Chapter Six: Confessions

Previously:

"You are insufferable!" Tom shouted, raising his wand once again to my chest.

I cringed, preparing for the pain, clutching my wand as tight as possible, a defensive spell on the tip of my tongue.

"Hermione?! Tom?!" I heard someone shout.

Our heads turned to see Draco and Casper standing awestruck in the doorway.

"What the fuck is going on here?!" Draco boomed, his eyes resting on the wand aimed at my chest…

***

Tom whipped round to glare Draco in the eye, still with his wand aimed at me.

The room was deadly silent, apart from the Casper's heavy breathing as he watched my pained form and anger rim Tom's eyes.

I opened my mouth to answer to Draco, but Tom silenced me with a flick of his wand as currents of pain coursed through my body and I thudded to the floor, eyes tight shut, mouth wide to scream yet no sound came out.

"Tom, stop!" Casper shouted, holding his hands out.

"I will not stop, Crouch! She deserves everything she gets," he growled, glaring at me hatefully.

Draco, don't do anything please! I begged.

He knew as well as I did what Tom could do. He killed my parents, he killed Ron, he killed Dumbledore, Cedric, Harry's parents, and only Merlin knows who else he murdered. He was the heir of Slytherin, and boy was he living up to the Slytherin name!

"Sectum Sempra!" Draco shouted suddenly.

My eyes widened as a silver flash hit Tom's chest and slashed through his shirt to his skin. Blood poured out of the gash profusely and soon his shirt was soaked.

Being distracted, Tom weakened the curse, which was enough for me to stand straight, and whip my wand from my dress and send the chandelier above us crashing down, closely missing the figure causing me so much pain. The curse lifted and I was sent flying across the room to Draco.

"Are you ok?!" he panicked.

"Yes, I'm fine." I muttered, not noticing Tom pointing his wand at Draco.

"Think you can get away that easily?" He growled.

I backed up slowly as he rounded on me once again, fire sparkling in his eyes…which were gradually growing from dark brown to red.

Voldermort, I gasped.

"You never fail to surprise me, Hermione. You are well informed I see;" he smirked.

"Discerpo!" Draco yelled, but Tom easily deflected the curse.

"Weak." He grunted, "Is it normal where you come from to kiss your siblings, Dehavilland?"

Draco's eyes widened and I felt all the confidence drain from his body.

He saw, Draco, I whispered.

He glanced at me for a moment, defeat flashing in his eyes. I had felt the same when my parents had been killed. All that I had been fighting for suddenly seemed pointless and it took all the energy and hope from me.

Walk away, Draco, he isn't worth it.

His expression hardened and a snarl formed on his lips. I will not walk away, he thought firmly.

"You will not harm her again; understand, Riddle?" he said, jaw clenched firmly.

Tom smirked, eyes flicking from me to Draco, "Think you can make me, Dehavilland?" he spread his arms wide and bowed, "Let's have a duel." He suggested, and moved into his duelling stance; left arm pointing towards Draco, and wand hand above his head to aim.

Draco seemed to consider this carefully, but I thought it sounded ridiculous to be honest. Duel for what exactly?

"I accept." He replied taking a broad step forward, and also taking the duelling stance.

"No! Draco, you can't!" I shouted, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him back, but he shook me off sharply and I felt Casper's hand slip through mine to pull me away from them.

"Leave them, Hermione." He ordered.

I laughed, "What? This is childish!" I screeched.

"Shut up." Tom growled and I fell instantly silent.

"Ready, Riddle?" Draco snarled.

Tom snorted; we took that as a yes.

"On the count of three you will attempt to harm your opponent, don't make it too messy guys," Casper muttered, "One…Two…Three!"

"Impedimenta!"

"Incarcerous!"

Tom easily dodged Draco's spell, but Draco was sent whizzing backwards and into the stone wall, which he hit with a loud crack.

He soon picked himself up and once again, curses were being sent to and forth.

Draco was sent flying more than once, but for most of the time he somehow managed to dodge Tom's harsh attacks.

"Sectum Sempra!" Draco boomed, and Tom was slashed profusely from his face to his stomach.

Blood oozed from the cuts, but with a flick of his wand all his wounds healed and the bleeding stopped. With a flick of Tom's wand, no words needed, Draco doubled over clutching his stomach, clenching his teeth, and his wand tumbled from his hand to the cold floor.

