Chapter Two: Disturbed Thoughts
Golden rays of dawn penetrated the thin, semi-transparent curtains of the Hospital Wing, casting light upon the countenance of the pale teenager half- reclining on his bed. However, it did nothing to relieve the troubled expression reflected in his steely gray eyes.

The events of last night were... unsettling, and that was the grand understatement of the fucking century.

He didn't know who his assailants were. He knew it wasn't the wonder brothers, much to his disappointment. Gryffindor had Quidditch practice around that time and no way in hell could their captain have skipped it just to beat the crap out of him. His next best guess was on the Hufflepuffs, some of the idiots from that house have been hell bent on a righteous quest to vanquish evil ever since the fall of their beloved hero, Cedric Diggory.

Fuck that sodding house of justice.

No wait, that would be the Gryffindors.

Well, fuck the lot of them then!

However, thinking of Gryffindor inevitably brought his thoughts back to the Head Girl, his... savior.

The very idea! He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. It was utterly ridiculous, to think of the know-it-all mudblood, one third of the bane of his existence as his savior -

Yet the feel of her warm embrace was now etched forever into his mind. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could almost feel those thin arms around his shoulders, holding him up, helping him breathe, lending him strength when he needed it the most.

She ended the spell that would otherwise have taken his life, and then brought him here to heal. Even though she had clearly seen the dark mark on his arm.

Even though he had called her filth and mudblood repeatedly, laughed at her miseries, taunted her when she cried...

Draco buried his face in his hands and groaned. Now he was feeling... unsettled. All of his life, he had been taught to be proud, he was of the purest blood and he was better than the lot of them. He had been outraged when Potter and Granger were named Head Boy and Girl respectively. He had snarled and seethed to his Slytherin peers, calling Dumbledore a senile old fool because he chose a half blood and a mudblood to be the head students of one of the oldest wizarding school. He was making a grand joke out of them all!

But was he really? If Granger was filth, then why was she capable of acts so... noble?

Light footsteps echoing around the empty corridor brought him back to the present. Looking up, he was slightly startled to find the very person occupying his thoughts standing in the doorway.

For a while they simply looked at each other, warm chocolate brown eyes meeting cold, gray ones. And then Draco looked away first.

"What do you want, Mudblood?" He asked harshly, annoyed that he wasn't quite able to meet her eyes. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to take them back. He felt... petty.

Hermione's eyes hardened. She pressed her lips into a thin line, before finally opening them to speak: "Are you feeling okay, Malfoy?"

"Fine." He mumbled.

"Have you seen any of your attackers?"

He shook his head.

She nodded: "Very well then. I have informed Professor Dumbledore of the events last night, of... everything that I've witnessed, and he will be here to speak to you shortly."

Draco closed his eyes briefly. That means she told the old nut about the dark mark, fuck!

Hermione waited a few seconds, and then inclined her head slightly: "Well then, good day, Malfoy."

"Wait." He called after her just when she turned to leave, and slowly, she turned around to face him again.

"What is it, Malfoy?"

"Why did you help me?" After a moment of pause, Draco finally asked the question that has been plaguing his mind ever since he regained conscious, "You know who I am, Granger."

Hermione's eyes darkened: "Yes, I know. But I'm not a murderer. You haven't done anything to me that would justify leaving you there, or worse."

"How very noble of you." Draco drawled before he could stop himself. More than six years of habit was hard to reverse, although this time, strangely, it made him feel lower than dirt,

"I mean..."

Hermione didn't give him a chance to finish whatever he was about to mumble.

"Malfoy, do not think for a second I'm stupid." She cut him off quietly, her heart-shaped face solemn and grave as she stared right into his eyes, "I may have helped you last night, but that doesn't mean I'm weak. I've seen what you death eaters are capable of, and I will not hesitate to use all means necessary to defend myself. I know every single one of the hexes done to you last night, and I can do all of them ten times better."

Draco stared back, quite speechless, as Gryffindor's golden lioness narrowed her eyes and extended her claws: "I will protect Harry and Ron and all of my friends with my life. You... You stay away from us, Malfoy!"

Then, before he had a chance to even gather his thoughts together, she was gone in a whirl of robes. It was quite an impressive Snape-like feat really, for one so petite.

Long after she was gone, Draco still sat in the same position, staring down at his arm where the Dark Mark would be, underneath the white sleeve.

Is this really the path he wanted to travel? It wasn't the first time he had asked himself this question, but never before had he really thought about his answer to that. He simply went with the flow, so to speak, and received the mark without so much as a blink, because it was expected. It was what he had to do to fulfill his honor and duty as the Malfoy heir.

But really, where is the honor in mindless slaughtering? What is so noble about striking down, torturing and killing people who he had never before met in his life? Or worse, people like Granger, who had saved him only to have...

An image of him performing the unforgivable on her appeared in his mind and he shuttered at the thought.

Probably because he knew, at the rate things were going, this would turn out to be reality one day.

Or she could end up killing him.

"Ah, Mister Malfoy. Awake I see?"

Deep scowl plastered on his face by way of automatic reaction, Draco looked up to see his second visitor of the day, in the form of a smiling Dumbledore.

"Headmaster." He inclined his head slightly and addressed the old man coolly.

"Poppy just informed me that you are free to go." Dumbledore paused for a second, eyeing the young man thoughtfully, "Shall we go to my office, Mister Malfoy? I believe I have much to discuss with you."

After a moment of silence, Draco slowly nodded: "As you wish, Headmaster."

No one knew what words were exchanged during the two hours that Draco spent in the Headmaster's office. But when he finally emerged, he was looking uncharacteristically thoughtful, head bowed as he headed toward the dungeons.

The day after Draco's release from the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore made an announcement during breakfast in the Great Hall. Three seventh-year students from Hufflepuff were expelled from the school, for attacking and seriously injuring a fellow student. Dumbledore did not mention the name of the assaulted, and the news was made with much curious murmurs and whispers.

Hermione couldn't help but look toward the Slytherin table when the announcement was made. Her eyes briefly locked with those of Draco Malfoy, before he looked down at his food, breaking the contact first. And then, almost imperceptibly, he nodded his head slightly.

Hermione didn't know what that meant, but she didn't give it much thought either. She was more puzzled by the fact that Draco didn't receive any apparent retribution for the Dark Mark on his arm. But then, she decided to put her faith in Dumbledore and not to question the matter any further.

She did, however, mention it to Harry one night when they were sitting together in the Heads' common room. She omitted the details of how she came to her knowledge, as she was asked by Dumbledore not to tell anyone about what she had witnessed that night. Instead, she attributed it to the rumors flying around.

Harry listened quietly as she told him of her "suspicions." Then, in his characteristic calm and collected manner, he concurred that it was indeed likely for Draco Malfoy to be a Death Eater. They both agreed that they should be even more wary of him and his cronies from there on. And then Ginny came knocking on the portrait hole looking for her boyfriend, putting an end to the conversation.

Weeks passed in a blur. School, preparation for NEWTs, and research for ways to defeat Voldemort occupied most of Hermione's time, and the incident that night with Draco Malfoy began to fade from her mind.

If she wasn't so preoccupied, she would have noticed that Draco hadn't called her Mudblood since then.

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Disclaimer: See firtst chapter

A/N: My mind is kinda empty now, so... Please review?