Rubesco

Chapter Two

Draco felt like he was standing at the edge of hell. Visiting Blaise was probably not the brightest idea he had come up with, but this was just insane. Draco was sure he was dreaming. Surely Blaise was not lifting Padma up on her hair so she barely touched the floor?

He had to lie. He could not tell Blaise the truth. It would be the end of Padma as a human being. Blaise was a sick, sick person.

"You have shagged her, haven't you?" Blaise whispered. "Was she any good, Draco? How did it feel to shag your best friend's girlfriend?"

"You are as far away from my best friend as it is possible to be," Draco spilled out. The odd look on Blaise's face said that Draco had made a gigantic mistake. Blaise let go of Padma's hair, but grabbed the neck of her jumper instead. Then he plainly threw her into the stone wall, face first.

Draco had never felt so helpless in his entire life. He was practically the witness of Blaise Zabini trying to destroy Padma Patil like she was a toy.

"Stop it," Draco said as calm as he could.

"Stop what?" Blaise asked, as he picked her up and threw her into the wall again, this time with the back of her head first. The sickening sound of her back crashing against the wall made Draco shiver. This could not possibly be happening. How could he so simply lift her up and just throw her around like a pillow?

Draco did the only thing he could do against Blaise. The only superiority he had. He drew his wand.

"Stop it Blaise, or I'll fucking blast your skull off," Blaise did not move.

"You don't know how to do that," he said naively.

"Of course, I do," Draco said, frowning. "Some of us actually had a wand before we were eleven, had talent and even paid attention in class. I can simply kill you with one spell."

"You wouldn't do that," Blaise said. "They'd put you in prison." Draco was really not interested in a conversation with Blaise at this moment. Padma was not moving and blood was dripping to the floor.

"Trust me," Draco said with a cold voice. "I would get a prize for getting rid of you." Draco did a wave with his wand, and Blaise suddenly turned and ran. Draco would have followed him if Padma had not got her life beaten out of herself. He quickly ran over to her, kneeled by her and stroked a hand over her front head.

"Wake up, Padma," he whispered. Incapable of doing any medical spell that would do any good, Draco seized the nearest owl and wrote a message.

Hermione Granger was the only person that could help him now. He hated the idea of being dependent on her - to ask her for a favour. Still he sent the owl, and gave Padma one last glance before he left the house. He just managed to hide in a bush next to the house to see Hermione and her fellow workers Apparate at the stairs.

"The door is blown away, Miss Granger," one of the co-workers said.

"Yes, yes, never mind that," Hermione said, climbing inside, and seconds later Draco could hear her calling desperately for the others. Only few minutes later Mediwizards Apparated, and hurried inside. Draco got up from his hiding, and pulled his hood over his head.

His mother's voice was ringing inside his head. 'You must never cry, you hear me, Draco? The spell will be gone by the touch of saltwater.' Now his eyes were filled with tears. He was afraid - really afraid.

When Hermione left the house she glanced at the man standing by a bush. She could barely see his eyes because of his hood, but she was not mistaken. The eyes belonged to Draco Malfoy, and they were piercingly red.

:::

Hermione was looking at Padma in disbelief. Padma was lying on the white bed, smiling.

"You are telling me that you ... fell?" Hermione asked, as she looked everything but convinced.

"Yes," Padma smiled. "It was a horrible fall."

"Obviously," Hermione said. "The fall almost broke your neck, nearly crunched your cranial and it did break your nose." Hermione sighed, and bit her lower lip. "Honestly, Padma, are you sure this was nothing but a terrible fall?"

"Of course. Surely you didn't think that anybody would harm me, did you?"

"Miss Granger," a nurse said quietly. "There is a man outside who wants to speak to you." Hermione got up, gave Padma an excusive look and left. Standing outside of the room was a now gray-eyed Draco.

"She's alive," Hermione said, crossing her arms. "And so are you, obviously."

"Why shouldn't I be?" Draco asked confused.

