Hermione's POV:
Had I been cursed or something? First, my fiance cheats on me with the beautiful model, Lillith Morgyn. And now I was falling in love with my past enemy, now best friend, Draco Malfoy. And to make it better, I had dinner with Neville Longbottom tomorrow. Everything was so perfect! Did I love Draco? Yes. There was no doubt about that, and I knew soon I'd have to confront him about that. But would he reject me or lie like Ronald had all those years. Three years! For three years he lied about loving me. And now I lived with Draco, and, I don't know anymore. What if this happened because the universe wanted us to fall in love with one another? That was insane, it was just a coincidence that I happened to bump into Draco right before I saw Ronald with Lillith. And it was a coincidence that I happened to fall in love with him less than a month after I saw Ronald. What if I told Draco about my...feelings before we went to his mum's house next week. Then maybe, he'd feel the same and tell her. What about his father? Lucius would disown Draco, kick him out of the family, quite literally. I couldn't do that to him, that was selfish. And I don't think I'm selfish. I'd done s much for Ron and Harry. I helped find the Horcruxes. I saved us from the ministry. I made polyjuice potion. That wasn't selfish. One selfish action wasn't too bad. What if his mother despised him after my confession. But if he felt the same way towards me, it wouldn't be fully my fault. If I could persuade Narcissa to view things differently and choose her son. What if Lucius had cursed her or given her a potion. That would explain why she was choosing the dark side. How was I supposed to even tell Draco? What would I say? I could do it the easy way, just straight out say that I fancy him. That was ridiculous, I was being ridiculous. It wasn't that difficult. But when you've only just become their friend, parents hate muggle-borns, teased you for seven years, it is.
Draco's POV:
If Hermione didn't want to visit my parents, would that affect our current relationship? Maybe being around them would give me a reason to stand up to them. If she was there, I doubted they'd want to make a bad 'first-impression'. But she wasn't pure-blood or half-blood for that matter. She was muggle-born and for some reason that made them think she was vermin. And she wasn't, actually, she was kind, selfless, beautiful, so much more, and AHHH! I can't go there next week and let my parents treat Hermione as they had treated Dobby. She wasn't a house-elf. And sure, after the war, house-elves were treated better. Even my mum treated our new house-elf, Nelly, better. Then my father re-joined the household and our elves were returned to being treated like vermin. Better than how Dobby, my only friend growing up was treated, but still vermin. And he deserved respect, he died trying to apparate out of the manor because of my psychotic aunt Bellatrix. She threw a dagger into the blur as they were apparating and unfortunately it hit Dobby, who was then buried on a dune outside of 'Shell Cottage' as the Weasley's call it. I'd never been there so my imagination filled the holes. Then, I don't know why but the thought of Hermione lying in the sand outside a small, ash wood cottage. In my 'vision', her locks were fanned out around her head, each one glistening a honey color in the sun. She wore a sage green dress that stopped just above her knees. She was hot. Very hot. "Hermione?" I ask, regretting the decision to.
"Yes?" She asks, looking up from a book. Of course, she had her nose in a book. Typical Hermione. Her knees were tucked into an old leather armchair of mine. Her left hand was holding the book and her chin was rested on her right. God, she was beautiful.
"What would you say if..." I couldn't speak. She was looking at me quizzically. She was staring at me, her left hand still on the book, and I could hardly breathe. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it without putting my hand to my chest.
"If what?" She asks, a smile tugging at her lips. Maybe she did know what was coming next and maybe she was okay with it. "Cat got your tongue?" She laughs, not in a mocking way, just as if she was trying to diffuse the tension.
Hermione's POV:
I hold my breath, hoping that he would say what I wanted him to. I couldn't breathe, my head was pounding. I watch as he breathes heavily, nervous. Was he nervous or was that just me? Maybe one day. I sigh, letting go of the thought of him ever fancying muggle-born me.
"If I...if I told you I fancied you?" He asks, biting his lip. This was it. But the moment came on so unexpectedly. Maybe it was a joke, maybe he was teasing me.
"You what?!" I laugh, going along with his 'joke'.
"I fancy you." He breathes heavily. His chest was heaving. Draco was lying. He had to be. It was crazy, thinking he'd say something like this as the truth.
"You're joking. Right?" I ask, tightening my grip on the book I was holding.
Draco's POV:
My palms were sweating. She asked if this was a joke. No, this is not a joke. This was what I wanted to tell her, but I couldn't. I couldn't answer 'no' either. That was a lie and lie's were bad. What I told everyone when I was 16 was bad. All lies were bad, so I said the truth.
"No." I reply, squeezing my hands together tightly.
She sighs and a look of relief falls over her face, "That's one more thing to check off my to-do list." So did she feel the same?
