Sometimes Goodbye Is a Second Chance (R) for ningloreth
Title: Sometimes Goodbye Is a Second Chance
Author:
Pairing: Draco/Hermione
Rating: R
Warnings: non-graphic masturbation and language
Summary: Draco is resigned to some kind of future in Azkaban after the War. Little does he know that the next one hundred days are about to change his life. Canon compliant through DH, EWE.
Author’s Note: Many, many thanks to the mods for the infinite patience with the extreme lateness of my entry-real life threw me a curve ball, and graduate school has been eating my life for the last however many weeks it’s been. Thank you also to inadaze22, for feeding the Muse-action and mystery are not my forte, and I’m sure this has as many holes as Swiss cheese even with the help! I take full credit for them all. This might not have been the ending you wanted, but I hope you enjoy, ningloreth! The title was inspired by Shinedown’s “Second Chance.”
Day 1, Hour 13
“No.”
“If that’s really your final answer, I hope you’ve seriously thought about the consequences, Malfoy.”
“Do you know what you’re asking of me, Granger? The man is my father.”
“He’s also the reason why you’re here. Harry’s defense may have saved your mother, but the public would never forgive the Ministry if it let the entire Malfoy family go free, even with a minimal sentence of some kind. All I request is that you consider what I’m offering a little more seriously.”
It was mother who’d talked father into going into hiding after the War, and he made his escape immediately after their brief reunion in the Great Hall. And while Draco isn’t excited about spending the next few years in Azkaban, their last exchange is still with him, an exchange he thinks they hadn’t meant for him to hear.
(“You’ll surely be facing execution or a lifetime Azkaban sentence, and either of those would kill me.”
“As long as I’m alive, they will never stop hunting me.”
“Do whatever you need-just let me know when it is done. I promise I will come find you when I can.”)
In spite of what father’s done to them, family is all he has left, and he can’t afford to trust Granger to keep her end of any agreement. He can’t afford to trust anyone.
“I don’t even know where he is.”
“But you know where he might be, and we’d find him faster with your help than we would otherwise.”
“My mother would never forgive me.”
“Think about it this way: we’re going to find your father no matter what, so she’ll either be losing both of you or one of you. Which do you think she’d prefer?”
The woman is tenacious, he’ll give her that.
But so is he.
“She wouldn’t want me anyway if she knew I’d betrayed my father.”
“Well, she wouldn’t have to know the extent of the deal. We can tell the press we gave you no other option. The Dementors may be gone but you won’t be treated kindly in Azkaban, Malfoy. It’s only seven years, but you may not be able to withstand your punishment, and we can’t guarantee you’ll actually be alive when your time is up.”
“I want to see this deal signed before I officially agree to anything.” He thinks about it, and then adds sharply, “And I’m just helping you find him.”
“Yes. We’ll have an Auror team tracing our movements, and I’ll summon them when we have him cornered. I’m also going to have to temporarily take your wand.”
There is nothing Draco likes about this arrangement, but he likes the idea of rotting away in Azkaban even less. Even though his sentence is just seven years, it will seem like an eternity in this place.
Well, that should be enough to fool her at any rate.
If there’s anything he can do to help father and mother be together again, he will do whatever it takes. He already failed his family once when they needed him most.
He’s not about to do so again.
Day 2, Hour 11
The hotel is a hole-in-the-wall.
Their room is just big enough for the one full sized bed in the middle, and if Draco were any larger he wouldn’t even be able to fit in the loo. He hadn’t counted on having to share a bed with Granger, and if there were more of a floor he would stretch out on it just to avoid the possibility that he might touch her accidentally in his sleep.
“I hope you don’t hog the bed, Granger,” he grumbles, moving over so he’s just on the edge of the mattress.
“I hope you don’t snore,” she snaps back, and though she’s all the way on her side too, there’s still only about a hands length between them.
He scoffs. “I’m too dignified for snoring.”
She chuckles dryly. “Oh, Malfoy, I hope you realize how funny you are.”
“Laugh it up, Granger,” he growls, glaring at the wall.
He’s exhausted, but he’s so tense he doubts he’s going to get much sleep.
It’s going to be a long night.
Day 3, Hour 2
“Granger. Granger!”
Nothing. The woman is out cold.
Which is a problem for Draco, because she rolled over in her sleep and her leg somehow got tangled in his.
This is definitely not okay.
He hisses her name again but she doesn’t even stir, so finally he takes matters into his own hands and forcibly grabs her leg and shoves her away from him. She mutters something incoherent and he expects her to wake up at any moment, because no one can sleep that heavily.
Then she sighs, and he waits for it.
But instead of speaking, she rolls back over and even though there’s still about an inch between them, it’s close enough. She’s showing no signs of waking though, and if she’s messing with him, he doesn’t appreciate it.
Fuck.
He should’ve slept on the floor.
Day 5, Hour 7
Their first stop is Cannes, France.
It’s a complete bust-when they get to the house Draco can’t even find a single sign to tell him that his father’s been here.
“Isn’t it rather stereotypical of you to own a place here since it’s associated with the rich and debauched?” Granger asks dryly.
“What’s wrong with prescribing to a stereotype every once in a while? I think father found it amusing,” Draco replies absently, making his way slowly to the window of the living room.
The view is magnificent. The water and sky are virtually the same shade of blue, and the plethora of sailboats that dot the horizon is the only way he can tell where they meet.
“Why do you have so many houses anyway?”
“It was a preemptive measure,” he says, “for this exact scenario. I don’t even know about them all.”
“Then how do you expect to-”
“I’ll figure it out. You’re just going to have to trust me.”
