Dramione on the Run

Chapter 3 - Late Night Studying

Draco:

A few weeks had passed, and my charms skills had significantly gotten better. I didn't want to admit it, but I couldn't deny that Harry was a brilliant teacher.

By now, Hermione had explained how to make the Shadow People, and told us we'd be making them in the upcoming weeks.

The big picture plan was to leave our shadow selves behind in Hogwarts; so we could leave the school in search of the horcruxes.

As the weeks passed by, I was getting more and more stressed. I still hadn't managed to fix the Vanishing Cabinet, and the Death Eaters were getting more and more restless. I was even being given death threats by them, which wasn't having their desired effect, it was just stressing me out even more.

My Christmas exams were to be happening soon, and I was drowning in essays and homework. I was starting to fall behind in class from missing so much, due to Dumbledore's Army and repairing the Vanishing Cabinet.

Snape suggested that I get a tutor. He was right, I needed all the help I could get. The only problem was finding someone who shared all their classes with me.

I told Harry about my dilemma, and how I'd have to miss Dumbledore's Army meetings to catch up on homework. He'd passed that information on to Hermione, who offered to tutor me, and I had gratefully accepted.

The next day, I left the Slytherin common room, and began making my way to the library where I was meeting Hermione for tutoring.

When I got there, I was surprised at how crowded it was. Every desk that could be used was taken.

I scanned the crowd and my eyes landed on a familiar face. Hermione was sat near the back of the room, buried in a book. She had her bag sat in the seat beside her, preventing anyone from sitting there. I assumed the seat was for me.

I walked over to her and she met my eyes with a warm smile. She moved her bag and gestured to the seat beside her so I could sit down.

I took out my textbooks, parchment, inkwell and quill. I was particularly struggling in potions and divination. Snape's lessons moved at a fairly fast pace, meaning that even if you missed one class, you'd be struggling. Thankfully Hermione was as brainy as she is. She took out her notes, and I told her what I had missed out on.

By the time I had gone through what I was missing, a large stack of notes had formed. I internally sighed as I realized how much time this would take.

She picked the first chapter that I had missed, and began explaining it to me.

I set about doing some exercises to practice what she'd taught me. While I worked away, she continued reading her book, and then corrected the work when I was done. She gave me an essay prompt, and I began researching through my textbook and a library book.

As I continued working, more and more people left, until there were only a handful of people remaining.

When I checked the clock on the wall, I found that I had been here for over two hours. Thinking that I had taken up enough of her time, I began packing up my things.

I looked around to see if Hermione was still around, and saw that she was opposite me looking at books on the shelves.

I walked over to her and lightly tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. She turned around slowly, and I was met with fully black soulless eyes. My heart froze in fear as I waited for her to speak.

She opened her mouth, and a voice that didn't belong to her began speaking. It was deep and raspy, and sounded as though it belonged to an older man.

"If you do not complete your task Draco, be warned that dreadful things will happen to you. We will not hesitate to go to any means necessary. You're running out of time."

I bolted upright in bed drenched in my own sweat, and was being deafened by the sound of my heart pounding in my chest. Taking a deep breath to try and relax, I took a sip of water from the cup beside my bed.

I couldn't understand how I had gotten here? I didn't even remember leaving the library?

The last thing I remembered was packing up to leave. I got a bad feeling that something may have happened to Hermione, but I didn't know if that was my gut speaking or my paranoia.

Looking at my watch, I saw that it was the early hours of the morning. It was still dark outside, which I could tell from the lack of light coming through the curtains.

I decided to leave the boys dorm, and go down to the common room to do something to distract myself. Grabbing my bag that I had taken to the library, I quietly walked down the stairs to do some study.

As I walked into the common room, I noticed that the last few embers of the fire were dying down. I walked over to it and blew on it, trying to put some life back into it.

It seemed to do the trick, and I got comfortable on the plush sofa and wrapped a blanket around me to keep warm.

Taking my potions book from the main pocket of my bag, I sat the book on the table in front of me. Reaching into the smaller compartment of my bag, I looked for the case that my quill was in.

After fishing around for it at the bottom of my bag, I eventually found it. I opened the case, only to find that the white feather was now singed and turned black, as though someone had set it on fire.

I shuddered at the discovery and my heart began picking up pace.

As I reached for a sheet of parchment from my notebook, I found that a note had been etched onto it:

"Be warned. You're running out of time."

My heart sank and it was clear what the Death Eaters were trying to say: We're coming for you.