Draco Malfoy Must Die
Chapter 10 - The Truth Wins Out
Hermione nodded once more and Daphne left, shutting the dorm door behind her. Hermione took a deep breath and shut her eyes.
"You're pissed off with me aren't you Granger?"
Hermione's eyes shot open and she glared at him, "Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Language Granger," Draco teased.
"You kissed me Malfoy, you bloody kissed me!" Hermione exclaimed.
"You're angry at me for kissing you?" Draco asked in disbelief.
"No, I'm angry at you for running away afterwards and telling me it didn't mean anything," Hermione retorted hotly, "I don't let people kiss me if it doesn't mean anything to me."
"Are you telling me that you fancy me Granger?" Draco smirked.
Hermione glared at him, "Fancying you is not my priority at the moment Malfoy. Saving your life, and making sure you don't kill Dumbledore, those are my priorities. Erasing Snape's memory so he can't erase yours or try and kill you, that is my priority. When all of this is over and everyone isn't in danger then you can ask me that question. Understood?"
"Understood," Draco said seriously as his eyes fell on Snape, "I'll stay quiet so you can do it."
Hermione nodded and took another deep breath, "Thank you," she said. She closed her eyes again and felt her wand vibrate in her hand as the spell charged, she focused on the memory she needed to remove and opened her eyes.
"Obliviate."
The memory that was extracted from Snape's forehead gleamed silver as Hermione's arm shook. This was the hardest memory she had ever had to remove, because even unconscious he was fighting her. When it was done she felt drained, and she wasn't even finished yet.
"Granger, are you okay? You look-"
"I'm fine Malfoy, just be quiet," Hermione snapped as she focused her wand on the professor once more and shut her eyes tightly.
"Maybe you should give him a memory of getting shagged, it might cheer him up," Draco suggested.
"Malfoy," Hermione growled.
He was silent, but she could almost feel him smirking. She ignored his presence and uttered the charm that would fill the void she had just created. She replaced the memory of him hearing her conversation with Draco with a memory of him patrolling the corridors and finding Ron and Lavender in a broom closet. It was one of her memories so it was realistic enough. She replaced the memory of him confronting Draco with the memory of him patrolling the lower dungeons and catching a 1st year out of bed. By the time she opened her eyes and had entirely finished the complex spell she actually stumbled.
Draco grabbed her before she could fall, and although she would never admit it she was grateful to him for it.
"You look like you're going to pass out Granger," Draco said, and if Hermione didn't know better she would have thought he was worried.
"You don't get to be worried about me, you kissed me and then ran away!" Hermione retorted as he guided her onto his bed and sat her down before she fell down.
"I'm not worried," Draco scoffed.
"Yes you are, you're almost as bad a liar as Harry," Hermione said, catching her breath.
"Then where do we stand Granger?" Draco asked irritably, "what the hell are we?"
"I don't know Malfoy, you tell me," Hermione said, looking up at him and catching his grey eyes.
"I'd tell you if I knew the answer," Draco said honestly, "Right now all I know is we are a Death Eater and a future war heroine for the light. I can't see a good ending to this story."
Hermione sighed and said, "Then for now we're friends…people who have each other's backs."
Draco hesitated as she held out her hand to him, but then he took it, and his touch sent shivers up Hermione's spine.
"And for the record, you aren't a Death Eater," Hermione said, "and you didn't kill anyone, I'll prove that if you come upstairs with me."
Draco frowned as Hermione stood up shakily, gripping his shoulder for support, "Although you might want to put a long sleeved top on if you're still self-conscious about…that."
Her eyes went to the mark on his arm, and he frowned, "No, they know what I am. So why shouldn't I let them see it?"
Hermione smiled and said, "That's very brave of you."
"Don't get your hopes up, it's a one off occasion," Draco remarked as he stood up and gripped her arm, "Merlin Granger, are you even going to be able to get up those stairs?"
"You're not carrying me if that's what your suggesting Malfoy," Hermione retorted.
"Why would I carry you when I could levitate you?" Draco scoffed, "Sometimes I forget you're a witch Granger."
"You'll remember if I curse you," Hermione said as they began the climb up the stairs.
