A/N: Hey guys! Keep leaving your awesome coments! I will be trying to upload on Thursdays from now on, key word is trying! So my aim is to get the next chapter out by this time next week. I hope you like the story and I will see how far I can take it. It may not be as long as the first book but I will try to make it the best it can be!
Thanks again for reading guys!
~ ~ ~
Chapter Two ~
18th June, 1999
8 days since graduation
Hermione took a long look around her bedroom. Her wardrobe was now bare and the books that had once filled all four corners of the room were packed away and ready to be moved to her new home.
After the threats that she and Draco had received she knew that she couldn’t stay at home and put her parents in danger. The last thing she needed was for them to find out where they lived and come after them.
She felt a hand come down on her shoulder and she flinched. The hand gave her a squeeze and pulled her in close.
“You have lived in this room for most of your life, do you know that?” Her mother said, staring nostalgically at the faded walls and old bare furniture.
“Mum…” Hermione smiled and shook her head, feeling sad to be leaving it.
“So… where is this new place of yours?” Her mother asked.
“About an hour by train.” She said.
“We shall have to come and visit you when you’re settled in.”
Hermione nodded, not wanting to spoil things by telling her that she shouldn’t be coming to visit at all.
She had her belongings all packed up and in the living room, she would apparate with them to the new place to avoid shipping and stay under the noses of the death eaters that remained at large. She had no idea if they were coming immediately or whether they were going to plan something more elaborate out.
All she knew was that they were going to strike at some point so she and Draco were making a fast move. He hadn’t let on to Hermione just how much money he had in his trust funds, it was by far enough to get them a house twenty times the size of the one he had bought. He had settled with something small and dishevelled on the outside because he knew it would be something that the Death Eaters wouldn’t expect of him.
Truthfully it hurt Draco’s pride to buy such a house, he wanted to give Hermione everything he could and the scrappy dump that he had bought for her was so far from everything. He knew that it was the best plan for them though.
Besides, he would make sure the inside was far nicer.
She walked down into the living room with her mother and into her father’s arms for a hug.
“My little girl isn’t so little anymore.” He said with a grin. “You best make sure Draco takes care of you out there.”
Hermione smiled with a little roll of her eyes. “You know I will dad.”
Her mother began to tear up as she pulled Hermione into her again. She said her goodbyes to her parents, she would of course write to them but she had no idea when she would see them next. She had to keep them safe.
She had all of her books in a backpack enhanced by an extension charm, along with her clothes. There was nothing much else she needed. Draco was already at their new house, he had bought it in very much of a hurry. She couldn’t believe how quick he had managed it and she would have preferred it if she had a little more time with her parents, but she knew that this was for the best.
So when her goodbyes were said she gave them a smile before apparating to the street that he had told her. She looked at the long winding street that would soon become her home and exhaled heavily. The number on the house closest was one hundred and forty five. She was looking for one hundred and sixty two. So she walked up the street slowly, watching the numbers go past, until she saw the one.
It didn’t look like much, and upon first glance she thought that she must have been mistaken, but there it stood in front of her. She walked up to the door and decided that she would knock upon the solid wood rather than unlocking it herself.
She beat her knuckles gently against the door and waited for a response.
When Draco opened the door she was startled by his appearance.
“What have you done to your hair?” She said.
He gave her a bewildered look and laughed. “Is that really the first thing you want to say to me?”
“I’m sorry I just wasn’t expecting it to be so short on the sides!” She grinned at him and he took her hand in his to pull her through the door.
He stood still for a moment while she inspected it. He had it trimmed close on the sides and just long enough to lift into tufty spikes at the front. It was still as blonde as ever.
“Is it that bad?” He asked.
“No, not at all. Actually I quite like it.” She reached up to run her hands through the sides and he smiled.
“Would you like the grand tour?” He asked, the smile never leaving his lips.
“Here I was thinking that the circumstances that we’re in are rather dire and you’re beaming like a light on the end of a dock.” She laughed.
“It’s not every day that I get to buy us our first house. I… I thought you would be at least a little excited.” He said.
There was an ounce of disappointment in his voice and if he were speaking to anyone other than her they wouldn’t have noticed. With a hand on his cheek she stretched up and placed a damp kiss on his supple lips.
“Of course I’m excited. I only wish we didn’t have this big black cloud hanging over us.”
“Well can we try to forget about it, for an hour or two at least?” he gave her a darling smile and she sighed playfully.
“Well then you had better start showing me around this place Malfoy. It’s a little small for your tastes isn’t it?” She teased.
