What if Hermione had ended up seeing a bit more during Chapters 65 and 66 of Anyone But Me?
This is a collection of Draco's memories that I contemplated using. For various reasons they did not make the cut (mostly not wanting five chapters of her going in and out of memories in all honesty), but I still wanted to share these added glimpses with you guys.
Let me know which was your favorite or which one you wish had been kept in the chapter!
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It was a sunny summer day and there were rolling hills of bright green manicured grass as far as her eyes could see. Sporadic clouds were smeared like meringue across the bright blue sky, adding to the picturesque scene. She assumed she was somewhere on the grounds of Malfoy Manor, though she had no proof for that particular hypothesis…
The tranquility of the perfect afternoon was swiftly broken by a grumbling whine from behind her.
"But, Father…"
"I have already told you, Draco. I do not want to speak of this again today." His exasperated father interrupted his young son's tirade.
Hermione turned to take in the pair of wizards and was overcome by just how much they looked alike. It was true that the older Malfoy was starting to show the signs of age, with wrinkles starting to break out around his stony eyes, but there was no doubt where Draco's good looks had come from. Standing side by side, with the young still-round-faced wizard staring up at his father with the exact same look of annoyance plastered across his face, she knew she was seeing a possibility for her own future.
"But…"
"I said no, Draco!"
The miniature copy of his father actually stomped his foot! An act that was far too childish for his age. He glared up as he started to whine again, "It's not fair!"
"Life isn't fair!" Lucius recited the tired platitude used by every single parent in history.
"Father!"
"I will not listen to another minute of your inane chatter about the Potter boy anymore, Draco! There is nothing more to be done!" The older wizard's voice began to lower in warning as his irritation continued to ramp up at his son's blatant disregard for his command.
Draco must have been so caught up in whatever drama with Harry that he was complaining about, he didn't notice the warning signs. "But…"
"Gods be damned, child! If I had the ability to get the brat expelled, it would have happened by now! I am done speaking on this. Go and find something more valuable to do with your time!" His father attempted the tried and true parental art of distraction to get some reprieve from the nagging.
"You could…"
Without warning, Lucius closed the short distance between the two. The cane that his wand was sheathed inside of was raised as if he planned to hit Draco with it. His arm shook with the effort it took not to bring the makeshift weapon down.
And his son's response was even more surprising to Hermione… He didn't cower away. Instead, he stood his ground, staring up with a look that was mixed with confusion and the faintest flickers of fear. It was clear that he viewed the physical threat from the man as a preposterous overreaction. This obviously was not a normal occurrence in his household.
The elder Malfoy took a deep shaky breath before hissing through clenched teeth, "Go!"
Draco quickly scrambled over to a broomstick that laid a few feet away. He only looked back once at the suddenly deflated wizard, still more confused than scared…
As he flew off the memory slowly faded, leaving Hermione to stare at his father. A man who she had disliked from the moment he had laid eyes on her inside of Flourish and Blotts. She hated the feeling of pity that flooded her stomach and told herself that it was because of the resemblance to his son and not some softening of her heart for the broken father whose world would soon implode…
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[Disclaimer: This is a mix of me and J.K.R. As usual when this happens, it is mostly just dialogue with the scene being from a different perspective during Chapter 9, The Dark Mark, HP&tGoF.]
"Stay here, Draco! Don't leave, it's dangerous!" A young Draco was obviously mimicking something that had been said to him as he peaked out of a door. The sounds of chaos on the other side made their way to Hermione's ears and she watched the eerie shadows that played across his face from a large fire that was out there.
"Stupid!" He grumbled over the cacophony of screams, bangs and loud chanting. Suddenly his face lit up green from the light of a spell being cast and Hermione knew exactly where and when they were… The night after The Quidditch World Cup.
She was forced to come along, an unwilling participant in reliving that night, as Draco decided to ignore the commands that must have come from his parents before their own revelry had commenced. He made his way through the mayhem, occasionally stepping out of the way of some hysterical witch or wizard as they tried to flee. Eventually, he found the destination she knew that he would. He had walked to the treeline of the forest everyone had rushed to, instead of seeking sanctuary he seemed to be looking for a better vantage point of the destruction.
The picture of perfect ease, he leaned back against a tree and looked up at the family of muggles who were being tortured by his parents and their friends. A shorter time than she would have imagined passed before the three figures she had been anxiously waiting for stumbled out from the gloom. She, Ron and Harry were being jostled forward by the massive collection of beings who pushed for refuge in trees.
