My Father's Only Rule {DRACO MALFOY X SNAPE'S DAUGHTER}

Chapter Thirty-Nine: My Pen Pal

May 2nd, 1998, 6:00 am - Hogwarts

We had fallen asleep in the bathroom. We were exhausted. But as the sun crept up ever so slowly, I knew I had to get up. Walk around. Do something to remind myself I was alive. I tried not to wake Draco, but I did anyway.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to go for a walk," I said softly. "Do you want to come with me?"

"I don't want to be seen," he said. "You go on though."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"If it'll help you clear your mind, go on," he said. "Don't be long, yeah?"

I made my way to the great hall and stood at the doors. I couldn't go in. There was so much sorrow happening. So much mourning. I looked at the rows of bodies that had been lined up and covered with blankets and I shuddered to think about who was in there.

"Grace?" I heard a soft voice say. I turned around to see a face I was so happy to see.

"Hermione," I said as I ran to her and threw myself in her arms. She dropped the blankets she was carrying and embraced me fully, holding me tightly, like a true friend would. And I needed a true friend. And this was when it become clear Hermione and I were closer than we had previously realized.

"Oh my god, are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine," I said.

"You don't look fine," she insisted. "What on earth has happened to your hands?" she asked, gently holding my hands, which were bloody and bruised and oozing glass shards.

"Don't worry about it," I said.

"Let me take care of it," she said.

"It's really not that big of a-"

"Grace Snape," she said boldly. "Sit your arse down and let me tend to your hands this instant!"

Screaming my name got the attention of everyone in the Great Hall to look at me, which I was hoping wouldn't happen.

"Oh," she said mildly. "Sorry." She quickly grabbed a first aid kit and ushered me out where we sat on the nearest staircase and she got to work on my hands.

"So what have you been doing these past few hours?" she asked me, trying to get my mind off the pain as if she wasn't pulling glass out of my hands.

"What time is it?"

"Nearly six."

"Well then I've been sleeping," I said.

"Have you been alone all night?"

"Not exactly," I said. I knew Hermione really cared about me, and she understood me in many ways that some of her friends didn't. But I didn't want to mention where I had been or who I had been with.

"Grace," she said. "You can tell me."

"I've been with Draco all night."

"Have you, erm, have you seen your father?"

"He's dead," I said. I could tell by Hermione's face that she was already aware of this. "You already knew, didn't you?"

"I was there," she said.

"So was I," I said. "We must have been on opposite sides of the boathouse, then. Where's Harry? I'd really love to see him right now."

"Well," Hermione stammered.

"Well?"

"Harry's gone, Grace."

"He what?"

"He's gone out to the forbidden forest. To meet with Voldemort."

"Oh," I said. "That's not so bad."
"What do you mean?"

"Harry's destined to kill him, Hermione," I said. "It's literally a prophecy."

"I know," Hermione said. "It doesn't make it any less scary."

"True," I agreed. "But I'm not worried."

"And what about Jane? Has she been with you, too?"

I went silent. My silence prompted Hermione's stillness. The mention of Jane triggered that awful breathing game I had previously endured. Hermione looked up at my quivering lip.

"Grace," she said sympathetically. She looked at me, almost as truly heartbroken as I was. Then I lost it. I threw myself into her arms and cried. And she rocked me back and forth, repeating how sorry she was.