Disclaimer: For the nth time, J.K. Rowling owns the HP characters.
Not based on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, that is, in terms of Draco and Hermione's relationship in this story.
AFTERMATH
The Horcruxes destroyed, the War put to its end, Voldemort vanished forever. The good side has won over the hands of the Death Eaters, the Imperiused, the Confunded. The whole Wizarding community may now breathe in genuine peace of mind and serenity, which they feigned to feel when You-Know-Who was still alive. Now, the sole nightmare that kept haunting their very existence has departed, permanently.
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat quietly near the banks of the Black Lake while the others were preoccupied with cheering for their glorious triumph over Voldemort. As they idle away the hours reflecting on what had transpired the evening before, Harry broke the silence and said:
"Ron, I'm terribly sorry for what happened to Fred. I believe that I'm the one worthy of the blame for his death. I'm really, really sorry, Ron."
"Harry, I know you're sorry for Fred's death. He died fighting for what is best for the Wizarding world and that's enough reason for me not to blame you for our loss. It's okay, Harry," Ron replied, patting Harry's back to affirm that what he said was true. He added, "By the way, Hermione, what are you going to do with your parents now that it's safe to bring them back here?"
"Well, that's what I'm mulling over right now. Australia's much bigger than England and I have not a single idea on how we'll, or rather, I'll go about this," Hermione answered.
The awkward silence among the three returned, only permeated by the sound of the murky waters of the lake. After a couple of minutes, Harry spoke.
"Whoever said that we'll not go with you? Hermione, we'll always be here to give you a hand. Keep that in mind, will you?"
"I know, but, but, I have no idea where to begin!," Hermione exclaimed.
Ron supplied, "No more buts, Hermione. Harry's right, we'll go with you and keep you company. After all these years, we stuck together and today's not the time to break that apart, okay?"
As Ron was asserting their determination to Hermione, someone had been standing several yards away from them. Draco had come to the decision of asking for apology for everything he did to them. He gathered all the strength left in his body to follow them, let alone stand in the cold wind approaching the Hogwarts grounds. While looking over to their direction, his vision was quickly becoming blurred. "Hermione… I'm sorry…," was all that he can say. Last thing he knew, his body collapsed on the ground at his feet.
Hearing a silent thud from somewhere near them, Hermione glanced at every direction then caught glimpse of a body, stretched out on the ground. She called Harry and Ron's attention, swiftly got up and walked towards the person lying on the cold earth. Upon reaching the body's location, they came to know that it was Draco. Without hesitation, they helped Draco get back on his two feet then started to walk toward the castle's direction.
The next morning, Draco woke up in some familiar room, accompanied with a constant heave of dire physical pain upon his frail body. He came to his senses that the pallid walls of the infirmary surround him. By the time his eyes got accustomed to the bright light around him, he tried to sit up, not noticing the figure that was asleep beside his bed. As he prompted himself to a comfortable position, he took notice of the golden brown bushy hair the person had. Without doubt, he said to himself, it's Hermione.
"Aww! Merlin's beard, that was painful! Agggh!," he bellowed, as he made the effort of moving his numb legs, yet again oblivious to Hermione's sleeping reverie.
A couple of seconds later…
"What the… Oh right, good. You're awake. I reckon you're still in pain, err, looks like it," Hermione muttered in between yawns of exhaustion and concern.
"Uhm, I'm sorry for bothering you. Oh, right. Before I forget. Thanks for bringing me here. And oh, aren't you supposed to be in your room? You look like a mess. Go ahead and get some rest," Draco replied, deep in thought.
"Oh, need not to thank us. It was nothing, really. Well, probably you're right. We were just waiting for you to wake up and now, you did," Hermione uttered, while looking at his almost sullen yet glorious face.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, Hermione spoke, "I reckon I'll go ahead. See you later, Draco."
Draco opened his eyes upon hearing his name come out from Hermione's lips. He stared at Hermione's brown iris-ed orbs. With the intensity of the stare he was giving her, Hermione looked away.
"Oh, right. Yes. See you," he said, the tone of his voice apologetic. He watched her stand up and go out the hospital wing.
She looked at him for the last time before closing the door.
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