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The Paths We Take	By : Luckycharms Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 18436 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. That right goes to the AMAZING JK Rowling. No profit is made off this story. Shout out to Scorpia11 for being my awesome Beta!!

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
A/N: I’m BAAAACCKKK! Yes, you read that right! I am officially back and ready to continue this story! Miss me? Because I missed all of you! I do apologize if I did not get back to your latest reviews. I have just been so overwhelmed with everything and getting sick on top of it all. Anyway! I am back and hopefully I won’t fall behind again. I have a few chapters already written and starting to get back into my normal flow once more, so we’ll see! Enjoy!
“I am with you
I will carry you through it all
I won't leave you I will catch you
When you feel like letting go
Cause you’re not, you’re not alone”
Not Alone- Red
Chapter 17- Eye of the Beholder
July 5^th, 1863
“Ugh! I am so done with being outdoors!” Blaise stated in irritation as he walked up to the quilt Draco was sitting upon just outside Hermione’s tent as the sun hovered above them in the afternoon sky. “I don’t know how these people do it. Is it too much to ask for a working toilet? I’m sick of using chamber pots and bushes to go to the bathroom…I miss toilet paper…I miss privacy” he sulked as he sat down and crossed his legs while resting his chin in his hand as everyone around them continued with their chores. “What are you doing?” he questioned while looking at the yarn-like material covering his blonde friend.
“I’m trying to make a Dreamcatcher…” Draco replied before throwing the hoop down in frustration.
“Are you supposed to be a part of it?” the Italian chuckled as he flicked the string hovering in front of the wizards’ face.
“No!” the Malfoy heir snapped as he swatted Blaises’ hand away from him. “This shite is so much harder to make than it looks! Tala made it seem easy!”
“Tala taught you?”
“Well…no, not really. I was curious when she made Hermione’s the other night so, this morning when she started on Red’s, I watched her before asking for some supplies to see if I could do it too. She offered to help, but-”
“You’re stubborn and wanted to do it on your own…” he cut in as a matter of fact.
“Shut up” Draco countered with an eye roll before picking the hoop back up and trying again.
“I don’t get why you’re getting all snug with these people. I mean, you were there, mate. You saw what their kind did in Jamestown. What’s to say they won’t do the same to us and kill us in our sleep?”
“It’s been two days since we met them. If they wanted to kill us in our sleep, they would have done so already. Plus, they weren’t the same tribe, Blaise. You know that.”
“But they’re still Indians who can savagely murder us!”
“Do you know why the Powhatans attacked Jamestown?”
“Who cares?”
“Apparently not you…” Draco stated under his breath. “Look, Blaise…it was our people. And I don’t mean the white man or wizards, it was us, the English, who took their land, brought over diseases, refused to trade meaningful things with them out of spite, and kept them at arm’s length unless it was to exchange for food. We took away their homes and forced them to become workers a-and slaves. How would you feel if someone did that to you and the ones you love? That attack wasn’t without reason. Though I’m not saying what they did was the right way to go about it. We were just too ignorant to care and or research it.”
“Whatever…” Blaise shrugged as he realized his friend was right, except he was too tenacious to admit it aloud. “How’s Hermione?” he inquired gently as he tried to change the subject so he wouldn’t have to think about how a native almost killed him in the process of destroying a town.
“Still sleeping…” the blonde Slytherin sighed as he bit his bottom lip.
“She hasn’t said anything since that night?” the dark-skinned wizard questioned sullenly. “She’s been asleep for two days…”
“No, she hasn’t said anything…She wakes up every so often to use the chamber pot Red put in the tent, but she still won’t speak or eat anything.”
“Oh…”
“How’s Red?”
“Depressed…” Blaise sighed as he shifted to lean backwards on his hands. “She can’t grasp the idea that Hermione doesn’t need her.”
“But it’s not Hermione’s fault she doesn’t want her to touch her. It’s no one’s fault. She can’t control it…”
“I know that, and you know that…but she apparently doesn’t want know that.”
“Have you tried speaking to her about it?” the blonde questioned while holding up the Dreamcatcher and sticking his tongue out with a tilt of his head as he studied it.
“Yeah, but she refuses to listen to me. I know I’m full of advice and told her to give Hermione some time but…” he sighed while throwing his head back. “I’ve got nothing. There’s nothing else I can say or do to help either of the girls through this.”
“Then listen to your own advice and give her some space” Draco claimed with a shrug. “Does this look like a spider web?” he asked holding the object out to Blaise.
“It looks like a spider had a fight with a massive fly…and lost…” Draco slumped his shoulders and pulled out his wand while lowering the Dreamcatcher in his hand before discreetly untangling the mess with a charm and starting over. “Just go ask Tala for help…Salazar, I feel like a parasite!”
“A parasite?” the tall blonde inquired with a raised brow in confusion.
“Yeah, a parasite! We keep…latching…on to the people of the past and hoping they can take care of us while we’re fucking licking our wounds from whatever torture that was handed to us!”
“Awe, well you’re my favorite parasite, Blaise” Draco joked.
“I don’t cling to you!”
“No wait…” he paused and looked up for a moment as he thought about it. “Ringworm is my favorite parasite, you’re my second favorite…” Blaise was about to retort while giving his friend a dirty look before giving in and frowning. “No…I lied. Ringworm, then rats with the plague, then you.”
“Shut-up, you arse” Blaise scoffed with a small smile.
“Got you to smile though…” Draco smirked as he went back to working on the keepsake.
“I hate you…”
“No, you hate that I can cheer you up because all you want to do is feel all moody and upset when we should be grateful to even be alive right now.”
“Did those muggles hit you in the head a little too hard back in Salem? Since when have you become all optimistic? We ran through a fucking battlefield, mate. I don’t really see anything happy and positive about that.”
“Exactly…”
“What?”
“We ran through a battlefield” the Malfoy heir shrugged as he continued to wrap the string around the wooden hoop. “We fought off Confederates, I slaughtered three men, Hermione killed two, you helped save my life, and I know we all still have so much more to go through…But…” he gazed up at the Italian with a half-smile while lowering his hands, “we’ll get through it because we have each other. That’s the only reason I can be so positive about this.”
“That, and you already had your trial” the dark-haired wizard retorted with an eye roll.
“That doesn’t mean anything. Look, just because I already survived almost dying doesn’t mean shite won’t affect me when it comes to my friends. Whatever the hell your ‘change’ is, it’s still going to hurt me. I don’t want to see anything bad happen to you, or to Red…You guys are my family.”
“Family huh?”
“Yeah, Blaise. Family. And it’s time I start feeding the good wolf. Time to let my walls down.”
“Yeaahh, I don’t know what that means…but I guess I love you too.”
“Fuck you!” he chuckled as Blaise shook his head and stood up.
