Chapter 9 – Truce

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"Get up, Granger."

She found herself snapped out of whatever trance she'd been in, and pulled herself up from the floor, tears streaming down her face freely now.

"Pull yourself together."

She stared at him. "You don't get it, do you? I KILLED him. I killed my best-friend, because I was stupid enough to tell him I didn't love him."

"You're being irrational. Weasley's moronic behaviour - "

"SHUT UP!" she screamed, "SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"

"Be logical, Granger! I just read the entire thing, and this," he pointed at the pictures of Ron, "isn't normal."

"Are you completely heartless?" she stared at him, in disbelief. "Are you even human? How can you say something like that?" she began to shake with rage.

"I'm the only person who knows the real reason why your best friend committed suicide. Tell me that's normal, Granger. Say it!"

She said nothing, and they stood in complete silence for a few moments, until suddenly, Hermione pulled her wand out of her back pocket and lunged forward.

"OBLIVIA - "

She found herself thrown to the floor, her wand flung out of her arm and lying on her bed as Draco pinned her down.

"Are you completely insane?" he hissed.

The final straw. She lost it.

"YOU PEOPLE ARE COMPLETELY HEARTLESS, AREN'T YOU?! You're cold, heartless bastards! I didn't know what to do!"

"I know - "

"SHUT UP! You've had it easy all your life, haven't you? Rich, selfish little pureblood brat. How do you think I felt when I found out he'd killed himself because of me?! Malfoy, I found out that my parents had been killed, by your bloody father's friends," she spat, "and they didn't even know who I was when they died. A few weeks, later, and my ex-boyfriend goes and dies too. You have absolutely no idea what it's like to lose people you love, do you? No. That's right. Because you aren't capable of love."

She suddenly found herself hauled to her feet, pushed up against the wall.

"Were you forced to watch, as your father strangled your mother to death? And you screamed, and screamed, so to shut you up, he used the cruciatus curse on you? And you were unable to tell no-one, because he threatened to kill you too, if you did?"

Her eyes were wide, glued to his face in complete horror.

"I thought not." He let go of her, so she slumped to the ground. "So don't EVER say that I'm not capable of feeling anything."

"What?" she whispered.

He sat on the bed, facing away from her, head in hands, and when he spoke it seemed almost as though he was talking to himself. "He apparated my mother, and myself away with him, after the Dark Lord was killed. She thought he was trying to save her, but he'd realised what she'd done. To save me." His voice was bitter. "When she realised what he was doing, tying her to the door, she began to scream. But there was no-one there to hear her. He said he wanted to have the satisfaction of feeling her life being taken away. She was a traitor, and he valued Lord Vold – him – above his own family." His voice became quieter. "And so, he strangled her, slowly. Then threw her body into the fire. And I never told anyone."

Hermione's voice was barely audible. "When a report was filed – Narcissa Malfoy. Missing?"

"She was dead. And then, the Ministry found him, and you know the rest."

"Dementor's kiss."

"So my parents are dead too. One had basically his life force sucked out of him – so he doesn't count as alive…as anything. And the other was strangled. I still have nightmares, watching her die over, and over, and over. And I couldn't stop him. My own father."

Her eyes widened for a moment. "When I tried to heal your neck, is that - "

He shook his head. "I'm afraid the same will happen to me. A phobia, I suppose. No-one touches me above my shoulders."

He seemed to suddenly realise how much he'd revealed to her, and their sudden moment of understanding was broken.

"Granger, if you tell ANYONE about this, I swear to Salazar, I'll kill you." He spat.

She stood up, straightening her shoulders. "You can't tell Harry about…about Ron. It's my choice, to keep it secret, and I want it to remain that way."

He paused, and then lifted an eyebrow. "I won't tell about Weasley, if you don't say ANYTHING about my mother. Or my father."

"So we forget this ever happened?"

"Fine."

She hesitated. "Malfoy?"

"What?"

"I was thinking." She swallowed, hard. "I've revealed so much to you, and you told me about - "

"I thought you said we'd forget about this?"

His voice was harsh, but she detected a note of desperation beneath it. "Listen to me."

"No, Granger, I don't want to talk about - "

"LISTEN TO ME!"

He reeled backwards, surprised by her outburst. "I'm listening!" he attempted to sneer.

"You've told me about something no-one else knows, and I've done the same. I know I said we should forget about it, but I know I can't. I can't forget what you told me."

"Is this going into some sort of Gryffindor lecture?"

"Better than being a bloody Slytherin, with your dungeons, and your "I'm-holier-than-thou attitude.""

And to her disbelief, he actually let out a small chuckle. "Touché. Still talking back, then?"

"Still being a slimy jerk?"

He shook his head. "That was pathetic."

"Oh, be quiet. Like you're not pathetic."

His expression immediately became indignant. "I am NOT pathetic!"

"That's what you think."

"Granger, you've been side-tracked. What were you saying?" the slightly joking atmosphere dissolved. She frowned.

"We know things about each other that no-one else knows. And I know I can't pretend they never happened, nor can I look at you again in the same way."

"I still hate you." He spoke, quickly.

"Of course you still hate me. And I still think you're egotistical, pathetic, stupid – "

"Where is this going?"

"Right. Sorry. Got distracted."

He raised an eyebrow, and she glared at him.

"Ugh, ok Malfoy! What I'm trying to say is that we should have some sort of truce!"

His face twisted in disgust. "You mean be nice to each other? No way. I'd rather be trampled to death by a herd of hippogriffs."

"Not nice, exactly. But not vile. Tolerate each other."

"Aren't we doing that already?"

"I mean, we should try studying together. We could get a lot further. Things like that."

He scowled in disgust. "Fine, but only because I want to know what my psychotic uncles have done to me."

"Great." She tried to smile. "And to start, you can cook me a big breakfast. Screw my weight, I'm hungry after all that." And she skipped out of the room. Outside, she leant against the wall, her cheerful façade dissolved. She didn't know what has just happened, our how it had happened…but it had. So she'd have to deal with the consequences. She shook her head, to clear her thoughts and plastered another smile onto her face.

"Come on!" she called.

Draco was about to leave the room, but walked back to her bedside table first, almost reverently placing Ron's letter back in its draw. Then he walked away, turning back for one last glance before closing the door.

So hopefully, that should answer a lot of questions. I won't say much - I'll leave that for you to do =) Please drop a review into that lovely little box below - it's appreciated more than you think. I'm going to say...could I have 92 reviews for an update? I'm sorry if it is slightly late, because life is ridiculously busy. I almost didn't manage to post today. Anyway! Thanks again, and see you next chapter =D

Love you all,

Tris xx