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 ." 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."

"Yes, of course. Did McGonagall have any idea of where she might be or who would have done it?"

These words trigger my memory. Before I passed out once again in the hospital wing, I saw something- my father's face. "She didn't... but I have a pretty good idea."

Harry purses his lips and says, "Well, I mean, not a lot of people have been looking for her... Maybe she's back at Hogwarts?" I nod my head, starting to walk towards the door.

Harry catches up with me and asks, "Where are you going?"

I give him an   look and say, "I'm going back to Hogwarts to look for Hermione!"

"Well... don't you think it can wait? I mean," He shrugs, "honestly, I don't think we should panic yet. It's just been a couple of hours. I know this is very unlike me, but I trust Hermione to be able to take care of herself. If she doesn't turn up soon, then yeah, I'll be beyond worried. But for now, we're seventh years, and how many more visits to Hogsmeade do we have left?"

"Harry, I know firsthand how fast these people work. You stay here. I'll be looking for her." My hand is on the doorknob when he stops me once again. He looks around cautiously and pulls a rough piece of parchment from his back pocket, along with his wand. When he whispers something about a swear, he hands the parchment to me.

"Use this. It'll help. We'll be there soon," He pats my shoulder in a brotherly fashion, "You'll find her, Draco." I smile at him genuinely before leaving the restaurant.

Rushing through the streets of Hogsmeade, I scan the face almost every passerby. Multiple people and I collide, and I mutter a quick apology as I continue running. After I've almost reached the path back to Hogwarts, I feel a tug on my shoulder. I instantly feel irritated, and I look back to see who it is.

"Hey, Draco!" Clara says as soon as our eyes meet.

"Clara, now is not exactly the time..." I say, yearning to continue on my way.

"What are you doing?" She asks, and I sigh.

"I'm looking for Hermione."

"Oh. Well, I can help you, if you'd like." Just as I am about to reject her offer, my brain says,

"Sure," I shrug nonchalantly, although every nerve in my body is on edge. I pull the piece of parchment that Harry had given me out of my pocket. "Harry gave me this. I'm not sure what it does, but-" When I unfold it, I see words- names, actually- accompanied by footprints gliding throughout a diagram of Hogwarts. My eyes widen as I realize its use. Clara's jaw drops. I shake my head, once again focusing on the task at hand.

"Let's go." I instruct, and I begin running towards Hogwarts, map in hand, with Clara struggling to keep up behind me. A few minutes later, Clara and I are entering the castle through the main doors. Clara puts her hands on her knees, panting. I, however, did a lot of exercising before I came back to Hogwarts, so it has not affected me. I had to find something to do.

"Check the map," She tells me between breaths, and I examine it carefully, reading every name at least twice.

"She's not here. I don't see her name." I say. She takes the map from my hands and scans it.

"Is your common room on here?" She asks, and I shrug. "Maybe the map is older than the room." I begin speed walking to my common room.

As I draw the pattern on the door, Clara watches intently. The door swings open, revealing what appears to be an empty common room. I search every surface, every corner- under the blanket, behind the bookcase, below the couch, even in the fireplace. As I look around the desk, I realize that Clara has picked up one of my letters that I had accidentally left out.