A/N : This is a story I wanted to write for quite a while. Hope you enjoy.
And do let me know whether you liked it or no. If you have any suggestions, feel free to share.
Thanks in advance for reading and lotsa love. xx
Big shout out to my beta MargaeryB for re-editing all the chapters x
|: :| Rediscovered |: :|
By Ruselly Adita
Three years after the Second Wizarding War.
The young golden trio wasn't young anymore. The war changed many things but mostly the relationships. Because of the war, Ron and Hermione grew closer. But, their different characteristics caused a lot of ups-and-downs in their relationship. Ron's jealousy and his tendency to make issues out of everything, and Hermione's dominating nature caused their relationship to be called off. It was bitter but with time, they mended their friendship.
Harry and Ron started working as aurors a year ago after finishing their auror trainings. Hermione began her career at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures where she was instrumental in greatly improving life for house elves and their ilk.
It was a trip to Hogsmeade to celebrate Hermione's birthday. Her twenty-second birthday. Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting at a new restaurant called "Plaisir de l'estomac" that was owned by their friend Padma.
The birthday girl was dressed in a beautiful V necked, spaghetti strapped, sleeveless, backless and ankle length pink gown. Hermione had done a loose side braid which was falling over her left shoulder. She looked absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. The trio had glasses of Pinot Noir in front of them on the table.
The boys, or should we say young men, were talking about their own assignments in the auror department and their boss who had kicked the bravery out of them. Although Hermione was the brightest and calmest one, she too, fussed about how much paperwork she had to push. The three had a little chat with Padma after having their dinner. They complimented the food and atmosphere of the restaurant.
After bidding goodbye to each other, they walked out of the restaurant. Harry and Ron were heading towards the apparition point when Hermione noticed something unusual. She thought that she had had a glimpse of Draco, going behind a small hut nearby. She frowned, feeling suspicious. She wanted to know what he was up to. Not wanting to bother Harry and Ron who were already worried about their work issues, she let them apparate away.
After both the boys, well, young men were out of sight, Hermione swiftly followed the path Draco walked on a while ago. She reached the hut, hiding herself as much as possible. She peeped from the side of the hut to trace Draco but he wasn't there. She moved further and went inside the forest. It was dark and Hermione had forgotten to bring her wand so she narrowed her eyes, wishing to get her eyes used to the darkness to see something or some movements. As her dress was touching the ground and preventing her from walking quietly, she pulled her dress up a little and moved on. Suddenly, she saw a hazy figure in the dark that was doing something with a wand. Perhaps he was performing a curse on something, she thought. She walked closer to see and what she saw from behind a tree shocked her. It was Draco. There were four house-elves in front of him and they were covered in wounds. He moved his wand over their bodies and healed their wounds.
Hermione was in dilemma. She wondered what he was up to. The Draco she knew back in school wouldn't give a damn about anyone but himself. But she also hadn't met him after the war. Maybe he had grew up? It was more of a question she was asking herself. After a few minutes, the elves were all healed and Draco brought something out of his pocket. Socks. He handed one sock to each of them. "He's freeing the elves!" Hermione gasped in surprise.
"You're free now, alright? Now listen to me, I'm not your master anymore. This isn't even an order but just go away. And if you still want to serve, wait until everything in the Manor is back to normal," he said to the elves. They nodded as they had understood what he said. "Yes master!" they said in unison. Hermione was surprised to see this scenario in front of her.
"It can't be Malfoy," she muttered under her breath. "Whoever he is, he must have had Polyjuice potion."
By then, the house-elves had disappeared with several 'pops'. He swished and flicked his wand at a tree, made a small hole and kept a box in it. He put a safety charm around the tree and then turned back to get out of the forest. He looked around to see if anyone was there. Hermione hid herself behind the tree as he moved. He went to the other side of where she was standing. She peeped her head out from a side of the tree. Out of nowhere, she felt something cold and pointy on her shoulder from behind and shivered. Swiftly, she averted her face to the right and found a familiar figure standing, pointing his wand towards her.
