In previous chapter

"Somewhere along the way, I realized that I suffered from depression. I started brewing a mild antidepressant that I would take when it became too much. It was addictive, but made life bearable."

He trailed off, wondering when he last had taken the potion. He had made a fresh batch right after term started and he remembered indulging once as soon as it was finished. And that's when the realization hit him; he knew exactly why he hadn't needed another dose of the potion.

"When did you stop taking the antidepressant, Uncle Sev?"

"I would very much like to know why you were taking a potion for depression to begin with."

Draco jumped and Severus closed his eyes in tired defeat. Apparently, Hermione was done with her nap. He idly wondered how much she had heard.

Chapter Twenty-two

An unexpected ally

Hermione startled awake and sat up with an alarmed expression. She rubbed her chest, wondering why on earth it felt like her heart was aching. The feeling of immense sadness nearly had her in tears, but since she was so horribly confused, she managed to suppress it.

She jumped when Dobby suddenly popped into the room and he looked quite surprised when their eyes locked. Noticing the-deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression on his face, she immediately tensed.

"Dobby? Is something wrong?"

He shook his head, but had his lips firmly shut. Hermione frowned; she had never known Dobby not to answer questions verbally.

"Did someone order you not to tell me?"

Dobby's eyes bulged in surprise.

"Actually, Miss Hermione... He did not order Dobby not to tell. Dobby only just realized."

Hermione smiled at that; the free elf was clearly getting attached to the Potions Master if he voluntarily didn't want to betray him. She swung her feet over the edge of the bed and beckoned him closer.

"Then can you please tell me why he sent you here?"

She patted the bed mattress next to hear, showing him that she wanted him to sit next to her. Dobby looked unsure, but at Hermione's gentle smile, he clambered up on the bed and sat down next to her.

"Professor of Potions was worried, Miss Hermione. He sent Dobby to see if Miss was sleeping and if Miss was in pain."

Hermione frowned. Severus knew she had been in pain, that's why she had left in the first place. Clearly something must have transpired after she had left to make him send Dobby to check up on her.

She thought back on the last minutes before she had gotten that slight stabbing pain in her head; Severus had asked them to behave like adults and Draco had treated the request as a joke. When the older man had scolded him, Draco had looked confused before turning his eyes to her and...

"Oh!"

Dobby fell off the bed in surprise at Hermione's sudden outburst. The witch hurried down to help him up.

"I'm so sorry, Dobby, I didn't mean to frighten you!" she said as she took his arm in a firm grip, hoisting him carefully to his feet.

"Dobby is okay, Miss Hermione. Thank you for helping Dobby. Miss's kindness to elves is legendary."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. Thank goodness Harry hadn't been here to hear that, she never would've heard the end of it. She watched Dobby straighten out his clothes.

"Did the Professor seem upset, Dobby?" she asked next as she grabbed her robe, pulling it on.

"Professor had worried eyes, Miss, that flashed with anger when looking at the heir of Dobby's old Master."

So Severus had sent Dobby because he was worried about lasting effects of Draco's use of Legilimency on her. She frowned, overcome by worry - had Draco seen anything he shouldn't have?

"Thank you, Dobby, you have been very helpful. I am awake and fine now, so you can go back to your normal duties."

Dobby bowed low before popping out. Hermione stared at the spot the elf had been in for a moment, wondering if it would be smart to confront Draco now or not. She huffed in frustration at herself - she was a Gryffindor, for Merlin's sake! Squaring her shoulders, she raised her head and strode off to Severus' chambers.

She was just about to knock on the door when she remembered that Severus had asked her to come and go as she pleased. Opening the door, she heard Severus' voice:

"... it was addictive, but made life bearable."

Say what now? What had made life bearable? When had his life been unbearable?

"When did you stop taking the antidepressant, Uncle Sev?"

Hermione's eyes shot up in shock and swung the door open fully.

"I would very much like to know why you were taking a potion for depression to begin with."

Had she not been so upset, she might've sniggered at the way Draco jumped. She did however notice how Severus's back tensed. Since he was facing away from her, she had no way to read his facial expression.

