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sentinelpri · 1 year

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Of Pride & Conviction

Hermione Granger is beautiful.

It’s a fact that Draco Malfoy doesn’t mind admitting to himself. He didn’t mind admitting it to himself back then, either; back when they were in school together at Hogwarts. The real issue was getting him to say it out loud, which he never would. His pride held him back from doing the right thing, just like it always has. So, he was mean to her instead.

They’ve since graduated. It’s been about ten years. He still sees her regularly. She’s the Minister of Magic while he’s simply one of the aurors who serves her and the head auror, Harry Potter. It was admittedly worrying to have Hermione in charge of him at first, as it gave her ample opportunity to get revenge for all seven years of torment that he put her through, but for whatever reason, she chose to be merciful instead of taking advantage. Hermione treats Draco like any other employee of the Ministry of Magic. It shouldn’t bother him, but it does.

Then again, there’s a lot of things that bother him about Hermione that shouldn’t bother him at all. For example; the fact that she’s engaged to marry Ronald Weasley, or the fact that he tries his best to get her attention with his work every day, and most importantly, the fact that he’s been in love with her since their fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

There’s nothing he can do about it.

The two are stuck together in Hermione’s office, drafting some paperwork. Something about legislation to better the treatment of house elves… Or something. Draco doesn’t know. He hasn’t been paying enough attention to have any idea what’s going on. Hermione’s rambling, which he normally listens to rather intently when he gets to hear it, falls upon deaf ears. Hell, he doesn’t know why Hermione wanted his help in the first place, to be honest. He isn’t educated in legislation regarding magic, let alone house elves. He’s much less qualified than her to review such a matter. She should’ve picked Potter to be here, if anyone. But for some reason, he’s here instead.

Hermione’s office is about what you would expect. It’s clean and immaculate, a little bed for her cat in the corner and a large cage for her canary in the center of the room. While the orange cat she owns lies lazily in its bed, fast asleep, the bird is settled on a floating perch set up by the windowsill. The floors are made of dark wood and adorned with a gold and red rug, while the walls are painted crimson and lined with bookshelves that are stuffed to the brim with different magical texts. On Hermione's desk is a large lamp that bathes the room in an ambient warmth, as well as a framed picture of her, Weasley, and Potter.

“So, what do you think?” Hermione asks, snapping the auror out of his daze.

Draco blinks.

“I, erm,” Draco catches himself before he can stammer too much, clearing his throat. He knows that Hermione is intelligent enough to see through his facades, but he makes an attempt regardless, lest he have to admit that he wasn’t listening to a thing she was saying. “I think it sounds good.”

“You weren’t listening to me at all, were you?” The brunette sighs and shoots him an exhausted glance.

Her big brown eyes pierce straight through him. Draco shifts uncomfortably where he stands by her desk. There’s a chair across from hers, but he’s never been comfortable enough in Hermione’s presence to sit with her in her office like they’re equals. They’re most certainly not, and it’s something he has to remind himself of frequently.

“I was not,” He confesses, steely eyes avoiding her coffee brown ones like they’re the plague. The first thing that catches his attention is her hands, which are intertwined with each other. Her elbows are resting on the desk. Something looks different, though, and he spends a few seconds trying to figure it out before it finally clicks. Hermione isn’t wearing the gold band with the large ruby stone that Weasley proposed to her with. Her engagement ring is gone, nowhere to be seen. Draco hopes that they’ve ended things, but he suspects that she’s not wearing it for a different reason. Perhaps she needed to get it resized or altered somehow, or maybe she decided not to wear it to work anymore in fear of it getting damaged. Hermione and Weasley have been together for more than a decade. There’s no way that they broke up… Right? “You’re not wearing your ring.”

