Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

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Dear Mister Malfoy,

To begin, I would first like to thank you for your letter. The thought of you even being capable of writing me a civil letter blew my mind away. Actually, I'm quite jealous because while I have no idea of how I should proceed with this note, you were able to be straightforward and honest in your own. To me, that is quite admirable since I have never been able to communicate well with others. You know, I spent more time with books than I did with people. But I am assuming that the easiest way to get this done would be to start with the truth and finish with it. I will allow you the same courtesies you allowed me in your letter and I will be completely straightforward and honest with you.

Draco Malfoy, I accept your proposal.

Honestly, it took me all week to convince myself to accept your offer. At first I wanted to turn you down immediately, but that wouldn't have been fair to you. I hadn't considered your words at all but yet I acted like a saint to everyone else. The least I could have done was think of the pros and cons of accepting you. Obviously, in the end the reasons for allowing you to be close with me outweighed my reasons for rejecting you.

To start, you had been horrid to me throughout our seven years of knowing each other. Your pureblood superiority forbade you from being any type of companion for me. You were on the dark side during the war. My friends will not allow you to be seen with me. My boyfriend would kill you if he even knew you sent me a letter. The wizarding community would shun us as a pair. I might lose my high standing within the public eye. And truthfully, you deserve no kindness from me.

But you also haven't caused me any torment since I was last able to truly speak with you in our sixth year. You are clearly ignoring your pureblood superiority principles in favor of becoming an existence of importance to me. While you were on the dark side you did little to nothing to contribute to their effort; I do know about the Dumbledore debacle and I believe that it proved that your heart wasn't in the war and you are, in fact, not evil. My friends may not want to see you with me, but they don't have to if we're careful. My boyfriend is pretty dense so he might not even notice that I will be spending time away from him to see you. The wizarding community may come to accept you if they see you reformed. And you do deserve kindness from me because it is unfair of me to offer help to anyone who needs it and to turn my back on you.

Also, I am lonely. It is one thing to be surrounded by people and another thing to be heard by them. Harry and Ron will always be there for me, but without the threat of Voldemort Harry is finally able to relax and enjoy life. It's understandable that he is finding more comfort for himself than he is trying to give me. Ron and I are also finally dating, but he has never been held with great esteem in the wizarding community. He is too busy with trying to deal with his own losses from the war and trying to adjust to the life of a war hero to really understand my feelings at the moment. All that is important to him is that I am with him now and here to support him when he needs me.

But I do admit that I need support too. In your words, I am indeed very tired. I want to be able to sit in a room with a person and just let my shoulders relax and to loosen my hair without my every movement being watched and analyzed. I want to ask someone for help when I need it instead of being sought for help. And most importantly, I want a shoulder to cry on that will comfort me instead of judge me.

I didn't know if I wanted that shoulder to be you, but I have been watching you. Before I received your letter I had noticed that you had withdrawn into yourself. You didn't speak to anyone, including people in your own house. Oftentimes I would catch you furiously studying in the library and diligently taking notes in class. I've even seen you sitting by yourself next to the great lake, staring into the distance with a frown on your face. At first I thought nothing of it, but I did realize that you seemed to be trying to change yourself. You maintained a look of determination on your face and only now do I understand what it was for. You want to be a better person, if not for yourself, then surprisingly for me. This week you have even been bolder with the fact that you have been watching me. Your intense stares convinced me that you were intent on being there for me and you are not ashamed of it. And I am not ashamed of choosing you to be my support.

I will tell you right now that this will not be easy for us. No one will appreciate seeing us together and we will not be met with any kindness. I doubt you have forgotten, but I am a war hero and you a war criminal still in the minds of many. The pain and hurt caused by the final battle is still fresh and the last thing the people need to see is us being close. So we will have to meet in secret. No one must know that we have become companions, especially Harry and Ron. Secrecy is the price that we will have to pay for our company, but it is the only option for us at the moment. I am not a coward, and I know that you do not want to be one either, but we absolutely cannot disturb the peace that our community is finally coming upon.

Meet me in the room of requirement this evening 8:00 pm. Please don't be late because I really hate to be out so close to curfew. When you get there, think "I need a place to be myself."

Sincerely,

Hermione Granger