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title: the redemption of draco malfoy (01) author name: jason author email: scarecrow_eyes@hotmail.com category: action/adventure sub category: romance keywords: harry ginny hermione rating: r spoilers: ss/ps, cos, poa, gof, fb, qtta summary: draco malfoy is given a task by the dark lord: to gain the trust of one of harry potter's friends. the obvious choice is hermione, and draco begins to sow the seeds of friendship. things do not go as he planned though, and soon he is caught up in an adventure with the very people he once called his enemies. action, plot, romance, quidditch, hogwarts, other locations and a solid amount of snogging. disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by jk rowling, various publishers including but not limited to bloomsbury books, scholastic books and raincoast books, and warner bros., inc. no money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. at the risk of sounding like a cassie wannabe (or maybe a lot of fa authors use quotes in their fics, i don't know), i have used two quotes in this fic, one of them a buffy quote no less. they just sort of wrote themselves in, so i'll put the references at the end. author notes: well, this is the one squillionth version of a fic a began about two years ago, and the first i've posted on the net. it's non-slash, for those of you wondering. also, i have no beta as yet so applications are welcome. future chapters will definitely be r rated so i'll make this one r too, to deter the youngins. anyway, enjoy reading it and please review. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ chapter one: the dark lord's task draco malfoy woke, on the morning of his first day back at school, from a dream he couldn't remember. he sat up straight and rolled his neck from side to side, rubbing the cramps from it with his fingers. try as he might, he couldn't grasp hold of the fleeting thread of the dream, and soon it had vanished from his mind completely. the fact that he couldn't recall the details when they sat so tantalisingly on the edge of his subconscious, may have been the reason why he was in a particularly irritable mood that morning. from the light shining around the edges of his heavy velvet drapes, draco could tell that it was a bright and brilliantly sunny day; it made him sick to his stomach. yawning deeply, he swung his legs off the bed and planted his bare feet on the stone floor. it was

piercingly cold, and comforting. draco slid his pyjama top over his head and padded into the bathroom. half an hour later he entered the cavernous dining hall of malfoy manor, the room in which lucius insisted on taking their breakfast, despite the fact that conversing with one another required a good deal of yelling. but then that didn't bother draco in the slightest; conversation with his parents tended to be rather dull. draco's footfalls echoed off the walls as he made his way to the table and took his seat. his father sat at the opposite end of the table, his legs crossed to the side and his face hidden behind the morning's prophet. his mother, on their right, was nibbling on a corner of toast as she flipped through one of her fashion catalogues. she raised her head for long enough to greet draco. "good morning, draco." "morning, mum," draco mumbled in reply. the door to his left opened, admitting one of the servants carrying a silver platter of what would undoubtedly contain toast and diricawl eggs as well as a goblet of freshly squeezed pumpkin juice. the house elves would have done the cooking of course, but lucius, like most people, demanded that they stay out of sight at all times, which was why the human servants brought in the dishes. draco recalled that this one's name was preston. he let the man set the plate and goblet down before him and then watched as he trekked back through the door he'd come through. after a quick glance at his father, draco dug into his diricawl eggs, careful to lean forward, keep his elbows off the table, his back straight, chin up, napkin laid. meals at the manor had always been a formal affair, regardless of the occasion. it was second nature to draco now. as he expected, lucius soon lowered his paper, his pale face looking as sharp and refined as ever. "draco," he said commandingly, "i take it you are packed for school." "yes, father," draco replied, making sure to make eye contact as he spoke. he wished his father wouldn't prattle on, so that he could eat his breakfast. but, alas... "be ready by ten o'clock," his father continued. "i'll not wait any longer. if you're late, you walk to school." "yes, father." lucius eyed his son curiously, as though expecting him to raise an argument over the matter. when he didn't, lucius settled for, "back straight!" draco made an attempt to straighten his already perfectly straight back. git, he thought towards his father. *** as lucius malfoy waited inside the open coach for his son to descend the manor's stairs and climb inside, he remembered the meeting he had had, not two days ago, with the dark

lord. he had apparated to familiar spot in the woods, then walked the path to the ancient castle that lay hidden from muggle and wizarding eyes alike. there, in the uppermost chamber, he had spoken to lord voldemort. "lucius," the dark lord had said, "you are punctual, as ever." "of course, my lord. i would not wish to keep you waiting." voldemort nodded once, then began pacing around the room. "these are dark times, lucius," he said in his snake-like voice, "but not dark enough. too often our plans have been foiled by that muggle-loving fool dumbledore and his pet whelp harry potter. i tire of failure, lucius." lucius remained silent; whatever point the dark lord wished to make, he would make it soon. it was best not patronise him with sycophantic supplications in the mean time. "tell me," voldemort continued, "what is the best way to kill a man? or a boy, come to that." the question, lucius realised, was rhetorical. he kept silent. "is it through the body?" voldemort asked. "do you break it? or the mind? do you destroy it?" he turned around to pace the other way. "these methods work, yes; but they are prone to failure; to error. to ineptitude." the last word was spoken with a reptilian distaste. voldemort turned to face his servant. "but there is another way," he said. "a better way. the heart, lucius. you attack the heart. for without the heart, the mind cannot work, and the body cannot function." voldemort's lips turned upward into a cruel smile. "or, the human mind...and body...i should say. their entrances lie within the heart." lucius began to wander where this conversation was going. "we have neglected this option for too long, lucius." he took a step forward, black robes sliding across the stone. "if we cannot break harry potter's body, and we cannot destroy his mind - we will crush his heart. you know, of course, how we do that, lucius?" "through those he loves," lucius replied dubiously. "but, my lord - they are protected, just as the boy himself is." "yes," voldemort hissed. "they are. within the walls of that pitiful school they cannot be harmed, and we cannot get inside. but..." voldemort raised a thin, tapering finger, "we do not need to." "my lord?" "your son, lucius," said voldemort, "how old is he?" lucius' brow creased with confusion. "h-he is fifteen, my lord" "fifteen," voldemort hissed. "well past the age at which he should have entered my service." "y-you told me yourself, my lord - that he was not ready." "i did," said voldemort. "but now, i think, he is."

"what would you have him do, my lord?" "is it not obvious, lucius? he can tread where we cannot. he can pull the strings we cannot touch; sow the seeds we cannot plant. he...can bring me harry potter's friends." "my lord," said lucius, "do you think it wise to entrust such a task to the hands of a child?" voldemort turned his fiery gaze on lucius. "your son is weak, lucius," he said, "and naive. but he could be my greatest servant, if he is properly educated." the emphasis voldemort put on the word 'if' made it clear to lucius that it was not an 'if' at all, but rather a 'when' with the promise of dire consequences for non-compliance. lucius hated to cite the flaws in the dark lords' plan, but there was no other choice. "but my lord," he said, "draco is nothing short of a bitter enemy to potter and his friends. surely, he could never get close enough..." "if he is truly your son, lucius, then he will find a way." lucius swelled with the compliment, as much as it was possible to swell in the presence of the dark lord. "potter is a hero," voldemort continued, "there will be no shortage of prey." "the weasley boy is closest, my lord," lucius pointed out. "but the weasley's have old magic running through their veins. he too, will no doubt be protected. and draco will not find it easy to get close enough to the wretch." voldemort ran a contemplative finger along his pale chin. then he turned his slitted eyes on lucius. "the girl," he hissed. "she is a mudblood. she holds no such protection. she will be easy picking." without waiting for further argument, voldemort stipulated his demands. "you will tell your son to bring me the girl. with her in our hands, harry potter is as good as mine." voldemort allowed himself a malevolent smile. "ah, the tired predictability of the hero. he will rush blindly into oblivion to save one he loves. and in it, we shall wait." lucius bowed. "as you wish, my lord." he turned and started for the door. "lucius," voldemort called after him. lucius turned to look over his shoulder at the twisted, inhuman creature that he called master. "failure is no longer an option," voldemort warned. "bring me the girl!" *** the carriage that carried the master and heir of malfoy manor to kings cross station trundled along smoothly, pulled, as the hogwarts' carriages were, by thestrals. these thestrals, however, were entirely different to the ones that draco routinely saw at school. they were larger, for a start, with red eyes, rather than white. the most salient difference, however, was that they were bred using dark magic, so that their reputation as omens of death was rather more than superstition. they had been in the malfoy family for generations now, living lives that were unnaturally extended by the charmed blood they fed on. as a boy, draco had been terrified of them; but that was until his father's influence

had manifested itself, giving draco a natural affinity for all dark creatures. even so, draco found them to be quite impressive in all their dark splendour. inside the carriage, he sat opposite his father, staring out the one-way window at the passing scenery. he was glad to be going back to school. the summer had been long and boring, full of formal evenings, dark arts lessons, fencing practice and a particularly memorable execution of a rogue hippogriff, whose head lucius had insisted draco remove. he could still remember the blood. "draco," his father said, breaking the silence inside the carriage. draco looked up. "there is something we must discuss." sensing no protest in his son's demeanour, lucius continued. "as you know, the dark lord is becoming increasingly impatient with the efforts to capture the potter boy." oh, great, thought draco, more about the dark lord. i never get tired of hearing about him. and he's thrown in a mention of potter to make my day. "...and as such," lucius continued, telling draco he had obviously missed something, "he requires you do a task for him." draco raised an eyebrow. "a task? what sort of task?" "you will," - and his father never did ask - "bring to him potter's female friend. the granger girl." draco could have coughed up his tongue. "what!?" clearly, lucius did not appreciate such a crude exclamation. "you will do this, draco," he said menacingly. "there will be no questions." on the contrary, draco had plenty of questions. the reason why voldemort would want to get his scaly hands on hermione was, of course, obvious. but why did he need draco to get her for him? why not just blow up the school and fish her out of the wreckage? what the hell did he expect draco to do? "you want me to take hermione granger to lord voldemort?" the pain sliced up through draco's chest and threatened to split apart his skull. "what have i told you about referring to him by name?" lucius hissed. "he is the dark lord to you, until you prove yourself worthy of his name." "sorry, father," draco said, rubbing his temple. he waited until the pain had subsided before he spoke again. "how am i supposed to get granger to vol...the dark lord." his father's eyes flashed maliciously. "i will be in touch," he said, "with instructions that you will follow. until that time, your energy would best be spent," lucius smirked, "building up a rapport with her." again, draco could have coughed up his tongue. "how am i supposed to do that?" "find...a way," lucius said sinisterly. "use your head for once, boy. the malfoy's are not

wanting in resources. bribe her, beg her...seduce her if you must. just find a way." draco goggled incredulously at his father. surely he couldn't be serious. he was not left the wonder however, as the carriage slowed to a halt and the doors swung open to reveal the hustle and bustle of platform nine and three-quarters. *** "ron!" hermione snapped. "sorry," said ron, picking the side of hermione's trunk back up and helping her carry it onto the train. "honestly," said hermione, shuffling forward with the other end in hand, "every time a pretty girl walks by you just leap off the face of the planet." ron flushed slightly. "i wasn't looking at girls," he insisted. "it's your bloody trunk. what do you have in this thing? it weighs a tonne." "just my books," said hermione. "and my clothes of course, and crookshanks' basket and toys. and some extra reading." "how...much...extra reading?" ron said between breaths as he lugged hermione's trunk up the stairs of the train. "just a few books i thought might come in handy during the year." "and you bought how many copies of each?" hermione shot ron a 'very funny' glare. "where's harry?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder as though expecting to see him. "dunno," said ron. "he said he'd be right behind us." "mmm," hermione agreed. "maybe he's talking to ginny." ron rolled his eyes. "right, because she always has a lot to say to him." hermione giggled in reply. it wasn't until they had loaded both of their trunks onto the train and laid claim to an empty compartment that harry caught up to them. "there you are," said ron, taking his feet off the seat opposite him so that harry could sit down. "what took you?" "your dad wanted a word with me," said harry. ron rolled his eyes. "again? what was it about this time?" "the usual," said harry. "stay out of trouble, don't go looking for trouble - make sure you don't cause trouble." he shrugged. "he's just looking out for me."

"exactly," hermione added. "and he does have a point." "what do you mean by that?" ron asked, rounding on her. "i just mean that...maybe once in a while it's a good idea to remind harry not to go looking for trouble. not that he ever does, of course," hermione added, smiling apologetically at harry. he never showed outward dislike for the advice of others, but hermione could tell that he thought they were all just stating the obvious. she relaxed back against her seat as the two boys delved into quidditch talk. *** draco stared listlessly at the two boys facing him in his compartment on the hogwarts express. "wow, goyle," he said to the one on the left, "that sounds like a really exciting summer. i wish i'd got bitten by a doxy and told me all about it." draco rolled his eyes at the goofy look on goyle's face and turned to look out the window. was it just him, or were these two buffoons even more irritating than usual? these questions never seemed to work for draco. the latter, he thought. it was never just him. when at last a final shrill whistle sounded outside, the slamming of doors could be heard all along the train as it started to move. soon they had picked up a good deal of speed and platform nine and three-quarters had faded away into the distance. as goyle launched into yet another blow-by-blow account of his supposed fight with the doxy that had sunk its venomous teeth into his hand, draco knew it was time to leave. he slipped out of the compartment door with the promise that he would be right back. not bloody likely, he thought to himself. he set off wandering down the aisle towards the front of the train, in the hopes that he'd be able to talk his way into an early visit to the snack cart. the witch at the front was adamant in her refusal however. with an extravagant sigh of impatience, draco wandered back in the direction he had come, a chocolate frog clutched secretively beneath his arm. once he was out of sight of the domineering witch, he tore open the wrapper and shoved the chocolate amphibian rather inelegantly into his mouth. as he chewed it, he extracted the card from the wrapper and flipped it over. he scoffed. albus dumbledore. typical. he screwed it up in his fist, threw it on the floor and resumed walking. almost immediately he bumped into something solid. "watch where you're going!" he spat, choking down the remainder of the chocolate frog and glancing up at the offender. "granger," he hissed. the buck-toothed, bushy-haired mudblood glared back at him with narrowed eyes. "what do you want, malfoy?" "a bit of bloody walking room would be nice," draco snapped. "you must've gained weight over the summer - you're taking up the whole bloody aisle."

unfortunately, the remarks didn't seem to faze hermione. "still as spiteful as ever, i see. feel free to drop dead of a wasting disease in the next thirty seconds." draco took an exaggeratedly unsteady step backward and clapped his hand over his heart. "you hurt me, granger," he mocked. "your insults usually aren't so sharp." "does that include the time i slapped you?" draco's bones flushed with fury. she should have given up and thrown a 'shut up, malfoy' or a 'god, you're impossible' his way by now. but she hadn't. so, draco thought, granger likes to play the game. "any excuse to touch me, i suppose," draco drawled. "only in your dreams, malfoy." "nightmares, more like." "whatever," hermione conceded. "i'll leave you to your sordid delusions." she brushed roughly past draco and disappeared down the other end of the train. draco took a deep, steadying breath and was reminded of his father's orders. how the hell am i supposed to build a rapport with her? moreover, why would i want to? maybe i'll just let the dark lord throw me a little vengeance party instead. it's got to be better than this. that was a lie, of course. draco had seen what his father could do to disobedient servants, and if the dark lord could do worse, then draco didn't want to be one of those disobedient servants. should he have been sowing the seeds of friendship with hermione instead of jousting verbally with her? he couldn't even fathom the idea. *** "what's wrong with you?" ron asked when hermione returned from her visit to ginny's compartment. "malfoy," hermione spat, dropping down heavily into her seat. ron's eyes flashed, his body tensing. "what'd he do to you?" hermione turned to him. "hmm? oh, nothing. well, nothing that requires a pitchfork expedition." hermione patted his knee to return him to his seat. "he just reeled off the usual snide remarks. hasn't changed a bit." "you were expecting him to?" harry asked. "well, no," conceded hermione. "but i thought that, with voldemort rising again, he might wake up and see what his father is really like." "are you joking?" asked ron. "he probably spent his summer selling chocolate frogs to raise money for you-know-who's latest get-harry-quick scheme."

"i 'spose you're right," said hermione. shrugging, she extracted a book from her bag and buried her nose in it. *** by the time the hogwarts express rolled into hogsmeade station, the sky outside was an inky black that was fast giving way to night. the students exited the train in the usual disorderly fashion, many of them having to wait several minutes before there was room enough to open their compartment doors. draco, however, had no such trouble. swinging open his compartment door - passers by be damned - he strolled lazily down the aisle to the rear exit of the train. he was able to lose crabbe and goyle in the throng of people that were making their way towards the supposedly horseless carriages, or - in the case of the first years - the miserable looking boats that floated silently on the lake's edge. draco couldn't help but smile when he saw a young second year boy walk past one of the carriages and run into something invisible. he dropped like a sack stones to the ground, scratching his head and looking about in confusion. draco picked his way through the rows of transports, the thestrals turning their heads to sniff at his clothes as he passed - obviously detecting the scents of the malfoy thestrals on him. he found a carriage near the back which appeared to be rather empty, apart from his fellow slytherins malcolm baddock, theodore nott and... "hi, pansy," draco drawled dejectedly. "draco," pansy said happily as he climbed inside. "i was looking for you on the train. i couldn't find you anywhere." "can't imagine why," draco replied. he leaned his shoulder against the side of the carriage and directed his attention outside as pansy recounted the tale of her summer holidays. the carriages started to move, the skeletal horses pulling them along the path to the hogwarts castle. draco had to admit that even after four years, the sight of the towering citadel looming above the hill was still rather awe-inspiring. the huge wrought iron gates with the decorative gargoyles parted to let them through, swinging shut again once the last carriage had passed. "and then i went to gulliver's on knockturn and they wanted to charge me sixteen galleons - can you believe that?" "mmm - of course," draco replied without knowing what it was he was replying to. he lifted his gaze as the enormous turrets and spires of the castle climbed into view, followed by the base of dark edifice. against the starry backdrop the castle looked like a living creature, perched ominously on the hilltop with its stony hide absorbing the moonlight. draco felt himself smile. ***

"home at last," said harry, staring up at hogwarts. "yeah - it's good to be back," ron agreed. they lapsed into silence, each of them staring up at the castle, as the carriages wheeled in to a stop outside the immense oak front doors. the students trickled out in their hundreds and climbed the steps toward the entrance hall. the doors opened to admit them, the din rising higher and higher as people's voices began to reverberate off the distant walls. the crowd veered right and made for the great hall, where several brief announcements and a feast awaited them. harry, ron and hermione entered the great hall together, making their way over to the gryffindor table where they were greeted by many of its residents. they found seats and joined in the casual conversation. hermione traded holiday experiences with parvati and lavender while ron and harry engaged in yet more quidditch talk with seamus finnigan. when lavender was engrossed in her own esoteric story of a dress she bought, speaking more to parvati than to hermione, hermione took the chance looked up and around the hall. as her eyes drifted over the slytherin table, she was surprised - to say the least - to see draco malfoy staring back at her with a blank expression. he didn't bother to hide it of course, but merely turned away after she had seen him. still riled about what happened on the train i bet. hermione turned her attention back to the gryffindor table just as a hush fell over the crowd. the first years were led in, shaking and stumbling and looking far smaller than hermione remembered first years to be. the sorting hat was placed on a stool in front of the teachers' table where it sat limply for several seconds before opening its mouth and breaking into song. hermione listened jovially with the rest of the hall as the hat had its annual minute of fame. after it had blared the last note, professor mcgonagall carried the stool out amidst a roaring of applause. when she returned, she unrolled a sheet of parchment and reeled off the kids' names. one by one they were sorted and found an empty seat at their designated table. hermione made the scattering of gryffindor students that sat near her feel welcome, remembering her own sorting when she had talked a mile a minute to calm her tightly wound nerves. once the last student had been sorted into ravenclaw, another hush fell over the hall as dumbledore stood he wore a beaming smile that, though dulled slightly by sombreness, was nevertheless warm and encouraging. "i will dispense with any long-winded pleasantries," he announced in his sonorous voice, "as i know we are all ready to tuck in to this wonderful meal. so...enjoy." he resumed his seat and the noise level grew once more. "that was rather terse," hermione commented. "the man obviously listens to his stomach," said ron, rubbing his own and waiting eagerly

for the food to arrive. when it did, his plate was piled high with food in less than a minute. sighing as ron tried to stuff an overly large drumstick into his mouth, hermione reached out for the bowl of peas. *** vile girl, draco thought, glaring at hermione across the hall. and i have to befriend that. he shook his head and looked down at his empty plate. he realised he wasn't hungry - not after stuffing himself with so many sweets on the train. he pulled the bowl of peas towards him, loaded one onto his fork and bent it back, ready to launch it at some unsuspecting person. potter was too far away, of course, but then any of the hufflepuffs would make a good target. draco aimed at justin finch-fletchley, paused, then lowered the fork. these juvenile pranks just didn't hold any thrill for him anymore. "damn," he muttered, dropping the fork and pea on the table. the rest of the meal passed as blandly as the start of it had. draco mostly kept to himself, contemplating the problem of how to earn hermione granger's trust. within thirty seconds he had again deemed the task impossible, and joined in the quidditch talk that was raging amongst the boys around him. when at last the food had vanished, dumbledore rose once more. "again," he said, "i have very little to say, other than welcome to another year." he smiled around the hall warmly, though there was more tiredness in his eyes than draco remembered. "as always," he continued, "i must remind you that the forbidden forest is off limits to all students, as is any part of the castle after hours - barring the bathrooms of course." a ripple of laughter ran through the crowd. "mr. filch has posted an updated list of banned objects - magical or otherwise - on his office door; hogsmeade permission forms should be handed to your head of house; and...oh, yes...quidditch trials will begin during second week." there was a rumble of conversation among the quidditch players in the hall. "as for our new defence against the dark arts teacher," dumbledore said, incurring another hush, "as he is not arriving until tomorrow, i will leave you in suspense, for now." people began to murmur excitedly, predicting who the new teacher would be. "i think," said dumbledore, "that that is all. have a pleasant night." he renewed his smile and resumed his seat. the din of conversation rose once more in the hall as students stood to leave and make their way to their dormitories. once draco had exited the hall, he was accosted by pansy. "draco, there you are. the prefects are supposed to be showing the students to their dormitories." "huh? oh, right." "where's your badge?" pansy asked. "must've left it in my bag," said draco. "i'll run along and get it." he slipped off in the

crowd and headed to his dormitory, with no intention of retrieving his badge. he didn't need a power trip to inflate his ego - he was malfoy after all. the slytherin dormitory was, as usual, several degrees cooler than the rest of the castle, which draco found quite pleasant. it was the kind of atmosphere his father would approve of; keep your guests uncomfortable while you appear perfectly at ease. that is the key to negotiation. not that his father ever negotiated. the decor too, was something his father would have approved of: sharp and dull and very, very grey. draco made his way to his own room - his own prefect's room - and sat down on the bed to rest his feet. he gazed out the window where the sky was now dotted with stars and much darker than it had been when they'd left the train. as they often did when he looked into darkness, words his father had said came back to him. i will be in touch, with instructions that you will follow. until that time your energy would best be spent building up a rapport with her. find a way. sighing deeply, draco reclined back on his bed and closed his eyes, ready for sleep.

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author notes: a slow start, i know, but there'll be a lot more action soon, i promise. as for the quotes i used: "feel free to drop dead of a wasting disease in the next thirty seconds." --buffy. "vile girl." --i was thinking of stewie from familiy guy when i wrote this, so he gets it. stay tuned for chapter two, which should be out real soon.

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title: the redemption of draco malfoy (02) author name: jason author email: scarecrow_eyes@hotmail.com category: action/adventure sub category: romance keywords: harry hermione ginny voldemort rating: r spoilers: ss/ps, cos, poa, gof, fb, qtta summary: draco attempts to gain hermione's trust; lucius sends a letter; a not-so-new defence against the dark arts teacher; and shippy confrontations. disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by jk rowling, various publishers including but not limited to bloomsbury books, scholastic books and raincoast books, and warner bros., inc. no money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. i have used quotations from various sources in some of the chapters. you can find the references at the end.

author notes: just quickly: this story takes place at the end of gof. so draco, hermione, harry and ron are all in fifth year, ginny in fourth. big thanks to my beta (i have a beta!) christine. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ chapter two: the seeds of friendship hermione usually found arithmancy to be a relaxing class. whilst many of the other students would struggle to make sense of the complex numerical charts that professor vector set them to work on, hermione found the methodological patterns and equations rather comforting. until, that is, draco malfoy walked into the classroom. in previous years, the gryffindors hadn't taken arithmancy with the slytherins, but dwindling class sizes had forced an amalgamation of all four houses to make up the numbers. this wouldn't have bothered hermione, were in not for the fact that malfoy had, for some inexplicable reason, chosen to take the seat beside her. trying her best not to look aghast, hermione shifted her books as far to the side of the desk as possible and focused her attention on professor vector, who launched into an explanation of this year's course. it was hard to concentrate though, with the blonde-haired bigot beside her. malfoy always made her feel self-conscious; she was sure that he was mentally ticking off all the faults he could find in her appearance. there would be many, of course. "so, i must warn you now," said professor vector, "your first assignment will be handed out at the beginning of the third week. not a lot of notice, i know, but at fifth year you are all expected to be well versed in the basic tenets of arithmancy. the assignment will be straightforward, so don't panic just yet. now, take out your textbooks, please - remove the plastic wrappers for those of you who didn't bother to do so over the summer - and turn to page fourteen." hermione retrieved her thick, and already slightly worn, arithmancy textbook from the stack of books in front of her and opened it to page fourteen. as she did, a lazy voice spoke from beside her. "i've forgotten my book," said malfoy, looking expectantly at hermione. "so?" hermione snapped. "so let me look on yours." hermione snorted derisively. "and why would i want to do that?" draco shrugged. "i'm not saying you'd want to; but isn't sharing with others one of the most important rules in the gryffindor handbook?" "yeah," replied hermione, "right beneath 'do not associate with slytherins. especially egotistical jerks like draco malfoy.'"

draco gazed listlessly back at her, then raised a pale hand into the air. "yes, mr. malfoy?" professor vector asked. "i've forgotten my book." professor vector didn't look pleased. "really, mr. malfoy, you cannot afford to be so forgetful if you wish to succeed in my class. make sure you owl home for it tomorrow. you can look on miss granger's book for now." draco turned his smirking face on hermione, who pushed her book into the centre of the table with a furious expression. he wore the smug look for the rest of the class, clearly pleased with himself for having managed to annoy her so early in the year. they said nothing else to one another until the bell rang at the end of the lesson and everyone stood up to leave. hermione began packing her books into her bag. to her sheer frustration, malfoy lifted the arithmancy textbook from the table and handed it casually to her. hermione snatched it from his grasp. "touchy this morning, aren't you?" he observed. "save it, malfoy," hermione snapped in reply, stuffing the book into her bag and shutting the clasps. she slung it over her shoulder, pushed past malfoy and walked out the door. *** in the transfiguration classroom on the third floor, harry and ron waited beside a spare seat that they were saving for hermione. "so you really reckon i could make keeper?" ron asked harry, continuing the conversation they'd been having in the hallway. "sure," said harry. "you'll ace the try-out." "i hope so," ron said wistfully. at that moment hermione walked in, wearing a rather vexed expression on her face. she cheered up when she saw them, and took the vacant seat they had saved. "how was arithmancy?" ron asked. "good," hermione replied shortly. "i take it you had a free period." "yep," ron replied. "great way to start the year, don't you think?" "mmm," hermione responded absently. "so who do you think the new defence against the dark arts teacher is? i still haven't heard anything." "me either," said harry. "maybe they couldn't get one." "dumbledore did say that they were arriving today though."

"well, we've got it tomorrow afternoon, so i guess we'll find out then." the door at the front of the room opened and professor mcgonagall strode inside. "good morning, class," she said. "wands away please, this will be a theory class." there was an audible groan from the students as they slid their wands back inside their pockets or bags. "practice is useless without a solid foundation of theory," mcgonagall explained. "this year will be particularly difficult for those of you who do not apply yourself to the written material." her gaze lingered on neville. "books open to page seven please. read the section on surface transfiguration and then answer these questions." she set about scrawling questions on the board with her wand. "ooh, surface transfiguration," said hermione. "i was hoping we'd start with this. it sounds really interesting." "right," said ron, "i always wanted to be able to turn all my clothes into metal." hermione ignored him and began reading from the book. *** draco sat in the back of his charms class, twirling his peacock feather quill with his fingers and staring contemplatively at the ceiling. he wasn't sure whether it would be more industrious to think of ways to gain hermione's trust, or ways to get out of this ridiculous plan of his father's. already he had bungled a simple attempt to strike up conversation with her, namely because he simply could not refrain from insulting her. it was just too much fun. there was, however, the shadow of voldemort looming over his thoughts; the man - if he was a man - that draco had never seen, but had heard too much about to doubt his power. the guy was a real bastard, according to the snippets of conversation he'd overheard in the manor, and none too eye-catching either, apparently. then again, draco had seen some terrible things in his years, enough to overcome any squeamishness he would once have felt in the presence of most dark beings, human or otherwise. if voldemort had red skin, horns and clawed hands, as draco pictured he would, then he couldn't see what could be so off-putting about the bloke. but then physical appearance and magical potency never went hand in hand. just look at dumbledore. at the front of the room, tiny professor flitwick waddled through the door and stood up on the dais, breaking draco's reverie. not feeling in the mood to take notes, he laid down his quill and leaned lazily back on his chair as flitwick explained acceleration charms to the class. wish i could make this class go faster, draco thought. it dragged, however - so much so that by the end of it draco was close to sleep. he shook his head awake and collected his books before leaving the room. outside, the hall was teeming with students, most of who looked to have shrunken over the summer. either that or draco had grown. he cut an easy swathe through the crowd; it

parted before him like parchment under a knife. there was one young student, however, that didn't see the need to move out of his way, and was sent staggering back as they bumped right into him. draco's eyes searched for the impertinent offender. young, female, freckled and sporting a mane of long, red hair. "weasley," draco spat. "why don't you watch where you're going?" "rack off, malfoy," ginny snapped back, once again amazing draco at the vehemence the gryffindors were capable of. "i'd watch how you speak to me if i were you," said draco. "oh, really?" said ginny. "and why's that? because you'll get daddy death eater to put another one of voldemort's things in my books? you're pathetic." draco was exceedingly surprised now, primarily because the freckled fool had actually said the dark lord's name. he thought everyone on team potter would shy away from the name like death itself. well that was it - if this little weasel used the name then draco sure as hell would, his father be damned. "i could turn you inside out with a flick of my wand," draco drawled. he expected his threat to send a chill down the girl's spine, perhaps make her walk away with her head hung low. "i wouldn't need my wand to turn you inside out, malfoy," ginny replied, "just a blunt stone." draco actually felt his eyes widen in shock. when in the hell did ginny weasley become a slytherin? he couldn't let her have the last word though. "too bad you can't use a blunt stone to get potter's attention, though," he said, and knew he'd struck a nerve. "guess you can't work miracles after all." ginny glared back at him with malevolence oozing from her eyes. there was pain in that look too, which draco absorbed like a drug. it took a little longer these days, true, but he could still make the gryffindors' blood boil. he stood where he was as ginny spun on her heel and stormed off into the crowd. draco smiled to himself as he continued down the corridor. "i wonder what's for lunch." *** ginny was still reeling with fury when she sat down for lunch in the great hall. damn malfoy, she thought. he always knew exactly what to say to cut her nerves, and he always did it with such a straight face, as though the idea of feeling guilty for what he was saying was more foreign to him than the surface of the moon. one of these days, she thought, i'll get the chance to say something cruel to him; and i won't even feel the slightest bit of remorse. her mood hadn't brightened by the time harry, hermione and her brother entered the hall and seated themselves around her. as always, ginny lowered her gaze nervously and

prepared herself to listen to whatever exciting adventures the famous trio were embarking on next. four years on and i'm still a fourth wheel, ginny thought, wondering if the remark made sense. harry, ron and hermione were such a tight-knit group that it was next to impossible to penetrate their circle of friendship. ginny remembered hearing from her brother how he and harry had never been friends with hermione until they rescued her from that mountain troll that quirrell had let into the school. so she had thought - foolishly - that after saving her from tom riddle, harry would have become closer to her, perhaps serving as her gateway into the impenetrable trio. but no, that had never happened, and ginny was still doomed to be the one-year-younger accessory to their daring schemes. she rested her chin on her palm and gazed off into the distance, feeling worse than she had when she'd entered the hall. "you okay, ginny?" harry asked her from across the table. "hmm?" ginny, realising who was speaking, yanked her elbow off the table and felt her cheeks start to burn. why did she always have to get like this when harry spoke to her? it wasn't fair. "are you okay?" harry repeated. "you look kind of distracted." "oh, i'm fine." she gazed nervously down at her plate and wrung her hands in her lap. "are you sure?" "yeah," ginny nodded. "just...ran into malfoy in the hall." as always, that got ron's attention. "what'd the dirty slug do to you?" he demanded, leaning forward across the table. "nothing, ron," ginny assured him. "he was just being his usual evil self." "bastard," ron muttered. "the next time he opens his big mouth i'm going to get a bubotuber from the greenhouse and shove it right up his..." "ron!" hermione exclaimed. "none of us want to picture that while we're eating." "agreed," ginny added. she noted, horror-struck, that harry was still looking at her with concern. "don't listen to anything he says," harry told her. "whatever it was it's not true." ginny smiled weakly, more at harry's plate than at harry himself. she couldn't force herself to smile any more heartily because the truth was that draco - inexplicably - was right. ginny couldn't get harry's attention, no matter what she did. admittedly, she didn't do much beyond gaze wistfully at him in the common room or run timidly out of sight when he came near, but shouldn't that be enough of a hint? maybe harry was just too preoccupied with all the saving the world stuff that he didn't have time to take notice of girls. or maybe ginny just wasn't the kind of girl harry wanted to take notice of. after all,

he could have his pick of any girl in school - barring the slytherins, of course. why would he want her? sinking even deeper into her self-created depression, ginny almost wished she were arguing with malfoy again. *** draco sat on his bed that night, reading over the letter his father had sent him. it seemed that even if he tried, he wouldn't be able to forget the daunting task of securing hermione granger for lord voldemort. his father, certainly, felt compelled to remind him. draco, i take it you have arrived safely at school and are already hard at work on the task we spoke of. i do not need to remind you of its importance, or of the consequences you shall be subject to should you fail. you and i both stand to lose much from this, but we also stand to gain more than you can imagine. the rewards for success will not be modest. at this stage i am leaving you to your own devices, in the hope that you will use your common sense to make me, and the malfoy name, proud. i will, however, be in further contact with you in the near future, by which time i hope you will be ready and able to deliver on your promise. (what promise? thought draco). until then, you are to treat this matter as your top priority. do not fail me. lucius thanatos malfoy. the letter was predictably vague, though it was more of an added precaution than a necessary security measure. all mail sent from the manor to a malfoy was imbued with an advanced encryption charm that would invalidate itself upon contact of the parchment with the skin of a malfoy. only then, after draco had touched the letter, would the ink coil itself back into coherent words. finished with the missive his father had sent, draco released the parchment, watching it burst into flames before it hit the floor. the small pile of dust was scattered by the cold breeze that blew through the open window. "easier said than bloody done," draco said aloud, voicing his irritation. he stood up and paced about the room, turning his thoughts over in his head. hermione granger. he would have to befriend her, or at least gain her trust. though his father hadn't mentioned it - or perhaps because he hadn't mentioned it - draco knew that simply knocking her over the head with a beater's bat and dragging her off to voldemort wouldn't work. she would have some sort of protection charm on her that dumbledore had devised to ensure the safety of harry's friends; to guard against the very thing draco was planning to do. bribe her, beg her...seduce her if you must, lucius had said. it was clear that however draco convinced hermione to leave the castle, she would have to do so willingly. that could be a problem.

draco paused in front of the open window to gaze down at the forbidden forest as the cool night air played across his face. his father - and voldemort - meant business; there was no doubt about that. he had to find a way to kidnap hermione granger. if he didn't, then he would find himself the target of the dark lord's ire. *** not again, thought hermione, turning to look at the wall as draco malfoy slipped into the seat beside her. what was he playing at? he must be truly sadistic to tolerate her company - which he obviously detested - just so that he could torment her. evil, evil boy. fortunately, the prat didn't say anything this time; he simply waited in silence with the rest of the class as professor vector entered the room. "page seventeen, please," the professor told the class. "advanced cosmological equations using the seven astral numbers. complete questions one through forty-six. any you don't finish in class are homework." hermione opened her book to the set questions, delighted that this class would be a simple affair of working through the book - something that she could do easily enough. there would be no distractions, and no problems, and she wouldn't even have to talk to... "granger." "what!?" hermione snapped. "i forgot my book again." exhaling an irritable breath, hermione nudged her textbook across the table so that it was between her and malfoy. she unrolled a sheaf of parchment, inked her quill and started scribbling down equations. beside her, draco made a slow start, dipping his long exorbitant quill into a pot of jadecoloured ink. when the tip hit the paper he wrote quickly and deftly, laying out his equations as neat as hermione herself was. several questions on, she realised draco was catching up to her, and sped up. he wrote much slower and more precisely, but unlike her, he never seemed to pause to calculate something in his head. hermione wandered if the slower pace was deliberately meant to avoid the impression that he was struggling with something in his head. again, she quickened her pace. question twenty-six though, was a difficult one. the book hinted as such, with a small star printed beside it, signifying an advanced question. most of the students in the class, hermione knew, automatically skipped over these questions. she, however, would always attempt them, and refuse to move on until she had answered them. but this one was particularly difficult. she stuck the end of her quill in her mouth and thought it through. five minutes later she had used up half a sheet of parchment on this question alone and still couldn't find the answer. as she glanced sideways at draco's parchment, she saw him finish question twenty-five, and begin twenty-six. she turned back to her work, determined not to copy off malfoy, despite her curiosity to see if he could answer the question.

to her satisfaction, draco paused in thought after copying down the question. hermione's sense of smugness grew, as she realised draco couldn't get past the first line. staring down at her parchment, she saw him glance over at her work, making no effort to hide the gesture. hermione was about to round on him and tell him to keep his eyes on his own parchment when he spoke to her. "i think you need to square this," he said, pointing at one of her numbers. "what?" hermione asked, caught by surprise. "this twenty-eight here," he said, "you need to square it." hermione glanced down at her parchment. "why?" "two months means two lunar cycles. so twenty-eight squared." hermione blinked, considering his suggestion. crap, she thought. he was right. malfoy was right. she turned to him, expecting him to be looking back at her with a smug expression. his face though, was blank. "thanks," hermione said slowly, making the change on her parchment whilst she looked suspiciously at malfoy out of the corner of her eye. "no problem," said draco, turning back to his own work. it took hermione a while to overcome the shock of what had happened, before she could proceed with the question. the answer revealed itself promptly, and she was left feeling strangely indebted to the blonde boy beside her. she continued on with the questions, progressing through them easily. question thirty-four was another star-marked question. hermione glanced instinctively over at draco's work once she reached it. he was up to it too, staring curiously down at his equations. hermione spotted his problem almost immediately. feeling she owed him one, she tensed herself to speak. "um...i-i think you have to multiply this by three-quarters, not one-quarter." draco glanced up and then back down at his work. "the sun's travelled one-quarter of the ecliptic. you multiply by a quarter." "it travels one-quarter of the ecliptic at the vernal equinox, not the autumnal equinox." draco looked up with sceptical eyes. "you're wrong, granger." "i am not," hermione insisted. "look..." she held her hand high in the air until professor vector walked over to their table. "miss granger?" "professor - does the sun travel a quarter of the ecliptic at the autumnal equinox, or threequarters of it?" hermione asked.

"that would be three-quarters," professor vector said. "although if you were in the southern hemisphere it would be the other way around." hermione smiled to herself as professor vector continued patrolling around the room. "told you," she said to draco. "so you did," he replied, turning back to his work with a smile. now that's creepy, hermione thought. no vicious retort? no vehement protest? not even a lousy 'you will rue this day'? he hadn't even called her mudblood! "hey, granger," draco said. "how would you do this one?" hermione goggled at him. was he asking her for help? was that even possible? something was going on inside that twisted mind of his, she just knew it. "you want my help, malfoy?" hermione asked dubiously. draco looked back at her with lazy grey eyes. "granger," he said with slight annoyance, "i am not going to slip poison in your ear while you lean across the table. so quit worrying." "okay," hermione replied defensively, somehow feeling foolish for having brought it up. "i was just asking." she leaned over to peer at draco's work. "okay, how many signs of the zodiac has the sun passed through by this time..." hermione spent the remainder of the lesson working through problems with draco, and wondering, quite seriously, whether she had entered a parallel universe. it wasn't that he was being actively nice to her (he wasn't) or that he refrained from smiling complacently whenever he obtained the answer and she couldn't (he didn't do that either), but he was being strangely tolerable; even polite. they weren't friends but they weren't enemies either, just - classmates. hermione shuddered at the thought. she was so engrossed in the last problem with draco that she barely heard the bell ring. luckily, they managed to finish the question before it did, ensuring that they would have no homework for the night. once they had packed their books away in their bags, and stood up to leave, there was a moment of awkwardness. hermione looked at draco as he looked back at her, wondering if she ought to say something. they both seemed to move at the same time. "well, i should..." "...go. need to get to potions and i..." "...don't want to be late." hermione stopped talking, feeling even more awkward. eventually they both settled for a nod and hurried out of the room as quickly as possible. *** harry was, admittedly, rather curious to find out who the new dark arts teacher would be.

having a history with them, as he did, he'd like to know who would be trying to kill him, erase his memory or deliver him to voldemort this year. maybe if he was lucky they'd just appoint a bloodthirsty vampire and make it easier for him. he sat between ron and hermione at the front of the class, staring expectantly at the door. perhaps ron had been right; maybe they couldn't get anyone. maybe the curse had finally reached the public's ears and no one was willing to... "afternoon all," said a familiar voice. harry, ron and hermione all goggled at the man that had just walked through the door. "professor lupin," said harry, smiling broadly. lupin acknowledged him with a nod. "hello, harry." he walked to the front of the classroom and set down his briefcase. the case, like his clothes, was rather less shabby than the one he had had two years ago. he looked healthier and more robust than harry remembered. obviously he'd been living well since they'd last met, which was good to know. "nice to see so many familiar faces," lupin remarked with a warm smile, opening his briefcase and removing some books. clearly, the rest of the class were glad to see him too. the news that their former defence against the dark arts teacher had been a werewolf had reached everyone's ears by now the slytherins had made sure of that. but the gryffindors - in this class at least - looked extremely pleased to have lupin back. werewolf or no, he was easily the best defence against the dark arts teacher they'd had. "okay," said lupin, folding his arms thoughtfully. "let's see who can remember what we learnt about last time i was here." the rest of the lesson was dedicated to answering questions about grindylows, hinkypunks, boggarts and all the other dark creatures they had covered during third year. most of the class had no trouble remembering the many details of the creatures' habitats, hunting methods, anatomy and, most importantly, their weaknesses. even neville couldn't fail to remember the boggart that had transformed into a cross between professor snape and his grandmother. harry too, recalled the occasion fondly. all in all it was a pleasant class, and by the time it was over and the students were filing out the doors, harry was glad that at least this year, he wouldn't have to use the knowledge he learnt in defence against the dark arts against his own teacher. *** that night, at the same moment hermione was sitting on an armchair in the gryffindor common room, after finishing her transfiguration homework, and gazing off into space, draco was smiling at himself in the mirror in the adjoining bathroom of his prefect's room. "gryffindor's," he said to no one in particular, "they're all a bunch of naive idiots. this will

be easier than i thought." ***

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author notes: quotes: the "slip poison in your ear" reference is a hamlet nod.chapter three will be up as soon as it's beta'd.
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title: the redemption of draco malfoy (03) author name: jason author email: scarecrow_eyes@hotmail.com category: action/adventure sub category: romance keywords: harry ginny hermione voldemort rating: r spoilers: ss/ps, cos, poa, gof, fb, qtta summary: the gryffindor quidditch team hold their try-outs and draco attempts to implement his plan outside the classroom disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by jk rowling, various publishers including but not limited to bloomsbury books, scholastic books and raincoast books, and warner bros., inc. no money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. i have used quotations from various sources in some of the chapters. you can find the references at the end. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ chapter three: new recruits on the saturday morning of the second week of term, ginny found herself sitting in the relatively empty quidditch stands, watching fred, george, harry and ron flying. hermione sat beside her, and a group of younger students were sitting further down, watching and waiting for the quidditch try-outs that were set to start in half an hour. harry and the twins, however, had agreed to help ron practice in advance. other than that, the stadium was largely empty. hermione had brought a book along and was reading it studiously, but ginny was watching the scene above with rapt attention. ordinarily she wasn't a huge fan of watching quidditch, even if she enjoyed playing it. but she did love to watch harry fly. it was obvious - to ginny at least - what made harry such a good flyer. if you analysed statistics and quizzed him on the intricate plays and patterns of the sport, you would see an average player. but if you watched the way he flew through the air, with a natural grace that couldn't be taught, you'd see how exceptional he really was. harry flew like a bird; not like someone riding a particularly stiff length of wood. when he was in the air, it was almost as if the broomstick disappeared, or became a part of him. that was why none of the other seekers could ever touch him - because they calculated plays and speed and the distance to the snitch, whereas harry felt his way through the game, and relied on

something more than his knowledge of quidditch to catch the elusive golden ball. that was why ginny loved to watch him fly. ron was good too, she had to admit, if a little ostentatious. he was trying too hard, in ginny's opinion; executing complicated manoeuvres that did little more than make him dizzy. still, she liked his chances of making the team. a sudden wind caught ginny's scarf and hair. beside her, harry landed deftly in the stands. where did he come from? she had been too busy watching ron, she supposed. she quickly retreated into herself as harry walked over to stand next to her. his cheeks were bright red and there was a line of sweat on his brow. "ginny," he said, "we need a chaser this year, too. why don't you try out?" "me?" ginny squeaked. "yeah," said harry. "i've seen you flying at the burrow. you'd make the team easily." ginny felt herself redden with embarrassment. harry had actually taken the time to come and convince her to try out for the team. was he just being nice or did he really think she could make it? sure, ginny could fly, but she wasn't anything special. there would be older students trying out; there was no way she'd be able to upstage them. but then, the prospect of attending weekly training sessions with harry during the year, with only five other people, was rather tempting. she could almost imagine walking out onto the stadium at the end of the year, the din of the crowd filling her ears as harry turned and smiled at her, wishing her luck with a pat on the back. oh, that would be lovely. "ginny?" "hmm?" ginny realised she'd been staring, and lowered her gaze quickly. "oh, sorry. um...i don't know. i don't think i'd be good enough to make the team." "of course you would," harry said encouragingly. "here, take my firebolt. go and practice for a while." ginny opened her mouth, speechless. "what are you going to do?" "i'll watch," he said. watch me? thought ginny. was that supposed to comfort her? she'd almost certainly make a fool of herself if harry were watching. but then, he'd be watching her. "okay," ginny said in a tiny voice, reaching out her hand to take harry's broom. the polished ash handle felt extremely solid beneath her grip. it wasn't nearly as heavy as she thought it would be, though. ginny slid her scarf off her neck and took off her cloak, then swung her leg over the side of the firebolt. almost instantly it veered to the left. "whoa." "it's a bit more sensitive than most of the other brooms," harry said. he wasn't kidding either. ginny had never ridden an expensive broom before, and

certainly never a professional standard one. it seemed as though it responded to the mere twitch of her muscles. slowly, she lifted her feet off the ground and pulled the handle up so that the broom rose several metres above the stands. she looked down at harry, who smiled encouragingly up at her, and then flew off towards ron and the twins. "harry," george said with mock surprise, "you've changed your hair." fred laughed. "what did harry give you his broom for, gin?" "he said i should try out for chaser." both fred and george frowned. "are you sure about that?" asked fred. "i mean, quidditch is a dangerous sport and you can get hurt pretty badly." ginny appreciated the concern in her brothers' voices. she smiled at them, then looked back at the stands where harry was sitting beside hermione. he gave her the thumbs up. "i'm sure," said ginny, turning back to the pitch with new determination. she caught the quaffle that fred threw to her and sped towards the goal posts where ron was circling. "ginny," ron called out in surprise. he grinned, then hovered around the centre post, waiting for her shot. with a silent prayer that she make the goal and that harry be watching when she did, ginny flew to the left, changed direction, and sped down the right side of the pitch. just as ron flew out to meet her, she went up and over him and hurled the quaffle through the centre ring. fred and george both cheered and down below hermione and harry were clapping. ginny couldn't help the enormous grin that spread across her face. she took several more shots with fred and george, scoring about half of them. ron was a good keeper, and ginny felt for sure he'd make the team. and now that she had been flying for twenty minutes, and doing an all right job of it, she hoped desperately that she would too. *** draco realised, as he walked past the decrepit gryffindor quidditch team on their way to the great hall (they must really be scraping the bottom of the cauldron), that his thoughts had been so caught up in his father's plan lately that he'd forgotten about quidditch. he was still the slytherin seeker after all. harry, ron and hermione were at the back of the group, the two boys carrying broomsticks and all three of them congratulating the weasley girl on something. her brother looked as happy as she did. this year should be a piece of cake, draco thought. at dinner he entertained himself by throwing peas at the back of crabbe's head and telling him they were coming from the gryffindor table. it was amusing to watch the thicknecked boy smashing his fist into his palm and telling them all how he would beat every one of the gryffindors to a pulp if the teachers weren't present.

