Author's note / This is an alternative universe.
Hermione sat on the chair across from her soon to be ex-boyfriend, Ron, outside of a pub. They had been dating for almost eight years now. Their friends called them highschool sweethearts, but in her mind, they were far from that. They only got together due to a dare that Ron had accepted in his junior year, something she hadn't been told until much later. Hermione was interested in someone else but was scared out of her mind if she were to pursue a relationship with him that it may cause issues with her friends, who were not fond of him. Not wanting to cause any problems during her high school years, she had decided not to pursue the relationship. Also, this was around the time that she had become more active in high school due to the fact she was the president of two clubs. Around that time, they had lost contact with one another, and she hadn't seen him since her graduation. He was leaning against her car when she was coming out of the building with her family, friends, and boyfriend, all of whom were taking the chance to give her hugs, smiles, and praise. She had tried to go over to him but was stopped by her mother to take more photos. Their eyes connected, and her heart flickered as she resisted the urge to run to him, but her heart dropped into her stomach when she looked for him again, and he was nowhere to be seen. In the car was a pendant to go with the bracelet that he had got her a year ago for her junior prom.
Her first and best friend was Harry Potter, who was her next-door neighbour. They then met Draco Malfoy. He was quiet and timid when Hermione met him on the swing set. Every afternoon they met at the playground near their house to play. Hermione often brought both boys to her home for snacks and treats. When they started in primary school, Draco went into a different class, then Harry and Hermione did. They tried to maintain their friendship within the primary school, but after meeting with another classmate Ronald, it wasn't the same anymore. Everything had changed; they were both all-time always at Ron's house due to a sleepover, play dates and such. Draco still sat at the playground waiting for his two friends, but they never showed up.
While Hermione and Harry were caught up with their new friendship with Ron, they had forgotten their friendship with Draco. Hermione's parents, Richard and Jean, did wonder what had happened to the other little boy, Draco, Hermione would often bring over for a snack. They later found out that he was sorted into a different classroom than their daughter's. Draco always said hello to them in the hallways, and on the way to classes. They never saw him with his parents, but when they finally met with his guardian, who had explained his parents had passed away due to a car accident that had occurred on his fifth birthday.
Richard liked Draco as he was always polite and curious, which made him think of a son. When Hermione wasn't home, he invited him over. There, they had father and son days, where they would eat snacks in front of the television while Jean baked in the afternoon. Richard had noticed Draco was mimicking fights and fixing his toy car. He decided to sign Draco up to learn mixed martial arts and later automobile mechanics. Hermione didn't mind Draco coming over as she saw her first friend again. She in a way was grateful Draco was around as it meant not doing boy activities such as watching television, playing sports, mainly football, and tinkering in the garage doing who knows what. Her nose scrunched up when she thought of them doing it. Jean explained to her daughter they were doing men's things. Curious Hermione later joined as they were carving wood, mechanics, and a few other things. But she only was able to learn from time to time as she was mostly busy with the Weasleys.
When the kids were at the end of their primary school journey, Jean had noticed her daughter was crushing on Draco. She had to hide her laughter as some days Hermione and Draco would argue about the littlest things. Richard didn't understand why his angel was creating havoc with Draco, but Jean would grin as she said it was a girls issue. Of course, he didn't realise until later in the evening in bed with his wife, who had explained to him what was wrong.
Out of the blue, they had noticed that Draco hadn't shown up to the house for almost a week. Richard had called his guardian's house to inquire about Draco but got no answer. Later on the evening news, the telly reported Severus Snape had been brutally murdered. Hermione, who was up in her room, was still very confused from an incident the week before. Unbeknownst to her parents, she and Draco shared a kiss a week ago. Strangely, Hermione's lips still tingled from the kiss, along with butterflies in her stomach. The day Draco and Hermione shared their first kiss together was also the last day they would see each other.
While Hermione was hanging with the Weasleys, she had spotted her old friend Draco. Before she was able to wave and say hello, she watched him along with a group of other kids who had just shoplifted some items at the store. Ron, who had seen it happen, had gone to confront Draco, which had started a brawl. Hermione tried to stop the fight, but she was knocked onto the ground by Ron. Draco had helped her up when Ron started attacking him. This instigated another fight as Draco picked up Hermione. He checked to see if she was alright, and Draco tugged her hand as he ran away from the scene. Hermione followed behind as she was dazed and confused about what was going on and was trying to process what had happened. They rounded the corner to catch their breath, and they shared a laugh together. Together they spent the day together, and at some point, Draco saw a tattoo parlour. He tugged Hermione into the parlour where she was so in awe she didn't think to ask Draco what his plans were. At the end of the day, Draco had walked Hermione back to the mall, where they shared a small smile as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
When Hermione started high school, she looked around for Draco, but she didn't find him anywhere. Curiously she wondered what had happened to her friend, but the new school year along with Harry and Ron had kept her mind occupied. Late in the evenings when she was finished doing her assignments and was doing some light reading, there was a tap on her window, which scared her at first as she was reading a thriller story. Hermione looked around where she realised someone was throwing rocks at her window. With a roll of her eyes, she thought of Harry who wanted to talk on their makeshift telephone. She opened a window ajar where she heard a "psst" as she looked down. Draco gave a slight wave, and she slammed the window open. She couldn't believe her eyes, and she was so shocked that it was actually him. Her heart pounded against her chest as she yelled in a whisper at him. She narrowed her eyes when she saw him roll his eyes at her before she could start again. Draco had somehow climbed up onto the gutter drain to get to her window.