"I thought you once said that Blaise would murder you if you just had given her a hug in public, obviously this would be worse." Draco blinked.

"You've been bugging me," he stated taking a few steps away from her.

"Don't be silly," Hermione said, trying to cover up.

"I've never said that to you," Draco said looking extremely grim. He pointed a slender finger at her, his eyes narrowed and his voice was cold as ice. "You stepped over the line, Granger. You've been following me."

"I'm allowed to," Hermione said. "You're under my investigation."

"And that gives you the right to follow me, to bug me? I don't think so. What else do you know?"

"That your father is alive. Which obviously is the only reason why I haven't put you into Azkaban yet," Hermione looked at the very confused Draco, who was frowning and sending her angry looks at the same time. "We can work together, Draco. You want Zabini as bad as I do."

"Work together?" Draco gave a laugh. "So say you did bug me then, why didn't you come when Blaise was murdering Padma?"

"She's alive, Malfoy."

"Oh fuck it. What's next? You want to befriend me?" Draco asked, and Hermione raised her chin.

"If there is a possibility, yes."

Suddenly Draco walked straight up on her and pushed her back against the wall, his nose touching hers. He raised his wand to his own eyes, and took off the spell. Dark red eyes were staring at Hermione who desperately tried to stay cool.

"You don't want to befriend me, Granger," he sneered. "You want my information. You want to use me. It wasn't me who held the party at the Manor, you're right about that, but I'm not nice. I can't be changed as you please. How long can you see into my eyes, Granger? Don't they freak you out just a little?" She didn't reply, but he carried on. "I can only change my eyes with the use of a spell, Granger, just as you can only change me for a short amount of time. I was made to be dreadful ... non-cooperative with silly people like you. I'm not interested in working with you, Granger. We are quits now." Draco put the spell back on his eyes, and started to walk away.

"He'll be back, you know!" Hermione called after him. "He'll destroy her!" When the sound of the shutting door had faded, Hermione stood there all by herself. She had lost him.

:::

Blaise Zabini was found dead at the roof of his own house. He had been murdered with his own wand, and there were no finger traces. Auror Hermione Granger had a certain feeling who might have murdered the dark haired man. However, Draco Malfoy had an alibi. Actually he had been in a hearing about a robbery in a Mugglebank that entire day and night. When Hermione was allowed to walk into the room of the hearing, Draco shot her a look of despise.

"Don't tell me," he said "You were there."

"No," she replied. "I am, however, surprised. You? Robbing a bank for Muggles?"

"Oh spare me," Draco sneered. "Why are you really here, Hermione?" he mocked her, making sure she heard him saying her name.

"Blaise Zabini," Hermione said, throwing a few pictures into Draco's lap. "is dead."

"That's good news, is it not?" Draco asked, as he looked down at the pictures. "And you suppose that I either did it, or know who it was, am I right?"

"Exactly."

"Come sit in my lap and I'll tell you," Draco gave Hermione a broad grin. "What, is little Hermy afraid of big, bad Draco's lap? I even have my hands tied behind my back for Christ's sake, and my wand - God knows where my wand is."

"There are pictures in your lap," she said lamely. "And you're obviously up to something."

"Clearly," he replied softly. "But seeing I know who murdered him, sitting in my lap could not be the worst way of getting to know the truth, don't you think?"

"Only two days ago you didn't want to see my face again," she said suspiciously. "And now I'm to sit in your lap and listen to you telling me who it was that murdered Blaise Zabini."

"Obviously this includes you getting me out of here."

"You're a criminal."

"Why would I bother to rob a Mugglebank? I have money, and I most definitely do not need their rubbish money that does not mean anything in the Magical World, anyway. Now come and sit on my lap. I would not hurt an Auror. Not in the rooms of the police anyway."

Hermione hesitated before she slowly walked over to him, and could hardly believe that she was to sit in the lap of Draco Malfoy. What would he do? Use her as a hostage? Perhaps he still had his wand somewhere? Carefully she pushed the pictures away, and sat down on his lap.

