DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.
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CHAPTER 10
They were already ten minutes late for work and even though the clinic was their own, they hated irresponsibility and tardiness. Hurrying into the subway they boarded the train thankfully and sat down tiredly.
Pulling out a packet of sandwiches from her bag the woman handed a few to her husband and began feasting on the remaining one herself with gusto.
Leaning back against the headrest after consuming her hurried breakfast the woman closed her eyes counting off the list of things she had to do for the day after work. Grocery, laundry, a little reading up…maybe and oh yes a letter to her daughter.
Thinking about her daughter, the woman felt a warm glow of pride and unable to suppress her happiness she kissed her husband on his cheek impulsively and giggled.
Looking down at his wife the man smiled at her indulgently. He had finally reached the pinnacle of happiness, good job, great family, enough money to live on more than comfortably; really what more could a man ask for. Placing his arm over his wife's shoulder they sat in blissful silence while looking out of the window when the man suddenly saw a flash of orange go off in the corner of his eyes and before he knew it his world exploded into a burning hell and last thing he ever heard was the sound of his beautiful wife's piercing scream.
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"George, if you think for one moment that I'm going to finish your astronomy assignment for you then you need to get your head checked. I know that you and Fred have been holed up working on some big secret project for some time now but for god-sakes man, go look at the pretty stars once in a while at least" Hermione huffed at her smirking boyfriend.
"But I have such a wonderful, intelligent girlfriend who loves me and wants nice things for me" George said looking at her with wide innocent eyes.
"The key word being, intelligent you poor gulping plimpy!" Hermione said triumphantly and was about to flounce away when she saw a sudden flash midair before a singed piece of paper appeared out of nowhere and fell to her feet.
Picking it up curiously knowing that it was a missive from the headmaster, Hermione opened the note and read the letter becoming pale after finishing it.
"What? What was it?" George asked coming to stand beside her immediately "That was from Fawkes wasn't it?"
Hermione nodded and tried to suppress the fear bubbling inside her "Dumbledore wants to see me in his office" she said tightly "Says it's an emergency."
George knew that such messages had been appearing in front of one or two of the other students recently and none of them bearing any good news. Still, deciding not to add to Hermione's worry he caught her hand firmly in his, "I'm coming with you" he said simply and walked with her to the office.
The others in the DA room avoided looking at each other, knowing the haunted looks that they'd find mirrored in the other's eyes, a look they were now quite familiar with. No, Hermione was not going to be alright.
Draco blanched when he saw the note and held the wall behind him for support trying not to appear guilty in front of the others as he drowned in the nightmare he'd had two days ago and felt himself struggling for breath as he sank into the bloody marshes once again when he felt someone call out to him in an urgent voice. Opening his eyes he found himself looking into the warm brown eyes of Ginny and felt relief wash over him. It would never do to look weak in front of others especially not now.
"Hey Draco you okay?" Ginny asked him worriedly in a quiet whisper.
"Yeah uh…too much quidditch practice" he said standing tall once again scanning the room for Harry "Um…could you tell Harry that I've gone back to my room?" Draco asked her walking away from her before she could say anything.
He couldn't tell anyone his dream or premonition or whatever it was, it was too disgusting. This time telling even Harry felt like it would expose some ugly part of him that he never wanted him to see. Maybe later he could…
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EXPLOSION IN MUGGLE SUBWAY! 127 PEOPLE FOUND DEAD! SUSPECTS ROUNDED UP AND TAKEN IN TO CUSTODY BY THE MINISTRY!
Yesterday morning at around 8:45a.m. during what Muggles call the rush hour a sudden explosion rocked the muggle subway in a prominent part of London's underground network instantly killing over a hundred people in it.
Certain unnamed sources from the Ministry say that immediately after the explosion had taken place, the detectors for powerful dark magic in the Ministry had gone off alerting them to the attack. The Aurors nearest to the site of the explosion put up several Anti-Disapparating wards around the station blocking all possible routes of escape when they spotted Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Goyle and Mr. Vincent, three suspect Death Eaters, trying to make a quick getaway on foot.
"They have been captured and sent to Azkaban" Chief Auror Rufus Scrimgeour said "They will be questioned thoroughly and if found guilty will be tried by the Wizengamot by next week latest. Justice will be meted out to the criminals but until then investigations will continue."
"We will be offering the Muggle Prime Minister all our help" Cornelius Fudge, Minister of magic said in an interview "Hopefully the man agrees to it" he said, looking tensed and tired.
The utter devastation left people shocked beyond….
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Harry was sitting outside Draco's room leaning against the door wondering how to talk to him. The boy had skived off the day's classes and had stayed holed up in his room the entire time, not that Harry blamed him for hiding but he was starting to get worried.
"Dray…?" He whispered knocking on the door softly hoping Pansy was asleep "Baby please let me in, please?"
"Go away" Draco's muffled voice came through the door and Harry felt a tiny bit better, at least he now knew that he was inside for sure.