"You're gripping onto me for dear life, I somehow doubt you could curse me right now," Draco pointed out.
"Oh I don't know, I think I could find the energy to curse you anytime I wanted Malfoy," Hermione said.
Draco hid a small smile as they emerged into the common room where Daphne, Susan, Lilly and Harry had made themselves at home by the dying fire.
"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed when he saw her struggling, "What did you do to her Malfoy?"
"Oh shut up Harry," Hermione said in exasperation, "he didn't do anything, apart from irritate me."
"Memory charms are very draining," Lilly said, helping Hermione onto the sofa, and pushing her sweaty hair back from her face, "especially if the witch or wizard is powerful and Snape is."
"I hadn't realised quite how powerful a witch you were Hermione," Susan said in awe.
Hermione looked at her in disbelief, "I'm not, look how drained I am."
"But look how powerful Snape is, and you're only 17," Daphne said, "You know that witches and Wizards don't reach their magical peak until they're 21. Exhausted or not what you did in there was impressive."
Draco nodded and sat down next to Hermione, "Now, not that I'm not grateful, I am. But what the hell is going on here?"
Harry glanced to Daphne and she rolled her eyes, "Don't nominate me as the designated speaker, Suse is better."
Susan shook her head in amusement and said, "Well it all began with Hermione being upset the night Ron kissed Lavender. I found her crying, brought her to a party and we had fun. So then I introduced her to Lilly and Daphne. We told her to fake date you to break your heart for what you did to us, and Harry was totally against the idea because he was convinced you were a Death Eater-"
"And I was right," Harry said, "even though nobody bloody believed me. To quote Hermione "Harry seems to think Draco Malfoy is now a Death Eater" and then she laughed."
"Well Granger does have this annoying tendency to see the best in the worst people," Draco pointed out.
Hermione looked at him in disbelief, "Would you stop being a self-depreciating git for 5 minutes so Susan can tell you whats going on?"
Draco shot her a glare, but shut his mouth all the same. Susan smiled and continued, "So after you guys went to Slughorn's party and you disappeared Draco; Harry and Hermione followed you, and Daphne followed them. And so we all found out you were most likely a Death Eater and then in a complicated series of conversations we figured out you were trying to kill Dumbledore and that it was probably a mission from Voldemort to get you killed and thus punish your Father."
"Long story short," Lilly nodded, "But we don't know how you were planning on doing it since your cursed necklace idea failed when Katie Bell nearly died."
"I didn't mean for that to happen," Draco said, "She was supposed to take it to Dumbledore, she wasn't supposed to touch it."
"Yeah we guessed that from your guilty conscience," Susan admitted.
"So what? You took it upon yourselves to save me?" Draco asked in disbelief.
"No, that was Grangers idea," Daphne said matter of factly, "You screwed us all over, remember?"
"She's talking bullshit, none of us wanted you dead," Lilly said, shooting an amused glance at Daphne, "So we all know the whole story, and we all want to help you. None of us want you to become a murderer."
"It's too late for that," Draco said darkly.
"What?" Daphne hissed.
The others looked equally confused, because of course only Hermione knew about this piece of information. She had intended to tell Harry when they got back to the common room but then this had happened.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Malfoy seems to believe that he killed a Muggle to become a Death Eater."
Draco lost his temper, "Believes? I remember killing her Granger!"
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, "What did you just see me do?"
Draco frowned, and Hermione elaborated, "Remove someone's memory and replace it with a fake one."
"You…you think that happened to me?" Draco asked with wide eyes.
"I'm certain of it," Hermione said, "because I do not think that you are a murderer."
"Neither do I," Lilly said from where she was sitting on Hermione's other side, "Regardless of what you think you are Draco, I don't think you could ever be that."
Draco frowned, "But…how will you find out?"
"I'll try and remove the false memory," Hermione said, pulling her wand from her bag.
"No," Draco said, "Hermione, you are completely drained. If you do this you'll hurt yourself."
Hermione frowned at the sound of her name on his lips, she rather liked it, "Did you just call me Hermione?"
"It is your name…Granger," Draco said defensively, "and sometimes the only way to stop you is to surprise you," he added as he waved her wand above his head.
She glared at him, "Give me it back you prick!"
