Author Note: Sooo, I seemed to get some great response on the one shot, and I can't even tell you how wonderful that was to wake up to I basically know where I want this story to go, and I promise I won't give up on it. I honestly don't know how many chapters it will be yet. The time period is Half Blood Prince, but of course, seeing as this is my story, things will happen differently! Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, however, I do have a gorgeous replica of Snape's wand.
He saw her there, bathed in sunlight. Standing just by the lake, attempting to skip stones. She was standing alone, glowing. He wanted to look away, but he couldn't. All he had been seeing lately were the dark realities of the impending war. No matter where he was, or who he was with, it was always dark. And yet, there she stood, soaking in the sun, she was light.
There was no surprise when she caught him staring, he wasn't exactly hiding it. Instead of the usual hateful glare that he had come to expect from the golden trio of wonder, she gave him a smile. It took him an embarrassing amount of time to realize just what an amazing gift that was.
As she made her way over to him, his palms began to sweat. Not out of fear of anyone seeing them, more that he was afraid of her seeing him.
He couldn't help but pick up on the little things in her walk, the way her body flowed as she made her way to his side. It was strange to feel that no insult was on the tip of his tongue. For the first time he was seeing that maybe blood wasn't dirty. Something as light as her, no, maybe there wasn't anything wrong with her blood. Maybe it was his blood that was wrong.
"You were staring Malfoy."
"Yes, yes I was Granger."
"Why?"
"Because you're beautiful." His answer came swiftly, and he couldn't fathom why it didn't occur to him to lie to her.
She looked at him, the shock evident in her eyes although she was trying to keep a straight face. "Are you alright Malfoy?"
"I'm just fine Granger. But I do know that there is a war coming, and very soon I may not have the opportunity to say these things. So, seeing you there, covered in sun, you looked so beautiful. And here you are, standing in the shade with me, yet you still look so beautiful."
"This is not a side of you that I'm used to."
"Well, I guess I'm just too tired to insult you."
And that's when she really noticed it. The bags under his eyes, how his already thin frame and gotten so much smaller. It hurt her to see, not because of some long standing crush, or something as silly as that, but because he was human. And she knew there was good in him.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Why on earth would I want to talk about it with you?"
"Because I expect nothing from you. My life isn't in your hands, I'm not part of anything to do with what you're doing. I'm the perfect person to talk to."
"As usual Granger, you know everything before everyone else. But do you really think this is a great place to talk?"
"It's really not."
And with that she grabbed his hand and ran with him back to the castle. He was smiling as they blurred past a few first year Hufflepuffs. Her laughter was ringing sweetly through the halls as they stopped at a door. And he knew where they were.
The room of requirement. Part of him wanted to run away, he knew what he was always stuck with when he went in there, but of course, logic told him, the room was what she would want, not him.
After opening the door, she gestured for him to follow. When he stepped inside it looked almost like a common room. Both of their house colours hung proudly around the walls, and there were two plush chair by the fireplace. It was perfect. He should of known then that he would get lost in her.
They took their seats, her legs crossed beneath her, his stretched out before him.
"Now Malfoy, tell me everything."
"This is so strange."
"That's irrelevant."
"It's actually very relevant."
"Malfoy, you need to get some things off of your chest, and I happen to be an excellent listener."
"But why are you listening?"
"Because it's been so long since you've insulted me, or really anyone for so long. And either it's because you're becoming a changed and good man, or it's because your breaking. Judging by your appearance right now, I'm going to go with the latter."
He couldn't believe it. Couldn't even really understand how she noticed these things. But she noticed, and she was here, and she was willing to listen. He knew she may not like what he had to say, but he knew she would listen all the same. Because she was light, and so pure, so good.
"The dark lord has taken over my home. He uses it, and now me. I've been given a task, and I don't know what to do. But I know that if I don't do it, he'll kill my family. But not without a touch of torture first of course. Every day I walk through these halls, I'm haunted by my own reality."
His tears started falling and she couldn't stop herself from wiping them away. He was so lost he didn't notice her standing over him until her gentle finger touched his cheek and she wiped away the offending tears.
Never in his life had he received such a gentle touch, and you could be certain he never thought it would be from her.
"I'm so sorry Dra—Malfoy."
His hands wrapped around her wrists, and he pulled her down into his lap. Wordlessly she wrapped her arms around him and held him. He cried for hours, there was so much on this poor boy. A boy with no choice.
Her hands stroking through his hair, the sound of her breathing, the feel of her heart beat, he couldn't get them out of his head. A week later and he was stuck on her. No matter where he was, he could always find her.
There she would be eating, laughing with her loser friends, or just a flash of her on her way to class. In potions she was just across from him, and he could stare openly without a care. It was torture.
But he understood why she kept her distance, knew that she was protecting him. But she must be going crazy too, right?
Of course she was, but finally she knew what to do.
In potions, the only class they shared together, she pulled out a small piece of parchment, and scribbled down a time, he would know the place. She was nervous as she turned to walk over to his desk, but then she saw him staring and knew that she was making the right choice.
She placed her hand slyly on his desk, leaving a bit of paper behind before retrieving something from a cupboard in back.
His hands were shaking a bit, worried that it was something angry, or that she wanted him to stop staring, because let's be honest, he wouldn't.
But it wasn't, it was a time, no place, but he wasn't an idiot. He liked that she knew that about him.
Their day dragged on, both of them nervous, unsure about the other. Hell, to be fair, they weren't sure about themselves really.
But then she caught sight of him, and knew that in a way now, he may actually need her. It was obvious that he couldn't tell any of his friends what was going on, to them it would seem an honour to be chosen by the dark lord.
That's how she knew he was good, he saw his situation as a curse, and it was devouring him, but she wouldn't let it kill him.
Finally it was eleven. Everyone was asleep, and Hermione was waiting. She was nervous, not normally a rule breaker, but then she saw him coming down the hall and the strangest thought flitted through her.
I would break all of the rules if it meant saving him.
Authors note: I hope you enjoyed, I will be working on chapter soon two and plan to have it up soonish. My plan is to post at least a chapter a week. I'm sorry if that seems slow, but tumblr is well distracting!