Hermione's POV:
So we planned, a lot. Over the span of a few days, after I'd gotten back from work, Draco and I would figure out when to tell Mrs. Weasley, and how to tell her. I personally didn't want to approach her and say "Hey, you're son cheated on me, so we broke up. Congratulations, you lost your daughter and law. I hope you still invite me over." No. I couldn't say it like that. And Ginny was my best girl-friend. How would she react to Ron and I splitting? It was her and Harry's reaction that mattered the most. Both had stayed with me through thick and thin. They were who supported me, made me happy, they did everything for me. I didn't want to lose them over a stupid boy. Stupid boy. Why couldn't I have realized that sooner? Or maybe I knew it all along and didn't want to take in the truth.
Draco's POV:
In my opinion, we planned too much. Really, all we had to do was send Molly an owl, but Hermione insisted that we do it in person. She said we could break the news to Molly more easily. That was probably true. But she practically despised my family. I bullied her son, called the whole family blood traitors. They had every reason to despise me. I deserved it. I hoped that while we told her about Ron and Hermione, I could also apologize, and hopefully she would forgive me. I had to do everything to make up for how evilly I treated them. I would not be making up for how I treated Ron. Sure, when we were in school, he didn't deserve it. But now, he sure as hell did. If he apologized to Hermione, he had a 50% chance of getting my apology. She was my friend, my only friend. If you think that I'll go around letting her be thrown around by people, you're wrong. I had to protect her. This was one of the many things I could do to make up for not protecting her those many years ago.
Flashback:
"Put the boys in the cellar!" She shrieks, grabbing Ron and Harry tightly at the collar of their shirts and throwing them towards my mother. "I want to have a little conversation with this one. Girl to girl!" My aunt was a few inches away from Hermione. My aunt was moving closer to Hermione by the second, and Hermione began to breathe heavily, trying to remain calm. Harry and Ron get thrown into the cellar.
"That sword is meant to be in my vault at Gringotts's. How did you get it?" My aunt said, pinning Hermione down. "What did you and your friends take from my vault?!" Bellatrix shouts.
"I didn't take anything, please. I didn't take anything." Hermione cried. Bellatrix said things that I couldn't understand, then began to engrave the word mudblood into Hermione's arm. Hermione writhed in pain and screamed as Bellatrix continued to carve the word into her arm. I stood there, doing nothing. At this moment, I couldn't do anything. I was scared that my aunt would flick her wand at me and use the cruciatus curse.
End of Flashback:
So what I was doing now, was my apology. How else was I supposed to? She deserved more than an "I'm sorry." or a "Please forgive me." I was evil, and now I was trying to earn her friendship. She was accepting my apology, so far. And I was thankful that she even gave me a second chance after all I had done to her.
Hermione's POV:
So we spent a few days, mostly talking about how I would explain things to Molly. Eventually, we decided that I would just have to sit her down and talk. We'd also decided to do it Saturday, which was tomorrow. I had already owled her, and she said that around lunch would be a good time. So now I was stressed, trying to figure out what I should wear. I could wear something simple, like what I wore when I was younger, or I could make an effort to actually look my age. To be honest, I haven't really changed since my fifth year, meaning I still looked like my 16-year-old self. Great! Just perfect! I would be fine tomorrow. If Ron was there, then I had Draco. Draco wasn't as bad as everybody made him out to be. He was different, he was special. Not special to me or anything. Just, like different special. He was perfectly normal and didn't deserve to be raised like that. "Hermione!" He shouted from the kitchen.
"Coming!" I yelled, then exited my room. I had been there for the last hour and a half. Looking for a bloody outfit for tomorrow. "Hey. What's up?" I ask, standing awkwardly by the table.
"You sure you want to tell her this soon? I mean, you're still kind of getting used to it." He says, propping himself up on the counter.
"I'm sure." I laugh. "I have to tell her sometime soon, it's better to go ahead and get it over with," I explain.
"Sometimes I wonder why you weren't sorted into Ravenclaw." He says, looking at his feet. Only now did I notice how tall he was. Even propped up on the counter, he was still at least six inches taller than me.
"How tall are you?" I ask.
"I don't know. Why do you ask?" He questions.
"You're a bloody foot taller than I am!" I exclaim. "Have you not realized that?!" I ask in shock. He burst into laughter. "What?"
"Your facial expressions." He pauses to laugh. "They're so...exotic!" He bursts into another fit of laughter. This time I joined him. His laughter was hysterical. Probably more laugh-worthy than my face had been moments ago. "And you're laughing about what?" He asks, attempting, but failing to calm himself.
"Your laugh." I burst into another intense fit of laughing.
