The War is Over
Chapter 11 - New Starts
'Are you ready?'
Hermione nodded, her stomach churned as she looked at the wreck that had once been her flat. There was no front door and the area was cordoned off with police tape. The Muggle police were letting her in only briefly so she could take what she wanted from the flat and then it would have to be examined by a structural engineer to make sure the flat above wasn't going to collapse in on it.
Draco slipped his hand into hers as they crossed the yellow tape and walked across the rubble into what had once been the hallway. Hermione swallowed a lump in her throat as she looked at the large puddle of dried blood on the floor by the utilities cupboard.
She had only moved into the Manor yesterday and despite Harry and Draco both saying she needed to rest Hermione knew she needed to do this first. The hallway was filled with rubble and ash, but Hermione didn't keep anything of importance there anyway.
She pushed the bathroom door open, it was hanging off of its hinges and nearly fell off completely at being opened. The bathroom was charred and covered in ash like the hallway, but again Hermione could replace the things she had kept in the bathroom cupboard, things like potions and medicines.
'Anything in here you want to try to salvage?' Draco asked.
Hermione shook her head and silently walked from the room. Directly ahead was the kitchen, to the left was the door to living room (although the kitchen had two doors and acted as a through way between the hallway and living room). To the right were the doors to Hermione and Rose's bedroom. It seemed that the most badly affected area was the left hand side of the house.
'I'll clear Rose's room first,' Hermione said, her voice harsh with emotion. Draco nodded and pushed open the door to Rose's room. It hadn't been attacked by the fire but still had the scent of smoke, everything taken from here would need to be cleaned or washed.
Hermione sighed as she sat down on the floor and opened one of the cardboard boxes she had brought with her, she cheated by putting reducing charms on everything to fit more into the boxes. Draco watched her sadly as she picked up all of Rose's cuddly toys and boxed them up.
'Have you always lived here?' Draco asked as he sat down next to her on the floor and helped her with Rose's toys, she had so many toys of different creatures. There were about 10 different coloured dragons.
Hermione shook her head, 'Not always,' she said, 'but for around the last 4 years.'
'So you moved in here after Weasley left?' Draco asked, he didn't want to intrude but he was curious.
Hermione nodded once more, 'Rose will be 6 in May, we moved into this flat when she was 2.'
They were quiet for a moment as they finished boxing up the toys. Hermione then opened Rose's large built-in wardrobe and began packing up all of her daughter's clothes and shoes, again using reducing charms.
'Can I help?' Draco asked.
'You can pack up all of her toys,' Hermione said, as she summoned the toys from underneath the bed and pulled two boxes of toys down from the top of the wardrobe.
'You have one spoiled daughter,' Draco said with a chuckle as he began to pack the toys up.
'Blame Harry and Ginny,' Hermione remarked with a slight smile. Draco understood that this was hard for her and he felt incredibly guilty because he still felt like the attack had been his fault.
'This is lovely,' Draco said as he carefully packed away wooden figurines from a dollhouse.
Hermione smiled at the dollhouse, 'my Father made it for Rose for her 2nd birthday,' she said, 'the people in it are our family, me and Rose, Harry and Ginny.'
'So Potter really is like family?' Draco asked, it was something he had always been curious about.
Hermione nodded, lost in her thoughts, 'he is now,' she said.
'So there was something between you before? At school?' Draco asked, he had always wondered when he had watched Hermione from afar during their school days.
'Not at school,' Hermione said as he went back to clearing the wardrobe of Rose's many shoes, 'but in the war, yes.'
'Can I ask for details or is it something you'd rather not talk about?' Draco asked sheepishly, 'I'm nosy.'
'I've noticed,' Hermione said with a smile as she finished with the wardrobe.
'Slytherin trait, sorry,' Draco said with a smirk, he didn't sound very apologetic.
Hermione chuckled and sat down on Rose's bed, 'I had a slight crush on Harry when we were at Hogwarts together, something that was probably pretty obvious.'
'Not all of the time,' Draco admitted, 'in fourth year though…well you didn't exactly try to hide it.'
Hermione laughed, 'Harry never realised, he was oblivious to the whole thing. Either way things changed during the war. I don't think you really know what we did, and I can't tell you, it's Harry story to tell, not mine…' Hermione trailed off thoughtfully.
'All I know is you spent the whole year on the run,' Draco said honestly, 'and then you got caught, brought to my Manor, escaped and turned up later at Hogwarts to defeat Voldemort.'
'Well when we spent the year on the run it was hard, especially for Ron who couldn't cope with living rough and never having enough to eat. He couldn't take it so he just up and left,' Hermione said, sighing deeply.
'He has a tendency to do that,' Draco said and Hermione was surprised to hear angry undertones.
'Well Harry and I were on our own after that and we got closer,' Hermione said, she leant against the wall and shut her eyes, 'we danced one night in the tent we were staying in and kissed…I don't know what we thought it was, but it kept us going I suppose.'
'And after the war?' Draco asked.
'After the war Harry and Ginny got back together, you already know the story about James being conceived,' Hermione said as she pushed herself to her feet, 'and Ron came back and I forgave him, or at least pretended too. The rest is history.'
'You know Hermione, I always thought you three had the perfect life,' Draco admitted, 'I thought I was the poor little Slytherin who got all of the crap, but you never had it easy.'
'No, I didn't,' Hermione admitted, she leant down to where Draco was sitting on the floor and kissed him on the cheek, 'but I'm happy now, and 4 years ago I never thought I'd have that.'
