DISCLAIMER: NOT MINE, NEVER BEEN MINE. NOT MAKING A SINGLE KNUT.
In less than a week, news that Hermione Granger was secretly seeing the dreaded Potions Master was all over school. She had only been asked if it was true once, but she was expecting more. She hadn't let any more innuendos go in class, nor had Harry or Draco whispered in Potions. They had, however, used their whispering spell around the Great Hall during meals. Both boys had started being better around one another, and had taken to actually staying up talking after she went to bed or both going out to the Quidditch field together. They weren't friends, but they were trying.
Saturday at lunch, Hermione finally got tired of people craning their necks to see her, and she invited Harry down to her room. As usual, Draco saw them getting up and went with.
Arriving in the room, Draco plopped down on his newest beanbag chair. This one was the size of a muggle Laz-E-Boy and had green and silver snakes on it, looking like stripes.
"That spread quick," Harry said, fell onto her couch, and grabbed one of the three butterbeers that had just appeared on the table.
"You're telling me," she sighed, closing her eyes and lowering into her muggle recliner she had transfigured. "So far I've heard that my 'relationship' has been going on since the middle of the summer, I floo from here into his quarters at night, and some really nasty hints about just exactly why I became Head Girl."
Draco and Harry both started laughing hard at that, and Hermione just stuck her tongue out.
"Wow, Hermione; you're a slut," Draco said, wiping tears from eyes. He looked up in time to see a pillow hit his face, and the laughter started again.
"Ah, well, if it keeps her safe, Hermione can be the best damn slut she wants to be," Harry said, still laughing.
"Really, you guys are simply hilarious. Honestly," she told them, trying to fake anger. Finally giving in and laughing, she raised her butterbeer to Draco in a mock salute. "Here's to Draco, and his ingenious plan!"
Draco leaned back and took a sip of his drink, and looked around smugly. "Yes, I do believe I just may be the best strategist ever. I should've joined the Light sooner; we may have won earlier."
Harry set his drink down, laid his head back, and threw his arm over his face.
"I mean," Draco continued, "who else could've thought up my plan right off the bat? No one. Both of my plans, actually…"
Harry mumbled something into his arm in an agitated voice.
"What was that, Harry?" Draco asked. "Were you congratulating me on my skills?"
"I said", Harry started, uncovering his face and sitting up, "to shut the hell up." His green eyes had gone cold.
"Whoa, dude. What's got your panties in a bunch?" Draco asked.
"Shove it, Malfoy," Harry said, and covered his face once more.
"No, I don't think I will. Stop hiding, Harry, and say what you need to say. It'll save Hermione and I a lot of time trying to tiptoe around you," Draco shot. "Well, Hermione only, really; I'm not one for tiptoeing. I think it rather makes me lose a few masculinity points."
Bolting up again, Harry gave Draco a look of pure hatred. "I'll leave you two alone then."
"Harry, stop-," Hermione said, but was cut off by her best friend as she knew she would be.
"Leave it alone, Hermione," Harry mumbled as he got up. "See you at dinner." With that, he left.
A few seconds silence, then, "Wow. You hardly even try anymore, do you?"
Glaring at the blonde, Hermione said, "It's hard to when he won't let me help."
"Hey, I get it, don't worry. Just making conversation," he drawled.
"Nice conversation starter," he remarked dryly.
Stretching, Draco said, "That's me; nice all over."
"What's that?" Hermione asked abruptly.
Putting his arms down from his stretch, he looked at her warily. "What's what?"
"That thing on your arm."
"What thing on my arm?"
"The big thing on your arm."
"There's no big thing on my arm."
Strolling over to the bean bag impatiently, Hermione went to grab the arm in question, but he jerked away.
"It's nothing."
"First it doesn't exist, now it exists, but it's nothing."
"Hermione, stop; don't start this."
Sighing, Hermione said, "If it's nothing, why won't you let me see it?"
"You don't need to. End of story." He got up and started walking towards his bedroom. As he was about to close the door, he heard her say, "And you tell Harry to stop hiding."
He paused for a fraction of a second, and then whirled back; he stalked over to her, pulling his left shirt-sleeve up in the process.
"THERE! That's what it is!" Draco snapped at her, sticking his arm in front of her face. There, in middle of his pale, perfect skin, was a huge burn, like a deep imbedded brand. Not just any burn either; no, this one looked like-
"A skull," Hermione said in a hushed voice. "Draco…what happened?"
Voice shaking with suppressed emotion, Draco only said two words: "Lucius happened."
