Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

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Chapter 4

Draco
-Past-

"Read it." She commanded and he opened his mouth to obey but she nudged him, too hard, with her elbow. "Not out loud."

He rolled his eyes but read it to himself and looked back up at her, she nodded, snatching it out of his hands and touching the tip of her wand to the parchment which burned to ashes that floated silently to the ground.

"Now think of it." Her voice was whispered against the cool night air and no sooner than he did as she said the building sprung up before him. Gloomy and Foreboding. He looked at Hermione uneasily, only to see her smiling largely. "Come on."

Confused, he followed as she climbed up the steps and directly through the front door.

"Grimmauld place?" He asked as she shut the door behind them and she stopped in surprise but nodded.

"How-"

"Yaxley." He ground out and realization dawned on her face.

"It doesn't matter. It's been cleaned out." She assured. "They put protective charms on it too. It can't be found unless the person has pure intent. It's a protection, you see. Highly advanced magic…"

"For Potter."

"Well, yes." Hermione edged and then she sneezed.

He smirked and reached in to his pocket, pulling the handkerchief from his pocket and passing it to her.

"Sorry. Dust. They've been working on it and-" She sneezed again, catching it in his handkerchief quickly just as the house elf appeared before them.

"Master is not home." he leaned down, his long nose brushing the floor as he muttered lowly under his breath, words that Draco was fairly certain had been declared illegal after the war.

"Draco, meet Kreacher," she supplied simply before she turned to face him more, "He's not too fond of me, as you can see."

Draco glared at the little elf, still cursing Granger under his breath until he noticed the man watching him.

"Aw, Master Draco. Of the noble house of Malfoy."

Draco scoffed, his lineage was many things but he was sure that noble wasn't one of them. Not now.

"Kreacher, we were wondering..." Granger started as the elf looked back at her and started muttering under his breath again. She met his gaze, exasperatedly, and motioned to the elf and suddenly he understood why she had requested his help after all.

"Kreacher." Draco commanded and the elf immediately stopped grumbling under his breath to look at the man before him. "Hermione needs to ask you some questions and I request that you answer her without speaking ill of her or her blood."

Kreacher growled under his breath but nodded and turned back to Granger who was looking at Draco curiously.

"Right. Kreacher, Draco's family has lost a house elf, we believe she was murdered. Several other families have as well. Kreacher, we need to know if you know anything. Anything at all."

"Kreacher knows only that they deserved it…"

Draco bit back a retort as Kreacher continued lowly disparaging the deceased house elves before Granger finally continued on.

"Kreacher, do you know who is behind the attacks?"

The house elf paused, eyeing Malfoy carefully, before he finally shook his head. "Only that the punishment is just and fair."

Draco turned away from the pair, chewing on the inside of his cheek as Hermione finished up her questioning and finally, told Kreacher she had asked all she needed. He only turned around when he heard him disappear.

"Are you okay?" Her voice was soft and he jumped when he felt her hand slip on to his arm.

"Ninny would never.. she would never have betrayed our family... my mother."

Granger nodded, "I know Draco."

He cleared his throat, reigning in his emotions before he turned back to face her. "Well, that was an enormous waste of time."

"Well... not necessarily." she bit her lip and he could almost see the wheels turning in her mind. "I just.. need to get to the library."

"Of course." He rolled his eyes, his tone teasing and he saw the smirk that passed her lips.

"Can you, can you make it home alright?" She asked and he nodded as they walked back through the house and out of the front door.

She smiled as they walked down the path and out of the front gate, making sure to close it behind them and before he could protest she reached out, grabbing his hand and squeezing it once before she let go and stepped forward, disapparating on the spot.

Hermione
-Present-

The healers were perplexed. They were sure that something- someone- had taken Hermione's memories. However, the how was the question with which they were struggling. For taking someone's memories to the extent that they were facing with her could – and would- cause serious damage. They had seen it with Gilderoy Lockhart who was still working on joined up writing and drooled on himself half the day. However, for all intents and purposes, she was fine.

Relatively speaking.

A week had passed and Malfoy hadn't returned and Hermione tried to tell herself that it didn't upset her.

Harry stopped by nearly every day, giving her updates on both his work at the ministry as well as her own case plus telling her anecdotes about their past. He avoided the subject of Malfoy, and while she wished she could say she was grateful, she also sometimes wished he would just tell her everything he knew.

Ron was also a frequent visitor and while he was not as often as Harry, Hermione found herself looking forward to his visits as well. The two would often play exploding snap or wizard's chess, avoiding the issues at hand. It was a welcome relief, but one she knew wouldn't last long.

It wasn't until the ninth day that things started to change. She had just returned to her room from a trip outside, relishing in the cool air that was absent from her stuffy and windowless room, when Malfoy walked in.

Without a word he handed her the book, an unassuming black bounded journal and she took it from him with shaky hands. "It's been a while since you've written in it..."

