A/N: Dialogue, this chapter probably has more dialogue than all the other chapters combined. However, it's one of my favorites so I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.
I would also like to thank you for your feedback about the POV question, it was very helpful. :)
"Malfoy, there's a.." Hermione started to speak.
"Draco." Draco interjected, "I'm getting tired of all the name switching and I can't see why you can't use my first name. You also use Nymphadora's family name. Is that a 'call the Blacks by their surname' sort of thing?"
"What? No.." Hermione frowned briefly, surprised at how Draco's mind linked things she would've never linked. "We call her Tonks because she hates her first name." she explained.
"I don't hate mine, I love it, actually. So use it." Draco urged.
"Alright..Draco..have you fell and hit your head when you were young?" she asked
"Several times; I was a hyperactive child." he confided with a smile.
"That explains everything then." she nodded.
"What do you mean by everything?" he asked.
"Everything!" Hermione repeated, "Your whole attitude. Draco, you almost kicked me out of your room around two weeks ago and now you just fancy a walk?" she scoffed. "You have...consistency issues." Hermione concluded.
"Every action I take is justified from my own point of view. I don't have to explain my motives to you all the time." Draco replied defensively.
"Yes you do! When I'm the subject of your mood swings then I have the right to know what causes them." Hermione insisted.
"Alright..I didn't want you in my room when you came with my mother." Draco admitted.
"Yes, you made that very clear. My question is, why?" Hermione asked.
"I was injured, furious, in pain and generally..vulnerable. I didn't want company in that state." Draco explained.
"It..wouldn't have been the first time I saw you like that." Hermione reminded cautiously.
"Exactly. You've already seen too much." Draco sounded displeased with the fact.
"And that's why you keep running away?" Hermione demanded.
"Running away! I don't run away!" Draco replied incredulously.
"Yes you do. We're perfectly fine one minute and then suddenly you're once again that foul loathsome boy I've always known. And I hated that boy." Hermione countered.
"So you..hate me.." Draco frowned at her.
"No! Are you even listening to me? I'm saying that I don't understand why you keep trying to make me hate you." Hermione said with a tone of frustration in her voice.
"I'm not." Draco said.
"Good, because it's not working." Hermione blurted.
"I'm glad it's not." Draco sighed audibly.
"Then stop building walls and hiding behind them." Hermione implored.
"I have nothing to hide from.." Draco raised his chin up defensively.
"Why did you come back, Draco?" Hermione ignored his reply.
"I told you I needed to see my mother." Draco replied.
"Yes but I find it very hard to believe that you couldn't apparate there on your own." Hermione argued.
"Your confidence in my skill is very ego pleasing." Draco smirked at her.
"That's not what I meant." Hermione rolled her eyes at him, "You could've asked asked one of the house elves to bring you here instead of me." she said. "Actually, you could've asked any of the house elves at the Manor to bring you here." she added thoughtfully.
"There are no elves in the Manor." Draco mumbled broodingly.
"What? Linny and Pex were the only house elves in the Manor?" Hermione asked, unable to believe that the Malfoy's were only served by very few elves.
"No, there were several others. But they were killed." Draco explained uneasily.
"Killed!" Hermione gasped, "When? How?"
"The Dark Lord..he was..furious when he knew house elves assisted you so he killed them all." Draco explained grimly.
"That's..that's...it's..brutal!" Hermione stammered, taking sharp breaths from between her words.
"That's him." Draco shrugged.
"Alright" – Hermione took a deep breath to shake off the images Draco's words have formed in her head– "at least you could've asked Linny or Pex to take you to your mother." she said. "Actually I blamed myself for not thinking of asking them to take me to the Manor instead of asking your mother to do so. But I wasn't thinking properly" Hermione confessed.
"And what could have possibly made Hermione Granger lose her wits?" Draco jested
"An idiot! A blithering idiot who keeps running around a simple question so he wouldn't have to answer it." Hermione glowered at Draco.
"What question?" Draco fought to wipe the silly grin off his face.
"You could've came here without me." Hermione said
"I believe so.." Draco conceded.
"Then why didn't you?" Hermione pursued.
Draco looked down at his entwined fingers. He had already exposed too much of himself to Hermione over the course of the short time they've spent together. So why not just say what was on his mind? Because this was hopeless, Draco brooded. He couldn't give a name to the mix of feelings he was having towards the girl standing in front of him, didn't dare to.
He didn't want any of those feelings. Neither could he put his hand on the exact moment where they made their way into his heart. He desperately wanted to go back to a time where he could feel absolutely nothing but sheer apathy towards her. But he couldn't go back in time. And given the fact that the first thing he did when he regained his ability to walk was come for her, he only had the option of moving forward.
"I wanted to see you." Draco confessed, "I almost died, this sort of makes you..view matters differently."
"Draco, this is really not time for vague answers." Hermione almost pleaded.
"But vague is all I have." Draco shrugged helplessly. "It's all over my head. I want to see you, but I don't know why. I desperately wanted to improve the image you had of me, but I don't know why." –Draco moved closer to Hermione. He bent his head down and rested his forehead against hers– "I could kiss you right now, but I wouldn't know why. There's a long list of things that I only have one answer to. And I don't dare even think about it."
