So here's a little oneshot that I wrote not too long ago, a very big thank to southernmuggle on wattpad for going over this for me.
Eyes. That's what he saw. A rich dark brown looking into the transparency of his grey.
It was brief at the most, but he saw it, and it felt like she saw straight through him. She saw his hesitancy to walk across the courtyard, to his own kind, and to seal his fate even more so than before.
He expected to see the hatred he often saw from her, the coldness in her regular brown eyes but saw something more as he glanced once more; her eyes were mingled with curiosity and, to his surprise, sadness, it seemed. He didn't really care if he was being honest with himself, he didn't need her pity. But there was something about those eyes that he would remember, and would continue to run through his head even after this godforsaken war was over.
He saw those eyes again as he sat on his trial, he had scanned the crowd and had almost immediately locked eyes. She had looked at him with an expression he couldn't decipher, and he had that same feeling he had when she looked at him during the final battle, the same feeling of her looking straight through him. He quickly looked away and saw the Wizengamot filing into the room, and soon enough his trial started.
By the end of it, he was sure that he was going to be having a lovely family reunion with his parents in Azkaban when the Wizengamot called another name. He snapped his eyes up to see her walking to face the new Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"State your name, please," the Minister asked. "Hermione Granger."
He was free. Well not quite, he had house arrest for the next six months, but nonetheless, he was free, and he supposed that Granger had been the one to sway the Wizengamot not to put him in Azkaban. He had sat stalk still in his chair in the courtroom, stunned by their verdict. There was a flurry of movement throughout the room, mostly reporters and people outraged that he wasn't going to rot along with his parents. He thought he had stopped breathing, the sounds around him muffled by the blood rushing through his head.
He slowly turned his head and caught her gaze, she held it for a moment and quirked an almost imperceptible smile towards him before turning around to answer a question from a reporter, from The Prophet, most likely.
He decided at that moment that her eyes weren't the dirty brown he had thought for so long, but something a little nicer, something intriguing, but they were definitely more than brown.
His six months of hell in that cold dark manor were finally up, and he decided he would venture out to Diagon Alley to get a few new books. It was a bold move to be out so openly like he was, and he knew it, he was even slightly nervous by it. But he wanted new books for his flat that he bought as soon as his house arrest was up, and nobody was going to stop him. Maybe the shopkeep, but the point was still there.
He was looking through the potions section at Flourish and Blotts when he spotted her. Her hair wild, cheeks red from the winter chill, and those eyes standing out above everything else. He refocused his attention to the book in his hands and moved to another section so she wouldn't see him.
He wanted to thank her, it was going to kill his pride to do so, but he didn't think he could do it at that moment. Draco was too lost in his thoughts that he didn't see her come into the same row as him. She studied him for a moment; he was clearly thinking about something quite hard while clutching a book about hippogriffs. She gave a small laugh which caught his attention, she just shook her head and reached for a book next to his head. "I didn't think you quite cared for hippogriffs, Malfoy," she said and motioned her head to the book in his hands at his look of confusion.
He breathed a small 'oh' and put the book back in its place before he said: "no, you're right on that." He turned to her, those grey eyes peering at her, giving everything away. He wanted to say something, she could tell.
"Granger, I-" He started to say a bit nervously before she cut him off. "I know Malfoy," she said as she stared at him. She knew, of course she knew what he was going to say, his eyes were filled to the brim with what looked like an apology and the need to thank her. 'He's always been so transparent, so easy to read; you just need to look,' she thought.
They just stared at one another for a minute, taking in each other's features, letting the silence fill the space between them before Draco broke their gaze and gave a quiet laugh. He shook his head and asked, "Weasley isn't going to come over here hex me into next year for talking to you right?" Hermione let out a hearty laugh which earned her a scolding from the shopkeeper and got her laughing under control before she responded "no, you're fine Malfoy. I'm his best friend; he'd earn more than a hex from me if he were to do that."
He noticed her eyes were bright with mirth and he could see small flecks of honey color in her eyes 'definitely more than brown' he thought.
