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Pen Pals	By : GryffindorToy Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 4635 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It is the property of JK Rowling and others who are not me. I make no money or profit of any kind from this story.

Chapter List
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Disclaimer: I don�t own it and I make no profit. That�s all
I�m legally required to say, right? *Lawyer nods* Good. Now maybe we can get on
with the fun part!

Author�s Note: This chapter was
not in the original version at all! I don�t know if you original readers are
going to like that or hate it, but� oh well! I think it all seems much more
believable now! They�re only slightly- VERY SLIGHTLY- out of character!
Yayness!

~II~

�Draco! You will look at me when I
talk to you!�

�Yes, Father,� said Draco obediently,
meeting the man�s steely gaze. �Never mind the fact that this is the first
thing you�ve said to me all damned day.�

�Draco� I can understand the need
to prove yourself,� said Lucius, �Especially after failing you very first
assignment. However, this may be too much for you to handle.�

�Father, I-�

�Think about this, Draco.
If you couldn�t even kill one feeble old man how can you hope to fool the
Order? How is it that you�re going to capture Potter?� asked Lucius sternly.

Draco repressed a sigh. �I told
you, Father. I have a plan.�

�But what is this plan of
yours? And when you possibly hope to employ it?� the man said skeptically, �You
will never make it past his precious friends or get him alone. You can�t even
beat that mudblood girl on paper, so you obviously have no chance in a duel.�

�That word� That bloody stupid
word has caused so much trouble in my life. This entire silly war started
because of an arcane prejudice and that word�� He contained his
anger and replied as calmly as he could. �I won�t have to duel anybody. And
I�ll have you know, Father, that I have already set my plan into
motion.�

Lucius struck him across the face,
sending him sprawling to the floor. �You would do well to remember who you are
speaking to. I will not always be so lenient with you.�

�Lenient my ass�� thought
Draco bitterly, spitting blood onto the floor and earning himself a kick in the
side. His mother turned her face away and he cursed for the coward that she
was.

�Malfoys do not spit, Draco,�
snapped Lucius and he scowled, �Get up, boy. You look entirely undignified.�

�Who the hell put me
down here?!� he screamed in his mind as he stood.

�Now how exactly has your plan
begun so soon? You are not even back in school yet,� asked Lucius and he was
amazed at how quickly his father could go back to being a simple, bored
aristocrat.

�Have you seen The Daily Prophet
today?� he said, waiting for the man to nod, �That is how. I very kindly
escorted her around Knockturn Alley- for her own protection, naturally- and was
the perfect companion. She was looking for something to help her �unravel the
mysteries of the dark arts� or some such utter nonsense. I tried to tell her
that no shop would sell to the likes of her, but Granger-�

�The mudblood girl?� interrupted
Lucius.

Draco winced before he could stop
himself, realizing his mistake just a second too late. The head of his father�s
cane connected with his temple and his vision exploded into stars as he
collapsed. He was becoming quite familiar with that particular spot on the
floor.

�I�m sorry,� sneered Lucius, �Do
you not like that word?�

He couldn�t find the breath
necessary for speaking so he said nothing.

�I was only calling her what she
is,� said Lucius, pulling his wand out of the cane, �And she is a
mudblood, isn�t she Draco?�

Still, he could say nothing. If
only his head would stop throbbing and spinning so�

�Answer me when I ask you a
question, boy! Crucio!� exclaimed Lucius, uttering the word that Draco
had been dreading since he was summoned into the room.

He screamed in agony as his nerve
endings were assaulted by the white-hot pain that grown to be so customary in
that house. He squeezed his eyes shut as his body convulsed and contorted, his
throat closing and cutting off both his voice and his air.

�Say the word, Draco, and the pain
will go away,� said Lucius almost gently, �Call her what she truly is and I
will be more than happy to stop.�

�Mud� blood�� he choked, and the
sheer amount of force it took to utter that single word nearly knocked him
clean out.

The curse lifted and Lucius smiled
at him as he lie there, shuddering. �There now. That wasn�t so hard, was it?�

He rolled over just in time to
retch violently.

