I have been absent! I apologize!
As always I own nothing. I appreciate you all.
Enough of my talking….I will let you read.
Chapter 11: Excuse Me Mr. Malfoy..
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Draco walked to the spare room with his head hanging low and his hands in his pockets. 'What could she possibly need to talk to my father about?' he thought to himself. He tried racking his brain about all the things that could be said. After some time he came to conclusion she needed to clear the air with his father on some things.
After what seemed like several minutes he finally pushed open the spare door and went straight to the closet to rummage through to find something semi acceptable. He had a hard time imagining his mother in anything but her elegant robes or even doing any kind of work where her hands would genuinely get dirty. But then he recalled the softer side of his mother before Voldemort overtook their home once again.
She used to love being in the gardens and actually helping the house elves. Of course after Voldemort returned Lucius had become so callous towards him and his mother that Narcissa lost her spark for life. Everything green and of color she had died with her heart as it slowly broke with every new mission for her Death Eater husband.
After Draco was branded along with others she turned to stay in her room and not come out unless Draco was hurt. And even then she didn't feel warm like she used to. She, like Lucius had grown cold and unwelcoming.
"Well, I am glad to see that she is back to herself once again." Draco whispered to himself.
With that being said he walked into the closet and began getting ready. He would take his time so Hermione could speak with his father. He only hoped Lucius would not be a git to her in her own home.
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"Mr. Malfoy, I know these circumstances are a bit unorthodox. However, I feel like maybe I need to say a few things before we continue to the manor. Just as well, I also need to ask your permission for something."
"Very well Ms. Granger, what is it I can help you with?"
Hermione smiled at his polite exterior and noticed he didn't sneer when he said her name.
"Firstly, I hope you are not here to try and get Draco back home. We have become rather close over the last few weeks and I couldn't bear to see him in any pain. Emotionally or physically; secondly, I would like to ask that you are transparent with me. Be honest in how you feel about my blood status. I need to know where we stand."
She paused for a moment so he could answer her
"Ms. Granger, if you please. We are not the same bigoted family as we used to be, we have come a lot farther than we thought possible."
She scrunched her nose
"Why? Why now are you suddenly so interested in Draco?"
He paused; thinking of what would be the best way to say it.
"Cissa and I miss our son; after he left our world and began residing here we knew we had practically lost him. He barely comes home for holiday and we might be lucky to hear from him once every 6 months. Cissa blames me for him not coming home and believe me when I say I have never met a woman who can give off such a chilling silent treatment. I fear if she encounters any more heart break she just might not survive it. And the thought of missing out on her only child and his future family might be just enough to do the trick. So when she demanded I try to make nice with our son I didn't argue. I want nothing more than to simply be here for Draco, I may be a Slytherin as well as an ex-Death Eater Ms. Granger but I care deeply for my family and I know I have wronged them a great deal in the past 20 plus years. They had to be a part of something horrific due to my stupidity of following a blood thirsty half-blood. I appreciate your concern for Draco and I am thrilled he has a friend that is outside of his element."
Hermione was shocked by his confession and tried hard not to show it on her features. But bloody hell! Lucius had all but said he missed and loved his son very much. Sure Cissa is the one who told him what he was going to do, but she didn't believe Lucius would ever do anything he didn't want to.
"Now, for your last question?" he gave her a look that said he knew where this was going but was going to let her get it out.
"Ah yes, I realize that time has passed since the war and that the past is the past. But I would like to face my still haunting nightmare. I would like to visit the drawing room in the manor, I feel like I will never be rid of these dreams unless I face it head on, and harness that fear and use it for the better. I just wanted to ask your permission to go in there alone for a little while. I will come out when I can no longer handle it, but I would like to try if I may."
Lucius raised his left eyebrow in shock. The girl that was tortured by his crazed sister in law wanted to face where she was cut, beaten, and cursed because of her blood. She wanted to overcome a memory that is still her worst nightmares. He looked at her with sad in his eyes.
"Hermione, my dear you still have nightmares regarding that evening?"
She shook her head as her shoulders slumped. She lifted her sleeve to show off the tattoo that covered the ugly scar on her left forearm.
"Most nights I am fine. Others I feel like I can't breathe, I have gotten the muggle authorities called to my flat a few times due to the screams that escape me while I sleep. I do my best to remember the silencing charms before bed but I sometimes fall asleep too quickly and don't do it. Recently they have been less frequent due to the amount of time I have spent with Draco. He really has grown up since our final year at Hogwarts and the war I am positive had a massive effect on him."
It was at this moment that Draco walked out of the spare room, he knew that eavesdropping was rude but he wanted to make sure everything was fine with his friend. And possibly the girl he started falling in love with. So he listened to whispers, careful not to make any noise.
Lucius moved forward and gently grasped Hermione's left arm. He studied the books that she had piled there and couldn't help the water that pricked his eyes as he began to speak.
"Hermione, I am so happy that my son has found it in himself to become close with you. After the war I was worried he wouldn't ever be the Draco I knew when he was a child. I know it is hard to think of me as the kind of father that actually does love his son, but I truly do. I loathed myself for what I did to Draco and still do every day for what it did to our family. My wife has always been much closer with him and I can only wish that Draco would be that way with me. Do not hide this from us please Hermione. You have managed to make this awful day into something beautiful and worth looking at. I know the sins of Bellatrix will never be washed away but I am happy you were able to make something awful into art. All we ask is that we are able to get to know the Hermione Granger that my son used to come home talking about that first holiday at Hogwarts. He only treated you the way he did because I told him to. I apologize from the bottom of my cold heart for everything that had to be put on you because of my family."
