Summary: "You could have been something. You could have been someone. But you blew it."-When Hermione Granger finds Draco Malfoy crying in the girls' bathroom, she decides to find out what's wrong. With only the girl who he despises willing to help him, things are going to change. DM/HG. Compliant up to Order of the Phoenix

Mature content and themes, explicit language.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Everything belongs to Ms. JK Rowling.

Chapter 37

"Draco, what had you smelled in the amortentia?"

"Roses, green apples...that's all."

"Harry...you reckon she likes someone else?"

Once again, he stared down in disappointment, as his best friend awaited his response.

"Maybe."

"Harry if she does...I don't know how to take it. I love—"

"You think you do. But maybe you don't."

"What do you mean?"

"You've never dated her. She's always been your best friend. Some relationships are meant to be just that."

"I know...but I think we have something special. I thought we'd be together by now….but she wants to take things slowly. I'm going to respect her decision, and wait. I'm the one who brought this upon myself, going out with Lavender was a dumb fucking thing to—"

"And if she does like someone else?"

"Well, I don't think she does. Who could it possibly be?"

And that, exactly was Harry's question as well.

Who could it be?

"They have gained power of the Ministry."

"What? How do you know?"

"It is simply a matter of days. The Minister is dead, Severus."

"How do you know?"

"How is not the important question to ask at this moment in time. Once they have full control, my wards are nothing to them. But I will promise you one thing. Until my last breath, I will fight to keep my students safe. And I need you to promise me the same."

"Dumbledore—"

"It will happen soon, Severus. Once I am dead, you must do whatever is in your power, to ensure my students are safe. Times will be rough ahead."

"This is a suicide mission. Literally. And perhaps not just for you."

"Perhaps...but that's what you were willing to give, am I correct?"

"Death does not scare me."

"However, you should not be thinking about dying anytime soon, Severus. I don't intend to write you that fate."

"Of course, that is only reserved for sixteen year old wizards, isn't it?"

"I thought we discussed this—"

"What about the other boy?"

"Which other—"

"Draco!"

Dumbledore was taken aback by Snape's sudden outburst, as he braced himself on the desk, his fingers visibly shaking against the wood.

"I see that you are...somewhat emotional about the boy—"

"It is because of you," he began, pausing to stare directly into the elderly wizard's eyes, "that he hates me. It was never like this. Draco Malfoy is my godson. It is one of my duties to protect him."

His words, and rare display of emotion almost caused Dumbledore to smile.

Almost.

However, the glint of light in his eyes, hidden behind his half moon spectacles, glistened even more brightly that night.

"Take him with you. When they come to Hogwarts—when, not if—and hide him. Take him to a safe place. Tell everyone he died. Even Narcissa and Lucius. I leave their responsibility with you as well, Severus. I want their protection."

There was a long pause, as the dark haired wizard processed the commands being given to him.

"Where, exactly, do you want me to take him?"

"I have something in mind. I'll have to reach out to someone, but I'll let you know by tomorrow."

Snape stared gravely into the fireplace in front of him, as he went over their entire conversation.

"You are a foolish old man, Dumbledore."

It caused him to laugh, before reaching over across his table.

"Have a sherbet lemon, Severus."

Time was moving faster than light.

The gentle May breeze danced across her skin, as children all around her frolicked about, taking advantage of the weather, and soaking in the first rays of the summer sunshine. The grass beneath her shoes was soft and green, and her olive skin shined in the light, making her look like a goddess of her own. Her curly brown hair swayed freely just above her waist, and the smile that was on her face was even brighter than the sunshine.

He couldn't take his eyes off her.

She walked with Potter and Weasley, laughing about something irrelevant. She was wearing a loose sweater and her muggle contraption she called jeans, barely making out the shape of her body.

A shape he had spent so long memorizing.

He almost smiled to himself, realizing that every curve and edge, and every inch of her sun kissed skin...belonged to him.

Yes, it did. And he was hers, whether he would like to admit it or not.

