***
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open
Say what you need to say
-Say
***
Month after month passed and the dragon grew more and more. They had decided to name him Abeo after a dragon that had died a couple of years ago.
Hermione had spent most of her time with Abeo. Draco was fascinated by the way she treated him. Most researchers that came through their reservation treated all the dragons as nothing more than an experiment. Yet Hermione was something completely different.
She treated all the dragons are if they were her own children, especially Abeo. His huge size seemed to scare many people away, but Hermione had no problem with that. The dragon seemed to like her more than anyone else. Perhaps that was because she treated him as if he were human. Perhaps it was something else.
Draco certainly didn’t know. The only thing he did know for sure is that he never saw anything like it before.
It was not long before Abeo reached full maturity and before anyone knew it, he was soon the biggest dragon on the reservation. No other dragon could match his size or power. Yet Draco knew that as Abeo grew faster and stronger the time for Hermione to leave was nearing.
Soon, the date of her departure was official and surprisingly enough, the news saddened him greatly.
Hermione had become an important part of the reservation. It seems that she had become a friend to all, humans and dragons alike. Every knew her as the one you can always go to for wise advise. She was the one that would always keep their cheer up, no matter what happened. Draco realized that she was always like that, even when they were young. He had just been too proud and ignorant to tell.
The night before, everyone gathered around and threw Hermione a goodbye party. She had smiled all throughout yet Draco saw that there was none of the usual sparkle in the pools of brown.
He was standing on the side when she approached him.
“Hey there,” she said.
“Hey,” he replied.
Hermione looked away and fumbled with her fingers. “Draco, I wanted to thank you.”
“For?”
“Everything you’ve done for the past year.”
Draco’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean? I haven’t done anything. I’ve treated you just like anyone else here.”
She looked up at him. “Exactly.”
And suddenly, Draco knew what she meant. She was thanking him for not being rude to her. For not calling her a Mudblood or any other foul name. She was thanking him for not treating like he had done in the past.
His past. The one thing he had been trying to run away from.
And unexpectedly, everything Draco ever did came rushing back to him like a slap on the face. Memories flashed through his head like lightening.
The people he always bullied.
The way he treated Crabbe and Goyle.
All the foul names he called the Mudbloods.
All the times he disrespected his elders.
The time he had chosen to become a Death Eater.
And most importantly, the broken promise he had made to his mother.
And without notice, the paper in his pocket seemed to scream. He reached into his pocket and took out the same crumbled piece of paper he had held in his hand one year ago.
“Hermione,” he suddenly said, “do you remember the first day you were here. I had asked you for a favour.”
Hermione nodded. “Yes, I remember. You asked me to take something back with me.”
“Well, now that you are actually leaving, I was wondering if you could still do that for me.”
“Sure, I will,” she said. “And who is it supposed to go to?”
Draco’s head fell as he looked at the ground. “My mother,” he replied in a low voice.
Hermione didn’t answer. Draco sensed that something was wrong and looked up at her. “Hermione…what’s wrong?”
Draco felt the wheels running in her head. She was quiet for a moment before she asked, “You don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?” He was almost afraid to ask.
“Your mum is very sick, Draco.”
Draco froze. “How did…when did…how come…what…” He just shook his head, not sure which question to ask first.
Thankfully, Hermione understood. “After you disappeared, your mum became very depressed. She stopped eating, going out, doing anything. It wasn’t a few years later until she started forgetting simple things like where she put her stuff but soon, she started forgetting things like her way home. They took her to St. Mungo’s and she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The story was plastered everywhere, on every newspaper there was. The Healers have been trying everything but you know there is no medical cure for things like these.”
Hermione rambled quickly through her words as Draco’s eyes widened with each word that came out of her mouth. He felt his knees go weak beneath him.
“Ho-how did I not know this?”
Hermione frowned. “I’m really sorry, Draco. I thought you knew,” she finished.
Draco felt something ripping inside him. This was entirely his fault. His mind was started screaming horribly yet when he heard Hermione yell, “Draco!” he knew that the screaming wasn’t in his head at all.
He shook his head and came back to his senses. He looked around to see where the terrible sound was coming from. The Dragon Lair. Where Abeo was kept.
