Author's Notes: Dramione, of course, with more romance, but not lemon. That will come later, promise.

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Chapter Two. Tears In The Rain.

We stare into each other's eyes, and let the darkness fade away

And as you cry silent tears, I find the words I want to say

I believe in our love, and all the good things you've tried to do

I want to see your miracle, because most of all, I believe in you

The rain was coming down hard now, but the two figures on the ground did not move. Blood everywhere, the downpour was washing away the filth, but the smell lingered in the air. Hermione Granger was crying. She was actually crying over Draco Malfoy. His body was motionless under hers as she had flung her arms across his chest and could not bear to pull away. She had tried everything, but had no experience in the medical field. Was this how it was supposed to end?

He murmured unintelligibly and she gasped. He was breathing. She waved her wand at him, saying his name over and over. Draco was barely breathing, but at least he was still alive. She cast her spells again, just to be safe, and his eyes flickered open weakly.

"Granger?" He could barely make the sound.

'You're still weak,' she said, glad he could not distinguish her tears from the rain. She just hoped her face was not flushed or puffy.

He smiled. He actually smiled. "You look ridiculous."

She laughed softly. "You're not looking so good yourself."

He moaned. "Death Eaters."

"Yes, I know. They're dead now. But it was just a small group of the ones loyal to the Death Eaters remember? All the real Death Eaters were killed at Hogwarts, but there are still loyalists who never wore the mark. The ministry is just about done tracking them all down. Draco?" She couldn't hide the concern in her voice as he closed his eyes.

"Stop your whining Granger," he said, too exhausted to keep his eyes open. "You saved my life. Thank you."

X X X

It had happened shortly after Voldemort's final death. That was when Draco Malfoy had died. He was not one for melodrama, and thinking about that day, when his heart had stopped, while staring into the eyes of Hermione Granger, he was reminded of how she had come to his rescue, and why he had no desire to hurt her for her impudence. He used to want to hurt her and still acted like being in the same room as her revolted him; he even pretended to himself that he did.

They had both agreed without words to put that day behind them. But sometimes in moments like these, when he stood staring at her, he could not help the flow of images into his mind.

His thoughts were hurtful enough, and he even forgot at times that she now made him feel like all the air had gone out of his lungs and the memory of how upset she had seemed, finding him on the forest floor still affected him.

Being hauled in front of the minister for magic, and hearing Potter stand up for him, he had hated feeling like that. The lover of mudbloods and muggles had saved him. He had been running from Death Eater loyalists shortly before the final hearing that would see him a free man.

Why hadn't he noticed what he was feeling? It was not like him to be so stupid.

He had been fighting it, ever since that day, and even more since the trials in which both she and Harry Potter had come to his rescue again, giving the court a reason to pardon him, as though he were their best friend. It was too bad they didn't feel the same way about his parents.

This was why, when he issued his dare to Granger about sticking with his rehabilitation, he did so with a sneer on his mouth. He was still pushing the thoughts away, and ignoring the way his heart leapt when she sighed at him.

Granger had just accepted his dare and he wasn't just sneering, he tried to work a smirk onto his lips as well. She recalled the memo she had just sent off to inform the head of the Auror Office of her desire to be rid of him on one condition.

"I've got some homework for you Malfoy," she said wickedly, delighted when his smirk twisted into a grimace. "And you can do it now. Go home and write up an essay –"

"No way Granger!" He snapped, still standing closer to the door than to her desk. "I'm not in school anymore. You can forget that particular fantasy!"

She leant forward, leaning onto her desk with both hands faced down. "Fantasy? You think it's a fantasy of mine to want to teach you some manners? Clearly your parents fell short on that one."

"Don't you dare Granger. Leave my parents out of this one."

"No. You want to mouth off and say whatever you want, giving me a reason to want to have nothing to do with you? Then this is my snappy retort!"

He opened his mouth to complain again, but at the sight of her smiling suddenly at him he relented. "Alright Granger, you got me. Okay, so this dare goes both ways. Neither of us is holding back, and we'll see who breaks first, shall we?"

She stood straight, folding her arms over her chest, still smiling. "And you will do the essay; one and a half parchment length in small plain writing on where you want your rehabilitation to lead you. I'll give you the rest of today and tonight, and expect it to be done by the morning."

"What? That's not enough time!" He narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm not doing it."

Hermione stepped out from behind her desk menacingly, though despite her intention, there was no viciousness in her voice. "You will, Draco Malfoy." She advanced toward him, removing her wand from her pocket, but not raising it to attack. He was not allowed a wand right now.

His eyes widened at her. "You wouldn't dare."

"It's my word against yours, Malfoy." She reminded him. "And who will they believe do you think?"

Draco groaned outwardly, but inwardly he couldn't help but smile to himself. She was certainly no chicken. "Okay, okay, just don't curse me."

X X X

Having left Hermione's office, Malfoy did as he was told and left the ministry for the day. His ministry appointed hounds were still hounding him however, and when he got home, Draco found his parents already waiting for him.

Ever since that day at Hogwarts, when they had ran like mad through the castle looking for him instead of helping Voldemort, everything had changed. Okay, his father still reserved that special Malfoy sneer for him that he always did, but they both were still happy to see him.

