Author's Note: I do not own any characters or the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, that belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling.
Thank you to sassanech and ZoeyOlivia for your lovely reviews. Thank you to ZoeyOlivia for my misuse in the last chapter of an Unforgiveable. I had used it as a place holder and forgot to change it!
It's been a whole month since I posted and I am so sorry for that. Last month was a major wedding planning month for me so I was busy with that.
And I've been feeling down in the dumps about my writing. I know there are so many better authors and better stories out there. Also there's a million Dramione fics so I guess I just didn't fully feel worthy of being considered a Dramione writer. Oh well, I love Dramione and I love writing (when I'm not completely exhausted), so I'll continue writing for myself.
In the time being, I'm just gonna stick with the saying, "If you build it they will come." As in, if I keep writing, maybe more people will enjoy my stories and more people will be inspired by these fics just as I was.
I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was hard to write because I am not all about violence (Hufflepuff, here), but I so hope you enjoy it!
Enjoy, review, like, or follow!
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Chapter 8: The Long Night
It took Hermione only a few hours to pack her books, clothes, and other furniture she wanted to take with her to Malfoy's home. While she wasn't entirely too happy to be living with the ferret himself, she knew that it would be best for their partnership and for Harry's sake. Harry could finally start living with Ginny and begin their lives before the wedding. So for Harry, Hermione would put up with the insufferable prat. Surely I'm going to drink myself stupid every night since that's the only way he'll be tolerable, Hermione thought to herself as she shrunk her boxes down for storage.
Hermione took one last long look at her room, she knew Harry would always make sure it was open for her. After everything they had been through the past 2 years, Harry was like a brother to her. Ron and Harry were best friends, but Hermione would always hold a special place for Harry and for that she was grateful, especially since Ronald was off being an idiot.
Hermione made her way down the stairs where Harry was waiting to say goodbye to her. He looked as if he was about to start sobbing, "You'll still come over for Sunday dinners right?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Harry of course. You might be an arse for partnering me with Malfoy, but you are my family. Our dinners will always be there and nothing will stop me from being here for them."
Harry embraced her hard, "You know if he's an insufferable git your bedroom will always be open, okay?"
Hermione started to cry and could only shake her head. Harry had been there after Ron had run away during the war, after Bellatrix had mutilated her arm, after Ron had walked out on her or threw things at her in a drunken rage, he had been there after her parents had been murdered and the months of drinking and rehab and therapy she had been through, and she knew he would be there for everything else in between. Hermione had a special bond with him and nothing and no one could shake that.
"I'll see you tomorrow at work 'Mione. Give Malfoy hell for me okay?"
Hermione smiled and shook her head at his nonsense. She walked out the door and apparated to her new home.
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The moment Hermione had apparated out of his home, he floo'd Blaise to tell him the news.
"Draco? Is everything okay? We just talked yesterday? Did 'Mione yell at you and laugh at your proposal of moving into your home?"
Draco grabbed at his chest, faking hurt at Blaise's words, "You wound me Blaise. I am not awful. She actually came to see the house today and agreed to move in after looking at it."
Blaise was genuinely surprised, "Bloody hell, you must've laid it on thick for her to agree so easily."
Draco laughed, "I was surprised too, but I think she has a lot going on at work and needed to discuss some research with me anyway."
Blaise rolled his eyes, "Yes I'm sure that's the only reason she's moving into her arch enemy's home. I'll have to come by and see this for myself later."
Draco bowed to his friend, "Be my guest."
They both said their goodbyes and Draco began neatening up his home. He normally kept it immaculate, but he wanted it to be perfect for Hermione's arrival. While cleaning, he noticed that it was around dinner time and began cooking. Not knowing exactly what Hermione enjoyed, Draco decided to settle on making a pot roast and some homemade rolls. Surely the woman wouldn't be that picky, right?
Draco turned on the radio that was sitting in his kitchen and began chopping vegetables. Five years ago if someone had told him he would be cooking his own food, listening to a Muggle contraption, and having Granger live in his home he would've hexed them to the next century.
Draco was so lost in the music playing from the radio and cooking dinner that he didn't hear the pop of apparition, nor did he hear Hermione make her entrance into the kitchen.
Hermione leaned against the doorway and stared at the tall blonde for a moment soaking him in. He was wearing a burgundy cable knit jumper, some muggle jeans, and an apron. He was listening to a radio and dancing just a little to the song while he was kneading some dough. He looked positively perfect and Hermione felt a warmth begin to pool in her stomach.
Draco's shouting broke her from her reverie, "BLOODY HELL GRANGER! How long have you been standing there?"
Hermione giggled, "Oh not long. Since when did the Draco Malfoy look positively muggle?"
Draco looked at her seriously, but she could see the glint in his eyes, "Since he stopped listening to his prejudiced father and moved to Muggle London?"
