Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
She looked at the clock and sighed, the time of 3:12 flashed back at her. She'd tried to sleep but like many other night's sleep evaded her. With another sigh she pushed herself up and reached for the dressing gown hung on her four poster bed. The girl's bedroom was silent apart from Lavender's soft snores and Hermione envied her.
What would she give to be able to sleep, to sleep in peace for just one night and not be forced to relive the horrors of the war? She slipped on her dressing gown and slipped her feet in to a pair of fluffy blue slippers, a gift from Ginny, and she descended down the stairs into the Gryffindor Common room. The room was empty, and at three in the morning it wasn't much of a surprise. Tightening the belt around her waist she slipped out of the common room door and in to the silent halls of the school.
It was early October and school had been in session for a month nut not everyone had returned to complete their final year, Harry and Ron had decided not to return but instead had furthered their careers as Aurors. She'd been proud of them and had easily respected their decision but it didn't stop her from missing them. The last month hadn't been the same and she had quickly avoided many of the students preferring to keep to herself but she'd heard the whispers of her name and it was becoming harder to ignore.
She turned down the corridor and climbed up the steps to the Astronomy tower, her fingers traced the stone walls as she ascended, five months ago the castle had been in chaos, walls had crumbled and towers had collapsed, bridges had been burnt and stairs destroyed. Over the summer the Professors and the Ministry had rebuilt Hogwarts and though the castle looked very much the same many things had changed. The Astronomy tower had fallen in the battle and it had taken a few weeks to rebuild the tower but still it just didn't feel the same.
As she reached the top step she looked up and froze, it appeared there was another who couldn't sleep tonight. Their eyes met and they just stared at one other waiting to see who would look away first.
She allowed him the victory and casually looked down. "Malfoy," she greeted softly and he nodded in return. He didn't make any signal for her to leave, instead he turned away and continued to look over the school grounds. She slowly stepped towards him and sat on the stone windowsill. The school had been enchanted that nobody could physically jump or fall out of the windows. Her back rested against the solid stone wall and she brought her legs to her chest and followed his gaze.
The Giant Squid was splashing away in the lake and she smiled at the sight, make it three restful souls of the night. Turning away she glanced back at Draco. His sunken face was half lit from the moonlight, his pale blonde hair moved softly with the gentle breeze. She glanced down and frowned, his hands shook, it was hardly noticeable but it was there and she knew it wasn't from the cold.
She'd heard enough at the Malfoy's trial to know he'd been living a life of hell for the last couple of years. And she wasn't too surprised when she saw him step off the train a month ago, but she was surprised at his appearance. He'd lost a lot of weight and his face was pale with the skin pulled tightly against his skull and there were dark circles under his eyes. The boy she had known was long gone and he was now a shadow of his former self.
"See something you like Granger?" he said and she blinked, she'd been staring and he'd noticed, she turned away with a blush forming on her cheeks. She heard him chuckle but he said nothing more and they continued to sit in silence.
She turned her attention to the Whomping Willow and smiled sadly at the memory resurfacing from her third year. They'd just discovered the truth about Sirius and they'd left the Whomping Willow when Remus had suddenly turned into a Werewolf. Professor Snape had stepped in front of them to keep them safe. All three of those men were dead now. She'd been unable to save any of them.
"Malfoy, what's your favourite colour?" she asked as she turned away from the Whomping Willow. He stared at her. Just simply stared at her with his eyebrows creased.
"My favourite colour? Why do you want to know that?"
Hermione shrugged, "I've known you 8 years and I've no idea what it is," she said and he continued to stare at her like she was crazy. She turned away and looked to the sky. It was a full moon tonight and she closed her eyes as a picture of Remus fluttered past them.
"Blue, what's yours?" Hermione opened her eyes and looked back at him, she smiled softly.
"Purple, what kind of blue?"
"A dark blue, like the colour of the night sky just before it turns black." He said quietly wrapping his arms around his own legs.
"A midnight blue?" Draco nodded and she smiled.
"Well you must have a favourite shade of purple," he said and Hermione nodded.