When they were only a few feet away in the darkness from the camouflaged boy, Ronald's foot got tangled in a tree root and he fell forward. Landing hard on his face, he cried out in pain.
Hermione heard her own voice ring out in concern, "What happened?! Ron, where are you?"
She remembered the way her heart had hammered in her chest, pounding on pure adrenaline alone. As if on reflex memory, her own present-day heart started stampeding. A pale imitation of that night, but it was enough to steal her breath away in anticipation for what was coming next.
"Oh, this is stupid- Lumos!" Her younger-self cried, illuminating the surrounding area with the beam of light from her wand.
Ron looked sheepish before standing and mumbling, "Tripped on a tree root."
"Well, with feet that size, it would be hard not to." Draco drawled from his place against the tree.
"Shut your fucking cumtrap, Malfoy!" Ron vehemently spit out.
"Language, Weasley!" Malfoy chastised, his pale gray eyes glittering with amusement.
Ron's response was simple. He flipped the other wizard the bird
Draco smirked, but his gaze flickered to the disturbing scene in the sky before zeroing back on her friend, "Hadn't you better be hurrying along now? You wouldn't like for her to be spotted, would you?"
At the same moment that his blonde head nodded in her younger-self's direction there was a blast from the campsite that shook the ground and a flash of green that lit up the air around them. Defiant as always, she stepped towards the boy with much more bravado than she had felt at the time, "What is that supposed to mean?"
He leveled her with sneer, "They are after Muggles. Do you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around… They are moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh."
"Hermione is a witch!" Harry snarled defensively.
"Have it your way, Potter." Draco's smile turned malicious. "If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are…"
"You watch your mouth!" Ron shouted, taking a step forward, ready to get physical over the use of the slur.
Young Hermione quickly reached out and grabbed his arm to restrain him, "Never mind, Ron!"
There was another deafening bang, but this time it came from inside the forest. A small grouping of stragglers screamed out in terror, causing Malfoy to chuckle.
"Scare easily, don't they?" He asked lazily. "I suppose your daddy told you all to run and hide? What is the fool up to- trying to rescue the muggles?
"Where're your parents?" Harry asked, clearly offended by the ridicule. "Out there wearing masks, are they?"
The blonde wizard turned, still smiling and addressed his new target, "Well… If they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?"
Once again, her younger self tried to intercede before a fight could break out between the boys. "Oh come on! Let's go and find the others!"
"Make sure to keep that big bushy head down, Granger." Draco's sneer returned.
"Come on!" She insisted as she grabbed her friends by their arms and started to pull them up the path again.
This time the incorporeal version of herself stayed behind and was able to watch the way that Draco's eyes narrowed momentarily with concern as he followed their escape into the ambiguity of the black forest. Putting her own memory of the encounter in a whole different light…
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She appeared in what she could only assume was the Slytherin common room, if the black and emerald green motif was anything to go by. The stunning marble window (ebony, of course) looked out at the expanse of the Great Lake and gave the space an otherworldly green glow. It was much larger than the cozy Gryffindor's lodgings, making for plenty of intimate areas that were perfect for confidential conversations. A fact that the male members of Draco's entourage were taking full advantage of…
Hermione stepped over to where the five boys lounged around a particularly secluded table that held long-forgotten homework. Crabbe and Goyle's heads were together as they excitedly whispered about something, but Draco's attention was focused on the face of Theodore Nott and that is where she chose to concentrate as well.
Nott's normally sculpted features still had the fresh faced roundness that had disappeared over the last year or so. His lips were turned up in an all-too-familiar taunting grin. A preliminary assessment that was immediately validated when he teased, "...He is mistaken then?"
"I refuse to entertain such foolishness." Draco's arrogant drawl sounded strained from across the table but before she could look back to him the fifth member of their circle spoke up.
"Of course I am not mistaken. I'm telling you, Teddy. He was staring. Slack jawed, gooey eyed, chubby-fighting, out right staring." Blaise crudely baited, ending with a dramatic re-creation of the alleged gawking.
"Shut your profane mouth, Zabini!" Draco hissed. His unexpected anger at the ribbing finally drew her eyes back to him and she was taken aback by the venomous glare he was shooting at his friend.
Undeterred, Blaise rolled his eyes. "Oh c'mon, Draco! Sometimes those thoughts creep up, we have all been there. Just admit it so he will quit calling me a liar and we can move on."
