Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his magical world belongs entirely to J.K. Rowling.

Author's Notes: I'm updating early! And as you're all impatient to know what's about to happen to Malfoy, read on….

..~**~..

Chapter 19

Draco watched as Zabini held Abigail back before she could hit him again. Her punch had been surprisingly strong – she'd almost blown the living daylights out of him – but he wasn't surprised by her reaction and had even expected it.

Yes, Draco knew that Selena Serpent had been tortured by the Death Eaters. St Mungo's hospital had warned him that she suffered from the same symptoms as the Longbottoms, and he'd drawn to the conclusion that she'd also suffered the same abuse. She was probably the powerful witch he had seen them torturing into madness the previous summer. He hadn't known her name then, arriving late to the meeting, but when he thought back, it all made sense. It was that same night that he had decided to put a stop to these degrading ceremonies.

And now, Selena Serpent's only daughter was out for revenge. He watched as she tried desperately to break free from Zabini's hold. It seemed to anger her even more that Draco's cold, steel-grey eyes held her menacing stare.

"You're gonna pay Malfoy! I'll kill you for this! You Death Eaters are all fucking dead!" she yelled at him.

"MISS SERPENT!" a voice roared and suddenly Snape, fuming with rage, appeared from behind the castle's large front doors and grabbed her arm, hoisting her away from Draco so hard that she was almost lifted from the ground. "You will stop your tantrum this instance or-"

"Let go of me!" she shouted back, tearing her arm free. Snape's beady black eyes opened wide with surprise as she pushed him back.

"You're a coward Snape! You're nothing but a coward! You didn't save her! My family protected you hundreds of times, but you did nothing for her in return! I hate you - I hate all of you!"

Snape didn't seem to let Abigail's words affect him, but continued to hold her tight as he dismissed Blaise and then pulled her away to a deserted spot on the castle grounds, followed by Draco, as he tried to explain himself.

"I tried," he told her through gritted teeth. "I did everything I could but it was too late. Voldemort had already decided of her fate. It was too late; I arrived too late."

"Bullshit!" she screamed back at him, pushing him away.

"You have to believe me, Abigail! When her protective shield failed to save her, it was too late. There was nothing else I could have done that would have saved her from the Unforgivable curse. I'm sorry," he continued.

Abigail's dark eyes opened wide as his words sliced through her like a knife when the truth finally seemed to dawn upon her. She shook her head vigorously, taking a few steps back before suddenly breaking into uncontrollable sobs. Her legs eventually gave way and she crumpled on the dewy grass benath her.

Draco looked at her dumbstruck and then at Snape.

Why would Snape, a fellow Death Eater, try to save her mother?

And then everything seemed to click into place.

Snape's a spy! Of course! He's loyal to Dumbledore and only pretends to serve Voldemort. Very cunning, I wouldn't have expected any less from you Professor!

Snape stepped up next to Abigail, looking down on her. Draco half-expected him to comfort her, but knew that Snape, even though he belonged to the light side, was incapable of it. At that instant, Draco realised how much he resembled his professor. After an uncomfortable silence, he eventually thought that it was time to put an end to Abigail's display before someone saw them and found out more than they should. The Slytherin girl had already done enough damage for the day.

He helped her up, although she fought against his touch. He noticed her hand had swollen and turned purple from the punch. Draco could feel his own eye swelling up, but he ignored the pain.

"Let go of me, Malfoy!" she hissed at him, pushing him away and then taking out her wand to heal her hand.

She stopped, wiping the tears from her face with the back of her hand and looked up at him, her dark eyes still blazing with fury. "When's the next meeting?" she questioned him in undertones.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her question. Did she really think he would answer that? But her dark eyes seemed determined to pursue her revenge and he was curious to find out how far she would go.

"Tomorrow night," he answered, "but you can't turn up there, Abigail. If you do, you'll die!"

"I'll be there," she said menacingly, turning to head back inside the castle.

