a/n:
enjoy! feedback is welcomed and appreciated.
the battle of hogwarts- may 2, 1998
she looked up and locked eyes with him from across the courtyard, his eyes conveying a silent plea, hers showing the battle raging through her head.
"shit," she grumbled as she shook her head quickly as though to get the image of his eyes out of her head. she trained her eyes back to where hagrid stumbled with harry in his arms, and her breath caught as he fell to his knees and began crying.
as she watched the scene play through with everyone else, her tears flowing freely, her eyes drifted back to where his were still staring at her. his normally guarded expression was wide open, the same silent plea ransacking his stoic features as earlier. her guard dropped momentarily at the shock of seeing tears flood his eyes. his mouth moved slowly, the words forming in front of her eyes as though spelt in ink in front of her.
"i'm sorry."
the brockdale bridge - may 6, 1998
hermione granger stared at where the pieces of the elder wand had hit the water only four days ago, her arms resting on the railing. she had walked out on dinner tonight, instead opting to take a walk through the courtyard and out to the old wooden bridge leading into hogwarts. her thoughts wandered back to the war and to the destruction it had caused both physically and mentally.
families had been ripped apart - some wiped out altogether. remus, tonks, snape, fred, colin creevey, oliver wood, and crabbe were among those who died to defeat voldemort. the weasleys had been crushed by fred's death, but george was hit the hardest by his twins death. in the four days after the battle of hogwarts george had become a shell of himself, spending most of his time sitting at his brothers grave. molly and arthur had spent a lot of time with the other kids after deciding to leave george to his mourning.
the death eaters were the ministry's most wanted. some had turned themselves into the aurors instead of staying on the run. others decided to wait in their homes to be found, or even ended their lives to avoid spending a lifetime in azkaban. over half stayed on the run to either be captured or hold out in some hiding place.
the malfoys had turned themselves in to the ministry; everyone but draco. the boy hasn't been seen since the battle when he left with his parents after the defeat of voldemort.
hermione, ron and harry had all stayed at hogwarts with the majority of their year to help clean and rebuild as much as possible. the rest of their year was either in the hospital wing, at st. mungos, or with their families.
the battle had destroyed the castle from top to bottom. anything that was further inside of the castle had maintained its integrity, while the things that were outside of the castle walls had been decimated by the death eaters. the slytherin and raven claw common rooms were intact, but the other two needed to be rebuilt. the moving staircases were still perfectly functional, much to the surprise of the student body. the courtyard was fully destroyed to a crisp. the forest had been partly burnt down, leaving only two-thirds of it remaining.
aragog and the rest of the acromantulas had been partially wiped out by the death eaters, but had taken their dead back into the forest for burials. they hadn't been seen since the battle.
the giants and ogres had been mostly felled by the student body. the remaining had fled alongside the remaining death eaters when voldemort fell.
the centaurs, unicorns, and thestrals had all taken quite a hit population wise. the centaurs had joined late to the battle after being admonished by hagrid, but had helped fell the creatures employed by voldemort.
the house elves had assisted in the rebuilding of hogwarts and in the hospital wing. they worked tirelessly in the kitchens to supply enough food for both the wounded and the working, as well as anyone else who could be found throughout the castle. they conversed with portraits and assisted in helping get the dead and wounded transported to wherever their families requested them to go.
hermione spent almost twenty-four hours a day using every spell in her repertoire to assist the new headmistress; headmistress mcgonagall.
mcgonagall and hermione worked side by side to rebuild the walls that had collapsed both inside and outside of the castle. working together day in and day out had increased the connection between the two of them, allowing for a better relationship while working for so long together.
hermione spent the rest of her time reading up on new spells that would allow for a longer levitation time or searching for better wards to place on the castle since the previous ones had been destroyed by the death eaters. when she wasn't working or reading, she was sleeping or eating in the great hall with the rest of the students who remained to help.
rochester, new york - may 6, 1998
draco malfoy was restless.
after the battle, his parents and him had apparated back to malfoy manor. his mother and father had rushed to their room to pack their bags full of anything and everything that would be useful. draco walked around the manor, taking in every room and every sight for the last time before he became a fugitive of the law.
he packed alongside his parents, the three of them running like chickens with their heads cut off around the house. packing clothes, supplies, nonperishable foods, blankets and bedding, pillows, and more that could be useful was all they did for the few hours before the ministry issued the most wanted notice. placing shrinking charms on everything was draco's job once everything was packed. lucious malfoy burnt any and all of the books and records in the family library. narcissa malfoy made sure that the house was in order so that there would be no trace of any of the malfoys once they left.
