- Hogsmeade, 10th of February 1996 –
Hermione leant into Draco's side as they sat down for some butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks. They'd found a larger, round table in a more secluded corner of the inn and were waiting for their friends to arrive. Both Slytherins observed their fellow students entering and leaving the pub, content with just being together in silence. His girlfriend's hand slipped into his and Draco could feel the worry and anxiousness seep out of her, her shoulders sagging as she sighed deeply. Ever since the mass breakout from Azkaban earlier in January, a sense of dread had settled between the members of their new study group, MERLIN.
No matter Draco's anonymous warnings, the Minister was still in denial about Voldemort's return and had stopped both the Head Auror and Amelia's temporary replacement as Head of the D.M.L.E. from sending more aurors to Azkaban. At least this time, people were not blaming Sirius Black for the breakout. Instead, much of the British wizarding population blamed its success on the Minister, seeing as so many highly placed members in the Ministry had warned him. Draco couldn't help but smirk. Fudge was definitely in for a treat.
The Weasley siblings had been the first four members to join the silver trio in the Room of Requirement a day after the breakout. Their other friends were not far behind. Daphne, Astoria and Blaise had nearly accosted him and Hermione on the train ride to Hogwarts, wishing to know if they could also join after Daphne received a letter from Hermione explaining the whole ordeal early in January. Neville, Luna, Susan, and Hannah had signed and charmed a small note, banishing it to Harry's pocket during dinner on their first night back. As both a seventh-year student and a Triwizard champion, Cedric had also offered his services to help instruct their friends. To everyone's astonishment but Draco's, Lupin had actually been put on suspension without any evidence against him, and Umbridge had taken over the D.A.D.A. classes, making the classes awfully dreadful, useless and dull.
After a while, more and more people wanted to join, and Draco had not been surprised the night before when he glanced at the parchment all the members of MERLIN had signed. All of them had been part of the D.A. before, even if a few of its original members were still missing. How Umbridge had not gotten wind of their, in the toad's eyes, "illegal" dealings he was unsure about. He'd been keeping an eye on her, and to his utter disgust, he'd noticed her looking at him in the Great Hall intently, as if she thought they truly were on the same side.
"Did you hear about Cho?" Hermione whispered in his ear, taking him out of his musings. The Ravenclaw girl in question had just entered the inn, some seventh-year Gryffindor Draco didn't know on her arm. Perhaps, she'd finally gotten over her crush on Cedric then.
He leaned in closer to Hermione and he could see the blush spreading on her face. Such a marvel that he was able to make her blush still, even after all they'd been through. "I didn't know you liked to join the gossip mill," he teased her, flicking her nose with his own.
Flustered no longer, Hermione frowned and stuck out her tongue at him.
"Very mature, Lady Dagworth-Granger," he drawled, quirking an eyebrow at her.
"Sometimes, I feel it necessary to stoop to the maturity level of my boyfriend, just so he believes he can keep up with my own intellect," she quipped back, playfully winking at him before taking another sip of her butterbeer and studying the Ravenclaw who was now seated on the other side of the Three Broomsticks.
Shaking his head at her teasing, he threw his arm over her shoulder, pulling her closer to him again. He could feel her relax once more. "You were asking about Cho," he reminded her as he started absentmindedly twirling one of her curls around his finger.
"She confided in Lavender that she's heard murmurs of a study group. She would like to join, together with her friend Marietta-"
"Edgecombe," Draco finished for her, frowning now. He took a deep sigh, letting his magic seep into her, his hand resting on her shoulder. " Her mother works at the Ministry. That's how Umbridge found out about the D.A. last time. The toad threatened her mother's job, in exchange for information on the D.A.'s location and members, Mione. She would be a liability. "
Hermione didn't answer immediately and instead opted for sipping more of her drink. He could see she was deep in thought before she finally addressed him again. "Well alright. Then what do you suggest we do? If we deny them to join us, then-"
"She can join our study group in the library," Draco replied. "Umbridge hasn't banned those any longer, as Madam Pince threw a fit at the last Board of Governors meeting, complaining that the students felt unwelcome in the library since working together in groups, and with people from other Houses had gotten some students into detention. The Board wasn't too pleased, according to my Mother." He chuckled under his breath, wishing to have been a wrackspurt on the wall for that.
