Wonderwall, a harry potter fanfic

Today is gonna be the day

That they're gonna throw it back to you

She takes a deep breath before she goes up to the podium. She has the speech written out, not by her hand of course. The days when she had any input on any aspect of her life were over. The outfits are all carefully selected. She needs to come across as conservative but still in style. Her red dress goes past her knees. The neck is similar to a turtleneck, but there are no sleeves attached. The gold belt that separates the tight upper part of the dress and the flowing skirt on the bottom.

The symbolism of her house is an advantage. She is seen as brave. In the face of the public, she can't be broken down. She needs to stand tall. She does. Her detached eyes aren't easy to spot from the crowd. Someone would have to know the fire that used to reside there, to see the lack of it now. Out of all the things she lost in the war that fire has left her cold. There are no more times by the fireplace with her two best friends. They were both lost in the war. Two out of three and instead of letting her mourn, they made her a symbol. It didn't matter whether she wanted it or not.

Draco could see the lack of conviction in her words. She didn't believe them. She was just a puppet, a shadow of the firecracker he went to school with. The woman on the podium would have never slapped him in third year. That woman was lost. There were many in the crowd that day, but Draco knew he was the only one who saw how lost she was. Despite the number of people, Draco wished she would see him. But alas, it was not to be that day.

Draco got involved though. His parents left him a sizable amount of money, so he got involved in the rebuilding effort. Voldemort didn't care when he imposed his will on the wizarding world, and he left it as a shell of what it used to be. Just like Hermione. They immediately threw her into the thick of things. She was exactly what they needed. She was a muggleborn, a golden trio member, a war hero, and she didn't care anymore. She was perfect for them to shape and mold into a very pretty shell. One they could hold out to the people and ask them to support. But at the end of the day, when you turn the shell around you see the hole where her spirit used to be.

Eventually, Draco was popular enough with the wizarding world that he could see her. The real her, not one they put on display. He was exactly what they needed for her. A mate that would be seen as acceptable. He would never dare to interfere with her public image. But he figured if he got close enough, maybe behind closed doors he could save her.

By now you should've somehow

Realized what you gotta do

She was their puppet. At first, she tried to fight it. She sought out her remaining friends. Ginny and Neville and Luna, but the ministry didn't care for them.

Ginny wouldn't work as she was seen by the public as a hanger-on to her brother and lovestruck by Harry. They completely disregarded her. It didn't matter that Hermione actually cared for her friendship. It didn't matter that Ginny was possibly the only one who knew how she felt. Ginny and her could have worked through their grief together. They each lost a brother and a lover. It didn't matter that Harry and Hermione weren't related by blood, he was her brother. Hermione and Ron loved each other as Ginny and Harry loved each other. You would have to have been blind during their school days to miss it. Ginny chose a safe career as a professional quidditch player. The people could love her. She would have money. She would be left out of politics. The dumb jock stereotype hid her. She was safe.

Neville was never given the credit he deserved. He killed Nagini. But that faded from people's minds. He was seen as clumsy and irrelevant. Not by Hermione, of course, she respected him. But the public at large didn't. He got off easy. He was allowed to fill the position of Herbology professor. Professor Sprout was among the fortunate souls to not live through the war long. She died way back in the beginning. Neville would be seen as brave, but he would never have to deal with the underhanded tricks of politics. He would have money and a place to live. He was safe. He could one day become headmaster but that was as far as he could go.

Luna was never a candidate to becoming a puppet. The public thought she was crazy. She was to a certain degree. But she was never not there. She took over Professor Trelawney's position. Trelawney was not as fortunate as Professor Sprout. She had almost made it through the war, but the day before it ended she was lost. Luna had Neville. She was safe.

Hermione had no one. She wasn't allowed to spend too much time with any of them and never in the public eye. Hermione missed Hogwarts. She was never permitted to go there now. She finally stopped fighting the ministry when they threatened to involve the three friends she still had left alive. She did as they told her to and took her position. She was the voice of the ministry.

