In The Head Lights - Chapter Seventeen

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, as much as I wish I do.

***

The days grew longer, not to mention warmer, and before everyone knew it, exams were almost upon them. All the students spent their nights studying, only retreating to bed in the early hours of the morning as exhaustion and fatigue set in. The seventh years were under more stress than ever with their upcoming N.E.W.T exams, and with two weeks to go before the stressful period was over, three students had already been the recipients of a calming potion and a brief stay in the hospital wing.

With the increased amounts of revision and homework, the time between Draco and Hermione in which they could just relax together had all but disappeared, and though there were many late nights, they were spent with books spread across the common room as they tried with all their might to absorb the words which had started to flow into one. Along with the late nights and heavy stress loads came irritability, and the two had begun to bicker which resulted in long silences whilst they worked, the tension only broken when one of the two went to bed, and by the morning, all memories of the argument were gone.

Lessons were spent frantically scribbling down notes which would soon become their bedtime reading in stifling hot classrooms. The warmer weather made it harder for students to concentrate, but even the slackest of students were writing notes, but no one had as many as Hermione who hardly looked up from her parchment during lessons, her quill flying along the scroll.

When she wasn’t in lessons or in the common room studying, she was in the library, searching for any extra information which may help her get the top marks which she was already destined to get. Anyone who tried to disturb her during these frantic searches for information got yelled at, or threatened with mild hexes.

Sure that she wouldn’t pass the exams, the night before the exams began she broke down in the middle of the common room, much to Draco’s shock. The two had been working in silence when all of a sudden she dropped her book on transfiguration and burst into tears, her loud, ripping sobs echoing throughout the room.

“What’s wrong?” Draco asked worriedly, abandoning his Charms revision and rushing over to scoop Hermione up into his arms.

“I’m…not…going…to…pass!” she wailed, clutching at his shirt as he placed her on the couch.

“Sweetheart, you know more about all of these subjects than anyone else in the year! You’ll come top of every class, and you would even without all this studying. You need a break, I think,” Draco decided, carefully removing her hands from his shirt and waving his wand to make the kettle boil. With another flick he had poured the water into a ready and waiting teapot which he summoned towards them, and poured them both a cup of tea.

“No, I’m not going to pass! I just know that I’ll forget everything! I’m going to be hopeless!” she cried, slumping back into the cushions.

“Hermione, drink this, then go to bed. You need a good night’s sleep more than anything right now,” Draco said, not giving her a choice in the matter as he forced the steaming mug into her hands.

She slurped at it slowly, still slumped into the cushions, the tear tracks clear on her face. Once she had finished her hands dropped, and Draco took this as a sign that she had drunk all the tea she would drink. She didn’t make any movements to stand up, so he picked her up again, her hanging limply in his arms. She seemed to have cried all her hysteria away and her exhaustion had broken through. Placing her on his bed, Draco removed the heavier layers of Hermione’s clothing and tucked her under the blankets.

“I’ll be up soon, okay?” he reassured her, kissing her lightly on the lips. She gave a murmured response which he couldn’t make out, and he went back to the common room where, with a wave of his wand, the books flew neatly back onto the shelves and the tea flew to the shelf.

He then climbed the stairs again, stripped off into just his boxers, and climbed in beside Hermione, holding her body close against his, and drifting off to sleep.

***

“I think I might have messed up one of the questions on Patronuses, but I’m not sure,” Hermione fretted as they walked out of the Great Hall after finished their Charms exam, which was their final one. “I think that I got some of the theory behind making a Patronus send a message mixed up.”

“Hermione, you must have aced it. You’ve been doing more work than any of us, and you took the longest to finish,” Harry laughed, the feeling of apprehension at the upcoming exams lifting off of his shoulders.

Draco, Hermione, Harry and Ron were all walking from the Hall, Draco and Hermione holding hands, as per usual, and Harry and Ron joking around.

“Fancy a walk around the lake?” Harry asked, and they all agreed vehemently.

“Hey, Mione, can I talk to you for a minute?” Ron asked, Hermione cringing at the use of this nickname. “In private,” he added as Draco started to move towards him with Hermione still holding his hand.

