"Where are you going?" Harry asked distractedly when he saw Hermione getting up from her armchair. She had been reading in the common room, often glancing at the clock, and Harry and Ron had decided to play chess near her.
Ron and Hermione weren't really talking again just yet. Or when they were, Ron was way more polite than he had ever been with her, they were being very formal with each other and at least, they weren't talking about the argument anymore. For Harry, it was reassuring. It was giving him some hope about their friendship. He was sure that by the end of the week, they would even have a conversation by themselves, not just because they were both talking with him.
Hermione closed her book, putting it near her friend.
"To the hospital wing," she said quietly. "I told Draco I would go see him."
"Tell him we say hi," Ron said, still staring at his game. Harry and Hermione both glanced at him as they raised their eyebrows. Ron finally looked up and he shrugged, feeling his cheeks getting a bit warmer. "What?"
Hermione shook her head and turned around to leave. Ron frowned a little and looked at Harry.
"I wasn't being mean, I wasn't mocking him for being in the hospital," Ron said. Harry snorted and looked at the game again.
"I know. She probably knows too but maybe..."
"Maybe what?"
"It sounds fake," Harry said as he glanced at the portrait hole. "I mean, I know you want her to be friendly with you again but if you show concern for Malfoy..."
"I just thought that after yesterday... I mean, what we learned, not only about..." Ron glanced around, speaking even more quietly. "His parents, but about him..."
"What, are you really concerned?" Harry asked, actually a bit surprised. Ron rolled his eyes.
"Nah, I mean, yeah, not really... It's just, you know..." No, Harry didn't know. He kept staring at his friend. "Don't look at me like that! But after what I told him, and after knowing how it happened, and... You know, with the information he gave us yesterday... I know I did wrong, that's all. And I want Hermione to know that I know."
"Yeah, don't grow too attached to Malfoy though," Harry said with a little smile and Ron narrowed his eyes.
"Shut up, Harry," he said, annoyed. He wasn't exactly caring for Draco, but it was true. He had gone too far with his words, not only about his condition but about his relationship with Hermione. He had hurt the both of them a lot that year, but it was just hard for him to realize that Draco wasn't a bad guy. Well, not totally. He could still be a total jerk with other students, but he was truly caring for Hermione and her well-being. And he was suffering a lot, Ron knew that. And the fact that he was now also bullied by his housemates was making the matter even worse. He didn't need for Ron and Harry to be mean with him when even after everything, he was giving him the kind of information he had given them the day before.
Even Pansy was nice with Hermione, or at least she wasn't mean with her. So why shouldn't they try to be... Fine with the situation? Ron had barely slept that night, thinking about all of that.
"Anyway, have you thought about what Hermione asked?" Harry looked up and considered his best friend for a second. Hermione had talked to him the evening before, not long after the feast. She had asked if it was possible for Draco to come with them to see Sirius the next week-end. It had taken Harry aback. He wasn't sure why he would have to come. She told him that he didn't know about the meeting yet but that if Harry was willing to let him come, she would tell him and ask if he wanted to come and that he wouldn't tell anyone anyway. Harry had no idea that Draco and Sirius were related in any way, he didn't know why it was important for Hermione but she seemed to really want Draco to join them. He had just told her he would think about it and he had watched her go to her dorm before joining Ron to talk to him about it.
Harry shrugged.
"I still don't know. I mean... I get that he gave us precious information and that... And that's what we will also have with... Sirius," he had whispered his name, looking around too. "But... She can tell him later what she knows, I mean... It seemed really important to have him there, I don't know why." Ron just nodded.
He didn't want to interfere. If he was telling Hermione that he was sharing Harry's opinion, he was afraid she would be totally mad at him again.
"Hey, what's Legilimency?" Harry suddenly asked, looking at Ron again right after he had won the game. His friend looked at him and it took him a second to remember why Harry could be asking this question. Again, it was because of the conversation they had had with Draco, with the plan Ron had proposed.
"It's a complicated branch of magic. When you can use it, you can see in another person's mind," Ron started to explain the best way he could. Harry frowned a little.
"You can read anyone's mind?" He asked as Ron came to sit next to him.
"A lot of people say it allows the user of the spell to read minds because it's easier to understand when you say that but... It's a bit more subtle than that. You can't read one's mind, really... You can look into it, find what you want to find... And it doesn't work on everyone, depends if you can block the Legilimens. But it's something really hard to learn," Ron said. "Anyway, they say You-Know-Who's the most accomplished Legilimens you can find... There's no way you can hide something from him, really. If he doesn't believe you, he can easily find out the truth," he added so that Harry could understand why they had realized Ron's plan was a bit foolish.
"Hermione knows you just wanted to help. Malfoy does too, I'm sure he's... You know." He couldn't say "grateful", he was pretty sure Draco wasn't feeling this way, but he knew that Ron had really tried to find something that would help him.
"Legilimency just didn't come into my mind when I thought about it. I still think he'd be safer if he was protected by Dumbledore."
"You heard him as well as I did, Ron," Harry said as he looked at the fire. "Whatever happens, he will always choose his parents..."
They stayed silent for a minute, both staring at the fireplace, Hermione's book between them.
"I just hope Hermione will be able to talk some sense into him, you know. He can find a way to help us without feeling like betraying his parents."
"You seem to really want him to fight with us, are you sick?" Harry asked, smiling a little but still not looking at his best friend. Ron shrugged.
"Nah... But imagine You-Know-Who's face if he discovers that even the Malfoys are on our side..."
They both chuckled a little. It was weird, indeed. Would Draco's parents ever change? Would they fight with them, one day? They would probably be forced to fight with Voldemort... Harry glanced at Ron.
"I think I'll let him come with us, next week. Maybe we could... Help him choose, you know."
Ron only nodded to give his approval and they both stood up. Harry grabbed Hermione's book and they both left the common room.
.
"You never told me why Sirius Black's humor is not really amusing for you..." Hermione said. Draco and her were both laying on the bed, on their backs, their fingers interlaced between their bodies. And they were both staring at the white ceiling of the hospital, talking quietly. Draco blinked and just held Hermione's hand tighter for a moment, thinking about it.
"It's... It concerns Lupin..." Draco said quietly. Should he tell her? After all, she would understand that if Snape had actually faced Lupin, he wouldn't be there now. He would have been killed. Because Lupin was extremely dangerous. Like he was himself... Should he make Hermione realize that? In a way, he just didn't want to admit that she was already aware of how dangerous he could be. He hated that she knew, he hated being a danger for her.
And as he was thinking about it, a thought struck him. Snape would be dead. A lot of things would have been different for him if it had been the case. Who would have been his godfather? Rodolphus, who was now in prison? Or one of his parent's other friends? Who would be making him his Potion? He would have been so alone at Hogwarts. He wouldn't have had him to check on him, to look after him... It was weird, thinking about it, about everything they had shared. He was missing him so much. And he hated himself for that, because he thought that it was making him weak. To be so attached to somebody who had hurt him so bad... What other word than "weak" did he have to describe this? He sighed loudly.
"It was during their school days... It was the full moon and... I don't know if it was all Sirius' doing, but I do know Lupin had no idea about what was going on... Anyway, he sent Snape under the Whomping Willow, you know..." He heard Hermione gasp and she straightened up a little. "I don't know how he lured him there, I just know he told him about the passage... Don't worry, he wasn't hurt, he didn't even see Lupin... He was stopped in time, just before going in..."