"Oh look who's here. The-golden-girl Granger. What are you doing here at this hour, dressed like -" he paused to find the proper adjective and decided not to complete the sentence. Instead he said, "What are you doing here Granger?"
"I don't need to answer to you, Malfoy. And what if I ask you the same question? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at...well, anywhere but here right now, isn't that correct?" she said in her I-am-the-wittiest tone.
"Watch it, Granger. I also don't need to answer to you, alright?" he grounded and narrowed his eyes. "Are you...following me?" he said after observing her for few seconds.
Hermione waited for a second before answering him. She was following him but she said, "Why on earth would I follow you? I have more important things to do in my life than following you."
Draco was irritated by now. He held her arm roughly and hissed, "Don't act smart with me. I know you were following me. Where are your flunkies hiding anyway?" he grounded. "Potter? Weasley? Come out. I've got your precious know-it-all. Come out this instant or I'll hex her right away."
"For heaven's sake, Malfoy, they're my friends and not flunkies. Besides, none of them are here. So just unhand me, you jerk." she jerked out of his grip.
"What are you doing here then? Spill it, or I swear I'll hex you, Granger," he pointed his wand at her again and she cursed herself for forgetting her wand in her purse at Padma's private room back in the restaurant.
She sighed. "Alright," she spoke. "I was following you."
"Oh you bloody-" he was cut off by her words. "Listen to me first. I thought you were up to something bad. I just wanted to know. And I saw what you did a while ago."
"What did you see?" he frowned.
"That you healed those wounded elves and freed them," she said. Draco looked furious. Hermione raised her hand and moved his wand away from her front. "Look, I apologise for sneaking after you and, well, I won't tell anyone what I saw. Trust me on this." He was still frowning at her, looking disgusted and disbelieving. She noticed the look as he had already casted the wand-lighting charm and a faint light spread from the tip of his wand.
"Trust me, Malfoy."
"Fine!" he said. "I can't believe I'm doing this. But don't you dare to say this to a soul, especially Potter and Weasel."
"I won't," she assured him.
He started walking out of the forest but Hermione called for his attention from behind him, "Why did you free them, by the way?" He averted his face slightly.
"What?"
"The elves, of course."
Draco turned completely, facing her. "Look, you don't always have to know EVERYthing, alright? There are things that you should stay away from. Things like me and my life. Do you get that?" he hissed. "Now let me go." He turned back again and she said, "I'm not stopping you."
"Yes, you are," he grounded. "Can't you just shut your mouth for a minute? Don't call for me behind me."
Hermione reached him by then and said, "I'm not calling you."
"Yes, you are," he yelled.
While they were talking, lightning flashed, thunder roared and a strong wind started blowing. The suddenness of the incident shocked them both and they covered their faces.
"Merlin's beard! What's going on?" she yelled.
"Haven't you read about it in the paper, Granger? It's been all over the Prophet last week. A magical storm. How the fuck did I forget about it?" he exclaimed.
"Shut up, you- " He interrupted, "You shut up, Granger and follow me."
"I can't see. Something went into my eyes," she rubbed her eyes with her fists. Draco held her elbow lightly and led her to the hut nearby. The door was locked. He pointed his wand at the lock and said, "Alohomora." The door opened. They went inside swiftly and closed the door again from the inside. Soon it started raining heavily.
"Well, I don't have time to read the newspaper. Would you tell me what's with this storm? I've never read nor heard of it!" she requested.
"Considering that you're the brightest witch of our age, you should know about this," he mocked and used the wand-lighting charm again. "But as you're clearly not as bright as they say, I shall enlighten you. It's a magical storm. The raindrops that are falling from the sky right now can drain your magic. It's said that one can turn into a squib if they stay in the storm for longer than five minutes."
He turned to look at her and found her still rubbing her eyes. He frowned and walked to her.
"Need help?" he asked.
"If it's not a trick then yes."
"Is there a spell to fix your eyes?"
"I'm sure there is but I don't know about it."
He shook his head. "The Hermione Granger doesn't know a thing! I can't believe it!" He gasped in mock horror and Hermione frowned at him.
