Sweet Sixteen

*~*Chapter Seven*~*

Hermione timidly walked up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower. She was ten minutes late, but in no real hurry to go. Hermione had been so embarrassed she didn't show her face for the rest of the day. At one point, the door to her dormitory was left open and she had observed that the conversations rested squarely on her. Many times she heard someone ask 'So, Harry, Ron, did Hermione really say that?' But all that returned the question was silence. Hermione glanced at her clock, and saw she had two minutes to get to the Astronomy Tower. She descended down the stairs at 7:58, all chit chat ceased while everyone's eyes bore into her own accusingly. All except, Harry and Ron, who had taken a great liking to their shoes. She didn't know why, but she had the sudden urge to go and apologize. Without a second thought, she moved in.

"Harry, Ron, I'm...."

"Save it Granger," Ron cut her off. 'Wow! Clearly not the right choice' thought Hermione. Without a glance back, Ron stormed up to his dorm. Hermione expected Harry to as well, but he just stood there staring at her, and if possible, Hermione felt even guiltier. Hermione was jolted out of her memory by a door colliding with her face.

She slowly opened the door to the Astronomy Tower, and saw Draco Malfoy sitting on the edge looking rather irritated.

"I said eight Granger, not eight-thirty," Malfoy said in a low voice.

Suddenly, Hermione's temper was rising; she had completely forgotten it was his fault in the first place.

"You! You promised me nothing personal, and now all of Gryffindor hates me! How could you do that? You slimy, self-centered, conniving, egotistical...."

"I think the word your searching for is Slytherin," Malfoy added with a smirk. Hermione lunged at him. "What, are you going to slap me?" Malfoy asked mockingly.

She took her hand down and replied, "I would, but shit splatters." She looked down and for the first time realized that there was a rolled up carpet, which looked like it had its fair share of beatings, and a Sneakoscope.

"What's all this about?" Hermione asked, momentarily forgetting her rage.

"Well, we're leaving tonight aren't we?" He replied nonchalantly.

"I thought we were...."

"Hogsmede is tomorrow, Granger, if we leave tonight, there will be more time," Malfoy replied, sounding slightly annoyed. Malfoy knelt down and started untying the carpet. Hermione was watching him soundlessly as he did this, until she realized what it was.

"Malfoy! How did you get that flying carpet? They're completely illegal!" asked a surprised Hermione.

"My father gave it to me for my fifteenth birthday," Malfoy replied as he sat on the front of the carpet, and stuck the Sneakoscope into his robes. He looked behind him.

"Aren't you coming?" Draco asked impatiently. Hermione just stared at him.

"I'm a bit wary of flying," Hermione said almost inaudibly, while picking at the hem of her shirt. Malfoy chuckled a bit.

"It's okay Granger if you fall off, the carpet will swoop down after you. So stop being a pansy and come on!" Malfoy said forcefully, while grabbing her arm and pulling her down on the dust-covered carpet. Before she had time to object, Malfoy pulled at the front of the carpet, and they were off. Hermione instinctively wrapped her hands around Malfoy's back. He either didn't notice or didn't care.

They had been flying over treetops, and houses for what seemed like hours now. Finally Hermione spoke up.

"Hay Malfoy, are we almost there?" she asked, while trying to lean over and see his face.

"Just a few more minutes," he replied.

Just as he had said, a mere moment later, they were flying above one of the loveliest houses Hermione had ever seen. The gigantic house itself was white, with a light green trim. Ivy was flowing from the house in an elegant state. The windows were that of a French design, and thousands of flowers littered the green ground. Draco landed the carpet behind one of the many Hibiscus bush on the front lawn.

"Malfoy, I thought Viktor's body was in the back?" asked a confused Hermione.

"It is. But, they have a security system. If we so much as lightly touch the floor, it will sound, they will awake, and our plan will have failed. Now follow me," he replied dryly.

Hermione did as she was told, and followed Malfoy around to the side of the house. He stopped just short of the circuit box, pulled out his wand, and opened the front of it. Inside were labels of different security systems. One was labeled: Back, porch, front door. Malfoy tapped his wand against the wire, and whispered a spell she couldn't quite catch. The wire split apart, and Malfoy closed the box quickly and turned to face Hermione.

"Alright, I just disabled the alarm. We need to go into the house and find a key shaped like a Golden Snitch. Then we will head to the back, use a digging spell, find whatever lover boy down there wants you to see, and we're off. Any questions?" Malfoy asked after a thought.

"Yes. Why are we looking for a key? What room is the key in? And what if his parents wake up?" asked Hermione in one breath.

"His parents put a lock on the coffin, you cannot open it without it. The key is most likely downstairs, and if his parents catch us....run. Let's go." Without another word, the pair of them set off for the front door. Malfoy silently turned the knob on the delicate handle and entered. The house was dark and quiet, a grandfather clock sounded in the distance. They continued forward and stopped just outside the kitchen. Hermione broke away from Malfoy to search for the key. Hermione lit up her wand, and not long after, Malfoy did the same with his. There were several drawers to her right, and Hermione decided to check there first. All she found, however, were papers.

She must have been looking for another half hour before Malfoy tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around and Malfoy was holding up a gold chain, and at the end of it was a pressed Golden Snitch. 'Let's go,' he mouthed. Malfoy opened the back door and slid into the night. They walked until they found Viktor's headstone. The writing on it was not visible due to the dark. Hermione and Malfoy raised their wands and whispered the digging charm simultaneously. At once dirt started to fly in all directions. After about five minutes, you could start seeing the coffin. Suddenly, a light came on from within the house. Hermione and Malfoy stiffened as they heard movement. They both glanced at each other.

"Malfoy," whispered Hermione, "What should we do?" Malfoy looked down. There was no more dirt covering the coffin.

"Jump in," he said urgently. Malfoy didn't wait for a reply, but instead jumped on top of the wooden box. Hermione glanced behind her, and saw the screen door opening. She gasped and hoped in the large hole. They heard the sound of feet touching the grass. The pair of feet stopped short of where Malfoy and Hermione were. Two voices were talking, but Hermione couldn't understand what they were saying.

The people finally left a couple minutes later. Malfoy turned to look at her.

"Well... are you going to open it up, or not?" he asked sounding annoyed. Hermione walked over to the side of the mahogany wood, and found a Snitch looking indent. She held out her hand to Malfoy for the key. He handed it over. Hermione placed the key over the indent and turned it to the right. The box opened up in the front, and Viktor's cold lifeless body was revealed. Hermione put her hand over her nose as the smell was almost too much for her to take. Finally she got over it and picked up his left leg and started looking under it. Nothing. She glanced over at Malfoy. He was casually sitting on the dirt, watching her with keen interest. She just shook it off, as if she really expected him to help. Hermione started continuing her search for...whatever it was. She looked under his left foot. Nothing. The left side of his face: again nothing. Just when she thought she looked under the left of everything there was a left to, she slapped her forehead. She forgot his arm! She slowly turned his arm over (he had been dead for a while) and what she saw made her drop his hand, as if it had been soaked in acid. Branded on his arm was a hideous picture of a black skull with a snake coming out of it's mouth.

"Oh my god," breathed Hermione "He was a Death Eater!"