A/N - Warning - Oooo, Draco's got a potty mouth!
Draco escorted Anna back to her chamber and stood guard outside while she packed a few items. Professor McGonagall had given her a special bag that she said was bottomless. Anna could fit as much as she wanted into it and it would still be no larger than a regular purse. She threw in some toiletries and a few changes of clothes. Professor McGonagall also would arrange coverage for their last day of classes before the winter break. Draco refused to tell Anna where they were going.
He grabbed her hand as soon as she opened her door and they walked to the courtyard. Thick clouds had filled the sky, and the night was pitch black. Draco fervently hoped the darkness was enough to conceal them and no one saw them leaving together. He removed a small coin wrapped in blue velvet from a pocket of his robes. Holding it in the velvet, he showed it to Anna.
"This is our portkey. Do you remember what a portkey is?" he asked her.
"Yes" she answered. "It's a magical token that can take us somewhere, but only to that one place."
"Portkeys work whether you are Magical or Muggle. Apparition over long distances is difficult, so we will use this to travel. We touch it together" he instructed.
"Ok" she replied. They both grabbed the coin. Anna felt if something had hooked her stomach and pulled her along. It wasn't painful, but it did make her feel nauseous. Soon she felt solid ground beneath her feet and she stumbled. Draco was still holding her hand and he steadied her on her feet.
"Alright?" he asked, looking in her eyes.
"Alright" she answered. "Just a little queasy."
"Portkeys can do that" he said, wrapping the coin in the velvet and putting it back in his pocket. As he led her up a small hill, Anna realized she could smell salt in the air and hear surf crashing. They were somewhere on the coast. The moon was full and bright. She looked up and saw a beautiful home at the top of the hill. It wasn't quite big enough that she would call it a mansion, but it was definitely not a cottage. The house was a light colored stucco and had a Spanish style tile roof. All the ground floor windows were French doors leading to the front terraces. The second floor windows were also French doors, each with a half-moon transom window above. These doors opened to balconies, three doors to each balcony, three balconies across the front of the house. The front garden was lush with trees and vegetation. The house, however, was dark and looked empty.
"Can you tell me where we are now?" she asked as he led her to the house.
"Family vacation house on the Cote d'Azur" he told her.
"France?" she asked, disbelieving. "We just went from Scotland to France?"
"Yes," he replied calmly. "Portkey, remember?" Draco opened the door and they walked into the foyer and lit a few lamps. It was a white hallway, with openings on either side leading to the ground floor rooms. A staircase in front of them split the hall in two and Anna could see more doors off the entrance hall behind the staircase. The house was silent.
"Is anyone else here?" Anna whispered to Draco.
"No" he answered. "I sent for some house elves, but I don't think they are here yet."
"I thought we were meeting your mother?"
"No. My mother is traveling, but she is in Greece. Since we left at the same time, someone clever might assume we are together and logically, for the holidays I would be with my mother. Narcissa still has to register her travel with the ministry. It would have been too easy to find us if we were actually with her."
"Won't your mother be in danger if they go there looking for me?" she asked as he led her up the stairs .
Draco chuckled slightly. "You don't know my mother. No, she'll be fine. Our homes have some of the most formidable protections in the world. I also sent her a warning, just in case."
At the top of the stairs, he turned left. He opened a door halfway down the hall, saying "This is your room."
How charming!, she thought. It was decorated in white and yellows with two of the French doors she had seen from the outside. "Bathroom is through there" he pointed to a door on the left side of the room. "Freshen up if you like. I'll meet you in the kitchen. I'm going to see about getting something to eat."
"Ok, thanks" Anna said as he left and closed the door. She hadn't felt hungry until he mentioned food. Now she realized she was starving. She took a quick shower and changed clothes. Her hair was still damp as she made her way down to the kitchen. She found it in the back of the house. It was a large, bright room with oversized professional appliances. The right side of the room was an informal dining area. Draco already occupied a seat at the table. There were platters of food set out and a pitcher of something pale orange. He stood as she approached the table and pulled out a chair for her. "It smells delicious!" she said as she took her seat.
"Compliments to the house elves then, they arrived just in time. I cannot cook!" he said as he resumed his seat. Anna filled a plate with food and Draco poured her a drink. She took a sip. It was just what she needed; light, fruity, fizzy, and cold, with just a touch of some type of alcohol. Draco did most of the talking as they ate.
"I know you couldn't bring much, so the elves will help you with wardrobe. The house is fairly secluded, so we won't be disturbed. There are three small towns nearby, but there's not much cause for anyone to come out this way. Besides, the house is magically disguised. To anyone else, it looks like an old, run down chateau. And the locals believe it to be haunted, so that helps keep people away."
