* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *

PART THREE

The Eighth Year

Chapter 35: The Apple Fell Far From the Tree

The mood between the group was rather dull on Saturday morning. It was the 3rd of January, and it was time to get the train back to school because the new term started on Monday. Professor McGonagall had sent the eighth years a polite message warning them to take the train back like all of the other pupils and not apparate back just because they could. This was partially why everyone was grumbling so much as they boarded the Hogwarts Express and squeezed into a compartment together. They had to spend the whole day on a train when they could be at their destination in seconds if they had been allowed to apparate.

"It's not so bad, getting the train back," Sadie said to the group as a whole. They all sent her glares that said they thought otherwise, "I mean, it's more bonding time, right?"

Theo smiled and put his arm around his girlfriend, "It's a sweet thought, Sadie," he said as he looked around the glum faces in the carriage.

Daphne rolled her eyes, "Come on, guys, it's not like we don't have anything to talk about," she caught Hermione's eye; "In fact, Hermione and I have something we need to tell you."

Draco and Harry shared anxious glances, and the girls chuckled.

"It's nothing bad," Hermione reassured them, "Just a project we started working on at Potter Manor."

Daphne nodded, "You know that the duelling room in the basement is kind of like a room of requirement, right? You can change its form, which means it can become a potions lab if you need it to be one."

"Why would you need a potions lab?" Harry asked. He was completely lost about where she was going with this 'project' she had been working on with his best friend.

"To brew potions, obviously," Tracey said without looking up from her copy of Witch Weekly.

"Thank you for that, Tracey," Harry said sarcastically as Dean chuckled at his girlfriend's blunt nature, "But what I meant was why would you need to brew potions? We didn't have any homework from Slughorn, did we?"

Hermione laughed and shook her head at her friend, "Don't worry, we didn't have any homework. Do you remember what we overheard Filch saying about the experimental magic that went wrong and turned his daughter into Mrs Norris?"

Harry nodded. He was still lost but something sparked in Draco's eyes as he realised what they were saying.

"Well," Hermione said as she shared another glance with Daphne, "We thought we could help. I mean, Daphne and I could both go into potion work after Hogwarts. Slughorn says we're the best students in our year."

Draco looked slightly offended, but Hermione added, "Apart from you and Sadie, of course, Draco."

Draco smirked at that, "Why, thank you, Hermione."

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "You're welcome. Anyway, we thought about it and researched it, and some spells can force an animagus back into human form."

"Like the one Sirius and Remus used to force Scabbers to become Pettigrew," Harry said quickly, "But if it was that simple, then surely Dumbledore or McGonagall would have come up with it."

"I know, which is why we looked deeper, and we think we figured it out," Daphne said, the excitement of success shone in her eyes.

"I called in a favour with my mother, and she got me the report on the potion that Abraxas Malfoy was experimenting on when Melody was turned into a cat. The potion is very similar to the one that you take to become an Animagus, there are differences, but they are small and hard to find unless you know where to look."

The others were completely intrigued now as they listened to the explanation. At this point, Hermione took over, "A component was added that shouldn't have been. The component was to stop Melody from switching at will like an Animagus. What that component was supposed to do was to keep her as a cat for 20 days, then it would expire. In theory, by then, the virus would be gone, and she would be returned to her body, good as new."

"But something went wrong," Draco realised. He had gotten an O in his potions O.W.L and had been told he would make a fantastic experimental potion brewer.

"If my grandfather had added too much Lethe River Water, then it would cause the potion to be much more permanent, it would still expire, but it would take 20 years, not 20 days."

"Exactly!" Hermione said eagerly, "That's what we think happened, and as any good potion brewer knows, once you know the problem, you can start on the solution."

"There isn't a potion to undo being an Animagus, and it would be almost impossible to try and brew one," Sadie said; she bit her lip as she did when she was thinking.

"In theory, it could work if you reversed certain aspects of the original potion, but it's so unstable…and we would need a test subject."

"I'll be your test subject," Harry volunteered, "I've always wanted to be an Animagus anyway. If I become one and you test the potion on me, you'll know if it's working, right?"

"Yeah," Daphne said slowly, "I mean, if we gave the working potion to an ordinary Animagus, all it would do would be to force them out of their Animagus form as the spells do."

"But it would be dangerous, Harry," Draco warned him, "If anything went wrong and you tried the potion, you could get stuck in your Animagus form, or worse."

