Damaged Goods by slytherin_after_dark

Chapter 46

- NOT MY STORY!! ALL CREDITS TO @slytherin_after_dark ON A03!!

Hermione stood there, watching the always cool and composed Slytherin girl violently sob.

She pulled Pansy into a hug. "I'm so sorry."

She couldn't help but feel guilty. Guilty for being part of the reason why he was gone. Guilty for not feeling more at the news of his death. She had been in a relationship with him for months and yet the news of his death was like learning some distant acquaintance had passed.

"We were worried about this," Pansy said between sobs.

"About what?"

"He was so distraught over what he'd done to you." She shook her head and pulled out a green silk napkin and dried her tears. "We couldn't talk any sense into him. He didn't want to be around anyone. He was even more self-destructive than normal."

Distraught. Over Hermione. He had really loved her then. It hadn't been some sick game to him. It seemed implausible that Malfoy would ever fall in love with her. Perhaps, if he hadn't drugged her, she would have loved him too? This stranger, that she didn't know.

She thought back to the 16-year-old boy she remembered. The one that never had a choice and she felt a pang of sadness in her.

Hermione turned to the painting again. "When did he give you the will?"

"About a week ago."

Right around the time Snape's scrolls stopped going through to Draco.

"Was he here in person?"

Morpheus shook his head. "It arrived via Floo. It's upstairs now, in the study."

Hermione almost felt like she was in a trance when she walked upstairs. It made sense now that she felt so comfortable in this mansion. The house had adapted to her. The scroll sat on a desk in the study. A dark green ribbon was tied around it. Wordlessly she took it and they made their way back to Hogwarts.

Pansy was crying when she told Nott and his face turned pale as he pulled her into a hug. Zabini sat down as his face fell into his hands.

Hermione was the odd one out. The one who wasn't crying. During the war, she had always been worried to read his name on the list of those fallen on the frontlines, even though he had been the enemy. She felt that bitter sting in her heart now, grieving the boy she knew. But she had never been that close to him. At least not that she could remember. She decided to give his friends space to mourn the loss of Draco.

***

She presented Snape with the scroll, which she had already opened, and read the words that made no sense to her.

In case of her survival, Hermione Granger is to be the sole heir to the entirety of the Malfoy fortune and all its properties, including Malfoy Manor.

Snape's black eyes went to the scroll and then back to his reading material. "Congratulations, Miss Granger," he said with disinterest. "Looks like you're a very wealthy woman now."

"What does this mean? Why would he do this?"

"A question better directed at the man who signed the paper than me, I'm afraid."

"The new will was dropped off a week ago."

Snape's eyebrow rose. "That's when my scrolls stopped going through."