《It Was All Just A Mask [A Dramione Story]》 The Dark Lords Table __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "I need you to kill Albus Dumbledore. I trust you can do that, right Draco?" - ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I sat at The Dark Lord''s table, hidden behind my loving mother. I was by far the youngest one here, and as much as I would like to boast about this to Potter, I knew that I had overgrown my childhood days and the quarrels between the two of us were in the past. I was by far the youngest one here, and as much as I would like to feel pride for this accomplishment, I knew I was only here because of who my father was. I was by far the youngest one here, and as much as I would like to believe that I was ready to do The Dark Lord''s bidding, I couldn''t help but feel that there was a reason I was two to three decades younger than my fellow Death Eaters. Death Eaters. The skull and snake tattooed on my forearm quivered. It still didn''t feel right. I knew that to have the honor of sitting at the table of the most powerful wizard in the world required the mark, but it still left my stomach stirring. Just months ago, I had been worried about exposing Potter''s secret organization, and now, I was sitting at The Dark Lord''s table. The thought of Potter put a foul taste in my mouth. It was because of him that Father was locked in Azkaban. Potter and his bloodtraitor friends. Weasley and his sister, Longbottom, Lovegood, and...Granger.It had been her that had kept me going through the darkness of the summer. Her weekly letters delivered every sunday morning exactly at noon to wherever I had been at. Borgin and Burkes, no problem. Reminiscing in Father''s office, delivered straight to his letterbox. Always impossibly punctual. It was one of those quirks of hers that made me crazy for her. Such a shame that she is a mudblood, Father would never approve. Mother looked worried, but I could tell it wasn''t for herself. The Dark Lord had not blamed her at all for Father''s failure in the Department of Mysteries, so why was she so tense? I placed a hand on her shoulder and she flinched, "Is everything alright, Mum?" "Yes, Draco darling, everything is fine." Her eyes were unfocused as she said it. They darted from my silver eyes to my tensed fingers, and back up to the platinum blond hair on my head. That''s how I knew she was lying. My heart started racing in anticipation. I knew that something was up when I had been given the mark before I was of age. I am the only wizard at this table who still attends Hogwarts.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Just then a shadow of black mist billowed elegantly into the seat at the head of the table. I felt my stomach twist around itself. I had never seen The Dark Lord with my own eyes before, just from stories Father and Aunt Bellatrix have told me. I straightened my weaselly frame into a more astute position as I awaited my first introduction to The Dark Lord. My thin chest pounded with anxiety.What is his plan for me? He materialized in his seat. It took all the self control I had in me to not grimace. The thing that sat in the chair appeared human, but was too much like a snake to actually be one. His icy white skin contrasted the midnight black robes he wore. His flat, snaky slit nose took away all ability for him to even identify as one of us, and the way he moved reminded me of the slither of a serpent. The only human-like thing he possessed on his face were his bloodless lips, and sharp green eyes. I hadn''t realized I was staring until his cold, heartless eyes glared back into mine, slithering their way through my bones. I shivered, a eerie chill making it''s way around the room. I wasn''t the only one with a disturbed reaction. I noticed everyone else at the table, except Aunt Bellatrix, fidget some way or another, especially Mother. "Ah, young Draco," his icy voice froze all breath in the room, "I am thrilled to meet you at last." He smiled maliciously, but I didn''t falter my gaze; I had to make Father proud after all. However, Mother gave a squeak. The Dark Lord continued, "I''m sure you''re curious to why you are here. Actually, I''m sure all of you are curious as to why Lucius''s only son is here." Mother cowered in fear, emitting a whimper of terror like a kicked puppy. This enthused The Dark Lord, "You see, I am very disappointed in Lucius''s failure months ago in the Department of Mysteries, giving up all that secret information, very recklessly I might add, that I thought it was fit that his son make amends for his cowardly mistake." I knew it. I knew there was a reason why I was here above all others. The Dark Lord had a task to give me. I was delighted. Any chance to prove myself not just to Father, but to The Dark Lord himself excited me beyond words. For a brief instant, I thought of what Granger would say if she found out about this, but I shook it down as to not appear weak in front of my lord. "Draco, I need something done you see. Something that can only be accomplished at Hogwarts. It is you who must complete it Draco, as no one else can. Crabbe and Goyle''s sons are too small-minded for this task, but you... Draco, my dear boy, the way your father speaks about you... Yes, you will do quite nicely for this job." I looked to Mother who seemed as though someone had cursed her with the Body-Bind Curse. Her lip quivered, only once, but it was enough to tell me that this task wasn''t an honor to have been given. "My lord," I responded, summoning the part of me that was my father''s, "What is it you wish me to do?" "Ah," he breathed, "I need you to kill Albus Dumbledore. I trust you can do that, right Draco?" My heart sank like Potter almost did in the black lake two years ago.Professor Dumbledore? Kill?As much as Father despised the man, personally I had no reason to. Other than being annoyingly always on Potter''s side, he never did anything to make me hate him. In fact, around him, I always had a strange feeling that he understood more about me than he let on. I wouldn''t even want to cut him with a knife, let alone kill him. But it had to be done, for Father''s sake, and my own. I swallowed, "Yes, my Lord." "Very good, Draco. Now, I don''t have to say what would happen if youfailto succeed in this endeavor, do I? I can''t let a line of cowards and failures live on just to disgrace their fellow wizard kind, now can I?" The unspoken truth of his words hit me like a disarming spell. I had no voice, no mind, no body. It was just my soul floating around The Dark Lord''s table. Surely, he didn''t mean he wouldkillme, did he? Now I understood my mother''s reactions to his cruel words. Yes, he meant he would kill me. Letters From Hermione ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7th, July Draco, I know your father was a huge part of your life, and it must be so difficult for you to cope now that you and your mother understand who he really is. If I could be of any help, please write back alright? My heart goes out to you, Hermione Granger 4th, AugustThe tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Draco, I read in the Daily Prophet that you and your mother walked out on your father''s trial. I know that had to have been very difficult for you, but I am very proud of you. Doing something like that takes courage. There must be a little Gryffindor in you yet. Yes, I have read up about vanishing cabinets like you requested. There aren''t many left, as they were deemed unnecessary when You Know Who fell. I think you are very smart to get one to protect you from You Know Who now that he is back, but I daresay you hurry up before someone else purchases the last one in England. (It is at Borgin and Burkes if you didn''t know). I am flattered that you see me whenever you see a pile of books, so I guess I thought you''d like to know that I see you in the night sky. Every night I look out and try to spot the constellation of your namesake. As always, I''m thinking of you, Hermione Granger 25th, August Dearest Draco, I hope this letter finds you in good spirits. I know yours always do for me. Unfortunately I will have to ask you to not reply as I am staying at the Burrow with the Weasleys. I know Ron despises you, and when Harry arrives, he won''t be pleased when he finds out I''ve been writing you all summer. I can''t wait to see you next week and share with you all the things I have learned over holiday. Sorry to disappoint. I miss you. With love, Hermione Granger The Train to Doom and Destiny ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - The rosy pink that filled her cheeks sent a rush right through me. I could make Granger blush. - ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ When I had gotten Granger''s last letter I was furious. How dare she tell me what I can and can''t do. After all, what kind of power does a mudblood hold over a pureblood like me. I wrote three drafts that night which I had planned to send in the most obvious and visible way possible, so I could embarrass her right in front of her friends. The first would be sent with flowers, holding a note that said plainly, "Mudblood", the second would be delivered at breakfast, and would sing a stupid song to her like the one the Weasley girl gave Potter in my second year, and the third would''ve been a Howler that I would send at night that screamed at her how thick she was for writing me. In the end, I decided that I couldn''t hurt her like that. Even though I was going to become a murderer by the end of the year, I still couldn''t bear to know that I had hurt Hermione Granger in a manner even the Repairing charm couldn''t mend. The last week before I would be sent on my way to commit a murder, was probably the longest week of my life. I kept writing imaginary letters to Granger in my head: Dear Hermione, Today I saw you in the window of Ollivander''s. You look just as beautiful as the night of the Yule Ball in our fourth year. If Weasley and Potter weren''t beside you and I wasn''t with my mother, I would''ve run over to kiss you. I''m not sure you saw me, but that is alright since if you knew the real reason I was here, you would never talk to me again, nevertheless turn me into Professor Dumbledore, and, knowing you, the Ministry as well. It pained me to know that I would never be able to tell her these things. If I wanted her company during the last year I am innocent, I would have to pretend I have no idea what The Dark Lord plans. On the morning of the first of September, I kissed my mother goodbye on the cheek, and strutted onto the Hogwarts Express, tossing my luggage to whoever who catch and load it. I felt my pocket, checking to make sure the collection of Granger''s letters were still safe in their magically concealed pocket. I smirked to myself, which caught a first-year by surprise and made him drop his wand. I rolled my eyes at the child and moved on, scouting the train for a remote spot to sit. The task was nearly impossible, but I managed. I directed Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini, who I had collected on my search, towards one of the booths that was still empty. Fortunately for me, the surrounding booths were housed by my fellow Slytherins, so even if I slipped up and revealed something I shouldn''t have, no one would pay any mind to it. "Your father Draco, a death eater," Pansy said. I snorted. Any witch or wizard with any brains would have figured that out by now, after all, it had been all over the papers in the recent months. I didn''t answer her, which made her embarrassed, and rightfully so. If Father were here, he would strongly disapprove of anyone quite so dim to be in my common company. The irony is however, the only person in the entire school who had the quick-wittedness and courage that Father constantly talked about happened to be a mudblood. I waited for the treat trolley to roll past, and when I decided that conversing with the two dungbeetles was a proper waste of my time, I took the oppurtunity to act as though I forgot to buy something and really start my search for Granger. I didn''t have to look far. Granger always sat with Potter and Weasley, and wherever Potter was, there were tons of fawning girls nearby. "Did you hear he took on four Death Eaters at once?" "He even battled You Know Who himself!" "He taught me everything I know about defensive magic, do you think he used some in the Ministry?" I shook my head and gritted my teeth. Disgusting. If these girls would look past the fantasy land they lived in, they would see who Potter really is. Arrogant and fame-hungry. But without him and his fan club, I wouldn''t be able to have found Granger so easily.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. I walked up to the door, smiling when I saw her. She only wore a sweater just like she had for the past five years, but just like every other time I saw her, she was the only light in the room. I chuckled to myself, fully admiring her, and I saw her blush. The rosy pink that filled her cheeks sent a rush right through me. I could make Granger blush. "Go away Malfoy," Weasley said to me. I snapped out of my trance, and back to the two boys in Granger''s compartment. "I''ll do what I want Weaselbee," I retorted, but I left anyway, winking at Granger before I vanished from her view. I didn''t go very far though. I only left so they would restart their conversation. After all, I was very curious if Granger had told them about me at all. "D''you reckon he''s one of them then?" Potter''s voice resumed. "We don''t know what we saw in Borgin and Burkes Harry," she responded. So she did see me. Not only that, she followed me. I couldn''t help but smile, clever Granger. "Yeah, I know, but his father is one." My smile ceased. Potter is catching on and we haven''t even gotten to Hogwarts yet. Had I really been that careless? Lucky for me, Granger saves the day, "He didn''t know Harry," "How do you know Hermione?" She was quiet. She hadn''t told them about me yet. Will she ever? "What are you two on about?" Weasley joined in. Granger closed the book she was reading, annoyed, "Harry is under the impression that Draco Malfoy is now a Death Eater." My name sounded so different in her voice than it did with anyone else''s. With my father it was always a matter of scolding, my mother was caring, and it just sounded strange on everyone else, except for Granger. My name seemed like it was invented to form on her lips. Her voice sung it like a songbird in spring. I couldn''t imagine anyone could best her, quite like most things she did. "You''re barking," Weasley told Potter. I sighed. I had avoided another close call. I headed back to my booth with Pansy and Blaise and rejoined their very dull discussion about my father''s downfall in the Department of Mysteries. Suddenly the whole train car went up in black smoke, startling the riders nearby. I jumped, not expecting it, but there were definitely scarier things than some first year dropping some joke product, no doubt from the bloodtraitor Weasley twins'' new shop in Diagon Alley. There are far scarier things than some brief moments of blindness like darkness and suffering, pain and betrayal, failure and death. I was shrouded in the dark, smoky mist only for a few more seconds before the magic lifted. "What are you going to do Malfoy, now that the ministry is on your tail?" Blaise asked once we could see each other clearly again. "I''ve told my mother that we could go into hiding, but she wants me to finish my education. Personally, I don''t see it as that important these days," I responded nonchalantly, still replaying the sound of my name in Granger''s delicate voice. "What''s that supposed to mean Malfoy?" Pansy questioned. "Well, The Dark Lord is not going to care how many O.W.L.''s you''ve recieved, just how devoted you are to his cause." They both nodded, accepting the truth in my statement, but then Blaise asked another question, "You speak as if you know Malfoy. Sixteen years old and not even fully qualified." That infuriated me. If Blaise had even the slightest drop of muggle blood, I would have lashed out harsher, but I kept my cool, "Speak for yourself Blaise. Maybe the job he wants me to do isn''t something that you have to be qualified for." No wonder The Dark Lord entrusted me with this task, there isn''t a single soul in this school who could even attempt at his task apart from myself. A slight movement above Blaise''s head caught my attention. Above us, a suitcase seemed to move of it''s own accord. Potter. I knew it had to be him, he is the only one suspicious of me. He was hidden under some kind of invisibility cloak. Of course I could have just been being paranoid, but after quarreling with Potter for going on six years, I couldn''t think of a more Potter thing for him to do. I was thankful for the silent ride the rest of the way to Hogwarts, as I didn''t want to tell Potter anything more than what he had already heard, but I also didn''t want to alert him to my knowing he was there either. Rage flared through me. What a prick. He always finds a way to making my life a hundred times more difficult. What''s worse is I can''t hurt him either. If I hurt him, I hurt Granger just as much. I clenched my fist and stared out my window for the rest of the long hour to the school. When we arrived, I waited for all of the students in the car to leave and went over to the door to close it. As I approached the door, I saw Granger and Weasley looking around for Potter when she caught my eye instead. I stared longingly at her, wanting what I couldn''t have, until Weasley ushered her out, glaring suspiciously at me. It didn''t bother me that I had blown my cover on my infatuation with Granger. After all, I wanted her to pick me over Weasley anyway. What''s the matter with playing some harmless games on Weasley''s nerves. I smirked again, the idea of Weasley running around like a startled chicken trying to figure out if I have feelings for Granger or not. The thought was rather pleasing to me. I was so lost in my daydream, that I almost forgot to deal with Potter. I shut the blinds on the car windows, and took out my wand. "Didn''t mummy ever tell you it was rude to eavesdrop Potter? PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Something large and heavy fell from above where Pansy, Blaise, and I were just sitting and onto the floor, making a satisfying thump. I smiled to myself, proud of my cleverness. Potter didn''t suspect a thing. I reached a hand to where I had seen his body fall and felt a silk cloak covering a Potter-sized lump. I removed it and my sly grin grew larger when I saw his frozen face staring back at me. I raised my foot and stomped on his face, breaking his nose, "That''s from my father," I spat at him, "Enjoy your trip back to London." I dropped his cloak back over him and left the train, feeling rather smug with myself. Maybe I had what it took to complete The Dark Lord''s will after all. When History Repeats Itself ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "You don''t have to prove yourself to me." - ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It didn''t take me long to realize that Potter had escaped his inevitable trip back to London. In fact, I only had ten minutes free from his prying eyes. He always has been suspicious of me, and it unnerved me. To be able to complete The Dark Lord''s task, I would have to watch every step to make sure no one followed, but now with Potter, I would have to become invisible. For the first time, the Great Hall seemed old and obsolete. The vastness of the room and ceiling didn''t feel like a threat to my power. I had risen above the majesty of the hall, conquered it''s legacy. Granger was staring at me. Her soft brown eyes echoed my own desires. I wanted her and I knew she wanted me too. I smiled kindly at her, but she shook her head and broke our eye contact. Maybe I was wrong, maybe I was just seeing things. Maybe the letters had really just been sympathy letters instead of love. What am I doing? I couldn''t have her anyway. Father would kill her on the sole fact of her being a mudblood. He couldn''t have some filthy scum mussing up the Malfoy family''s good name, no matter how good of a witch she is. I didn''t care about the old man''s speech, not that it bored me, but that I couldn''t look at him or hear his voice without seeing myself sucking that life out of him. I saw green light in a dark room, becoming even colder when the curse hit it''s intended victim. My wand would crack and I would lose heart. "Sixteen years old and not even fully qualified," Blaise had said. Maybe he was right, I wasn''t a qualified killer. I remembered that Mother said if I needed help with my task to reach out to Professor Snape. Perhaps I should take her suggestion and speak with him after the feast. However, when food appeared on my plate, I suddenly wasn''t hungry. Even eating one bite would make me want to vomit. I stared at the food, fork clenched in my hand like a weapon. I was hungry before this, so why can I not eat now? I shoveled a bite down my throat and I had to conceal a gag. No way. I got up without explanation and left the Great Hall. I darted out of the room, not even stopping when the enchanted knight at the entrance asked what the matter was. I ignored it and bolted for Professor Snape''s classroom. There I would be safe. I headed down to the dungeons, past the Slytherin dormitory and reached the handle on the classroom door when I heard her voice. "Draco?" It was Granger. I looked up, shocked that she had followed me. "What are you doing?" "I-I... I wasn''t hungry," I added a sly smile to try and convince her. Her warm eyes went huge, it didn''t fool her, "Are you alright Draco?" She reminded me of my loving mother. The tone of her voice was concerned, but not judgmental. Her gaze was focused and true. She diverted all of her attention on me. My heart palpitated. There was no use in lying to her. "It''s my father." If I couldn''t tell her the full truth, maybe I could get away with a partial one. She nodded and suggested we take a seat somewhere. There were no benches in the dungeons, so we entered Professor Snape''s classroom. "What about your father?" "Now that he is in Azkaban, I have to prove myself to be a good heir to the Malfoy family name," that part was true, but I didn''t tell her who I had to prove it too, "and I''m doomed to do the opposite."Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Granger looked at me with genuine care and rested her hand on mine. The sensation of her soft skin on my own sent shivers through all parts of my body. I sat frozen, unsure of what to do and afraid to move. I didn''t want it to end, but I didn''t know how to make it last. Slowly, I turned my hand over and intertwined my icy steel fingers through her warm fleshy ones. I heard her give a faint gasp. She swallowed, "You don''t have to prove yourself to me." I swung my head to look at her. "Really?" I whispered. "Yeah," she whispered back, "You''re brave and kind and intellgent. It shouldn''t matter what your father thinks, after all, he turned out to be a real piece of work." She stopped, aghast at what she apparently thought had hurt my feelings, "I''m sorry, I shouldn''t have talked about your father like that." "It''s okay." "Why do you let him decide who you are?" "I try not to, but he can be very..." I thought back to the day when he overheard me telling Mother I fancied Granger. He locked me in a closet for months and didn''t let me out until I said that I had lost interest in her. "...convincing." "Still, you shouldn''t have to prove your worth to him." Anger flashed through me. I already knew Father was proud of me, The Dark Lord even said he took pride in me himself. How dare she insinuate that he needed me to prove myself to him. "It''s not him I have to convince!" I lashed out at her. Regret filled the empty space between us. That was not part of my plan. I removed my hand from hers and leaned my head on the table. I folded my hands behind my neck. Any slip-up of information could not be allowed, especially to Potter''s friend. You''re such an idiot Malfoy. "Draco, what-" She was cut off by Professor Snape jerkily opening his classroom door. He looked quizzically between Granger and I, trying to decipher what had just occurred inside the doors of his classroom. "Miss Granger, what are you doing here?" She looked as through she had swallowed her tongue, "Draco left the feast, so I followed him here. He looked upset so I tried to comfort him." I smiled at her quick-witted response. "Did it occur to you, Miss Granger, that Draco planned to leave the feast because he had a meeting with me?" Professor Snape raised an eyebrow at her. "N-n-no Sir," she apologized and hurried out of the room. I watched her curly brown hair bounce back and forth as she ran out of my sight. I will be dreaming about that hair, that smile, and that warm touch the next time I close my eyes. When she was out of earshot, I said, "Thank you Professor, Granger was getting rather annoying, you know, chatting up about books all the time." I tried to disguise the situation with my usual childhood arrogance. Snape didn''t believe a word I said, in fact, he looked rather furious and it reminded me of Father. "What do you think your father would say if he were here? His son, sneaking out with Hermione Granger when he has an important task to accomplish given by The Dark Lord himself." He drew out every word so that each syllable felt more sharp and dangerous. I tried again to play it off, "What do you mean Professor? You heard what she said, she followed me in here." "Don''t play games with me," he snarled, "If you want to survive to see your seventeenth birthday, you need to keep your business secret. No sneaking around and telling some girl you fancy everything just because daddy isn''t here to keep you in line." I stood up, how dare he bring my father into this, "I was chosen! He trusts me!" I spat at Snape. "Because you are Lucius''s son, don''t you understand boy? The Dark Lord is mad at your father, and he wants to punish you by putting you up to an impossible task, then killing you when you fail. He doesn''t expect you to succeed, he doesn''t even expect you to get past the first step. You are too much of a coward, just like your father." I opened my mouth to retort, but he was right. There was a reason I''m not in Gryffindor. I wouldn''t be able to go through with the plan. The realization flushed a new sadness through my bloodstream. A sadness that can only be described as hopelessness. "What do I do?" The sadness and despair rushed back into me again. "Mend the cabinet and stay away from Granger. I''ll take care of the rest," he responded simply. My mouth dropped, "Who I talk to has nothing to do with this!" His demeanor changed. He lowered himself so he was only a mere meter from my face. He pointed his long, pale finger at me like a wand. "Don''t you understand I''m trying to save both of your lives? She is on The Dark Lord''s watch-list already, don''t give him more reason to want to kill her." "He wants to kill her?" I whimpered like a puppy. Snape didn''t answer my question, he just stared coldly at me. "Go to bed and talk to me again when the cabinet is finished." I got up, not daring to argue with him. However there was one more thing on my mind. I turned around as I was closing the door, "Professor, has there ever been something that you wanted, something you wanted more than anything, but you knew you could never have?" I saw a strange wave wash over him. His face shifted to a pained expression. This was the most vulnerable I had ever seen the stony man. "Yes," he said softly and shut the door in my face. Freshly Mown Grass, Parchment, and... Midnight Breeze ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - At the mention of love, I straightened my tie awkwardly. - ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Curly hair and mousy brown eyes invaded my dreams that night. I saw her staring at the stars like she told me she did in her letter, looking for Draco the Dragon in the speckled sky. Every time I asked a question, her hand would shoot up, ready to answer. She would be clutching my hand, watching in horror as her two best friends almost die in a flying car. Turning back time in her already busy schedule to spend a hour with me. She would be dressed like an angel as she soared like a phoenix down the stairs. Hermione Granger. She could cast any spell you threw at her, take down any opponent. Hermione adjusting my wand movement as she instructed me on the proper wand movement on the disarming charm. I smiled, even in my sleep, as I heard her voice, "No, no, no. You''re doing it wrong." It was then I told her that I was sick of hiding our friendship, that I wanted people to know. But she didn''t reciprocate. She told me that she only sneaked around because Harry and Ron, especially Ron, would disapprove. I had lashed out at her for fancying Weasley more that she did the boy that she sneaked out with every weekend for five years. She stopped speaking with me after that day. She didn''t even say a word until the first letter arrived; the glorious day of July 7th. My dreams were interrupted by a dark shadow, a pale white man with the nose of a snake. He pointed his wand at me and yelled, "Avada Kedavra." That is when I woke up, sweating like mad. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I signed up for Potions class this year hoping for Professor Snape, but instead I got Slughorn. I grimaced as I stared at my schedule. Father told me about him. He picked favorites, to collect them. There was no doubt in my head that he wanted Potter. After breakfast, I sulked out of the Great Hall and regretfully headed to Professor Slughorn''s class. I didn''t care to look at any of the faces I past. I shoved my way through a nest of confused first years, all doing their best to navigate the castle. I ignored Professor McGonagall''s disgusted, "Malfoy!" and continued to my class. I saw Potter and Weasley leaning against a wall, and just like me, they towered over the herds of children. They must have a free period this hour. I smiled to myself as I passed them, knowing that I will have Granger all to myself for at least an hour every week this year.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I walked in and there she was, her nose already lost in a book. I approached her, and she pretended not to notice me, but I caught her reading the same paragraph four times. "It''s the first day of term Granger," I teased. She went pink like she did on the train, "Oh shut it." I joined Pansy and Blaise in the far corner of the small classroom, but my attention was still focused on Granger. In order to be inconspicuous, I stared at her shoes instead of her face, trying to avoid any uncomfortable conversations with Pansy and Blaise later. Just then, Potter and Weasley walked into the classroom. A rush of anger flowed through me. This was my hour to be with Granger. Not Potter''s. Professor Slughorn directed them to grab a used book from the shelf in the back before he continued with his lesson, "I prepared some concoctions this morning. Any idea what these might be?" Like lightning, Granger''s hand pierced the sky with such quickness that it was impossible for the human eye to catch. I looked up from my gaze to smile admiringly at her. She always knew the answer. I don''t think there is something she doesn''t know, except... I shook the thought from my head. I saw her glance at my out of the corner of her eye, and when she saw me gazing in awe at her, the corner of her lip upturned in happiness. "Yes, Miss..." Professor Slughorn called on her. "Granger, Sir." She walked up to the table where the potions where held, "That one there is Veritaserum, it''s a truth-telling serum. And that one would be Polyjuice Potion. And that," she pointed to the center cauldron which green steam rose from, "is Amortentia! It''s the most powerful love potion in the world." At the mention of love, I straightened my tie awkwardly. "It is rumored to smell differently to each person, according to what attracts them. For example, I smell..." I perked up a bit. Granger never confirmed to me her feelings, only hinted at it. I held my breath, both anxious and excited to hear what attracts her. "...freshly mown grass, parchment, and..." she paused, then under her breath, she mumbled, "...midnight breeze." I was shocked. All three of the things that she had said were all things that related to me. The grass was from our third year when she would use her time turner to meet me outside at dawn. One day we both tripped, and rolled down to the bottom of a grassy hill. We lay there, laughing, grass stains on both of our uniforms until we both had to leave for class. The parchment smell was all the letters I would enchant to take forms like a swan or a dove and send to her during lessons when our professors weren''t looking. Potter and Weasley always thought they were hate messages, but actually I wrote little notes like, Secret 7, I stare when you aren''t looking, which would make her blush, not out of self-consciousness, but the opposite. The midnight breeze, could only represent when we sneaked out of our dormitories last year and met at the Room of Requirement every Saturday evening. I would tell my friends that I was heading to see Professor Snape, and she would tell hers she was headed to the library. It worked perfectly. The Room of Requirement always met our needs. When we wanted to talk, it would give us a small, comfortable sitting room, with a warm fire lighting up in the night. When we wanted to fool around, it gave us broomsticks and various joke products to play with. The Room always knew. One night, to our surprise, the Room opened up to a balcony. Above us was a simple arbor covered in artistically placed vines and flowers, but across from where we stood, was a small section of balcony, just large enough for two people to squeeze in. We had looked at each other and giggled, both of us realizing that we both felt something more for each other than we had originally thought. When we stood on the balcony, the air was crisp and cool. We breathed it in together, and that was the night that I admitted to myself that I was in love with her. I didn''t tell her that of course, but now I wonder if I had then, if she would have said it back. The Vanishing Cabinet ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "Harmiona Nectere Passus." - ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I have entered the Room of Requirement at least a hundred times before today, but all of those times now seem petty and childish. Sneaking off with Granger, exposing Potter''s secret organization, it all seemed so unimportant compared to the task I had to accomplish. Like Granger had written me, Borgin and Burkes have a vanishing cabinet, but what she didn''t know is that Hogwarts has its sister. Last year, Montegue told me about it, and how Professor Dumbledore had moved it to the Room of Requirement, after his near-death experience where he ended up in a toilet. The moment Mother and I started planning how I would kill the old man, was the moment I had remembered the cabinet. I wrote Granger for more information shortly after that. Professor Snape knew the job I had to do, so I figured that his class could be the one I skip to work on the cabinet. I looked over my shoulder as I hurried down the corridors on my way to the seventh floor. Potter and Granger are the only two people who are suspicious of me and Father wouldn''t have it if I added more people to that list. I clutched an apple I stole from the Great Hall that morning and practically ran past all of the classrooms. I arrived at the blank wall that housed all the greatest secrets Hogwarts had to offer. There is no telling what the Room held, as it would transform uniquely every time it was used. This time, however, there would be a vanishing cabinet inside. I paced back and forth across the blank wall, and after the third pass, intricate patterns etched their ways across the wall, creating a door. I watched, anxious, as the ridges and valleys snaked across their blank canvas, unsure of what I would find inside.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. I opened the door. The Room went for miles, I could not see all the way to the other side. This must be what the real room looks like, not the childhood fantasy facade that it gives all the others and until this day, myself. I looked around the room. Thousands of books were piled on my left, and numerous chairs were tossed into a stack on my right so high that even a giant would be small compared to it. I skated my way through the room, searching for my prize. I passed broken targets from Potter''s organization, a tattered photo of Cedric Diggory, what must be a priceless diadem, and even Finnigan''s exploded cauldron from our first year before I found what I was looking for. Covered in a dusty cloth, a vanishing cabinet stood high and mighty. I exhaled in relief and reached my hand out to remove it. Casting the cloth aside, I revealed a tall, expertly crafted piece of furniture. I took the apple I had carried on my way here and set it in the center of the cabinet. Borgin had told me all about how the cabinets worked. He gave me specific instructions when Mother and I visted him in his shop before term started. He told me that if I could bring the cabinet to him, then the process would be much easier and painless, but I told him that was impossible. Did he think I would just carry a vanishing cabinet all the way through Hogwarts and just hope no one saw me? No, that''s impossible. So instead he gave me the next best thing, "Say this incantation when you have placed the item and closed the door. If you need extra assistance don''t hesitate to write me. It may take some time, but be patient young Draco." I closed the door on the Slytherin green apple. "Harmiona Nectere Passus." A swipe of wind passed through the cabinet and when I opened the door, the cabinet was empty. Good. There are no disturbances with the journey to Borgin and Burkes. "Harmonia Nectere Passus." I heard a whoosh and a thump inside the cabinet. I excitedly opened the door, but was disappointed when I saw that a part of the apple was missing. It looked like someone had taken a bite out of it. I shuddered. Auntie Bella would be coming through this cabinet in almost a year, what if I couldn''t mend it in time? What if the cabinet took a bite out of her as well? Angrily I shoved the door closed. Using my wand, I placed the cloth exactly as it had been before I had stripped it away, and stomped out the door. Why did I agree to this? I have no experience with vanishing cabinets! At this point, I might as well try another method, a more indirect way of killing the old man. Smiling to myself, proud of how clever I was, I headed to the library. I needed to do some research. Library Encounter ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "Don''t you laugh at me Malfoy." I didn''t flinch as she hit me with her book, "I''m only asking because I am worried for you." - ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For some reason I forgot that the most common place to find Hermione Granger is in the library. I didn''t even make it past the doorway without her noticing. She approached me, visibly angry. In a hushed tone she berated, "Where were you last hour?" Not wanting to create a scene, I shoved her into a corner of the library that was more private. I had pushed her so hard that she exclaimed, "Ow! Draco!" I looked around to see if any was eavesdropping before I whispered to her, "I can''t tell you that." "What do you mean you can''t tell me?" She was very upset. "I just... can''t," I said, "I mean if you figure it out that''s a different story, but-" She interrupted me, "What would happen if I did?" My heart stopped beating. What did she know? Had I really given away everything already? My mask started to slip, but I forced it back on. I smirked at her, trying to hide the holes in my story and I could see the wheels turning in her head, trying to figure me out. I chuckled, she had no idea how cute she was being. "Don''t you laugh at me Malfoy." I didn''t flinch as she hit me with her book, "I''m only asking because I am worried for you."Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. A grateful smile was protruding from under my mask, but I couldn''t show it to her. Professor Snape told me to keep her in the dark if I want her to remain alive. I decided to change the subject. I yanked the book she had just hit me with out of her arms and looked at it. "Draco Malfoy you give that back right now!" she objected, but I didn''t give in. I turned it over to see the cover, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts. She was doing her research. I had to give it to her, she is very clever. As impressed with her intuitiveness as I was, I still couldn''t have her peering into my business. "What are you reading this for?" I spat at her. "Research." "For what Granger." She grabbed the book out of my hands and hit me with it again, "That is none of your business Draco!" she cried. Granger waited patiently for me to reveal where I had gone during Defense Against the Dark Arts class, but I didn''t let in. She sighed, hurt, "Fine, if you don''t want my help, then I won''t bother." She turned around quickly, her hair barely missing my face. Her statement sent a dagger through my stomach. Of course I wanted her help, but it would only endanger her further. My words to Professor Snape echoed in my head, Something you wanted more than anything, but you knew you could never have. "I do want you Granger," I said under my breath, "I just can''t have you." I tore my eyes from her retreating figure and scoured the collection of books for one that could help me. As I expected, all the books that I would need are in the restricted section. Luckily for me, I was a prefect. I laughed internally at the contrast of my two roles. A prefect and a Death Eater. Using my prefect ability, I entered the restricted section. Each book was identified as belonging in this part of the library by a single chain hanging from the spine. I let my fingers drag along the spines of the books as I walked, disrupting every chain. When I reached a shelf of the restricted section labeled, Infamous Curses, I paused. I scanned the different titles of each book and one stood out to me; Artifacts of Darkest Desires. This is what I was looking for. I took the book off the shelf, tucking it under my arm. As I was about to leave I noticed another book in a nearby shelf, A History of Poisons, And How to Brew Them. Poison might be a good way to go as well. I took the book off the shelf. As I left the library I made sure that Granger didn''t see the titles of the books I was carrying. I placed them on Madam Pince''s desk to put them under my name. She gave me a strange look as she assigned the titles to me, but I think she was too scared of angering my father to question me. After all, he did have a history of trying to fire Hogwarts teachers. I caught Granger''s eye as I left. There were tears welling up in her eyes. I broke contact with her and rushed out of the library, forcing myself to forget about the hurt I had regrettably caused her. I choked down a guilty sob, knowing that I didn''t have time to waste on fixing my relationship with Granger. I had to do this. If I don''t, I will die. Too Late For Me Now __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - My father had told me that mudbloods are inferior, more inferior than half-bloods, and that I should be proud to be a part of the Malfoy family whose blood was purer than almost all other wizarding families, but for the first time ever, I was not proud. - ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The necklace mentioned in my book wasn''t hard to find. In fact, it was being sold at Borgin and Burkes. In my letter to Mr. Borgin about the poor performance of his vanishing cabinet, I enclosed enough galleons to purchase said necklace. One week later, my owl returned with a package. I kept the necklace hidden from everyone in the Room of Requirement, begging that no one would discover it. I plotted dozens of ways that I could deliver the necklace to Professor Dumbledore, but I knew that he saw right through me. He wouldn''t take the necklace. I had to find someone he trusted to do it. And that meant... Yes, I would have to use the Imperius Curse. Every weekend I would sneak off to try and mend the cabinet, but it didn''t seem like much progress had been made. It was nearing Christmas now and I was running short on time. Half of the school year has gone by, and I haven''t even tested with any live subjects yet. All the apples I put in still came back missing pieces. Mr. Borgin was running out of hope as well, so I decided that it was time to test another option. The necklace. It would be risky, devastating if Potter found out, but it would be the quickest way to do it. The next weekend I went to mend the cabinet, I also practiced the Imperius Curse. I had only seen Professor Moody, well it was really Barty Crouch Jr, do it, but I had never cast the curse myself. "Imperio," I whispered, pointing my wand towards a bird. To my surprise, the bird obeyed me. Wherever I pointed my wand would be the next place that the bird flew. Caught up in my success, I lost focus and the confused bird regained control of itself. Frustrated, I turned my attention to the cabinet. For what felt like the millionth time, I set an apple down in the center of the cabinet, closed the door, and whispered, "Harmonia Nectere Passus." The apple was sent to Borgin and Burkes. "Harmonia Nectere Passus." I opened the door, fully expecting to see a damaged apple, but to my pleasant surprise, it was untouched. Smiling proudly, I decided that I didn''t have a second to waste. If I had mended the cabinet even slightly, then I have a chance of succeeding. I used the Imperius Curse again on one of the birds and directed it to sit calmly in the cabinet.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. I sent it to Borgin and Burkes, then back to Hogwarts. The bird had died. I whispered curses at myself under my breath. I was disappointing my family. I was causing my mother distress. But most frighteningly of all, I was sentencing myself to death. I slammed the cabinet door shut and allowed myself to cry. It was safe in the Room, no lurking eyes, no suspicious Potters. I let myself sob out everything. My father''s harsh words replayed in my head only to be drowned out. His expectations of me shattering in disappointment. My hateful comments to Granger in the last six years were reawakened in me, making me feel like a monster all over again. "No one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood!" I reheard my twelve year-old self saying. Even back then I said it out of jealousy. I said it because I denied what I felt for her. I rewatched in my memories her heart breaking and Weasley stepping between us, "Eat Slugs!" I had to force myself to laugh when his spell backfired, but as Hermione gently carried him out of my sight, I saw what kind of monster I was. At the time, I hadn''t regretted it. It made me feel like I didn''t fancy her. Even then I knew that if I told Father that I fancied her, he would punish me, and severely. Even if he wasn''t present at Hogwarts, his reign over me never ended. From day one, Father made sure that all of my acquaintances were the children of his friends; Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, and even Zabini. I knew if one of those numskulls knew about my crush on Granger, it would get back to my father in some way or another. To avoid that specific confrontation, I stuffed down all my feelings for Granger. I even told Crabbe and Goyle that I hoped she would die. That wasn''t out of hate or jealousy, but because I didn''t want the pain of knowing how much my words hurt her. That all changed when she was petrified. I realized that life without Granger was a lonely life. Even if she despised me, it was better than a world where she didn''t exist. She was strong, nothing that I could say damaged her confidence. She was brave, she stood up to me. She was intellegent, not every second year can take on a room full of pixies. Granger has been tugging on my heartstrings since we met on the Hogwarts Express. I asked Madam Pomfrey to allow me some time to see Granger without anyone else being aware, so she kindly allowed me to come in during the evenings when all of her patients were asleep. It was eerie, creeping around all the sleeping people and spooky when I passed by a petrified person, but none of that mattered when I saw her. Her mouth was wide open as if she had just gasped, and her eyes looked the same. Her skin was ice cold, colder than mine, and she felt like stone. I put the bouquet of flowers that I brought for her on her night table, and I hid an apology letter in the pocket of her robe. There, in that hospital wing, my twelve year-old self felt something that overwhelmed me, something that I couldn''t understand. A choking sensation came up into my heart and I regretted all the nasty words I had said. I had placed a hand over my heart and doubled over in the pain of knowing how much I had hurt her. My father had told me that mudbloods are inferior, more inferior than half-bloods, and that I should be proud to be a part of the Malfoy family whose blood was purer than almost all other wizarding families, but for the first time ever, I was not proud. Hermione was better than me at every subject. She overshadowed everyone in anything she did, stealing the spotlight from me. I was jealous of her. How could a mudblood be better than a pureblood? In the hospital wing it hit me. Seeing her frozen face, knowing that just weeks ago I wished her to die, sparked something inside of me. It made me feel ashamed of who I was, only for a second. Then I remembered how much Father values purity of blood and it all came back to me. She may be better at casting spells or brewing potions, but she would never be superior to me. In the Room of Requirement I cried, now realizing how false that was. Realizing how much of a coward I was for bowing down to my anger, letting the twisted parts of me rule over my mind. It was too late for me now, I am a Death Eater. There is no going back to second year, but I can try to keep Granger and I on good terms for as long as is possible. The Three Broomsticks ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "If you truly care for her, you''ll let her go." - ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ My plan was in place, I would take the necklace to Hogsmeade and curse any unsuspecting Hogwarts student into delivering it to Professor Dumbledore. First I hid behind Zonko''s Joke Shop knowing that it was a popular place for students to go, but that also worked as a disadvantage since there were too many people to properly isolate a single person. The same thing happened at Honeydukes. I came around and decided that although it was filled primarily with adult witches and wizards, that The Three Broomsticks would be the best place to hand the necklace off. I walked in, hand on my pocket, to make sure that no one saw the burlap packaging housing one of the most dangerous magical items in the world. I looked around, trying to see if there was any opportunity for me to lure one person away from the rest. Perhaps a Hufflepuff third-year, they are always too trusting, or even better, a Gryffindor, the house the old man came from himself. I had my eyes scanning the room when they were met with an all too familiar pair of chocolate brown ones. Granger. My mouth parted slightly in surprise, as did hers. She used her sleeve to wipe off Butterbeer from her lips, and I took that chance to make my escape. I walked briskly for the door to the bathrooms and shut it behind me. Seeing Granger had not been part of my plan. I leaned up against the wall, head in my hands. I rubbed my face, trying to get myself out of fantasy land. This is real life Draco. You need to focus, you need to do this. I didn''t have to wait long for my unfortunate victim to show themselves. Katie Bell, a Gryffindor seventh-year who I have played quidditch against many times. There was no one else in the hall, so I whispered, "Imperio," pointing my wand at unsuspecting Bell. My practice over the last month had paid off, she was completely under my control. I directed Bell to follow me into an empty closet in the back of the hallway. Unknowingly, she obliged. I handed her the package, and told her to not open it until she delivers it directly to Professor Dumbledore. She would not stop until he held it in his hands.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I was anxious to see if it would work, and to my great pleasure, Bell did exactly as I said. This was nice, too bad the curse is illegal. She took the necklace and left the shop, whispering, "No stopping. Directly to Professor Dumbledore," repeatedly under her breath. It was a little more obvious than I had intended, but I was pleased that it worked. Knowing that Granger had seen me, I knew that I would have to leave the same way I came in. Shortly after Bell had left, I exited the hallway as well. As I did so, I overheard, "Looks a bit different, don''t you think, Draco," Granger observed to Potter and Weasley, "Almost ill." I took off before I could hear the rest of their conversation. I knew she was observant, but I wished desperately that she hadn''t been. It would be so much easier for the both of us if she didn''t suspect a thing. I went back to the castle as to not be suspicious when Bell arrived at Professor Dumbledore''s office with his cursed gift. I needed Professor Snape to have seen me. I moved as fast as I could without seeming like I was up to something. I passed Bell and her friend on my way to the castle. They were arguing about something, but I couldn''t understand what it was about, but when I looked at the pair when I passed them, I could see that Bell had unwrapped the necklace. "So beautiful," she said, still in her trance. "Don''t touch it Katie," her friend warned her, "It''s for Professor Dumbledore." This wasn''t good. I started a run back to the castle. To my great luck, Professor Snape was at the entrance. When he saw me running, he looked at me confused. Through my racing breaths and red cheeks, I told him that we needed to go somewhere private. He didn''t say anything, but he gripped my shoulder, and pulled me along his path. When we reached his office, he shut the door. "What is it Draco," he snarled in his usual manner, but this time there was a little more sympathy to his tone. "I just needed you to see me sir. So I have an alibi." His brows furrowed, confused, so I explained what I had done in The Three Broomsticks. "Impressive Draco. I didn''t know you had it in you," he said. "Thank you sir," I said, holding myself with pride. As terrible of a thing that I had done, I was still proud I was able to accomplish it. "There''s something I''ve wanted to ask you Draco, but you always seem to slip through my grasp," he continued mysteriously. Taken aback, I asked, "Yes Professor?" "That thing that you asked me about during our last little meeting, you didn''t mean Granger, did you?" My breath caught in my throat. How was I supposed to answer this. If I said yes, he could scold me and tell my mother and embarrass me in front of my family. If I said no, then I could be backing out of some potentially relationship-saving advice. I decided that I needed more information, "I''m not entirely sure what you mean sir," I said, my voice quivering slightly. My mask was slipping again. "I too know what it is like to want an impossibility funny enough," he continued, not taking any of my distractions, "It tears you apart." "Yeah, yeah it does," I solemnly agreed. Snape bursted out of his neutral tone and into a warning one, "But don''t you think about telling her anything," he spat at my face. I hadn''t expected this from him. I scrunched up my face in terror. "If you truly care for her, you''ll let her go." Potters Accusation - "It was Malfoy." - _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Minutes later, Professor McGonagall burst into the room, "Professor! Oh, hello there Mr. Malfoy. Professor, you are needed in my office please." Professor Snape followed Professor McGonagall out of his office, eyeing me curiously. "Stay here," he growled at me through his teeth. I didn''t listen. When both professors were out of sight, I followed them, staying silent as to not alert them to my presence. My cover was almost blown when Bell''s friend walked right into view. Thankfully, I ducked behind a wall in time. When I was sure that she was gone, I made my way towards the Transfiguration classroom where Professor McGonagall taught. My necklace hadn''t made it to the old man. "Dammit," I whispered to myself. There were a few students walking in the halls, but I didn''t let that stop me from listening in on Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall''s conversation. "What do you think?" Professor McGonagall asked. Smoothly, Professor Snape replied, "I think Miss Bell is lucky to be alive." So she survived, a rush of relief ran through me. I am not a murderer, yet. But if she survived, did that mean that, theoretically, Professor Dumbledore may have as well? To my surprise, Potter''s voice was next, "She was cursed wasn''t she?" Of course he was there. He was always in the way, the stupid git. But if Potter was there, did that mean...? I risked a glance around the corner. Yes, Weasley and Granger were there too. I cursed myself again. Granger had saw me at the Three Broomsticks when I had given Bell that necklace, did she suspect me now? "I know Katie, off the quidditch pitch," Potter continued, "she wouldn''t hurt a fly." How touching, I thought. "If she was delivering that to Professor Dumbledore, she wasn''t doing it knowingly." Potter knew exactly what happened, but who did he suspect? I knew that trying the necklace was risky, but I think I severely underestimated Potter and Granger''s observation skills.