I am short on words knowing what's occurred…I wish that I could carry her, but this is our ungodly hour…Tomorrow finds the best way out is through…

The Fray

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Harry sighed to himself as he pulled out a piece of parchment and hurriedly scratched out a note to his wife, Ginny.

Need you to come to my office. Making an arrest. You may have to restrain Hermione. Will explain later. Knock when you get here.

-Harry

Typically, Harry would end his letters to Ginny with some sign of endearment. Ginny would understand the seriousness of the situation from the omission of affection in his owl.

Draco wanted to know who he was writing. Perhaps he was black mailing his family with the information he'd just obtained, and was intending on letting him go free so long as he received a worthwhile sum for his silence?

He hated that he couldn't speak. He was barely able to wiggle against the charm cast by the yellow band. All he managed to do was look at Harry with a confused expression, but Potter wasn't paying him any mind.

It wasn't long after Harry sent away his owl when they heard a light rapping at the door, signaling Ginny's arrival. Harry heaved another heavy sigh as he walked over to Draco and wrapped his hand around the loop of his restraint so that he could guide him along as they walked out of the office.

"I'm going to make sure you burn for what you've done Malfoy," Harry promised, whispering hotly into his ear just before he yanked the office door open and forced him out into the hall, pulling aggressively at his bonding ties.

Hermione's eyes flashed with surprised confusion as she watched Harry pull Draco out of his office in arrest restraints.

"Harry Potter, what on earth of you doing?!" she shouted and lunged forward to break the tie between the two men.

"Back off Hermione!" Harry wedged his body between her and Draco to keep her away. This only upset Hermione and caused her to pull her wand out at Harry. Harry unsheathed his wand just as quickly and prepared to defend himself against his friend.

"Ginny? Some help here?!"

"What in Merlin's beard is going on Harry?" Ginny was just as confused as Hermione and was hesitate to act in defense of anyone.

"I'm taking Malfoy under arrest," explained Harry with a forceful determination gritted in his voice.

"What for?" Hermione demanded to know. "Draco, what's going on?" She looked to Draco pleadingly, hoping he would be able to explain what was happening; but knowing he was unable to speak or fight back against Potter, Draco merely looked down at the hallway floor, averting his eyes from the disappointed and rage filled eyes of the woman he loved. The last thing he wanted was to be looking into them when they shattered in heartbreak once she learned what he had done.

"You have to back off Hermione. I'm sorry." Harry maintained his raised wand and began to back up down the hallway with Draco in his tow.

Hermione began to follow them, but Ginny pulled at her arm and held her back.

"Hermione, leave it be. I-I'm sure if Harry is arresting Malfoy then it's for good reason." There was a hint of doubt in her voice, but she knew that the best thing to do was trust her husband when she was in doubt. Hesitant to use physical restraint against Hermione, she placed a forceful hand on Hermione's shoulder and tried to edge her back. "You know that it's against the law to interfere with a Ministry arrest, and Harry is a Ministry official making an arrest in a government building right now. I'm sure he just doesn't want to see you get into trouble."

"It's also illegal to make a false arrest based on your personal dislike of someone!" Hermione shouted out towards Harry, but he had already slipped past the corner and out of sight with Draco.

Hermione was seething, she tried to calm herself down but every part of her was screaming to chase Harry down and free Draco from the confines of his restraints. There was so much happening at once and she didn't understand a bit of it. She hated feeling in the dark like this, at a complete loss of power.

"C'mon," said Ginny as she led Hermione into Harry's office. "Let's wait here. I'm sure he'll explain everything when he gets back."

Hermione was hesitant to follow her instruction. She knew that Ginny meant well, but she didn't understand how she was feeling in that moment. Then again, what else could she do? It wouldn't be smart of her to charge at Harry in the middle of the Ministry. She'd have to wait for Harry to get back, and figure out her next move after he got back.

It didn't take long for Harry to come back. He was panting slightly as if he had run back to his office, knowing Hermione wasn't likely to grant him patience for long.

The moment the door opened, Hermione walked up to him and greeted him with a sharp slap across the face.

"Hermione!" Ginny called out in appalled shock.

Hermione raised her hand to hit him again, but Harry took hold of her wrist before her arm flew back across his face.

"I know you're angry…but I had to!" Harry exclaimed.

"You had to? Why?" Hermione's lisps were pursed so tightly it reminded him briefly of being scolded by McGonagall back in his school days.

Harry shook his head. "You won't believe me if I tell you, and I don't think you're ready to hear it yet."

"What?" Hermione looked at him incredulously, her voice was a venomous whisper. Was he mad? How could he presume that he could arrest the man she was in love with and then provide her with no answers?

"You're livid right now Hermione. I don't know the whole truth of things, but clearly your attachment to Malfoy is unhealthy. I'm not going to tell you why I arrested him because, firstly, I don't think you'll believe me and I don't want to hurt you more than necessary when you're already this upset."

"You don't know anything about me Harry," seethed Hermione.

