The Bracelet, Chapter 54
Right. I hope you haven't COMPLETELY forgotten where this is at, lol. Time didn't really pass in the story, so, eh, it might be a bit odd at first. ;)
Title: The Bracelet
Author: AkashaTheKitty
Characters: Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Pansy Parkinson, Ron Weasley, Theodore Nott (whew)
Genres: Drama, Friendship, Hogwarts Years, Humor, Romance
Warnings: HBP Spoilers, although slightly incompatible.
Overall Rating: R
Summary: Hermione is a stuck-up know-it-all; Draco is a sadistic prat; Theo has a scary way of knowing everything; Harry is too busy with his girlfriend and his hero status to pay much attention; Ginny really isn't very interested in anyone beyond Harry but unfortunately does pay attention; Pansy wants what's hers; Ron doesn't know how to get what's his; and Blaise definitely has both his hands in the cookie jar. Or maybe that's not how it is at all...
Go here if you didn't read previous chapters.
It was late. He should go to bed. He should do something. He didn’t feel like it, though. Instead, Draco just sat alone in his common room and stared at nothing. This weekend would have to go down in history as the worst ever.
First, he had nearly violated the girl he cared about, losing any kind of progress he might have made, and making her hate him to a degree where he could only hope to even remotely repair it by completely staying away from her. He didn’t want to stay away from her. He wanted to show her that he could be something more, something better, than what she thought him to be. But he’d seen it in her eyes-she wasn’t going to believe him. She would never want him like he wanted her.
But today he had accepted her decision and had betrayed his own father, his own blood. He could have left the telling to her, of course, but she hadn’t been conscious, she didn’t know the details. In telling her the truth, he had been putting the decision in her hands, and she had made it. He had hoped that she might show him some mercy and allow the secret to stay between them, but why should she? She had no reason not to hate every Malfoy, no reason to care whether he’d ever get his family back.
His eyes burned. Family loyalty and honor was something drilled into him from since before he could walk, and today he had betrayed what was left of it. Even should Lucius ever be free, Draco would find no home with him after this. He was truly a traitor now. When he told his mother, she might leave him too, either to go live with her husband or in disgust at her son’s treachery. He would be alone, without funds, and still pining for a girl who would have nothing to do with him.
He doubted that Hermione even suspected what kind of sacrifice he had made by respecting her wishes and being completely honest to Dumbledore about the whole encounter. To her it was all black and white, right and wrong. She had such strong principles. He doubted that she would ever sacrifice justice for love. He would. He knew that his father had done many reprehensible things, but Lucius Malfoy was more than the sum of those actions; he was a loving and indulgent father… who had just been betrayed by his one and only son.
Feeling the full force of his guilt, Draco clenched his jaw, willing himself not to give into the grief. He didn’t care whether she realized it or not, if she would ever acknowledge it or not, but as far as he was concerned, he had just righted every wrong he had ever done to her. She might not care overly much about his family, but he did. Ruining everything like this was not something he’d just do for a girl he had a crush on. It was the last part of his penance. He would stay away from her, yes, but she couldn’t expect him to sacrifice anything else. He owed her nothing. They were even.
He violently kicked out at the low table, sending it several feet away and buried his face in his hands. There was no way he could fool himself into thinking that she’d ever consider them even, no matter what he did. She didn’t really hate him, he knew that, but that was more a case of her not finding him important enough to hate than anything else.
Hell, even if he wanted to do more, he had nothing left to sacrifice. And now, there was a hole inside of him that he didn’t know how to fill. Without her to wear the bracelet, he didn’t know what to do. Knowing that he’d just denounced his own family only made the hole bigger. He was alone, he was lonely, and he was scared. Perhaps it would just be better if the Dark Lord managed to get to him. At least then it would finally be over.
He more felt than heard someone enter and sit down. For several long moments he didn’t look up or acknowledge the presence, but as the silence stretched, he figured he’d better see who was intruding on his grief without making themselves known.
He looked up. Blaise. Of course.
“How was your date?” he asked, striving for normal but instead achieving a depressing hoarse note.
Blaise shrugged, pretending he didn’t notice anything amiss. “Not that good, actually. She’s a nice enough girl, but when it came down to it, I just couldn’t…” His voice faltered slightly.
