Changing Seasons

Summer Thaws The Soul

The sky was a hazy blue once more.

The only problem, now that summer had returned to Hogwarts, was the atmosphere around the castle had never been grimmer. Fifth and seventh years were all in full-blown preparation for their O.W.L.S. and N.E.W.T.S., and the war had escalated.

Draco was not surprised by this turn of events. He imagined that both sides had realized it was quite bothersome to fight a tactical battle in the ice and snow.

Hermione had been a huge comfort and now they were studying for the exams together. It seemed like no time had passed since that first night at the lake, but he felt as if she was the only person in the world who existed to him.

Potter and Weasley were idiots.

After discovering the increase in attacks, they both decided school was overrated and ran off to fight with the Order. Potter, obviously, was going to be needed at the end, but Draco felt that was no reason to go risk life and limb until it was necessary.

They tried to get Hermione to go with them, of course, but she patiently explained that her place was here as Head Girl. The younger students had to know someone would stay and protect them as many of the older students went off to join the war-effort.

Potter and Weasley had thrown a fit after that, saying she was abandoning them and had turned traitor since she was hanging around him. All in all, their accusations upset her and made her very weary since they had left. Draco had done his best to be as understanding as possible, helping her with her review and keeping her company in the library, but he honestly thought she was better off without them.

He was the only one who truly appreciated her.

Draco could see the fascinating woman she had grown into, no longer just the bookworm or the insufferable know-it-all, but a person who was as caring as she was intelligent. She was beautiful, inside and out.

Sometime he felt like his eyes were burning when he glanced at her, blinded by her goodness, her absolute purity. She was his angel of mercy. He was no longer stuck in perpetual winter. Her warmth had melted all his defenses.

Finally, what was left of the seventh year class sat down to take their N.E.W.T.S. Considering that they'd been preparing for these exams for nearly seven years, it seemed like they passed in a blur. Even Draco and Hermione, who were arguably the two smartest students in the school, had a hard time recalling the questions on the written part or the incantations for the practical.

The next day, they relaxed down at the lake at what had become 'their' spot to let the stress of the past month drain away. It was a calm, languid day making them drowsy as they reclined on the bank and watched the dragonflies skipping along the water's surface.

Draco should have known better.

That night, everything changed.

It came in the form of an innocuous letter, addressed simply 'Hermione Granger, Hogwarts School.' She didn't open it at the dinner table, opting to instead read it in her room once she was secluded away from everyone but him.

Her parents, Hermione's Muggle dentist parents, had been killed. Murdered as a message to Potter that no one was untouchable, not even the families of his friends.

The heavens fell and rain poured down like tears as Hermione collapsed in his arms, great, heaving sobs racking her slight frame as she clung to him, not unlike he did so with her a few months prior.

Draco sympathized with her as he wrapped himself around her, nearly eclipsing her body against his chest. He knew how acute that pain was, knew how blinding it could be.

At the same time, he felt guilty. For not being able to save her from the same fate as him, for not being able to take that pain away, but mostly, he was guilty for his immediate thoughts after she handed him the letter to the sound of her weeping.

She needed him. They were on even ground. He could keep her now.

He so wanted to keep her, to take her away to some remote location and forget the rest of the world existed. He wanted to take her by the hand and never look back. Maybe, maybe.

Nevertheless, that was neither here nor there, and the most important thing was helping her heal. Thankfully, the exams were finished so the news wouldn't distract her, and he knew it would have even though she would've tried her best to put it to the back of her mind as she continued on with her scholastic achievements.

There were only two more weeks until graduation.

During those two weeks, Potter defeated the Dark Lord, all the remaining Death Eaters were captured, and he held her every night as she worked through her grief. He helped her make the arrangements for her parents' burial and even attended the service with her. Draco didn't want her to leave his side. She was the only attachment he had left in this world.

The day before graduation, Potter and company returned to Hogwarts to the symphony of celebratory cheers. Hermione's presence was noticeably absent and they searched her out where Draco was sitting with her in the Head common room on the window-seat, her head tucked under his chin and his arms enfolding her.

They had the audacity, the audacity, to insist Hermione should be happy, the war was over, isn't this what they had worked for. Why was she so upset? They're sorry her parents were killed, but the war is over. They can live in peace now.

Draco kicked them out soon after for making her feel guilty that she was still in mourning. He figured, out of all people, Potter would understand, but he supposed that was giving The-Boy-Who-Lived too much credit.

Graduation came and went.

The two of them observed all the rituals of the landmark tradition. Hermione gave the speech she'd written months before as her last duty as Head Girl, certificates were handed out, and class awards were announced. It was a rather unremarkable affair, but the air thrummed with the excitement of victory.

After the crowds dispersed and began to mingle amongst themselves, Hermione approached him.

"Take me away from here, Draco. The air is suffocating me."

Their trunks were already packed up and being sent to their respective homes by the house-elves so there was no reason to stay, no reason to chat, no reason to pretend.

Draco curled his hand underneath her chin and dropped a sweet, chaste kiss on her delicate lips, a brush of skin that made them both tremble at the feeling behind it. He gazed intensely into her coffee eyes, promising her the world in that one look, a vow of forever. They joined hands and walked out the door of the Great Hall.

They never looked back.

The End