"you tell 'em, crabbe," draco muttered, after he'd grown bored with the activity. he considered upending the salt shaker into pansy's drink, but decided that her shrill cries of indignation wouldn't be worth it. instead, he found himself gazing across the hall at the bushy-haired, buck-toothed, fashion-inept mudblood that he was supposed to swindle. she was reading a book that was propped open against one of the serving dishes, turning to smile every so often when potty or weasel spoke to her. draco couldn't blame her for reading a book rather than conversing with those two eggheads. they had arithmancy again on monday, which meant draco would have to devise some way to further their association. there were other classes they had together of course, like potions and care of magical creatures; but the entire gryffindor and slytherin fifth year were also present, making it next to impossible to speak to her. draco glanced up at the staff table, to where professor lupin was sitting, deep in conversation with dumbledore. how did that freak get his job back? surely his father had attempted to intervene and prevent the shabby defence against the dark arts teacher from setting foot on hogwarts' grounds. and why was it that these animal-men tended to ally themselves with potter? was it because he just had poor choice in friends or simply because he smelled like dog food? *** "i can't believe we both made the team," said ron on the other side of the great hall. "this is so cool." ginny had to silently agree. it was cool. after getting up in the air and feeling the wind in her hair she realised how much fun it would be to play quidditch for the school. it would give her a break from her strenuous fourth year studies each week, and, of course, allow her to spend more time with harry. she was sure she was still red in the face from being congratulated so ardently by him, and complemented on her flying skills. "does this mean we get new brooms?" ron asked enthusiastically. "probably," said harry. ron could hardly eat he was so excited. he shared the story of his acceptance into the gryffindor quidditch team with seamus, dean, neville, parvati, lavender and anyone else who was willing to listen. ginny couldn't help but smile at how happy her brother was. she turned to look at hermione who had lifted her attention from her book and was gazing across the hall. ginny swivelled around in her chair to see what it was she was looking at. she frowned. "what's malfoy gawking at us for?" she whispered, careful not to spoil her brother's elated mood with the mention of draco's name. "i don't know," hermione said pensively. "but he's been doing it for the whole meal." clearly the occurrence was unsettling hermione.

"probably just annoyed that we made the team," ginny suggested, turning back to her meal. "he's got four weasley's to contend with on the pitch now. i hope i get to be the one to knock him off his broom." hermione smiled, her gaze lingering on the slytherin table for a moment longer before she turned back to her book. *** snape's dungeon was, as always, an unpleasant place to spend the afternoon. there was the gloomy decor for one; the fact that it seemed to be completely devoid of any heat whatsoever; the presence of the slytherins; and, of course, snape himself. but what made it really awful for hermione was the fact that a certain indolent slytherin would not stop looking at her when he thought she wouldn't notice. hermione's stomach had churned sickeningly the first time she realised malfoy was staring at her from his seat at the back of the room. she had no idea what he was so interested in her for, but knowing malfoy, it would be for some deeply malicious purpose. the thought occurred to her momentarily - and it was more disturbing than her previous thoughts on the matter - that the pale, hawk-faced boy had become inexplicably attached to her after their odd bout of co-operation in arithmancy several weeks ago. okay, thought hermione, so he's not so hawk-faced anymore, but still...malfoy...eww! hermione shook herself from her reverie and chanced a furtive glance at the back of the room. damn, he's at it again. malfoy slowly raised his focus to stare at the front of the room, as though his eyes had merely trailed over her on their way there. hermione's skin crawled. "navitaserum," snape announced in his silky voice, "is not a pleasant potion when brewed incorrectly. boils, pustules, swollen limbs and intense muscle spasms are just some of the unpleasant side effects. however, when brewed correctly, it can add a measure of invigorating energy to one's mind - an effect that would be of great use to some members of this class." snape let his heavy gaze fall on neville. as always, he omitted the mention of an antidote. "you will spend the next three weeks studying and brewing navitaserum, at the conclusion of which you will each sit a test that would ordinarily prove too long for the time limit. if you fail to complete the test in the designated time, after taking your potion, you will fail - and be taken to the hospital wing if necessary." snape's mouth twisted into a cruel smile. "i highly suggest that you take this unit's work seriously, and try not to mutilate yourself." again, his gaze was on neville. "take out your quills and copy this down." snape flicked his wand and lines of notes appeared on the board." "sounds nasty," ron said as he unrolled his parchment. "although i wouldn't mind having some of that stuff before o.w.l.s." "they test for things like that, ron," hermione pointed out. she took out her quill and parchment and began copying down the notes on navitaserum, doing her best not to think about whether malfoy was looking at her again. the class ended just as hermione finished, whilst several other students were hurriedly

copying down the last few notes before snape would allow them to leave, ron and harry among them. hermione collected her books and made for the door, somehow managing to reach it at the same time malfoy did. he stopped to let her through. what the hell is up with him? hermione thought. she would have been less surprised if he'd raised his wand and cursed her just so that he could get through the door first. she felt acutely selfconscious as she walked down the corridor, malfoy trailing behind her with crabbe, goyle, pansy and most of the other slytherins grouped around him. he didn't seem to be talking to them much, hermione noted. she reached the entrance hall and promptly decided to skip lunch in favour of the library; ron and harry would probably be a while anyway. the library was relatively empty, though filling gradually with students harbouring the intention of completing work for their afternoon classes during the break. hermione chose one of the empty tables close to the stacks and dropped her bag onto it. she spread her books out and took a seat with her arithmancy book in front of her, ready to complete some of the reading in advance. okay, she said to herself mentally, as she usually did when trying to learn a new concept. so the seven astral numbers are related to these four equations; the first two incorporate the solar cycle and the last two the lunar cycle and oh my god is that malfoy again? sure enough it was; he strode confidently into the library, his shrewd eyes darting about to take in his surroundings. hermione rarely saw the slytherin boy in the library, and when she did, he was usually accompanied by a whole throng of his fellow housemates, basking proudly in their reverent attention. now, however, he appeared to be alone. hermione lowered her head and covered her face with a casual hand, hoping he wouldn't see her. damn, she thought, as he approached her table. he took one of the chairs, spun it around and sat down on it, facing her with an amused look. "granger," he said, "fancy seeing you here." hermione lowered her hand and looked up with her muscles tensed and her face as impassive as she could make it. "what do you want, malfoy?" "ah, now that's a tricky question," draco replied, smirking. hermione sighed. "what are you doing here?" she rephrased. draco shrugged. "well, i was in the neighbourhood, and i figured i could use some help with my arithmancy work." hermione narrowed her eyes. "you want my help?" she asked sceptically. "well, it's more like i thought we could help each other." "why?" hermione demanded. again, draco shrugged. "we're already an exercise ahead of the class, so why not put our heads together and bash out those advanced problems."

hermione stared back at the pale, smiling slytherin boy with disbelief in her eyes. she leaned forward across the table and glared at him. "all right, malfoy, what's going on?" "what do you mean?" draco asked innocently. "i mean, you ask for my help with your arithmancy work, you don't push me out of the way to get through the door in the dungeon and you tell me you want to work with me to get ahead in class. on top of all that you've just gone the last five minutes without calling me mudblood, or making fun of my hair. what's going on?" she decided it was best to leave out the part about him staring at her during dinner on the weekend and in potions this morning. "hey, i come here bearing an olive branch and you throw it back in my face," draco said defensively. hermione stopped short, some part of her, for some strange reason, feeling ashamed. she narrowed her eyes further and leaned closer. "you're up to something malfoy and i don't know what it is, but it won't work." draco craned his head back to look at the ceiling and sighed in exasperation. "look, are you going to help me or not?" hermione didn't particularly want to spend any more time with draco malfoy than was absolutely, one hundred percent, unavoidably necessary; but then she had never turned down a fellow student in need of help. also, the prospect of working with malfoy intrigued her. the boy was certainly smart; one of the cleverest students in her arithmancy class for sure. and they had worked kind of well together on those harder questions. plus, hermione was curious to see just how far this phoney amiability of his would go. "okay," she said, "i'll help you. but no cursing me behind my back and no calling me mudblood and no ridiculing my clothes." "what about your hair?" draco asked with a grin. "no!" hermione snapped. "okay, okay," said draco. "although, you know, all you'd really need is a few drops of sleekeasy's hair potion and you'd..." "malfoy!" "right," said draco. "shutting up." hermione lowered her suspicious gaze back to her work. draco extracted his bag from beneath the table and emptied his books onto the table. "what are you up to?" he asked. "i was reading through chapter four," hermione replied, unable to keep the mistrustful note out of her voice. this all seemed so strange - socialising with malfoy as though they were acquaintances, or peers, or...friends. hermione shuddered.

"well," said draco, "let me know when you're finished and we can start the questions." "you've already read it?" hermione asked, her surprise eroding her suspicion. "yeah," draco replied, glancing up, as though this shouldn't be that big a deal. hermione shrugged mentally and turned back to her book, reading extra fast. *** "bloody snape," ron complained as he and harry walked out of the potions' dungeon a full ten minutes after class had ended. ron put on a mocking voice of the hook-nosed professor that wasn't quite icy enough or menacing enough to be convincing. "potter and weasley, behind as always. blah, blah, blah. one of these days..." "forget it," harry interceded. "he's just annoyed that lupin's back. i mean, not only did he miss out on the dark arts job again, but he lost it to one of his most bitter enemies." "that's true," said ron, cheering up. "ha! bet the oily git is just crawling with jealousy." harry forced a smile and jogged up the stairs with ron to the entrance hall. they crossed the wide marble stone floor and walked into the great hall where pleasant smells of lunch wafted over the tables. they found several empty seats down their usual end of the gryffindor table. hearing the word 'chaser', ron sat down beside seamus and incorporated himself into the conversation. "i think i'll go talk to ginny," harry told him, seeing the young weasley sitting by herself. "'kay," ron replied, barely glancing up. harry walked further down the table and took the seat next to ginny. "hey," he said. ginny's eyes swivelled towards him and then quickly back to her plate. "hey," she said without looking at harry. "how come you're not up there with your friends?" harry asked, looking up the table to where the other fourth year girls that ginny usually hung around with were laughing and talking amongst themselves. "them?" said ginny, following harry's eyes. "they're all a bunch of scatterbrains." harry laughed. "that's not very nice." ginny smiled. "maybe not." she turned back to her plate. "so are you excited about making the quidditch team?" harry asked, sensing the need for some un-girly conversation. ginny nodded. "not sure how good i'll be in the actual games though." "you'll be fine," said harry. "you've had six brothers to practice with. the other chasers won't be half as good as you."

a smile lit up ginny's face. harry noted his still-empty plate. "can you pass me the potatoes?" *** draco punched his hand viscously into his bedroom door. his knuckles ached like hell afterwards but he barely registered the pain. "damn, mudblood," he spat. after spending an entire, mind-numbing hour with granger and her stupid arithmancy homework, draco was sure he wouldn't be able to hold up the facade for the next few weeks. it had been hell acting politely and pretending that he, of all people, would need her help - a mudblood's help! the work wasn't difficult; he could have done it with his eyes closed. well, most of it. but sitting there and pretending to have buried the hatchet with that wiry-haired bint was more than he could handle. and so the first thing he'd done when he got back to his room was to take out his frustration on his unsuspecting door. the pain that lanced through his hand was calming and cleared his mind - for the moment at least. some of his ire was directed towards his father. either lucius was completely oblivious to the relationship draco had with hermione, or he was blindly obeying voldemort's orders, who was almost certainly completely oblivious to their relationship. when would this ridiculous farce end? and when would his father owl him with further instructions? all draco knew was that it had better be soon because he couldn't pretend to enjoy hermione granger's company for much longer. *** on thursday evening, ginny left the gryffindor common room with ron and harry to make their way down to the quidditch pitch for their first practice session. ginny's skin was tingling with excitement at the prospect of flying around in the sky with harry. she kept a subtle distance between herself and the two boys, as ron bombarded harry with questions about the team. "do you think we'll win this year? what kind of brooms do you think we'll get? is it really nerve-racking before the games? do i have to wear the shin-guards?" ginny herself was lost in pleasant thoughts of harry holding her up at the end of the year with the quidditch cup in her hands. fred, george, angelina and katie were already out on the pitch when they arrived - alicia having taken the year off to travel around europe with her parents. a case of balls, a bunch of shin and elbow protectors and two new broomsticks were lying on the ground beside angelina. "here," she said, picking up the broomsticks and handing them to ron and ginny. "nimbus two thousand and ones. they should be all right for this year." better than all right, judging by ron's expression. his eyes were wide with admiration, his hands running lovingly along the polished handle. ginny, too, admired the fine

craftsmanship that was second only to the firebolt's. she held it out in the air and took her hand away, smiling appreciatively as it hovered in place. "okay," said angelina, "we're just going to take it easy tonight; get a feel for our brooms again; practice with our new members. so i'll let the balls out and we'll just have some fun." her stomach filling with relief - now that she was sure they wouldn't be asked to pull off the wronski feint - ginny climbed onto her broom and rose into the air. once more she was overcome by the exhilarating feeling of weightlessness, made all the more poignant by the nimbus two thousand and one beneath her, which was a far better broom than any of the ones she had ridden in her childhood. whatever worries or doubts she'd had before were left on the ground as she rose higher and higher until she was above even the goalposts. "catch, ginny," said fred, lobbing the quaffle towards her. ginny turned her broom to the right and sped forward to intercept the throw. she caught the large crimson ball in her hand and doubled back to the centre of the pitch. she didn't miss nearly as many passes as she'd thought she would and again she scored a fair amount of goals against ron, despite him proving to be a skilled keeper. harry, too, joined in for a while, before he rose higher than the rest of the team and trained solo with the snitch, spinning in a loop to catch it before releasing it and diving like a lead weight towards the ground to seize it once more. ginny winced just before harry pulled up his broom, as she did every time he dived so recklessly at the ground. at the end of the hour, when all seven team members had hit the grass and were discussing the training session with reddened cheeks and wind-ruffled hair, ginny had to admit that she could get used to this. "we'll win the cup for sure this year," george proclaimed. and ginny couldn't help but feel that perhaps he was right. perhaps they would win. *** deep in the darkened woods that muggles said were haunted, in the tallest spire of his ominous stone fortress, the dark lord stared contemplatively out of the window at the trees below. outside he could hear the calls of birds in the night; birds that sang for entirely different reasons to their muggle counterparts. they lulled lost travellers further into the forest with their harmonious song, where they would peck out their eyes and eat them while they were still moist. there were other things down there too - things that could eat a person whole or drain the blood from their veins within seconds. none of them could gain entry to the castle of course - slytherin himself had withstood a thousand-strong siege inside its walls with only a meagre force - and even if they could, they wouldn't dare approach the dark lord. no - the beasts were his, just as his servants were his.

"have you heard from your son, lucius?" he asked the best of them. "no. not yet, my lord." voldemort's throat rumbled ruminatively. "no matter," he said. "it is early yet. but you must be ready to retrieve the girl, when he is ready to deliver her." "of course, master." voldemort gazed deeper into the woods, where the trees rustled softly from the wind and the creatures beneath. "harry potter shall be mine," he hissed. "his heart shall lure him here, and when it does...i shall cut it out." ***

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title: the redemption of draco malfoy (04) author name: jason author email: scarecrow_eyes@hotmail.com category: action/adventure sub category: romance keywords: harry ginny hermione voldemort rating: r spoilers: ss/ps, cos, poa, gof, fb, qtta summary: draco and hermione spend more time in the library; ginny is more awkward around harry than ever; harry contemplates voldemort's rise and tea with lupin. disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by jk rowling, various publishers including but not limited to bloomsbury books, scholastic books and raincoast books, and warner bros., inc. no money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. i have used quotations from various sources in some of the chapters. you can find the references at the end. if i miss any, feel free to point them out. author notes: many thanks to danijo, my beta reader, who on top of putting up with my computer failures and incessant stream of e-mails, was a real sport about the accidental omission of her name in last chapter. again, sorry about that. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ chapter four: truce hermione found herself glancing quite frequently at draco malfoy as they worked on their arithmancy homework in the library. she was still suspicious of his motives for seeking

her help, and she couldn't dismiss the voice in her head that told her that, at any moment, malfoy would leap out of his seat and set her hair on fire with his wand. he didn't, of course, but she wouldn't have been surprised if he had. it was erring on the side of surreal, sitting across from the vindictive slytherin boy, his blonde head bowed over his parchment in concentration. they said little to each other, unless they were working on a particularly difficult problem. in that case, malfoy - and it was always him, and never hermione, who initiated it - would look up and ask hermione how she was going on a certain question. hermione would either show him her work, and allow him to correct his mistake, or - if she was having the same trouble - they would spend several minutes puzzling over the answer together. but even with draco's civil, if not actively friendly, attitude, hermione couldn't shake her feelings of distrust. they must have shown on her face. "granger," draco said without looking up, "if you're going to stare at me for the rest of the afternoon, you might as well put your quill down." he looked up with a smile playing on his lips. to hermione's horror, she felt her face turn scarlet. "i wasn't staring at you," she replied. "no?" draco inquired. "then what were you doing?" "i- i was just- i was trying to see what question you were up to," hermione finished lamely. "thirty-two," said draco. "and you're up to..." he craned his neck to look at her parchment, "...twenty-four. not the most productive pixie in the pack, are you?" "i resent that comparison," said hermione. "can't imagine why," draco replied. "you've got that shrill voice and you do seem kind of fluttery today." hermione opened her mouth indignantly. "i do not have a shrill voice," she said shrilly. draco grinned broadly. "whatever you say," he replied, and turned back to his work. he was still smiling, to hermione's great irritation. *** ginny's acceptance onto the gryffindor quidditch team had isolated her even further from her friends. the girls she had once hung around with just weren't that interested in quidditch, unless, of course, they were watching the boys of the school playing it. in that regard, ginny wasn't entirely unlike them. it didn't disappoint her though. she had never had all that much in common with those girls anyway. what did disappoint her was that now that she wasn't a typical fourth year girl, and she wasn't one of harry or ron or hermione's friends, she didn't know what she was.

most of her energy and attention was focused towards quidditch. tri-weekly training sessions kept her occupied in the evenings and there were usually extra ones on the weekends. they were going well, in ginny's opinion, and the team had accepted her as one of their own, even if they didn't pay that much attention to her. the castle felt much bigger when ginny walked its halls alone; the people much louder where they were and the silence much heavier where they weren't. she spent much of her time exploring parts of hogwarts she had previously never seen. they weren't very exciting parts - certainly nothing as thrilling as the places harry, ron and hermione discovered - but it was nice to find a new hallway or a cosy cul-de-sac that ginny could call her own. she found a wall with a painting on it of a beautiful unicorn that was almost always sleeping. in one of the hallways on the third floor she came across a statue of a humpbacked witch that she had never noticed before. and in a corridor near the south tower she found a funny little knight that she liked because he called her "comely maiden" and "fair lady". people tended to frequent that corridor though, so she didn't see him much. the days dragged on and by the end of september ginny felt she knew the castle better than anyone - though perhaps not fred and george; or harry, ron and hermione. or filch. it wasn't much fun though, wandering aimlessly through the halls alone. the twins had each other, harry had ron and hermione, and even filch had mrs. norris to prowl around with. but who did ginny have? no one, she thought to herself, as she looked at the sleeping unicorn. *** with nothing better to do, draco found his feet carrying him towards the owlery. it was a dull day and he didn't particularly want to spend it in the common room. he should be in the library, studying with hermione and earning her trust; but she wasn't there. probably spending time with those two boneheads, draco guessed. when he reached the owlery, he spotted tenebrion perched on the highest rafter, being given a wide berth by the other owls. he swooped down and landed gracefully on draco's shoulder, his beak held at attention. "i don't have any letters or food," draco said, "so bugger off." the owl shrieked indignantly and returned to the rafters, where it started a short-lived scuffle with another owl. draco strode over to one of the windows and looked out across the grounds. the clouds were darkening, brimming with the promise of rain. they looked exceptionally close from the owlery, as though he could reach up and touch them. but against the grey sky there were no distant black specks that could have been an owl carrying his father's instructions. draco sighed sullenly. the door behind him opened with a creak and he turned to see who it was. just my luck, he thought to himself. ginny paused at the door, clutching a note in her hand and staring

suspiciously at draco. "what are you doing here?" she asked dubiously. "come to admire the view," said draco, smirking at her. "plus i like the dcor." he looked desultorily around at the walls that were covered in owl droppings, then turned his gaze back to ginny. "what are you doing here?" "posting a letter," she replied stiffly, crossing to one of the lower perches and picking up a small, furry ball. "is that an owl?" draco asked with surprise. "of course it's an owl," ginny replied crossly. "looks more like something mcgonagall would cough up." the tiny hairball chirped indignantly at draco. "leave him alone," said ginny. she stroked the tiny owl with a finger and it hooted softly. she attached her letter to its leg, then carried it to the window and held her hand out. the owl leapt off and plummeted out of view. a few seconds later it rose back up, beating its puny wings and flying away. ginny turned back to draco. "anything else?" said draco. "you don't own this place, malfoy!" ginny snapped. "no - i never was into property much." he smiled slyly at ginny. "if you feel like staying, that's fine with me. but the astronomy tower is much more comfortable." "you're disgusting," said ginny. she turned around and stalked out the door. draco turned back to the window and the cloudy sky. as annoying as the weasleys were, you could always count on them to provide a decent distraction. *** september ended and october began; autumn kicking into full swing. the trees around the castle dropped their leaves and made the grounds resemble a large fireplace. the days were still warm though, and the rain was holding off for the moment at least. harry chose a saturday morning to pay a visit to professor in his office. hermione was at the library and ron finishing his potions homework in the common room - so harry walked the halls by himself. they were relatively empty at this time of the morning, thankfully free of a prowling filch or an overly suspicious snape. harry knocked twice on lupin's door once he reached it. "come in," lupin's voice called through. harry opened the door and stepped inside. "ah, harry," lupin greeted him cheerfully, holding a teapot. "how are you?" "i'm good," harry replied, shutting the door behind him. "you?"

"yes, very good." he looked it too. "are you here on academic matters or just for a chat?" "just a chat," harry replied. "take a seat," lupin said, indicating a chair on the other side of his desk. harry sat down. "tea?" "thanks." lupin extracted another cup from his cupboard and set the teapot to boil. "sirius asked about you," he said conversationally. "you haven't seen him recently?" "no, not for a few months," said harry. "yes - he's been quite busy. moving around a lot." "busy with what?" harry asked with concern. "oh, just typical law evasion stuff," lupin answered. he lifted the steaming teapot and emptied it into two cups. "you're not worried about him are you?" he asked, handing harry a cup. "thanks," said harry, pulling it towards him. "no, not really. just...with voldemort out and about...well, i guess i was." "he's fine," lupin assured harry. "you needn't worry." "have you...er...heard any news?" "about voldemort? no, not a whisper." lupin's voice took on a graver edge. harry gazed down into his teacup. "isn't that strange?" "not really," said lupin. "he's only just risen and probably still in a weakened state. he needs to gather his supporters again and...bide his time, as they say." "he didn't seem very weak the last time i saw him." lupin looked down at harry with fatherly concern. "you haven't been thinking about that have you?" he asked. "sirius mentioned something last time...about you having dreams." "oh," said harry, "yeah. i don't really have them anymore." it wasn't strictly true, but they were nowhere near as frequent as they had been a few months ago "that's good," lupin replied. "you mustn't dwell on it, harry. cedric's death was a tragedy but it wasn't your fault." "i know," said harry. "it's just hard." lupin gave him an encouraging smile. "you'll pull through. you always do." harry nodded gratefully, forcing a smile.

"so how's your quidditch going?" lupin asked conversationally, sitting down at last. "i hear ron and his sister made the team." "yeah," said harry. "it's going good. i think we might win this year." "well, i'll be cheering for a gryffindor victory, as always." harry smiled and sipped his tea. *** "malfoy!" hermione snapped indignantly. "that's my charms homework!" draco looked up with a blank expression, the paper aeroplane he'd been making grounded in mid-fold. "so?" "so, i need it." hermione snatched the parchment from his hands and performed a quick uncreasing charm on it. she swiftly filed it away between two of her books, where draco couldn't reach it. she was still astounded as to how agreeable malfoy had been over the last few weeks; well, compared to the way he usually was. he had switched from firing curses and obscenities at her to hiding her quill and making origami out of her potions' notes. it was extremely vexing, to be honest, but then it was also hex-free. hermione couldn't exactly pinpoint the precise moment when draco had become more mischievous and less spiteful. at first all they would do was work at the same table, occasionally pooling their thoughts over a difficult question. then draco had swung around the table to sit beside her while they worked, talking more often than before. and then, gradually, he had begun to engage in playful, if infuriating, antics. it made hermione begin to wonder what would happen if one of the other slytherins caught him sitting at the same table as her, but the occasion never transpired. certainly no fifth year slytherins had been to the library during one of their unofficial study lessons, and those in the younger year were probably too afraid too approach draco. he had quite a presence in his house. when the occasional slytherin did walk past, draco would raise his voice and complain about having been forced to work on this arithmancy assignment with a gryffindor. the first time it happened, hermione had been almost shocked to hear the old sinister tone in his voice, but when she'd looked at him with resentment, he had jerked his head towards the passing slytherin boy and turned back to his work. now, hermione found the sporadic outbursts of feigned bitterness rather amusing. draco's gift with words would allow him to spew out elegant and lengthy curses at professor vector for pairing him with her. he would insult her gryffindor nature and bring up his noble malfoy ancestry often enough, but he never called her mudblood, which was both surprising and pleasing. hermione knew such thoughts were dangerous but she couldn't help but consider the possibility that, through the common ground of their arithmancy work, they had forged a tentative friendship. was it possible?

draco looked disappointed at the confiscation of his aeroplane. "i was going to throw it at finch-fletchley's head," he complained. hermione fixed him with a disapproving gaze. "okay, what if i threw it at potter instead?" hermione glanced up instantly, casting her eyes about the library in a panic. when she realised he wasn't there, she turned back to draco with fury in her eyes. "jumpy little thing, aren't you?" he said with a grin. "it'd be such a shame to be caught fraternising with the enemy by your puny boyfriend." "he is not my boyfriend!" hermione said irritably. "how many people do i have to tell that to? and he isn't puny either. he's the same height as you are." "i think not," draco replied resentfully. "i think so," hermione mimicked him. "just goes to show how observant you are," said draco. "just do your work, malfoy," hermione replied, turning back to her own. *** ginny had decided to take advantage of the clear weather and the early hour by taking a stroll around the lake. the grounds at hogwarts didn't stay snow-free for long, and it was always nice to enjoy them before the leaves began falling. the surface of the lake to ginny's left was placid and unbroken, the giant squid nowhere in sight. further away on her right, the forbidden forest stood silent and still, the trees bunched tightly and forebodingly together with the occasional gap beckoning unwary students into their midst. the forest at hogwarts always had a real presence for ginny, as though it was a large creature rather than a collection of trees. anything that provided shelter for so many evil beings had to be evil itself. but the lake was pleasant to look at, so ginny kept her eyes focused on that. she could see the quidditch pitch off in the distance, looking almost naked without a swarm of spectators and a gathering of floating figures above it. she would be one of those figures soon, ginny realised. whenever she wasn't flying she was aware of how nervous she was about the upcoming game. admittedly, it was against hufflepuff, who were renowned for their kindness and courtesy, so she wouldn't have to worry about being pounded with a bludger by the enormous slytherin beaters. not yet anyway. ginny's thoughts were invaded by a soft patter of footsteps behind her. she turned around to see who was following her. eep, she thought, spinning back around so fast her neck hurt. no, no, no, not here. why did he have to come here when i'm all alone! ginny slowed her pace to a near stop so that she wouldn't look rude, but in actual fact she wanted nothing more than to run away as fast as she could, even if it meant running into the forbidden forest. "hey, ginny - wait up," harry called out, jogging to catch up to her. he fell into step beside her.

"hi," ginny said as casually as she could, willing her voice not to hitch. luckily, it didn't. "what are you doing here?" "lupin saw you out here through his window. he said i should keep you company." ginny's spirits fell. so harry hadn't decided to seek her out, he'd merely obeyed the advice of a teacher. and what was lupin doing giving harry that kind of advice? didn't he see plenty of students walking alone around the lake during the day? what was the sly old dog up to? wolf, ginny corrected herself. "you don't have to," she told harry. "i'm okay on my own." "i don't mind," harry replied. "unless you do?" ginny looked over at him. "no." "okay." god, why is this so awkward? i feel like such an idiot. she continued to berate herself mentally until harry spoke again. "so how are you finding the quidditch training?" he asked. "um...okay," ginny replied. "not too strenuous?" "no." "it's better this year," said harry, "with angelina. oliver was a great captain but at least now i have time to do things like eat, sleep and go to the bathroom." ginny's laughter manifested itself as a rather inelegant snort. she clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound immediately. harry didn't seem to notice. he looked at the ground several yards away and ginny was able to chance a glimpse at him. she looked at the profile of his face; the messy hair, the round glasses, the chin and cheeks that were more defined than they had been last year. harry grew older just like the rest of the boys at hogwarts, but there was an optimistic quality to his face that kept him looking young and innocent. it was in his eyes that you could see how much he'd aged. "are you looking forward to our first game?" harry asked her, obviously attempting to strike up conversation. "i guess," ginny replied. she made an effort to steer the conversation away from herself. "ron seems pretty excited about it." "and you're not?" harry inquired, refusing to set ginny's self-conscious fears at ease. "more nervous than excited," ginny replied with a weak smile. "don't be," said harry. "you'll do fine."

"but what if i don't score any goals? what if i drop the quaffle? oh, god, what if i lose my broomstick and then i..." "ginny," harry interrupted kindly. "you won't drop the quaffle and you won't lose your broomstick and it doesn't really matter if you don't score. you're just out there to have fun." ginny nodded, catching her breath and willing her heartbeat to slow down. there was no use working herself into a panic this early before the match; she had a whole month left to do that. "you'll be fine, ginny," harry repeated, making ginny realise he'd been looking at her while she calmed herself down. she worried, as she always did, that her hair wasn't straight, that her breath was smelly, that she had forgotten to perform uncreasing charms on her clothes this morning. you're being childish, ginny, she told herself. stop it! "are you all right?" harry asked her. "fine," ginny choked out. feeling the time had come to flee, she added: "i...uh...just remembered i have some charms homework to finish. i should get to the library." "okay," said harry. "do you want me to walk you?" yes. god, yes. "no, i'll be fine. i'll see you later." lowering her head to hide her face, ginny turned around and hurried as quickly as she could back to the castle, not daring to look back in case she saw a confused harry staring back at her. *** "you're wrong, granger," draco drawled. "no, i'm not," hermione protested. "mercury will be in the sixth quadrant during the summer solstice." "you don't know what you're talking about. it'll be in the fourth quadrant, plain and simple. any half-wit fool could see that." "are you calling me a half-wit fool?" hermione demanded. "wouldn't dream of it," draco replied absently as he leaned back on his chair throwing, his new paper aeroplane up in the air and catching it again. "give me that," hermione snapped crossly, grabbing the aeroplane from his hands and screwing it up. "hey!" draco exclaimed indignantly, his front chair legs hitting the floor with a thud. "you killed my plane." "get over it," said hermione, faintly amused at his touching attachment to the object. "scrunching up a fellow student's paper aeroplane," draco drawled, "now that's a slytherin

thing to do." "ooh, that's harsh," hermione quipped. "yet eerily true." hermione smiled in spite of herself. why was it that morning study sessions with draco had become so pleasant? well, that was easy really: he was funny. funny in an entirely different way than ron was. his sharpened tongue, that so often sought out the quickest words to hurt her, could just as easily be used to make her laugh. his humour was subtle, and clever at times; he could make jokes that ron wouldn't understand, nor any of the students that sat around them in the library. it was almost like they had their own private language. of course, hermione would never - ever - admit that to draco. he would have a field day if she did and waste no time in constructing some pointed insults to throw at her as deftly as he had constructed the now-defunct aeroplane. but she did wonder whether he felt the same way, or whether he was cracking jokes to make an unbearable study session with her more tolerable. whatever - she didn't care what malfoy thought. "weasley," draco said, almost as a groan. hermione's throat closed up and her stomach twisted into knots. she snapped her head towards the other side of their table, expecting to see ron's lividly disapproving face. instead she saw ginny - not terrible, but still bad. "ginny!" hermione greeted her with a voice that was a bit too enthusiastic. "what are you doing here?" ginny's eyes, locked on draco beneath a furrowed brow, swivelled over to look at hermione. "i had some work to do," she said slowly, glancing back at draco. "what's he doing here?" "and there's that famous gryffindor civility i've heard so much about," said draco, gazing back languidly. ginny glared at him furiously, as did hermione. after a lingering you're-not-helping look, she turned back to ginny. "we're...um...working on an arithmancy assignment together. professor vector paired us with each other." "oh," said ginny in a monotone, still glaring at draco. "bummer." hermione smiled awkwardly, willing ginny to leave before one of them burst into flames beneath the other's fierce glare. finally, ginny relented, taking a step back and giving hermione a pitying look. "i'll see you later," she said, and disappeared into the stacks. hermione watched her go, then rounded on draco. "why do you have to act like such a jerk all the time?" she demanded. "all the time?" draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

"you know what i mean," said hermione. did he? did she? what did she mean? he wasn't exactly mr. courtesy around her either. "as i recall, i didn't say anything inappropriate," said draco. "no, but i'm pretty sure you were trying to hex her with your eyes." draco shrugged. "i can't help it. weasleys just have that effect on me." "that's just an excuse," said hermione. "maybe if you tried..." "to like them?" draco snapped, startling hermione. "i bloody well will not." he scooped up his books and stood up quickly. "i'm going." feeling oddly guilty, hermione called out, "malfoy..." but he was already walking away. *** after ginny had left, harry walked two full laps around the lake, turning over his thoughts about voldemort and the dark lord's complete lack of activity. how could no one have heard anything from him? surely voldemort would want to make a big statement that would strike fear into the hearts of the wizarding world. spread fear and chaos and restore dread in the hearts of his servants; wouldn't that be his goal? lupin seemed to think that voldemort was assembling his army again, plotting his moves with careful precision after being thwarted by harry on so many occasions. he had a point, of course, but he hadn't seen voldemort as harry had. the dark lord was powerful - extremely powerful. the only reason harry was standing here, thinking these thoughts, was because he had somehow managed to buy the brother of voldemort's wand. next time though, he wouldn't be so lucky. the lack of information unnerved harry more than if he'd heard of bloody killings bearing the dark mark. at least then they would know what voldemort was doing, and where he was, or where he'd been. but no, harry supposed that it was better to be in the dark than have people dead. still, he was unsettled. he wished briefly that ginny hadn't run off in such a hurry, as she probably would have provided a likely distraction from these unpleasant thoughts. but if she had homework to do then he couldn't keep her. once he'd completed two revolutions of the lake, harry started back across the lawn to the front doors of the castle. inside, peeves had worked himself inside one of the suits of armour and was clanking threateningly at a group of first years scurrying past. harry avoided him like the plague; getting mixed up with peeves was a bad idea on any day. as he started up the marble staircase towards the gryffindor common room, harry noticed draco malfoy storming down, wearing an expression of extreme distaste. "what are you looking at, potter?" he hissed. "nothing," harry snapped back.

"good. bugger off then." draco swept past harry, alighting from the staircase and stalking over to the entrance to the dungeons. bewildered, harry continued up. what's his problem? in the common room he found ron, still bent over a roll of parchment and his potions textbook, as he had been when harry had left this morning. harry took a seat beside him. "bloody hell," said ron, throwing down his quill. "how am i supposed to write another page on the effects of navitaserum?" "well, what have you got so far?" ron held up his parchment. "it gives you a boost of energy that allows you to concentrate better." "right," said harry. "maybe you should ask hermione." "yeah. where is she?" "dunno." "i'll check the library," said ron, bundling his books into his bag and heading for the portrait hole. with a heavy sigh, harry dropped sluggishly into ron's vacated seat. *** once again, draco took his frustrations out on his door. soon there would be a satisfyingly large dent in the wood. he threw his arithmancy books down on the bed and paced his room. constant motion seemed to be the only way to relieve the pent-up stress he accumulated these days by spending time with granger. bloody granger, he thought. it was bad enough that he had to put on the friendship act with her; but now she wanted him to be nice to the damn weasleys? when would this nightmare end? draco threw another punch at the door, pain slicing through his hand that was a little less comforting this time. "bugger!" he yelled, clutching his hand to his chest and grating his teeth together. he would be a walking bruise if he kept this up for much longer. but then what would he be if he didn't keep it up? a walking corpse, most likely. his anger was spread thickly over granger, his father and voldemort (and the unfortunate door). he felt trapped - boxed in by these restrictions they'd imposed on him. they weren't the ones who had to spend most of their waking days with a mudblood. at least, thought draco, struggling to find a positive in the matter, i always have my arithmancy homework done early. with halloween just around the corner, perhaps it was time he send his father an update and ask the man to hurry up with his bloody instructions. draco snatched a sheet of parchment from the pile of books on his bed and spread it on his desk. he retrieved his quill, inked it, and started to write.

*** hermione wandered aimlessly through the corridors once she'd left the library, shortly after draco had stormed out. she didn't particularly feel like working anymore, and neither did she feel like going back to the common room. her thoughts were oddly caught up on her last argument with malfoy. really, she shouldn't be surprised by the slytherin boy's outburst - it was completely in character for him. but then, she wasn't sure she knew his character that well anymore. she had never known draco malfoy, but it was easy enough to know what he was like. he didn't help people and he didn't act nicely and he never, ever, put aside his abhorrence of someone to work with them. well, at least that's what hermione would have said a few weeks ago. she also would have said that cracking casual jokes and hiding her books from her for fun was very out of character for him. but then maybe she was wrong about that too. malfoy was such a strange boy. first he hates her guts, then he asks for her help, then he snaps at her for suggesting he show a little leeway with the weasleys. they all seemed liked pretty random, unconnected events. maybe he wasn't nursing a cunning plan for world domination after all; maybe he was going mad. whatever it was, it was bothering hermione more than she would have liked. why should she feel guilty about what she'd said? she'd been playing the good guy which wasn't surprising considering who she had to work with. why should it perturb her that draco reacted so vehemently to her advice? it shouldn't. but it did. *** harry found himself staring out of the window in his dormitory, watching a large eagle owl fly off into the afternoon sky with a letter clutched firmly in its talons. he considered sending another letter to sirius, but he hadn't heard back from his godfather since the last time he'd sent one. at least now he knew from lupin that he was all right. still, it'd be nice to hear something. across the grounds the quidditch stadium waited expectantly for the first game of the year. harry was ready for the match, and quite eager to get out on the pitch again. ron, too, was confidently anticipating the game against hufflepuff. harry knew how keen ron was to prove himself to the rest of the school, and detach himself from the just-anotherweasley stigma that would probably remain tenaciously in the minds of the slytherins even if they won. ginny though, seemed awfully nervous about the upcoming game. harry didn't know why; she was an exceptional flyer, easily as good as the other chasers out there. perhaps too many years of comparing herself to her brothers had led her to think she was only an average player. well, she'd get a shock on saturday, wouldn't she. after tiring of the view from the gryffindor dormitory, harry descended the spiral staircase to the common room and found hermione stepping through the portrait hole.

"hi, harry," she said, crossing over to some of the shabbier armchairs and taking a seat. harry joined her. "where've you been all morning?" "oh, studying in the library." "ron's gone looking for you." "has he?" hermione asked, then shrugged. "well, he'll find me soon enough." harry nodded and gazed listlessly at the fireplace on the other side of the room. *** hermione contemplated telling harry about malfoy and the fleeting dtente she had established with him. she told herself it would be better if she had someone to talk to about it, and now, with ron absent, it would be the perfect time to tell harry. her other friend, she was sure, would burst a blood vessel if she told him she'd been working with malfoy for the past week. harry though - he would understand. some part of her, however, held her back from revealing the information. after things had blown up in her face, hermione wasn't sure where that left their tentative arrangement. she was curious to see if it would continue though, and that part of her wanted to keep the information to herself rather than share it with someone else. telling someone about it would have the same effect that introducing someone to that transitory world would - and did - have. it would destroy it. no - for now hermione would keep it to herself. *** it wasn't until the following week that hermione saw draco again. they had an arithmancy class scheduled for the morning, so the meeting was inevitable. hermione hadn't realised, until she was sitting in the chair waiting expectantly, how nervous and eager she was to see him again. would he ignore her? would he poke fun at her just like he used to? would he get someone to distract professor vector while he turned her into a toad? whatever he was going to do, hermione was still curious. draco entered the classroom after professor vector. hermione tensed with anticipation as he neared her desk. there were two other vacant seats, she noted, so he didn't have to sit next to her. he did though, as casually as he always did. hermione waited for him to look at her, maybe even to glare at her, but he didn't. so he's going to ignore me then. well, fine. draco sat lazily in his chair and fixed his gaze on the front of the room. "assignments," announced professor vector, waving a sheaf of parchment in the air. "there is no need to cringe at the size of them mr. boot. you will have until the end of the year to complete them." she began moving along the aisles, handing the assignments out. "i shouldn't need to tell you by now that they constitute fifteen percent of your final mark, so do not take them lightly. there will be no class time allocated to them. we still have lots

of work to get through so it's up to you to do them in your own time. now, today's work is chapter six, all questions." the sound of books opening and quills being picked up filled the room. hermione propped her own textbook open on the desk and unscrewed her inkbottle. draco had owled home long ago for his textbook, so there wouldn't be any unpleasantness in trying to share hers. "i left my book in my room," said draco, looking expectantly at hermione. or...maybe there will, she thought. she was pleased, however, that he had at least spoken to her. hermione pushed her book into the centre of the table and unrolled a sheet of parchment. she copied down the first question, watching draco do likewise with a surreptitious glance. four questions on and still he hadn't said anything to her. hermione began to wonder if he really had forgotten his book, and that was the only reason that he had spoken to her. say something! hermione thought at him. it was only when she was up to her seventh question that he did. "how do you do this?" he asked, looking across at her and pointing a finger at his book. hermione, taken aback at first, leaned over and looked at the question. "well," she said, and proceeded to explain how it was done, wondering all the while whether he really needed help with it. it was just like all the other questions in the chapter so far. "right," said draco, once she'd finished, and he nodded. he turned back to her work without so much as a thanks or a smile. hermione did the same. a minute passed before draco spoke again. "i'm sorry," he said, without looking up. he continued to write on his parchment as hermione looked over at him. "what?" she asked, needing the clarification. draco looked up. "i'm sorry," he repeated. hermione stared at him. "sorry?" "yes," said draco. "for...my outburst on saturday." hermione almost fell off her chair. she straightened up and hit malfoy in the arm, noting her own lack of hesitation at touching the evil git. "what the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded. "ow," draco exclaimed indignantly, looking scandalised. "what was that for?" "you've never apologised to anyone in your life, have you?" asked hermione. "well...no," admitted draco. "so why are you apologising to me then?"

draco eyed her apprehensively, as though she might hit him again if he answered her wrongly. "because...i felt...bad." it sounded as though he'd never had to use the sentence before in his life. "you felt bad?" hermione whispered, lowering her voice so that she wouldn't yell. "i want you to tell me what's going on right this minute." "what do you mean?" "i mean...why are you sitting next to me and working with me and why are you apologising to me?" "like i said, i felt bad." "rubbish," said hermione. "you wouldn't know how to feel bad if you tried." "look," draco said steadily, "maybe you should stop before you say something you regret." hermione goggled at him. "and now you're being diplomatic!?" draco took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm himself, as well as hermione, down. "can we just get on with the work?" he asked, and turned back to his book without waiting for a reply. hermione stared at him for several moments afterward, utterly astonished by the words that had come out of the mouth of the boy that sat next to her. he is mad! that was the only explanation. but then...why wasn't he acting this way with anyone else. he had thrown insults at ginny easily enough. why was he behaving so civilly around her? oh, god, she thought, the idea striking her for the first time. he couldn't have feelings for her; that was preposterous. but what if he had different feelings for her? what if he was she swallowed - attracted to her? please, she thought to herself, he's one of the best looking guys in the school. he could have any girl he wanted, so why would he want a bushy-haired, teacher's pet gryffindor...and did i just say he was one of the best looking guys in school? hermione stared down at her parchment in horror, suddenly acutely aware of draco's presence beside her - how close his arm was to hers, how his finger trailed slowly down the page of his book to mark his place. she glanced sideways as if expecting him to be staring back at her with a hungry look. yuck, she thought. yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck. i have to take a shower. *** later that afternoon hermione took that shower, and then walked to the library to plan out her arithmancy assignment. she had some time before dinner so it would be ideal to clear her head and focus her mind on her work. or at least she had thought so. draco was there (of course!) sitting at the table they usually sat at with his silvery-blonde head bent over his parchment. hermione couldn't help but notice (why can't i help it?)

how perfectly styled his hair was, pushed back on his head in thick locks that curled up slightly at the nape of his neck. she knew from experience that he would wear it like that until it grew too long, and then he would switch to wearing it with a part in the middle as it hang down the sides of his chiselled face. his chiselled face!? hermione took a seat on the opposite side of the table, feeling it would be too rude to sit elsewhere but that he might pick up on her discomfort if she sat too close. he raised his head, but not his body, as hermione sat down, giving him the look of a carnivorous predator with its shoulders arched high. "hey," he said, then turned back to his work. okay, hermione thought slowly, just keep your mind on your work and you won't have to talk to him much. she unfurled her arithmancy assignment and lowered her head to examine it. she found it incredibly hard to take in any of the words, owing to draco's now very disturbing presence. she watched his head move slightly to each side as he scanned the parchment. when he'd finished, he looked up, startling hermione into looking back down at her own assignment until she realised he was speaking to her, and looked up again. "looks hard," he said. "which part are you going to start on?" "um...i don't know," hermione replied. "which one are you starting on?" draco glanced down at his assignment. "probably section b. i figure it's the hardest so it's better to get it out of the way first." "good idea," said hermione, looking down to read what section b was about. "you all right?" draco asked. hermione looked up again. "yeah. fine." "you seem kind of distracted." hermione pushed out her lips and raised her eyebrows in a facial shrug. "nope. not distracted." "you aren't still upset with me are you?" asked draco. "upset? no, of course not." hermione paused. "i'm just...curious...about why you're not ready to give me boils or something." draco actually looked nervously away and then back at her. malfoy...nervous? it vanished quickly as a grin spread across his face. "would you like me to give you boils?" "of course not," hermione replied, smiling herself. draco smiled back and turned back to his parchment. "so you want to start on section b?"