"No, I'm not letting you seriously hurt yourself just to help me," Draco said firmly, "I'll give you it back when you're thinking rationally."
"Have you met me? I always think rationally!" Hermione exclaimed.
"I hate to side with Malfoy, but you don't when your emotions are concerned, and they are now," Harry said, swiping Hermione's wand from Draco and putting it into his back pocket, "I'll give you this back tomorrow."
"Harry," Hermione whined like a child.
"Look, I can't remove the false memory," Daphne spoke up, "but I am quite skilled in Legilimency, I can have a probe around and tell you if there is another memory there."
"I don't want you inside my head," Draco said darkly.
"What are you scared I'll find?" Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow, "Sexy thoughts about Hermione?"
"What?" Hermione squeaked.
Draco's cheeks tinged pink as he glared at the Slytherin girl, "No, I just don't want you poking around inside my head."
"Because you've had sexy thoughts about Hermione," Daphne grinned, "Holy Salazar Draco, you are transparent."
Hermione's cheeks were bright red, and Harry sniggered, "Well Hermione was saying 'Malfoy' in her sleep the other night."
"Oh for fucks sake Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.
Lilly looked vaguely amused as she glanced between them both, "I sense a lot of animosity in this friendship."
"Why do you think we're just friends and not anything else?" Harry asked, glaring at her, "She's too fucking scary."
"I'm scary? You're immature," Hermione said hotly.
Susan intervened, "Come on, this isn't about you two. This is about Draco, remember?"
"Yeah, this is about me," Draco said sincerely.
"Oh shut up Malfoy," Hermione said, hitting him pathetically on the leg. It was no third year punch, but it was the best she could do at 3am in the morning.
"So look Draco, how are you planning on killing Dumbledore? Just spit it out and it will make all of our lives a whole lot easier," Daphne said with a yawn.
"Yeah, then we can all go to bed," Lilly said, yawning too as Daphne's caught on.
"Why the hell would I just tell you that?" Draco asked in disbelief, "That would make me the worst Death Eater ever-"
"Since you aren't a Death Eater," Hermione said, "Like we established earlier before you kissed me, you bloody arsehole, that is irrelevant."
"He kissed you?" Lilly asked in surprise.
"What?" Harry barked.
Hermione waved a hand, "Keep up, he kissed me then ran away like the coward he is. Grow some balls for once Malfoy and tell us how you're planning on killing Dumbledore. We know it's got something to do with the Room of Requirement since you keep disappearing there."
"Oh for fucks sake, it's a fucking vanishing cabinet okay?" Draco spat out.
Harry frowned, "What?"
"What are you planning on doing? Vanishing him until he starves to death?" Daphne asked in amusement.
"No you idiots," Hermione said darkly, not taking her eyes away from Draco's grey ones, "It obviously has a twin. He's going to use it to bring Voldemort's army of Death Eaters here."
Harry pulled out his wand and trained it on Draco, "Is that true?" he asked hotly.
Draco hesitated and then he felt Hermione's hand on his leg, and he knew he had come too far to lie now, "That was the plan, yes. But I had to get the vanishing cabinet working again."
"And have you?" Harry asked coolly.
"No," Draco replied simply.
"How fucking stupid are you Malfoy?" Harry asked, his anger exploding, "What did you think those Death Eaters would do once they got into the school? Did you just think they would kill Dumbledore and leave? What about the first years, and the second years, what about the innocent students in this school? Did you really think there wouldn't be a battle, that people wouldn't get hurt or killed?"
"Look, I don't have a choice!" Draco exclaimed, "I have to kill Dumbledore and I have to get the Death Eaters in here! That is it, that's my job and I can't fail. I have no fucking choice Potter!"
"You always have a choice!" Harry shouted, "How can you not have a choice?"
"You don't have a family," Draco hissed, "You don't know what it's like to be told that if you fail your entire family will be killed!"
"I don't have a family," Harry said angrily, "but I know loss and don't you dare try and tell me I don't! My Godfather died last year BECAUSE OF ME! It was my fault he died, Voldemort lured me into a trap and my Godfather died saving my fucking life! So forgive me if I don't give a shit about Voldemort murdering your Father and your Aunt because they did this to me! They killed Sirius!"
