As the party blazes forward, the strippers having left as well as some of the guests- Sarah included- Hermione is beyond buzzed at this point. Hermione is more or less legless.
"Imma...Imma go to Loooo..." She slurs as she struggles to stand.
"You need any help dear?" Her Mum- who is about one of the only sober ones at this point- asks and Hermione shakes her head no and takes off while a drunk Ginny and Luna talk about the ins and outs of Thestral Sex Dungeons...how they made that conversation up- no one dare ask.
Walking down the hall, Hermione, looks for the bathroom and decides she doesn't want a public Loo- she wants a private one and opens the door that goes up to Draco's apartment. With her bag on her hip, she climbs the stairs- clutching the railing to make sure she doesn't cascade backwards to her death and eventually makes it to the top of the landing and across the five feet of flooring to his locked door. Taking out her wand, she snickers a bit.
"AlHoaMoron." Nothing happens and she shakes her head. "Come on you...you nit. Alohamora."
**Click**
"Thaaaank queee..." Heading inside, she shuts the door and looks around at the small, bare apartment. Taking the time to memorize every little detail, she finds his bookshelf and notices all the things he received from their first and only Christmas together. Bypassing it, she goes into his bathroom in his hallway and finds it very simple.
Shower/Bath.
Toilet.
Sink.
Mirror.
All black tiles.
All white appliances.
"Godric...that's sexy." She mutters to herself and lifts the toilet seat up. "It's so..cl...cleans."
Gavin never cleans the toilet.
He doesn't even put the seat down.
And he doesn't resupply the toilet paper and when he does- he puts it on the wrong way- where it comes out the back and not the front.
(Go ahead- fight me on it haha)
Lifting her dress up and pulling down her sexy lace panties, she sits down and does her thing. Dozing off just a tad as she does and yet when she wakes up- she has a great idea.
"Ha...find these...prat..." Sliding down her panties, she 'hides' them on the handle of his sink as she washes her hands. Looking up into the mirror, she sees something familiar taped to the side of it.
You can do anything because you are intelligent, courageous, caring, funny, and loved. I believe in you and will always be by your side.
Granger
Her heart sinks and snaps and drowns in the ever growing despair.
He put it here so he can read it every time he goes to wash his hands.
I've lied to him.
I won't always be by his side.
I'll be by Gavin's...
Going out, she walks to his living room and reaches in her bag. Pulling out the clay snowmen he made specially for her- she tears up as she goes to set it on the shelf next to his other treasures.
"What are you doing?" He asks softly from the door way. She turns and looks at him- a few tears playing in her eyes.
"Giv...giving this ba...back to you." Slurring her words and trying not to cry, she goes to hand him the clay figures and he shakes his head.
"I don't want it."
"You have to take it...please." She steps closer and he turns slightly away from her and looks at his shoes. Much like his heart, they were once shiny and brand new and made him feel so happy. But over time they have become scuffed and holey- leaving nothing inside- barely even a sole.
"It was a gift- Hermione. I made it for you and I won't take it back." Lips parting and chest rising, she feels those damn tears bubbling over her lower lids and Draco can't even look at her because of them.
"I...I can't keep it."
"Then throw it out." He snaps.
"I can't..."
"Why not? It was a stupid, silly gift. It's trash and I don't know why you even kept it all these years anyway."
"It's not stupid." Her sobs fill his apartment and he wishes she didn't come up here. "Just...just take it- please."
"Why? Why do you want to get rid of it so bad- but you won't throw it away? Hmm?" Finally, he turns and looks at her and it breaks him. She looks so beautiful in her red dress- her curled hair hanging loose below her shoulders and her golden brown orbs burning into his flesh. But those tears... those damn tears that always seem to crop up around him. He hates it.
"Because it reminds me of you and it makes me happy..." She finally says, her tears growing larger and staining her pale freckled face.
"Can't have that- now can we." He takes it from her forcibly and looks over the poorly painted, poorly sculpted snowmen holding hands: his lips twitch- his frustration and pain and sadness overflowing through him and without even thinking about it, he turns and whips it across the room at the white painted brick walls and it shatters into a million pieces. "There... now you don't need to worry about it making you happy or reminding you of me."
Drunk, upset, and now pissed off- she shoves him hard in the chest and screams.
"Why'd you do that!!!??? You fucking arsehole!!" Her tiny hands and small frame continue hitting and shoving him until he's pinned against the small wall between both living room windows.
"News flash Hermione! I'VE ALWAYS BEEN AN ARSEHOLE! YOU'RE JUST TOO NAIVE TO THINK I'D BE ANYTHING DIFFERENT!!!!" He screams back in her face and allows her to continue to hit him. "KEEP HITTING ME HERMIONE!! IT COULDN'T HURT ME ANY WORSE THAN YOU ALREADY HAVE!!"
She stops and looks at him. Her nose dripping and lips quivering. She's a pathetic mess and this fight is more than enough to sober her up.