"sure," hermione replied, wondering if he had purposefully dodged her comment. ***

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title: the redemption of draco malfoy (05) author name: jason author email: scarecrow_eyes@hotmail.com category: action/adventure sub category: romance keywords: harry ginny hermione voldemort rating: r spoilers: ss/ps, cos, poa, gof, fb, qtta summary: a trip to hogsmeade; a quidditch match; a heated argument and a fate sealed. disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by jk rowling, various publishers including but not limited to bloomsbury books, scholastic books and raincoast books, and warner bros., inc. no money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. i have used quotations from various sources in some of the chapters. you can find the references at the end. author notes: third time's the charm. once again, big thanks to danijo, my beta reader, who continues to put up with my mistakes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ chapter five: goals a hogsmeade trip was set for halloween and all the senior students were looking forward to spending some time outside the castle before returning to a feast in the evening. hermione joined up with ron and harry in the common room and together they made their way down to the entrance hall where a queue was already forming. they waited somewhat impatiently as filch ticked names off on his list and hermione had the distinct impression he was taking as long as he could, just to elicit his own sadistic sense of satisfaction. when he finally finished the doors were all but pushed off their hinges as the throng of students spilled outside and headed for hogsmeade. the weather was grey and windy but relatively dry. hermione walked between the two boys as they traced the path to the wizarding village, whose rooftops and streets looked oddly empty when they were devoid of snow. where to first? ron asked. well, i need a new quill, said hermione (draco had bent her old one while he was fiddling with it), and some spellotape and more daisy roots and yes, ron, we can go to honeydukes first. hermione sighed. if you insist, ron replied cheerily, starting off towards the sweets shop. harry and hermione followed. in honeydukes, ron spent close to half his money on sweets, including the new, bestselling belching beans which he felt compelled to demonstrate to harry and hermione more than once. hermione grimaced distastefully and was more than a little grateful to

leave the store. they stopped at zonkos next which was, as always, doing copious business. there were students throwing disembodied darts at each other which disappeared right before they hit your face; others sticking kick me signs to their friends backs and watching as the sign grew legs and proceeded to boot said friend in the behind; and there was a large crowd gathered around a tray bearing free samples of zonkos new terrific-tasting tonic, scratching their heads in confusion until they realised the display was previewing the new bottomless mugs rather than the drink. hermione stood by the exit as ron dragged harry over to a display of cushions that made loud and unpleasant sounds when you sat on them. they have those in muggle shops, ron, harry told him. it took hermione a while to drag the two boys out of zonkos and down the road to scrivenshafts where she purchased a new quill. she stopped at dervish and banges after that to stock up on other supplies and then suggested they stop at the three broomsticks for a round of butterbeers. here, here, said ron, starting towards the crowded tavern. as they approached the entrance, the door opened and a group of slytherins walked out, malfoy among them. hermione could see both ron and harry tense. she willed everyone to keep walking but it was not to be. draco was at the head of the group. hermione expected his eyes to glaze over with malice and a smirk to settle on his face, but he merely looked blankly at her and ignored harry and ron. pansy was the first to speak. granger, she said, smirking, dont you know that half-bloods are supposed to walk in the gutters? the other slytherins barring draco for some reason chuckled behind her. hermione composed herself and glared coldly back at pansy. ill walk in them once theyve been swept, she said. that is your fathers job isnt it? pansy bristled and turned an angry shade of red. beside her, hermione could have sworn shed seen draco stifle a laugh. youd better watch what you say, granger, pansy spat. youre days are numbered now. she stopped short, as the slytherins always did, of mentioning voldemort specifically; but hermione got the idea. yeah, mudblood, goyle chimed in with his goofy voice. a second later, he jumped. ow. he rubbed his side with a podgy hand and spun around in confusion. what was that? hermione almost lost her footing when she saw a wand disappear up dracos sleeve. he looked back at her with only the hint of a smile. goyle was still in a rage. when i find out who did that he started to grunt.

lets go, goyle, draco said and started walking away. the other slytherins fell into step behind him, shooting resentful glares over their shoulders. hermione was too stunned to speak and simply watched malfoy walking away. what a bitch, ron said. ron! hermione said reproachfully. she looked again at the retreating slytherins and then followed ron and harry into the three broomsticks. *** they found an empty table in the corner and hermione offered to get the drinks, leaving ron and harry alone. ron looked across the room and then nudged harrys arm. harry, he said, look. chos over there. harry looked up and saw the pretty ravenclaw girl waving to her friends as they exited the tavern. she remained at the table, sipping a butterbeer and smiling optimistically. harry looked back at ron whose face was lit up expectantly. well? ron said. go and talk to her. maybe later, said harry. what do you mean maybe later? shes alone. this is your chance. harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat. he could see that cho was alone, and he knew this was the perfect chance to speak to her, but he wasnt sure he wanted to. seeing cho reminded harry of cedric and that fateful night in the cemetery at the end of last year. he supposed that was why he felt so reluctant to speak to her. he still found her attractive, of course, and he had always liked her, but right now he felt as though hed be doing the wrong thing by speaking to her. she might feel the same way about him and see cedric whenever she looked at him. it just didnt feel right. harry looked past cho at another corner of the room, where rons younger sister was sitting by herself sipping a bottle of butterbeer through a straw and reading a magazine. i think ill go and talk to ginny, he told ron. *** ginny was engrossed in an article entitled how to tell when your crush is mutual when she heard a familiar voice above her. hey, the voice said. ginny looked up with the straw still in her mouth. her eyes widened in horror and she started to cough. oh, no, no, no, please not now, she thought. hello, she choked out once the coughing had subsided. mind if i sit down? harry asked. no, ginny squeaked. harry took the seat opposite her and looked at her magazine.

what are you reading? he asked. umwitch weekly, ginny replied, closing the magazine. ten ways to tell if your boyfriend is cheating on you with a banshee, harry read off the cover. sounds interesting. he looked up and smiled. yeah, ginny replied. i mean, noit isnt. itssilly. she looked away, her face burning and no doubt a very bright red colour. she felt like burying her head under her magazine and waiting until harry walked away. but that would be rude. so you, ah, ditched the scatterbrains again? he asked. ohyeah, ginny replied. the truth was she hadnt had to ditch them; she just didnt come with them in the first place. shed spent most of the afternoon in the three broomsticks, sipping on the same butterbeer and reading the copy of witch weekly shed bought at the post office. and then harry had to walk in and sit down at her table and make her feel like a complete fool. he really didnt have very good timing. are you looking forward to the feast tonight? harry asked her. i guess, ginny replied. she alternated looking at the floor, then harry, then at the wall and then the floor again. harry, however, wouldnt look away. it was annoying that he was able to make eye contact so easily when it was like trying to stare at the sun for ginny. she couldnt look at him for more than a few seconds before she started to worry about whether there was something between her teeth. she reached out for her butterbeer, so that her hands would have something to do and succeeded in knocking it onto the table, the liquid spilling out in a puddle. oh, my god! harry stood the bottle up again and lifted the magazine before it got wet. with her cheeks on fire, ginny performed a quick drought charm and began to feel more miserable than ever. sorry, she said. no problem, harry replied, still smiling. ginny wondered whether he was just naturally cheerful whenever he was with her, or he actually enjoyed watching her discomfort. i need to go back to the castle, ginny said, gathering her cloak and magazine. i promised mum id owl her before halloween. oh, harry said, okay. well, bye. bye, ginny replied hastily and hurried out of the three broomsticks. not until she was outside, with the cool wind hitting her face, did she calm down and let her shoulders hunch in defeat. im such an idiot, she thought to herself, and walked miserably back to the castle. *** when hermione arrived back at hogwarts, she dropped her purchases off in her room and told ron and harry she would be at the library for a while.

its the weekend, hermione, ron said to her. i wont be long, hermione replied and left the common room. she made her way to the library and walked inside. malfoy was sitting at their usual table, his head bent over several sheets of parchment. hermione approached him hesitantly and sat down. draco looked up and muttered, hey. hi, hermione replied, looking at him curiously. what is it? draco asked, scanning her face. you hexed goyle, hermione replied. what? goyle. you hexed him when he called me mudblood. so? draco replied. so why would you do that? draco shrugged and leaned back in his chair. never really liked him, he said simply. he always has that goofy expression on his face and that pass haircut. seems to be more than just friends with crabbe as well. so you didnt hex him because of what he called me? hermione inquired. i may have, draco replied cryptically, leaning further back on his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. whenever he sat like that, looking back at hermione with his shrewd grey eyes and his lips curled into something that wasnt quite a smirk and wasnt quite a smile, she became distinctly self-conscious, as though draco could see not only her physical flaws but her emotional and mental ones too. his gaze wasnt entirely unlike dumbledores at those times. you may have? hermione queried. is that the clearest answer im going to get? at this point yes. hermione continued to stare at him for a moment longer, a grin beginning to spread across his face. she sat down and took her things out of her bag, glancing suspiciously at draco as she did. she wasnt satisfied with the answer hed given her, but she knew better than to press the matter. draco didnt like to be analysed and he would explode faster than a pack of exploding snap cards if she pried too deep. it was better to leave him be for the time being. new quill? said draco, reaching across the table for it. hermione slammed her hand down on his wrist before he could grab it. leave it alone, she said. i dont want you bending this one too.

she quickly became aware of her hand touching dracos skin, his sleeve having ridden up his arm as he reached out for her quill, and retracted it hastily. draco slid his arm back across the table in a more graceful fashion, looking unperturbed at the fact that he had just been touched by a mudblood. he just keeps getting stranger, thought hermione. *** the following saturday meant a quidditch match and the castle was abuzz with anticipation. after missing out on the quidditch season last year, because of the triwizard tournament, many students were eager to cheer on their team again. eager, though, wasnt the word ginny would have used to describe how she was feeling. she sat, pale and dizzy, inside the gryffindor locker room, her ears barely registering angelinas pre-game pep talk. her stomach was churning sickeningly, as though shed just swallowed a whole bag of fred and georges belly-bat biscuits. the rest of the team seemed to think the stands werent even half full yet, despite the fact that ginny could already here a constant hum from outside. it was all worth it though, she thought, when harry put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled encouragingly at her. you okay? he asked. ginny was going to lie, as she always did when harry asked her if she was okay, but then she felt like confiding in someone. that and harry would probably nod and walk away if she said she was fine. fearing she might throw up if she opened her mouth, she settled for a shake of her head. you dont have to be nervous, said harry. youll do fine. its not as bad as you think out there, i promise. hearing harry promise it almost convinced ginny that it was true. but then the nagging feeling of live spiders in her stomach made it impossible. i feel sick, ginny choked out meekly, feeling ashamed. harrys smiling face turned to a look of worry. er...really sick, or figure-of-speech sick? both, said ginny, leaping up and darting outside where she threw up on the lawn. oh, god, she thought, i cant believe i just threw up. harrys going to think im a little girl. yuck. unfortunately, ginny had left her wand in her dorm, so she couldnt clean up the mess shed made. she slunk miserably back into the locker room and sat down again. threw up? harry asked. ginny nodded. his hand rubbed her shoulder reassuringly again. dont worry. happens to everyone. even you? ginny asked, looking up at him. almost, he replied, with a smile. ginny couldnt help but smile back. *** are you going to the match today? hermione asked draco in the library.

hmm? draco mumbled, his attention still focused on his assignment. he finished the line hed been writing and looked up. the game, said hermione. are you going? gryffindor versus hufflepuff? youd see more action in weasleys bedroom. hermione fought hard to stifle her laugh but it escaped past her lips. malfoy! she chided him. he looked up with a sly grin. prove me wrong. you know, hermione put in, refusing to rise to the bait, you just complimented ron...in a weird, twisted way. so hex me, draco replied. you can choose to take it any way you wish. hermione, still smiling, looked back down at her work. are you going? draco asked. yeah, said hermione, puzzling over one of the questions. its ron and ginnys first game. draco snorted. all the more reason not to go. i dont know how potter managed to get them a place on the team. he didnt get them a place on the team, hermione replied sharply. they tried out and made it fair and square. just seems kind of a coincidence, dont you think? said draco. potters best friend and his little girlfriend both make the team when there are only two empty spots. i thought i was his girlfriend? said hermione with her eyebrows raised. (she could never raise just one the way draco could.) yes, well, our potter gets around doesnt he. i guess theyre the spoils of being a hero. hermione giggled. somehow i dont think harrys the two-timing type. two-timing type, said draco. theres a good slogan. you should sew that on the back of his cloak. hermione laughed again. draco smiled back amiably, the bitter sparkle in his eye still nowhere to be found. *** okay, ginny told herself, you can do this. you just have to calm down, take a deep breath and youll be fine. harry does this every week, so why cant you? see, hes smiling at you. oops, better smile back. there we go.

ginny gulped in several mouthfuls of air until the pains in her stomach had lessened somewhat. her teammates were standing around her, all waiting for lee jordan to announce their entrance. they hadnt been wrong about the crowd; the drone outside was like a thousand locusts swarming around. ginny tried not to focus on that though, so instead she tidied up the twigs on her broom. but as it was still relatively new, the process was fairly superfluous. and now, the reigning champions, lees voice cut through the locker room door, gryffindor! the roar that issued from the crowd was nothing short of colossal. ginnys ears were deafened by the noise. she hurried out onto the pitch with the other players, swallowing hard as she looked up at the stands. there were so many of them. and they were so high. a thousand faces were staring down at her, arms waving, feet jumping, mouths booing or cheering. ginny noticed that most of the boos and hisses were limited to one side of the stadium. she looked down at the ground to calm her nerves. youll be all right, its no big deal, and theyre not watching you specifically. just take some more deep breaths and count to ten and oh look, harrys smiling at you again. youll do great, ginny, he said, making her stomach churn for an entirely different reason. ginny nodded in reply. harry was here good old solid, reliable harry. he would catch the snitch quickly and ginny wouldnt even have a chance to stuff up. no she wouldnt think about that. madam hooch was beckoning the teams forward. angelina shook hands with the hufflepuff captain and then mounted her broom. ginny held her broom out with a trembling hand and swung one leg over it. she had a sudden, terrible mental picture of the teams taking off, while she struggled to make her broom fly, a thousand mirth-filled spectators pointing and laughing at her until she ran crying from the pitch. no, she thought, not going to happen. ill be fine. good luck, ginny, harry shouted above the din and mounted his own broom. ginny felt far more respect now for what harry did each week. he made it look so easy. madam hoochs whistle blew and the crowd roared. ginny rose straight up in the air, sideby-side with harry until he accelerated and overtook her to his seekers perch at the top of the pitch. once again, ginny felt her head clear with the altitude and soon the feeling of apprehension was replaced with one of exhilaration. she glanced briefly down at the stands, towards the mass of red and gold, and spotted a large go gryffindor banner, with each of their names printed around the words. her heart swelling with pride, ginny sped off to find the quaffle. *** hermione sat beside neville in the stands, anxiously following the progress of her friends. whereas before she had nearly pulled out all her hair over worry for harry, now she was

worrying about ron and ginny also. she directed most of her concentration on the lower game, watching ginny when she had the quaffle and ron when it was time to defend the goalposts. she kept a shrewd eye on harry though, in case he broke into a dive. ginnys pretty good, said neville. yeah, she is, replied hermione. i had no idea. it was the truth, too. ginny was like fiery-headed dragon up there, darting every which way to intercept the quaffle, then speeding down the pitch with the other chasers struggling to catch up. ten minutes into the game and it was already gryffindor forty, hufflepuff ten; three of the goals having been scored by ginny. as hermione watched on, the young weasley flew backwards, swerving left and right to defend against an attacking chaser. hermione hadnt seen many chasers defend that close; they usually got ploughed into once the attacking chaser had had enough. but ginny didnt even bat an eyelash not that hermione could see her eyelashes from down here. ron was also playing well; hed stopped one hufflepuff goal by now. at the moment he was circling the goalposts, awaiting the oncoming assault that ginny was attempting to prevent. hermione turned back to the action, where the hufflepuff chaser had dived beneath ginny. ginny, not missing a beat, swerved around and dove down until she was in the same position again, deterring the oncoming chaser. clearly frustrated, the hufflepuff player veered left, then right, then tried to go over ginnys head, but ginny cut off every approach. shes amazing, said hermione. she is, neville agreed. hermione drew in a sharp breath, along with rest of the crowd, as the hufflepuff chaser, frustrated by ginnys defence, launched the quaffle at the right goalpost from further out than he would have liked. ron stopped it effortlessly and passed it off to ginny, who tucked it under her arm and raced across the pitch. she passed it to angelina, who dropped it to katie, who waited until ginny had circled back around and then threw it up to her and... gryffindor scores! lee bellowed. hermione clapped vigorously. go ginny, she yelled, her voice drowned out in the gryffindor cheering. *** as the quidditch match outside was in progress, draco was working through his arithmancy assignment in the library. he did so slowly, so that hermione wouldnt have to catch up. he wished she hadnt left to watch the stupid match; how was he supposed to gain her trust if she was off gawking at her loony boyfriend? stupid potter always ruined other peoples plans. draco blew air through his teeth and put his head down on the table. how long would he

have to wait until the silly mudblood came back? he bit his tongue involuntarily. he had disciplined himself well too well not to call her derogatory names. hed even lost his severe aversion to her bushy hair. what hed said was true: all she needed was a few drops of sleekeasys and she wouldnt look half bad. for a mudblood at least. again, draco bit his tongue. *** there! thought ginny, spying the quaffle and lunging for it. she snatched it out of the air before hannah abbott could grab it and zipped down the pitch towards the goals. hes going left, she thought, no...right. she feinted to her right then spun around and shot towards the right goalpost. hes got no hope, ginny thought and deftly put the quaffle through for her seventh goal. gryffindor furthers their lead to sixty points, lee announced. hufflepuff is trailing on fifty. ginny circled back to the centre of the pitch to take up a defensive position. thats when she saw a figure above her shoot towards the ground. it was the hufflepuff seeker. but where was... a moment later a blur nothing more flew past ginny, falling fast. harry, she thought. she stopped to watch the two seekers racing towards the snitch, harry trailing but closing fast. yes, go harry! ginny thought. come on, you can do it! her heart was thumping. go, harry! the firebolts superior speed narrowed the gap rapidly until harry drew even with the hufflepuff seeker. he was a blur of crimson and gold; diving towards the ground with so much speed it made ginny feel queasy just watching it. come on, harry. she bit her lip and dug her nails into her palm as harry approached the ground at breakneck speed. hes not going to make it, ginny thought, biting her nails. hes going to miss and hit the ground and hell be paralysed and... the stadium around her roared as harry yanked the front of his firebolt upward and came to a stop only a metre off the ground, his feet grazing the grass. he held his hand up triumphantly and then dropped to his feet. the other players glided down around ginny like snowflakes and she followed suit. she landed behind the rest of the team as they ran towards harry with fierce congratulations. fred and george and ron thumped him on the back and angelina and katie gave him hugs. hmph, thought ginny. she sprinted over to the group and frantically considered whether she dared hug harry or not. she waited until katie took her arms away from him and then approached him nervously. he beamed down at her. nice catch, harry, ginny said, her feet failing her at the last moment. thanks, ginny, harry replied. you didnt do too badly yourself, he added as though it was an understatement, glancing up at the scoreboard. seven goals in your first game.

thats gotta be some kind of record. ginny felt herself blush furiously and averted her eyes before harry would notice. luckily, the rest of the team spread themselves around her to congratulate her own the game. seventy points, said fred. seventy! youre a machine, ginny. well done, ginny, katie added, patting her on the back. george treated her to a high-pitched you go girl! and ron mussed up her hair in a brotherly fashion. ron! ginny complained. did he have to mess up her hair in front of harry? she had spent an hour on it. angelina hoisted her broom beneath her arm and led the way back to the gryffindor locker room, the crowd cheering their departure. ginny waited so that she could fall in step beside harry, but ron got there first and she was forced to trail behind the team at a distance. *** draco glared furiously at the door to the library as he heard a whole throng of students walking through the corridor outside, all chanting that weasley girls name. a few eager students filtered through the door to get back to their work or their reading. draco kept a watchful eye on the door. two younger female students settled down on the table beside him and broke into excited chatter about the match. they giggled and squealed and did all the things that draco couldnt stand girls doing. would you put some bloody socks in it! draco snapped at them when hed had enough. the two girls looked at him scandalously and hurried out of the library. draco rubbed his temple to calm himself down and turned back to his assignment. where the bloody hell was she? celebrating, he reasoned, with potty and the four weasels. draco felt a surge of anger. those stupid do-gooders were preventing him from completing his task. and if he couldnt deliver granger to voldemort then it would be his head on the line. draco vaguely wondered what it was that voldemort planned to do to her. would he use her as bait for potter and then release her? would he torture her for information? would he kill her? but then why should he kill her just to get to potter? it wasnt her fault he had put a crimp in voldemorts plans for world domination. she was just...a mudblood. ow! draco exclaimed, after hermione had brushed past him to her side of the table. whats wrong? she asked. nothing, he replied. bit my tongue.

karma, hermione said with a smile. very funny, said draco. hermione took her seat and spread her books out on the table. draco gazed at her expectantly. so how was the match? he asked offhandedly. oh, it was great. i mean, i never watch them all that much, but this one was really good. youre just saying that. no im not. you should have seen ginny. shes brilliant. she scored seventy points. not hard to manage against hufflepuff, draco quipped. well, considering it was her first match and she scored fifty more points than any of the other chasers, i think she did quite well. shows how much you know about quidditch, said draco. youll see, hermione assured him. when we play you, ginnys going to kick your arse. kick my arse? draco asked with confusion, wondering how that was possible during a game where the players were seated on broomsticks. muggle expression, hermione replied simply. right, said draco, turning back to his work. so how far did you get? hermione asked him. not very. im stuck on the binary charts. well, said hermione, reaching over the table to pull dracos assignment towards her, lets take a look. hermiones eyes briefly scanned the parchment before she let out an indignant howl. malfoy! what? hermione spun the parchment around and pointed at a doodle hed made in the margin. what? you are so immature. she was smiling despite her anger. she spun the parchment back around. who is this meant to be anyway? not sure, draco replied. maybe that seventh year girl in ravenclaw. even hers arent that big, said hermione. she looked up with an amused smile as draco shrugged. youre impossible, draco. draco raised an eyebrow and stared back at hermione in shock. draco? he said. what? hermione asked absently, looking up from the parchment again.

you said draco. no, i didnt, hermione replied dismissively. malfoy. i said malfoy. draco shook his head. draco. hermione looked thoughtfully at him. are you sure? he nodded. hermione looked back guiltily. sorry. you dont have to be sorry, draco replied, quickly noting her look of surprise. i mean...i dont mind, he added. you dont? well...not really, no. so i can call you draco if i like? if you like. and youll call me hermione? if you like. it would be easier. it would. okay, then. okay. they both turned back to their work. draco stared down at the incoherent lines of numbers for a moment, then chanced a glance back up. hermione was looking back at him. quickly, they both dropped their eyes again. *** ginny was buzzing with excitement. the day had been one of the best she could ever remember having. not only had she participated in her first quidditch match and won and scored seventy points, but now she was being touted a hero in the gryffindor common room. and though the repeated congratulatory claps on the back soon became overwhelming, she appreciated them nonetheless. it was a while before she was able to free herself from the jolly crowd and find a few moments to herself. she sat down on the bottom step of the staircase that led to the girls dormitories and sighed with exhaustion. tiring you out are they? someone asked her as they sat down beside her. ginny glanced sideways, ready to tell the person she didnt have the energy to talk right now. but the words caught in her throat. yeah, she told harry with a bashful smile.

youd better get used to it, said harry. somehow i think theyll be throwing you a party like this every week. he smiled down at her. his smile was so warm, so reassuring. ginny always felt safe when harry smiled at her, as though things would be all right in the end, no matter how bad they seemed at the time. its not just for me, said ginny. no, but i think a big part of it is. ginny smiled tiredly at the floor. you do look tired, harry observed. i am, ginny replied, stifling a yawn. harry stood up. well, get some rest if you want. you deserve it. thanks, said ginny, and watched him leave. she waited a moment then stood and climbed the stairs to her dormitory. inside she fell instantly down on her bed and curled up with a yawn. today had been a good day, she thought. her stomach hadnt exploded on the pitch, she hadnt made a fool of herself and her team had won their first match of the year, putting them in first place. if only she could talk to harry without blushing like a...well, like a schoolgirl. *** hermione stuck her arms up in the air and stretched them tightly. its getting late, she said. i guess it is, draco replied, checking his watch. you want to finish? yeah, said hermione, lowering her arms and gathering her books. can you believe we completed a whole section in less than a week? we still have three more to go. hermione stared dully at draco. try to think about the positive for once, draco. yes, hermione, draco replied in a mock tone that made hermione smile. she put her bugs into her bag and slung it over her shoulder. are you coming? draco looked up with a questioning gaze. do you really want people to see us walking through the halls together? oh, right. i guess not. ill wait a few minutes, draco said. okay, then. bye. hermione strolled through the library and out into the hallway. she turned left and headed for the gryffindor common room. she couldnt believe how well she was getting along with malfoy now. draco, she corrected herself. it still bugged her that he was only being nice to her and no one else that she could see. but then would she really want him to act like this with anyone else? it

was nice, she had to admit having someone to work with in the library that actually took an interest in the work, rather than asking her to copy what shed written. shed never have thought it, but dracos cruel disposition and sarcastic smirk belied his intelligence, academic and otherwise. a small voice inside hermiones head told her not to trust him, not to succumb to his charms and let down her defences. it told her this mainly because she couldnt comprehend the reasons why draco malfoy would be interested, for any reason, in her. could it really be that he enjoyed her company? the idea of it made her head spin and it wasnt entirely unpleasant. *** that night, as the rest of the castle slept, draco malfoy was plagued by restless dreams. he tossed and turned beneath his sheets until sleep abandoned him and he could stand it no longer. he threw the bedclothes off and padded into the bathroom. he didnt bother to light the lamps on the wall, merely approached the mirror and gazed back at his own reflection in silence. what was it that was bothering him? he was so agitated and irritable. he splashed water on his face and ran a hand through his hair. it was his father, of course he knew that. his father who still hadnt replied to dracos last missive. what was he waiting for? draco wanted desperately to know where this farce was going to end so that he could forget all about hermione granger and things would go back to normal. hermione. he laughed hollowly. they were on a first name basis now. wasnt that strange? draco sighed and returned to his bed. he gazed briefly at the window in the hopes that hed see his eagle owl pecking at the glass with a note clutched in its claws. but no owl, and no note from his father, and no end in sight to this detestable charade. he rolled over and went back to sleep. *** draco, hermione whispered, nudging the boy beside her. wake up. hmm? draco opened his bleary eyes and looked at hermione. what? youre sleeping, hermione whispered back. draco looked up and around him, taking in the details of the arithmancy classroom. oh, right, he said, straightening up and stretching his face muscles. why are you so tired? didnt get much sleep last night, he replied. oh. hermione turned back to her work. she didnt much want to picture draco sleeping, in bed, without a shirt maybe? would he sleep with a shirt? ack. what question are you up to? draco asked.

twelve. you waited? yeah. draco looked at her with mild surprise on his face, then turned back to his work. hermione decided not to bother puzzling over his expression and continued with the questions. *** harry was in a good mood on tuesday morning. winning the first quidditch match of the year had done wonders for his troubled mind. thoughts of voldemort were almost lost beneath thoughts of catching the snitch and being congratulated by the team. almost, but not quite. whenever he saw dumbledore or spoke to lupin or looked at his scar in the mirror, he would be reminded of the peril that was lurking out there, waiting to destroy him and all those he cared about. now, it was only a matter of when and where. as the morning charms class finished, harry, ron and hermione made their way down two floors and into the great hall for lunch. im starved, ron announced. he walked across the entrance hall with a purpose, rubbing his stomach as he went. youre not coming, hermione? harry asked as hermione turned to her left towards the marble staircase. no, i...er...have to work on my arithmancy assignment in the library. with malfoy? ron asked, the other boys name like venom in his mouth. h-how did you know about that? ginny told me, said ron. i cant believe professor vector made you work with him. well, its not that bad, hermione replied, and harry had the faint impression that she was anxious to leave them. i mean, he gets the work done at least. ron snorted. yeah, doesnt have much else to do, does he? what with having no friends and all. he does have friends, hermione replied weakly. no, he has cronies, said ron. i dont think crabbe and goyle provide much in the way of intelligent conversation. hermione smiled faintly. well, i should go. ill see you later. with that she turned and hurried up the stairs and out of sight. loves her arithmancy, our hermione does, ron commented, hurrying himself into the

great hall. ron walked down the length of the gryffindor table to their usual area, where two vacant seats were waiting between dean thomas and ginny weasley. ginny looked up at their arrival. hey, gin, said ron, taking the seat beside her. ginny looked irritably down at her plate. harry slid in beside ron, who was already attacking every dish in sight. are you feeling better today? ron asked through a mouthful of turkey. ginny grimaced distastefully. feeling better? she inquired. harry said you were tired, ron mumbled around his food. ginny looked over at harry with a small smile. oh, yeah. just a bit. she looked back down at her empty plate, staring at it with listless eyes. harry helped himself to a serving of vegetables and a slice of pumpkin pie. two seats down, ginny folded her napkin on the table and stood to leave. ill see you guys later, she said and scurried out of the hall. harry watched her leave, ron chewing noisily beside him. *** you look like somethings bothering you. hmm? hermione looked up. bothering me? nothings bothering me. are you sure? draco asked with amused scepticism. positive, said hermione. so what did you get for the first question? draco looked down at his assignment. first question? i thought we were up to the third question? hermione gazed down at her own. oh, are we? draco put his quill down. okay, granger, whats wrong? the use of her last name had now become a light-hearted quirk of dracos rather than a scathing label of her unimportance. hermione looked up at him, gauging the authenticity of his concern. would he really care? she decided that perhaps it was time to find out. leaning forward across the table, hermione asked him, does it...bother you...that we have to hide out in the library all the time? not really, draco replied with a shrug. oh, said hermione, sitting back on her chair.

but it bothers you, said draco. well, no, not really. draco raised an eyebrow. maybe. i just...i hate lying to my friends. as always, the mention of harry and ron had a distancing effect on draco, causing him to visibly retreat inside himself. his eyes were once more impassive and unreadable. guess thats the price to pay for socialising with your mortal enemy. youre not my mortal enemy, said hermione, earning dracos gaze again. at least, not anymore, youre not. i thought we were just here for arithmancy work, said draco. hermiones head quickly cleared of delusions of any sort of friendship with draco malfoy. youre right, she said, turning to her work, we are. across the table, draco sighed heavily. look, hermione... no, its fine, she quickly interrupted. lets just get on with our work. *** draco experienced a strange feeling on tuesday afternoon; one that he had never experienced before. every time he thought of her and how hed so obviously upset her, his stomach ached with the prospect of failure and punishment at the hands of the dark lord. surely if he didnt patch things up with her soon, his task would fall apart and hed be nothing more than fertiliser for voldemorts rose garden. if he kept a rose garden, that is. so draco walked into the great hall that evening with a mission in his mind. he took his usual centre-stage seat at the slytherin table and assumed an air of irritability that would deter any of his peers from speaking to him. they knew better than that. he tried, the entire meal, to lock eyes with hermione, but she wouldnt look up. he was pleased to see that she wasnt socialising jovially with her gryffindor compatriots though. she was merely staring dejectedly at her plate, swirling something around on it with her fork. ordinarily hed be delighted to see her looking so miserable, knowing himself to be the cause of it. but again, there was voldemort to worry about. the meal finished without hermione so much as glancing in his direction. dracos air of irritability began to wax genuine. he had to get her attention and fix things before her emotional wound had time to fester. draco timed his exit from the hall so that he would reach the door around the same time hermione would, and, inevitably, potter and weasley too. he thought quickly, devising a reason why he could possibly want to speak to her alone. granger, he drawled when he was in earshot. both she and her two shining knights turned around to look at him, she with polite curiosity and they with menacing hatred.

what do you want, malfoy? ron demanded. draco slipped easily into his erstwhile role of sarcasm and spite. i wasnt speaking to you, weasley, he snapped, baring his teeth at the redheaded moron. he turned his cold gaze back on hermione. professor vector wants to see us, he said slowly. hermione stared at him blankly for a few seconds, and then reacted. okay, she said. well come too, said ron, never taking his eyes off draco. its okay, ron, hermione placated him, putting a hand on his arm. draco swelled with rage at the contact. this isnt helping things. ill be fine. hermione turned and, without waiting for draco, started off towards the marble stairs. even with dracos longer strides he found it difficult to catch up to her and did so only once shed alighted from the stairs on the second floor and turned left. granger, he hissed, still irritated. she ignored him and kept walking. granger! draco replied more vehemently and grabbed her wrist. she spun around. what!? will you just wait a minute? i need to talk to you. hermiones eyes raked his face, sending strange jolts of insecurity through his body, something else hed never felt before. her eyes eventually narrowed. professor vector doesnt want to see us, does she? sometimes, draco thought, her intelligence really bugs me. he pushed her into a shadowed alcove, out of sight from the hallway and any prying eyes. i wanted to talk to you, he said. so why didnt you talk to me downstairs? she looked enquiringly up at him. why the bloody hell do you think? oh, so youre still ashamed to be seen with me are you? you didnt exactly declare your affection for me when weasley walked into the library. declare my affection for you! hermione hit him in the chest. youve got some nerve. would you keep your voice down! draco hissed in a whisper. no, i will not keep my voice down, hermione snapped back. you lie to me downstairs, you drag me into a dark corner, and then you go on about, she threw her hands up, my bloody affection for you. youre insane. insane!? if you want my help with your arithmancy work fine! but dont start dragging me

away from my friends and expect me to feel affection for you. it was a figure of speech! draco bellowed. oh, of course it was, hermione replied sharply. i guess the mere thought of anyone feeling affection for you is ridiculous draco gaped at her with his brow furrowed. youre twisting my words, he exclaimed. i dont even know what youre saying anymore. im saying, said hermione, that youre a tactless, ill-mannered, insensitive jerk. and ill tell you where you can put your affection. draco gawked at her. youre insane, he replied firmly. you seriously are. bugger off, malfoy, hermione spat, pushing past him. draco grabbed at her wrist again and held her in place. let me go, hermione demanded. not until you let me talk, draco replied. there was too much at stake here. he couldnt just let her walk away like this. voldemort would have his head. hermione finally gave up her wriggling and stood with her back against the wall, glaring up at him. ill scream, she said. draco slid his wand from his pocket and pointed it at her throat. ill use a silencing spell if you do. hermione poured fresh scorn into her glare. youre a bastard, she said. i hope you know that. better than anyone, draco replied. now shut up and listen. hermione fell silent and glowered petulantly up at draco, his hand still enclosed around her wrist. he took several deep breaths before he felt himself ready to speak. im sorry, he said. hermione glared back, furiously. then it faded somewhat, and was replaced by a stubborn, childish look. for what? she demanded. for...making you angry, draco ventured. i wasnt angry, said hermione. draco snorted derisively. i wasnt angry, hermione clarified vehemently. i was disappointed. in me? yes, in you, she replied as though it should be obvious. because i didnt want to be seen with you outside the library. hermiones gaze wavered. well...yes. i dont know.

if you dont know, granger, then how am i supposed to fix it? hermione looked back up with a critical eye. why would you want to fix it? she asked suspiciously. because i feel bad, said draco. because you feel bad? hermione laughed hollowly and looked at the side wall. youre impossible. why am i impossible? draco asked, bewildered. hermione fixed her gaze on him once more. you spend four years terrorising my life, threatening my friends...and now you feel bad for hurting my feelings. what the hell is wrong with you? nothings wrong with me. i find that hard to believe. draco looked into her rapidly moving eyes, a dark earthy brown gaze that looked confused and apprehensive. was she afraid of him? should she be? look, draco said, pinching the bridge of his nose, working together on an arithmancy project is one thing, but walking around school together is something else entirely. and its not like id mind that dont get me wrong its just that other people might would take it the wrong way. and there are some dangerous people in this school. are you one of them? hermione asked, her big brown eyes looking up into his. god, i hate that look. dangerous? said draco and he smiled. only if you want me to be. hermione slapped him in the chest. pillock. her furious gaze settled somewhat. are you saying youd want to spend time with me outside the library? if there wasnt the risk of a gruesome death? im saying it wouldnt be awful. a reluctant smile took hold of hermiones lips. draco malfoy, you continue to amaze me. draco smiled back at her. its my devastating charm, really. no woman can resist it. again, hermione hit him in the chest. you know, that is really starting to hurt. *** later that evening, after parting with hermione in the entrance hall, draco returned to his room and fished around for a scrap of parchment and a quill. he found them quickly and began writing.

father, i have done as you asked. send the rest of your instructions. draco. he hesitated unsure of why as he tied the rolled up note to tenebrions wings and carried him to the window. he was sealing hermiones fate with this letter; dooming her to whatever malignant intentions the dark lord had for her. better her than him, though, draco reasoned, as he thrust the great owl from his arm and watched it soar away into the night. ***

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title: the redemption of draco malfoy (06) author name: jason author email: scarecrow_eyes@hotmail.com category: action/adventure

sub category: romance keywords: harry hermione ginny voldemort ron rating: r spoilers: ss/ps, cos, poa, gof, fb, qtta summary: quidditch practice, an argument, a walk around the lake, an awkward confrontation, a slytherin quidditch match, a nighttime encounter and a letter from lucius. disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by jk rowling, various publishers including but not limited to bloomsbury books, scholastic books and raincoast books, and warner bros., inc. no money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. i have used quotations from various sources in some of the chapters. you can find the references at the end. author notes: acknowledgements: my beat-reader danijo, for all her hard work ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ chapter six: lucius' instructions the euphoria that ginny had experienced after winning her first quidditch match faded quickly in the week that followed. she recalled with fond remembrance what it had been like to be praised and applauded by everyone and even patted on the shoulder by harry. it seemed though, that no matter what she did, she couldn't machinate another meeting or accidental rendezvous with him. she would save a seat during meals and someone else would sit in it; she would walk alone through the halls and fred and george would see fit to accompany her; she would even go to the quidditch pitch early for practice, but harry and ron would show up together. it seemed that someone else invariably accompanied him wherever he went. i guess that's the problem with having a crush on a famous wizard, ginny thought. there was just nothing she could do to secure any time alone with harry. of course, that was always something of a double-edged sword. finding time alone with him was all well and good, but spending that time alone with him, without blushing or stammering or scurrying away with her tail between her legs, was far more difficult. god, i'm such a baby. so it was with a shock that ginny, high in the air on her broomstick on the quidditch pitch, saw harry walking unaccompanied across the grounds with his firebolt clutched under his arm. training wasn't set to start for another twenty minutes; ginny had come out here to practice on her own for a while, as she had been for the last few weeks. and each time she'd spent the half-hour alone until ron and harry, usually the first of the team to arrive, exited the castle and started towards the pitch. but now...now harry was alone. he waved up at ginny, who felt the familiar surge of terror wash over her at being alone with harry, and aimed her nimbus at the ground. she landed just as harry was coming towards her. "hey, gin," he said. "hi, harry."

"you're out early again." "yeah. i wanted to practice a bit before we started." "i think you're more dedicated than oliver used to be." ginny smiled. "is ron coming?" she asked. "he and hermione are fighting in the common room. i left them to it." ginny giggled. "what about?" "you don't want to know." not really, ginny thought. i just hope they take their time. *** earlier, when hermione had descended the stairs into the common room, she had found harry and ron completing their potions homework at one of the tables. she walked towards them for a quick hello. "potions?" she asked. "yeah," ron replied irritably. "i copied out the ingredients for veritaserum before i realised it was the wrong potion," he complained. "you believe that?" "well, the recipes are similar," hermione offered helpfully. "where are you going?" harry asked. "oh, i'm going to meet draco in the library. we're still working on our arithmancy homework." ron looked as though he'd just been force fed a defective vial of navitaserum. "draco?" he demanded. "oh," hermione blushed furiously. "yeah." "since when are you and malfoy on a first name basis?" "since we've been working together," hermione defended, averting her gaze. "it's just easier." "easier?" ron bellowed. "what have you been doing with that slimeball all this time?" hermione glared at ron. "we've been working, ron," she said. "working? then why do you have to go around calling him draco?" "i told you," hermione explained, "it's easier." "you're not actually having fun with him are you?" ron demanded.

hermione bristled. why was ron behaving like such an idiot? he had no right to question what she did with draco. "what would it matter if i was?" hermione retorted. ron goggled at her as though she had gone quite mad. "what would it matter?" he spluttered. "what would it...? harry...do you hear this?" "er..." harry looked extremely uncomfortable. "i'm sure she's not having fun with him, ron." hermione rounded on harry. "are you going to lecture me too?" she cried. "of course not," harry replied. "but...hermione - it's malfoy." "so?" hermione demanded. "so what if it's malfoy?" "he's an evil bastard," ron put in. hermione turned her gaze back on him. "not much different to how you're behaving right now," she said. "what right do you have to tell me what i can and can't do with other people?" "um...i think i'll go down to the pitch," harry said beside ron, though hermione barely heard it. she saw him get up and head towards the stairs of the boys' dormitory with his books. "hermione," said ron, in what she supposed he thought of as a rational tone, "i'm not trying to tell you who you can socialise with but just please tell me you don't actually like spending time with malfoy?" "maybe i do," hermione snapped, renewing ron's ire. "are you kidding?" he bellowed. "are you completely bonkers?" "no, ron," said hermione. "i think you're the one that's short a few marbles right now." "hermione!" ron yelled. behind her, harry had resurfaced, holding his broomstick and walking warily past them. "just...er...leaving now," he said, though neither of them paid him any attention. "try not to kill each other, okay." he crossed the common room quickly and pushed his way through the portrait hole. "hermione," ron exclaimed, "you're acting like an idiot." "i'm acting like an idiot?" "yes. do you really think getting all chummy with malfoy is a smart thing to do? he'll slit your throat in a second and walk away smiling." "whoever said i was getting 'chummy' with him?"

"well if you're calling him draco now, then obviously there's something going on." "you're so pig-headed, ron," hermione said. "i'm leaving." "right," ron shouted after her. "go and meet your new friend in the library. don't come crawling to me when he sticks a knife in your back." *** "so what have you been doing?" harry asked ginny. "just practising with the quaffle," ginny answered. "the snitch here?" harry asked, walking over to the crate of balls. "yeah, it's over there," ginny said, pointing. "ah." harry bent down and undid the straps around the tiny golden ball. it was already fluttering its paper-thin wings inside the case, struggling to escape. harry closed his hands around it and joined ginny again. he lowered his arm and threw the snitch up in the air. it hovered for a mere moment and then darted out of sight. "i don't know how you can find that thing," ginny said. "i can't see it anywhere." "you just have to know what to look for," harry explained. "you don't look for the snitch itself - you look for a glimmer of sunlight on it or a blur of movement. it gets easier once you practice it. see," he said, pointing over ginny's shoulder, "up by the middle post there." "oh, yeah," said ginny, pleased that she could see it. "gone," said harry, and indeed it had gone, vanishing into thin air. harry trailed his finger across the stadium. they waited in silence. "there!" he said quickly, pointing down near the far side of the stands. "i don't see it." "it's gone again. it only sticks around for a second." "are you going to catch it?" ginny asked. "nah, i'll let it get a head start for a while. let's throw the quaffle." smiling, ginny climbed back on her broom and guided it up into the air. she took hold of the quaffle once more and tossed it to harry. he caught it neatly and threw it back to her. they kept up the rhythm for several minutes. "looking forward to our next game?" harry called out, throwing the quaffle to ginny. "yeah," ginny replied as she caught it. "except we're playing slytherin." "don't worry about it," shouted harry. "their chasers won't even be able to touch you. and

fred and george will keep them down." ginny smiled at harry, who sat astride his broom with the sun bouncing off the lake behind him like an illustration from her history of magic textbook. a solitary figure, probably a student, was making its way around the water's edge, looking impossibly tiny from up here. harry, though, looked larger than life and ginny's heart did a funny flip-flop inside her chest as she looked back at him. somehow it wasn't the thought of playing slytherin that made her nervous about their next quidditch match. as anxious as that made her, the thought of receiving another warm smile and maybe even a hug from harry was the thing that made her spine quiver. *** hermione stormed violently past draco and dropped into the seat opposite him. he looked up with curious eyes. "something wrong?" he asked. "i don't want to talk about it," she snapped in reply, slamming open her arithmancy textbook and rummaging noisily around inside her bag for her quill. "stupid, bloody git," she muttered. "i can move if you'd like," said draco. hermione looked up in confusion, then smiled. "not you," she said. not me? thought draco. did that mean it was potter or weasley she was furious with? or both? this made things not only a whole lot easier but also a whole lot more interesting. maybe she'd finally woken up and seen the pathetic wretches for what they are. "so how are you going?" hermione asked. "very slowly," draco replied, glancing down at his work. "i don't seem to be able to concentrate." hermione let her shoulders relax and sighed. "me either. i don't really feel like working." draco narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her. "what have you done with hermione?" he asked. "ha, ha," hermione replied sarcastically. "you're in here working just as much as i am." "yes, but i'm usually mentally undressing the sixth year girls while i am." "pervert," hermione said with a grin. she looked blankly down at her book for a moment then back up at draco, putting her hands resolutely on the table in front of her and leaning forward. "let's go for a walk." "a walk?" draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

"yeah," said hermione. "around the lake. the weather's nice outside." "there'll be people out there." "so? let them gawk at us if they want to. i don't care." "you might when the slytherins come knocking at your door with pitchforks and torches. and if they saw me with you, they'd tell their parents and then their parents would tell..." "...your father," hermione finished despondently. "exactly." she slumped in her chair and stared down at her feet. she stayed like this for several moments before she looked up at draco again, her eyes sparkling. "what if they didn't know we were together?" she asked. "how, exactly, wouldn't they know we were together?" "we can use harry's invisibility cloak." draco goggled at her. "potter has an invisibility cloak!?" he exclaimed. hermione nodded. "i knew it!" said draco. "that time at the shrieking shack...with the mud. the little bastard." "so...?" hermione continued. draco turned back to look at her. "should i go and get it?" "you want to steal potter's cloak?" "no. i'd just be...borrowing it." draco raised his eyebrows. hermione granger stealing from harry potter to spend time with draco malfoy - there's a daily prophet headline. still, it would further his plans if he got to spend some time with her outside the library. "okay," he said, packing his books into his bag. "go nab the cloak." hermione's face lit up with a smile. "okay," she said, hurriedly packing away her own books. "i'll meet you outside in five minutes." she swung her bag over her shoulder and walked swiftly out of the library. *** five minutes later, with her bag stowed away in her room and the invisibility cloak bundled under her arm, hermione made her way down the marble staircase and through the entrance hall until she was outside the castle. she looked around for draco. "granger," a voice whispered from her left. "over here." hermione looked to the side and saw draco lurking in the shadow of the castle, leaning against the wall. she walked over to him. "going covert, draco?" she asked.

