e l e v e n

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“We never got to finish our game of ‘let’s get to know each other better’, you know that?” Draco asked with a small smirk as he stared at Hermione who grinned at his comment.

“No, we haven’t. I believe we still have a few more questions left.” She said and smiled as she leaned back against one of the columns. “So, I’ll ask you a question first. What is your favorite beverage?”

“Firewhiskey.”

Hermione slightly laughed at his answer but read his serious face and stopped. “Are you serious?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Draco asked as he bent his eyebrows at her.

“Oh, well . . . I guess that’s understandable. We are all eighteen now and it’s legal for us to consume alcoholic beverages.”

“Yeah, I used to sneak some last year.”

“Like in the school grounds?” Hermione asked with wide eyes, completely appalled. “You illegally consumed firewhiskey on school grounds?”

“Everybody else did.” He shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing.

“That’s absolutely preposterous! How did you guys ever sneak it in? No, how did you even lay your hands on that drink?” She started asking questions with wide eyes.

“I think you’re up to at least fifteen questions now.”

Hermione closed her mouth and cleared her throat. “Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter whether you drank firewhiskey illegally or legally.”

“What’s your favorite beverage?” Draco asked as he stared at her.

“Butterbeer.” Hermione answered crisply as she put on her small grin. “That’s the only beverage I drink that’s even close to alcohol. Ever. I even got slightly drunk after drinking two cups one time.”

“You’re telling me you’ve never had a drop of firewhiskey?” It was now Draco’s turn to be shocked. “Are you crazy? H, how do you live with yourself? Do you even call yourself a witch?”

“I think you’re up to at least fifteen questions now, too.” Hermione smirked as she threw his words back at him.

“That’s besides the point! You know what? I’m going to have to take you out to have some firewhiskey. You’re insane!”

“I’ve lived perfectly fine without it.”

“That’s because you don’t have the slightest clue as to how it tastes like. Once you have a sip of firewhiskey, butterbeer will be your least favorite drink.”

“Wait, did you just offer to buy me a drink?” Hermione asked as she raised an eyebrow. “Interesting.”

“Well, do you have anything against it?” He asked with a smirk. “It’ll be like two friends having a drink together.”

“Friends, huh? Yeah, okay. But, must I remind you, we can’t get out of the school grounds.”

“Are you sure? We can just sneak out.”

“We’ll get expelled. We could just simply propose the idea of a few students going out to Hogsmeade to Professor McGonagall.”

“That’s boring. Don’t you want to live a little?”

“No, I want to finish my education and get a nice job with a great wage.”

“So you would rather choose career over family?”

“Well, it depends. I want to marry early but who says I’ll meet a guy that’s perfect for me?”

“Interesting. What if you do get a good job with a great pay but then you meet this guy and you fall in love with him. You two are madly in love with each other and you two want to get married . . . but he asks you to choose your career over him because there’s no other choice. Would you give up your love for this guy or your career?”

“Well, what kind of guy would ask me to give up my career if he knows I love my job? I think it’s a bit selfish of him to make me choose over my career or marriage but it makes me selfish to choose my career over him . . .”

“Well, what is it then?”

“I would give up my career for this guy. If I loved him a lot, well, then I have no choice. Jobs, you can get whenever, but love doesn’t come around and wait for you. It comes once and you have to hold onto it. You can replace a job in a heartbeat. What about you? Family or career?’

“Family.” Draco said after a long, hard thought.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you would be the type to do that.”

“Yeah, well, my parents weren’t around at all and look how I turned out to be? I want my kids to grow up into a big, loving family.”

Hermione slightly frowned as she heard him speak. “Malfoy, there’s nothing wrong about the way you turned out. Sure, you made a few wrong mistakes but you got over that. Besides, everyone makes a mistake more than once. I can see that you’ve changed ever since the war. In fact, I believe you turned out to be a great person.” She told him with a soft, warm voice as she hesitated to put her hand on top of his. “I hope you realize that you aren’t so bad of a guy so don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Draco’s eyes widened as he stared at her. Words didn’t—no, couldn’t come out of his mouth. All he did was stare right into her warm, caring, caramel orbs and she understood what he meant to say.

Hermione cracked a grin and removed her hand from his. She couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed when their hands disconnected but she hid her disappointment with a smile. “I think we asked each other more than twenty questions.” She said with a small chuckle.