Visited Upon the Son

Disclaimer: I live in Texas, not Scotland, so I am obviously not JK Rowling. I’m

just playing with the wonderful characters that she created. I promise that I will put them

back the way I found them when I’m done!

AN: Here’s the next chappie! Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed! Many

thanks to Axellia for being my beta! I am now caught up with what I’ve posted on

FanFiction, so expect weekly updates from now on. :D

Visited Upon the Son

© SparkyCSI

7. Courting and Hexes

Draco walked towards Hermione’s rooms, his steps light. He actually smiled at a couple of

the passing students, who looked at him as though stunned at his happiness. The closer he

got to her quarters, the more nervous he grew. He thought over the previous months and

realized how close they had become. She was the closest friend that he had.

Gathering his courage, he stood in front of her door, preparing to knock. He raised and

lowered his hand multiple times until he finally pushed himself to make the step. Softly,

he knocked, with no response. He knocked again, a little harder. Finally, he heard someone

making their way to the door.

When Hermione opened the door, he was shocked at her appearance. She was dishevelled and

her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

Hermione opened the door, to see Draco standing there. She missed the look of concern that

entered his eyes at the sight of her. “What do you want, Malfoy?”

Draco drew back at the malice in her voice. “Malfoy? Since when do you call me that?”

“I am not in the mood. What do you want?”

Draco narrowed his eyes. “Is it wrong to want to talk to my betrothed?”

Hermione felt the rage boil up in her at his declaration. “I will not marry you, Malfoy. I

don’t care what the Ministry says. I will not do it.” She began to shut the door, but

Draco stuck his hand out and prevented it.

“I don’t think that this is a conversation that you want to have in a hallway, Hermione.

Please,” he said with a pleading look in his eyes. “Please, let me come in.”

Hermione drew a breath, trying to control her anger. He kept begging her with his eyes

until she relented. Slowly, she opened the door wide enough to let him in. She walked

across the room and settled back into the chair she had been sitting in. “What makes you

think that you can convince me, ferret boy?”

Draco felt a little anger stir in him at her comment. “Ferret boy? I haven’t been that git

in a long time. Don’t you realize how much I’ve changed?”

Hermione snorted in derision. “Just because you managed to convince the Ministry that you’

re innocent, what makes you believe that I’ll believe it? You’re the reason that

Dumbledore is dead.”

“No, I’m not. The Dark Lord had a little something to do with that. He’s the one who made

me choose. I at least bought my mother some more time.” He saw Hermione’s look at

disbelief. “Look. I don’t want to start out a marriage with any secrets. Do you know why

I had to attack Professor Dumbledore that year?”

Hermione thought about it. She realized that he was not going to go away until he tried to

convince her to marry him. She chose to remain silent, and hoped that he would give

up.

Draco took her silence as an invitation to begin his story. “Fine. The story begins during

our fifth year. After Father failed to retrieve the prophecy, the Dark Lord was extremely

angry. He ordered Bella to bring both me and Mother to him.” Draco rolled his eyes. “I,

being the stupid, power seeking git that I was, was ecstatic. I went willingly and when he

requested a private meeting with me, went happily. It was only in that meeting that my life

changed forever.” He paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts.

Hermione looked at Draco; astonished about how he was describing the boy he used to be.

Against her better judgment, she felt herself being pulled into the story. “What happened?”

she asked quietly.

Draco laughed a hollow laugh. “He told me that if I did not kill Dumbledore than my mother

would be tortured and then murdered in front of me. He said it would take her days to die

and it would be worse than the Cruciatus curse.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It was

then that I knew he was absolutely mad. I tried to find a way out of it. I knew that I

could not go to Dumbledore, for then the Dark Lord would read it in my mind. Snape was a

good option, but I wasn’t sure how much I could trust him. So I began to plan. I tried to

make it so that I couldn’t succeed. I wanted to give Mother the time she needed to escape

his wrath. It was all for nothing.”

