Chapter Thirty One
Previously on Through the Ages:
Suddenly, he saw a movement in the shadows behind him in the mirror.
"Who's there?" he asked in a low voice, his hand going to where his wand was supposed to be, only to find that it wasn't there.
There was no reply and Draco felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
"Blaise?" he chanced, looking around for something that he could defend himself with as well as looking for the intruder. He saw the barely visible outline of somebody next to his bed - they had clearly tried to conceal themselves with a charm but it was fading now.
"Show yourself! I can see where you are already!" Draco yelled.
The intruder obliged, stepped out from the shadows and faced him, twirling Draco's wand in his hand lazily.
Draco let out a gasp.
"Hello, son." greeted Lucius Malfoy icily.
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"Father." Draco replied as calmly as he could. He was completely shocked - what the hell was his father doing at Hogwarts!
"That was quite a speech you made to your fellow housemates just then. Have you been rehearsing it for awhile?" Lucius remarked coolly.
"No." He answered shortly.
"Nonsense. You knew the consequences of going to the Yule Ball with that dirty Mudblood as a date and you were prepared to make that speech, long before you actually made it. Now, Draco - I would like you to explain to me exactly why you decided to throw away everything I've given you for Potter's girl." Lucius ordered.
"She's not Potter's girl." Draco bit out.
"Ah of course she isn't - she's yours isn't she?" Lucius countered with a sneer.
"How did you get in here anyway? Aren't there all sorts of charms preventing outsiders from entering the school?" Draco asked flatly, ignoring Lucius' question.
"Answer my question, son and I'll answer yours." Lucius stated pointedly.
"Which one?" asked Draco.
"Whichever one you wish to answer first." Lucius replied snidely.
"Well then, Father - yes, Hermione Granger is my girlfriend. We've been dating for awhile now and you're not going to stop me from seeing her because you don't have that power over me anymore." said Draco firmly.
There was a pause as Lucius eyed Draco with a cold fury. But when he spoke, there was no trace of anger - only an icy tone.
"I see." Lucius murmured, "So what exactly do you propose you're going to do when I disown you? You're not old enough to have access to the trust fund I set up for you when you turn eighteen and without that you're clearly penniless."
"You're going to disown me?" Draco asked incredulously.
"What did you expect, son? A Malfoy heir consorting with a lowly Mudblood clearly warrants some sort of drastic action - haven't I told you that many times already, Draco? I have instilled in you a hatred for them and yet you still disobey me and -"
"That's ridiculous. She's still a witch! It doesn't matter if she's muggleborn-" Draco was cut off as his father slapped him hard across his face.
"What on earth has gotten into you! Have you forgotten everything that I've taught you? How can you say these things as though you've believed in them your whole life? You are my son, Draco - not one of those Muggle loving Weasleys!" Lucius yelled.
"I haven't forgotten what you've taught me, Father. But I have chosen not to believe in them, that's all." Draco responded quietly.
"That's all." Lucius mimicked sneeringly, "Just answer this one question first then, Draco, before we go on. Why did you choose the Mudblood Granger out of all the witches in the school?"
"She's not just any witch, Father. She's more powerful and smarter than all the pureblood witches." Draco replied, earning himself another slap.
"You dare to say that a Mudblood is more powerful than a pureblood?" Lucius snarled.
"It's the truth, Father. The Dark Lord's only a half-blood himself and he's definitely more powerful than any pureblood." Draco pointed out.
"Shut your insolent mouth, boy!" Lucius exclaimed.
"No, I wont" Draco replied stubbornly, feeling bolder than ever in front of his father.
"How dare you disobey me." Lucius muttered lowly.
"Oh, by the way Father, since I've answered your question - you should probably answer mine." Draco continued on flippantly.
"Why don't you ask your good friend Blaise?" snarled Lucius in response.
"Blaise? So he was the one spying on us, wasn't he Father?" asked Draco.
"He was just completing his first mission as a newly initiated Death Eater." Lucius answered stonily.
"Why would spying on me and Hermione be his first mission?" Draco asked blankly.
"The Dark Lord was most displeased when he first heard reports of you being involved with a Mudblood, as you're his most promising potential Death Eater. Since it was Blaise who had informed him in the first place, he ordered him to keep a watch on you and try to sway you back to the Dark Side." Lucius explained.
"I'm sure it was more personal than that…" Draco muttered under his breath.
"So now Draco, I am here to give you an ultimatum - and one last chance to redeem yourself."
"Yeah I'm listening." Draco stated lazily. Lucius ignored his son's audacity and continued on,
"You are to choose whether or not you're going to join the Death Eaters now. If you choose to become one, you will not be forced to leave your Mudblood but instead you will use this to your advantage and find out crucial information about Potter from her. If you do not choose to join us, then I'm afraid I will have to disown you."
"Wait, let me get this straight, Father. I don't have to break up with Hermione if I do become a Death Eater, but I'll have to become a spy and use her?" Draco asked.
"That's correct, son." Lucius answered, in a much kinder voice.