"is that the cloak?" "yeah. here, put it on." draco took a hasty step back. "no way. i'm not wearing anything potter's touched. you put it on." "don't be such a baby," said hermione. "just put it on." "no." hermione sighed. "fine," she said. "if you want to look like the one walking around the lake on your own, talking to an invisible friend, with all the slytherins saying just how much of a loner draco malfoy has become ever since he..." "give me the cloak." draco snatched it from her grip and threw it over himself. he disappeared instantly from view, his tall, solid body fading into the bricks of the castle wall. "it stinks," his muffled voice said. "it does not," hermione replied. "come on." she set off in the direction of the lake, listening carefully for the sound of footsteps beside her. "where are you?" she asked. "to your right," draco replied. "okay," said hermione, looking to her right. "i can't believe we're doing this," she said. "who would have thought a gryffindor and a..." a muffled snigger came from her left. "malfoy!" she snapped, turning to her left. "you're such a prat." "why have one invisible friend when you can have two?" he asked. "i wasn't aware i had one invisible friend." the inflection on the word 'friend' told draco what she was thinking. unsure of what to say, he kept silent. hermione also lapsed into silence for the next several minutes as they past the quidditch stadium. two lone figures were perched on their broomsticks high above the ground, throwing a ball to each other. "so," hermione said at last. "are we?" "are we what?" "friends?" draco paused. it was obvious what he should say. he should say yes, that they were friends and that she could trust him. but then she couldn't trust him could she? did that also mean they couldn't be friends? "i guess we are," he replied. beneath the safety of the cloak, he was free to glance sideways at hermione, who was smiling widely.

"you're grinning like a cornish pixie, granger." hermione looked away. "shut up," she said through her smile. they continued across the lawn until they reached the lake and turned to stroll around its western edge. at last draco was able to relax and look around. the sun was climbing high in the sky by now, obscured slightly by the occasional wisp of pearly white cloud. in the distance the forbidden forest stood as the only feature of the landscape not lit up by the sun's rays. it was as though the trees simply drank the light from the atmosphere and never allowed it to reach the floor. "you still there, malfoy?" "yes," draco replied. "why? did you think i would leave you here to look like a fool?" "i wouldn't put it past you." "i wouldn't put it past me either." hermione shook her head, muttering "moron" under her breath. to draco's left a huge, beige-coloured tentacle sporting a multitude of small circular suckers broke the surface of the water and trailed lazily along for several metres before sinking back into the depths. "so are you going to talk?" hermione asked, taking draco's attention away from the giant squid's strange water ballet. "what do i talk about?" draco asked. "i don't know. what do you think friends talk about?" "well...er...shall we go thwart some evil?" "i didn't say my friends, draco. and that's not all we do." "but it constitutes a large part of your schedule, no?" "only when it needs to. most of my schedule's been filled up by study sessions with you lately." "i'm touched you consider me so important," said draco. "it really fills me with a sense of..." "professor lupin!" hermione hollered loudly beside him. "hi!" draco looked ahead of them to where the shabby wolf-man was strolling towards them. "hello, hermione," he said, smiling warmly. "out for a walk?" "yes," hermione replied, looking nervous. "what are you doing out here?" "oh, just going for a walk, too. nice weather, isn't it?"

"oh, yes. lovely." she laughed awkwardly. "something wrong, hermione?" lupin asked, considering her with his gaze. "wrong? no. nothing. what could be wrong?" she laughed nervously again. "well, i'd best be off," said lupin. "i have a class in an hour and i need to feed the grindylows." "bye, professor lupin," said hermione, waving vigorously. "good bye." he continued past them, draco ducking quickly out of the way to avoid a collision. they both turned to watch him retreat out of sight. hermione let out a deep breath. "granger, you really suck at incognito." "shut up, malfoy," hermione snapped. she glanced back over her shoulder. "at least he's gone." "he would've gone much quicker if you'd just thrown a stick and yelled 'fetch'." hermione glared at him, or, in the general direction where she believed him to be. "you're not being very nice," she said. "that was never part of the deal, granger," draco replied *** "ron!" ginny exclaimed, rubbing her shin. "sorry," ron said unrepentantly. "you all right, gin?" asked harry, coming to hover beside her. "yeah," she said. "must've been some fight." "okay, everyone on the ground," angelina shouted. the players all pointed their brooms at the ground and landed in a circle around angelina. ginny noticed pleasantly that harry landed next to her, even though ron was on the other side of the circle. "okay, that was good," said angelina. "you're all playing well. but we can't afford to get cocky or we'll slip up and make mistakes. next practice is wednesday night, eight o'clock. i want everyone here. good job, guys." they hoisted their brooms onto their shoulders and headed back across the lawns to the castle. "how many points was that, gin?" fred asked her, putting an arm around her shoulders, and almost weighing her into the ground. she wished he wouldn't do that with harry around - it just made her look like more of a little girl. "two hundred?" he asked. "three hundred?"

"no it was four hundred," put in george. "don't think ron was on the ball today though," fred added. "almost killed me with that quaffle he threw." ginny looked forward to where ron was storming solo back to the castle. she wasn't too worried about him; harry had assured her that it was nothing serious. ron would calm down soon enough. "let's go cheer the bugger up," said george, and both twins bounded across the grass to manhandle ron. harry moved aside to stand closer to ginny and smiled. "let's hope no one gets hurt," he said. "you mean ron or the twins?" "both." ginny smiled. it was always so pleasant making small talk with harry. it was so easy - like it came naturally. of course, there was the rather hampering obstacle of her chronic shyness; though sometimes, if she kept her mind on other things, it wouldn't show its ugly face. but when harry looked at her... "you played really well today," he said. ginny looked down at the ground, her cheeks burning. "thanks." "don't worry about the slytherin match," he said. "i think ron trying to murder malfoy on the pitch will provide enough of a distraction so that you won't get hurt." ah, thought ginny, so that's what the fight was about. ron had probably found out that hermione was working on an arithmancy project with malfoy and construed it the wrong way. he had a tendency to blow up at little things like that. "i just hope i don't throw up again," ginny replied, mentally scolding herself a second later for bringing it up. "just try to get it on malfoy's shoes if you do," harry replied. "he won't be able to brag about their finely cut leather exterior then." ginny laughed despite the awful mental image harry's remark conjured. picturing malfoy's indignant shriek was enough to cheer her up. *** hermione sat across from draco in the library, glancing up at his down-turned head every so often. she had expected things to be different, somehow, now that draco had admitted they were friends. granted, she didn't expect him to start making her friendship bracelets or invite her to dinner at the manor, but she had thought that he would at least talk a bit more. as it was though, things were largely the same as they had been, aside from the fact that hermione had the distinct impression that something was bothering draco. she decided not to pursue the issue though, as it was most likely nothing.

hermione realised that if anyone was going to break the silence it would have to be her. "so you have a quidditch match tomorrow," she said. draco looked up. "yeah." "aren't you going to ask me to come?" draco looked confused. "i didn't think you liked quidditch much." "i don't," hermione replied. they stared at each other for several moments before draco smiled slowly and leaned back in his chair. "will you come and watch my game tomorrow, granger?" he asked. "i'd love to," hermione replied with a grin. "all right, then. shall we get back to work?" hermione nodded and turned back to her assignment. after a moment she glanced back up again and found draco looking at her with a thoughtful expression. she quickly dropped her eyes. *** draco had never been nervous before a non-gryffindor quidditch match before. he was always confident that he could best the hufflepuff and ravenclaw seekers; but now, for some reason, he had a slight case of fidgeting to contend with. and that was bad, because draco malfoy never fidgeted. he strapped his pads to his arms and legs, adjusted his shoes, ran a hand through his hair, and then joined the rest of the team as they walked towards the entrance to the stadium. he stood beside leroy, the slytherin captain, and waited until the team was announced and the doors were pushed open. draco often wondered why so many of the other team players complained about being booed by the slytherins when the slytherins themselves had to suffer three-quarters of the crowd booing them. he didn't care though. only the respect and admiration of a slytherin held any sway with draco. the team walked out to the centre of the pitch where they met the ravenclaw team. draco stood face-to-face with the somewhat attractive seeker that potter was always making eyes at. he raised his chin and gave her a smug look. cho looked back with a confident and equally arrogant smile. "mount your brooms," madam hooch yelled above the noise of the crowd. draco swung a lazy leg over his broomstick and planted his feet firmly on the ground. he directed his gaze skyward and waited for the whistle to sound. when it did, he, as well as the other thirteen players, kicked off the ground and soared into the air. the spectators yelled and roared and there were even a few cheers lost in the din. draco looked down and tried to spot hermione, but he couldn't make out the crowds' faces from up here. he shrugged and looked around for the snitch.

*** hermione didn't much like the way the slytherin team played. although draco had done nothing of interest so far, she found his fellow chasers and beaters to be extremely brutal. they showed complete disregard for any and all of the ravenclaw players. hermione soon decided they weren't worth watching, and she focused her attention on draco. he, like harry, was now the proud owner of a firebolt. he had explained to hermione that after his father had refused to buy him one, on account of his continual failure to beat harry, draco had used his own funds (which were apparently quite substantial themselves) and bought it himself. cho, who had upgraded her broom since third year, was still finding it hard to keep up. she shadowed draco, as draco often shadowed harry, but her manoeuvrability was limited. hermione had to admit that draco was a good flyer, certainly better than most players. he had a carefree style at the moment that hermione never saw him use against gryffindor. she supposed that if draco simply aimed to catch the snitch, rather than attempt so zealously to defeat harry and humiliate him in the process, he would actually have a chance at beating gryffindor. his approach to flying was quite similar to harry's - he flew with a natural grace and precision that couldn't be taught. and, like harry, draco looked as though he were having fun up there. harry, ron, ginny and most of the other gryffindors had expressed little interest in watching the match, preferring to hear about the results afterwards, so hermione was free to watch draco and cringe when it looked like he was going to collide with someone, without the fear of ron yelling at her again. she had been expecting a long, drawn out match that would gradually become more violent and perhaps result in draco employing cheap tactics to rob cho of the snitch. but they were no more than five minutes in, with slytherin leading by ten points, when draco made his first attempt at the snitch. he put on a burst of speed and shot towards a corner of the stadium. the crowd gasped collectively as cho tore after him. it was at the last second that hermione realised he hadn't seen the snitch at all. draco brought his broom to a halting, firebolt-exclusive stop, and let cho fly several metres past him. hermione wrote draco's display off as a feint designed to unsettle cho, but draco began to move again. he swung his broomstick around and threw it into a dive towards the other end of the stadium. cho spun around in confusion and stared in horror as draco leaned flat on the handle and extended his arm. he pulled his firebolt up several metres from the ground and swiped at something in the air. when he came to a stop, he held his hand up triumphantly and hermione could see the glitter of gold between his fingers. he won! she almost shouted. there were hundreds of disappointed groans echoing around the stadium and a scattering of wild applause and cheers from the slytherin corner. draco lowered his broom to the ground and dropped gracefully to the ground. he shouldered his broomstick and walked off in the direction of the slytherin locker room, the rest of the team following. hermione left the stands and the crowd behind and hurried back to the castle. she made her way to the library and sat down at their table (our table, hermione thought with a

flutter) to wait for draco. she waited a long time, trying and failing to occupy herself with her arithmancy assignment, until he pushed the doors open and walked inside, now dressed in a casual grey sweater and black trousers. hermione beamed at him. "you won," she said as draco slid into the chair opposite her. "were you expecting any less?" he asked with a superior smile. "a modest victory, perhaps," hermione replied. "keep dreaming." hermione laughed amiably and watched draco set his arithmancy work out on the table. it was strange that hermione was buzzing with excitement when draco looked positively indifferent to his victory. she felt as though she should say something. "well, congratulations," she settled for. "thanks," draco replied with a smile. "you can congratulate me again once we beat gryffindor." "now who's dreaming?" hermione quipped. draco smiled casually at her as he fished his quill out of his bag. hermione sighed and turned back to her work. *** draco stared at the letter for several minutes before he decided to open it. in his hands he held the instructions that would eventually deliver hermione granger into the hands of the dark lord himself. again, he considered what voldemort would do to her. and while hermione suffered her terrible fate, draco would be still at hogwarts, perhaps sitting in the library completing his arithmancy assignment alone. she wouldn't get to finish it, most likely. taking a deep breath, he removed the seal on the letter and unrolled the parchment. draco, i am pleased to hear of your progress, as is our lord. i must admit i hadn't thought you capable of machinating such a subtle plan. but, you have proved me wrong. as per your request, here are the instructions for the girl's abduction: you will find some excuse to lure her out of the castle on the sunday after you receive this letter, preferably at night. my associate will wait in the forbidden forest, where the protective spells of hogwarts hold no sway. the dark lord himself once found refuge there. you will bring the girl to the edge of the forest, on the northern side of the grounds, and hand her over to my colleague. there should be no margin of error and no cause for delay. i need hardly remind you how pertinent it is that you deliver the girl at this pivotal

time in the dark lord's plans. once she is in hand, harry potter will rush blindly into our clutches and then, for having instigated his capture, you and i will be grandly rewarded and the malfoy name made more powerful than ever. i am counting on you draco. lucius thanatos malfoy. draco let out his breath. so it was done then. now all he had to do was lure hermione outside the castle and he'd be free of this distasteful business once and for all. sunday that was tomorrow. draco read over the letter once more. our lord? his father had so arrogantly assumed that voldemort was draco's master too. the lack of discretion in the letter also stood out. his father had become confident - brash even. he was sure that his plan would be seen through to completion. i still hold all the cards father, draco thought. he dropped the letter and watched it burn on its way to the ground. that was it. one more day and it would be over - all the pretending, all the ingratiating behaviour and the facade of friendship. it was how it should be - how it was meant to be. and of course draco would obey. his father may be overconfident about the whole affair and hermione doomed to a fate worse than death, but in the end it was what draco had to do - what he had done all his life. and what he would do. *** harry slept with nightmares - terrible, twisted images of death and pain. he saw fire spreading over a city; children crying in their beds, their skin melting off their bones. he saw animals fleeing into the forests, in search of shelter, but finding only death. he saw a night sky filled with horrible, tormented screams that echoed beneath the enormous figure of a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth. and he saw those eyes - those slitted, inhuman eyes that bored into his with the promise of revenge, and of death. harry jerked awake violently, his hands clawing at the darkness and his mouth open in horror. he didn't scream - somehow he managed not to do that. he sat up slowly and clutched at his head. his scar burned agonisingly. it was so painful that for those first few moments when he woke up he felt sure he'd never be rid of the pain again. but it subsided, eventually, as it always did. soon there was only a faint throbbing in his head to remind him of it. breathing rapidly, he reached out for his glasses and put them on. the world was tuned into focus; the grey, amorphous bedroom taking shape around him. he took another deep breath and threw back his covers. the floor was freezing cold on his feet, so he fished a pair of socks out of his trunk and pulled them on before padding towards the door and opening it silently. he slipped through and shut it again. the fire was lit when he entered the common room, crackling away softly as though it too was trying to make as little noise as possible. harry crept over to it and the armchairs beside it. there was someone on one of them, curled up asleep with their head pillowed on their hands and their flame-red hair looking like a reflection of the fire behind it. harry looked down at ginny with quiet contemplation.

those images he had seen in his dream - they were like nothing he'd ever seen before. he had seen voldemort killing and plotting and destroying before, yes, but never on such a large scale. he had never seen whole cities burning to the ground and people fleeing their homes as their children squealed helplessly inside the flaming wrecks. and the eyes...those eyes. harry had never wanted to see those eyes again as long as he lived, not after that night in the cemetery when he had carried a dead boy back to the world of the living, the ghosts of his parents fading fast from both his memory and existence. as he looked down at ginny, sleeping peacefully by the fire, he knew what the dreams meant. voldemort was gaining power and he had the gruesome fate of the whole wizarding world shining in his baleful eyes. he wanted them dead - all of them. harry, ron, hermione, sirius, lupin, dumbledore, ginny. looking down at ginny's tranquil form, harry just couldn't picture her suffering the fate he'd seen those people suffer in his dreams. he couldn't see it - and he never would, because he wouldn't let it happen. "harry?" ginny roused softly from her slumber, her eyes fluttering open. she made soft stirring noises that made harry feel all warm inside. she sat up on the chair and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "is that you, harry?" "it's me," he replied. "what are you doing up?" ginny asked, lowering her hands and focusing her eyes on him, the reflection of the fire dancing in her pupils. "couldn't sleep," said harry, sitting down in the other chair. "you?" "same," said ginny. "i come down here sometimes, when the other girls are talking late at night." "you don't join in?" "and prattle on about malfoy's hair? no thanks." harry chuckled. he gazed into the fire as his laughter subsided into a relaxed smile, then he turned back to ginny. "sorry i woke you." "no, it's fine. i wasn't asleep for long anyway." harry nodded slowly to himself, staring down at the floor. "are you okay?" ginny asked, looking at him with concern. "yeah, fine." ginny smiled weakly, and harry could tell she was bothered by his unwillingness to share his thoughts with her. he would oblige her then. "i had some bad dreams," he said. "about what?" "voldemort."

ginny shivered despite the warmth of the fire. "is it bad?" she asked. "dreaming about voldemort." "it's terrible," said harry. "the things i see him do - they're not pleasant." ginny shifted her position so that she was leaning forward towards harry's chair. "i'm sorry you have to have those dreams," she said. "you don't have to be sorry, ginny." "i know. but i am. after everything you've been through - you shouldn't have to see those things." harry smiled gratefully at her. "i don't see them that often," he said, attempting to lift her melancholy. ginny smiled back warmly. "if you want to talk about them," she said, then became slightly bashful, "you know...i'm here. i mean, if you don't feel like talking to ron or hermione about them. i know how ron can get with things like that." she smiled to herself. "thanks, gin," harry replied with a weary smile. "i'm here for you too. you know...if you ever need to talk." "i know," said ginny, smiling brightly and resting her head on the armchair. *** draco watched the first rays of sunlight creep over the horizon, like menacing fingers searching for their prey. he supposed sunrise was meant to invoke more benevolent images in his mind, but the onset of day brought a cloud of darkness around it. he could see the faint outline of his reflection in the window, superimposed on the lightening sky. he looked weary and drawn to his own eyes, which didn't surprise him considering how much sleep he'd had last night. he'd dropped in and out of a supernatural landscape filled with dreams and images his mind fought feebly to suppress. and through that haze of disheartening images he could see the same silent figure, staring back at him through eyes that wept frozen tears. hermione. why was he thinking so hard about what he had to do? it should be simple. he asked her to take another walk around the lake - let her get the invisibility cloak if she liked - led her instead to the edge of the forest, and walked quietly back to the castle by himself. only in his mind it didn't happen that way. in his mind she smiled at him as they walked and asked him where they were going. "it's a surprise," he said, smiling back at her. and he didn't walk away quietly; he walked away amidst her screams of terror and pain and betrayal. how could he do this? but that wasn't a question. he had to do this. his life depended on it. he couldn't sacrifice his own skin for that of some...some mudblood. he bit his tongue so hard it drew blood.

it took draco an impossibly long amount of time to shower and dress that morning, and he knew he was stalling. he had no idea what he'd say when he saw her, or how he'd manage to keep his tongue still when there was so much he could - and probably should - tell her. she would ask him if he wanted to work on their arithmancy project again, and she would smile at him and call him draco and all the while he'd be plotting her murder. she would be completely oblivious to what was going to happen to her tonight - that she would never have the chance to finish her project, no matter how hard she worked on it with him. draco sighed heavily, weariness seeping into his very bones. how could he do this? he skipped breakfast, as it was almost over when he was finally ready. he left his room and walked down the dreary corridor to the even drearier common room. a smattering of students had stayed behind in lieu of attending breakfast and were spread around the room at intervals, scowling and brooding as slytherin students often did. luckily, there was no one draco knew. he pushed his way through the portrait hole and straightened up with a deep breath. he could do this. he had to and there was no other question about it. he stalked down the corridor with his perfect posture far less perfect than usual. the great hall was emptying already, and a crowd of students was filling the hall. none of them know, draco thought, that in a few hours their great and almighty saviour could be dead. draco himself though, couldn't think that far ahead. harry wasn't in danger yet - not until voldemort had hermione. and if draco went ahead with the plan, he would have her tonight. he considered what he should do to while away the time until then. the most attractive prospect was to spend all of it in his room, locked inside with only his tortured thoughts to keep him company. he'd go mad if he did that, which would probably be a distinct improvement to how he felt now. he couldn't go to the library, because she'd be there, waiting for him and helping him work through something so mundane as an arithmancy problem. how could he face her with this great, dark knowledge weighing on his mind? or was it his heart that it weighed on? he wasn't sure. the idea of a walk outside received some brief consideration, but then he'd be walking outside tonight - and he could still remember what it was like walking with hermione around the lake. it was a distinctly new sensation to draco, feeling as though there was absolutely nothing he could stand to do right now. in the end he settled for wandering around the castle, if only to prevent himself from standing still in the entrance hall. *** "draco," hermione sighed aloud, "where are you?" she was sitting at their usual table in the library. her books and parchment and quills spread out around her, though only up to the halfway point of the table, so that draco could spread his out on the other side. she glanced up at the clock on the wall and then

back down at her work. it wasn't as though they'd agreed on a time to meet, or that they'd agreed to meet at all. but it seemed, at least until now, as though there had been some sort of unspoken agreement between them, to meet in the library on the weekends and during any free time they had to finish their arithmancy assignment. they were so close to finishing it too, even though it wasn't due for several months. but where was draco? *** "harry," said ron, "we have to talk." "about what?" harry asked, looking up. ron looked over at ginny, who was sitting in the armchair next to harry's and reading her charms textbook. ginny, noticing ron's hesitant gaze, gave him a look that said "you're going to have to drag me out of this chair if you want me to leave." "ginny's all right," said harry. "she can listen to whatever you have to say." ron's gaze lingered on his sister as though he doubted this were true. eventually though, compulsion to speak got the best of him and he returned his eyes to harry. "we have to talk about hermione," he said. "what about her?" harry asked. "she's spending way too much time with malfoy," ron explained. "we have to do something." "ron," said harry, "they're doing an arithmancy project together. they have to spend time together." "not this much time," said ron. "she's in there every bloody free second she has." "arithmancy's a hard subject ron," harry replied diplomatically. "she probably needs every free second she has to get the project finished." "what about her calling him draco? and going on about how fun it was spending time with him?" "she didn't say she was having fun," harry pointed out. "she just said that to spite you. look, ron, i agree - she is spending a lot of time with malfoy and it's probably not wise. but you know what hermione's like and if you try to tell her she can't see him it'll only push her further towards him." "but what if he's got a spell on her?" ron asked. "a love potion maybe? that's just what he'd do." "on hermione?" ginny asked, raising her eyes from her book. "why would malfoy want

anything to do with hermione outside of school work? he hates her." "she's right, ron," said harry. ron looked furious. "no one asked you ginny. what are you doing here anyway? can't you go and read somewhere else?" "harry and i are going down to the quidditch pitch to practice," ginny replied with her nose high in the air. ron growled. "fine," he said. "if you two don't want to talk to her, then i will." he spun on his heel and stormed out of the common room, his anger following him like the train of a cloak. ginny looked over at harry with her eyebrows raised. "not the sanest guy in the world, is he?" harry laughed and stood up. "come on, let's go down to the pitch." *** hermione gazed forlornly at the clock on the library wall again. he's not coming, she told herself. he's probably talking to his slytherin friends or playing quidditch or snogging that seventh year ravenclaw girl with the big... "hermione." hermione woke from her reverie and looked across the table, expecting to see draco ready to apologise for being so late because he'd slept in. instead she saw... "ron?" "we need to talk," he said. "not this again, ron," hermione groaned. "i'm not listening to whatever it is you have to say about draco." ron winced at the use of the slytherin boy's first name, just as he winced at the use of voldemort's name. "we're doing an arithmancy assignment together," hermione continued. "that's all. i don't need to hear your paranoid delusions again." "are they though?" ron asked. "are they really delusions? just tell me if they are and i'll go away, i promise. tell me i'm just being paranoid." "i think i just did, ron." "so...so you're not going to be shacking up with malfoy any time soon?" "ron! gross!" hermione glared at him with revulsion.

"okay," said ron, looking calmer. "it's just that...i know you could never like him as a friend, but...well, i've heard the girls talking about him and how he's...well, you know..." "no, i don't know, ron." "yes, you do," ron barked. "you know exactly what i mean. i just hope you have the common sense not to be tricked by something like that." "you hope i have the common sense?" "you know what i mean," said ron. "i just don't want to see you get hurt." hermione looked affectionately at her friend. maybe he was just looking out for her. perhaps unreasonable outbursts of rage that bordered on overkill were just ron's way of showing her he cared. "draco and i are just working together," said hermione. "that's all. i'm not going to run off to europe with him...even if he is positively gorgeous." "hermione!" hermione laughed at ron's reaction. "i'm kidding," she lied. "i'll be okay, ron." she smiled at him. "i'm not going to get hurt." *** "she will burn," voldemort hissed. "she will burn and her screams will draw potter from hogwarts." "are you certain he will come, master?" lucius asked. "i am," replied the dark lord. "he is a hero and that is their way. they cannot abandon the ones they love, even if it means rushing blindly into death itself." voldemort turned to face his servant, his robes lashing the air around him. "are the arrangements in place, lucius?" "they are, my lord. draco has been instructed to lure the girl to the forest, where one of your servants shall be waiting." "good," voldemort hissed. his red eyes gleamed with pleasure. "then it is only a matter of time." "yes, my lord. draco will not fail you." voldemort threw his baleful eyes around the room and let them come to rest on his servant. "he had better not, lucius," he hissed. "he will deliver the girl - or he will suffer the consequences." ***

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author notes: quotes and references: "voldemort threw his baleful eyes around the room..." --is from milton's paradise lost which i still haven't finished. i've always liked that description though.
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title: the redemption of draco malfoy (07) author name: jason author email: scarecrow_eyes@hotmail.com category: action/adventure sub category: romance keywords: harry hermione ginny ron voldemort rating: r spoilers: ss/ps, cos, poa, gof, fb, qtta summary: draco's time is up and he must now deliver hermione. will he be able to go through with it and, if so, what sinister fate awaits her in the hands of the dark lord? disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by jk rowling, various publishers including but not limited to bloomsbury books, scholastic books and raincoast books, and warner bros., inc. no money is being made and no

copyright or trademark infringement is intended. i have used quotations from various sources in some of the chapters. you can find the references at the end. author notes: acknowledgements: as always, my beta-reader danijo (i got it right that time) whose input i am extremely grateful for. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ chapter seven: two betrayals the hour was almost at hand and draco was still pacing the halls. he glanced at his watch and realised the sun would be down within the hour. there was no stopping it now - no turning back and no warning hermione. he had sealed her fate with his own two hands and with them he would hand her to the dark lord himself. she would be dead by then. he would be handing voldemort a corpse. *** ginny squealed with a mixture of fear and delight as she raced towards the ground at enormous speed. she stretched her hand out, lifted her lower body off the broomstick and reached out as far as she could. almost, she thought, almost. yes! she closed her fingers around the tiny golden ball and tugged on the end of her broom with her free hand. it skidded to a horizontal halt several metres from the ground, harry slowing to a hovering stop beside her. "i did it!" she squealed. harry laughed. "well done." "i can't believe i just caught it," said ginny. "i thought i was going to crash for sure." "i wouldn't have let you crash," said harry. "oh, that was the most amazing thing i've ever done," ginny cried. "i felt like my stomach was going to liquefy." "feels like that every time," said harry. "thank you," ginny said, beaming harry a wide grin. she couldn't believe she'd just caught the snitch from a thirty-foot dive. the exhilaration and the terror she'd felt were amazing. she had been safe though; harry had been shadowing her all the way down, instructing her when to adjust her broom and when to reach out for the snitch. and she'd caught it, just as she'd watched harry catch it so many times before. "see - not so hard," said harry with a smile. ginny looked over at him. "yeah right," she said. "i would have broken my neck if you weren't here." "i'm sure i'd break my neck if i tried to play chaser for a game," said harry. "we should swap some time."

"no thanks," ginny replied. "i think i'll leave the bone-breaking dives to you from now on." harry smiled back and pulled his broomstick in to land. ginny hit the ground beside him. "it's getting late," said harry. ginny noted the sun hugging the horizon. she didn't care though - she wanted to stay out here all night if she could. she'd never had this much fun in her life. "just a few more minutes," she said. "please." "all right," harry conceded. "i'll put the snitch away though. it'll be too hard to see it now." ginny felt her heart brimming with elation. she was outside, alone with harry, a beautiful sunset was glowing in the distance, and she had just dropped thirty feet through the air. her mind was buzzing. "here you go," said harry, tossing ginny the quaffle. ginny caught it and climbed back onto her broom. "bet you can't get it off me," she said, and squealed with delight as harry mounted his broom, said, "you're on," and chased after her. *** draco gazed through one of the fourth floor windows, the glass lit up brilliantly by the setting sun. he felt unsettled - his body kept shivering as though he was cold. in the distance the forbidden forest looked more menacing than ever; like a swarm of dark creatures or one giant creature that was ready to open its cavernous mouth and swallow hermione whole. he was doing the right thing, he told himself. maybe not the right thing, but the right thing for him. and that was all that mattered. he didn't care about what happened to some ugly mudblood, let alone one that happened to be harry potter's friend. but then it wasn't her fault she hung around with that puny git was it? she just had unfortunate taste in friends. and as for being ugly... draco's heart beat faster, each thud counting down the moments until he would ask hermione to take a walk outside the castle. the last walk she'd ever take. *** it was nice that ron was concerned about her, hermione thought. certainly she'd be concerned about him if he started taking walks around the lake with draco malfoy. hermione giggled at the thought. one of them would most likely push the other into the water once the giant squid showed itself. but his fears were unfounded. she didn't have anything to worry about. draco and she were just studying together, that's all. it wasn't as though the small looks she cast at his

face while he was looking down at his work - noticing his soft-looking skin and his bottomless grey eyes - would escalate into anything more serious. it was malfoy, after all. draco malfoy. snobby git and vindictive bastard extraordinaire. he didn't want anything else to do with her and she with him. right? oh, what's the point? hermione sighed, throwing her books into her bag. he's not coming. she buckled her bag up, slung it over her shoulder and stood to leave. she glanced up as the door to the library opened and a telltale blonde head emerged. oh my, thought hermione. the light from sunset was spilling in through one of the large library windows, illuminating the entrance and anyone who walked through it. and as though he had carefully calculated the moment to make his entrance, the sun's rays lit up draco like a magnificent statue. his hair shone the most brightly of all, the silver-blonde colour soaking up the light until it glowed. he looked almost...angelic. "hermione," he said, starting towards her. stay there, hermione thought. i'll come to you, just stay like that. but he wouldn't. he met her halfway, looking ill at ease and anxious. he wouldn't look her directly in the eyes. "sorry i couldn't make it," he said. "no problem," hermione replied. "i...uh...had stuff to do." "it's okay," said hermione. "you don't have to come every day." draco nodded, looking at her as though it pained him. what's up with that? "i- i wanted to know if you wanted to go for a walk. outside. tonight." "tonight?" draco nodded. "after dinner. it'll be quiet." quiet? she thought. why did he want to take a walk with her when it was quiet? her heart told her the answer that her brain just plain refused to believe. never going to happen. "ah, sure," hermione said. "okay," draco replied distantly. "i'll meet you in the entrance hall." he turned around to leave. "should i bring the invisibility cloak?" hermione asked. draco looked over his shoulder. "if you like." "okay," said hermione, and watched him leave. ***

there was no way in the world that ginny wasn't sitting next to harry during dinner. ron or hermione or whoever else wanted to sit there would have to drag her from the great hall before she gave her seat up. and even then she'd scratch at their eyes and scream like hell. it was the perfect end to a perfect day, ginny thought. so harry still hadn't hinted that he thought of her the same way that she thought of him - that didn't diminish her feeling of bliss. he counted her as one of his friends now and that's what she'd wanted all along. to be a part of his life, like ron and hermione and sirius were. and she felt as though she'd accomplished that today, as though the next time danger came knocking, he would ask her for help too. to make matters even better - for ginny - ron was in too much of a foul mood to talk much with harry and hermione wasn't there yet, so he included her in the conversation that he was having with seamus, dean and neville. "yeah," he said to them, "she caught it twice." "once," ginny corrected him. "i missed it the first time." "but you almost got it," harry replied before spearing a potato piece with his fork and putting it in his mouth. unlike ron, he finished his mouthful before he spoke again. "her fingers grazed it." "i think they did," said ginny. "still," said seamus, "catching the snitch even once is pretty good for someone who's never played seeker before." "harry scored quite a few times with the quaffle, too," ginny said, attempting to even out the praise. "although i'm not the greatest keeper in the world." "you did all right," said harry. hermione entered the hall at that moment and, as seamus was in the seat on the other side of harry, sat down next to ginny. she looked rather pleased about something. "hey," she said, sitting down. "hi," said ginny. harry greeted her too and ron muttered a half-hearted hello. "come on, ron," said ginny. "cheer up." "he'll be fine," harry said beside her. "in a few weeks time he gets a chance to knock out the whole slytherin quidditch team - single-handedly." ron smiled weakly but cheered up after that. it was one of the best hours of ginny's life, sitting there with all her friends - and they really were her friends now - no longer an afterthought in the conversation but sharing centre stage. occasionally she would look up and find malfoy staring blankly at them from his table, and she would glare back just to show him how much he wasn't bothering her.

not much could bother her now. *** draco paced nervously around his room as dinner was ending, then threw on his cloak and resumed his pacing in the entrance hall. he gazed at the large oak doors with the two suits of armour guarding it valiantly, even if they were empty. he was so restless, which wasn't right. he should have accepted a calming sense of inevitability by now, not be shaking imperceptibly from head to toe and feeling his heart hammering away against his ribs. he looked up the stairs, a ludicrous, caricature of an image sprouting in his mind of him waiting for hermione to descend the magnificent staircase and take his arm before they trotted off to a hogwarts ball. but no, they wouldn't be attending a ball tonight. and hermione would never be that girl. but there she was, walking naively down the staircase with the invisibility cloak under her arm. "sorry i'm late," she said once she reached the floor. "i had to put this in my bag to get it past harry and then stash the bag somewhere safe until i come back." until she comes back? draco thought. she wouldn't be coming back. his heart felt suddenly immensely heavy with the burden he was bearing - with the task he had to perform and the knowledge he had to conceal. it didn't much help matters that her hair looked a little tidier today and her eyes a little brighter. "well," said hermione. "shall we?" she laughed, clearly enjoying the irony of the whole situation. draco forced a vague smile and started walking towards the doors. they looked huge, towering over him like potent sentinels. he pushed one open and let hermione through. he would be walking through those doors again tonight; but she wouldn't. the grounds were quiet - serene. dark, too - darker than any night draco could remember. the shadows had free reign across the castle and its gloomy environs, playing havoc with draco's senses. he looked up and noticed the full moon - lupin would be curled up in his office even now, as one of his students was about to commit murder. as good as, draco thought. he looked across at hermione, who smiled back at him. invisible fingers plucked his heart and the vibration ran down his spine. look at her, he thought, she looks so pretty out here in the moonlight. not like the ugly mudblood i remember from previous years. how could he do this to her? he didn't want to do this to her? "come on," he said, holding out an arm to direct her to the left without placing it on her back. they started walking. "so," said hermione, swinging her arms serenely and looking around at the sky, "how

many girls get to take moonlight strolls with draco malfoy?" she looked sideways at him. "you're the first," draco said blandly, looking deadpan. "really?" hermione said, as though it were an interesting fact to note. "well, aren't i the lucky one." draco didn't smile. he continued staring into the distance, breathing deeply. "should i wear the cloak?" hermione asked. "you won't need to," draco replied. "it's too dark for anyone to see you." "are you okay?" hermione inclined her head to look at his eyes. "fine," he replied. "you seem kind of quiet tonight." he had to look at her then, and smile as best he could. they turned the corner and continued walking, their path hugging the side of the castle. "only a few more weeks until our arithmancy assignment is due," hermione commented. "yeah," draco replied absent-mindedly. "so...i guess that'll mean we don't have to work together anymore." draco chanced a look sideways and wished he hadn't. hermione, waiting through his silence, turned towards him. "that's what you want though, right?" she asked. "you wouldn't want to go the library anymore after that?" "i don't know," draco settled for, his shoulders sagging. hermione seemed stung by his noncommittal reply. she turned away and looked at the lawns stretching away to her right. "it's a nice night," she said, sounding conversational. "beautiful," said draco. they fell into silence, walking ever onwards. they reached the next corner of the castle soon and turned it. hermione continued along the wall but draco took her arm. "this way," he said, leading her away from the castle. they cut a path across the lawns, heading towards the forbidden forest and the greenhouses. they reached them within minutes and draco held out an arm to stop hermione. "let's stop here," he said. hermione stopped and looked around with a faint smile. "what are we stopping here for?" she asked draco, her tone no longer wounded.

draco turned around to face her, both of them standing between the greenhouses and the edge of the forest. "hermione," he said, taking a deep breath, "there's something i have to tell you." hermione seemed to be fighting back a smile. she did a good job of it and pushed a curl of hair back over her ear as she gazed back at draco attentively. "what is it?" draco breathed in again. "i didn't bring you out here for a walk," he said. annoyingly, hermione was still smiling. "well, what did you bring me out here for?" draco locked his eyes on hers, staring into their brown depths that were made black by the darkness. he looked down at the grass and then back up. "my father..." he didn't get to finish. there was a rustling behind them. hermione looked over draco's shoulder with a perplexed look on her face, her smile lingering but fading. draco turned his head. "there's something there, draco," hermione told him. he turned completely around and braced himself as the intruder stepped out of the branches. he was tall and thin, dressed in a set of black robes, and definitely not human. small thorns protruded from all over his coarse grey face; his eyes, even in the darkness, were shining bright yellow. "there you are," he said. his voice was deep but snake-like at the same time. "i had to follow you around the castle," he said. "i thought we agreed on the northern side." draco's heartbeat quickened. he hadn't the courage to look over his shoulder at hermione, and whatever expression she might be wearing. "we did," draco replied evenly. "but the plans have changed." "changed?" the creature hissed. "what do you mean?" "i mean," said draco, stepping in front of hermione, "she's not going with you." the yellow eyes looked unblinkingly back at draco. they were shrewd and intelligent, flicking to hermione and then back to draco. "the girl comes with me - that was the deal." "like i said," replied draco, "the plans have changed." "the plans do not change," the thing said. "you were instructed to bring the girl to me, so that i may deliver her to the dark lord." draco looked steadily back at the horned creature and drew himself up to his full height. "not gonna happen," he said. the yellow eyes narrowed menacingly, but did little to shake draco's composure. if anything, his muscles tightened with the anticipation of a fight. he wasn't sure how long

he'd last against this spiny monstrosity, but he would sure as hell make it bleed before it killed him. "you are a fool," the creature hissed. "no one disobeys the dark lord." "apparently i do," said draco. "so sod off." the creature bared its teeth - rows of teeth - at draco, and snarled. draco saw its legs tense and pushed hermione aside. she fell to the ground but he hadn't the time to think about that. the beast lunged at him with its hands raised high. hands that ended in razor-sharp claws. draco grabbed its wrists as it pushed him to the ground, weighing his body down. one of its hands raked through his shirt, slicing through the material and drawing blood. draco yelled in pain but managed to seize the wayward wrist again. the creature snarled and thrashed about, attempting to free its hands from draco's grip. banishing the pain from his mind, draco held on tightly and stared up into the bright yellow eyes. he rolled towards his side, pushing heavily until the thing's leg slipped up and draco rolled on top of it. he forced its arms down against its chest and kneed it roughly in the chest. it let out a high-pitched howl. draco kneed it again and then again, before it roared angrily and pushed him off with impressive strength. draco leapt to his feet quickly, watching the creature do the same. its yellow eyes made it easy to track in the darkness, but the rest of it blended almost invisibly into the night. the moonlight was enough to see its razor-sharp claws by as well as the pointed horns that jutted from every inch of its bright red face. draco prepared himself for another assault but the brute simply reached its hand around its back. there was a sound of metal being scraped over metal and it produced in one clawed hand a long silver blade with notches in it. "now if you're not going to play fair..." draco quipped, but cut off as the thing lunged. he dodged to the right, then spun around and grabbed its arm. it shook itself free though and stabbed again. draco dropped to the floor, rolled, and lashed out with his foot at the creature's ankle. its leg gave way and it dropped to one knee. draco straightened up, raised a booted foot and slammed it upward into the thing's jaw. it shrieked with pain. "bastard," draco hissed, stalking over to its prone form and kicking its face again. an amber-coloured ichor spilled over its head and the surrounding grass. draco stepped heavily on the creature's wrist and bent down to pry its fingers off the knife. he felt a fist slam into the back of his knee and he went down on the other, the arm still gripped between his hands. he dug his fingers under the creatures' and wrenched them upward. its grip was too tight though and it was already struggling to its feet. draco stood up again and slammed his shoe into its forehead. "stay down, you bastard!" another splattering of blood gushed out and the beast looked momentarily dazed. draco

tore its fingers from the blade and closed his own around it. he whirled around; ready to eviscerate it, but the thing pushed itself up and charged draco around the waist. draco ran backward, the creature pushing him, and slammed painfully against the greenhouse wall. momentarily, he saw hermione sitting up and rubbing her head, staring uncomprehendingly at the battle being waged a few feet away. draco slammed his elbow down on the thing's skull, its horns digging into his skin as it wailed agonisingly. "get...off me," draco yelled. he elbowed it again; it wailed again and stumbled back. draco drew a deep breath now that his stomach wasn't being crushed. the beast was doubled over before him, cradling its thorny head. draco took a step forward, lowered his left fist to his right side and swing it up, connecting satisfyingly with the thing's jaw. it reeled back, now standing upright on unsteady legs. draco took two steps forward, brought the knife back and plunged it into the creature's belly. it roared with pain. draco shoved the dagger in further until only the hilt was visible. the beast closed its hands around the knife and staggered back, draco releasing the handle. it made several attempts to draw in a raspy breath, but failed. draco watched it struggling for air with sadistic pleasure. finally, he walked up to it, closed his hand around the knife again, raised a booted foot and placed it on its chest. "nice knowing you," he said, and put all his weight behind his leg as he pushed the creature backwards. the knife slid easily out of its torso, its last effort to breathe a lost cause as it fell limply to the ground - dead. draco stood over it, his chest heaving, his shoe covered in the dead beast's blood and the knife, dripping, clutched tightly in his hand. he took several more breaths before turning away from the mutilated corpse. he walked over to hermione, still crumpled on the ground. he held his hand out to her. "come on," he said, taking her hand. she whipped it out of his grasp. "don't touch me," she yelled. draco stepped back and hermione pushed herself to her feet. she ran the back of her hand across her eyes and sniffed, the moonlight lighting up the tears on her face. she shook unsteadily on her legs. "hermione...," draco said, starting forward to support her. "i said don't touch me!" she shrieked. draco stopped. she looked up at him, her face streaked with tears and her eyes filled with betrayal. what else would they be filled with? draco thought. "how could you?" she asked in a weak voice. "how could you?" "hermione, i--." "i hate you," she squealed. "you lying, manipulative, evil bastard. i hate you."

she turned around and walked hurriedly back to the castle, her sobbing audible in the quiet night air. draco stayed where he was, his stomach sinking and the rush of adrenaline wearing off completely. he watched her become a retreating silhouette in the distance until she reached the corner of the castle and turned out of sight. draco dropped his head, looking down at the knife. he let it fall to the ground, the blood staining the grass. *** hermione had never felt so wretched in her life. she felt like a fool; an absolute fool. once she'd rounded the corner of the castle, out of draco's sight, she broke into a run and didn't stop until she reached the gryffindor portrait hole. she was in no state to go inside though - tears rolling as far down as her neck, dirty and dishevelled, grass stains all over her clothes - so instead, she slunk miserably off, down the corridor to the empty charms classroom where she'd hidden her bag. she locked the door behind her with a quick spell, the incantation hitching on her sobs. she hoped she hadn't dirtied harry's cloak when she fell. it was still clutched firmly beneath her arm. she fished her bag out from under the desk and slid down the side of it, her back resting against the wood. she clutched the cloak and the bag to her chest protectively and let the tears take hold. she couldn't believe she'd fallen for draco's ploy. she should have known better. everyone always said she was so smart - "too smart for your own good," ron sometimes said - but she wasn't. she was stupid - so, so stupid. she had actually believed that malfoy could be kind and compassionate; could be her friend. she had wanted to believe it so badly. she was the only one he'd ever had any patience with and that had made her feel special. but now it was obvious why it had been her. she should have seen the connection to harry; should have traced it back to his father and further to voldemort. but she had no scorn to spare for them - it was all directed at draco. malfoy! she corrected herself angrily. he's not your friend and he never was. he only worked with you - only called you hermione - to further his own ambitions. what hurt though was the fact that she had been his friend. she had been willing to put aside all her prejudices and all her assumptions to befriend the unbefriendable draco malfoy. and he had thrown it all in her face. and tried to kill her. hermione had never known betrayal like this. she'd been lucky with her friends. ron and harry were loyal to the core - they would never deceive her as malfoy had. ron had tried to warn her and she'd dismissed his pleas as unfounded. what an idiot she'd been. she made a mental note to apologise profusely to ron in the morning. but for now - now she just wanted to sit here and cry. *** draco stared down at the lifeless corpse, a mixture of emotions waging war inside him. his face muscles were all cramped up and his stomach wouldn't stop churning. it wasn't the blood or the large, gaping wound in the creature's chest that made him feel ill - he had

seen much worse. he wasn't sure what he'd thought would happen. had he expected hermione to simply thank him for slaying voldemort's errand boy and ask him when their next study session would be? the idea was absurd - he saw that now. but he'd wanted to explain - to tell her why he'd done it and how bad it had eventually made him feel. eventually...that was the difference. potter wouldn't have even considered the task. he would have willingly faced his own death before betraying someone like that. whatever choice he'd made, he wouldn't have come this far, to be standing over a bloodied carcass he'd been forced to kill. you're not potter! draco told himself. he didn't want to be potter. he didn't want to save the world or defeat voldemort. he didn't want any of that. right now all he wanted to do was find hermione and apologise. ha! he thought. two months ago i would have handed voldemort her heart on a silver platter. now...now look at me. it was so easy for bloody potter and his gang of do-gooders. they knew what side they were on. they never had to walk the line - they never even saw it. but what side was draco on? what innate principles did he have to guide his actions? how could he be expected to be moral when his father had raised him to be the very opposite all his life? excuses, draco knew. they were all excuses. the fact that he'd disobeyed his father and gutted this demonic creature for the sake of hermione meant his father didn't control his life. he could make his own decisions now, his own choices - and what he would do next, the very first opportunity that he got, was find hermione, and tell her he was sorry. *** the woods were beset by the murderous cries of animals. they echoed among the branches as their owner's fed, rending the flesh off their prey, denuding their bones within minutes. above the canopy, the dark tower loomed; its tallest spire home, at this moment, to the most wicked of the forest's creatures. "you have sent the messenger?" the dark lord asked, staring not at his servant but out the window. "he is at hogwarts. draco should even now be handing him the girl." voldemort let out a hissing breath. "i should hope so, lucius. for your son's sake." *** harry dreamt again, of woodlands burning and people screaming. a woman cradled an infant in her arms, pleading to a dark figure to leave them be. the figure ignored her and sliced off her head. next he saw a man - an enormous man, the size of hogwarts itself - storming through a village, uprooting trees with his fists and kicking houses aside with his feet. a ghostly wail sounded nearby as a hundred spectral female ghosts swept over the village, their

cries burning the ears off their victims. and then a lake, whose water was turned red with blood, its shores set for a gruesome scene. he saw a mass of hooded figures, clawing at their fallen foes, opening their gaping mouths and drawing hundreds of rattling breaths. the pictures faded and harry woke, again with a start. he muffled a yell and dropped his head into his hands, his scar ready to cleave his head in two. he waited it out, as it was the only thing he could do. it took longer this time and when it was over the feeling lingered more strongly. once his head cleared, he tried to slow his breathing. the sheets around him were soaked with cold sweat. he crawled to the edge of the bed, shrugged off his pyjama top and replaced it with a clean one. he didn't feel like going back to sleep though. should he wake ron? no - he didn't feel like being fussed over either. he felt like...like talking to ginny. he made another silent escape from the fifth year boys' dormitory and crept downstairs. he wasn't sure if she'd be up or not, but he had to check. he reached the common room and his eyes went instantly to the chair by the fire. she was there, the top of her head visible above the back of the chair. harry approached the fire. it's not ginny, he realised. the hair was brown, not red. harry walked around the front of the armchair to see who it was. "hermione?" he whispered aloud. she turned her eyes toward him - eyes both tired and teary. "harry," she said in a weak voice. "hi." harry knelt down. "what are you doing up?" he asked. "you look like you've been crying." hermione swallowed and drew a shaky breath. "i--." harry waited. "what is it?" "draco," she said. "he was going to give me to voldemort." "what!?" harry whispered sharply. "what do you mean?" "his father...i think...he told draco to bring me to voldemort somehow. probably so that he could use me to get to you." "and malfoy did this?" harry asked. hermione nodded. "all..." her body shook with a sob, "all that time we spent working together...talking...it was all just an act...to get me to trust him. he was going to give me to voldemort all along." fresh tears escaped hermione's eyes. "what happened?" harry asked.

