Chapter 11

In the days following the reception of Harry's first letter, Hermione had taken to sitting outside and reading so that she could watch for Hedwig. It had been three days and so far there had been no reply.

"Granger I'm sure you'll be able to hear the owl or something. You don't need to sit in the cold all day." Draco called from inside the tent.

"I like it out here!" Hermione lied. It was absolutely freezing out, and not in the least bit pleasant. Hermione felt uneasy inside though, as if she might miss Hedwig completely.

"Bullocks Granger." Draco said, poking his head out of the tent. Hermione smiled a little bit, admitting defeat.

"Yeah it's freezing." She admitted.

"Then why are you still out here?" He asked, sitting down her.

"I can't stand to miss Hedwig. The thought terrifies me." She admitted to him.

"They mean that much to you?" Draco asked. He was baffled that some one could care so much about some one else. Hermione smiled a little and looked away, trying to hide the tears forming in her eyes. She missed Ron and Harry so much it hurt.

"We've been through everything together. I mean, me and Ron are engaged. And Harry is like family to me." She explained.

"My friends were imbeciles. Except for Blaise. I genuinely liked him. But Crabbe and Goyle were more like insurance than anything. And Pansy was just a convenient fuck whenever I wanted." Draco told her honestly. Hermione was taken aback at his language and brutal honesty.

"I never really got to know Blaise." Hermione said, ignoring his comment about Pansy.

"He was a great guy. He was Slytherin through and through, but he was still a good guy. He was actually smart too." Malfoy was with a smile, remembering his days with Blaise. He was one of the few people who actually got Draco. He was some one Draco didn't have to pretend around. Hermione smiled at seeing Draco reminisce about something that actually made him happy.

"He was one of the few Slytherins who never called me a mudblood. It made him stand out." Hermione said. Draco smirked.

"So it wasn't his good looks that got your attention?" Draco teased. Hermione laughed, causing Draco to smile.

"Yes I suppose that did play a big part in it as well." Hermione admitted. She felt a little odd talking so easily with Malfoy, but at the same time it kind of felt nice.

"All the girls loved him." Draco smiled.

"I seem to remember that almost the entire female population of our school was nursing a crush on you. If you weren't such a prat I'm sure you could have gotten almost any girl in the school." Hermione told him. Draco smirked at her.

"Almost?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"There were a few of us who could not stand you." Hermione told him simply.

"Us being?"

"Well me of course. How could I possibly feel anything for you after you had always been so horrible to me? And then there was Ginny. She thought you were a downright horrible git as well. I don't think Luna was too fond of you either. Then there's-"

"Okay, I'm sure my ego can't take much more." Draco laughed, holding up a hand. Hermione smiled at the rare sound of his laughter. She paused for a minute.

"Why were you such an arrogant prat?" She asked him curiously. Draco thought for a minute.

"I guess because it's what was expected of me. As a Malfoy and as a Slytherin I had to do it. It's what I grew up knowing, and all through my schooling I was rewarded for being a horrible person." He told her.

"Maybe if you had been Harry's friend when you originally met things would have been different." Hermione mused. Draco gave a sad smile.

"Do you really think that my father would have allowed that? I would have been an orphan by eleven."

"It's really too bad that you were raised in such an awful home."

"My mother was great, she was just in love with, and terrified of my father. My father on the other hand…" Draco said with a shrug. He wasn't really ready to talk about his previous home life.

"I really thought that after the war maybe your parents would see reason. I don't know, after everything that Voldemort put them through I just don't get it."

"I hoped so too." Draco said with a barely perceptible hint of sadness. Hermione gave him a small smile and then looked back out to the forrest.

"You're different."

"How so?" He asked.

"You're nicer. More peaceful. I don't know. You're just different."

"I guess I've just grown up. And now that I'm free of my father's influence I've been able to reevaluate my beliefs."

"Your beliefs on blood status?" Hermione questioned bravely, bracing herself for his answer. Draco hesitated, not quite sure what to say. He wasn't quite sure what to believe anymore. He had grown up believing one thing, but Hermione proved all he had ever known wrong.

