Bad Blood: A Dramione Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty-Two

Draco

"I told him not to-" Ginny begins, but she gets distracted when the door to the restaurant creaks open. We all look to see who it is. Luna and Neville enter, holding hands. When they spot us, Neville waves cautiously as Luna skips over. When she realizes her boyfriend isn't coming, she turns around and motions for him to follow. He shoots his eyes at me, then back at Luna. I look away, suddenly concentrating furiously on my butterbeer.

A few seconds later, Luna approaches, with Neville not far behind. She hugs Ginny (despite the fact that they undoubtedly saw each other yesterday) and sits down beside her. Neville scans the table for an empty seat. When he realizes it is beside me, he groans. Neville is the only one who hasn't adjusted to me yet. Even Luna, who was held captive in my basement, has put the past behind us. That's the thing about her- she's easygoing, and sees the good in everything.

The others carry on a conversation as I look down at my butterbeer once again. We've been here for almost two hours. I decide to tell them I'm leaving, but just as I open my mouth, the door flies open once again. I smile, thinking that it is going to be Hermione; she's been gone for quite a while. But to my dismay, it is a very frazzled-looking McGonagall. She looks at our table frantically before walking over.

"Have any of you seen Hermione?" She asks. It must be urgent, because she is lacking the Headmistress formalities. My heart seems to skip a beat.

"Not since she left, no," Harry answers. The others shake their heads. McGonagall looks down at me.

"What about you, Draco?" She asks again, and I shake my head, too. My answer seems to distress her even further.

"Merlin!" She exclaims. She walks away, but I quickly push my chair back and chase after her.

"What's going on?" I adjust my pace to match hers. She lets out an exasperated sigh and waves her hand, a gesture that is meant to send me away. Anger and fear merge inside of me, and I shout, "Tell me!" Now everyone's attention falls on us. McGonagall rolls her eyes behind her small glasses and grabs my arm like a mother disciplining a child. She leads me into a secluded corner of the room.

"As much as I do not appreciate your tone, I do feel that you deserve to know what's going on. It has been almost two hours since I instructed Miss Granger to monitor the streets of Hogsmeade in my place. The meeting that required my presence was very short. Immediately after I left, I sought out Miss Granger to relieve her from her duties. However, I could not find her. I consulted with the staff of Hogsmeade, who were also anxious; as it turns out, a Caterwauling charm had been set off about over an hour ago, but ended almost immediately. Therefore, no one but the staff noticed it. They predict that someone... dark has Apparated into Hogsmeade, but they were prepared to disarm the precautions we had taken. I immediately assumed the worst. I located every present teacher and told them to look for her, but she has yet to be found."

"So you think she was..." I ask, scared to even mention the word.

"Yes, I believe she was kidnapped," She glances at my injured arm, "and I also believe it has a great deal to do with that." I grasp my arm protectively before I start to walk off.

"Thank you!" I call back to the Headmistress. Back at the table, I lean down beside Harry's ear. "A word, please?" Harry nods, and we walk over to the same place that McGonagall and I had been speaking only moments ago.

"What is it?" Harry asks me, a look of concern in his eyes.

"Hermione's gone. Some dark wizards Apparated into Hogsmeade and set off the remnants of the old Caterwauling charm, but no one noticed but the staff. I was asking if, for once, you and Weas- Ron, wanted to team up with me to find her."