Hey everyone! It has taken me awhile to update and I just want to apologise for that. This is the longest chapter yet, so I hope that this makes up for it. Please review, I really do enjoy them. But don't feel forced to, i really just want your imput. Thank you all!
Disclaimer: I own none of this but the plot line.
This get mushy towards the end, if you are faint of heart turn back now! (hehe)
The next morning Hermione Granger awoke to see the sun peaking into her bedroom, shining down lovely golden rays of pure bliss. Hermione stretched and got out of bed with a bounce in her step. She went into her bathroom to brush her teeth. Suddenly she realized that she needed to tell Harry and Ron about Draco. Although Hermione still had two days left to do so, she believed that telling the two now would be better. Hermione began to cringe just thinking about telling Harry and Ron everything. She wrote them a letter which read that she had something important to tell them. She hadn't gotten their reply yet, but being their usual form of reply was not by letter, she figured she would be having a conversation in person with them today. She quickly got dressed and she felt her stomach knot tighter and tighter with anticipation.
She waited for Draco to wake up that morning; Hermione felt that the more time she had alone the more time she could prepare herself for what might happen that day. She sat on the window bench which held a beautiful view of outside, and she began to think of what she might tell them. With a knock at the door, Hermione was jostled from her thoughts. Hermione kept a calm demeanor and walked towards the door.
"Who is it?" Hermione asked through the door.
"Hermione, it is Harry and Ron," said a slightly muffled voice.
"Oh, come in," Hermione said with a stiff undertone that went undetected by the boys.
"You said you had something to tell us?" Ron asked after taking his seat in the living room.
"Well… Yes I do. Ok, I want you two to get comfortable, this might take awhile," Hermione started, praying to any god that Draco would stay upstairs during this conversation.
Hermione started by telling the two boys that she had gone a jog a couple of days ago. Harry looked at her as if to question why she was outside during a time of high alert. Ron on the other hand, came unhinged.
"WHAT?! What do you mean you left the house to go for a jog? This is a dangerous time, Hermione!" Ron shouted at Hermione, his face turned into a deep maroon color which would be fascinating to examine had it been another time and another place.
"Stuff it, Ronald. It is my summer too and I should enjoy it. You play Quidditch every day, why can't I go for a simple jog?" Hermione questioned him.
"Where we play the game is totally protected! It is much different, you are going out unprotected into a danger zone," Ron said calming down a tad.
"No I am not! I live with MUGGLES. How can they find me out here? They don't even know where I live, Ron," Hermione tried to rationalize her actions to him.
"Hermione, I doubt this is what you had in mind when you told us you had something to say," Harry said trying to get down the point.
"Weasley, Potter, a nice surprise indeed," Draco drawled as he swaggered down the stairs. 'Curse you gods!' Hermione thought inwardly.
"WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?" Ron screamed furiously.
"This is what I needed to talk to you two about," Hermione replied sheepishly.
"Hermione, why is Malfoy in your house? Don't you know he tried to kill Dumbledore? Don't you know he let the deatheaters into Hogwarts? Don't you know he isn't on our side?" Harry repeatedly questioned her, he seemed to get angrier by the second.
"First of all, Harry and Ron, you two need to shut the hell up for me to say a damn word around you. You have no damn clue what this boy over here has been through. Since he was a child his father beat the hell out of him to the point that he talks about it like it is a normal phenomenon. I found him on my morning jog; he was practically bleeding to death. If I hadn't have saved him, he could have died- or worse Voldemort would have done something else to him. I saved him; I don't give a damn if he wouldn't have done the same for me. You two don't know what this guy had been through. McGonagall proved that he was telling the truth by using a potion on him. So don't dare tell me he is lying to me to try to get me to Voldemort. You two should be ashamed of yourselves! I was the one he teased and hurt the most, and I can forgive him. The only thing you two can do is forgive him too," Hermione finished her speech, which started out as screaming and dwindled to the point that her was voice so low that the two boys could barely hear her.
"Hermione, you can't have honestly forgiven the bastard for what he has done to us in the past, could you?" Ron asked almost hurt by the fact she could forgive their enemy so easily.
"Yes, I did," Hermione answered confidently.
Draco was silently taking in the entire scene. He stood their awkwardly while Hermione berated her two best friends for him and looked defiantly at the two boys. How could Hermione say such things, it was like she didn't even care that she could lose her two best friends.
"Hermione, why?" Harry asked silently.