As Harry's anger grew his hair ruffled in the wind as a small hurricane began to brew around him. It was a form of uncontrollable magic, like the accidental sort of childhood. It could be controlled to an extent, it wasn't quite so dangerous but it was also terrifying to watch.
Draco took a step back and swallowed.
"Don't piss yourself Malfoy," Harry said nastily.
"Harry, stop it!" Hermione exclaimed, hitting her friend in the chest, "You idiot!"
Harry dropped the mini hurricane and looked at Hermione in disbelief, "What?"
"You're so stupid sometimes!" Hermione shouted as tears formed in her eyes, "Merlin, I remember how terrified you were when we went to the Ministry last year. Voldemort threatened me and Ron and we are your family! Can't you see how scared he is? He's terrified, just like you, screaming at him and scaring him is not going to help!"
Harry stared at her for a moment and sat down heavily. He didn't say another word, and Hermione breathed heavily. Draco grabbed her as she stumbled once more, "Sit down Hermione," he mumbled gently.
She did, and Draco remained standing, "I don't want this," he admitted darkly, "but I don't see how I have a choice. I don't see how I can save my family if I don't do this."
"You have to do it," Lilly said softly, "You have to fix the cabinet and bring the Death Eaters."
"What?" Harry barked.
"No, she's right," Hermione said weakly, "it's the only way to save Draco's life and his family's lives. He has to bring the Death Eaters here, but at least this way we can be ready for it."
Harry stared at them all as if they were insane, "And what about Dumbledore?"
"He knows," Lilly said, "Like you said, he, Snape and McGonagall all know. They are all in on this, don't you see what's happening here?"
"No," Draco and Harry said in unison.
Lilly sighed, "Have you noticed anything strange about Dumbledore, physically or mentally?"
Harry frowned, "His hand is black…and he's been giving me lessons about Voldemort's past."
"He's dying," Daphne realised as she looked at Lilly.
The Ravenclaw nodded, "That blackened hand…well if it was fixable then Pomfrey would have fixed it. The only wounds that leave scars are those that are…" she trailed off, her eyes catching the lightning bolt on Harry's forehead, "Cursed."
Harry's frown deepened, "He's dying?"
"The curse is slowly killing him," Hermione said, "He will die soon anyway."
"So you're saying Dumbledore is just going to let a 16 year old boy become a murderer because he's dying anyway?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"No," Draco said quietly, "I'm not going to be the murderer, Snape is."
"What?" Harry asked sharply, his head snapping up to look at the Slytherin.
"Snape made an unbreakable vow with my Mother to protect me," Draco said slowly, "and if I'm going to die killing Dumbledore then that means that Snape will do it, to protect me."
"And he, McGonagall and Dumbledore all know about it," Susan whispered.
"That's why he's training you, so you have the information you need to defeat Voldemort," Hermione said, turning her drooping eyes towards Harry.
He looked mentally drained, his shoulders hunched and his face filled with the lines of a much older man, "So what do we do?"
"Nothing," Lilly said, "That's all we can do."
"We just have to sit by and watch it play out," Susan agreed, "We can't stop Snape from killing Dumbledore without putting Draco's life at risk."
"And likewise we can't prevent the Death Eaters from coming here without risking Draco's life," Daphne pointed out.
"All we can do is get the DA back together and prepare for the inevitable battle, and inform the Order," Hermione said with a frown, "although I feel like we should keep this from Dumbledore."
"We can't tell the Order without them telling Dumbledore," Harry pointed out.
"So then we sit by and wait," Lilly said, "We let things play out, we help Draco fix the Vanishing Cabinet…and when it's all over we get out of here and take Draco with us before Snape can."
"I hate to say it, but that sounds like a shit plan," Draco said in the silence that followed.
"Plans suck anyway," Harry said irritably, "When have any of our plans ever worked Hermione? Let's face it, we plan, we get there and then all hell breaks loose."
Hermione sighed, "I know, but in this case the plan is essentially to not have much of a plan. Like I said, we can get the DA back together, we can have them ready to pick up the call to arms when Draco tells us they are coming."
"All the while keeping this from Dumbledore," Lilly added.
