Stylistic Harmony

Chapter Twenty-Two
She awoke to the sound of raised voices. An argument between Blaise and Draco, she couldn't make out what they were yelling at each other but she could feel their anger radiating from them. She got out of the bed, wrapping the thin sheet around her. Tentatively she made her way down the stairs, as she got closer their words got clearer, Blaise was yelling,
"You fucking left without even consulting us! Is it not important what we think huh?! She didn't want you to go Draco!" She watched as Draco's grey eyes darkened, his lips forming into an ugly sneer,
"What's all this 'us' bull crap all of a sudden? You haven't been around for two fucking weeks Blaise, too wrapped up in that little Redhead who's leaving you at the first sign of Potter taking an interest again, exactly like I said she would. So don't start preaching to me about my fucking girlfriend!" She stepped from the shadows,
"That's enough." They whipped around to look at her, her eyes were darkened, they knew what that meant; their argument had made her angry. Draco turned on his heel,
"Fuck this." He said and walked out the door. Blaise begun to swear under his breath in Italian, walking to the kitchen to make himself some strong coffee. Hermione stormed over to him, slamming her hand down on the counter, "Excuse me! Do you want to explain what the hell that was about?!" The Italian swung round and told her in his native language to 'leave him the fuck alone'. She smacked him round the head and went to get dressed for school, seething. She resolved to get to the bottom of the argument, her and Draco had a free third period, she would confront him then. Ignoring Blaise as she walked past him, she left for the Great Hall. When she arrived, she got a shock, for sitting at the Gryffindor were Harry and Ron, as if they'd never left.

Draco cracked out the stiffness in his neck, he had fallen asleep in the chair and his whole body ached. Hermione and Blaise still slept soundly. Painfully he got up and headed for the shower. His mind was troubled, with Potter and Weasley back it would be twice as hard for him and Hermione, also Potter had sworn to find out what was going on and that got to him most of all. The rush of water cleared his senses, and he was able to think clearly about the situation that he was facing. He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel round his waist. He stood in front of the sink and wiped the condensation from the mirror, taking in his reflection. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his skin was paler then usual, all in all he looked fucking awful. He re-dressed in the clothes from the night before and made his way downstairs, where the smell of strong coffee assaulted his senses. Blaise was in the kitchen brewing espresso, a stony expression on his face. When he saw Draco, that expression turned to one of complete and utter anger. Draco couldn't help himself,
"Woah, what's up man? Waking up next to my girlfriend not do it for you anymore?" Blaise snapped and lobbed a saucer at Draco's head. The blond ducked, shielding himself, now he was angry,
"What the fuck Zabini?! What's your problem?!" Blaise's eyes had changed from dark brown to a startling indigo,
"My problem? My problem is you right now Malfoy. You've totally screwed up this time!" Draco flicked his head back in exasperation,
"Fucking hell, what is it now, huh?" Blaise wanted to throttle him, he was being so pig headed, it was unbelievable,
"You left her. She was in a right state yesterday you twat, I had to look after her." Draco snorted,
"Yeah I noticed that, the little Redhead not satisfying you recently?" Blaise threw another saucer at him, Draco shattered it against the wall with a swish of his hand,
"Don't bring her into this Draco, this isn't about her." Draco begun towards the door, however he didn't leave, he turned back towards the Italian and said,
"Oh yeah I forgot, she isn't a part of this anymore is she? Fine, I won't go on about her then. You want to know why I went? I went because it was the right thing to do. I helped the person I loathe the most because it was the right thing to do. You think it was easy to go? I hate leaving her, I hate leaving you, but it was necessary." Blaise was angry, but controllably,
"It's not that you went Draco, its just. You fucking left without consulting us! Is it not important what we think huh?! She didn't want you to go Draco!" The blond was raging, Blaise was hacking him off. He didn't see him stepping forward to offer his help, it also pissed him off that Blaise was presuming things about him and Hermione, he couldn't even bloody hold on to his girlfriend,
"What's all this 'us' bull crap all of a sudden? You haven't been around for two fucking weeks Blaise, too wrapped up in that little Redhead, who's leaving you at the first sign of Potter taking an interest again, exactly like I said she would. So don't start preaching to me about my fucking girlfriend!" He felt the air around them change, he could feel her presence behind them,
"That's enough." Her voice rang out, calm and commanding but laced with annoyance. He and Blaise both turned to look at her, he could tell she was angry, but at the moment he was seething himself. He turned on his heel, and said,
"Fuck this," and walked out the door. He headed for his dorm room, he needed to change for school. The whole house was already up and awake, milling around the common room, waiting for breakfast time to begin. The younger ones scurried out of view at the sight of their Prince, his glowering stare piercing anyone who crossed his path. He managed to make it to his staircase without harming anyone to badly, a couple of fourth years were nursing bruised ribs but everyone was otherwise unharmed. However, that was soon to change as Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle and Nott blocked his path. Pansy's shrill voice grated on his head,
"Where've you been?" He sniggered,
"As if I am going to tell you, stupid whore." She smacked him, he grabbed her arm as it rose to do it again, "Don't try my patience Pansy, I don't hit girls but I'm willing to make an exception. Now, if you four would kindly get out of my way I need to change for class." They remained where they were, Pansy was not deterred by Draco's threats,
"Your mansion was broken in to last night Draco. Something was taken that was precious to the Dark Lord. Don't you think its funny Draco, that minutes after the robbery took place, you suddenly appeared visiting your Mother?" Draco's head whipped up, he pounced forward and caught Pansy round the neck, slamming her backwards. Crabbe, Goyle and Nott leapt to her defence, pulling Draco off of her. He shouted,
"Where is she Parkinson? I swear to God, if anything has happened to my Mother I will put the person responsible in the fucking ground. And I take it it was your twat of a Father who is investigating this 'break-in'? Be fucking careful who you accuse now love, you don't know what I am capable off." The pug faced girl smiled sweetly,
"So, what you're saying is that it was a pure coincidence that you visited your Mother yesterday?"
"Am I not allowed to visit my Mother anymore? Is that a fucking crime against Voldemort these days, caring about one's family?" He had had enough of this, he focused his thoughts and invaded Pansy's mind. It turned out she was just gassing, she didn't know anything of significance, and it appeared that no-one except these inept cretins suspected him of anything. His mother was still safe, and she had told the interrogators that she saw Draco arrive and leave the mansion. That in itself was a lie, but he knew that Narcissa Malfoy was no Death Eater, nor would she ever give up her own son. He pulled himself out of Pansy's mind, her eyes clouded over and her expression was blank. Turning to the others he said in a dangerous tone, "Now unless you have anything else that is not pure bullshit to say to me, you won't mind if I take my leave of you. Your idiocy is clouding my space to breath." He sauntered past them, fuming still, stopping on the fourth step, he said to them, "Oh and if any of you pry into my affairs again I will make sure you leave this establishment thinking you are six year old girls with pretty hair, are we clear?" A chorus of 'Yes Draco' satisfied him enough and he went to change for breakfast. Ten minutes later and he was entering the Great Hall, stood in his path was Hermione, her eyes fixed on the two figures at the Gryffindor table. He stood beside her, breathed in her scent, letting his lust for her wash over him. He turned his head to her,
"Want to get out of my way Granger?"

