Draco played with his bow tie, he was still angry with what Hermione had said
"Draco?" His date asked him
He looked to his side
Sofia had her hair sleeked back and was wearing a navy satin dress with a plunging neckline and a slit going up to her thigh
"Yes?" Draco asked
"You're distracted" she whined and pushed her body closer to his
Draco mentally rolled his eyes, he took another sip of his drink and coughed when he saw who had entered
Hermione entered with wearing an open back long black chiffon with two long slits that teased him, her hair was wrapped into a formal bun and she was wearing the necklace
He saw her make eye contact with him, and he felt his heart stutter
He tried to take a step forward but Sofia stopped him, he watched as Hermione glared at his date and went to join another girl
"Excuse me for a second" Draco said and tried to walk towards Hermione
"I'll go with you" she said and took his hand, Draco bit back a groan and the two of them made their way towards Hermione and the other girl
"Hermione" Draco said
"Malfoy" she greeted curtly, eyeing his intertwined hand
"Where's your date?" Draco asked her
"Didn't have one, you would have known if you would have just talked to me instead of ignoring me" she told him
Draco opened his mouth to ask her what she was talking about when the other girl came in between them
"Gisella Ardito" she introduced herself
"Ardito?" Draco asked confused
"He's my twin brother, ah Sofia, un piacere ne sono sicuro" Gisella smiled sweetly but her eyes were shooting daggers at her, realization quickly dawned on him and he knew he had messed up once again
Draco turned back to Hermione who was drowning her third glass of champagne
"Granger—" Draco began
"Come dance Draco, I have some moves I would love to show you" Sofia purred
"Go Malfoy, have fun" Hermione smiled, her smile didn't reach her eyes
Before Draco could protest, Sofia dragged him away
They joined the rest of the people and Draco put a hand on her waist and took her other hand in his extended hand, he kept glancing at Hermione who looked miserable while watching him
He watched as Emilio came up to her and felt fury course through his body, he saw when both twins started fighting and Gisella dragged him away, leaving Hermione alone
"Excuse me" Draco said, Sofia held onto his arm tighter
"Why do you care so much about the mudblood?" She spat
Draco yanked his body away from her, he glared at her and she immediately got scared of him
"Call her that again and I'll show you why I wear this" he sneered, yanking up his sleeve and showed her the cuff "I care about her because I love her, you daft slag" he spat and walked away from her, he looked for Hermione who had suddenly disappeared
He went up to where he last saw her, a second later he was joined by Gisella
"Do you know where Hermione went?" Draco asked
"Why do you care? Your date is waiting" Gisella waved her hand in dismissal, she grabbed another glass of champagne and leaned on the bar
"I need to talk to her"
"Ah, ora l'idiota vuole parlare con lei, gli uomini e il loro tempismo orribile" she muttered "she went to the balconies" she sighed
Draco thanked her and left the grand room, he went up the stairs and found the balconies that overlooked the scenery of Paris
He found her quickly, she was gripping the railing to the point of her knuckles turning white, she was whispering something to herself and he saw her shoulders shaking with silent sobs
"Hermione" he whispered
"Go away" she whispered, her voice cracking slightly
"Hermione look at me" he ordered gently
Hermione sniffed and turned around, tears streamed down her face as she tried to wipe them away
"Hermione—"
"Don't! I'm done Draco! I'm done of you pushing me and ignoring me when something doesn't go your way! You should have talked to me instead of assuming that I was going with Emilio! There was no one else I wanted to with! I wanted to do with you and not just as friends!" She yelled
She didn't let Draco speak before continuing
"You're always hurting me! You're always taking the easy way out and nine out of ten times that way always leave me in the crossfire! First it was Davis, now it was Newman! I'm done being pushed aside! And I hate that I know I should hate you but I don't, I can't! Because you had to be so bloody perfect and make me catch feelings for you!" She confessed drunkenly
"Y-you have feelings for me?" Draco whispered
"Of bloody course I do! How could I not?! You're funny, you're caring when you're not being a jerk, you love the same books I do, you're easy to talk too, and your brain, gods Malfoy, you're the only person who can actually maintain a conversation with me!"
Draco felt his heart soar, he knew that this was the worst time possible to smile but he couldn't help it, she returned his feelings
"Great now you're mocking me, the filthy mudblood caught feelings for her pureblood friend, let's laugh it up" she spat
Draco closed the distance and cupped her cheeks before kissed her roughly, Hermione squeaked in surprise and stayed still for a moment longer before kissing him back, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him impossibly closer, no air could pass in between their bodies
When both their lungs burned with the lack of oxygen they finally pulled back and connected their foreheads
"You have feelings for me" Draco whispered
"So what if I do? We won't work" she said, Draco furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her
"What?"
"Draco...I see the looks I get, I hear the whispers, I'm still just a muggleborn and you're still a pureblood, I'm so tired of fighting, I've been fighting since we were eleven and this will be the biggest fight I'll face" she cried "I want something to be easy...I'm so tired of fighting" she confessed, Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his chest
"You don't need to fight anymore...I'll fight for the both of us"
There was no way in hell that he was going to let her go, he would have to be cold and dead in order to be forced away from her
She pulled her head back
"But what if?—" She began
Draco kissed her gently this time, she melted into his touch
"I'm not letting you go, not when I have you now, I'll fight tooth and nail, I'll move mountains, but I'm not letting you go, I finally have a choice and I'm choosing you, whatever it takes" he said
"You're parents—" she whispered
"They can disown me, I'll find a job to sustain us, I'll even work in the muggle world if that's what it takes" he told her
"Your friends—"
"Can go shove it if they disapprove, which is highly unlikely, I beg good galleons that Theo already planned the wedding"
Hermione smiled weakly at him
"Draco...do you really want to be with me? Or are you just saying that at the moment?" She asked "because I truly like you, and I don't think I could handle you walking away from me, what if tomorrow you wake up and realize that I'm not worth it?" She asked him doubtfully
She had every reason to doubt him, he left her when things got hard and instead of talking with her, he just assumed and hurt her
"Hermione Jean Granger...I want to be with you in this life and the next, I will do whatever it takes for you to trust when I say that you're it for me" Draco promised
Hermione looked into his eyes to try and find any lies, Draco did something he hadn't done in a long time, he let every single wall down, he wore his heart on his sleeve so that she could see it, he wasn't hiding anything from her, he put himself vulnerable so that she would understand that he wasn't going anywhere
After a while, her face broke into a smile and she rose to connect their lips, Draco groaned into her lips and untied her bun before entangling his fingers into her curls, she gripped the hair on the nape of his neck and backed him into the wall
"Draco" she breathed, Draco began trailing kissed down her jaw and neck, sucking on her pulse point as she mewled in content
"I'm not leaving" he whispered into her ear
Hermione pulled him closer before dissaperating with him to her room