Draco smiled slightly at this, but couldn't say anything more because Hermione changed the subject, 'what do we do with the furniture?' she asked as she looked around the room.
'We'll just pop a couple of reducing charms on it and box it up,' Draco said as he looked around at the furniture they had to reduce.
'I'll do this side,' he said as he moved to the left side of the room. 10 minutes later they had packed up the furniture as well as the other bits and bobs lying around the room. Things like Rose's bed, chest of drawers, bedside table, her broomstick, her potions kit, her big pink fluffy beanbag and her bright pink armchair.
'I think we're done,' Hermione said as she packed Rose's night light, although it wouldn't do much good because the Manor didn't have electricity.
'Where next?' Draco asked.
'My bedroom,' Hermione said with a sigh.
'I'll apparate back to the manor with the things from this room and come back to help when I'm done,' Draco said as he lifted as much boxes as he could.
'Alright I'll start boxing things up in my room,' Hermione said with a sad smile as she moved into her bedroom. Like Rose's it had been saved from the fire but had a resounding smoky smell that wouldn't go away without a few washes. Hermione sighed, she didn't know what to do with her bed, after all there was already one in Draco's room but she had to clear this flat of everything she owned. She decided to shrink it and store it somewhere, this along with her bedding was the first thing she did. Then she opened up her wardrobe and started packing her clothes away which took longer than she thought, she even packed away the box of clothes she didn't wear because of complicated reasons to do with her ex-Husband.
By the time Draco returned Hermione had just finished emptying her chest of drawers and was about to shrink it.
'That's Rose's stuff all in her new room in the Manor,' Draco said as he sat down heavily on the sofa in Hermione's room, 'you seem to be making good progress.'
'Nearly done,' Hermione said as she packed her shrunken chest of drawers. Draco then got up from the sofa and packed it, leaving only a few pieces of furniture to be packed and the photographs on the bedside tables.
'I'll put these in my bag,' Hermione said, she wanted to be careful with them. Draco smiled as he passed her the photographs, there were three. The first was of Hermione holding Rose when she was a tiny baby, the second was of Harry and Hermione at some kind of ball and the third looked like a fairly recent photo of Rose and Hermione who were both waving at the camera.
'At least those survived the fire,' Draco said as he packed the remainder of the things in the bedroom while Hermione packed things from her ensuite bathroom.
They made their way into the kitchen after that which had been pretty badly affected by the fire so there wasn't much there that was actually salvageable. They then walked through into the living room which was the room Hermione had been dreading and hence why she had left it to be the last room.
Draco again took Hermione's hand as they looked around the wreck. The entire left side of the room was ruined and anything in it was gone including Hermione's bookshelf with all of her books on it.
Hermione sighed, 'My books are gone, and so are some of my pictures…' she walked around the room, collecting the things that were important to her and packing them, things like Rose's awards and the photographs that did survive. When they were done they shrunk all of the furniture that hadn't been damaged by the fire and activated the fireplace. They had roped Theo in to take boxes on the other side, and watch both the kids at the Manor.
By the time they were done Hermione felt exhausted despite the fact that the entire clear out had only taken a couple of hours.
'Do you want to look around the place one last time?' Draco asked.
Hermione shook her head, 'I don't want to make this worse for myself,' she said simply as she walked into the active fire.
'Hermione, you need to control your daughter.'
'What's she done this time?' Hermione asked Theo in amusement. The Slytherin was leaning against the wall in the living room as Hermione emerged from the fire. She got on well with Draco's best friend, he reminded her of Harry in some ways.
'Apparently Potter bought her a potions book,' Theo said with a raised eyebrow, 'she nearly blew up Scorp's bedroom.'
'I told Harry that book was too old for her,' Hermione muttered, adding, 'sorry Theo.'
'Don't worry, I know what Scorp's like, there are protective charms everywhere in his room, neither of them were hurt,' Theo said, surveying Hermione with interest, 'do you want to go out for a drink tonight?'
Hermione frowned, 'are you asking me out?'
'No,' Theo chuckled, 'I know I'm a Slytherin but I'm not that bad, you're my Godsons Fathers girlfriend.'
'Right,' Hermione said with a chuckle.
'I just have a couple of things I need to tell you about Draco,' Theo admitted with a smile.
'Sure,' Hermione said, she wanted to get to know Draco's friends, she wasn't sure if Draco would make the same effort to get to know her friends however.
'See you tonight, 7pm at Nott Manor,' Theo said with a smile as he walked towards the front door, leaving Hermione slightly bemused.
The floo whirred and Draco walked out, he smirked when he saw Hermione staring at Theo's back as he walked away.
'Did he just ask you out?' Draco asked with a smirk,
'Uh, sort of. He wants me to have a drink with him tonight at his Manor,' Hermione said, still slightly confused as she turned to Draco.
'Don't worry, he'd never try anything with you,' Draco said as he sat down on the sofa, 'he does have some morals.'
Hermione laughed, 'some?'
'Rather a lot actually, for a Slytherin,' Draco said with a smile.
'Well I think I might go,' Hermione said playfully, 'I want to hear all his cute stories about you.'
'We have known each other for about 20 years, Merlin knows what he'll tell you,' Draco said, shaking his head at the thought.
'I can't wait,' Hermione said with a grin.
