ALRIGHT! SO IT'S FINALY THURSDAY! WELL, HERE IN MANILA AT LEAST AND I DID PROMISE THAT NEW CHAPTER UPDATES WILL BE ON THURSDAY THRU SUNDAY, WHICH EVER DAY I HAVE A CHAPTER READY! ANYWAY, I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER, THIS WILL PROBABLY SHOW A DIFFERENT SIDE TO DRACO AND LUCIUS BUT DON'T WORRY, EVERYTHING WILL EXPLAIN ITSELF IN DUE TIME!

DISCLAIMER: HARRY POTTER IS NOT MINE. :) JUST A FAN HERE.

CHAPTER 9: IS SHE REALLY GONE?

It had been exactly 5 hours and 23 minutes since Lucius had put Draco to sleep; he had been in his study thinking of what Draco had said.

Lucius couldn't get himself to settle down and wait for Draco to wake up and tell him what exactly he meant when he said that Granger had died so he decided to figure it out himself.

Arthur,

I know it seems odd that I am writing you, but I have heard some news that is quite disturbing, is it possible for you to floo here? I shall leave the floo connection open.

Lucius Malfoy

After the order had found out about Lucius' true allegiance in the war, Lucius had called a truce with the Weasley patriarch, it came as a shock to the Weasley children and Draco when both of them had shook hands signifying that the feud between the two families were finally over. Though they did not become friends, they were at least civil and pleasant with each other.

Moments later, Lucius' floo roared and out came Arthur Weasley looking as if he lost another child. It was then Lucius knew that Draco was right.

"Ah, Lucius, what is it you needed to talk to me about?" Arthur said, trying to look his normally cheerful self but utterly failing.

Arthur, I'm going to go straight to the point, Is it true? About Ms. Granger?" Lucius said, looking at the red headed man change expressions on his face.

"How did you know?" Arthur asked, a little confused and shocked that Lucius would know.

"Draco told me. It seems you aren't aware of the friendship Draco and Hermione has developed after the war." Lucius said as he signaled Arthur to sit down.

"No, I only knew that they had been classmates at some classes in M.U." began Arthur "I suppose you want to know what happened to Hermione, or would like to wait for Draco to tell you?" He asked.

"No, at this moment, I doubt Draco will be able to tell me everything without breaking down, it appears to me that he has grown quite fond of Ms. Granger. I've given him some sleeping and calming draught so he will most likely be out until tomorrow morning."

"I see, very well, I suppose I could tell you what exactly happened," said Arthur as he began to recall what had occurred that fateful weekend.

THE NEXT DAY

Draco felt like crap. He had finally woken up from his draught induced sleep, he guessed it was pretty strong since he'd gotten home last night around 9:30 in the evening and his father came in not long after that and had given him the draught. It was now 11:45 am. Normally his father would have dragged him down 4 hours earlier for breakfast, and because according to him, Malfoys never sleep in. He guessed his father decided to give him a break from it all considering what had happened last night. Last night. Hermione, he thought. Even though he could knew that the draught given to him was supposed to calm him when he awoke, it couldn't stop the feeling of his heart beginning to shatter into tiny little pieces once more.

"Just when things were finally starting to work out, you bloody take her away from me" Draco said out loud "Well, guess what; I won't let you take her from me, I know she isn't dead. I just know it."

Draco shook his head and decided to get out of bed and take a shower; hopefully this could clear his thoughts.

By the time Draco had got out of the shower, it was already past lunchtime. Deciding it was time to face his father, he went down to his father's study. He needed to talk to his father, he would know what to do, he always did.

"Ah Draco, you're up" Lucius said as he saw his son appear in the doorway of his study "Come sit, I think we have some things to talk about" he continued as he signaled Draco to sit down.

"Yes, its Hermione. Potter and Weasley told me she died almost during that storm. She and Weasley fell off the bridge and her body hasn't been found." Draco explained to his father a summary of what Potter had told him.

"I need your help father, I know Hermione isn't dead, she's too smart to just die from drowning! She's a bloody War heroine! She fought a bloody war and survived! Its impossible for her to just die from something as ridiculous as a flood, compared to what she's been through" Draco ranted to his father, he was too busy pacing in front of his father that he did not notice the Lucius shaking his head and just looking at him with sadness. "I'm going to look for her. Potter and Weasel were too stupid to just let those muggles handle the rescue mission."

Draco said as he looked at his father, signaling the end of his rant.

"I see. And how would I be helping you with your plan?" Lucius asked, Arthur had told him everything that had happened that fateful day. He knew that his son would be in denial overdrive and he needed to know all of the facts if he were to help his son, he could either indulge Draco's request if he saw that there was a possibility of her being alive or he could help Draco face the harsh music of reality that Hermione Granger is forever gone from this world.

