Disclaimer: Do you actually believe I own Harry Potter?
Chapter 7 - Child-like Innocence
Flashback - November 11:
"Draco?" Hermione asked quietly after picking up her wand from the ground, groping in the dark for his arm.
"I'm here." He held out his wand, muttering Lumos. It illuminated his face, and as she hurried towards him, he smiled. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I found my wand," she smiled back. "Lumos." Her wandtip started to glow too.
"Let's patrol a little faster, it's too cold to stay for long," he muttered. Gratefully, she agreed, pulling her cloak more tightly around her.
They walked together silently down the seventh floor corridor. The only sound that broke the silence was the occasional hoot of an owl. Hermione was trying her best not to jump at every sudden noise. When they finally finished patrolling and walked downstairs towards their dormitory, she felt thankful for the light that bathed them again. "Thanks for staying with me," Hermione said.
He smiled at her. "No problem. Now, the subject for our debate -"
She looked a little uncomfortable. "Actually, Draco, I kind of wanted to talk to you about something..."
"What is it?"
"Ron."
Draco turned around to look at her. "What do you want to talk about Weasley for?" he asked in a forced neutral tone. She took his arm and led him into the dormitory.
"Ever since I broke up with him ... things haven't been right. We're still friends I think, but it's like we shattered the deeper trust we had before. Harry and him are really close now. Ginny's always doing homework or talking with her new friends." She frowned.
They sat down on the couch. "I'm sure you have more friends than that," he said. He was a little offended because she didn't remember that he was her friend now too... Or maybe he wasn't. He didn't know for sure how she felt about him yet.
"Maybe. I'm on good terms with most of the Gryffindors but it's not the same as being with Harry, Ron and Ginny." Hermione sighed.
He glanced at her. She looked more tired than he felt. He was surprised to see uncertainty in her eyes. He waited for her to speak.
"It's like I have no one else to turn to."
Suddenly, he felt angry. Wasn't he the one she was turning to now? How could she not acknowledge him? It was difficult enough to try to befriend a former enemy; didn't she appreciate his efforts at all? Hadn't she felt the trust growing between the two of them?
"Oh yeah? Maybe you should stop staring after Potter and the Weasleys, and hazard a look at someone who's right in front of you," he said, his voice more harsh than he'd intended. Immediately, he felt guilty that he yelled at her, but upset that she hadn't taken any notice of him even then.
She looked up at him. "What? I was just telling the truth ..."
He glowered down at her, then sighed in defeat, his anger vanishing. She gazed into his eyes and saw nothing but deep, gray pools of hurt.
He shook his head. "You're wrong," he told her in a low voice, getting up. He did not meet her gaze as he trudged into his room.
She sat by the fire, frowning to herself. Who else could she trust? Half an hour passed with no names popping into her head. Ginny, Harry, and Ron were all on her Maybe list. Lavender and Parvati were on her Maybe But Probably Not list. Then she looked at where Draco had sat a while ago.
He'd always been there; he changed into something different. She liked this new him. Was it a new person, or was it the real him that he showed to only a few people? He cared about her - or seemed to, anyway. He listened to what she had to say, he made her feel happier, his presence was comforting during their patrols. Even when they have a real argument with actual yelling, the next few days they'd make up and be friends again.
Could he be the one she could turn to?
She went to his door, smiling slightly, and knocked.
oOoOo
Hermione felt awkward when she took out the diary that night. She felt deep sympathy for Draco and his mother. She didn't know what she should say to him right now. Sitting down on her bed, she opened it. She was saved from speaking first-
We haven't talked for two days. Are you avoiding me, and why?
Shocked, she gaped at his message. How did he know? He could describe her emotions better than she could. She didn't realize she was trying to avoid talking with him because of the awkwardness she felt.
I'm sorry I've been avoiding you. It's just that ... after I saw what your life was like, I felt so bad for blaming you for everything you are. It was wrong of me to judge you without knowing what went on in your home. You probably don't want anybody to feel sorry for you, but I'm going to anyway. She sighed heavily.
Thank you for saying that.
