Eye to Eye: A Dramione Fanfic

Chapter 46

Nothing was being done.

Blaise, Astoria, and the others had reported Draco's strange behaviour days ago. McGonagall had said she'd do something about it, but nothing had happened. Blaise didn't find it at all surprising. The Headmistress had spent weeks trying to find Hermione, but had managed to come back empty-handed each time. After watching that unfold so many times, he'd learnt not to expect wonders from the Headmistress - or the Ministry, for that matter.

"What if they don't come back?" Astoria asked quietly, causing Blaise to scoff.

The two of them were sitting alone, in the shade of a tree, down by the lake. In the last couple of weeks, this spot had become their 'safe place'. The pair, for whatever reason, always seemed to feel closer to their missing friends here. Hermione and Draco never spent much time near the lake, so there was no logical reason behind it.

He shot her a look - a warning. "Don't be ridiculous. They'll come back. Of course, they will. This is Draco we're talking about."

"You said the same thing about Hermione." She reminded him, rolling her eyes as she did so.

Sighing, he glanced over his shoulder at the castle. Harry and Ginny were in there somewhere. They seem to have been spending a fair amount of time in the dorm room that Hermione and Draco shared. Originally, Blaise had found it ridiculous when Ginny explained she'd wait there until they came back, but now he was beginning to wish he'd stayed up there, too. It would be a lot warmer than being outdoors.

Astoria sighed and reached over to place a hand on Blaise's shoulder. "It's okay to be scared, Blaise. Everyone is scared right now. It's understandable."

He shook his head. "I'm not scared. I'm just... Worried."

"And that's okay, too." She reassured him.

He cast his gaze over the lake. "Do you know what this feels like?"

"No." She chuckled. "But, I'm sure you're going to tell me."

He paused for a moment, making it obvious he didn't like the way he was feeling. "Like the ship is sinking."

"Please, don't say that."

He frowned. "You just -"

"I know, I know." Astoria responded quickly with a horrified look in her eyes. "But, you've always been so devoted to them, Blaise. If that's how you feel then Merlin only knows what's happening to them."

Blaise sighed. He knew she was right. However, despite that, he also couldn't shake the feeling that he was also right. Before everything went wrong, he had spent enough time around Hermione and Draco to know how it feels when his ship was sailing smoothly. Yet, for some reason, without them around, he was beginning to get the sense that things would be different upon their return. If they returned.

Astoria looked as though she was about to say something else, maybe even take back her panicked response to his confession. However, a loud shriek rang out from over by the castle, causing the two Slytherin students to get up and investigate.

When they arrived, they found a large number of students gathered in the courtyard area. McGonagall was there with them, along with a few other teachers. But, there was one thing Blaise picked up on as he and Astoria approached the scene. They all looked pale, like they were going to be sick. He struggled to come up with something that would explain a reaction like that on such a large scale. However, after taking a few more steps, he found his answer.

Astoria let out a scream and dropped to her knees beside Blaise, cupping her hands over her mouth as and uncontrollable amount of tears came streaming down her face. Blaise himself froze on the spot and simply stared at what lay before him. He was certain that his reaction now matched everyone else's, because he really did feel sick.

Across the courtyard, Harry and Ginny pushed their way through the crowd of people, both of them collapsing into each other when their gaze fell on source of the horror.

From there, not a single sound was made. No-one spoke. No-one moved. Everyone simply stared.

At the centre of everyone's attention was two bodies, both lifeless in every sense of the word. One of them was a young man, with platinum blonde hair. And the other, a young woman, with brown, curly hair. They had been placed on the concrete in a way that made everything about it seem sweet, yet cruel. They were laid side-by-side, their hands clasped together, as the young woman's head rested on the young man's shoulder. It had been staged this way for some sort of dramatic effect, and it was working. Everyone was traumatised.

Those who knew the pair well enough knew that this was also how they often looked when they fell asleep one each other. Then they'd wake and deny that they had in fact been sleeping that way. However, the situation in front of everyone told them that there was no chance of them waking up any time soon... or ever again, for that matter.

Amongst all the crowds of traumatised students, Professor McGonagall stepped forwards to approach the bodies. Then, with a flat expression on her whitened face, she knelt down beside then to check for a pulse. She then stood and turned to address the entirety of the school, cleared her throat, and spoke. As the words tumbled out of her mouth and passed her lips, the Headmistress maintained a saddened expression, which further emphasised the words she was saying.

"Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy are dead."