"Or being lied about, don't deal in lies"

Thursday 25th December 1997, 2:25am

The room was cold when Draco woke up with a start. He had been having the nightmare again, but this time it was more drawn out. The room was icier, the red glare of Voldemort's eyes stronger, Snape's suffering seemed to last an eternity, and the screams…he shivered. Reaching for his glass of water, he found that it was empty, and scrambled out of bed with a disgruntled sigh. He then began to forage blindly for his wand, finding it stuffed underneath the bed behind a pile of dirty clothes. Suddenly he heard a stifled moan from just outside of his door; his body tensed, and a cold shiver of fear washed over his entire body. Grasping his wand, he clambered out of bed and edged towards the door. Had they found him? Were they here to take him away? He heard the moan again, as his left hand found the door knob and began to gently turn it.

He had been anticipating his father, expecting Lucius to be standing there prepared to kill him. Instead, he saw something that shocked him even more. Weasley was led on the floor in front of his door, a gaping wound in his head and his leg distorted. He was just conscious, unlike Potter who was slumped against a wall further down. In the silence, there came another muffled moan of pain and Weasley looked directly at Draco.

"Malfoy…" He groaned quietly. "Hermione…she…" He motioned with his hand, and Draco gasped at what he saw. Granger was led on the floor, scratches covering almost every area of bare skin, her wand lying in a limp, lifeless hand. Draco climbed over Weasley and walked towards Granger, bending down next to her and gently placing two elegant fingers to her neck. A wave of panic crashed over him as he realised her pulse was weak and a second one sent his head reeling when he realised that, the longer he waited, the more ill she would get.

"Help." He cried, somewhat quietly, before taking a deep breath and yelling. "Help!"

It didn't take long for the others to come running. Bangs could be heard throughout the entire house, and before Draco even had change to move Lupin was stood on the landing, closely followed by Mad-Eye.

"Good grief!" Moody barked; his human eye fixed on Draco and his magic eye scanning each of the injured. "What the bloody hell went on here?"

"I woke up and heard moaning, came outside and found them…like this." Draco heard a small gasp from behind him, and knew that Mrs Weasley had arrived. "She…she's in the most trouble. I checked her pulse and…" Remus began giving orders, but Draco found that he was not listening. His eyes were fixed on Granger, taking in the paleness of her face, the cuts on her body. He wondered who'd done this to her; was it someone he knew? Was it Snape? Or his father? He shuddered, as a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"Back to bed now, Draco." It was Lupin. He spun round, his face distorted in anger.

"Bed? You expect me to sleep after…after this?" He watched as Madam Pomfrey, who had suddenly arrived on the scene, began to levitate the three of them downstairs.

"I would advise you to go to your bedroom. With any luck, Harry will be awake soon and we need to speak with him."

"What do you expect me to do until morning then?"

"Sleep, perhaps." Remus rubbed his forehead. "I must be heading downstairs, Draco. Please go to your room directly, or else I will be forced to take stronger methods."

Draco let the door slam as he stormed into his room, hoping that he would perhaps set Mrs Black's portrait off. The 'Golden Trio' had been gone for months, and he had just saved their lives, yet he was treated with cold indifference and forced to stay in his room. He stood in the middle of the room and let out a sigh, before spotting yesterday's Daily Prophet on the desk. The headline caught his eye, and he charged across the room to pick it up; it read "Deadly Death Attack: Muggle Mauler Malfoy". In the dark, Draco squinted at the small photograph and watched in horror as the figure cast the Killing Curse repeatedly. He began to shake violently, his knees buckled and he fell to the floor. The photograph was of him. He looked at the photograph again; his mother had given those robes to him for his last birthday, the hair was slicked back in his familiar style, and the face was the same he saw in the mirror every morning. Now the whole world would think him a cold-blooded murderer. He only wondered how long it would take the others to confront him.


Thursday 25th December 1997, 9:00am

"I want to see the bastard! Let me in that bloody room, Remus, or so help me I will – "

"You will do nothing Harry James Potter! The boy hasn't left the house, so how you expect him to have been at Ottery St Catchpole I have no idea!" Molly Weasley's shrill voice jolted Draco from his sleep. He was led on the hard dusty floor still, the offending newspaper screwed up in his hand. Blinking, he clambered to his feet and listened to the conversation outside his door.

"Please can you just keep calm Harry? You've sustained some terribly injuries, and Poppy will flay me alive if you hurt yourself again. If we could just go downstairs."

"NO! I want to see that bloody – "

The door was flung open, and Draco turned towards it. Potter stood there angrily, wearing a tartan dressing gown and pyjamas, yet still looking menacing. Neither of them talked, but simply stared at the other with unbridled hatred.

"I suppose you're angry about this?" Draco drawled, waving the newspaper. "I can assure you, Potter, that I was nowhere near those muggles the other night. As Mrs Weasley said, I haven't left this house."

"I don't believe you! How else could they have got that photograph? Or are you going to pretend that someone was simply pretending to be you."

"Someone was pretending, Harry." Lupin said, hovering behind him. "A source of ours has informed us that it was an innocent wizard who had been forced to take Polyjuice, and put under the Imperius Curse. That is why we saw no need to discuss this with Malfoy, we already knew." Potter looked at Remus disbelievingly, but he dropped his wand-hand.

"Thank you, Harry." Mrs Weasley said soothingly. "Now come downstairs and we'll have a cup of tea."

