It was with aching limbs and burning lungs that Hermione broke the water's surface, coughing and hacking as she drew in desperate gulps of air. She vaguely heard Ron sputtering beside her as she stumbled to her feet, and she quickly looked over to assure her friend was alright.
Ronald's normally vibrant red hair looked dull in the chamber's dim lighting as he pushed the sodden strands out of his eyes. Hermione had tried many times in the past few months to get him to let her cut it, but Ron was nothing if not aggravatingly stubborn.
Regardless, they'd done it. Each clutched a Basilisk fang victoriously in their hand, and they were both alive and relatively unharmed.
Ron looked over at her and beamed with relief. Her heart fluttered as she returned his dopey grin, and for the briefest of moments, she saw the awkward little boy she met on the train all those years ago rather than the war-hardened man he was today.
Ron's blue eyes flashed with intent a second before Hermione felt him grab her shoulders, and something cold and pliant touched her mouth.
It took her a tedious second to realize what was happening, and by that time, he had already pulled away. Ron smiled gently, and Hermione shakily returned it despite her brain running at a thousand miles per hour. The boy she'd quietly fancied and pined over for the past three years had just kissed her, finally kissed her!
…And she just stood there blinking like an idiot!
It wasn't like she'd actually expected fireworks and a bloody choir of angels to sing like in those imbecilic romance novels Lavender and Parvati wasted their time giggling over, but she'd hoped the first kiss with her long-time crush would at least be more than a split second of underwhelming lip contact…
Hermione shook the thought away. So what if that's all it had been? It was theirs. And after they won this war, they'd have plenty of time to improve and enjoy repeat performances. Frankly, she was just happy that he'd finally grown a pair and made a move, even if it did take a war and a few hundred brushes with death for him to do so.
Speaking of war…
"We need to destroy the cup quickly and meet Harry in the Room of Requirement!" Hermione said, digging Helga Hufflepuff's cup out of her beaded bag.
Ron's face fell a bit, but he nodded in agreement. "Here, I'll do it."
Biting her lip, Hermione silently cursed herself for her insensitivity. He kisses her, and the first thing she says afterwards is that? She'd never been very adept at romance.
Nevertheless, she pushed the thought away and placed the cup on the ground. Personal feelings aside, they were still in the middle of a battle, and that took priority.
After the cup had been stabbed, the duo raced through the castle, hexing a few straggling Death Eaters out of their way as they ran. Once they reached the tapestry, they skid to a halt.
"Right, so what do we ask it for?" Ron asked through heavy breaths.
"The room filled with lost things, remember? We need to ask it to take us to the place where we can find something that's hidden," Hermione answered as she began to pace in front of the tapestry.
Once the door appeared and they stepped through, they couldn't help but pause to marvel at the sheer amount of stuff piled in high towers throughout the enormous chamber.
"Bloody hell," Ron breathed, running a hand through his hair. "How are we supposed to find anything in here!?"
Hermione swallowed and walked further into the room. "We'll just have to push through. Come on, Harry should be in here somewhere."
Eerie silence surrounded them as they made their way deeper and deeper inside, wands in hand and eyes darting this way and that. Hermione's stomach turned each time her eyes wandered up, up, up the precarious-looking towers of junk that seemed as though they might topple over any moment.
"Harry!" Ron's shout nearly made her jump ten feet in the air.
"Sh, Ron, shh!" Hermione exclaimed when he opened his mouth to call out again.
"What?" the redhead asked in confusion.
"We don't know who else might be in here…"
No sooner had she spoken when a faint growl reached their ears.
In a flash, their wands were up as they searched wildly for the source of the sound. When nothing immediately showed itself, they began to back away slowly. They had nearly made it around the corner when they heard it again.
A long, low growl that nearly made Hermione's knees give out. The sound seemed to sweep through her, stealing the breath from her lungs and enveloping her with warmth.
