A/N: I would like to thank the wonderful human being who has agreed to go through and check for the little spelling errors I've missed. Not only that, but has helped me when I'm stuck on a part in the story. You are glorious and I love you. :)
So, this is now from Hermione's POV, and after I feel I have sorted through the necessary thoughts and emotions so it's clear where both Hermione's and Draco's head are at, I will go back to Draco.
Also, in this fanfic, Hermione found her parents in Australia between the end of the war and the start of the new school year, so she is spending Christmas at home with them.
I think that's everything. Happy reading!
Chapter 12 - Escape
It was Christmas holidays, she should be enjoying herself. Instead, her thoughts were consumed by a certain blonde haired boy who made her pulse rise drastically every time he came close to her. Think about it he had said. She had not expected such a calm answer from him, especially considering his previous actions that day. She hated how she reacted whenever he grabbed her, proving whatever point he had tried to make when she stubbornly refused to admit to him how much she enjoyed the presence of his lips on hers.
Snap out of it Hermione she scolded herself. Now was not the time to think about him kissing her. She was supposed to be enjoying Christmas with her parents, she had not seen them for almost all of last year after all. She pushed Malfoy out of her head and got up. She looked at her clock, it read 8:47 am. She left her room, and walked down the stairs for breakfast.
When she got to the kitchen, the was surprised to see both her parents were awake, and making breakfast.
"Morning sweetie" her father greeted her with a smile.
"Morning dad" she replied, giving him a side hug as he placed a kiss on the top of her head.
"Good morning darling" she mother yawned. Her mother had never been a morning person, which meant most of Hermione's father-daughter time had been spent in the morning with her dad, before her mother was awake.
"Good morning mom" she laughed. "How'd dad managed to get you up this early?"
"I was promised bacon." She laughed, gesturing at her father cooking by the stove.
"Ah" said Hermione. "Bacon. That'll do it."
"Sweetheart, your mother and I have tickets for the opera tonight. We didn't think you would enjoy it so we didn't get you a ticket. We are leaving at five so we can go to dinner first. Feel free to see one of your friends though, at their house or ours. I know you can travel much faster than us muggle folk so we didn't think the short notice would be a problem." He teased.
"Alright" she smiled. "I might go out, or I may just have a quiet night, I'm not sure yet."
"Ok hunnie, whatever you decide, just be safe." Her dad smiled at her. "Alright! Breakfast is ready! Who is ready for the ultimate breakfast experience?"
Hermione and her mother both laughed and sat down at the table. Her dad's cooking was always good.
"So I baked the bacon this time, instead of frying it." He explained. "Roger from work told me that it cooks it a lot more evenly, whereas with frying, you get some places burnt. What do you think?"
"Mmmmmmmmm" Hermione sighed, she had missed her dad's cooking. She smiled at him and exclaimed "I think this is better than Hogwarts!"
"Well I've never had Hogwarts food, but I'll agree with Hermione. Looks like we know where 'Mione got her magic from!" Her mother joked, laughing.
The rest of the meal fell in a comfortable silence as everyone enjoyed their food. Her dad's cooking really was amazing, he had deeply considered culinary school before his heart fell on dentistry. He often joked that it was the best decision of his life, because if he had chosen cooking, he might not have met Hermione's mother.
As breakfast was finishing, an owl flew in through an open window and landed in front of Hermione, extending it's leg expectingly. Hermione was slightly confused, who could the letter be from? She didn't recognize the owl. Perhaps Harry got a new owl she thought to herself, untying the letter from the owls leg.
"I think I'll take him up to my bedroom" Hermione told her parents. "I don't have an owl of my own so I'll need him to send the reply."
"Alright dear, don't worry, we'll clean up breakfast." Hermione shot them a grateful smile before climbing up the stairs, with the unknown owl perched on her arm.
Once she got into her room, the owl hooted and fluttered off her arm and perched itself on the back left corner of her desk. For the first time, she really looked at the letter.
Hermione was the single word written on the envelope in a familiar style. She was confused, where had she seen this writing before? It wasn't Ron's or Harry's, it was much to neat.
She carefully opened the letter and scanned the bottom for a name.