"So...?"
"So?! So I'm in love with you. I think? What about your parents?" She asks, a look of concern masking the smile that was there before. What would my parents think? I hadn't thought about that much. But now that I was visiting them, I couldn't just not tell them.
"What about my parents? They shouldn't have a part in our relationship. They abandoned me. My father's a drunk, my mother is probably under the Imperio curse or something." I reply. "Whether they like it or not," I smirk. I could tell she was holding back a smile. "I'll tell them and if they disapprove then we'll leave and ignore them for however long it may take for my mother to come to her senses." I nod my head and she smiles in return, leaping up from the armchair to wrap her arms tightly around me. I'm not sure if I'd just made a mistake or not but I felt okay now. I didn't feel like I was lying to her anymore.
"So, are we still going to Neville's tomorrow?" She asks, returning to a sitting position.
"It's up to you, isn't it?"
"Well, if you don't want to go then I can cancel plans with them. Or we could stick with what we had planned before. They need to know." She replies, hands clasped together in her lap.
"There isn't reason to cancel our plans, so I don't see why we wouldn't go to theirs for dinner." I reply smiling. She nods her head then pulls out her mobile and begins to type quickly with a few dings in between.
"Alright, so Neville's said that we should be over by 7:30." She replies, shoving the mobile back into her pocket. "If we're still visiting your parents next week, what do we tell them? We haven't exactly officialized anything yet."
"We tell them the truth. I'm tired of keeping secrets from everybody. Back in sixth year, my parents and aunt knew about my being a Death Eater. That's it. They're all who knew until Harry saw me disarm Dumbledore." I say, a tear escaping my eye. "He also found out that Snape was a Death Eater."
"Actually, Snape was a double agent. He was in love with Lily, Harry's mum, since they were 11 or something. Everything Professor Snape did was to protect Harry." She says, wrapping her arms around me once more. "He worked for Voldemort but only because before Lily was murdered he was trying to protect her." Hermione states, giving me an affiliative smile.
"How exactly do you know all of this?" I ask, surprised by her knowledge of the topic.
"Harry took me to the Pensieve after he threw the Elder Wand off the bridge. And he showed Snape's memories, it was sad. Until then, I hadn't really thought much about Snape. But then all these factors hit me at once and-" She bursts into tears. I didn't know exactly what to do so I embraced her, stroking her head hoping that was a good 'gesture' or affection. She leans against my shoulder, her tears striking my shirt.
"Hermione, he's in the afterlife with Dumbledore and Harry's parents and so many other great wizards. And who knows, maybe he's not, maybe he's one of the ghosts at Hogwarts now. But he's okay and so are you." I murmur, trying to calm her tears.
"But what if I'm not. What if there's somebody out there, hunting all of us down?" She sniffles, burying her head into my chest.
"I assure you, that if there is, which I doubt, but if there is I will o everything in my power to protect you." I whisper, kissing the top of her head gently.
"Draco?" She asks.
"Yes."
"Don't hurt me, okay?"
"Okay."
Hermione's POV:
I was pressed against Draco's chest, smiling to myself. His strong arm was wrapped around my shoulder. He would protect me. He wouldn't let them, if they were out there, take me. He protected me and I felt safe with him. I believed what he said. I hoped that I made a good choice, believing him after Ron. I believed Ron, but that ended with him having sex with the beautiful, dark-haired, pureblood, Lillith Morgyn. I doubted Draco would even think about doing that. Who knew? I sure as hell didn't. Why did I even ask that? I couldn't trust him, I couldn't trust Harry or Ginny. Why did I give my trust to people when they could easily use me for their pleasure then throw me to the curb, just as Ron had done?
"Are you sure? About your parents, I mean?" I mutter, gripping his hand in mine. He squeezed it tightly in response.
"My mother, she'll love you. She doesn't exactly hate me, but she chose him. Her parents were like my father." He pauses. "My aunt, Andromeda fell in love with a muggle-born. They had my cousin Nymphadora. They disowned Andromeda after she married the muggle-born." A tear drips onto the top of my head. His dead cousin. And she and Lupin made Harry the godfather of their son.
"You have a nephew, you know. I can take you to visit him." I look up to see him smiling like a child on Christmas day. He would be a wonderful father one day. "Edward Lupin. We call him Teddy. Harry and Ginny took him in as legally Harry is his guardian. He's three now. We could visit Harry and Ginny early tomorrow." I say, still looking up at him. Since I'd said this, his smile had only grown wider.
"Or we could go today?!" He asks, trying to hide the enormous smile. "Please?" He begs. I smile then shake my head.