"I'm going to need men to help with the search party for Hermione, I know you know some of the best people in regards to that, I need you to contact you're best people for this. I'm not giving up on her father, she never gave up on me, on us" Draco said.

Lucius closed his eyes and rubbed his nose bridge as he realized what his son is asking of him "Draco, I know you don't want to accept this news, but I've talked to Arthur about this, to see if there is any chance that she survived, he told me that five people had perished in that same river that night, including Hermione, no one would have survived that flood's raging current."

"That doesn't mean anything! Hermione's smart! She would have known what to do! so four more people drowned that night, they weren't Hermione! She survived this! I know she did!" Draco said, he was starting to get frustrated, why can't his father see that he needed to find Hermione?

"Draco, she's gone. As much as I hate to say it, we have to face this" Lucius said. "Potter and the Weasleys have been her family since she found out she was a witch, don't you think they too would have exhausted everything just to find her or atleast retrieve her body?" Lucius told his son.

"Draco didn't know what to say. His father did make sense, if there were others who didn't want Hermione gone, it would be Potter and the Weasleys.

Lucius knew that his son wouldn't give up just yet, but he needed to make Draco see that Hermione isn't coming back. He knew how emotionally vulnerable Draco is even though he had instilled in the boy that Malfoys do not show emotions, he could always read his own son's emotions like it was his own. So before Draco got any worse, he needed to cut Draco's denial in the bud.

Lucius opened his desk drawer and took out a wand, it was worn out but Draco knew whom it had belonged to.

"Arthur came by this morning to give me this, he said if we really wanted to know the truth, we know what to do." Lucius said to Draco.

Draco knew why Arthur had given them Hermione's wand. This was the ultimate confirmation to their bitter reality. Draco couldn't help but feel scared and anxious at the same time. All it took was one spell. One spell to find out once and for all if there was any hope for him to find the witch he had slowly begun to fall for.

Lucius looked at Draco one last time, making sure his son knew what he was about to do, when he saw that it had finally registered to Draco, he looked back into the wand and started to perform the spell that would hopefully put his son's denial to rest and finally help him cope with life's harsh reality.

It has been almost 3 weeks since Dr. Dawson and his wife had taken an unconscious girl in the hospital's emergency room. It was clear that she had drowned that night during the storm; she must have fallen off os something and hit her head very badly. It was because of that that they still do not know the identity of this very girl.

"How is she, Andrew?" Daisy asked her husband, she had been to the hospital everyday to take care of the girl they had found, she and her husband had never been able to have children and she felt very maternal to this girl for some reason.

"She's still the same, unresponsive to anything we've tried. She really is quite lucky to have survived that storm Daisy, we can only hope she hasn't suffered much damage in her brain, what with the lack of oxygen and hitting her head somewhere in between drowning and ending up in our riverbank." Dr. Dawson said to his wife.

He wasn't quite worried just yet for the girl. He knew that as long as she was in a coma, her body was recovering from the trauma it had experienced. Although based on their examinations, he already knew that this girl had gone through very though times, what with so many scars in her body, it can't just be because of accidents that could happen to anyone, he wondered where this girl had come from to suffer so much at such a young age. She can't be more than 21 years old!

"Right now, we can assume she's doing fine Daisy, we should start to worry when she wakes up, that's the only time we can confirm if she has any more damages in her head or otherwise." He reassured his wife "I have to go now Daisy, I have a hospital to run. You can stay here until you decide to leave, I'll see you at home."

"Alright, do let me know if anything else happens okay?" Daisy said as she kissed her husband on the cheek and watch him leave the patient's room. Daisy sat down and took the girls hand and said, "you're going to be fine, as long as I'm around you're going to be fine. I just hope you would wake up already, I'm sure you're parents are missing you already so the sooner you wake up, the sooner you can get back to them."

Daisy stood up and got herself some water. She looked back at the girl and said, "You know, we've been here almost three weeks and I still don't know your name. I hope you won't mind if I call you by a different name while you haven't woken up, it just gets tiring to have to keep recalling you as 'the girl'" she said as she gave a little laugh, she looked at the girl, trying to think of a name that would suit her for now "hmm, you seem like a simple, strong girl, I guess you'd have to be strong to survive what you've gone through. Oh I know, how about I call you…"

Nothing.

Just like before, the spell didn't give them anything.

"I'm sorry Draco, but it seems that whatever we do now, it won't bring her back" Lucius said as he looked at his only son with a broken hearted expression on his face. He didn't want this to happen but he knew that his son needed to know once and for all, so that he could face this head on.

Draco stood frozen in his father's study. He knew what this meant but still it did nothing but break him even more. He couldn't take it anymore, so without a word, he left his fathers study without so much as a look back and disappeared to his room.

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? ARE YOU HAPPY YOU FINALLY HAVE SOME DRACO AND HERMIONE SCENES? REVIEWS PLEASE! :) THANK YOU! :)

XX

HEYANTOINETTE