Bleeding Roses

Chapter 7

Crucial Decisions and Strange Visions

"A spy?" Draco repeated, incredulous.

Dumbledore nodded. "However," he said, "It is entirely your choice."

Draco exchanged a glance with Hermione. What was he going to do? He knew full well the risks of being a spy. He'd probably be easily caught. No one that he knew of had ever lied to Voldemort and got away with it... But on the other hand, this would save him from his Father's "talks". Even if he did get the Mark, Voldemort will only have his body, not his mind, nor soul...

"Take your time," Dumbledore said, breaking his chain of thoughts. "Just come to me when you've made a decision."

"I will, sir," Draco replied.

"How is the dance coming?" he asked.

"Very well, sir," Draco said. "We just need to get the Weird Sisters to play for us again. We should be done a little earlier than planned."

"Excellent." Dumbledore smiled.

When they left Dumbledore's office, they walked in silence all the way to their quarters. Draco collapsed on the couch, deep in thought. Hermione took a book and started to read, although her eyes were not moving. Her lips were pursed and she was in thought too.

"What am I going to do?" Draco muttered, making Hermione jump.

"Do whatever you want," Hermione said. "After all, you do have a solution to your problem now."

Draco sighed. "You're really not helping," he said.

"You know what I would do?" Hermione asked, and Draco stayed quiet. "I would take his offer and not worry too much about the risk factors."

"Typical Gryffindor," Draco muttered. "So noble and brave."

"Since you're so Slytherin, why don't you just find some other cunning plan, then?"

"There's no way. It's either one or the other."

"Have it your way."

At these words, Hermione's eyes fell on the book once again, leaving Draco even more disgruntled than before.

*****

In addition to all of their other duties, Draco and Hermione still found many times to concoct the potion that Snape wanted for their detention. They had gotten phoenix tears from Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes. They had everything and they held many meetings brewing the potion, and this one finally seemed to be their last. Hermione sighed in relief as she dropped the bezoar, the last ingredient, into the cauldron as Draco stirred.

"Finally!" she said. "We can finally hand this in to Snape."

"Yes," Draco said, sounding equally relieved. "Hand me that crystal vial will you?"

"What's the magic word?" Hermione asked playfully.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Please?" he said.

"That's a good boy!" Hermione said as she handed the vial to him.

Draco filled the vial full with the same red liquid in the cauldron. Together, they walked to Snape's office in the dungeons, chatting and joking. When Snape opened the door for them, he seemed somewhat pleased that they had finally finished and invited them in. Both were nervous, remembering that Snape had told them that he would be testing their antidote on them.

"Ready to see it tested?" Snape smirked unpleasantly.

Both students gulped and nodded warily.

"I will only be testing this on one person," he said. "Who will be the lucky one?"

Draco and Hermione exchanged glances. Hermione opened her mouth, but she didn't have a chance speak. Unexpectedly, Draco had stepped forward, and said, "I will." Both Hermione and Snape gazed at him in surprise.

"Y--you don't have to, you know," Hermione stuttered.

"I'm just going to take his 'offer' and not worry too much about the risk factors," he said and smirked.

Hermione just stared at him, not knowing what to say, think, or even feel.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked worriedly.

"Hermione." Draco smirked. "What fun will life be if we don't take risks from time to time?"

Hermione opened her mouth, but once again nothing came out.

"Let's get started," Draco said, "while Hermione's imitating a fish."

Hermione quickly shut her mouth, ignoring Draco's snigger. Snape retrieved his wand from his pocket.

"If anything happens to you," Hermione said hastily, catching Draco's attention again, "I just want to say that you are one of my best friends in the whole world and I will always remember you."

She could feel her cheeks getting red, especially when Draco smiled at her. A genuine, sweet smile that made her heart leap up a million miles.

"How touching," Snape said in his usual bitter self, which really spoiled the moment.

Hermione cleared her throat and stepped back, allowing Snape to proceed, and all the while keeping her eyes on Draco.

"Sorpor," Snape muttered.

Draco closed his eyes and wobbled dangerously. Suddenly, he fell right toward Hermione. She shrieked as she held out her arms and caught Draco. He was too heavy for her and she couldn't hold him for long. Carefully, she set Draco down on the floor, and knelt by his side.

