears to escape his control just last week. He could easily give in tonight.

Slowly, he pushed himself up from the ground grabbing his cloak and pulling it on in a fluid motion. He moved across the paving stones and picked up his wand. Pointing the wand at himself, he muttered a counter-curse, and the leeks vanished from his ears.

He moved to the parapet and gazed across the night sky lost in thought. Should he just give in completely to his inner voice? He knew what the voice wanted. It wanted him to fall in love with the Mudblood, with Hermione. He knew that. But the Malfoy in him fought with every bit of evil strength it could muster.

He could list a variety of reasons why falling in love with Hermione would be bad. His father would kill him; his 'friends' would abandon him; he would lose his social status at school; he'd have to make nice to Potter; the list could go on. On the other hand, he couldn't come up with a list of reasons to let himself fall in love with her. The choice was so plainly obvious, yet this ridiculous voice wouldn't let him make it. The stupid voice kept causing him to do things.

It was the voice that made him take Hermione to the Infirmary last Sunday. It was the voice that made him return the cloak. Holding her hand had also been the voice's idea. The necklace? He didn't even want to think about it. He opened his hand, and looked at the brilliantly twinkling globe. The voice had insisted that this was a good thing to give to her. The voice had also insisted that he take her into his arms tonight; it had insisted that he confess his thoughts and feelings.

But the voice had eventually abandoned him when Harry and Ron had shown up. The Malfoy, the Malfoy who was being primed to become a Death Eater, had come back in full force. He couldn't explain why he'd uttered the Cruciatus Curse in any other way. That summer his father had made Draco practice that curse, and many others, on many muggles until it had become second nature.

With a heavy sigh, he closed his fist over the necklace and shoved it deep into his cloak pocket. As he walked over to get his cloak, he stepped on something. Looking down, he saw Hermione's nocturnal. A flood of emotions washed over him as he reached down to pick it up. He remembered the way her small frame fit so well into his larger one. Warmth filled him when he remembered touching her face; and how good it felt when she finally wrapped her arms around him.

He stayed lost in those emotions until he remembered the curse. His mood plummeted. Uttering that simple word had changed everything. He knew that she'd never speak to him again, except for the forced contact that they would be required to make during this year.

He took her nocturnal over to her bag, and placed it back into its case. For a moment he debated on taking Hermione's bag to her, but realized he would be unable to do so. He turned and went back to his bag, anger now boiling inside him. He grabbed his bag and swung it over his shoulder. Reveling in his anger, he stalked across the empty platform. In fifteen minutes, students would begin arriving. He was in no mood for class. He'd find someplace else to go, maybe the empty classroom. He reached for the door, putting his hand on the handle.