From Hate to Love Chapter 25: I'm Sorry, a harry potter fanfic

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Author's Note: Eep! I've been so busy! But here's the next chapter! And I made it longer than the last one! As always, Please Review!!

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I'm Sorry
Lucius was sitting in his study when a house-elf ambled into the room, apparently looking for him. "Master," the house-elf said timidly. It held out a letter. "This just arrived for you." it squeaked, looking down at its feet. Lucius snatched the parchment out of the house-elf's hand.

"You are dismissed," he said coldly. The house-elf scurried out of the room, closing the door quietly behind itself. Lucius ripped open the letter and read it.

To Mr. Lucius Malfoy,

I thought it best to tell you that Draco seems to be spending a lot of time with that mudblood Hermione Granger. He has told me that it is just because he is Head Boy and she is Head Girl but I'm not quite sure he is being completely truthful with me. I would hate to see such a revered pureblood name as Malfoy be destroyed because of him consorting with this….muggbleborn. Besides, there are much better girls out there for him. Like me.

Sincerely yours,

Pansy Parkinson

Lucius frowned at the letter. His son wouldn't dare do anything with a mudblood. However, since Nagini had reported back to his Lord about Draco seeming to be quite close with this…Granger girl, he thought it best to look into it.

He stood up and stalked out of the room. His son better not be doing anything with that mudblood because if he was….well, let's just not finish that sentence right now.

"Narcissa! Where are you? Narcissa! Get down here!" he roared. He waited impatiently for her to come to him, tapping his boot against the well-polished marble floor.

Narcissa heard her husband yelling her name and dropped the book she was reading. She hurried down the stairs as fast as she could and found him in the foyer. "What, Lucius? What's happened?" she asked, worriedly. The look on his face made her want to cringe. She was always afraid of him when he was angry.

"It looks like your son has become quite close with that Mudblood Granger." Lucius spat out, shoving the letter in her face. He paced around the room while Narcissa read the letter. She shook inwardly, fearing for her son. That stupid Parkinson girl. Didn't she know that if Lucius became extremely angry or if, Merlin forbid, Lord Voldemort found out, that Draco was as good as dead?

"Well, what are you going to do? I'm sure this isn't true." Narcissa said, her voice wavering slightly.

Lucius whirled around and scowled at her. "I think I am going to pay a little visit to Hogwarts and find out just what's really going on." he said scornfully. "Ready the floo for me, Narcissa. I'll be flooing into Hogsmeade and then apparating to just outside Hogwarts.

Narcissa bit her lip as Lucius swept out of the room. She hurried over to the fireplace and unblocked the floo network. She then scurried back across the room and grabbed up a piece of parchment and a quill. She hurriedly wrote a note to Draco and then folded it up. She called Achilles, her own owl, and sent him to deliver it to her son.

As she watched the owl fly away, she worried that it wouldn't get there in time. She turned around as Lucius came back in the room. "Goodbye, Lucius!" she called out as he threw some floo powder into the fireplace and disappeared. She threw a worried glance out the window and sat down in a chair to wait Achilles' return.

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Draco was sitting in the common room reading a book when he heard a tap at the window. He turned and saw his mother's owl tapping at the window. He immediately got up and rushed toward the window. His mother only sent him owls if something was wrong. He let Achilles into the room and the owl stuck out its leg from him to take the letter off. He removed the letter quickly and tore it open.

Draco,

Your father received a letter from the Parkinson girl. It said something about how you have been getting quite….close…with that muggleborn girl. Granger, I think her name is. Anyway, your father is on his way to pay you a little visit. Please don't do anything that might anger him more.

Love,

Mother

Draco sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm his pounding heart. Great. Just bloody great. He looked down at the letter again and then ran to the window. He looked out over the Hogwarts grounds and saw a lone figure coming toward the castle.

Looking around frantically, he ran to Hermione's room. He pounded on her door. "Hermione! HERMIONE!" She didn't answer. He flung the door open and saw she was gone. He groaned. Now he couldn't even warn her that his father was coming into the castle.

