A/n: Thanks to my beat JDeppIsMyLovely! **Not yet edited.

Draco was frustrated that she hadn't come up with answers while she was away with his father. Truth be told she had many questions for him after leaving the blonde man but withheld them, deciding she needed more time to think everything over before she jumped back into her questions, wonders and confusion. She'd been at Malfoy Manor for quite some time now, but still knew so little about its occupants. That was also frustrating.

He fucked her again that night, grieving the entire time. There was a lack of passion within his movements throughout the whole experience and his eyes were haunted. Hermione suspected that he was trying to cope with things, but she wasn't too fond of having him cope that particular way. They're first experience was supposed to be heated, and it hadn't been. This time everything lacked energy, and in the end she was left unsatisfied, sitting beside him in bed long after he'd fallen asleep. Everything affected him more than he liked to let on, but whenever things like this happened, she got anew glimpse of how troubled he really was. And it wasn't something she was proud to get to see. She wished he wasn't so withheld, troubled, and tormented. It was hard to watch.

The following morning they didn't leave immediately for St. Mungo's, something they'd been doing for weeks now. Instead Draco sat for a long time on the bed after getting ready, staring down at his hands.

"What did he tell you?" he asked at length, catching her off-guard. She observed him for several moments before saying anything, trying to decide if his current state made it safe to do so.

"He told me your mother was supposed to be in Ravenclaw House," she began, and he immediately looked up. Perhaps that wasn't the best thing to mention first. "Did she never tell you?"

"No, I knew that," he replied, looking at the woman sitting beside him. "My father told me once… back during the war when she was sick and he was drunk. I thought it was a joke or something. Maybe it wasn't if he repeated the same thing to you. Or maybe he doesn't even know what he's saying anymore."

Hermione pursed her lips. "That's not all he told me."

"Oh, I hope not," Draco said bitterly, shaking his head. "You were gone for hours. If that's the only thing he said then it would've been a big waste of time."

She couldn't quite decide what was best to mention next. "He said there might be darkness lingering inside of her."

"From the tattoo? Yeah, I've heard that one too. He'd always make remarks about it, but he'd never offer up any answers. He told me that the tattoo's been invading her for years once, but he never explained it, and I don't need the details right now. Just the basic facts."

The woman nodded, surprised how much of her conversation he already knew. Maybe the answer sat right in front of them, and they were all simply to blind to see it. Well, since nothing exciting was happening thus far, he wasn't becoming confused or surprised in a good way, then perhaps she needed to dig deeper into the newfound information.

"He gave me a key to their old bedroom."

Immediately Draco's demeanor changed; his eyes lit up, his hands tightened to fists and he stood, putting some distance between them as he moved to lean against a wall. "He did what?"

"He gave me a key," she repeated, wondering if her judgment from last night was better than her rash choice this morning. Maybe he didn't need to be alerted of that so suddenly. "I-"

"You didn't go in there?" he asked, looking frightened. Quickly she shook her head, and he let out a long sigh at that, seemingly relieved. "Good, don't. There's nothing useful in there."

"How do you-"

"I just know okay?!" he barked, getting touchy. She arched an eyebrow at that, thinking that his answer was unsatisfactory, just like last night.

"So you've been in there lately?"

"No."

"Since after the war?"

"No-"

"Then how do you know there isn't something useful in there?" Hermione retaliated, standing. "Draco we've been doing these considerably stupid things for a while now, trying to help your mother! Your loony father trusted me with this key for some reason, and wants me to open that door at some point! I don't know what's so terrifying about it at all, but it can't be too bad. I mean-"

"Trust me," he interjected, his tone quieter now, "It's bad."

"And that's based off of your memories from how long ago?"

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter how old the memories are Hermione. That place can only get worse overtime, not better. There's nothing good in there for you to find, and I don't want you going in there. It's a very unpleasant place."

"Unpleasant enough to avoid while your mother lies dying?"

Again Draco looked away, pursing his lips. "It's just a bad place."

"I got that, but it's also a room in your bloody Manor," she reminded, shaking her head. "If the room is so awful, then why don't you have it-"

"No!" he cried, stopping her before she could say anything further. Whatever the next word was going to be that escaped her mouth he didn't know, but he wasn't looking forward to finding out. He didn't think he could face whatever she was going to say. "No. It can't be removed, touched or tampered with. There are too may bad memories there."

