A/N: The song mentioned in the fic is My Chemical Romance's 'Sharpest Lives'. I do not claim to own any of their works, or the rights to and of the characters from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter.
Also, keep in mind that I wrote this a long time ago, that it was a request, and that for a very long time I have not been an active enough member on FF to fix my mistakes. Here is my updated version.
This is a non-cannon one-shot. Hermione is, in this story, a destructive alcoholic. It has altered her life, and the friendships of those around her quite dramatically.
Once Upon a Bar Scene
In a darkened bar just outside of London, three young men sat in stools near the bartender, ordering Firewhisky and nursing Gin-and-tonics. A lone female emerges from the restroom and returns, stumbling, to the table. "G-guys, I think I wanna leave now.. Will one of you t-take me home?"
'Well it rains and it pours
when you're out on your own..'
"Hermione?" One of them replied in a monotone, as if this statement has been overused, "You don't live anywhere…D'you want to come with one of us?."
She stepped closer to the blond young man. The red-head and the pale, jet-haired gentleman exchanged shifting glances, almost guilty.. But mostly relieved. "Draco.. She's picked you tonight. Take good care of her. Please."
"I will guys. See you at work tomorrow. Harry, Ron…" He took her hand and led her from the building.
Reality spun for Hermione as her vision blurred, her heartbeat crashing in her chest like a frantic moth trapped to close to the heat of a flame. A song came to the forefront of her consciousness and clung to her thoughts more frmly than she herself was clasping Draco's hand.
'If I crash on the couch
can I sleep in my clothes?
'Cause I've spent the night dancing
I'm drunk, I suppose
if it looks like I'm laughing
I'm really just asking to leave'
The words ran through her mind as the only truth she could prove, chasing themselves dizzy through her pounding head.
'This alone, you're in time for the show
you're the one that I need
I'm the one that you loathe
you can watch me corrode like a beast in repose
'Cause I love all the poison
Away with the boys in the band'
She leaned heavily on him now, slurring her words, and unintentionally speaking the lyrics out loud.
"I've really been on a bender and it shows..."
So why don't you blow me a kiss before she goes?
Before either of them knew it, they were at his flat in the city. "We're, ummm.. We're here Hermione." He unlocked the door with a wave of the wand hidden in his sleeve and ushered her inside, hoping to close up quickly so he could work on getting here sobered enough to talk to him, for real this time. It had been months since she'd been sober enough in his presence to carry on any kind of conversation. As he turned away to shut the door, however, she began singing out loud in earnest.
"Give me a shot to remember
and you can take all the pain away from me
a kiss and I will surrender…
The sharpest lives are the deadliest to lead..."
She raised her volume and added a rasp to her voice, wanting to distract him from his purpose before he could start; She knew what he was about, never you mind! She turned to him, pulled him close, and poured her drunken heart out.
"A light to burn all the empires
so bright the sun is ashamed to rise and be
in love with all of these 'vampires'"
She put emphasis on 'vampires' because she knew that Draco treasured his vampiristic good looks.
"So you can leave like the sane abandoned me..
There's a place in the dark where the animals go
you can take off your skin in the cannibal glow"
She placed her palm on the back of his neck and smoothed the hair there, longing to follow her fingers with her lips but denying herself the pleasure.
"Juliet loves the beat and the lust it commands
Drop the dagger and lather the blood on your hands, Romeo.."
She quieted to a whisper and pressed her lips softly to his.
It wasn't until that moment that he realized what she was doing. In shock, he pulled away. "Hermione.. Get off me."
There was a wide-eyed, hurt look on her face and she closed her eyes, tipping her head down and laying her forehead to his chest. "Draco.. I need you to love me."
Now it was his turn to widen his eyes. That wasn't what he'd expected, but the blatant need in her eyes, not for sex or lust, but for help, caught him so quickly off guard that for a moment he was speechless
He picked up the song where she left off, crooning the words softly to her as he gave in to his urge to feel something besides pity for her again. Taking her hand in one smooth movement, he lifted it to his lips and kissed each fingertip before he answered with his words. He pulled her close and she lifted her face to look him in the eyes. "I do love you, Hermione… I always have. And I always will. Remember that…" His voice was a mere whisper as the distance between them grew smaller. Their lips met once more with an explosion of sensation, creeping warmth across both of their bodies spreading from every point of contact. Hermione was trembling now. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me, since I started... You know..."
Draco smiled. "I know it." He held her softly and lovingly, then kissed her forehead tenderly. "I promise, you'll be hearing it a lot more often."