Draco was pacing back and forth in the main hall of Malfoy Manor. Would they still come? Had he truly begun to fix all of this mess? Was he really headed in the right direction now? Will everything be better? Will she come? His thoughts over took him for several mins.So much so, he didn't even hear Harry arrive.
"Having fun?" Harry said, leaning against the door frame, one eyebrow up.
Startled Draco came to a stop, looking at Harry with relief, " Oh yes, hey Harry. Where's everyone else?" He asked.
" They're coming. They were having a hell of a time trying to trap Crookshanks" Harry said, with a snort.
" Crookshanks?" Draco replied, curiously.
"Yeah. Crookshanks. That ugly orange thing that Hermione keeps with her and dares to call a cat. Looks like a small monster that eats cats if you ask me, but whatever." Harry said, picking his bags up off the floor and walking into the hall a little more.
Approaching Draco he put his hand out, offering a hand shake. With a smile Draco obliged and took his hand shake. Tiny foot steps were heard from the left and they both turned to look.
A small house elf approached them, smiling she spoke, " Sir Malfoy, the room are ready." then she bowed low and waited patiently.
" Very good Rahnk. Go with the others to the great garden and do some shuzzling, alright!" He said to the little one.
The house else bowed again and left the room quite quickly.
" Shuzzling? What the hell is that?" Harry asked in complete and utter confusion.
" HA!" Draco laughed, " It's a made up name. Basically I taught them how to have fun, but without knowing it. See they think it's a chore they have. First they all sit in the sun for an hour. Then they play tag, followed by a picnic. They enjoy it, even if they don't feel it's right to tell me so."
Harry looked at Draco with surprise and admiration. Who knew such a decent person was hiding beneath this heavy exterior.
" Don't mention this to Hermione. She'll pull out her S.P.E.W badges and start asking if you want to hear her mission statement!" Harry said, nudging Draco's shoulder.
He gave Harry an inquisitive look, " what the fuck is spew?" .
Harry laughed harder, " don't ask mate, just do not ask!"
Once everyone arrived, besides the obvious tension in the air, they all seemed optimistic. He took them up to the second floor. Here they would occupying several of the houses fourteen bedrooms. About four doors down to the right was Harry's room. It was a deep red color with large curtains which hung from ceiling to floor. A giant four post bed. Even the roaring fire place seemed to fit the decor just fine. Directly across the hall was it's identical twin in blue, which was given to Ron. Further down the hall was a room on the right. This was given to Ginny and Hermione to share. A large purple room with long windows and orchids in vases. There were huge book shelves and two large princess post beds. The room at the end of the hall belonged to Draco. The door mainly stayed shut. That evening , after getting settled, they all met down in the dining room for diner. They feasted on wild boar and fresh corn, a wonderful meal for several teenagers who eat mainly pizza and hamburgers.
" So, did you ever get lost?" Ron asked, breaking the silence. Everyone suddenly stopped eating and looked up at him.
" What ?" Ginny asked, staring awkwardly at her foolish sounding brother.
"Well" he said, still chewing, " I mean this place is so big, as a kid, didn't you ever get lost in here. Take a wrong turn and suddenly you're wishing you had a map?"
Draco put his glass down, covering his face with his hands. Everyone just watched and waited to see what would happen next.There was a strange sound, that none of them could readily identify. Hermione looked over at Harry, then slowly, turned further to Draco. They all looked in amazement, Draco Malfoy was laughing hysterically. His face was bright red, he was near choking. At once, at the sight of this, Harry started laughing. Soon enough they were all laughing like mad people. Even Hermione had tears in her eyes.
" When I was five, they lost me to two and a half days!" Draco mustered out between deep breaths.
They all looked around at each other laughing with joy. This was it. This was THAT moment. They were finally a family, and they all knew it. They would be strong enough to face anything.
It was 2am when Hermione awoke with a start. The room was dark and quiet. It was so dark she couldn't even see Ginny sleeping 15 feet away in the other bed. Her only comfort was that she heard Ginny toss in her sleep. It was only a quiet sound, so it obviously wasn't her that woke her. thud There it was, the sound that woke her. thud Hermione's head twisted in the direction of the door. Sliding out of bed slowly, she pulled her hair back in a messy bun. Inching over to the door, she opened it as quietly as possible. The hallway was mostly dark, with a few small candles lit to guide the way through. Down to the left was a long hall that headed to the grand staircase, but nothing was there. thud Her head turned the other way. The room at the end of the hall, the one that had been shut was now open just enough to see light and a shadow moving around. The curiosity monkey was on Hermione's shoulder, screaming and pulling at her hair. On her tippy toes, she very very slowly made her way down to the end of the hall towards the room.
