Chapter9: We All Have Scars

Draco stood in the large door way of Malfoy Manor, watching as his house guest made her way up the drive. Hermione surveyed the large house in awe; it was beautiful, nothing like she remembered it. There was no fear here anymore, only sadness. Her eyes fell upon the man standing at the door and she felt her heartbeat quicken slightly.

"Hi." She spoke as she reached the bottom of the steps and he hurried down to help with her bags. A breeze whipped through her hair as the two of them ascended the stairs and entered the house.

"How was the journey?" Draco carried her bags with ease, leading her towards the staircase. Hermione studied her surroundings; it was even more beautiful inside. Last time she'd been here hadn't held much time for looking around, and definitely not admiring.

"Pleasant, thank you." They climbed the stairs, Hermione very much aware of where they'd arrive soon. Her breathing increased as she wandered whether he remembered that day-the day his aunt tortured her.

"I'll show you to your room." As they came closer to the top of the stairs she reached out for him, clutching his arm. He stopped and glanced down at her face, then her hand. "What's wrong?" It struck him as he followed her gaze to the top of the stairs. "Oh." Draco could remember the last time she'd been here as if it were yesterday, but he'd completely forgotten until now. "We don't have to go up if you don't want to. I'll put you in another room." He placed a hand on her back awkwardly, unsure of how to deal with this. The woman looked more than vulnerable, a rare occurrence of late.

"No no, it's fine. I'll have to face it sometime." Hermione shook her head firmly, relinquishing her grasp on his arm quickly. Draco nodded and they took the last few steps up, arriving to the large room. It also looked different to how she remembered it, a long table sat in the middle of the room now, light streaming through the windows making it look far too friendly.

"Ok?" The blonde stepped closer to her, just in case.

"Yeah." She nodded. "It's nothing like I remember it." Their eyes darted around the familiar room, Draco could see what she meant. This was his home though, and he learnt to live with it. Live with the pain, with the memories.

"Shall we?" He gestured to a corridor on their right and she nodded, following him as he began to walk again. Portraits and paintings lined the walls and a long thin rug ran the length of the corridor, wooden flooring beneath it. They passed several identical doors on the way, some had scratch marks at the bottom of the wood near the floor. Hermione decided she didn't want to know why. One door didn't have a doorknob, instead there sat a gaping whole revealing nothing but darkness within. They reached the end of the corridor where the last two doors stood opposite one another, a little distance away from the rest. "Here we go." Draco pushed the door open, letting Hermione enter first. What was waiting for her came as more than a surprise. The room was large, possibly the same size as her whole dorm back in Hogwarts. There was a bright white door in the right hand wall and double glass doors in the left wall leading to what looked like a small balcony. A large four poster bed sat in the middle of the room, red drapes hanging loosely tied with decorative rope. Hermione stepped further into the room, awestruck by how nice it all was. An oak dresser with a large mirror stood to the left between the bed and the glass doors, small stool tucked beneath. She turned around to see a large wardrobe against the wall left of the door, made of the same oak as the dresser. "Like it?" Draco heaved her cases onto the bed, eyes never leaving the woman.

"It's lovely." Hermione grinned with a nod, making her way over to the glass doors and peering out. "Is that all your land?" The beautiful view of bushes, trees and fields were covered in a shining layer of white snow from the downpour earlier that day. Specks of brown foliage were scattered as far as the eye could see where leaves had tried to break through.

"Yeah," Draco nodded, making his way over to join her. "It ends just beyond those trees." He pointed towards a large huddle of trees to the right, branches caked in white. She couldn't help but wander how much more beautiful it must all look in Spring or Summer. "Do you want to go out for a walk?" The blonde lowered his arm and glanced at her uncertainly. He wasn't very good at the whole 'host' thing, the only guests he usually entertained were Blaise or Pansy. They saw the manor as another home so helped themselves to whatever they wanted, meaning he didn't usually have to do much at all.

"That would be nice." Hermione smiled, a little surprised at his hospitality. The two of them made their way to the door and Draco led her back down the corridor. They walked in silence as she surveyed all the paintings again, a step behind him the whole way. He spared her a glance over his shoulder every so often, to check she was still there and she looked okay. Every time gave the same out-come, she was always there and always looked perfectly fine. Draco found the whole situation quite hard to believe, Hermione Granger was in his house under nice circumstances and looking happy about it. The two of them were getting along, not even a snide remark had been made yet, although there was still time. They entered the dining room once again, Hermione scanned the room cautiously as if expecting death eaters to jump out any second. She glanced at him before letting her curiosity get the better of her. "What's it like? Living in this house after everything that happened?" The question loitered menacingly as Draco contemplated an answer, no one had asked him that before.