"I can't leave Dray, you know I can't, not with you hurting" Harry said, knowing that he was probably wounding Draco's pride right then. "If you let me in I'll just stay a minute" Harry begged him dropping his head into his hands.
The door silently opened a tiny bit and Harry almost lost his balance. Scrambling to his feet he stood for a second nervously playing with handle on the door and then let himself in.
Spotting Draco lying face down on the bed with the covers thrown in disarray Harry slowly sat down beside him and placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. Draco flinched from the touch which cut Harry deeply making him withdraw all contact immediately.
"Why are you still here?" Draco asked him while lying face down on his pillow "My father's killed so many innocent people, why aren't you disgusted by me? I am."
"Dray, everyone knew your father was a death eater, not just now but before too. They just never had concrete proof to charge him for it. You know when we first came here I heard Ron warning Darren about you and your family but I didn't care. I decided to find out who you were, not through rumors, not through some legend but by actually talking to you, studying with you, flying with you and you know what? I found my best friend. It sucks right now I know, but I'm here, I'll stand with you if the time comes when you need me to, I promise."
"What the hell do you know Harry" Draco said sounding vehement and angry "Your family is like the most perfect family in the world. You're the Boy who Lived's brother for crying out loud! Everyone accepts you and loves you."
Harry felt the barb in his words and kept silent. He knew Draco wanted to hurt him because he was feeling so miserable. So rather than trying to defend himself Harry decided to become his punching bag for the day, Draco had always been there for him when he was feeling indisposed and now it was his turn to help.
"I'm sorry" Draco mumbled after the silence "I didn't mean…I know you…"
Reaching out to play with Draco's hair Harry felt happy when his touch was not rejected.
"How…how's Hermione?" Draco asked his voice cracking and body tensing "Is she doing better?"
It was during the night hours after Hermione had been called to the office that Darren had called him and told him the sad news. Hermione's parent's bodies were found amongst the deceased after the explosion.
No one had seen her since that evening and when Harry asked if he could see her Darren told him that she had collapsed and they were now keeping her under observation in the infirmary. When he'd told Draco the news Draco had cut off all connections and closed his doors to everyone.
During dinner today Ron and a couple of others had shot ugly looks his way and for once he let them feeling happy it was him rather than Draco. Only Luna and Ginny had come up to him today and told him to get Draco back, that they would stand by his side irrespective of what other thought.
Now looking at him buried in his pain Harry didn't know what words to use to comfort him so he buried his head into Draco shoulder and stayed still just feeling the rise and fall his back under his chest.
"Ha…Harry? Is she okay?" Draco asked him in a small voice clenching his fists on either side of his face.
"Nobody's allowed to see her except George, Darren and Ron. She…collapsed after…"
"Oh God!" Draco moaned into his pillow "How can I ever face her again? How do I apologize for my screwed up family?" he said and Harry knew he was crying now, each dry sob sounding so painful and lonely. "Mother sent me a message" Draco said quieting down a bit "Father if convicted will probably face the kiss for his crime" Draco said swallowing "I want to hate him but…"
Clutching him close Harry let him cry into the pillow until he finally fell into a tired, restless sleep and then joined him under the covers after pulling him close.
"I'm sorry Hermione" he whispered into the dark night knowing that by staying with Draco a very small part of him was betraying her.
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Hermione had finally agreed to see people the next day even though she still looked as pale as a ghost and funnily enough after she'd seen lots of people and had maintained a plastic smile for them she suddenly turned to Harry with a fierce, determined look in her eyes and said "Where's that coward? I want to talk to him; will you get him to come?"
Harry dragged a very fidgety Draco back with him who'd stood outside her room pacing the corridor like a man possessed until they heard her exasperatedly call for him to come in.
"It was your father Draco, not you" she said immediately, stressing her use of his first name. "I of all the people should know what blood means to you 'pureblood' wizards, but I for one have never stood by your ideals and nor have my parents. It's what a man does that gives him his reputation not his title or money as my father, a self-made man used to always say."
She held out a hand for him to shake and waited patiently for him to take the offering. "I don't think we'll ever be that close Draco but for some reason I trust you just…just please don't betray that trust I beg you."
Draco took her hand in both of his and nodded solemnly "Thank you and…and I can't tell you how sorry…"his voice broke and he fell silent instead choosing to look at her. Her face that had held so much strength in it that day finally crumpled and contorted painfully and her tears fell through her cracked calm demeanor.
George looked at them Harry and Draco meaningfully before taking Hermione into his arms who was now sobbing in raw sorrow, as if to say come back later, give her time for now.
"She's strong" Draco said outside the room. "My idiot father could learn a thing or two from her" he said feeling the guilt lessen somewhat only to allow the sadness to take over instead.
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Harry was sitting on the metal chair in Umbridge's room tightly bound by his restraints wondering how much information he could wean off her today. Sitting there looking innocent and angry he waited for her to start her abuse when she surprised him by plunking down a pensive in front of him.
