“Once Upon a time there was a Prince-“
“A handsome prince, Daddy.”
“Stop laughing Ginny Marissa Who is telling this story?”
“Sorry Daddy, but when Mummy tells it she always says handsome prince.”
“Ok sweet-pea. Once Upon a Time there was a handsome prince. While he was good looking with gray eyes and silvery blonde hair, he wasn’t liked by many people.”
“Because he was a great bouncing ferrity git.”
“SHANNON! ” “ Who told you that? ” Ginny and Draco exclaimed together.
“Uncle Ron, Uncle Harry, Uncle Fred, Uncle George-“
“I get the point, Shannon”
“Daddy Get to the story ” David said with an eye-roll and smirk that came directly from his father.
“Yes Dave. Now where was I? Oh Yeah. Once Upon a Time there was a handsome prince, who wasn’t very nice and was very unhappy, because things just weren’t going the way he wanted.
You see the prince’s father, the King, had always told him anything he wanted he could have simply by demanding it. HIs father believed that because of who he was and where he came from, nothing less then perfection would be accepted at school, sports. Of course when the time would come to choose a wife, she would have to be as rich and as perfect as he.
Now as the prince was pretty spoiled, he didn’t see anything wrong with this ideal. In fact he completely believed everything his father said to be true. So he reached for perfection in all he did. However, in school there was one person who was always just a bit smarter. In Quidditch there was always one person who was a little faster. When he went to functions he went with the perfect girls. But he didn’t have any fun. No one ever said perfection was fun.
“The prince saw the life his parents had. There was perfection, control, and wealth, but no smiles, no hugs, and seemingly no love. They never touched and they rarely talked. Sometimes the prince had to wonder how he came to be. He wasn’t sure if this was what he wanted for the rest of his life. Actually the prince wasn’t sure what he wanted. He did know that he wanted more then the coldness that seemed to seep under his skin and into his bones. He wanted to be warm.
“The prince, whose name was Draco, understood through the king that appearances were everything. You see the King a long time ago had sided with a person who was very evil and very intolerant of anything which was not pure and perfect. A baby boy defeated this evil lord, a long time ago. When this happened, all those that were on his side had to appear as if it was against their will that they had sided with the evil lord. The King taught his son this and all the while plotted to help the evil lord to come back to full power.
“While all this was happening to the prince. The Princess of our story was having difficulties of her own.”
“Now our Flame Princess, Yes Marissa our beautiful Flame Princess. She was so named because she was the only daughter born in a family of seven flaming redheads, the youngest child born after six brothers.
So of course, she was very over-protected. Especially since after her first year in school, the king had sought to destroy the princess and her family by setting her up to do some very nasty things.”
“But our Princess didn’t let it get her down. She loved her family, including each and every one of her six brothers. Now when she first met our prince she didn’t think too much of him. She thought she was in love with the prince’s arch nemesis, which in the long run turned out to be an ok guy.
“The story really begins during the Christmas Holidays of the Prince’s fifth year, and the princess’s fourth. The year before the evil lord had come back and he was now attempting to regain his former power. Dumbledore, a great wizard, was doing what he could to undermine what was going on.
“Now the princess, whose name was Ginny and the arch-nemesis, who we’ll call Harry, had become close over the previous summer had gotten close. They even decided to give dating a try. Harry, of course cleared it with Princess Ginny’s three older brothers that still went to school with them, Ron, Fred and George.
“Fred and George had been preening a bit. They had, had some success that summer in matching up their older brother, the perfect prefect, Percy with one of their good friends, Katie Bell. That relationship and the antics that ensued from it are still talked about at Hogwarts’ even today. One of the most memorable of these being at Gryffindor’s first quidditch match. Even the Slytherin’s were impressed with a Weasley shouting that his girlfriends’ br-chest was better than Harry Potter’s was. We won’t even mention the amount of times they were caught that year in various broom closets, by everyone from Peeves to Professor Dumbledore himself.
