Notes: Not in the Bahamas yet…hoping to get this chapter out before I leave. Don’t die of suspense. ^-^
Lauren: I will get it bound for you, don’t worry. That is, once I finish it.

For Earth is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky

by Pata
 
 

Chapter 5
Conspiracies and Falsities
 

"Mudblood?!" Hermione demanded, standing up so quickly that she banged the back of her knees
on the bench. "Mudblood?!"

My heart did some kind of Irish jig inside my chest. I managed to keep a straight face. "Mudblood!
You’re a God damn Mudblood and I don’t associate with your type!"

And then a small smile peeked out at the corners of her mouth. She hid it behind an angry snort.
"You’re an insolent little bastard, you…insolent little bastard!"

She’s acting, I realized. She’s acting to keep the judges believing that we hate each other. And
she clearly understood that I was acting too.

Or lying, you could call it. Take your pick.

"If you think I’ve been kissing her now, you’ve got problems," I snarled at the judge who had
spoken earlier. He shrank back, afraid, but the head judge was not fooled by our charade.

"Mr. Malfoy," he said venomously, "your quarrels with Miss Granger are all very well, but before
I jump to any hasty decisions, why don’t you just go on with your narrative? I’d hate for our
verdict to be cursorily based only on your actions in the courtroom."

I gritted my teeth. "I met Granger on the rock at nine, as promised. She carried three astronomy
books and a star-map…"

*

"Here," she said, grunting with the effort of lifting the three heavy textbook and placing them next to
me in the darkness. She illuminated the tip of her wand with a simple charm, burying the other end in
the dirt to provide a steady light. She was wearing a normal muggle outfit, as was I. It was a Friday;
most Hogwarts students enjoyed the free-dress of the weekends. She unrolled the map on the rock,
using two small stones to hold it open.

We lay on our backs, side to side, watching the stars in the night sky. As we looked, she pointed
out each constellation, and then pointed to its picture on the map, using the textbooks to illustrate its
changing positions and locations during the year.

"See that?" she said, gesturing to a drawing in the book. "That’s Orion. He’s right…" she squinted,
then guided my hand to point directly at it, "there."

"And that’s his belt, right?" I asked, pointing to the three small stars across his middle in a perfect line.

She nodded.

Well, subject leads on to subject, Justice, and the night went by as we finished studying but continued
to talk. After a while we got on to the topic of Weasley.

"He’s very jealous, Ron is," Granger said.

"Of what?"

She rolled over onto one elbow to look right at me. "Of us."

*

"Were you two an item at that point?" the head judge asked.

I heard my father get to his feet behind me, ready to shoot an arrow right through my heart if I
admitted to Hermione and I ‘being an item.’

"No," I said as calmly as possible, "but Ron was simply assuming so. Granger had not told him of
our tutoring sessions, lest he become jealous. But it didn’t matter anyway, now."

"Hmm," the judge said. "Well, then, continue."

*

"What do you mean, ‘of us’?" I asked.

She smiled wryly. "That’s what’s funny, Malfoy." She laughed, something like a crazy person would
at a murder plot. "He thinks we’re dating."

I managed a short, barking laugh, but I didn’t find it as funny as she did.

Her air suddenly became very serious. "He wants to kill you," she said.

"Surely he’s just saying that," I assured her, putting a hand around her arm.

She shook her head, removing my hand from her shoulder delicately with two of her fingers. "No. He
means it, Malfoy. He’s going to murder you. I saw the book in his room this evening after dinner. Rat
Eyes and Fish Brains, Curses for the Beginning Wizard, open to page 214 – Death Charm. I
caught sight of him reciting the words, practicing."

I asked, "What are they?"

"The words to the Death Charm?"

"No, Guy Fawkes’ phone numbers," I snapped sarcastically.

She looked nervous. "Why do you want to know?"

I took her face in my hands, turning her to look straight into my eyes. "It’s him or me," I said slowly.
"Either he dies or I die."

A pause. She peeled my fingers off her cheeks one by one and looked away. "Nisyl da edt soma."

"What?"

"Those are the words to the Death Charm," she whispered. "Nisyl da edt soma."

"Nisyl da edt soma…" I said slowly, enunciating every syllable. The words seemed to roll of my
tongue like dewdrops off a rose petal.

