Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters or Diagon Alley.
A/N: Sorry it took me so long. I should have updated way before this, huh? I just lost track of days and all that.
A/N2: Mia Hindo, I always love seeing you've reveiwed. Kara Black, about Candi, I agree. She's supposed to be annoying and super thick. Thanks, Captain Oblivious. Siria, me too, that's why I created it. Pho3niX, thank you. I'm glad you like, Halfling. I'm in my second year of college-which actually doesn't make me any smarter or more mature than a high schooler, because I know I'm neither.
A Different You by Lina Shay
Chapter Thirteen: Compassion
The three friends went all around Diagon Alley until Draco had his arms right full of parcels. They stopped to rest at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.
"Neville realized that I was acting strangely," Draco said over ice cream. "He followed me one night and found me writing of my own death on the wall. He snapped me out of it, then we both went down to the Chamber of Secrets together and defeated Tom Riddle, who was in fact-"
"You-Know-Who," Hermione finished, nodding as she listened intently to the stories Draco told.
"Yes," Draco said, smiling.
"Imagine it, you got the diary," Hermione muttered to herself thoughtfully.
"We aren't sure yet how it got in my possession, though," Draco shrugged. "It had just appeared in my book bag after Quidditch practice one day."
"Do you think Pettigrew-" Hermione began.
"Nah," Draco interrupted. "He wasn't at Hogwarts back then. He came to Hogwarts to be a teacher in third year, you know that."
"Yes, of course," Hermione insisted.
"My favorite year was the year of the Tri-Wizard Tournament," Neville put in. "We were all so surprised when I was chosen as the FOURTH champion."
"You did great, Nev," Draco told him, patting him on the shoulder, "even if you didn't win."
"You would have done better," Neville muttered. "I mean, if you hadn't found out about the dragon that Hagrid had hid in the Dark Forest first year, I wouldn't have learned that blinding spell."
"That was just lucky happenstance," Draco insisted. "You would have taken him out whether or not I found out about Norbert."
"And what about Dobby's seaweed," Neville announced. "I would have never gotten my gran out of the water if it wasn't for your house elf."
"Dobby is not MY house elf," Draco told him. "He's just my friend."
"Well, anyway, if you had been the one in the maze," Neville began, "I bet you would have gotten to the cup."
"Then I would have disappeared just like Diggory," Draco reminded.
Hermione sat silently and just took all the information in. It was quite interesting the way things went in this world. Neville and Draco must have noticed her silence suddenly, because they both looked at her. She smiled at Draco and he smiled back.
Somehow, Draco had convinced Neville to watch the parcels while he and Hermione took a walk to the Shrieking Shack.
"I bet I know something about the Shrieking Shack that you don't know," Draco boasted. "It's not haunted at all."
"I know," Hermione muttered, holding her cup of ice cream close to her, which did nothing for keeping warm. "It was your friend Lupin who made those sounds."
Draco stared at her ins surprise. "How did you know that?"
"Believe me, that is nothing compared to the things I know," Hermione said through chattering teeth.
"Are you cold?" Draco gasped, taking off his jacket before getting her answer. He immediately placed it over her shoulders.
"Thank you," Hermione said, smiling kindly at him. "This outfit maybe be attractive, but it's not the best for keeping warm."
"I can imagine," Draco sympathized, looking her over longer than was needful.
Hermione pulled Draco's jacket closer to her with one hand, still holding her cup of ice cream with the other. Somehow, Draco's arm made it's way around Hermione. She hadn't even seen it coming. She wouldn't have stopped him if she had. For one, it made things almost twice as warm. And two, she liked being near Draco. It made her feel safe. She was so comfortable that she forgot the cup in her hand and let it slip out on to Draco.
Hermione gasped, trying her best to brush the ice cream off him with her hands, "I'm so sorry, Drac-er-I mean, Malfoy."
"You know, you can call me Draco," he responded, hardly seeming to notice the ice cream all over the front of his sweater.
"I'm sorry," Hermione insisted, folding her arms uneasily, "it just feels...strange."
"I know what you mean," Draco sympathized with a warm smile.
Why was it that Draco always seemed to know what to say?
Hermione and Draco stopped at the fence of the Shrieking Shack. It reminded her of third year when her, Harry and Ron came there. Somehow, her mind wandered to Candi and her dad, then to her mum.
"Draco," Hermione whispered.
He turned his eyes to her immediately.
"Tell me how my mum died," Hermione requested, looking at him pleadingly.
"Well," Draco began, leaning on to the fence, "I don't know much about it where your mum's concerned. But I can tell you all I know about the attack."
Hermione nodded.