Narcissa was coping the least with the indefinite house arrest, not able to go out and buy new things, but they had been allowed to delegate these tasks to a new house elf who was removed from its employ at the ministry to help out. With Granger at the ministry, it would only be a matter of time before they'd have to send Draco. They appreciated what had been done for him, but were expecting more.

"Mother, father," Draco said, removing his coat and frowning at his escorts. They followed him everywhere except the bathroom. He shivered.

"Draco dear," Narcissa said as Lucius nodded in restrained concern at his son – his idea of 'hello'. "You're back early, how was your day?" She asked, mothering him.

"Typical," he said. "Do this, do that, now bend over backwards." He growled. "At least I get to go out. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," she said. "Come on, we were about to have a late lunch."

Life in the Malfoy manor was so different now. His mother had always been the softer of them but now she positively coddled him. It was her way of compensating he supposed, and making up for the fact that she and his father were really the ones responsible for the slander on the Malfoy name.

She bored him with talk about his future and as she rambled on about all the pureblood girls out there that might suit him, Draco's thoughts lingered on the essay Granger had set for him.

It was so ridiculous: where could this rehabilitation take him? He'd get a wand made for one thing, and a full pardon. Beyond that, he hadn't really thought about it.

"Are you okay Draco?" His mother interrupted his thoughts. His father stared at him expressionless.

"Yes of course," he said dismissively. "I was just thinking."

"About what dear?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. May I be excused?"

They looked concerned. This time it was his father who responded. "Of course, Draco."

The escorts remained in the hallway as he entered his room and he wondered if they ever slept. Draco was thinking about Hermione Granger again, her face swimming about in his mind's eye. He couldn't help himself around her, and always reverted to the manner in which he treated her during their Hogwarts days. But now, alone in his room and rummaging around for some parchment , all his inhibitions just fell away (there was no way he was going to get it from their storeroom and have to explain to his parents why he was doing an essay for Hermione Granger).

He wrote about his thoughts of following in his father's footsteps, at least where the ministry was concerned, and thought about Hermione's smile, the seductive way she held her hands on her hips. He measured the parchment to get the right length and couldn't stop the images of himself kissing Hermione from popping into his head.

It was so strange to be thinking these thoughts, but it felt so right at the same time.

'Like my parents would ever let it happen,' he thought rationally.

They had always been stuck on him marrying a pureblood. And then there was Hermione herself. She had been crying thinking he was dead, in the forest that day. Sure, his heart had stopped, but her spells had started it again. He smiled at that. But still, she had chosen to forget it, so there was no way she'd let him reignite that, was there?

Draco sighed. It had been painful, running away from what he had assumed were Death Eaters swearing revenge on the Malfoy family. He closed his eyes. He remembered it well.

X X X Flashback X X X

There seemed no end to them. The Death Eaters were everywhere. Draco Malfoy was running for his life, through woods and mud. Voldemort was dead, and masked men in dark cloaks like the ones worn by Death Eaters (perhaps those left behind on the mission to attack Hogwarts looking for Harry Potter) knew they would soon follow. So this was a last, desperate attempt to go down fighting. Perhaps they thought that Voldemort would again return, as he had done before. They screamed his name in that taunting way that Death Eaters do and he realised, they had been searching for him!

What was their intention, to kill him and try to find a way to bring Voldemort back? It was impossible. Draco had a hearing in the morning, so maybe they were trying to stop that.

Either way, he had to get away from them. The Dark Mark on his arm no longer hurt, seeing as though its master was gone, but a strange sensation had started along his arm, and he remembered that that last curse had grazed his arm. With no wand to speak of, he was a frightful sight; with his protective escorts dead, he was now on his own.

He whimpered, lashing out at the tree branches with his uninjured arm in a blind panic and wincing every time his other arm started to sting. The curse was reaching through him, numbing his skin as it went; the pain was coming from the graze it had caused. He needed it tended to, but the ministry had taken away his right to a wand when he'd entered the indefinite house arrest with his parents. And even once he would testify, he would have to wait for permission to get one.

Draco pushed himself through the forest, not fighting the tears that told him he was about to die.

The Death Eaters called out again. In the next few seconds, several things happened: he tripped, stumbled, and fell. But it was not his own clumsiness that had him sprawled out on the forest floor. Something had impacted him, shattering his arm, the one with the Dark Mark on it.

There were explosions nearby and the sounds of a struggle. Was someone else there?

"Go after them!" Someone called. "I'll tend to Draco Malfoy!"

It was Granger. He coughed up blood as she rolled him onto his back and of all things, it started to rain. "Malfoy?" She did not look happy. "I'm going to save you, okay?"

His eyes closed of their own accord and suddenly, he could no longer hear his own heart beat. "Don't touch me, mudblood."

Her tears were hidden in the rain as she struggled to keep him alive. But Draco knew he was dying; that curse that had hit him was strong. He let himself drift away.

X X X End Flashback X X X

Draco went to bed that night with this on his mind. And suddenly he knew that come morning, he was going to confront Granger about those tears. He smiled as a dream of her wafted over him.

'Her tears in the rain.'

X X X

A/N: So, tell me what you think. Reviews are good for the soul! Do you love? Me too. :]