He bit his lip and thought quickly. Perhaps she would be in the library. Tearing out of the Common Room, he headed down to the library as fast as he could. He flung the door open to the library so hard, it banged against the wall. Madam Pince looked up at him and glared. "Get out," she said crisply, raising her hand to point it toward the corridor.

Draco ignored her. "Is Hermione in here?" he asked breathlessly. Madam Pince shook her head, tight-lipped. "Do you know where she is?" he asked again, beginning to panic slightly. Madam Pince pointed toward the door again. "No, I do not. Now leave Mr. Malfoy."

Draco whirled around and ran out of the room, letting the door slam shut behind him. Madam Pince's shriek of rage could be heard down the corridor but he ignored it. He didn't have time to be polite.

Where could she have bloody gone? A thousand places flickered through his mind but he knew he didn't have time to check them all. For all he knew, she could be in the Gryffindor Common Room and he hadn't yet bothered to learn the week's passwords for the House Common Rooms.

Sighing in resignation, he headed back up to his common room to meet his father. He had just sat down on the Slytherin couch in the common room when a sharp rap came at the door. He took a quick glance around the room and saw his mother's note was on the table. Shoving it into the table drawer, he went and opened the door.

His father stood in the doorway, smirking at his son. "Hello, Draco." he drawled.

"Father?," Draco said, acting surprised. He stood aside and let his father into the room, letting the portrait swing shut. Neither of them noticed, however, that the door didn't close completely but left a small crack between the portrait and the doorframe.

Draco turned around and face his father. "What brings you to Hogwarts?" he asked casually. His father sneered at him. "I've been hearing some….interesting rumors about you lately and decided to check them out myself."

Draco's heart pounded against his chest. He kept his face void of any emotion and gestured to his father to sit down. "Father, there are always rumors around here about me." he said, trying to sound bored. "They're just made up by someone who wants attention."

Lucius raised an eyebrow and smirked at Draco. "I'm sure this one is legitimate. I have some information that helps…confirm this rumor from a very reliable source."

Draco raised his eyebrow in response. "And what is this rumor about?" he asked dryly. He picked up a glass of water he had left on the table earlier that day. He raised it to his lips and took a drink just as Lucius answered the question.

"You and Potter's Golden Girl," Lucius said bluntly.

Draco choked on his drink. "What?" he said weakly, trying to get his breath back from choking. Lucius merely looked at him and repeated what he had said.

"You and the Granger girl."

"What about me and that Mudblood?" Draco demanded, setting his cup down on the table so hard that some water sloshed over the side.

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Meanwhile…

Hermione had just come from the Gryffindor Common Room where she had been watching Ron beat Harry at Wizard's Chess. She saw the portrait was already open slightly and was about to go in when she heard voices from inside the common room.

Hermione crept up behind the door and listened through the open crack. What she heard next, made her flee in tears.

Neither of the men inside the room heard someone running away from the room.
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Lucius sat back on the couch and swung one of his legs up onto the table. His expression hardened as he leaned forward. "Apparently, you and that Mudblood are quite close this days," he said, looking straight at Draco.

Draco's mouth dropped open. "What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded. "Your 'reliable' source must be crazy because there is no way in hell that I would ever get close to that Mudblood."

Lucius examined his fingernails. "Well, there is a chance that my source is wrong but do not deny that you have become closer to the girl."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Of course, I've become closer with Granger. She's the bloody Head Girl. You know as well as I do that if I'm not more polite to her that I could lose my position as Head Boy."

Lucius frowned at his son. "That's still no excuse to be friends with that girl." he said harshly. "The Dark Lord expects more of the Malfoy family then that and I will NOT have you ruining our position in his inner circle."

Draco gave a short laugh. "Friends? Friends? There's no way I could ever be a friend to such filth," he said scornfully. "She may think we're friends but I know better. Besides, don't you think the Dark Lord would be pleased to know that one of Potter's best friends has befriended me?"

