A/N: So sorry I haven't updated in so long! This chapter's been written for a while. I hope you all like it!

Disclaimer: Oh dear how I wish I was J.K. Rowling...but even I'm not that brilliant. Which means I am...broke. Damn.

Chapter three

Panic gripped him, adrenaline engulfing his senses. He stood deathly still, eyes fixed fearfully on his father. As Lucius threw his head back and laughed, his fingers sub-consciously tightened around Draco's throat. Stealing a glance behind him, Draco saw Hermione standing still, eyes wide in shock, flanked by a bewildered Ron. Harry, however, was lunging forward, drawing his wand as he did so.

"SCUM! YOU WILL DIE, LUCIUS MAFLOY!" Harry roared, his eyes blazing with anger and grief. Draco stared sadly at Harry as Lucius casually pulled his wand from his pocket. With a lazy flick, Harry was thrust backward, flipping through the air and landing hard on the lawns nearly twenty feet away. It was Ron's turn to explode. Hermione shot him a look before he went off and did the exact same thing that Harry had just done. Ron satisfied himself with a nasty glance and a rude hand-gesture before he ran off to help Harry to his feet.

Hermione walked forward slowly, her hand straying inconspicuously to her skirt pocket. "Malfoy," she said coldly, carefully extracting her wand from her pocket. It was hidden in the folds of her skirt, and only Draco, having been released from the deadly grip and was now standing by his father's side, wincing and rubbing his throat. Lucius held him in a headlock as a precaution as the two Malfoys watched the advancing Hermione. Ron was helping a limping Harry in the background, the trio slowly approaching the manor and the Malfoys.

Harry panted, "You planned this, didn't you Malfoy? You planned it ALL! You and your scum of a father found some way to trick the potion. YOU'RE A BLOODY LIAR, DRACO MALFOY!" The raven-haired boy collapsed, panting. Tears streamed down his dirty face, and a long, thin scratch ran along the side of his cheek. Lucius' arm tightened around his throat as Harry accused him of double-crossing.

"No, I'm not! I swear, Potter," Draco gasped, fighting for breath. He fought Lucius off him. "I hate you," he panted, his face flushed and blotchy. "I hate you, Father. You ruined my life. Not anymore. I won't have it. I won't!" Lucius sneered at his son, but Draco caught a glimmer of fear in his father's eyes. "Avada Kedavra!" A brilliant flash of green light erupted from his wand and Lucius Malfoy collapsed. He was dead. Draco crashed to his knees, tears pouring from his eyes as he kneeled above his father's body. "I did the right thing, Father. I know I did."

Draco slipped sideways, pulling his knees up to his chest, sobbing brokenly into his robes. A warm arm slipped around him, and he recoiled from the touch, but soon returned to Hermione's forgiving arms. Lying on the porch, Draco cried his heart out next to his father's dead body.

XXXX

It was several hours before Draco found the will power to drag himself away from Lucius' corpse. He made his way up to his old room, where he found the trio waiting for him. Embarrassed of his red, puffy eyes, Draco ducked into the bathroom. He could hear soft murmurings from his room. He knew they were Potter and Weasley talking about him, with Hermione just staring straight ahead. When he returned to his bedroom, he found that exact scene. As he walked in, Hermione broke her gaze away from the fireplace and transferred it to him. He hung his head.

"Draco," she said softly. He was shocked—she hadn't called him Malfoy. "Draco, I'm sorry you had to do that. But I'm glad you did."

He nodded sadly. She opened her arms, offering a hug. Draco did nothing for a moment, then sank onto the bed next to her and let her embrace him. He was thoroughly confused, but he had to say that he was pleased. Ron and Harry pointedly looked away. Harry finally cleared his throat after several moments. Hermione released him and straightened up, blushing.

There were a few moments of silence, and then Harry spoke. "Thanks for…doing what you did. I—I'm sorry I accused you of lying." Draco could only nod.

Hermione looked as though she was on the brink of tears. Obviously the journey had been emotionally taxing as well as physically.

Willing the awkwardness to die away, Draco spoke again. "Erm….So I guess I'll show you to the library? That is, if it'll let me in. The magic on this house is strange. I don't know whether the protections on the study have died with Fa—" he paused, deciding that Lucius could barely be called a father "—er, Lucius or whether they're still in place." He paused, and then felt utterly exhausted. Though he had just slept a bit, the emotions coursing through him made him feel like a girl suffering from PMS. He knew what that was like, living around Pansy his entire life. He learned one thing from that—Slytherin girls are bitches when they're hormonal.

Ron spoke for the first time since they'd gotten to Malfoy Manor. "How about a rest, eh? I could go for sleeping." Harry and Hermione nodded automatically.

Draco got to his feet." You can sleep in the guest bedrooms. We have four, so choose one each. They're all down the hall. Just don't sleep in my parents' room. It's the last one on the right." He ushered them from his room and fell back on his bed and a tear leaked down his cheek. It fell onto his pillow, and the last thing he felt before falling asleep was a soft, feminine hand brushing his hair out of his eyes.

When Draco awoke, moonlight was streaming into his room through the curtains. He was oddly warm—in his memory, his back silk sheets didn't retain that much warmth. He rolled over and nearly screamed in shock. Hermione was curled up on the other side of his bed, her beautiful face set in repose. It took most of Draco's self-restraint to keep from kissing her. He took a deep breath and just lay there, inspecting her features. His eyes trailed down her body, as the sheets melded with her curves, and he was shocked to see her chocolate brown eyes staring teasingly at him. He scrambled backward, almost falling off the bed.

"Hi Draco." She just said it. There was no teasing nature, no "Haha-I-just-caught-you-checking-me-out" tone in her voice. It was just a statement.

"H-hey, Granger. Care to explain to me why you're in my bed?" he stuttered, still staring at her in shock.

"Come on, Draco. I've started calling you by your given name, can't you at least return the favor?" She giggled in a most un-Hermione-ish way. Draco's mouth unhinged and he stared, open-mouthed at the bushy-headed girl in front of him. "And to answer your question, I was in your bed because you looked sad and lonely. So I decided to keep you company."

A burning feeling of self-pity roiled in Draco's gut. "I don't need you feeling sorry for me, Granger. I feel bad enough as it is."

Hermione's giggly smile slipped from her face like rain down a window. "Sorry I care, Malfoy." She huffed and turned around, storming out of the room.

Draco mentally smacked himself, and called after her, but she was already gone. He sighed and fell back on his bed, deciding to get a little more sleep before the long day that would certainly come tomorrow.

A/N: DUN DUN DUN. -le semi-lame-cliffhanger-