Disclaimer: I am tired of saying this. Not mine! The characters of the Harry Potter books belong to Jk Rowling.
Chapter 7
He did this for her, night after night. Without ever saying anything, or asking anything of her. No questions were needed. His firm grip on her hand helped to stabilize her, ground her to this world. He did not make the pain any less, but he made it bearable.
In the mornings they continued like they always had. He would be up and away on mysterious duties and missions before she even cracked open an eyelid, and she would continue on her normal routine of Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and staring off into space. She became aware of…mutterings throughout the castle. Whispers of invasions, of attacks on the Ministry, Diagon Alley, and how they would soon come for Hogwarts. But before this information could trickle into her mind, before they could cause her famous Gryffindor bravery and fire to emerge, she would brush them off as if one would brush off errant cobwebs. The whispers were inconsequential, she would tell herself, as memories of Harry and Ron once again invaded her mind. None of her business.
She did not really care about anything. She was, however, curious about Draco. Why did he do this for her? Where was he whenever she woke up in the morning? How did he get by with hardly any sleep? Why was he even on their side? Malfoys were known for always choosing the winning side. Why was he on theirs then, when they were clearly losing?
It was on one of these quiet nights, when they were hand in hand, lying side by side on her bed, and when the pain had receded for a moment, that she asked him, "Why did you join us?"
He jolted awake from his drowsy half-sleep. "What?"
She repeated clearly and succinctly, as if one would to a child, "Why did you join our side?"
He brushed his fingers through his silky hair again. She recognized this gesture as one he made whenever he was tired or stressed. "Well…" he began slowly, "Do you remember what happened after fifth year? After my father was put into Azkaban?"
She blushed a little when she remembered her hand in that. "Yes."
"Voldemort was not happy. He tortured me, and then killed my mother."
The simplicity of what he said belied the simmering emotion she could see behind his eyes. She stared, fascinated as they turned hard as she watched. He was such an emotive person when he wanted to be.
"He shouldn't have done that." He gave a slight sneer, "He made an enemy for life, and a Malfoy is a formidable enemy."
"But…weren't you afraid? Of him?"
He scoffed. "Of course I was afraid. I was a bloody coward. There were a lot of times when I almost pissed in my pants in front of him. But I had to learn to wipe away that fear. Dumbledore, that old coot, actually helped, you know. And Snape."
He gave her a small smile, "I am still afraid though. But it's natural. I mean, you have to be a fool not to be afraid."
She whispered in the dark, face turned from his, "I am always afraid."
"Of what?" His hand gripped hers harder.
"I can't…I could not beat him. Draco, I could not even touch him! How…?" She took a deep breath, then continued fearfully, "Harry is gone, Draco. How do we defeat him now?"
"What do you mean how? We fight as always, that's how!"
"But the prophecy…the prophecy said that Harry was the one with the power to defeat him." argued Hermione.
He gave a great shout, startling her, "Oh sod prophecies! Prophecies are just vague sayings that could go either way. Look at the Delphi Oracle in Greece! It never actually gave a straight answer you know. And don't tell me you actually believe whatever that Trelawney woman spouts?"
"But it has come true!" Hermione retorted. "I mean, Voldemort did mark Harry, and look, he's killed him too, so it has come true. None can live while the other stays."
"Look, Hermione, prophecies are not set in stone. Voldemort did change what might have been himself when he chose to go after Potter and not Longbottom. And though it does say that Potter is the one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord, it does not say that there aren't others who can defeat him too!" He gave a chuckle, "I mean, for all we know, Longbottom has the power to thrash the old bastard."
Draco's words made Hermione think of the situation in a whole new light. She almost started to have new hope when the vision of Voldemort's red malignant eyes and Harry's dead green ones came into her mind again. At the same time, pain shot through her bones, making her grit her teeth.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the images from her brain, trying to bear the pain. No, she thought, desolate. Draco is wrong. There is no hope.
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There was a noticeable change in the usual events the next morning. For one, Draco's bed was messy and unmade, and she could hear the sounds of people talking just outside her room, in the Slytherin common room.
She got up and crept closer to the door, looking out from behind it.
She was surprised to see the various younger members of the order ranged around Draco, discussing what seemed to be recent events. There was Neville, Lavender, Dean, who was supporting himself with a crutch, Zacharias Smith, Padma, who looked shaken but well, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Lee Jordan, and various others whom she recognized to have been members of the DA.
Suddenly, Zacharias gave a loud sigh and said, "What are we supposed to do now? The Ministry is in a mess after the strike, there is no organization there at all, the Death Eaters have been attacking more and more muggle-borns, and our spies in the lower ranks of You-Know-Who say that there will be an attack on Hogwarts, but are not sure when."
"Yes," said Angelina fervently, "we need a plan of attack…or defense."
"What do you think, Malfoy?" asked Katie.
Then came a bout of anxious whisperings and the sounds of Draco going, "Slow down, slow down, let's all keep calm!" They quieted instantly. She was slightly astonished to note that they seemed to regard him almost as their leader.
"What say you Longbottom?" asked Draco is a surprisingly civil tone.
"I don't know. The centaurs I asked want nothing to do with us. I have told them about the threat of You-Know-Who but they think they can isolate themselves and stave off whatever attacks from the Death Eaters. Hagrid has owled me that he is making some progress with the Giants, though not to expect anything from them as yet. But it seems that they are at least not on You-Know-Who's side. The goblins are definitely on ours, but about half of the greedy buggers have up and left for Switzerland. We have the rest of them guarding Diagon Alley from future invasions."
"Like Zacharias has said, the Ministry and the aurors are in a mess. We can count on aurors like Shacklebolt, and the rest of Moody's team to come to our defense, but I'm not sure what the rest are even doing. A lot of them want to rebuild the Ministry, plus the Minister wants them surrounding him as much as possible because he fears another attack. He thinks the priority should be the Ministry and not Hogwarts."
She heard someone snort "Selfish git", most likely Angelina, before Neville continued gloomily, "We could really use the old Hermione in a time like this. She would've known what to do"
There was a round of agreement following that statement before Lavender spoke up scathingly, "That one! Why, she does nothing but spend all day eating up our valuable resources and staring into space!"
Hermione cringed as another round of agreement followed that statement, with Zacharias Smith chipping in, "Hear, hear!"
"She has been unwell, Lavender." Malfoy spoke up, and Hermione started to hear him defend her.
"So has everyone else here! I mean, even Dean has gotten up from the infirmary to help us! Why not her? She's walking and talking right? She could have been helping us but she just doesn't want to! That stupid bitch is nothing but a waste of space, a bloody albatross of a burden we have to bear!"
She could see Draco visibly stiffen, and then he bit out, "You have no right to talk about her like that."
"I have every right to talk about her however I want!" yelled Lavender, "I mean, from day one she has been expecting privileges, just because she's best friends with Harry! Remember that shower incident, when she wanted more than her fair share? Why I never…"
"Shut up Brown!" Draco roared, and his authority was such that everyone, even Lavender shut up at that moment. He looked around at them like a King looking at his subjects, "No one talks about her like that. No one bothers her, and no one questions what she's doing. Understand? Now get out." Everyone else nodded, in Lavender's case, fearfully, and they trooped out.
She walked into the common room then, Draco looking shocked that she might have been there the entire time, and asked, "Why did you do that? Why did you defend me Draco?"
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Author's Note: Okay, so I said I wouldn't be able to update as often but I lied. I apologise to my Russian tutors for not doing my homework!
