This is not fluffy in any respects, just another angle on that it would take for Draco to realise that his father wasn't always right.

Usual disclaimer, I don't own Harry Potter, i just borrowed the characters for a bit.

Opening my Eyes

Draco Malfoy was doing heading back to the Slytherin common room after finishing his patrol duties for the night, it was just like any other night but something was weighing heavy on the fifth year's mind. 'Father has not punished me for coming second to Granger for some time now, not since third year, Granger still gets better marks than me every time, and yet father has stopped punishing me for coming second to a 'Mudblood' not that I mind, but it worries me, why all of a sudden has he stopped, Mother hasn't mentioned anything about him punishing her instead, so what is going on' all this was on the blonde Slytherin's mind today because he had once again come second to Granger in a big test, but this time it was worse than usual, as it was potions, and potions was the one subject in which he actually came first. Draco was brought out of his musings when he heard a strange noise from the corridor to his left, glancing down the hall, he didn't see anything and was about to turn away when his eyes caught sight of a dark smear on the stone wall. Lifting his wand he muttered 'Lumos' and the tip cast a light over the dimly lit corridor. Moving closer to the wall he noticed that the smear he had seen was red,

"Blood" Draco gasped, looking around he noticed that there was small drips of blood on the floor as well. Following the trail he again heard the soft noise that had alerted him in the first place, moving quickly he finally was able to make out a shape slowly moving down the corridor ahead of him. From what he could make out the person was injured, stepping forward he cringed when his foot landed a little heavier on the stone floor than he would have liked, the small noise alerting the person ahead of him to his presence. Draco stared in shock when they swung around and faced him,

"Granger?"

"Malfoy!" she gasped, just before she collapsed unconscious onto the cold hard floor. Moving swiftly and falling to his knees by her side, Draco drew in a shocked hiss at her condition, her entire body from what he could see was black and blue and she had a series of six inch long gashes all over her body,

"The Sectumsempra curse" Draco muttered to himself, shocked beyond belief, Picking her up gingerly he held her against his chest and started sprinting down the corridor towards the hospital wing, judging from the amount of blood that he had seen on the walls and floors, he didn't have much time to get her help. Bursting into the Hospital wing not two minutes later Draco panted then started shouting for the Medi-witch,

"Madam Pomfrey, Madam Pomfrey! Hurry, she's lost a lot of blood" he placed Granger on a bed just as the Medi-witch hurried out of her office with a scowl on her face,

"Mr Malfoy, what is the meaning of storming in here and waking me up at this time of night"

"Its Granger, I found her in one of the corridors in the dungeons she has been beaten, and someone has used the Sectumsempra curse on her" Draco panted, still trying to regain his breath after his mad dash carrying the Gryffindor,

"Oh Merlin save us, go into the office and use some fire powder to call the headmaster down here, you might want to call Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape here as well, then come back here I will need your help" Madam Pomfrey said as she quickly drew a curtain around Hermione's bed, Draco nodded then moved into the office and did as Madam Pomfrey instructed him.

Five minutes later found him standing outside the curtain drawn around Granger's bed,

"Madam Pomfrey, the professors are all on their way"

"Mr Malfoy please come in here, I need your help" Came the Medi-witches response, Draco scowled he didn't want to help, he had done his duty as a prefect and brought Granger to the hospital wing, now he was regretting it, but he did as Madam Pomfrey asked and entered the curtained off area. Granger was laying on the bed as white as a sheet, her wounds had stopped bleeding and were closing up, she wore a white hospital gown, both her eyes were black and swollen, her lip split as well as her eyebrow, there were bruises over her arms and neck, and Draco knew that they were all over her legs as well.

