The Memorial

Hermione saw the Malfoys enter the Hall over Harry's shoulder. Andromeda had invited them to the memorial service. She'd asked Hermione's advice before doing so and Hermione had replied that very few had lost as much as she had, and if she wanted her sister and nephew to attend then everyone else could put up or shut up.

Hermione smiled as she realised that they had come. Draco hadn't spoken to her about itand she hadn't wanted to push him to do so. It must have been incredibly difficult to turn up, knowing that the majority of those attending would view you as the enemy. Besides, he'd been uncomfortable enough at Teddy's birthday party and that was with just the Weasleys in attendance.

"What are they doing here?" Ron hissed, having spotted Draco and his mother.

"Andromeda invited them for moral support," she replied.

Ron opened his mouth a few times, resembling an overwrought goldfish. "Well, they're not welcome. They shouldn't be here."

"Why not?" she asked calmly.

"Because they're bloody Death Eaters, that's why," he spluttered.

"They are also Andromeda's family," she pointed out.

"She should know better, inviting them to places they're not welcome."

"Who are you to decide who is welcome or not?" Hermione asked coolly.

"My brother died! I should get a say as to who attends. I'm going to tell Andromeda to tell them to leave."

She grabbed his arm as he made to leave. "Andromeda lost pretty much her whole family, Ronald, so don't you dare go and make this day even harder for her."

Ron looked flabbergasted at Harry. "You talk to her, mate. She's mental."

She felt her temper rising at Ron's words so she took some deep calming breaths, determined not to turn today into a shouting match with her redheaded friend. It was so strange to think that this time last year she had thought herself in love with him.

Harry looked torn as Ron appealed to him and she pinned him with a stern glare. He hated the Malfoys, and would rather they were not present, but he remembered Andromeda's words on accepting her decisions in allowing her family back into her life. In the end, he just shrugged and looked away, not wanting to get involved in yet another conflict between his argumentative friends.

Ron stuttered a few times before he settled at glaring in the Malfoys direction. Hermione's heart sank. She had no idea how she was going to tell Ron and Harry that Draco was - to all intents and purposes - her boyfriend. They couldn't even accept his role in Andromeda's life and that was much more understandable.

She spotted the dark-haired witch standing across the room and tapped Harry on the shoulder. "I'm going to speak to Andromeda."

He nodded at her, but Ron refused to look in her direction. Fine! If he was going to be petty because she disagreed with him, then so be it. She wasn't going to care.

She cheered up and forgot Ron's tantrum as she neared Andromeda.

"Hello!" the older witch greeted her. "I was wondering when you were going to leave your boys and come over."

Hermione hugged her tightly. "Where's Teddy?"

"I got a babysitter. One of Nymphadora's friends was more than happy to take him for the night."

"I guess he's too young for this… but I miss him."

"He misses you too. He keeps changing his hair to a curly white-blond mop," Andromeda said archly.

Hermione couldn't help the blush that stole up her cheeks. Andromeda grabbed her for another hug. "I'm really happy for you and that nephew of mine," she whispered in her ear.

Even though she had been the one to write to Andromeda and tell her the news, it felt so much more embarrassing when she was face-to-face with the older woman. "Thanks," she mumbled, ignoring the amused look on her friend's face.

She looked around the Great Hall, still unable to comprehend that this was the same place it had been a year ago. "It all looks so different," she sighed.

Andromeda's smile melted away as she, too, gazed around. "Parts of me wish I'd insisted on coming in Nymphadora's place. She beat me down on the fact that she was an Auror and trained for this, but I don't think Bella would have been able to kill me."

"You'd be wrong. She didn't view you as a sister anymore and would have taken great pleasure in killing you," a cool voice said from behind them.

Both witches spun around to see Narcissa standing behind them.

"Cissy!" Andromeda exclaimed. "You came!"

"It was touch and go. Draco's around here somewhere, too. Sulking in a corner, no doubt."

"Thank you. It means a lot to have you here."

Narcissa smiled slightly. "I think after all these years, I owe you this at least."

Andromeda wrapped a supportive arm around her surviving sister. Hermione could see the glares that were coming Narcissa's way from many of the other attendees. She thought of Draco – he would be getting far worse treatment – but she couldn't find him in her quick scan of the Hall.

