It's time for the bonus chapters now! I've got four of these planned and then that will conclude the end of this story. Now I'm trying to decide which dramione plot to go with next since I have so many other ideas lined up, lol.
In the aftermath of the war, Hermione certainly had a lot on her mind. Though her most pressing matter had been her mission to keep Draco away from Azkaban. As he predicted, Draco quickly took up residence in the dark prison, but Hermione wasn't going to let him stay there if she could help it. Hermione had promised that they would be able to be together, and she was going to keep that promise. Draco would be facing his trial in the second last week of August, and Hermione had been working tirelessly to secure him a victory.
It had been hard for Hermione to be a part from Draco after they had finally reaffirmed their relationship, only for them to be separated once again. The only saving grace was that Hermione had been allowed to write to him, though she had been unable to see him since his arrest. There were now more people who knew about her relationship with Draco, though that number was still small. Ron was one of those people who now knew, and his reaction had been somewhat better than what Hermione had anticipated. Granted, he had still been pretty ticked off and was still currently giving Hermione the silent treatment. She'd deal with Ron later, since right now her mind was with Draco.
They only got to write to each other once every few weeks, so Hermione cherished every letter she got and every letter she sent. Though as much as Hermione knew that she was missing Draco, she knew that it had to be worse for him. At least she had her own freedom while he was still locked up in Azkaban as he awaited his trial. It still brought a smile to her face to get another one of his letters, just like hers would brighten his day.
Hermione,
Don't feel bad about not being able to get me out of Azkaban before my trial. I knew that the chances of organising some deal were slim, I just didn't want to say anything to you because I know how determined you can be. I'd tell you more about what's happening with me, but pretty much nothing has changed. It's still the same old routine. I'm still counting down the hours and the minutes to my trial, and for when I get to see you again. You'd think that without the presence of dementors that Azkaban would be more bearable, but it's still pretty damn miserable.
So, how are things going on your end? Is Weasel still being a damn shithead at the fact that I snatched you up before he could? Weasley should quit being a bitter ass, cause it's not like any relationship between you two would've turned out well. I know that, you know that and pretty much everyone else knows that too. I'm surprised that Potter even stood up for you.
You mentioned that McGonagall was giving out invitations to repeat our seventh year? Well, I'll probably end up doing that since I fucked up both my sixth and seventh year. Though that's if I can even avoid an Azkaban sentence. Mother has also been writing to me since her trial finished. I suppose I owe Potter a thank you for getting the panel to spare her a sentence. It was the least he could do since she did save his sorry arse, after all. My father probably won't be as lucky as mother, but I could honestly live with that. I just want to get out of here so I can go see her, and you, of course. You're optimism is starting to rub off on me, Granger, but that's mostly because I have to have some if I'm gonna make it out of here with some sanity left.
If anything, having to put up with these other Death Eaters and prisoners is what's driving me mad. I haven't exactly got the best reputation out here (for obvious reasons) and it just makes me even more determined to get out of this hellhole. But I guess it makes me wonder about how things are going to be when I get out of here cause I doubt that most people will be thrilled if I can avoid Azkaban. The public was hardly thrilled that my mother was spared even though she was the reason why Potter was even able to defeat the Dark Lord. Anyways, I guess I'm running out of stuff to say so I should end this letter here.
Counting down the days until I'm out of this hellhole,
Draco.
Even though Draco never really said how much he was struggling, Hermione knew that he wasn't coping well with Azkaban. It only made her that much more determined to get him out of there. Draco still owed her that date he'd promised, and Hermione certainly wasn't going to be having a candlelight dinner in an Azkaban cell. Hermione knew that her telling him about what she was up to provided Draco with a great deal of comfort in that lonely prison, so she always tried her best to give him that.
