Thank you for reading this far, things get a little steamy at the end of this chapter but given the ratings on , I've not posted the full scene here. I will hopefully be posting it at Granger Enchanted . com at somep point though and it will be the full version.
I want to thank my 2 reviewers and everyone who has read this story, hopefully some more of you will let me know what you think.
As always, big thanks to AlexisRose for her excellent beta skills.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I just play with the characters of Jo's creation
She finally realised that although she knew Draco was intelligent, she'd never noticed just how smart he was. He knew she needed tell someone, but that without the gentle but forceful persuasion he was offering, she wouldn't volunteer her story. She looked up at him with a small smile.
"I was kinda hoping you hadn't or wouldn't notice that, but don't I get all the luck? Seems like you're not just a pretty face after all…"
Realising what she had just said, she quickly averted her face to hide the flaming blush on her cheeks from his raised eyebrow and knowing smirk. Mortified, she rushed to recommence her tale when she felt him draw breath, to stall the cocky comments he was surely preparing to voice.
"So, the other owl- as you correctly surmised- was from Harry and Ron. Harry went straight to the Weasleys after the battle. They very nearly lost both Fred and George. Fred is blind in one eye and George lost an ear, but you know them, the only thing they could lose that would hold them back would be each other."
"'Mione, you're getting off track, I don't care about the duplicate redheads, I care about you."
It appeared it was his turn for the brain/voice filter failure. Although the shortening of her name would certainly be a conversation for later, the 'feelings' talk she could do without, so she took pity on him and moved on.
"The boys had told the family, and pretty much anyone else who would listen about the incident in the woods before the final battle. At first I genuinely think they were proud of my saving them, but the more people they talked to, the more they pulled away. The number of times they stressed the words Unforgivable Curses in 'casual' conversation became tiring to say the least. It didn't seem to stop them looking to me to save them in almost every scuffle we got into, though. In all honesty Draco, it royally pissed me off. They either ignored me or wouldn't look me in the eye whilst we were at headquarters or the safe houses, and then as soon as we had to go out on a mission it was all, 'Hermione should come with us, she's so clever!' Which really meant, 'Hermione should come with us, she's partly evil already, so she can do the hard work and we can keep an eye on her and not have to worry about losing part of our souls by casting dark curses'."
She realised that her voice had been getting louder and unlike in the library, there were people close by who could hear and she really couldn't face that.
She took a few minutes to settle her emotions, fully embracing Draco and taking the comfort he was offering. His hands had moved to calm her; one cradling her head and gently massaging her scalp, and the other resting on top of her own hand on his chest, his thumb softly sweeping across her knuckles.
"So, as you can tell, our relationship was strained before the Final Battle, and despite the fact that I know they both cast the Cruciatus and Avada curses during the battle, it was only my actions that were reprimanded by the adults. I mean for God's sake, I'm nearly nineteen, and with everything we've gone through, I'm more adult than most. But no, the double standards come into play again; send Hermione out to face Death Eaters, but then tell her off if she has the audacity to defend herself and her friends.
"Sorry, I'm getting off track again but it just makes me so mad! The Owl. The owl was from Harry, really. It was his deplorable quill-work with Ron's signature as not much more than a post script. He said that they still loved me but that they thought I needed to think about my actions in the war. That if I need help I could go to The Burrow and they would help me relearn my way to the Light! It sounded like some kind of religious intervention for pity's sake. They said that if I chose to pursue the Dark Arts, they would have not choice but to hand me in for my own good. They were going straight into Auror training and couldn't afford to be associated with someone like that. Like me."
The tears had started again now. She could feel Draco's shirt was soaked through, and it clung to both his body and her face.
"Oh! Draco, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to ruin your shirt." He stilled her attempts to rise from her position.
"Hermione, it's just salt water on a shirt, it's nothing that can't be washed out. Stop stalling. I'm here to listen and if necessary, to be cried on. If it helps you, you can drown me."
She had to laugh then. She didn't think drowning the only person she'd talked to recently would really help her conscience any, but God did it feel good to actually laugh!
"Shall we continue? Or would you like me to remove my shirt to ease your mind?"
