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Consequences	By : Aline Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 33797 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Chapter 18. Dealing With Reality.

It was past lunch time when
Hermione finally returned to Gryffindor tower, Malfoy had stayed with her the
whole time and she was very grateful for it, he hadn�t know what to say to her
but that was irrelevant, his sole presence was enough to make her feel better,
she was also grateful that classes had been suspended for the day, she wasn�t
ready to fit into her routine and pretend nothing happened yet, she was still
shaken to the core and wanted to hide in her room and die.

That however was not going to
happen, because as soon as she set foot in the common room a very worried Harry
and a guilty Ron were over her, along with some other Gryffindors.

�Hermione! Where were you? We looked everywhere for you!� said Harry hugging
her, she felt the tears coming back to her eyes as he dragged her to a sofa.
Ron sat beside her and tried to utter something sensible.

�Are you all right �Mione? I-I�m so sorry��

That did it, she started crying
again and her friends hugged her to show their support.

After a while, Hermione
remembered that she was not the only one who had lost family, and made an
effort to control her tears and look around her. All the Gryffindors seemed
pretty upset, many were still sobbing. For the first time Hermione put real
attention in all the faces that were around her and looked intently into Parvati�s eyes, at that moment it became evident to her
that Parvati�s sorrow was not sincere, Hermione was
horrified when she realized that Parvati was not the only one faking sympathy,
she could spot at least another two of her housemates watching her dispassionately.
Anger built into her and she wiped her tears, determined to not give them more
satisfaction.

�Sorry� I�m fine� you don�t have
to worry about me��

�Oh Hermione!� Ginny practically launched to her and gave her a tight hug. �I�m so
sorry! I�ve been awful these days! Please forgive me!�

�It�s ok Ginny��

�We are here for whatever you
want Hermione, you�re not alone.�

�Thanks.�

Harry took one of her hands and
stared into her eyes.

�I promise you Hermione that
I�ll make them pay for this.�

�Thank you Harry.�

Ron was a little uncomfortable;
he tried to talk as low as possible.

�Mmm�
Herm� you know, I-I don�t really care that you date Harry. It�s ok if you both
want to. I�m fine with it.�

Harry rolled his eyes and
Hermione sighed in frustration, she answered to his friend just because she
wanted to set things right.

�Ron, there�s nothing between me
and Harry. We have absolutely no intention to be anything but friends.�

�Really?�

�Of course you twit!� said Harry
�That�s what we have been trying to make you understand the entire week!�

�Oh�

Ron was deeply embarrassed;
Hermione attempted a sad smile at her friends and then excused herself to go to
her dormitory, saying that she wanted to sleep a little.

The moment she closed the door
of her bedroom and put locking and silencing charms on it, she started to cry
hysterically. Suddenly she reached a state of fury and gave a loud pained cry,
then proceeded to grab the nearest book from her desk and threw it to her
dresser; the lamp from the bedside table followed and soon every kind of things
were flying and crashing around the room.

Her outburst lasted only a few
seconds and then she collapsed on the bed, curling on her right side and
sobbing uncontrollably, all the comforting words of her friends had only made
her feel worse, they had seemed empty, uttered in pity more than support. At
least Malfoy had had the presence of mind to not pity her. Crookshanks
emerged from under the bed, where he had seek refuge from her short lived
destructive state, and looking at her warily finally jumped to her side and
rubbed his head on her arm, she let him cuddle in front of her and started
petting him, soon the purring noises of the cat lulled her to an uneasy sleep.

Draco secluded himself in his
room all the afternoon and had attempted to put order in the emotional wreck
that was his brain, the image of Hermione crying on his arms wouldn�t leave him
alone, she had needed comfort and he had felt ashamedly incapacitated to give
it successfully. Oh, she had thanked him for being with her, but he had done
nothing to reassure her.

After all, what reassurance
could he have given her? Why would she want him to comfort her? His entire
family was self-righteous, proud, narrow-minded dark wizards; all of them
active supporters of the prejudice that had left her homeless and orphan. He
had shared that prejudice once, when he still admired his father and accepted
his words and orders blindly without question. He still called her mudblood on occasion, more to make Potter mad or to annoy
her than really meaning it, but the word was there all the same, he hadn�t
gotten rid of it.