“Well, Malfoy, I’m not engaged anymore. If I’m not engaged, I don’t need to be walking around wearing an engagement ring, now do I? I’d hate to give anyone the wrong idea,” The brunette says with a tight smile and a matter-of-fact tone. Draco’s heart drops and he’s not sure why. Hermione being single is an opportunity he’s fantasized about for a long time. Now that it’s happening, however, he’s struck with a pang of unshakable guilt. No wonder Hermione appears so exhausted; no wonder she’s asked for his help today. She probably figured he’d be the one person who wouldn’t care to ask about her personal life, as his romantic feelings have been the one thing he’s successfully hidden from her over the years. “Now, let’s start again. This law will require anyone who owns a house elf to only have them work a maximum of ten hours a day each day for five days a week and to pay them a minimum of two galleons per hour. House elves will be given a system where they can report any violations through aurors that will visit them once a week and ask them about their working conditions, and anyone who has a house elf that isn’t following these guidelines will have their privileges revoked if they’re found to be in violation more than twice.”

“I don’t think the board will pass that,” Draco sighs, though his mind is as far away as possible from house elf rights. His mind is on Hermione, who looks pale and tired and a little lighter than before- whose soft red dress is unusually wrinkled, whose hair appears unwashed and even more unkempt than usual. “People have been using house elves for centuries and no one is going to want that taken away or drastically changed. You should start smaller; a maximum of twelve hours instead of ten, seven days a week, at a galleon per hour.”

“That’s not-”

“I know, it’s not fair,” Draco cuts the minister off and rests a palm flat on the desk. He takes in a sharp breath through his nose. The room reeks of alpine and butterbeer, no doubt from the lit candles that line Hermione’s office shelves. “No one except for you cares about whether or not things are fair, Granger. Not everyone is as morally righteous as you. I guarantee you that ninety nine percent of the population doesn’t give a damn about house elves.”

“You-”

“I’m not saying it’s right. I’m just telling you that’s the truth. You can’t get everything you want all at once. Pass the altered version, then once that’s settled, give it some time and alter the law to make it however you want. People need time to adjust, and compromise is imperative.”

“Fine, I’ll amend it,” Hermione relents and casts a spell to erase the written words on the paper. Draco watches her start to rewrite them with steel grey eyes full of confusion and uncertainty. She doesn’t look okay. Why the hell is she working if she’s just gone through a break up with Weasley, her boyfriend of over a decade and close friend of nearly twenty years? “Thank you for your input.”

“Granger… Are you-?”

“Don’t,” Hermione insists with a pained look and a shake of her head. She won’t even look in his direction, pretending to focus on the magic legislation even though she stopped writing a solid thirty seconds ago. She sets her pen down and holds her head in her hands. Draco wants to reach out, to take her into his arms and make it all better, but he doesn’t know how. He doesn’t want her to snap and push him away like he knows she should were he to do such a thing. So, Draco stands there, frozen, unable to remove his eyes from Hermione’s now-shaking form. “Have a pleasant rest of your day, Malfoy.”

“You as well.”

With that, Draco nods and excuses himself.

‘What a day…’

When Draco goes to Hog’s Head Inn in the middle of Hogsmeade later that evening, he’s surprised to see no other than Hermione herself, sitting at the counter with a cheap-looking glass of butterbeer clasped between her delicate hands. She’s still in the same wrinkled dress that she wore in her office even though it’s freezing cold and disgustingly dry outside. The dress appears to have no tights underneath and is a simple short-sleeved garment. Though the Minister of Magic looks gorgeous in everything, Draco’s worried about it not being weather appropriate.

Most of the time, were he to see Hermione in public, he wouldn’t talk to her. One, he doesn’t think he deserves her attention or her affections. Two, he knows- or at least strongly suspects- that she’s smart enough to avoid any relationship with him outside of work after everything he’s done to her. Three, and arguably the most important thing, he has no idea what to do or say and doesn’t want to make a fool out of himself in front of Hermione, whose opinion matters more to him than life itself. Tonight is different, though. Hermione appears to be struggling for once and now that Draco has developed a conscience, he wants to help if he can.

So, he makes the approach. He walks to the counter at the bar, sits in the stool right next to Hermione’s, and looks over at her.

The engagement ring is still gone.

