[Time jump to their seventh year at Hogwarts]
Hermione woke up from a blurry dream. It included her, Harry Potter, and a red-haired Weasley that she dated in the dream. Countless thoughts ran through Hermione's mind: "I've never spoken to that Weasley boy before", "I hate Harry Potter", and "why isn't Draco in the dream?" It bothered her, all of it. Draco's absence in the dream somehow didn't seem unfitting. Harry Potter's presence in the dream felt different, almost like she genuinely laughed with him. And the Weasley boy, the way he looked at her in the dream... the eyes of a person in love. Most importantly, Harry Potter had the Gryffindor pin on his cloak. It can't be. She wanted to ask Draco about it, but she didn't want to assume anything. She didn't like the feeling that Draco might be hiding something from her. After quickly getting dressed, Hermione hurried down the stairs. Draco was already there in the common room.
"Hey beautiful." Draco said as Hermione walked up to him. The distance between them shortened. Hermione noticed that Draco's hands were shaking a little bit, so she took them. "Good morning." That sentence came out of her mouth a bit too cold. Draco shivered. "Hermione?" Hermione didn't respond, instead she tugged Draco towards the couch and they both sat down. "Draco."
A long moment of absolute silence.
Hermione sighed. "Draco, I need to tell you something." She looked up into his eyes. "I had a dream... I was in it, along with... Harry Potter and a Weasley boy." Hermione waited for a response, but nothing came. So she continued, "You weren't there... and I was laughing with them... and Harry Potter wore a Gryffindor pin..." This time, Draco appeared to be a lot more nervous. "Draco, do you know what my dream means?" Hermione tried to phrase the question as indirectly as possible. Draco's grip on her hands tightened. "..." He's trying to untangle his thoughts. "Hermione." "Yes Draco?" "I'm sorry." Draco's tone surprised Hermione, but nevertheless, she expected something like this.
Another moment of silence, but this time Draco's eyes sparked. Tears.
Hermione's heart ached when she saw Draco cry, so she gave him a hug. "Whatever it is, I promise I won't be mad at you." She had Draco in her embrace. He didn't sob, the teardrops simply fell.
"Do you know what a time-turner is?" Draco blinked, more tears fell. "Yes I've heard of it before." Hermione reached for Draco's face, trying to wipe off his sadness. "My dad owned one..." This caught Hermione off guard. "Mr. Tonks? I thought those things are all being managed by the Ministry, how did he get one?" Draco shook his head. "My father... Lucius Malfoy." Hermione went through her memories. "Your father died a long time ago Draco... I..." Draco interrupted her. "My father didn't die, Potter is a Gryffindor, you were about to marry Ron Weasley... I... I got sorted into Slytherin... and... all of this is a result of a time-turner... and my naive thoughts." Hermione had to process all that information. "My father's time-turner... seventeen years ago." Draco added. He desperately looked at Hermione's face, and in that moment, he blamed himself for everything. A sudden rush of memories made Hermione frozen in place. The previous memories all came pouring down, along with the friendships, the connections, the emotions, and the mixed feelings she had for Draco... for all these years.
Hermione reacted a lot calmer than he imagined. She gave him a kiss on the lips. "Thank you for telling me all that." Draco waited for the phrase "break up". It never came. "Even though what you did with the time-turner was reckless, I still can't deny my feelings for you... the feelings that existed even before you made the decision to perform that spell on the time-turner." Draco couldn't believe what he heard. Hermione continued on, "Perhaps it is true, maybe I was friends with Harry Potter, maybe I dated Ron Weasley and wanted to marry him, but none of that matters right now, in this life." She had a tear at the corner of her eye. "Right now, in this life, I have you, and that's all that matters. We can't undo the spell anymore, so why live in the shadows you created for yourself?" She kissed him again, but this time with a lot of emotion. Draco felt Hermione's tears. He hugged her tight.
"I'm sorry... for everything... and... thank you for not hating me..."
"I forgive you."
YOU ARE READING
Second Chance (DRAMIONE)
Fanfiction"You filthy little mudblood!" Draco yelled at Hermione when they were in their first year at Hogwarts. Hermione ran away with tears in her eyes. Then Draco realized that he was also hurt by his mean words, but in a way he couldn't tell what the feel...