"Want to get out of my way Granger?" His arrogant tone rang in her ear, she looked up at him, his anger from that morning was still evident. She was still mad at him but that did nothing to curb her lust for him, he looked even more delicious then normal. His blonde hair was tousled and damp from the shower he took earlier, his grey eyes were smoldering, he leaned down to her and whispered, "I'm sorry I left without talking about it, but it had to be done," out of the corner of his eye he could see Potter and Weasley advancing towards them, "I'm sorry lover. Meet me in third period, we'll talk." She looked up at him, forgiveness and love in her eyes, but for the sake of the rest of the school, she said quite clearly,
"Fuck you Malfoy." She stalked off to stop Harry and Ron strangling her lover in front of her, shoving them back to the Gryffindor table, she sat next to Ron, Harry seating himself next to Ginny. She smiled at her best friends and 'boyfriend', toying with her hair she said,
"Are you guys, you know back for good?" Harry looked stony faced, he said sharply,
"What did he say to you?" She became somewhat twitchy,
"Nothing, it was nothing, just him being his usual arrogant prat self." Harry didn't look satisfied but he left it at that, Ginny hugged herself to her boyfriend and looked absolute ecstatic at the fact that he had returned. 'Hypocrite' thought Hermione, her eyes flicked up towards the Slytherin table, catching Draco's eye who winked and licked his lips. Blaise was seated at the other end of the table, clearly he was still mad at Draco. His face was impassive, but his eyes flashed thunderous anger when he looked towards Harry and Ginny. Ron tugged on her arm,
"Hermione, come on sweetheart, we'll be late for class." She allowed Ron to take her hand and walk her to class, flashing an unseen seductive smirk at Draco when she passed the Slytherin table, which was returned with a wink. She smiled and followed her boyfriend out like a good little puppy, all the while thinking about the blond and what he did to her.

