Venom and Velvet

Date

13. Date

"I'm so sorry," Draco said, his voice cracking. If he'd had any emotional control before, it was gone now. He didn't even try to hold back the tears as they fell now. "This one really is my fault. I'm sorry."

Hermione tugged the sleeve of her sweater back down. She searched for words but found none.

"I was there, I could have stopped her. I'm so sorry, Hermione," he choked out. "I walked away from you... I could have stunned her, or pushed her off, or something. I could have stopped it."

Before she could stop him, Draco stood and disapparated.

Hermione didn't know how long she stared at the space where he had been. Eventually, she turned her attention back to her arm where she had been unconsciously running her fingers over the letters and let herself cry.
It was noon before she finally rose from the log and decided to look for him. She'd always known there was more to Draco than he let people see. All throughout their school life she'd had to convince Harry that Draco wasn't the one he should be worrying about. Usually she was right, sometimes she wasn't. She remembered Ginny's words during the start of term feast. We've all done things we aren't proud of.

What would've happened if Malfoy had attacked Bellatrix? If Bellatrix herself hadn't tortured him, his father likely would have beaten him. It wouldn't have changed anything. They still wouldn't have been able to escape. The only thing that would be different is that Draco would have been punished. Would the courageous thing to do have been to step in? Yes. Would she have done it herself if the roles had been reversed? She'd like to think she would have, but maybe not.

With a loud crack, Hermione appeared in the Shrieking Shack. It seemed like a good place to run away. Flashes of that night years ago with Sirius, Lupin, Pettigrew, and Snape flew before her eyes, but she brushed them away. He wasn't here.

Maybe he went for a drink. She apparated to the edge of the village and walked to the Hog's Head. When she opened the door, she immediately recognized his platinum blonde hair at the bar. His shoulders were slumped and he was sipping an amber liquid from a short glass. She decided that if he hadn't wanted to be found he would've gone back to the castle. Taking a shaky breath, she approached the bar and sat down beside him.

"I'm still here, Draco," she said.

"I see that," he replied, refusing to meet her eyes. "Can't imagine why."

She didn't have anything to say to that, so she ordered herself a drink instead.

"Aberforth," she called to the tall, thin man behind the bar. "One dragon barrel brandy, please."

He looked at her with his piercing blue eyes, so strikingly similar to those of her former headmaster.

"Anything for you, Ms. Granger," he replied, setting the beverage on the counter in front of her.

Draco and Hermione sat in silence for a while before he spoke again.

"Why are you so determined to make sense of me?" His voice was quiet, contemplative.

"Because I know there's more to you than what you let people see. I've always known that. I refuse to believe that you are a bad person, Draco Malfoy."

Draco felt her soft hand settle on his arm.

"You're wrong," he replied. He didn't seem angry, just... exasperated. Like he was tired of trying to explain the same thing over and over again to a curious child.