(A/N: Alrighty, next chapter is up. The characters don't belong to me but I hope you enjoy the chapter.)
Michael could feel the eyes of someone on his back. Like all Slytherin students he had a high awareness of those around him, mainly because one the defining Slytherin traits was self-preservation. He cast his eyes over his shoulder but he couldn't see anyone standing out from the crowd. Michael was well known for leaving the dining hall early each night. He'd planned to do the same tonight but he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, it troubled him that he couldn't pinpoint where the eyes that watched him came from. He'd stayed behind a bit longer than usual, feigning interest in what his classmates were talking about.
After a few minutes with these classmates Michael felt as though he'd been tricked, the feeling of the eyes on him wavered and he decided to leave, packing his things up quickly as he slipped out of the doors of the great hall. There were groups of students collecting outside the great hall, others that left dinner early but had been caught by friends or were simply working on homework with students from other houses. It was more crowded than usual and Michael was forced to push his way past a rather large group of giggle girls who were going on and on about some quidditch player. He rolled his eyes as he passed and nearly jumped at the shrill shrieking of the girls. He was on edge, that was all; or at least that's what he told himself.
Michael shook his head, trying to rid himself of the childish fear that had a firm grasp of his shoulder, dragging him down. He stormed off, headed down to the dungeons in hopes for some silence. He didn't check over his shoulder this time. If he did he wouldn't have been surprised by what happened the second he and his shadow were out of earshot of the other students.
Draco had struggled through the day, determined the return to his normal behavior. He knew Dumbledore knew the truth now but the other teacher certainly still suspected him, it wouldn't do to help give that rumor momentum. But now he didn't even try to cover up the smirk that turned the corners of his mouth up. During dinner Draco had paid off a first year to slip some veritaserum into Michael's drink, the first year didn't know what it was; Draco had told him it was a prank, something he'd picked up at the elder Weasley's joke shop. Later Draco would obviate the boy but for now it wasn't a concern to him.
Draco's footsteps were silent and his movements hushed. The smirk was still in place on his face, one more turn Draco though keenly, eager to get the young boy to confess.
Michael turned down another winding corridor, so close to the entrance of Slytherin house. Draco cleared his throat, the noise making Michael turn. Draco had watched his father intimidate many witches and wizards over the years, he was well versed in extortion through watching those encounters.
Draco took two steps closer to the other boy, watching with malicious delight as Michael took one too many steps back until his back his the cold stone wall. Michael's pale brown eyes darted, looking from Draco and then to either side of the corridor. No one was there to help him, not that any Slytherin student would go up against Draco Malfoy.
Draco was only a foot or two from Michael when he finally spoke, his voice quiet yet still able to fill the small space between them, it echoed in Michael's ears as he tried to respond.
"You've been given a truth serum Michael." Draco informed him, his grey eyes piercing and threatening as they bore down on the shorter boy. Draco saw words start to form on his prey's lips but didn't give him time to choke out the response.
"You were the one who attacked Granger." It wasn't a question, Draco was sure of it but he wanted Michael to confirm it. He waited for a response but none came, "Well!" he made his voice boom in the narrow corridor, nearly making the poor boy wet himself.
"Y- yes! I did it." Michael clapped his hands over his mouth, he couldn't stop himself, the words sprung from his mouth like a damn had burst.
"Yes, I thought you did." Draco used the same bored tone his father did, knowing firsthand how it messed with a person's mind. "Why?" Draco wasn't here to play games, he'd done enough to turn the boy into a sniveling child.
"She's a mudblood. She shouldn't be here, she doesn't deserve to walk the same halls or to wield a wand the same as purebloods. She shouldn't know about the wizarding world at all. She's insufferable and a know-it-all. They only thing she doesn't know is just how unworthy she is of walking the same halls as people like you and me. Slughorn thinks she's so special, tried to have her tutor me. What does that filthy mudblood know about anything magical, and what right does she have to teach anyone; she could learn a thing or two from purebloods, like silence, or compliance?!"
Draco wanted to hit the boy, wanted to silence him for saying such things. But he couldn't, he was spouting the same garbage Draco himself had held in reverence for most of his life. The boy was him, just a few years younger and even more unlikely than Draco to change his ways. He'd been fed the same prejudices, the same taunts. The same sense of entitlement had been engraved in both of them. Was there really a difference between them, was Draco really any better than Michael? He'd thought all the same things about Hermione, even worse, he's told her a fair deal of those thoughts when they were younger.
