Disclaimer: Every and all things Harry Potter and Hogwarts belong to the one and only JKR and I would never dream of taking credit of the wonderful things that she has created. But I will gladly manipulate them a bit for my own personal satisfaction

Ramyfan, Giada, 09sasha: I promise when I wrote that in I was ready to kick my own butt for it but I just couldn't bring myself to delete it. It was just so…Malfoy, all talk but freaking out in the wake of bad decision making.

Arabellagrace: I agree completely. So how about a fun visit from one of my favorite people next chapter?

Grovek26: Well you have already seen how our little Draco can get a bit flustered, so who knows what he's going to spout off…or maybe someone else will for him…mwah ha ha (insert evil laugh)

Honoria granger: They would know if they knew to look for it. Hermione never reported anything and Draco obviously is going to keep quiet so as of right now they don't realize what's going on in Hogwarts.

Kermit 304: Yes Ginny is a bit much but what do you really expect from the fiery little red head.

Venetiangrl92, IGOTTEAMEDWARD, Bella, BelovedEnemy83(tried your advice, let me know how it goes), jamielynn25: I'm thrilled to see this is going over so well. Hope you like the newest installment just as much.

A/N: My littles are once again safely tucked into bed so here is the newest chapter. Things will be dying down in the action part just for a bit so we can have some much needed explanations so please don't run away from the boring stuff, I promise it's really important and I will try to make it as painless as possible. I love all of the reviews, follows and favorites, you guys are absolutely the best.

Saving The Malfoy Line

By: thenext_Austen

Chapter 5: Confiding

After what seemed like the longest half an hour of her life, Hermione had finally caught Ginny up on everything that had happened since the boys had left her in the Headmaster's office. For the umpteenth time today, she had shocked her friend into silence. Never before had she seen the youngest Weasley so quiet and to be frank, it was making her nervous. Ginny was never one to be rendered speechless and for it to happen so many times in one day was disconcerting to the brown headed witch. She needed Ginny to be on top of her game because there was no way she would be able to make it out of this with out her help. Becoming desperate for her to just say anything, Hermione looked hard at her friend and all but pleaded with her eyes for something to happen.

Finally snapping out of her trance Ginny said the one thing she really didn't want to hear. "So are you going to do it?"

Now what in the world did she say to that? Was she going to do it? There was something nagging at her in the back of her brain that she shouldn't. She wanted to say it was instinct but it was more than that. It was stronger, more pronounced. Almost as if her subconscious knew something she didn't. What could it be though? Normally she didn't have a problem following her instincts because let's face it, it had gotten her out of more problems than she cared to admit, but her thought process was just over ridden with responsibility and duty and 'the greater good'. Doing everything she could to help stop the war was what was most important, her happiness be damned. Now she just needed to convince herself of that along with all of her friends and quite possibly her parents.

"I think my first stop should be to meet with Malfoy and see what exactly he's trying to accomplish with this and what would happen if I were to say yes."

"You're considering it then? Blimey Mione, you know Harry and Ron are going to blow their tops when they find out about this right. Just the fact that you are even playing with the idea of saying yes will make them lose it."

"Which is why they won't find out about it yet Ginevra Molly Weasley?" Loving her best friend to death didn't once cover the fact that she knew that Ginny had a terribly large mouth. Hopefully she could guilt her into compliance though.

"You know how important of a decision this is Gin. I just need all of the facts before I can say yes or no. Please just let me do my research, you know it's what I do best. I really just need some time. I'll talk to them. I promise I will, and it will be soon but I need to do this. I need to meet with Malfoy and the boys can't know. I'm begging you Gin." That should do the trick. Guessing from the look on Ginny's face, she knew that she had her.

Releasing a great sigh of relief, she finally felt like she could breathe again. Now to just make things happen. To get the answers she needed so she could work on making an informed decision. That's how she worked. She got all the answers and then she analyzed them until they were simple instead of complex and finally she would make a decision.

Father,

There has been a rather interesting turn of events here at school and I am in need of speaking with you and mother. It is an urgent matter of the utmost importance. Please reply so that we can set up a time with the Headmaster for me to floo home and we can have this discussion face to face because simply put, it is not something I feel comfortable putting in a letter. Thank you for your time.

Draco Malfoy

With his letter sent of Draco found himself pacing his room with vigor. When would his father reply? Hopefully soon, seeing as how things were rapidly disintegrating around him. His life was in shambles and there wasn't a thing that he could do about it. It was all lying in the hands of his father at this point. That wasn't something that he was too keen on at this point considering where his father's loyalties always lie. Stupid snake faced bastard.