“Anyway,” Draco said amiss the giggles coming from the children at the idea of their Uncle Percy and Aunt Katie acting in such a way. “It was now the Christmas Holidays and no one really wanted to go home. Since the evil lord had definite ideas as to who should and shouldn’t be at Hogwarts, people were scared for their children and asked that they stay at the school where they were safe. Hermione, one of Princess Ginny’s good friends, as well as best friend to Harry and Ron had wanted to go home for the holidays. Ron, though, had put his foot down about that. You see Ron, who was not so secretly in love with Hermione, was terrified that the evil lord, called Voldemort, would come after her. Hermione wasn’t a pure blood and she was a friend of Harry’s, who Voldemort hated. Since she also was not so secretly in love with Ron, she stayed.
“The prince didn’t know this as he had been skipping dinner and practicing his quidditch skills. He was under the impression that she had gone home for the holidays. At the Christmas Eve feast he discovered differently. When he saw her, something his father the king had asked earlier came flooding into his head. His father had asked him if Hermione was staying at school or going home for the holiday. Her name hadn’t been on the list to stay so he had told his father she was going home. When he saw her he realized what his father planned on doing.
“In that one instant the prince realized that as much as he disliked Harry, Ron and the rest, he couldn’t just let a family be destroyed. He had to do something, even if it meant going against everything he had been raised to believe in.”
^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Draco saw Dumbledore leave the hall after the feast. He got up as quickly as he could without being noticed. As he left the hall he saw Dumbledore talking to Professor McGonagall.
“Headmaster Wait ” Draco shouted as he ran up to them.
“Mr. Malfoy what can I do for you?” Dumbledore asked calmly.
“I need to speak with you, it’s an emergency. Please ”
“Certainly Mr. Malfoy. Minerva, you will excuse us.”
“NO She should hear this too.”
“Let’s proceed.”
The three of them walked to his office.
Dumbledore said the password in a loud firm voice, “Canary Creams.”
Draco followed the two Professors into Dumbledore’s office.
“Mr. Malfoy, there was something you wished to tell us?” Dumbledore asked as he and Minerva sat down at his desk.
“Yes Sir. I don’t know why I’m doing this. I think the Death Eaters are going to attack Mud-Hermione’s house tonight. My Father specifically asked me if she was going to stay here, or go home for the holidays. Since her name wasn’t on the list to stay, I told him she was going home. I hadn’t seen her until tonight. He’s never asked about anyone let alone her before.”
“Albus?” Professor McGonagall said weakly as she put her hand to her throat.
“Yes Minerva, I’ll alert the ministry. See if you can get in touch with the Weasley’s. Maybe they can get to the Granger’s in time”
“I’ll go immediately.” McGonagall answered swiftly. She stood and began to walk to the door before turning hesitantly, “Albus what should I tell her?”
“Let’s make our calls first and then we’ll both tell her. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Right away” McGonagall said as she left the office.
“Mr. Malfoy if you could hide behind this door, It’ll be better for you if the ministry doesn’t know it was you that gave us this information.”
Draco did as he was bid and hid behind the bookcase. He heard the muffled conversation between Dumbledore and Fudge. After a few minutes, the voices ceased and it seemed the conversation was over.
“Mr. Malfoy ” Dumbledore called.
Draco left the safety of the bookcase and came back into the center of the room. Dumbledore was standing a few feet from him.
“Mr. Malfoy, Why don’t you return to your dormitory. You’ve done all you can do. We’ll talk more tomorrow or the day after.”
“You won’t tell th-anyone it was me?” Draco asked, after all it was all well and good to do something nice, but he could hardly have that getting around the school.
“If you wish to remain anonymous, I will honor that request.”
Draco went back to his dormitory room, and after tossing and turning, finally fell asleep. His last thought was that he was glad his mother had insisted he be out of Hogwarts before receiving the dark mark.
Draco woke up with a strange feeling. Then he remembered what he had done the previous evening. He had betrayed his father and everything he’d ever known. ‘I hope it was worth it. Thankfully, Father has little chance of realizing it was me.’ Draco got out of bed, after showering and changing, made his way to the great hall for breakfast.
