Chapter9

The next morning Hermione woke up at 6, she was an early riser and had a fixed schedule; she liked things planned. She used to get up early and do her yoga, take a bath and then prepare breakfast. She would then wake Ron who usually whined about it, then eat breakfast with him. She went to work at 10am and returned home at 5pm, she would make dinner and then wait for Ron who used to be occasionally late. Now she wondered if he was actually working late hours or was he lying to her and having sex with someone.

She decided not to think about that particular topic and so she thought about her broken schedule; she had no Ron to wake up and eat breakfast with, she did not have to wait for dinner for him. Her schedule had a big empty space in it and it would take some time to get used to it. For now, Hermione decided to do everything as she used to and forget that there was any part missing.

'I don't need him.' She thought. With this thought in mind and renewed determination, Hermione changed into her yoga hot pants and sports bra. Ron used to find this outfit extremely interesting though he didn't get to see it much as he rarely got up early. Hermione liked to wear the outfit because it facilitated the movements and made it easy for her to take various postures for yoga rather than to feel sexy.

After 1 hour of yoga she was tired and sweating; quickly she took off her clothes and got in the shower; the water felt soothing on her aching muscles, she washed her hair with her favorite apple flavored shampoo that her mother used to use. The smell of the shampoo always calmed Hermione as it reminded her of her mother.

While washing her hair, Hermione thought about the person who had suddenly reappeared in her life; Draco Malfoy. When Draco had come to live with them in the headquarters, everyone had different views about him. While the older generation was very welcoming due to his contribution to their side, the younger generation had been a little wary. Not everyone believed that he had changed, especially Ron, but she had known. At one point when she was being tortured in his home by his mad aunt, Hermione had looked directly at Draco with a pleading look. He had looked so scared and anguished at her torture, she was sure she had seen him take out his wand, but before he could help her, she had already been rescued.

If the boy, who had hated her all through school, who had made her life hell for years, who had told her on various occasions that she didn't deserve magic, couldn't see her die, then he wasn't all evil. When Draco had come to the headquarters, she had been grieving for her dead parents, so she didn't pay much attention towards him. But she had seen that harry had accepted him even though Ron had opposed to it; but harry had always been the most observant of them all; he saw what other people didn't notice.

Now after 3 years Draco was back and she couldn't see even a trace of the evil boy who had been her childhood enemy. He had grown in the physical department as well; he had become quite a handsome bloke. When he had hugged her she had felt his muscled chest and well defined abs, his arms had been strong around her and she had somehow felt safe.

Hermione shook her head to clear the image of a half naked Draco from her mind and rinsed her hair and got out of the shower. She changed into a sweatshirt and denim shorts and moved to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. She had been flipping her first pancake when suddenly the floo opened and in came Draco's mom; Narcissa Malfoy.

Narcissa dusted her robes and looked around at her son's new apartment. She said out loud," Blaise has done quite a fine job this time", while admiring the simplicity and elegance of the living room. She had just turned towards the kitchen when she saw a girl looking at her with wide eyes.

Hermione had been shocked at the sudden arrival of Draco's mother, she had thought that he would be present when they were officially introduced but now she had to do the honors.

Hermione moved towards the regal looking Narcissa Malfoy, forced a smile and said," good morning Mrs. Malfoy, I am Hermione granger and I am Draco's roommate."

Narcissa smiled and shook Hermione's hand and said," How nice to see you again Miss Granger, you have grown prettier in the past three years. My son somehow forgot to tell me he was living with you or I wouldn't have barged in."

Hermione blushed and said," we are just roommates and I just moved in yesterday. It's your son's home so you are not barging in."

Narcissa nodded and both the women stood there in an uncomfortable silence until suddenly they smelled something burning. Hermione ran to the kitchen, followed by Narcissa, to see a burning pancake.

Hermione murmured," Oh my god, what have I done" and threw water all over the burnt dish. She turned to look at an amused Narcissa who was looking at the mess that Hermione had made.

Before Hermione could say anything, Narcissa waved her wand and the burnt pancake and smoke vanished.

Narcissa chuckled," you do remember that you are a witch Miss Granger. Well I don't think Draco likes black pancakes; if you don't mind can I prepare breakfast, I have a special recipe.

Hermione gaped at Narcissa as if she had grown another head; she had never thought that the cold Narcissa Malfoy would even know how to boil water. She nodded and stood by as Narcissa added her special ingredients in the mixture and started making pancakes.

After some time Hermione couldn't help herself and asked," I don't mean to be rude Mrs. Malfoy, You can visit anytime; it's your son's apartment, but was there a special reason you came here this early? Is everything all right?

Narcissa smiled and said," Draco has trouble sleeping so he usually gets up very late. I have our servant wake him daily but since now he lives here, I thought I would just pop in and see how he is settling. I am sorry if I bothered you."

Hermione didn't know what to make of this sweet and understanding Narcissa Malfoy, she hadn't expected her to be like this. Hermione gave her a genuine smile and said," we are not bothered, you are always welcome here."

Narcissa said," Miss Granger if you don't mind, can I call you Hermione? You are going to be living with my son, we are going to see a lot of each other and I would like it if we weren't so formal. You can call me Narcissa or cissa; they are so much better than being called Mrs. Malfoy."

Hermione didn't see any harm in it so she nodded. Narcissa Malfoy was nothing like she had thought. She seemed sweet, caring, attentive and easy to talk to. She might grow to really like this woman.

