My Soul Mate

Chapter Four - Getting Seduced...

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"Malfoy! Wait, Malfoy, wait!"

Draco spun around in surprise. Hermione was shoving the branches of the trees and running towards him. The sun had set properly by now and the moon and the stars twinkled above the treetops.

Hermione reached Draco, out of breath.

"I thought you weren't coming," said Draco.

"But I think you had a point," said Hermione in between huge gulps of air.

"Which one?"

"All of them."

"I don't get you, Granger," said Draco, irritated.

"You're right," said Hermione, pretending to be thoughtful. "I shudder to think what would happen to me if the Death Eaters found me."

"But you said it would be the same thing if you were with me," said Draco coldly.

"Aren't you a Death Eater?" said Hermione with a cocky smile.

Draco narrowed his eyes at her. "I am," he said quietly, but then turning the point of conversation, he retorted, "Then why me? Why not the other Death Eaters?"

Hermione couldn't help noticing how his face fell when he said that he indeed was a Death Eater. That struck her as a bit odd. Isn't he happy being a Death Eater? wondered Hermione.

"Come back to earth, Granger," said Draco.

"What?"

"Why me?" Draco asked again.

"You said it yourself," said Hermione sweetly. "If you wanted to hurt me, you could have done so within these ten hours. But you didn't. And I don't think the other Death Eaters would have behaved in the same way."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her. "And you believed me?" he said inquiringly.

"Do I have any other choice?"

"No," said Draco curtly. " I'm glad you saw the truth so quickly. Let's go."

Hermione exhaled heavily. "All right..." she said.

Draco started walking in the pitch darkness, feeling for roots and branches, Hermione following him. Their pace was extremely slow, due to the constant obstacles and the lack of light.

Hermione wanted to light her wand but that would be very stupid, and she knew it. Meanwhile, her head was swimming with questions unanswered. Am I doing the right thing? Should I actually try to seduce Malfoy? He's a bastard and seducing him will mean selling all that I have to him. Should I do it? What will Harry and Ron say if they come to know about it? On the other hand, what if I can't seduce him?

And at the same time - Malfoy killed Hagrid, and the situation is definitely shady. I must get to the bottom of this. Hagrid was a good man and my friend. I owe it to him.

And then there were - What was the thing with Malfoy and Voldemort? Why was he hiding from Voldemort?

Hermione shook her head. There were so many questions and no answers, and if she wanted the answers she would have to carry on. Absent-minded with her own queries, Hermione didn't take notice of the root indention from the ground and tripped over it.

She slammed into Draco and fell back. Draco jerked forwards.

"Watch where you're moving, Mudblood." hissed Draco angrily. He turned around and found Hermione sprawled on the ground.

"I am sorry," mumbled Hermione. "I tripped over a root I didn't see."

Draco rolled his eyes, though in the shadowy dark, Hermione couldn't see. He stretched out his arm in front of her. "Now, get up!" he ordered.

Hermione held his cold hand and got up. Draco held her at the waist to steady her. "Now, be careful," he said in a considerably softer tone. He turned away and set off again.

Hermione stared at Draco's back. She shuddered inwardly when Draco touched her. He had touched her that very afternoon and no doubt, she liked it. Yet after his cruel demeanor had reappeared later on, everything about him seemed exceedingly cold. But she had to get used to that now.

Helpless, Hermione shed a silent tear.

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There was a knock on the door of the Sixth Year boys' dormitory of Gryffindor. Ron answered it. He looked up at a handsome young friend's face; a friend whom he had been known for the past two and a half years.

"Sirius!" he yelled, taken aback.

Harry looked up surprised and at the same time, the knot in his heart loosened with the very sight of his godfather. It was indeed Sirius.

Sirius smiled and stepped in, Dumbledore behind him.

"It's Black!" yelled Dean. "Sirius Black!"

"Professor!" screamed Seamus.

Harry couldn't care less that his dorm-mates had started panicking and shouting, trying to hide inside the bathroom or picking up heavy objects for self-defense.

"I must ask you to calm down, students," said Dumbledore over the ado. "Sirius won't hurt you."

"You're nuts -" started Dean but Neville elbowed him to stop. Since Neville was in the Department of Mysteries last year with Harry, Sirius's appearance didn't take him by surprise.