When Draco arrived he went to his usual seat. Sitting down, he glanced over at the Gryffindor table. Potter and Weasley were with Hermione. Potter was holding her hand and Weasley had his arm around her shoulders. It didn’t look like any of them had gotten any sleep the night before. Weasley’s older twin brothers came in and sat down beside the trio. Ginny followed soon after. They closed ranks around Hermione, maybe thinking their support alone could protect her from the unthinkable. Weasley was trying to coax Hermione into eating or drinking something. Draco watched as Hermione took hold of the cup and with the support of Weasley’s hand begin to drink the tea.
Draco ate his breakfast without really paying attention to what he was eating. It was thirty or so minutes later when the doors to the great hall were flung open. Everyone stopped and looked up at the doors. Professor McGonagall was there with what seemed to be a smile. ‘Must be good news’ Draco thought. He then saw a man and a woman enter behind her followed by what seemed to be a horde of red-haired people.
“MUM! DADDY! ” Hermione screamed as she recognized the couple in the doorway. She ran toward them completely heedless of rules and decorum.
The couple caught her and held her tight. Draco, for a moment, was envious. His parents had never held him in such a way. He watched as the crowd of people sat down at the Gryffindor table. They were immeasurably happy, hugging each other and pounding each other on the back. Draco smirked to himself, “I did that.”
All of a sudden a school owl was in front of him holding out his claw with a message attached to it. Draco unrolled it and gave the owl a bit of bacon from his plate. He read the note quickly;
Mr. Malfoy;
Please meet me at 10 p.m. tonight in the Astronomy Tower. We have something to discuss.
A.D.
Draco relaxed the rest of the day opening his presents from his parents and his friends. He then went into the Slytherin Common Room to play some Wizards Chess and Exploding Snap.
At twenty minutes to 10 he slipped on the invisibility cloak he’d had since his third year. After all, if Potter had one he wanted one as well. He made his way slowly up to the tower. When he got there to his surprise there was no Dumbledore there. He took off the cloak and spun around when he heard a gasp behind him.
He heard two voices behind him shout “Lumos.”
“Malfoy ” Weasley said in disbelief.
“What are you doing here Weasel, Potty?” Draco said with a sneer.
“We sent you the letter Mal-Draco.” Hermione stepped out from the shadows.
Draco turned around at the sound of her voice, surprised at her using his first name. He saw Hermione coming toward him followed by the littlest Weasel.
He shook his head as he turned to leave.
“Mal-Draco Please wait ” Hermione begged.
Draco turned and looked at her. His sneer once again in place. “What do you want mudblood?” he saw her flinch at the use of the word, but appearances must be kept up.
“Draco, we aren’t here to fight you or set you up. I just want, no I need to know. It was you wasn’t it? You warned Dumbledore about the attack on my parents?” Hermione looked at him beseechingly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Hermione.” Draco said snidely.
“Just between us Draco. I swear Whatever is said in this room will never be repeated by any of us. We can all go back to despising each other tomorrow. I have to know Did you go to Dumbledore?”
“Fine Hermione. If any of you ever repeat what I’m about to say I’ll not only deny it, I’ll make you regret it. Got it?”
After all four heads nodded.
“All right, this is what happened.” Draco said as he began to pace up and down in the room. “My father asked me at the beginning of the holiday Hermione, if you would be staying or going home. Since I didn’t see your name on the list to stay, I told him you were going home. It wasn’t until I saw you last night at dinner that it clicked. What better Christmas gift to give Potter then the murder of one of his best friends. I went and told Dumbledore my suspicions. Don’t ask me why I did it. I don’t even know why I did it. I still don’t like you or Potty or Weasel. But, no one deserves to lose their parents like that.”
Draco watched as Hermione put her hand over her mouth, and her eyes fill with tears. He also saw Weasley go to comfort her almost immediately. He pulled her into a hug.
Ron looked from Hermione back to Draco. “You know you and I have been at odds since first year, I doubt that will ever really change. You and I as friends would be more than this world could ever stand. However I-we owe you for this one. I know there’s nothing you really need, but if you ever find yourself in a tough spot know we’ll have your back.”
