I'll admit that I've spent more time on this chapter than any of the others and it may still be terribly confusing. Sort of hard to tell. If it is let me know.
"It's obvious," she said later as she was peering at quills through one of the shop windows in Hogsmeade. "That you're an only child."
Draco leant back against the same window, just far enough away that people wouldn't think he was with her if they saw them together. "Why would my parents want another? They achieved perfection first time around." This wasn't precisely true. Draco tried incredibly hard to be the perfect child; and most of the time he felt like he was failing.
Bones' brow furrowed. "They…are very proud of you?" she asked finally, pulling away from the window and stepping into one of Hogsmeade's winding back alleys.
The response came automatically and smoothly, as though it was the truth. "Naturally." Following her, Draco was grateful that the route she had taken was such a deserted one. He certainly didn't want to have to explain to his friends why he was spending perfectly good time on a Hufflepuff. "What happened?"
Her brows rose in question.
"To your lip; what happened?"
"Oh." Her tongue slid across the cut again. "Promise you won't laugh?"
"I will make no such vow. If you have done something supremely ridiculous I reserve the right to mock you."
She smiled as though pleased; the smile pulling at the wound and making her wince again. "I hit myself in the face with my wand."
Draco did not even try to suppress his laughter. "How did you manage that?"
Looking a little embarrassed, Bones said, "A bug or something landed on me and I went to wipe it off but I forgot I had my wand in my hand at the time."
Draco snorted, making a mental note to let Zabini know that this Bones was not a threat. Her wand was more of a risk to her than those around her. He didn't notice that she couldn't quite meet his gaze or that she was blushing lightly again. "So you're not an only child?" he asked. It was the kind of question he might ask generally to stockpile as much ammunition against a person as he could. He had meticulous knowledge of the Weasley family and of Potter's family and knew exactly how to use it against them. Precisely how to twist the knowledge like a knife. With her…it wasn't ammunition. But for the moment he let himself believe that it was because there was no other reason that he'd want to know anything about this blood traitor witch.
Her smile glowed brighter than he'd ever seen it. Not bright enough to make her beautiful; but it was warm enough to bask in and it dragged him towards her without him being aware of moving closer until his hand brushed hers as they walked. "Helen," she said and there was a fierce sort of love in the way she said that name that Draco had never heard before.
Flushing, as though aware of how ridiculously proud she must have sounded, Bones looked away at the shops on the far side of the alley. "She's seven now."
If Draco hadn't felt such searing jealousy at the evident affection in the Bones family, he might have smiled at the fact that Bones couldn't keep her feeling for her sister from spilling over. Instead he smirked, "Bit late, isn't she? Or did your parents wait until they were sure you were a failure to try again?"
She stopped. When Draco turned back, her eyes were dark and he thought that he'd finally managed it. The calculating part of his mind took it in and stored away the ammunition for later use. Upsetting Bones: bring up family; tell her she doesn't measure up. It was a relief to have her emotionally dissected finally; to know how to handle her.
"Draco…" she said and she did sound like she was struggling emotionally. Draco's stomach tried to churn in discomfort, but he clenched his fist and did not let it; and did not let himself think about what that churning could mean.
"Malfoy," he said coolly.
She stared at him and gave up. "Malfoy," she said, voice trembling. "I shouldn't be here."
"And yet you are," said Draco, dusting the shoulders of his Quidditch robes. "You can go if you want to, but I will be telling Umbridge about those Hufflepuffs you were trying to protect."
She didn't crumble. Her eyes stayed dark, her expression unreadable. "It was never…" she said shaking her head and then cut herself short, chewing on her lower lip. Draco wondered whether it was tearing that cut open again. He wished that he could revel in the fact that he could hurt her enough to hurt herself. It mostly made his stomach churn again.
She smiled finally. Not as though she was being forced. "I don't mind spending time with you," she said and her voice was clear, she could meet his gaze, she didn't blush. She couldn't lie without giving herself away; but this couldn't possibly be the truth, could it?
Sighing, she looked down the alley towards the main street. She probably made sense; Draco could probably work her out if he just knew a little more about her.