"By Sirius?" Hermione asked as she sat, looking at Draco. This one glanced at her and he kind of shrugged, still lying down.
"I don't know... He didn't say. But I asked Lupin if it was true because... How could I trust Snape with anything, lately?"
"I'm sure he regrets what he did to you, Draco," Hermione said. She didn't exactly like their Potions teacher at all but she hated seeing Draco being so depressed because of him.
"I don't care, he did what he did. We can't change that," Draco said as he looked away. "Anyway... Lupin told me that it was true. That... When he learned about it... He was feeling betrayed, he was so angry... He didn't talk to Sirius for the longest time and the only times it was happening, they were fighting. I think it broke something, you know... Between them. Trust, maybe. I don't know, he just told me that some things were never the same after that," Draco said more quietly. Lupin knew how it was to feel betrayed by his closest friends too. About this secret too. Sirius would have let his friend become a murderer just because he didn't like Snape... He wasn't a Black for nothing, was he? And still, he had forgiven Sirius, he had told Draco so. And Draco knew that it was because Lupin wanted Draco to forgive Snape.
Draco lifted their hands, pulling Hermione's to keep it against his tummy as his free hand started to play with the sleeve of her sweater, still looking at the ceiling.
"Not funny, huh?"
"No, not funny at all," Hermione said quietly before she slowly moved to lie down again.
They heard the doors being opened and footsteps coming their way. Hermione sat down again before suddenly getting up, getting her hand back and making Draco frown.
"Harry, Ron, what are you doing here?" She asked. Draco turned his head, glancing at the two boys. He saw their eyes on him and he glanced at the ceiling for a few seconds before he lifted his tired body to sit on the mattress.
"I told you I would think about... What you asked, yesterday," Harry said. Draco raised an eyebrow as he glanced at his girlfriend. "I think that..." Harry looked at Draco again, meeting his eyes. "He trusted us yesterday. Not only with what he told us, but... He let us go down there," Harry started to explain before he approached Hermione. "We talked about it with Ron and we think we can trust him too with this." Hermione's face brightened as she turned to face Draco.
"What is this about?" Draco asked, glancing at the two boys before looking at his girlfriend. He moved to sit on the edge of the mattress, his bare feet meeting the cold floor of the hospital. Hermione sat down right next to him as she looked at her friends.
"You know... Next week, there's the trip at Hogsmeade," she said. Draco and her had never had the chance to go there together. Even if now, their relationship was public in the school, Hogsmeade wasn't just full of students. And a lot of people would recognize the Malfoy boy holding hands with a Muggle-born. He was too afraid someone would go and just talk about it to his parents. His father had already mentioned rumors in one of his letters, and Draco had gathered all his courage to tell him that it was just that, rumors. He couldn't just tell him what was going on between Hermione and him. If he was ready to face the other students, he clearly wasn't ready to face his parents. But now that he had clearly lied, it was even worse. "We're going to meet someone there. Someone who will be able to answer some of our questions. We need to talk to him but no one can know. Ever."
"Why?" Draco asked as he frowned a little, meeting Hermione's eyes. "Who is it? Is it dangerous?" He asked, glancing at Harry and Ron before looking at his girlfriend again, automatically putting his hand on her forearm. Harry and Ron both looked away, a bit surprised to see him act this way, and Hermione smiled.
"Even if it was dangerous... We've faced worse. But no. It's not exactly dangerous for us but for him... He's... On the run. People are looking for him, if anyone knew we know where he is, that we're talking to him..."
Draco slowly removed his hand from her arm before he stood up, staring at Hermione for a few seconds.
"On the run, huh? Is that why you're talking to me about him?" He asked. His tone had changed a bit and Hermione glanced at her friends.
"You talked about him?" Harry asked. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Not like that, Harry," she said. Of course, Draco had figured out who it was. She stood up too. "It's not why I talked to you about him, Draco. I just wanted to know what had happened with Snape. I thought about it again because we're going to see him, yes, but I really wanted to know," she said. Draco took a deep breath as he looked away and it was her turn to put her hand on his arm. "Stop freaking out, Harry, it has nothing to do with him being out of Azkaban or where he is. Draco... He's his cousin," she said. Harry blinked and Ron gaped at Draco. Hermione looked at her boyfriend and smiled a little. "Once removed," she added before she glanced at Harry again. Draco finally looked at the boys, looking annoyed.
"My mother was a Black before marrying my father," he said shortly. He didn't seemed very pleased with the idea of being related to Sirius. He looked at Hermione again. "And you just spend your time talking to a murderer who has escaped Azkaban? Why? Because he's his godfather?" He asked, nodding in Harry's direction. Hermione pulled his arm a little.
"Come on, stop acting like that. Of course not, you know I wouldn't. He's innocent," she said more quietly. Draco frowned. "I'll explain the situation to you when we will have more time," she said. They had all the time they wanted, actually. But she didn't exactly want to talk about it with Harry around. She didn't want to talk about the way Peter had betrayed his parents, got them killed, got his godfather imprisoned for his crimes...
"Peter Pettigrew's alive," Harry let out, staring at Draco. And seeing how quickly Draco looked at him, Harry understood that he indeed knew who he was. "He's the one who betrayed my parents. He's the one who killed those Muggles..."
"Of course he's not, he... Exploded, he's dead," Draco said as he grimaced a little.
"He just cut his finger, he's an unregistered Animagus... He cut his finger, killed the Muggles and changed into an animal to escape Sirius who knew the whole truth," Harry said more quietly, looking down. Draco couldn't believe it. He looked at Hermione again like he was checking if it was true, like he would only believe it if she was the one saying it.
"He was Scabbers all this time," Ron added finally and Harry turned his head to look at him, as well as the others.
"Scabbers?" Draco asked as he frowned again. What was a Scabber?
"My rat." It took a moment for Draco to remember Ron's animal.
"That old disgusting thing that bit Goyle?" Draco asked as he grimaced again. Hermione bit her lip like she was trying not to laugh. Ron shrugged, looking away. "Are you being serious right now? All three of you?" He asked, turning again to face Hermione. She nodded.
"Sirius wasn't looking for Harry, last year, he was looking for Ron's rat. That night, when you had to go in the Forest," she said and Draco looked away automatically, "Sirius and Lupin confronted him in the Shrieking Shack. We were there because... Well, Sirius was aiming for the rat but got Ron instead so he just took him with him."
"What do you mean, he was aiming for the rat?" Draco asked, frowning again. Hermione figured that with everything he already knew, they could tell him that too.
"He's an Animagus too. A big black dog. He got Ron's leg and dragged him under the Whomping Willow," she said. Draco looked at Ron again, trying to keep his mouth close. That explained his injury at the end of the year as well as their presence in the Forest. Hermione took a deep breath. "Anyway. Pettigrew escaped. So, no one could prove that Sirius is innocent, that's why he's still on the run. But Harry and him send each other letters from time to time. We never really know where he is exactly."
"Alright," Draco said quietly before taking a step back, sitting on his bed again. "Ok, alright. Give me a minute," he just said, looking in front of him. It was a lot of new information. "So. You're going to see him while you'll be at Hogsmeade next week-end, is that it?" He then asked. Hermione nodded and Harry approached the bed. He put Hermione's book that he still had in his hands on the mattress before he crossed his arms.
