For whatever reason, Hermione had expected things to change between her and Draco after their confrontation in the Hospital Wing. It was a few days later when Draco was released, except he went back to his old ways of just ignoring Hermione and being rude to her in public. Though there was a part of Hermione believed he was just doing that to keep up appearances, since his words lacked the usual malice that they generally had when directed towards her. It gave Hermione hope that there was a change between them, and that things just wouldn't go back to the same old routine.
True to her word, Hermione continued to try and help him, with her efforts consisting of tracking him down to the Room of Requirement as he continued to mend the Vanishing Cabinet. Sometimes they wouldn't talk at all, and Hermione would just stand there and watched as he repaired it. Despite knowing that Draco was one of the more brilliant students, it was still amazing to see him persevere and get closer to repairing it. There were even a few instances when Hermione would offer words of advice, though she didn't know why since she was essentially helping Draco give a gateway for the Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts.
It was hard for Hermione to see Draco unravel, because the closer he got to completing his task, the more nervous he became. Although Draco tried his best to appear as though he wasn't bothered, Hermione could see him crumbling under the pressure. Sometimes he'd even let her comfort him when he showed brief moments of weakness, though his walls always went straight back up and he acted like nothing happened. Finally, the Vanishing Cabinet was repaired, and Hermione knew what would follow.
"It's done," Draco declared once he made the last finishing touch.
"You actually did it," Hermione murmured. "I have to hand it to you, Draco, this is pretty damn brilliant. Using your skills like this… I can barely believe it."
Draco snorted, "Yeah, using my skills to let a bunch of murderers into a school is so brilliant."
Hermione grimaced, "Oh, sorry. I guess I shouldn't have said that. I don't suppose it's not too late to just call off the mission and destroy it now?"
"I'm not destroying it after I put in all this work, Granger. It's the only way for me," Draco stated.
"It didn't have to be," Hermione argued.
"Yeah, will. Here I am. About to let a group of murderers into a school so I can kill my Headmaster. Great," Draco drawled.
Hermione sighed, "Draco… there's something you should know. Dumbledore knows."
"Knows what?" Draco narrowed his eyes.
"That you're trying to kill him," Hermione clarified.
"What? He can't know. If he knows… I'm screwed. How could he even know? Then again, I shouldn't be surprised since the old coot always seems to know everything that goes on around this bloody castle," Draco ranted.
"I'm not sure how he knows, but I guess your attempts haven't exactly been subtle. I did actually tell him about what you were trying to achieve when you first refused to accept my help, but he already knew. He doesn't even seem to care. It's almost like he's resigned himself to dying," Hermione explained.
"So… he wants me to kill him?" Draco stammered.
"I don't think he necessarily wants you to kill him. I told him what you were doing, and Dumbledore said that there were other matters at work in this situation. I have no idea what that means, since Dumbledore always tends to speak in riddles, but perhaps there is a way for you to get out of it. I don't think that Dumbledore is the type to just let a student murder him, or anyone for that matter," Hermione said.
"It's going to happen regardless of what I want. The Dark Lord knows that I'm almost done, and all I have to do is give the signal and that's it," Draco sighed.
"Just do whatever you can to not do it. If there is any way for you to get out of it, please do it. I don't want you to become a murderer. You don't deserve that," Hermione pleaded.
"I still don't understand why you care so much for me," Draco muttered.
"Because I do. I'm able to look past the person that you portray and see who you really can be on the inside. I know that you don't believe it, but I truly believe that there is good inside of you," Hermione proclaimed.
"That's probably the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me," Draco remarked.
"Really?" Hermione said. "Aren't you used to people like Pansy Parkinson just telling you how gorgeous you are and how great you are? Isn't that one of the perks of being the self-proclaimed Slytherin Prince?"
"You overestimate my ego, Granger," Draco drawled. "And yeah, I'm used to people talking about my looks but that's just it. Nobody really has anything else to say about me because let's face it, I don't exactly have a winning personality. I've never actually had someone tell me that I'm a good person."
"And it means a lot to you," Hermione smiled.
"I still can't understand why you would think that about me, but I do appreciate it. If you can see that about me, then I guess there's gotta be some kind of good inside of me," Draco said.
"There is, I know it. You've just proven it, too. Because if there wasn't, you wouldn't need convincing to not want to murder Dumbledore. You don't want to do that on your own," Hermione insisted.
"You're going to think differently of me when I do kill him," Draco argued.
"I won't, because I know you don't want to. You just have to hope that somehow, you'll be able to get out of this mess," Hermione said.
"I don't know if I can," Draco admitted.
"You will," Hermione protested.
"I just… Thank, you Granger. I can't believe that I'm saying this but having you in my corner has almost made this easier. I actually appreciate it now more than I thought I would," Draco confessed.
Hermione smiled, "I'm glad. You need a friend, and I know that it means a lot for you to trust me like this."