I don't believe that anybody

Feels the way I do about you now

How could anyone see her? All of their friends from school had either died, or they settled for mediocre lives. They would never become part of the screaming masses that fell for their bullshit. The few that she was permitted to see looked up to her. Everyone had her on this damn pedestal. She just had to stand on it. No one actually cared that her hair used to be a bushy mess. No one remembered the way her teeth used to be a little longer in the front. She was never seen carrying books now. She was no longer the incessant know-it-all that had all the answers. Now she just read the answers from a sheet of paper. No one thought about the beauty mark she used to have on her right forearm or the mole they removed from her neck. Any imperfections were not tolerated. No one bothered to remember the things that used to make her Hermione. No one but him. Draco missed her.

Back beat, the word is on the street

That the fire in your heart is out

Her spirit, her soul, her heart, they were all gone. She no longer protested for the rights of house elves. Draco freed all of his anyway. They were now on a payroll. She didn't step in when she saw bullying. She stepped to the side. It wasn't her fault. She had just realized the futile nature of fighting back. Besides what was one damaged woman compared to the happiness of the rest of the wizarding world. If you could call them happy. There were still many prevailing issues: the security of Gringotts bank, the demolished buildings, and the poverty. She couldn't do anything about it. She could only spew lies of how things were going to get better. But she knew they wouldn't. The ministry wasn't working on the real problems, they were fighting like cats and dogs for power. They didn't understand. The only one with any power was Nott.

Theodore Nott was in charge of everything. He controlled all aspects of the ministry. He just worked behind the scenes. Everyone else was just grasping for his scraps. Theodore Nott was the only true winner of the war. He is the only one that came out on top. The cunning Slytherin knew to give the people just enough to be content, not too little as to lead to a revolt, or too much as to lead to mutiny, Nott had perfected the perfect amount. He had no weaknesses.

I'm sure you've heard it all before

But you never really had a doubt

People loved her. Hermione never walked down the street without someone coming up to her and telling her. Men would ask her on dates. Women would ask her for advice. She had protections in place so that anyone who left after speaking with her was uplifted. It didn't matter what she said. Theodore didn't trust her, as he shouldn't, she couldn't really keep up her brave face. It wasn't that she didn't feel loved. She just didn't care. The only ones she loved had died long ago.

The difference between Draco and those fools was he didn't go to her. He went to Nott. Draco built up his image so that they would be seen as the power couple. He loved her. Nott could care less. Theodore just wanted power. He loved toying with people's lives. Draco knew exactly what he had to do.

"Theo!" Draco yelled when he saw him. Nott didn't need to know that this had all been planned out and was not a coincidental run-in at the store.

"Draco" Nott said disdainfully. It didn't matter, Draco had no desire to be equal or above Nott, he only wanted Granger.

"I have a proposition for you. Imagine this, Draco Malfoy, philanthropist, and Hermione Granger, voice of the ministry." Draco said. The title for Hermione alerted Theodore that Draco knew enough about the situation to hold over him.

"I fail to see the connection between the two. And what did you call Hermione?" Theodore said.

"I apologize, Hermione Granger, future minister of magic, and Draco Malfoy, philanthropist, as a power couple." Draco said.

"Granger, Draco, Granger, a mudblood. Really? That's who you want. Fine. I'll see what I can do." Theodore said. He wasn't concerned with the hateful word. Nott could say what he wanted. He had the most power in the wizarding world. He didn't care for mudbloods, but he tolerated them. He just didn't see the need for senseless slaughter.

Draco played his part. All he really wanted to do was beat Nott into bloody pulp. But he couldn't, or he would never get what he wanted. But Draco was unrelenting. Theodore owed Draco. Nott had wanted Astoria. Draco and Astoria were engaged and Theo needed Draco to bow out which he did. So now Draco was calling in the favor.