“I hope you’re aware of how much you’re asking.”
He is, and he could care less. But there’s a serious look in her eyes as she continues, “I wouldn’t have approached you in the first place if I hadn’t been prepared to do that. But I like it no more than you do.”
“At least we can agree on something.”
Day 13, Hour 14
The next safe house is even more abandoned looking, a stark contrast to the bustling, uncomfortably crowded Mumbai streets.
“I can’t really picture your parents living here anyway,” Granger murmurs, looking around the one room house thoughtfully.
“Weasel would probably feel at home, though,” Draco sneers, relieved just to be dry.
Monsoon season officially sucks.
Granger sighs. “Leave Ron out of this.”
Draco shrugs, already bored.
“Well, we haven’t really been looking that long,” Granger says, though it sounds as if she’s speaking more to herself than to him. “I didn’t really expect to find him within the first couple weeks.”
“It will only be a matter of time before he realizes we’re hunting him. And he’ll find some way to let us know he’s on to us.”
Her eyes harden. “And we’ll be ready for him.”
Day 20, Hour 4
They aren’t.
The next place Draco remembers is in the old neighborhood of Toronto, Canada. It’s dark when they finally find the house, a nondescript row home on a block with others that look just like it. Predictably, Draco can’t find one clue in the place, but as they look in the last room they hear the front door creak open.
Granger is the first one out, but in her haste she bumps against a lamp, and she’s able to catch it before it falls to the floor but it’s already made enough noise to alert the intruder. Draco is far enough down the stairs to catch a glimpse of blond hair as the figure sprints back out the door, and his heart sinks.
“You said you were going to call the Aurors-”
“There’s no time!” Granger shouts over her shoulder. “Now you can either come with me or wait here!”
“Shit,” Draco mutters, because he really has no choice but to run after her.
He doesn’t want her to kill his father and he certainly wants no part in it, but he doesn’t want Granger’s death on his conscience either-there’s enough blood on his hands already. Thankfully it’s late-or early-enough that the residential area is practically deserted when Draco reaches the street, but there’s no sight of Granger or his father.
When he gets to the corner, he looks frantically around him, trying to figure out where they’ve gone.
The figure looks exactly like Lucius, but there’s something not quite right about it and Draco just knows it’s not him.
He shakes his head. “That was too easy.”
Granger rolls her eyes. “Says the one who didn’t have to run to catch him.”
“Don’t you remember what I told you before? That he’d give us a sign first? This is it, Granger. This man isn’t Lucius Malfoy. We could stand here and watch the body until the Polyjuice wears off, but I’m sure he’ll want us to know about his handiwork. Either way, I would wait a few days before calling the Aurors.”
He waits for some sarcastic quip, but finally she sighs. “All right.”
Day 26, Hour 10
Eventually, they get a note.
If you didn’t know the entirety of what you were up against before, I trust that you do now.
Draco opens his mouth, but Granger beats him to it.
“If you say I told you so, I guarantee you won’t be able to reproduce. Not that anyone would mourn the loss.”
He remembers the sting of her slap, so he doesn’t doubt her intent. But he still can’t entirely help himself. “You only say that because you don’t know what you’re missing out on.”
“Trust me, I’m pretty sure I do.” She gives a frustrated sigh. “Damnit, I’m tired of all these dead ends! It’s like a goddamed maze.”
“What did you think was going to happen? That we were just going to be able to corner him and send for help? No one knows how to survive better than Lucius Malfoy.”
“Which makes him more dangerous than ever.”
“At least you understand now.”
There was still that part of him worried that he was wrong, and he curls his fingers a little around the note, more relieved than he thought he’d be that he hadn’t messed this up yet.
Because he can’t.
Day 30, Hour 15
Even several days later, she hasn’t been able to let it go.
“I can’t believe I fell for that.”
“Trust me Granger, I want to be here with you as much as I’m sure you want to be with me. And, since I don’t have to worry about being locked up in prison anymore, that’s the only reason I have for wanting to get this over with.”
They are in Chatswood, a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney, Australia.
She huffs. “If this is another dead end I’m going to hit something.”
“Just as long as it’s not my face.”
“Don’t count on it.”
And he doesn’t, but when they find the house covered in cobwebs and dust, she just gives a small, disappointed sigh.
Day 38, Hour 3
This time the bed is a little bigger, but she still manages to roll over almost on top of him, her leg dangerously close to his groin, which to his surprise and humiliation actually has a favorable response.
“Traitor,” Draco hisses, but he suspects Granger will be even more embarrassed and the opportunity is just too good to waste, so he turns his mouth towards her ear and yells her name.
“You know about male anatomy, I trust?” he drawls. And then he sneers. “But if the only physical interaction you’ve had has been with Weasel, maybe not.”
Her face is so red he can see her blush in the dark.
“I know more than you think,” she snaps finally, rolling away from him, “and if I’m more animal than human, I’m surprised you have any kind of reaction at all.”
Well, that backfired badly. “Are you really trying to bring this up now?”
“I think it was really only a matter of time before it came up somehow. I still see a racist bigot when I look at you-I can’t help that.”
“Granger, you challenged everything I was raised to believe about-your kind. How else was I supposed to respond to you?”
Her eyes are hard. “And now?”
“Your hair looks ridiculous.”
“Dammit, Malfoy, I’m serious.”
Draco doesn’t even blink. “So am I.”
She stares him down, and he sighs, knowing she’s not going to stop talking at him until he answers her. “Making your own decisions is hard when your family is always telling you what to do and how to think, okay? But I’m working on it.”