once packed, the trio used a portkey to get to their country house in muggle america.
for the first two days, the malfoys were fugitives of the law. notice from the british ministry of magic had made way to the american ministry of magic, which put the trio back on edge.
on the third day, narcissa and lucious made the decision to forfeit their safety and freedom and go back to england to turn themselves in. draco stayed behind in america to figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.
unbeknownst to most of england, draco had the dark mark on his arm. the only ones who knew this were the golden trio, dumbledore, crabbe, goyle, and the remainder of the death eaters. he wasn't a known death eater, but the ministry would charge him guilty by association if he turned back up in england after he sided with voldemort publicly at the battle of hogwarts.
so here he stayed in america.
his parents had left all of their luggage here, which included all of the supplies and the majority of the clothes. anything that would be marked as suspiciously wizard-like was burnt in the fireplace in the yard.
today was the first full day of being alone in the house. he hadn't bothered with breakfast, instead just going straight to the makeshift gym in the basement of the home. even though it was all muggle equipment, it couldn't be helped since there was no magical version of a gym.
dressed in a black tank-top and black sweats, draco descended to the gym and worked out for an hour or so.
when he was sufficiently sweaty, he threw a towel around his neck and made his way back up the stairs to the kitchen. he charmed the water to boil and levitated an egg into the water. he took his hard boiled egg, de-shelled it, and cut it in half and ate it with some orange juice.
chewing on the second half, draco went to the foyer and ascended the stairs up to his room to shower and change into a black button up and slacks. donning shoes and a fedora, he left the house at a brisk stroll. he was determined to find the portkey point on his own before the american ministry shut down all portkeys to and from britain.
hailing a cab from the street, he got off at the right stop and found the silver spoon under the park bench. grasping it, he was transported to the identical park bench in the private forest area in muggle london. his parents had picked this spot because it was frequented by muggles, making it less likely to be a suspected portkey location for magically inclined people.
walking out of the park, he tilted his head down the slightest fraction so that his fedora blocked the sun from his grey eyes. he got to the corner of the sidewalk and stalked into the alley across the street and apparated from there to the edge of the remaining part of the wooden bridge by hogwarts.
the brockdale bridge - may 6, 1998
a loud pop echoed through the air, making hermiones head turn towards the source of the sound. remembering that the apparation wards had been broken along with the rest of the castle wards, hermione grabbed her wand from her pocket and flung her wand arm out at the source of the noise.
a curse already on her tongue, she stopped short of casting when she saw the flash of stark blonde hair and pale skin appear before her. the man who pulled a disappearing act had reappeared, right in front of her, across the bridge.
oblivious to the woman with her wand aimed for his jugular, draco tipped his fedora off and brushed a hand through his hair to right it. he languidly gazed at the scenery behind him before spinning on his heel to face the castle. his eyes saw the brunette - and the wand - before his brain caught up. by pure instinct, his wand was in his hand and pointed towards his old advisory before he even comprehended that there was no real threat.
"granger?" draco sounded out the name slowly, his voice steadied than he felt it should be.
she only blinked at him, her mind screaming at her to cast a spell.
his wand slowly lowered before he pocketed it and raised his hands, palms up, towards hermione.
"i'm not here to fight." again, his voice was steadier than he thought suited the occasion.
"turning yourself in, then?" hermione spat out, her voice cracking with the last syllable. "should i call the ministry for you, or will you manage on your own?"
her wand stayed raised, her arm shaking slightly but her knuckles clenched white around the wood. he took a steady step forward, his feet finding solid ground below them before her head shook almost imperceptibly.
"please don't make me." her face never broke, but her eyes conveyed the obvious exhaustion. "the fight is over."
"you're right." draco apparated to the very edge of the destroyed bridge, only a few feet in front of her. "it's over."
her wand lowered slightly, but her arm stayed straight and her hand never loosened as he walked towards her. his feet stopped a foot from her, so close she would have to look up in order to look him in the eyes.
fortunately, he swiveled to face the railing before following suit and resting his forearms on the railing and leaning over.
she stayed stiff as a board, although her wand arm was resting at her side now. she made no move to join him at the railing until he looked back and jerked his head forward, indicating she should join. her body shifted forwards on impulse until she allowed herself to go next to him, imitating his same position, although stiffer.
"where have you been?"
dammit. she broke first.
"in hiding."
silence.
"and you? have you stayed?"
