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“Purifico!” All three wands directed to Voldemort who was slowly vanishing into gray and dark dusty ashes. The sun masked behind the dismaling and gloomy sky seeped through the clouds and poured on the skin of Hogwarts reflecting a golden shade to the Gryffindor trio.
“It was finally over,” Hermione said softly to Harry and Ron with a tiring smile. “I think we should check on the rest of them,” Ron nodded then trotted into the Grand Hall followed by Harry. Hermione just stood there, looking at the cluttered gate, noticed a tall figure with platinum blonde hair slowly walking towards her. It couldn’t be more familiar, she knew who that was. Rage and discontent were burning inside her, how could he have the guts to show up after everything? She tried to contain her thoughts back to her heavily messed-up mind, thinking that if it wasn’t him, Dumbledore would still be alive. It was all his fault.
The platinum blonde hair boy picked up Hermione’s footsteps next to her. “Granger,” a voice bellowed in a low rumbling voice. “What do you want, Malfoy?” Hermione turned around as her eyes were caught straight into his ocean blue eyes, she stared into his eyes for long and thought she might drown into his glimpse. He walked straight into the castle without replying. She was gazing at him from behind. She didn’t care about what he did, nor should she care about anything else but the wellbeing of her friends.
She picked up her steps and walked into the Grand Hall, looking for Ginny, Neville, Luna and so much more. The dining tables were shattered when the death eaters fought them, she could still see corpses of both the death eaters and her allies lying all over the place. Cold, deathly wind breezed through the cracks of the fractured windows and blew out the candles which used to light up the Grand Hall. This place was no longer familiar to her, it was foreign and bizzare.
“Hermione? Are you okay?”
Hermione couldn’t tell who was talking to her, all she could feel was a rush of air choking out of her chest like someone was grabbing her neck, or something was suffocating her, making it impossible to breathe. Starting to breathe in and out heavier and heavier, she held tight in her fists while feeling herself trembling and her heartbeat pounding in her fists. She held her hand in so tight that her fingernails were sticking into her palm, but all she could feel was numb and sweat. The world around dimmed and gradually silenced out, she held onto the nearest person without knowing who that was or what was going to happen next. She shouldered all her weight onto that support and fell into deep sleep, wishing everything would just be a terrible and vivid nightmare.
“Reparo,” people started mending and fixing all these chaotic messes the war has scarved all over Hogwarts. Mcgonagall rushed into the hall and conjured the light back the hall, the tables were stuck back as they used to be. “Harry, have you seen Hermione? I cannot find her anywhere.” Ginny sat down and whispered to Harry and Ron who were across the table as Mcgonagall was speaking to everyone on the lectern where Dumbledore had once stood.
Dumbledore was fortunate enought to escape from being murdered when he was keeping the elder wand, invisibility cloak and the resurrection stone when he was with the death eaters at the Astronomy Tower. “I thought she was coming after us just now, wasn’t she?” Harry whispered back and looked at the front gate to see if Hermione would walk in any second. “Is there any problem, Mr Potter?” Mcgonagall coughed and looked at Harry, Ginny and Ron causing everyone in the Grand Hall to look at them. “No, sorry professor.” Harry apologized straight ahead and avoided causing any issues after what everyone in the room had been through.
“Silencio! As I was saying, welcome back to Hogwarts! Thank you everyone for your effort in fighting the dark forces.” Harry, Ginny and Ron weren’t paying any attention to whatever Mcgonagall was saying. They looked around the Grand Hall noticing how many of their friends were killed during the battle. “Harry? Draco wasn’t here as well.” Ron said suspiciously as he squinted across the Slytherin table only seeing Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson looking at the direction of the lectern. “Maybe he wasn’t even here.” Harry breathed quietly so that they wouldn’t make a scene. “I saw him walking in before Hermione, it’s like he was rushing to get to something. I swear he was in Hogwarts, you can check the map Fred and George gave it to you years ago if it was still there.
Harry pulled up the crumbled parchment paper from his pocket and slid it along his body and rested it on the table. There were some tears and blood stains on it, but hoping it still worked, after all it was a magic parchment paper. He slipped out the tip of his wand from his sleeve and whispered, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” He rolled over the tarnished paper along the table just so Ginny and Ron could see better as well.
They were scanning all across the map of Hogwarts, from small islands, Hagrid’s Hut to every classroom. There was no such “Draco Malfoy” to be found. “Harry. I found Hermione, but what was she doing at Madam Pomfrey’s?” Ginny pointed at the Hospital Wing. “Wait, Draco was there as well. What the bloody hell? He just suddenly appeared on the map.” Ginny continued with surprise. “We should go there, shouldn’t we?” Ron suggested and crumbled up the map. “Mischief achieved.”
“No, not now, Ron. There’s barely anyone in here, if we walk out or even make a slight move, people will notice. As I just said, I do not want to make a scene. “But she is our friend, Harry.” Ron insisted as he tried to stand up which he failed as Harry was pulling him down using a gravitational spell. “Ron, Harry is right, the attention from the entire hall is definitely not needed. Even if Hermione was hurt or anything, she would still be in good care in the Hospital Wing. Just wait until this dinner is done.” Ginny tried to coax her brother, knowing how much Hermione meant to all of them.
Tips of water dripped down the broken glass in the Hospital Wing, lying a pale and almost lifeless body on one of the aisles where there stood a frozen figure staring at the ginger hair girl. He reached out his icy hand and caressed her crimped, wavy auburn hair. “Legilimens.” He muttered as he directed his wand to Hermione. A flush of memories flooded through his mind replaying from the first time they met each other outside the Grand Hall.
