The Unthinkable

The Living Stone Temptation

Hermione

At the time Hermione and Draco entered the dark room, both of them instinctively flinched when they felt it was harder to breathe inside than outside. Hermione was even forced to grab Draco's jacket, to steady herself, while feeling a little dizzy. She had never felt anything so oppressive, so horrible and loaded with some kind of... malice. She knew that dark magic was dangerous, but she had never imagined how wicked and destructive it really could become.

Just then, as she held Draco for support, she was quite sure that the dark magic she had witnessed so far was only the most basic, the least murky, since what she could feel in that place was definitely a hundred times worse than any curse and that was saying something. Why people felt that the need to create such vile things was beyond her understanding, as well as why someone in their right mind would want to bring them all together in one place.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Draco asked with worry, as he used his wand to light the torches that were placed all over the huge room. Hermione looked to the left and to the right and found that the place was not as full as she expected, only half covered with all sorts of odd, twisted and crazy things, but there was enough dark magic inside the multiple objects she saw, to feel like every space was covered with something. She felt sick and turned pale in seconds, trembling a little, because the room just give her the creeps.

"Maybe it will be better if you wait outside while I do this on my own..." He added, as he saw how affected she was with the magic, but Hermione could tell she was not the only one who felt like throwing up, he also seemed equally affected or probably even more, since it was the twisted legacy of his family what they were watching. In fact, he seemed... torn, broken or tormented, as if being there reminded him of his past, of the times he did terrible things, himself. She felt sad for him, knowing he would always regret his past actions, even if he had begun anew.

"No... I... I'll be fine in a minute... don't worry about me." She whispered and let him bring her closer to him, because she certainly needed to give him something to hold on to, something that would help him heal his broken life, something that would help him experience true happiness.

"You're something else, Hermione, did you know that? Still... it's okay to give in sometimes and I know this place is... disturbing and intense." He whispered in her ear.

"It's awful. I can even hear whispers coming from somewhere inside this... chamber." She agreed and was relieved when he gently began to rub her back with his good hand, which made her feel much better almost instantly.

"Yes, it's awful alright and what is worse, it's a part of me." He said and sighed with both regret and resignation and even if she was not looking at him, she could tell that he was crumbling down. "I only hope you will continue to feel something for me, after seeing this, after witnessing the darkness of which I am part, of the things that are bound to me by blood." He kissed the crown of her head and Hermione buried her face in his chest, putting her hands around his waist, as if she wanted to merge with him.

"You're wrong about that Draco. You may have a Malfoy's blood in your veins, but this will never be a part of you, not even before you changed. Your father even confirmed it by saying that you can't bear to be in here for more than a few minutes, even back then. You were a lot of things in the past Draco, and I will not lie to you, I hated you enough precisely for your cruelty, but I can also tell you, that you were never as bad as this. You never got too deep into this crap. I think that's why you failed at the many things you were supposed to do, when you became a Death Eater, including your failure to kill Dumbledore. Yes, you did many wrongs, but also many goods, like saving me and Harry, the hundreds of students in your house, like becoming a friend of your house elves and free them from their slavery, so they now respect you deeply, like rescuing Luna, Ginny and the rest of the Weasley's, for example. Even Dumbledore never stopped you, when aware of what you were trying to do. He didn't believe that you were capable of falling to the same level as the rest of the Death Eaters, who were completely indulged in the ambition and malice of Vol... demort." By now, he was beyond words and quite in the border of tears. He had been so lost, alone, and so eager to redeem himself that hearing her say that he had finally done something good was more than he deserved, but he desperately needed it. However... it was not over yet, she hadn't yet finished with him.