“So, I finally get you alone this time? I don’t have to share anymore?” he smirked.
“You’re insufferable” Draco snorted while rolling his eyes.
“True…” he ticked. “Well I’m gonna go see if Caleb needs any help with anything…Are you gonna be alright with your…thing?”
“A Dreamcatcher? Yes…eventually. Hey, before you go can you ask Tala if she has any more of those herbs, she gave me? Whatever they were, they seem to help Hermione sleep easier. She barely had any nightmares last night.”
“Was she sleeping next to you?”
“Not really. I haven’t actually slept much the last few nights, nor have I actually slept next to her when I do. So, I take walks through the woods and put a charm on her to alert me if she wakes up or stirs.”
“Alone?”
“I need to get over my fear, Blaise…I had my wand and I make sure to always stay vigilant, but…I can’t let what happened haunt me forever. Especially if I want to be able to protect…”
“Your girl?” the Italian scoffed lightly after Draco had trailed off.
“You…and Red.”
“We don’t need you to protect us.”
“But I want to” the blonde sighed as he lowered his head and studied the mess in his hands. “I want to be able to be there for all of you…like you were with me. I want my life to mean something. I want my friendship with you to mean something.”
“Mate…You took me in when my mother no longer wanted me, even though we weren’t the best of friends before that. Your friendship means something…trust me…it means more to me than you’ll ever know-You’re more my family than my own flesh and blood, but that doesn’t mean you have to always protect me.”
“It does actually.” He glanced up that the dark-skinned wizard with somber eyes. “Malfoy’s are sworn to protect anyone we feel is significant in our lives. Someone who means everything to us; namely family, but it can include anyone. A magical bond is placed upon us as soon as we start to show magic. Although, the other person has to believe I’m family as well. Why do you think I always kept people at arm’s length; never allowing anyone to get close to me? I let anyone in and…”
“And you become their keeper…” Blaise spoke softly. “I’m familiar with the magic. So, that’s why you try to push Pansy away and why you didn’t give Hermione up in your manor…isn’t it?” he questioned while lowering himself back down to the quilt.
“I didn’t know that she was important to me until I saw her, Potter, and Weasley being forcefully shoved through my front door…I-I also didn’t go to the Room of Requirement to get my wand back from Potter during the battle” he admitted while playing with the string on his lap. “Well I mean I did, but I mainly went to make sure she was alright. But then things got out of hand a-and Crabbe was stupid enough to conjure Fiendfyre…Then all this bullshite happened and…I don’t know. I knew I liked her and that it was wrong, which is one of the reasons why I always picked on her…but I had to get close to her, Blaise. However, in doing so meant I had to let Red in too…But I didn’t know saving her all the times I had, meant she would see me as family…Though in the end, I realized you all are worth bonding to.”
Blaise was quiet for a moment, making Draco rethink telling him about his family tradition. However, the Italian cleared his throat before he looked up at the blonde and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Why didn’t you tell me all this before? I mean I knew you liked Hermione, but I never knew it went that deep. Though…it makes sense in a way. Why only you were allowed to really pick on her. Why you always seemed to have a hurt expression that you were quick to hide after insulting her…You weren’t trying to push her away, were you? You were trying to protect her…from you…”
“I guess I didn’t do that well of a job, did I?” the blonde Slytherin chuckled slightly while he continued to fiddle with the Dreamcatcher. “I couldn’t even push her away in the last era…”
“That’s why she bonded to you!” Blaise exclaimed in realization. “And why she sleeps more soundly with you next to her! Draco, you bloody idiot! If you would have said something sooner, we could have helped Red before all this happened!”
“What?”
“Your ‘keeper bond’ altered.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying. How does that help Red?”
“Hermione didn’t bond to you just because you saved her, she bonded to you because of the link you share…! She loves you.”
“No, she doesn’t! She just started liking me and took her sweet ol’ time in doing so!”
“Then if her core didn’t alter the magical bond…yours did. Think about it. You are sworn to protect those you consider significant, family, important…How strong do you think that bond would get if the person you were protecting was someone, you’re in love with? Hermione linked to you back in Pompeii. Not here. Not after you rescued her. She considered you family after you sacrificed your life so she wouldn’t die alone. Either that or she thought of you as family when you saved her in the Ice Age, and she lashed out at you because it was clear as day that she was worried about your well-being.”
“Now you’re just blowing smoke out your ears!”
“Have either of you been able to use each other’s wands freely at all?” Draco opened his mouth to say ‘no’ when he suddenly remembered that he had used Hermione’s wand in Knockturn Alley, and he felt absolutely no resistance in doing so. He didn’t even think about it when he used the Vinewood to heal her ankle nor did he question how her wand worked so easily for him. “I thought so…This helps Red because Hermione only allowing you to touch her, isn’t due to her traumatized state. Although it is a factor. She’s clinging to you because her magic is molding with yours. Once it’s done, our little bookworm will no longer be scared of her best friend.”
“Melding with mine? A-are you saying we’re magically married?” Draco inquired with a raised brow and confusion written all over his face. “Like a marriage bond?”
“Merlin no! Okay maybe I explained it wrong. Let me start over. Hermione’s magic is melding with yours but it’s not permanent. One of the reasons she’s okay with you is because of your family…thing…Your bond altered in order to ‘protect’ her from something you can’t physically save her from. Like a spider web,” he pointed to the Dreamcatcher “to catch her as she falls; a blanket to wrap around her. The link allows her magic to use yours in order to help her recover because it can now fully recognize it as safe. Because you love her.”
“I don’t love her! Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“Whether you want to admit it or not, it’s evident you feel something stronger than admiration. You at least care enough that her magical core doesn’t see you as an enemy. And once her emotions level out, the bond will sever, and she’ll stop clinging to you so desperately.”
“So, you’re saying she won’t like me anymore? That she won’t want to be with me, a-and our relationship is what, a lie?” he asked sorrowfully.
“Not at all! Her magic just won’t cling to yours so heavily. Your feelings for each other will stay the same. They aren’t based off of the connection you share right now. She’ll still fancy you and she’ll still sleep calmer while near you. Nothing that happened before what occurred in that tent, will change.”
“So, she’ll still want me? Even after her magic is done using me as a cushion?” he questioned hopefully. “…She’ll still need me?”
“Draco, after everything we have been though as of late, I don’t think anything in the world can stop her from wanting you or needing you. She didn’t murder those men because of the bond, that I can promise you. Your first kiss only allowed your cores to recognize each other, it didn’t cause her to have feelings for you. And…I can’t speak for Red, but as for me…if your oath forces you to protect me, well…I would be honored to have ‘my brother’ defend me.” He smiled warmly as he reached over and patted the blonde on the shoulder. “Just relax mate. Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to…Once I transfigure something into a toilet with plumbing. How the bloody hell did witches and wizard go without indoor plumbing?”
