Author's Note: Thank you very much to the fantastically awesome people who reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story! There were so many expectations with this chapter, though, and I hope that I'm able to satisfy you all :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Tears of a Mourning Bookworm

Chapter Six: Unfairness of Truth

"Aww, poor Mudblood Granger..." Malfoy said in a mockish tone.

Harry immediately got to his feet and pulled out his wand, pointing it right at Malfoy's cold heart. "Don't say another word, Malfoy."

"Mum -- ", but before Malfoy could continue with " -- and dad are dead", he was thrown off his feet and against the compartment door.

"I told you not to say another word," Harry said through his clenched teeth. He reached down to pick up his wand, since he was so furious at Malfoy in that moment that he had simply him up and threw him across the compartment. Harry stepped closed to Malfoy. "Go away right now, or so help me, God, I will show the entire population of Hogwarts your Dark Mark."

Malfoy laughed. "You wouldn't."

Harry didn't laugh and kept his expression firm. "I would."

"Harry, you don't need to -- " Hermione began in a weak voice.

"Hermione, stay out of this," he ordered, keeping his eyes fixed upon Malfoy's thin face.

"Stay out of this? I'm the reason you threw him against the bloody compartment door -- "

"And that's a bad thing? Don't try to protect Draco!" Harry said, raising his voice.

"I'm would never protect Draco over you!"

"Then stop acting like you are!" Harry shouted louder than was necessary.

He immediately regretted changing the tone of his voice, though, because he heard stiff sobs from behind him. Struggling, he continued to look at Malfoy. "Don't you dare say anything."

Harry saw Malfoy glancing at Hermione and smiling. "Look, Potter, she's crying, you made her cry -- "

"I SAID, DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING!" Harry yelled. He automatically grabbed the collar of Malfoy's shirt and pushed him harder into the compartment door.

Malfoy actually looked scared now. Harry noticed the sudden paleness in his thin face, the darkness under his eyes, and the widening of his eyes as well.

Harry couldn't help but smile at the sight of Malfoy's vunerability as he said, "If you ever say another word about Hermione, or even to her, I will not hesitate to end your sad excuse for a life right now, you hear me?"

Malfoy nervously nodded. Harry punched him hard in the face.

"Harry!" Hermione's voice, still disguised in sobs, yelled out. "You c-could get a-a detention f-for that, you k-know!"

Harry turned around to look at Hermione. Ron was sitting next to her, but based on Hermione's actions, it was as if he wasn't even there. She was glaring up at him with bloodshot eyes and tear-stained cheeks. Harry couldn't help but feel rather guilty. After all, he did yell at her, which was not acceptable under her condition. Leaving behind an unconcious Draco, Harry rushed over to her and knealed down.

"I'm so sorry..." he muttered, closing his eyes. He absently held her hand and, with a tight pain in his stomach, didn't feel her return to the pressure.

Suddenly, the compartment door opened.

"Potter, I heard shouting and -- what is going on here?"

Professor McGonagall glanced down at Draco, then walked over him and into the compartment. Her eyes scanned the room and then found Hermione crying, and the fact that she was almost accusing the trio of causing Draco to be in his unconcious state faded away. She strolled over to Hermione and asked, "Miss Granger, are you okay? What happened?"

"I kind of got carried away," Harry said quietly, answering Professor McGonagall's second question.

Hermione coughed and looked up at the professor. "It's n-not really H-Harry fault, t-though!" she said. Harry's eyes widened; she was defending him. "H-He was just protecting m-me! Draco was b-being awfully horrid, a-and Harry got m-mad, but...but you h-have to understand! Harry just w-wanted me to be s-safe. H-He was protecting m-me." She continued sobbing into the sleeves of her robes.

The professor casted a curious glance at Harry, with raised eyebrows and all, and said, "Weasley, stay with Miss Granger. I'd like to have a word with Potter."

Harry gulped as Professor McGonagall silently gestured him to follow her. Many students, from their compartments, stood up to witness him following her, but Harry was used to this behavior from his classmates and ignored it. It took about two minutes to arrive at Professor McGonagall's compartment.

"Sit," she ordered.

Harry obeyed. She sat across from him and folded her legs.

"Is this true? You attacked Mr. Malfoy in order to protect Miss Granger?"

Harry nervously nodded. "Yes, Professor. He called her a Mudblood."

"That's it?"

"No, no, Professor. Not at all. He was mocking her," Harry accounted. He struggled to hold back anger.

"What exactly did he say?"

Harry hated being asked questions like this, but he didn't dare refuse his teacher. "Well, actually..." Harry said nervously, "he didn't say much. Malfoy began sentences, but he never finished because I -- I kind of threw him against the compartment door." He finished the last part quickly.

