Rain pounded down on the ceiling as Ron paced back and forth. "I don't want anyone or any more animals to die." The words venomous that came out of Ron's mouth.
The Cloaked Figure stayed sitting down across the room un-phased by the tone of Ron Weasley. "You aren't doing what I need you to. You know I hate waiting."
Ron stopped in his tracks when the cloaked figure said that. Turning to face them he yelled, "I got you the book you needed!"
"You know what I need!" The cloaked figure yelled as Ron flinched. "You know what I need and I need it before christmas..." The cloaked figure stood up and walked towards Ron. As they approached him, they ran their wand along his neck.
"Hogwarts is on full security... there isn't much I can do right now." Ron said plainly looking up at the ceiling as the wand stayed put on his neck.
"You will or the one you love the most dies... and you know exactly what spell I'll use." The figure said as they pulled their wand back into their pocket. "You have till christmas..." was the last thing they said before walking out into the dark alley and disappearing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Great Hall was silent as McGonagall made her announcements to the school. " As for the Hogsmead trip that was scheduled for this weekend we are moving it to right before the holidays. December 16th will be the trip." the Headmistress says as everyone in the Great Hall groans.
"She can't be serious! It's the first trip of the year!" Pansy says frustrated.
"There's not much she can do until all of this shit dies down." Draco said back to her as he looked at Hermione. "Looks like Christmas shopping will have to be postponed a bit love."
Putting her hand in his she nods her head, "It's a shame but I think McGonagall is right. It's best to be on the safe side." she says as he nods. "Plus it gives me more time to figure out what I'm getting your mum."
"Does Headmistress seem a bit on edge to you guys?" Ginny asks as they all look at McGonagall. She did seem on edge in fact she was whispering with the other professors before getting ready to speak again but the look on her face was nothing they had seen before.
"She does... it's probably just the whole Cloaked Figure situation. Plus she doesn't want to scare any of the younger year levels more than they already are." Hermione explains. "I heard them talking in the halls and after the first year had that spell cast on her they're all worried."
"I agree with Hermione. Her stress is probably just high." Harry agrees as they hear the Headmistress start to talk again.
"Before the trip we need your slips signed by parents so please get them to the Head Prefects or Professors as soon as possible. I don't want any of you to be scared or worried being in the castle. Our school is safe and well protected and as long as everyone abides by the new rules then everything will be well. We need you all to be well prepared for the obstacles that are to come in these next few months about your future." McGonagall finishes as she realizes what she has said. "That will be all besides the announcement that Quidditch will resume after the weekend, enjoy your dinner and head back to the common rooms!" she says as she flashes a quick smile.
"What was that supposed to mean?!" Ginny says, " What did she mean by 'obstacles to come in the next few months about our future'?"
Giving Draco a look that said 'I told you so' Hermione turned to her friends again, "I have no idea but there is definitely something going on that we don't know about yet... I don't buy this stress thing anymore."
"What could they be keeping from us that's such a big deal?" Blaise asks. "If it was that big why would they be waiting to release the information?"
"My guess is something with the Ministry." Harry says back as he looks at Ginny. "Tomorrow is the holiday anyways so we can ask Arthur and Molly if they know anything. But if it's about our future, whatever that means, I'm not sure they'd tell him given he has kids it affects."
"Yea dad might know, the Ministry usually tells him everything." Ginny agrees hoping they can get some insight.
Getting an idea in his head Blaise says, "Well what if we came up with our own investigation. I mean if dad doesn't know then someone around here has to."
"What exactly do you mean by investigation?" Draco asks continuing to eat his mashed potatoes and chicken.
"Well you four do rounds together anyways." Blaise says as she gestures to Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Draco. "So you take me, Pansy, and Luna along so we not only have extra hands if anything happens but we can also see if we can hear anything after hours from the Professors." Blaise explains with a smile.
They all thought for a moment before Hermione said, "I mean Draco and I are the Head Prefects so we take the blame if we get caught, not much will happen to us."
"I agree, plus with this cloaked figure we could use all the wands we can get." Draco chimed in as Hermione smiles at him.
"As long as I can get out of Ravenclaw tower I'm in!" Luna agrees. "Same." Pansy says gesturing to Blaise and herself. "Normally they fucking guard the doors like no tomorrow but we'll figure it out."