She swung the door shut, making it bang a little harder than she had intended too. Severus slowly got to his feet and turned, and she almost flinched when she noticed that the unreadable mask of the spy was firmly in place. He inclined his head ever so slightly towards Draco and she suddenly remembered that they weren't alone.

"Merlin's beard, Granger, don't you know how to knock?" Draco growled, his annoyance at her interruption obvious.

"No need to scold Miss Granger, Draco, she only followed my direct order to come and go as she pleases," Severus said softly, his indifferent mask slipping so quickly that it made Hermione tense; what was he up to?

However, Severus' reply to Draco must have been the last straw for the young man. Completely ignoring Hermione, he grabbed Severus by the arm and swung him around to face him again. Seeing the murderous look in his Godfather's eyes, he immediately let go, but his mutinous expression remained.

"To come and go as she pleases?! Uncle, what is going on? The familiarity between the two of you is unsettling and the few things I saw in her mind..."

"So you did perform Legilimancy on me then?" Hermione interrupted loudly as she whipped her wand out, pointing it at Draco. "You bloody, arrogant prat, you have no idea of the damage you could have done to me!"

Draco's eyes turned to her, ignoring her wand completely.

"And they call you the brightest witch of her age?" Draco raged, an angry laugh escaping his lips. "Legilimancy is not dangerous, you stupid bint! Most people never even feel it!"

"Well, I'm not most people, am I, ferret?"

At the use of that hated nickname, Draco took a menacing step towards her, making Hermione shift, lifting her wand into battle position. Severus shot a quick, silent protego in between them.

"QUIET! Sit down, both of you! This instant!"

Neither of them listened to him as they were too busy sending each other looks of pure loathing.

"Draco, if you don't sit down in that chair over there immediately, I will inform Ms Granger of all the embarrassing things you got up to as a child."

Draco's eyebrows shot up in surprise. That was a relatively mild punishment coming from Severus, but seeing as he was in the presence of Granger... Not taking his eyes off the witch, he backed up until he felt the chair behind him and then he gracefully sat down.

Satisfied that Draco was seated, Severus turned to his witch; she was still in battle stance and looked absolutely glorious. She was breathing hard, her chest rising up and down in quick succession, while her eyes were ablaze with a fire he hadn't seen in a long time; her lips were pressed into a thin line. He had to pause for a moment to not only gather his wits, but to also make sure he remembered this moment forever.

"Hermione, give me your wand," Severus said softly, holding out his hand towards her.

Draco suppressed the derisive snort he felt bubbling up; as if Granger would give up her wand so easily!

"I am very fond of my decanter and would hate for the fire whiskey to go to waste."

This was said... teasingly? By now Draco had lost track of how many times he had felt confused since he had arrived at Hogwarts.

"Shut up, you prat. Here, take it then if you're so afraid I'll blow up your precious decanter without meaning to."

Draco's eyes bulged with shock as Granger placed her wand in his Godfather's outstretched hand. He was not only gobsmacked at seeing her comply; she had also called him a prat and made it sound like a term of endearment. He was also really unsure about what she meant by "without meaning to" - when had Granger ever done anything she hadn't meant to do?

His head was starting to hurt.

"Thank you," he heard Severus say almost from far away. "Now can you please sit down before Draco has an aneurysm?"

The room was quiet save for the sound of Severus and Hermione sitting down. Draco chanced a look at his godfather and noticed the resigned look in his expression. He watched impatiently as Severus shared a look with the witch, whose nose and eyebrows had crinkled in concern.

"Draco."

He almost jumped as Severus addressed him.

"I know you have questions and I will answer them in a moment. Hermione, I…"

He trailed off, the resigned look shifting into one of regret. Draco couldn't remember a time when his godfather hadn't been able to find words.

"He saw a few things in your mind; only flashes, but enough to know that all is not as it seems."

Hermione flinched, but said nothing.

"We have two options; telling him everything or obliviating him."

Say what now? Draco sat up a little straighter, a look of alarm on his face.

"Uncle, you cannot possibly…"

"Be quiet, Draco. You cannot fathom what you stumbled upon in your idiotic attempt to settle your curiosity."

Draco's jaw dropped in shock, but he said nothing. Finally realizing that his godfather wasn't trying to have a laugh at his expense, he sunk back down and eyed the other two warily.