"'Mione?" Ron's concerned whisper snapped her out of it. She blinked repeatedly, realizing that she'd taken a subconscious step forward, as though the sound had been luring her towards it.
Before she could even begin to digest that particular fact, a flash of red alerted her to a spell flying at them.
"Protego!" Hermione shouted, the spell bouncing off her shield.
"Run!" Ron cried.
They darted through the thin aisles, dodging spells and objects alike. Several loud crashes followed as their attacker's spells hit the piles of junk around them, sending a myriad of items soaring towards them. Hermione ducked as a chair flew over her head while Ron leapt out of the way of a splintered crate. They still had yet to catch a glimpse of their attacker, aside from the brief flash of a dark suit, which could easily be any Death Eater. Hermione guessed they were hiding behind the towers, maybe even climbing them from the high angle some of the spells were coming from.
She kept her shield up as she ran, though nothing else hit it. In fact, aside from the very first hex, none of the following spells seemed as if they were aimed at her at all. Meanwhile, Ron was dodging, shielding, and countering curses left and right, hardly getting a moment to breathe amongst the barrage.
As Hermione's brain went into overdrive trying to decide what to do, they came upon a fork in the path.
Just how large was this room!? It was like a maze!
"Hermione! You go that way, I'll go this way!" Ron shouted, countering yet another hex.
"What!? No!" she protested.
"Look, whatever it is, it's clearly after me for some reason! So I'll draw it off, you go look for Harry!"
"NO! Ron, wait-!"
Her cries of dissent were cut off as Ron dashed down his chosen path, quickly disappearing amongst the flashing spells and mountains of objects. Heart in her throat, Hermione reluctantly ran down the opposite route, hoping and praying to anything that would listen that she would see her friend alive again.
After wandering amongst the towers for an indecipherable amount of time with nothing but the pounding of her anxious heart for company, Hermione spotted a distinctly human figure out of the corner of her eye. Her wand flew up as the figure moved, and out from behind a column stepped Draco Malfoy. Tensing, Hermione pointed her wand directly at his pale, pointy face.
"Back off, Malfoy!" she snarled, "Or I'll hex you into next week!"
Hermione braced herself for that oh so familiar degrading sneer and confident drawl, her lips curling in preparation to cast the first hex she could think of. Thus, she was a bit caught off guard when he gave her neither of those things.
Instead, he stood there with an unreadable expression, just staring, staring, staring at her. The git didn't even have his wand out…what on earth was he playing at?
"What's the matter? Not going to fight me?" Hermione goaded with a hint of desperation.
Malfoy didn't reply. He slowly tilted his head to the side, like some sort of curious cat.
Fear pricked at her chest. She was used to loud, cocky, arrogant Malfoy, always looking for a fight, always putting someone down. She had no idea what to do or think about this bizarrely quiet Malfoy staring at her as though she were some sort of mythical creature. Somehow, a totally silent Malfoy was far more unnerving to her.
Swallowing, Hermione prepared to high-tail it out of there. "Well, if you've got nothing to say, I'll just be going."
However, the moment she took a tentative step backward, he growled. Deep and guttural. Like an animal.
It was the very same growl from earlier, the one that made her insides quiver in a way she refused to acknowledge.
Hermione's eyes widened in terror, darting about briefly as if searching for what was actually making that noise. But one glance at Malfoy's curled lip and defensive posture, and she knew without a doubt the sound was coming from him.
Something wasn't right. Something was very not right.
"Stupefy!" Hermione shouted. She lingered just long enough to see her spell hit Malfoy in the chest before turning on her heel and fleeing.
An enraged roar made her blood freeze. Her spell had no effect!? How!? She saw it hit him!
He…he couldn't possibly be a-
An unexpected impact against her back knocked the breath out of her lungs, and Hermione suddenly found herself lying on the floor. Her wand flew out of her hand upon the fall, rolling out of her reach.