She heard a pop, and she looked up, seeing Snape had just uncorked the vial. Please, she thought, please let it work. She crossed her fingers as Snape approached them with the reddish potion swirling inside the vial. Snape crouched down and parted Draco's lips. He let two drops of the antidote in Draco's mouth. The two of them waited anxiously. If Draco doesn't wake up, Hermione would be absolutely devastated. He was her only friend these days and he meant so much to her. Snape was just fearful of losing his job.

So they both waited nervously. Draco still remained motionless. Hermione's heart pounded faster inside her ribcage. Please, she thought desperately. PLEASE let this work or I'll never forgive myself for letting him take the curse. Please. Draco still hasn't moved so much as a hair. Just when she was about to stand up and leave, that Draco finally stirred. She immediately put her whole attention on him, and prayed that he would open those stormy gray eyes.

Then, his eyes flickered open. The first thing he felt was how sore the back of his head felt. His vision was blurry.

"Draco!" a voice besides her called.

He turned his head and she saw two blurry, faceless heads, each topped with bushy brown hair. He blinked twice, and rubbed his eyes. He looked again, and saw Hermione leaning over him, looking very worried. Slowly, he pushed himself up, and rubbed the back of his head.

"Are you all right?" Hermione put her arm around him.

"I--I think so..." he said.

"Well," Snape said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "You may go then."

Draco had a little trouble getting up, saying that he felt slightly dizzy. It took the combined efforts of both Hermione and Snape for him to be able to stand up and steady himself. When the two Heads walked back to their dorms, Hermione made sure to keep an eye on Draco, in case he loses his balance again.

"I've thought about Dumbledore's offer," Draco suddenly said. "And well... I think I should take it."

It took a few seconds for Hermione to recover from the shock. She beamed up at him and took him into a tight embrace. Draco could hardly breathe. He remembered that he had been jealous at Harry and Ron when Hermione hugged them that way. Now, he definitely changed his mind.

"Hermione," he wheezed, "I... can't... breathe..."

Hermione quickly let go, blushing. "Sorry," she muttered. "I just thought that it's great that you are going to accept his offer! I think you're going to do really well! Go tell Dumbledore! I'm sure he'll be really pleased! You're probably going to have to go through lots of training, but I'm positive that you are going to excel! I'm so happy for you!" She said all that in one breath.

Draco put his hands on her shoulders, and said, "Breathe, Hermione. Breathe."

Once again, Hermione blushed. Unfortunately for her, Draco noticed.

"Someone seems to blush a lot today," he said, smirking.

This only caused Hermione to blush deeper. Slowly, smiles spread on both Draco and Hermione's faces. They seem to be in that position for a while, their eyes locked on each other.

"Draco!" a shrill voice yelled, which made Draco and Hermione turn their heads toward the source of the noise.

It was Pansy Parkinson, standing at the end of the hallway.

"Draco!" she said again. "I've been looking for you everywhere! I've finally found you!" Only then did she notice that Draco wasn't alone. Her cheery face turned into an expression of disgust. "And what is she doing here with you? Why would you even associate with such filth as the Mudblood?"

"We've had this conversation before." Draco was annoyed and his teeth were gritted. "It's none of your business. Leave me alone."

Pansy walked toward them, keeping her eyes on Draco and smiling. This only made Draco extremely disgusted. She shoved Hermione aside, ignoring the outraged looks Hermione gave her, and took Hermione's place, still smiling.

"What the hell do you want, Pansy?" Draco asked, deeply annoyed. He stepped back toward Hermione.

"Come to the Winter Dance with me, Drakie," Pansy said, her lips sticking out in a pout and her finger tracing circles on Draco's chest. Draco pushed her away, disgusted.

"I'm already going with someone," he said. "And don't call me that."

Pansy frowned and shot a look at Hermione, who was looking at the both of them in shock. "Who?" Pansy asked.

"Hermione," Draco said loudly and clearly.

"Oh." Pansy surveyed Hermione nastily while twirling a lock of blond hair. "I didn't realize she's your girlfriend now."

"She's not my girlfriend," Draco said. "But I'd rather go out with her than with you."

Pansy snorted. "You're going to change your mind soon enough," she said. "Then, you're going to crawl back to me, begging me to take you back."

