The Astronomy Tower < #wattys2016 >

Forgiving

September 1st 1997

Hermione could leave the great hall fast enough after the feast. It had been a while since she had eaten at Hogwarts, and she was not yet used to the noise. She had already decided that Hogwarts was way too weird without Harry, and Ron.

She was supposed to be heading to her common room, but she had no intention of following the noise. So, she headed to her only refuge: the good old astronomy tower.

She pushed open the door, and froze in her tracks.

Draco. There he was, she had barely seen him at the feast. Hermione turned to leave. She tried to silently re-open the door, but it belched out a loud squeal.

Draco whipped around.

"Who's there?"

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Draco looked out into the crisp, fall night from the astronomy tower. He had just decided that Hogwarts was busier than he remembered, and it was very strange without Crabbe and Goyle always following him around, Blaise always cracking jokes at him, and Pansy always throwing herself at him.

He recalled the feeling he had gotten in his stomach when he had seen Hermione walk into the Great Hall, they way his heart had skipped a beat when they had briefly made eye contact.

About halfway through the feast, Draco couldn't take the Great Hall anymore, he had to leave. SO, he had come to his one safe place.

He heard the door creak behind him, and spun around.

"Who's there?" he looked closer into the darkness, and saw a familiar figure,

"Hermione?" He said. "Wait, don't go!'

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Hermione nervously stepped towards Draco. "Hermione, I need to say something."

She obliged, and walked over to stand a respectful distance away from him.

"What is it?" She asked after waiting for a few moments. Draco looked at her, his eyes exploring her face. They started at her forehead, and slowly trailed down to her mouth. Hermione took a nervous breathe, and looked deeply into his eyes.

She wasn't prepared when he filled the distance between them in one, long stride. He crushed his mouth to her, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

When he finally pulled away, Hermione shuddered.

"Oh," she said.

Draco scoffed, and took a step back from her. He looked at her again. Hermione's breathe hitched at the pain in his eyes

"What is it?" She asked.

He looked away again. "I'm sorry."

"Why? What for?" asked Hermione.

He took a deep breathe, and began "In November, the Dark L-, Voldemort, came along on one of the missions. We went to a small town, called Adlington. A young witch had gone there to hide from the death eaters. We broke down the door to her house, and stormed inside. Voldemort told me to kill her. I figure it was because he found out that I hadn't been the one to kill Dumbledore. God Hermione, she was so young, so afraid, and I killed her. She reminded me so much of you."

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The look that Hermione gave him was tragic. He saw a lot of sadness in her eyes, but surprisingly, no anger.

She sighed, "Luna told me that there was something heavy lying on your shoulders. And as awful as it is, we all have done things that we regret, but people aren't their mistakes. What defines a person is how willing they are to redeem themselves, and set things right. So, I forgive you."

"Thank you." Whispered Draco.

"Thank you for telling me." Said Hermione. "It's not easy to fess up to our mistakes, and I appreciate you not lying to me."

Draco nodded. and looked out into the grounds. He could see the squid swimming in the lake. He looked over to Hermione again. She had her eyes closed. He ran his eyes up and down her. They froze on her arm. She had her sleeve rolled up, there were healing gashes on them. The cuts spelled something. MUDBLOOD. Draco's blood ran cold. His head began to swim. 

"Why-" He stammered.

Hermione opened her eyes and say where he was looking. She self consciously rolled down her sleeve.

"I didn't want you to see that." She blushed.

"Who-"

"Bellatrix, that night at the Manor, when we got caught."

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"It's really not that big of a deal." She shrugged. "I was thinking about getting a tattoo over it."

Draco scoffed at the idea of Hermione getting a tattoo.

"Can I see yours?" She asked casually.

Draco immediately sobered. He nodded, and raised hi sleeve his left arm to his elbow.

She ran her fingers over it. "Does it ever hurt?" she asked?

"No." He shook his head. "It's beginning to fade away. It will leave a scare though. I'm sure of it."

"Maybe you could get a tattoo too?" Hermione joked.

"Ha, no." Draco scoffed.

He watched her examine his arm. He slipped a finger under he chin, and tilted her head back so their eyes met.

"I love you." He whispered. Draco lightly brushed his lips against her, trying to prove his affection in the gently gesture.

He pulled back just far enough to look into her eyes.

"I love you too." She whispered. He kissed her again.

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"Do we have to keep it a secret?" She asked.

"No." Said Draco, "In fact, I intend to make it quite public. I have no intentions of being discrete."

Hermione laughed, and for that brief moment, she could see her cottage by the sea, and the peaceful, quiet life ahead.

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Thank you to those who stuck through with the story.

Thank you to the loyal people who commented, and voted one literally every single chapter. Haha. You guys rock.

Finishing it was a bit bittersweet, since this is my first piece, and I have been working on it since this summer. I hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Make sure to check out more original that I will start soon. I am just figuring out the last little details before I start.