"Why would he be pleased to know that?" Lucius spat out. He stared at his son, trying to figure out what Draco was getting at.

"I mean," Draco said patiently, "that if this mudblood were to think we were friends, or perhaps, even more than friends…"

"WHAT?" Lucius bellowed. He stood up suddenly and glared at Draco. "I will not have you tarnishing the Malfoy name!" he roared.

Draco stood up and glared right back at his father. "Let me finish," he snapped.

Lucius raised an eyebrow but stayed silent as Draco continued to speak.

"If this mudblood were to think we were more than friends and I were to play along with it for a while, I would be able to get some information on Potter for the Dark Lord. Not only that, but if this game continued until I crushed her little heart, she would be devastated and be of no help to Potter. " Draco drawled.

"Father, even you know that Granger is the brains of the trio. Without her, Potter and Weasley would be lost and would run right into our hands." He finished.

Lucius nodded his approval of Draco's "plan". "I will have to run this plan of yours by the Dark Lord for his approval. For now, I will let the source know that they were wrong and that they are not to interfere with anything you do with Granger but will act normally." he said calmly. "Continue on with the Mudblood for right now."

Draco nodded silently. His mind was whirling with thoughts of relief.

Lucius spoke one last time. "I will be in touch with you soon, Draco, concerning the Dark Lord's approval. Goodbye." He turned and left the room in a flurry of black robes. He was gone as abruptly as he had arrived.

Draco strode to the portrait and pushed it close, leaning against it as his shoulders sagged with relief. He smiled as he thought of Hermione. Now they could be together without having to be scared of anyone. He couldn't wait to tell her what had just happened.

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Hermione sniffed tearfully as she dried her eyes with a paper towel. Myrtle watched her quietly. "You can share my bathroom with me," she offered. Her expression changed. "But you cannot have my toilet. You can have another one."

Hermione smiled at Myrtle, her eyes red from crying. She still couldn't believe what she had overheard. How could he be so cruel?

"Thanks, Myrtle, but I'll be fine." she said softly so as not to offend the ghost. Myrtle only nodded in reply and then swooped back into her toilet.

Hermione bit her lip as she left the bathroom. She didn't want to go back to the Head's Common Room but she knew she had to. Not only was her homework there but everything else she owned. With luck, perhaps Draco wouldn't even be there.

She walked slowly to the common room and then whispered the password to the portrait. It swung open and she climbed on through, her eyes cast downward. She looked up and froze as she locked eyes with Draco.

His eyes lit up and he stood up from his place on the couch, grinning at her. "Hermione," he cried out happily. "Where have you been?" He began to walk on over to her but stopped, confused, as she stepped back and cast her eyes downward. He stood there uncertainly. "Is something wrong?" he asked hesitantly.

When she finally looked back up to him, he was surprised to see her arms brimming with tears. "Hermione?" he asked once again, this time much more quietly.

She found her voice. "I heard you." she said softly.

Draco frowned. "What are you talking abou…Oh." He stopped speaking as he suddenly realized what she meant. He shook his head, "Hermione, you have to know that I didn't mean a word of it!"

She stood there wordlessly, refusing to look at him. "Hermione, come on." he pleaded. He took a step toward her. His heart sank as she bit her lip and backed away again, hurt evident in her eyes.

"I'm sorry for saying all of that. But you have to understand why I said it. Please. Just listen." he said desperately. She turned her head to look at him just as he took another step toward her and reached out to touch her. She jerked back in surprise at his closeness and moved quickly away from him.

"Hermione, please! Please. Just let me explain!" he cried out as Hermione scrambled across the room in a haste to get away from him. He sunk down onto the couch and closed his eyes in despair as her door slammed shut.

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Forgiven?

"Looks like you have a secret admirer," Harry said, grinning and nudging her playfully.

and

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ron spat out. Draco shrugged. "I just wanted to speak with Hermione."

"Since when do you call her Hermione?" Ron demanded incredulously.

and

"Am I forgiven yet?" he asked breathlessly.