A Whispered Confession Can Change Everything

Chapter 30

Hermione thought she could take most surprises but apparently she was wrong. And nothing worse than finding out surprises of that magnitude made her faint. She woke up in the hospital, Draco sitting next to her and looking as pale as she felt. She sat up carefully, sipping the pumpkin juice Poppy had laid out for her, watching Draco who was doing the same thing.

“Faint?”

He gave her a small smile, “No thanks. Watching didn’t look fun. I don’t think I’ll try it.” Were she capable of circulating blood she would blush. As it is she simply averted her eyes. He touched her arm gently, “I was just teasing.”

Giving him a small smile, “I know. It’s just...wow...that was a lot to take in.” Nibbling on her lip, “Do you, are you wearing...it?” Absently his finger pulled at the gold chain, showing where he’d hidden the time turner. She sighed to herself, “I expected third year to be challenging...I wasn’t expecting all of this.” He nodded in agreement, sipping his juice with a far off look in his eyes, his fingers moving from the chain to rub the little egg nestled in his pocket and with him at all times.

He was absently going over the speech Albus had given him. His reasons for putting Draco in that class. It was being led by a squib professor this year and his guardian wanted him to understand how non purebloods were raised. He didn’t understand the point but Albus wasn’t letting him drop the class, “Galleon for your thoughts...”

Frowning, “That’s penny...” Then he blushed and looked anywhere but at her.

She raised an eyebrow, “You know muggle sayings? American ones at that?”

Blush deepening, “I’ve heard them...around...”

She smiled and settled back into her pillow, letting her thoughts settle, “Wow...wonder if we’ll get paid.”

He glanced at her, before his eyes shifted a little, reciting, “Assistant Professor salary plus we can
charge books to the school spending account as long as Albus approves them.”

Her eyes widened, “Really?”

Grinning, “Twenty-five galleons a week.”

Squeaking, “What??”

He looked sour for a minute, “Not that I can see a knut of it. Albus insists on putting it into a vault and I have to settle for my allowance. Oh, and you get your own room.”

Frowning at him, “But not you.”

He blushed again, “Already have one...I...I didn’t want to move.”

Blinking at him before grinning with a teasing lilt to her voice, “In Slytherin?”

He sighed and tossed back the rest of his juice, setting the cup down, “Nope and you know it. Come on, I want to show you something.” Hermione glanced around for Poppy, “She had to go help Hen. She fell down some stairs...again. Poppy said you could leave when you felt up to it.” He held out his hand to her and after a moment she took it.

***

He led up the familiar path to Gryffindor tower, then veered up a different flight of steps and through a door. Past the elven guard and into his common room. Not even thinking of hiding the password from her, not that he had the first time, “Dragon’s Lair.”

She giggled and followed him into the room, stopping to stare in awe. His room was even more incredible than she remembered. Large and filled to the brim with books, her favorite thing. She lightly traced the dragon pattern near her elbow, quickly seeing a theme, “Like dragons, do we?” He just shrugged, a bit shyly, and tilted his head to the right. She walked towards the door, opening it and freezing to look at his private laboratory in awe. Her eyes swept over the shelved upon shelves of supplies and potions, glancing back at him, “This is more stocked than Snape’s stock room.”

Nodding with a shrug, “Albus moved it from the manor, completely intact. I had more access then than I do now.”

Raising an eyebrow, finger skimming lightly over a dusty jar, “Eye of bridge troll, I’ll say, they’ve been extinct for three hundred years...” She frowned, the current potion he was working on capturing her attention, “What is this?”

She reached out for the vial and he caught her wrist. His grip was firm but careful not to hurt her. But he did startle her, “Sorry. It’s settling. In two days I’ll be able to test it.”

Looking at him excitedly, “What does it do?”

He grimaced, fiddling with an empty beaker, “If it works? It’ll prevent the change of lycanthropy.”

She gaped at him, “A cure?”

Shaking his head, disgusted with his lack of progress, “No, far from it. But it will allow...hopefully...for a werewolf to live like a human being, so long as they take it every month before the full moon.”

Waving her arms around in excitement, “But Draco, that’s wonderful!”

Sighing, disgusted with his failure. He didn’t want a band-aid to the problem and he hated coming up short. It made every word his father had ever said about his incompetence valid, “But it’s not a cure. It’s not even close-“

Catching his arms, staring into his grey eyes, “Draco, for a werewolf it’s the next best thing. So
you’ll take a bit longer to find a cure. That’s not the point. The point is that you are giving these poor creatures the opportunity to get their lives back. Even if it’s not a cure, it’s still everything. You’re giving them back their dignity.” Cupping his face, “Be proud of that.”

He looked away, embarrassed before grabbing her wrist, “Come on.”

He dragged her out of his room and out of the door to a second portrait sitting blankly against the wall. It was just a plain canvas, unmoving, “Albus hasn’t had time, they were going to get this ready before the welcoming feast.” He pulled open the portrait and stepped inside. Pointing out his wand, “Collûcçre.”

Hermione jerked to look at him as the common room glowed of light, but no torch, “What was that?”

Grinning at her, “I’ve been going through Latin, throwing in words to see what they’ll do. It means literally ‘be lit up’ so I figured, why not?”

Smacking him upside the head, “You’re supposed to get permission to start playing with charms.”

Rubbing the back of his head and scowling at her, “I’m not playing...” Mumbling, “It’s research.”

He was trying to sound justified and she just leveled him with a glare, “Not until school starts it’s not and your research starts on parchment before you apply it to wand work.” She raised a finger and he backed up in shock, “I don’t put up with Harry’s nonsense when he gets it into his head to blow himself up and I won’t stand for it from you either, Draco Malfoy.”

Raising up both hands, just a bit intimidated from the fire in her eyes, “Okay. Okay! I promise.”

She sighed at him before rolling her eyes, “Cast a normal Luminous spell and show me the rest, kind sir.”

He grinned slowly, relaxing, “Of course.” And the chastisement was forgotten.