She doesn’t spare him a glance.

He talks to her anyway.

“Granger, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“I can’t say I was expecting to be here tonight either,” The brunette sighs and shakes her head, seemingly at herself. Then, after what feels like forever, she looks at him. “What do you want from me, Malfoy?”

“...I don’t know,” Draco shrugs, unsure of what he wants as well. It’s understandable that Hermione would be frustrated with him. Still, he can’t help feeling somewhat bitter about it. “I’ll leave if my approach is that much of a bother to you.”

Draco starts to stand up from the stool, only for Hermione to put a hand on his shoulder and interject. Her touch on his clothed skin practically makes him shatter into tiny little pieces on the bar floor.

“Wait, you can stay… If you don’t mind. I’ll even front you a drink. What would you like?”

“Hm,” Somewhat uncomfortably, Draco sits back down on the stool he was sitting in before. He struggles to keep his posture straight underneath the weight of his nagging anxiety about this whole Hermione thing. Lectures from his mother about how a ‘good Malfoy’ should sit up straight with their elbows off the table ring through his ears incessantly. “I suppose I’ll take a daisy root draught.”

“Very well,” Draco hums and dares to rest his elbows on the table. His eyes remain on Hermione, who awkwardly raises her hand to get the bartender’s attention so she can order for him. Draco isn’t sure how he feels about that. “One daisy root draught for this gentleman, please. Put it on my tab.”

“Thank you, Granger.”

“We’re not at work and we don’t despise each other anymore,” Hermione points out with a roll of her coffee brown eyes. Draco finds himself slouching a little. Apparently, even after all these years, Hermione has no issue calling him out. “Why do you still insist on addressing me by my surname?”

“It’s only fair,” Draco responds casually as the bartender serves him his daisy drought. He hadn’t thought about it before, but he figures calling Hermione by her last name is just another defense of his. If he keeps up all the walls of formality between them, she won’t be able to see his true feelings for her. “You address me by mine.”

“You’re not wrong,” Hermione sighs into her class of butterbeer and finishes it in one solid swig that makes Draco’s steely grey eyes widen.

The name thing bothers her more than Draco would’ve initially suspected. He can tell by the bright red dust that blooms like roses across her cheeks, by the downcast look she focuses on her empty drink.

“Hermione,” Draco murmurs between sips of his daisy root drought. It’s a little sweeter than he usually prefers it to be, but he doesn’t complain. “You may call me Draco.”

“Okay then, Draco. Are you happy?”

“Are you?” Draco asks with a quirked brow, more in reference to her mental state following whatever happened with Weasley than anything. The offended glance he receives as an answer has him backtracking quickly. “Ah, never mind.”

“I should get going. I’ll see you tomorrow, yes?” Hermione’s voice wavers. She refuses to look at Draco any longer, simply standing, grabbing her brown purse, and slamming a handful of money on the table- more than enough to cover their tab and a decent tip. “I need you in my office again first thing in the morning.”

Briskly, Hermione walks away. Draco stands up so he can follow the witch and catch her by the wrist before she exits the building.

“Ah, wait, are you walking?” Draco asks and lets go.

Hermione looks back at the blond and answers.

“Well, yes. I’m not drunk, but I really prefer not to try and use magic when I’ve had even the slightest amount of alcohol.”

“It’s late,” Draco points out with his eyes flickering to the clock on the wall of the bar. It’s almost ten o’clock at night, and while Hermione is more than capable of taking care of herself, it’s freezing cold and there’s tons of people on the street. Draco doesn’t feel comfortable with her walking alone. “I’ll accompany you.”

“I don’t need that,” Hermione replies and exits the building with Draco following close behind.

“I know you don’t need it, per say, but I’m offering. Will you accept my offer or not? I don’t care either way,” He snaps even though he does care, a little impatient.

Hermione is just as prideful and just as stubborn as ever. Though unsurprising, it has the wizard disgruntled.

“I think you do care. I think you’d rather be with my company than without it, and I think you’re feigning indifference to protect yourself,” Hermione calls him out.