Whatever was happening...what ever was going to happen...it all felt so unreal. He had no idea what was going to happen. He took the risk in obeying Dumbledore...trusting him. Although, he regularly received updates on his parents, which made him more confident in what he was doing.

Suddenly, he sensed someone sit down beside him in the grass. Expecting it to be Blaise, he turned around, nonchalantly.

"...Pansy?"

"Draco."

"I'm sorry."

He raised his eyebrows, taken aback by her apology.

"I knew I shouldn't have avoided you. It was just dangerous, Draco. I couldn't risk my safety speaking to you. You looked like hell too...my bad. Draco, I don't know what you went through, or what happened, but now...now that it's passed…"

"You're speaking to me again?"

"Yes. Mother and Father told me to avoid you, especially after everything that was...going around. At first, I thought you were tasked with killing Potter's mudblood—"

"What?"

He didn't even know why, but suddenly, his fists were clenching. He felt himself getting redder, as he bit the inside of his cheek.

"After your detentions with her. But then...you started relaxing a bit, and now, everything's normal—"

"Get the fuck away from me."

"Draco, what?"

"Get away. I don't think you're a presence I need right now. Blaise will be joining me in a bit."

She sighed, looking down at the grass.

"My ego is scraped, but I know I've said worse to you. I hope in the future, when the Dark Lord wins the war, and everything goes back to normal...we will be okay."

"Fuck off. Leave. Now."

She spotted him across the courtyard, sitting by himself on the grass.

Somehow, another three months were gone, just like that. In the midst of all the negativity, the warmth and sunshine summer brought made everything feel just a little better.

From the corner of her eye, she caught Pansy Parkinson advancing towards Draco.

Maybe she should have been bothered. Maybe she should have been jealous.

But…

Over the past few months, she had learned to trust Draco like no other. Seeing his ex close to him didn't bother her.

However, she was intrigued as to what their conversation entailed.

He seemed to be getting angry.

She'd have to ask him later.

His meeting with Pansy had him thinking all afternoon…

I hope in the future, when the Dark Lord wins the war, and everything goes back to normal...we will be okay.

When everything goes back to normal.

Would a world where the Dark Lord had won ever be normal? He couldn't even answer that question, before defining what normal was.

Being with Granger...her optimism was rubbing off on him. She always promised him of a better world. She told him she would fight in the war to ensure that his kind...her kind...everyone could live together in peace.

He found himself thinking about this more often than before...what exactly his views and beliefs on muggle borns were.

He knew his feelings towards Granger had trespassed into territories it shouldn't have...but it had happened. He was protective of her. He needed her to be safe. She wasn't dirty at all. Quite the opposite, actually.

As for others…

Could he continue to stereotype a certain group, based on their blood? It almost seemed foolish to him now...the muggle hating Draco had become such a distant memory. He was different now. Better.

Better for her.

He knew he was far from being good. He also knew he possibly never could be good as long as he had that...mark on his forearm. But Granger made him want to try. She made him want to be a better person.

The innocence in her smile was what pushed him to become better. Almost like her.

Good.

"What are the three of you up to? You always seem to be planning something."

"Maybe we are."

"You know, I forgot to mention this the other day, but last Tuesday Potter seemed awfully cheerful, almost woozy at times. He looked like he was completely sloshed."

His observation caused her to laugh, as she moved the book she was holding away, and sat up to hug her knees.

"He took his Felix Felicis that day. Remember how I had told you how Dumbledore asked Harry to retrieve Slughorn's memory about the horcrux? He decided to down his potion and set off to get the memory."

"Did it work?"

"Of course."

"Potter doesn't need liquid luck to get lucky. It seems like that's a thing for him—"

"Don't start on Harry."

"Okay, okay." he said, with a smirk.

He had watched as she gradually opened up to him, over the past few months. She had begun to tell him more about what was happening since Christmas, and now, he would like to believe, he had earned her trust completely.

It felt good to be trusted. Especially by her.

"Granger?"

"Hm?"

"How do you feel about the fact that I hate your friends?"

