Ginny blinked back her tears as Hermione finished relaying the memory and asked a question that had been bugging her. "You said Ron and Harry were there when you found out, why didn't they stay with you?"

Hermione sighed and shrugged. "I don't know really. I think Dumbledore called them thinking they'd comfort me but I kind of screamed at Ron when he tried to hug me. And well, you know how Harry is with emotion. I assume that after I ran out of Dumbledore's office they simply returned to the Burrow."

"Oh," the pair sat in silence for a moment before Ginny piped up again. "So what happened the next day? I'm assuming Draco didn't avoid you."

"He was quite sweet about it actually Hermione smiled to herself as she remembered…

FLASHBACK

Draco was waiting outside the Gryffindor common room the next morning. He looked as if he'd been awake all night and Hermione imagined that she looked as bad as he did given she'd had very little sleep. What sleep she'd managed to get had been littered with nightmares.

"I'm sorry." Draco spoke as she watched him suspiciously, unsure as to why he was waiting for her. "About your parents I mean," he elaborated when she looked confused, "I feel sick that I used to parrot my parent's ideals; that I could have been one of them when I've seen the hurt it causes. Nobody should have to go through that kind of pain, that kind of loss."

Hermione nodded, acknowledging his words but finding herself unable to speak. She spun on her heel, turning away from Draco, as tears filled her eyes at his kindness. When he approached her, placing what was meant to be a comforting hand on her shoulder, she snapped. "Why are you here Malfoy?"

The venom was there, although it was directed more at his father than at him, but Draco knew that Hermione didn't mean the brush off she was attempting. She was hurt and uncomfortable showing weakness in front of him – still wired to act defensively after the years of bullying from him. He removed his hand and sighed. "I'm sorry again. For the way I've treated you in all the years before. I had never met a muggle born before and my parents had me believing that they were akin to savages. I never even bothered to find out differently." He paused, allowing her to take in exactly what he'd just said before continuing. "I mean, I was such a git to you for so long. How can you even stand to be in the castle pretty much alone with me?"

Hermione allowed herself a small smile, "well punching you in third year did help I guess."

Draco chuckled. "I guess I did deserve that, and more. You really are quite fascinating Granger." Hermione blushed at his comment but found herself being guided to breakfast by Draco before she could fully respond.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~

It was late evening before either of them had the courage to bring up the subject of the final battle. It was Hermione who begun the discussion. She had been watching Draco reading and allowed her mind to drift from her own book. Why exactly had he bothered to save her, to alert her to the death eaters behind her?

"Draco," she called gently to him, distracting him from his book, "something's been bothering me. Why did you cast that shield charm?"

Draco cursed silently. He knew she was bound to ask before long but he hadn't yet had time to come up with a decent enough reason that she would accept. The truth wasn't an option. She'd either scoff or be so freaked out she'd beg Dumbledore to pick a new head girl to avoid him. He was quiet for a few minutes, thinking desperately about his motivations and how best to sum them up in a hassle-free way, before carefully answering her question. "I had seen the way the death eaters acted and heard stories about what you three were doing. The way Ron so thoughtlessly ran to defend you from my aunt even though he could've died, how you saved Harry from V…Vol…him," saying Voldermort's name was still a struggle for Draco, so accustomed to referring to him as The Dark Lord, "when he attacked you both in Godric's Hollow, the way Harry so often looked after you when you got upset about Ron leaving you guys. Plus nobody should be attacked unknowingly, it's weak."

Hermione nodded, her mind processing what the boy was saying. She knew it wasn't the truth – or at least all of the truth – but didn't want to push him too quickly. She knew that his parent's behaviour bothered him and he wanted to distance himself from it. He'd spent the majority of the morning apologising to her for various wrongs he'd done to her and explaining what had made him so cold and bitter to others. In a way Hermione felt sorry for him, regardless of the horrid things he'd done. His parents had been dreadful to him and he'd simply followed their behaviour, never having learned any other way. It was tragic.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~

It was now halfway through their week alone in Hogwarts and they were sitting at either end of the chaise reading. Occasionally they discussed things they had read in the Prophet that day, or asked each other questions about their lives. In a strange kind of way, the pair were forming a tentative friendship.

Or rather Hermione was. Draco was, and had been for a while now, harbouring a crush on the witch sitting opposite him. She'd grown into a beautiful woman, and had an admirable character which appealed to Draco. But there was something more to it too, although he couldn't quite place his finger on it. Yes, despite himself and his parent's views Draco had developed a crush on muggle born Hermione Granger. That was why he'd cast the shield charm so instinctively. In fact he didn't even remember casting the spell. He recalled the moment clearly though. The horror he'd felt seeing his father and aunt creeping up behind her, wands outstretched and the killing curse on their lips, and the desperate urge that she be shielded from it. He'd been amazed when something had blocked the curses and she'd been alerted to the danger behind her.

He'd also been thankful when she'd so calmly stepped in front of Remus' wand after the werewolf had cornered him, believing Ginny's version of events which pinned him planning to attack Hermione. The look in Remus' eye had terrified Draco to the core as he knew instinctively that, had Draco been planning on attacking Hermione and had she not stopped Remus, the man would kill him.

"Thank you." Her quiet voice dragged him back out of his reverie and he looked up from his book to see her smiling softly at him, almost hesitantly as if she expected him to rebuke her for daring to look at him. Draco wondered how many years she'd put up with his bullying before that look became normal when she was around him. He so desperately wanted to change it. He returned the smile and nodded his head in acknowledgement, unsure what to say. She shifted along the chaise until she was sitting next to him and looked at the title of the book he was reading. She offered him another hesitant smile. "That's one of my favourite books." She informed him, offering him the delicate nugget of information about herself.

Draco switched his gaze from the book to her and smiled again, hoping he looked friendly rather than sarcastic or manic, "mine too." He told her. He ignored the look of surprise that quickly flickered across her features: he was admitting to liking a muggle book after all, it wasn't exactly expected from someone with his background.

After an awkward moment of silence Hermione plucked the book from Draco's hands and began to read from the beginning of the chapter Draco was on, her soft melodic voice filling the room and soothing away his nerves. They spent the rest of the evening taking it in turns to read the story of The Gruffalo to each other.