chloe_tringali
a few weeks later
Hermione
I knew I was being ridiculous.
I knew he didn't have a choice, but there wasn't much else I could do, since I had already been ignoring him for more than a month.
It was almost December, and I knew that I would have to speak to him soon.
I made it past Filch and through the castle gates, taking a left turn towards Hogsmeade. I had decided to go on my own today, to get some fresh air and have some time for myself.
Ginny had been with me every step of the way, but after I had told her everything she was ready to kill. I practically had to hold her back from leaping on him at breakfast two mornings later.
I tugged my scarf around my neck, and tightened my coat around me. Pulling my hat down over my ears, I turned my head slightly to the right, only to see a blonde boy with his head down. He was walking quickly with his hands in his pockets, his jumper covered by a thin jacket.
He must be freezing, I couldn't help myself from worrying about him. I knew I had feelings for him, and after everything we had confided in each other, I might even love him. He'd cared about me that night when no one else had, even though I hadn't remembered it. Of course, later on so had Harry, but he was my brother, not boyfriend material. At least for me.
I picked up my pace and put my head down to fight the wind, my curls blowing wildly around my face.
Turning onto the stone path leading up to the Three Broomsticks, I pulled open the door and scrounged for my coins in my bag, the one with the undetectable extension charm on it.
Finally reaching a few galleons, I stepped up to Madam Rosmerta and greeted her, asking for a butterbeer and paying. It was brought to my table soon after, and I got out a book from my bag. A few pages in, the bell on the door rang, opening with a cold gust of air. I looked up to see who it was, and quickly stuffed my face back in my book. It was Draco Malfoy, of everyone in the world.
More than anything, I wanted to forgive him. I just needed to be angry for a little while longer. But he was only going to give me twenty seconds.
I knew he was scanning the room the second he walked in, probably looking for me. That was confirmed the second he sat down in front of me at my table, earning a few strange looks from people sitting near us.
"Hermione, I need to talk to you."
I didn't answer.
"Hermione?"
Silence.
"Hermione, can I ask you something then?"
I'd been wanting to say this forever.
"You just did," I growled.
He gave a short laugh, shaking his head. "Ha ha, very funny Hermione."
I looked up, meeting his eyes for the first time since he'd sat down. I was shocked at the desperation in them. It was as if his existence was over if he couldn't get me to forgive him. But I already had. The moment he reached out to me by sitting across from me in a public place, I knew I did love him. But he couldn't know that, not just yet.
"Hermione, I... I wanted to tell you for so long. I wanted you to trust me, I wanted you to care for me the way I do for you. Once I thought, you know, maybe you did, I just had to tell you, because... Because." He couldn't continue, and I looked down at the table, my book forgotten, feeling tears burn my eyes.
"Will you come outside with me?" He whispered.
I nodded softly, and he took my hand, leading me to the back of the building. It had started to snow, the first of the season, and I marveled at the fresh smell.
"Because I'm in love with you, Hermione."
Draco
"Because I'm in love with you, Hermione."
Her eyes widen, before she glares at me. No. Why is she angry? I love her!
"Don't lie to me," she growls.
"I'm not lying," I insist. "I'm in love with you!"
"Don't say that! Don't say that, that's not true!" She says loudly. Her eyes shine with tears.
The snowflakes in her hair and resting on her eyelashes made this seem like a cliche scene in a movie.
She looked perfect in the dim light behind the restaurant, and it took everything I had in me not to kiss her right then.
But in the now, I don't understand what I did wrong.
"But... But I love you."
God, I was so confused.
"No! No, you don't! You might think you do, but you don't! You don't understand love! You've never felt love! You don't love people the way I do, the way Ginny and Harry love each other, the way Ronald apparently loves Lavender Brown! You don't understand what it's like to be crushed, to have your heart broken so terribly you forget how to breathe! You don't know what it's like to have someone tell you that they don't want you around anymore! You never will! I just... God." She takes a deep breath, a single tear tracing its way down her perfect face.
She runs a hand through her beautiful hair. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that, I just-" I cut her off, stepping towards her.
She stares into my eyes. I reach my hand up to flick away the tear on her cheek, and she closes her eyes. "You're wrong," I say. Her eyes remain closed. "I have been crushed before." Her eyelids flicker, and her lip begins to tremble.
I know that she understands what I meant.
She crushes me, every day of my life when I wake up and I see her and I forget how to breathe.
"I didn't realize that Weasley and Brown were a thing now," I whisper.
She lets out a little laugh through her tears. "Neither does he, but Ginny and I see it. I mean, the way he looks at her is nothing like the way he used to look at me, it's actually more like the way you look at me...." She is silent, realizing what she just said.
"Now do you believe me?" I ask her.
She nods a little. "Yes." Her word ends in a slight gasp as I reach down to take her hands in mine. They hang low by our hips, but we reach them up and take each other by the face.
She opens her eyes for the first time since telling me she was sorry. I get lost in them, in their secrets, in the feelings they hold.
And I kiss her.
I kiss her for the first time since she kissed me under the influence of medication after she had hit her head at the dance.
I kissed her for the first time since I had made the mistake of doing it again in our common room and she had run off. But this time, it was magical.
"Wait!"
Oh Merlin.
"What, what's wrong?"
"I'm still angry with you," she reminded me. "Not only did you wipe my memory, but you lied to me, and I hate liars."
"Okay, okay, you're absolutely right. And I'm so, so sorry. You know I feel awful about it," I pause, and the silence hangs in the air.
"So, are you still mad at me?"
She groaned. "Kind of hard to be when you keep agreeing with me."
I smirked. "I agree."
She smacked my arm lightly. "Stop it!"
She smiled, and I smiled.
I pulled her to me gently, tilting her chin up and bringing her lips to mine.
"I love you," she mumbled against my mouth.
I was shocked. This was the first time she had said it to me.
"I love you more." I held her tighter to me. "And I always will."
She looked up curiously, meeting my eyes. "Always?"
I brushed my lips against hers one more time.
"Always."
I do believe I have finished breaking all your hearts for tonight! No school tomorrow!
Also, this chapter is dedicated to my greatest supporter, the person who yells at me and decides when I'm doing shit wrong. To CHLOE! <3