I ran forward to support him, but Casper's hand still held me firmly in place.

"You can't interrupt a duel, Hermione, let them get their anger out." He whispered.

My body shook with worry as I watched Tom lift the spell and Draco picked himself back up. I gasped at the damage it had inflicted to his face; gashes, scraped, and burns…but I stood still as Casper had told me to.

As soon as his wand touched his hand, he aimed it between Tom's eyes. Tom aimed his wand between Draco's eyes. They stood there like that for a few seconds, glaring hatefully and painfully at each other.

Don't worry, Hermione, Draco thought tenderly, it'll be over soon.

Draco stop now, I begged, you don't need to prove anything to him…you're both going to get hurt.

You doubt me, Hermione? Draco thought calmly.

This stumped me. Did I doubt him? He was a skilled wizard; he had to be skilled to be a follower of Voldermort…but this was Voldermort. Or rather, this was Tom Riddle: The most skilled wizard ever (after Dumbledore of course). I had no doubt that Draco was a very talented wizard, but against Tom he would look like a novice.

I don't doubt you, Draco. But think who you're duelling for a second; then reconsider, I replied.

I could feel tears in my eyes as an understanding smirk appeared on his face, he turned his head and winked at me, then continued to glare back at Tom. He was determined to finish this, but I couldn't figure out why. I knew he was a very ambitious person, but this was ridiculous! There was no need to duel over-

-over what? I didn't actually know what they were duelling over. Was there really any point in this?!

"I won't hold back this time, Dehavilland." Tom threatened.

Draco's smirk grew wider, "That's fine. I have no intention of holding back either, Riddle." He replied.

Tom's eyes glistened red.

"CRUCIO!"

The strength of the curse seemed to blow the lanterns out, and we were engulfed in blackness.

No sounds could be heard as me and Casper stood frozen for the next few seconds, not quite sure what had just happened.

"Hermione?" Casper whispered, gripping my hand.

"Lumos." I whispered, and turned to look at Casper now that light was emitting from the tip of my wand. His eyes were wide, and shone in the light; but they weren't focused on me.

I turned around to see what he was looking at so intently to find two boys in crumpled heaps at our feet.

Blood was soaking Draco's hair, and Tom was clutching his cheek with a scowl on his face.

"Jeez," he muttered, "What happened back there?"

He stood up slowly, dusted himself down, then bent over to pick up his wand. We stood watching him and he removed his hand to reveal a large gash on his cheek which was gradually healing, just leaving the blooded stains.

"Now that little problem is over, I'll be off. Come on, Casper." Tom said smirking.

Casper quickly glanced at me, then back at Tom.

"I-" he began, but was interrupted by Tom's threatening voice.

"Casper, do not disobey me." He growled.

He glanced down at the floor before nodding his head and scuttling off quietly. Tom gave me a threatening glare before following Casper with a swish of his cape.

"I can't believe you sometimes," I said harshly, shaking my head.

I dabbed Draco's forehead gently with a cold flannel as he prodded the end of his wand anxiously.

"It's not my fault," he sulked, "he provoked me. He shouldn't have been pointing his bloody wand at your throat."

I sighed and my hands dropped to my lap. "I am to blame for that…misunderstanding. He told me he had seen us…and I flipped." I explained.

"Right, so it's entirely your fault he was going to use the cruciatus curse on you." he replied sarcastically.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," I said sweetly.

I paused a moment and fiddled with the hem of my skirt nervously, "Umm…can I ask you a question?" I murmured.

"Sure,"

"Why are you on this side? You were a Death Eater before. Why the sudden change of heart?" I inquired.

Draco's eyes widened significantly when he heard. For a moment I saw a spark of sadness flicker in his eyes, but as soon as I saw it, it vanished.

"Better get comfy," he whispered, "'Cause I don't really know how to explain…"

I summoned a house elf to bring us some food and drink, and as soon as it returned with my requests Draco began to answer my question.

"Well, I suppose my rebellious side emerged the night I saw you kill Bellatrix. I can't say it affected me much although she was my Aunt; seeing how much she was capable of hurting someone seemed to pull my head out my ass. I was just as bad as her; I didn't want to be but I knew as long as I was on the side of the Dark Lord…I would have no freedom. I would be a killer, no matter what happened.

I went back to the manor that night to find my mother crying in my fathers arms. I knew why she was crying without asking. My father looked like he wanted to cry too, but being the proud man he is, he held it together.