"Why? What happened? I thought he wanted you to be a Death Eater?"
"He did," he answered in a constricted voice.
"Then why would he mar your skin like that? Isn't that where the Mark is supposed to go?"
"That's precisely why he did it; he was teaching me a lesson." He flopped down onto his bean bag chair, and put his face in his hands. Mumbling through them, he continued.
"We had a row, see, about two or three months before I finally left. We discussed my plans for after Hogwarts, and I made the mistake of being somewhat honest." Looking up from his hands, he stared straight ahead. "God, I actually told my father that I didn't think I wanted to be part of Voldemort's circle. He flipped."
Hermione magically expanded the bean bag to the size of a large loveseat and lowered herself next to him. "What happened?" she asked softly.
Turning to look at her, he gave a small smile. "He told me that he wouldn't have a son for a traitor, of course. I told him I wasn't going to turn sides, and that I just didn't want to be a Death Eater. Lucius was…mad beyond words. Then, being me, I had to make it worse."
At her puzzled expression, he explained. "I made a joke. I told him I wasn't fond of tattoos, especially ones that burn." He nodded at her sharp intake of breath. "Yep, you got it. He went nuts, and he told me that I didn't know what burning felt like. He told me that it's an honor to wear the Mark and have it burn when our Lord needs us. He told me I wasn't worthy to have the Mark, but he would give me one anyway."
He laughed an exasperated laugh. "I actually tried getting away, even though I knew I had no chance in hell. As soon as I took a step backwards, he already had his wand out. Mine was out as well, but I wasn't fast enough; he petrified me in a flash. And since I'm left handed, and my wand arm was sticking out from my feeble attempt at a shield, he had perfect access."
Turning to look at her, he asked, "Have you ever been petrified?" When she shook her head no, he continued. "It's not fun. You're frozen, but you know everything that's going on around you; you feel everything." Draco looked straight ahead once more, and his eyes looked darker.
"Lucius found a way to modify the spell; don't ask me how, I don't know. I know they've used it on victims during their meetings and raids. I was completely frozen…except my mouth. He wanted to hear me, sick bastard. Anyway, he started drawing on my arm with his wand tip, except wherever his wand touched, it burned my flesh. I could hear him muttering a curse along with it, but I couldn't concentrate on the words; I was yelling too loud. I can't describe how it felt. He even colored it in with his wand, like a marker. I don't know how long we stood there, but it had to be almost a half hour or more. To me, it felt like a full day. He told me that I can have a skull now, and when I've proven myself to the Dark Lord, he will remove it and brand me with his Mark."
"Why didn't you have Madam Pomfrey or someone remove it? There's burn removal spells, and burn salve potions…," Hermione trailed off.
Draco looked down at his arm in disgust. "Don't you think I tried? I don't know what he did to it, but it won't come off anymore than Severus' Mark will. Lucius said that Voldemort would have the power to remove it, but who knows. Dumbledore even tried; nothing works."
Hermione just stared wordlessly at his arm for a minute or two, until she was shaken out of her staring by the tears splashing on his arm. For a second, she thought they were her own, for she had certainly teared up. However, raising her eyes to Draco's face, she noticed his gray eyes were red rimmed, and he had tear tracks on his cheeks.
Grabbing his head, she pulled him down to her shoulder and held him. As she held him, she apologized for asking, and he assured her he was fine.
Finally, after about 15 minutes, both people untangled themselves from one another. Grabbing for another butterbeer, Draco shook his head and laughed.
"Well," he said, "It's all for the best anyway. I don't think he wanted a son like me around forever. I don't think I'll be carrying on the family name with an heir anytime soon in this lifetime."
Laughing, Hermione said, "What, none of the girls here up to the Malfoy Standard?"
"Honey, no girl is up to my standard," he laughed, taking another drink.
"Ok, then how about some of the men here?" she said slyly, laughing when he choked on his drink.
"Are you calling me a creampuff?" Draco asked when finished coughing, looking at her horrorstruck.
"Yep," she said back.
"Oh. Ok then. Just making sure," he said as he leaned his head back on his chair. "How'd you guess?"
"Draco, I'm not blind. And I can read between the lines you spew," she laughed. "So…when are you going to tell Harry?"
This time, he spit out his mouthful of butterbeer and started coughing. When he was finally finished, he gaped at her.