Draco,
I am sorry that your situation is not getting any better. I tried to argue with Kingsley, but he was insistent that no Death Eaters deserved special treatment despite your connection to me. So that means Kingsley also knows about us now, though I'm surprised that I was able to keep it from him for this long. I'm still working tirelessly on your case, but I also have my own mission to focus on. I've been splitting my time between your trial and trying to find a way to restore my parents memories. I have someone watching over them in Australia, and I am anxiously waiting for the day I can track them down myself and restore their memories. There is nothing more that I want than to have my parents back. Next to that would be you getting out of Azkaban, of course.
Speaking of Kingsley, he had already offered Harry, Ron and myself positions as Aurors. Anyone who fought in the Battle of Hogwarts has been granted automatic admission to training, and while Harry and Ron have jumped at the chance, I'm not too sure about that. For Merlin's sake, we spent nearly our entire adolescence fighting Dark Magic so to be honest, I've almost had enough of that. If anything, I just want to be able to have a normal schooling experience. That, and I want to feel truly qualified for any jobs I get. The last thing that I want is to just be given something simply because of the part I played in the war. That is what's making me want to return to Hogwarts to complete my seventh year, since it would be nice to have a normal year for once.
As for you, if the trial is successful, I think you will have to repeat your seventh year anyways as part of your probation. I'm trying to argue that you deserve a chance to prove yourself and that you never really had a choice in what you were forced to do by Voldemort. I'm also glad that you now have your mother for comfort, and there was no way that Harry could not speak out in support of Narcissa after what she did for him, regardless of her intentions. I also gave a little statement, but I think it was Harry's words that truly got through to the panel so I suppose you do owe him a big thank you for that. In regards to your father, I truly don't see what could be done to help him. The only thing that works in his favour is that he did defect in the final battle, even though it was only a last minute decision. If it's any source of comfort, any sentence that he'd get would probably be one of the more lenient ones.
There isn't really much to say about what else is going on in my life, really. Ron is still giving me the silent treatment, but Harry said that he'll come around. He just needs to get over me first. You'd be even more surprised about what Harry has done. You should know that he did somewhat defend you after Dumbledore's death by saying that he didn't think you would have killed him. I think Harry is growing up past the point of letting petty rivalries like yours have such an impact on him. The war has changed all of us, but especially Harry. Perhaps you two could even be civil towards each other one day? Ron will probably always be difficult, but I think he will eventually accept it. After all, their opinions are the only ones that really matter to me. I could hardly give a damn about what the rest of the wizarding world thinks. I've just survived a war, so surely I deserve happiness even if it's not with the most ideal person, with that person being you.
Missing you,
Hermione
~*•°•*~
Finally, after everything they had to overcome, Draco and Hermione could finally be together. Despite the nerves that had come with Draco's trial, he had been spared the fate of an extended stay in Azkaban, albeit with a few conditions. Firstly, he was required to return to Hogwarts to complete his seventh year and then his magic would be monitored for several years. It might've been frustrating, but anything was better than Azkaban.
So that was how Hermione and Draco found themselves sitting together in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, both of them returning to complete their seventh year. Most people now knew about their relationship, and they were both quite content to let everyone figure it out on their own without making some big spectacle about it.
"What do you think this year will be like?" Draco wondered.
"Hopefully as uneventful as possible," Hermione deadpanned.
Draco snickered, "And to think I didn't think you had a sense of humour, Granger."
Hermione fake-gasped, "Oh, how you wound me with such malice."
Draco sighed, "Everything is going to be different, though."
"It will," Hermione nodded. "I just realised that for the first time since I entered the Wizarding World, I'm going to be doing something without Harry and Ron. It feels strange."
"Hey, I'd be glad to be rid of Potter and Weasley. And at least now they won't be nagging you to do their homework for them," Draco remarked.
"Oh, come on, Draco. Surely you can admit that Harry isn't all that bad. He helped spare you from an Azkaban sentence too after he'd already saved your life," Hermione argued.