"Draco! No! I'll continue. So, I replied to the owl to thank them for their concern but politely declined their gracious offer of assistance. I told them that I was taking time out with my parents but they were welcome to visit when they had a break from their training. That was the last I heard from them until after the letter from Professor McGonagall. I went to Diagon Alley to stock up on school supplies and saw Harry and the whole Weasley family there. It was a shock. Since I hadn't heard from them, they had slipped to the periphery of my mind. I hadn't even acknowledged that Ginny would be back at Hogwarts for her Seventh year and of course, she needed her supplies. I plucked up the courage to go over to them. I really don't know what I expected, but it was as if I walked over to them wearing a Death Eater skull mask. Ginny actually physically recoiled when I approached them."
She paused there, taking some time to cope with the flash of images that assaulted her from that meeting. It was as if she had fallen in to a Pensieve of that day and it was all she could do to continue.
"She hid herself behind Harry, and Molly pulled her away before I got there. I spoke to Harry- tried to tell him how I was going back to Hogwarts to get my N.E.W.T.'s- but I could tell he wasn't really listening. It was all I could do to stand there when he actually looked me in the eye. The look in his eyes made me want to run far, far away. It was fear. He was actually afraid of me! I didn't know what to do so I made my excuses and left them all standing in the middle of the street. I daren't look back so when someone grabbed at my arm, I almost fell. It was Ron. Bill was there with him, and the twins- they were holding him back, Draco. He wanted to hurt me, but when he realised they wouldn't allow physical pain, he settled on emotional. He told me that as far as he was concerned, there was no excuse for 'the path I had chosen'. He warned me away from Ginny- told me that if I bothered her with my 'dark ways' he would not hesitate to use his authority with the Aurors to get me sent to Azkaban.
"To say I was shocked is a slight understatement. I've always known Ron was hard headed- that once he forms an opinion he doesn't change his mind- but I never thought that would apply to me! The vitriol in his voice was like acid; it burned straight though to my heart and broke it. I know it sounds melodramatic, but at that point it was how I felt. He left then. Didn't look back at all, and once the twins realised he wasn't coming back they just gave me nod and left. I don't know whether their nod was support for me or Ron, but I suspect the latter will always come first in that family regardless of the injustice. Bill was different; he actually spoke to me. Told me that he understood why I did what I did but I had to understand that with Molly at the head of the family, any link to the Dark Arts would not be tolerated. I suspect that since Fenrir's attack Bill was walking a fine line in that family, only the fact that he is their own blood is saving him from being ostracised. He left as well, obviously. He couldn't be seen to be supporting me and I understand that, but that meeting was what really started the avoidance of everyone."
Draco pulled her up to settle her head in the crook of his neck, and kissed her temple.
"Just a little more Hermione, I know it's hard and you're exhausted but it's just a little more and then we can move on…together."
She closed her eyes and breathed him in. He was right of course, she was nearly done.
"When I got here, I can only assume that the extra week the rest of the students had had was more than enough time for Ginny to spread her version of my new 'past-time'. I swear Draco, every single one of them looks at me like I'm going to murder them in their sleep."
She moved so that she could look him in the eye.
"I want to apologise to you, Draco, I think that what they do to me now, is what my friends and I did to you for six years. We berated you and made sly comments based on our perceptions, not based on fact. Don't get me wrong, you are far from perfect, however differently you may feel about that." She smiled there to show the comment was meant in jest. "And you weren't exactly all about niceties yourself during that time but our- my behaviour was unjustified in a lot of the cases."
He looked directly at her, his eyes holding a suspicious sheen.
"It means a lot to hear that Hermione; to know that someone sees beyond what my family's reputation has tarred me with. I agree that a lot of my behaviour was deplorable, the names I called you in particular. There is no excuse for that, but for you to ask for my forgiveness? I don't know whether I deserve that from you but I accept it and can only offer my own apologies for my behaviour, although your comment about perfection is wholly untrue. Have you seen this bone structure?!"
She laughed at the smarmy look on his face and gently slapped his chest. The reprieve was appreciated but she still had to finish what she started.
