Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling's world, not mine.

The atmosphere in the Paradise Lost never seemed to change. It was always the same familiar faces, drinking the same drinks as the day before. Just like any other night, Hermione went over to him.

"Good evening, Malfoy."

"What's got you so chipper tonight, Granger?" he asked glumly. She could tell wasn't in the best mood.

"Nothing. What's got you so depressed?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said, echoing her answer.

"Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be alright, Granger? I've made it to another day of life—Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah," he snapped.

"Well," she said, taking a drink, "it is your birthday after all." Draco was shocked; the look on his face gave it away.

"How the hell did you know it's my birthday?" he asked, taken aback.

"Never mind that," she said. "I figured this wouldn't exactly be the best birthday you've ever had." He let out hollow laugh. She pulled out a small box from her bag and handed it to him.

"What's this?" he asked, accepting the box. She motioned for him to open it. Draco smiled when he saw the contents. Inside the box was a cupcake.

"You can't very well celebrate your birthday without a piece of cake now," she said. She placed a single candle on top of the cupcake and lit it with some matches from the bar. "Make a wish and blow it out." Draco looked at her for a minute and then blew out the candle. When he was done, he split the cupcake and gave Hermione half. "Happy birthday," she said as she raised her glass to his.

"Thank you, Granger," he said, clinking his glass with hers.

"You're very welcome." They each finished their drinks and Draco order another round from Paulie. "So," she said, brushing off the crumbs on the counter, "any wish for the coming year?"

"Better days," Draco said soberly.

"Pardon?"

"You asked me what I want this year? I want better days. Even a chance that we'll find better days would do it." He took another sip and looked back at her. "Tell me Granger—is Potter any closer to winning this war?"

"What do you—"

"You and I both know he's the only one that can end this thing. He's the only hope, and the Dark Lord knows it too." She didn't say anything for a while. Finally, she got up her courage and asked him the one thing she had been dying to know.

"Malfoy," she started, "what happened? Why did you leave the Death Eaters?" He didn't respond. "You said that you couldn't go back after what they did." He stiffened, remembering his own words. "Malfoy, what did they do?" He refused to look at her; slowly he brought his glass up to his lips, but the scotch never made it to his mouth. "Draco," it didn't feel strange using his first name. "What happened?" her voice was faint but sincere. "You can trust me, I promise." He closed eyes and sighed. Hermione knew he was struggling with himself. Draco threw his head back and downed the entire glass of scotch, then slammed it down on the counter and turned to her.

"You want to know what happened? What they did?" He took her silence as a sign to go on. "He killed them." Her stomach dropped. "To punish me, he killed them both." Hermione could see the pain in Draco's eyes. He shook his head. "It's all my fault. Because I couldn't—"

"Because you, a seventeen year-old boy, couldn't commit murder," she told him.

"Because I couldn't complete my task."

"It's not your fault," she tried to tell him.

"The hell it isn't! By not…" he couldn't even bring himself to say 'kill Dumbledore', "it was like casting the killing curse on themmyself."

"That's just backwards logic!" she argued.

"That's just the way it happens. You weren't there, you didn't—"

She gasped and interrupted him, "you were there!" He nodded, ashamed. "But that's—"

"That's the consequence when you get yourself in too deep," he cut in sadly.

"I don't remember reading about any—"

"Well I highly doubt anyone knows they're…."

"Oh," she said, "I guess."

"I didn't even get to bury my parents," he said, clutching a new glass of scotch. "I guess I deserve it after everything I've done."

"No," she emphasized, "no one deserves that." She covered his hand with hers and went on, "it's the truth. Just because you wouldn't lower yourself to his level. He's a coward." He laughed in spite of himself and she went on. "He has everyone else doing his dirty work for him. He was always terrified of Professor Dumbledore, so he gets you to do it by threatening you. Did you honestly think you'd really be able to go through with it?"

"I tried to convince myself I could. I talked the talk for so long," he told her.

"You lowered your wand that night. You're not a killer and you know that. Hell, you knew it that day in the bathroom with Myrtle."

"How did you–oh, Potter told you about that then," he said looking ashamed. They sat in comfortable silence until Hermione spoke up.

"So after that you just…left?" He laughed at her question.

"No, Granger. I did not just leave. One does not just leave the Death Eaters, especially if you've failed your mission."

"So, how did you get out?" Hermione's curiosity overwhelmed her. She was just as bad as Crookshanks sometimes.

"Well, after they were..." he cleared his throat, "I was put in solitary confinement for further punishment."

"What!"

"Actually," he told her, "it wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be. It gave me time to think, time to reassess my life. I was in it to protect my family and that didn't work out. The longer I stayed there," he said, taking a drink, "the greater the chance I had of being killed, and I knew there was only one person who could help me."

"Snape?"

"Yes," he continued, "they let him down to see me. He gave me my wand back and told me which way to escape so the Death Eaters wouldn't catch me. We made it look like I attacked him; actually, I punched him right in the face," he said, "to make it look real, you see." As Draco paused to drink, Hermione couldn't help but think of what Snape's face had looked like after Draco had hit him. Snape had had a long, hooked nose; it must have gotten worse after that incident. "Then, I emptied out one of my family's vault's from Gringott's and exchanged it all for Muggle money. After that," he said, "I left."

"And what brought you here?" she asked him.

"The scotch," he replied.

She sighed. "No I meant–"

"I know what you meant, Granger," he smirked, "and I can't really say. I wandered around for a few days," he drank some more scotch. "I don't even know how I ended up here, really. I liked the area. It's nice and quiet. People seem friendly. I've got a flat down the street and enough money to live off of for the rest of my life be it five days, years, or decades."

"Well let's hope it's the latter," she told him. He couldn't help but smile at her sincerity.

"You know," he started, "Muggle technology is quite amazing. I never gave them enough credit." She laughed at his comment and went on, "I opened up an account at a Muggle bank when I settled down–that ATM machine is very handy."

"ATM," she corrected.

"That's what I said, ATM machine," he replied.

"No, no. ATM means Automated Teller Machine, so when you say ATM machine, you're saying Automated Teller Machine machine, which is redundant."

"Whatever you say, Granger."

They sat there enjoying each other's company for the next few hours until Hermione finally told him she needed to be getting home. After she got up and collected her things, Hermione kissed Draco on the cheek and hugged him, whispering a final "Happy Birthday" in his ear. She never thought being in Draco Malfoy's arms would feel so right. Slowly letting each other go, Hermione pressed a box into his hands and smiled.

Hermione left the Paradise Lost that night, hoping Draco wouldn't eat all of his Chocolate Frogs at once. All that sugar was likely to give him a toothache. She laughed at herself as she walked home; she was definitely the child of two dentists. Hermione sighed as she thought about Draco and his parents. Witnessing their murder was traumatic enough, but being convinced it was his fault made it that much worse. Hermione would have to find a way to help him get through this.

Author's Note–This was the chapter I was excited for, so I hope you guys liked it! I finally gave you some answers and they had a 'moment' too (it's not too much too soon, is it?). I hope it's not getting too fluffy though. I can't really picture Hermione or Draco getting all mushy. I am trying to keep them true to their characters. I was hoping toget this up for Draco's real birthday which was last week according to J.K.R., but oh well. The whole ATM thing is a pet peeve of mine actually, and I think Hermione would be quick to point it out, so there you go. I'm not sure about the next chapter because I am still deciding which direction I want this fic to go. Let me know what you guys think!