"Well, then you should be honoured to know that I trust you guys that much," Harry said lightly, "Anyway, maybe I'm getting bored of not being in constant danger."

The others laughed, but they were still hyped up and excited about the idea of making the potion.

"So you said you've already started brewing at Potter Manor?" Harry asked the girls.

"Yes and so far, so good," Daphne said, "But we could do with finding out more about the original potion, and we figured Draco would be the person to ask."

Draco nodded, "I'm sure there will be more records in the library at the Manor. Luckily for us, I asked for everything from the library to be put into storage. I should be able to find my grandfather's notes too…"

"That would be ideal," Hermione said as Daphne nodded along with her, "We would get it straight from the source."

"Well, I'm in," Draco said.

Sadie smiled, "Me too. My Potions speciality is theoretical research, so I could be of help."

"As surprised as you all might be, I'm in too," Theo said from where he had been watching silently as they talked about the potion, "I specialise in experimental brewery. If you don't want to blow up the whole of Harry's house, then you should probably enlist me."

"Done," Daphne said as she grinned at her friend.

Harry smiled, he liked the idea, but he couldn't contribute much academically, "Well, I am awful at potions, but I'll contribute by giving you my house to work in and by being your guinea pig!"

There was some laughter as Neville, Hannah, Dean and Tracey echoed that they were out because they were dreadful at potions, but they would morally support the others and listen to their theories.

"So," Draco said as he leant forward in his seat, "What have you got so far?"

"Well," Hermione began as she turned to face him, "The Animagus potion has six components for it to work-"

"Component one: changes the human to the animal form. Component two: maintains the human mind while in animal form. Component three: represses the motion of speech while the human is in animal form. Component four: changes the human back from the animal form. Component five: allows the human to change form at will. Component six: enables the permanency that stops the human from being able to undo the potion."

Everyone was staring at Harry in complete shock.

"I thought you didn't know anything about potions!" Hermione exclaimed loudly. She was utterly stunned by his sudden act of brilliance.

Harry frowned and looked up, "Uh, I don't," he said as he held up his textbook, "I just read it from the textbook."

"Oh," Hermione said, "Right, of course, you did."

Draco only raised an eyebrow at the boy-who-lived and turned back to Hermione, "So to reverse the potion so that it has the opposite effect, we need to take component one away because we don't want her to be able to change back. Components two and 3 aren't important. They won't do anything if we leave them in as long as we take out one."

"We'll also need to remove component 6; the permanency charm is the part that went wrong and trapped her that way," Daphne said. It was clear that she was deep in thought.

"What about component five? Shouldn't that be removed too if it allows her to change back into her form at will?" Tracey asked. She had been listening with interest to the conversation going on in the carriage.

Sadie shook her head with a frown, "No, if we remove component one that stops her from transforming into a cat again, so the other components aren't necessary. We can't take them all out; the potion would become too unstable...we can leave them in since they won't do any lasting damage."

"What about what you need to add in?" Hannah asked them. She had taken Potions too and had gotten an A which was nothing compared to the mini geniuses she was friends with.

"You're right Hannah, in place of component one, we'll need to add another component that will force Melody back into human form. I'm not entirely sure how to do that yet," Daphne said. The thoughtful silence that followed meant that nobody else did either.

"And we'll need to replace component six too, or the potion will become unbalanced and unstable, like Sadie said," Hermione added, "I've not got any idea what to replace it with yet."

"So what you are saying is you still have a long way to go?" Harry asked, and the others nodded.

"Good, that gives me time to get McGonagall to teach me how to become an Animagus, I know you can help with the potion, but there's a mental aspect too."

"There is, and you're right to ask McGonagall to help. Melody is proof of what can happen if something goes wrong," Hermione said. She sounded more like her old self than she had in a while, "Abraxas Malfoy was a professional experimental potions brewer, and even he made mistakes."

"While you're learning, I'll produce a report," Sadie said, "Theorising the possible risks because with a potion this experimental, there are many. You may need to remove component four, it represses speech while the Animagus is an animal, but in Melody's case, she might come out of the Animagus form and be unable to speak."

Harry rubbed his fingers over his forehead, "It sounds confusing."

"It is," the others echoed around the small compartment, and as Harry looked out of the windows and saw the rain lashing down, he only felt more miserable than before, and he wasn't sure why.