"Okay, but if I don't join you, I'll be disowned from the family."
"That's also correct."
"So if I'm disowned, how is the proper Malfoy line going to continue?" asked Draco pointedly
"I am still young, Draco. Your mother and I still have time to produce another heir." Lucius replied smoothly.
Draco heard his father's answer and burst out laughing.
"Draco! This is a serious matter - why are you laughing?" Lucius demanded to know.
"Father, you cant honestly think that after turning down initiation last holidays that I'd want to be initiated now. And plus, why would I want to use my girlfriend to spy on Potter? That's just absurd." Draco drawled.
"That's enough Draco! You're nothing like the son I had - I don't know who you are, but I will have no qualms about hurting you now." Lucius threatened.
"That's okay, Father. I can take your effeminate slaps." said Draco boldly, feeling the adrenaline pulsing in his veins - he was finally standing up to his father and it felt good.
Lucius let out a wild yell of fury at this and pulled out his own wand, pointing it straight at his son.
"I'm telling you now, Draco, that this is your last chance. I've tried to be civil with you about this but you insist on being impertinent and rude towards me. Come with me tonight to the Dark Lord, join our ranks and be forgiven or -"
"Or what, Father? You're going to hex me?" Draco taunted.
Lucius glared at his son and muttered,
"Crucio"
A jet of red light struck Draco where he stood and he fell onto his bed, writhing about in agony. He bit his lip, refusing to make any sound to deprive his father of the satisfaction of knowing how much pain he was in.
Suddenly, the spell was lifted and his father stood over him, his grey eyes glinting maliciously at him.
"Still trying to be a hero, are you Draco?" Lucius sneered.
"I'm not going to let you manipulate me again, Father." Draco spat in response.
"Suit yourself."
And the feeling of a thousand knives stabbing at him descended upon him again, and it did not abate for a long time as Lucius calmly watched his son scrunching up his face in an effort to stop himself from yelling out - even though his body had already betrayed him by involuntarily writhing around in torment.
When Draco could not take it anymore, he began to let out agonised screams of pain and it was then that a sadistic smile crossed Lucius' face.
"Scream all you want, son. No one's going to hear you."
After a few moments he lifted the spell and sat down next to his son on the bed. Draco's lips were bloody and there was sweat pouring down his pale face, he was breathing in ragged breaths and his body still felt like it was on fire.
"See, Draco. I can be merciful when I want to be - you just have to prove to me that you're not turning into a Muggle loving saint." Lucius said mockingly as his son lay tortured next to him.
"I'm not…going…to let…you win…" panted Draco, raising his eyes to his father's.
Lucius slapped him hard across his face again and this time Draco could taste blood in his mouth.
"This is not a matter of winning or losing, Draco. This is much more serious. It is a matter of life and death." Lucius said silkily.
"Like…you're…really going to…kill me…" Draco laughed feebly.
A feral smile graced his father's face as he placed his cold hands around Draco's throat.
"Watch me." He breathed harshly into his son's ear.
Draco's eyes widened as Lucius tightened his grip on his throat and he felt his airways closing up and he gulped for oxygen.
"I never thought it would come to this, but there is no other way." Lucius murmured, beginning to throttle his son.
Draco tried to push his father away, and when he realised he was too weak to do that, he pathetically tried to kick him but the Cruciatus curse had sapped away all his strength and there was nothing he could do to stop his father from strangling him to death.
The room began to spin around him as the last of his oxygen supply disappeared and he could see flashes of his life going through his mind…so that really does happen when you are about to die, he thought to himself dryly…and the stark realisation that he was going to die hit him and he was about to close his eyes and stop struggling when he felt the constricting hands of his father being wrenched from his throat and he saw vague shapes throwing Lucius onto the floor just before everything went black.
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Meanwhile, in the Head Common Room a heated discussion was taking place.
Harry and Ron were sitting on a sofa both seething with anger while Hermione was sitting on an armchair directly across from them and she was glaring at them.
"Look I know we've always had this feud against him and all that, but I'm telling you now that he's not as bad as we thought he was!" she exclaimed.
"We're still not buying it, Hermione. He's either trying to use you or something else that's equally sinister." Harry said coldly.
"Why do you always jump to the wrong conclusion, Harry!" Hermione sighed.
"I think he's right, Mione." Ron added, "There's a reason why we still don't like him after so many years."
"Yes but that's because you never bothered to try! He's a good person on the inside, I swear."
Ron and Harry snickered at that.
"The day Malfoy becomes a good person is the day Ron and Ginny get together." Harry joked, earning himself a glare from both Hermione and Ron.
"That's disgusting, mate." Ron said in revulsion.
"Sorry, I just needed an analogy." Harry apologised.
"Okay, I'm just going to ignore that, Harry. But honestly, I've always had the same opinion of him as you did but I saw the real Draco when we got taken back in time and he's not at all what you think he is. He's a gentleman, he's not a Death Eater and -"
"Oh listen to yourself Hermione! You sound like you've definitely been Confunded and then fed a very potent Love Potion!" Ron exclaimed.