O_O_O_O
Every last Friday of the month, Draco would throw pebbles at Hermione's window to gain her attention. He would climb up each time to talk to each other. Some days he would bring gifts for her and other times, nothing at all. Draco knew her schedule by heart, as a mutual friend had given it to him.
After his godfather had been murdered, Draco was shipped to an adoption agency. They weren't able to find someone to take him in. He had heard the Grangers were looking for him and seeking to adopt him. But they were too late as he was shipped to his uncle's on his mother's side. Draco didn't want to go as he heard stories from Uncle Sev had indicated that they were not good people. He understood by just living with them for two months. They had pushed him to hang with a bunch of boys that they gave an errand. The errand was to rob places where he didn't want to go and do. From what he was taught by his uncle and the Grangers, he knew better. He was caught in the middle and forced to rob places. But before he left the locations, he had written a note at the residence or store to let them know he apologised. He did explain on the note for the resident that they may recover their stuff at different locations. He never left his actual name, but a nickname that he was told by his godfather was something that his mother had called him as a child. Some days he did try to go back to the residences and to drop the items back in the mailbox.
Draco kept details of every robbery in his notebook that he had stashed in a secret place. He came to visit Hermione at the end of the month as he remembered she didn't like to be bothered when she had her studies. He spoke to an old friend of his, Neville Longbottom, and asked him to get a copy of her schedule. From there, he would set a schedule for himself to see Hermione that wouldn't get in the way of her studies. He knew her studies were important to her, so he came at the times he knew she would be free. Not wanting to put her parents in grave danger he did his best to have Tom and his guards not be in the same city as them.
Grateful for the lessons, values, and classes he was given and taught by the Grangers he tried to better himself. He went to the local library to keep himself educated since his guardians decided that he should not gain an education. Forced to drop out of school, he decided to find different ways to learn or gain his General Education Development certificate. He was able to go due to some manipulation on his part of saying he was recruiting more people in their gang. While he was going to the community college, he was stopped by an off duty undercover detective who had recognised him from the surveillance video.
Garcia looked at Draco, trying to figure him out as the people he was living with didn't fit the profile. He followed the teen to the library, where he sat reading book after bookâconfused as he went to the front to the librarian to inquire of the boy.
The librarian, Ms McGonagall, was quite curious about her favourite patron; she wondered why he wasn't in school. But when she spoke to him about it, he was timid. The young boy's parents had died when he was only three years old. Then his guardian had been murdered when he was in middle school. "The poor child", Ms. McGonagall thought, "Maybe things were going poorly for him", and it was true. She became his confidant when he needed to vent, as she knew he was going through something deep. There were some days she had seen him looking haggard. Ms. McGonagall made a phone call to an old friend of hers; Moody the Police Chief, who had been her friend since University. She explained to him that a teenager was coming into the library every day now.
Moody, the police chief who had run the police district with an iron fist, had contacted his top detective Remus Lupin. He knew Lupin would be able to find out more about the boy as he brought him into his office. Lupin was a police officer until he took his detective exam, which he had passed with flying colours.
Remus Lupin who was going over the files, later found out the boy was Draco Malfoy. The file he looked over was surprising as Draco had gone to his Aunt Bellatrix when he should have gone to his Aunt Andromeda. Instead, he somehow had ended up with his Aunt Bellatrix. Bellatrix was a drug addict along with her husband, who was a lifelong criminal. The more he looked into the case file he had found out that Draco was baffled. An idea he decided to visit the man under pretence as a teacher at the community college.
O_O_O_O
Little by little Hermione realised she hadn't seen Draco as much as she liked. She knew he was going through a rough time. Although confused with her feelings as she was interested in both Draco and Ron, she wanted to tell Draco that she had a meeting with the headmaster along with her parents. They had decided to bump her one grade up due to her test scores from the previous year along with her middle school years. They decided with the mind she had, and she would excel in the higher grade level. She was so excited about the news she couldn't sleep as she waited for Draco to come. But he never came that night or even the following night. Hermione was worried she hadn't seen him for quite a while, and she thought maybe he was held up on something. But more days had passed, and she still hasn't heard a single word from him.
