Harry Potter 1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Every and all things Harry Potter and Hogwarts belong to the one and only JKR and I would never dream of taking credit of the wonderful things that she has created. But I will gladly manipulate them a bit for my own personal satisfaction J

**Timeline: **This is compliant up until the hall of prophecies in OOTP. Then it becomes a little different in a lot of ways.

**Summary: **What were to happen if Lucius found another prophesy in the hall of prophecies at the Ministry while attacking Harry Potter and his friends? What if said prophesy revolved around him and his only child? What if this prophesy completely changed how he looked at life and even which side he was fighting for? The Malfoy line revolves around a certain bushy haired know it all and now he's in desperate need to convince her that this prophesy must come true or everything he knows and loves will be gone for good.

**Saving the Malfoy Line**

**By: thenext_Austen**

**Chapter 1: Finding the Truth**

Things were going exactly as the Dark Lord had planned. He was able to plant just the right images into the head of the Boy That Wouldn't Die and now him and his friends were frantically searching for Sirius Black which in actuality the Death Eaters had not a single clue where the man was. This was irrelevant though because as soon as the Dark Lord had the prophesy he was searching for then the scales would finally tip in their favor. Not to mention that since Lucius was leading this mission then he would have all the praise for its success.

The group of children had just arrived and were running though the lines of prophesies at a quick pace trying to find the man they all cared so deeply for. It was really rather pathetic. One lesson they all should have learned is that the person that cares the least has all the power. This is precisely why Lucius had his devil may care attitude toward his own family. He loved his wife, Narcissa, without a doubt. She was one of the most important people in his life and he would do literally anything for her however, if anyone were to ever ask him of this he would vehemently deny it and reassure them that while she was useful, she was also expendable. Now where his son came into play, he had a bit firmer standing. Draco was his one and only child. He was his first born and he was the heir to the Malfoy line so he defended him and brought him into the ranks of the Death Eaters as soon as he possibly could. The youngest Malfoy had yet to receive his Dark Mark but with hope that this mission was proven successful then that would be changing on the morrow. Once Lucius could prove his family's worth to the Dark Lord then he would surely be able to convince him of the benefits of having another Malfoy close to his alliance.

"Harry look! It has your name on it!" The unmistakable sound of the Weasley boy's voice could easily be heard through the echoes of the hall. This was it. They had finally found it and now he could get in the perfect spot he needed with the Dark Lord.

He signaled to the others that this was the time to move. As soon as they had reached the group of children, the Potter boy had just finished listening to the prophesy. "Give it over boy. You know you'll never get out of here alive unless you do." The Malfoy sneer was perfectly placed on his face just for his own amusement. For going his mask might not have been the best idea he had had of late but seeing the looks on those children's faces was absolutely worth it. Namely that little Mudblood friend they were so insistent to have around.

"Never happening Lucius." Was the boy's reply. Wands drawn and stuck in a stalemate no one was really sure where to go from here. Then came the voice of the brains of the bunch. "He was never here was he? You made sure that Harry came so that he could find this for Voldemort." His anger was coming off of him in waves at the Mudblood's disrespect. "Do not speak his name you filthy Mudblood! You don't deserve to even think his name!" He could see her flinch at the insult but still held her wand strong. "I can speak his name if I so choose because he is nothing but a worthless, half-blood bigot that thinks so highly of himself that he sends his well trained dogs to do his dirty work!"

The next events happened in such quick concession that Lucius wasn't sure if he would be able to replay them to another person later on or not. Bellatrix stepped through the group with her wand aimed directly at the Mudblood. "You little bitch! How dare you disrespect my Lord! Avada.." Before Bella could even finish the curse the Longbottom boy pointed his wand at the light above them and shouted "Reducto!" The ceiling immediately exploded and that seemed to shock everyone into action. Curses began to fly as pieces of ceiling began to ran down on them like hail and Lucius did his best to follow where the prophesy was going. The children began tossing it back and forth between them as if it were simply a game and not a priceless relic. Out of no where the Lovegood girl grabbed 2 other prophesies off of the shelf and threw one of them to each of her friends. The Potter and Weasley boy took off in one direction with a prophesy, Lovegood and Longbottom took off in another and lastly Granger and the girl Weasley took off in the direction he was facing. If he weren't as pissed as he was he would have to compliment the children on their tactics. It seemed as if they had this planned from the beginning however, that would have been impossible because it was only moments ago that the Granger girl had discovered that Sirius wasn't here. He knew better now though. He knew not to underestimate these children. Not children, but warriors.

After a moment to have his mind catch up to the goings on around him, Lucius instructed the others to take off after each set of the Order and to get that prophecy back. He took his own advice and took off after the pair of girls that had run seemingly away from him. He could barely see in front of him since one of the two had cursed the aisle they were in with a thick dark smoke. Using his wand to clear it as best as he could he continued on toward the sound of quick steps. Once he got that prophecy he was sure to kill each and every one of these little menaces for giving him such a trouble. He stopped to asses the situation and could easily hear loud whispers to his left. The girls had somehow managed to get into the aisle beside him without making it to the back wall where the opening was.

"Hermione but it has your name on it! You have to take it and figure out what the hell it means!"

"Gin you know me better than that. These prophesies are an utter joke. There is nothing that can decide the future or tell it. Now if one of these bloody things came with a map of the damned Ministry then I would be more than willing to listen but telling me the future of my life when I don't even know how the hell to get out of here is ridiculous."

"You're right I do know you and I can tell that since you are fighting so hard on this and that you've used actual curse words that you've already found something out about it that is confusing you and that's why you're fighting it so hard. Now tell me what you know so we can get the hell out of here."

"Just because I don't have a natural foul mouth like you _Ginevra_ doesn't mean anything. I just simply want to get out of here."

So the Mudblood found a prophesy about herself. Now that could be useful as well to the Dark Lord. She may not be the most important of the trio but he would be mistaken to underestimate her. Maybe this wasn't such a disaster after all. Lucius apperated himself directly in front of the girls so that he could better asses the situation.

"Now now now, what do we have here? A Mudblood and a blood traitor. How about I make you two a deal? You had over the prophesy and I will let you walk away?"

The two looked at each other then it was Granger that spoke up. "And just what do you think you could do with it Malfoy? Only the person that the prophecy is about can see it so there is no point for you and yours to have it since only Harry can see it." Ah, so she hasn't realized that he heard their conversation. "That is where you are wrong girl, because my Lord will be able to hear or see anything that your half wit friend could so just hand it over and I will give you my word to call off the attack. You and your friends can walk away from here and this fight can continue another day. I'm sure you're more than worried about your darling little friends now aren't you?" The look on her face told him that he was exactly right. There was her weakness, that little band of misfits. He pulls on her heart strings for them and he could accomplish anything when it came to her.

"You'll immediately withdraw the others and let us go, all of us, with no harm to myself or any of my friends."

"_Hermione!_ You can't be serious? You're thinking of making a deal with the devil you know that right?"

"Gin I know what I'm doing. If Lucius gives me his word as a wizard then I'm sure I could trust him, because honestly what type of wizard would he be if he wasn't as good as his word?"

Her words were spoken directly to him and pinned him with his own thoughts. A wizard was only as good as his word, if he didn't value that then he became just as bad as all the other blood traitors and lowly wizards alike.

"Yes Miss Granger you have my word that all 6 of you will be able to leave immediately with no harm to any of you. All you have to do is hand over the prophecy."

"Alright Malfoy" no title given to him, this little witch really should learn some manners, "here's the prophecy." She walked toward him with the prophecy outstretched to him. What happened next none of them could ever guess would have happened. As soon as both of them had contact on the small glowing orb, it began to shine even brighter and a prophecy was revealed.

_Separate can only bring strife_

_Together brings on a new life_

_Should the two learn to coexist_

_The Malfoy line will never be amiss_

_A new addition to the purity_

_The bloodline has new security._

The hall seemed to have gone completely silent at the close of the prophecy. He could only stare down at the witch in front of him. So this Mudblood, this witch is supposed to be an addition to the Malfoy line. She was to provide a stronger heir for them. Not that he was willing to admit to anyone but the Malfoy line was becoming weaker and weaker with each generation. His wife herself was only able to carry one babe to term because of the problems in their line. He would have had a house full of his children had he been allowed but due to all of the inbreeding in previous centuries because of fear of sullying their line with less than pure blood, it just was not possible. The magic was weak and it caused the pregnancy to become unstable. They truly were blessed with the birth of their son.

"Well Miss Granger, it seems as though I have more use for you than what I thought." He looked at her with a calculating stare as she quietly but quickly backed away from him into the arms of her friend.

"Mione, what's wrong? What just happened?" Obviously the red headed witch couldn't hear what the prophecy had said but judging the look on the muggle born face, she certainly had.

"This changes nothing Malfoy." She said between gritted teeth. "We made a deal and now my friends and I shall be leaving."

"As you wish Miss Granger. But I can assure you that we shall be seeing each other again. Soon Miss Granger. Very soon." The smirk on his face couldn't be seen as anything other than what it was. Pure confidence. He now had a new plan for his family's involvement in the war and it had nothing to do with some lesser half blood that thought he was a Lord. Now his plans were strictly personal because let's face it. Nothing came before the Malfoy line and it's importance.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Once again I own nothing. It all belongs to the lovely JKR and I'm just here to play tee hee hee

**A/N: **Ok I'm working on some new chapters that I will hopefully be able to post throughout the week. This is a new style of writing for me so I'm doing my best to keep the creative flow going. Not beta'd also so if I mess it up…I will blame auto correct and then try to fix my silly computers mistakes. Also a big thank you to everyone that favorite or followed. I really appreciate it and I'm glad that everyone seems to like the start of my new adventure.

