Where I Found You

"Hermione?" A voice called out to her but she barely registered it. "Hermione!" The voice tried a little harder and Hermione finally looked up at Harry. 

"Sorry, I must've spaced out," she replied absentmindedly.

He didn't seem to understand what she said as he sat down next to her. "Are you feeling alright?" He asked cautiously, not wanting to push her. She would notice when he did it and for that she was always grateful for.

Hermione shook her head in response. "A bit overwhelmed with all the tasks I think," she replied, hoping that Harry would understand. 

Over the last two years, they had become closer than ever, especially while exchanging late-night thoughts with one another. They would talk about the differences between the two worlds, how magic changed them, her family, their friendship, their future and the skills they should learn in case any of them encounters Voldemort once again. She had grown closer to Ron as well, but he wasn't the type to really speak about this stuff. Harry understood her, at least that's how she felt. He knew her better than anyone else in Hogwarts and she hated lying to him. But how could she possibly tell her all that had happened previously between her and Malfoy?

It had been four days since their last practice and they were patrolling together tonight. She was unsure of how to act around him. A lot had changed for her since she last saw him, both positively and negatively.

She had been thinking about him nonstop for the past four days. Snape mentioning his aunt's name was the turning point. Bellatrix could be training Draco in the same manner that Voldemort had previously trained her. If that were the case, he might've learned some really dangerous spells. Hermione's thoughts were racing as she wondered if he had ever cast an unforgivable curse before. She'd always felt the idea of him joining the dark side was a little far-fetched. But now, now it wasn't and she knew it. Even though they managed to hide it well in the last decade, his family had been Voldemort's staunch supporters for many years, as evidenced by his father's imprisonment in Azkaban last year. 

She had to stay away from him and keep her friends away as well. He had never been this dangerous before; he was more than who she thought he was now. A man capable of murder. 

"Who are you with tonight?" Ron walked alongside her as they approached a cornerstone.

"Malfoy," she replied and stopped.

"Oh," Ron swallowed slowly. "Are you sure you're okay? The duel didn't seem like you two were getting along, I mean, of course not but still…“

Hermione closed her eyes and smiled. "I'm okay, Ron. We have a different way of getting along," he didn't seem pleased with her answer. "I kick his arse occasionally.“

Ron chuckled softly. "I have no doubt about that.“

Although her friends were used to Hermione having prefect duties with Draco, they never really felt comfortable with it, especially after being duel partners. She always felt the need to change the subject. "Who are you with?"

All colours seemed to have drained off of him. "Pansy," 

"Ouch," Hermione tried not to laugh. "I should be asking you if you're okay,"

"I'm not," he confessed. "I see her every week Hermione!" She waited for him to go on. "Do you even know what that's like?"

"Uhm, yes actually. But I see her every two weeks—"

"That's so much better!! Can't we change places?" He tried to reason with her, but she wasn't sure if he'd actually like that.

"It's fine by me, but do you really want to see Malfoy every week?" She asked and his chest rose with a sharp breath. Hermione knew both of them and Draco's bullying was far worse than hers. It was easy to ignore her, but Draco would find a way to drive you mad. "What's she doing anyway?"

"Hermione," Ron sighed, feeling overwhelmed already, "she's like the embodiment of the twins and Percy. She keeps playing not-so-funny pranks, and she's also a total snob," he said and then remembered to add one more thing. "And she keeps babbling about Malfoy."

Hermione straightened her back. "How so?" 

"She's talking shit about him because he still hasn't asked her to be his girlfriend or something. And how close their families are and the new clothes she bought for him as if any of it matters to me," he paused to breathe. "Can't I put a silencing charm on her?"

Hermione suppressed her laugh. "I don't think you should do that to a student, a prefect especially,"

"Ahhh," Ron groaned as he went back and forth before coming up with an idea. "How about Muffliato?"

"That doesn't work like that. She has to cast to spell for you not to hear her," he looked even more depressed. "Why don't you do the same?"

He looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Just talk about something she won't like or something she has no knowledge about. I'm sure she'll beg you to stop talking and do it herself in the end.“

A glimpse of hope shone in his eyes. "Hermione! You're a genius! How come I haven't thought about that before?" This new idea lifted his spirits in a second.