Anna laughed. "Are we the ghosts?"
"We are" he answered, smiling. "The towns are quite charming, though. Perhaps we will visit them while we are here."
"Sounds great" she said. Soon she had eaten her fill and finished her drink, and she was finding it difficult to keep her eyes open. This had been one of the longest nights of her life. She couldn't believe it was still the same night she began grading papers in her chamber at Hogwarts.
"Anna" he said gently, and she realized she had fallen asleep at the table.
"Oh, sorry!" she said and stifled a yawn.
"No, it's alright. It's been a long and difficult night. Go get some sleep. You're safe here, I promise."
"Thank you Draco. For everything" she said and kissed his cheek. "Good night."
"Good night, Anna."
The next two days passed quietly. They would breakfast, usually on the back terrace overlooking the ocean. A visit to one of the towns or time on the beach filled the rest of the morning. Then a light lunch and quiet afternoons on the terrace again, reading and talking. Dinner was usually followed by another walk on the beach.
The third day of their stay was Christmas Day. Not having any family with them to celebrate, they decided to skip the holiday traditions and keep to their routine. It was on this afternoon that Anna finally asked Draco how he came to be teaching at Hogwarts. She had been re-reading the Rowling histories and she had to ask.
"Draco?" she said.
"Hmmm?" he answered, looking up from his book.
"Please let me know if this is none of my business, if it's too personal. It's difficult for me to reconcile the person in these books with the man I know today. I cannot imagine that someone who could be that…."she searched for the right word, not wanting to offend him, but he filled it in for her.
"Malicious?"
She blushed slightly. "Well, yes, in fact. How someone like that would ever be considered for the professor position at a children's school. Were you really so different then? Or did you change later? It must have been extraordinary either way, because I know people do not change that much, if at all."
Draco just looked at her for minute. Anna was sure he was trying to find a way to tell her to bugger off. He poured himself a drink, and stared at the glass in his hands as he began to talk.
"The depictions of my actions and personality in those books is not far off. I did all of it. I said most of it. I was there, in the middle of all that darkness, and stopped none of it. After the war, my father was sent to Azkaban. My mother was heavily sanctioned by the ministry. She was allowed to keep her family money, but was forced to relinquish all Malfoy inheritance for fines and reparations to those hurt by her and my father. I was also questioned. My mother, however pleaded for mercy for me. 'He was just a child' she said. 'He was forced into it by his father' she said. True as that may have been, everything I did was still my choice."
She interrupted. "Draco, people never think the choices they make are bad when they choose. They choose based on the circumstances right then. No one realizes a bad choice was made until later."
"Yes, but right and wrong are a constant. I knew one from the other, and consistently chose wrong. Anyway, the ministry agreed with my mother and I was free. But free for what? I was an outcast. Everyone I had known and trusted was dead or imprisoned. I stayed with my mother for a time, but she was devastated by her losses. I couldn't console her, I couldn't do anything for her."
"So I moved out. I went to London. I found the one companion that was always there; never let me down, never taunted me with my past and even let me forget for a while. I started drinking. A lot. Most of that time is a blur to me, almost a year. Then one day I stumbled out of a pub in the early evening. I had been drinking all day. I literally ran into the last person I ever wanted to see again. Hermione Granger. She looked right through me. She just said 'Excuse me' and kept walking. I was infuriated. How dare she just dismiss me like that? Just a few years ago, crossing my path would have had her quaking in fear, or scuttling back to her friends."
"So I yelled 'You worthless bitch!' She stopped and turned to look at me."
"'Draco Malfoy' she said. 'You certainly have changed and not for the better I see.'"
"I told her to fuck off, her and her lousy friends. She just kept looking at me, no reaction."
"'Do you know that I haven't given you one single minute of my life in the last three years?' she said."
"I just stared at her then. I didn't know what she was trying to say, so I just gave the classic 'Whatever'. It was pitiful. Then she said 'You know what Draco? I'm going to buy you a drink. I have a story you need to hear.'"
"I wanted to tell her to fuck off again, but hey, free drink, right?" he gave a self-deprecating laugh. "So we went back into the pub and sat at a table. She had a glass of wine and I ordered my usual, double whatever was strong. She just sat for a minute, sipped her wine and stared at me. I was waiting for her to taunt me, to lash out at me, anything. I did not expect what she said next."
"'Draco. I forgive you. In fact, I forgave you a long time ago. So did Ron and Harry and the Weasley family. We all did. We forgave all of it. You and a lot of others.'"