"Fine! Let me help you. But I swear to Merlin if you tell this to anyone..." He went near her, moved her hands from her eyes and blew softly into her eyes. They were standing close and she found it very intimidating so she took a few steps back which made him frown. She rubbed her eyes one last time and looked around. She saw the fireplace in the faint light spreading from the tip of Draco's wand.
"Light a fire in the fireplace, Draco. It's too dark in here," she said.
"Who the hell are you to order me?" he hissed, not noticing her use of his first name. "I was about to do that myself." Finishing the sentence, he pointed his wand at the fireplace and set the fire. She looked at him, disgusted.
What she felt for him was odd. One second ago, he was this person who was almost caring but in the next second, he was being the usual Malfoy-git. She was attracted to the git, that charming git. But she was also wary of him. She was cautious around him because of their rough past.
Draco was appointed as the head of The Department of Mysteries after he finished his N.E.W.T.s. He and Hermione came across each other every now and then because of their employment in the same ministry building, but he usually tried to ignore her presence. And although he had established a truce with Harry and Ron, Ron and Draco were nothing near polite yet to each other. They could hardly tolerate one another. But, Hermione often felt like there was something more between her and Draco. She didn't exactly know what it was, but at times when he thought that she wasn't looking, she felt him gazing at her so intensely that shivers went down her spine.
A soft, faint light spread from the fireplace. The light fell on their faces and when Draco turned his face toward her, he saw her unprecedented beauty. Hermione sat on the couch adjacent to the fireplace. She ran her fingers through her curls as her loosely done braid fell apart and brushed a wisp of hair away from her face.
Draco never wanted to torment her, make her cry or be rude to her but he had to. He had no other choice. Sometimes it was out of jealousy, his fear of his father, the pureblood-prejudice, the dark lord or her closeness with Weasley. Everything. Everything made him do all that to her. What started as infatuation grew with time and turned into something stronger. Something pure and it was not at all just physical attraction. Although he knew that it was something more, he could never unfold that to her, or to anyone.
Now that his father was back home from Azkaban after two and a half years, he was practically insane, magicless and under house arrest. Draco's duty as a son and an heir had increased. His father was the one who almost killed the house elves with his bare hands. He attacked Narcissa and injured her badly. Draco had to protect his mother, again. Lucius became more dangerous compared to when he still had magic. Draco had no time to think for himself now, at least until his father's death. As cruel as it sounded, he wanted nothing to do with his father anymore.
Draco didn't want to stare at her but her indefinable beauty made him look at her without blinking. Suddenly, Hermione noticed that he was staring at her. She felt a deep sense of shyness and embarrassment.
"I can't believe I am stuck with Potter's bookworm in this shaggy place." He walked towards Hermione and leaned himself against the couch she occupied.
"As if I'm dying to be with you, Malfoy," she frowned and added, "Why don't you want anyone to find out about your elves?"
"That's NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, alright?" he grounded out, looking at her. "I thought it was the best thing to do, for now. That's it."
"I was just asking!" she exclaimed. "Why do you need to raise your voice for everything? Besides, no one's here to see your manliness," she shrugged. "By the way," she paused, "It was nice, seeing the sensitive side of you. I've never thought that I would see Draco Malfoy like that."
"Did Weasel pay you to embarrass me or something? Stop talking about it." He shook his head.
It seemed strange that they could actually talk like normal people, except for the taunting-each-other-every-now-and-then part. But, it wasn't the usual thing from school. It wasn't being mean. Only pure sarcasm.
"I wish I could just apparate or use the floo network to get home but, ugh!" she muttered under her breath and laid her head back, on the edge of the couch so that her head was tilted to one side.
"These huts were warded during the war to protect the residents from unexpected attacks. It's a miracle we could even get in," Draco said.
Draco looked at her in awe with the corner of his eyes. She looked really different from her usual self. She averted her face to see him and caught him looking at her when he thought she couldn't see him. She stood up and walked closer to the fireplace. Draco cleared his voice and averted his eyes.
Is there something special happening today?" he wanted to know.
"Why?" she replied with another question.
