Draco was sitting in Professor Slytherin's classroom waiting for Professor Slytherin to arrive and teach his class. It was three weeks after the fieldtrip to The Pool of Gemini. Both Slytherin and Gryffindor were still pestering Professor Slytherin with regards to who the masked man was, but Professor Slytherin was being uncooperative.
He tried to approach Professor Snape but he did not want to speak of the incident either. Draco asked Professor Snape if he should mention the incident to his father. Professor Snape nearly bit his head off.
Professor Snape calmed down after a while and reluctantly allowed Draco to write an abridged version of what happened, carefully removing any references of them almost being killed by a very powerful ancient wizard.
Draco asked why they were not mentioning anything regarding the ancient wizard. Professor Snape asked him if he wanted to let his father and the Dark Lord know that an ancient, powerful wizard thought that they were all "little more than dirt" beneath his feet?
Draco tried to argue that the other Slytherin 7th years would write to their parents, but he was wrong. When Draco casually mentioned the incident, Pansy, Millicent and Zabini wanted to pretend the incident never happened and told Draco to forget everything that happened.
He did not want to forget what happened. He wanted to know what happened and he wanted to know why, out of everyone, the mudblood was chosen as the only one worthy enough to live.
Draco's eyes turned to Granger. Out of all the wizards and witches in the group, the ancient wizard chose her. He picked her out of the crowd and said that she had "the blood of kings." "Whatever that means." Draco thought.
"How would he know that Granger had blood of kings?" Draco wondered. The masked man did not know Granger's name or anything about her. She was one of the brightest witches that had come to Hogwarts and Draco reluctantly admitted that she was powerful. "Could this ancient wizard sense the power in her?" Draco thought. "Is that why he thought she had blood of kings?"
What confused Draco more was that after Granger was told that she was to live, she still fought her captor. When he was magically bound, he thought of anything he could say, or do, that would allow him to live. Malfoys were survivors. The Malfoys were one of the oldest families in the wizard world. When a Malfoy meets someone who was more powerful then they were, they immediately allied themselves to him or her.
"What did she think she could accomplish by fighting a man who was stronger and more powerful than her?" Draco wondered. "She did not have her wand. What could she have done if she got free? She could not have been able to save anyone without a weapon." If he were in Granger's shoes, he would admit, under duress, that he would have bent over and took it. Anything that would allow him to survive another day. To survive so that one day, when his captor was comfortable, he would be able to kill him.
He turned his eyes to Harry Potter. "Potter would have bent over also..." Draco thought. "..to save Granger." Potter was standing next to him during the ordeal. He heard every word that Potter said. At first Potter begged the masked man to leave Granger alone, but later, when it came obvious what the masked man was going to do to Granger, Draco heard Potter say "take me" over and over again, under his breath.
Under any other circumstance, Draco would have laughed and pointed out to everyone what Potter would be willing to do to save Granger. But what they were going through was no laughing matter, and Draco found himself also saying "take me" in his mind.
Draco watched the masked man rear up with a growl. Blood was running down the masked man's chin. "Granger bit him!" Draco thought in awe. He heard Granger scream the name "Adam."
"Who is Adam?" Draco thought. His eyes widened. Adam was Professor Slytherin's first name.
"Why would Granger be calling out for Professor Slytherin?" Draco thought. "Let alone using his first name." He saw the look of surprise in Professor Snape's face as well.
He heard a strangled moan from Potter when the masked man viciously backhanded Granger. He saw Granger go limp. The fight went completely out of her. Granger did not turn her head or move. "Could she be unconscious?" Draco wondered.
The Gryffindor girls started screaming when the masked man parted Granger's legs. Draco watched Professor Snape turn his head away when flash of Granger's red panties were shown.
Draco heard retching sounds. He turned his head as far as it could go and saw, through the corner of his eye, Longbottom straining his head forward as far as he could go so he would not vomit all over his robes, but was unsuccessful. Weasley also looked green around the mouth. Potter's eyes were glazed over and his face was ashen.