Collapsing on his bed, Draco eventually let sleep carry him away. His dreams were more along the lines of nightmares though. He stood over a body, lying completely motionless and he knew without even taking a close look that it was a dead body. Compulsion pushed to the forefront of his brain, he bent down and rolled the person over. What he saw shocked him and he pushed himself back as quickly as he could. There lying on the ground was none other than Hermione Granger. The blank look in her eyes and the lone tear that seemed to have dried on its way down her face was enough to absolutely crush him. He immediately woke up and shot out of his bed like it was on fire. The cold sweat that was no pouring down his face was doing nothing in helping him to feel any better. Dropping down to the ground beside his bed, he had hopped that the cold ground underneath him would do something to help stall his racing heart and over heated skin.

"You alright mate?" Hearing Blaise talking to him, Draco lifted his face up from his hands and it seems that his friend knew him better than he thought. Blaise instantly left the comfort of his bed and sat down next to the even paler than normal wizard. "What's going on Drake, you've been off since we came back to school and now you look as if you seen a ghost?"

He wasn't sure what to say. Knowing he needed to get all of this off of his chest he came to the decision that he would let one of his closest mates in on just how horrid his life was turning out to be. "There's so much to say. You have to swear that this stays between us though. It can't get out or your life could honestly be at stake." Usually the dark skinned boy never paid much attention to his friend's paranoia all things considered but this time he could tell that something was different. Things were about to change for them, of that he was sure.

"I suppose starting at the beginning would be best." Thinking better of it, Draco got his wand out and cast ever silencing and disillusion charm he knew to make sure none of their other dorm mates could hear the conversation, much less see them. After he was sure they were completely guarded against unwanted ears Draco lifted the sleeve of his robe to reveal the damning black mark on his arm that forever dictated his life. The shallow intake of breath was all the conformation that he needed to proceed with his tale. "I received this wonderful addition this past summer holiday and in the time that I've had it, I suppose my worth has shown to the Dark Lord and he now requires my services while I'm here at Hogwarts. He has given me two tasks to perform before the end of the year. The first was to fix the vanishing cabinet that is here in the school. It seems that there is a twin that sits in a shop in Knockturn Alley. The cabinets have the ability to transport things or people between the two no matter where they are or what wards have been put in place. He wants me to fix the one here at school so that his followers can get in at a moments notice." Blaise didn't have a clue what to say. Not only was his best mate an actual Death Eater but he was also helping the Dark Lord bring more and probably worse people into the school. "Oh I'm not done yet. My second and significantly harder task…well, is to kill Dumbledore."

"Bloody hell mate! You're supposed to kill our Headmaster?"

Hearing the disbelief in his friend's voice did nothing to stroke his ego but he had already known that the task in itself was a death sentence for any witch or wizard that tried. "Trust me I know. It's not something to be taken lightly aye?" The silence that stretched between them was palpable. Since he had already begun telling the truth of most things he figured he should just keep going. Maybe after telling someone of the events earlier this evening he might feel better. Even if it was minuscule. Barely above a whisper, Blaise, had to truly pay attention to what the wizard beside him was saying.

"I used an Unforgivable for the first time…tonight. I was on my way back here and I ran into Granger." Blaise knew where this was going and judging by the look of dread on his friends face he was sure that at any point Aurors would be busting down the door to haul him off to Azkaban for the murder of one of the Golden Trio. "Tell me you didn't Drake. Tell me she dodged it and she walked away unscathed." The silence that once again sat between them knew that that wasn't what had happened.

"Which one?" He eyed his friend speculatively because he honestly didn't know how stable he was anymore. Using Unforgivables, plotting murder and the Dark Mark, he was just another mindless follower to the Dark Lord now. "The Cruciatus. Merlin Blaise, the look on her face. She was in such pain. I was just so pissed that I don't know what happened. I just did it and then when I could see just how horrible it was I stopped but I didn't stop it fast enough. It still happened. She was on the ground near unconsciousness and I panicked. There was no way she wouldn't tell so I did the only thing I could do. I wiped her memories." Draco was openly weeping again at this point. He also could tell that his words were all stringing together in blatant distress to where it was near incoherent babble. Knowing that his friend would more than likely turn his back on him he was completely taken aback when he felt an arm go around his shoulder. Slytherin's weren't comforting people just by nature, that was more of a Hufflepuff trait but he was man enough to admit that he needed it at this point.

"I'm done Blaise. Tonight showed me just how badly I'm not cut out for this. I can't torture people. I can't end someone's life. I try to act as stoic as possible around the rest of them but the horror and pain that I see on their faces, I just can't handle it. I wrote my father a bit ago and asked to speak with him. I'm going to beg him to help me out of this. To find some way to get out of this mess. I know it's a shot in the dark but I have no other choice. I can't do this. I just…can't." Finally stopping from his tirade Draco realized that Blaise had been staring at him the entire time with a blank face. No judgment had been seen yet, no curses or derogatory remarks. Just a stoic silence. Well that was one way to effectively end a friendship. Just act like a damn Gryffindor and tell the bloody truth.

"How can I help?" Shocked out of his inner musings, Draco looked into the determined dark eyes of his friend. His mouth was set in a straight line but his head was held high and there wasn't an ounce of uncertainty to be seen. Maybe this truth thing had its benefits yet.

