[Chapter Seven]
Hermione massaged her temple at the slight ache that was beginning to form. Shaking her head, she re-focused her attention to the potions assignment in front of her, scribbling on the middle-half of the tweleve foot parchment.
She had missed a bloody day but the amount of work she'd missed was huge. With the N.E.W.T.S approaching, all the seventh years were getting bombarded with assignments, and while Hermione didn't really mind, the stress of exams along with the head duties she had to carry out was, for the lack of better term, exhausting.
The fire cackled in the fireplace located at the left corner of the warm common room, casting orange-glow all around.
Heads Common room was the place where she could do her work, peacefully, without having to worry about any hustle or disturbance that took place in the Gryffindor Common room.
Her head turned towards the door as it slid open, revealing a very mercurial Malfoy. Hermione didn't know how to confront Malfoy, after the recent events . While she knew she had to thank him for saving her life, she had no idea how to confront him, especially when he seemed to be avoiding her like a plague. She had tried to talk to him after the classes, earlier that day, but he was out of the class the minute their professor dismissed them.
He didn't seem to notice her at first, given the way he came in, incoherently mumbling to himself, but the moment he met the sight of her in the couch, his stature straightened, and his usual mask slipped back into his face. He looked at her once, before looking away and mumbling a barely audible "Evening Granger".
She watched as he made his way to the other study table and only when he began taking out his textbooks, did she reply to his greeting.
"Good Evening Malfoy. How was your day?"
The indifferent mask never slipped off as he replied to her.
"So good so far."
A clipped reply.
A clear indication that he was most certainly trying to avoid any kind of further conversation.
But Hermione wasnt the one to just let the opportunity slip.
"Malfoy, I uh, I wanted to talk to you about- uhm, I wanted to actually-"
"Save it Granger, you don't need to thank me for anything."
The same, clipped tone.
Hermione felt the rush of annoyance at his interruption, but she maintained a straight voice as she spoke,
"Yes I do, Malfoy. You saved my life and I need to thank you for it. If you hadn't come in time, I'd probably be dead right now. So yeah, Thank you for saving me."
He looked at her, again, she couldn't read his face. She hated when she couldn't read someone, she had no idea what was going on in his mind. But she did have the sheer idea on why was he refusing to acknowledge her thank-you. Maybe he was doing this hoping it would be some sort of "make up" for their past. Guilt makes people drown in the abyss of self-loathing and hatred, and although he was yet to apologise to her about their past, she knew he was aching to get rid of the guilt. Though she had felt a bit of offense, when she learned from Ron and Harry and fellow Gryffindors that Malfoy had approached them with apologies for his behavior in the past. He had even apologised to Ron and Harry, but he hadn't apologised to her yet. While she knew he must be having problems approaching her with a "sorry", she also was annoyed with the blonde. Did it take any physical labour to say a bloody "sorry"
When he didn't speak even after a minute or so, Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and stared back at him.
He narrowed his eyes at her and looked away.
"Youre welcome, Granger. It wasn't anything gallant .", he said, his voice not giving away any emotion and he went back to his work.
Hermione sighed. She knew that was all she would get from him. While she did want to bring out Josh, she decided today wasn't the ideal time to interrogate to him about it. She was yet to have a conversation with Josh, she had only heard accounts of what happened from other people, and she needed to talk to Josh to decide if the latter was innocent or not.
Letting out yet another sigh, she walked back to her table and resumed her assignment. There was silence between them, and surprisingly, it didn't suffocate her. She wasn't uncomfortable and this made her eyebrows knit up in a frown. Since when did she and Malfoy become capable of sharing a comfortable silence? It was normal, lile they've known each others presence for a long time, lile they had gone through many phases of life together, like they were never in opposite sides during a war.
She knew very few people, who were capable of handling a silence; Luna being in the top of her list followed by Charlie Weasley and the youngest Weasley. Ginny made a very good listener and knew to giver her "alone" time. She and Ginny had grown closer since the second wizarding war. With Harry locking himself away for most of the time while in the burrow, the redhead often found herself in Hermione's room, and the pair would spend hours in "comforting silence".
Ron could never stay in silence, he was always speaking, and while his jokes did manage to improve her mood, sometimes all she asked was a peaceful nothingness she could relish. Harry was the one to tap his figers on the desk so annoyingly that Hermione had to constantly tell him to stop, only for him to resume it again.
