Dramione: stop calling me Malfoy

3. Your safe now

The first thing I heard when I woke up was someone singing. It was a man's voice, soft and low. Who ever it was sounded lost and fragile. Rolling over quietly, I saw Draco sitting cross-legged at the desk. He had a roll of parchment in front of him and a quill in his hand. He hadn't noticed me yet.

"I'm falling," he sang. "Falling towards the end of life. Falling to where there is no light, Falling to where it's always night, falling towards the end." HE scribbled on the paper, his brow knitted. Mumbling under his breath, he bit his lip.

"You're good," I said. He looked over, franticly rolling up his work.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I was waiting for you to wake up." I nodded, rubbing my eyes. His voice was still hoarse, but sleep had done it some good. Draco was still wearing his jeans from last night, and a crisp black sweater. I pulled myself out from under the warm covers and found a change of clothes in my bag while he looked at me. When I returned from the bathroom his eyes still followed me. It made me nervous.

"Shall we?" I asked? He nodded. We walked out into the hallway, through the TV room, Draco eyed the TV curiously, and into the main living room, which merged into the kitchen through an archway, in silence. Snow was falling outside the large bay windows to our left. Draco walked over to them and looked out at all the white, his hands in his jeans pocket. His hair was a little messy, but still laid flat and straight across his head, and reflected the sun onto the ceiling. I walked into the kitchen. My mother was sitting at the island reading a book, her shiny brown hair flecked with grey. Blue eyes were eagerly scanning the novel, her square face set in concentration.

"Mom?" I said, leaning against the arch. She looked up and squealed, pleasure spreading across her face, happy to see her only daughter. She stood up and ran towards me, wrapping bony arms around me in a large hug.

"Sweetie, it's so nice to see you," she said, fast as lightning. "Your father's getting the paper in town, he'll be back soon. How was your flight, did you get sick? You always used to get sick... Did you sleep well? Oh, you look starved, here, have a waffle." With that she pushed me into a chair. I was dazed, but didn't have long to recover before she turned around and saw Draco. "Who's this young man?" She asked, though she knew the answer.

"This is Draco Malfoy, he'll be staying with us for a while," I said as he ventured shyly into the kitchen. Extending a hand he said,

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Granger, I've heard so much about you." I did my best to suppress a snicker, though not a flicker of amusement spread across his. She didn't seem to expect such manors and took a look over his handsome face.

"It's nice to meet you too Mr. Malfoy. Would you like some breakfast? I made waffles!" She waved over to a tall stack of golden waffles.

"That would be lovely, thank you," he said as he sat down in a chair next to mine. I settled back down into my chair as my mother set down two plated in front of us. Even though he sounded cheery and happy to my mother, I could feel his discomfort vibrating in his voice. He began to cut up his food without making any noise, something I had always found impossible. My mother caught my eye, confused.

"Hermy, would you help me with the coffee?" I joined her by the coffee maker. She lent into my ear and whispered, "I thought he was a git?" I pushed a filter into the machine as she filled it up with water.

"People change," I whispered back. It was true, he had changed. I suppose that such a devastating event as becoming an orphan changed his personality. He hadn't said one mean thing to me since the end of 6th year. He was polite now, too. And there was the jolt I felt when he looked at me, or touched me. That was definitely new. Mom didn't respond to my comment, just murmured,

"He's very handsome." With that she flipped the appliance on and sauntered away. She had a point. Before he had saved Harry's life I had despised him and pitied him, making him seem ugly in my mind. I wasn't allowed to fancy him. He was Ron and Harry's enemy, but now I didn't have to hate him, and I could admit, finally, though being sad didn't do his features justice. I sat down and began to eat my waffles.

"So Draco, what do you do as a job?" She asked. Here come the rude questions. He didn't have a job since he was in hiding, and I was scared to hear his answer. He wiped his mouth politely with his own personal handkerchief and handled the situation with grace.

"I'm currently unemployed because of my lack of ability to hold a position, though I intend on getting one in town." This didn't please mom, she was loosing control of the conversation. Frustration rippled off of her. Draco pretended not to notice. I tried to stay out of it and ate a square of waffle.

"Then what do your parents do?" I dropped my knife on the ground out of surprise. When I had written my parents a letter explaining why Draco would be joining us I had told them about his recent loss. As I picked up the knife he said,

"They recently passed away," in a gloomy voice. My mother gasped and apologized, though I could tell she didn't mean it. He stared at his food. I glared at my mother. Then she did something even worse, she asked how.

"Mother!" I proclaimed. She held her hands over her head and asked, "What what?" I wanted to smack her.

"It's okay Hermione," he said softly. My mother put her hands down and stared intensely at him. He didn't look up and took a deep breath. "My parents were mu-murdered by You-You-You-Know-Who." My mother gasped again and pretended to be all flustered. "Now if you excuse me, I am no longer hungry." With that he pushed away from the table and marched off.

"Really mother, what a terrible thing to do!" I yelled, then pushed away from the table as well and followed Draco's shadow out of the kitchen and down to the guestroom. When I entered he was sitting on his bed, facing the wall, his head in his hands. I closed the door behind me and slowly walked across to the bed. Something inside of me told me to sit down next to him, so I did. He didn't look up. It pained me to see him like this, shaking and vulnerable. I wrapped my arms around him and guided his head onto my shoulder. He was crying, big fat tears fell onto my back, but I didn't mind. When I was upset I turned to Harry and Ron for comfort, but Draco had no one to go to. Just like on the plane I whispered into his ear.

"Ssh, it's okay, you're safe now. I'm here for you." I pulled him tight and rocked him slowly back and forth.

"I just hated them so much," he whimpered.

"I know, I know," I murmured, trying to sound soothing. He snuffled.

"Why does it hurt so much if... if I hated them?" I had never lost anyone that close to me, so I didn't know what to say.

"They were your parents, of course it hurts." I ran my fingers through the back of his hair. It was wispy, almost like unicorn hair, similar to satin. "Of course it hurts." We stayed that way for at least twenty minutes, just rocking backward and forward, until he stopped crying. He pulled away and I saw his eyes were slightly blue, just little droplets mixed in with the gray. His cheeks had glistening trails from where the tears had fallen. He took out his handkerchief and wiped off the tears. We swiveled around and sat next to each other, our legs hanging off the bed.

"I'm sorry about my mom," I said. He shook his head.

"You warned me." Our legs swung back and forth. "Why are you being so nice to me?" He asked finally. I could tell it'd been bugging him.

"Because you saved my friend's life, so now I'll save yours." I said simply.

"I've never needed saving before," he mumbled, and I looked over. Our eyes met and I shivered again. There was a connection between us, and something told me there was more to Draco then I thought.