He liked the Granger girl, he
slept with her, and he even accepted to himself that he cared about her, but
she was still different from him. It wasn�t easy to get rid of conceptions that
had been fed up to you since birthday, they were so deeply ingrained in the
mind, that even when you recognized them as ridiculous or wrong, they still
tainted your vision of life and sooner or later forced you to acknowledge them.

To Draco�s
tainted mind Hermione was different from him, and she knew it too, he could
tell she sensed it, the way he saw her, he knew that she was convinced of the fact
that he would never see her more than a mere sex partner, worthy of having his
body but not his affection; they could spend glorious nights together but not a
lifetime in love. And that certainly had been the case at the beginning, Malfoy
had assured himself that he wanted no more from her than a
good shag, he had been convinced that she wanted the same from him. But later,
as he got to know her, somehow they had achieved not only sex but intimacy:
they pried into each other�s lives, reluctantly but enough to see what lied
behind their respective fa�ades and they had liked it, they had started to care
for each other.

Malfoy hadn�t liked to see her
crying, hadn�t liked the idea of her being alone and parentless, and less of
all the idea of his family being responsible for it; because at least his
father was sure to have actively participated in the tragedy, Draco had no
doubts about it. He was angry at himself for not had been capable of making her
feel better, he was angry for not being strong enough to accept his feelings.

�I�m not my family� but so much like them��

His family had murdered hers.
Why would she want to even see him now? Why would he care? She was a mudblood, even if he changed the word for muggleborn it still labeled
someone different, it still sounded �not
pure� to him.

�I�m a worthless piece of shit.�

Malfoy fell on his bed, tired of
arguing with himself, tired of denying the truth. He wanted to be honest. He
sighed and finally accepted the reality. Yes, Hermione Granger was a mudblood and it was irrelevant for him now, he cared for
her, he was slowly falling for her and he wanted her to be happy and loved� Ok,
that wasn�t entirely true. He wanted to be the one to make her happy, and most
of all; he wanted her to love him. He would fight to earn that privilege, and
he would never let any harm come to her again.

The Great Hall was awfully quiet
at dinner time; Malfoy was half listening to the low chatter and smirked when
he caught some words saying that he had known first hand how the tragedy had
happened. It seemed like the Slytherins were the school pariahs again. He
shrugged it off, what would they know anyway? Only now they had started to
realize what a war implied, soon they all would be dealing first hand with it,
and Malfoy had no time for useless gossip.

He threw furtive glances from
time to time to Gryffindor table to make sure that Hermione was eating and that
Parvati was well away from her. The golden trio was together again, Malfoy
almost huffed in annoyance. It still was a mystery to him how Potter and
Granger could endure Weasley�s thickness, the
red-head was clearly the envious type and only good enough for trouble making.

Malfoy was in the process of
thinking inventive derogative names for the weasel when Potter turned to the
Head table and made a gesture of surprise that almost immediately transformed
in a look of loathing, curious he also turned to see and had to do a great
effort for not mimicking Potter�s reaction. Professor Snape was back at last.

The three Gryffindor friends
were standing in front of the Gargoyle that hid the stairs to Dumbledore�s
office, none of them really wanting to be there, they supposed the Headmaster
wanted to talk about what had happened in London,
and whatever information Snape had given him. Harry saw it as a waste of time,
it was already too late, Snape should have come with
the information before the incident happened, not now when Hermione�s parents
were dead. The raven-haired boy was really angry with the Potion�s Master, and
it bothered him that Dumbledore had asked for Hermione to be there too, she was
not well and the Headmaster should leave her alone.

�Hermione, are you sure you want
to hear what he has to say?�

�Yes Harry, don�t worry about
me.�

�But
Hermione.� Said Ron �It would be painful, we can
tell him that you need sometime��

�No!� Hermione interrupted him,
she was tired of pity and she was going to show them that she was strong enough
to handle this. �I want to know what happened, I�m not going to hide in my room
and wallow in misery! We have to know how to prevent this from happening
again!�

Harry watched her worriedly, but
nodded at her.