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Yes she was cursed," Professor McGonagall confirmed. "It was Malfoy," Potter told them. My heart sped up, I had been caught. I risked another glance around the corner and I saw Granger give him an unbelieving stare. "Harry, no way," said her angelic voice. "That is a very serious accusation Potter," Professor McGonagall scolded. Professor Snape agreed with her. "Indeed. Your evidence?" Professor Snape knew it was me. After all, I had just told him in his office. I prayed he didn''t betray my family''s trust. "I just know," Potter said. I let out a silent, but relieved sigh. That wouldn''t convince anybody. "You just... know." "I suggest you to go back to your dormitories," Professor McGonagall cut in, "All of you." That was my cue to leave. I jumped back from the wall I had been casually leaning on and started to head back towards Professor Snape''s classroom to avoid suspicion, but I was stopped by Granger. "Draco?" She ran over to me, leaving her friends behind. "Have you heard about Katie?" I played dumb, pretending not to know what she was talking about, "Katie... Katie who?" "Katie Bell. Someone slipped her a cursed necklace in the bathroom of The Three Broomsticks today, it nearly killed her." "Who would do such a thing?" I said with mock sympathy. She seemed to buy it. That, or she didn''t want to believe that I was capable. "Nobody knows. I, er, I was wondering if you saw anyone talking to her. I mean, you were there when it happened." My heart skipped. C''mon Draco, think of a good lie. When I couldn''t conjure a believable story, I just responded, "No. No I didn''t see anyone." "Ah, well that''s too bad." At that moment, Weasley grabbed her and dragged her away, giving me a dirty look as he did it. I smirked, happy at his jealous expression. That is when I saw Professor Snape slide out of the Transfiguration classroom. He spotted me before I could disappear. He caught up to me quicker than I thought possible and grabbed my shoulder with fury. "I thought I told you to stay in my classroom," he scolded, but that was the end of it. He just forbade me to speak of anything I may have overheard. We both went back into his classroom to finish our discussion. Now I knew that I needed his help more than ever. "Professor," I started, but he cut me off. "What were you thinking boy?" he berated, "Right in front of witnesses. In front of Potter. I told you to keep this a secret!" I shrunk into a ball, "Sorry Professor," my cowardly voice answered. He threw his hands hopelessly into the air, "Now what are we supposed to do that Potter is on your case?" "I have another plan sir," I stepped into his rampage, "but I''ll need your help." The Forbidden Kiss ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - Yes Hermione, I will say yes to you forever. - ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For the next part of my plan to work, I needed to be on good terms with Professor Slughorn. Luckily for me, I was a natural with potions, Professor Snape said so. Even when I told him that I needed his help to brew a poison to put in a wine bottle, he told me he doubted that I would need his assistance. Nevertheless, he agreed. But I needed Professor Slughorn to be the one to gift the poisoned wine to Professor Dumbledore because when he is found dead, Professor Slughorn would be blamed because not only did he deliver the wine, but because he is the potions teacher. The one problem that I didn''t count on was Potter. For someone who hated the subject, he sure was doing well in potions this year. Not only did he win the Felix Felicis, which I desired dearly, but he also was the top of our class, even besting Granger. I bragged to Professor Slughorn about my grandfather, Abraxus Malfoy, whom I was sure he had known. I must have been too late though because the professor seemed to have eyes for Potter only. Potter and Granger. A thought flashed through my mind. What if I could get Granger to ask me to be her date for the upcoming Slug Club Christmas Party? Surely then, I might catch the professor''s eye. I smiled maliciously, but then I thought of what Professor Snape would say. He had to understand. I had a plan. I would only be spending time with Granger as part of our plan. As much as I told myself that was the only reason I wanted to be her date, part of me longed to be the one that she dressed up for. At the Yule Ball, she had looked like a princess and it made me wish that I was the one who had asked her out. I had to go through that whole night dancing with Pansy Parkinson, someone who, other than my school house, I had nothing in common with, while watching Krum make my Granger smile and giggle. It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I went to the library, this time looking for her, and indeed I found her, nose glued into another book. She was everything, determined, smart, confident. Everything. "Hey Granger," I cooed at her, knowing what that would do to me if the situations were reversed. She looked up to me hope in her eyes. Oh my Lord, those eyes. They were like shining stars on a moonlit night. Laughter in a room of regret. They were my light during this time of darkness. I admired her and she did me. "Hey Draco," she said softly back. I sat down next to her, and I swore I saw her adjust herself slightly so that she was closer to me. "You look better," she commented. My face had resumed its usual extremely pale shade. "Feel better too, I''ve had a bit of a cold the last few days." I explained away her observation of my awkward skin complexion from The Three Broomsticks. "Merlin, I''m sorry." "It''s alright. Actually I have something to ask you." She perked up, posture straightening and cheeks flushing, "Alright." "I was wondering if you had a date to the Slug Club Christmas Party yet." That made her smile ear to ear. I haven''t seen her smile like that since last year. It filled my breaking soul with enough light to make it feel healed again. Her smile showed me that I could be good instead of completely a monster. Then again, I was using her. "Are you asking me to be your date?" she enthused. "No Granger," I teased, "You''re supposed to ask me." I smiled at her, geniunely. She made me happy. This was something that Father didn''t understand. It didn''t matter to me what her blood status was, only that she made me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. For a second I wondered if I could be able to do both. Fulfill The Dark Lord''s wishes, and date Hermione Granger. The hope fueled me. It made me feel truly excited for my days ahead for the first time ever. She giggled sweetly, "Draco Malfoy..." There was my name on her lips again. "Would you like to go to Slughorn''s Christmas Party as my date?" I had expected to hear those words, but there was a way that she said them that made me shiver all over. A sudden temptation crept over me. I looked into her eyes longingly and she gasped, aware of what I was about to do. I knew that I shouldn''t, but I''ve waited far too long for this. I placed my hand behind her neck as I dove into kiss her. She didn''t protest, just the opposite. With the same enthusiasm, she wrapped both arms around my neck, pulling herself closer to my body. When our lips touched, fireworks exploded through me. This was my forbidden kiss, my forbidden love. I felt a form of a guilty pleasure. It made me feel in control of my fate. How did Professor Snape expect me to stay away from this? We stopped briefly to catch our breaths before we pressed our lips onto each other''s again. I felt the fire she lit in me. I was burning, burning, burning. I ran my hands down her sides, feeling her curves. She was an angel, my angel. She was all mine. I rested them just above her hips, and pulled her off her seat and onto my lap. She paused briefly to giggle, then, wrapping her legs around my waist, she leaned back in to the kiss. "That''s a yes I take it," she whispered into my mouth. "Yes," I moaned. Yes Hermione, I will say yes to you forever. Rumors ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "You kissed Granger?" - ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Apparently the whole school found out about my kiss with Granger. In the halls, they would look at her with disgust, because how could the beautiful good girl that she is kiss such a greasy weasel like me. I knew Weaselbee was furious. After class one day he tried to chase me down, shouting, and I quote, "I''ll rip your face off," if I ever touch Granger again. Unfortunately for my face, I wasn''t planning on doing that. There were things that someone as dim as Weaselbee couldn''t understand even if I told him. He had the rest of his life to woo and love Granger, I only had a few months. Once I murdered Professor Dumbledore, she wouldn''t want anything to do with me. What I hadn''t expected was that Granger was avoiding me. I didn''t know why, if it was because I had hurt her, or other people''s words did. I wanted to go up to her, caress her cheek, and tell her that it didn''t matter what other people think. That I loved her, and that is all that mattered, but I knew that it was better for her to not grow attached to me. I should be protecting her, but instead I''m taking her down a suicide path with me. Every time I see her face, smell her perfume, or hear her voice, I''m a little kid again. We are rolling around in the grass at dawn, reading each other''s letters at dusk. It gets harder and harder every day to stay away from her. Professor Snape was furious. His anger towards me kept building and building, and I could tell that one more mistake of mine, he would erupt. "I told you to stay away from Granger," he growled, pointing his long, crooked finger at me. "It''s part of the plan sir!" I exclaimed, "That''s the only reason, I''m... I''m just u-using h-her." "Oh? How so?" he was skeptical. "She''s close with Slughorn sir. If I can get into his party, then I could gain his trust and he wouldn''t doubt a thing." He pondered for a moment, "Well done Draco. I''m enthused to see that you have cast your feeling aside and are solely focused on the task in your hands," he smiled mischievously at me. His words were chosen to reveal what I had concealed. That the plan wasn''t the only reason for Granger taking me to the party, it was my love for her as well. I held my mask on my face with all my might as I said, "I won''t disappoint you sir." "Good." For the next hour, Professor Snape assisted me in brewing on of the poisons I had read about in the book I found in the restricted section. I chose one that could be disguised as wine, but, if drunk, caused death in seconds. It was the perfect plot. Slughorn would give the wine to Professor Dumbledore, and when he desired a drink, no one would be around to help him. Even if people, like Potter, suspected me of poisoning the wine, it would be too late. My task would already be done.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ There was only a week until the Christmas Party, but I haven''t gotten so much as a smile from Granger. She would glance up when I walked into class, but that would be the end of it. In the Great Hall, Weasley would catch my eye and protectively put himself in front of her. My fellow Slytherins weren''t much better. "You kissed Granger? That know-it-all mudblood?" Blaise pried. "Shut it Zabini, it was- it was a mistake." As painful as it was to say, I knew that I had to make him believe it. If he thought that I was in love with Granger, then he could mention it to his parents, who are close to mine. I shuddered, trying not to imagine how Father would react when he heard about me kissing a mudblood. "She had me under a love potion," I remembered the potion from the first day of potions class this year. The potion Granger had identified. The potion that revealed her true feelings for me. "Amortentia." "Whatever you say Malfoy," he shrugged, walking away, not believing my lie. I stood up, not allowing him to leave, "If my father hears about this," I threatened him. A look of terror crossed his face. "He won''t." When I looked around the room, there were others staring at me. I had caused more of a scene than I had thought. Granger was staring, mouth open. How much had she heard? By the look on Weasley''s face, everything. He put a caring arm around her, still giving me the death glare as she cried into his shoulder. My own eyes started to tear up, seeing how much I had hurt her, but I couldn''t show that weakness. I hurriedly left the Great Hall and went to my dormitory where I rampantly searched for a spare piece of parchment. Pain was searing through me. I was truly a monster. Only monsters hurt people like that. Only monsters break hearts in front of crowds. I had to make up for this. I am sorry that you overheard my conversation with Zabini. I didn''t mean what I said. Meet me outside the Room of Requirement at 8 pm tonight and I''ll explain. Please, Your Christmas Date I rolled the parchment and conjured a short string to tie it, then I went to the owlry and sent it with my eagle owl to the Gryffindor common room, "Drop this on her bed, alright?" My owl nodded, honored to serve such a prestigious family, and flew out of the window. I hoped that Granger would understand. I bet she would, she was logical. Hoping that my note arrived to her at the right time, I went back to my dormitory and sprawled out on my bed, hating every bit of my wiry, cowardly self. Why couldn''t I just admit to everyone that I had feelings for her. I thought of us holding hands and drinking butterbeer on a snowy afternoon. Potter and Weasley laughing along at my stories, a truce between us. I thought of Granger and I kissing on our balcony in the Room of Requirement, casting away everything that could stop us. But then I thought of my father. He almost killed Potter when he freed the family house-elf, and that was before is renewed obsession to The Dark Lord. What would happen to Granger if he found out about us? I thought of what Professor Snape told me to do. "If you truly care for her, let her go." He was right. I wasn''t right for her. Hell, even Longbottom is better for her than me. She should end up with Weasley, and I need to stop interfering. I thought about what life would have been like if I hadn''t befriended Granger. I would have meant it when I called her mudblood, never doubting my father''s values. I would not have regretted messing with Potter and Weasley, as I wouldn''t be affected when I hurt Granger as well. Potters secret organization would have never gotten past their first meeting and because of that, Father wouldn''t be in Azkaban. If Father wasn''t sent to Azkaban, I wouldn''t be here, laying in my bed, trying to find a way to make amends with the girl I love, as well as plot a murder. I truly am a selfish brat. But I Do ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "I''m in love with you!" - __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Her eyes were swollen from extensive crying, and my brow creased, hurting with her. She wiped her wet lashes as she approached, forcing down anything that incriminated her to crying over me. I smiled sympathetically at her, apologizing with my facial features. When she saw me standing outside the Room, she paused for a second, making up her mind, before continuing to walk towards me. I didn''t blame her. Every time she has got close to me, she has been hurt. "Hi Granger," I soothed her. I opened the Room of Requirement to the balcony we had discovered in our fifth year, the balcony that she remembers so fondly. The balcony where we spent our last meeting in the Room of Requirement before I ratted out her and her friends'' organization. I heard her breath hitch when she saw where I had brought us. "Draco, I don''t think I should be here," she whispered. I whirled around and caught her arm before she could walk back out of the room, "No!" I shouted at her, then reining the anger back in, "Please stay," I begged her with my eyes. If she cared at all about me, even guiltily, she would want to stay. Slowly, she nodded. I let go of her arm, and offered her my hand. She took it, and I blushed. The things you do to me Granger. We sat down at the balcony, our crossed legs touching. She looked at me like a deer would at it''s prey. It broke me to see. How much of her soul have I devoured already? Her warm brown eyes had ridges of red around them, her fluffy brown hair desaturated, and she played self consciously with her nails. I had done that. I had caused her that pain. "I''m so sorry." I broke down the dam that has kept my sadness back for years. I''ve kept it up in front of my parents who would''ve called me weak, from my professors, who wouldn''t understand, and even from myself. I weeped to her, not to anyone else. She has been the one person who cares about my emotions and values my feelings, and all I do to repay her is break her heart over and over. "For everything." I couldn''t look her in the eyes. I was ashamed of who I was. Ashamed of what I have done and ashamed of who I will become. A gentle hand rested on my shoulder. I whipped my head up, eyes wide. "Draco, I don''t think you get it. We''re in this together. We always have been," she said. My helpless wheezing stopped. What? She saw my confused and shocked expression and continued, "Please tell me what''s going on." "I want to Granger, I really do, but you know I can''t." I hoped she saw the pleading in my eyes, but all I saw in hers was anger. The anger I saw in her eyes reflected how my heart felt almost all the time. Angry at my father, angry at The Dark Lord, angry at everyone, but this anger pained me worst of all. Granger angry at me. "Is it because I''m friends with Harry?"This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Is that what she was worried about? "No! Potter has nothing to do with this." "Then why?" her voice broke. "You''re not like me Granger. You''re not pureblood-" I hadn''t finished but I could see that it was the last straw for her. She stood up and lumbered toward the door, "I''ve had it with your stupid prejudices Malfoy! Goodbye, I never want to speak to you again!" she cried. "NO HERMIONE WAIT!" She still continued toward the door, breaking both of our hearts into a million pieces. She was only a few paces from leaving my life forever. I knew that I should just let her go, but the selfish part of me spoke up again. If this is the last time I will ever speak to her, I just wanted her to know. "I''m in love with you!" I closed my eyes, sobbing to myself. That confession ripped all of my pride away. It tore me down to just flesh and bone. I kept my eyes closed as I waited for the sound of the door closing, but it never came. Slowly, I opened one of my eyes. She was standing, still as a statue, gawking at me. I opened both eyes, and we stared at each other. Me, sitting like a child on the floor in a ball, and her, standing tall like the strong young woman she is. "But all those things you said to me." "It was all just a mask Hermione," I told her, "I had to say those things. I had to because..." I thought about all the excuses I have given my guilty self for almost six years, "...because I can''t love you." "But you do," she sat down beside me, inches from my eyes. By some miracle, Hermione Granger understood. "Yeah." It was less than a whisper, but it still explained everything. She leaned her head on my shoulder, but I wanted more. