Pureblood. Mudblood. It was all the same, wasn't it? I mean, that was what they were fighting for, right?
It was a rather mundane day, considering they were immersed in a full scale war effort. Ever since Harry had found and destroyed the final horcrux, it had been nothing but the offensive. No point in delaying the inevitable, regardless of the outcome. Hermione was doing her best to make sure the outcome would be a good one, mapping out plans of attack.
Her discovery was made quite by accident. She had to do some research for their plans and had asked for help. Of course, the only one who wasn't 'too busy' to be assigned to her aid was one Draco Malfoy, because he was hiding out at the Order headquarters like a scared child. Someone should have told him that cowardice didn't flatter his high cheekbones and muscular stature.
They sat at a table in the library of Grimmuald Place, pouring over books. "Seems almost like Hogwarts, doesn't it, Granger? Only, you know, I'm not calling you any names." Hermione stopped for a moment and cocked her head at Malfoy, but went back to work. "You know, I think we may have been friends in another life, where our bloods were the same." Twitch. Don't let him get a rise. Don't react. "We have a lot of the same interests. I've often wondered how someone as smart as yourself was born with such pare-"
"MALFOY! Seriously!" She'd had enough, evidently. He'd wondered how long it would take to push all her buttons. "You're sitting here in the Order, run by MY best friend who is trying to kill YOUR Dark Lord because you're too CHICKEN to fight for EITHER side. You'll excuse me if I don't think we could have been friends in any life, regardless of parentage! And for that matter, if you're going to hide out here, I think you'd better get used to the idea that there is no difference. Pureblood, mudblood, it's all the same Malfoy! All the bloody same!"
They sat in silence for most of the remainder of the day, looking through their books, Malfoy pondering what Granger had said. It was nearing dusk when Hermione found something that made her blood run cold. Her mudblood. It sat there in black and white, plain as day. Blood did make a difference. But not the way anyone expected.
Not many witches or wizards could have deciphered what Hermione was seeing as easily as she could, though it wasn't something she felt like bragging about at the moment. From the genealogy chart she stared at, it was evident that if Voldemort won his war, magic would be forever destroyed. His quest to annihilate all those of dirty blood would cause magic to effectively disappear. Purebloods were… ticking time bombs. She immediately got up from the table, causing Malfoy to look up sharply and eventually follow.
Not ten minutes later, Hermione sat with Ron, Harry, and Remus, telling them what she had stumbled upon. "So basically, there is a gene within all pureblood families that will eventually destroy magic. If purebloods continue to only procreate with one another, a child will eventually be born who, in essence, will accidentally be the downfall of wizard kind." She was met only with baffled looks.