Chapter 4: Causa Comperio Processum
"Please stop Hermione. Don't cry. You look worse than I did last night."
She felt his arms around her shoulders as he pulled her onto the bed with him. She had enver known this about Draco. How had one night changed everyting? Why hadn't she guessed? She was the smartest witch in the school, she prided herself on knowing everything or nearly everything! Maybe because she had been clouded by Harry and Ron all these years and their enmity against the Slytherin. Maybe because Malfoy was always around with his pack of goons Crabbe and Goyle and always so foul-tempered. One could hardly get two polite words out of him. Or because he kept so much to himself as did she. She had to know one final thing about him before she would change her mind about him, but she couldn't do so properly when sitting on his lap. She gently tugged herself away and stood by his bedside. That was better, she could think clearly again. He looked a bit surprised, but not upset.
She took a deep breath and thought very hard and fast, this was it Draco Malfoy. Your one chance to redeem six years of being a toady, slimy, cruel, Slytherin,Malfoy bastard!
"Draco, since you brought up the whole thing, would you mind if I asked you a few more questions?"
He shrugged and nodded. "I guess not. I've never gone so far before and you did save my life. Go on, while I'm still in a good mood."
"You say you do everything to be self serving? Everything to preserve the Malfoy name and fortune?"
"Yes."
"What is the Malfoy name worth Draco? What did your family uphold and value throughout the years, before Lucius and your grandfather?"
"Honour. Ambition. Doing what is right." Malfoy intoned, as if he had memorized it from a book.
"So you will strive for those things?"
"Y-yes, Hermione. Where is this going?"
"And what about your own interests Draco? Those interests that you claim you want to serve too. What do you want?"
Draco thought for a while before answering slowly, "I want-to be free to make my own choices. Liberty. I want to be happy, comfortable. I guess just the usual things anybody would want."
"Draco, what would make you happy?"
"Hermione, are you playing mind-games with me?"
"You said you would answer my questions." She said in that stubborn way of hers.
For a while it seemed that Draco might have blanked out. He kept very still and quiet. But she knew he was thinking seriously about her question because his eyes were very bright.
"Hermione, this is embarrassing." He said at last.
"What would make you happy? Draco, answer me!"
He struggled for a while more internally. "To have love. Accpetance."
He couldn't believe he had just said the words. She was one damn powerful witch.
"You aren't a selfish, self-serving bastard, Draco. You're a good person." Hermione was smiling. "You hide it well though."
"And you, Hermione, are some damn powerful witch. With you around, who needs Veritaserum?"
Then they both started laughing and choking at the same time.
"Granger, if you tell anyone about what happened here today, I will personally see to it that you manage to fail every test from now to graduation."
She gulped. Failing examinations was the worst threat to Hermione Granger.
"Sure. But Malfoy, if you told anyone that I slept in your bed and cried over your slimy little Slytherin ass, I will tell the whole school that you have naughty dreams about Pansy Parkinson.
Draco shuddered. Wow, she was good, he thought. "Sure." He said. "Now come here and bring the Wizard's Chess set so that I can finally teach you how to play this game properly and whip Weasel's ass. Ouch! Okay, I mean Weasley's."