“Hmm,” she murmurs thoughtfully. “Fair enough.”
He gapes at her. “Fair enough? That’s it?”
But she’s already rolled over to go back to sleep.
Annoyed, he smirks, “Seriously, though-your hair is so bushy birds could build a nest in it and I doubt you’d even notice.”
She kicks him dangerously close to his boys.
“Watch it, Granger!”
“Relax, Malfoy. If I’d wanted to inflict a fatal injury, I would’ve.”
“No wonder Weasel dumped you.”
“Malfoy-”
“It’s okay, I’m done.”
Day 43, Hour 11
It takes him a while to remember the next place in South Africa.
But of course there’s nothing.
Day 50, Hour 8
He’s been thinking about his childhood a lot lately.
Now that he’s had time to think about it away from the influence of his parents, he finds that he’s unexpectedly resentful of his upbringing. If his father hadn’t bought him out of everything, maybe he’d be better equipped to make the right decisions now, because when all this is over he realizes he has no idea what to do with himself or how to go about it. And if his mother hadn’t spent so much time coddling him, maybe he would be more of a man.
Since the War is over and he’s been out of school, all he can see is his future stretching out before him like a desert, bare and hopeless. And then, unbidden, his father’s voice reminds him of a family motto.
We aren’t on earth to be happy, but to experience incredible things.
She lifts an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”
Shit, he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. But since it’s out in the open now, he just shakes his head and offers reluctantly, “It was something my father used to say. I’ve just been thinking a lot about it recently.”
Her quizzical expression is replaced with curiosity. “Why’s that?”
He’d had no answer before, but his mouth opens almost of its own accord, and more to himself than to her he says distantly, “He may not have made the best choices, but I think that saying kept him going. Maybe, even if it was what he wanted in the beginning, serving the Dark Lord was his ultimate sacrifice.”
Instead of displaying disgust, her eyes are thoughtful. “Because family is an incredible thing.”
“Yes,” he says absently, still not really aware of her anymore. “Everything he did, he did for us. I see that now.”
And then she says the last thing he expected.
“So do I.”
Day 56, Hour 1
After another failed attempt in Cairo, Egypt they are mercifully able to get a room with two beds.
They’re small, but each has its own room and Draco’s learned to stop complaining. They take to their respective beds wordlessly, both too exhausted to even engage in their usual banter.
In spite of the heaviness in his body, Draco is too on edge to sleep. But as this is the first moment he’s had to himself since all this began, he’s not about to waste the opportunity.
It is only the next morning he remembers he’d seen Granger’s face when he came.
Day 62, Hour 7
She’s been the only female around for the last… however many days.
It was natural, inevitable.
But he just can’t shake the image away, which leaves him unusually irritable. So irritable in fact that he still is, even though it’s been a few days.
“Come on, Malfoy, think. There has to be some kind of pattern here that could help us out.”
“You think I’m not aware of that?” Draco practically growls. “Look, I’ve told you that even I wasn’t made privy to all the locations. He could be anywhere by now.”
She frowns at him. “What’s crawled up your arse and died?”
You, he almost snaps, before promptly closing his mouth and trying again.
“Nothing. I’m just tired of this-tired and frustrated.”
“Complaining isn’t going to solve this, and I realize it might be hard for your one brain stem but try to think just a little harder!”
He rolls his eyes. “That’s original, Granger.”
Her frown has become a full-fledged glare, but because he does want this to end he ignores it, turning over the places in his head. “Well, there’s family history in France, which would explain the Cannes house. But as for the others-”
He has to stop there, because that’s all he’s got. He’s almost desperate to see something but then Granger jumps up, and he can practically see the light bulb go on as she cries, “I’ve got it!”
All he can do is stare at her, wondering how she could possibly have come to any kind of logical conclusion that quickly. “India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, South Africa… they’re all former colonies of Great Britain! And what’s the last place we’d think to look? America! He has to be in one of the original thirteen colonies. Come on Malfoy, think!”
He can’t believe he missed that.
But suddenly he remembers, because he’d overheard his parents discussing the house quietly once and had promptly forgotten about it. Apparently the memory was still there.
“Massachusetts,” he says, with quiet confidence. “It’s in Massachusetts.”
Day 65, Hour 10
They alert the Aurors, and they meet in Salem.
As promised, Draco won’t be involved with the actual capture, and Granger is assigned to look after him. He knows his father has something planned, and it bothers him that he wasn’t even able to slip him a message but it’s out of his hands now.
All he can do is wait.
Day 70, Hour 8
Days creep by without word, and each hour becomes increasingly agonizing. And to top it all off, there’s a different sort of tension between him and Granger, and he doesn’t know how to deal with it except by bickering constantly.
At least that way he won’t have to think about the real reason.
When they finally hear something, it comes from Potter himself.
The story is long and convoluted, but the end result gives Draco hope.
“You lost him?”
“He ran off-even fatally wounded, the bastard was still sneaky enough to slip past us. We know where he went though, and he can’t have gotten far.”
“How do you even know you got him at all?”
Potter offers her a grim smile.
“Trust me, Hermione. There’s no way even Lucius Malfoy could’ve gotten out of that unscathed. I sent some of the team ahead, but I thought that Malfoy would want to know.”
Draco just shakes his head.
He really has had enough of Gryffindor complexes.
Day 71, Hour 22
It’s dark when they finally find the body with the rest of the Aurors.
Draco just stares at it in silence, because the hair, the proportions, the face-it looks exactly like Lucius. He knew to expect this, but there’s still something unnerving about looking at it, and he can’t help but wonder if it actually is father, that their plan had failed. He felt the same when they came across the decoy, but it hadn’t been real yet. And now it is, almost painfully so.