"I am aware, children," said Dumbledore, "but I must insist upon calming yourselves." He turned to Sirius, "You take Harry and Ron out of the Tower, Sirius, I'll explain to them."

Sirius nodded. "Come on, boys," he said.

Harry and Ron followed him out of their dormitory.

"What's up, Sirius?" asked Harry. "What are you doing here?"

There wasn't any need to ask how all of them were; they were writing to each other every alternate day. Their intimacy had increased, when Sirius narrowly escaped death from the infernal veil in the Department of Mysteries. It had been everybody's effort during the summer holidays that brought Sirius back. Dumbledore had invented a useful little incantation, so that the recently 'veiled' men could be brought back.

"I am in the missionary to find Hermione," said Sirius.

"You are?" said Ron in incredulity. "I am too!"

Harry felt a stab of annoyance. "Where are we going, Sirius?" he asked.

"Any classroom will do," replied Sirius as he turned to a corridor on his right. "I have something important for you."

"What?" chorused Harry and Ron.

"Let's find a classroom first," said Sirius.

Ahead was an Astronomy classroom in tower. Sirius reached for the knob and clicked it open. Harry and Ron followed Sirius in, closing the door behind them.

"So, what's the story?" asked Harry as he sat on a wooden chair.

"Long one," said Sirius, as he and Ron seated themselves. "But the point of it is, we've probably found where Hermione and Malfoy are.

"You have?" yelled Ron. "That's great!"

"Yeah!" Harry chimed in. "Where is she?"

"Hey," said Sirius, "I said 'probably'."

Harry and Ron's enlightened faces fell. "What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"I just heard that they could be in Africa."

"What?"

"Yeah," said Sirius. "That's where Alexander Malfoy was during his hiding."

There was a stunned silence for a moment or two.

"Alexander Malfoy?" said Harry, confused.

"Yes. He was a friend of your dad's and mine."

"What!"

"Don't get it wrong, Harry," said Sirius quickly. "Alex was not like any other Malfoy. He was good man. But a Death Eater."

"No surprises in the last part," said Harry spitefully, in spite of himself.

"Hear me out, Harry," pressed Sirius. "Alex was a Slytherin, like all the Malfoys -"

"And a Death Eater like all the Malfoys," Harry said cynically.

"And in the same year your dad and I were in," said Sirius sharply, annoyed by his grandson's prejudice against the Malfoys. "He became a Death Eater as a tradition in the Malfoy family. He didn't like killing, not at all."

"Surprises in the last part," said Ron rancorously.

"He loathed Voldemort," continued Sirius, ignoring Ron's flinch. "He wanted to be free from Voldemort's grasp. That's how he came to create and write about the Emancipation Potion for Death Eaters."

"As if the potion came into use," said Harry derisively.

"It hasn't, all right," agreed Sirius. "But Dumbledore thinks it might. Anyway, Voldemort learnt about this and set out to kill Alex. But Alex got wind of this and he fled, leaving the recipe of the Emancipation Potion with a publisher. He went to Africa. And when Dumbledore learnt about the potion, he persuaded the publisher to print copies. He did. Voldemort was trapped. He left Alex for a while and destroyed all copies. He couldn't trust his Death Eaters with this matter. But one was left, guarded by Dumbledore. Then Voldemort found Alex and," he choked for a second, "and he killed him."

Harry couldn't feel sorry for Alexander Malfoy. Nor could Ron.

"What does this have to do with Hermione and Malfoy being in Africa?" asked Harry.

"I know for a fact that Malfoy, Draco Malfoy was very close to Alex. He might be there..."

Harry nodded. "I hope we find Hermione soon," he said, ignoring Sirius's reference to Draco. "I'm worried about her."

"Yeah, I am too," said Ron. In spite of himself, he added with a grin, "Thought not nearly as Harry."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "You and Hermione are going out?" he asked, grinning.

"No!" said Harry, a faint blush creeping to his cheeks.

"But you'd like to?"

Harry didn't answer.

"Come on, Harry," said Ron, playfully punching him on the arm. "Tell us. You like Hermione, don't you?"

"I ... I don't know."