"Okay." He says, letting out a few last laughs. "Alright, so tomorrow, around lunch we'll go to Mrs. Weasley's house. Is there any specific time?" He asks, now calmed and serious.
"No...we'll probably leave around eleven-thirty," I reply.
"Eleven thirty. Okay."
"Can I leave now?" I ask, pointing in the direction of my room.
"You don't have to ask." He replies. I then run back to my room, shut the door, and fall onto my bed crying. Ron was one of my best friends, and now we were ex-fiancés. I probably wouldn't ever talk to him again. And Harry would choose him over me, and... I end up trailing off into my thoughts and fall asleep with my eyes puffy from crying.
Draco's POV:
An hour later, I go to get Hermione but see she's asleep. I move closer and debate whether or not to wake her. No, she had been crying. I didn't want her to feel more pain. So I sit beside her bed, my chin resting in my hand. It was silent except for our breathing and the occasional blow of trees from the wind. I wasn't going to leave, I would sit here. She didn't deserve to be left alone. Who knew what she's been through her whole life. Most of Her trauma had probably come from me. I bullied the 'Golden Trio' for half their life. Who knew why she had even given me another chance. She had already given me a second chance when she risked her life in the room of requirement. Did I deserve this chance? No. Was she giving it to me? Yes.
Hermione's POV:
I wake to golden light pouring through my windows. "Too early," I mutter, then fall back onto my bed. Getting back to sleep was not as easy as I had expected, so I just lay there with my back to the wall. I eventually decide to sit up, and not fall back again. "Draco!" I scream. He was in my room, beside my bed, in a chair.
"What?" He asks, slowly sitting up from the arm of the chair. "Oh, sorry. I thought I stay here until you woke up, but I guess you fell asleep. I didn't know it'd frighten you that much. Sorry." He says truthfully.
"Don't worry about it. I just didn't expect to find you chilling in my room when I woke up." We laugh together quietly after that.
"Are you okay? When I came in here yesterday, it looked like you'd been crying."
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I lie.
"If you say so." He replies cautiously. I could tell he didn't believe me, but he left it there, so I wasn't going to try to bring it back up. "Okay, I'll go make breakfast. You need to get ready, it's almost...10!" This surprised both of us, and we both immediately rushed to do our tasks. It wasn't easy finding something that would be alright for going to Mrs. Weasley's, but I settled on a floral, blue dress with buttons at the top. The straps were thin, so I paired it with a cardigan. For the shoes, I wore my usual white converse, seeing as the outfit wasn't what people would call formal. It would have to do. I didn't really have much time, so I comb through my hair. Thankfully, since I was a child it had calmed and wasn't as bushy.
"Breakfast?" He asks, holding out a plate with fluffy pancakes on it. I nod my head quickly then take the plate from Draco and hurry to the table. We had less than 30 minutes to finish breakfast and get to the burrow. Thankfully, we could use the floo network to travel. That would take less than a minute. We have plenty of time. Which technically wasn't a lie, both of us should be finished getting ready by then.
20 minutes later:
"Draco!" I shout. "You need to hurry up. We need to be there soon." I shout, stopping at his door. "Can I come in?" I ask, knocking.
"No need. Come on." He laughs, walking past me. I shake my head, annoyed but still follow behind. We had ten minutes to get there, which left five for me to rant on about everything.
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" He asks.
"Yes. There isn't really any going back on this now." I laugh tensely.
"Okay. Right, right." He mutters, then for some reason, embraces me into a tight hug. "Thank you." He whispers the let's go, leaving me blushing intensely.
"Thank you? For what?"
"For giving me a...third chance." He answers.
"No need to thank me, you deserved another chance." I smile. "Okay, we should go now. We have five minutes, Molly will be waiting." I then step into the fireplace with a fistful of floo powder. "The Burrow." I say clearly. The green flames engulf me and through magic, I am unscorched when I arrive outside the burrow.
"Hermione, dear." Mrs. Weasley hurries towards me. "It's been too long!" She exclaims, hugging me tightly.
"Mrs. Weasley." I smile, hugging her just as tight. "It's so good to see you again." I say, pulling away for breath. "I'm actually waiting for a friend. He'll be here in a minute." I explain. "You don't mind, do you?"
"Not at all, my dear." She smiles, and then as if planned, Draco poofs into the air.
"Mrs. Wealsey." Draco holds out his hand for her to shake.
"Malfoy." She shakes his hand numbly, then pulls away as if he had something contagious. "How good to see you." She says sarcastically. "Now, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" She asks, avoiding the conversation.
"Yes, ummm...you may want to sit down for this." I reply. This made me even more stressed than I already was. Now Mrs. Weasley was probably suspicious of why I had Draco with me.