“Well, you’re thinking incorrectly and making baseless assumptions,” Draco tilts his nose up at the brunette as they start to walk in pace with each other, side by side, perhaps a little closer than two people who are merely co-workers should be.

“Is that any way to talk to your boss, Draco?” Hermione laughs, which has Draco looking at her with wide eyes. She’s never pulled rank on him like that. Before he can say anything, however, Hermione offers a dismissive wave and continues. “I’m just kidding. I��ll accept your offer.”

“I didn’t know you had a sense of humor.”

“And I didn’t know you cared enough to walk me home.”

“It’s cold. For you to not wear another layer within your office is one thing, but it’s far too chilly out here for you to be in a short-sleeved dress and heels with nothing else,” Draco points out and shrugs his coat off of his shoulders. He’s cold, but he tries not to pay it any mind. He offers Hermione the heavy green garment. “Here. Take my coat.”

“I don’t need your coat. I feel just fine.”

“You won’t feel fine two days from now when you catch a cold, so take it. I’m not asking.”

“And what happens if I don’t meet your demand?”

“Nothing, really,” Draco responds, and to his surprise, Hermione takes his coat and slips it on over her body. It’s a little too big, but not ridiculously so, though it clashes with the dress she’s wearing quite horribly. He doesn’t mention that, instead furrowing his brows when Hermione suddenly stops in front of a home he doesn’t recognize. “Is this it? Did you move recently or- oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, then…” Draco awkwardly trails off, standing just off the edge of Hermione’s porch. He watches her unlock her door. “I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, Hermione.”

“You best.”

Draco turns, ready to go back to Malfoy Manor. Before he can get very far, however, he’s being grabbed by the wrist and whirled around. He’s chest to chest with no other than Hermione, who gently rests her hands on his face.

They’re close. Too close. Despite the panic that ensues from the Minister of Magic holding his face like he’s made of some sort of fragile glass, Draco has a moment of clarity. Hermione, even with her know-it-all, temperamental nature, is bright and warm like the sun. She is what inspired him to become a better person, to live a life beyond the death eaters and the dark mark- beyond the fact that he’s a Malfoy. Hermione is nothing less than enlightenment itself, and Draco could not be more enamored by her.

Obsessed with her.

In love with her.

Hermione’s touch melts the icy cold that has been nipping at his face since he left the bar at the same time that her lips adorn his with the taste of rich butterbeer. She’s kissing him. She’s kissing him in a way that’s soft and sweet, lips moving gently against his. Draco freezes initially. What if his breath is bad? What if his lips are too chapped? After a little too long, he decides he can’t throw this opportunity away. It’s fleeting. So, he wraps his arms around Hermione’s waist and tilts his head to deepen the kiss.

Then, as fast as it starts, it ends. Hermione is pulling away and turning to go inside her home. Draco objects with an awkwardly outstretched hand. He wants to reach out for her desperately, to wrap his arms around her and pull her back.

“Wait, I-”

“Do you mind if I keep this for now?” Hermione questions in an unreadable, even tone that makes Draco think he might be going insane as she pulls at the coat on her small frame.

Did the kiss even happen, or did he just imagine it?

He licks his lips to remind himself of the taste of butterbeer and honey chapstick.

It was definitely real. Hermione Granger kissed him and is now choosing to pretend that it didn’t happen. For now, Draco follows suit.

He blinks, then answers.

“Not at all.”

“Alright, then. Thank you,” Hermione nods and takes a step back. Draco’s outstretched arm falls to his side. “Goodnight, Draco.”

“Goodnight, Hermione…”

The next morning, just as he was instructed to, Draco shows up in Hermione’s office. He isn’t sure what to expect.

An apology? A love confession? A pink slip?

