Stylistic Harmony

Chapter Twenty Five
*****She was waiting for him, and he had to get to her. He could see her, at the end of the platform, black dress, strappy shoes. She looked so sad, all he wanted to do was gather her in his arms and tell her everything would be alright, but he couldn't get to her. As soon as he got close, she got further away. But he still tried, he ran and ran, but she was slipping. He couldn't stop.
"Hermione!" He called, but she had turned her back on him, and was walking away, further and further. Something grabbed his collar, hurling him backwards. He hit a brick wall, sliding down it. The pain was excruciating, he almost blacked out. Almost. Grunting, he dragged himself to stand. Facing the men in front of him, over their shoulders he could see her waiting for him. The ring he had placed in her palm glinting in the morning light. But his path was blocked. Voldemort, Lucius, Potter, Weasley, Snape, all stood in his way. He sneered,
"What is this eh? An intervention? Save it. You'd all better get out of my way. Now." They didn't move. Suddenly the scene shifted, and she was by his side again. Darkness had fallen, there was blood on her, staining the front of her white wedding dress. His Father stood behind her, a silver dagger gleaming with her blood. She cupped the side of his face, kissing him softly on the lips, she leant forward and whispered vindictively in his ear,
"You didn't try hard enough Malfoy." With that she disappeared into thin air, and he was left, her words ringing in his head. His Father smirked and smiled evilly. His heart turned to stone. The wind whistled around him and his world descended into utter darkness.*****

He woke up disorientated, his surroundings seemed unfamiliar, though he had lived in them all his life. The past two days weighed heavy on his mind. On his return from school, he had gone directly to Voldemort's manor, to meet his Father. Lucius had been curious as to his sons sudden disinterest in completing his education. Draco had cast it off as disdain for the whole system and contempt for the way in which the school was run, his face impassive, hiding the real reason he had left Hogwarts so suddenly. To Draco's disbelief, Lucius was actually proud, for once in his life. Draco had almost died of shock. The real test came when he had to face Voldemort, deceiving him was a completely different animal to deceiving his Father. Draco had had to concentrate so hard to ensure that the Dark Lord did not find out his true motive. The effort had exhausted him, and he had crashed out in one of the many rooms that the Riddle house possessed. He planned on returning to Malfoy Manor the next day. He had a house elf send word to his Mother that he would be arriving the next afternoon. That night his sleep had been punctuated by dreams of death and betrayal, he had awoken in the morning drenched in sweat. He felt empty without her by his side and he had wondered whether he would ever sleep peacefully again. He showered and dressed, then gathered his belongings in preparation to return home. Before he left, he had once again been called in front of the Dark Lord. He Who Must Not Be Named had looked him up and down, circling him like a vulture, finally he had said in his rasping, hiss-like voice,
"Master Malfoy, it has come to my attention that a very strong and dangerous power has been formed. I have tasked both your Father and Carlo Zabini to find the source of this power, it is my wish for you to join them in this. Your services will be most useful seeing as you can be seen in a public forum, and the others cannot. Leave nothing untouched, find this power and bring it to me. You will of course be highly rewarded for your services." Draco had almost snapped right then and there, he wanted to wrap his fingers around that bastards throat and squeeze until his eyes popped, but luckily he had contained his anger. Afterwards he had thought, in the long run, it was better, he could at least then feed Voldemort false information, and lead him away from the trail that would eventually lead to himself, his lover and his best friend. He had returned to the Manor that day, and after paying his respects to his Mother, had immediately retired to his room, where sleep took him until late the next day. Wandering the dark corridors of his ancestral home, he realised how lonely his existence was, though he was constantly surrounded by people. Being with Hermione had changed that, she had made him feel whole, made his life meaningful, never before had he felt so alive. The following afternoon he had spent with his Mother, who had been in the strangest of moods. Since her husbands escape from Azkaban prison, she had withdrawn from her friends, had barely eaten and was looking sicker by the day. He was growing increasingly worried about her well being, he had even considered sending her to St. Mungo's. At least he was guaranteed that there she would be properly looked after and he could concentrate on getting back where he needed to be. Which was back at Hogwarts with the woman he loved. He knew what he needed to do, but that would take years of planning and even then he would have to be constantly on the run, moving from place to place, he wouldn't, couldn't ask her to follow him in that kind of life. But he felt as though he was running out of options, he needed to speak with Blaise and soon. That evening he had sat at his desk and owled the healers at St. Mungo's, requesting that someone came to assess his Mother's condition as soon as possible. With that sorted, he had written a letter to Blaise, asking him to meet him somewhere in Hogsmeade the next afternoon. He did not sleep until the early hours of that morning, and even his sleep was fractured by his dreams.
Draco rose out of the bed, and dragged himself into the shower. He let the hot water wash over him, greatly troubled by his dream. The image of Hermione, blood drenched in her white wedding dress, sneering in his ear. She was right, he wasn't trying hard enough to keep them together. He shouldn't have let Potter's stupid threat trouble him, he shouldn't have left her. He had the worrying feeling that she was in more danger without him there, then with him there. Stepping out of the shower room, he wrapped a towel around his waist, and went back into his room, where he found two owls waiting. He detached the two letters from their feet and shooed them out of the open window. The first letter was a reply from St. Mungo's, they were sending someone over that morning, soon in fact. He threw it down and tore open the second, recognising Blaise's slanted scrawl.

