A/N: Thank you so much for all of your responses. This is a continuation of the last chapter. But before that, a few thanks.

Myrddin Emrys The Third : Thanks for your review. I guess we are going to find out now.

Sassystarbuck09 : Hermione really had a few fatal encounters. Lets see what exactly has happened. Thanks for your review

pgoodrichboggs : You are as amazing as always. I am really glad you liked the chapter. Here is the rest of it.

White Bishop : Wow, I cannot express my gratitude in words. I was eagerly waiting for your thoughts on this chapter. I totally appreciate the inputs and possible solutions you have suggested. I will keep in mind to maintain the balance between the emotions I am trying, for my readers to experience. Thanks again for your time and review.

Mooieast : Thank you very much. Lets see what Draco is going to do now.

CoolFanfictionLover : Thank you Sumi for your review. Here is the next part.

Guests: Thank you dears for your time and review.

Once again all my love to all the people who followed and marked this as their favorite.

Some more A/N at the bottom.

A fine thread

Truth - II

Weasley's words were still ringing in Draco's ears. Any other thing that came after that just went over Draco's head. He sat there like an empty shell not registering what was happening around him.

"Dying," Draco asked his voice barely above a whisper.

Ron nodded solemnly.

"Why? What is wrong? Why didn't she tell anybody? How long had she known?" Many questions were dangling in Draco's mind, but nothing came out of his mouth.

Ron answered as if he had caught Draco's train of thought. "She told no one about it. I think she must have known from quite a long time. But I came to know about it only after she left. I think you can relate to why she wanted to leave." Ron said pointing to him.

"Don't compare her situation to mine. She should have sought some kind of treatment. I am sure something is available", snapped Draco defensively. Draco was still trying to understand. Under her composed exterior, she was hiding something this intense. How is that possible? But the logical side of his mind prodded him saying that was what he had been doing.

"Really Malfoy, Tell me why did you leave? Why did you give up?" Ron asked but Draco did not miss the undertone sarcasm.

"You know nothing Weasley. Selling your soul to Voldemort and following him without any stipulations, while he danced on our sacrifices, is not something you can understand," Draco's anger took control of his senses and he lashed at Ron.

But Ron was calm and didn't waver even a bit at Draco's outburst. "So, you are playing the sympathy card again. It won't work on me," Ron said taking a muggle cigarette out of his pocket. He lit it with the help of his wand and took a big drag. He looked at Draco and offered, "Care to try. Helps you take off the edge."

"I am not putting that filthy thing in my mouth," Draco said disgusted by Ron's behavior.

"Suit yourself," Ron said taking another long puff.

"Tell me exactly, what's happening with her?" When Ron didn't pay attention, Draco pulled at his collar and asked menacingly, "Now, Weaselbee."

Ron tried to loosen the grip and muttered under his breath, "Hermione is going to kill me for this." He looked at Draco and said, "But I guess, you are in a better position to understand what she is going through."

"Cut to the point, Weasley. I am about to blow my top," Draco said seethingly.

"You might want to sit back. This is going to take a while," Ron said moving into a comfortable position. He gently pushed a seething Draco into the wall. "Do you remember the time when we went to Department of mysteries to rescue Sirius Black?"

"Yes that was the time, senior Death Eaters made a fool out of themselves and my father landed himself in the jail. Not an easy thing to forget," Draco gave him an impatient nod and gestured to him to continue.

"Right. All of us were affected in some way or the other by that incident. We all carry reminders. But Hermione got the worst of it." Ron stopped and looked at Draco. "You remember Dolohov right." Draco nodded with some kind of untold emotion flickering in his eyes. "He cursed Hermione that day. He was silenced when he shot the curse. So we were not sure, what exactly she was hit with. She remained unconscious for several days after the attack."

"He is in Azkaban now," Draco said trying to remember something from the past.

"Yes, the bastard escaped. Or else I would have killed him myself," Ron said snubbing the cigarette stub into the floor.

"Let's get back to the curse, shall we?" Draco said trying to bring Ron back to the present.

"It hit her internal system, or that's what Madame Pomfrey told us at that time. But after she woke up everything was forgotten, until that night at your house," Ron said referring to the night they were captured and taken to Malfoy Manor for identification.

Draco tensed when he heard that. The memories of that night still played vividly in his memory. The shrieks let out by Hermione were echoed through the manor. The memory of her blood that poured through her hand when his cruel aunt carved that offensive word on her arm brought him shivers. He gathered his words out of his closed throat and asked, "What happened then?"