"of course. hogwarts is my home. it has been since-" she stopped before she told him more. she had to remind herself that he wasn't a friend; he was a malfoy - a death eater.
his eyes flicked to her before going back to the water.
"how's the rebuild coming along?"
"it's- why?" her head turned sharply to face him, an exasperated expression sharp on her features.
"why?"
"why are you taking such an interest in the very same place that your side worked so damn hard to destroy?"
he nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving the surface of the water. "it's my home as well."
her mouth dropped open before shutting quickly, her teeth clattering together jarringly. "of course." her blush crept up her neck and flooded her cheeks with red. "i just assumed the manor was your home. you never seemed to like being here."
"things aren't always as they seem."
it was her turn to nod.
"why haven't you gone home to your parents?" she could tell that the fact that her parents were both muggles was heavily implied. "they must be worried."
"we- well i- well," she stammered the words out quickly, not having expected him to care much for a muggle-born, especially when he was supposed to be in hiding. "i wiped their memory of me before we started hunting horcruxes. i figured it would be better for them to not be dragged into the wizarding world as casualties during the war."
"i'm so sorry." he said as his grey eyes finally met her dark brown ones.
"war destroys people. it destroys families too."
"yes, but it also causes changes, both good and bad."
"did you really come here to negotiate the pros and cons of wartime with me? or do you have an ulterior motive?"
both of them stood at the same time, finally facing each other with the same ferocity as during their school years.
"i didn't, but i see now that maybe that should be my goal from now on." he said slowly.
"from now on?"
"it is you who is in my thinking spot."
her mouth opened and closed as she gaped like a fish out of water at him. her thoughts whirled wildly before coming upon an even wilder conclusion.
"if i may, may i join you?"
a few moments of silence followed before his body relaxed, hers soon following. he gave a short nod and turned back to the water, which they gazed at in silence together.
"why did your parents turn themselves in?" hermione asked softly.
"it was my mothers decision. my father-" draco stopped to scoff out the word. "he is as stubborn as he is arrogant. he refused to relent to the woman until she pulled out some cards that had long been forgotten."
"your mother sounds like a smart woman."
"oh she is." draco shook his head sadly. "i only wish the ministry wouldn't be so harsh in their ruling."
"after the death eaters - and voldemort - have reigned terror and death among the innocent people here, u wish mercy?" hermione gaped at him once more, her mind struggling to understand the logic.
"not everyone wished to be what they became. you didn't wish to become a war hero, did you?" she shook her head. "no, that's what i thought." he paused here and stared sadly into the water before continuing.
"being a follower was one of the hardest decisions that we all had to make. for some it wasn't even a decision. i was among those. but my story is for another day. my mother, she had no choice but to follow my father. if not, she would've been tortured - and killed - like the rest of the protestors. those who die for the cause get more mercy than those who die against. the order of the phoenix, you get a choice, do you not? you're not threatened with torture or murder, not even blackmail. you're given the simple option of save them, or leave. being a follower, you get two options; kill or be killed. no one is coming to save you. you're alone.
"not even your own parents will try to save you. whether they want to or not is irrelevant. you cannot reject the mark once it's offered. you've never known consequences until you reject the mark, but i won't go into details. my mother didn't want this, much like most of the wives. they aren't always offered the mark - my mother wasn't - but when they are, it's the same story as if they weren't. hosting meetings for voldemort and his followers, providing hideouts and shelter, and being human alert systems were only some of their jobs. men? they killed. they slaughtered and pillaged and ruined. they left nothing but destruction and horror behind wherever they went."
"i-i'm so sorry," hermione said, her eyes watering as she looked up at the sky and blinked rapidly to try to rid herself of tears. "i don't think any of us had any idea you didn't have a choice."
"you wouldn't have listened if someone spoke up though, would you have?"
"no. no, i suspect i wouldn't have."
"so no one did. not even those who weren't marked."
"will your mother go to azkaban?"
"there's no doubt in my mind that she'll be charged just as harshly as a death eater."
"she doesn't deserve that."
"no, she doesn't."
silence ensued, but not an uncomfortable silence.
"i should get back."
draco nodded but didn't take his eyes off the water as hermione drifted away from the railing and began walking back towards the castle. not even when she waved did he look to where she stood.
he mumbled something to himself as he straightened a minute later, but whatever he said was between him and the wind that took the words with it as it blew away. he straightened his shirt and brushed off his sleeves.
his shoes clicked on the wooden boards of the bridge as he walked a little distance and then apparated back to the portkey point.