Unlikely Friends

A/N: I want to aplogize to everyone who has been waiting for a part for this. I\'ve had a great deal of trouble with my website and real life and wans\'t able to get anything written for a while. However it is fiinished now and I\"m posting the last 3 chapters below. :)


Chapter 10
Hermione paced the length of the room. She didn’t want to have this conversation tonight. She didn’t want to have it ever. She also knew if she didn’t have it now with Ginny, she would end up having it sooner than expected with Ron and Harry because Ginny wouldn’t let it go until she knew the truth.
“What did they do to you?” Ginny asked sitting straighter, “I’ll hex Malfoy…”
“Ginny it wasn’t Malfoy,” Hermione faced the younger Gryffindor again, “Well, not Draco at any rate.”
“What do you mean?”
“Lucius Malfoy escaped from Azkaban,” Hermione’s eyes starting to water, “He followed me out of Hogsmeade and when I reached the forest he… he raped me. Draco found me that night.”
“When he came in and got Snape?” Ginny asked as it all sank in, “That’s why they both disappeared for so long?”
“Yeah, I couldn’t walk and he…,” Hermione sat on the bed next to Ginny, “He’s been different Ginny. Did you know he’s been helping the Order since before the term started? He’s not nearly as awful as we thought he was.”
Ginny’s eyes narrowed. Hermione was talking as if she liked… Ron and Harry would go crazy if she did. Although that wasn’t the important thing right now. She would ask Hermione about that later. “The boys should know Hermione.”
“I can’t tell them right now,” Hermione sighed, “I didn’t want to tell you but…”
“When will you tell them?”
“When Lucius is back in Azkaban,” Hermione stated, “Any sooner and they’ll go looking for him.”
“He should be punished,” Ginny said angrily. She couldn’t imagine anything her brother and Harry could do to the man that he didn’t deserve.
“And he will be, but if they try to do it themselves, they’ll end up dead,” Hermione pointed out. Ginny frowned realizing that the other girl was right; the boys couldn’t possibly take on Lucius Malfoy. “Dumbledore has a plan.”
“What is it?” Ginny asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I can’t tell you much about the plan itself,” Hermione replied, “Professor Snape said to keep it quiet so the wrong people don’t find out accidentally. I’m not supposed be out of the Gryffindor Tower alone though.”
“I can help I guess,” Ginny frowned; she wanted to know more about what was going on but didn’t want to press for information that could cause a problem. “I’m not in any of your classes but I can help make sure the boys walk with you and I can wait for you at meals and stuff.”
“Draco’s going to help too; we have a few classes together that the boys don’t. That’s probably what the whole thing about Arithimancy was about.”
“Is there anything else I can help with?” Ginny asked. “I’ll help with the plan if you need me too.”
“We may need more help when it’s time but Moody and Tonks are supposed to be there so I don’t know, but right now I really just need someone to talk to.”
“Got it, though I really think you should tell the boys.”
“Not right now okay, I will soon but not today.”
“Alright then I guess I’ll let you get some sleep.” Ginny said standing up to leave.
“Thanks Ginny,” Hermione hugged the younger girl before she left.
*****
Draco stood outside the great hall and waited for Hermione to arrive. Since she had to wait for Potter and Weasley she probably wouldn’t get here until the last minute. He had considered going to meet her at the tower but decided this was less suspicious. It couldn’t look too forced to everyone who had not been privy to the events of the last few weeks.
He heard them coming before he could see anything. Weasley was loudly recounting the events of the last Gryffindor Quidditch match, Potter occasionally throwing in a small piece of information. As they rounded the corner he saw that Hermione was standing between the two boys and Longbottom and Ginny Weasley were trailing slightly behind.
“Granger I need to speak to you,” Draco said as they drew closer.
“Right, um, right now?” Hermione asked.
“Yes.”
“Get lost Malfoy,” Ron said angrily.
“Don’t start Weasley,” Draco muttered his hand gripping the wand in his robe pocket. Six years had taught him to not underestimate the other boy.
“She doesn’t want to talk to ” Ha” Harry said.
“I believe she can speak for hersPottPotter,” Draco sneered. “And if she couldn’t I doubt she would choose either of you as her spokesperson.”
