A/N: Happy Easter, April Fools! Turns out I can't keep this chapter to myself because I'm actually too excited to share this with you all. I hope you've all had a good little holiday and are ready for a new chapter! Unfortunately I've got quite a few assignments coming up, so I hope I can update soon and regularly, but I don't want you all to think I'm ditching this if I am M.I.A. for a little while.
To the lovely reviewer who asked if this will be an eighth year fic, I don't know how many chapters we'll spend in Hogwarts, but there definitely will be a few, however it isn't my main aim to spend time in school.
Thank you to all who reviewed, please continue! I thoroughly enjoy reading them! :D
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter related things are property of JK Rowling. I do not profit from this.
Song: Never Enough – Loren Allred
Lyrics: I'm trying to hold my breath/ Let it stay this way/ Can't let this moment end/ You set off a dream with me/ Getting louder now/ Can you hear it echoing?
Chapter Six: Unity
A week before Christmas Day, Hermione received two important letters. The first was from Hogwarts, detailing the booklist for the year. She mentally made a note to head into Diagon Alley with Harry to shop for their books, and Draco's because of his obvious circumstances. The second was a short note from Molly Weasley, asking if she would be attending Christmas lunch with the family. Hermione wasn't sure if she should. Not only was her relationship more than strained with the youngest two members of the clan, but she also found that she felt uncomfortable letting Draco spend the holiday alone. She penned her response to Molly, letting her know of her plans with Draco and how she didn't want to cause a scene on Christmas Day. A few hours later, an owl came carrying two large packages and a reply from Molly, letting her know that she understood and that there was a present for her and Draco attached to the owl. Hermione was surprised, admiring how thoughtful Molly could be.
Christmas Day rolled around and Hermione invited herself over to Draco's house in the late morning, bringing presents, food, and a shrunk down Christmas tree, which she promptly set up in a corner of his living room. Draco wasn't particularly surprised that she was there, assuming that she would have turned down Molly's inevitable offer because of her current status with the two youngest Weasleys.
"Happy Christmas Hermione, what a surprise!" He mocked, handing her a glass of wine that he had already prepared for her.
"Merry Christmas, Draco!" Hermione smiled at him, accepting the drink. "I brought us a lunch feast."
"I can't wait." Draco's eyes twinkled. This was the first happy Christmas that he's had since he was a small child. Narcissa always tried to keep it light, but as it also coincided with mid-year reports, the abuse about Hermione and his grades would inevitably be brought up. He pushed these thoughts aside, allowing himself to relish in his present company.
Hermione laid out the feast, still warm from the charms she placed on the dishes when she left her house. The two sat next to each other, about to dig in when there was a loud pop of apparition in Draco's back garden. Hermione had her wand drawn immediately, a protective arm around Draco as they moved towards the kitchen door together.
"Sorry I'm late." Harry stated as he stumbled through the door, brushing snow from his cloak. He noticed Hermione's wand and raised his hand in a gesture of peace, "Woah, Mi. It's just me."
Draco placed his hand on hers and slowly lowered her wand arm. She was still standing protectively in front of him, years of war catching up to her.
"Harry, I didn't expect you to be here today." Draco stepped forward and embraced Harry in what can only be described as a 'bro hug'. "Thought you'd be at the Weasley's for lunch."
"I was." Harry shifted uncomfortably, "Ginny started throwing hexes at me when she found out where Hermione was."
"Well, we were just about to sit down and eat Hermione's feast. There's plenty, I'll set you a place." Draco smiled at his friend. Harry Potter, his friend, in his house for Christmas.
"Happy Christmas, Harry." Hermione said finally.
"Happy Christmas, 'Mione." Harry embraced his lifelong friend. Last year at Christmas they were on the run, visiting his parent's grave in Godric's Hollow and being forever haunted by the image of Bathilda Bagshot's reanimated corpse.
They all sat at the table once again, glasses raised in the air as Draco proposed a toast.
"I want to thank you both for being here with me today. You have no idea how much it means to me to have friends like you. I'm so grateful that you're in my life now. Happy Christmas!" Draco smiled at them both and they all clinked glasses with his sentiments echoed back at him from both sides.
After lunch, an owl tapped at Draco's living room window. He let it in and a package for Harry was deposited under the Christmas tree, identical to the two that Molly had sent Hermione. The owl sat on the window sill, recovering from its journey.
"I suppose that's a good cue for presents then!" Hermione laughed. They moved into the living room and Hermione pulled the three identical parcels out for them all.