"Have you no shame?" she asked him softly "a hundred and twenty seven people died and you still want to protect him. Why don't you want to the Dark lord defeated?" She asked him feigning sadness in her voice while slowly touching his face with her wand.
Harry almost laughed out aloud at the acting; the woman was dirty scum and she though he'd help her? What a joke!
Pulling out photographs from the folds of her robes she place them one after another on his lap, each one revealing burnt people whose face were completely unrecognizable, their limbs torn from their bodies and blood, large quantities of blood painting the walls.
"Wha…what is it?" Harry said feeling unnerved "Why are you…?"
"Victims from the explosion Potter" she said coldly "Victims whom you are now betraying with your lies" she hissed boxing him on his ears.
Pulling the chair up to the table along with Harry in it she held the back of his head firmly and said "Watch" before plunging his head into the still waters of the pensive in front of him.
Harry suddenly saw himself sitting in a train next to a young boy who was busy fiddling around with his mum's phone and then looked around to see the other passengers sitting around him silently, another mundane day in their peaceful lives when the an explosion suddenly tore their world open and Harry saw total annihilation.
Voices became hard to hear and his vision blurred through his tears and smoke. The boy beside him was screaming over his mother's lifeless body begging her to wake up.
Looking around he saw stretchers carrying people go quickly past him as he tried not to gag over the burnt smell of flesh when he saw Hermione's dad being carried past him. They had fitted his mouth to an AMBU bag and were desperately trying to pump air into him when Harry saw him take his last his breath and die before his very eyes. The poor man bore third degree burns and lacerations that had completely marred his face.
Trying not to step over body parts Harry tried to make a dash for the exit when the dream faded and he found himself back in Umbridge's office.
"Now will you tell me?"
Harry found himself trembling and closed his eyes tight to block out the hateful woman's voice out while trying to blank his own mind.
"It was the memory we'd extracted from the little boy" she said sounding triumphant "he died two hours after he had been rescued; his lungs had been scorched by the flames you see."
"Stop" Harry begged as she gleefully threw photo after photo after him.
"Want to see Hermione's mother?"
"No!" Harry shouted feeling tears pricking at the back of his eyes.
"Then tell me" Umbridge screamed and said 'Legilimens.'
Harry still reeling from the shock desperately held up his barriers with valiant effort when he felt hate rise up in him and instead of letting her in he forced him-self past her barriers and finally entered her mind.
Oooooooooooooo
Draco was walking up to the library to get some reading done when he suddenly had a premonition of being attacked! Without turning around he jumped to the side and sure enough a second later a spell whizzed past his head before hitting the wall in front of him him.
"You can't outrun us all" Smith's voice came from behind him in a singsong voice as he dashed towards a secluded corridor.
"Come out Malfoy you need to be punished for your father" the puny boy said as he chased him while being followed by two others.
Running into a dead end Draco turned around to face his attackers and smiled evilly "You sure you want to do this Smith?" he asked "I was only trying to help you, you know? If we fight you won't survive" he said and whispered a spell freezing so that the ground below his assailants turned to ice.
Zacharias lifted his wand and was about to launch an attack when Draco seeing his spell before it happened rolled out of the way catching them off guard and stunning one of the lackeys behind him. Rushing at him to avenge his friend the other boy slipped on the ice and fell to floor cracking his head on the ground and falling unconscious.
"And now it's just me and you" Draco smirked at the lone boy while pushing his magic to his fingertips and lifting the boy by his collar to hold him up against the wall.
"What are you doing?" Zacharias squeaked looking very afraid "Are you going to kill me like your father did?"
Draco dropped him to the floor and wiped his hands on his robes feeling disgusted and was about to walk away from the scum when Zacharias said "Your father will find out about Harry and you, you know?"
"And I suppose you'll be the one to tell him" Draco said sounding bored.
"Of course not, I'm not an idiot" Smith sputtered angrily.
"Could have fooled me" mumbled Draco turning away again.
"I told Umbridge." The shout turning Draco's blood cold.
"You did what?"
"I told Professor Umbridge about you two a few months ago. She was going around asking us a lot of questions about Harry so I told her" he said "She promised me that I'd pass the owls with an outstanding in DADA if I told her."
"Harry and I are just friends" Draco whispered, trying to maintain the expression of being mildly interested "just friends."
"I saw you two kissing in the corridor" Zacharias said looking revolted by him "No one was around except me and I had the misfortune of seeing it" he groaned.
"So Umbridge knew about Harry and me all this time?" Draco said speaking to himself "If she knew then…Harry…" his face paled and he started running towards her office completely forgetting about Smith. He was a Malfoy all said and done so he understood how blackmail worked very well.
Almost reaching her room he saw Harry stagger towards him with a sort of blank expression on his face and felt fear creep into his soul. "Harry?" he called out running to him at full speed when he saw him stop walking abruptly and start to sway suddenly collapsing on to the floor with a dull thud without any warning!
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