It was later in the day, and Hermione had set to making dinner. She moved her wand quickly, sharply, and almost too much so. She was upset, and Harry could tell. Draco would be waking up soon, and they would face each other for the first time since that fateful night that had killed Ron. Hermione tried to forget it as she finished baking the potatoes. Harry looked over at her. "Draco will be waking up soon. You should make sure he's alright." She looked at him for a minute, analyzing his voice for signs of strain. They'd become so close since living together, but she just couldn't be attracted to him. It was too soon for her to deal with those kinds of feelings for anyone. She had so much to worry about. "Harry, would you get some meat and cheese out?" He nodded and watched her walk out of the room to climb the stairs.
She passed the portrait of Sirius' mother and remembered how she had screamed when Sirius had hidden them here. The insults bounced off her by fifth year but she had never known what real racism was until she'd come into the magic world. Her parents were well-off white dentists and although her primary education had her mixed with people of all cultures, there had been no…she didn't know you could hate people for no reason. She knew about oppression of peoples but she had never been able to imagine how they felt. Now however, she knew how it felt to be labeled, and tormented for something you never had a choice in. Jealousy for her talent fueled the Slytherins' taunts and the fact she had muggle parentage only made it worse.
She finished the climb up the stairs and knocked on the second door on the left. "Remus, dinner's ready." He opened the door and smiled at her. He leant closer to her and whispered. "He's been saying your name in his sleep, you know. I don't want to upset you further Hermione, I just think you need to know. Don't worry. You'll get there in your own time." She nodded, feeling the painful tug on her heartstrings. Not now, she thought. I just want some time to think. Some time alone.
She moved to the third room on the left and opened the door. Draco was sitting up, dressed in black corduroy pants and a dark green v-neck shirt. It was so weird to see him in normal clothes, too bad he hadn't yet been able to rid himself of the characteristic Slytherin green and black. He looked so much softer around the edges, it was very disconcerting. "You're staring, Hermione." She blushed a little and cleared her throat. "Dinner's nearly ready. Do you want some?" Draco nodded, and stood up. "It was odd to see you in mu-, normal clothes at first, too." Hermione looked down at herself, wondering what she had selected to wear this morning. It was a clingy blue long sleeved shirt and soft, dark jeans. She had taken to wearing things that showed off her body a little more since she had accepted her figure. Of course she hadn't even considered that Draco would be showing up otherwise she might have made the attempt to dress more conservatively.
Then again why should she? Remus had told her it was nice to see her dressing more confidently and Harry had agreed. She nodded "I suppose you would be. Anyway, are you coming?" Draco started towards the door. Hermione turned around and began to walk out when she felt something brush her hand. It was Draco, his hand outstretched slightly. Hermione could feel his warm body close behind her and the pulling on her heartstrings again. It hurt her so much she wanted to cry out, but instead she let Draco's hand encircle hers before slipping out of his grip and going quickly down the stairs. Draco followed behind, his heart lifted slightly. She had let him hold her hand. And okay, they were seventeen now and a bit past hand-holding but it was a start. He turned around the corner and saw a painting covered with a red curtain. He peeked behind the curtain and screams rent the air throughout the house. A woman who looked familiar was screaming all kinds of things like his father had. He hastily covered the painting back over but the screaming continued. Remus had come around the corner and put a silencing spell on the painting.
"Sorry, um…" Remus smiled. "Call me Remus, we're all friends here. I expect she looks familiar?" Draco nodded. "I've seen her in pictures with my grandmother, I think." Remus nodded. "This house belonged to Sirius Black. That painting is of his mother. I take it your families were friendly up to a point." Draco shook his head. "Unfortunately." Remus chuckled, "That was exactly how Sirius felt." "Why is she still up?" "We haven't been able to undo the un-stickable sticking charm. We assume she used some kind of dark version of the spell." Draco looked at the painting and muttered a few words. The painting fell down from the wall, Sirius' grandmother landing face down. Remus raised his eyebrows. "We'll see what Harry wants done with that. He owns the house now, by the way." Draco nodded. "I thought so, although I thought it might belong to you." He smiled. "Alas no, but Harry is kind enough to offer me a place to stay while Hermione spends any extra time she has working on a cure for my…condition." Draco smiled. She was just so brilliant; she took on things so big and managed to tackle them. "I moved your things into the guest room while you were asleep. It's the room across the hall from Hermione's," Lupin said. "Thank you," Draco replied, starting to smell the dinner.
They walked together into the kitchen and Lupin smiled at Harry. "Draco got Sirius' mother down, Harry. Shall I throw her away?" Harry looked pleased. "You mean I don't have to listen to that crazy old bitch anymore?" Lupin chuckled. "Yes Harry, she's off the wall." Harry smiled at Draco, "Thanks, Draco." He nodded awkwardly back at him. Harry indicated a chair for Draco. Hermione sat next to Lupin across from Draco, and she smiled at him. Plates filled with salad, baked potatoes, and assorted meats were spread on the table. It was not at all what Draco was used to eating, and he waited until all the others had filled their plated to load his own with potato, meat, and a little salad. They began to eat, and Draco watched Harry.
"Harry?" he asked. "Yes?" Draco began to blush slightly, turning pink. "I want to thank you for letting me stay here. I don't know where else I would go, or what kind of state I'd be in if you hadn't taken me in." Harry was quiet for a few moments and their eyes locked. Harry swallowed his salad and nodded. "You tried to save Ron's life and I don't pay anything for this house. It's the least I can do." Hermione's eyes were tearing up, and Draco watched Harry put his hand on hers. It was obvious how much he cared about her. Harry looked at Hermione and continued. "Because of you Ron died surrounded by those who loved him. There's nothing that can bring him back, but at least we got to say goodbye." Hermione was using her napkin to wipe her eyes, and Remus was looking concernedly at her. "I know Ron was suspicious of you when you offered to spy for the Order, and so was I. But before he died he told me that he knew now that you weren't as bad as he thought." Draco felt the tears forming in his eyes, and blinked them away. "Thanks Harry. I was such a shit before, and there is no excuse for that. I'm just glad…"
Remus interrupted "We're all glad you're here now Draco. Let's not dwell on the past, now. We need to move on, and dinner's getting cold." Hermione chuckled, wiping the last of her tears away. She looked at Draco. "It's probably not what you're used to at all." Draco smiled, shaking his head. "The last year I have only been allowed to eat the scraps from the kitchen. When I wasn't in school, I was locked in my room without my wand or any form of communication. This is really a pleasant change." Hermione looked at him, her eyes widened slightly. "You did that for us?" Draco nodded. "I did it for myself too." Harry smiled. "That sounds like me at the Dursley's." "Is it true they locked you in the cupboard under the stairs?" "Oh yeah, for the first eleven years. Then after they found out about Hogwarts, they gave me the spare room. But they did let me leave the house, and gave me three meals a day. Most of the time…"
Hermione was glad to see that in his suffering Draco could connect with Harry. Maybe in time things could drift back to normalcy. Dinner was finished in silence, everyone mostly thinking to themselves. Hermione cleared away the plates and Lupin lead Draco up to his room. When they were gone Hermione looked at Harry. "Why did you lie to him Harry?" Harry looked up from scraping the plates into the bin. "Even if Ron didn't say it, I saw it in his mind. He didn't have time, but I know he thought it. And Draco needs encouragement, Hermione, he needs to be accepted." Hermione nodded. She supposed he was right. She wiped her hands on a towel and head into the living room to check in with her parents.