A/N: Hey everyone! My first one-shot See You On the Other Side is out! I've always wanted to write a one-shot because, um, no commitment. (Psssstt... if you're from my other stories; read the A/N at the end.) Please tell me what you think of this by leaving a review! I appreciate kind words or constructive criticism, but nothing nasty please x This is a safe place. Anyway, that's enough from my part. Happy reading!
It was bitterly cold, delicate snowflakes cascaded to the almost untouched bed of snow that rested on the frozen ground. The wind whistled a melancholy tune as a shivering witch stood in front of a white tomb surrounded by a rainbow bouquets of flowers, enchanted to last through the chilly season. Hermione Granger knew here presence was dangerous. Albus Dumbledore's tomb was on the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft of Wizardry, once a safe haven for budding witches and wizards, now a warzone.
She didn't have long before she had to leave. Even with her senses heighted, her mind on edge, she found peace in the setting, even if it was a grave. The secluded island on the lake was quiet with the exception of the wind. Usually, there was the hum of the insects and occasional sound of the wildlife present, but in the middle of winter, everything seemed to quiet down. Yet, she knew this was a fool's paradise. Peace was difficult to come by when the wizarding world was in the middle of the world. The surrounding pine trees provided her with a false sense of security and she knew it was rash leaving herself so open on the island, especially with a Death Eater invasion on the horizon.
Hermione appreciated a moment to recollect and pay her respects to her former Headmaster. The Order of the Phoenix had finally been able to retake Hogwarts by driving out the Carrows, Snape and other Death Eaters wandering the corridors. She had finished casting the protective wards on her section of the school's border and decided to take a minute for herself alone. Well, at least she thought she was.
Draco Malfoy loomed in the greenery. He had been sent by the Dark Lord on a reconnaissance mission straight into the Order's territory, essentially a suicide mission, but who was he to argue? After he failed to kill Dumbledore, he wasn't a very valuable asset, and unleashing the Death Eater's into Hogwarts was his only redeeming point, one could say.
It was bloody cold, was his first thought. Now that he wasn't in the thick of the Death Eater action, he found himself bothered over small things, like the weather, rather than what that horrible screaming sound was in the room next door, he thought sourly.
He was thankful for the snow as it masked the sounds of his uneasy footsteps on the island. He could almost sense another person's presence, but he wasn't surprised. He had expected for the Order to be crawling all over Hogwarts and this isolated island wasn't an exception. He heard a voice dangerously closed, in a hurry, he casted a concealment charm over him. He was being too reckless wandering straight into enemy territory, he could almost hear his father calling him barking mad and his mother worrying.
Hermione darted around when she heard the quiet of scuffle of feet behind her. She quickly finished her charm and pulled her shield cloak over her head as well as casting a quick concealment charm. It was fairly basic, but in her quick response, it was better than nothing.
"Revelio," a quiet, male voice called from behind her causing Hermione to jump back and she winced as she felt her concealment charm disappear. She cursed underneath her breath, she could only hope the Death Eater was in a good mood today. She brandished her wand protectively as she whipped her eyes around and scanned her surroundings. Whoever was there didn't seem to want to reveal themselves, yet.
As she stepped away from the direction the voice came from, she noticed a small imprint on the snow. Almost as if two feet were standing there, but how could that be? No one appeared to be standing there.
As Draco watched her eyes trailed downwards to his feet in the snow, he realised his mistake and swore underneath his breath as the witch cried, "Revelio!"
He was taken aback, but by the time his pale face was revealed, he plastered his signature smirk across his lips but in reality, he was nervous. He hadn't expected his opponent to be on high alert. After all, why would a Death Eater return to Dumbledore's grave? The Elder Wand had already been stolen.
"Hypocrite," Hermione said, ending their impromptu staring competition. "Your concealment charm couldn't have even fooled Mrs Norris."
"I could say the same for yours," Draco replied, still pointing his wand towards her, his eyes following her every movement. "Getting sloppy, Granger?" She rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe that they were bantering; two opposite sides in the midst of the war.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, impatiently. She knew she had a job to do, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to hex him. Other unrecognisable Death Eaters in a life-or-death situation she could easily hex, but facing Draco, who she had known for years, the situation felt too personal. Even if they could hardly stand each other's company.
