~ Draco and Hermione ~

"The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters.
We've all got both light and dark inside us.
What matters is the part we choose to act on.
That's who we really are."

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters and settings belong to J.K Rowling.

Author's note: This is the first update in over two years and I'm sorry for taking so long to continue it. I'm working on the story again though and I do hope to finish it. In addition to uploading this chapter, I've updated every other chapter and some are a bit different, so if you haven't read the story in years, it might be worth reading from the beginning. The end of chapter 46 is completely different, so this chapter may not make much sense if you haven't checked the end of 46. Let me know what you think of it so far. :)

Enjoy!

Chapter 47

"Look we need to talk. About Granger, and a few other things," said Blaise seriously. There was a noticeable pause as he waited for a reply, and Draco worked to keep his face expressionless.

"What about her?" Draco replied.

"I know you've been saying that the boggart in Lupin's class last week was your mother, but-"

"It was," Draco snapped insistently.

"Just listen. I saw who it was. Theo saw who it was. I could tell by the shock on Potter, Weasley and Granger's faces that they saw and recognised who it was. Everyone, even Lupin, saw it. I'm not blind or stupid, Draco. Now I don't know anything about what you were doing last year, and I respect why you haven't talked about any of it. But there's been a lot of talk behind your back. Vince and Greg aren't happy," said Blaise, lowering his voice and looking over his shoulder as if to make sure no one was in the male sleeping quarters.

"Of course they're aren't, they never are," said Draco with a smirk, but he'd been hanging onto every word that Blaise said since he mentioned Hermione's name.

"No, I mean, they really aren't happy. I don't know if they plan on just talking to you about why your dad only got one year in Azkaban and theirs' got life, or if they plan on doing more than just talking, if you know what I mean. And they aren't the only ones pissed off about it. Just a heads up," Blaise warned. Draco sighed, rubbing his temples as he heard this. He knew it'd come up eventually, he knew some Slytherin's would hate him for it. He just wasn't sure when, or how, it'd come up.

"Thanks for the heads up. I've noticed they've been off since the train here," said Draco.

"That's not all. I get it if you don't want to talk about this, but me and Theo have been talking about your boggart. Look at it from our perspective. You were miserable in our sixth year, which is when you became a Death Eater according to the Prophet. You never talk about what it was like being one. Granger's boggart showed Bellatrix torturing her, at Malfoy Manor. I've been to your place, I know that room. Yours showed Granger being tortured too. Somehow, your family turns against You-Know-Who, so you must have left the Manor if that's where Bellatrix was in your boggarts. You never call her a mudblood anymore. You stopped her head from hitting the ground in Potions, and had no complaints about kissing her with the Wiggenweld potion. You're a good liar but it's starting to all add up..." Blaise was saying uncomfortably.

"You're cherry picking random facts and trying to put together, what, a fantasy where me and Granger are somehow hiding that we're together? From everyone? Do you know what my father would do if what you're implying was true-!" Draco hissed.

"Am I cherry picking, though? Look, me and Theo don't care if it's true. I've never cared too much about blood-status, I wouldn't be telling you all of this if I didn't consider you one of my best friends. But if this is true, I hope to god you've thought it through, Draco. Because I do know what your father would do. I know what Vince and Greg would do too, and you better hope they haven't put all this together in their thick heads because if they have..." said Blaise, sounding worried.

"I don't give a damn what Vince and Greg think, say or try to do, about my father turning on You-Know-Who or on what they think they saw in my boggart. Besides, why does Theo even care after all that shit he said?" asked Draco, still angry about how Theodore had basically blamed him for all of the hate that was being directed at Slytherin, because he was a bully and 'chose' to become a Death Eater, giving their house a bad reputation.

"He felt bad about some of the stuff he said. Especially after he saw your boggart. I think it made him realise, whether it was Granger or not being tortured, that you've been through a lot more shit than you've told anyone. Being the nerd that he is, he also said that if you and Granger actually did end up dating, it'd improve public perception of Slytherin's 'by a significant amount'," Blaise explained, quoting Theo with a laugh.

"If I dated Granger of all people publicly, I'd be hated by all of Slytherin in addition to the rest of the school, and then I'd get disowned and probably killed. Yeah, I bet Theo would love that," Draco said bitterly, still angry at Theo but also trying to deny the secret relationship that he actually did have with Hermione.

"Wait, killed? What do you mean?" asked Blaise in alarm.

