Chapter Text
When Hermione returned to school it was almost 5:30. She had a half hour to get to the dorms for dinner, if she took one of the secret passage shortcuts, she would have time to clean up a bit before she sat for dinner. She was full of trepidation in seeing everyone, even though she told Blaise he could share with Draco, Pansy happened to be there, so more than likely everyone knew. It reminded her of the time in first year Dumbledore told Harry ‘what happened in the dungeon involving Professor Quirrell was a secret, therefore, the whole school knows.’ She laughed out loud at the thought and it echoed in the passage. The sound scared her for a moment because it sounded like the crazy laugh of Bellatrix. She shuddered at the thought, shook her head and said out loud to the emptiness, “She’s dead. She cannot hurt me again.” She inhaled a deep breath and continued on, she did not want to linger and allow for her demons to haunt her. She picked up the pace and arrived at the dorms with 15 minutes to spare. Perfect amount of time to freshen up.
Hermione took a deep breath and exhaled then walked into the main common room. She felt like every head looked up at her the moment she stepped inside. Before anyone could say anything, she called out, “I’m going to freshen up before dinner. I’ll talk to you all then, alright?” She didn’t wait for an answer, walked over to the portrait and hastily whispered the password and clambered into her space. She made her way to her door when she was interrupted by Draco. She froze, she wasn’t ready to face him but he lived there too, so he had every right to be there. Turning around slowly to face him, she took in the sight of this handsome man in front of her and her breath hitched, ‘Damn him for looking so sexy!’ She thought. He was wearing the dark blue shirt she loved on him with jeans and his hair was slightly disheveled as though he had been running his hand through it. She longed to run her fingers through his silky hair again.
“Sorry?” She said not hearing a word he spoke because she was too busy taking in the sight of him.
“I just said, Hello and that I am glad you are back.” He was standing a bit shyly with his hands shoved deep into his pockets then he shrugged.
“Oh, yes, Hello and thank you.” She paused. “By the way, your mother says “Hello” and she sends her love.” Then she turned, open her bedroom door and walked in.
When he heard the portrait open, he knew Hermione was back. Draco stood up and watched as she walked towards her bedroom door, “Hello, I’m glad you’re back. I missed you.” He watched her slowly turned around and his heart ached to go touch her, kiss her, hold her, but instead he shoved his hands deep into his pockets.
He watched as she froze and slowly turned around to face him. He couldn’t meet her eyes; he was afraid of what they would tell him. Instead, he hung his head and stared at his feet.
“Sorry?” She had questioned. Apparently, she did not hear what he had said.
“I just said, Hello and that I am glad you are back.” Since she didn’t hear his original statement, he purposely left off the ‘I missed you’ part. He didn’t think he could say it again especially since she appeared to be emotionally drained at the moment.
“Oh yes , Hello and thank you.” She paused then added, “By the way, your mother says “Hello” and she sends her love.” Then she turned around and disappeared through her door. He exhaled a breath he did not realize he was holding and ran his fingers through his hair again. He was getting more anxious now after seeing her and how cold she responded to him. He knew his plan had to succeed, because he couldn’t live with her being in the same room but yet so distant. He would rather spend his days in the cold cell of Azkaban, dark and alone, then live without Hermione and her smile. He felt lost and emotional, which was not like him at all, until recently. Since the end of the war, he has felt more than he has in his entire life and it has scared him. But his mother said he might have to bare his soul in order to get the girl, his girl, his Hermione. And he would do whatever was necessary to show her that she is his everything. He just hopes it will be enough.
Draco went out to the main common room to join the others for dinner. He wanted to remind them about the evenings plan after dinner before Hermione joined them. “Alright, I think I have everything I need for this evening, I wanted to thank all of you now. No matter the outcome, I really appreciate all of your efforts. Ginny, can you and Hannah have Hermione down in the theater around 8? And thanks for going into Hogsmeade for me today. Neville will you be down around 7:30 for me to practice?” Everyone nodded their heads then Ginny finally said something.
“Draco, calm down, everything will go as planned.” She grabbed his hand and gently squeezed it. Draco took a deep breath and sat down in one of the armchairs. He really liked the group of people he was now surrounded with, thanks to Hermione. He would have never known what great people they were. A few minutes later Hermione walked out to join them.
“Sorry, if I kept you all waiting. Please let’s sit.” She motioned towards the table. She watched as everyone took their seats, Ginny took her normal seat, then Hannah, and Luna, Neville took the head, then Blaise, what surprised her was Draco had sat next to Blaise instead of her, but it appeared it was because Pansy had already sat down in the seat next to Hermione’s normal spot. She thought it was bit odd but didn’t want to make a big deal about seating arrangements.
