Hello everyone I am back after a long, long, long, long time and I apologize for the delay. I had writers block for awhile plus I am back at school now so that makes it twice as hard. I hope you enjoy this segment!
Thank you all who have reviewed I thoroughly enjoyed your feedback!
Disclaimer : I do not own any of these characters, but I do own this plot.
Draco pondered for a couple of minutes when he heard a little knock on his door. He got off his bed and walked over to his door to open it to see a fragile looking Hermione Granger staring back at him.
Draco opened up his arms and let the broken girl collapse into them. Hermione had never seemed as fragile as she did now. Draco was stunned and how weak she felt within his hold and he knew at that moment he would have to be strong for her.
Her rock.
He laid her on his bed and sat next to Hermione, or at least the shell of Hermione. He spoke soft words of comfort into her ear as she started to drift in and out of consciousness. Draco watched as her breathing regulated and she began to look somewhat peaceful, but he knew it was going to be a long hard road for her. He fell asleep after about an hour of watching her and he was swallowed into a disastrous dream.
Draco was in the dungeons of his own home, he was locked into a cell and everything was dark. He knew that his father would be down to beat him any second and the time meandered along. His heartbeat pulsed and his adrenaline hit a new high, he waited.
And the time came.
His father glided down the stairs with the Malfoy grace instilled in them all. His father had a stoic look on his face and then he turned to face his son. His father cursed him with forbidden spells that caused pain unknown to most living organisms. And this continued for what felt like hours but was possibly only minutes. His father left without another word and then as Draco laid on the ground in a heap. No means for escape…
Draco awoke from his nightmare sweating and panting, with a worried Hermione staring at him.
They hardly talked about that incident anymore because the world was in upheaval and they were needed to do many, many things. Hermione and Draco were the best spellcasters of their year so it was left to them to put protection spells and other various charms around Grimmald Place. Harry was gone so often that it felt as if he didn't even live with the gang anymore. But anytime he was their he was haggard and tired but he made a good attempt at welcoming Draco into the Order.
The time flew and it was about to be time for the students to head back to their home- Hogwarts. They couldn't leave the house but the adults got what was going to be needed for them. Harry didn't get anything, he was the head of the Order now and he vowed not to go back to school. Hermione and Ron tried to talk him out of it but soon stopped once they realized that they were not going to get anywhere with him. Ron even went as far as to say that he would go with Harry but everyone said no. So Ron, Draco and Hermione would go back to school without Harry.
Hermione and Draco were Head Girl and Boy and shared a common room with two separate rooms of their own. A third was added for guests like Ginny or Ron or whoever they wanted. Draco was thoroughly relieved that he didn't have to be in the Slytherin common room with the children of deatheaters around him.
The train ride to Hogwarts was relatively fun for the new little trio. Ron and Draco played chess together and Hermione and Ginny talked about little thing here and there. Mostly Hermione was silent and stoic and was still recovering from the loss of her parents. When the game was over, Ron won, Draco took a seat next to Hermione.
"Excited about the school year?" Draco whispered into Hermione's ear.
"I guess… But everything is different now. Harry isn't here, I can't write to my parents and worst of all I don't feel like I want to read or study!" she whispered morosely into his ear. Draco smiled at the last one; this was going to be a fun year because he thought that just maybe Hermione might be in the mood to have fun instead of waste all of her time studying.
"Oh shush! It's called being a seventh year, hon. This is the way it is supposed to be!" he joked back into her ear. She swatted him lightly and rested her head on his shoulder and he rested his head on her head. She sighed.
"This isn't the way I pictured this year but… I kinda like the fact that we have each other now," she stated in a quiet voice.
"Kinda? Only kinda?" Draco questioned with a jokingly offended tone.
"Silly, you know I am very glad that we are as close as we are. I'm going to tell you a secret," she started.
"Well… what is it?" Draco inquired. Hermione moved her head so that only he would hear exactly what she said.
"You're my best friend," she told him and she giggled.
"Mmm, you're my best friend too Hermione," he whispered as he stretched and put his arm around Hermione and leaned against the arm of the seat. Hermione got comfortable on side of his chest and curled her legs up into the booth and both began to dose.