Carefully she opened the cover, noting immediately the scrawling on the front, noting it as hers, caused her vision to haze and suddenly the memory pushed forward. Of her mother and father embracing her as they gave her the journal and with a kiss, put her on the train back to Hogwarts. It was the last time she had seen her parents as her parents, that much she remembered and her eyes met Malfoy's quickly. "My parents?"

"They haven't told you?" He asked, his voice deep and raw and she shook her head. "What do you remember?"

"I obliviated them..."

Malfoy nodded. "Potter didn't tell you?'

"Tell me what Malfoy?" She asked, her voice hard.

He sighed and gestured for her to stand up. "Come with me."

Silently he left the room and she waited for half a beat before she followed him down the quiet hallways. Wherever they were going was on the same floor, she noted, as he passed both the lifts and the stairs and then he turned the corner and approached the desk that sat there, talking to the young witch who looked at him with wide eyes.

The young blonde girl smiled up at him and for a moment she felt her stomach clench at the way he leaned in to her, speaking softly and she laughed in return before she nodded, tossing her long silky hair over her shoulder. She shook it away quickly, refusing to let her body feel the jealousy that seemed to want to take over. Before she could think on it too much Malfoy turned and beckoned for her to follow him as he led her through the heavy double doors on the opposite end of the room.

"Where are we-" Her question died on her tongue as he opened a door to a room and she glanced inside.

The woman was not the woman she remembered. Her once beautiful brown curls now hung both limply and knotted around her shoulders and her face was aged with lines.

"Mum?" Hermione squeaked, moving in to the room as the woman continued to stare out of the window. "Mum?"

Tears poured from her eyes as she sat next to the woman, taking her hands in her own and begging for the woman to acknowledge her. She barely registered Malfoy's hand on her shoulder through her sobs and she sat there until she had nothing left to cry and her energy was gone and yet still, the woman made no move to recognize her.

"What happened?" Hermione finally asked, knowing Malfoy would give her the answers she was looking for.

"You found them after, in Australia... but your father was gone and your mother was... like this. We found out that it was one of them. They managed to break the charms you had on them but not without consequences."

She felt the bile rise up her throat as she rounded on him. "One of them?"

"A death eater."

And then, the memory was there, easily picked from her brain as though it had been there all along. The memory of Harry holding her upright as they walked in to the house and found her father's body lying across the floor, her mother staring emptily out the window. Ron's voice, calling to her from what seemed like miles away until finally, she had collapsed against him, unable to hold herself up any longer.

"You mean one of your lot." She snarled, fighting back the tears at the memory and throwing his hand off of her shoulder.

He stepped away from her then and she saw his hand twitch towards the mark on his forearm that he swore would fade with time but she knew was too far ingrained in him to ever really leave and she turned back to her mother. "Leave."

"'Mione"

"I said get out.." She roared and she heard him swallow before he did just as she said, and again, she was alone.

Draco
-Past-

He hadn't seen Granger in a week. He wished he could say he didn't care. He told himself it was because of the case. The case he so desperately wanted to solve. His mother was slowly coming back to her old self and he wondered if the problem wasn't just Ninny's murder but the memories the event brought back. Memories he himself worked so hard to keep at bay.

His days passed by as they usually did, yet he found it easier to stomach the banality that each one brought as his mind worked through the details of the case and he spent copious amounts of time wondering on whether Granger had made any progress.

So on the eighth day, a Saturday, when he woke, he expected to spend the day in much the same way. Instead, he was woken by the house elf apparating directly in to his room. He groaned and shoved his head under his pillow. "It's a Saturday Topsy."

"Yes Master, Topsy is aware but Miss Granger is here to see you Master Malfoy."

He started at that, uncovering his head. "Where is she?"

Topsy stammered slightly and shifted his eyes to the door as though planning his escape before he answered. "Mistress Narcissa insisted that Miss Granger join her, Master Draco."

Quick as a flash he was on his feet, not even bothering to dress as he hurried out of his room and down the hall, his bare feet slipping on the tile in his haste as he skidded in to the drawing room he knew his mother had taken her to.

"Draco." His mother looked up at his entrance, smirking slightly at his frazzled appearance. "I believe you forgot to get dressed."

Granger looked around then, her eyes wide and he fought back the smirk that threatened his lips as he watched her eyes flit to his bare chest and the pink tint rise to her cheeks before she quickly looked away.

"I was just offering Miss Granger here some tea, why don't you go dress for the day and then join us..." Narcissa offered with a smile and Draco's eyes narrowed.

"Mother-"

"Oh Draco, please." Narcissa sighed, standing up and moving towards him as she lowered her voice. "I promise, I'll be…cordial."

He studied her intently for a few moments before deciding that she was indeed telling the truth before he looked to Granger. "Are you alright?"

She blushed again as she met his gaze but nodded quickly. "Perfectly fine Draco."

His mother looked between the two, her delicate eyebrow arched before she reached up, placing a kiss on his cheek. She then gently directed him back through the door towards his room. With one final glance at the women, he breathed and hurried on to his room, hoping Granger would still be there when he returned.