�Ok �Mione,
let�s go then.�

They gave the password and the
statue let them pass.

�My dear girl, I�m deeply sorry
about this situation.�

The Headmaster seemed tired but
not defeated; Harry asked himself what Snape had told the old man and why the
greasy git wasn�t there. On second thought he really
didn�t want to see the man�s Death Eater face right now. The Headmaster
continued talking to Hermione.

�I know that your grieving and
hurt are so much right now, but I have news for you.�

Hermione�s eyes turned curious,
a flicker of hope could be seen in them, maybe her
parents hadn�t been home after all? But it died quickly; it was more likely
that Dumbledore wanted to explain the arrangements for the funeral. Ron was the
one who asked impatiently.

�What news professor? I hope
they�re not bad.�

�Well, if I must be sincere you
couldn�t call them exactly good.�

Harry frowned at the statement,
but remained quiet while Dumbledore fixed his eyes to Hermione.

�Miss Granger, I know that the
papers informed that there were no survivors to the attack; perhaps that was
the more devastating notice. However a few people did survive the tragedy, if
only barely, and your mother is one of them.�

Hermione gasped in shock at the
news, those were wonderful news and she was all too eager to accept them. She
stood up from his seat in nervousness.

�Mom? Are you sure professor? Mom�s alive? How? Where is she?�

�Oh, easy my
girl, easy.�

�But, that is wonderful. She is
alive! May I see her? She must be so sad because of dad.�

�Hermione, hold on just a few
minutes and let me explain.�

�But, but she�s all right yes?�

�My girl, I�m afraid that �all
right� is not the term that better suits her condition right now. Sit down and
let me explain.�

�Come on �Mione�
said Harry taking hold of his friend�s arm and making her sit again. �Let the
Headmaster continue.�

�Thank you Harry. Well, I must
start from the beginning. The attack that affected London was a very complicated spell that
needed a ritual, which allowed Voldemort to gather
the magic of his Death Eaters and use it to destroy a target. I have been told
that it was as if a torpedo had fallen from the sky, the magic practically
destroyed everything.�

Hermione took advantage of a
little pause of the Headmaster to ask.

�What happened to the people?�

�Herm�� Ron started, but she
interrupted him.

�I want to know what happened to
them!�

Dumbledore sighed and answered
the girl�s question.

�We don�t know exactly, many of
the bodies were� well disintegrated would be a suitable word, some others
appeared to be burned or melted� the few people that survived would probably
carry severe disfigurations for the rest of their lives. If they ever wake up
from the coma they are in.�

Hermione sat stunned in horror
for a while; she fought for control as her anger slowly built inside her. How
could anyone be so twisted and heartless to do something like that? Harry�s
deep growl distracted her.

�Why didn�t you make anything to
stop it? Snape had been away for a whole week! If he didn�t make you aware of
what was happening he�s a soulless traitor! Why did he come
back here?!�

�Harry, listen before make any
judgments about professor Snape.�

�But professor, he is clearly
hiding information from us! I can�t believe you still trust him!�

�Yes professor!� said Ron �He
could have prevented this if he had wanted!�

Hermione didn�t say anything,
she only looked at Dumbledore expectantly and the old man sighed.

�Professor Snape contacted me
boys, he did it four days ago, but at the time all he knew was that they were
to initiate a very long dark ritual, he wouldn�t take an active part in it
because he was instructed to aid Voldemort with the
technical aspects of it, no one really knew what was the ritual for, Voldemort refrained from telling his Death Eaters the
purpose of it, the casting of the spell came immediately after the ritual was
finished, they weren�t even near London at the time, and so when Severus and
other two Death Eaters that hadn�t taken part in the ritual, were sent to
London to assess the success of the spell, they were very surprised to find
what they did.�

Harry opened his mouth to speak,
but he really had nothing to say to that, so he closed it and Hermione finally
spoke.