"Then that's just another reason to have something done with it! Maybe one reason the lot of you can't move on from the past is because the past sits all around you! Whatever you couldn't face back then has been shut away, locked behind doors like that makes everything better. But it doesn't Draco! It doesn't make anything better. You're just forcing things out, but you're not really dealing with whatever happened."

"What do you think happened?" he spat, eyeing her intently now. She wondered if she perhaps crossed a line too quickly right then, but wouldn't step back across it now. That might just cause a rift later when she brought up her next topic of conversation, and she definitely didn't want that.

"You're father told me to not open the door to that bedroom until I knew what lay behind it. Until I could answer why I needed the key I shouldn't go in there. He doesn't seem to want me to delve into the past either."

"No one does Hermione, but don't take advice from my father. He's ill in the head."

"And he would get better if someone took him out of this place. He might be able to answer our questions better that way."

Draco looked alarmed at her idea, but didn't protest. That had never happened before, and she quickly wondered what had changed in him. Was he losing hope so much so that he might just help out a man he internally hates to help the mother he loves?

"He mentioned one last thing while I was there. One last alarming thing."

"Let me take a gander about what it is," he snapped sarcastically, turning away. She could see the hurt in his eyes. Obviously already knowing that the topic would hurt, she almost felt bad bringing it up. But nothing she'd mentioned really went over well, and in the end she decided declaring one last thing couldn't make it any worse.

"Abuse," she whispered, sinking back on the bed. "He used to hit you."

"And my mother," he spat bitterly. "Honestly, I expected you to figure that out a long time ago."

"I did," she said, her tone still soft. "A long time ago."

His expression faltered and the anger slowly slid off his face, watching her shamefully stare down at the ground. Telling himself that it was time to be controlled again he straightened and took a few calming breaths before wandering back towards her, sitting down on the bed as well.

"I just didn't say anything," she continued, refusing to look his way. "We weren't friends, and you didn't seem to want my help anyway."

"I probably wouldn't have taken it," he admitted dryly, "I was a stubborn prick of a child."

"You still are." He grinned softly at that, placing a hand on top of hers.

"What else did he tell you Hermione?"

She glanced his way. "You actually want me to continue? I was under the impression that you were done listening."

Pursing his lips, he took several moments to answer. "Because I can't avoid the truth forever."

Her eyebrows shot up. He was actually admitting that, when less than ten minutes ago he was angry at her for even bringing it up. "I don't understand," she admitted honestly.

"I don't either," he pouted. "But you keep bringing up my mother. She's the reason I'm going through with all of this insanity, because I don't want her to die. Yet I keep shooting down your suggestions to help her."

"Draco… what's gotten into you?"

He shrugged, looking away. "The Healer's came to talk to me while you were away yesterday."

Her eye widened and she flipped her hand over to grip his own, leaning closer. "What did they say?"

"She's dying, Hermione. She's slipping faster and faster every day. The longer I sit here doing nothing, the less of a chance I have at saving her. Someone came in yesterday… they requested that I pull the plug, saying that if and when she recovers she'll never quite be the same."

Hermione reached up, brushing away a stray tear from his cheek. "That's why you were so detached last night. Merlin Draco, you should've told me! We could've done something-"

"There's nothing that can be done," he admitted, pulling away from her. "That's the problem! That's the problem since the beginning… her problem is new, her insanity isn't helping and overall they see very little chance at recovery. I'm losing her; she's going to slip right through my fingers."

"We can still do something," she said, moving closer again. Brushing his hair from his forehead, she kissed his cheek. "They don't know that we got rid of the tattoo-"

"Yeah, the Dark Mark, and that didn't do shit. Someone noticed that it was gone yesterday and asked about it, but I just shrugged. It's not like I knew what to tell them anyway."

Her eyes widened. "Someone noticed that it was gone?"

"Yes, but the Healers have bigger things to worry about than that. When she gets better, well, that's when the questions will come. Until then I think they're just focusing on her health, as they should."

"Good," Hermione muttered, glad that it wouldn't be a problem for the time being. They sat in silence for a minute before she spoke again. "That's why you want me to keep talking, isn't it? You're getting scared, and therefore you want to push your way into topics you don't really want to discuss-"

"I don't have a choice anymore!" he snapped, pulling away as he stood. "She was a clock on her life now, a clock counting down the minutes and hours and days they suspect she has left! I should be there with her now, I should be helping her and holding her hand and trying to get her to wake up! But no, instead I'm here, talking about my problems instead of doing something about them. I should be with her!"

