Chapter 2 – Truth

After the initial 'greeting' the walk to Dumbledore's office was quite somber. Draco, apparently, was trying to think of something witty to say in order to get her to reply. He couldn't.

He noted the way she grasped her small black and white checkered tote, and how her hand reached inside it every so often, but never did she pull something out of it.

As they approached the spiral staircase, Hermione began to comprehend her surroundings. She was back at Hogwarts, where she used to feel at home, and now she just felt hopelessly lost. She saw Malfoy looking at her curiously as she reached for her bag for the envelopes, they were her only physical comfort and she'd be damned if his curiosity would stop her from feeling just a bit better. She shot him a death glare which practically stopped him cold. If he was going to study her she was going to make a hard time of it. She noted, however, that the closer they got to Dumbledore's office the more his hand gravitated towards his forearm. Then it clicked…he's a Death Eater. Apparently, Snape had failed at getting Malfoy to support the light. After all, she hadn't been to the last six Order meetings, but surely she would've heard if he'd joined the Order.

At last they reached the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office. It jumped aside upon seeing them, apparently they were expected. She went up the staircase first, careful not to let Malfoy look up her school skirt.

"Come in, Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore announced from his chair. When they sat, Dumbledore noticed with some amusement that Hermione's hands gravitated towards her bag, Draco's to his arm. It seemed to Hermione, as Dumbledore told them of their duties, that the old man wouldn't look her directly in the eye. 'Maybe he pities me, just like everyone else.' He finished his speech rather quickly, Hermione not listening to half of it.

"Mr. Malfoy…"

"Yes?"

"Would you be so kind as to step outside for a moment? I'd like to have a word with Miss Granger."

"Certainly." He replied, relieved to be out of the office, but curious as to what subject matter he wasn't allowed to hear.

"Mind that you don't wander off, Draco, I have to show you to your dormitory."

"Alright."

Malfoy, still rubbing his arm, got up and left, closing the door behind him. The headmaster cast a silencing spell, and Hermione looked surprised. "It's about your parents, and I'm sure you don't want Mr. Malfoy overhearing, there's no doubt that he's trying."

Hermione feigned a smile and a small laugh for good measure.

"I know you're still hurting, Hermione; but carrying around that letter isn't going to do you any good."

"Yes, well…"

Dumbledore nodded. He understood.

"Miss Granger, I think you deserve to know the truth. The circumstances surrounding your parents' deaths were less than normal." He took a deep breath, "You missed a great deal during the meetings for the Order. I know that you were busy studying for this year and then…your parents…"

She nodded, warding off tears.

"Miss Granger, the Order of the Phoenix hoped to lure Voldemort out of hiding in hopes of Harry catching him off guard. We'd known for a long time that he wanted to get hold of your parents. He wanted to hurt your parents in order to hurt you, which would, in turn, hurt Harry. You know that, of course. So they were placed under a concealment charm, which you should remember."

"Of course, sir. That's why it made no sense that he found them."

"Let me finish, Miss Granger. Then you can voice your questions. As a matter of fact silencio . The Order found a way to lure the Dark Lord out of hiding. And that was to allow him to find your parents. We removed the charm on a Thursday night, making it look like an error so he wouldn't get suspicious. By Friday afternoon those who'd been looking for your parents (Death Eaters, Hermione) pick up their trail and informed the Dark Lord. Severus kept an ear out for when they were to pay your parents a visit. It was announced that it was to be Sunday night. But Tom, in the first display of his character that I've seen since he left Hogwarts, changed the plan to a night earlier, suspecting a traitor among his ranks. He called upon three of his best Death Eaters just a quarter of an hour before the attack and revealed the change of plans. Those three were the only ones who knew. Severus was left out of the loop, and there was thing we could've done, Hermione. I'm sorry."

By now she was fighting to speak, "Finite Incantatum ."