"That bitch hit her with a number of torture curses. Of course, you know all about it," Ron shot a scathing look at Malfoy.

"If you are done with rubbing salt on my wounds, do you mind getting to the point."

"Couldn't help myself," said Ron not even trying to be apologetic. "Strong girl, our Hermione. She sprung up immediately and went into action after that. She was the brain behind us. We wouldn't have survived a day without her. Harry couldn't have killed Voldemort if not for her. She became Harry's shadow and followed him to the end of the world." Ron said affectionately thinking about Hermione.

Draco simply nodded, of course, he knew all about that. Potter was quite eloquent about Hermione whenever he could.

"I had been very foolish at some point during our seventh year and I abandoned them for some time," Ron mumbled.

This was new for Draco. He hadn't heard about it. But this was not the time to discuss Weasley's mistakes. "We all have done things at that age that we are not so proud of. Get over yourself," Draco dismissed giving him an annoyed look.

"But she stayed with Harry all the while. She modified her parents' memories and moved them to a different country. All of us thought she did that to save them from Voldemort. Of course, that was the main part of her reasoning. But she never made any effort to meet them or get their memories back even after the war was won."

Draco nodded taking in everything. His face contorted trying to understand, where exactly this was leading.

"She immersed herself in research and development. We hardly saw her. Harry and I got worried because even for the fewer times we saw her she was looking completely exhausted and drained. She was beyond happy when Harry rekindled his relationship with Ginny. But when I approached her with my feelings she simply denied saying she was not ready for anything serious. I was hurt and kept my distance until one day Harry came to me disheveled and disturbed, stating Hermione was missing."

Draco knew that. How the boy-who-lived became a bumbling mess when he found that Hermione was missing. He also knew about Potter and Weasley's joint adventures to find their best friend. But Weasley had not yet mentioned how he chanced upon her.

"We went on searching for her everywhere we could think of. But there was no sign. But one day when I was feeling particularly down I went to her parents' place to look for any clue, that's when I caught her there. But she was quick and she tried to apparate from there as soon as she saw me. I was able to latch onto her in the last minute and she brought me here. She was terribly disappointed at me but I was not one to give up the opportunity."

"What do you mean she apparated you here?" Draco asked.

"To that house, where she is living with those children," Ron said pointing to somewhere outside.

"What happened after you found her?" Draco asked his impatience reaching new levels.

Ron turned serious, his face taking up a very grim expression. "She told me everything or I hope so."

Draco was looking at him with the same annoyed expression.

"Look at the irony. For being the brightest muggle-born witch, a muggle malady has taken over her body, something called Cancer. That day in the department of mysteries, Dolohov had hit her with a curse that affected her blood. That curse was his devious version of making her blood dirty. But the growth of it was contained by her magic. She is not only a brilliant witch intellectually but she is also very powerful. Her magical core was pretty strong. But that day when Bellatrix inflicted those torture curses, they did more than physical damage. She still has nightmares about that night and the worst part is that it shattered her magical core." Ron continued with the same somber expression.

Slowly everything started to make sense. He heard about Dolohov's terrible curse. They were his inventions to create mayhem. He was vindictive even for Death Eater standards. Draco heard horror stories about him that kept him awake through nights. According to Dolohov's known history whatever Weasley said seemed quite plausible. He shuddered thinking about Hermione is going through.

"Without the aid of her magical core, there is no stopping that malignancy that is spreading through her blood. She prided herself for her perseverance. She had been sustaining on those remnants of magic. But even the tiniest bit of magic she performed, thoroughly exhausted her and she started losing hope," continued Ron.

Draco still looked on with a pained expression.

"I could see the whole picture right in front of my eyes as she fainted taking a big hit from the strain of the apparition that day. It did a real big number on her. It took almost half a day for her to regain her consciousness. And that was almost 2 years ago", said Ron. "Potions, healing procedures even muggle ones were rendered useless." He turned to Draco and said, "she never gives up Malfoy, if she herself had given up that means nothing could be done," Ron concluded.

Draco looked on blankly. The future slowly started to fade from in front of his eyes. A hope that started in his heart when he first met her was crushed with Weasley's words. But something else was gnawing at his heart beyond his own disappointment. The atrocious truth about the girl he started to like had already started to prick his heart like a thorn.

"She explained to me, she thought of leaving when she came to know nothing could be done. She didn't want to burden any of us. Her main concern had always been Harry. She knew the weight Harry carried on his shoulders with regard to the people we lost. If he ever came to know about Hermione and how she was affected, he would be devastated. That was the main reason she chose exile."

