The Passion of a Dragon

By: xKatx

Author's Notes: Wow! You guys like it a lot! lol I don't think I've ever gotten such a big response for one of my stories! :-D keep it coming!

Update on my NEW STORY: the title of my new fic I'm planning is Substitute for Love—a D/Hr fic. After rereading the fifth book, this story really came together and I'll give you guys a summary and a rough-release date on it ASAP! Until then keep reading and keep reviewing! ::muah::

Disclaimer: I don't own HP stuff—I'd be in the mountains right now if I did—I own everything you don't recognize.

Characters You Will Meet In This Chapter:

no new characters

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"Aww, the lovebirds are going to have their revenge now," Xander purred in a sickeningly sweet tone.

Hermione smirked, "I wouldn't be making fun, considering you couldn't even keep four wands in your pocket."

Xander turned to face her, his wand pointed to her, and her wand pointed to him, "You couldn't really kill me, Hermione. To kill someone, you have to want them dead. You don't want me dead; I've never been anything but friendly and kind to you, especially when that schmuck over there—" he motioned to Draco, "—was being the asshole he is."

Hermione's eyes narrowed, "He lost my vote of confidence when you pulled all this," she said, her wand never faultering.

"Well, I'll make you a deal," Xander said, his voice in a low whisper, "It was never truly my intention to kill you—I was only after him," he said, "Pansy was the one who wanted you dead."

Pansy's tied up form wiggled in contradiction.

"So, here's the deal. I let you go now, and you let Draco over there handle this himself."

Draco knew if she stayed she was going to be in the same if not more danger than he was already in. He was not willing to have her risk her life for him.

"Take the deal, Hermione," he said, his face stone cold and expressionless, "Leave now."
She looked at him for a moment. All the emotion she'd ever seen in his eyes when he looked at her was gone; all she saw was dead, empty gray eyes, and she knew he believed Xander and Pansy's stories.

Draco kept his gaze on her, "Hermione, get out of here."

Hermione thought over her options. This was one man over two; sure, Xander was skilled with charms, but he could also know some Dark Magic that Hermione didn't. Then again, Draco knew his fair share of Dark Magic.

"No," she decided. She'd been in more difficult and dangerous situations with Harry and Ron, and she'd made it out. She was not going to leave Draco down in the cave to die.

Xander smirked, "That old Gryffindor loyalty always comes out. Well, Draco, what say you to this?"

"Hermione, get out," Draco snarled.

"NO," she said, her voice indignant and unobeying, "This is my fight too."

"No it's not," Draco contradicted, "He wants to kill me; let him try."

"NO," she repeated.

"Hermione—"

"Stupefy!"

"Protego!"

Hermione hurled a Stunning spell straight at Xander, who quickly blocked it.

"Nice try, little Gryffindor, but you're going to have to do better than that," Xander hissed.

"Hermione, don't," Draco's voice said.

She looked at him for a moment, finally seeing something like desperation in his face.

"Now, I'll give you one last chance to leave, Hermione," Xander said, "Or you'll die with him."

"She'll take the deal," Draco said, taking Hermione's arm and pulling her toward the statue.

She fought him, of course.

"I'm not going to leave you here to die," she insisted, looking into his calm gray eyes.

He smirked, "I'm not going to die."

"You don't know that," she spat, her anger and frustration coming out on him.

"Hermione, do the right thing and leave," he told her, his eyes piercing into hers.

She stared at him for a few moments before looking toward Xander, who was leaning against a stone pillar casually, twirling his wand in his fingers.

"Dumbledore and McGonagall will be here soon," she said.

Draco nodded, moving back toward Xander.

Hermione turned her back and moved toward the stone statue.

"Stupefy!" Xander said, pointing at Hermione.

"NO!" Draco yelled as Hermione turned around and was hit full-front by the curse, slamming her back into the earthen wall.

Draco swore he heard an ominous crack when she'd made contact with the wall, and he was sure it was not a good sound to be hearing...

In less than a millisecond he was next to her crumpled and unconscious body.

"Hermione?" He asked, touching her face carefully, "Hermione? Come on, wake up. Wake up, Hermione."

"Aww, how sweet," Xander cooed, his position the same as it had been, "Too bad you doubted her. I do hope the impact killed her, you know."

Draco quickly checked her wrist for a pulse.

"Tough luck, Xavier," Draco said, "She's still alive."

Xander shrugged, "Oh well. I'll do away with her once I finish with you."

Draco cast one final look on Hermione before standing up and facing Xander.

"You son of a—"

"Now, now, no need for language," Xander said, "If you don't put up too much of a fight, this will be quite quick and relatively painless."

"Crucio!" Draco yelled, pointing at Xander.

In one second, Xander was on the ground, writhing in indescribable pain.