"Good," said Ron. "Hermione is already going out with Terry Boot."

"What?!" shrieked Harry. "She can't!"

Ron grinned. "Sirius," he said, "Harry really wants to go out with Hermione."

Harry narrowed his eyes, but there was no denying Ron was right.

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Draco and Hermione walked on in the forest with a slow pace. It was so dark they could hardly see the moonlight, let alone find their own shadows and the rare patches of silver moonlight didn't help.

Both of them had their minds buzzing with worries. Draco cursed the epoch. He shuddered to think what would become of him if the Death Eaters found him (little did he know that the Death Eaters wouldn't arrive before the following sunrise). His life had always been an easy one; save for Uncle Alex's death ... those were the worst days of his life. But he never knew how his uncle died, only that he was murdered. Draco didn't even know why.

Hermione, on the other hand, was having a hard time of her own - she missed Harry and Ron, and wondered what they were doing now and what actions would have they taken in order to rescue her. But what worried her most was her life now with Draco Malfoy. She hated him like anything and if twenty-four hours earlier someone would have told her that she would be trying to seduce the Slytherin Prince, she would have laughed her head off.

In spite of herself, she couldn't help but wonder why Draco was doing all this - killing Hagrid, kidnapping her and running from Voldemort and the Death Eaters. And why Voldemort had nothing to do with this.

Suddenly, Draco's hand flew out and stopped Hermione in her tracks.

"What?" she asked him, surprised.

"Hush," whispered Draco. "Don't make any noise."

"Why?"

"I think I felt something move right ahead."

Hermione's eyes widened. Could it be the Death Eaters?

Draco was thinking along the same lines.

But they weren't Death Eaters, not even close.

They strained their ears for more of the sound, trying to catch it from the buzzing of insects and chirping of birds.

And it came again, more conspicuous. Both of them heard it this time. It was the rustle of dry leaves accompanied by a spitting and hissing sound.

"It doesn't seem to be a human," whispered Hermione, hiding behind Draco's muscular form.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think it was the sound of any human?" he asked Hermione, shifting his body and turning his face slightly left.

A spot of moonlight illuminated Draco's face as he turned. Hermione couldn't help but notice how his hair glimmered in the light.

"Didn't you expect it to be the Death Eaters?" she asked him quietly, in his ear.

Draco raised both his eyebrows this time. Why would Granger be so close to me willingly? However, he liked the way her warm breath blew over his cold skin. He turned his face more towards the left and allowed a small smile, which still had traces of a smirk, to form on his lips. Hermione could see this, as the moonlight fell directly on his face. She felt that Draco looked rather good when he smiled.

Taking advantage of the situation, she said, "I've never seen you actually smile before."

Draco's smile widened. "You're the first one in ages to make me smile," he said, "so it's no wonder you haven't."

"You should smile more often," said Hermione in a seductive whisper. "You look good."

Draco was now grinning. "You are the last person I ever thought would be telling me that I look good," he said casually. "And I don't have to smile like an idiot all the time to look good. I already do."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

Hissss

The sound came again. Draco's smile vanished and Hermione jumped a bit.

"You're right," said Draco. "It is definitely not human."

"Then what could it be?"

"An anaconda?" suggested Draco.

"Malfoy!"

"Hey! I was only joking," said Draco, alarmed at her reaction. "Anacondas dwell near rivers, not bushes and trees."

Hermione clutched her chest and her breath had caught in her throat. "Never, ever," she told Draco threateningly, "make such a joke with me, Malfoy. You scared the hell out me," she added after a moment.

Draco grinned again. "I have knack for scaring you, don't I?" he said.

Hermione's eyes flashed in the dark. She didn't want to recollect what had scared her earlier that afternoon. "I assume you've been to Africa before, Malfoy," she said, turning the course of conversation, "since you so confidently tell me there aren't any rivers nearby."

"Many times." said Draco, a bit proudly. "I used to come here frequently with my uncle, Alexander Malfoy."

"What!"

Draco furrowed his eyebrows. "This isn't that bad as you think," he said defiantly. "It was my uncle's farmhouse back there."

"I am not speaking about that, Malfoy," said Hermione impatiently. "Did you say Alexander Malfoy?"

