Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: Once again, thank you SO much for all the reviews, favorites, and follows. A big, HUGE, thanks to my beta, Modges, who puts up with my apparent inability to use a comma correctly.
Hermione's jaw dropped open as she turned to look at Draco.
"You...I...what?"
He stayed silent and looking forward as Hermione took in his appearance. He looked awful, like he hadn't slept in days. There were bags under his eyes and he looked even paler than she remembered him. Finally, he turned to look at her and repeated, "I'm sorry."
"For what, exactly?"
"I think the better question would be, 'what am I not sorry for', Hermione."
Hermione let out a surprised gasp.
"How do you know? Did Narcissa tell you? She promised me that she wouldn't tell anyone," Hermione exclaimed, starting to get a bit upset. Draco shook his head in the negative.
"She didn't tell me. Outright refused to, actually. I sat down after the last conversation I had with Mother about you. I admit I was acting like a prat and she just kept telling me that things weren't what they seemed. Once I sat down to think about it, I was appalled I hadn't put it together before. It was fairly obvious. Even Uncle Sev got it within a few minutes."
"Did he? That's not all that surprising actually. I still don't understand why you are apologizing. You hate me and I'm still ME, regardless if my looks have changed and you found out we are related."
"You are my sister, my twin. I've done and said awful things to you, sat by as horrible things were done to you. When that happened, I felt sick. I know you don't know this, but I stepped forward to try to stop her that day. Father held me back. The truth is, I was going to apologize to you in spite of this whole situation if I ever saw you again, but you and Potter pretty much disappeared from sight. Because when it comes down to it, I don't hate you and I never did."
She snorted.
"I find that very hard to believe. Ever hear the phrase, 'actions speak louder than words'? You might say that you didn't hate me, but your actions told me otherwise."
"I know. It's...just...hard to explain."
"Well, try. I have all day."
Draco took a deep breath. He had been a wreck ever since he figured out who his sister was. He stayed up most of the night, worrying about how today was going to go. All his life, he had felt this emptiness. He never could figure out what it was and nothing seemed to help. He tried everything to fill the hole he felt, immersing himself in flying, books, friends, anything he could think of. However, the emptiness continued and he hated it. He felt resigned to living that way forever. That is, until he was 11 and finally got to go to Hogwarts. He was so excited, even if that excitement was somewhat dampened by the constant hole in his life. And that's where it happened, that's where he met Hermione Granger.
Every time he got near her, the emptiness lifted somewhat. It didn't go away completely, but it did to enough of an extent that he felt almost normal. And he hated it. He hated that the only solution to his problem seemed to be solved by a person he was supposed to hate and couldn't be seen with. So, in all his 11-year old wisdom, he did the only thing he knew. He lashed out at her. He called her names, intent on pushing her farther and farther away. It wasn't until he was older that he really stopped to think about it. When she slapped him in third year, he could have sworn he felt something, something familiar. After that, he tried his best to stay as far away from her as he could even though all he wanted to do was be by her side. Eventually, the war got in the way and he stopped thinking about why this happened.
It wouldn't be until a few months before his 17th birthday that he finally received some answers. That was when his parents decided to sit him and tell him he had a sister. A twin sister. Merlin, he was so angry. The biggest fight that ever happened between himself and his parents happened that night. He had almost reduced the room they were in to rubble before his father finally stunned him. When he awoke, he stormed off, leaving his parents behind. He thought that maybe this accounted for the emptiness he felt his whole life. He knew nothing about magical twins but thought that they had to have some kind of bond beyond regular siblings.
"Even then, I didn't make the connection between the emptiness and how I felt around you. Looking back, I'm not sure how I missed it."
He looked over at Hermione, worried about her reaction. She was sitting there with a pensive look on her face.
"I felt it too," she said softly, "I also had no idea what it was. I just threw myself into learning as much as I could. That helped a little. As did being around Harry, although I can't imagine why."
"Of course, Saint Potter to the rescue once more," he spat out. Hermione looked at him angrily.
"What is your problem with Harry? He's my best friend and I don't want to hear you talk about him like that!"
"Fine! You want to know why I hate him so much? I was jealous of him. I was so incredibly jealous that he constantly got to be around you and I couldn't. Anyone with eyes could see how close you were, how much you loved each other. The two of you were much closer with each other than you ever were with the Weasel."
"Dear Merlin, Draco. You didn't fancy me, did you? And of course I love Harry, but as a brother, not how I'm sure you are thinking. OH! I wonder if that's why, because I thought of him so much as he was my brother," she rambled.
