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 12: Answers

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Lucius and Marcus stared at Draco, stunned. "My boy...my son…" Lucius whispered, his voice filled with disappointment. Marcus, after a moment of silence, started to chuckle…his laugh was highly disturbing, unnerving.

Draco ignored him. "Yes, father. I'm tired of it! I've been controlled my entire life, and I'm going make my own bloody decision for once." Draco still pointed the wand at Lucius, Marcus and Pansy.

But now not only Marcus was laughing, Lucius had joined in. The students looked around, what was so funny?

Lucius grinned, "You forget Draco; I'm not the only one that you have betrayed..."

Draco's eyes widened. "What?" he said very quietly.

"You may have us defenseless, but wait until he judges you, Draco, before you go patting yourself on the back." Marcus' smile made Draco nauseous. Hermione, who knew exactly what they were talking about, feigned ignorance. "What on earth do you mean, sir?"

Marcus jumped in, gleefully, "Draco is a quick lad...but he was not quick enough this time."

Harry shook his head, "Not again…" he muttered to himself.

"Draco?" Hermione called hesitantly, as if to demand a plan. His hand was shaking. Lucius smiled again, "My poor son, you had such potential, pity really."

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Snape loomed unhappily at the corner of the dance floor. The other teachers had gone to bed, but he was under strict orders to watch the students. However, Snape did not wish to stay in the ballroom. He had seen red sparks fly up from the outskirts of the forest, and now he realized Potter, two of the Weasleys, and Granger were missing; as well as two Slytherins: Malfoy and Parkinson.

He snuck out the door past some frightened first years, and proceeded to walk briskly towards the forest.

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Ron's glance shifted from Pansy, who still lay on the ground, glaring defensively, to the castle. He could see a dark figure striding with great speed towards them. He squinted, trying to discern the identity of the newcomer. When his focus returned to Pansy and the Malfoys, he was met with a horrific sight. Someone else had joined the three "captives".Harry had seen it all, never once moving his eyes from the great green light that extended from the sky down to the ground; a flowing black shadow immerging and forming a caped man next to Lucius Malfoy.

Hermione held her breath, suddenly whispering "Is that?..."

Harry nodded. "That's him. They called him."

Pansy's eyes widened in awe and fear. She jumped up, not quite sure how to act. Finally, once the fact that he was present was fully processed, her legs unfroze and she dashed, without another word, up and over the hill towards the Quidditch field.

The man who had appeared took a deep breath in, eyes surveying the scene in front of him for a brief moment. They found Lucius Malfoy kneeling on the ground. Then he spoke in a voice which flowed like that of a snake,

"Ah, Luciusss. Why have I been summoned?" Lucius bowed his head immediately.

"My lord, I am ashamed..." Lucius trailed off, uncertain as to whether the Dark Lord knew already of what had taken place in the woods that night.

"We have Potter" Marcus filled in.

"The boy?" Voldemort turned towards Marcus, his pale skin reflecting in the moonlight, sending shivers down Harry's spine.

"And My Lord..." Lucius cut in, "We seem to have," he glanced behind the Dark Lord at Draco, "a traitor in our midst."

Draco gulped and took a step back, as the caped figure turned slowly to see who Lucius' eyes were fixed upon.

But before he could speak, Severus Snape interrupted, slightly out of breath from the walk. "Potter, if I recall correctly, the ball is in the castle..." his voice, at first confident, trailed off at the sight of Voldemort.

"What a scene is this? My worst enemy and his little comrades, my apprentice as a traitor, and a very, very old friend. Why Severus, you seem to have re-appeared at an extremely telling time." Voldemort hissed, a sick grin coming upon his face, eyes glinting.

Snape stood there, unsure of where to turn.

Voldemort looked over the three issues that lay before him. "Now, which should I deal with first, hmm?" Silence. He caught Draco's eyes. Draco couldn't bring himself to blink; those red slits of eyes were burning in to him. He attempted to hold his chin high, all the while, his hand holding the wands continued to shake. Voldemort stepped closer, and walked in a graceful circle around Draco, staring him down.

Hermione had never been so scared in her life, and this time it wasn't for herself. She knew no way to help the situation. She looked over at Harry, Ginny and Ron, and could tell they felt the same way. The faces of the Malfoy brothers radiated a nasty sense of revenge.

"Draco" Hermione's voice shook. He looked into her eyes, attempting to replace fear with confidence, for her sake.

Voldemort followed his gaze. "The mudblood? Now, really Draco. Is that filth worth dying for?" He moved behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Hermione saw Draco wince in pain, as if it stung terribly. "I asked you a question..." Voldemort hissed a whisper into Draco's ear.

Draco took a deep breath. He knew what was going to happen next. He never let his gaze leave Hermione's eyes as he answered.

"Yes."

"Then I shall oblige." He took a step back and held his wand high, "Avada Kadavra!" A blinding green light enveloped Draco, and as his eyes left hers, Hermione watched him fall to the ground.