Ginny let out a short shout and lunged for her brother’s arm as he raised it, wand in hand. She had known this new relationship with Draco Malfoy was going to be a problem. “Ron don’t!”
“Stop it all of you,” Hermione shouted, and glanced at each of the three boys in turn, “Ron, Harry go sit down, I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Hermione I…,” Both boys started to explain at the same time.
“Go!” She pointed angrily toward the hall.
Ginny whispered something to Neville and they both began tugging the other two toward their table.
“Do you have to provoke them like that?” She asked as soon as the others had moved away.
“I didn’t do anything,” Draco insisted.
“Yes, Ron and Harry started it, but you could’ve let it go.”
“Six years of practice is going to take some time to undo,” he smirked.
“What did you want?” Hermione asked, “Ginny syou you were looking for me yesterday.”
“Do you have someone to take you to all of your classes?”
“Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, and Dark Arts are okay, but Arithimancy and Muggle studies are going to be a problem,” she admitted.
“I’ll walk with you to Arithimancy, and then I can walk you to Muggle Studies on my way to class.”
“Thanks,” Hermione smiled, “Ginny is meeting me after that and will walk with me to Lunch.”
“Does she usually do that?” Draco asked, he had never noticed the pair coming to lunch together before.
“No, she um, I told her last night.”
“Oh,” Draco raised and eyebrow in surprise, she had been quite adamant about not telling anyone.
“She knew I hadn’t left the school.”
“No, I think it’s good,” Draco replied, realizing she had taken his surprise for anger, “There must be stuff you’d rather talk to another girl about.”
“Yeah and she can help with making sure I’m not wandering the school alone,” Hermione pointed out, “Was that all then?”
“Actually there were a few curses I wanted to look up, but I’m not sure where to find them. Are you free tonight?” He asked, “Snape gave me passes for the Restricted section.”
“Oh well, Yes,” Hermione replied, “The boys have practice tonight so I’ll see if Ginny can walk me over to the library then.”
Draco nodded and they walked into the hall. Breakfast passed fairly quickly. The boys were finished and leaving before Hermione which saved her the trouble of having to explain why she was leaving with Draco. She also noticed that the plan of letting everyone find out they were friends was working quickly. As soon as Draco had taken his seat he had been bombarded with questions and comments and Hermione hadn’t faired much better at her own table.
*****
Ginny and Hermione stopped outside the library doors. Ginny glanced around nervously, Malfoy wasn’t out here. She didn’t want to leave Hermione alone, she would never forgive herself if she did aometomething happened.
“Do you want me to wait?”
“No Ginny,” Hermione replied, “Draco’s probably inside and even if he’s not, I won’t be alone. Madame Pince is in there.”
“Are you sure?”
“It’ll be fine.” Hermione answered.
“Sorry I’m late,” Draco sighed coming up behind Ginny. “Had to get rid of Pansy.”
“Do you need me to come back for you?” Ginny asked.
Hermione glanced over to Draco in question. “I’ll walk her back to the tower.”
“Right then,” Ginny waved and walked off.
“Is she okay with this?” Draco asked noticing the other girl didn’t look happy about leaving Hermione alone with him.
“She thinks its odd,” Hermione explained, “but she understands.”
They walked into the library and gave Madam Pince the passes from Snape. She read them over carefully then waved them off in the direction of the Restricted Section.
“So what are we looking for then?” Hermione asked.
Draco named a couple curses that he believed would be helpful if they had to defend themselves against his father.
“Draco I’ve read about those, they’re very advanced and very dangerous.”
“I know, but we’re not fighting just anyone Hermione,” Draco pointed out, “My father is powerful and he won’t hesitate to use much worse on us.”
“Then I guess we should get started,” Hermione walked over to a shelf and started handing books to Draco.
*****
Several hours later Hermione had re-shelved the last book hg fog found as much as they were going to for one night. They gathered their things and headed back toward Gryffindor Tower so that Draco could return her tr ror rooms and make it back to his own before curfew. Several minutes later they stopped in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.
“Password?” she asked when she saw Hermione.
“I should get in,” Hermione smiled, “Thank you for the help today. I’m sorry you have to go through so much trouble because of me.”
“It isn’t any trouble.”
“Yes it is,” she smiled, “I know they’re talking about you. Your reputation as a Gryffindor Hater is destroyed.”
