~A/N> Ok, I have been working on this chapter on and off now for four days; for some reason it has been the
hardest chapter for me to write ever. I don't know if I'm suffering a bit of writer's block, but I'm
working on getting past it. This is what I have for now, I know it's shorter, but it is an important part. I want
to regain my composure for the next chapter because it will contain the start of the war. BTW, the war will not only be
one or two chapters long. If all goes as planned, it will start at the end of sixth year and continue past the end of
their schooling. Thank you again for the phenominal reviews, the support for this story has been overwhelming!!
:)
"The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget. "- Thomas Szasz
Whatever curse Dolohov had hit me with this time had some nasty after-effects; my entire body hurt, my vision was
really blurry and I had spiked a pretty high fever for seemingly no reason. Harry wasn't much better off than I
was; after three days he still hadn't gotten full use of his right side yet. So what was supposed to be an
overnight stay in the Hospital Ward turned into a weeklong stay.
Malfoy was doing a little better, but Madam Pomfrey kept tutting about when she would check on him, mumbling about unknown curses that the Death Eaters had been coming up with. He didn't look or seem any better now than when he first came in, and a part of me found it hard to believe that his own Father would do this to him; then I would stop and remember my own Father and realize that it actually was possible.
He and Harry had exchanged some words on a couple of occasions; we would be talking and Malfoy would butt in with some sarcastic or demeaning comment, which just caused Harry to become angry. One day after a particularly nasty exchange of words, Harry had decided to give it up and finally let sleep overcome him; Madam Pomfrey had given him a potion shortly before that had made him really groggy. Unfortunately, that left me alone with the nasty Slytherin, who had seemed to turn his attention on me.
"Why do you do that?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Do what Granger?" Malfoy replied, spitting out my name. He had already gotten two detentions for calling me Mudblood; seemed he had learned his lesson.
"Speak to us the way you do?" I said. "You just fought with us against your own Father and two Death Eaters, and now all you do is lay there and insult us. What have we ever done to you?"
"First of all, I didn't fight with you, I fought against my Father, there is a difference," he said. "Secondly, did you seriously think I'd ever help you, for ANY reason, when just your mere existence is such a pain in my arse?"
I stared at him for a moment, my anger bubbling just below the surface. Finally realizing that he would never listen to me, I said, "I like to think I'm the type of person that tries to find someone's redeeming quality; I'm hard pressed to find anything redeeming in you. I also try to forgive; otherwise my life would be overrun by my hatred for other people. Of course I never thought we'd become friends, but I thought that we might be able to talk civilly to one another."
"Ah yes, 'Forgive and Forget'. I never did understand why Muggles used that phrase; there's really no such thing."
I looked at him for a moment, noticing the hatred that burned in his eyes; he obviously had a certain person in mind while he spoke. "I may forgive, but I never forget" I said, sounding spurned even to my own ears.
"Awe, did someone do you wrong Granger? What, didn't get the book you wanted for your birthday?" he taunted, trying to get me to lash out at him the same way Harry had.
I took a deep breath and calmed myself before saying "only fools speak of things they have no knowledge."
"And only an idiot would forgive someone who had hurt them" he said, glaring at me. "If you can forgive them, then whatever it was they did to you must not have been that bad."
I sat there staring at him, wondering what had happened to make him so...spiteful. "I'm not going to argue with you Malfoy, so stop trying to instigate a fight."
"I thought we were just talking" he replied, and by the smug look on his face, I knew he had figured out that he had hit a nerve. "What's the matter? Did perfect Potter do something to upset you, or maybe it was your disgusting Muggle parents?"
"Quit fishing Malfoy" I said, my teeth clenched as I tried to control my temper. I was not going to give him the satisfaction.
"Like I said, Granger, I'm just talking here." I glared at him as he just sat there smirking at me he was thoroughly enjoying my anger and discomfort.
"So we're just talking, huh? Okay Draco, why don't you tell me what made you turn against your Father?" that wiped the smirk from his face and I felt a sick satisfaction in knowing that I was getting to him too.
