Hey guys! This is my pilot story. Please read it and review it. Please excuse my grammar. Thanks!
Onward with the story.
It was one of the warmest months she had ever experienced in her numerous years at Hogwarts. Though her temperature check spell read 17oC, a perfectly pleasant weather was making her borderline uncomfortable. The castle lately seemed to be mirroring her moods given its semi – sentient nature. And currently, the lingering effects of dark magic in the castle was adding to her distress.
She liked to believe that she still religiously practised Moody's mantra of "Constant Vigilance" but lately, she found herself being drawn more and more into her thoughts. It had been a dreary and forlorn year at Hogwarts at the aftermath of the second wizarding war.
Headmistress McGonagall had graciously invited Hermione to repeat her 7th year and she had immediately accepted the offer. Harry and Ron had decided to forgo the final year as they had been accepted into the auror program right after the war. Very few students had decided to return for their 8th year. It wasn't the same as it used to be considering people were having panic attacks triggered by the most random of things and were always looking over their shoulder to draw wands at a moment's notice.
Throughout the year she had kept to herself, sticking with her fellow 8th and 7th year Gryffindor friends. It was now June and she was done with all her NEWTs. There was an hour left for dinner and she had decided to explore the unused parts of the castle on a whim.
This was rare for her as she avoided every such opportunity fearing it might trigger panic attacks. But it was her final week at Hogwarts, and she was feeling impulsive. Maybe it was the unusual path that she had taken or the fact that she would be leaving Hogwarts forever in 2 days, she was distressed.
She was tracing a rather severe scorch mark on the wall when she heard a slight rustle of fabric behind her. It was a miracle that her neck was still intact with the speed she had turned around, wand aimed squarely at the source of noise. But there stood before her Draco Malfoy who seemed to have taken a page out her book too. How had she not noticed that she was being followed!?
It wasn't that she hadn't noticed his return to Hogwarts, but he had kept to himself for most part of the year and never once had engaged in his usual bullying. Draco Malfoy had been placed under conditional probation for 1 year in which he had to complete his 8th year at Hogwarts owing to his underage status during the war. But it remained that one foot out of line and he would be shipped off to Azkaban before he could say Quidditch. He had become grossly unpopular this year with some people avoiding him like the plague and others trying to exact retribution for their loss in the war. Being this the case, he had not once raisen to their challenges.
"Granger." He acknowledged her presence with both his hands in the air making the universal gesture of meaning no harm. This was new she thought as they had never once engaged in any kind of conversation or even acknowledged each other's presence during the year. He must have stood there behind her for quite some time because his tone was not marked by surprise at her raising her wand at him. "Granger?" he repeated when she didn't reply. Realising his intention for a conversation, she lowered her wand and replied "Malfoy."
He looked impeccable with his hair not slicked back and in a black suit she observed. His immaculate appearance suddenly made her angry. A person who had tormented her at every turn, who had fought on the wrong side of the war, still managed to come out only slightly ruffled? But his surprisingly absent display of superiority (which she had observed throughout the year), shoulders which seemed to carry a lot of weight and dark circles were hinting that he might not have gotten out completely unscathed. Maybe she should hear him out, she wondered.
"What do you want Malfoy? And how long have you been following me?" she asked. "A few minutes. I saw you leave the library" he answered. To not realise that someone was following her for that long, she must have been really preoccupied. That didn't sit well with her.
Even though the light had triumphed, to expect purebloods to willingly welcome muggleborns into the society was plain stupidity. She knew it would take time. And the ministry leeching off the purebloods to pay for reconstruction, stripping them of power and monitoring their every movement was not helping the cause. Harry, Ron and she had received several death threats since the war from those who thought were wronged. Quite a few attempts at their lives too. It was imperative that she remain vigilant.
"What have you got to say?" she questioned. The reply he gave shocked her for he said, "I've come to apologise". He must have observed her long enough to know her schedule or it must have been a happy coincidence. She believed it was the former as she knew Draco Malfoy was the kind of person who devised plans after painstakingly considering all pros and cons. Now that she thought, there had been a few eye contacts across the great hall during mealtime. But she had never given it a second thought chalking it up to coincidence. She also believed that there was a reason he had approached her today with only 2 days left in the castle.
Taking advantage of her silence, he started. He took in a shuddering breath and said "Granger, I know I haven't been the most accepting of your presence in the past. I know I have tormented you here by my constant bullying. I can reason that my vile behaviour stemmed from my upbringing, but it wouldn't explain my behaviour even after I started to realise the stupidity in the things I was spouting." He suddenly lifted his head to hold her eyes and continued "I was very privileged from birth and that also meant I was very protected from the muggle influence. My father was very particular about me appreciating my rich pureblooded" he spat "heritage and how it made me better than everyone else. But it is true that I looked up to my father, held him on a pedestal and I was willing to go any lengths to hear his approval." He stopped to recollect his thoughts when she noticed his hands, fidgeting. She had never seen him this visibly nervous except during his trial at the wizengamot. "I had started to understand that there was no logic to the discrimination that I was thought to espouse when I realised you were nothing like the muggle-borns my father had described. My biggest reality check was when you constantly excelled in every field even after knowing next to nothing about the magical world for the first 11 years of your life."
It must've taken a lot of courage to continue because she could detect a slight stutter in his speech "I am not proud of the things I've done and I'm not asking for your forgiveness. I just wanted to put everything behind before I leave this place for good so that I can try to forgive myself." This jolted her out of her introspection "where are you going?" "Let me finish Granger. I am not proud of my bullying and I know it's sick, but I did it in hopes of seeking my father's approval. I was jealous of your achievements, but I never wanted to see you get tortured in my drawing room."
It was her turn to draw a shuddering breath. Her nightmares of that incident had slowly ebbed, but her scar still itched whenever she thought of death as if the remains of dark magic basked in attention. "I regret to this day and I believe I will even in the future that I couldn't do anything. I've said my piece Granger. On this path of redemption, you were on the top of my list of people I had to apologize to. Thank you for listening."
He started to walk away when she called "Malfoy wait." To be honest, she was struck by his display of vulnerability because she knew how much Slytherins loved being opaque. "That was uh, unexpected. What I wanted to say is that I really appreciate that you apologized. But years of making me feel like I didn't belong anywhere makes a lasting impression." That must've sounded terribly harsh because he visibly flinched. "I will not mislead you by saying that I've forgiven you but maybe in the process of healing myself, I will come around to forgive you. But what I can safely say is that, I accept this peace offering and hope that we can live our future without many regrets." She offered him a brief smile and raised her palm willing him to shake her hand. After a moment's consideration he shook her hand and said, "I figured as much."
"So, where is it that you're going?" she asked after a while when none of them had moved. "I wanted to go someplace where the war hasn't coloured people's perception." He said resignedly. "The Pierre de Mont's School for Advanced Potioneering has accepted my application. So, I'll be going to Quebec City, Canada to pursue my degree come September." "Trying to hold onto your French roots?" she asked amused. He smirked as he replied "I will be at a safe distance and at the same time comfortable. It's a win-win if you ask me."
Oddly his display of self – preservation didn't anger her but rather amuse her enough that she even cracked a smile! "What about you Granger? What have you got lined up for the future?" he asked. She had received several invitations from various departments of the ministry, but she had made up her mind to pursue healing "I will be training as a healer at St. Mungo's starting July".
"Good Luck Granger" he said before walking away. On her way back to the great hall she was replaying their conversation when she realised her "Good luck to you too" was said too late for him to hear.