"Coffee?" he said making it more of an order than a question.
Her eyes lit up, which was a good sign, but she said, "I don't drink coffee."
Exasperated, Draco asked, "Hot chocolate?"
"I drink that, but I don't have any money. I would have taken my purse but some incredibly overbearing wizard heavy-handed me down here before I had the chance." Her eyes were light again, her expression playful and from her tone Draco thought that she was inviting him to play too.
He didn't. "I'll pay for you," he said flatly, making it sound like the worst imposition imaginable.
Eyes still light and cheerful, she nodded. He wasn't sure, but he thought that maybe she was deluding herself into thinking that his gruffness was playful. He wished that he could disabuse her of that notion, but it would probably give her that hurt look that made him feel nauseated so he left the matter alone, turning on his heel and heading for one of the coffee shops that were less likely to be occupied by Hogwarts students.
"So Helen," he said sharply when they were seated at a table away from the windows in the back of the café. Bones subsided into her seat and gave him a quizzical look. "She's your only sibling?"
Making a small sound of agreement, Bones nodded. The subject didn't seem to be sour any longer, but Draco said, "They're probably proud of you."
When Bones' look became baffled and a little alarmed, Draco said flatly, "Your parents."
"Well," said Bones, as though uncertain as to how to respond. She reached out and stirred the sugar in the sugar bowl with its spoon. "They love me." Glaring at the sugar bowl as though it had offended her, she said, "Pride doesn't matter, I don't think. There's time for that later."
Draco laughed. "Really? You think that?" She must have been a disappointment to her parents. A family full of Dark Wizard hunters and she couldn't get herself into anything better than Hufflepuff.
Huffing out a breath of annoyance, she lifted her eyes from the sugar bowl to frown at him. "You know, I'm sort of trying here," she said. "If you want to be like this then there's no point in me staying."
He smiled casually. "Again, black-mail," he murmured just as casually.
"Oh for Merlin's sake!" She threw the sugar spoon at him. "Malfoy, I'm not here because you black-mailed me! Jeez!" Throwing herself back in her seat, she laughed. The laugh was friendly but strained around the edges. Rubbing her face with her hands, she sighed again and leant forward, resting her elbows on the table. "Just…" she said. "Just…Maybe if we don't talk about family?"
"They upset you that much?" Draco dusted sugar particles off himself and tried to ignore the fact that Bones was putting her elbows all over the table and throwing sugar spoons and tapping her feet and she was probably as uncivilised as those Weasleys.
"What?" Bones looked across at him from trying to rake sugar out of her plait. Something seemed to occur to her and she let her plait go, a frown beginning to start on her face. "My family don't bother me at all," she said slowly, watching Draco closely. "Where did you get that impression?"
"Well…" said Draco and he was about to follow up with, 'you're Hufflepuff' but decided at the last minute to be tactful. "When I said that Helen was an improvement, you were upset."
Understanding crossed Bones' features and she laughed. "Oh," she said, and then cut herself short, frowning again and shaking her head. "Helen's seven years old, Malfoy. Who…" Cutting herself off abruptly once again, she amended to, "My family wouldn't judge a seven year old."
Narrowing his eyes at her, Draco scratched his jaw. "What then? What upset you?"
Bones cleared her throat, staring at the sugar bowl. "I always thought that Slytherins and Hufflepuffs were much the same," she said finally. "I mean, in everything but intention. So you'd probably guess on your own after a bit, which means that I should probably tell you so that you don't…uhm…misconstrue my intention."
Draco had no idea what she was talking about. He was too busy being silently horrified at the notion that she thought the great and noble house of Slytherin shared any connection to the leftover, scrap-heap they called Hufflepuff to even try to reason it out.
"Uhm…" she said, staring at the sugar harder and Draco thought that possibly she was about to confess her undying love. He sat up straighter, preparing to throw the sugar in her face and dash madly out of the café if he was proven right. "The thing about Hufflepuffs is that they're empathetic."
Unexpected. "Mm," said Draco trying for nonchalance and relaxing fractionally in his seat.
"We…I don't take what you say at face value."
