A/N – This is two one shots that I wrote together. Originally Vanish was meant to stand alone but when my amazing story ideas woman read it she demanded a follow up, so Reappear was born. Instead of posting them as separate one shots I've decided to post them both together. Reappear, will be posted later this week. Enjoy!
When Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger announced they were in a relationship they never expected an easy time of it. They both knew their friends and family would be judgemental and disapproving but neither had expected that three years later they would still face such disapproval. Even people who didn't personally know the couple had something to say on the matter and to Draco and Hermione it seemed like the whole world was against them. It was the oppression they felt that drove the couple to make the most drastic decision of their lives one rainy autumn night.
…..
Hermione and Draco's romance first became possible a few short months after the war. Hermione had chosen to return to Hogwarts to complete her education, while Draco was forced to retake his final year as part of his probation for his small part in the war. While a trial had resulted in Draco being found innocent of any major crimes and they accepted the crimes he did commit were under duress it was still felt that the young Slytherin had to prove himself to have truly changed, and part of that proof meant returning to Hogwarts and retaking his final year.
On the first day of term, Draco had sought Hermione out and apologised for his past behaviour. Hermione hadn't been sure if he had been told by someone to apologise or if he was doing it off his own steam but either way she graciously accepted the apology. After that incident, Hermione hadn't really expected to have any more interaction with Draco but for some reason she found herself watching him and she soon discovered he was a very different boy to the one she had known previously.
The Draco Malfoy, Hermione remembered was cocky and confident and he was always surrounded by a group of Slytherins that hung on his every word. The new Draco was extremely withdrawn, he only ever spoke when someone spoke to him first and as far as Hermione could see he was always alone. None of the other Slytherins in their year had returned but the rest of the house seemed to ignore the blond boy, who had once being dubbed the Slytherin Prince. The other three houses didn't treat him much better and it soon became obvious to Hermione that he was unwanted at the school and the students weren't shy in letting him know.
Hermione would honestly admit that the first time she approached Draco and spoke to him, it was prompted by the fact she felt sorry for him. Hermione had watched for weeks as he was either ignored or insulted so when she spotted him sitting alone in the library she asked if she could join him. Draco had looked at her as though she was mad for a minute or two before offering her the seat opposite him. He'd also warned her that it wouldn't do her reputation any good to be seeing with him but she had shrugged his worries off and began her homework.
As it turned out Draco had been right and the following day, Hermione caught several people giving her scathing looks. Hermione had ignored the looks and carried on with her day, until Ginny Weasley had cornered her at lunchtime and demanded to know what was going on. It wasn't until Ginny started ranting about Death Eater scum that Hermione realised just how the deep the hatred for Draco really ran. Hermione, however, refused to believe that Draco was the evil person people liked to paint him as and she told Ginny in no uncertain terms that she could be friends with who she liked and it was no-one's business but hers.
After that, Hermione always sat with Draco in the library, and the pair of them ignored the mutterings and stares that surrounded them. At first the pair just shared a table in silence but gradually they began talking about their homework assignments and even worked on a couple of hard essays together. Eventually little snippets of conversations that had nothing to do with homework filtered into their meetings and by Christmas time a tentative friendship had been born.
Over Christmas Hermione split her time between her parents, who had just returned from Australia, and The Burrow. Hermione soon regretted agreeing to spend time at The Burrow as it was obvious upon her arrival that Ginny had spread the news of her friendship with Draco. Throughout her stay, Hermione had been bombarded with Harry and the Weasley's constantly telling her not to get involved with the blond Slytherin. By the time she returned to Hogwarts she had participated in several vicious arguments with Harry and Ron and was barely speaking to Ginny.
Returning to Hogwarts meant returning to Draco and the pair easily slipped back into the regular routine of spending almost every night in the library. Just as it had been before Christmas, their friendship continued to grow and with each passing day Hermione was learning more about Draco. She also found she was telling him things she had never told anyone else, not even Harry and Ron.
By the time the Easter holidays rolled round, Hermione was more than happy to stay at Hogwarts with Draco. She hadn't received an invitation to go to The Burrow, and while in all likelihood she would have refused anyway, the snub still hurt her feelings. Hermione's hurt feelings were totally forgotten about a few days into the holidays when Draco impulsively kissed her, triggering the beginning of their romantic relationship.
After the Easter holidays their budding romance was put on hold as they both considered their exams top priority. The pair put in extra-long hours at the library as they constantly studied and gave each other little tests. It wasn't until after their final exam that they really had a chance to talk about what was going on between them. Up until this point they had kept their romantic feelings hidden from people as their friendship had caused enough of a stir.
After a long and frank discussion Hermione and Draco decided that they had a potentially strong and lasting relationship. They also both decided that if their relationship was to work that they needed to be honest with people. They had no intention of sneaking around as though they were doing something wrong, as they weren't. Hermione and Draco weren't naïve enough to think people would accept them straight away, their friendship had proved that wasn't going to happen, but they were hoping that if they explained things to their friends and family that they would come round. They were still hopeful that would be the case as they completed their final weeks of school and headed out into the world, but that illusion was shattered within a few weeks.
