A/N: This is a birthday drabble songfic for two of my best friends, who don't have an account on , so I can't give you a penname. Ciel and Maëli, this is for you. I got you addicted to Dramiones, so I owe you this much. It's not Iso, but it's what I can do. I hope you enjoy it a little. Happy eighteenth birthday!
Disclaimer:
The man with the black hood threateningly pointed his wand at the quivering girl.
"Say it!"
"Never!"
"Say it, and I won't have to use this on you!"
"No, please, no, don't make me say it!"
"Crucio!"
"NOOOOO! Alright, alright, I'll say it! ... I own nothing!"
Song: I Won't Say (I'm In Love), from Disney's "Hercules"
"Admit it, Hermione!", an infuriating redhead insisted stubbornly.
"No, Ginny, I won't! You know very well how my relationships worked out! First Viktor, then Ron! Been there, done that! I'm through with men!" Hermione stated determinedly.
"Who do you think you're kidding, 'Mione? You can't keep on denying it! You've got it bad, just face it!"
Her statement earned her a furious scowl: "That's not true! Drop it, Ginny!"
"It is, and you know it! You can't conceal it! I've seen you watching him, sometimes you're practically drooling! The way you nearly swoon when he says something clever, and you grin like a fool when he compliments you, all those little things! You are in love, dumb-ass!"
Hermione moaned theatrically: "I... I can't, Ginny! Sweet Merlin, I thought I had learned my lesson! If I let myself fall in love with him, I'll lose whatever grip I have on my life!"
"It's okay, Hermione, just give up!"
"No chance, no way. Me alive, I won't say out loud that I'm in love with Draco Malfoy."
Song: Dark Waltz, by Hayley Westenra
Hermione was mystified. How in the name of Merlin had she ended up in this situation? "This situation" meaning Draco Malfoy's arms, to be more precise. And Merlin forbid Hermione would ever be anything less than precise. She, Gryffindor Princess and allegedly Brightest Witch of her Age, was actually waltzing with the Slytherin Prince (and Sex God, if one believed the rumours. Which Hermione was very inclined to do now she could feel the boy's defined abs against her chest. Not that she would ever admit it.) Talk about House Unity. Such a pity red and green clashed so horribly. How about silver and gold? Merlin, dancing with Malfoy turned her into a rambling mess.
The worst part was that she was actually enjoying it. Malfoy was a very skilled dancer, and though she didn't dare looking him in the eye, she often steeled glances at him in the mirrors that covered the walls of the Great Hall. He was simply beautiful, the soft light of the fake full moon on the ceiling illuminating his silver eyes and alabaster skin.
Damn it all, he was more than beautiful. His wit and intelligence had managed to impress her several times during their Seventh Year at Hogwarts, and he had actually started being kind to her when they weren't arguing the hell out of each other. Not that she didn't enjoy their heated discussions more than was strictly normal.
She was shaken out of her thoughts when Malfoy made her whirl around suddenly. She almost lost her balance and heard a small chuckle. She scowled at the boy's smirk, which only managed to make him laugh harder.
"Stop over-analyzing this, Granger. Yes, you're dancing with me. Yes, you're enjoying it. Yes, you're attracted to me, even though I'm evil and stand for everything you learned to hate. So what? You're everything I was taught to hate too, and I'm not afraid to admit that I like you quite a bit more than I should."
In those few words, Draco Malfoy had achieved the unthinkable: he had rendered Hermione Granger speechless. She could only stand there, mouth gaping slightly.
"Close your mouth, Granger, it's not becoming. Though, no, wait, it might save me some trouble."
When Malfoy smirking lips approached her own, she didn't care if this felt like going over to the Dark Side. She gave in.
Song: Leave Out All The Rest, by Linkin Park
Draco woke with a start, breathing fast and heart pounding. He hissed as he drew a breath through his clenched teeth. Another nightmare. A soft sigh and a gentle hand caressing his upper arm told him his girlfriend was awake.
"What was it about this time, Draco?" Hermione asked in a concerned tone.
"The usual. Bellatrix. Me. You. Your friends."
"What happened?"
"I... Bellatrix caught me. She... she tortured for betraying them, for helping the Order and falling in love with you. Especially that last part..."
"Why did you do it, filthy little bloodtraitor? Why did you betray your family? You're a disgrace to the Malfoy name!"
"I don't care about my family or the Malfoy name! I only care about her, and you'd kill her if you got the chance!"
"Her? Oh, your little Mudblood girlfriend... I thought she was just a fling... Tell me, Draco darling, did you actually fall in love with her? With a filthy Mudblood?"
One word. He knew what it would mean.
"Yes."
The flash of green light burned itself on his retina just before everything went black.
"And then she killed me."
"Listen to me, Draco." Hermione looked down at him with a determined expression, "You know I would never let that happen! I'd kill that bitch with my bare hands first!"
"Even you couldn't do a thing against my madwoman of an aunt, Granger. But that wasn't the bad part. This is actually a very recurrent pattern in my nightmares."