Hermione sat in her two classes anticipating third period, the time dragged on and on, and she had trouble concentrating. It was nice to have Harry and Ron back, as much as she loved Draco and Blaise, her two best friends were irreplaceable. Although she was getting some weird vibe from Harry, he didn't seem like himself and he kept retreating away from her every time she tried to talk to him. By the time the bell went at the end of her second class she was on her last tether, so she let rip,
"Harry, for fuck's sake what is it? You've been acting weird all morning! What the hell happened last night?" Harry waited until Ron and Ginny were out of earshot and said back viciously,
"I've been weird?! What the hell is going on Hermione?! I saw your little look at Malfoy after breakfast and that little exchange the two of you had? That was not normal behaviour." She glared at him, giving him the impression that she thought he was mad,
"God Harry, have you gone absolutely crazy?! You're seeing things that aren't there! Do you want to know what he said to me? Do you really want to know?" Harry began to look sheepish, but he nodded, if Malfoy had insulted Hermione, he wanted to know about it. She flicked her hair behind her head, "He said, 'Shame your boyfriends back Granger, I enjoyed screwing your brains out every night," Harry looked at her incredulously, then laughed, her face cracked into a wide smile,
"Okay Hermione you win! I'm sorry for being ridiculous. Its just when we were at the Mansion, Malfoy was just acting more arrogant then normal, like he had something over us; and there was something he said to Ron that just perplexed me somewhat. Never mind its probably nothing." She bit her lip, then looped her arm through his and walked him down the corridor towards his next lesson, on the way she asked how it really went at the Mansion, he was vague,
"We got there, we broke into Lucius's study, Malfoy found the cup in the safe and handed it over. He also told us the potential whereabouts of another Horcrux. The item of Ravenclaws, thats the reason that me and Ron are back. The Horcrux is in a house not far from here, we're breaking in at the weekend." Hermione looked worried, something was troubling her,
"He just gave you the information? Just like that?" Harry nodded nervously, she didn't quite believe it, knowing Draco like she did, he wasn't one to do something for nothing. However she didn't let on to Harry that she didn't believe him, she would have to ask Draco his version of events later. "Fair enough then. Can I come, at the weekend?" He smiled,
"Maybe. I don't know how dangerous its going to be and I don't want you to get hurt, also me and Ron are going back to Grimmauld straight after, so...I mean its Christmas holidays in two weeks so we'll see you then. There is some stuff I may need your help with then. Its probably best if you don't come on Saturday actually, you have your studies and everything." They had reached his class and she let him go. He watched her go, his features a mask, not betraying any of the dread he felt at the fact that his best friend had just lied to him. Turning away from the door to his class, he followed her to the Heads common room. The portrait door had opened and closed quickly, but he was standing close enough to catch a glimpse of blond hair and grey eyes. He grimaced, and stalked off.

Many thoughts running through her head, she made her way to her common room, where Draco was waiting for her, lounged on the sofa. His long limbs stretched out in front of him, a glass of what looked like water, but she strongly suspected was actually vodka, in his hand. His head shot up to catch her eye, leaping off the sofa, he took her round the waist and slammed her back into the wall, covering her lips with his. She melted into him, relishing the feel of him pressed close to her body, inhaling the scent that was his uniquely. In no time at all he had her knickers off, and his trousers; he hoisted her upwards, thrusting into her. She clawed at the material of his shirt wanting to feel his skin, in the end she got frustrated and ripped his shirt clean off of him, running her fingers over his smooth, pale body. Quickly they both climaxed, kissing each other ferociously. He carried her to the sofa and sat her on his lap, she rested her head on his chest, listening to the steady beating of his heart. They sat in silence for a while, just enjoying being next to each other, she had to interrupt it,
"Draco?" He lazily lifted his head up,
"Mmm, what love?" She turned to face him, chewing her lip as she did when nervous,
"What happened last night? Harry told me that you cooperated, but he said that you didn't ask for anything in return. Call me cynical baby, but I know you and you aren't one for helping unless there is some gain to it. What did you ask for? And please don't lie to me." He looked into her eyes, she looked so tired and defeated, he wanted so badly to protect her from the truth but he knew that this time he wouldn't be able to,
"I got them into my house, and I told them what they wanted to know. There was no way I was going to let them go without getting something in return. So I blackmailed them, I would give them the cup and in return, Potter would let me be the one to finish it. To destroy Voldemort when it came to it. They said yes." He rested his forehead against hers, and said in a husky, harsh tone, full of hatred and malice, "I want that fucker to look me the eye when I squeezed the life out of him. I want him to know as he dies that no-one fucks with me and gets away with it, and lastly I want him to know that it was me who finally put paid to him, not his arch nemesis, but one of his 'loyal' servants, then he'll know that he was never better then anyone." He could sense the lust pouring off of her, her eyes had glassed over and she was breathing heavily. He stroked her hair out of her face, "And then my love, we'll be the ones with the control. We'll be the ones, revered, feared. We'll have the power, and this world will burn for us." He had slipped his hand under her skirt, caressing her gently. She grabbed his hair, forcing his lips on hers, he was her world, and damn anyone who got in their way.

The lake was eerily calm, the surface undisturbed, although rain was hammering down. Under the tree stood a figure, hunched over as if to protect himself from the storm. His jet black hair was soaked, his glasses clouded over. But through the gloom his emerald eyes shone, carefully trained on the window of the Head's rooms. The light in that window was flickering, the storm got worse, and yet Harry stayed. The cold feeling in the pit of his stomach eating away at him, he couldn't be certain what was going on, but everything in him was telling him that Hermione was betraying them all. All the signs pointed towards some sort of relationship between her and Malfoy, and from the length of time she had been in there with him, it was anything but innocent. The rain pounded down covering the land in artificial night, and still he stood, waiting.