**Straightgorgee, IGOTTEAMEDWARD, Dracosgirl007, Shorty653: Here's the newest installment for your reading pleasure ****J**** Thanks for the love everyone**

**The Cadpig: Things in chapter 1 are now fixed…silly autocorrect :p Hopefully there are less issues with my computer this time tee hee hee. Glad you liked it though**

**HallowRain8587: It's been something stuck in my head for a while now so I figured I would give it a go. What can I say, I love me some Malfoy men.**

**Alesia G: Wouldn't you like to know…(insert evil laugh) just kidding lol that will be answered with this chapter**

**Saving The Malfoy Line**

**By: thenext_Austen**

**Chapter 2: Where To Now?**

Hermione Granger couldn't get as far away from the elder Malfoy fast enough. The look on his face was beyond terrifying after they had heard the prophecy. It was enough to send her scurrying. What the bloody world that stupid prophecy even mean? It was unimportant at the time however, she needed to find the rest of their group and get out of here. She had the word of Malfoy that they would be able to go unharmed and for some unknown reason she believed him.

Grabbing Ginny by the arm she took off down the aisle in search of everyone else. Once they came back to the main corridor they ran into Luna and Neville. Quite literally ran right into them. Neville bounced off of Hermione and fell backward into one of the shelves holding the bright glowing orbs. It seemed as soon as he hit that it was an instant domino effect. Shelves started to topple back onto the one behind it and so on and so forth. The crashing of the shelves sounded like an explosion that was never ending. Just non stop breaking of glass and banging of metal hitting a cement ground.

They had to find Ron and Harry. They needed to find them now before someone was seriously injured. "Neville get your arse up! We need to go!" Ginny finally snapped everyone out of there own thoughts. Without a second glance back they all started running the opposite direction of the mayhem going on around them.

Coming to the end of the aisle they had finally found the door that would lead them out of this god forsaken place. At the door they finally met up with Ron and Harry. She was thrilled to finally see her friends again. If there was ever one thing that Malfoy was right about it was that she would always do what was necessary to help her friends. Namely the two boys standing in front of her now. She threw her arms around their necks and hugged them tightly. "I was so worried about you two." she said. "Mione I swear we did do…" he gestured to the massive entanglement of metal and glass behind them "that." "Ron I know, it was Neville but in his defense, I sort of tackled him on accident." About that time they all looked at the boy that was the subject of the conversation and he was about as red as he could be without looking like he ate some of the twins Fever Fudge.

"Sorry guys. I kind of lost the prophecy in the struggle with Hermione. I'm pretty sure it was one of the ones that broke though so I guess that's an upside since Harry already saw it." Neville looked horrible now. He was so upset about it that I couldn't help but feel just as bad for him. He's been struggling to get control of his magic for so long and it just seems like it never works out for him. He's gotten better though. Albeit not a large amount of progress but progress is progress.

"It's alright Neville. It's better for it to be destroyed than in the hands of Voldemort." Harry always knew just what to say. He is just friends with everyone. Except Draco Malfoy. She knew that she had to stay away from that train of thought because if she didn't then she would instantly be brought back to the prophecy that she found with Lucius. Heaven forbid she actually think about that situation. As much as she loathed Divination and all things prophetic, she had to admit that the prophecy she just heard did seem to be directed to her as well as the Malfoys. Bugger it said their name specifically so it has to mean something. She was just curious as to how long she would be able to keep this to herself. From the look on her best girl friends face it didn't seem like it would be too much longer that she could.

They made it through the door and started their way back through the Ministry. Once the others were ahead of them a ways, Ginny dropped back toward her. And that's when the questions began. "What the hell do you think you were doing back there? Making a deal with Malfoy? That's nothing like you Mione. And what was with that prophecy?"

Well where to begin? "I had to make a deal with him Gin. I needed to get us out of there and he thought I had the prophecy about Harry and Voldemort so there was no issue there. And as far as the prophecy that he heard, well that I have no clue. You know I have no eye for those types of magic Gin. That's more of Luna's forte than mine." "Hermione don't give me that. After that dumb ball gave it's message you couldn't back away from it fast enough. You dropped it faster than a quaffle and considering how much you hate Quidditch that's saying something." She wasn't really sure how to procede from there. She knew Ginny wouldn't let it go but if she told her about it then that meant she was acknowledging the problem and she really couldn't handle any more issues on her plate right now. She was at a loss for what to do, that didn't happen to her often but here she was. Rock and hard place.

"Look Gin just let me get a handle on this first and then we can talk about it later. Ok?" She was pleading at this point with the red head. She knew just how determined for answers she could be and for the most part it was really beneficial for her, except for when the questions were directed at her. She first was exposed to the Ginny Inquisition earlier this year in regards to herself and Ron but that questioning went a lot easier than this one was going to go. Her and Ron were friends and now she was completely sure of that. They had tried the relationship type thing but he was more concerned with Lavander Brown and well any other thing besides her actually. He was a great friend but more than that he was a bit rubbish.

Now that she finally had her friend off her case and she was catching back up with the others she was able to have some quiet time to try and figure out what in the world was going on. She really wasn't that great when it came to fortune telling or what not but this one seemed rather important to her considering it seemed to revolve around her.

How in the world was someone like her supposed to fix the Malfoy line? And just what exactly was wrong with it in the first place? As far as she knew they were absolutely perfect. Well according to her 'oh so wonderful classmate' Draco Malfoy they were the only family worthy of have magical abilities. Just the thought that she would have anything to do with that family is absolutely absurd. Draco had been horrendous to her since the first day that he met her and his father wasn't any different. It was one of those circumstances where the apple really didn't fall far from the bigot tree.

The prophecy was obviously talking about her and Draco considering the whole strife thing but the rest of it just didn't make sense. Not only would she never want to align herself with the Malfoy's but they would never take her in any situation. She was a muggle born, she wasn't the least bit attractive well by their standards at least and she wasn't the perfect cookie cutter bride by any means. She had an opinion that she expressed constantly. She fought for what was good and right. And lastly SHE WAS MUGGLE BORN! That couldn't just be forgotten. Especially since that family was incessant on reminding her of it every chance they got.

There had to be a reasonable explanation for this. She just didn't have a clue of what it was.

The group had finally made it back out to their rides. Stupid flying dead animals. She didn't have any problems with any of the magical creatures that they came into contact with or learned about. She would gladly fight for their rights and defend them to anyone but riding on them was another thing. Especially when they had wings. If people were meant to fly then they would have been born with wings. You would think that being muggle born that she would be more acceptable of flying since they have planes and helicopters and such but in all honestly she's never had any want to fly. Even when she was younger and flew with her parents on holiday she only wanted to take a dreamless sleep potion and forget she was even in the air. That was when she was in a metal plane, equipped with seats and seat belts. Now she was in the process of riding on an animal that she couldn't even seen however she was more than positive that they didn't come with seats or seat belts. She did the only thing she could at this moment in her life. She held on to Ron like her life depended on it with her face buried in his back, eyes firmly closed and prayed to whatever holy diety that this would eventually end with them safely on the ground once again without incident.

The trip back to Hogwarts was quick enough but it still wasn't something that she would willing want to do all the time. Or ever again. They made their way up to the front of the school and who stood at the front was absolutely shocking for them. Not only was it Mcgonagal and Snape but Dumbledore and Sirius were there as well. The former of the two was on the run from the Ministry the last that they had heard but things were changing by the hour around here so they shouldn't be too shocked. Harry took off up the stairs straight into Sirius' arms. He had been so worried about him when we first went to the Ministry. We all were but he was the last of Harry's family so it really hit him hard. As happy as I was to see that both Sirius and Dumbledore were safe and sound, the look on their faces were a little uncomforting to say the least. It seemed to be a very somber mood for everyone when we walked up and I was more than a little curious as to why.

Dumbledore was the first to speak up. "I'm so glad to see you all back here. I take it that since you are here that you found what you were looking for at the Ministry." "Yes Headmaster we did however the prophecy was destroyed while we were leaving but thankfully that means that You Know Who still doesn't know what it said." Harry replied. "I'm sorry Headmaster but how did you know that we went to the Ministry?" Hermione had to ask. "Well Miss Granger it just so happens that we received an owl about your actions while you were on your way back to the school. Not to mention a proposition that could very well help our cause greatly in the battle against Mr. Riddle and his followers. "Who sent it?" "Why don't you read it and find out for yourself since you happen to have a part in said proposition." He then proceded to hand a rolled piece of parchment to her. And as she unrolled it she couldn't believe what she was seeing. There was no way this was happening.

_Headmaster Dumbledore_

_I hope this letter reaches you in due haste. I have recently discovered that there was a group of your students at the Ministry and they had come under attack. I was not sure to what cause they had there but I was sure that this was something that would cause great concern to you. I did everything that I could in order to ensure that the children reached it back to the school safely. Now in light of recent events there is one other situation that I would like to discus with you. _

_Things have changed drastically for my family and myself when it comes to how we are dealing with Voldemort and his comings and goings in our life. He has recently instructed Draco that he must end your life or it will be ours that he takes. I can not continue to put my only son through such trauma. We need to remove ourselves from this situation as soon as possible. I am requesting your help in that matter Sir. I would like for my family and myself to switch to the side of light. We need to redeem ourselves and for us to make this situation as easy as possible I will gladly share any and all information that you require to assist you in your fight. _

_Now certainly you know me well enough that you know I do require something as compensasion for my efforts in helping. It is simple though. All that we request is the permission for Draco Malfoy to court one Hermione Granger and them to be hand fasted by the end of the school year. Surely this is something worth considering. I would like a response as soon as you can come to a decision. My wife and I will now be residing in our summer home near Edinburg so we will await your reply. _

_Lucius Malfoy_

Finishing the letter, it dropped from her hands and she didn't even bother to even try to come up with some sort of response to the people speaking to her. It's not like she could actually hear them anyways. Her heart was pounding so hard that's all she could hear. He wanted…she was supposed to…well bloody hell now what?


