There are four words that no one ever wants to hear. Four words that make you nervous and anxious. Words that make you feel like your stomach is dropping to your feet.
We need to talk.
She's sitting on the couch with a book when she hears those four words escape his mouth.
It takes a lot to unsettle Hermione Granger. But hearing those four words come from Draco Malfoy's mouth makes her extremely upset.
They'd been dating for three years and friends for six. They'd been living together for several months. She knew him just as well as she knew Harry and Ron. She learned all his pet peeves and quirks. She could list all his favorite foods and the books he liked best. She knew when he was hungry just by a single facial expression.
And she also knew that something was off. For the past couple days he seemed perpetually stressed and worried. When she tried to confront him, he was distant and spoke in short, clipped sentences.
"Okay. What about?" she asked, trying to remain as calm and composed as possible. Sometimes when people said "we need to talk" they actually just needed to talk. This could be one of those extremely rare times.
"Us. You know I love you, yeah?" he said, pacing back and forth in front of her.
"Yes," she slowly answered. "Is he breaking up with me?" she thought.
"Right. Well. See the thing is – I – well-" he trailed off, looking down at his feet. "I'm not – I just – I'm not happy with the way things are right now."
"What? What do you mean?" she asked, panic evident in her voice. Absolute dread was beginning to settle in the pit of Hermione's stomach. "I don't want you to be my girlfriend anymore."
What?! She felt like she was going to throw up. "This is much more difficult than I thought it would be," he confessed. He was still avoiding looking her in the eye.
"Yes, well, I suppose most break-ups are, aren't they?" her voice cracked. She hated how small she sounded.
"Wait, what? I didn't mean – No, that's not- no!" he exclaimed. "I'm doing this all wrong, I'm so sorry. Please don't cry," he said, feeling absolutely ashamed of the way he was handling this.
"Let me start over" he offered as he knelt in front of her and wiped away the few tears that had run down her cheeks. She nodded her head lightly to give him her approval.
"I've messed this all up. I had it all planned in my head, too" he admitted with a light laugh. He finally looked her in the eyes and gave her a kiss on the forehead before taking her hands in his. He took a few deep, calming breaths before continuing.
"I have no idea what possessed you to give me a second chance. And words will never be able to express how lucky I am that you did. With you I have everything I could possibly ever want. And I love you. And I feel like such a horrible person for making you cry just now. I'm just not articulating this as well as I hoped." he said with a sigh.
" I know I've been distant recently and I'm sorry for that too. I was just worried that my plan would go awry. So I avoided you to prevent that from happening but it happened regardless. I'm such an idiot. Please forgive me. When I said I didn't want you to be my girlfriend anymore I meant I wanted you to be my fiancee instead. Marry me?"
She was now crying harder than she had before. Taking her tears as a negative response he buried his head in his hands. He had messed this up beyond repair.
"Yes," she finally managed to get out. His head shot up, a look of pure joy on his face. "Yes?" he questioned back. He just wanted to make sure he had heard her right.
"Yes!" she nodded, smiling. "These are happy tears," she said. She could see the concern on his face. And then she punched him. Hard.
"Ow! Most women kiss their men after they agree to marry! They don't hit him!" he said, rubbing his sore arm.
"Good thing I'm not most women. You made me think you were breaking up with me!" she said annoyed. "It's probably the worst beginning to a proposal in the history of ever," he agreed. "Now will you come kiss your fiance?" he pleaded.
"At least it'll be a good story to tell the kids."