Disclaimer: In case you have been living in a cave on mars with your fingers in yours ears for the last ten years or so; JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and all terms and characters associated with the fandom. I only own the story, some characterisations and an occasional OC, I try to limit them as much as possible. Some lyrics may crop up now and then and will be attributed as appropriate.

Chapter 18 -Bad Blood

"So be cool, and believe, in the things you haven't learned
because you've lost and its gone but it will return.
now it's all laid out in front of you
and that's half murdered the mystery.
are you still too shy, to describe?
now the whole world is waking up,
a ribbon cut for the opening.
yes, finally the day has arrived...."

Bright Eyes

----------------------------

Draco's mouth hung open slightly and Hermione's grip tightened on his shirt. They both knew at that point how much trouble they were in. Draco was as scared as Hermione, but he wasn't about to show it by gripping to her as tightly as she was onto him.

"You have put me in a compromising position here Draco. Finding you like this has left me with only two choices of how to deal with this and neither are very favourable. Perhaps I could..."

"Father?" Draco pleaded to Lucius Malfoy. "Please, this isn't what..."

"ISN'T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE?" Lucius screamed at him. His face turning red, his imposing figure in the doorway, moving forward a step into the room. "WELL IT LOOKS TO ME LIKE MY SON IS CURLED UP IN BED WITH A FILTHY LITTLE MUDBLOOD!"

Draco swallowed hard, he felt Hermione's hands tightening her grip on him, he didn't know what to do. He was caught, he was in a situation that he was fairly sure he couldn't talk his way out of, all he could do was think quickly. "No, Father it's..." He paused, he forced the air through the passageway of his throat, trying to open the airways that suddenly felt like they were tightening too quickly. "It's just for sex..." He wanted to close his eyes, he knew as soon as he said it that he was going to regret those words.

"JUST SEX?" Lucius Malfoy crossed the room with long strides, reaching the bed he grasped his fingers around the long hair at the back of his sons head and closed his fist. Pulling his son upwards by his hair and pointing his finger down to the petrified Hermione in the bed. "JUST SEX DOES NOT INVOLVE KISSING YOU STUPID BOY!" He released his grip, dropping Draco back down onto the bed. The expression on Lucius' face changed, the hatred and anger seemed to have vanished. His expression had become an unmoving mask, his mouth a straight line, his brow lowered, his eyes narrowed. "Draco, you should know better than any, since you live with Blaise 'six-foot-five and every-inch-is-hormones' Zabini, that if you want to have a; Casual-Fuck...." The sound of his lips seemed to remain in the room for an age, Draco could see the disdain in his father's face.

Draco moved, trying to get off the bed in an attempt to reason with Lucius. "Father I..."

"Do not move." Lucius pulled his wand from his cane and pointed it at his son. "Do not get off that bed."

Draco raised his right hand in a submissive gesture, lowering himself back down and sitting next to Hermione on the bed. "Alright Father, but can I just..."

"You may do nothing Draco." Lucius said, interrupting him again. He kept his wand trained on the couple on the bed, but began pacing up and down the room. "I cannot believe you would be so stupid. How long has this been going on? Some time I would imagine, considering that you seemed comfortable enough in your..." He paused, searching for the right word to describe what he had witnessed. "Perversions. If you also realise that you were too caught up in your actions to realise that someone had entered through the unlocked door." Lucius shook his head, moving and standing by the door frame, his wand still acutely aimed. "What were you thinking?" He sighed. "Because you are my son and only because of this, I will give you a chance to explain yourself."

Draco pushed down the lump in his throat which felt like a pill he had tried to dry-swallow, he looked at Hermione for a brief moment before locking his eyes on his father. "Father I realise that what I have done is a mistake..."

"Well at least you have sense enough to realise that." Lucius said.

"Yes, but I assure you, this is nothing more than just sex. Just a casual, easy way for me to have sex. I realise now that I made a stupid mistake and I shouldn't have done it, but I can't change what I did. I want to make it better."

Lucius sighed at his son's words. Moving across the room in casual strides, standing next to the bed. "I'm afraid Draco, that I don't believe you..." Before Draco had chance to react or realise what his father was doing, Lucius grabbed hold of Hermione's hair, bunching it in his fist and pulling her upwards.

Hermione screamed, she could not stop herself. Her hands went up to her hair on reflex and she tried to pull her hair free of Lucius Malfoy's strong grip. Lucius pulled her sharply from the bed, her leg's hitting the floor with a heavy thud as he dragged her by her hair across the room. Hermione could think of nothing but how much it hurt to feel her hair being pulled out from the roots, causing her to call out, without considering what she was saying. "Draco!"