After all, he was going back to Hogwarts, and he had just had a great Christmas and New Year. He sighed and turned to the others to ask if anyone wanted to play chess. He would lose spectacularly, especially because Theo had said yes, but it would help to pass the time at least.

When the Hogwarts Express finally pulled into Hogsmeade station, the eighth years were relieved. They enjoyed each other's company but being stuck in a small compartment for eight hours was too much. The carriages were waiting as usual, and the group split into two to ride up to the school gates. Once there, they began the trek up the path to the castle, and it was then that they noticed something very different about the grounds.

"Harry, look!"

It had been Hermione who had noticed it first as she pointed in the direction of Hagrid's hut...only it wasn't Hagrid's hut anymore. Standing where the small, one-roomed hut had once stood was a grand two-floored cottage. Each floor was about the height of two storeys, however. Hermione was giggling, and Harry couldn't help but grin. The cottage was blue with a white door and white windows; it wasn't hard to figure out who had redecorated.

"I think Hagrid's new fiancé has officially moved in," Harry said. He chuckled at the sight.

Draco, however, reverted to his posh pureblood self for a moment.

"Anything's better than that dump he had be-"

Draco saw the death glares he was getting from Harry, Hermione and Neville and trailed off before finishing his sentence.

"It might not have been big or fancy, but at least it wasn't a torture dungeon," Hermione retorted with a glare her boyfriend's way. She grabbed Harry by the arm and marched off ahead of them.

Draco rolled his eyes as Neville and Hannah gave him dirty looks and hurried to catch up with Harry and Hermione, "What did I say?"

"Draco, you're such an insensitive prick sometimes," Daphne said. She shook her head at her best friend.

Up ahead, Hermione was in one of her rants.

"I mean, who does he think he is? Insulting Hagrid like that! He doesn't even know him, and he judges him on appearances. I mean, who does that?"

"Purebloods?" Neville suggested sarcastically. A trademark Hermione glare silenced him, and Hannah hid a smile at how afraid Neville was of his friend.

"You need to calm down, Hermione; these rants aren't good for your health," Harry said.

She let go of his arm, and her voice got a little louder, "Rants? I don't rant! When did I last rant if this is one of my rants!?"

"Uh, to pick just one time?" Harry asked. He got glared at, but he was used to it and had grown immune, "That time you invented spew for a start."

"S.P.E.W!" Hermione shrieked, "Society for the promotion of elfish welfare!"

"Alright, alright! I know what it is, calm down," Harry said as Hermione got into full-blown crazy mode now.

Thankfully they had reached the hall, and Hermione strutted ahead. She sat down, in-between Sally and Annie, who were extremely confused. Harry rolled his eyes as he dropped into a seat at the far end of the table where Neville, Hannah, Susan, Daphne, Tracey and Sadie soon joined him. Theo and Dean went over to Blaise to find out how his Christmas had been, and Draco attempted to sit down across from Hermione.

"Don't come near me, Draco!" Hermione said shrilly, which caused a ripple of laughter to go around the table.

Draco rolled his eyes, bit back a swear word and stalked over to Harry, "Move, Daphne," he said grumpily as he pushed her further down the bench and sat in between her and Harry.

"Wow, Draco, so polite," Daphne said sarcastically to her friend, who just grunted and looked down the table at Hermione irritably.

Luckily the awkwardness didn't last long because McGonagall stood up to address the students, and it was then that they saw Hagrid at the head table. He looked like he'd had a significant make-over; his beard was practically gone, and his hair was short. He was wearing a brand new moleskin coat too. When he caught Harry's eye, he winked at him, and Harry chuckled; he was glad to see that the man was happy.

McGonagall made a few official announcements, and then the food appeared. Harry was starving and piled his plate high. Draco put hardly anything on his and pushed his food around with a glum expression on his face.

Harry hid a small smile as he saw Hermione further along the table; she was talking animatedly with Blaise and eating in abundance, much to Draco's annoyance.

Harry spent most of his time talking to Neville since Draco didn't seem to want to talk or interact with anyone, and when the meal was finished, they all headed up to the eighth year common room together.

"Do you think Lilly's okay?"

"She's obviously not okay," Susan said conversationally as she, Hermione, Daphne and Gabrielle lay in their beds that night.

"How do you know?" Daphne asked with a frown, "Have you seen her?"

