Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

I need to get this moving along.

Chapter 10

As a child, Draco had been thought some very important life lessons. The most important lesson he had been taught was to not show any emotion. He was told to be cold and indifferent to everything and everyone.

The Malfoy family cannot be seen as weak, son, his father told him. People will try to find your weaknesses and use them to their advantage. You will show only indifference. It does not matter if you're in pain, you will show NOTHING. He went on to backhanding Draco in the face. The child was then on the floor, crying.

"Enough! I will not tolerate a weak child!" That day he proceeded to punish Draco every time he cried from pain. He carried on until Draco, only 6 years old, learned to hold his tears back. From then on, he had decided not only to hide his emotions from every body else, but to not let himself feel anything besides indifference. He didn't allow himself to cry or laugh. Even years later, in school, Draco had held back from letting himself feel anything. It was only until after he had received the Dark Mark that he had begun to feel anger and sadness and fear. It had been hard but he'd reminded himself of what his father said: You will show NOTHING.

Draco had never had any real friends, just people nearby him. He'd often watch the Golden Trio in the Great Hall and wonder how different his life would be if he had friends like them. His life would've been full of joy and laughter. He would've known what it felt like to love and be loved. Instead he'd led a life full of hatred, anger, and betrayal. A life that had left him with nothing but anger and regret. Back in his cold, dark cell, he was alone.

Ron walked alone down a quiet road in Venice. He walked up to a beautiful house and knocked on the door. After a few moments, the door swung open and Blaise welcomed Ron into the home and into the sitting room.

"Nott is more than upset with you Weasley," he said seriously. "Malfoy needs to be out in order to take the fall for our plans and you were trying to get him more time in Azkaban!"

"You told him?!"

"It was all over the fuckin' Prophet! There was no way I could've hidden it."

"Shit! Where is he?" Ron ran his hand through his hair as he began to feel nervous.

"In the library. He's need waiting for you."

Ron took a deep breath and began walking away from Blaise, but paused in the doorway. He remembered running into Blaise by the lake the night after the Final Battle. At first, the two former classmates had exchanged hostile remarks towards each other, but soon afterwards, they had begun to talk about the losses they had suffered in their lives and the pain they both felt. They had taken a walk into the forest together and had gotten into deeper discussions about their feelings towards their families, their school, and their friends. It was a strange friendship, but it had proven beneficial to them both.

"Ron?" said Blaise behind him.

"Yeah?" he answered without looking back.

"Good luck."

"Hermione, what's going on with Ron?" asked Ginny. Ginny, Harry, and Hermione had joined in on Molly Weasley's dinner that night. After dinner, they had decided to have a few drinks in the kitchen with George and Arthur Weasley. The men were having a serious discussion about Quidditch, leaving the two women out of the conversation.

"I'm not sure, Ginny. He hasn't been the same since May. There's something different in him. Something's changed in him, but I can't figure it out."

"Then why are you moving in with him?"

"You and Harry just won't stop, will you?" She laughed. "But honestly, I know he needs me. And I need him. We'll help each other through this, Gin."

"He's not even around half the time, though. How can you be so sure he'll be alright?"

"Come on, let's not do this tonight."

The younger girl sighed but gave in to Hermione's request. "Can you believe how horrible Malfoy looked today? Merlin, I didn't recognize him!"

"I still can't believe you kept that secret for so long."

"I didn't want to admit that my life had been saved by a Malfoy. I was embarrassed," she admitted.

"He just looked so... broken," said Hermione losing herself in her thoughts. Yes, she felt bad for Draco Malfoy. She couldn't imagine what it must have felt like growing up in a home like his. She pictured a little blond child with Lucius Malfoy and her heart ached for a moment. She couldn't believe that he had witnessed someone forcing themselves upon his own mother. It was barbaric...

"Wait, Ginny..."

"Yea?"

"How did Ron know about what Malfoy did?"

"I'm curious about that as well. I would have thought that he would've told Harry something like that." She turned to her husband. "Harry? Did you know about what Malfoy had done to that man?"

"No, I didn't. But I'll be having a nice conversation with him about it when I finally get the chance. There's quite a few things that have me worried about him."

"You'll be staying with him tonight, won't you, Hermione?"

"I- I guess so. All my things are there. It just feels a bit bizarre to do so," she blushed. "I should probably get going."

"Don't leave yet, 'Mione," said Ginny.

"He'll be wondering where I am. It's our first night together."

After her goodbyes all around, Hermione apparated to her new home but found that Ron wasn't home. To pass the time, she began to magically unpack her boxes. She thought of different ways she could ask Ron where he'd gotten his information from. She was curious as well about it. Her thoughts went back to Malfoy. She couldn't think about him as her school nemesis anymore. She'd seen enough evil to know that Malfoy wasn't entirely bad. Sure, he had made bad decisions, but she believed that he'd done them out of fear and had not actually wanted to hurt anybody. He looked so broken at the trial. Nothing is black and white. People aren't simply good or evil. I hope he's okay.

She waited for a few hours, but as it got later in the night, there was still no sign of Ron. As midnight approached, she gave up waiting for him and went to bed alone. It wasn't too bad for her, since she was still pretty nervous about living with him. She knew she wasn't ready to live with Ron. That kind of commitment wasn't something she had been really interested in that soon in a relationship. However, the changes in Ron's behavior since the war had worried her into making such a rash decision. Or at least that's what she told Harry and Ginny. She kept her feelings to herself. She didn't want anyone to know that she was scared of being alone. She was tired of crying herself to sleep at night when she would wake up screaming and crying because of nightmares about Bellatrix, Voldemort and her parents. She needed him just as much as she believed he needed her.

A/N:

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We'll see Ron's conversation with Nott in the next chapter that will be posted within a few days. I will try not to let you down. This was more of a filler chapter. Please don't be mad. I promise you lots more to come!