"Yes. He came so close to talk to me about something, even though I don't want him here. That's incredibly dangerous but we figured that we're not going to make him leave now that he's here."
"What does he want to talk to you about?" Draco asked, now eager to know even more stuff. He looked up at Harry who seemed to be a bit uneasy as he exchanged a look with his friends.
"Well, we don't know exactly," he sighed before he met Draco's eyes again. They were already talking quietly just in case Madam Pomfrey would hear them but he started to whisper. "Your father, Karkaroff and Snape are not the only one knowing that something is going on... I have those dreams," he started to explain, "I don't know what it means exactly but my scar... Hurts." Draco narrowed his eyes a little, glancing at Harry's forehead and seeing the scar behind his untidy hair. "It used to hurt during our first year, when Quirrell was around."
"So when You-Know-Who's around..." Draco said quietly. Harry nodded, noting that Draco was quick on the uptake.
"That's why we wanted to know what was going on so bad, yesterday. That I asked Ron to come too, even if I knew you wouldn't like it. Because we've always faced him together. It's not going to change." This time, it was Draco's turn to nod as he glanced at Hermione, who slightly smiled to him. "If we're saying all of this to you, it's because we trust you. Because we both know you treat Hermione right, that even if you're incredibly annoying, you're not that bad." Draco slightly smirked as he looked down; interlacing his fingers on his lap. "I told Sirius about my dreams and the tournament and he really wants to meet. So... Will you come with us? He probably knows more than we do on the situation, with the information you can give, he will eventually be able to tell us even more stuff. We thought we'd ask him about it."
"But you already know everything I know. Why should I come? You could just repeat what I told you," Draco said as he frowned a little, looking at Harry again.
"Because... You're a part of the team now," Hermione said quietly. Ron and Harry glanced at her. They were still a bit uneasy about that but it was true, somehow. He had started to help during the evening before, and he was his boyfriend. As long as they were dating, they wouldn't be able to go around and do what they had to do without him not knowing. Even if it was hard to admit for them, Draco was smart, he would figure it out. And with his parents working for Voldemort, he would know at some point anyway. Seeing how he had reacted with Hermione when he had thought it could be dangerous for her, he wouldn't stay in his dorm without doing anything to protect her, especially knowing that she was around the boy Voldemort wanted dead.
Draco knew how good Hermione was, how better she was. She was more than smart and very capable when it came to duel, but he couldn't help it. He was worried. He didn't want to learn she had been attacked or that she had hurt herself while doing something reckless... Or worse, he didn't want to learn that she had been killed. He couldn't help but be worried, even if he knew that Potter and Weasley were more likely to die first if they were starting to be in trouble.
"You deserve to know what's going on too. We're not the only one concerned by all of this. Your parents and you... It would be unfair for us to hide this from you. You should come. But you can say no if you really don't want to be more involved," Hermione added, still staring at her boyfriend.
There was a minute of silence during which the trio waited for Draco to think. He looked down, staring at his hands for a moment before he took a deep breath, looking at his girlfriend.
"Ok. I'm in."
.
They had made their arrangements and Draco left the castle around noon on Saturday the next week, accompanied by Pansy and Theo. The weather was good that day, they hadn't kept their cloaks on for long and they started to visit a few shops, buying different things. Theo and Pansy knew that Draco had to leave at some point. He hadn't told them what it was about, he had just said that he would spend some time with Hermione. Pansy had asked if it wasn't unwise, knowing that people might recognize him but Draco seemed pretty confident.
So, at half past one, he made his way to the place they had to meet at, leaving Pansy and Theo behind. Theodore watched his new friend leaving the shop to walk away and he turned towards Pansy, smiling a little. She was staring at one of the many shelves, wondering what other sweets she could get when she noticed her friend. She glanced at him.
"Get that expression off your face, Nott," she said and Theo chuckled. She knew what he had in mind. It had been like that since the ball. Pansy sighed as Theo leaned against the shelf.
"Come on, just tell me. I just want to know, I'm not going to do anything with this information," he just said. Pansy raised an eyebrow, looking focused on the sweets. She wasn't, actually.
"I don't know how many times I have to tell you this, Theodore, but I'm not going to tell you what happened to him. You want to know? You ask him," she said shortly before she turned towards him. "You want him to be mad at you, to be mean to you, to be annoyed whenever you walk into the room he's in? You ask him." After those words, she turned around and walked towards the cashier to pay for her sweets. Theodore knew better and didn't say anything else as long as they were in the shop. But once outside, he talked again.
"But you do know what happened, right? What did that to him, right? So why can't I know?" This guy was way too curious. Pansy looked at him again and when he smiled, she just narrowed her eyes.
"Since when dogs are allowed to walk around without a leash, Parkinson? Better keep an eye on him, shouldn't you? Even he might notice that he shouldn't hang out with you." They both turned their heads to look at the Slytherin girls walking past them. Theo looked a bit uneasy but Pansy just looked jaded. And to think that she had been friend with those girls.
"And where's your leash, Greengrass, forgot it in the dorm? Or did Zabini took it off because he's tired of having you following him around?" She said shortly. Daphne looked slightly offended but kept her disdainful look on her face before Pansy walked away with Theodore, noticing the look on Tracey Davis' face. She looked sorry but Pansy didn't care, she just smiled at Daphne as she walked away, clutching Theo's arm.
"You shouldn't have to hear that. And you shouldn't pay attention to her," Theo said after almost a minute of pure silence. He was feeling very uncomfortable. It wasn't the first time this kind of thing was happening. He was used to ignore those remarks, but Pansy wasn't. She had always something to say in return, she wasn't letting anyone push her around. She shrugged.
"It's fine, Theo. I share their dorms, I can't let them think they're making me miserable."
"Are they, though?" Theo asked, glancing at Pansy. She kept looking in front of her and she shrugged again.
"Not really. You know... It's hard because I used to be with them most of the time. I was making fun of people with them, it wasn't the other way around. I'm just disappointed to see how easily they turned their backs on me. But they should know better, we've been friends during almost four years. They usually leave me alone when it's only us. They just like to show off in front of other people." Theo stopped looking at Pansy, still feeling very uncomfortable. He was feeling a bit sorry for her, even though he knew that it wasn't just because he was with her that day. Most of the time, they were attacking her because of Draco. But still, he knew that he wasn't making the matter better by hanging out with the both of them.
"You're su-"
"I've already told you that I'm fine, Theo, can we please stop talking about this?" Pansy asked, a bit tired of this conversation. She gave Theo a look saying it all and he just smiled, nodding.
"Then, maybe we could-"
"Not talk about that either? Certainly," Pansy interrupted him with a little smile. Theo looked amused before he looked in front of him again.
"Alright, I just think it's unfair. I'm his friend too, I should at least know some of the stuff that's going on. But you two have a lot of secrets, I know it." He knew it because when they were together, they were always whispering, sometimes looking around while talking, they had their habits. That place they were often meeting at near the lake. Sometimes, they could understand each other just with a look. Or they were using some specific words to mention something they didn't want Theo to understand.
"Of course we have secrets. We've been friends for a few years, now. You can't expect him to share every details of his life with you after two months. You know him a bit better now, you should know that he doesn't... Work that way." Theo shrugged, looking a bit annoyed but not upset.
"Yeah, I know... But it's annoying. There are times when I just feel..."