Draco,
Meet me outside the Hogs Head, 2 p.m. See you there.
Blaise.

Short, sweet and to the point, the way Draco liked it. He threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and headed to the dining room for breakfast. He found his Mother wandering the entrance hall, still in her nightgown. The sight tore at his heart, her hair was wild and her eyes wide with unshed tears. She was murmuring to herself, incoherent ramblings, words like Lucius, Dark Lord and sudden screams of 'no, not Draco, please.' He shuddered, seeing her like this was killing him. The house elves had informed him that she had been acting like this for a while now. This was her on an off day, on a good day she was perfectly lucid, appearing to be the same woman who said goodbye to him in September, but then she would change and become this lunatic who stood in front of him. Cautiously he approached her, reaching out his hand to touch her shoulder, tentatively he said,
"Mother? Mother, its me, Draco." She grabbed his hand, turning to face him, her eyes fearful, she shook him violently,
"No!" She cried, "Don't let them! Please, he's my only son!" She was sobbing now, crumpled to the floor, he sat with her. She was hysterical, screaming, "No! Lucius, please, he's only a child. Please! No!" He had had enough, he scooped her up and carried her to her bedroom. He yelled for the house elf, who popped to his side. Placing his mother on the bed, he had to restrain her as she thrashed about, barking at the elf,
"For fuck's sake, go and get that pill thing you've been giving her! Get to it, useless little shit!" The house elf disappeared, then reappeared holding a small vial of red pills. Draco forced a couple down his Mother's throat. After a second she calmed, and slipped into a drug induced slumber. Draco sat watch over her until the healer from St. Mungo's arrived. They agreed with Draco, and made arrangements for her transfer. Draco just numbly sat there, signed the papers and then watched as they carted her off. He spent the rest of the afternoon locked in his Father's study, breaking everything he could find.

Blaise looked at the clock above the fireplace. Half past one, he should leave soon, but Hermione was in the kitchen and he wanted to avoid uneasy questions. It wasn't as if he wanted to keep her away from Draco, he thought that it would be easier for her to deal if she didn't see him. However, evading her was proving to be tricky, she was far to intelligent, and as soon as Draco's letter had arrived the night before, she knew something was up. She had been pestering him all morning, and was still not letting up, time was getting short,
"Why do you keep looking at the clock Blaise?" Her voice shook him out of his daze, he found her sat in the chair beside him, her brown eyes penetrating as she scrutinised him. He smiled at her,
"No reason love. Just bored is all." She got up and planted herself in front him, climbing into his lap, smirking, unnervingly similar to Draco,
"Do you think I was born yesterday lover? This is the last time I ask you, and after this I have no qualms in beating it out of you. What. Is. Going. On?" She had a grip on his hair, and she wasn't letting go. Draco had specifically told him, no scratch that, ordered him to keep her out of this, but his resolve was beginning to crumble. Especially seeing as Hermione was doing wicked things with her tongue down his neck and her hips were grinding into him in the most suggestive of fashions. "Now Blaise, what was in that letter that came late last night? And why are you so anxious to leave here?" He growled at her, and flipped her down so he was straddling her,
"I can't tell you Cara." She leant up and sank her teeth into the side of his neck, he grimaced at the shock of the pain, she let go, then stared at him with huge Bambi eyes,
"Was it Draco?" He turned away from her, and got up, moving to the kitchen. She stood and followed, grabbing him and turning him to face her, "It was, wasn't it?! I can't believe that you kept this from me! Is he okay?" The Italian didn't answer her, she shook him again, "Blaise! Please, tell me he's okay!" He looked down at her, the fear in her eyes sliced his heart like a knife, so he relented. Taking her hand he led her to the sofa and sat her down.
"He's alright Cara, he's at the Manor. His mother, she's...she's not herself. He's looking after her, and....." he trailed off, if he told her about the meeting she would want to come and Draco would kick his arse for not adhering to the rules. To be brutally honest, Blaise wanted to talk to Draco alone, his head was still buzzing somewhat from the blonde's departure and what happened between them before he left. "..and he told me to tell you, that he loves you and misses you." Tears welled up in her eyes, so he hugged her to him, kissing the top of her head. His eyes flicked towards the clock, one forty five, if he didn't leave now, he'd be late. Luckily for him, Hermione had cried herself to sleep against him, disentangling himself, he gently laid her down on the sofa and covered her with a throw. Making as little noise as possible, he slipped out of the door and headed to Hogsmeade.