"Perfect! If something is going on around here... we'll find out for sure." Ginny says.
Switching up the conversation Pansy speaks up. "We should go and do something fun tonight to take our minds off all this fucking rubbish!"
"What exactly do you suppose we could do Parkinson ?" Draco asked.
"Well it is a beautiful night out, we could find a spot to go, throw up some lights with music and have a little dance party of our own! I'm dying to dance under the stars, especially with all this doom and gloom hovering over us." Pansy says, "Although I'm not sure exactly where we could go."
Luna instantly jumped in, "I know the perfect spot! I always used to hang out by the black lake. There's a tree that blocks us from the castle so we won't get caught!"
"I'm in!" Hermione said as everyone else's agreements flew into the conversation.
Just as Harry was about to talk he saw McGonagall scurry out of the Great Hall though the smaller door only Professors could go through. "Alright there is no doubt in my mind McGonagall is acting strange. She just booked it out of here."
They all turned to see half of the Professors and McGonagall home from their seats. Although the ones that were still there were looking not so happy to be.
"There has to be a meeting going on. Why else would they all get up and leave during dinner? I bet the Ministry is here." Hermione says as she turns back towards her friends.
"Alright so maybe we all go down to the Black Lake and two of us stay behind to see if we see anything in the Halls." Pansy says.
"If we go walking around the halls eavesdropping someone is bound to see us and know we are trying to listen in." Draco jumps in.
"Not necessarily..." Ginny says as everyone turns towards her. "You and Hermione are the Head Prefects, if anyone sees you then all you have to say is you were doing extra patrols to make sure nothing is going wrong." she says with a smirk.
"Ginny is right..." Harry chimes in as Hermione turns to look at Draco, giving him the puppy dog eyes.
"So we'll be spies?" Draco says quite obviously not amused.
Sighing, Ginny says, "Not spies just.... Head Prefects doing a round before our night under the stars!"
Still not amused he turns to Hermione, "Miss Hermione Granger, goody two shoes, you want to go spy before we go down?" he questions.
"We have to know what is going on Draco." she said plainly as she squeezed his hand signaling she needed him to help.
With a sigh Draco agreed.
"Yes! Okay so you two to make a round while we get everything put together!" Pansy says excitedly.
"Luna you're sure about this spot? We cannot get caught." Blaise asked as they all got up and started exiting the Great Hall.
Luna made her way to the front of the group, going ahead to lead them. "Of course I'm sure of it! I've been going here for years and no one has ever caught me."
As they approached the end of the hall, Hermione and Draco went right as everyone else went left. "We'll walk around for ten minutes and if we can't hear anything we will head over." Hermione said.
"Be careful, who knows who they're meeting with." Harry said.
"Will do." Draco says as they all turn to go their separate directions.
Hermione and Draco start their walk by going near the Headmistresses office. Casting a spell to intensify talking they tried to listen in. Not expecting to hear anything they start to walk away before they hear McGonagall speak.
"You can't possibly think that these children are ready for that!" she said trying to keep her voice down but quite obviously enraged.
"Minerva it has to happen. These laws are put in place not to harm them but to make sure our wizarding world gets stronger. The war hurt our world too much Minerva and you know it. They aren't children anymore they are adults." said a male voice that neither Draco nor Hermione knew.
"Who is that?" Hermione mouthed to Draco so that no one would hear them. "They sound mad."
"I have no idea... the minister?" Draco mouthed back as they continue to try and listen in on the conversation at hand.
They could hear McGonagall's voice getting closer as if she was coming up to the door so Hermione and Draco backed up a bit.
" They may be adults but there is no saying that they will be ready for something like this! My professors and I cannot keep this a secret from them much longer. They are in fact our children and we will not lie to them any longer." McGonagall says as she gets even closer to the door. "I think it is time you go. My prefects will be doing rounds any minute."
Draco pulled Hermione's arm as he pulled them around the corner so they wouldn't be seen. Slightly turning the corner he looked around in hopes to see who was talking to McGonagall while Hermione tried to hear.
"It is up to you when you tell them Minerva but they must know by Christmas or they simply will not have enough time to choose how they will spend their future and with whom." This mystery man said before walking in the opposite direction as Draco and Hermione were in.
Hermione pulled Draco's arm this time as they ran down the hall into a staircase they knew no one could hear them in.
