No one locked him back in the small room, though everyone stared at him with questioning eyes when he would enter a room. Draco focused on his book; if he didn't draw attention to himself they would eventually go away. This worked for three days, mostly because everyone was more concerned about Hermione and her recovery. Though at least once each of those three days she would catch his gaze, smile gently and then disappear. Draco would finish his chapter and follow. Always he found her in the small book room. Neither spoke for that hour, simply shared company as they had become accustomed to doing.
The fourth day Hermione surprised him.
"Would you read to me, like before?" She sat on the ground, her back against the couch.
Draco, who had just stepped through the door, drifted slowly around the room, looking through the books until he found something they would both enjoy. He settled into the couch, crossing an ankle to his knee, and began the story.
He read for their hour. Hermione had closed her eyes and sat still near his feet. They hadn't touched since she cried into his shirt, Draco didn't know if that was his choice or hers. He didn't know how to feel about it. He paused, looking down at her, unsure if she had fallen asleep.
"Well, don't quit now Draco, finish the chapter at least," her lips smiled though her eyes remained closed.
Neither of them had heard the door open during their exchange. They both jumped when Remus spoke.
"Hermione, Molly is looking for you."
Hermione stood, looking between Draco and Remus before sighing and leaving the room. Remus said nothing, only picking up an unused arm chair, positioning it directly before Draco. Neither man spoke, only sized the other up.
"Hermione has always been for protecting the unfortunate," Remus began.
"Are you saying I need protection?" Draco shot back.
Remus looked bemused, "Are you saying you don't need protection?"
Draco nodded and leaned back, accepting the point against him.
"Why are you here Draco Malfoy?" Remus's face settled into a grim mask.
"Here on this Earth? Well the universe does indeed like to play cruel tricks doesn't it," Draco smirked.
"No, young Malfoy," Remus leaned forward, elbows on knees, "Why are you here, in this room?"
Draco searched his face, no hint of emotion, or how to safely answer the question, he looked down at his lap, fingers fiddling with the book.
"I read to her every day, when she was sick, every single day, the good ones and the bad ones. I would read to her after she painted the walls or after she hit me so hard it left bruises." Draco looked up now, "I missed reading to her."
Draco felt odd, tightness in his throat at admitting that he missed something. Fear gripped him now, he never expressed his desires. When he did express his desires as a child his father always managed to take them away from him.
"Your father wasn't always like that, evil and hateful, you know."
Draco gripped the book so tight he thought his fingers might break. Eyes unseeing, he replied, "I don't want to talk about my father."
Remus sat back, elbows on the wings, fingers joined on his chest. "Okay we won't talk about him. Let's talk about Hermione then. Do you love her?"
Draco laughed hollowly, "Monsters don't deserve love, and I most definitely am a monster."
Only when he saw Remus flinch did Draco remember the werewolf sickness that affected him.
Remus looked at the ceiling, contemplative. "Why did you take care of her?"
"When?"
"Any time. I know your history with her. I had a friend, when we were young he would pick fights with this girl just so she would pay attention to him. He would rather feel her wrath than nothing."
"Are you saying that I would pick fights with the Golden Trio just to talk to Granger?" Draco felt more than heard the chill in his voice.
"I am simply proposing the idea that you have been protecting her for much longer than you realize." Remus sat up, eyes boring into Draco's, "What will you choose now? Will you struggle with the light or slink back to the darkness you have finally escaped?"
Draco's eye began to twitch, his knee started to bounce. "I didn't know I could make that choice."
"If you want any chance at a life filled with happiness you need to choose quickly. Things are speeding along faster than ever. In all honesty you have less than a week to make a choice. She knows where she stands. Do you?" Remus stood, and began to push the arm chair back to its previous home.
Draco jumped up, "Why do you care? No one here trusts me; most hate me outright, so why do you care?"
Remus studied the young man, chest heaving, eyes darting around as if waiting for a blow. "I have watched men twice your age struggle with evil for days instead of their whole lives and still lose. Any man who can grow up with the carnage of darkness marring every step and still find space in his soul for kindness for a woman he was taught to hate since the beginning," Remus swallowed once, "Any man like that deserves the chance to make a choice."
Remus stepped from the room, closing the door gently behind him. He moved down the dark hallways until arrive at the kitchen, he dropped a kiss on top of Tonks and Teddy's heads before settling in next to them.
Tonks leaned over, whispering in his ear. "What did you say to him? Hermione has been pacing since she arrived."
Remus pulled her close, speaking into her hair, "I told him that he has a choice. He thinks he is a monster." Remus gently rubbed a finger down Teddy's sleeping face, "The boy never had a chance to be anything but what his father wanted him to be. Despite that though, he has the choice now, I hope he makes the right one."
Remus's arm snapped out as Hermione darted past, "He needs some time; the boys are gathered in the sitting room, why don't you go join them?"