Later that evening Draco and Hermione had packed away anything that wouldn't be getting used and had restored Rose's new room so it looked as similar to her old one as possible. She seemed happy with it and before she knew it, it was time for Hermione to leave for Nott Manor.
Draco and Theo were closer than Hermione had first thought, from the balcony in their bedroom Hermione could actually see Nott Manor, it was nestled away in a valley, probably to keep away Muggles.
Hermione had just decided to walk, so dressed in a pair of sensible shoes, a coat, jeans and a t-shirt she left the house and walked the short distance to Nott Manor. When she arrived at the gates and got her first proper view of the place she wasn't surprised to find that it was as grand as Malfoy Manor, although slightly smaller.
Hermione walked through the wrought iron gates with the words 'NOTT MANOR' emblazoned in capital letters and walked up the path towards the front door. The manor was 4 stories high but probably had a basement like Malfoy Manor did, it had more of a country manor feeling too it than Malfoy Manor which was so large and grand that it was imposing.
Hermione felt slightly nervous as she knocked on the front door of the Manor. It swung open of its own accord and a house elf appeared with a crack that made Hermione jump.
'Welcome Miss. Granger,' the house elf said as it bowed, 'Master Nott is waiting for you.'
Hermione smiled and followed the house elf inside. The entrance hall was large with lots of marble which didn't surprise Hermione. She followed the house elf into a door to the left which led into a sitting room where Theo was sitting holding a glass of wine. The layout seemed very similar to Malfoy Manor.
'Ah Hermione,' Theo said with a smile when she walked in, 'sit down.'
Hermione sat down next to Theo on the sofa and said, 'nice house.'
'A smaller version of your new home,' Theo admitted, confirming Hermione's theory.
'I thought I saw similarities,' Hermione said with a smile.
'White, rose or red?' Theo asked as he gestured to the many wine bottles in a nearby cabinet.
'Rose please,' Hermione said, accepting the glass of wine that Theo poured her.
'So, what did you want to talk to me about?' Hermione asked.
'Straight to the point,' Theo chuckled.
'Sorry, a Gryffindor trait,' she admitted.
'Yes, you Gryffindors aren't exactly subtle,' Theo remarked.
'Did you really only ask me here to take the piss out of me for being in Gryffindor?' Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.
'Ooh, the Gryffindor swears,' Theo smirked.
'Gryffindors aren't all sweetness and light, trust me,' Hermione said through her laughter.
'Trust me, Slytherins have more fun, Theo grinned, 'which brings it back to the reason you're here.'
'Draco,' Hermione said with a smirk, 'how long have you two known each other?'
'Since we were Scorp's age,' Theo said with a grin, 'you've seen how close we live to each other. We've always been pretty close.'
'That's sweet,' Hermione said with a smile.
Theo shrugged and appeared thoughtful for a moment, 'You know Draco always said one day he'd ask you out, but I never thought he would.'
'He said that?' Hermione asked in surprise.
Theo nodded, 'You didn't know? He always liked you when we were at Hogwarts, but his parents wouldn't have approved and it only worsened the blow that you were best friends with Potter.'
'I never realised,' Hermione admitted, 'I thought he genuinely hated me.'
'Nah,' Theo said, smiling as he shook his head, 'he could never decide if you infuriated him or intoxicated him.'
'Oi Draco, snap out of it.'
Draco looked over at his best friend. They were in the Slytherin dormitories after the Yule Ball, Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise were already asleep.
'What?' Draco asked irritably.
'You were daydreaming about Granger again,' Theo teased.
Draco groaned, 'I don't understand that girl!' he admitted as he pushed himself to his feet, 'one minute she's this annoying, geeky know-it-all and then the next she's…'
'She's what?' Theo asked with a smirk, 'the love of your life?'
'Shut up Theo,' Draco said as he absentmindedly threw a pillow at his friend, 'she looked amazing tonight.'
'What?' Theo asked in mock surprise, 'you didn't enjoy your night with Pansy?'
'Ugh,' Draco groaned as he fell back onto his bed, 'remind me why I came to the ball with Pansy again.'
'Daphne wouldn't go with you, Tracey was going with Blaise, Sophie hates you and you about pissed yourself when I tried to make you ask Granger in Potions,' Theo said nonchalantly.
'Shut up Theo, I didn't decide not to ask her because I was afraid, I didn't ask her because of what my parents would say,' Draco said with a sigh.
'When are you going to realise that your parents aren't always right?' Theo asked with a raised eyebrow, 'you can't always do everything they ask.'
'I know,' Draco sighed, 'and when I'm finally out of their grasp I'll ask her out, I'll do it.'
'Yeah right,' Theo snorted, 'you'll get as far as 'Granger' then you'll insult her instead, that's how it usually works.'
'I'm not kiddin' Theo, I'll ask her one day,' Draco said, determination glinting in his eyes.
'Alright, let's make this interesting. I bet 20 galleons you'll never ask her,' Theo said in amusement.
'I will, and when I win the bet I won't take your money,' Draco said with a smirk.
'So if he liked me in school why did he never do anything about it?' Hermione asked curiously, pulling Theo out of his memories.
'He was always too afraid of the backlash from his parents,' Theo admitted, 'he swore one day when he was free of them he'd ask you out, but then the war happened.'
'Yeah it kind of threw everything off track,' Hermione said with a sigh as she sipped her wine, she hated thinking about the war.
'He wanted to help you,' Theo said quietly, 'he'll never tell you himself Hermione, he feels too guilty about it…but when you were being tortured in Malfoy Manor all he wanted to do was help you.'