I don't believe that anybody feels

The way I do about you now

Draco finally got what he wanted. He and Hermione were the "it" couple. He just had to get her trust. He played his part. He pretended he got roped into it. That he wasn't the grand orchestrator of the whole scheme. He realized though, she wasn't as broken as he thought. Maybe it was his presence. But the more time he spent with her, the more fire she had. Granger was no longer Hermione Granger, she was now Hermione. At least she was behind closed doors, Nott would never let them be that way in public.

Draco understood that making this deal would put him forever below Nott. He was okay with that as long as he got Hermione. There was no one else for him. Draco knew he could never make a bid for power. He chose Hermione over that. He couldn't care less if he was living as a muggle so long as he had her.

That's not to say things changed overnight. It took a long time. He still remembers the first word post-war she said to him. It was three months after they started "dating" in the public's eye.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because I love you." He replied. For the first three months he pretended, but when she actually spoke to him he answered.

And all the roads we have to walk are winding

And all the lights that lead us there are blinding

It wasn't easy. There were nightmares on both sides. But once they moved in together, things changed. If they got a nightmare, they could simply walk down the hall to the other's room. At first it started with him. He had to make her realize that he needed her. He needed her to be strong for him. So she could return to herself.

After a particularly gruesome memory from the Battle of Hogwarts. He woke up sobbing. Instead of going to get his sleepless draught, he crept into her room, he climbed into her bed, and he wrapped his arms around her. He was still crying. He just buried his face into her hair.

Draco wasn't trying to manipulate her into loving him as he loved her. But he needed her. Not only would she help, but hopefully along the way he could help her. He just wasn't sure how to show her all of the things going on in his head.

There are many things that I would

Like to say to you

But I don't know how

Three years later and Hermione was obsolete. Her stint as Minister of Magic was over. Blaise had found a better puppet, so Hermione had easily bowed down. It's not like she did much of anything with her position anyway.

Draco felt as if he had to tell her that he had orchestrated everything, but he wasn't sure how to go about it. Plus at this point he was mostly sure she loved him back. Now that she wasn't pretending to Minister, Draco had her to himself.

Because maybe

You're gonna be the one that saves me

And after all

You're my wonderwall

It was only a few months after Theo released her from her duty that she was a spitfire again. When he showed her the Malfoy library she was speechless. She started reading again. That's when he knew it was only a matter of time. She started spewing random facts. She asked about his house elves and beamed with pride when she found out they were being paid minimum wage. That was a difficult task but had been dealt with years past.

Today was gonna be the day

But they'll never throw it back to you

By now you should've somehow

Realized what you're not to do

I don't believe that anybody

Feels the way I do

About you now

They were safe. No one bothered them. They were on their own. They never spoke against what Theodore was doing unless he asked them to. They were living in bliss. They could do whatever ever they wanted. They would never want for money because of the greed of Malfoys past.

And all the roads that lead you there were winding

And all the lights that light the way are blinding

There are many things that I would like to say to you

But I don't know how

How was he supposed to tell her the truth? They had been married for a decade. They had been in love with each other for years. But he still couldn't tell her about the deal he made with Nott. He couldn't reveal it. That was one of the things that continued to weigh heavily on his shoulders.

But there was something Hermione had been keeping from him as well. She had been to the doctor and asked if she was healthy enough for children. They did some exams. She wasn't. It seems Bellatrix left more damage than a word on the inside of her forearm.

I said maybe

You're gonna be the one that saves me

And after all

You're my wonderwall

It had been another decade. They had finally attempted to tell each other their faults. Imagine their surprise when they found out the other already knew their secrets. Well not exactly. Hermione didn't know the specifics but she never doubted the coincidence of Draco's reentrance into her life. He never would have gotten near her without Nott's influence. Draco wasn't oblivious either. He knew they could never have children. But he assumed it was because of his prejudiced ancestors' hexes on the family.

I said maybe

You're gonna be the one that saves me

And after all

You're my wonderwall

At five p.m. forty years after they had gotten together they lay in a hospitable bed together. He has his arms wrapped around her. They were both sleeping. But they never woke up.

I said maybe

You're gonna be the one that saves me