She liked helping her friends in situations they found themselves to be stuck in. "I've just added a different perspective, that's all," she shrugged. She felt a bit more proud than that actually.

Hermione continued watching the excitement on his face until she heard someone coming upstairs. Malfoy caught her eyes for a second. She expected him to come to her since they were about to start patrolling or say something, but he just walked off. Her eyes followed after him.

"Uhm, I should probably go. He's here." She pointed at Malfoy.

Ron nodded and thanked her once again before leaving her alone. A long and deep breath wasn't enough to calm her nerves. Still, she had no intention of showing it to him and imaginatively poured a bucket of ice water on herself before approaching him.

Malfoy was looking out the window when she came close to him and turned to look at her when he heard her footsteps. They both didn't utter a word. He looked tired and worn out. She had never seen bags or circles under his eyes before. Probably no one had. He seemed like he didn't sleep in the last few days.

"Let's go," he said and walked past her once again.

She didn't say anything and walked next to him. She knew she had a lot to say but decided not to talk about it at the moment. It was best for the both of them. Besides, the darkness of the halls added to their silence, making it more and more uncomfortable to say anything. They continued walking until they reached an intersection in the hallways leading to the stairs and stopped.

"Let's go back once again to make sure," Hermione said.

Malfoy sighed and nodded before turning back. She quickly followed, but immediately noticed he was putting a distance between them. Normally, she would do the same, but now she just felt offended. He never did that while they were patrolling before. 

She quickened her steps and passed him by, which drew his attention in an instant. She waved her wand; the hallway lit immediately and she looked around to see if anyone was awake. Once again, no one was out of their beds and they had another twenty minutes or so as usual. Draco's eyes followed her as she checked the empty classrooms. 

"This one is okay," she said and gestured for him to come inside.

Draco followed and gazed into the room, but did not enter. Instead, he stared at her as if he wanted to ask something. 

After what seemed like ages to him, she sighed. "What?"

He hesitated a little. "Shall we go somewhere else?"

She wasn't expecting this answer and didn't know what to do but shrug her shoulders. "Is there somewhere in your mind?"

He looked at his hand and nodded. "I do, actually." He glanced and waited for her reaction. She stepped outside the room and he closed the door, walking towards the stairs. 

"Where exactly are we going?" She asked but didn't stop climbing the stairs.

He glanced at her without saying anything and turned left when he reached the top. She had so many questions in her head that she must have been insane to follow Draco Malfoy at night without knowing where they were going. However, her curiosity won over her reasoning. What could he possibly do when they were in school and she had her wand with her?

Malfoy turned right after gesturing to the Transfiguration Classroom. They weren't supposed to be here. "The tower?" She asked.

Malfoy took the spiral steps after giving a half-nod. Students were not permitted to visit the Astronomy Tower outside of lesson hours. If someone saw them, they even could get expelled. Hermione froze at the thought, but then she recalled how in their first year, she and Harry had climbed the tower to send Norbert, Hagrid's pet dragon, to Charlie. Hermione was bold enough to accomplish it at the age of eleven, even though they were later caught by Filch. Hermione, who was sixteen and a prefect, had a greater understanding of the school. Even if she hadn't, she could always use her prefect card. 

She proceeded to ascend, and the first thing she noticed when they reached the roof was how quiet it was. Nighttime silence pervaded the entire school, yet this particular silence was more peaceful.

Draco had sat himself right at the edge, with his feet hanging. He played with his hair, staring ahead. He looked like a little boy for a second sitting there like that, but when she took another step, she only saw an exhausted young man and the sight made her forget about the things she was worrying about for days. He didn't look evil.

Still, she couldn't decide whether to sit next to him or not and stood there looking around. Observing her tardiness, Draco cocked his head a little to the right. "The view is better from here, you know.“

So, it was okay. She walked there and sat down, holding onto a pole not to lose her balance. She took in the entire scenery as she regarded the forest in the distance, the lake far below them, and the starry sky. The view was quite mesmerizing.

Hermione tried to strike up a conversation as she said, "It was a good idea to come here, look at that!" Draco only nodded as she turned back to look up to the sky.