"Yeah," said Draco, confused. "Why?"

Hermione bit on her lower lip. "I think I have heard about him before ... or read about him in the library ... I don't remember ... did he invent something, Malfoy?" she added with an afterthought.

"Honestly, Granger," he snorted, "I think too much reading in the library has turned you into a nutter."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "I'm sure I've read about him somewhere, Malfoy," she said obstinately. "I think Snape had also mentioned in class someday ... but I don't just remember!"

"All right. But there isn't any need to get so -"

But what wasn't needed, Hermione never found out. At that moment the hissing sound issued again, much clearer this time.

"What can it be?" said Hermione uneasily.

"Definitely a snake," said Draco.

Hermione's eyes widened fearfully. "Then why isn't it attacking us?"

"Because we haven't done anything for the past five minutes except chat," said Draco impassively.

"Are you crazy?" said Hermione, her voice shaking now.

"Come on, Granger," said Draco exasperatedly. "It's only a snake, for Christ's sake! You're behaving as if it were a dragon."

In spite of herself, Hermione couldn't help but feel a bit calmer at Draco's confidence. And after all, she was a witch. She needn't feel afraid of a snake when she had her wand with her.

"It's both, Malfoy," said Hermione sarcastically, yet oily, "there's a snake out there and a Slytherin in front of me, whose name means dragon."

Draco grinned again. "Beware of serpents and dragons."

Before Hermione could reply, the hissing sound came again and the rustling of leaves grew more impatient.

Hermione was positive the snake had advanced and, without any thought, she waved her wand.

"Lumos!"

The light lit the entire area and what Hermione saw, made her blood chill in her very veins.

A long, shiny black mamba was slithering about a tree, looking quite agitated.

Draco stiffened. He knew for a fact that mambas were the most feared snakes in Africa - their poison was deadly.

The sudden light had alarmed the Lucifer and it charged forwards. What happened for the next few moments were a blur of activities in which the snake attacked Draco, who was still as a statue in shock, thereby unable to react and Hermione shrieked wildly.

Draco howled in pain and fell to the ground. White-hot poison was running down his veins from his knee, paralyzing that very limb. His head started swooning and he knew no more.

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Hermione screeched and watched in horror as the serpent struck Draco and charged towards her. But she wasn't a smart witch for nothing.

She brandished her wand and yelled, "Reducto!" and in front of her very eyes, the mamba blasted into a hundred pieces

Without wasting any time, she kneeled down next to Draco, who lay fainted on the ground. She murmured, "Lumos," and her wand emitted a thin streak of yellow light. She saw blood oozing out his left knee, and Hermione panicked; she had never encountered such a situation before.

But having a well-found knowledge in Healing, Hermione racked her brains for an anti-toxin spell. She strained herself until she remembered an appropriate one and performed the incantation on Draco.

She watched, petrified, as the yellow venom oozed out along with the blood from Draco's wound. She couldn't stop the bleeding now. Doing that would mean sealing the poison in Draco's blood.

She let Draco bleed for a minute or two before performing a spell to stop the blood flow. Draco was still unconscious. Hermione didn't know what to do with him now in the dark. But whatever she would do, she needed more light than the weak wand one.

"Incendio!"

Immediately the leaves and twigs on the ground caught fire, even though they were damp. Not for the first time, Hermione was glad that she had a specialty of lighting waterproof, bluebell flames. The light from the flames wasn't very bright, but much better. Hermione turned to Draco. She touched his wrist and drew her hand back with a gasp; Draco was stone cold. Hermione swallowed as apprehension overtook her. Is Malfoy dead?

Hermione looked wildly around. She would be a complete goner if Draco died. She would be left alone in an alien place with dangerous animals and no one to be with presently in the dark. Even though Draco wasn't a great companion - how could he be? - he was of some help. Hermione didn't have an Apparation license - she didn't even know how to Apparate - and what could she do now?

Her eyes watered and tears streamed down her cheeks. She started sobbing.

The tears rolled down from her face onto Draco's. Draco's eyebrows furrowed and his forehead wrinkled under the sudden wetness.

"Wh-what?" he murmured weakly. His left leg felt very numb.

Hermione stopped crying and looked down. Draco was alive!

