A Severe Case of a Broken Heart (A Dramione Fanfic)

Chapter 4: I Am Not My Father

                  

(A/N) Before we get to Dramione, I would like to give a huge thanks to everyone who has read this story! I am so close to 500 reads! Please keep reading, sharing, and voting! Love y'all!

Draco's POV

            Draco was surprised that he and Hermione managed to treat each other civilly for a minute, much less half an hour. It had been the most pleasant conversation Draco remembered ever having at Hogwarts.

It was weird, but a good kind of weird.

What the heck is this, Draco? You're supposed to be a Death Eater.

With this thought, his arm began to burn, and Draco bit the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming. He rolled up his sleeve to see the skull with a snake slithering around it.

For a moment, a thought slid into Draco's head.

I want it to go away. I don't want to be a Death Eater.

But the thought was shoved aside as Draco remembered his father's words to him not long ago.

"Draco." Draco looks up from his book to see his father, who looks almost relieved.

"Dumbledore is dead! My son has killed him!" Lucius says, laughing.

Draco felt sick to his stomach. "He doesn't know." He thought to himself.

Draco's father had assigned him to kill Dumbledore, but he couldn't do it. Standing in front of his headmaster, who had a look of confusion and pity in his old eyes, Draco simply couldn't muster the curse.

But he didn't have to. As Draco stood there, tears streaming down his face, heart and head pounding in sync, Snape found them in the Astronomy Tower and did what Draco couldn't.

Draco had thought that he could be like his father; kill without remorse.

But on that tower Draco realized that he was scared.

He was scared of not pleasing his father, but he was more scared of the blood that could be on his hands.

Draco stood, alone in his dormitory, and stared into the mirror on the wall.

I am not my father.

With this thought, Draco ran to the library. He searched the shelves for the exact spell book he needed, then opened it and began skimming the pages for a certain chapter.

Hermione's POV

A week had passed, and Hermione had spent most of it avoiding everyone she knew. She was tired of glares, glances, and gossip.

But she was also avoiding Draco.

Not because he was part of the social onslaught, but because she didn't know how to feel about his newfound kindness.

As Hermione sat at the empty end of the Gryffindor table, reading, Ginny sat next to her.

Hermione tensed, ready for a guilt trip about Ron, but it didn't come.

"I'm sorry." Ginny said.

Hermione looked up, surprised to see Ginny almost in tears.

"I'm sorry for not standing up for you against Lavender, and for not smacking Ron in the face the second he yelled at you." Ginny paused, sniffing, then let out a little chuckle. "Although, I did yesterday when he called you a jerk."

Hermione laughed, and reached out to hug her friend. "I'm sorry for avoiding you." Hermione said. "I've missed you so much."

"And I have so much to tell you!" Ginny said, and then proceeded to tell Hermione about the flowers Harry had bought for her—Muggle Roses she had called them.

Hermione laughed and smiled through the stories that Ginny rambled off in the next half hour, but Hermione couldn't shake the thought that she should tell Ginny about Draco.

After Ginny finished her final story about Quidditch, Hermione fond the courage to ask, "Ginny, can I tell you something? It's a little strange."

Ginny paused, skeptical, before nodding.

"Well," Hermione began. "It's about Draco Malfoy."

Ginny sat quietly, not interrupting Hermione once while she told Ginny about the Astronomy Tower and hallway.

As Hermione finished, Ginny stared at her in shock. "I don't know how I feel about this." Ginny finally said.

"I'm not so sure either." replied Hermione. "But I think he's changed."

"But he's a Death Eater, Hermione!" Ginny said in a hushed voice. "It takes a lot to change that."

"I know, I know." Hermione said, "But something is really different. He seems... kind."

"How kind was he being when he called you a Mudblood?" Ginny looked exasperated at this point.

"What if you talked to him?" Hermione suggested. "If he has truly changed, he should be kind, even courteous."

Ginny thought for a moment, then replied. "Fine. But you have to be with me."

"Deal." Hermione replied.

Draco's POV

Once Draco had found what he needed, he made his way to the seventh floor and the Room of Requirement.

He paced in the hallway, right outside where the door usually appears.

I need a room where no one can hear me.

The large door appeared in front of him, and he entered.

The room was rather small and had no windows. There only sat a chair with a lamp on a table beside it. Draco set the open book on the table, and drew his wand.

He pulled up his sleeve to reveal his Dark Mark and stared at it.

"Levatus."

The tip of Draco's wand began to glow a soft red color, as if he had poked it in ashes. Taking a deep breath, Draco began to trace over the Dark Mark.

He grit his teeth in an attempt to keep himself from screaming, but the more he traced the less he could contain it.

Once Draco had finished, he looked down at his arm.

The Dark Mark was gone, and in its place was a raised red burn. Despite the pain coursing through his body and his pulse pounding in his ears, Draco felt relieved.

He was no longer a Death Eater.

Draco stood, grabbed his book, and left the Room of Requirement.

Draco had made it to the bottom of the first floor staircase when his vision began to blur. Draco reached out to grab the railing, but before he could hold tight, everything went dark.