AN: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling

I've had some mixed reviews to this chapter, so I've read it again and made some changes. To me this chapter represents moving forward and the development of the relationship between Draco and Hermione, rather than focusing on the other's and their loss. I hope this makes sense and I hope you like the changes.

Chapter 7

Hermione arrived back at Grimmauld Place to find Draco sitting at the kitchen table. He looked up as she exited the floo. He could tell instantly that it hadn't gone well just by looking at her face and posture. True he hadn't expected her back quite so soon, another reason he feared it had not been a happy reunion.

"Malfoy" she said, acknowledging his presence before heading upstairs to her room. Once in the privacy of her room she cast a silencing charm and cried. She was crying for her lost family, her decision and because she felt truly helpless and alone.

It had been a few days since Hermione had returned and Draco hadn't seen her. Kretcher had been taking her food, not that she was eating it. Mrs Weasley had called in and Draco had lied saying Hermione had gone for a walk. He promised to tell her that Mrs Weasley had been by and that she was invited to lunch on Sunday, as was Draco, although he was sure that his invite was an after thought and out of politeness.

It was now Saturday night and Draco knew he had to do something, partly because they were due at the Weasley's tomorrow and partly because he knew that the longer he left it the harder it would be for Hermione to get over whatever had happened. Kretcher was heading up the stairs with a tray of food for Hermione when Draco found him. "I'll take it" he said.

"Good luck sirs, Miss is very sad".

I figured out myself he though as he smiled and took the tray.

"Granger" he said as he knocked "I've brought you some dinner".

He could hear some movement inside the room, "I'm not hungry" came the response. He could hear the shake in her voice.

"You have to eat"

"Tell Kretcher I'll get something later"

"Granger, you haven't come out of your room in three days, now open the door and eat something"

"Leave me alone, Malfoy please" came the broken response.

"FINE" Draco sneered before stomping back down to the kitchen with the tray. Once he reached the kitchen he sat with his head in his hands, trying to calm down.

"Miss not hungry?" Kretcher asked

"Apparently not" Draco snapped

"Kretcher will leave out some food again for Miss to have with her tea" he said as he cleared away the tray.

"Her tea?"

"Yes, Miss has been coming down for a cup of tea most nights. If I leave a sandwich out, Miss eats it" Kretcher replied, with the closest thing to a smile he had, looking very happy with himself for knowing how to get Hermione to eat.

That night Draco waited in the kitchen for Hermione hoping that Kretcher was telling the truth. Sure enough just before 2am Hermione appeared in the kitchen. Draco saw that she looked even more broken than she had when she arrived back at Grimmauld Place.

Hermione saw Draco, but chose to ignore him. She headed over and made herself some tea, and sat down at the table with her tea and the sandwich Kretcher had left for her.

Draco watched her eat. He had put his book down on the table the minute she walked in the door. He knew he had to say something, but even with all of the hours he'd been waiting he still hadn't figured out what.

Hermione finished her sandwich and sat with the teacup in her hand, wondering why Draco was there. He hadn't said anything, but he had obviously been waiting for her.

They finally made eye contact and Draco decided now was the time to speak, "Mrs Weasley called round yesterday." He could see the look of horror on her face, "I told her you were out for a walk." Her look changed to relief, "but" he continued "we're expected for lunch tomorrow." The look of horror returned to Hermione's face.

A few minutes passed, and neither had spoken. Draco could see that Hermione was struggling with the information, so he figured he'd try and lighten the mood, or at least get her attention, "I don't know why your so scared, they like you, its me they hate" he said.

Hermione raised her head and looked at him, with a slight smile, "they don't hate you, we all fought on the same side, remember".

Draco shook his head, "I'm pretty sure Weasel hates me, and I know I only got an invite because Mrs Weasley couldn't ask you directly".

"Maybe" Hermione muttered, "but you do realise you can't ignore everyone for ever".

Draco's eyes widened, "and just what have you been doing?" he asked.

"That's different".

"How?"

"It was just you".

"No it wasn't. You didn't speak to Mrs Weasley".

"You didn't tell me she was here" Hermione yelled.

"What was I supposed to do, send her up to your room and have her see you in that state. I figured if you wanted comfort you'd have gone to see her. Sorry, I'll send her up next time" Draco yelled back "I mean what the hell happened in Australia".

"That is none of your business" Hermione snapped.

"Well get over it" Draco snarled "at least you have people who obviously care about you, and are like your family, so why the hell are you still here? After it all went to shit in Australia, I thought you'd have left to be with them already."

Tears were streaming down Hermione's face, "How dare you. You don't know anything, and they are NOT MY FAMILY" she yelled, before running from the room, slamming the door as she went.