"Best friend?" Draco asked tentatively. Hermione nodded and said: "yes, despite what the papers may say. Why? Interested?" He flushed before she waved him off with a laugh. He shook his head before speaking, "I really am grateful, Granger. And before you cut me off again, I want to apologize, it may not mean a whole lot, but I am sorry...for everything." She smiled at him and replied with a smile in her voice "I know, but I accept your apology, and there's no need to thank me. I think I need to go though; Ginny is supposed to be waiting for me at Florean Fortescue's."
"Ice cream in this weather?" Draco asked as she started to walk to pay for her books. "They have great cocoa," Hermione called over her shoulder with a small smirk "bye Malfoy."
He just shook his head and continued his search for some new books.
It was another few weeks before he saw her again, she was bundled up in her Gryffindor scarf while tugging along what looked to be Christmas presents through a crowded Diagon Alley. He decided that he should help her and walked over to her and said: "you know you can do magic right? Shrink all that?"
She whipped her head around to the direction of his voice and rolled her dark eyes. "Yes, I know. I guess it just slipped my mind, brightest witch of her age can't be bright all the time you know." She said with mock derision. He laughed and took out his wand and shrunk the bags and packages for her, she slipped them into her pockets and turned fully to him, taking him in, he had a nice smile that lit up his eyes, she quite liked that. "I think the cold is getting to you," Draco said thoughtfully "care to get some cocoa? Get that brain of yours working again?"
She quirked an eyebrow at him; she could see in his eyes that he was a little apprehensive. Hermione nodded at him finally and responded: "Good idea, can't have you being smarter than me, can we?" "No, definitely not" was his response as he offered her his arm which she took and started walking towards the ice cream parlor.
He quite liked her company when they weren't arguing over this or that; he thought as he laid in bed that night. It was the most enjoyment he had had in years, and he wanted to continue that streak, so he asked her for lunch the following week to which she agreed, much to his surprise. He felt a small surge of happiness, he was trying to change, and he was even more thankful to her that she could see that.
After their lunch date the next week, many more followed along with dinners and, over a long period of time, breakfasts in a flat of their own. It was a surprise to everybody, of course, even a bit to them, but they were happy. He got to see her read in bed at night and be such a different person than he saw her as at Hogwarts and come to love her as well. And most of all, study those eyes that captivated him from the first time he took notice of them on that battlefield. And she, in turn, got to experience the side of Draco Malfoy that no one else saw. She got to see him look at her with adoration and love in his grey eyes, be so incredibly kind it melted her heart, and that's when she knew. When she truly knew she was in love with him.
And she could tell he felt the same when she looked into his eyes.
And before they knew it, time went by in a blur. He put a ring on her finger and saw the happiness that poured through her depthless eyes. There was a winter wedding in there too, where they were competing to show who was happier that they would finally be married. And then came the news of the pregnancy. The bets on who the baby would look like, would it have platinum blonde or dark brown hair? Look more like Hermione or Draco? Have grey eyes or brown? Harry had commented once that "maybe the kid will get lucky and have green eyes like its favorite uncle." The couple wasn't pleased with that comment, to say the least. And then came the day of when Scorpius Orion Malfoy came into the world.
He had the shock of bright blond hair like his father, but his mothers captivating eyes. When Hermione had found that out, she would have done a little dance if she wasn't so exhausted, but she resolved to gloat about it to Draco and just about anybody who came into the hospital room.
Draco had a theory, as he stared into his son's eyes. Dark eyes had so much depth, so much hidden in them, so much to be found, and were able to protect their secrets, they were able to hide behind the rich brown of the irises if they wanted to. Whereas light eyes were able to hide nothing, to show everything as if up on a platter to whoever paid attention. Bright eyes held transparency; sure they held depth, as well as most eyes do, but nothing quite as entrancing as dark eyes.
He ran his pointer finger around Scorpius' face and took it all in; he didn't think he had ever been happier. He saw Hermione standing in the doorway of the nursery just watching the two of them with a smile gracing her lips. He was about to say how much he loved her but cut him off before he could even get the words off his tongue. "I love you too," was all she said as she moved to sit on the ottoman in front of him.
"How do you always know what I'm going to say?" Draco asked, still slightly baffled about how she was able to do that.
She leaned forward and looked at their son's sleeping face and turned her eyes up to Draco and said: "your eyes give everything away."
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