"There's a lot of Death Eaters still on the run who already hate my guts for Lucius only getting one year in Azkaban, and me being here. Add to that me being with a muggle-born? I'd be killed within a week of leaving Hogwarts if it were true. It's why I can't fuck this Professorship up," Draco explained. He cursed himself for the last part. He hoped that Blaise hadn't caught on, but he had. Blaise's eyes widened as if to say, 'did you just admit to it?' and Draco hurried on, "Oh you know what I mean, I need the Professorship because they'll kill me over Lucius turning on You-Know-Who-"

"No Draco, no you just said, they'd kill you if you were dating a muggle-born. You still didn't say mudblood either. At this point I'm so convinced I almost don't even need you to admit to it-"

"Good! Because I'm not going to admit to it, it's absurd," Draco hissed. Alarm bells were going through his mind and he could feel his heart pumping though. He hadn't even been at Hogwarts for two weeks yet, and already at least one Slytherin had figured out that something was going on between him and Hermione.

"Just remember, me and Theo don't care. I haven't said anything to Pansy, and I won't. Whatever happens though, with Vince and Greg, or with Granger if it's true, which I'm certain it now is but you don't have to admit it," said Blaise in amusement as Draco rolled his eyes in frustration. "Just know that I'll still have your back. So will Theo, even though you two uh... had that disagreement. I think he wants to apologise, you should hear him out."

There was silence as Draco tried to think of a response. He wanted to tell Blaise the truth. Blaise and Pansy were his best friends, and Blaise had just proven himself to be overwhelmingly loyal. Even just warning him about Crabbe and Goyle being that upset and planning on talking to or attacking him, was proof. But at the very least, he'd have to get Hermione's permission before telling anyone. His Slytherin instincts were also kicking in, defensive walls that made him feel like he could trust no one with a secret this important, regardless of how loyal they appeared.

"Even if it were true, and I wanted to talk about it, I still wouldn't be able to," said Draco, choosing his words extremely carefully. Blaise nodded in understanding, after all, Draco basically just confessed to it but said he couldn't talk about it. "But, thank you for telling me all of this. Seriously, you don't understand how much it means to me."

"Don't sweat it. I think it all needed to be said. Again, just be careful," said Blaise seriously. Then he shook his head and broke out into laughter, causing Draco to roll his eyes. Blaise could never be serious for long. "Man, you're in for a hell of a year. Holy shit."

"Yes I am," Draco sighed as they stood up to get ready to leave their sleeping quarters. "Promise me you won't tell anyone about any of this, will you? I want to talk to Pansy and Theo myself."

"I won't tell anyone, you have my word," Blaise promised.

After his conversation with Blaise, Draco quickly left the common room. He knew that he had to either find a way to talk to Hermione, or write her a note. First though, he decided that it was time to tell Snape everything and ask for his advice about this situation. He remembered that at The Burrow when he was refusing to come to Hogwarts, Snape seemed to let on that he'd been through what Draco was going through, and knew more than he thought. Not just about being hated by everyone at Hogwarts, but it was as if he knew what it was like to... have a friend in Gryffindor, or something? Draco wasn't sure. But he had to find out, and get advice, fast. Because if Blaise and Theo could figure out the truth just by seeing his boggart, who knew who else had already come to the same conclusion.

Draco turned a corner into a less lit corridor on his way to Snape, and suddenly had the wind knocked out of him. Someone had hit him, harder than he'd ever been hit before, directly in the chest. Before he could react or even regain his breath, both his arms had been grabbed, and his wand pulled from his robes. Then he saw who it was. Crabbe and Goyle.

"What... the fuck are you two doing!" Draco hissed. It appeared that Blaise was right. Although, at this rate, his warning was a little too late... and Draco wasn't expecting to have to heed the warning so soon.

"Delivering a message, from our fathers. It's weird how they got life in prison, while your father only got a year, isn't it?" said Crabbe. "I wonder how involved you were with that happening... because our fathers told us everything they knew. Lucius didn't betray the Dark Lord. You were the one who left Malfoy Manor with prisoners, including the mudblood, and weren't seen again. Then the Manor got attacked weeks later by Order members who seemed to know everything about it, which is what got the Dark Lord killed, and our fathers locked up. And Lucius never left the Manor, he couldn't have talked to anyone. And here you are, free, even though you were a Death Eater and committed crimes-"

"Get it over with, whatever the hell it is you're planning on doing," Draco growled. "Because you're absolutely right. My father had nothing to do with bringing You-Know-Who down, or with getting less time in Azkaban. That was all thanks to me, and I couldn't give two shits who else rots in Azkaban-"

He was cut short with another punch to the stomach, which once again knocked the breath right out of him. He'd never experienced the receiving end of Crabbe or Goyle's strength, and it was a shock to the system.

"You're gonna regret that. You're also gonna regret Lupin's class last week, cause we saw your boggart. Only a mudblood lover would turn on the Dark Lord," said Goyle this time, with a punch to the ribs.

