A/N: Okay, this chapter will be longer, I promise. The last chapter was just kind of a preview, to see if anyone liked it. I'm sorry to say that I'll be leaving on the 24th for two weeks. But as soon as I come back I'll be full of ideas and I'll update as quick as I can!

I'm pretty sure where I want to go with this story, but if any of you have any suggestions, or requests, I would be happy to take a look at them:)

Many thanks to Shinegami's Little Sis, colorguard06, Kstarr47, Lady-Allure, and dawn 1 for reviewing!

I'm sorry I forgot this! Although I don't much see the point...

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter Two: Revelations

Mr. Weasley stared down at the boy in shock. Is this who he thought it was? With his hair so dirty, and blood dripping off of his pale skin, he was hardly recognizable.

"Dad! Who is it!" Someone called from inside through the noise. A lot of people were gathered in the small house.

Mr. Weasley turned around with his mouth hanging slightly open. "I think... I think it's Draco Malfoy."

The Burrow went suddenly eerily quiet. What was Draco Malfoy doing in the Weasley's kitchen?

Ron curiously crept over to where Draco had fallen. He was definitely injured pretty badly. No one seemed to know what to do.

"What's going on?" Everyone froze with their backs toward the voice. "Ron? Mr. Weasley? Who was at the door?"

Harry Potter walked around the skirts of the kitchen to get around everyone who was mysteriously blocking the way. He arrived at the door rather quickly.

"What happened? Do we know this person?" Still no one responded. No one seemed to want to be the one to tell Harry who it was that was here. Back in the far corner of the room, one girl was silently backing away from the source of distraction, a look of mingled horror and surprise on her face.

Harry knelt down and rolled the person over. You could have cut the tension in the room with a knife. In no time, he had his wand out and pointed at Draco Malfoy's neck.

"Harry! No! He's unarmed and you're underage!" Mrs. Weasley called, rushing over to her husband's side.

"I don't care! It's his fault so many people were injured! If he hadn't let all those death eaters in, Dumbledore may still be alive right now!" He paused for a moment. Mrs. Weasley made to move towards him. "It's his fault your son was attacked!" With that, Mrs. Weasley halted, mid-stride.

Harry whipped back around and shoved his wand closer to Malfoy. He wanted so badly to hurt him, make him feel as he did. "Why? Why is he here? He could be here only to alert his friends of where we are!"

"Harry, we don't know that. He looks like he's been attacked, and if we don't help him soon, we may never find out why he was here," Mrs. Weasley tried to reason.

"No! He wouldn't have ever come if he wasn't ordered to! You saw what he did at Hogwarts! You saw!" Tears prickled the corners of Harry's eyes. He was hardly making any sense, just rambling, and yelling. He picked the unconscious Malfoy's shoulders off the ground and started shaking him.

"Stop! Stop! Please!" Someone yelled. "I can explain why he is here."

"Hermione? What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"I-I... I have s-something to tell you all..." she stuttered. "If we could just do something about... all... the blood and everything..."

"Yes, yes, Ginny! Come here and help me! Ron, go get some bandages. I'll use as much magic as possible, but he needs to be wrapped up properly. Everyone else, go upstairs, it's too crowded!" Fleur made a look of contempt at being ordered around, but reluctantly helped Bill up and towards the staircase. Fred and George didn't seem to mind, they figured they would find out eventually. Either that, or they had a couple Extendable Ears in their pockets.

Everyone headed into motion, but Harry just stood there, staring at the place where Malfoy once lay. Mr. Weasley came over and guided him towards the kitchen table, where Hermione now sat, nervously playing with her frizzy hair.

One by one they returned to the kitchen. Ron sat next to Hermione, but that seemed to make her even more nervous, and she dropped her head into her hands. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat at the ends of the table.

Mrs. Weasley broke the silence. "He seems to be doing fine. He's actually genuinely hurt, those weren't any fake cuts or trick spells. He'll be out though, for a couple hours at least."

Hermione stared at Mrs. Weasley for a long time before returning her head to her hands. She let out what sounded like a cross between a hiccup and a dry sob.

At this point Harry seemed to have calmed down a little. He had at least acknowledged the fact that Draco Malfoy would be staying with them until he was better. For all Harry knew, that could be awhile. However, his concern for Hermione was so strong that he completely forgot Malfoy was even still there.