"A really soft delicate lilac,"
"Do you have a least favourite colour?" Draco asked as he continued to watch the Giant Squid race back and forth over the lake splashing before diving underneath the surface.
"Pink, it's just so stereotypical and girly, it's one of those colours that can be over used and can give you a headache." Draco chuckled at Hermione's confession.
"I know what you mean. I don't see the fascination for pink though I do own a pair of bright pink socks." Hermione laughed and he flashed her a smile. "Zabini has a weird sense of humour," he said with a shrug.
"I bet you'd look fetching in a pair of bright pink socks Malfoy."
He leaned forward and looked to make sure there was no one else in sight and whispered, "Nobody can pull off bright pink socks like I can." Hermione laughed and he leaned back with a smirk.
"What's your least favourite colour Malfoy?"
He grinned at her before folding his arms over his chest, he spread his legs out in front of him locking his ankles together. "Black, I've seen enough black and nothing good comes of it." Hermione nodded and the mood between them sobered quickly.
"Malfoy, do you wish you could go back in time and change everything?" Hermione asked quietly and he nodded his head with a small sad smile.
"Yeah. I'd change everything, I'd have been nicer, I wouldn't have picked on everyone, belittled them in front of their friends. I wouldn't have gone around insulting people or bullying them," as he said the final part he looked right at Hermione before looking down. "Maybe if I hadn't have been so cruel people might have forgiven me more now."
"I forgive you," she said softly and Draco's head shot up, he looked her in the eye and she smiled softly.
"You're a prat but I do forgive you." Draco chuckled at the prat but Hermione found his smile infectious.
"Then it's time I tell you that I'm sorry, truly sorry for everything I've done to you over these years. The blood that runs inside of us doesn't change who we are, it took me a long time to learn that."
"Thank you, and you're not that bad Draco Malfoy, though I refuse to apologise for hitting you in third year."
Draco burst out laughing and reached for his nose. "Don't apologise for such a good shot Granger, you broke my nose like but it was a bloody good left hook." Hermione's hands flew to her mouth upon hearing she'd broke his nose.
"I broke your nose?" Draco nodded and she ran her hand through her hair. "I didn't mean to actually break your nose but I take it you didn't tell your father about that?"
Draco shook his head as he laughed, "No, I'd complained enough about you beating me in class I didn't want to tell him I'd been hit by you as well."
"No I wouldn't admit it either," she said and she found it was hard to wipe the smile off of her face.
"I used to go home talking about you and my Father used to tell me I had to try harder but my mother would just smile every time I said your name," he said with a laugh.
"You have a thing for me Malfoy?" Draco chuckled and shrugged.
"What if I did, what would you do?" Hermione froze and stared at him, was he confessing to having a crush on her?
"I don't know, I can't imagine your parents would be best pleased with it," she said and he shrugged.
"My parents only care about my happiness now. I guess the war was a good thing, in some aspects."
"They'd accept you seeing a Muggleborn?" Draco shrugged and peered over the edge glancing down to the floor outside.
"Not straight away but if they knew I was happy then they'd accept it, blood purity isn't all that important anymore. A stint in Azkaban and a horrible year under the Dark Lord has changed my father, and for the better."
She ran a hand through her hair, pushing the strands behind her ear. "It's good that you're seeing positives from it," she said. "Wish I could move on from it,"
"So do I. I'm not here because I hate sleep but more because sleep and I aren't compatible right now."
"Snap," Hermione muttered. "I can't sleep, I lay down at night and my bed feels like a cold stone floor and when I close my eyes I can hear her, I can see her and it terrifies me." She wasn't sure why she was telling him any of this, they weren't friends and he was fully aware what happened that day, he'd been in the room, he'd seen it all. "I can feel the cold steal on my arm and I can sometimes feel the niggling pain from the Cruciatus Curse and I just wake up sweaty and unable to breath."
