A Reason To Be

Hermione and Draco walked leisurely down the sidewalk, away from the music store. After they had stopped at a kiosk and she had insisted that he had to try a Muggle drink called Sprite, she asked as to the contents of his bag from the bookstore. After rifling through his bag she found there were copies of The Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit and the Complete Works of Shakespeare. When asked why he chose those particular books, Draco said that they seemed to be the most popular and that must mean that they were at least somewhat decent.

“Can I ask you something?” Hermione asked tentatively. Draco nodded, taking a gulp from his Sprite bottle.

“I know after last year, your parents were…” Hermione trailed off, looking down at her feet. She found it kind of awkward talking about his parents. At one time she couldn’t have cared less if she had offended him, but now it was different.

“You can say it…arrested. Say it with me… arrested.” Draco said good-naturedly. He thought it was a little funny that Hermione Granger was tip-toeing around like this. Hermione chuckled softly and then continued her question.

“Yes, after that. I was wondering; do you live with extended family or something?” Hermione questioned. Draco screwed the cap back on the bottle of soda, but said nothing. If he told her, she would be the first know that he know lived at Hogwarts with Dumbledore. He wasn’t sure if he wanted that information roaming around.

“Well that all depends on how chatty you are, Miss Granger.” Draco finally stated. Hermione frowned at first but then she caught on to his meaning.

‘Okay, that means whatever he is about to tell me I am to keep my mouth shut.’ Hermione thought to herself. Then she nodded and assured Malfoy that whatever he said she would take to the grave. He looked at her suspiciously for a few minutes but then something told him that she was trustworthy and that he could tell her.

“Dumbledore adopted me, I live at Hogwarts now.” Draco said quietly, as if any of the Muggles passing them were interested in that information. Hermione’s eyes widen and her mouth hung open when she heard Draco’s revelation. Obviously, it had been the last thing she expected to hear.

“You are fucking with me, aren’t you?” Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes at Draco. He felt himself smiling as he looked at Hermione’s amusing shocked expression. He chuckled, shook his head and then the inherited Malfoy charisma kicked in.

“No, but if that is truly what you want it can be arranged.” Draco said, eyebrows cocked suggestively and voice thick with charm. If Hermione’s face had been shocked before, it was nothing compared to the display on her face now. So much so she stopped dead in her tracks and looked at him.

“Did you…Were you just flirting with me?” Hermione asked stunned. Draco laughed and kept on walking. Hermione watched him walk away and then jogged to catch up with him.

“A Malfoy flirting? You have lost your mind, woman.” Draco said with a straight face, but his eyes were twinkling with mischief. Hermione placed her hands on her hips and heaved a sigh. Then something caught her eye; a few steps ahead was a lingerie shop.

‘Alright, if he wants to flirt I will show him flirting. I can play hard ball too.’ Hermione thought to herself smugly. She presently announced that she wanted to go into this store and dragged Draco in by the shirt. He was about to protest her man-handling but then the words caught in his throat when he looked around and saw the nature of the merchandise of this particular shop.

“I love this shop, there are so many things in here I want to buy.” Hermione said happily and she bounded through the racks. Draco looked around and took in what was truly a breath-taking sight to a sixteen year old male. Silk, satin, lace and things so sheer there was no point in wearing them at all.

“I didn’t think heaven would look like this.” Draco murmured under his breath. He watched Hermione wander around picking things up and carrying them with her. When he got a good look at what she was holding, his jaw dropped. The chain reaction after that was instantaneous.

‘Hermione…wearing that…oh sweet Merlin.’ Draco thought to himself as he leaned against a nearby rack, watching Hermione’s every move. He was now instantly aware of just how much she had grown up over the last couple of years. First year’s big, bushy hair was now cascading waves going down her back. The girlish figure was now more womanly curves than anything else. Long legs, slender waist, shapely hips and an ample chest.

‘Who knew that underneath those school robes was the body of a goddess!’ Draco thought. He was snapped out of his inner thoughts when she came back over to him, smiling charmingly.

“I think I am going to try this on, ok?” Hermione said displaying the little ensemble she had. Draco said nothing but nodded and watched her turn around and head off to the changing room.

“Yell if you need any help.” Draco said smirking. Hermione never turned around but laughed and waved her hand dismissively at him. Then she disappeared around the corner and Draco was left to ponder what she would look like in her selection. She was only gone a few minutes, he noticed that when she came out she was empty-handed. Apparently this was where Draco’s fun for the day ended.