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to my chest, letting her rest her head on my heart. We sat, staring at the stars in silence. Ecstasy filled my broken parts. The girl I loved was in my arms. She was staying with me even after knowing how I feel about her. "Draco," she whispered, "I think I might too." I grinned so wide that my teeth were showing. It had been forever since I had smiled like that. It felt strange on my face, my cheeks aching and my eyes straining, but it was the only thing I could do. That and pull her even closer. I dropped my hand to her waist and slid her across the floor towards me. I cupped her cheeks with my hands, pulling her gaze to mine. She didn''t look as broken as before, just like me. I guess were just as a good as healing each other as we were breaking. She laughed breathily when she saw my stupid smile. Running both of her hands through my hair, she muttered into my lips, "You should do that more often. It drives me mad." I smiled more, just to please her, but I soon had to choose between that or her kiss. She had put her lips on mine, melting into me like butter. Our bodies fit perfectly together, like two puzzle pieces as we kissed under the stars. This kiss wasn''t the burning fire I had experienced during our first kiss, it was more satisfaction. This kiss felt right. No guilt behind it, just peace and perfection. I traced my fingers down her spine, giving each vertebrae equal attention. She shivered as my hand got closer and closer to her hips. She grabbed the hair on the back of my head and kissed me deeper, our noses squished into the other''s heated skin. Minutes passed but I couldn''t tell how many to save my life. Time was frozen by her touch. I never wanted it to end, but when we broke apart, I was satisfied. There was nothing more I wanted from her, just her. I smiled cheekily and so did she. We both laughed. Her laugh was something special, much like the rest of her. It sounded like birds in the spring, bells in the snow. She overshadowed me in every note of her song, but I didn''t care. I loved her, and she might love me. She hasn''t decided yet. She nestled her head back onto my beating heart, and placed a hand on my shoulder. I readjusted my position so that she was sitting in my lap, and I had both arms wrapped lovingly around her. I never wanted to let her go. We both looked to the stars, admiring the little blinking lights in the darkness. I didn''t realize how symbolic those stars were to me until now. The stars are what I shared with Hermione, and she was my one consistent light through all my darkness. I sighed, the happiest I have ever been, "Have you found me yet?" In her letter she said she looks for the constellation of my namesake. "Not yet, although, I have to admit, I was more focused on the real you." I chuckled warmly and rested my head on top of hers. Her curly hair was so soft and I lathered my face in it. "I love you," I murmured. She was hesitant with her response, weighing her options, but in the end she told me, "I love you too." Chuckling to myself, I kissed the top of her head, "Am I still allowed to take you to the party?" She giggled, "Yeah. You can still take me." Just Acting ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "Granger, I''ve loved you since second year. It''s torn me apart." - __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I slept well for the first time in months. Finally getting a solid answer to my wonderings. She loved me. The events of that night seemed unreal, impossible. Hermione Granger couldn''t love someone as dark and twisted as me. But her words and kisses that night told me differently. We hadn''t told anyone about that night, but the harder thing to create a story for was why she was taking me to Slughorn''s Christmas Party tonight. It took a week of meticulous planning and practice different situations to pull off. "Okay, I''m Weaselbee," I told her, running through our practice scenarios. She rolled her eyes, "Draco, how many times to I have to tell you? It''s Weasley, not Weaselbee. "Sounds the same to me," I smiled. She huffed, "Alright, let''s get on with it." "Why are you taking Draco Malfoy to the party?" I said in a tone that insinuated that Weasley was thicker than he was. I could tell she didn''t appreciate that, but she didn''t nitpick. "Because I thought that it would make you jealous." I paused, confusion plastered on my face. How true was that response? It was nothing, mostly my own mind overthinking things, but if I was capable of using her, was she as well? "Is that why you said yes to me? To make Weasley jealous?" "No Draco! How could you say that?" she exploded at me, but there was something else that she wasn''t saying. "Well, maybe a little." "How much is a little?" She couldn''t look me in the eye, "About half."The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I shook my head, embarrassed with myself. How could I be so blind? Of course she loved Weasley, he was good for her. Protective, strong, and can put up with her spunky attitude. He would never use her as a prop, like I am. "But Draco, I wasn''t lying when I told you I loved you. I do." That was some compensation. I still couldn''t get over that she only said yes to me to make someone jealous, it made me feel like dust. But then I remembered that half of the reason I even suggested she ask me in the first place was because I need to get into friendly contact with Professor Slughorn. I am such a hypocrite. It only bothers me when someone spits back my own medicine. I was still shocked. How could she love two people at once. There has to be someone she loves more. "What about the potion. All those things you said, they were about me." "Yes Draco, because I love you," she said, "Much more than Ron." Her saying his name infuriated me, how dare she say that boy''s name in front of me. She was designed to say mine, but no one else''s. But after the initial wave of jealousy crashed, I realized what her answer meant. She loved me more. Me. I cracked a pained smile, "Okay." "However I did lie," she continued. "I didn''t smell midnight breeze. I only said that because I knew you were listening." WHAT? My head shot to attention. "Then what did you smell Granger?" I spat at her, nose scrunching in disgust, "Dirt and mold, I imagine. Just like Weasley''s house." "HOW DARE YOU!" she yelled at me, "You always bring your stupid prejudices into everything!" "It''s not prejudice when it is FACT!" "I could tell you facts about your family too Malfoy!" "Oh yeah? Then spit it out Granger!" "You''re entire family are Death Eaters! You''re aunt, Bellatrix, has killed and tortured people, did you know that?" I did actually. I just didn''t know who. "Why do you think Neville is so scared of you huh? His parents don''t know who he is anymore because your aunt tortured them to insanity!" She covered her mouth. That wasn''t her secret to tell, but she had. The truth came out and there was no coming back. I was just a baby when Auntie Bella was put into Azkaban, and I had just gotten her back. I knew that she was crazy from her stay there, but now I am thinking that she was even crazy before then. "I shouldn''t have told you that. Ah, Neville''s going to kill me!" "No he won''t!" I shouted, collapsing into the floor. This was too much at one time. If anyone was going to kill Granger, it sure as hell won''t be Longbottom. I flashed back to second year when the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets had petrified her. Nothing seemed to matter anymore except for her. Reality was reformed in my mind and I started having doubts about my father''s parenting. What if that happened again, but this time she would never wake up? I shook with sobs, "Granger, if anyone is going to kill you, it will be because of me." "What?" "I was trying to tell you before. My father believes firmly in the purity of blood. He almost killed Potter for freeing our house-elf, I''m sure you heard about that." "Dobby," she responded. "Yeah. What would happen if he found out about you? What do I do? Do I stand with him as he hurts you or possibly kills you, or do I betray my family?" I think she saw the truth of why I had been avoiding her, bullying her even, for our entire relationship. "Oh." She wrapped her body around me like I had that night we confessed our love for each other. My shakings slowed, then ceased as I felt her support all around me. "I get it now Draco, I understand." "Granger, I''ve loved you since second year. It''s torn me apart." "It was all just a mask," she repeated my words. "Yeah. It always was." Devil in the Form of Her Date _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "Fraternizing with the enemy." - ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Why are you taking her to Slughorn''s party?" Blaise asked, utterly disgusted. "I need something from Slughorn, but he never will talk to me, so I had to ask Granger." Part of me felt like I was betraying her my spitting on her name like I had, but it was necessary, just like every other time. "What do you need?" "Let''s just say it is in The Dark Lord''s best interests." That shut him up. Blaise always wanted to be in with me. In the ''cool'' crowd of Slytherin, but whenever it came to serious darkness, he was always too cowardly to take any part in. That evening, I was fitting myself into my expensive dress robes. The black leather accents contrasted my pale skin, eyes, and hair quite nicely. There was not a fold anywhere on them, and I had to admit, I was one stunning bachelor. I just hoped Granger thought so as well. I uncovered the posioned wine to hand to Professor Slughorn from under my bed and grabbed the bouquet that I was going to gift Granger. After all, I didn''t want to seem suspicious with gifting something to a teacher, but not my date. The bouquet consisted of red roses and gardenias. It was the same bundle that I had brought to the hospital wing in our second year. In the Malfoy family, flowers meant a lot. From a young age, I was taught the meaning of different flowers, and which ones not to use at a dinner party. Gardenias represented a secret love, like mine and Grangers, and the red roses translated roughly to, "I love you." It was perfect, even if I only knew the meanings. I wanted this to be perfect for her because I didn''t know how many parties we have left. I met her outside of the Gryffindor common room, along with some nasty sideways glances from younger students. Potter and Weasley must not speak very nicely of me. No wonder Granger doesn''t want them knowing about us, everyone in Gryffindor despises me. When I caught sight of her angelic beauty, I lost my breath. She was absolutely perfect. Her rosy pink dress flattered her body in just the right spots. The neckline of the dress was revealing, but not inappropriately so. Her hair seemed to have been impregnated with heavenly sparkles. In short, she was beyond my wildest fantasies. She had dressed up for... me. This can''t be real. I don''t deserve this. Evidently I wasn''t the only person who thought so. "HIM?" shouted Weasley from inside their portrait hole, "Why him Hermione? He''s vile!" She didn''t respond, but I could tell his words hurt her. I wanted to stand up to Weasley, but I couldn''t find the courage. "Fraternizing with the enemy," he said to Finnigan, who was standing right next to him. Finnigan nodded. "The ENEMY Ronald?" she screamed back at him, defending me. I should have walked away, telling her he''s right, I am the enemy, but I had a job to accomplish. If I failed, Professor Snape would be venomous. "You heard me." I grabbed her arm gently, and whispered in her ear, "Hermione, let''s go." She didn''t listen, instead she continued her banter with Weasley. "That''s rich, coming from you. Sneaking off at night to go and snog!" What was she referring to? Surely Granger and Weasley weren''t- "What Lav and I have is different," he replied. Good. I was glad to hear that my Hermione hasn''t been snogging two people at once. "This is just mental!"Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. She was trying to hold back her sobs, "Goodbye, Ronald," she snapped, taking my arm and leaving one of her best friends behind. The portrait hole closed, and the two of us were left in the hallway alone. "Well in light of... that," I started a conversation with the sniffling Granger, "I got these for you, beautiful." I handed her the bouquet of gardenias and red roses that I prepared earlier today. "Roses and gardenias?" she exclaimed, "Oh Draco, they''re perfect!" I smiled as she admired them, "I love you too," happy little tears were forming in her eyes. "You know flower meanings?" She nodded, "It was mentioned in Muggle Studies a few years ago. I was a little disappointed that we didn''t go farther into it, I had already read the book you see, as you''ve probably guessed. How do you know?" "My mother," I responded plainly, "She always needs parties to be perfect." "Ah." She studied the bouquet for a while, surely recognizing them as the same snow white and blood red flowers that had been on her night stand when she woke up from petrification. When she finally realized, she blushed. "Secret admirer," she whispered under her breath. "Yeah, it was me." Flattered, she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. I held out my arm and she placed hers on it. That''s when she noticed the wine bottle. "Draco, what''s that?" "A gift for Professor Slughorn." "Oh, how thoughtful." Together we walked down the numerous flights of stairs to Professor Slughorn''s office. The professor had outdone himself. The stories weren''t exaggerating, it was like I had walked into one of my mother''s fanciest dinner parties. There were golden curtains hanging from the ceiling and covering all the walls. There were students hired as waitstaff, dressed in elegant white uniforms with gold trim. The food was extravagant, certainly nothing compared to what we were served in the Great Hall, even during feasts. "It''s brilliant, isn''t it?" Granger awed. "Ah, Miss Granger!" Professor Slughorn cried, "I see you found yourself a strapping young fellow here." He turned to me, "Mr. Malfoy, if I am correct." "Yes sir. You''ve outdone yourself Professor," I complimented. "Why thank you Mr. Malfoy." Granger spotted the Weasley girl and waved, she returned it, but when she saw me with Granger, she frowned. "Hermione, why don''t you go talk with her, I need to have a chat with the professor." She nodded, and I was left alone with Professor Slughorn. "Yes my dear boy? What is it that I can help you with?" "Well Professor, I was planning on gifting this to Professor Dumbledore, but I see that he isn''t here tonight." I showed him the bottle of poisoned wine. "Ah, well, yes, he isn''t at Hogwarts right now. He''s on a business trip, you see." I had known about the old man''s trip, but I pretended not to. "Oh, well that''s too bad." "I could give it to him myself, if you wanted, say it''s from both of us," he leaned in to tell me a secret, "It''s a bit embarrassing, but I forgot to purchase a gift for him myself." I smiled slyly to myself under my mask. This is exactly what I wanted to happen. "Oh, no need Professor, your need is far greater than mine," I handed him the bottle, eager to get it as far away from me as possible. "Say it is from you, don''t embarrass yourself for my sake." "Oh thank you my boy, how can I repay you?" "You''ve done enough for me already Professor, there is nothing you owe me." He smiled fondly, then let me go. I went over to where Granger was conversing with Ginny Weasley. "Yes, but I don''t understand what do you see in him." she was lecturing my date. "Ginny, he''s just misunderstood. He''s actually quite a gentleman. He''s kind and vunerable, but also strong and brave." I came up behind her, "I believe that you are describing yourself Granger." "Draco! You heard me?" she sounded slightly offended, but she gave in. Weasley contorted her face in utter disgust and left us, still not believing the monstrosity of our relationship. Nor should she. This thing between me and Granger is illegal, but for some reason, neither of us mind. Potter came into the room, arm and arm with Lovegood. Of all the eligible ladies at Hogwarts, he chose Lovegood? I guess that says something about his heart, however much I loathed Potter. He saw me, leaning over Granger, and he approached me, flames searing out of his ears. "Come off of it Malfoy. Don''t you think you''ve hurt her enough?" he spat in my face. That set me off. Of course I know how much I''ve hurt her. "Why do you mind Potter?" I raged back. "She''s my friend, that''s why!" "Harry, stop it," Hermione interrupted our devilish yelling session. "Why Hermione? Why him?" "Harry, can I talk to you? Alone." I let her go, knowing that whatever terrible thing she was about to say was only part of our plan. They went behind one of Slughorn''s golden curtains to speak with each other. I could still see their outlines and hints of the colors they were wearing. My Hermione, dressed to the nines, and Harry Potter telling her exactly why he thinks I am a bad date for her. I hated to admit it, but I knew he was right. I was a terrible choice for her, but that didn''t stop me from wanting her. I knew that eventually, I would have to let her go, but I knew that she had grown forbiddingly attached to me, so much so that it would take a lot more than my words to break her from me. I should have just stayed away from her like Professor Snape had told me to. Losing her now is going to hurt so much more. That is when the man himself walked right past me, and behind the curtain where Potter and Granger were still conversing. He told Potter something, then came back for me. "I take it the task has been finished?" "Yes sir, but my-" "Excellent, now let''s leave, I need to talk to you, privately." "But sir, my date-" He grabbed my shoulder, yanking me out of the room with him. "I didn''t ask for your permission boy." TRACKED __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "You lied to me!" - ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Professor Snape has always been imposing, but this time was different. He was desperate. This was a desperation that I couldn''t understand. After all, it wasn''t his life on the line, it was mine. He didn''t say a thing as we walked further and further away from Professor Slughorn''s office. Away from the party, and away from Hermione. He was livid, his jaw was clenched, and his eye twitched at any sudden movement of mine, almost like he couldn''t stand to be associated with me. His irritation reminded me of my father. My father''s irritation in my second year when I embarrassed him by falling off my broomstick in a quidditch match, punishing me by not allowing me to come home for Christmas. My father''s irriation when he learned that I was still meddling with Potter, making his business with The Dark Lord even more suspiscious. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how poor of a father I had gotten. Potter, who has grown up without parents, has truer role models than I. Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and, as much as it filled my mouth with sour distaste, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They had always told him to "be brave" and "be patient" while I was just told to not boast by a boasting man. Potter was told when he failed that he was strong, while I was punished. Deep down, I knew that was the real reason I hated Potter so much. He had guts and support, while I had none. Potter has someone to pull him out of the water when he drowns, I am just told to swim. My father never cared for his son, just his legacy that would be carried through me. My only family who has ever loved me in the slightest has been my mother, but her decisions were just as closely monitored by my father as mine were. His claws are deep inside of me, twisting my mind into the direction he wants. That is why I don''t feel shame when I bully Potter, that is why I feel guilt when I kiss Granger. It is my father molding my gullible heart to his image. What if I hadn''t been cruel to Potter, if I never cared about something as petty as blood status? Would we have been friends, close buddies even? Would they approve of me for Granger? No, I could''ve never been their friends, I am too much of a coward like my father. I only care about self-preservation, nothing more. When it comes down to it, I run from horrors, while they stand against. That is what makes me a Slytherin, and Granger a Gryffindor. She cares for me against all odds because she knows it''s the right thing to do. She sheds her coat to warm me because that''s what honorable people do. I only care for her because I am too selfish to let her go. My mind flashed back to Professor Snape''s looming figure, and to my surprise, he shoved me hard in the chest, pushing the air out of my lungs. I feel the wall of the corridor slam up against my back, and as I am regaining my breath, he sticks himself into my face.