Hermione thought over the next few days about what to say to Draco. She knew that she had to tell him. This wasn't something that she wanted to keep to herself for long. But how in the world does a person tell someone that their mum killed their father?
Maybe I should tell Harry, he could help. But should I be telling anyone other than Draco? No. She groaned internally and stared up to the ceiling, hoping for answers. She spent the next week writing thousands of different letters to send to her new acquaintance but burned each one.
"I need to tell him in person." She said out loud.
"Tell who what in person?"
She whirled around to see Harry standing in her doorway with his eyebrows halfway up his forehead.
"Nothing. Nothing at all...I'm just talking to myself."
"I see that," he said with a smirk. "Are you thinking about professing your love to Malfoy?"
She nearly choked, and feeling a hot blush spread across her face she turned away and huffed. "As if. Harry please you know me better than that."
He shrugged. "Well, you've been acting looney the last two weeks. It's got to be something big that you're keeping from us."
"Is anyone else here?"
He shook his head and she quickly ushered him into the room. She knew she shouldn't be telling him but she needed someone to sort this out with.
"It is something big. And, Merlin, I have been wanted to tell someone but I know I shouldn't. But I'm going to tell you."
He waited patiently while she found her words and listened as she told him about the meeting with Narcissa Malfoy. She showed him the letter and told him the details, how she claimed to have killed Lucius and how she asked her to watch over Draco. His head was spinning by the time she was done.
"You're telling me that Narcissa Malfoy admitted to murder to you?"
"I know!" She shrieked. "Something isn't right. That's why I've had such a hard time telling Dra...Malfoy.. because seems off."
He seemed lost for words as he thought but he just shrugged, "I don't know why she would tell you or if it's true but I think you should tell him soon."
She sighed but knew he was right. "I'm not looking forward to this conversation."
"You can invite him over here if you want, so you can talk to him somewhere private and comfortable." He offered.
She gave him a smile of thanks and started writing the letter asking Draco to come to see her today. With another groan of discomfort, she sent the letter off and waited for a reply.
To Hermione's surprise, she didn't get a letter back from Draco. Instead, he just walked through the floo and stood in the living room, observing. It had been a few hours and Harry had gone out with Ginny, Ron, and Sarah. She wasn't expecting anyone to be home so she waltzed into the common area in nothing but one of her dad's sweatshirts that she had taken from him.
"Hello, Hermione."
She was so into the book that she was reading that she didn't even hear the floo. When she heard the greeting though, she grabbed her wand and threw the book at the intruder.
"Uhm, hi...wait...It's me! It's Draco Malfoy!" he shouted.
She realized what happened as he announced himself and breathed a sigh of relief, slipping her wand back up her sleeve. "I didn't hear the floo when you came, I'm sorry!"
"I thought you were expecting me, I should have confirmed with a letter." He added.
They both stood, nodding awkwardly at each other and Hermione was kicking herself for not paying better attention. She was also kicking herself because she remembered that she was lacking pants.
"I'll be right back, I'm just uhm, running to my room for something. Then we can talk if that's okay."
He gave her a polite smile as she rushed away and wiped the sweat off his palms. Seeing her in nothing but an oversized hoodie shouldn't have had that effect on him. When Hermione came back down she still donned the big baggy hoodie but, thankfully, paired it with a pair of worn grey joggers.
"So," she started. "This isn't an easy thing for me to tell you, but it's something that you deserve to know. And I want you to know that I will be here if you need any help or someone to talk to."
At the seriousness of her tone, his small faltered and he sat down, waiting for her to proceed. She handed him a folded up letter, the one Narcissa sent her to set up the meeting and asked her to burn.
"Your mother set up a meeting with me. She asked me to make sure that you were okay because she was leaving. She said your father showed up where she was staying and...Draco. Your mother told me that she killed your father and she needed to leave."
Hermione sat down next to the blonde boy and watched as his face contorted into confusion as he was trying to make sense of her words.
"I don't know why your mum came to me. She said it was because she knew I had a good heart and I would watch you. But something seems off to me and..."
"My mum would never kill my father. Even if he attacked her first. She would never do it." He snapped.
She shrugged and looked down at her lap. "I really don't know. I'm just telling you what happened and what she said to me."
"Does anyone else know about this?"
She cringed inwardly. She wished she could say no. "I told Harry. I wasn't sure it was real or not so I needed to talk to someone before I told you and put you through this."
He nodded shortly. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else."
He quickly pushed off the couch and before she could say anything or move, he was through the floo. She thought about following him briefly but knew that was a bad idea. She decided to send him a quick note.
I'm sorry for what's going and I wish it wasn't this way. I did mean what I said- if you need to talk, you can talk to me.
Hermione