�But, the Prophet said that the Aurors hadn�t found any survivors, why wouldn�t they report
that some people were found still alive?�

�Well my girl, that was because
the Aurors really didn�t find anyone alive, by the
time they reached the place, professor Snape had sent his two companions back
to their master, and had done a quick scan of the damaged territory with a
special spell, which would find every breathing creature in it and �apparate� it into a special room in St. Mungo�s.
It is a useful spell but it requires a lot of energy and is only available to a
few members of the Order. Of course, professor Snape had to hurry and be at St.
Mungo�s as soon as possible to find one of our group there, and make the presence of the muggles known, he waited until all of them were given the
proper care and then returned to the school.�

�But, how did he know that my
mother is one of the survivors?�

�Well, he didn�t know at the
moment. When the list of victims appeared on the Daily Prophet, he and Madam
Pomfrey came to St. Mungo�s to run a few tests to see
if any of the patients was a relative of a student.�

�I see.� Hermione was deep in
thought, she was grateful that professor Snape had taken the time to save the
victims he could, she had to tell Draco about it, the more she knew the boy the
more she was convinced that he held high respect for professor Snape, yes, she
definitely should tell him. She looked at the Headmaster and attempted a faint
smile. �I would thank professor Snape personally for saving my mother, even if
he didn�t know at the time who he was saving.�

�That would be nice of you Miss
Granger.� Said Dumbledore, smiling to the girl.

Harry�s scowl remained in place,
still not totally convinced of the reasons for which the attack hadn�t been
prevented. Dumbledore let him be and moved on to explain them that the wards
were to be reinforced. He explained too that now many places could be future
targets of the Dark Lord, and preventing that Voldemort
would like to spread as much terror as possible it was likely that he
eventually would attack St. Mungo�s, so he would talk
with the Minister of magic to reinforce the wards of the hospital, meanwhile
the patients would be transferred to safer places, including Hogwarts, so
Hermione would be able to see her mother soon. Unfortunately for the few ones
that lost family in the attack, no one would be allowed to left the school for
the funerals, it was too risky and they couldn�t take any chances. He finished
warning them to be discreet and to keep their guards up.

�I would ask of you boys, that
you don�t mention what was said in here to anyone. And I mean absolutely
anyone.�

It was said so seriously that
the three Gryffindors were surprised for a second, then Hermione nodded her
agreement, but Harry and Ron looked at the Headmaster in confusion.

�Why
professor? I mean, I understand the need of
increasing security, but our housemates would be greatly relieved if they knew
that there were survivors, it would help to make them feel a little better.
Don�t you think so?�

Ron nodded in approval to
Harry�s words, but Hermione frowned, already thinking in some people that she
didn�t want to tell about her mother being alive. Dumbledore only sighed.

�I�m sorry to tell you Harry,
that I suspect that some of your classmates wouldn�t be exactly happy with the
news of survivors.�

Hermione felt a curious surge of
relief, it seemed that Draco was right and Dumbledore do have an idea of his
students� ideals. Ron gasped at the news and predictably jumped immediately to
the wrong conclusion.

�You mean there are still
supporters of He-who-must-not-be-named? I knew that the Slytherins were hiding
something! Surely Malfoy is up to no good!�

�Do you think that Malfoy have a
way of contacting his father professor?�

That was from Harry, Hermione
was starting to see red, she couldn�t believe that his friends were so
reluctant to give someone a chance to be different; she wanted to slap some
sense in them but didn�t dare to snap at them in front of the Headmaster. She
was glad to hear the old man�s disappointed words to her friends.

�Boys, I think that you should
know by now that not all of the Death Eaters were Slytherins in their youth,
you know at least one who was a Gryffindor.�

Ron didn�t seem to catch the
unspoken words and continued talking.

�Yes, but Pettigrew is kind of
the exception, no?�

�I�m afraid, Mr. Weasley, that
he is far from being the only case.�

Ron blinked, Harry was a little
faster.

�You mean that there are Voldemort�s supporters in the rest of the Houses? Why
didn�t you tell us?�

�It�s not the point to signal a
particular person Harry, many of your classmates are still unsure of what they
believe, some of them are having trouble with their choices. I told this to you
now because I consider that we must be extremely careful from now on, in order
to maintain the security of all the people that reside in this school, but I
still think that we could give the miscarried students a chance to decide
what�s best for them.�

Harry and Ron were not totally
convinced. Ron still insisted on the idea of giving their housemates some good
news.

