I've had this story in the back of my word files for a while. I decided to post because I'm curious of what you'd think. Please take note it's a Hermione/Draco ship and, off the bat, extremely AU. I hope you give it a chance!
Enjoy!

Dragon's Blood

Chapter One

Ron had passed.

The grief Hermione felt, concentrated like a heavy metal in her core, was unlike any previous sadness she had ever experience. Her world had suddenly become grim and less magical in a matter of seconds when she received the news. She was with a real estate agent, trying to scope out the various locations were she and Ron were to live after their wedding ceremony. There were plenty of homes within the muggle community but she insisted to make a home near Harry's in Godrics Hollow, in case their future children would ever bore and needed company in the form of cousins. Ron on the other hand was fascinated with the movie theatres and countless of other muggle entertainment and had pleaded to be within a muggle theatre where ever they had chosen to settle in.

Compromise, Hermione thought that morning as she readied herself in a haste to meet with her agent.

Never did she think that all their planning, all her time invested in their future would come to a screeching halt. They had just been engaged a couple of weeks before tragedy struck. This wasn't suppose to happen. Sadness was suppose to take a long vacation after the war was won. There was enough grief due to the aftermath of the war to last a lifetime but the mere fact that the enemy was gone forever was a great compensation for those who were lost.

But Ron…

Hermione gritted her teeth and looked away from the coffin that was begin lowered at a slow pace into the earth by magic. For a mere second, Hermione felt outraged.

Stupid Ron!

Her eyelids closed tightly, trying to withstand the fury of tears that were spilling over.

Even in his death, Ron had managed to provoke Hermione into her loving hatred of him. Had he really needed to travel to visit Bill's to help out with the Dragons? The thought had worried Hermione. She never doubted Ron's magical abilities nor his abrupt wits during a time of danger but she worried about his carelessness and his poor choice of making jokes out of everything. Hermione even gave him a long speech before he left to Bill's to which his response was a guffaw and a peck on the nose before promising to have Bill cast a protective fire charm on him to lessen her anxiety.

The cause of Ron's actually death something very heroic. Hermione wouldn't be able to reproduce the story in exact detail but she did understand that he was taking care of Victorie, his favorite and only niece. They were playing in the garden when she pulled out a mandrake. Ron, barely having a seconds notice to react the minute he recognized the sprouts of a mandrake plant, rushed his wand out to muffle her ears. Ron didn't have time to cover is own. The cry knocked him out and soon after passed away.

In reality, Hermione was very glad Ron had saved the precious little girl. It was just the luck of the straw that Ron had been able to save her life rather than having to deal with two deaths. Yes, Hermione was hurt but in old fashion she couldn't help but to blame him for leaving her. Who was she suppose to marry after he was gone? What life did she have if she wasn't a Weasley? In a second all her dreams of sharing a bed with a man she loved and cupping the faces of her little freckled-face children were gone.

She wrung the white laced-embroidered handkerchief with her frail hands and glared at the hole where Ron was laid to rest. Molly and Arthur Weasley were holding each other tightly. Ron was being laid next to the grave plot of his brother's, Fred.

The morning of Ron's burial was bright, cheerful, and best of all warm with a cool wind breezing by every so often. Nothing like a burial should be in the movies Ron loved to watch with her. The group surrounding the plot began to disapperate slowly, one by one until only she remained. The dirt was levitated into the air, hovered above Ron's grave and slowly trickled until the hole was filled. A couple of flowers popped up in full bloom in his honor and that was when Hermione collapsed on top of his grave.

She wept.

Hermione's face twisted in pain, letting the sting of tears run down her raw cheeks again. Through out the entire ceremony Hermione had a constant stream of tears to which she had to wipe consistently with her handkerchief to look put together, not frazzled by the shock of her fiancés death.

"Ron" She managed to choke out.

She felt helpless and entirely alone. There wasn't anybody that could console her. None of the Weasleys were able to comfort her because the mere sight of red-hair and freckles sent her in a downward spiral of shaky breaths and a knot in her throat that made it impossible to express herself in words.

All Harry did was hug her, which was the most anybody could have done in her condition but even after hours of embracing Harry couldn't stay put in one place forever. He had his wife to attend to. His own married life.

A life Hermione was mentally preparing herself to have before Ron's death.

A sob escaped her lips as Hermione came to the realization that she was surrounded by the constant reminder of him. His family, their mutual friends, the flat they were staying at… even the house that was already in the process of approval. Hermione had to get away. There had to be something to help her heal.

She sat up, half of her hair and black dress covered in dirt. She wiped her face with hands to rid of the wet and she let out a sigh. She knew exactly what she had to do. Hermione looked down at her left hand, admiring the ring Ron had presented to her two years after dating. It was a reasonable jewel. She loved it because the way it shone reminded her of how Ron's face glowed in the middle of a roaring laugh.