Before telling people about their relationship Hermione and Draco bought a modest flat in London. While they both knew it was pretty early in their relationship to be living together they decided if they had to face their hostile friends and family that it would be easier if they were together. They were also both slightly worried that if they were apart for too long that their friends and family might find a way to split them up.
While they settled into their flat, Hermione and Draco also got their jobs organised. Hermione took a job at the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of International Co-operation, while Draco took over his father's business interests. While Lucius had managed to avoid being sent to Azkaban after the war, he was placed under several strict conditions regarding his movements and magic and it just wasn't practical for him to run the family business successfully.
Just over a week after leaving Hogwarts, Hermione and Draco were ready to face their friends and family. They decided to begin with their parents so they arranged for Draco's parents to visit one night and Hermione's parents to visit the next. Hermione and Draco were both hoping that if they had their parents onside it would make telling their friends easier.
Unfortunately Lucius and Narcissa's visit was a total disaster. Draco had told Hermione that Lucius would likely by the one that was less pleased with their relationship but he had been confident that Narcissa would come round once she saw he was happy. As expected, Lucius made his displeasure clear and spent the night making snide comments. Narcissa wasn't as blatantly disapproving as Lucius, but she made it perfectly clear she thought Hermione wasn't good enough for Draco and that he was just slumming it with her.
Dinner with Hermione's parents wasn't much more successful as they made their dislike of Draco plain from the off. Over the course of the evening it became clear her parents had been speaking with the Weasley's, and their opinions on Draco and his family had influenced the Granger's. By the time Hermione's parents left they had made it clear that they didn't approve of Hermione being with Draco and they considered him unworthy of dating their daughter.
After the bad reception from their parents, Draco and Hermione decided to tell their friends about their relationship separately. Draco arranged to go for a drink with his friends while Hermione visited The Burrow. Both meetings went badly with both sets of friends trying to persuade Draco and Hermione they were making a mistake. The only person not to make a fuss was George Weasley, who declared that it was up to Hermione and Draco how they lived their life.
Despite the initial bad reaction to their relationship, Draco and Hermione tried to stay positive and they kept hoping that when everyone saw they were serious they would come around. Unfortunately it never happened and over the course of the following three years their friends and family continued to make digs at their relationship and constantly tried to encourage the couple to split.
There were plenty of times that Hermione and Draco wondered why their friends and family didn't just walk away from them. Being abandoned by the people they loved would have hurt, but their actions and constant sniping was proving more hurtful in the long run. Eventually Hermione and Draco came to the conclusion their friends and family stuck around because they didn't want to lose them, they just wanted to end their relationship.
For three years the couple had held strong against their friends and family, refusing to give them what they wanted and walk away from each other. Draco seemed to cope with the pressure better than Hermione and at times it would seem the blond wasn't the slightest bit affected by the hostile reception they received from people. Hermione, however, found it much more difficult to live in such conditions and gradually her resolve was beginning to weaken. The last thing Hermione wanted was to lose Draco, but it was getting to the point she couldn't cope with the constant aggravation their relationship was causing.
The final straw for Hermione came a little over three years after leaving school. By this point Hermione had enough experience at work to apply for a promotion and she was pretty confident the job should be hers. Out of everyone who applied she had the most experience, was by far the most qualified person for the job and the interview had went great. However on the day the promotion was announced, the job went to a colleague who had only been working in the department for two months and was nowhere near as good at his job as Hermione was at hers. Later that day, Hermione overheard her boss telling the Head of another Department that while she was the best person for the job, her boyfriend wasn't suitable and wouldn't be welcome at the Ministry functions she would be expected to attend. The conversation had brought home to Hermione just how much she and Draco had to fight to be accepted and she couldn't help but dwell on the constant battles they were fighting with their friends and family.
…..
That night Hermione went home in tears and she was still curled up on the sofa, crying her heart out, when Draco arrived home from work. The second Draco saw Hermione, he threw down his jacket and briefcase and rushed over to his girlfriend.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Draco asked, pulling Hermione into his arms.
"I can't do it anymore." Hermione sobbed, clinging tightly onto Draco.
"Do what?" Draco asked, soothingly stroking Hermione's curls.
"Everything." Hermione lifted her head and looked up at Draco through tear filled eyes. "I'm tired, Draco. I don't want to keep fighting everyone."
"Is this your way of leaving me?" Draco asked, pain evident in his silvery grey eyes.
"No, I'm not leaving you." Hermione insisted. "I love you more than anything and I don't want to lose you. But I don't think I can carry on like we have been."
"Maybe it's time we cut our losses." Draco suggested.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, wiping at her remaining tears that were staining her cheeks.