�Well, we could explain the
situation to our friends and I�m sure that it won�t get out from Gryffindor
tower.�

�No Mr. Weasley, you can�t risk
this information with anyone, not even your sister. You should be very careful
from now on and keep your eyes open for any strange behavior,
even on your housemates.�

Ron frowned, not happy at all
with what was being said.

�But��

�We understand professor.� Said Hermione, interrupting her friend before he could say
something else. �We won�t tell to anyone, not even Ginny.�

�Thank you Miss Granger.�

�But professor� said Harry �we
have to tell them something, they�re going to ask us why we were called to see
you.�

�Oh, yes. Well not all the
information I have given you is strictly confidential. In fact, tomorrow I�m
going to inform the rest of the students of the convenience of not going to the
funerals, you can tell them that we talked about that.�

�Ok.�

Harry agreed grudgingly, he
didn�t want to believe that his fellow classmates could be capable of betraying
them to Voldemort, but he certainly wasn�t going to
risk another Pettigrew. The meeting ended and the teenagers stood, ready to go.

�Oh, Miss Granger if I may have
a word with you.�

�Sure professor.�

Hermione waited while her two
friends exited the office, once they were alone the Headmaster coughed a little
before speaking.

�I understand that the recent
events must have taken its toll on you my girl, but I�m confident that you will
recover from them with your friends� help, you know that you�re not alone.�

�Don�t worry professor. I�ll
manage.�

�Mmm. I also trust you to
understand, that this is probably the beginning of very difficult times. I have
seen it before. People would start to panic, to be afraid of each other, the
first war tore apart friendships and families, we must do everything possible
to remain united, and not to give in to paranoid thoughts which could drive
away people that could help us. You understand what I say?�

Hermione nodded, she had been
almost expecting this.

�You mean to tell me that I
shouldn�t let the news stop me from working along with Malfoy.�

�I understand that his family
supports Voldemort, and that his way of thinking is
very different from yours. You and your friends had had troubles with him since
first day, but I�d like you to remember that he�s not his father, and that
people can change for the best.�

Hermione almost smiled, she
asked herself for a second what Draco would think of all this. It seemed to her
that the Headmaster was worried that the rivalry between the Houses would show
itself again, and that it would be detrimental for the school safety.

�Don�t worry professor, I
understand that we should do everything we can to be stronger and besides, I�m
trying not to judge Malfoy for his past actions.�

The Headmaster smiled at her.

�I�m glad for it my girl, and I have been told that the two of you had been
giving signs of starting to develop a friendship.�

Hermione felt herself
blush and wished that the Headmaster didn�t notice.

�Well� we are getting to know
each other a little better.�

�That�s good my girl, I hope
that you two get to know even a tiny part of each other�s worlds. I believe it
would be very helpful.�

�Mm� right professor� ah, may I
go now?�

�Of course! I won�t hold you any longer.�

Hermione walked out of the
office a little confused, she could swear that one of the portraits had winked
to her, she made a mental note to identify every portrait that could be on her
way to the Medusa statue.

Harry and Ron were waiting for
her; the red-head was still pissed.

�Everything�s ok �Mione?� asked Harry.

�Yes Harry. Mmm�
the professor only wanted to assure me that mom is going to be brought with
real care.�

She felt guilty for lying to
them, but Ron was already annoyed and she was sure that they were going to
start an argument; besides, she really was too tired to try to explain things
to them.

They started walking to
Gryffindor tower, while Ron complained about the injustice of the totally
absurd suspicions of the Headmaster, after a while of hearing him Harry and
Hermione were about to go crazy.

�Just imagine! A Gryffindor
becoming a Death Eater! How could anyone even think such a thing?�

�Well, maybe that�s why
Pettigrew�s treason took everybody by surprise no?� said Harry tiredly, hoping
against hope that Ron would shut up for a moment to think what he was saying
but no such luck, his friend turned annoyed eyes at him.