"I don't really know." He told her honestly. Hermione nodded.

"Well I guess it's progress." She said diplomatically, looking out into the forest again. She leapt up when she saw the flutter of white approaching.

"He's here! He found us again!" She exclaimed, racing to the spot where Hedwig was waiting. She brought Hedwig back into the wards and raced to the tent to open up the letter from Harry.

Hermione,

It's so incredible to hear from you. It's such a relief to know that you're safe. I had been so worried for you. I cannot tell you how excited I was that Hedwig found you. I'm baffled as to how, but I'm so very pleased to be able to keep in contact. We're still not making much progress here, hopefully you guys turn something up soon. Ginny and I are great. We haven't set a wedding date yet, as we wanted to wait for your return. It wouldn't feel right without you. Everyone at the Auror's office sends their best as well as Teddy and all the Weasley's.

Hermione grinned at all this happy news. She was so relieved to be kept up to date on everyone's lives, and to know that everyone is safe. She wiped some tears of happiness away before she continued to read.

I know that now it's probably the worst time for me to tell you this, and I really didn't want to. But I felt as if you had to know. It wouldn't be fair to you if I kept it from you, and Ginny agrees that you need to be told. I just hope that you'll be okay without me and Gin there to help you through it, and I hope that it won't deter your focus. Oh well, I guess I'd better just come out and say it… Ron is seeing Lavender again. Everyone has tried to make him see reason, but he's in one of his states. He's angry and not thinking clearly. I'm really sorry Hermione. I think he's a right foul git for it, his family agrees. I hope you'll be okay. Just know that I love you.

Love, Harry

Tears began to pour down Hermione's face as she read the last portion of the letter. She had to re-read it to make sure that it wasn't just her mind playing tricks on her. She put the letter down with shaky hands and got up and started pacing. Her mind was racing at lightning speed, full of angry and hurt thoughts. She didn't understand how Ron could do this to her. He had no right to be angry at her what so ever. It wasn't her fault, and he was being completely irrational, right? Maybe if she had just stayed home, refused the mission or something… she thought. But then the logical part of her brain kicked in, telling her that the wizarding world needed this horcrux destroyed, that it was her duty. She picked up the nearest object and hurled it across the room in a fit of anger. She heard a satisfying smash, but didn't look to see the damage and continued pacing, raking her fingers through her hair.

"Hermione?" Draco asked timidly, using her first name. Hermione's head snapped up at her name, but she hardly saw the face infront of her. The tears came harder until she was sobbing.

"He's back with her!" She sobbed. Malfoy looked confused.

"What?"

"Ron! He's back with Lavender! The bastard is supposed to be my fiancé! How could he do this? It's not fair. What did I do wrong?" Hermione cried. Draco walked towards Hermione cautiously, ducking as she chucked a couple more things across the room. He grabbed her wrist and pried the drinking glass from her fingers before leading her over to the sofa. He sat her down and sat down beside her, not really knowing what to do.

"He's an huge tosser, and she's an ugly slut." Malfoy told her, using muggle swears to get his point across. He didn't really know what to say to calm Hermione down.

"I love him!" She cried, throwing herself onto Draco's shoulder. Draco froze, he had no idea what to do. Hermione was completely hysterical, and he had never been good with crying women- especially one's that he had spent most of his life hating.

"He was supposed to love me too." Hermione said softly into his shoulder. Draco gave in at hearing her broken voice and wrapped his arms around her, holding her while she cried into his shoulder.

"Shh… It's okay. You'll be okay." He whispered into her hair, as it was all he could really see. He knew that she would be too. She was one of the strongest people he knew, despite her occasional breakdowns. Right now she was just in shock, and when she snapped out of it, she would compose herself and go on as if nothing had ever happened. Draco was surprised to find that he was actually angry at the Weasel. He couldn't believe that Ron could be such an idiot as to let Hermione go like that. He was angry at Ron for hurting her.

