Four
September 8th 1998:
After a week of living together, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy have shared exactly ten words with each other. Nothing more than greetings and goodbyes. McGonagall assigned the rotations for rounds, which had only one of them going every other night.
For Hermione, she was nervous. She didn’t know what to say to him after their conversation on the train.
For Draco, he was bloody well scared that at any time she would remember what a git he is and hex him until he was unrecognizable.
Thus was the reason Hermione woke up early, and Draco returned late.
Until one night.
Hermione may or may not have fallen asleep in the library.
Draco was returning from Blaise and Theo’s room.
These fateful events led them to reach the Head’s dorm room at the same time.
“Granger, you’re out late.”
“You are as well Malfoy”
“This is when I always get back to the room. You are usually asleep by now.” He carefully looked at her face. “From the lines on your face, it looks like you were.”
“Oh, uh, I may have fallen asleep in the library while reading.” Draco gave her a small smile. “Where are you coming from?”
“Blaise and Theo. They have a room to themselves since no one wants to room with them. Same with Pansy, Daphne, and Milli.” Hermione was immediately saddened. “I can hear you thinking.”
“It’s just not fair.”
“It’s Karma. This is how we’ve all treated you our entire school years.”
“Yes, but did we not just fight a war to end that treatment?”
“Remember who you’re talking to, Granger. I wasn’t on your side.” She scowled at herself.
“I’m sorry”
“Don’t be Granger.” He looked at the door and then back at Hermione. “We should go inside.”
“Oh” Granger seemed to have forgotten they were only standing outside of their common room. Draco opened the door and motioned for her to enter first. “Would you like a cup of tea?” Draco was taken aback for a moment.
“Yes, uh, please”
While Hermione went to start the tea, Draco just watched her. She could feel his eyes on her but refused to turn around.
“It’s rude to stare, you know.”
“I can’t help it.” Hermione turned her neck and saw his piercing blue/silver eyes staring back at her. “I find the way you make tea interesting.”
“That is because I make it the muggle way.” He felt stupid for even mentioning it. “I am sure it’s no surprise to you that I like doing things the muggle way. It helps me stay connected to my heritage.”
She broke her own train of thought by moving back to the kettle. She poured their two drinks before walking over and setting it down in front of him.
She took a sip of her tea and watched as he inspected his.
“It’s not poisoned, if that’s what you’re looking for.”
“I trust that if you were trying to poison me, I wouldn't be able to tell. You’re too smart to get caught” Hermione smiled. “What type of tea is this?”
“It’s green tea. It’s from a small tea shop in America.”
“It smells lovely.”
“It reminds me of my mother. She loved it. She would have it imported every month.” Draco noticed the shift in Hermione’s emotions.
“Where are your parents now?” Draco asked quietly.
“Australia. Before the war, I obliviated their memories of me and sent them away. By the time the war was over and I found them again, it was too late to undo what I did.”
“It was a smart decision. You saved their lives.” Draco looked to the ground. “I was on the mission that was sent to find them.”
“I know.” He looked up to her. “I was at your trial, remember? All missions you were on were mentioned.”
“I did it because a small part of me wanted to protect them.” He spoke softly, as if he was ashamed. He took a moment and looked up at Hermione. She was looking at him. “I didn’t know if we’d find them in that house, or if you’d be there but I hoped that if I was there, I could have stopped it from happening. I don’t know why.”
“And we don’t have to know. They weren’t there. They are living their best lives in Australia right now. They have their own dental practice, my mom’s dream house, and my dad is a part of a country club. They love it there. And they are safe.”
“I’ll help you look for a way to bring their memories back.”
“I’ve already scoured the library for any information that I could find. I’ve done the research, there is nothing I can do.”
“You’ve only searched public libraries. I’ll search the library at the Manor. It’s three times the size of Hogwarts' library.” Draco knew the bookworm within Hermione was screaming, he was definitely right.
“That sounds incredible.”
“It is.”
The two sat in silence for a moment, pondering when they became so comfortable with each other. Hermione didn’t tell Harry and Ron that she’d failed at getting her parent’s memories back, partly because they didn’t ask and because she did not want to admit failure to them.
Draco was wondering what he ever did to warrant Hermione Granger to not only be civil with him, but make him tea and share the story of her parents with him. Especially knowing that he was the one sent to hunt them.
Draco’s thoughts were interrupted by Hermione’s sleeve slipping down her shoulder. She hadn’t noticed but her sweater slipped down her arm, revealing the ‘M’ of her scar.
“My biggest regret of all the things I've done towards you, is not stopping that from happening.” He motioned to the scar. Hermione looked down and quickly pulled her sweater back up.
“There’s nothing you could have done to stop it. Anything you tried would have resulted in your death.”
“Bella wouldn’t have killed me. She was a lunatic, but she loved my mother. She wouldn’t have taken her sister’s only child.”
“You calling her Bella reminds me that she was a real human, not just a crazy ass witch.”
“Oh she was a crazy ass witch. But, my mum told me stories about her from before. When my mum, Bellatrix, and their other sister,”
“Andromeda.”
“Yes. When they were at Hogwarts, they would sneak into the Gryffindor common room and play pranks on the Gryffindors. She talked about how smart Bellatrix and Andromeda were. And about how much she loved her sisters. The fight between Bellatrix and Andromeda is my mother’s biggest regret. She told me that there are moments in time she wishes she followed Andromeda instead of listening to Bellatrix. She misses them both.”
“Has your mother ever considered meeting with Andromeda?”
“She’s spoken a little bit about it. She’s too nervous. She is worried that Andromeda won’t want to see her.”
“Andromeda talks about your mother all the time. She tells her grandson, Teddy, Lupin and Tonks son, about her. Of course he’s not anywhere near old enough to understand anything she’s saying, but she talks about your mother all the time.” Hermione paused. “Maybe I can suggest she reaches out?”
“I think my mother would appreciate that” He gave Hermione a small smile. Hermione looked at the clock.
“Oh merlin.” Draco looked at the clock. It was nearing midnight. He held in a laugh thinking that Granger thought this was late. “I should head to bed. Goodnight Malfoy.”
“Goodnight Granger. Thank you for the tea.” She smiled.
“Don’t thank me yet, the poison just hasn’t kicked in yet.” She joked before disappearing into her bedroom. Draco was stunned. Not only had he just finished having tea with Hermione Granger, but she joked with him. Maybe this year wouldn't be so awful after all.