The night of 2013 / Dramione

The night of 2013

Mint
Parchment
Black tea

"I am too, Hermione." She looked up at him. Then she reached for his face and pulled him in for a desperate kiss. They both needed it, the reminder of good. They were the good for each other.

Hermione was his gold.
Draco was her silver.

When she pulled back she looked at him, searched for something in his eyes, and never found it. He looked tired, she noticed. His eyes were as shallow as hers and his skin was paler than it ever was. Draco's white-blond hairs were messy, his features sharp and his body stiff.

When she sneaked back into her dorm, her thought drifted to how the both of them happened.
It was the last day of the fifth year. She was on curfew patrol with him. They weren't partners but that night Zacharias Smith was sick and laying in the infirmary. They walked mostly in silence but suddenly he pulled her by her waist, pressed her against the wall, and kissed her like she was his air.

He visited her over the summer, always at night when her parents were asleep. She snuck him in by the window and cast a silencing charm over her room.

Most nights they talked or she explained muggle technology to him. Other nights they kissed and explored their bodies. She found peace with him as she lay in her bed with him, head on his chest and his arm around her. He told her things she never would have thought about him. Like he used to always steal sweets from the Hogwarts kitchen or how he fell off the broom once and broke his foot. She would read her favourite book to him when he was tired and she would stroke his arm until his breathing got even and he fell asleep. Draco always left before the sun rose.

Hogwarts Hallways

Hermione and Harry walked to their class when they passed Draco.

Harry began talking about taking him down and stopping him, while Hermione didn't listen and kept her mouth shut and head down. But before she could help herself, something slipped off her tongue and left her lips, "He looks different don't you think? Draco. Almost ill." It was true. Draco looked different. His skin was transparent like and his eyes had dark circles. He got skinnier, his hands were shaking slightly and his voice was dull and hallow.

Harry didn't look at Hermione when he spoke and she was glad, "why would I notice or care?"

Slughorn's class

"That's amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world. According to potion masters, it smells different to each person, depending on what their mind and soul wants if that makes sense," she added, she knew she was babbling again, "for example, I smell, Mint, parchment and..." she stopped there. She was too suspicious, too obvious. Hermione saw Draco looking at her from the corner of her eyes.

Everyone knew Ron didn't smell like Mint nor parchment.

Once the class was over, she ran to the lavatories and washed her face with cold water. It was Moaning Myrtle's lavatory so she knew no one would come in and find her crying on the floor. She was so weak lately. She couldn't go a day without her crying. Hermione didn't cry after him, no, she cried for him.

The both of them saw each other less and less. It was getting difficult to sneak out and meet. It was getting too stressful, they both were tired, tired of hiding, keeping secrets, and having to pretend no war is coming.

The last time they spoke was after the quidditch match a week ago.

She misses him.

Morning June 30th, 1997

"Hermione, you need to let me go. Please find love, happiness, and joy. Please don't let me regret letting you go, please be safe." He was on his knees in front of her, his head on her lower stomach. He was crying and begging for her to go, to leave Hogwarts. To leave him.