PART SIX

Through Fate's Torture

Hermione twisted and turned in her seat the next morning, constantly checking her watch and glancing at the secret entrance. Right after Transfiguration, she'd raced to the study in hopes of seeing Malfoy already in, because she'd been waiting to hear his score. McGonagall had told her this morning that Malfoy's test results were coming out today, and Professor Snape was going to give the exam back to him during his first period Potions class. Since then, she'd been dying to know how he fared.

It was too bad he still wasn't here yet.

She fiddled with her thumbs and squirmed in her seat again, and soon stiffened when he heard him come in. She immediately looked at his expression. And her heart dropped to her stomach.

"Don't ask," he grumbled, walking towards a couch and dropping down listlessly on it. He tossed the stack of parchment in his hand at the desk. "I failed."

She didn't say anything as she reached out and took the test papers. She began flipping through the pages, and saw that he'd barely gotten half of the questions correctly. And she felt worse than she'd had in weeks.

"Malfoy, I…I'm sorry. I should have taken this more seriously—"

"It's not your fault," he replied, surprising her. She wanted to apologize some more, but something in his tone told her not to.

"Don't worry; it was only a practice test, right? There'll be more to come, and I swear I'll tell you everything I know. C'mon, it's not so bad…" she trailed off, peering into his face and trying to read his expression. There didn't seem to be any.

She bit her lip. What was he thinking? Didn't this mean anything to him? Well, of course it did; he'd been serious enough to ask her help that night, right? And he actually looked dejected when he came in. But…why didn't he look upset right now? Was he just hiding it? Or was he…was he afraid…? Afraid of what?

She looked down as a horrible thought came over her. His father wouldn't…punish him, would he…?

Nah, he couldn't possibly do that, she mused. His father loved him more than anything else and was always concerned about his well-being. They always seemed to get along really well whenever she saw them together. It was impossible.

"Granger," Malfoy suddenly said, making her look up at him again.

"Yes?"

"Tell McGonagall I went back to the common room to…get something." He rose from the couch and started walking towards the entrance.

She stood up as well. "But—"

"Just do as I say for once," he snapped, and she couldn't help but notice the weak tone in his voice. She watched him go without another word, and then dropped back onto the couch.

Why did she have a feeling she'd just gotten Malfoy into trouble?

***

He gritted his teeth again, staring blankly at his plate. It looked like it was all he could do the whole day. He hadn't felt like eating lunch a while ago, he hadn't felt like attending any of his classes, he hadn't felt like talking to Crabbe or Goyle, he hadn't felt like having a humiliate-Potter-field-day, and he certainly didn't feel like eating dinner tonight. Which was why he was looking at his plate like it would burst into flames any second. He was grateful that the Slytherins seemed to understand the way he was feeling and were all keeping their distance, even though they had no clue why he was acting this way.

Finally, when he couldn't take it anymore, he pushed back his chair noisily, causing the Slytherins to look at him in apprehension. He stalked out of the Great Hall alone, and Crabbe and Goyle knew better than to follow him. He was glad that they knew when to give him some time to himself. He passed by the Gryffindor table and spotted Granger looking worriedly at him again, and this only made his gut feeling worse.

But he couldn't dwell on that thought just yet. Because right now, all he could think of was when his father had called for him this morning, and they were supposed to meet in the second floor abandoned classroom after dinner tonight. He didn't like the sound of that at all, and more than once, he'd considered making a run for it, but in the end, he knew that if he ran, he'd be facing more trouble than he already was.

He took a deep breath and pushed the classroom door open, his heart dropping when he spotted his father already there. Slowly, he closed the door behind him, and his father immediately turned to look at him. Lucius took out his wand and pointed at the door, causing it to lock. He then waved around the room and Malfoy knew at once that he'd cast a Silencing Charm. He'd seen it one too many times.

Malfoy swallowed. This was not good.

Lucius slowly walked towards him, eyeing him up and down. When his father didn't say anything, he figured he should start. "Father, I—"

Lucius held up his hand. "I don't need explanations, boy. I need answers. Simple, straight answers."

Malfoy looked down at the ground. He knew what was coming. All his life, he'd been tolerating every single punishment his father gave him, and he should've gotten used to them by now, but no. Lucius always seemed to find a way to make each punishment different, and more horrifying than the last. And now, no matter how much Malfoy had been through, no matter how well his knowledge in the Dark Arts was, and no matter how many curses and counter curses his father had taught him, he still felt as vulnerable as a little child.

"Why did you fail the test?" Lucius asked, and Malfoy opened his mouth to speak, but his father spoke again. "No, wait. That's not it. Tell me, Draco, how many times do you attend your tutorials?"

