Last time:

"Malfoy...I mean...Draco?"

He slowly looked at me, shocked. I never said his name like this. When I think about it, I never said his first name at all. I walked towards him. I didn't know what got into me, but I leaned forward and kissed him on his cheek.

"Thanks for being here for me."

"Anytime," he breathed and slowly left my apartment.

I sat on the floor. I didn't know what it meant that I kissed him. I didn't even know why I did it and if something is going to change now. But I knew one thing for sure. I liked it.

Weeks went by surprisingly quickly and December came in no time. I did my routine, called my parents and Harry, and met Draco every morning in our Café. Both Draco and I decided not to comment our little kiss...well, my little kiss. We became good friends. I usually woke up, prepared for bad day and then I remembered that I will see Draco. I don´t know why I was so against him. He had thick walls around him, but once I brought them down, he opened to me. We told each other almost everything. He was exactly the friend I needed. I could tell him what´s on my mind and taught him to take things more seriously. He listened to me and helped me but also taught me to not take things so seriously. We completed each other.

I woke up that morning, after having my dream. It wasn´t hectic, desperate or hysterical. My mysterious person held me and I let him. I didn´t pressure him to tell me who he is. My life was finally getting better, so I was okay to let him keep his secret identity for a while. I dressed up and left my place to meet Draco. I arrived sooner as always. I didn´t mind. He was never late. I ordered our usual – black tea with milk and black coffee.

"Hey, Hermione," I heard behind me. Draco was standing there, smiling. I couldn´t get used to his smile or to him saying my first name. It sounded so nice from his lips.

"Good morning, Draco," I smiled back. His name still sounded unusual to me, yet still, it felt right to say it.

He sat next to me. Few months ago, I would pull away, but I actually liked sitting next to my friend. Possibly the only friend I had except from Harry. He set his documents on our table and drank a bit from his tea. I followed his example and studied him from above my cup. How is it that I never noticed him properly? He has bullied me for years and I felt like this is the first time I paid close attention to him. My eyes ran over his pale, platinum hair, his high cheek bones, and deep grey eyes. They fascinated me the most. They were even more beautiful than Mr. Collins´s eyes. Draco noticed I was studying him.

"What are looking at?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." I said innocently. I had on my tongue: "Do you know you´re actually quite handsome?" but I was afraid it might cross the lines of our friendship. He sure did look handsome. I was wondering if he has ever studied me as close as I did him now.

"Look, I got to run. My mother phoned me today that she´s not feeling well. I want to floo back to our Manor and make sure she´s okay. Can I stop at your place at eight?" he asked.

"Of course you can. I´ll have a look at these documents and we can discuss them tonight."

"Sounds good. Well, I´m off. See you tonight."

"Yes. Give your mum my best wishes."

"I will. Bye."

I waved and watched him leaving. Something inside me felt a bit broken but I couldn´t find out what and especially why.

Anyway, I had some time for myself. I went for a walk and visited the park in front of Eiffel Tower. It was one of my favourite places in Paris. I sat on a blanket and I called my parents and Harry. Harry made sure that Ginny wasn´t around. He felt bad for that incident and didn´t want to hurt me again. I haven´t call him since that day, so I had a lot of explanation to do.

"You´re working with WHOM?"

"Come on, Harry. Calm down. It´s not so bad actually. He´s changed."

"I´m so sorry Hermione. I set you a work with Malfoy."

"Harry, don´t you listen? It´s fine. He´s fine. We argue a lot and we make fun of each other, but it´s more like friend to friend," I tried to explain.

"Yeah, of course. Like bloody Malfoy could ever change."

"I knew you wouldn´t understand. People can change."

He sighed, clearly not liking this. "Isn´t there a chance for a re-pair?"

"No, unless I want to come back to England. Well, enough of me. It´s okay, really. How are you doing?"

He didn´t like the change of subject, but he knew how stubborn I was. "It´s actually good. More than good. We found a house together with Ginny. You know, Hermione...I think I´m going to propose to her."

"What?" I exclaimed happily. "Harry, that´s amazing. Congratulations."

"Don´t congratulate me yet. It is not like she said yes."

"Oh, you silly. Of course she will. You two are perfect for each other. Merlin, I´m so happy for you."

He laughed, obviously happy about my reaction. The rest of conversation was about me wanting to hear every detail about the engagement ring. We have talked for hours; it was like I never left. Then I checked my watch. Six o´clock.

"Harry, I have to go. Draco is coming in two hours and my place is a mess."

I heard him sigh heavily. "Alright. But be careful, Hermione. I know you believe that people can change but I just don´t want you to get hurt."

I smiled. "Don´t worry, Harry. I will be careful. I´ll call you next week, okay?"