“Absolutely Mal-Draco. Thanks for this.” Harry agreed with them. Ginny nodded as well.
Ginny looked a bit apprehensive. “Are you in any danger because for doing this Draco?” Ginny asked concerned.
“No, as far as I know I’m ok. I wrote my Father this morning telling him that you were actually here at school and last night was the first that I saw you. I apologized for my oversight in giving him wrong information. At least that what I said when I owled him this morning.”
“Mione we should get back. Your parents leave in the morning.” Ron said soothingly.
“Granger? How close did they get?” Draco asked hesitantly.
Hermione turned “The Weasleys got to my house about 15 minutes after McGonagall contacted them. They apparated them a block or so away. Less then five minutes later the Death Eaters were there.” Hermione stood in front of him wringing her hands. “My parents would be dead right now if it weren’t for you. I’m sorry I need to do this, you can shower or whatever later.”
Without further preamble Hermione reached up and pulled him into a tight hug. As she pulled away she quickly kissed his cheek. “I’ll keep my promise Draco. Tomorrow you’ll go back to being Malfoy, and I’ll never mention this to you again. I want you to know, though I owe you for this. Any time, anything you want to collect it yours. Let’s go guys.”
They all got under the invisibility Cloak, when Ginny came back to him.
“You know, I always suspected you had an actual heart in there. One that beats and everything” Ginny said as she poked him in the chest. Then she reached up with both hands and kissed him quick and tenderly on the mouth. “See you tomorrow Draco.” she said breathlessly as she swept past the opened door and followed her friends back to her dorm.
Draco stood their a few more minutes after they left. ‘I’ve gone nutters.’ he thought to himself as he made his way back to his dormitory.
“Ah Mr. Malfoy, just the young man I was looking for. Might I have a few moments of your time?” Dumbledore asked right before Draco could give the password.
“Certainly Professor.”
“Come with me.” Dumbledore said as he led the way back to his office.
“A handsome prince, Daddy.”
“Stop laughing Ginny Marissa Who is telling this story?”
“Sorry Daddy, but when Mummy tells it she always says handsome prince.”
“Ok sweet-pea. Once Upon a Time there was a handsome prince. While he was good looking with gray eyes and silvery blonde hair, he wasn’t liked by many people.”
“Because he was a great bouncing ferrity git.”
“SHANNON! ” “ Who told you that? ” Ginny and Draco exclaimed together.
“Uncle Ron, Uncle Harry, Uncle Fred, Uncle George-“
“I get the point, Shannon”
“Daddy Get to the story ” David said with an eye-roll and smirk that came directly from his father.
“Yes Dave. Now where was I? Oh Yeah. Once Upon a Time there was a handsome prince, who wasn’t very nice and was very unhappy, because things just weren’t going the way he wanted.
You see the prince’s father, the King, had always told him anything he wanted he could have simply by demanding it. HIs father believed that because of who he was and where he came from, nothing less then perfection would be accepted at school, sports. Of course when the time would come to choose a wife, she would have to be as rich and as perfect as he.
Now as the prince was pretty spoiled, he didn’t see anything wrong with this ideal. In fact he completely believed everything his father said to be true. So he reached for perfection in all he did. However, in school there was one person who was always just a bit smarter. In Quidditch there was always one person who was a little faster. When he went to functions he went with the perfect girls. But he didn’t have any fun. No one ever said perfection was fun.
“The prince saw the life his parents had. There was perfection, control, and wealth, but no smiles, no hugs, and seemingly no love. They never touched and they rarely talked. Sometimes the prince had to wonder how he came to be. He wasn’t sure if this was what he wanted for the rest of his life. Actually the prince wasn’t sure what he wanted. He did know that he wanted more then the coldness that seemed to seep under his skin and into his bones. He wanted to be warm.