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **Again these wonderful characters are not mine and I do not profit from them, well at least not any money.

**A/N: **Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement and love. It really makes the creative juices flow a little easier. Still no beta so all mistakes are mine and mine alone (please be kind). Bear with me that my plot has similarities with what the wonderful JKR has written but I'm twisting them for my own twisted sense of amusement so please just read and trust me that I have my reason for doing things the way I am. Don't give up on me just yet! I beg of you! It all has a purpose, I swear it.

**Giada: The first few chapters are going a little quickly but there is a method to my madness I promise ****J**** There is just a lot that's going to be happening and it will all be brought to light soon. **

**Thanks for all of the reviews and follows. I love you all bunches and bunches!**

**Saving The Malfoy Line**

**By: thenext_Austen**

**Chapter 3: The Disapproving Son**

Here we go again. Another day stuck at this damn school just waiting for his number to be up. He supposed that everyone had their number in life, just not everyone was expecting their number to be pulled early by a sadistic psychopath determined to drive the world we all know and love straight into the depths of hell. Sounding more than just a little melodramatic he had finally annoyed himself enough to find a nice stiff drink in order to keep his demons at bay, even if it only helped for a few hours. A few hours here and there was better than nothing at all.

Given 2 tasks from the Dark Pain In The Ass himself and he wasn't sure how to accomplish either one of them. Firstly he was supposed to fix some cabinet that would allow his damn followers into the only place that had truly felt like home to him. The manor was his actual home but lately since it was swarming with men and women in black it wasn't much of a home anymore. Hogwarts was his escape, it was his sanctuary. He didn't have to deal with the planning and plotting of how to over throw the world and how to enslave half the magical community. He was just a kid in a sense still, but ever since he had finally been noticed by the Dark Lord as more than just a snot nosed kid going off to boarding school and more as an accomplice that could enable him knowledge of what exactly the boy wonder and the old bat that ran this school were up to, there had been a pressure put on him to get his affairs in order on this end of the situation.

He didn't want to be involved in the workings of what happened to any of them. Couldn't it just be enough that he was doing well in school, was captain of the Quidditch team and hadn't knocked up any slag outside of wedlock? That's what most pureblood boys lives consisted of and he was more than jealous of his friends for not having to deal with the crap that he was.

His second task. The one that would be his downfall was consequently going to be the downfall of most others as well. He was instructed to end Dumbledore's life. The headmaster of the school, the leader of the Order and as much as he hated to admit it, one of the most ingenious wizards of all time. Not that he really had any want to pull off this little stint but there was always that voice in the back of his mind that plagued him of the fact that even if he desperately wanted to do it, he would never be able to. Draco Malfoy wasn't an incompetent wizard by any means but facts were facts. Dumbledore was a well practiced wizard and he had yet to complete his NEWTS. Failure was not an option though. At the end of the day, the old man had to die, because if he didn't then the one woman that had looked out for him, taken care of him and protected him to the best of her ability would lose her life. Narcissa Malfoy would die in his place. That was just unacceptable and Draco would not allow it to ever happen. No matter what the circumstances were, he would make sure that the headmaster would fall and not his mother.

Draco finally found himself at the doors leading to the Great Hall. It seems as though he had completely lost track of where his feet were leading him while he was deep in thought. Opening the doors however, he saw something he absolutely wasn't expecting. The Great Hall was in an uproar. Students were all talking wildly and animatedly while professors all sat at the head table merely looking on at the scene and talking quietly amongst themselves.

He made his way over to the Slytherin table and sat in his usual seat between Goyle and Crabbe and across from Zabini and Nott. While the two former were more of lackeys rather than friends, it wasn't exactly his fault that they had the conjoined IQ of a Pygmy Puff, the two ladder were his best mates and closest confidants. He went to them about everything. Well nearly so. It's not like a person could just outright say they were plotting murder to anyone, mates included. "Like a circus isn't it?" Nott asked looking toward the other house tables where students were still discussing something rather loudly. Draco nodded his head in the direction of the noise. "What's that all about?" "Why didn't you hear Draco, the Golden Trio has once again become a spectacle for our school." Zabini didn't even try to hide the distain in his voice. He like most others in their house could not stand the damn Gryffindorks. They were constantly starting problems, getting in his way and being completely honest with himself just down right annoying. "All of this is about them then?" Draco replied.

"It seems as if them and a couple others decided to make an unannounced trip to the Ministry and stir up all kinds of issues. No one really knows why they were there but evidently you know who caught wind of them being there and sent a few of his minions to eliminate the problem if you catch my drift." At the end of Theo's explanation Draco couldn't help the sneer that took over his face. If he didn't have enough issues with that damn snake now this would surly only cause more. He would be expected to figure out what they knew and what they were planning. Which was so bloody seeing as how they hung out together all the time and just shared secrets with each other. The man was an imbecile that's for sure. He's not exactly privy to the inner workings of the Golden Wankers.

"And undoubtedly they won't be in any trouble at all over the situation seeing as how Potty has his head shoved so far up that old coot's arse." Nott continued "Now if it had been our little group here we would have been dead, or worse…expelled." At that moment they all couldn't help but laugh and the sly remark regarding the damn mudblood everyone was so eager to love and follow. "I hate that little bitch." There was absolutely no love loss between himself and Granger. She hated him and he loathed her very existence. He honestly couldn't see what the big deal about her was. She had intelligence, he could admit that, simply because his father had installed to him that your greatest advantage over the enemy was to know their strengths and weaknesses. However that was really all she had going for her. She had below average looks. Awkward bushy hair, muddy brown eyes and a horribly frumpy body. Not that anyone would really know about the last since she was unbearably uptight and hid under her baggy robes as a shield. Her weaknesses though, that was something he relished in using against her. The first being her undeniable hate for being called a mud blood, it seems as if every time he reminded her that she was beneath him and her blood was nothing better than the mud on his boots she seemed to sit right on the line of wanting to cry and hurl herself off a building or hex off his bullocks and toss him off said building. The other weakness was simple. Her friends. She was absolutely and completely a Gryffindor, she had the loyalty and selflessness that was beyond annoying. On more than one occasion she had literally and figuratively thrown herself in the line of fire from him and his friends in order to spare her precious Potty and Weasel. It was utterly sickening.

As if the little bint knew his thoughts were on her, she decided that would be the perfect time for her and her little gaggle of misfits to enter the Great Hall. The students immediately went silent. It was like they all had to take a moment of silence for their greatness. Draco scoffed at the idea. They were all covered in dirt, clothes ripped and looked like rags not to mention a few noticeable cuts and bruises on the lot of them. Of course St. Potter took the lead with the Weasel, then Loony Lovegood and Longbottom. And lastly at the back was the Weaselette, he really could never remember that one's name, she was just always the girl Weasel to him, and the mud blood herself. Looking in complete and utter disarray. She was filthier than usual with her hair matted and dirt smudged all over her face. He just couldn't resist the perfect opportunity. With the Hall being so quiet he just knew that his voice would easily carry over the heads of his fellow students and she would be able to hear him perfectly.

"Hey Granger! I see you've finally decided to embrace your instincts and look the part of the nasty mud blood you are!"

He wasn't shocked to see more than a few eyes darting quickly between himself and the witch he spoke too. Most faces were of complete shock, a few of disbelief and mostly the ones at his table were of approval. Leave it to him to share the comment that his whole house was thinking. He was shocked however to see the look of utter rage fall on her face as she turned from where she was walking and started back toward his table. He wasn't intimidated in the least but when the pissed off witch decided that taking the aisle to get to his seat would take absolutely too long and started to walk over top the table beside theirs to get to him, now that wasn't something he was used to seeing. She had a fire in her eyes, her hand had a death grip on her wand and she looked as if she was now the one contemplating murder. Maybe contemplating wasn't the right phrase for it, she had already decided on murder and was just calculating how many years in Azkaban exactly she would be doing for his murder.

"Well mate it's been nice knowing you, I'll be sure to say a few good words at your funeral." Theo laughed at the expression on his face. Draco's face at that exact moment showed the obvious disgust for the witch but also a bit of shock since Granger had never actually taken the opportunity to act on her anger toward him. Sure a few words and insults here and there but this was something different entirely. He couldn't help but wonder what exactly did go on at the Ministry today.

After Granger had finally made it to the table she stood directly in front of him toe to toe and didn't look at all like she was even close to backing down. Now him being a Malfoy he obviously couldn't be the first to move away as seeing that would make him look weak and that simply wouldn't do. "What's the matter Granger, it bother you when your superiors let you know exactly where you stand? And walking across dinner tables as well…tsk tsk, didn't your low life family teach you any manners? Oh that's right! You spend most of your time with the Weasley's. Now I can see just where you get your class from." He gave his smirk, that really only served to piss her off even more, once he heard the open laughs from his houses' table. "What's the matter Granger? They didn't teach you any etiquette about conversation either? When your superior speaks to you, you respond you damn filth!" He couldn't help the raise in his tone at the end. The witch was infuriating him at this point she made it her mission to get to him and now she was showing her cowardice in front of the entire bloody school? He really expected more from her. Now that he looked closer at her though, he could see that she was visibly shaking with anger. Her knuckles were white they were so tightly gripped around her wand.

He finally decided to push her the last step and leaned in closer to her to where only she could hear him. "What's wrong mud blood?" he whispered. "You finally realize that you're not even good enough to speak in my presence?" And he was right that was her breaking point because as soon as the words left his mouth, he found the end of her wand pushed into his throat, effectively cutting off proper air circulation.

