Contingent | D.M. + H.G.

Chapter 23: Invisibility

A/N: I'm still here. Nothing is abandoned, promise.

This is entirely unbetad. Please excuse any mistakes (and politely let me know if you see any).

xoxo, carm

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While Hermione had what she felt was an intimate relationship with her emotions, a feeling that she was not as acquainted with was dread.

But the way her stomach was churning like a ship on a rough sea as she watched Draco storm dramatically out of Snape's classroom set her teeth on edge. And while she knew that he had a penchant for the dramatics – Merlin knew that she had plenty of examples to look back on – this just felt... different. She couldn't pinpoint it – didn't want to.

And coupled with the way that he had been acting recently, she just knew deep down that it was bad. It just had to be.

Swearing under her breath, she quickly cast both a disillusionment and silencing charm so she could follow him. Not her brightest move, sure, but she was trying her best, okay?

Unlucky for her, she couldn't make out much of his mumblings. He seemed to be heading to the Slytherin common room which helped her even less.

And then, she had the most dastardly diabolical, most Slytherin idea she'd ever had. Turning and nearly sprinting for the Gryffindor common room, she snuck quickly up to the boys' dormitory and snagged Harry's Invisibility Cloak. She knew he wouldn't mind if she borrowed it for a bit. Knowing him, he probably wouldn't even notice. She'd seen the way he'd been looking at Ginny lately.

Heading back down to where she'd seen Draco storm out of Snape's office, she reached into her pocket and ran her thumb over the cool glass of the hourglass in her time turner. She'd been using it for classes all term, but she needed to know what was going on.

Too nervous to go further back in time than she'd ever gone for class, she walked into Snape's office, stood in a far corner, and turned the dial back one and a quarter.

Draco materialized in the chair in front of her, and he appeared to be in an altercation with Snape. It seemed to be nearing the end of the conversation if his body language was anything to go by. His cheeks were already tinged pink, which signified to her that he'd been bottling up most of his thoughts during their chat.

"I love her," she watched him say, and her heart skipped a beat at his confession. He hadn't said as much to her, but she could see it on his face, could feel it in his possessiveness. It felt wrong to hear it yanked from him as though it were painful. Hermione also suspected that he was using it as a defense, a shield. "I don't regret it for a second, and I wouldn't change anything about it."

"That's a bold statement," said Snape, in exactly the tone she'd expected. It seemed that Snape had seen this coming and was completely unsurprised by the outburst. "Tell us how you really feel."

Draco's reply came quickly. "I could, but I suspect that's not what you want to hear."

"You would be right, Mr. Malfoy. I couldn't care less what you're... feeling," Snape stumbled over the word, as if unfamiliar with the concept. "This is about business. When you fail, a whole part of his plan will be severely lacking." Plan? Hermione thought, her mind whirling. What plan? She had known that he was a pawn, being used for something, but this seemed more severe than Draco had ever let on. Unease sat heavy in her stomach, growing with each passing moment.

She was torn between wanting him to reveal more and regretting her decision to eavesdrop.

Draco responded with all the snark she knew him to have. "And don't you think that the fact that the Dark Lord's plan hinges entirely on me is probably slightly concerning for someone so hell bent on world domination?"