“Well, maybe it’s time for a new image,” he smirked, “beside I like…”
“Leave her alone Malfoy,” came an angry shout from behind them. Draco groaned at the familiar voice and reached in his pocket for his wand. He didn’t want to upset Hermione any further by cursing her friends but it was getting harder every day.
“Ron,” Hermione sighed, why couldn’t they just let her live her own life, “Harry this is none of…”
“Did he hurt you?” Harry asked.
“Oh for God’s sake he didn’t do anything!”
“Does she look hurt?” Draco smirked.
“Why are you here?” Ron asked defensively, “Trying to find out our password?”
“Password?” Draco asked, “Why would I want… I’ll see you tomorrow Granger.”
Draco stormed away. He knew if he had stayed any longer he would say or do something that would just make the situation worse. He didn’t know or care why they were still so hostile toward him. Normally he would’ve used it to take out his own anger and frustration over his father on them, but doing so would hurt Hermione and as much as he hated to admit it he didn’t want to do that.
Hermione watched Draco walk away, before turning both her attention and anger on her friends. The anger they had toward Draco was exactly why she didn’t want to tell them about the attack. They would do something stupid, Draco hadn’t done anything in nearly a year to provoke this kind of hostility and still they were acting this way.
“What the devil was that all about?” She asked angrily.
“Why is he bothering you?” Harry asked.
“Did it occur to you he wasn’t bothering me?” Hermione asked, “That maybe I wanted him to talk to me?”
“You wanted to talk to Malfoy whatever for?” Ron asked stifling a laugh at the thought.
“And why would he want to talk to you?” Harry asked before she could respond to Ron’s question. “You’re my friend.”
“Right and it’s not at all possible that he would see me as something other than Harry and Ron’s friend right?” She shouted at them before turning to the portrait, giving the password and disappearing through the opening.
“What was that all about?” Harry asked.
“Don’t know.” Ron shrugged before they too stepped through the portrait.
Chapter 11
The next few weeks passed quickly for Hermione, as she threw herself back into her classes. It was easier than she expected to keep someone with her in the halls. Harry and Ron were in most of her classes anyway so they walked with her. Draco and Ginny filled in the few classes the boys weren’t with her. The only real difficulty was the boy’s reaction to Draco’s presence. Draco wasn’t helping any either, he wanted to fight with someone, preferably his father, but Harry and Ron always seemed to be eager substitutes.
The rest of the students seemed to be adjusting to seeing them together. There were still a few Slytherins and Gryffindors that were causing problems but mostly everyone had begun to accept the odd friendship. Hermione even had Lavender and the Patil twins offering her dating advice. That had started once they had gotten over the shock of Hermione spending time with any boy other than Harry or Ron. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate their help but she wasn’t sure that she was ready to date anyone; she was barely past jumping away from being touched by her friends. She also wasn’t at all sure than Draco would be interested in her, yes, she considered him a friend now and was confident that he felt the same way. However, friend and girlfriend were two very different things. She had decided quickly that it was just something she would deal with later, if it ever became a real issue.
Ginny had spent much of the last few weeks trying to reason with her brother and Harry. She didn’t completely understand Hermione’s involvement with Draco but it was obvious she was happier and more relaxed when he was around. She had no doubt that the boys were only going to drive Hermione away from them if they continued to harass the Slytherin. She knew they were concerned for Hermione, they cared a great deal about her, but Ginny was beginning to think the Draco did too. She had been walking the older girl to the library almost every night to study with Draco, and they usually didn’t come back until shortly before curfew. She had also seen them studying together out by the lake a few times. She had decided that she needed to talk to Hermione one more time about telling Ron and Harry. Hermione had asked her to walk her out to the lake tonight while the boys were busy with Quidditch so she decided to take the opportunity to try to convince her once more.
“Hermione have you given anymore thought to telling the boys?”
“I have, but they haven’t been exactly eas tal talk to lately have they?” Hermione shrugged. They were almost to the lake and she could see Draco sitting on the grass a book in his lap.
“This is a Hogsmeade weekend; they may be able to help.”
“I’ll try,” Hermione agreed as Draco noticed them approaching and waved. “Hi.”
“Hermione,” he smiled at them, “Weasley.”
“Hello Malfoy,” Ginny responded. “Um… are you walking her back later?”
“Yeah.”
