Chapter 19: True Friends
A pair of dark eyes watched her, she was just like her mother, using books to escape the world. He had missed so much, so much that could have saved her from the pain she was suffering; he had come to the library every day and seen her in the same position ignoring the world around her. He should have seen the signs sooner and saved her. But then again…. Would she have been the same loving person?
After class, Hermione had spent the rest of the day in the library; she didn't even notice the time pass until Pansy came and got her for dinner.
"Are you hungry bookworm?"
"What?"
Pansy laughed, "Are you hungry?"
"Yeah actually a little bit, when's dinner?"
"Now, come on."
"Ok," Hermione packed up her books and walked to the great hall with the young Slytherin.
"How are classes?"
"Good, yours?"
"Alright, I'm struggling a bit in transfiguration but other than that, it's alright."
"Do you want help?"
"Sure, that would be great, if you have time of course."
"I'm sure I could fit you into my busy schedule." Hermione smiled at the black headed Slytherin and they entered the hall before parting ways. Hermione walked to her usual spot between Neville and Ginny.
For the first time in almost two weeks Ron talked to her, "So how's life Malfoy brat?"
"Shut up Ronald."
"Oh Ferret's sister is getting touchy." Ron grinned at Seamus, and a few of the younger kids that Hermione wasn't really acquainted with, he had turned them against her quite successfully about two days ago, at least that's when Hermione noticed it.
"She said shut it Ron," Neville said.
"Oh look you guys she has a friend," Ron again grinned at his friends.
"Ron back off, I am warning you now."
"What are you gonna do Granger, hex me?"
"The thought has crossed my mind."
"Ooo I'm scared." Ron fake trembled.
Hermione grabbed her things and started to head out of the hall but she wasn't fast enough, Ron grabbed her arm and painfully pulled her to him. "Not so fast Malfoy, I wasn't done talking to you."
"Hey!" as shout came from the Slytherin table, "Let her go!" Hermione looked toward the table and saw her brother shortly followed by Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and Blaise.
"What are you and your pathetic friends gonna do about it Malfoy?"
"I said, unhand my sister." Draco attempted to keep his temper in check but was close to blowing a gasket.
"And what if I said no?" The group got closer, "Oo the crowd technique Malfoy very clever, but I expected a bit more originality from you."
"Please Ron, just let me…"
"Shut up," Ron slapped her hard, and she tried not to cry out.
"You better let her go," this time it wasn't Draco, it was Harry. "Ron she has been our best friend for years and all of a sudden because her birth certificate says something different you are going to turn on her?"
"So what, I never liked her anyway, that was all your doing." Again Hermione tried not to cry. "I ask again what are you all going to do about it."
This time, Draco, Blaise, Pansy, Harry, Ginny, Neville, Fred, George, Dean, Lee and the entire Gryffindor team pulled their wands and pointed them at the tall red head. In turn, Ron, Seamus, Lavender, Pavarti, Padma, Justin and a few of the other students that were siding with Ron pointed their wands at the group.
"Let my sister go."
"You'll have to hex me first."
"ENOUGH!" came a shout from behind the group, it was Professor Dumbledore, and next to him was Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall. "Mr. Weasley, I ask that you please unhand Miss Granger…"
"Malfoy," Hermione corrected tears glistening in her eyes from Ron's grip.
"My apologies, please unhand Miss Malfoy this instant."
"She is a traitor Headmaster."
"Release her!" Professor Snape and Minerva shouted at the same time.
"Fine," Ron let go and she instantly ran to her brother and Blaise.
"You are all to report of my office immediately. No questions asked, GO NOW!" the students dispersed to the headmaster's office just in time for the toad herself to approach the trio of teachers.
"I trust everything is under control here?"
"Yes Dolores, just a student tiff, that's all, we shall handle it from here."
"Alright," she did that stupid giggle and walked away. The two teachers joined the headmaster at his office and they mentally prepared themselves to deal with a bunch of fighting. To their surprise when they arrived, there was nothing, just glares from across the room. Draco, Hermione, Blaise, Pansy, Harry, Ginny, Neville, Fred, George, Dean, Lee and the entire Gryffindor team were on one side glaring at Ron, Seamus, Lavender, Pavarti, Padma, Justin and the few of the other students who just glared back.
"Good now that we have this all under control I believe that it is time that we deal with this. "Mr. Malfoy, why did you pull your wand on Mr. Weasley?"
"Sir he was forcefully holding onto my sister, I wasn't going to stand for it, we had asked numerous times for him to release her and he didn't."
"Headmaster, I only wanted to talk, she lied to me all year and I wanted an answer that's all."