"No, but I know she isn't okay," Susan shrugged, "Her boyfriend just cheated on her. What girl is okay after that?"

"No normal one," Gabrielle sighed, "I'm so angry at Ron, you know. I like Bill because my sister married him, but those Weasley men can be so disrespectful towards women."

"Yes, they can be," Hermione agreed, "I think it's because there are so many men outnumbering the women in that family."

"He didn't deserve her," Daphne said bluntly.

"Nah, she deserves much better," Susan agreed, "I love Lil. She's one of the most caring people I know, and guys kind of push her around because of that."

"Well, Ron won't be pushing her around anymore," Hermione said, "And if she's upset, then don't you think we should do something to cheer her up?"

"Like what?" Daphne shrugged, "It's a broken heart Hermione, we can't help her heal it."

"Daphne's right," Gabrielle said with a slight smile, "The only thing that can help a broken heart is chocolate and ice cream."

"Or alcohol," Susan said in amusement.

"And hugs," Hermione added, "And good friends...I just feel like we should do something."

"It's because you feel responsible," Gabrielle said knowingly, "For knowing that Ron can be a bit of an idiot and not saying anything to Lilly. It's not your fault, though."

"Gabby's right," Susan yawned, "Lil is a big girl; she's old enough to make her own decisions."

"And her own mistakes," Daphne said simply.

Hermione sighed, "It still sucks."

"Life sometimes sucks, Hermione," Daphne said, "But maybe you should take this whole thing as a sign."

"A sign of what?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"A sign that you need to make up with Draco instead of fighting with him about stupid things," Susan smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I know. I'll apologise tomorrow," she conceded.

Draco and Hermione were on speaking terms the following day when they met Harry and Daphne in the common room. The friends made their way out of the common room into the corridor outside; only this morning, something was different.

Opposite the door to the common room, there was a new portrait that hadn't been there the night before. It was a portrait of the Gryffindor common room in amazing detail. There were four figures in the picture, one of whom was sitting on the sofa playing with a golden snitch, another of whom was lying on the sofa with her head in the other figures lap. Harry didn't notice the other two straight away; he was too focused on his parents.

"Mum...Dad..." Harry said slowly. He walked closer to the portrait, and at that point, both figures jumped up from the couch and walked towards the front of the frame.

"Harry! You look so grown up," Lily said as she smiled at her son.

James cocked his head at him, "He looks like my twin."

Harry gazed at them in shock; he couldn't believe it. Who had done this?

His parents were painted as they were in their seventh year, Gryffindor uniforms and all. Harry glanced around the portrait common room, and it was then that he saw Sirius and Remus; they were hanging back a bit and grinning at him.

"Wow," Harry said as he stared at them all, "This is amazing."

"Glad you like it; Merry Christmas, Harry! Sorry, it's late."

Harry spun around to see Dean standing behind him with a broad grin on his face.

"You did this?"

Dean nodded, "I want to go into magical portrait making after Hogwarts. I've been making some prototypes, this was my first successful one, and I thought you'd appreciate it."

"I really do," Harry said sincerely as he looked back to the portrait, "It means a lot, Dean."

"He didn't inherit your skill not to appreciate anything, thank goodness."

"Oi! I'm grateful for you, aren't I?"

"Sometimes," Lily said coyly, and the portrait couple kissed.

Harry shook his head in amusement, and Sirius piped up, "Hey Harry! Is that your girlfriend?"

"Uh, yeah," Harry said as he glanced at Daphne.

"Nice one Harry, she's well too fit for you!"

"Sirius!"

James sniggered, and Lily glared at him, "James, stop it!"

"Lily's right, Sirius," Remus chastised, "Leave Harry and his love life alone."

"Well, as his godfather, I am emotionally invested in his love life-"

"Merlin Sirius, you are such a woman!"

"What? Lily, how dare you throw such a heinous insult at me?"

"Woah, what's wrong with women Padfoot? I'm very fond of them myself!"

"Them? You should only be fond of one woman, James!"

Harry rolled his eyes, "Come on, let's leave them to it," he said as the group began to make their way down to the great hall for breakfast.

"I figured you could take the portrait back to Potter Manor with you when school is over," Dean said.

"Thanks, Dean," Harry said with a genuine smile.

"Has your boggart changed?"

Harry frowned and glanced up at his best friend, "What?"