"It's good to have my remaining sister standing next to me. I still can't believe that Bella killed Nymphadora."

Narcissa grimaced. "She would have killed either of us if it meant doing Voldemort's bidding, let alone a niece."

Andromeda frowned and looked down. "I know that deep down, but I can't help but still see Bella as a twelve-year-old, splashing water at us during trips to the beach."

"She hadn't been that girl for a long time, 'Meda. She was truly twisted. Our children were nothing to her."

"She was fine with Draco, surely?" Andromeda asked.

"She was awful to Draco. She encouraged him to take the Mark and punished him terribly when he couldn't live up to what was expected from him."

Hermione kept quiet. This was a rare and fascinating insight into Draco's life for her. It was almost as if the two sisters had forgotten she was present.

"She wouldn't have killed him, though?"

"She told the Dark Lord to do so."

"No!" Andromeda gasped.

"When he returned from the night Dumbledore died, she was disgusted with him. It was only the intervention of Severus that saved Draco that night."

Hermione was horrified. The thought of how petrified he must have been, and then his own aunt had petitioned for his death.

"I thought she had a soft spot for Draco," Andromeda commented.

Narcissa scoffed. "The only person she had a soft spot for was the Dark Lord, if you could have called him a person."

Andromeda shook her head sadly. "You have to ask where it all went wrong."

"We followed our parents, let prejudice cloud our judgements and encouraged our children to do the same. Fortunately, some of us were smart enough to look beyond that and get out," Narcissa said, squeezing her sister's hand.

Andromeda's eyes filled with tears. "You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that, Cissy."

"It's taken me long enough. I had to nearly lose my son for me to realise how wrong I'd been."

"The important thing is that you did and you still have Draco."

"I practically ruined him," Narcissa said sadly.

"But you didn't. He's come out the other side now."

"No thanks to me," the blonde said. She turned her head and smiled softly at Hermione. "I can't take credit for Draco's current state of mind."

Hermione blushed as Narcissa put her hand on her arm. "I want to thank you for looking beyond the façade Draco shows the world and seeing the real him."

Hermione didn't know what to say as she looked into the emotional face of Narcissa Malfoy. This was a woman who always appeared so controlled in front of outsiders and she had also been so scornfully disdainful of her and her Muggle origins in the past. Yet now, she was expressing her pleasure that Hermione was dating her son. Coming on top of listening in on a very intimate conversation between two sisters, it was a lot for her to take in. She was grateful when Andromeda picked up on this and intervened for her.

"Come now, Cissy, you're overwhelming poor Hermione. She's only just getting used to the fact that Malfoys actually have emotions."

Narcissa laughed. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I find myself undergoing so many changes that I forgot how this can confuse others."

"You remind me so much of Draco that it's not too much of a shock," she said, somewhat shyly.

"Really?" Narcissa exclaimed. "Most people think that Draco is the spitting image of his father."

"That's because they see only the physical resemblance, but I think he has a lot of you in him."

Narcissa smiled warmly at her. "Thank you for that. If I didn't already know what a good influence you were in his life, this would prove it."

Ginny sidled up to Harry, who was staring rather intently across the room. "What's got you so serious?" she asked.

"Hermione," he sighed.

She scanned the Great Hall until she picked out their bushy haired friend. "Oh!" she said as she took in the scene of Hermione standing and talking with Malfoy matriarch.

"Is that all your going to say?"

"Well, what do you want me to say?"

"She's chatting, smiling, and laughing with Narcissa Malfoy of all people. Surely that should shock you?"

Ginny shrugged; there wasn't much she could really say to Harry without destroying the trust Hermione had placed in her. "She's probably doing Andromeda a favour. I mean, there aren't too many people here who are willing to talk to Narcissa."

"I dunno," he responded. "There's something fishy going on. Why is it constantly Hermione?"

"Because she's close to Andromeda," she said soothingly. Oh, and she's dating Draco Malfoy.

"Maybe," Harry replied unhelpfully.

She turned his face to her. "What are you thinking?"

"There's something going on with Hermione and I cannot help but think that Malfoy is involved somewhere. He just keeps on popping up and, despite Hermione's glib explanations about nicknames, and his questionable actions towards her, something doesn't ring true. She's hiding something and I wish she wouldn't."

