Hermione's POV:
"You should probably go to bed. It's getting late." Draco smiles at me, as I stretch my arms back yawning.
"Last time I checked, you weren't my father." I smirk.
"Last time I checked, this was my house." He smirks. In response, I frown at him. He really just pulled the 'it's my house' card as my parents had done when I was younger.
"Fine." I lift myself off of the sofa, and wait a minute to adjust. "Goodnight. I hope you have nightmare's." I say sarcastically while walking in the direction of my room.
"Goodnight Granger." He calls as I shut my door, then locked it behind me. Sure, we were somewhat friends now, that didn't mean I fully trusted him. How did I know he wouldn't come into my room and poison me? I didn't. I quickly change into pajama's, then lay down on the bed that had been provided for me.
"Thank you." I whisper, then doze off to the pattering of rain on my window.
Draco's POV:
Hours later I find myself waking to a delicious smell coming from my kitchen. Having no house elves, and Hermione being the only person other than myself here, I assumed she was making breakfast.
"Good morning." She says without turning around. I had came in silence, but her knowing I was here wasn't much of a shocker. She was the smartest witch of our generation.
"Good morning." I reply. "What are you making?"
"Breakfast. It's the least I can do to repay you for your kindness." She replies, now turned around leaning against the counter.
"You shouldn't be doing this. I treated you like shit for six years. Me letting you stay here is my repayment for treating you that way." I reply, now leaning on the island.
"You've already apologized." She says.
"Saying sorry isn't enough. What I did was worse than that."
"Everybody deserves a second chance. I've decided to give you that." She smiles at me. I smile in return, then move to the small, wooden table in the middle of the room.
"Soooo, what are you making?" I ask.
"Omelets. You're okay with that right?" She says, staring at me, waiting for a response. Rather than responding, I find myself zoning into her brown orbs. "Are you going to respond?" She asks, with a bit attitude this time. I jerk back into awareness.
"Yes, that's fine." I reply, hoping my face wasn't as red as it felt.
Hermione's POV:
I notice that he hadn't responded immediately as usual. This left me thinking that he was sleep deprived. Hopefully you get more sleep tonight. After he responded, I finished the omelet, then brought a plate over to him. He was sitting stiffly, with his hands properly folded on the table. "Are you alright? You seem tense." I ask, while sitting down in the seat opposite he had.
"I'm alright, just...have a lot on my mind." He says, carefully picking up a knife and cutting into the omelet.
"I can help you with that." I reply.
"You are not obliviating me." He says warily, moving the seat back slightly.
"That's not what I was planning on doing," I shake my head, disappointed that he thought so low of me, then pick up a slice from the glass plated that had been provided. "I was wanting to take you somewhere." I finish my sentence.
"Oh." He replies, now embarrassed. I could tell because he was now looking at the floor as he had done the night before. "Where are you planning to take me?"
"Somewhere." I reply. "You'll find out later. Finish your breakfast." I command, and he completes the task in a matter of a few minutes.
"Why can't you tell me now?" He whines.
"Be patient. As soon as you're wearing decent clothes then we can leave." I reply. "And no, we will not be using magical transportation, we'll be walking." I reply before he could ask.
"Alright, boss." He says mockingly, then we part opposite ways to change our clothes.
"Something decent." I whisper. "He wouldn't want to be seen with someone wearing muggle clothes." I remind myself. A few minutes later, I find myself wearing a pair of light denim shorts, and a cream colored top. I come out of my room to see Draco waiting patiently in a...suit. "You don't have something more casual?" I ask.
"I have to cover, this." He replies, rolling up he sleeve to reveal the dark mark that Voldemort had given him in return for joining the dark side.
"Why not be proud of it? That's a sign that you defeated a challenge. You should be proud of your triumphs." I reply, flipping my arm to reveal the uncovered mudblood scar that his aunt had given me when I was 18.
"Why don't you cover yours?" He asks, running his cold fingers along the scar.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of. Mudblood and proud of it." I reply, stopping him before he could roll his sleeve back down. "Take it off. The blazer. Your dark mark is nothing to be ashamed of." I smile softly at him. He tenses, then slides the blazer off of his shoulders and lays it on the couch, being careful not to wrinkle the fabric.
"What if what I have is something to be ashamed of? I joined the dark side, Granger. I wasn't born like this!" He shouts.
"Unless you did it willingly, then you shouldn't be ashamed. You didn't do it willingly, did you?"
"No. I was replacement, after my father failed his mission." He mutters.
"See, nothing to be ashamed of." I grab his hand, and drag him through the door before he can object.
"You know, you can be really pushy sometimes." He said.
"I know. I have two, actually one friend to tell me that." I reply. "He's always mocking me, with is quite frankly annoying."
"Why'd you mock me last night then?"
"I wanted to annoy you."
"Makes sense." He chuckles.
Draco's POV:
A few minutes later, we arrive at a small river in the middle of an abandoned park. There was a path from the outside that led you to a shore with a few benches. This beautiful of a place deserved to be recognized by more than just a few people
"Why isn't there anybody here? It's beautiful, it deserves to be recognized." I ask, stepping closer to the water.
"Nobody really knows about it. There's other parks nearby, and this one is so overgrown. People thought there's something wrong with it, they think it's been locked away from society. I think it being overgrown actually looks better." She answers while taking off her shoes.
"Where are you-" Before I can finish my sentence she interrupts me.
"Come on. Take off your shoes and roll your pants up." She laughs while taking a few steps into the water.
"Okay?" I reply, then take my shoes off and sit them beside Granger's. She grabs my hand as soon as I'm close enough and pulls me into the water. I almost topple over into the surprisingly warm water.