Draco wasn’t certain he wanted to know what Blaise couldn’t do. “Give it time, mate. You can’t rush it.”
Blaise’s mouth set in a grim line. “I couldn’t even kiss her. I felt like I was cheating. Tracey always said that I would never be able to be faithful to one girl, and I felt like I’d prove her right and that she’d never ever trust me if I did it. I’m a fool, she already doesn’t trust me and never will, but I just couldn’t do it.”
It was funny how different they were, Draco mused. He would never have gone on the date in the first place. “I don’t think you’re a fool,” he said. “I would have thought you a greater fool if you had done it. Some things just aren’t worth it.”
“Well, it was a little bit worth it.” Blaise smiled vaguely.
“What do you mean?”
“Ran into Tracey and her boyfriend. I was fully prepared to just be ignored, but the look on Tracey’s face when she realized I wasn’t alone… She was furious. She wasn’t very good at hiding it, either. She wouldn’t have been mad if she was indifferent, right? She might hate me and think me a bigot and a libertine, but she still feels something for me.”
Draco wasn’t sure. He didn’t know a lot about these things. “I’m glad,” he just said.
Blaise shot him a glance. “I heard about what happened with you today. Any chance that Granger was grateful that you saved her?”
Obviously Blaise didn’t know the whole story. He probably never would unless Draco himself told him. Draco didn’t plan on telling him right now, though, but merely shot him an answering look. There would be enough time to let Blaise know that he had betrayed his own family for… nothing he could explain.
Blaise sighed with exasperation. “She’s pig-headed and ungrateful and a shrew. She’s not even pretty. I don’t understand your fascination with her.”
This made Draco glare at him in indignation. “Sounds a lot like a description of Tracey to me.”
“Granger doesn’t hold a candle to Tracey.”
“Oh, please. Tracey claimed she was in love with you, and then she was off the first time you said something she didn’t like. She didn’t even care enough to stick around to actively make you pay for it and eventually forgive you. Not to mention that her looks are so bland that I forget she even exists when you don’t remind me.”
Blaise’s jaw was clenched, his hands gripping the arms of the chair, and his eyes were furious. “You’re going too far, Draco,” he said in a lethal voice. “I advise you to shut up.”
Draco leaned back, gaining a strange sense of satisfaction from goading Blaise. “You started it,” he felt it prudent to point out.
“And I’ll finish it, too, if you don’t shut it,” Blaise growled. “You should be so lucky as to find someone half as good as Tracey that would actually care for you.”
Draco very much just wanted to find someone, anyone, who could make him feel like a certain indifferent Muggleborn did, someone who wouldn’t reject him. “You’re right,” he simply said. “At least you had her and there’s hope that you will again. That does count for a lot more than daydreams.”
Blaise’s countenance softened. “Just what are you dreaming about?” he prodded.
Draco shrugged. He had shared enough for today. He wasn’t going to tell Blaise how simple his fantasies had been, how they’d mostly been just a kiss or a touch or a smile. He knew he couldn’t actually be with Hermione, so he’d never gone down that road, and he’d never dared letting himself consider what it would be like to make love to her. Not until last night. Last night would probably have been the best experience of his life if the fact that he’d been unwittingly forcing her had not made it the worst. Now, even knowing that she hadn’t really been willing, he couldn’t stop thinking about it, imagining different and far more pleasurable outcomes. It made him sick with himself, but he couldn’t seem to stop.
“You know,” Blaise observed, “there was a time you’d rant and rave if anything was on your mind. Less than a month ago.”
Draco sighed and shook his head. “They were just annoyances. This is too personal.”
“But you never rant and rave anymore.”
“What?” Draco mocked. “You miss listening to it? Perhaps I just have more important things on my mind lately.”
Blaise’s lip quirked in a self-deprecating smirk. “We’re both pathetic. We’re probably the best catches in this wretched school and we pick the two girls that don’t want us.”
“Not to burst your bubble, but I’m fairly sure there’s more than two girls that don’t want us.” Like anyone with a brain.
Blaise shook his head dismissively. “The point is, more do than don’t. So it should be easier to pick a ‘do’ than a ‘don’t’.”
“‘Doesn’t’.”
“What?”
“A ‘doesn’t’.”
Blaise narrowed his eyes in annoyance. “You’re not taking me seriously.”