Lucius scowled in disgust. �How
uncouth.� He sighed and called a House Elf. �Barley, young Draco requires the remained
of the day to rest peacefully. Please take him to the sun room.�

�Yes, Master Malfoy, sir. Right
away, Master Malfoy,� said the tiny elf.

�After you have finished with him,
send one of the others up to clean this mess,� the man ordered.

�Yes, Master Malfoy,� said Barley,
bowing low before grabbing hold of Draco�s arm and apparating them into the
�sun room�.

Draco would have scoffed if any
part of him was working correctly. They called it the sun room� It was anything
but. The �sun room� was a small space barely large enough for one
person. There was a single, miniscule window parallel to the door that didn�t
allow enough light to properly see by. The walls and floor were made of rough
stone and covered in dust and he could only guess what else. The elves were
forbidden to clean it. There were absolutely no heating or cooling charms in
the area so the air was a hot and sticky as it was outside. Perhaps even more
so.

Barley propped him up against the
wall and he groaned, his muscles protesting excruciatingly. The elf left a
moment later without a word, which was not so unusual. They were no strangers
to the situation. There were times when he would be in the �sun room� for days
on end. Luckily, he would be leaving for Hogwarts the day after next, or he
suspected this would be one such time.

He did not know when he lost
consciousness, but when he woke there was no light in the tiny room at all. He
sat a bit straighter, stretching his arms, legs, and back in spite of the
residual sting. He had been taken there around midday
so he knew he had slept- if one could call it sleep- for quite some time.

He sighed heavily. He shouldn�t
have come home. He could have easily lied and said they wouldn�t let him. Sure,
the atmosphere at Headquarters was tense, but at least he didn�t have to worry
about this kind of thing happening. However, his mother had sounded so sad, so
lonely�

He loved his mother as much as any
son ever could and he knew his mother loved him, as well. But he also hated
her. Why did she allow Lucius to get away with doing whatever he wanted? Why
couldn�t she stand up to him? Wasn�t it a mother�s job to protect her child?
Although� if he thought about it, that was supposed to be a father�s job, too.

And it wasn�t like he had any room
to talk. It wasn�t like he had ever stood up to the man, ever defended
himself. He had never so much as openly disagreed with him. It was only �Yes,
Father. Yes, Father. Yes, Father�. And wasn�t he just the perfect son, the
pinnacle of everything a Malfoy should be? He had been trained and conditioned
to follow his father�s every order since birth. Well� he had certainly done a
spectacular job of that over the years.

He sometimes wondered if his life
would be different had Potter accepted his friendship. Or if he had gone to
Dumbledore when he was being pressured to take the Mark. Would he still be
locked in this tiny room? Would he still be playing double-agent in the Dark
Lord�s inner circle? Or would he already be free of this torture? Perhaps
living a quiet, comfortable life with his godfather, with real friends
who cared about him. He wouldn�t have the wealth he had now, but he may have
had a chance to be happy and for that he would gladly give up his name, his
money, and all of the influence and power that came with them.

It was wishful thinking, he knew.
Pure, idealistic fantasy. He would never have happiness. Not as long as the
Dark Lord still breathed� as long as his father still breathed.

If he was stronger, if he was
braver, if he was smarter, maybe he could have�

His mind drifted to Hermione
Granger. What did she know? The key to destroying the Dark Lord was in that
book. Wasn�t that was she had said? The key to destroying that monster� Could
it really be that simple? She had seemed awfully sure of herself. Could they
actually be that close? And Potter� Could he actually do it? Kill the Dark Lord
and save them all? Save him?

Was he even worth saving?

�I meant what I said before.
About trusting you.�

It was still surprising to him
that she could say those words and mean them. If she could see him now, what
would she think? What would Potter or Weasley think? Would they pity him? Call
him a coward? Would they laugh? He wouldn�t blame them if they did.