'He couldn't have,' Hermione said reasonably, 'he was outnumbered, he would have been killed if he had tried anything.'
'He was so close, and his Father saw that and grabbed him to hold him back,' Theo admitted, 'there was always something about you that drew him in, even if it was from a distance he cared about you.'
'Thank you Theo,' Hermione said with a smile, 'it's nice to hear about the softer side of Draco. I don't see it very often.'
'Part of that's down to the war,' Theo said as he drank from his wine glass, 'do you blame him for anything that happened?'
Hermione shook her head, 'I see something that Harry and my other friends can't,' she admitted, 'to me he's as much a victim of the war as I was. Dumbledore once called Voldemort the boy who made all the wrong choices, the way I see it Draco never had a choice.'
'He didn't,' Theo agreed, 'his only choice was to join the Death Eaters or die, kill Dumbledore or die himself,' he sighed, 'maybe he can be seen as selfish because he didn't sacrifice himself but that's why he's a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor.'
'I don't think he's selfish, I think he was a terrified teenage boy,' Hermione said thoughtfully, 'we were all so young and naïve before the war. I think it opened up our eyes, it made us grow up too young.'
'I think you're right,' Theo said, 'a lot of people married and had kids young from the war, like you and Draco.'
'Have you ever been married?' Hermione asked Theo curiously.
The former Slytherin snorted and shook his head, 'Nah, I got my heart broken about 6 years ago, it put me off love for a lifetime.'
'Is that why you're a…' Hermione trailed off, blushing slightly.
Theo merely grinned, 'It's nice how innocent you are sometimes Hermione, I think Draco likes that in you. And yes, that's why I'm a playboy,' he winked at her and her blush deepened.
'Theo, can I ask you a question about Draco?' Hermione asked thoughtfully.
'Sure,' Theo said simply.
'In the war… that year at Hogwarts when Snape was alive, did he participate in all the violence that happened to my friends?' Hermione asked, she forgave Draco for the final battle, she forgave him for his treatment towards her, but she didn't know what had happened during that year and it was a lingering doubt in her head.
'No,' Theo said honestly, 'it was the opposite in fact. Draco helped out those fighting for the light when they got themselves captured and beaten up. They couldn't go to the Hospital Wing because it was monitored by the Carrows. Draco was always pretty nifty with healing spells so he struck up a deal with Longbottom, whenever someone was injured he went to their hide out and healed them. That's how he decided he wanted to go into medicine, he was healing people in the middle of the final battle as they were bleeding out. Those Aurors all got Orders of Merlin but he didn't even get a line in the paper and I'll bet he saved as much people as they did.'
'Wow,' Hermione said, completely amazed, 'I never knew that.'
'Not many people do,' Theo said with a smile, 'you'd never believe it but Draco's pretty modest.'
'You're right, I wouldn't have believed that,' Hermione said with a chuckle as she finished her glass of wine and glanced at the time, 'I ought to go, I promised Rose I'd be back in time to read her a bedtime story.'
'Sure,' Theo said as he got to his feet and helped Hermione up.
'Thanks for the drink,' Hermione said as Theo walked her to the door.
'No problem,' Theo said when they reached the door, 'just so you know Hermione, Draco hasn't been this happy since Astoria was alive.'
Hermione smiled, she liked to think that she made Draco happy but hearing it straight from his best friend was nice, 'Thanks Theo.'
'What did he tell you?' Draco asked when he and Hermione got a moment alone after putting the kids to bed.
'Oh, nothing,' Hermione said with a grin.
'Oh come on, tell me,' Draco said as he handed her a glass of her favourite wine.
'Are you bribing me with wine?' Hermione asked as she sat down on the sofa in the sitting room.
'Maybe,' Draco said with a smirk as he sat down next to her, 'so what did you talk about?'
'You,' Hermione said honestly.
'Are you going to be any more specific than that?' Draco asked as he raised his eyebrows at Hermione.
Hermione smiled, she didn't want to tell Draco everything that she and Theo had talked about, 'he just told me about how you healed people during the war, and he told me that you're happy, with me.'
'That's one of the things I love about Theo,' Draco admitted with a small smile, 'he has this knack of telling people what I really want to say but can't.'
'I think everyone needs somebody like that,' Hermione said with a smile, 'I guess that's what Harry is to me sometimes.'
'Yeah,' Draco said thoughtfully as he took Hermione's hand, 'I don't think we'd ever have gotten this far without Potter.'
'Are you ever going to call him Harry?' Hermione asked, a mixture of amused and exasperated.
'Give it a year, or two, then maybe,' Draco said with a smirk.
'Have you seen the paper yet?' Hermione asked Draco with a sigh the moment he walked into the kitchen on Friday morning.
'I've been awake for 10 minutes,' Draco said with raised eyebrows as he sat down at the breakfast bar in the kitchen.
Hermione handed Draco the paper, clearly being careful of what she was saying because Rose and Scorpius were sitting having breakfast.
Draco glanced down at the paper and instantly lost his appetite. There was a picture of Pansy on the front page being led in chains to Azkaban, she looked manic, the picture emphasised the fact she was slightly insane. The headline was in large block capital letters as usual.
'WIFE OF SENIOR AUROR IMPRISONED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER'
'The fall outs going to be bad for Blaise,' Draco mumbled, feeling guilty.
'Read the article,' Hermione said.