Draco nodded his head, as he started to understand the implications.

"Her parents are still living in ignorance. They don't even remember her. She chose not to bring them back and put them through the pain of losing her. Whenever she feels alone she goes to their childhood home gathering all the happy memories as much as she can. When she can't take the emotional strain, her body simply gives away. It is usually there I find her unconscious," Ron explained.

Draco looked at him with confusion.

Ron took out a galleon from his pocket and showed it to Draco. The coin looked the same to Draco. "It carries a protean charm. She had perfected it a long time back. But she modified the galleon in a way that I would be alerted whenever she is helpless. She carries a similar one as a locket. My galleon would turn into a Portkey and will take me to her."

"Why?" Draco asked.

"What do you mean why? As if I would leave her just like that. It was either this or I would have told everybody about her. Being a clever girl like she was she took this option. I left her to her own devices with that assurance. Now at least I have an option to help that stubborn woman." Ron said tucking that galleon in his pocket. "But the main problem was Harry. The conflict that ate my mind whenever I met him was terrible. I slowly started distancing myself from them. The fact that I have already abandoned them made Harry believe that I have given up. I simply didn't correct him. I couldn't betray Hermione when it was her last wish." Draco's eyes did not fool him when he saw a tear streaked down from Weasley's eye.

Draco pondered upon what Weasley had told. Yes, the situation was indeed dire. Did she really give up on both of them? "Did you know what was her research about?"

"Not particularly. I heard she was working with some healer at St Mungo's," Ron dismissed nonchalantly.

"And who are those kids?" Draco asked as he remembered Jack and Jasmine.

"She didn't tell you about them?" Ron asked. When Draco shook his head he smiled. "Very interesting indeed. Maybe she doesn't think you as her friend as you came to your own conclusions."

Draco clenched his teeth.

"Calm down. Do you really want to know who they are? It's better you ask her that. She is already going to kill me for telling you about her conditi…" Ron trailed off as his face suddenly became alarmed. He groped the place where his pocket lied and picked up the galleon as his eyes widened.

"What happened?" Draco asked taking in Ron's expression.

"Come on, we need to go," Ron said as he dashed out of the door without waiting for Draco.

Draco sprang up and ran after Ron. Within no time both of them were back at Hermione's place. But Draco stayed back outside letting Ron go. He was not sure if he was strong enough to see her in that helpless state. But he was surprised when he heard Hermione's voice from the house.

"Ron," Draco heard her choked voice.

Draco just took a peek inside and saw both of them in a deep embrace. He felt an uncomfortable pang in his heart at that sight. He rubbed at that spot and taking a deep breath stepped in.

They both were still entwined and Draco's entrance went unnoticed. He didn't change that by remaining in the shadows. Ron cupped her face and asked, "How are you now?"

"Never better," she said flashing her glorious smile.

"Liar," Ron said hugging her fragile body closer and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Did I pass out again?" she asked looking at him.

He nodded moving her to the couch cleverly shielding Draco from her view.

"I was at the beach," Hermione said worrying her bottom lip.

"Not important. I am really happy that you woke up in just half a day. You are getting better Granger," Ron teased. "You know that it doesn't matter to me. My trusted galleon will take me to you even if you are on the other side of the world," he added in a serious tone.

"It is not fair to you Ron. I can't trouble you every time that happened," Hermione said as her eyes prickled indicating the onslaught of tears.

"Hush now, we don't want any of that now," Ron said gently wiping her tears. "This is what I wanted. You wanted to stay away from all of us, I understood. You didn't want me to say anything to Harry, I agreed. But you are not taking this away from me Hermione. This is my only connection to you," Ron was fiercely ardent when he said those words.

"This is so hard Ron. You can't imagine what got me into that situation," Hermione said.

"I think I can," Ron said slightly moving away as Hermione's glance fell on Draco.

Hermione paled as the light fell on the blond man standing in the shadows. She looked tensely at Ron silently asking for something. When Ron answered with a nod she closed her eyes in an unexplained pain.

"Hermione, it's ok", Ron gathered her in his arms. Draco felt like somebody stabbed him with an icy cold knife in his guts. Emotion overcame him and he trudged outside.