Draco closed his eyes. A heavy feeling was filling his chest. He could not breathe. It felt that his chest was slowly being crushed. He did not understand what was going on. He had never felt this feeling before. He wanted to double over due to the pain, but he could not move. Was he dying?
A loud growl was heard followed by screaming from Draco's classmates. "Oh Merlin!" Draco thought as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. "This cannot be happening. This cannot be happening." He wanted to scream out his frustrations, but he would not. He would not show any sign of weakness.
Suddenly Draco was free. He stumbled into someone. When he opened his eyes, he saw Weasley push him away. He looked towards Hermione and saw her being pulled into Potter's arms. He saw Hermione had blue paint smeared across her lips and the left side of her face.
Draco's hands itched to remove the paint from her face. He noticed that Potter had the same idea. He watched as Potter clumsily tried to remove the paint with his robe sleeve. "He is being too rough." Draco thought. He smirked as he watched Hermione push Potter away and say the same.
Draco watched in jealous anger as Hermione gently moved her hand to touch Potter's face. "Potter is handing on a thread." Draco thought "If Hermione touches him, Potter is going to snog her senseless regardless who is watching." He watched in trepidation to see what would happen. Unfortunately he missed it as Pansy and Millicent grabbing onto him to seek comfort.
When Draco successfully shook Pansy and Millicent off him, he once again glanced at Hermione and Potter but saw nothing. Draco, hearing Professor Snape, moved his head towards his voice. He opened his mouth in shock. "Salazar?" Draco thought. "Professor Slytherin is Salazar's heir and the masked man must also be a relative of them both." He shuddered at the thought of that.
He listened as Salazar explained what the spring was used for, a way for the good and evil in you to fight for victory. Draco's eyes widened as he saw Professor Snape rub his left arm and stare at the spring with an expression of extreme longing.
"What is going on?" Draco wondered.
According to his father, Professor Snape was one of Lord Voldemort's staunch supporters. Severus' loyalty was unquestionable. Now looking at Professor Snape's expression it appears that he does not support Voldemort as much as they think. Draco turned his head and looked at his classmates to see if they saw what he did but he saw his classmates looking elsewhere besides Professor Snape.
Sounds of laughter brought Draco out of his memories. He once again glanced at Potter and Granger. He clenched his teeth when he saw Hermione throw her arms around Potter's neck and gave him a hug.
"I guess all is once again good with the Golden Trio." Draco thought, but then he smirked. Things were not looking good the morning after the field trip.
Draco woke up that morning to the sound of shouting. Draco glanced at the clock and saw that it was 6:00 a.m. in the morning.
Draco groaned and got out of bed. He walked to his door and opened it. He stopped suddenly seeing Hermione and Potter arguing in the common room.
"I ask you once again, where were you all night?" Draco heard Potter snarl.
"And I ask you once again, why were you in my room? Sleeping in my bed?" Hermione shouted.
"I WANTED TO BE WITH YOU!!!" Harry shouted. "I thought that you would need someone with you after what happened yesterday."
"Yeah right." Draco thought sarcastically. "You wanted to use her supposed emotional state to take advantage of her."
"Now where were you?" Harry demanded.
"I do not have to tell you anything." Hermione stated softly as she tried to move around him.
Harry grabbed Hermione on the upper arm. Draco stepped forward to defend Hermione, but Hermione flipped Harry onto his back.
"Now listen." Hermione stated as she put a foot on Harry's chest. "I am tired. I had a bad day yesterday. I just want to go to my room. We can talk later."
"No." Harry ground out. "We are talking now. What were you doing? Were you with a lover? Who is it? A Ravenclaw? A Hufflepuff? Malfoy? Perhaps not. Professor Slytherin? You have been hanging around him a lot. Who's Adam? You called out his name..."