Ginny mentally sighed. Harry really was too insightful for his own good at times. He had this air of general obliviousness that fooled a lot of people, but he could pick up strange vibes a mile away. She supposed it was due to all the fact that he'd spent years having to read between the lines. He had been at the heart of the whole struggle against Voldemort, but had never known the full picture. She really hoped that Hermione was going to tell him about Malfoy soon, because it would be a lot worse if he stumbled upon the intelligent witch's secret.

"You need to trust her."

"I do!" he protested. "With my life."

"Yes, you trust her to step up and fight alongside you, but you aren't being too trusting towards her right now."

"I can't help it. I have this feeling that she's lying to me. She never lies to us."

"Well, if she is, then I'm sure she has her reasons. She wouldn't lie to you for fun," Ginny said diplomatically.

He ran a hand through his already messy hair. "I guess you're right."

"You only guess I'm right?" she said snootily, teasing him.

That got the smile she had been looking for. "Okay, I know you're right. But I can't help it. Hermione, for all her brains, is trusting, and unscrupulous people could look to take advantage of her."

"She's not as naïve as you and Ron make out."

"She doesn't have a lot of experience with guys," he stubbornly continued.

Ginny snorted. "Because you have so much experience with girls? Listen, I'm the youngest of all of us, but I've interacted with a lot more people." She paused as Harry pouted. "Come on, you know it's true. You, Hermione and Ron were always rushing off to save the world. It didn't exactly leave a lot of time for socialising."

"I socialised fine!" he huffed.

"Yes, with those you shared a common room with. But apart from Luna, did you really spend a lot of time with any of the other houses?"

"There was Ernie, Justin, Hannah, Michael-," he started.

"Yes, and you trained them in Defence Against the Dark Arts, but you didn't sit and chat to them outside of Dumbledore's Army."

Harry was quiet. She took that as permission to continue. "Anyway, as I was saying, Hermione is a big girl, she will be fine, and even if she isn't, she needs to make mistakes and learn from them."

"Not with Malfoy she doesn't," he said sulkily.

Ginny wasn't going to go down that road. She was already lying to her fiancé enough as it was. Harry was going to be so pissed off at her was when he finally found out the truth. She placed her hand on his arm and steered him towards the Patil twins. "Just trust her, Harry."

Hermione stayed talking to Andromeda and Narcissa until the brief ceremony started. The Ministry of Magic had been keen to award some medals at this memorial. Several key Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix were getting Orders of Merlin, as well as Harry, Ron and herself. Severus Snape was also being awarded posthumously. For Hermione, it was all very unnecessary, but she guessed it was part of the healing process.

As she stood on stage, self-consciously clutching her award, she gazed around the Hall, trying to locate Draco. She hadn't seen him since that brief glimpse when he'd walked in with Narcissa. She finally located him, standing by the large doors. She couldn't read the expression on his face, but she smiled in his direction.

Finally, it was over and Hermione could escape all the staring eyes. She walked towards the doors where Draco waited for her. As soon as he saw that she was on her way over, he slipped out. She followed as he made his way up a couple of flights of stairs and where there was little chance of running into anyone from the function. The curfew was also in effect, so there were no students milling about.

By the time she caught up to him, he was leaning against the wall, looking serious. She stood in front of him and lifted her hand to stroke his cheek. "Hey," she whispered.

He smiled at her but she could read the hurt and anger in his eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked.

He shook his head at her. "Draco, don't be like this. If we're going to make this relationship work then we have to be open with each other."

He scoffed bitterly. "We're insane to think this could go on longer than a few weeks. This evening was a reminder of why we can't be together."

Her temper rose and she whacked him on the chest. "Don't you dare be so pessimistic! I won't be dictated to about whom I can or cannot date."

"Granger, did you even notice the looks my mother and I were getting tonight?"

"I saw them!" she snapped. "I don't see why that's relevant."

He grabbed her wrist as she went to thump him once more. "You're little Miss Perfect, the girl who stood by Harry Potter and helped him defeat the Dark Lord. I'm the opposite. I took the Dark Mark aged sixteen, for fuck's sake."