"The same thing as you, I guess," he said with a shrug, as the words left his mouth, even he wasn't quite sure what he meant.
"Getting ready to battle Voldemort and his gaggle of Death Eaters?" she questioned with a raise brow, she didn't miss his jaw suddenly tighten when she spoke Voldemort's name.
"No, smart-ass… serving my side?" he suggested.
"What? Your band of blood-thirsty, discriminative Death Eaters?" she asked, and to her surprise he didn't protest.
"I guess that's one way to put it," he said, a decibel quieter. Hermione's eyes narrowed as she surveyed his body language. She noticed him shifting uncomfortably, his hand gripped on his wand so tight, his knuckles were turning white, which wasn't much of a feat seeing that was almost his natural skin tone. He seemed almost vulnerable, but that wouldn't be quite the word… Sheepish?
"No worries, Granger," he said as she noticed her narrowed eyes scanning up and down his figure. Normally, this would've been the situation for a snide comment, but it didn't seem appropriate. surprisingly. "Go back to casting your little shield charm." Hermione scoffed as she heard him questioning the strength of her 'little shield charm'. She had learnt protego maxima, a somewhat impregnable shielding charm, from Professor Flitwick. She doubted that much could past through it, but Voldemort and his army were certainly on another level.
"It's not going to last, you know?" Draco stated, voicing Hermione's thoughts. "Surely, you know that. Certainly not without it being combined with fianto duri and repello incinium." Hermione paused.
"Why are you telling me this?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"Why aren't you casting it?" Draco countered, and Hermione flushed a deep scarlett.
"W-Well, it's highly advanced. That triad of spell together are not in my skill range," she stammered, embarrassed to admit that she didn't cast it simply because she couldn't. "Anyway, this isn't one of the main entrances into Hogwarts anyway." She clapped her hand over her mouth when she realised she had a revealed a weak spot in their defences. She pulled out her wand, ready to stun him. Before, she hadn't wanted to stun him, but now with the certainty of him relaying the information back to his superior, she couldn't risk the safety of her comrades.
"Woah… getting a bit testy here, aren't we, Granger?" Draco said, taking a step back and lifting his hands up innocently. "I can cast the shield charm for you." His offer was suspicious, Hermione thought. Why would he want to help her side? It would be an indirect betrayal to Voldemort himself.
"And why would you do that?" Hermione questioned, taking a step back but still holding her wand up defensively.
"Let's just say it's part of a debt I owe," he said, with a distant expression, moving her out the way. "Protego maxima. Fianto duri. Repello incinium." Hermione watched in surprise bright bursts of white light expelled from his wand, gathering to spread out around the shield she had originally casted.
"W-What are you-" Hermione began but stopped mid-sentence as a glowing blue stag bounded from behind her. Harry's patronus.
"Hermione. Voldemort and the Death Eaters have gathered near the edge of the shield. They are ready to strike. Return now," Harry's voice echoed from the stag. Hermione's heart pounded in panic. How were the Death Eater's ready to attack already? As her attention was turn back to Draco, he noticed a wild, panicked look in her eyes. Like others, she was scared too of the imminent battle.
"I-I have to go," Hermione stated lamely, and Draco replied with a nod, masking his shock that he hadn't been hexed yet. In all seriousness, he had it coming, being a Death Eater and all. Hermione seemed prepared to leave him standing there without another word, but when she saw the fear in his eyes too, the apprehension of his fate, she paused for a moment.
"You still have a choice, Malfoy," she said softly, her eyes searching for his reaction, but finding his face remaining impassive. "You were a horrible person when you were a boy, but you're not a boy anymore. You still have a chance to do some good for this world."
"I'm not going to survive this war, I know of it," Draco said, a hint of hopelessness in his voice, the sharp features of his face softening only by a fraction. "This the end for me, I have nothing beyond this."
"Then that's more the reason," Hermione said. "If you know you're going to die, why stay faithful to a murderer in the few hours of your life? End with dignity." She finished off with a small, wistful smile.