"I was in my parents' room." Hermione interrupted as she looked away from Harry eyes.
"Bullshit." Harry said as he sat up. "Your parent's house was sold."
"Listen." Hermione interrupted as she kneeled down next to Harry. "I never told you this, but I knew of the Room of Requirement before you knew about it. When I was in my first year, before we became friends, I was so homesick. One day I saw Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle coming towards me. I knew that they would torment me so I grabbed the door handle of the nearest door, wishing that I was home with my parents. I opened the door and saw my parents' bedroom. I thought I went through a portal. I waited for hours for my parents. Dumbledore found me and told me what the room was."
Hermione stood up and brushed her robes off. "If you do not believe me..." Hermione stated. "...go ask Lavender and Padma. There were many times in my first two years I spent the night in that room, in my parents' bed, seeking comfort in its familiarly."
Harry stood up angrily and stated as he strode out the door. "Don't worry. I will."
Hermione collapsed on the chair and covered her face with her hands.
Draco called softly for his robes and put them on. He walked towards Hermione and stood before her.
"Let's see it." Draco asked.
"What?" Hermione stated as she removed her hands and looked up at Draco.
"Let's see your parents' room." Draco responded.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"Curiosity." Draco answered. "I would like to see what a muggle house looks like."
Hermione's eyes narrowed.
"Hey." Draco stated. "Have I done anything to you that would make you doubt my intentions?"
Hermione's eyes narrowed even further.
"Well if you do not want to show me..." Draco stated. "...information on your late night visit to Professor Slytherin's room might slip out when Potter is within hearing distance...."
"Fine." Hermione stated as she stood up. She grabbed Draco by the arm and said. "Come on."
Hermione opened the door and stepped into the Room of Requirement. Her heart clenched as she saw the bedroom of her parents. Tears were forming behind her eyes. She walked up to the bed of her parents' bed and caressed her mother's pillow.
Draco glanced around the room, noting the white wall to wall carpeting and the blue bedspread. He saw pictures lining the walls and a sitting area that had banners, trophies and more pictures.
"Do you think that they had enough pictures of you, Granger?" Draco asked dryly.
"My Mother said, besides my father, she wanted to see my face every morning when she woke up." Hermione explained. "It helped the time pass easier for her until I returned home again."
"What is this?" Draco pointed to the sitting area.
"Oh." Hermione stated excitedly. "Those are the Awards that I won."
Hermione walked to the table where her trophies and Awards were. Hermione fingered the banners. "These are the first prize banners that I won from the science fairs I participated in, spelling bees, mathletes, and stuff like that."
"The trophies are from Tae Kwon Do and soccer." Hermione continued.
Draco looked at the certificates on the wall. "What are these?"
"Oh." Hermione stated with a smile. "Those are my reports cards."
Hermione noticed the pained expression on Draco's face, misinterpreting that he did not understand what the Awards were about, she grabbed the frames relating to Hogwarts.
"This is my invitation letter to Hogwarts." Hermione stated as she handed the framed letter to Draco. "Here are my grades, my OWL's and my letter stating that I was chosen to be a prefect."
Hermione looked up to Draco's face. Her smile quickly faded when she noticed the fury in his eyes.
"Malfoy. What...." Hermione said before Draco took the framed letter and threw it at the mirror on the wall opposite them.
Hermione screamed as the mirror shattered.
Hermione turned and saw Draco swipe the trophies and awards off the table onto the floor.
Draco started ripping the picture frames off the wall and throwing them onto the floor, shattering the glass.
Hermione ran to Draco, grabbing his arms, trying to stop the destruction. "STOP!!" Hermione screamed. "Malfoy please stop."
Draco ignored Hermiome and continued destroying the room. Draco grabbed a piece of glass and walked to the bed, shredding the pillows and comforter.
"Draco, please." Hermione sobbed. "This is all I have of them. If you destroy this, I will only remember what you have done. Not the way it was."
