Chapter 8
Torn By Blood For Love
The sun seemed particularly bright, even with the clouds that passed over the sun from time to time. The train station was exploding with life; you could hear children and people talking to each other. You could even hear an occasional shout as parents called to their children. Platform 9 and ¾ was particularly busy. People here were a little different than at most of the other platforms. There was an air that seemed thick and tense, the air was so tense that it could pop at any moment. The air was filled with fear, and it was more then a little unsettling for two muggle parents who were sending their daughter off to a school they knew, was just as tense; if even more so then this very platform.
Hermione kissed her mother's cheek and hugged her father. It was getting harder for them to send her off to school. They knew that she would be an adult next year, according to the wizarding world's laws. Her parents wanted to give her the world and if that world meant the wizarding world, then so be it. Hermione was finishing her goodbyes when she spotted a waving sea of red hair and amongst them, one young man with wild black hair. "Mom, Dad… I love you, I'll write to you tomorrow; so expect the owl in a few days. I've got to get going, Ron and Harry are expecting me." Hermione smiled and gave her parents one last hug goodbye before grabbing her bag and running off into the red sea. "Hello…" Fred smiled, and held out a yellow daisy before her. "Hermione…" George said, mimicking his twin brother. Together they said, "We want to congratulate you on becoming a prefect once again…"
Hermione smiled, Fred and George had their moments. Their shop was a big success and they had become very respectable, in their own crazy and insane way. She didn't know whether or not she should take the flowers from Fred and George, it was an innocent enough gesture, but if you knew Fred and George you knew there was no such thing as an 'innocent gesture'. She hesitated but took the flowers from them. The twins seemed all too delighted at the fact that she had accepted their flowers. And sure enough, as Hermione followed Harry and Ron onto the train, the flowers exploded in a ray of colored confetti which covered Hermione, Harry and Ron in multi-colored ink. Harry, Hermione and Ron found an empty compartment, took their seats and burst into conversation.
Harry pulled out his wand and silenced the room, so that their conversation couldn't be heard from outside the compartment, before sitting down and looking to the golden trio. "Dumbledore wants to see me after the opening feast, but he won't tell me what it's about…" Harry was met with a confused look from Hermione and Ron. They both knew that Harry and Dumbledore had been on precarious terms for over a year now. "He said he wants to see you Harry, maybe he'll explain things to you now…" Ron said as he dug through the luggage in the overhead compartment. Hermione glanced at Ron and nodded as she pulled out the Daily Prophet. It was tattered, folded and creased; it obviously wasn't a recent issue. It had big black bold headline which read; "Darkness has returned, Ministry warns; 'be on your guard'" in smaller letters below it read, "Ministry fails it's own… Death of Arthur Weasely inside! " Hermione ran her hands over the paper, trying to crease out the folds in the paper. "Harry, don't you think it's odd that the Ministry won't talk about what really happened that night?" Hermione looked quickly at Ron to judge his reaction. He had stopped searching and was standing with his back to the luggage. In his hands was his wand, a shabby box with a faded label which had the words 'Wizard Cards', and a book on, "How to collect the rarest wizards." By Vix Thumbstrean, The look on his face was strained; he looked as if ready to either cry, or throw something at her. "Who the fuck cares... No one important to the Ministry that doesn't already know, that's who…" Ron snapped as he threw himself into his seat across from Harry; his face contorted in rage and anger. He glanced at her before ripping open his book and burying himself in it.
Harry sighed as he glanced from Ron to Hermione. "Ron's right Herm, they still haven't 'cleared Sirius' not that it does any good now, it's pretty much known… they won't even admit Voldemort killed Cedric." Harry looked at her with a stern, yet sincere look upon his face. "We don't need to listen to the Ministry or the Daily Prophet Herm, we know what the truth is… so stop reading that trash." Hermione looked at him in total disbelief. She knew that the prophet was pretty much censored lately, but she still read it. She could understand Harry and Ron's reasons for losing faith in the prophet, but it just wasn't sensible to ignore what others thought to be the truth. The two of them were emotional right now, she told herself. Harry and Ron don't see the point, but when did they? "Yes Harry it is rubbish, but it's not trash. To the wizarding world the Prophet is still news, and it still has power of influence over their readers…" She paused, Harry was still looking at her, but his face had become dreamy; indicating that he was no longer listening to her. "Harry, are you even…" Hermione's words were interrupted as the compartment door slid open and she realized before she had even turned around; that Ron and Harry's thoughts were now out of reach, their girlfriends had arrived. Ron's head snapped up from his book and his face softened immediately as he eyed his girlfriend.
