c h a p t e r t w e n t y f i v e

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"What are you doing on my couch, Draco?" Hermione questioned as she walked into the living room.

Draco didn't say anything. He simply raised the letter in the air and waited for Hermione to take it. She raised an eyebrow at his behaviour but refrained from commenting on it as she read the letter.

"Your parents are coming back to England?" she asked, handing it back to him. "Yes." he replied simply. "They don't know about me?" "No."

Hermione sighed and sat next to the boy. "Are you alright?"Draco looked up at her and shrugged, "The man I hate is coming home and so are my Mother's unrealistically high standards." he said, resting his head on her shoulder.

"How long have you been sat here?" she asked, oblivious to his actions. He made a small humming sound. "Ever since an owl delivered me this sodding letter at the crack of dawn." Draco replied.

Hermione laughed slightly and shook her head, "What are you going to do?""She'll probably care about the soulmate thing. I don't really know what to do about that." he said.

"How are you going to tell them? Are you going to do it over time or-" "Over dinner. i'll do it so suddenly they won't be able to comprehend what i just told them." interrupted Draco.

He sat up and Hermione raised her eyebrows. "I'm going to be involved aren't I?" she groaned. Draco smirked and nodded slowly, "What else did you expect?"

-

"Draco darling! It's so lovely to see you again!" Narcissa said, wrapping her arms around the boy. Draco gave her a stiff smile and nodded, "It's nice to see you too, Mother."

Hermione had helped Draco prepare for the arrival of his parents. Although reluctant, she sorted him out with house elves which were willing to work for his family.

Draco had come up with a plan and as much as she was sure that it wouldn't work, Hermione was willing to try. She felt like she would do anything for him.

"Dinner should be ready in 15 minutes." he said once Narcissa let go. "Brilliant!" she replied, giving him a smile, "I will be sure to let your father know."

Hermione came out from behind the curtains when Narcissa left the room."Even i felt your false enthusiasm." she muttered as she straightened out her deep burgundy dress.

He ignored her and smirked, "Nice dress, Granger." She rolled her eyes but she could feel a rush of red creeping up her cheeks.

"Do you remember the plan?" Draco asked, fixing his tie. Hermione nodded. "I'm going to wait outside the dining room whilst you all settle down, and then i walk in and sit next to you when i hear the cue." she said.

Draco nodded and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Ready?" "Ready."

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"You know darling, i feel like a boy of your age should be sitting next to his soulmate at a dinner like this." said Narcissa. Draco looked up from his meal and raised an eyebrow.

"Unless, of course, you don't know who she is yet..." his mother continued. Narcissa elbowed Lucius and prompted him to speak but he simply just grunted and carried on cutting his slice of beef.

"Actually, i've known who my soulmate was since the age of 16." Draco said. He took a sip from his glass. "Really?" Narcissa asked, "Who is it?"

"Oh mother, just eat your dinner so we can move onto dessert." he sighed. The woman pursed her lips but reluctantly did as she was told.

After a few moments passed, Draco spoke up again.

"Did i forget to mention? I invited a guest to join us for dinner." Draco said calmly. He saw Lucius and Narcissa look up from their plates at the sound of heels clicking against the oak floor.

"Mother, Father, i'd like you to meet Hermione Granger." he smirked as she sat down next to him."Potter's mudblood bestfriend?" Lucius asked, raising an eyebrow. Draco nodded and turned to Narcissa.

"I'm assuming you still want to know who my soulmate is?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. "Well yes but-""You're looking at her." Hermione interrupted.

The pair were met with silence from both adults who didn't seem to comprehend what they were just told.

"Are you really doing to drag the family name down like this again, Draco?" Lucius asked, averting his stare from Hermione. She glanced at Draco and saw his adam's apple bob at the question.

"You're the one that dragged the family name when you became a suck up to sodding Voldemort." he retorted. Lucius sent him a glare telling him to stop talking but Draco ignored it.

"You made me become one of his blasted followers but at what cost? People look at me as if i'm about to fire an unforgivable at them!" he laughed. "That's enough, Draco." Lucius snarled.

Draco shook his head. "You know, i wish you just got sent to Azkaban." he sneered. He grabbed Hermione's hand and apparated into his apartment before his parents could say anything else.

As soon as they got in, Pansy and Blaise looked up from the couch. Draco stormed off into his bedroom and Hermione was left standing in middle of the room.

"It didn't go well, did it?" asked Pansy. Hermione shook her head and sighed, following Draco into his room.

-

Once Hermione finally unlocked the charm-ridden door, she realised Draco wasn't actually in his room. She was about to leave when suddenly, the sound of running water was brought to her attention.

She glanced around the room and spotted a door poorly hidden by a concealment charm. Hermione raised her eyebrow as she twisted the doorknob clockwise, making the door click open.

She stood outside and debated whether she should go in or not. "Draco?" she called out. She was about to turn away when the door opened to reveal Draco standing with his arms crossed, a towel hung low on his waist.

"What?" he asked as he ran a hand through his dripping hair. Hermione wrapped her arms around his torso and placed her head on his shoulders."Hermione, i literally just came out of the shower.""I don't care."

He sighed as he absentmindedly ran a hand through Hermione's hair. "Are you okay?" she muttered over his shoulder. "I feel spiffing." replied Draco.

Hermione pulled away and crossed her arms which resulted in Draco letting out a groan. He grabbed his wand from the counter and held it to his left forearm.

"What are y-""Shut up."

Draco started muttering some sort of charms and slowly, the outline of his dark mark started reappearing. Within a few moments, he was stood in front of Hermione the same way he was stood in front of Dumbledore, just before he died.

Hermione traced her finger over the faded mark and although Draco flinched, he didn't say anything. "Glamour charms?" she asked. Draco nodded and started to reapply them but Hermione stopped him.

"Draco, stop." "Why?"

"Because you're past it, Draco. Despite everything it took, and how hard it was, you pushed through."

He didn't know what she was talking about but it didn't matter. "You aren't your father's son. I saw that tonight. I don't know if you can feel the it because of the bond but i'm... im reallyproudofyouforit."

He stared at her but she didn't know the look on his face. It scared her, and made her want to cry, hug him and take a cautious step away at the same time.

She looked him in the eye long enough to let him know that she was serious and swallowed thickly.

She meant every word of it, and she should have told him sooner. Maybe it matters to hear it from her, or maybe it doesn't mean a thing, but he should know nevertheless.

He's earned the right to hear it because he'd clearly not heard it enough.

"Oh come here 'Mione." he sighed, pulling her into a hug.

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this is long you should all be proud of me

also bloody hell Soulmates has like 2k views(/reads?) ??! what ?!2&3

i can't believe you like my crappy writing enough to read and vote for it lmfao

thank you :') i hope you have/had a great day