The Truth Hurts

Draco was groggy and his head was throbbing. He slowly opened his eyes. "Aahhh!" he exclaimed and fell off the couch he was on.

Hermione stood up, her wand out. "Hello, Draco."

Draco got off the floor and smiled nervously. "H-hi."

Hermione tapped her wand against her leg. "I think you have some explaining to do."

Draco nodded. "Yeah...about that..."

Hermione walked into her kitchen and started searching through her cupboards. She found what she was looking for and slammed it down on the counter. "Don't try to feed me a bunch of crap! Once again, you've lied to me."

Draco looked down at the ground. "Umm...sorry?"

Hermione got two mugs out of the cupboard, filled them with coffee, and slipped something into Draco's cup. 'Hmm...nothing a little truth potion won't solve,' she thought.

She walked back out into the living room. "So...," she said, sitting down and handing him his cup.

Draco took the cup, giving it a very skeptical look.

Hermione gave a small laugh. "Don't worry...I didn't poison it."

Draco took a small sip.

Hermione smiled wider. She looked out the window and turned back to him. "Why do you have Ayden's car?"

Draco, not knowing, spit out the truth. "I'm Ayden." When he realized what he had said, his eyes widened.

Hermione was silent. "Why did you lie to me?" she asked in a small voice.

Draco took another sip of coffee. "Which time?" he asked, regretting it the moment he said it.

Hermione looked down, then back up. What she didn't know, was that Draco took the opportunity to switch their cups. "Why did you make it seem like you died?"

Draco knew this question was coming, but he still wasn't ready for it. "Uh-," he shook his head. "After I saw your expression at the store, I wanted you to think you didn't have to worry."

Hermione sipped her coffee. "How'd you do it?"

Draco faltered a little. "I took a potion and paid someone to report me dead."

Hermione nodded. "I figured that. I read the reports and did a little thinking."

"How did you get the reports? I thought they were protected

Hermione wasn't going to tell the truth, but, "I tapped into the Ministry on my computer." She put a hand over her mouth, surprised.

Before Draco could reply, there was a knock on the door.

Hermione jumped. "I...I'll be right back." She got up and walked over to the door. She opened the door and gasped. "What are you doing here?!"

Draco couldn't mistake the voice that replied.

"Hermione...Malfoy's alive!"

Hermione stepped back, to allow the visitor into her house. "I know...he's here."

The figure stepped into the house and headed towards the living room. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Draco stood up. "Hello, Pot-."

It was a good thing that there was a couch behind him, because Harry took that opportunity to punch him. As Draco blacked out, he thought, 'Well...this is nice; getting punched twice in one hour.' Then he drifted into unconsciousness.