"You would never forgive yourself if you obliviated him, Severus, so that's out of the question," Hermione said rationally, her gaze shifting to Draco for a moment. "And when you say 'everything', you mean... everything?"

"Yes."

"Not even Harry knows everything."

"I know."

The apologetic tone made Draco freeze. He had never heard the older wizard sound so... genuinely sorry. Glancing at Granger he was caught off guard to see her looking defeated; he had never thought of her as fragile, but there was no other way to describe the witch in front of him now.

"Can he be trusted?"

"He will take the same vow as the Weasley's. Also, no matter what you think of him, he is my godson and that actually means something in the wizarding world."

Hermione gave Draco a long, hard look. He tried not to flinch at her scrutinization.

"Fine."

That one word made him release the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. It seemed as if he wasn't getting obliviated today, which was something to be grateful for.

"Make sure he takes the vow, " Hermione said as she got to her feet, gazing pointedly to the floor.

Severus winced slightly. He hated to put her in this position, but was there really any other alternative?

"Hermione…"

"I'm just going to splash some water on my face; I need to cool down."

She left without another word. Severus turned his attention to his godson, who had a strange look upon his face. Apprehensive, for sure. Not quite afraid.

"Uncle, for the last time; what is going on?"

"I will tell you everything, Draco, on one condition. You must take a vow of silence."

"Yeah, I gathered as much from your conversation with Hermione," he quipped, rubbing his hand over his forehead.

Severus let the use of her first name slide for the sole purpose that it had been said without malice. He formulated the vow in the same way as George and the rest of the Weasleys had phrased it a few nights ago. Draco's wand flared at his promise and then he requested a glass of fire whiskey as he sat back down on the chair.

At the same time his calmed his nerves with a first sip of the amber liquid, Hermione came back from the lavatory. She walked across the room without sparing a glance at the men, despite feeling their eyes on her. She sat down on the couch next to Severus and took the offered glass without a word, emptying it in one swift gulp.

"Hermione…"

"Spare me your admonishment for the time being, please. Don't you have something to tell Draco?"

And so he did. He spoke without pause, first telling Hermione's story, noting his godson's expression switching between disbelief, to shock and then finally settle on a mix between anger and sadness.

"That fucking son of a bitch…"

The fact that neither Hermione nor Severus scolded him for his harsh words about Weasley spoke volumes.

"Granger, I…"

Draco faltered as he considered how to choose his next words. The hopeful look in the woman's eye made it obvious of what needed to be said.

"This shouldn't have happened to you; it's a tragedy and Weasley isn't worth your tears or your anger."

Hermione blinked in surprise and shared a quick look with Severus; he looked surprised, but pleased.

"Thank you. You might not believe this, but that means a lot."

Draco nodded solemnly before his attention switched back to Severus.

"There's more to tell, isn't there?"

Severus managed not to roll his eyes at his nosy godson.

"The Weasleys were here a few nights ago and were told the true reason for why Hermione is a resident of this castle; the apprenticeship is not real. While she's helping me with brewing and some of the lower classes, she's not officially my apprentice. We're actually..."

"But Uncle, it was made public! Won't you get in trouble with the Potions Guild if..."

Severus held up his hand to stop Draco.

"You need not worry; I wrote to the Guild the same evening this was decided and informed them it was a ruse to keep Ms Granger safe from an abusive partner. Under normal circumstances they never would have approved, but they've had their eye on her for years and are hoping that she will take on an apprenticeship in the future."

Hermione's eyes bulged - say what now? How could he not have told her this? Before she could open her mouth to give him an earful, he quickly placed his hand over her mouth. He tried not to laugh when he noticed the look of annoyance in her eyes.

"Don't shout at me, witch. I was hoping to have this talk with you once we had settled your magic and Ronald had been taken care of."

Her gaze softened and he pulled his hand back. It was however clear to him that they would continue this conversation once Draco had left.

"Settled your magic?" Draco repeated with a frown. "What does that mean?"

Severus sighed and turned back to his godson.

"It means that Weasley's abuse has caused Hermione to lose control of her magic."

Had the situation been so dire, Hermione might have found Draco's look of absolute horror a bit amusing.

