Thanks for all the encouragement! I am really grateful for getting every single review. This is a big thank you for all of you out there that do read this story! I've been trying to change the normal line breaks to asterisks but Fanfiction REFUSES. I found the breaks too daunting when you look at them, especially when it's a few paragraphs then a break. I shall persist! Happy New Year to all! By the way, if you haven't heard Bohemian Rhapsody, please go get it! It's a brilliant song (:

Chapter 13: Boy

Caught in a landslide,

No escape from reality.

Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see,

I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,

Because I'm easy come, easy go, little high, little low,

Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me.

Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen

"So, what do you think about Niblet upon Avon?"

"Pretty good. It's rather different from London."

"Well it's nothing like London, of course but it's fun. It's a very leisurely pace of life."

"Yeah."

"How was dinner?"

"It was absolutely delicious. Do you think you could pass me the recipe for the dumplings? It would be good to have such food in the Manor once in a while. I could get my house elf to cook it, if she wanted to, that is."

"Ha, the recipe has been handed down Emily's family for ages. If you want the dumplings, you'll just have to come over more often."

"That will depend on Hermione Granger."

"Do you think you could show me some more magic?" Evan's eyes were shining. Draco nodded and pulled out his wand. "What do you want to see?"

"Is it possible to change an inanimate object animate?"

"Sure," Draco grinned and stood up from the couch. He turned, and with an easy spell transfigured it into a large pig. Evan chuckled, unable to tear his eyes away from the black pig that was finding food. Draco grinned again and turned it back into the couch and placed it back into its original position. "What about levitation?" Evan asked curiously. Draco nodded and lifted Evan easily, letting him hover a feet above the ground. Evan laughed and pointed at the floor. "Emily! I'm flying!" He shouted happily. Emily hobbled into the room and laughed when she saw the scene. "That's what you get when you have a wizard in the house," Emily smiled.

Dinner had just past with questions about Ben and Draco and a lot about magic. Evan was so curious about magic that he had questioned Draco non-stop about it. This included Draco telling him all about Honeydukes and their fabulous chocolates, and the quaint magic villages, and a lot about practical and theoretical magic. Draco had never found such an inquisitive muggle, or any muggle that was so inclined to magic. He thought that muggles never gave magic a second thought.

Eventually, after an hour or so of discussion about magic, Draco felt that he should retire early and get a good night's sleep. Emily gave the young man another motherly smother of hugs and kisses on his cheek, and a warm handshake from Evan. Draco had never felt so loved.

Draco knocked on Hermione's door. When no reply came he opened the door to find Hermione writing furiously on a piece of parchment before dipping her quill into a pot of ink. Draco stood right behind her and yelled into her ear, "I'm coming in now!" Hermione jumped at the sudden voice, spilling half a bottle of ink on her table. "DRACO MALFOY," Hermione yelled, livid. She sighed when Draco grinned at her and helped her clean up the mess. "Oops, I didn't mean to do that," Draco gasped innocently when he made a few words disappear along with the ink splatters. Hermione growled and hit Draco's head with a roll of parchment.

"Granger, that hurt," Draco complained and rubbed his sore head. "You deserved it, Malfoy. I now have to find words that fit into the sentence, and you just wasted good quality ink," Hermione admonished him. Draco kept quiet and watched as Hermione bustled around finding some more parchment and ink. "Can I take a bath now?" Draco asked the busy Hermione. Hermione nodded and pointed at the bathroom. "You might want to switch the water on now so that it doesn't burn you. And there are towels underneath the basin, soap and shampoo next to the showerhead and you can't have a bubble bath because Dad took the bubble bottle away and—" Hermione found her mouth covered with Draco's hand.

"Granger, you have got to stop talking once in a while," Draco smirked. Hermione glared at him and pointed at the bathroom and turned back to her work. "I'll use it after you," she said before the door shut behind Draco.

Draco closed the door behind him and sighed heavily. Granger never changed did she? He mused as he took off his shirt and turned on the hot water. When he stepped into the bath, the lukewarm water drenched him and soon there was hot mist coming out from the crack under the door.

Draco stared at the pictures in front of him. There were so many that he didn't know where to start, and they were all framed up neatly and placed on Hermione's shelves. In the end, Draco decided to start from the bottom up. Rubbing his hair as dry as possible with his towel, Draco picked up a picture. The Golden Trio, Draco snorted. Harry Potter in the middle, grinning furiously up, whilst nudging his glasses; Ronald Weasley, with a shock of red hair and furtive looks at Harry. And Hermione Granger smiling shyly, her bushy hair tied up in a messy ponytail, with a book in her hand.