Peeking through the hole she could see only a little bit of the room. There was a roaring fire, a small chair sat just in front of it, on that lay a book, which looked like it thrown down in a hurry. A creaking sound came from behind the door, suddenly Draco appeared in front of the fire. He knelt down and opened one of the books in his hands. Hermione could easily see that it was a picture album. Draco was slowly turning through the pages, pulling out each individual picture to inspect it thoroughly. When he was done looking each over, he would throw it into the fire without a second glance or thought. He stopped for a second on a single picture, staring at it intensely. Hermione was curious as to what he was looking at, so she leaned a little closer in. bang. She managed to slam her head right into the door.
" unbelievable" she yelped, rubbing her forehead with her hand.
" That looked like it sucked, a lot!" Draco said, with a slight smile.
He stood and walked over to the door, opening it more so she could come in. Hesitant at first, she entered the room. Behind the door was hiding a bed, which was covered in books, photo albums and scrolls. It was obvious that Draco intended on burning these as well. With a clink he shut the door and walked over to a small cabinet, of which he pulled a bottle of fire whiskey and two small glasses.
Hermione walked over towards the bed and started to glance at everything on it.
" Mostly family tree information. I don't want to have any ties with it anymore, so I thought Hey, how about a fire! " Draco said to her, handing her a glass with a smile.
For the first time yet, she smiled back at him. This warmed him right through to his core. They did nothing but stare at each other. Hermione turned and saw a small picture frame next to his bed. For a moment it was almost starting to look like a newspaper picture, yes..it was, and it resembled. wait...Quickly Draco saw what she was looking at, and grabbed for it. Pulling it close to his chest, he turned, trying to find a place to hide it.
" What is that?" Hermione asked while placing her hand out, as if asking to see it.
" it's nothing" He replied, completely unconvincing.
He did an odd move that slightly resembled Mrs. Weasley hurrying across her kitchen.
" HMmm! Because, unless I'm mistaken, it looked like,..well..me..." Hermione said, stepping closer to him.
Draco moved over to the dresser and grabbed a drawer and grabbed it's nob. Hermione was right behind him now.
" Draco, It looks like me. Please talk to me" Slowly Draco lowered his head, and sighed heavily. Turning around, he ran his fingers through his silver hair and exhaled again.
" I...I don't know what I am supposed to say here. " Draco said, fumbling over his words, " I know Harry already explained to you about the curse I was under but there is something there you need to think over again. My father cursed me. Get it! My father cursed me. It was like seeing myself doing everything from above. I felt things, I thought things, and I wanted things that I had no way of expressing." He stopped to take a breath, need to recollect his thoughts.
When he did she watched him continue to hug the picture frame.
" Draco, all of this is great to know, but, you are still not answering my question. Draco...is that me?" Hermione asked again, pointing this time at the frame.
She brought her hand up to the top of the frame pulling it just a little in her direction. He quickly pulled it tightly once more against himself.
" Draco..." She said quietly.
His eyes came up slowly until he met hers, and oh how they pleaded. She looked so sad, like she had nothing left to hold on to, so he gave in, loosening his grip. She reached up with her free hand and rubbed his arm. Still looking him in the eyes, she turned the picture around. It was her, she was right.
It was from 5th year, when she got the highest marks on her O.W.L.S. She scrunched her nose at the sight of her hair. Her heart jumped to her throat.
" why do you have this?" She asked, still looking at the picture.
" A few years ago i was taking a walk during my free time, cutting through the garden and I saw you sitting there, reading. You were crying over the book as you read it. I couldn't imagine what was making you cry. It was just a book. It took me a year to realize that you were an amazing creature who saw things no one else did. I know, I read the book and couldn't get past page 10. Hermione, for four years you have been my ever waking thought. For a long time i didn't understand it, I don't think I wanted to. But now I do. and Hermione it is wonderful. " He put his hands on her arms. " I have never felt so wonderful, so alive. For fuck sake, Hermione I love you, I think I always have!"
He stopped partially unsure of what he'd said to cause her to smile as she did.
" what?" Draco asked, dropping his hands down to his sides.
Hermione turned her attention back to her hand with the frame in it.
