None of the Harry Potter-characters are mine ...
I really want to thank everyone who has faved/alerted/reviewed/read this story so far, thank you all so much, you make me want to write this story (I can't say this often enough in my opinion)
My betareader is xSummaFlarex, thank you so much for wanting to help me out =D
So, now all the formalities are done, let the story continue!
This time it's Hermione and Draco's view in one ...
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Chapter 6 Explanations
Hermione couldn't believe her ears. Draco had been about to kill her and now he was saying that he couldn't hurt her?
"I'm sorry, but you said you can't hurt me? You just tried to kill me, you foul, dirty rat! Do you have any idea what you were about to die? Or were you just trying to give me a knife or something?' Hermione shouted at Draco.
"I understand you're upset, but you have to let me explain. I was --" Draco tried to say.
"Oh, I should just let you explain why you tried to kill me? Yes, that makes sense to me," Hermione said sarcastically.
"If I'd want to kill you, I would have done it by now," Draco said reasonably. "But since I just dropped that knife, I think it should be clear I don't want to do that."
"May I remind you of the fact that you're still holding a wand in your hand, with which you can kill way easier than with a knife. And you're also still squeezing my arm, so clearly you're not planning to let me go! Given these two points, your explanation doesn't sound realistic to me."
"So if I'd put my wand away and let you go, would you listen to me?" Draco asked.
"No, I won't listen to anyone who has just tried to kill me!" Hermione said without any doubt in her voice. "Defenitly not when I'm not able to defend myself."
Draco grew impatient. "I was under influence of the Imperiatus Curse," he said callous.
Hermione's eyes grew big. She opened her mouth, but couldn't think of anything, so she closed it again and thought for a while. "That would change the circumstances, but how can I be sure you're not still under influence of the Imperiatus Curse? I still --"
Draco interrupted her. "Yes, I know you're still not able to defend yourself. What if I'd let you borrow my wand and let you pick up the knife, then I'd have no weapon to kill you and you'd be able to defend yourself. Would you then finally listen to me?"
"Only if you release me, your grip is bruising my arm." Hermione's upper arm felt really painful and she thought I'd be filled with bruises tomorrow.
"Oh, sorry, I had to make sure you wouldn't disapperate as soon as I'd let you go," Draco gave Hermione his wand. "Please be careful with it, I'm really attached to it," he said. Then he released his grip on Hermione's arm. "Perhaps you'd like to sit down, it's a long story."
Hermione seized the knife before she sat down. Her eyes were constantly fixed upon Malfoy. "You're still frightened," he said while he sat down, it was a notion, not a question.
"I've got every reason to be," she answered coolly and she sat down about five foot from him. "Now explain," Hermione pointed Draco's wand on him.
"Before I tell you what happened, I'll tell you something about what my father has done to me. Perhaps that'll help you understand why I've done the things I did."
Hermione nodded, as a sign for him to continue.
"When I was about six years old, I helped an old muggle lady crossing the street while my mother and I were on our way to visit some friends of my mother. She told this to my father when we came back, but he didn't like it at all. My father beat me up several times. A little while later I heard the old lady had died. The one who told it to me was my father, and he grinned at my expression. I realised he was responsible for her death. Not that I blamed him, I blamed myself. If I hadn't helped her, she would have still lived then ..."
Draco fell silent, trying to organise his thoughts. "From that moment on, I did not help anyone anymore, unless it was for my own advantage. I discovered that I was good at charming people if I wanted them to help me, just like my father. He learned me how to take advantage of that skill. I grew arrogant, spoiled as I was. My father filled my head with certain thoughts of how the world had to be divided and how I should look at the world. I believed him immediately, because I thought my father was always right."
Hermione was intrigued by Draco's story. She knew Lucius Malfoy was a cruel man, but she had always thought Draco just looked like his father. If this story was true, that meant he was raised that way. And that meant he could change ...
"Three years ago, I was summoned by the Dark Lord. He had a job for me, or at least that's what my aunt, Bellatrix said. I was proud of myself, I was barely seventeen and the Dark Lord needed me to do something for him! You already know what I had do to and I did it succesfully, or at least Snape did." Draco gritted his teeth. He didn't like speaking about what had happened in his seventh year. "But when Dumbledore stood there on that tower, he told me I was on the wrong side. That I didn't need to do this. Dumbledore made me think about my life again, his words didn't leave me alone."
"By the time my father came back from Azkaban, my mother wanted to divorce from him. He didn't like that at all and cursed her with the Imperiatus Curse. When I found that out, I tried to break the curse, but my father discovered what I was trying to do and punished me severely. I had disappointed him, he told me. I wasn't the son he wanted me to be. He threathened to kill my mother if I didn't listen to him. From that moment, I avoided his presence. He became very ill and now he's about to die," Draco fell silent again.
"And what's the connection of your story to what happened today," Hermione asked. "Because I really don't see any."
"I'm not finished yet," Draco said irritated. "You remember you saw me at your house yesterday?"
"Yes, I do recall that. Such a situation is not something I easily forget. I saw my boyfriend and my best friend fighting with someone I'm supposed to hate."
Had Draco heard that right? She had said supposed. This was not the time to think about that, he thought. "Well, when I came home, it turned out my father almost died and that my mother was barely able to safe him. She asked where I had been and I just had to tell her, forgetting that she was under the Imperiatus Curse. So she told my father and he cursed me, too. I really had no choice ..."
"But you broke the curse, otherwise you'd have killed me by now," Hermione said. "How ...?"
"Yes, I broke the curse. You know the Imperiatus Curse can be broken, Potter did it too, years ago, in our fourth year."
"Well, he just resisted it, he didn't really break it, he just fought against it."
"I broke it, I don't know how, I just did," Draco said, shrugging.
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I know the end is a bit miserable, but I can't continue the story right now, because that'd make the chapter too long. I hope you enjoyed it anyway!