"Oh, come off it, Draco! You may hide it from everyone else, but that's because no one else spends as much time around you as I do! I've just been waiting for the right time to talk to you about it. And as for Harry, you forget that I spent seven years being a body guard of sorts, and being paranoid and watchful of people around him. I notice when people look at him more than usual, and the looks they give him."
Draco wasn't looking at her. When she nudged his leg with hers and he still ignored her, she sighed.
"Draco, it's ok. I don't care if you're gay. I can't say if Harry is, but I can say that if he were, I would be totally fine with the two of you," she said softly.
Finally, he looked at her. "Really?" he asked, doubt in his eyes and voice.
Laughing, Hermione said, "Of course!"
Old haughty smile hitched right back in place, he said, "I know this makes you heartbroken, but just know that if I were into the girls, I may have considered you for a drunken shag one night when I was desperate."
"Oh, thanks so much!" she said, pretending to be delighted. "It's quite alright, though, because according to the school, I have Severus to keep my mind off you, or try to be like you so I love him the same."
"Poor bloke has a lot to live up to, then," he drawled, smiling as he took another swig.
XXX
Later at dinner, Hermione was trying to have a civil conversation with Harry, but he wasn't making it easy.
"Listen, I just don't understand why you can't just be nice to him!" she argued.
"And I don't know why you can't just drop it. We've never been friends, we're not friends now, and we never will be," he said, glaring at his plate of spaghetti like it personally told him to be friends with Draco.
"You two seemed to be pretty nice to one another a week ago," she mumbled.
Turning his glare to her, Harry said, "Yeah, well, that was a moment of weakness. I forgot how it felt to have someone around who doesn't boss me around every second of the day."
"Maybe I should do it more often, then you'll be driven to be friends with him," she answered casually, pretending to be engrossed in her copy of The Daily Prophet.
"Oh, don't be such a-" Harry's comment cut off quickly.
Hermione's eyes shot over to him, and she snapped, "A what, Harry? Finish your sentence. Why so quiet?"
In response, he barely tilted his head to the side. Her eyes shot to where he was looking and saw the falcon. They had expected a letter from Lucius before now, since they were sure he had heard the rumors. Face going white at seeing the bird, she looked directly at Snape's seat. He sat watching the bird's flight with lips tightened in displeasure, and nodded slightly at her when she picked up the letter to encourage her to open it.
Dear Hermione,
Why must we play these games? If you are in need of a Death Eater, why settle for a traitor, when you can have the real deal?
You're starting to piss me off, woman. I don't play silly mind games. I don't care what perverted relationship you have going on with Severus, it's going to stop. NOW.
Do you want to be the cause of more hurt, Hermione? If not, I suggest you listen to me. And so you know I'm serious, I left you a little present in your room, behind that wonderful prefect door.
Love, Lucius.
Hermione flung the letter at Harry, and barely gave him enough time to read it before jumping up. She mouthed "my room" to Snape, and didn't wait around to see if he understood. She was already to the Great Hall doors when she noticed both boys on the sides of her like always.
She started sprinting in the direction of her room. Behind her, she heard Draco ask Harry ask what was happening, and heard him give Draco a quick overview. Draco swore and ran faster. They had just arrived at the door when Dumbledore and Snape rounded the other corner. Clearly, Dumbledore knew his own quick ways around the castle.
They all walked inside and Hermione went straight to the door and opened it. Since she didn't specify a destination, there was just a dark, empty niche. Sitting right on the floor was a box with a huge red bow and a tag that said Hermione's name on it.
As she bent to pick it up, both Draco and Snape yelled "STOP!"
She jumped back, and they strode forward. Draco looked at her and explained, "My father has a nasty habit of jinxing things. Never pick up any box from him; or anything, really. I get scared every time you pick up his letters."
Meanwhile, Snape was busy casting spells at the box to reveal any curses. When he found none, he grabbed up the box and tore off the ribbon.
Draco and Dumbledore strode forward to Snape as he opened the box.
Immediately, Snape swore, Dumbledore turned his head, and Draco turned his whole body away.
"What? What is it?" Hermione asked, slightly hysterical, Harry standing right behind her, ready to grab her waist in case she ran forward again.
"Nothing you need to see right now, Ms. Granger," Snape said slowly, and started closing the lid.
"Like hell I don't!" she snapped, and using her wandless abilities, muttered a quick accio under her breath. The box sailed into her hands and she went to open it.
"Hermione, don't!" Draco said, but not in time.
Hermione opened the box, and Harry got a full view from over her shoulder.
Not even Harry's retching could drown out the screams coming from her mouth.