“They would usually wet themselves wherever they were and then charm their clothing clean afterwards” Ginny interrupted as she walked up to the boys with a morose expression.
“Gross…”
“Can we get out of here? Go do something? I’m going stir crazy being cooped up in that tent all day and so far, none of the Natives need any help with anything. They are very good at setting everything up in a timely manner.”
“Yeah!” Blaise replied while standing up and brushing the nonexistent dirt from his trousers. “I was just about to go talk to Caleb anyway to see if I could help with anything. Maybe we can go on a walk or something if he can’t find anything for us to do.”
“I think I need a break too” Draco declared as he placed the Dreamcatcher into Hermione’s beaded bag for safe keeping.
“Ca-can you check on Mione for me?” the redhead requested after biting her lower lip and frowning.
“Already on it, Red” the blonde smiled before standing up and packing up the quilt. “You’ll tell her, right?” he asked Blaise before glancing to Ginny, who had already begun to walk away. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt from this era.”
“I’ve got Red…You go check on your girl” Blaise claimed with a nudge before walking off to meet up with Ginny, causing Draco to stare unseeingly at the ground while heavily thinking about what his best friend had brought to his attention.
Wednesday, May 13th, 1999
“Where is she? Where’s my wife?” Robert demanded as soon as he stepped out of the Floo with Arthur and Thorfinn directly behind him.
After Elizabeth had refused to eat or speak to anyone and two and half days had passed, Rowle had Narcissa lower her wards to allow him to apparate out in order to collect the two fathers. Although, even with Molly’s instructions, it took him a couple of days to locate the Burrow as it was hidden well enough from muggles and from anyone who held the Dark Mark. However, after returning to talk to red-headed mother, who sent an Owl to her husband letting him know the former Death Eater needed access, Thorfinn tracked down the muggle dentist and brought him to the Weasley household. Once Arthur had lowered the wards on the towering home and the blonde had briefly explained the situation that was occurring at Malfoy Manor, the three men had dashed to the fireplace in order to get to the estate as quickly as possible without apparating due to Robert's distaste for the method of travel.
Though while Rowle had spent the time tracking down the fathers, Molly had stayed back in order to help Narcissa take care of the children, who were too morose to go back to school just yet, and Hermione’s depressed mother. There was absolutely no way she would leave the dejected Malfoy to care for seven people. Not that she didn’t trust her, because she did in some unexpected way; it was more due to the fact that the Slytherin Queen was almost as unstable as ones in her manor. With Thorfinn out searching, Professor McGonagall unable to leave Hogwarts, and Bethany occupied with a class field trip full of Primary school children, the two women were left with no choice except to care for everyone until Hagrid could managed to return.
None of the students had left their rooms as Pansy and Theo did their best to help the two mothers care for Harry, Neville, Luna, and Ron; the ones closest to the Gryffindor Princess. Neville and Luna were easier to pull out of their melancholy state, but it took a little longer to bring Ron and Harry back to reality. Fortunately for the Slytherin pair looking after the Gryffindor’s, they were able to calm the Boy-Who-Lived and his red-headed best friend with research about how strangers from the woods had killed a few Confederates known for raping women.
According to a few unnamed sources, the men had apparently only volunteered to fight in the war in order to use their soldier status to gain women’s trust. The army had brushed it under the rug after searching for the culprits in the woods for hours, considering they had more pressing concerns trying to gain the upper hand during the Battle of Gettysburg, and pretended it had never happened; it was obvious they wanted nothing to do with men willing to put a woman over their American duties and erased their names from all documentation. However, a few soldiers had gone A.W.O.L from the camp shortly after the incident and the General claimed them as cowards too fearful to fight for what they believed was right…Even though what they thought was right, would evidently be their downfall.
Narcissa lifted her head from her hands as dark circles rimmed her eyes and looked to the frantic man standing outside the hearth in despair, before lowering her face back down and continuing to softly cry as she sat upon the steps of the stage.
“Yeh find ‘er in ‘er room, Mr. Granger” Hagrid spoke sullenly as he continued to rub Narcissa’s back with his large hand. He had returned to collect the students a mere hour before the men had arrived, but still thought the group needed more time. However, the Headmistress thought otherwise and believed returning to class would distract them from the horrors of the past. She also figured having the students return would lessen the responsibilities of the adults as they tried to compose themselves. “Ms. Molly is keepin ‘er comp’ny.”
Robert didn’t give anyone a chance to say another word before he frantically rushed out of the library. Arthur slowly stepped up to the sulking blonde witch and crouched down to her level while reaching out to remove her hands from her face.
“Narcissa?” he began gently as she lingeringly raised her glistening blue eyes to his brown ones. “You did everything you could to help her. Please don’t feel down about this. Hermione will get through her trial and Elizabeth will be alright…Just like you got through what happened to Draco and just like Molly got through losing F-Fred.” He paused for a moment as he thought about his departed son and pinched his lips inward to try and keep his composer. “You’re all strong women. Probably stronger than any male I know.”
“S’pose I’ll go an’ see an elf abou’ some tea, eh” Hagrid stated as he cleared his throat and nodded to Thorfinn, who was leaning against a bookshelf with one foot pressed against the hard surface. Once the giant had left the room however, Rowle removed himself from where he stood and walked over to the pair by the stage.
“Why don’t you go and check on Molly, Arthur” he insisted gently. “I’ll keep an eye on Narcissa and let everyone know when the children are ready. I’m sure your wife could use some support and I think it would be better coming from you than from me.”
“Good thinking” the redhead smiled weakly before standing up right and putting his hands in his pockets. “I’ll stop and see Ronald too.”
“Thank you, Arthur…” the Slytherin Queen spoke low while wiping fallen tears from her cheek with her fingertips. “And-and I’m sorry for not contacting you sooner…”
“Hush now, Narcissa. I assume it’s been a mad house around here trying to look after everyone. I understand that you tried to do things on your own before bringing the cavalry in. But I’m sure sending a house elf to find us would have been a lot quicker” he chuckled softly.
“I honestly never even thought about that…” she stated dejectedly. “Keesy was busy in the kitchen making sure everyone ate and brewing everything from Calming draughts to Sleeping potions for the children and for Liz, Piskey is at Hogwarts aiding Madam Pomfrey with a Quidditch fiasco, and Valky is helping protect the muggle Prime Minister and the Royal family.”
“What?” Thorfinn cut in perplexed. “Why would they need one of your house elves?”
“There were bombings in London back in April. They caught the man, but the Prime Minister requested that our Minister for Magic send an elf to secretly watch for anything suspicious just in case” she explained while rubbing her neck with both hands to relieve the pressure of the knots forming from stress. “The Ministry required their elves back because the Auror Department was following a lead on a large group of former Death Eaters and needed assistance in tracking them. My family is the only household with multiple elves, so I sent Valky to help out temporarily. I-I received the Ministers’ Owl shortly after we calmed Elizabeth…I never even thought about calling him back…” she began to weep into her hands, causing Thorfinn to embrace her in his arms as Arthur reached out to comfort the mother.