“It’ll be fine, I promise. You and Harry go down to the lake, we’ll catch up,” Hermione said reassuringly, kissing Draco softly on the lips.

“Okay,” he said warily, trailing a hand along Hermione’s cheek. He looked like he wasn’t going to leave, but then he turned away and headed out the front doors with Harry.

“D’you mind if we talk somewhere I little quieter?” Ron asked, raising his voice slightly over the loud chatter of students which flowed through the Great Hall.

“Sure, I don’t mind,” Hermione shrugged, and Ron grabbed her hand with sweaty palms and pulled her into an empty room. “What did you want to talk about which involved Draco and Harry not being here?”

Ron looked around the room, an empty classroom, avoiding Hermione’s gaze. “Us,” he croaked out finally.

“Us? What about us?”

“Are you happy, Hermione? Are you really happy being with Malfoy?” Ron asked, a certain tone of desperation in his voice.

“Yes, yes I am happy with Draco. To be honest, there has never been a time in my life where I’ve been happier than the time that I’m with him,” she blushed, looking down.

“You weren’t happier when you were with me?”

This was the part she had been dreading. “Ron, I love you, I really do. But only as a brother. Draco, well, he’s more than I could ever have hoped for, and I love him with all my heart. I’m sorry,” she said, feeling tears prick at the back of her eyes. She wanted to leave, to get out of this small room filled with tension, and to go down to the lake with Draco and Harry, where she could be free. She turned and made way to leave.

“Wait!” Ron cried out, and she felt his hand wrap around her wrist. He pulled her back and turned her body to face him, and, before she knew what was coming, he had pressed his lips forcefully to hers. He pushed her up against the wall with more force than intended, and Hermione winced in pain. Instead of trying to fight him off, she let him kiss her, hoping that he would take her lack of enthusiasm as a sign to back off. She was nowhere near strong enough to fight him off physically, and she couldn’t reach her wand in this position.

After a few moments of realizing Hermione wasn’t responding, Ron let her go and stepped away, touching a hand to his lips.

“What the hell was that?” Hermione snapped.

“You told me you loved me!”

“Like a brother! I’m pretty damn sure you don’t kiss Ginny like that!”

“You didn’t feel anything?” Ron asked, changing the subject, his face serious.

“No, I didn’t feel anything, Ron. I don’t love you like that, and you need to accept that I love Draco, and move on. We were never meant to last,” Hermione said softly, and Ron looked crestfallen.

“You love him? After everything he has put us, everything he has put you through? I thought you were meant to be sensible, the smartest witch of our time,” Ron said bitterly.

“To you and everyone else, I’m sure our relationship looks incredibly odd, but forgive and forget. Of course, there are some things Draco has done in the past which are, regrettably, unforgivable, but I do the best I can. I’ve never been more sure of myself and my feelings than when I’m with Draco. I know that might be hard for you to understand, but I’m telling the truth here,” Hermione said sincerely.

Ron opened his mouth to say something, but paused for a moment. “Well, then, I’m happy for you two,” he finally conceded.

“You don’t mean that.”

“You’re right, I don’t mean that. But I am happy to see you happy,” he shrugged, and Hermione’s face broke out into a smile.

“Thank you,” she said happily, and hugged him tightly. It felt right. Just two friends hugging. “Let’s go join the others.”

The two walked down to the lake where they could see Harry and Draco lounging around, and when they approached, Draco jumped up and scooped Hermione up, spinning her around.

“Put me down!” she squealed, tears of laughter forming in her eyes. Draco chuckled and put her down, kissing her lightly on the lips and releasing all of her except one hand. Harry and Ron rolled their eyes at their display of affection, but the couple just smiled.

“So, two more weeks at Hogwarts,” Harry sighed, picking some of the grass around him.

“Yeah, it’s going to be sad to leave here for the last time,” Ron said, looking around the castle fondly.

“Where are you going to go, Harry? Back to Grimauld Place?” Hermione asked, looking at him with concern. He wouldn’t want to go back to the Dursley’s, that was for sure.