"You seem to look different," he said honestly. "Nice, actually."
It was still storming. The wind gusted again and again outside and the glass of the windows were trembling due to the strong wind. Hermione walked to the windows and gazed out through the glass windows, watching the nature turned wild. Draco was sitting in the same place as he was before.
"It's my birthday," she replied with a decent smile.
"Is it?" he asked. "Great. Happy birthday, Granger."
Hermione was surprised. She turned back to look at him and said, "Thanks! But, since when have you started being so nice to mudbloods?" she raised one eyebrow.
"I stopped using that term quite a few years back if you can recall," he frowned. It was clear that he was getting angry but within a few seconds, he composed himself and added, taunting, "Now you have a problem that I'm being nice to you. If you haven't noticed ,Granger, I stopped being a git to you a very long time ago. Looks like your redhead friend has affected you a lot."
"Now that sounds like the Malfoy I know," she laughed and said seriously, "And please, he has a name. It's Ron and the name is rather nice." A few seconds later, she added, smirking, "I really don't understand what's with you and Ron. Sometimes I feel like there's sexual tension between you two".
"Shut it, woman. I'm NOT attracted to Weasel. He's insufferable," Draco was on his feet and Hermione was again looking outside, laughing silently. He looked at her from a distance.
"Do you know, Granger? You're not as bad as I thought, just a bit haughty but otherwise you're nice," he said.
"Well, that came out unexpectedly. Wow! Uh.. thanks, Draco," she replied.
She discovered that this was a different Draco. He was neither the mean one from school nor the indifferent one from the ministry. Someone entirely different. All of a sudden, a thought crossed her mind that the mean guy from school was who he was because of his father, Lucius Malfoy. She still remembered that particular class in her third year when Draco's boggart turned into his father.
"Draco, eh?" he raised one eyebrow. "Since when are we on first-name-based?"
"Why are you always so mean to me? Well, not mean per se. Indifferent, sarcastic. You have even established a truce with Harry and sort of tolerate Ron. But why not with me?" she asked, not responding to his smirks.
"Like I said ,Granger. You don't always need to know everything," he told her gently.
"Oh!" she didn't know what else to say.
"Never mind. Like i said before, I'm not attracted to that redhead, alright?" he said, moving a bit closer to her. They were talking comfortably but still she hesitated because they were never very friendly to each other. He seemed cool, though.
"Well, I think I can trust you on this based on the rumours I heard about you in school," she smiled.
"What are they about?"
"They are about you and Astoria," she smiled. Her face was void of any emotions.
"That was . . . well, it was just bloody teenage curiosity. A stupid one, if I'm being honest," he mumbled.
"Why is it stupid?" she grinned.
"I was imagining someone else in her place," he sighed.
"That's harsh ,Malfoy!" Hermione exclaimed. "How could you do that?"
"I admit I was an arse. But in my defence, she knew and didn't complain."
Hermione was quiet for a few moments and then she spoke.
"Can you believe we're having a heart to heart conversation?" she laughed.
"Crazy, huh?" Draco joined her too.
"I didn't realise it before, but you've changed in the past years. In a good way, of course."
"Maybe it's because we don't know each other that well. Are you liking this?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Liking what?" she too, raised her eyebrow.
"This whole thing. Being stuck with me in this dark room."
"Well, it's not that bad after all. Besides, it's just for one night," she replied and brushed her hair from her neck, settling them over her left shoulder. He was behind her and surprisingly, staring at her bare back. He urged to touch her but snapped out of his thoughts when he heard her talking,
"People often aren't what they look like, are they?"
"Maybe, maybe not. It depends, Granger." She heard him but she couldn't see his expressions as she was staring at the flames of the fireplace subconsciously.
"Depends on what, Draco?" she mumbled. He didn't want to reply but after a few seconds of silence ,he said, "Where you're born, your mistakes in the past, whether you are brave enough or perhaps whether you are ready to listen to your heart and accept the consequences."