That knot in her throat returned as she slipped the ring off and examined it in the sun. It sparkled and created a prism, bursting in colors around her.

She felt her lips turn up, in a weary smile and she stuck her ring in the dirt right beside the grave stone. She buried her ring at the moment as well as all her hopes and dreams with Ron at that moment.

ooo

"I don't understand," Bernadette, the real estate agent, cocked her head, narrowing her eyes at Hermione who sat uncomfortably in the squishy chair placed in front of her desk, "You want to cancel the pending approval of the house?"

Bernadette reminded Hermione of her classmates before Hogwarts; rosy cheeks, heart shaped face, and a rather large pout that only emphasize Bernadette's concern on the matter at hand.

Hermione nodded once, "Yes, there have been some unfortunate circumstances. Um, my fiancé… passed."

Bernadette tried hard to cover up her jaw drop. She quickly wheeled herself around her office trying to look for forms and cancelation fees to overwrite due to the gravity of the situation. Hermione patiently listened to Bernadette as she explain what forms where for what and what page she had to sign to stop the process of buying the house. Bernadette, although deeply moved by the devastation of Hermione's news, couldn't help but to feel upset over a lost sell, something Hermione noticed.

As Hermione sign the last paper, she set the quill down and slumped back into her chair clutching her bag for support. Bernadette, smile at her, thanking Hermione for her time and quickly excused herself to get the forms into her manager.

The moment Hermione was left alone she let out a huge sigh and tilted her head up. It was then when she noticed the multitude of photos that were hung on the wall of Bernadette's tiny office. All of them displaying Bernadette and a family, shaking hands in front of the house that was just sold. Hermione wondered if the fates were different, if she and Ron would be posing for a picture like the one's on the wall in a couple of weeks.

Their home was much like Ron's house and Hermione's house meshed into an ideal home for the both of them. The entire house was wooden and it radiated a homey warm feel. The day she heard of Ron's death was the day she picked the house for both of them, knowing that Ron would love it.

As Hermione drifted into her own mind, she hardly realized she had gotten up to stare at a frame of a house that was available for sale.

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione whipped around to find Bernadette looking at her curiously, "May I assist you in anything else."

Hermione didn't say a word. She turned back around to continue looking at the house she was previously staring at. It was a Manor. A huge home. She needed nothing of that sort now that Ron was gone. Even if he was here, Hermione doubted they would be able to have enough children to fill up every single room a manor had to offer.

"How much is it?" Hermione asked, barely audible for Bernadette to catch.

"The Manor, Miss Granger?" She bit her lip, "I'm sorry to say that although it's a great price for a Manor, most people see it too big for their liking most wouldn't know what to do with the space! And it's far away from any civilization. It's almost isolated if it weren't for a handful of houses scattered here and there… It's in Wiltshire on a beaten path between Wilton and Mere. Plus the cost of the repair is remarkable"

Hermione felt her heart lightened. Space? Isolation? Repair? She looked over her shoulder and smiled at Bernadette.

"I would like that house." She nodded.

"Miss Granger…" Bernandette was almost at a lost for words, "But you haven't a clue! Won't you need to see it before you make any rash decisions?"

"I would like to place an approval for that house, if it's not too much trouble." Hermione stated.

"But…"

Hermione smiled. She knew Bernadette was running out of things to say.

"… The price of the Manor is more than double as much as the retail of the former house you were interested in."

"The asking price isn't even in our currency. Five hundred thousand galleons." Bernadette sighed, "One galleon is worth more than five pounds possibly but I assure you the problem isn't in the payment method. It's a lot of work for an entire family, let alone one person."

Hermione tilted her head, looking between the photo and Bernadette, "Galleons? Now what's a muggle agency doing handling business with wizard money?"

The real estate agent glanced nervously to the ground, "Yes well… I'm a squib myself. Our business mainly wizarding communities and to prevent going bankrupt, we handle muggle amenities as well."

Hermione looked away feeling the energy being drained away, preventing her to probe into Bernadette's business, "I want it… I want out."

"Excuse me?"

"I'll take it." Hermione announced.

"Are you sure?"

"Have any wizarding families lived there prior to myself?"

"Partially. The Tonk's family was the last to live there before giving birth to a muggle-born Wizard. They moved into the city shortly after the boy was born. They were the last owners who had occupied the space… over 80 years ago." Bernadette said, clinging on to a small hope that Hermione would hate the fact she was about to move into an almost muggle abandoned house.

"Perfect." She sighed.

Bernadette looked positively shocked as Hermione asked for the papers, to progress the approval and hasten the time to move into her new home.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude but…" Bernadette bit her lip, "Do you have the kind of money for this Miss Granger?"

Hermione shrugged, "I have more than enough to last me a two life times."

And with that she left the Agency with a couple of forms in her hands and with a lighter mood than she was before.

Let me know what you think and if I should continue!