" All I wanted to know, " she began to smile more, " is why in Merlin's name you would choose this horrible picture. I mean, look at my hair, it's like a damn bush plant!"
Draco smiled at her, taking the picture frame and placing it back on the dresser.
" But I like your hair" He said quietly.
He walked back to the bed, picking up another album, and headed to the fire.
" Funny, I never pictured you as a bush guy." She said, laughingly.
Sitting down in the chair by the fire, he turned slightly towards her, with a grin, " Well, sometimes I am. Depends on the bush i suppose."
They both cracked large smiles and had a good laugh. As he started pulling the pictures out to throw into the fire, Hermione poured herself another shot of firewhiskey.Which she downed quickly. He watched as she pushed the hair out of her face, and he gawked at how beautiful she looked. She put her glass down with a clink, and picked up the bottle, walking over to him. My god, it was so hard for him not to reach out and touch her. It took all he had not to act on his animal urges. She knelt next to him, swigging from the whiskey bottle.
" So we need to get a few things straight." Hermione said, but he interrupted her,
" Listen, Hermione, I really don't want to sit here and listen to rejection. I'd rather you said nothing." He said, pulling his hand through his hair again.
"Shut up for two seconds and listen to me" She said sternly.
Reaching over, she took his chin with a single finger and turned his head towards her. So beautiful !
" For a long time I hated you, for the things you did to me, to my friends. But I always saw something in your eyes I couldn't explain. They were empty. Like you weren't even there." She smiled, " and I was right. And I'm HAPPY I was right! This proves to me you are not as hurtful as you came off.You are showing me that you are a wonderful person, Draco. You are kind hearted, sincere and thoughtful. And not the brut robot we all saw. " She continued, as he laughed a little. " In saying this there is something you need to know. I'm not ready to give my heart away. At least not yet that is. I need my trust in you to be full, not questionable. That requires much work on both our sides!"
He nodded quickly in agreeance, she went on.
" I need you to understand. This is not a NO. This is definitely not a NEVER. This is a slow down, take it easy, and maybe soon." He placed his hand on the arm rest and she took it with her own.
He looked down at it, smiling, then looked back up at her.
" So? What does this mean? It is, I mean, okay?" He asked, looking completely sure of himself yet completely confused at the same time.
" This means, yes...this is okay. It's a little weird but it's okay.Althought I'm not sure what everyone else is going to say." She said, raising an eyebrow.
" Well...I get the hunch that Harry might think something is up, but I may be wrong." Draco said, pulling the hair away from his face.
He was so adorable to her now. Almost acting like a shy little kid. It made her smile, but most importantly, it made her happy. Hard to believe that Draco Malfoy could make her this happy. They looked at each other for several moments, just looking and smiling. A little laugh every couple of minutes, but that was all. The near by Chime Clock rang that it was 4 am. It was hard to believe they had talked for that long.
Standing up Hermione said " well listen, I should get back to bed. I didn't sleep well last night and I should probably get at least a few hours of sleep."
He stood up as well, " yes I do agree, I think I will do, once i throw the rest of this in. Clear the bed, clear my conscience kind of thing if you get me." He said, smirking to the right, like he always did.
" Sounds good." She said, " well goodnight then." She smiled, walking towards the door to leave.
" Hermione wait!" Draco whispered, barely able to be heard.
She turned around just in time to see him walk towards her. He looked into her eyes for what seemed like forever, the gently pulled her hair back from her face, leaned down and kissed her ever to sweetly on her lips. It was like every cell in her body went into separate directions all at once. Their kiss seemed to last a very long time, but she was sure that in real time, it was probably quite the innocent kiss. Slowly they parted, smiling at one another. She looked down, putting her hair behind her ear. He found this completely irrestable, and he kissed her forehead. He couldn't help it.
She looked up, eyes wide open, smiling. " Goodnight Draco!"
Ginny backed away from the door as quietly as possible and booked it back to the room. Good thing for her she's light on her feet because she managed to get back into bed before Hermione even exited Draco's room down the hall. Hermione snuck back into her room. She slipped back into bed and tried to get back to sleep. This of course was not possible. She lay there staring at the ceiling for a few hours thinking about that nights events, and what was to come. Every so often she would sigh, and that would make Ginny, who too was unable to sleep, smile for her dear friend.
A/N I know it may seem as though Hermione is quick to trust Draco, but it's what she always wanted underneath it all.Make sure you review me ..loves :) - Dazen