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Tit for Tat	By : PulchritudinousPain Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 17003 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own The Harry Potter series, nor the characters from it. All characters belong to JK Rowling. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Chapter 10 Tragedy

Draco stepped away from the fireplace having just seen John Dawlish off through the floo network. He stumbled, tripping backwards over the rug, before landing in an armchair near the fire. “This isn’t right,” he thought. “It can’t be true.”
He sat motionless for some time then wandered the house in a daze. He reached the dining hall filled with portraits of his ancestors and turned to the one of his father.
“Father?”
“Yes, Draco my boy?”
“Is it true? Are you dead?”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you, Draco. I’m only enchanted paint.”
“How can I know for sure?”
“You have already been told, my son. You already know, you simply do not wish to know.”
“Mother too,” he whispered. “Why? It’s so senseless.”
“I’m afraid I have no answers for you.”
“Then what good are you?” Draco screamed, throwing a vase of flowers at the portrait and storming from the room.
He was alone, hollow, absolute in his grief.
“Granger,” he thought. “Granger will know what to do. Granger, I want you,” he called between sobs. He heard her knock at the door. He waved his wand opening the door and she entered the house, calling for him. She found him in the library, rocking, tears streaming.
“Draco, what’s wrong?” she asked, rushing to him.
“The world has ended,” he blinked. “I don’t know what to do. Help me?”
She pulled him to her chest and held him close. “It’s going to be alright. We’ll figure it out together. Now tell me exactly what has happened.”
“Dawlish, Auror, told me,” he started then stopped, his tear filled eyes unblinking in their horror. “Mother and Father have been murdered.”
“What? Who? Why?”
“Muggles. They wanted money. They just shot them down and took their jewels and galleons and left them to die. They took father’s cane with his wand, Mother’s was damaged by bullets. Father just bled to death like some fucking animal. Mother died straight away they shot her so many times. It was barbaric, Granger, just barbaric.”
“Were they targeted? What would muggles even do with wizard money?”
“Dawlish didn’t think they knew they were wizards. It seems it was entirely random.”
“Draco, I’m so sorry.”
“The ironic thing was they were travelling to get away from wizards who would wish to harm them. They were probably safer at home with their guards up. What should I do, Granger? They’re not even in the country.”
“Draco, let me take care of it, alright? I’ll talk to some wizards at the department of International Magical Cooperation and we’ll get them brought home immediately by portkey. Just let me go to the ministry and I’ll do it now.”
“Don’t leave. I don’t want to be alone.”
“Alright, then, I’ll just borrow your owl and send a letter to Harry and he’ll come and help me. Is that okay?”
“Potter? If you must.”
“Don’t pout. Harry’s my friend, Draco and as you’re mine too he’ll help regardless. Put the past properly behind us and let us help you now.”
He nodded, defeated. “This is why I called you, Granger. You always have a plan, usually against my liking, but I seem to benefit anyway. Just do what you need to but don’t leave.”
“I won’t this time, Malfoy. Only because you need me.”

Hermione cared for Malfoy in his grief. She learned more from Harry about the circumstances in which his parents had been killed and it did indeed seem to be a random act of violence. She was saddened by it. She had no love for Draco’s parents for past behaviour towards muggleborns and house elves yet they had been repentant and had accepted her in the end.
Draco seemed to have fallen apart over the news. He seemed untethered, unsure of himself for the first time she had ever witnessed and it unnerved her. Draco always seemed so confident of his choices, even when they had been despicable ones. To see him so damaged made her feel for him all the more.
She did what she could to help him cope by ensuring he ate and bathed but he would not sleep and refused to take a sleeping potion, saying that he needed to be awake to think, to process what had happened. After three days she had had enough of watching him deteriorate and slipped a sleeping draught into his wine at dinner.

Draco slept while Hermione worked in his office. She wrote of letters to the Daily Prophet with announcements of the passing of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy and dates and times for the funeral, which would be held on the grounds of Malfoy Manor. A mausoleum was already under construction as per the wills’ directive. The executor of the wills for both of Draco’s parents, a fellow by the name of Zuresh Zlatkov, had come by that morning to discuss the estate. Unsurprisingly, Draco had inherited most of the Malfoy fortune, with a sizeable portion attributed to Narcissa’s estranged sister, Andromeda Tonks.
She shook her head to think of how rapidly things had changed in a few short weeks. She had come to Malfoy for help with her own personal problems and now she was taking charge of his. She supposed it was only fair, after all, he had saved her from having to make these preparations for her own mother. The least she could do was give his a proper send off.
The funeral would be in two days. She wrote another owl to Madam Malkins to have a set of suitable robes delivered for her to Malfoy Manor. Draco already had plenty of black dress robes. She planned to apparate home with Malfoy to collect some of her own belongings as soon as he awoke. It had been the first time he had slept since he had received the tragic news three days prior and she didn’t want him to wake to find himself abandoned. She had promised him that she would stay with him as long as he needed her and she was a woman of her word.
She wondered if she should order in flowers or simply conjure them herself. It would probably be best to get the professionals to to it, she decided, considering that the Malfoy’s taste would have been vastly different to her own, and wrote off to Floriblunder’s Florist in Diagon Alley for some arrangements for the caskets and to decorate the grounds. Seating would have to be arranged as well as caterers for the wake.
She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand to relieve the tension headache she had developed from being hunched over the desk. She scribbled out the last of the instructions and whistled out of the window for Draco’s eagle owl. She gave the owl a treat and then tied on the bundle of letters.
“A lot of deliveries today, boy,” she said. “I’m sure you’re more than up to the task. Off you go.”
She turned to find Draco standing in the doorway watching her.
“Thank you.”
“It’s the least I could do,” she shook her head. “I’ve written a list of the arrangements I’ve made. I don’t know if I’ve covered everything. You should have a look at it when you feel up to it.”
“I’m sure you’ve been more than diligent.” He crossed the room to reach her. “You have ink on your forehead,” he said. “Right here.” He kissed the spot tenderly. She looked up at him, he seemed much improved for the rest, the grey pallor now seeming tinged with pink.
“You should eat,” she prompted. “Get some colour back in your cheeks.”
He nodded, allowing himself to be led to the dining room. She had repaired the portrait of Lucius and the vase she had found smashed, asking no questions. Draco didn’t seem to notice the difference. She apparated to the kitchen quickly and asked the house elf to make some soup before apparating back to Malfoy’s side.
“Draco, I really need to get home and get some fresh clothes if I’m going to be staying any longer,” she told him. “Will you come with me to my apartment?”
“It’s alright, Granger. I appreciate your care but I think I’m over the worst of it now that I can sleep again. You can go, take some time for yourself. I’ll call you back for the day of the service. I’ll want you again then.”
“Alright,” she agreed. “I want to see you eat first and then I’ll go.”
He squeezed her hand. “I love you, Granger.”
“I love you too.”
- 9
- 10
- 11
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Tit for Tat