Masked

Chapter Four

‘I’m sitting on the coach with Draco. I’m giggling because Draco is tickling me as his tactic to get me to talk, “I can’t tell you Draco! There’s a spell that prevents me!” He continues to
tickle me and I try to squirm out of his arm.
“You’re smart Hermione! You just hinted there is a secret club, there’s gotta be a way around it.” He stops tickling me so I can answer.
“All I did was give you a look when you told me Umbridge was having you guys follow us and figure out what we are up to.” Draco rolls his eyes at me. “I also definitely can’t tell you, since you’re apart of Umbridge’s special little group.”
“Ah but if I knew then I would be able to easily throw them off your trail”. I roll my eyes and kiss him to shut him up.’
This kiss was different, it was desperate, we both wanted this. We both wanted each other, I felt like I’ve fallen in a lake of cold water. My senses heighten as I feel this spark that bursts every time we’ve ever kissed. I kiss him back in this moment of weakness. I push my hand through his hair and he wraps his arms around my torso staying away from my waist almost as though he is scared if he makes one wrong move I’ll move away and break what is happening. But then I remember…
‘Draco pulls Harry out of the room of requirements while all his fellow members of Umbridge's “special” group pulling the rest of Dumbledore’s out. There’s a look of glee and unmasked vengeance look on Draco’s face and my heart broke into millions of pieces as I put the pieces together that all of it was fake. All of it was for him getting at Harry. I was used and now my use no longer exists, I am thrown away now. Draco doesn't care what happens to me
and who I care about. How could I let myself be so foolish?
Professor Umbridge follows us in her little perky, ugly, pink robes as Draco and his crew drags us to her office.’
I push Draco away and I cover my mouth, confused and dazed on what I should do.
Draco betrayed my friends and me, and repeatedly continued to do so the rest of last year, yet here I am making out with him. I wasn’t repulsed and that’s what bothered me in this situation.
Shouldn’t my body want to run away right now? Then why am I still standing here wanting to hug him? My brain is running to make an excuse to neither run nor make him figure out how I’m actually feeling. Then it hit me, this summer we followed Draco. “Let me see your arm.” He looks startled and taken aback, he pulls up the sleeve of his right arm. “No, your left arm.” He pulls his sleeve back down and studies me.
“Why? What’s the meaning of this?” He asked me with a serious face
“Why are you hesitating? Have something to hide?” I cross my arms and stand up as straight as I can and our faces are literally inches away from each other and I can feel his body heat radiate off of him. He glares at me for a solid minute, then he turns away running his hands
through his hair and walks away from me.
I can tell his stress level is increasing by the second,
this should be enough to prove he is a part of them, but for some reason I’m pleading in my head that my suspicion is false. Finally he turns back to me and he lifts his left arm sleeve up and the dark mark as black as ever gleams on Draco’s arm.
The snake seems to be mocking
my self caused ignorance.
I stand there in shock, I just can’t comprehend why that thing is on him. A few minutes pass and Draco pulls the sleeve back down. He runs his hands through his hair, his obvious stress habitat. He comes up to me but I take a step back, he instantly looks hurt but he quickly
masks his face with a harden, stern look. “Hermione… please say something.” He whispers like
he’s in fear I’ll snap if he spoke any louder.
“What do you want me to say Draco?” I look him in the eyes, that are storming yet again, “You want me to lie to you that it doesn’t bother me? Why is that thing on your arm Draco? You wonder why I no longer trust you, how can you even ask that while you’re one of them.”
He took another step towards me and this time I don’t move, I stand my ground. “I.. I had to..” Before he could continue he choked up and went to sit on the couch holding his head in his
hands. After what feels like hours of stillness he looks up and takes a long look at me and continues, “He threatened my mother, I couldn’t let him hurt her Hermione. I just couldn’t live with myself.” I am shocked, I know he loves his mother more than anyone at least that’s what he said the past two years.
His father treats her terribly and he hopes when he is older he can take her out of the house… and like I’ve already said that’s what he had told me. I can’t tell if he’s telling the truth or not or if it’s another lie. I just want to leave now but my feet seem grounded.
“You can’t tell anyone Hermione, or he won’t just kill my mother. He’ll kill me as well if I fail my mission.” He seems to shudder at the word mission.
“Then stop talking to me about it goddammit. How can you ask me to not tell anyone when you, yourself, could never keep that promise.” I practically yell at him, I feel bad but he is asking me what I had asked of him a year ago and he lied to me.
“Because you are a better person than I am Hermione. And because of this summer I have realized there are some things in this world just not worth it, like schoolboy rivals.” His
voice seems morphed and then I see a tear fall from his face and hit the ground and I realized he’s crying.
I feel bad but I have to, “Yeah and a good person would tell Dumbledore that you are working a mission on the inside of Hogwarts.” I turn to the door but I was only able to open the
door halfway when Draco’s hands slammed the door closed and trapping me between them, I
close my eyes and cursed under my breath.
I can feel Draco breathing down my neck as I figure a way out of this situation. I feel the point of a wand push aside my bushy hair and softly rest on my neck and I begin to realize what Draco was planning. “Draco, you don’t have to do this..” His breath becomes shaky and he barely whispers, “But I do.” And then everything went black.
…
I wake up in a bead of sweat trailing down my temple and look around finding myself in my dorm room. I had a very odd dream and I’m not quite sure why my heart is racing.
I had dreamt of a snake hissing in parseltongue a memory charm, and I understood the parseltongue, even
though I actually can’t understand the snake language.
I found it odd that a snake would be trying to perform a charm, but that’s dreams for you. I rub my head finding it was actually aching, I swing my legs over my bed and stand up.
I get a head rush and my vision goes black for a few seconds as I lose my balance and fall back onto my bed. I slowly stand up this time and successfully was able to change into my school robes, grab my school books, and stumble down the stairs.
I find Ginny sitting on one of the common room’s couches. I sit down next to her and just blank on what I was gonna do. Ginny doesn’t even turn to me when she asks, “So,
where were you yesterday? Harry was needing tutoring in one of his classes and was looking for you.”
I open my mouth to answer her and realized I didn’t have an answer. I close my mouth as I begin to think where I was yesterday. Was I asleep all day or something? I couldn’t
remember anything that happened yesterday, but I was aware yesterday happened and today was Monday. Ginny looks at me curious to my lack of answer to her. I shake my head, “I don’t remember.”
She shrugs and looks back at her book, “Happens to the best of us.” But she doesn’t realize I don’t forget anything, ever, especially if it happened within twenty-four hours. I shake my head, I’m being crazy. Ginny is right it happens at least to everyone; to forget is a normal act
of human nature.

[Word Count:
1539]