Lucius dropped her, leaving Hermione half slumped on the floor against her dresser. Lucius seethed, he looked down at the bushy-haired mudblood who had called out his son's name, then looked to his son. Lucius took two steps backwards, placing himself in the area of the door, he pointed his drawn wand at Hermione but glaring at his son. "DRACO?" He dropped his shoulders. "She calls you Draco? You know I really wanted to believe you son, but I don't think I have a choice."

Draco didn't know what his father was going to do, but all he could do was react on instinct. His right hand flew forward in protest and he sat up on the bed. "NO! Father, we do have a choice..."

"STUPEFY!" A bolt of red light jetted across the room and Lucius Malfoy fell face first onto the floor.

Draco looked at his father on the floor, then to Hermione who looked as shocked as he did, before both their gazes switched to the door frame, which was filled by Blaise.

Blaise's wand hung in his hand, pointed at the area where Lucius had been stood, he wore a look on his face that was a mixture of regret and anger. He looked at Draco before striding across the room and grabbing him by his shirt, lifting Draco clean off the bed and onto his feet. "You absolute fucking idiot! What the fuck have you done?"

Draco looked at his friend, then his father, then back to Blaise again. "It's not what it looks like mate, my father..."

"You're father caught you in the process of getting your end away with Granger it looks like, but please correct me if I'm wrong and I just knocked out your Dad for a really stupid fucking reason."

Draco swallowed hard. "Ok then, it is what it looks like, but look, me and Granger..."

Blaise threw his hand in the air, half turning, taking a step then turning back to Draco with his hands on the top of his head. "You and Granger have been fucking. That is not what I'm worried about, what I am worried about is what is going to happen when your Dad wakes up." He threw his arms down in frustration.

Draco looked at Hermione and narrowed his eyes, pointing his finger at her. "You! Did you tell him?"

"Oh like she'd have to tell me!" Blaise said, looking at Draco. "I'm not an idiot Draco, I guessed after the first time and told her to tell me if it ever happened again. So I could try and stop something like this happening." Blaise offered a hand out to Hermione and pulled her up from the floor before turning back to Draco. "One day I'll give you a lesson in subliminal bonding gestures but for now we have a more pressing matter at hand."

"What?" Draco said, confused that his best friend was aware that he had slept with the mudblood servant but had neither said or done anything about it.

"We don't have time for this. Stay there." Blaise said, moving towards the door before turning and walking back towards Draco. "No, don't stay there, get your wand, get your Dad's wand, move him into the living room." Blaise turned again and began walking out of the room.

"Where the smeg do you think you're going?" Draco said, bending down to pluck his fathers wand from his hand.

"I didn't want to do this, but you've left me with no choice Draco, I'm going to have to call in some friends to help me sort this out." Blaise replied, his back to Draco, walking out of the door.

"Who?" Draco called out after him.

"You'll see." Blaise called back from the corridor.

Draco looked at father, laying peacefully on the floor, then looked at Hermione. "What's he going to do?" It had been more of rhetorical question than anything, the last thing he had expected was for Hermione to answer him.

"If I had to guess, I'd say he was going to call the resistance."

Draco just stared at Hermione.

-----------------------------

Author's Notes:

Yes, my comment at the end of the last chapter was meant to confuse you, tee hee hee, I do apologise but it's far too amusing for me to think of all the scratching heads...

And another semi-cliff hanger... I know, I'm horrible to you lot sometimes but after some of the names I got at the end of the last chapter, what do you expect?

Ideally I would have let you lot stew for a few more days but I know what I'm like, if I didn't upload this as soon as I finished my notes, then I would start thinking things like: You can't come back from this, are you sure you want to go there? And since I know where this story needs to go, that would be bad.

Now for some shouts outs, first to Fantasygirl26, my superstar, hope you liked this one. Next to GiggleGinny and BlowKissesNotBuildings, thanks for the reviews, it's always appreciated and keeps me going until I have the next chapter written.

Last but by no means least, my Super Vanilla Dragon, my favourite lady; Twiist. Opinions on Lucius will be both appreciated and dreaded equally. I know what I would have preferred him to do, but it would have made a fairly short chapter and it wouldn't have really fit in with the story.

So, please R&R, feedback is ALWAYS welcome. Don't forget to take part in the poll on my profile page. (it's at the top.)

Oh, before I forget, anyone who leaves me a super-dooper detailed review on this chapter (and ask's) might get a special treat and be told the title of Chapter 19 as a special preview.

---- Last minute thanks, the review email just this second came through, ImperfectSilver, yes, I'm not dead, fantastic to hear from you me dear. Hope you like this one ;)