"That's none of your business" he replied, and then he flopped back down onto his bed, as if throwing a temper tantrum.
"Come on Draco, you said we were just talking here" I taunted, wondering why I didn't just shut up. "Does it have something to do with the letter you got a few weeks back?" He shot straight up in bed once again and glared at me; my last question seemed to be spot on.
"How do you know about that letter?" he asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I...uh...I watched you when you read it, remember? You looked right at me after you read it" I replied, feeling a little nervous as he glared at me furiously. Maybe Harry will wake up...
"How dare you!" he shouted, drawing Madam Pomfrey out of her office, but Harry continued to sleep thanks to the potion she had given him. After she had shushed at Draco and went back into her office, he started up again. "Listen Mudblood..."
"DON'T you ever call me that," I growled, fed up with his behavior. "Don't go asking questions if your not willing to answer what's asked of you."
"You want to know?" he spat, still glaring. "Here, I'll show you." I watched as he gingerly got out of bed and slowly started walking towards me. I started to get really nervous by the fact that he was now standing by the side of my bed. He pulled his shirt up and turned so that his back was to me; my curiosity got the better of me and I glanced at the exposed skin.
I gasped at what I saw; there were angry red slash marks up and down his entire back. I just stared at him, horrified by what I saw and I wondered what had happened, even though I was pretty sure I already knew. "Who did that to you?" I asked, still staring.
He quickly lowered his shirt and glared at me. "Who do you think? I thought you were supposed to be 'the smartest witch of the century'?"
"I take it that Lucius is responsible?" I asked, wondering if I'd ever get an answer. He sat there, staring at me as if trying to decide if he could trust me or not.
"Are you going to tell me what got you so upset before?" he countered. Obviously, Malfoy believed in tit-for-tat. "Was it something Potter did?"
"What?! No, it has nothing to do with Harry, he's treated me better than anybody else" I said, furious at myself for giving him that much information. He sat there watching me, and I started to squirm under the intensity of his grey-eyed stare. "Listen...it was my Father, okay? Are you happy now?"
A surprised look crossed Malfoy's face, but he was quick to hide it again. "Let me guess, he yelled at you? Took away your books?"
Okay, now my blood was really starting to boil, if he wanted to know, I'd tell the little wanker. "My Father beat me, and my Mother too" I felt the tears well up in my eyes, I swallowed down the emotion and wiped the tears away angrily. I hated that I let him get to me like that; the slight look of sympathy on his face only made it worse. "You got what you wanted Malfoy, now leave me alone; you have caused me enough trouble to last a life time."
He didn't say anything for the longest while; he just stood there watching me. I didn't dare look at him, my hatred for him was probably radiating off of me in waves, and I would probably hex him. "I, um...sorry" he said quietly, and I broke.
"No you're not! That's what you wanted me to do, wasn't it; spill my guts about why I got upset when you asked why I couldn't forget? That's what you do though, isn't it? Push and push, degrading someone to make yourself feel superior and then break them when they're at their lowest? Isn't that what you were trying to do to me when you were trying rape me, control me and then take what wasn't yours?" I glared at Malfoy at least he had the good sense to look ashamed.
"It's just...I wasn't...I didn't want to hurt you" he said, "It was my Father..." I laughed then; it was a hollow, hurt filled laugh that echoed throughout the ward.
"You're something else, you know that?" I snarled, letting all the emotions I had been feeling out on him. "What's it feel like, being Daddy's little whipping boy and Voldemort's bitch?"
"HOW DARE YOU!" he yelled, advancing on me, and I quickly grabbed my wand from the stand next to my bed.
I pointed the tip of my wand directly at his groin, making my intentions very clear, and he was smart enough to stop dead in his tracks. "How dare you," I said quietly, glaring at him. "You attacked me at the Quidditch World Cup; you tried to rape me on the train and now here you are, sputtering excuses for your actions? You're not like your Father, Malfoy, you're worse; only a coward would blame someone else for what they've done." We sat glaring at each other, both of us breathing heavily from our angry outbursts then I suddenly felt very tired. "Go back to your bed Malfoy and leave me alone" I said, looking him straight in the eyes. "You are a horrid, evil wizard, and there's nothing on this Earth that you could ever do to redeem yourself in my eyes. You've already sold your soul to Voldemort and let your Father break your spirit; I thought you might have changed, or at least had the capability to change, but it's obvious you no longer possess a conscience."