"Listen here you worthless, ignorant little piece of shit. You know nothing about me or my family and the only things that you think you know, are what that wanna be aristocratic failure you so lovingly call daddy has pushed into that small little brain of yours." He tried to make a comment back but only felt her wand dig even further into his throat. "I'm sorry but I'm not finished. Didn't you ever learn that you don't interrupt Malfoy? That's not proper conversation etiquette you know." She now was the one giving him a self satisfied smirk. He didn't like it one bit. This bitch was going to pay for her absolute disrespect. "You think that you are so important simply because you're pureblood, well guess what _Draco_" she hissed his name. "You are nothing but a self serving, arrogant little twit that has the same significance to me as Hippogriff shit. You and your little inbred family mean absolutely nothing to anyone. And I can promise you, once **Voldemort** falls, your family's name will be known as nothing but cronies for an even more worthless wizard and you'll all be spending your days rotting in an Azkaban cell." She finally dropped her wand from his throat and the silence in the Hall was deafening. He wasn't entirely sure it was from the things that she had said to him or the fact that she openly used the Dark Lord's name but she had commanded attention and by Merlin she got it. No one knew what to say or do at this point so she simply turned on her heel and started to walk away.

The next thing he did was purely on instinct and it alone. He managed to shoot his hand out and grab a hold of her wrist to get her attention back on him. No one got the last word in an argument but him. It just didn't happen and he would be damned if it started with the mud blood. She quickly turned back toward him, one hand on her wrist that held her wand and the other clutching his ready to hex that stupid frizzy hair off her head.

"Now look here mud…". He didn't even have a chance to finish his sentence though because it seems as if the witch had taken a different tactic at this point and reached the arm back that wasn't being held in his hand and brought her fist straight to his face with a very audible crunch. The pain was instant. Not just from the punch itself but from the act as well. He was just punched in the face. In front of the entire school. By a mud blood. A mud blood girl to top it off. What the hell just happened? His hands instantly went up to his face to capture most of the blood pouring out of his nose. "Don't ever lay your fucking hands on me again Malfoy." She hissed and you could almost feel the venom in her words. She then turned once again and walked away as if nothing had just happened.

Zabini was the first to react. He stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on mate, we need to get to the Hospital Wing. We'll get her later. I can promise you that." Of that Draco would be sure. Life was about to get a whole lot worse for the little mud blood and he would be damned if she ever thought twice about acting out like that with him again. Now he was out for blood and he would get it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. I make no money from this. Yada yada yada. *_ON WITH THE SHOW_* Oh ok if you insist.

**A/N: **Kiddies are finally in bed so I can finally finish and post the newest chapter. As I've said before there is going to be a lot happening in these first….probably 6 or 7 chapters but then I plan on elaborating more with each. You won't get to know anything until our wonderful characters do so please bare with me. All of the following and reviews are wonderful and I appreciate them so much so please by all means…keep them coming J Oh yes, no beta so all faults are my own.

**Ramyfan: I do believe that Hermione (especially Emma Watson) is undeniably gorgeous, however my favorite little Slytherin doesn't agree too much. Or perhaps he doth protest too much. Tee hee hee. Sorry about insulting our favorite girl, but it simply had to be done so we could all see Draco for how he is at this point. He will change later, maybe, hopefully. Let's just cross our fingers and hope for the best.**

**Grovek26, ellie1788, kimandjackKickinit and Kermit 304: I don't think I've said hi yet, so hello and thank you for the wonderful reviews. Hope you all like the newest developments.**

**Saving The Malfoy Line**

**By: thenext_Austen**

**Chapter 4: How To Deal**

Never had Hermione thought that things could ever escalate so quickly. It was as if she was on overdrive, her mouth and head simply would not listen to reason. She had no idea what had come over her. She was well aware that she was already a little peeved at how life was playing out up until this point. Today she had been had hexes thrown at her, was covered head to toe in dirt and shards of glass, was threatened and propositioned by a Death Eater and lastly she was publicly insulted. Enough was enough. She was beyond fed up with any and every person with the surname of Malfoy. They were both egotistical arseholes and she was sick of dealing with them.

Of course after all of the action in the Great Hall had settled down and Harry and Ron both had finished congratulating her on her payback to Malfoy they were all finally able to sit down and discuss Lucius' letter. The boys' reaction was exactly what she had envisioned. A massive blowout. Both of them had deemed the senior Malfoy mental and had declared rather vehemently that it wouldn't ever happen. She wanted to agree, she wanted to throw the biggest temper tantrum that any of them had ever seen but the logical part of her brain kept that at bay. She just remained seated across from Dumbledore while they both had watched the boys finish their tirade. With mumbled apologies to the Headmaster they both finally sat back down to listen to what the man had to say. He politely asked the two to head back to their dorms and assured them that no decisions would be made until he was able to speak with her privately and then for her to have a chance to speak with them if she wished. She wished, she really did. She never made any major decision without asking her friends for their opinion first.

She now found herself sitting in Dumbledore's office, alone with the elder wizard and was beyond curious as to what he was scheming in that head of his. She understood the potential of a deal made with the Malfoy's, she really did. It made all the sense in the world. They knew the inner workings of Voldemort's closest allies; they were strong and able beings not to mention that they had money and let's face it, at this day and age, money talks no matter who you are. The only downfall of this allegiance was her. She would have to give up everything for this to come about.

They had sat in silence for a time. Her friends were not going to be reasonable about this. They wouldn't see the strategic stand points at all. Harry would see it as she was being thrown to the sharks and Ron would only see that something he wanted so badly would be going to a Malfoy. That thought irritated her a bit. She wasn't a prize to be won and she would make sure he knew that. His reaction was expected though. Hermione was certain that once Voldemort was gone and the dust had settled that she and Ron would be together the way she had always hoped. She had been in love with him since second year and knowing that there was a possibility of it not happening was a little more than heart breaking.

"Galleon for your thoughts Miss Granger."

"Oh I'm sorry Headmaster I must have lost myself there for a minute."

"That's quite alright dear; we all need to be a little lost sometimes so that we can be found again."

He was going somewhere with this, of that she was certain but she just didn't have any clue where. "Headmaster, what are we going to do about this…this…Malfoy thing." She didn't have the slightest clue of what else to call it so that's what she went with and that's what stuck. "Well Miss Granger I wish there was a simple answer for that. Unfortunately this is a situation where the decision lies completely on your shoulders. I can understand your hesitation to the whole ordeal considering your past with both Malfoy men but I would be lying to you if I said that this idea didn't have merit. Being able to have access to all of the knowledge that Mr. Malfoy has been privy to would be a great asset to our cause." She knew he was making sense but seriously?! "Headmaster? What exactly is hand fasting?" "I'm surprised you wouldn't know Miss Granger. We happen to have a lot of reading material here that goes into all different details being how it is an ancient ritual for Scotland as well as something that most Pureblood wizards and witches still partake in today." She huffed in some what annoyance. "I haven't had an exact reason to really look into the ins and outs of archaic Pureblood wizards now would I Headmaster?"

Dumbledore couldn't help but chuckle at the feisty young witch in front of him. Maybe a Granger, Malfoy pairing wouldn't be so bad after all. "I apologize Hermione. That was a bit presumptuous of me. A hand fasting is a type of betrothal. It is the courting process in which a marriage is soon to follow usually within a few weeks at most. The hand fasting itself is a time for the couple to officially announce their engagement and for a dowry to be paid for the witch." "You mean to tell me Malfoy wants to pay for me! Like I'm some type of slag? Oh I think not. I'm sorry Headmaster but it's never going to happen." "Miss Granger, please calm down. You misunderstand me. A dowry is not a payment for a witch as more of a thank you for allowing the witch to join said wizards family. The wizard's family pays a certain amount for the dowry consistent to how much worth the witch will be bringing to her new family. It's not as you would say 'a slag' by any means but a great show of respect for the witch and her family." "Oh…well…still". Hermione was more than a little flustered at this point. Then her mind finally started to play catch up.

Her parents?! Oh Merlin. There was no way they could know about this. Playing as a war stake was something that they would never consent to. She would have to pretend to be in love with the ferret. That's if she decided to do it. Maybe. Possibly. Oh bloody hell.

"Now Miss Granger, I can only expect that you will need some time to think this all through before you make a decision. Possibly do some research as well as make a time to meet with Mr. Malfoy in order to hash out some details. However, seeing as I am Headmaster and the head of the Order, I do feel inclined to give you my opinion. Going through with this union would mean a great deal to our fight. We would have information that we wouldn't have any clue of otherwise and it may also lead to the turn of a few other wizarding families should this go smoothly. Miss Granger, it is a lot to take it but I must ask you to think of the greater good. A small sacrifice could make such a difference."

A small sacrifice? He was joking right. It was her entire happiness and life that she would be throwing away. She would never marry for love or have children or be able to share time with her husband and friends after this stupid war were over. It was just too much, but then again. She could be saving lives. She could help to stop the war. Stop the death and torture of so many people. Muggle and magical alike. She needed to get out of here. She needed to think. Getting up from her seat she said a small good bye to her Headmaster and found herself walking down the stairs from his office and out toward the courtyard. It was well past curfew and she knew she should be heading back to her dorm but she just couldn't bring herself to go. The curious stares from the people waiting in the common room for her and the amount of questions that she knew would be coming all at once was just too much right now. She just needed time away to herself before all that happened.

That wasn't going to happen though.