"You belong in the group, Theo. We're not a duo anymore, we're a trio," Pansy said as she stopped, staring at Theo. He stopped too and met her eyes for a second before he looked down. It was new for him. Feeling like he was belonging. He looked at Pansy again and he gave her a very awkward smile before he nodded. He felt her hand on his arm and he couldn't help but glance at it. "I know he's cold... I know it feels like he doesn't like you, sometimes. He is just... Not good at letting people in. At all. He wasn't talking to me all that much when we met, that's just because I went a bit too far with my curiosity... But I was just very lucky, Theo; it wasn't about what you saw on his arms. This is different. This... He isn't going to like at all. Just... Promise me you won't ask Draco anything." Theodore met her eyes again and stayed silent for a few seconds.
Then, he smiled again. It was less awkward, he seemed to be a bit more relaxed. He nodded and offered his arm to Pansy again.
"I promise."
"You'll see. There will be one day... You'll know it. You'll know he'll finally be totally accepting you," Pansy said before she smiled a little and grabbed his arm again. Then, they started to walk towards the Three Broomsticks.
Draco had walked for a while, going up the High Street and towards the edge of the village. He arrived right after the trio, he had been able to see them from afar. Hands in his pockets, he approached Harry, Ron and Hermione. That place was almost totally deserted if it wasn't for a few students.
"Draco, here you are," Hermione said, happy to see him. Draco gave her a smile and Hermione put her hand on his chest before craning her neck to give him a soft kiss that made Ron and Harry look away. Then, Draco directly held her hand and glanced at the boys.
"So, where are we supposed to go?" He asked and Ron looked behind him as Harry nodded in that same direction.
"We follow this way for now," he said.
They kept walking for a while, until they turned and discovered Sirius in his dog form, two Daily Prophets in his mouth. He seemed to sniff Harry's bag and before getting very excited. Draco glanced at Hermione who just whispered "food" and they followed the dog towards the place he was hiding in. At that point, Draco didn't know if Sirius had noticed his presence, he seemed too eager to eat for that.
Draco hadn't thought that meeting Sirius would mean he would have to climb a part of the mountain. If he had known, he wouldn't have put those new expensive shoes on that morning. During half an hour, they had to follow the dog under the sun to be able to reach a fissure in the rock in which Sirius had disappeared. They were panting when they hardly squeezed into it and soon, they found themselves in a cave. There wasn't too much light but they directly noticed Buckbeak. Draco grimaced and didn't move while Harry, Ron and Hermione bowed. He felt Hermione pulling his arm a little and he rolled his eyes before he bowed, not as low as the others had. Then, Hermione approached the hippogriff to stroke his neck. Draco glanced around, quickly noticing that Sirius was in his human form.
He looked dirty and thin and Draco noticed the gray robes he had probably been wearing in Azkaban. Still, Draco tried to not show his disgust and he noticed that Sirius' eyes were on him too. Still, the man didn't say anything at first, he threw the Daily Prophets away and he walked towards Harry to get his food, thanking his godson.
Draco was still staring as Sirius was explaining that he was living off rats, smiling at Harry. Then, Harry seemed to be about to say something when Sirius looked at Draco again. "What is the Malfoy boy doing here?" He asked. He was actually looking curious, even if he wasn't showing any sympathy to Draco.
"He's... with us," Harry said as he glanced at Draco who just seemed to feel more uncomfortable by the second. Hermione approached him and looked at Sirius as she softly grabbed Draco's wrist, letting her hand go down to interlace their fingers. Draco turned his head to look at her, wondering if all of this was such a good idea. He then glanced at Sirius again, who was still staring, apparently looking at Hermione.
Sirius shook his head a little but kept eating.
"I didn't know it went that far," he said. Draco raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked his godfather, glancing at the couple again.
Sirius stood up, a chicken leg in his hand as he walked towards Draco and Hermione. He met Draco's eyes. "Remus told me about you." Draco blinked.
"What did he say?" Draco asked more quietly than he thought he would be. Sirius seemed to scan Draco's face for a moment. Could he see his anxiety? His desire to leave the cave?
"Not much," Sirius said quite shortly, examining Draco from head to toe. "I know enough. I know you're a werewolf, for instance," he said before he walked away. Hermione had felt Draco's grip on her hand becoming a bit tighter and she glanced at her boyfriend, worried. Sirius turned around again, taking a bite of his chicken, still staring at Draco. "I can't tell you how surprised I was when I heard that my cousin and her husband had kept you in their home."
"As much as I was surprised to learn you're innocent. I guess we're both full of surprises," Draco said quickly, like he hadn't wanted to let Sirius talk about his parents anymore. Sirius was about to open his mouth when Harry decided that it was better to end that conversation. He knew that Draco could react pretty quickly when things were said about his parents, or when it came to his condition. He didn't exactly want his godfather and his best friend's boyfriend to fight over family issues. They didn't have any time for that. And if they didn't want any problems with Draco, the best solution was to interrupt them.
"What are you doing here, Sirius?" Harry asked, staring at his godfather. Of course, he was glad to have his godfather around, to be able to see him. But it was incredibly dangerous.
Sirius started to explain the he was getting worried about the situation, that he was reading the news every time he had a chance to. That he was only walking around as a dog. During this time, Ron had taken the Daily Prophets from the floor to read them while Harry was still looking at his godfather, asking what he would do if he was seen. He was really afraid that Sirius might be caught.
"You three... You four and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus," Sirius said, looking really relaxed about this situation. Ron gave the two papers to Harry and Hermione pulled Draco a bit to make him come closer with her. He didn't really want to, he was fine with staying in a corner of the cave to listen. They approached Buckbeak but Draco let go of Hermione's hand to let her pet the creature alone. He didn't feel like going too close and he wasn't sure the animal wanted him to approach more.
"They're making it sound like Crouch's dying but... I saw him up here, so he can't be that ill," Harry said as he kept reading the Daily Prophet he had in his hands.
"My brother Percy's his personal assistant and he's saying that Crouch's suffering from overwork," Ron said.
"Well, he did look sick the last time I saw him up close," Harry said, his eyes still fixed on the newspaper in his hands. "It was the night my name came out of the goblet."
"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" Hermione suddenly said, looking stern. "I'm sure he's regretting it, now. He must feels the difference now that she's not there to look after him." Draco heard the tutting sound coming from Ron as he rolled his eyes.
"She's obsessed with house-elves," he said quietly to Sirius, looking darkly at Hermione. But Sirius didn't have the reaction Ron was hoping for.
"Crouch sacked his house-elf?" He asked, looking quite curious.
"During the World Cup," Harry said before starting to tell Sirius about the Dark Mark appearance that night. He told him about his wand being in Winky's hand when she had been found. He told him about Crouch's anger and Sirius seemed to be thinking fast, walking up and down the cave, another chicken leg in his hand.
"Let me get this straight. You first saw the elf in the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?" Sirius asked. Draco heard the trio say "right" at the same time and again, he kind of wondered what he was doing there.
"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"
"He said he had been too busy to come," Harry said. Again, Sirius seemed to be thinking and at last, he asked Harry if he had checked his pockets for his wand when he had left the Top Box. They ended up concluding that whoever had stolen Harry's wand had done it while they were in the Top Box. Hermione kept saying that Winky hadn't stolen the wand and Sirius asked who else was sitting there. Harry started to tell him about Fudge and the other ministers that were there before he stopped, glancing at Draco.