Draco put down the picture and picked up another one. This time, it was developed the muggle way, with the humans in the picture unmoving. Apparently, it was her birthday, with Hermione holding Crookshanks, and just behind her was her father. They smiled at the camera, inevitably happy. What's this? Draco frowned and squinted at the picture. It was a badge pinned to Hermione's blouse. The perfect Prefect, Draco snickered. He was happy that he hadn't been picked as Head Boy. Imagine the terror, Draco gagged, having to spend time with her doing patrols and holding meetings. Oh, the terror!

Draco picked up a large frame and found it containing pictures from the seven years of Hogwarts. In all of them, held the Golden Trio. Harry was always in the middle but then again, with wizard photos you could never be sure. The signs became obvious after the first few years. It started off with a harmless hug, but soon turned into something much more. Fourth year was the Yule Ball, Draco remembered. And in the photograph, he could clearly see Ronald Weasley casting longing looks at Hermione.

In the sixth year photograph, it was so obvious. Harry bloody Potter, looking as happy as he could when you find your mentor dead. And his two best friends hugging him tightly, Hermione placing a comforting kiss on his cheek. The memories stung Draco's mind. The thought at that time that he could kill the Headmaster so easily. It was puerile and the stupidity and naïveté disgusted him. How could he think that he could kill him? And why? The sheen of salty tears glazed over his eyes but he rubbed them away furiously, wishing that they would be dry once again.

Seventh year. Ah. The start of that year, his father was captured for killing muggles. "Soiled filth!" His father had roared when the Aurors had to literally drag him out of the Manor. "Destroy the unclean and impure!" Were the last words that Draco heard coming from his father's mouth. Mother had soon left, left for another man. Right after graduation, when he was determined to do good and help those that had been wronged, when he wanted to prove that he wasn't like his father. With Dumbledore's words stuck in his head like a broken recorder replaying, Draco would never forget how he changed. Changed for the better, he hoped.

Then again, maybe he was just upholding the Malfoy tradition: mean, meaner, and meanest. Sarcasm was a second habit to Draco. Drip any word with it and if you did it well enough, nobody would notice it, and you would be enjoying the immense confusion growing on the person's face. He didn't have to be nasty all the time, he especially wasn't with Blaise, and he was gracious with Pansy, so yes, Draco could be nice once in a while. But in front of Harry Potter and company, there was a need to impress on them the importance of being a Malfoy.

Looking at the picture, Draco felt horrible. Harry Potter and his two best friends once again. Big hugs all round for the lovely lady, Draco thought. Hermione was standing in the middle, an arm round both her best friend and boyfriend. At the bottom of the picture was Harry and Ron's signature. They had both signed their names in their messy handwriting and had written two words: Never forget. Draco laughed. Never forget? Then what have you done to her?

Draco put down the large frame and picked up a metallic rectangular frame. In it was the graduation photo. First row were the professors, then the Gryffindors whom had won the House Cup again, and then the Slytherins whom had only lost by a few points, then Ravenclaw and Hufflepuffs. On the second row, right in the middle were the three of them again. But this time, it was Harry on the side. Ron had an arm around Hermione's shoulder and was grinning mightily as he placed a kiss on Hermione. Harry looked slightly lost from what Draco could tell about faces. Hermione just looked like herself, a little love struck, but like herself. He scanned the third row for himself and found that he was standing right in the middle, looking down at Hermione Granger. Draco was horrified when he saw what his younger self was doing. Pointing his wand straight in the middle of Hermione's bushy hair? When did he ever do that?

Thankfully, the hex was never pulled. The next thing he found his younger self doing was giving a forced smile at the camera. Pansy was found on his right, hanging tightly onto his arm. Blaise was smirking heavily into the camera, a slight hint of brilliant teeth showing. Draco prodded at his printed self in the picture. "Stop doing that," Draco hissed as he poked hard at his face, but the small face just scowled back up at him.

Draco remembered those days back in school vividly. It was just five years after all. The time when he used the tactic of avoiding everybody by using prefect duty as a perfect excuse, cooping himself up in his dorm trying to finish last minute essays and still aim for a good EE, bicker with Pansy and Blaise, sneer at the Gryffindors, yup, life was good last time. And now, everything was quite gone. He was actually in the bedroom of his 'enemy'. The enemy who had kindly provided good competition in school for top grades, and now, the one who had become his nephew's nanny. Life was so screwed.