"Never mess with a librarian," Hermione smiled fondly. "Madam Pince confided in me just last week that she was delighted to see so many students in the library again. Even said it had been too quiet lately."
Draco raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. "Too quiet? Madam Pince? Are we sure that's her and not some random bookworm with a stash of polyjuice potion that has taken on her identity?"
Hermione nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. "Prat."
The pair enjoyed each other's company some more and talked about visiting with Amelia and Sirius in the upcoming weeks, seeing as their baby boy, Regulus, had been born just a few weeks earlier.
Daphne and Cedric, the two of them only having made a short stop to buy some more stationery, were the first to join them at their table. Hermione and Daphne gushed about some new quills the blonde witch had procured, and Draco made a mental note to gift his girlfriend with a new set of quills and muggle pens soon. The boys looked at each other knowingly, amused by their girlfriends getting all excited about something as simple as notebooks, parchment, and stationery. Both Cedric and Daphne opted to get some pumpkin juice and some pasties, right as Harry and Ginny, and Neville and Hannah walked into the pub, all laughter and smiles from their trip to Zonko's Joke Shop.
The conversation turned more serious and hushed whispers about MERLIN, the war, and their training went back and forth across the table. Feeling the mood had shifted completely from a carefree afternoon out with friends, Draco was trying to figure out how to get everyone in good spirits again. Blaise and Luna showed up right then, Blaise having adorned one of Luna's newest projects: an enormous pink sweater with a purple pigmy puff embroidered on the front.
"I think it's cute," Hermione patted her African-Italian friend on the shoulder reassuringly when Luna left to go to the bathroom. Harry, Cedric, and Draco had been trying to hide their laughter, until Blaise explained he had to pick between a pigmy puff or Luna's face on the front of his sweater. Harry snorted butterbeer through his nose at that, making everyone laugh.
"I see the sweater has had its intended effect," Luna announced airly as she joined her friends again and winked at Draco. "We could all use some joy and laughter instead of doom and gloom, am I right?"
Draco understood what she'd done with her seer abilities, and everyone smiled at Luna gratefully. Hannah commented that even though Blaise looked a tiny bit ridiculous, Luna's craftsmanship was top-notch. Daphne even wondered if Luna could help her knit a new pair of gloves, and so the conversations turned to more easy-going topics again, giving the group some reprieve from all their preparation and scheming. Ron and Lavender, as well as Theo and Susan, ended up joining them in the end, and the couples discussed what their plans were for Valentine's Day later that week, making Draco nervous. It had just been his luck, that he'd received a letter from the goblins a mere two weeks earlier. Finally, his investments had paid off. All he could do now was hope that Mione would appreciate his gift.
- Oxford, 14th of February 1996 –
"You are incredibly lucky that Umbridge thinks this is all part of your scheme, or she would have never allowed you to leave the grounds with me," Hermione mused as the pair stood in front of Oxford Station. Draco had apparated them there, as Hermione was still trying to get a grasp of side-along apparating, and also had no clue where they were going for their Valentine's date.
"She couldn't have stopped me if she tried," the blond answered confidently, taking his girlfriend's hand in his, grazing her knuckles with his thumb. Lucky for them, classes had finished around lunch that day, and they'd been able to leave at noon. Most of his friends had gone to Hogsmeade to celebrate Valentine's, but Draco had of course opted for a more adventurous approach. Not that any of his friends knew. They all thought the pair was still at Hogwarts, and that they were planning to visit Hogsmeade in the evening.
