Revised 3/7/15
Original a/n:
Update: 7/29/08
Eeep! Sorry for the delay. My beta and I both had separate RL mini crises that we had to deal with, so, unfortunately, you good people had to wait for this update. Please forgive me!
7/22/08
For those who did review the last chapter: A MILLION THANK YOUS! You guys rock. You guys are keeping me on this story, 'cause there's little motivation without you guys. Honestly, you guys are awesome! I love love love reviews and try to reply to all the ones that are from people who are signed in or leave an email address! Thank you, thank you, thank you! A super special thanks to Linkin Park 04 who reviewed every single chapter!
Those of you who are reading this without reviewing, you guys owe those reviewers some major thanks. I wouldn't keep posting without them.
That being said, I love ALL of my readers. ALL OF YOU. That includes that person who is reading this right now who has never reviewed in his/her life and the person who takes the time to review any and everything they read no matter how pressed for time he/she is. I do love you all and cherish you as readers. I guess I can liken the situation to children. No matter what action (good or bad) your child does, you always always always love him/her (this analogy is excepting those parents who don't understand the meaning of unconditional love and are unable to fully appreciate their children). I will always always always appreciate and love my readers. Honestly! But just as children can frustrate parents, so can readers. And I must say, I am a bit frustrated. But I still love you guys.
So, please, review. Make an author happy!
Ahem, now that my a/n is longer than the actual update (just kidding, my a/n is only 440 words and my story is 1968 words… not too short, not too long)…. On with the story!
III
Snape stood and placed the unfinished bowl of soup on the table next to Hermione's potions. Draco rushed into the room, grabbing Hermione's hand.
He took a slow, steadying breath. "Death Eaters attacked your father's house last night. They captured him, but did not harm him. They went to your mother's house around the same time. I was assigned to the group sent to your father's house. I threw curses at him, which I knew would not injure him. Your mother was not so lucky. They used the Cruciatus curse several times. Voldemort killed her when they brought her back to the encampment. I smuggled your father out using the secret passage we escaped through."
Tears began streaming down Hermione's face. Her body shook as she tried to process what had happened. Snape quietly left the room while Draco eased her into his embrace and slowly rocked her back and forth, letting the young woman bury her head into his chest. For a quarter of an hour he held her close until her shaking subsided and her breathing evened out, her body finally succumbing to sleep. Even then, Draco rocked her gently. After several minutes he carefully lowered her onto her pillows and drew the blankets across her body. He sat next to her and traced the line of her face, tenderly swiping at the tear stains with his thumbs.
A soft knock made him look up. "Can I come in?" Snape asked, his voice no more than a whisper.
Draco nodded and motioned towards the chair near the bed. Snape took a seat and sighed, cautiously examining the scene before him.
For several long moments the older wizard observed Draco and Hermione. Draco made no move to speak. "Don't feel guilty, Draco," Snape ordered, finally breaking the silence. His deep eyes were hooded by his long lashes and disclosed nothing of how he felt.
The blonde man looked annoyed. "Who are you to tell me how I should feel? You don't get it."
"What don't I get?" the older wizard questioned, tone harsh, his lined face impassive. "I was forced to kill my mentor, Draco. My mentor; the only person who'd ever given a damn. There are a lot of emotions I associate with his death. Guilt is not one of them." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "There are many things you should feel about the death of Hermione's mother. Guilt shouldn't be one of those emotions. It was not in your control; therefore, you can feel bad about it, but you should harbor no guilt."
Draco unconsciously rubbed Hermione's hand with his own. "I don't even know how she feels, Severus. I only know that her mother is dead and she is upset. Do you know she's lived with just her father since she was four?" Draco's face betrayed nothing of his emotions. "Apparently though, she was not even safe from her mother then; her father traveled too much to protect her from everything. Her mother would emotionally and physically abuse her when she saw her. Her mother allowed her father, Hermione's grandfather, to sexually abuse her. Voldemort told me this. What can Hermione be feeling right now? Her mother is dead; a mother who did all these horrendous things to her, but still her mother."
Snape had paled as Draco revealed Hermione's secrets. No one had known what the young witch had suffered. "How did he find out, Draco?"
"While she was captured Voldemort performed Legilimancy on her. His plans were to kill Hermione's mother to win over Hermione and use her father as a bargaining chip, since he knew she loved him. What do we do, Severus? How do I help her?"
"Draco, all you can do now is be there for her," Snape replied. "How do you stand with Voldemort right now? Did you have to compromise your position to save her father?" Snape's back was straight and his emotions in check even as he reached a critical point in the discussion.
Draco shook his head. "Fortunately, Voldemort had several Death Eaters assigned to her father's room and I was not one of them. He doesn't suspect me. Right now he believes I am at home recuperating from a scuffle between Mr. Granger and myself."
"Good," Snape declared, mind reeling with the new information. His face remained unreadable and his eyes cold as he surveyed Hermione. "Have you gathered any information about her condition?"
Draco looked down. "No, sir," he responded, voice thick with emotion.
Snape reached out, guiding his hand beneath Draco's chin. He forced Draco to look him in the eye. "You cannot afford to lose your control over your emotions, Draco," Snape began cautiously. "Any emotional leverage you give the Death Eaters only further endangers Hermione, yourself, and me. We should practise Occlumency before you leave to strengthen your shields."
The blonde took a steadying breath and deliberately forced his facial features into a mask of indifference, void of all emotion. "I understand."