"The Malfoys..." He said a bit more quietly. Draco didn't look away, he stared at Harry, meeting his eyes before he heard Ron's voice, which totally distracted him.
"You're sure your father didn't-" Ron started to ask.
"Yes. I am sure my father didn't steal Potter's wand. Are you being serious here?" Draco asked a bit aggressively without being able to stop himself. Hermione gave a reproachful look at Ron but Sirius asked if there wasn't anyone else that could be a suspect. He didn't want to let the tension become more present.
Draco kept glaring at Ron as this one started to focus on Sirius and Harry again, visibly embarrassed. Draco crossed his arms and felt Hermione's hand on his arm. He glanced at her, meeting her eyes for a second. He knew he shouldn't be too angry. After all, his father was actually a good suspect for them, there would be no reason for them to believe he was innocent, not after everything... But Draco knew he hadn't done it, he had seen his father after the events.
"No one," said Harry.
"Yes, there was, there was Ludo Bagman," Hermione reminded him, looking at the group again as Draco kept staring at her for a moment.
"Didn't he used to be a Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps?" Sirius said. "That's all I know about him, what's he like?"
"He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament," Harry said as he shrugged, hiding his hands in his pockets.
"Does he, now?" said Sirius, frowning more deeply. "Why would he?"
"He says he likes me." Sirius, once again, seemed to be thinking hard about all of this.
"He was in the forest just before the Dark Mark appeared," Hermione added.
"But he didn't stay there, did he?" Ron said. "He left for the campsite when we told him about the riot."
"How would you know he went to the campsite?" Hermione asked directly.
"Come on," Ron said, looking at her like she was crazy. "He didn't conjure the Dark Mark."
"But Winky did?" Hermione asked. Ron rolled his eyes once more and he couldn't help but sigh, looking at Sirius.
"I told you she was obsessed with-"
Sirius interrupted him by holding up a hand.
"What did Crouch do when his elf was discovered with Harry's wand?" He asked.
"He left to look in the bushes but... No one was there," Harry said.
"Yeah, he wouldn't want his own elf to be the culprit. And that's when he sacked her?"
"Yes, just because she didn't stay in her tent and let herself get trampled-"
"Would you stop with the elf?" Ron suddenly asked, angry. Draco could understand why Ron was so annoyed about it. He also had to listen to Hermione's long talks about the house-elves, even though she knew what he was thinking about it. But he could listen to her during hours anyway. And frankly, he wasn't believing that the elf had done it either. Why would she have done such a thing? No, it sounded ridiculous. And Sirius wasn't sharing Ron's opinion either, apparently.
"She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron," he said, shaking his head. "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." He started to think hard again, talking quietly about Crouch's absences, about the way he had made sure he would have a seat for the World Cup before not even going to watch the match. He had really wanted the Triwizard Tournament to happen and he wasn't going to see it either. "It's not like Crouch. The guy's never taking a day off work, and he wouldn't just because of illness."
"You know him, then?" Harry asked.
That's how Sirius ended up talking about Crouch. About the way he had been sent to Azkaban without a trial, like others had been, about how he was going to become the next Minister of Magic. But he looked hesitant and he said that they were too young to understand everything. The four of them were pretty annoyed with this and Ron didn't wait to tell Sirius that he should at least try them. So, Sirius explained. Draco couldn't help but glance at the trio as he talked about the way times like those were bringing out the best in some people and the worst in others. That's what he had talked about a week before. That people changed. That even the good ones had committed reprehensible actions.
"He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters," Sirius kept on going, still eating.
"Aurors could kill," Draco said quietly from his spot and Sirius gazed a him for a moment before he nodded.
Draco knew about that, he had talked about it to Hermione already, some time after the beginning of the Tournament, when Crouch had stopped showing up at the school. His father had told him about it during the summer, while Draco was asking for the Triwizard Tournament. He had said that Crouch had reinstated it, that he really wanted for it to happen. His father said that he didn't exactly know why but Draco said that he really didn't mind. And they had talked a bit about Crouch. Lucius had explained what he had become, how he could have been the Minister instead of Fudge. Draco didn't know which one he would rather have. A competent one, or the other idiot they had now. He really didn't like Fudge, but his father was making it easy.
"Yes, Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorized the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects. I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side. Still, we were all sure he was going to get the top job after Voldemort's disappearance, he had his supporters. But then... Unfortunately for him, his son was caught with a group of Death Eaters. Apparently, they were trying to find Voldemort... They wanted him to have the power."
"Crouch's son was caught?" Hermione said, sounding shocked. She glanced at Draco, wondering if he had known about this all along but had never told her when they had talked about Crouch. She couldn't find his eyes, he was looking away, visibly feeling uncomfortable again. He probably knew all of this already, yes.
"Yep," said Sirius as he threw his chicken bone to Buckbeak before he started to eat pieces of bread. "Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while... gotten to know his own son."
"His son was a Death Eater, then?" Harry asked.
"No idea, I was already in Azkaban when he arrived there. I found all of this when I got out, you know. He was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life were Death Eaters," he said as he glanced at Draco again, only making the uncomfortable feeling increase for the boy. He carefully avoided Sirius' eyes. He knew who he was talking about. His aunt and her husband. He felt a shiver going down his spine and Hermione saw his body becoming a bit tense because of it. "But who knows, he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, like the elf."
"Did Crouch try and get his son off?" Hermione asked quietly, only to hear Sirius laugh.
"I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione! Crouch had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic, everything representing a threat to his reputation had to go. He was associated with the Dark Mark again because of his house-elf, so he sacked her. Doesn't that tell you what he's like? He just gave his son's a trial and it was just an excuse to show how much he hated the boy. He sent him straight to Azkaban."
"He gave his own son to the Dementors?" Harry asked, as quiet as Hermione.
"Yes, I saw them bringing him in. He wasn't older than nineteen, I think. He was near my cell, screaming for his mother by nightfall. After a few days, he went quiet... They all went quiet in the end... Except when they shrieked in their sleep..."
Draco felt suddenly relieved. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second. His father could have been there. Away from them, in a cell... Quiet.
Another shiver went down his spine and he opened his eyes again, only to hear Harry asking if Crouch's son was still in Azkaban. He also heard Sirius explain that the boy had apparently died but at that point, he wasn't really listening anymore. His mind was wandering, thinking about his father. He couldn't think about those things, it wasn't making him feel remotely good. If Voldemort was planning on coming back, what would happen to them? They would be forced to serve him. And then what? What if his father was spending the rest of his life in Azkaban? What if they all had to go? His mother wouldn't be able to take it, would she? She couldn't go in there, could she? And what would happen to him?
He'd probably be executed, like they had killed the werewolf that had attacked him. They hadn't shown any mercy. Not that he had deserved any.
Draco didn't want to die.
He was too young to die while his parents were in prison. He didn't want that to happen.
He felt his heart beating fast and he felt tired as the joy he had felt at the beginning of the day was slowly being drained out of his body. He looked at Harry, staring at him for a few seconds as he was still listening to his godfather. Was he really the solution? How could he be? He was fourteen, just able to fly well, not even able to get past an Age Line. How could he have the power to defeat the Dark Lord? How could he have the fate of the Wizarding World in his hands? How could he have his family's fate in his hands?