“Try to convince her to tell the boys before the weekend,” Ginny said as she walked away.
“She’s right you know,” Draco said as Hermione sat next to him and opened her bag to retrieve her books. “We’re going to Hogsmeade Saturday.”
“I know but…”
“Hermione my father knows,” Draco said quietly, “He hasn’t contacted me since that first week you returned. Someone has told him and he will be angry enough to risk being seen.”
“So the plan is working then?” Hermione asked as she searched her bag for ink.
“Yeah it worked. As much as I don’t like Potter and Weasley they have a lot of experience in fighting Death Eaters they could be helpful.”
“Are you admitting Harry isn’t completely useless?” Hermione asked looking at him in surprise.
“If you tell anyone I’ll deny it,” he smirked.
“Right I’ll think about it alright?” She replied before turning her attentionthe the homework she had brought with her.
*****
“Well… um… goodnight then,” Hermione said as they approached the portrait guarding the entrance tyffiyffindor Tower.
“Right, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Draco said, “And you really should think about telling Potter the truth. It’ll make things easier on you.”
“The truth?”
“About where you were all that time you were gone,” Draco clarified as he leaned back against the wall.
“Oh, right,” Hermione smiled slightly.
“What did you think I meant?”
“Um… I thought you meant the truth that you were being nice to me to trick your father,” Hermione replied.
“Is that what you think?” He asked pushing away from the wall and moving closer to her. “That I’m only nice to you because of my father?”
“Isn’t that it?” Hermione asked. She hadn’t believed it before but everyone’s surprise over the idea that Draco Malfoy would see her as anything other than Harry’s friend had been eating at her for weeks. “When this is over and you’re fathers gone you’ll go back to ignoring me.”
“Hermione, that’s…,” he stared at her for a few seconds. He hadn’t realized she thought that. He liked her, more than he should, he was sure. He also had no intention of going back to the way things were before. The only reason he hadn’t done anything to make that more clear was fear of scaring her away by moving to fast, she was still jumpy at times. “Oh bloody hell,” he lowered his head and kissed her.
Hermione’s eyes widened for a second before fluttering closed. She hadn’t expected that reaction from him at all. She didn’t object to it, she was just surprised. She was shocked enough to not hear Harry and Ron approaching until she heard Ron yell a familiar curse and Draco pull away from her already searching for his wand. The curse missed but Ron raised his wand to throw another when the portrait swung open and Ginny and Neville appeared, her wand already pointed at her brother.
“Stupefy!” Ginny yelled. Hermione sighed when Ron fell to the ground and Ginny pointed her wand at Harry. “They need to know now.”
“Yes,” Hermione agreed, she couldn’t have this happen every time she and Draco were together and she was tired of lying about where she was going every evening.
“Put your wand away Potter,” Draco sneered, “she’s going xplaxplain.”
“Take Ron’s wand from him Neville,” Ginny said addressing the other boy who had been watching the whole event in shocked silence.
Neville quickly retrieved Ron’s wand and handed it to Ginny who stuffed it in her pocket before addressing her brother. “Ron, Hermione’s going to tell you what’s going on now. If I let you go do you promise to not attack Draco?” She waited several seconds to make sure her brother understood before removing the spell.
“Let’s go sit down for this,” Hermione said and gave the Fat Lady the password and everyone filed in; Draco waiting until Harry and Ron were in front of him before passing through. After all Harry did still have is wand.
“What’s going on?” Neville asked as soon as everyone was seated. It was late enough that everyone else had already went up to the dorms so the common room was empty.
“First I need all of you to promise to listen and not do anything stupid. I’m not even supposed be telling you this without Dumbledore or McGonagall here,” Hermione said pacing in front of them.
“Why not?” Harry asked.
“What did he do to you?” Ron said angrily.
“Because we’re all afraid you’ll do something id aid and get yourselves killed,” Hermione replied, “And Draco didn’t do anything to me.”
“You two need to shut up and listen. Or we’ll be here all night,” Ginny replied.
Draco leaned back on the couch and smirked at the youngest Weasley. He still didn’t like her brother much but he was finding he admired her at times.
“Remember when I left you guys earlier the last time we were in Hogsmeade?” Hermione asked.
“Yeah, you wanted to study, then you left to go home,” Ron said.