"I'll leave you to it then." His mother said with a smile, patting his cheek lovingly as she passed him and his eyes darted to where Granger sat holding her near empty tea cup.

"Are you okay?" he asked, moving around the chair to face her.

She smiled shakily at him but he could see the lone tear that was slowly making its way down her cheek and without thinking he reached out, his thumb brushing away the teardrop as she met his eyes.

"What did she say?" He demanded, anger building up inside of him inexplicably.

She laughed and shook her head at him. "She- she apologized... for your aunt."

His eyes went to the mark across her neck and then to her arm where he knew his aunt Bella had written the foul name across her flesh.

"It's still there..." She said quietly, her fingers brushing the material of her shirt. "I didn't- I didn't want to forget. What people are capable of. What I'm capable of."

He swallowed thickly, nodding along. "I'm sorry too.. "

She set her cup down then, reaching out, her fingers grasping his as she lowered her voice. "Draco, what happened... it wasn't your fault. You were a pawn as much as Harry was... as much as any of us were. You did what you thought was best, to protect those you love."

He scoffed.

"No Draco. Look, I know as much as you that you were a... well, you were an arse back then, but you were raised thinking that muggles, muggleborns, that they were beneath you. In the end, it comes down to the fact that while you subscribed to that notion for half your life, something made you question that. You questioned it Draco. And that proves that you aren't a bad as you would want others to believe. As you believe."

He breathed. "I didn't stop it."

"Could you have?" She asked, squeezing his fingers slightly and he exhaled, looking up at chandelier that hung above them.

"I could have done something. If not for Dumbledore then for you... here."

He jumped as he felt her hand on his cheek, pulling his eyes to hers. "They would have killed you. Family or not, they would have killed you. Your father. Perhaps your mother..."

He saw her choke up then, at the mention of his mother but she took a deep, shaky breath and pressed on.

"Before, on our way to Grimmauld Place, you said you weren't pretending to be who you were before. I thought you were lying but.. but you're not are you? You don't laugh, you don't smile because you feel...guilty. Is that it?"

He felt the lump form in his throat as she stared deep in to his eyes and finally, he nodded, just once. Because despite everything, she was right. He didn't let himself get close to people, he hadn't spoken to the few friends he had had at Hogwarts in years because he knew he didn't deserve it. Not now, not ever.

"Draco, you listen to me." Granger said firmly, her hand still on his face. "Dumbledore was dying. He knew it and despite that, he wanted to save you. Not so that you could wallow in guilt for the rest of your life but so that you could live. He wouldn't want this."

"And you?"

"You saved us." She said quietly and he scoffed once more, pulling away from her.

"I watched as she carved that word in to your flesh, as you bled on to our marble floors, as she pressed the knife in to your neck. I watched."

"You said you didn't know if it was us. You gave us a chance Draco. Harry knows it, I know it.."

"And Weasley?" He spat.

"Ron knows it too, he's just hard headed." She smirked. "Without you lying to them, we wouldn't be here. I'm sure of that. It would have ended so much differently, but you gave us our best chance. You did that. No one was forcing you."

He turned away from her, his eyes moving to the spot on the floor where she had laid. And though it was spotless now, he could have sworn he could still see the blood dripping from her wound. Her very bright red blood, that looked the same as his.

Before he could stop her, her hands gripped his arm and held him tight as she pulled up his shirt sleeve, revealing the ugly black mark that marred his pale white skin before she reached down with her own and raised up her own sleeve. "These are scars Draco, they don't define us."

He gazed at the letters dug in to her skin and his fingers moved of their own accord, resting on the lopsided 'M' lightly.

"They said it will fade, in time." He said of his own mark and he felt her fingers skim across the dark mark lightly. "I didn't want it too... I wanted it as a reminder of what kind of person I am."

"Draco-"

"But you're right." He cut her off quietly. "It doesn't define me. They don't define us..."

"'It's our choices that show what we truly are...'" She pushed his sleeve back down, covering the ugly pattern and meeting his eyes. "You've made bad choices Draco but so have I; it's what we learn from those choices that's important."

They stood like that, her fingers wrapped around his for what felt like forever before finally, they let go and moved on to discussing what Hermione had discovered in the library. But even as they spoke, sitting across from each other, Draco couldn't help but remember the feel of her fingers ghosting across his skin. Not repulsed by the reminder of his past, but instead, willing to give him another chance. Willing to forgive.

A/N: I like the imagery of the word written on her skin. Sorry if that bothers anyone, I'm all about that imagery. Ha. Also, I know Kreacher may seem OOC after the events of DH, it was necessary to the story and may be a vital role. Who knows. One last thing, I am of the belief that Narcissa was a loving mother stuck in an abusive relationship. You may not agree, and that's okay but canonically she did put her life on the line for her son and the movies even glimpse into this before she lies to Voldemort and Draco, also, is shown to show affection to her and I think he loved her very much. So, it's my head cannon. Take it for what you will.
Italicized quote is from JK Rowling and is one of my favorite quotes in all of the series.