Beginning at the End ⏃ Dramione

Chapter 4: Realization

For a moment after waking, Hermione forgot where she was. Slowly connecting memories back into place, she realized that she must have slept. She tested out her legs and was relieved when they worked, so she turned to step out of the bed.

She looked around and noticed Draco in the kitchen. He was standing at a counter surrounded by notebooks, cauldrons, vials, and other ingredients.

Today, he was wearing a long-sleeved, dark green shirt and jeans, which was a big contrast to his usual attire of formalwear. His hair hung down just above his light grey eyes as he concentrated on his task. Hermione could not help but notice that his eyes reflected the color of his clothing and they appeared almost green now.

He seemed totally focused on his task as he jotted down notes in a journal, the movements of his hands were swift and calculated as he plucked at ingredients.

I have never seen him look so focused, she noticed, are potions a passion of his? He was always decent in class but I never really knew if he received good marks. Snape always favored the Slytherins...

She slowly made her way over, suddenly feeling self-conscious. She pulled back her messy hair into a ponytail and smoothed out the front of her shirt, accepting that it would have to be good enough. She was looking forward to having a shower.

Leaning onto the counter across from him, careful not to touch anything, she queried, "Making something?"

She could not help noticing the way he handled the vials, how he nibbled his inner lip when in concentration, how he rubbed the tips of his fingers over his nail beds nervously when studying the journal, how- Stop. Why does any of that matter? Just stop analyzing him and act normal!

Having seen her approach from the corner of his eye, Draco was unsurprised by her presence. He finished what he was writing and glanced up to answer, "Yes, making something to help you. Your legs seem to be failing. It could happen again. You'd have to take small amounts at a time, maybe regularly."

She looked sleepy to him; it was strangely intimate to see her from this perspective, almost like a fresh start at seeing each other uninhibited. Over the last few days he had seen Granger slightly battered. It was a change from the put-together Hermione he was used to from school. The bright light hanging over them revealed a hint of amber in her brown eyes. Only seconds had passed in reality, but he swiftly grew paranoid of how long he had been looking at her, quickly looking back down to his notebook in an attempt to focus on his work.

Hermione had not expected anyone to be making a special potion just for her, but especially not Draco Malfoy. It felt out of place. She felt the need to say something even if she was unsure about it all, "Oh, thank you..."

Draco could sense her hesitance as her eyes scanned the table full of ingredients. She would be the type of person who would request a portfolio of someone she was about to purchase potions from. He stopped what he was doing, feeling that he needed to give her just that, or at least what he had.

"I have a whole lab at the manor that Professor Snape helped me set up, one of the few things I miss about that place. He and I agree that Hogwarts books are almost always wrong, but they're too stubborn to update those ancient potion recipes."

Hermione nodded, while disbelief tinged her thoughts as she realized that she and Malfoy shared the same strong opinion. "I figured they were incorrect... when I tried to brew a Draught of Living Death in Slughorn's class, I did everything that bleeding book said to do and still got it wrong!"

Still busy with his work, Draco replied with a soft smirk, "And Hermione Granger is never wrong."

She responded with a slight smile of her own. "Well, rarely..."