Contingent | D.M. + H.G.

Chapter 23: Invisibility

And there it was. Hermione's heart nearly stopped. She had known that he was wrapped up in Voldemort's plans in some way, but this? Him being so central to it was not something she had accounted for.

"As I said all those months ago, it is not wise to question his wishes, and I will remind you to mind your tone," Snape was cautioning him as if Voldemort himself was listening.

"No!" Draco shouted, emotions overtaking him as he rose from his chair. "I won't condemn her to this. I may be an executioner, but I refuse to be the one that leads her up to the gallows." He seemed to be incredibly worked up, and there was no question in her mind about exactly who he was referring to. Hermione had nearly stopped breathing in her attempt to reel herself back in.

"Very well," he said. "Lucky for you, some of us happen to have a contingency plan." Snape flicked his wand and ushered Draco out of the room. Hermione forced herself to follow, still invisible. "You're dismissed."

Standing outside of the room, she silenced herself before inhaling multiple deep breaths.

Hermione prided herself on being smart. She knew it, everyone else knew it. But she regretted that she had the means to put what he was implying together. She didn't have the full picture, of course, but she knew that she could get it if she pushed hard enough.

But did she want to?

-

Their next study session would be their last, he knew. He didn't even know why he'd kept up going to them when he knew it didn't matter anyway – nothing did. He internally sighed. He really needed to cool it with the dramatics or Theo and Blaise would never let it go.

He supposed it was a reason to make sure that Granger was doing okay. He had purposely scheduled it in an empty classroom instead of their usual spot in the library. He knew Granger, and it was clear that she would have questions, and he had a feeling she would somehow coax her answers out of him no matter the cost.

Draco knew that she knew something was up, but had no idea what – or how. Sure, he'd been acting a little crazy lately, but hypothetically, he could just be thinking about breaking up with her. He realized that she was too smart to think he was acting out like this over something as trivial as that.

His eyes were dim as she tried to coax him into looking at her. He didn't want to see his own pathetic reflection in her own. "I'm going home," he tried weakly in response to whatever question he hadn't heard. "For the holidays. I don't know when I'll be back."

Having already started to pack up his books, he had planned on making a quick escape, not wanting to deal with Granger's wrath again. Her hand, however, slapped down on his book as he slammed it shut.

"Ow! What the fuck, Granger?" he seethed as he caught his pinky finger in the process.

"Oh, so he does have emotion! I hadn't just imagined it!" she said irately, shoving his book back toward him so hard it slid off the table. "I thought that you'd perhaps had a lobotomy, or shock therapy, and forgotten yourself."

Biting back a sharp retort, he rolled his eyes and rose from their table. A wave of magic pushed him back into his chair. "What the fuck, Granger?"

She barked out a laugh. "So, his vocabulary is reduced to one measly sentence. You know," she said casually as she leaned against the desk at the front of the room, "of all of the sentences, I'm not really surprised that it's that one."

Draco huffed.

"Good to see that your maturity level hasn't changed from its plateau. I'd planned for that," she said smartly.