Farewell to the Present:
1998…
Hermione automatically took a step back as Draco moved closer to her, but then her own stubborn pride halted her feet, since she had vowed a long time ago that she would die before she ever showed any sort fear or obeisance to a Malfoy.
She looked up at him as he invaded her personal space bubble, a frisson of alarm shooting through her at the heated look in his metallic eyes. What does he think he's doing?
Draco's heart was tripping just a little faster in his chest at what he was about to do. Nonetheless, he was pleased with his own daring. "Fine," he admitted. "Your points are valid. I'll stay here. But I want you to know that there is something left for you in this reality."
Hermione's breath caught at the intense look in his eyes and the sincerity in his smooth voice. Despite her vow to do otherwise, she shifted backward half a fraction. Where is he going with this? "And what is that?"
"Me," Draco said confidently, sidling a fraction closer. He cupped her shoulders in his hands gently to emphasize his next words. (And to help ensure she didn't bolt.) "Aside from Potter, the Weaslette, the rest of the Weasels, and assorted other hangers-on, who I know all adore you, I would miss you too, believe it or not." Draco's mouth quirked up ruefully. "Someone has to keep me in my place."
Despite not being entirely comfortable with his touch, Hermione laughed a little. "That is very true. You do tend to get a swelled head if I don't keep reminding you that the world doesn't begin and end with your exalted presence."
Draco barked out a laugh, his hands squeezing fondly on her shoulders. "And that's exactly my point. You're the only one who cares enough to make sure I can still fit through the doorways."
"I think that's more like pissed off annoyance than caring," Harry pointed out, making Ginny snort and Luna laugh like a little bell.
Draco ignored the unhelpful Gryffindor git behind him and moved one arm down to her waist to pull Hermione closer to him, the other hand moving up to bury in that sweet mass of curls that he'd been wanting to touch ever since he'd first seen them.
Hermione gasped at the move, and almost jerked right back out of his hold, but then his next words stilled her and made her think.
As he stared down into her startled doe eyes, Draco murmured, "You're the only witch in this whole school who is my equal and I hope you would consider going out with me when you get back."
Did he just call me his equal? And ask me out? Has the world turned upside down? "Uhhhhhhhhhh. I don't…"
Draco cut off whatever protest she might have made by bending and giving her the best soft and sweet kiss his years of practice had to offer; just the right amount of pressure with the perfect angle and the perfect amount of caressing movement. He ignored Potter's loudly exclaimed, "Oi!" as he finished off with the barest hint of tongue whispering over her luscious bottom lip. I should have done this years ago. Her mouth is the perfect pillow for mine.
"If that isn't a good enough reason to come back and give me a chance to show you I'm not completely beyond hope," he whispered huskily in her ear, making her shiver slightly. "…then I don't know what is."
And then he let her go and watched her anxiously as she stared at him huge eyes and a hand that came up to cover her mouth, waiting for her verdict.
Hermione was stunned. Literally stunned. A petrificus totalus could not have immobilized her any better. But her buzzing mind was anything but frozen.
Draco Malfoy just kissed me.
Draco. Freaking. Malfoy. Kissed. Me.
A 'Mudblood'.
The world really has flipped on its head.
Merlin.
And he was really good at it too. Probably the best kiss I've ever had, actually. And look how hopeful he looks. Oh god, I don't want to break his heart on top of everything else he's gone through today, but I don't think I could ever love him. He's really just not my type.
If silver isn't your type, what is? her conscience asked. Ginger? Did you actually love Ron?
I... Don't know. Maybe not. As my friend and brother, yes, for sure. But as a lifelong romantic partner… probably not. The thought made her wince mentally, since she would have ended up with a messy breakup at some point if he had survived the battle. And that might have ruined their friendship, which would have been a crying shame.
She pushed that painful reminder of his death away and focused on the question her conscience had raised.
So if my type isn't pale and polished, nor bright and brash, what does that leave?
Maybe someone... dark and dangerous?
Like Victor Krum? He was pretty hot.
But Draco kissed better than him by a mile, her hormones piped up with, reminding her why her relationship with Victor had never been seriously pursued.