Hermione nodded her head, "Fair enough. What are you making?"
Draco looked back down at the dough he was kneading, "Pot roast and rolls. Is that okay?"
Hermione shook her head yes and gave him a sad smile. She walked out of the room and mumbled, "I'll go unpack."
Draco was unsure what had set her off, but he continued cooking, trying his best not to read into her feelings. It wouldn't do if he actually began to like the woman.
Hermione started unpacking her things and adding books to the shelves that were in his room. Wait, were these shelves here earlier? Or did he put them in here for me? No, he couldn't have, I just must've not noticed them. While unpacking, Hermione allowed her mind to wander to her parents.
"'Mione dear! Dinner is ready!" Elizabeth Granger yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
Hermione slammed shut her book about magical creatures, "Coming Mum!"
Hermione came barreling down the stairs much to her mother's chagrin. Her mother was always concerned one of those stairs would come crashing in due to her incessant need to slam down them. She entered the dining area of their home where the table was set. It was Sunday and her mom was making her famous Sunday roast. The Granger family had a long standing tradition of Sunday roasts every Sunday of Hermione's life and she never grew tired of it.
"Do you need any help Mum?" Hermione came up behind her mom and hugged her.
"Well you COULD stop banging down those stairs. I swear it sometimes feels like I raised a boy."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Sorry Mum, I'll get better about it."
Hermione and her mom began bringing items to the table while her father made his way from the living room and helped them bring in the dinner.
"Liz, this looks incredible. As always." Thomas Granger kissed his wife softly on the cheek.
Hermione loved their little displays of affection. Even after being married for almost 20 years, they still were as in love as when they had married, possibly even more so. Hermione desperately wished for that kind of a love for herself.
That was one of the last good memories Hermione had with her family - something they had done almost every Sunday of her life, save the times she was at Hogwarts. Soon after that, the Horcrux hunt had begun and she had wiped their memories. And almost a year later, they were murdered. Hermione began to cry quietly to herself as the memories of that time flooded her.
"Granger! Dinner is ready!" Draco shouted from the bottom of the stairs.
Hermione wiped her face and cleared her throat, "Be there in a minute."
She began neatening up the mess she had made when unpacking and checked herself in the mirror, smoothing out her clothes and wiping the tear stains from her face. Malfoy may have been nice to her recently, but he didn't need to know she had been crying.
As Hermione walked down the stairs, the smell from dinner invaded her senses completely. It smelled just like her mums roast and it took every fiber of her being not to curl up on the floor and sob. She knew she'd need a drink tonight if she'd sleep at all.
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Narcissa Malfoy sat in her study reviewing over the details of her next event. The summer was her favorite season as she was able to put on more galas and charity fundraisers than any other season. Her next one was only a month away, a charity fundraiser for the orphans of the war. It would be a black and white ball and she would invite all of the right people, the Golden Trio being some of those "right" people. She had the idea to make a red carpet outside of the home so the press would not enter the party and the evening could go without that awful Skeeter woman making a ruckus.
While she was pouring herself over the seating arrangements, her fireplace came to life, indicating she had a floo call. Tearing her eyes away from the replica tables and chairs, Narcissa made her way to the green fire and stuck her head in to see who was calling at such an odd hour.
"Oh hello dear! Are you alright? This is an awfully odd hour for you to be flooing." Narcissa spoke to the woman on the other side of the floo connection.
"I haven't seen you in so long Cissy, I was just thinking about you tonight. I was wondering if I could come by for tea tomorrow and catch up. It's been far too long and I miss my dear best friend."
Narcissa smiled at her old friend. It had been a long time since any of her friends from before the war had contacted her. It was nice to hear from her best friend, even if it had only been a month. "Why of course. Come by around 3:00? I'll be sure to have tea set up in the garden."
The women ended their phone call and Narcissa returned to her seating plan.
"Bipsy?" Narcissa called out into the empty room.
A small pop sounded from the left side of Narcissa and she looked down to see her favorite elf staring back up at her with her large eyes, wearing a pretty periwinkle dress. "Yes Miss?"
"A friend is visiting tomorrow for tea around 3:00. Can you ensure that tea is set in the garden for our dear old friend?"
Mipsy bowed her head, flopping her ears down almost touching the floor, "Yes Miss! Gladly!"
And with that, Mipsy had snapped her fingers to return to her duties. Ever since Lucius had passed, Narcissa had ensured that her elves would be free, paid fairly, and treated with respect. While she still felt that elves were beneath her, she did not believe they shouldn't be treated with respect. That was where she and her husband, and most of the sacred 28 for that matter, had disagreed.
Narcissa extinguished the flames within the fireplace and retired to bed, mentally preparing herself for the visit with her "dear old friend" tomorrow.