"What is this?" Draco asked, obviously having never been on the receiving end of Molly Weasley's annual Christmas sweaters.
"Just open it, Draco." Hermione smiled encouragingly. A seed of doubt quickly passed through her mind, worrying that Molly sent Draco something offensive, but she brushed it off just as quickly as she saw Draco's reaction to the unwrapped present sitting in his lap.
"It's a sweater." Draco said blankly. It was a deep green with a silver 'D' woven on the front. "Did you give me a sweater, Hermione?"
She and Harry laughed for a moment as they both unwrapped their own sweaters. "No, silly. Molly knitted you one."
Draco looked from the sweater in his hands to the pair in front of him, already putting theirs on. Hermione's was a rich blue colour with a gold 'H' on the front, and Harry's was purple, also with a gold 'H' on the front. As Harry struggled to get into his, Hermione sat swimming in her own, falling over and rolling on the floor, laughing.
"Harry, she sent us each other's sweaters." She stated between laughs. Quickly swapping their jumpers, they were finally in the ones intended for each other.
Draco was still grappling with the fact that the Weasley matriarch had knitted him a sweater. He slowly put it on and his eyes swam with tears. It was a little big for him, but she obviously didn't have his measurements, and with the sons that she had, his lean stature couldn't compare to their stocky frames.
"This is wonderful." Draco said quietly. His fingers traced over the silver 'D' on his chest and marvelling. He quickly grabbed a piece of parchment and scrawled a thank you note to Molly for the jumper. She would understand that he was thanking her for accepting him, and accepting his friendship with her two practically adopted children. He tied the note to the owl's leg, still sitting on his window sill, and fetched a treat, telling it to take the note only to Molly. The bird departed and Draco closed the window.
"She really is an incredible woman." Hermione said, busying herself pulling more gifts from under the tree. Harry and Draco both nodded in agreement.
Hermione passed out the gifts that she had brought for the boys.
"How did you know I'd be here, Hermione?" Harry asked her. He had told her that he'd be at the Burrow for Christmas lunch, but she still had his present here.
"I didn't, but I brought it just in case." Hermione smiled.
Harry received two gifts. The first was a book written by an ex-Auror for aspiring Aurors. The second, a leather-bound album with photos of their friendship from first year until now. She had included photos with her, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, and in the last few pages, Draco. He smiled as he thumbed through the pages, memories flooding back to him at each photo. Some he stopped at and grazed his fingers over, others brought sadness to his eyes, and he appreciated the effort Hermione had gone to making this album for him.
Draco received a few smaller gifts from Hermione. A new game for his PlayStation, a broomstick cleaning set, and a ballpoint pen with his initials engraved on the side.
"I have another gift for you, Draco, but you'll have to wait until we get to Hogwarts to find out what it is." Hermione smiled and squeezed his hand tightly. Draco was puzzled, voicing that these gifts were already more than enough, but Hermione halted his protests, claiming that he would truly appreciate it.
Draco's gifts were distributed to the pair, with Harry receiving expensive-looking quidditch gear, which he thanked Draco for immensely before he burrowed deeper into the packaging and found that he'd also been gifted a large bottle of hair gel "for that unruly hair of yours. How it manages to defy gravity, I honestly don't know."
Hermione opened her present and gasped. A delicate silver charm bracelet was nestled in the wrapping. There were already charms placed at intervals around the chain: the Hogwarts crest, a griffon, a book, a wand, a cat, a lightning bolt, and a dragon. She studied each charm, reading into the meaning behind each of them. It was a perfect present for her, besides books of course. She presented the bracelet and her left arm to him, asking him to put it on for her.
"If you don't like any of the charms, you're more than welcome to take them off, and there's still some room for you to add some more." Draco rambled before Hermione pressed a finger to his lips.
"It's perfect, Draco. I love it." Hermione stood and kissed his cheek before grabbing the last presents from under the tree.
Harry sat staring at the pair in front of him. He admitted that he wasn't particularly perceptive at times, but even to him it was so obvious that they were meant to be together. A few weeks ago when they'd all celebrated Draco's return to Hogwarts, Harry had found them curled together in Hermione's bed the next morning, sleeping peacefully. He had known from that moment that they needed each other, not having been woken up in the guest bedroom to Hermione's screams for the first time since the war. How could the two smartest people in his year group not see what was right in front of their faces. They were in love with each other and they didn't even know it.
Harry had gifted Hermione a wooden covered journal and new quills. "I know you wanted to write about your experience in the war. Whether it ends up published or not, I think it would be a great idea, 'Mione."