"You're not dead!" she exclaimed with joy, grabbing Draco's shoulders. "You're alive!"

"'Course I am," said Draco groggily, as he withdrew from Hermione's sudden outburst. "What happened?"

"That mamba bit you," explained Hermione, as she too withdrew and dried her eyes, dabbing them with a pocket-handkerchief. "You fainted."

"I'm not dead?" said Draco, taken aback, midway between drying his wet face.

Hermione smiled and shook her head.

"I am a medical miracle!"

Hermione snorted. "I took out the poison magically," she said.

Draco looked vaguely disappointed. "Why did you expect me to die when you healed me?" he said.

"You were stone cold," said Hermione defensively.

"God!" said Draco exasperatedly. "I'm always cold."

Hermione felt like retorting, "I thought you were cold only in demeanor," but kept quiet.

Draco looked around and found the blue flames dancing about.

"Who lit this?" he asked.

"I did," replied Hermione. "Aren't they beautiful? They're even water proof."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I won't say that they aren't," he said, "but we don't want the Death Eaters spotting us, do we?"

"Oh, I didn't realize that!" said Hermione.

"And you're s'posed to be damn smart?" said Draco loud enough for Hermione to hear.

Hermione glared at him. "I couldn't think about that when you were bitten and lying down here unconscious," she told him.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why did you save me?" asked Draco. "Don't you want me dead, like all the others?"

"Very funny," said Hermione offhandedly. "Why would anybody want you dead?"

Draco sat up, with difficulty - his left leg wouldn't budge. "Anybody, you say?" he said. "Everybody."

"No one wants you dead!"

"Oh really," said Draco. "What about Potter, Weasley and Dumbledore?"

"Harry would never want you dead, Malfoy," said Hermione defiantly. "Nor would Ron or Dumbledore."

Draco looked at Hermione. She seemed indignant and earnest. "What about you?"

Hermione opened her mouth in horror. "If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have healed you by taking out the poison. The way you're saying it ... as if I'd let anybody die like this. And by the way, why would I want you dead?"

"That's the wrong question," said Draco. "Why wouldn't you want me dead? After the way I've offended you all these years, insulting you, your family and friends. Why wouldn't you want me dead?"

Hermione avoided looking at his eyes. "I couldn't want you dead," said Hermione quietly, pocketing her damp handkerchief. "I suppose if I could want anyone dead, it would probably be you, but I don't. That's just the way I am. Besides, if you were dead, what was I supposed to do in this cursed place? I don't even know how to Apparate!"

Draco gaped at her. He couldn't believe it. His enemy didn't want him dead ... he wondered if he wanted her dead ... even a few hours ago he wouldn't have cared if she were dead, might even be he wanted her dead, but Hermione didn't want him dead after all these years...

"Is your leg still hurting?" asked Hermione, in a way one could take for concern.

"It's numb," replied Draco tonelessly.

"It'll be all right after a few more minutes." Draco nodded in acceptance.

Hermione leant down against a tree trunk. "Have you been here before?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Draco, "but not for ten years or so."

"What did you do here?"

"I told you earlier," said Draco, feeling his left leg. "My uncle used to bring me here ... against my father's protests."

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows. "Your father didn't want you coming here?" she asked him.

"No. He didn't want me coming here, or in fact anywhere with Uncle Alex."

"What! He didn't want you to mix with his brother?"

"Yeah. His own brother, mind you. They didn't get along well."

"But you came," Hermione said, almost admirably.

"'Course I did. I liked my uncle. He was a funny man, and anyway, my father hardly cared for me. He didn't want anyone from the family mixing with Uncle Alex, that was all."

"Where is your uncle?" Hermione asked, genuinely curious.

Draco stopped feeling his legs. He closed his eyes and after a long moment answered, "He's no more."

"Oh," said Hermione, her mouth forming a soft 'o' of comprehension. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Draco. "Anyway, he died six years ago or so. I hardly remember him, just that I really liked him..."

There was long silence during which Draco recollected the memories of the times he spent with his uncle. Hermione wanted to ask him why his father and his uncle didn't get along, but she felt that the question would be too personal, and hence refrained from doing so.