The food appeared and everyone served themselves. After a few minutes, Pansy took Hermione’s hand and looked her in the eye. “Hermione, I know you had to make a big decision today. Before I ask you what you decided, I want you to know, no matter what, I will always be here for you, like you told me. We can be each other’s family.” Then she stood and hugged her.
“Thank you, Pansy. I appreciate it.” Hermione then let go of the brunette, but took her hand as Pansy sat back down. Ginny grabbed her other hand and squeezed gently. “Yes, I did have to make a really difficult decision today. I am sure by now you all have heard about what I did to my parents to keep them safe so I won’t go into the story. However, I’ll let you know, the ministry found them and they are safe, and happy. They even adopted a little girl.” Her voiced quivered a bit at the last part, she took a deep breath to keep from crying before she continued. “I decided, to leave them be. I do not want to be the cause of another orphan. You see, they would lose the little muggle girl they adopted if they were suddenly the Grangers again. I am going to be 19 next month so it would be pointless to have them return for me to live in the magical world. And I…” she was rambling until she felt both her hands given a soft squeeze.
“I’m sorry, Hermione. We love you; you know. We are all here for you.” Ginny said and stood up and hugged her.
“Yeah, Hermione, we are all here for you.” At this point everyone got up in turn and gave her a hug. Draco went last, he was a bit unsure of what to do but stood up and approached her cautiously. He was right behind Blaise, when Blaise stepped away, Draco had an unobstructed view of Hermione. He took in the sight of her and his heart started beating erratically.
He reached out and grabbed her shoulders, then pulled her gently into a hug. One hand was on her waist and the other at the nape of her neck, he held her close to his chest while her hands wrapped around his midsection. “I may not have shown it recently, but I will always be here for you if you want me.” He whispered tenderly into her ear so no one else could hear, which sent shivers down her spine.
She pulled away from him, rather reluctantly, but she was still having mixed feelings about him. She looked into his eyes and could tell the sincerity in them. He was still holding her hand when she turned to everyone with unshed tears in her eyes. “Thank you, it means a lot to me for all of you to say such comforting words. I didn’t want to burden any of you with my problems.”
“Hermione, you are one of the strongest people I know, but you don’t have to carry every burden yourself. We are your friends, family really, and we will help each other through any problems.” Neville said. “Now shall we finish dinner and have dessert?”
Everyone nodded and sat back down to finish dinner. The subject had shifted to the class and the new assignment.
“What did we go over in today’s class?” Hermione ever the scholar inquired.
“I took notes for you Hermione like you asked.” Blaise said happily, smiling broadly.
“We went over costumes particularly for the time period of our scenes. We are supposed to come up with a couple ideas for tomorrow’s class but we will be working on them during class. Then we will perform in the afternoon in front of the staff and all of us.” Hannah had given the brief synopsis.
“Thanks Hannah. Blaise, have you done any research on costumes for us?”
“Yes, I will show you what I found after dinner.” Blaise thought this would keep her occupied long enough for Draco and the others to get things setup in the theater. “I’ll go grab the notes and the books I found. Do you want to look at them in your common room?” As he stood, he tapped Draco discreetly on the shoulder to hint to him he was doing this to buy him some time.
“Sure, I am just going to grab some tea then we can head over.” Blaise nodded and shot up the stairs to get the books, it was 7:10.
After Blaise and Hermione disappeared into the other room, Draco turned towards the others and nodded. He ran out of the portrait hole and headed downstairs to the theater while everyone else got the items together to bring along.
At 7:45 Ginny and Hannah approached the portrait leading to Hermione’s and Draco’s space and knocked. “Hey girls, want to come in, we are just finishing up about our costumes. Did you need any help?” Hermione said as she moved aside to allow the girls to enter.
“Actually, we were hoping you would come with us to the theater to watch our scene and give us your opinion. If you have time?” Ginny said to Hermione. She knew if she asked for her opinion Hermione would definitely help, and it would be a perfect way to get her down to the theater for Draco.
Blaise stood up and said, “You go do that, I am going to look for Draco, see what he is up to.” Then he darted out of the portrait hole. Once it closed, he ran out of the other one and raced to the theater to finish helping Draco.
“Alright, I think everything is ready. Pansy when you hear them coming single for Neville to start playing, then Blaise as soon as they walk in start the show. I’ll be standing on stage waiting for your signal.” He took a few deep breaths; he was beginning to panic.
“Draco mate, calm down. Remember why you doing this and for whom? Don’t lose focus now.” He put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. Draco took another deep breath and visibly relaxed a minute amount, but enough to plough forward.