"I don't get why we are rehashing this again," she huffed.

"Because it matters. Outside, in the real world, away from the cocoon that is your common room, it matters who we are."

Hermione pulled her wrist out of his grasp and put her hands on her hips. "I don't care! I've never cared what people think. What matters to me is that is that I love you, Draco."

He stopped and stood stock-still. She was shocked herself - she hadn't even voiced that thought in the privacy of her own head. But she didn't regret saying it. As soon as it left her lips, she recognised it for the truth. She did love him. He'd wormed his way into her affections and then her heart. He was impossible, snarky, defensive and a git, but he could also be sensitive, caring and he was hurting. He had allowed her to see this and she'd fallen for this side of him. And now he was trying to take it away from her. Well, she wasn't having that.

He turned away from her. "You can't love me," he growled.

"Well I do," she insisted stubbornly.

He whirled back to her and grasped her shoulders. "Hermione, you didn't hear the things they were saying whilst you were talking to my mother; the derogatory remarks they made about you as well as her. Imagine how bad this will be when they find out about us."

She looked candidly up at him. "You mistake me for someone who cares what idiots have to say. They don't know you and I won't allow mindless gossip determine what we have."

The tension went out of his frame. He leaned down and placed his forehead against hers. "I'm selfish. I should walk away and not put you through this, but I can't."

She smiled tenderly at him. "You think I would settle for playing some weak little martyr, who would just allow you to do that? I would fight you every inch of the way. I'm not a wilting flower, Draco."

"No, you're a fierce Gryffindor lioness," he teased.

She punched him playfully. "And don't you forget it!"

He closed the last few centimetres of space and kissed her. He poured his emotions into it and she felt every one of them. He would probably never admit it, but he felt just as strongly about her as she did about him.

As she melted into his embrace, she failed to hear the slight noise of a shoe scuffing against the wall.

Neville took the Cloak of Invisibility off once he returned to his dorm room, sat pensively on his bed and thought through the scene he'd just witnessed. He should really be down in the Great Hall, but had no stomach for the memorial. He had shown his face, before sneaking off just before the medal awarding ceremony, having arranged to borrow Harry's Cloak so that he could get a Herbology book out of the Restricted Section, and certainly had no plans to go back now. He was far too unsettled to do so.

Rubbing his hands over his face, he tried to digest what he'd seen. Having already agonised over his decision to leave Hermione embroiled with the Slytherins, he now berated himself for not getting more actively involved after watching her with Malfoy. Harry was already suspicious of Hermione's relationship with Malfoy and had voiced it often enough. It appeared that his roommate had been spot on.

Now Neville had to decide what he wanted to do. He'd told Hermione when she had confessed her involvement with the blond Slytherin that if she became too immersed with Malfoy, he would look to extract her. Despite her reassurances that that wouldn't be the case, it had happened and now he was in a quandary. Telling Harry would inevitably lead to a confrontation, but Neville didn't think it was good that she was hiding her relationship. If everything between her and the Slytherin were fine then she would surely have told her friends by now.

Neville folded Harry's Cloak and put it back in his friend's trunk. There was no point waiting to speak to Harry up here. He didn't think this was something that Dean and Seamus should hear and he wasn't so sure whether he should mention something in front of Ron. The redhead's temper was so volatile that it could do more harm than good. But it would be hard to separate Harry from Ron; he'd just have to have faith that Harry could keep his best friend in check. So he padded back down to the common room, which was pretty empty, choosing a warm seat in the corner and opened the pilfered Herbology book, waiting for Harry to return.

It was a couple of hours later when Harry came in to the room. The Boy-Who-Lived looked worn down. This caused Neville to hesitate for a few seconds. Would it be a good idea to add to whatever woes Harry was currently carrying? But Neville knew that his friend would rather know this than be kept in blissful ignorance.

"Harry!" Neville called. "Can I have a word, mate?"

Harry looked round and spotted Neville sitting in the shadows. "Yeah, sure." He then caught sight of Neville's face. "Is everything alright?"

The other boy grimaced. "Not really, but I don't know how to tell you this."