Hermione and Draco gave each other a look before running to see what was happening.
They entered the Dragon’s Lair to find a scene of chaos. Abeo was thrashing around madly. More than a dozen dragon trainers were around him, trying to calm down the beast.
For a moment, Draco tried his best to forget about his own troubles and focus on the matter at hand.
“What happened?” he demanded to closest dragon trainer near him.
“We don’t know. He just went crazy all of sudden. He doesn’t seem to want to calm down,” the man answered.
“Where are the sedatives?” Draco asked.
“Someone is bringing them.”
While Draco was barking out orders, Hermione was trying a different approach. “Abeo!” she called out to the dragon. Yet the dragon did not hear her. He didn’t seem to hear anyone.
The sedatives were brought in. One dragon trainer moved in on the dragon yet Hermione stopped him. “Wait,” she said.
Hermione walked closer to the crazed dragon. “Abeo!” she called out. “Listen to me!”
But before she could get any closer, Draco grabbed her shoulder. “It’s not safe, Hermione.”
“But I could do somethi--”
Draco cut her off. “No, you can’t. Just let it be,” he said and gently pulled her away from the thrashing dragon.
Draco gave one nod to the dragon trainer, signalling that it was okay to go on with giving him the sedative.
Abeo was pronounced dead the next day.
They still hadn’t figured out what went wrong but they were looking. Hermione had decided to cancel her trip going back until she found out what happened.
A week after the tragic death, Draco was still sulking. He would often sit by the pond, alone, and just stare out into the water. It was there where Hermione found him one day.
“May I?” she asked, gesturing to the empty seat beside him.
He nodded without looking up. She sat by him.
“I’m sorry, Draco,” was the first thing she said.
“Not your fault.”
“Well, I’m sorry anyway. I know how much these dragons mean to you.”
Draco did not say anything back and they sat in silence for a moment.
It was Hermione who broke it. “Draco, you should go see your mum.”
Draco tensed beside her. “You know I don’t want to visit my past.” And they both knew it was a lame excuse.
Hermione gave a short laugh. “You’ve learned better than I have that your past will always catch up with you. For some things, you can turn away from them and pretend they don’t exist. Stop giving yourself excuses. You’re just ashamed for running away but it’s about time you stop running. You can’t run away from your past and likewise, you can’t run away from your future either. You just have to face the facts. Things come and go whether you want them to or not. Things you hate may stay in your life forever and things you cherish may disappear right before your eyes. You can’t do anything about that. I advise you to do something before something else you cherish disappears.”
Hermione did not wait for a reply yet got up and walked away, leaving Draco to his thoughts yet the only thing going through his mind was, she’s right.
Draco walked through St.Mungo’s as a Healer led the way. Stares and whispers followed him everywhere he went yet he ignored each and every one of them. Hermione walked beside him. He had asked her to be here. He needed someone’s support and currently, Hermione was his only connection to his past.
After much walking, they reached the room where his mother was being kept.
Draco hesitated before asking, “D-does she remember me?”
The Healer frowned and said sadly, “She doesn’t remember anyone.”
Draco’s eyes flickered toward the door and back towards the Healer, unsure of what to do next.
Then, he felt a small hand on his shoulder. He looked toward Hermione and she gave him a small smile. It was a small gesture yet it meant the world to him. It gave him the power to move forward and without anymore hesitation, he pushed open the door.
And there she was. His mum looked so small and fragile, sitting on a chair behind a desk and scribbling something on a paper. She looked up when the door opened.
Draco slowly went to sit in the chair opposite of hers.
“Narcissa?” he called.
She gave him a look. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Do I know you?”
Draco’s heart sank. He knew she wouldn’t remember him but having her in front of him just made it so much worst.
He reached out across the table and placed his hand on hers. She snatched it back quickly. “Please don’t touch me,” she said.
“Mum, I’m sorry for leaving,” he tried one last time, desperation colouring his voice.
Narcissa’s head snapped up and there was a flicker in her eyes yet it was gone in an instant.
Draco smiled slowly. No matter how quick that flicker was, it was still there.
A flicker of hope.