Dear Stranger

Chapter 15

Late February 2002

Hermione opened the door of her flat to let Draco in.

"Hello, love." He said as he came through the door and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Hello." She said with a smile as she closed the door behind him. She made her way back into the kitchen to put on a kettle for tea. "I'm just going to put some tea on, you can pick a film if you like." She said. She had been introducing Draco to some of her favorite films recently so they made friday nights movie nights. She brought two cups out and set them on the small table, Draco was pulling off his jacket to hang. He was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt, she had never seen him wear one in all the time they had been dating. Up until earlier this week, her flat had been rather cold since the landlord wouldn't let them light fires until he had straightened out some code issues, so Draco had been wearing jumpers and jackets every week. This wouldn't have been particularly interesting had it been practically any other two people, but it was Draco and Hermione.

She could see his Dark Mark. Faded, yes, but still there and very prominent due to his wardrobe choice. She froze, her eyes fixed on the monstrosity tattooed in the darkest black ink on his pure, white skin. He noticed her sudden change in demeanor and glanced down at his arm.

"Hermione I'm so sorry, I completely forgot." He paused for a moment before grabbing his coat from the rack. "I should probably just leave, I'm sorry."

"No, no Draco." She said, snapping out of her daze. She grabbed his arm to keep him there. "Draco it's okay, it just took me by surprise." She looked down at the ground. "I'm not sure why. In the back of my mind I knew you still had it, you can't get rid of them. I just didn't think about it." She let go of him and rolled up her own sleeve to reveal a fading scar across her forearm. Mudblood. The grotesque word Draco's aunt had scratched into her arm on the floor of the old Malfoy Manor. A scar she had struggled to live with ever since but had learned to ignore. She had been slowly overcoming it. "I hate to be cliche, but our scars do not define us. I know it means nothing to you and it doesn't mean anything to me either. It's okay, Draco."

He smiled and kissed her. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome. Now, let's go watch an exceptionally happy film to cheer us up." She said with a smile.

"Sounds fantastic." He said, following her to the living room.

Early April 2002

Draco and Hermione stood on the road in front of Draco's home, staring at the exceptional result of months of work. It was big, not too big and certainly not as big as it used to be, just slightly bigger than the average home. It was big enough to house a sizable library, which he had been hoping for. It sort of looked like a large cottage. Most of the homes in the village had a similar look and Draco wanted something that looked like a home, not a historical landmark.

"Are you ready to see the inside?" Hermione asked, snapping him out of his momentary trance.

"As I'll ever be." He said with a smile, squeezing her hand in his as they headed toward the door. They walked in and were quite satisfied with the sight before them. Tall windows that let in lots of light flanked the far wall of the living area, the floors were a cherry-colored wood .

"I think the house is marvelous, Draco." Hermione said as they stood at one of the windows, looking out at the blooming flowers. "Are you moving in this week?"

"Yeah, I'd like to start as soon as I can escape that ruddy flat." He said with a laugh. They were both very keen to the god-awfulness of his flat. It was small and had an odd smell, the neighbor across the way had to be certifiably insane, the upstairs neighbors were too loud as always, and the landlord's cat seemed to really like Draco's flat in particular.