Scars That Heal (Dramione Fanfiction) [COMPLETE]

40 - Sharing Space

After that one day off, nobody had any inclination to spent much longer revising. Hermione felt her chest tighten at the idea of being unprepared come May, but ignored it in favour of her friends. The thought of her NEWTs was building inside her, and she was starting to realise that they really weren't too far away. Hermione was terrified of failing. It had always been in her nature to strive for the top spot, and after all her time in the Hospital Wing she had only just finished catching up with all her subjects. She knew that having a few days away from her studies was probably a good thing, but she couldn't help feeling a twinge at all the hours she could have spent on perfecting her knowledge. Particularly as Professor Feathersworth was piling on extra revision topics for those "with spare time", and she had agreed to do some more Support Sessions at the weekends again...

Draco had to keep reminding her that she didn't have to do everything at once, and that she needed a break every so often just the same.

"I'm not sure why you're so worried," he smiled gently, "You're back on track after the catch-up, and you're still getting top marks in everything. Which is annoying, considering we wrote those Herbology essays together and I still got two marks less than you." Hermione sighed.

"I'm not sure either. I'm as prepared as I can be, but I still feel like any time I'm not working I'm just wasting those minutes. I guess I've always been like this, I'm terrible at taking a break and relaxing."

"Does time with me count as wasted time?" Draco asked with a grin, nudging her with his elbow.

"Oh, go away, of course not!" Hermione laughed, putting her arm around him. "But I just end up feeling constantly busy and stressed even when I'm not."

"You would be a nightmare to live with, always working and fretting," Draco said fondly. "But I'd still like to live with you when we leave school."

"Ah, but would you really, though?" Hermione wrinkled her nose. "I never put my clothes away, I forget to wash up when I'm at home, my bedroom still looks like something exploded in there, and, as you say, I'm a stressed-out wreck. I'd always be asking for help and I'm really needy, to be honest."

"If I can put up with you now, I'm sure I can cope later," Draco said, hugging Hermione to his side as they walked. "And... I know it seems a bit soon, possibly, but... would you like to live together when we leave school? Because I know you still have all your things at your mum's house, and you might not want to move away yet, and that's fine, it's just I've not really got anywhere to go and I'll definitely get my own house and I'd like to share with someone, but if you aren't ready yet then I'll be fine, I just --"

"Shut up, I'd love to," Hermione grinned. "We'd need to find somewhere that's big enough for my book collection, though."

"If I've still got my inheritance by the time I've told my father I'm not marrying Astoria, then we'll have more than enough money to buy somewhere big." Draco said, a little bitterly.

"You sound upset about that," Hermione noted.

"I just wish I wasn't so dependent on my parents for money and things. I know they can spare it, obviously, but I'd much rather earn the money myself. I feel like I owe them something, and I suppose I do, but I'd honestly rather distance myself from them as much as possible now I have the chance." Draco said, frowning a little.

"As you said, they can spare the money. And you don't really owe them anything. If you really feel you ought to, then we can save up for a house together and buy it with our own earnings. I'm sure we could manage."

Hermione imagined what it would be like, coming home to Draco after work, cooking dinner together and eating in the living room. Maybe they could get a dog? They would have free run of whatever they wanted to do with their house. She could choose the paintings on the walls, the colour of the carpet, the pattern of their bedsheets. It was their future. And they had it together.