"I'll see you on the other side," she said as a farewell.
"See you on the other side, Granger," Draco said as she apparated away with a loud crack. For the first time in years, he felt an ounce of hope, perhaps even a touch of courage all with a little conversation with Gryffindor's princess.
It had been about an hour since the battle had ended and Harry had defeated Voldemort. Hermione had expected to feel a huge weight lifted off her shoulders, or her dangerous world to suddenly shift into technicolour, for everything and everyone to seem happier, better, but they had won at a cost. Although she was elated that both of her best friends had made it out not too badly scathed, many members of the Order did not make it through the battle. Watching the Weasley family crouched around the still body of Fred, Tonks and Lupin lying side-by-side, and McGonagall slowly clearly the rubble with her wand, made Hermione feel an unmistakable feeling of loss.
She went to Ron, giving him a comforting one-armed hug. "How are you doing?" she asked. Her eyes were creased with worry and like many times in the past, Ron truly appreciated having a friend like Hermione. Even after they had all gone through so much, she still took the time to look out for him and Harry. It was what they had done since they were eleven; look out for each other, always.
He gave her a small nod, sad smile on his face and she stood up to go look for Harry.
As she walked through the hallways searching for Harry, memories of her years at Hogwarts came flooding back. She thought of the bathroom where she, Harry and Ron had fought a troll together. The Great Hall where she watched Ron eat an inhumane amount of pudding. The quidditch pitch which she had cheered for Harry in the stands. And for the first time since the battle had begun, she let her mind wander off to Draco. She felt silly for thinking about her childhood bully, that horrible boy with his profane mouth. The horrible schoolyard bully that had become a Death Eater. Had he faced his retribution and make a final grasp to redeem himself? She could only hope so.
"Harry," she said, tapping her other best friend on the shoulder. He looked absolutely drained. His clothes were torn and there were still small cuts along his arms and face that were yet to be healed. "I'm going to head off somewhere really quick." Harry wondered where she would be heading off to, but decided not to question her. After all, she had proved countless times that she was capable to defend herself.
"Okay, Hermione," he replied. "I'll see you in a bit?" Giving him a small wave, she disappeared with a crack.
She took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the picturesque setting. She shivered when she felt a gust of frosty air whip past and pulled her jacket tighter over her.
The island was seemingly untouched at first glance, but as she wandered further in, she noticed a haphazard trail of dried blood. She pulled her wand out of her pocket, following the trail stealthily.
The old blood trail led to an opening, specifically, the clearing where Dumbledore's tomb was situated. "Hello…?" Hermione called hesitantly. She doubted that there would be an Death Eaters still on school grounds, but for all she knew, this could be a trap and she was walking straight into the enemy's arms. "Is anyone out there?" She listened for a reply and almost jumped in surprise when she heard a quiet voice from across the clearing.
"Granger, good to see that you made it."
Malfoy.
She couldn't believe that the git had somehow made it through the battle. With everyone at Hogwarts holding a personal vendetta against him, except the Slytherins, of course, she was surprised to see that he hadn't been hexed by a hoard of students.
"Malfoy?" She walked approached the figure closer and stopped in surprise to see he was leaning against a tree, sipping on what she could assume was tea as he held a delicate teacup in his head. "How did you survive?"
"Easy," he said plainly. Pausing to take a sip from a cup before continuing his explanation. "I kept my ground here and guarded the old bat's cave." He gestured to a mound next to the tomb. It was obscured by a table cloth with a similar pattern to the cup he held in his hand.
"What's that?" Hermione asked, confused, and he gestured for her to have a look for herself. Walking closer, she noticed a pungent odour and wrinkled her nose in digust. "It stinks."
I'm not surprised," Draco said, shrugging. Hermione used her wand to levitate the cloth off and almost gagged with what she saw underneath. Motionless bodies clothed in black Death Eater robes piled on top of each other. There were only about two or three, but Hermione dropped the cloth back on in surprise.
"You killed them?" she asked.
