Curious and Curiouser

6: Untold Musings

She really hadn't thought that seeing Malfoy would have affected her this much, the last time she saw him he had been sitting at one of the tables in the great hall with his parents, awkwardly watching everyone around them. And in that moment she had felt sorry for him, sorry for what he had gone through, what this war had put him through. She knew what he had done, knew that it was his fault that Dumbledore had been killed but she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Just that once, four years ago, pity flashed across her eyes as she looked at Draco Malfoy.

But more memories of Malfoy flooded her brain, his cruel taunting laugh all those years at school, it had been he that had identified her when she, Harry and Ron had been taken to Malfoy Manor. It had been he who had stood by and done nothing, watching as his aunt tortured her. Tears pricked her eyes and she ground the heels of her palms into them.

She opened her eyes, she was being stupid and silly she thought, to let those years of torment bother her now, just because she happened to run into him. Her initial hatred upon seeing him returned in tenfold.

Speaking of which, what the hell had he been doing here?

She closed her eyes again, he had been speaking to Harry and Ron, Harry had asked her about the dementors kiss sentence. Was Malfoy on trial? No that would've been over with years ago, Hermione knew that Harry had personally fought to keep both him and his mother out of Azkaban...his father then! Yes, Hermione thought, that makes sense, his father would've either been sentenced to receive the kiss or to life in Azkaban. That would explain Harry wanting to save someone in Malfoy's family from having their soul ripped out. But the war was four years ago, why hadn't the sentence been carried through yet? And the kiss was most certainly illegal now, she and Harry had made sure of it. She frowned, nothing else made sense but the gap in the timeline was giving her pause, she knew that court proceedings would move slowly, but the ministry had made it a priority to finish handling death eater cases so she couldn't think of anything that would drag legal proceedings out four years.

But this was the only explanation that she could come up with that fit the broken information she had gotten from Harry and Ron. So, Malfoy is trying to save his family, she thought to herself in conclusion. The thought was oddly sickening, she wasn't sure how she felt about it. On one hand, she understood the impulse, it was after all the same thing she was trying to do. But on the other hand, well, it was Malfoy, he and his family were responsible for so much suffering, why did they deserve a happy ending. What made them more deserving than the many people's families that had been torn apart but Voldemort's hate and violence?

Her internal rant against Draco Malfoy was broken when Harry entered the room, never once taking his eyes off her as he sat down in the chair to her right, both of them angled somewhat towards the desk.

She swiped her fingers underneath her eyes quickly, hoping there were no tears there, she didn't want Harry to know she had cried, even if just for a moment.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly, kindly.

"Yeah," She said, her voice came out a little hoarser than she intended but otherwise held no indication that she had been crying.

"Right so what was it you were saying about the Helerean charm? Can it be broken? And who should we be looking for, who would be capable of breaking one? What would they need?" Harry asked calmly as though he was reading from a list.

Hermione opened her mouth to answer but Draco Malfoy's face swam before her eyes. "What was he doing here Harry?" She asked, keeping her voice steady.

Harry looked at her, a painful sort of expression crossing his face, "'Can't tell you that." He said shortly.

"How about I guess then?" Hermione said, irritated, her voice rising slightly, "Lucius is about to get the kiss isn't he? And so he's sent his son here to beg for his soul?"