Chapter One
2006, Present
Draco Malfoy tucked the Daily Prophet under his arm as he walked down the cobbled street of Lyon. Everything was soaked in the pale blue hue of the early morning with the only noise coming from the occasional automobile passing by. A man heavy on the belly whistled as two women, one of whom winked at Draco, walked by. Draco held his cloak tighter around him as the soft, cool wind blew his way and rustled his hair. When he entered Le Café de Clémentine, he sat at his table by the window where he liked to watch the people outside. It didn't take long for the plump waitress, Isabelle, to come over.
"Ze usual Meester Malfoy?" she said with her French accent. She gave him a very big smile, wide enough for him to see the lipstick stain on one of her front teeth. He would choose to ignore this, just like how he ignored most things.
"Yes please," Draco said curtly.
While waiting for Isabelle to bring his breakfast and coffee, Draco unfolded the Prophet in front of him. Although he had lived in France for the last nine years, he still had a subscription to London's newspaper, which he paid extra for the longer owl post delivery.
After reading the front page headline, one corner of Draco's mouth turned up.
"Good news Meester Malfoy?" Isabelle said as she placed his order on the table. She caught sight of the big photo splashed on the front page and grinned broadly, "Oh, I read about zat zis morning! 'Appy news indeed!"
"Merci Isabelle," he said, politely dismissing the waitress.
Apparently, James Sirius Potter was born yesterday afternoon to happy parents Head Auror Harry James and former Holyhead Harpies Chaser Ginevra Potter. Draco may have hated Harry Potter but he thought the bloke deserved it. After all, Harry did defeat the Dark Lord — something that Draco was, although he would never tell another soul, thankful for.
Draco took a sip of his coffee and continued to read the details of how the rest of the wizarding world celebrated the birth of The Boy Who Lived's firstborn. It made him think of how he felt so detached from the previous life he had known.
The last ten years for Draco had been uneventful, something he thought he needed after the last two years at school. Because he was under legal age, he had gotten away for letting Death Eaters into Hogwarts and for becoming a Death Eater himself. After that, he decided to live alone, far away from the people who knew and recognized him.
His father was sentenced with 25 years in Azkaban while his mother, who helped Harry Potter during the Battle, had stayed at the Manor to wait for his father's return and to take care of the estate. Narcissa visited him from time to time, not forgetting to dote on him when she did.
As he turned thepage, he caught sight of a familiar face. With the same unruly hair, Hermione Granger smiled brightly at him from page 3:
Hermione Granger Becomes the Youngest Ministry Deputy Head
Dubbed as the Brightest Witch of her Age, Hermione Jean Granger, 27, becomes the youngest Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the century. Granger, one of the most influential war heroines to date, joined the Ministry right after graduating with outstanding grades from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She started in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to continue her advocacy for the rights of the underprivileged non-wizard folks such as the house-elves before eventually transferring to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in 2001. In the short time that she has been with the Department, she has gained the respect and admiration of both her colleagues and superiors.
"Hermione Granger is one of the most intelligent, brilliant and hardworking witches I've worked with in the Ministry. I am confident that she will do well as the newest Deputy Head of the Department," Department of Magical Law Enforcement Head Finley Higham remarked.
Last Monday, Granger was formally introduced in the Ministry as the Department Deputy Head by the Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt. Among those who were present during the ceremony were her closest friends Head of the Auror Office Harry Potter and Auror Ronald Weasley. Higham, and the rest of the members of the Department were also in attendance.
Draco skimmed through the rest of the article, not surprised with Granger's latest accomplishment. Because if Draco had to be honest, Granger always was talented albeit being such a know-it-all. Looking back, he realized he didn't remember much of her in sixth year. But he reckoned it was nothing unusual since he rarely remembered anything from that year except the anxiety and the desperation that ate at him.
1996, Ten Years Ago
Hermione Granger, for the umpteenth time, had not noticed the time while she studied in the library. She wasn't an irresponsible student but she had her way of getting too immersed in what she was reading that she tended to forget about time. Madam Pince, the librarian who seemed to have familiarized her schedule unintentionally, had to remind her she had Charms for next period.
