Unofficial Portkey Archive

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to JK Rowling, etc.

The door to Harry's sweet shop banged shut behind Draco as he strode into the shop. A customer jumped and turned, clutching her heart. Hermione frowned at him from behind the counter.

'Draco…?'

'What the hell have you been telling people about me?' He demanded to know.

'Uh.' Hermione appeared baffled for a moment, before getting herself together. She turned to look apologetically at her customer. 'I'm so sorry.' She handed the woman a bag of sweets, which she had been in the process of ringing up. 'Please. Take them. They're on the house.'

'Oh. Thank you.' The woman rushed out of the shop, obviously uncomfortable.

'Honestly Draco,' Hermione said once the door had shut, 'you can't just come barging in like that, yelling at me. We're running a business here.'

'Does it look like I care?' Draco pointed at her. 'You've been gossiping about me, haven't you?'

'I have no idea what you're going on about,' Hermione argued. 'What gave you that idea?'

'Your irritating friend told me!'

Hermione's face paled. 'Grace?'

'Whatever her name is,' Draco said roughly. 'It doesn't matter. What have you been telling her?'

'Nothing, I swear,' Hermione replied, coming around the counter, her anger at Draco vanishing in her guilt. 'Draco. I promise. I didn't say anything.'

'She knew something,' Draco accused.

'Nothing specific. I swear. I just told her…'

'What?'

'I told her you were going through something. That's it.'

Draco turned, raking a hand through his hair.

'Draco,' Hermione said weakly, placing a hand on his shoulder. 'Please. I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have said anything at all. It won't happen again. I promise.' His shoulder felt tense under her hand. 'You forgive me, don't you?'

He stepped away from her, walking to the door and opening it. 'Stay out of my business,' he finally said, and then left the shop once more.

Hermione bit her lip, an old nervous habit of hers. She followed Draco to the door, watching him walk away through the glass window, his back rigid. He didn't look back. He hadn't even looked at her as he left. She'd messed up, before she'd even had a chance to try and help him.

Draco was slipping, and it seemed only she cared. Harry couldn't see it. He said she should mind her own business. Maybe she should. But Hermione wasn't built that way. She couldn't just ignore her friend and pretend he wasn't on a downward spiral.

Sure, he was hunting Death Eaters, and that was a good thing. He brought in more than any other Auror. Only… it was the way they came in that troubled her. They had so obviously been tortured. No one cared, as long as he continued to rake them in. They didn't care what it was doing to Draco.

It was changing him. He'd never been a very well adjusted guy. He was always moody and cynical. Only now he was impossible. You couldn't talk to him. He wouldn't listen. He was so withdrawn he might as well have been on another planet.

Hermione closed up the shop and locked the door. She didn't have time to run the shop right now. She needed to figure something out. Only she cared enough to save Draco, so she would do it.

Ron dropped the paper in disgust. The question is - when will people learn to just leave Potter alone. They could try and rationalise it all they wanted, but the truth was, he left because of them. It was true, however, that the so called higher ups within the ministry had hidden him away.

Ron's superior, Head Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt, was one of those wizards. Ron wasn't clear on the specifics. All he knew was that Harry, probably with some nudging from Hermione, had approached the new Minister for Magic (a good wizard by the name of Gerwin Trent) and asked to be left alone by the wizarding world. Trent had obliged, granting Potter his escape from the wizarding world, and preventing anyone outside of the loop from ever finding him.

'You read it as well?'

A gorgeous blonde haired vixen stood in the doorway of his office - Draco Malfoy's "partner", Eloise Noxon, known as Elle to her friends. She sauntered into his room and took a seat opposite him, kicking her feet up on his desk.

'Fuckin' load of bollocks, right?'

'Mostly,' Ron replied, frowning at her bare feet, 'but what I'm more concerned about is this apparent source within the Ministry. They must be pretty high up to have that kind of information.'

'True.' Elle pulled out a lollipop and started sucking on it suggestively. He was tempted to roll his eyes.

'Did you want something?'

'I've been thinking about our little Draco problem,' Elle said around a mouthful.

'I don't see we have a problem,' Ron replied. He wasn't exactly Malfoy's best friend, and he honestly didn't care what the guy did to those Death Eaters. 'He's bringing in Death Eaters. So what if they're a little worse for wear. The bastards murdered my dad… and my sister. Forgive me if I turn a blind eye.'

'I understand how you feel,' Elle said, 'but this isn't about them. It's about Draco. You haven't seen him. You don't know. I do. I was there once. Ron, he enjoyed it. The look on his face as he tortured that guy… it damn near gave me nightmares, and I'm not squeamish.'

Ron had to admit; he was unsettled by Elle's words. 'Have you told anyone else this?'

'Of course not,' she said, shaking her head, 'I don't know what they'd do to him if I did. Suspend him at least. They might even toss him in Azkaban with the monsters he hunts.'

'Then I suggest you don't tell anyone else,' Ron advised.

'Sure. But what the fuck are we going to do? You're not suggesting we just sit back and let this continue?'

'No. We'll… we'll think of something.'

'That's nice and vague.'

Ron shrugged. 'Where is he now?'

'On holiday at the Potter's,' Elle said, 'wherever that is.' She wasn't in on that particular piece of information.

'Good,' Ron said, 'at least there he can't do anymore damage.'

'And in the meantime?'

'We pound our heads together until we think of something.'

'Sounds fun.' She gave him one of her patented flirtatious smiles.

Ron held up his only good hand. 'I'm engaged, remember.'