"'Fuck off' I told her. Alcohol seemed to dull my vocabulary as much as it did my senses. 'I never asked for your forgiveness and I don't want it.'"
"'I didn't forgive you for your sake' she said, 'I did it because I was stuck in the war and I could not escape. I did it because I was caught in Malfoy Manor all over again, every day. I did it because all that anger and pain was eating me alive and I could not move on with my life. I did it because I didn't want to end up' she paused and looked at me, hard. 'A pathetic shell of a person. Maybe you should try it sometime.'"
"I laughed at her. 'Who should I forgive?' I asked. 'My father? No visitors in Azkaban! Voldemort, dead! Dear Auntie Bellatrix, dead! So tell me Granger, just who in the hell do you think I need to forgive?'"
"She leaned over the table, got right in my face. Close enough that I could smell the wine she had been drinking. 'Try looking in a mirror Draco. Start there.' Then she dropped some bills on the table to pay for the drinks and walked away. I haven't spoken to her since."
"I went back to my wretched, smelly apartment and lay in my bed for two days. Didn't eat, didn't drink. I just lay there and thought about what she said. The morning of the third day, I did just what she suggested. I dragged my sorry ass out of that bed and stared at myself long and hard in the mirror. I told myself, 'You made bad choices and you did terrible things. But I forgive you.' I didn't make excuses, I didn't lay blame on anyone else, I took responsibility and I forgave myself. I did that every single morning. Eventually I even started to believe it. I started drinking less. I went to the Ministry, determined to get a job. I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn't a 'pathetic shell of a person.' That I was still worth something. I swore I would do anything; scrub toilets, mop floors, take out the trash, and I did; all that and more. I did the most menial jobs they could find for me and I did them all well and without complaint. It did not go unnoticed. People began to talk to me again, I even managed to make a few friends. Real friends who liked me not Lucius Malfoy's son."
"After a year, Minister Shacklebolt himself asked to meet with me. I went into his office and sat down. He just stared at me, it must have been at least five minutes. I met his eyes. Honestly, without malice or fear or anger. Man to man. Then he wrote out a parchment, sealed it and told me to deliver it to Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts. She read it, then looked at me over those little glasses of hers. 'Well,' she said, 'it appears that Minister Shacklebolt has found a suitable replacement for our retiring potions professor. Welcome to the staff Professor Malfoy.'"
Anna had tears in her eyes by the time he was finished. "That's amazing" she said. "Not many people have the strength or courage to turn their lives around like that."
He drained his drink and put the glass back on the side table. "It wasn't easy. It still isn't. There are still parents who want me thrown out when they discover who will be teaching their sons and daughters. Professor McGonagall always invites them into her office to discuss it. I don't know exactly what she says, but they never bring it up again."
"And I guess people like me" she said, "People who judge you by that little bit in these books." Shaking the book she was still holding. She felt guilty that she had ever thought so poorly of him.
"That's not your fault" he assured her. "Those books are accurate. And it's like you said, people rarely change. Why would anyone expect me to be any different?"
Anna moved to sit next to him and took his hand. "I glad you did change. I feel honored to know the man you are today. And I probably would not be alive if it weren't for you. Thank you Draco Malfoy." She kissed his cheek. He turned his head to face her, looked into her eyes for a moment and kissed her deeply. After they broke apart he asked her, "Would you have dinner with me tomorrow?"
She laughed and said, "I have dinner with you every night!" He pressed his forehead to hers and laughed with her.
"No, I meant dinner out. I believe it's called a date? There is a fantastic bistro in town, best food in France."
"Of course I will" she said.
That next day was Boxing Day. The day Luna was going to return to Hogwarts disguised as Anna to try and draw out the attacker. Anna was a nervous wreck all day. In an effort to distract her, Draco even agreed to watch her favorite movie, a nauseating thing (to him at least) called Notting Hill. But he watched it without comment and thought she looked cute when she teared up at the end. Such an odd word, he thought, to end a romantic movie – indefinitely.
Later in the afternoon she excused herself to prepare for their dinner in town. She took extra time on her hair and choosing her clothes. The house elves had managed to gather her a wardrobe that mostly fit and was mostly from this millennium. She chose a lightly printed floral dress and a rich cashmere sweater in case it got chilly. She met him at the bottom of the stairs at 6pm.
"You look lovely" he said as he kissed her cheek and took her hand. They stepped outside and Apperated to the edge of the village. The bistro was crowded, but they were seated right away, at a table by a window overlooking a pretty flower garden. A four piece band played softly in a corner of the tiny dance floor.