Harry's worry-o-metre immediately kicked in. Neville wasn't one to be concerned unnecessarily. He certainly wouldn't be speaking to him if it weren't something important, so he waited. He knew Neville would get to the point.

Neville ran a distracted hand through his hair. "I'm really not sure how to tell you this, but it's about Hermione. I saw her with Malfoy tonight and … er … they were kissing."

It took Harry a couple of seconds to digest this information. His first urge to was to burst out laughing and tell his roommate to pull the other one. But the serious expression on Neville's round face was telling. He also wouldn't tease him about something like this.

He sat heavily down into a chair. "What?" he asked faintly.

"I saw Hermione with Malfoy. I think they might be seeing each other."

"No!" Harry whispered.

Draco paced up and down the Gryffindor Head Girl's small common room. He'd returned briefly to the Great Hall to escort his mother back to the Floo connections that had been set up especially to transport guests to the memorial to and fro Hogwarts. He'd glimpsed Granger in the midst of the Weasley family where she looked content and very happy.

He, on the other hand, was confused. He couldn't believe that she had said that she loved him and he wasn't sure what to do with the information. He had only just gotten used to the thought of them being romantically involved and now she dropped the L word on him. Part of him felt warm and fuzzy at the thought of such a brilliant witch being in love with him, but the other part screamed that everything was happening too quickly between them. He, too, found that his emotions were deeply involved with the bushy haired Gryffindor. He didn't think he had ever had so much affection for someone as he did for her. However, he baulked at the word love, as he wasn't too sure that he wanted to admit anything that drastic right now.

The door clicked open and Granger walked in. She stopped and smiled that heartbreaking smile of hers. "I wasn't sure if you would be here."

He shrugged. "There's not really anywhere else in this castle I would want to be."

She grinned at that and bounded over towards him. "I don't want you to be anywhere else, either."

She nestled into his arms and sighed as she snuggled her head under his chin. "I wanted to be able to do this in the Great Hall."

"What? And start a riot?"

He could feel her grimace against his collarbone. "Maybe we should elope?" she suggested hopefully.

"Great!" he sarcastically enthused. "Then I can be accused of your kidnap and murder."

"I hate all this hiding and sneaking around," she moaned. "Maybe you could rescue me from a dangerous situation and then everyone will love you?"

He snorted. "Next you'll suggest I use Polyjuice to turn into Potter so you can snog me in the corridors."

She lifted her head and pouted up at him. "You're not taking this seriously."

He smirked in amusement. "Because you are?"

She laughed lightly. "Okay, I admit I'm being silly."

"Hermione Granger can be silly? Quick! I must alert McGonagall and Madam Pince!"

She glared at him. "That's not funny."

"You know you would have turned into either of those sour faced women if it wasn't for me."

She stepped back from him and put her hands on her hips. "I would not!" she said before smiling mischievously and tilting her head, looking him up and down. "Then again, McGonagall did have a star-crossed romance when she was about our age."

"Someone feel in love with that?" he asked incredulously.

"Draco!" she objected. "McGonagall is an amazing, powerful, intelligent, kind and caring witch. Why would someone not want to fall in love with her?"

"Try because she has a face that could curdle milk."

"You're so shallow! It's all about looks for you."

"No it's not. But her personality matches her face."

Granger huffed, clearly not amused by his teasing. He decided to humour her. "So who was this ill-fated lover?"

"He was a Muggle farmer."

"Figures," he muttered.

She ignored him, just giving him a stern look, and continued. "But McGonagall's mum had to give up magic to marry her father and McGonagall realised that she loved magic and couldn't hide that side of her. She'd seen the pain it caused her mother."

"How do you know this?" he asked, fascinated.

"She told me."

"I thought she'd be as closed mouthed as Snape."

"She likes me. I'm her favourite," Granger said with a cheeky grin.

He slung an arm around her shoulder, steering her to her bedroom. "She won't when she finds out you're dating me. She'll think you're insane."

"Either that, or you've been using Imperio on me."

This made Draco chuckle darkly. Granger looked up in surprise. "What?" she asked.

"You've just reminded me that Theo thinks that's how I got a girlfriend. Either that, or I've terrified a Hufflepuff into shagging me."

"Nott knows you have a girlfriend?"

"I think it's a bit hard to explain my constant absences otherwise."