"Is this relatively painless, you bastard?" Draco asked, watching the man on the floor contort in the agony of it all. Draco felt all of his anger from his entire life come to the surface as he watched the man who'd hurt Hermione feel the same exact pain.

Draco released him from the curse, but before he could hit him again, Xander croaked, "Stupefy!"

Draco dodged the spark of red light by inches, but cut his upper left arm against one of the stone pillars.

"Crucio!" He yelled, watching Xander shake and convulse in pain again. But Xander never once screamed or yelled. Draco figured, like he, Xander had been the victim of the Cruciatus Curse a lot in his life.

Draco released him from the curse again, and Xander jumped at his opportunity.

"Crucio!"

Draco felt a wave of pain shoot through his body; his spine was on fire, his joints felt like they were clacking and slamming and twisting together. However, he knew exactly how to fight this pain, thanks to his father.
Draco imagined warmth spreading from the tip of his head, flooding down through his arteries. The warmth absorbed into his skin, and he pictured the warmth like water cascading over him. This was how he'd always survived when his father had used this curse on him. The pain subsided then, and Draco stayed on his feet.

Xander released him from the curse and watched him with wide eyes, but he said nothing. Xander was still too weak and in pain to say anything. Draco jumped at the opportunity to end it.

"Livindendo!" Draco said, and Xander ended up just as Pansy was; bound and gagged in the corner.

He let out a few breaths, recovering from the adrenaline rush he'd just been through. He kicked Xander's wand away and shot one last withering look at him.

"That goes to show you never to threaten a Malfoy," Draco spat in Xander's direction.

Xander shot a cold, hateful glance at him. Draco rolled his eyes before going over to Hermione and looked down, seeing she was still unconscious.

"Hold on, Hermione," he pleaded, "Please, hold on."

At that moment, the ground above them seemed to open up, and Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Harry, and Ron appeared.

"Oh my—" McGonagall began, seeing Draco's arm bleeding, Hermione on the ground, and Xander and Pansy tied up in the corner.

Dumbledore stayed unruffled and immediately went into action.

"Severus, please take Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy to the Hospital Wing," Dumbledore said calmly.

Snape nodded, "Yes, Headmaster."

Snape conjured up a stretcher for Hermione, and motioned for Draco to follow as they heard Dumbledore say, "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, will you please take Mr. Vitrikson and Miss Parkinson up to my office? Professor McGonagall and I will take care of everything else."
The last thing Draco saw was Harry and Ron moving into the corner and Professor McGonagall shaking her head. The ground then closed up, and Draco, Snape, and Hermione appeared above ground.

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Draco sat in the Hospital Wing long after Madam Pomfrey had taken care of his cut. He sat next to Hermione's bed, holding her cold hand and blaming himself the entire time for what had just happened.

No matter what he did or what he became in the future, it would always be the ones he loved that would pay. He never had to suffer; they had to.

If only he and Hermione hadn't started dating until after Hogwarts—then Xander would have come after only him. And then the whole fact that he'd actually believed their lies...

"All right, Mr. Malfoy, you've had half an hour," Madam Pomfrey said, coming into the cubicle and shooing him away, "You can come back after dinner."

Draco nodded, giving Hermione one last look before leaving.

As he left the Hospital Wing, he ran into Harry and Ron.

"How is she?" Harry asked, the only tone in his voice being concern.

"She's still unconscious," Draco informed them.

"Did anything else happen?" Ron asked, "I mean, any injuries--?"

"She broke her back," Draco said after taking a long breath.

Harry's eyes went wide, "For Muggles, once you break your back you're paralyzed for life."

"Thanks, Harry, that makes us all feel a lot better," Ron said sarcastically, "What did Pomfrey do?"

Draco put a hand on the back of his neck, the other in his pocket, "Pomfrey set her spine straight again, but that's all she can do until Hermione wakes up and takes the potion."

The two nodded in understanding.

"How about you?" Harry asked, motioning to the bandage on Malfoy's shoulder.

Draco shrugged, "It was just a scratch."

"Did you really finish Xander off?" Ron questioned.

Draco looked at the red head, "I tied him up, yeah."

"But how'd you get him weak enough to do that?"

"Cruciatus."

Harry's eyebrows went up, "And he just took it?"
Draco raised an eyebrow, "No, he tried to Stun me but missed, and he got me once with the Cruciatus, but that's all."
The raven and red headed boys nodded again.

There was a pause; a very uncomfortable silence between the three before Harry stepped forward and extended his hand.

"Thank you, Malfoy," Harry said, "Thanks for umm... well.. er.. caring about her and... you know.. saving her and stuff."

Draco watched Harry with interest as the raven haired boy stumbled over the words.

After a moment, Draco extended his hand, and shook Harry's, "Thank you for telling me she was gone."

