Abused Massacre

Chapter 16: Debrief

Her eyes were fixated on the small print of an overly large research book when she heard a frantic tapping on the frosted window. It was Ron’s little owl, Pig. He was fluttering around desperately trying to reach Hermione. She quickly stood and opened the window for the tiny bird. He hooted happily, obviously very pleased with himself as he landed softly on the desk. Untying the slip of parchment from his bobbing leg he hooted excitedly and took off to return to the owlry. She watched as the little ball of fluff weaved its way back to the bird filled tower. Unrolling the scroll she quickly read the note.
We have to talk now. Meet me in the Room of Requirements.
~Ginny
What was this all about? Putting her glasses in the case, she packed up her bag. Heaving the carrier on to her back, she quietly made her way to the not so secret room. Seeing the door, she pulled it open. As soon as she stepped in Ginny jumped up from a large overly stuffed chair.
“Hermione! You won’t believe what just happened.” Her face was pink.
“Calm down Ginny.” She said alarmed. “What’s going on?”
“Malfoy just told Harry and Ron about the two of you!”
“WHAT?!” She screamed.
“I know! He talked to them after dinner. I was with them. Ohhh….Hermione, Ron wanted to kill him. He even went so far as to shove him into the wall. It made such a horrible noise as Malfoy’s back collided with the stone. I thought that Ron was going to hex him but then Malfoy busted out some stuff about a girl Ron’s been seeing. Did you know that he’s dating a Slytherin?! I guess I’m not the only Weasly with a secret snake.” She chattered quickly. Before she could say anything Ginny gushed on. “Anyways, Malfoy told them that they needed to make a compromise because he was worried about your health. He pretty much told them how lousy of friends they have been to you lately… which they have been, if you ask me, but that’s beside the point. He made them feel so stupid too. He told them how Hagrid and I figured it out. I bet they felt really dumb after that.” She said with a little giggle. “I thought that they were going to duel but then Harry was like ‘well why didn’t she tell us?’ and then Malfoy was like ‘because you would have torn her apart.’ Oh it was so scary Hermione, but Malfoy didn’t pull out his wand once.”
“So did they come up with a compromise?” She asked finally able to get her words in.
“Yeah. Malfoy said that they should try to be cordial to each other and if they see you two together that they can’t give you shit. He also said that he would try to keep the Slytherin’s off our backs too.”
“Hmmm… I didn’t think that Malfoy could be that reasonable.”
“Neither did I, oh but they agreed that those rule don’t apply for quidditch.”
“Makes sense.”
“I was really surprised though, he covered for me you know. Well sort of. He had made a whole speech about how he knows everything that goes on in the Slytherin house. About who is dating who and such. I was so scared that he would tell about me, but when he saw me shake my head he didn’t say a word about Madden. I wonder why.”
“I don’t know… did anything else happen?”
“No, that was all. I’m guessing he’ll tell you about it when you get back. You should be going. I’ll bet that you’ll want to talk to him about it.” Ginny replied.
“Yeah, I do. Thank you for letting me know.”
“No problem.”

“Miss Granger.” Came a calm voice from behind her. Turning around in surprise she saw Dumbledore standing by the potion’s classroom. “You may proceed with what we have discussed as of late.” He said with a small twinkle in his eye. Nodding, she hurried up the staircase to her common room.