"I guess…I've never really thought about it. I lived here while everything was happening, so…" The blonde trailed off, pausing to think once more. "No more evil lingers in these walls." His eyes narrowed slightly, gazing from ceiling to walls vigilantly. Hermione watched the man closely until he shook his head and made for the stairs, following him quickly. Perhaps she shouldn't have asked.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and turned left down another corridor, Draco stopped outside two double doors, one slightly ajar. "The study. All the books you could ever read, Granger." He announced, pushing the door open further to allow her a better view. Hermione stepped forward and looked inside, a smile creeping onto her face.

"What kind of books?" She tried to contain the joy in her voice, squinting in attempt to see at least one book title.

"All kinds. I've read most of them myself. I'm pretty sure you'd enjoy them." Draco smirked as he watched her, head cocked to the side slightly.

"How do you know what kind of books I enjoy?" The Gryffindor turned to look at him, eyebrow raised questioningly.

"I know a lot of things about you, Granger." He leant against the door frame, a smug look on his face at her surprised expression.

Hermione glanced away from him, recomposing herself quickly. "Do you now? How exactly have you come to that conclusion?" She crossed her arms, trying to give off an air of confidence she currently didn't possess.

"I observe. Observation is key." Draco's tone was mysterious and boastful as he strode past her and down the corridor.

Hermione scoffed, turning to watch him then follow after. "Everyone observes, Malfoy." She arrived along side him once more.

"Yes, they do." He nodded with a glance in her direction before continuing. "Tell me, when you look at a person, what do you see?" Draco kept his focus ahead of him, he could almost hear the cogs turning in her brain.

"Well, I-erm. I see them? I see their appearance…" Hermione had no idea as to what she was saying. The man beside her was making very little sense.

"Exactly, you only see the person, you see what they look like. You don't see beneath that." The blonde stopped beside yet another door, Hermione almost forgetting to halt due to his words distracting her. He opened the door and gestured for her to enter, it was a kitchen.

"What do you mean?" She furrowed her brow as he entered the room behind her and led her towards the other end. It was long and narrow, counters either side with the usual kitchen appliances and utensils found in a magical kitchen. The walls were covered in white tiling which looked very new as it shone in light from the double doors at the other end of the room. These doors were mainly glass and looked much like the ones in her room upstairs, a view of the garden could be seen through them.

"I mean, there's more to a person than what meets the eye." Draco turned his head slightly over his shoulders as he spoke.

"I know that." Hermione crossed her arms, eyes gazing around the room before resting on the back of his head.

"I never said you didn't." The man retaliated defensively, not wanting a riled up Hermione in his house. Not now anyway. "I mean, there are things you can learn about people just by watching them. For example, your friend Lavender Brown; she has been very interesting to survey over the past couple of months. Almost a complete personality change there." Draco reached the doors and stopped, turning to face her.

"You know, you sound like a weird stalker." Hermione tried to hide her amusement by biting her lip.

Draco ignored the lip biting and rolled his eyes, turning away and opening the doors. "I didn't think you'd understand." The cold air from outside hit them hard and Draco shoved his hands in pockets before striding out the doors.

Hermione brought her arms around herself for warmth and followed him. "That's not fair! I was joking, I do understand." They were stood on a large patio, a table and chairs sat a few feet away to their right. Bushes surrounded the area, an opening straight ahead of them. "Lavender's not as confident anymore, she doesn't gossip as much. I know why, it's not difficult to notice."

"Do tell, why?" Draco glanced in her direction before making his way towards the opening in the bushes.

Hermione followed after him again, she'd been doing a lot of that today. "Because she nearly died, she was attacked and now has scars that will never disappear." The words coming out of her mouth affected her more than she'd expected. They were relevant for so many people, for Lavender, for herself, for the man in front of her. It made her want to cry.