Thanks for letting me say that. She wrote back, smiling a little bit.
Yeah.
She was unsure how to respond. Before you left... I kind of wanted to tell you something.
Yes?
You really did change. I'm sorry I didn't believe you and I'm sorry that I said all those horrible things to you. As she wrote it to him, the burden on her shoulder lifted, allowing her to breathe more freely than she had before.
It's okay. Thanks for telling me, Hermione.
I wanted to take them back but I was just so angry... She frowned, thinking about what happened that night.
I know you were angry. It was scary.
She giggled. Sorry.
It's fine. Thanks for saying everything you said tonight. It means a lot.
You're welcome, Draco. She was confused why he'd say thanks.
Remember that conversation about Death Eaters we had at the beginning of the year? he wrote.
Yes. Hermione recalled his anger.
You deserve to see a little something about that too. If you want to, of course.
Okay. She wrote, eager but also slightly wary to see another memory.
The pages flipped like last time, and she fell in again.
Lucius took off his cloak and straightened his robes. "Pinky!" he called imperiously, and a house-elf came to see him.
"Hello, sir!" Pinky squeaked. "It is nice that you is back, sir!"
He rolled his eyes. "There's a bit of loose thread on my left robe sleeve. Cut if off for me."
"Yes sir!" Pinky said and summoned big scissors. Lucius pulled his arm out of the sleeve and huffed impatiently. She chopped with the scissors and cut off his whole left sleeve.
"There you go, sir!" Pinky said happily, giggling and jumping up and down while clapping, clearly very pleased with herself. Lucius stared at his sleeve incredulously before exploding.
"Are you insane?" he roared at his house-elf. "I told you to cut off the thread, not the whole sleeve, you idiot!"
Pinky blinked up at him. "But now that I cut off the sleeve, the thread isn't there either!" she squealed, frightened.
"Shut up! Get out of my sight!" snarled Lucius, and Pinky obeyed obligingly.
Growling under his breath, Lucius marched to his room, on the way passing Draco's room.
"Father!" Draco called out. In this memory, he was six years old. His eyes were a little colder, his expressions were more grim, and his hair was a little longer now too.
Lucius stomped into his room. "What?" he asked.
"Did you get me my - what's wrong with your sleeve?" he frowned.
Crossing his arms, Lucius explained. "Pinky cut it off," he grumbled. "That stupid house-elf."
"What's that on your arm?" he pointed and walked towards Lucius. "Is that a tattoo? I've been asking and asking if I could get a tattoo and you said that no one in their right mind would want to get a tattoo!" he pouted.
"It's not a tattoo, it's the Dark Mark," Lucius said irritably.
"What's that?"
"The sign of the Dark Lord."
Draco fell silent, looking at him in wonder. "Why do you have it?"
"He's my master."
"Is he a nice guy?" Draco asked, his eyes lighting up. He obviously wanted to meet him.
Lucius winced. "He can be when he wants to. I'm a Death Eater. I'm one of his most faithful servants." As he spoke, he puffed out his chest impressively.
Draco frowned again. "Why would you want to be a servant?"
"The Dark Lord is the most powerful wizard in the history of magic. I believe that one day he'll take over the world. Being his servant is a great honour, and when you are older, I want you to be his servant too." Lucius gave him a swift calculating look, which made Draco shift a little bit.
"Oh... okay. I hope he's nice!" Draco smiled slightly and went back to his desk, to complete his drawing of broomsticks and dragons.
Lucius frowned. His son seemed a little too young to know anything about the Dark Lord yet - but he had to know... "Draco?" his father called him.
He didn't turn around. "Yeah?"
"We will talk again about the Dark Lord when you are older."
A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)
A big thank you to everybody who reviewed! It always makes me smile :)
And THANK YOU to my beta, Vanilla Cookie.. as always!
What did you think of the chapter? As you can see... Hermione's starting to trust the diary. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Hmm.
Also, I'm planning on handing this story in to my teacher as a project. Do you think it's good enough? :/
Please let me know what you think in a review! Thanks!
