Part five

Draco and Ron were both in Draco's lab, where he was mixing together a new batch of the Drug. "You really think this will work?" Ron asked Draco as he put the cauldron on the magical fire.

"I don't see why not. Cold turkey is stupid and dangerous-more for me than for you. So if you just start with a weaker substance, and slowly work down, you should be clean in a couple of weeks. A month at least."

"Good." He was getting fidgety. "Where did I put that bottle..."

"Focus for a moment please. Hogwarts."

"I don't want to go back..."

"Do we have much choice in the matter?"

Ron shook his head. "We should at least talk to Hermione first."

Draco frowned. "We should. You do it."

"You afraid of her?"

"Yes." Ron laughed. "She hits hard! I experienced it plenty our last two years of school. When she gets her hands on me, there won't be anything left. Rip me apart with her teeth, most likely. And I deserve it too. Possibly worse."

Ron ignored his last comment. "She's at Oxford. Lets go."

***

Ron looked at the paper, then at the door. "Yep, this is it." He knocked on the dorm room door.

A tall blond girl answered. "Do I know you?"

"Um, no," he said. "We're here to see Hermione."

"Hermione Granger?" Draco nodded. The girl laughed. "If you say so. Hey, Hermione." Hermione looked up from the thick book she was reading. "I'd say you had company, but they're male, so that can't be right."

Hermione got up off the bed. "No," she agreed, missing the sarcasm, "that's not right." She came to the door. Draco quickly moved out of sight. Her jaw seemed to drop to the floor. "Ron?!" She all but threw herself at him, hugging him tightly. "Ron! It's been ages!" She led him in. Draco lingered at the door. "Just abso-bloody-lutely forever."

"It has, hasn't it?" Draco said. Hermione turned, her eyes immediately darkening. She didn't speak a word to him, just walked up, calmly as anything.

She punched him in the face.

He reeled back into the hallway, clutching his face. When he took his hand away there was blood. Hermione's roommate gave a little shriek and rushed to give him a tissue. "Are you nuts! You can't destroy a face like that!"

"No, no, it's okay," he said, accepting the tissues. He came back into the room and sat down in a desk chair as the blond hovered over him. "I deserve worse than that."

"Believe me," Hermione said. "You're going to get it." She was rolling up her sleeves.

Ron stepped in. "Cool it, Hermione."

Now she turned to him. "What?" she asked in disbelief. "Why? Why did you bring him here? You can't possibly be friends with him."

"I'm his dealer," Draco said, holding his head back to stop the blood flow of his nose.

Hermione looked back at him. "What?!" The roommate laughed at the chaos in the room. "Tracy, dear? Could you leave us for a moment?"

"Just when we finally get some action, I have to leave. I see how it is." She picked up a purse from the desk. "Fine, fine, fine. I'm gone."

Hermione glared at Draco as Tracy left. "Hermione," Ron said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We have to talk. Important stuff."

Hermione shook here head. "Me first. Why are you two here together and not killing each other?"

"Very good question," Draco said. "I guess I'm just a nice guy. Weasley's been crashing at my place since he lost his job and got kicked out of his mummy's house."

Hermione turned to Ron. "Because?"

Ron didn't know how to say it, and since Draco had already dropped the bombshell...."She found my stash."

She sighed. "Which brings me to my next question."

"It's a wizard drug. A potion, technically. I've been cutting back. Been clean since," he looked at his watch. "Noon."

Draco laughed, but Hermione looked somber. "Ron, how could you?"

"I was depressed, Draco was there, he had some on him...."

"I should hit him again, shouldn't I?"

"No, wouldn't be wise. Should'a seen what he did to his father. You don't want to tick him off."

Hermione crossed her arms. "No. We wouldn't want that. Well guess what." She turned to Draco angrily. "You don't have anyone to hide behind now. Not your goons, not your daddy. You can pretend all you want. If you want to be a bad ass, go ahead. I know what you really are, Malfoy."

Ron looked over at Draco, who only smiled thinly. "I don't go by that name anymore. Just Draco. You get one warning. You don't get another."

"Well aren't you so high and mighty. *Don't* romanticize your 'tragic past.' Draco."

He winced at her comment. "Okay. That's a hit. A valid hit. I'll accept it, for now. Just watch your tongue, Granger. You'll step over the line one day."

