what is this? a new chapter in less than 24 hours? well, i just wrote a kick-ass spanish paper, so i'm feeling generous. some of those predictions of yours may be coming true in this chapter... oh, who am i kidding? i'm not subtle at all. the plot of this is hitting you upside the head. but it's worth it, because eventually, sirius will be naked. and who doesnt love that? so... if you ever want to get to that point where he is naked... i think you know what to do. loves!~K.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, staring down at Draco.

"Good to see you, too, Spots," Draco sneered. "Work was fine, but my mum kicked me out 'cuz I told Lucius I was gay and refused to marry some pureblood. Thanks for asking."

Hermione paled and sank down on the couch next to him. "Oh, Drake. What happened?"

Draco waved her off. "You look pissed. What happened at dinner?"

She sighed deeply. "Nothing. Everything. Molly was barely civil to Sirius and told me that I should be preparing my house for my many redheaded children. Then Ron showed up late. He was his usual self-"

"So, disgusting." He grinned when she swatted at him.

"And then he brought up me moving into the Burrow again," Hermione said.

"I hate him," Draco said. "I know you think I'm just being narrow-minded or what all, but I don't like the way he treats you."

"I know," she said quietly. Draco wrapped a long arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "But…"

"I know," he said. He kissed the top of her head softly. It had taken him a long time to get to this point with Hermione especially. Most of the Wizarding world seemed to forgive him after the Death Eater Trials, when he testified against his own father and many of the people he called friends. When he publically denounced his father's practices and asked Hermione Granger for her forgiveness in the middle of Diagon Alley, people started to believe that maybe he was honestly trying to change. After the laws passed to make non-magical violence a crime- where previously it had been largely ignored- Draco requested to be placed in the new department, with none other than the Gryffindor Princess herself. After a year of tense comradeship, the two began talking, and their friendship progressed until now, when Hermione was cuddled up to Draco's side trying to give and get comfort.

"What happened with you?" she asked.

"Lucius was yelling at me because he found out I denied Astoria Greengrass," he said.

"Ugh. I hate that Narcissa did that," Hermione said. Narcissa had gone behind Draco's back and arranged a marriage to Astoria. Draco found out at the engagement party, and had refused. Narcissa nearly killed him.

"Yeah. Well, I lost my temper," Draco said. "I told him I wouldn't marry any woman because I was gay."

"Drama queen," Hermione murmured with a smile.

"Hush, woman, I'm telling a story," he answered. "So Lucius didn't like that. He told me he didn't care what I thought and that I would marry a respectable pureblood girl and produce an heir."

"I'm guessing you didn't take that well," she said, lifting a hand to stroke his hair.

"No," he laughed. "I told him to sod off. Narcissa said they'd take away my trust fund. I told them about my savings, and Narcissa said it was the last straw. She told me to pack my things and leave."

"'The last straw'?" she asked. "Is she still angry about Astoria?"

"Probably," Draco said. "But… erm, well, the other night…" His ears turned pink. "I had someone over at the house. And Mother… erm… walked in on us."

Hermione burst into raucous laughter. "Your mum saw you and some guy-"

"Not some guy," he sniped. "We've been seeing each other six months."

"Who is he?" Draco had never said anything before about a boyfriend. He shook his head.

"He's not out to his family yet," he said. "And you've heard of him, so I can't tell you his name."

"All right," she said. "But he'd better be good enough for you."

"He is," Draco grinned. Two flashes of green from the fireplace and Harry and Sirius stepped into the room.

"Hey, Malfoy," Harry said, brushing the ash off his clothes. He could never travel by Floo and not get dirty.

"Potter," Draco greeted. "How was dinner?"

"Same as always," Harry answered. "Mione, about what Ron said-"

"I don't want to talk about it," Hermione said, standing. "Drake, if you want to stay here, you know the Green Room is always yours."

"Just because you don't like green," he said with a smile. "Thanks."

"Goodnight, boys." She kissed each man on the cheek and left.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Narcissa kicked me out," Draco answered. "I pissed Lucius off, so now I'm out. Pretty sure I'm out of the will too. I think old Lucius is going to live forever just to spite the world."

Harry laughed quietly and offered the blond man a smile. "You should've moved in a long time ago."He cast a long look at Draco and Sirius glanced between them, eyebrows raised. "I'm off to bed. G'night."

"Good night," Sirius and Draco said.

"Feel like a night-cap?" Draco asked, standing. He strode over to a cabinet on the wall, pulling out two glasses and a bottle of firewhiskey.

"Did Hermione talk to you?" Sirius asked. He'd been worried about her after she left dinner, but Harry had wanted to talk to Ron. Sirius had never been as proud of anyone as he had been when Harry told Ron that he needed to shape up, and that no matter what he was on Hermione's side. Harry and Ron may have been best friends at one point, but time and distance had driven a wedge between them. Harry and Hermione were, for years, all each other had.

"Yeah," Draco said, not betraying anything she'd said. "Weasley say anything else?"

"Told Harry it wasn't his business," Sirius said. "I thought Harry was going to kill him."

Draco made a disgusted sound and sipped from his glass. "I should've taken him out when I had the chance."

