Disclaimer: I have never, nor will I ever say that I own anything Harry Potter related so please do not sue
A/n: Thanks to my awesome Beta, Monica7725 who worked so hard to get these all done as fast as possible.
"The best of us must sometimes eat our words." Professor Dumbledore (JK Rowling) Chamber of Secrets
Chapter 8
Hermione looked at Malfoy, and he had the feeling that she too was sizing him up, just like he had done to her, thinking of what to ask.
"Malfoy, why do you really hate Harry, Ron and me?" She finally said
Malfoy's expression was no longer cold like it normally was. His eyes were now glazed over as if he was in a daze, his face relaxed and so was his body. Hermione could tell that he was thinking of how to answer.
"I hate Harry for many reasons; one of them being the fact that he survived when so many had to die. Most people think that it is a miracle that a baby at such a young age could survive such a powerful spell, and it is, but I think that it is a shame that he lived when so many before him died. How could someone like him survive, when fully grown wizards had survived? He thinks he is so special and so powerful that everyone else should bow down to him. Well he's got another thing coming. I will never, ever bow down to him just because he survived and no one else did. Another reason I hate him is because of the relationships he has with the people around him. He has you and Weasel-bee, who obviously care about him enough that you follow him and make sure he doesn't get into trouble that he can't get out of. He has the trust of Dumbledore. Most people say that he is a crackpot old fool, but even they have to admit that he is a very powerful wizard. He's probably more powerful than The Dark Lord will ever be, but he is just too noble to use his power. I hate Weasel-bee because of the way he looks at me … and you. He looks at me as if he is better than me, and he thinks I am the same person as my father. And you? I … I … don't hate you."
Hermione was very shocked at his answer. She had expected him to say that he hated Harry because he got attention from everyone for being famous, she expected him to say he hated Harry because he turned down his friendship. She also expected him to say he hated Ron because his parents were the lowest form of purebloods. She had definitely expected him to say he hated her because she was a muggle born but he hadn't said that. He had said that he didn't hate her. If that were true why did he tease her so? Did she know the real Draco?
"Ok… You said that you hate Ron because he looks at you like you are your father. Does that mean you don't want to be him? That you don't want to become a Death Eater?"
Draco looked at her with sincerity in his eyes. Hermione couldn't tell if he was really being sincere, or it was the potion that made him look that way.
"Ok. As for me wanting to be like my father, I would rather be dumped into a crate full of Blast-Ended Skrewts. I have seen what he does to my mother, the woman he supposedly loves. He doesn't know that I see him, but even if he did, he wouldn't stop. He knows that he is too powerful for us to stop him.
"He beats her, my mother. She once told him that she thinks that they should let me choose if I wanted the dark mark or not. Obviously he didn't agree, so he beat her. Gave her two broken ribs, and a sprained wrist and he has her under house arrest. And he is supposed to love her. I could never do that to the one I love…." Draco trailed off in his own thoughts. Even though he was under the Veritaserum potion he could still think, and the fact was she hadn't asked who he loved, meant that he didn't have to tell her. Not that he was in love with anyone… or was he? He didn't know, was the honest answer. He wasn't sure of anything anymore.
"And as for becoming a Death Eater, I would either kill myself or my father before I become one. I have seen what they do; I have seen the torture and the pain that they cause. My father once told me when I was young that I should be proud if I were ever asked to become a Death Eater, they rid the world of filth. Like muggles, mudbloods basically any person who isn't a pure blood wizard and for some reason I grew up believing him, believing that that would be the best thing to happen. And then I saw him torturing a little boy. He can't have been older that 5 or 6. He was playing in the garden with his little sister. He lived next door to us and because he was making a little noise, my father put the Cruciatus curse on him, until his body couldn't take the pain and he died. That was the day I stopped believing what he said."
Again Hermione was shocked; she had always thought that Draco would be first in line to get the Dark Mark. Maybe she had been wrong about him all of these years. She suddenly knew that the last question she wanted to ask. She wanted to know how he felt about her. But she couldn't just ask him out right. Do you fancy me? No, she had to do it in a round about way. Make it so that she could ask him in general. Not specifically about her.
"Miss Granger. I said make it quick. I will have to take points from Gryffindor, if you do not hurry up."
Hermione didn't have time to think of a logical way to ask her question, so she thought of the first thing that came into her head.
