A/N: I am so happy for all of the support I have for this story. I am having a rough start to my 2020. I'm pregnant and due in a month, and the house my partner and I have been trying to buy may have fallen through last minute. I'm feeling downtrodden, to say the least, so I figured some writing needed to be done. Thank you all who left reviews. I appreciate them so much!

Chapter 13

The two packed up their belongings and made down the stairs towards the kitchens in a comfortable silence. Draco's second attempt at a Protego was a tad stronger, and that fact had made the blonde excited about trying again after getting some food.

When Hermione had arrived at the library that morning, there'd been some toast and tea waiting for her, thanks to Draco's foresight and the house elves. The witch hadn't forgotten to send a note to the kitchens the day before, stating she wasn't going to be taking meals in the great hall until term started once again, and she hadn't woken up early enough to get to the kitchens before ten, so she'd been grateful for the small fare, but it was now time for a solid meal.

"With their tanks, and their bombs, and their bombs, and their guns, in your head, in your head they are crying," Hermione sang almost silently, so as not to draw Draco's attention.

When the war had ended, Hermione, Harry and Ron had received ample rewards for the work they'd done to bring down Voldemort, all paid for by the seized accounts of well-known and deceased Death Eaters. Hermione wouldn't have to worry about anything for a while, including any further education, or even her dream to be a woods witch. But with it, the young woman had spent a portion of galleons on vinyl records, all of which she'd shrunk and brought with her to school in September, for music had been one of her genuine reprieves from the world; both the one inside and outside of her mind.

The Cranberries' 'No Need to Argue' album had been on the player in her room for over a week until a couple days ago. Now it was The Red Hot Chili Peppers' 'Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik'. She found she liked the funky beats that caused her to dance and bop her head from time to time. She equally liked the slow and sad tracks.

But she couldn't get 'Zombie' out of her head for some reason, and if it wasn't that, it was 'Under The Bridge'.

"What are you singing?" Draco asked her as they reached the bottom of the last set of stairs that lead to the kitchen portrait.

"Eh… A song by a muggle band," she answered, leaving it at that.

"I've noticed you hum and sing a lot," he pointed out, and she shrugged.

"I don't notice," she answered as he tickled the pear and swung open wide the portrait so that they both could enter. She really didn't notice. It just happened.

Draco grabbed his plate and sat at one of the five small tables lined against the wall for just such an occasion that a faculty or staff member preferred to sit in the warm silence of the kitchens. Hermione followed his example and sat across from him, and the two began to eat their meals. Tea service arrived seconds after they settled in, and five minutes passed where neither said a thing. Until Draco said, "So why didn't you go home for break?"

Hermione froze, her four fork points deep in her haggis. Slowly she looked up at him, and he was fixing her with an intent stare. She said, "Because it seemed right."

"It seemed right to stay away from friends and family? I know Potter and Weasley aren't able to leave training, but what about little Weasley? And. Well. I mean… are your parents..?"

"They're alive and well," she offered up. With a deep inhale she explained, "I'd thought of visiting the Weasleys, but Ginny sent me a letter a couple weeks ago saying that Molly was having a hard time with the season… George is too." Draco looked back down at his plate, but gave small, understanding nods. "She said Molly could hardly stop crying, and George had only left his and Fred's room to open the shop. He has a flat above the three Ws, but I guess he kind of moved back into the Burrow a few weeks ago. I didn't feel it right to disturb them, if I'm being honest.

"As far as my parents go… Well. That's a different story altogether. I…" Hermione paused as his eyes snapped back up, remorse evident in the grey pools, and she almost didn't go on. But, for some reason, she felt comfortable enough with Draco now that she decided to speak anyway, even if she was still a little uncomfortable.

"I Obliviated them before Harry, Ron and I went on the run. I gave them new identities and I sent them to Australia to make sure they were safe. When the war ended, I went looking for them. Harry and Ron took two weeks off, then enlisted into the Auror program, so I spent over a month down there by myself. It was a good thing, really. It gave me time to come to terms with all that had happened. But after almost six weeks, it was by some stroke of complete luck that I found them. I was in Melbourne, sitting on the beach, and there they were, walking down the boardwalk one evening, hand in hand and all smiles.

"I… I almost didn't restore their memories," she admitted. She recalled, in her own mind, the memory of seeing them, and how she'd been overcome with joy and excitement. She'd taken a few steps to go to them, but stopped to watch the couple as they looked to be having the best day of their lives. "They looked so content. So… happy.

"Before I left last year, when I told them of what was coming to the world, what Voldemort was bringing to everyone's doorstep, they were so anxious and worried. My last memory of them before leaving them with new memories was how scared they looked. When I saw them on the boardwalk, I knew that that had only been that scared because I was born a witch, and they wouldn't have needed to be so worried if they hadn't had me."

"Hernione-" Draco began to interject, but she cut him off, and he fell silent once more to listen intently.

"I restored their memories. Well. I didn't. McGonagall did. I had tried many times over the few days after finding them, only to have no luck. So I owled McGonagall, and she made a trip down to Melbourne. She restored their memories with the spell I'm learning in the second volume of our Charms text. She'd done it instantly, with such ease, and it was then that I knew I had to learn it, to be proficient in it. I don't know why I had to, but I did. So instead of burdening my parents with my magic and my presence, I decided to stay here and study. They forgave me for what I'd done, but… but…"

"But you haven't forgiven yourself." He finished for her, voice somber. She slowly shook her head at him, and he gave her a wry smile. "If it's any consolation, I understand how that feels."

A/N: You've gotta love heart to heart conversations. There will be more to come, but from Draco. Not his POV, just kind of what he's been doing.