"The true reason for why she is here is to help her regain control of her magic. In order for that to happen, we must first determine what has happened and what has caused her core to shut down. Legilimency harms her, psychically - you noticed this before when you scanned her mind that it caused her pain; the only time we have tried it even hurt myself. We are going through her memories by the use of a Pensive."

Comprehension dawned on Draco; both their reactions to his of Legilimency now made perfect sense. He felt regretful, but couldn't find it in him to apologize at the moment.

"This is the reason you took the vow; the loss of Hermione's magic is dangerous information. The war is over, but there are still those who could seek to use this information against her."

"Are you hopeful that it can be returned?" Draco wondered, giving Hermione a look that she could only describe as sympathetic.

"Seeing as it is not completely gone, yes," Severus answered before he noted the mischievous look in his eyes. "And no, she will not demonstrate her lack of control to you."

Draco pouted and Hermione bit back a laugh. They were all quiet for a moment before the blond man once again noted that there was still more to tell. Severus rolled his eyes, causing Draco to smirk.

"You didn't use to be this observant," Severus muttered darkly. "But yes, there's one more thing left to tell; as you might have guessed after poking around in Hermione's mind, we became friends. Eventually we became involved; romantically."

Hermione braced herself for Draco's reaction, but the man merely blinked.

"I gathered as much. I didn't wish to think of it much before, but one of the flashes I witnessed was a rather heated kiss. I didn't think I would ever have to watch you snog someone senseless, Uncle."

Hermione blushed crimson as Severus barked out a laugh. Draco smirked, strangely delighted in both of their reactions.

"I take it Potter doesn't know of this new development between you, seeing as you're still in one piece, Uncle?"

He sounded so pleased that Hermione had to fight back the urge to roll her eyes.

"Potter does indeed not know, but I am unsure as to his reaction," Severus said, glancing at Hermione. "During his visits here since Hermione arrived, I have noticed changes in him. Like you, he has grown."

Hermione could do nothing but nod in agreement. She didn't share with the two men that Harry most likely suspected something. Draco merely nodded and downed the last of his drink. Tilting his head, he looked at Hermione for a moment.

"Perhaps he finds himself in a situation he never thought he would be in; his best friend has abused a witch he sees as his sister - that's bound to make him second guess much in his life."

It was quiet for a moment, all of them mulling Draco's words over. Hermione was astounded at the Slytherin's insight. She could also not believe he was talking about Harry Potter without a sneer on his face or malice in his tone. Severus, for his part, found himself hopeful for the first time that the animosity between Potter and Draco could actually be buried.

"Why does it sound like you don't mind that Severus and I are involved?" Hermione suddenly asked.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

"Because I don't."

"But you hate me!"

"I never hated you."

Hermione froze in shock, not believing what she was hearing.

"You… never hated me?"

"Did you hate me?"

Hermione stared at him unblinkingly. He stared right back, waiting. Severus glanced back and forth between the two, curious to see where this was going.

"Well, I…."

Now that Hermione really thought about it, she had actually never hated Draco; that had been Harry's job.

"No. I never hated you. I thought you were an arrogant prat, born into privilege and wealth and a feeling of superiority that made you squander your talent in pursuit of living up to your father's impossible expectations of you."

Severus had to fight back the laugh at seeing the look on his godson's face. Hermione, realizing what she'd just said, clapped a hand over her mouth, looking horrified.

"Merlin's beard, Granger, don't hold back; tell me how you really feel."

"I'm sorry, I…"

Draco waved her words away and she closed her mouth, placing her hands in her lap as her right leg bounced slightly; a clear sign to Severus that she was actually quite nervous.

"I never hated you; I was in awe of you."

Hermione's leg stopped bouncing as her eyes snapped up to the Slytherin, her mind having heard the words but not at all believing them.

"You were a complete mystery to me. A muggleborn witch with the power that you had? You embodied everything I had been told was impossible. But I was a Slytherin and quickly made myself an enemy to Potter, so treating you in any other way would have been out of the question."

Hermione stared at Draco in absolute shock, while Severus had some problems believing it was actually his godson sitting in front of him.

"With time I became jealous because no matter how hard I tried you were always better than me in school. It didn't help that my father constantly reminded me how disappointed he was that a mu… someone like you would constantly best me."