"I'm perfectly sane, Ron! I think he's a wonderful person and I think I'm in love with him!" Hermione burst out indignantly, and then clapping her hand over her mouth when she realised what she had just said.
"You WHAT!" roared Harry in response.
"Oh god. I don't think that I meant that to come out at all." Hermione muttered.
"You think you're in LOVE with the prat!" Ron asked dubiously.
"Well, I think I just said that because you were pissing me off so much, Ron…" Hermione tried to cover up.
"Oh come off it, Mione. Do you really love him?" scoffed Harry.
"I might." Hermione said in a small voice.
"That's absolutely ridiculous! How could you even like that smarmy git!" Ron exclaimed, unconvinced.
"Well he's not a smarmy git to me. And I'm sure that if you guys all made the effort to be civil to each other, you'd find that you have a lot of things in common." Hermione reasoned.
"Oh, sure. We could sit around and discuss how many muggleborns we've tortured in the past week - that'll be really fun." Harry said sarcastically.
"Harry! I've already told you that Draco's not a Death Eater and he's not planning to become one either. Well, you do have things in common…like you all play Quidditch, I'm sure that you could all discuss that or something."
"Now that would be fun. I could tell him exactly how many times I've beaten him to the Snitch." Harry remarked, smirking with Ron.
"Well…if you must…" Hermione rolled her eyes, "So how about I invite him to come over tomorrow night and you guys can sort out your differences?"
"Do we have to?" asked Ron with a pained expression.
"Well I'm definitely not going to break up with him, so you guys will be seeing him an awful lot." Hermione pointed out.
"Yeah but we don't have to talk to him do we? You two can just …you know, do your business and we'll just stay out of the way." Harry responded.
"I'd rather you all be on civil terms - otherwise you might end up fighting every time I bring him here." said Hermione.
There was silence as Harry and Ron weighed up the options - they could go on hating Malfoy in peace and just try to ignore the fact that he was going out with their best friend, or they could give up their pride and try to be friends with Malfoy. Somehow the first option seemed much more appealing, but the pleading look on Hermione's face was too much for both of them and they grudgingly agreed to trying to be friends with Malfoy.
"Oh really? Thank you guys so much for understanding! I knew that you'd both come around somehow!" Hermione gushed and she got up out of her armchair and wrapped her arms tightly around both of them.
"Er, no worries, Mione." Ron managed to squeeze out.
"Thank you. Seriously, you don't know how much this means to me." she said happily.
Harry and Ron both smiled at her warmly, though they still felt a bit upset that she was going out with their archenemy - but she was still their friend and they wanted her to be happy. The least they could do for her was keep an eye on things and make sure that Draco was genuine but they wouldn't do anymore than that because the rest was up to her to decide.
So the three best friends all bade each other good night and they all returned to their respective dorms feeling glad that their friendship was still intact.
Hermione flopped onto her bed, still clad in her beautiful dress robes and she marvelled at how everything had turned out - she really was very relieved that Harry and Ron were now willing to support her. She smiled dreamily at the thought of telling Draco when he picked her up tomorrow morning that Harry and Ron were willing to be friends with him and she began to drift off to sleep, feeling utterly content and unburdened for the first time in a long time, blissfully unaware that the object of her thoughts was presently lying unconscious in the Hospital Wing…
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A/N: Whew, another long chappie! Haha, anyways, hope that was ok for a bit of a rushed chapter - I really needed to get everything out quickly because school's getting pretty busy and I hope that the quality didn't suffer too much.
Now, what do you guys think of this chapter! Lucius - that evil man! Blaise - that evil boy! Well, everything shall be revealed in full next chapter, because everything is still not what it seems to be and there is still one part of the stalker puzzle missing…so yes stay tuned for the next chapter!
Thank you again to all my reviewers and here are some replies:
Firedoll22: Yeah its true that she's a bit wimpy in this but think about it - she's confused about her feelings and what she should do, so even though she's usually a strong person, on the inside she's going crazy.
Aristocratic AssassinI love your name! Haha anyways, hopefully that wasn't too traditional 'I'm forbidding you to see her' for you!
londonmalfoyLol well I guess you shouldn't feel too stupid now cos it turns out that it was Blaise after all. Hope you enjoyed that!
walk.in.the.rain: Nope! He's not the secret admirer…
Geraldine-bThanks for your really nice review! Haha, I dunno exactly how time travel works but I'm supposing that the real Marie and Julien resumed their spots.
Smiles: Hey thanks for your constructive review - you're right, there is quite a bit of dialogue in my fanfics (I mean look at this chapter) but yeah I'm just used to writing stories like that…oh and "Another thing that I disagreed on was Draco's personaility. A lot of it was good, but I don't think Draco would spend too much time noticing Hermione. It seems if he was almost flirting with her since he kept on going up to her. Maybe slowing it down a bit might help. J" Which part are you referring to?
psychohart