A/N: Okay, so this is the product of not having my computer for several days... and I know that I have another Dramione up that I haven't updated in a while, but... here's another. :D I'm not really sure what I'm going to be doing with this one, but I was convinced that posting it and sharing it with all of you was a must. So, here it is! Please R&R, and be patient with me...
Summary: Draco and Hermione are back to finish their final year at Hogwarts after the war's end. With the two of them having been made Head Boy and Girl, they decide to put the past behind them and try for something resembling friendship. But when feelings that Draco began noticing during a chance encounter at The Three Broomsticks begin growing into something that frightens even him, it's not long until that friendship becomes more. When Draco learns the reason for these feelings, that his father has been keeping a huge secret from him for his entire life, he knows that he has to tell Hermione. Knows that this impacts her just as much as it does him. So... why isn't he saying anything?
April 1980
"Lucius, you are making a grave error." Abraxas Malfoy growled. Lucius ignored his father, eyes locked on his pregnant fiance. Narcissa Black sat beside the fireplace, reading a book on childbirth. "Damn you Lucius, listen to me! I will not allow you to claim that half-breed mongrel!"
"Father, Narcissa is a pure-blood witch of good family." was all Lucius said.
"Yes, she is a witch!" Abraxas snapped. "You are veela, Lucius!"
"And she is my mate." Lucius replied calmly, glancing briefly at his father. "Just because she is not one of the veela women you have been trying to force on me does not change that fact. You know as well as I do that the only way to separate a veela and its mate once they've come together is by death." There was a pause in which Abraxas slanted a look at Narcissa, who remained oblivious to the conversation going on between the two men. "If you make a move against her, father, I will kill you faster than you can draw breath."
Abraxas glared at his son with unveiled malice.
"You are a blight upon this family, and the abomination growing in that woman's womb is not fit to carry the Malfoy name. Either you do something about it, or I will."
With that, Abraxas Malfoy turned his back on his son. Doing the only thing he could think of to protect his family in that moment, Lucius picked up the jeweled letter opener that had been sitting on the desk beside him, and flung it at his father.
The blade buried itself hilt deep between the man's shoulders.
"There." Lucius said, as Narcissa jumped and watched Abraxas fall to his knees. "I did something about it."
Draco, September 1998
"For the last time, Ronald. Stop staring."
Draco Malfoy sat at a table in The Three Broomsticks pub, doing his best to ignore the stares he was getting from just about everyone.
"What for?" the weasel demanded, taking a deep drink from his mug of butterbeer. "He doesn't belong here."
Hermione Granger, who had been dating the ginger since the war's end, lifted a questioning brow.
"And why is that?" she asked, her voice tight. Draco arched his brows, but otherwise didn't react as he took a drink from his own mug.
"He's a bloody Death Eater, 'Mione!"
"Was. He was a Death Eater, Ron." said Granger tiredly, as if this was a conversation the pair had regularly. A sense of gratitude washed over Draco as he looked up at the witch. She was watching him with a pensive look on her face.
"'Mione, he killed Dumbledore!" Weasley hissed. Draco stiffened, eyes locked with Granger's. She wore a carefully guarded expression as she spoke her next words.
"Snape killed Dumbledore, Ronald. Malfoy did not kill anyone. He's a victim, just like us."
"How can you even say that?!" Weasley bellowed, attracting the attention of several of the surrounding patrons.
"Lower your voice." Granger said calmly, breaking eye contact with Draco. He was floored. No one but her had ever likened him to the victims of the war. She had done it twice now, once at his Ministry hearing, and once just now.
"Hermione, he's the enemy!" Weasley growled. Granger narrowed her eyes.
"Who lied to Bellatrix when we were brought to Malfoy Manor by Scabior and his men. We'd be dead without him."
Whatever Weasley said next was drowned out by the blood roaring in Draco's ears. Hermione Granger was defending him.
A sharp slap rang out, causing Draco to refocus on the arguing couple. Granger was standing now, her chest heaving and a wild look in her eyes as she glared down at Weasley.