For Draco, he had bought a popcorn maker and some DVDs. He then had to explain how the popcorn maker worked, along with what exactly a DVD was and how to use the DVD player connected to his TV, with Hermione's input when he struggled with the technological jargon.
They played board games together until dinnertime, when they finished the leftovers from Hermione's lunch. Once they were satisfied, the three of them sat on the couch with a blanket thrown over them all, nursing Firewhiskey and a large bowl of popcorn and watching some of the DVDs that Harry had gifted Draco. After a screening of Die Hard, Harry excused himself, claiming tiredness and depositing himself in Draco's guest room.
Hermione flicked through the DVDs and her eyes lit up as she picked out Matilda from the pile. "I know I was already on my way to becoming a fully-fledged witch when this movie came out, but it has been my favourite movie ever since, because it made me truly believe in magic."
She settled back on the couch, wrapping the blanket around them as the snow fell outside. Draco slung an arm around her, pulling her into him and dropping a soft kiss on the top of her head.
"Thank you for making this the best Christmas, love." Draco whispered as the movie started. Hermione felt butterflies in her stomach as she snuggled further into Draco's arms.
Harry found them the next morning, once again wrapped in each other's arms on the couch, smiling to himself and sighing. When will they just wake up.
The first day of Hogwarts was always going to be a struggle. Draco and Hermione caught a taxi to King's Cross Station incredibly early, where they pushed through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾ and found it empty, save for a few meandering train operators. They stowed their luggage and found a compartment on the train which was as far away as possible, with Hermione placing extra wards around the door. Harry found them some time later, having arrived with the Weasleys. He and Ron had been on good terms lately, with Ginny the only one finding issue with him.
The three spent the train ride playing games of exploding snap, gorging on sweets from the trolley, or Hermione reading a book while the two boys battled in wizarding chess – which Draco won, but only by a little. They changed into their robes together, each facing a different way in the compartment, although Hermione snuck a look at Draco's marble chest, and Draco managed to catch a glimpse of Hermione's smooth back.
Waiting to be the last before disembarking the train, they patted the thestrals as they caught the final carriage to the castle. Then their perfect bubble burst.
As they walked into the Great Hall, silence filled the room. Their footsteps echoed through the cavernous room as looked around and made their way to a small table on the side, obviously reserved for eighth year students. As Draco looked around, scowls crossed the faces of those who met his gaze, some even looking as though they were going to begin to yell abuse, however those protests never came to fruition as Hermione shot her own icy glare back and those scowling faces turned away, avoiding them like the rest of the school.
Hermione took note of the relatively large group of eighth years that had returned, besides herself, Harry, Draco, and Ron. From Gryffindor, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Neville Longbottom, and Lavender Brown; Ravenclaw had Terry Boot and Michael Corner; Hufflepuff saw Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, and Justin Finch-Fletchley; and from Slytherin, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Daphne Greengrass, and Blaise Zabini.
Harry sat beside Ron, with Hermione on his other side, and Draco at the end, opposite Blaise. He nodded in acknowledgement to his friend, who turned away from him slightly, nodding almost imperceptibly as a response. It was clear that Blaise couldn't openly show his friendship for Draco and after being around Harry and Hermione for so long, it stung.
The Headmistress called attention to the front as the Sorting Hat began its song and the first years were eagerly sorted. Following this, McGonagall's speech, while less mysterious than her predecessor, was warm and welcoming. She emphasised the importance of support, forgiveness, and inter-house unity following the war, having hired a counsellor from St. Mungo's and explaining other systems in place to foster good relationships and a safe environment this year. Following the speeches, the feast began. Chatter amongst the eighth years was kept minimal, with each house group talking only quietly amongst themselves. Hermione reached down and subtly gripped Draco's hand, feeling as though they were the only two left out.
Once the students had been sent to bed, McGonagall kept the eighth years behind to talk to them privately.
"I am pleased to see so many of you returning for your final year. Now, due to the obvious fact that you are all in a year that doesn't exist, you have been placed in dormitories shared with your seventh year housemates. You will also be attending classes with the seventh years, taking your N.E.W.T.s together. I would encourage you all to dine at the table that you were tonight, in the hopes that you could model to the younger students a sense of inter-house unity, however if you feel more comfortable within your house tables, I am happy for you to join them at meal times as well. You will all receive your timetables tomorrow, as usual." McGonagall paused, obviously contemplating something. "As you are all of age, I expect the best behaviour from you at all times. However, I understand that you are all adults, able to legally drink. I am not happy for you to do so, but there is nothing I can do to stop you, so I warn you. If I find any hint that you have been supplying alcohol or any other illegal substances to younger students, you will be expelled. This is your only warning." McGonagall pursed her lips and her face turned stern, eyeing every single student, with a few audible gulps. "Now, off to bed with you all."