"And Snape," Draco said.
"And McGonagall," Harry said irritably.
Hermione yawned, her head dropping onto Draco's shoulder. He frowned but didn't wake her and Lilly said, "I'm starting to regret ever becoming friends with you Harry."
"Welcome to my life," Harry said darkly.
Susan yawned, "Look, this is too much. Tomorrow night, ROR at 7. Draco, you better come too, you're as big a part of this as any of us now."
Draco just nodded, and Susan hooked her arm through Lilly's, "Come crash in Hufflepuff tonight," she said.
Lilly yawned and nodded, "Great idea," she said as they left the common room together.
Harry rubbed his forehead which was burning, and got up, "Come on Mione, we need to get back to Gryffindor and get some-"
He turned around and saw her sleeping against Draco's arm and stopped speaking.
Daphne yawned too as she got to her feet, "Just let her sleep here tonight. You don't want to move her in the state she's in."
Harry was hesitant, "I don't really want to leave her here alone."
"Don't you trust us Potter?" Draco drawled.
"Not really," Harry said, "but I'll leave her with you until I get Snape's body out of here and into the hallway. Then I'm coming back and staying here with her."
"Bloody paranoid," Daphne yawned as she disappeared into the staircase down to the girls' dorm. Harry disappeared too, to levitate Snape out of the common room, and while they were alone together Draco couldn't help but look at Hermione. He admired her beauty, and she was so peaceful as she slept against him, her breathing soft and steady. The night had been filled with drama, and surprises and arguments. But all he could think about was that it had also brought him closer to her.
When Hermione begin to stir awake the first thing that she found odd was the lack of sunlight streaming through the window. She opened her eyes sleepily and rubbed the sleep from them, and it was only after the blurriness of the morning had disappeared that she realised where she was. There was no sunlight because she was in the Slytherin common room, which was of course below ground level, in fact out of the large windows on one side of the room Hermione could see directly into the lake.
"You snore, Granger."
Hermione jumped, and as the amused drawl reached her ears, she realised that the soft cushion she was lying on was actually Draco Malfoy. She looked up with red cheeks, she had slept on the sofa with him, all night.
He was looking at her with amusement, his hair was ruffled and it looked soft instead of slick and gelled back. Hermione couldn't help herself as she reached up and touched it.
"You should keep it like that, it's much nicer this way," Hermione said, catching Draco's eye.
His grey eyes conveyed his surprise, so Hermione pulled her hand back and looked away. As she did she saw that on the sofa opposite of them Harry was lying with a blanket over him, fast asleep.
"What is he, your guard dog?" Draco remarked sarcastically to avoid talking about that strange moment with his hair.
"Apparently so," Hermione said with a slight smile. She was aware that she was still lying with her head on Draco's chest so she sat up and winced in pain. Sleeping on a couch was never particularly comfortable.
"He didn't seem to trust me with you," Draco commented.
"Well you were trying to kill Dumbledore up until last night," Hermione pointed out with a yawn.
"Nice morning hair by the way Granger," Draco said almost fondly, and Hermione glared at him. She was aware her hair tended to be bushier in the morning, but she had never thought Draco Malfoy would have to see her in the morning. She reached for her wand so she could fix her hair and then she frowned, "Where's my wand?" she asked Draco suspiciously.
"Your guard dog has it, remember?" Draco said as he stretched his legs, "he took it from you to stop you from trying to take that memory out of me."
Hermione nodded as the previous night rushed back to her now she was more awake and alert.
"By the way Granger…thanks, for last night," Draco said, and Hermione couldn't help but smile at the fact it seemed to physically hurt him to apologise.
"You're welcome Malfoy," Hermione said, "as hard as it is to believe I don't want you to die. And whatever Snape is up to, it doesn't seem good."
Draco nodded, and looked down at a loose bit of thread on the sofa to avoid taking this conversation any deeper. Hermione then smiled a little at something entirely unrelated, she had slept with Malfoy all night and yet this morning he seemed perfectly put together.
"What?" He asked irritably.
"Nothing," Hermione chuckled, "it's just…I think you have more self-control than Harry, either that or you really don't find me at all attractive."
Draco frowned, "What are you talking about?"
