Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all in the Harry Potter universe.

Courage to Find the Strength

Chapter 4

Hermione decided the best way to uncover the truth was to follow Draco Malfoy. Eventually, it had to lead to more evidence incriminating himself and his father. After discussing it earlier that evening, Ron and Harry remained violently unconvinced by her arguments. Still, Hermione wasn't easily swayed from a path once she set her mind to it. So it was with practiced ease that she let herself out of Gryffindor Tower without being detected. It also didn't hurt to have Harry's invisibility cloak, she smiled to herself. Harry had been most aggrieved to part with it for the evening, but he grudgingly handed it over when she argued it would help keep her safe. She stealthily made her way down towards the area where the Slytherin dungeons would be located. Hermione had a feeling that Draco would leave to visit his father, at the very least to demand answers for his shabby treatment at Hogwarts over the last twenty-four hours, and she wasn't disappointed. Nearing the stroke of midnight, Draco made his way out of the secret Slytherin dungeon entrance. He was using a spell that made him invisible to anyone not looking for him, but that didn't affect Hermione any. She followed at a safe distance as he made his way out of Hogwarts and towards the dark forest. They eventually came to a clearing in the trees. Standing in the pale moonlight was the nefarious looking Lucius Malfoy.

"You got my owl's message, I see," Draco greeted his father with a grim, determined look on his face. Hermione saw the tension knotting his shoulders under his green wizard's robes. Lucius cocked his head to the side and frowned at his son, but said nothing.

"So, what's with the treatment at Hogwarts?" Draco drawled, nodding back towards the school.

"I had to make a point, boy. No one dares defy me, least of all a spoiled brat like you," Lucius snarled. "It's amazing how people will act when they hear a Slytherin pure-blood stuck up for a disgusting Gryffindor mudblood. I simply told them and Professor Snape you were no longer worthy of even their words, let alone their company."

"But I bet you didn't tell them exactly what we were doing when I saved the bitch's hide, did you?" Draco countered.

One side of Lucius's mouth twitched into a smile. "No, I didn't need to. They seemed to hear all they needed to ostracize you without including that little tidbit."

Draco's fists clenched. "I want it to end. I want you to make everything like it was."

"Oh, Draco, dear son, I can't possibly do that. At least, not while you let that Gryffindor whore live. You know the price to get back in my, and the Dark Lord's, good graces." He was all smiles and false sympathy now.

"What? So I can continue to be your pawn?" He answered, strongly laced with sarcasm and contempt.

"An..unfortunate choice of words. Would being called a soldier in the Dark Lord's army suit you more?"

"Either way, if I do decide to join up with you and the rest of the Death Eaters, it will be on my own terms." He put a hard emphasis on the word "if."

Lucius laughed darkly. "You still don't seem to understand. You don't have a choice. Everything you hold dear, I gave to you. Everything you love comes from me." Lucius's eyes narrowed and all pleasantness was erased from his voice.

"And I can take it all, everything, away like that." Lucius snapped his fingers startling both the hidden Hermione and Draco.

"Do your worst, father. I won't be bullied into this."

"I warn you, Draco. This is your last chance. Give in to me now or," he paused for effect, "I have no son."

Draco gritted his teeth, clenched his jaw, but refused to give him an answer.

Lucius shook his head and had an extremely disappointed look on his face. "Very well. I see you've made your choice." He took out his wand and smiled at the obvious flinching of his son. He uttered a few magic words and disappeared in a dark cloud of oily smoke.

Hermione looked back at Draco who had his eyes closed. The boy fell to his knees, obviously defeated. It took a few moments before Hermione realized that Draco Malfoy was silently crying. She was transfixed by the sight of his tears falling on the soft dark green grass. She almost jumped out of her skin when Draco suddenly pounded the earth with both of his fists and uttered a soul-piercing yell at the cold stars above. She was so startled she didn't notice the cloak fall away from her face and portion of her body. They both remained frozen in their positions. One was slumped over drowning in misery. The other had her head bowed, silently commiserating with his pain, tears staining her cheeks. Never before in her life had Harmione Granger felt so sorry for someone, even someone as nasty and horrible as Draco Malfoy. No one deserved to have parents who didn't love them or support them. Suppose her parents gave her an ultimatum to either become a fellow dentist or risk losing their love forever. Even though the thought that someone's parents could be so cruel and heartless was absurd, here she was witnessing its tragedy with her own eyes. Softly, she sniffled.

Draco's head instantly popped up and his body become excruciatingly alert. Wand immediately in hand, he scanned the area looking for the owner of the sound. Harmione froze, panic consuming her as she fumbled for the hood of the cloak. But she wasn't quick enough. "Granger?!" Draco incredulously asked. "What the fuck are you doing out here?"

Forgetting her panic because it might get her killed, she tried her best to calmly reply, "What do you think I'm doing out here?" Her voice was shaky but adequately cocky.

Draco tilted his head to look at her. His emotions were a mixture of shock and anger. "Are you following me, mudblood?"

Harmione visibly bristled. "I hate it when you call me that. Yes, I was following you."

"Why?" His eyes had a dangerous glint to them, and he advanced menacingly towards her.

"Because I think you're up to something, Malfoy, and I'm going to find out what." She thrust her chin out defiantly and clutched her own wand tightly in her fist. A million hexes and anti-hexes sprang to mind.

Through a clenched jaw and only a few paces away he said, "So you thought to follow me out into the dark forest so you could what? Listen in on conversations you should have never heard?"

Hermione gulped and backed up a step. She had never seen Draco look so evil before. Perhaps this wasn't the best idea. Just because he refused to take her life once didn't warrant a repeat performance. "Malfoy, I.."

"What, mudblood, you're going to run back to your little Gryffindor friends and tell them that poor Draco Malfoy had a fight with his father? Are you going to tell them that you saw him cry?" The voice was cold and full of malicious intent. He was inches from her now, his eyes boring holes into hers. He reached up to grab her hair.

Hermione was scared out of her mind. In a tiny, frightened voice she whispered, "Draco, please.."

That seemed to stop him because his eyes took on a startled look. That was the second time she said his first name and again it made him pause. He just continued to stare at her and then at his fingers in her hair. After a few moments of staring at and feeling the texture of her honey-colored hair in his hand, he pulled away like he had been burned.

"Get away from me, Granger." Malfoy turned his back to her and walked off into the field.

Harmione stood there staring at him with a mixture of terror and wonderment, then she turned and fled as fast her feet would go back towards Hogwarts.