"I will never say anything nice about Potter. Surely you must realise that? And Weasley will always be a wanker," Draco insisted.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "I guess some things will never change. But what will change about this year is that we won't have to resort to using enchanted books or special boxes to communicate. If I want to talk to you, I can happily approach you wherever I want."
"You know, I always did wonder about how those books worked. I just never really cared that much to investigate it myself," Draco commented.
It was then that Hermione remembered how she hadn't even told Draco about the secrecy of their books. It's not like she had intentionally kept it from him, it was just never something that she thought needed to come up. But now that he was mentioning it, Hermione figured that he had every right to know about how the books worked. After all, they wouldn't have even gotten together if it weren't for those books.
"Well, I was curious enough to investigate it myself," Hermione stated.
"And what did you find?" Draco asked.
"A huge sense of irony," Hermione remarked.
"How is it ironic?" Draco questioned.
Hermione chuckled, "It turns out, those books that were on sale at Scribbulus Writing Implements were a part of a rare set that had been lost to history. I did some snooping around, and it turned out that the four founders of Hogwarts each had their own enchanted set of books. The magic used to create them was so incredibly old and ancient that nobody alive today even knows how they work. There's only a few of those books left in existence."
Draco actually looked quite intrigued by that, "Now that is certainly interesting. I guess I do remember seeing a yellow and blue book in the set as well. I just thought that it was some design on them, but now that you mention it I can see how they relate to the Hogwarts Houses. Though how these books managed to end up in our hands is quite amazing. Out of everyone in the world, it was us who came across them."
"That's what I find ironic about it," Hermione commented. "Our books were made by Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin and it is ironic that we would find those books that would bring us together considering the history between our houses and those two founders."
"I wonder what happened to the other two books then," Draco wondered.
"Well, Mundungus Fletcher actually became useful for once when he gave us some information during our time at Grimmauld Place. I had previously asked him if he knew anything about the books, and it turned out that he had gone to find them himself. He was going to pawn them to make himself rich, and I wasn't going to let those books fall into the wrong hands, so I took them and obliviated that memory from his mind," Hermione explained.
"Damn, Granger. That was almost… Slytherin of you," Draco smirked.
"And I'm assuming that you find that attractive?" Hermione remarked.
"Of course I do. But then I have to ask, where are the books now?" Draco asked.
"They're stowed away somewhere at Grimmauld Place with the rest of my stuff. It's Harry's now, so I know he'll take good care of them," Hermione replied.
"There is something seriously wrong about Potter owning a Black family house," Draco grumbled.
"Hey, it was left to Harry in Sirius' will so Harry has every right to have it," Hermione argued.
"Why would he even want it? My mother told me about my Great Aunt Walburga's portrait and that she was as you would say, horrid," Draco remarked.
"Oh, Walburga's portrait is certainly horrid. But Harry can do whatever he wants with it now. After all, it's not like you and your mother even want the house," Hermione reasoned.
"True, but it's still ironic that Potter of all people would end up owning a notorious Black family house," Draco stated.
"Well, he can create some new memories there just like we can create some new memories at Hogwarts. I look forward to doing that," Hermione smiled.
"You wanna know what I look forward to the most?" Draco smirked.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Snogging in a broom closet?"
Draco snorted, "That, and passing notes in class. You know, for old times' sake."
"We never actually passed notes in class, you know," Hermione pointed out. "And you should know that I would never be the type to do that."
"Can't you just live a little, Granger?" Draco remarked.
"We'll see, if you're lucky," Hermione grinned.
And they certainly were lucky, lucky that they even had this chance together now. It was almost hard for Hermione to believe that after all that time she spent waiting, they now had this time. And Hermione was just going to enjoy it for however long it lasted.
And so that begins the first of the bonus updates. I wasn't too sure where I was gonna go with this one after the letters, since those felt too short to post but then I remembered that Hermione never told Draco about how the books worked so I figured that I'd add that in and give them some fun time together. The next three bonus posts will hopefully be coming out shortly.