"Hermione? What is it that you have to tell us?" Harry asked.

Everyone looked at Hermione with confused faces. How could Hermione possibly know what had cause Draco Malfoy to turn up at the Burrow? How did Draco Malfoy know where to find the Burrow?

Hermione attempted to clear her throat, but when she looked up at her friends, it turned into more of a choke. Ginny came over and calmly patted her shoulder. This seemed to give Hermione hope, because she attempted again.

"Well... b-before I start... I just want to say that- I'm s-sorry." She looked first to Ron with tearful eyes, and then to Harry with an expression of deep regret plastered on her tear-stained face. "My own foolishness and selfishness has caused so much destruction. No, now is definitely the time to reveal The Truth." She seemed to be arguing with herself. She didn't seem sure if this was the right time to tell them.

Harry and Ron glanced at each other, as did Mr. And Mrs. Weasley. Ginny simply focused her confusion on Hermione. Hermione took a few seconds to compose herself. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, and sniffled.

"Okay, well, I guess I should start at the beginning... My first year at Hogwarts, as you, Ron and Harry, know very well, I did not have many friends. On the train ride to Hogwarts, I met a boy. He told me everything about Hogwarts that I couldn't find in a book. I grew to like this new friend. If he knew at that point that I was a Muggle-born, he didn't ask. But I was still lonely, and I was forever grateful when Harry and Ron accepted me. My other friend, as I had soon learned, was not as... fond, of Harry and Ron as I was. We lost our friendship near the end of our first year."

"But, who was the boy you met?" Ginny asked.

Hermione sighed. "Let me continue, and then I'll tell you. Second year arrived, and I was glad to be back with my friends. But then, strange things started happening, and I'm sure you guys can remember the day when I first found what the word 'Mudblood' meant. I was devastated, of course, to be called such a thing by someone who I had once called a friend."

Realization immediately dawned on Harry's face, closely followed by Ron's.

"You mean to say that, you were- were, once friends with... that!" Ron questioned as he pointed into the other room. The others present seemed to finally understand the situation.

Hermione blinked back tears. "I'm ashamed to say... yes. Although, soon after, I was petrified, and I don't think anyone regretted more than he. He knew his father had to be behind it all somehow, and he was starting to realize what it all meant. We weren't friends after that, but he had learned a deeper respect for others around him.

"Third year dawned, and I was so upset over what he was doing to Buckbeak, that I'm sure everyone has heard about the punch I threw at him." Even Harry cracked a small grin at this. "But then I got caught up in protecting Harry, and the three of us got into a row. It wasn't only Hagrid I was visiting... I didn't have many other friends. He had missed me, and we grew to be good friends again. The end of the year came and went.

"During fourth year, we became a lot closer. We still had to play our parts though, and I tried to hide my feelings. The time when Moody transformed him, for example, I had a hard time remembering whose side I was on. My concern that we were going to grow apart overshadowed everything else. Ron, you may remember that I was relieved McGonagall interfered."

Hermione took this moment to look around at those listening to her tale. Ron, who nodded, could have fit his fist in his open mouth. Ginny was simply watching her with interest, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked as though they couldn't believe it, but were trying to maintain a calm facade. Harry, on the other hand, looked as though he had been slapped across the face. Hermione had seen him like this before, but it was not often that she was on the receiving end of his glare.

"So- so you've been friends with him behind our backs... for like... 5 years?" Ron asked.

"It wasn't behind your backs! Well, I guess it sort of was, but I was friends with him before that! And I couldn't tell you and risk losing our friendship!" Hermione exclaimed with exasperation.

"Dear, don't you think we should leave these kids to dissolve their problems on their own?" Mr. Weasley asked his wife.

"Arthur, I don't-" she began.

"Come on, Molly, this doesn't concern us." With one more look around at the four teenagers, she sighed and rose from the table.

"If you need us, we'll be out in the living room," she said smoothly, and walked from the room with her husband in tow.

There was a long silence. Ron frowned at the floor. Harry was looking at Hermione, his expression unreadable. Ginny was looking back and forth between the two.

Harry spoke up. "How is it, that you can still be friends with him... after all he's done to me, to us... what he almost did to Dumbledore?"