“The prince, whose name was Draco, understood through the king that appearances were everything. You see the King a long time ago had sided with a person who was very evil and very intolerant of anything which was not pure and perfect. A baby boy defeated this evil lord, a long time ago. When this happened, all those that were on his side had to appear as if it was against their will that they had sided with the evil lord. The King taught his son this and all the while plotted to help the evil lord to come back to full power.
“While all this was happening to the prince. The Princess of our story was having difficulties of her own.”
“Now our Flame Princess, Yes Marissa our beautiful Flame Princess. She was so named because she was the only daughter born in a family of seven flaming redheads, the youngest child born after six brothers.
So of course, she was very over-protected. Especially since after her first year in school, the king had sought to destroy the princess and her family by setting her up to do some very nasty things.”
“But our Princess didn’t let it get her down. She loved her family, including each and every one of her six brothers. Now when she first met our prince she didn’t think too much of him. She thought she was in love with the prince’s arch nemesis, which in the long run turned out to be an ok guy.
“The story really begins during the Christmas Holidays of the Prince’s fifth year, and the princess’s fourth. The year before the evil lord had come back and he was now attempting to regain his former power. Dumbledore, a great wizard, was doing what he could to undermine what was going on.
“Now the princess, whose name was Ginny and the arch-nemesis, who we’ll call Harry, had become close over the previous summer had gotten close. They even decided to give dating a try. Harry, of course cleared it with Princess Ginny’s three older brothers that still went to school with them, Ron, Fred and George.
“Fred and George had been preening a bit. They had, had some success that summer in matching up their older brother, the perfect prefect, Percy with one of their good friends, Katie Bell. That relationship and the antics that ensued from it are still talked about at Hogwarts’ even today. One of the most memorable of these being at Gryffindor’s first quidditch match. Even the Slytherin’s were impressed with a Weasley shouting that his girlfriends’ br-chest was better than Harry Potter’s was. We won’t even mention the amount of times they were caught that year in various broom closets, by everyone from Peeves to Professor Dumbledore himself.
“Anyway,” Draco said amiss the giggles coming from the children at the idea of their Uncle Percy and Aunt Katie acting in such a way. “It was now the Christmas Holidays and no one really wanted to go home. Since the evil lord had definite ideas as to who should and shouldn’t be at Hogwarts, people were scared for their children and asked that they stay at the school where they were safe. Hermione, one of Princess Ginny’s good friends, as well as best friend to Harry and Ron had wanted to go home for the holidays. Ron, though, had put his foot down about that. You see Ron, who was not so secretly in love with Hermione, was terrified that the evil lord, called Voldemort, would come after her. Hermione wasn’t a pure blood and she was a friend of Harry’s, who Voldemort hated. Since she also was not so secretly in love with Ron, she stayed.
“The prince didn’t know this as he had been skipping dinner and practicing his quidditch skills. He was under the impression that she had gone home for the holidays. At the Christmas Eve feast he discovered differently. When he saw her, something his father the king had asked earlier came flooding into his head. His father had asked him if Hermione was staying at school or going home for the holiday. Her name hadn’t been on the list to stay so he had told his father she was going home. When he saw her he realized what his father planned on doing.
“In that one instant the prince realized that as much as he disliked Harry, Ron and the rest, he couldn’t just let a family be destroyed. He had to do something, even if it meant going against everything he had been raised to believe in.”
^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Draco saw Dumbledore leave the hall after the feast. He got up as quickly as he could without being noticed. As he left the hall he saw Dumbledore talking to Professor McGonagall.
“Headmaster Wait ” Draco shouted as he ran up to them.
“Mr. Malfoy what can I do for you?” Dumbledore asked calmly.
“I need to speak with you, it’s an emergency. Please ”
“Certainly Mr. Malfoy. Minerva, you will excuse us.”
“NO She should hear this too.”
“Let’s proceed.”
The three of them walked to his office.
Dumbledore said the password in a loud firm voice, “Canary Creams.”
Draco followed the two Professors into Dumbledore’s office.
“Mr. Malfoy, there was something you wished to tell us?” Dumbledore asked as he and Minerva sat down at his desk.