"Big threats from a petty little ferret."

"I'm serious. I'm not the same person I was four years ago. I'm much worse." He sighed, looking at the dried blood on his hands. "Where's your bathroom?"

Hermione jabbed a thumb at a door behind her. He exited, leaving the two old friends. "Ron. What is going on? I hear nothing from you in almost four years. Then you show up at my door with Draco Malfoy."

Ron looked at her, serious. "We know how to get our powers back."

Something dropped in the pit of Hermione's stomach. "That's not funny, Ron," she said quietly.

"We have a lead on a powerful witch, who claims to know how to bring our powers back."

"Dumbledore couldn't even do that."

"You Know Who was afraid of her." Ron filled Hermione in on what they knew from Draco's experience with his father. As he was finishing, Draco returned. It looked like he had stuck his entire head in the sink.

"So are you coming with?" he asked her.

Hermione sat back and closed her eyes. "I don't know. I don't think I want to go through all of that again. I've just re-established myself. I'm back in school, I'll probably be a dentist like my parents in a few more years..." She finished quickly, "And Hogwarts put me years behind so I have to study now." She picked her book back up off the bed.

Ron glanced at Draco helplessly.

"Bull."

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked Draco.

"Bull. You miss it just as much as Ron and I. Every morning you wake up, and even if you're perfectly content with your life, everything going how you want it, you still know that there's something missing. You feel it, don't you?"

Hermione spoke quietly. "So what if I do?"

It was Ron's turn to speak. "Come with us, Hermione."

She thought for a long while. "But, but...I have classes!"

***

The three began their road trip to Hogsmeade a short time later, despite Hermione's weak protests. "Couldn't we have taken floo powder or something?" Ron started moaning a mere hour into the ride. "It's getting late after all."

"Stop whining," Draco said, at the wheel. "C'mon. Road trip!"

"Locked in a car with you two for hours on end. I'm enjoying myself." Hermione leaned against the window.

Ron was feeling around in his pockets. "Hermione? There's a little green bottle in the glove compartment. Hand it back here, please?"

She dug around for it. Finding the bottle she studied it carefully. She unstopped it, smelled the liquid. "My god! What is this stuff?" She glanced back at him. Sweat beads were beginning to to form on his forehead. His eyes were bright as he looked at her.

"You know."

She gave it to him reluctantly. "I don't think I like you as much as I used to, Ron. I love you, you know. You're my best friend. But I'm not sure I like you."

"It's okay. I don't like me much either."

Draco frowned. "Don't get all mushy on me, you two. Ron, take your Drugs and get happy. I don't need to listen to this."

"Shut up," Hermione snapped. "This is all your fault. Every bloody bit of it is your fault. How can you sleep at night?"

"I don't."

***

It wasn't long before Ron was passed out in the back seat. Hermione watched Draco light a cigarette. "Why do you smoke?"

He took a long drag. "Easiest way to commit suicide."

"Oh." She looked down at her hands. "It's been the worst for you, huh?"

"Driving a car is a lot harder than riding a broom."

"There was subtext in that, wasn't there?" He nodded. She looked at him for a moment. "Well, you deserved it."

"No argument there."

She sat silent for a full five minutes. "You knew what was going to happen that night in the forest. You knew you were taking us to our deaths."

"I was told, 'take Harry Potter to this place and time.' Sure, I knew what was going to happen, but no one told me." He paused. "I don't know why I hated Harry Potter. He supported Dumbledore, I supported the Dark Lord. That's how it worked. Even if I wanted to think any differently, I wasn't allowed."

More silence followed. "If You Know Who was still in power, would you be a death eater?"

He sighed, not wanting to talk anymore. "If he had never fallen, and I still had my powers, yes. I would be a Death Eater. Don't look at me like that. I'm being honest. You ask, I answer. But. If he were to come back right this second, no. I wouldn't, whether we got our powers back or not. I'm never going to admit to being a good person, but I would like to think that I'm not evil."

"Oh."

"I think we're almost there."

*****

A/N: Spent way too much time on this, but I finally got it worked out. I know I promised Snape in this part, but he got shoved into the next. On the other hand, most of his part has already been written, so it won't take long to get the next chapter up.

Shameless plug: While you're waiting for the next part, go read 'Stalker's Thoughts,' my newest.