Elle pouted with the lollipop still in her mouth, wiggling her toes at him. 'All the nice boys are taken.'

'Like you care about nice boys,' Ron shot back teasingly.

'True.' She stood up and walked over to the door, swaying her hips for him. At the door, she looked over her shoulder, raising an eyebrow. 'You sure?'

He showed her his ring finger again.

'So boring,' she said, and then left.

Ron shook his head to himself and picked up the paper again. It worried him. He read that line over: Ministry sources indicate…

Draco was angry. He could feel it vibrating through his body, making him shake with rage. Hermione was supposed to be his friend. She was supposed to know him, and respect him, but she clearly didn't. She had betrayed him. Merlin knows what she had told people about him, and whom she had told it to.

But that wasn't the worst part.

Draco found a tree and formed a cushion with his arms, leaning forward against it. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself.

Back in the shop, he'd wanted to curse her. He had wanted to pull out his wand and strike her. He'd wanted to see her screaming for mercy, pleading for forgiveness. He might have done it as well. He might have actually cursed Hermione. The only thing that had stopped him was the knowledge that he couldn't. No one besides Harry and Hermione could perform magic in Ambleside. It was part of the wards that kept them safe and hidden from wizardkind.

Draco gave a shuddering breath. There was something very wrong with him. A darkness inside him, eating him up, turning him, and he couldn't fight it. He tried, but slowly, it was winning. He wasn't strong enough to keep it at bay. And he knew what it was.

The Dark Arts.

After Ginny had been murdered, he had dabbled in them, and used them to torture Blaise and get his revenge on the wizard responsible for her murder. He thought that would be it. But it wasn't. They had infested him like a disease. He couldn't stop using them. Not only that, but he was using them more and more. They were twisting him into something unrecognisable.

He was becoming a monster - just like the Death Eaters he hunted. He recognised this, but, despite his best efforts, he was powerless to stop it. So he tried to keep his friends at a distance, lest he pollute them. His protégée at the Auror Office too. Elle was better off not associating with him. He had tried to get her reassigned, but she always fought it. She said she wanted to be taught by the best.

The girl was a nuisance.

'Well-well, look who it is.' Speaking of nuisances. 'Seems we can't seem to avoid each other. I guess fate just has other things in mind for us.'

'Go away,' Draco said forcefully.

Grace hummed thoughtfully. 'Nah.'

'If you don't leave me alone right now,' Draco turned his head to glare at her, 'I'll make you.'

She crossed her arms, standing with her legs apart, smirking at him. 'Okay. Make me.'

'I'm serious. Piss off.'

'I'm serious too.' Grace continued to smirk at him with her annoying face. 'Come on. Make me leave you alone.'

Draco felt his rage building again. He had to get out of here before he did something he'd regret. He went to storm off, but her words stopped him in his tracks.

'What? Running away again, you coward?'

He didn't make a conscious decision, but somehow he was acting. He felt his feet propel him forward, his arm raised to smack her, to shut her fat mouth. But his fist never made contact. She blocked it. The next second, he found himself on the floor, the wind knocked out of him. He couldn't even tell what she had done, but somehow she had countered his attack, and flipped him onto his back. A boot caught him in the face. He tasted blood.

'Ugh.' Grace pressed her boot into his neck, not too hard, but hard enough to cause him some discomfort.

'Listen jackass,' she said, 'Hermione is my friend. I don't know what the hell is going on with you. She refused to tell me. But she is clearly miserable and worried sick about you. I care about my friends. I actually want to help them. So I'm just giving you some advice. Get your act together. Whatever issues you have, deal with them, and stop being such a bastard. Got it?'

'Get your damn foot off me,' Draco growled, glaring up at her in embarrassment.

'You think I'm scared of you?' Grace laughed derisively. 'Think again. You don't impress me. I may not know you that well, but I think I have a pretty good impression of just who you are. You're an arrogant asshole. I know, I've met plenty like you.'

'You don't know a thing about me.'

'Right, because you're such a mystery. Truth is, I don't care. My friend is hurting. That's all I care about.'

Draco scowled at her.

Grace met his look tauntingly. 'You want to try hitting me again?'

'Fuck you.'

'I don't know what it is that's bothering you,' she went on, ignoring his struggles, 'whether its drugs or alcohol or whatever. It doesn't matter. Clean yourself up. Whatever it is. And apologise to Hermione. Do I make myself clear?'

Draco grabbed at her boot and tried to move it, but she was a lot stronger than her slight frame indicated. He finally stopped struggling. It was humiliating, being bested so completely by this slight little bitch, but he was beginning to realise she was serious. She wasn't going to let him up until he capitulated to her demands.

'Fine,' he said, giving in.

Grace smiled. It made her look so sweet and innocent. He wouldn't be fooled by that smile again.

'Good boy,' she said, her tone meant to belittle. 'And one last thing.' She pressed down with her boot, choking him. 'If you ever try to hit me again, I'll kick your ass black and blue.' She removed her heavy boot and he rolled over, coughing. 'See you later Draco.'

Bitch, he though, watching her waltz away through watering eyes. If he'd been able to use magic, he would have cursed her into pieces, but his power was blocked. A part of him was grateful for that, but that part was small now, beaten into submission by the darkness inside him.

He struggled to his feet, looking in the direction that the bitch had left in. He wouldn't let her get away with treating him like that. Before he left, he'd hear her scream and beg for mercy. A smile formed on his face. Mercy. Unfortunately for her, he no longer knew the meaning of the word.