Hermione watched as Draco shook his head, denying the accusation vehemently, "No."
Theodore smirked over at Blaise, "Told you that you were full of it."
"I am not! I swear on my mother's life!"
"I can't believe I almost considered it!"
"You gave my story consideration because it is true and you know it! He would have started wanking over the poor witch, right there in front of everyone, if I hadn't been there to stop him." Blaise goaded.
"Don't talk about the Mudblood like that." Draco's face had turned an odd shade of scarlett out of embarrassment . "It's disgusting to even think about."
Hermione flinched as she realized, with the use of that particular slur, they were speaking so salaciously about her.
"Why not? I can't say I blame you. She looks much better now that those teeth have been dealt with…" Blaise continued with his vulgar taunting. "Maybe I should shoot my shot? See if the little minx likes to live on the wild side?"
"I said shut up, Zabini!" Draco nearly shouted in response.
Before she had the time to differentiate if the cold bitterness found in his gray eyes was from the constant ribbing by his friends or a bit of jealousy at the thought of Blaise attempting to seduce her, she was pulled from the memory.
-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-
The moment the memory materialized she wanted out…
Hermione spun around in a desperate but useless attempt to flee from the entrance hall she was trapped in. Why couldn't she break free from this endless stream of recollection? Her panic made it all the harder to reorientate herself and pay attention to the words that fell from the thin lips of the grotesque monster that stood in front of her.
"Ahhh… There he is!"
Voldemort clasped his too-pale hands together in anticipation as Draco stepped from where he had been waiting in the doorway to an adjoining room. He left the side of his mother to join the madman and his father. As soon as he was close enough, he dropped to his knees and bowed his blonde head in a passive gesture to the embodiment of pure evil.
She grimaced against the abhorrent sight and noticed his mother's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the corners. The older witch's own silent scream of displeasure. While his father beamed with pleasure at the perfectly followed formality.
Voldemort freed a hand and offered it to the boy who kneeled at his feet.
Draco didn't miss a beat. He took the boney fingers into his own grasp and kissed it.
… and Hermione heaved, unable to stop the sickness that stirred in her stomach.
What amounted to a smile slithered across the face of the red-eyed creature before he pulled his deformed appendage away and addressed Draco, "Stand up, child, and let me look at you."
He, of course, obeyed immediately and scrambled to his feet but kept his eyes trained on the ground.
Voldemort leaned in and studied his face carefully. The stark white skin where there should have been eyebrows came together when the young wizard continued to stare down at the floor, but when he spoke it was with a convivial air, "I have heard so much about you!"
"All good things, I hope." The good-natured rebuttal seemed to come naturally, as if Draco were speaking with a long-time friend.
"Oh, yes. I do have to wonder if your parents have aggrandize though…"
"Without a doubt they have resorted to their usual hyperbole, sir."
The cackling laugh that filled the room chilled Hermione to her bones. There was still a part of her that wanted to start running and never stop. And yet… She stood frozen, unable to look away from the foul scene of forced comradery that was playing out.
While his father seemed to be elated at the greeting, Narcissa's responding smile was tight and lacking the customary charm normally found there. She was on Hermione's side. This was wrong. So unbearably wrong.
"Come now, Draco. There is no need to be humble." Lucius interrupted, his own smile jubilant.
Voldemort slowly turned his head to stare at the aging blonde wizard, his movements as sinuous as the snake he was molded after. "A healthy dose of modesty isn't necessarily a bad thing, Lucius… Something you might need to learn from your son, yes?"
A glacial frigidity settled around the room as his underlying threat was registered by the other occupants of the room. For the first time since joining the pair of wizards, Draco looked up. Momentarily there was a flash of alarm in his oddly blank eyes but he quickly gained control and shoved any feeling back down.
Lucius' jaw clenched at the affront, but he lowered his head in an act of obedience. He stayed quiet instead of giving a vocal response to the expression of displeasure.
This, apparently, was the correct gesture because the hopeful dictator smiled and continued jovially. "Don't worry! In due time he will show his worth. Of course, right now we can only hope that he will make a fine soldier for the cause… considering the mixed bag from his pedigree."
For the first time, he looked over and acknowledged the woman who had stayed off to the side, trying to remain unnoticed. "Blood Traitors… Mudblood Breeders… Lunacy… Such a mixed bag."
Narcissa stood there with her back straight and head held high. A picture of regal stoicism as she ignored the jabs thrown at her feet. Her subtle nod of her submission could hardly be called that. Barely even a tilt of her blonde head, but it appeared to be enough to placate the Dark Lord.