I had always been fond of my father; I looked up at him. My mother was everything to me; without her I wouldn't be…"

He trailed off sadly and I'm certain I saw a tear run down his cheek. But I kept silent and waited for his to continue.

He sighed deeply. "The Dark Lord gave me a task the following day. He wanted me to find and kidnap you, then bring you to him to torture answers out of you. He said if I didn't do it then he'd kill my parents."

I could almost predict what he was going to say next.

"I didn't know what to do. I couldn't turn you in, but I couldn't risk my parents being murdered by my hand. So I went to Snape for help; turns out that was the worst idea I had ever made. Somehow, the Dark Lord found out that I had asked Snape for help…I didn't know Snape would go straight to the Order to find a solution. He killed my parents and forced me to watch. It tore me in two to watch that…" his voice cracked on the last word; he made no effort to hide the endless tears now.

"I needed help, so I went to McGonagall and she told me about this "mission" which I would be partaking along with you…and that brings us here I suppose." He finished.

To say I was speechless was an understatement. I had no idea his parents had been killed…I felt so terribly guilty now. It was because of me that those people had died. Although I knew there was no way of changing the fact that they were dead now, and I was living, I still wanted to change things and to bring back the two people who meant so much to Draco. The only few people who he honestly cared for, and who cared for him.

"I'm sorry, Draco," I whispered, "I feel as if it is entirely my fault. It is because of me they are no longer with us; I wish I could do something to make it up to you," I said, not having the strength to look him in the eye.

"Do not fret, 'Mione. It isn't your fault at all. It's the greedy bastards fault who started all this crap." He growled.

"We will get revenge, Hermione, I promise. And all those people who needn't have died, won't have died," he smiled, "we can be happy again."

I nodded, smiling. I wasn't sure of this idea of miracle happiness to be honest. But I wasn't one to break him down.

"Yes," I replied, "maybe we can be happy again."

I walked silently along the corridors back to my living quarters. It was deathly quiet; I think even a ghost wouldn't have gone unnoticed!

It was now that I noticed I was still wearing my ball gown, which was trailing like a shadow behind me, torn, blooded, and tattered. I resembled an undead bride an awful lot.

My eyes scanned the candle lit walls, and moving portraits. Quite a few portraits I had never seen before, but I suppose that was because I lived so far into the future they moved them to make space for more.

The memory of Draco's tear stained face was imprinted in the back of my mind, and constantly popped into my vision. If it was anyone else, it probably would have annoyed me, but all I could feel was guilt because it was my existence that had been the cause of their deaths. I almost felt I owed my life to Draco! For the time being I forced that to the back and focused on walking back to the comfort of my own bed. These heels were actually murder on my feet!

A scuffle to my left brought me to an abrupt halt. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.

Oh Merlin, I groaned, Tom. Leave. Me. Alone. For Merlin's sake!

I spun around angrily with my wand out, pointing at Tom like it had so many times tonight.

"Tom, I am sick of your games, grow-!"

It wasn't Tom.

A girl with pale skin, a petit figure, glasses, and pigtails stood before me. She wore Ravenclaw robes, and her wand was also pointed in my direction. She looked oddly familiar.

"What are you doing out at this time?" she snapped, "And looking at the state of your dress, you have not only been at the ball, am I right Ms. Dehavilland?"

"Excuse me?" I piped, "Who are you to ask me such questions?!" I replied with as much bitterness as she had used.

She pointed to her robes, which held the badge of a Prefect.

Damn.

She smirked, "By the expression on your face, you are now aware that I fully capable of asking you such questions. I understand you are relatively new here; but rules still stand." She spat.

I nodded shyly.

"And 20 points from Slytherin! You may have noticed that the ball ended 50 minutes ago, you are way past curfew." She continued.

You look too familiar, I thought.

"Yes, Prefect. May I ask, what is your name?" I inquired quietly.

"Myrtle." She snapped, and trotted back down the corridor to scold some other students.

***

Well, I have to say…that took me longer than I expected it to =/ really sorry guys, just bare with me k? :) My writing is getting slower and slower, and the standard is gradually going down in my opinion. But please stick with it ;] I hopefully won't disappoint you x]

A horrendous beast is introduced to the next chapter!

Can you guess what this monster is my lovelies? ;)

RxR people xx