poison ✞ dramione

part eighteen

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hermione stared at draco in disbelief.

no, he couldn't have. there's no way he killed his own brother. there must be—there must be another explanation for this!

draco carried on staring at her with a smirk on his face. how can he be so calm? is he lying? if he was, this was one sick joke.

"what, your beliefs being tested?" draco taunted, sitting at the foot of his bed. "i told you, your only-black-and-white mindset wouldn't be able to handle this."

hermione didn't know what to do—what to say. the way draco was acting practically screamed 'i'm telling you the truth and nothing but the truth' but she didn't want to believe it. how can someone kill their own sibling?

however, it must have been accidental. draco had adored hyperion like there was no tomorrow. "h-how?"

"how?" he repeated, his smirk turning bitter. "i just told you i killed my brother at six years old and you ask me how?"

"you adored hyperion from what i saw," hermione muttered, her fingers tracing the lines of her throat in a weak attempt to make that lump disappear. "so how? how could you have killed someone you loved so much?"

"love," draco scoffed, rolling his light eyes. "what bullshit."

"we can talk about that some other time," hermione snapped, stalking over to him. "how?"

"ooh," draco purred, licking his lips. "demanding things, is it? i guess it's justified as we are in a bedroom."

hermione huffed in disgust although she could feel her face heating up. "you've no shame."

"and i take great pleasure in it," he chuckled, eyeing her up and down. "in more ways than one, it seems."

hermione decided to ignore him. "you still haven't answered my question."

"the thing is," draco started, leaning back in his hands, "all you care about is the how, not the why. i guess it's a gryffindor thing."

hermione crossed her arms and stared down at him. it wasn't six year old him, no. it was the crude, stoic eighteen year old draco malfoy. she has come to realise that the six year old and the eighteen year old in front of her might as well be two completely different people altogether.

"there's no why to answer," hermione stated, ignoring how calm draco was. "the only way you killed hyperion would be accidental. as i said, you adored him."

draco's face was entirely blank until it shifted into a small smirk. "you're smart, i'll give you that."

"you haven't answered the question, draco," hermione acknowledged on a calmer note. her eyes softened and her posture loosened, showing him that she was asking—as a friend. she paused. "it was magic, wasn't it? your magic killed him."

she watched as his eyes hardened. she hit a nerve, she knew. draco malfoy had little when it came to weaknesses but clearly his little brother was one of them. "and yet you need me to answer it for you."

"i want to hear you say it," hermione corrected, pushing back her hair.

"unfortunately, this is the real world," draco said, picking at his duvet. "in the real world, you don't always get what you want. it's either the opposite or what you deserve."

"and what do i deserve for simply caring enough to be the only one who can admit that you've been so thoroughly damaged you see life as a cynic cycle of nothingness," hermione whispered, her hands itching to just hug him. he seemed like the person who didn't get hugged enough.

there was complete silence. she said it as she knew and hermione knew she didn't know it all. she knew a small piece that is part of a puzzle that creates draco malfoy as he is.

she started wondering if she had finally gotten to him. the silence was deafening, borderline banshee-like. who knew the quiet could speak so much?

"you don't care," he finally said. "i killed my brother. it is as it is, granger. why can't you leave it at that?"

"it was the start of your downfall," she stated simply, debating whether to hug him or not. she decided against it. "and it must have been quite a tumble to get to where you are today."

"thanks for the poetry," he said, standing up. "you know what happened to hyperion. the door is behind you."

"you are many things, draco malfoy," she started as she backed out the room. "but a murderer is not one of them."

his expression was unchanged. blank and emotionless. she closed the door behind her and made her way downstairs, her hand clutched to her chest and her breathing slightly uneven. did that really just happen?

harry sat anxiously on the settee. once he saw her he almost ran to her. "what happened? you were gone a while."

"i talked to him," hermione whispered, automatically hugging harry. "and he's cruel. knows just what to say to hurt you."

"do you want me to punch him?" harry asked jokingly.

"he told me about hyperion," she added, resting her head under harry's. "draco killed him."

harry pulled away from hermione in surprise. "h-he what?"

"draco killed hyperion," hermione repeated as if she was talking about the weather. "it was accidental, of course. draco did adore him. he killed hyperion with magic."

"and we're not going to do anything about that?" harry asked roughly, pulling her away from the stairs.

"what's to do about it?" hermione retaliated, crossing her arms. "he was six and he had an abusive father! it was quite possible for him to lose control of his magic."

"he killed his brother," harry stated sharply, fixing his glasses.

"he loved his brother," hermione corrected, moving past harry. "more than anything."

"so you're just going to accept that? you're just going to accept that he's a killer?" harry spat, following her.

"he's not a killer," hermione almost shouted. "harry, he's no more a killer than you."

that shut harry up. they both sat opposite each other on the settee, dead silence between them. hermione wondered—if hyperion was the start, how much worse could it have gotten? he accidentally killed his own brother! does he... does it end with him killing intentionally?

she didn't want to think about that so she picked up their scrapbook. she flicked through the pages they had filled with pictures of draco. he looked much more happier at six and it made hermione hope that one day he'd be able to smile like he once did.

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hi!

so, hmm, it was an accident? it may not seem like it but hermione's morales are being tested—she's used to a completely black and white world and shades of grey just don't exist, you know? and then draco malfoy waltzes in and suddenly her world is flipped on its axis.

it think there'll be one or two more parts until either harry or hermione are turned into kids again.

-bee.