“Hey…it’s alright, Narcissa. No harm no foul as the muggles say” he wearily smiled. “We’re here now and that’s all that matters.”
“Of course,” she whispered as she wiped her nose with the back of her hand and Arthur passed her a handkerchief which he had pulled from his breast pocket.
“I’m going to go check on my family…” the redhead spoke softly. “Would you like me to get you anything?” She shook her head ‘no’ so he proceeded to bow his head as the former Death Eater released the Queen from his embrace and turned to exit the room, leaving Thorfinn and Narcissa alone in silence.
“A-are you certain you don’t need anything?” Rowle questioned as he shifted nervously next to the elder Malfoy.
“H-how did we get here?” she queried while staring unseeingly in front of her; still holding the handkerchief in her hand that Arthur had given her while her forearms rested on her propped-up knees.
“I don’t understand what you mean…”
“Do you remember all the vile things we saw happen in this house…?” she inquired as she turned her attention to Thorfinn, but as he opened his mouth to answer she focused back in front of her and continued to speak. “I mean…the Dark Lord…he was so…cruel” she claimed while her fingers grasped the fabric tighter. “I remember everything…the tortures, the rapes, the murders…people being forgotten in the dungeon…left to die until someone found their bodies weeks later…”
“Wasn’t the best of times…” Rowle answered gently while propping up his own knees to rest his arms upon them.
“I-I thought after the final battle, after that monster was taken down, that everything was over; that we could all pick up the pieces of our broken souls and move forward.” She glanced at the blonde sitting next to her, studying her as he thought about where she was going with her small speech. “But I always knew where my son was-where everyone was. I could keep an eye on them and protect them from afar. Pretend to be callous so not to give myself up but to also keep them at a safe enough distance so they wouldn’t be harmed…And now…”
“Now Draco has be tortured by muggles and Hermione…Hermione-”
“Was almost raped…” she cut in as tears streaked down her cheeks. “Everything that happened in this home is happening to our children. Like it’s some sort of k-karma because we didn’t stop what occurred here when we had the chance.”
“Cissy…”
“I was scared then. When Voldemort overtook my home and made it his base of operations…And my husband let him. Like it was some sort of honor to have the man who single handily destroyed this family, live here, under this roof, as if it was his own. I was scared…But now…now I’m more terrified than ever because I can’t protect Draco. I can’t protect Hermione, or-or Blaise, or even Ginevra. I can barely protect the ones here now and I don’t know what else to do.”
“There isn’t anything else you really can do, Cissy…”
“What about you?”
“Whhaatt about me?” he queried with a puzzled brow.
“Why are you helping us? After everything you went through with the amulet and the mess of the war…Why are you here? Is it because of what you encountered in the past?”
Thorfinn gazed into Narcissas’ blue eyes as he tilted his head sympathetically and in understanding before weakly smiling and looking down in front of him at the step below his feet.
“We were friends once…Do you remember?” he asked while playing with the tips of his fingers. “But after you got married and had Draco…we sort of went our separate ways. I wouldn’t say we were the best of friends, like the Golden Trio, but we were up there. I’m not here just because of what the amulet put me through or the children…I’m here for you as well. I also don’t want anyone to ever go through this shite again. Muggles are…ruthless people, to put it gently. Not that magical folks like us aren’t too, but muggles…Merlin, they are one hell of a species. However, we should be learning from their mistakes and their flaws as well as their kindness and loyalty, Cissy. Those stuck in the past…as cruel as it may sound, are meant to be there. They’re meant to learn something to help them move forward in life-To grow as human beings. After my trials, as everyone seems to want to call them, I learned that everything happens for a reason and to mend my broken friendships because there is only so much time in the world…And you never know how much of it you have left.”
“So, you want me to just forget everything? Forget our history like it never happened?”
“I never said…” he sighed as he glanced up to the tall ceiling before lowering his head back down and gazed at his fingers. “You forgave Molly, right? The history you share with her is more…in depth than ours, but you two seem to have mended your hate for one another. Why can’t we do the same? We all need each other, Cissy; whether we like it or not. Might as well be friends again rather than let our primitive malevolence ruin our lives. I…I-I’d very much like to be your friend again…”
“And how do I know that you don’t have something up your sleeve? After all, you were a Slytherin as well and Slytherins are known to only do things for others if it helps themselves as well.”
“You don’t…” he claimed gently while turning his focus to her. “I can only give you my word that I’m not helping you out of selfishness or greed. I just want to contribute like everyone else…And if that means we become close again then so be it. If not…then it’s my loss and I’ll have no choice but to live with my decisions that caused me to lose one of the best people I have ever met.”
“I’m not that great?” she snorted while shaking her head in disbelief.
“You are to me…” he whispered under his breath.
“Pardon me?”
“Nothing” the blonde quickly corrected. “We should probably go and check on the children. See if they need anything before they head back to school.”
After Narcissa furrowed her brows in confusion, the pair slowly stood and began making their way to the exit when Pansy suddenly ran into them just as they stepped out of the doorway.
“Oh!” Narcissa shrieked with a hand clutched against her chest.
“I apologize Mrs. Malfoy; I didn’t mean to startle you…” Pansy claimed before turning her attention to Thorfinn, standing directly behind Draco’s mother. “Mr. Rowle…” she stated flatly.
“Pansy dear, is everything alright?” Narcissa questioned gently while lowering her hand and eyeing the raven-haired girl in front of her, causing Pansy’s focus to dart back to her.
“Everything’s fine, ma’am. Ron and Theo just wanted to ask you a question. Something about wanting to take the sheets in their rooms. They’re in Harry’s chambers now.”
“Well at least they have the decency to ask instead of just stealing the linen” the elder Malfoy scoffed with a small chuckle before walking away from the duo in the hallway and turned the corner to the guest corridor.
“Ah ahh ah” Pansy spoke quickly with a raised hand as Thorfinn began to follow, and bewilderingly stopping him in his tracks.
“Can I help you, Ms. Parkinson?” he inquired as he placed his hands in his pockets and sighed heavily.
“What’re your intentions?” she queried while crossing her arms and staring at the blonde as if he was suddenly thrown into a muggle court hearing and she was the judge…and the jury.
“I beg your pardon. My intentions?”
“With Mrs. Malfoy. What are your intentions with her?” she demanded to know, causing Rowle to chuckle for a moment before realizing the Slytherin Princess was serious.
“You’re joking right? We’re just friends. And honestly, my ‘intentions’ as you put it, has nothing to do with you and I’m not discussing this matter with a teenager.”
