Hermione recalls some memories in this chapter, and I will admit, I've read all the books, but it has been a really long time since then and cannot remember the details. The memories here are taken from the movies, and some of those memories I intentionally twisted a little just to make things a little more interesting.

Chapter 4

Rose lived by herself in her apartment. Hermione entered the living room and found it empty, then went to the kitchen and found the same result. She went back into the hallway where the single bedroom and bathroom was and heard whimpering. Hermione's heart plummeted. Maybe Rose was worse off than she and Draco thought. She leaned against the door, hearing Rose's small cries, and then slowly opened the door. Rose sat on her pink comforter, knees up and arms wrapped around her knees. Crumpled tissues were scattered around her.

"Rose?"

Rose looked up, eyes bloodshot and ringed with red.

"Oh, sweetheart," Hermione cooed and went and sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "I heard what happened. I am so sorry."

She shook her head. "No, mum... I saw it coming. And... I don't blame you. It was my fault. I acted like a little child like all the time. I mean, I would go over to his place, wait there until he got home, then I would be right there nagging him to hurry up with work so we could spend time together. I was whiny and far too clingy. He just got tired of it."

"Will you be alright?" Hermione asked, rubbing her daughter's shoulder.

"Yes. In time. I'm not going to starve myself like the last time."

Hermione held her daughter there for a moment as the clock on Rose's bedside table ticked. Rose shook a little and let out more cries. Hermione hoped that Rose would stop hurting because it was hurting Hermione as well.

"How was work?" Rose asked after a few minutes, and after she took a large breath to calm her emotions. "If you just got off work, you stayed later than I did. Were things busy?"

Hermione nodded against Rose's red hair. "They were. But... I left work at the normal time. I just went to… visit someone."

"Who?"

Hermione's hold on her daughter tightened, knowing that she needed to tell Rose this. "Rose... I felt terrible for what I said to Draco that day. I really was cruel, and what you said to me afterwards stung me to the heart. So... I went to go apologize. To Draco."

Her daughter leaned back and stared at her. "Today?"

"Yes. And he was forgiving."

Rose looked away at the wall opposite here, one that had moving pictures of swaying roses in the wind. "That's good."

"He told me that what I said to him was true. But still… those were horrible things to say."

"He feels horrible for how he treated all of you back then. He told you of why he made the portrait of himself, right?"

"Yes. It's just... he's so different now, it's shocking. I suppose that's why I didn't believe you the first time you told me about Draco's changed character back before the two of you became close."

Rose came out of her mother's hold and sat facing her, criss-cross. Hermione felt a bit of pride enter her heart at seeing how beautiful Rose was, even though her eyes were still a little bloodshot from crying. "Can you tell me about him, mum? I mean, your years at Hogwarts with him. Tell me about hings that happened to him."

"But don't you know those things? He's told you, right?"

"He's told me some, but not all." She sniffed again and wiped her eyes, even though there were no more tears. "Tell me all that you remember, starting from year one. What was your very first impression of him?"

Hermione blew air out of her mouth. She really had to rack her brain. Her first year at Hogwarts was a good thirty years ago. "Well... the very first impression of him... it was when we first came to Hogwarts our first year, and we were waiting outside the Great Hall for Professor McGonagall to say we could go in—she was the Gryffindor's head of house, and taught the Transformation class. Anyway, Draco was standing there with us with his posse Crabbe and Goyle—two boys, or trolls, more like, that were his friends. Draco went on about how Harry Potter finally came to Hogwarts, and everyone awed at that. He came up to Harry and asked him to join him and his group and to not hang around 'the wrong sort' like the Weasleys. I knew instantly that he was stuck up and wanted attention, and that he was bad news."

A hint of a smile crossed Rose's face. "Not a very good first impression, then."

"No, not at all." She chuckled. "I did find out he was a bit of a wimp because he was scared spit-less to go into the Forbidden Forest with us for detention. You see, we—meaning me, your father, and Harry went out to visit Hagrid, but Draco followed us just to he could tattle on us and get us in trouble. But he didn't expect to get into trouble as well for being out after hours. We got detention in the forbidden forest that night."

"Draco seemed to always cause trouble. What about your second year?"

"Hm… our second year... that was when the Chamber of Secrets was opened and your Aunt Ginny was taken by Tom Riddle to do his bidding."

"Yeah, I remember you guys talking about that, and the creepy blood messages on the walls." She shivered. "It's scary just thinking about it. And Draco..."