“I’m sorry, Malfoy.”
Draco blinks at her, because even now she still surprises him. When he finds his voice, he snaps roughly, “I highly doubt that.”
She’s not fazed in the slightest. “Why’s that? He’s your father.”
“Yeah, but he’s Lucius Malfoy. And you of all people shouldn’t be saying that to me.”
She gives him an unreadable expression and quirks her lips slightly. “Maybe this time with you has helped give me a different perspective.”
He opens his mouth but she holds up a hand and continues, “I’m not saying that I’ve forgiven you for all the horrible names you’ve called me, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to hear Mudblood without reacting, no matter the context. But I’ve had my eyes opened a little, and sorry is easier to say.”
He can’t even say anything sarcastic to that, because he can see now that there’s more to this woman than he was ever willing to give her credit for.
And now he can.
Day 80, Hour 20
Despite everything, Draco is still waiting for the catch.
Granger told him it would take some time before they could fill out the final paperwork, but even after the past couple months, he doesn’t quite believe her. He’s become so paranoid that he jumps at the slightest noise in his flat, thinking it’s Ministry officials finally coming to arrest him and lock him back up in prison.
The stress is costing him sleep, which makes him irritable, and he can’t help but wonder if everything was even worth it. He hasn’t heard from his parents, and even though he hadn’t really been expecting to, he can’t quite quell the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Day 88, Hour 7
When Draco finally gets a note, the feeling evaporates completely.
Thank you.
That’s all it says.
But that’s enough for him to know he’s done the right thing.
Day 95, Hour 15
Granger escorts him to the Ministry, and they seal the deal in front of Kingsley Shacklebolt, who’s looking at Draco with new eyes.
“Whatever your reasons were Malfoy, it can’t have been easy, so thank you.”
Draco doesn’t even feel guilty as he nods and says, “You’re welcome.”
Granger’s looking at him, and he can feel her trying to figure him out.
He just smirks at her.
Day 100, Hour 10
A few days later, she finds him at Malfoy Manor.
After the Ministry gave it a thorough inspection and confiscated his father’s Dark Arts collection, they relinquished it, but Draco has no desire to live here, and he’s taking time gathering some personal items before he clears out. He found a small flat closer to London, and he’ll live there until he can save up for a bigger place. There’s no way he’ll be able to move on if he’s literally stuck in the past, not when it’s going to be hard enough getting beyond the mental block.
He wasn’t expecting company though, and he’s surprised when he finds her at the door.
But of course he doesn’t show it. “Granger. What are you doing here?”
“I told myself I was just going to walk away when this was all over, but I have to know-how are your parents?”
He stares at her. “I’m sorry?”
“You heard me.”
He had, but that can’t be right. It would mean she’d been playing him at his own game this whole time, that she’d known that the decoy Lucius had actually been the real Lucius, that the Ministry had been given the Polyjuiced version. But more than that, she’d known and let him get away with it, which would go against everything he thought he’d come to learn about her.
“You mean to say-you’ve known my intentions all along?”
She doesn’t even blink. “Of course.”
“Then why-”
“Right before Bellatrix tortured me, I glanced over at you, and for those first few seconds our eyes met, there was this horrified look in your eyes, a look that seemed like a silent apology. You could’ve identified us all in that moment and changed everything, and I felt as though I owed you.”
Every time he thinks he’s closer to figuring this woman out, she surprises him.
He drops his gaze, sighing. “As much as I hated you in school, I never wanted to see you tortured. It was-hard to watch.”
She smiles softly. “I know.”
There are so many things he could say, but he just shakes his head and says, “I just can’t believe I got played at my own game by a Gryffindor.”
Smirking, she says smugly, “You know, you Slytherins aren’t as sneaky as you like to think you are.”
He looks at her thoughtfully. “I’m starting to think the Hat put you in the wrong House.”
“And you don’t even know the half of it.”
“I doubt you could surprise me any more than you already have, Granger.”
“Rita Skeeter would beg to differ.”
“Is this a story you’re actually going to tell me?”
“I think I’ve already told you enough for one day. Maybe next time.”
He lifts an eyebrow. “You mean you actually want a next time?”
She shrugs, attempting for nonchalance he doesn’t buy. “Maybe.”
“Well, chances are I’ll be bored out of my mind once I move. We could go out for dinner, celebrate how we fooled the Ministry.”
She smiles. “I’d like that.”
He doesn’t know why he’s not quite ready to say goodbye. No, he takes that back. He does know, he just hasn’t been able to properly acknowledge the reason until now, since the moment is about to disappear. He hadn’t expected to see her again, but now that she’s here in front of him and they aren’t forced to be together, he can recognize his attraction to her, to this woman who challenges him in a way no one else has. He fought every inch of the way because he hadn’t wanted challenges. But she makes him want things he never thought he would.
Only now does he realize he’s been staring at her this entire time, and he has to literally shake himself out of it.
She’s worrying her bottom lip, and he’s about to say something when she crosses the distance between them, and kisses him lightly on the cheek.
“Sometimes goodbye is a second chance, Malfoy,” she whispers. “I’ll make sure we meet again.”
As he watches her go, he lifts a numb hand to his cheek, and he swears he can still feel the imprint of her lips. A second chance had been the last thing on his mind-but she makes him want one, just because she believes him worthy. No one’s ever believed in him that much before, and the fact that this is coming from Granger-one of the last people he’d ever expect-only makes him want to prove himself to her more.
He’d thought his parents were all he had left.
Maybe he’d been wrong.
