The Magnitude of His Actions (The Missing Chapter)

Hermione woke up the next morning wondering how everything would work out. She had tried to avoid Lucius since the contract had been signed. They would meet again after lunch to make the amendments. This meant that the young initiates had only the morning to clear the field. It would be the last day for them, anyway; the colony only supported twenty fields, which had all been cleared. Draco had been a valuable asset to accomplishing that; he was very efficient once he got the hang of it. Such were her thoughts as she moved to the initiates’ cottage and breakfast area.

Draco had breakfast with the men exactly as he had in the scant days before the contract was signed. It was highly disappointing to be away from Hermione, and even, surprisingly enough, away from the other initiates. He’d spent every waking moment in the presence of the other novices that being around the main table with the men was jarring.

Draco silently ate his breakfast, listening for clues to what happened in his absence. Maank was on his father’s other side. They sat close enough to each other that it was obvious he was his father’s favourite. A man Draco did not recognise on his other side spoke animatedly with the other men at the table.

Ariulo sat quietly, occasionally feeding his cat little bits of meat from his plate. He seemed calmer, but also stern. Hermione must have relayed the entire evening’s events. Draco hadn’t wanted to incur disfavour so early on; his belly tightened. He knew there must be a word for this. He’d heard about it before. Guilt. Draco swallowed as his mouth watered in clammy reaction to his feelings. What a Hufflepuff you’ve become, Draco!

Once breakfast was done, Draco sat a short while with his father. He relayed all that he had done, his meditations and his progress in the language. When he demonstrated his verbal skills for his father, he chuckled. Apparently, through the translator medallion at his neck, Lucius had heard Draco use the incorrect verb tense, and soon the chuckles evolved into a guffaw. Lucius tried to explain that Draco had sounded like a house-elf, and Draco couldn’t help but roll his eyes at his father smiling softly when Lucius clapped him on the back.

Before lunch, Draco took a nap so he could meet with Severus. He loved his godfather very much, but knowing now what an insight he could have on Hermione was too much to pass up. When he found himself dreaming of Snape Manor in the summer, Draco breathed a sigh of relief. Sometimes he really missed the English countryside.

“That was brief. Given up already?” Severus flared his nostrils at the young man who took his leisure on an antique chaise on the patio.

“No, I’ve finished already. However, your vote of confidence is truly touching.” Draco scowled and plucked sullenly at the hem of his shirt.

“Ah, you’ve been disciplined.” Watching Draco’s eyes narrow to slits, Severus added, “By Hermione nonetheless!” His warm chuckle kept Draco’s scowl from deepening.

“What am I to do with her, Uncle? I could save a thousand kittens from a raging fire and she’d still think I am shite.”

“Well, now, what have you been doing? Tell me about this latest, specifically.”

“It was during my language lesson, and I was having a problem with the sounds, Sev, I really was, and she came over and put her hand on my neck. I could smell her, and with her touching me, it all came out perfectly. She touches me, and it’s perfection. Don’t look at me like that.

“Anyway, she was so close to me and I could smell her, and I can’t take it! When she moves her hand away, I catch it and press it against my cheek. I swear, Uncle, I almost shot my load then, feeling her fingers on my cheek.”

“You touched her without permission? Did you leave your worthless excuse for a brain in Britain with your mother?”

“You've got to be kidding. I’ve seen firsties get more action than that.”

“I mean that it is tantamount to you grabbing McGonagall’s arse in front of everyone in the Great Hall. Draco, you must understand one thing, if you get nothing else. Hermione is your better here. You are nothing; Maank could kill you and your father, and let that damned bird eat you so there would be no remains left to find.” Snape paused to pinch the bridge of his nose. “What are they going to do with you now?”

Draco stared out over the dreamscape. “We are renegotiating with the Council; if I release Hermione from training me at the early initiate levels, she offered to make my lessons at night more... comfortable.”

“Of course!” Severus shook his head at the boy and threw his hands up subtly by his sides. Somehow, Draco could do no wrong, even when he was doing wrong, the little pillock. Did Hermione realise that she’d be compromising infinitely more than Draco would?

Maybe she was softening her position; more’s the better for her.

The two Slytherins sat for what seemed like a great while in the dream world before Draco finally talked himself into asking the question that had been weighing on his mind since he’d brought Hermione in to talk to Severus. “How’d you do it?” His voice was so quiet that he wasn’t sure that he’d asked loud enough.

Severus arched an eyebrow at the boy. “I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific.”

Draco cleared his throat, never daring to turn his attention directly to Snape, and clarified, “How did you… keep her… around?” Draco’s face looked so struck with pain by the time he croaked the last word, Snape didn’t have the heart to berate the boy for his impertinent question.

“Contrary to the opinion of students of Hogwarts, I am not without my charms. However, what I think you are lacking in this situation is a common ground. Among the things that Miss Granger and I have in common are being isolated due to academic drive, relative isolation from our peers, our work for the Order, and having to maintain non-magical ties whether by choice or chance.

“You spent all of those years isolating her; your presence was always labelled for her as ‘bad’. I was cruel to her, but she was able to decipher my motives with little additional information. Additionally, there was the botched potion.”

“So, you’re suggesting that the way to turn Hermione my way is…?”

“For you to figure out yourself, Draco,” Severus sighed. Teenagers were always so thick. “I have every confidence that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. Now, I’m sure the meeting with the council approaches. You should probably wake up.”

As soon as Severus had uttered the command, Draco’s eyes popped open. Indeed, his father was gathering his copy of the contract. Draco rubbed his eyes, his mind busy with all that had happened that morning.