"I did not fancy you! Can you imagine? Gross! That's one of the reasons I was so confused by it, because I knew I didn't fancy you but I also knew I wanted to be around you."
"Gross might be an understatement. Now that you know you have a twin and that twin is me, have you found any more information?"
"There isn't much written about twin magic or bonding. For what I can gather, twins bond directly after birth and the bond depends on the twins. We were never given the chance to do that, hence the empty feeling we both experienced."
Hermione turned back towards the pond. She needed a moment to think about the onslaught of information Draco dropped on her. It seemed as though the surprises were just going to keep coming. The missing twin bond certainly made a lot of sense and it pained her to know how much Draco suffered from it. It appeared as though she had an easier time of it. She supposed she had Harry to thank for that.
"Do you think that you could ever forgive me?" Draco asked. She could hear the insecurity in his voice, as if he knew she was going to reject him outright.
"I think...I think I already have."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Draco's face lit up as a huge smile crossed his face. She had never seen such an expression on his face before.
"Thank you. I was worried I was going to have to beg and you know, Malfoys-"
"Don't beg. Yeah, yeah, I know. I wonder if we could find anything more on twin bonding so maybe we can both be rid of this feeling forever. Oh, how I wish I knew before hand! I'd give anything to be able to ask Fred and George some questions about..."
Draco didn't like the look on her face as she trailed off her thought. Of course, he knew things hadn't gone well with the Weasel, hell, the whole wizarding world knew that. He was surprised to learn she apparently didn't talk to any of the Weasleys anymore. He would also be a liar if he said he wasn't dying to know the details.
"What happened there, anyway?" he decided to ask, thinking she probably wouldn't answer him. She let out a sigh.
"We kissed after the final battle and I just wasn't into it. It was like kissing a brother. I had a crush on him at some point but it went away quickly. I was in love with someone else by the time of the battle but since he broke my heart; I thought I could give it a go with Ron. It just couldn't work, he wouldn't leave me alone, and in the middle of yet another fight, I let it slip that I was still in love with someone else. The situation got out of hand after that and ended with both Harry and myself being thrown out of the Burrow, asked to never come back."
Draco was surprised not only at the fact that she actually told him what happened, but to find out she had been in love with someone that was not the Weasel. He looked at her questioningly.
"No, I am not going to tell you who it is. I really do not want to talk about it."
"You sure? Damn, I was looking forward to hexing someone," he said teasingly. She smiled sadly at him and nodded her head. She was surprised at how easy it was to be around him. She normally would not have spilled out the story about her and Ron like that, especially to Draco Malfoy. But it felt like the years they spent being irritated with the other had just dissipated. Suddenly, he turned looked at her with a serious expression on his face.
"I need you to know, that even though I didn't know about you, I still missed you. You have no idea how much it means to me that you even met with me today."
Hermione felt a pang in her heart at his sincerity. A tear slipped from her eye and traveled down her cheek.
"I think I missed you too," she said softly.
"Well, now that we've gotten the sappiness out of the way, how about going and getting something to eat? I find I'm not quite ready to give up your company. I know the perfect place."
"I don't know, I rarely go into the wizarding world anymore."
"The place I had in mind will be fine. They don't allow the press and they have a private apparition point. Plus, I doubt anyone will recognize you, if that's what you are worried about. Besides, I thought you were a Gryffindor. Be brave and come eat with your brother!"
"Oh fine then! Lead the way. I suppose we'll have to side-along?"
Instead of answering, he held out his arm for her to take. She reached out to take it and as Draco whisked them away, they were surrounded by a binding flash of white light. The sudden appearance of the light had startled them both, making their landing from the apparition a bit jarring. She opened her mouth to start asking questions, but Draco cut her off.
"Not here. The tables have a silencing option we can invoke if needed."
She nodded and let Draco lead her inside the restaurant. And oh, what a restaurant it was! She had never been inside one as beautiful as this before. It seemed like she had just traveled from London to Italy. There was a moving mural on one wall of the canals in Venice that was so well done, it looked real. She tried not to gawk too much as the hostess led them to their seats. Once seated, Draco did something with his wand which she assumed was setting the silencing charm.
"What in Godric's name was that?!" she blurted out.
"You're supposed to be the smart one, you tell me," he teased. She narrowed her eyes at him, clearly letting him know that she was not amused.
