But this time
I mean it
I'll let you know just how much you mean to me
As snow falls
On desert sky
Until the end of everything
I'm trying.
I'm trying to let you know how much you mean.
As days fade
And nights grow,
And we go cold.
And as we're falling down,
And in this pool of blood,
And as we're touching hands...
And as we're falling down,
And in this pool of blood...
And as we're falling down,
I'll see your eyes.
And in this pool of blood,
I'll meet your eyes.
I mean this.
Forever.
extracts from Demolition Lovers, by My Chemical Romance
To Nina, who pulled me through when life was hard, who promised me to always be there for me and who've kept that promise so far.
Draco was waiting in one of the darker corridors, as inconspicuously as possible. He watched other students walk by, but didn't pay much attention to them. It wasn't them he was waiting for after all. He smiled when he finally saw her. She sure had taken her time, but that was okay. She looked beautiful – as always – and her curls danced around her shoulders happily. She seemed a little nervous, though.
"Hi," she whispered when she saw him. She gave him a quick peck on his lips and blushed.
"Hi Mione," Draco answered, taking her hand.
He and Hermione were going out for a few months now. She'd found him crying his eyes out in some dark corner, after another failed attempt to kill Dumbledore. He'd never expected her to, but she'd thrown her arms around him and comforted him. And after that, the rest was plain sailing. They'd skipped classes together and snuck to Hogsmead together. And after not so long, they'd fallen in love.
He led her through the corridors of Hogwarts, trying his best not to draw any attention to themselves. Hermione had showed him the passageway under the Whomping Willow some time ago, and since then they'd always taken that path to go to Hogsmead. They did so now as well.
But this time, he didn't lead her to the Hogshead or Three Broomsticks. This time, he led her outside the village, away from the people – not that there were many people now that the Dark Lord was on the loose. They walked for ten minutes or so, until they were in the woods and no one could see them. He held her hand tighter.
"Hold on, we're going to disapparate," he told her.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Surprise. You'll see. I think you'll like it," he smiled and she wondered where he was taking her. A surprise. She loved surprises.
"I told you you were going to like it," Draco said, grinning.
"Thank you," she whispered. He had taken her to some place in the middle of nowhere. There was no one around, except them and it was extremely quiet. She loved it already.
He had brought food with him and they were about to picnic next to the water. She watched the birds, the butterflies and Draco and smiled when he looked back at her.
"Wanna swim?" he asked. She glared at him.
"I don't have my bikini with me…"
Draco grinned. "Who cares?"
She doubted for a moment, before undressing and jumping straight into the water. She shouted that the water was cold and asked him to join her. He grinned, jumped out of his clothes and into the water. She swam away and challenged him to chase her. He laughed and dove. She creamed on top of her lungs when his arms chased her hips and broke into a fit of laughter after her.
"I love you Draco," she whispered. He kissed her softly and stroke her hair out of her face.
"I love you too, Hermione."
"Let's get back home, okay?" Draco watched his watch and hoped they would be back before dinner. Hermione nodded and wrapped her arms around Draco lovingly, hugging him tight. She loosened her grip and grabbed his hand instead, wondering why no one ever came her. There was a pretty big road, with no cars on it. It had probably been one of the main roads before they had started placing highways all over the country. She wondered how Draco new about this absolutely beautiful muggle place.
"Ready to go?" Draco asked.
"Yup, let's get going," she smiled. It had been a good thing to take her here. It had been a really good thing.
Out of nowhere, there was suddenly a large gush of wind and black hooded figures approached them. Hermione froze and he protectively wrapped an arm around her shoulder. This was bad. This was really bad.
"Draco," Hermione whimpered.
"DRACO!" another voice screeched, "NO!"
He would be able to recognize that voice everywhere. If his aunt Bellatrix was here, there was no escape possible. Things would end badly, that was for sure. He quickly counted the Death Eaters – 15 – and swallowed. Maybe he should just disapparate. But it was as if he was frozen, unable to move.
"With a MUDBLOOD!" his aunt screamed, more furious than he'd ever seen her, "TREACHERY!"
She drew her wand and waved it. There was a green flash and Draco saw his girlfriend crumble, heard himself screaming on top of his lungs, felt how the ground was lifted from under his feet and felt himself make a couple of tumbles, before everything went black and silent.
Draco groaned in pain while waking up. He wondered where he was for a sec, before memories came crashing in. He gasped in shock and flew upright.
"Hermione," he groaned, "Merlin, Hermione, I think we really pissed her off…"
He looked at where his girlfriend had been standing. She was now laying on the floor, unmoving. Her neck and legs were twisted in weird angles and her hair waved around her head like an angel's.