Hermione frowned, but did as asked. In the living room she found the twins, Ron, and Harry. They all greeted her with a bit of hesitance. She moved and sat between Harry and George, joining their small game; after a few turns they had all warmed back up to her. They laughed together for a few hours before dinner was announced, Ron left the room immediately, Harry quick on his heels. She frowned, they were still angry with her. She joined them with dinner anyways.
Hermione kept to herself, quietly eating her soup before excusing herself from the table. No one but Remus noticed as she floated from the room. Lost in her thoughts she found herself pushing open the door to the small book room.
Immediately all thoughts dropped away as she found Draco sobbing into the couch. The body heaving cries sparked an ache in her chest as she rushed forward. She gently lifted him as she sat on the couch, pulling him close. Draco shifted easily, unaware of anything beyond the cries wracking his body. He curled into her, head on her shoulder, arms synching down on her waist, Hermione struggled with the hot, moist breath across her neck. She curled one arm around his back, the other finding his hair and softly stroking it.
She whispered to him, "Shh, shh, you are okay. I'm here now. Shh."
A long while passed like that, until the sobs slowed, then Draco coughed, hard, and the sobs got worse. Hermione switched the hand she moved, now rubbing slow circles on his back. She started to hum, simple songs from her childhood. She watched the light fade through the window. Hermione jerked as she found herself focused again. She had gotten lost in the humming and the repetitive motions of comforting Draco, until the silence in the room had pulled her back from her mental wanderings.
He snored lightly, his breaths in making slightly more noise than his breaths out. Hermione stayed where she was despite her body aching from sitting still for so long. She stared at the top of his head, thoughts swirling. Reaching no conclusion, she slowly lifted him up, leveraging herself off the couch as she settled him onto the cushion.
Stretching upwards Hermione grimaced at the sudden tug of her bladder. She moved to the door, stepping through leaving the door slightly ajar as to not wake Draco. She looked up from the door to find Ron striding down the hall glaring at her.
"Are you still angry at me?" He queried, stepping closer to her.
"Are you still being a prat?" She responded.
His face reddened, "I don't like him Hermione. I hate that he saved you, and I hate that he is here."
Hermione rubbed her face suddenly exhausted. "I am not asking you to like him Ron, I am simply asking you look beyond the petty hatred you have for each other. He is the reason I am alive right now."
"Why do you keep defending him?" Ron pulled closer; in the dimness of the hallway she couldn't see his expressions clearly.
She searched his face before responding, "Do you remember the situation Harry was living in second year? How the Dursley's trapped him all summer in his room? You and the twins saved him, freed him from his prison. Draco has been trapped a lot longer than a summer and his jailors were worse." Hermione swallowed down the lump of emotion in her throat, "No one came to save him Ron."
Ron stared at her, face blank, eyes unfathomable, "You're in love with him."
Hermione threw her hands up, "What?"
His eyebrows pulled together, "I am in love with you."
Hermione stared at the ground, "No you're not, and if you were do you really think the best time to tell me that is when you think I am in love with someone else?"
A light curse left his mouth as the response hit its mark.
"I am going to bed; I can't take much more of this tonight. I'll see you in the morning Ron." Hermione slipped past him.
She walked the darkened hallway until reaching the bathroom just off the kitchen, relieving herself she then entered the kitchen. Surprised to find a light on she peeked around the cupboards, finding Remus seated at the table, a babbling Teddy in his lap.
At the sound of the door, he looked up, a smile lifting his face when he saw her lurking.
"Come in Hermione, I don't bite nearly as much as Teddy does." At hearing his name Teddy cooed.
Hermione joined Remus at the table, fingers tapping a light pattern against the wood. They sat in a silence only broken by the baby.
"Why are you up so late Remus?"
"Tonks needed her sleep, so I am keeping Teddy company until he is ready to sleep as well." He looked up now, the raised eyebrow alerting her to the coming question. "Why are you up so late?"
"Draco." Hermione stared at the table, tracing lines in the wood. "What did you say to him?"
"I told him that he has an option that he doesn't have to be a monster like his father."
Hermione flinched, memories of Lucious overlapping in sickening waves. "He is not his father."
Remus did not react to the harshness in her voice, "I agree, but sometimes it takes someone else to remind you that you aren't the monster you thought. Where is he now?"
"He is asleep in the book room; I came out to find a blanket for him before heading to bed myself."
"Two doors down from the book room there should be a slim door that has some extra blankets." Remus stood, comforting Teddy who had begun to wail.
Hermione rose as well, bidding him a good night which she doubted he heard over his son's cries. She pulled a large blanket from the closet, knowing that the book room would be chilly. She pushed open the door, grateful the hinges didn't squeak. Unfolding the blanket, she covered him. She let out a gasp as his hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.
His eyes glazed with sleep stared at her, "Stay."
She looked over the small couch, his lengthy body taking most of it. "There isn't much room for me."
His grip loosened as he shifted pulling himself up onto the arm of the couch, leaving her nearly a full cushion.
"Stay?" He questioned, eyes pleading.
Hermione searched his face a moment before replying. "Of course, I will stay."