Hermione detected a note of deep sorrow in his last statement and following her instincts,

she moved towards him. She placed her hand under his chin and lifted his eyes so that she

could look into them. As soon as they made eye contact, she felt herself fall into his

silver orbs. She saw pain, regret and a deep self loathing in his eyes that made her want

to wrap her arms around him and try to give him comfort. Holding herself back she just

said, “I’m sorry. He killed her anyway, didn’t he?”

Draco nodded. “I changed that year. I knew that everything that I had done to Potter was

coming back to haunt me. Payback is a bitch, you know.”

Hermione managed to chuckle at that. “It’s not payback. It’s war.” She smiled as a thought

came to her. “You know, there was this American general in the 1800’s who made the most

famous quote. War is hell. I think that he was right. Don’t blame yourself; you made the

most of a bad situation.” She sighed as she turned and walked back to her chair. “I still

can’t marry you, Draco. I just…I just can’t. I’m going to speak to Isabelle Rutherford

tomorrow.” She sat in the chair, staring at the floor, unable to meet his eyes.

Draco felt like his heart was being ripped out. “Why? I like you. You challenge me and I

know for a fact you wouldn’t let me become a git.”

Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes. “I have my reasons.” She kept staring at the

floor, unable to look him in the eyes.

Draco followed her earlier lead and walked over to her. He grasped her chin lightly,

noticing her slight flinch at the contact. “Tell me. Please.” He looked deep into her

eyes, trying to figure out her secrets.

Hermione shook her head. “No. I can’t. Please, Draco. I just want to be alone right now.

Please, leave.”

Draco felt some anger at her words. “Why? I just told you my biggest secret. Why

shouldn’t you do me the same honour?”

Hermione looked at him, her anger coming back. “Just because you chose to tell me that

doesn’t me that I am obligated to tell you my secrets, Malfoy. Those are mine and mine

alone to share with whomever I please.” She pushed him away from her and walked towards the

door. She opened it. “Please leave now,” she growled.

Draco drew in a breath and decided to quit while he was ahead. “Fine. This doesn’t mean

that I’m going to let this go, Hermione. Before we get married, you will tell me what’s

bothering you.” With those parting words, he walked out of her room.

Hermione sat down after he had left guilt and regret washing over her. I’m sorry, Draco.

That will never happen.

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The next day, Hermione was sombre as she walked into the Ministry. She picked up her

visitor’s badge and walked up to Isabelle’s office. She waited patiently while her name was

called.

When she walked into the office, Isabelle smiled and extended her hand. “Ms. Granger. This

is an unexpected surprise. What can I do to help you?”

Hermione drew in a breath. “I can not marry Draco Malfoy. Please, can I do anything to

change that?”

Isabelle looked at the younger woman. “I’m sorry, all betrothals are final.”

“Please,” Hermione said pleadingly. “I can’t marry him. Surely there is something that you

can do to change that.”

“I’m sorry. What’s done is done. The Sorting Hat has made its decision and I can not

change that.”

Hermione felt her eyes feel with tears as the fear swelled in her heart. “You don’t

understand. I fought his father during the war. I do not have pleasant memories of that

and he looks exactly like him.”

Isabelle drew in a breath, feeling sympathy for the girl. “Look, Ms. Granger. I can’t

change it. I’m truly sorry, but you must marry Draco Malfoy within the next year or you

will be stripped of your wand.”

Hermione felt broken, knowing that she had nothing to go back to in the Muggle world.

Silently, she stood up and walked out of the room. Instead of going back to Hogwarts, she

decided to walk around Muggle London and try to see if she could find another solution.

Her first stop was to Diagon Alley, so that she could change her money to pounds. Once that

was completed, taking great care to avoid the twin’s joke shop, she made her way through the

Leaky Cauldron and into Muggle London.

She walked around for hours, not really seeing where she was going, just lost in thoughts.