"Please stop. I am begging you." Hermione cried as she once again grabbed his arms.
Draco pushed Hermione away from him and she landed on the floor on her back.
Hermione sat up and with tears running down her face, she saw the shambles of her parents' room. Hermione stood up and ran out of the room.
Hermione blinded by her tears, ran into a hard body. Two strong arms gripped her shoulders. "Hermione." Hermione heard a voice say. "What is wrong?"
Hermione looked up and saw the concerned face of Professor Slytherin.
Methos looked at Hermione and saw that she was crying. She was still wearing the wrinkled robes she had on when she left his room earlier in the morning.
"Draco..." Hermione choked out. She could not say anything. She could only point to the Room of Requirement.
Methos put an arm around Hermione's shoulders and pressed her body to his. Methos looked at Professor Snape, who was with him. They quickly walked to the Room of Requirement.
Methos left Hermione outside the door and he and Professor Snape entered the room. They found Draco sitting on a shredded bed, clutching a frame in his hands.
Methos walked up to Draco, cautiously, and sat down next to him.
Methos looked around the room and saw cracked pictures of Hermione on the floor. He also saw pictures of Hermione with two adults. "This must have been her parents' room." Methos thought.
"You want to tell me what happened here?" Methos asked Draco delicately. Professor Snape was looking around the room in horror and fascination.
"Why her?" Draco said softly.
"Pardon?" Methos asked.
"Why her?" Draco snarled loudly. "Why her?" Draco repeated as he stood up.
"She is a muggle." Draco shouted as he waved the frame around the room. "She is not of good name. Or of good blood. What makes her so special?"
"Why was she the only one worthy enough to live?" Draco said to Methos. "Why was she... Why was she...."
"Why was she loved by her parents and you were not?" Methos asked softly.
Draco felt like he was punched in the stomach. His faced turned ashen. He sat back down on the bed and hugged the frame to his body. Draco started to weep for the first time in front of someone.
Professor Snape began walking around the room, picking up frames and placing them back on the wall. Methos watched as Professor Snape picked up the Awards and gently placed them back on the table.
"Every report card." Draco said softly. "My invitation to Hogwarts. My Head Boy letter. My father told me he tossed them into the fireplace. Not worthy of keeping. There are no pictures of me in their bedroom. The only picture of me in our house is our family portrait. While she has so many pictures up that you cannot see the color of the bloody walls and a shrine of her accomplishments."
"Draco." Methos said. "Hermione is muggle born. Her society is different from yours. She is not a product of an arranged marriage. Her parents fell in love and married. Her parents were not expected to have children. They chose to have one."
Draco looked up at Methos, his eyes were bright with unshed tears.
"The pureblood society prides itself in their quality of blood." Methos continued. "There is no love among the matches. Often the parties cannot stand each other. How can one learn about love if their parents show nothing but contempt to each other? Or they just do not care?"
"What pureblood societies do not understand is that they eventually fail. They think that continuing to breed purebloods make them stronger, but it doesn't. It makes them weaker." Methos continued. "Muggle history shows this. Ancient Egyptians married brothers and sisters to each other to keep the bloodline pure, but there was no love between them. Cleopatra, a great Egyptian Queen, was married to her brother, and she had him assassinated to gain full power. European nobility were so inbred that genetic flaws began showing. The last prince of Russia had a blood disorder that should he cut himself, even a small paper cut, he could bleed to death."
"Blood does not make one great, it is their actions." Methos continued. "Hermione had a wonderful and loving family. I can see that based upon this room. Your family, Draco, I have not met your mother, so I cannot judge her. As for your father, he is allied with a man whom wants to destroy Hermione and her kind because of their blood. Someone like that does not know love. Their heart only knows hatred."