“How would you get that idea?”
As Blaise glared, Draco couldn’t keep his look of innocence in place and he smirked. Bickering was definitely better than over-sharing.
Hermione woke Sunday morning feeling as if she’d forgotten something. Mentally, she went through all of her homework, any promises she might have made to her friends, and anything else she could think of. There was nothing. Irritably, she fingered her wrist, just to find it bare. The bracelet. It was gone. Of course it was. And she was glad. He had finally taken it off her the day before and today she wouldn’t have to run to the dungeons at odd hours, following his whim.
She could even shower at a decent time without being afraid of being summoned.
It was interesting how one could be grateful for tiny everyday things.
She made her way down to breakfast, not so much because she was hungry as because she was hoping to run into Theo. He had been keeping his distance during the last part of the bet and she got the feeling that maybe, in spite of his insinuations when she had kissed him to prove a point, he was mad at her. It couldn’t be helped if he was, and, even if he wasn’t, he would be as soon as she told him what had happened.
However, more important than all that was the fact that he was the Head Boy, and he and the Deputy Head Girl had been covering for her while she had been taking her little ‘holiday’ as someone’s slave. She couldn’t with a clear conscience allow that to go on any longer, now that she was fully free again. Not without giving up her position, and she really didn’t want to do that.
She spotted Theo just as he was leaving the Great Hall and called out to him, speeding up her step to catch up. He stopped, waiting for her, looking politely inquisitive. He really was rather hard to figure out. One day he was kissing her as if nothing else mattered, the next day-or, well, technically three days later-he was looking at her with polite detachment as if they barely had a passing relationship.
“Hermione,” he said with a small nod, simply acknowledging her presence. Did he already know? Or, maybe, he just decided that she wasn’t worth the trouble anymore…
“Theo,” she muttered, wavering, before she forced her voice to be more firm and cheery. “If you’re free, I’d like to talk about what you and Padma have been doing and where to take over.”
He nodded. “Of course. But wouldn’t it be easier to wait until Draco frees you?”
So, there were some things Theodore Nott didn’t know. She found that strangely reassuring. “He already did,” she said, pushing up her sleeve to demonstrate. “Yesterday.”
Theo stared at the bared arm for a few seconds. “I see,” he muttered, sounding very much as if he didn’t see. “And he did this for no reason at all?”
Hermione couldn’t help the blush that crept across her cheeks. “He may have had ulterior motives,” she hedged, “but the result is still the same: I’m free and can resume my duties.”
“Yes.” Theo sounded distracted as if his mind were somewhere else entirely. It annoyed her. Why wasn’t he happy for her? “Of course. Let’s go to the office and straighten this out, then.”
“Draco! I was looking for you!”
Draco winced. He wasn’t feeling too well today and had kept to his room, but at some time during the afternoon hunger had become an issue and he had slipped out to rectify it. He had almost made it back to his room when Theo of all people stopped him. For the past few days he’d been so successful in avoiding Theo that he hadn’t even considered the possibility of running into him now. If he had, he would have stayed in his room.
“What is it?” he asked with a sigh, really not in the mood to pretend he wanted to talk to him.
“You released her.” A statement of fact.
“Very perceptive of you, Theo. Now go celebrate with her.” Draco began walking again.
“Why?” Theo asked, making Draco stop again.
“None of your business.” He briefly wondered what Theo would make of it if he knew of the deal. He’d probably reach the right conclusion: that Draco was pathetic and that Hermione had just done what she had to to be free from him.
Theo took a few steps towards him. “I know you didn’t like what I said to you and I’m sorry about that. I may have been a bit too harsh. But won’t you tell me?”
Draco looked away. “No. Ask her. See if she will tell you.”
Theo’s lips tightened a little. “I would have during our meeting, but I had a feeling that it might strain things between us if I did. Things could hardly be more strained between you and me, though, so I hardly have anything to lose here.”
Wasn’t that an understatement? “I’m not going to tell you. Just don’t blame her for wanting to buy her freedom.”
“As I suspected, then,” Theo muttered. “That changes things.”
“Nothing has changed,” Draco harshly said. “Don’t play with her. She’s yours, same as she was three days ago, same as she was three weeks ago. Whatever favor you think you’re doing me-don’t. Give her what she wants.” Unable to stay near Theo for another second, Draco turned his back on him and blindly found his way back to his room.