"And if anyone finds out about this, I guarantee you, not only will all of Hogwarts know about you and that filthy mudblood, so will Lucius," Crabbe warned darkly.

He had no idea how long the subsequent beating lasted for, but it felt like it went on forever. Draco was left lying on the corridor floor for at least fifteen minutes before he could move. Every breath felt like a knife piercing his chest, as the majority of the punches and kicks had been to his torso, shoulders and legs. They left his face alone, and clearly the intention was to make sure the injuries were hidden by his robes, and since there was no magic used, they assumed no one would be able to prove it was them. Every attempt to get up, or even move, was met with unfathomable pain. When at last he got to his feet, he had to lean all his weight against the stone wall and take short, painful, wheezy breaths from the exertion. He saw stars for a moment, but thankfully didn't pass out. He was certain that at least a few of his ribs were broken, due to how he couldn't breathe well and the excruciating pain. His wand was on the ground a few feet away from him, so he limped over to it, forced to take the same short breaths to avoid more intense pain. He couldn't bend or reach down to pick it up. Draco's face was red with exertion, and rage, as he slowly and painfully dropped down to one knee and picked up his wand. Once he had it, he leaned on his knee to regain his breath again. It took him several more excruciating moments to get back to his feet.

He wasn't sure where to go from there. If he continued to Snape or the Hospital Wing, Snape would figure out who did it immediately. He couldn't believe how stupid they really were, to think that if they only beat him in areas that couldn't be seen, no one would find out. Did their fathers forget to mention to them that the Death Eater who was also Dumbledore's spy all along was also at Hogwarts? And quite talented at using Legilimency and truth potions? Crabbe and Goyle would almost certainly get expelled, not just because of the assault, but the motive behind it. A Death Eater ordered revenge beat-down was a bit more serious than a brawl in the corridor. But they'd have plenty of time to tell as many people as they could about the truth of Draco and Hermione before they were expelled. And, of course, his father would find out. More importantly though, he wouldn't have any chance to get his revenge on them. If I'd seen them coming... Draco was thinking to himself furiously. They won't stand a chance if I get to use my wand, even two on one. He supposed that's why they jumped him and took his wand to begin with. On the other hand, he could go back to the common room, or go somewhere private, to remove his robes and attempt to heal whatever he could himself. He sucked at healing spells like Episkey though, and it couldn't heal broken bones. Episkey was only for minor injuries. But if he could heal most of it, and find them...

"Malfoy, you know it's too late to be out... are you alright?" came a voice from his left, the direction of the common room. He turned to see Ernie Macmillan, and groaned.

"I'm fine," said Draco, trying to hide the short breaths he was taking, and the pain written across his face. "Got a stomach ache."

"You don't look like you have a stomach ache. I'll uh, I'll get a professor," said Ernie, unsure of what to do in this situation. He'd only been Head Boy for a week and a bit.

"No! No," said Draco painfully. "Get Granger first."

"Hermione? She's patrolling corridors nearby, I could get her. But why?" asked Ernie in confusion. Draco was trying to think of a lie through the pain.

"Someone to watch me, while you get, a professor," said Draco slowly. "Think I'm going to, pass out."

"Oh, right. Right, good idea. Okay, just wait there, I'll be back," said Ernie hurriedly. Draco rolled his eyes as he heard the Hufflepuff sprint away. It would've been far better if Hermione had found him instead, given they were both patrolling the corridors and it was clearly after hours. But still, Ernie was better than being found by a professor. Draco still wanted an opportunity to get at Crabbe and Goyle before they got caught for this, and Hermione was good enough with healing spells to patch him up. That, plus he could at least warn her that the whole school may be on the verge of discovering their relationship. He began seeing stars again, and closed his eyes, willing himself to stay conscious. He focused on his breathing for a while, until the stars went away. Was it lack of oxygen? Why did it hurt so much to breathe? After a while of this, he heard two pairs of footsteps running back towards him.

"Draco! Are you okay? What happened?" came Hermione's worried voice as she reached him. "Get a professor Ernie, quickly!"

Ernie left them again to try and find a professor, which Draco found amusing because Snape's office was nearby in the other direction. He looked down and noticed that Hermione looked distraught with worry. Maybe he looked worse than he thought.

"Crabbe and Goyle. Think they broke, some ribs. You need to, heal me, quickly," Draco got out between his shallow breaths. Now she looked terrified as she held his hand and pulled out her wand, looking around as if Crabbe and Goyle might still be lurking.

"Draco, you can hardly breathe. This isn't just broken ribs, you need to be in the Hospital Wing," she said urgently. "Here, you should try to lie down-"

"No, just try to, heal, most of it. I need to, find them, before they, get caught," Draco hissed with as much force as he could muster. She could hear the anger in his voice. She sighed, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to at least inspect the damage and heal what she could while they waited for a professor to arrive and get him to the Hospital Wing. She was Head Girl, after all. She untied his Slytherin robes and gently removed them, causing him to wince. Then, nervously, she lifted his shirt and cardigan to look at his chest.