"Why not?" Hermione sighed desperately.
"Because what's next, Hermione?" Draco asked, "We are two parallel lines, we might be going in the same direction but we can't meet."
"Why can't you just stay with us?" Hermione argued.
Draco took a step back, his hands still resting on Hermione's waist, "Then what?" he asked.
"Then I don't know! You do whatever it is we're doing. Whether it was searching for Horcrux or dueling some Death Eaters, or..." Hermione started to speak.
"Hermione, I am a Death Eater." –Draco pulled up his left sleeve forcefully– "Look! Look properly at what you've been turning a blind eye to."
"I can see your mark, Draco. I just can't see why it should define who you are." Hermione said simply, "Even if you chose it at some point, it's a mistake that you've already done enough to correct."
"And what exactly do you suggest?" Draco asked almost sardonically.
"I already told you, stay with us and when the time comes, fight with us." Hermione replied.
"You want me to raise my wand at my own father? Stand in front of him and fight until one of us kills the other?" Draco demanded incredelously.
"It doesn't have to be like that. Why can't you just send him away? With your mother." Hermione tried to reason with him.
"My father is...too scared of the Dark Lord. He's too much of a coward to fathom the idea of betraying him." Draco confided, "That's why I didn't tell him the truth about my mother. I couldn't trust him to hide it well. " he explained. "You haven't seen how he is in the Dark Lord's presence." Draco twisted his mouth in disgust.
"Then he made his choice. He's a grown man, an adult. And he chose his own path. Why do you have to force yourself into it?" Hermione asked.
"Because he's my father. And it doesn't matter how strongly determined you are on demonizing him. I love him and he equally loves me." Draco defended.
"What sort of loving father does this to his own son?" Hermione argued further.
"A mistaken one." Draco replied simply, "Look, you might know what sort of man he is. But you don't know what sort of father he is."
"If he's as good as you make him sound then he should be proud of you when he knows the truth." Hermione said.
"I already have to live with the guilt of not letting him know the truth about my mother. He is barely surviving his wife's death and you want me to add insult to injury and just leave?" Draco countered.
"So when a war eventually erupts, you'll be raising your wand against us..against me?" Hermione's voice came barely audible as if she was speaking to herself.
"No." –Draco shook his head– "Never." he assured.
"Then what are you going to do?"
"I'll go back home and I'll stay there until further notice. If I hear something that I think you should know, I'll inform you. And when a battle finally erupts...I'll just maneuver my way through it."
"This is not the right thing to do, Draco." Hermione insisted.
"It's the best I can do." Draco shrugged apologetically.
Hermione's eyes followed Draco's elusive gaze. Could she really blame him for not wanting to abandon his father? Who knew what she would've done if she was in his place? He had already done a great effort to do the right thing.
"If the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right, and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good and kind and brave because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort." Dumbledore's words echoed in Hermione's head. Draco definitely hadn't made the easy choice, she decided.
"So I won't see you again until..when?" Hermione asked.
"I'll try to contact you with any information I get but.."
"Draco," Hermione cut him off, "when will I see you again?" she repeated.
"Oh.." Draco nodded slowly, "I really don't know."
"When do you have to go back home then?"
"Not anytime soon."
"Alright, walk with me." she offered.
Had anybody told Hermione a couple of months ago that she would be walking down a path that held such a special place in her heart with none other than Draco Malfoy, she would've declared them mental. For the first time in a long time, she felt young and carefree. She talked a lot about herself and learned even more about the part of Draco that she could never have revealed if he hadn't let her.
It was only when the dark started fading that they realized how much they've lost track of time.
"I should go back now, I need some rest." Draco said, stretching his back slightly.
"Alright, I'll..see you when I see you." Hermione mumbled.
"Goodbye." Draco said reluctantly, turning around to leave.
"Wait.." Hermione called after Draco and he instantly turned around, "When you were talking..you..you said something." Hermione paused to clear her throat.
"Something.." Draco repeated slowly.
"Something about...about a kiss." Hermione went on in a barely audible voice, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"Yes?" Draco asked hoarsely, stepping closer to Hermione.
"Well, I was thinking that...you know...that.." Hermione's voice trailed off.
Draco's gaze burnt into Hermione's eyes for a moment. His hand reached for the small of her back, pulling her closer. His other hand cupped the back of her neck. His thumb brushed the pulsing vein beneath her ear. He ran the tip of his tongue over his lower lip and bowed his head, bringing his lips closer to hers. Hermione's lips parted and she swayed forward instinctively.
"You should know upfront," Draco paused to swallow, "that this kiss doesn't promise any future" he whispered huskily.
"I know." Hermione murmured.
As if he had been waiting for her confirmation. Draco's lips closed over hers. Cold at first then warm under the heat of her own lips. She felt his tongue gliding through her lips. Its tip coaxing her own tongue to come to life. When the kiss lasted for too long for either of them to breathe properly, Draco broke it off.
"Soooo, I don't really need to rest.." Draco jested, earning himself a loud wholehearted laugh from Hermione.
"Goodnight...or good morning, I'm not really sure." Hermione said, looking at the sky.
"All's well that ends well." Draco murmured, dropping a chaste kiss over Hermione's lips before stepping back and disappearing with a pop.