Was he even the one? He had defeated Voldemort without even meaning to do it in the first place. Harry had been one, he wasn't even older than Draco himself. How could he be able to do something like this? He hadn't wanted it. Why would he have to fight him again? Maybe he'd bail if the confrontation came to happen? Maybe he'd let the Dark Lord kill him?
He swallowed his spit, feeling compressed in this little cave. He wanted to get out, breathe some fresh air. It was too hot inside. He needed more air, there wasn't enough of it in there. He tried to take another long breath as he looked away. He only met Hermione's eyes by doing so. She was closer again and he felt the tip of her fingers touching his arm. He felt a bit better, but not quite enough. She mouthed something that looked like "are you okay?" and he only nodded, getting himself closer. If she was around, if he was breathing her shampoo, if he was feeling her fingers around his wrists, or interlaced with his own fingers... Maybe he'd feel better.
He only focused on the conversation again when Ron mentioned that Crouch had sneaked up in the castle to search Snape's office. As Ron did so, he looked at Hermione like he had been right all along about Snape. They were talking about Crouch wanting to stop Dark wizards and Ron and Harry had always thought Snape was one of them.
"But it doesn't make sense at all," Sirius said.
"Of course it does!" Ron said, looking very excited, but Sirius shook his head.
"If he really wanted to investigate him, he would have come to judge the tournament. He would be able to come to Hogwarts regularly to keep an eye on him."
"But you believe Snape could be up to something, then?" Harry asked before being interrupted by Hermione.
"Whatever you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape, so I don't care-"
"Please, Hermione," Ron said as he rolled his eyes. "We all know Dumbledore's brilliant and everything, but that doesn't mean a really clever Dark wizard is not able to fool him. You're only saying that he's not one of them because he's his-" Ron said as he pointed at Draco. This one frowned directly, giving Ron a look full of disdain as Hermione interrupted her friend.
"Of course he's not up to something, why would he have saved Harry's in the first year if he was with them? Why didn't he just let him die?" Hermione asked, impatient and staying close to Draco.
"Maybe he thought Dumbledore would kick him out?" Ron asked a bit more loudly. But Harry was louder than any of them.
"What do you think, Sirius?" He asked. Ron and Hermione stopped talking, listening.
"They both got a point. I've always wondered why Dumbledore hired him. He's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, everyone knew it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was," Sirius said and Harry and Ron couldn't help but grin at each other. Draco, however, shot a nasty glance at Sirius. He felt Hermione's fingers around his wrist and he looked away, clenching his jaw. Had they just wanted to get him to come with them to insult his godfather in front of him?
He felt anger in him, but he didn't say anything. He knew he couldn't complain. He also knew that Harry and Ron had every right to be against Snape. But that's when Draco realized that even if Snape had hurt him, he was still taking his defense. He wasn't fine with Harry, Ron and Sirius' behavior.
"Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters," Sirius kept on going, looking like he hadn't noticed Draco's glare a few seconds before. Sirius held up his fingers as he started to name some of the people he was talking about. Rosier and Wilkes who had been killed back in 81. He talked about the Lestranges, again glancing at Draco and Hermione didn't miss it. She saw Draco looking down as soon as Sirius had met his eyes. He talked about Avery, who had escaped by saying he had been acting under the Imperius Curse. And finally, he said that Snape had never been accused of being one of them but that a lot of them had never been caught.
Then, they talked about Snape and Karkaroff.
"You should have seen Snape's face when Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday!" Harry explained. "He wanted to talk to Snape who's avoiding him. Karkaroff was looking really worried and he showed something on his arm. I couldn't see what it was." Sirius looked taken aback.
"He showed something on his arm? I've no idea what that's about..." And as he said that, Harry and Ron turned to face Draco. Even Hermione glanced at him. "What is it?" Sirius asked. Draco took a deep breath before he sighed heavily, showing his annoyance.
"The thing on Karkaroff's arm's You-Know-Who's Mark," he said, looking away again.
"What do you mean, Voldemort's mark?" Sirius asked as he frowned a little. Draco closed his eyes when he heard the name, as did Ron, but he soon looked at Sirius again.
"I mean his symbol. The Dark Mark. It's... Like a tattoo, I guess. But it fainted away when he disappeared. And lately, it's starting to burn again, the color is changing..." Draco explained.
"How do you know all of this? Did Karkaroff told Snape about this?" Sirius asked as he looked at Harry, looking rather alarmed. Harry opened his mouth but Ron interrupted him.
"His father told him about it. He has the same one, every Death Eaters have one," he said as he stared at Draco for a moment. Sirius, Harry and Hermione all glanced at Draco, waiting maybe for a scathing comeback but he didn't say anything. He just met Ron's eyes and stayed quiet. Still, Hermione recognized this expression. She had seen it on his mother's face during the World Cup. All she could see there was incredible contempt as he lifted his chin a little. It was like he was looking down at Ron. Draco had often looked at him in disgust but there, it was something else. It was simply cold and Hermione was sure that he was wondering if Ron was even worth the effort or not.
Ron had just stated a fact that they all knew, but clearly not like he should have, considering Draco's reaction. Hermione could see his jaw's muscle moving a little as he was clenching his jaw like he was chewing but he didn't move. He kept looking at Ron, surprising everyone. Harry finally glanced at Ron who didn't dare look away at the moment. They both wondered if he wasn't saying anything just because of Hermione.
"I mean... You told us that's how it works, right?" Ron added, wanting to show that he hadn't meant to offend Draco, this time.
"I did," Draco said quietly after a few seconds, his voice drawling a little.
"And Karkaroff was showing it to Snape, explaining that it was clearer than ever," Harry added as he looked at his godfather again, hoping that the tension would go away if they were starting to talk about Karkaroff again. Ron tried to focus on Sirius too, but he could still feel Draco's gray eyes on him.
"But like Hermione said," Sirius said, finally making Hermione stop looking at Draco for a few seconds, "Dumbledore trusts Snape. And even if Dumbledore trusts things a lot of other people wouldn't, I just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he had ever worked for Voldemort." Then, Sirius turned towards Draco. "You seem to know him pretty well, boy," he said. Draco shrugged as he met the man's eyes again.
"He's his godfather," Harry said quietly to Sirius who raised an eyebrow, not hiding a little smile. Draco fought the urge to say something nasty as he glanced at Harry for a moment before looking at the man in front of him again.
"How could I know what he did in the past? Never asked about that stuff, never cared that much. All I know is that Karkaroff's a close friend of my father and that's probably how he met Snape, I don't know. It doesn't mean anything." he said a bit too coldly. After all, a lot of people could do horrible things without it defining them. Wasn't it right? Hermione had told him how nice Sirius was, and he still had tried to kill Snape during their school years. He had been a bully. So why would Snape be totally evil? He narrowed his eyes a little because Sirius wasn't looking away but Ron, sure of what he was saying, interrupted them.
"Why was Moody and Crouch so keen to search his office, then?" He asked, stubborn.
"Well, Mad-Eye probably searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts, I bet. He probably doesn't trust anyone at all after everything he's seen. But you know, Moody never killed if he could help it," Sirius said. "If it was possible, he was always bringing people in alive. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters."