“Yeah, I might go back there and do up the place. Y’know, just a few renovations and stuff,” Harry shrugged. “What about you, Hermione. What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to go back and see my parents for a while, but I think I might move out fairly soon after, probably just into a small flat or something. I don’t need much room,” Hermione said pointedly, leaning back into Draco.

“Are you two thinking of moving in together any time soon?”

Hermione tilted her head back onto Draco’s shoulder, and he smiled down at her. “If we were going to move in together, then we were definitely not going to move back into my manor. I never want to go back to that place. It’s so empty, and dark, and we haven’t exactly had the best memories there,” Draco grimaced, remembering last Easter holidays. “Of course, we’ve lived together for almost a year now, just not in our own apartment or anything.”

“I’d be happy for you to move in with me once I got my own apartment settled and everything,” Hermione smiled up at him, and his face lit up. “I’ll take that as a yes,” she said confidently, and turned to face Ron. “Are you going back to the Burrow?”

“Hm, what? Oh, yeah, probably. Mum wants me to go back and all, so I’ll go back there for a while I guess. George offered to share his flat above the shop with me, and I’ll probably take him up on that offer. He said that an extra hand around the shop would come in handy, so I think I’ll take that job as well,” Ron grinned, imagining working at a joke shop.

“Mate, you have a one way pass into being an auror, and you want to work in a joke shop instead?” Harry asked, stunned. He was going to go straight into working as an auror after being offered a position there as soon as the war ended.

“Life hasn’t exactly been a barrel of laughs since I was about eleven, and I’m pretty sure I want some time to just chill out,” Ron shrugged.

“Yeah, I ‘spose. What about you two? What do you think you guys want to do?” Harry asked, stretching out and lying down.

“Something to do with the Ministry, that’s for sure, but I haven’t decided what department I’m interested in,” Draco shrugged. “I feel that, after all Lucius has done, I should give something back.”

“I’m not sure. I’m interested in healing, of course, but then I think about jobs at the Ministry which interest me. I might work in Diagon Alley for a little while, or something like that, before I go ahead and make my decision,” Hermione decided. “Let me guess, Harry. You’re going to go straight into working as an auror?”

They all laughed, and Harry nodded. “For sure. Life without chasing Voldemort has been awfully dull lately,” he grinned, and they all laughed again.

***

“I’m so nervous,” Hermione sighed, staring at her reflection in the mirror.

It was the night of the seventh year’s graduation, and it was required that they all dress up to accept their diplomas, at which point their education at Hogwarts was officially over. In two days time the Hogwarts Express would depart Hogsmede for the summer holidays, and for the last time for the seventh years.

“You look beautiful,” Draco murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her cheek softly. Hermione was dressed in a stunning set of dress robes. The fabric which was a deep red came to just above her knees where it fell in a pretty tulle skirt. The bust was lightly patterned with barely visible flowers, and the straps were thin with a lace trim. She had left her hair curly but had put it up in a messy up-do which let the soft curls hang by her shoulders.

Draco brushed them away and kissed her neck, and she leant back into him.

“Stop, Draco. I don’t want you to, but we have to be in the Great Hall in five minutes, and I don’t think it would be prudent of us to turn up late and thoroughly disheveled,” Hermione said, turning around in his grasp and kissing his lips softly.

“Fine,” he said, letting her from his arms. She slipped her feet into a pair of heels and, steadying herself on Draco’s arm, they walked down to the Great Hall together. They had just taken the final step down the staircase when Professor McGonagall rushed over, her long black dress robes rustling with each step she took.

“Ah, Mr Malfoy, Ms Granger, there you are! The Head Boy and Girl are meant to lead the year group, so if you would please follow me to the front,” she said, eyeing the couple up and down before rushing away with Draco and Hermione struggling to keep pace. “Now, if you stand here, I’ll go and round up the other students, and then we can head in. All the guests are already here,” McGonagall explained before hurrying away.

“Don’t let me trip,” Hermione said warningly.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Draco grinned, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

The doors opened, music started, and they began walking. The Hall looked vastly different. All the tables were gone, instead replaced by rows upon rows of seats in which family members and close friends were sitting, watching the seventh years walk in. At the very front of the hall was a stage, and just before you reached those there were more seats, these ones reserved for the students.

