Second Savior // Dramione ✔️

+ Chapter Five +

Hermione waved goodbye to Draco as he exited the apartment. Mere moments after he left, she heard the sound of her cellphone ringing. Confused, she rounded the corner into her room and grabbed the device off the bureau without checking the Caller ID.

"Hello, this is Hermione."

"Mione? It's Harry," said the familiar voice of her best friend.

Hermione breathed in relief. "Harry! Nice to hear from you. Anything wrong?"

Harry sighed. "Mione, I've called you so many times today! Where were you and Malfoy? Did you find Lucius?"

She slapped her forehead, belittling herself for forgetting to call Harry earlier. "Oh, Harry! I'm sorry, I meant to call you this morning to tell you. Malfoy and I stopped by St. Mungo's to ask about Lucius. It turns out he's been moved to another facility so we're going to start searching."

Harry didn't miss a beat. "Wait, 'we'? Hermione, are you planning on continuing to help Malfoy? Why? Just let him find his father himself."

She felt herself blush slightly. "Yes, I am. Why, is there a reason why I shouldn't? We're not schoolchildren anymore, Harry. We need to overcome our past silly rivalries. I know the thr-two of us had a bad relationship with Malfoy. But he's changed."

He could hear the honesty in her voice and knew she was, per usual, right. "You're right. I'm sorry for being such a pest. It's just...you're my best friend, Hermione. I care so much about you and it would kill me if anyone, not just Malfoy, hurt you in any way. Can you forgive me for being an overprotective, paranoid friend?"

Hermione's face broke into a smile at his words. "Of course. I know you're only looking out for me. I appreciate it, I really do. But I think I can handle being with Malfoy- he's not going to hurt me, Harry. I don't know how I know that...but I can just tell."

There was a brief pause before Harry spoke again. "Just so you know...Ron cares about you, too. Even if you two aren't on the best of terms at the moment. He still loves you."

He tensed, waiting for her to get angry or upset with him for mentioning Ron. But instead she sighed wistfully through the phone.

"I still love him, too. Even after all he's done to me."

¥

Ron laid on top of his bed with his hands behind his head. His mum and dad had gone to bed a while ago, but for some reason he was wide awake. There was a small breeze drifting in through the window, causing the Quidditch World Cup poster on his wall to sway back and forth. Somewhere from outside, an owl hooted and crickets sang.

Ron pursed his lips, gazing blindly into the darkness. Though he appeared to be lazy, his head was drowning in the ocean of thoughts tossing to and fro. It was quite difficult to pick out the individual pieces, but the majority of his thoughts were on Hermione. He hated how he couldn't stop thinking about her, even though he was supposed to be over her.

Finally, he couldn't handle the pounding in his head anymore. With a sudden movement he was sitting up in his bed and throwing on a light sweater with some shoes. Once he was done he opened the bedroom door silently, listening for any signs of his parents. The silence of the Burrow announced they were asleep. Ron grabbed his wand off the desk and shoved it into his pocket before disappearing into the night, not having a clue where to go.

¥

All was still outside when Borgin emerged from the shadows of the building adjacent to the Ole Wizards n' Witches Treatment Center. His eyes swept the area once again to make sure no one else was in sight before ambling to the front door. There were no windows at all on the building, just a door with a pinhole sized peephole at the top. Without wasting any more time, Borgin knocked firmly on the wooden structure and waited.