"I don't believe him, no matter what you say." Harry said slowly. "Even if it wasn't him there, he must have known something about it. You're all too trusting of him, and it will come back to bite you in the end." He shot one last glare at Malfoy, before turning and leaving the room.

As Potter and Mrs Weasley descended the stairs, Lupin entered Draco's bedroom. He looked at the unmade bed, and the mussed state of Draco's clothes before letting out a sigh.

"I apologise for not explaining before, Draco. I was uncertain whether you'd seen the front page of the Prophet, but we didn't want to cause you any distress by bringing the topic up. I hope this hasn't caused you any undue stress."

"You should have told me before Potter tried to come in here and kill me, instead of simply locking me away." Lupin nodded gravely.

"I apologise. It was, perhaps, not the most sensible thing to do. Anyway, merry Christmas Draco." Draco started. He had completely forgotten what day it was. Christmas Day had always been a huge event at Malfoy Manor. His family hosted an annual Christmas Eve party, to which all of the most important wizarding figures were invited. Draco had been rubbing shoulders with Quidditch Players and Ministry Officials since the age of at least seven, and he had always received a huge Christmas gift from the Minister of Magic. Christmas Day was also a spectacular event; a huge five course dinner, including every amazing treat you could ever think of. Draco's particular favourite was an impressive Blancmange, which had always looked spectacular on the dining table. The worst Christmas he had ever had was the one he spent at Hogwarts during fourth year. Not even the Yule Ball had made it better; watching Potter act the hero and Granger flouncing around with Krum…A thought suddenly came to him, and he ran out of the room after Lupin.

"Wait! Professor Lupin!" Remus stopped and turned to him, surprise registering on his face.

"You needn't call me that anymore, Draco, Remus will do just fine. How can I help you?"

"How is…how is Granger?" Lupin's face fell.

"She's still unconscious, but Poppy says that her condition is improving. We're all keeping our fingers crossed."

"Of course. Right…well…thanks." Draco hovered awkwardly at the top of the stairs. "Will there be any dinner today or anything?" Lupin shook his head.

"No, I don't think so. Molly is, of course, distraught. If you'd like anything to eat, just help yourself. Have a nice day, Draco." As Draco went miserably back into his room, he couldn't help but wish that he was back at home with his parents.


Thursday 1st January 1998, 7:00pm

Draco knew when she had woken up. It was hard not to, what with the cries and cheers ringing through the house; they were so loud they reached him, even in the heights of the attic. He sat still and continued to stare out of the window, but wondered if he should perhaps go down and join in the celebration. He wasn't particularly excited that she was awake again, but he was somewhat pleased that she wasn't dead. However, he remained sat where he was – something told him that Potter wouldn't be too pleased if he showed his face. For an hour he sat alone upstairs, listening to the rumbling of happy conversation downstairs and the popping of champagne corks; he wondered why it as so easy for noise to float about the house like that. Suddenly, there was a tentative knock on the trap door and it was pushed open to reveal Molly Weasley's flaming red hair.

"Draco, Hermione is awake." His face remained placid, and his eyes remained focused on the book he was reading.

"I know." He heard Molly shift uncomfortably.

"Hermione is asking for you." His head whipped up, a frown showing his confusion.

"Me? Why does she want to talk to me?"

"I think you had better come and find out for yourself."

Draco entered Granger's bedroom gingerly, as Molly Weasley stood at the door and watched. He jumped a little when it shut behind him, and was surprised to see Granger grinning at him from her bed. She looked pale, still very sickly, and he wondered what the true extent of the damage was, and how she had got hurt so badly.

"Hello Malfoy." She said quietly. "I hope I didn't disturb you."

"Er…no." He looked around the room. "It's good that you feel better."

"Yes! And I have you to thank for that." She motioned to a chair with her hand. "Please sit down."

"There really isn't any need to thank me. I didn't really do anything. Madam Pomfrey healed you." Granger smiled and shrugged.

"Yes, but if you hadn't found us when you did…" They fell into silence, as they thought of what the consequences might have been. "Thank you." She added.

"As I said, it's nothing."

"Well to me it certainly is something. I owe you a debt, remember that." Malfoy felt uncomfortable; he wanted to get away from her, run out of the room. The only thing that kept him there was curiosity.

"Where did you go?" He asked. "How did you get yourself into such a mess?"

"I had a job to do – I had to help Harry. We didn't intend to be away for such a long time, but it was beyond our control."

"Did you see my father? Did you see Snape?" Hermione looked at the door anxiously, before biting her lip.

"I'm not really supposed to tell you anything." She bit her lip again. "Harry would be furious…"

"Please." Draco demanded, almost begging her. "Please, you must tell me if you saw them. What harm will it do if I know?" Hermione looked again, before gazing at him warily.

"Yes." She whispered. "I saw your father, and I saw Snape. They were both at Ottery St Catchpole; your father was leading, but Snape didn't really do much. Your father gave me most of my injuries." She had a somewhat bitter smile on her face. "But I forget, I'm not allowed to talk about that either." Draco grinned mischievously at her.

"What harm will it do if you tell me?" Hermione let out a small sigh, before an equally impish smile passed across her face.

"Exactly."


Author's Note: I apologise that this chapter is a week late! Last weekend was terribly busy, and so i didn't have time to upload this chapter. A huge thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter, i hope you do the same for this one! :D

Disclaimer: Neither Harry Potter nor the poem If belong to me. They are the property of JK Rowling and Rudyard Kipling respectively. Thank you. :)