A few minutes later Pansy heard Ginny and Hannah talking loudly about their scene to Hermione, they were coming down the stairs. Pansy waved over to Neville to begin playing the grand piano setting upon the stage. Draco paled but stood up a bit straighter. The doors began to slowly open and Blaise pointed his wand towards the white curtain they hung behind the piano.
When Hermione stepped into the theater behind Ginny and Hannah, she was stunned into complete silence and froze on the spot. On stage in front of her stood Draco, looking nervous but ever so handsome. Behind him Neville was seated at a grand piano playing a familiar tune, hanging behind him was a curtain of white with images of her, by herself or with her friends, smiling and waving, flashing by. The stage was covered in rose petals as was the aisle leading to the stage. Bouquets of lavender and roses were placed on the grand piano, the stage in front of where Draco was standing and in a seat in the third-row center. Ginny gently took Hermione’s hand and led her to the seat with the flowers, sat her down and handed her the bouquet.
Ginny leaned over to whisper in her ear, “Give him a chance.” Is all she said and then released her hold on her. Hermione was staring up into the grey eyes that always mesmerized her and saw pain, uncertainty and affection. She looked over his shoulder and continued to watch the images flash by. Some of them she was seeing for the first time while others were familiar to her. Tears started forming in her eyes but she tried to hold them back from spilling down her face. Then she heard the sweetest sound coming from the man who stood in front of her, she never heard him sing before and her heart began to beat faster as she took in the song he was singing.
She’s like the wind
Through my tree
She rides the night
Next to me
She leads me through the moonlight
Only to burn me with the sun
She’s taken my heart
But she doesn’t know what she’s done
Feel her breath in my face
Her body close to me
Can’t look in her eyes
She’s out of my league
Just a fool to believe
I have anything she needs
She’s like the wind
I look in the mirror
and all I see
Is a young old man
With only a dream
Am I fooling myself
That she’ll stop the pain?
Living without her
I’d go insane!
Feel your breath in my face
Your body close to me
Can’t look in your eyes
Your out of my league
Just a fool to believe
She’s like the wind.3
After the last note played, the images stopped flashing across the curtain, everything went silent. This time Hermione allowed the tears to fall, she was so overwhelmed with emotion. Draco poured all his emotions into the song, it felt to her like he was baring his soul to her and giving her his heart. Now she just needed to decide if she would give him another chance and give her heart to him. He stood there hopeful but with doubt in his eyes.
Hermione did not realize everyone else, including Neville had exited the theater. She was staring at the man in front of her who was tentatively holding his hand out to her beckoning her on stage with him. She rose from the chair and made her way to the stairs to ascend to the stage. She was a bit hesitant but knew this felt right. She walked to him and took his out stretched hand, he then brought it to his lips and placed a soft kiss there which made her blush.
“Why...how...I don’t understand.” Hermione was stammering her thoughts going crazy and she was unable to make a coherent sentence.
Draco took the flowers she was holding and placed them on the piano, then took both hands. “I wanted to do something for you to show you how much you mean to me. I had the others help me gather their favorite pictures of you, to show you how much you mean to others too. You are the most amazing person I have ever known. You’re beautiful, intelligent, frankly a bit too perfect.” He paused and chuckled nervously. “I know I have no right to ask for your forgiveness again but I am not only asking, I am begging you to give me one more chance. I have had time to think about everything and I now understand how I feel. Interestingly enough it was due to this acting class while exploring the character’s feelings.” He was getting more nervous now and realized he was rambling on.
Hermione watched as Draco shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his body language was showing his anxiety and he looked like he was going to vomit at any moment. She studied him a bit and wanted him to finish what he was saying, so she prompted him, “And what did you discover, then?”
“Yeah, ummm…well, first let me apologize for everything that has happened this week, I told you I was broken and you already knew I could be stupid. Not that those are excuses, just facts. When you ran out of the room on Wednesday, I tried to come after you but Blaise told me it might be best if I let you calm down before I spoke to you. Then Pansy said she visited you to explain. Hermione, I really am sorry for what you saw and how I reacted. I don’t ever want to hurt you, ever. I have done enough damage to you over the years. I mean I know it is my fault you feel unwanted, unloved, and second rate, I realize I did that for selfish reasons, childish and cruel but selfish. I thought if I made you appear undesirable to others, no one would get to have you. I thought if I couldn’t have you, I didn’t want anyone else to either. This revelation just came to light yesterday, so I am sorry for ever making you feel less than perfect.” He briefly looked down because he was beginning to lose his nerve. But then he muster up enough courage to get his finally statement out. He looked her in the eyes one more time. “I also came to the conclusion recently about my true feelings for you. Hermione Jean Granger, I am utterly and undeniably in love with you. “You have bewitched me body and soul. And I love you.””