"We all have scars, Granger." Draco muttered. They stepped out from between the bushes and arrived in a large rectangular garden, empty flower beds in every direction. Hermione wanted to look around but couldn't tear her eyes away from the blonde man. They stood a few feet apart in silence, Draco avoiding her stare. He couldn't help wander why he'd even invited her here in the first place, but for some reason he was glad he did. "I stumbled across her in the library the other day, crying." The man made his way towards a snow covered tree in the middle of one of the flower beds, shoulders hunched against the cold. Hermione's eyes widened slightly, hating the idea of a friend upset. "At first she tried to run away, but I convinced her to stay, and do you know what she said?"

"What?" Hermione stepped towards him, watching as he eyed the tree.

"She told me she was sorry." He turned to her then, noting her brows suddenly furrow in confusion. "I know, I didn't understand why she was apologising either. Until she explained that I must have had such a horrible life living with those people and watching them do terrible things." Draco turned back to the tree hurriedly.

Hermione nodded slightly, although she knew he couldn't see. "She was right though." The wind picked up, tossing her hair around widely as she attempted to keep it down with a hand.

"No, Granger." As if he were picked up by the wind, Draco quickly moved towards her. He stood inches in front of her and the wind came to a sudden stop, everything in the garden was still and eerily silent. "I told Lavender, and I'll tell you. No one should feel sorry for me, I could have gotten away, I could have stopped them…but I didn't. If anything, I'm the one that's sorry, to her-to you." His breathing was steady and warm as it washed over her skin, his eyes bore into hers before her gaze began to dart across his features.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Her voice was almost a whisper. "You had no choice, they would have killed you." Hermione's eyes returned to his, she'd never noticed his were a grey colour. Draco glanced down at the miniscule distance between them and stepped back abruptly. A sigh escaped his lips as he returned to the tree.

"I planted this tree when I was 11." The sudden change of subject came as a slight relief to the brunette behind him. Hermione let her body relax again and she shivered violently, unsure of what just happened. "Pathetic isn't it? It's barely taller than me." The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, he'd never been very good at gardening, unlike his mother.

"I like it." She cautiously stood beside him, keeping her distance.

"You would." Draco let out a small chuckle before beginning to walk slowly along the flower bed, leaving the tree behind them. There was another opening in the bushes ahead and they made their way towards it. Hermione now had time to survey her surroundings, bushes acted as walls around large sections of garden as they walked. Trees were dotted around the flower bed, none of them that large, the larger trees could be seen in the near distance above some of the bushes. They emerged from another set of bushes to a large expanse of grass, where the forest sat across from them. The land was slopped upwards towards the trees and Draco began to climb, Hermione close behind. Grey clouds passed over head as they reached the edge of the trees.

"You can see your room from here, look." The blonde pointed back towards the manor and Hermione followed his gaze, eyes landing on the small balcony outside what must have been her room. "My room's just across the corridor from yours." Sure enough her eyes moved across the manor and landed on another balcony pretty close to her own. It really was a lovely view, she wrapped her arms around herself tighter as the cold began to slither its way through her coat.

"It's getting quite cold now isn't it? Look at those clouds." Hermione looked up at the sky and Draco nodded, her lips were almost blue.

"Yeah. Let's go inside." They both made their way back to the house at a quicker speed than before. Hermione was more than thankful when the kitchen doors came back into view a few minutes later and they stepped into the warmth. She sighed inwardly, closing her eyes briefly. "Afternoon, Mother." Draco's voice caused her to open her eyes quickly. Narcissa Malfoy was leaning against one of the counters with a mug in her hands, watching Hermione intently.

"Afternoon Draco, Miss Granger." A small smile crept onto the old woman's face. Draco had told her he was bringing Hermione Granger to their house but she half hadn't believed him. What would bring her here of all places? Especially since what happened last time she was there.

"Afternoon, Mrs Malfoy." Hermione couldn't decide whether Narcissa was happy to see her or surprised, probably both.

"Please, call me Narcissa." The woman gave a curt nod before taking a drink of the steaming beverage in her hands. Hermione nodded her understanding, glancing at Draco with uncertainty a hint of fear in her eyes.

"Drink?" He made his way over to one of the counters, eyes on her for a response.

"No, thank you. Is it ok if I go up to my room and warm up?" Hermione felt awfully rude saying it but just wanted to get out of there for a while. She was sure there was a bath upstairs in her room and it was looking ever more appealing.

"Of course, do you remember the way, or would you like me to walk you?" Draco kept his eyes on her, undoing a button on his coat absent-mindedly.

"I remember, I'll be fine. Thank you." With that she made her way out of the kitchen, sparing Narcissa a forced smile before disappearing out the door. The two Malfoy's stared after her, Draco ran a hand through his hair before looking down at his coat and finished undoing the buttons.