"Stupid, filthy little Mudblood" he spat and then turned to make his way back to his bed. I took a deep breath and realized that I had just confronted Draco Malfoy, someone I once feared.
~*~
"A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterward."- Jean Paul Richter
After my argument with Malfoy, I decided to succumb to the potion Madam Pomfrey gave me and drifted to sleep. When I
woke up some hours later, I could actually feel tension in the air; it was so thick that it was almost palpable. When I
opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Hermione in the bed next to mine, watching me. The look on her face was one I
had never seen before; it was part anger, part frustration with sadness and fear mixed in. "Hermione, what's
wrong?" I asked, and was surprised when she gave me a tearful smile. I was even more surprised when she got out of
her bed and made her way to mine. I moved over the best I could and made room for her so that she could sit next to me.
Instead, she lay down next to me and wrapped her arms around me.
I ran my hand over her hair, I was concerned by how upset she seemed, and asked, "Luv, what's the matter?"
"Malfoy" she whispered, and I looked over to where he lay; he seemed to be asleep.
"What did he do now?" I asked, and then planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.
She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, there was a mixture of anger and fear held in them. She proceeded to recount her verbal exchange with him and I felt my anger gradually rise while she explained almost word for word what he had said. I was staring over at Malfoy in his bed while she spoke, and when she got to the part where he started to go after her, something strange happened; Malfoy suddenly flew from his bed and crashed onto the floor. Hermione stopped talking, and the next thing I knew she was shaking me gently.
"Harry, did you do that?" she asked, looking over to where Malfoy lay on the floor in a rumpled heap. I snapped out of the stupor I had unwittingly been in and looked at her questioningly.
"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.
"Well, it was strange; as I spoke of Malfoy coming after me, it was like there were waves of magical energy emitting off of you, and then he was thrown out of his bed." As she was explaining, Malfoy picked himself off of the floor and looked around, confused.
"What the sodding bloody hell just happened?" he asked, glaring over at us. Hermione and I just shrugged innocently and watched as he climbed back into bed.
"That is just what I was about to ask" came the voice of Dumbledore, startling Hermione and I. He walked over to the foot of my bed as Hermione seperated herself from my side. "Harry, do you have any idea why Mr. Malfoy was suddenly thrown from his bed?" he asked, and I swear the ever-present twinkle in his eyes seemed brighter.
"Um...well...you see Sir" I started, but Hermione interrupted me, and by the sound of her voice I could tell she was trying not to laugh.
"I think Harry has been unintentionally performing wandless magic Sir" she explained, becoming serious. Dumbledore stared at me for a moment, seemingly deep in thought.
"Is that true Harry?" he asked. When I nodded my head in affirmation he asked, "have there been other instances before today then?"
"Yes Sir" I answered, "when Malfoy attacked Hermione on the train." He stood there quiet once again, and it kind of made me nervous, the way he seemed to be studying me.
"Very well then Harry, I think that it is time you started to learn to use wandless magic properly. Come to my office Friday evening and we will begin your lessons. For now however, please try to refrain from 'accidentally' attacking Mr. Malfoy." I just smiled and nodded my head in agreement; I couldn't believe I would be learning wandless magic. "How are you doing Ms. Granger?" he asked Hermione.
"I'm doing better Sir" she replied, smiling.
"I am glad to hear that" he said, smiling back. "Make sure that you both rest up so that you can return to your studies soon."
"Yes Sir" Hermione and I replied at the same time. I watched as he walked out of the Ward and thought about what he had just said; I would be learning wandless magic from Albus Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard of our time. The year was becoming more interesting, and unbeknownst to us, more dangerous with each passing day.
~A/N2> So, Hermione finally confronted Malfoy. I know not everything was explained, but it will all play out through
the rest of the story. I am hoping to update again Friday. Thanks for reading!!!