"Remember this, Draco." Methos stated. "It has nothing to do with you. Your parents may just not know how to share emotions or know how to love. Both Professor Snape and I believe that you are a fine young man with a lot of potential. If Hermione was not the same year as you, you would be the top student in your class."
Methos put an arm around Draco's shoulders in encouragement. Draco stiffened in his arms. "Oh the Gods." Methos thought. "No one ever gave him a hug before?"
Methos reached for the picture frame and took it from Draco's hands. Methos' heart sank. Draco transfigured one of Hermione's family pictures to feature Draco's. The picture showed a smiling Draco in the center of the picture with a smiling Lucius and a smiling woman with their arms around each other and Draco.
"I can dream can't I?" Draco stated. Draco covered his face with his hands and once again started to cry.
Methos tightened his arm around Draco's shoulder. Methos looked up towards Professor Snape but saw Hermione quietly backing out of the doorway.
Draco continued to stare at Golden Trio. Hermione has not spoken to him since that day 3 weeks ago. She switched patrol duties with Colin Creevey. Draco watched Hermione stiffen and then shush the Gryffindor class. She turned and looked towards the door.
Draco with his hand also quieted the Slytherin class and saw Professor Slytherin enter the room a few seconds later. Draco's eyes narrowed. "How did she know Professor Slytherin was arriving?" Draco wondered.
"Sorry I'm late." Professor Slytherin stated. "Everyone turn their book to page 108."
The class passed quickly and at the end of class, Draco approached Hermione.
"What do you want?" Ron demanded.
"I need to talk to you, Granger." Draco addressed Hermione. "Head duty stuff."
Hermione nodded and motioned Harry and Ron away telling them that she will meet them in the Library later.
"Well Malfoy." Hermione stated. "Here I am. What do you want?"
"Come with me." Draco stated with his hand out.
Hermione looked towards Methos and Methos nodded his head telling her that it was OK.
Hermione took his hand and Draco led her out of the room.
Draco led her to the Room of Requirement. Hermione, seeing the door, tried to wrench her hand free, but Draco held on firm.
"Let me go." Hermione hissed.
"Granger." Draco stated. "Please stop struggling."
"Why have you brought me here?" Hermione demanded. "Do you want to torture me some more?"
"No." Draco whispered.
Draco grabbed the door handle and opened the door. Hermione stopped struggling and glanced through the door. Her mouth hung open.
Draco ushered Hermione into the room.
Hermione looked around the room, tears running down her face. It was her parents' room. Everything was repaired.
"I hope I got everything right." Draco asked.
"You did this all by yourself?" Hermione asked.
Draco nodded.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"Because I had no right to destroy your parent's room." Draco responded. "I misdirected my anger. I am sorry. I did not mean to cause you any pain."
Hermione walked up to her parent's dresser and saw one picture missing. "It must have been the one that Draco was holding when he was talking to Methos." Hermione thought.
Hermione picked up her parent's wedding photo. The original one was in her room at the Weasleys'. Clutching the picture to her chest, Hermione turned around.
"I heard your conversation with Professor Slytherin." Hermione stated.
Draco looked down to his feet, avoiding her gaze.
"Though it does not excuse what you did." Hermione continued. "I understand why."
"I do not need you to feel sorry for me." Draco lashed out.
"I don't." Hermione responded. "I feel sorry for your parents. It is their loss that they never took the time to know you. Though you have been mean to me in the past, I cannot deny that you are a very intelligent wizard. You will never hear me admit it publicly, you are the reason I am the top of our class."
"What??!!" Draco exclaimed. "Me??!!"
"Yes, you." Hermione responded. "You were so bigoted and believed that all of those who were not pureblood were beneath you. I cannot be beneath you if I am the number one student in our class."
Draco smiled a little smile. "She is right about that." He thought.
"Last time we spoke you wanted to see what muggle life is like." Hermione stated as she held out her hand. "Would you like to see the rest of the house?"
"I would like that very much." Draco responded as he reached over and took her hand into his.