"See, it's relaxing. It'll take your mind off whatever you were thinking earlier." She laughs while skimming her hand on the top of the clear water.
Little did she know, I didn't have anything on my mind earlier. It was herself who had distracted me. Her caramel eyes had distracted me from everything that was happening around the two of us.
"I believe you." I reply, letting the palm of my hand rest on the water. We stand there in silence, admiring the beauty surrounding the river.
Hermione's POV:
We stand in the water a few feet apart. His pale hand was resting delicately on top of the crystal water. "You should really get a tan." I blurt out before I could stop myself.
"A what now?" He asks.
"A tan. If your skin was a bit darker you'd be more attractive." I then realize my mistake. I had practically called Draco Malfoy attractive.
"Ohhh, so you find me attractive?" He smirks.
"No, I never said that." I objected.
" But you said, that if I were to get a tan I'd be more attractive. What is a tan anyways?" He wonders, still mocking me about what I'd said.
"Well, there's multiple ways to get one. The most natural being by the sun in which you put sunblock on and lay in the sun until your skin is a desired tone." I answer.
"That explains a lot." Draco mutters. "I don't spend much time in the sun. Do you? You're skin is a more human-like color." His head cocks to the side, confused.
"Occasionally I'll go outside to read a book. So probably, yes." I nod my head to his question.
"So, am I supposed to just go outside with a book for a few minutes? Or can I do whatever?" He asks. It was fun to see him confused. At school he'd always acted like he knew everything, which I knew wasn't true because after class he'd go around asking Ravenclaw's for help with the homework. Or just the answers in general.
"It doesn't matter what you do. Just don't stay out to long because of Skin Cancer." I smile at him, then turn back to the water. Did I find him attractive? I'd never noticed it before, but he was quite handsome. The grey of his eyes would turn a beautiful silver in the sunlight. And his platinum blonde hair was usually swept back neatly. Today it was let loose and stopped above his eyebrow. It looked nicer that way, like he wasn't as scary. I just admitted that I thought Draco Malfoy was handsome. Not regular handsome, but like something you'd see in muggle movies. Like the prince who would save his princess at the end of a movie. Except he wasn't my prince, he would be some other lucky girls prince. Wait, did I just say someone would be lucky to have him as a prince? No. He's no more special than any other wizard on this earth.
"How often do you come here?" He moves closer by a few steps.
"Usually I'll come on the weekends. I have work until three Monday through Friday." I reply. "So not too often." I bring my hand out of the water.
"How did you discover this place?" He asks another questions.
"I was walking one day. I saw this path and it led me here." I twirl in the water to show what 'here' was. "I've cleaned it up since then. Every few months I'll come here and clean the leaves from the path. I've been working on fixing the benches. They have so much dry rot, they barely support me." I step closer to the shore, and before I step from the water, I'm pulled backwards and fall in with a splash.
"I told you that I'd get you back." He smiles, grabbing my hand and helping me from the water.
"Really Malfoy?!" I step away from him.
"Yes Granger. I had to." He laughs, still holding my hand tightly.
"Are you going to let go of my hand?" I ask, then he pulls his away from mine.
"Sorry."
"It's fine."
Draco's POV:
We spend the next hour or so, sitting on the sand. Grange was still mad at me for pulling her into the water, but she'd eventually get over it. The thing that bothered me most was that I didn't let go of her hand. I kept our hands intertwined tightly. She wasn't special. Sure, the smartest witch of our generation, but nothing more. Except maybe she was special to me. Maybe she was what I needed to give the extra push when I was scared. Maybe Hermione Granger was my other half. No, she was just a former classmate and current friend.
Hermione's POV:
If I'm being honest, I didn't mind him holding my hand. It was oddly comforting. Like I was safe around him. No. That didn't comfort me. Him holding my hand was strange. I didn't like it. Was that the truth? Did I find it uncomforting? I don't even know anymore. It was strange to be spending time with someone whom I had hated since I was 12. Now we had become decent friends. Yet, I found myself thinking about him non-stop. I told myself that it was because he gave me a place to stay. Because he apologized for his cruel doing after many years. The thing was, it probably wasn't that at all. YES IT IS! Right, I'm telling myself the truth. No lies. IT IS LIES! No it's not. From then I would ask myself if there was something that we were left to discover. One mustn't tell lies! Stop thinking. I'm not lying! I don't care for Malfoy as more than a friend! We are just friends. Hell, three days ago we thought about each other as enemies. I had thrown my engagement ring at my now ex-fiancé! I did not have any romantic feelings for Draco Lucius Malfoy.
Draco's POV:
I'm not sure what Granger thought of me holding her hand longer than needed. She acted as though she didn't like it, but I've know her to be quite well off when hiding emotions. So she could've been okay with it. She could've hated it. I don't know. I let myself trail into a series of what if questions. Most of which revolved around Granger and I's relationship. How could I even think about having romantic feelings for someone when we didn't even call each other by first names? Life doesn't make sense. I would tell myself this all the time. Life didn't make sense. Three days ago, Granger and I thought of each other as enemies. Three days ago, Granger was engaged. Now, we were friends. Granger wasn't engaged.
Third Person POV:
Did Hermione Granger think of Draco Malfoy as more than a friend? Did Draco Malfoy think of Hermione Granger as more than a friends. No, they told themselves. One minute the two were enemies, the next they were friends that spent every minute of every day together. Over the span of two days, they had become inseparable. They had become best friends. Enemies to friends? Enemies to lovers? Parents. How would the pure-blood's Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy react to their son being friends with a mud-blood?