But here was Malfoy, the only sound he had produced after he sat down in his table was a curse that escaped him when he accidentally knocked off the ink-bottle. Other than that, he was so silent that if Hermione didn't know he was here, she would've thought the common room to be empty.
She always believed silence could be shared between those who were comfortable enough in each others presence and they didn't need any words to fill up the space. And she didn't know what it meant, sharing the said nothingness with someone she disliked all her childhood.
Hours passed by, and the heads did their work in the shared silence, not sharing any kind of conversation whatsoever. Both were surprised at the normalcy that danced around, no one could sit in the room and refer to them as former nemesis.
Hearing a small cough, Hermione looked up from her assignment at Malfoy, who now stood besides her desk, his textbooks packed away. Upon seeing the frown in her face, he spoke, breaking the lingering silence.
"It's time for the patrols"
Hearing him, the brunnette glanced at the clock at the wall and found out, it was, indeed, time for the heads to go for their assigned duties.
She then looked at Malfoy, and nodded.
"I'll just pack my stuff" she told him.
He nodded.
Only when she had packed away her textbooks, did she realise that Malfoy was waiting for her.
He was actually waiting for her to finish packing, did he want to go out together?
She groaned at how it came out.
Going out together?
Ugh, she needed to get herself together.
As she turned to him, he was standing there, seemingly lost in thoughts and she took that time to observe him properly.
He was clad in his usual impeccable black robes, his hair disheveled with some of the blonde strands falling on his forehead. His hands were shoved into his pockets and his posture was straight. Her gaze trailed up his chest, Merlin he was fit, and a pale neck peeking out from beneath the robes had her swallowing harshly. She eyed his sharp jawline, his lips twitched in a smirk and-
Hang on..
Merlins pants!!
She flushed when she met his eyes, eyeing her with smugness. Oh Merlin, how embarrassing this was!
"This is the second time I've caught you checking me out Granger, I'm quite flattered", he teased with that sinful smirk directed to her, making her knees buckle.
Oh Merlin, what was wrong with her?
"I wasn't staring at you Malfoy", she defensed stubbornly crossing her arms across her chest. As he raised one blonde eyebrow, she hastily added, "I was merely...observing."
He looked even more amused, and Hermione could practically feel that ego of his swelling. She rolled her eyes.
"Of course, did I pass your observation, Granger?"
Oh you so did.
"You...passed"
Huge.Understatement.
He smirked, before placing a hand over his heart in mock hurt.
"You wound me, Granger"
Were they actually flirting?
Hermione couldn't help the laugh that escaped her and she let the sound out, shaking her head at Malfoy but the playful air soon dissipated.
Hermione felt the atmosphere aggravate when he looked at her, directly in her eyes. His grey eyes held so much intensity she felt her breathing stop. Being unable to look away from his soul stripping stare, she stared back at his almost silver irises. They were like storm clouds, beautiful and dangerous at the same time.
He was there, in front of her, with only a desk in between them. She was aware of the thunders rumbling outside, she was aware of the sound of the wind. She was aware of the starting rain just like she was aware of her racing heart beat. His eyes never left her and she didn't drop the stare. The air now thick with brewing tension, and Hermione was finding it difficult to breathe. His gaze on hers, it was so...intense, so dangerous yet so exhillrating. It felt like he was trying to take in all of her, all with that searing gaze of his. She had no idea what on the earth had happened so suddenly, for the intensity to grow between them but it was so real and thrilling, Hermione didn't want it to fade. But it did, much to her dismay.
"Granger", he drawled still looking at her but not with the previous intensity. His gaze now was remorseful and she understood what he was going to say.
"I know I should've done this a long, long time ago. But I couldn't gather enough courage to actually gather the words.", he started and Hermione nodded slightly, a hint prompting him to go ahead. " My behavior in the past was deplorable, and I understand if you don't want to accept my attempt at apology, but Granger I need to apologise to you, because I've been so fucking snide with you. I've treated you like shit when you deserved all the respect in the world. My eleven yeared self was too blind to see beyond the beliefs my father installed in me since my birth. I was taught that muggleborns were like the mud stuck to our shoes, I believed muggles to be some kind of animals who deserved the most filthy of places in the world. Actuated by my want to please my father, I never missed a chance to insult you, to look down upon you calling you a m-, calling you impure when you were the purest of us all."