One day she came home a couple of weeks before her junior prom. She had beat her parents home like always did before she went to her part-time job at the bookstore. While she was changing to her uniform, she had caught a glimpse of a letter along with a box on top of her bed. Curious, she sat on the bed where she found a letter from Draco. A small smile on her face as she knew she shouldn't have worried at all. But the letter had explained why Draco hadn't been around. She was proud he was working on getting his General Education Degree at the community college. In the box where a bracelet was found. It was a silver and gold charm bracelet with a couple of charms latched on; The first charm was of his initials, and it was shaped like a dragon. The next one was a deer with Harry's initials and a weasel of Ron's initials. She laughed out loud of this as she knew Draco didn't like Ron but had always teased Ron's last name. Then a book as it was her favourite hobby and an otter as it was her favourite animal. She had never received any jewellery from any of her friends before, and this was a huge thing. In her opinion it was a big thing as she latched it on her wrist she wondered if she would see Draco again.
While Hermione transitioned from a different grade level, then her usual friends, she had a difficult time making new friends. But she stayed best of friends with Harry and Ron being in a higher grade than her friends. A group of foreign students were coming to visit for a bit, and while they were here, they were going to be doing sporting events along with some academic events. Everyone in school was giddy of foreign students coming, especially with the rumours one of the students was a famous Victor Krum, a Belgium national football player. The girls were giddy as they wondered if it were true or not along with the boys to meet the famous player.
Hermione wished she could share the knowledge with Draco, but she never saw him again. She thought of him constantly every time she glanced at the bracelet he had given her. But she was glad he wasn't around as it made her feel less guilty. She had a crush on both Ron and him, more him then Ron though. Ron, some days made her feel small, and he could be a horrible friend even though he didn't mean too. For the Christmas Dance Hermione was secretly hoping Ron would ask her to the dance, but Victor had asked before Ron came around to ask. And when Ron did ask her to dance, he had insulted her by implying that no one would take her. She cried on the way home, thinking of how selfish he was. When she got to her room, there was a box along with a note. A large smile graced her lips as she wished Draco was around to cheer her up as he always had a snarky response about Ron. But Draco respected her friendship with Ron enough not to rile her up. Although there were times, he did push her to a certain limit where they would have an argument.
In Hermione's senior year, she was elected to be class president and student body association which was quite an unexpected turn of events. Hermione didn't even campaign to be president of both clubs but decided not to turn the position down. Another was when Ron finally decided to spill his feelings for her and asked her out. In a relationship along with being active with clubs in her senior year, she was very busy, and she hadn't realised there were a few boxes and letters piled up by the foot of her bed.
When Hermione finally noticed the items she looked at the letters as it was all addressed from Draco. She sat on the bed where he wrote to her telling her that he decided to push himself in getting his Graduation Education Development Certification. She was proud of him as they last spoke, she told him he should do something in his life as he dropped out of school, which he had explained due to his guardian being murdered. They had theorised who might have killed Severus, but they were not able to indulge more on the details. He had also given her a necklace with a book pendant, and it had her birthstone and her initials in the back of it. She wore it where it hung right in the middle of her breasts, Hermione swore to never take it off.
The last time Hermione last heard of Draco was when he wrote a letter implying he decided to enlist in the British army. Confused on why he decided to go that route as he always told her he wanted to be a cardiologist. She was cleaning the room where she found another letter tagged with a dress where Draco had bought the dress for her. It was meant for prom although she decided to wear it underneath her graduation gown instead as she didn't see the box until a month after the prom. The dress was silver chiffon strapless underneath the dress was a pendant necklace of Draco's and her initials. Sadly she didn't know this would be the last time she would get a gift from him.
O_O_O_O
Hermione listened to Ronald as he complained about how working with the police wasn't doing him any justice at all. He always was like this when he felt inadequate with his position with force. Not like their best friend Harry, who was grateful, blessed, and humbled with the position as he always came home to his wife safely. In the beginning, Hermione would lie to herself she wasn't jealous of the fact her best friend proposed to his also school sweetheart and Ron's baby sister, her girl best friend. She wanted that from Ron, marriage and a life with him, being with him throughout the years. They had fights and arguments throughout their years together, and she was tired of it all. She's happy they haven't got physical with each other since their relationship was like a string, the question is who would snap it first. She wasn't scared of Ron, but she was scared their friendship would end between the two of each other.
Felt the hair behind her neck stood up and she looked around unbeknownst to Ron who was still chatting with food in his mouth. A pet peeve Hermione hated and despised. She got tired, telling Ron to close his mouth when he chewed and talked. Their relationship had always given Ron the things he needed. He never really knew how to grow and mature as an adult when they got out of high school.