Neither Hermione or Severus missed that he had been about to say "mudblood". Hermione was beyond pleased that he hadn't - he was obviously making an effort to stay on her good side. Then something in his demeanour changed; a shadow passed over his face and he bowed his head, almost in shame. He seemed to be struggling with what to say next.

"Draco, you don't have to talk about that now."

The soft warning in his Godfather's tone made his eyes harden.

"No, I must. If there's to be any way forward we must resolve the past."

Hermione suddenly felt agitated; she had a feeling she wouldn't like this part of the conversation.

"Despite what you may think, I never wanted the Dark Mark. I got it because the Dark Lord wanted to punish my father and to keep my mother in line. I may have been a bully in school, but I never had a taste for torture, blood and killing."

Once again he hesitated and Hermione braced herself for the worst without even thinking about it.

"The night you were brought to my house..." he grimaced as Hermione flinched "... was the worst night of my life. When I was called to identify you three, I couldn't bring myself to do it - I knew exactly what awaited you if you were brought before the Dark Lord. He would have killed Potter on the spot, sent Weasley's tortured body back to his parents and you..."

He paused for breath and clenched and unclenched his hands a few times in a vain attempt to rid himself of the graphic pictures now swirling around his head.

"He would have let anyone who wanted to have their way with you; as long as they didn't kill you, they could torture you, rape you, kill innocent muggles in front of you..."

Draco trailed off, lost in thought. He remembered so clearly how some of his fellow Death Eaters had been looking forward to teaching her a lesson or two. He shuddered before he continued.

"Lastly, he would have given you to me. He would have expected me to torture you to an inch of your life, heal you, fuck you into submission and repeat all of this until you became a willing sex slave completely devoted to me."

Towards the end his last few words came out so quietly that Severus had to strain his ears to hear him. Draco was hunched forward, his eyes firmly glued to the floor; he didn't see Hermione's look of pure horror.

"You speak as if you know this to be fact."

Draco gave a curt nod in reply to his Godfather's statement.

"It is fact. The Dark Lord told me as I got the Mark that I now would have the power to get my revenge on the people who had wronged me - Potter, Weasley and most importantly, the mudblood who put the pureblood Malfoy Heir to absolute shame."

Glancing up he met Hermione's gaze briefly.

"He spoke in great detail what he had in store for you once you were captured. He thought my look of horror and disgust was brought on by the mere thought of having to touch you - I made sure that he never knew my disgust was aimed at him."

The room grew quiet as Hermione and Severus processed this new information. Draco reached for his glass and had it halfway to his mouth before he realized it was empty. Severus summoned the decanter wordlessly and Hermione watched longingly as he refilled Draco's glass without actually touching the decanter - Merlin, she really missed being able to do magic.

Severus raised his eyebrow in a silent question and she gently shook her head with a small smile - she didn't want more fire whiskey at the moment. She waited a few moments more until Draco had gotten two sips of his whiskey before she got to her feet and made her way over to Draco. He looked up at her warily; not taking his eyes off her, he put the glass on the table and then placed his folded hands on his lap. Then he just waited.

Hermione realized that towering over him like this would not get the desired result she wanted. Without a second thought, she squatted down in front of him. Draco's eyes widened in surprise, his mouth opening slightly.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, clearly uncomfortable.

"I am thanking you," she answered as she grabbed his folded hands and started prying his fingers open.

She slowly, but very determinedly got his clenched hands open before she gently wrapped her hands around his. Draco's mouth dropped as he stared at their entwined hands.

"Don't thank me; I didn't do nearly as much as I should have..."

He tried pulling his hands away, but Hermione tightened her grip.

"You did what you could," she said firmly. "You saved us from a terrible fate; without you stalling and buying us time, the whole war could have been lost. You did what you could and it was..."

She had been about to say that what he had done had been enough, but she wasn't allowed to finish.

"But you were tortured! In my house! And I couldn't stop it!"

The anguish in his voice made Severus' heart break. Hermione almost lost her balance as a sudden pain in her chest caught her off guard, but it was gone a moment later. Severus frowned when he noticed the small shift in Hermione, but said nothing. He almost didn't dare to breathe - he didn't want to do anything that could interrupt the scene playing out in front of them, because he had a feeling the ending would be pivotal.