However, Snape blocked her path. "I won't allow you to go!"

She stopped at his words, her eyes fixed on the ground and whispered dangerously. "You can't tell me what to do Professor Snape, not anymore!"

She looked straight into his black eyes, daring him to answer back.

"No one can tell me what to do now," she added quietly before walking away.

As she disappeared inside the castle, Draco turned to his Head of House and looked at him expectantly. He slowly turned to face Draco and looked sternly at his favourite pupil.

"Malfoy, you mustn't tell anyone what you heard tonight," he warned him.

"Don't worry Professor, your secret's safe with me," he answered truthfully, before heading back inside as well, towards the Head quarters. He did not intend to reveal Snape's secret to Voldemort yet. It would be pointless, except maybe to earn respect from his father and master and attend another celebration involving Muggles, this time in his honour. But he wanted neither of those things.

On his way down the Black Knight's corridor, he spotted Zabini walk by in the distance and suddenly thought he should tell him to keep quiet about what Abigail had said. But the dark-haired Slytherin did not seem to notice him and instead slipped quietly into an empty classroom nearby.

Curious, Draco followed him and stepped up to the classroom door. Peering through the glass window of the door, he smirked as he saw his friend making out with a girl. He must have been dying to get away from Snape to keep this date.

At least he's forgotten Abigail.

However, as Draco turned to leave, something suddenly caught his attention.

Red hair.

Zabini was passionately kissing the Weasley girl! Confused, Draco walked away and decided to confront his friend later, once he'd had his fun.

..~**~..

"Oh my God!" Hermione exclaimed, as she entered the Head's quarters an hour later and saw his black eye. "Wait - stay here!"

She quickly put her belongings down and rushed off to the bathroom, returning with a damp cloth and some ice. He waited patiently on the couch, watching her, and smirked. Whatever he did to this girl, she would always take care of him.

Sitting down on the sofa, he let Hermione gently press the ice against his swollen black eye.

"What happened?" she finally questioned him, as Draco held the ice into place.

"Isn't it obvious, Granger?" he retorted.

"I've already told you to call me Hermione," she stated, awaiting a further explanation.

Draco looked at her from his other eye. She looked like hell. Her hair was tied back messily into a bun with random streaks falling out and her tired, dark eyes seemed to stand out even more against her pale skin. They were filled with anxiety and sorrow.

"I only just got back from St Mungo's. I suppose Abigail is responsible for the state of your face."

He nodded and they both fell silent as he let her gently press the ice against his eye again.

"Did you know?" she finally asked him in a quiet voice. "Did you know about her mother?"

"Yes," he answered truthfully. "I was there when it happened."

Hermione looked back at him surprised. Her chocolate eyes searched his face as if the truth might be written on it.

"I didn't want it," he continued. "She was a powerful Pureblood after all, but the Dark Lord had no pity for her. "

A long silence followed his words. Hermione's face remained neutral although he had noticed her cringe slightly at the word 'pureblood'. He knew she was angry with him for not telling Abby earlier about her mother, but she didn't say anything. She somehow understood that Draco had preferred to keep silent and prevent Abigail from being hurt, and yet, he knew someday he would have to pay for his choice. When Draco found out Abigail had left for St Mungo's, he knew she would discover the truth and pour out her anger on him. Perhaps, in the end, if her anger didn't turn into grief before the night, she would even face Voldemort. It was not unlikely.

Draco looked up and stared blankly at Hermione's pale face. It pained him to know what she had witnessed at the hospital. He knew what it felt like to watch Voldemort's victims, see them in their agony, and now Hermione had seen it too. Being the Gryffindor she was, she would probably never want to consciously believe all the horrors Selena Serpent had been through, but viscerally she had felt them the second she'd looked into the woman's eyes.