Title: The Bracelet
Author: AkashaTheKitty
Characters: Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Pansy Parkinson, Ron Weasley, Theodore Nott (whew)
Genres: Drama, Friendship, Hogwarts Years, Humor, Romance
Warnings: HBP Spoilers, although slightly incompatible.
Overall Rating: R
Summary: Hermione is a stuck-up know-it-all; Draco is a sadistic prat; Theo has a scary way of knowing everything; Harry is too busy with his girlfriend and his hero status to pay much attention; Ginny really isn't very interested in anyone beyond Harry but unfortunately does pay attention; Pansy wants what's hers; Ron doesn't know how to get what's his; and Blaise definitely has both his hands in the cookie jar. Or maybe that's not how it is at all...
Go here if you didn't read previous chapters.
It was late. He should go to bed. He should do something. He didn’t feel like it, though. Instead, Draco just sat alone in his common room and stared at nothing. This weekend would have to go down in history as the worst ever.
First, he had nearly violated the girl he cared about, losing any kind of progress he might have made, and making her hate him to a degree where he could only hope to even remotely repair it by completely staying away from her. He didn’t want to stay away from her. He wanted to show her that he could be something more, something better, than what she thought him to be. But he’d seen it in her eyes-she wasn’t going to believe him. She would never want him like he wanted her.
But today he had accepted her decision and had betrayed his own father, his own blood. He could have left the telling to her, of course, but she hadn’t been conscious, she didn’t know the details. In telling her the truth, he had been putting the decision in her hands, and she had made it. He had hoped that she might show him some mercy and allow the secret to stay between them, but why should she? She had no reason not to hate every Malfoy, no reason to care whether he’d ever get his family back.
His eyes burned. Family loyalty and honor was something drilled into him from since before he could walk, and today he had betrayed what was left of it. Even should Lucius ever be free, Draco would find no home with him after this. He was truly a traitor now. When he told his mother, she might leave him too, either to go live with her husband or in disgust at her son’s treachery. He would be alone, without funds, and still pining for a girl who would have nothing to do with him.
He doubted that Hermione even suspected what kind of sacrifice he had made by respecting her wishes and being completely honest to Dumbledore about the whole encounter. To her it was all black and white, right and wrong. She had such strong principles. He doubted that she would ever sacrifice justice for love. He would. He knew that his father had done many reprehensible things, but Lucius Malfoy was more than the sum of those actions; he was a loving and indulgent father… who had just been betrayed by his one and only son.
Feeling the full force of his guilt, Draco clenched his jaw, willing himself not to give into the grief. He didn’t care whether she realized it or not, if she would ever acknowledge it or not, but as far as he was concerned, he had just righted every wrong he had ever done to her. She might not care overly much about his family, but he did. Ruining everything like this was not something he’d just do for a girl he had a crush on. It was the last part of his penance. He would stay away from her, yes, but she couldn’t expect him to sacrifice anything else. He owed her nothing. They were even.
He violently kicked out at the low table, sending it several feet away and buried his face in his hands. There was no way he could fool himself into thinking that she’d ever consider them even, no matter what he did. She didn’t really hate him, he knew that, but that was more a case of her not finding him important enough to hate than anything else.
Hell, even if he wanted to do more, he had nothing left to sacrifice. And now, there was a hole inside of him that he didn’t know how to fill. Without her to wear the bracelet, he didn’t know what to do. Knowing that he’d just denounced his own family only made the hole bigger. He was alone, he was lonely, and he was scared. Perhaps it would just be better if the Dark Lord managed to get to him. At least then it would finally be over.
He more felt than heard someone enter and sit down. For several long moments he didn’t look up or acknowledge the presence, but as the silence stretched, he figured he’d better see who was intruding on his grief without making themselves known.
He looked up. Blaise. Of course.
“How was your date?” he asked, striving for normal but instead achieving a depressing hoarse note.
Blaise shrugged, pretending he didn’t notice anything amiss. “Not that good, actually. She’s a nice enough girl, but when it came down to it, I just couldn’t…” His voice faltered slightly.
Draco wasn’t certain he wanted to know what Blaise couldn’t do. “Give it time, mate. You can’t rush it.”
