78Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. All credit must be given to J.K.
The Cradle Will Fall
Chapter 2
Hermione rushed down to the Great Hall as quickly as her feet allowed.
"Holy—er—blessed—um—rats—ah—ass!" Hermione laughed to herself.
"Holy blessed rats ass? Okay, now I'm really late." She was supposed to be at dinner twenty minutes ago, making announcements with the Head Boy and Dumbledore. They had probably already moved on to dinner.
As Hermione reached the doors, she slowed her run to a fast walk. She wouldn't want everyone to know she was accidentally late. Perhaps they'd think she was doing an errand for someone.
When she opened the large, wooden doors, a blast of sound met Hermione's ears. The chatter of excited students filled the hall and made no sign of stopping. Excitement. Hermione hadn't experienced a feeling of excitement in about a year and a half now. Oh well. At least they wouldn't notice her creep over to her seat.
"How nice." Hermione said mockingly, rolling her eyes at the chattering students.
"Now, where is my seat?" She scanned the hall in search of Dumbledore, for that was whom she would be sitting with.
"Aha, found you." She smiled at how much more she talked to herself since Daniel was born. 'Real mature, huh?' Hermione walked to the left of the head table, which was not normal to Dumbledore's seat at the center of the table.
As she made her way over, the hall began to fall silent. She was afraid of this. A wave of whispers and hisses erupted, slightly resembling a swarm of buzzing bees. All eyes escorted her to her table, causing Hermione's mouth to dry.
"Who is she?" She heard some younger students say.
"Why is she here?" Older students complained to one another, putting emphasis on 'she'.
'Why do they give a damn? I wouldn't have come if Dumbledore hadn't asked me.' Hermione approached the table, noticing a very handsome student with a gleaming Head Boy badge. He stood up and pulled the chair out for her.
"Granger, long time no see. Pleasure having you join us for our seventh year." He smiled.
"Malfoy. I enjoy being back. I think." She waved her hand at the students, who were slowly moving back to their conversations and dinners.
Hermione gave Malfoy an odd look. 'I trust Malfoy about as far as I can throw him. Something's up. Trying to impress the staff, no doubt. That sneaky git. That sneaky, handsome, steamy, sexy, fine...' Hermione began to daze off as she stared at Malfoy. His blond hair was a little longer and appeared to be sun kissed, but it still looked immaculate. It was the first time she had ever been this close to him, but she didn't mind. His light blue eyes appeared to be framed by darker, curly lashes, making his eyes very appealing. The way his school robes hung on him indicated a well toned body underneath.
"Granger? Granger?" Her head suddenly snapped up.
"Huh?" Hermione hadn't been paying attention to what he had been saying. Malfoy used his index and middle fingers to raise her chin up.
"Hey," Malfoy began jokingly, "my face is up here." Hermione laughed but quickly suppressed it.
Behind Malfoy's curly lashes and smile she saw a sudden glint of malice in his eyes. 'It's all an act.'
"We took over your part of the announcements. Dumbledore and I." Malfoy motioned to Dumbledore, who was currently having what seemed to be a very in-depth conversation with Professor Snape. Hermione caught the words 'lemon drops' and 'doorbell'.
"So, why were you late?" Hermione knew this was coming, yet she was still shocked when he said it. The tone of his voice seemed slightly colder, as if he was trying to catch her at something. Just then, Dumbledore cut in.
"Miss Granger, did you get that message to Hagrid all right?" Hermione lifted an eyebrow. When she saw the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes she immediately understood.
"Yes, Professor. And Hagrid agreed to be there." Dumbledore nodded and continued his conversation with Snape.
"A message?" Malfoy was immediately intrigued.
"Private business, you understand." She didn't ask him, rather told him he understood.
"Of course, of course. Why wouldn't I? I'm an understanding kind of guy." The two exchanged awkward laughter. Now that they had gotten initial chitchat over with, they could finally eat in silence.
Draco's mind began to wander just as Hermione's had. 'Granger…You've certainly grown, haven't you? Very voluptuous. Not like those fifth years I was seeing last year. It's as if your breasts have swelled in the year you were gone.' Draco began to salivate. Hermione's soft brown hair was about waist length, much more straight than previous years.
"Malfoy. Malfoy."
"Huh? What?" Malfoy wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth.
"Er...did you just say mmmmm?" Hermione closed her eyes and smiled as she said it, mocking the way Draco had looked seconds before.
"Sure. I was thinking of having a snack later on. No—wait! I lied. I don't know what you're talking about. I said no such thing." Draco looked angrily down at his plate of food.
"Hey, I never said there was anything wrong with it. I do it all the time. See." Hermione picked up her fork and slowly slid a piece of pie into her mouth. She closed her eyes and gave a moan of pleasure.