The next picture Draco picked up was not in a frame. The dog-eared picture made Draco grimace. It was Ron and Hermione, hugging. Draco felt his insides twist when he saw the happy couple. Ron gave Hermione a swift kiss on the cheek before grinning jauntily into the camera. Hermione gave a soundless laugh in return and nuzzled closer to her boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend, Draco growled, the one that had happily ripped the poor child's heart and left her with no notice. Life was unfair all the time, Draco thought bitterly.

Draco felt like ripping the photo up as he fingered the photo around its edges. Which he did in a fit of anger, before hastily whipping out his wand to fix it back, feeling guilty. Did he really repulse Granger that much?

Inside the bathroom, Hermione grabbed her fluffy robes and pulled them on. The mist was hot and heavy inside the small space. Hermione picked up a clean towel and started drying her thick hair, watching the foggy outline of herself in the steamy mirror. The more she dried her hair, the more furious with herself she became. Eventually Hermione stopped mauling her hair. She looked at the clearer outline of herself and rubbed the mirror clear to see her face. Why was she crying? Tears streaked down her face and Hermione rubbed them away and blew her nose. Sniffling, Hermione rubbed her hair lifelessly. "You gave up on him years ago, haven't you?" The image asked Hermione.

"What happened?"

Draco cleared his face of any traces of tears and wiped his hands on his trousers, all done without facing her. "Nothing, just looking through pictures from your shelves. Nice collection," Draco cleared his throat and turned around to face Hermione. Hermione shrugged and ruffled her almost dry hair, and walked up to Draco. "What happened?" Hermione asked again as she focused on Draco's face. "Nothing," Draco repeated and tried to turn away. "You do not see tears in people's eyes without a reason," Hermione said softly in return as she held on tightly to Draco's forearm.

"People cry everyday, and today is no different," Draco said evasively as his muscles tensed under the pressure. Hermione shook her head and looked at Draco's clenched fists. "Let it go, Malfoy," Hermione murmured, "Let whatever you have go. Even for a moment." Hermione felt Draco relax slowly, almost apprehensively as he breathed in and out slowly. Suddenly, the room seemed to grow smaller and the every word uttered bounced around, echoing. Hermione heard a soft rustle and looked at Draco's fist. A small bit of white paper stuck out oddly in it.

Taking his hand and gently prying it open, as Draco remained stoic and impervious to words, Hermione eventually found what Draco was hiding. "Draco Malfoy," Hermione took in a sharp breath, "What are you doing?" Draco turned his gaze towards the darkening sky beyond the window. "Painful, isn't it?" He eventually said, his gaze hardened as he looked at the photograph in Hermione's hand.

"What are you talking about, Malfoy?"

"Painful, isn't it? To look at that picture."

"There's nothing to fear, Malfoy. It's just an old photograph."

"Maybe. When life was happier and when you thought this happening was not even possible. Perhaps it's just another memory? Or maybe there's more to it. Do you even dare think of the future if he was standing next to you, happily grinning away, kissing and hugging—" Draco dared Hermione to look up at him, and she did, glaring back as hard as she could. "Malfoy. What is wrong with you?" Hermione demanded.

"Wrong with me? What's wrong with you? Anybody hanging around you for five minutes can tell that you're still in love with him. You would practically throw yourself at his feet were he to come back," Draco spat. "What is this to you?" Was the steely retort.

"What is this to me? What is he to you? Isn't he the love of you life? Ronald bloody Weasley, with his arm around you, cuddling you, protecting you as you fight against the Lord, and you ask me what is he to me? He is nothing, Granger! He left you five years ago and you still want him? You send him a million letters but never get anything in reply, you send your love away and what do you get in return?" Draco paced up and down the room, seething, his arms swinging dangerously close to the glass vase on her desk.

Hermione grabbed Draco's arm again and looked up at the tall man. "I gave up on him a long time ago." Draco tapped the hand away and retorted, "Oh yeah? You and your idealistic goals. Number one, get married to Flame Boy. Number two, get pregnant and have kids—" Draco stopped short in his ranting. "What did you just say?"

"I gave up on him a long time ago," Hermione repeated in a louder voice, giving a small smile at the indignant man in front of her. Draco uttered not a word, but his mouth formed an O, surprise written all over his face. "And what do you care anyway? You're just a silly man," Hermione laughed, tears welling up dangerously in her eyes. "You're just a silly little boy," Hermione whispered as she sat in the middle of her mattress, legs dangling over the side, as she fingered the old photo lightly.