"Because Harry, this is how I have been raised. Draco even admitted that he would not do the same for me if the roles were switched, but I don't give a damn. Have you ever looked into someone's eyes and known that you could do something to better their future? Well that is why I am trying so hard to help him. I know he has so much potential; he could really help our side. He knows who all the deatheaters are because he has known their children since he was young. Harry, Snape is the one who killed Dumbledore, and you know it. Deal with the fact that he betrayed us; he played both sides to stay alive. Plus if you really want to know how bad Draco has it, his own damn parents beat him to death before Voldemort could even get a hand on him. His own parents want to kill him. He has no where else to go," Hermione ended her tirade with and undertone of remorse.
"Malfoy, I don't personally trust you, but I know Hermione does. If you hurt her in any way, I will kill you. Welcome to our side, I know you have spoken to McGonagall so I suspect she is telling everyone that you are on our side. If you betray us Malfoy, you won't live to see another day," Harry threaten, but stood up and walked over to Draco. Harry stuck out his hand which Draco firmly shook.
"WHAT? Why is everybody siding with Malfoy?" Ron asked with a shocked look on his face.
"Because Ron, everyone deserves a second chance. But after that Malfoy, you will get no other chances," Harry told Draco.
"I know, Potter. I promise I will not screw up. Weasley, trust me I do not intend to harm anyone. I have nothing, no friends, no family, no money… I have nothing. Hermione is trying to help me because she is good person. Like have admitted before I was and would always be a spoiled brat had things gone the way Lucius had intended. But they didn't and now I have had to change, I have come to realize that it isn't what you have but who you are that really counts. I apologize for acting like a bastard at Hogwarts, I hope in time you can forgive me," Draco said looking from Harry to Ron during his little speech.
"Ok, Malfoy, one chance is all you get," said a defeated Ron. He stood up and shook hands with Draco.
Harry told Hermione that he and Ron must be leaving because they had to get a few jobs taken care of. Hermione hugged both her friends and thanked them for understanding and accepting what was going on. Draco shook both of their hands again and told them goodbye while Hermione waved at their retreating forms.
"That went better than I thought it would," Hermione admitted to Draco once they were seated in the living room. Her stomach finally unknotted itself and she was able to relax.
Draco remained silent for a few minutes letting Hermione relax. He knew that she was tense from the whole ordeal. He was surprised at how well the two boys took all of it, but he wouldn't let Hermione know that. His stomach rumbled and both of them laughed. Hermione continued to laugh, letting all of her stress go. Draco's smile widen and he started laughing harder as well. After a few minutes of laughing, Hermione stood up and pulled Draco off the couch with her. They walk into the kitchen and Hermione look around.
"What do you want?" Hermione asked.
"Cereal would be fine, you don't have to cook," Draco said, he was honestly worried that Hermione might not be able to cook very well.
"Good," Hermione sighed in relief.
Draco looked at the cereal selection and chose one with a bird with a multicolored beak on the box. He filled the bowl up with sugary loops and added milk. Hermione had Lucky Charms and filled her bowl with whole wheat objects and marshmallow shapes and splashed the milk on her cereal. When the two were satisfied with their sugary breakfast, they sat the bowls in the kitchen sink and Hermione directed Draco to dry the dishes when she handed to them.
The sink happened to be filled with dirty dishes and since it was Hermione's chore she had to clean them. Hermione plugged the sink up and filled it with a soapy concoction and she began to scrub and rinse the dishes while handing them over one by one for the curious boy to dry. He had never done the dishes before let alone by hand. He noticed that Hermione seemed to enjoy doing certain things the Muggle way, and this task was definitely one of them. When the sink was drained and the counter was dried, Hermione motioned for Draco to follow her to the living room.
Hermione fiddled with something while Draco sat down on the window bench Hermione has sat in earlier. Hermione seemed to be struggling with the Muggle contraption.
"Blast it!" Hermione shouted in frustration.
"What's wrong?" Draco inquired with concern.
"This stupid thing won't do what I want it to," Hermione explained while pacing saying a few choice words that made Draco smile.
"Hmmm. How about you calm down and try again?" Draco asked in a soothing voice. Hermione took a deep breathe and began to work with the thing once more.
"I did it!" Hermione exclaimed with satisfaction.
"What exactly did you do?" Draco questioned.
"Well, it had been awhile since I tried to work the VHS player. A VHS player is a machine that plays movies that aren't in a disc form," Hermione explained sensing Draco's confusion.
"Oh, ok. So what are we going to watch now that you finally got the machine to work?" Draco asked; he was interested in these Muggle contraptions. How did they work so well without magic?
"How about this?" Hermione inquired as she held up a movie. The movie read 'Interview with the Vampire'.