"Hermione?" he tried touching her hand, but every move he made was extremely painful. Eventually he was able to touch her face.
Cold.
She was ice cold.
"Mione, why are you so cold?" he asked. He suddenly noticed how hollow his voice sounded. He was so scared, his blood ran cold, "Mione? Hermione, wake up. Wake up, baby… please wake up, Hermione…"
Panic hit him when he placed his hand over her heart. No heartbeat… no bloody heartbeat…
"Hermione! Hermione! Hermione! Oh God, Hermione, please! Please, please wake up! Wake up!" he sobbed while trying to shake her awake. When he tried to make her sit up straight, she collapsed on his lap. It hit him like a bomb when he realized she really was dead and not just faking it to scare him.
"Oh god… oh Hermione… of god… I killed her," he sobbed, "I killed her… I killed my girlfriend… I killed her…"
He grabbed her and hugged her over and over again, but his tears weren't able to wake her up.
"I need to get you back," he whispered. He took her in his arms lovingly and tried to disapparate. He panicked when he opened his eyes and was still in the exact same place. He was stuck! Oh Merlin, he was going to die here, because there was no one around and they'd eaten all the food he'd brought for the picnic.
He laid Hermione back on the ground and scrambled around, looking for the plaid he'd brought to sit on during their picnic. He wrapped her body in it and took her in his arms. He conjured a map and placed it on top of her, so he could read it. She was more underweight than he remembered.
"We don't want you to catch a cold, do we?" he smiled. His eyes filled with tears when she didn't answer. He became angry with himself. He was not going to cry. He was not a baby! But he did have lost his girlfriend and it was his fault she was dead.
It was only now that he looked around and noticed three other bodies. His aunt's spell sure must have been a powerful one. There was blood everywhere and one of the men's skull was in pieces. He could see the brains.
"Oh Merlin," he groaned. He felt sick.
"Oh Hermione, don't look. It's awful. It's sad... Are you warm enough? Let's just go home, Mione, let's just go back to Hogwarts. You will get warmer there. Are you hungry? I'm not. Not after what I've seen. Damn, it's really sad. Let's go home, baby. I can't disapparate, so we will have to walk. You don't mind walking, do you? Don't worry, I'll carry you, Darling," Draco said.
He tried protecting her against the view of all the blood and the dead Death Eaters. He was sure she would cry if she saw it. She would blame herself, she'd heard his aunt as well, after all.
Was Pansy worrying yet? How long had he been out? He glared at his watch. Merlin… he had been unconscious for two hours… Dinner was over already and Pansy had expected him to be there. So she must be worried. But she had no idea where he was. He had to contact her, but there was no owl to be seen.
"I can't contact Hogwarts, baby," he whispered, "I guess we'll just have to walk home. I'm tired already. You too? Merlin… I just want to sleep. Let's sleep now, no? Let's sleep under that plaid of yours…"
He shook his head, "No. Pansy is probably worried enough by now. Your friends are definitely worried too. You know them… like hell you know them! They're your friends! How funny… a Slytherin and a Gryffindor who love each other, while they should hat each other. I sometimes wonder if, after we get married, my friends and your friends will make peace and accept each other as they are. That should be so nice, don't you think. Don't worry… I know you think Pansy is real annoying and Crabbe and Goyle are just bullies… but I'm sure they'll change when they're old enough to marry. They are my friends after all, and I don't think you think I'm an annoying bully anymore… do you?"
With a little imagination he could hear her laughing. Marry her… it was not something for in the near future, but still… once she finished her studies, she would be old enough. She didn't have to study if she married him, he was rich enough, but she wanted to. She wanted to have a job, like regular people.
"I'm afraid we're late for dinner, baby," Draco said, "You think Potter and Weasley will be mad? I hope for you they won't. I Maybe you should tell them about us, tell them what happened to us… My feet hurt already…"
Draco took a look at the map on his girlfriend's wrapped in stomach. He guessed the distance between his current place and the closest town.
"It's like 50 kilometers. I think we'll be able to make it by tomorrow noon. Damn, you're heavy like this. But you don't have to go on a diet, baby. Just waking up is enough, so you can walk yourself. You're going to wake up soon, right? To make me happy?"
He just had to follow this road. It would bring him to the closest town. Once he got there, he could send an owl. He just had to make it to the town.
He tripped over his feet and dropped her onto the ground, before landing on top of her. He groaned in pain and wondered why she had stopped smelling the way she did before the car-crash. Back then, she had at least smelled alive. Now, she smelled like a stranger, like distance, like death.
