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Draco made a habit of staying in bed most mornings, letting the sun cast golden beams through the window on the space Hermione had once occupied beside him. It had been weeks since he’d woken up with her in his bed, the pillow she used to use shoved against the wall and the duvet cold.
His father had called her unworthy of a Malfoy, while his mother offered polite smiles and refused to discuss the topic of Hermione at all. Theo had been supportive for a while, as had Pansy and Blaise, until Draco had started using Muggle phrases and pens instead of quills. He’d even taken a liking to Muggle fashion, preferring bootcut jeans over trousers and polo shirts over professional robes.
The breaking point, Draco thought, had come when Lucius gave him an ultimatum: Hermione, or his inheritance. Teddy Tonks may not have been the best heir, but he was blood and hadn’t yet disgraced the family name in the same way Draco almost did.
She’d made the choice for him, refusing to let him be cut off from the only family he had left. No amount of pleading or explaining that he didn’t need money when he had her could have changed her mind. Draco had loved that about her once – her strong will and ability to stick with a decision once she’d made it. Now, that personality trait was more his own personal torture than anything else.
Within days of the decision, Hermione had mailed back his things, folding shirts and wrapping trinkets neatly in bubble wrap. She hadn’t asked for a single item of hers back, all her shirts and other belongings still dotting his apartment like the images that refused to fade from his mind.
Memories like the way it had once felt to turn onto his side and see her laying there, fast asleep and facing him surrounded by a halo of curls. He used to run his hands along her skin then, lightly so as not to wake her, committing the feeling of her silky smooth thighs to his memory.
If only he’d known then what he knew now; he might have held onto those moments a little longer, and let them seap deeper into every corner of his mind.