It was dark. Hermione couldn't see in front of her. She could hear the ragged breathing of a man closing in on her quickly. She was halfway across her room, intent on crawling under the bed she knew was mere feet in front of her blank eyes. The whisky on her grandfather's breath overwhelmed her senses. Stumbling over some ill placed object, Hermione lost her footing and fell. Her grandfather caught up to her in a moment's time. She knew there was no escaping his violation of her and tightly closed her unseeing eyes as the first blow came.
Hermione awoke, gasping for breath. She focused on calming her erratic heartbeat. A cool hand took hers just a moment later. Disoriented, Hermione shrunk away from the contact, frightened by the looming presence next to her bed.
"It's me," Draco told her softly, his warm voice laced with as much tenderness and affection he could muster.
The young witch inhaled deeply and stared at him, eyes full of tears. "Draco, it was horrible," she gushed unhappily, her face scrunching up in emotional pain. Slight tremors ran through her weak body, a testament to how fragile her state of health still was.
The blonde man gently smoothed her hair, reverently tracing the line of her face. "Hermione, Voldemort shared what he knew of your home life with the Death Eaters. I understand how difficult this is for you."
Far from calming the distraught woman, Draco's words caused her further anguish, the pools gathered in her eyes spilled over, the salty tears flowing freely down her cheeks. "You must think me so weak," was all Hermione managed to mumble through her distress.
"How can you think that?" Draco demanded, his words delivered with more ferocity than he'd intended. "You are one of the strongest women I have ever met. You have faced so much and still retain your love and innocence. You are the embodiment of courage, Hermione. You have nothing of which to be ashamed."
His words were delivered with such conviction and intensity that Hermione paused in her worry, actually believing what he said. She knew of all people Draco was the least likely to lie to her. Of all the people who could have absolved her from the invisible sin Hermione felt she carried, Draco was the only one she would accept. A loud sniff ended her crying, though her cheeks remained wet. "Thank you," she told him quietly. Her eyes held nothing but trust and acceptance for the man before her.
Now accustomed to the routine, he gently eased her into a sitting position and placed a large pillow behind her. He took her smaller hands gently between his and brought them to his lips. With solemnity and respect he brushed his lips across each hand, pausing both times to look her in the eye. "Nothing done to us against our will can ever taint our being," he whispered, his voice causing her to shiver. After pausing for a moment, his body became tense, lines creasing his brow. "I have to return to Voldemort. My position was not compromised and, as such, I must go to his side, the willing servant, having recovered from my brawl with a certain male Granger," he informed her with a slight smirk.
Her questioning eyes prompted him to explain part of what had transpired with her parents. "After I rescued your father, who is safely with Dumbledore, I returned to Voldemort sporting bruises and mild wounds. I told him that I had acquired these in a brawl with your father and politely requested time to recuperate away from the more resourceful lesser Death Eaters. Creative ill-wishers of an injured high ranking Death Eater pose more of a threat than the Order does when at the encampment." Draco paused, not sure if it was the right time to address such deep wounds. "I am sorry about your mother, Hermione."
Without conscious thought, Hermione worried at her lip, eyes clouding in pain. "I never really knew her," she said after a moment's contemplation. "I mean, I visited with her and such, but I never knew anything about her. Nor did she know anything of me. It was a superficial relationship, Draco, one that caused little but pain and confusion. Her father could be creative."
Draco let her speak, his silent support apparent in his strong grasp on her hand. He did not interrupt, even when she stopped speaking, afraid to keep break her flow of thoughts.
She continued after a brief inner struggle. "It was a superficial relationship, Draco, but it was all I had. It still hurts. Between her and my father, I don't know how to feel. He loves me, I know, but he knows nothing about me. He tries, but it has always been difficult. He wasn't prepared for the responsibility and still he does not know how to handle me. He provides as much as he can but has been emotionally unavailable my whole life. He was never there. I'm so confused," she finally admitted, her words jumbled together in a rush, eyes darting around nervously. She avoided looking Draco in the eye. Her fear was being alone, but she refused to voice this, feeling hopeless against her own thoughts.
Draco cupped her face, forcing her brown eyes to connect with his icy grey orbs. "I completely understand, Hermione," he said slowly, eyes never leaving hers, "And I want you to know, you are never alone. You will always have me."
Hermione melted at Draco's words. She did not know it, but she had tapped into an oasis of feeling deep inside the contemplative blonde.
Her humble expression of her own inadequacy gave Draco the courage to voice what he'd never shared with anyone before, save Snape. "My family shares many of the same deficiencies as yours," he explained, selecting his words with care. "I too have suffered at the hands of those supposed to love me. I too love those incapable of emotionally bonding. My mother has provided everything for me to thrive physically, but she knows nothing of the bond a parent and child should share. Nor does my father. Do not try to reconcile how your parents nor grandfather have treated you with the manner in which a family is supposed to treat their child. It will cause you nothing but worry and heartache." His demeanor shifted. "Instead, we must focus on what we have," he paused momentarily, making sure he had her attention, "and right now, we have each other." His grey eyes connected with hers, "We are both strong on our own, but we don't always have to do it alone."
For the first time since her capture, Hermione felt herself relax, her eyes misting from tears of joy. She tightened her hand around Draco's and in a surprising act of strength, leaned forward and pushed her lips against his.
III
Hoorah, another chapter! Don't kill me for this one being so long in coming. At least it didn't take me two years to update this time :D
I hope you enjoy and I implore you to review! I hope this cliffie wasn't as bad as the last!