"No, Dumbledore woke up from the dead, climbed out of his tomb and slapped the living daylights out of all of them-" at her confused expression, he let out a harsh laugh. "Really? I killed them, I thought that spoke for itself."
"I thought you didn't want to be a murderer," Hermione stated. Unsure by his gesture. It was violent, but very Draco Malfoy.
"An eye for an eye," he said. "Firewhiskey?" he asked, raising his glass to her.
"That's firewhiskey?" she asked, and scoffed.
"After the whole killing people thing, I thought I needed something a bit stronger than earl grey," he said, downing the rest of his glass unceremoniously. "And I was right." Refilling his cup, straight after. "Want some?"
Hermione was offended by his offer, about to protest why he would think she would want to have a drink with him, but her limbs felt limp and she realised that she could do with a drink, on a rare occasion.
"Why not," she said, and Draco raised an eyebrow in shock of her acceptance of his offer. "But first, I'm going to get rid of this horrible pile of corpses." She still didn't know how she felt about his little 'killing spree', but it was better than fighting alongside Voldemort. With a flourish of her wand, the bodies disappeared with a pop. It sickened her to think that someone's existence could be erased so easily, but she supposed it was better than having rotting flesh lying around the Headmaster's grave.
"You didn't like my present?" he asked with mock-offence and Hermione scoffed, but not at his sour joke.
"What?" he questioned when her expression changed.
"I can't believe I'm sitting here drinking firewhiskey in teacups, with you, out of all people," she said softly and Draco had the decency to feel at least the slightest bit ashamed.
"A sorry won't fix it, I know, Granger," he said, after a prolonged moment of silence. "So I'm going to disappear. Not just for you, I might add. I think the wizarding world could do with a little less Malfoy."
Hermione didn't know what to say, but certainly didn't want to protest against his plan. Admittedly, she agreed with him.
"If that's what you want," she said. He looked at her, and for some reason, not at all surprised by her response.
"What do you want to do after all this, Granger?" he asked. After pondering for a moment on his question, for once in her life, Hermione didn't know how to answer.
"I don't know," she whispered. As the sun began to dip beneath the horizon, and night time began to arrive. She noticed the fear that had plagued her of the night, she felt calm, tired and ready for a hell of a good night's sleep. "I didn't think I was going to live to see this sunset. I was ready to die going into this battle, I really was."
"Me too," Draco said, his snow white skin brought to life by the intense, warm light of the sunset. The sun's last hurrah before it went away for the day. His last day before everything change.
"I'm going to face the music, I don't think I can run away," he admitted. "I don't want to live in fear, and I know it's unfair to say considering my previous, what can I call it? Occupation. I don't have a plan at all, but I know I'll be facing something bad."
Hermione looked at him. It was all too soon to make a judgement of him, after all, a day in retrospect to years of knowing him wasn't much on the grand scale of things.
"I'll testify for you if you're trialled," Hermione blurted out suddenly and Draco's shock at her bold statement registered on his face.
"Wh-What are you going to say?" he stammered, losing his composure slightly for a moment. Hermione surveyed his face, suddenly full of life as blushed at his suddenly loss of composure and allowed a small smile to creep across her face. Saying she would testify for him was a spur of the moment choice so now that she had a small moment to reflect on her statement, she really wondered what to say. How could she describe him? He certainly was no saint, nor was he Cain. So she decided to say the first thing that came to her mind, and when she said it, it was quite possibly one of the best things that Draco had heard.
"Draco Malfoy isn't too bad."
A/N: What do you think of the ending? Too anti-climatic? Angry that they didn't make-out? This was not meant to be some intense/heated Dramione action, just a bit of careful dialogue. Love it or hate it? Tell me in the reviews! This does have potential to be a long series, but let's be real, I haven't updated my other two stories in a hot minute so I guess you can say I have commitment issues (sorry to my A New Beginning and The Young Family readers! I truly, truly appreciate your support and have genuinely started writing the next installments to both stories, I just feel that nothing seems to come out right, but I still might post a half-assed, horrible chapter if I get desperate ): !)
Anyway, R&R! 3
Word Count: 3,236 !