He watched as the regulars of the Hogs Head came and went, mostly somewhat shady characters. Snow had begun to fall thick and fast, blurring his sight, making it hard to distinguish anything. He pulled his cloak tighter around him and waited, shrouded by the shadow of the alley where he sat. The smoke from his cigarette swirled around his head, sucked into the whirling vortex of snow that was plummeting down. Five minutes later a figure approached him, his black cloak mottled with white snowdrops, looking throughly cold and thoroughly disgruntled. Draco stood up and stubbed his fag out on the wall, Blaise pulled him into a slightly awkward hug. They both pulled back, Blaise then said,
"Let's go and get a drink, I'm freezing my bollocks off out here." They made their way into the dark and dingy pub, Draco inclined his head to the bartender, who knew full well who Draco was and what he wanted. Two glasses of fire whiskey were hastily put in front of them. They sat in silence for a moment, sipping their drinks, allowing the warmth to spread through their systems. It was a while before either said anything, Draco being the first to speak,
"How is she Blaise?"
"Honestly?" The blonde nodded, so he continued, "She misses you like crazy. She's trying to hide it but I can see right through her. Its tearing her up inside Draco, its killing her. She understands why you had to go but she can't live without you anymore. She's been working like crazy the last couple of days, trying to forget, but as soon as we're alone, its like she's slipping away, she's been crying herself to sleep." Draco felt a cold pang in his heart, the thought of her like that was destroying him, he had to see her. He drained his drink and ordered another, Blaise spoke again, "Hows your Mother?"
"The healers took her off this morning. Its for the best, she.....she'll be safe there, they can look after her better then I can." Blaise nodded in agreement, Narcissa Malfoy was his Mother's best friend, and Lucia Zabini had often spoken of the change in Narcissa's behaviour whenever Lucius was around. Having not lived under the elder Malfoy's tyrannical regime, Blaise had no idea what his friend was feeling, but agreed that the hospital was probably the best place for her to be. Thinking about Lucius made Blaise remember Draco's cryptic message the night before,
"So, Draco, you didn't bring me here for drinks and a chat. What's on your mind? I take it you have some news for me." The blondes eyes darkened to charcoal grey, and his demeanor shifted, he lowered his voice, so as not to be overheard,
"He knows that there's been an uprising in power, and he doesn't like it. He's tasked me, my old man and yours to find out what it is. Of course I cannot just come out and say, 'Oh yes my Lord, I know exactly what the source is, its me, my mudblood lover and a hot Italian,' can I?" Blaise chuckled,
"Absolutely not. Hot Italian eh? Nice ring to it," Draco scowled, and continued,
"Against my better instincts I decided that it was for the best, at least I can feed him false information. However, I'm fearful for Hermione's safety. If my Father finds out about us, thats it, he'll kill her without blinking. I cannot, I won't allow that to happen." Blaise nodded,
"I assume you have a plan of some form?" This was when Draco smiled, a smile that unnerved Blaise, it was almost manic, evil, then the blonde said quite simply,
"I'm going to kill two birds with one stone. Set my Father up. He goes back to Azkaban, the Ministry orders his execution. I come back to school, back to Hermione, to us. And Potter can't do a fucking thing to stop it."
"How, prey tell do we go about doing this Draco. It could take months! Months that we may not have. The War is starting, you know that. School finishes in April, by which time Potter will be to wrapped up in the hunt for Horcruxes to give a stuff about you. We can just whisk Hermione away then." Draco grimaced, and stood up, then calmly walked out the door. Blaise was confused by this action and hastily followed. The moment he stepped out of the door he was hurled against the wall, the blondes eyes were now totally black and the blizzard had worsened,
"Don't you get it Blaise! I can't fucking wait until April, I need to be with her now. I can't bloody live without her, my life has no meaning when I'm not with her. We're stronger if we stay together!" Blaise shoved him off,
"Then come back then! Potter doesn't even have to know, you could stay in the Head's dorms, unseen. What's stopping you doing that?!" Draco stared off into the distance, after what seemed like forever he answered,
"What use am I locked away like that? I can't study, can't take my exams, can't play Quidditch. I won't hide out like some outcast. Not again. I have to find a way for us all to get through this, we need to stay together." Blaise looked at him, then said,
"Are we together Draco? I know you and Hermione are, and me and her on occasion, what about us? You, you kissed me for fucks sake, what the hell was that?!" He could feel those grey eyes scrutinising him, ever watchful, Draco walked to stand by his side, then repeated himself,
"We're stronger if we're together. All of us. Come on, before we freeze to death. Let's go see our girl." With that the two men walked back to the castle, their relationship irrevocably altered.