"You're lying Ron."Ginny said, "You have been ignoring her since she told us and you decided today that you were going to taunt her, and you even when as far as to attempt to turn all of Gryffindor against her, I doubt a talk was what was going on in your mind."
"Alright, I would like All the Weasley family to stay, along with Mr. Zambini, Mr. and Miss Malfoy and Mr. Potter, the rest of you are to report to your head of house, minus the Gryffindore's and the Slytherins you will meet tomorrow, in an hour and a half for your punishment, I have sent a list of all of you to your heads already so don't try anything funny and skip out, your punishment will be worse." And the students left, "Mr. Weasley I would like you to come with me for a moment while we wait for your parents."
"Yes sir," he said as he hung his head.
As soon as the room was clear of him, Hermione let the tears fall, she had a good sized hand print upon her right cheek along with a good bruise on her arm; he had finally snapped and come after her physically.
"Hermione look at me," Minerva said, she paused but did as she asked, "Are you ok?"
She shook her head violently, "He snapped, I didn't do anything, he just… snapped!" She was close to hysterics, panicking about what had just happened.
"Hermione," Ginny spoke, "Don't worry, Mum will make sure that he is punished, you are her second daughter after all. And if she doesn't, I am sure your father will."
"She has a point Miss Malfoy, I've known Lucius for a long time, and he won't let this slide."
"Yeah remember when I got attacked by that hippogriff?"
"That was out of your own stupidity Draco, that wasn't Buckbeak's fault."
"Just like this isn't yours," Harry said.
The fire place glowed green and in walked Molly followed by Arthur Weasley.
"Hello Mum, hi Dad."
"Hi angel, what's going on, we got an 8-1-1 from Albus." Hermione smirked at his misspoken 9-1-1, but she didn't say anything.
"You should ask him." Fred said, "Or better yet, ask Ron," George finished.
"What did you all do?"
"We didn't do anything!" the twins shouted.
"Mm-hum, that's why we here all the time." Molly smirked at her sons.
The fire roared again and through it walked Lucius and Narcissa, "Mother, Father," Draco greeted.
"Daddy!" Hermione ran into her father and held on to him like a child and he hugged her back.
"Mia what happened?"
"Just a small misunderstanding Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said from the upper level of his office.
"Really, is that how Hermione got that bruise on her arm?" Arthur asked.
"What…" Narcissa lifted her daughter's sleeve and gasped, "Baby, what happened? Albus, you tell us what happened right now!"
"I would rather the student's tell you what happened, after all I only entered the conversation when wands where drawn."
"WHAT?" Molly exclaimed. "Explain yourselves this instant."
"I intend for them to explain the situation to you all in time I just wanted you all to get here first and know that this wasn't our usual social calls."
"Right, so who is explaining first?" Harry asked.
"Sir," Hermione said from her father's arms, "Can I tell my side?"
"Of course Miss Gr… Malfoy, If you will all please have a seat," The students gave up their seats to the parents, Hermione released her father and moved to sit in his lap, the others took seats upon the stairs waiting for their turn. "Please tell us what happened."
Hermione took a breath and continued, "Well when getting to the bottom of something, I think it best to start from the beginning."
"You start where you need to get your point across dear," Minerva said.
"I have known that I was adopted since I was old enough to understand the word adoption meant and so I set out on my search this summer, I had a note that said my parents were the Maifovs and so I was looking for them and it turns out that they don't exist. I am actually a Malfoy, I found out September First and since then I have been getting the answers I needed, mostly… why, and I got those answers. So when I felt like I had enough answers to get by when I came out with my news, I told Harry Ron and Ginny first, my best friends, as expected they were none the less shocked, Ron was actually beyond upset, Harry and Gin were just in shock. Ron stormed off to the castle, we had just won the game so I assumed he was going to celebrate, Ginny stayed quiet and Harry said that he wasn't mad he just needed time to process what I had just told him. When I entered the tower, Ron was telling the other Gryffindors not to trust me. I avoided them all in hopes that it would pass over, it didn't. Two weeks passed, and not one of them had talked to me, and that all changed tonight, almost three weeks later. I had walked to dinner with Pansy and I sat in my usual spot at Gryffindor table next to Neville. Ron for the first time spoke to me, but didn't say what I expected."
"That is so not what happened."
"SHUT UP RONALD AND LET HER TALK." Ginny said slapping him upside the head.
"So when he was talking to me, Neville stood up to him and told him to leave me alone, Ron didn't back off so I made to leave, I didn't want to fight, Ron grabbed my arm and…" Hermione drew a shaky breath, "He said that he wasn't done talking to me, that's when Draco, Blaise and the other Slytherines stood up and approached him telling him to let me go, he didn't so Draco asked again, once again there was no reaction. When I asked him to let me go he hit me and told me to shut up, and that's what I did. Harry and Ginny entered the argument then telling him to leave me alone and that's when the wands were drawn and that's when the professors intervened and that's how we got here."