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm just… I'm just so damn sorry that I didn't – that I just, I just didn't do anything to stop her. I truly am, from the bottom of my heart, sorry that I didn't stop her or help you… I"
"Malfoy," said Hermione but he continued to ramble and his were wide, it was obvious that he couldn't forget that also. She released her legs and crawled towards him. She cradled his face in her hand and ran her thumbs carefully over his cheeks. She was shaking herself but he seemed to calm down and he stared up at her.
"I've done so many bad things, I've hurt people because I was told to and I've… I'm not a good person." She closed her eyes and leant her head against his.
"You're no Deatheater Draco Malfoy. You are a boy who wanted to protect his family and the only option was the one you took. That doesn't make you a bad person. And for the record I never held you responsible for what Bellatrix did to me,"
He wrapped his arms around her waist and she sighed, the position she was in was uncomfortable but she could feel him shaking so she stayed where she was. She rested her head on his and closed her eyes. She could feel his fingers drawing circles above her dressing gown, it was soothing and she slipped her own hands from his face and slid them around his neck.
An idea came to her and she slowly pulled back, she rolled up her sleeve so her scar was on show, he watched her silently flinching upon seeing the scribbled Mudblood carved into her pale skin. She reached for his arm and he pulled back. "Trust me," she said and he stared at her, searching for any deceit, with a sigh he allowed her to roll up his sleeve and the dark mark was on view.
"We are the worst kind on both sides. For the light side the Dark Mark symbols murder, destruction and horror. On the dark side a Muggleborn symbols abomination, dirty and worthless. It doesn't matter that I fought in a war and helped defeat Voldemort, I can still walk down the street and people will look at me with a sneer and spit the word Mudblood under their breath. In the eyes of some people I'll always be that filthy little Mudblood and I've accepted that. I've accepted that it doesn't matter how hard I work or how much I study people will still not see me as an equal. The same goes for you, you joined because you didn't have a choice, you did what you had to do to protect your parents but because you have the dark mark on your arm people will call you a Deatheater, they'll bring you down and mutter that you should have been locked away for life. What does matter are what the people who love us think. Neither of us are bad and neither of us deserve to be treated as though we are horrible people but they will and we need to learn to rise above it,"
"You're right, but then you're Hermione Granger so there's no surprises there." Hermione smiled, and they both looked down at their arms. "Who you going to Hogsmeade with on Saturday?" Draco asked as he slowly rolled down his sleeve.
"I wasn't planning on going," she admitted as she rolled down her own sleeve.
"Come with me?" She looked at him and raised a brow.
"And why should I do that?" she asked though a smiled pulled at her features.
"Because I want to go with you and I may have had a crush on you when we were young," he confessed with a shrug and Hermione's smile grew into a grin.
"Knew it," she said and he shrugged. "Sure, I'll go with you." She leant back against the wall as he continued to stare at her. His head was cocked to the side and she frowned. "What?"
"I just never realised how pretty you were," Hermione smiled but shook her head as a blush started to form.
"You're hilarious Malfoy, anyway I'm gonna try and get some sleep."
Draco grinned and he also stood up, "sounds like a good plan, mind if I slither in to yours?"
"That was bad," she closed her eyes with a laugh. "So cringe but no, you may not slither in." Draco grinned and reached for her hand, she stared at him in confusion but didn't pull away. They descended the stairs and she continued to stare at him.
As they reached the bottom they stopped, Draco removed his hand and they stared awkwardly at one another. "Goodnight Malfoy," she said and he nodded. He checked behind him and took a step forward, Hermione froze. "Goodnight Granger," he leaned forwards pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and walked down the corridor. Hermione turned and watched him go, her hand gently touching her cheek. She stared at his back in shock but she smiled, she turned and went back to her common room.
The second her head hit the pillow she was asleep and for the first time in months the images behind her eyes were of a blonde boy with stunning grey eyes and an endearing smile.
I just love this pairing and I realised a few days ago that I've never written a One shot for just these two. So I had to change this. Hopefully you'll enjoy this as this is the first one shot I've written for a long time now. If any of you are followers of my work you'll notice this is the third and March instalment for my 12 new stories for the year. So do keep an eye out for the next story that'll be arriving in April :)