FIN
dmexchangemods is an account created solely for purpose of posting the gifts created for this exchange. It has not authored or created these gifts.
Author:
Pairing: Draco/Hermione
Rating: R
Warnings: non-graphic masturbation and language
Summary: Draco is resigned to some kind of future in Azkaban after the War. Little does he know that the next one hundred days are about to change his life. Canon compliant through DH, EWE.
Author’s Note: Many, many thanks to the mods for the infinite patience with the extreme lateness of my entry-real life threw me a curve ball, and graduate school has been eating my life for the last however many weeks it’s been. Thank you also to inadaze22, for feeding the Muse-action and mystery are not my forte, and I’m sure this has as many holes as Swiss cheese even with the help! I take full credit for them all. This might not have been the ending you wanted, but I hope you enjoy, ningloreth! The title was inspired by Shinedown’s “Second Chance.”
Day 1, Hour 13
“No.”
“If that’s really your final answer, I hope you’ve seriously thought about the consequences, Malfoy.”
“Do you know what you’re asking of me, Granger? The man is my father.”
“He’s also the reason why you’re here. Harry’s defense may have saved your mother, but the public would never forgive the Ministry if it let the entire Malfoy family go free, even with a minimal sentence of some kind. All I request is that you consider what I’m offering a little more seriously.”
It was mother who’d talked father into going into hiding after the War, and he made his escape immediately after their brief reunion in the Great Hall. And while Draco isn’t excited about spending the next few years in Azkaban, their last exchange is still with him, an exchange he thinks they hadn’t meant for him to hear.
(“You’ll surely be facing execution or a lifetime Azkaban sentence, and either of those would kill me.”
“As long as I’m alive, they will never stop hunting me.”
“Do whatever you need-just let me know when it is done. I promise I will come find you when I can.”)
In spite of what father’s done to them, family is all he has left, and he can’t afford to trust Granger to keep her end of any agreement. He can’t afford to trust anyone.
“I don’t even know where he is.”
“But you know where he might be, and we’d find him faster with your help than we would otherwise.”
“My mother would never forgive me.”
“Think about it this way: we’re going to find your father no matter what, so she’ll either be losing both of you or one of you. Which do you think she’d prefer?”
The woman is tenacious, he’ll give her that.
But so is he.
“She wouldn’t want me anyway if she knew I’d betrayed my father.”
“Well, she wouldn’t have to know the extent of the deal. We can tell the press we gave you no other option. The Dementors may be gone but you won’t be treated kindly in Azkaban, Malfoy. It’s only seven years, but you may not be able to withstand your punishment, and we can’t guarantee you’ll actually be alive when your time is up.”
“I want to see this deal signed before I officially agree to anything.” He thinks about it, and then adds sharply, “And I’m just helping you find him.”
“Yes. We’ll have an Auror team tracing our movements, and I’ll summon them when we have him cornered. I’m also going to have to temporarily take your wand.”
There is nothing Draco likes about this arrangement, but he likes the idea of rotting away in Azkaban even less. Even though his sentence is just seven years, it will seem like an eternity in this place.
Well, that should be enough to fool her at any rate.
If there’s anything he can do to help father and mother be together again, he will do whatever it takes. He already failed his family once when they needed him most.
He’s not about to do so again.
Day 2, Hour 11
The hotel is a hole-in-the-wall.
Their room is just big enough for the one full sized bed in the middle, and if Draco were any larger he wouldn’t even be able to fit in the loo. He hadn’t counted on having to share a bed with Granger, and if there were more of a floor he would stretch out on it just to avoid the possibility that he might touch her accidentally in his sleep.
“I hope you don’t hog the bed, Granger,” he grumbles, moving over so he’s just on the edge of the mattress.
“I hope you don’t snore,” she snaps back, and though she’s all the way on her side too, there’s still only about a hands length between them.
He scoffs. “I’m too dignified for snoring.”
She chuckles dryly. “Oh, Malfoy, I hope you realize how funny you are.”
“Laugh it up, Granger,” he growls, glaring at the wall.
He’s exhausted, but he’s so tense he doubts he’s going to get much sleep.
It’s going to be a long night.
Day 3, Hour 2
“Granger. Granger!”
Nothing. The woman is out cold.
Which is a problem for Draco, because she rolled over in her sleep and her leg somehow got tangled in his.
This is definitely not okay.
He hisses her name again but she doesn’t even stir, so finally he takes matters into his own hands and forcibly grabs her leg and shoves her away from him. She mutters something incoherent and he expects her to wake up at any moment, because no one can sleep that heavily.
Then she sighs, and he waits for it.
But instead of speaking, she rolls back over and even though there’s still about an inch between them, it’s close enough. She’s showing no signs of waking though, and if she’s messing with him, he doesn’t appreciate it.
Fuck.
He should’ve slept on the floor.
Day 5, Hour 7
Their first stop is Cannes, France.
It’s a complete bust-when they get to the house Draco can’t even find a single sign to tell him that his father’s been here.
“Isn’t it rather stereotypical of you to own a place here since it’s associated with the rich and debauched?” Granger asks dryly.
“What’s wrong with prescribing to a stereotype every once in a while? I think father found it amusing,” Draco replies absently, making his way slowly to the window of the living room.
The view is magnificent. The water and sky are virtually the same shade of blue, and the plethora of sailboats that dot the horizon is the only way he can tell where they meet.
“Why do you have so many houses anyway?”
“It was a preemptive measure,” he says, “for this exact scenario. I don’t even know about them all.”
“Then how do you expect to-”
“I’ll figure it out. You’re just going to have to trust me.”