None of it happens. When he walks in, Hermione looks better than ever, almost as if she hasn’t both suffered a terrible break up with her best friend and partner of over a decade, moved houses, and kissed her former enemy within the span of one week. She’s dressed in a striped pantsuit with her hair tied up and her face full of energy again. It’s almost as if none of it happened- the break up, the bar, Draco. If Draco hadn’t worked so hard to burn the image of what occurred between them last night into his occipital lobe, he would swear the whole thing was a dream based on the way Hermione is treating him- so nonchalant, almost as if it didn’t happen.

She dares to smile and invite Draco to sit across from her, but he doesn’t. He does what he’s used to and stands across from the Minister of Magic, twiddling with his thumbs.

“So, today I need your help with-” Hermione starts, to which Draco cuts her off by placing his hands on the front of her desk and speaking.

“Are we not going to talk about what happened last night?” Draco demands.

Unsurprisingly, Hermione ignores his question and continues what she was trying to say before Draco interrupted.

“-this proposal I’m working on for the board of magic-”

Draco debates whether or not he should allow this to continue. On one hand, Hermione seems pretty determined not to talk about the kiss. On the other hand, Draco can be determined, too, and after a sleepless night resulting from what happened between the two of them, he’s determined to get to the bottom of this.

“Seriously, Granger- Hermione-”

“-for a new policy that will-”

“You kissed me,” Draco finally raises his voice- loud enough to make Hermione finally look him in the eye but not loud enough for anyone outside of her office to hear him. “Why in Merlin’s name did you kiss me?”

Hermione’s eyes flicker to the floor, then back up to Draco’s face.

“Did it upset you?” She asks.

Draco blinks.

“Are you fucking serious?”

“Did that offend you?”

“No, I’m just… Dumbfounded. Are we going to talk about this or not?”

“I suppose we can if it’s bothering you that much,” Hermione relents, then stands up from her chair so she can stand in front of Draco, just inches away.

“I have to ask this first, how long has it been since you and Ron separated? What even happened?”

“Six months,” Hermione states plainly, as if it doesn’t matter.

“Six months…!?” Draco manages to whisper out the words between the gasp that falls from between his lips.

Six months. Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley have been broken up and separated for nine months, and somehow, Draco had no idea of that until now. For whatever reason, Hermione neglected to make it apparent until this week. Almost as if she’s reading his mind, Hermione explains.

“I’ve only made it known in the past couple weeks to anyone who wasn’t Harry or immediate family, so it’s understandable that you’re shocked, Draco, but as the Minister of Magic, I have a reputation to uphold. Breakups don’t look that great, so I was putting off the inevitable for as long as I could. Ron and I split mutually and amicably; he got the home we bought together, I took most of what was in our savings account since I’m the one who contributed the majority of it, and we went our separate ways.”

“But- but why? Everyone always said that you two were perfect-” Draco argues, to which Hermione interrupts once again.

“Well, we weren’t. He apparently needs someone less bossy, less stubborn… Less powerful,” Hermione murmurs. She leans back against the front of her desk and taps her fingers against the wooden surface. “And I need someone who can take care of my needs and listen to what I have to say without whining about it. We should’ve stayed friends, to be honest. I don’t have any ill will towards Ron, and he will always be a good friend, but we weren’t ever meant to be anything more than that.”

Draco doesn’t know what to say. He wanted to talk about the kiss initially. Now, he’s getting information about Hermione’s break up, too. Though he’s the one who asked about it in the first place, it’s proving to be overwhelming. He doesn’t know much about Ron or about their relationship struggles. Really, it’s not his business. He knows he shouldn’t ask anything else, but he doesn’t want to just stand there silently either.

“I’m sorry.”

It’s quiet for a moment, and then-

“I don’t know why I kissed you.”

Draco pauses. He isn’t sure of how to respond. He opens his mouth to speak, only for nothing to come out until he forces two words off of his tongue.

“You don’t?”