"Mmmmm...I just had an orgasm in my mouth." She grinned and put down the fork.
The two teenagers laughed guardedly at the joke and continued with their dinner.
Hermione trudged up the stairs slowly, tired from all the excitement. She had had to stay after dinner, making sure everyone left the Great Hall and followed their house prefects to their dorms.
Pansy Parkinson and her gang had continued to sit at the Slytherin table, chatting animatedly within her group. This had frustrated Hermione. When she had tried to move them along, Pansy had felt the need to be vehement.
"How dare you interrupt me, mudblood. You leave this school for a year and expect you can still run this damn place?" Pansy spat at her feet venomously.
"Besides, you're looking a little fatter around the edges. Disgusting slob. No one will want you." Hermione laughed at this. In the year she was gone, Pansy had grown to the size of a cow.
Hermione had a spaced out look on her face when she finally noticed Pansy still glaring at her.
"Sorry, did you say something?" Hermione gave her a half-lidded gaze. Pansy stamped her foot on the ground with a "Humph!' and stormed out of the hall, her companions close behind.
Hermione was now slowly making her way up to her dorm room. She was stopped by two male voices, though.
"Hermione!" She spotted Ron and Harry running up the stairs quickly. Ron was the first to reach her, scooping her up in his arms and squeezing her tightly to his chest as he kissed the top of her head. "We wanted to come see you during dinner, but we thought it would be best not to let Malfoy rile us up." Ron let her go and allowed Harry to hold her.
"Er—hi." Hermione said stiffly. She had an awkward feeling surround her that wouldn't remove itself when she smiled. Harry seemed to grip on to her a little tighter than Ron did. She suddenly felt guilty. "I missed you two so much." Harry released her as she looked up at the two of them.
"Well? Why were you gone?" Harry inquired anxiously. Ron scratched his bright red hair. Both Harry's and Ron's eyebrows disappeared into their hair. There had to be a good explanation for why she had left them without a word, without even one note.
"Well...it's very complicated. You wouldn't understand, really." Hermione tried to make the remark sincere, not hostile.
Ron looked at her sadly. "Hermione, we're your best friends. You can tell us."
"I know Ron. Not now, though." Her voice had become very quiet. She sounded tired. Harry didn't say anything.
"Well." Ron began to yawn, "I'm going up to bed, then. See you at breakfast, Mione." After embracing her once more, he began to climb the stairs quickly, hoping Mrs. Norris wouldn't catch him.
"Hermione." Harry's voice cracked a little as he moved closer to her.
When Hermione had left Hogwarts, they had been in a secret relationship. Once in a while they'd skip lunch and snog in the back of the library. A few times Harry had crawled into Hermione's bed and had slept with her. They had never done anything, though. They had been at a high point in their relationship when Hermione left. This had crushed Harry. It was like reading a spectacular book, only to find the ending missing. Well, Harry was going to make sure she didn't get away from him this time.
Harry snaked his arms around Hermione's waist and pulled her body against his. Hermione pulled his glasses from his face and threw them down, where they broke. Neither noticed. Hermione ran her hands through his hair as he lowered his head to hers. The second his lips touched hers, Hermione felt the pain and anger Harry had suffered when she had left. His kisses were hard, like he needed to make up all the kisses they had lost, all the pleasure he had been robbed of. Though his lips were pushed hard against hers, his tongue moved gently across the inside of her mouth. Their burning bodies were pressed against one another so closely, Hermione could feel Harry entirely. They might have ended up having sex in the middle of the stairway if someone hadn't interrupted.
"Sorry to interrupt your…fun. You know I love fooling around as much as you do. But if Filch catches you two, in the middle of the stairs no less, you'll have your Prefect and Head Girl badges suspended." Malfoy smirked from the bottom of the stairs. He looked a little embarrassed in catching them.
Neither Hermione nor Harry said a word, but rather nodded at Malfoy's warning. Hermione picked up Harry's broken glasses, fixed them then placed them back on his face. The two walked hand in hand up the stairs without saying a word.
Hermione arrived at her portrait and stopped.
"Well, this is it." Hermione began to kiss Harry goodbye. Harry put a hand to her lips, though.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Harry grabbed her hand and gently rubbed it with his thumb.
"I—I—No. It's real messy. I haven't had time to clean up." Hermione stuttered nervously. She gently set her hand on his chest and gave him a peck on the lips. Harry looked confused but shrugged.
"Now hurry back to the dorms before someone catches you." She gave Harry a light shove in the direction of the Gryffindor common room and sighed. Close call.
"Bonetmal." The door swung open, revealing the sparkling gold room. Harry glanced back as it opened, getting a glimpse of a very tidy room.