The first light of dawn had started to break through the window above Hermione's bed and she wished with everything in her that she could just turn off the sun and go back to sleep. Once Ginny finally let her retire to bed alone it seemed that sleep just eluded her. Every time she closed her eyes she had the same nightmare. She was in so much pain, blinding and unspeakable amounts of pain. There was a person standing in front of her holding a wand so they were clearly a witch or wizard but that couldn't be determined because of the fuzziness of her dream. They just stood in front of her wand held right at her chest and the pain just continued. Losing track of just how many times she woke herself up in the night, she finally reduced to the help of a magical elixir. Dreamless sleep finally allowed her a few messily hours in which she could let her mind and body rest. Hoping with everything she had though that the dreams would stay at bay the next night was something that caused concern. Dreamless sleep potion was highly addictive and could cause irreparable damage to ones psyche. Simply put, people needed to dream. It was a way for their subconscious to work out issues that their waking mind either couldn't handle or just wasn't sure was even there in the first place.

Rolling out of her bed quite literally since her muscles all seemed to stiff to even function, she was more than elated to see all of the other girls still sleeping peacefully. She slowly inched her way to the loo in order to take the longest and hottest shower of her life. With any luck what so ever, the water and steam mixed with her lavender and chamomile body oils, she would feel a little more up to par by the time breakfast rolled around.

After the water had started to cool around her and the steam dissipate from the mirror in front of the shower she finally stepped out from under the spray. Toweling off and drying her unruly curls in the best way she could with a simple drying and relaxing spell, she finally found herself suitable to see her cohabitants. Her body did feel worlds better after her shower, not exactly back to normal, but tons better than before. After dressing in her normal school uniform Hermione decided to head down to the common room a little early to see if she could catch Ron and Harry before they headed down to the Great Hall.

Knowing it was still quite early for the pair to be up and about she quickly pulled her books and a bit of parchment out in order to play catch up on some of her school work. Eventually this war would be over and she would need all the knowledge available to her so she could find a career in a field she desired. What exactly that career would be, she was clueless on but no matter what it was, she was absolutely sure that failing her NEWTS wouldn't help her in the decision process. People liked to jest about her studying habits and her lack of concern regarding her appearance but truth be told it was a very simple answer as to why. Books were easy. You read the lines, you understand the meaning and you use the knowledge you gain from them to better your life and those around you. People, they weren't so easy to figure out. People lied, manipulated, exploited and cheated. It wasn't exactly a hard concept to come about but it seems as if very few could understand her logic in it.

Maybe spending a few extra minutes on her appearance wouldn't be a bad thing but then she would constantly be worried that she would be judged strictly on her looks and not her competence as a witch. Men are always shown to be superior to women in things such as the working fields and intellect, so she already had one strike against her merely because she didn't have a penis. Secondly she was a muggle born. She would never talk badly about her parents or her muggle heritage but it was a hindrance at times. Most of her other school mates at Hogwarts were born into the magical world and knew what to expect or how to act where as she was doing and reading everything she could just to be on the same playing field as others. So with two strikes already against her she didn't want there to be any other reasons for people to find her insignificant. As depressing as it may seem this school was just a means to an end. It was a way to teach her what she needed to know in order to eventually leave and start a life of her own. Away from the nay sayers and people that lived to belittle her. So with her chin up she did her best in all of her classes. Focused on her school work and the few friends, that she surely would be lost without, and minded her own business.

It was enough for her, she was sure. That was until that one completely disconcerting phrase kept popping up in conversation. 'The Greater Good' it was rubbish honestly but she would never voice that to anyone. She would do what was expected of her and she would try her hardest to keep a smile on her face as it happened. With that thought still fresh in her head she quickly grabbed a quill so she could pen a note to a person she really had no want to speak with but found it to be a necessity.

Lucius,

If I am even to concede your preposterous idea that you have so thoughtfully neglected to inform me of but in my steed ask it of my school's Headmaster then I suggest that we should meet at the earliest convince in order to discuss this rubbish. What I do mean is the well thought out proposal of my hand for your one and only exasperating son…

Hermione J. Granger

With the letter sent off she found herself releasing a breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding. It was time to start on a new piece of parchment. She would write any and every concern or question that lodged itself in her brain. She was fairly certain that the parchment would be quite lengthy but she was positive that she could have this farce of a proposal hashed out in such detail that she wouldn't even have to see the youngest Malfoy after the ceremony had taken place. With the drop of her quill, ink splattered all over the parchment, it actually had a great semblance to her life up until this point in time. It was flowing quite easily, making words of rhythm and reason and then out of no where it was a scattered mess that was overall chaos. Since when had she started thinking that this was actually happening? When was the precise moment that she acknowledged that this was to be her life? Trapped in a loveless marriage with a man that would rather see her dead, and for what, but of course. For the greater good. What bullocks.