"It wasn't in your power to stop it, Draco! Had you done anything to even try, Bellatrix would have turned her wand on you!"

"That might have been a better option! Then I wouldn't hear your screams in my dreams!"

It was very clear from the look on his face that his admission was never meant to be spoken out loud. The color drained from his face and something flashed in his eyes. Hermione couldn't tell if he was angry with himself, her or the situation in general, but before she could blink, Draco shot to his feet while instinctively shoving her away from him. Hermione ended up on her bum on the cold, stone floor and she grimaced in pain. Draco didn't notice as he stalked off to a corner of the room. Glancing at Severus, she noted the look of alarm on his face as he started rising to his feet.

"No, don't," Hermione said quietly as she quickly and ungracefully scrambled to her feet.

Severus watched through narrowed eyes as the witch slowly edged closer and closer to his godson. Draco was breathing heavily; his head was bowed and his hands were resting on either side of the wall corner.

"Having nightmares doesn't mean you're weak."

Draco twirled around, eyes ablaze.

"What do you know about it?" he demanded angrily through cleaned teeth.

Hermione raised her eyebrow in challenge and Draco immediately deflated, remembering who he was talking to.

"Draco, listen to me very carefully," Hermione said slowly and then waited until he looked at her. "You saved our lives. It may not feel like you did anything special, but by not confirming to your parents who we were, they didn't immediately call Voldemort" - Draco flinched and Hermione paused to apologize - "and that bought us enough time for Bellatrix to enter the room - if she hadn't, she wouldn't have noticed the sword. Yes, I was tortured, and yes, that was horrible, but think of the alternative! Think of what you just told me!"

Draco didn't say anything, but she could tell that he was clinging to every word she said.

"If she hadn't tortured me, we never would have realized that the real sword of Gryffindor was in her vault; we never would have realized that she was guarding a Horcrux down there. In the grand scheme of things I can live with what happened, because the alternative would have been so much worse. So yes, I was tortured, and hell, Harry died, but those things don't matter now because the war is over and we're all alive."

She paused again and reached out for his hands. To Severus' utter disbelief, Draco acquiesced and allowed her to hold his hands in hers.

"That you hear my screams in your dreams tell me a lot about you, Draco. It means you truly did find Bellatrix's torture of me to be appalling. It means it's something you wish could be made undone and most importantly, it means that you're a better man than a lot of people give you credit for."

Draco's eyes widened, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Dreams, good or bad, do not make us weak," Hermione continued softly. "Without them, our minds wouldn't be able to cope with reality. Dreams are needed to process things we have experienced. I'm going to guess that you think about my torture a lot; most likely because you think you didn't do enough?"

At his quick answering nod, she started rubbing her thumbs over his skin.

"Please believe me when I say that you did what you could. This has haunted you long enough now, Draco Malfoy, and I'm hoping that when you've come to terms with this, your mind will stop replaying these events so you can finally let it go."

"But how can you accept this?" Draco demanded, pleadingly. "How can you willingly touch me, comfort me, try to make me feel better? You're entitled to hate me forever! I'd never be so bold to ask for forgiveness, because it's not something I deserve!"

"I thought we just established that we actually never hated each other, Draco. And forgiveness is always deserved, if the repentance is sincere. And it seems like you are."

Hermione searched his face for a second and then did something that shocked them all. She cupped his cheek in her hand and she felt Draco tense as he sucked his breath in.

"I forgive you, Draco."

Draco made a strange, strangled noise in the back of his throat; it sounded like a choked sob, as if he was trying his hardest to keep from crying. Hermione had about a second's warning before he suddenly collapsed into her; she stumbled under his weight, but managed to keep them standing. Severus had gotten to his feet as soon as Hermione had cupped his godson's cheek; Draco had never gotten much physical affection of the nurturing kind, and the older wizard had no idea how he would react. He continued to hover around the two, but refrained from stepping in. He knew Hermione had the situation well in hand, and it was quite obvious that they both needed this as closure.

