Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or ideas in the Harry Potter books, written by J.K. Rowling. I only own this small plot.

Summary: Things at Hogwarts tend to have a certain pattern. Malfoy hates them. They hate Malfoy. But what happens when a certain spell reveals that the last thing Hermione Granger wants to hear is "He doesn't love you." Who could it be about? Draco is sure curious...(A Draco/Hermione and Harry/Ginny piece.) A friend and I originally co-wrote this as a role-play. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 11: Duel

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"You nasty bugger!" Ron yelled. In his anger, he shot a radiant red light from his wand, exposing every hidden facet of every shadowed corner in the dark woods, including the cold and lifeless face of Cho Chang.

Everyone, including Draco, let out a gasp of shock.

Ginny ran to her. "Is she...?" but Ginny knew the answer, even before Hermione nodded weakly. Ginny's eyes burned with tears. She turned to the three Malfoys, "How could you? She wasn't anything to you. She has nothing to do with any of this!"

Harry and Ron came to stand next to Ginny, all the while keeping a mindful eye on the Malfoys and Pansy standing near by.

"She spoke out of turn." Marcus said.

Ginny glared at him, bravely, "Out of turn was it? Well this may come as a surprise, but you existed out of turn, you here! All of you filthy lot! You think our friend, is impure because her parents are muggles, but just look in a mirror once - I mean really look, don't just preen - and I believe you will find that you are infinitely wrong!" and with that she pointed her wand at Marcus.

Ron took this opportunity to untangle Hermione from the vines, as Harry raised his wand to Draco. "You, all along, I knew you were up to something. You and your entire family, only exist for evil and wrong."

Draco laughed, "Finally, Potter, we duel with...a guardian's permission," he glanced at Lucius.

Hermione stood, shaking with anger and disbelief. She looked at Draco for a moment. "Then we all duel," she glanced from Draco to Lucius. "I should love to rid the world of you." She raised her wand towards Lucius. Ginny and Marcus had already begun to throw spells at each other, and Harry and Draco held their wands steady, ready to begin, allowing the tension to build up.

Ron, catching on to the general theme of the atmosphere, pointed his wand at Pansy's face, "This may be construed as date abuse," he mused to her."Its mutual." she replied sneering.

And then the dueling began. The forest was alive with spells and enchantments, bouncing off trees, shooting into the air, rarely hitting the intended target. It was a wonder the forbidden forest did not catch fire, so many sparks were flying.

Lucius and Hermione were closely missing each other with each spell, till finally Hermione was knocked off her feet, she rolled herself behind a tree to gain her footing.

Ron and pansy, neither of them being a terribly adept dueler, rarely even produced the proper spells from their wands, let alone aimed them in the right direction.

Harry had cornered Draco by using a freezing spell, and began a long awaited conversation.

Harry's wand was at his throat. "You bastard. I knew we couldn't trust you. You've always been a slimy git, and you'll never change."

"Potter these are very generic insults. Please, I invite you to specify...allow me to relish in my accomplishments."

Harry kicked him. "Hermione you bastard! You knew she would trust you because she can't help but try to see the good in people! But I'm not blind to you Malfoy. Your only accomplishment was breaking her heart, and I hate you for that!" he threatened through his teeth.

Hermione struggled to ignore Draco's malicious laugh at Harry's words. She knew she needed to concentrate on her own problems...but that had never been an easy task for her.

Lucius noticed her jaw tighten in response to his son's laugh. "Oh Granger, you didn't fall in love did you? Love never accomplishes anything you know." He said as he shot another hex her way.

Hermione blocked the hex with a blue shield, causing it to ricochet off a tree and hit Pansy Parkinson square in the back. Ron threw her a relieved look as Pansy crumpled to the ground in a dizzy haze.

"Excuse me, Mr. Malfoy, but assuming my knowledge of your allegiances is correct, you could possibly be the king of non-accomplishments. Is you-know-who proud of the work you've done this past decade?" Hermione replied.

She knew the second those words came out that she should have kept her mouth shut.

"Why you little..." Lucius growled. He was about to release a particularly nasty curse, when Ron's voice and wand came to the rescue.

"Accio wand!" Lucius, taken completely by surprise, watched as his wand flew into Ron Weasley's hand.

Marcus, who was fighting Ginny near by, saw this and placed a blue shield around Lucius immediately.

Lucius knew he had to procure some sort of safety for himself; these shields only lasted a few minutes. He could not count on Marcus any longer; he was busy fighting Ginny. Draco was pinned against a tree under the wand of a very angry Harry Potter, and Pansy was dazed on the ground.

Hermione began to close in on Lucius. She saw that Ron had Pansy under control, and Harry was still yelling at Draco to her right. Hermione walked slowly towards the threatened Mr. Malfoy, whose eyes were moving quickly, surveying the situation.

To her right, she saw Ginny conjure a log behind Marcus, causing him to trip. Ginny's wand was at his throat before he could stand.

Harry glanced up, his wand still tight at Malfoy's throat. He saw that Hermione, Ginny, and Ron all had their opponents under control.

"Move them," he said quickly. "Over there, all together in the center."

Ginny shoved Marcus next to Lucius, wand still at his throat. Harry pushed Draco to the other side of his father, and Ron dragged Pansy to Marcus' side.

"Good, we've got them under control" Hermione glared at Draco. Something flickered in his eyes. Was it fear? No...it was something else, something Hermione couldn't quite put her finger on.

"What now Harry?" Ginny said quietly, her eyes never leaving Marcus'. Harry didn't answer; he was too busy noticing Hermione's distraction.

"Harry?" Ginny repeated urgently.

Hermione snapped her eyes back to Harry, a look of worry and suspicion filled them. Harry questioned her with his eyes. Her mouth was slightly open, and he could see her mind reeling in confusion.

Hermione's eyes looked back to Draco. Harry looked from Hermione at his right, back to the disgusting pureblood in front of him. Something was different. Something had changed.

Draco looked hard into Hermione's eyes.

"Marcus...I would count this as a desperate situation…" Lucius muttered quietly and urgently to his brother.

Hermione felt a new confidence, it was radiating from Draco. She stared back, blinked, and turned to Harry, catching his eye.

Marcus silently tossed Lucius his wand, (Lucius' wand remained in Ron's tight grip.)

Harry nodded silently to Hermione.

Lucius drew back the sleeve of his cloak, hiding his arm from the view of Harry Potter, and lowered the tip of Marcus Malfoy's wand to the black sign that was burned into his flesh.

Hermione nodded back at Harry, and then at Draco. 'My God,' she thought, 'I hope I'm right about this...I've got to be.' A few seconds later, Draco nodded to Hermione, and Hermione screamed, "Now!" to Harry, releasing her grip on Lucius. Harry then released his grip on Draco. Both Gryffindors stood back quickly, pulling Ginny and Ron with them.

"Accio Wand!" Marcus' wand flew from Lucius' hand.

Draco Malfoy was standing over his father, both wands in hand, a mix of rage and defiance on his face. "You've gone to far this time, father."

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AN: Another turn of events! Many, many more surprises to come, hope you all enjoyed it! Please continue to review!

-slytherinfan