A gentle breeze fluttered her hair and lightly caressed her face. She made a little chuckle sound. The entire atmosphere reminded her of her kiss with Viktor. It was also a night like this, and while the weather was chilly enough to make her shiver, her body was so filled with excitement and anxiousness that she didn't notice. As she shut her eyes and thought back to that day, she couldn't help but giggle once again. What a day it was!

"What's so funny?" Draco asked finally. She had forgotten he was there, too. No matter how crazy it sounds.

The smile on her lips quickly disappeared as she turned to him. He gave her his usual stern look, making her want to apologize for laughing. She knew it wasn't a good idea to say something, especially because it was a night that shouldn't be discussed at all, but the atmosphere was just too comfortable. She wanted to stay there forever. In that moment she felt safe, surrounded by the feeling of nostalgia. 

She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Her cheeks were already getting red thinking about the things that had happened that day at the ball. Everything.

After a couple of seconds Draco continued looking at her, waiting for an answer. She smiled softly. "Nothing," she said, "this reminded of me something." She pointed her finger at the sky.

He glanced up for a moment and turned to her,  looking more confused than before. He said nothing, but Hermione could tell he was waiting for her to continue. After several seconds of silence, she took a deep breath and spoke:

"I remembered The Yule Ball.“

Her words sent a chill through his spine. She wasn't aware of this and he wondered why she would bring it up; they had never talked about that before. He cleared his throat. "What about it?"

Hermione smiled still looking ahead. "It was also a night like this, very much similar.“

Another pause. He tried to remember but he hadn't paid attention to the sky that day. "How do you even remember?"

Hermione looked down, blushing slightly. Of course, she remembered. Everything about that night was burned into her memory. "Because it was my first kiss," she answered without even thinking about it.

When she realised what she said in the bliss of the moment, she wanted to escape from him. He didn't need to know that at all. 

Draco didn't say anything. Her words seemed to echo throughout his brain, and he couldn't quite process them. He blinked a few times, still not sure if he had heard correctly. He hadn't expected something like that. He cleared his throat, "Right," he managed to get out. What could he possibly say to that?

"Sorry, I just—" Hermione cut herself off, looking flustered. She turned away, trying to avoid his eyes.The embarrassed look in her eyes was too obvious to not notice. He tried not to give in to his instincts but her words made him look at her lips. Of course she would remember every little detail about her first kiss.

He saw her getting gradually embarrassed and wanted to lighten the air. "I thought you didn't want to hear about my love life, Granger and now you're sitting here spilling everything.“ Draco said as he raised an eyebrow at her.

She palmed her face. "I know, I'm sorry.“

He chuckled at her reaction. He wasn't sure about continuing talking about this, but it was much better than the silence. "If that night was really that magical," he started and she looked at him curiously, "why were you sobbing at the end of it?"

Hermione froze in place for a few seconds. It had been a long time since she thought about the day she cried in front of everyone. And he was there too! Her ears reddened remembering that night. He was staring at her in silence and she decided to just get it over with hoping he wouldn't ask more.

"Ron..." 

Draco scoffed and smirked. "I knew it, I told you I heard him talking about something, remember?"

She stared into his eyes for a few seconds; he sounded like he was a good old friend of hers. A friend that would want the best for her and even scold her when she did something wrong or protect her from others. She ignored his tone and kept a serious face. "I don't want to talk about this any longer.“

"Alright," Draco shrugged and looked above. "I wasn't that interested anyways," he muttered under his breath.

Hermione didn't like his answer but still felt relieved that he let it go. She couldn't believe herself; she had said so much in such a short time. Harry and Ron didn't even know about her first kiss! 

The wind blew on their faces once again; she felt herself getting relaxed and turned her head slightly to look at him. She hadn't been paying attention to him much, but her first assumptions were right. He did look terrible. The moonlight made his eyes darker than usual and the bags under his eyes looked even worse. His hair appeared messy and unbrushed, sticking out every which way and his clothes hung loosely on his body. What had happened to him? He wasn't like this.

When she closed her eyes, she also remembered their dance and his face. He was much younger, of course, his features weren't this defined back then. The smell of his perfume and his bright blue eyes had caught her breath for a second, but now, he looked like a completely different person. She wasn't sure if this man would even bother to dance with her. He probably wouldn't care if people watched, but his old self did. And she wanted to know what happened to his old self that turned into this strange-looking man?

She hesitated for a moment but couldn't help herself. "Malfoy?" She asked. 