Ron was the youngest boy of a family of seven and the sixth boy of the boys. The family was a lower-income class as his parents taught at the local high school. Mother was a home economic while their father was world history; they both loved what they did. The oldest brother, William, is also known as Bill, worked at the bank as a supervisor who was married to a famous French model and dancer Fleur. His second older brother Charlie is a bounty hunter who portrayed the bad boy image. Their third brother Percy worked at the Parliament though don't know what exactly as he says it is a classified position. Though he was very cocky about his position along with not wanting to associate with the family, however, he does come to their parent's house every other Sunday to do a check-up. Next set of brothers are the twins, George and Fred; they were the clowns and jokers by heart and in the family. They decided to open a business of pranks that was booming like crazy, and they had three locations in London already. The last Weasley child is the only girl in the family, Ginerva though she despises her given name and only answers to Ginny except for her mom who calls her Ginerva when she is in deep trouble. She is also Hermione's girl best friend and Harry's wife as well.
Blowing out a puff of air frustrated by the fact Ron hadn't realised she wasn't listening to him at all over what he was talking about. A shiver went up the back of her neck as something she knew someone was staring at her. Not wanting to make it obvious she takes a glance around to find who it is, as she does her eyes meet with a motorcyclist who has his hands tucked in a leather jacket. He was wearing denim jeans with a black jacket zipped up to his chin from what she can tell his shoes were boots. Curiously she wondered who the person was behind the helmet as much as she wanted to know who it was. Though she backpedalled and thought to herself, maybe it was a creep.
Not wanting to think about it as she put her head down the guy flicked the visor of his helmet up. Her heart dropped as she recognised those eyes as her mouth turned dry when he waved her over. She looked back at Ron, who was still chatting away and when he asked her a question. Her eyes gazed over the back at the guy, and she knew he was smiling at her.
A hand blocked her vision as she turned back to the owner, Ron. He had a grim look on his face, "You okay Mione? Did you hear what I said?"
A glance back at the man who dropped his hand, he gave her a nod and turned around. She stared back at him, knowing he was giving her a grim look. She stared at Ron, who had a worried look on his face, and he turned to see who she was staring at.
Hermione turned to see the guy slowly getting further away from her, as her eyes looked back at Ron, who still had a worried look on his face. She took a gulp as she knew if she made the decision now things would be different. Sometimes in life, you just need to take the risk so push down the knot that was in her throat.
"DRACO!"
The guy stopped and turned to face them. Hermione turned back to Ron, who was bewildered.
"I'm sorry, Ron. But you and I are not going to work anymore. As much as I know, we are dragging our feet in this relationship. I feel more at ease if we went back to being the best of friends. I apologise for doing this. I wish I could explain more but I can't. I just don't love you anymore. I don't want to be in a relationship that is toxic, along with slowly tearing our friendship apart. So I am breaking up with you Ron not because of Draco. But because I just don't love you anymore and I haven't felt a spark with you in a long time. Please forgive me. I hope to be friends again."
Hermione gave him a small smile. She grabbed her phone from her pocket, grabbed a 20 quid and dropped to pay for their meal. Pushed back her chair as she saw Draco stood still with his head tipped. She knew he had his eyebrow raised with a curious look on his face.
There Hermione tucked her phone in her jacket. She saw she wouldn't be able to get out of the restaurant unless she hopped the fence. So with a bit of courage, she had along with an adrenaline rush from breaking up with Ron. Hermione decided to hop over the fence where she jogged over to Draco. Her heart raced in her chest, and she was glad she was in a fit.
When Hermione reached Draco, she gave him a shy smile from the look of her things he was too even though his helmet covered his face. His grey eyes gave him away as they twinkled with excitement. She followed him to his motorcycle a couple of meters away from where he finally took off his helmet.
White blond hair shone in the sunlight; he had a light brown hair beard and moustache framed around his mouth. Something strange about seeing him with facial hair was different though it will be something she may need to get used to.
A million questions ran through her mind as she wanted to ask him, but didn't know how to ask. Curiously she started to open her mouth to ask, and he gave her a smirk, the one that annoyed her as a child. With a roll of her eyes, she huffed and turned to walk away, by the time she remembered, she chased him to inquire questions. She turned around abruptly where she collided with Draco she grabbed onto his jacket not to fall as he grabbed her waist. Sadly, she had tipped her back, and she realised how tall Draco is, to look up at him. Her heart throbbed against her chest the feelings she had felt long ago hidden away slowly arose. Her cheeks felt hot, and she knew she was blushing as she decided to take a step back.
"Long time no see Mia,"