“Yes Sir. I don’t know why I’m doing this. I think the Death Eaters are going to attack Mud-Hermione’s house tonight. My Father specifically asked me if she was going to stay here, or go home for the holidays. Since her name wasn’t on the list to stay, I told him she was going home. I hadn’t seen her until tonight. He’s never asked about anyone let alone her before.”
“Albus?” Professor McGonagall said weakly as she put her hand to her throat.
“Yes Minerva, I’ll alert the ministry. See if you can get in touch with the Weasley’s. Maybe they can get to the Granger’s in time”
“I’ll go immediately.” McGonagall answered swiftly. She stood and began to walk to the door before turning hesitantly, “Albus what should I tell her?”
“Let’s make our calls first and then we’ll both tell her. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Right away” McGonagall said as she left the office.
“Mr. Malfoy if you could hide behind this door, It’ll be better for you if the ministry doesn’t know it was you that gave us this information.”
Draco did as he was bid and hid behind the bookcase. He heard the muffled conversation between Dumbledore and Fudge. After a few minutes, the voices ceased and it seemed the conversation was over.
“Mr. Malfoy ” Dumbledore called.
Draco left the safety of the bookcase and came back into the center of the room. Dumbledore was standing a few feet from him.
“Mr. Malfoy, Why don’t you return to your dormitory. You’ve done all you can do. We’ll talk more tomorrow or the day after.”
“You won’t tell th-anyone it was me?” Draco asked, after all it was all well and good to do something nice, but he could hardly have that getting around the school.
“If you wish to remain anonymous, I will honor that request.”
Draco went back to his dormitory room, and after tossing and turning, finally fell asleep. His last thought was that he was glad his mother had insisted he be out of Hogwarts before receiving the dark mark.
Draco woke up with a strange feeling. Then he remembered what he had done the previous evening. He had betrayed his father and everything he’d ever known. ‘I hope it was worth it. Thankfully, Father has little chance of realizing it was me.’ Draco got out of bed, after showering and changing, made his way to the great hall for breakfast.
When Draco arrived he went to his usual seat. Sitting down, he glanced over at the Gryffindor table. Potter and Weasley were with Hermione. Potter was holding her hand and Weasley had his arm around her shoulders. It didn’t look like any of them had gotten any sleep the night before. Weasley’s older twin brothers came in and sat down beside the trio. Ginny followed soon after. They closed ranks around Hermione, maybe thinking their support alone could protect her from the unthinkable. Weasley was trying to coax Hermione into eating or drinking something. Draco watched as Hermione took hold of the cup and with the support of Weasley’s hand begin to drink the tea.
Draco ate his breakfast without really paying attention to what he was eating. It was thirty or so minutes later when the doors to the great hall were flung open. Everyone stopped and looked up at the doors. Professor McGonagall was there with what seemed to be a smile. ‘Must be good news’ Draco thought. He then saw a man and a woman enter behind her followed by what seemed to be a horde of red-haired people.
“MUM! DADDY! ” Hermione screamed as she recognized the couple in the doorway. She ran toward them completely heedless of rules and decorum.
The couple caught her and held her tight. Draco, for a moment, was envious. His parents had never held him in such a way. He watched as the crowd of people sat down at the Gryffindor table. They were immeasurably happy, hugging each other and pounding each other on the back. Draco smirked to himself, “I did that.”
All of a sudden a school owl was in front of him holding out his claw with a message attached to it. Draco unrolled it and gave the owl a bit of bacon from his plate. He read the note quickly;
Mr. Malfoy;
Please meet me at 10 p.m. tonight in the Astronomy Tower. We have something to discuss.
A.D.
Draco relaxed the rest of the day opening his presents from his parents and his friends. He then went into the Slytherin Common Room to play some Wizards Chess and Exploding Snap.
At twenty minutes to 10 he slipped on the invisibility cloak he’d had since his third year. After all, if Potter had one he wanted one as well. He made his way slowly up to the tower. When he got there to his surprise there was no Dumbledore there. He took off the cloak and spun around when he heard a gasp behind him.
