A/N: Hello readers! This little drabble was written for the Facebook group Strictly Dramione's winner of last Friday's (July 28, 2017) Fanart Friday. For the artist .com and I wanted to post it here so I was able to give her the link so she can read it if she'd like to.
Study Sessions and Forgiveness
It had been a long, hard day of N.E.W.T testing and Draco was exhausted. But he was back in the library studying, slacking off his sixth year. Doing the Dark Lord's bidding hadn't been his greatest idea. But defecting had been the best choice of his life, just not the easiest. So when he'd actually been invited back to Hogwarts, he'd sworn he would put everything he had into his school work.
Draco had done just that. He'd avoided most people, with the exception of Blaise and Theo, and stayed in the library during all of his spare time - which meant that he also saw a lot of a certain muggleborn, bushy haired, know-it-all Gryffindor.
Hermione Granger had grown up. She had grown up well, though she still looked war weary. They all did. Hermione had looked different at his trial half a year ago, and he'd only seen her from across the room. From a few tables away, he could see her beauty clearly.
Then one night, when Draco had been studying Ancient Runes and gotten frustrated, throwing down his quill and slamming the book shut, she had looked up with a scowl on her face. Draco had apologized immediately, and Hermione had moved over to help him without thought or question.
They studied nearly every night together now. Draco sat his bag down on their table and shed his robes, loosening his tie. He rolled up the sleeves of his white Oxford, the material wrinkled from all the movement he'd done in his Defense Against the Dark Arts exam. As his mark was revealed, he stared down at the pale, faded stain with disdain in his eyes.
When they weren't studying, he and Hermione were trying to find ways to remove it. Usually he kept it concealed with a glamour charm, but the effort of today's exams had wiped the effects away. "You are not that mark, Draco Malfoy."
The sound of Hermione's voice had him looking up. She stood on the opposite side of the table, giving him a simple smile. There was a look in her eye that he'd seen frequently as of late,and he wondered what it was. Hermione slowly moved around the table, her wand still in her hand from her exams as she moved to stand in front of him.
Hermione tilted her head back to look up at him, her fingers drifting over the mark. The feeling caused him to shiver. The mark wasn't activated anymore, it was just her skin on his that pulled the goose pimples to his flesh. Their eyes were locked as she lifted up on her tip toes, whispering a breath away from Draco's lips, "You are not that mark, and you are not your bad deeds. Those things are in the past, and I forgive you for them."
They both moved at the same time, his lips meeting hers as his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling Hermione into his body. Hermione wound her arms around Draco's neck and kissed him back. He'd never realized that forgiveness was so powerful, but Merlin, did it feel right.