“First, I’ll have you know I’m technically considered an adult and most likely know more about relationships than you do and second,” she held up a finger while still keeping her arms crossed, “it doesn’t appear that you are going to ‘discuss’ this matter with anyone else, and seeing as I overheard your ‘little confession’, and know Draco’s mother probably better than you-”
“What are you getting at, Parkinson?” Thorfinn hastily interrupted. “What confession?”
“Hmm, let me think…What was it she said…? Oh right, ‘I’m not that great’,” she repeated what Narcissa had said only moments earlier. “Where you then countered with, ‘You are to me…’.”
“So?”
“So, you like her?”
“I do not!”
“I thought Death Eaters were supposed to be good at lying. Wasn’t that what your whole ideology was modeled around?”
“What do you want, Pansy?”
“I want you to admit that you fancy Draco’s mother. I heard what you said, and I saw you as you watched her walk away just now. You looked like a hurt puppy who was just told he could no longer play at the dog park.”
“I did not!” he denied adamantly, until Pansy pursed her lips and shot him a knowing look. “Okay fine! Yeah…I-I fancy her; I always have. What of it?”
“I can help you” she claimed with a growing smirk.
“Thanks…However, I am going to have to say no. Now is not a good time and if it was meant to happen it would. Besides, she’s still married and now is not the best time to pursue any more than what she is leniently giving me. No, I would rather work on our friendship. I don’t want to ruin it, especially when she doesn’t even feel the same.”
“Lucius is in Azkaban, Rowle. With absolutely no possibility of getting out. After a few years, she is free to divorce him without his permission. And how do you even know she doesn’t like you?”
“I just know, alright!” he yelled before shaking his head and taking a deep breath to calm himself. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to shout I just-I just can’t right now, okay?”
“Okay…I won’t press you on it.”
“Pansy?” a voice called out, interrupting the duo speaking as Harry turned the corner. “Oh, sorry…”
“It’s alright, Harry” Pansy smiled warmly. “What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing. I-I was just seeing if you wanted to take a walk with me to the kitchens and grab a snack before we leave, is all. Ron and Theo are heavily pleading with Mrs. Malfoy to allow them to take the linen. Going as far as to offer up their first borns’ as payment if she grants them the ‘oh so wonderful sheets’, which is a little much for linen” he claimed while rolling his eyes and chuckling softly. “I couldn’t take it anymore and figured I was hungry anyway. And if you weren’t doing anything…”
“Of course, Harry! Meet you in your room in a few?”
“Okay!” the raven-haired Gryffindor smirked happily before heading back down the hall; causing Thorfinn to raise a knowing brow at Pansy.
“You know, for someone who thinks she knows everything about relationships, you have sure gone blind to your own.”
“What?’ she questioned, slightly taken aback. “You mean Harry? Harry and I?” she began to laugh as the former Death Eater crossed his arms and smirked. “You have got to be joking! Once Draco returns, he and I will be together. And Harry and I are just friends. We don’t like each other like that.”
“Do you really believe all the lies you keep telling yourself? Draco and Hermione quite literally killed for one another. You honestly think that once he returns, he’s going to want to be with you? I mean no offense, Parkinson, and I’m not trying to hurt your feelings, but they are traveling through time together and growing closer as we speak. Furthermore, and I can’t stress this enough, it’s painfully obvious you are growing feelings for the Wizarding Savoir. I’ve seen the way you look at him as well and how you go above and beyond to care for the boy. I wouldn’t throw the idea out the window for the Owls to catch just yet. Maybe the Potter boy is someone worth fancying. He seems to treat you exceptionally well. Why not give him a chance?”
“You’re delusional.”
“Apparently…so are you…”
Pansy scoffed as she rolled her eyes before pushing passed the blonde in order to meet up with Harry. Although, while she strongly thought about what Thorfinn had mentioned, concerning Draco and Hermione, something inside of her was telling her to move on from the blonde Slytherin and consider what the former Death Eater had suggested. Not that she thought Harry would go for it or even fancy her in return, but would pursuing the Gryffindor Golden Boy be worth ruining their newfound friendship over? Or was it something that might end up making them both happy in the end?
July 5^th, 1863
Draco walked into the tent Hermione was staying in and set her bag down near the entrance before summoning a chair to his hand. He made his way over to the brunette laying in the cot, set the chair down next to her, and leaned back while crossing his arms. He studied her for a moment as she slept soundly and took in her features. The red marks left on her flesh after he had healed her injuries, were no longer visible. The wounds had disappeared, leaving her smooth ivory skin unblemished once more. To him, she simply looked as perfect and as beautiful as he'd always remembered her to be.
Except she wasn’t the woman he knew anymore. She could appear to be as flawless as a diamond, but without her spirit, her heart…the very things that made Hermione, Hermione…ended up making her just another ghost of a person Draco had once known. He needed to figure out a way to bring her back to him. He had given her time to wallow over what had happened and now it was time to pull her out of it. No one liked seeing her so down and Draco of all people knew how much his witch would berate him and do everything in her power to pull him out of the slumps if the roles were reversed. Fortunately, he knew how to do it…except neither of them would end up liking the method he chose to use in order to do so, or the hard questions he would need to ask.
“Hermione…” he whispered while leaning forward and resting his elbows on his thighs, knowing she wasn’t fully asleep, “Hermione I know you’re awake. I saw your eyelashes flutter.” Slowly opening her eyes, Hermione flickered her gaze over the blonde staring at her, before looking down at the bed she laid upon to avoid his grey irises. “You have to get out of this bed, love. You can’t hide out in here forever. I know what you went through was-”
“You have no idea what I went through…” she argued in a near whisper, causing Draco to press his tongue firmly against the corner of the inside of his mouth as he fought against the urge to snap at her. “Just…go away…please?”
“No!” he stated in aggravation.
“Go away, Draco. You don’t know anything about me or what I went through. I’m not you and I can’t just get over this.”
“You honestly believe that I think you’re anything like me? Salazar, if you think that then we are both in trouble. I hope to Merlin you will never be like me and like it or not, I know damn well what you went through, Hermione. You’re not the first person I’ve saved from almost getting raped, nor are you the first person I’ve comforted after an ordeal like that. Don’t presume to tell me what I do and do not understand.
“You’ve been hiding out in this tent for days and refused to allow your best friend to get close to you! You’re not the only one affected by what happened and it’s about time you sat up and stopped feeling sorry for yourself and stop using my magic as a buffer to shield you” he claimed before noticing she had just buried her face further into her pillow. “Look, Hermione…I-I’m sorry for being blunt and getting upset, but you can’t act like you’re the only one in the world who has had to deal with bad shite. And if you don’t wanna talk about it, fine, but you owe it to yourself to collect your broken pieces and walk away from all this because at least you still can. You have way too many people to count, that care for you and hate seeing like this.”
