The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

132. Devil's Snare

"Dio, what's up with your sister?" Blaise asked, gesturing behind her. Dioleh turned and spotted a rather dishevelled Hermione rushing away, glancing behind her quickly before continuing on. Frowning, Dioleh turned to follow after her with Blaise trailing behind.

"Hermione?" Dioleh said worriedly just as another voice called her name. Harry appeared with Luna.

Turning around, Hermione said, "Harry! Dioleh! There you both are. Thank goodness. Hi, Luna. Blaise."

"What's happened to you?" Dioleh asked with a frown, eyeing her sister's messed up hair.

"Oh, I've just escaped, I mean, I've just left Cormac," Hermione explained. Dioleh and Blaise shared confused looks. "Under the mistletoe."

"Hang on, you came with Cormac?" Dioleh snapped as Harry muttered, "Serves you right for going with him."

"I thought he'd annoy Ron most," Hermione admitted. "I debated for a while about Zacharias Smith, but I thought, on the whole-" Dioleh discreetly elbowed Blaise as he desperately tried to hold back his laughter.

"You considered Smith?" Harry replied incredulously.

"Yes, I did, and I'm starting to wish I'd chosen him. McLaggen makes Grawp look like a gentleman. Let's go this way, we'll be able to see him coming, he's so tall," Hermione said, directing them away to the other side of the room.

"Hang on, but that doesn't explain why you look like you just battled Devil's Snare," Dioleh retorted as they walked. "Was he trying to force himself on you?"

"No," Hermione said. "Well, maybe. I don't know. Oh no, here he comes!" She darted off, leaving Harry and Dioleh staring incredulously at each other as Cormac himself approached.

"Seen Hermione?" Cormac asked, forcing himself through the crowd to be next to them.

"No," Dioleh said icily before Harry had the chance to speak. "Now, piss off. We're in the middle of a conversation."

Suddenly angry, Cormac snapped, "Just who the hell do you think you are, trying to talk to me like that?" Under his breath, he muttered, "Slytherin whore."

"What the hell, man," Blaise snapped, shoving Cormac away. "Apologize. Now."

Apparently sizing him up, Cormac scoffed, "I don't have to listen to you, Zabini."

"Apologize, McLaggen," Harry demanded coldly.

Irritably, Cormac glanced over at Dioleh before muttering, "Sorry." Without another word, he disappeared. Dioleh rolled her eyes, muttering something that sounded suspiciously to the other two like 'Men.'

"I don't understand," Dioleh said irritably. "I've dated one person and didn't even sleep with him. How am I a whore?"

"Don't bother trying to understand McLaggen," Harry advised as Slughorn appeared beside them with a large glass of mead in one hand and a mince pie in the other.

"Ah, good to see you all getting along," he said. Dioleh pursed her lips, holding back her laughter as she realized he was drunk. "You know, I've never known such a natural at potions! Instinctive, you know, like his mother. I've only taught a few with this kind of ability, I can tell you that. Why even Severus-" Dioleh internally groaned as Slughorn grabbed onto Snape's arm as he passed by them and pulled him over to join their conversation. "Stop sulking and join us, Severus! I was just talking about Harry's exceptional potion-making! Some credit must go to you, of course. You taught him for five years!"

"Funny," Snape said coldly, looking down at Harry emotionlessly. "I never had the impression that I managed to teach Potter anything at all."

"Well, then, it's natural ability!" Slughorn called excitedly. "Remind me what subjects you're taking again, Harry?"

As Harry began rattling off his subject list, Snape interrupted, "All the subjects required, in short, for an Auror."

"Yeah, well, that's what I'd like to do," Harry said.

"And how about you, Ms. Granger?" Slughorn inquired.

"Oh, same as Harry," Dioleh admitted. "But I would like to be a potioneer."

"Ah, excellent," Slughorn said. "A close second in class. Again to your credit, Severus."

"Ms. Granger has always excelled in potions," Snape said methodically but before the conversation could continue, there was a disturbance near the door and Dioleh and the others turned to see Draco being dragged in by Filch who had a tight hold on Malfoy's collar. For the first time since they had broken up, Dioleh took a good look at him. Draco looked sick. He was even paler than normal and dark circles ran under his eyes. There was even, Dioleh noticed, an almost greyish tinge to his skin. Draco's eyes instantly fastened on her. Dioleh glanced over at Blaise with furrowed brows.

Pulling Blaise aside, Dioleh asked, "Does he look ill to you?"

"Yeah," Blaise admitted, frowning as he glanced back over at his former best friend as Slughorn gave him permission to stay despite his lack of invitation. Stepping between where Draco was and Dioleh, Blaise added, "But, Dio, it's not your responsibility anymore. I know you still care about him but at the end of the day, he still hurt you and beyond that, you aren't friends anymore. It's not your responsibility to make sure he's all right."

"I know," Dioleh said with a small sigh, glancing over Blaise's shoulder as Draco was led away by Snape. Dioleh frowned again as she noticed Harry dashing away after them. She looked at Blaise questioningly. Without a word, they followed down a few corridors until they could hear the voices of Snape and Draco but remained out of sight.

"...cannot afford mistakes, Draco, because if you are expelled-" Snape was saying.

"I didn't have anything to do with it, all right?" Draco retorted snappishly as Harry appeared from under an Invisibility Cloak silently and quickly gestured for the two of them to get under. Blaise, Dioleh, and Harry were rather cramped inside but they uttered not a word of complaint as they moved towards the door to listen.

"I hope you are telling the truth because it was both clumsy and foolish," Snape said severely. "Already you are suspected of having a hand in it."

"Who suspects me?" Draco said angrily. "For the last time, I didn't do it, okay? That Bell girl must've had an enemy no one knows about. Don't look at me like that! I know what you're doing. I'm not stupid, but it won't work. I can stop you!"

"Ah, Aunt Bellatrix has been teaching you Occlumency, I see. What thoughts are you trying to conceal from your master, Draco?" Snape drawled lowly. Dioleh's blood froze.

"I'm not trying to conceal anything from him!" Draco snapped. "I just don't want you butting in." Their voices got so low that Dioleh, who was the farthest from the door, could no longer hear them. Suddenly, Draco's voice got louder as he cried, "It's my job. He gave it to me and I'm doing it. I've got a plan and it's going to work. It's just taking a bit longer than I thought it would!"

"A plan for all of your mission?" Snape said carefully. "You know what the Dark Lord will do if you fail."

Draco's voice suddenly weakened as he said, "I'll figure that part out when I get to it." Dioleh only processed a second before the door opened that footsteps were coming towards them as Harry and Blaise quickly moved out of the way of the door. Draco slammed it open, storming away in one direction while Snape went in the other, back towards the party. Once he was sure they wouldn't be caught, Harry removed his cloak, sharing stunned expressions with the other two.

"So," Dioleh said slowly. "Draco really has switched sides."

"Let's go back to the Common Room," Blaise said weakly. "Come on, Dio." Dioleh nodded and quickly said goodnight to Harry as they headed down to the dungeons.