"Well, first off, your father, me and Harry made a Polyjuice potion in order to transform ourselves into Slytherin students so we could fool Draco to get information out of him. Well, Harry and Ron changed into Crabb and Goyle, and I accidentally turned myself into a cat."

"A cat?" Rose gushed. "You never told me about that! How?"

"Yes, it was rather embarrassing. I grabbed cat hair off of a Slytherin girl's robe instead of her own hair. Anyway, I didn't go anywhere of course, but Harry and Ron sat with Draco, with him thinking that he was chatting with his friends, and he revealed that he knew that the last time the chamber was opened, a mudblood died." Hermione took a breath at the painful memory. "He hoped that I was the next one.""

Rose remained silent for a moment, and that amused smile vanished. "When I found that out from the Draco in the portrait... I couldn't believe it. Draco was that black-hearted. He's not like that anymore. He would never think like that of anyone."

Hermione nodded, agreeing.

"What about your third year? What was Draco like then?"

"Still snobbish and stuck-up."

"That was the year you punched him in the nose, wasn't it?"

"Oh, yes. And that was dreadfully satisfying."

Rose laughed. "I bet it was, after what he put you all through. And other than that?"

It was beginning to give Hermione a headache, reaching back into her memories that far. "Well, let's, see… that was the year that Harry met his godfather Serious Black and dementors were floating around the school looking for him. Draco would joke about dementors and would provoke Harry. Oh, he was so annoying. I had to pull Harry away once when we had class outside in the forest because Draco and his posse just wouldn't stop with the teasing."

Hermione suddenly laughed and Rose asked, "What?"

"Oh, just... that same lesson, that was when Draco got hit in the arm with Buckbeak, Hagrid's hippogriff. It's funny to remember now."

"But it wasn't funny then?"

Hermione went back to that day in her mind. Her thirteen-year-old self knew hippogriffs were dangerous, and when Draco cantered up to the beast, her heart nearly stopped out of fear that something really bad would happen. "Well... I saw Draco canter up to Buckbeak, trying to be cool and show off, but... I was actually worried about him. I knew he was going to get hurt."

"You were worried about him, mum?" Rose asked, surprised.

"Yes. I mean, I would've been if it was anybody, but... when he got hit and fell to the ground, I knew it was bad. Hagrid said it was just a scratch, but I knew better. I practically screamed at Hagrid that Draco needed to go to the hospital. And when he carried Draco off..."

Hermione paused for a moment, remembering a little detail that she had completely forgotten about.

"What?" Rose prodded.

"Um... well, when Draco was being carried off by Hagrid, I noticed Draco look back at me for a second. There was surprise and confusion in his eyes, and maybe... gratitude. That surprised me a little, considering his character."

"That was the first time you were concerned about him, wasn't it?"

"It was. But I'm still not sure what I saw in his eyes. And I don't think he would remember now."

"You never know. He probably was really grateful. What about your guys's fourth year?"

Hermione chuckled a bit at the memories of their fourth year. "Oh, our fourth year, the Triwizard Tournament. Harry's name got put into the goblet that chose the students to be put in the tournament, but he was put in there without knowing. It turned out that a teacher put his name in there. It's a long story. Anyway, one day in the courtyard, Draco was being himself and was pestering Harry. A professor close to Harry had none of it and transformed Draco into a ferret."

Rose burst out laughing. "Draco told me about that. It was by that mad-eyed professor, right?"

"Yes, Mad-eye Moody. He was trying to teach Draco a lesson, even though doing so was against the rules." Hermione laughed, recalling the memory. "Oh, that was the funniest thing I've even seen. Draco was so mad and embarrassed after he got transformed back into a human. Oh, golly, how his pride and dignity was hurt..."

They both laughed for a moment longer, and Hermione loved that the atmosphere became lighter. Rose said when she caught her breath, "And what happened in your fifth year?"

Hermione had to catch her own breath. "Our fifth year... well, that was the year Professor Umbridge came to the school to take over the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position. I still shiver at the thought of that woman. Everyone hated her since she started creating these really ridiculous rules and practically took over the school just because she was from The Ministry. She formed the Umbridge Inquisitorial Squad, and Draco and his posse were a members. They all made sure that everyone kept those stupid rules. They also kept a beady eye on us in Dumbledore's Army—the little club where Harry taught us some useful magic tricks to help in the war. Unfortunately, we were found out. We were taken to Umbridge's office and punished. I remember Draco bringing in Cho Chang, the girl who they made tell them about the army through veritaserum. I remember… golly, I remember loathing him then, even though he wasn't the one who made her talk. He was just... not a nice person."