Harry gave Ron a look that clearly said, 'I told you so.' Ron, however, ignored it, as he watched the exchange with surprise before hesitantly extending his hand, "Thanks, Malfoy."
Draco smirked, shaking Ron's hand, "Anytime, Weasley. It's about time I got some adventures in—what with you three hogging all six years with'em."

The three laughed as Draco left for the common room, and Harry and Ron entered the Hospital Wing.

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"And you, Mr. Potter, and Mr. Weasley cooperatively went out looking for her?" Dumbledore asked the next day as the three boys and Xander sat in his office.

Draco nodded. He hated having to recount every single detail, but he didn't have to say much; Ron was good at telling the story.

Dumbledore linked his fingers together and watched the three with interest, "Well, I must say I am extremely impressed with all three of you; have you finally worked out your differences?"
Ron, Harry, and Draco slowly shrugged and nodded.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "I never thought I'd live to see the day Slytherins and Gryffindors helped each other to reach one common goal. But you boys have proved me wrong."

"What about him?" Ron shot a sharp look at Xander, who glared in return.

"Ahh, Mr. Vitrikson—" Dumbledore knew this was not really his last name,"--Well, considering he and Miss Parkinson are eighteen and legally adults, they will be tried in front of the Wizengamot. If they are convicted, they're looking at time in Azkaban."

Draco, Ron, and Harry continued speaking for a while before Dumbledore excused everyone except Xander.

"By the way, boys," Dumbledore said, "I'd say a hundred points to both Gryffindor and Slytherin, eh?"

The boys smiled; Gryffindor and Slytherin were neck and neck for the House Cup.

"Thank you, Professor," they all thanked him before casting final looks

"Hey, Malfoy," Harry said, catching up to Draco after they'd left Dumbledore's office, "Hermione's awake."
Draco's eyes went wide, "She is? Since when?"

"This morning; Dumbledore called us up before we could tell you."

Draco nodded, "Thanks," he said, heading off in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

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"Does that hurt?" Madame Pomfrey asked as she helped Hermione sit up.

Hermione shook her head, "No, it just feels like I slept on it wrong."

"Good," Madame Pomfrey said, "That's how it should feel. Now, I think one more night here and then you'll be free to go—I want to make sure your back heals itself correctly."

Hermione nodded before laying back down.

"I'll be in my office if you need anything," Madame Pomfrey said, leaving the cubicle. Hermione heard the distinct SNAP as her door shut.

Hermione looked away from the window in which she'd been staring out of, and found a blonde haired man dressed all in black standing at the edge of her bed.

"Malfoy," she said quietly, "You made it."

He smirked, "I told you I would."

Her eyes glazed over with what looked like anger and hurt. Draco waited for the explosion he knew was going to come from her.

But it didn't.

"So, what are you doing here?" She asked, watching him carefully and waiting patiently for an answer.

He put a hand on the back of his neck, the other in his pocket (she'd noticed this was one of his favorite ways of standing), "I came to see you; Potter told me you were awake."

She nodded, "I spoke to him and Ron this morning."

Draco nodded, and there was a silence between them.

"Hermione—"

She shook her head, "You believed them, didn't you?"

Draco stopped and looked at her questioningly.

"You believed Xander and Pansy when they said I was part of the plan—I was in on it—I'd—" she shivered in disgust, "—slept with Xander. You actually believed all of that when the whole time I've been nothing but honest with you."

"Hermione, if you were in that situation, you would have started doubting too."

She sat up, and he watched carefully to make sure she didn't hurt herself, "No, Draco, that's where you're wrong. That's what you haven't learned, and just don't seem to understand. I wouldn't have doubted you, because I trust you. Think about it—did you see me getting jealous when other girls were hanging on you?"

He was silent.

"No, because I knew you were with me; I knew you'd chosen me."

Draco had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach—she was using words in past tense.

"Hermione," he interjected, "It isn't easy for me to be dating the most beautiful girl in the school, because every guy wants her!"

She looked at him as if he had three heads, "Do you think it's any easier for me to be dating the most handsome man in the school? Don't you think I've heard of girls' plots to make you dump me and go out with them? You may not believe it, but I put up with the same crap that you do."

He ran a hand through his hair, and Hermione looked away, her tone dying a little, "You know," she began in a soft whisper, looking out the window from her bed, "That you're the only one I've ever been with, and yet you don't believe that, when you know for yourself."
"It's hard not to doubt it, Hermione!" He explained, "I can't comprehend how something as beautiful as you was untouched..."

"Draco, who else would there have been?" She questioned calmly, "Ron and Harry? No chance. Seamus or Dean or any of the Gryffindors? NO WAY. Viktor? NO. Xander? You're out of your mind."

There was a silence as it all sunk in. Draco had been the only one. Ever. And he was just now learning to accept it. But at that point, he could already have been too late.

"I can't see how this relationship can work if you don't start pushing away your doubts and believing what you know is the truth," Hermione said sadly.