"All the details are really cloudy," Draco told her. "Most of this comes from Arthur Weasley's testimony re-told by Uncle Sirius to me. Uh, well, I guess it starts when my mum and me met Neville's gran in Diagon Alley. Apparently, my mum was chastising Mrs. Longbottom for her choice of clothing or some such. Mrs. Longbottom, the spunky woman she is, was taking none of it with silence. They were arguing as they travelled home through Muggle London. There was a sudden concourse of Death Eaters approaching. They started attacking Muggles for the fun of it, enchanting cars to crash into each other and such."
Draco stopped briefly to look at Hermione, then continued, "Neville's gran went to defend the muggles when Arthur Weasley pulled her out of the way. James Potter and a few other Aurors held back the Death Eaters."
Draco looked away again. "No one knows why, but my mum, with me held up in the air, ran passed the Aurors and into the group of Death Eaters, yelling something that no one could make out. Then, one of the Death eaters cursed her. She was holding me so high, that I didn't get hit, but I fell to the ground in the midst of Death Eaters. James came out of nowhere and rescued me. After he put me somewhere safe, he continued to fight. The battle finished in the Auror's favor, though many had been lost. For record and such, the Auror's went amongst the fallen Death Eaters to identify them. James came upon my father, barley living."
Hermione gaped at Draco, feeling sad for him. He noticed and turned his face from her view.
"With his last breath, he preformed the Killing Curse on James," Draco went on. "Uncle Sirius told me Arthur said that my father looked pleased..."
Hermione could almost feel Draco's pain.
"Bloody good thing he's dead," Draco muttered. "I might have had to been raised by that traitor...that traitor who killed his own wife."
Hermione placed a hand on his back to comfort him.
"So sorry," Draco said, shaking his head and waving her hand away. "I mean, we were talking about where your mum was concerned, weren't we? Record states she was numbered among the muggles who just happened to be in the wrong place and got in the middle of everything."
Hermione, for some reason, wasn't even thinking of her mum, but of Draco, of his pain. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to know that your father was a traitor. Of course Hermione had always known that Lucious Malfoy was a traitor, but Draco had always known it too. That was why he was such a pratt. This Draco was different. It would be more like if Harry had discovered that James Potter had been a traitor.
Hermione put a hand on his. Draco stared at her in a most peculiar way. Instead of looking away as usual, Hermione just kept looking back. Draco smiled.
"You want to come meet my uncle Sirius?" Draco asked her.
Hermione smiled back and nodded.
A/N: Sorry it took me so long. I should have updated way before this, huh? I just lost track of days and all that.
A/N2: Mia Hindo, I always love seeing you've reveiwed. Kara Black, about Candi, I agree. She's supposed to be annoying and super thick. Thanks, Captain Oblivious. Siria, me too, that's why I created it. Pho3niX, thank you. I'm glad you like, Halfling. I'm in my second year of college-which actually doesn't make me any smarter or more mature than a high schooler, because I know I'm neither.
A Different You by Lina Shay
Chapter Thirteen: Compassion
The three friends went all around Diagon Alley until Draco had his arms right full of parcels. They stopped to rest at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.
"Neville realized that I was acting strangely," Draco said over ice cream. "He followed me one night and found me writing of my own death on the wall. He snapped me out of it, then we both went down to the Chamber of Secrets together and defeated Tom Riddle, who was in fact-"
"You-Know-Who," Hermione finished, nodding as she listened intently to the stories Draco told.
"Yes," Draco said, smiling.
"Imagine it, you got the diary," Hermione muttered to herself thoughtfully.
"We aren't sure yet how it got in my possession, though," Draco shrugged. "It had just appeared in my book bag after Quidditch practice one day."
"Do you think Pettigrew-" Hermione began.
"Nah," Draco interrupted. "He wasn't at Hogwarts back then. He came to Hogwarts to be a teacher in third year, you know that."
"Yes, of course," Hermione insisted.
"My favorite year was the year of the Tri-Wizard Tournament," Neville put in. "We were all so surprised when I was chosen as the FOURTH champion."
"You did great, Nev," Draco told him, patting him on the shoulder, "even if you didn't win."
"You would have done better," Neville muttered. "I mean, if you hadn't found out about the dragon that Hagrid had hid in the Dark Forest first year, I wouldn't have learned that blinding spell."
"That was just lucky happenstance," Draco insisted. "You would have taken him out whether or not I found out about Norbert."
"And what about Dobby's seaweed," Neville announced. "I would have never gotten my gran out of the water if it wasn't for your house elf."
"Dobby is not MY house elf," Draco told him. "He's just my friend."
"Well, anyway, if you had been the one in the maze," Neville began, "I bet you would have gotten to the cup."
"Then I would have disappeared just like Diggory," Draco reminded.
