I'm back now, it's been a while, and I'm sorry for that, but nature has their tantrums, but anyhow, on with the show: the Horcrux has been destroyed, leaving about three left. And what will happen to Draco now, after he's helped Harry?

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"Destroy the Golden Trio…bring Harry before the Dark Lord….Broken and easy to kill…Destroy the Golden Trio…Obey the Dark Lord…Obey or die…But is it the right side…Come to the good side, Draco"

"Aaahh!"

Draco shot upright in bed, panting, sweat running down his face. The last thing he remembered was something falling on him, trying to smother him. And then it came back again. Now, words had attacked him, making his mind more confused

"Malfoy?"

There came a knock on the door. Draco looked over, recognising the voice

"Malfoy, are you alright?" Hermione asked again

"I'm fine, alright, just had a bad dream"

A pause

"Alright then"

She walked her, her feet making small echoes around the room. Draco laid back down and closed his eyes, drifting back into a twisted dream world, full of nightmares

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Draco made his way downstairs and into the kitchen, where Harry, Hermione, Ginny and the Weasley twins were seated, all having breakfast. Harry looked up from the paper

"Thanks for leading us to the Horcrux"

"What happened to me?" he asked as he dropped into a chair

"You got attacked by a Lethifold. I'm guessing it was imprisoned in that basement, starved, making it more dangerous. So when you released it, it attacked you, not counting on Hermione being there"

Draco looked over at the brunette, who was currently staring at the ceiling

"She saved your life, twice"

Draco's jaw dropped, but he closed it, staring at Hermione, who had a faint pink tinge in her cheeks

"Well, thanks," he whispered

"What, Malfoy, I didn't catch it," said Hermione

"Thanks for saving my ass"

"You're welcome," she smiled

Draco suddenly felt uneasy. He wasn't hungry anymore and left the kitchen. Hermione watched him go, as a familiar figure pushed past him

"Lupin!" cried Harry

Ginny, Fred and George all looked up, three identical grins appearing

"Hello everyone"

He took Draco's seat and looked around at the beaming faces

"What was Malfoy doing here?" he asked

"He led us to one of the Horcruxes last night," answered Harry, "but I'm still unsure of what his intentions are"

"Ah, well, he may his father's son, all the Malfoy's have been arrogant, ruthless bastards, but I think Malfoy is far from being his father"

"What are you saying?" asked Ginny

"Draco is Lucius' son, right, but Draco is nowhere like him, no matter how cruel he's been, I think there's something more than meets the eye"

Lupin leaned back against his chair, watching as these words sunk in

"Anyhow, I'm here to tell you about Voldemort's progress"

Harry's eyes snapped around to look at him

"And?"

"He's being quiet. Well, apart from the usual deaths and disappearances every now and then, he's being kinda. No activity from his inner circle so far"

Harry looked at the ceiling

"No activity, he's being quiet. That's not right, there's something going on here"

"Thank you, Lupin"

"Cheers"

"Hey Lupin, visited our shop lately?" asked Fred

"No, no, not yet, I've been busy, but I will come. Who knows we all need a laugh"

Fred and George beamed, as Lupin got up, shook their hands and Harry's, before leaving with a tip of his hat

"Wow, Voldemort isn't on the move," said Harry, "makes you wonder really"

"Excuse me," said Hermione

She left the kitchen and headed up to Malfoy's room, where she found Draco pacing

"What are you doing here?"

"We've just been told that Voldemort has been quiet lately. Know anything about it?"

"Not as far as I know. Not a clue. Sorry"

"Do you know where the other Horcruxes are?"

"Another one would be Rowena Ravenclaw's wand. It was special to her, well I guess because it has a raven engraved on the butt of it and it's a unique shape"

"Do you know where it is?"

"Not quite. I have a basic idea"

"How did you know about the Horcruxes?"

"I heard the Dark Lord mention it once and I decided to dig around, trying hard not to get caught. I found them out and during the summer holidays before sixth grade, I went for a search and discovered the cup at the Riddle House. Well I didn't find it, but I detected it"

He paused and looked away for a second. Hermione was giving him a questioning look

"Now I have one last question, Draco"

His head snapped around when she said his first name

"Why are you helping us all of a sudden?"
Draco looked down at the ground, racking his brains to find an answer

"I guess it could be revenge, you know. My father was always cruel, pushing me around, pushing my mother around. He was never caring or loving. Only my mother was like that, steering me away from the darkness when she could. I looked up to him, wanting to be him, until I grew up. Then I saw him for what he really was like. Saw what the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters was like. Saw what it was like to be one"

He lifted up the sleeve of his left arm, revealing the Dark Mark for a second and letting the sleeve fall

"Potter asked me if the side I was on was the right side. I had been thinking about it lately"

"And what side do you choose, Draco?"

"I'm caught in the middle. I know I'm on the wrong side, but if I was to venture onto your side, I would be killed by my own father without a second thought"

Draco looked away from Hermione and stared out the window at the bleak sky

"I don't know what I'm doing. I'm so confused right now"

He looked back at Hermione and saw something else there. Something else apart from the bookish, bushy-haired girl he used to pick on at Hogwarts. He saw a woman standing before him, her hair less curly, and her looks more beautiful. It was as if someone had opened the curtains in his eyes. Was this woman the same person he teased and hated back in school? It couldn't be and yet it was

"No, Draco, you can't. She is a Mudblood and you're a pureblood!"

But another voice rose up in his mind

"You have even thought of deserting your father. Do you really have to be like him in this time? You are your own person. Now that you're away from your father, surely you can choose how you run your life?"

"But I can't think of Granger like that. No way, I can't"

"Are you afraid of your feelings?"

"Yes! Ha, ha, yes I am. Lucius has always told me not to confine in my feelings, as they were seen as weakness"

"Look, you just called him Lucius. Doesn't that mean anything?"

"No"

"Who else would you rather be with? Hermione or Pansy?"

"Oh my God, I called her Hermione! What's happening to me?"

"Maybe it's being around her?"

"No, it can't be"

"You like her. Better than Pansy anyway"

"No, I gotta get away"

"Draco, you okay?"

"Sorry, Hermione, I gotta have some time alone"

He brushed past her, lost in the argument with himself, as Hermione watched him go with a confused look. He had just called her by her first name. What was going on?

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