"That'll be the day," Draco scoffed.

Pansy glared and stormed away, out of sight and out of earshot.

"Can you believe her?" Draco asked incredulously. "The nerve of her!"

Hermione shook her head. "Is it true though?" she asked.

"Is what true?" Draco asked, puzzled.

"That you would rather go out with me?" she asked.

"Of course!" he answered, thinking that it was the most obvious question a person could ask.

Hermione smiled sweetly, which made Draco's heart leap. Unconsciously, he smiled too.

"You're probably the most dateable person in the whole school," he said. Suddenly, he realized what words just came out of his mouth. He just said his thought out loud!

Hermione grinned. "No one had ever said that to me," she said.

"Then they should," he replied, not daring to look at her in case he started saying something unintentional again.

"How can such a conceited git be so sweet?" she asked, her smile never faltering.

"But I am a charming and handsome conceited git," he replied, smirking.

"Your over-inflated head does not need any more inflating," she said, rolling her eyes, but nevertheless grinning.

Together, they walked to their quarters, feeling like they've gotten Christmas, their birthdays, New Year's, Easter, and all of the other holidays all in one day. However, one thought still lingered in their minds: Did we just flirt?

*****

She was running. Running as fast as she could through the forest. One hand was gripping onto someone else's hand. The other hand was clutching a pendant around her neck. She could hear footsteps behind her, as well as shouting. A flash of red light only nearly missed her. Her heart pounding in her chest, she accelerated. Slowly, the two-story cabin entered her view. Finally! They continued running until they entered the clearing. They entered the cozy cabin and quickly locked the door. They darted upstairs. She leaned against the wall. Her breathing was very labored.

"Are you all right?" her companion asked worriedly.

"I can't breathe," she replied. "The... corset!"

Her companion quickly loosened her corset. She sucked in generous gulps of air.

"Thank you," she said.

She felt herself being pulled into a hug. She melted into her companion, enjoying his body's warmth. She rested her head on his chest, and she felt tears rolling down her cheeks. They couldn't hide here forever. He absentmindedly played with her long, brown ringlets. She raised her head and looked into his steely gray eyes. For once in his life, he wasn't hiding his evident fear. She clutched at his fine tunic and cried.

"Please don't cry," he murmured to her.

Suddenly, something banged on the door below, making it shake. The wooden door wouldn't hold for long.

"I love you Katherine," he whispered in her ear.

"I... love you... Jean-François," she said between sobs.

Their lips met in a passionate kiss. They both put everything they had into that kiss, because there won't be a second one. She twisted a lock of his white-blond hair around her finger and continued kissing, ignoring the tears that were running down her cheeks. He deepened the kiss, and all the while, people tried to break in.

They finally broke apart when the door finally gave way and splinters flew everywhere. Six armed men banged through, running up the stairs loudly. She was still in his arms when the men entered their room. The leader stepped forward; his face was contorted in fury.

"You have disappointed me, my son," he said. "Pity. The last minutes of your life spent with a Mudblood. That was your choice, and your choice has consequences."

He brandished a wand in front of him, and aimed at Katherine. Her hand immediately reached for her pendant.

"No Father!" Jean-François jumped in front of Katherine, shielding her. "Please don't kill her! Kill me instead!"

"No!" Katherine shrieked hysterically. "What are you doing?"

"You will both get your turn," the leader said, smirking. "And it doesn't matter who goes first. Avada Kedavra!"

With blinding green light and a rushing sound, Jean-François became a crumpled heap on the floor. Katherine screamed. e knelt down besides him and cried. She ran a finger down his cheek, never ceasing her sobbing.

"How could you do this?" she yelled at the leader. "He was your son!"

"And he disobeyed me!" he said furiously. "Avada Kedavra!"

She could see the jet of green light speeding toward her and she screamed...

*****

Hermione awoke with a start. She was tangled in her bed sheets and drenched in cold sweat. Her hair was plastered on her forehead. She was breathing heavily, like she just ran a marathon. Her fingers were tightly wrapped around the pendant, still under her pillow. She could see that the pendant made deep, bright reddish-purple marks on her hand. Suddenly, the whole dream came to her mind again, and she remembered every single detail and scene... But, what was that all about?