"So mud blood, seems like it's just you and me now." He couldn't believe his luck. Leaving the hospital wing, Draco had to take the long way back toward the dungeons seeing as how Pansy had decided to park herself in the hallway waiting for him to leave. Merlin, you sleep with a witch once and she's planning your wedding. Back to the point at hand though. "I do believe I owe you for your _lovely_ little rant in the Great Hall." He sneered at her. "Malfoy I simply don't have the time to deal with you right now so please, just bugger off." "You really think you can just dismiss me mud blood? Who the hell do you think you are?" She strolled up to him with an absolute casual look on her face and placed one hand on his shoulder so she could lean up to his ear and whispered something he never thought he would hear from a mud blood, let alone her. "Why I believe I'm the future Mrs. Malfoy if your father has any say in it." He shoved her back roughly.

"What the hell are you playing at mud blood?" "Seriously Malfoy, still mud blood? Either work on a new insult or at least use my name. Hearing the same thing from you for years on end is just so utterly annoying at this point. And I'm not playing at anything. Have you not spoken with your father?" He stared at her with a look of complete confusion. Draco really had no clue. She couldn't help but chuckle to herself. Of course Lucius would set this up without saying a word to his son about it. It was only his marriage and life, nothing important. Well she supposed it wasn't really that important. Dumbledore had seemed so…nonchalant about the entire situation that it must really be common place for pure blood families. "I think maybe you should have a conversation with daddy dearest there Malfoy."

Hermione went to walk away but he would be damned if she walked away from him again in the middle of an argument. He stalked up behind her and pushed her up against the outside wall of the castle, where he proceeded to push his wand directly into her face. "Now where the hell do you think you're going? I said I owe you for that little stunt you pulled. Trying to show me up in front of the school? I'm a Malfoy, you should know better than to try that shite with me." Backing away a few steps he told her to pull her wand. They were going to duel properly and he could show her just how much better he was than her once and for all. No one else might have been there to see it but she would know and he would know. That was enough for him. Well for this fight at least.

Hermione slowly pulled her wand and bowed. As soon as she started back up right the fist hex was sent at her. She just barely moved out of the way as bits of stone fell on top of her from where the hex hit so close to her head. Well obviously he has no intention on playing fair. "Expelliarmus" Draco dodged her attempt easily enough. Fucking Gryffindors were so predictable. However, her Impedimenta wasn't so predictable seeing as how he was now being thrown across the courtyard. He got up and brushed off his robes but seeing the blasted smirk on his face was too much. "Crucio!" Hermione was now lying in the grass writhing in pain. Her mouth was open but was emitting no sound. Almost as soon as Draco realized what he was doing he lifted the curse. He just used an Unforgivable curse, on a fellow student none the less. He ran over to her side and kneeled beside her. "Granger! Granger! Damn it say something! Please! Oh God, what have I done?"

Hermione felt as if her entire body was on fire while simultaneously having needles stabbed into every inch of her flesh. She had never felt so much pain. Her head was throbbing and she couldn't even fathom the fact that Draco had used the cruciatus on her. She knew that they were never going to be on the best of terms but this was, well simply put it was unforgivable. It was at that moment that she decided to hell with the prophecy. She could care less if the Malfoy line died out and they were never seen nor heard from again. He was just as bad as all the other Death Eaters.

"Get the hell away from me Malfoy." She used every ounce of energy in her body trying to put force in that one sentence but she really had no energy at all. Her body and mind were both completely drained. Closing her eyes for just a minute wouldn't hurt, would it? Once her eyes closed the darkness was almost welcoming. It was peaceful, serene. Now if only Malfoy would shut his mouth. Hearing him blabber nonsense was just starting to piss her off more. She wanted him to just go away. Luck, the way it would have it though, he wasn't going anywhere.

Panicking Draco did the only thing he could do. He pulled out his wand and placed it next to her temple. With her eyes closed this should be easy, she wouldn't have a clue of what just happened. "Obliviate". Granger's eyes opened once again with blankness to them so he was sure that the spell had done its job. "Malfoy what the hell are you doing in my face, oh God and why to I feel as if I was run over by a Hippogriff." He assumed that last part was rhetorical because there was no way in hell he was going to answer that one. "Hell if I know Granger, I was on my way back from the hospital wing, thanks to you, and I saw you laying in the dirt like the filth you are. I just assumed that someone else had put you in your place, I was just wondering who I needed to congratulate is all." Draco was nearly successful at keeping the quivering out of his voice. Shaking and nearing passing out himself, he put on more than likely the best acting of his life and stood up to walk away from the witch he had come absolutely too close to killing. "Since it seems you have no answers for me then I suppose I will be on my way. I'd watch you're back though mud blood. It seems as if I'm not the only one out for you." Putting on his blank face Draco finally found his feet carrying him back into the school and toward his dorm.

Finally out of sight and in the comfort of darkness Draco did the only thing left possible that he could. He dropped against the wall, placed his head in his hands and proceeded to cry. It was all just too much. Seeing the witch in pain, knowing he was pushing her to the brink of death and still having his task in mind that he was to take the Headmasters life was just too much. He broke, all of his walls came crashing down and he was finally able to show just how very scared he was of what was all happening around him. There was no way he could do this. It was just too much; all of it was too much. He may have hated Granger but he never thought things would come to this. He needed to write his father. He had to find a way out of this and if there was one person that could do it, it was Lucius Malfoy. Hopefully with talking to his mother and father at the same time he would be able to have her help in convincing Lucius that he couldn't do what was asked of him.

Lifting himself off the floor he started back toward his dorm with a renewed determination to end of this once and for all. No more helping Death Eaters to come in and start killing people. No more planning on murder. None of it, he wanted absolutely no part in it. Once he found solace inside his own room was he able to sit and think back to what Granger had said. "Now why in the world would she call her self the future Mrs. Malfoy?" He needed to speak with his father and he needed it to happen now.

Hermione didn't have a clue of what was going on. Doing the only thing she could do and the one thing that has helped her since day one, she started making a list of facts. Firstly, she was in pain. A great deal of it. Secondly, Draco Malfoy had found her, assuming unconscious since she didn't have a clue as to anything that happened since she left Dumbledore's office. And lastly, if it wasn't Malfoy that caused her to be in this state, then who? Knowing that she wasn't safe, Hermione found her footing and eased herself off the ground as gently as she could seeing as how any movement she made sent another round of pain radiating through her body. Needing to get to her room was a necessity. The person that hexed her could still be around and merely went into hiding when they saw Malfoy. She needed to move and she needed to do it now. With as much effort as she could put forth she started the not so long trip to Gryffindor tower. After what seemed like a millennia, Hermione had finally come to stand in front of the Fat Lady. Leaning heavily against the wall to the left of the portrait in order to catch her breath, she mumbled the password hoping she could get past the nosey woman before it became common knowledge to every portrait in the castle that something had happened. Luck was once again not on her side though. "My dear girl, what is wrong?" "Nothing mam, could you please just let me through?" "I think you should really go see Poppy darling, you're looking a bit pale."

Annoyance was pushing through now. "I'm fine. I just need to go to bed." "Well no need to get snippy. What's the password?" "Flobberworm." The portrait finally opened and she couldn't be any more relieved. Well that was until a certain red headed girl friend of hers came barreling through at her. "Mione! What's wrong?" She could see from her friend's reaction just how terrible she must look. "Just help me get to bed Gin, and I promise I'll explain everything. Well everything that I can."

Getting a great amount of support from her friend, Hermione finally found herself laying in the comfort of her own bed. This was exactly what she needed. With a day like today she just wanted to go to sleep and pretend that nothing had ever happened. No prophecies, no Malfoy's, no pain, no Death Eaters. Nothing. She wanted it all gone. One Weasley wasn't going to let that happen though. After casting a silencing spell around Hermione's bed, Ginny finally asked again what was going on. Well this was going to be a long night after all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Every and all things Harry Potter and Hogwarts belong to the one and only JKR and I would never dream of taking credit of the wonderful things that she has created. But I will gladly manipulate them a bit for my own personal satisfaction

**Ramyfan, Giada, 09sasha: I promise when I wrote that in I was ready to kick my own butt for it but I just couldn't bring myself to delete it. It was just so…Malfoy, all talk but freaking out in the wake of bad decision making.**

**Arabellagrace: I agree completely. So how about a fun visit from one of my favorite people next chapter?**

**Grovek26: Well you have already seen how our little Draco can get a bit flustered, so who knows what he's going to spout off…or maybe someone else will for him…mwah ha ha (insert evil laugh)**

**Honoria granger: They would know if they knew to look for it. Hermione never reported anything and Draco obviously is going to keep quiet so as of right now they don't realize what's going on in Hogwarts.**

**Kermit 304: Yes Ginny is a bit much but what do you really expect from the fiery little red head.**

**Venetiangrl92, IGOTTEAMEDWARD, Bella, BelovedEnemy83(tried your advice, let me know how it goes), jamielynn25: I'm thrilled to see this is going over so well. Hope you like the newest installment just as much.**

**A/N: My littles are once again safely tucked into bed so here is the newest chapter. Things will be dying down in the action part just for a bit so we can have some much needed explanations so please don't run away from the boring stuff, I promise it's really important and I will try to make it as painless as possible. I love all of the reviews, follows and favorites, you guys are absolutely the best.**

**Saving The Malfoy Line**

**By: thenext_Austen**

**Chapter 5: Confiding **

After what seemed like the longest half an hour of her life, Hermione had finally caught Ginny up on everything that had happened since the boys had left her in the Headmaster's office. For the umpteenth time today, she had shocked her friend into silence. Never before had she seen the youngest Weasley so quiet and to be frank, it was making her nervous. Ginny was never one to be rendered speechless and for it to happen so many times in one day was disconcerting to the brown headed witch. She needed Ginny to be on top of her game because there was no way she would be able to make it out of this with out her help. Becoming desperate for her to just say anything, Hermione looked hard at her friend and all but pleaded with her eyes for something to happen.