"h-he asked me to go for a walk with him, around the castle. i thought he just wanted to talk to me; but there was...there was this thing - it attacked us and...and it said that draco was supposed to give me to voldemort." clearly it was becoming an effort for hermione to speak. harry knelt down and put his arms around her. "it's okay," he said soothingly. hermione was sobbing loudly. "i've been such an idiot," she cried. "i- i didn't even see it." "shh, don't say that. it's not your fault." "i'm sorry, harry." "you don't have to be sorry," harry replied. he pulled back so that he could look into her eyes. "what happened outside?" "with the thing?" hermione asked. "draco killed it. he stabbed it." "why did he do that?" "he had second thoughts." hermione laughed mirthlessly. "he said there was a change of plans; that he wouldn't be giving me to voldemort anymore." she laughed eerily again. harry clutched her hand tightly. he'd never seen hermione this upset before. the thought that malfoy had done this to her made him shake with anger. this was no time to be thinking of running off and throttling the evil bastard though. hermione needed him now and he would stay with her; draco's punishment would have to wait for later. "are you going to be all right?" harry asked, rubbing her knee. hermione nodded, wiping back some of her tears. "thanks, harry," she said, placing her hand on his. *** there was a dark figure making its way across the hogwarts grounds as ginny gazed out of her dormitory window. she couldn't make them out from this distance but their walk was slow and sullen. not unlike how ginny felt. she hugged herself tightly to guard against the cold. maybe she was being irrational. maybe it meant nothing. but seeing harry with his arms around hermione like that had put a damper on her newfound feeling of acceptance into the famous trio. no matter how much time she spent with harry or how many times they had their own pre-practice quidditch sessions she would never become an integral part of his friends. she was, and always would be, the outsider - ron's little sister. harry would never hug her like that. it had been a coincidence that she'd even seen him there. ginny wasn't sure why she'd woken up with the urge to go downstairs to the common room, but she'd thought of it as a

sign - that harry would be there again, waiting to talk to her maybe, to share his feelings and open up to her. but it wasn't her that he'd opened up to - not his arms anyway. ginny had never harboured any ill feelings towards hermione, but right now she didn't harbour any compassionate ones either. ginny looked morosely over at the other girls in the room, all sleeping the night away peacefully. maybe it would be better if she just accepted that she was not, and never would be, a part of harry's life. the thought was depressing, especially after she'd come this far. these last few weeks had been really great - she was sure she'd forged some sort of bond between them. but maybe it had all been in her mind. maybe harry had never seen it that way. with a resigned sigh, ginny gazed back out the dormitory window where the lone figure walked out of view. *** once draco was back in his room, after his silent walk through the castle and the dungeon hallways, he sat despondently on his bed and let out a breath he felt he'd been holding since hermione had walked away from him. now that his head and his heartbeat had slowed down, he was aware of the wounds the thorned creature had inflicted on his body. he slipped his jacket off and lifted up his shirt, resting his wand on the bed so that the light from his lumos spell illuminated his chest. there, just below his right ribs, the four parallel cuts made by the beast's claws glittered in the light. most of the blood had been absorbed by the shirt, but it still looked rather bad. draco turned his attention to his left elbow, where the damn thing's horns had dug into the skin as he'd struck it. it wasn't too bad - there were a series of small marks but only two had broken the skin and they hadn't bled much. draco tugged his shirt off awkwardly and threw it on the floor. he pushed his way up the bed to rest against the headboard, breathing deeply and painfully. he would have to pay a visit to the hospital wing tomorrow and make up some story to cover how he'd managed to get his torso brutally slashed. right now though, he wanted only to put his head back and let the tides of sleep wash away his memories of tonight. his body and mind were exhausted, and the room was filled with darkness, but even so, sleep wouldn't come. ***

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author notes: quotes, notes and references: the chapter title is actually from an xbox video game called "halo". i'll have to make the title of the next one something cool and pop-culturish so you don't all think i'm a gaming geek. in case anyone wanted to know, the demon is roughly based on doyle from angel.

physically that is - at least, that's what inspired me. i can't see any quotes this chapter, but i may have missed some.
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title: the redemption of draco malfoy (08) author name: jason author email: scarecrow_eyes@hotmail.com category: action/adventure sub category: romance keywords: harry ginny ron hermione voldemort rating: r spoilers: ss/ps, cos, poa, gof, fb, qtta summary: hermione wallows in the brutal aftermath of draco's betrayal; draco tries to make things right; dumbledore and lupin become suspicious; harry is furious and argues with draco; ginny mopes and argues with draco; and ron comforts hermione and...argues with draco. disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by jk rowling, various publishers including but not limited to bloomsbury books, scholastic books and raincoast books, and warner bros., inc. no money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. i have used quotations from various sources in some of the chapters. you can find the references at the end. author notes: don't hold me to this, but the rest of the fic will likely be all posted at once, as soon as it's finished. thanks to danijo, my beta-reader, as always. i wouldn't have gotten this far without her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ chapter eight: pains hermione had often found, in the past, that when either particularly good or particularly bad events had befallen her during the night, it would take her a few minutes to recall them in the morning, sleep having washed her mind clean. when she woke this morning, however, her recollections of the past night's events were all too vivid and they hit her like a bludger square in the stomach. every muscle in her body ached as though she'd slept on it at some point during the night. her mind felt hazy and unfocused, the thoughts spiralling around inside like a turbulent

whirlwind. the only clear images were of a handsome slytherin boy that had crushed her heart with his callous betrayal. she could think of nothing else and yet she wanted nothing more than to forget she had ever met draco malfoy. how could she have been so stupid? it just wasn't like her. hermione had always prided herself on her shrewd observational skills; her ability to pick up on the little details that others did not. that was what gave her the edge in her studies. but in the end she'd fallen prey to what should have been the most obvious deception in the world. she was ashamed of herself - that she could ever have considered the possibility of a friendship with draco malfoy. draco malfoy who had intimidated her for years; draco malfoy whose father was a notorious death eater, servant to the dark lord himself; draco malfoy who had once stood against a tree in a forest and spoken of the deaths of innocent people in a casual voice and told her that she would be next. how could she have not seen through that? the answer surfaced in her mind like a buoyant corpse - she hadn't wanted to. she had wanted so badly to believe in draco's underlying goodness, the part of him that his father and years of malfoy upbringing couldn't touch. but it wasn't there and it never had been. he was as heartless a man as his father ever was. and he had fooled hermione with perfect ease. the question of why draco had refused, at the last second, to hand her over to the dark lord, rose briefly through hermione's pained thoughts. it filled her with a sardonic amusement to think that draco had come down with cold feet at the final moment. perhaps even he couldn't sit by and send an innocent girl to her death. whatever hermione didn't care. there was some part of her, however, that spared at least a fleeting thought for what fate awaited draco now that he had disobeyed both his father and lord voldemort. surely he wouldn't be allowed to get away with what he'd done. would his father step in and secure a lenient sentence on his behalf? or would lucius suffer too because of what his own blood had done? why should hermione worry about that? voldemort could burn draco alive for all she cared. still miserable, hermione rolled over in bed and stared blankly at the wall. *** in another hour, the school would wake for breakfast and morning classes. draco would skip breakfast - he wasn't particularly hungry - but afterwards he'd make his way to arithmancy where he'd find hermione and apologise to her. it was strange, feeling responsibility for having wronged someone and nursing the almost painful desire to apologise to them. draco had never apologised to anyone before, save his father and the occasional teacher on a power trip. none of those were ever heartfelt though, as this one would be. he hadn't slept all night and yet his body was unwilling to shut down, even in light of the exhaustion he felt after the previous night's events. he had killed a man last night - or at least a being - and yet he felt no remorse for having done it. that thing had deserved death

- it was a servant of voldemort. it was evil. was draco evil too then, for experiencing no compunction at all before he stabbed the thing in the belly? but draco wasn't a servant of the dark lord, as much as his father would like to believe he was, or would one day be. he had his own free will and he had exercised it last night when he'd refused to hand hermione over to a wizard that would have killed her. surely that made him different from the creature he'd killed - from his father. draco checked on his wound, which had begun to clot and was forming into a row of ugly scabs. the hospital wing would be next on his agenda, even if he had to skip charms. he didn't feel up to going to classes today, barring of course arithmancy, which he would attend for the sole purpose of apologising to hermione. if all went well, tomorrow he would meet her in the library and they'd work on their assignment together as if nothing had happened. she would forgive him. she had to. *** the resonating sound of the dark lords footsteps sent the creatures that lived in the castle's walls scurrying into their lairs. his footfalls echoed off the stones as he walked along a dreary hallway and pushed open the door to a large circular room, whose ceiling disappeared into darkness. his slitted eyes flashed menacingly as he cast his gaze upon his servant. "lucius!" voldemort hissed, entering the room. "y-yes, my lord," lucius replied, sensing in his master's voice the inflection of fury. "your son has failed me," voldemort informed him. "he has not delivered the girl and he has slain the servant sent to retrieve her." "m-my lord, why would draco do such a thing?" "that," the dark lord spat, "is for you to answer." "i do not know, my lord," lucius replied uneasily. "draco would surely not do such a thing of his own free will. the imperius curse perhaps..." "and who should have cursed him, lucius? no one with the intention of rescuing the girl would have ordered the brutal murder of her assailant. certainly not dumbledore." voldemort fixed his burning gaze on lucius. "it is far more likely that your son refused to deliver the girl on his own accord. i should not have trusted him with such an important task. he is human, and humans are prey to their emotions. the girl could easily have corrupted him, weak as he is." voldemort inhaled the chilled air with a hiss. "i must have the girl," he said, his fist clenching by his side. "i have waited too long for potter to escape my grasp yet again. i desire his head lucius and you will bring it to me." "how, my lord?" "get the girl," voldemort hissed. "your son's failure will not be our undoing. we will have the mudblood yet and with her the head of harry potter."

"yes, my lord. i will make arrangements immediately." lucius hurried towards the door, anxious to escape the ire of the dark lord. "lucius," voldemort said, stopping his servant in his tracks. lucius turned around, facing the malformed being whose nostrils were dilating with fury. "your son has failed me," said voldemort, "and in doing so he has sealed his fate. i take it you know this?" "yes, my lord. of course. draco is yours to do with as you wish. he always has been." voldemort raised his head. "do not fail me, lucius. if you do, you will suffer the same fate as your son." nodding his understanding, lucius turned back around and hurried from the room. *** "where's hermione?" ron asked harry as he sat down at the gryffindor table for breakfast. "um...still sleeping i think," harry replied. "what? hermione never sleeps in." "she had a rough night," said harry. "she's tired." "what do you mean a rough night?" "wait until she's up. she'll tell you." ron clearly didn't appreciate being left in the dark, but he accepted harry's words reluctantly and turned back to his toast. "is she all right though?" he asked. "she's fine," harry lied. it wasn't true but with respect to ron's question she was, at least, breathing. harry glanced up as he reached for the jam. "hey, ginny." ginny favoured him with a brief and oddly empty look. "hello." confused, harry chose not to pursue the matter for the moment, and spread jam on his toast. they passed the meal in an awkward silence, none of them game enough to break it. harry cast worried looks at ginny, who spent the entire time looking forlornly down at her plate, which held the same piece of toast for the whole hour. he reminded himself to talk to ginny later and ask her what was bothering her. hermione didn't show up for breakfast, so harry and ron made their way to the library in silence, where they spent their free period. harry could tell ron was still anxious to know what was wrong with hermione but he thankfully held his tongue. *** she's not here. draco cast another searching look around the hallway. he had spent most of the morning deciding when would be the best time to show up at arithmancy, so that he

could secure a seat next to hermione. naturally she would try to avoid him, which would not prove beneficial to his cause. he decided it best to get there early and wait for her, as she was usually early herself. if he played it right, he could prevent her from slipping into a seat beside someone else and force her to talk to him. what he hadn't counted on, though, was her absence. he waited at the door of the room, his eyes on the end of the corridor, watching as various arithmancy students trickled into the classroom and took their seats, chatting away happily. after ten minutes and the arrival of professor vector, there was still no hermione. bugger, draco thought. it hadn't occurred to him that she'd miss class, considering her reputation for never doing so. she must really be upset to miss arithmancy. not feeling particularly keen on going at the complicated arithmancy problems solo, draco slipped back out of the room and wandered down the hall. maybe she was at the library, figuring draco would suppose it too obvious a place to look for her in. it was possible, though, and worth a look. *** lupin knocked on the headmaster's office door. "professor?" "come in," dumbledore's voice issued through the large wooden doors. at his words they swung open, revealing the old headmaster sitting at his desk with quill in hand. "remus," he said pleasantly, if a little tiredly, "good morning." "and to you," lupin replied. "please," said dumbledore, indicating a chair on the other side of his desk. lupin accepted the invitation and seated himself before dumbledore's desk, a position he had occupied many times before, though usually with three other boys seated around him, all staring nervously at their shoes. "i have to speak to you about something," lupin informed dumbledore. "something serious." "everything is serious these days, remus," said dumbledore. "but please, tell me what's on your mind." "one of the hufflepuffs," said lupin, "a second year boy, discovered something behind the greenhouses this morning." dumbledore looked up, his gaze heavy. the twinkle that had for so long resided in those blue eyes was gone, replaced by an almost otherworldly weariness. "indeed?" said dumbledore. "and what did he discover?" "a body," said lupin. "a corpse - to be more accurate." dumbledore looked gravely back at him. "a corpse?"

"it wasn't human," lupin added, "not that that makes any difference. a gnyvark demon, i suspect." dumbledore raised his chin and looked pensively past lupin's shoulder for a moment. he tented his fingers beneath his nose. "and this demon is dead?" "quite," replied lupin. "there's a large puncture wound in its torso. stabbed, most likely." "who else knows about this?" "no one. i came directly to you." dumbledore nodded. "i think," he said, standing, "we should take a look at this demon. please, lead the way." *** harry knew immediately what the inquisitive look on draco malfoy's face was when he stepped through the library doors. ron, luckily, was too preoccupied with his transfiguration homework to look up immediately. it took a while for the slytherin boy's grey eyes to pass over harry; when they did, they paused. harry held malfoy's gaze without looking away. he felt a surge of anger run through his body and tightened his fists. draco faced him down; he had years of practice at it. he was the first to turn away, though not out of defeat, and he stalked out of the library. harry watched him go and then turned to ron. "i forgot one of my books," he said, standing. "i'll be right back." ron mumbled a reply as he puzzled over the sheet of parchment before him. slipping between the rows of tables, harry reached the library doors and pushed them open. he was in time to see malfoy rounding the corner at the end of the hall. he jogged to catch up. "malfoy," harry called out when he emerged around the corner. the slytherin boy stopped and turned on his heel, as though he had expected harry to run after him. "what do you want, potter?" he drawled. harry took several steps forward. "a large bruise on your face comes to mind," harry said. he stopped a few feet short of draco. "hermione told me what you did." "did she?" "yeah. how you were planning to hand her over to voldemort and your obnoxious father." draco took a menacing step forward. "be careful what you say about my father, potter." "or what?" harry demanded. "you'll agree to deliver me to voldemort, too? or was that the plan all along?"

draco fell silent and glared back at harry. "you always did like to stick your misshapen nose into matters that don't concern you." "i think they concern me very much," said harry. "leaving aside the fact that i'm the one voldemort wanted for the moment - that's a friend of mine you almost got killed. things like that tend to get personal. but i suppose you wouldn't know, seeing as how you haven't got any friends." "fuck you, potter." harry kept his body ready, in case the other boy was planning on throwing a punch or hexing him. if he needed to he could grab his wand from his pocket in a matter of seconds. and harry very much hoped it would come to that. the pain he could inflict on malfoy would be worth the punishment he'd inevitably receive. "you were looking for her weren't you," harry goaded him. "trying to finish the job after you got cold feet last night? bet daddy isn't too happy with you." draco glared back with fury in his eyes. "i'm warning you, potter." harry's hand hovered near his pocket. he watched draco's eyes, waiting for the sparkle of determination that would precede the drawing of his wand. just then a throat was cleared and harry turned to his right, draco to his left. walking towards them along an adjacent hallway were dumbledore and lupin. dumbledore stopped before harry and draco. "good morning, boys," he said evenly. "morning, professor," harry replied. draco kept silent. "not in class this morning, are we?" "i don't have class," said harry. dumbledore turned expectantly to draco. "i forgot my arithmancy book in my room," draco said. "i was on my way to get it when potter accosted me." harry rounded on draco. "accosted you!?" "that's right." "you lying--." dumbledore cleared his throat again. "if there is a problem, boys, i would be happy to discuss it with both of you in my office during lunch." harry glared at draco. "no," he said through his teeth. "no problem." "very well then. i suggest you continue to your dormitory mr. malfoy and then return to your classroom once you have your book. and harry, it would be best if you found

something to occupy yourself with until your next class." "i will, professor," said harry, taking his eyes off draco. he gave the slytherin boy a last glance and then returned the way he'd come, back to the library. *** lupin heard the headmaster sigh. "they will curse each other with their last breaths," he said, shaking his head. they continued walking through the halls until they reached the marble staircase that took them to the entrance hall and out the oak front doors. the sky outside was depressingly overcast, the clouds obscuring most of the sun's light. the winter weather seemed fast approaching and soon hogwarts would be covered in snow. they made their way around the castle and then cut a straight line towards the greenhouses. they were empty now, apart from the various plants and vegetation that resided within them. "none of the other children saw this demon corpse?" dumbledore asked lupin as they walked. "no. it's behind the greenhouses, on the edge of the forest. the young hufflepuff boy only saw it because he was being sick on the grass after smelling a repugnasia plant." "on the edge of the forest?" dumbledore inquired curiously, turning to lupin. "yes. he might have been sheltering there before he died." they rounded the greenhouses and came to a stop. lupin took several steps forward and stared at the ground, pointing down. "it- it was right here," he said, spinning around to look in every direction. "when i left it, it was lying right here." dumbledore pushed his spectacles up his nose and scanned the ground. "you are sure, remus?" "positive," lupin replied. "right here where i'm standing." dumbledore walked forward to join lupin, staring down at the spot he was indicating. he crouched down and pulled something out of the grass. he straightened up and held it out to look at. "a knife," he said, examining the blade. lupin saw it was half silver and half dark orange, though he suspected the orange colour to be dried blood. dumbledore peered at it thoughtfully. "a strange weapon," he said, turning the knife over in his hands. "i would not expect a gnyvark demon to carry a blade like this. they are not known for armed combat." "perhaps it belonged to the person who stabbed it," lupin suggested. "perhaps."

"maybe some of the creatures in the forest dragged it away. they couldn't have gotten very far though. we could look for it; ask hagrid to help." "no," dumbledore said. "there is little point now. if it was dragged into the forest there will be little left of it by now." lupin sighed and turned to dumbledore. "what do you make of it?" "i don't know, remus," said dumbledore, peering curiously at the knife. "i don't know." *** when the bell for lunch rang, ginny's mood hadn't improved. she packed her books into her bag and left the charms classroom with a sullen walk. the corridors outside looked particularly dull today, passing by her like static grey backgrounds. she clutched her books to her chest as she walked, her bag slung over her shoulder. she was debating whether or not to go to lunch. if she did, it would mean seeing harry again, which wasn't what she felt like doing right now. and if hermione was there, she'd end up feeling even worse when they started talking to each other and maybe hugging again. yuck. ginny hadn't expected her mood to improve but she hadn't expected it to worsen either. you could always count on draco malfoy, though, to do just that. he rounded the corner in front of her as she was slowly making her way towards it. at first it looked as though he would continue walking past her, without taking any notice of her or her glum expression. but just as he was passing her he stopped and turned. "hey, weasley," he said. ginny spun her head and glared at him. there was no way she was letting this obnoxious git ruin the rest of her day. "what?" she spat. "don't bother glaring at me; i'm not in the mood to insult you." ginny snorted. "why doesn't that fill me with confidence?" "just listen," malfoy said. "do you know where hermione is?" ginny narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "why?" "i'm looking for her, that's all. i need to talk to her about our arithmancy assignment." ginny laughed hollowly. "everyone wants to talk to hermione," she said scornfully. "why don't you all just form a line and pick numbers out of a hat?" draco raised an eyebrow at her. "pardon?" "nothing," ginny replied dismissively. draco looked at her curiously. "is this about potter speaking to her?"

ginny glared at him again. "why would you say that?" "you mean other than the fact that you're head over heals for that insufferable git?" "he is not an insufferable git," ginny replied defensively. "you're the git, malfoy." "i'm hurt," draco replied, with only a little of his usual sarcasm. "look...i'm just trying to find hermione. do you know if she's in her room?" "i have no idea," ginny replied. "right," said draco, "then i guess i'm wasting my time." he turned and started walking away. halfway down the corridor he paused and turned back to ginny, who was just about to leave. "hey, weasley," he called out. ginny looked up. "i notice you didn't deny it." ginny looked at him in confusion for a moment and then opened her mouth to protest, but draco just smiled and walked away. damn, ginny thought. i hate him! *** "that bastard!" ron exclaimed, incurring an irate glare from madam pince. he lowered his voice. "he seriously did that?" "that's what hermione said," harry confirmed. "and he didn't deny it either." "i'll kill him," said ron. "where is he?" "calm down, ron," harry said. "calm down?" ron cried in outrage. "why the hell should i calm down? he was going to give hermione to you-know-who! give her to him!" "i know, ron, but murdering malfoy in school isn't going to help matters." "no, but it'll make me feel better." "ron," harry warned. "you can't honestly be thinking of letting him get away with that," said ron. "i'm not," said harry. "but right now i'm more concerned for hermione. she's taking it pretty badly." ron snorted. "what did she expect? i told her not to trust that prat. but she wouldn't have any of it." "you can't blame her for this," said harry. "i blame both of them," said ron. "she for trusting him and he for being a bloody wanker." "ron," harry replied firmly, "hermione needs your support now, not your accusations.

you're only going to make things worse if you start reproaching her." ron sighed. "i know. i just can't believe she fell for that...that stupid idiot's trick. i can't believe she didn't see through him." "that doesn't really matter now," said harry. "let's just deal with hermione first." *** later that evening, when hermione hadn't come down for dinner, ron climbed the stairs to her room and knocked on the door. "hermione?" there was no answer from the other side and no noise to attest to her presence within, but if hermione was moping on her bed then that didn't mean much. ron lowered his hand. "hermione, i just want to talk to you. i'm not going to scold you or give you the big i-toldyou-so. can you please open the door." several more moments past in silence. ron raised his knuckles to knock again but the door opened in front of him, revealing a very dishevelled looking hermione. "hi," she said thickly. she sounded as though she were recovering from a cold. "hi," said ron. "can i come in?" "i wasn't really expecting company," hermione replied. "i promise i won't pass judgement," said ron. he raised his hands innocently. "i don't care if you have panties strewn all over the place." he received the smile he'd been aiming for and hermione let him in. "why would i have panties all over the place?" hermione asked. "you wouldn't," said ron. "but i can dream, right." he turned to hermione who crossed back to her bed and sat down despondently, fiddling with the edge of her blanket which was already extensively frayed. "so," ron began, "how're things?" hermione looked up, staring back at ron dejectedly. "right," said ron, sitting down on the bed. "listen - if you want to talk about what happened--." "not really," said hermione. "are you sure?" she nodded. "would it help if i punch his face in until he squeals like a baby?" "not really," hermione repeated. "can i do it anyway?" hermione looked up with a weak smile. "i'm sorry, ron," she said. "i should have listened

to you. i know you were just looking out for me." "i was," said ron. "but maybe i didn't go about it in the right way." hermione smiled back. "you must be hungry," ron said. "i don't have an appetite at the moment," hermione replied. "are you sure? 'cause i could sneak something out of the kitchen if you want." "no, thanks." "well, do you want to go for a walk or something? stretch your legs...get some fresh air." the weakened smile reached her gloomy eyes. "that'd be nice." ron watched her stand and cross the room to her wardrobe. "i'll wait outside," he said. *** "ginny," harry said, looking across the table. "is something wrong?" ginny glanced up and managed to keep a straight, impassive expression on her face. "no." "are you sure? you seem kind of down." "i'm fine," said ginny, stabbing a piece of steak with her fork. she hadn't the stomach to eat it though. "do you want to get in a few minutes on the quidditch pitch?" harry asked her. "it's still early." "no," ginny replied. she finally dropped her fork and stood from the table. "i think i'll go back to the common room." she walked the length of the table, conscious of harry's puzzled eyes following her and left the great hall. outside, in the entrance hall, she saw ron and hermione descending the marble staircase, probably working in a late dinner. great, thought ginny, wondering if it was too late to duck into the dungeons. "hey, gin," ron said courteously. "you're out early." "not hungry," ginny replied succinctly, glaring surreptitiously at hermione. "where are you going?" "outside for a walk," ron answered. hermione was keeping strangely silent, staring at the entrance to the great hall behind ginny. probably wondering when harry will be finished, ginny thought distastefully. "tell harry where we went, okay," ron said, he and hermione resuming their walk to the grounds.

yeah, thought ginny, i'll tell him where hermione is so he can run off and find her as soon as i've finished speaking. ginny turned and stormed up the staircase, back to gryffindor tower. *** "nice night," said ron. hermione looked up at the darkening sky but didn't reply. she hugged herself tightly, a chill running through her bones that didn't come from the outside air. ron led her to the left, starting off in the same direction she had walked with draco the day before. "let's go this way," hermione suggested, steering him in the opposite direction, towards the lake. she had pleasant memories of the lake, even if they involved the same person the more unpleasant memories involved. she felt weak - her stomach was grumbling with hunger but she couldn't have kept any food down if she'd tried. she hated that malfoy's deception had done this to her; reduced her to a miserable mess of tears and hunger pains and lack of sleep. they hadn't even been that close. so why had his betrayal left her feeling so hurt and empty inside? he was probably prancing cheerfully around the slytherin common room, bragging about his plot to kidnap hermione granger, the pitiful mudblood who was stupid enough to believe his lies. although, he hadn't succeeded in that regard, largely - no, entirely - due to his own actions. he couldn't brag about that. maybe he just enjoyed the fact that he had deceived her for so long and then decided that even the dark lord wasn't going to tell him what to do. either way, he definitely wasn't as miserable as she was. "are you cold?" ron asked, when they reached the lake and started around its eastern edge. "no," hermione replied. perhaps she was cold; she couldn't feel it though, not when she was so numb inside. "are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" ron asked her. hermione turned to him with sudden irritation. "yes, ron, i don't want to..." she trailed off as she looked past ron's shoulder, at the blonde boy walking towards them. draco walked purposefully, with his hands shoved inside his pockets. ron turned around. "what the hell is he doing here?" he said. they both waited in silence as draco approached them. his face was blank and unreadable - as it almost always was. he looked at hermione and paid no attention to ron. "i have to talk to you," he said. ron stepped forward and looked coldly at draco. "she doesn't have anything to say to you."

"sod off, weasley," draco snapped. "this doesn't concern you." "the hell it doesn't," ron replied sharply. "if you lay a finger on her i'll snap it off and jam it down your throat." draco smirked. "you've got spine, weasley," he said. "maybe i'll snap it in two." ron started towards draco. hermione grabbed the back of his cloak. "forget it, ron," she said. "he's not worth it. don't waste your energy." ron continued to glare at draco. draco turned back to hermione and opened his mouth. "i don't have anything to say to you," hermione snapped before he could speak. draco said, "i just wanted to--." "i said i don't want to hear it," hermione replied crossly. "just go away." draco stared at her for a moment, then his eyes glazed over with cold indifference. "fine," he said, "i'll go." he turned around and trudged back to the castle, his shoulders set at an angle. "come on," said hermione, taking ron's hand, "let's keep walking." *** draco had worked himself into a rage by the time he reached the front doors. he pushed them open and stormed towards the dungeons. he snapped at a passing ravenclaw boy that was eyeing him warily and made for the slytherin common room. once he was inside his room he stood facing the window, his chest heaving, and let the fury wash over him. damn, granger! he thought angrily. he had swallowed his pride - which was antithetical to being a malfoy - and tried to apologise to her...and for what? for her to throw it back in his face as though apologising to people was something that draco did lightly? hadn't she seen him stick a knife in her kidnapper's chest, just to spare her life? hadn't she realised the danger he was putting himself in by disobeying the will of both his father and voldemort? well, that was the last time he'd try to apologise to her. if she wanted to act like a stubborn little girl, with a two-dimensional view of the situation, then she could do just that. draco wanted nothing to do with her from now on. as far as he was concerned, hermione granger was banished from his thoughts for good. *** the winter months greeted hogwarts like an old friend, and soon the grounds were covered with snow. the interior of the castle became dark and silent, most students preferring to keep to the warmth of their common rooms. ginny had taken to wandering the halls again, alone and unhappy. it took her a while to find the dead-end hallway with the painting of the unicorn in it, and she began to suspect

it moved around like some of the other hallways at hogwarts. she settled down against the wall and watched the magnificent white animal snoozing on the grass. she wished she could sleep too, so that she wouldn't have to bear her thoughts. christmas was fast approaching and ginny looked set to spend it alone again. in previous years, she had traded presents with some of the girls in her dormitory, simply because it was the polite thing to do at hogwarts; but this year she wouldn't bother. this year she would send presents home to her parents, open the ones they sent back, and then come back to this hallway and spend the day looking at the picture of the unicorn. there was nothing else for her to do. she wondered - and it was painful to do so - how harry would be spending christmas day. she imagined he, ron, and hermione all sitting around a pile of presents and opening them with excited laughter. she saw them bounding merrily down the marble staircase and into the great hall where they ate and talked and set off christmas crackers together. ginny realised she was smiling wistfully at the unicorn and recovered herself. it was so easy to picture the three of them doing things like that together. they were always so naturally cheerful that it was impossible to picture them other wise. none of them ever had to worry about feeling depressed. *** hermione was dreading arithmancy. it was a new feeling for her, though she'd heard other students mention it quite often. she had avoided the library ever since draco had showed up there and asked her to go for a walk at night around the castle. that was easy, as she could - even with all the noise - complete her homework in the common room. but she couldn't complete her classes anywhere else and that meant she would have to see draco again. she dawdled on her way to arithmancy and arrived just as professor vector was entering the room. she spotted draco sitting at the back of the room, the seat beside him empty. he was staring at the front wall, sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. hermione walked to the other side of the room and sat down beside padma patil. "i take it your assignments are coming along well," said professor vector. hermione glanced instinctively over at draco, but his focus remained on the centre of the room. the angles of his face were stubbornly set, the line of his jaw sharp and firm. hermione looked back down at her desk. professor vector set the day's work and hermione opened up to the right page in her textbook. she unrolled a sheet of parchment, inked her quill and started writing. it was strange, pausing to think about a question without being able to turn to draco and ask him what he was doing. it made the work seem longer and far duller. in hermione's opinion, the end of the lesson couldn't come quick enough. when the bell had rung and hermione packed her bags, she stood up and headed for the door. draco brushed roughly past her when she reached it and disappeared into the hallway. hermione was close to saying something spiteful to him, but she wasn't sure it

was wise - for both their sakes - to provoke him. she didn't feel much like talking to him anyway. transfigurations wasn't much better, even with ron and harry there. ron kept trying to make small talk with her - which she appreciated the first dozen times - and harry was being distant and aloof. she wasn't sure what was bothering him, but she had no thoughts to spare for other people's problems right now. she skipped lunch and headed for the library, confident that she wouldn't see draco there any time soon. she instinctively started towards her usual table, then stopped and sat down at another on the other side of the room. she took out her books and laid her arithmancy assignment out on the table. hermione soon found that it was impossible to concentrate on her work and that looking down at the numbers and equations that reminded her of draco only exacerbated her gloomy mood. she rested her chin on her palm instead and gazed out the window, watching the snowflakes fall to the ground like so many misguided hopes. ***

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author notes: quotes, notes and references: draco smirked. youve got spine, weasley, he said. maybe ill snap it in two. --angel
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title: the redemption of draco malfoy (09) author name: jason author email: scarecrow_eyes@hotmail.com category: action/adventure sub category: romance keywords: harry hermione ginny ron voldemort

rating: r spoilers: ss/ps, cos, poa, gof, fb, qtta summary: it's christmas time at hogwarts and sinister thing are in the mix: ginny mopes...again, draco broods...again, hermione sulks...again, ron consoles...again, and voldemort seeks to rectify draco's transgression. disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by jk rowling, various publishers including but not limited to bloomsbury books, scholastic books and raincoast books, and warner bros., inc. no money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. i have used quotations from various sources in some of the chapters. you can find the references at the end. author notes: acknowledgements: danjio, my exquisite beta-reader who does fantastic work. thank you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ chapter nine: the coup christmas day dawned grey and cloudy with a pale, wintry light shining through the windows of the fourth year gryffindor girls' dormitory. ginny rolled over in bed and looked outside, wondering, quite seriously, if she would get up at all today. the other girls were all asleep, brightly wrapped parcels lying in wait at the ends of their beds. ginny decided that she could save a lot of awkwardness and irritation if she changed and left before they woke up. she climbed out of bed, got dressed, and then crouched down beside the small stack of packages at the foot of her bed. the first she chose was a sweater and a large tin of biscuits from her mother - she opened that one first every year. the sweater was canary yellow with a broomstick and a quaffle sewed on the front. ginny smiled and laid it aside. the next was from ron - a basket of assorted sweets. hermione had given her a box of decorative barrettes that she could use for her hair - some had minor spells on them that prevented curling or frizzing. and harry had given her a small package (she pocketed the card straight away) that ginny opened last of all. inside was a small, golden ball with wings looked very similar to the snitch they used in their quidditch games. this one though, ginny read on the instructions, was a practise snitch. it stayed within a few feet of you when you released it, and darted around until you caught it. ginny smiled fondly as she remembered the day when harry had taught her how to catch the real snitch. she slipped his present into her other pocket, disposed of the empty wrapping paper, and then crept out of the room. the common room was empty at this early hour. everyone would still be sleeping snugly in their beds and waiting for they day to begin so that they could open their presents and enjoy a large breakfast with their friends. ginny padded across the floor to the portrait hole and pushed it open. she was about to step out when a voice spoke from behind her. "ginny." she turned around, feeling as though she'd been caught doing something wrong. she was startled to see harry looking back at her curiously. "where are you going?"

ginny swallowed the lump in her throat and replied, "i...um...i was just going for a walk...around the castle." "oh," harry said. "mind if i come?" ginny's stomach flipped over. her first thought was to make an excuse - any excuse - not to have to walk around the castle alone with harry. she didn't think he'd be asking to come with her if he knew how little conversation she'd provide. but then, why was he asking to come with her? wouldn't he rather wait here for the others? "don't you want to wait for ron and hermione?" ginny asked, voicing her thoughts. "it's still early," harry replied. "we'll probably be back before they get up. we can all open our presents then." ginny looked nervously at her feet. "i...er...sort of, already opened mine." harry smiled warmly. "oh, well." he walked over to join her by the portrait hole. "so do you mind if i come?" "no," ginny said, shaking her head. she waited for harry to climb through and then followed him. the portrait swung shut behind them, the fat lady snoring loudly in her frame. they started walking down the hall, ginny looking nervously around at everything except harry. her heart was beating several hundred times faster than normal, and even the winter air couldn't cool down her face. every time harry looked at her, her stomach pitched sickeningly and she tried desperately to find something to say, so that harry wouldn't think she was boring. but nothing came to mind. "so...happy christmas," harry said at length. ginny smiled timidly at him. "happy christmas." she turned back to stare at the floor. "so you got my present?" harry asked. "yeah," said ginny. "thanks." "did you try it out?" "no," ginny replied guiltily. "but i've got it here." she fished the practise snitch out of her pocket and showed harry. "you tap it with your wand, i think," harry explained. ginny pulled her wand out of her pocket and tapped the snitch once. it unfurled its wings and started to zoom around her head. ginny giggled. they continued walking, swiping at the air every so often in an attempt to catch the elusive snitch. it kept ginny's hands and mind occupied while harry spoke to her and for that she was thankful.

"where are we?" harry asked as they turn a corner. they were a long way from the gryffindor common room now. "we're on the fourth floor," ginny told him. they steered another corner and ginny saw the painting of the sleeping unicorn. "i've never seen this hallway before," said harry. "i only found it a few weeks ago," said ginny, wondering if she had subconsciously steered harry towards it. she knew she wouldn't have felt comfortable bringing anyone else here. ginny was surprised to see the unicorn in the picture awake and trotting around the grass it usually slept on. it walked up to the frame when it saw them, and snorted merrily. ginny smiled at it. she saw the snitch hovering around her knee and stooped down to catch it. she seized it but something fell out of her other pocket as she did. she looked on in horror as harry bent down to pick it up. he looked briefly at the card that bore his name and then held it out to her. "you dropped this." ginny turned bright red and took the card from harry. "thanks," she said. "it must have been stuck to the snitch." she shoved it back in her pocket, hoping harry hadn't noticed it had fallen out of the right one when the snitch had been in the left. *** christmas, draco thought with loathing as he sat up in bed. he didn't care for the holiday at all, not when he had nothing to celebrate. it would be one of the first he had spent at hogwarts, for obvious reasons. he had slept poorly, he was worried about what his father and voldemort would do to him once they found out he had betrayed them, and on top of that, he still couldn't get hermione granger off his mind. he leant forward and put his head in his hands, willing his headache to go away. it didn't, however, and he was forced to get up. he skipped breakfast - as he had been doing a lot lately - and instead decided to go to the library. he wasn't in a mood to watch people, especially hermione and her friends, celebrating merrily amongst themselves. he supposed he'd find peace and quiet at the library; not only would very few students go there on a day like today, but it would be the last place hermione would go, so draco could be guaranteed he wouldn't run into her there. he took his arithmancy books with him; it would be best to get used to working on his assignment alone from now on. when draco walked through the doors of the library, he realised that he was right about very few students being in there and that he was wrong about hermione not being there. she was sitting in a corner by herself, staring down at a sheet of parchment with her quill in hand. draco stopped inside the entrance when he saw her.

he wondered whether he should leave, then dismissed the idea. no one, especially not hermione granger, was going to prevent him from going where he liked. he wouldn't scurry around school, avoiding her like a broken-hearted puppy. he wondered next whether now might be the perfect time to speak to her. but he didn't want to apologise anymore did he? hermione could wallow in her own despair for all he cared. she had made it perfectly clear to him that she wasn't willing to hear him out. well, bugger her then. draco took a seat at the table furthest away from hermione, and emptied his bag. he soon realised that they were the only two students in the library and even madam pince wasn't at her desk. it was tempting to take the opportunity to talk to her but he told himself firmly that he didn't care what she had to say. it wasn't until hermione looked up that draco realised he'd been staring at her for a good long time. she looked blankly at him for a second and then turned away quickly. a second later she had packed her bag and was heading for the door. "running away are you, granger?" draco sneered. hermione turned around. "go to hell, malfoy," she said. "i was under the impression that hell was anywhere you were," draco drawled in reply. hermione narrowed her eyes at him and approached his table. "no one cares what you have to say, you spiteful little creep - so why don't you just keep your mouth shut." draco stood up, his eyes flashing with fury. "you'd better watch how you talk to me, granger..." he began. "or what?" hermione shouted. "you've already tried to hand me to voldemort. what else are you going to do to me?" "i didn't hand you to voldemort!" draco replied sharply. "why didn't you?" hermione demanded. "because you felt guilty? is that why? you actually came down with a shred of moral decency? i bet that was really disappointing for you." "you don't know a damn thing about me," draco hissed. "obviously, i don't," hermione replied, her eyes beginning to shine with tears. her voice was thick as she spoke. "i had no idea you were going to do that to me, so congratulations. for some strange, stupid reason...i actually thought you were my friend." "i was!" draco snapped. "no, you weren't!" hermione cried. she sniffed and wiped furiously at her eyes. "you never liked me and you never wanted to spend any time with me. you used me." "you have no idea what you're talking about," said draco in reply. "you don't know what i

was going through." "what you were going through?" hermione cried indignantly. "don't pretend you're the victim here. you were the one that lied to me...betrayed me." "i had no choice!" draco yelled. "you always have a choice," hermione cried. "it may not be an easy choice, but it's a choice. do you think harry ever took the easy way out?" anger seeped into draco's bones. "bloody potter!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "don't you ever shut up about that whiny runt? if you're so bloody obsessed with him, why don't you ask him to help you with your stupid arithmancy homework." draco's anger was boiling over; he was no longer considering his words before speaking them. "you were the one who asked me for help!" hermione shouted. "you know exactly why i did that," draco replied. "do you really think i would ask for the help of some insufferable, know-it-all, mudblood who..." hermione raised her hand and slapped draco across the cheek. he reeled with the impact, his cheek stinging where she'd hit him. he'd never been hit that hard before in his life. hermione was looking at him with scorn in her eyes, loud sobs racking her body. "don't you ever...ever speak to me again," she said. draco watched in silent astonishment as she spun on her heel and stormed out of the library. he stood watching the doors for several minutes after hermione had left, unable to move. *** in the weeks that followed, hermione sank back into the pit of despair she had hoped to leave behind. draco's cruel words had cut fresh words in her heart and soon she ended up feeling worse than she originally had. she spent many nights in her room, crying on her bed until she fell asleep. it was remembering what draco had been like before his betrayal - the things he's said the person he'd been - that made her feel the worst. she wondered how that person could disappear so quickly and completely. had he ever been like that, or had hermione simply given him too much credit? regardless of what he was then, she knew what he was now - he was spiteful, and he was vindictive and he was as cruel and callous as he'd ever been. he would say anything to hurt her and he would find pleasure in the fact that he had. hermione couldn't bear to think of him and yet he was all she thought about. harry and ron made several attempts to cheer her up, but their assuaging words fell on empty ears - or at least ears that were too preoccupied with remembering the nice things they'd once heard to listen to anything else. hermione hadn't told her friends about her most recent quarrel with draco; she didn't think grabbing the back of ron's cloak would keep him away from malfoy this time. she spent her days in her room, and took to going to bed early. she avoided the library with a fiery dislike; she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to set foot in there again. she was

even forced to apologise to ron and harry for not coming to their match against slytherin. hermione just didn't think she'd be able to stand seeing draco again, even if he was several dozen feet above her. ron returned to gryffindor tower after the game and stood outside hermione's door, trying once again to cheer her up. "we trounced slytherin," he said through the door. he laughed weakly. "you should see ginny. she got it worse than harry. she wouldn't move out of the way even when bole charged into her." ron lapsed into silence, obviously waiting for hermione's response. "malfoy got a blood nose," he said. hermione cringed at the mention of his name. "knocked his head on his broomstick while he was racing harry for the snitch. he wasn't playing very well today. not that he ever plays very well." more silence ensued, then ron sighed. "come on, hermione. don't let that git do this to you. can't you just forget about malfoy? exams are coming up soon, you know." hermione smiled to herself. only ron would know that she'd snap out of a daze at the mention of exams. she didn't leap out of it or jump off her bed; she merely sat up slowly and then walked to the door and opened it. ron fell back and landed face up on the floor. clearly he'd been leaning against the door. "hi," hermione said, looking down at him. "'lo," ron replied stiffly. "are you all right?" hermione asked. "sure," said ron. "just glad you're wearing jeans." hermione laughed and helped him up. ron dusted off his clothes and smiled at her. "should have known exams would have done the trick." hermione smiled back. "where are the others?" "downstairs," said ron. hermione could hear voices in the distance. "harry and ginny won't be able to escape but we can probably slip out." "to where?" "outside, if you like." "i don't know," hermione said, lowering her eyes. "come on, hermione. you can't just lock yourself away in your room for the rest of the year. you'll get fat if you don't get some exercise." "ron!" hermione howled and punched him in the arm. ron laughed jovially. hermione sighed. "all right. i'll get my cloak." *** the sky was already growing dark outside. the clouds were an inky mix of grey and blue, stretching away over the forest. hermione walked down the front steps with ron and buttoned her cloak up. there was very little of the hogwarts grounds that hermione could walk around safely without being confronted by painful memories. ron led her towards

the lake, but she didn't protest. she would have to forget about malfoy and the best way to do that was to erase his presence from places like this. ron walked slowly by her side with his long stride, his hands shoved deeply into his pockets. hermione felt a rush of gratitude and affection for him, as she looked at his open, compassionate face. kind, predictable ron, she thought. he was always there for her, always ready to stick up for her and cheer her up when she was feeling blue. why was it that ron never occupied hermione's thoughts as draco did? why wasn't she having funny, warm feelings for him? "something wrong?" ron asked. hermione looked down at the snow. "nothing," she replied. ron nodded to himself and then sighed. "you're going to have to tell me about it eventually," he said, looking at her. hermione looked back. "i know. and i will. but not now." "listen," said ron, "i know you feel like it's the end of the world right now, but it won't stay like that forever. things will get better. no matter how bad you feel now it'll all be..." ron trailed off as a voice split the air, coming from hermione's left. they both turned to stare at the forest. "help!" the voice cried out again. it was definitely coming from the forest. "who is that?" ron asked, his brow creasing with concern as he looked at the unmoving trees. "it sounds like a girl. a student maybe." "help me. please. i can't get down. please." "hello?" ron called out, walking to the edge of the forest. "where are you?" "in the forest," the girl answered him in a frightened voice. "i'm stuck in a tree and i can't get down. please, help me." "where are you?" ron repeated. "over here," the girl replied. "she's over there, i think," hermione said, pointing at a section of the forest. it was difficult to tell where the girl's voice was coming from. "don't worry," ron called out, "we're coming to help you." "are you sure you want to go in there?" hermione asked, looking at ron. "not really," he replied. "but if she's stuck up a tree then i have to. bloody hell - these first years never listen to dumbledore." he started towards the forest; hermione followed.