“I hope you’re aware of how much you’re asking.”
He is, and he could care less. But there’s a serious look in her eyes as she continues, “I wouldn’t have approached you in the first place if I hadn’t been prepared to do that. But I like it no more than you do.”
“At least we can agree on something.”
Day 13, Hour 14
The next safe house is even more abandoned looking, a stark contrast to the bustling, uncomfortably crowded Mumbai streets.
“I can’t really picture your parents living here anyway,” Granger murmurs, looking around the one room house thoughtfully.
“Weasel would probably feel at home, though,” Draco sneers, relieved just to be dry.
Monsoon season officially sucks.
Granger sighs. “Leave Ron out of this.”
Draco shrugs, already bored.
“Well, we haven’t really been looking that long,” Granger says, though it sounds as if she’s speaking more to herself than to him. “I didn’t really expect to find him within the first couple weeks.”
“It will only be a matter of time before he realizes we’re hunting him. And he’ll find some way to let us know he’s on to us.”
Her eyes harden. “And we’ll be ready for him.”
Day 20, Hour 4
They aren’t.
The next place Draco remembers is in the old neighborhood of Toronto, Canada. It’s dark when they finally find the house, a nondescript row home on a block with others that look just like it. Predictably, Draco can’t find one clue in the place, but as they look in the last room they hear the front door creak open.
Granger is the first one out, but in her haste she bumps against a lamp, and she’s able to catch it before it falls to the floor but it’s already made enough noise to alert the intruder. Draco is far enough down the stairs to catch a glimpse of blond hair as the figure sprints back out the door, and his heart sinks.
“You said you were going to call the Aurors-”
“There’s no time!” Granger shouts over her shoulder. “Now you can either come with me or wait here!”
“Shit,” Draco mutters, because he really has no choice but to run after her.
He doesn’t want her to kill his father and he certainly wants no part in it, but he doesn’t want Granger’s death on his conscience either-there’s enough blood on his hands already. Thankfully it’s late-or early-enough that the residential area is practically deserted when Draco reaches the street, but there’s no sight of Granger or his father.
When he gets to the corner, he looks frantically around him, trying to figure out where they’ve gone.
The figure looks exactly like Lucius, but there’s something not quite right about it and Draco just knows it’s not him.
He shakes his head. “That was too easy.”
Granger rolls her eyes. “Says the one who didn’t have to run to catch him.”
“Don’t you remember what I told you before? That he’d give us a sign first? This is it, Granger. This man isn’t Lucius Malfoy. We could stand here and watch the body until the Polyjuice wears off, but I’m sure he’ll want us to know about his handiwork. Either way, I would wait a few days before calling the Aurors.”
He waits for some sarcastic quip, but finally she sighs. “All right.”
Day 26, Hour 10
Eventually, they get a note.
If you didn’t know the entirety of what you were up against before, I trust that you do now.
Draco opens his mouth, but Granger beats him to it.
“If you say I told you so, I guarantee you won’t be able to reproduce. Not that anyone would mourn the loss.”
He remembers the sting of her slap, so he doesn’t doubt her intent. But he still can’t entirely help himself. “You only say that because you don’t know what you’re missing out on.”
“Trust me, I’m pretty sure I do.” She gives a frustrated sigh. “Damnit, I’m tired of all these dead ends! It’s like a goddamed maze.”
“What did you think was going to happen? That we were just going to be able to corner him and send for help? No one knows how to survive better than Lucius Malfoy.”
“Which makes him more dangerous than ever.”
“At least you understand now.”
There was still that part of him worried that he was wrong, and he curls his fingers a little around the note, more relieved than he thought he’d be that he hadn’t messed this up yet.
Because he can’t.
Day 30, Hour 15
Even several days later, she hasn’t been able to let it go.
“I can’t believe I fell for that.”
“Trust me Granger, I want to be here with you as much as I’m sure you want to be with me. And, since I don’t have to worry about being locked up in prison anymore, that’s the only reason I have for wanting to get this over with.”
They are in Chatswood, a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney, Australia.
She huffs. “If this is another dead end I’m going to hit something.”
“Just as long as it’s not my face.”
“Don’t count on it.”
And he doesn’t, but when they find the house covered in cobwebs and dust, she just gives a small, disappointed sigh.
Day 38, Hour 3
This time the bed is a little bigger, but she still manages to roll over almost on top of him, her leg dangerously close to his groin, which to his surprise and humiliation actually has a favorable response.
“Traitor,” Draco hisses, but he suspects Granger will be even more embarrassed and the opportunity is just too good to waste, so he turns his mouth towards her ear and yells her name.
“You know about male anatomy, I trust?” he drawls. And then he sneers. “But if the only physical interaction you’ve had has been with Weasel, maybe not.”
Her face is so red he can see her blush in the dark.
“I know more than you think,” she snaps finally, rolling away from him, “and if I’m more animal than human, I’m surprised you have any kind of reaction at all.”
Well, that backfired badly. “Are you really trying to bring this up now?”
“I think it was really only a matter of time before it came up somehow. I still see a racist bigot when I look at you-I can’t help that.”
“Granger, you challenged everything I was raised to believe about-your kind. How else was I supposed to respond to you?”
Her eyes are hard. “And now?”
“Your hair looks ridiculous.”
“Dammit, Malfoy, I’m serious.”
Draco doesn’t even blink. “So am I.”
She stares him down, and he sighs, knowing she’s not going to stop talking at him until he answers her. “Making your own decisions is hard when your family is always telling you what to do and how to think, okay? But I’m working on it.”
