The term began with out incident for Hermione. Living with Draco wasn't as much of a problem as she had thought it might be. She rarely saw him in fact. She stayed at the Gryffindor common room or the library late and he was always holed up in his room when she returned. If he went out to the common room after hours she didn't know because she was fast asleep. Their bathroom usage didn't clash either because she was up, showered, dressed, and gone before he got up.
She still had the highest marks in the year and was well on her way to becoming an Auror. Life couldn't have been better, expect if maybe she had a boyfriend. The first Hosmeade trip was coming up soon. Harry and Luna were dating. Ron and Lavender were dating. Ginny and Neville were dating. It seemed like everyone had someone special. The group had reservations at some swanky restaurant. Harry had invited Hermione along as his treat, but she declined, knowing that she would be an extra wheel.
The Friday of trip was a little blue for Hermione, she helped Ginny and the girls get ready. They begged her to go again, but she said she had some studying to do. When she saw her friends off, she headed back to the common room.
Draco was sitting on the couch. His eyes were red and puffy. His cheeks were stained with tears. As soon as he saw Hermione, he straightened up and dried his eyes.
"Damn it, Hermione. I thought you were gone." He tried to act nonchalant.
"No, they were all going out as couples, I would have felt out of place. The bookworm doesn't have a date. What are you looking at?"
"Nothing." Draco tried to hide the book but Hermione stuck out her hand and caught the cover before it could close. Hermione looked, expecting something about dark magic and potions, she was shocked to see a smiling woman holding a beautiful blond baby.
"Is that your mother?"
"Yeah."
"And look at little Draco…how cute!" Hermione kidded.
"Shove off," Draco said with a little laugh. It was the first time that he could think of that he had laughed since last May.
"Come on, let me see." Draco and Hermione sat on the couch for a good while as Draco told her about the smiling waving people on all the pages.
"I don't see any of Lucious." Hermione said. It was as much a question as a statement.
"No, he wasn't around much. He wasn't much for pictures either." Draco said, tears welling up in his eyes again.
"I am sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
"No, its ok. Really it is. It's the first time that I have felt like talking about it."
"Ok, talk," Hermione said as she settled back on the couch.
"You don't have to," he backtracked.
"No, it is ok. It isn't like I have anywhere else to be. I mean, I want you to tell me, Draco."
"It wasn't like I miss him. Merlin, it was a relief that he died. He was a bastard. He hit Mom. He would have hit me too, if I ever had the nerve to stand up to him…"
Draco went on and his walls crumbled. He had held everything back for so long that once he started it was like a dam had been broken. His past poured out with his tears. Hermione sat next to him and listened.
Occasionally, her eyes grew wet as he spoke about growing up in a place you never felt like you were at home. She knew the feeling. Her parents loved her but she had always felt out of place, a witch in a muggle world. She had been even less popular at her muggle school that she was here. She had been the know-it-all bookworm, but strange things always happened around her, which were all magic, but it wasn't as if she could have told her muggle classmates that.
Hermione had summoned blankets and tissue and a box of Honeydukes chocolate. By the end of the evening, she and Draco were wound together in the blankets, the tissue were used and discarded on the floor and the chocolates were all gone.
When Draco was cried dry and his story was told, they sat there together in a puffy eyed silence for a long time.
Hermione sat forward and looked Draco in the eyes.
"Hermione," he said barely audible. But she placed a finger over his lips, silencing him. When she removed her finger, she replaced it with a soft kiss.
It was a brief chaste kiss but it was the sweetest thing Draco had ever had done for him and it was the biggest comfort he had found since this whole mess started.
She pulled back from the kiss only to snake her arm around Draco and pull him to her. She laid her head on his shoulder and traced the lines on the palm of his hand with her finger; she noticed he had a rather strong love line… interesting.
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