Hermione nodded, understanding that he wanted to be with her. He didn't tell her how long they predicted that she would survive, but she got the feeling it wasn't long from the way he was fretting.

"You should go back," she said at length, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "I'll come with."

"No," he said, clutching his head, "That's not what I want."

"Then what do you want Draco?" she asked, eyebrows drawing together. Now she really didn't understand.

He sighed, pacing the length of his room twice before he spoke. "Tell me what he told you."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me Hermione," he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Tell me, I need to know."

"Draco-"

"It could help!" he cried, getting closer to her. "I need to figure out his mindset, how his mind is working and how much he's willing to reveal about our past. So now you know my father used to beat me, okay? It's been going on since the summer after first-year. And it stopped a long time ago. I put my foot down, I stopped taking his shit. And I'll never let him hurt me now, or you, or my mother."

"Something tells me that he isn't into hurting your mother anymore," she said quietly, glancing away. He chuckled, but the sound came out broken and upset.

"I wouldn't let him. Hermione, I have to know what else he said. I have to know what else I can do to help her, what else he told you. I need to know."

Glancing at the clock, she realized they'd been talking for nearly an hour. He was desperate for her to answer his questions, and she felt like she should comply. He wanted to help his mother, and he would do anything to succeed, even delve into a past he couldn't stand to think about.

He loved his mother unconditionally, and Hermione got the feeling that once upon a time Narcissa was the shield between Draco and Lucius in his younger years. Now it seemed that her son felt he had to pay her back for all she did.

But it wasn't just that, and she knew it. Draco couldn't stand losing his mother, because his world would unravel. And although he wouldn't admit it, deep down she thought he might just feel the absence of his father too if something happened to the man. But, that was just a hunch.

In the end, she wished she hadn't told him anything. Not only was he upset that she knew he'd been abused, but she also ended up hearing stories of his own. Stories about a mother who stood against a crazy, evil man who hit her just as hard as he hit her son, and the hero Narcissa turned out to be in Draco's eyes. She finally understood why his mother was such an important person in his life, other than the obvious reasons; she did what mother's should, she protected her child.

That is until about fifth year when she stopped being able to. Draco said that he told her to stop standing in the way and that he could handle himself, but she didn't believe that to be the truth. Lucius told her that the tattoo made Narcissa weak and put her through pain, and that's what it sounded like happened. The woman slowly curled inside herself, becoming a shell of her former self. She was always in pain, normally silent, and easily controlled. Not only did it sound like the effects of her disdain for the tattoo were talking hold but also, it sounded like she was slowly giving up.

The end of fifth year marked the time that Draco would've gotten his tattoo. She was fairly certain it had something to do with that, but currently she wasn't sure.

Draco was off at St. Mungo's now, saying that he desperately needed to see his mother. He'd gotten lost down memory lane, repeating stories to her that he apparently didn't mean to, but he let them slip out of his lips anyway. Now it was noon and he was concerned about having not seen her the entire morning, and quickly excused himself to the hospital. Hermione said she would be along shortly, and he took that answer.

Before leaving, he gave her a searing kiss, one overloaded with emotion that reached down to her toes. It was the complete opposite of the night before, and she wondered if their talk was more uplifting or frightening. He left too fast for her to be completely sure.

Lucius was warded away from and banned from his wife because Draco feared that he would harm her again. And years of solitude and utter hatred left the man with much to think on, while his wife slipped away into herself. The wards where intact for protection for both Draco and Narcissa, with Draco being the barrier between his parents, but now Hermione was certain that choice did more harm than good. Only, she didn't think Draco saw it that way. In his eyes, his mother was safe from his father, and his father was suffering. All was good to him.

But it wasn't good, not really. The lasting effects took a toll on both parents, and now he's suffering trying to make things right. She worried that Draco will collapse under the pressure of trying to save his mother, who might be impossible to do.

And Hermione saw just one problem with saving his mother. His mother, despite all the odds, seemed very attached to her husband still, even after everything he'd done. And she doubted that Narcissa would take it lightly if Draco just left his father to suffer.

Despite everything, she thought that Draco might have to put his hatred aside, man up, and save his father as well, the very person that made his life hell for years.

A/n: Go ahead and shoot a review this way! I did my first few days of college this week, so I'm adjusting. There's a good chance updates will only be once a week after this, but I won't completely guarantee that. If I have the time I might post early since the chapters are quite short here :)