"Yes Madam Pomfrey?" Draco, replied, forcing himself not to sneer,

"I need you to grasp her shoulders gently and roll her onto her side, holding her there while I take a look at her back" Pomfrey instructed the reluctant Slytherin,

"Why cant you just use a spell to hold her?" Draco enquired as he moved towards the side of the bed,

"Whoever did this work knew what they were doing, if I use any form of magic to heal her it will make her injuries worse, they wanted her to suffer pain for a very long time, if not kill her slowly" Pomfrey explained. Draco nodded and then did as he was instructed, awkwardly he rolled her onto her side and held her in that position,

"Holy Merlin and all the saints" Pomfrey gasped as she got a good look at Hermione's back, curious Draco looked down, then immediately wished he hadn't, Granger's back was worse than he imagined it would be, it was covered in bruising, but that wasn't what made him cringe, whip marks criss crossed her back, some old, some newer and the rest fresh and weeping. Draco closed his eyes against remembered pain, he knew what a whip felt like cutting into the skin, he was brought out of his memories by Pomfrey's voice,

"Mr Malfoy you are going to have to hold her off her back for a little longer than I first anticipated"

"I can't hold her like this for long, its awkward" Draco retorted,

"Alright, I'll brace her, now get onto the bed on your knees straddling her legs, you can then support her against your body while I work" Draco scowled but knew better than to argue with the nurse. Crawling onto the bed he did as Pomfrey instructed, mumbling under his breath about how this would be the last time he would attempt to play the hero. Madam Pomfrey conjured a small cushioned stool that would support Draco's weight and wouldn't put any pressure on Hermione's injured legs. Draco had just brought Hermione to rest against his chest when the hospital wing doors burst open and Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape rushed in,

"Poppy, Mr Malfoy said that he found an injured student and that you requested us here" Dumbledore said as Pomfrey exited the curtained off area to greet the three professors,

"Yes Albus, she is very badly injured" Pomfrey replied, leading them towards the bed where Hermione lay,

"Who is the student Poppy?" McGonagall asked,

"Miss Granger" Pomfrey replied then ignoring the gasps from the Gryffindor head of house she turned to the potions master,

"She has been whipped Severus, I am going to need your expertise with potions" Snape nodded then followed the other three adults into the curtained off area, they all were surprised at the sight that met their eyes,

"Mr Malfoy, what do you think you are doing" McGonagall started, but was cut off by Pomfrey,

"Relax Minerva, he is there at my instruction, I cannot use magic to hold her up, it will injure her more, Severus please look at her back and see if there is anything that you recommend" Pomfrey turned to Snape. Snape went to the bedside and started to examine Hermione's injuries, outwardly he was calm and composed with the usual sneer adorning his features, inwardly his gut was churning, some of these injuries were months old, how was it that none of the professors had noticed them, it appeared that the stubborn Gryffindor was a lot stronger than anyone had originally thought. Snape was about halfway through his examination when Hermione suddenly stiffened and cried out, thinking that Draco had jostled her he faced his favourite student,

"Mr Malfoy.." Snape was cut off in his reprimand, when he noticed Draco's widened eyes,

"It can't be" Draco whispered almost to himself, Snape heard and was about to ask when he noticed what Draco was staring at, a red glow could be seen through the hospital gown pooled at Hermione's hip,

"Albus, what do you make of this?" Snape asked as he moved to the side to reveal the red glow to the others. Madam Pomfrey quickly lifted the hospital gown and peered at the mark,

"It looks like she has been branded"

"She has" Draco who had seen the mark and recognised it answered,

"What do you mean Mr Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked, as he watched the pale student close his eyes and hang his head,

"Look at it closely, Professor Snape you should recognise it easily" Draco replied softly, Snape narrowed his eyes but did as Draco said, then his eyes widened as he recognised the mark,

"The Malfoy crest?" Draco nodded,

"Postulo, when the mark grows red the person who cast the curse is summoning the one with the mark"

"That is deep dark magic Mr Malfoy, how would you know about it?" McGonagall asked sternly, Draco sighed in defeat, his secret would be out soon enough, bracing Granger with one hand, he used his free hand to push back his robes and lower the waistband of his pants, revealing an identical mark on his hip,

"Lucius" Snape growled, Draco nodded,

"It was his way of summoning me without anyone being the wiser"

"I'll get the potions that you need for Miss Granger Poppy" Snape said and swiftly headed back towards his classroom to collect the necessary potions,