True, and smarter would be nice too. Victor and I had absolutely nothing in common.
What about someone like Professor Snape? the little devil on her shoulder suggested with a smirk and a wink.
What?! Hell no!
But then she remembered his beautiful, bottomless black eyes, and that incredible deep voice, and his aura of dangerous power, and his high level of intelligence, and his lean height that made her feel like a pixie in comparison, and she had to rethink her automatic reaction of, 'never in a million years.'
Okay, well, maybe.
But the Professor was too old. Maybe someone like Snape, but younger.
Her conscience snorted in amusement. So you've just narrowed your dream man down to tall, dark, extremely powerful, relatively good looking, under the age of twenty-five, and a certified genius. Good luck finding one of those. Maybe you should give Draco a chance. He's smart enough, tall enough, powerful enough, definitely young enough, and surely you can talk yourself into thinking pale and pointy is sexy?
Hermione let her gaze roam over the face of the young man in question, really looking at him for the first time in who knows how long, registering that he'd actually grown up and changed rather drastically in the last six years. She had to admit to herself that Draco Malfoy was better than good looking now, but her stomach didn't flutter at the realization. Nor did her heartbeat pick up.
No matter what his attitude is now, nor how pretty he is, I don't think I'll ever be able to fall in love with him. And that's just not fair to him.
…I can't believe I just thought something in regards to being fair to a Malfoy.
Oh Merlin, I'm going barmy.
Right. Enough of this inner monologue. Just let the boy down easy and get out of here. You have history to rewrite.
And a younger Snape to save… her hormones suggested naughtily.
Hermione blinked.
Say what?
Younger Snape. Say it with me. Youunnnnngggggerrrr Snaaaapppppe. Simple, right?
Uhhhhhhhhhh… I don't think three years is going to make that much of a difference.
It might. You never know.
She mentally rolled her eyes at her hormones. Not to him. He wouldn't touch someone who looks like a student with a hundred foot pole.
We'll see. Now, get rid of blondie.
Draco wondered if he should kiss her again, since she hadn't budged for at least a minute and seemed to be staring at him in surprise, and possibly wonder, without a single hint of disgust. Much better than I hoped. She didn't punch me again, so my day is already looking up.
But then Hermione shook her head slightly before giving him a gentle smile. "Thank you, Draco, for reminding me that I haven't lost everything. I will consider your offer while I'm wandering around in the past."
Draco beamed. Yes! That wasn't a no! What an idiot I was to push her away all these years. I knew I should have asked her to dance at the Yule Ball. I'm sure I could have talked Father around to the idea of her eventually, especially if it came from Mother.
…Mother.
Fuck. I hope Hermione's mission is successful so I get my Mum back.
His bubble of happiness was officially broken at the thought, and only worsened when he was smacked upside the back of his head.
Draco whirled around, glaring at the culprit. "What the hell was that for, Potter?"
Potter glared back, his green eyes sparking dangerously. "Keep your hands and mouth to yourself until I hear otherwise from Hermione, got it?"
He sneered. "Whatever, Potter. She wasn't exactly protesting, if you didn't notice."
Potter sneered back and shuddered exaggeratedly. "I'd rather not think about it again, thank you very much."
Draco wished her could turn the apparently immortal boy into a toad, but he didn't think that would go over well with the beautiful witch he was trying to impress, so he refrained himself with the consolation that Hermione would be his girlfriend after all of this and Harry Potter would have to live with that.
Hermione exchanged exasperated looks with Ginny and Luna as the redhead mouthed 'boys'.
'I know, right?' she mouthed back. Do they always have to act like Neanderthals?
"Enough!" she said sternly to the two boys who looked like they'd stand in a glare off until the end of time if she let them, She pushed Draco out of the closet as Ginny pulled Harry out by the back of his jacket. "Your assignment while I'm gone is for the two of you to make at least a half-arsed effort at pretending to be civil to each other so that it's not so hard to do when I'm back, got it?!"
Harry huffed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mum."
Draco gave her an almost sincere looking smile of apology. "If that's what you want."