"Harry, you didn't let me finish," she said quickly. "I haven't even gotten through fifth year yet. You can't understand what's going on until I finish my story!"

There was another silence, and after awhile Hermione decided to finish her story up. She thought it was better to get it over with quickly, and deal with the consequences later.

"So, fourth year, yes. Fourth year was over, and I became even more concerned for him. With Voldemort back, I knew his father was going to be more dangerous. I also knew he would do almost anything for his mother, which I thought would be harmful one day. During fifth year Harry, Draco and I were both Prefects, and you were more distant than ever. I knew he was getting more dangerous, but I couldn't give up on him. I was very disappointed in him that year. He was becoming more of a pawn, and less of the leader he used to be.

"I don't like to think about fifth year a lot. Even though he said it was just an act to keep people from knowing about us, I couldn't help but hear the sheer menace in his tone when he talked to me in front of people. We didn't talk much, but spoke mostly in long letters. Those 'novels' I was writing, weren't always to Viktor. In the summer however, he was really upset about his father going to Azkaban. Something happened that I didn't know about yet, and his letters stopped coming." She paused, as if recalling a harsh memory.

"I-in the beginning of this year, we met up one day. He didn't look like himself. He was paler, paler than usual. He was constantly checking over his shoulder for eavesdroppers. Then he told me. He told me what he was supposed to do. Voldemort wanted to punish his family for Lucius' mistakes at the Ministry. He was asking- or telling, Draco to do something for him, or he would have him and his family murdered. He told Draco he had to find a way to get the Death Eaters into the school on a specific night. I was so angry when he told me. I told him he couldn't do it, that he had to go to Dumbledore- to anyone! But he wouldn't listen, he wasn't willing to risk his mother's life. He told me he was doing it with or without my help, but that he would let me alert someone from the Order to come the night the Death Eaters arrived.

"I-I couldn't t-think of what to do! I know I shouldn't have but I helped him. That's why I didn't want you looking too much into what he was doing. I was so ashamed of myself! I went to Dumbledore, but he said he already knew what was going on. He said trust him, that he knew what would eventually happen. And he told me to- to bring out the good side of Draco.

"But Draco lied, or omitted one part of his plan. He neglected to tell me that eventually he was going to murder Dumbledore. When you told me, Harry, what he almost did, I couldn't believe it. I thought our relationship was definitely over. But his coming here tonight has proved me wrong."

No one spoke. Harry seemed torn between being angry at her, or helping calm her, because she broke into tears at the end of her revelation.

"But how does this prove anything? Maybe he came here tonight to lead the Death Eaters to us," Ginny said.

"No, he-" Hermione began.

"He what Hermione? He wouldn't do that? You don't even know him! I can't believe this! What about Ron?" Harry asked.

"Ron and I were never like that. You thought we were, Harry, but Ron and I have a different kind of relationship. I was never jealous of Lavender, but I told Ron that I didn't think it would work out. And I told him my problems. Of course, he didn't know who I was talking about," Hermione explained.

Harry shifted his attention to Ron. "You knew?"

"I knew she liked someone, but I never knew about all this!" Ron replied. He didn't seem to want to be in the middle of anything. Much less make Harry more angry.

"Wait- How does Malfoy even know about the Burrow? Where to find it?" Harry asked.

Hermione's cheeks turned slightly pink, but she had never looked more defiant. "Because I told him."

"You what!" Ron jumped out of his chair.

"That puts us and all the Weasleys in danger Hermione! Did you even think of what you were doing at the time? He could have even told Voldemort by now!" Harry was looking furious now.

"He wouldn't do that! I told him where it was in case he was ever in so much trouble, that he'd have somewhere to go! This was the only place I knew he'd be safe! He said he'd never tell anyone about it. And he promised me he would never become a Death Eater," she finished.

"Oh please! Don't be so naive! After what he did, of course he has the Dark Mark! You can't possibly think he is really good on the inside! Just because he promised you, doesn't mean he didn't become one of them, or tell someone about this place! He betrayed you once, 'neglected' to tell you something, how do you know he hasn't betrayed you again!" Harry yelled.

Hermione looked up with tears in her eyes. She looked at each one of them. Harry was visibly upset. Ron and Ginny were staring at Harry in horror, but when she began to speak, they looked over at her. "Be- Because he made the Unbreakable Vow."