Ron and Ginny had quietly watched this whole scene unfold but heard nothing of what the two said. Ron turned to Ginny and raised a questioning eyebrow and Ginny shrugged.
"They look like they are in love," Ginny stated.
"Yeah they do, don't they?" Ron pondered aloud.
"Jealous?" Ginny questioned him.
"Actually, yes and no. I want what they have but not with Hermione. I mean I tried with her but overall we were compatible, but just look at those two together. They just…" Ron lingered off searching for the right word.
"Fit," Ginny finished for him.
"Yeah, that's it… They fit," Ron said.
The little gang of four rode together on the carriage to Hogwarts and Ron complained of starvation and Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head at him. Although so much had changed recently, not everything would; especially when it came to Ron's hunger issues.
The first years were sorted and the four realized that the room felt empty. Draco had taken a seat next to Hermione at the Gryffindor table shunning all the Slytherin that were left. Very few remained at Hogwarts anymore it seemed, the Ravenclaw table seemed to have taken a hit too. The Hufflepuff table seemed fine, with only a few here or there missing, Draco began to respect that house more just because of the bravery they had to stay at Hogwarts even in times of trouble.
Another thing that was never change was how amazing the feast was. The food was spectacular and the entire student body that was left enjoyed the food immensely. Headmistress McGonagall gave the opening speech to the new school year and said mostly the same things that Dumbledore had said each year previous to this one. She gave a moment of silence for Dumbledore and then told the prefects to show the First years to the dorms and to give the passwords out to the students. Hermione and Draco on the other hand were taken to their own Heads' Dorm by the Headmistress. They choose their password which was 'Courageous Dragon' and they was shown the inside of their new living quarters.
The inside was huge with beautiful furniture and artwork as well. The Four Founders had a portrait in their common room and all four waved wildly at the two. Hermione gave a small smile a waved back and Draco nodded in respect to them. The Headmistress left them alone and Hermione saw the two doors leading to their own rooms. Hermione's had a Lion and Draco's had a Dragon. They each had their own bathroom and the explored their room together. Draco's was silver with black furnishing and sheets, no speck of green was insight- Draco no longer considered himself as a Slytherin and all of his classes were with the Gryffindors. All of his clothes were placed in the closet and all of his bathroom essentials were set out neatly. They walked into Hermione's room which was a light gold with white furniture and red sheets. All the same was done for Hermione that had been done for Draco and with that Hermione ran to her bed and plopped down onto it. Draco laughed and did the same careful as to not land on her.
"How are you feeling?" he asked her seriously after that stopped laughing.
"Still sad but I'm not going to let it get me down," Hermione replied and she stared up at the ceiling. Draco nodded and laid down beside her on his back as well. The night sucked them up into sleep and that is how they slept, laying next each other on top of Hermione's sheets.
When they woke up Draco had his arm around Hermione protectively and Hermione was curled up into him. They smile at each other because that is always how it happened if that accidentally fell asleep on the same bed. Hermione snuggled up closer to Draco and tried to dose back off. They had arrived on a Saturday and now it was Sunday. They were able to sleep in as long as wanted. Draco could fall back to sleep so he watch as Hermione slept peacefully and he got a brilliant idea. He was going to go get breakfast for her. McGonagall had told them that they had a direct access to the kitchen and that if they were running later that they could get one of the house elves to come and give them what they wanted. Draco asked for the lot and a few house elves (including Dobby) arrived with platters of food and drinks to which Draco thanked them for their generosity.
All Draco had to do now was wait for Hermione to wakeup and come out into the common room. Instead of that, he heard a scream and he ran into her room. She was looking around wildly and slightly calmed when she saw him.
"Hermione, hon. Are you ok?" he asked shocked and surprised as she ran over and gave him a massive hug.
"Where were you?" she questioned still slightly scared.
"In the common room… there's food out there for you. I got the house elves to bring some up for you," he told her sheepishly.
"Oh… I am so sorry, I just didn't know where you were and after what happened with my…" she started to sob.
"Shhh… I am fine and so are you. That is all that matters," he whispered gently into her ear. He soothed her for a little while and then when she was calm he took her to where the food was.
"Ron!!!!" Draco shouted while laughing, "That food was for Hermione!"
I hope you enjoyed this, review please!
Love you all!
CLBisMe
