Draco, fist clenched and shoulders slumped, made his way down to the dungeons. Fuming, he mumbled to himself, "I hate that sodding bastard." As he turned the corner he brought his hand back and slammed it into the stone wall. He growled in pain and brought his blood covered fist back against him, cradling it with his other hand. Fighting the tears that threatened to overflow he continued deeper into the dungeons. His mind replayed the conversations over and over, haunting him.
"That filthy Deatheater. We knew the truth, Hermione, you don't have to cover for him anymore. We won't let him hurt you."
Draco clenched his hand tighter around his bleeding knuckles. "We won't let him hurt you." Did they really have a reason to think that he would? He loved her, he would never hurt her, would he? He shook his head, of course not. Sure he had been mistreated and never shown true compassion before but just because he had grown up learning how to hurt didn't mean he would do it, right?
"We know what you've been doing all this time, Malfoy." Harry spat. "Did you think you could honestly get away with it? No one curses our Mione, threatens her and then hurts her."
He slowed his pace and stared into the wall. Had he already hurt her and had she gone to them about it? Was she afraid of him?
"I knew you couldn't be trusted, Malfoy. You're nothing but a clone of your father."
"I'm not my father." he whispered into the silence as a lone tear slid down his cheek. He couldn't be, could he?
Hermione's POV
Hermione came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs leading to Dumbledore's office. She looked around, try to find any sign of which direction Draco had gone. She sighed as she realized that she had no idea which way to start going. How could they have been so thick? They were her friends, weren't they suppose to believe her when she said that she loved Draco, that he had changed? He had changed, hadn't he? So why couldn't they see it? She shook her head and started back to their rooms, maybe he had gone back there. It couldn't hurt to check could it?
Draco's POV
Draco brought his wand to his face and cast a concealing charm. He couldn't let anyone see that a Malfoy had been crying now could he? Sighing, he stepped up to the wall before him and brought the tip of his wand to a stone. He whispered a password and the wall slid away, revealing the chambers of his godfather.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" Severus Snape called from his desk without looking up. Draco walked in and threw himself down on the black leather couch and sighed loudly. Snape looked up from his papers and raised an eyebrow in question. "Please answer in English, Mr. Malfoy." Draco stared off into the flames. "I very well can not help you, Draco, if you are just going to come in and take over my couch without any inclination of why you have disrupted my work."
"Am I my father, Sev?" Snape scowled at the nickname before replying,
"Of course not, Draco. Its physically impossible for one to be their own father."
"Your sarcasm isn't appreciated here, Severus. I'm serious." Severus walked over to the chair seated next to the couch and arranged his robes around him and took a seat.
"No, Draco, you most certainly are not your father. Why do you ask?"
"Potter said I was nothing but a clone of him. I hate him."
"Who, Draco, who do you hate?" Draco stared at his hands for a minute.
"My father, Potter, myself, I don't know anymore." Snape looked down into his cup of coffee.
"Draco, there's no need to take everything out on yourself. You are not your father, I assure you that. Your father is a cruel, heartless bastard, Draco. Granted, when you first arrived here at Hogwarts I swore you were your father. But you have shown me that I was wrong. Especially this last year. People change, Draco. Potter, as we both know, is dense and almost always unaware of his surroundings, however, he is protective of the ones he loves. He still sees you as the one who made his best friend's life miserable. Its in his nature to try to protect everyone and it blinds him to the truth." Snape scowled. "But do not hold it to yourself, Draco. You are not anything like your father."
Hermione's POV
Hermione walked into her empty dorm. She sighed and sat down on the couch, waiting for when Draco would return. She picked up a book and slowly slid away into the story.
Draco's POV
Draco closed his eyes as Snape finished his speech. The weariness of the day finally catching up to him. His breathing slowed and evened out when the potions professor's voice brought him out of his near sleep.
"What happened to your hand, Draco?" He opened his eyes and glanced down at his hand. The blood had dried and was caked on. He tried to open his fist but cringed when a sharp pain shot through it. Snape reached down and gently took the injured appendage in his hand and slowly massaged a potion onto it.
"I, er, lost a little anger in the hallway."
"And just what good did it do to attack the wall, Mr. Malfoy? I could understand had it offended you but I doubt that it did. Here, drink this, it will help with the swelling."
Hermione's POV
The door to the common room swung open, causing Hermione to drop her book. She looked up, startled. She jumped up and ran to the blonde haired slytherin as he waltzed through the portrait opening.
"Draco! I was worried, where did you go?" A hand brushed against the back of her head.
"I had to speak with someone." His voice quietly echoed through the room.
"Who?"
"Anyone ever tell you ask too many questions?" Draco teased as he walked over to the couch and laid down. Hermione walked over to him and kneeled beside him.
"How else would I ever have gotten to be such a know it all? But seriously, are you okay?" Hermione asked, as she gently laid her hand on his side. Draco moved to put his hand over hers and quietly replied,
"I'm fine, Mione."
"You know I don't agree with Ron and Harry. Your not your father, Draco." she sighed. "I don't know why they said those things, I thought…" she trailed off.
"Don't be angry with them, Mione, they are only looking out for you."
"But I thought they had accepted you, I thought they knew."
"I made your life a living hell for six years, Hermione. They aren't going to just get over that fact."
"But I did." Draco pulled Hermione into a deep embrace and carefully his lips ghosted over hers.
Snape's POV
With his cup of coffee in his hands he stared pensively into the flames of the fire. He slowly brought the cup to his lips and took in the bitter black substance. He sighed as he thought over his godson. It was amazing how much the young man had changed in such a short amount of time. And it was all due to one brown haired, brown eyed know-it-all. He shook his head, he still couldn't believe it, two mortal enemies coming together in such a fashion. He narrowed his eyes as one name came to mind. Potter. He was going to have to make sure that potions with the Gryffindors would be plenty of entertainment. Insolent brat. he smirked to himself. The fire wavered and turned to a shade of blue before the headmaster's head appeared before Severus.
"Ah, there you are, Severus. Having a good evening I trust?"
"I've had better." he scowled.
"Now, Mr. Malfoy gave you a visit correct?"
"Yes, sir, he did." Dumbledore nodded.
"Good, good, I had thought that he might. I trust you handled things well?" Severus nodded, of course he had taken care of everything well. "Yes, I knew you would. Have a good night then, Severus."
"Albus, if you don't mind me saying, I don't see how the prophecy is going to work out. Potter and Weasley will never accept Draco."
"All in good time, all in good time."
AN: hey there! slow update again, yea i know... ive been limited on how much time i can spend on the computer so :S Sorry its so short again but I just had to end it there. No big cliffhanger this time. Not a very eventful chapter either but i was afraid things were getting to rushed. I want to thank my reviewers, love you all lots! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that it didn't bore you too much. Please tell me what you think, the more reviews i get the faster I will be forced to write:P I hope to hear from you all! :) thanks for reading