"Please don't cry again," Draco pleaded, kneeling on the soft carpet. "I'll walk out of this room," Draco threatened. But the tears still came as Hermione looked at Draco who had sat cross-legged and was looking helplessly at her. "You miss her, don't you?" Hermione whispered, wiping her tears from her eyes, "You miss your mum, don't you? All you did for the past whole week was just another act of yours, wasn't it? Just another face that the famous Draco Malfoy puts up to hide his feelings." Draco looked away but Hermione placed a hand on his cheek and tilted it to face hers.

"You just don't want to face the truth, do you? That's why you brought up Ron. That was the easiest thing to attack me on, to make me feel as if I was defensive, so that you didn't need to bring up your mum ever again. That was a stupid thing to do, Malfoy, and you know it. It was low even for your standards. And when you see those pictures of mine, you realise that you don't have pictures of your girlfriend, neither do you have snapshots of any of your mates from Hogwarts or any old photographs of your family. Yes you remember them, but how much?" Hermione pressed on as Draco looked away even with his face a foot away from Hermione's.

"Well guess what, Mister Malfoy. I found out. And you just have to face the truth. You're just a poor little rich boy, with feelings that you can't handle, and a heart that can't find love. You're the person everyone wants to be, but you know that you would rather be them any time. You're the one who has the money to control people around you, you're the one with the looks that everybody desires, and you're the one with the charming personality to please anyone you like. But you know and I know that you're an empty shell right now.

"Mister Malfoy, I may not be a psychologist or a Healer but I do know what you're suffering from. When you saw your mum, you were elated. It was written all over your face. The hopes that she would stay were materializing so suddenly. And then, she disappears, with money and the remaining feelings that you had for her. You're bitter and you resent her for that.

"Compare that with my family, Draco. I bet your mum never gave you hugs. I bet you ate dinner in silence, sometimes by yourself in that big dining room of yours. My house is tiny compared to the gargantuan Manor you call home. My mum gives free hugs to anybody who wants them. My mum cooks the meals. My mum used to read me stories when I was a little child. My dad was the one who would wake up in the middle of the night to chase the monsters out of my closet. Did your parents ever do that for you?"

"Stop," came the weak whisper, tears running from his eyes, "Stop." Hermione looked at the man in front of her and hugged him tightly, letting the tears soak into the oversized shirt she was wearing. "I can be the one to save you from despair, Draco," Hermione whispered into his ear, "Will you let me?" Hermione looked down at the small boy in front of her and wiping away his tears with her thumb. Draco looked up at her, and saw her tears falling silently. Drip, drip, the tear dropped onto his cheek and slid down to his neck.

He wiped her tears away as new ones sprang out and cupping Hermione's chin with one hand, he kissed her lightly. "I think you have already," Draco fingered a wet curl covering her face and gently placed it behind her ear, smiling. Hermione smiled back as her back touched the soft mattress, kissing the small broken boy.

That night, Charlie won the bet. And that night, the sleeping bad lay forgotten.

"Draco?"

"Mm…"

"Draco. I had a dream last night."

"Mm?"

"It was a nightmare actually. Do you want to hear it?"

"Mm."

"I'm in the stands watching the Quidditch Finals. Everybody's cheering and then… and then I see you rushing for the golden snitch. Then everything turns black. When it all returns, the pitch is brightly lit and the stadium is dark. There's nobody at all. Then I see you lying in the middle of the field. There's a man over you—"

"Granger, you have got to stop talking once in a while."

"You took divination in Hogwarts didn't you?"

"Yes…"

"What does the dream mean?"

"Divination is not an accurate art, Granger, there's not much that I can tell you. And I don't think crying will solve the dream either." Draco stroked Hermione's cheek gently and wiped away the fallen tear. Bringing her close to him, he kissed her eyelids softly. Hermione smiled back with her eyes closed.

"But what if the dream comes true?"

"Gosh, are you still going on about that?" There was a moment's silence until Draco spoke again, stroking Hermione's hair.

"You don't regret what happened last night do you?" Draco's voice rumbled as Hermione lay her head on his chest. "I don't do things I regret later, Malfoy," Hermione laughed. "Good, because right now, you're looking gorgeous enough to eat," Draco growled as he tried to tame Hermione's wild hair. Hermione giggled and stretched her hand out from under the covers to find her shirt. Once finding it, she pulled it over herself and walked to the bathroom. "Now who's the one without clothes?" Draco smirked as he watched from behind, wrapping the thick duvet around himself. Hermione stuck out her tongue at him before closing the door.