“Right, but I didn’t go home,” Hermione said quietly, “I started to walk back to the school but I was in a hurry so I decided to cut through the forest.”
“Hermione that’s… you could’ve gotten hurt,” Ron interrupted.
“Doesn’t catch on very quickly does he?” Draco muttered to Ginny who was next to him on the couch.
Ginny grinned and shook her head, both ignoring the glare they were getting from Hermione.
“I did get hurt,” Hermione sighed, “I was followed out of the Three Broomsticks and he grabbed me as soon as I reached the forest. He…” Hermione stopped talking as she started crying again.
“He who?” Harry asked angrily, “What happened Hermione?”
“I… He… I couldn’t stop him and…”
“She was raped,” Draco finished for her, “My father apparated her to the Shrieking Shack and beat and raped her.”
“You son of a—I’ll kill you myself,” Ron was out of his r anr and trying to get his wand from Ginny.
“Sit down now Ron,” Ginny said raising her own wand, “You aren’t helping anything.”
“Are you okay Hermione?” Neville asked moving closer to her, followed by Draco who was also moving to comfort her.
“Get away from her Malfoy. This is your fault,” Harry said raising his own wand.
“Expelliarmus!” Ginny said pointing her wand at Harry. Harry’s wand flew from his hand to the ground, “He didn’t do it, his father did.”
“I’m okay,” Hermione said shakily wiping her eyes with one hand and trying to push Draco and Neville back with the other. “This isn’t Draco’s fault Harry. He found me, without his and Professor Snape’s help I wouldn’t have even made it back to school.”
“Does Dumbledore know?” Neville asked; now back in his seat next to Ginny. Draco having remained next to Hermione who was now sitting in a large chaixt txt to the fireplace. “He would know how to catch him.”
“Dumbledore knows,” Draco answered for her, “He has a plan. That’s part of why Ginny and I have been trying to get Hermione to tell you about this.”
“I thought your father was in Azkaban?” Harry asked.
“So did I until I found Hermione that night,” Draco answered.
“What’s the plan?” Neville asked, “Can we help?”
“You want to help Longbottom?” Draco asked in surprise. He had never understood how the other boy had ended up in a house known for bravery, but maybe he had misjudged him if he was willing to try to help take on his father.
“Well yes,” Neville replied, “Hermione’s always helped me I can’t just sit back and do nothing if she needs help that I can give.”
“Maybe I should get Dumbledore for this?” Draco suggested, “Or Snapeey’ley’ll be able to tell us more about how everyone can help.”
Hermione agreed but said to try Dumbledore first. Draco left to go find the Headmaster saying he’d back in a few minutes. When he had left the room Harry and Ron turned back to Hermione. “I don’t see how you can stand to be around him after what his father did to you?” Ron said angrily.
“That’s just it Ron,” Hermione sighed, “he’s not his father.”
“Still Hermione, it was his father,” Harry pointed out.
“Yes it was. You don’t like that Snape holds you responsible for your father’s actions why should you hold him responsible for his father’s?”
“But you were kissing him,” Ron said.
“We’ve become close,” Hermione smiled slightly, “I like him, and you guys need to accept that.”
“I don’t like him,” Harry said, “I never will.”
“You don’t have to Harry,” Ginny said, “Just don’t make it difficult for Hermione to be with him.”
Before they could discuss Hermione’s new relationship any further, Draco reentered the room followed by Dumbledore. Dumbledore turned first to Hermione, “I’m glad to see you’ve confided in your friends.”
“They want to help,” Hermione said simply. It had been a long day and she needed to go to bed and think about the events of the evening.
“Do they know any of the plan?” Dumbledore asked. When she shook her head he continued, “Then everyone have a seat and discuss what we can do to make sure Lucius Malfoy is returned to Prison where he belongs.”
They spent the next two hours discussing the plan to draw Malfoy to Hogsmeade and ways in which Harry, Ron, Neville, and Ginny could help without putting themselves in too much danger. Dumbledore was concerned enough at having to put both Draco and Hermione in the direct line of fire he didn’t want to risk endangering even more students, but also knew that there was nothing he could say that would keep the Gryffindors from trying to protect their friend.