Ginny and Harry confirmed the confrontation between the four of them with their stories, the twins told about Ron's rallies to turn Gryffindor against Hermione and the slytherins told about their conversations with Hermione after her words with Ron; after they were done, the parents spoke.
"Ronald Weasley, you hit her?" Arthur demanded.
"Yes sir."
"I raised you better then that!"
"Yes sir."
"Yes well I believe Miss Malfoy's story, even more after the students confirmed it with their own sides." Minerva said looking at Hermione whose cheek had lost some of its red but now started showing bruises, mostly on her cheek bone.
"Mr. Weasley, do you have anything to add?"
"Sir the only thing that I would like to add is that I'm sorry."
"SORRY? You hit my sister and you just expect me to be ok with that?" Draco asked losing his temper.
"Draco that's, enough," Narcissa said and Draco shut his mouth.
"So how are our other children involved in this?" Molly asked.
"They pulled their wand on their brother in defense of Miss Malfoy so I just thought it appropriate that if their brother was in trouble that they should be here as well seeing as they are also in trouble."
"Well what is all of their punishments; this will save me a howler in the morning." Molly said.
"Minerva?"
"I believe that Mr. Ronald Weasley should write a full heartfelt apology to Miss Malfoy, along with lines with Professor Snape and a month's worth of detention, along with an order that unless he can act like an adult around anyone involved in tonight's ordeal that he is to stay away from them." Ron hung his head, "Does that seem like a fair punishment Mr. Malfoy?"
"Yes Professor McGonagall, thank you," Lucius said, pulling his daughter closer to him.
"What about the others?" Arthur asked.
"Minerva again if you please?"
"I believe that since not a curse was thrown and it was in defense of a student, Ginerva, Fred and George have earned a week of detention with myself, Hagrid and Filch. As for Mr. Potter and the others will receive the same as the others, Miss Malfoy is off the hook since I believe her to be the victim in all of this."
"Fair enough; Severus what about the Slytherines involved?"
"Headmaster I do believe that Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Zambini, along with Mr.'s Crabbe and Goyle and Miss Parkinson were defending Miss Malfoy, they will also serve one week of detention."
"Good then those in defense of Miss Malfoy will earn ten points and those that were to attack another student will lose their house ten points." Albus said.
"Is there anything else that needs to be discussed headmaster?" Narcissa asked.
"No I believe that you are all free to go." Both families stood and collected the appropriate offspring and left the office. They exited the stairs where Arthur pulled Lucius aside and said, "Lucius, I am truly sorry about my son's behavior and that he has done this, I hope that Hermione is alright and that she will still be allowed to join us for a Christmas feast."
"Arthur, you and your children are free to have her whenever she chooses, we will not tell her no."
"Glad to hear it, really though, I hope she is alright."
"Thank you Arthur," they shook hands and rejoined the group where they noticed that Narcissa and Molly had gone to the side and talked as well, Lucius decided to ask later. "Well we really should be going, we will all talk to you soon, have a good night Arthur, Molly."
"Good evening Lucius, Narcissa." Arthur grabbed his youngest son and directed him away trusting his other three and his wife to get back to the tower. Fred and George hugged Hermione at the same time causing her to laugh, "If our thick headed brother gives you any trouble even if it's just a look, you let us know, we know how to get at him."
"Thanks guys." They hugged her again and picked her up simultaneously causing her to squeal.
"Night Mione"
"Good night boys. Don't get caught by Filch." And the twins were gone, she turned to the other students and said. "They are so going to get caught."
"Oh yea," Ginny agreed, "Really Hermione, don't let Ron bug you at all, you say the word and I can get my brother's on him like he's nothing."
"Ok Gin, thank you."
"And I am sorry but I am glad that he only did what he did, if he had been alone it probably could have been a lot worse, so keep that in mind and I don't recommend going anywhere alone for a long time, I mean it, that includes the library."
"Ok Gin."
"Good night, I'll see you in the common room."
"Ok Good night."
Now it was Harry's turn, "Hermione I am so sorry that I didn't talk to you sooner, I probably could have saved you from this."
"Harry, I am sorry I didn't tell you as soon as I found out."
"Don't be, Ron probably would have reacted the same." He came over to her, she saw pure concern in his green eyes, she leaned into him and cried briefly onto his shoulder and he held her for a moment. Before he kissed her head and walked to Ginny to walk her back. "Good night Mione."
"Good Night Harry," Hermione smiled at her friend. When they were out of sight she walked and stood between Blaise and Draco and they followed their parents to Snape's quarters.