"Oh... oh my god, no Draco, I can't heal this, even if I tried," said Hermione with a shaky voice. She felt her eyes begin to fill with tears as she looked at the purple bruising and swelling which covered every inch of his body. The worst part, was that two ribs were visibly pushing outwards against his skin. She was no healer, but by the sounds of his breathing, a broken rib must have also punctured his lungs.

"It's not, that bad," she heard him try to say.

"Yes it is, you can't even see it! It's very, very bad!" Hermione cried as she looked up. She saw him try to reply but his eyes rolled back into his head slightly before he closed them, and he seemed to be trying really hard to breathe.

"Draco? Draco!" she nearly screamed, now absolutely panicking. She had no idea what to do. She couldn't heal him, she couldn't lay him down in-case she moved his ribs wrong, and she couldn't leave him.

"I'm, fine," he said weakly, opening his eyes again. He looked like he was in a daze, and opened his mouth as if to continue talking.

"Stop trying to talk, you almost just passed out! Just focus on breathing till a professor gets here," said Hermione as she put her wand away and moved closer, wanting to hug him but knowing that she couldn't without hurting him. Instead, she just held his right arm with both of her own. Then they heard a single pair of footsteps approaching, which was odd since Hermione was expecting Ernie to return with whichever professor he found.

"You need, to listen," Draco said stubbornly. "They're going, to tell, everyone, about us."

"It doesn't matter Draco, we've been over this. I'm ready and I'm not going anywhere, just please focus on breathing," Hermione begged as she looked over her shoulder and saw, to her surprise, Blaise. She let go of Draco's arm with one of her hands and drew her wand, pointing it at Blaise threateningly. This got a reaction out of both Slytherin's.

"Wow hey Granger, I've been looking for him too," said Blaise, raising his arms.

"Blaise is, good. He tried to, warn me," Draco breathed.

"Warn you? You should've warned Professor McGonagall if you thought this was going to happen!" Hermione said to Blaise furiously, not lowering her wand as she gently raised Draco's shirt to show what Crabbe and Goyle did.

"I didn't realise they were going to do this, I thought they were just going to talk or, or threaten him or something. But then he didn't get back to the sleeping quarters and I knew something bad must have happened," Blaise explained, sounding horrified as he saw the injuries.

"It doesn't matter, if you'd told a professor instead of just Draco this might not have happened," said Hermione, fighting back tears. She lowered Draco's shirt and wiped her eyes, but still didn't move from beside him, or lower her wand.

"I'm sorry, I really am. Speaking of a professor, I'll go and get-" said Blaise quickly.

"Ernie's already getting one," Hermione said, stopping him. As if on cue, they at last heard multiple footsteps approaching. Around the corner came Snape and McGonagall, with Ernie trailing behind them, looking exhausted from all the running he must have been doing. When Draco saw Snape, he figured Snape must've been in the staff room, not his office.

"Move aside please, miss Granger. What are you doing here, mister Zabini?" asked Professor McGonagall immediately, as Snape took Hermione's place.

"Draco didn't come back to the sleeping quarters, I was worried, so..." Blaise trailed off.

"It was Crabbe and Goyle, his ribs are broken and he can't breathe properly, he keeps nearly passing out," said Hermione in a shaky voice, as Snape checked all of this.

"Their fathers, told them, to do it," Draco hissed to Snape. "I want to, make them, pay, for this-"

"Minerva, can you please take him to the Hospital Wing immediately? Miss Granger, go with Professor McGonagall. Zabini, were Crabbe and Goyle in your sleeping quarters when you were there last?" asked Snape urgently. Before he'd even finished speaking, McGonagall had conjured a stretcher and was levitating Draco onto it with an unspoken Wingardium leviosa.

"Uh, yes sir, they were," Blaise stammered.

"I'll take them to your office then, Minerva?" Snape asked the Headmistress quickly.

"Yes, thank you, Severus. Try to do it discretely, we don't need a scene at one in the morning," said Professor McGonagall before she and Hermione began walking towards the Hospital Wing with Draco on the stretcher.

"Of course. Come with me, Zabini," said Snape furiously as he drew his wand and strode towards the eighth year common room.

Thank you for reading! If you liked this chapter, please feel free to review and add to alerts/favourites! :)

Check out my other stories!

Draco and Hermione - s/5661111/1/Draco-and-Hermione

The Soul Connection - s/9868543/1/The-Soul-Connection

The Time-Turner Division - s/12337018/1/The-Time-Turner-Division