“Hate seeing me like this…” she hissed as she turned her face to him, though it was more as a statement than a question. “You think I enjoy seeing myself like this? You think I like knowing I’m scared of the world around me o-or that I’m apparently using you? Or the fact that what happened to me was my fault?”
“How long are you going to allow this to hurt you?” he inquired in a softer tone while tilting his head to the side. “How long are you going to blame yourself for other’s choices? You never once let the harmful things I did and said to you growing up, depress you. You never even allowed the actions of my Aunt to keep you down. So, tell me why you’re allowing those men to win?”
“I’m not allo-”
“Don’t…lie to me. It’s clear as day that you are, so tell me why you won’t even allow Ginny to comfort you? Why are you afraid of her?”
“I’m not afraid of her…”
Draco studied the brunette for another moment as he thought about the root of his girlfriend’s struggles. He knew she was strong enough to get through her predicament, but with everything else that had happened in her life on top of it, he knew there had to be a deeper meaning behind her depression. He just had to figure out precisely what was causing her to blame herself and turn her friends away and why she feels it’s enough to break her.
“Then why won’t you let her touch you? O-or see you while your awake, love? She misses you. Hell, even Blaise misses you.”
“It’s better this way…” she whispered as a tear fell from her lashes and she pulled the blanket laying across her body closer to her chest. “It’s probably best that we break up as well…”
“What? No! Why?” he queried in utter confusion and shock. The last thing he wanted was to hear her say she didn’t want him anymore and it caused his breath to catch the second the words left her lips. “I-is that what you really want? T-to not be with me anymore?” he questioned in a slight panic as his bottom lip trembled.
“I’ll just bring you down with me…” she declared sullenly causing the blonde to reach out and tightly encase her hand in his.
“Hermione…I-I don’t want to lose you. Please don’t do this. Please don’t break up with me.”
“I don’t want to end this, Draco…” she affirmed softly while flicking her watery gaze to his tear-filled eyes. “I can’t let you get hurt too.”
“Hurt too? What are you talking about?”
“Everything…”
“Okay, let’s sit up” he requested while gently helping her into the sitting position before brushing her damp curls from her face. “Talk to me, Princess. Tell me what you mean.” Hermione lowered her head and was silent for a couple of seconds before Draco delicately lifted her chin with two of his fingers. “Hermione…talk to me, darlin. Why do you want to break up?”
“It’s what you’re going to do eventually…break up with me.”
“The last thing I want to do is ever leave you, love.”
“You won’t want me once you realize you can find someone better” she stated after biting her lip nervously. “Someone…someone who-”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying? That I-I want someone who hasn’t been almost raped? Hermione-”
“Someone who is less miserable” she continued; completely cutting him off “and despondent…and a magnet for destruction. Everywhere I go, everything I do, something bad happens. The war, you, this…” she gently shrugged while waving a hand in the air to further prove her point. “Everything that has happened to me has had a negative effect on everyone else.”
“That’s not true-”
“Isn’t it?” she interrupted as she firmly held his gaze. “Draco…Why did you protect me in your family’s manor?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Why?” she demanded, causing Draco the pause for a moment in confusion.
“Because I didn’t want to see you hurting anymore” he answered softly. “I didn’t want any of you to be there, Hermione. That’s why I lied about recognizing Potter and why I did what I could to shield you.”
“And what happened afterwards?”
“What?” he raised a brow in further confusion.
“What happened after Bellatrix realized what you did?”
“Hermione-”
“What happened?”
“She never found out what I did” he admitted quickly. “Okay yeah, she tortured me with the Cruciatus Curse for a few hours and tried to enter my mind so she could figure out how you didn’t sustain more damage, but…she never discovered what I did. The only person who knows is my mother and that’s because she watched me do it.”
“So, because I didn’t just admit to your Aunt exactly how Harry, Ron, and I came across the Sword of Gryffindor, or tell her it was the real one, I was subsequently cursed repeatedly and branded, which caused you feel bad enough to want to protect me. In turn, you were tortured. There’s also the time I didn’t stop to take in Ron’s feelings while on the hunt for Horcrux’s and it caused him to abandon us for months. Or how about the choices I made that caused you and everyone to pick on me growing up. And it all started because I chose to befriend Harry. Or-”
“Stop-”
“Or how about at the museum where instead of doing more in order to get you to put the amulet back, I grabbed Ginny’s wrist, which caused all of this…”
“Please stop-”
“Or the fact that because I couldn’t admit that I liked you in Salem, caused you to run off and be captured and tortured by muggles! Or the fact that I went off on you in Pompeii, or forgot to place the repelling charm in the Ice Age-”
“Enough!” the blonde Prince yelled while standing up as the chair he was sitting in fell over behind him. Hermione looked up at him in a mixture of sadness and shame as Draco ran his fingers through his hair to try and calm himself while taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. “The amulet was all of us. Not just one person. We are all to blame for it, Hermione and you are not to blame for that stupid relic placing you far away from us” he continued while crouching down in front of her and taking her hands in his. “You-you mentioned back in China that I was number two on your list of people to forgive, but you never explained why I wasn’t number one when we both know I should be…I’m not changing the subject but I have to know if what I’m thinking is correct…Hermione...who’s at the top?”
“It doesn’t matter…The point is, is that you’re not and-”
“It’s you…isn’t it?” he inquired gently, causing the brunette to avert his gaze. “I’m right…You’re trying to forgive yourself for things way out of your control…Love, look at me” he requested while tenderly turning her face to him with the tips of his fingers. “I’m only going to say this once, so I want you to pay attention. What I did to help you all those times, the manor, the Ice Age, Pompeii, those were my choices. They weren’t because of something you did. Even if you weren’t tortured by my Aunt, I would have found another way to try and help you and your friends escape. My mother and I were already trying to figure out a way to help those already imprisoned in our dungeon. Bellatrix would have cursed me regardless if you were there or not. During the Ice Age…I would have done the same thing if that man went after Red or Blaise…And Pompeii…You had every right to be upset with me. I was upset with myself for putting us all in danger. But what happened was an accident. You can’t fault yourself for my actions.”
“Draco…”
“And in Salem,” he continued while searching her brown eyes closely, “I chose to walk away because I was fully aware that I pushed you into trying to make a decision we both knew you weren’t ready to make at the time. And as for Weasley…He’s an idiot who was wearing part of the Dark Lords’ soul around his neck for hours. I overheard him talking, well bragging more like it, about it a few months ago to some younger female Hufflepuffs, to impress them, I guess. He told them about how the locket changed him and about how much he ‘suffered’. I mean come on; you know those Hufflepuff types, they feel bad for anyone who fought in the war and babied him. I’m not saying he’s a bad guy, he just pulled my move when I was attacked by Buckbeak third year. Pretended things were worse than they actually were. Except, I promise I grew out of that teenage behavior” he smiled while delicately cupping her right cheek. “But Hermione, I believe him when I heard him tell the girls that he only left you and Potter because the necklace basically forced him to. It wanted to separate the three of you. Make your group weaker. And it used him to do so.”