Draco took a deep breath and sat down, 'good one Draco' he thought.

The next morning Draco again found himself sitting in the kitchen waiting for Hermione. They were due at the Burrow at 11.30am, and it was now 11.27am. Draco knew she would turn up, cause they both knew if they didn't someone, probably Weasel, would be here in a heartbeat to find her.

Hermione entered the kitchen, looking better than she had in days. Her hair had been combed and was pulled back. She was dressed simply in jeans and a jumper, and she had performed a charm on her face to hide her red eyes.

"Do not talk about Australia or anything that has been going on, understand?" she said as she approached him. Draco nodded.

Hermione then grabbed some floo powder, stepped into the fire and said "The Burrow". Draco followed. As he stepped out of the fire he saw Hermione being hugged by Mrs Weasley with the entire Weasley family waiting to greet her. It took them a few minutes to notice him.

"Oh Draco dear, welcome" Mrs Weasley said, as she finally saw him standing by the fireplace.

"Thank you for the invitation" Draco replied with a polite smile.

A short while later, everyone was sat around the Weasley's dinner table. Mr Weasley was at the head of one end of the table, with Mrs Weasley at the other. Draco was next to Mr Weasley with Fleur on the other side of him, facing Fred and George. Hermione was on the opposite side of the table, next to Mrs Weasely and Ron. This allowed Draco to watch her, that and the fact most of the people around the table were ignoring him, apart from the odd, 'can you pass the potatoes'.

He could see her participating in discussions and smiling, but even he could tell that she wasn't 100%, yet none of the others seemed to notice. Mrs Weasley had said something about her not eating enough, but had put it down to her being looked after by Kretcher. This made Draco smile, as presently Kretcher was the one ensuring she was eating.

All of a sudden 3 owls flew into the room and landed in front of Ron, Hermione and Draco. They each had letters from Hogwarts. School was starting back in a month, as the rebuilding was progressing, and the teachers felt it was important to bring back a sense of normality to the students life. They each had a book list, for their 7th year, with the letter instructing that they would be combining the end of the previous years curriculum with this years.

"Oh Hermione" Mrs Weasley gasped, and Draco looked up to see that a badge had fallen out of her envelope. "Head Girl, oh we're so proud." she said as she pulled Hermione into a hug.

"Ron please tell us you are following in the footsteps of the good side of the family" Fred asked with a huge grin. Draco didn't understand, surely they didn't expect Ron to be made Head Boy?

Ron looked in his envelope and said "No badge".

"Oh Ron, we're so proud" the twins said together, in the perfect Mrs Weasley voice. There were sniggers around the table, while Mrs Weasley looked ready to kill them.

"There is nothing wrong with being Head Boy, we've had 2 in this family, and would have been very proud to have had 3" Mrs Weasley states, looking at the twins. They both look down, as if being remorseful, but Draco could see their smiles were still there.

"And I actually enjoyed being Head Boy thank you very much" said Bill

"Yeah but your the first born, you had no one else to be compared to" Ron whinged, "we had to follow you and Saint Percy as Head Boys".

"Hey" said Percy, who was still making amends with his family after not totally believing Voldemort had returned, "I worked hard to get Head Boy and I deserved it" came his pompous response, "and I followed Charlie not Bill, so I had..."

Percy never got to finish his sentence as the whole table had fallen silent at the mention of Charlie's name. The Weasley children had always bantered between each other, picking on each other and joking about each others good and bad points. They all knew how to push each others buttons, and made the most of it. They were all still dealing with the fact that Charlie had gone, and that they couldn't do that anymore.

"Its..its ok Percy" Mrs Weasley managed to choke out, while trying not to cry.

Silence fell over the table with no one quite sure what to say.

"I wonder who will be Head Boy?" Bill questioned, trying to lift the mood and move everyone from Percy's unintended comment.

"Me" Draco said quietly, holding up the badge he had found in his envelope as he'd pulled out his letter, still trying to deal with the obvious grief and incredibly close family that he was currently sitting with.

"You?"

"Ron, be nice" Hermione said, "Congratulations Draco".

"Thank you, and congratulations to you Hermione".

"Congratulations to both of you, and I'm sure both your parents would be proud of you too." Mr Weasley said "A toast to Draco and Hermione our new Head Boy and Girl".

As the Weasley's toasted them both Draco and Hermione looked at each other, and both had sadness in their eyes, as both knew neither of their parents would ever get the chance to be proud of them again.

AN: So what do you think, is it better? - hit review and let me know :)

Next stop Hogwarts...

Oh and I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows today, awesome movie, which just like the book made me cry. Can't wait for part 2 :)