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "I swore to protect you, I made the Unbreakable Vow," he hissed in my face. Is that why my mother told me to go to the professor if I needed help? Did Professor Snape make the Unbreakable Vow to her, to protect me? That infuriated me. My parents never believed in me. The one time I get the chance to do something of value, they have to take the honor away. "I don''t need protection," I responded in the same demeanor, trying not to appear weak in front of the man that reminded me so much of my father, "I was chosen for this, out of all others, me." The Dark Lord had chosen me. Even if it was to punish my father, I knew that I am the only student in this entire wretched school that would be able to do his bidding. "I have offered my guidance, but you repeatedly refuse it. She has grown attached to you boy, and I won''t allow it. If you fail, it won''t be just your life in danger. It will be mine.... and hers," he snarled. "Don''t you think The Dark Lord knows about your little romance with Granger?" My eyes widened, of course I didn''t. If I had known, I wouldn''t be wasting my evenings sneaking off with her, further ridiculing my parents. I could only imagine what they were thinking, their son with a mudblood. Not only that, he is letting himself be distracted by her instead of focusing on his crucial task. "She is being tracked boy, look," Professor Snape thrust a copied file into my hand. On it was a photo of Granger from the year before reading a book and smiling to someone nearby. She looked so innocent and beautiful. As I read the text underneath her image, however, my heart stopped beating. It was a commission form from the Ministry of Magic. The form listed all of her information. Where she was born, her physical features, and even her school house. Most unsettling of all, was the specific information. "Suspected member of the Order of the Phoenix," and "Last seen in the company of one, Draco Malfoy." "Sir, how does this- this parchment know this?" "The Ministry has eyes at Hogwarts Draco, I thought you knew" I continued reading the document, horrified at the impossibilities of what it knew. There was a large stamp on the document that read, TRACKED, in huge red letters. "She''s not of age," I whispered, understanding, "That''s how they are tracking her." "The Dark Lord has a task for you Draco, don''t let Granger distract you," he said, then he walked away, leaving me alone with her copied file. The last thing on her form was the most heartbreaking. "Very High Risk". They were already watching her. They were watching her to see if she was a threat, and once that was decided, it would mean a death sentence. I have been worsening that for her. Making her affiliated with a Death Eater, making her more of a target. I slumped against the wall. Once she found out about me, she would notify Potter and Weasley, and now that I am aware of it, the Order of the Phoenix as well. I cursed myself under my breath. How could I have been so short-sighted and selfish. The Ministry is basically run by Death Eaters these days and they track underage witches and wizards. I knew this. How could I have overlooked such a major detail? I had been clouded by my infatuation with Granger. She caused me to be unable to see the other side of the tunnel. I thought that I could steal precious moments with her before it was too late, but I hadn''t realized that my time had already passed. If I had stayed away from her, everything would have worked more smoothly. If I had yelled at her and shut her out on the first day of term instead of letting her in, I wouldn''t have to live with the utter pain of knowing I haven''t just endangered my own life, but hers as well. My haze of self-loathing was interrupted by the last voice that I would want to have overheard my conversation. "Draco!" Hermione exclaimed, tears running down her face, streaking her makeup under her wet eyes, "You lied to me!" She took off down the hallway. I got up, planning on following her, but I decided better of it. I can''t let her associate herself with me anymore than she already did. I sat back down, unable to feel a thing, just trapped in my spiraling head for minutes, then I realized... ...What if she figured it out? Dont Tell Anyone _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "How do I get you to stay with me?" - ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Granger left my flowers'' petals strewn across where she had walked, and as I passed, they brushed further away from me. The gorgeous white and red petals floated down the stairs, as if directing me. I walked down three flights of stairs, cross two corridors, and past dozens of sleeping portraits before I found her. She was sobbing in her party dress, little birds flying above her head. I don''t think she heard me as I silently descended the stairs. Her sobs weren''t noisy, more of the painful kind where you feel like your heart has been ripped out, and along with it, every ability for you to make noise. Her mouth was caught in the middle of a silent scream and teardrops were speckled on the floor underneath her. The bouquet had been thrown to the side, abused and dilapidated, with no memory of the life they had once lived. "Hermione." "WHY DRACO?" she shouted in a broken voice, "Why did you lie?" "I had to," I carefully sat down next to her, but she moved herself further away from me, "to protect you." "NO, you did it to protect yourself!" I hated to admit it, but she was right. She was always right. She broke out in another fit of sobs, "I know Draco, I know why you''ve been sneaking around, why you''ve been avoiding my questions." Everything froze. She couldn''t know, she just couldn''t. How could she have figured it out already? "I''ve known since the first day of term, I just didn''t want to believe it," she said, "You''re one of them, aren''t you? One of his followers." "Granger, I-" "STOP LYING DRACO!" she berated, "Please, just for once be honest." Tears formed in my eyes, but I let them come. It was strange, crying in front of someone. I haven''t done that since I was very small, so small that I can''t even remember it. My father always said that it showed weakness, that a real wizard never cries. I didn''t want this, none of it. If my father wasn''t so manipulative and actually parented like he should have, I would have such a better life. "I didn''t want to be," I told her. I took off my black overcoat with the black leather accents and revealed my long sleeved white dress shirt. I unbuttoned the cuffs and ripped the fabric up my arm, showing her the skull and snake tattooed on my skin. She gasped. "I was chosen." Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "Why didn''t you tell me?" "You would''ve told Potter and everything would have been ruined." "Draco, I wouldn''t have told anyone. I know you, you wouldn''t kill anyone. As much as you fail to see it, you''re still a good person." Reluctantly, she allowed me to sob into her. She muttered under her breath, saying that it was okay, and that everything is going to be alright, but I knew otherwise. If things between Granger and I got serious, she would be killed. She would be killed because of me. My father had chosen this life. For himself, and for his son. I never had a choice in the matter, but even if I did, I don''t think I could stand up to him. The Dark Lord is the most powerful and influential force in the world right now, it would take a miracle to defeat him. For that reason, I have to follow him. The Dark Lord has to respect me, because if he doesn''t, then I die. "You''re wrong Granger. I never thought that it could happen, but you are." "What about?" "I''m not a good person. I selfishly spent time with you when it would have been better for you if you stayed away. I cowardly accepted this mark on my skin because I couldn''t find it in myself to fight my family. And I will become a murderer. Maybe not today, but one day." Internally I crossed my fingers. I hoped my last point didn''t expose too much information. She had no response so I had to ask, "Do you still care for me Granger? After knowing all of that?" She heaved a heavy breath, "I shouldn''t, but yes, I still love you." I grimaced at her, "I''m sorry," then I took off. "Draco? Where do you think you are going?" "We can''t do this anymore. It''s not safe for you." "I''ve been in plenty of life-threatening situations before. I''m not afraid." Of course she isn''t. She is so attached that it is going to take more than the facts to drive her away. "Granger, cry about it to Weasley, won''t you?" I knew that stung, I could see it on her face. I turned and didn''t look back, not wanting to see the hurt I, yet again, instilled on her lovely face. I was truly a monster. "Draco, no!" She got up and tried to pull me back to her. Each tug was pointless. I kept walking, daring myself not to look at her because if I did, I don''t think I could ever leave her again. I heard her shout, "Oppugno!" in my direction, and little birds exploded into my backside. I stumbled, wincing at the sharp pain. She pulled me up and pinned me against the wall, gripping my wrists so I wouldn''t try and escape. Like I had predicted, now that I saw her, I couldn''t leave her. "How do I get you to stay with me?" she begged, her eyes full of lost hope and loneliness, "At least until you cross that line." I sighed, "That''s all I want Granger, but it''s not possible." "HOW DRACO MALFOY?" Her demanding attitude was overwhelming. It made me feel like the whimpering child that I was back in our third year right before she punched me. What had she called me? A foul, loathsome, evil, little cockroach? Oh yeah, that is exactly what I am. That is exactly how I felt as I answered, "Don''t tell anyone," I nodded my head towards my mark since she had both of my hands firmly locked against the wall, "About that." She let me go, a smile forming on her face. It was a painful smile. A knowing smile, but it made me feel loved for the first time. She didn''t care who I was, as long as there was no blood on my hands. She leaned in to me, begging me to kiss her, and I leaned in as well. I knew that I shouldn''t touch her, that it was forbidden, but I didn''t care. This is what I wanted. My self-preservation instincts kicked into full gear, and I met her lips with my own. "We shouldn''t do this," I told her, not giving up our kiss. "I know." Occlumency __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "You love her, don''t you boy? Don''t lie to me." - ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Weasley was in the hospital wing. Poisoned. I have no doubt in my mind that Professor Slughorn had given him some of the wine that was supposed to be gifted to Professor Dumbledore. It doesn''t take a genius to figure out that he suspected me. I was playing through different situations in the event where I was confronted about the wine, when Professor Snape stopped me. "My office, now." In his office, the professor was brooding again. He paced back and forth across the room with his hand on his chin. I broke the silence, "What do we do Professor?" "Professor Slughorn under no circumstances can believe you knew the bottle was poison," he said, "no one can know." I nodded. That much was obvious. "Fix the cabinet, Draco. It is the only way." On weekends I had been revisiting the vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement, but not nearly as much as I had before. I thought for sure the wine would have been sufficient, but it turned out to have been a worse idea than the cursed necklace. I had made little to no progress on mending it and now, I only had six months left. I prayed for that to be enough time. "We need to practice occlumency as well." "Occlumency, sir?" "To protect you in the case that someone tried to penetrate your mind." I shivered, penetrate my mind? "I am going to attempt to enter your mind. Your job is to try and resist me." I held up my wand. "No boy. You need to control your emotions, hide your thoughts from me." I whimpered as he enunciated, "Legilimens!" Suddenly reality became my fantasy. I was swimming in the thoughts of my past. The cabinet flashed by, the dead bird and bitten apple, but Professor Snape was standing behind me. Granger''s hair in first year, bouncing to the rhythm of its own song, but Professor Snape was staring as well. The guilt I felt when I called her a mudblood, the pain of my heart ripping out, but yet again, Professor Snape was standing beside me.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. "NO!" I shouted, forcing him away. He had absolutely no right to be seeing those memories. They are mine to treasure and regret, not his. I forced my mind into solitude, and suddenly the flashing memories were gone and I was floating in my own darkness. Spinning around and around as if in outer space. A feeling of peace and comfort overtook me, then I was thrust back into the world as I knew it. "Extraordinary," Professor Snape said, in awe, "Never have I witnessed someone as gifted in Occlumens as you Draco." "You certainly have Professor." I was still angry with him stealing the privacy and innocence of my memories away. "Perhaps, but never on their first try. You are a natural Draco." I smirked at the compliment, but it disappeared, "First try sir?" Surely we wouldn''t be doing that again, right? Professor Snape smiled nastily, "Again. Legilimens!" This time I was more prepared for what was coming. My father scolding me for touching something in Borgin and Burkes, nearly beating me with his cane. Professor Snape was only a whisper of smoke nearby. Potter refusing my hand before the sorting ceremony in our first year, humiliating my family name in front of all our classmates. Professor Snape was just a ghost. I blocked him out further and succeeded. We didn''t even go to the dark place as we had before, just straight back into Professor Snape''s office. "Marvelous Draco. You have innate control over your emotions." "What does that mean Professor? Why is that a good thing?" "It means that you''ve been hiding them extremely well for some time. My only question is from who?" I gulped, "I don''t know sir." "Nevermind then. Legilimens!" I hadn''t expected this one so it took me a while to adjust, although it wasn''t before he had seen the answer to his question. My father flashed through my mind, as did my mother, then my memories focused on Granger. Granger cheering me on in a quidditch match, hiding behind the booths as to not be seen by Potter and Weasley. The betrayal I felt when she chose Potter''s side over mine, and the need to prove my worth to her by ignorantly approaching the hippogriff. The anger in her eyes as she punched me, and the awe in my soul after she had. Granger''s scent on my tongue as she pulled me closer under the constellations. Gardenias and red roses beside Granger''s petrified body, then the same combination held against a rosy pink dress. I kicked him out of my head, "Stop, stop, STOP!" He sat, mouth agape. He whispered what sounded like "Lily," to himself before refocusing on me. "I didn''t realize how much you cared for her." "What?" I attempted a lie. "You love her, don''t you boy? Don''t lie to me." My mouth hung open as I hesitated to answer. I stared into his face, and for the first time I noticed how young he really was. There was a hurt in his eyes, something I had never seen on anyone. Anyone except myself. For an instant, it was like staring into a mirror. Like staring into a mirror of shared pain and sorrows. "Yeah, I do. I love her." Professor Snape wasn''t angry, he was strangely sympathetic. Until this moment, the professor was insanely a replica of my father. I never thought that Professor Snape had a weakness, just like I thought about my father, but today, I unearthed it. It was a sadness that he had held within him for a long time. My father''s values seemed minuscule compared to the raw, true emotion that both Professor Snape and I were expressing. "Pity," he whispered. I only nodded, snuffing the urge of just pouring out all my pain to him out like the flame of a candle. "It''s so difficult to let her go." "I know." I felt a strange feeling that he understood exactly what I meant, as if he had lived it himself. "How did you do it?'' He sighed, his usual demeanor returning. It was a terrifying transformation. "I didn''t." A Creature of Pure Darkness ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "Sectumsempra!" It felt like a sword had sliced me into pieces. - ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________- Every minute of free time I had was spent trying to mend the cabinet. I went through at least a dozen birds before one came back alive. It was improvement, however it later died from blood loss as it had been splinched. There was four months remaining in my timeline and I couldn''t even get a simple bird through a vanishing cabinet without causing its death. After several more attempts, I felt like I could relate to the birds who had fallen victim to me. Their freedom and innocence was stolen from them by being pawns of another''s plan. I was just a pawn in a game of chess. Expendable. Replaceable. All The Dark Lord cared about was is own preservation and personal power. He was just using me to punish my father. He gave me a task he knew I couldn''t complete just to rip my family apart. I hated him for it. My hatred stretched deep within me. I have done evil things for him, changed myself for him just so I could save my own life. In less than a year, I have almost killed two classmates, used an illegal curse on a witch, and heartlessly ended the lives of an entire flock of birds. Who had I become? Every night as I looked into the mirror, it was less and less easy to identify myself. When I saw my hands, I saw them stirring a deadly poison. I saw them handing an innocent girl a cursed package. I saw them lifting the bodies of birds out of the cabinet and tossing them into an ever growing pile. These hands are the same monstrous ones that gently caress Granger''s cheek in the wee hours of the morning. The same hands that caught a snitch in quidditch for a Slytherin victory. These hands have written tirelessly on infinite essays to prove to their father that they were worthy of his praise. Every time I picked up another bird, its blood staining my skin, I felt more and more like a monster than a person. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ One evening, I walked into the Great Hall for dinner when I noticed a returned face. Bell. She was catching up with her friends when Potter approached her. I froze, staring at the scene that was playing out in front of my face. Potter knew, I was sure of it. He sat back down with his friends, then all three of them, Potter, Weasley, and Granger, turned to see me standing like ice in the entrance of the Great Hall. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Disbelief was on Weasley and Granger''s faces. Potter was less than impressed. I felt a searing mouthful of regret pile in my mouth. Even when I swallowed it, it kept pushing me under the water, drowning me. I did the only thing that I could think of, I ran. I moved briskly down the corridors, trying to find a safe place to collapse. The boys bathroom was empty so I entered. My vest felt too tight all of a sudden as my sadness erupted through me. I stripped it off as my body lost all ability to stand. I gripped on the sink in front of me for support, hoping that it was enough to ground me. When I glanced up into the mirror hung above my sink, I saw the boy inside of me. The boy that I had ruthlessly murdered. The boy that was never coming back. In his place was a creature that even the Forbidden Forest was afraid of, a creature so heartless that he would injure others to protect himself. In his place was a creature of pure darkness. I let the sobs come. The sobs that I had never had the courage to let myself feel. My arms shook as I cried the unrelenting sadnesses. I didn''t hear their footsteps, otherwise I would have concealed my sorrows under my skin again, but I heard their voice. "Draco," it was soft and understanding, warm and forgiving. I whirled around. Hermione. "I know," her voice broke. I didn''t say anything and I didn''t have anything to say. My tears had already dried up, but the emptiness was still there. She knew. She knew about my dark mark, the unwavering pledge I gave to The Dark Lord. She knew about the necklace, the cursed jewelry I handed off to Katie Bell in the bathroom corridor of The Three Broomsticks. She knew about the wine, the poisoned drink Weasley had succumbed to. She knew, but still, she was here. Nothing was said between us, and nothing was needed. We both stood face to face with each other. Enemies. The enemy that we love more than ourselves. She couldn''t love me anymore, yet she still cared, and I couldn''t let her, yet I still wanted her. I wanted her more than anything. I wanted her almost as much as I wanted my life. My life and my family''s lives. Unfortunately for Granger and I, my family would always come first. Potter broke our silence. He stormed in, "I know what you did Malfoy." "No Harry!" Hermione protested, jumping between us, "No! You don''t understand!" Her attempt was noble, but Potter was blinded by rage, "Out of the way Hermione!" he shouted as he shoved her aside. He shot a non-verbal spell at me, but I dodged it and, in retaliation, I sent one his way. Hermione dove behind one of the stalls on the left side of the bathroom while Potter and I hid on opposite ends of the right side. I lay on the floor, preparing for his feet to emerge as a perfect target. Instead of his feet, his head popped into view. I shot another spell at his scarred forehead and missed, exploding the toilet next to him. The same happened for his spell. Shots like this were exchanged for many minutes as Hermione was screaming at us to stop. Eventually, she emerged, sending protection charms between the two of us. This distracted both Potter and I, but we still were firing shots at one another and Granger was having a hard time keeping up. One of Potter''s spells finally hit me. For this one, he yelled a incantation that I hadn''t heard before, "Sectumsempra!" It felt like a sword had sliced me into pieces. My face, my chest, and both of my arms were writhing in pain. I screamed in tortured agony and fell to the floor. The floor had been flooded from all the pipes we had bust and it stung against my open wounds. Sectumsempra _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "You can''t know Hermione. You''ll kill me." - _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ My mind couldn''t contemplate what was happening, but I knew this had to be what dying felt like. My body contorted and shook, and when I opened my eyes, my white shirt was now blood red. The water beside me was being dyed the color of my blood. I shut my eyes and moaned, the pain too much for me to handle. I heard Granger''s screaming, "Help! Help! Anybody?" at the top of her lungs. Desperation was an understatement for the panicked tone of her voice, and in what seemed like seconds, Professor Snape was by my side. "Vulnera Sanentur," he muttered, "Vulnera Sanentur. Vulnera Sanentur." By the third repetition, the pain had subsided. The cuts had been closed, but I still felt the sting of where they had been. I felt dizzy, lightheaded. I had no idea what had just happened to me, but I knew that it was horrific. "Granger, leave," he was livid, but that is as much as I can remember. When Professor Snape lifted me off from the bathroom floor, the world started spinning and I drifted into unconsciousness. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I woke in the hospital wing with bandages across every part of my chest. The only clothes I had left on was my trousers, which felt sticky for some reason. I sat up, completely dumbfounded as why I was there. Where is my shirt? Then the dizziness came back and I flopped back on my pillow. I had just awoken from a nightmare where Potter had slashed me with the Sword of Gryiffindor, surely that couldn''t have been what had happened. "Oh, thank goodness Mr. Malfoy, you''re awake!" the warm and loving voice of Madam Pomfrey told me as she scrambled over to my bed. "You gave me quite a scare last night. Professor Snape had to carry you in, cuts all over your body!" she squealed. So it hadn''t been a dream after all, that is what happened. Well, maybe not to the extremes I had imagined it. I could remember Potter shouting a curse at me before the pain had started, what was it again? "Not to worry dear," she said as she saw the confused expression on my face, "I put dittany on every last one, so there should be minimal scarring. But I have to say, I don''t know what happened to your forearm there, Professor Snape wouldn''t let me touch it." My eyes darted, panicked, to where my dark mark was, and I was relieved to see that it was so bandaged that you wouldn''t have a single inkling that it was there at all. The professor was clever, he had wrapped it up before anyone could see it. "Thanks, ma''am."A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "No problem dear," she smiled and headed off, then she came back, remembering something, "I should tell your friend, Miss Granger, that you are awake. She came by last night to see you, but you were fast asleep so I had to send her to her dormitory." My heart stopped, Hermione had come by to see... me? My heart smiled, "Yes, that would be nice." Not even twenty minutes later, Hermione came bursting through the door, a worried expression on her face. When she saw me smiling at her, my head propped up on a pillow, her shoulders relaxed and her face turned a shade of pink that I hadn''t seen on her face for months. "Hi," she said as she sat down in the chair beside my bed. "Hey," I responded. For that moment, all horrors between us were forgotten. It didn''t last long enough though. Her eyes said, I''m glad you''re alright, but she whispered, "I can''t believe you have done all those terrible things!" I sat up straighter in my bed, causing my sheet to fall to my waist, exposing my bandaged chest to her. If the bandages weren''t covering me so intently that they could have been mistaken for a shirt themselves, I would have felt uncomfortable at the informality. Her eyes glanced at the extent of my wounds, and lingered at the bandage that covered the dark mark on my forearm, but, she eventually shook her head and forced herself to stop growing attached. As she should, I thought. Instead of facing her wrath, I hung my head in shame, letting her dig her nails into me. "You cursed Katie. You poisoned... R-Ron," she stumbled at saying what I had done to her other love. "Why?" "They weren''t my target," is all I said. I shouldn''t even be telling her anything. I had promised myself I would keep her out of this, but she had to know that hurting her friends was never my intention. She was taken aback, this wasn''t the explanation she expected. I saw the information being processed in her mind before she said, "Professor Dumbledore." That is when I reacted. I grabbed her shoulder, wincing at the pain it caused, "You can''t tell anyone Hermione, please?" "I promised I''d keep your secret as long as you didn''t cross that line," her heart was breaking, "You have! You''ve hurt people Draco!" Seeing her eyes well with tears made mine do the same. "I don''t want to," I muttered. "Then why do it?" "Hermione, if I don''t, he''ll kill me." The shock didn''t register on her face until seconds after I had whispered it. Her mouth hung open, the horror of my situation registering. "Who will kill you Draco?" she asked, but we both knew the answer. "The Dark Lord." She wrapped her arms around me, holding me with a bittersweet affection. She cared for me, but, in a different way, she cared for Professor Dumbledore as well. There was a conflict in her that I recognized immediately. It was my own. The tearing of your heart where you have to decide between one person you care about or another. For me, it was my family or Granger, and for her, it was her loyalty. Depending on who she told and who she didn''t would decide who would be lying in the ground in four months time. "Please Hermione," I begged. "I can''t Draco, you know I can''t." "Yes, I know." I reached for my wand on the table next to me, and I brokenheartedly pointed it at her. With lightning fast reflexes, she pulled her own on me. "Don''t you hurt me Malfoy," she warned. "I could never hurt you Hermione. I only want to make you forget," I lamented, "Obliviate." "Protego," she breathed instantaneously, shooting my memory charm against the wall of the hospital wing. She looked so betrayed, more so than when she found out that I was a Death Eater. She looked like she had just been inflicted with the curse Potter had cast on me in our bathroom duel the night before. "Draco?" "You can''t know Hermione. You''ll kill me." Sadly she nodded, understanding. She breathed to calm herself, knowing the weight of the decision that she had to make, "I won''t tell anyone." "Thank you." She stayed for another quarter hour, tracing the bandages that I had on my chest as if she was trying to enjoy me while she could. When her fingers ran down to my dark mark however, I stiffened, expecting her to lecture me some more, but she only encircled the mark with her finger, drawing a marker as if to remind herself who I was. I''m not the boy she should give up everything for. I''m not the boy deservant of her love or her protection. She knew the weight of her decision to hide my secret and she chose the darkness inside of her. As dark as her choice was, it still made her strong. This is the most significant difference between the two of us. More than she was a confident young woman, and I a scared little boy. More than she was a Gryffindor, and I a Slytherin. She was strong, and I was not. Mended _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, have mended the Hogwarts vanishing cabinet. - _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Next week is the deadline for the vanishing cabinet, and it is yet to have been mended. Almost four months have gone by and there has been little noticeable difference. Last week, I had been ecstatic, thinking that I had solved the puzzle when the bird I had sent to and from Borgin and Burkes flew out of the cabinet completely unscathed. I wrote Borgin about the success, but was disappointed to here that there were a few feathers left behind in the Borgin and Burkes cabinet. I was so stressed about fixing the cabinet in time that I confessed to Hermione my plan. She screamed at me, telling me that she didn''t want any association with Professor Dumbledore''s murder and that I was daft to believe that she would actually help me. Of course I retorted by telling her that she was associated through myself, but she didn''t like that. She had left my company, assuring me that she would keep our promise, but insisted that we should stop meeting in the Room on a regular basis. Reluctantly I agreed, knowing that it was for the best, but it still pained me to see her walk out, just to flirt with Weasley the next morning. Today, I pushed my luck. I collected a handful of birds, and shoved them carelessly into the cabinet. I shut the door and mumbled the incantation, "Harmonia Nectere Passus." Their startled chirping disappeared in a whoosh. A success. "Harmonia Nectere Passus." The chirping resumed. I opened the door. No bodies, no blood, and as far as I could tell, no missing feathers either. This was good news. I wanted to test it on someone, but the only person available was myself, and that was a risk I was absolutely never willing to take. Then it hit me, Crabbe and Goyle. They have been loyal to me from the start, and would never betray their fathers'' cause, and even if they wanted to, they were too thick to know where to start. Excellent.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. I dragged them out of our dormitory and showed them the Room of Requirement. They still didn''t understand how the Room worked and kept asking me the same questions over, and over, and over, and over again, but in the end, they got an understanding. "So, no one can find us here?" Goyle blubbered. "Yes, that''s what I have told you." "Brilliant," added Crabbe. I showed them the cabinet, saying that I needed them to go inside and see if they could double-check what was inscribed on the wall. Of course, there was nothing inscribed inside the cabinet, but I had to get them in there somehow. "You know that you''re better off checking Malfoy," Crabbe uttered. "Yeah, why don''t you do it?" "I have, I just... need a second opinion." Once the two came to a consensus that this made sense, they lumbered into the cabinet and I shut the door on them. "Malfoy what is going on?" "Stay inside until I open the doors again," I warned them, "Harmonia Nectere Passus." They gasped as the cabinet whooshed them to Borgin and Burkes. "Harmonia Nectere Passus." I hoped and prayed that this had worked and I hadn''t killed anybody, but to my glee, Crabbe and Goyle were still intact, not a single hair displaced. They looked sick, but that was expected. I had done it. I had done the impossible. I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, have mended the Hogwarts vanishing cabinet. "What in Merlin was that?" Crabbe asked, clutching his stomach. "Nevermind that, I''m just glad it works." They stared at me in horror as I said those words. They couldn''t believe that they were just test dummies to me. That didn''t bother me, like The Dark Lord had said, they were too small-minded for this task. Only I have the brains and the nerve to put his plan into realization. I smiled smugly to myself. I will prove myself to him yet. Our Last Hello and Goodbye ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - "No Draco," a lonely tear rolled down her cheek, "I don''t want to forget you." - ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Both Hermione and I knew that there would be a turning point in our relationship. In fifth year, we thought it would be my father. Then, I thought it would be my mark, then my deeds, but now it was clear that the turning point was murder. She couldn''t love a murderer, and I couldn''t allow her to. She was destined to be with someone who wouldn''t make her choose between what is right and what she loved. She was destined to be with someone who wouldn''t break her heart on a monthly basis, but instead be a constant light in her life. She was destined for Weasley, and we both knew it. For the last few months we had talked about today and what it would mean for us. How we would react in the events following. How we would pretend like each other never existed. We had both shed tears at this thought, but now, it was more real than ever. Today was the day. Today was the day I would lose her forever. Today was the day I became a murderer. I had pushed this day as far as I could, but tonight was the perfect opportunity. The old man is going away for a few hours tonight and when he returned, I would take the opportunity and kill him where he stood. The idea terrified me, but not as much as being on the opposite end of the curse. I entered the Great Hall for dinner that night with a solemn, defeated expression on my face. This was the last dinner I would truly enjoy at Hogwarts. I forced myself to glance at Professor Dumbledore, happily chatting away with the other professors. He had no idea that this was his last meal, his last time talking to these people, the last time sitting at the head of the staff table. Today was the last day that Professor Dumbledore would walk this earth, but no one in this room knew apart from Professor Snape and myself. Only us, and by the end of the evening, Hermione as well. I caught her attention and gave her our signal. The one we had devised on our last regular visit to the Room of Requirement. The signal that meant we needed to talk that evening. I tapped my ear, then scratched beside my nose, and she did the same, confirming our date. That excited me, but also saddened me. Tonight would be the last night I would hold Hermione Granger. Tonight would be the last time I would kiss her lips. Tonight, Hermione would forget about me. She wouldn''t know she forgot though. I haven''t told her my real plan for our last night together, for she would be wholeheartedly against it. I would alter her memory. She would still remember me of course, but only the parts that make her hate me. It would be like the past year never happened, like I had shut her out of my life on the first day of term like I should have. Instead of me, she would kiss Ron in the library, take Ron to Slughorn''s Christmas party, and sneak out at night to watch the stars with Ron. It would be like I never loved her. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ She met me exactly at eight o''clock that evening in front of the Room of Requirement. Silently, the two of us entered to our balcony and sat together, holding hands. Tonight, there was a blanket folded neatly to the side. "What is it Draco?" she cooed. I looked to her, a defeated look in my eyes, and I could tell she knew what I was going to say. She nodded, "It''s happening tonight, isn''t it?" My glance confirmed it for her, and she started bawling. I halfheartedly pulled her into my arms and we hugged and hugged until her eyes ran out of tears to cry and she was just sniffling. "I love you," she reminded me.