~Flashback~

"Malfoy, the Death Eaters are here! We need to fight!" Harry shouted at Draco.

"Potter! Wait! Dumbledore said that most of the Death Eaters were intercepted as the invading Hogsmeade! We shouldn't put ourselves in danger. The Order and Aurors are stationed around Hogwarts." Draco told Harry.

"Ok, but lets watch the map to make sure none of them got through." Harry said as he pulled out the Marauders Map. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

The tiny lines emerged all over the paper and soon all of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry could be seen from their position in the Astronomy Tower. Harry poured over the right side of the map while Draco poured over the left.

"There's Weasley. Oh, and Weasleyette is right there with Loony Lovegood," Draco said aloud. "But where's Hermione?" he mused to himself.

Harry and Draco searched all over the map, and when they finally located on the miniscule dot labeled 'Hermione Granger,' next to the Whomping Willow, Draco nearly had a heart attack. The dot labeled Lucius Malfoy was creeping towards her.

"My father! He got through! I have to help her!" Before Harry could object, Draco had grabbed his broomstick and left the Astronomy Tower, flying for all he was worth towards the Whomping Willow, Harry not far behind him. Draco landed 50 feet away from the Whomping Willow and he crept stealthily towards it.

When he was a mere 5 feet away from the thrashing tree, Draco looked around for Hermione. She was sitting on the ground, staring intently into the woods, searching her surroundings for Death Eaters. Lucius was slowly making his way around the tree, in the opposite way Draco was going. He had his wand raised and his mask obscuring his face. Malfoy Sr. surreptitiously crept towards the oblivious girl, his black cloak making him invisible in the inky black night.

Lucius raised his wand. He began to roar, "Avad-" but he was too late.

Seconds before, Draco saw his father raise his wand and roared, "Avada Kedavra!"

Lucius fell face first to the ground, unmarked and unmistakably dead. Hermione whipped around and saw Draco standing there, Harry behind him. They both had their wands raised. Hermione looked at the ground and saw the dead body lying there.

She began to tremble. "Who- Who was it?" she asked in a shaky voice. Instead of waiting for them to tell her, she bent down and pulled the mask off the face.

It was the face of Eloise Midgeon. Hermione gasped up at Draco. "You murderer!" she screamed.

"Hermione, that isn't Eloise! That's Lucius Malfoy!" Harry tried explaining to the hysterical girl but she didn't hear him.

"You! You killed her! She was on our side! I knew that I shouldn't trust you!" Hermione said, her finger pointing at Draco's chest. "I should kill you!" Hermione had just reached for her wand when Harry grabbed her arms.

"Hermione, calm down. That is not Eloise. You don't want to kill Draco!" Harry shouted.

Hermione wrenched her arms out of his grasp, turned on her heel and ran away from the both of them towards the castle.

Just then, Neville's voice sounded. "All of the Death Eaters are gone! We can go back inside!" He was jumping for joy. Neville himself had just killed Bellatrix Lestrange.

"I guess we won," Harry said to Draco. "We can go back inside now."

"No!" Draco said sharply. "You go in. I'm going to stay here to make sure that this was really my father."

"I'll go get Dumbledore," Harry said and left Draco's side. Minutes after Harry left, the face of Eloise Midgeon began to clear up and turn pale. His brown hair started to turn lighter and it grew longer. Soon, as Dumbledore joined Draco's side, the face and body of Lucius Malfoy was unmistakable.

"I killed him Professor," Draco said simply. "I needed to save Hermione. He was going to kill her. Hermione thought I killed Eloise Midgeon. She'll never forgive me. "

Dumbledore clapped Draco on the shoulder, his blue eyes' twinkle extinguished. "You did the right thing Draco. Hermione will understand in time."

~Flashback End~

~*~*~*~*~

Author Note: Just to double clarify things... this entire chapter was a flashback! Ok, please read and review!

Moony2187