He shook his head and smirked. “It just makes everything else look bigger, Granger.” She laughed and with a little flush of her cheeks he took her hand to show her the small house at number one hundred and sixty two.
They walked through an archway, out of the foyer, and into a small dining room. It was cosy, charming. She could see into the kitchen from where she stood; through another archway and there was a door that led to the laundrette. They walked back through the foyer and into a small lounge room that housed a tiny television set, a well-treated couch and a large bookcase up against a wall.
There was a small bathroom off to the side. There wasn’t much to the downstairs but it was enough.
He led her upstairs, his hand still held firmly in hers, and turned to the right. He opened the door to the second bedroom. It was plain and modest with a single window, a bed and a dresser.
“I figure that no one will be staying in here so there’s no need to do anything with it.” Draco shrugged.
There was a study in between the two bedrooms. He had equipped it with a large desk and another bookshelf. There would only be enough room in there for one person at a time, possibly two if they squeezed.
It was then that he led her to the master bedroom, a glint in his eye as he opened the door for her. She walked in to the most well decorated room in the house. He had clearly put a lot of thought into this.
The bed was a queen at least, it had a large wooden headboard and two matching bedside tables. The duvet was a creamy colour with a lavender pattern at the bottom and the wispy curtains were a matching shade of purple. A rectangular mirror sat atop the dresser and there was a door leading to the bathroom which was substantially larger than the downstairs one.
“Well, that’s about it.” He said, looking over the room.
She smiled and launched herself at him, causing them both to topple over onto the bed. He smiled up from underneath her and her sparkling eyes took his breath away.
“It’s perfect.” Her lips crushed against his and he snaked his arms around her waist.
“It’s better now that you're here.” He murmured against her.
She let herself get lost in him, in his eyes, in the feeling of his lips crashing into hers like waves against the shore. She felt his heart beating through his chest as he lay beneath her, his breathing laboured as he held her weight on top of him. She let herself dive deep into the ocean that was her love for him.
Everything he did was for her, he always thought about ways that he could prove his worth to her. He didn’t feel like he deserved her unless he was trying to make her happy.
She pushed herself up and out of her subconscious, out of her dream and sat beside him on the bed. He scoot closer to her and put his hand on her thigh.
“What do we do now?” She asked softly.
“You’ve been here all of five minutes and already you’ve made it gloomy.” He said with the smallest of smiles to cheer her up.
“Well we have to face the reality of it all.”
“I’d rather just forget about it for a few days more.”
“Draco you know we can’t do that.” She sighed, knowing that all he wanted was for this to finally be over.
“I know.”
“Well, we have to talk to the ministry, I’m sure we can make some kind of agreement because if anything we’re going to be the ones to draw them out – the death eaters that is, and that will hopefully make it easier for the ministry to make an arrest.” Draco groaned. “What?”
“The ministry aren’t exactly my biggest fan. I’m sure they’d throw me into Azkaban just as soon as they would any of the others.”
“That’s not true, and McGonagall wouldn’t let that happen I’m sure of it.” She said reassuringly but he just nodded without conviction. After a few moments of silence she spoke up again. “I asked Ron to come over for a bit…” she felt him tense up beside her but his lips remained shut. “I want to make sure he’s okay with everything. Harry is living at his house and taking this side of the matter has made things rather awkward between them. He should be here any minute.”
Draco just nodded and she tenderly kissed his cheek. She stood up to head downstairs and as she reached the landing she heard the familiar crack of apparition. She headed to the door and peeked through the lens to see Ron walking up the drive.
She opened the door and gave him a warm smile as she welcomed him inside. He agreed to a brief tour of the house, from Hermione, Draco sat in the far corner of the living room reading. When they had seen everything they headed back to the dining room and Hermione fixed them some tea before joining him at the table.
“It’s nice, quaint even.” He said as he took a large gulp from his cup.
“It is isn’t it?” She smiled. “How’s things at home?”
He sighed a little. “A bit awkward really. I mean, Ginny keeps lecturing me about it all, and Harry keeps giving me these looks like… I don’t know, I think he wants to do something but he doesn’t want to lose Ginny. He did it once and I know he regretted it after, I don’t think they could pick up a third time, not if he decided to help us- well, him.” Hermione nodded, her fingers tracing the lines of the wood in the table. “I just think he’s tired you know? He doesn’t have that burning in his scar anymore, he doesn’t have anyone threatening to kill everyone he loves- well, I mean that he can't put the blame on himself for it anyway. He’s had to deal with it all for so long that I think once it finished it was finished for him, you know? Not like he’s given up, just like he wants to do something but he’s scared it’ll go on for another seven years. I don’t know if he’d be strong enough to get through that.”