"Never mention that again." she choked, voice shaking with rage. Weasley sat clutching his cheek, a shocked expression on his stupid face.
"'Mione… I'm sorry, I -"
"We're through, Ronald. Find your own way back to the castle."
A stunned silence filled the pub, as Draco had to keep himself from laughing. When neither of the two made a move, Madam Rosmerta stepped forward.
"I think you'd best leave, Ron." she said quietly.
"Me?!" Weasley bellowed. "She's the one who slapped me!"
"My pub, my rules. Get out, or I'll call Professor McGonagall. And I know you don't want that."
Gritting his teeth, Weasley slammed his chair back, glaring at Granger as he did so.
"Miserable bint." he snarled.
A strange feeling came over Draco, and before he'd registered it, he'd flug a silent Jelly-Legs Jinx at Weasley. He went down like a ton of bricks. The pub erupted with laughter, as Granger sent a surprised look at Draco. He simply smirked.
Smiling in response, she applied the counter curse to the undeserving hothead. Once he'd gotten his legs under him, Weasley stormed out of the pub. Some cheered, and clapped, while Granger simply turned to look curiously at Draco. He lifted his drink to her before taking a long gulp.
When he set the mug back down onto the table, he found Granger sitting opposite him. For whatever reason, all he did was arch a brow.
"I know that was you." she said by way of greeting. Draco shrugged his shoulders, thoroughly surprised that he wasn't repulsed by her proximity. Instead, a weird feeling was settling into his bones, as the scent of her perfume filled his nose.
"What of it?" he asked.
"Why?" she asked, folding her hands on the table in front of her. Draco looked at her for a moment, shifting to try to quell the building feeling inside of him, before he shrugged again.
"You defended me. Again. And I'd never pass up a chance to make Weasley look stupider than usual."
Granger studied him for a moment or two before nodding.
"Thank you."
Draco shifted again, uncomfortable.
"Yeah, well. I figured I owed you, for what you said at my hearing. Now we're even." Granger arched a brow.
"I expected nothing in return for testifying on your behalf. I was just telling the truth." Draco blinked.
"You really believe that." he mumbled. It wasn't a question. Granger nodded, sipping the pumpkin juice she'd brought with her from her previous table.
"Yes. I do."
The two remained silent for several minutes. Draco was growing more and more comfortable sitting with the witch, something that was entirely new for him.
"What did he say, anyway?" he asked abruptly. "To make you smack him, I mean?"
Granger frowned, casting her eyes down at the table as she twirled her glass between her hands.
"He… blamed you. For what Bellatrix… did to me." she replied haltingly. A sensation akin to pain lanced through Draco.
"He's not the only one." he muttered bitterly. Granger looked up, surprised.
"How do you mean?" she asked. Draco looked away.
"It was my fault. I could have stopped her, and I didn't. It shouldn't have bothered me, because I told myself that you were no different than the other prisoners she'd tortured. But I was wrong. When I saw what she was doing, when you started begging her to stop… it almost killed me."
To Draco's surprise, she laughed bitterly.
"Yeah. Me, too."
Draco let go of a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, looking back up at her.
"Look, Granger… I know that I was a prick to you, growing up. The things I said and did were inexcusable, and just plain wrong. I know that you and I are going to be moving into the Head's Dorm tomorrow, once everything is settled, so I feel like we should…" He faltered, at a loss for what to say next.
"Be friends?" she supplied. Draco hesitated, before nodding.
"You have every right to tell me to bugger off, but… I want to find some way to make what I've done to you right."
Granger stared at him for several very long moments, to the point where Draco was ready to snap with how nervous he was. When she finally nodded, he almost fainted with relief.
"With the new year officially starting tomorrow, you and I will have plenty of time to better get to know one another. I'm not saying that we can just be best friends, but if you're willing to try, then so am I." she said.
"I'll make it up to you. I swear." Draco said, the strange feeling he'd been trying to ignore now spreading dangerously close to his heart. Granger smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she did so.
"I look forward to it."