"Did you see who it was?!" Hermione said still in shock at what they heard as she paced back & forth.
Sighing Draco said, "No I saw McGonagall but the other person was facing away the whole time with their ministry robes on. What exactly did you hear, I couldn't make out the last few words."
Still pacing back & forth Hermione was wondering if she had even heard them right. "Alright I'm not sure if I truly heard what I did because it sounds like they're talking in a way they know someone could be listening in."
"Well McGonagall did say prefects would be doing rounds soon so maybe they wanted to do that on purpose. In the case someone like us.." Draco gestured to the two of them, "come along and ease drop."
"You're right but there's no way Draco, the ministry can't put these types of laws on us." Hermione said still thinking to herself as she laced back and forth.
The anticipation raised in Draco as Hermione paced and thought to herself about what all of this could mean.
"Love what sort of laws are you talking about?" Draco asked after letting her process for a minute. Normally he would badger her to answer but he knew giving her a minute to think would benefit all of them.
"The person said to McGonagall... 'It is up to you when you tell them Minerva but they must know by Christmas or they simply will not have enough time to choose how they will spend their future and with whom.' ... So I can only assume they're giving us a time frame eventually for..." Hermione says before Draco interrupted.
"A marriage law..." Draco said as Hermione only shook her head.
"I mean it's complete rubbish considering we are literally in school and we are adults technically but how can the ministry put a law on us like that? They are the Ministry of Magic but it's our lives!" Hermione rambled on.
"There is a chance that this is all nonsense and it is something completely different." Draco said trying to be the voice of reason.
"D you said it yourself that it sounded like a marriage law in the making..." Hermione said as she stopped pacing & stared at Draco.
" I know..." Draco sighed walking over to where Hermione was standing and put us arms around her waist so she would put hers around his neck.
"I don't think we should tell them Draco. We don't know 100% that a marriage law is happening and I don't want to alarm them or get them thinking the wrong thing." Hermione said looking up at him.
"Hermione if this is true then this is a huge secret to keep. You want us to go down and act like nothing happened?" Draco says back contemplating what Hermione is saying.
"We don't act like nothing happened, we go down there we tell them that some laws are in the making that we don't know about just yet and that McGonagall is telling us about them soon... none of that is lying it's just not mentioning the one of two parts that hint at a marriage law." Hermione explains.
As Draco contemplates the idea of not telling their friends everything he just looks down at the girl in his arms.
"What are we going to do if there actually is a marriage law Hermione?" Draco asks hoping he doesn't get an answer that'll hurt.
"I was just about to ask the same thing..." Hermione said with a slight chuckle. She leaned into his chest as she placed her lips on his gently.
"No matter the circumstance were put in, I don't want to loose you." Draco finally said after what felt like hours of silence to them.
With a sigh of relief Hermione put her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. "I was hoping you would say that."
"I won't tell them about he marriage law or what we think is the marriage law but we should probably get down there considering it's been more than 20 minutes." Draco said.
"Okay... I love you Malfoy." Hermione said.
"And I you, Granger." he says as he kissed her swiftly before grabbing her hand as they walked down towards the black lake.
As they scurried out of the castle so they wouldn't be seen by anyone, they could see a hint of light under a tree but nothing that anyone would notice from the castle.
Hermione could see all their friends underneath the trees as they got closer and she was blown away by what they had done.
Under the trees they had added string lights that hovered over them in zig zags on the tree branches but still let in pockets of darkness to see the stars shining above them. They were right next to the lake so they could hear the small waves hitting the rocks under the soft music playing.
"Wow..." Hermione said as Draco and her approached their friends. "This is beautiful!"
"You've really outdone yourselves." Draco said to the group.
Choruses of thank you's filtered in as everyone came closer to the pair to head about their findings.
"Did you hear or see anything?" Ginny asked as Blaise turned down the music slightly so they could hear.
"We know someone from the ministry was at the school but we couldn't see who but it was a man. They talked about how we need to know something by Christmas but McGonagall doesn't want it to happen at all. We assume their new laws that have to do with us but McGonagall is telling us soon or at least we think she is. That's the most we heard." Hermione explains.
"The ministry is rubbish." was all Harry said in response.
"I really hope we know soon what these laws are considering they're being infringed on us not them!" Pansy said as she shook her head.