Hermione shifted a little so that she could properly wrap her arms around Draco. The blonde was not quite hugging her; it was more like he was clinging on to her for dear life. He was breathing unevenly, but was otherwise quiet. Severus watched the pair, and was filled with such affection for the both of them that he actually let out a soft little laugh. The sound was enough to break the spell and Draco pulled back, wide eyed. He met Hermione's gaze and blinked. For a moment she was afraid he would lash out at her, but he merely looked at her. He tilted his head, seemingly deep in thought. Glancing over her shoulder, he gave Severus a calculating look.

"Is this why you're so taken with her, uncle?" he demanded, not unkindly as he finally let go of her arms. "She saw the best in you and forgave you?"

Hermione blushed at the reminder that Draco actually knew the true nature of her relationship with Severus. Chancing a glance at Severus, his lips were curved into a half smile.

"She had that ability, yes," he drawled as he gently interlaced his fingers with hers. "She managed to crawl underneath my skin and for the life of me I cannot get rid of her."

"Ugh, you make me sound like a bug," Hermione complained with a roll of her eyes.

Severus smirked and raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Yes, but the cutest bug," he said so teasingly it made her laugh and bat her hand at his chest.

Draco looked on with a face of disgust.

"Unless you want me to vomit on your carpet, uncle, please stop being so damn adorable. I might be okay with you two, but even I have my limits."

Hermione squeezed Severus' hand before she let it go; she had no desire to push Draco more today than she already had. She turned to sit back on the couch, but was stopped by Draco calling her name.

"Hermione."

Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. Hearing her first name from Draco Malfoy's mouth, said without scorn or hate, was something she never could have imagined happening. She looked at him with wide eyes as he closed the space between them. He seemed to struggle a bit to find the right words.

"Thank you," he finally settled on.

Hermione gave him a small smile and simply nodded in return. She was astounded, but he looked so uncomfortable that she didn't want to make a big deal about it. Once they had all settled back down in their seats, Draco didn't pause to ask the question he had been itching to ask for the last fifteen minutes.

"So, what's this about Potter dying?"

Hermione froze and glanced at Severus in confusion.

"Yes, love, you happened to mention that in your rant about being okay with being tortured since we're all alive and well today."

"Wonderful," she sighed and wanted to kick herself. "Okay, so this is not really common knowledge and I know Harry wants to keep it that way. If you ever tell anyone I will make sure that's the last thing you ever do."

Draco's eyes lit up with interest.

"Oooh, death threats. Now I recognize you, Granger!"

Hermione's eyes narrowed and Severus knew what was coming.

"If I ever hear you call me anything other than my first name, I will send a letter to the Prophet with a detailed account of your brief time as a ferret."

Draco let out a barking laugh; Hermione looked at him in wonder. She had never seen or heard him laugh before. Just like with Severus, she marvelled at how different he looked with a genuinely happy expression on his face.

"Merlin forbid!" he gasped in mock horror. "Very well then, Hermione. You're already calling me Draco, but I guess it's only prudent if I give you formal permission to use my name. Now, tell me about Potter cheating death!"

"He didn't cheat death, he really did die," Hermione started, hunching forward and Severus noted with surprise that Draco mirrored her with an expression of interest. "So, when Harry went..."

Severus tuned her out, already being familiar with the story. He watched with great interest as his godson listened to Hermione speak. He saw no trace of the old contempt the young wizard had once had for the witch. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he was disappointed to see that he would have to send Draco home soon; the Order meeting was set to start in less than fifteen minutes.

"I can see why Potter doesn't want that story spread," Draco said as Hermione finished. "Merlin, living all those years with a part of the Dark Lord's soul in his brain... I almost feel bad for the guy."

Hermione searched his face and suddenly remembered Harry's lack of screaming when Professor Dumbledore had spoken to them about the changes in Draco Malfoy. Figuring that Draco had gotten enough to deal with today, she didn't suggest that the two former enemies should meet and sort out their past. She needed to speak with Harry first, to see if he was even interested in burying the hatchet with Draco.

"Draco," Severus said, "regretfully it's time for you to leave; we have a meeting to attend, but please come by soon again."

Draco only smirked as he reached inside his robes and retrieved a letter.

"I think you'll find that I am going to the same Order meeting as you are."