Blaise’s mouth set in a grim line. “I couldn’t even kiss her. I felt like I was cheating. Tracey always said that I would never be able to be faithful to one girl, and I felt like I’d prove her right and that she’d never ever trust me if I did it. I’m a fool, she already doesn’t trust me and never will, but I just couldn’t do it.”
It was funny how different they were, Draco mused. He would never have gone on the date in the first place. “I don’t think you’re a fool,” he said. “I would have thought you a greater fool if you had done it. Some things just aren’t worth it.”
“Well, it was a little bit worth it.” Blaise smiled vaguely.
“What do you mean?”
“Ran into Tracey and her boyfriend. I was fully prepared to just be ignored, but the look on Tracey’s face when she realized I wasn’t alone… She was furious. She wasn’t very good at hiding it, either. She wouldn’t have been mad if she was indifferent, right? She might hate me and think me a bigot and a libertine, but she still feels something for me.”
Draco wasn’t sure. He didn’t know a lot about these things. “I’m glad,” he just said.
Blaise shot him a glance. “I heard about what happened with you today. Any chance that Granger was grateful that you saved her?”
Obviously Blaise didn’t know the whole story. He probably never would unless Draco himself told him. Draco didn’t plan on telling him right now, though, but merely shot him an answering look. There would be enough time to let Blaise know that he had betrayed his own family for… nothing he could explain.
Blaise sighed with exasperation. “She’s pig-headed and ungrateful and a shrew. She’s not even pretty. I don’t understand your fascination with her.”
This made Draco glare at him in indignation. “Sounds a lot like a description of Tracey to me.”
“Granger doesn’t hold a candle to Tracey.”
“Oh, please. Tracey claimed she was in love with you, and then she was off the first time you said something she didn’t like. She didn’t even care enough to stick around to actively make you pay for it and eventually forgive you. Not to mention that her looks are so bland that I forget she even exists when you don’t remind me.”
Blaise’s jaw was clenched, his hands gripping the arms of the chair, and his eyes were furious. “You’re going too far, Draco,” he said in a lethal voice. “I advise you to shut up.”
Draco leaned back, gaining a strange sense of satisfaction from goading Blaise. “You started it,” he felt it prudent to point out.
“And I’ll finish it, too, if you don’t shut it,” Blaise growled. “You should be so lucky as to find someone half as good as Tracey that would actually care for you.”
Draco very much just wanted to find someone, anyone, who could make him feel like a certain indifferent Muggleborn did, someone who wouldn’t reject him. “You’re right,” he simply said. “At least you had her and there’s hope that you will again. That does count for a lot more than daydreams.”
Blaise’s countenance softened. “Just what are you dreaming about?” he prodded.
Draco shrugged. He had shared enough for today. He wasn’t going to tell Blaise how simple his fantasies had been, how they’d mostly been just a kiss or a touch or a smile. He knew he couldn’t actually be with Hermione, so he’d never gone down that road, and he’d never dared letting himself consider what it would be like to make love to her. Not until last night. Last night would probably have been the best experience of his life if the fact that he’d been unwittingly forcing her had not made it the worst. Now, even knowing that she hadn’t really been willing, he couldn’t stop thinking about it, imagining different and far more pleasurable outcomes. It made him sick with himself, but he couldn’t seem to stop.
“You know,” Blaise observed, “there was a time you’d rant and rave if anything was on your mind. Less than a month ago.”
Draco sighed and shook his head. “They were just annoyances. This is too personal.”
“But you never rant and rave anymore.”
“What?” Draco mocked. “You miss listening to it? Perhaps I just have more important things on my mind lately.”
Blaise’s lip quirked in a self-deprecating smirk. “We’re both pathetic. We’re probably the best catches in this wretched school and we pick the two girls that don’t want us.”
“Not to burst your bubble, but I’m fairly sure there’s more than two girls that don’t want us.” Like anyone with a brain.
Blaise shook his head dismissively. “The point is, more do than don’t. So it should be easier to pick a ‘do’ than a ‘don’t’.”
“‘Doesn’t’.”
“What?”
“A ‘doesn’t’.”
Blaise narrowed his eyes in annoyance. “You’re not taking me seriously.”
“How would you get that idea?”