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

I slowly returned to my place. There was no big mess, but I still cleaned every part of my apartment. Then I prepared some wine and waited for Draco to come.

Eight o´clock.

Half past eight.

Almost nine.

I started to freak out. Draco was never late, unlike my other friends. If he was late, something must have happened. I don´t know why, but this idea made me panic.

Ding dong.

Thank God. I jumped on my feet and opened the door, smiling.

"Draco, I thought you..."

The rest of my words died away. Draco was standing there, paler than usually. He was trembling and his beautiful eyes seemed black.

"Draco, what happened?"

He took a few steps forward, utterly destroyed. I did the most spontaneous thing in my life. I closed the space between us and took him in my arms. I hugged him tightly and felt how he melted in my arms. He started to shake badly. Still in a hug, I took us both on a couch and we sat. He was holding me as if it was the only thing that can save him. He started to sob and I felt his tears on my bare shoulders. I stroked his back to comfort him. We have stayed like this for a long time and eventually, his sobs became less and less frequent. I still held him, but encouraged to ask: "What happened?"

"It´s my mother. I...I got there and she was lying on her...on her bed. She said...she said someone hexed her. I was sitting there for hours and no matter how hard I tried, the hex was too strong. I tried...I tried every potion I thought that could work, but nothing. And then...," he started to cry again.

"Shh, Draco. It´s alright. You´re here with me."

"And then she started to scream. She begged me to kill her. I don´t know what was going on. I couldn´t kill her. But she begged me so much. I took out my wand."

Chills ran over my back, but he continued.

"I prepared to kill her. She screamed: Do it, Draco. But before I could, she stopped screaming. As suddenly as she started. Her eyes were looking at me, but she no longer saw me. She was dead."

He said those last words without emotions, voice still shaking. I hugged him again and he pulled me closer to him. I didn´t mind. I just wanted him to feel fine again.

"Draco, I´m so sorry. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Don´t let me," he murmured and tightened his touch.

"I won´t."

I touched his hand and I felt something cold. I pulled away to look at it and I gasped.

Dark Mark.

Disgusting black painting of a skull and snake instead of its tongue.

Draco looked at it as well and started to pull away, but I made him come back to me.

"Harry told me about it. But it never seemed real to me. Until now."

"And you´re not scared?" he teased.

"Why should I be?"

"It´s a mark of a Dark Lord. Mark of a murderer."

I smiled and stroke his cheek.

"But you´re not a murderer. You´re not like them. You´re better than them."

He looked at me, utterly surprised. He obviously thought I´d despise him. I didn´t think it´s the Dark Mark that makes a person. It was his behaviour and Draco´s behaviour from last few months convinced me that he´s a good person. Before I know, he kissed me on my cheek.

"Thank you for being here for me." he whispered.

"Anytime." I smiled. It was like our situation from weeks repeated.

I poured some wine and handed it to Draco. He drank it at one shot and rubbed his temples.

"She was the only person, who always believed in me. Who protected me, loved me and always stood by my side. Whenever I needed help or advice, she was there for me. Every little step I made, everything good I´ve done, she always appreciated it and she was proud of me."

"You were lucky to have mother like that. My mother was never satisfied with anything I´ve done."

Draco looked at me, raising brow. "But you are the brightest witch of our age. You must have been great student even at Muggle School."

"Yes, I was. But even if I got an A from exam or won the first prize in competition, it was never good enough for her. She always made me to go beyond the line of my abilities. Then, I realized she was doing it for my own good, to prepare me for a real life."

"My father was never happy with anything I´ve done either. But it wasn´t like your mother, doing it for your future. He simply didn´t care. When I had good results, he never noticed. When I did something wrong, he yelled at me for humiliating Malfoys."

I suddenly felt incredibly sorry for Draco. Every child needs their parents love. I could imagine little Draco doing the best he can to make his father proud.

"You were often important part in our arguments," Draco grinned.

"Why me?"

"My father couldn´t understand, why I´m always behind you in class. Mudblo- I mean Muggleborn couldn´t be better than Malfoy. But no matter how hard I tried, you were always better."

"You were a great student, Draco. I wouldn´t have such good results, if I wasn´t afraid you were going to beat me." It was hard to admit, but it was hundred percent true. Draco was usually just one-two points behind me in class and that made me work harder. I couldn´t let a ferret to be better than me.

I obviously surprised him. "It´s hard for me to say this, but if it wasn´t for you, I probably won´t ever end up with that high results."

I smiled. "Same here."

He smiled lightly, but I could tell he was thinking about his mother. I wanted to change the subject, so I asked the first thing that came into my mind.

"What´s your favourite colour?"

He looked at me. I knew he knew I was trying to change the subject, but I felt relieved when he started to cooperate. "Green."

"You´re such a Slytherin," I teased him and it worked. A small shade of smirk started to form at his lips.

