When Darkness Falls >>formerly Pity to Power<<

Chapter Twenty: Plans.

Hermione had received a questionable letter from her father that day. He stated that he had plans to discuss with her. It seemed urgent, and left Hermione a bit worried. What had her usually calm and collected father in such a rush?

Draco picked up on her concern rather quickly. During Herbology class, he whispered a soft, "What's wrong?" to her, to which she shook her head in reply. He frowned at her lack of words. What had his princess in such an unusual condition? She was so worried that tiny black feathers had started falling out of her hair.

While they were walking to the Great Hall for lunch, Draco pulled her into a nook in the hallway and held her there, despite her pointed glare and obvious annoyance. "Hermione, what is the matter?" he asked, more sternly than the last time. She shook her head again, trying to get out of his grip. He put an arm against the wall behind her and used his free hand to lightly grab her chin and tilt it up at him. "No more excuses, 'mione. I'm worried about you," he trailed off, not exactly liking the fact that he was so vulnerable to his emotions around her.

She huffed and quietly said, "My father is acting strange. He seems worried, unhinged. Something is wrong and he wouldn't tell me what it is." She tried to look away, but Draco still wouldn't let her chin out of his grip. "You're worried about him?" he asked softly, brushing his thumb across her cheek. She frowned, but couldn't help leaning into his touch.

"I'm not worried," she started. "I know he can handle himself, he's the Dark Lord for the gods' sakes, but he made it seem so urgent. He's never made something seem as important as this. I just can't help but wonder if something bad is going to happen," she explained, speaking a bit faster than she had realized. Draco had to simply stare at her for a moment while his brain pieced together the words.

"When are you meeting with him?" He eventually asked, not sure what he could do in this situation. He was pretty low in the death eater ranks at the moment, as nobody had told the Dark Lord that he was the Dark Lady's mate. He had very little say in what went on, and didn't get much information unless called to a meeting. However, if even Hermione didn't know much at this point, he doubted many others did either.

"This evening after dinner," she admitted quietly. Draco's eyes widened. To answer his question before he could open his mouth, she said, "I have a fireplace connected to the Floo network in my room. He's coming to meet me." Draco's hands fell as he panicked internally a bit. The Dark Lord was coming here? What was so important that the Dark Lord would risk being found and killed just to tell Hermione? Something was wrong, very wrong.

"Should I come with you? Do you ne-" Hermione cut her worried mate off. "He needs me alone. Said it was important that nobody finds out what he has to say." Draco scowled. That didn't relieve his concerns in the slightest. It was Hermione's turn to cup his face. "I'll be alright, love. Whatever it is, I can handle it." He sighed into her small hand. "But Hermione, you never know what's going on with the Dark Side. You've only been involved with us for a couple months. These kinds of things can be deadly," he tried to reason. Hermione paused for a moment. Deadly? Was that why her father was so worried? Even Azrail had been off that morning, as if he knew something that she didn't, and it took a lot to concern Death himself.

She shook her head and kissed his nose gently. "Whatever it is," she repeated, "I can handle it." Draco stared into her emerald eyes, as if searching for the truth. He found no evidence of lies in her words. "Hermione.." he murmured, gently wrapping an arm around her waist. "I just can't have you getting hurt."

She smiled at his overprotectiveness. "Draco, I'll be okay. Don't worry about me." She gave him a reassuring lopsided grin, ruffling his hair slightly as she slipped from his grasp, causing him to whine in disapproval. "Come on, love, we have to go to lunch. I'm starving," she said playfully, leading him by the hand towards the Great Hall. He wordlessly agreed, his stomach's grumbling speaking for him. She giggled as they walked through the large double doors. For now, everything was okay.