Voldemort turned his attention from her and clapped his hands together once, "Anyway… On to happier subjects! Come along Draco and tell me all about how things have changed at Hogwarts in my absence."
The group of men turned to walk down the corridor that led to places unknown. Hermione watched the hidden look of loathing that passed between Narcissa and her husband before the memory faded out. Leaving her to flounder in the inky blackness of Draco's mind.
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"He really is handsome, Cissy!" The tall raven-haired maniac crooned, leaning down and getting much too close as she inspected Draco's face.
His hair had been trimmed and slicked back since the drunken Christmas incident but the wizened set around his eyes that she was accustomed to had yet to appear. His classic cocky smirk rested on the perfectly crafted mask as he seemingly relished the compliment. While Hermione stood there, shivering at the cold chill the woman's immediate proximity to him caused, everything in her screamed to reach out and pull him away before something horrid happened.
Narcissa stood off to the side, clearly uncomfortable with the appraisal but quickly covered with a winning smile. "You have known me all of my life, Bella. Have I ever been one to exaggerate?"
"No, but you know how mothers are… Always blustering on about their precious little prodigies who end up being nothing more than spoiled snot-nosed brats." Bellatrix explained dismissively before turning her attention back on Draco. "He really does look like his father. It's no wonder Greengrass has shown such an interest..."
"Lucius is quite pleased with the interest being shown by many. Not just the Greengrasses."
Showing no reaction to the assertion, Bellatrix pinched a stray piece of lint between two fingers and pulled it from Draco's shoulder. Transfixed by the offensive blemish, the woman stared for far longer than was polite before suddenly blowing it from her pale skin. A nasty sneer situated itself on her face as she turned to face her sister. "As well as taking all of the undue credit, I suppose…."
"Be nice, Bella."
"Oh come now, Cissy. There is no love lost between either of us and you know it."
"It would be best if you remember that you are currently housed under his roof…" Narcissa threatened, her head held high as she challenged the criticism of her beloved husband.
"A debt that I have preemptively paid ten times over." Bellatrix's words were quiet but heavy with fury as she spit them at the ground. She turned to face the other woman, her movements oddly slow and almost predatory. "While he was here, sitting on his golden throne much too comfortable in his disgrace... And I was sitting in the dark going insane."
"He wasn't… He searched for the Dark Lord. It took years for him to come to the same conclusion most of us had. You have no idea the things he risked."
"Spare me the sob story, Cissy. We both know it is all a bunch of bullshit."
Hermione's wince mirrored his mother's as the feral witch whipped around and roughly took Draco's chin into her grasp. Long fingernails digging into his skin, she pulled him forward until he was close enough she could kiss his cheek if she chose to. Bellatrix gauged his carefully detached reaction very closely as she whispered. "But this one will prove to be less of a disappointment… I have personally guaranteed it."
In an instant Narcissa In an instant Narcissa's wand was trained on her target, no longer concerned about any niceties or familial bonds. "Do not touch my son."
The deranged woman glanced in her sister's direction. It took a moment for the threat to register but the effect was immediate. She righted herself from the hunched animalistic posture and gave Draco's cheek a light slap. "Run along now. Your mother and I have much to discuss. Don't we, Narcissa?"
"Yes."
The memory started to fade as Draco followed the tense dismissal. The last thing Hermione saw was the apprehensive glance he gave the two women. It was transparent, from their first encounter, he hadn't liked his aunt anymore than she did.
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Draco was lounging in a bed that Hermione knew well, but the surrounding environment was all wrong. There were no weathered castle stones or personalized ornamentation on the dark marble walls. Nondescript and sterile in the way that hotel rooms often were, it surprised her that he had managed to live his entire life there without making a much bigger mark.
She wished that she had longer to look around for the identifying decorations that had to be there to distinguish this room as his. Unfortunately, before she was able to, there was a gentle knock on the door behind her and Narcissa Malfoy walked into the room. "Hello, dear."
He looked up from the book that was balanced in his lap and watched as his mother came to stand at the end of his bed. "Hello, Mother."
"I missed you at dinner tonight…"
"I wasn't very hungry."
"Are you feeling unwell? Should I have Vipmy whip up something to help?"
"No, I am fine."
"Draco, sweetheart…"
"I said that I am fine, Mother." His assertion was clipped with some unknown tension.