Draco wanted to leave. He knew Sirius wasn't saying that just because of his father, he knew it. And Draco wasn't defending their actions, even if he had never said anything against them. But with every word, he was getting more and more offended. Like it was a personal insult. He couldn't stop thinking about his father and he couldn't help but feel really bad in that cave. But he just stayed quiet. He had had to endure worse in the past, he could take this easily, he just had to wait. He was used to that.
"But Crouch... Is he really ill? If he is, I can't see him making the effort to drag himself up to Snape's office. And if he's not, then what is he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn't turn up in the Top Box? Or what was he doing instead of judging the tournament?" They heard him sigh before staying quiet. All eyes were on him as he was thinking hard once again. And finally, Sirius looked at Ron. "You said your brother is Crouch's personal assistant, right? Could you ask him if he's seen Crouch lately?"
"I can try," Ron said with a little grimace. Then, Sirius turns to Draco again.
"And you, your father might know something as well," he told him. After a glance at Sirius, Draco shrugged.
"I'll ask."
"And you both might try and find out whether they've got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," he added as he nodded to one of the copy of the Daily Prophet.
"Bagman told me they hadn't," Harry said.
"Yeah and I've read the article where he's quoted, there, talking about Bertha's memory," Sirius said, nodding at the paper again. "Maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetting anything, on the contrary. She was gossiping all the time, she even got in trouble for it. She was never keeping her mouth shut... Maybe that's why Bagman didn't bother to look for her for so long, she's probably a bit of a liability at the Ministry. Anyway, what's the time?" Sirius asked after he had sighed heavily.
"Half past three," Hermione said after she had checked the watch around her wrist.
"You all should go," Sirius said before he looked at Harry, giving them all a warning. Well, more to the trio than to Draco, he was sure. They couldn't sneak out of school to go and see him. They could only send him notes because he wanted to hear about anything odd. "I'll walk to the edge of the village with you."
They all left the cave after he had turned into a black dog again and they walked down the mountainside with him, Hermione and Draco walking a bit slower, staying behind. Hermione wanted Draco to feel better, she knew he had had a hard time up there. And not being around those three would probably help.
When they arrived at the village, everyone except Draco patted Sirius on the head and they finally started to make their way back into Hogsmeade and up towards Hogwarts.
.
When they arrived at the entrance of the castle, Harry and Ron were talking about Percy, Crouch and Sirius. But Hermione pulled Draco apart, staying outside, near the doors.
"Are you alright?" She asked. Draco shrugged, licking his lips and he looked at the students walking towards the castle, coming back from Hogsmeade too.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. Hermione tilted her head and put her fingers on his chin, turning his head. "What?" He asked, rolling his eyes.
"I saw Sirius. I know you knew more things than we did when we went down there and I know you understood more things than we did..."
"Because I knew them already, it's not the same," Draco said quickly, not exactly wanting to talk about Sirius.
"I know," Hermione said, staring at Draco for a moment. "Who are the Lestranges?" She then asked quietly, her eyes going down on his lips for a moment, then on his neck as she saw him swallow his spit. She met his eyes again.
"Remember when we talked about my family?" Draco asked after a moment of hesitation. "About Sirius and Andromeda?" Hermione nodded. "I said my mother had another sister. In Azkaban with her husband..."
Hermione looked down, trying not to close her eyes as she was taking it in. She nodded a little, looking at Draco again.
"I'm sorry he acted this way. You're not supposed to pay for their actions." Draco gave her a strained smile as he shrugged once more, taking a deep breath.
"It's fine. I don't mind when it comes from him," he said and Hermione tilted her head. "He doesn't matter. So his opinion... I couldn't care less." Hermione slightly shook her head.
"You do care, Draco, I know that," she said as she patted his chest slowly, letting her hand rest against it.
"What don't you know?" He asked quietly, raising an eyebrow as she saw the shadow of a smile on his lips. She chuckled and shook her head again, knowing that he was trying to distract her.
"Want to talk about it? About them maybe?"
"I don't... Know them, really, I don't have anything to say. I just know my aunt wasn't in her right mind."
"Well, to commit all those things, I bet she wasn't..." Hermione said more quietly as she saw Draco's gaze becoming darker.
"No, I mean... She had gone off her rocker." Hermione frowned a little.
"You mean... Literally?"
"Literally," Draco said as he looked away again, annoyed. She didn't like that. She didn't like to see him be so ashamed. "I mean, my father only told me a bit about that. It's a bit..." He grimaced, wondering if he should talk about it. He smiled a bit and again, it was strained, maybe even more than before. "I know our family tree by heart, you know. The Malfoys, the Blacks... That's the kind of things you learn when you're a pureblood wizard who doesn't go to any sort of weird school before being eleven. Pureblood families... In the end, they end up being all related. For example, one of my mother's ancestor's a Flint. She married a Black back in eighteen seventy... something."
Hermione blinked. She would probably never know her own family like that. But Draco knew everything, even his most ancient ancestors. And he seemed proud to know it all, he seemed proud to be related to those wealthy and well respected people, despite his condition. He was proud to be a part of his family, as much as he seemed to be ashamed of some of their actions when he was talking to Hermione about it. As much as he seemed to feel like he wasn't belonging, sometimes. It was really weird and probably one of the only thing she still had a hard time to understand about him.
"Remember that Sirius mentioned a Rosier who turned out to be a Death Eater? My grand-mother, his uncle's wife, was a Rosier. We've got a Crouch in the family. Hell, we even got a Potter and a Weasley," Draco said as he grimaced even more. Was he being serious? Hermione narrowed her eyes for a second. He seemed terribly annoyed, he could only be serious. "Sirius' grandmother's a Crabbe. Millicent's a really distant relative of mine; my great great grandmother was a Bulstrode. They used to live like us, all purebloods. But Millicent, she's a half-blood. And you want to know something? My mother's family, they don't really appreciate half-bloods," Draco said as he looked away again. "And because they don't like half-bloods, sometimes, because they wanted to stay pure... Well, they were into, you know... inbreeding." He said very quietly. It took a moment for Hermione to react. She closed her eyes for a second. How could people go that far for blood purity? Hearing all of this, it sounded like their blood was more dirty than anyone else's. She felt a shiver going down her spine and she looked at Draco again.
"I did not know, no," she said on the same tone. Draco sighed and looked at her.
"Sirius' parents, if you want an example... They were cousins."
"I'm not sure I want to know more, Draco..."
"All I'm saying," Draco said quickly, "Is that it happened once, doesn't mean it's never happened before. That's why some of them go mad. My father's family... They're not into that, thank Merlin. But... My aunt Bellatrix," he said more quietly again, "She was already a bit... disturbed when she was younger. Probably because of that. My father told me. They don't really fancy each other. They've worked together, they had to be around each other, but.." Draco took a deep breath. He had asked about her a few times. Her mother deeply loved her sister, Draco could tell. But his father often seemed annoyed, rolling his eyes when she was mentioned, or just shaking his head. While never denying how efficient she was, she sure had been a pain in the ass for him. "Apparently, she was very protective of my mother, didn't like my father very much and she wasn't afraid of telling and showing it. Like I said, they were totally fine when it came to work together, but they usually weren't that much. He told me that she was weird. Not like Luna Lovegood weird. Like..."
"Off her rocker weird."
"Yeah." They both stayed silent for another moment. "Anyway... She was somehow sane, sometimes. But I don't believe Azkaban is doing her any good, on the contrary. She's been there for more than a decade, she's probably... Anyway. I don't know anything about her husband. I just know his name's Rodolphus but I don't remember him and I never really asked about him."