"Not that kind of green. Slytherin green is bright and poisonous. I prefer dark green like pine needles. And yours?"

"Purple."

"What? No red or gold?"

"No. I like red but only the right shade. And not gold, I prefer silver. My aunt once got me a toy unicorn and he was all purple. It´s been my favourite colour ever since."

Draco looked confused. "Aren´t unicorns white?"

"Muggles don´t know that. They don´t even know that unicorns exist," I reminded him.

"Of course, keep forgetting."

"What´s your favourite animal?"

"Raven."

"Oh?"

"You expected snake?"

"Just a bit," I smirked.

"I don´t like snakes. I respect them because I´m a Slytherin after all, but I like ravens. I even had one as a child. What´s your favourite animal?"

"I don´t have any."

"What about that cat of yours? Creek something?"

"Crookshanks," I laughed. "Yeah, I loved that cat. Before I skipped the seventh year at Hogwarts and helped Harry to find Horcruxes, I left him in cat orphanage. I have no idea what happened to him afterwards."

"You will have to tell me about that Horcruxes chasing once. But not today. I guess it´ll be a long story and I kind of enjoy this game," he said.

I was happy to keep his mind of his mother, so I asked another question. "What is your favourite gem?"

He raised his brow. "My favourite gem?"

"You said you wanted to continue and I would like to know."

"I don´t know. Onyx? It´s deep and fits with everything. What´s your favourite flower?"

"Roses. Red ones. What´s your favourite type of weather?"

"When there´s a storm during a hot summer day. Or when it simply rains. I could stand the whole day outside in the rain. Who was your first boy crush?"

I blushed.

"What? Is that a very personal question?"

"Well, yes. Nobody has ever asked me that and nobody knows the answer. But I trust you. My first boy crush was Harry Potter."

He almost spitted the wine on my carpet. "Potter?"

"Somewhere between first and second year. Then it somehow passed. I liked him the way that 12 years old child can like another 12 years old child. It´s not like I loved him. He was famous, kind and brave. Except from Ron, he was the only boy I was in contact with. Of course I developed a little crush on him."

He nodded but still seemed to be surprised. "I thought your first crush was Weasley."

My smile weakened.

"Sorry. I shouldn´t have mentioned him."

I shook my head, but then properly smiled again. "No, it´s okay. Ron isn´t the kind of man you can fall in love simply and spontaneously. I liked him during the fifth year and it started to grow into something bigger. When he started to date Lavender in sixth year, I knew I loved him because I was hurt and jealous. I fell in love with him even more during our Horcruxes hunt and we kissed during the war. We have been together ever since."

"Until you broke up with him."

I looked away. "Yes."

Draco drank another glass of wine and I followed his example.

"Who was the first girl you´ve ever kissed?" I asked.

"Getting a little personal, aren´t we?" he teased. I shrugged my shoulders.

He was playing with his glass and then answered. "I was five years old. Her name was Emily and she was a Muggle girl I sometimes played with."

I rolled my eyes, but couldn´t help to laugh. "I meant a real kiss."

"That was probably Pansy Parkinson. I never really liked her, but it was her. We´ve dated for few weeks and then I broke up with her."

"Why did you date her, when you say you didn´t like her?"

"All my friends were saying she was quite a good catch and mostly, my father approved her. I did it to make a reputation and to date somebody my father will be proud of. Then I realized she was a stupid cow, who cheated on me. I broke up with her and I would do it again."

I nodded and hoped he will not ask about mine first kiss. Unfortunately, I wasn´t so lucky that night.

"Who was your first kiss?"

"Victor Krum. Fourth year. During the Yule Ball."

He whistled. "Yeah, I remember him. You two made quite an appearance there. Hermione Granger, bookworm and Victor Krum, seeker. You were into Quidditch players those days, weren´t you?" he grinned as my face turned bright red.

"A bit, maybe. Anyway, after the first round of dances, he took me out for a walk and kissed me. He wanted a relationship, but I wasn´t ready. We´re still friends, however."

We have talked for several more hours and ended some time after midnight. We have discussed everything from our childhood to which question we found hardest at the test at Hogwarts. The more I knew about him, the more I liked him and the more our friendship grew. I don´t know if it was because of the wine or the confidential atmosphere, but I cuddled to Draco´s chest and we both lied on my couch. It didn´t occur to me that I was next to my old enemy. No, I was next to my friend. Happy about that, I fell into dreamless sleep with Draco by my side.

Yeah, finally a bit longer chapter. So...those two are getting really close, aren´t they? I´m soooo sorry for killing Narcissa. I loved that woman, she rocked in DH, and I almost cried before I made my mind. But I had to do this, for the sake of our Dramione. Stay tuned.
Betty xxx