"Don't either of you two care that the Ministry won't give…" Hermione's words were cut short again, this time as Harry and Ron greeted their girlfriends. "How have you been, Lavender? I haven't seen you all summer… Well, not since… " Ron said as his voice softened and nearly cracked. "Oh Won-Won, I've missed you! My summer has been ok… It must be hard on you and Ginny to be going back to school right now…" Lavender said softly as she sat on Ron's lap and began running her fingers over his chest. "What about you Harry, I know you said that Arthur was like a father to you… and since you've already lost your parents, this must be even harder." Padmé said as she brushed passed Hermione and took a seat between Hermione and Harry. "Oh Padmé, I'd rather not talk about it right now… there are far better things to talk about…" Harry smiled, and kissed Padmé as she sat down.
The four seemed completely oblivious to her presence as they kissed each other in welcome. Hermione shoved the Prophet back into her bag, and opened her mouth to speak, just as sucking sounds emanated from the two couples. Disgusted and incensed at the lack of decency, Hermione leapt to her feet and stormed out of the compartment. She slammed the door behind her and smiled with satisfaction as the four members of the compartment jumped in shock. She walked down the aisle and stopped to stand by one of the open windows, she let the wind whip at her face, as it did she let her anger subside. Why did this happen? Why were things always so hard for her? Did no one actually care to listen to her? Hermione winced as somewhere behind her, moans and sucking noises escaped from the shadows. She didn't even bother to look, she didn't care, but she made plenty of noise as she walked off. She didn't see the point in taking away house points from these two, if she didn't take them from Harry and Ron.
Hermione walked past every compartment as she made her way to the back of the train. By the time she had reached the luggage compartment, she no longer cared to find or talk to Ginny, she just wanted peace and quiet. The idea of being alone to her thoughts felt great. She grabbed the door and pulled it open, at the same time, the train lurched and Hermione went tumbling into the trunks within the compartment. She landed with a thud against the trunks inside, and the door closed with a loud clunk sound. "Ouch!" She heard someone behind her say as the trunk lid landed on their head. Hermione moaned and turned around to see who she had interrupted now. "Blast, who the fuck… You" Malfoy stopped rubbing his head as he stared at her dumbfounded, and outraged. "Oh, I'm sorry Malf- err… Draco…" Hermione said, rubbing her shoulder and holding her head as she stood up. She made her way towards the door and sighed. "I didn't know anyone was in here…" She opened the door to leave, but it wouldn't move, she took her hand off her head and sighed. She was locked in the compartment with Malfoy.