"The question is, how did a mark like that get on Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked after Snape had left,

"Lucius Malfoy is a governor for this school, as well as a parent of one of the students, he is able to enter this school whenever he feels like it" Dumbledore replied in answer to McGonagall's question,

"Surely we can stop him now Albus, he can't have free reign to come into this school and curse the students" Pomfrey replied aghast,

"I will go an contact the ministry regarding this matter, Mr Malfoy you will stay with Miss Granger, you are the only one here that knows what she is going through with that curse" Draco nodded dejectedly,

"Yes Professor" as he answered the mark on Hermione's hip glowed red again, this time brighter, Hermione cried out again and then started to thrash around on the bed, trying to get away from Draco's restraining hands,

"What is happening Albus?" McGonagall asked as she helped Draco and Pomfrey to restrain Hermione,

"Lucius is getting impatient, if she does not answer the summons, the mark will take control of her movements, much like the Imperius curse will, it will force her to answer his call" Draco said softly,

"He must be in the castle, to find Miss Granger like this means that he is close, where did you find her Mr Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked,

"In the dungeon corridor that leads to Filch's office" Draco answered, then gasped as his mark started to burn and glow red, "Now he's summoning me"

"I will alert the other teachers to search him out, can you resist the summons Mr Malfoy?" Dumbledore questioned the blonde,

"Yes professor, I know how to resist it, and dull the curse, it may work with Gr-Hermione as well" Draco replied as he held out his thumb, "Madam Pomfrey could you prick my thumb please, as I am a Malfoy a drop of my blood on the mark should dull the affects of the summons, it works for me, and should work for Hermione" Draco said to the Medi-witch's questioning look. Madam Pomfrey nodded and swiftly pricked Draco's thumb. When a drop of blood appeared he quickly pressed it onto the mark on his hip and immediately felt the pain lessen as well as the pull, another drop appeared and he quickly placed his thumb to the mark on the still struggling Hermione, she stopped struggling as soon as his blood made contact with the mark. Professor Snape came back into the hospital wing at that moment and handed Pomfrey a bottle of a strange blue potion, Dumbledore left as soon as Snape arrived to speak to the other professors and search out where Lucius Malfoy was hiding, as well as speak to the Ministry.

"Can she lay down on her front Poppy" Snape asked as he reached them,

"Yes she should be all right now, the wounds from the Sectumsempra curse should have healed sufficiently by now"

"Sectumsempra?" McGonagall gasped,

"Yes, that is why Mr Malfoy has had to hold her as he is, I could not lay her on her front until they were healed enough, alright Mr Malfoy I will support her while you hop down, then I will need your help to turn her over" Draco nodded then got off the bed, he stretched his aching back and leg muscles before moving to the side of the bed and helping Madam Pomfrey to roll Hermione onto her stomach. As soon as she was over, Snape approached and poured the blue potion on her back, it bubbled for a moment then soaked into her skin, the whip marks healing rapidly and the bruising lessening,

"She will need to stay like that for at least three hours Poppy, for the potion to do its work" Pomfrey nodded, then conjured up a large armchair for Draco to sit in.

"Minerva, perhaps it might be an idea to fetch Miss Grangers friends" Snape suggested, McGonagall nodded, and left to head to the Gryffindor tower,

"I'll just get some dreamless sleep potion for Miss Granger, Severus watch her please" Pomfrey said, then at Snape's nod she bustled to her office. Draco gazed at his head of house warily,

"Tell me Draco, why did you not let me know that Lucius had cursed you?" Snape asked quietly,

"I didn't want anyone to know" Draco replied

"Did you ever consider that perhaps I could have helped you?"

"You are a friend of my father's, and who would go up against him anyway"

"Ah but see that is where you are wrong" Snape replied as he crossed his arms,

"Wrong? About what?"