"Thank you for trying to find out 'Mione." Ginny says as she turns back around, "Can we start dancing now please!" Ginny yelled as they all laughed.
Harry turned up the music as they all got in pairs besides Luna who insisted she was fine dancing by herself for now. The first song started playing and it was definitely a song you wanted to dance with your partner to.
"May I have this dance?" Draco asked with a smile as he extended his hand for Hermione to take.
"I suppose you can..." Hermione said with a giggle as she took his hand and put her other on his shoulder with his on her waist. They slowly danced to the music under the stars in their own trance.
"I love dancing under the stars." Hermione said as she looked up at them though the trees.
Draco stares down at the girl in front of him as she looked up. Every day he felt like the luckiest man on the planet to have her. The new possible marriage law definitely scared him but he knew Hermione was the one. The thing that worried him was if she knew he was the one for her or if she even thought that at all. He thought to himself about all the things she could turn him down for, the blood status even thought he would never use it against her again there was the Malfoy family history that said other wise, how Hermione can't even step foot into Malfoy Manor yet, or how she can't meet his mother yet. It seemed to him like this law was rooting against him. He loved her more than anything, the chocolate brown eyes that he couldn't get enough of, her hair that was always perfect during the day but beyond messy when she first wakes up, her feisty personality that kept him in line, everything about her was perfect to him.
Hermione looked back down at Draco only to see him looking at her with a saddened expression on his face. "Love I know what you're thinking and stop it. This isn't the end for us." Hermione said as Draco brought his hand up to cup her cheek. "We don't even know if this is happening for real but trust me nothing is changing us."
"I love you Hermione," Draco said back as they continued to dance to the music.
"I love you too Draco," Hermione whispered against his lips as she kissed him. Draco kissed her back lightly as Hermione deepened the kiss briefly before pulling away.
"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" Draco asked as he pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"Only every single day..." Hermione responded with a smile.
"Good." Draco responded as Ginny shouted at them, "Hey lovebirds! We're switching partners so break it up!!"
Everyone laughed as Ginny went couple by couple breaking them apart before grabbing Blaise to dance.
"I think I'll take him now!" Ginny yelled as she winked at Pansy.
"Ginny you are something else!" Pansy laughed.
Harry has walked over as O Children started playing from the speakers. "C'mon Hermione we've got to dance to this for old times sake!"
Hermione grabbed his hand as she flashed one last smile at Draco before Harry whisked her away to dance together.
"Draco would you like to dance with me?" a voice said from behind Draco causing him to turn and see a Luna Lovegood standing there.
"I would love to Luna." Draco chuckled to himself as they started dancing.
"So you two know now?" Luna asked quietly.
Draco was confused at what she meant by knowing. "Know what?"
"About the law. I had come to the conclusion myself but I didn't want anyone to freak out... however not many people would believe me anyways." Luna said as Draco silently agreed with her. "I think you guys did the right thing by not telling them. When we do find out though for sure, I would make sure if they ask you say you guys could only hear a few words so you couldn't draw the full conclusion."
"So this is really happening?" Draco asked subtly.
"I think so... I really hope someone comes along for me now." Luna laughed a bit as Draco laughed as well.
"I'm sure someone will. Perhaps Neville with come along by then." Draco said as he looked at Hermione and Harry laughing as they were dancing to the song they liked so much.
"Hey aren't we technically cousins?" Draco asked turning back to Luna.
"I believe so, I don't look at family trees often but I think we are." Luna answered as Draco gave her a quick spin.
Thinking forward a bit Draco said, "For the holidays I want everyone to come to the manor, you and your father should join us."
"That would be fun! I'll see what I can do with my father but you can count me in!" Luna smiles.
"Oh and if by then Neville would like to come with you he is more than welcome." Draco smiles back.
"Thank you... cousin!" Luna said as Draco and her laughed together before Ginny came over to them.
Ginny booted Luna with her hip and slid her way into Draco's arms where Luna had been moments prior. "I believe it's my turn to dance with the Slytherin!"
Luna only laugher before walking away to dance with Harry. Draco shook his head at Ginny while they both laughed for a good minute at how crazy Ginny was. Nonetheless they still started dancing to the music playing.
"Bloody Hell Ginny you really are something." Draco laughed.
"Well it was time to switch and Miss Luna was hogging you. Plus I could NOT deal with Blaise singing to the songs anymore!" Ginny said exasperated.