Draco sat there for a while, rubbing Hermione's back while she cried into his shoulder. Eventually the sobbing subsided and Hermione sat up. Her hair was disheveled and her face was red and blotchy. She looked a right mess, but she somehow managed to smile.

"Thank you Malfoy. I really needed that." She said. Draco was baffled by her quick turnaround. One minute she was lost in sorrow, the next she was smiling. This woman never failed to surprise him.

"Anytime." He said. He looked away, not wanting to meet her teary eyes. "Would you like some tea?"

"Oh yes that would be lovely. I'll just go get cleaned up." She said. Draco was stunned. She had been a right mess not even a minute ago, and now she was all polite and composed. He didn't understand. When she returned she looked much better. Her hair had been contained again and her eyes, while still a little red and teary, were not puffy anymore.

"How do you do it?" He asked, setting her cup of tea infront of her.

"How do I do what?" She asked.

"One minute you can be a complete wreck and the next you're so… composed. I don't understand how it's possible."

"Oh. I don't know. I'm a passionate person. When I feel things, they're extreme. But I'm also very rational, so I guess I feel the need to reign things in eventually." She said, not really understanding it herself.

"It's really quite impressive." Draco commended.

"Coming from the man who never shows emotion ever, that's quite high praise."

"You're strong enough to let yourself feel. I push all my emotions away. That's the difference." He told her honestly. Hermione found herself wondering when they had gotten to the point where they could sit and talk about their feelings. She chuckled to herself, she was talking about her feeling with Draco Malfoy. The thought was completely absurd!

"What?" Draco asked, confused at her giggle. He smiled at her amusement.

"Well it's just… if some one had told me a few months ago that I would be sitting talking about my feelings with Draco Malfoy, I'm sure I would have had them admitted to St. Mungo's. Yet here are." She said. Draco smirked.

"It really is kind of weird, looking at how much we hated each other."

"Even when you arrived at the ministry, pledging your allegiance to our side I wouldn't have believed it." She said with a disbelieving shake of her head.

"When I came to the ministry, I was still a proverbial fence sitter. I still kind of believed in my old ways, but I hated the extremity of it. I didn't really know you I guess. I was jumping to conclusions." He explained.

"And you don't believe in your old ways now?" She asked.

"Like I said before, I don't know what to believe." Hermione nodded.

"It amazes me that you just found out that your fiancé is with some one else, yet you can sit here and talk about my beliefs with me." He said to her. Hermione gave a sad smile.

"I guess it helps me take my mind off of it. That's what I really need. I can't dwell on it or else I'll get distracted from the mission." Draco smirked his Slytherin smirk at her, and she dreaded his next comment.

"I'm sure I can think of more than a few ways to keep your mind of the Weasel." Hermione chucked a pillow at him and laughed.

"And what would all your Slytherin friends think of that? Draco Malfoy, the pureblood, sleeping with Hermione Granger, the know-it-all bookworm mudblood." Hermione said with a little laugh. Draco smirked, then his face turned dark.

"Don't call yourself that." He said.

"You did." She countered.

"That's different."

"How?"

"I was stupid. I hated you at the time."

"And you don't now?" She asked after a minute. Draco paused, unsure of how to answer that. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about Hermione. He didn't know how he felt about her blood status. All he knew was that she was messing with his head, like since when did Draco Malfoy smile at hearing some one laugh, or grow angry at them being hurt?

"No. I don't." He said after a little while. Hermione gave a small smile.

"I don't hate you either."

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while. This is somewhat of another filler chapter, but I prefer to see it as a developmental chapter. I'm not sure how I like it though, I feel almost as if I'm betraying Draco's character by him being so nice all of a sudden, but at the same time I can't portray him as the asshole that he's always seemed if I want to write a Dramione. I'm also worried that I'm making Hermione seem soft, but at the same time I can't expect her to be indifferent to news of Ron and her nightmares right? I don't know, what do you guys think? Also, what do you guys think of the rate that their relationship is developing? Is it okay with you guys? Please let me know! Review please my dears, it inspires me to write more! Thanks :)