�Like I said Harry, the rat is
the exception that confirms the rule. He hardly counts.�

Hermione was fed up with it, she
snapped angrily at her friend.

�You know Ron, a prejudice is
also to think that certain kind of people do everything right and can never be
mistaken! Do shut up for a while!�

They had arrived in front of the
fat lady and Hermione almost shouted the password to the portrait and stepped
inside the tower, leaving an openmouthed Ron.

�Now what�s the matter with
her?�

�Jesus Ron. I sometimes believe
that you need to take classes of common sense.�

�What? What
for?�

�Oh, forget it. Let�s go
inside.�

They entered the common room, in
time to join their friend on her explanation to Dean and Ginny about the
necessity of staying in the castle, and the dangers of going to her parents�
funeral.

Draco stood outside the door of
the Potions Master�s office, glaring at the wood as if it was blocking his way
on purpose. He wasn�t so sure of why he was there in the first place, he didn�t
want to see his godfather, he was angry with life in general, but he also
wanted to know why a man he always had appreciated was following a madman like Voldemort. That question was eating him alive. What had the
Dark Lord promised to lure Severus Snape into servitude? What was so great that
paid off for the humiliation and fear? Malfoy didn�t want to believe that his
uncle was just one more of the power-starved idiots that stupidly let
themselves being tortured without reason, but it seemed that there were no
other options and he just wanted to know why.

He felt the moment the
protection shields disappeared and immediately knocked the door, barely waiting
permission to enter. Snape was pacing in front of his desk, frowning at the
papers he had on his hand, it seemed like he had been reading professor Sinistra�s reports. The man didn�t lift his head to
acknowledge his student�s presence. Malfoy walked straight to him, only giving
a quick glance to the fireplace, asking himself with
whom had his uncle been talking. He stood a few steps away from his godfather
and waited impatiently.

�Mr. Malfoy, I trust that your
Housemates had been conducting themselves appropriately this past week. The
Headmaster was telling me that there were no nasty incidents to be of notice.
Is that accurate?�

�Yes professor.�

The strained voice of his godson
made Snape turn his eyes to the boy and study him more carefully. Draco had his
mask of indifference right in place, but he couldn�t disguise the cold
radiating from his eyes. Snape prodded a little in the young mind, there was
anger there, a mass of conflicting emotions and� disappointment? Snape stopped
himself from arching an eyebrow just in time, there was something new in the
boy, his determination was almost palpable, Severus was curious to know if
young Mr. Malfoy had already decided which road he was going to walk from now
on.

�Then, is there something
important that you want to tell me Mr. Malfoy?�

�Actually it is a personal
matter. Godfather.�

�I see. Do you think this is an
adequate place to talk?�

�I know that you have protection
spells powerful enough for us to be able to talk about everything.�

�Very true.� Snape stood in front of Malfoy and looked at him right in the eyes,
the blond didn�t turn away. �So, tell me what you want.�

Draco steeled himself and shot
the question, he knew he was burning his bridges behind him, but he was intent
on doing this.

�I want to know how can you
stand being ordered around by that poor excuse of a Dark Lord?�

Snape�s eyes narrowed but otherwise he gave no indication of his thoughts.

�I expect that you have an
appropriate excuse for that insult Draco.�

�I don�t have any
excuses, that�s exactly how I see him. The great Dark Lord! Ha! Do you
know that he isn�t even a pureblood?�

�Watch your tongue young man!�

Snape lowered his voice to a
hiss, watching very carefully every one of the boy�s reactions.

�Am I to assume that your
loyalty is wavering?�

�I never gave any loyalty to
your Lord! I would never follow that crazy man or call him �Sir�! I just want to know why you do it!�

Snape stared coldly into the
grey eyes, looking for any signal that betrayed the boy�s intentions, he still
played the part of the loyal Death Eater to see his reaction, he wanted to be
sure of Draco�s feelings on this matter.