She was not dead! She couldn't be! She was not allowed to! She was just faking it to scare him… and she was doing a pretty good job. Not breathing, no heartbeat. Only she could fake things like that. She was like the fake-queen… No. she was not. She was not the fake-queen. She was a real girl with real problems and real friends.
"Don't worry Hermione," Draco said, "We'll make. We just have to hold on. We just have to hold on. Don't you want to see your friends again? Don't you? I know that I want see mine for sure. They are my everything, together with you. Hey, this may sound a little weird, but I've been thinking about it for a while now and I was wondering… I… You… Will you marry me?"
He only got silence as an answer. He shook his head, a little sad, but smiling.
"It's okay baby," he said, "you can think about it a little longer. I know we're still young, but I just know you're the one for me. I really know. But if you really want to, we can wait until you've finished studying. That's okay by me, really. I will do everything to see you smile. You know, I would even die to see you're beautiful smile again. I love you so so much. I don't even have words to describe how much I love you… sounds trashy, huh? You're always so annoyed when people say this kind of stuff in books and stories. You always say they're just saying stuff. But I'm not just saying stuff. I'm really not. I hope you know… I really hope you know…"
He looked up at the sky and saw like a million stars. The moon was huge and full and everything else was pitch black.
"It's so beautiful," he whispered, "If only you would open your eyes, you would fall in love with the sky. And you are already in love with the night and me. Look, Mione, it's so, so pretty. It's so pretty…"
He was tired and worn down. She became heavier with every step he took. If only she would cooperate. If only she would wake up and hold his hand as they went on. It would be so much easier. Then, they would be able to make something from this shitty yet beautiful night. They couldn't disaparate, but the stars were so pretty. They made him want to cry.
They made him want to lay down and sleep an eternity, curled up in her arms, her whispering in his ears, her singing in his heart.
Would her lips still be as soft as before the crash? He wanted to kiss her, but something stopped him. Maybe the fact that she laid limp in his arms, maybe the fact that he couldn't feel her warm breath on his cheeks. He had searched for it for hours, but it seemed to have disappeared.
"I never saw sunrise before," Draco whispered groggily. His voice was giving in after hours of talking and no sleep nor food.
"I bet you did," he whispered, "On these nights when you couldn't sleep and watched the stars all night. I bet you did. I'm so hungry and so, so tired. Aren't you tired? No, I bet you're not… remember when we stayed together in the Room of Requirement for the first time. You told me not to let you fall asleep during our talks. You woke up the next morning in the bed. I'm just not able to wake you up. You're so innocent when you sleep. You're too cute to wake up."
He sighed. He couldn't walk in a straight line anymore. He was walking all over the street, like a drunk, nearly collapsing with fatigue.
Draco nearly sobbed in relief as he saw high buildings in the distance. He laughed like a madman as tears ran down his face. He started walking faster.
"Almost there," he sobbed, "we're almost there…"
The sun was high and burning, sweat was pouring down his back and face, his hair were messy and his tie had disappeared long ago. His once white shirt was ripped and covered in blood and dust. His head swam with hunger and fatigue.
"We made it Hermione," he cried as they reached the town's gate, "We made it."
Hermione opened her eyes and smiled at him. She jumped out of his arms, kissed him, grabbed his hand, and led him towards the town gates.
"Where on earth is Hermione?" Ron asked the next morning, while they were having breakfast, "She wasn't here for dinner, and now we're almost 12 hours later and she's still not here."
"I have no idea," Harry answered. He looked around and gasped when his eyes fell on something.
"Ron!" he breathed, "Look!"
Ron went death pale when he saw what Harry was pointing at. A few places away from them was a younger Gryffindor girl reading her Daily Prophet. On the front page was a huge picture with a headline that made Harry's blood freeze in his veins.
"Four Death Eaters and one Muggleborn Hogwarts student found murdered in Edinburgh."
Ron sobbed when he recognized Hermione's figure in the picture. Draco Malfoy had one arm wrapped over her chest.
As if to protect her one last time.
I wrote this story a few years ago with other characters and a car crash, instead of an attack by evil wizards (The characters were all muggles and had nothing to do with Harry Potter)
So, today I rewrote it and made it a Dramione story.
Tell me, what did you think? Good? Bad? Review!
Oh, and because I remember that a lot of people didn't understand the end (and notice a lot of people still don't), I'll explain the story for you briefly:
They both die and Draco carries Hermione to Heaven. The road is symbol for the purgatory (if my translating machine is correct ;) ) you know, the thingy where you go after you die to sweat out your sins before you're allowed to go to heaven. When they arrive at the town's gates / heaven's gates, Hermione 'wakes up' and they enter Heaven together.
I hope it's clear now for everybody