"This essay," Hermione said with a wave of her hand, "It's about emotional trauma and its effect on magic. Your boggart can change, just like your Patronus can."

"Well, obviously it changes," Daphne said, "Depending on what your fear is. Fears change. They can be conquered."

Harry nodded absentmindedly, "Yeah, my boggart has changed because I'm not afraid of dementors or Voldemort anymore."

"So what is it now?" Daphne asked curiously.

Harry frowned, "It's every single person I love lying on the ground dead if you really want to know."

Daphne frowned, "Sorry, I didn't realise."

"Of course you didn't," Hermione said simply, "You had no idea, Harry's just snappy."

"Boggarts make me snappy," Harry said offhandedly, "And so do Potions essays. You are talking to me about one while I'm writing the other, so yes, I am slightly snappy."

Draco chuckled from his spot next to Harry, "Yeah, I'd say that's cause for being snappy. I don't particularly like boggarts either."

"Can you even defeat a boggart?" Harry asked curiously, "I remember you being particularly grumpy in that class."

"Ridiculous is what you called it, in fact," Hermione said with an amused smile.

Draco sighed, "It was ridiculous, but it was a third-year class, so of course, I can defeat a boggart."

"What's so ridiculous about it anyway?" Harry asked through a yawn, "It's just an animal. Some animals have ways to defend themselves, like hedgehogs and their spikes. Boggarts defend themselves by scaring people who would hurt them."

"Boggarts themselves aren't ridiculous," Draco said irritably, "But forcing a class of 13-year-olds to face their worst fears is."

"I've got to agree," Neville said with a slight frown, "I mean, look how embarrassing mine was."

"That's true," Harry said thoughtfully, "What would your boggart have been then Draco, I mean, what could be so embarrassing?"

"It's none of your business, Potter," Draco said dryly.

"He was just curious," Daphne said in defence of her boyfriend.

"Well, as usual, he is curious about things which are not his business!" Draco snapped, "What my boggart is or was does not concern you, Potter!"

"Alright," Harry said quickly, "Fine, I'm sorry for even bringing it up, alright?"

Draco nodded stiffly, and they both looked back down at their essays.

Hermione glanced over at Daphne, who just shook her head as if to say, 'don't bother'.

For the rest of the following day, Hermione tried her very best not to ask Draco about his boggart. Daphne had told her just to drop it, but Hermione couldn't just drop things. In a similar way to Harry, she had to get the answer to everything. She had to know what was going on, or it drove her bloody mad. She tiptoed around him all day, and eventually, she caved when she cornered Theo in the library later that night.

"Hey, Theo!" Hermione said brightly, "I scored you tickets to Puddlemere's game this weekend."

Theo raised an eyebrow at his best friend's girlfriend as he accepted the two tickets, "What do you want, princess?"

"Oh, nothing," Hermione said with a wave of her hand, "I just thought you could treat Sadie at the weekend."

"Hmm," Theo smirked, "Well, that's very nice of you. Then again, that's just who you are, isn't it? Always doing things for other people and not expecting anything in return. Thanks, I'll really enjoy the game."

Hermione bit her lip as he turned around and walked towards another bookshelf. She darted quietly across the room and stopped behind him, "Wait, Theo. Actually, there was something."

Theo was still smirking as he turned around and asked again, "I knew there was. You never let me call you princess. What do you want, Hermione?"

"What was Draco's boggart in third year?" Hermione asked quietly.

Theo frowned, "Why do you want to know that?"

"Well, he got snappy about it in an argument with Harry last night," Hermione explained, "And I hate not knowing things. I mean, what was he so afraid of?"

"I don't think it was what he was so afraid of," Theo admitted, "I think it was what he was so afraid of everyone else knowing he was afraid of."

"Well, what was it?" Hermione asked again.

"It's not my place to say," Theo said with a shrug, "He's my best friend, and I'm not going to go around telling you his secrets."

"But I'm his girlfriend," Hermione objected.

"And?" Theo asked, "You're his girlfriend, so you should ask him yourself instead of sneaking around asking his best friend. That's a very Slytherin thing to do. A Gryffindor would have the guts to ask him in person."

Hermione frowned slightly, "You're very serious about this whole thing Theo."

"Yeah, well, I don't laugh and joke about everything all of the time," Theo shrugged, "Draco's my best friend, and I care about him. I'm pretty loyal for a Slytherin, you know."