"It is," she stated firmly, pushing Draco back one more step until she was satisfied that everyone was out of range of the time-turner. "Now that we have that sorted, you five wait here and don't move no matter what you see. If I disappear, it obviously worked. If, for some reason, you're still standing there a minute afterwards and you can remember why, go to the stairs by the Headmaster's office and I'll meet you there. If I never leave or do come right back to this spot, well... we know it doesn't work." She left unsaid that her failure would mean that they'd have to live with their current reality, but she knew everyone was thinking it by their grim expressions. "Okay?"
Her friends nodded, if a little reluctantly.
"Okay," Draco said softly. "I don't like it, but okay."
She smiled at him warmly. Funny enough, I think Draco could actually be one of my friends too, even if I never go out with him.
"All right, Mione, but I still don't like that you're going on your own," Harry protested, reaching for her beseechingly with one hand.
She stepped forward to hug her best friend quickly before pulling back from his strong grip that didn't want to let her go. "I'll be fine, Harry. Promise. I know exactly what happened when and I already have a plan."
"What is it?" literally everyone asked at once, causing a few blinks of surprise as they glanced at each other.
She smiled at them with genuine amusement. "I'm going to take Dumbledore to the Little Hangleton graveyard before the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament takes place. He should have no problem dealing with Wormtail and a tiny, weak, Voldemort. I could probably do it all on my own, but I don't want to take any chances."
Harry's face split into a wide smile. "That's brilliant, Hermione!"
"A very good plan," Draco added, making sure she knew he approved as well. "It should work."
"It will work," Hermione said confidently.
Ginny rushed forward and hugged her hard. "Good luck. I'll see you by Dumbledore's office in a bit, right?"
She hugged the younger girl back, comforted by the familiar. Even though they didn't actually hug all that often, she was still like a sister to her. "Thanks, Gin. And yes, you will."
Hermione pulled away and walked back to the huge, enchanted hourglass. After giving her friends one last look of farewell, she grabbed the big knob on the side of the outermost circle and turned it a twelfth of a turn, which should take her back half an hour if this one worked the same as the one she'd used for nearly a year. (Adding almost half a year to her age over the course of it.) She wanted to do a short experiment before going back nearly three years to the June 24th, 1995, to make sure that she had the calculations correct.
The room blurred around her and the closet door closed itself.
Hermione breathed through the temporary feeling of vertigo. She was mildly surprised to find herself a few feet from where she started, but then noticed that the time-turner had returned to the corner and its hidden shape as a phoenix stand. I suppose that makes sense, since I just went backward in time.
Curious as to how far exactly, she walked over to the exit. Not seeing an obvious knob or trigger to open it, she used her wand to open the door, grateful that it didn't take any dramatics to do so. She then made for the exit to the hallway. As she arrived, she heard voices on the other side.
"As the Godson, I'm guessing you can get us in," she heard her own muffled voice say.
"Of course," Draco's equally muffled voice answered.
Perfect. Or at least close enough. Surely it's been about half an hour that we've been in here. Hermione quickly made her way back to the closet before her past self and entourage entered the office. She closed the door behind her with a wave of her wand and then turned to the magical device again, casting another spell to turn the stand back into a very big hourglass.
Time to use all that arithmancy training. How many turns is it going to take to go back one thousand and forty-three days?
Simple answer; way too many. Real answer; four thousand, one hundred and seventy-two.
Still way too many.
Thank Merlin for magic wands.
As Hermione pointed her wand at the knob to make it spin faster than her eyes could follow, she thought, Okay, time-turner, take me back to a time with a younger Snape, a still alive Dumbledore, and a Malfoy who doesn't want to date me.
Just as the bookshelf door was beginning to creak open again by a sort of past Draco, Hermione disappeared once more.
And because she'd just changed everything by going backwards in time, the closet door slammed shut again, all of Dumbledore's things vanished from the small room, and the state and location of every person (alive or dead) on the castle grounds changed instantly. (In some cases, even radically.)
Hermione's mission was undoubtedly a success, but it is yet to be seen just how it became so and what the end results would be.
A/N: And that's it for the first book! The sequel that continues this tale exclusively in the past and is definitely a Sevmione story has been started! :D