"It's been three years and no-one had accepted us, maybe it's time we realised they're not ever going to do so and leave."
"Leave?" Hermione looked at Draco in surprise. "What do you mean leave?"
"I mean we vanish." Draco said. The idea had been playing around in his head for weeks and he was just waiting for a good time to raise the idea with Hermione. "We leave here and never look back. We don't tell anyone where we're going or anything, we just go."
"Can we really do that?" Hermione asked, biting her lip. "Shouldn't we at least let people know we're safe?"
"You mean the same people who have made our lives a living hell for the past three years?" Draco scoffed. "I don't think we should tell them anything, after the way we've been treated by them I'm not sure they deserve that courtesy."
"How can we leave without a word?" Hermione asked. "It's impossible to just pack up and disappear without being noticed."
"No, it's not." Draco shook his head. "We're due to go on holiday in just over a month, we leave then. By the time anyone realises we're gone, it's too late."
"I don't know, it seems a bit drastic." Hermione sighed.
"What's the alternative?" Draco asked. "If we stay here, things will continue on just the same. And we both know that if that happens they'll eventually get what they want and they'll destroy us. We've lasted three years but it's getting harder and harder to fight. Eventually, no matter how much we love each other, we'll run out of fight."
"I know." Hermione sighed, leaning her head against Draco who immediately wrapped his arm around her.
"We don't have to decide right away. We can talk about it as much as you want." Draco said, holding his girlfriend tight. He wasn't planning on forcing her to run away with him but he was going to push for it as much as he could, by this point it was the only way he saw their relationship surviving.
"We will." Hermione whispered. Running away went against everything they had ever said about being open and honest with their relationship but if it was the only way to make sure it survived then Hermione was more than willingly to discuss the idea further.
Six weeks later.
"They're gone." Harry Potter announced. "There isn't one personal item in the flat."
Harry, along with the Weasley's, Malfoy's, Granger's and Draco's friends were standing in the flat belonging to Draco and Hermione. Technically the flat used to belong to Draco and Hermione, the estate agent who had let them inside had just informed them that the property and all its contents had just been sold. The group had assembled at the flat to search for any more clues as to where the couple had vanished to, unfortunately they were just as clueless as when they had arrived.
The first sign that something was wrong with Draco and Hermione had appeared the previous week, the day the pair were due to return to work after their holiday. Over breakfast that day Lucius had received an owl, delivering him a contract that signed the family business back over to him. That same day, Hermione's boss had received an owl containing Hermione's immediate resignation.
Lucius had stormed round to the flat to confront Draco and when he arrived he found Harry and Ron arriving to speak to Hermione. It was then the trio discovered the flat was up for sale and a bit of asking around revealed that no-one had seen the couple since before they went off on holiday, if they did indeed go on holiday.
All week Lucius had used his contacts to search for Draco, while Harry and Ron had used their Auror positions to do the same with Hermione. So far they were drawing a complete back, all they had found out was that the flat had gone on sale the day they supposedly left on holiday and their bank account had been emptied that day as well. Lucius had traced the money to an account in Switzerland but from there the trail went dead and even his less reputable contacts couldn't determine where the money went from there. Searching the flat had been a last ditch attempt to find anything, not that anyone had really held out much hope of finding a clue to the couple's whereabouts.
"What happens now?" Narcissa Malfoy asked. "Do we list them as missing people, or what?"
"We can't list them as missing as we have no evidence of foul play." Harry replied. "Basically it look like they chose to leave."
"Hermione would never leave without saying goodbye." Hermione's mother, Grace declared as she clung to her husband, Jerry.
"Open your eyes people, she just did." George Weasley said, shaking his head at the assembled group. "And honestly do you blame them for leaving, if I was in their position I would have walked away from you lot years ago."
"George, don't be so mean." Molly Weasley scolded her son.
"I'm not being mean, I'm being truthful." George said. "Someone has to tell you lot the truth about your behaviour."
"And what is the truth?" Lucius Malfoy asked with a sneer.
"The truth is, you lot have treated Hermione and Draco terribly and it's really no surprise they've left." George announced. "All you had to do was to stop being so stubborn and give them a chance to show you how happy they were together. The whole lot of you were so blind that you couldn't see how in love they were and now you've lost them, possibly for good. All of you should go home and think about the way you treated them, maybe if you had just given them a chance then they would still be here. Instead they're gone and you might never see them again."
George looked around the stunned group, pleased his words look to have at least registered with them. Knowing there was nothing else to say, he turned and left the flat. Everyone watched George leaving, his words resounding in their ears. None of them were ready to face the reality of his words as they went their separate ways.
It was only as the weeks turned into months and there was still no word from either Hermione or Draco that people finally started to realise that maybe George had been right. If only people had given them a chance maybe they would still be around and maybe two sets of parents wouldn't have to wonder every day about whether or not their children were alive and well.
To be continued.