"wait here," ron said. "if there are spiders in there, you can take over." hermione smiled and held her cloak tightly around her, suddenly cold. she watched ron walk into the periphery of the forest. it was dark but she would be able to see him if he stayed close to edge. "i can't see you," ron called out, scanning the treetops with his eyes. there was no answer. "hello? are you still there?" hermione saw it then, behind ron, rushing at him with uncanny speed. she tried to yell out to him but something covered her mouth. a hand, she realised. her warning shout was muffled against the leathery palm in front of her mouth. she didn't see what happened to ron, as suddenly, an overwhelming tiredness gripped her body, and her knees gave out. briefly, she felt the tip of what might have been a wand pressed against her back, but she wasn't sure, because the darkened sky above was falling down to cover her eyes and drown her in silence. *** draco was restless; more so than he'd been the entire day. his nose felt better after his trip to the hospital wing, but all madam pomfrey's potions and healing charms could do nothing for his troubled mind. he was furious, with the gryffindor quidditch team, with his father, with hermione; and himself most of all. why couldn't he stop thinking about her? she had made it perfectly clear that he was never to speak to her again. and draco certainly didn't want to speak to her either, or so he'd thought. he was still edgy and anxious; still feeling as though he'd left something unresolved. he hated this guilty conscience business - how could people stand it? malfoy's didn't feel accountable for their actions and they certainly didn't feel remorse at having wronged someone. so why did he? draco buried his face in his hands and yelled aloud. why wouldn't it stop? "she's a mudblood!" he shouted. "just a fucking mudblood!" he seized an empty glass from his bedside table and threw it at the wall as hard as he could. it hit the stones and shattered into a million tiny pieces. draco was left standing with his chest heaving, his teeth clenched together and his mind still as restless as before. he sat down on his bed and breathed deeply, his thoughts taking hold again. he sat down on his bed and buried his face in his hands again. who am i kidding? i still want to apologise to her and i won't get a moment's peace until i do. so draco was back where he'd started, only now hermione had no desire what so ever to talk to him. that didn't matter though; he had to find a way to appease his conscience, even if that meant swallowing his pride again. he considered, at one point, barging into the gryffindor common room, then barging his way into hermione's room and asking her for a quick word. he doubted though, considering how popular he was with the gryffindors, whether he'd make it through the

common room in one piece. and unless neville was wandering the halls at this time of night, he wouldn't be able to get through the portrait hole at all. so now he faced the distasteful prospect of another sleepless night, lying awake in his bed and counting down the hours until he could stage his next pitiful attempt at an apology. hermione would have to leave her room eventually. he would catch up with her sooner or later and she'd realise that he was sorry for what he'd done and everything would be back to normal. the good normal, not the bad normal. there was one thought that deterred draco from the 'be patient' approach though, and that was that if he left it too long, potter and weasley would have her ear, convincing her that he was a rotten bastard that didn't deserve her forgiveness. "lousy gits," draco said aloud. *** "ahh." ron sat up with an almighty headache ripping through his skull. his vision was slightly clouded and the pain that lanced through his head and his legs was close to unbearable. he felt as though he'd been knocked into a tree - which, judging by his memory, he probably had been. he rubbed his temple as he looked about him in confusion. the forest, he thought. the girl. i have to help her. but no, there had been no girl. there had been a sound, a crashing sound, moving through the trees behind him. and then... "hermione!" he whirled around, looking between the trees and out at the lake. where was she? had the thing that attacked ron attacked her too? ron ignored the pain the shot through his legs as he walked and began to search the surrounding area. "hermione!" he called out again. still no answer. he walked out of the forest and back to the lake, where they had been standing before the girl had cried for help. hermione wasn't there either, but her cloak was. it was lying on the grass, as dark as the sky above with...something white buried beneath the folds. ron bent down and picked up the cloak, hanging it over his shoulder after he'd pulled out the white object which turned out to be a letter. he broke the seal open, fear gripping his heart, and read the contents of the envelope. when he had finished, he looked back up at the castle, staring at the gryffindor tower. harry, he thought, and took off at a run. *** people were slowly vacating the common room, climbing the stairs to their beds as the hour became late. harry looked around the room from the chair he was sitting in, hoping to find ginny now that the crowd was dispersing. something was bugging her and for some reason that was bugging him. he wasn't sure why, but common sense suggested a subconscious knowledge that it had been something he'd done that had upset her.

he couldn't find her though, no matter how hard he looked, which admittedly wasn't really necessary. weasley's were easy to spot in a crowd; ginny more so because of the length of her hair. he would have spotted her right away if she'd been in the room. harry didn't feel like returning to his room though. if he climbed those stairs and changed into his pyjamas and went to sleep, the dreams would wash over him again and bury him in their gruesome images. he didn't want to see them again, so he stayed in the chair, facing the fire and watching it burn. no sooner had the last person in the common room shut their dormitory door than ron burst through the portrait hole, panting and sporting a large bruise on the side of his face. "harry!" he cried when he saw him in the chair. he ran towards him. "harry, i--." he stopped to breathe, and swallow. harry felt a wave of fear run through him. "what is it?" he asked, staring at ron anxiously. "what happened?" "hermione," ron choked out. "they took her." harry stood from the chair. "what do you mean? who took her?" "i don't know," ron replied. "there was a girl in the forest and i tried to help her but something hit me from behind and then when i woke up hermione was gone and i found her cloak - with this in it." he handed harry an envelope that had already been torn open. harry found the letter inside and opened it up. he read it. harry potter, as you are by now no doubt aware, we have taken your mudblood friend. she is a prisoner of the dark lord; her life in your hands. if you wish her safe return, we suggest you remain reachable at all times. should you attempt to rescue her yourself, or should you alert the ministry, she will die. do not doubt the sincerity of our threat. we have captured her for obvious reasons, but we will not hesitate to kill her should you prove uncooperative. we will be in touch. harry lowered the letter and stared at ron in shock, his heart pounding with fear. "they took her?" he said weakly, fearing his legs would give out at any moment. ron just nodded and looked down at the ground, breathing deeply. harry couldn't see properly. suddenly the haze in front of the fire had extended to the rest of the room, obscuring his sight of anything but the letter in his hands. this was what he'd always feared; what he'd always tried to guard against. his friends and his family - the little he had - were obvious targets for voldemort. harry had always

worried that one day, voldemort would strike at those people, in order to get to him. it had happened before, when the dark lord had killed his father and his mother, carving a path through their ruined home to get at their newborn son. then, of course, harry hadn't been the prime target, but now he was. now, hermione was the one he would kill in order to get to harry. "i can't believe he took her," harry said, looking at ron for the first time. he felt empty inside, as though an integral part of his body had been extracted and hidden away from him. he read the letter again. voldemort hadn't made his demands clear. he hadn't even written the letter. so what did he mean by being in touch? would he owl harry with instructions on what to do to secure hermione's safe release? the idea was laughable, though harry was in no mood to laugh at it. voldemort would never release hermione. even if he did, once he'd killed harry he would hunt her down with the rest of the muggles and half-bloods and kill her then. she would suffer the same fate as the people harry had seen in his dreams. the thought made him feel sick to his stomach. "what are we going to do?" ron asked, looking at harry with worried, dependent eyes. "we have to find her," harry replied naturally. there was no other answer to give. "but you read what the letter said - if we try to find her voldemort will--." "i don't care what the letter said," harry snapped. he saw the hurt look on ron's face and took a deep breath to calm his nerves; to keep the overwhelming sense of hopelessness at bay. "i'm sorry," he said. ron nodded. "but we have to find her." "i agree," said ron. "but how? we don't know where they took her. where do we start?" harry looked down at the letter, at the thin spidery letters that spelled out hermione's death sentence, then he looked back up at ron, his mind and his vision clearing. "malfoy." *** draco paced around his room irritably, his mind bending beneath the burden of his thoughts. he just wished he could apologise to hermione and get this weight off his chest. two months ago he wouldn't have thought it possible to feel this bad for someone, but now it was like an awful pain inside his chest that would only go away once he found hermione and told her he was sorry. that's it, draco thought, first thing tomorrow, i'm going to find neville, put my wand next to his face and threaten to hex him to dust unless he gives me the gryffindor password. then...i'm going yank out one of his hairs, break into snape's office, pilfer a vial of polyjuice potion and walk right up to hermione's door. the thought though, of walking around in neville longbottom's skin for even an hour wasn't particularly appealing. still, he would find a way. just then a loud pounding outside rudely interrupted draco's thoughts. frowning, he opened his door and stuck his head out. it sounded as though it was coming from the

common room. being a prefect, and also harbouring an intense desire to vent his anger on the disrespectful louts who had interrupted his thoughts, draco stalked along the hallway and into the common room, towards the noise. several disgruntled heads appeared from the rooms along the hall, muttering about drunken teachers and rogue mountain trolls. "go back to sleep," draco barked at some nearby first years, who fled into their room with fearful looks. draco walked over to the far wall of the common room, where the source of the noise was. he put a hand on the large stone block that served as the entrance, which slid aside to reveal to furious-looking gryffindors. "potter!?" two sets of hands seized draco's collar and yanked him outside, slamming him up against the opposite wall as the entryway slid shut again. "what the bloody hell are you doing?" draco bellowed furiously. "you can't just come down to the slytherin dormitory in the middle of the night and--." "where is she, malfoy?" harry snapped, staring at draco coldly. "what the hell are you talking about?" ron pushed draco harder up against the wall. "where is she!?" "i haven't got a bloody clue what you're talking about." "where's hermione?" harry demanded. "in her room probably," draco replied, struggling for air beneath ron's grip. "i don't know. i haven't seen her for days" "liar," ron hissed. "she's not in her room," harry said. "voldemort took her. and you'd better tell us where she is right now." suddenly, draco couldn't feel the constricting collar around his neck, or the hard stone pressed painfully against his spine. "what do you mean?" he asked. "you know exactly what we mean," ron barked. "now start talking or i'll break both your arms." draco directed his question to harry instead. "voldemort took hermione?" "don't play dumb," harry snapped. "tell us where she is!"

"i- i don't know," draco choked out. "i don't know where she is." "that's a damn lie," ron snapped. "and if you ever want to ride a broom again you'll tell us the truth." it was becoming difficult to breathe again. "much as i don't give a rat's ass about lying to you two," draco said, "i am telling the truth." ron's grip tightened. "i swear i'm telling the truth." "why should we believe you?" harry demanded. "do you really think i'd swear to you gits for no reason?" "your word isn't worth a thing to us, malfoy." "i swear on the malfoy name, then." "and that's supposed to mean something to us?" draco bristled with rage. "i just swore on my family line, you pricks. now let me go." harry took his hands away from draco's throat, then turned to ron. "let him go." reluctantly, ron released draco's collar. he stayed where he was though, his proximity still forcing draco up against the wall. draco rubbed at his throat. once his windpipe was clear again, and he was free to breathe, he considered the impact of what the two boys had said to him. "voldemort took hermione?" he asked. "we're not telling you a damn thing, malfoy," ron replied. "when did he take her?" draco persisted. "why should we tell you anything, malfoy?" harry demanded. "because i want to help you find her." ron snorted and harry narrowed his eyes with suspicion. "why?" "so i can trade bloody treacle recipes with her," draco snapped. "does it really matter?" "no," said harry, "it doesn't. because you're not coming with us." "i want to find her as much as you do," said draco. ron laughed hollowly. "you make me sick." "look in a mirror, i won't have to." ron started towards draco, his hands reaching for his collar. "hey, hey," draco protested, holding his hands out. "call off your weasel, potter."

"ron," harry said simply. ron stood down, glaring at draco fiercely. "you tried to give hermione to voldemort," harry said evenly. "we're not letting you anywhere near her." "i was told to give her to voldemort," draco clarified. "i didn't go through with it. i saved her." "she wouldn't have needed saving if you hadn't put her in danger in the first place!" ron snapped. "true," said draco. "but i disobeyed my father and voldemort to help her. that has to count for something." "explain to us," said harry, "why you chickening out and committing betrayal is supposed to fill us with confidence." "i did not chicken out!" draco cried resentfully. "and i betrayed the bad guys. isn't that what good guys do?" "you're not one of the good guys, malfoy," ron spat. "look," said draco, thoroughly irked by harry and ron's accusations and manhandling by now, "the day i care what you two tossers think of me will be the day i die my hair purple. but you can trust me, because i want to find hermione just as much as you do." "we don't need your help, malfoy," said harry. "we can find her on our own." "and how do you plan to do that?" said draco. "are you going to go down to the ministry and ask for the most recent address they have for old voldy?" "do you know something?" harry asked. "i might." "what do you know!?" harry demanded. "where is she?" "i don't know where she is," said draco. "but i might know how to get there." "how?" "the manor," said draco. "you think voldemort's keeping hermione at your house?" "no, dolt," draco snapped. "my father goes to see voldemort all the time. he never tells me where voldemort is, but he doesn't care if i know he's going. and every time he goes he apparates from his study. he's set up some kind of safety ward so that wherever voldemort is, the study at the manor is one of - if not the only - place you can apparate there from." "and suppose we manage to get to your father's study," said harry, "what then? none of us can apparate. and even if we could we wouldn't know where to apparate to."

"there're portkeys as well," draco explained. "they're for prisoners mainly. i've seen my father drag people into his study that were in no shape to apparate." "and your father," said harry, "generous guy that he is - he'll just let us have one of those portkeys?" "of course not." "then how do you propose we get one?" "simple," said draco. "we break into the manor." harry raised his eyebrows. "you want us to break into your house? and you want to help us do it?" "no and no," draco replied. "but i want to get hermione back, so i don't have a choice." harry sighed and looked pensively at ron. ron returned his gaze with equal contemplation, and more than a little doubt. "so what do we do?" he asked harry. harry turned back to draco, his green eyes distrustful but harbouring a reluctant acceptance. "we go to the manor," he said. ***

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author notes: notes, quotes and references: "the coup" is the name of an alias episode. i'm pretty sure that's where i got it from.
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title: the redemption of draco malfoy (10) author name: jason author email: scarecrow_eyes@hotmail.com category: action/adventure sub category: romance keywords: harry hermione ginny ron voldemort rating: r spoilers: ss/ps, cos, poa, gof, fb, qtta summary: hermione has been kidnapped and it's up to harry, draco, ron and ginny to rescue her. meanwhile, dumbledore and lupin are contemplating the death of the demon, hermione is scared out of her mind, and voldemort sends his ultimatum. disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by jk rowling, various publishers including but not limited to bloomsbury books, scholastic books and raincoast books, and warner bros., inc. no money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. i have used quotations from various sources in some of the chapters. you can find the references at the end. author notes: acknowledgements: danijo, of course, for the beta-reading. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ chapter ten: to the manor hermione opened her eyes in a daze, her vision blurred and her head throbbing. she took several deep, raspy breaths and looked around. the room she was in was circular, its walls, floor and possibly ceiling (she couldn't actually see it) constructed of a large blocks of stone. there was no furniture in the room, and no other occupants; it was entirely featureless save for a large metal door that was set into the wall. it was rusted to a dirty bronze colour and heavily bolted.

hermione put her hands on the wall behind her and pushed herself to her feet. her legs were unsteady but they held. she tried to remember what had happened. she had been walking around the lake with ron when they had heard the girl calling out to them. ron had gone to help her; hermione had felt someone cover her mouth and then a wand pressed against her back. darkness followed and the next thing she knew she was here. wherever here was. she looked around the room again. some of the stones on the walls were damp and there were mosses growing between those on the floor. that wasn't much of a clue but hermione supposed she was somewhere wet, perhaps in a woodland area somewhere. the smells that reached her nostrils were fresh and pungent; they reminded her of a forest. she took a step forward. a metallic rattle behind her told her she was chained to the wall. there were manacles bound around her wrists and ankles. their weight caused her to sit down again. she huddled miserably against the wall and tried not to cry. the sound of the iron door opening caught her attention. hermione cringed, expecting to see a hideous, inhuman man enter the room. instead she saw a tall figure, wearing black floor-length robes. it glided into the room and the door shut behind it. hermione's first impression was of a dementor. but she didn't feel the cold depression that usually washed over her in the presence of those creatures; she felt only fear. the robed figure took a step forward; its head inclined as it looked down at her from the shadows of its hood. hermione's heart began to race as two pale hands slid from the ends of the sleeves and went to the head. the figure lowered its hood. "welcome, child," said the dark lord. hermione opened her mouth and tried to scream. *** ginny sat by the fire in the common room, staring despondently into the flames. she was still having trouble sleeping. there was an almost hypnotic effect to the fire that calmed her restless mind and made her feel, if not sleepy, at least tranquil. she was lucky again, to find the common room empty; or so she had thought, until the portrait hole swung open, revealing harry and ron... "...leave the cloak," harry was saying as he stepped through. "we'll have to travel light." ron came through behind him. they walked several paces before spotting her. "ginny," said ron, looking startled. "what are you doing up? it's the middle of the night." "i could ask you the same question," ginny replied. "we...went for a walk," ron replied hesitantly. ginny ignored her brother's poor excuse. "what were you talking about travelling?" she asked. "are you going somewhere?"

"we're not going anywhere," said ron. "just go back to bed." "i'm fourteen years old ron," ginny replied resentfully. "i don't need you telling me what to do." "ginny...we don't have time for this. just go back to your room." "where are you going?" ginny demanded. "nowhere!" "tell me where you're going or i'll tell mcgonagall." "ginny!" ron exclaimed. "stop trying to blackmail us." ginny turned to harry, who hadn't said anything yet. "where are you going?" she asked. harry looked at her gravely for a moment, then spoke. "we're going to find hermione." "hermione," ginny said, confused. "where is she?" "she's been kidnapped," said harry. "kidnapped! by who?" "voldemort," harry replied simply. ginny's mouth widened in horror. "voldemort took hermione?" harry nodded. "and you're going to find her?" he nodded again. "i want to come." "what!?" ron spluttered. "you want to come!? absolutely not." "why not?" ginny demanded. "because you can't," said ron. "just go back to bed." "no," ginny said firmly, standing up. "i want to come." ron looked at her as though she were mad. "i don't believe this," he said, and sighed with frustration. "you talk some sense into her harry; i'll go get our stuff." ron headed towards the boys' staircase, the invisibility cloak held under his arm, and sprinted up the steps. a moment later ginny heard a door shutting. she turned back to harry. "i want to come, harry." "no," harry said firmly. "it's too dangerous." "too dangerous for me, but not for you and ron?" "that's different." "how is different?" ginny demanded.

"we've been through this before. we're older." "you faced voldemort when you were eleven years old!" ginny cried indignantly. "i had to," said harry. "if i'd had a choice, do you think i still would have?" "yes," ginny replied. "you wouldn't have been able to just sit around doing nothing while ron and hermione were in danger. and i can't either." "hermione will be fine," said harry. "we'll find her and bring her back. and i won't let anything happen to ron." "what about you?" said ginny. "who's going to look after you?" "i'll be fine, ginny," harry replied softly. "i still want to come." "ginny - it's too dangerous!" "i'm not a kid harry," ginny protested. "i know you aren't." "then stop treating me like one. you don't have any qualms with bringing ron or hermione along on your adventures, but you won't let me come." "this isn't an adventure, ginny. this is serious and it's dangerous and you could get hurt." "i won't," said ginny. "i'm not useless, harry. i can help just as much as ron can." "i never said you were useless, ginny." "then let me come. it'll be harder if it's only the two of you." "it's not," said harry, "just the two of us." he looked down at the floor. "malfoy's coming too." "malfoy's going with you!" ginny exclaimed. "you're letting malfoy come and you won't take me!" "we're not letting him come. he's part of the plan." "then make me part of the plan, too." harry looked at her with a pained expression. he sighed heavily. "ginny...i don't think you should come. it'll be dangerous and...and if anything happened to you...i wouldn't be able to forgive myself." "nothing will happen to me, harry." harry stared solemnly back at her. "i just don't want you to get hurt."

"i won't," said ginny. harry sighed wearily. "i can't stop you from coming," he said. "i can beg you not to and i can plead with you to stay but i can't stop you." "no - you can't." "just...promise me you'll be careful." "i will." harry nodded grimly. a door opened on the boys' staircase and ron came bounding down the stairs, wearing his winter cloak and carrying harry's. "let's go," he said, then turned to ginny. "go back to bed." ginny looked at harry. he turned with a grave air to ron. "she's coming with us." "what!" ron rounded on ginny. "no." he shook his head. "no, you're not." "yes, i am," said ginny. ron opened and closed his mouth in protest. "i'm going to get my stuff," ginny told them and hurried off to her room. *** "come on," said ron. "let's leave before she comes back." "ron," said harry. "harry!" ron exclaimed. "you can't honestly be thinking of letting her come." "i don't want her to," said harry. "but if we don't let her then she'll just follow us and she might get hurt. it's better that she comes with us." ron goggled at him. "i do not believe this." he continued to look astonished for several seconds and then sighed. "this is crazy," he said. "she's going to get hurt." "she won't," said harry. "i'll make sure of it." ron returned his sombre look. ginny came running down the stairs with her wand in hand, pulling a thick, winter cloak over her shoulders. harry was relieved to see that she, too, had had the common sense to travel light. he had been briefly confronted by the troubling image of ginny lugging a suitcase and her entire cosmetics collection down the stairs, asking them if they'd be stopping at a hotel along the way. but no - ginny wasn't like that. "let's go," said harry. "malfoy will be waiting for us." now draco, harry thought; he'd be the one to ask for five star accommodation during a rescue mission. *** draco was indeed waiting for them, leaning nonchalantly against the banister at the

bottom of the marble staircase that led to the entrance hall. he looked up when they arrived. "about bloody time," he barked. "i was beginning to wonder if you'd..." he trailed off as his eyes fixed on ginny, narrowing. "what's she doing here?" "she's coming with us," said harry. "and you can save your protests because they won't do any good." draco glared at ginny, who returned his look with equal ferocity. harry wondered if he should start taking bets on who would kill whom first. with two weasleys to one malfoy he still wasn't sure who had the advantage. "hey," said draco, "if she has a death wish, who am i to talk her out of it." "shut up, malfoy!" ron barked. "this isn't helping," harry interjected. "we need to figure out how to get to the manor." "we take a train," draco intoned. "from hogsmeade to wiltshire. we can walk from there." "then let's go," said harry. "the longer we stick around here the longer it'll take us to find hermione. and that's time she doesn't have." draco pushed himself off the banister and headed towards the front doors, the other three falling in step behind him. he wasn't sure what to make of ginny weasley's presence, but he knew he didn't like it. the more of them there were, the harder it would be to remain inconspicuous. and having two weasleys in the group would make them stand out like a beacon in the night. he should have done this alone, once he'd learnt of hermione's capture. these idiots would most likely do nothing other than attract voldemort's attention, which was exactly what draco didn't need right now. he felt a stab of worry for hermione, who wouldn't be able to avoid the dark lord's attention any longer. they pushed their way through the oak doors and started trudging across the grounds, towards the entrance of the school. the stars were out in force tonight, lighting up every inch of the sky and twinkling like millions of tiny candles. the moon, brightest of all, hung ominously over the forest, its light allowing them to see a good distance ahead. when they reached the large wrought iron gates, with their gargoyle sentries, they slipped silently through the bars and headed towards hogsmeade. *** hermione tried again to scream, but her voice had fled. she held her arms protectively across her chest and cowered against the wall. "you are frightened, child," voldemort said, peering at her curiously with his cat-like eyes. "that is good." voldemort reached out a hand and hermione flinched. she felt the manacles around her wrists and ankles spring apart and clatter to the floor. she rubbed the feeling back into one

of her wrists and tried desperately not to look at voldemort. "these are unnecessary," he said. "these walls will keep you well enough." hermione stared back at him, trembling with fear. voldemort crouched down before her, lowering his pale face to within a foot of hermione's own. he looked at her curiously, then raised a tapering finger and trailed it down her cheek. hermione winced at the ice-cold temperature of his skin. at this distance it was impossible not to look at him, not to notice the way his skin seemed to be stretched tightly across the bones of his face. she expected his breath to smell repulsive and rancid, but there was no breath at all coming from his lipless mouth. he's not even alive, hermione thought horribly. she felt a surge of sympathy for harry, who had looked into that face so many times in the past. "do i disgust you, child?" he asked, looking into her eyes. "i was once as pleasant to look upon as any of your young friends. an angel, the women at the orphanage called me. and so i was, to their eyes. their eyes saw only the innocent exterior of an obedient young boy - until i cut them out. i could have been as beautiful as lucifer himself. but i saw that my flesh was weak, my humanity flawed and vulnerable. i could not live like that, not i who wielded so much power. and so i became this; this sight that you now cringe at." voldemort drew a hissing breath. "it is good that you are afraid." he rose to his feet once more, gazing down at hermione. "potter will come for you soon enough, child. it is his curse to run to the aid of those in need." "you're wrong," hermione said, finding her voice. it sounded feeble inside the large stone chamber with the dark lord standing imperiously above her. "helping people is what makes harry human." "as i said," voldemort replied, "his curse." hermione fell silent again, looking fearfully up at voldemort. "wait here, child," he said, "potter will come for you. and when he does, you will have the honour of watching me slice him open and tear out his heart." voldemort turned on his heel and stalked from the room, the heavy iron door slamming shut behind him without the slightest push. hermione shuffled further back, curling up and sobbing miserably into her hands. harry would come for her - he had to. but what would happen to him when he did? *** the hogsmeade train station was deserted when harry, ron, ginny and draco arrived. it wasn't surprising, given the time of night, but the desolation of the station made it look almost sinister in draco's eyes. he saw ginny gazing about nervously and wondered if she was having second thoughts about tagging along on their little rescue mission. they purchased tickets from a harried-looking wizard after they'd roused him from his slumber. he stirred just long enough to take their coins and hand them their tickets, then returned to whatever he had been dreaming about. trains and tunnels, most likely, draco

mused with a smile. the three gryffindors sat down on a wooden bench to wait for the train whilst draco detached himself slightly from the group and leant against a wall, his arms folded over his chest and his eyes gazing into the distance. hogwarts castle still seemed ominously large from here, perched on its hilltop without a single light filling any of its windows. in the other direction, draco could see railway tracks stretching off to the horizon, a path that would lead them to the manor and hopefully to hermione. he was overcome by guilt now and worried about what voldemort would do to her. she doesn't deserve this, he thought to himself, noting with equal resolve that he was the reason she was in this mess. his father had given him the task of kidnapping an innocent girl and draco had accepted it as he had accepted all of his father's commands over the years. but no more, he told himself; he wouldn't blindly obey anyone from now on. now he made his own decisions and his first decision was to find and rescue hermione. he only wished he could do that without the help of these bloody gryffindors. draco broke his reverie to see the young weasley staring at him suspiciously. he glared coldly back at her until she turned away to look for the train again. draco smiled to himself. "i think i hear it," said harry, standing up and gazing into the distance. the sound of the locomotive's engine grew as it approached the station. the whistle sounded and it came to a rolling stop, its doors opening to release a scattering of tired passengers. draco pushed himself off the wall and followed the other three onto the train. they stopped at the first compartment they passed and stepped inside. draco followed reluctantly and sat down. "get your legs off the seat, malfoy," harry said, "we all need to sit down." sighing resignedly, draco swung his legs to the floor and wondered how much of this gryffindor diplomacy he could stand and for how long. didn't they ever prize comfort over equality? maybe he should find his own compartment. the atmosphere inside the one he was in, as the train began its journey towards london, became tense and awkward. everyone made it his or her business to stare either at the wall or out the window. it was several minutes into the trip when draco began to become increasingly irritated at the secretive glances ron was casting at him when he though draco wasn't looking. "would you stop gawking at me, weasley!" he snapped. ron rose quickly to the fight. "i wasn't gawking at you!" "then what the bloody hell were you doing?" "i don't trust you," ron replied candidly. "then i guess you won't be getting much sleep tonight, will you?"

"ron," harry said in a warning tone, "leave it alone." ron glared darkly at draco and lapsed back into silence. draco simply smiled until ron looked away. lousy git, he thought to himself. "how far is the manor from the station?" harry asked, dispelling the image of ron's fiery death from draco's mind. draco shrugged. "about half an hour's walk." "don't you think we should figure out what we're going to do when we get there?" "you're the wonder boy," draco drawled. "it's your job to formulate the plan." harry sighed irritably. "you're the only one of us who knows the place, malfoy, so you'd better tell us what to expect before we go barging in and wind up dead." "oh, you won't be barging in," said draco. "my father's got some nasty security spells around the mansion." "like what?" harry asked with curiosity. again, draco shrugged. "paralysis spells, crippling hexes, the inversion curse." "inversion curse?" harry inquired. "turns you inside out." ginny grimaced. "not very sociable, is he, your father?" said harry. "with the fortune he has stashed away inside the manor, he can't afford to be. none of them are lethal anyhow - if they're treated quickly enough. the spells are designed to stop intruders so that my father can interrogate them. but walking around with your muscles on the outside does tend to lead to blood loss fairly quickly." "so how do we get inside?" harry asked. "the spells are for intruders only. they won't have any effect on a malfoy." draco shifted casually in his seat. "once i'm inside, i'll take the spells off so you lot can get in." all three cast suspicious looks at draco. he furrowed his brow. "what?" "just make sure you live up to your word, malfoy." "save your threats, potter. as much as i might detest cavorting around with you lot, i'm not going in there alone. we're probably going to need bait and with the hair on these two we shouldn't have any trouble gaining voldemort's attention." "hey!" cried ginny.

"shut up," ron snapped. "if we're using anyone as bait," said harry, "it's you." "me! why me?" "you don't think voldemort will be eager to chat with you after you let hermione get away?" "i didn't let her get away," draco corrected. "i helped her get away." "so you say," ron added with a glare. draco glared back at him and the train lumbered on. *** by the time the steam engine pulled into the wiltshire train station, the entire party of four looked visibly relieved to escape the edgy confines of the compartment. draco left first, followed by ron, ginny and then harry. the sky outside was still dark, with daylight still a few hours off. the stars seemed dimmer here than they had at hogwarts. a few passengers had alighted from the train also, most of them making there way through a false barrier, similar to the one at king's cross, to enter the muggle side of the station. draco, however, led them to the other side of the tracks where a small winding path curled its way through darkened fields. they followed him in silence. draco seemed to know where he was going, which was just as well because harry couldn't see more than a few yards in any direction. the shadows around them had a particularly sinister edge to them; harry kept his eyes peeled. "do you know where you're going, malfoy?" ron asked, voicing harry's thoughts. "of course i do!" draco snapped in reply. "you don't think i know the way to my own house?" "well, i don't know how you can see when it's so dark." "i eat my vegetables, weasley." more silence ensued as they surmounted a knoll and then followed the path between a copse of trees. the ground was thick with large stones and fallen branches and made for difficult travelling. at one point ginny lost her footing and staggered backwards. harry's seeker reflexes caught her as before she fell. "you all right?" "yeah," ginny replied, glancing at him briefly. "thanks." just as harry was about to ask draco if he had gone and gotten them lost, the woods

around them thinned and the light of the moon greeted them once more. they emerged out of the trees and the path widened. "there it is," said draco. harry looked ahead, off into the distance, at the enormous mansion perched on top of a low cliff. it was a lot smaller than hogwarts but just as impressive and far more sinisterlooking. it was a shade darker than the sky itself, as though it were a portal torn into the air. there were fires flickering in some of the windows, which rather than lending the dark edifice a warmer glow, made harry picture the brightened windows as eyes watching their progress. "you live in that thing, malfoy?" harry asked. "it's quite nice actually," draco replied. "i mean, it's no cupboard but it has its charm." harry ignored the remark. they were drawing closer - though it still seemed miles away to a large metal gate that bore a resemblance to the one at hogwarts. only instead of gargoyles it was adorned with two large, coiled serpents with their heads pointing away from the manor. on the gate itself harry could already make out a large, ornate m positioned in the centre. in fact there were m's all over it, and on the surrounding stone fence too. m's and serpents. "think awfully highly of yourselves, don't you?" harry commented. "it's called family pride, potter." harry tensed, expecting draco to make some reference to his parents. he wanted to preserve the tentative dtente they had formed as best he could, but he wasn't sure if he could tolerate a snide remark against his parents. draco, apparently, either hadn't thought of it or had considered the subject too taboo under their temporary alliance. harry was thankful, either way. "don't we need some sort of game plan?" said ron. harry had to agree. they were heading straight towards the gate and somehow those stone serpents looked more aware than they should. he wondered whether lucius would know he had visitors as soon as they set foot on his property. surely he had some kind of measure in place to warn him of trespassers, other than the security spells draco had spoken of. "the plan's simple, weasley," said draco. "i walk through the gate, remove the protection spells and then let you lot through." "what then? are we going to just waltz up to the front doors and asked to be invited inside?" "you wouldn't be able to waltz, weasley. i saw you at the yule ball." harry interceded before things got out of hand. the last thing they needed, on top of the

danger posed by both lucius and voldemort himself, was ron and draco at each other's throats while they were trying to stage a stealthy rescue. "how do you plan on getting inside the mansion, malfoy?" "well," said draco, "there's the back entrance near the gardens. there's the cellar entrance that goes underground. there're a whole bunch of windows as well. take your pick, potter. getting in will be the easy part." "why do i sincerely doubt that?" "because you're a pessimist - how should i know? getting into the manor isn't supposed to be easy. on any regular occasion you'd be chopped to bits just trying to get up the driveway. but there's one thing my father never counted on." "what's that?" "that a malfoy would try to break into the manor. if one did, most of the security systems are worthless." "most?" said harry. "well...there are a few non-magic security systems, per se." "like what?" harry asked dubiously. "dark creatures," draco replied shortly. "crups, for one; but they're only dangerous to muggles and squibs really. there's a pack of gytrash. kappas in the water. runespoors in the trees. and cerberus - you want to watch out for him." "who's cerberus?" "don't you know anything about greek mythology, weasley? three-headed dog, dragon tail, mane of snakes..." "you're kidding right?" harry could see draco grin in the darkness. "nope." ron looked visibly shaken. "are you sure we shouldn't think this through a bit more?" "we can't afford to," said harry. "hermione's counting on us." "right," ron said determinedly. *** "the letter has been sent, my lord." voldemort turned to lucius. "good." "it should reach hogwarts by morning."

"you believe him still at hogwarts?" voldemort asked. "it has been but a few hours since he received our first letter, my lord." "you underestimate potter's determination, lucius. he will even now be plotting the girl's rescue." "but, my lord," said lucius, "he does not know where we are. he has no hope of finding her." "that is true," voldemort replied thoughtfully. "but heroes are headstrong; potter will not sit idle while we have the girl." voldemort paused contemplatively, then addressed his servant once more. "have you news of your son, lucius?" "no, my lord." "you have not communicated with him since his betrayal?" "no. "good. it is best he thinks himself free of suspicion. he will no doubt concoct a shrewd explanation for his failure. with it, we will lure him into a false sense of security and once he leaves the walls of that pathetic school, he will answer to me." *** dumbledore pushed the door to professor lupin's office quietly open and walked inside. the room was bathed in the soft glow of candlelight. at the front of the room, lupin sat pensively behind his desk. "working late, remus?" said dumbledore. lupin looked up with a start. "dumbledore." "i am sorry to disturb you at this late hour," said dumbledore. "but it appears i am not the only one having trouble sleeping." lupin smiled wanly. "have you had any luck researching the knife?" dumbledore asked. "no. no luck. it appears to be just an ordinary knife. no symbolic or ritual importance. i don't think we'll get anything from it." "i thought not." dumbledore gazed wearily at a flickering candle. "still," he said, "this business troubles me." "what are you thinking?" dumbledore looked to lupin. "you know, of course," he said, "the brutal nature of the gnyvark demons."

"i do," lupin replied. "they were soldiers of voldemort during the height of his power." dumbledore nodded sombrely. "you think voldemort had something to do with this?" lupin asked. "it is not unlikely," dumbledore replied. "the demons will be the first to rejoin him, now that he has regained his body and all his erstwhile strength. they will serve him unquestioningly." "and you think he sent one here?" "yes," said dumbledore. "but to what purpose i cannot imagine." "who could have killed it then? or would have, for that matter." "again," said dumbledore, "i cannot say." *** "i don't trust him, harry," ron whispered. "i don't either. but we don't have a choice right now. he's the only way we can get to hermione." ron let out a frustrated breath. "i hate that we're relying so much on malfoy. we should try to find another way. he'll stab us in the back the first chance he gets." "there is no other way, ron. not that i can think of anyway. this is the best chance we have." "but what if this is all a trick? what if he didn't really bungle hermione's kidnapping and he's just leading us straight to voldemort." "voldemort already has hermione. he wouldn't need malfoy to lead us to him." ron sighed. "i hope you're right." at the top of the stone wall, harry saw draco's darkened form drop out of sight. a moment later he was standing on the other side of the gate, looking at them through the bars. "i thought you said you could walk through the gate," said ron. "i could, but then my father would hear it opening and know we're here." draco brushed his clothes off with his hands. "damn stones," he said. "i scuffed my shoes." "disarm the security spells, malfoy," said harry. draco looked up with a smirk. "you know, if i didn't know better potter, i'd say you didn't trust me." "then obviously you don't know better. disarm the spells." "pushy git, aren't you?" draco took out his wand and started muttering counter curses on a

section of the stone wall. obviously, they would have to climb over it too. as draco was disarming the security spells, harry took the opportunity to talk to ginny. "you haven't said much," he said. ginny smiled weakly. "i guess i haven't." "if you're having second thoughts, ginny..." "i'm not," ginny replied resolutely. "i'm coming with you." harry nodded. "just stick close, okay. i don't want you to get hurt." ginny smiled at him and then looked over at the wall. "i think malfoy's finished." harry saw that he had. "hurry up," draco's voice called over the wall. "and make sure you climb over this section of the wall. you'll be fertiliser for the gardens if you don't." harry approached the wall with ron and held his hands out for ginny. "come on," he said, helping her up until she could grab the top of the wall and hoist herself over. harry scrambled up after her and dropped down beside ron. "which way, malfoy?" he asked. "we'll try the cellar. it goes through the kitchens and the house elves won't ask questions." they started walking along a narrow path that wound its way around the back of the property. harry found the atmosphere of the manor's grounds far more unnerving than he had the woods that surrounded them. every rustling bush and every falling leaf was a potential death trap after hearing what draco had said about the creatures that resided here. "which floor is the study on?" harry asked draco, looking up at the mansion. "second," said draco. "once we make it through the kitchens we should be able to--." he didn't finish, as at that moment loud screech pierced the air. all four of them followed the noise with their eyes, looking up at the sky. above them, harry could see a patch of black that was a shade darker than the sky around it. it was moving, too; circling down towards them. an owl, harry realised. only it wasn't an owl. it was a bird, larger and far more sinister looking than any owl he had ever seen. its feathers, legs and beak were all black, allowing it to blend invisibly into the night. its eyes though, were a dark blood-red. it looked evil, harry thought; if it was possible for an animal to be evil. of course, he knew it was. the large bird carried a letter in its beak, which it dropped carelessly on the ground. with its parcel delivered it took flight once more, a giant silhouette against the moon. all four of them stared down at the envelope. it bore a wax seal. even in the darkness harry could see a skull and snake printed on it. he bent down and picked it up. he slid it

open and unfolded the note inside, then lit his wand and read it by its light. harry potter, the time has come for our exchange. miss granger, you should know, has not been harmed, as yet. you should also know that her continued well-being is contingent upon acquiescence to the following demands: you are to be at godric's hollow at dawn tomorrow. you will come alone and tell no one of the purpose of your excursion. failure to comply with these demands will incur direct harm upon miss granger. we will begin by removing her fingers, and will continue to do so, until they have been met. her welfare lies within your hands mr. potter. handle it wisely. harry swallowed stiffly. "from voldemort?" draco asked. harry handed him the letter in a trembling hand. draco held it underneath the light from harry's wand and began to read it, along with ron and ginny. "oh, my god," said ron, when he was close to the end. ginny clapped a hand over her mouth. they finished at the same time and looked up at harry - ron with alarm, ginny with concern and draco with sombre determination. "this doesn't change anything," said draco. "it changes everything!" ron exclaimed. "he's going to cut her fingers off if harry's not at godric's hollow tomorrow morning." "he's going to kill her anyway - even if potter's there." "he's right, ron," said harry. "voldemort won't let hermione go." ron stared at harry with an expression of hopeless terror. harry couldn't blame him. perhaps it hadn't dawned on ron yet but the simple fact was that hermione's only chance at life rested with them. unless they could save her, she was as good as dead. it weighed heavily on harry's heart, but he had been forced into these situations before and there was no use in contemplating how hopeless it looked. action was what they needed, both for the sake of hermione and for the comfort of their minds. if they didn't focus now, they would be overwhelmed by despair. "why godric's hollow?" draco asked, peering down at the letter. harry swallowed a lump in his throat. "that's where he killed my parents." draco looked up. "oh. sadistic bastard, isn't he?" "so you're not going?" asked ron.

"no," harry replied. "our best chance is to find hermione. we're going to run into voldemort whatever we do, that can't be helped. if the two of you don't want to come - i'll understand." "no," ron replied firmly. "i'm coming." "me, too," said ginny. harry nodded. he would have preferred them to stay, but he knew that nothing short of stunning them would keep them away from the manor when hermione was in danger. and harry didn't want to do this alone. "all right," he said. "we'd better keep going." they continued walking, gazing warily around at the shadowy vegetation that could be hiding anything in its depths. they arrived unscathed, however, at a large wooden door that looked bolted shut. it was set into the ground and reached by going down several stairs. it was even darker down here. "alohomora," draco whispered and then slid the latch open. he pushed the door wide and walked through, the others following close behind. again the darkness increased, so that now harry couldn't see a thing at all, even with the door open. draco doubled back and closed it behind them. "lumos," he muttered, and they all followed suit. there were shelves along the walls that stretched off for what looked like miles to harry. each of them was filled with bottle after bottle of old wines and wizarding liquors. "anyone fancy an eighty-two chateau petreuse?" "we're trying to find hermione, remember?" harry said coldly. "right," said draco, and he started walking through the shelves. they followed him to a set of steps that ascended to another large wooden door like the one they'd passed through. draco unlocked it and walked inside. the kitchen was a cavernous room close to half the size of the great hall at hogwarts. it was riddled with benches full of pots, pans, cooking utensils and some bizarre items that hung from the ceiling which looked like red onions. expensive malfoy delicacies no doubt. harry followed draco to a third door that opened into a large dining hall. a long wooden table sat in the centre of the room with high-backed regal-looking chairs placed around it. draco crossed the room and turned into a hallway that led them to a staircase. they went up and arrived on the second floor. *** draco was beginning to see the irony in this whole affair. if the situation hadn't been so serious, he would have laughed aloud at the fact that he was helping potter and two

weasleys break into his home. he joked often enough, though, to alleviate the fear he felt for hermione. he only hoped she was still alive, or at least, still in one piece. and knowing from his father what the dark lord was capable of, he hoped that quite literally. the others followed him down the hallway in quiet vigilance. the family portraits were all snoozing in their frames on the wall, aside from a few who had left to pursue other nightly activities. draco kept a wary eye on them, in case any of them woke up and saw his non-malfoy cohorts. if his father was in the house, the portraits would alert him to their presence. draco didn't think he would be though. with potter's meeting with voldemort only a few hours away, lucius would undoubtedly be conferring with the dark lord, probably trying to decide the most painful way to kill harry. draco spared no thought for the scar-faced gryffindor. he didn't care what potter and his little gang got themselves into - he only wanted to find hermione and apologise to her. once they'd progressed further down the hallway, draco stopped and held out a hand. "this is it," he said, pointing at the door beside him. "that's your father's study?" harry asked. draco nodded. "come on," said draco. instead of starting towards the door he led harry, ron and ginny further up the hall and into a darkened alcove. "get in here," he told them. "what? why?" "you need to hide," said draco. "while you do what?" harry asked. draco smiled. "let my father know i'm home." the three of them looked back at him with puzzled expressions. "are you sure you know what you're doing, malfoy?" harry asked. "potter," draco sighed, "i'm a slytherin. cunning plans are my speciality. now quit worrying and get in the bloody corner." harry looked suspiciously at draco, but complied. he retreated into the shadows along with ron and ginny, their faces now hidden from sight. draco made sure they wouldn't be seen, and then walked back down the hall to his father's study. there was a table opposite the door and on it was an expensive french vase. narcissa had bought it in paris when draco was young. it was enchanted so that flower cuttings never dried up or died when they were placed inside. this one never held flowers though. although draco's mother was permitted a few feminine accoutrements in the rooms she frequented, his father would not permit such things as flowers in plain sight, and certainly not outside his study. it was an expensive vase and one that his mother was particularly fond of. but, nevertheless... draco picked the vase up and held it high in the air, then let it drop to the ground. the sound it made as it shattered on the stone was ear splitting, echoing through the silent

halls of the manor. if anyone were home, they would surely hear the racket. and hear it they did. after another minute, draco heard footsteps replace the echoes of the broken vase. they drew closer and then rounded the corner, announcing his father's arrival. lucius' face was surprised, though not as surprised as it could have been. he probably hadn't expected draco's sudden return home, but then it didn't appear as though he'd ruled it out either. he took several steps forward and then stopped, raising his chin and eyeing draco with cold malice. there was a sinister curl to his lip that told draco his father was suppressing a great deal of rage. "draco," said lucius, "what a surprise." "hello, father." lucius took another step forward, his robes scraping the stones. "and to what," he said evenly, "do i owe this pleasure?" "you know why i'm here, father." "indeed - though i had hoped it wasn't true." the pretence of congeniality fell like a curtain from lucius' face, and there was only disappointment and disgust behind it. "so," he said, "you have betrayed me. you have forsaken your family and your destiny, for the sake of a mudblood girl who will not live to see the sun rise." draco swallowed the anxiety his father's words stirred inside him. "she's not so bad once you get to know her," he replied flippantly. "and as for my destiny - that's not yours to decide." "idiot child," lucius spat. "you belong to me, just as this house and all its effects belong to me. your destiny is what i say it is and nothing more. and i say your path lies with the dark lord. you have been his since birth. you were meant to serve him - made to serve him - and now you have forsaken your once chance at true power. you are a fool." every fibre of draco's being told him it was wrong to rebel against his father. he had been taught to obey, to scorn others, and to be loyal to none save his family. that was the malfoy way. but he was tired of listening to his father's instructions, of blindly following both his and voldemort's orders, however unscrupulous they were. he couldn't do that anymore, not with hermione lost and the spectre of death lying in wait. "i'm not, father," draco said softly. lucius narrowed his eyes dangerously. "i'm not yours. and i'm not voldemort's. i've already disobeyed him once and i'll do it again. i'll never serve him." the air in the hallway seemed to become several degrees colder. a pause stretched out between them, lucius using it to great effect. when he spoke, his voice was low and even, almost as though what he was saying was fact - indisputable. "you will serve him, draco. he has plans for you that your childish mind cannot envision. there is nothing you can do. you will serve him - or you will die."

draco felt thick ropes coil around his wrists and ankles. he was lifted several inches off the ground and pulled forward by an invisible force. he came to rest in front of his father, lucius staring at him with cold hatred. "you are not my son," he said. "you are nothing." with that he turned and opened the door to his study, draco gliding after him without any effort of his own. once he was inside, lucius turned and locked the door and then walked over to his desk. he opened a drawer and pulled out a long silver box with the malfoy family crest emblazoned on top. he walked back around his desk to the centre of the room. the ropes around draco's left wrist instantly fell apart. lucius opened the box, revealing a set of cigars. "take one, draco," he said. draco looked down at the box, as best he could, and then back up at his father. "thanks, but i never touch the things. they'll kill you, you know." lucius was not pleased. his lip curled with distaste. "foolish boy," he hissed, and drew his wand from his pocket. "crucio." draco fell to the floor as the pain hit him, washing over his entire body like fire. it burnt his skin and sent bolts of pain through his bones. he gritted his teeth and clamped his eyes tightly shut; but he didn't scream. he had felt this pain before, throughout his entire childhood. he never begged his father to stop or yelled or cried. not since he was five years old, when his father had chained him up in the dungeons for interrupting one of his dinners, had draco shed a tear. he had been starving and in wretched pain; but when his father unchained him, he didn't cry, and hadn't since. his father was always more than willing to hurt draco. but draco didn't mind this time. in fact, he had been counting on it. the curse wore off and draco's mind cleared, his skin still stinging with the pain. the holding spell his father had used on him had worn off. draco turned his shaky gaze up to his father and staggered to his feet. "alright, father," he said. "i'll do as you say." he reached his right hand out towards the box of cigars that served as portkeys, as he reached his left hand into his pocket. he gripped his wand firmly. just as the fingers on his right hand touched one of the cigars, he pulled out his wand, aimed it at the door and shouted, "alohomora." a second later there was a tug behind his navel, his feet left the ground and the world spun out of focus. ***

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title: the redemption of draco malfoy (11) author name: jason author email: scarecrow_eyes@hotmail.com category: action/adventure sub category: romance keywords: harry hermione ron ginny voldemort rating: r spoilers: ss/ps, cos, poa, gof, fb, qtta summary: our heroes (and anti-hero) find their way into voldemort's castle in the woods. someone is tortured, someone receives a nasty surprise and someone dies. disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by jk rowling, various publishers including but not limited to bloomsbury books, scholastic books and raincoast books, and warner bros., inc. no money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. i have used quotations from various sources in some of the chapters. you can find the references at the end. author notes: acknowledgements: that person who beta-reads for me. danjio, i think her name is. yeah, that's it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ chapter eleven: lord voldemort "what happened?" ron asked. "i don't know," harry replied, peering around the wall at the study door. "i can't hear them anymore." "you think they've gone?" "i'd say so." harry stepped tentatively into the hallway. the door to the study had shut after lucius had walked inside with draco floating behind him. then harry had heard muffled voices and then silence. he walked quietly to the door and put his ear against it. "i can't hear anything." ginny and ron emerged from the alcove and stood behind him. harry reached down and tried the door handle.