At this last sentence Hermione launched herself into Lucius Malfoy and hugged him.
"Thank you Mr. Malfoy, you have no idea what that means to me."
*cough* "Ahem, did I miss something?"
They both turned to see Draco dressed much more proper and his hair had been combed and set to the side much like their sixth year. He looked handsome in Hermione's opinion.
"Your father just granted me permission to see the drawing room at your home."
Draco gave them both a disapproving look
"Hermione, you do not have to go if you do not want to. I could expl-" he was cut off by an index finger being pressed to his lips.
"Draco, we discussed this. I need to do this; I need to face these demons. I would like to go alone, but I would also like to ask you to be there in case I need you. You are the only one who understands how I felt that day. I want to walk in alone but if I need you would you be willing to be there."
She took her finger off his mouth and moved her hand to cup his left cheek. She saw the battle that was stirring in his eyes and could help but feel guilty because she realized how heavy this question was to him. She was asking him to go back to a place that he had to watch her get tortured, had to go to meetings with the most psychotic wizard in London. She was asking him to face his demons with her.
After several minutes he brought his left hand to meet the one on his face. He closed his eyes as he just held her hand and reveled in her touch for just a moment before he spoke. She would hate him, hate him after going back and he knew it. She wouldn't want to be near him after all of this had come to light. He would have to tell her everything. He would have to face the demons he has been putting off for so long. He would have to tell Hermione what he had done in that very room he wouldn't be able to hide it any longer.
"Hermione, I will go with you. You should know though, after our time in there you will hate me; you will want nothing to do with me and you will think of me completely differently than you do right now."
He pulled her hand down but didn't let go of it, just holding onto the moment for a little longer he could die a happy man knowing that just for a moment he saw the flittering of love in her eyes as she held his face and then his hand. He could remember today as the time he saw them goofing off in her living room being children for the first time in their entire time of knowing one another. He would smile every time he looked up and saw the first time he saw her in the park reading Pride & Prejudice. Her hair in a lax pony tail as her curls draped her back. The face she made when Elizabeth talked about her love for Mr. Darcey. He didn't deserve someone so forgiving in his life. Regardless of how long it had been, he could never truly forgive himself for what he did in that war.
"Mmmm, I will not hate you Draco Malfoy. I might need a little time to process everything but I will not allow everything we have done and talked about be thrown out because the past is brought back to the light. I consider you to be one of my very close friends and we haven't even had the chance to get to know one another completely just yet."
"What about Harry, and Ginny? They have been there for you through everything. Even the tears I caused. How could you be okay with being around the boy that tormented you for so long? The boy that watched you fall to Bella's wand and her own knife that carved that disgusting word in your arm."
Hermione could feel him shaking, he was losing his grip because he was worried about her reaction to something he hasn't said out loud yet. She knew that Draco was probably the Death Eater given the task to go and murder her parents. He wouldn't tell her that though, he feared losing the friendship they had. But she was patient and when he told her she would react however she was feeling. Of course she knew, but how would she feel hearing it slide off his lips.
She moved closer so she could lay her head on his heaving chest. She untangled their hands and wrapped her arms around his waist. He returned it without thinking and placed his chin on her head as he wrapped his arms around her small frame. She took in a deep breath, he smelled like spearmint and old spice and chocolate.
"Draco, calm down. I don't hang out with the bratty boy from Hogwarts who called me Mudblood every chance he got. I don't spend my days with the boy that made tears fall and ruin my homework. I talk every day to a man that has turned his entire life around. To a man who makes me feel like it is okay to let loose now and then. You are NOT the same boy you were at school. And I will hex anyone who comes to you and says otherwise. I can handle a lot of things Draco Malfoy, so don't treat me like I am a china doll who cannot handle herself. I wouldn't be dancing in my living room in onsie pajamas and eating ice cream like a small child if I felt threatened. For once in my life I feel like I can be a child and it is by far the most amazing feeling I have ever had. And I have you to thank for it. You may have been the cause of a lot of tears, but you have recently been the cause of sore ribs from laughing entirely too hard."
She lifted her head and smiled at him. He kissed her head and let the scent of her strawberries and champagne shampoo sink into his nostrils.
"Okay then, shall we go."
They had almost forgotten Lucius was there to witness all of what was just said.
"No time like the present." Draco joked.
Hermione let Lucius and Draco go first. She needed a moment to compose herself. She had put on a strong front, but the truth was; she was terrified! She didn't know what to expect and she certainly didn't know how she would react being in the home that she was tortured in.
With a heavy sigh and a deep breath she grabbed the floo powder "MALFOY MANOR!" and with a rush of green flames she was gone. Not knowing what to expect and praying to Merlin that everything would work out.
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So I know I have taken a very long time to post, lately I have said I have been stuck in a bad place. My writing has been trash. But I doing my best. Please be patient with me, and review! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed already. I am looking for a BETA still!
Let me know what you all think. You are all amazing readers and I appreciate it all.