It was from Draco. It read:
Hermione,
I'm sure you are surprised to hear from me, but I was in need of a friend to talk to. Seeing as you are the only one I currently consider a true friend, I'm afraid you will have to deal with me over the holidays as well. If you do not wish to reply, that's fine, but my letters will keep coming. I just simply need to get my thoughts out of my head, and I don't really trust leaving pieces of paper with my thoughts on them, but sending them to you seemed like a good idea.
I wish I could write to you about the wonderful time I am having with my parents over the holidays, but I'm afraid I am miserable. I find myself making excuses to go out, even though I don't have anywhere to go, simply so I do not have to be around them.
My mother appears to have had a slight change of heart after the war. It seems that thinking her only child might be dead had some effect on her. My father, however, has stubbornly maintained his beliefs. As I'm sure you can imagine, this causes a lot of friction between the two of them. It is also one of the main reason I find myself outside so much, I don't really fancy being caught in the middle of that argument.
Maybe one day I will speak out against my father. Honestly I'm a bit worried at his reaction, not only towards me, but towards my mother as well, since I find it likely that she will agree with me. If my father continues to act like he has been acting, the little respect the name Malfoy still has will be ruined. Since I bear that name as well, I find I am concerned for it's reputation. A part of me wants to struggle to build up that name once more, not to what it once was, but to what I want it to stand for myself.
The other part of me wants to disown my family and change my name, but I think that would not be being true to myself. I am, after all, a Malfoy. I just currently hate what that name stands for. To deny my name would be to deny my past, which I do not want to do, but I also do not want it to affect my future.
I am sorry to drone on and on about names, I'm starting to sound like my father. The one comfort I have is knowing I am different, knowing that I have changed. I have befriended a rather lovely muggle-born, and a half giant, as well as apologizing to Harry Potter and the whole Weasley family. Could you imagine the shocked look on my father's face if he were to find out? It always gives me a laugh.
Well I've droned on about my petty problems long enough, tell me, how is your holiday going? Doing anything exciting with your parents? How many books have you read?
I do hope you reply,
Draco
She read his letter over twice, absentmindedly stroking the owl and she did so. She felt sorry for him. She found her parchment, quill and ink and began to write him a reply.
Draco,
I am sorry to hear that the holiday spirit has not yet reached your house. My parents are extremely happy to have me home for the holidays. Because of the events of last year, I was unable to see them, only reuniting at the end of last summer, so this Christmas is a happy one indeed.
Tonight, they are going out to the opera, I don't know if they have anything like operas in the wizerding world, so I was planning on having a quiet night at home. If you wanted to, maybe you could drop by if you will be out of the house, since you are out so frequently. I could introduce you to a bunch of muggle things, and we can picture your father's reaction if he found out what you were doing.
For your information, I have yet to pick up a book since I have gotten home, I spent all of yesterday playing board games with my parents, and was exhausted when I went to bed.
All my best,
Hermione
She quickly put her letter in an envelope and tied it to the owl. With one last hoot, the owl flew out of her window.
She went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth, then went into the shower. She let the hot water run over her. She had always enjoyed showers, the hot water was so soothing. Also, as hardly anyone would ever interrupt her when she was in the shower, she found it a marvellous place to think.
She had invited Draco Malfoy over to her house, she realized. She could have invited Harry, or Ron, or gone to the Burrow, but instead, she had invited Draco Malfoy. Why? Because she felt sorry for him, that was logical, but there was something else too. He had changed. He was no longer the boy who tormented her and her friends, he had grown up. And boy did he grow up well she thought, thinking of when she had run her fingers over his body.
He had said that she was the only one he considered his true friend right now. He seemed to be quite lacking in the friend department. In all the years but this one, he had isolated himself to Slytherins, making all the other Houses hate him. This year, he had wanted nothing to do with the Slytherins, distancing himself from them as much as possible. Because of this, he was left with no one. None of the other Houses knew he had changed, she wondered if that was one purpose or not. If he made a big fuss about it to the school, word would surely get home to daddy, and he would be in major trouble.
He said that one of the main reasons he did not speak out against his father was because he was afraid that his father would not only take out his anger on him, but on his mother as well. Hermione remembered that it had been Draco's mother who had told Voldemort that Harry was dead, because he had told her that her son was alive. At least his mother is decent then, she thought, unlike his father, she actually cared about her son, cared enough to stand up in her own way to Voldemort.
