Stylistic Harmony

Chapter Twelve
Hermione spent that evening in the library, she hadn't seen Draco since that morning. He had been distant ever since their conversation under the tree, she had an inkling that there was something troubling him. Something that had nothing to do with her. Sighing, she packed up her books and made her way back to the common room. Predictably, Draco and Blaise were sprawled on the sofas drinking firewhiskey and smoking. Having not seen Blaise since the night before, she was shocked when she saw the ugly purple bruise around his neck. She shut the portrait door with a bang, this caused the two men to look up. On seeing her, Draco's face broke into the same cracked smile she had seen earlier, he rose of the sofa to embrace her. She relaxed into his arms, inhaling the scent of expensive cigarettes. Blaise had also risen, and moved towards the couple,
"I hate to break this up, but we have somewhere to be Draco," he said in a serious tone. Hermione's head snapped up, worry etched into her features, Blaise sensed her concern. Pulling her from Draco's embrace, he kissed her, reassuring her that everything was fine. She wasn't convinced,
"What's going on? Where are you going?" She had separated herself from the both of them, and her anger was now flaring, along with a sickening feeling in her gut that they were being summoned by Voldemort. As if reading her mind, Draco said,
"You know we can't tell you Hermione. You know how dangerous this is. We'll be back by morning, sleep in Blaise's bed tonight, we'll find you there in the morning," he took her in his arms and kissed her passionately, "I swear to you I'll be back tomorrow. I promise." Releasing her, he grabbed his cloak, and strode out of the door. Blaise followed behind him, sending an apologetic glance at her, before disappearing into the night. She waited until they were truly gone before letting the tears take over. The reality of the situation hitting her harder then ever. It was always going to be like this, they would disappear without explanation, and she would never know if it would be the last time she would see them. She knew that until Harry defeated Voldemort, she could never truly be with Draco without putting them into mortal peril. Her conscious was screaming at her to go and tell Harry that they had gone, that something big was happening, but her heart refused to let her move. She couldn't do it without putting Draco in danger of being caught, then she would lose him forever. So she forced herself to move, up the stairs to Blaise's room, not even bothering to undress she collapsed onto the bed, feeling cold and alone without Draco beside her.