"What happened to him? When I knew him, he was just a stupid kid. Nice, sort of funny. But now-"

"He got famous," Draco said with a shrug. "All three of them were given Order of Merlin, First Class. Potter and Hermione were used to the attention, but no one had ever cared about Weasley. After the war, Witch Weekly did a story about the 'Bashful Hero Ron Weasley'. Then he became Keeper for the Canons, and since then he's gotten a bit… egotistical is a nice way to put it."

"Seems like a prick," Sirius said.

Draco chuckled. "Yeah, that too."

Sirius' eyes turned dark. "Have you ever seen him hit her?"

"No," Draco said, "but I figured he did. When she's around him… she acts like my mum around my dad. And I know Lucius hit her."

"Bastards," Sirius said quietly.

"I've talked to Potter about it," Draco said. "He's worried too. He thinks if we give her time, she'll leave him."

"Not if she thinks she'll lose everyone she calls family over it," Sirius said. "You know as well as I do that Molly would never forgive her."

"I dunno," Draco said. "She doesn't talk to me. Then again, Weasley doesn't either. He still hates me. Not that I mind, of course."

"Of course," Sirius said. He eyed his young cousin. "How… how did you get here? I knew Lucius when we were kids, and…"

"Yeah," Draco said. "I was as bad as he was. I'm sure Harry told you stories." Sirius nodded. "I was… jealous, mostly. Hermione's always been smarter than me, but she's Muggleborn, so everything my father taught me said she had to be beneath me. And Potter… he had friends that would take a curse for him. I had lackeys. I was jealous that they had better lives than I did, but I was the one that was supposedly 'better'." He sighed and ran a hand through that Malfoy hair. "Do you know what really changed my mind about them?" Sirius shook his head. "Harry told you about getting captured and brought to the Manor."

"Yeah," Sirius said. "He said some things happened to Hermione there, but he didn't know what it was exactly and she doesn't talk about it."

"I was there," Draco said. He visibly shivered. "Bellatrix ordered the Snatchers to keep Hermione upstairs while the others were taken to the dungeons. Spots had done something to Harry so he looked a mess. And she was covered in dirt and muck. She was skinny, but that hair is rather distinctive. I knew it was her."

"Did you tell Bellatrix?"

"I told her I couldn't be sure," Draco said. "I didn't want to watch her kill Hermione. She would've tortured her until she talked, and then she would have tortured her until her mind broke just for the fun of it. I couldn't watch that. So I lied."

"Brave. Bellatrix was a half-decent Legilimens."

"She tried a couple of times, but she'd taught me Occlumency, and I'm better at it than her."

"What happened to Mione?"

"Bellatrix hit her with the Cruciatus a few times. She was screaming so loud. Then… I don't know what happened… Potter and Weasley were there. They got her out. But Bellatrix had cut her. Her blood was so red. It was the same as mine."

"The first Muggleborn I met was Lily Evans on the train to Hogwarts," Sirius said. "I teased her about her red hair and she shot the strongest Jelly-legs Jinx I've ever gotten."

"That's Potter's mum, right?" Sirius nodded. "He's told me about her."

"She was amazing. Like Mione, but feistier."

"Oh, Spots is plenty fierce," Draco said. "Don't back her into a corner. She'll tear you to pieces. I think Potter's still got some scars from her."

"Why do you call her Spots?"

"Auror thing," Draco said. "You get a partner and spend enough time with them, you'll make up nicknames for each other too."

Sirius made a sound of agreement and sipped his drink for a long moment. "So… you and Harry?" He grinned when Draco sputtered on his drink.

"Where'd you get that from?"

"I'm good at reading people," Sirius said. "And you're trying too hard, calling him 'Potter' all the time."

"Don't tell anyone," Draco said, looking more boyish than Sirius had seen. He blushed and played with his drink."He's not…"

"Marauder's honor," Sirius swore. "Just do me a favor and put up silencing spells? He is my godson, after all."

"Got it," Draco said, placing his empty glass on the table. "Well, I'm off to bed. G'night."

"Night," Sirius said. He finished off his whiskey slowly to savor the taste. He flipped off the lights and made his way upstairs when he finished, listening to the sounds of the quiet house. As he approached Hermione's room, he heard quiet sobbing. Knocking on the door, he heard her sniffle and quiet.

"Hermione? Are you okay?" He laid his hands on the cool wooden door.

"Yes, I'm fine," she said. He heard quiet footsteps, and the door opened. Her eyes were red and he could see tear tracks on her cheeks.

"Have you been crying?" He leaned heavily on the doorframe.

"I'm fine, Sirius," she said. She laughed a little, but the sound was forced. "I've got to stop reading in the dark. It's giving me eyestrain." Sirius reached out to touch her face but stopped. It wasn't his place.

"Okay," he said. "You should get some rest."

"Good night, Sirius." She gave him a strained smile which he returned sadly.

"Good night, Mione." She closed the door and Sirius made his way to his bedroom, collapsing onto the bed. What a strange couple of days.

Yeah, so a couple of you called the whole draco-harry thing. i think they hated each other waaaaaayyyyy too much for there to be no unresolved sexual tension. i'm mentioning the Manor as the turning-point for Draco, because really, how did he not recognize her? they've hated each other for a very, very long time, and he should have recognized her. this is my basis for the whole draco's-not-really-evil-JK's-just-jealous-of-his-hair thing. because she is. have fun!