Hermione and Draco took their seats right at the front, and Draco saw her visibly relax once they were seated and she was off her feet.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, and Draco saw her standing behind a little podium where there were stacks of paper.

“Welcome one and all to the graduation of this year group. I would like to thank you all for coming, your support for these students is greatly appreciated. Now, I would like to start off by handing out the certificates which each student will receive. Following this, special awards will be handed out to certain students,” McGonagall said loudly, and began to read off the list. “Hannah Abbot, Hufflepuff!”

Hermione kept her eyes up front, waiting for her name to be called. She could feel the nervousness creep up on her as McGonagall approached her name in the list she was reading from and her palms grew sweaty.

“Hermione Granger, Gryffindor!” McGonagall cried, and, on shaky legs, Hermione stood, releasing Draco’s hand and walked with false confidence up the stairs to where Professor McGonagall was waiting, diploma in hand. Hermione shook hands with the headmistress who gave a rare warm smile to her and, still on shaky legs, walked across the stage and down the stairs to great applause from the audience.

She resumed her seat, a true smile forming widely on her face, and Draco squeezed her hand.

“Congratulations,” he whispered in her ear, leaning over and kissing her cheek softly as another few students walked across the stage.

“Draco Malfoy, Slytherin!”

Taking a deep breath, Draco stood up and, with real confidence on his behalf, walked up the stairs and shook hands firmly with Professor McGonagall, who murmured a quiet congratulation to him as the hall echoed with applause. He came down the stairs on the other side of the stage quickly and sat back down next to Hermione, who was smiling broadly at him. She leant over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips which he returned greedily.

“Harry Potter, Gryffindor!”

It was like the Great Hall exploded. Nearly everyone got to their feet as Harry walked up, all of them applauding loudly. Hermione saw him grin and go slightly red as he walked up the stairs to shake Professor McGonagall’s hand, and the applause didn’t die away until Harry had sat down again and McGonagall released a few firecrackers out of the end of her wand.

“Settle down, please!” she said loudly, and as the applause faded away, she continued reading from her list.

“Harry’s popular,” Draco said quietly, smirking.

“I wonder why,” Hermione grinned, and they both laughed quietly to themselves.

McGonagall ended with Blaise, and then began the special awards.

“Hermione Granger, for special services to the school, Head Girl, highest marks in the year for females, and for contributions to the school community,” McGonagall said, and Hermione, this time not as nervous, went up quickly, shaking McGonagall’s hand and smiling as a photographer snapped a photograph of her before taking her seat again.

“To Draco Malfoy, Head Boy, highest marks in the year for males, Quidditch captain of the Slytherin team, and for contributions to the school community!” Draco stood up and followed Hermione’s lead, giving a top class smile as the flash on the photographer’s camera went off.

“Harry Potter, for special services to the school, Quidditch captain of the Gryffindor team, and contributions to the school community,” the headmistress said, and once again the hall burst into loud applause as Harry walked up the stairs to shake hands with Professor McGonagall and for a photo.

“Ronald Weasely, for special services to the school and contributions to the school community,” Professor McGonagall said once the applause for Harry had finally died away, and Ron, his face a shade of red similar to his hair, stood up and shook hands with McGonagall, still blushing as the photographer snapped a shot of him.

“Congratulations to all of you! Now, if you will please stand,” Professor McGonagall instructed, and once the audience were on the feet she waved her wand, causing small tables to appear within the Great Hall. “If you would please take a seat with whomever you wish to sit with, dinner shall begin!”

As people began to mull about, finding their seats, Draco pulled Hermione close to him, kissing her lips.

“Congratulations. We’re now Hogwarts graduates,” he smiled as they broke apart, and Hermione beamed. “Shall we find seats?”

“That sounds good to me,” Hermione agreed, and they wandered around until they found Ron and Harry standing talking to Mr and Mrs Weasely and Bill and Fleur.

“Hermione, dear! Congratulations! All those awards!” Mrs Weasely cried, swooping down and embracing Hermione tightly. “Are your parents here?”

“No, I’m afraid not. It’s very difficult for them to make the trip up here, considering they’re muggles and all,” Hermione explained, and Mrs Weasely nodded understandingly.