"She seems nice." Narcissa turned to her son with a knowing look before taking another sip from her mug. She already knew the young woman was nice, she already knew quite a bit about her actually. But she never thought the pretty brunette would ever give her son a chance, something she was grateful for now. Of course, Draco had insisted nothing was going on between them but Narcissa couldn't help wander why else would he have invited her. Draco nodded, sending his Mother a sideways glance.

"Don't look at me like that." He frowned, shrugging off his coat and hauling it at one of the hooks on the wall by the doors.

"Like what, darling?" Narcissa feigned innocence, taking yet another swig of drink to conceal her smile.

"I told you, it's not what you're thinking. We're…" That was a good question, what exactly were they? Acquaintances? Friends? No, not friends, that hadn't come into conversation at all between them. "We made a truce, Mother. I told you that, I'm simply making sure she can see I'm serious about putting the past behind us."

"Of course, darling." His mother nodded, mug still to her lips.

Draco rolled his eyes, heaving a loud sigh. "Goodbye, Mother." He strode out of the kitchen, unable to discuss such things with her if she was going to act childish. Narcissa tilted her head back slightly, a quiet laugh escaping her at her son's behaviour. He was always so guarded when it came to his feelings; he refused to talk about them to her or anyone else that she knew of. But sometimes he didn't need to, she could tell. It had been the same with Pansy, this thought made Narcissa wander what had happened between her son and the young witch. They'd been together for years, sort of, on and off. It was sometimes difficult to tell with the two of them. Pansy had always been besotted with Draco but he would never really return such enthusiasm. It used to make Narcissa worry, but now the two of them were apart again and Draco seemed to be interested in Hermione. Though he'd never admit it, the old woman doubted he'd admitted it to himself yet either.

The next two days went quite pleasantly in Malfoy Manor. Draco had shown her the games room during one day, in which he taught her how to play wizards chess properly and she'd shown him how to play muggle snooker. Her father had taught her how to play when she was younger and she'd never forgotten. There had been a snooker table sat in the corner of the room which Draco had insisted was his Grandfather's and he knew nothing of how to use it. This had taken up most of the day and resulted in Draco winning all the games of wizard chess and Hermione winning all the games of snooker.

She helped him put Christmas decorations up on the third day; Narcissa had insisted the place looked boring and not at all festive. Draco had reminded her the house had never looked festive in his 18 years of existence and she'd proceeded to get upset and leave the room. Hermione had waited while he went after her, surprised to see how caring and worried he'd looked. On his return they'd started on putting up the decorations, it had taken several hours and once they'd finished they sat down for dinner with Narcissa.

Hermione entered the study after dinner, Draco in close pursuit with a small tray holding their drinks. He put the tray down on the coffee table and slumped onto the couch, watching as she made her way over to the bookcases and leant forward, running a finger along their spines. She grinned each time she came across titles she recognised or had already read, stopping abruptly when an odd one out caught her eye.

"Jane Eyre?" She turned on her heel to look at him, brows furrowed as her finger rested on the book.

"Yes, what about it?" The blonde lounged back on the sofa, arms spread across the back of it. The amusement was clear on his face, he'd been waiting for her to find them.

"Well, it's a muggle novel."

"Keep looking." Draco smirked and she gazed back at the shelf. Her eyes grew a little wider when she spotted the titles of the next several books.

"Moby Dick, Of Mice and Men, Wuthering Heights, Lord of the Flies?" She rattled off just a few of the names, turning back to him yet again.

"Ah, yes. I particularly like the last one." His smirk grew as he leant forward and grabbed his drink.

"You would." Hermione rolled her eyes, leaving the shelf and joining him on the sofa. A lamp sat on a desk over in the corner, meaning the light in the room was limited.

"What?" He asked when she rolled her eyes. "It makes me laugh."

Hermione furrowed her brow at him again in disbelief. "Why? It's not meant to be funny." She wandered if he'd understood what the book was actually about.

"Well, I find the idea of a group of boys stranded on an island, chasing after a pig, quite amusing." Draco took a swig of drink, gesturing towards hers, which she picked up.

"You have a twisted sense of humour." Hermione shook her head lightly before sipping her drink.

"I thought we already knew that, Granger?" He put his mug back down on the table, shifting in his place and moving his arm from on the back of the couch into his lap. They sat in silence, Hermione unsure of how to answer. She brought her legs up to her chest, feet on the couch.