"I decided that the best course of action was just to stick to myself, do my work and get on with my life. I spoke to Professor McGonagall and explained the situation. She agreed that I could arrange my progress meetings later at night to avoid the other students, but that only Friday would be acceptable. Imagine my…lets say surprise when I saw you leaving her office that second week. If I didn't know any better, I'd say all those years with Dumbledore had rubbed off on her, and that she'd deliberately scheduled us to have adjacent progress meetings to lead to this. It's definitely something that mad old coot would do. The avoidance technique has been working for me but I do miss the companionship of the boys. I don't see them ever turning their thoughts around. Maybe Harry would if he weren't with Ginny, but I think it's too much to hope for and it would appear that they- or Ginny, or both- have spread their feelings to the other eighth-years. None of them speak to me and I don't think I could face another scene like the one at Diagon Alley if I tried to approach them. So that's it. I mean it this time. It's the whole truth of my journey. What's the verdict Judge? Can I join the club?"
She said it with a smile, but there was a hint of desperation. If this turned out to be some kind of elaborate ploy to get her to spill her guts and then spread it around the school, she was gone. She would forego her education- though it would pain her to do so- and she would retreat to the Muggle world and hide.
"Hermione look at me."
Draco's voice was soft, so she lifted her head to look at him. He didn't speak any further, his eyes were saying enough. They were shining again, but this time it was clear that acceptance, affection and empathy caused the moisture. He reached up and cupped her face and slowly lowered his face to hers.
Pausing only millimetres from her lips he whispered, "You were a shoe in from that first week, Hermione. I'm going to kiss you now, just thought you should know."
When he finished his descent, she was more prepared than she had been in the library and immediately revelled in the feelings he poured into the kiss. She moved her leg to half lie on him and began to explore his upper body with her hands. As she ghosted her hand along his ribs he gasped, which give her the opportunity to slide her tongue between his lips and fully taste him. As he sighed a moan in to her mouth, she could feel his hands start their own exploration. His arousal where her thigh rested between his legs fuelled her desires, causing her to move against him, desperate for more contact.
He slid his hands to her shoulders but surprised her when he pushed her up to break the kiss.
"Hermione, I really, really want to continue this but I need to be sure that you want it and it's not just your emotions running high from tonight. Plus, I really don't think it's going to do either of our reputations any good to be caught doing this here. Would you…Would you come to my room with me?"
She searched his eyes, reading the sincerity they showed, and stood, taking his hand and leading the way to his dorm.
As they entered the room, she took a moment to get acquainted with the differences to her own, small though they were. It was mostly colour scheme; he had the same standard double bed, work table and wardrobe as she had but the soft furnishings were all shades of blue and silver. She let out a small giggle as she moved to sit on the edge of his bed to stroke the quilted royal blue comforter that lay strewn across the surface.
"Find something funny, Granger?" He moved to sit beside her and leaned back, moving his arms to rest behind him.
"The colour scheme. It's not that I expected emerald green but not blue. I just… I don't really know Draco, I just found it funny. You want to know the best part?"
"Amaze me."
"My room is decorated in green; it's my favourite colour. Had to stay away from it for seven years because of you and now, when I don't give a shit about house prejudice and how it looks, you go and decorate in blue!"
Her voice had gotten shaky and she couldn't hold in the laughter, or the tears. She felt Draco shift on the bed and pull her up to lie with him. He was stroking her hair and cradling her against his chest as she let all of her pent up emotions flow out. After what felt like hours- but which she knew must only have been fifteen minutes at most- she turned to face him. Reaching up she stroked his face and gently wiped at the moisture that lay in his cheeks.
"I'm sorry Draco, I didn't mean for things to go that way when I dragged you back here. I guess the talking kind of broke the dam, huh?"
He wiped her tears from her face with his thumbs, as she had his, and leaned down to brush feather-light kisses on each of her eyes, the bridge of her nose and finally her lips.
"I wasn't expecting anything from you Hermione…I've forced a lot on you in the last few hours and I'm certain you're exhausted. I asked you to come in here for companionship, nothing more. I just want to hold you."
While he spoke, he had been gently caressing her arms and back as he held her within his embrace. She had closed her eyes when he kissed her, but chose now to open them and look up into his. She saw his honesty underlining the truth she had heard in his whispered speech. That look- the raw emotion in his eyes- gave her the incentive and courage to sit up on the bed and slowly reach down to draw her thin jumper over her head. When she saw the astonishment in his eyes, she felt a smirk spread on her lips as she leaned down to whisper in his ear.
"I told you green was my favourite colour…"
There may be a bit of a break between updates on this from this point as I have to go away on a course for work but hopefully, you'll come back and read when I do!