Professor McGonagall's eyebrows raised even more. "I see. Well, Potter, you could get week's worth of detentions for doing what you just did, and Mr. Malfoy would only get one."

Harry looked down at his feet. Malfoy deserved a lifetime's worth of detentions, but the ferret was only going to get one. And Harry was going to be stuck with a week full of detentions.

"But," the Professor said, raising Harry's hopes, "I've known you long enough to know that you would only attack another student to protect a good friend. Especially Miss Granger. I will not issue any detentions.

He couldn't help but beam at his professor. "Thank you, Professor," he said happily. "Thank you so much, I -- "

"Now," Professor McGonagall said, clearing her throat and breaking off Harry's sentence, "it's important for you to know that Miss Granger will need your aid now more than ever."

Harry nodded. Many people had been giving him this lecture, as though they weren't expecting him to help Hermione.

"...you are the only good friend that she has who will understand exactly what she's going through. It's bad enough that she had to relive the most terrifying memory of her life."

"Neville understands her, too," Harry said quietly and modestly.

"Well, I suppose that he would, but...you see...the attack at the Granger's house was more violent, and the Death Eaters used differenttorturing methods."

"They -- wait, what?"

"Healer Kerrie didn't tell you?" Professor McGonagall asked. Her eyebrows were now raised to a dangerous height. "I thought that I instructed her to notify you of the depth of Miss Granger's physical and emotional injuries..."

"No, the Healer didn't tell me at all," Harry said with curiousity written all over his voice.

The Professor shook her head. "I really didn't want to be the one to tell you."

Panic was rising within Harry. "What happened?"

"I -- I can't, I'm sorry, Potter."

"Professor, please tell me. I don't want to have to ask Hermione -- "

"Fine, fine," she said impatiently, rubbing her eyes. "The Death Eaters...they...they tortured Miss Granger first, and made her parents...made her parents watch. Miss Granger was strong, though. Survived that session easily."

"W-Were they trying to get certainly information from Hermione?" Harry asked. His voice was very shaky, and he almost didn't want to hear the rest of what Professor McGonagall had to say. But it was necessary for him to know, to understand thoroughly what had happened to Hermione...his best friend...

"Well, their arguement is that they were trying to get Miss Granger to convince the Order to shut down the protective enchantments, so that they could go after you."

Harry swallowed the tense air and wiped beads of sweat from his forehead. "But surely the Order wouldn't have actually shut down the enchantments -- "

"Miss Granger was under quite a bit of pressure at the point, and she didn't think things through. It was a real threat. Anyways," Professor McGonagall continued with a regretful tone, "then the Death Eaters took...they took a different approach...T-They tortured Mr. and Mrs. Granger for about two hours...and they made...they...they made Miss Granger watch."

"NO!" Harry screamed at the top of his lungs, jumping to his feet.

"I'm sorry, Potter, I didn't want to tell you, but you asked -- and -- and maybe you'll understand more of what -- "

The world seemed to pause right there. No. Harry couldn't even imagine what it was like to be forced to witness his own parents being tortured. No. He bolted out of Professor McGonagall's compartment, ignoring her protests, and sprinting down the corridor, ignoring everyone that stared at him, ignoring the world, ignoring everything but Hermione. No. Harry found their compartment, where Malfoy's unconcious body was not there, but he must've walked away because only Ron and Hermione were in there. No.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, rushing towards Hermione. "I -- no -- they -- I can't believe -- no..."

He sat next to her, carried her over and placed her on his lap, and wrapped his arms around her, not wanting to ever let go. She gazed at him worriedly with widening and curious eyes. "Harry, what's wrong?"

Harry leaned his face in towards her ear and whispered at such a low volume that Ron couldn't hear. "Professor McGonagall told me about what they did to you. What they did to your parents."

Hermione leaned back and stared into his eyes with her brown ones, which were now forming tears. Her face turned into a frown and she began crying into her hands. "Harry..." she muttered as Harry pulled her closer towards him. She removed her face from her hands and cried into the crook of his neck. But Harry didn't mind. He absentmindedly stroked her hair as she cried. He didn't want this to have happened to such an amazing, brilliant person like Hermione.

"Don't worry," Harry whispered. "I'm right here, okay? Nobody will ever hurt you again."

Hermione didn't look at him, but she nodded, showing that she heard him and believed in every word he spoke.

Author's Note: I really hoped that you liked this chapter :) I put a lot of thought into it. Sorry about the overdose of angst and stuff, but it's just how I roll. So yeah. Thanks for reading! Pretty please review :) I reply to all reviews personally! :D