"Don’t kill him now," she begged, "wait until morning, at least."

*

"Why did she want to wait until morning?" my mother asked. It was the first time she’d spoken.

I shrugged. "Wanted to say goodbye, I guess. Or admit something, or do something, or whatever.
" I coughed just a little too nervously. "Anyway, Granger allowed me to spend the night in the
Gryffindor common room because…"

*

"…Ron said he was going to go to your House and kill you at five-thirty, and it’ll just be easier this
way," Granger promised.

She waited up with me in the common room for an hour or so, but finally became too tired and
crashed in the girl’s dormitory. So there I was, all alone, in the Gryffindor common room, counting
down the hours until either Ron Weasley or myself would lie dead.

Around midnight, I took out Fahrenheit 451 and read almost the whole book, until I felt I would
die of exhaustion.

I decided to catch some sleep around two, when I could no longer keeps my eyes open. I lay back
on the soft red sofa and promised myself I would only sleep for a minute or two.

But I was much more tired than I anticipated, and before I knew it I was awakened by the sound
of stairs creaking. I opened my eyes, blinked, and found myself looking into startled seagreen eyes.

"Jesus Christ!" I screamed.

Ron Weasley clasped a hand over my mouth and pointed his wand between my eyes. "Don’t
move," he said slowly. "Don’t speak. Don’t breathe. Don’t do anything. Except maybe pray."

I obeyed. We stayed a moment in complete silence. Finally, I whispered through his fingers, "What
in the name of God are you doing?"

"Eliminating a problem," he snarled. "Didn’t I tell you not to talk?"

"Why are you giving me orders?" I snapped, shoving his hand away from my mouth so that I could
sit up.

He was so angry he couldn’t talk. I swear his normally calm green eyes flashed blood-red. "Shut up,
Malfoy. I talk, you listen."

I reached into my back pocket and curled my fingers around my wand, but didn’t extract it. I smiled
disarmingly and lay back on the sofa. "Don’t say a word," Ron ordered me. "Just stay still. Close
your eyes."

I did. I kept my fingers on my wand and I felt him press a hand against my heart. I could hear the
steady beat. He whispered, "Nisyl da e - "

I was about to die. I had no choice, Justice.

I whipped out my wand. "You know what, Mr. Control-Freak, I have an order for you!" I yelled.
"Die!"

Weasley stopped talking abruptly, shocking at my sudden rebellion. I held my wand above my head,
whispering the words of the charm. "Nisyl da edt soma..."

He didn’t even cry out. His eyes went wide in pain and fear; his hand clutched vainly at his heart.
He seemed to be trying to make a sound, but he couldn’t. He simply dropped to the floor, dead.

I looked around, shocked at what I’d done. My breathing quickened, sweat glistened on every inch
of my body. I was scared. Frightened. I knew I would be persecuted.

I ran out of that common room faster than I’ve ever run in my life. I was in such a hurry I forgot my
book and left one of my sneakers. But no matter how fast I ran my guilt outran me, and now I am
here.

Ready to accept my fate.

*

I sat down, my story finished, and hung my head. An uncomfortable silence reigned.

"There is nothing more to tell, Mr. Malfoy?" the head justice asked.

I looked up and met his gaze. "No, Justice. Nothing more to tell."

I turned and caught Hermione’s eye. I must have stared for just a moment too long because Arthur
Weasley leapt up and started yelling, "He’s lying! He’s lying, Justice!"

"Even if he was," the lead Justice drawled, "we would have no way of telling. If you are so sure,
Arthur, what do you suggest?"

Arthur Weasley’s eyes burned with a cold, angry fire. "I suggest a live memory interface. I suggest
that we use a charm and go into the boy’s head and see these memories exactly as they happened,
without Draco fouling them up with his damned lies!"

The judge rubbed his chin, considering the idea. "Yes, let’s do it. Unless Mr. Malfoy objects, of
course." He smiled ironically at me. He knew as well as I did that if I refused it proved my guilt.
Even if I had been telling the truth about why I killed Ron, there were other thing in my memory…
things that would have me killed…if not by the court, by my family…

I stared. My heart wouldn’t stop pounding – I was trapped. I stuttered, "I have no p-problems with
a l-live m-m-memory interface, J-Justice."
 
 
 

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Chapter 6