'Pansy Zabini sentenced to 25 years in Azkaban,' the sub-heading read, 'Mrs. Zabini, wife of Senior Auror and former Slytherin Blaise Zabini, was this week found guilty of the attempted murder of former Deputy Minister for Magic, Hermione Granger. Mrs. Zabini was found to have entered the former Deputy Ministers London flat and sabotaged the property in order to make the subsequent fire seem accidental. Arson and breaking and entering were added to the wife of the senior Aurors charges, subjecting her to a further 5 years in Azkaban on top of the 20 she received for attempted murder. When questioned Senior Auror Zabini said that he found his wife's behaviour deplorable and unforgivable. He also stated that he fully supported the sentence given and had applied for an annulment of the marriage contract.
Miss. Granger was unavailable for comment on the events that transpired at her London flat, but was seen leaving St. Mungo's with her new partner Senior Healer, and ex Death Eater, Draco Malfoy. While it has been suggested by some that the former Death Eater Mr. Malfoy may have been involved in the plot this has been disproven after a statement was given by Senior Auror, and war hero, Harry Potter.
'We have irrefutable evidence proving that Mrs. Zabini was the culprit in this attempt on Miss. Grangers life. There is no evidence to support the argument that Senior Healer Malfoy played any part in this attack. On the contrary he aided our investigation and was the reason for our breakthrough in the case. He also saved Miss. Grangers life by arriving at the property in time and calling for appropriate aid.'
This was an entirely isolated incident, and the culprit is suffering from the consequences of her actions and will be doing so for the foreseeable future.'
'That wasn't as bad as it could have been,' Draco admitted honestly when he finished reading the article, 'I must thank Potter at some point for putting a good word in.'
'I'm sure he'd appreciate that,' Hermione said with a chuckle, 'Rose, Scorpius, hurry up and finish breakfast.'
'I'm finished Mummy,' Rose said and Scorpius stuck his tongue out at her.
Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to Draco who said, 'I'm glad Rose wasn't mentioned.'
'As am I,' Hermione admitted.
'Why are you smirking?' Draco asked with a slight frown.
'Now, now Draco,' Hermione said, still smirking, 'you don't think you're the only millionaire with reporters on their payroll, do you?'
Draco's jaw dropped open at this, 'Are you saying what I think you're saying?'
Hermione grinned and leant forward across the bar, she whispered to him, 'I was the Deputy Minister for Magic for 4 years, that's pretty good pay.'
'Uh-huh,' Draco said with a smirk, 'are you telling me that you paid off the reporter?'
'Maybe,' Hermione said, still smirking, 'I have contacts at the Daily Prophet after all.'
Draco grinned at this and whispered, 'I find it hot, how Slytherin you can be sometimes.'
Hermione smiled smugly and leant back, eying Draco with amusement, 'I learnt from the best.'
Draco smiled, 'Impressive considering the fact we haven't known each other that long.'
'Who said I was talking about you?' Hermione asked playfully as she got to her feet.
Draco's smirk dropped, and Hermione grinned, 'Harry's much more Slytherin than you'd think.'
On this bombshell Hermione said, 'Rose, Scorp, it's time to leave for your tutoring.'
'Bye Draco, have a good day,' Hermione said, still grinning in amusement as she kissed him on the cheek and left with the kids.
'Do you happen to have any of that firewhiskey stash left?'
Theo grinned as his best friend walked into the study in his Manor, Draco had a habit of letting himself in, but it didn't particularly bother Theo, 'I have one bottle left, I was saving it for a special occasion.'
Draco sighed as he sank into one of the comfortable seats near Theo's desk.
'I thought you stopped drinking the stuff after that…incident,' Theo said with a frown as he joined Draco in the comfortable armchairs by the fire.
'I did, and I haven't had a craving for it in 3 years, until now,' Draco said, letting his head fall into his hands.
'What's up?' Theo asked.
'I realised when the attack happened that I'm in love with Hermione,' Draco admitted, feeling embarrassed.
'Already?' Theo asked in a surprise, 'although I suppose you did have a huge crush on her for 7 years.'
'Trust me it shocked me too,' Draco said as he stared into the fire, 'it just sort of bubbled up out of nowhere.'
'Did you tell Hermione?' Theo asked, pouring out a glass of firewhiskey and handing it to Draco.
'No,' Draco said as he accepted the glass, although he didn't drink from it straight away.
'Any particular reason why not?'
'I don't think she's ready to hear it yet,' Draco said truthfully, 'I don't think I'm ready to say it to her either.'
'And you still feel guilty, about what happened to her flat,' Theo said, reading his best friends mind.
'Yeah,' Draco said as he sighed deeply, 'she could have died Theo and that's all on me.'
'Stop acting like such a Gryffindor,' Theo snorted, 'grow up, you need to realise that you can't change everything, its Potters job to think like that.'
'Since when do you know so much about Potter?' Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.
'He likes to drink at the Hogs Head, and he makes for interesting drunk conversation,' Theo said with a smirk.
Draco shook his head, laughing as he said, 'I'd love to see that.'
'Anyway, what did you actually come here to talk about?' Theo asked as Draco contemplated taking a sip of firewhiskey.
'I think it's my fault Pansy's in Azkaban,' Draco admitted with a sigh, 'I feel like I kind of led her on at school, which in part was to get Hermione to notice me and feel jealous, which never worked anyway.'
'Well she noticed you,' Theo pointed out, 'just not in a good way.'
