Disclaimer: In its use of intellectual property and characters belonging to JK Rowling, Warner Bros, Bloomsbury Publishing, et cetera, this work is intended to be transformative commentary on the original. No profit is being made from this work. Any similarities to other fanfiction stories are completely coincidental.
AN: I am intending to make this story rather long, I already have about 25 pages written out in Word but I wanted to put the first two chapters up. Enjoy!
Hermione's thoughts
Draco's thoughts
Walking down the halls of Hogwarts felt different this year. People avoided me more than normal. I heard all the whispers of people wishing that I was in Azkaban. No one knew what really happened during the war. I wasn't going to beg anyone for their forgiveness though. I hadn't actually committed a crime. I never killed, tortured, or raped anyone. I hadn't even given information to Voldemort. I had just survived being the son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. I was trying to be a better person this year. I was the head of the Malfoy family now. I could make my own rules and redefine the Malfoy name.
My distant cousin was now going to Hogwarts. She was a first year and I was in my final year. She was an only child as well and if I died without an heir, she would inherit the Malfoy estate.
It didn't help that she was the exact opposite of what a Malfoy was supposed to be. Let's just say that she idolized Hermione Granger. Corrine always had her nose stuck in a book while spouting out random knowledge. She would randomly start talking to herself in French throughout the school. She also was never taught how to dress properly or how to take care of her hair. I was never rude to her because she was family, but I didn't go out of my way to be nice. No one knew Corrine's family history so they teased her the same way that I would tease Hermione in our early years. I was obligated to protect her though which frustrated me because the entire school bullied her. Granger defended her which made my job easier.
The school respected Granger; however they were slowly starting to hate her for defending a first year in Slytherin. Granger was also on edge all the time and would take points off for anything. Each house had fewer than one hundred points by the end of the first month of school. Things really got bad when Granger found Potter and Weasley teasing the little girl. I was walking down the corridor when I saw the four of them. Corrine was cowering to the side. Granger was screaming at the boys. I walked up to them and stepped in front of Corrine.
"Get lost, Malfoy," Weasley said when Hermione had taken a breath.
"Not likely, Weasel. I'd rather my cousin leave this argument unharmed."
"She's your cousin? You've been defending a bloody Malfoy since the beginning of the school year, 'Mione? I'm glad we're through now that I know what you truly are!" Ron stormed off with Potter following close behind.
"Ron, wait!" Hermione called but it was too late. She turned to face me and started screaming at me. I didn't understand half of what she said. Eventually she threw her hands up and stormed off.
I looked at Corrine and told her to get to class.
The next day I saw Hermione hunched over in a window seat on the grounds. When I approached I heard her sobbing.
"Mind if I sit next to you?" I asked.
"If you promise not to insult me or call me a traitor like everyone else." She sobbed harder. I sat next to her. I wasn't sure whether to put an arm around her or not. I hated when women cried.
"You stood up for another student, how does that make you a traitor?" Hermione stayed silent. After a minute I started talking again. "I appreciate what you are doing for Corrine. I know that she is different but she is family."
"I didn't know she was your cousin."
"And I know you would have defended her even if you had known." Granger slowly stopped sobbing.
"They all are doing the exact same thing to her that you did to me." She looked at me with pink eyes.
"It did occur to me that you might see it that way. How bad is your common room?"
"The worst because there are no professors there. The girls in my room stripped my sheets and destroyed all my clothing. They shattered the frame that held a picture of my parents." The clock bell chimed, we had thirty minutes until curfew. I sighed.
"Want to escape that shit for a night?" She stared at me. I stood up and offered my hand. She took it and we went down to the dungeons.
"You think the Slytherin common room would be better than the Gryffindor common room?"
"I said nothing about the Slytherin common room, Granger." I smirked looking at her. She looked confused.
"Is it safe?"
"Would you believe me if I said 'yes'?" I raised an eyebrow at her.
"No," she quickly responded.
"Just follow me," I turned and started walking down the hall, she quickly followed after.
We made it down to the dungeons without another word. I saw the entrance to the Malfoy room coming up.
"Now Granger, what do you know about the secret rooms at Hogwarts?"
"There are many, the castle adapts to what is needed. It is thought to have so much magic wound through it that it is almost sentient." I stopped in front of what she thought was a wall. She stood next to me. I grabbed her and pressed her up against the wall. Going in like I was going to kiss her. Her eyes were wide with terror. I lowered my hand to pull out my wand and let my breath out along her neck. My hand holding my wand slowly made its way up her back until the tip of my wand was at the base of her neck. I slowly moved my mouth so it was hovering over her lips. I was far too close to her but I needed her sufficiently distracted.