“That doesn’t explain why you and Parkinson, and everyone else, belittled me and tore me down for years. And now…now you want to be with me when the whole reason you and your friends hated me was because-”
“It was nothing you did, love” he hastily cut in before she could blame another thing on herself. “We were kids and we thought you, and Potter, and especially Weasley, were easy targets. Look, I have my reasons for hating Potter at the time, but none us feel that way now. You did nothing wrong. It was me who instigated everything, and it was me who held the power over others to help bring you down. And we both know my father would have killed me if he knew I secretly wanted to be your friend…secretly liked you-You can’t control what blood runs through your veins, Princess, and you can’t control how I was raised to think…but I never actually hated you. My reason for singling you out was all for show, Hermione, so that I could feel like I had the authority. Yeah, your incessant need to top me in almost every class was downright infuriating, and the fact that you always had an answer for everyone was annoying, but that is just who you are…and I wouldn’t want you to change that for the world.”
“But those men…”
“Those men were savages and they're dead” he claimed adamantly while rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. “The amulet chose to separate you from us so that you could learn the true meaning of vulnerability. You have been so strong and brave for everyone else that you haven’t really understood what it was like to be…weak. And those men, they were cowards who tried to take what wasn’t theirs and you did a damn good job of fighting back. I know because I took a glimpse at the memory while you were sleeping. I-I’m sorry, but I had to know what happened.”
“Don’t apologize” she stated while lightly shrugging as her gaze flickered over his face. “I-I guess it’s only fair after I probed your mind.”
“You did a little more than probe my mind” Draco chuckled, which caused a soft smile to form on his witchs’ lips. “You sort of saw almost my entire life when I let you in.”
“I’m sorry, I-I never entered anyone’s mind like that before…”
“Why are you apologizing? This isn’t about me. I’m here to help you in any way I possibly can. You helped me when I needed you the most. Even when I didn’t want it…It’s my turn to return the favor. After all, isn’t that what couples do?” Hermione began to smile a little more, which caused the Slytherin Prince to smirk and gently squeeze her hand in his. “No, seriously…I’ve never been in a serious relationship before, so I have no id-” he tried to continue when he suddenly felt warm lips press hard against his, shocking him for a moment.
Hermione then wrapped her arms around him as his hands snaked across her ribs, and let the kiss linger briefly before she pulled back and buried her face into the crease of his neck.
“I don’t know how to be me anymore…” she whispered before sitting back as Draco stood up and sat down on the end of the bed next to the Gryffindor. “How am I supposed to move on from this?”
“Somedays will be easy” the blonde began with a deep sigh, “and other days it’ll be hard. However, be it easy or hard, the path is still the same.”
“What?”
“The first step to healing, Hermione, is having the will to stand up and face your fears. Regardless if the path is the same, all you have to do it start.”
“Like you’ve been doing with the woods…” she claimed, though more as a statement than a question because she was fully aware of her surroundings since they had arrived in the mountains and had heard everything that occurred in and around her tent. The only thing she couldn’t recall was how she got to where she was after Draco had saved her.
“Yeah…like I’ve been doing with the woods” he answered quietly. “Listen, Princess, no one wants to rush you. You have to heal in your own time and unfortunately, it’s something you have to learn to do on your own, but just tell us what you need, and we’ll do it for you. We will walk by your side until you tell us you no longer need us. Whatever it takes for you to feel normal again. However, in the famous words of Dumbledore, ‘unless you learn to forgive the past, forgive the situations that were never truly your fault, and more importantly, learn to forgive yourself…you’ll never be able to move on’.”
The brunette leaned her head upon Draco’s shoulder and faintly sighed as she played with the blanket still set on her lap. The couple sat in silence for a few minutes as the rustling of the wind outside of the tent beat gradually against the fabric.
“Did you really mean everything you said?” Hermione questioned without looking up. “About Ron and…and you?”
“Yes…We all make mistakes, Princess…” the blonde claimed as he reached across his own chest to brush a couple strands of her hair from her face. “Except, what occurred on that battlefield was not on you. If anyone is to blame, it’s me after I made the biggest mistake of my life and hurting you that day when I first ever called you that horrid slur. For all we know if I didn’t do that then we wouldn’t be in this mess right now. But the key is knowing when it’s your fault and when the circumstances are simply mere coincidences. You can’t focus on the ‘what if’s’, love. It’ll end up destroying you.”
“Since when did you become the positive one of our group?” she giggled sweetly while hugging his arms close.
“Since I’ve finally opened my eyes to someone worth being positive for…”
“Oh, yeah?” she inquired while gazing up at her boyfriend who was tenderly smiling down at her. “Who’s that…?”
“You…” he warmly smirked and was about to lean in to kiss his witch again when he heard his name being shouted in an annoyed tone.
“Draco!” Blaise called out as he stormed up to the tent the couple was talking in. “Draco, I need you-Oh…Hermione…” he stated slightly stunned when he entered the shelter and saw the pair seated on the cot. “You-you’re awake” he claimed while nervously stepping forward as the couple rotated. “H-how are you feeling?”
“I’m…I’m awake…” the bookworm shrugged sullenly.
“Well it’s a start” the Italian weakly grinned. “D-Do you need anything? Can I get you anything?”
“No, thank you…”
“Okay…”
“Did you need something, Blaise?” Draco queried as the dark-haired wizard stared at Hermione as if she was going to break at any moment. However, the blondes’ question pulled him from his stupor and he quickly shook his head before looking to his best friend.
“Oh, uh yeah…Can you talk to Red? She won’t listen to me.”
“And what makes you think she’ll listen to me?”
“Because Buttercup here, is in no shape to talk to her and you two have some sort of sibling-like bond thing going on. Anyway, I need you talk to her? Convince her that she’s being completely irrational.”
“About…? You sort of need to give me a little bit more to go on than that.”
“She wants to go hunting…with Anoki and a few others…in an hour.”
“Why?” Draco questioned in bewilderment. “She was dead set against it when you brought it up in the Ice Age. Wait are you really tattling on her? To me of all people?”
“It’s not tattling! And apparently she thinks it will distract her from everything and ease her mind from going stir-crazy.”
“Huh…so you’re friends with Anoki now?”
“He helped me get a fish off my big toe a few minutes ago-Don’t ask, it’s not important” the Italian huffed as he held a hand in the air and shook his head in embarrassment.