Her heart felt heavy at having to spend the rest of her life with a man that reminded her of

horrible things. I know Draco is a decent and caring man, but every time I look at him,

I see is father staring back at me. How am I supposed to live with that? It will drive me

mad.

She heard a crack of thunder and then the cold drops of rain as a downpour began. She

lifted her face up, so that she was staring at the clouds. This fits my mood

perfectly, she thought. She felt the cold rain washing away her tears as her hair

became plastered to her head. As she brought her focus back to her surroundings, she

realized that she was looking at the London Eye. She smiled a bit, remembering the day the

previous summer that Ginny and she had brought the twins there. She sat down on a bench and

bent her head in sorrow.

This was how, Ginny had found her.

Hermione heard the unmistakable sound of an Apparation behind her, but didn’t look up. She

didn’t look up until she felt a soft touch on her arm.

“Merlin, Hermione. You’re freezing!” exclaimed Ginny. “Come on; let’s get you back to the

Burrow.”

Hermione just nodded and together, she and Ginny Apparated back to her home. Molly was

waiting for them.

“Mia, dear. Come on; let’s get you into some dry clothes.” The concerned mother turned to

her daughter. “Ginny? Will you make some hot tea up for her?” Ginny nodded and made her

way to the kitchen.

Within moments, Molly had the depressed woman sitting at a table and was forcing the hot tea

down her throat. She sighed, knowing that Hermione needed to talk about her feelings.

“Mia, dear. What’s wrong? Minerva flooed earlier and said that you had not gone back to

Hogwarts after your meeting with Isabelle Rutherford.”

Ginny sat across from Hermione, knowing that her best friend needed to finally come clean

with what was bothering her. “Hermione, please talk to me. I’m your best friend. Please

let me help you.”

Hermione lifted her head and stared at Ginny, her eyes lifeless. “The Marriage Law. I have

to marry Draco Malfoy.”

Molly’s quick breath in showed her distress. “Oh, dear.”

Ginny was confused. “I know you don’t like the man, Hermione. I can’t blame you since he’s

a git, but why did that cause this reaction?”

Hermione looked at her. “I should have told you this a long time ago, Ginny. You remember

when I was captured by Death Eaters?” At Ginny’s nod, she continued. “Lucius Malfoy was

one of my main torturers. He raped me repeatedly.” Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes

again as Ginny gasped in horror.

“Oh, Merlin. Mia, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was ashamed,” came the quiet answer.

“That’s nothing to be ashamed about. You can’t control other people! Now I see why you are

so distressed about the marriage.”

“Yeah. It’s not that Draco is a bad person. In fact, if it weren’t for his father, I

wouldn’t mind marrying him. He has changed completely. But every time I look at him, I

still see his father standing over me.” Hermione lost control and began to sob in earnest

again.

Ginny got up from the table and walked around to Hermione and wrapped her arms around the

sobbing woman. She didn’t say anything, she just offered her comfort.

After an hour, Hermione had calmed down enough to begin to think reasonably again. “I asked

Isabelle Rutherford if I could marry anyone else, but she said no. I don’t know what to

do.”

Ginny, who was still stroking her hair softly, thought for a moment. “I don’t know either.

I do know that you need to get back to Hogwarts. McGonagall was really worried about you.”

Hermione nodded and stood. “Thanks, Ginny. Thanks, Molly. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell

you all this sooner, Gin. I wasn’t ready to face it.” She turned towards the fireplace and

got a pinch of Floo powder. With one look back at her concerned best friend, she threw the

powder into the fire and shouted, “Hogwarts, Headmistress office.” She stepped into the

green flames and disappeared.

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McGonagall looked up in surprise as Hermione stepped out of the flames. “Mia! You’re

alright!”

Hermione looked at her mentor. “Yes. I’m sorry that I worried you, but I needed some time

to think.”

McGonagall looked at her, understanding some of the pain she was in. “Understandable, my

dear. I’m glad that Molly was able to find you.”

Hermione nodded. “I’m going to head off to bed and try to get some rest.”

