II
When the war came to an end, Draco had to spend some time in Azkaban; it had been less than a year but every night was longer than an entire human life, he even lost the track of time. The day he would become a free man felt like a million suns away and Draco was sure he had lost a big piece of himself, left it somewhere inside that prison. That, plus losing Granger emptied him to the point of no return.
After being released, he tried to go back to normal; well, as normal as it could get. He got a job at the Ministry of Magic; he worked with curses and stuff of that sort, the knowledge being a Death Eater had provided him proved to be somehow useful at the end of it all. Working there, Draco realized how depressing everything turned out to be. Back in Hogwarts, when he was still somehow an innocent boy, everything looked so wonderfully magical it left him speechless. Now, he knew it was ironical to think like that; he was a wizard, magic was real… for people like him magic was not a fairytale. But the atmosphere that surrounded Hogwarts made it all look like the biggest fairytale that had ever been told; it made him feel like magic was something more, not just a lot of charms and potions. More than just books and Latin words.
Then he joined the Dark Side, went to prison and during that whole process, he also happened to grow up. Draco wanted his life to be like the lives of the characters he read in the books, he wanted his life to be amazing; and he was sure he was not the only one; he could bet every single student wanted their life to be an adventure.
And there he was, working at the Ministry along with many other students who didn't get their chance. They all looked so bored and exhausted. Building back the magical world from almost zero was getting the best of them. Deep inside, Draco wondered why they tried so hard. Didn't they know? They couldn't make things go back to what they were; all they could do was… well, start fresh. Turn the page and keep writing.
And Draco had tried to do the same. He was succeeding at some point, but there was just one thing holding him back. He still wanted his great adventure, he wanted to feel everything was magical again and there was just one person who could get him that.
The Brightest Witch of Her Age.
Hermione Granger, whom he loved but couldn't remember him.
And since he was unwilling to forget her, he just re-opened the wound every time he got the chance. Potter became an auror and was constantly handing him cursed objects for him to study; he also was a curious man and some days after he gave him a new "toy", Draco found Potter peeking over his shoulder and making questions about the curse. At first it had bothered him, but then he realized Harry Potter was the only person who actually spoke to him.
Draco liked to think they had made an unspoken truce, as if they were both willing to forget about their mistakes and their prior hateful relationship in order to give a chance to that proposal Draco had made in their first year… become friends of some sort.
That's how two years went by and Potter made his job a little more bearable.
"She's sad, you know?" Potter had suddenly told him one day while he was examining an old music box from Ireland.
Draco lifted up his eyes to look at Potter and stopped what he was doing. During those two years they had been "friends", Harry had never talked about Hermione. Draco was always dying to ask something, to know something… but he never dared to bring the subject out on him, he was afraid Potter might consider it an intromission and say he had no right to ask about her.
He had also never told him about how he obliviated Hermione, but by now, he was sure Potter was very aware of what he had done.
"Why?" Draco asked and clasped his hands together, his whole body tensed up and his heart felt numb and heavy inside his chest. Merlin, how much he had longed to hear about her… and despite his need; he was afraid to listen what was about to be said.
"Hermione doesn't know what, but she knows something is missing," Harry started, then he leaned on a bookshelf that was next to him and resumed his explanation "I do not know how close you've been following her or if you had followed her at all, but she dated Ron."
Harry went silent for a couple minutes and let the information sank in. It was like dropping a bomb on him in every sense; Draco listened to the annoying whistle you hear before fainting, he got tunnel vision and his lungs were lacking of air.
He stayed motionless even though he wanted desperately to reach to the buttons of his shirt and tear them open, get rid of his tie and see if he could manage to get some freaking air; but his hands didn't seem to be his, and he couldn't move them. Draco was paralyzed by some odd and strong force, one that allowed him to set his mind free and let all kind of images roam. Images of Hermione kissing that stupid redhead, of him holding her hand and taking away everything that one day was meant to be his; Draco was some possessive idiot and Hermione had "Draco Lucius Malfoy" written all over her. And it was just when he felt the anger building up inside him like a powerful fire that would make him burst into flames, that Draco regained control of his body and stood up and hit the desk with his fists. Harry stayed put and stared at him.