"I noticed," Hermione said with a slight smile, "But I'll take your advice and talk to him about it. If he bites my head off, though, I'm blaming you."

Theo laughed and held his hand out to her, "Deal," he said.

Hermione smiled as she shook it, "So you like me now then?"

"I've never not liked you," Theo said honestly, "What makes you think I didn't?"

"I don't know, I always felt like you thought I was taking Draco away from you or something," Hermione admitted sheepishly.

"I wasn't sure how good you were for him at first," Theo said honestly as he leant against a bookshelf, "I thought maybe he'd think you were too good, and he'd go down the path to self-destruction again, but I was wrong."

"So we're friends?" Hermione asked as she cocked her head at him.

"We're friends," Theo said simply.

Hermione smiled broadly, "Good...can I ask you one more question?"

"You can ask. I'm not promising I'll answer," Theo joked.

"Why do you call me princess?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Well, it started as a way to get on your nerves," Theo admitted in amusement, "But it's an affectionate nickname now, so take it as a compliment, princess."

Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled slightly at the acceptance. As Draco's best friend, it meant a lot to Hermione to have Theo on her side, "See you around, Theo."

"Are you alone?"

"Yep, Harry's down at the Quidditch pitch with Daphne," Draco said as he glanced up from the four-poster that he was lying on.

"Good," Hermione said as she sat down on the edge of his bed, "Because I need to talk to you about something-"

"My father," Draco said simply.

Hermione frowned as she looked at her boyfriend, "What?"

"My boggart," Draco replied, "That was what you were going to ask me about, wasn't it?"

Hermione nodded, "I...well...yes, it was. How did you know?"

Draco smiled slightly, "Hermione, I love you, but you are transparent. You're too much like Harry bloody Potter; you can't let anything be. I've seen you today; you've practically been twitching to ask me about it."

Hermione glared at him, but her heart wasn't in it, "Oh shut up Draco. I'm not that bad."

"You are," Draco said with a fond smile, "So I just answered your question for you. In third year my boggart would have been my father."

"You were that afraid of him?" Hermione asked with a slight frown.

Draco nodded, "I was terrified of him. I spent my entire childhood being scared of him, and when I came to Hogwarts, that didn't go away. I just spent term-time dreading the holidays instead of spending the nights dreading the mornings."

"I'm sorry," Hermione sighed, "I mean, how petty does that make me look? Mine was McGonagall telling me I'd failed everything."

Draco laughed at that, "I think I started to fall in love with you that day," he said honestly.

Hermione shook her head, "No... could you not joke about it, Draco? I wish it was still something as stupid as that and not so...sinister."

"What is it now?" Draco asked softly. He reached to her and grabbed her hand, "What are you afraid of, Hermione?"

"Everyone I love being tortured," Hermione said quietly, "In the same way I was at Malfoy Manor."

Draco sighed and put his arm around his girlfriend. She was shaking slightly but not crying. Hermione was one of the strongest people that he knew, after all.

"Mine has changed too."

"You aren't afraid of him anymore?" Hermione asked curiously.

Draco shook his head, "No, he's a coward, and I know that now."

"What is it then?" Hermione asked as she caught his eye, "Your boggart?"

"It's you," Draco said as he kept his gaze on hers, "You being tortured and me standing there, helplessly."

"Sounds more like a memory than a fear," Hermione said as she subconsciously gripped her left arm.

Draco shook his head, "No, it's a fear. I'm terrified that one day I won't be able to protect you, Hermione."

Hermione faltered at those words, "I don't need protection Draco."

"I know," Draco said honestly, "I know how strong you are, but fundamentally I'll always feel the need to protect you."

"And I appreciate that," Hermione said honestly, "But you don't need to be afraid. The war is over."

"I could say the same about your fear and Harry's," Draco pointed out, "The war is over. That much is true, but it still lives on in our minds."

"I don't think we'll ever be the same," Hermione said quietly.

Draco nodded his agreement, "Of course we won't be. But that's not a bad thing. If we were the same, then this...us...it would never have happened."

Hermione chuckled to herself as she leant across to kiss the blonde boy, "Careful Draco, you're starting to sound like Harry."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Oh sweet Salazar, the horror!" he said sarcastically, and Hermione laughed heartily.

The pain of the conversation disappeared with their laughter, and once more, Hermione felt a rush of appreciation towards Draco.

* ~ TBC ~ *