Draco started leading Hermione towards George Street, the two magicals stopping to take a picture with a disposable camera the brunette had bought at the station as they crossed Castle Mill Stream.
"Don't you mind that the pictures won't move?" Draco asked her, still holding her hand as they walked closer to the city centre.
"I think it has a certain charm when they don't. It makes it feel as if I've actually captured a moment." Hermione got a faraway look in her eyes, smiling fondly. "Besides, I don't want to look at your scowling face when I accidentally put my finger on you in the picture. Your magical photographs are even more vain than you are. A crumpled shirt seems to be utterly devastating for them. They give me the nasty eye for at least a week before they return to normal!"
The blond chuckled and pulled Hermione closer to him as they dodged two small children speeding by on a bike, their mother barely keeping up with them. "Is that why you were so insistent on buying a muggle camera? So you could stare at my likeness without them getting annoyed at you?"
"More like, without their ego increasing. The little pompous gits," she huffed, smiling at her boyfriend.
Draco laughed loudly, swung his arm around her shoulder, and kissed Hermione's temple.
Not long after, they came upon Draco's first destination. Hertford Bridge, also known as the Bridge of Sighs, was a well-known skyway on Catte Street that connected the two sides of Hertfort College. Hermione took a few more pictures of the landmark, as well as one of Draco, until the blond led her across the street into the Bodleian Library for a guided tour organised by Oxford University.
His girlfriend seemed to blossom before his very eyes as she took in the wooden shelves filled with knowledge and listened with rapt attention to the elderly gentleman leading the tour. In true Hermione fashion, her hand shot up more than once with a question. Her gaze drifted towards the painted panels on the ceiling more than once, and Draco could sense her curiosity peak when she heard there were even papyri scrolls archived at the library. Too soon, their time at the library came to an end, but Hermione managed to exchange addresses with their tour guide who happily obliged to answer any more of her questions.
Thanks to Dobby, the pair ate a late packed lunch in one of the University Parks, Hermione opting for a sandwich made with whipped cream and fruit while Draco decided on one with egg salad. Hermione had decided to put down their picnic blanket close to the J.R.R. Tolkien bench, just so she could see her fellow fantasy and book lovers stop at the bench, looking at it in both awe and excitement.
"Why Oxford?" she suddenly asked him, carefully moving her hands over her long skirt, making it seem as if she was brushing off the crumbs rather than vanishing them with wandless magic.
Glancing around his shoulder to make sure no one was around, Draco murmured a silencing spell and put a notice-me-not charm around them, as well as another warming spell now that the first one he'd put up while they started eating was diminishing in strength.
"Gryffindor you often told me about Oxford," he finally admitted, fumbling with a tuft of grass he'd pulled free in his nervousness. He'd been secretly planning to take her here for years, even before she became his girlfriend. Ever since he got back to this timeline and started his own investments at Gringots, he'd been putting that money to good use. Thanks to his future knowledge, his personal fortune, not just that of the Malfoy family, had grown tenfold.
"She did?" the witch asked, leaning back on her hands, crossing her ankles as she tilted her head and enjoyed a bit of sunlight streaming down.
"You know how some things never change, no matter what I do," he continued. "But I was never entirely certain if this was one of those things." He let out a deep sigh, building up the courage to admit to her what he'd done. "We often spent time in the Room of Requirement, fantasising about might-have-beens. Sharing our dreams and ambitions. And one of hers was to come here, after Hogwarts. She wanted to take a Mastery, but was still undecided in what subject last we spoke about it. Yet, one thing she was always a hundred percent certain about, was that she would come here, to Oxford, and take an undergraduate in-"
"Law," Hermione whispered in awe, finishing his sentence for him.
When he finally dared to glance up at her, she smiled at him lovingly and scooted closer to him, sitting down in front of him on her knees, their faces only inches apart.
"My dreams and ambitions haven't changed, it seems. Even if I do have a feeling my Mastery will be in either Arithmacy or Potions. Perhaps both," she told him.