"I didn't know," Draco said between his teeth "are they still together?" he dreaded the answer
"No. Like I said before, she knows something is missing. She tried to fill the gap with Ron and it felt totally out of place for her. Draco, maybe this is not for me to say, but what you did to protect her is ruining her life… You took a big piece of her."
That year it would be nine years since he had obliviated her. Since he had last seen her. But that would come to an end, because Potter himself had told him to go and look for her. And that was exactly what he was going to do.
Draco had learned Hermione owned a small bookstore in London; she sold both muggle and magical books. She also had a café in it and apparently, the business was doing really well. Not the same could be said about the owner, because when he looked through the windows of her store, he could see exactly what Harry had told him, what he had meant when he said Hermione was "incomplete".
The Gryffindor had sad eyes, the big brown orbs that had once been so bright and happy now appeared completely lifeless. She moved slowly, almost with laziness and her mouth, despite showing the smile wrinkles at its sides, was now a thin line in her face. She also had gotten a haircut and her curls were gone. Looking at her Draco wondered where the hell Hermione Granger was.
As he pushed the door open a bell rang and she sprinted to the entrance, almost colliding with him. The look of surprise in her face was priceless; there was a small sparkle of something Draco recognized as happiness and, at the same time, some odd portion of bewilderment.
"Draco Malfoy? What are you doing here?" she asked backing off.
He had millions of answers to her question, and yet he couldn't manage to say neither of them. Hermione fixed her eyes on his form and just when he was about to give up and turn away, she spoke again.
"Don't get me wrong, but it's nice to see you. I thought you were… "She gasped "dead or a prisoner. I never thought I'd see you in London, too muggle for you" then she smiled.
He died a little. When they had met in Norway, Hermione said something similar to him. Was she always expecting him to be dead? Was that how she really felt about him? Sure, he was a coward brat, but he had all the means and knowledge to stay alive. He was annoyed by her comment and couldn't suppress his reply.
"Thought the same of you. Never heard of you after the war ended… Here's where you've been this whole time?" he retorted with cockiness.
Hermione glared at him and quirked an eyebrow, then she grabbed a box full of books and walked toward one of the many bookshelves she had littered all over the store. Draco instinctively followed her.
"Yes, this where I have been. Shying away from the world inside my store, between my books. Bookworm, remember?" Hermione placed he box on a small banquet and she accommodated book by book on the shelf.
An awkward silence formed between the two of them and Draco had the urge to say something, anything… whatever could keep the conversation going.
"Did you come out fine?" what the hell was that?
Draco wanted to kill himself after making such a question. This whole situation was already fucked up, and whatever else he could say might just fuck this even more, so he just waited in silence, dreading her answer.
On the other hand, Hermione felt a chill creeping up her spine. She didn't have to ask him what he meant; she knew exactly what he was talking about. The repercussions of the war had been merciless, of course the world was healing… but she wasn't. The days kept going but she stayed the same, if not moving backwards.
"No. I didn't… Did you?" she replied without looking at him. It was weird and easy to talk to him. It was… natural. Hermione felt something funky inside her chest and wondered how long it had been since she had last felt like that. She tried to suppress the smile that was dying to come out.
"No. I'm still trying to… er- get out of the pit" Draco stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels.
"We're going to do it someday…" she sighed.
It was starting to get dark outside. If you looked carefully, you'd be able to see the first stars coming out, twinkling through the clouds that hovered on the sky.
"Close early today?" he invited.
"Sure" Hermione accepted without thinking.
Hermione Granger took them to a jazz café club; Draco was suddenly glad she was a muggle, because he didn't know anything about London and he was not going to take them back to the magical world. Lately they both seemed to be through with it, and he craved for the emotions that only the non-magical environment could provide.