Every answer from Draco astonished her more. He was so deep inside. Hermione looked at him and she could see a mild trail of sadness on his face. She walked closer to him, keeping the distance by a few inches and tried to look into his eyes. Draco sighed and turned his back toward her.
"You can tell me what's bothering you. I won't judge or tell anyone. You don't have a bad heart, you know," Hermione whispered.
"You want to be my friend?" he whispered too, not looking at her. The atmosphere inside the hut became intense at once.
"Maybe. If you just, let me know you."
"You know me ,Granger. Besides, why do you want to know? You don't even like me," he turned around and walked past her, toward the window. He punched the glass of the window aggressively but, thankfully it didn't break.
"I didn't know you then, but I think I started to figure you out within less than two hours. You're not bad, are you?" She didn't wait for his reply and moved closer to him. Hermione had no idea what she was doing but Draco found it intimidating. She stood by his side and touched the other side of his face to made him look at her. "No, right?" she smiled.
His face moved down toward hers. Their noses touched and she could feel his warm breath. Draco's hand was on her shoulder and she turned her face so her back was toward him. He touched her bare back lightly, as if she was made out of glass and she moaned, closing her eyes. Draco teased her by touching her bare back all over softly, causing her to feel ticklish and she flinched. His hands were now holding her arms.
Standing behind Hermione, he gently nibbled her neck. The action sent ticklish chills down her spine. Draco was so close to her that her bare back could feel his body touching hers. She turned around and found him so close that another shiver went down her spine and rested her eyes on his face which was getting closer every second. Hermione could see the truth in his eyes, his regrets; Draco, on the other side,felt that he could be himself for the first time ever in his life without pretending to be the mean Malfoy he displayed himself to be.
He leaned over and kissed her softly. Once, twice and the third time his kiss was demanding, seeking entrance in her mouth. Thunders roared again and she gasped. Her lips parted and their tongues met. They kissed each other fervently.
When they parted, she slowly brushed her lips across his cheek, nose and near his lips. He kissed her again and she responded slowly. When they were in need of air, they parted. She was nervous and walked nearer to the fireplace. He too, walked across the room and faced her. He put his hands on her shoulder and slid them down, feeling every inch of her arms and put them around her waist. Draco kissed Hermione on the frontal side of her neck. Hermione, who was breathing heavily, twisted herself around and her bare back was facing him again. He bit the intersection of her neck and shoulder, causing Hermione to titter softly. She swiftly walked towards a column and stood there holding it with both of her hands. He approached and continued kissing and biting on her neck and earlobes. Hermione flinched at the touches of his lips. She had never come across such feelings.
She held his hand which was on her right shoulder and put it around her waist ,she touched his face with her left hand, not facing him. Touching her finger tips, Draco slowly slid his free hand down her armpit to her waist and softly caressed her stomach. Moaning out a sigh, she turned towards him and put her hands on his chest. He cupped her face kissed the front side of her neck and brushed his lips up to her cheek. Hermione was dazed, confused but she also wanted to be close to him. Both of them were completely mesmerized by each other. His kisses made her skin feel weak.
Draco lifted Hermione in his arms and walked to the couch. Hermione draped her hands around his neck and he put her on the couch. Lying above on her, he pinned her hand above her head and put his other hand on her waist. Her free hand fell on the floor. They were close. Really close. Feeling each other from their hearts. Draco nibbled on her ears and cheeks. Hermione was shivering out of pleasure. He lifted his weight from her and took off her dress, touching every part of her while undressing her.
As the excitement rose, he pushed himself into her. She flinched and let out an anguished cry. Hermione clutched her fist and her chest heaved. She took heavy breaths. Draco kissed her lips softly to calm her down. He knew it was painful for her but he didn't want to let go of her. Continuing the kiss, he pushed himself in and out. Her anguished cries turned into the ones of pleasure.
Soon, she felt an immense pleasure flooding her senses. He gave her a last kiss on her lips, moved faster and came in her. For a few minutes, they laid in the same position. He then removed himself off the top of her. He raised his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, she snuggled up against him and his hand wrapped around her on the cosy couch. A smile curved on their lips in satisfaction and comfort. After a while, they dosed off.