Maybe he had earned this. Maybe
all of the pain he had been subjected to in the years since the Dark Lord�s
resurrection had been the fates� way of punishing him. One minute of the
Cruciatus Curse for every cutting insult, every hurtful rumor, every fight he�d
started. One blow for every sabotaged potion, every person he�d gotten into
trouble who hadn�t warranted it. One scar to tarnish his flawless skin for
every time he had spoken that word.

He�d spend the rest of his life
atoning for all of the terrible things he had done, thanking the heavens above
for the second chance he didn�t deserve.

When oblivion embraced him once
more, he welcomed it as a reprieve from his own thoughts, slipping into
blissful, empty, dreamless darkness. He didn�t wake again until the following
evening, when the scrape of the heavy metal door on stone roused him. His
father stood before him, smirking cruelly.

�Have you thought about your
actions?�

Draco nodded, resuming his role as
the perfect son and standing gracefully on legs that wanted no part in moving
or supporting him. Even so, he met his father�s eyes determinedly, schooling
his expression into one of a proper mixture of shame and arrogance. �I
apologize, Father. I don�t know what got into me. Probably a side-effect of
spending time with a mudblood.� �Please forgive me��

�I�m glad that you have come to
your senses, Draco,� said Lucius, �Now get yourself cleaned up. You look
disgraceful.�

He waited until Lucius departed to
let his legs give out. He called a House Elf to take him to his room and help
him bathe. Winny always helped him after his times in the �sun room� and she
was as kind and gentle as ever. She dressed him in clean clothes and tucked him
into bed, presenting him with a tray of food. A thick chicken broth with
noodles, freshly baked bread, plain yogurt and fruit, and water. The usual.

Once he had eaten as much as she
thought he should, she handed him four potions. One to heal the bruises and
minor cuts, one to relieve the pain, one to replenish his strength, and a
dreamless sleep. Before he took the final one, he asked if he had gotten any
mail. She pointed to his desk, where Mercutio sat next to a familiar white and
gold barn owl. Artemis flew over to him when he called her, depositing a single
envelope in his lap before rejoining Mercutio.

�How long has she been waiting
here?" he asked.

�Since last night,� replied Winny,
speaking informally as he had asked her to do when they were in private, �She
would not allow anybody else to take that letter. Winny has taken good care of
her, though.�

�Thank you, Winny. If it�s okay
with you, I�ll just reply to this letter and then go to sleep,� he said.

She nodded, handing him his wand.
�Pleasant dreams, Master Draco.�

He smiled as she disappeared with
the tray and summoned his lap table and writing supplies. He read and reread
the letter many times, chuckling to himself at the first line, before
responding.

�Fern,

�� I see now. Fern is a lovely
choice. I also enjoy learning new things, though I often wish I were a stronger
person. I suppose most people would say I�m vain and that�s the reason I chose
that name, but I truly do love Shakespeare�s works. Especially the story of
Romeo and Juliet. I can really identify with those characters. I know how it
feels to be controlled by your family and friends and their ideals, how it is
to be poisoned against one person or a group of people. To feel trapped in your
own life. I just hope my story has a happier ending.

�� When I graduate I was to
become a Healer, to help people. I would also like to do some independent
research of Muggle medicine and its possible applications in potions,
particularly in the area of neural damage caused by over-exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. But I could never tell my pure-blood
elitist parents this. They wouldn�t understand. I sincerely hope that you�re
not like them. Somehow I don�t think you are.

�� I�m sorry that Artemis was
gone for such a long time and for the delay of my reply. I was indisposed and
unable to receive mail for the last couple of days. Can you find it in your
heart to forgive me?

�� Romeo�

It wasn�t lost on him that Artemis
waited for Mercutio to leave before taking off. �Love,
huh?� he thought, drinking the dreamless sleep potion and settling back
against the pillows, �Must be nice��

~II~

Whew! This chapter was immensely
fun to write. Does that make me a demented person? I don�t mean that I was
laughing as I described the pain of the Cruciatus
Curse� just that it was fun to step into Draco�s mind and give people a glimpse
into his life. I�m quite pleased with how it turned out, but give me your
opinions! I CRAVE your reviews! Plus they feed the plot bunnies, without whom
none of this would be possible!
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