"How do you REALLY feel about Pansy and the rest of the girls who follow you around as if you are god's gift to women?"
Draco laughed out loud. "They annoy the hell out of me. They follow me around everywhere I go. It all started when we were playing Truth or Dare. My dare was to kiss Pansy, She was such a bad kisser, but apparently she thought I was the best kisser ever. Of course she had told all of her friends, and now Pansy thinks I am her boyfriend, all of her friends want to kiss me, to see if I really am a good kisser. I could have any of them, at anytime. I know that, you know that, they know that, but no one knows that the one person who I actually want, hates me"
Obviously Draco had finished explaining his answer because he went quiet. Snape gave Draco the potion to remove the Veritaserum potion from his system and ordered them out. But before they left the office Draco turned to Hermione just as Snape had left the room to get another couple.
"If you DARE tell anyone what I said in there, you will never know what hit you got it?" The look in his eyes scared Hermione, so she just nodded. She could see fear in his eyes. She knew that he was scared of the information he had told her, he had basically given her clues as to who he liked. She was smart. She would figure it out. And now she knew that was what he was afraid of. He had given her vital clues to his darkest secret and she will figure it out eventually, somehow.
Hermione returned to her seat, to think over the things he had just said, she turned around just has Ron was entering Snape's office. He looked at her with longing and lust in his eyes. He smiled at her. She knew that he had grown up over the past few years and with all the quidditch training he did, he had gotten quite a nice body. Hermione knew that a lot of the girls in the year fancied him. She just wasn't one of them.
Once everybody had taken their potions and had had the antidotes, Professor Snape had let them go. Hermione, Harry and Ron walked up out of the dungeons when Seamus came barging past them. He was carrying Neville. They had obviously made a mistake somewhere in the potion and apparently Neville had been the one to test it first. Neville had angry red boils all over his face and his legs and arms were starting to double in size.
Harry, Ron and Hermione couldn't help but laugh. They knew that he would be ok. There wasn't much that Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix.
"So I asked Crabbe what his life ambition was. You know what the idiot said? He said that he wanted to become the world most famous wizard. Could you imagine that?" Ron was in hysterics, as he was explaining all of the things that Crabbe had said. Harry followed suit, and told them that Goyle had a HUGE crush on Pansy. They both looked at Hermione. Who wasn't listening to a word they were saying. She had spotted Draco leaving the dungeon to go to the Heads common room. He looked at her and she saw that his eyes showed glimpses of emotion but then as soon as he realised that she was looking back, his eyes changed back to the normal steely grey that they usually were.
"Come on Mione dish the dirt. What did Malfoy say? You got the best out of us both."
Hermione looked up at them, for some reason she couldn't say what she had heard. It wasn't because Draco had threatened her; it was because she knew that she had heard some pretty personal stuff. She would rather keep it to herself. She now knew him more than any other person in the school, and for some reason she was proud of that. She had to make up lies so she just said what she thought they wanted to hear.
"He basically said that he was going to take over after his father and eventually Voldermort. He said he would be the first in line to get the Dark Mark and that he loves the attention he gets from Pansy"
She knew he was exactly the opposite, but that was the sort of information that she wanted to keep to herself. If only she knew who he liked. He knew her secret, her dreams. Now she wanted to know his.
A/n: I know I know, it's short. But I had to end it there.
Brittany: Good and thanks
Kais Devil: Did you guess them?
Skyhoofhearted: well if you get my email address from my profile you can keep it and email me if I get taken off or deleted.
Zoey: Thanks I intend to.
DracosGrl4Life: If I hadn't have stopped it there, there would be no suspense lol.
Blacknight369: Hope you are having fun on the site, and I hope you liked this chapter
tomgirlfiend102: Sorry to have made you wait, I haven't been very well lately
Cadee Blaze42: I know people hate cliffies but ask any author they will tell you that they are awesome to write and it builds up excitement
patronuscharm2: Its ok I think I emailed you the site, I think so lol.
Profet: They will eventually, were there any doubts?
JenJen05: Sorry, I will try and make the next chapter longer, as you may or may not know. All of the chapters are pre-written. So I cant really do that much to the length without making it drag on.
Monica7725: Yup definitely a big huge pain in the ass.
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Strawberryblueberrykitten: It had to be re-written because it got reported and taken off. By that Annoyed person, who keeps reviewing and being continually nasty towards me.