He was right about the food, she had never tasted better. As they finished their entrees, the band began to play a melody that was familiar to Anna, but she couldn't place it right away, until Draco asked her to dance. It was the same song they had danced to at the winter formal.
"How did they know this song?" she asked him as he led her to the dance floor. "That was a wizarding band playing that night."
"Oh, someone may have slipped the manager a large tip and some sheet music" he said mischievously. He took her into his arms and danced her around the small dance floor as easily as he had in the great hall. As the music ended he kissed her hair again and then led her back to the table for their dessert.
"Draco" she said. "It's not that I'm not enjoying this, and you and all the kisses" she blushed, "I just don't quite understand when this all happened? I mean we were co-workers, then maybe friends, then there was a dance and then kissing. How did we get here?"
"Well, I arranged for a crazed maniac to try to kill you so I could whisk you away for a romantic trip to the south of France." he joked.
She laughed. "I'm serious! You just suddenly seemed to care about me and I want to know how it happened!"
He thought for a minute. "I actually admired you from the start. It took a lot of courage to leave everything behind and plunge into a brand new world you barely knew anything about. And I may have been a little…" he hesitated
"Mean?" she asked.
"Harsh" he decided. "Harsh at first, it was a reaction to the look you gave me when we first met. Even though it is understandable, it's still difficult to deal with sometimes. You work so hard to change and someone reads two books and puts you right back there again."
"I am sorry about that" she said.
"Anna, it is not your fault" he assured her. "It is going to keep happening. I can't do anything about that. At least you took the time to see past that. So, let's see, what was next? The revolting sleeping potion you made me drink, that was a key event."
"Really? Revolting?" she asked.
"Oh yes, it was! But, I hadn't had anyone who wanted to take care of me in a very long time. But it wasn't just the potion. That was the night you apologized to me for upsetting me when you met Potter. It was a real apology; unqualified and honest. People don't apologize like that anymore, and no one has worried about my feelings enough to apologize for hurting them in a long time."
"And the night of the formal, you looked so beautiful. When you walked into the Great Hall, I thought I was having a vision of some kind."
She blushed furiously now. "That was Luna's glamour charms" she said.
"No, it wasn't, because you look just as beautiful now as you did then. You always have. That was just the first time I really noticed. But there was one event that really showed me a lot. Anna, do you remember what it takes to cast a Patronus?" he asked.
She thought for a few seconds. Then she remembered. "You have to think of a good memory, something that makes you happy. The stronger the feelings the stronger the Patronus."
He nodded. "I never was able to cast a Patronus when I was younger. I guess I really did not have any happy memories. Oh, there were memories I thought made me happy; when my father praised me for something I said or did, but it was usually something that had hurt someone else. It wasn't until I had been teaching for about a year that I finally had some real, happy memories to use and I learned the Patronus, but it was still weak and difficult to achieve."
"The night I killed the vampire and I knew you were safe and you were by my side - that Patronus was the easiest, brightest I had ever cast. Being with you made me happier than I had ever been" he said. "I can't explain it any better than that."
She was staring at him now. She could not believe what he had just said to her. It was amazing. "No one's ever said anything like that to me" she whispered.
"It's just the truth, Anna" he said taking her hand on top of the table. "What about you? I may have been doing some kissing, but you weren't doing any protesting."
"I think it was when Luna first came to my chamber for a visit. She told me that things weren't always what they seemed in the books. She told me about how you treated her when she was at the Manor. I realized that there was so much more to you than I knew, more than you showed people, even as a professor. The way you looked at me sometimes, like the potion night. When you woke me in the library, there was something in your eyes I couldn't quite place. You were mostly patient with me as I learned about your world, even when I tried to strangle you when I saw Hoggle for the first time! Then after the formal, I couldn't tell if you had kissed me at the end of our dance or not. I drove myself crazy for a week trying to decide! And when you didn't act any differently, I realized I had probably imagined it and that disappointed me."
He smiled at her and whispered, "Well, now we know."
She said, "Yes, we do."
They finished their dessert and coffee and returned to the beach house. In the dimly lit foyer, he pulled her close and kissed her intensely. She sighed and melted into him. "Come with me?" he whispered. She nodded. He led her up the stairs, but instead of turning left to her room, he turned right and stopped. "This is my room" he said, standing in front of one of the doors.
"Oh" she said. He didn't move.
"Is this ok?" he asked her. She didn't answer. She smiled at him, opened the door and pulled him inside.
So I know last chapter I predicted one more chapter and an epilogue, but this chapter got away from me. It tells the story I wanted to tell, it just took more to get all the details I wanted in. So, now I am predicting one more (short) chapter and an epilogue. If you read it and you have something to say, review it, thanks!