He sighed and glanced sideways at her, "What?“

"You look awful," she stated. 

Draco rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Granger.“

His voice dripped with sarcasm she didn't expect and she bit her inner lip not to smile. "Don't worry, it's not a compliment."

He raised his eyebrow. "You know," he turned to face her, "I think I still look better than you when you were sobbing—“

"Ah, shut it," she interrupted him with a glare. She regretted being such a big mouth a moment ago. "We should go back, we've already stayed more than we should have,"

Draco nodded slowly. "Alright."

They stood up and started climbing down the stairs. The silence between them had returned, although it wasn't as suffocating as before. She was just glad he wasn't saying anything more about that night.

Still, her questions were not answered, she herself replied more than she asked, but it somehow didn't matter. He wasn't as interested in ruining her day to day life as before and could hold a simple conversation. Okay, maybe not simple, but it was far better than taking a jab at each other.

They stopped at the seventh floor and Hermione looked over at the Fat Lady's portrait. "This is me," she said, finally breaking the silence.

Malfoy hummed and jutted his chin before turning around and climbing down the stairs. It was a long way to the dungeons. "Don't forget our practice this Friday, you better get your sleep this time," she said before he left. 

He waved his hand dismissively and walked away.

Hermione turned around and approached the Fat Lady. She was sleeping, how awesome! 

"Quid Agis," she muttered.

The Fat Lady's eyes fluttered open and looked at her for a second before giving a loud yawn. "A bit sleepy,"

She took the meaning of the password('how are you doing') a little too seriously these days. Hermione sighed. "I was telling the password,"

"Yes, yes I know," she looked at Hermione, squinting her eyes. "Why are you out so late Ms. Granger? Is there something professors should be informed about?" She asked with a slight threatening undertone.

Hermione smiled at her. "Not at all, just caught up with prefect duties that's all," she examined her reaction. "Can I go in now? I need to sleep.“

The Fat Lady smiled wide and opened the door. "Ah yes, darling. Go and get your sleep."

Hermione said goodnight to her and went to her dormitory. Ginny was in the room, sitting on Parvati's bed. Hermione looked at her questioningly. "What are you doing here?" Her room was across from hers and she wouldn't come here so often.

"We were chatting a bit," she said, "about boys."

Hermione raised a brow. "Boys?"

"Yeah," Ginny grinned, "wanna join?"

Hermione scrunched her face. "I'm good, I just want to sleep,"

"Why were you so late?" She changed the topic out of nowhere.

Hermione turned around to hide her face and opened the covers of her bed. "Prefect stuff," she said simply and changed into her pyjamas, getting into bed. 

"Who were you with today Hermione?" Parvati asked curiously.

Were they in this together? Hermione pressed her lips together for a second. "Malfoy.“

"I don't understand how you can still stand him, Hermione," Ginny said exasperatedly.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know, he doesn't bother me as much," she didn't look at them in the slightest bit, not wanting to see their reaction. She wished she could tell them more, but they would just tell her to stay away from him. Rightfully so.

"He looks like a mess these days," Parvati commented.

Hermione's eyesbrows shot up. She noticed it too? It wasn't just her then, that was good to know. "I told him the same.“

"Really?" The girls asked in unison. They sounded both shocked and impressed.

"Yeah, he changed the topic immediately," Hermione replied. "I told him to get enough sleep for our practice." Hermione chuckled.

The girls also laughed at her response and continued talking between themselves as Hermione pulled the blanket over her head. Her eyelids were heavy with slumber already, but when she closed her eyes she was on the tower again. 

She remembered how the light reflected on his dull eyes and how they would also light up when he smiled. He didn't smile much though, but when he did, his eyes truly did sparkle. 

Even though she didn't understand why he wanted to go to the Tower, she was glad. The classrooms were dark and empty. She would use her wand as a light but the room would feel absolutely quiet when none of them spoke. But that wasn't how the tower was. When she thought about it, the moments they sat in silence wasn't that bothering. She could at least keep telling herself that instead of acknowledging how comfortable and safe she really felt in his company.

More questions popped up in her head as she continued thinking about tonight. She hadn't gotten proper answers to her questions, but she knew that they had gone over some type of barrier. She could sense that something had changed between them and that this was just the beginning.