She was given no time to react before she was roughly flipped onto her back, leaving her staring into the enraptured face of Draco Malfoy. His eyes were nearly unrecognizable, pupils blown so large they were almost completely black with a thin ring of silver around them, further cementing the fact that he was not completely human.
Hermione struggled in his hold, but his firm grasp on both her wrists and his weight pressing into her proved her efforts futile. His strength was unnatural, especially when paired with how obviously thin he'd become.
"Fuck, Malfoy, get off-" Hermione demanded through clenched teeth.
As if he hadn't heard her, Malfoy tightened his hold. Her breath caught in her throat when he dipped his head into the crook of her neck and breathed deeply.
Was – was he smelling her!?
Her cry of indignance turned into a surprised squeak when something wet and hot began stroking her skin, followed by a satisfied groan on his part.
What the fuck!? He was licking her! He was fucking licking her!
Hermione squirmed in disgust as her mind whirled at the completely bizarre situation she'd found herself in. Draco Malfoy was pinning her, a muggleborn, to the floor, not to hurt her, but to sniff and lick her like a deranged dog. He seemed to barely be in control of himself as he frantically lapped at her collarbone, neck, and jaw. He panted heavily, his hot breath caressing her skin and making her shudder.
"M-Malfoy, stop, cu-cut that out, you don't know what you're doing! Dammit, Malfoy!" Hermione wriggled under him angrily, desperate to get him off her. Breathing was starting to become an issue, both from his weight, and the smoldering heat radiating from him. His whole body felt like a bloody furnace against her, making sweat gather in uncomfortable places.
Hermione was about to try and Accio her wand, when a telltale hardness brushed her thigh, making her freeze. Malfoy growled above her and ground his arousal harder into her core.
True panic gripped her then, causing her to flail against him urgently. Tears burned her eyes as she opened her mouth to scream, but all that came out was a choked sob.
"No!" she whimpered, thrashing beneath him. "No, no, no-"
Terror clamped down upon her throat, causing her to start hyperventilating.
Was this her fate? To be raped by Draco Malfoy in the middle of the Room of Requirement, when she was supposed to be out there helping Harry and Ron win this war? A part of her desperately tried to reason that Malfoy would never lower himself to a muggleborn like her, but he was clearly not in his right mind.
No! She refused to accept this! Not now, in the midst of the final battle, right after she had her first kiss with Ron!
Hadn't she suffered enough at the hands of people like him!? Was being tortured within an inch of her life inside his very home not enough!? Was Fortuna truly so cruel?
So lost was Hermione in her panic, she hadn't noticed that Malfoy had gone completely still above her. Amidst her cries, she vaguely felt his hands disappear from her wrists, followed by two strong arms wrapping themselves around her. The room spun as she was lifted upright, then cradled snugly against the warm body that had been looming over her just a moment ago.
Hermione blinked rapidly at the sudden change in position. Malfoy was sitting Indian style with her on his lap, so she was essentially straddling him.
Then, a low, soothing rumble emitted from his chest, not quite a growl, and not exactly a purr. The sensation enveloped her like a soft blanket, slowly easing the panic away.
Hermione trembled in his arms, still trying half-heartedly to push him away. The fact that she still had no idea what was going on, or what to expect, scared her like nothing else could.
Yet, she also couldn't deny the strange rumble, the feeling of his arms draped securely around her, was oddly comforting in a way she couldn't hope to describe.
Hermione gasped in alarm and confusion. She shouldn't be feeling this way about him! This was still Draco Malfoy, a Death Eater, an enemy, not to mention he'd seemed very intent on having his way with her just a second ago…what had caused this sudden change in behavior? What on earth was wrong with him?
As Malfoy rocked them back and forth, Hermione registered a warm sensation trailing across her neck and jaw. Not licking this time – kissing. He was kissing her. Gentle, soft little kisses that made her skin tingle. Then, as her sobs lessened, she gradually grew aware of the rough whispers in her ear.