Hermione watched with fascination as Narcissa made perfect pancakes without a hitch, she looked happy while cooking and so different from the woman that Hermione had seen during the war.

Hermione couldn't help herself and asked," Cissa, I would like to know about your life. I am curious about how different you are from the lady I met before."

Narcissa turned towards Hermione with a thoughtful look and said," My life was never my own; I was told from my childhood that I had responsibilities towards my family. As you know, pureblood families usually have marriage contracts, mine had one too. I and lucius had an arranged marriage; I won't lie and say that lucius was a terrible husband. He was quite attentive and made sure that I got whatever I desired. Somehow I never got what I desired the most; love. My parents had never shown any true affection towards me, I was always meant to be a thing to show off; for lucius I was a prized possession meant to be looked after not loved. I craved love and I finally felt it for the first time when I held Draco in my arms for the first time; he was a beautiful baby and my heart had felt so full. I wanted Draco to live a life that I never had, I wanted him to be more than a pureblood from a rich family; I had hopes for him. All my hopes went to trash when the dark lord rose; lucius was so involved that he didn't see that he was breaking his family. I had to make Draco strong enough to live through the life that his father had planned for him; I had to make myself strong enough to see his life getting ruined. Now I wish I had been strong enough to stand against lucius's wishes. Draco never wanted to join the dark lord, he was just a scared little boy. Well later he did make his own choice, a difficult one. He saved both of us from the destruction caused by my husband and his master. After the war I wanted to leave the country as there were so many bitter memories that I wanted to forget, Draco decided to go with me."

"After years of fear, pain and pretence we were finally free to be ourselves. Hermione, the women you saw was a woman who had lost everything except a son was walking on a path to death, that woman was half dead without any scope of survival. That woman is no more, she died with her husband. Now I am a new person who is living her life without any fear or burden; I have finally got the courage to be the real me."

Hearing Narcissa's story, Hermione had tears in her eyes and she hugged Narcissa tightly and murmured," you are a very brave lady, cissa."

Hermione stepped back and wiped her tears; looking at cissa's will to live she felt a surge of hope for herself; maybe she could live through this tough time and life would get better with time.

Narcissa turned to flip the last pancake and said," Hermione, please go and wake Draco; I will set the table."

As Narcissa looked at Hermione's retreating form she thought ' it's so great that she is living with Draco. They both are perfect for each other. This is going to be so much fun.' She knew that Hermione was somehow the reason why Draco had changed. Draco had never told her anything, but she had figured it out.

Hermione was special and her special son deserved her. It might be a little difficult, but Narcissa Malfoy always got what she wanted.

Hermione knocked on Draco's door and called," Draco, wake up."

No answer. She tried again," breakfast is ready, wake up."

Hermione gave up and opened his door, his room was similar to hers but had a blue and cream color theme. The room looked elegant with modern furniture and a king sized bed of matching dark wood. The curtains were drawn so the sunlight didn't peek and the room looked dark.

Hermione walked to the window and opened the curtains, the room was suddenly filled with light and Hermione turned towards the bed to wake Draco; what she saw mesmerized her. Draco laid on his stomach, his hair standing in all directions and the light playing with his blonde hair. She had been right, he had grown in the looks department; his skin looked flawless, his arms looked strong and his shoulders looked broader. He mumbled something and turned over, exposing his muscular chest.

Hermione looked at his face and wondered how he could look so serious while sleeping. He had a little frown on his forehead which Hermione felt compelled to smooth. Without thinking she stretched her hand and moved her fingers lightly on his frown. His frown melted away to form a smile, Hermione looked at his face relax and was about to retract her hand when he suddenly turned on his stomach, trapping Hermione's hand under him.

Hermione could feel his heart beating under her hand and it somehow felt erotic. She tried to pull her arm but Draco only snuggled towards her. Her face was so close to his and her eyes kept darting towards them. They were pink, plump and looked totally kissable.

Hermione mentally slapped herself for thinking that his lips were kissable and ranted in her mind,' you are not attracted to Draco Malfoy. It doesn't matter that he is sweet, charming, handsome and totally kissable. No..No..No Hermione you are not thinking about his hot body. Ok, so shit, you might be attracted to him, but you are not prepared for anything further. You just got your heart broken, this is not the time for this. And Draco Malfoy is handsome and rich; he must have girls throwing themselves at him, he would never be interested in a plain girl like you.'

This thought convinced her that she didn't have a chance with Draco and she was about to shake him awake when he mumbled something and sighed. Hermione leaned in closer to hear what he was saying when Draco again mumbled something, but this time she knew what that something was; he had just whispered one word,

"Hermione".

A/n: I know that I haven't updated in a while but things have been crazy at home with me moving away to attend college.

I share my laptop with my sis so I think I'll take longer to update, but please don't give up on me.

This chapter was very hard to right, with all the work and distraction around me but I somehow managed to finish.

I used to read stories with the maximum number of reviews; it just makes the story look popular. So please read and review so that other people notice this story.

Give me tips and suggestions; I always look forward to your feedback.

Me n my beta were having trouble coordinating due to different time zones so we decided that she will edit the chapters after I upload them. I am so grateful to her for her cooperation. Thank you Alyssa

Read and review n I'll try to update as soon as I can.

Love

Ash