As Draco spun Ginny he said, "Well Weasley it's my pleasure to dance with you."
"Well thank you Malfoy! I know I'm so charming!" Ginny says as they laugh again. "Do tell, are you nervous about what's going on with the Ministry? You were there, do you think it's bad?" Ginny asked very serious now.
"I don't think it's anything that we won't be able to handle. It's definitely not an issue bigger than the war or the cloaked figure, at least from what I could gather. Plus I believe if Hermione isn't worried then none of us should." Draco explained to Ginny as she listening quite intently. She looked over at Hermione dancing with Blaise and Pansy and silently agreed with Draco.
"She is the brightest witch of our age so I guess she knows a thing or two..." Ginny giggled, " That bring said you really do have an amazing but scary girl there."
"What's so scary about her?" Draco questioned as his eyebrows furrowed.
"I mean look at her, she could hex you into the next century so good luck to whoever has to duel her in DADA this year but have you heard one of the funniest stories from when the 'Golden Trio' was on the run?" Ginny questioned as Draco shook his head.
"Merlins beard! It's really quite amazing but Ron had just shown back up and Harry had Hermione's wand since Harry's was broken and when Hermione went off on Harry he backed up into a tree but he was never that scared of Voldemort or anyone. I laughed when I heard that story that's for sure." Ginny explained.
"He backed up when she was yelling at him?" Draco said as he started laughing.
"Yes! He was scared of a wandless Hermione!" Ginny laughed with Draco. "I mean given she can do wandless magic now but that's besides the point."
At that Draco looked at Ginny quickly, "Hermione can do wandless magic?!" He said very much in shock.
"Draco she is Hermione Granger... of course she can do wandless magic!" Ginny laughed as Draco was amazed. Yet another thing that women can do that blows him away. He was in a way sad he didn't know or had never seen but still proud he had a girlfriend who could do wandless magic.
"Bloody Hell you're right that I do have the most amazing girl." Draco said as he looked at Blaise and Hermione dancing.
Blaise was spinning Hermione as she chuckled. "Blaise that is the one hundredth time you've spun me i'm going to throw up soon! Pansy come take him!"
He steadied her as they then swayed to the music and let Hermione have her head go back to normal.
"Are you excited for tomorrow?" Blaise questioned. "I know Draco is scared half to death."
"I'm excited yes, the Weasley's are basically my second family. Draco will be fine, I know why he's worried but i've explained... or more like I have tried to explain to him that the Weasley's understand and hold nothing against him. But I suppose hearing it from them tomorrow might help." Hermione answered back as she put her hair up into a small messy bun on the top of her head.
"Draco will be fine once he gets to know them I think he's more worried about letting you down if it doesn't go well or if people still look at him in bad light." Blaise says back.
"I understand why it just makes me so sad. He'll see tomorrow that people see him better... well people other than us." She said as she gestured at everyone dancing.
Just as Blaise was about to respond, Draco himself appeared next to Hermione.
Putting his hand on her waist he said, "Sorry Zabini I think it's time I steal her away from you."
Blaise let go of Hermione as he chuckled at Draco. "No problem mate, I should probably get back to Pansy myself." he said as they all looked over to see Pansy dancing with Luna.
As Blaise left Draco grabbed ahold of Hermione again and let out a content sigh.
"Jealous are we Malfoy?" Hermione questioned with a smirk on her face.
Snapping him out of his being content he looked down at Hermione. "Jealous? I'm not jealous I'm just simply taking back what's mine." Draco said with a shrug as he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "And you Miss Granger are mine..." he said before kissing just below her ear and pulling away to see the look on her face. A mix of content and lust.
Something about his subtle possessiveness over her made her feel something not just in her stomach but other places as well. It drove her crazy but in a good was as well as maddening.
"That I am Malfoy." was her response before leaning in to kiss him passionately. Ultimately Hermione pulled away before they got too into the moment while with their friends.
The rest of the night was spent with more upbeat music playing as they all danced the night away under the stars. They indeed as pulled off a magical night despite everything happening around them and had a night to remember.
~~~~~~~~
Hey everyone!
I hope you like the chapter! Next chapter is going to be filled with everything juicy so keep an eye out for the next one!
Should be posted later this week or early next week!!
Don't forget to vote, comment, & share my story with your friends!!
xx Mia