..."When morning breaks, the whole wizarding world will be reminded that I am their Lord, and sooner or later I will have all the power.".... The words of that maniac reverberated round his head. The meeting had been insightful, revealing. The war had begun, Voldemort had made the first move. He stood in the cold, dark surrounding Hogwarts castle, cloaked by the night. After their return, Blaise had headed straight to find Hermione, but he had remained outside, needing the fresh air to clear his head. The disgust he felt at himself was overwhelming, how he could have ever wanted to follow that psychotic moron was beyond him. Whenever he looked at Voldemort now, all he could see was a sad, pathetic excuse for a wizard, whose fanatical views were pointless and outdated, and who spent his life hiding from a 17 year old boy. His mind drifted to the events of that night.
After they had left Hermione, they made their way to the front gates of the castle, fortunately not encountering anyone on their way. Reaching the outskirts of Hogsmeade, they apparated to the Riddle house. Lucius was waiting for them in the hall, he greeted them without emotion,
"Draco, Blaise," inclining his head towards them both, "The meeting is about to begin, follow me." Draco was confused, his Father was never that polite to him, shrugging it off, he and Blaise followed the elder Malfoy down a dank corridor, entering a door on their right. This was one of the larger meeting rooms of the vast mansion, specially set up for the gathering tonight. A large oak table ran the length of the room, which was already filling up with Death Eaters; the lower of the ranks were stood at the back of the room, they hushed when the two Malfoys and Blaise entered, a mark of respect for those in the Dark Lord's favour. Lucius took the seat to the right of the head of the table, Draco next to him. Blaise directly opposite the younger Malfoy, his Father opposite Lucius. As ambassador for the Dark Lord abroad, Blaise's father was ranked in similar favour to Lucius, and Voldemort considered him a trusted advisor. The table filled with more senior officials, Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband, Severus Snape, and others. There was awkward silence as they awaited the Dark Lord's arrival. Ten minutes later, he arrived, Wormtail scurrying after him like a lovesick puppy. Those seated at the table stood up, Draco the last to rise, the Dark Lord nodded to them all, seating himself in the ridiculously elaborate throne at the head of the table. The rest sat and the meeting began. Voldemort spoke,
"Greetings my loyal followers. Thank you all for coming on this glorious night. Tonight the history of this world will be irrevocably altered, tonight the Ministry will be crippled and the Order of the Phoenix will be blinded by the panic. As of tonight, I will have made the first move, and the Second War will have begun. When morning breaks, the whole wizarding world will be reminded that I am their Lord, and sooner of later I will have all the power. Now, some of you may ask, what is the plan? All in good time my friends, all in good time. But for now, I wish to know of the progress made in determining the identity of the man who attacked us in Hogsmeade village." Lucius stood up and said,
"I have assigned individuals to seek out and question certain people who may be aware of this filth's identity. As however, he has not been seen before now, little progress has been made. It is believed that even the Order of the Phoenix do not know his true identity." Lucius bowed and sat back down, Voldemort looked pensive, his eyes fixed on the centre of the room. After a moment his head turned to Draco, his snakelike features gleaming in the dim light,
"Master Malfoy, have there been any whispers within the walls of Hogwarts as to the identity of this man? I hear that that filthy little Mudblood whore of Potter's has been set the task of escorting you at the Ministry's request. Have you managed to glean any information from her?" Draco could feel Voldemort probing his mind, reaching into every crevice to extract anything of use. Draco suspected he did this to all his followers, no secrets between Lord and servant. Luckily Blaise and he had been skilled in Occlumency, and Legilmancy, since a young age. Having practiced with each other relentlessly one summer. Draco focused his thoughts and blocked Voldemort with ease, he answered with a hint of smugness to his tone,
"No, my Lord. The students of Hogwarts live in fear after the loss of their beloved Headmaster, no one is willing to talk of the attack on Hogsmeade or the possible identity of the disgusting traitor," the lies flowed so easily, Draco was even surprised, now for the real test, talking of Hermione without revealing his true feeling. Fortunately, as a Malfoy, hiding his feelings was something he had experience with, "As for the Mudblood, she does not speak to me, I have yet to hear a word from her, beside insulting me." Voldemort seemed to accept it, although it happened to be the worst lie he had ever told. Across the table, Blaise breathed a silent sigh of relief, their secret was safe, for now. Voldemort paused then once again spoke to the entire room, his hoarse voice making the hairs on the back of Draco's neck stand on end,
"Very well, Master Malfoy. I think it prudent for you to keep your head down for now. We do not wish for Miss. Granger to become suspicious of your activities. Now, a word of caution to you all, last weeks attack was sloppy and unplanned. Many Death Eaters were lost. I will not tolerate failure of this magnitude again. Understood?" Murmurs of 'Yes, my Lord' echoed round the room. Voldemort clasped his hands together, an unusual look of pleasure on his inhuman face, "Good. Now, back to business. It is time my friends to reveal to you my plan. Those involved shall be honoured above all. Rise my servants." Around the table, the elder Malfoy and Zabini stood, followed by Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Nott and Macnair. Voldemort stood with them, and finally revealed the details, "Tonight, the Ministry will fall. These six, shall break into the lower levels of the Ministry and create a serious of explosions that shall devastate the foundations of the building. This in turn shall weaken the entire structure causing it to be destroyed in complete and utter chaos. Those good little people who are working late shall be killed, and we also know that several important members of the Ministry will be there, they will also meet their demise. This blow will cripple the inner workings of the establishment, causing a rift so huge that it will weaken both the Order and the Aurors, creating multiple windows of opportunity for us to strike. Tonight my friends is only the beginning, when the time comes, I will tear this world to pieces and rebuild it the way it ought to be!" The Death Eaters in the room applauded, Draco felt sick, who could have thought the Dark Lord would suddenly be so impulsive. The Light side may never recover from this blow, yet he couldn't do a thing about it. Events had to play out. The meeting ended with the chosen six apparating away to do their work. The Dark Lord disappearing to his private chambers. Draco and Blaise did not speak on their way out, both playing over in their minds what had been said, what was about to happen. They feared for her.

Now here he was, waiting for morning to come, and with it, complete chaos. Dragging deeply on the cigarette between his lips, Draco contemplated the new dawn, the wizarding world would be blind with panic, then the massacre would begin. He stayed there until the sun pierced the land, leaking blood red rays over the ground, which was crusted with ice. He remembered his promise to her. He turned his back on the rising sun and started towards the school, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw the figure watching him from the stone steps of Hogwarts Castle.