"Once a day, father."

"Ah, once a day." Lucius began circling his son. "And what do you do during these sessions?"

"I…" Malfoy hesitated, but thought better of it. "I study alone, father."

"You study alone," Lucius repeated. "Do you know what the word 'tutorial' means?"

"Yes, I do…"

"You do, don't you?" He stopped walking and faced his son. "Then why did you fail?"

"I was—" Malfoy met his father's gaze and summoned all the courage he had left. "I didn't take it seriously."

"Exactly," Lucius said in a voice of stone. "Don't you know how much your grades weigh? Don't you know how much I was counting on you? Don't you know how big this mistake of yours is? And don't you know how high the Dark Lord was expecting of you???"

Malfoy tried not to flinch as his father's voice rose higher and higher. "Of course…I do…"

"No, you don't!" Lucius sneered. "Crucio!"

Malfoy fell to the ground and opened his mouth, but he couldn't hear his scream. The only sound coming through to him was an ear-splitting blare that seemed to be coming from nowhere…and he felt as if his bones were all bending and breaking…his head was spinning…his sight was whitening…and he felt like his body was being torn limb from limb…

All of a sudden it stopped, and Malfoy found himself on the ground on all fours, panting heavily, sweat trickling all over his body. He'd experienced it more than once, but it never got old. The pain always got worse.

Lucius watched as his son coughed out blood on the floor, still panting. "I thought I told you that your grades matter a lot? I did everything in my power to help you! How dare you take this as some sort of a joke!"

Malfoy struggled to speak. "I…I don't, father…I…did what I could—"

"You call failing the practice test as doing what you could??? And what about the final task??? I've had enough of your procrastinations!!!" Lucius kicked his stomach and he fell to his side, squirming. "I won't tolerate your behavior, boy! Do you wish to live through your seventh year with an Imperius Curse cast on you???"

"No…no, please…" Malfoy wheezed weakly.

"Then do as I tell you!" Lucius kicked him again on the floor and he groaned. "Will you assure me that you will pass this subject?" He pointed his wand at him. "Will you finish your task as soon as I let your filthy body out these doors?"

"I…will…father…"

"See to it that you do! Crucio!"

And Lucius watched as his son twitched and cried out in pain, rolling on the floor in sheer agony. He smirked as the torture went on, making sure that his son kept his word.

***

Ron immediately withdrew his hand from the card deck, as it exploded and barely missed him. He blew out a breath of air and leaned back against the common room couch. Suddenly very aware of the silence around him, he glanced sideways at Harry, who was sprawled on the carpeted floor, staring into space.

Ron grabbed another deck from his shabby robe pocket. "Want to play Exploding Snap?"

Harry jerked up in surprise and decided to take a seat on one of the chairs. "No thanks," he sighed. "I've still got tons of homework to do." He pulled his chair near the table and started gathering his books scattered on it.

"Now, you're getting boring. Everyone else is already doing assignments, Harry. Why can't you lay off the homework for a while and come play with me?" Ron grinned.

"Not now, Ron…" Harry replied exasperatedly, letting his head fall on the table.

Ron peered at him. "What's with you? You look like you're going to be mighty sick. You've got these huge circles under your eyes." His eyes widened. "You're not accompanying Hermione on her Head-Girl-duty nights, are you? Because if you are, then you might as well just drag me along with you so we can all go visit Hagrid after Hermione's duties."

Harry raised his head from the table and rolled his eyes at Ron. "Why on earth would I accompany her? She heads out the common room every night after dinner and returns just before lights out. I've got enough to worry about than waste my precious time after dinner trailing behind her." And he plopped down on the table again.

Ron looked relieved. "Okay—so why do you look like you bloody haven't slept for ages?"

"I'm tired, Ron…drop it," Harry mumbled, this time not bothering to look at him.

Yeah, right; you're tired because you keep spending time with Cho too much these days, Ron smiled to himself. He leaned back against the couch again, glancing around at the empty common room. Everyone had gone to their own rooms to do their homework. And now the only person in the common room with him was either reading a book really closely or drifting off to dreamland. Perhaps he should get a move on with his homework too…?

Nah, Ron shrugged, grabbing his pack of cards again. Homework can wait.

Chapter too short, I know. I'm sorry! Harry's acting weird recently, don't you think? Anyways, up next is the chapter everyone's been waiting for, I guess:D Hermione and Draco's first intimate moment! Well, actually it's not really all that hot and explicit…in fact, I think it's too awful :D I really am kinda afraid to write anything that might offend the rating, so I can't unleash my…ahem…dark and naughty side:D Please don't expect too much:D And send me your comments, please! TY!:D