"Now speak," she said, turning her face towards his.

"Who do you think killed him, Hermione?" She frowned - he still called her by her first name.

"You, obviously."

"Me? Of course not. Why would I make my hands bloody by killing people when others stand in a queue to do it for free? Blaise Zabini was more hated than I'd ever become, even if I tried hard. I'll tell you who it was, if you don't arrest her."

"I can't do that," Hermione said.

"Then I can't help you."

"Perhaps we can come to an agreement," Hermione said. "It is a girl we speak of, if I'm not mistaken."

"An agreement of her being free of all charges," he replied. "You should know. Don't you work for the liberty of women?"

"Only the ones mistreated."

"Say if this woman was," Draco said, eyeing her carefully. "Would you consider it then?"

"Is this Padma?"

"Don't rush it, Granger," Draco sighed, and gave her a tired look. "Padma is at the hospital, I hardly think she would be able to. Use your brain, Granger, the one you almost outsmarted me at Hogwarts, remember?"

"I did outsmart you."

"Fuck me, no."

"Why are you telling me this? This is strange, even for you," Hermione said, changing the topic once again.

"To save my own arse, obviously. You're not the first one to think I did this."

"You did rob that bank, didn't you?" Hermione stated. "You were gone all of last night robbing the bank, got caught and since then you've been here. Therefore, you've not been able to murder him! You knew he would be murdered and you also knew when it was going to happen!"

"I could say you were clever, but you always add too much drama. I would never rob a bank, and especially not get caught at it. And most people knew that Blaise's end of days was near."

"You still haven't told me who it was."

"You thought it was me. You didn't have any options?"

"Not really. You say the murderer is a female? It can't be Pansy Parkinson," Hermione said, going through all the Slytherin girls in her head.

"How would she be able of killing anybody? Strangle them with bubblegum?"

"Millicent Bulstrode? Hardly."

"Millicent could have married Blaise at the day he asked her to."

"They were in love?" Hermione asked, astonished.

"There is no love included in the life of Blaise Zabini, Granger. Why do you automatically pick the Slytherins? They adored him. He was as much of a Slytherin as they wanted him to be. Only, he couldn't do any spells."

"And he was mistreated as a child, if I'm not mistaken."

"Just about every Slytherin was, Granger. We all have our secrets. Now, I've given you enough. Let me go."

"I can't," Hermione said. "I'm not in lead here. But I'll do my best."

:::

Draco was walking down the long corridors at St. Mungo's, listening to an old nurse speaking. He was not listening too tight, as he was focusing on the endless amount of pictures showing his father. Lucius Malfoy had given his share to the hospital. The court liked to call it corruption, while Lucius called it pure donation.

"Mind you," the nurse said "She hardly remembers her own name. Her memory got worse since she woke up first."

The nurse opened the door to Padma's separate room and Draco thanked her before he walked in. He saw Padma lying helplessly in a bed with white covers. Her raven black hair was spread over her pillow, and her eyes were closed. She opened them instantly when the door shut behind him.

"How are you doing, Pads?" Draco asked her.

"Pads," she replied sleepily. Draco walked over to the bed, and sat down by her. "I'm Parvati, you know. The girl you watched almost get beaten to death? Padma is over there," Parvati said and pointed across the floor. Draco looked up and saw the Asian girl standing in a corner while glaring at him.

"And exactly how many days is it since she took her medicine?"

"Three, I think," Parvati said and got up. "Fuck it, Draco, was it necessary to wait so long before you took action? I mean, he was about to snap my neck, you know. It's fair enough that I had to pretend to actually have feelings for him, you know. Playing Padma to fool Blaise is one thing, but be killed by him is another."

"Yes, I'm sorry about that."

"Why did we have to switch anyway? Why couldn't he beat up Padma? She was the one getting into a relationship with this messed up person."

"Because, Parvati," Draco answered. "you had no right to murder him in the first place. Padma could, as he has killed her slowly during the last ten years. Nobody would bother to mix you into this in the first place, and Blaise would never see the difference between you two. You made the plan perfect."