"…hurt you," Malfoy rasped in a low, unrecognizable timber, pausing to leave a lingering kiss below her ear. "Won't hurt you…won't hurt you…"
Hermione sniffled, another tear trailing its way down her cheek. Malfoy's nose brushed against her face as he kissed it away.
"Never hurt you…never again…"
He drew back just so she could see his face, and couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her. Never before had she seen such an expression on anyone. His eyes, which almost seemed to glow with intensity, reflected a depth of tenderness and longing that she would have thought impossible for one to possess.
Leaning in, Malfoy bumped his nose against hers affectionally, making her blink.
"Hermione…"
Then, his mouth was on hers. His lips were dry and burning, so full and gentle against her own. Malfoy shuddered as he kissed her, encasing her bottom lip between his, then drawing back for just a moment to tilt his head to the opposite side before diving back in.
Hermione was…frozen. Her brain, which was normally so full of loud, rushing thoughts, had gone utterly silent. She couldn't think, couldn't act, couldn't register anything outside of the fact that Draco Malfoy was kissing her…and Ron's kiss couldn't even compare when the memory flashed in her mind.
Malfoy seemed undeterred by her unresponsiveness, continuing to lightly press his lips against hers again and again. When his tongue peeked out to barely brush her lower lip, Hermione gasped a bit, allowing him to slip inside her mouth. When his hot tongue met hers, a shiver ran down the length of her spine. Malfoy moaned into her mouth and cupped the back of her neck. He tasted like cigarette smoke and mint.
Hermione's eyes flew open – when had she closed them? – and she practically launched herself out of his lap. His distraction had weakened his hold, allowing her to finally free herself from his grasp. She scrambled backward and grabbed her wand, pointing it at an off angle in his direction. Her breath came in short pants, her heart pounding so hard Hermione thought it might burst from her chest and land in a sorry heap on the floor.
A number of hexes jumped to the forefront of her mind, fully expecting him to pounce on her again. However, Malfoy hadn't moved. He sat there staring at his hands in almost comedic confusion, as though she'd vanished into thin air. Then, his head jerked as he looked up at her, eyes wide and distraught.
Hermione wanted to stand, but she didn't trust her legs to hold her up. She could only stare back at him with frazzled unsurety, not knowing what he would do.
Then-
Malfoy's entire body wilted, swaying as though he might fall right over. His chest lurched, releasing a high, soft, animal-like whine. Hermione's brain threatened to shatter at the sound, growing more and more alarmed as Malfoy whimpered like an abandoned puppy. The sight of Draco Malfoy in such a heart-wrenching, pathetic state gave her whiplash.
Before she knew it, Hermione was speaking. "M-Malfoy, what-"
A sudden roar swallowed her words. Hermione whipped her gaze to the side and yelped in terror at what she saw. A wave of towering, scalding flames tore through the room, devouring everything in its path.
"Fiendfyre!" Hermione shrieked. The Gryffindor had barely stumbled to her feet when she suddenly found herself being swept off them. By the time she realized what had happened, Malfoy was running, running, running faster than she could register, faster than humanely possible.
The surroundings rushed by in a blur as Hermione clung to Malfoy's shoulders, unable to do anything but let him carry her away. She felt the heat licking at their heels, heart racing with fear. There was no dousing Fiendfyre, no stopping it, no salvation from it. If it so much as brushed them, they'd be goners.
Her eyes rounded with horror as she watched the powerful blaze consume everything it touched, certain that they would be next.
Amongst the bright, burning flames, two dark forms soaring above their heads caught Hermione's eye for a brief moment. They disappeared through one of the high windows, and she hoped beyond all hope that those forms had been Harry and Ron making an escape.
However, she had no more time to think on it, as the door to the room became visible when Malfoy skidded around the next corner. The fire was nearly on top of them now, but he was faster.