"I am not a friend of your fathers, I am a friend of your mothers, I couldn't care less about Lucius"

"But you are always watching me" Draco insisted,

"Because I know what Lucius is capable of, it was a promise I made to your mother, I told her that I would protect you. Draco, are you planning on doing as Lucius wishes and joining the Death Eaters this summer?" Draco's eyes widened,

"This summer? What are you talking about, father told me that I would join them after graduation"

"It has changed, he now wishes for you to receive the Dark Mark this summer" Snape corrected, Draco paled, he had thought he had more time to come up with a way to get out of receiving the Dark Mark, he was hoping that the war would have been over by the time he graduated from Hogwarts,

"I don't want to" Draco whispered, afraid to say it out loud, but needing to say it,

"You don't want the Dark Mark, or you don't want to join this summer?" Snape asked,

"I don't want to be a Death Eater at all, but I don't want to join the light side either" before Snape could respond the hospital wing doors banged open and they could hear footsteps running, the curtain was yanked away and Draco saw the pale face of Harry Potter, closely followed by Ron Weasley and his sister Ginny, Professor McGonagall bringing up the rear.

"What happened to her?" Ginny asked as she broke into sobs,

"Malfoy! What are you doing here you prat?" Ron yelled drawing his wand, when he noticed Draco sitting in the chair next to Hermione's bed,

"Mr Weasley, unless you want to spend a month in detention, lose house points and be banished from this hospital I suggest you lower your voice and put your wand away right this instant, Mr Malfoy happens to be the one who brought her up here in the first place" Professor McGonagall reprimanded sharply,

"Yeah probably right after he did all this to her" Ron snarled, refusing to lower his wand,

"That's it Mr Weasley, one hundred points from Gryffindor for threatening a student, a months detention for disobeying your head of house and if you continue I will not let you see Miss Granger again until she has left that bed" McGonagall snapped, breaking Ron out of his anger. Ron flushed and put his wand back into his pocket, glaring at Malfoy he nevertheless remained silent. Draco smirked, but stopped at the glare that McGonagall sent him, this was great he hadn't done anything but the Weasel's temper had lost his house one hundred points in one night. Harry moved closer and smoothed some of Hermione's hair away from her brow,

"Where did you find her?" he asked turning to Malfoy, Draco appeared shocked that the question was asked without a hint of anger or malice from the boy-who-lived,

"In the dungeon corridor heading towards Filch's office, I was finishing my patrol and heard a noise. I saw a smear on one of the walls and recognised it as blood, it was on the floor as well, I followed it and found her, then brought her straight here" Draco answered, surprised that he had given them that much information,

"Thankyou" Ginny said softly as she gave him a small watery smile, Draco just gave a stiff nod and remained quiet.

After about half an hour the doors to the hospital wing opened again and Professor Dumbledore strode in, followed by Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt, an Auror from the ministry and Alastor Moody, who was levitating a stupefied Lucius Malfoy behind him.

"Where did you find him?" McGonagall asked, glaring at Lucius,

"He was in the secret room off the Slytherin Common Room" Moody replied. Dumbledore nodded to Moody,

"Alastor you can put him down now, he won't leave with all the wands that are trained on him at the moment" Moody shrugged then with a flick of his wand released the elder Malfoy. Draco watched as his father fell to the floor with a thump and then tried to stand up while retaining his arrogant air,

"How dare you treat a school governor like this, the Ministry shall hear of this" Lucius said coldly as he straightened his robes and smoothed his hair,

"Oh put a cork in it Lucius, you'll be lucky to escape Azkaban tonight, much less retain your position as a school governor" Moody scowled,

"You have nothing to pin on me" Lucius sniffed haughtily,

"You are the one responsible for Miss Granger's condition" McGonagall replied,

"My dear professor, you have no proof"

"How about the fact that the mark for the Postulo curse is your family crest" Madam Pomfrey retorted,

"Ah but my son could have placed that there" Lucius replied smoothly, Draco snapped his head up,

"WHAT? Oh no you don't father, you are not placing this on my shoulders, I have the same mark as Granger, and you put it there, since the crest was used by you first it is impossible for me to copy cat it"

"Draco, be silent, do not speak unless spoken to" Lucius snapped,

"Why did you do this to Hermione? Is it because she is a muggleborn?" Harry spoke, anger laced through his voice,