“Well, I suppose I do, logically. Part of me has always had a spark for you, and I think you feel the same way- you kissed me back, after all,” Hermione starts to ramble. “But back then, I couldn’t say anything. You were my childhood bully, it would’ve been humiliating to put my pride aside and tell you the truth, only to get rejected and made fun of. I didn’t think I had real feelings for you, anyway, I just assumed that I was so enthralled by you because you were forbidden and exciting, but even after all these years… I thought that the friendship Ron and I had was true, romantic love. I thought that you would never amount to more than a fling, even if I did act on the feelings I harbored for you. Somehow, though, with all this time that’s passed, Ron and I have fallen apart, and my feelings for you have only grown stronger.”

“So, you love me… And you’ve loved me for years,” Draco slowly talks as he puts the rest of the piece of this complicated puzzle together. Meanwhile, Hermione nervously paces around the office, walking circles around Draco. “And that’s why you kissed me last night.”

“I suppose that would be the case, yes.”

“I’m not just a rebound for Weasley?”

Hermione firmly shakes her head with a furrowed brow.

“Absolutely not.”

“Do you really not hate me?” Draco asks, just to be sure.

Hermione stops pacing to look Draco in the eye and shake her head once more.

“I don’t.”

“After everything I did to you, I don’t deserve your love. You should hate me,” Draco reminds her.

“I know, but I don’t.”

Admittedly, Draco is insecure, untrusting, and terrified. He expects to wake up from this dream any moment now. He expects for Hermione to laugh in his face and tell him that this is some sort of cruel scheme she’s concocted to get revenge for everything he did to her back when they were in school, that she never loved or even liked him, that she’s still engaged to Ron and doesn’t plan on changing that any time soon. He expects Hermione to get scared, change her mind about all of this, fire him, and demand that he never speak to her again.

After all these years, Draco still expects Hermione to loathe him. Yet, she doesn’t.

“Would you not be embarrassed to be seen with me? Draco Malfoy, the vain, cruel, narcissistic, death eater, trust fund baby?”

“No, I wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen with Draco Malfoy, who has changed quite a bit since he attended Hogwarts,” Hermione answers in a very matter-of-fact tone without so much as skipping a beat.

Draco gulps.

“Very well, then.”

“What does this mean for us?”

“As if I have any idea?”

“You seem much more sure of yourself in this situation than I am,” Hermione huffs and moves to sit on the front of her desk.

Draco, daring to be bold, takes a few steps forward and slowly takes Hermione’s hands in his. She doesn’t object- rather, she intertwines their fingers. Both of them stare at their locked hands, then at each other’s faces.

“Hermione, I don’t think you understand. I’m falling apart from the inside out right now at this- this idea that you could love me, that to you, I’m somehow lovable after everything I’ve done.”

“As prideful as you are, I thought you’d have more confidence in yourself,” Hermione says with a small chuckle.

“The pride is a shield. You know what that’s like, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“Then let’s stop pretending.”

“Let’s.”

Draco lets out a sigh of relief. All of this- the kiss, today’s discussion, their laced fingers- it’s proof that this is very much real and that Hermione is genuine in these feelings that she has for him. He has so many more questions to ask, so much he wants to know.

“Is that why you’ve been calling me in here to help you with paperwork? Because you have feelings for me?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you worried about what people will think about you having moved on within weeks of making your break up known?”

“Of course. Just not worried enough, you might argue.”

“Certainly.”

“Where do we stand, then?” Hermione stares up at him, her coffee brown eyes burning into his steely grey.

“I think we should take things slow and keep this private considering your circumstances, but… Would it be wrong of me to say we’re officially dating now? Or is that too fast?”

Hermione just smiles.

“Not at all.”

Then, she’s kissing him again. This time around, it’s much warmer. Draco immediately allows himself to lean into it, whatever worries he may have about this chased away by Hermione’s lips molding into his.

#harry potter #hp #hermione granger #draco malfoy #harry potter fanfiction #hp fanfiction #dramione #dramione fanfiction #oneshot #oneshots #drabble #drabbles #past hermione granger/ron weasley #don't @ me for writing harry potter i hate jkr i JUST like the worldbuilding/characters #this is not directly supporting jkr so if you don't like me writing it feel free to block/unfollow

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