"Do you trust me, Granger?" I whispered.
"No," her breath was shaky but I could tell she was lying. I whispered the spell and she collapsed. The doors opened as soon as the spell was done. She wouldn't have been allowed in otherwise. Only Malfoy's were allowed into this room. And now that Granger needed a place to hide, she could have it. I picked Granger up and closed the doors behind us. I entered my room and laid her down on the emerald silk sheets of the massive bed that took up nearly the entire wall on the far side of the room. She would be asleep for quite some time. I made my way across the room to my desk and set down my school work. I decided to start with my History of Magic essay.
A few hours later I saw Granger stirring on my bed. "Oh god, where the hell am I? Oh, my head." She slowly sat up with one hand on her head. I was coming out of the washroom when she woke up. I had taken my shirt and shoes off a while ago to get more comfortable.
"When did you get a tattoo, Malfoy?" She asked groggily.
"The bloody thing on my arm? Sixth year, you know that Granger." Amnesia wasn't supposed to be part of the side effects of the spell. I started walking toward the desk.
"No, the giant dragon on your back."
"What?" I stopped moving.
"Yeah, it's a black dragon with its claws digging in your skin. It takes up half of your back." My eyes grew wide and I flew to the book case.
"No, no, no. It was only supposed to print on you, not me." I mumbled quickly. I was flipping through books madly and tossing books behind me when I discovered they were useless. I finally found what I wanted and sunk to the floor. "No." The book slipped out of my hands, onto the ground, still open to the page I was reading. Granger came up and picked it up. I felt so stupid. I had never cast a spell without thinking about what could go wrong. I had barely done the spell wrong, but the change was drastic.
Granger slowly sat down on the bed, reading. Her mouth dropping the more she read. And then she ran to the bathroom, leaving the book on the bed. My head snapped in the direction of the slammed door. I heard her yelp and then start crying. I went over and opened the door.
She was down to her bra and had a giant dragon on her back. The dragon's wings were spread across her shoulder blades like it was flying up her back. I finally saw my dragon in the mirror. Our tattoos varied only slightly. They were the same style and the same color, both European dragons. However mine looked mean and possessive where hers looked comforting and protective. I sat down on the floor leaning against the wall next to Granger.
"I'm sorry, I messed the spell up. I was only trying to give you a piece of me so you could find this room. I didn't mean to… to…"
"Claim me!" She looked at me with anger in her eyes. It hit both of us like a train. I was overwhelmed, I could hear all her thought and feel everything she was feeling. I had access to all her memories, I saw her at her best and at her worst. I saw Bellatrix torture her again and I grabbed her and held her. It took her by surprise at first but then she crumbled and was clinging to me and shaking. I could tell she was going through my memories as well.
"I had no idea you went through all of that." She said to my chest.
"Yeah, my childhood was wonderful." Her hands traced a scar on my chest that I had always claimed had been from quidditch.
"How could your mother just look away and let him do that?"
"She knew I deserved it."
"You didn't." She looked up at me and I looked at her with confusion. "You were a child. You were not a disappointment."
"I am sorry about all the horrible things I used to do to you. I had no idea how bad it affected you." I know why you did it now.
"What?"
"I'll give you a psychology book to read." I felt her pulling the information out of a segment of her brain.
"No need, you just sort of told me all about the topic." We sat there for a while, exploring the others mind. I held her tight while she clung to me. I didn't know how to feel about someone knowing all my secrets.
"Is there a countercurse?" Hermione asked.
"Not to my knowledge. Connection spells aren't supposed to be undone. It is similar to the marriage bond."
"So we are married?"
"We might need to look at the laws to see the classification. If we are, it might make our lives a little more complicated." Why did I have to screw up? I can't do anything right even when I am trying to be a good person. Hermione sighed. Her first instinct was to argue but she didn't know what to say.
"Why don't we go to bed and deal with this tomorrow?" She moved out of my lap and retrieved her shirt. "Do you have anything I can wear for bed?"
"Maybe a large jumper? I don't exactly stock female night gowns in my room." The Slytherin sex god doesn't have trophies from his conquests? Those are in the drawer next to the jumpers. Hermione opened the drawer that I indicated and gasped. True they weren't nightgowns but I still had a large number of trophies. Are these sorted in some particular way? Yes, closest to the top is the most recent conquest. Granger quickly closed that drawer. I didn't need to know about those. Well, you were going to find out eventually, not like you are going to do anything about them. I left the bathroom and slipped under the covers of the bed while Granger went in to get changed. I turned out the light. Granger pointedly looked away from her body the entire time so I couldn't see her naked body. She slipped into the other side of the bed as soon as she was done. We both fell asleep thinking about the next day.