�Stupid child. Do you have any idea of how powerful the Dark Lord is? He can crush
you only with a thought. He wants to rule and has more than enough power to do
it. To go against him is to sign your death wish!�

Malfoy�s eyes didn�t waver, with
cold determination he asked:

�If that�s true then, why he can�t
rid himself of a nuisance like Potter?�

�Do not question the Dark Lord
boy. He�s bidding his time, when the opportunity presents itself, have no doubt
that Potter will be out of our existences.�

�Yes? What�s taking him so long?
From what I have heard he had had many opportunities along the years and Potter
is as healthy as ever. Maybe he�s too much of a challenge for the Dark Lord.�

�Don�t say stupidities! The
pathetic brat has just been lucky. He�s no match for the Dark Lord�s power!�

�Really? Somehow I really doubt it.�

�You are talking nonsense Draco.
I wasn�t aware that your father�s absence could affect you in such a way as to
damage your priorities. What happened to your Malfoy pride? You used to dream
the day when you�ll become a great dark wizard.�

Malfoy straightened himself and
schooled his features into a despising mask, a perfect copy of his father�s.
Snape couldn�t wait for the day on which the boy would replace Malfoy senior.

�My pride is still in place
godfather. Actually it is because of it that I refuse to be enslaved to some
power starved lunatic.�

�Oh, you think you are better
than the rest of the Dark Lord�s loyal followers? Or do you simply think that
the Dark Lord himself is not powerful enough for your tastes? How stupid can
teenagers be! Don�t you see the advantages to be on the winner side anymore?�

Malfoy noticed that his uncle
didn�t bother to refute right away his statement of slavery, but choose to not
comment on it.

�Advantages, really?� He averted
his eyes for the first time to see around him mockingly. Then he returned to
look at Snape.

�Tell me uncle. How does it
feel?�

Snape arched an eyebrow in
question, Malfoy continued coldly.

�I assume that you were in the
attack to London.
Even if you weren�t there you have been in a fair number of raids. How does it
feel to do it? To kill someone? To
play with a lesser being? Does it make you feel powerful to torture and
kill someone that couldn�t even dream to fight you back?�

Snape smirked, careful to not
show how very pleased he was with the way Draco was thinking.

�Of course, that shows your
power to everyone stupid enough to question it.�

�I think it is a pathetic way to
make others fear you.�

�I don�t think that�s what your
father taught you Draco, he raised you to love power and crave for it, to
always make powerful allies and enhance the name of Malfoy.�

�Maybe he taught me too well.�

Snape was proud of the boy; he
only needed one more thing to check out.

�No, maybe that Granger girl is
being the problem. She never shuts up. I�ll hate to think that you are
listening to that mudblood�s nonsense.�

He covered the word with as much
venom as he could muster and almost smiled when Draco clenched his fists and
narrowed his eyes dangerously. That was a very good reaction, knowing how
possessive the boy could be, Snape now had no doubts that Granger had surpassed
the title of �affair�, and had become
something more real and solid in the blonde�s life. Perfect.

�She is a lot smarter than
anyone in this school, and certainly is worth much more than any of you,
pathetic Death Eaters with all your pitiful, coward, piece of shit of Dark Lord
you have!�

No sooner the words were out of
his mouth, than he realized what he was saying and to whom. Draco froze and
paled slightly.

�Shit. Shit. Shit! I�m an idiot! That was the most stupid thing to
say ever!�

He was completely lost in his
panic and forgot to pay attention to his uncle�s behavior;
he only heard the man�s words and missed entirely the smile of approval that
appeared in his uncle�s lips.

�So, the young Malfoy had
developed some kind of fondness for the bossy girl. How unusual really.�

Draco was about to deny what was
so blatantly true, but he shut his mouth and tried to think. Snape knew him far
too well to be fooled easily; he had to think of a better way to make the man
forget about what he had said. His desperate thoughts were interrupted when the
flames in the fireplace came alive, and professor Sinistra�s
voice could be heard.

�Severus� oh,
sorry. I didn�t know you were busy.�

�It�s ok Sinistra.
I�m finished here. You can go Mr. Malfoy.�

The blond Slytherin looked at
his uncle carefully, but had no choice than to obey and left the office,
cursing himself for having let his guard down and putting Hermione at risk.
- 17
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Consequences