Chapter 12
Saturday morning after breakfast Draco met Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Neville at the main entrance. They were all going to walk to Hogsmeade together. It wasn’t as if there was anyone else to walk over with. Most of his house wasn’t speaking to him anymore and the students in the other houses still feared him too much to even try to form a friendship with anyone.
The plan was for them all to walk over together but then separate once in town. Ginny and Neville were going to follow behind them for the morning to make sure they weren’t being followed, and Ron and Harry would take over later in the day. Snape had suggested they follow at a distance so no one would realize they were watching the Hermione and Draco but be close enough to notice anything odd and alert someone if necessary. Tonks and Moody were going to be in Hogsmeade as well as Snape and Dumbledore. They weren’t supposed to look for either Auror if there wasn’t a danger. Dumbledore didn’t want any attention called to their presence too soon.
They walked over to the small town in relative silence. For that Hermione was grateful, silence meant that Draco and Ron weren’t arguing about something. Once they reached town Harry and Ron headed off to visit the joke and Quich sch shops. Ginny and Neville headed into Honeydukes but kept an eye on the other couple so that they could follow them when they headed away.
“What do you want to do?” Draco asked.
“Um… I guess the stuff that will cause Harry and Ron to be difficult and whiny if they have to do it,” Hermione suggested, “Book store?”
Draco nodded and took her hand as they headed in the direction of the bookshop. Both did their best to act as normally as possible and not look back to see if the others were behind them. Pushing open the door Draco waited until Hermione was inside before pulling it closed. The book store wasn’t his first choice of places to go in Hogsmeade but he doubted Hermione wanted to spend the morning looking at Quidditch supplies.
“Are we looking for anything specific?”
“No, I just haven’t had anything new to read in a while,” Hermione replied as she began browsing through the shelves of books. “I think I’d like a few books on potions though.”
“Why Potions?” Draco asked.
“I enjoy Potions Draco,” she replied, “I’ve told you that before.”
“Doesn’t mean I understand it,” he smirked, “Wouldn’t you rather do something more interesting?”
“Such as?” she asked jumping slightly when he moved up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I could probably think of something,” he said before placing several small kisses on her neck.
“Neville’s acceptance of this is kind of unstable,” she whispered as she turned her body to face him, “I wouldn’t push it.”
****
After leaving the bookstore the visited several other shops as they headed toward the Three Broomsticks where they were meeting Harry and Ron for lunch. Lunch was relatively uneventful much to Hermione’s relief. She and Ginny only had to intervene on an argument once.
“Maybe he won’t show up,” Ron said hopefully.
“He’ll be here,” Draco muttered, “Not while there are so many students though.”
“So when then?” Ginny asked, “The only time you can be here is when there are students.”
“Everyone will start heading back soon,” Hermione pointed out.
“Right then he’ll make his move,” Draco agreed.
“So what are you doing now?” Harry asked.
“I’d like to go to the Quidditch shop and Honeydukes,” Draco suggested.
“Then we’ll see yo a f a few hours?” Ginny responded as she nudged Neville to leave the booth, “We’ll meet you back at school.”
“Bye Ginny,” Hermione waved as the other girl led Neville away.
Draco and Hermione wandered through the rest of the shops they hadn’t yet had a chance to visit as Ron and Harry followed behind. As far as anyone could tell Lucius wasn’t there but it wasn’t making Draco feel any safer. He also hadn’t seen either of the Aurors or Snape but he knew they were around too. When they had finished with their shopping they headed back to the small pub and were joined several minutes later by Harry and Ron.
This time Draco and Hermione spotted Snape and Tonks sitting at tables on opposite ends of the room. Hermione had no doubt that while she couldn’t see them Dumbledore and Moody weren’t far either. The four students ordered bubeerbeers and talked for a while discussing their various purchases and the last Quidditch match the two teams had played.
“Is that him?” Hermione whispered when they saw someone walk in carrying a cane and his head completely covered by a dark hood so that his face was hidden.
Harry, Ron, and Draco all glanced in the direction Hermione had indicated. Draco nodded with a sigh, “That’s him.”
Harry nudged Ron who was sitting on the end of the booth. Ron stood up and said loudly, “Harry we really should head back now. I wanted to get some practice in before dark.”
“Right,” Harry also stood, “We’ll see you two later.”
Both Gryffindors headed outside. However instof hof heading back the school as they had said they circled around to the back the building and met Mad-eye Moody near the back door.