"I'll have to talk to Harry and Ginny. I need to go visit her anyways, okay." He nods his head then looks over my shoulder at my mobile. "Nosey much?" I laugh.
"Maybe." He blushes but still looks down at my mobile as I message Harry. Moments later he replies saying that Draco and I could visit them today. "Right now?" Draco asks.
"Yes, come on." I smile, sliding the cardigan back over my shoulders. Then he grips my hand and in a blur, we apparate to the burrow. Harry and Ginny didn't live with Molly but they had decided to construct a house that was led to by a path of stones through the front garden. I knock on the door then hear a few locks being clicked. Ginny appears at the door with Teddy on her hip. He was smiling with his arms outstretched to me.
"Auntie 'Mione." He says as I take him into my arms. "Who's he?" He asks, wrapping his arms around my neck.
"That's Draco," I point at him the grip his hand tightly in mine, and drag him over to meet his nephew. "he's your uncle." I say to Teddy and Draco stands beside me awkwardly with his hands shoved into the pockets of his trousers. "Draco, you're the one who wanted to meet him. Say hi at least." I snap and he purses his lips then outstretches his hand to Teddy.
"Hi, Teddy," Draco says and a grin appears on his face. "Can I?" Draco asks, trying to steal the toddler from my arms.
"Of course," I reply. "Teddy, you're okay with hanging out with Draco?" I ask and he nods his head. I hand Teddy to Draco and smile while watching the two smile and laugh together.
"Gin! How are you?" I ask, hugging her.
"I'm alright, taking care of these two isn't an easy task is all I can say." She shakes her head.
"These two? Teddy and Harry? I can go hit that one," I point towards the lounge room, "with a book. I've done it many times before." Harry snaps around and grins at me. I smile back then run over to hug him.
"You should help your, may I mention pregnant, wife around the house." I shake my head and smack his head with my hand. "If I need to I will get the books." I threaten. He laughs at that statement and I immediately grab the nearest book and hit him lightly with it.
"Oww, 'Mione that hurt." He rubs the back of his head.
"Oh please, I didn't hit you that hard. I hit Ron three times with twice the strength and he didn't complain." I remind him of sixth year when I'd hit Ron with my book because Harry had been held behind on the train because of his suspicions of Draco being a Death Eater. "Thankfully you aren't defective like Ron was," I say seriously.
"You call him defective now?" Harry laughs at my statement.
"I'm being serious, he must have a few loose screws or something." I reply laughing.
"I think we all have a few loose screws." He laughs, smiling at me.
"I miss all of us hanging out together. You know? It's not complete without him being here. It's never been just two of us, it's always been the three of us." I say in a not quite happy tone.
"I know, but look at the bright side, we have double the food now." He says, causing the two of us to burst into a hysterical fit of laughter.
"I missed this. Us laughing like we're kids. We need more days like this. We haven't seen each other enough. I'm taking you bowling next Saturday. You can't object." I smirk.
"Bowling?" He asks.
"It's a muggle activity. Don't worry, you'll like it. You're going to love it." I reply. "You're going bowling with us Draco!" I shout. I'm then replied to by the shouts of Teddy saying he wants to go and Ginny saying we're all going bowling next Saturday. "Okay!" I shout. "Looks like we're all going then, Harry." I mutter, unamused.
Draco's POV:
I spent the afternoon playing with Teddy. I found that I actually really enjoyed playing with children. I hoped that one day I'd find someone who loved children as much as I did and then had children with them. A big, beautiful family. Teddy was surprisingly fun, he taught me patty cake which was a hand game for children. I was thrilled to have someone other than my parents that were blood-related to me. He didn't know my backstory and never would have to. We could get along perfectly fine without any trouble's. His hair was the same blone his fathers had been. The thought of my DADA teacher being in a romantic relationship with my cousin made me squirm. But they had loved each other and that was what mattered. I loved Hermione, that was all that mattered. My aunt 'broke the rules' by having a child with a muggle-born. Sure, IF I had children with her they would all be half-bloods but what's so wrong with that? We would be a family. A kind, loving family.
Third Person POV:
Finally. The two had fully accepted the truth, they were in love with each other. There was no denying the obvious sparks flying between the two. Draco realized that blood purity didn't affect the magical ability of a witch or wizard. And Hermione realized that the past doesn't change anything that could happen in the present or future. Only time would tell whether or not this love they had for each other would last. With Hermione having best friends Draco had bullied for years. And Draco having a father who wanted nothing to do with muggle-borns and a mother most likely inder the imperius curse. But, if Draco was able to save his mother from the evil doing of Lucius Malfoy, would things return to a peaceful state? Would Lucius be returned to Azkaban, his rightful place? Or would he find a way to drag Draco back to the 'dark side'? As said before, only time would tell.