"Don't I?" Harry almost laughed sarcastically. "I know you better than you think, and I can tell you that staying away from that death eater is the best thing for you!"

Ginny was sitting behind Harry's desk silently watching the two of them standing dangerously close to the other, both giving off a threatening demeanor as they glared back into each other's eyes.

"Why did you arrest him?" Hermione asked him once again with a tense voice.

"I'm not going to tell right you-,"

"You know what?" Hermione cut him off and laughed in his face. "I don't need you to tell me! Actually, I don't need you at all! You made that arrest in my department, and so I'll have clearance to see him in the holding cells. You still work for me, remember? That means any arrest you make on the clock fall under my authority."

"Hermione, don't-!" Before Harry was able to act, Hermione had pushed him down towards his desk. He barely caught his fall on the edge of the desk table and quickly managed to stand back up. Ginny shot up with her wand out, ready to aid Harry, but before either was able to act Hermione had slammed the door of the office shut, sealed it with a charm and blocked their ability to apparate out of the office. Harry ran to the door and shook at the handle, but it refused to budge.

"She locked us in here!" Harry shouted as he kicked the door in frustration, it rebounded violently in reaction to the charm causing him to yelp out in pain.

Hermione sped down to the holding cells. She knew that she wouldn't have long before Harry was back on her trail. He may not be able to open the door, but once he calmed down he would realize he could still floo out of his office.

The holding cells were located in the basement of the ministry. There were no windows, it was a dark and dreary place; a precursor to Azkaban.

Hermione approached the service desk, showed her Ministry I.D. to the witch working the desk, then slide it under the glass panel that stood between them.

The woman behind the glass picked up her I.D. then scanned it with her wand to verify its authenticity and reveal her clearance. She nodded her head in approval then passed it back.

"There was an arrest made in my department within the hour. Draco Malfoy. Which cell is he located in?"

The woman looked down at a clipboard. "He just got placed in one... let's see…Cell 38C, down the hall, third corridor on the right."

Hermione walked past the archway leading to the cellblocks and turned at the third corridor on the right as directed. Draco's cell was located at the very end of the hall, secluded far from anyone else.

When she got to the cell she saw him sitting in the corner, his hands wrapped over his knees, the yellow band still tied around them.

"Draco…" Hermione walked up to his cell bars and knelt down beside him. She shook her head regretfully, "What is going on…"

Draco wished she would leave. She was the last person he wanted to face right now. He couldn't bear to see her reaction when she learned her parents were dead, and that he'd done nothing to prevent it. They had died at the hands of his best friend and he was the sole audience to their demise. Clenching his eyes shut, he turned his head away to show that he didn't want to see her, but she didn't understand the message.

"I'm going to get clearance to have that stupid band removed so you can speak, then I'll get you out of here as soon as I can. I think I can still pull a few strings with Percy-,"

Draco began to quickly shake his head.

"What? Why not?"

"Because he knows he belongs there," said Harry Potter breathlessly.

Hermione shot around and stood up. "Go away Harry."

"No, I'm not going away Hermione and you're not going to get him out of that cell."

Ginny followed up behind him a few moments after he arrived.

"Take that band off of him!" demanded Hermione.

Draco shook his head faster. He didn't want to explain what he'd done. Not here, not now.

Harry glared at Draco in disgust. "Look, he doesn't even want me to Hermione. He's a coward! He's always been one. If you make me take that band off he'll have to face what he's done in front of you and he doesn't want to do that. Malfoy is too used to running away from the consequences of his actions. The spoiled prat has always been entitled to do so until now."

"I don't care. Remove it." Hermione was adamant.

"As much as I want to make him own up to his heinous crimes, I don't want to hurt you more than necessary Hermione. I really don't think…"

Hermione pulled her wand out again and Harry could tell she really meant it this time.

"Take it off Harry or I'm going to do something that will get me landed in a cell of my own."

Ginny quickly pulled out her wand in line with Hermione's. "Hermione, stop this. Have some sense."

"I'm not the one acting senseless, Ginny. Harry, tell me what's going on or so help me Merlin…"

"Fine, fine! You asked for it to be this way Hermione, just remember that!" Harry sounded regretful more so than angry. All he had wanted to do was protect her, but Hermione was too stubborn to give up control to anyone. She asked for it to be this way.

Harry took out his wand. "Put your hands up to the bar Malfoy."

Draco seemed to plead with his eyes for another way.

"You heard her. Unless you want Hermione to go off the rails, you'll put your arms up to the bars and comply with what she wants. You have to tell her what you did eventually. No one here feels bad for you."

Draco begrudgingly complied as he pushed his arms up against the bar. Harry cut the yellow tie with the tip of his wand and it disintegrated into thin air, leaving behind a small wasp of yellow spoke.

Hermione knelt back down on the floor to be level with Draco. "What happened Draco? Why are you in here?" She tightly wound her hands around the bars, hoping that he would reach out and hold onto them. She wanted to him touch her, have him caress her hand and assure her that everything was going to be okay. A simple physical connection seemed as if it could ground and comfort her. It had to be a mistake that he was back behind these bars.