Hermione sat silently and just took all the information in. It was quite interesting the way things went in this world. Neville and Draco must have noticed her silence suddenly, because they both looked at her. She smiled at Draco and he smiled back.
Somehow, Draco had convinced Neville to watch the parcels while he and Hermione took a walk to the Shrieking Shack.
"I bet I know something about the Shrieking Shack that you don't know," Draco boasted. "It's not haunted at all."
"I know," Hermione muttered, holding her cup of ice cream close to her, which did nothing for keeping warm. "It was your friend Lupin who made those sounds."
Draco stared at her ins surprise. "How did you know that?"
"Believe me, that is nothing compared to the things I know," Hermione said through chattering teeth.
"Are you cold?" Draco gasped, taking off his jacket before getting her answer. He immediately placed it over her shoulders.
"Thank you," Hermione said, smiling kindly at him. "This outfit maybe be attractive, but it's not the best for keeping warm."
"I can imagine," Draco sympathized, looking her over longer than was needful.
Hermione pulled Draco's jacket closer to her with one hand, still holding her cup of ice cream with the other. Somehow, Draco's arm made it's way around Hermione. She hadn't even seen it coming. She wouldn't have stopped him if she had. For one, it made things almost twice as warm. And two, she liked being near Draco. It made her feel safe. She was so comfortable that she forgot the cup in her hand and let it slip out on to Draco.
Hermione gasped, trying her best to brush the ice cream off him with her hands, "I'm so sorry, Drac-er-I mean, Malfoy."
"You know, you can call me Draco," he responded, hardly seeming to notice the ice cream all over the front of his sweater.
"I'm sorry," Hermione insisted, folding her arms uneasily, "it just feels...strange."
"I know what you mean," Draco sympathized with a warm smile.
Why was it that Draco always seemed to know what to say?
Hermione and Draco stopped at the fence of the Shrieking Shack. It reminded her of third year when her, Harry and Ron came there. Somehow, her mind wandered to Candi and her dad, then to her mum.
"Draco," Hermione whispered.
He turned his eyes to her immediately.
"Tell me how my mum died," Hermione requested, looking at him pleadingly.
"Well," Draco began, leaning on to the fence, "I don't know much about it where your mum's concerned. But I can tell you all I know about the attack."
Hermione nodded.
"All the details are really cloudy," Draco told her. "Most of this comes from Arthur Weasley's testimony re-told by Uncle Sirius to me. Uh, well, I guess it starts when my mum and me met Neville's gran in Diagon Alley. Apparently, my mum was chastising Mrs. Longbottom for her choice of clothing or some such. Mrs. Longbottom, the spunky woman she is, was taking none of it with silence. They were arguing as they travelled home through Muggle London. There was a sudden concourse of Death Eaters approaching. They started attacking Muggles for the fun of it, enchanting cars to crash into each other and such."
Draco stopped briefly to look at Hermione, then continued, "Neville's gran went to defend the muggles when Arthur Weasley pulled her out of the way. James Potter and a few other Aurors held back the Death Eaters."
Draco looked away again. "No one knows why, but my mum, with me held up in the air, ran passed the Aurors and into the group of Death Eaters, yelling something that no one could make out. Then, one of the Death eaters cursed her. She was holding me so high, that I didn't get hit, but I fell to the ground in the midst of Death Eaters. James came out of nowhere and rescued me. After he put me somewhere safe, he continued to fight. The battle finished in the Auror's favor, though many had been lost. For record and such, the Auror's went amongst the fallen Death Eaters to identify them. James came upon my father, barley living."
Hermione gaped at Draco, feeling sad for him. He noticed and turned his face from her view.
"With his last breath, he preformed the Killing Curse on James," Draco went on. "Uncle Sirius told me Arthur said that my father looked pleased..."
Hermione could almost feel Draco's pain.
"Bloody good thing he's dead," Draco muttered. "I might have had to been raised by that traitor...that traitor who killed his own wife."
Hermione placed a hand on his back to comfort him.
"So sorry," Draco said, shaking his head and waving her hand away. "I mean, we were talking about where your mum was concerned, weren't we? Record states she was numbered among the muggles who just happened to be in the wrong place and got in the middle of everything."
Hermione, for some reason, wasn't even thinking of her mum, but of Draco, of his pain. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to know that your father was a traitor. Of course Hermione had always known that Lucious Malfoy was a traitor, but Draco had always known it too. That was why he was such a pratt. This Draco was different. It would be more like if Harry had discovered that James Potter had been a traitor.
Hermione put a hand on his. Draco stared at her in a most peculiar way. Instead of looking away as usual, Hermione just kept looking back. Draco smiled.
"You want to come meet my uncle Sirius?" Draco asked her.
Hermione smiled back and nodded.