Author's Note: Inspired by "Someday Out of the Blue" by Elton John.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter or the song this fic was inspired by.
Bushy brown hair fluttered in the breeze, as the young woman brushed it away from her cinnamon eyes. "Ginny, I don't know how you handle those other women," she said, scrunching her nose in the process. "You are a world class Quidditch player, for Merlin's sake, and the Chosen One's wife!"
"Hermione, dear, I have to play nice with these witches. Do you know what it's like to be a housewife now? I'm going absolutely bonkers!"
Hermione laughed, clutching the mobile a little tighter in her hand as she strolled through Muggle London. "You seriously need to just put them in their place. Bat bogey hex them or something."
The woman on the other line chuckled. "To think, the famous Hermione Granger told me to hex someone for my amusement! Where is your Head Girl attitude?"
"At work, where I should have been half past." The woman trailed off as she maneuvered around the crowds of Muggles. "There was this book that I wanted and-"
A flash of platinum colored hair made her stop in her tracks. Her heart sped up as she ignored the angry people huffing behind her. She turned her head in every direction to see if she could spot where that person was going. Unfortunately, she couldn't find the person. She sighed a little dejectedly as she resumed her conversation with Ginny and started walking again.
"Sorry, Gin. I thought I saw someone that I knew."
Later that night, she was lying down on her couch, new book abandoned on the coffee table beside her. She gazed at the ceiling as memories swirled through her mind. She just couldn't shake the person that she saw today. She had honestly hoped it had been Malfoy. After the war, he disappeared. No one had heard or seen him in over eight years. The Malfoy name was cleared, however, due to large donations to several well-known charities that helped those harmed during and after the war.
She heaved a sigh as she rolled onto her side. She really missed that sarcastic wit of his. He always knew how to put a smile on her face, even though most of the time it was at Ron and Harry's expense.
It started after the Yule Ball. She had a particular nook in the library that she inhabited after dinner. The Gryffindor common room was way too loud for her to concentrate, and she loved being around so many books. But, one day, he occupied the table there. Of course, she was furious. She argued with him for the better part of an hour before deciding that she should direct her energy into her homework. She fully expected him not to be there the next time, but she was surprised yet again when he was. There was a lot less arguing this time around. He even asked her a few questions about the homework they were given.
And just like that they fell into a routine. Every now and then they would ask questions not concerning homework, but nothing that crossed their unspoken line. Once fourth year ended, she thought that so would their companionship. But once again, he surprised her.
They were both prefects, and there was only so much of Ron's company that she could tolerate during the prefect meetings. Malfoy would stay behind to talk to her about said meetings as they walked to the nook. She didn't feel comfortable referring to it as theirs; that was just too personal. And their relationship or whatever they had was definitely not personal. He had refrained from calling her a Mudblood, but he was still extremely critical of her heritage. However, she didn't have the heart to break it to him that his favorite author was a Muggle. (Nathanial Hawthorne, who knew?) In return, she never brought up his parents. During fifth year, she got to know him a lot better, even develop feelings for him. And, one late spring afternoon, he returned those feelings with a kiss.
She should have stopped it then, but she was too far gone. She was dedicated to her boyfriend. Late night talks in the library, early breakfasts together down in the kitchens. She was able to use studying as an excuse to Ron and Harry, since their OWLs were approaching. Soon…too soon it was summer and they had to say goodbye. However, they were able to send each other coded messages. Her parents knew something was up with all of the owls she kept getting over the summer. There were only so many times she could say that Ron and Harry were writing to her. Plus, she always a little too excited when the letters showed up.
They met over the summer too. Since they were both underage, there weren't allowed to use magic to disguise themselves. To this day, she still chuckled about the time when she convinced him to dye his platinum locks auburn. He told her later that the dye hadn't completely washed out, and his father forced him to go to some Ministry event with light brown hair. He got back at his father by telling the Minister that he was trying out Muggle products for pleasure. He tried to assure her that the punishment was worth it, but the haunted look in his silver eyes made her believe otherwise.
The best day of her life was during a hot afternoon in August. School was fast approaching and both of them were dreading it. He hated having to be so cruel to her and she hated that they couldn't just be themselves around each other. They met in front of the Leaky Cauldron and wandered around London for the rest of the day. Under the stars beneath a full moon he confessed his love to her. And she returned those affections. He gave her a silver lion pendant that had a single emerald hanging beside it. He figured that she could wear this and not get too many questions. In her happiness, she inadvertently missed curfew. Her parents were cross with her in the morning, but they were teenagers once and understood. The rest of the summer was spent in happiness. Their love blossomed and it seemed as if nothing could break them apart.
Then school began and the war slowly after.
They resumed their normal schedule at Hogwarts, at least for the first couple of months. She heaved a sigh as a tear made its way slowly down her cheek. He suddenly became absent after prefect meetings. Then he slowly stopped meeting in their library nook. It didn't happen often enough for her to worry until he stopped showing up entirely. She rarely saw him in the halls and when she did, there were bags under his eyes. She finally confronted him after not seeing him for a month.
It went terribly. There was a lot of yelling and tears. She hated what he turned into while being back at Hogwarts, what his parents forced him to become. He showed her the mark that night. That ugly black wretched tattoo on his forearm. She didn't know that he received his orders to kill Dumbledore earlier that week. All she knew was that her Draco was gone and neither of them knew when he would come back. They left that night in turmoil. Her heart broke every time she saw him in the corridors. He avoided eye contact with her and dodged her at all costs. It was as if their relationship never happened. She only saw him a handful of times after that.