Draco shook his head, trying to block out the voices of his uncle in his head; he had more pressing matters to deal with. He felt for his leg again and noticed that he could move it freely about now. Well, he thought, Granger did a good job.

Hermione noticed the pleased look on Draco's face as he found he could move his leg freely. "Is it all right?" she asked him.

"Yeah."

Draco checked the time on the luminous dial of his watch. Good lord, he thought, it was already half past seven and here I am, chatting with this demoiselle.

"Come on, Granger," he said as he stood up. "We need to go."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "All right..." she said as she too, got up.

"But where are we going?" she asked after a moment, while brushing her robe and skirt. "It seems that you have no clue where we're going and we're just wandering about, hopelessly," she said, rather scornfully.

Draco narrowed his eyes at her. But he knew that she was right ... well not completely right.

"I do know where we are going," he said defiantly. "I know the exact place for hiding ... I just don't remember how to get there," he added sheepishly.

Hermione opened her mouth in shock. "What!" she said surprised. "So all these times, we really were just roaming about?"

"I was trying to find it," Draco muttered in his defense.

"I can figure that out, Malfoy, otherwise you could have Apparated there."

"You know what," said Draco, grinning, "you are smart."

"Shut up, Malfoy!" said Hermione exasperatedly. "What place is that, anyway?"

"It's a cave."

"And you're looking for a cave in the midst of a dense forest?" said Hermione, aggravated.

"Malfoy, caves are unlikely to found in the middle of a tropical forest but instead, in the outskirts of it."

"It's not impossible; the cave wasn't that far from the house!" Draco argued back.

"You're nuts!"

"I'm not. I remember when Uncle Alex built it, somewhere nearby."

"Your uncle built it?"

"Yes."

"Well, I guess that probably means it could be nearby then," Hermione conceded.

Draco shook his head at her, and then looked around. "But I still don't remember where it is..."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at his back and called, "You call yourself a wizard, Malfoy? And you can't even Plot a cave?"

Draco spun around to face Hermione and considered her for a moment. Well, she was right, but he wasn't going to show her that.

"I was worried over other things, Granger," he said coldly. "So I couldn't strike on this."

Hermione raised her eyebrows and nodded in mock sympathy. Draco gave her one disgusted look before muttering an incantation that resulted in a faint lighting of a path, which undoubtedly led to the cave.

Draco pocketed his wand lavishly, pleased at his handiwork and started following the path, Hermione behind him.

After five minutes or so, they reached a clearing. Hermione saw the faintly lit path end suddenly into the middle of a clearing.

She was about to ask Draco what the hell he had done when she saw him muttering some spell again, a rather complicated one.

The next thing that Hermione witnessed took her breath away.

A cave, a rather small cave, materialized slowly in front of her very eyes. It was a round one. The stone walls had high mirror polish, and as patches of moonlight fell on it, the walls gleamed; though it might seem ironical, angelically. Engraved on the cave was an elegant looking dragon, in flight.

Hermione gaped at the dragon. She had only one word for it - magnificent.

Draco saw her staring at the dragon, obviously fascinated by it. He walked towards the drawing. The dragon was almost a life size one. He turned back to Hermione, who remained gawking at it.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked her pleasantly.

"Beautiful?" whispered Hermione as she neared the cave too. "It's fantastic!"

She watched in awe that each line and each curve of the dragon was so impeccably etched on the wall. The dragon was a glittering silver one, and as Hermione turned her head, a few lines of the dragon dazzled emerald green, even in the faintest light. The chiseled body looked a bit ominous, but nevertheless, she had never seen such an exquisite piece of art in her whole life.

"My uncle made it himself," said Draco proudly. "In my honor."

Hermione was too busy looking at the dragon, in a dazed manner, to shoot her usual revolted look at Draco.

"I don't have words to describe it," said Hermione, mostly to herself, since it was almost inaudible. "It's a wonder..."

"You can look at it anytime, Granger," said Draco, a hint of impatience in his voice. "But we should get inside."

Hermione tore her eyes away from the dragon and looked at Draco, and then nodded. She followed him into the cave.

"Oh, and Granger?" said Draco. "Did I thank you for saving my life back there?"

Hermione snapped out of trance at the unexpected words of her archenemy.