The silence that followed was dreadful.

Silent tears trickled down Hermione's cheeks. Ron, Harry and Ginny stood frozen in shock. Lucius and Marcus wore blank faces, completely unreadable.

Professor Snape on the other hand, turned away, apparently unable to bear the sight...whether it was the dead body of Malfoy or the dead body of a traitor that moved him so was unclear.

Voldemort now turned his gaze to Harry. "We meet again, Harry Potter..." the words of that name seemed to bring both sweet satisfaction and bitter resentment to his face.

However, before Harry could do anything, Hermione pushed forward, angry tears burned her eyes. She raised her wand and pointed it at the Dark Lord.

"Hermione, no!" Ginny pleaded. Harry felt slightly hurt, "Hermione, let me fight him." he growled.

"Not before he gets his fair payback for that!" she shrieked, pointing in agony to Draco's dead body, which lay limp in the dirt. Already, pine needles had begun to collect on his robes, as if the trees of the forest mourned his death with pine-tears, leaning over him to protect him from the open sky.

Voldemort grinned to himself at this game, how entertaining it all was.

"Star-crossed lovers I see...and do you want to join him in death as well?" he looked at Hermione playfully, and then looked at Harry behind her, "Do you want her to join him?" His eyes flickered like a dying flame.

"No..." Harry replied firmly, looking to Ron and Ginny for support, "We don't...we won't."

"And what do you propose?" he asked.

He looked over Hermione as he awaited Harry's answer, torturing Harry with the thoughts that were running through his head, and showing across his face...all the pain he could possibly cause her for Potter's torment, and his pleasure.

Voldemort raised his wand, and Hermione hers.

"Here we go again," thought Harry. He looked to Snape, with a questioning look, as if to say 'whose side are you on anyway?'

Lucius and Marcus stood and came to stand behind their lord.

Ron and Ginny moved forward to stand with Harry and Hermione.

Snape made no move towards either side.

Ginny, bravely shot out an itching curse at Lucius, just to warm things up. Hermione gritted her teeth, her eyes set with determination. Ginny could use itching curses, if she wished. But this time, Hermione would not be nice. She would use the most severe spells in the book, even the unforgivables if it came to that. Draco was dead. Expulsion from Hogwarts seemed a petty excuse not to avenge his death.

Ron was already dodging spells from Marcus, Ginny from Lucius, and Harry watched as Voldemort began to speak, "Cru-" Harry shoved Hermione behind a tree, and fell behind with her. He covered her mouth with his hand, as they listened for his hissing voice.

Harry knew that he was in no hurry, he wanted to enjoy himself...

"Oh, now Harry, that's no fun. At least let me torture her a bit..." He was coming to walk around the tree.

Hermione glared angrily at Harry through her ever flowing tears. She wanted to fight this one.
Hermione jumped from behind the tree, followed by Harry, and the three of them, Harry, Hermione and Voldemort let out their spells, Voldemort's: Cruciatus, Harry's: Aquadios, (a curse which drenches your opponent in ice water...not very aggressive, but it was the first one that came to mind,) and Hermione's: Avada Kadavra.

Once again, the spells met, and held each other, like that unforgettable night in the graveyard.

"Don't break it just yet, Hermione" Harry cautioned.

The strands of green from Hermione, blue from Harry, and red from Voldemort were suspended in air, fighting against each other for power.

"This may have saved you once Potter, but it won't again." he hissed.

Just then, Snape snapped into action. Drawing his wand, he flicked it powerfully towards the general cluster of dueling wizards and witches. He did not utter a word, but a sudden blast shot from his wand, throwing the Malfoys, Hermione, Harry, the Weasleys and even the Dark Lord back quite a bit. Now everyone was scattered and unconscious. Snape turned and ran back towards the castle.

The Ball was over by now, and all the students were in the common rooms. Snape ran up the stairs as quickly as possible, no matter how well that last spell had worked; he knew that it would only last for 20 minutes at the most, and time was ticking. He said the secret password to Dumbledore's office, "Cream Puffs," and ran up the stairs.

"Yes, Severus?" Dumbledore inquired genially, "What brings you here in such a tizzy?"

"He has come. In the forest - Potter, Granger...Draco..." Severus was very out of breath, and couldn't believe that he was saying these things. "I used a stunning spell, but it won't last long. It's serious Albus..." Snape looked down and rubbed the mark on his arm.

Dumbledore rose from his desk briskly and hurried to the door, Snape right behind him. "There is nothing we can do about him now, Severus. Our only option is to get the students safely within the castle, and lock the others up. Go tell Professor McGonagall to send an owl to the ministry. No doubt Voldemort will be gone before anyone arrives, but perhaps his followers will not be so fast."

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AN: Yep. That actually happened. Hard to believe I know. There is one more chapter. Please review and you shall receive. (p.s. Thanks so much to all of you who have reviewed!)

-slytherinfan