Intertwined destinies - Once a Malfoy, always a Malfoy?

Chapter 29: Encounter With The Creatures Of The Night...

"Sorry it took me so long to post but as I told you it would be longer!!! I hope you like this chapter, let me know what you think! Thanks for all your comments!Happy Reading!!!"

- Drago-Malefoy-Granger

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Chapter 29: Encounter With The Creatures Of The Night...

Curled up in the armchair, Hermione had now been motionless for over three hours. Her eyes were fixed on the sofa in front of her, but her gaze was empty. She couldn't get rid of all the images spinning in her head; him and her on that sofa. Hermione had never been so anxious in all her life, even the day of her asps seemed trivial now.

What on earth had possessed her to throw herself at him like that? She remembered the sensations she had felt and her hands began to tremble at the very thought. Hermione didn't think the explanation was very difficult: their sudden attraction was simply due to the heart of Bulborbus that united their two souls, and the fact that they had both been in contact with it had provoked the power of their love, exposing their long-suppressed desires.

But it was obvious that Draco wasn't thinking of this hypothesis, perhaps he didn't even know that the heart was the cause of their behaviour. What could he be saying to himself? There must be a lot of questions torturing him, and Hermione had thought to take advantage of his lack of understanding to pretend she didn't know what had happened either. After all, it was better to tell him that she didn't understand and then he wouldn't look any further, rather than invent an excuse that might reveal his intention to justify himself. Hermione just hoped that he wouldn't try so hard to find out the truth.

She remembered the first time the heart had manifested its power in the infirmary. It had transmitted all her pain to Draco, when she was in a bad way after the accident with the spell, and Hermione had immediately recovered her health. The second time, when Donovan had made his desire for her clear to her; reluctant, the heart had taken it upon itself to expel him.

The pendant had acted differently each time, depending on the situation, as if it were part of her and read her every thought, as if it were... alive. This hypothesis had been confirmed at the beginning of her relationship with Richard. Up until then Harry, Ginny and everyone close to her had easily been able to touch it without fear of being violently thrown off, although they had not been able to touch the object itself, but she had feared the reaction of the heart when she had her first kiss with Richard. To her astonishment, nothing had happened, but neither had it turned the fiery red colour that was obviously reserved for Draco. Hermione had therefore concluded that Bulborbus's heart rejected those she did not want to be near, like Donovan, but only in matters of sentiment since he had never defended her against Death Eaters.

Hermione glanced at the necklace she had repaired with a flick of her wand. Until the mission was over, she wouldn't wear it again, there was no point in taking any risks. If for the first two hours she had panicked at seeing Draco return, not knowing how to react, she was now beginning to worry and long for his presence. Hermione tried in vain to persuade herself that this desire was nothing other than the desire to explain what had happened, but a voice was trying to infiltrate her head, screaming at her what she refused to hear; what if she wanted to see him because she simply needed to? What if the fact that he was coming back into her life and spending so much time with her had put her back into this absolute need to have him by her side? It had been three hours since they had been separated, and Hermione could bear it less and less, feeling as if she were alone in the world...

Then she pulled up her sleeve and looked at the thin, almost invisible white scar running down her forearm. Although it blended in with her not very tanned skin, it had never completely disappeared. But in recent days Hermione seemed to be seeing it more and more clearly; nevertheless, she had to lean in close, and someone who didn't know it existed wouldn't be able to notice it easily.

Having no memory of any pain during the previous contact with her soul mate, Hermione had at first assumed that the scar was still too deeply asleep, but then this assumption had seemed absurd to her, as this kind of magic was eternal. After a great deal of thought, she came to the possibility that it worked in the same way as Bulborbus's heart. Like Bulborbus's heart, the scar was part of her and not a separate living soul, as she had long thought, so it resonated with her thoughts and emotions. Each time the scar had been painful to her, Hermione remembered feeling as if she had broken her word, betrayed her oath, and therefore felt conscious of it.

The difference with today was that this sudden impulse to kiss him was not voluntary but, if she had deduced correctly, due to the pendant exerting its power over them. At that moment, only Draco mattered to her, and not once did she think of the risks of the inviolable oath. As a result, she felt no pain or burns from the oath, which detected no guilt.

It was incredible how doing nothing for a long time developed the brain's ability to think, and three hours had been more than enough for the young woman to realise this. Although she wasn't sure of anything, her own arguments seemed pretty close to the truth.

All she had to do now was wait for Draco to return and Merlin knows what he was doing. Was he happy about what had happened or did he blame himself? Would he blame her for something or, on the contrary, pretend it hadn't happened? She sincerely hoped that he would believe her when she told him that she was as stupid and surprised as he was about their sudden 'accident', and that he wouldn't see it as proof that she wasn't indifferent to him; because if that were the case, it would take all the strength in the world for her to look him in the eye again, and tell him with confidence that she didn't love him...