"How do Muggles know anything about vampires?" Draco asked incredulously.
"They don't, all they know are legends. Do you want to watch it?" Hermione asked.
"Why not, let's go for it," Draco replied.
The two watch the movie in silence, every now and then making sounds in response to what was happening in the film at that moment. By the end Draco thought that the Muggles had gotten a few things right, but there were some mistakes. Not everything that someone hears about vampires is true.
When the movie was done Hermione's parents called from worked to ask if the two would like to go out to eat them that night. Hermione quickly asked Draco who agreed with delight. Hermione told her parents that they would love to go and asked what time they needed to be ready by. Hermione's mother told her that they would be home by five and that they had made reservations for seven. Hermione said a sweet goodbye and got off the phone with her mother.
"Well, that means we have to change our appearances again," Hermione said plopping down on the couch.
"Well that sucks, but it should be fun to get out of the house for a little while," Draco suggested trying to lift Hermione's mood up.
"Yeah. Ok, here is the plan. I will charm you to look more like you are my parents' child and I will charm myself to look like a completely different person," Hermione inform Draco who gave a curt nod.
"Go blond just for the heck of it," Draco suggested. People were right when they said blonds have more fun and he would know.
"Fine," she agreed while lugging both of them into the bathroom with a spell book.
It took Hermione about 15 minutes to complete Draco's new look, but in contrast it took her over 40 minutes to change herself. In the end, Hermione decided to have long blond hair that went to the middle of her lower back. She changed her facial structure, making it look more regal looking. She had high cheekbones and a small but strong nose, but Draco had yet to see her because she had pushed him out after charming his appearance. Draco looked softer with brown slightly shaggy hair. Hermione tamed his appearance making him look nothing like his Malfoy self and more like her parents' son. Draco was looking at himself in the hallway mirror when Hermione finally stepped out of the bathroom.
Draco was shocked.
"You look beautiful," Draco said, but there was an undertone that said more than he would ever reveal out loud. He missed how she truly looked, this just wasn't his Hermione. 'Your Hermione?' he questioned himself, but he let that thought slip away.
"Thank you, do you really like it?" she asked twirling around, showing him how she looked at all angles.
"It is definitely different," he replied. He said nothing more about her appearance because her parents just opened the door. Both shocked to see how the two teens looked. Hermione explained what she had to do and they understood immediately. Sharp people, those Grangers are.
After Hermione's parents were done getting ready, the four left the house in Mr. Granger's car. Hermione's parents spoke the whole time with little interjections by Hermione, but Draco sat mostly in silence unless he was directly spoken to. All he could think about was how he missed Hermione's natural looks, and that is when he realized… He was falling for Miss Gryffindor Princess, Hermione Granger.
Again, Draco was shocked. The whole night blurred past him as he sat in the fancy restaurant with the Grangers. Draco watch Hermione laugh and smile and he began feel a strange tug in his heart. The food was great, but all Draco could think about was Hermione. 'What the hell am I supposed to do? She only cares about me because she knows my past and saw me mortally wounded. She could never have those feelings for me,' Draco thought to himself.
The car ride home was silent but content and everyone filed into the house with a full stomach and half-open eyes. It was around nine when they arrived home and Hermione pulled Draco to the couch.
"I am not ready for bed, are you?" Hermione asked like a five-year-old.
"Well," Draco teased.
"Well what?" Hermione asked with her hands on her hips.
"I could stay up for a little while longer," Draco said and cracked a small smile. Then Draco thought to himself, 'I would stay up forever if you wanted me too.'
"Good," She replied and stood up to place a movie in.
"What is this one?" Draco asked with a small smile. He was beginning to love sitting in the living room watching the movies Hermione picked out.
"Beauty and the Beast," She informed him.
Draco was actually enjoying the animated movie when he felt something land on his shoulder. Hermione's head had dropped to the right and was resting on him. He couldn't explain the feeling that erupted in him, but he did know it felt good. In his life he had never truly loved anyone but himself and now he was experiencing the joys of love. 'Love? Could it be?' Draco asked himself.
When the movie was finished Draco turned off all the Muggle appliances and picked Hermione up. He carried her upstairs and into her room. He gently laid her down and covered her up. He turned off the lights and left the room, just as Hermione's eyes peeked open.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It was fun to write towards the end. Review if you please, and thank you for reading!
THANK YOU ALL YOU HAVE REVIEWED THIS STORY. IT MEANS SOOOOO MUCH TO ME.
Pie for everyone who reviews, everyone loves pie right?
Love,
CLBisMe