“But…I have sooo many questions right now that need answers. Like why you’re tattling on Red and how you got a fish stuck to your toe, and-”
“Will you help me or not?” he asked determinedly as Draco chuckled into his hand.
“I don’t really see what’s wrong with her wanting to go hunting. If it’s something she feels she wants to do, why stop her?”
“Because…Because…” the dark-skinned wizard began while fumbling over his words.
“Because she’s a woman?” the blonde inquired while standing up and crossing his arms.
“No…! It’s…It’s just dangerous! And you said it yourself; she was against it in the Ice Age so…”
“So, she had a change of heart. Blaise, mate, she has done more dangerous things in her life than you ever have. If anything, having her with you would be a good thing. Think of her as your bodyguard from any big bad animals.”
“I don’t need a bodyguard! I’m not even going! And I need you to tell her she can’t go!”
“I’m not her father!”
“No, but you’re the sanest one right now…No offense, Buttercup.”
“Fine!” the Prince stated while rolling his eyes and sitting back down on the cot. “I’ll talk to her, but I’m telling you right now that it won’t do any good.” Blaise eyed him for a moment before Draco realized his friend was still at the entrance to the tent and looked back at him in irritation. “What?”
“Now please…We don’t have a lot of time before they head out.”
“You said they leave in an hour.”
“Yeah, which means you’ll need as much time as you can to convince her this is a stupid idea.”
Throwing his head back and groaning in annoyance, Draco looked to Hermione, who simply shrugged her shoulders, before glancing back to Blaise with displeasure written all over his face.
“Trust me, it’ll only take me about a minute to speak with her. Besides, I’m a little busy if you couldn’t already tell.”
“I’m aware…”
“You’re not going to let this go until I come with you, are you?” Draco questioned with a deep sigh.
“Nope.”
Softly groaning, the Malfoy heir rolled his eyes once more and stood up. Leaning down, he kissed Hermione on the top of her head and told her he would be right back before waving a hand at Blaise while following him out of the shelter. The boys walked through the camp and headed down to the lake with Draco huffing the whole way; peeved his friend was forcing him to do something so insignificant when he was finally making progress with his girlfriend and her depression.
The lake wasn’t very far from the camp, but it was far enough away that Draco began to grow even more irate that he was missing time with Hermione. He missed her more than words could say and even though they had only just started dating, he felt like they had been together for a lifetime. He had patiently waited days for her to speak to him and when she did, he didn’t want to stop. Now his best friend was dragging him through the woods to try and stop his own girlfriend from wanting to distract herself, and it caused his annoyance to grow. He just wanted to get back to Hermione.
“Ahh, Blaise!” Anoki grinned with his hands outstretched. “Oh, I see you brought Draco. Come to join us, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Zabini?”
“No” the blonde claimed firmly.
“Is…is everything alright? Do you wish to speak with Caleb? He has gone back to camp to collect a few items before we leave.”
“Everything is fine, Anoki” Blaise quickly stated. “And we don’t need Caleb right now. Where’s Red-I mean Ginny?”
“She be over by the horses” the Native American replied while pointing behind him with his hand. “Would you like me to get her for you?”
“Nope” Draco responded while uncrossing his arms and storming past his dark-skinned friend, leaving Blaise to sulk his shoulders and Anoki to watch perplexed.
“Red!” the blonde yelled, startling the redhead as she placed a wool blanket over her brown horse and causing others to look in his direction.
“Godric, Draco! What?” she huffed while holding a hand to her chest.
“Blaise said you wanted to go hunting with the guys.”
“Yeah, so? Merlin, he actually tattled on me? That child! He really thought that would work?”
“Apparently-Anyway, I so eloquently interrupted my headway with Hermione to come and speak to you about it.”
“Okay…” she raised a brow before returning to the task of setting her up horse to ride. But when Draco didn’t say anything and just watched the witch flatten the blanket out, Ginny turned her head and extended her chin forward. “Sooo, are you gonna talk or just creepily watch me?”
“Nope. We just talked; I’m done. Have fun!” he waved before turning around, only to crash directly into an angry Blaise.
“Are you joking right now?” the Italian inquired while crossing his arms.
“What, Blaise?” the blonde groused while rubbing his fingers across his brow.
“That wasn’t a talk!”
“Your damn right it wasn’t!” he yelled before sighing heavily and turning back to face the Gryffindor. “Fine! Red…?”
“Yes, Draco?” she brooded.
“Do you really want to hunting with the guys?”
“Yes, Blondie. I do.”
“Why?”
“Why?” she scoffed while throwing her head back. “Because I’m losing my damn mind staying at camp and I want to do something different. I want to explore different possibilities and I want to learn about something I was always against. If I’m going to continue to eat meat I should at least know where it comes from and the process people used to take in order to provide for themselves and each other. Anoki said he was willing to safely teach me! Is that a problem?”
“Nope! Have fun!” he ticked while smiling wildly and tried to turn around once more, only to be stopped by Blaise again.
“What is your problem?” he demanded adamantly.
“My problem? My problem is that my girlfriend is just starting to talk again and almost willing to come out of that tent and you have me all the way the fuck out here talking to your girlfriend! Red is a grown woman who can make her own damn choices in life! She doesn’t need a babysitter or someone to talk her out of wanting to hunt for survival or learn about it! And I really want to get back to Hermione so when you decided you want to be supportive of her and lose the damn condescending attitude, we can all be on our merry fucking way and I can get back to helping my girl! So…are you done? Because I honestly do not have the time to play middleman and advocate for either of you right now!”
“Salazar…Alright! Geez” Blaise expressed while holding his hands up in defense.
“Thank you!” he replied strongly.
“Sorry, mate.”
“Don’t apologize to me, Blaise” the blonde continued while trying to calm his temper. “Just be a supportive boyfriend to your damn witch and respect her choices!” he finished before jolting the wizards’ shoulder with his own as he stormed past his friend in order to head back to the charmed shelter.
As Draco marched into camp and entered the tent, he was suddenly thrown off guard when he discovered it was empty of any living being. Terrified and confused as to where Hermione had gone, he quickly exited as his heart pounded in his chest and searched around the campground for the Gryffindor. He asked several people if they had seen her before coming across a group of children who finally directed him towards where she’d wandered a few huts down. Rushing to where the children had pointed, the Malfoy heir immediately halted his stride, as he was about to round the corner of a wigwam, with wide eyes.
Sitting on the same blanket the blonde had sat upon a few days earlier, Hermione smiled up at Tala, who appeared to be teaching the brunette how to weave a basket for gathering berries and other fresh herbs. The two women were talking as the Native gathered more material placed next to her, causing Draco to breathe a sigh of relief. However, he didn’t want to interrupt and ruin the moment, so the Slytherin Prince instead chose to watch from afar as the first laugh, he had heard in a long while, escaped his Princesses’ lips.
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The Paths We Take