Ch. 3

Draco couldn't believe what he had just heard. He watched her as she wiped away more tears and wanted nothing more than to pull her to him and wrap his arms around her, never letting go. But he couldn't, not right now.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry," He said softly.

She downed the rest of her wine and shook her head. "I'm trying to fix it. I spent the entire summer in Australia trying to find them. I just ran out of time and had to come back here."

Without responding, he stood up and went to grab the bottle of wine from the kitchen, returning to fill up her glass of wine. He reluctantly sat back down on the couch opposite of her, knowing he shouldn't push her boundaries right now but thinking hard.

"Were you able to find anything at all about where they are?" He asked, knowing the answer already.

She shook her head. "I have nothing to go off of. I don't even know if they are even there still. They always talked about travelling the world, so they could be anywhere honestly."

He felt her anxiety rising with that realization and he tried to think of what to do for her. He knew his first priority was to make her happy again, and he would figure out how to help with her parents later.

"We'll figure something out, Hermione," He said then catching her attention. "I'll help you."

She gave him a confused look. "Why?"

That caught him off guard slightly but he remembered she still didn't fully trust him. "You've been through enough in your life and I don't want to see you go through anything else. You deserve to be happy after everything."

"Why did you change all of a sudden, Draco?" She asked suddenly. "Why are you so willing to be nice to me and help me?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I did a lot of thinking over the summer. A lot. I no longer want to be the person I was. He was, for lack of a better term, an asshole. I just want to be a better person and make up for my past life."

She looked at him, almost in doubt. He knew she wasn't going to believe him, and he groaned inwardly. Should he tell her?

"Hermione, during the war, I nearly changed sides when it started." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I should have, to be honest, for more reasons than I'll tell you right now. But there was a girl on the other side, one that I knew I would never have a chance with if I continued down the path that I was on. I couldn't put my family at risk though, and unfortunately had to continue fighting for a cause that I no longer agreed with in order to protect them."

He paused, taking a drink and then continuing. "I thought that everything was over when Hagrid brought Harry in and everyone thought he was dead. I thought I truly would never have a chance at redemption. Then Harry revealed himself to be alive and I knew that was the only chance I would have. So I did the only thing I could and gave him my wand. My parents followed me and changed sides then as well, and I thought maybe I would finally have peace."

Hermione watched him carefully, taking in his words. A girl? Could it be...no. There was no way. She felt he was telling the truth though. And she wanted to believe him. After all, he had lied to his aunt about her, Harry, and Ron at the Manor when they were caught by Snatchers.

She nodded after a few moments. "I believe you."

He smiled then. "That's all I could ask for right now."

She returned his smile and took another drink. They fell into silence, but it wasn't an uneasy silence as it was before. She felt oddly comfortable around him now, which almost unnerved her. Almost.

Finishing her glass, she started feeling the effects slightly. She had never had a high tolerance for alcohol, and even if she was slowly starting to trust Draco, she still wanted to be in control of her wits.

Draco suddenly chuckled about something, causing her to jump and she asked, "What's so funny?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, just something Blaise said earlier."

She raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything in response. He finished his firewhiskey and stood up, walking into the kitchen to pour himself another glass. From the kitchen she heard him ask, "So what's the deal with Weaslette and Potter?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked curiously.

Draco made his way back to the couch. "Well, are they doing alright? It's my understanding that they are together."

"Your understanding is correct," She said. Then she tilted her head to the side as she raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm wondering though why you're suddenly interested in Harry's love life."

He glared at her slightly. "It's not Potter I'm interested in."

"Ohh, is Miss Ginny Weasley the girl you nearly switched sides for?" She teased. She was then caught off guard by the sudden feeling of jealousy that filled her chest, and she fought hard to push it down. She decided to pour herself a third glass, trying to distract herself.

Draco then grinned as he could feel her jealousy and relished in it. But his grin did nothing except cause her jealousy to rise. "No, I'm not interested in the Weaslette. But I know someone who is and I just wanted to get information for him."

She tried to hide the jealousy affecting her, feeling her cheek twitch. "And who would that be?"

"I can't tell you that."

She narrowed her eyes as she took another drink. "Is it Zabini?"

He gaped at her. "How did you figure that out?"

"I took a shot in the dark, honestly, since he's the only person I've seen you hang around with." Then she grinned, feeling relieved as she gestured towards him with her glass. "And you just proved me right."

He stared at her in amazement, then grinned. "Did you really think I was the one interested in Weaslette?"

She shifted slightly, not wanting to answer the question. "Well it was either that or Harry, but that's not important right now. So Zabini likes Ginny?"

He laughed at her attempt at dodging the question but continued. "Yes, he's been interested since he saw her at the train station this year."

"Well, she's very much devoted to Harry right now," Hermione said. "But..."

He waited for her to continue and when he realized that she wasn't going to, he asked, "But what?"

"Nothing, nevermind." She didn't want to give away too much information, especially about Ginny. She knew it wasn't her place anyway.

Draco sighed and leaned back into the couch. He couldn't be frustrated with her; she was only trying to protect her friend. He admired her for that, but at the same time he knew that Blaise needed to get close to her. Blaise was definitely more patient than he was, though.

He looked back over at his mate, smirking at her slightly as she shook her head. He knew she was feeling the alcohol already. He probably shouldn't have let her have that third glass, but her doing it to combat her jealousy amused him.

"You alright?" He asked quietly.

She shrugged and gave him a lopsided grin, quickly trying to hide it afterwards. "I'm fine. Just...not really used to drinking this much."