She felt bad for Draco, no matter what he did, he could not win. No matter which side he was on, someone would get hurt. He had said that he wanted to rebuild the name Malfoy, but not to the way it way before, to the way he wanted it to be. She could not help but wonder what he wanted for his family name. Maybe for it to stand for something good like the Weasleys?
She remembered how angry he had gotten all the times she had brought up his past actions. He must hate himself for it. She remembered him telling her that her screaming was not the only reason he could not sleep, and he was haunted by the past just as he was. He had changed so much from the arrogant boy he used to be, Hagrid had said so too when she had next seen him.
"'E's changed 'Ermione" Hagrid said with a smile. "If I hadn't 'ave recognized him, I would 'ave thought he was a completely different person. I recon if Buckbeak were 'ere, he would have let him go fer a ride!" Hagrid said proudly.
Malfoy. The same Malfoy who had only known hate. She could not help but wondering what had done it. Hagrid said that he had told him that there had not a specific point in time which he had changed, but even throughout the course of the year, he had still been changing. I guess sleepless nights did him some good after all she thought.
She finally got out of the shower, feeling refreshed. She dried herself off, and wrapped a towel around her body, heading back to her room. When she got there, she was surprised to see that Draco's owl was back. She smiled, he had replied quickly.
She untied the letter from the owl's leg and opened it, it was much shorter that the last one.
Hermione,
I would love to have a destination on one of my wanderings.
Also, these board games sound fascinating.
What time would you like me there?
Draco
She paused briefly to consider this. Should she tell her parents that Draco was coming over? Should she tell him to arrive beforehand and meet her parents? She bit her lip.
Draco,
Arrive before five if you would like to meet my parents, or after if you do not wish to be interrogated by my father as to every conversation we have every had.
All my best,
Hermione
There, she would leave it up to him to decide. She tied the letter to the owl's leg and watched it fly out the window again.
After it left, she got dressed, she looked at the time, 11:30, wow, breakfast and showering took longer than usual, she thought. Granted, she had replied to two letters.
She fiddled with her hair a little bit, and used a de-frizzing charm she had recently read about and it did wonders. The last time her hair looked this good was for the Yule Ball, Merlin I love magic she thought.
She went down the stairs and found her parents playing chess, not wizards, that Ron loved to much, but the kind of chess where you actually had to move the pieces and they did not actually physically attack each other. She like this kind of chess a lot better. She watched her parents play for a while, after years of playing each other, they were quite evenly matched. The games would normally end with hardly any players left on the board, and this game was no different, currently, her dad had his king, a knight, and a rook, while her mother had only her king and a bishop.
Finally, her dad managed to corner her mother's king into a corner with his three remaining pieces, and her mother sighed, declaring checkmate. Her dad smiled and gave her mother a kiss.
"'Mione, how about you play your mother while I make lunch?" Her father asked.
"Sounds brilliant." She smiled.
"Any requests?"
"A BLT would be wonderful dear." Said her mother.
"A BLT works for me dad." Hermione agreed.
"BLTs it is" her dad smiled, and began puttering around the kitchen, gathering ingredients.
Hermione beat her mother in chess, she had always been quite good, perhaps even better than Ron. She had never told him how much she loved chess though, she had always been too worked up over the fact that the pieces smashed each other to bits. By the time they had finished their game, lunch was almost ready. They cleared and set the table, and sat down for lunch.
After they had eaten lunch and cleared the plates, they were just discussing what to do with the rest of their afternoon when Draco's owl came fluttering into their living room. Hermione went back to her room and untied the letter from the owl's leg.
Hermione,
Compared to my father, I'm sure yours will be nothing.
How does three o'clock sound?
Draco
She checked the time, it was 1:24.
Draco,
Three will be fine. It would be better not to mention you tormented me for the past seven years, or the kiss.
All my best,
Hermione
Hermione also enclosed her address on a separate piece of parchment, so he would know where to Apparate.
She once more tied the letter to the owl's leg and it flew away. She went back downstairs.
"Who's the owl from dear?" Asked her mother.