“Priori.” The door to the common room swung open revealing the circular room. Malfoy was sitting at the table with books and parchment piled around him. When he heard her come in he looked up and smiled. Standing up, he walked over and greeted her with a kiss. He was wearing his black scrub pants and a green hooded sweatshirt.
“You are the bravest person I know.” She said.
“Well hello to you too. Why do you say that?”
“Because you confronted Harry and Ron, that’s why.”
“Wow, word travels fast.”
“But of course.” She said with a smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Tip toeing, she kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome…. But is that all I get as a reward for my ‘bravery’, a mere kiss on the cheek?” He asked with a smirk.
“You little devil.” She mumbled as she took his mouth with hers. “I will thank you properly later.” She said with a wink as she headed for her room. “Marbles.” She was greeted by her rather large fluff ball of a cat when she entered her room. Crookshanks purred as he rubbed against her leg. “Hello my sweet.” Picking him up, she nuzzled him with her face before she released him. Throwing her heavy bag on her chair she switched on her computer and started disrobing. As she unbuttoned her white blouse she felt Draco’s strong arms snake around her thin waist.
“Why can’t I take my reward now and receive another later?” He asked. She could feel his smile.
“Because I’m stinky and need a shower.”
“You smell delicious to me.” He said with his face in her neck.
“God, I swear, you are the horniest guy in the castle!”
“That’s because I have the hottest girl in the castle at my disposal.”
“Oh stuff it you goof.” Pushing him away, she headed towards the shower. He laughed and headed back to the common room.
Looking at her cat she noticed that he was intently playing with something. She hadn’t bought him any new toys lately and was curious to see what was making the feline so content. “Crookshanks, what are you playing with?” She asked the cat as she bent down to investigate. In his paws was a very large brown spider. She screamed and jumped back. “Crookshanks!” She let out more piercingly loud shrieks. “Put it down! NO! DON’T EAT IT!” She screeched at the cat as he yanked off two of its thick legs.
“What! What’s wrong!” Malfoy came running in.
“Crookshanks is playing with a big ugly spider!” She yelled jumping around and pointing at it. Get rid of it! Get rid of it!”
“You were screaming bloody murder because of a spider?” He asked astonished his eyebrows raised.
“Yes! Get rid of it before he eats it Malfoy!” She yelled at him, her eyes wide with fright.
“He’s a cat. Let him have some fun.”
“No! What if it hurts him?!”
“Granger, have you looked at your cat lately? He isn’t exactly a kitten. He’s huge. I think that he can handle himself.” He replied calmly, the corners of his mouth twitching as she looked from the cat back to him. She grumbled and threw him an evil look as she realized that he wasn’t going to do anything which resulted in a hearty chuckle from him.
“Don’t laugh you clod.” She said narrowing her eyes. Turning on her heal she stormed out of the room.
Twenty minutes later she plopped down in front of her computer. She had been further formulating their plan against Voldemort. Two days earlier she had secretly gone to see Dumbledore about the Order. Explaining about the murder of Lucius, which he already knew of, she told him about their plans. She had requested that she be allowed to tell Draco about the Order and her position in it. Ginny, Ron, Harry, Neville, Luna, and she had become active members of the secret society after Sirius’ death at the end of her fifth year. They were in charge of keeping watch of the students, namely the Slytherin’s, not being able to fight along with the adults because of their schooling. Dumbledore had advised her to wait until after he had a talk with him first, but had agreed that Draco would be a very good ally to have, being a Slytherin himself.
Clicking on the internet, the florescent screen produced her search engine of choice. She sat for the next hour searching the muggle news for any abnormal death cases hoping to find some sort of trend in the casualties. With no success, she went back to the engine’s homepage and struck up a search for ‘heart-rending’. She came up with hundreds of hits. Clicking on the first one she scanned its material finding nothing of interest to her. Pressing the back button she viewed the second article which also did not meet her high expectations. Getting frustrated, she clicked on a random link. As the page popped up, she read its contents and smiled.

Def: causing much grief or mental anguish.

That was Draco alright.

Cure: Take Heart; to have more courage or confidence; cheer up.