Draco brought his hand up to the back of his head again as he watched Hermione walk back towards him. He couldn't help but stare at her, he wasn't sure what the look on his face was but he thought it resembled a mix of hatred and curiosity. "What are you doing in here Granger?" Draco snapped as he pushed himself up off the floor. "Why aren't you with Potter and Weasley?" He walked over to her and glared at her as she sat down on one of the trunks. "Did they finally ditch you?" Draco smiled with satisfaction as she glared up at him annoyed. "As it so happens, not that you need to know… I ditched them!" Draco sneered and crossed his arms over his chest. "And why is that, Granger? Can't put up with the company they keep? " Hermione just looked up at him coolly and said, "Yes, sometimes I don't like the company they keep…" she had a childish look upon her face as she spoke. "What did they do this time Granger? Are they sucking face with their girlfriends? I suppose you left them to go about their business…" Draco said as he knelt down and opened up his trunk. "Well, what was I supposed to do…If I had stopped them it would be only a matter of time before the started up again. So instead of causing a scene, I left!" Draco jerked his head and stared at her, he half expected her to answer like that, but it wasn't what he wanted to hear anyway. "Of course Granger, you're always trying to avoid fighting… Maybe that's just what you need…You let them push you around, you do know that, right?" The look on her face told him that he was right; she knew that she let them push her around. It bothered her and he could tell, which only made him angry, for reasons he couldn't fathom. "Well go back there and give them a piece of your mind…Tell them to show you some respect Granger!" She looked at him with furrowed brows and a confused look in her eyes. "First off Malfoy, I can't. The compartment is locked, if it wasn't I wouldn't still be in here… and second off… since when did you give me helpful advice?" Draco looked at her, and then at the compartment door. "Locked? You let it lock… You locked us in here Mudblood! That's just great!" Draco glared at her and walked to the compartment door. "It's not going to wooork!" Hermione said in a taunting tone. "Alohomora" Draco shouted. The door remained locked, he watched in frustration as everything he tried resulted in a firmly shut and locked door. "You think that's going to work… I would have tried it, but I know that this compartment is supposed to be locked with powerful charms; to avoid theft of personal property. It said so in 'Hogwarts a History'!" She said with a matter of fact tone and a know-it-all look on her face. "Shut up!" Draco snapped at her. "It was worth a try Granger…" Hermione rolled her eyes but said nothing. Draco always seemed to be able to pull off the 'I am holier then thou' attitude. At times it bothered her, but her mind just went back to first year when he saved her life. It bothered her when her mind got away from her like that, because it left her with no answers, and plenty of questions. Hermione watched Draco out of the corner of her eyes. She wanted to ask him about first year, but she didn't know how to approach the subject. She looked around the compartment for something to look at while she fought with herself with about how to ask Draco, in regards to that fateful day.
It was Draco that broke the silence in the hours that seemed to have passed. "What is it Granger, I know you're dying to say something… so either Say it, or quit staring at me…" Draco snapped at her and glared threateningly at her, from where he was sitting on top of his trunk. "What happened to you? You used to be so kind… at least, I thought you were. You told me that night back in first year, that you were sorry you had been so cruel. So why is it you treat me as you do? Or maybe I should be asking you why you rescued me?" Her voice trailed off into a whisper, and her eyes danced around the room. Before they had wandered far Draco's voice answered her. It was quivering as she answered. "I would have thought that it was easy for you to understand. I told you that I don't want to be this way… It's just expected of me. I can't just be who ever I want to be, life is complicated like that. We all have our roles Granger… to everyone else, you're the book-worm-know-it-all… and I'm an evil prick and the son of a renowned Death Eater. So I must play up the role I was born into." His voice became crisp as he paused and got up to pace around the room. "I saved you when I should have simply let you die. It would have made my life a lot easier, but I couldn't do that. I can't take the easy way out… I must pay for my deeds. I guess I saved you because I was sorry with myself, and I identify with how it feels to be misunderstood. But I would like to think I did it because it was the decent thing to do. " Hermione stared at him as if she hadn't really heard what he had said. In reality she hadn't, she heard his words but she hadn't taken them in. It was like the words were floating around in front of her face, waiting to be swallowed. Waiting to be accepted for what they were. Hermione swallowed and took a deep breath; Malfoy had just apologized again. She felt something inside her break down and a little voice told her to tell him something, anything that would acknowledge that he had done the right thing.
Draco saw Hermione's face drop as she looked at her feet. She seemed to find them fascinating. He watched her as she seemed to fidget under his gaze; he looked away and began staring intently at the door. If it would only open, he could walk out of here and leave the awkward feeling that seemed to be growing between them. He had no idea why he had even answered her stupid question. It really didn't matter what his reasons were, or how he felt. Granger would come to her own conclusion with or without his input. He bit his lip in frustration, it mattered a great deal… but why he simply couldn't say. He knew the answer, but he was afraid to except that fact. It simply wasn't possible for a Malfoy to fall in love. Draco opened his mouth to snap at her when her voice filled the empty air. "Draco, you did the right thing. I'm very grateful for your help, and your kindness… I wish you'd show it more often. I hope that you can confide in me more often. I think of you as a close friend…" Hermione's words were cut off as the train slowed to a stop and the luggage compartment door unlocked with a loud click, stating that they had arrived in Hogsmeade.