Hermione chuckled as she got to her feet and stretched her legs, "Let's just say that on the odd occasion that I have to share a bed with Harry the mornings are awkward."
Draco grinned a little wickedly, and Hermione said, "And don't ever tell him I told you that."
Draco smirked, "I am afraid I can't promise that Granger," he said as he too got up. He looked like he was going to leave, but before he did he mumbled in her ear, "and for the record, the answer is self-control, not the other thing you came up with."
Hermione was speechless as he crossed the room and disappeared into the dormitory, and she found herself with a wide grin on her face as she kicked Harry awake. So he does like me.
"Come on sleepyhead, we need to get to our own common room," Hermione said as Harry sat up groggily. She pulled the cloak out from underneath him and set about checking the map while he yawned and woke himself up.
"Clear path to the 5th floor, then we have Filch," Hermione said as Harry got up, she threw the cloak over them both and they left the common room to emerge into the cold dungeons.
"What time is it?" Harry yawned.
"8am," Hermione answered, "Which is why we need to hurry, not showing up to breakfast is suspicious remember."
"Yeah, yeah I know," Harry said sleepily, then he frowned at the wand in Hermione's hand, "how'd you get your wand off of me?"
"I took it out of your back pocket before you woke up," Hermione said in amusement, "You are kind of dead to the world when you're asleep."
Harry nodded, "That's a fair observation. But why are you so happy this morning?"
Hermione shrugged, "Oh I don't know, I just feel like we've made good progress you know? Draco trusts us, we have a plan, sort of."
"Yeah, I know. But that wouldn't make you grin like an idiot," Harry pointed out as he yawned once more, "What is going on with you and Malfoy? Should I be worried? Because I know I joked about it and all, but I never thought it would actually happen Hermione. And he really is bad news, I don't want you getting yourself hurt, or even killed all because of-"
"Harry, don't worry," Hermione said, "I know how much bad news he is, alright? We're not together, we're not…anything. He just…"
"Flirts with you?"
"Yeah," Hermione admitted with a slight blush.
"Well you flirt with him too," Harry pointed out.
"You were the one snogging Lilly last night," Hermione remarked as they lowered their voices in the entrance hall. There were students on their way to the Great Hall for breakfast.
Harry glared at Hermione, but he didn't actually speak to her again until they had boarded the staircase from the 1st to 2nd floor and the school was quiet once more, "From what I heard last night you snogged Malfoy."
Hermione's cheeks went even darker, "It's complicated alright. There were a lot of tears, and…anger. It wasn't like your alcohol induced snogging session with Lilly."
"What if I actually like her?" Harry asked, catching Hermione's eye, "She's fantastic."
"She is," Hermione agreed, "but this isn't like you. Your screaming match about Sirius last night, now that was like you. But snogging girls, and being all sarcastic…are you trying to be Sirius?"
"I'm trying to have fun, I know that's a hard thing for you to get your head around Hermione, but that's all this is," Harry said, "it was Christmas, I had a few drinks and I actually had fun. I'm not becoming a womaniser like Sirius, I like Lilly."
"And I like Draco," Hermione admitted sheepishly.
Harry sighed, "But I can't date her, I can't bring her into this. You know if Voldemort knew I had a girlfriend he'd use that against me."
Hermione nodded and said, "And I can't date Draco. He won't let me in until this is over for a start because he doesn't want me to get killed because of him. But even after that…I'm a muggle-born and he's a pure-blood, there is no way his family would ever let that happen."
Harry grabbed her hand under the cloak, they were quiet again as they slipped past Filch on the 5th floor. As they boarded the final staircase to the 7th floor Harry said, "This is shit."
"Yes," Hermione agreed, "but then dating isn't exactly our priority right now anyway. There are bigger things at stake here, like lives. We have to focus on getting the DA back together and preventing people from dying in the inevitable fight that will come when the Death Eaters get here."
"Look, we were prepared last year and we all survived," Harry said gently, "and there will be more of us here, we'll know the terrain. Look at it like a football game, we have the home advantage."
Hermione smiled, and said, "You should repeat that at the meeting tonight and see who gets the reference."
Harry grinned and said, "I might just do that."
TBC :)