Chapter 4: Draco's Discovery

Draco couldn't sleep. Things were happening to him that made no sense. He decided to do what he always did at the Malfoy manor when he had trouble sleeping—explore.

In a house this big there were always rooms to be discovered. Though it was very Gryffindor-like of him, wandering through the old rooms and corridors always brought him joy.

He slipped out of his room and took a left, through a corridor, up some stairs, right turn again, and there was a door, nowhere else left to turn. He turned the doorknob and stepped inside.

It looked like an old study. There was a cluttered desk over by the window, and a bookshelf on the right wall. Sleepily and without much thought he began rummaging through the papers and things atop the desk. Letters and documents, all with the name Helen Granger printed across the top or signed at the bottom. On in particular caught his eye:

The Last Will and Testament of Helen Marie Granger

He began reading and his eyes grew wide. Helen Granger was apparently Hermione's great-aunt and she had left everything to Hermione. The house, the money—they were all Hermione's! Not her parents, but hers. He didn't know much about Muggle money, but even he could tell that the sum of her inheritance was incredibly high.

It all shocked him. The way she held herself, the way she acted, he never would have guessed that—

"Enjoying yourself, are you, Draco?"

"Hermione!" He turned around to face her, his face growing red. "How did you know I was in here?"

"I'm a light sleeper," she said calmly, but with a hint of anger to her tone. "I heard you getting up and decided to see what you were doing." She walked over to stand beside him at the desk and ran her hand over the document. "I didn't know we still had a copy of this old thing. We got rid of most of her things when we moved in."

She made eye contact with him for the first time since entering the room. "Well, are you happy now my big secret is out?"

Draco shook his head. "I'm not going to tell anyone, you know. I understand, in a way. Honestly, if I could start over now, I wouldn't want people to know I had money either. People act differently around you and only pretend to be your friend because of your money. I don't think I have a single true friend who actually cares about me." His voice had sped up and he was shaking slightly. He reached out and put a hand on the desk to steady himself.

"You have one." Hermione placed her hand on top of his comfortingly.

He smiled slightly. "Is that what we are now? Friends?"

"What do you think?"

"A Malfoy friends with a Muggle-born Gryffindor. That's certainly never been done before today."

Hermione grinned. "Is that a yes?"

"I think so. But let's not tell anyone about any of this. They wouldn't understand."

"You're right." Hermione nodded. "This whole thing will be our secret."

"Alright." Draco smiled. It wasn't his usual smirk or just a slight mouth twitch, it was a real smile, big and bright. Seeing it touched Hermione.

They sat there for a moment, both deep in thought.

"Well?" Hermione asked suddenly.

"Well what?"

"Surely you're wondering about Great-aunt Helen."

"Oh…yeah, I kind of am."

"Oh, where to start? Well, the house and everything have been in the family for ages. She had been the last one to inherit it, and due to the fact that she never married and her brother, my grandfather, had only one son, her options for choosing an heir were very limited. She always disliked Father, even when he was just a boy. Even he's not quite sure why. She didn't approve at all of him becoming a dentist or marrying my mum. Thus she disowned him, and my parents forgot about the fortune and this old house.

"I was seven when she died. I'd never even met her before. We were contacted and summoned to the reading of the will. It astonished all of us. Why would she just leave it all to my? I suppose it was because I was the only other relative she could leave it all to, but it was still a surprise.

"It all just happened so fast. One day I was just an average schoolgirl; the next I was a millionaire. Suddenly we were living in this mansion and our lifestyle had changed. I vowed to myself, however, that I wouldn't let it change me. I wouldn't let it affect who I was inside.

"Now I just try to act normal and hope that Ron and Harry never find out."

Again there was silence. Draco wasn't sure what to say. She had just told him something she hadn't told anyone else—not even her two best friends—and he didn't know how to react. Finally, "I envy you."

Hermione was taken aback. "Why?"

"You have everything I do: the money, the house, the servants, the wealth. But you have so much more as well. You have two wonderful friends who truly care about you and a family that...that loves you. You're a good person, you actually deserve it all. But me, I've made all the wrong choices. And I don't have that friendship, no one…but you, who really cares. I've been so foolish, all my life!"

"It's not too late, Draco. You could go back now and be different. We really have a lot in common, you know."

He shook his head sadly. "No, I couldn't."

"Why not?"

He didn't know what to tell her. His father was his biggest reason. He wouldn't approve and would very well make life miserable for Draco. He could be abusive, and Draco didn't want to risk it. But of course he couldn't tell Hermione that, she'd worry too much.

"We all have our place in the world. That's not mine. Still…you've made me realize some things, Hermione, that I'd never realized before. I've changed."

"I think we both have." She hugged him like she would Ron or Harry. "I'll always be there for you, you know. It's what friends are for."

"Thank you, for everything."

That summer Draco came to visit again. Then he spent the following Christmas at the Grangers, telling his parents he was at Hogwarts while telling his so-called friends he was at home. They began to spend as much time as possible together until Hermione realized that he was as much her best friend as Ron and Harry.

Draco learned to overlook his hatred of Muggles as the Grangers became a second family to him. They truly appreciated him for who he was and weren't always wanting him to change. He often found himself wishing his own parents were like that, though he would never admit it.

He held Hermione in very high esteem. He always felt that she was the only one willing to look past his outward appearance and find what was inside. She was his only ever true friend.

Hermione thought about him often as she lay in bed at night. How could she help him? How could she see more of him? It was a day in the early December of their fifth year that it hit her. She thought of Draco in a different way than she thought of Harry and Ron. She had often wondered, but had always shoved the thought aside. Now she realized that it was true. She was certain that she loved Draco Malfoy.

Draco also was experiencing these sorts of feelings. They had started back in their fourth year, however. The night of the Yule Ball was the first Christmas in years they hadn't spent together. The whole night he thought of her, imagined himself dancing with her. He slipped off into a fantasy: him holding her tightly in his arms, her proclaiming her love for him, and them snogging in the moonlight. The thoughts startled him, and he cursed himself for even thinking them. Then he really thought about it and realized he'd known for a while, he had just never been completely sure. Now he was certain that he loved Hermione Granger.

They were both lost, unsure of what to do. They would never dream that they were both experiencing these strange thoughts, these new feelings.