He tucked a stray curl behind her ear and swallowed deeply, trying to get rid of the nervousness. This was it. "Good that I made sure that all of the Hogwarts subjects are now offered as masteries at Celeste College."
Hermione's eyes searched his, a frown plastered on her face. "Celeste College?" she asked, thoroughly confused.
"The first magical college in Britain," Draco answered, more confident now. "It's taken me, the goblins, and some of our allies in the Wizengamot more than a few years to get it all set up. Did it all under Fudge's nose as well, but once the muggle Prime Minister stood behind us, there was little he could do," Draco trailed off, remembering how Gringotts had brought him into contact with some muggle-borns who worked for the prime minister's cabinet. "Celeste College, named after the first witch of your line, will also be the first and so far only College that offers higher education in magical studies. Giving students the opportunity to pursue regular muggle studies such as Law besides their magical masteries, of course."
"You didn't," Hermione whispered, tears forming in her eyes. She shook her head in disbelief, overwhelmed by what he had told her, looking down at her hands in her lap.
"Don't be surprised, love," he soothed her, wiping away a tear on her cheek. "Once I realised I wanted to help you reach your dreams, making sure there was a magical college in Britain seemed like an obvious first step. I didn't expect it to be done so soon, though. Admissions will start in a month, after the public knows about-"
"You did this because you wanted to support me?" she interrupted him, her voice quivering as she looked up at him again, her eyes still watery.
It was Draco's turn to frown as he put his hands on her cheeks carefully, making her look at him. "Of course, I did it because I wanted to support you, Mione. Even if it will also help others in the wizarding world, ultimately, everything I've done since I've come back, I've done for you. I wanted to give you the life that you've always wanted. The life that you deserved. No matter if that would be with, or without me in it."
Her emotions were so strong that she had no issues getting past his natural magical occlumency, catching him off guard as the familiar feeling of her magic tingled on his fingertips. " It would never be without you, " she stated fiercely, her words ringing in his mind. He hadn't expected her to get in his mind again without his aid. At least not without the bond they used to share.
"You can't know that for certain, love. I have schemed and manipulated so things would go in my favour. Like you and Harry being sorted in Slytherin so I could keep an eye on you as you got yourselves into trouble. I took you from the Weasleys, you know I did, I-"
"You've seen how Harry and I have been with Ron during MERLIN," Hermione swiftly replied, disagreeing with him. "You didn't take me from the Weasleys. Even if we didn't become best friends during our first year, some bonds cannot be broken easily. You gave me my Slytherin family, the Blacks, your own family, in addition to the Weasley clan. You gave Harry a home ."
She leant forward and kissed him softly, showing her feelings on the matter. Her eyes were stern when she spoke again. "Do not, for a second, think that what you have done was not for the better. Your sacrifices have saved multiple lives, Draco, not just mine. Sirius and Amelia. Their three lovely children would never have existed without you. Cedric would have died at the hands of Voldemort. Harry escaped his cruel muggle family. You cannot possibly believe that the changes you've made, do not matter."
He hung his head and ran his hand through his blond locks. "They do matter, Mione. But what if…" Draco struggled just thinking about it. His worst fear. The one thing, that perhaps was always meant to happen… "What if the one person I truly want to save, is the only one I cannot save? What if you still die in two years?"
Hermione tilted his chin and made him look up at her, her eyes filled with love and determination. "I won't. That's why we're training. That's why we're trying to get the three hallows back together. So we can leave all of this behind us. So that in two and a half years, we can both come and study at Oxford. So we can have picnics in this park every week for as long as we're here. So we can grow old together and have a family of our own."
"I would love that," he murmured quietly before he pulled her closer to him and kissed her, pulling her down on the picnic blanket with him and making her giggle.
They lay there in each other's arms, completely in peace as they listened to the bustling of the city around them. Yet, there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, that something, very soon, would go completely awry.