One More Year

Chapter Thirteen

"Why do you care Malfoy? You seem to be paying quite a bit of attention to a Mudblood."

Her words didn't faze him. He looked like he was seriously contemplating her question before he replied. "Granger you happen to be one of only three other people in the entire school who will talk to me. I guess I've just been paying more attention." He responded seriously.

She felt a wave of sympathy rush over her. He had almost no friends this year other than Blaise and Theo. All the other eighth years hated him. Even the Slytherin girls seemed to be ignoring him. All the other houses hated him based on principle since they were Slytherins and she had noticed that the three of them even sat separately at the Slytherin table, away from the rest of their house.

They stood there in the hallway alone gazing into each other's eyes. There were tiny flecks of blue in his grey eyes that she had never noticed before. They were standing close together and she became uncomfortably aware of the proximity of their bodies to each other. She reluctantly pulled her eyes away from his and took a step back. "I've really got to go. I'm running late."

"If you don't tell me, I'll just follow you," he teased.

She shot him a look and considered petrifying him. "I'm heading to Professor McGonagall's office and I don't have time to explain right now," she started hastily walking again in silence, half expecting him to be following her again. However, the sound of his footsteps were absent. She looked over her shoulder, Draco was standing where she left him.

"Later then," he yelled after her before turning and walking away.

***

The visit with her parents went the same as it did every week. It was with a dejected heart that she returned to Hogwarts.

"Still no luck Ms. Granger?" asked Professor McGonagall as Hermione flooed back into her office. Hermione shook her head sadly, not trusting her voice at this moment. "I'm sorry Ms. Granger. If there's anything I can do, please let me know," she offered sincerely.

Hermione thanked her and left the office. She started wandering, lost in her thoughts and not paying attention to where she was heading. She gradually made her way outside to the lake. It was a cool autumn day, with a brisk breeze and grey clouds covering the sky. The scent of leaves falling was sharp in the air.

"Hey Princess!" she was interrupted from her thoughts as she looked up and saw Theo, Blaise and Draco sitting under a large elm tree together. She groaned inwardly as she reluctantly made her way over to them. She had planned on avoiding Draco for as long as possible.

She greeted them and joined them under the tree awaiting the barrage of questions about what she was doing. But surprisingly they didn't come. The three friends continued talking and joking as they would have without her. She slowly started relaxing in their presence. She caught Draco staring at her a few times and when their eyes would meet he would look at her questioningly before she would glance away.

The sky started darkening and it soon began to rain. The four of them stood up. Theo and Blaise made to start their way back to the castle. "I think I'm going to stay out here for a while." Draco stated. He gave Hermione a pointed look. She was going to have to face him sooner or later.

"Yeah, I think I will too," she added reluctantly.

Blaise and Theo looked at them both like they were crazy but left them to return to the warmth of the castle. As soon as they were alone Draco sat back down against the tree with Hermione joining him. Their shoulders just barely touching each other. He waved his wand over them both and produced a drying and warming spell. She immediately felt herself heat up.

They sat in silence for a few minutes watching the waves on the lake pick up with the wind, before Hermione started, "I've been going to visit my parents."

He looked at her with disbelief etched over his face. She continued before he could interrupt. "They're at St. Mungo's," she paused, not really knowing how to continue.

"I'm sorry," he hesitated. "Are they okay?"

Her bottom lip started quivering and tears began welling up in Hermione's eyes. She bit her bottom lip hard trying to fight back the tears threatening to spill. She did not want to cry in front of Draco. "After sixth year, when Voldemort was in power," surprisingly Draco shuddered at the name, "I had to protect my parents. They're muggles so they didn't really understand what was going on but with Harry being one of my best friends it made them a huge target." She took a deep breath before continuing, "I put a memory charm on them. I made them forget about me and I had them move to Australia." Hermione looked at the ground avoiding Draco's sympathetic expression. "After the war was over, Ron and I tracked them down. I tried to remove the memory charm but I ... I failed," her voice cracked on the last word as she stifled a sob. Tears were starting to leak out of the corner of her eyes, while she fought hard to hold them back. She knew she couldn't keep talking without breaking into tears so she stopped and just kept looking down, trying to compose herself. Draco hesitantly put his arm around her shoulders before pulled her gently into his arms and holding her against his chest. Taken aback by the unexpected gesture, she couldn't hold back any longer as her tears started to fall. He lightly stroked her hair as they sat together, holding her tightly.

It started raining harder and Hermione found herself wishing that Draco hadn't put the drying charm on her. At least if she was getting wet, the rain could have hidden her tears. She gradually calmed down and tried to discreetly wipe her eyes. Draco waved his wand and produced a handkerchief which he handed her. Blushing furiously, she accepted the gift, pulling away from him reluctantly to dry her face.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry. Isn't there anything they can do?" she shook her head not trusting her voice. "Come here," he whispered. Before putting his arm around her again and pulling her back into his warm, strong, waiting arms.