They were tiny back then, he could still remember how Harry Potter stole his moment when they all first arrived at the school. The corridor was crowded, a bunch of kids with magical talents. Draco remembered clearly how he was taught to expect the best, how only purebloods deserved to learn magic, how purebloods had the privilege to look down on all muggleborn. He was disgusted when he first laid his eyes on her while she was staring at the almost seemingly prince sheepishly. “Malfoy, I am Draco Malfoy.” She was looking at Draco the entire time when he introduced himself to Harry, something she thought would only be her secret that she was going to die with.
“You should accept Krum’s invitation to the Yule Ball, Malfoy is never going to invite anyone else other than a Slytherin. I have heard he has invited or most probably is going to invite Pansy Parkinson.” Lavender recounted dramatically. “Plus, why are you so interested in him? He called you a mudblood for goodness sake, Hermione!” Lavender continued to rant about how much she hated Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin bad-boy prince every girl in Hogwarts was dying to date. “I don’t know Lav, it’s just something very special about him that attracts me and I can’t even explain what that is. I know it’s mental.” She replied with a smile It was then he discovered her second little secret, she was secretly crushing on him.
"UGHHHH! I didn’t steal anything!” Hermione screamed as she was lying on the frosty floor of the Malfoy Manor. He was staring at the corner with his mom, witnessing his crazy lunatic aunt, Bellatrix, torturing her. A dark history of his, he never wanted to remember what happened ever since he was recruited as a death eater. He regretted it, thinking how foolish he was being a death eater was what he wanted. She screamed and screamed until Harry and Ron escaped from the dungeon. From that moment onwards, she knew she couldn’t count on him. She knew he was no good for her and they would never make it together. He was always in her mind, yet she wasn’t on his.
Draco felt his mind was hurtfully torn apart, realizing Hermione was possibly going to wake up anytime soon, he hid in the nearest aisle so that he could make sure he wouldn’t miss anything. There was something he had missed. He just knew it. Hermione was slowly awake from her blackout. “How are you, dear? Are you feeling better?” Madam Pomfrey asked and pulled out her wand to conjure a cup of warm water. “I’m better, I guess. What just happened to me?” sputtered Hermione. “You just had a panic attack, it’s totally normal, especially in the post-war period. But if that happens again and again, you must promise to seek help from me or at least your friends.” Madam Pomfrey reminded her as Draco was eavesdropping from across the aisle.
“Who brought me here? I remembered I was holding onto someone or something when the entire world seemed to be collapsing.” Hermione asked as Madam Pomfrey made her way out to get her some food. “Oh, it was Mr. Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.” Her heart dropped to his stomach as she heard the reply. How would it be him? She thought and felt disgusted, she would rather die than come into any contact with Mr. Malfoy. He saw her being disgusted from peeking and accidentally kicked the rubbish bin.
“Who’s there? Show yourself. Accio.” Hermione pulled out her wand and casted a spell in the direction she heard the noise which a loud rattling sound came with as he hit the object when she conjured him to her. “Ouch Granger.” He checked on the parts where he was hit. “I’m sorry.” She muttered as softly as she could. Although she didn’t want a single thing to do with him, she would still apologize because of the way she was raised. “I was hoping I would be hearing a thank you, Granger.” He stared at her, she didn’t notice that he had grown so much taller. She got lost in his ocean blue eyes as if she was swimming in his sea. He looked back into her hazel eyes. Little did she know that he just went through her mind. It was exactly like the first time they met at Hogwarts before the house sorting ceremony.
“Mione! Come and catch me.” Hermione was chasing after a silver-haired boy in a garden. A flash of that scene sparked through her mind making her wonder who that would be. “Granger?” Draco asked with concern. “Hmm? I’m sorry, thank you for bringing me here, I think I can return to the Great Hall.” Hermione pulled herself away from Draco and walked off from the hospital bed.
Everyone looked at the entrance of the Grand Hall with shock and surprise as Hermione walked into the Grand Hall at a rushed pace and Draco followed behind her walking slowly. “Hermione! Are you okay?” Ginny slipped away a bit from her bench and made space for Hermione to sit down. “Why are you with Malfoy?” Ron queried, almost leaning across the table. She stared at the Slytherin table subconsciously as she heard Ron mentioning Malfoy. He chose a seat next to Pansy Parkinson. He wasn’t even paying attention to anyone. He looked back and smirked as his fingers fidgeted with Pansy’s brunette hair while she smiled romantically back at him. “Let her catch her breath, Ron.” Harry pulled him back on the bench.
“I just had a panic attack and fainted. Draco was next to me at that time. He sent me to Madam Pomfrey.” She said as she pulled her glance back at the fest in front of her. She picked up the fork and played with the tomato spaghetti. Sometimes people forgot that she could be weak, could crumble down like everyone else because tough, witty, loyal, brave always came to their minds. Harry, Ginny and Ron all looked at Draco who was a bit surprised when Harry mouthed thank you to him. He just looked away like he didn’t care about them.
“I’m full.” Hermione put down her fork and wiped the tomato stain from the end of her lips. “You’ve barely eaten anything, Hermione.” Ron looked at her full plate of food. She shrugged and stood up, “I’ll be in my room. See you later, Ginny.” She walked out the Grand Hall. He saw her leaving and the full plate of unfinished spaghetti.