Finally snapping out of her trance Ginny said the one thing she really didn't want to hear. "So are you going to do it?"

Now what in the world did she say to that? Was she going to do it? There was something nagging at her in the back of her brain that she shouldn't. She wanted to say it was instinct but it was more than that. It was stronger, more pronounced. Almost as if her subconscious knew something she didn't. What could it be though? Normally she didn't have a problem following her instincts because let's face it, it had gotten her out of more problems than she cared to admit, but her thought process was just over ridden with responsibility and duty and 'the greater good'. Doing everything she could to help stop the war was what was most important, her happiness be damned. Now she just needed to convince herself of that along with all of her friends and quite possibly her parents.

"I think my first stop should be to meet with Malfoy and see what exactly he's trying to accomplish with this and what would happen if I were to say yes."

"You're considering it then? Blimey Mione, you know Harry and Ron are going to blow their tops when they find out about this right. Just the fact that you are even playing with the idea of saying yes will make them lose it."

"Which is why they won't find out about it yet Ginevra Molly Weasley?" Loving her best friend to death didn't once cover the fact that she knew that Ginny had a terribly large mouth. Hopefully she could guilt her into compliance though.

"You know how important of a decision this is Gin. I just need all of the facts before I can say yes or no. Please just let me do my research, you know it's what I do best. I really just need some time. I'll talk to them. I promise I will, and it will be soon but I need to do this. I need to meet with Malfoy and the boys can't know. I'm begging you Gin." That should do the trick. Guessing from the look on Ginny's face, she knew that she had her.

Releasing a great sigh of relief, she finally felt like she could breathe again. Now to just make things happen. To get the answers she needed so she could work on making an informed decision. That's how she worked. She got all the answers and then she analyzed them until they were simple instead of complex and finally she would make a decision.

_Father,_

_There has been a rather interesting turn of events here at school and I am in need of speaking with you and mother. It is an urgent matter of the utmost importance. Please reply so that we can set up a time with the Headmaster for me to floo home and we can have this discussion face to face because simply put, it is not something I feel comfortable putting in a letter. Thank you for your time._

_Draco Malfoy_

With his letter sent of Draco found himself pacing his room with vigor. When would his father reply? Hopefully soon, seeing as how things were rapidly disintegrating around him. His life was in shambles and there wasn't a thing that he could do about it. It was all lying in the hands of his father at this point. That wasn't something that he was too keen on at this point considering where his father's loyalties always lie. Stupid snake faced bastard.

Collapsing on his bed, Draco eventually let sleep carry him away. His dreams were more along the lines of nightmares though. He stood over a body, lying completely motionless and he knew without even taking a close look that it was a dead body. Compulsion pushed to the forefront of his brain, he bent down and rolled the person over. What he saw shocked him and he pushed himself back as quickly as he could. There lying on the ground was none other than Hermione Granger. The blank look in her eyes and the lone tear that seemed to have dried on its way down her face was enough to absolutely crush him. He immediately woke up and shot out of his bed like it was on fire. The cold sweat that was no pouring down his face was doing nothing in helping him to feel any better. Dropping down to the ground beside his bed, he had hopped that the cold ground underneath him would do something to help stall his racing heart and over heated skin.

"You alright mate?" Hearing Blaise talking to him, Draco lifted his face up from his hands and it seems that his friend knew him better than he thought. Blaise instantly left the comfort of his bed and sat down next to the even paler than normal wizard. "What's going on Drake, you've been off since we came back to school and now you look as if you seen a ghost?"

He wasn't sure what to say. Knowing he needed to get all of this off of his chest he came to the decision that he would let one of his closest mates in on just how horrid his life was turning out to be. "There's so much to say. You have to swear that this stays between us though. It can't get out or your life could honestly be at stake." Usually the dark skinned boy never paid much attention to his friend's paranoia all things considered but this time he could tell that something was different. Things were about to change for them, of that he was sure.

"I suppose starting at the beginning would be best." Thinking better of it, Draco got his wand out and cast ever silencing and disillusion charm he knew to make sure none of their other dorm mates could hear the conversation, much less see them. After he was sure they were completely guarded against unwanted ears Draco lifted the sleeve of his robe to reveal the damning black mark on his arm that forever dictated his life. The shallow intake of breath was all the conformation that he needed to proceed with his tale. "I received this wonderful addition this past summer holiday and in the time that I've had it, I suppose my worth has shown to the Dark Lord and he now requires my services while I'm here at Hogwarts. He has given me two tasks to perform before the end of the year. The first was to fix the vanishing cabinet that is here in the school. It seems that there is a twin that sits in a shop in Knockturn Alley. The cabinets have the ability to transport things or people between the two no matter where they are or what wards have been put in place. He wants me to fix the one here at school so that his followers can get in at a moments notice." Blaise didn't have a clue what to say. Not only was his best mate an actual Death Eater but he was also helping the Dark Lord bring more and probably worse people into the school. "Oh I'm not done yet. My second and significantly harder task…well, is to kill Dumbledore."

"Bloody hell mate! You're supposed to kill our Headmaster?"

Hearing the disbelief in his friend's voice did nothing to stroke his ego but he had already known that the task in itself was a death sentence for any witch or wizard that tried. "Trust me I know. It's not something to be taken lightly aye?" The silence that stretched between them was palpable. Since he had already begun telling the truth of most things he figured he should just keep going. Maybe after telling someone of the events earlier this evening he might feel better. Even if it was minuscule. Barely above a whisper, Blaise, had to truly pay attention to what the wizard beside him was saying.

"I used an Unforgivable for the first time…tonight. I was on my way back here and I ran into Granger." Blaise knew where this was going and judging by the look of dread on his friends face he was sure that at any point Aurors would be busting down the door to haul him off to Azkaban for the murder of one of the Golden Trio. "Tell me you didn't Drake. Tell me she dodged it and she walked away unscathed." The silence that once again sat between them knew that that wasn't what had happened.

"Which one?" He eyed his friend speculatively because he honestly didn't know how stable he was anymore. Using Unforgivables, plotting murder and the Dark Mark, he was just another mindless follower to the Dark Lord now. "The Cruciatus. Merlin Blaise, the look on her face. She was in such pain. I was just so pissed that I don't know what happened. I just did it and then when I could see just how horrible it was I stopped but I didn't stop it fast enough. It still happened. She was on the ground near unconsciousness and I panicked. There was no way she wouldn't tell so I did the only thing I could do. I wiped her memories." Draco was openly weeping again at this point. He also could tell that his words were all stringing together in blatant distress to where it was near incoherent babble. Knowing that his friend would more than likely turn his back on him he was completely taken aback when he felt an arm go around his shoulder. Slytherin's weren't comforting people just by nature, that was more of a Hufflepuff trait but he was man enough to admit that he needed it at this point.

"I'm done Blaise. Tonight showed me just how badly I'm not cut out for this. I can't torture people. I can't end someone's life. I try to act as stoic as possible around the rest of them but the horror and pain that I see on their faces, I just can't handle it. I wrote my father a bit ago and asked to speak with him. I'm going to beg him to help me out of this. To find some way to get out of this mess. I know it's a shot in the dark but I have no other choice. I can't do this. I just…can't." Finally stopping from his tirade Draco realized that Blaise had been staring at him the entire time with a blank face. No judgment had been seen yet, no curses or derogatory remarks. Just a stoic silence. Well that was one way to effectively end a friendship. Just act like a damn Gryffindor and tell the bloody truth.

"How can I help?" Shocked out of his inner musings, Draco looked into the determined dark eyes of his friend. His mouth was set in a straight line but his head was held high and there wasn't an ounce of uncertainty to be seen. Maybe this truth thing had its benefits yet.

The first light of dawn had started to break through the window above Hermione's bed and she wished with everything in her that she could just turn off the sun and go back to sleep. Once Ginny finally let her retire to bed alone it seemed that sleep just eluded her. Every time she closed her eyes she had the same nightmare. She was in so much pain, blinding and unspeakable amounts of pain. There was a person standing in front of her holding a wand so they were clearly a witch or wizard but that couldn't be determined because of the fuzziness of her dream. They just stood in front of her wand held right at her chest and the pain just continued. Losing track of just how many times she woke herself up in the night, she finally reduced to the help of a magical elixir. Dreamless sleep finally allowed her a few messily hours in which she could let her mind and body rest. Hoping with everything she had though that the dreams would stay at bay the next night was something that caused concern. Dreamless sleep potion was highly addictive and could cause irreparable damage to ones psyche. Simply put, people needed to dream. It was a way for their subconscious to work out issues that their waking mind either couldn't handle or just wasn't sure was even there in the first place.

Rolling out of her bed quite literally since her muscles all seemed to stiff to even function, she was more than elated to see all of the other girls still sleeping peacefully. She slowly inched her way to the loo in order to take the longest and hottest shower of her life. With any luck what so ever, the water and steam mixed with her lavender and chamomile body oils, she would feel a little more up to par by the time breakfast rolled around.

After the water had started to cool around her and the steam dissipate from the mirror in front of the shower she finally stepped out from under the spray. Toweling off and drying her unruly curls in the best way she could with a simple drying and relaxing spell, she finally found herself suitable to see her cohabitants. Her body did feel worlds better after her shower, not exactly back to normal, but tons better than before. After dressing in her normal school uniform Hermione decided to head down to the common room a little early to see if she could catch Ron and Harry before they headed down to the Great Hall.