Draco was so lost in the moral crisis that was currently brewing in his mind that he didn't notice Michael stop talking. He nearly jumped, though he hid it well, when Michael spoke to him.
"Why do you care? Frankly I'm surprised you of all people wouldn't be applauding me." Draco closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. One of the problems with truth serum was that now Michael couldn't stop speaking whatever he was really thinking. Draco had to think, quickly, for a reason to tell the boy.
"Well, your little stunt has caused me some trouble." He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes, it was a threatening smile that had Michael trying to back up again. Draco took another few steps, he was no far too close for comfort.
"If you want to live long enough to see the Dark Lord do away with muggles I suggest you stop being so obvious about your actions. If teachers keep accusing me someone at the ministry might start to look closer. If that happens than I assure you, I won't leave you alive like you did Granger, I'll do it the right way and leave nothing left of you to find." Draco's words were hissed into the boy's ear. With a small flick of his want Michael was unconscious, Draco levitated his body so it looked like he'd just fallen asleep on the nearby bench. Without another word Draco was off, down the hall.
He had the proof now, a simple memory would show Dumbledore the culprit. It wouldn't take long to detain the boy, he'd confess under the pressure, and Hermione would be safe for a bit longer.
Draco couldn't help the drop in his stomach. Hermione might be safe from Michael, but there were still literally hundreds of people who believed that she shouldn't be allowed a wand or magical abilities. Many would be willing to kill her if given the opportunity. She wouldn't be safe. Not as long at the Dark Lord still had a holding, not as long as his followers still spouted the archaic beliefs of blood purity.
Draco couldn't protect her forever, when the war did start he wouldn't be able to watch over her. He'd be forced into the ranks of the Death Easters, solely to keep his mother and himself from suffering at the Dark Lord's hands. Hermione would follow Potter and Weasley, he knew that would always happen. If they agreed on one thing concerning her idiotic friends, it was that they would never get far without her. They never would have made it this far without her.
Whether he liked it or not, Hermione would face Death Eaters. She wouldn't back down and she would only stop rebelling when she was dead. The thought of her, cold, lifeless, made Draco physically ill. He ducked into a prefect bathroom. His stomach lurched as he used the sink for support. When he finally stopped dry heaving, he'd barely eaten since Hermione was put in the infirmary, he splashed some cold water on his face. He looked up into the mirror.
Right then he cursed his life, his upbringing, everything his family had stood for, everything he'd ever said. He wanted nothing more than to go back, to renounce everything he'd ever been told to believe. He longed to have the good judge of character that Potter had in their first year. He wished he'd let the sorting hat put him in Gryffindor like it wanted to. But the Slytherin part of him won out, he knew if his father found out he wasn't in Slytherin he'd be severely beaten. There was that self-preservation, the most underrated but yet most common Slytherin trait.
Draco looked the same as he did last time he'd escaped into this bathroom. But so much had changed since then. His white-blond hair was still a mess as it hung in his face. But now it had felt nimble fingers wind their way through it, leaving it a different kind of mess. His eyes were still tired and resembled cold steel. But they'd softened at times, whenever he'd seen Hermione blissfully unaware of his gaze; he knew now that they could become cool pools of silver. His skin was still pale and almost appeared sickly. But in between he'd felt the flush in his cheeks, the rosy color looking entirely out of place on a Malfoy's face, but yet it looked right, like the way a collection looked once the final piece had been found.
If he knew anything now that he hadn't known last time he'd looked into this mirror, it was that Hermione Granger was incredibly good for him. Too good, so good that no amount of renouncing his old ways or trying to change would ever make him worthy of her.
(A/N: So hope you enjoyed seeing that confrontation between Draco and Michael – reminder Michael is supposed to be like three years younger and Draco has a reputation so that's why Michael is so jumpy around him. Always thought that Draco would learn how to intimidate and extort from watching his dad, but he'd do it sparingly because he knows how it feels. I thought a lot about having Draco physically attack Michael but I didn't think if fit his character, plus Draco needed to seem unconcerned with Hermione and that reaction would have shown that he had some sort of feelings for her. Please review, any and all comments are welcome and will keep me writing and updating faster.)