"Oh, am I ok to-?" The brunette lifted her feet quickly, forgetting where she was for a second.

"Yeah, it's fine." He nodded, watching as she twisted her body in his direction and hugged her knees, head tilting sideways to rest on the back of the couch. "How's the whole Potter-Lovegood situation? Has he told Weasley yet?" Draco turned to face her slightly, her expression becoming solemn.

"No he hasn't. He said he'll do it after Christmas." Hermione shook her head against the couch fabric, it was soft and comforting.

"You don't seem very happy about that?" The blonde pulled up his sleeves and crossed his arms.

"Well, it just makes things difficult for me, that's all. I can't help but feel bad whenever I'm around Ginny and I know Ron would be angry with me if he found out I knew and didn't say anything." She didn't know why she was confiding in him, but to be honest who else did she have to talk to about it? However strange it sounded, Draco was there and listening to her.

"I can see your problem, but I've never been in this predicament, so I don't know how to help." Draco leant forward and picked up his mug again, taking a swig before giving her an apologetic look.

"It's fine. Although, I'm sure it wasn't all clean sailing with you and Parkinson?" Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, resting her mug on her knee. It was difficult to tell whether she should have brought the Slytherin girl up, but she couldn't help being curious about their relationship.

"Merlin, no. Nothing's clean sailing with that woman." His words weren't harsh like she thought they might be, instead he smiled a little before swigging his drink again.

"What happened between you two?" The Gryffindor spoke hastily before taking a sip of her own drink, eyes on him.

Draco paused, lowering his mug to rest in his lap. "A lot has happened." He gave a slight shrug of the shoulders.

"She loves you, I can tell." Hermione bit her bottom lip when she finished the sentence. For years she'd been able to tell Pansy was infatuated with the blonde. Of course, she'd never understood how or why, she'd never really experienced the feeling herself until forth year with Ron.

"I know." Draco nodded, the familiar feeling of guilt rising in his stomach.

Hermione watched him closely as he took another sip of his drink, sure he'd run out soon. "Do you love her?" She hadn't expected the question to leave her lips, but he had.

"I'm not-" Hermione's eyes had fallen upon his lap where his left forearm was, his words now going unnoticed. The skull and snake sat mockingly on his skin and he quickly went to pull down his sleeve.

"No, you don't have to do that." She leant forward and grabbed his wrist carefully. Draco stopped and looked at her, eyes searching hers for the fear and hatred his mark usually produced in others. He couldn't find it. "Just a scar." Hermione cautiously pulled his sleeve back to where it had been, fingers hovering over the darkened skin. For some reason she desperately wanted to touch it, reassure him it meant nothing now.

"Just a scar." Without warning he grasped her left arm, repeating her words as he lifted her own sleeve.

"Don't." Her voice was feeble and almost caught in her throat as the word 'mudblood' came into view.

"Just a scar, Granger." Draco repeated again, he hadn't seen her scar close up and it made him want to scream out in anger. Hermione had let go of his arm now, leaning back in an attempt to get out of his grip.

"I know." She muttered as he abandoned his grasp and sat back, a sigh of relief escaped her as she hugged her knees tighter. Silence fell as Hermione tugged her sleeve back down, the subject needed to be changed and fast. "Do you want me to stay tomorrow?" After calming herself she spoke again.

"Don't be ridiculous, you have to get back to your parents" Draco shook his head, surprised at the offer but thankful for the change of subject.

"They won't mind." She tucked some hair behind her ear, a serious look on her face.

"Well, we're going to see Lucius tomorrow. I doubt you'd want to-"

"Would you like me to come?" Hermione shot him a stern frown and he nodded slightly, half hoping she wouldn't see. "Then I'll come." She paused, he didn't look too impressed but that was tough. "Right, now that's sorted I'm going to bed." She jumped up off the couch and put her mug back on the table. "Night." The woman gave him a small smile.

"Night." Draco couldn't help but smile back as he watched her leave the room. Why had he agreed to let her come? This wasn't a good idea. He didn't know how his father would react, but when she'd asked if he wanted her their he couldn't lie. The blonde did want her there.

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Hello all! Sorry it's been so damn long! I've had a lot on etc etc. Hope you liked this? I seriously wrote most of it months ago, so it's weird for me to reread. Feel free to read and review, your opinions are important to me! Thank yoouuu xx