Love Is The Darkest Art

Part 36: Snow, Ice, & Tears

Scene 59:

Filch was exasperated and angry. He nearly snarled at the space where Draco had hesitated before dashing out into the snow. Then he turned his gaze on the Gryffindor trio. "I'm getting tired of you brats doing whatever you want like you built the place," he growled. "That Malfoy boy may not listen to me, but I double guarentee he'll listen to Severus Snape!"

As if that was the only thing that mattered, he stalked off, forgetting all about them and their role in events. Ron looked at Harry, then at Hermione. "I'm glad he can't deduct points," he declared. "And he's so mad at Draco, he don't even care about us."

"Snape will," Harry said worriedly. "We better get out of here before Filch brings him." He glanced at Hermione. "You okay? He didn't hurt you,  did he?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm okay." Then she looked at them. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't handle myself around boys."

Ron looked offended. "Well, excuse us then. We thought you needed help. According to the Marauder's map it looked like he was on top of you."

Her eyes flashed. "The Marauder's map?" She looked at Harry, because she knew it was his. "Are you guys spying on me now??"

"No, it's not like that," Harry said with a sigh. "Ernie and susan told us you were in trouble so we used it to see where you were."

"Ernie and Susan knew where I was," she reasoned.

"Yes, but they said....thought maybe....Hermione,  we don't have time for this! Snape will be here any minute."

"What is the big beef between you and Draco lately," Ron suddenly blurted out.

"What are you talking about," she replied. "We've never gotten along."

"Nobody gets along with Malfoy," Harry agreed.

"But there's something weird..." Ron began, before Snape's voice coming down the corridor shut him up.

"Tell me Finch," he was saying in that flat monotone of his. "Why was he so hellbent in going out the door when you said he wasn't on the list?"

Neither Harry nor Ron waited to catch sight of the Slytherin headmaster. They took off in the opposite direction, but stopped. Looking back at Hermione, Harry asked, "You coming?"

She didn't immediately reply. She looked at the front door Draco had run out, and then peered up the hallway where Snape's voice was still questioning caretaker Filch. She stared at Harry and Ron, and let out a sigh. "Sorry," she said, and flung open the door, disappearing out into the cold.

"Sorry for what?" Harry wondered aloud.

"She's going to be sorry she went out without a coat," Ron shrugged.

Scene 60:

The snow had picked up again. Earlier it had slowed down enough for some of the students to go ice skating on the frozen lake, but now some of them were going back to Hogwarts. Hermione passed them as she tried to determine which way Draco had gone. They gave her odd looks, not because of who she was, but that she was under dressed. No coat. No boots or skates, no stocking cap or gloves. She too had realized it once she was outdoors, but she wasn't going back just to run into a perpetually annoyed Severus Snape.

Where was her Draco? He wasn't dressed for this weather either. They couldn't stay out in the freezing cold for long. She trudged through the snow. It was only above her ankles, but it made a frozen crunch beneath her feet. She almost slipped a couple of times.

Two boys came running by her, punching each other as boys are known to do. "Hey, any of you seen Draco Malfoy," she asked. They shook their heads and ran on. Another group of students, all carrying their skates draped over their shoulders were chattering, making their way back to Hogwarts. Hermione interrupted them, too. "Anyone seen Draco?"

They looked at her like she was half mad. Why would you of all people be looking for that mean ass Slytherin boy, they seemed to wonder. One girl even said so out loud. It was to Hermione's surprise she recognized her. Big time. It was Padma Patil from Ravenclaw. Her twin sister was in Gryffindor with Hermione. This wasn't good. Now it would be all over the common room and beyond how she'd been looking for Draco. Talk upon talk would ensue. The secret would explode and then the realtrouble would begin. No one would understand or approve. Her friends would dump her. Her teachers would admonish her. Even....suddenly her feet went out from under her and she fell on her butt. So lost she was in her own thoughts, she'd arrived at the edge of the frozen lake.

All the students were gone, returned to Hogwarts. She was alone except for a cloaked man walking away from a hole in the ice. Apparently he had been fishing without much luck. But where's his pole, she briefly wondered, as she clambered to her feet. The man passed by her, his cloak swishing around him. It had a hood, but it was drawn down so she could see his face.

"Excuse me," she said. "Have you seen a boy with pale blond hair? He stands about...."

The man grinned at her, shook his head, and kept on walking without a word.  She watched him reach the snow bank and continue into the winter wastes towards Hogwarts. Curious, she thought. She hadn't recognized him as a teacher or any other adult figure from school.

She looked out upon the lake, empty except for the man's fishing hole. What kind of fish are in here anyway, she wondered. Try as she might she couldn't remember, but that wasn't the most curious thing in her head. Her mind kept returning to no fishing pole. If in fact, he was fishing, where was it? Perhaps there was something else in the lake he was after. Something he was in a hurry to abandon once she showed up.

She stepped forward carefully onto the ice. It was solid beneath her feet. She wasn't sure how thick it was, but it had supported ice skating students just minutes before, so it must be okay. She slow stepped her way across the lake to the hole. As she neared it, she noticed how perfectly round it was. The man hadn't cut through with a chisel or other implement. No, this was formed by magic.

She reached the perfect hole in the ice and peered down into the lake. No fish here, just swirling water. She stared for awhile into the depths, and for a moment she felt compelled to step into the open hole, let the water drag her down. It wasn't a voice in her head, but a thought. Come swim with us in the winter glow, it's pretty down here. The pull was strong, the offer of silence and beauty nearly irresistible, and then she saw something floating up from the icy depths.

At first she couldn't tell what it was, just flashes of color. Green and silver. Turning in the water.  Slowly, it came into clearer view. Fabric. Clothing. Slytherin colors. Followed by the face of the boy she loved. Draco's body rose, followed by the same hypnotic voice in her head. Here, you can have him back now. We took what we want.

She screamed. "Draco!" She fell to her knees in front of the hole, reaching down into the water to grasp his body and haul him up. Tears were streaming down her face, as she wailed, "No, Draco, no!"

Pulling him up through the hole in the ice, she struggled with his weight and the soaking wet clothes that helped hold him down. She saw that parts of his clothes were torn with claw marks in the fabric. Laying him gently on the ice, she checked for a pulse on his wrist, then his neck. It was very faint, but there.  Her lover was fading fast, his face already slack, eyes closed.

"No, open your eyes, love," she cried. "Don't you leave me, don't you dare?!"

She tried to open his mouth so she could administer life saving techniques she'd learned, but it was clamped shut. His jaw locked tight. She began to cry even more.
"Baby, listen to me, wake up! Please, oh god please, I  love you. Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

No one heard her except the silent snow covered trees and the ice upon which her lover lay.