Knowing it was still quite early for the pair to be up and about she quickly pulled her books and a bit of parchment out in order to play catch up on some of her school work. Eventually this war would be over and she would need all the knowledge available to her so she could find a career in a field she desired. What exactly that career would be, she was clueless on but no matter what it was, she was absolutely sure that failing her NEWTS wouldn't help her in the decision process. People liked to jest about her studying habits and her lack of concern regarding her appearance but truth be told it was a very simple answer as to why. Books were easy. You read the lines, you understand the meaning and you use the knowledge you gain from them to better your life and those around you. People, they weren't so easy to figure out. People lied, manipulated, exploited and cheated. It wasn't exactly a hard concept to come about but it seems as if very few could understand her logic in it.

Maybe spending a few extra minutes on her appearance wouldn't be a bad thing but then she would constantly be worried that she would be judged strictly on her looks and not her competence as a witch. Men are always shown to be superior to women in things such as the working fields and intellect, so she already had one strike against her merely because she didn't have a penis. Secondly she was a muggle born. She would never talk badly about her parents or her muggle heritage but it was a hindrance at times. Most of her other school mates at Hogwarts were born into the magical world and knew what to expect or how to act where as she was doing and reading everything she could just to be on the same playing field as others. So with two strikes already against her she didn't want there to be any other reasons for people to find her insignificant. As depressing as it may seem this school was just a means to an end. It was a way to teach her what she needed to know in order to eventually leave and start a life of her own. Away from the nay sayers and people that lived to belittle her. So with her chin up she did her best in all of her classes. Focused on her school work and the few friends, that she surely would be lost without, and minded her own business.

It was enough for her, she was sure. That was until that one completely disconcerting phrase kept popping up in conversation. 'The Greater Good' it was rubbish honestly but she would never voice that to anyone. She would do what was expected of her and she would try her hardest to keep a smile on her face as it happened. With that thought still fresh in her head she quickly grabbed a quill so she could pen a note to a person she really had no want to speak with but found it to be a necessity.

_Lucius,_

_If I am even to concede your preposterous idea that you have so thoughtfully neglected to inform me of but in my steed ask it of my school's Headmaster then I suggest that we should meet at the earliest convince in order to discuss this rubbish. What I do mean is the well thought out proposal of my hand for your one and only exasperating son…_

_Hermione J. Granger_

With the letter sent off she found herself releasing a breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding. It was time to start on a new piece of parchment. She would write any and every concern or question that lodged itself in her brain. She was fairly certain that the parchment would be quite lengthy but she was positive that she could have this farce of a proposal hashed out in such detail that she wouldn't even have to see the youngest Malfoy after the ceremony had taken place. With the drop of her quill, ink splattered all over the parchment, it actually had a great semblance to her life up until this point in time. It was flowing quite easily, making words of rhythm and reason and then out of no where it was a scattered mess that was overall chaos. Since when had she started thinking that this was actually happening? When was the precise moment that she acknowledged that this was to be her life? Trapped in a loveless marriage with a man that would rather see her dead, and for what, but of course. For the greater good. What bullocks.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns all Harry Potter characters and is solely responsible for the wonderful books that we have all come to know and love. She receives any and all money and recognition for this success. I'm just here to bend her lovely characters for my own personal gain and hopefully your enjoyment.**

**Emmeebee: I know I was terrible do make him act like that but if anyone needed a wake up call it was Draco. As far as Blaise I'm glad you liked him this way. It's a little OOC for any Slytherin but let's face it, we all need a good friend.**

**BelovedEnemy83, Venetiangrl92, Grovek26, dutch potterfan: I'm really glad you all liked it! Hopefully this chapter will get some good reviews as well…hint hint, wink wink ****J**

**09sasha, Amea: I promise that Hermione will know everything…eventually. LOL. She will learn more and more each day though, I promise.**

**Giada: I love questions! So it's absolutely no bother. I can't promise to answer everything but I think you'll love this chapter than because there are a few questions that will be answered for you. Narcissa is a character that I'm playing a bit more around with. I've always seen her as a very maternal figure and not the cold person that people usually see her as so hopefully you'll like what I have planned for her as well.**

**Tngirl: Thanks for the love! And if your penname means that you're in Tennessee then that's pretty amazing because I AM TOO! I'm pretty sure that means that we are best friends now tee hee hee.**

**A/N: Well another chapter done. I'm hoping I keep getting the positive feed back so far so good. So thanks for that everyone. This chapter shows a little more depth to the characters and plans some for the future plot so please be patient with me in the action department. No one throws any punches, yet. Enjoy!**

**Saving The Malfoy Line**

**By: thenext_Austen**

**Chapter 6: The Attention of Lucius Malfoy**

The look of complete rage that twisted Lucius Malfoy's face would be enough indication to anyone that today he was having not a single happy thought. He had received an owl from his son only minutes earlier and he just knew that something was wrong, something had gone terribly wrong. What in the world could his son muck up so badly with in the course of a few hours? Surly no one had told him about his contract in the works with the Headmaster and Miss Granger so this was something else entirely. If he destroyed the plans he had for them already set into motion before anything actually came to it then son or not Draco would pay. This was their bloodline. Their families' entire magical essence and it was not something that some teenager could just screw away at the first available moment.

His plan was simple. Get Miss Granger to agree by any means necessary and then tell Draco once everything was in the works. Being the only Malfoy heir, his son knew that marriage wasn't going to be something he was able to choose freely and he had accepted that but knowing the past between him and Miss Granger, it would be best if things were in the right place before Draco could do something in order to change what he had planned.

Never in his life did Lucius think that he would be pushing to add a mud blood into his family. But a prophecy is a prophecy and he would no longer try to fight the fates. There was too much at stake. After reading Draco's short and simple letter again he decided that he would have to meet with the boy soon and most obviously do some damage control to set things back in their rightful place. Staring out at the never ending greenery that surrounded the Malfoy home in Scotland was always something that seemed to help Lucius reign in his thoughts. The view was vast, nothing but grass covered hills and an almost transparent fog meandered through the dips and twists of the valleys. It was relaxing and a nice solitude, a person could very easily lose themselves in a place like this.

"Darling, was the letter from Draco?"

The sound of his wife's voice brought him out of his trance like state. He turned around to see her and just as always, she was impeccably dressed and carried herself with the grace of royalty. Of course, his marriage was not one love, well not when it started at least. He was able to learn to tolerate, respect and then eventually love his wife. Something like that could happen for Draco, well surly not the loving part, however tolerate was something that just had to happen.

"Yes darling, he wishes to speak with me it would seem."

A look of worry quickly crossed Narcissa's face before she was able to slam her blank face back down. "Is Draco alright?" He didn't like the look of worry that was on her face. She loved her son and only wanted the best from him so telling her about the prophecy right now just didn't seem like the best course of action. Telling her eventually was a must, just not at this time. Narcissa was always a little better when it came to the mud blood situation. Her family wasn't accepting of them either so she was technically raised the same as Lucius, however, the woman had a big heart and didn't like to see people suffer no matter their heritage. That was one of the things that he loved most about her. Even with every bad occurrence in his life she still stood by his side. Being a dutiful and equally loving wife as always. Of course her only son marrying and eventually giving her half blood grandchildren might change her thoughts about it but he would be able to talk her into it. The very same way he was able to talk her into going to their vacation home for 'some quiet and relaxation'. She would never be the wiser until he wanted her to.

"He's fine Cissy, he just needed some advice man to man. I think I'll floo over to the school and see him in person. Important talks always go so much better in person."

"Good, I'm glad he owled you then. I'm still worried though Lucius. He has so much stress on him and he's still just a boy. I can't believe that all of this is being asked of him. Isn't there something you can do?"

"I promise you dear that it will all work out the way it is supposed to."

On their way to the hall for dinner, Blaise and Draco had hardly spoken. They had spent most of the night trying to come up with some façade of a plan. Draco leaving the country was the best they could come up with at this point, however that damned mark on his arm but a huge hindrance on that plan. Other than that though, they were clueless. He would not only be escaping the Dark Lord but his father as well and neither of the two gave up very easily. So they both went through the day as normal as possible. Go to class, muck around with some first years and all around give the impression that everything was exactly how it was supposed to be. It was all going fairly well, until he walked through the huge double doors of the Great Hall and saw her.

She really was the bane of his existence now. For a much different reason at this point though. Every time he saw her, it put him right back in the courtyard the night of 'the incident' as him and Blaise were calling it. She went straight back to seeing her writhing in pain at his feet, mouth open with no screams even escaping and the total disgust for himself when he thought of the power he had tapped into. He didn't know who he was anymore. He wasn't just a scared little boy trying to find his way, he was a monster. Just like the Dark Lord. Draco was no better than the tyrant that was trying his hand at world domination.

As their eyes met from across the hall she had almost a look of recognition cross her face, like she had remembered everything that had happened. It vanished almost as soon as it appeared however and was now nothing more than a look of absolute distain. She loathed him that was definite. Not that he could blame her really all things considered. He briefly thought about how she would look at him if she actually knew the whole truth. What he didn't know though was that she had a whole other reason for wishing his existence would cease to be but he had no clue of that. At that point his thoughts were interrupted as a regal looking black owl swooped in front of him dropping off a letter. The more suspicious event though, was when the same owl went straight to the Gryffindor table and dropped another letter off to none other than the girl that was currently occupying his thoughts. From the wax seal on the back he was positive that the letter was from his father but he was more than curious as to why his father would be sending an owl to Granger. The little that he knew, his father absolutely despised the girl.

_Draco,_

_We do indeed have a few things to discuss and I believe that all of your questions will be answered with our meeting. I have spoken with Headmaster Dumbledore and he has agreed to give us the use of his private study in order to meet. Be at his office precisely at 8am tomorrow morning. Do not fret over missing breakfast for we will have something provided for us there. As well, you have been excused from your morning classes for tomorrow for there is a very important conversation that I'm sure will take a greater part of the day for us to deal with._

_You're Father,_

_Lucius Malfoy_

What in the bloody hell was his father on about? There was no way that he would know what he wanted to discuss with him so what was this oh so important conversation that he would need to be excused from classes? This night was just getting worse and worse.