Hermione smiled at his use of the line from Pride and Prejudice. “Well, then.” She said as she brought one of his hands to her lips and gave it a small kiss. The touch of her lips on his skin sent electricity through his entire body, much like the first time they touched.
Draco took a small box off the piano and handed it to Hermione. She looked at the small square box wrapped in dark blue with a seafoam green ribbon around it, their two favorite colors. She gingerly removed the ribbon then the wrapping, she removed the lid, and what she saw made her gasp in surprise. Nestled against a small satin pillow was a heart shaped gold locket with a dragon etched on the surface with sapphire eyes. She looked up at Draco and then back to the locket.
“Open it.” He encouraged her, she lifted the locket out of the box, setting the box down on the piano, then took the locket in her hands to open it. What she saw shocked her and made her heart fill with love. On the right side of the locket was a picture of her, Harry and Ron, smiling and laughing, and on the left side was a still picture of her parents smiling faces looking out with love in their eyes. She couldn’t help it as tears streamed down her face. It was the most beautiful, thoughtful gift anyone has ever given her.
“How did you get a picture of my parents?” She was genuinely curious.
“Harry.” He smiled at her. “Actually, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without the help of Harry and the others. They were all willing to help me out to try and apologize to you and make you see you are worth more than you will ever know.” He reached for the locket so he can help her put it on. “May I?” he asked.
“Yes, please.” Then handed the locket to Draco to put around her neck.
As he took the necklace, she moved her hair and exposed her neck so he could fasten it around it. He hooked together the two ends then let his fingers linger on the back of her neck, he softly placed a kiss where his hands had been, while moving his hands to her shoulders. He leaned closer to her to whisper into her ear, “Hermione, will you be my girlfriend?”
She turned around towards him and started to speak, “Draco, I….” She paused and his heart dropped, he felt like an idiot, she could never want him. He began to step back away from her, he was fighting the tears that were threating to come.
Before he realized it, he was speaking again, “Hermione, I know that I am not worthy of you. But I cannot imagine my life without you, I need you Hermione, please don’t leave me now, let me make it up to you. I will do anything…, anything..., just don’t do this.” The tears he fought so hard to control spilled unashamed from his eyes and down his cheeks. He was panicking and the words he never intended to say had come flooding out. He dropped to his knees then unable to stand.
“Draco,” She said his name softly and reached for his hands. “I don’t know if my heart can handle being rejected again. Are you sure you want me? Are you sure I am truly who you love?”
He looked up to meet her eyes, still on his knees. “Hermione, you might not believe this, but I have wanted you since 3rd year, probably before that but I know the defining moment was 3rd year after you hit me.” Hermione blushed at the memory of hitting him. “I have loved you for at least two years now, and I have needed you my entire life. I truly mean it when I say I need you, because thinking about life without you in it, I can’t breathe, I have this painful ache in my chest, and I feel hallow. You are and always have been the light in my darkness.” He took her hands, kissed the palm of each and placed them on his cheeks. He closed his eyes as she began to move her thumbs across his cheeks to wipe away the tears, and it calmed him.
“Draco,” She said his name as she encouraged him to stand once again. “Open your eyes, and look at me. If you are certain, then yes, I will be your girlfriend. I wanted you to ask me since we got back here to Hogwarts but when you didn’t, I thought you didn’t want me or you were ashamed of me, then everything else happened. I do have some stipulations.” She waited for him to acknowledge her words.
“Anything.” He said without hesitation.
“I want to be put first ahead of any of your friends, no one has ever done that for me and I realize it is one thing I need. I want everyone to know you are mine and I am yours, no matter who they are. And I need you to trust me as I want to trust you, especially with my heart. Once I give it to you, it is yours to protect.” She blushed at her statement.
He reached a hand out to caress her cheek, “Hermione Jean Granger, I promise to love and protect you and your heart, I will do my best every day to ensure you always are first in my life and in my heart. I will love you with all that I am and will be, as long as you say you are mine.”
“Draco Lucius Malfoy, I also promise to love and protect you and your heart, I will do my best every day to ensure your happiness. I will love you with all that I am and will be, as long as you are mine.” She blushed at the declaration of love.
“Always.” Was all he said before closing the gap between them and taking her lips with his.
In a quiet study in the ancient and Noble house of Black, unbeknownst to the current resident, a new line was drawn on the family tree connecting the Black family to a new family name, ensuring their new place in the evolving wizarding world.