She was hurriedly on her way to class when she bumped into someone, causing her to drop her books on the floor.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't —," she said, stopping when she looked up to see the unmistakable white blond head of the possibly worst person in the world next to You-Know-Who, Draco Malfoy.
Draco, surprisingly, had picked up one of her books, proceeded to shove it roughly to her chest and sneered, "Watch where you're going."
His eyes lingered on hers for a second before he stalked off to the opposite direction. Hermione, confused with the lack of the usual venom and disgust from his words or his look, tried to ignore both as she collected the rest of her books and ran to class.
Hermione had in fact managed to push the earlier incident to the back of her mind what with classes to attend and notes to write. She ate lunch with Harry and Ron in the Great Hall without mentioning her run-in with the Slytherin. It wasn't until Draco showed up late during Defense Against the Dark Arts together with the Slytherins that she remembered.
Instead of sitting in front, between his cronies Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, Draco stuck to the back, not once looking up. At this, Harry nudged her and whispered begrudgingly, "See, Malfoy is clearly late but Snape's pretending otherwise."
"Do we have a problem here, Mr. Potter?" Professor Severus Snape suddenly interjected.
"No, Professor," Harry murmured.
"Five points from Gryffindor... for talking without my permission," Professor Snape said loudly to the class before proceeding to his lecture.
Hermione noticed however that even when Professor Snape docked points from Gryffindor, which would have been a good opportunity for Draco to snigger and taunt Harry with, Draco had stayed completely aloof. This and Draco's sudden change in behavior distracted her to a great extent and for the rest of the period that she almost didn't catch the assignment on the Inferi.
In her defence, Hermione was and had always been an inherently curious girl. When she was a child, she both amused and annoyed her parents with questions about anything she'd see. She liked to overanalyze every little thing and get to the bottom of every problem. So when Draco Malfoy, her number one tormenter, suddenly passed up the chance to insult her and call her Mudblood earlier, she knew there was something off. And she was determined to find out what.
Present
Even after nine years, Draco had nightmares of the War. Sometimes, he'd dreamed of the time when he received the Dark Mark. They were always so vivid that he'd wake up feeling the incredible pain in his forearm and the insane fear as his heart pounded wildly against his chest.
That night however, he dreamt of something he was sure never happened. They say people's dreams often involved the people they think about during the day or before they went to sleep so he attributed this dream to the Prophet article he read about Hermione Granger during breakfast. But instead of the usual scene in the Malfoy Manor in which he often watched her screaming and pleading, it played out differently.
He was running through the dimly lit halls of Hogwarts, his footsteps' echoes following closely behind him. He just mended the cabinet in the Room of Requirement but instead of elation and relief, he felt dread. He never expected for it to work. He was supposed to fail and face the consequence before the Dark Lord. He had no choice. So although his heart hadn't been in it, he had continued trying out different spells until...
He ran almost clumsily, afraid that the Death Eaters had already seen the bird he'd conjured, alive inside the linked cabinet at Borgin and Burkes. He took out a gold coin out of his pocket, wishing for her to see the message while it burned in his hand. A couple of flights of stairs down and various turns later, he finally reached the right corridor. He threw open the doors of an old classroom on the fifth floor only to find it empty. Where was she?
He was starting to panic. When he turned to leave, a girl was already standing in the doorway, her face hidden in the darkness. He knew it was her though; he'd recognize her anywhere.
Suddenly, it felt like time had stopped. It was so quiet except for their heavy breathing. And for a moment, he'd thought they could run away from here, away from the Death Eaters, away from the Dark Lord. But as soon as she stepped into the light, looking at her face, he realized she'd never do that. She'd choose to die fighting rather than live running.
"Draco?"
Hermione Granger's eyebrows were knitted together, her eyes wide and searching as she spoke almost out of breath, "I came as soon as I could."
That was when Draco woke up, shivering in cold sweat. And like any other dream he'd had, this one felt real.
A/N: Hey, thanks for reading! I hope you liked the first chapter and perhaps intrigued enough to be excited for the next one. I'd like to hear what you'd thought of it so please feel free to drop a review! xx, soraya