So all he needs is a little cheering up, huh? Well I can do that. She sniggered to herself.
Bringing up a new search, she looked for articles on Pyschokinesis and Voodoo. It had crossed her mind that since Voldemort was such a muggle hater, that maybe he would have overlooked their simple forms of magic. Scribbling down various sections of a journal article from American Psychological Association she jumped as a large pair of hands settled on her shoulders.
“Are you still studying?” He asked as he looked at the monitor, his eyes transfixed on the glowing screen. “This machine never ceases to amaze me.” Looking up at him, she reached up pretending to punch him in the face.
“Don’t scare me like that. I’m going to have a heart attack before we even take our N.E.W.T.s!” Stacking her things in a neat pile, she put them on the corner of her desk then proceeded to shut down her computer. Stretching her arms up, she let out a very unfeminine yawn as she followed Draco to the bathroom.
Throwing her on the bed, Draco looked down at her with his slate colored eyes.
“I’m ready.” He said.
“For what?” She asked with a frown.
“For my reward.” He said with a huge grin.
“You pig.”

Pulling her into his arms, she snuggled up against him. He was the best love maker she had ever been with. She could smell the fresh scent of soap on his skin. Kissing his chest, she looked up at him. His eyes were closed and he had a small smile plastered on his handsome face.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Mm hmm…?” He responded without opening his eyes.
“Before you told me that you wanted to kill Voldemort to avenge your father’s death I was already working to bring him down.” He opened his eyes and looked down at her.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m part of a group called ‘The Order of the Phoenix’. We have been fighting against Voldemort and his Death Eaters for the past two years. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and I have been members since Sirius Black’s death. Since we are still in school our job is to keep an eye on the students for any suspicious behavior. It’s a secret group that consists of many Aurors along with other wizards and witches. The entire Weasly family is in it.” She paused to search his face. He looked back at her saying nothing. “I talked to Dumbledore a couple days ago about our plan.”
“You told Dumbledore?!”
“Well, yes.” She said in a small voice. “He agrees that if you wish to join the Order that you are welcome to, but if not, I will be forced to modify your memory. You would be a great help to us, Malfoy. You could monitor what happens within the Slytherin house. Snape only sees what happens in the halls and class.”
“Snape is in it too? I thought he was a death eater?”
“He is, but he’s really fighting against the Dark Lord. Voldemort is becoming weary of him though. Dumbledore says that he is calling him less and less because he keeps failing to bring him in. Snape would never betray Dumbledore.”
“Is this why Dumbledore asked me to his office today?”
“Yes.” Crawling up the bed more, she took his face in her hands gently brushing her lips to his. “Think about it Draco. This is the best way to get back at Voldemort. We wouldn’t have been able to take him down on our own, you and me. The Order will stand with us. We all have one cause to fight even if we have our own reasons for wanting him dead. Look at Neville for instance. Voldemort didn’t simply kill his parents like he did your father. The reason he lives with his horrid grandmother is because his parent’s are in St. Mungo’s. They aren’t dead like everyone thinks, they were tortured to the point of insanity. And of course Harry, Ron, Ginny, and I are in it because of Sirius, Luna too I expect. This way your mother will never know that you’re fighting.” She told him. “Are you okay?” He had gone very pale. He looked at her and swallowed hard.
“I knew that Longbottom’s parents weren’t dead.”
“Really? How? We only found out because we ran into him at the hospital during Christmas a couple years back. I don’t think that he tells anyone. No offense, but I think that you would be the last person he would tell.”
“You forget where I grew up Hermione. It wasn’t the Dark Lord directly who put them in that state. It was two of his Death Eaters.” She watched as his face had turned into stone.
“How do you know this?” She asked in surprise as she cocked her head to the side.
“Because they were my parents.” She gasped as she clamped a hand over her mouth. “The Longbottom’s were my mother’s last mission.” Tears welled up in her eyes. He looked at her with a bone chilling expression. “Alright, I’ll join the Order.”


A/N: I'm sorry for the awful formating guys. Please bear with me as I try to learn how to use HTML. I've tried doing the save as a webpage thing on Word, but it doesn't turn out right. There are a ton of weird symbols, so it's back to horrible paragraph changes. Please keep reviewing as I live for them. Thanks so much!!

Allison