They were sitting on a couch, with a small table in front of them. Hermione was drinking something called a "Cosmopolitan" and he just ordered whiskey. To their right was a girl on stage singing a cover of a song Hermione told him was from some muggle singer called Norah Jones. He was a guy with a twisted mind and he couldn't help but find the song tremendously queer, especially when the girl sang "don't know why I didn't come". He smirked the whole time.
"You are such a pervert!" Hermione giggled "The song was cute to me, until now… thanks to you" she laughed whole heartedly now.
"I'm sorry, I really am…"he laughed.
"You know? This is the most interesting night I've had in a long, long time…" Hermione took a sip of her drink and looked at him, and then she shook her shoulders, smiling at him.
"But of course, after dating Weasley I wouldn't expect anything different."
He said something inappropriate again. But Granger didn't seem to care; she just reached out and grabbed his whiskey, placing her Cosmo in his hand instead.
"So you heard?" she took a big sip.
Draco widened his eyes and tasted her drink, barely brushing his lips against the liquid inside the glass.
"Dark times?"
"Darker than you think. Don't get me wrong, he's a good guy… But dating him was not a good idea…" she drank again.
"Woah, Granger. We're not out to get drunk tonight" Draco warned as he put the whiskey down and away from her mouth.
"Go hard or go home, Malfoy." Hermione swallowed what was left of the golden liquid and ordered another one "How did I manage to go on for so long without alcohol in my system?" she mocked.
"You're still managing. I'm not going to allow you to get drunk."
"You suck."
That was all she said before focusing entirely on the new girl that was on stage. She didn't know the song this time, and assumed it was something of her own making. Hermione didn't really pay attention to the lyrics, it was the background music and the light "tap" of the drums what captivated her. Soon enough, it was music what got her drunk.
True to his word, Draco didn't let her drink anymore. They spent the night talking and drinking lemonade. The waiter gave them an awkward smile but kept filling their empty glasses every time they ordered a new round. Becoming acquainted didn't feel new; in the very core of herself, Hermione knew that it was Draco Malfoy what had been missing, but she wondered how it was possible.
She was sure she had never "had" him, so it was impossible she could've ever lost him. Hermione never had the chance to even like him, how was it that she was missing someone she didn't remember even talking to ever before?
"Draco?" she called.
"What's up" he replied clasping his hands together and stretching.
"You know something I don't?" Hermione asked. Draco looked taken aback by her question and she just huffed "Okay, let me ask again. I feel weird. But good weird. And I don't know why… Do you- do you know what I'm talking about? Everything feels so good and… right" she never took her eyes off of him.
"I know what you mean"
He wanted to tell her everything.
He wanted to make her remember.
But instead of doing any of those, he just moved closer to her, placed his hands on her cheeks and kissed her. At first, she was surprised and motionless, and then she just kissed him back. To him it felt like none of the terrible things he'd been through had actually happened, for a second he felt like he was the boy he used to be in their first year… As if he didn't have the dark mark on his forearm.
Not the same was happening to Hermione. A lot of pictures flooded her mind, pictures and feelings that felt very intimate and yet so far away. She could see herself kissing Draco back in Hogwarts; she could see Harry and Ron talking to an infuriated Draco inside the tent they had installed in Norway… and then, at the end of that confusing movie, she could see Draco obliviating her.
He was crying.
She was crying.
Then everything made sense and she just had to connect the dots. That night she found herself alone at the Astrology Tower, she had been crying and she had attributed those tears to the constant stress and the fear she was living under. She never ever thought it had something to do with Draco Malfoy.
Dear God, she was in love with him.
Tears came again and this time, she kissed him with ferocity. What he had done, he'd done it to protect her… because he loved her. Hermione couldn't imagine what it had been like for him…
When Draco tasted her tears, he broke apart and brushed the tears away with his thumb.
"I remember, Draco" she gasped "I remember you."
Yaaay! Second part's up. Didn't get a lot of reviews on the first part but it's okay. I kinda fell in love with this plot and I just couldn't leave it there.
Thanks a lot to the ones who reviewed though :) Hope you liked the ending.