"Why is he here?" She whispers into my ear. Her tone wasn't it's usual kind one but more like the one she used to scold Ron about stealing their car.
"He's my friend." I reply, trying not to change my expression.
"Malfoy's your friend?" She asks in shock. She said this in a normal voice, meaning that Draco probably heard her. I look to Draco, who's obviously hurt by the statement.
"Who said Malfoy?" A voice asks from upstairs. I look above to see Ginny leaning over the stairwell to look below. "And why is he in our house?!" She asks angrily.
"He's my friend. Really, he's not as bad as you think." I roll my eyes at her.
"Hermione? Is that you?" Harry steps from behind Ginny.
"Malfoy's with her." Ginny says to Harry.
"Can you two just stop?! He's not as bad as you think!" I shout, angry about the things they had said.
"Hermione, it's fi-" He starts.
"No, it's not. You did that because you were scared." I point at the faded dark mark on his arm. "You thought that you didn't have a choice!" I say this loud enough for everybody to hear.
"Get him away from her!" Harry shouts.
"STOP!" I shout. Everything goes silent after that. "Give him a chance! Okay? He hasn't hurt me, he's actually helped me because your son," I point at Molly. "cheated on me with some girl." I say, fighting the tears that were clouding my eyes. "Draco has given me a home to sleep in and food to eat. If I was still with Ron, I'd be the one doing everything because he's an arrogant prick." I calm myself, wiping the tears from my cheeks. "Without Draco, I'd probably be on the streets." I say. Their mouths were slightly open, probably in shock. "In case you were wondering, he's the one who apologized." I answer without being asked. Draco was fighting the smirk, and I let out an unfeminine snort of laughter. This caused Harry to laugh, and soon we were all laughing together. "Right now, Draco's the only person I have." I calm myself. Draco had already stopped laughing and wrapped an arm around me.
"Hermione. Have you forgotten that we've been best friends for ten years now?" He asks sarcastically.
"No, I just thought that you'd side with Ron when I told you." I mutter.
"What?! No, Hermione, you're my best friend. Sure, Ron and I are friends, but you stuck with me through hell." He states, hugging me even tighter than Mrs. Weasley had.
"So, everybody's okay with Draco and I being friends? No harsh feelings?" I ask, looking around the room, ready to defend him in the case that one of them said something bad about him.
"No harsh feelings. That doesn't mean that I like him either, Hermione." Harry pulls away, glares at Draco for a moment, then looks to Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. "Ginny?"
"No harsh feelings, but I'm with Harry on this one. He'll have o prove himself before I trust him." She smiles, standing next to Harry.
"Mrs. Weasley?" I ask anxiously.
" I suppose, but if he does anything, and I mean anything, you're coming to live with me." She states and looks at Draco harshly. "Okay?"
"Okay." I smile. "See, Draco. It wasn't that bad."
"You're right. It wasn't that bad, it could've been worse." He smiles.
"Now, what do you want me to do about Ronald?" She asks. This was surprising, seeing as she hardly ever uses his actual first name. This brought me back our second year when he got a howler for stealing the Wealsey car.
Flashback:
"Bloody bird's a menace--Oh...no" Ron paused, his face showing he was scared.
"Look everyone, Weasley's got himself a Howler." Seamus said which resulted in Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle laughing.
"Go on, Ron. I ignored one from my Gram once, it was horrible." Neville said, making matters worse.
Ron looks at the envelope with his eyes widened. He flips it over to the front, then with shaky hands opens the Howler. "RONALD WEASLEY," the note pauses to rise from the table and fold itself into a pair of lips, "HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHERS NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, leaving Ron shaking. The not then turned to face Ginny, "Oh and Ginny, dear, congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud." Ginny turned away, obviously embarrassed to be related to Ron at the moment.
End of Flashback:
"Whatever you want. I really don't care." I smirk, shocking her. Then without waiting a second longer, I walk out the door with Draco a few feet behind.
"Sometimes you really do shock me." He mutters.
I smile, "I know. Did I shock you in third year?"
"When you punched me in the face? Yes, I'm surprised that you didn't punch me harder." He shakes his head, laughing.
"Ehh, I could've if I wanted to."
"I believe that."
Third Person POV:
Then without waiting a moment longer Hermione grips Draco's hand in her own and apparates back to his cottage. Moments later, they appear just outside the fence with their hands still intertwined. Neither objects to this, and they walk inside peacefully. Something no one, not even muggles would've expected. A Gryffindor and a Slytherin living in harmony. A pureblood and a mudblood holding hands as they walk into the house. Both were happy now, both knew that the future had many things to hold for them, and most impotantly both knew that their friendship would last forever.