‘Oh yeah, I am just that good.’ Hermione thought with a satisfied feeling. The two left the store and made their way across and down the street to where Hermione had said she would meet Harry and Ron for lunch. While they walked, they spoke very little. Hermione kept thinking about how much this Draco was different from the one she had known those years before. Now she didn’t loathe being with him, now she found herself thinking it was kind of nice. Hermione smiled and thought to herself that whatever made him like this, she was glad for it.

Harry, Ron and Neville were standing outside the restaurant when Hermione and Draco approached. At first Harry thought he was seeing things but when he re-opened his eyes and still found Hermione walking down the street with Draco Malfoy, he wanted some explanations.

“What the hell is this?” Harry demanded, striding towards the two. Both of them looked up when they heard the angry voice of Harry.

“Oh! It’s Potty and Weasel! My damn day is now complete.” Draco announced loudly in his version of a greeting. Both Ron and Harry glared at Malfoy. Hermione frowned at both Draco and then her friends.

“Get lost Malfoy! I’m going to lose my fucking appetite if you are here much longer.” Ron spit out angrily. None of them wanted their field trip ruined by the sight of the other. Draco glared hard at them all but knew it was indeed time to go, he didn’t want to spend more time with Harry Potter than he absolutely had to. He turned and looked at Hermione. He said nothing but his eyes soften. He gave a miniscule nod of his head and then spun on his heel and left.



“Where the hell is Hermione? I mean how long does it take to go to the loo?” Ron asked annoyed. Harry and Ron leaned against the brick wall on Platform 9 and ¾, waiting for their friend to return from the bathroom. Ron was now pacing and Harry was swinging his bags back and forth. She had been gone for over ten minutes and the two young men were becoming impatient, but they sat down on a nearby bench and continued to wait.

Draco had just gone through the barrier and was walking towards the bright, red train with something caught his eye. Out of the corner of his eye Draco saw the ‘quartet of idiocy’ emerging from a small, narrow alley of to his right. Pansy and Millicent, followed by Crabbe and Goyle made their way from the brick opening. Pansy was giggling and whispering to Millicent as they walked up and boarded the Hogwarts Express. Draco stopped, watched the four of them get on the train and frowned.

‘I know that look, they are up to something.’ Draco thought to himself and resumed walking. When he came up to the entrance to the alley way he looked down it and wondered what they had been doing. He shrugged and started walking away when something pulled at him. It was like someone had caught hold of his chest and was trying to drag him down the narrow passage. Draco tried to shake it off but the eerie feeling would not leave him alone. As if that had not been strange enough, then Draco swore he heard a soft voice speaking to him.

“Go…Go now.” Spoke a voice from somewhere within him. Draco frowned and squint his eyes as he looked down the alleyway. He still saw nothing. It was then when curiosity overtook him and he started down the passage. It was not a long alley but Draco soon found that it was not a dead end; it turned both left and right at the end.

When he reached the end he looked left and saw immediately another wall and a few empty boxes. He then turned his head right and found another brick alleyway. A few yards down the alley to his right there was something lying on the ground, Draco started walking towards it. As he drew closer, he saw that it was a body. His walk merged into a jog and then a dead sprint when he saw what was lying on the cobblestone. He skidded to a halt and stared wide-eyed down at the bruised, bleeding and deathly pale figure of Hermione Granger. She was sprawled out in an unnatural position, like she was a rag doll and had been just thrown aside. There were marks and cuts all over her, her clothes were torn as well. Her skin was dangerously paler than it normally was, except for the smudges of dirt that were on her hands and face.

His thoughts immediately shot back to years prior to that, to the woman in the dark alley that Lucius had murdered. Draco let his bags fall from his hands and stared down at Hermione, his eyes getting glassy.

“Oh Granger…” Draco whispered. A moment later he dropped to his knees beside her. He leaned over and rested his head gently on her chest, straining to hear a heartbeat. After a moment he breathed a sigh of relief, there was a heartbeat but it was slow and fading. She shot back and slid his hands under her head, lifting it up onto his lap.

“Wake up Hermione. Come on, wake up luv.” Draco said urgently as he started lightly smacking her cheeks in hopes she would wake up. But she never moved, and her eyes never opened. Draco sighed and looked around desperately, wondering what to do. He finally settled on what he had to do. He set her head back down on the ground and as gently as he could drew Hermione into his strong arms and picked her up.

He carried her as fast as he could, borderline running back up the alley to the platform. The weight would normally not have fazed him much, she did not weight much. But now it was like he was carrying four people because he just couldn’t go fast enough. When he made it back to the platform he did not stop moving. He rounded the corner and did something he had never done before in his entire life.

“SOMEBODY HELP ME!” Draco screamed at the top of his lungs.