"Did you tell him it was me?"

"Does the whole of Hogwarts know?"

"I take it that's a no."

"Smart girl," he said patronisingly.

That would normally incur a playful slap from Granger, but she wasn't paying any attention to him. Instead she was staring at her bed thoughtfully. Draco tapped his foot as he waited impatiently for her to focus on him again. It took a good thirty seconds, which didn't amuse him. She finally looked back up at him again and he paused at the gleam in her eye. Granger was always dangerous when she looked like that. He'd first seen the look when she'd slapped him in their third year, and again when she'd lied to Umbridge in their fifth year. She'd also worn it during the final battle. It usually meant she was planning something or was utterly focused. He didn't dare think what it would mean in this instance.

He didn't have long to wait. She literally pounced on him, her weight taking him by surprise, causing him to fall backwards onto the bed. They ended up in a sprawled mess, but that didn't faze Granger. She soon had him on his back whilst she straddled him. She smiled smugly as she leaned down and moulded her lips to his. This he could cope with. Usually it was him who took the lead in their kissing sessions, but Granger seemed determined to take control tonight. He found her bossy persona more than a little bit of turn-on, so he happily laid back and let her have her way.

It wasn't until she had stripped him of his shirt and was proceeding to fling her own clothes off that Draco decided to try and slow her down. It was getting very hot and heavy, and he wasn't sure that if they continued much longer he'd be able to stop. He didn't think she was ready to take this step.

"I think we should stop now," he panted.

She didn't even bother replying and just kissed her way down his chest. "Er … Hermione, you need to stop," he insisted.

"Why?" she asked, finally paying attention to his words and not his body.

"Because I'm going to lose control in a minute."

She smiled wickedly at him. "That's the general idea."

"You're missing the point, Princess. If we continue then my body is going to expect to go all the way."

"So? What if that's what I want?"

Draco stared up at her. "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "What if I want us to go all the way?"

He was struggling to comprehend what she was saying and was feeling a little dazed, as he hadn't expected this at all. He wasn't going to lie and say that he hadn't thought of it - he had. He found Granger incredibly attractive and his body betrayed him every time it got close to her. However, he didn't like the amused smirk that was dancing around her mouth as he just continued to stare up at her. She made to move off him.

"Well, if you don't want to have sex, Draco, you just have to say."

He gripped her hips and stopped her. "It's not that. Of course I want to have sex with you, but I didn't think you'd done this before."

"I haven't," she replied.

"And you're sure you want to now?"

She growled at him. "Draco, why do you have to question absolutely everything?"

"Because, usually, losing your virginity is a big thing."

"It's hardly like I'm picking up some random stranger in a club and deciding to go for it. You're my boyfriend. I kind of assumed we'd do this at some point."

"We've not been dating for long," he pointed out.

"No, but I love you and I've known you for a long time already."

He grimaced. "I was hardly nice to you."

She flicked him on the forehead. "Why are you making this so hard? Most boys would be tearing my knickers off by now. Besides, we've spent the last few months getting to know each other pretty well."

"I just don't want you to regret doing this."

"Give me some credit. I'm not some silly little girl making decisions too old for me. I'm nineteen years old."

"And you really want to do this?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, exasperated.

He looked up into her eyes; she looked determined and the gleam was back. For some reason, this made his mind up. That gleam was usually a sign that whilst she might be doing something reckless it was something she wanted to do. He thought he'd give it one more go.

"Are you sure this isn't because I mentioned Theo thinking I was shagging a Hufflepuff?"

She scoffed. "It may have given me the idea for tonight, but I'm not so weak minded that I would feel threatened. Anyway, you'd have a tough job finding a Hufflepuff who'd want to sleep with you."

He huffed, insulted. "What's that meant to mean?"

"You're not exactly a great catch in their circles," she said with a smile.

"They would be lucky to snag a Malfoy," he sneered.

She laughed at him. "Are we really going to argue about this when we could be doing much more pleasurable things?"

He pouted a little, which made her grin. "You're adorable when you sulk," she teased, before lowering her head to kiss him once more.

Draco pulled away briefly. "I do not sulk!" he objected.

"Of course you don't," she soothed. "Now shut up and kiss me."