As Blaise glared, Draco couldn’t keep his look of innocence in place and he smirked. Bickering was definitely better than over-sharing.
Hermione woke Sunday morning feeling as if she’d forgotten something. Mentally, she went through all of her homework, any promises she might have made to her friends, and anything else she could think of. There was nothing. Irritably, she fingered her wrist, just to find it bare. The bracelet. It was gone. Of course it was. And she was glad. He had finally taken it off her the day before and today she wouldn’t have to run to the dungeons at odd hours, following his whim.
She could even shower at a decent time without being afraid of being summoned.
It was interesting how one could be grateful for tiny everyday things.
She made her way down to breakfast, not so much because she was hungry as because she was hoping to run into Theo. He had been keeping his distance during the last part of the bet and she got the feeling that maybe, in spite of his insinuations when she had kissed him to prove a point, he was mad at her. It couldn’t be helped if he was, and, even if he wasn’t, he would be as soon as she told him what had happened.
However, more important than all that was the fact that he was the Head Boy, and he and the Deputy Head Girl had been covering for her while she had been taking her little ‘holiday’ as someone’s slave. She couldn’t with a clear conscience allow that to go on any longer, now that she was fully free again. Not without giving up her position, and she really didn’t want to do that.
She spotted Theo just as he was leaving the Great Hall and called out to him, speeding up her step to catch up. He stopped, waiting for her, looking politely inquisitive. He really was rather hard to figure out. One day he was kissing her as if nothing else mattered, the next day-or, well, technically three days later-he was looking at her with polite detachment as if they barely had a passing relationship.
“Hermione,” he said with a small nod, simply acknowledging her presence. Did he already know? Or, maybe, he just decided that she wasn’t worth the trouble anymore…
“Theo,” she muttered, wavering, before she forced her voice to be more firm and cheery. “If you’re free, I’d like to talk about what you and Padma have been doing and where to take over.”
He nodded. “Of course. But wouldn’t it be easier to wait until Draco frees you?”
So, there were some things Theodore Nott didn’t know. She found that strangely reassuring. “He already did,” she said, pushing up her sleeve to demonstrate. “Yesterday.”
Theo stared at the bared arm for a few seconds. “I see,” he muttered, sounding very much as if he didn’t see. “And he did this for no reason at all?”
Hermione couldn’t help the blush that crept across her cheeks. “He may have had ulterior motives,” she hedged, “but the result is still the same: I’m free and can resume my duties.”
“Yes.” Theo sounded distracted as if his mind were somewhere else entirely. It annoyed her. Why wasn’t he happy for her? “Of course. Let’s go to the office and straighten this out, then.”
“Draco! I was looking for you!”
Draco winced. He wasn’t feeling too well today and had kept to his room, but at some time during the afternoon hunger had become an issue and he had slipped out to rectify it. He had almost made it back to his room when Theo of all people stopped him. For the past few days he’d been so successful in avoiding Theo that he hadn’t even considered the possibility of running into him now. If he had, he would have stayed in his room.
“What is it?” he asked with a sigh, really not in the mood to pretend he wanted to talk to him.
“You released her.” A statement of fact.
“Very perceptive of you, Theo. Now go celebrate with her.” Draco began walking again.
“Why?” Theo asked, making Draco stop again.
“None of your business.” He briefly wondered what Theo would make of it if he knew of the deal. He’d probably reach the right conclusion: that Draco was pathetic and that Hermione had just done what she had to to be free from him.
Theo took a few steps towards him. “I know you didn’t like what I said to you and I’m sorry about that. I may have been a bit too harsh. But won’t you tell me?”
Draco looked away. “No. Ask her. See if she will tell you.”
Theo’s lips tightened a little. “I would have during our meeting, but I had a feeling that it might strain things between us if I did. Things could hardly be more strained between you and me, though, so I hardly have anything to lose here.”
Wasn’t that an understatement? “I’m not going to tell you. Just don’t blame her for wanting to buy her freedom.”
“As I suspected, then,” Theo muttered. “That changes things.”
“Nothing has changed,” Draco harshly said. “Don’t play with her. She’s yours, same as she was three days ago, same as she was three weeks ago. Whatever favor you think you’re doing me-don’t. Give her what she wants.” Unable to stay near Theo for another second, Draco turned his back on him and blindly found his way back to his room.