Draco opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Not because of a charm, but out of fear. How could he speak the words out loud that would shatter the heart of the woman he loved?

"Whatever Harry says is true…" He quietly spoke up, his bottom lip trembled with an anxious fear.

"Harry hasn't said anything. He won't tell me why he arrested you."

"He can though. I can't- I can't admit to it you Hermione. Not to your face." Draco was shaking his head again.

"I don't understand." Hermione's eyes were brimming with furious tears. "Quit leaving me in the dark here! You need to tell me what happened. Explain!"

"She's right Draco. The least you can do is admit to what you've done. We get the burden of cleaning up your mess, but you have to own up to it."

An awkward moment of silence passed between them as Draco stood up and moved to the far end of the cell, as far away from Hermione as possible.

"No." Draco refused. "I'll get an attorney and just refute the whole thing." He felt afraid, the reality of his situation was sinking in and he no longer wanted to face it.

"If you do that, I'll just submit the memory of your confession to the court. You can't get out of this Malfoy. Plus, I'm sure Blaise will give you up the moment we arrest him."

"What does Blaise have to do with this?" Hermione asked, becoming more confused by the minute.

Draco punched the wall in front of him in frustration. His knuckles split and immediately began to bleed down his hand, but he didn't care.

"Draco, whatever it is. Just tell me…" Hermione had calmed her voice and was pleading with him. In the depth of her heart, she was hoping that whatever he had done, whatever had happened, it wouldn't be so big that their love couldn't overcome it. She knew without a doubt that she loved the man standing broken before her. What could possibly be so bad that it could destroy what they felt?

She hadn't been expecting the sledgehammer that hit her down to her heart's core as he opened his mouth and finally confessed,

"I was involved in the death of your parents..."

The floor seemed to slide away from under her. Hermione was fortunate that she was already on the floor, or she was sure she would have fallen.

"The death of….what…my parents aren't'…," she mumbled in confusion.

"Your parents are dead." Draco repeated himself. He was standing facing the wall, blood dripping from his knuckles down to the cell floor. No matter what, he refused to look at her. The shaking of her voice was enough to destroy him. He could feel the pain begin as the realization of his words settled in within her.

"How? When?"

Ginny crouched down next to Hermione and put her arm around her. This was all news to her as well. Suddenly she understood Harry's rage. All she wanted to do was blast apart the bars of the cell before her and throttle Malfoy.

"Blaise and I…" Soon after her started to speak, his voice began to falter and break. Draco couldn't do it. He couldn't go into details. The few words that he had managed were hard enough to vocalize. "It was before you arrested me," he clarified. "When we got to their house, I knew you would find out…so I brought you here. I came to confess to Harry. I didn't want to admit it to your face…and I couldn't lie to you."

"You've been lying to me all this time!" She shouted. "How could you…everything we had…everything we did and the whole time you knew you had murdered my parents?!"

Hermione had shattered. She had broken. There was nothing certain in her world anymore, no sense of truth, no faith in trust. If this was real, then her whole life must be a lie.

"I didn't know they were your parents." Draco realized how feeble that sounded now, but it was the truth. Hermione was unlikely to believe it, but at least Draco knew that he had never intended to hurt her.

His confession was met with silence. Wearily, he turned around to face the clump of sorrow on the floor that barely resembled the woman he loved.

Hermione's face was pale, her mouth gaped in shock as she stared down at the floor in a cloud of disbelief. Draco couldn't tell if she had heard him say that he hadn't known they were her parents. She looked unable to register any more information. She was in shock.

"C'mon Hermione, let's get you out here." Ginny helped Hermione stand up. Harry reached out to help her and they began to lead Hermione away.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. I would never hurt you intentionally Hermione! I can explain what happened. I didn't know…" Draco was begging. A few minutes ago, he would have given anything to keep his confession far away from Hermione. Now, after seeing the horrified look on her face, all he wanted to do was explain in detail what had happened and why it had occurred. He needed her to understand that he didn't do this to hurt her. He needed her to know that he hadn't deceived her. His love for her had always been real, and this was a mistake he'd made before he knew her the way he did now. Even if she hated him forever, he needed her to know the truth.

Hermione refused to look at him.

"She doesn't want to hear you Malfoy. You'll have your day to explain in court. Until then, you can rot down here and I hope your conscious, if you ever developed one, makes you suffer," spat Harry as he helped Ginny lead Hermione away from his cell and out of the Ministry.

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A/N: Thanks to everyone still reading. I had a bit of lapse in updating due to personal circumstances and tragedy in my community. The semester has started up so even though i'll be busy, i'll have time to write and update again. I still am writing a sequel to this story so just know that no matter what happens after this- it's not the end! So no getting too angry with me. I'm just the author ;)

Thanks for the reviews. Can't believe we're almost at 500 reviews. You lot are the best!

See you next Chapter!

-Jazzy1