The Bond Of Fate - DracoxHermione

Chapter Fourteen

Hermione was sitting by the fire in the new common room, deep in her thoughts while her friends bickered silently. She had just finished telling Ron Harry and Ginny what she had seen in the hospital wing and they had spent the next thirty minutes discussing it.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't tell Dean because he shouldn't know," Ginny snapped at her brother, "I'm saying that as his best friend he most likely already knows and we shouldn't go around bringing up topics like that."

"And as his friends, we should be showing support don't you think?" Ron whispered back, rolling his eyes.

"What are we supposed to say, hey Dean did you know your best mate is lying half-dead in the hospital wing?" Harry asked, frustrated.

"Well, maybe not like that."

"Definitely not like that," Ginny agreed, a glint of humour in her eyes, "what do you think Hermione?"

Hermione looked up from the flames she had been staring at and blinked as white spots danced around her vision.

"I don't know," she finally said, and her friends looked disappointed, they had always depended on her for answers.

She was about to turn to look back at the flames when Ginny coughed notoriously and locked eyes with her. She nodded towards the door and hid the gesture by casually pulling her hair behind her ear.

Hermione followed her eyes and say Malfoy walk in, followed by Zabini and Pansy. He didn't look at her, but the three of them sat on the sofas behind them.

Hermione shifted uncomfortably as she noticed Malfoy had taken the seat right across from her. Smirking, Ginny tipped her head to the side, giving Hermione a full view of the Slytherins.

She shot a warning look at her friend who snickered. Harry and Ron were still discussing Seamus and hadn't noticed the intriguing looks that had been exchanged between the two girls.

"So what do we know, really know, about this whole soulmate business?" Harry suddenly asked, turning to Hermione. She grinned, pulling her bag onto her lap.

"Well since you ask," she said and extracted an old-looking book from her purse. Ron and Harry exchanged amused looks as Hermione's face brightened. The three of them sitting by the fire in the common room and Hermione pulling out a large very old book she had probably taken from the restricted section at the library was too reminiscent for them to ignore.

"I found this at the-"

"Restricted section," they both said and Ginny snickered. Hermione shot them a death stare before opening the tome carefully. She'd already spent hours poring over it, the library had been her first stop after running out of the hospital wing. She was actually surprised it had taken her so long to do research on a subject that was suddenly so relevant in their lives.

"Hermione that looks ancient," Ginny whispered as she leaned in closer to get a better look. Hermione nodded.

"This was the only book I could find, I'm sure there are others, but it looks like very old magic and I don't think the Hogwarts Library would be the appropriate place to keep relics like that."

The four of them held their breath, as Hermione flipped through the pages carefully until she reached the one she'd been looking for. A large intricate drawing of the goblet they'd all drank from in McGonagall's office was placed in the middle of the page, surrounded by tiny scribbles.

"This is the Mea Fatum cup, its origins are unknown but there are many myths that surround it. It is said to be one of three cups that allow the drinker to find their soulmate. The drinking of the goblet's potion, which magically refills itself after each use, is called Anima Mea Fatum. That's what we did," she whispered, pointing at a small note at the top of the page. Ginny sat next to her in order to read properly.