"Ah but again I would suggest that you ask Draco as to why this is happening"

"I don't have a bloody clue why this is happening" Draco snarled,

"Perhaps you are wondering Draco, as to why you haven't been punished for a while hmm" Lucius spoke to his son with a sneer. Draco felt the comprehension hit him like a physical blow, his eyes opened for the first time without the veils of his father's prejudice shielding them,

"You have been punishing her for my failures, all this time and I have been worrying that you were taking it out on mother, when in fact you were taking it out on Granger" Draco answered his father finally,

"Yes, at her insistence actually, since she helped you back to your dorm the last time that I punished you, she wrote to me and demanded that I stop punishing you for things that were out of your control, so I made a deal with her, I would stop punishing you, if she took your place, however she was not to let anyone know what was happening, and was also not allowed to suddenly start failing her grades" Lucius stated triumphantly,

"How did you get Hermione to agree to that?" Ron demanded,

"Why quite simply actually, I threatened to kill Draco" Lucius replied coldly,

"He's lying" a soft voice whispered, every eye was drawn to the bed where Hermione had raised her head and was glaring at Lucius through her swollen eyes,

"Be quiet you filthy little mudblood" Lucius hissed,

"No, you didn't just threaten Draco, but you threatened his mother as well" Hermione whispered out hoarsely, then she flopped onto the bed exhausted from the effort, Draco was too shocked at hearing Hermione call him by his first name to comment, Snape however was not,

"You threatened Narcissa?"

"Of course, she is my wife, and therefore my property, I can do what I wish, she has the Malfoy mark as well, do you really think that I am unaware of what goes on with my own wife Severus" Lucius responded with a sneer,

"Is there a way to break the curse, and remove the mark?" Harry asked looking from Draco to Lucius and back to Draco,

"Only one" Draco answered, then before anyone had time to react he reached for his wand and aimed it at Lucius,

"Accio wand" Lucius's wand sailed through the air and into Draco's outstretched hand, as soon as he caught it, he grabbed it in both hands and snapped it in half, before dropping it on the floor and with a flick of his own wand he set it on fire. As soon as the wand was engulfed in flames both he and Hermione gasped out in pain and grabbed their hips, where the mark was, after a few seconds the pain vanished and Draco pulled down the waistband of his pants, the mark was gone, leaving no scar to ever say it was there,

"Draco, you have just sealed your fate, the Dark Lord will never have you with him after the stunt you just pulled" Lucius snapped with cold fury,

"That suits me just fine father, you will not be there, but rest assured that when Potter destroys Voldemort I will be standing alongside him, and cheering with the rest of the world" Draco retorted with a sneer to match his fathers. Lucius growled and lunged at his son, but Harry was too quick,

"Stupefy!" he yelled, and Lucius dropped to the floor stunned, Dumbledore turned to Moody,

"Alastor, could you and Kingsley take Lucius to the Ministry, Remus could you go with Severus to Malfoy Manor and collect Narcissa, we will need to place her under protection in case Lucius manages to escape or buy his way to freedom, Minerva you come with me to my office and we will organise a place for Narcissa and also for Draco during the holidays, the rest of you please stay here with Madam Pomfrey, I will be back soon, Mr Malfoy your mother will come here first and you can explain things to her, then she will be taken somewhere safe tomorrow morning" Draco nodded, happy that his mother would be protected, the rest followed Dumbledore's words. Once the hospital wing was once again silent, Draco felt a small hand enclose around his, looking at Hermione she smiled slightly and he returned it before turning to Harry,

"I swear Potter, if you don't destroy Voldemort I'll kill you myself!" Harry nodded and grinned, then he held his hand out towards Draco. Draco looked at it for a second before shaking it quickly. Hermione grinned as much as she was able and squeezed his hand gently,

"Welcome to the light side" she whispered, Draco returned the gentle squeeze, then leaning down he whispered softly in her ear for only her to hear,

"Thankyou for opening my eyes".

Please read and review. but be gentle