She still had the necklace he gave her. In fact, she wore it all the time. After sixth year, she didn't return to Hogwarts. Instead, she went with Ron and Harry to search for the missing Horcruxes. She grew fond of Ron during their excursions, but he still had a lot of growing up to do. Even though they dated after the war was finished, she knew they couldn't be together. She needed to succeed in her dreams and he wanted a housewife. They discussed these issues after they broke up, which was why they were able to stay friends. He found his housewife in Lavender Brown. She achieved her dreams and became the youngest witch to be appointed as the head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
There was still the hole in her heart. She tried dating other wizards, but she somehow clung on to the belief that Draco would come back. The Draco she knew all those years ago. She still had faith that their relationship could last. She still hoped that she would see him again.
It was silly to keep these feelings harbored inside her. She never told Ron, Ginny, or Harry about their relationship. She didn't know how they would react. But that was the past now. She knew she could never have another relationship like theirs, but she could at least move forward with her life. Tomorrow she would tell them. It was after all, just a day away, she thought as she drifted off into a trouble sleep.
"You did what with who?!"
"Harry, please, calm down-"
"Calm down? After finding out my best friend was dating my worst enemy?"
"Harry, it was years ago-"
"What if he was spying on you? What if he hurt you? Merlin, what if he tried to convert you!"
"Harry James Potter, you will sit down next to your wife," Hermione shouted angrily, tears filling her eyes. She continued once he threw himself on the couch next to Ginny and Ron. "I have given everything to you. Everything! I erased my parents' memories so I could leave them. They still don't trust me to this day! I sacrificed so much for you and your quest, and you still question my loyalty? How dare you."
"Hermione, dear, I'm sure he didn't mean that," came the calming voice of Ginny as she shot a dirty look to her husband.
"No, he meant every word of it. I was the smartest witch of our year. Do you really think Draco could have harmed me? You've seen me when I've been angry. And how could he possibly convert me to something that he himself fully didn't believe in?" she retorted scathingly.
"What do you mean didn't fully believe in?"
She sighed, dragging a hand through her curly locks. "He never believed anything his parents told him. Mainly what his father told him. He hated it all. The pureblood society and all that came with it."
"How do you know he wasn't just saying that?" questioned Ron.
"Because I know him. He was absolutely terrified when he showed me his mark. You can't fake that kind of emotion."
Harry shot up out from the couch and started pacing the room again. "You knew about the mark and didn't tell us? Why?"
"Because I love him."
"Don't you mean 'loved'?"
"No." At that, the three of them froze. She let the tears fall as she waited in the silence. "I still love him and I don't know that I'll ever see him again." She hastily walked out of the room, wiping away the tears obscuring her vision. She apparated to her flat and collapsed onto her couch, letting the tears fall as she cried about the future that they never received.
It had been a couple months after she told her friends of their relationship. They slowly forgave her, one by one. Ginny was first, then Ron, and finally Harry. It was nice to have their approval, but she knew it really wouldn't amount to anything. None of them had seen Draco since the war. Even the Ministry didn't know of his whereabouts, which Harry was able to investigate. She still didn't give up hope.
It was another lovely day as she headed to work. Morning strolls helped her to clear her mind and focus on what she needed to accomplish while at work. When her mobile rang, she stopped to check the caller ID.
"Ginny, what's up?"
"Oh, Hermione, have I mentioned how much I hate being a housewife?"
She chuckled as she continued on her walk. "Only about a million times a day. Who did what this time?"
"That Greengrass witch has it out for me, I swear! Her children are always so prim and proper and she keeps sniffing her nose at me in what I wear. Who cares if I want to drop my children off while wearing sweatpants? I'm exhausted, for Merlin's sake!"
The crowds thinned as she meandered across the street into an empty plaza. "Oh, Ginevra, I'm sure you could handle-"
She gasped, her heart pounding at the figure only ten meters away from her. It was Draco. He was standing there, looking the same as he always had. Her eyes hungrily drank in his appearance. He wore a pristine white shirt and black slacks, both looking as if he bought them moments ago. His platinum locks glinted in the sunlight as his silver eyes gazed across the square to her.
"Oh my gosh," she breathed out, rooted at the spot.
"What? What's going on? Hermione? Hermione, answer me!" She ignored Ginny, fixing her gaze on him. Her arm fell to her side and she dropped her mobile.
"Hermione." His voice. It was the same. He looked just as she remembered him. She took a few shaky steps toward him and stopped. Her anger flared up.
"Where the hell have you been?" she demanded angrily, as years of pent up frustration flowed through her. "You…you…you disappeared! You stopped talking to me. You refused to even look at me! And then years of no word about where you were. You could have died and I would have known nothing!" Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "I spent nights worrying about what happened to you. I thought maybe Voldemort killed you. Harry couldn't even find out where you were and he works in the Auror department-"
"Hermione, you are hyperventilating." Suddenly he was closer, wiping the tears off of her cheeks.
She blinked up at him, soaking in his attention. "But you're here. You're here. How is that even possible?"
"If you give me forever, I will explain everything."
"What makes you think I'll even give you a minute?"
His eyes dropped from hers. She raised a brow as she followed his gaze. He found the necklace she wore, the lion pendant resting in the palm of his hand. "You still have this."
She heaved a sigh and rubbed a hand across her eyes. "Forever is a long time."
"Let's start again. Please, at least give me that."
"Fine. One chance." She smiled as a mischievous glint shone in her eyes. "But I know someone who won't be happy to see you." She giggled as she walked over to pick up her mobile, Draco trailing after her.
"Hermione, you know that cat hates me!" his voice called out after her as he rushed to join her. "You know he was the one that destroyed my Potions essay in fifth year."