"Well, I still think you shouldn't have let him throw me into the wall. I don't care if you shagged her or not, and honestly ..."

"Parvati, you've been great. Better than great. And your act is fantastic. Has Granger been around lately?"

"No," Parvati replied. "And Padma has to receive her pills soon, or she'll murder us both."

"You mean you've given her a wand?" Draco asked outraged.

"Of course, I have, but the Patil twins don't need a wand to commit murder, young Malfoy," Parvati replied with a grin.

"Fair enough. Where are her pills?"

"Right there in my purse," Parvati said and pointed at a pink purse lying next to the bed. Draco kneeled and grabbed a little jar of deep green pills.

"I'll just sleep on. They drug me to death, you know," Parvati said before she laid down again.

"Certainly," Draco replied. He walked towards Padma in the corner, eyeing her carefully out of the corner of his eyes. Padma had quite a temperament when she did not take her pills.

"He's gone," she whispered.

"Yes, darling, he is," Draco replied. "Now you must take these pills so the voices in your head go away."

"You've touched her."

"Touched who?"

"Granger."

"Oh her," Draco replied with a grimace on his face. "I had to. She was getting sneaky." Draco gave two green coloured pills to Padma. She took them, threw them into her mouth and swallowed. She opened her mouth and lifted her tongue to show Draco that they were gone.

Padma sank down to the floor, chewing her lip.

"It was easy."

"I bet it was," Draco said, sitting down next to her.

"He was so shocked seeing me. And his wand was just lying on the floor as always."

"They'll never know it was you. I'm so proud of you two girls, I would never have come up with a plan like that." She turned her head and looked at him.

"Thank you, Draco."

"You're welcome, Padma." She reached for her own wand and pointed it at his eyes. Slowly they turned red, and Padma grinned.

"I like you better like this, Draco."

"You won't when your medicine kicks in. Talking of medicine - what exactly is the voice in your head telling you to do now?"

"Use my wand and stick your eyes out."

"How nice," Draco said, as he leant his head to the wall. "What a charming voice."

"You need a girlfriend, Draco," Padma said, as he slowly took her wand out of her hands and placed it in his own pocket.

"Yes, I've figured that too," he replied. "I must also get myself a hobby apart from helping mad twins kill a man and then get away with it."

"Perhaps you should date Granger," Padma giggled.

"Yes, and I could, of course, turn gay," Draco said just to hear the girl explode with laugher. "But why bother - now that you're available." Padma gave him a teasing glance.

"How will Father Malfoy feel about his son bringing home a mentally disturbed Asian girl, I may ask?"

"He's already mentally disturbed himself, so I don't see the problem," Draco mumbled back.

"But first I must grief," Padma said in a serious voice, but with a childish grin.

"Of course, I'll give you five minutes."

:::

Hermione Granger was triumphant when she happened to locate Draco Malfoy in the empty streets of Diagon Alley.

"Why aren't you home on Christmas Eve, Malfoy?"

"Stupid question," he replied. "What do you look so happy about?"

"I solved the Zabini-Case."

"Good for you. Now, who murdered him?"

"It was suicide."

"Oh, naturally," Draco said, nodding.

"You knew! You told me, remember. I solved it! A girl you said, which obviously was some kind of a riddle - so it had to be a boy. And you said the murderer had been mistreated - and Blaise Zabini was mistreated. Everybody hated him - so he couldn't stand it anymore. He did it himself! Everything fits!"

"Congratulations, Granger," Draco said, looking pleased. "You're too clever for your own good."

"Thank you, Malfoy." She walked away, and Draco was left grinning from one ear to the other.

"So much drama," he said softly to himself. "So clever, but yet so easily fooled. Thank God I'm not a Gryffindor."

With that he walked away from Diagon Alley. He took a quick glance into his bag to see if everything was there. - Ropes, knives and a camera.

Now all he needed was some Muggles.

Fin