Narcissa clasped her hands together in front of her, a subtle gesture of protection against the severity aimed at her. She took a measured breath and then continued, "If you insist."
"Is there anything else you would like to speak about?"
Clearly relieved to be given the permission to carry on with the conversation, the witch moved so that she was sitting at Draco's side. For a long moment she hesitated before taking his hand in both of hers, "Draco, darling, I know this… transition, has been rough for you but you cannot continue to mope."
"I am not moping…. I'm reading."
"You rarely leave your room anymore!"
He leveled her with an impassive look, "I do what I have to do."
There was another long pause, during which the pair had a silent conversation as they stared into the other's eyes. Hermione could only guess as to what was being exchanged between them, but eventually Narcissa broke the connection and looked to the floor in shame. "I know… We all do."
Draco pulled his hand from his mother's embrace and shook his head in disgust. "Yes, Mother. I know, we are all well-trained puppets around here. Are you here to pull another string?"
"Please do not speak to me like that." Narcissa's voice was broken and there were tears in her eyes when she looked up at her distant child. "I am only worried for you."
As soon as he registered her tears he softened, "I apologize."
"I am so sorry that we are in this situation, Draco, but there isn't anything that I can do about it."
"I know that."
Hermione watched the strained exchange from the door, for the first time she felt like she was encroaching on something she shouldn't due to the intimacy of the moment. Their vulnerability was palatable and almost painful to watch.
"All we can do, for now, is keep our heads down and do what we are told."
"What more would you like from me, Mother?" His words were meant to be sharp, but his shattered tone stole any vitriol that had been there to begin with.
Once again, the woman reached over and grabbed her son's hand as she pressed. "You need to stop spending all of your time in this room. Your absence is starting to be noticed, for one. Pretend that he is away on a business trip and will be home soon, if you need to."
His jaw clenched at her response but he didn't pull away this time. "And?"
"You must continue to protect your mind, Draco. It is paramount that he believes you are devoted! If you can do that, we will all be fine. And your father will return home before we know it…"
"And if I can't?"
This time it was Narcissa who dropped the younger wizard's hand, but it was so she could reach up and gently cup the side of Draco's face. A sad smile crossed her lips as another round of tears threatened to fall from her ice blue eyes, "Then we die."
Her words of finality triggered the memory to abruptly end, sending Hermione back into that heavy fear-inducing darkness…
-\/-\/-\/-\/-\/-
They were somewhere deep inside the castle in the middle of the night. Draco was hurrying through the halls, his stride sure in his destination, but still rushed in obvious aggravation. He was grumbling under his breath. So low that she couldn't discern what he was saying.
His ascent was lengthy, even with the use of well known short cuts. And it didn't take long for Hermione to deduce where he was headed… At long last they found themselves in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and Draco stopped.
Rather than start the short ritual to call the room into being, he stood there with his hands clenched at his side. His eyes flashed dangerously, warning of the raging storm inside of him. Without warning he lashed out and slammed his fist into the wall with a reverberating crack.
When he pulled his hand away it was bloodied by the force of the impact but he didn't appear to notice at first. He was much too distracted by whatever was on his mind. Hermione wished she could comfort him in some way but her insubstantial fingers went right through his arm.
The groan of desperation that fell from his lips wasn't from the pain, his whispered declaration was louder than it normal because of the long stretch of silence. "Stupid fucking witch! Why?!"
She instinctively took a step back from him. This was a level of aggression that she hadn't seen in him for a very long time… And it scared her.
Finally, he became aware of his wounded knuckles and looked down, letting out a string of vulgar profanities as reached in his pants pocket with his other hand and produced his wand.
"Eliminata. Cansacas. Brackium Emendo."
The healing charms fell from his lips one after the other. Fixing the damage he had caused. In those few short moments he gathered himself and was completely in control again when he turned back to the section of wall where the door to the Room of Requirement would appear.
He walked the well worn path and mumbled whatever ceremonial mantra he used to summon his room. Except it wasn't the expected door that popped into being… It was the ancient entrance to The Room of Hidden Things… Why would he be going there?
She followed along, much too invested in the mystery to care when they passed the invisible boundary into the giant hoard. The logic that this was a memory and could not physically hurt her was enough to quell any worry that had tried to spring up. They walked for so long that her palms started to itch in anticipation and just as she was about to start spewing her own line of expletives he stopped at an intersection where he had to choose to go left or right.
Draco tensed next to her and called out, "What the hell are you doing Granger?"