No, she was too busy taking it as a joke. But that notion made Draco feel a little uneasy. Empathy mixed with reading into things more deeply than was normal. Considering the conversations they'd been having when Bones looked like she'd been struck, the conclusion rushed upon Draco with discomforting clarity.
She was right, he thought dully. Slytherins and Hufflepuffs did have one major common trait. Gryffindors were practically illiterate and Ravenclaws read books; but Slytherins and Hufflepuffs read people. They differed only in intention. Slytherins intended to manipulate; Hufflepuffs to empathise.
It put a whole new spin on the day.
"You're not here because I black-mailed you," Draco's voice came out dangerously smooth. He raised his gaze to snare Bones'. He knew the answer anyway, but lowered his voice to a cold hiss, "You're here because..?"
She kept his gaze, eyes betraying only a little anxiety. Her tone was soft and warm as butter when she answered, "I felt sorry for you."
He laughed at her, sharp and icy. Usually his laughs were malicious enough to shield him from anything, but he should have known it wouldn't work on her. She was too stupid to be cut by his laughter, though it had shredded people far more confident than her. "Really?"
The corners of her mouth pulled down unhappily. "I'm sorry. If you'd just demanded I come, I wouldn't…But you black-mailed me. I mean…"
She didn't add 'how desperate would you have to be?' because Draco glowered her down before she could. But, yes, to Hufflepuffs desperation would have to be empathised with, catered to. Someone like Voldemort could never have risen in Hufflepuff. That kind of desperate loneliness would have always been answered. "So," he drawled, his voice still a mass of spiky sharp ice-shards that his closest friends would not attempt to placate. "If the things I said about you being compared to your sister didn't upset you, why were you upset?" He had a feeling he already knew the answer to this one too, but he wanted to hear her say it. Then he could hate her more.
Her voice was cooler when she said, "You already know."
Draco leant back in his seat, folding his hands across the flat of his stomach and smiling at her lazily. His posture was wide open, but internally he was raising his defences as fast as he was able. It had been a sort of open secret that Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had tried desperately to have more children for many years before finally giving up. It was all very above board. The Malfoy line had to continue. More children could mean the difference between a strong family and extinction. Logically it made sense. But the desperation was just a little too…desperate. And Draco knew that if he was just a little better it wouldn't be there at all.
Hufflepuffs were empathetic, so Bones had made the mistake of thinking that when Draco had thrown the sibling rivalry issue at her he had been trying to empathise, using his own feelings of inferiority as a base. She'd been upset because she thought he was hurt, not because his attack had worked. And he had never bothered to consider that Hufflepuffs placed other people's problems higher than they placed their own, because who would?
"Well," he drawled casually. "Entertaining as this all has been…"
"Malfoy," she protested.
"No, really," said Draco coldly. He wished desperately that he knew how to hurt her. He would have given his broom for it, his place on the Quidditch team for it, anything. Right now he'd probably hurt her more if he told her every sob story he'd ever had than if he attacked any aspect of her life. If he couldn't give her pain though, he'd settle for terror. "I'm really glad we had this chat. With the Dark Lord back your family couldn't possibly last much longer. And after the next few months, who knows? Perhaps we won't ever have another chance." He didn't even care that he wasn't meant to mention the Dark Lord. He would have done it a thousand times and braved the consequences of it just to make her hate him or fear him or anything but pity him. He wouldn't be able to stand that from anyone let alone a Hufflepuff who knew he deserved to be pitied. The thought made him furious.
She looked cornered and utterly at a loss for words. Draco let the familiar smirk settle across his lips and waited for her to get the point and flee. She raised her head finally, catching his gaze just barely and then shying away from it and studying a spot to his left. He barely heard her when she spoke, her voice incredibly unhappy. "I've wanted to talk to you a thousand times." Letting out a breath, she pushed her seat back. "Family is strange," she said, standing up. He didn't think she was talking about his family somehow. "But I think I was right before; pride…you don't have to worry about that, it can come later."
Under normal circumstances, Draco would have sent a scathing retort back at her. Circumstances were nothing like normal now. He barely had enough defences to glare her down; he certainly didn't have anything left over to fling at her.