A/N this short one-shot was inspired by my FF soul sister elle311 and her sweet story Freed. This is my version of what happened before the events of that tale, here is the link to it.

s/13083448/1/Freed

Hermione Granger loved first Fridays at Flourish and Blotts. It was when the latest books arrived, and she had to convince the owner not to just set them aside for her. She loved walking the stacks and letting the delightful surprises hit her. But that Friday there was one more surprise by the shelves. A very tall, very blonde figure was running his fingers over the spines of the books. He looked lost. Like he was looking for the book that would tell him what to do, what should be next. Hermione approached him slowly, the Gryffindor instinct to rescue others kicking in.

"Hello, Malfoy."

He looked at her, his eyes startled but his face indifferent. He stayed silent. She tried something and offered her hand. He looked at it, face indifferent but eyes glazing up. He took the hand and felt a current of magic curse through him. It required a titanic effort for him to not break down right then and there.

"Granger."

"How are you?"

He wanted to say "stupid question, Granger," but kept a semblance of civility and just shrugged.

She was unfazed.

"I was thinking of getting some coffee to go with my books. Would you like to join me?"

This time he couldn't keep a straight face. No one had ever asked him for coffee. Just to sit down and keep company. He had been invited for tea many times, to the houses of pureblood women of marrying age, and lately, they all tried to use his fallen from grace as leverage to exchange a clean family name for the Malfoy vaults. That's what going for tea meant. But coffee seemed so much simpler…

"Yes, thank you, Granger," he said, an annoying cracking of his voice coming out that he tried to play down by clearing his throat.

They sat at an outdoor café. He couldn't believe she was not concerned by all the attention they were attracting. With all nonchalance, she waved her wand in an obvious privacy spell. There were eyebrows raised everywhere. She couldn't care less. He had seen worst.

After the coffee cups arrived, she finally said

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"About what?"

"About whatever it is eating you up, Malfoy."

He wanted to. But where do you even start? With "everything about my life was a lie," or "turned out the father I wanted to emulate was a complete idiot and he dragged my mother and me on his journey through hell," or "I am nothing but a key to a vault to some ambitious bitches and that's all the value I have left?"

She gestured for him to speak in a way that seemed too pushy so he exploded

"What do you want me to say, Granger, that everything about my life was a lie, or that after a lifetime of aspiring to become my father turned out he was a complete idiot that dragged my mother and me on his journey through hell, or that I am nothing but a key to a vault to some ambitious bitches and that's all the value I have left?"

She lifted an eyebrow and sipped her coffee in a gesture that reminded him of his mother.

"Yes, Draco, that is exactly what I wanted you to say. Muggles say the truth will set you free."

He stared at her and blinked. She called him Draco. his name falling from her mouth was like a prayer, like a lifesaver raft after a ship wreckage. It was like hope amidst the fear and the loneliness. And she wanted the truth. Not the façade, not the Slytherin coolness, not the mask. The truth. But the truth was raw and painful and embarrassing, how could he share it with her, with the girl that he had been nothing but awful to?

And then it happened. She reached over the table and took his hand in hers. Then she cast a wandless disillusionment charm around them.

"You are safe here."

That was the first time that he let his tears fall free.