Chapter Ten

The Kiss

The girls had tried to keep the note from him but he knew that something was off with their reactions. Still, he had practically had to fight them to get it and with the slightly crumpled paper tightly in his grasp he had read the news that he knew would eventually come, but the news he wasn't sure how to process at the same time.

Miss Jane Sharpe,

We, at the Ministry of Magic, thank you for your loyal friendship and your selfless assistance during the span of Mr. Draco Malfoy's rehabilitation. You are giving up a part of your life to ensure the success of our world, and for that, we are in your debt. While you were probably aware that Mr. Malfoy's parents also underwent investigation, we have written you today to inform you the final verdict of his father, Mr. Lucius Malfoy, has been determined. Mr. L. Malfoy underwent trial some time ago but due to overwhelming evidence surrounding Mr. Malfoy, a verdict was unable to be found until yesterday. It is with our regrets to inform that Mr. Lucius Malfoy will be scheduled to receive the Dementor's Kiss in one weeks time.

We write you today so that you can inform your charge of this verdict, and we at the ministry would like to invite Mr. Draco Malfoy to visit his father before the scheduled kiss is to occur.

Yours truly,

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Minister of Magic

Both of the women stood silent while he read and reread the letter, he could tell that they were both braced for him to lose his temper, but instead, all he did was fold the letter back up the best that he could and set it gently on the counter. He had known that his father wouldn't get off with the same punishment as his mother and him, and he knew that he would receive the kiss. This was all information that he knew was going to happen, but seeing it on paper, signed and sealed by none other than the minister of magic…. He was numb. He turned on his heel and walked back up the stairs to his room, and shut the door behind him.

Hermione knew that Draco wasn't alright. He had been locked in his room all day and hadn't even come out to eat lunch. Jane had made him a sandwich all the same and took it up to his room, he didn't open the door, but at some point, he had collected the tray that she left outside of his door.

"What should we do?" Jane asked as she popped a chicken into the oven to bake. Hermione hadn't had the heart to leave when everything was so out of sorts, so she had jumped in and helped Jane cook. Cooking the muggle way had always been relaxing for her, and helping Jane reminded her of cooking with her mother.

"I think he just needs some space," Hermione said, but she wasn't confident that is what he needed. She wasn't upset at all at the knowledge that Lucius Malfoy would be receiving the dementors kiss. He had been a cruel man, not just to muggle-borns like her but also to his own wife and son. At the same time, he was Draco's father, and she couldn't imagine what he had to be feeling knowing that his father would be receiving a fate worse than death. "He wouldn't open the door for you earlier?" Jane didn't say anything, but instead just shook her head sadly. Hermione sighed, "Let me go try."

Hermione put down the knife that she had been using to cut potatoes and washed her hands. She took her time with it, she doubted that he would be more receptive to her and she wasn't sure what she could say to make what was going to happen to his father easier for him. Sighing again, she steeled herself and went upstairs.

She stood outside of his room for a second, unsure still what she was going to say to him, but she knocked all the same.

"Draco?" she said to the closed door. "It's Hermione…. Can I come in?"

There was no reply. She leaned her forehead against the cool wood of the door and knocked lightly on the door again. "Draco, you can't clam up in there. Talk to me…. Please, I'm your friend." She didn't know what possessed her to say that. She had spent little time with him since his rehabilitation started, and he'd never been a friend at Hogwarts, but she knew that the statement was true all the same. She saw him as a friend now, and he was hurting, and that was a thought that she couldn't stand.

"Come in." a quiet voice replied from the other side of the door. She opened the door and stepped inside the room with him.

He was sitting on the edge of his bed, it was perfectly made around him making her think that he'd been sitting in the same spot for most of the day. He had his window cracked, and the light breeze coming in from outside ruffled his hair slightly. She smiled a little at the sight of him and instantly felt guilty about it. He looked so sad as he stared out the window, not even turning to her when she shut the door behind her.

"Draco?" she hovered by the door, unsure what to say or do now that she was in the room with him.

He turned slowly to look at her, "I'm not going to bite, you know."

"I know that." She crossed the room and sat down next to him. He turned to look back out the window.

"Want to talk about it?" He could tell by her voice that she was afraid he was angry and nervous that he was going to take that anger out on her. The truth was he was glad his father wasn't going to be free in the world anymore. The man wasn't to be trusted, and he was horrible to everyone that crossed his path. He hadn't even spared his wife and his only son from his scheming, and it had nearly cost all of them their lives.

"Am I a good person?" He had formed the question in his mind and that wasn't how it was supposed to come out, but it was the way that it came out all the same. He turned to look at her and could almost see the gears moving in her head. He imagined her reminiscing all the times that he had called her filth, mudblood, or made a nasty remark about her appearance. He could see the times that her face fell due to his words, and the tears that would line her eyes as she hurried away from him. He looked down at his hands and answered before she could. "No… I'm not."

"Draco… I didn't say that you weren't…" she started, but he cut her off.

"It doesn't matter what you say though." He looked back up at her, she was so beautiful and good… and he was a Malfoy. Not even just the son of a Death Eater, but a Death Eater himself. He had aligned himself with Voldemort. Someone who would have murdered her just to clean the world of her bloodline. Someone as selfless, and perfect as Hermione Granger, dead just because he didn't like her parentage. The thought made Draco feel sick to the stomach. "You can offer me forgiveness, but it doesn't change who or what I am. I'm Draco Malfoy, a stain on the wizarding world. The Death Eater shipped off to live with Muggles, just so that the ministry can say that they tried to fix me."