Hermione thought about his words, of course she could understand why he hadn’t stepped up to help them; she didn’t blame Harry for that. He was too well worn for a man of just eighteen. He needed some time and if they came back to one another she would forget that he hadn’t stepped forward, she just wanted him back.
“He must be so exhausted. I mean a year went by and he thought it was all over. It must have come back to hit him pretty hard.” She said. “Does he talk to you at all?”
“Sometimes, not much really. We’re both starting in the auror program about mid-July.” He said.
“Will you be working together?”
“Probably not. Besides, I think he needs to learn how to save himself without me.” They both smiled mildly before taking sips from their mugs. “What are you going to do here?”
She shrugged a bit. “I suppose I’ll be trying to figure out ways to draw out the death eaters without getting myself or Draco killed.
“You don’t have to worry about me so much.” They both turned their attention to Draco who was now standing in the archway between the foyer and the dining room.
“She has a tendency to do that.” Ron said, a little icily really but it was an attempt at bonding.
“I know.” Draco returned in an equally icy tone.
He walked into the kitchen to pour some tea for himself.
“Are the two of you going to promise to be civil to one another?” Hermione asked.
Both of them gave her an astonished look.
“That was civil!” Ron said.
“You think that was me being snide?” Draco asked.
Hermione gave a little roll of her eyes. “That was barely civil and I know exactly when you’re being snide which is why I know that you were being smug just now so if we are going to work together can the two of you please behave like men?”
They exchanged looks before pursing their lips.
“Fine.” They said in unison.
“Good.” Hermione shook her head at the two of them, knowing that this was going to be a long road but hoping that they could find a way to get along.
“I’ll keep sending you owls with information and I can talk to the ministry if you want, I can get dad to take me in.” Ron said. “By the way, are Luna and Neville stopping by?”
“They should be, though I’m not sure when. I think we’ll be lucky if they don’t come toting Neville’s grandmother.” She smiled.
Draco snickered a bit but tried to hold it back, not just for Hermione but for Luna too. After all, she was probably his only real friend. He was never going to admit it but he was actually looking forward to seeing her.
Ron stayed for most of the afternoon. He and Draco dodged each other at all costs, sometimes to the point of amusement for Hermione. Though they were being childish she knew that their animosity towards one another wasn’t going to change overnight.
Neville arrived with Luna as the day became closer to night, claiming that he had been coerced into having tea with Xenophillius Lovegood when he found his way to Luna’s and was not able to escape his wildly fascinating stories despite the tea going ice cold.
“He really does adore you.” Luna had said with a whimsical smile as Neville relayed the story.
Draco sat away from the other in the living room, knowing that if he were to join them it would be awkward. It wasn’t long before Luna came to join him.
“You know you’re being really quite antisocial sitting in here with your book. Why not come out for some tea?” She said with a tilt of her head and her doe eyes wide and thoughtful.
“I’m used to being antisocial.”
“Well perhaps it’s time for a change.” She smiled and held out her hand to him.
He sighed and reluctantly took it before she gently dragged him out to join the group. He was right; the atmosphere was tense when he was there. He knew that they still weren’t completely comfortable with everything between them.
Luna was either oblivious to the tension or chose to ignore it because she would refer to Draco for his opinion on everything from nargles to the state of the current ministerial government.
“You’re house is nice, but I think it needs a garden.” Luna said, Neville’s ears picking up immediately.
“Neville can do it. I’m sure he’s just dying to try out some new specimens he’s found.” Ron grinned and Neville laughed.
“Maybe you and Draco could do it.” Luna said, the room falling quiet.
“Oh… I uh… well I don’t know anything much about plants.” Draco said.
“Neville’s a wonderful teacher.” She persisted.
“Well… if you wanted I could do something for you. It’d be nice to have my own- uh, the space to plant some new things.” He said, his ears turning slightly crimson.
“You’re welcome to the garden Neville, really.” Hermione smiled. “Aren’t you going off to study herbology in a few months?”
His face lit up at the chance to talk about it.
He was going to be studying magical plants and the natural species. Thanks to professor Sprout he had gained an early entry to the prestigious school. It was something that he could be proud of.
Luna was off to finish her last year of school, Neville was studying herbology like he wanted, and Ron was becoming an auror finally.
All that left was Hermione and Draco. Would they be able to make a somewhat normal life for themselves with all of this going on or would they have to wait until it was over?
The death eaters didn’t know about their allies but how long would it take for them to discover their hideaway?
These questions bubbled under the surface of both Hermione and Draco’s mind as they discussed their futures.
At that point they really didn’t know what the future would hold, or whether there would be much of a future at all.