The letter that landed in front of her was no doubt the reply that she was expecting from the senior Malfoy. For once she was able to abstain from piquing her curiosity right there at the table and quickly pushed the letter into a pocket of her robes. After looking up and into the eyes of her friend Ginny though, the knowing look on her face conformed that she wouldn't actually be reading this letter alone. She loved Ginny dearly, she really did but her being so overbearing at times was positively trying. There was no way of keeping the girl out of something once she decided that she wanted to be involved. That was just her luck of things. Hermione couldn't complain too much though because even with her being extremely pushy she was undeniably loyal and that was a trait she didn't so carelessly toss away.

Hermione proceeded to dig into her supper with vigor. She didn't realize just how starved she was until the food appeared in front of her. She had the most amazing fish and chips she could have possibly ever tasted. The fish was flakey and tender where the chips were crisp and piping hot with just the right amount of salt. Hermione was in food haven. As far as appetites go, hers could have easily rivaled that of Ron's but she just had more class than to act as if she was a swine at a trough. Seeing how some women could just barely pick at a salad was beyond her, if there was good food to be had then by Merlin she would have it. Never would she skip on dessert either. Chocolate was a must in her diet plan, no matter what the case may be, she was a fiend for anything chocolate.

That may have had something to do with her figure but she just couldn't find it in herself to care. She might ever have a size 1 or 2 body but she wasn't overly out of shape by any means. She just happened to be a woman that enjoyed a meal and she would do that, calorie counts her behind. Her mother had always told her that a man preferred a woman with meat on her bones instead of stick so that's exactly what she took to heart and that's how she lived. If I man didn't like her with the body that she had, than he obviously wasn't the man for her.

After thoroughly enjoying her dinner she headed back up to the Gryffindor tower with the rest of her friends. She spent a bit of time in the common room with everyone not doing anything in particular. Just reveling in her freedom to do nothing was something that she cherished. There was nothing pressing to be done or any issues requiring immediate attention. Well at least there wasn't in her mind, the mind of her best girl friend however, was a completely different. Ginny was badgering her constantly about her being tired and if she was ready to retire to bed. She almost gave in and did what the other girl wanted in order to shut her up but it was just too much fun to see Ginny's feathers ruffled by putting off the inevitable. That was another trait that she had inherited from her mother. The more that someone pushed her to do something the more she would put it off simply out of spite.

Hermione was unbelievably stubborn and once her mind was made up about something there was no changing it. She knew that she would have to read that letter at some point but now just wasn't the time because as soon as she read it then she knew that she would have to do something about it and this was essentially her last chance at living her life purely for herself and there was no way she was going to rush it. Assuming that her and Malfoy could come to agreement with everything then she was fairly decided that the hand fasting would happen.

It wasn't something to be overly excited about that was for sure but it was what had to be done. The information that the Order could receive from Lucius was just too great to pass up on. He could give them hiding spots, definite names of Death Eaters, future plans that Voldemort had come up with and those types of things were just too valuable to ignore. She would indefinitely be selling her soul to the devil but there was no way around it. She would be married to Draco Malfoy and would no doubt be going into hiding after they had received the information that they required. That was in itself a whole new set of issues however because she refused to idle sit by while Harry and the other Order members did everything that needed done to end this whole dark era.

It would be dangerous that was a given. Once it became public knowledge that the Order and the Malfoy's had allegiance then they would all be in a great deal of danger. There was just no way that she could give up when they would be so close. Not to mention the fact that sitting around trying to play house with Draco Malfoy nearly made her break out in hives. This could all work out if she thought about it long enough though, as long as she and Draco could keep from killing each other. That would essentially cause an even larger dilemma.

"Well Ginny I'm beat. I think I'll head to bed."

The look of glee on Ginny's face was almost hysterical to her. The girl had practically been vibrating with so much pent up anxiousness. Hermione was fairly certain that she heard a muffled 'about bloody time' but she refused to comment on it and settled with a snicker in the other girls direction. She bid good night to the rest of her friends and started up to their dorm.

"If I didn't know any better Mione, I would say you were purposely sitting down there for so long just to be a pain."

"Why whatever do you mean Gin? I was just relishing in the company of good friends."

"Bullocks. You can't stand listening to half of the drivel that was being spouted down there. You just wanted to see me squirm."

"Yes well that was a bit of a bonus to it as well." With another laugh and a quick dodge of the pillow that was thrown her direction Hermione finally pulled the piece of paper out of her pocket that held her fate. This meeting was a means to an end. That was all, nothing more nothing less. She hoped if she kept repeating it then maybe she would start to believe it. Once she and Ginny had settled themselves on her bed she opened the letter and began to read.

_Miss Granger_

_Your eloquence of words is something to be desired. I'm sure spending some time with my lovely wife will greatly ensure that the next Mrs. Malfoy is much better prepared for her standing. With that being said I do agree that we should have a meeting to discuss the well thought out proposal I have so gracious bestowed upon you for my son. As such it is typically the patriarch of each family that is to have these meetings however given your, background, it might be better if you and I were to sit and discuss some technicalities first. _

_I have spoken with Headmaster Dumbledore and he has agreed to let us use his private study for our meeting. I will be at the school promptly at 6 am tomorrow morning and I shall expect to see you then. I would like to say that punctuality goes with out saying but in this case I would like to articulate that you should not be late._

_The Headmaster has also assured me that there will be a breakfast provided for us and you shall be excused from your classes tomorrow so you will not be rushed by any means._

_Lucius Malfoy_

"That pompous, egotistical, arrogant asshole! Who the hell does he think he is? Ordering me about like that. _'Punctuality goes with out saying but in this case I would like to articulate that you should not be late'._ Are you fucking kidding me? I have never been late a day in my life and he's going to talk to me like I'm some sort of unprepared slob. Well he's got another thing coming. He really thinks that this whole arrangement is for me? Oh hell no, he's going to get a piece of my mind tomorrow that's for sure."

Now it was the red head's turn to giggle. She could almost see the magically electricity coming off of her hair in waves. Hermione was pissed; there was no doubt about it. She had lost count of just how many curse words she used in that little rant alone and from the look on her face she looked like she was far from done.

Hermione continued to rant and bitch about not only Lucius Malfoy, but his wife and son as well. She admitted that she didn't really have anything against the female Malfoy other than the fact that she gave birth to the ferret, but the way Lucius had talked about his _lovely wife_ just rubbed her the wrong way. After about a good hour of her tirade she finally simmered down enough to have a conversation.

"So you're going tomorrow right?"

"Well of course, I don't exactly have a choice. But I can promise you that I plan on being at least 10 minutes late just to piss the old man off."

Ginny laughed out loud at her friends antics. Once again the famous Granger stubborn streak showed its head once again. She figured as much since Lucius all but demanded that she be there on time.

"Oh Ginny, what in the world am I doing? I'm already exhausted from dealing with this and it hasn't even really started yet."

Now the sympathy came. It was all fun and games when she was cursing the entire Malfoy line but now that it was becoming reality, Ginny couldn't help but wish more for her friend. Hermione was an amazing person and she deserved so much more than this but she knew that once she had her mind set to doing something then there was no way it wasn't going to happen. She secretly had hopped that eventually her brother and best friend would end up together but it didn't look like it was happening any time soon. Not ever actually and that was bring a whole new wave of emotion for the two. They were practically sisters as is but the ideal of them actually becoming sisters was something they both looked forward to. Now it would never happen. They would never lose each other as friends though and she made that promise to Hermione right then and there.

"I know Mione and you have no idea how much I hate this for you. I will always be here for you though. I promise I will. If you ever feel like you have no one to turn to or no one is on your side you will always have me. I know how much shite you will be getting from Harry and Ron about this but once it is all said and done I will do my best to keep them in line."

Tears sprung to the older girls eyes at the end of Ginny's speech and she just couldn't hold them back anymore. Hermione was trying to be brave. Trying to put on a blank face to all of this but it was finally enough to break her. She lay with her head in Ginny's lap and cried as her friend stroked her hair trying to ease her pain. It didn't exactly work but knowing that she would be there made all the difference. She would be living a life that she was sure to hate, but she wouldn't be doing it alone. She would always have her best friend and that's what mattered the most to her.

After the tears had finally stopped and Hermione lay down in her bed alone she let sleep take her. She wasn't expecting the nightmare that started though. She was lying on the ground in pain. Excruciating pain that never seemed to end. It was the same dream she had the previous night however this one was just a little less fuzzy than the one before. She could distinctly see the outline of a person now. It was definitely a man. He was taller than her with broad shoulders but a very lean frame. She couldn't make out any facial features just simply the outline of him but the more she tried to concentrate, the more the pain in her head demanded attention instead. The pain just wouldn't stop. All she could assume was that is was a dream about Death Eaters seeing as how they are the only ones in the world that would love to inflict this much pain. She waited to hear the evil laughter that was sure to come at the end of her torture. Being sorely mistaken though, there was no laughter. There was crying, no that wasn't the right word. Sobbing inhibited broken down sobbing as if the man in front of her felt every ounce of pain that she was feeling.

Hermione shot up out of her bed in a cold sweat. She couldn't seem to wrap her mind around the nightmare. Where in the world were these dreams coming from. Never before had she had to deal with something like this but she wished with everything in her that she would never have to deal with it again. There were so many more questions in her head that she just couldn't handle at this ungodly hour so she just pushed them to the back of her mind and focused on her upcoming meeting with Lucius Malfoy. If there was one thing that she was certain of though it was that her mind was trying to tell her something. She just didn't have a clue of what.


End file.