"You-you…you used my parents as the proverbial carrot in front of the mule! Is that what you're telling me! No, you know what? Don't answer that. How dare you! 'Oh let's play a game of life chess using Hermione's parents as pawns.' No, nothing could go wrong like that!"

"Hermione, please relax."

"Relax? Oh, bloody hell I'll relax, old man! My parents are dead because you were too bloody worried about-"

"Miss Granger!"

"What!"

"I realize you're upset-"

"Upset! If this is upset then you're in for a rude awakening when 'pissed' rolls around."

"You'll have to calm down sooner or later, unless of course you want Mr. Malfoy finding out. Because once he knows, Miss Parkinson knows which means the entire student body will know by breakfast, lunch if you're lucky."

She shut up, but the fire in her eyes refused to extinguish.

"You must realize Miss Grangr that the intention was not to allow your parents to be killed, but no I'm afraid they're just casualties of the war."

"Did they know?" she asked quietly.

"Pardon me?"

"Did they know? Did Harry and Ron know?"

"They had to, Miss Granger. For it was their job to keep you busy for the weekend."

Her eyes hardened but Dumbledore didn't notice. He was on his way to the door.

"Shall we?" she rose, but said nothing as she and Dumbledore met Malfoy outside the door. His face screamed 'well-it-took-you-long-enough' but he said nothing.

They walked in a strange silence, Hermione in a state of shock, Draco trying to avoid getting asked any questions by Dumbledore.

They reached the Heads Tower rather quickly. Muttering the password (vita vicissitudo) to the tired looking man in the frame. The door swung open to reveal a room decorated largely in rich earth colors. Dumbledore quickly explained that their rooms were not connected in any way. They had separate bathrooms and bedrooms, yet shared a common room. And they would still attend the Great Hall for meals. He let himself out sometime later, and Hermione, being emotionally exhausted decided to explore the rooms tomorrow.

"Look Granger, there's a bookshelf. Maybe you should start now."

No reply.

"Aww, what's wrong, Granger? The-boy-who-won't-die is ill? Or is I've-got-more-freckles-than-galleons-boy getting expelled because of his poor appearance? Oh, I know, the old git finally told you I'm smarter than you."

She turned around to look at him, quite calmly believe it or not. She discreetly pulled her wand out of her pocket and pointing it at him mumbled, "Windgardium Leviosa." Malfoy flew up towards the ceiling with a look of panic. She spoke calmly, "Now while you're up there, you git, take a listen. I'm not in the mood for your snide remarks, someone's got that covered nor do I need another all-the-girls-love-me-guy, because that title is once again taken by someone. Harry being ill or Ron being expelled 'shant affect me in the least, if it were to happen. And that old git said nothing about your intelligence, or lack thereof. Now unless you'd like to sleep up there I'd suggest you shut the bloody hell up, because one of these days Malfoy you're going to wake up with pink hair and lipstick."

"Let me down, Granger! This instant."

"Certainly. Finite Incantatum. " Malfoy fell from the air and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Hope your arm doesn't hurt too bad, Malfoy. I know how terribly you'd hate to see Madam Pomfrey about it." She said, pointing to her left forearm, "That'd certainly be a stupid way to get caught, no?"

With that, she left for her room. Shutting and locking the door behind her. She'd be damned if she was going to wake up with pink hair.

'So she knows. ' Malfoy thought, 'Damn it.'

Author's Note: Please note that this story is pre-HBP (post OOTP). I have indeed read the story, in fact I read it the first day it came out. But this story was started about a month prior to the release of HBP and therefore I had 5 and 1/2 chapters written before the release of the sixth book (for those of you wondering why I didn't post it as I wrote it I have a simple answer: I was merely testing the reactions at another site and having liked what I got there, I've added it here). Therefore this story contains no intentional spoilers.

Thanks to my reviewers. And for those of you haven't reviewed, please do, I appreciate it.

A minor correction has been made in the chapter as of 5/14/06, correcting the placement of Draco's Dark Mark. Special thanks to thedustbunny for pointing out my error. :)