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It's Not Over	By : cpetnm Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 70649 -:- Recommendations : 6 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 12
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- 14
A.N.- pickles87, thanks for the review. Here’s an earful from our Mr. Malfoy…
Isha, thank you for the review. Sorry about the cliffhanger, but when I was writing this, I didn’t want Hermione’s decision to be so easy. I believe she would be cautious with Draco, despite her feelings for him.

“Thanks for getting us breakfast,” Hermione said, taking a bite of a raspberry, chocolate chip scone.

“My pleasure.” Draco had told her he wanted a chance at a real relationship with her. He knew Hermione hated to be pushed into making a decision, so he waited for her to begin the conversation.

“Tell me why you can acknowledge me now. What’s changed?” Hermione knew in her heart they were inexplicably drawn to each other and that was why she had to be so cautious with him. He was going to have to offer her a truthful, sincere explanation.

Another part of her hesitation was the intensity of Draco’s feelings for her. Even as children they had interacted in such fiery way and over the years those interactions had changed, but were still just as extreme. Hermione knew you could care for someone, love them even, but not quite trust them. Draco’s actions over the years put him in that category.

“You know I never wanted us to end things, but I can understand why you did. You deserved more from me and you’ve been more generous with me than I was with you. That isn’t to say that I took your rejection well.” He looked at her as she considered his words. Draco appreciated that Hermione was hearing him out. In the past he would have been humiliated to confess so much to a woman, but Hermione had seen him at his worst.

“After New Year’s Eve, I went on a bender for several months. I was trying to get over you. I eschewed all my responsibilities to my family, which is why my parents came back to England. When you started seeing Theo and he was so bloody serious about you, I sort of, well, lost interest in everything. I was drinking day and night and I think my parents overheard me asking for you.”

Merlin, this is so humbling. Draco stopped to take a sip of his cooled coffee.

“I suppose that’s why your mother didn’t seem totally shocked when I showed up at Malfoy Manor,” Hermione guessed.

“My parents, but my mother especially, wanted me to tell them more about us, but I didn’t really know what to say. Her hints were very subtle, so mostly I ignored her requests for information. But you know how Slytherins read a situation, so I think they understood what was going on. By the time you showed up at the manor, my father had tried to convince my mother they needed to send me to St. Mungo’s because I had stopped eating and hardly got out of bed.”

Draco stopped talking when he noticed Hermione’s eyes fill with tears.

“Seeing you like that…I thought you were dying. I’ve never been so scared in my life,” she said, voice hoarse with trying to hold back tears.

“I…I wanted to die.” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “What made you take that dream seriously? I thought you’d had a few dreams about me.”

“Not a few, Draco. I’ve dreamed of you almost every night since we left Hogwarts. The dream that led me to Malfoy Manor was the most realistic dream. I woke and knew I had to make sure you were okay.”

Draco threaded their fingers together. “After my parents saw us arguing, we talked. They’re not what I expected, Granger. I haven’t spent very much time with them over the past few years, but they actually cared about what I want.”

“Oh, Draco,” Hermione murmured, squeezing his hand.

“They’re grateful you came to my aid. I told them how I felt about you and they…” Draco shook his head in disbelief. “They accepted you, Hermione.”

It was almost anticlimactic to hear those words from Draco. She had fought for every ounce of his affections when they were seventh year students, but after having been burned by him so often, Hermione wasn’t sure they could actually make a relationship work. It wasn’t that she couldn’t accept his faults, since she had plenty of her own, but it was more that she worried that Draco didn’t have the character necessary to face public ridicule. Having his parents acknowledge her as his love interest was certainly a big hurdle, but she wasn’t sure how he might act if someone criticized her. Would he defend her?

“Lucius, I don’t think Draco came home last night,” Narcissa said as they ate breakfast.

“He went to see Miss Granger,” he said, going back to his newspaper.

“He told you he was going to see her?”

“I asked him to have a drink with me and he turned me down due to his plans with her.” Lucius had been cautiously optimistic about his son’s improvement. After Miss Granger came to the manor, Draco had started pulling himself out of bed, eating meals with his parents, and assisting his father with some of the Malfoy accounts.

“I hope they reconciled,” Narcissa said with a sad smile. “I’ve gathered that Draco was mostly at fault in this situation, but I think he’s grown up over the past few months. He’ll need to prove to her that he’s worthy of her love.”

“I believe you’re right, dear.”

Lucius went back to his reading and Narcissa drank her tea, lost in thought.

Hermione wanted nothing more than to throw caution to the wind and immerse herself in a relationship with Draco, but she knew they needed to move slowly.

“You have to understand that I’m hesitant because you’ve hurt me, Draco.” Hermione pulled her hand out of his and cupped her face in her hands.

He debated telling her the next part, but he thought she probably knew what he was about to say.

“When we first started sleeping together, I did like you, but I didn’t think there was any kind of future for us. I treated you like I could discard you at any time. You have no idea how I regret that. I know you think I wanted you more after you started seeing Theo, but I was already a fucking mess.”

Hermione knew Draco had used her, but it was an intense reminder of the initial painful heartbreak she had experienced. Yet…yet, Hermione had seen Draco layed low by his unrequited feelings for her.

“Why me, Draco? Any witch would be thrilled to have you as their boyfriend.”

Even though Draco knew Hermione intuited his strong feelings for her, it was a different matter altogether to detail why he cared for her as he did. He hadn’t told her why he wanted her, but after how shitty he had been to her, it was likely she needed to hear why he wanted her back.

“Even after what a git I was as a kid, you still kept an open mind and treated me with respect when we started studying together. You’re brilliant, but you treated me like I was, too, although not in the simpering way I was used to from other students. I know you didn’t care a whit about my wealth or my family, so I felt that you were honest with me. I trust you. But you hold me accountable for my actions and that’s been a different experience for me. You seem to understand how to care for me in a way no one has ever done before. And obviously I find you beautiful and desirable. I know I haven’t offered you very much, but I want to make you happy to be with me.”

“Thank you for telling me how you feel. I just needed to know what I would be getting into.”

Draco hoped he understood what she was insinuating. “Does that mean you agree to let me court you?”

“Yes, Draco.”

Draco got up and pulled Hermione to her feet. He wrapped his arms around her waist. His stomach fluttered with butterflies.

“You know I’m still an arse, but I’m really trying.” His hand slipped under her shirt to stroke her smooth back.

“I know. You’re worth the risk,” Hermione said. She looked up at his expressive face to convey her sincerity.

“How do you feel about me?” Draco murmured. He knew she cared for him, but he had put all his cards on the table. It would be nice to know to what extent his feelings were reciprocated.

She closed her eyes for a moment before looking at him. “I feel incomplete without you.”

Draco hugged her close. “You won’t regret this.”
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- 13
- 14
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It's Not Over