"But then... next year happened," Rose said solemnly.

Hermione sighed, and felt a tinge of sadness at recalling their sixth year. "Yes. And I'm sure Draco's told you all about how he became a Death Eater and showed you his tattoo and everything."

"Yeah. It was dreadful when I found out. And... was it really your guys's fault? I mean, there was something about a prophesy being destroyed, and because of it, Draco had to become a Death Eater as punishment."

"I don't know the whole story, I just remember that year... Draco just didn't look well at all. I guess that was the second time in my Hogwarts career that I was genuinely worried about him."

"You were worried about him then, too?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes. Of course, I only speculated since Harry had a mind that Draco was a Death Eater, but... I just wasn't sure. I just was sure he wasn't alright."

"What would Draco do if you knew you were worried about him then?"

"Now? My guess would be that he would be thankful. But back then... he probably wouldn't have cared."

Rose eyed her mother for a moment, a sly look ever-present. "Mum... did you fancy Draco at all during school?"

Hermione's heart jumped and she stared at her daughter in shock at the ludicrous question. "Fancied? Oh, no, no, no. I admit that I worried about him, and found him handsome at times, but..."

"You found him handsome?" Rose gasped, cutting her off.

"Admittedly, yes. But I only went to that extent."

"Hm..."

That sly glint was still there in Rose's eyes. Hermione couldn't say to Rose that she found Draco handsome every time she looked at him back when she was in school, because Rose would make all sorts of assumptions. And neither of them needed that now.

"So..." Hermione began, wanting to change the subject, "I think you know what happens the next year."

Rose nodded. "Yes. The war. Draco was commanded to kill Dumbledore, which he couldn't do. And there was a time when he told me that Uncle Harry almost killed him."

Hermione nodded, her chest tightening. "Yes, but that happened the year before. Regardless, those were dreadful times."

Memories of the war came back to Hermione and she tried to suppress her emotions. She recalled the battle in the Room of Requirement and the room bursting into flames.

"What's wrong, mum?"

"Oh..." She wiped her eyes. "Sorry, just memories of that time. Horrible memories. Has Draco told you about the Room of Requirement and how his friend made it all catch fire?"

Rose thought a moment. "I don't remember. I think he did. Isn't that where you, Uncle Harry, dad, Draco and Draco's friends fought?"

"Yes. Draco's friend Goyle made the place catch fire and we had to escape as soon as possible. Goyle was lost in the flames unfortunately, but the rest of us made it out. I had to beg Harry and your dad to rescue the others, and after a bit of arguing, we finally went back and got them."

Rose gasped again, only louder. "You convinced them to go back and get them?"

"Yes. We couldn't just leave them in there. They were our classmates for several years... we couldn't be that heartless."

"Then... you saved Draco's life."

Hermione stared at her daughter, that thought not occurring to her before. She really did save Draco's life!

"Does he know it, mum? That you saved him?"

"Well, I suppose so, since we got them out, but... I doubt he knows that it was specifically me who said something."

Rose looked her mother in the eyes and said with all seriousness, "I think you should tell him. In fact, you should tell him everything—that you worried about him, that you convinced Uncle Harry and Dad to save him..."

Hermione balled her hands in her lap. "It was so long ago. It doesn't matter now."

"It does matter, mum. You saved him. He wouldn't be here because of you. He would've been lost in the flames."

It was shocking when she put it together like that. They sat there for a few moments as Rose's clock ticked. Rose suddenly grabbed her mother's hands with both of hers. "Thanks for telling me all that, mum. I feel so much better now." She paused for a moment. " I think you knew more about Draco than you let on. Wow... I can't believe how much all of you went through."

"I know. It's amazing when you put it all together."

Rose nodded. "So... do you want to stay a little while longer and help me make dinner? I haven't eaten yet."

"Sure, sweetheart. I would love to."

They both left to the kitchen and started dinner. All the while, Hermione thought about the conversation she and Rose just had. She hasn't thought about a lot of those things in so many years. She didn't even realize that she actually worried a lot about Draco and cared about him at times. And thought him handsome! Draco has always been handsome, and sometimes cute, like when she caught him smirking at something.

And fancying him... no. She never fancied him, just thought he was good-looking. He was dreadfully so as an adult, all grown up into a mature man.

And he wouldn't have grown up if she and her friends had left him there in the Room of Requirement to perish.

Hermione shook her head and got back to chopping up potatoes with her wand.