He heard two voices behind him shout “Lumos.”
“Malfoy ” Weasley said in disbelief.
“What are you doing here Weasel, Potty?” Draco said with a sneer.
“We sent you the letter Mal-Draco.” Hermione stepped out from the shadows.
Draco turned around at the sound of her voice, surprised at her using his first name. He saw Hermione coming toward him followed by the littlest Weasel.
He shook his head as he turned to leave.
“Mal-Draco Please wait ” Hermione begged.
Draco turned and looked at her. His sneer once again in place. “What do you want mudblood?” he saw her flinch at the use of the word, but appearances must be kept up.
“Draco, we aren’t here to fight you or set you up. I just want, no I need to know. It was you wasn’t it? You warned Dumbledore about the attack on my parents?” Hermione looked at him beseechingly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Hermione.” Draco said snidely.
“Just between us Draco. I swear Whatever is said in this room will never be repeated by any of us. We can all go back to despising each other tomorrow. I have to know Did you go to Dumbledore?”
“Fine Hermione. If any of you ever repeat what I’m about to say I’ll not only deny it, I’ll make you regret it. Got it?”
After all four heads nodded.
“All right, this is what happened.” Draco said as he began to pace up and down in the room. “My father asked me at the beginning of the holiday Hermione, if you would be staying or going home. Since I didn’t see your name on the list to stay, I told him you were going home. It wasn’t until I saw you last night at dinner that it clicked. What better Christmas gift to give Potter then the murder of one of his best friends. I went and told Dumbledore my suspicions. Don’t ask me why I did it. I don’t even know why I did it. I still don’t like you or Potty or Weasel. But, no one deserves to lose their parents like that.”
Draco watched as Hermione put her hand over her mouth, and her eyes fill with tears. He also saw Weasley go to comfort her almost immediately. He pulled her into a hug.
Ron looked from Hermione back to Draco. “You know you and I have been at odds since first year, I doubt that will ever really change. You and I as friends would be more than this world could ever stand. However I-we owe you for this one. I know there’s nothing you really need, but if you ever find yourself in a tough spot know we’ll have your back.”
“Absolutely Mal-Draco. Thanks for this.” Harry agreed with them. Ginny nodded as well.
Ginny looked a bit apprehensive. “Are you in any danger because for doing this Draco?” Ginny asked concerned.
“No, as far as I know I’m ok. I wrote my Father this morning telling him that you were actually here at school and last night was the first that I saw you. I apologized for my oversight in giving him wrong information. At least that what I said when I owled him this morning.”
“Mione we should get back. Your parents leave in the morning.” Ron said soothingly.
“Granger? How close did they get?” Draco asked hesitantly.
Hermione turned “The Weasleys got to my house about 15 minutes after McGonagall contacted them. They apparated them a block or so away. Less then five minutes later the Death Eaters were there.” Hermione stood in front of him wringing her hands. “My parents would be dead right now if it weren’t for you. I’m sorry I need to do this, you can shower or whatever later.”
Without further preamble Hermione reached up and pulled him into a tight hug. As she pulled away she quickly kissed his cheek. “I’ll keep my promise Draco. Tomorrow you’ll go back to being Malfoy, and I’ll never mention this to you again. I want you to know, though I owe you for this. Any time, anything you want to collect it yours. Let’s go guys.”
They all got under the invisibility Cloak, when Ginny came back to him.
“You know, I always suspected you had an actual heart in there. One that beats and everything” Ginny said as she poked him in the chest. Then she reached up with both hands and kissed him quick and tenderly on the mouth. “See you tomorrow Draco.” she said breathlessly as she swept past the opened door and followed her friends back to her dorm.
Draco stood their a few more minutes after they left. ‘I’ve gone nutters.’ he thought to himself as he made his way back to his dormitory.
“Ah Mr. Malfoy, just the young man I was looking for. Might I have a few moments of your time?” Dumbledore asked right before Draco could give the password.
“Certainly Professor.”
“Come with me.” Dumbledore said as he led the way back to his office.
Leave a Review