.
"What did you tell him?" Harry asked as he watched Draco tying his letter to his owl's leg. Draco only glanced at the boy, wondering if he wasn't just going to ignore him. He was still bothered by what had happened the day before. Every time he was thinking about it, he was feeling anger rise in him. He had actually gone to see Snape, after his conversation with Hermione, just to talk a little. He didn't know why. Maybe he had just realized that Lupin was right, that he could try to forgive him. Or maybe it was to annoy Harry and Ron... But they didn't know about his problems with Snape, did they? So, why had he done that? For himself, really.
Because he was missing his godfather and hearing all this stuff about him had made him feel terribly bad for the man who had always helped him. He gritted his teeth, still staring at Harry for a second. But then, he glanced at Hermione who smiled at him and he calmed down a bit. After taking a deep breath, he spoke calmly.
"I just said that Crouch wasn't showing up for the tournament anymore, so that I just wanted to know if everything was ok. Or if it was connected to anything that was going on lately." Draco knew that his father would understand what he had meant by that and he would comprehend how worried Draco was. He would tell him the truth right away. "And I added that if it wasn't connected to You-Know-Who, that maybe it was just all about that stupid woman, Bertha Jorkins."
"That's not very subtle," Ron said as he grimaced, more to himself than to Draco. He had himself sent Hedwig with the letter for Percy. He had had to be very careful because Percy really loved Crouch and he couldn't let him know they were wondering if he was up to something. Draco turned to face Ron with a strained smile.
"Listen to me, Weasley. You'll be very lucky if the cretin you call a brother-"
"Don't insult Percy!"
"-tells you anything about Crouch. My father? Don't worry, he'll tell me everything he knows without me having to be subtle. I could just write their names and he would tell me. He doesn't give a damn about Crouch and you want to know something? I don't either. Trust me, I'm not doing this for myself," he said as he glanced at Hermione. He wasn't doing it for Harry or for Ron, and even less for Sirius. But after their conversation, the day before, Hermione had asked if he was really considering sending a letter to his father and when he had met her eyes, he had known she really wanted him to. She wanted him to help, she wanted him to be with them. And he hadn't been able to say no. He faced Ron again and took a step towards him. "So you better start showing me some respect or you will discover there are some things far worse than vomiting slugs," he said coldly.
"Draco, he didn't mean to insult you," Hermione said as she took a step forwards.
"If anything, he really wanted you there yesterday, he wants you to help too," Harry added quickly, only to receive a glare from Draco.
"So what? So you could all insult my godfather or my father in front of me? I didn't ask to be there, I didn't ask to be around you two. So why, for once in your life, can't you just shut up when I do something? I know what I need to tell my father, I don't need to be subtle and I don't need any criticism."
"Why don't you calm down?" Ron asked, taking a step towards him too. "I wasn't saying that to offend you, you're just too sensitive!" Draco clenched his jaw again, staring at Ron for a moment. He then took a deep breath as he looked away, at the owls, at the windows, at Hermione. He shook his head.
"You'll thank me when my father will tell us more than Crouch's personal assistant," Draco said as he shot a nasty glare at Ron again. Then, he turned around to leave the Owlery, not wanting to be there anymore.
"Hermione, I really didn't mean to... What's wrong with him, did something happen?" Ron asked, a bit alarmed even though he wasn't exactly worried about Draco. But he had snapped for nothing, there. Harry knew that his self-esteem wasn't that high, so maybe it was just because he had been offended. Even if he had always showed off in front of everyone in the school, Harry knew the truth. So maybe that was why. Maybe he hadn't liked Ron's words because it made him feel bad about everything. But was it that big of a deal? It seemed pretty stupid for Harry.
Hermione sighed and crossed her arms, looking away, feeling bad for Draco but also for her friends.
"It's... I know he really didn't like being there, yesterday-"
"You were the one who wanted him to come in the first place, we didn't force him, he accepted to come, he could have said no!" Harry said, frowning a little.
"He knows, Harry," Hermione said shortly, glancing at him as she frowned. Harry stopped talking and looked uncomfortable. "He knows... But once he was there, listening to us... I don't think he felt like he had anything to do there. If anything, it made him even more stressed out than he already was. He grew up around most of the people we were talking about with Sirius, understand that it's hard for him. Especially when you two so fervently believe Snape to be guilty of something."
"But-"
"I don't want to hear it, Ron! You know what I think about it," Hermione said, speaking a bit louder. Ron stopped talking as well and just listened. Hermione sighed again and shook her head. "I really wanted him there because I want him to understand that he can help. To understand that you guys can be a bit mature and get over the problems you had in the past. I didn't know how it would turn out. He's had a lot of problems with Snape, lately. You need to understand that he's really important for Draco. He's always known him, he loves him, and with everything that happened last year, with Snape making Lupin leave..." Hermione explained, looking down. "He had a very hard time. You're not the only one who really likes Lupin, Harry," she said as she glanced at her friend. "Draco's attached to him so much, it's beyond imagination. He doesn't talk much about it but I see his expression when I ask how Lupin is doing. They send each other letters but it's never enough for Draco... He's still really hurt, you know they were sharing something... that we can't even begin to understand. Draco needed him here, he was making him feel better. He still can't handle the fact that Lupin's not here this year. And he's attached to Snape so much, too, he's conflicted. I know it's hard for you to imagine but I don't believe Snape's ever behaved like he does with us when it comes to Draco. And you know it, it's different. He doesn't want to spend his time around you if it's to hear you accuse one of the most important person in his life of everything that's going wrong in the world. Just... Stop talking about Snape when he's around. Try to not make it harder for him. I'm sure you noticed all the efforts he's making."
"Yeah, we did," Harry said quietly and Ron nodded quickly.
"And I know our relationship is still hard for you to accept, or to understand, or whatever you think is wrong with it, I don't care. And I know he's not always the nicest, but you still don't know him. You don't take any time to try to know him. Even if he looks annoyed when you guys talk to him, I'm sure that if you find... One thing you have in common with him, he'll be nicer already." She then looked at Ron. "And he's also really mad at you for what you told me during the ball, he saw how you made me cry."
"You told-"
"I told him everything. You didn't deserve for me to be kind," Hermione said, looking at Ron from head to foot. He fell silent again. "Maybe that's why you're the one he's always snapping at," she added and Ron looked down as Harry glanced at his best friend. "He's really trying. He's really, really trying hard. And I'm not going to ask him to make any more efforts than he already does, I'm already satisfied with the way he deals with you two. But please, you need to do the same. You need to be a bit more careful when he's there. I'm asking you this as your friend. If one of you had a girlfriend I didn't like, I would at least try to behave."
"I'll watch my mouth," Ron said reluctantly, trying to not roll his eyes. The idea of making efforts for Draco was killing him but did he have a choice? He didn't feel like it. He was just hoping he wasn't wasting any time by doing so. Hermione nodded.
"Cut him some slack. With his problems with Snape and Lupin, with his condition, with what's going on with You-Know-Who... He's really stressed. He's even snapping at me, sometimes but as you can see, I can live with it perfectly. And so do you. Just..."
"We'll try," Harry said a bit more firmly than Ron as he nodded to Hermione. He gave her a smile, hoping it didn't look too strained and Hermione gave him the same one before she turned around to leave, soon followed by her friends.