The group exited the Great Hall, Slytherins heading to the dungeons, Hufflepuffs to the kitchens, Ravenclaws and Gryffindors to their respective towers. Draco seemed to be spiralling further and further into depression as McGonagall's speech drew on. The thought of being alone in the Slytherin dormitory with no wand to defend himself made him so anxious he wanted to throw up. Hermione tugged Draco's sleeve, urging him to fall back even further behind the group. She shot Harry a smile as he looked back at them knowingly and distracted Ron as he engaged him in conversation about quidditch tryouts.
"Hermione, I don't know what to do." Draco whispered. She and Draco had come to a complete stop in the foyer just outside the Great Hall. His eyes gazed after the Slytherin group with worry.
"Do you remember that Christmas present that I said I'd give you at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked tentatively.
Draco frowned, "I hardly think this is the time-"
"It is the exact time." Hermione assured him.
Once everyone had moved out of sight, she took Draco by the hand and lead him up to the ninth floor, where she turned to the left and paused. She counted suits of armour as she walked along the corridor until she reached the fifth one, where she stopped, inspecting area.
After she was satisfied that no one was around, she looked into the suit's helmet and stated, "Concordia."
The suit of armour moved to the left, revealing a hidden staircase leading downwards. Hermione and Draco descended the stairs and came to a hallway lined with empty portraits. At the end of the hallway was a plain wooden door, which Hermione touched her hand to and it sprung open.
She stepped inside, holding Draco's hand and pulling him with her, but finding him rooted to the spot just outside the door.
"Hermione, what is all this?" Draco gestured the air around him.
"My Christmas present to you." Hermione replied, as if it all suddenly made sense.
Draco took a tentative step inside and was greeted by a large common room, painted cream with walnut accents. There was a fireplace roaring to the right, with a rug covering the majority of the space, on top of which a few couches and a small table sat. On the left was a large round desk with four chairs, sitting next to a bookcase filled with their textbooks and other curriculum based reading material. Just next to the bookcase was a large bay window, the seat covered in cushions. At the back of the room were two doors, obviously leading into individual bedrooms, with a bathroom between them.
"Wow, this is more than I could've asked for." Hermione marvelled.
"Hermione, I'm still not exactly understanding." Draco responded, dumbfounded.
"Promise you won't be mad?" Hermione asked. Draco nodded. "I sent Professor McGonagall a letter asking her if it would be at all possible for a dormitory to be available to just the two of us. I feel as though I've become quite dependent on you, Draco, and with everything going on between Ron, Ginny and I, I didn't exactly want to share a common room. I was also especially worried about what would happen to you if you had to stay in the Slytherin dormitory without a wand. Like I said before we came back, we both have enemies here."
"And she just gave you your own dormitory?" Draco asked.
"She said she understood and she was happy to support us in whatever way needed. This is one of the many vacant dormitories used for housing the Head Boy and Girl." Hermione explained. "The password is 'concordia' and we have access from a number of various pathways. The fifth suit of armour on the ninth floor is our main entrance, but the empty portraits lining the halls take us through passages to various parts of the castle, which will be helpful getting to and from classes with as little interaction with others as possible, hopefully keeping the death threats to a minimum. If, somehow, someone gets the password, the door to our common room only opens to our magical signature, so if either of us touch it, we can enter."
Hermione was wandering the room, dragging her fingers across every surface, genuinely in awe of the place. Draco stood absolutely still, eyes travelling the space then flicking back to Hermione. She had his best interests at heart, he could tell. Draco's eyes swam with unshed tears and he strode purposefully across the room to her and swept her into his arms, lifting her off the ground. Hermione was shocked for a moment, as Draco had never initiated a hug before, but she responded quickly, wrapping her arms around his neck and laughing as he spun her around.
"This is absolutely wonderful, love." Draco whispered into her hair as he placed her back on the ground. He kept his arms around her waist and he was bent so their foreheads touched, "I can't believe you did this for me. Thank you."
"You don't need to thank me, Draco, thank McGonagall." Hermione blushed, always modest.
"I don't think I could thank McGonagall like this." Draco replied.
And then he kissed her.