Draco rolled his eyes, 'the point is I feel responsible. If I hadn't led her on she wouldn't have been so obsessive with me and Hermione would never have got hurt.'
'Draco we seriously need to talk,' Theo said as he sat down on the edge of the armchair Draco was sitting on, 'to start with, Pansy was obsessive about you from day one, and there was nothing you could do to stop her being that way.'
'Whats the other thing?' Draco asked.
'You need to stop developing this hero complex, you're starting to sound like Potter,' Theo said with a smirk.
'Hey I'm not the skinny dark haired runt,' Draco joked, 'with some glasses and a scar you could be his twin.'
'That's a good idea for Halloween,' Theo mused as he sat back down in his own armchair.
Draco smiled slightly, Theo always cheered him up.
'Are you going to drink that firewhiskey or not?' Theo asked, eyeing up the glass that Draco had brought to his lips several times, he hadn't drunk a sip yet however.
'I promised myself I wouldn't after…' Draco trailed off and Theo grinned with amusement, 'whats wrong Draco? Are you worried you're going to get drunk and jump me?' he teased.
Draco rolled his eyes and looked down to the glass, his firewhiskey days had been over 3 years ago when Astoria died…
'Wow, someone's fallen from grace.'
Draco Malfoy looked up from the bottom of his empty glass of firewhiskey and squinted through his drunken haze.
'Longbottom,' he said, recognising the man who hadn't changed much in the 4 years since he had last seen him during the war.
'I'm Longbottom now?' Neville asked in amusement, 'I was Neville during the war.'
Draco merely shrugged and said, 'things were different in the war.'
'Clearly,' Neville said as he sat down next to Draco in the empty bar, 'you weren't a drunken mess then.'
'I would have been if there had been any firewhiskey,' Draco said roughly.
'I take it this started after the Diagon Alley attack,' Neville said, prodding gently.
'Just say it Longbottom,' Draco hissed, 'nobody ever does, all they do is beat around the bush.'
'Alright,' Neville said, surveying Draco, 'I take it this started after your wife died.'
'What do you think?' Draco asked in an angry undertone.
'I'll take that as a yes,' Neville mumbled, 'I don't suppose I can do anything to help?'
'Buy me a drink,' Draco snorted.
'I think you've had enough,' Neville said, taking in Draco's scruffy appearance, he had always been clean-shaven at school but had stubble now, his hair was also longer than it had been during their Hogwarts days.
'I've never had enough,' Draco said with a groan.
'You don't want to do this, do you?' Neville asked him as he cocked his head at Draco.
'Do what? Sit in a bar all night alone?' Draco asked bitterly, 'yeah you're right, I don't want to do it, but what else can I do?'
'Be there for your son?' Neville suggested.
'He doesn't need me,' Draco said bitterly, 'my Mother can take better care of him than me, I'm just a washed up ex Death Eater, I'm as bad a Father to my son as my Father was to me.'
'Did your Father spend his nights out getting drunk when you were a kid?' Neville asked with a snort.
'No, my Father had more taste than that,' Draco said bitterly, 'he spent his nights out screwing a different person every night.'
Neville raised an eyebrow at Draco, 'and is that how you want to spend your nights?' he asked somewhat suggestively.
'I'm not drinking it,' Draco said, swallowing a lump in his throat at the memory he was reliving, 'take it.'
Theo laughed hysterically as he accepted the glass from Draco, 'I still can't believe you snogged Longbottom.'
'Neither can I,' Draco said as he wrinkled his nose, 'and for the record if you ever tell Hermione that I'll kill you.'
'My lips are sealed,' Theo said as he sniggered, 'sure you don't want just one sip?'
'Stop being an ass,' Draco said, vaguely amused at his best friend, 'do you want me to bring up that time you 'accidentally' saw Potter naked?'
'That was an accident,' Theo said defensively, 'how was I meant to know the idiot would forget to lock the door to the prefect's bathroom?'
Draco shook his head in amused and sniggered, he felt better than he had all week after his chat with Theo, he should have done it much sooner.
Hermione generally found settling into Malfoy Manor fairly easy. It was strange for her to be the 'carer' as it were. Now that she was in-between jobs she and Draco had decided it made sense for her to stay at the Manor and watch Rose and Scorpius. Their lives fitted together quite nicely, although they had different tutors so Hermione had to drop Rose off 10 minutes early to get Scorpius to his tutor on time. Both children went to their tutor 4 days out of 5 so Hermione found herself with a ton of free time which she spent mostly in the library/study. She didn't start work until September, or August officially because the staff began two weeks earlier than the students, but she had a lot to prepare such as class plans for every year and lesson plans for all of her classes.
One afternoon a couple of weeks after she had 'officially' moved into the Manor Hermione accidentally ended up snooping. Draco had locked himself up in the library for a while the night before and when Hermione ended up there the following afternoon she noticed something different.
The filing cabinets at the back of the room which Draco usually kept under lock and key were ajar slightly, it was odd because he was usually very protective of whatever was inside of them.
Hermione knew it was an invasion of Draco's privacy as she slowly approached the cabinet which had two drawers unlocked, but she had always wondered what was inside and surely a peek couldn't hurt. She glanced inside the top drawer and was surprised when she recognised the name on every single file…
Harry Potter…Ronald Weasley…Neville Longbottom…Ginny Weasley…Luna Lovegood…
Hermione gasped at the last file in the drawer, it had her own name on it. She hadn't thought there would be anything of great importance in here but she realised how wrong she was.