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "And I love you." "I''m never going to forget this," she told me. Oh, how wrong she was. "Neither am I." I pulled the folded blanket around us, and I laid down, pulling her on top of me. She wrapped her arms around my chest and buried her face into my neck. I gently rubbed her back and her hair, telling her all the little things I love about her, "You are beautiful, more so than any flower or painting. You are strong, you can face anything that comes in your path. You are determined and smart. You smell like fall and fresh parchment. Your voice is like a song. You are quirky, but in the cutest sort of way. I love it when you flip your hair, it just does something to me. There are a million more reasons, but those are all I have the dignity to say." She clutched me tighter, "My Draco. Mine." A choke echoed in my empty chest. After everything, she still wanted me. She still wanted me to be hers. "My Hermione. My red rose," I said to her. We lay there, admiring each other, and at some point, she had unbuttoned my shirt to run her fingers down my barely recognizable scars from Potter''s curse. There was nothing really sensual about her touch though, it just felt natural, like this was always meant to be. I caught myself with the last thought. No, this was never meant to be. This relationship between Hermione and I was rewriting destiny instead of following it. We were never meant to be friends. She''s a muggle-born, and I am a pureblood whose parents would never allow for such dirt to ruin the family''s pureblood status. She is a muggle-born who would be much better off with a muggle-loving father-in-law like Arthur Weasley, than a muggle-hating father-in-law like mine. She was never supposed to love me, and I was never supposed to love her. Life would have been so much easier if we had stuck to the script. But we hadn''t, and here we were, wrapped up in each other''s griefs. "Why are you so perfect?" she groaned. "Me perfect? You are well aware I am anything but." "If you didn''t have that mark on your skin, then you would be." She traced the mark, careful not to touch it as I had warned her what happens if she did. She sent electricity through me. Her warm touch was almost too much to contain within myself. I pushed her gently up, and she readjusted her legs to wrap around my body, and I kissed her, passionately. This kiss showed her that I had never known true passion before this day, that she was my flame, my one and only love. The way she returned my kiss made it seem like she finally reciprocated my feelings, that I was her one and only as well. What ever happened to Weasley? I caught myself wondering, but instead I refocused on her. My girl. She''s mine. She is mine, at least for this night. When our kiss concluded, she lay back on my chest, her arms underneath my head, holding onto me fiercely, afraid to let go. I ran my hands curiously down her sides, trying to brand each angle into my memory forever, so that when I fall asleep, I could still imagine her weight on me, her shape on me, her warm, tired breath on my skin. She was drifting off, and I let her. I needed her to be unconscious for when I adjusted her memory. As it was, it would rip me apart knowing that she would never be able to remember me, but seeing her eyes as I wiped my love from her mind would rip me into pieces. It would rip me almost as bad as killing Professor Dumbledore. When I thought she had fallen asleep, I slipped her arms from around my neck to the cold floor. I slid out from under her and felt the sting of cold nighttime air on my bare chest. This sting was the only thing that reminded me that I was still alive, that I hadn''t died in her arms. I picked up my shirt and wand off the floor and slipped the shirt back over my head. I had only begun to button the shirt back up when she spoke. "Draco?" I froze. She wasn''t supposed to be awake. I couldn''t do it if she was. She stood up, but I held her back, "It''s time Hermione." "But just let me hug you goodbye," she begged. It was a simple request, harmless, so I let her. "Bye Draco," she whimpered into my half-buttoned shirt. "Goodbye Hermione." When she broke contact, I pulled my wand at her. It was time for me to do it. It needed to be done. "Obliviate." "Protego." "Hermione," I sobbed, "Don''t you understand? I have to do this. I have to do this or they''ll kill you." "No Draco," a lonely tear rolled down her cheek, "I don''t want to forget you." "Hermione please, you can''t know, you can''t." "I won''t tell anyone, just like I promised. I''ll... I''ll go and be with Ron. I''ll even marry him if you want. I''ll never tell a soul, I swear. Please Draco, please," she hopelessly begged, "I will never love anyone as much as I love you." "Obliviate." This time I caught her off guard. My charm hit her as she was performing another shield charm. She had been knocked out, and I ran to scoop her head to protect her from hurting it as she fell to the ground. Gently, I covered her with the blanket we shared and with my lips brushing her ear, I whispered, "I love you too Hermione Granger. I always will." I pocketed my wand and admired her sleeping figure as I finished buttoning my shirt. Painfully I turned around and left her sleeping peacefully in the Room of Requirement, where I knew she was safe in her dream about Ron Weasley. When she woke, she would not remember my lips, the feeling of my hair between her fingers, and she would never remember my loving sentiments. I sobbed like I had in the bathroom, knowing that the memory of us will only ever be known by me. Avada Kedavra ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - Professor Snape had sacrificed his soul, for... mine. - __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I walked up the stairs of the astronomy tower where Professor Snape had told me Professor Dumbledore would return, and indeed he had. As I approached the top, I heard his voice talking with someone, but I couldn''t depict who. It was Hermione''s betrayed voice that kept replaying over and over in my head, causing me to lose focus. After all this planning and waiting, distraction was the last thing I needed. I forced myself to forget about her, sleeping peacefully and alone in the Room of Requirement. A different room from where Auntie Bella and her minions would arrive momentarily. When I reached the top of the tower, he was alone. I quickly scanned the surrounding area, searching for who he had been chatting with, but no one was there. The old man was alone. He just watched me as I pulled my wand out, pointing it at him. "Good evening Draco," he said kindly to me. What did he know? He didn''t seem unnerved that I had my wand tip focused on his heart, almost as if he had expected me. But how? There was no way he could have known about this. It was kept entirely secret. For an instant I wondered if Hermione had broken her promise to me and told him, but I realized that I would be in Azkaban, awaiting a death from The Dark Lord if that were the case. To my great surprise, he continued to greet me, "What brings you here on this fine spring evening?" I addressed my worry about the second person in the room, knowing very well that Potter had an invisibility cloak in his possession that he could be hiding under, "Who else is here? I heard you talking to someone," I demanded. "Oh, I''ve been talking aloud to myself. I find it extraordinarily useful. Have you been whispering to yourself Draco?" It was a strange response, almost fatherly. He seemed genuinely concerned about me, but I couldn''t let my feelings get in the way. I put my wand up higher, firmer this time. I should''ve just said the two words then. The two words that would end his life. If I had said them at that moment, then it wouldn''t have gotten so much harder. "You are no assassin Draco," he soothed. He still believed in me. Me, standing here with my wand outstretched, ready to murder him in an instant, and he showed no sign of fear, just sympathy towards me. It was unbelievable, unheard of. I quivered, but I didn''t back down, "How do you know what I am," I hissed, "I''ve done things that would shock you." Like making the one I love forget about me. "Like cursing Miss Katie Bell, hoping that she would bear a cursed necklace to me. Or replacing wine in a bottle with poison?" I didn''t know how he knew, but for some reason, it didn''t surprise me. The same feeling that I have always had about Professor Dumbledore resurfaced. His all-knowing demeanor, and his understanding embrace around your soul. It made me feel weak. I had to kill this man. It was my duty. "He trusts me," I caught myself repeating the same words I had earlier this year with Professor Snape. Like I had revealed my mark to Hermione, I ripped up my sleeve, showing the professor the Dark Mark emblazoned on my skin, "I was chosen." "Well in that case, I''ll make it easy for you," he held up his hands, surrendering to me, but I couldn''t do it. I couldn''t kill him. The only thing I could think of doing was disarming him. I pulled up the painful memory of Hermione Granger perfecting my wand movements when we practiced in the Room of Requirement last year as I snapped, "Expelliarmus!" The professor''s wand flew out of his hands. His reaction was not one that I had expected. He seemed more shocked that I had disarmed him then when I showed him my mark. He must''ve known all along about the mark, but he never thought I would cast a spell against him.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Just then, the astronomy tower stairs creaked, and I heard footsteps crawling up them. Among the thumping and creaking of the wood were the crazed laughs of my aunt. She had arrived. I only hoped that they didn''t find Hermione. I had left her defenseless. They shouldn''t have, I reminded myself. You can''t enter someone else''s room unless they let you in. "There are others," the old man noted, "How?" "The vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement. I''ve been mending it." "Let me guess, it has a twin." "Borgin and Burkes." "Ingenious Draco, absolutely ingenious," he complimented. Something inside of me broke. He was the only one who has ever congratulated me on being able to complete the task, let alone having the idea. Not even my mother could spare the sentiment, and Hermione had too much hatred for the task I would use it for. If only I had killed him earlier, before he wove his way into my heart. I held my wand up again, determined to do it this time, before he could do anything more, then I lowered it, as he continued to speak to me, "Years ago, I knew a boy who made all the wrong choices. Let me help you Draco." I wanted to take his offer, but I couldn''t. It meant stepping into the unknown against The Dark Lord, and that was never a safe place to be. I had to reject his hand, he didn''t understand. Almost the same words had formed in my mouth that I had told Hermione just minutes ago. It felt funny to repeat them, but strangely, they were the right thing to say. "Don''t you understand? I have to do this. I have to kill you, or he''s going to kill me," my voice squeaked like the terrified child I was. The Dark Lord has cut the child in me open and sewed his evil intentions in the openings. He has turned me into an instrument of murder, but there is no stopping this. I can''t fail, but I lowered my wand. I have to kill him, but I lost heart. I almost left the room when the door opened. Auntie Bella and her cronies, the werewolf, Fenrir Greyback and a few others who I didn''t recognize entered the room. "Well, look what we have here," Auntie Bella said when she entered the room. I held my wand stiffer, aligning it with the old man''s heart. She came behind me and whispered, "Well done Draco." It was the sort of praise that I knew was fake, she didn''t really believe in me, she was just impressed that I could actually do it. It wasn''t the compliments that Professor Snape had given, or even Professor Dumbledore just moments ago. Her voice reverberated in my mind and I remembered what Hermione said about what she had done to Neville Longbottom''s parents. She was only here to watch me kill someone. She had come to the show. Witnessing me killing Dumbledore would entertain her, she would enjoy hearing me shout the curse and seeing him fall to the ground, dead. It disgusted me. If she wasn''t part of my family, I would have turned on her then. If she didn''t bring three body guards, one of whom being a werewolf, I would have turned on her then. If I had any courage, I would have turned on her then, but instead, my gaze stayed transfixed on Professor Dumbledore, wand aimed and ready to fire. "Do it," she hissed, sounding almost exactly like a serpent. One of her cronies commented, "He doesn''t have the stomach, just like his father." I turned my head to look him in the eye, daring him to say that again, but he was right, I didn''t have the stomach. I couldn''t do this, but not for the reason that he thought. I couldn''t become a monster. I couldn''t look in the mirror and hate myself for the rest of my life. Hermione had changed me. She showed me the light in life, and that you can be both a Death Eater and a good person. My wand arm shook violently as I stared into Professor Dumbledore''s forgiving eyes. I couldn''t do it, not because I didn''t have the stomach, but because I wanted to be the good person that Hermione Granger saw. Or, at least, used to see. If she couldn''t remember me in the same way that I remembered her, the least I could do is honor her vision for me. The heartless Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange interrupted my memories of Hermione Granger, "Go on Draco, NOW!" she screamed. I raised my wand again, remembering where I was and who my allegiances were. What am I thinking? If I don''t do this, I am sentencing myself to death. My body was having a fit of rage, protesting against me. I was ripping to pieces. I took a shaky, hollowed breath and counted down from three. On three I would say the curse and kill the old man. Hermione, I''m sorry. Okay, one, two... I didn''t even get to three before I head his cool voice, "No." Professor Snape emerged from behind me. In my panic, I hadn''t even noticed him there. I wrenched my wand down, thankful for him being there. Suddenly I realized the bravery in his words. He knew that Professor Dumbledore had to die, but at the last instant he decided to save me from doing the deed. It was the most noble thing anyone had ever done for me. "Severus," the old man begged, "please." What was he begging for? Professor Snape looked pained and torn, just like I had been, but he raised his wand up, just like I had, and said, "Avada Kedavra." It was way more horrifying than I had ever imagined. My breath caught as the deadly shot of green light emerged from Professor Snape''s wand and approached Professor Dumbledore, who didn''t cower in fear, instead, he accepted his end. When the green curse hit him, all life was taken from the room. All of a sudden the astronomy tower was ice cold like a winter''s day. Professor Snape had sacrificed his soul, for... mine. [ Epilogue ] D R A C O _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - I will forever be in love with Hermione Granger. - __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________--- Bellatrix Lestrange had destroyed every part of Hogwarts she could. From the Great Hall to the oaf Hagrids hut home, it was all shattered. Only the common rooms, dormitories, and classrooms remained untouched. I had to hold in all the fear I had. What is going to happen now? What will The Dark Lord say? Am I to blame for this? The only question that I had a definite answer for was the last one. Yes. Yes I was most definitely to blame for this. I followed Professor Snape, copying his stride, his stance, and his actions. He is who I looked to now, not my father, not my mother, not The Dark Lord, but Professor Snape. He proved to me that you can be brave and be a Slytherin, be honorable and a murderer. I knew that my path was destined to be dark, but if I had the professor to guide me, I knew that I will make it out alright. After all, he could have just stood by Bellatrix Lestrange and demanded me to kill the old man myself, but instead he stepped in my place and did the horrific deed for me. My soul, my consciousness, my everything was in his debt. As we left the castle, I thought about Hermione. She would be waking by now, confused and scared, but safe. Safe from us Death Eaters, safe from any danger, and mostly safe from me. Wiping her memory was the most merciful thing for me to do, however difficult it was. I knew I had chosen correctly. She is going to hate me when she finds out what I have done, even if it wasn''t by my own wand. I had killed Professor Dumbledore, it was my plot. I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, am a murderer, and Hermione can''t be in love with a murderer, no matter how ''good'' I used to be. I knew I would be dreaming of her tonight. For tonight and the rest of my life, my dreams will be filled by her softness. Her voice, her hair, her skin, all of it. That memory of what once was will be my motivation until I take my dying breath. I knew that I loved Hermione Granger, and that she had loved me. That knowledge will console me in my darkest nights, lighten my load in the mornings. Every day for eternity, I will be able to have Hermione and my family. I didn''t have anyone standing in my way now from me choosing my family. My task has been finished and my innocent girl doesn''t know that she kissed me, fell in love with me even. She will be my only love, as I know, if I survive this war like I plan to, my father would have me marry a pureblood. I have met all the female purebloods and none of them I fancy, nor will I ever, so I know that I will never marry for love, just for status. I had chances to change my fate, but I never took them. I always bowed down to my fears and worries, never believing in my capabilities. I have learned my lesson, but now it is too late for me. There is no going back to the beginning. The future is uncertain, but there are a few things that are; I am officially a part of The Dark Lord''s ranks. I have made my family proud. My new role model will not lead me astray. And I will forever be in love with Hermione Granger. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. H E R M I O N E _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ - I remembered the addictive ice cold lips of someone, but my memory had no recollection of whose they were. - ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I woke up on a balcony with a fuzzy memory of what happened the night before. I remembered the feeling of utter despair and loss, but also the flame of passion. I remembered the addictive ice cold lips of someone, but my memory had no recollection of whose they were. I had a blanket on top of me, signifying that I had meant to fall asleep on this balcony, but where was this balcony? I scoured my mind for any memory of why I was here, but the longer I was awake, the fuzzier everything got. I held on dearly to the wintry kiss that fueled me with the sun of summer as I tried to identify who it was I was kissing. Surely it couldn''t have been a dream, could it? My imagination was vast, but I couldn''t imagine anything that surreal. Platinum blond hair flashed into my memories. This confused me, I didn''t know anyone with that color hair except, Draco Malfoy. A sour taste formed on my tongue. Why is his hair in my memory? Draco Malfoy has always been cruel to me. Even when we would sneak out to spend time together, he always ended up being a vile git. I couldn''t have been dreaming about Draco Malfoy. I got up off the ground, carrying the blanket with me. I didn''t recognize it, but I assumed it belonged to me or someone I knew. The doors I exited disappeared when I closed them and I recognized where I was. I had fallen asleep in the Room of Requirement, alone. Well as far as I could remember, I had been alone. There were things in my memory that didn''t make sense. If I remembered correctly I went to Slughorn''s Christmas party with Ron, but he was with Lavender Brown during that time. I kissed Ron in the library, but the lips I remember smooching were thin and icy cold, not plump like Ron''s were. The hair was greasy and wiry that I ran my hands through, not mangy and soft like Ron''s. The pale white chest I remember lying on, tracing scars, was not the same peachy warmth that Ron''s skin was. I took a breath, but I couldn''t let it go. Could it be possible? Could I have kissed Draco Malfoy? No, if I had, I would remember, right? The rock in the pit of my stomach did a somersault; I couldn''t remember how I had ended up in the Room of Requirement, what''s to say that I just didn''t recall kissing Draco? A uncomfortable shiver ran down my spine. I hated him, but at the same time I didn''t. It was still nighttime when I arrived in the Gryffindor common room. There were books and parchment left out from the night before. I did remember the night before. I left to go meet someone somewhere. When I had left I was excited, but I was also anxious. Why? I protected myself from the chilly breeze by wrapping up in the blanket, and I headed up to the sixth year girls'' dormitories. Everyone was fast asleep so I crept past them and into my soft bed. Shortly after that, the grogginess took over. I yawned and drifted into a sleep, dreaming of things that I couldn''t remember: White and red flower petals floating down to the stairs. The smell of brand new leather. The warmth of love under a starlit sky. Books and constellations. Two chains tinkling off the end of book spines. Salty tears running into my mouth. Pale gray eyes, telling me that they cared. Sticky bandage adhesive on my forefinger. The ink of a dark tattoo. Wiry blond hair slipping through my fingers. The taste of tart apples. I woke with a start and one person''s face flashed through my mind. Draco. It was true, I had kissed Draco Malfoy, and now that I remembered it, I knew I enjoyed it. What concerned me is that I couldn''t remember a thing. The memories of him were laced with memories of Ron, and I couldn''t tell which one was real, and which wasn''t. I slammed my head back on my pillow in frustration. How in Merlin was I supposed to decipher this mystery. I didn''t know, but I guess I should start at the sources. Yes. I made a plan with myself. Tomorrow morning, I would talk to both Ron and Draco and ask them if they loved me. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It was a good plan, but it never came into effect as I quickly forgot about it when Harry''s desperate screams shook the entire Gryffindor house awake, "He killed him! He killed Professor Dumbledore!"