"it's open," said harry. he hesitated for a second and then pushed it open. the study was empty. there was a large window on the opposite wall, hung with velvet drapes. a fireplace was set into the wall on the left and the right wall was covered entirely with books. beneath them sat a desk on clawed feet. "they've gone," ron pointed out. "looks like it," said harry, surveying the room. lucius' decor was minimalist; his desk sported the only real objects that could serve as portkeys. "start looking for the portkeys," said harry. ron and ginny walked around the other side of the desk and searched among lucius' things. "there'll be more than one," said harry helpfully. ron turned around and looked up at the towering shelves. "what if those are the portkeys? there must be hundreds of them." "he wouldn't discard his books like that," said harry, lifting a stack of parchments. "it'd have to be something unimportant." "they're malfoys, harry. they don't exactly have the same opinion of unimportance as we do. he could have used galleons for all we know." "quills?" ginny suggested, picking one out of a container full of them and holding it up. ron said, "well, you just touched it, so no." ginny looked embarrassed and dropped the quill. that's when harry saw the silver box lying on his side of the desk, as though it had been used recently. a letter m, surrounded by a serpent and a latin motto, was inscribed on its surface. "here," he said, and lifted the lid. inside was a row of packaged cigars. several were missing. "i think these are the portkeys." he looked up at ron and ginny who returned his gaze hopefully. "worth a shot," said ron. harry bundled his cloak in his hand and lifted one of the cigars out of its case. he put it down on the desk, then took another and put it inside his pocket. they would need an escape route once they found hermione. if they found her. "okay," harry said, looking across at ron and ginny. "on the count of three." they all looked down at the lone cigar and held out their hands, their fingers hovering inches away from it. "one. two. three." harry touched the cigar and the room dissolved in front of his eyes. the ground slid away beneath him and then he was hurtling forward with ron and ginny beside him. *** when the world had righted itself, draco stumbled forward but managed to keep his footing. he took a deep breath and spun around. a second later there was a loud pop and his father was standing in front of him, bristling with rage. "foolish boy!" he spat, livid with rage. "what did you do?"

draco took an unsteady step back, his hands touching cold stone. lucius advanced on him. "i will not ask again, draco. what did you--." "stupefy!" three voices shouted behind lucius. draco saw his father's eyes go wide and then he fell to the floor, knocking his head on the wall. draco stared down at his father's motionless body before looking up. harry, ron, and ginny were standing with their wands held out in front of them. "you just stunned my father," said draco, half astonished and half impressed. "come on," said harry, "we have to find hermione." draco looked down at where his father's blonde hair had been turned red with blood. he felt a strange detachment from the scene, as though what he was looking at was quite alien to him. he supposed he should feel fear or anger, or perhaps concern, but he felt nothing. and harry was right, they had to find hermione. draco took out his wand and followed the three of them out of the room. *** the apparating chamber connected to a long hallway that was neither dry nor lit by any light. the stones were covered in moss and they felt dank when harry touched them with his hand. "lumos," harry muttered, drawing his wand. the others followed his lead. they turned a corner and started down another long corridor, and then another. "this place is a maze," said ron. it wasn't strictly true; they hadn't reached any diverging paths yet, but it did feel as though they were moving in circles. at last, they emerged into an enormous chamber whose walls and ceiling fell away into darkness. rows of stone pillars supported the roof; they, too, disappearing from sight. ornate chandeliers, made from a rusted metal, hung limply from the roof, none of them holding even the stump of a candle. the room was huge; harry couldn't see the other side from where they were standing. he swept his wand light around, chasing away the shadows and trying, in vain, to make out the walls. he took a deep breath. "let's go." they walked across the room, harry leading and glancing warily around. ron and ginny stuck close to him and draco employed his usual lazy walk at the rear. after what seemed like several minutes a doorway came into view and they walked through it. there were more stone corridors here, branching off into antechambers at regular intervals. they stuck their heads inside each one, but they were largely empty. some had old wooden shelves in them, or chairs or the occasional bench, but none of them looked fit to hold a prisoner. they reached a passageway that stretched off in opposite directions, the ends lost in darkness.

"which way?" ron asked. "right," said harry. the hallways were larger here, as were the rooms they opened into. they had doors now, too, and one of them was standing ajar. voices were coming from it. harry approached it cautiously and stopped outside the entrance, the others crowding around him. "...but he didn't put a much of a fight," a man's voice said. harry peered around the edge of the door. he didn't recognise the speaker; he had low eyebrows and waxy, sunken skin. "i don't see why the master needs him." "a contingency plan," another man replied. harry turned his eyes on the second wizard, and felt his throat constrict tightly. he had seen this man before - his thin hair; his pasty skin; his pointed, almost rat-like face. in the torchlight, harry could make out a glittering silver appendage protruding from his right sleeve. wormtail, he thought with an intense hatred. he listened quietly as wormtail continued speaking. "you locked him up?" he inquired. "yes," the other wizard replied. "in the dungeons. i must say, i expected him to be rather more impressive, after all the stories i'd heard." wormtail chuckled. "stories were all he was good for." "you knew him?" the other wizard asked. "oh, yes," said wormtail. "and is he as dangerous as they say?" wormtail chuckled again. "no. it's been a long time since sirius black was a threat to anyone." the feeling drained out of harry's body. he was vaguely aware of wormtail and the other death eater leaving via a door on the other side of the room. once they had gone, he turned around and looked blankly at the others. "they've got sirius," he said weakly. ron and ginny looked back at him with stunned expressions. draco merely furrowed his brow. "sirius black?" he said. harry looked at draco without really seeing him. in fact, he couldn't see much of anything at the moment. he felt as though his sight had been turned inwards, looking at his own thoughts. he did his best to collate them into something coherent. voldemort had sirius; had him here. where was it the other wizard had said they'd imprisoned him? in the dungeons.

"we have to find him," harry said, looking up, his thoughts clearing with his resolve. "we have to find hermione," said draco. "we'll split up," harry suggested. "ginny and i will try to find sirius and you two look for hermione." "what?" ron exclaimed. draco eyed ron with cold dislike. "there's no way i'm going anywhere with him." "shut up!" ron snapped. "watch it, weasley, before i--" "we're not going to find anyone if you two keep bickering like this," harry interjected. draco and ron glared at each other. "i'll go alone," said draco. "alone?" harry queried. "yes," draco replied irritably. "you lot go and look for black and i'll find hermione. i don't need help." "i don't know," harry said doubtfully. draco looked at him crossly. "look, potter - you send weasley with me we're only going to try to kill each other on the way. i'll find hermione a lot quicker if i do it on my own." harry's gaze lingered thoughtfully on draco. "okay," he conceded. "we'll find the dungeons and get sirius out, you find hermione. we'll meet back here afterwards. i've got the portkey to get us back to the manor." "right," said draco. "i'll go back this way." he turned around and started walking back along the hallway they had come from. harry watched him go and then turned to ron and ginny. "let's go." they pushed open the door and crossed the room wormtail had been in minutes earlier. on the other side, there was another door that led to a spiral staircase, winding down into darkness. harry started down it and the other two followed. *** alone at last, draco thought, making his way down the stone corridor. he was glad to be free of those brainless idiots; now he could actually look for hermione. he emerged into a small, empty room, crossed it, and started down another passageway. there were torch brackets on the walls here, some without torches and some that had torches but weren't lit. even so, the darkness seemed to lift slightly as draco continued along the corridor. the dark, charcoal-coloured stones turned a lighter grey and the moss

between them became brighter. draco supposed sunlight was seeping in through some of the cracks, though he couldn't be sure where. perhaps the place was lit by magic. another hallway branched off to the right but draco decided to continue down the one he was in. he came eventually to a large, rusted door that was bolted shut with heavy locks. he stepped up to it and muttered, "alohomora," but the door stayed shut. he was just about to try another unlocking spell his father had once taught him, when he heard quick footsteps coming from behind him. draco whirled around and held out his wand, but it flew out of his grasp. a gloved hand snatched it out of the air, another hand pointing another wand at draco. the shadows parted and the man walked into draco's view. "father." lucius smiled. "so good to see you again, draco." the blood in lucius' hair had dried and matted; the cut on his forehead was still bright red but no longer bleeding freely. draco felt naked and defenceless without his wand in his hand. he closed his fist and stood resolutely in front of the door. "you don't look very pleased to see me," said lucius. he took several steps forward and stopped in front of draco. "where are your friends?" he asked sternly. "i don't know," draco replied. lucius' gaze was considering for a moment, then his eyes lightened. "no matter," he said, "they will not escape alive." "and i will?" draco queried. "the dark lord will wish to speak to you," said lucius. "he is most eager to know why you betrayed him. as am i." lucius' gaze went to the door behind draco. "you have come for the girl?" he said. "well, then, i would hate to disappoint you, seeing as though you have come so far. let's go inside." he stepped up to the door, muttered "adaperio" and pushed it open. with his wand, he gestured draco inside. *** the staircase seemed to go on forever. they must be deep underground now, harry reasoned. it was perilously dark; one wrong step and they might all break their necks. he kept a hand on the wall, which became drier the further they went down. at last, harry could see the flickering of torchlight ahead and he emerged into a low-ceilinged area, ron and ginny behind him. there were cells along the walls, their bars old and rusted but still very solid looking. they continued on for what looked like miles, torches lighting the corridor at intervals. all of the ones harry could see from here were empty; sirius must be in one further down. "come on," he said to ron and ginny.

they walked cautiously, scanning the cells on either side for occupants. empty - all of them. they had passed several dozen when harry heard a hacking cough come from further up the corridor. he looked up, glanced at ron and ginny and then hurried forward. he ran to the spot where he'd heard the cough and then dropped to his knees before one of the cells. "sirius!" harry whispered. sirius looked up. he was huddled in a corner, his clothes tattered and torn and his feet bare. his hair hung in lank strands in front of his face, which was sunken and pallid. he looked exactly as he had the first time harry had seen him - when he had just recently escaped from azkaban. his dark eyes, sunken in their sockets, lit up curiously as he looked at harry. "harry?" he croaked, his voice raspy. "it's me, sirius," harry replied. "ron and ginny are here too." they knelt down on either side of harry. sirius pushed himself out of the corner and crawled up to the bars. "what are you doing here, harry?" he asked. "we've come to get you out," harry replied. "but how did you..." sirius trailed off and shook his head. "never mind." "how do we get you out?" harry asked. "it shouldn't be too hard," sirius replied. "these cells are old; their magic's worn off and i don't think voldemort bothered to reinforce them. have you got your wand?" "here," said harry, holding his wand through the bars. sirius took it from him and touched the tip to one of the bars. "lentesco metallus," he said. a soft yellow light issued from the end of harry's wand and seeped into the bar. sirius handed the wand back to harry and then wriggled back. he lifted his leg and kicked the bar; it broke as though it were made of wood. sirius, thin as he was, was able to squeeze between the gap and stand up on the other side. "thanks, harry," he said, putting a hand on harry's shoulder. "and you two," he added, looking at ron and ginny. "no problem," said ron, smiling. sirius turned back to harry. "we have to get out of here quickly. voldemort's gone to meet you at godric's hollow but it won't be long before he realises you're not coming." "we have to find hermione first," said harry. "hermione?" "she's here," harry explained. "voldemort took her."

"damn!" sirius ran a hand through his matted hair and looked thoughtfully along the passageway. "and...there's another thing." sirius turned back to harry with a curious look. "what?" "draco malfoy...lucius' son...he's here too." "where?" sirius asked. "he went to find hermione. we split up so we could look for you." "you let him go alone?" sirius asked incredulously. "we had to find you," harry protested. "and you don't know what malfoy's like. it would have made things a whole lot worse if he'd gone with someone else." sirius sighed heavily. "okay," he said, "we'll have to find them." "we don't know where they are though," harry pointed out. sirius tapped his nose in reply. "i know what hermione smells like. i'll be able to find her." "does...anyone else think that sounds rather strange?" said ron. "let's go," said sirius. he changed into his canine form, dropping to all fours and then hurrying back up the corridor. harry, ron, and ginny ran after him. *** hermione had run out of tears by the time the door in her cell opened. she looked up as it did, her neck stiff from lack of movement. she was afraid that it would be voldemort, come to torture her or kill her. but it wasn't voldemort. it was a blonde man - lucius malfoy. he opened the door and pushed it wide, but he wasn't looking at hermione. "inside," he said. hermione sat still against the wall as another blonde head moved into view, this one more familiar. draco's eyes fell on her immediately and hermione could see the relief in them. he stared at her until his father nudged him in his back and forced him into the room. lucius entered behind him and shut the door. draco continued to stare at hermione, as though he had forgotten about his father. lucius, however, had obviously not forgotten about his son; he aimed his wand at a pile of chains on the floor. they sprang up and fastened themselves around draco's wrists and ankles, yanking him roughly to the ground. hermione winced as he hit the stone. "now," said lucius, looking thoroughly pleased with himself, "i don't believe introductions are necessary." he grinned broadly and turned his sparkling gaze on draco. "here she is, draco," he said, "the girl you betrayed your family for - still alive, at least for

the moment." lucius walked over to hermione and crouched down beside her. "i don't know what you see in her," he said, looking at her with disgust. "they say a beautiful woman can make a man do crazy things. but what could this...mudblood possibly make you do?" draco set his jaw hard and glared at his father. lucius smirked. "nothing to say, draco?" he said. "isn't that new." he stood up and advanced on his son, his expression turning sour. "the dark lord is on his way," he said in a low voice. "when he arrives, you will realise how foolish it was to disobey him. until then, however, i will give you a taste of the horrors to come." lucius raised his wand with a sinister smile, and spoke a single, terrifying word. "crucio." the spell hit draco square in the chest. his face contorted with pain and he writhed against the wall; but he didn't cry out. hermione's throat tightened and her heart beat faster. she didn't feel the tears that were in her eyes. "stop it!" she screamed, staring at draco in horror. "you'll kill him!" lucius ignored her and continued the spell. eventually, he lifted his wand and draco sagged down against the stones. "you have learnt to resist it," said lucius. "after so many years you have become accustomed to the pain. i am impressed - i had thought you much weaker than that. clearly, we both underestimated each other." draco opened his eyes and looked up at his father. "i have other ways of hurting you, draco," lucius said coldly. he raised his wand again and pointed it at draco's leg. "fractus," he hissed. draco screamed. hermione clapped her hands over her ears and may have screamed herself. she watched draco writhe and squirm against the wall, his right leg lying stiffly in front of him. lucius was grinning. "you see," he was saying, though hermione could barely hear him. "there is no end to the pain i can inflict upon you, draco. you never could tolerate it. and when the dark lord returns, you will see, once and for all, what true pain is." *** harry, ron, and ginny ran along yet another nondescript stone corridor, following sirius as he hurtled around a corner. "some of us are still human, you know," ron called out, panting. harry himself was having trouble keeping up; but just as he was beginning to feel a cramp in his side, sirius trotted to a stop outside a large metal door and assumed his human form once more. he turned to harry and the others once they'd caught up to him. "she's in there," he said. he put his hand on the large handle and twisted it. with a creak and a groan, the latch slid free and the door swung open. the first thing harry saw was lucius malfoy; the second thing he saw was lucius' unpleasant grin.

"well, well," he said, turning to face them, "who do we have here? friends of yours, draco?" lucius grin sent a chill down harry's spine. he looked past him to where hermione was huddled against the wall and then to the other side of the room where draco was slumped on the floor with his chest heaving. his leg stuck straight out before him. lucius looked extremely pleased with the strange tableau. "black," he said to sirius, "so good of you to join us. i was beginning to wonder if travers had killed you." sirius scowled. "let them go, lucius." "and why, pray tell, would i do that?" harry didn't see the reasoning in sirius' question himself, but he kept silent. "do you really think voldemort will let you live after your son betrayed him?" asked sirius. harry had, of course, filled sirius in on recent events on the way to the cell. "draco's actions are his alone," lucius replied smoothly. "the dark lord knows this." "and you would watch your son suffer?" "my son," lucius spat, "deserves his fate. there is no mercy shown to those who defy the dark lord. draco knew as such, before he decided to betray us." lucius continued to spout harsh comments towards draco, but harry was no longer paying attention. he could see, out of the corner of his eye - he didn't dare turn his head - that draco was inching forward on the ground, slowly enough so that his chains wouldn't rattle. harry saw his leg bend at an odd angle. lucius was standing close to his son, but harry wasn't sure what draco hoped to accomplish with a broken leg. he kept his eyes on lucius, his heartbeat quickening. "the dark lord is on his way," lucius snapped, fed up with sirius' questions. "once he arrives i am sure he will reunite you with your wretched childhood friend. potter, too, will finally have the chance to see his miserable..." lucius didn't finish, for at that moment draco kicked out with his good leg and caught his father in the back of the knee. lucius stumbled only slightly, but it was enough. sirius lunged forward and tackled him to the ground. lucius' wand went clattering across the stone floor. "get his wand!" sirius barked, lucius' forearm at his throat. harry darted forward and retrieved the wand. he tried to point it at lucius but sirius obscured his view and he couldn't aim it properly. lucius' hands went around sirius' throat, his face screwed up with fury. suddenly, sirius was in canine form; he opened his jaws and savaged lucius' arm.

"agh!" sirius leapt off him, leaving lucius lying on the floor, cradling his bloody arm. harry raised his wand and yelled, "stupefy!" lucius' body went slack and his head rolled to one side. sirius got to his feet, breathing hard but otherwise unscathed. "thanks, harry." he reached out and took lucius' wand. "come on," he said, kneeling in front of hermione and aiming the wand at her manacles, "we have to get out of here. voldemort won't take long to get back." "maybe he was lying," said ron. "he's not," harry replied grimly. "voldemort's coming. i can feel it." hermione's chains sprang free and sirius walked over to draco, who was attempting to stand up. "easy, there," he said, putting a hand on draco's shoulder. "is it broken?" he said, nodding at draco's leg. draco nodded. he looked as though he was in a considerable amount of pain, despite the fact that he hadn't said anything since they'd arrived. sirius unlocked and removed draco's chains, then helped him to his feet. draco looked down at his father, one arm around sirius' shoulder. "i'm sorry," said sirius. he gave draco's shoulder a squeeze. "it's fine," said draco, turning towards the door. his eyes passed over hermione and lingered for a moment. "are you all right, hermione?" ron asked. hermione nodded, but remained silent. "can you give me a hand, harry," said sirius. without hesitation, harry walked forward and supported draco's other side. "i'm fine!" draco snapped. "you can't walk," sirius replied. "yes, i can," draco said, stubbornly. he wrenched his arms free and staggered forward, wobbling precariously. sirius caught his arm. "whoa." draco sighed irritably and reluctantly accepted sirius' arm. harry took the other and they helped him towards the door. "this ever gets back to school," said draco, "and you're a dead man, potter." "we're all dead if we don't get back to school," harry pointed out. ginny held the door open so that they could walk through. she, ron, and hermione followed. harry and sirius started down a bleak hallway, supporting draco between them. the walls, even the very air, seemed to get darker as the further they walked. they made slow progress, due to draco's condition. the other three walked in silence behind them.

"any idea on how to get out of this place?" asked sirius. "i've got a portkey," said harry. "but we can only use it in a certain room." "wards." sirius nodded grimly. "do you know how to get back to the room? harry wasn't even sure where they were. every passageway looked familiar to him. "i do," draco said with some effort. sirius renewed his grip on draco's arm as they turned a corner. harry's nerves were on edge. he could feel voldemort's presence approaching, like dark storm clouds drifting towards them. his scar had begun to sting, heralding the dark lord's arrival. he wasn't sure how far or how close voldemort was though, and that, coupled with their sluggish pace, was making him increasingly anxious. he had confronted the dark lord on four separate occasions now. once he had been an infant, twice he had faced him in a weakened state, and once he had been lucky to escape alive. even with his past experiences with voldemort, harry never went into a confrontation with anything resembling confidence. there was one salient point that pervaded his thoughts whenever he was heading in to one of these encounters; voldemort had the ability and the desire, to kill harry, whereas harry only had one of those things. as far as he knew, voldemort was immortal - he wouldn't die even if harry tried to kill him. and so harry was just as apprehensive, just as uneasy now, as he had been the first time he had faced the decrepit wreck of a man who had murdered his parents. as always though, escape was what harry was focusing on. even if he had some way to harm voldemort, he couldn't do it with the others here. if voldemort made it back in time, that would be it. he would kill them all and then nothing would stand in the way of his malevolent plans to bring the wizarding and muggle world to their knees. the pain in harry's scar intensified and his heart started to beat faster. at last they reached a place that harry remembered - the dark, cavernous stone room that was lined on either side with towering pillars. they hurried as fast as they could towards the other side. draco was wincing with every step they took. "ow," he grunted. he stopped and screwed his eyes shut. "are you okay?" sirius asked, looking at him with concern. "no i'm not okay!" draco barked in reply. "we have to keep going," said sirius. "it's not much longer." "my leg," said draco. sirius cast a worried look at the other side of the room and then turned back to draco. "sit down," he said. harry helped him lower draco to the floor, his back resting on one of the pillars. sirius pulled out lucius' wand and inspected draco's leg. "fractus curse," he said.

"broken right through." sirius began muttering some spells and asking draco if he felt better. harry took the opportunity to join the others, who were all standing in watchful silence against the wall. "hermione," he said, looking at her with concern, "are you okay?" "i'm fine," hermione replied weakly. she was looking worriedly at draco, biting her lip. harry looked at him too, and saw him leaning his head against the stone pillar, his eyes clamped shut. he turned back to hermione. "he really helped us, you know." hermione continued to look at draco and lapsed into silence. "are you two okay?" harry asked ron and ginny. "fine," said ron. ginny nodded. harry smiled reassuringly at her. she looked frightened, but resolved. he admired her attempt at stoicism. "we'll be fine," he said encouragingly. "harry," sirius called out. harry walked back over to sirius. "is he okay?" he asked. "for now. i put a splint on his leg, but he needs proper treatment. the fractus curse isn't pleasant." harry nodded. "we'll take him to the hospital wing once we get back to school. we should go though - voldemort will be here any minute." "second, actually," said a snake-like voice from the other side of the room. harry snapped his head up to look at the doorway and there, standing with his malignant eyes gleaming, was lord voldemort. *** harry stared in horror. his entire body went numb, and his scar started to throb painfully. voldemort surveyed them all silently, his slitted eyes moving from one to the other. "so," he said softly, "we are together at last." he took a step into the room. "it is good to see you again harry. and who have you brought with you?" harry glanced sideways at hermione, ron and ginny, who stood against the wall, staring at voldemort in terror. on his other side, sirius' face had gone blank and draco was pushing himself to his feet. he put a hand on the pillar behind him to steady himself. voldemort walked forward and stopped in front of them, his black robes billowing around his feet. his red eyes came to rest on sirius. "sirius black," he said, "the greatest death eater who never was a death eater. you were credited with the potters' demise, i hear. wormtail was most fortunate to have such a plausible scapegoat." voldemort smiled, though it didn't look like a smile at all. he moved on. "ah, the mudblood," he said, eyeing hermione. "it is such a shame that all your friends'

daring efforts to rescue you have come to nought." voldemort's gaze swept over ron and ginny, his eyes narrowing. "you," he said to ginny, "i have seen you before." he drew in a hissing breath. "you are potter's friend?" harry found his voice. "leave her alone!" he said. voldemort turned towards him, grinning with mirth. "you are noble, harry," he said. "foolish...some would say. even at this grim hour you would oppose me to save those you love." harry stared back at voldemort with a conviction born of fury, of pure hatred. his fists shook by his sides. voldemort returned to stand before sirius and draco. "lucius' son," he said, considering draco. "you have allied yourself with this rabble?" draco didn't answer. "i had such high hopes for you," said voldemort. "you were to be the greatest of my servants." draco stared back impassively, his chin raised as it always was. "tell me," said voldemort, "why do you care for these people? do you think they have any compassion for you? do you think they are your friends? potter would die to protect them, of that i am certain. but i wonder - would he die to protect you?" voldemort's lips curled once more into that hideous smile. "they care nothing for you, young draco - and they never shall. your place is with me, at my side. they know this, your father knows this, and you know this. there is no escaping it." draco returned voldemort's gaze defiantly. "has anyone ever told you that you have dry skin? they have some really fantastic moisturising potions today that would do wonders for your complexion." voldemort's eyes narrowed coldly. "you are determined to continue defying me?" "i always was a slow learner," said draco. voldemort's eyes narrowed further and harry's scar gave an agonising jolt. "it is time, young draco" said voldemort, his voice like ice, "that you learn the price of disobedience." harry's scar burned as voldemort raised his wand and pointed it...at hermione. "no!" harry yelled. both he and draco rushed towards her. as they did, harry heard the two words he'd been dreading since the dark lord's arrival. "avada kedavra." bright green light issued from the end of voldemort's wand and lit up the entire room. ginny screamed from somewhere near the wall. harry had made it to hermione and planted himself in front of her, but draco had rushed forward and planted himself in front of them both. the green light rushed forward and hit draco in the chest, knocking him backwards. his eyes grew wide and he fell to the floor, silent and still. dead. ***

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title: the redemption of draco malfoy (12) author name: jason author email: scarecrow_eyes@hotmail.com category: action/adventure sub category: romance keywords: harry hermione ron ginny voldemort rating: r spoilers: ss/ps, cos, poa, gof, fb, qtta summary: draco is dead and voldemort is still feeling murderous. action ensues and harry learns the answers to some long-held questions. disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by jk rowling, various publishers including but not limited to bloomsbury books, scholastic books and raincoast books, and warner bros., inc. no money is being made and no

copyright or trademark infringement is intended. i have used quotations from various sources in some of the chapters. you can find the references at the end. author notes: acknowledgements: danijo, my wonderful and excellent super beta-reader woman. all she needs now is a cape. and a theme song. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ chapter twelve: revelations several things happened at once. harry tumbled backwards under draco's weight, ron lifted his wand and shouted a spell and sirius lunged at voldemort. ron's spell hit voldemort and ricocheted off him, hitting the wall instead. sirius' assault was halted as voldemort caught him around the neck and squeezed his throat. harry looked up in horror, seeing the strained tendons in both voldemort's hand and sirius' neck. a terrible hissing sound reached harry's ears and he saw steam begin to rise from his godfather's throat. sirius yelled in pain. ginny cried out again and ron looked on in despair. hermione screamed as she saw draco's limp form lying in harry's lap. harry could only watch hopelessly as voldemort strangled his godfather with a single pale hand. "harry," sirius choked out, his hands clawing feebly at voldemort's. "patronus." what? harry thought. what was sirius talking about? what good would a patronus do them? he didn't have time to dwell on his thoughts though - sirius' flesh was burning beneath voldemort's grip and he was struggling to breathe. harry slid draco to the floor and stood up, drawing his wand from his pocket. it was difficult - extremely difficult - to think of a happy memory in the situation he was in. but sirius' life depended on it, so harry thought back to every happy moment he could ever remember experiencing. being accepted to hogwarts, he though desperately; winning the quidditch cup, meeting ron and hermione, playing quidditch with ginny, finding out i have a godfather. he focused intently on each and every memory, until he could see them clearly in his mind. "expecto patronum!" he yelled. a jet of silver light erupted from the end of his wand and twisted itself into the form of a stag. the stag tossed its head and galloped forward towards sirius and voldemort. it stopped several feet away, stamping the ground and snorting loudly. to harry's surprise, voldemort hissed at it and cringed back, releasing sirius. the stag advanced on the dark lord, pushing him back. "come on!" sirius yelled, jolting harry back to his senses. "we have to get out of here." he ran forward and scooped up draco, carrying him in his arms. harry ran over to the others. "come on," he urged them. ron grabbed ginny and hurried forward. "hermione, come on," harry shouted. she was staring vacantly at draco, as though in a trance. harry grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward. he followed sirius and the others to the door behind voldemort, who was backing away from harry's patronus.

they hurtled along a corridor, turned a corner and ran down another. "i don't get it," harry said as he drew level with sirius. "why did a patronus stop him?" "a patronus is a projection of pure positive energy," sirius replied. "it keeps evil at bay. the more evil the person, the greater the effect the patronus will have on them. so for someone who's pure evil..." "the patronus will have more of an effect," harry finished. "exactly," said sirius. "but it won't hold him long." they quickened their pace and turned another corner, the apparating chamber in sight. harry ran forward as fast as he could, pulling hermione with him. ron and ginny were in front of them. they reached the chamber and dashed inside. sirius laid draco on the ground. "get the portkey out," he said. "quickly." harry could hear footsteps echoing along the hallway, drawing closer with every second. "harry," sirius yelled, "give me your wand." quickly, harry pulled out his wand and threw it to sirius, then tried to fumble the cigar out of his pocket. sirius raised his wand and pointed it at the wall. "reducto!" he yelled. the spell hit the stones and vanished. several small pebbles trickled from beneath the stones. "reducto!" sirius yelled again. ron and ginny drew their wands and added their voices to his. "reducto! reducto! reducto!" the mortar between the stones began to slowly crumble, tickling to the floor. one of the large stones gave a sudden jolt and slid free of the wall. those above it fell loose and came crashing to the ground, and soon the entire wall followed, the entrance to the apparating chamber caving in. the hallway was blocked, for the moment. "the portkey!" sirius yelled. "got it," harry replied. he fumbled it out of his pocket and onto the floor. they all crowded around it and reached out, sirius gripping draco's wrist tightly. "now!" he said. harry touched the cigar with his fingers and felt a sudden jerk inside his chest. the walls melted around and the room disappeared as he rushed forward in a sea of colour. *** they hit the floor of the manor's study as they were - harry, ron, hermione and ginny standing and sirius in a half-crouch, clutching one of draco's pale wrists. harry was suddenly overcome by the sight of draco's empty, expressionless face. sirius had closed his eyes but there was nevertheless a vacant, hollow look to his face, as though something in it had taken flight with his life. hermione was shaking with sobs beside harry and both ginny and ron were staring in disbelief. "we have to go," said sirius. "it won't take voldemort long to get through the rubble."

harry nodded absently and not until sirius had lifted draco and carried him from the room did he find he could move. he turned to hermione. "let's go," he said, and ushered her from the room as though he were guiding a sleepwalker. sirius set a brisk pace for them, leading the way along the hallway outside the study and down the staircase to the first floor. he hurried across the large dining room to the front door, which harry opened, and continued outside, where a pale dawn light was creeping over the horizon. the atmosphere seemed imbued with a stony silence, as though the trees were holding their breath as they swayed hypnotically in the breeze. sirius walked down the steps, quickening his pace, and started up the drive towards the main gate. harry supposed that getting out of the manor wouldn't be as much of a problem as getting in had been. getting back to hogwarts, though, would prove difficult. he wasn't sure how far sirius could carry draco, nor how quickly voldemort would think to check the train station. with its frequent stops and proclivity for delays, the train would be slow going. harry said as much to sirius. "there must be another way," sirius replied. "did you bring broomsticks?" "no," harry replied remorsefully. sirius spun around, looking in every direction, then started off around the side of the mansion. harry followed, with the others in tow. soon, he saw a long set of pens that sirius was hurrying towards. stables, he realised. he could hear snorting and stomping coming from within and he spied several sets of dark, red eyes through the slats in the wall. outside the stables were several carriages, lying in a desultory cluster. sirius approached one and managed to pull the door open. harry saw that, like most wizarding forms of transport, the carriages were larger inside than they appeared to be from the outside. sirius lifted draco inside and laid him down on one of the seats. next, he opened the door to the stables and walked inside. harry followed him in. there were over a dozen thestrals occupying separate pens, some staring at them curiously and others drinking a dark red liquid from troughs in the corner. sirius approached one; it reared its head angrily and snorted loudly, dust issuing from its nostrils. "damn," said sirius, taking a step back. he looked over at the others and then towards the door. "wait here," he told harry, and disappeared outside. he returned a minute later carrying draco in his arms. "sirius, what--" harry fell silent as sirius held one of draco's hands up to the thestral's nose. the skeletal horse inhaled a deep breath and then lowered its head and pawed the ground. "quick," said sirius, "unlock the pen." nervously, harry reached out and unhooked the latch on the gate. the thestral stalked out and stopped beside harry. sirius was already waving draco's hand in front of another.

harry unlatched the gate and took the reins of the second thestral. "come on," said sirius. he led the way back outside and put draco in the carriage again. the others hung back with odd expressions, though hermione was still staring at the ground. "they're thestrals," harry said helpfully. "i've got two." ron nodded and, somewhat awkwardly, helped harry lead them over to the carriage. harry fastened their bridles to the carriage and tested their restraints. "let's go," sirius said, holding the door open. "come on, hermione," harry said, helping her inside the carriage. once they were all inside, sirius looked at the thestrals and said experimentally, "hogwarts." the two animals snorted and tossed their heads, which harry supposed meant they understood. he climbed in the carriage and shut the door. they began to move, rolling forward as the thestrals worked themselves into a steady gallop. the front gates parted smoothly as they approached to let them through. harry breathed more easily once they were safely outside the manor and on the road back to hogwarts. he couldn't see the manor behind them anymore but he felt a burst of sharp pain in his scar that told him voldemort knew of their escape. he wasn't pleased. *** the journey back to hogwarts was a tense one. everyone inside the carriage was staring at draco's limp body, lying prone beside sirius. harry felt as if his stomach had fallen through the bottom of the carriage. at one point he looked worriedly at hermione and asked her if she was okay. she didn't reply, though, and merely looked at him as though she couldn't see him. when they arrived back at hogwarts, sirius threw the door open and stepped out. "i'll get dumbledore," he said. "wait here." he changed into his canine form and bolted off towards the castle. suddenly, harry felt very alone. he turned and looked at the others. he wanted to comfort hermione and give ron a reassuring look and ask ginny if she was okay, but he couldn't find his voice, so he waited in silence until dumbledore and sirius, now in human form, came hurrying out the doors and across the lawn. dumbledore's eyes were ablaze with determination. "everyone is all right?" he asked sirius. "everyone except draco," sirius replied grimly. dumbledore looked inside the carriage at draco's body. "how did this happen?" "voldemort hit him with avada kedavra," sirius explained.

dumbledore nodded slowly. "we need to get him to the hospital wing, sirius." sirius's brow creased in confusion. "but...he's dead, dumbledore. there's not much point--" "sirius," dumbledore interrupted firmly. sirius nodded and lifted draco out of the carriage. dumbledore turned to harry and the others. "i think it best that all of you accompany us to the hospital wing. there is much we need to discuss." harry dropped down from the carriage and helped the others down. ron put an arm around hermione's shoulders and they followed dumbledore and sirius into the castle. it was still deserted at this early in the morning, the silence broken only by their footsteps on the stone floors. they continued up the marble staircase and reached the hospital wing, which was thankfully empty. dumbledore instructed sirius to put draco down on a bed and went to find madam pomfrey. when they returned, madam pomfrey set several glass phials down on the table beside draco's bed and began pouring ingredients into them. "i don't understand," said sirius. "there's nothing we can do for him. he's dead." dumbledore looked up. "no," he said, "he is not dead." the entire present party - excluding madam pomfrey who was busy crushing moonstone into a vial - stared at dumbledore in bewildered confusion. "what do you mean he's not dead?" sirius asked, voicing everyone's thoughts. "he was hit by the killing curse. there's no chance he could be alive." "no," dumbledore replied, "he is not alive. but neither is he dead." dumbledore's remark was met by more stunned silence. for the first time since draco had been hit by voldemort's spell, hermione looked alert and aware of her surroundings. "i should tell you, perhaps," dumbledore continued, "that in my time i have seen one other person in the state that draco is in. sirius, too, has seen one." sirius clearly wasn't following dumbledore, and looked as baffled as ever. by way of further explanation, dumbledore turned and looked at harry. sirius followed his eyes. "harry," dumbledore explained, "survived the killing curse as an infant and he, too, was rendered into this state of consciousness afterwards. it is no easy feat, recovering from an unforgivable curse, especially one inflicted by a wizard as powerful as voldemort. the body shuts down, as does the mind, most likely from shock. but harry woke shortly afterwards and i am confident that draco will do the same." harry goggled at dumbledore. "malfoy survived the killing curse?" "yes," dumbledore replied simply. "he will live." "but...how?" sirius asked. "that," said dumbledore, "is a complicated question and one that i hope to address soon. but, for now, i require a word with harry." dumbledore turned towards him. "in my office

if possible." harry nodded in reply. "poppy...you have everything you need?" "yes, headmaster," madam pomfrey replied. "the potion should be ready in a few minutes." "very well then," said dumbledore. "the others may remain here if they wish. also, i would like to be notified as soon as draco awakes." "of course, headmaster." with that, dumbledore turned and started towards the door. "come, harry," he said. harry looked briefly back at draco's lifeless form and the others standing around him, then followed dumbledore out of the room. *** dumbledore's office had, as it always did, a calming effect on harry. it was usually here that he found himself at the end of whatever harrowing ordeal he had been through and it was here that he felt truly safe. dumbledore directed harry to a chair and then lit a fire in the grate. merry red-orange flames sprang instantly into existence, bathing the room in a soft, autumn-coloured glow. harry relaxed further as the warmth seeped into his skin. "i imagine you have many questions, harry," said dumbledore, sitting down behind his desk, his bright blue eyes trained on harry. "i will, of course, do my best to answer them, though i fear the answers themselves may raise yet more questions." harry kept silent as dumbledore looked briefly at the fire before turning back to him. "to explain why draco was able to survive voldemort's curse," he began, "i must first explain why you were able to survive it, for the reasons are similar. i wonder, harry," dumbledore continued, "how much you know of the history of the founders." harry blinked, caught somewhat off guard by the seemingly incongruous reference. he wasn't sure what the founders had to do with draco cheating death, but he knew dumbledore well enough to know that he wouldn't digress. "i...know some," he replied hesitantly. it was true, they had been taught about the founders quite frequently in history of magic, but how much of it harry had listened to he wasn't sure. professor binns had the unique ability to make even a full-scale magical war sound as dull as one of filch's recitations of the hogwarts school rules (all two thousand, six hundred and eighty nine of them) which the caretaker occasionally subjected an unlucky student to, until they inevitably fell asleep. "what do you know?" dumbledore asked in an encouragingly curious tone. harry hesitated. "i...know that the founders were powerful witches and wizards." "very powerful witches and wizards," dumbledore clarified. "you must understand, harry, that they were far more powerful than any witch or wizard alive today. the founders had access to magicks that we cannot even begin to comprehend. many of them are lost to us today, but we do have records of some. for instance," he continued, "helga, in particular, was famous for her healing and protection spells. many witches and wizards have tried to

replicate her spells, though the records we have of them are sparse. the only thing we can know with certainty is that they existed and that they were extremely effective." dumbledore paused and tented his fingers beneath his nose. "what else do you know of the founders, harry?" harry cast his mind about. "i know that they fought a war...with slytherin." dumbledore nodded. "yes, a very brutal war. the number of people killed at the hands of slytherin rivals that of voldemort. he was relentless in his conquests and the wizarding world could do little against his advancements. only the other founders were ever able to stand against him, though even they found it difficult to fight him. his ambitions were grand and there was one thing he desired above all else. do you know what that was, harry?" "immortality," harry replied simply. dumbledore nodded again. "the greatest dark wizards have always sought eternal life, though none have ever achieved it wholly. the mysteries of immortality are not easily revealed, but there is always the possibility that they will one day be uncovered and should that day be the day of salazar slytherin, or voldemort, there will be grave consequences indeed for the entire world. the founders saw this and determined to prevent slytherin from ever attaining his goal. "the first thing they did," dumbledore went on, "was to protect themselves, for, as i said, only they could ever stand against the might of slytherin. and so helga, with the aid of rowena and godric, was able to devise protection spells for each of them, to guard against slytherin's many curses and dark magicks. these spells were, and are, extremely difficult to perform; not dangerous, but highly complex. you may ask why they were not cast upon whole armies, to protect them against their enemies. the reason is that the spells themselves - as well as being difficult to perform - are highly specific, often only guarding against a single, designated witch or wizard. to protect an entire army would drain the energy of the caster to a lethal extent. so the founders protected themselves instead. "the spells, though, were not intended to affect their recipients alone, but rather their blood. they were devised so that the protection would be inherited, passed down the generations to their heirs and descendents. eventually, the hufflepuff and ravenclaw lines died out - there are no living descendents today. both the gryffindor and slytherin lines, however, have survived to the present day. you know, of course, that voldemort is salazar slytherin's heir, but the gryffindor heir, harry, you are not aware of." dumbledore stood up from his chair and took something down from the shelf behind his desk. "i wonder, harry, if you remember this." he did. it was the sword he had pulled out of the sorting hat during his second year, inside the chamber of secrets. the last time he had seen it its blade had been darkened with the blood of the basilisk he had used it to kill; now, however, its blade glinted in the firelight. "the sword of gryffindor," dumbledore said, holding the blade up to admire it. "it was forged and enchanted by godric himself. he wielded it in battle many times and spilled

much blood by its edge. upon his death, it was passed down to his eldest son, who in turn passed it to his heir, and he to his, and so forth, down the many generations of gryffindors, until, at one point, the sword was lost." dumbledore laid the sword down on his desk and resumed his seat. "the common belief was," he continued, "that it had been hidden, by its gryffindor owner, for some reason that remains unknown. for centuries, witches and wizards searched the globe for it, some for profit and others for glory. it was never found, however...until, that is, you pulled it out of the sorting hat." dumbledore's eyes rested significantly on harry. "there is a reason, harry," he said, "why you were able to find the sword, and retrieve it, when no one else could; the same reason why you were able to survive voldemort's curse as a child. do you know what that might be?" harry shook his head, leaning forward in his chair. "you are the heir of gryffindor, harry," said dumbledore. "you are descended in a direct line, on your father's side, from godric gryffindor. by the actions of the founders, you inherited their protection, which shielded you against the avada kedavra curse and allowed you to reclaim the sword." harry stared, wide-eyed, at dumbledore. he was lost for words. his mind was struggling to make sense of dumbledore's explanation. he realised though, that it was sound. it explained why he had pulled godric's sword out of the sorting hat and why he had not been killed by voldemort's curse. it was a lot to digest but it certainly seemed logical. "i'm related to godric gryffindor?" harry asked. "and i'm protected by the spell the founders did?" dumbledore nodded. "but...i thought there was no protection against avada kedavra?" harry asked incredulously. "not today," dumbledore replied, "but it was not always so. the founders alone were able to defend against the killing curse, though as i said, the knowledge is lost to us." "are you saying i'm not affected by avada kedavra?" harry asked in awe. "no," dumbledore replied sternly. "you are not immune to the curse. if you are struck with it again, you will die. it is impossible to know whether it was the original intention of the spell to provide such limited protection, or whether the dilution of the bloodlines has caused its diminishment, but i have little doubt that it has now worn off. the reasoning behind my suspicion is no doubt related to your next question." "why didn't my dad survive?" harry asked faintly, wondering how dumbledore had known. "yes," said dumbledore, nodding gravely. "i spent many months, following your parents' death, contemplating the point until i discovered the answer. i will explain it to you, though first it is necessary to answer a further question; your original question." "why malfoy survived..." dumbledore nodded. "there is a convoluted line of reasoning that connects all of these points; i will do my best to explain it simply." dumbledore looked once more at the

flames dancing in the grate, before beginning his explanation. "if draco were to trace his family line back several generations," he said, "he would find that, at one point, the malfoys shared a common ancestor with the riddle family." harry's eyes grew wide once more. "malfoy's related to voldemort?" "distantly, yes." "er...how distantly?" "the malfoy and riddle lines separated many generations ago," dumbledore replied. "both, however, can be traced back to salazar slytherin." harry saw the connection and was racked by even more astonishment. "slytherin fathered many children to many different women, and as a result his lineage branched off several times. only two of the lines have survived to the present day: the malfoys and the riddles. there is little slytherin blood left in the malfoy line, however, and voldemort is salazar's true heir." "does malfoy know this?" harry asked curiously. "i suspect not," replied dumbledore. "lucius is in possession of this knowledge, as is voldemort, though i doubt they have yet revealed it to draco." harry frowned. "but...i don't understand. why would malfoy survive the curse if he's slytherin's descendent?" "a valid question," dumbledore replied, "and one that leads me back to my original mention of slytherin's aspirations. there are no records in existence that detail the process required to gain immortality, though there is one aspect of it that learned witches and wizards have long since agreed upon, and that is the sacrifice of one's child." dumbledore paused at the sombre look on harry's face. "we each possess within us the potential for eternal life, harry," he went on. "our children," he added by way of explanation. "through them we are able to pass along our blood so that we may live, in some from or another, forever. that is the purpose of life itself. and so we know that the sacrifice of a child is required to balance the acquisition of prolonged life in the parent. you may see, now, why slytherin fathered so many children." harry saw in his mind's eye a hundred faceless people; men and women created for no other reason than to give their father eternal life. he shivered with the idea, despite the warmth provided by the crackling flames. "whatever the process for immortality may be," dumbledore went on, "it is both lengthy and complicated. slytherin had no shortage of sacrifices at his disposal, but even so, he would not have found it easy to attain his goal. he was determined though and the founders saw the danger in letting him proceed with his efforts. they therefore decided to cast upon slytherin's own children, their protection spells. as a result, voldemort, lucius and draco are now in possession of this protection, or were at some point." "so that's how malfoy survived?" harry asked. "yes."