“He in there?” The older man asked gruffly.
“Yeah,” Harry answered.
“You two should head back to school,” Moody said holding the door open for them. He knew they weren’t going to take his advice so he might as well keep them where he could see what they were doing.
The three quickly moved to the doorway of the small backroom so they could have a view of the rest of the pub. They were finally arranged in a way they could all view the table holding Draco and Hermione as the waitress walked away from the table having taken their order. Harry also noticed that he could now see the Headmaster at a dark table in the far corner. He appeared to be reading the daily prophet but neither boy doubted that he was aware of every movement in the building. Snape and Tonks were now both watching the table too. Tonks was twirling her wand on the table.
“Hello Father,” Draco said quietly as the hooded figure approached the table.
“Draco what are you doing here with…” The older Malfoy paused for a moment, “her.”
“Hermione is my friend Sir,” Draco said raising his head to stare into the face behind the hood.
“She’s a mudblood,” Lucius said angrily.
“She is muggle-born but she’s also one of the smartest and prettiest witches at school,” Draco replied softly, “And I will so who I wish to see.”
“She’s a mudblood whore,” Lucius practically shouted. Harry placed a hand on Ron’s shoulder when the other boy started to move forward.
Hermione glanced around the room, her face reddening. This was all so public and so loud, she was sure everyone in the room had heard the older Malfoy. cingcing toward the table Snape was at she was sure he had heard, she turned her attention back to the two Malfoys as Snape rose from his chair to move quietly closer to the Death Eater.
“She is not a whore Father.” Draco sneered, “She hasn’t done anything wrong at all.”
“You don’t know what she…”
“Being raped doesn’t make her a whore,” Draco said his voice dropping lower; “It makes her a victim. Just like all the other people you’ve hurt.”
“You are disgracing your family,” Lucius shouted to wrapped up in his anger to notice that he was now surrounded by Snape and Tonks as well as Harry, Ron, and Moody. Dumbledore had also pulled his wand out and moved closer to the group.
Draco stood up and faced his father, “I’m disgracing the family? You tortured and raped a sixteen year old girl just to what? To make Harry Potter make some kind of move toward Voldemort?”
“Draco do not…”
“Do not say his name?” Draco shouted back at his father, “I will say his name, I will date Hermione, hell I’ll be friends with Potter if I chose. You’re the disgrace, torturing people for the sheer pleasure of it is the crime.”
“You will not speak to me that way Draco, I am your father,” The older Malfoy said reaching into his pocket.
“I will speak to you however I please; I no longer have a father.”
Harry saw that the older Malfoy was pulling his wand from his pocket and wasn’t sure if anyone else had seen the same. He happened to be at an angle to see the man’s movements.
“Expelliarmus.” Harry whispered and the wand flew from Lucius hand giving Draco time to pull his own wand out and point it at his father. As well as the other four wand already trained on the Death Eater.
“Leave it,” Draco said quietly, “Don’t make me do this.”
Ignoring his son’s words Lucius lunged for his wand. Coming back to his feet he pointed the wand at Hermione. He would make Draco understand one way or another. “Ava…”
“Avada Kadavra!” Draco shouted before his father could finish his curse. The older man fell backwards to the ground as several people screamed at the sound of the Unforgivable.
Snape and Tonks both moved to the fallen Malfoy to ensure he was dead. Draco, Harry, and Ron all ran to Hermione’s side and began speaking at once.
“Are you all right?” Ron and Harry were asking Hermione.
“Draco are you okay?” Hermione was addressing the blonde Slytherin as she attempted to wave off her friends.
“Are af yof you all right?” Dumbledore stepped over to the students after being assured that Lucius was indeed dead. “No one was injured?”
“We’re all fine sir,” Hermione answered for the group.
“Rosemerta as agreed to let you all floo back to my chambers. While we take care of this.”
*****
Harry approached Draco first after they arrived back at the school. They had been waiting for almost and hour in Dumbledore’s office and all were tired and hungry. “I’m sorry about everything.”
“Right thanks,” Draco muttered. He was still somewhat in shock over the events of the day. He hadn’t expected it to happen the way it did or as fast as it had. He certainly didn’t expect to kill his own father.
“He’s right Malfoy,” Ron added, “I guess its okay for you to see Hermione.”