"We'll see if you still feel that way after I kill Dumbledore," Draco muttered.
Despite wanting to protest against it, Hermione knew that there really wasn't that much she could say to make Draco feel better. He was going to have to kill Dumbledore, and Hermione was just hoping that by the grace of Merlin, Draco was spared of having to become a murderer. It wasn't what he deserved. He deserved better.
But just knowing what was around the corner, Hermione was secretly terrified. She didn't know what this would mean for them, but she just hoped that there would be hope in the end.
~*•°•*~
Everything that happened after Draco fixed the Vanishing Cabinet was almost like a blur for Hermione. Within a few days, everything had changed. Dumbledore was dead, and Draco was gone. Words couldn't describe the relief that Hermione felt when Harry said that Draco had lowered his wand and that Snape had been the one to kill Dumbledore instead. Of course Hermione still felt bad about Dumbledore's death because she knew how it had affected Harry, but there was still a little part of her that resented him because he hadn't actively done anything to stop Draco's mission.
Knowing that her plan was to help Harry with his Horcrux hunt, Hermione wondered when she would be able to hear from Draco again. Not knowing what he was up to or what he was going through unnerved Hermione, and she hated to think about what he could be going through at the hands of Voldemort. But Hermione had other things to worry about as well, like having to leave her parents and erase their memories. It made Hermione miss having Draco to talk to with their dairies, since she could certainly use someone to talk to right now.
Hermione's hopes were answered when only a few days before she was set to leave to join Harry and obliviate her parents, there was a strange delivery to her house. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione had spotted an owl tapping on her bedroom window. It wasn't any owl that she had seen before, so Hermione was careful in opening the window and examining the package that came with it. There was a strange type of small chest and a note attached to it, but Hermione's breath hitched when she recognised the writing on the note.
Granger,
You should probably know that the location of your home is now knowledge to the Death Eaters, so I would recommend that you take some steps to protect anyone that you need to. I know it's been months since you've heard from me and you've probably spent them agonising over what's been happening with me, so I figured that you could use a catchup. It's been hell, that's all I can say. I'm sure that you've probably guessed that I'm stuck at Malfoy Manor, which is now basically the de facto head base for the Death Eaters and to make it even better, Moldy Voldy is taking up residence here too.
I'm sure that you know what happened that night on the Astronomy Tower thanks to Potter, though I'm not sure how he would've told you the story. All you need to know is that I didn't want to kill Dumbledore, and I had almost considered accepting his offer for help before Snape showed up and offed him instead. It's not the first death that I've seen, but that doesn't make seeing it any easier. I might not have liked or respected the man at all, but I still didn't want to have to kill Dumbledore.
I've been driving myself mad over here, and I just knew that I needed to find a way to talk to you to save me from going completely mental. So I managed to find this box, which basically has the same powers as the Vanishing Cabinet given the fact it can allow us to send messages back and forth, with myself having a twin as well. It's far too risky to use owl mail, since the owls are being intercepted and messages tampered with even more now. I was only able to get away with this because it's not a registered owl.
Given the state of everything at the moment, I don't know what you plan to do as far as school is concerned. You're probably better off not going at all, since you would be a target for the new staff that are about to be given their jobs, and they're sure to be Death Eaters. I'm sure that Potter isn't dumb enough to return either, so you're better off sticking with him. I know that this isn't something I haven't told you, but I do care for you in some unique way so please, try your best not to get killed like a suicidal Gryffindor.
Take care,
Draco.
Words couldn't describe how much this letter had meant to Hermione, despite the direness of its contents. It brought a smile to her face to know that Draco was still thinking of her, and that in some way, he did care for her. That was all she needed to here. And to now be able to communicate with him after being unsure if she would ever hear from him again was just an added bonus. These months away from Draco had only intensified Hermione's feelings as she longed to see him, and hoped that he was alright. And the fact that he was able to acknowledge some kind of care for her had to mean something too.
Thanks to this box, Hermione knew that she wouldn't be alone no matter what happened. It was just a relief to know that she would still have him to talk to, though Hermione suspected that it meant more to him than it did to her. Hermione would at least have Harry and Ron for company, while all Draco would have is a house full of Death Eaters. With the uncertainty of the future still on her mind, Hermione just had to hope that when she would see Draco again, he wouldn't be completely ruined by the war. She hoped that they'd both be able to survive the war so that maybe, just maybe, there would be a chance for something more.
If not, Hermione was perfectly content with being Draco's confident if it meant getting him through these dark hours when he was for sure to need her, just like how she was going to need him.
This chapter was more of a shorter one compared to the usual chapters, and it's probably the one that I'm the most iffy about just because of how the plot went along. Anyways, they'll be back to their communicating through letters routine now that they'll be miles apart, so things are back to the beginning for our favourite couple.