"Talk to him," Draco heard Weasley telling Hermione. There was a painstaking silence for few minutes and then he heard a light patter of feet. As soon as he associated those footsteps, he rapidly wiped off the evidence of his pain, leaking from his eyes. He turned around to see Hermione's warm brown eyes looking at him with a mixture of hesitance and sadness. He extended his hand towards her and gestured her to come closer. She followed his hand and moved to stand beside him. Draco pulled Hermione into a one armed hug and gently squeezed her shoulder. Hermione leaned into him taking the comfort he offered through that gesture.

"Ron told you?" Hermione asked after what seemed like five minutes.

Draco just nodded when no words formed to express the pain he was currently experiencing.

"Oh! Draco," she hugged him tightly as her tears started to seep into his shirt. "Will you ever forgive me? I know what I did was inexcusable. You don't deserve to be treated in that way. But I didn't want to raise your hopes. I'm a lost cause. You have a wonderful future ahead of you. Please don't waste your time on me."

Draco turned her face towards him as the true meaning of her words permeated into his brain. He wiped her tears and simply shook his head. "Never Hermione. Don't ever think for one second that you are wasting my time. Each and every moment spent with you is a great treasure to me".

"You don't deserve that Draco. You have been really great ever since I met you. I never felt helpless or destitute from the time you came into our lives. The way you charmed all of us, made me forget for a minute what I was going through." Hermione told Draco trying to relax from his embrace.

Draco did not budge securing her in his embrace. He was unaware that his own eyes started tearing up again as he asked, "Why didn't you tell me, Hermione?" His mind mocked him as the words came out of his mouth.

"I never planned to let anyone know Draco. It was very accidental that Ron found out. Harry and others have already gone through a lot, I didn't want to burden anyone with my problems." Hermione said this time getting out of his grip. "There is no hope for me. All of you have so many great things ahead of you. I will be just a memory after a while. Harry will get adjusted to the fact that I was somewhere else living happily. Ron will start to get over me and start to plan his life. My parents are blissfully ignorant." She turned to him looking into his eyes, "As far as you are concerned, I am extremely glad about how you turned out. How you have escaped your father's shadow and built a new life for yourself. I am so proud of you Draco and I am grateful that I could spend these wonderful moments with you. I never thought of burdening you with my woes, Draco." She took hold of his face and kissed his cheek, "Never."

"I don't care about any of that Hermione. Why didn't you tell me? I might have helped. There must something that can be done. Even now it's not late. We will begin immediately. That's what friends do. We help each other," Draco asked looking pointedly at her face.

"Draco, please understand. It is not easy for me. Do you think I haven't searched everywhere? Nothing can be done. I have struggled since I came into this world. My each and every accomplishment was questioned. Even after Voldemort was vanquished do you think the prejudices were gone? It is never that easy. I guess they made me a Mudblood after all", Hermione stated dejectedly.

"Don't you ever say that, you silly woman? I have spent so many days in regret for introducing you to that word. You are the most powerful, enticing and brilliant woman I have ever met, Magical or muggle," Draco's voice got higher as an austere emotion took over his heart.

"What's going on?" Ron hurriedly came outside at the raised voices. He was eyeing them with speculation trying to understand what exactly was the discussion about.

"Nothing," said Hermione stepping into the house with a beatific smile.

"What was that about?" Ron asked this time his question directed to Draco.

"Reminiscing," Draco grumbled.

Ron scratched at his chin as he pondered Draco's words. "I see." He looked back at the house to check someone or something. And then he turned to Draco, "Did you tell her about you?"

Draco eyes widened at what Ron was implying and groaned stating his denial.

"Maybe you should do that," Ron said what Draco had dreaded.

Draco took a gulp as he felt a lump in his throat hearing Ron's suggestion.

"She deserves to know Malfoy. Don't you think she is going to feel betrayed if you kept her in the dark?" Ron suggested slowly moving into the house silently beckoning him to follow.

His predicament had risen exponentially. Before when he did not know about Hermione's condition he was awaiting the right moment to tell her. But now fully aware about her vulnerable state would he able to tell her anything at all?

A/N: There it is guys. I would love to know your thoughts about the chapter. Please R & R

Now when we are at this point of the story, I wanted to share few thoughts. I know it is a very sensitive topic for many. I have seen people in my close family and friends falling prey to this malignancy. Some have sprung back to their lives crushing that scrounge to the depths. While some have fought valiantly, finally defeating it in death.

The idea of this fanfic was born when I met a great couple who were faced with similar circumstances. But they are still going strong with the love and devotion they shared among themselves. I want to dedicate my effort to all those wonderful people out there.