“Congratulations to you too, Draco,” Mr Weasely said, giving a slight smile to the tall blonde who smiled in return.

“Thank you, sir,” Draco said politely.

“Would you like to join us?” Bill asked, indicating the table they were standing next to.

“That would be lovely, Bill,” Hermione said warmly, and the large group sat down, talking loudly to each other.

***

“Are you ready?” Draco called as he stood in the common room, trunk by his side.

“Just a minute!” came the response from Hermione’s room, and five minutes later she came down, her trunk levitating behind her.

“You know, that was more like five minutes,” Draco complained, and Hermione poked her tongue out at him. “We should get going.”

“Probably,” Hermione sighed, taking one long look around the room before allowing herself to be led out by Draco. “I’m going to miss this place.”

“I know, so am I,” Draco said regretfully, running his hand down the smooth stone banister as he and Hermione headed to the front doors where all their luggage was expected to be left before they hopped into the carriages to take them down to Hogsmede one last time. “We should hurry. Almost everyone else has already left.”

With one last look around the castle which had become their home, Draco and Hermione walked out the front doors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and climbed into a carriage pulled by the thestrals.

“It feels weird to be leaving after such a normal year,” Hermione remarked.

“Normal? How was this year normal?” Draco asked skeptically.

“Well, normally I’d be fighting off Voldemort or going on some crazy adventure with Harry and Ron, but this year has been rather quiet. It’s odd.”

“Yes, because falling in love with your old enemy is totally normal,” Draco said sarcastically, and Hermione elbowed him in the ribs gently.

“Well it’s normal for me in comparison to all the other years where I’ve been chasing after Ron and Harry,” Hermione grinned as the carriage came to a stop.

They stepped out onto Hogsmede Station and looked as the students swarmed towards the large scarlet train which stood waiting on the track. Harry spotted them and waved them over, and the couple pushed their way through the crowd to get to their friend.

“Hey, guys. You’re running late,” Harry noted.

“Yes, somebody took a while to get ready,” Draco said, raising his eyebrows at Hermione who smiled guiltily.

“That would be me,” she grinned, and the boys laughed. “We should probably go and find a compartment somewhere.”

“Good idea,” Draco agreed and the three of them searched along the train for an empty compartment, Ron, Ginny and Blaise joining them on the way. At last they found an empty compartment and they piled in.

“Feels weird to be going home and knowing we won’t be coming back, doesn’t it?” Ron remarked, and they all nodded vehemently.

“Easy for you to say. I still have another year,” Ginny sighed.

“Oh right, you’re a young one,” Ron smirked, and they all laughed as Ginny glowered at him.

“I’m not that young,” she pouted, and Harry smiled as he kissed her forehead.

“No, not at all,” he said reassuringly, winking towards the others.

“Hermione, come talk to me outside for a minute, okay?” Draco asked, and Hermione nodded, wondering why Draco would want to talk to her in private. Her mind immediately jumped to all the wrong conclusions, and she felt herself growing worried.

“What is it?” she asked in a small voice once they had found another empty compartment.

“There are things I want to say to you, things that I feel I would be too embarrassed to say in front of all the others. I love you, so, so much. More than you would ever know, as it happens. I wanted to let you know that the first time I saw you this year, I was like a deer in the headlights – I couldn’t look away. I’ve fallen absolutely head over heels in love with you, as stupid as that may sound,” Draco said, looking Hermione directly in the eyes.

She brushed his cheek softly with her hand, not breaking the eye contact they shared. “You have no idea how amazing it sounds to hear you say that. I love you so much,” she murmured, standing slightly on her toes until their lips brushed and the familiar warmth spread through their bodies. “We should probably go join the others or they might get the wrong idea.”

“If we have to,” Draco sighed, but let her lead the way back into the compartment where the others were talking loudly.

“Nice of you to join us,” Blaise grinned, and Draco rolled his eyes.

The rest of the train ride went by with casual conversation and playful banter between all of them, and as they stepped off the Hogwarts Express for the final time, Hermione couldn’t help but feel that everything was going to be alright.

***