“Hmm,” she murmurs thoughtfully. “Fair enough.”
He gapes at her. “Fair enough? That’s it?”
But she’s already rolled over to go back to sleep.
Annoyed, he smirks, “Seriously, though-your hair is so bushy birds could build a nest in it and I doubt you’d even notice.”
She kicks him dangerously close to his boys.
“Watch it, Granger!”
“Relax, Malfoy. If I’d wanted to inflict a fatal injury, I would’ve.”
“No wonder Weasel dumped you.”
“Malfoy-”
“It’s okay, I’m done.”
Day 43, Hour 11
It takes him a while to remember the next place in South Africa.
But of course there’s nothing.
Day 50, Hour 8
He’s been thinking about his childhood a lot lately.
Now that he’s had time to think about it away from the influence of his parents, he finds that he’s unexpectedly resentful of his upbringing. If his father hadn’t bought him out of everything, maybe he’d be better equipped to make the right decisions now, because when all this is over he realizes he has no idea what to do with himself or how to go about it. And if his mother hadn’t spent so much time coddling him, maybe he would be more of a man.
Since the War is over and he’s been out of school, all he can see is his future stretching out before him like a desert, bare and hopeless. And then, unbidden, his father’s voice reminds him of a family motto.
We aren’t on earth to be happy, but to experience incredible things.
She lifts an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”
Shit, he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. But since it’s out in the open now, he just shakes his head and offers reluctantly, “It was something my father used to say. I’ve just been thinking a lot about it recently.”
Her quizzical expression is replaced with curiosity. “Why’s that?”
He’d had no answer before, but his mouth opens almost of its own accord, and more to himself than to her he says distantly, “He may not have made the best choices, but I think that saying kept him going. Maybe, even if it was what he wanted in the beginning, serving the Dark Lord was his ultimate sacrifice.”
Instead of displaying disgust, her eyes are thoughtful. “Because family is an incredible thing.”
“Yes,” he says absently, still not really aware of her anymore. “Everything he did, he did for us. I see that now.”
And then she says the last thing he expected.
“So do I.”
Day 56, Hour 1
After another failed attempt in Cairo, Egypt they are mercifully able to get a room with two beds.
They’re small, but each has its own room and Draco’s learned to stop complaining. They take to their respective beds wordlessly, both too exhausted to even engage in their usual banter.
In spite of the heaviness in his body, Draco is too on edge to sleep. But as this is the first moment he’s had to himself since all this began, he’s not about to waste the opportunity.
It is only the next morning he remembers he’d seen Granger’s face when he came.
Day 62, Hour 7
She’s been the only female around for the last… however many days.
It was natural, inevitable.
But he just can’t shake the image away, which leaves him unusually irritable. So irritable in fact that he still is, even though it’s been a few days.
“Come on, Malfoy, think. There has to be some kind of pattern here that could help us out.”
“You think I’m not aware of that?” Draco practically growls. “Look, I’ve told you that even I wasn’t made privy to all the locations. He could be anywhere by now.”
She frowns at him. “What’s crawled up your arse and died?”
You, he almost snaps, before promptly closing his mouth and trying again.
“Nothing. I’m just tired of this-tired and frustrated.”
“Complaining isn’t going to solve this, and I realize it might be hard for your one brain stem but try to think just a little harder!”
He rolls his eyes. “That’s original, Granger.”
Her frown has become a full-fledged glare, but because he does want this to end he ignores it, turning over the places in his head. “Well, there’s family history in France, which would explain the Cannes house. But as for the others-”
He has to stop there, because that’s all he’s got. He’s almost desperate to see something but then Granger jumps up, and he can practically see the light bulb go on as she cries, “I’ve got it!”
All he can do is stare at her, wondering how she could possibly have come to any kind of logical conclusion that quickly. “India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, South Africa… they’re all former colonies of Great Britain! And what’s the last place we’d think to look? America! He has to be in one of the original thirteen colonies. Come on Malfoy, think!”
He can’t believe he missed that.
But suddenly he remembers, because he’d overheard his parents discussing the house quietly once and had promptly forgotten about it. Apparently the memory was still there.
“Massachusetts,” he says, with quiet confidence. “It’s in Massachusetts.”
Day 65, Hour 10
They alert the Aurors, and they meet in Salem.
As promised, Draco won’t be involved with the actual capture, and Granger is assigned to look after him. He knows his father has something planned, and it bothers him that he wasn’t even able to slip him a message but it’s out of his hands now.
All he can do is wait.
Day 70, Hour 8
Days creep by without word, and each hour becomes increasingly agonizing. And to top it all off, there’s a different sort of tension between him and Granger, and he doesn’t know how to deal with it except by bickering constantly.
At least that way he won’t have to think about the real reason.
When they finally hear something, it comes from Potter himself.
The story is long and convoluted, but the end result gives Draco hope.
“You lost him?”
“He ran off-even fatally wounded, the bastard was still sneaky enough to slip past us. We know where he went though, and he can’t have gotten far.”
“How do you even know you got him at all?”
Potter offers her a grim smile.
“Trust me, Hermione. There’s no way even Lucius Malfoy could’ve gotten out of that unscathed. I sent some of the team ahead, but I thought that Malfoy would want to know.”
Draco just shakes his head.
He really has had enough of Gryffindor complexes.
Day 71, Hour 22
It’s dark when they finally find the body with the rest of the Aurors.
Draco just stares at it in silence, because the hair, the proportions, the face-it looks exactly like Lucius. He knew to expect this, but there’s still something unnerving about looking at it, and he can’t help but wonder if it actually is father, that their plan had failed. He felt the same when they came across the decoy, but it hadn’t been real yet. And now it is, almost painfully so.