Hermione was shocked at his words, she didn't expect him to be this thorough in his apology and she definitely didn't miss the fact that he couldn't utter the deregatory term he had often used in the past to remind her of her dirty muggle blood.
"Malfoy-"
"Let me finish, please Granger, just...just let me say all of it", he said looking into the depth of her honey irises and she nodded as he continued,
"I didn't know that what my father taught me was rubbish when I was eleven but I still continued to convince myself that my fathet was right even when I was perfectly capable of thinking myself, of making my own conclusions. But of course I didn't, I managed to convince myself with the blood purity trash everytime you beat me in classes, everytime you proved your brilliance. I could have removed the blindfold but I insisted on keeping it on, I never let myself even think that my father might be wrong. I practically idolised my father, I wanted to become like him, I wanted that influence he had among the pureblood men, I wanted that power, I was blinded by my father too much to see the truth right in front of me. I was fascinated with his talks of the time when the dark lord was in power. He told me how powerful the death eaters were, he told me that the world where the dark lord ruled was the best. I knew that was all utter bollocks when the snake invaded our manor. It was terrifying, knowing he was resting in one of the rooms, and not knowing when he would finally have enough of us and decide to end it. My father was terrified, I knew it,I had never seen him so spooked. I realised that whatever my father taught was loads of shit when I had to watch people die in front of my eyes. He always tortured, he didn't show ounce of mercy, he was a sick sadistic bastard and I could never imagine living in a world ruled by him, but it was too late. I couldn't back away or run, I had to sit there and see my mother break under the horrifying atmosphere in the manor, I had to see the man I had idolised all my life bow down to the half blood snake invading our home.
You don't know how relieved I was when I realised Potter wasn't dead, I actually cried out of relief when the maniac was finally dead"
Hermione could feel terror creeping up on her. Everyone looked at Draco as a death eater who had tried to assasinate Dumbledore but he was so much more than that. She couldn't imagine how it was to share living quarters with Voldemort, she couldn't imagine the terror he had to face. She always knew he wasn't evil, he was just a misguided boy, blinded by the beliefs installed in him from his childhood. It was then, she realised that she never hated him. Disliked maybe, but hate was a strong emotion, she didn't hate him for his behavior towards her.
She was utterly surprised by the fact that he was telling all this to her, his words were so deeply felt, it was like his soul was speaking to her, it felt intimate, the amount of emotions he put in felt intimate .
"Im sorry for treating you the way I did. Im ashamed of my actions, Im repulsed by myself, Granger. It would mean so much to dme if you accepted my apology, I mean everything Granger, I present you my sincerest apology to you and I hope someday you will be able to look at me without any resentment or hesitation.", he finished and he sounded so vulnerable that Hermiones heart broke for him. She wanted to hug him but she knew she couldn't . They were barely friends, they had barely started being acquaintances.
"Malfoy, I don't resent you, hate...it is a strong word. I may have disliked you but trust me, I never hated you. And I forgive you, I have a long time ago. Im not the one to hold grudges. Grudges are for those who insist that they are owed something, forgiveness however, is for those who are substantial enough to move on. The war is over, we've all survived the horror of war, and now I'm willing to move on, fix old mistakes and make fresh starts. We both have scars to remind us that our past is real, we both have demons to remind us that we've acted a certain way but the fact that we've overcome it matters. You may have not done the best of things but I forgive you because you are willing to redeem yourself and that's the only thing that matters", she finished while watching him.
For once, she was able to read his face. He was grateful at her, he was entranced by her forgiveness and that had caused him to drop his walls momentarily.
He gave her a nod, the one that held gratitude and spoke,
"Thank you"
It was so sincere that Hermione forgot to breath for a while, but then she recovered ad gave him a small smile which he reciprocated hesitantly.
It felt as if the rain drops were waiting on them to resolve their past, and the rain that poured down was the renaissance of them.
Of Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger being capable to inisuate a relationship that was not of hate.
Heres an update. I am aiming for weekly updates, I hope I will manage another chapter nevxt Saturday. Please note that all the mistakes are my own and I donot own the wizarding world. Hope you liked this chapter, Please leave a review down there.
Xx
grangerandmalfoy