Now that she had seen the contents of the filing cabinet Hermione couldn't let things be. She pulled out the files and examined them, they had each person's details at the top with a picture pinned on. Then there was a section called 'Extra Information'.
In Luna's folder this section said, 'Held captive in Malfoy Manor for extended period of time. Never tortured or harmed, escaped with the help of Harry Potter and the house elf known as Dobby. Deemed mentally unstable, however not in a harmful way. Plans to travel the world and settle down in England at later point in life.'
Underneath this were the words, 'Possible threat to Master Draco Malfoy due to captivity in his family home.'
Hermione pulled out Ginny's file next and scanned through it, in the section about extra information there was a small paragraph, 'Fiancé of Harry Potter, sworn enemy of Master Draco Malfoy. Holds no particular personal grudges, has no direct personal or otherwise reason to harm him.'
At the bottom the words, 'Does not pose a direct threat to Master Draco Malfoy,' were written.
Hermione shook her head in disbelief as she grabbed Neville's file, what was this? Had Draco investigated them all to see if any of them were going to kill him? Similar to the other two files Neville's had a small paragraph under the extra information section, 'Bullied by Master Draco Malfoy during early school years. Formed a partnership with Master Malfoy during the war which aided both parties. Formed a friendship.'
Underneath this were the words, 'Poses no threat to Master Draco Malfoy.'
The next file was Ron's and Hermione's stomach churned when she read it, she glanced across the personal information and looked straight to the 'extra information' section, 'Emotional state volatile, holds some personal grudges towards Master Malfoy. Unable to act on these grudges independently, lacks the courage and intelligence to do so.'
Hermione frowned as she looked to the final piece of information in Ron's file, 'Not a direct threat, however poses some danger towards Master Draco Malfoy if aided by another.'
Hermione grew angrier as she pulled out Harry's file which had the largest 'extra information' section yet, 'Bullied by Master Draco Malfoy extensively throughout schooling. Emotionally abused by Master Malfoy, physically abused in the form of a broken nose from Master Malfoy. Humiliated in front of friends and fellow students by Master Malfoy. Held captive in an attempt to hand him over to Voldemort in the Malfoy family home.'
Hermione gasped in shock at the final statement, 'Poses a great threat towards Master Draco Malfoy, possible assassin.'
Biting her lip angrily Hermione looked at the last file, her own. Inside it were her details, things like her full name, her date of birth, where she had been born, information about her parents, and finally her blood status. At least it says Muggle-born not Mudblood, Hermione thought somewhat bitterly to herself.
Dreading what she might find there Hermione looked to the 'extra information' section, 'Bullied extensively by Master Draco Malfoy throughout schooling. Emotionally abused for blood status repetitively. Held captive in the Malfoy family home and tortured physically and emotionally by a member of that family to the extent that subject was left with physical scars and treatment for mental problems caused by torture in the aftermath of the war.'
Hermione felt sick to her stomach at the fact Draco had investigated her so much that he knew about the doctors she had seen for the post-traumatic stress after the war. When she looked down to the bottom of the page her stomach churned even more violently at the words written there.
'Subject poses a great threat to Master Draco Malfoy, possible assassin.'
At this Hermione dropped the file and rushed into the bathroom to throw up. She was so angry that it made her physically sick, she had thought that Draco really had changed but now she wasn't so sure.
'Hey,' Draco said cheerfully as he walked into the sitting room from the fireplace still dressed in his work clothes.
'Hey Dad,' Scorpius said casually from where he was sitting on the sofa reading. Rose didn't even notice or hear Draco because she was so absorbed in her book.
'Where's your Mum Rose?' Draco asked as he looked around the room and didn't see Hermione.
'She's upstairs in the library Draco,' Rose said, she didn't even glance away from her book.
'Alright, get ready for dinner you too, it will be soon,' Draco said as he left the sitting room and jogged up the stairs to the library. When he walked in he immediately knew that something was wrong. Hermione was sitting stiffly in a chair by his desk and there were files on his desk that hadn't been there before. He glanced at the filing cabinet behind the desk and noticed it was open, he had clearly forgotten to lock it the night before.
'Hermione,I-' Draco began, trying to dig himself out of this one.
'Draco,' Hermione said in a quiet, low, dangerous voice, 'why do you have these files in your Manor?'
Draco floundered for a moment trying to answer her question, 'They're from a long time ago Hermione.'
'Really?' Hermione asked coldly, 'how long ago was it that you investigated my life and that of my friends? How long Draco? 5 years? 6? 7?'
'7,' Draco replied honestly, 'Hermione…the war-'
'Don't talk to me about the war!' Hermione snapped, 'it screwed us all up Draco! But then you know that because you looked into my medical history, didn't you?'
'No, I paid someone else to-'
'Shut up!' Hermione snapped angrily, 'have you got a smart arse answer for everything Draco? Can you never accept that you're wrong or are you just too much like your Father?'
Draco actually took a step back at Hermione's words, as if they had been a physical blow, 'that was low Hermione.'
'Was it?' Hermione hissed, 'or is it the truth? Is that why you're trying so hard to 'reform'? Because you know you have his genes? That eventually you're going to become exactly like him?'
'Shut the hell up!' Draco snapped angrily, 'I genuinely thought that after the war everyone would be happy and they would want to get rid of all the bad memories! And back then that included me!'