"but...what does that have to do with what happened to my dad?" "it is voldemort's protection that we are concerned with," said dumbledore. "it took me many months and many long nights to realise what had happened. in the end, it was a simple, logical explanation." harry looked back in confusion. it didn't seem simple or logical to him. "when voldemort cursed your father," dumbledore explained, "the curse would have - i am sure - rebounded and struck voldemort instead. the same happened to you, only voldemort's protection had been negated at that time. after the curse rebounded off your father, it would have struck voldemort, whose own protection would have rebounded the curse again, which would have then struck your father." harry saw it all like a sadistic game of tennis; the avada kedavra curse bouncing back and forth between voldemort and his father, killing the latter simply because voldemort had been the one to initiate the curse. harry was suddenly filled with a raging sense of injustice. he pacified himself as dumbledore continued to speak. "this is the reasoning," he said, "that led me to the conclusion that the protection spell provides only a limited defence against the avada kedavra curse. it is likely it still influences your ability to combat less severe curses, however - i have seen you resist the imperius curse with my own eyes." harry was still confused. "but...voldemort survived the curse that backfired on me...so his protection would still have been intact." "no," dumbledore replied. "it was because of what happened to him after cursing you that led me to see what had happened with your father. voldemort must have already expended his protection or he would not have suffered such a grave fate. you may know already of the steps that he took towards immortality, during the height of his power. it was not total, but it was enough to prevent him from being killed even after he had lost his protection. it was less effective, however, and so he was reduced to a shadow of his former self." but not anymore, harry thought, feeling as though the words had gone unspoken between them. he stared down at his hands, attempting to turn over the weight of information in his mind. "you are tired," dumbledore said. "you need to rest, harry - you have been through an ordeal tonight, both mentally and physically. i suggest you get some sleep." "what about malfoy?" harry asked. "he will be fine," dumbledore replied. "he will take some time to wake, but the potion madam pomfrey brewed for him should hasten his recovery. i think it is more difficult to awake from the curse at his age, than it was for you as a child. the body is used to itself by then and it takes time to reawaken itself. it should not be more than a few days, i would think." dumbledore lowered his head, peering thoughtfully at harry over his glasses. "there is much anger between young draco and yourself," he observed. "you are not so different to one another, though. the shadow of voldemort hangs over you both, though i think draco will find the burden far heavier." harry began to wonder at

dumbledore's cryptic remarks, and was about to question him when he stood to replace the sword on the shelf. "good night, harry," he said, turning back around and smiling warmly. harry stood up. "good night, professor." he walked to the doors and left the office, descended the moving staircase, climbed out of the door behind the statue of the gargoyle and then headed off towards his dormitory, as the rest of the castle woke around him. *** "it's late," ron said gently, looking at hermione. "or...early. we should go to bed." hermione nodded absently in reply. she was staring down at draco, her fingernails digging painfully into her palms. the terrible gutted feeling of shock she'd felt a few hours ago had now been replaced with a tense, coiled sort of anxiety. dumbledore had told her that he was alive, and madam pomfrey had assured her that he would wake soon, but even so...she was worried about him. his face was blank and empty; sirius had mercifully closed his eyes so that he was no longer staring eerily up at the ceiling. hermione nodded absently again. "okay," she said. madam pomfrey had already retired to her office, after giving draco his potion and sirius had left a while ago to find lupin. only hermione, ron and ginny were left standing around draco's bed. hermione stood and, after a last look at draco, followed the other two from the room. *** harry didn't attend his classes the next day; neither did ron, hermione or ginny. they were all incredibly tired, and spent most of the day in the common room, sitting together amidst a tense silence. the following day they were all back in class. it was surprising how little they had missed. harry had to remind himself that the entire affair with voldemort and draco's father had transpired in only a few short hours. whenever harry had a chance, he checked in on draco in the hospital wing. he invariably found hermione there, sitting beside draco's bed with a sullen look, her leaden eyes staring fixedly at him. she would barely look up when harry entered and the smiles she gave by way of greeting never reached her eyes. the days turned into weeks and still draco hadn't woken. the terrifying thought occurred to harry that perhaps dumbledore had been wrong and draco was really dead. he didn't like to doubt the headmaster, and it seemed pointless to do so, but as the first week became the second and then the third, it seemed as though draco might never wake. so it was with a restrained curiosity that harry approached lupin's desk one afternoon, after he had been asked to remain behind after class. lupin waited until the last student had filed out of the classroom before he spoke. "draco's awake," he said simply. harry felt a tide of relief inside his chest. "is he okay?" he asked. "he's fine," lupin replied. "he woke up about an hour ago, but i thought it best not to cause a stir amongst the other students. the slytherins have been asking questions, of course, but

dumbledore has asked madam pomfrey to prevent them from seeing him for the time being. you can see him if you wish, though." "thanks," harry said, and turned to leave. he briefly considered telling hermione that draco had woken up, but thought it best that the other boy had some time to recover before being inundated with visitors; so harry made his way solo to the hospital wing, where he could hear raised voices coming from within. "quiet down, mr. malfoy," said madam pomfrey, sounding harassed. "i will not quiet down," came draco's indignant voice. "look at these pyjamas! they've got polka dots on them. i look like a bad christmas decoration!" "nonsense," madam pomfrey replied. "i think you look very smart." he's awake all right, though harry. he hesitated briefly and then pushed the door open and walked inside. draco turned instantly at the sound, his face turning impassive. "potter," he said, his tone still harbouring a hint of resentment. "hi," harry replied awkwardly, coming to stand beside draco's bed. the other boy sat up straight and folded his arms across his chest. "what are you doing here?" he asked. "i came to see how you were doing," harry replied. "i'm touched," draco drawled. "i bet you're pretty disappointed that i didn't cark it." "no," said harry. "i didn't want you to die, contrary to what you might think. none of us did." "right," draco snorted, "i forgot - you're gryffindors." harry looked irritably at draco. "you don't exactly make it easy to feel sorry for you, you know." "and why," draco said haughtily, "would i want your pity?" "i'm not offering you my pity, malfoy," harry snapped in reply. "but you might consider thinking about someone else for two seconds." "like who?" "like hermione." draco turned away and folded his arms more tightly. his jaw was set stubbornly. "she's worried about you, you know," harry told him. "i'm sure she is," draco replied sarcastically. "i'm serious," said harry. "she's been in here every morning and every night waiting for you to wake up." draco turned back to harry, looking dubious. "why would she do that?" he asked.

"i don't know," harry replied. "for some reason she seems to actually care about you. i wouldn't throw that away if i were you." "well, you're not me, are you?" draco retorted hotly. harry fell silent as he let draco's anger abate. he wasn't sure what he had expected to hear from him - an expression of gratitude? an offer of truce? - but he had thought that death would have at least blunted his sarcastic attitude. clearly, nothing had changed. "you helped us, malfoy," harry said, realising it was what he had come here for. "we wouldn't have found hermione or sirius if it weren't for you. i won't forget that." draco glared back stolidly. "i thought you didn't trust me?" "well, dying does add a certain credibility to your words," said harry. "so...thanks." draco continued to glare. harry let the silence between them stretch out a moment too long. "if you're expecting a thank you, potter," draco said fervently, "you can just turn around and walk out that door right now. "right," said harry with a weak smile. "i think i will." he got to his feet and turned back to draco before he left. "don't take your anger out on hermione," he said. "she doesn't deserve that. you should talk to her." draco made no move to reply. harry nodded to himself and walked towards the door. he stopped, with his hand on the doorknob, as draco spoke behind him. "hey, potter." harry turned around, and saw the intensity of draco's glare had diminished somewhat. "th--" "don't mention it," harry interjected with a smile. draco looked back and then smirked, which harry supposed was as close to a smile as he was going to get. he opened the door and left the room, still smiling to himself. *** after harry had left, draco spent another agonising hour of boredom in the drab hospital wing, mentally citing all the flaws he could find with the dcor. painting's crooked, window's dirty, mirror's upside-down. but by far the worst was his red-spotted pyjamas, which he couldn't stand to even look at. he only hoped his hair was tidy. at the end of the hour, the door opened and dumbledore walked inside. draco had anticipated the headmaster's visit but he had thought that he would be the one providing the answers to dumbledore's questions. as it turned out, dumbledore had a lot more to tell draco than draco had to tell him. he seemed quite informed about recent events, as well as many not-so-recent events. after his lengthy explanation, in which the words founders, slytherin, protection spell and voldemort featured prominently, draco was left goggling at dumbledore. "i survived avada kedavra?" he asked incredulously.

"yes," said dumbledore, nodding. "but, then...does that mean..." he trailed off and lifted his shirt to inspect his chest. the cuts inflicted by the spiky-faced demon had been mended and were no longer visible; but there, down on the left side of his torso, paler than the surrounding skin, was a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt. "bugger," said draco. *** hermione was both anxious and unwilling to see draco, but she knew she had to. after harry had told her, as she was about to head down to dinner, that draco was awake, hermione had walked apprehensively to the hospital wing, the door of which she now stood in front of. she looked at it and wondered what draco was doing on the other side. would he be asleep - in which case hermione could leave and put her visit off for another few days? or would he be awake? and if he was, would he be thankful that she had come to see him or upset with her for the very same reason? hermione realised it was a fruitless endeavour to try to predict draco malfoy's mood. of all people she should know how easy it was for him to change his emotions at a moment's whim. with a deep breath, hermione pushed the door open and stepped inside. the torches had been lit already and the room was bathed in their soft amber glow. the sterile white surfaces of the walls, floors, beds and curtains contrasted sharply with the shadows in the corners, and with the blonde-headed boy sitting on one of the beds, staring back at hermione with an expression that appeared to be both empty and weighted with significance. his eyes followed her as she approached his bed tentatively. "draco..." she said softly. he turned his face away to stare at the wall. hermione's heart fell, though she continued to look at him. "i'm glad you're okay," she said in a small voice. draco's gaze fell on her again and it took a great deal of effort not to recoil from it. hermione took another breath and another step forward. she put a hand on the bed, a foot away from draco's leg and said, "i'm sorry." his eyes seemed to grow darker. "i'm supposed to be the one who's sorry, granger," he said evenly. "well...are you?" hermione asked timidly. "would it make a difference?" asked draco. "i know how much luck i had the last time i tried to apologise to you." "i was hurt," hermione said defensively. "i wasn't ready to talk to you." "but now you are," draco said dryly, "and i'm supposed to talk to you?" "not if you don't want to," hermione replied.

draco sighed, a heavy, weary sigh. he looked healthy enough now; no marks or cuts or bruises to speak of. but in his eyes, hermione could see the remnants of what he'd been through and she wondered how much of that pain was because of her. "do you want me to leave?" she asked after a long stretch of silence. "no," draco said simply. hermione felt relief flush through her body and was surprised to feel it. she hadn't realised how tightly wound her nerves were, how vivid the sensation that she was walking on a thin rope was. she knew from bitter experience how easily draco could explode and cut her with his words, and in the state she was in she didn't think she could handle that. so she treaded carefully and hoped for the best. "you're leg's better?" hermione asked to break the silence. draco nodded and looked up with a pained expression. "look, hermione--" "don't," she interrupted quickly. "not now. i just...i can't do this now." draco looked dejected. "things are not okay between us," she continued. "i can forgive you for what you did to me - and i do - but i can't forget it as easily." "so you don't trust me?" draco asked. he made it hard to answer his questions, hermione thought. even lying in a hospital bed wearing a ridiculous pair of pyjamas he had the same commanding presence. his eyes were as sharp and piercing as ever and she didn't think she could lie to them even if she'd wanted to. "you died for me, draco," she said, making sure he noted the use of his first name. "i trust you." a smile trembled momentarily on draco's face as he looked down at his hands. it was gone in the blink of an eye. "i guess that's something then," he said. hermione felt the glimmer of hope inside her own chest. she wanted desperately to believe that everything she had seen in draco during their time together had been real and not a product of his father's deceitful plan. there was goodness in him, she knew it. whether he knew it, though, she wasn't sure. again, she was forced to break the awkward silence. "do you know when you'll be out of here?" she asked. "in a few days, i think," draco replied. "madam pomfrey said i'd be out before the quidditch final." "oh, right." hermione had almost forgotten about quidditch and exams and school holidays. in the span of one night they had encountered the dark lord himself, foiled another of his plots to kill harry and watched draco die - things like quidditch and school work just didn't seem that important now. but it would be good, for all of them, to have something to take their minds off what they'd been through.

"will they let you play?" she asked. draco smiled and it was the first time she'd ever seen him do so, not smirk or grin or sneer but really smile. there was an edge to it though. "you think i'd throw away a chance to knock potter off his broom?" he said. hermione sighed but couldn't help smiling. "i suppose it would be too much to ask for the two of you to get along, even with you dying and all." "some things never change, granger," draco replied, smiling more broadly. hermione smiled back and felt the weight that had settled inside her chest over the past few weeks finally flutter away. she still felt as though she was treading on ice, but draco's smile, rare as they were, encouraged her. she decided not to push it though. "it's getting late," she said at length. draco looked up at the clock on the wall. "i guess it is." he looked down at her again, his face impassive one more. "i can come and see you tomorrow if you like," hermione said tentatively. "i'd like that," draco replied, to hermione's delight. "okay. goodnight," she said, and walked to the door. she remembered something though and turned back to draco. "draco?" "mmm?" he mumbled, looking up. "can you do me a favour?" "what?" "the quidditch final," she said, "when you play...don't think about beating harry or winning - just think about getting the snitch." draco looked at her curiously and hermione took his silence as a sign that he would at least consider her words. "goodnight," she said again, and left the hospital wing. *** while draco waited out the rest of his recovery in the hospital wing, safe in the knowledge that he was exempt from end of year exams, the others had no such luxury; so they found themselves, at hermione's behest, frequenting the library during the day, struggling to cram all they knew about accelerating charms and surface transfiguration and navitaserum potions into their already crowded heads. harry decided that one of these regular study sessions might be the best time to inform the others of what dumbledore had told him. his explanation was longer and less elegant than the headmaster's had been, but in the end it had the same effect. "malfoy's related to voldemort and salazar slytherin?" ron asked incredulously once harry

had finished speaking. "no wonder he's so evil." "he's not evil, ron," hermione said defensively. "please, hermione," ron replied. "he wears polka dot pyjamas...he's evil." "they're not his," hermione protested on draco's behalf. "and anyway," she added with her chin raised haughtily, "he's got his own pyjamas now and they're silk and i think he looks very..." "all right, all right," ron interrupted her. "some of us have no desire to see our lunch again." both hermione and ginny giggled and even harry shook with laughter. hermione only wished draco was here. she had tried to convince the others to go and see him with her but everyone's schedules seemed to conflict and ron certainly was adamant that draco stood a better chance of recovery if he didn't visit him. hermione hadn't accepted that excuse though and so she'd dragged ron into a particularly laconic meeting with draco, during which they had both done little more than hone their glaring skills. and ginny had been so unwilling to see him that she had literally dug her heels into the ground outside the hospital wing and plain refused to go inside. in the end hermione had given up and decided that maybe it was best that she not see draco too often herself. she had meant what she'd said, about not being able to forget how he'd betrayed her. she only hoped that changed in time. "so you're a gryffindor?" ron asked harry in awe. "descendent," harry clarified. "does that mean you own part of this school?" ron asked. "i don't think so, ron," harry replied with a smile. "but you could, say, fire snape if you wanted to?" harry laughed. "and spend the rest of my life sniffing my food? no, thanks." the pleasant palaver continued amongst them for quite a while, so that the amount of study they did was kept to a minimum, though even hermione didn't mind. she spent a good deal of time thinking of draco and whether he could ever sit down with them like this and chat good-naturedly. she found it hard to imagine though, and she usually couldn't get past ron and draco simultaneously hexing each other over whose leg had crossed over to whose side. still, it was nice to dream. she looked contentedly out of the window, where the bleak winter weather belied her own serene mood. ***

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title: the redemption of draco malfoy (13) author name: jason author email: scarecrow_eyes@hotmail.com category: action/adventure sub category: romance keywords: harry hermione ron ginny voldemort rating: r spoilers: ss/ps, cos, poa, gof, fb, qtta summary: it's quidditch final time and the rivalry is as heated as ever. also, sirius and lupin reminisce, a cat has ginny's tongue, and it's time to leave hogwarts. disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by jk rowling, various publishers including but not limited to bloomsbury books, scholastic books and raincoast books, and warner bros., inc. no money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. i have used quotations from various sources in some of the chapters. you can find the references at the end. author notes: acknowledgements: danjio, my beta-reader, for all the work she's put into this fic along the way. i also want to take this opportunity to say that i'm 'quite a bit' sorry. she knows what for. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ chapter thirteen: gryffindor versus slytherin the quidditch final was swiftly approaching and harry began to feel a buzz of excitement settle over the castle. in the halls, people were chatting animatedly about the upcoming

match, encouraging one team, insulting the other, and generally imbuing the entire castle with an excited air. to calm his nerves, harry wandered off to lupin's office where he found the defence against the dark arts professor laughing jovially as he reminisced about his hogwarts days with sirius, who sat perched on a window sill. "the look on his face!" sirius cried, roaring with laughter. "madam pomfrey told me it took her six hours to get the stuff out of his hair. mind you, ogg wasn't too happy - he used to use the stuff as fertiliser." lupin slapped his desk with teary laughter. "er...am i interrupting something?" harry asked tentatively from the doorway. both sirius and lupin looked up. sirius made no move to hide the smile on his face or assume a more elegant position, but lupin straightened up instantly in his chair and cleared his throat. "ah, harry. good to see you. we were just...um..." "it's okay," said harry, holding up a hand. "i don't want to know." sirius grinned and lupin said, "no...uh...maybe you don't." he attempted to straighten his posture again. "so, are you ready for your match against slytherin?" "yeah," harry replied truthfully. he was nervous and he was apprehensive - especially now that ron and ginny would be on the pitch - but he was ready. "how are you?" sirius asked, his face now straight. "i'm okay," harry replied. "have you seen draco?" "yeah. he seems okay. back to his old self again." "that was a brave thing he did," sirius said solemnly. "i don't know too many people who would die for someone they're meant to hate." "i don't think he hates hermione," harry replied. "i don't know why he doesn't, but he doesn't." "don't be too hard on him, harry," lupin put in. "he's been through a lot, and i don't just mean in the last few months. growing up with lucius malfoy as your father - that's bound to give you a colourful personality." "dumbledore told you about draco's family?" sirius inquired. harry nodded. "and about yours?" he nodded again. "did you know, sirius? that i was related to godric gryffindor?" "i did," said sirius. "but i want you to understand, harry, that i wasn't trying to keep it from you. dumbledore made it clear to everyone who knew that you weren't to be burdened with that knowledge while you were growing up. i guess he thinks you're ready

for it now, though." "i guess," harry replied. "is something bothering you, harry?" lupin asked, looking at him with concern. "just...voldemort," harry replied. "he got away...again." "that doesn't matter, harry," sirius assured him. "you saved hermione's life and mine, for which i'm extremely grateful, by the way. you did more than anyone could have expected. don't dwell on the details." "but he's out there now and we have no idea what he's planning or who he's going to hurt next. we're blind, just like we were before." "except now you have another ally, if i'm not mistaken," said sirius. "you helped hermione and you helped me, but i think you also helped draco. he's not going to forget what happened even if he wants to. you saw what he had to do; what he had to sacrifice. his father and voldemort are after his skin now. he's in the same boat as you." harry considered what sirius was saying and was suddenly struck by the hopelessness of draco's situation. voldemort was after him, just as he was after harry, but draco's very family were his enemies. he hadn't the support of the weasleys or a loving godfather or a loyal group of friends. he didn't even have a home to go to any more. "he can't go home," harry said, voicing his thoughts. "he can," said lupin, surprising harry. "dumbledore's notified the ministry and they're going to sequester all of lucius' property and freeze his assets. they'll go to narcissa until draco turns eighteen." "but...how?" harry asked incredulously. "the ministry have never listened to dumbledore before." "yes," said sirius, "but now dumbledore has something that they'll have to listen to." "what?" harry asked with curiosity. "draco," lupin replied simply. "he's agreed to testify to the ministry about his father's actions and associations with voldemort. even if fudge still wants to deny that voldemort's risen, he won't be able to ignore what happened to hermione and sirius. they can testify too, if need be, but it probably won't be necessary. fudge knows how proud the malfoys are and if draco has decided to point the finger at his father, the ministry won't need much more convincing." harry blinked in surprise. he certainly hadn't expected that. for draco to testify against his father and effectively sign his arrest warrant was to go against everything the slytherin boy had stood for his entire life. he had spoken to harry of family pride, but now he was putting what was moral and what was right above that. perhaps they could trust draco after all. time would tell though, and, as sirius said, harry chose not to dwell on it.

"what about you?" he asked sirius. "where will you go now?" "about three floors down and fifty yards that way," said sirius, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. harry looked at him in confusion. "what?" "i'm staying here," sirius clarified. "hagrid's letting me stay in his hut next year while he's visiting madam maxime in france." harry felt as though he would burst with joy. "are you serious?" he asked. "even by name," sirius quipped with a smile. harry grinned. he suddenly felt a lot less nervous about the upcoming quidditch match about everything. with sirius here at hogwarts, harry could be assured that his godfather was safe and also speak to him whenever he wished. "what about you, professor lupin?" he asked. "staying here," lupin replied. "dumbledore's keen to break the curse of the dark arts job." harry's grin widened. he felt far more cheerful now; enough to go back outside and face the jeering slytherins in the hallways. "i should go," he told sirius and lupin. "angelina probably wants to practice some more before the match." lupin smiled and nodded behind his desk. "bye," said harry, turning to leave. "oh, harry," lupin called out when he was at the door. harry turned back around. "how's hermione?" lupin asked. "oh...she's fine. she's still upset with malfoy, i think, but i'm sure she'll be okay." lupin nodded. "and ginny?" he asked. "ginny?" harry said curiously, wondering why both lupin and sirius were smiling at him. "she's...uh...fine. i think." "have you asked her?" said lupin. "no, i..." he trailed off, then added, "no." "maybe you should," lupin suggested. "we'll see you at the match," he added. harry nodded and left the room, still confused. *** draco was rhythmically knocking his head against the wall behind him, just hard enough to make it interesting. he glared with loathing at the opposite wall, so dull and white and boring. when was he going to get out of here? he was sure that if he had to spend another

night in this damnable hospital wing that he would put his fist through something pillow, curtain, house elf...whatever. the quidditch final was only a few days away and though he didn't really need to practice - seeing as how good he naturally was -, he still wanted to warm himself up to the feel of a broomstick again. with all the time he was spending in this god-forsaken infirmary he was beginning to worry if his limbs might become lethargic. but then even horrible, mind-numbing boredom was preferable to a visit from potter's gang of do-gooders. this time it was the dog-man. draco eyed him suspiciously as he approached his bed. "what do you want?" he asked. "to talk," sirius replied. "i hear you're quite good at that." much to draco's annoyance, sirius decided to sit down on the chair beside his bed. draco was sitting above his covers with his knees pulled up. he was still being forced to wear pyjamas, which he found demeaning in front of company, even if they were his own silk, quidditch ralph lauren pyjamas. sirius was looking at him with an amused expression, which draco didn't like at all. "so you're lucius malfoy's son?" he asked. "yeah," draco replied defensively. "so what?" "so i was anxious to meet the fifteen-year-old kid who disobeyed lucius. that's no easy thing to do." "i'm not a kid," draco said icily. "no, i can see that," sirius replied. "what you did was brave...putting yourself in front of hermione like that." draco set his jaw stubbornly and looked back at his adversarial wall. sirius seemed even more amused. "you don't like praise, do you?" he observed. "although, from what i understand, you have no problem praising yourself." draco turned back to sirius and narrowed his eyes darkly. "or is it that you just don't like emotion?" sirius inquired more seriously. "lucius taught you not to feel anything when you betray people, didn't he? he taught you not to feel guilt or remorse. and he also taught you not to feel compassion or sympathy or love. but you do, don't you?" "right now, all i feel is an overwhelming desire to kick you in the stomach," said draco. sirius smiled broadly. "she was right about you." draco's angry expression faded quickly, replaced by a curious look. "who was?" "hermione," sirius replied. as casually as he could, draco asked, "what did she say about me?" "oh, now i can't tell you something like that," sirius said with mock conviction. "i'd be

betraying her trust." the angry expression returned to draco's face like a vulture to its nest. "you think you're pretty funny, don't you?" he said. "i think, therefore i am," sirius replied sagely. "well, i think you're a tosser," said draco. annoyingly, sirius was still smiling. "i guess that's my cue to leave," he said, standing up. "you want to get some rest before your quidditch game," he added, replacing the chair. "harry's not going to go easy on you just because you died." "i can take potter any day," draco replied fiercely. sirius was walking towards the door by now. he turned back around before he reached it, still smiling. "she was definitely right about you," he said, and then walked out, leaving draco bristling with fury on his bed. he yelled out in frustration and then threw the covers off himself. "that's it!" he barked, getting to his feet. "i'm getting out of this stinking place. where the hell is madam pomfrey?" *** ginny sat in an armchair by the fire in the gryffindor common room, gazing into the flames and warming herself by their heat. it was lunchtime and most of the students were downstairs in the great hall, which had left the common room in a peaceful silence. ginny was quite content to sit there staring at the fire and maybe fall asleep if she could, but she was prevented from doing so when the portrait hole opened and harry stepped through. she quickly straightened up, pulling her legs up beneath her. he walked directly towards her. "hey, ginny." "hi," she replied. "mind if i sit here?" he asked, indicating the armchair beside her. "no," said ginny, shaking her head. harry took a seat and then turned to look at ginny, who turned to look at the wall. several moments of awkward silence elapsed before harry spoke. "are you...um...are you okay ginny?" ginny turned to face him. "i'm fine," she said. "are you sure?" she nodded. "why?"

"i was just wondering if you were. you know - after everything that happened." ginny lowered her gaze. "i'm fine," she repeated. "i'm not," said harry. ginny looked up with surprise. "you're not?" she asked softly. "no," said harry. "i'm afraid...and i'm worried...and i've been thinking a lot about what happened." ginny looked back at him intently. she realised that harry was opening up to her, telling her things he wouldn't ordinarily tell anyone, so that she would open up to him. she owed it to him, she supposed. "i have too," she said. harry kept silent and waited for her to continue. suddenly, there was a rush of emotion inside ginny that loosened her tongue. "you almost died harry!" she said earnestly. "if malfoy hadn't put himself in front of you like that you would have! you would have been killed, not just knocked unconscious. i..." ginny dropped her gaze. "i don't want you to get killed, harry." "i'm still here," he replied. "i'm not going anywhere." ginny looked up, into his large green eyes. they weren't bottomless, like dumbledore's were or draco's were; everything that was in them, everything harry felt, was there at the surface. he was like an open book, waiting to be read if only ginny could raise her eyes to his. she did now, and she saw in them a tenderness and an affection that she hadn't expected to see. her tongue was still loose. "harry, i..." she trailed off, her mouth remaining open as harry looked back patiently and curiously. curiously, ginny realised. he doesn't know what i want to say. "what is it, ginny?" harry asked. she let her eyes fall along with her spirits, looking not at harry or herself but at the space between them. "nothing," she said softly. "it's nothing." she half expected harry to continue probing and asking her what was wrong, but he must have sensed ginny's unwillingness to talk and so remained silent. his eyes were drawn to the portrait hole as the first few students arrived back from lunch. "are you coming down to practice?" he asked, getting to his feet. "yeah," said ginny. "i'll be down a minute." "okay," harry said, looking at her with apprehension. he turned away, reluctantly swallowing the concern written across his face, and left the common room. ginny took a deep, shuddering breath and hurried quickly up to her dormitory. she shut the door behind her and looked around for her quidditch gear, her vision blurred by tears, which she wiped away impatiently.

*** the following saturday was the day of the quidditch final and the staff and students were beginning to filter out of the castle and make their way across the grounds to the quidditch pitch. it was both bright and cloudy, though there was little wind. the stands were filling up steadily, over half the spectators sporting gold or crimson decorations and a smaller portion wearing green and silver. hermione was following her gryffindor housemates up to a row of seats in the stands, looking back over her shoulder to see if any of the players were visible yet. the pitch was empty though, so she took her seat and waited patiently. as she did, lavender and parvati engaged her in conversation. "so hermione," parvati said conversationally, leaning forward to see past lavender, "what's going on with you and malfoy?" hermione assumed a nonchalant look, which may have been nullified by the fact that she was blushing slightly. "what do you mean?" "you know what i mean," parvati replied. "we were just working together," hermione explained. "for an arithmancy project." "is that all you were doing?" lavender asked, on the verge of giggles, to hermione's irritation. "well, what do you think we were doing?" she asked. "oh, i don't know," said parvati. "maybe spending some time in the astronomy tower." and then came the giggles. hermione glared at them both. "draco and i are not involved!" she said firmly. "draco..." lavender chorused. "so you're on a first name basis now, are you?" "yes, and i don't see what's wrong with that." "oh, there's nothing wrong with it," parvati chimed in. "we just wish you'd tell us what you do with him. girls are supposed to share that kind of information with each other. so, tell me...is he really an evil bastard or is he just misunderstood?" "i think you're the one that's misunderstanding," said hermione. "i told you - draco and i aren't involved. we never were." "well, just tell us about his hair," parvati persisted. "is it really as soft as it looks?" "parvati!" "okay, okay," parvati said, sitting back in her seat. hermione composed herself and turned her attention back to the pitch, where madam hooch was now standing with the crates of balls. the stands were almost completely full now and humming with the excited palaver

of over a thousand people. hermione looked down several rows and saw sirius and lupin sitting together, pulling immature faces at snape, who was sitting on the other side of the pitch. he glared back coldly. all of the sudden there was a mighty roar from the crowd as one of the locker room doors was thrown open and angelina stepped out, leading the rest of the gryffindor team towards the centre of the pitch. hermione stood up and spotted ron and the twins and harry with his hand on ginny's shoulder. the youngest weasley looked, at least from this distance, extremely nervous. hermione wasn't worried though; ginny looked like that before every game and yet she never failed to play phenomenally. hermione's eyes drifted over to the other locker room door, which was thrust open a moment later to reveal the slytherin captain. he started out onto the pitch as the other players gradually walked into view behind him. hermione watched and waited and almost started to worry, until a blonde head appeared, last of all, walking slowly across the pitch. clearly, draco thought it his prerogative to set the pace of the game. he arrived beside his teammates, facing the gryffindors as two armies might face each other before battle. every player stared, or rather glared, at their counterpart on the other team, aside from ginny, who was staring at the ground, and draco who was...looking around the stands. he scanned the crowd until his eyes came to rest on her, where they stayed for several moments. hermione felt a thrill run down her spine, and was irritated by it. she wasn't sure if she should maybe wave or smile or give him the thumbs up - so she did nothing. draco seemed satisfied though, and turned back to the game. the captains shook hands and then madam hooch gave the signal for broomsticks to be mounted. a tense moment later and her whistle blew, the roar of the crowd carrying the players up into the air. hermione cringed at the volume of the sound. she lifted her shoulders again and looked out at the pitch, to find that ginny already had the quaffle and was racing towards the slytherin goals. hermione cringed again as one of the slytherin chasers sped directly at her, threatening to unseat her. but ginny simply swerved effortlessly aside and put the quaffle through one of the goalposts. "gryffindor scores!" lee jordan bellowed. ginny doubled back to the centre of the pitch where she was slapped on the back by the other chasers and fred and george. ron was hovering around the gryffindor goalposts and harry was further up in the air, circling on one side of the pitch while draco was circling on the other. that was odd, hermione thought, as draco usually shadowed harry the entire game. he wouldn't be ignoring harry like that and looking for the snitch on his own unless...unless he had listened to what she'd said to him. hermione found her eyes drifting towards draco just as much as they were towards harry, or ron or ginny. that was all she needed, she mused, another person to watch out for. don't be silly, she told herself, draco can look after himself. but a moment later she gasped as a bludger narrowly missed him and then settled down quickly before anyone noticed. down below, adrian pucey was carrying the quaffle towards the gryffindor end,

bookended by the other chasers, who looked particularly unapproachable, to say the least. one of them swerved menacingly at katie as she tried to get at the quaffle, which discouraged any further attempts. ginny, though, didn't seem fazed by adrian's brutish bodyguards. hermione didn't know what ginny hoped to accomplish though, especially when she was simply flying backwards in front of adrian without making any attempts at the quaffle. but then she saw fred fall into place behind ginny, drifting backwards as well. across the pitch, george intercepted a bludger and smacked it directly towards fred, who raised his bat and... ginny ducked straight away but adrian's reflexes weren't as quick - the bludger hit him square in the stomach. he lurched sideways on his broom, threatening to fall, but managed to hang on. he looked up with fury on his face, glancing around for the quaffle or for someone's head. but ginny was already in the slytherin goal circle by then and in hermione's opinion, the keeper didn't stand a chance. "gryffindor increase their lead to forty points," said lee. "slytherin are trailing on twenty." the match dissolved, as they always did between these two teams, into a bloody, violent conflict. fred and george were hitting bludger's all over the place, knocking them towards an attacking chaser only to fly around, intercept it on the other side of the pitch and hit it at them again. their experience really showed. as did angelina's, who put two more goals away. katie scored once and ginny got another. it was now gryffindor on one hundred points and slytherin on thirty. although the slytherin beaters were vicious enough, the chasers simply couldn't stand up to the superior skills of the gryffindors. ginny had the quaffle again. the majority of the crowd gasped en masse as ginny flew in a vertical loop to shake one of the slytherin chasers and then sped towards the goalposts and scored again. the game drew on but still there was no sign of the snitch. "gryffindor scores again, which brings them to one hundred and sixty points," lee announced. "slytherin are way behind on thirty, but they're not going to touch ginny weasley anytime soon. and she puts another one away!" soon, the gryffindor team had achieved the rare feat of putting themselves more than one hundred and fifty points ahead, which meant that unless the slytherin chasers narrowed the difference and draco got the snitch, it would likely be a gryffindor victory. hermione looked up to see draco flying around nimbly, ignoring harry completely although she knew that the roar of the crowd would alert him if harry had sighted the snitch. draco was flying far more fluidly now than he had in the past, looking, despite the lack of a smile, as though he was genuinely enjoying the game. as hermione watched, he caught sight of ginny down below, racing towards the slytherin goals, and plunged his broom down towards her. ginny spotted him when he was only a few yards away and swerved sharply out of his way, dropping the quaffle. hermione could have sworn that draco was smirking at her and that ginny was sticking her tongue out at him. ginny turned

away and glided back to the other end of the pitch, draco watching her go. in fact, he was watching her quite intently, and suddenly hermione realised what he was looking at. there was a glimmer of gold beside ginny's ankle, following her across the pitch. she saw draco straighten up, lean forward on his broomstick and shoot forward like an arrow. the rest of the crowd realised what was happening and started to gasp and yell and scream wildly. some stood up in their seats to shout profanities at draco and the slytherins to urge him onwards. harry realised a second later and two seconds later he was speeding towards ginny, racing draco to the snitch. ginny turned around, her eyes widening with horror as she saw them hurtling towards her; but both harry and draco had veered to the right as the snitch flew away from ginny and down near the ground. the speeds of their firebolts were equally matched, both urging their brooms onwards with a fierce intensity. draco was several feet below harry now, though still even with him. with a sudden burst of speed he angled his broom upwards so that harry was forced to yank his aside to avoid colliding with draco. it was all the other boy needed to put himself in front, and a moment later he flew easily past the snitch and snatched it out of the air. the groans of disappointment from the crowd were thunderous but the roar of triumph was deafening. hermione was on her feet clapping vigorously. spectators began flooding onto the pitch and hermione followed them down and ran across the field to harry, disappointed to see that draco had already detached himself. "good job, harry!" she cried above the din. "thanks, hermione," harry replied loudly, beaming. "and you too, ginny," she said. "you were great. and ron! you were fantastic." they were all grinning as they were slapped repeatedly on the back by hufflepuffs, ravenclaws and gryffindors alike.. hermione turned around and scanned the crowd. she saw draco standing with a throng of slytherins who snarling maliciously at the gryffindors. he was paying little attention to them though, and was instead staring back at her. his face was blank but for a hint of recognition and quite possibly amusement. how he managed to look amused without smiling hermione would never know. she looked back, though, and didn't look away until a group of spectators moved between her and draco, hiding him from view. dumbledore was descending from the stands now, holding the quidditch cup in his hands. the crowd parted as he walked towards the gryffindor team and handed the golden trophy to angelina, who, with the help of fred and george, held it high in the air. the slytherin team were already departing, draco lost amongst a see of emerald and silver. behind hermione, george shouted, "party in the gryffindor common room and you're all buying!" hermione was swept along with the crowd, back to the castle and into the gryffindor common room where the party lasted the entire night.

*** the school year was dwindling to a close and the weather was beginning to warm up. the snow at hogwarts had long since melted and the students spent their days either in the library studying for exams or outside on the grounds once they were over. in the last arithmancy class of the year, hermione was sitting beside padma patil, looking across the room at draco who, rather than leaning lazily back in his chair, was sitting upright with a tense hunch to his shoulders. hermione wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that, after arriving at the room before he did, she had chosen to sit beside padma rather than at an empty table, where she might save a seat for draco. he hadn't looked at her all lesson but he looked more disappointed than upset, if hermione was reading his expression right - which she highly doubted she was. professor vector stood up from her chair with a bunch of folded, frayed and faded parchments. "i have your assignments here," she said, flipping idly through them. "they were extremely well done this year and you'll be happy to know that no one failed." an audible sigh of relief greeted the professor's words. she started moving amongst the rows of seats, handing them out. the bell rang as she did and those who had already collected their projects were filing out of the door. hermione was chewing nervously on a fingernail, watching each and every student leave, until only she and draco remained. "miss granger and mr. malfoy," professor vector said, stopping in front of them. she lifted the top sheet of one of the assignments and considered it briefly, then looked back up. "you've both done exceptionally well," she told them. "you've scored far higher than any student who's ever completed this assignment. well done - both of you." she handed hermione her assignment with a smile and then draco his. hermione turned it over to look at the mark then stifled a smile while she packed her books into her bag. she had wanted to ask draco how he had gone, but he was already out the door by the time she looked up. with a shrug, she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder and left the room. *** in the third week of june it was time for the students to board the hogwarts express and return home for their summer holidays. harry didn't think the weather could be any more perfect for their departure. there wasn't a single cloud in sky, which was shining bright blue above them. the students were milling about on the hogsmeade platform, packing their belongings onto the train and chatting with friends. harry walked beside ron and hermione as they wound their way through the crowd and onto the train. they claimed an empty compartment and stowed their trunks before sitting down. "so sirius is really going to be at hogwarts next year?" said ron. "yeah," harry replied. "lupin, too." "bloody fantastic!" said ron. "at least that's one less thing to worry about now that we have a defence against the dark arts teacher who won't try to murder you." harry silently agreed. he turned to smile out the window, resting his chin on his palm and

gazing at the sky. he wondered briefly where ginny was - whether she was sitting alone in a compartment of her own. he hadn't seen her all day. "fancy a game of exploding snap, harry?" ron asked. "sure," said harry, turning away from the window. *** as harry and ron began to play, the great scarlet steam engine rumbled to life. doors were slammed shut all up and down the train before it began to move, slowly at first but gathering speed. soon they were speeding back to london with the countryside whizzing past the window. hermione decided that she'd heard enough random explosions and left the boys to their card game. she wandered down aimlessly down the train, until she came across ginny's compartment. she pushed the door open and found the young weasley girl sitting by herself and staring out the window. "hi, ginny." ginny turned around and looked up. "oh, hi, hermione." hermione closed the door behind her and took a seat. ginny avoided her eyes and looked rather at the seat hermione was sitting on or at the floor. "how are you?" hermione inquired. "i'm okay," ginny replied. "sorry i didn't come to sit with you guys. i just...i was late to the platform and the train had already started and..." "really?" hermione interjected. "i thought it was because of harry." ginny met her eyes, open-mouthed. "wh- what? what do you mean?" "well, you like him don't you?" said hermione. ginny turned scarlet and looked down at the floor. hermione smiled. "you don't have to be embarrassed about it, ginny," she said kindly. "i think it's nice that you like harry, even if he's too dumb to notice." ginny smiled weakly. "you didn't tell him, did you?" she asked with sudden horror. "no. of course not. but you should." ginny looked away again. "i- i tried to," she said. "but the words just dried up in my mouth. i couldn't do it." "well, don't be too hard on yourself," hermione said encouragingly. "harry will wake up sooner or later and realise what he's missing. and if he doesn't then i'll just have to have a very stern talk to him." ginny smiled cheerfully. "thanks, hermione."

"no problem." they were silent for a moment before ginny spoke again. "what about you and malfoy?" she asked, more suspiciously than curiously. "what's going on there?" "with draco? i have no idea. frankly, he's a complete enigma to me." "but...you like him?" "i don't know. i thought i did. he can be a real git sometimes - most of the time - but sometimes he can actually be kind." "malfoy?" ginny said sceptically. hermione chuckled. "maybe it's just me. i don't know. i don't think it matters now. we're all going home and next year we probably won't have anything to do with each other." "yeah," ginny said with a smile. "anyway," said hermione, getting to her feet, "i should go back and make sure ron and harry still have eyebrows. are you sure you don't want to come?" ginny nodded. "thanks, anyway." "okay, then," hermione said. "see you later." "bye," ginny said, as hermione left the compartment. she slid the door shut behind her and turned back to the front of the train. and almost crashed into... "draco!" she cried, jumping back. she looking up to see him staring back at her with interest. his hair had grown quite long now, so that strands of it were hanging down and framing his face. hermione hadn't looked at him this closely since he had accosted her in the hallway at hogwarts and held her to the wall by her wrist. she marvelled at how flawless his face was, how perfect the symmetry, how sharp the... "granger..." hermione blinked and swam back to reality. "hmm? what?" "nothing," said draco, with a faint smile. he looked much taller than her all of the sudden, and very solid too as he stood before her in the narrow corridor. "did you...er...want something?" hermione inquired. "not really," said draco. he looked sideways at the door she had just come through. "who were you visiting?" "oh...ginny," hermione replied. "she isn't sitting with you?" draco asked curiously. "no, she, ah, wanted to be alone for a while."

"potter still ignoring her?" said draco. hermione stared at him with shock. "how did you know about that?" "hermione, the whole school knows about it." she noted, with pleasure, the use of her first name. perhaps draco hadn't forgotten everything that had transpired between them before all that unpleasant business with voldemort. it was voldemort's fault now, hermione mused to herself, not draco's. when had that happened? "i guess they do," she replied. "but i didn't expect you to pick up on it." "oh, i'm very in tune with human emotions," draco said with a smile. even when he smiled, one side of his mouth would curl up to make it look like a smirk. it had originally irritated hermione, but now she found it rather amusing. perhaps even charming. "so how'd you go on your arithmancy assignment?" he asked her. "i got a hundred and sixty percent," hermione replied with a small smile. "what about you?" "hundred and fifty nine." "what?" hermione asked in confusion. "how can that be? we did exactly the same things." "except i forgot to rub out the doodle i made in the margin of that ravenclaw girl." "oh," said hermione, hiding a smile. draco smiled back in a weary manner. almost everything about him looked weary at the moment. there was a leaden tiredness inside his eyes and his posture wasn't as erect as it usually was. still, he was smiling, so that was something. "um, i should probably get back to harry and ron," hermione said, feeling suddenly insecure. she wanted to speak to draco, but not in the middle of a passageway when they were forced to make small talk. she supposed she'd never get the chance, though, and felt a slight disappointment. draco nodded and moved aside to let her through. hermione made sure not to touch him on her way past and then turned back to say goodbye, but draco was already walking in the other direction. "see you next year, granger," he called out without looking back. "bye," hermione whispered to herself, watching him go. *** draco was smiling wryly at the floor as he walked between the compartments and away from hermione. he wasn't sure what he'd expected or hoped to happen, but the encounter had left him feeling empty inside. he opened the door of the compartment he'd claimed for himself and sat down, resting his head back on the seat. he was tired now, more so than he could ever remember being. he wanted to return to his bed at the manor and fall asleep for days, so that he wouldn't have to think over the things

that had happened until we woke. he attempted to snatch a few hours sleep on the train, but something prevented him from doing so. it was a sharp tapping on his window, around the halfway point of the journey. draco opened his eyes and saw a great black bird hovering outside, easily keeping pace with the train. he recognised it as the same bird that had delivered voldemort's ransom letter to harry at the manor, or one very like it. he opened the window hesitantly to allow the bird in. it jumped onto the windowsill, its talons curling around the frame, and dropped a letter onto the floor. it fixed draco with its blood-red gaze for a moment before turning away and taking off once more. draco waited until it was a speck of black against the sky and then picked up the letter. his heart sank immediately. it was printed with a seal of black wax, bearing the malfoy crest: a snake curled intricately around a letter m. draco's heartbeat quickened as he broke the seal and opened the letter. he read it slowly. draco, i imagine that by now you have finished your term at school and are on your way home. i use the word 'home' in the most liberal sense, as, through your actions, you have split your family apart, and without family a home is merely an empty thought. and thoughts are fleeting, draco; they cannot last. the dark lord is disappointed with the path you have chosen to walk, though he is not yet ready to relinquish you to his enemies. you are mine, draco, and as such, you are also his, to do with as he pleases and to command as he sees fit. there is no escaping your destiny, draco - it is what you were born for. you may find solace in your alliance with potter, and with dumbledore, but that is also a thought, and also fleeting. they cannot keep you any more than i was able to. but the dark lord shall. it is inevitable. so for now, take comfort in the false compassion of your friends, and in the futile hope that you can oppose our lord. but he is watching, draco - always. and when he comes for you, you will have neither friends nor hope to cling to, and you shall serve him, until the end of your days. lucius thanatos malfoy. once he had finished reading, draco stared with unseeing eyes at the letter, unable to release it from his grip. he was breathing hard; the fatigue in his bones had solidified to a painful exhaustion, spreading through him like fire. with a considerable effort, he lifted his eyes from the letter to stare out the window, where the sky looked suddenly darker. when at long last he let the parchment go, it burst into dazzling orange flames and sank to the floor, sighing as it went, as though lucius' words were being given a voice. draco swallowed hard and rested his head again, his mind replaying his father's words over and over and adding to them lucius' cold, inflexible tones. when he comes for you, you will have neither friends nor hope to cling to, and you shall serve him, until the end of your days. draco looked out of the window with a heavy heart, watching the countryside fly by in

streaks of green and blue and brown. the end of my days, he thought to himself. when will that be? he didn't know; no more than he knew what he was going to do now. he couldn't see that far ahead; he could see only the whorl of colours outside his window, and then the black of his eyelids as sleep consumed him and he fell into dreams. ***

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author notes: quotes, notes and references: so how many of you are sharpening stakes right now with my name on them? all of you? okay, then. i realise that promising and then failing to deliver on snogging is number one on the "things not to do in the harry potter fandom" list, but honestly, i thought there would be some. for those of you wondering why the ships weren't resolved and the plot left hanging, you should know that there is a sequel planned. i'm in the process of writing it but i honestly can't give an accurate timeframe yet. hopefully it won't be that long until the first few chapters. the story will be entitled the legacy of the founders, so make of that what you will. it will include, but not be limited to, the following things: a bitter winter at hogwarts, some curious dreams, a powerful magical object, an original character, a visit to a familiar place, some action for ron (interpret that how you will), other, non-human original characters (both good and evil), a trip to and tenure at the burrow, a terrible evil and an age-old secret concerning someone at hogwarts. also, you can expect characters who made brief cameos in this fic - such as lupin, sirius, lucius, wormtail, voldemort - to have larger roles. and, oh yeah, that snogging i promised. hope you enjoyed the fic.
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