“Good night, Mia. Pleasant dreams.”

Hermione rolled her eyes once she was out of sight. Pleasant dreams. If only I could

have some. She walked quickly back to her quarters where she took a hot shower and then

snuggled under the covers. She stared up at the ceiling, her mind refusing to stop working,

so she opened up her nightstand. She still had some Dreamless Sleep potion. A few minutes

after she swallowed the potion, she was fast asleep.

When Hermione awoke the next morning, she felt horrible. Her head was stuffed up and she

couldn’t stop sneezing. “Oh,” she groaned. She tried to sit up in bed, but her head spun

at the sudden movement. “Crap. That’s perfect. Now I’m sick. Can anything else go

wrong?”

Just as the words were out of her mouth, there was a knock on her doors. She groggily

called out, “Come in.”

“Hermione?” called out Draco.

“Damn it,” she muttered. She tried to get up, but found she lacked the energy. “In the

bedroom,” she yelled.

Draco walked in, to find her struggling to sit up. “Hermione? Are you okay?”

She rolled her eyes. “Perfect. Just perfect.” She gave up her struggle and lay back down.

Draco walked over to her bed, concern lining his face. He put a hand on her forehead.

“Dear Merlin. You’re burning up. That’s it. I’m taking you to Pomfrey.”

“No. I don’t want to go. I got myself into this mess, I’ll get myself out.”

“Hermione,” he said in exasperation. “You are sick. You need to go to the hospital wing.”

He quickly pulled the covers off of her and bent down to pick her up.

“Don’t touch me,” she said half heartedly.

Draco ignored her and picked her up and began to walk towards her door.

“Wait! I need to at least get dressed.”

“I’m not leaving you alone. You are too weak too sit up in bed; how in Merlin’s name do you

expect to get dressed?”

“I’ll manage,” she growled.

Draco set her back down and then called out, “Dobby?”

The little elf appeared. “Yes, Master Draco?”

“Hermione is sick, but she wants to get dressed before going to see Madame Pomfrey. Can you

help her?”

“Of course. Anything for Miss Hermione.” The little elf looked at Hermione and began to

help her get dressed as Draco left the room.

Thirty minutes later, Draco carried as subdued Hermione into the hospital wing. Madame

Pomfrey noticed their arrival and quickly came over. “What happened?”

Draco looked down at Hermione and realized that she had fallen asleep. “I don’t know. I

went to her quarters this morning and found her too weak to sit up. I felt her forehead and

she is burning up.”

Madame Pomfrey quickly took her temperature. “You’re right; it’s a couple of degrees over

normal. Let me examine her.”

The Mediwitch quickly examined her. “Well, it looks like she managed to get pneumonia.

She’s going to get worse before she gets better. I’d better let the Headmistress know, so

that she can get someone to teach her classes for a week or two.”

Draco nodded, feeling protective. “I’ll stay her with her, while you let Professor

McGonagall know.”

Madame Pomfrey nodded. “Good. She’ll need someone she knows here. She’s likely to be very

incoherent.” The Mediwitch then left the ward.

Draco sat quietly by her bedside, as her fever increased. He held her hand, stroking it

softly and when she began to whimper, he murmured to her that everything was going to be

alright.

Hermione, in the grip of a fever induced nightmare, awoke at the sound of his voice. “NO!”

she screamed and then grabbed for her wand, which was not there. Lost in the nightmare, she

didn’t realize that it was Draco and not Lucius standing over her. “Get away from me!”

“Hermione? It’s okay. You’re sick and in the hospital wing.”

His quiet words didn’t penetrate the fear that the nightmare had invoked and when he leaned

over her, to lay a cool rag on her forehead, she thought he was going to attack her.

“Stupify!” she yelled and Draco flew back from the bed into a wall, where he was knocked

out. Her fear had overridden her need for a wand.

Casting the wandless spell had cost her most of her energy and she passed out again.

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AN: Anyone else feel bad for Draco? Please read and review!