Amor Semper Viam Inveniam

Flashback 26

"No bird can fly without opening its wings, and no one can love without exposing their hearts,"

-Mark Nepo-

"When I heard she died, I mourned her death longer than my grandfather's,"

He was speaking in a distant manner again, his eyes glazed while staring openly at the warm fireplace. His silver eyes unblinking even as the flames threatened to burn his black trousers.

But he continued to hold her hand, and Hermione gave him a gentle squeeze to carry on.

He glanced back at her, leaning over ever so slightly, before brushing a few strands of her soft hair from her sweaty forehead. She didn't move, simply continuing to leaned against his shoulders.

He was the one who insisted. Somehow, a Slytherin's protectiveness would outshine all the four houses' traits when blossomed.

She had nagged and whined about being too warm, but he simply wouldn't hear any of it. Hermione had woken up with a few thick blankets draped over her until her neck felt like suffocating- most of them was his own or had been summoned by in the room.

He also moved the sofa closer to the fire.

Draco was there when she woke up, on the feet of the sofa staring up at her. She asked what had happened, vaguely remembering the day's incidents leading up to her panic attack. He told her, calmly and patiently, answering each of her answer with an almost stoic manner. His tone switched into an air of curiosity as he told her about the vial she had, and Hermione carefully explained that it was a gift- before Draco handed her the little life-saver back.

The vial had been emptied before- and now it was full to the brim, as if no one had ever taken a sip of it.

Draco let the matter dropped.

He handed her the usual hot chocolate, before they sat in silence, basking in the peaceful quietness each had offered. She was the one who began to talk like usual- nonchalantly asking him to continue his earlier conversation, with her curiosity still burning.

He refused at first.

Hermione gave him a disappointed sigh and pretendedly caved in, curling herself into a tiny ball as she continued to sipped her drink. He finally agreed, trying to ignore the little light that popped back in place in her brown eyes.

"It's ironic really-" scoffed Draco as he continued, "I only met her once. But it was the beginning of everything,"

She looked up from her position, and he registered the subtle act that she was asking why.

"It was the moment where everything finally dawned on me," Draco offered, drawing circles on her smooth skin, "-that life offers no mercy, no matter how much we had begged for it,"

His voice faltered in the last syllable.

"Do you-" Hermione started, unsure what to asked. This was a different version of her, this was a different time he was referring to. "Do you- think she might be someone you would care...if...she was alive?"

His lips twitched, noting the slightly higher pitch of her voice, the possessiveness in her eyes for a minute, and the shift in her hips.

"I would like to think that she sees me in the same way as well," he answered, glancing at her with the faintest of warning, silently knowing she would drop the topic.