"I think it might have been the twin bond activating! How interesting, it must be a spontaneous bond! Makes sense really, since no one knows how to perform it and twin infants obviously wouldn't be able to do it on their own. Although if all it needed was a touch, I don't understand why that didn't happen in third year when I slapped you. I'll have to do some research, see if I can find anything. How do you feel now?"
"Merlin, woman, take a breath will you? Thank you ever so much for bringing that slap up, not my finest moment. Quite humiliating, actually. To answer your question, I feel...great. It's like my life was a puzzle with one missing piece, but now I've found it and I'm complete again," he said as he reached out to gently squeeze her hand, "Thank you. Thank you for putting aside everything and seeing me. Now let's order some food before I waste away to nothing. I have to keep up my good looks; I've got a reputation to uphold."
"Well, I see being complete hasn't changed the fact that you're still a prat. Good to know some things don't change."
Draco just laughed at her and went on to explain how to place her order. Apparently, you just tapped your wand on the menu next to the dish you wanted and when it was ready, it just appeared in front of you. She thought that was a wonderful idea and a great way to afford the customers with even more privacy than the silencing charm. The less people walking around, the better. They continued talking, filling each other in on pretty much everything going on in their lives. She told Draco how she had been working at a Muggle bookstore until her looks changed, then she had to quit as she felt she looked too different to explain. It had made her a bit sad as she had really enjoyed her job. She planned on looking for a new one soon. He told her that he was running the Potions department of Malfoy Industries with Severus. Seeing her interested face, he reminded her that she was a Malfoy and as such, had the right to work there as well. That was certainly something to think about. Draco was about to tell her about some of the different holdings the company had when they were interrupted by someone plopping themselves down in an open chair at their table.
"Draco, mate! Where have you been the past couple of days? You can't owl anyone, decided to ditch all your mates?"
"It's been two days, Blaise. It's not like I dropped off the end of the Earth. I had some things to take care of."
Blaise then turned his attention to Hermione, extremely interested in the gorgeous girl sitting with his best mate.
"Well, hello there, gorgeous, I'm Blaise Zabini," he said as he held out his hand. With some apprehension, she took his hand, only to have him bring it up to his lips for a kiss. She felt a blush begin to spread across her face.
"Blaise, allow me to introduce you to Cassiopeia Malfoy."
At Draco's introduction, Blaise quickly dropped her and whirled around to face Draco.
"Dude, I can't believe you!" he hissed at Draco. "I thought I was your best mate! You've been acting weird for weeks, you disappear completely for two days, and then you just show up with her?"
Draco looked completely confused, as did Hermione. Suddenly, it clicked for Hermione and she started to giggle. Blaise raised an eyebrow at her and Draco turned his confused look towards her. This just made her laugh harder.
"Let's try that again, shall we? Hello, Blaise Zabini, I'm Cassiopeia Malfoy, Draco's sister," she said with an emphasis on sister.
"Sister? I didn't know you had a sister."
"Yeah, you and me both, mate. Who did you think she was?"
"Really Draco, he thought I was your wife," Hermione answered, just as Draco had taken a sip of his drink. Which he then promptly sprayed across the table.
"What? Like I would ever be able to get married without the whole world knowing. Honestly, Blaise, what were you thinking?"
"Well, you have been acting weird lately. It was a logical assumption, considering her last name and all. Sorry mate, didn't mean to get put out. The thought of you depriving me of planning a bachelor party messed with my mind for a minute."
"You are a prat."
"You know it! Why aren't you in our private room? Did you forget?"
"Oh Merlin's balls! I did forget. I was too busy getting caught up with my sister and it slipped my mind. I'll have to miss it this once."
"I don't know what you are missing Draco, but don't feel as though you need to miss it for me. I don't mind really."
"Just bring her along, it will be nice to actually have someone good looking there besides myself," Blaise teased Draco. Draco wasn't so sure that was a good idea, as his father would be there. He knew that his sister had yet to reach out to him and he wasn't sure this was the best place. Before he could decline, Blaise hooked his arm in Hermione's and started leading her to their reserved private room. Well crap, might as well go with it. What's the worst that could happen?
A/N2: Hmmm, what indeed? ;)
Thanks for all the thoughts regarding who Draco and Harry should be with. It seems as those the majority would prefer them not be together, so we shall see. I've also gotten some suggestions for Hermione. I went into this planning on her being with Blaise, Theo, or Blaise AND Theo. However, I am also open to suggestions if I think I can make it work. Although Blaise is just so cute, I'm not sure I can resist now that he's on scene. :)
Read and review, please!