To Me, From Me // DHr ✔️

t h i r t y - t h r e e

Malfoy's been at it for hours now. Both of them met up on the seventh floor early the next day, right after breakfast was served. Progress? Still none. It was getting to the point where Hermione herself couldn't stand around watching him struggle. It was like seeing a baby duck get injured but was adamantly trying to waddle around the pond. It was such a kick of reality for her. In all her years of being classmates with him, she hasn't actually witnessed him fail. Sure, she was better, but he was never far behind.

"Up for a breather?" She's already asked him to take a break a couple of times before and he's said no to all of them, it wasn't a surprise for him to shake his head at this one too.

She asked the Room to show the beach from last week again, but instead of night-time, she wanted a bright summer day. Maybe it was because she was already missing the heat on her skin, maybe it was because she secretly wanted to take a dip in the ocean after Malfoy left, but she knew that it definitely was because she thinks that the sun would help him with conjuring up happy memories. So far, the latter hasn't been proving to be effective.

Hermione patiently waited sitting cross-legged on the beach towels that the Room provided them with. It took Malfoy more than a few minutes before he finally stopped.

"Pathetic, isn't it?" He mirthlessly breathed out as he dropped down beside her.

She shrugged. "Not entirely. I'd say your perception of things is just more than a little askew."

Because she was looking straight ahead into the ocean, she didn't see Malfoy's eyebrows quirking upward at her statement. She continued nonetheless.

"You're simply focusing on all the truly shitty things that have happened to you. When you're conjuring a Patronus, you're supposed to channel only the happiness."

"You say it like it's the easiest to do for me. Unless you've suffered a recent blow to your head, Granger, it's not." He picked up a handful of sand and threw it in front of them. They both silently watched the grains of sand be carried off to their right by the breeze before they touched back down to the beach.

"My mum and dad used to take me here all the time when I was a child. You see that cliff over there?" She pointed towards the far end of the shoreline where a patch of green grass was visible atop a medium-sized cliff. "We would arrive on that spot by car and then walk the entire way over to the beach."

"I gathered as much. Sodding Gryffindor sentimentality, alright."

Hermione shook her head. "This is precisely what you're missing though. Don't you see? You think that every memory you have of your childhood's been contaminated, tainted, but they're not." She paused. "What do you feel when you think of your parents?"

His reply came fast. "Anger. Come on, Granger, obviously. They've ruined my life, in case it's escaped that big bushy hair of yours."

"Okay, well, set aside the war for a moment. What was a typical Saturday for eleven-year-old Draco Malfoy living in the Manor?"

His reply didn't come for a while. She thought he abandoned the thought altogether, and because she didn't want to push him further out, she let the silence envelop them. But then he spoke.

"Father would be in his study as always and mother would be out in the garden. I would wake up around lunch time, it was the only day I was allowed to sleep in, and there would be a plate of tarts and cookies already waiting for me outside where my mother was, joined by my father." He grabbed another handful of sand. "She can't cook to save her life, my mother. Of course, she was never expected to, being a Pureblood with servants, but she liked baking and I liked whatever she made. My father and I's favorite are her butterscotch scones." He slowly opened his fist, the sand falling through the spaces in between his fingers.

He did the unthinkable as he finished his sentence. He smiled. Okay, so it wasn't exactly a smile, not even close she'd later say when she thought back to that very moment, but Hermione saw the ends of his lips curve upwards for half of a second and she beamed internally.

Draco Malfoy was nothing more than a caricature of a person to her a couple of weeks ago. Nothing more than a sneer, a degrading comment about her blood, a degrading comment about anything and everything that didn't hold up to the standards of a Malfoy.

Today changed that. She got an inkling of who he was behind the haughty facade, and as the two sat side by side lulled by the calming crash of the waves, all Hermione could think about was that no matter what it took, she would make him realize that he was not a lost cause, that the boy who had no choice could still be saved.

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A/N:

If the flashback scenes are getting too boring please let me know! I'm just a little hesitant to move on because after this it's full speed ahead to the endddd *cries* Feedback, suggestions, comments and criticisms are welcome!

This one's dedicated to @MissKittyreads xx Could not thank you all enough for being the best readers! Much love, lovelies xx