With a roar, he kicked the door open, nearly sending it flying off its hinges. Leaping into the hallway, Malfoy set her down abruptly and pulled out his wand. The entrance to the room glowed a terrifying yellow as the Fiendfyre drew near. But before it could escape, Malfoy flicked his wand and the door slammed shut, leaving the Room of Hidden Things to its fiery fate.
Panting, Hermione shakily lowered herself to sit on the floor, mind reeling with the dawning realization that Malfoy had just saved her life.
Said blond stood still as a statue before the tapestry, wand hanging limp in his hand.
"Malfoy?" she breathed timidly.
His shoulders jumped as he spun around to face her. His face was a picture of blank shock, silver eyes staring at her in bewilderment.
"G-Granger?" Malfoy questioned in his normal voice.
As though he'd woken from a dream, Hermione watched as lucidity seemed to seep back into Malfoy's mind. Slowly, horror filled his eyes and he stumbled away from her. "Oh…oh shit! Fucking shit!" Malfoy ran a frantic hand through his tousled hair and paced back and forth like a caged animal.
She watched him with both confusion and wariness, unsure what to think of his volatile behavior.
He leaned against the wall with one hand and rubbed his face with the other, looking as though he might crumple over. One silver eye peeked at her through his fingers, and his entire body trembled. Then, with a harsh grunt, Malfoy pushed off the wall and darted away without a word, disappearing down the hall before Hermione could blink.
She sat dazedly on the floor for several long moments. Questions, so many questions spinning inside her mind as she struggled to process everything that just happened.
Draco Malfoy wasn't human. Draco Malfoy saved her life. Draco Malfoy held her close, cradling her like she was the most important thing in the world to him.
Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy-
Gasping shakily, Hermione shot to her feet as an explosion rang out from somewhere. Fuck, she didn't have time for this! She had to find Harry and Ron!
So, Hermione grit her teeth and pulled her focus back to the present, shoving down everything about the past hour.
The last thought that crossed her mind about the incident before she set off, was not the mind-boggling fact that he'd kissed her, but the fact that she'd let him.
And she had no idea what that meant.
The smell of smoke and decay was heavy in the air.
The sun had just peaked, bathing the world in its early morning light. For the first time in her life, Hermione thought she hated the sun; hated how its happy rays seemed to mock them, hated how it didn't let them hide the extent of their loss.
The Death Eaters were panicking, some disapparating away while others desperately tried to bring just a few more of Dumbledore's army down with them.
They knew they had lost.
The Aurors showed up shortly after – fuck knows where they were during the battle – and the remaining Death Eaters had little choice but to surrender.
Some people were cheering, others were crying. At this point, Hermione struggled to tell the difference.
Harry had disappeared, probably utilizing his invisibility cloak to get away from the hoards of people wanting to congratulate him.
Ron on the other hand, was openly basking in the praise, loudly recounting his part in taking down Greyback. No one mentioned how badly the redhead's hands were shaking, or how every time his eyes darted back to the castle, he would falter.
Hermione was-
Hermione felt-
She-
Hermione was numb.
After a long, harrowing night full of constant mind-numbing terror and crushing determination, it seemed her soul had nothing left to give. A few people tried to approach her, but all she could manage in response to their warm words and curious inquiries was a stiff nod or a jerky shrug. Truthfully, Hermione barely even heard them. It felt as though someone had petrified the muscles in her face, every feature refusing her feeble commands to simply move.
Subconsciously, Hermione acknowledged that she was probably in some state of shock as her brain attempted to come down from the sky-high perch of adrenaline it had been running on all night.
She literally could not believe, couldn't begin to process, that it was over.
Finally over.
After an entire year on the run, a year of trying to keep her two best friends alive, a year of every kind of sacrifice imaginable, a year of carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders…the war, at long last, had reached its end. Its bloody, gruesome end.
They had won. Voldemort had been slain…but the cost of their victory was far too steep.