"No… that's…" He held up a hand to stop her.

"I'm not a good person, Hermione. My father's going to receive a fate worse than death, and I'm not upset about it. I don't even have a little bit of remorse to the fact that he's going to be gone from this world… I don't care about him." He stopped and looked out the window again, he was so disgusted with himself that he couldn't even look at her. "My own father and I don't care. I'm just as much of a monster as he is."

"Draco Malfoy." The anger in her voice shocked him. He turned back to her to see silent tears falling down her cheeks, but they weren't sad tears, they were angry ones. "You. Are. Not. Your. Father." The force behind her words knocked the wind out of him. "You defied your father and his cause when you wouldn't identify Harry at the manor. You defied your father and his cause when you refused to go to Voldemort, and instead went to your mother. You defied your father and his cause when you agreed to come here and live without magic for a year. You defy your father every day that you wake up, get dressed in muggle clothing, and cook like a muggle and live like a muggle. You are not your father, your father would rather get the kiss than to learn to be a better person."

She reached out and took his hand in hers. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she had read the records of his father's trial, the things that that man had said about Narcissa and Draco, it was completely horrifying. "They offered him the same rehabilitation that they offered you and your mother. You and your mother chose to be better people, to live and learn a new way of life, but he refused it. He refused when you didn't. You are not Lucius… You are Draco. You were a misguided child that has grown into a wonderful person that I am proud to know. I…" her voice broke as she looked at the shock on his face.

He looked like someone that had never had a kind word spoken to him before. Tears silently fell down his cheeks, and his mouth was parted in shock. She couldn't stand it, knowing that the boy who had made her life a living hell for years acted that way because it was how he was treated at home. The boy that everyone thought was a king, was only a pawn in a very dangerous game. That he grew up not cared for and loved like she was, instead he was used and discarded the second that he was no longer useful. She couldn't stand knowing that he thought so little of himself that he would compare himself to that monster of a man who fathered him, and she couldn't stop herself when she leaned forward and touched his lips with hers.

He froze instantly. She was kissing him. It wasn't an overbearing kiss, and it only lasted a few heartbeats, but it had happened. Hermione Granger had kissed him. When she leaned back he expected her to run from the room, realizing what she had done. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her. Hugging him tight she ran her fingers up and down his back lightly. He allowed himself to relax into her embrace, he allowed himself to feel cared for in that moment and when he tucked his head into her neck his resolve broke, and he wept.

Jane had heard the door open and close upstairs, and she knew that Draco had let Hermione in. She didn't hear raised voices, so she assumed that was a good sign. She had finished dinner, cleaned all the dishes that she could and had served everyone a plate, but there was still no sign of the two others. She had sat alone at the counter and realized that this silence was her life for the 2 years before Draco had come to live with her. She had friends, but not the kind that came over to hang out, and she wasn't overly social since her parents had died. Voldemort had destroyed her family, and all she had left was her uncle, who was gone on business more often than he was in town. Her uncle had paid for her childhood home and set her up with a good allowance, she usually worked in shops to get out of the house but had quit the last one when she made the decision to host Draco. After her parents, and before him, she had always cooked alone, eaten alone, and cleaned alone. The silence had never bothered her but after becoming accustomed to Draco there with her, she felt the heaviness of silence weighing on her like never before. She pushed the chicken and potatoes around on her plate but didn't take a bite, and she listened upstairs for any sign that Hermione would be coming back down the stairs to join her. At last, she heard the door open and the sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs, two sets of footsteps. She felt elated when Hermione and Draco both came into the kitchen to join her.

She could tell that they both had been crying, but she didn't let on that she could tell. Instead, she tried to be helpful, she got up and set their plates in front of the other two stools and started brewing more tea.

"I'm sorry," Draco said from behind her. He was sitting on his usual stool and looking down at his dinner. "I shouldn't have stormed off like that. Especially after last…"

"It's fine." Jane cut in. "Last night wasn't good, but it isn't on the same level as the news about your father."

She saw him wince a little and regretted instantly saying it out loud.

"About that…" he said, she could see how uncomfortable he was with the topic, but she also saw Hermione reach over and take his hand in hers. The gesture seemed enough comfort for him to continue. "I don't want to go see my father, before…" he paused and took a deep breath "Before his sentence is carried out. He wasn't a good man to anyone, especially not me, and I don't want to see him again."

She forced herself not to furrow her eyebrows. She would give just about anything to see her parents one last time, but for him not to even want to say goodbye, Lucius Malfoy must have been worse in person than any description of him on paper could portray.

"I can respect that." She said finally, "I'll send a note back to the Minister and let him know your decision."

Draco nodded and picked up his fork with his free hand and started eating his dinner. Hermione accepted the cup of tea that Jane offered her but didn't let go of his hand. Jane smiled a little to herself at the two of them, they were getting along beautifully and she knew that someone like Hermione was exactly what Draco needed in his life.

"I can take the note with me into work tomorrow," Hermione said, her voice was a little strained as if the thought of going to work the next day wasn't high her list of things to do.

"You're going to work tomorrow?" Draco's voice was strained as well as if the thought of her going to work the next day wasn't high on his list of things to happen either.

Jane chose to ignore the tension between them and merely said, "I'll write up the response then." With that, she took a big bite of her potatoes and left the kitchen for the study.