"I saw her today," Hermione suddenly spoke up, almost as if she had known what he was thinking. "She didn't look – human. She had some sort of attack after we arrived and she seemed to relive her … torture." Hermione was hesitant to say the word, but she forced herself to confront it. There was a short pause before she managed to continue, and she could see Draco peering at her expectantly through his swollen eye. "Her pain and fear seemed to fill the room, and she kept screaming out to Abby for help. It was so awful and felt surreal. What did she do to deserve that?"

She paused, looking out into the bright fireplace.

"I wonder what Abigail's going to do now," she continued quietly "She was so happy this morning to see her mother again and now she's devastated! I can't even imagine what she must be feeling right now, and I hope I never have to."

Draco listened to her silently. Knowing Abigail and her family, she was surely planning something to avenge her mother; something big.

"I sure hope Harry finds a way to finish Voldemort," she muttered coldly. "He deserves to die."

Draco flinched at her words; he had never heard her speak like this before. In fact, they had managed to avoid these topics quite efficiently up until now.

"Don't say that," he told her sternly, as he put the ice down. "You don't know what you're saying."

"Don't you even try to defend him in front of me!" she exclaimed angrily, staring into his dark silver eyes.

"I -" But Draco stopped. No! He wasn't about to defend someone he loathed, but he couldn't let Hermione speak in such a way. He couldn't let her become someone full of hate and anger like him. His hesitation to answer made Hermione even angrier.

"You'll never change, will you?" she spat at him, before storming off to her room.

"Granger!" he barked back in his usual cold tone.

She stopped at his words and he got up to walk towards her. "All I meant to say is that you're not a murderer, Hermione," he told her truthfully as he held her gaze.

His words released something within her that she didn't even realise she was holding back. Draco realised it was her own pain. She tried to speak, but her eyes clouded up with tears, choking her voice and before Draco knew it, she had started crying right in front of him. He knew going to St Mungo's and seeing Abigail's mother had scared Hermione. She had secretly feared the same would happen to her parents or her friends. It had been a long time since she had seen someone in such a state, a long time since Hermione had thought about last year's massacre.

She continued to sob and Draco felt her shiver as he put a reassuring arm around her shoulders. Lifting her head up, she faced him and he brushed her tears away and put her head on his shoulder. He didn't know why he felt such a need to comfort her, but he simply couldn't let her go. Not now, not when she needed someone with her, someone who could comfort her, give her hope again. It was ironic really that he, a Death Eater, should comfort her, but he didn't care much for that thought, and pushed it aside.

Leading her back to the sofa, they both sat down and Hermione stayed curled up in his arms for a while, feeling his warm breath on her face. Draco knew that it was all wrong, but having her in his arms felt right.

"I know I should have told you this weeks ago and you'll still probably never forgive me," he suddenly spoke up, unable to stop himself as the words naturally tumbled out of his mouth, "but I'm sorry."

She froze in his arms, slowly lifting up her head to meet his gaze.

"We both know I'm a cold bastard, but what I did to you was wrong."

She remained silent, nodding her head slightly as if accepting his apology before laying it back on his shoulder. He could still feel her petite form tremble beside him.

"Nobody said it was going to be easy, Hermione," he told her softly, looking straight ahead, at the bright flames roaring in the fireplace.

"No one ever said it would be this hard."

Neither of them spoke for a long time. Neither of them needed to say anything, they both understood the thoughts and feelings of the other.

Draco felt her heart beat faster against him as he realised just how close they were to each other. His eyes roamed over her face and once again, his hand brushed her tears away, but this time, he kept his hand on her cheek. Her bright brown eyes caught his own and before he knew it, his lips crushed down onto her soft ones.

As Hermione feverishly responded to him, Draco, for the first time in his life, felt as if he was truly alive.

..~**~..

I'm so evil… but don't worry coz that means more fluff in the next chapter! So definitely Draco/Hermione action in next chappie and… Ginny disappears! Also the face to face with Voldemort will finally occur!

Please REVIEW! I need your thoughts and suggestions to continue, thanks!