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Hermione and Draco had eaten their meal in complete silence. Draco wondering what the hell he had done to get her to be so quiet and Hermione thinking over the 2 years and continually remembering her parents. Hermione stood from the table and began clearing it, waving her wand to begin cleaning the kitchen and putting away the food.
"Who would've thought, muggle-born Hermione Granger would use magic to perform menial tasks?"
Hermione looked over her shoulder and sniggered at him, "I'm just full of surprises aren't I, Malfoy?"
Draco just rolled his eyes at her and stood up from the kitchen table. He walked to his cupboards and reached up to grab down a whiskey glass. Hermione noticed the muscles in his back begin to move and flex while he was reaching to the top shelf of the cupboard. There was that warmth again, pooling at her stomach.
Draco turned and smirked at her, "After dinner drinks and cases?"
Hermione gulped and tried to clear the flush that was beginning on her cheeks, "Yes, sounds good. I'll go get my files."
Hermione left the kitchen and ran upstairs to grab her files from her room. When she returned, she barreled down the stairs as she had in her childhood home. Draco was sitting in his office at one of the chairs near the window, dangling a glass of Firewhiskey between his fingers, and reading over some files.
Draco looked up from his paperwork and smiled at her, "Whatchya got for me?"
For the next few hours the two poured over their case files, Hermione discussing the dark creatures that had begun acting strange and Draco discussing the objects that have begun to go missing from shops in Knockturn Alley. Neither realized it, but their cases would soon diverge.
The clock in the hallway rang out and signaling 11:00. Hermione was absolutely sloshed from the alcohol, but still hid it well from Draco; she'd had plenty of practice with her ex-fiance. Draco was exhausted and knew they'd have to be up bright and early the next morning. Both looked at each other and silently agreed to go to bed.
Both trudged upstairs and parted ways. Hermione got ready for bed in her connecting bathroom and fell onto the soft plush comforter. When she crawled under the sheets, they were slightly warm as if they had sat outside in the hot summer breeze for the day. Hermione fell asleep quickly in her new home.
*6 months after the war*
Hermione walked through the front door of her parents home to have their usual Sunday roast. After she had found her parents in Australia and returned their memories and explained what happened and why, she and her parents returned to London and slowly began to transition back into their normal lives - which included the Sunday roast tradition.
As soon as she turned away to lock the door after her someone stupified her. The next thing she remembered was waking up tied to a chair with her wand gone. She had been silenciod since every time she tried to make a sound, nothing would come out.
"Oh good, you're awake." A deep, gravelly voice rang out. Hermione looked up to see a cloaked figure wearing a Death Eater mask. Ice began to fill her veins and disbelief set into her mind. She thought all of the Death Eater's had been taken care of, that's why she had restored her parents memories.
Another cloaked figure came into the room, "Now, I know what you're thinking: Me and my two puppies found all of the Death Eaters, didn't we? Oh, stupid stupid mudblood. Did you really think we would use all of our men? The Dark Lord knew he may not survive, he needed people to carry on his legacy."
The first man came closer and knelt down in front of her, "We aren't going to kill you today Mudblood. No you're too fresh from the win. We need the wizarding world to become complacent. No, today we are going to break you down. Make you feel like you'll never be safe as long as you're living."
At that moment, the other man walked in dragging Hermione's parents. Both were struggling against their restraints and trying to scream, but they had been silenced as well.
Both men began torturing her parents in front of her, using the Cruciatus, reminding her of the way Bellatrix had tortured her. Hermione was sobbing and begging for the men to stop, but they couldn't hear her nor would they care if they could.
After quite some time of torturing her parents, the men shouted, "Avada Kedavra," at the same exact time, killing her parents instantly.
Hermione was being shaken awake by Draco, "Granger, wake up. Wake up. You're having a nightmare."
Hermione was still sobbing as she pulled herself into his chest and began shaking violently, "Please don't kill them. Please."
Draco laid down on the bed next to her and pulled her in close to him. He began petting her hair and rubbing circles onto her back, "Granger, you're having a nightmare. Calm down. It'll be okay."
Hermione slowly stopped shaking as Draco began to lull her back to sleep. He began humming a melody his mom used to sing to calm him down and Hermione's breathing got deeper and deeper.
Draco eventually fell asleep and stayed with her all through the night despite being woken up by her screaming multiple times about various things: his aunt, Weasley, some murder, and other nightmares. He stayed and held her close each time, comforting her back to sleep.
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Author's Note: I know I gave you a long note at the beginning of this chapter so I'll be quick.
What did you think? As a Hufflepuff I am doing my best not to be too romantic, but I can't help myself. Draco needs a sweet side.
Also, what house are you? Both Hogwarts and Ilvermorny? Which one do you feel you identify with more?