"You think I wanted that fucking gift back? You think I wanted that bloody reminder that I was once inspired to let someone know I was more than just a scowl and a bad attitude. That someone unexpectedly made my heart grow and made me feel like I had someone to dream about at night instead of having fucking nightmares!?" He stays against the wall, though she turns from him and covers her nose and mouth- trying to calm down. "I don't know what you thought was going to happen here? What? Did you think if you gave me that- it would make up for everything else? Did you think we'd still be friends or...whatever the fuck we were years ago? Think it would hurt less watching you live your life madly in love with someone else. I don't want any of that Hermione Granger. I don't want a reminder of you! I don't want to know if you still care! I don't want to think about you or keep you in what shred of heart I have LEFT! You already ripped it from my chest and stomped on it! You already said all that needed to be said! You've killed me, Hermione. You've done me in. Years of thinking it'd be done by my hands and here it was always going to be yours: and somehow...I knew that."
She looks at him and once more he is that pale skinny boy from the astronomy tower- ready to jump.
"I knew from the very beginning you would only ever cause me pain and suffering through your kind and caring ways. There was never going to be a happy ending for us Hermione: you know why?" She doesn't answer or look away from him. "Because the villain doesn't get to live happily ever after...and I'm no hero- so we both know exactly how this ends. It's just pathetic that I ever believed it could be any different. That I could be any different...that I would get the opportunity to wake up next to a beautiful goddess and have a perfect life- where I'm loved, and wanted- needed."
His tears glass over his eyes and he stoops in his posture- that heavy weight re-emerging once more.
After all these years, it never goes away.
"But I don't...I don't get—that. And you do." They stare at each other for what feels like hours, but is actually mere seconds. "You get to wake up next to someone you love. Grow with them. Rely on them to be faithful and take care of your needs."
Looking down, his Death Eater tattoo still burning its existence into his skin and reminding him that nothing good ever comes to him.
"I could find someone- beautiful girl...they would never make me feel as powerful and great as you did. So what's the point? I rather be alone...than with someone I know I can never love more than my soulmate." Walking towards her, she holds her breath as he approaches, but he continues to walk passed her and listens as he throws open his door and slams it behind him.
Trudging down the stairs, he passes Hines in the hall- who doesn't question his friend's look of pain- and heads out to the bar where her moth and Aunt are. The rest of the girls had left and the older women take notice of his mood change.
"Everything alright dear?"
"Yes, Mrs. Granger. It's just been a long night is all." Lying through his teeth, he begins to stack the cups he already cleaned- placing them in size order under the bar and beginning to take stock.
"There you are." Evelyn says- slightly
inebriated. Hermione steps out of the hall and Draco doesn't even turn his head. Her mum can tell she is upset and pissed. They both are.
It seems it has finally happened.
"Ready to go?" Her mum asks and she nods, but as they get halfway across the floor- Hermione stops and reaches in her back. Stomping back over, she takes Draco's attention.
"Fuck you, Malfoy!!" Whipping a ton of Pounds [£] at him- the paper bills fly everywhere behind the bar and he just looks at her angry and confused. "Thanks for everything...you piece of shit!"
Storming off, she passes her mother and Aunt- bursting through the pub door without a care left.
"Oh dear..." Lydia quietly says and looks at Draco. "I'm sorry."
"I deserved it. Have a good night." He quietly says and begins picking up the money. It's everywhere. On his side of the bar- on the side she was on, on chairs, the booze, in the wet sink.
Everywhere.
Hines comes out and shakes his head, helping pick up the bills.
"That go the way you planned?"
"Shut up." He growls and they quietly retrieve all the money. Looking through the stacks of bills- he finds it's the exact amount of money he paid for her dress.
"That's more cash than this party was worth."
"It wasn't for the party...it was for her dress."
"Shit...you paid over £3,000 for her dress?"
"Yeah."
"Why?! Why would you buy it in the first place?" He asks and Draco shakes his head.
"Because she looked like an Angel and a part of me forgot she wasn't going to be wearing it for me." Tearing up again, he takes the money and opens the register drawer- he takes the money the girls tipped him and what Ginny had paid for their party- £450.50- because he wouldn't accept more than that and Ginny wouldn't let him do it for free. Taking all the cash, he heads to the office and pulls out his wand.
"Revelio." He says to his wall behind his desk and his six tumbler cast iron safe appears. He puts in his wand tip and it unlocks the whole thing. Putting in the cash- he looks at the millions of cash he has made in the last year and a half and wanders how much of it was the result of Hermione's unfaithful fiancé. Removing his wand- the door closes and disappears into the wall just before Hines comes in. "I left your portion for the night on the workbench in the kitchen."
"Yeah..I got it." He holds up the £4000 Draco left him- even though if he went off normal wages by anyone else's standards- he should have only received £235 for the night. "It's too much, Mate."
"No, it's not. You work harder than anyone else here. You're a Vet and I know you're trying to get full custody of Penelope. You're a great guy, Hines and I appreciate you more than you'll ever know. If you need more- let me know. Don't hesitate to ask. No sinking ships in my yard." He says and the retired Royal Navy Captain smiles and salutes Draco- who salutes back and nods.
"You're a great man, Draco Malfoy. Don't believe any different."