Hear Me Out

Chapter 9: The Untold Truth

"Malfoy? What're you doing here?" Harry asked, slamming the car keys onto the ledge. Hermione stood, with her mouth wide open at the blond, looking as confused yet angry as a combination. Harry was tempting to take a step towards Draco, but Hermione yanked his arm back. She whispered in his ear, "Harry, don't. You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

Harry stepped back, and Draco slipped his hands out of his pocket. "I said, we need to talk, Potter!" Draco snapped. "Yeah, I'm aware of what you said, and quite frankly, I just don't care," Harry fired. "You will, once you know your ex-girlfriend's life on the line." Everybody went silent. Nobody said a word. "What do you mean, Malfoy?" Harry asked. Draco drew a deep breath. "Listen, I know I'm the last person you wanna see right now and Ginny's the last person you wanna hear about, but please! Hear me out!" Draco pleaded. Harry never heard Draco this sincere in his life, so he knew something was up.

"Why would I even care about Ginny?" Harry asked. "Because, deep down, you still care for her! And if something bad happened to her, you'd be devastated and wouldn't know what to do with yourself!" Draco shouted. "How do you know what I'd do?" Harry clapped back. "Because." He started, striding steps slowly towards Harry. "I've known you. Since first year. I know you, I know how you react to things. Granger over here." He pointed to Hermione, who huffed under her breath. "Knows you more than you know yourself."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hex you right now," Harry said calmly. "Oh could you just go one second without threatening me, Potter?" Draco asked, throwing his arms up. Harry took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. If he wanted to know what was going on, he would have to calm down. As much as it rounded as physically impossible, it wasn't if he thought hard. He felt like he would have to go through another course of Occulmency, or even using the Pensieve to clear his mind. "Take a seat," Harry said finally.

When all three of them were seated on the sofa, Harry and Hermione as far away as Draco as they could get, Draco ran his hand through his hair. "You care about her, don't you?" He asked. "Who? Ginny?" Harry replied. Draco nodded. Harry thought. "Not really!" He answered. "Potter-" "No really! I don't!" "Potter-" "You think I'm lying!" "POTTER! JUST LISTEN TO ME!" Draco shouted, jumping to his feet. When the room went silent, he slowly sat back down, folding his hands over his knee and tapping his foot. He focused more on the ground, then anywhere else. "You do. I know you do. As much as you don't want to mention it, she is your ex. She used to be a close friend. She is after all, your ex best friend's sister." Hermione flinched. Within the thought of Ron just made her want to perform the Cruciatus Curse on herself.

Draco turned to Hermione. "Sorry, but it's true." He looked back to Harry. "Just please, listen to what I have to say!" Harry and Hermione exchanged glares. "Fine, what's wrong Malfoy?" Harry said.

* * *

"Alright. You know Ginny's new boyfriend, Zake?" Draco started off. Harry's fist clenched. "Yeah? What about him?"
"Let me finish." Malfoy replied calmly.
Harry nodded.
"Well, his name is Zake Tinderstone. He's a pure-blood. If you don't get him away from Ginny, he's gonna do something. Something bad. Very bad."

Hermione's eyes widened, while Harry showed no emotion whatsoever.

"What do you mean something "very bad?" And how do you know him?" Harry asked. Draco breathed heavily. "Zake Tinderstone is a Slytherin. A viscous one. I know him because my father-" Draco coughed. "Lucius. Was familiar with Zane's father. In fact, they were super close. Close friends, and knew everything about one another while being Death Eaters all the while, working for Voldemort day and night. And that included Zake. Zake was a Death Eater who seemed to despise me for no reason. I soon found out why. He knew my secret. Knew I didn't want to be there. After Voldemort's downfall, or death as you could say, some of the only people not caught and thrown into a cell in Azkaban, were Zake and his father. They escaped from the capture. They left before anybody could find them. Hid. Obliviated anybody who knew about them, keeping their memories and locking them up forever so they couldn't turn them in. Worst part is, he's still on the run, still a hazardous threat to others. And still wants to avenge Voldemort's death and become the next great heir of Slytherin." Draco explained. Both Harry and Hermione were left, jaw-dropped and speechless. "B-but Zake is Ginny's boyfriend!" Hermione squealed. "Exactly. Which is why I need your guys' help to split them up and stop Zake before he does succeed!"

Hermione looked at Harry, all pale. She had no words. Neither did he. "And Zake! The night he saw me! He saw my scar! He knows who I am, doesn't he?" Harry asked. Draco nodded. Hermione let out a high-pitch squeal, and Harry grabbed her hand. "He wants to get rid of Ginny, to get to you. And." He looked to Hermione. "And there's no doubt in my mind, that he wants Granger too." Hermione looked on the verge of fainting. "He will do anything. I repeat, anything, to get what he wants. And what he wants, is to get to you, and rule the world. And if we don't stop him, and gather as many people as possible to defeat him, we may end up dead before you could repeat the Unforgivable curses." Silence filled the air again. "Why are you telling us this now?" Harry asked. "Because. I just recently found out Zake is here, and I know what he wants. He's here in this city, not far away as I expected him to be. And especially after I found out he was dating Ginny, that was the draw of the line." Draco said. Harry nodded, Hermione gulped. "Thanks, Malfoy. We will do research and gather tools as soon as possible," Harry said. "Don't thank me." He replied. Draco stood up. "Anyways, I best be off. Be safe, be careful. And I'll see you soon." And with that, he Disapparated.

*SORRY FOR THE SHORT CHAPTER, IT WAS NEEDED TO BE OUT, AND I WANTED A CLIFFHANGER LOL. BUT THIS CHAPTER HAD SO MUCH THOUGHT PUT INTO IT, AS ZAKE IS A MADE UP CHARACTER, BUT I DID HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED. I WILL SEE YOU IN THE NEXT ONE, PEACE!*
-Kaydence