Hermione smiled, with a bitter edge to it, "You ever seen something that wasn't really there? A mirage, maybe?" Draco's lips parted, as if he was about to say something, when Hermione's voice overrode him, "Silly question, that, isn't it? Of course you have."

Draco nodded, saying softly, "Right on the edge of twilight, you'll see things out of a dream... or a nightmare."

Hermione found herself looking at the strawhaired boy, wondering how often he had shot at something that wasn't really there. If his hands still had the shakes when he heard the report of a car backfiring. Shaking her head, she smiled and said, "Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Why we trust our eyes and ears?"

Draco gave a quiet, one shouldered shrug. "What else could you trust?" he said wryly.

Hermione smirked, saying "Yourself, of course. Nothing real as what's in your head. There's no such thing as a real circle, yet, we can imagine it."

Draco shook his head, "People think all sorts of stuff, and half the time it's total nonsense. Don't look for truth inside someone's head. Even math isn't reality, if it doesn't work." Hermione found herself looking at those intense, iceblue eyes. Draco continued, saying, "You know an illusion to be false because of your senses. It's not because you reason it's wrong, but because your eyes, your mouth, your nose tells you the truth. Every human is a flawed being... but truth - it's still there. Stable. Not going anywhere."

"If truth is external to people," Hermione said slowly, "Then it can't be killed, quenched, extinguished."

"Can you imagine? Someone murders the one truth-carrier, and the world ceases to be?" Draco said with a nearsoundless laugh.

"What would the rest of us do?" Hermione said with a grin.

"Wake up from the dream. Like sleepwalkers, we'd suddenly realize that the sky is black and we're walking on that instead." Draco said with a slow smile.

Both of them found it suddenly amusing to be talking about the reality of what's right in front of their face, with a Muggle who couldn't see half of what was really there. Who would certainly think them crazy to talk about 'magic' and spells and rituals.

"Figure we'd find a better world outside of this one?" Hermione said.

"Hardly. We'd still be there, wouldn't we?" Draco said, his voice twisting as he spoke.

"You think we're really all that awful, do you?" Hermione said.

Dodging the question, Draco said finally, "When you look at Truth, where do you put right and wrong?"

Hermione shook her head. "It's not that simple, really. Truth - truth is knowing where the choices are, not which way's right, not what path to take. Truth is grasping the possibility that you can make a choice." Her eyes seemed to shine, glistening with fervor. You can make a choice, you made one when you decided to talk with me.

"So truth doesn't tell you what's right, what's wrong?"

"People make awful choices, sometimes." Hermione said, drinking a bit of water. "Sometimes, there's only bad and worse." Her eyes met Draco's for a moment, as if acknowledging him.

"Occasionally, you have a shining, good choice that you can make, knowing that whatever else happens, you've done what's right." Hermione paused for a moment, "That's a rare thing, though. Talking a man off a ledge, convincing him to go home to his family rather than jump. Healing the rents in his heart. Maybe that."

"You don't think he'd be happier just falling?" Draco asked curiously.

"No, if he wanted to do that, he wouldn't be sitting on the ledge. He'd have dived, and enjoyed the free-fall. No, he wanted someone to care, to show him that someone's willing to listen."

"And the other choices?"

"There's rarely a person that likes to be the villain. Most people, even murderers, think they're doing what's right. An eye for an eye, after all, was a prohibitive system of justice. Like to like, no more - don't be excessive."

Draco found himself wondering what Snape would say to something like that - his godfather had a gift for turning arguments into discussions, and this one was rapidly turning into a quagmire. Draco thought that Snape's words would slice through this.

"Excessive force, deployed rapidly, can build wariness in your foes." Draco said suddenly.

"Yes, but it also stresses wariness in your could-be allies. Neutrals will avoid you as well." Hermione said.

"Better to be safe than sorry." Draco responded.

Hermione countered, with a smirk, "There's strength in numbers, though, and you will have few worthwhile allies if everyone fears you."

Draco's countenance darkened, as he thought of the Dark Lord. Was that the problem? Did his parents really fear their 'Lord'? Quietly, he asks, "If not fear, then what?"

"Trust. Caring, if you can. Love, if you can pull that off." Hermione responded.

[a/n: write a review, lovelies!]