"You don't hate them. At least you don't hate Harry. I like to believe that you and Harry would have been very good friends, had it not been for your differences when you were younger."

"And Weasley?"

"Well...you don't hate him that way. You just aren't fond of him. Some of it is rooted from jealousy as well, might I say."

"Excuse me?"

"I said what I said."

He couldn't see her face, but knew she had a smirk plastered on her face right at that moment.

"There will never be a day," he paused, "when a Malfoy is jealous of a Weasley."

She watched, as her friend continued to pace nervously across their corner of the room, as Ron stared into the fireplace, and she tapped her finger against the armrest.

"Harry, what is it? You can tell us, you know."

"Am I that obvious?"

"Very."

Causing him to smile for just a few seconds, he moved towards the two of them, creating a small huddle.

"You know...I had been telling you the other day, how I had a plan."

"You're going to kill Voldemort? Harry, bloody hell—"

"Oh, Ronald, shut up! Let him finish!"

He backed off, his hands up in surrender.

"I'm going to find all the horcruxes. That's what Dumbledore wants me to do. I have to find them, and destroy them. Otherwise, he cannot be killed."

"So...you're going to go looking for them? You're going to run away?"

There was dead silence, as the three of them all looked to each other, waiting for a response.

"Yes."

"Bloody hell."

Hermione contemplated his words for a few minutes, thinking about every possible thing that could go wrong with his plan.

There were a lot of possibilities.

"Harry...are you sure?"

"I am. There's no other way. If you two want to come, you can, but if you don't—"

"If we don't?" cut in Ron. "What do you mean if we don't? How can we not come, Harry? We'll be with you wherever you go."

"It might not be safe—"

"Harry it won't be safe." started Hermione. "And we know that. But even after, we're coming. And you know that. We can't allow you to go horcrux hunting alone. We've always been together. We've always stuck together. This is no different."

"Yeah Harry, we can't allow you to have all the fun." said Ron with a smirk.

It caused all three of them to laugh, as Hermione pulled the two wizards into a hug.

"We'll make it through together, Harry. The three of us. Like it always has been."

Her words had something sad hidden in them in a ghostly way, as though their hug was supposed to be a reminder to her of what was supposed to be...normal.

"Maybe Hermione should stay back—"

"Harry! This is not the time for sexism!"

"Draco?"

"Hm?"

"Promise me you'll stay safe."

"What do you mean? It's not like I'm marching out into fucking battalion right at this—"

"Draco you know that's not what I mean. The way we are now...things aren't always going to be like this."

"You're leaving me for Weasley? Listen Granger, I know I might've said some sentimental bullshit before but I don't give a fuck about that now. Weasley—"

"Stop being so insecure! Why would I leave you for Ronald, Draco?"

She pulled him closer, so that he could lie down on her thighs, and she could stroke his hair, instantly calming him down.

"I'm saying...things are going to change, Draco. You know this. I know this. We won't be able to attend classes normally, or meet up like this whenever we want to. I'm not even sure...what will happen."

"Why are you implying?"

"...I don't know. I just want you to promise me that you're going to stay safe. No matter what. And you're not going to do anything stupid—"

"Granger this is childish—"

"Promise me, Draco."

Sensing the desperation in her voice, he pulled down one of her hands so that he could hold it in his own, before finally breaking the silence.

"Fine."

Looking down at him, she smiled. She loved the way he could be open with her. Just like then.

"Draco?"

"What now Granger?"

"...nothing. Let's go to sleep."

a/n: ahhhhh late update, I know. I've just been insanely busy these last few weeks. I did three different interviews at three different schools over the past three weeks. Acceptance is usually given out in April, so I'll update y'all on that. Wish me luck!

Vaccines rolling out! The beginning of the end. It's crazy to think of the world as it was again...I've somehow become so accustomed to this new normal. Can't imagine letting someone within a metre of me.

Big things happening in the next few chapters...possibly the upcoming chapter. Promise some quick updates to make up for this late one.

Love you guys,

Sydney