Hermione watched from where she sat in the Great Hall – at the Slytherin table no less – as Ministry officials began to pop in to register the dead. The floor was covered with bodies…many of which Hermione recognized.
Lavender Brown, her poor, innocent roommate she'd stupidly wasted years of school resenting for petty reasons. Hermione recalled in vivid detail the image of Lavender's torn open throat as she blasted Greyback away from her. She wished she'd spent more time getting to know Lavender. Maybe they could have been friends, instead of pointlessly fighting over a boy.
Colin Creevey, a boy who was far braver than she could ever hope to be, had stayed behind to fight despite the odds stacked against him, and paid for it with his life.
Professor Snape, the very bane of Hermione's entire academic existence, had been on their side this whole time, sacrificed more than anyone, and died a horrific, thankless death. She absently wondered if there was anything she, or anyone for that matter, could have done to help the poor man.
And Fred–
Hermione could hardly even think of the deceased Weasley twin without a sickening knot forming in her stomach.
He hadn't deserved death. None of them had. But now they were gone…all gone. And they, the weary survivors, were left to pick up the pieces of their broken lives, broken relationships, broken society–
Broken everything.
"Wotcher, Hermione," came a soft voice to her left.
Hermione blinked, slowly looking up to meet the weary, yet sincere grin of Tonks, who was hanging off her husband's shoulder.
"Hey," was Hermione's reply.
Remus Lupin carefully lowered his wife to sit on the bench next to the Gryffindor. Tonks had been hit with a nasty muscle mangling hex, rendering her legs completely unusable. The purple-haired Auror might never walk again.
"I'll get one of the healers to come over as soon as I can," Remus promised, kissing Tonks' knuckles. Tonks waved him off. "S'alright love, I can't even feel anything right now. There's plenty worse off than me, let the healers focus on them."
Remus offered her a tight smile, gripping her hand firmly in his own. "The fact that you can't feel anything is what worries me. Stay here, I'll be back with help soon."
Tonks mumbled something about not being able to go anywhere even if she wanted to, then turned to Hermione. "Where have those boys of yours run off to?"
Hermione shrugged. "I think Harry needed to get away from the crowds for a moment, and Ron is…probably with his family."
Tonks frowned sadly. "Right…I heard about Fred. That poor family…"
Hermione could think of nothing to say in response.
They slipped into silence, observing the controlled chaos around them. Healers, Aurors, and Ministry workers were everywhere now, and the crack of apparition could be heard every few minutes, making Hermione flinch and reach for her wand. If Tonks noticed, she kindly said nothing.
Then-
"Hey, look, isn't that Draco Malfoy over there? Oh, and that must be my Aunt Narcissa!"
Hermione nearly jumped out of her seat, whipping her gaze in the direction of Tonks' finger. Sure enough, there was Draco Malfoy and his mother, sitting together all alone at one of the tables.
Malfoy was staring listlessly at his lap while Narcissa gazed forward expressionlessly, absently stroking her son's hair.
To Hermione's confusion and horror, Tonks waved at them, drawing a puzzled look from Narcissa and a flustered one from Malfoy.
Malfoy looking flustered. There's something you don't see every day.
Hermione's breath caught when Malfoy met her gaze. He stared at her intently for one long moment, then seemed to shake himself out of it and quickly look back down.
"He saved us, y'know," Tonks began conversationally.
Hermione blinked, dragging her eyes away from the sullen blond. "Malfoy did?"
The Auror nodded. "Yep. That Draco Malfoy sitting right over there. Probably wouldn't be sitting here if it weren't for him."
Hermione's mouth opened, but nothing came out.
Tonks smiled understandingly. "Remus and I were in a tough spot. That crazy old bint, Bellatrix, had us cornered with several other Death Eaters. Insane bitch kept screeching about how she wouldn't have some filthy half-blood who married a werewolf defiling her family tree," she recounted with a massive eyeroll. "Anyway, one of them got me with the muscle mangling hex, so I'm on the floor writhing in pain, Remus is taking one curse after another trying to protect me…it was really rough, Hermione."