'Are you really that sad?' Hermione asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
'Yeah, apparently so,' Draco said quietly, 'because I made a list and I got someone to check everyone out to make sure nobody was going to try and kill me.'
'Try and kill you?' Hermione asked in an angry undertone, 'Harry's the reason you were saved from Azkaban Draco!'
'What the hell do you mean?' Draco asked in that same quiet voice.
'How else do you think you kept your sorry arse out of Azkaban?' Hermione asked, 'he vouched for you, he almost sacrificed his own reputation with the Ministry to do so.'
'What? Why would he do that?' Draco asked in shocked disbelief.
'Because he's too much like Dumbledore, he thinks that everybody deserves a second chance,' Hermione said, still glaring at Draco, 'but I'm not so sure that philosophy is true at the moment.'
'I hate to pull the lonely, pathetic Slytherin card out on you Hermione,' Draco said bitterly, 'but after the war you had Harry, and Ron, and Ginny, and everyone! All I had was myself, and I was afraid.'
'I'm starting to wonder if Harry was right all along about you being a coward,' Hermione said, no longer angry but still dangerously quiet.
'I'll never be the perfect Gryffindor man Hermione, if that's what you want you'll never find that in me,' Draco admitted sadly.
'That's not what I want,' Hermione said honestly, 'I had that in Ron and if you remember that didn't exactly end happily, did it?'
'So what do you want?' Draco asked desperately, 'because all I can offer is a screwed up ex Death Eater who's made more mistakes than he can count.'
'Honestly Draco,' Hermione said with a sigh, 'all I want is the truth, and you. The real you, not the mask you hide behind.'
'You want the truth?' Draco asked with a sigh, 'there's a lot of the truth you don't know about in this Manor.'
'How so?' Hermione asked cautiously.
'There are two secret rooms in this house,' Draco admitted, 'one of them is behind my Fathers old study and even I don't know whats in there, but I think I ought to show you the other one.'
'Okay,' Hermione said slowly.
Draco held out his hand to Hermione, she looked at it for a moment and hesitated, but then she took it and walked out of the library with him. He led her down the stairs and into the entrance hall where they walked towards the picture Hermione loved so much of Hogwarts with the founders and the house crests painted at the front of the portrait.
'Don't tell me you lied about burning down this wing of the manor,' Hermione said, her voice breaking slightly.
'I didn't lie about that, I really burnt it down,' Draco said as he turned to the portrait, 'it's a door, to open it the crests have to pressed in the order of their importance. The importance of that houses values that is.'
'So Slytherin is first and Hufflepuff is last,' Hermione said with a sigh.
'Not exactly,' Draco said and Hermione watched in amazement as he reached up and pressed all four crests at once. The portrait then swung open.
'Maybe you're more mature than I thought,' Hermione said as she followed Draco into the secret part of the house which was very dark.
'There's more to me than meets the eye,' Draco said as the light came on in the room, 'it just takes time to see that.'
'What is this?' Hermione asked in a whisper as she looked around the room. The walls were covered in photographs and more were hanging from lines of rope across the ceiling.
'It's the full extent of the filing cabinet upstairs,' Draco admitted, 'its pictures of people, friends and foes, during and after the war.'
'This is full on paranoid Draco,' Hermione said with a sigh.
'I hardly visit it now Hermione, but a part of me didn't want to get rid of it for one reason,' Draco said honestly.
'And what reason is that?' Hermione asked, Draco knew he was freaking her out slightly and he also knew that what he was about to show her wouldn't help, 'that wall.'
Hermione frowned as she walked to the wall at the far end of the room which was entirely covered in photographs of her. The photographs started just after the war, photographs from Ministry Balls and press announcements after the war. Then there were photographs of her wedding to Ron, pictures of them leaving the church, and photographs of them leaving the hospital with baby Rose. They stopped around that point.
'Why?' Hermione asked, still in shock.
'They stop when I got married to Astoria,' Draco said, his voice breaking slightly, 'I wanted you Hermione, and I don't know why I tortured myself by seeing your life pan out with Weasley…but I did. I suppose it was some sort of punishment towards myself for not being able to save you that day in the Manor.'
Hermione hesitated over her emotions, 'I don't know if I should be honoured or scared Draco,' she admitted.
'Honoured would be preferable,' Draco joked weakly, 'I'm not perfect Hermione, I warned you.'
'No one is Draco,' Hermione said with a soft smile, 'it's learning to love the imperfections that matters.'
Draco frowned slightly, 'Are you saying you love me?' he asked.
'That depends,' Hermione said thoughtfully, 'would you say it back?'
'Yes, I've been wanting too since I saw you lying there in that flat dying,' Draco said honestly, his heart pounding. He hadn't felt so afraid since the war, 'I just wanted to make sure I didn't scare you away.'
'I feel the same,' Hermione admitted, taking a step forward and sealing the gap between them.
'Good,' Draco said, swallowing hard, his throat suddenly felt very dry. He leant forward and captured Hermione's lips in a soft, gentle kiss.
'MUMMY!'
'DAD!'
'Whens dinner?'
Draco and Hermione broke apart and shared amused smiles, 'Duty calls. Are we okay?'
'We're fine,' Hermione said honestly, 'but no more lies.'
'No more lies,' Draco promised, slipping his hand into Hermione's and walking out of the secret room without glancing back.
TBC :)
A/N – I'm going to write a couple of new chapters for my other ongoing story now ('Eyes Open') but I'll come back to this fic in a week, two max!