"Sometimes you forget who you're with," Ginny announced loudly to the whole café. "Ginny Weasley!" Hermione hissed as she lowered her head in embarrassment. "Well I can't believe that you—you!" Ginny spluttered. Hermione shrugged and twisted a strand of hair around her last finger. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you about it," Hermione said, turning a slight shade of red. "You think?" Ginny shot back, glaring. "But it's nothing wrong is it?" Hermione tried to defend her stand. "But it's him! You did it with him! Anybody but him! Hermione!" Ginny cried out hopelessly. "Fine! But just remember that you were the one encouraging it. All that about ooh he's been nice to you, and friendly, and he let you stay in the Manor, Ginny! You're being a hypocrite!" Hermione retorted, this time not even trying to keep her voice down.

Ginny slammed down her cup. "Alright! I did say that! But I wasn't the one who slept with Draco Malfoy. I wasn't the one who tried to be like a 'mum' he never had. Hermione! You're crazy! What if Ron comes back and finds you canoodling with him?" Ginny almost yelled. The whole café had fallen quiet, even the bar man had stopped shining the glasses. "I am not canoodling with him and Ron's not coming back!" Hermione roared as she dropped a few galleons on the table and stomped out of the café. Ginny looked helplessly at the rest of the café and then at her friend before she stated in a loud voice, "She's just off anit-depressants. So you know, got to try and calm her temper…" Hermione who was outside the café turned back and glared menacingly at Ginny and then at the rest of the café and exploded, "I AM NOT OFF ANTI-DEPRESSANTS BECAUSE I NEVER WAS ON THEM." And with a loud crack, Hermione was gone.

A little later, Ginny apparated into 12 Grimmauld Place. "All right Hermione, I'm sorry, maybe I was just a little over the top about the whole Draco Malfoy thing—" Ginny apologized furiously as she watched Hermione pace up and down the foyer. "A little over the top? A little?" Hermione ground her teeth, her eyes in slits. "Okay, I was quite over the top, but sometimes you just can't get used to the initial shock when you hear such news. Coffee?" Ginny asked meekly. Hermione sat down on the long couch and massaged her temples. "Yes please, black and one sugar," Hermione said hollowly. Ginny bustled around her kitchen, getting out the cups and the coffee beans.

"Gin, why can't you just accept the fact that maybe I do have feelings for him?" Hermione persisted. "Because, and I'm here repeating facts, because you two were basically hating each other's guts in school, and grudges don't fade, especially for people like you two. He's probably just tricking you, you know? Sleep with you and then ditch you the next day," Ginny replied dully as she set a cup in front of Hermione. "Do people who do one night stands talk about nightmares and cry?" Hermione retorted. Ginny shrugged and sat opposite her, " Whatever it is, it's your life. I can't do anything. Oh, and that outburst might be the side effect of the you-know-what time of the month thing. I hate mood swings. But seeing that you still have an hour before you get back to the darling of yours, please, do tell. What was it like?" Hermione grinned then faltered, "It's a bit like taking a super fast broomstick joy ride. Sometimes you're up, and then you're down. Draco Malfoy is purely unpredictable. You think you understand him but you really don't. He's like a Rubik cube that is unsolvable. He does unexpected things so can't predict anything.

"Draco Malfoy is the one that holds you in suspense right to the very last minute. It's exhilarating till you're tired, but its risky being around him at the same time. It's nice being around him because he'll never stop surprising you. He's just, just not stable. It's like putting wolfberries and mixing it with squid ink, then heating everything up. It's unstable." Ginny frowned when she heard it. Sidling over to where Hermione was seated she peered curiously at Hermione's face. "Are you all right?" Ginny asked, lifting a hand to Hermione's forehead. "I'm fine," Hermione replied and pushed away her hand.

"Let me guess. You're not sure whether you should be attached, right? You've been single for ages and now when you find him, he's not really what you expected, is he? He's different from Ron," Ginny stated. When Hermione didn't say anything, Ginny carried on, "Ron is sweet and caring. Malfoy's the more aloof and detached type. Ron's a big twit isn't he? Just showering you with tons of love. Yet, Malfoy is subtle, with small hints and the face of a mask. Hermione, you're in a dilemma and I can't help you out. But what you can do is tell what you feel of Malfoy. You cannot, I repeat, you cannot force yourself into a relationship."

At this, Hermione moaned and shook her head. "No I can't."

"Course you can."

"I can't." After a moment's silence Ginny spoke again. "You can do it, Hermione."

"I can't." At which point Ginny gave up.

Happy New Year! I was thinking of posting this at twelve but I missed the dead line when I fell asleep. It was two! But anyways, I hope you like it! The updates might come less frequent due to school starting in about two days. Ugh.

To all the reviews I have received. THANK YOU!