Tonks swallowed. "For a moment there, I swore we were done for. Thought the last thing I was going to hear was my fucking cuckoo aunt's laugh. But then," she shook her head in amazement, "suddenly, a spell comes shooting out of nowhere and bowls all of them over! You can imagine our surprise when it's the little Malfoy brat we see running to our rescue! That Malfoy, he fought good, really good! You should'a seen the way he took those bastards down, the boy was a beast, I tell ya! Especially considering what a scrawny little thing he is…"
Tonks trailed off, features twisting into a thoughtful expression. Hermione's heart was in her throat, gaze stuck on the blond Slytherin sitting across the hall.
"Y'know…" Tonks began in a much quieter voice, "…the only reason I'm tellin' you this is because I know you won't go spreading it around, but there's something weird about that Malfoy kid. Remus had a…let's say particular reaction to him that I've only seen him have in certain situations. Honestly, it's crazy, but I think Malfoy might be a-"
"I know," Hermione interrupted.
Tonks blinked, casting her an incredulous glance. But Hermione didn't turn to meet it. Her gaze remained firmly on Malfoy.
Tonks' eyes darted between them, lingering on the way the young Slytherin kept stealing glances at her Gryffindor friend.
"Hermione," the Auror said slowly, "did something…happen between you and Malfoy?"
Before Hermione could reply, an Auror approached the two Malfoys. She watched anxiously as he briefly spoke to them, leading them both to give resigned nods. Malfoy stood first, turning around as the Auror put him in magic suppressing cuffs. Narcissa whispered something in her son's ear, kissing his cheek before offering her own wrists.
Tonks observed the arrest with a solemn frown, wishing she could help, but knowing there was nothing to be done for the time being.
Hermione's tongue felt like it had swollen up as she watched the Auror lead the two Malfoys away in handcuffs. Right before apparating them away, Malfoy slowly turned his silver gaze on her one last time, eyes wrought with devastation and yearning.
Then, he was gone.
Hermione gasped, hand flying to her sternum. There was a sudden, sharp tug deep within her, like someone was trying to pull her spine out through her chest. The sensation burned, her magic itself aching miserably.
Tonks asked if she was okay. Hermione slowly looked at the Auror, whose eyes were narrowed in concern.
The Gryffindor parted her lips to speak-
But all that came out was a breathy sob.
Hermione crumpled against Tonks as a deep, crippling sorrow swallowed her up.
Tonks stroked the girl's curls comfortingly and let her weep. She'd just played a major role in winning this war, after all. She deserved a moment to herself.
Hermione continued to clutch her chest as she cried. Her magical core throbbed as though it had been split in two; and if her extremely tenuous theory about Malfoy was correct, it very well might have been.
And if that was the case…Hermione had no idea what to do.
Oh my god, here it is, it's happening! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Ahem
Apologies, I'm just super excited for this story. I positively adore the Werewolf Draco trope, but I haven't found much of it out there! Most werewolf Draco stories (at least concerning Dramione) are one shots or only a few chapters long, which by no means indicates that they're bad, but I am a shameless glutton with an insatiable hunger for MORE.
So, here I am, fulfilling all my Werewolf Draco fantasies with a side of the ever popular eighth year AU. This story will primarily focus on Draco and Hermione and their personal growth in their relationship and as individuals, with a few minor side ships that I thought I'd explore and see how I like them.
Also, there will be an abundance of Gryffindor/Slytherin friendships in play, because friendship is magic, or something. Also because Rowling gave us a bunch of potentially interesting characters with little to no canon information on, thus giving me the opportunity to play with them however I please.
Also also, just as a warning, updates will probably be a bit slow here at the beginning, as I am a full time student and a part-time worker, as well as the fact that this is not the only story I'm currently working on.