“I’m sorry, Malfoy.”
Draco blinks at her, because even now she still surprises him. When he finds his voice, he snaps roughly, “I highly doubt that.”
She’s not fazed in the slightest. “Why’s that? He’s your father.”
“Yeah, but he’s Lucius Malfoy. And you of all people shouldn’t be saying that to me.”
She gives him an unreadable expression and quirks her lips slightly. “Maybe this time with you has helped give me a different perspective.”
He opens his mouth but she holds up a hand and continues, “I’m not saying that I’ve forgiven you for all the horrible names you’ve called me, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to hear Mudblood without reacting, no matter the context. But I’ve had my eyes opened a little, and sorry is easier to say.”
He can’t even say anything sarcastic to that, because he can see now that there’s more to this woman than he was ever willing to give her credit for.
And now he can.
Day 80, Hour 20
Despite everything, Draco is still waiting for the catch.
Granger told him it would take some time before they could fill out the final paperwork, but even after the past couple months, he doesn’t quite believe her. He’s become so paranoid that he jumps at the slightest noise in his flat, thinking it’s Ministry officials finally coming to arrest him and lock him back up in prison.
The stress is costing him sleep, which makes him irritable, and he can’t help but wonder if everything was even worth it. He hasn’t heard from his parents, and even though he hadn’t really been expecting to, he can’t quite quell the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Day 88, Hour 7
When Draco finally gets a note, the feeling evaporates completely.
Thank you.
That’s all it says.
But that’s enough for him to know he’s done the right thing.
Day 95, Hour 15
Granger escorts him to the Ministry, and they seal the deal in front of Kingsley Shacklebolt, who’s looking at Draco with new eyes.
“Whatever your reasons were Malfoy, it can’t have been easy, so thank you.”
Draco doesn’t even feel guilty as he nods and says, “You’re welcome.”
Granger’s looking at him, and he can feel her trying to figure him out.
He just smirks at her.
Day 100, Hour 10
A few days later, she finds him at Malfoy Manor.
After the Ministry gave it a thorough inspection and confiscated his father’s Dark Arts collection, they relinquished it, but Draco has no desire to live here, and he’s taking time gathering some personal items before he clears out. He found a small flat closer to London, and he’ll live there until he can save up for a bigger place. There’s no way he’ll be able to move on if he’s literally stuck in the past, not when it’s going to be hard enough getting beyond the mental block.
He wasn’t expecting company though, and he’s surprised when he finds her at the door.
But of course he doesn’t show it. “Granger. What are you doing here?”
“I told myself I was just going to walk away when this was all over, but I have to know-how are your parents?”
He stares at her. “I’m sorry?”
“You heard me.”
He had, but that can’t be right. It would mean she’d been playing him at his own game this whole time, that she’d known that the decoy Lucius had actually been the real Lucius, that the Ministry had been given the Polyjuiced version. But more than that, she’d known and let him get away with it, which would go against everything he thought he’d come to learn about her.
“You mean to say-you’ve known my intentions all along?”
She doesn’t even blink. “Of course.”
“Then why-”
“Right before Bellatrix tortured me, I glanced over at you, and for those first few seconds our eyes met, there was this horrified look in your eyes, a look that seemed like a silent apology. You could’ve identified us all in that moment and changed everything, and I felt as though I owed you.”
Every time he thinks he’s closer to figuring this woman out, she surprises him.
He drops his gaze, sighing. “As much as I hated you in school, I never wanted to see you tortured. It was-hard to watch.”
She smiles softly. “I know.”
There are so many things he could say, but he just shakes his head and says, “I just can’t believe I got played at my own game by a Gryffindor.”
Smirking, she says smugly, “You know, you Slytherins aren’t as sneaky as you like to think you are.”
He looks at her thoughtfully. “I’m starting to think the Hat put you in the wrong House.”
“And you don’t even know the half of it.”
“I doubt you could surprise me any more than you already have, Granger.”
“Rita Skeeter would beg to differ.”
“Is this a story you’re actually going to tell me?”
“I think I’ve already told you enough for one day. Maybe next time.”
He lifts an eyebrow. “You mean you actually want a next time?”
She shrugs, attempting for nonchalance he doesn’t buy. “Maybe.”
“Well, chances are I’ll be bored out of my mind once I move. We could go out for dinner, celebrate how we fooled the Ministry.”
She smiles. “I’d like that.”
He doesn’t know why he’s not quite ready to say goodbye. No, he takes that back. He does know, he just hasn’t been able to properly acknowledge the reason until now, since the moment is about to disappear. He hadn’t expected to see her again, but now that she’s here in front of him and they aren’t forced to be together, he can recognize his attraction to her, to this woman who challenges him in a way no one else has. He fought every inch of the way because he hadn’t wanted challenges. But she makes him want things he never thought he would.
Only now does he realize he’s been staring at her this entire time, and he has to literally shake himself out of it.
She’s worrying her bottom lip, and he’s about to say something when she crosses the distance between them, and kisses him lightly on the cheek.
“Sometimes goodbye is a second chance, Malfoy,” she whispers. “I’ll make sure we meet again.”
As he watches her go, he lifts a numb hand to his cheek, and he swears he can still feel the imprint of her lips. A second chance had been the last thing on his mind-but she makes him want one, just because she believes him worthy. No one’s ever believed in him that much before, and the fact that this is coming from Granger-one of the last people he’d ever expect-only makes him want to prove himself to her more.
He’d thought his parents were all he had left.
Maybe he’d been wrong.
FIN
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