"A friend at school, he's not in the best home situation right now so I invited him over. He will be here at three, is that ok?"
"He?" inquired her father.
"He's not my boyfriend dad, don't worry. He's actually Head Boy this year." She added the last part, knowing her father, knowing the school trusted him with that title made him ease up.
"Oh, don't mind your father, he's just a bit overprotective." Her mother teased. "Three will be fine dear."
The next hour and a half passed quickly enough, and, at 2:57, she heard a Crack! that could only be someone Apparating. She got up from her chair to see Draco, right inside her front door.
"Hi" she said smiling at him.
"Hullo" he greeted her back, smiling just as widely, looking around.
Hermione's parents appeared behind her.
"Mom, Dad, this is Draco." She introduced them.
He shook both her parents hands, greeting them as he did so. He was dressed in nice jeans, and a dark blue button up shirt.
"So, Draco, do you play chess?" Asked her father. Her father had always said that you could really judge a person on how they played chess. Hermione giggled.
"Yes, I do." Smiled Draco, shooting Hermione an inquisitive glance.
"Ah perfect." Smiled her father. "Fancy a game?"
"Sure"
All four of them walked back to the living room, where the chess board already lay out. They sat down and Draco looked slightly confused at the chess set. Hermione did not say anything, the temptation of seeing Draco's confusion and the muggle chess set was far too great.
"White goes first." Hermione's dad said.
"Right. Pawn to 4D." He said, very clearly. His brow furrowed in confusion as the piece did not move. He cleared his throat. "Pawn to 4D." He repeated, slightly louder this time. Hermione had lost control at her laughter at the point, and was curled over on in the chair. Everyone else turned to look at her, wondering what she could be laughing at. She calmed herself down slightly.
She looked up to inform Draco that this was not wizard's chess, but one look at Draco's frustrated face and her father's equally confused one sent her into another fit of laughter.
"Would you mind sharing what's so funny dear?" Asked her father.
Between fits of laughter, she managed "not...hehe...wizard's...hahahe...chess.." and collapsed into another fit of giggles.
"What do you mean not wizard's chess 'Mione?" asked her father, still confused. "Do magical folk have another version of this game?" Hermione finally managed to calm herself.
"Yes. Draco, this isn't wizard's chess, you have to actually move the pieces, with your hands. You can talk to them all you want, but they aren't going to move." She explained.
"Ah." Said Draco. "That makes sense. So I gather these pieces won't talk either?"
"You mean the way you play chess the piece move on their own and talk?" Inquired her father, looking wide-eyed.
"Yes dad." Replied Hermione. "In fact, they also smash each other to bits instead of just replacing each other in a civilized manner."
"Really? That's brilliant?" Exclaimed her father, not looking the last bit concerned about the welfare of the chess pieces.
After Draco finally realized how to play, he and her father began playing, and Draco beat him both times they played. After the second time, her father raised his hands in surrender.
"Okay, I give up." He said. "I am obviously fighting a losing battle here. Plus, we have to go in about ten minutes. Why don't you play 'Mione? She'll give you a run for your money." He smiled proudly.
"Really Hermione? You're good at chess? Does Ron know this?" He asked teasingly.
"Oh, our 'Mione's one of the best we know." Said her father proudly.
"Dad, I'm not that good." Smiled Hermione.
"Nonsense dear, neither of us have been able to beat you in year!" Her mother interjected.
Hermione sat down where her father had previously been sitting.
Draco, being white, moved first.
"Pawn to 5E" Hermione said, teasing Draco.
"Very funny Hermione." Smirked Draco. "This isn't wizard's chess you know."
"What?" Exclaimed Hermione is mock horror. "You mean I have to actually touch the pieces? And they won't smash each other to bits? What a shame."
Everyone laughed.
After ten minutes of playing chess, Hermione had loss some pieces, but she noted with a smile that she had lost less that Draco.
"Well kids, we're off." Said her father, smiling. "You two have fun. But not too much fun." He added, throwing Draco a threatening glare.
Hermione laughed. "Don't worry dad. You two have fun too!" She hugged both of them goodbye, and watched their car pull out of the drive way."
"So Miss Granger," smiled Draco. "I finally have you all to myself."
A/N: Thanks for reading!
Always,
Shan :)