"If that isn't bad, Draco, what is?"
"You know, being killed because of you is far from the worst thing I can imagine."
"I would never forgive myself."
"Well, actually, that was the bad part. In my dream, you forgot me. It was quite strange. Even though I was dead, I could see everything you did. In the beginning, you were scared out of your wits, but no-one else cared that I had gone missing. Then everyone convinced you that you were better off without me, that I had never been good enough for you, and you believed them. You would have been the only person to miss me, and you didn't."
Hermione straddled him and shook him by his shoulders, hard: "Draco Malfoy! Don't you even for one second that I would forget you or deem you unworthy of me! How can you even consider the fact that I'd let anyone forget you? You made mistakes, pretty bad ones, but you've changed! You have! And I made mistakes too, Draco, nobody's perfect! You aren't, I'm not, even Harry fucking Potter, the sodding Boy Who Lived, isn't perfect! Believe me, I'm the one he's screamed at during his fucking entire fifth year!"
Ow. She had to be really infuriated. She never swore like that, except when... well, not an appropriate thought to have at the moment.
"I forgave you, Draco, how often do I have to repeat it? And I'd miss you like hell if you died. I love you, you insecure idiot. I really do."
"Granger, you give me way too much credit. I didn't change on my own, you changed me. I'm not as strong as you are. I probably sound like a melodramatic prat right now, but you're the one who saved me from myself. And you're the only one who could have achieved that."
"You are strong, Draco, you just needed a little push in the right direction. Now stop pining over it and go to sleep."
"Yes ma'am!"
He obediently turned onto his side.
"Granger?" he mumbled some moments later.
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
Song: Good Enough, by Evanescence
"Draco, please?"
"Granger, he's not civil towards me either!"
"I know, but he's not my boyfriend! Think of the rewards you'll get for being nice to him!"
"Nice? Don't you think you're getting a bit carried away there?"
Hermione scowled at him and then proceeded to snog him silly. Salazar, the woman should have been in Slytherin. She was too devious for her own good. She knew very well he couldn't resist to that kind of sweet torture.
Draco groaned: "Fine, alright, I'll try to be civil to Weasley! Damn you, woman, you know damn well I can't say no to you! You've conquered me completely, that can't be healthy! You must have put me under a spell! Admit it, you did, you cunning little witch!"
"Stop being silly, Draco! And thank you, you won't regret it!"
"I'm not entirely convinced of that. Just take care what you ask of me, Granger, 'cause I really can't say no to you."
"That's interesting. I'll keep that in mind." the witch smirked evilly.
However, the next day, Draco realised that great changes can start with something small. When he and Hermione walked into Ron Weasley at the Ministry, Draco managed to enunciate a not too reluctant-sounding "Good morning, Weasley. Have a nice day.". When that earned him an unbelieving look from the man and a hearty kiss from his girlfriend, he experienced a first. For the first time in his life, Draco Malfoy felt good enough for Hermione Granger.
Song: Angels, by Within Temptation
Hermione couldn't believe she had trusted him. She couldn't believe she had let herself fall in love with him. She'd thought he was a fallen angel, when he was nothing but a devious demon. She'd been blinded by faith, not seeing his real intentions. He had deceived her right from the start, getting close to her only to exact revenge, to break her heart, to tear her apart. Those two years of happiness had been nothing but a lie. He could have killed her, but that would have been too merciful coming from him.
For about the thousandth time, her mind wandered back to the tragedy of the previous day.
He was supposed to go to her parents' to pick up a book for her, so she could take a quick shower before heading for the ministry. She had overslept, and Draco had offered to bring back the book to her so she could win some time.
He'd been smiling at her as he left. Little did she know he was preparing to tear her life apart.
A quarter of an hour later, he hadn't come back yet. A little annoyed, Hermione had Apparated to her parents' place. She felt dizzy at the memory. Her parents' corpses had been lying on the white tiles of the kitchen floor, bathing in their own blood. Draco... no, not Draco anymore, Malfoy, had been kneeling in the crimson puddle, screaming: "I killed them! I killed them!"
Hermione had been too shocked to do something. As if sensing her presence, Malfoy had turned around to look at her. Then, he did the only thing that could have exacted a reaction from her at that moment. He had started to laugh hysterically, a psychotic, manic laugh, reminding Hermione of who exactly was his aunt.
Hermione had pointed her wand at him. "Crucio!" she whispered. Malfoy had screamed: "Hermione, NO!", but soon his voice had soon turned into a wordless, piercing shriek.
When he had passed out from the pain, Hermione had Summoned the Aurors, before collapsing into a huddled ball on the blood-soaked floor, sobbing frantically.
Harry had been there afterwards, of course, holding her, cleaning her up, putting het to bed. She'd only managed a few words through it all.
"I really believed he'd chosen a different path, Harry."
"I know, 'Mione. We all did."
"Harry?"
"Yes?"
"He betrayed me with kisses. Kill him with one."
Song: Fire and Ice, by Within Temptation
Despite the Dementors, Draco kept hoping. He kept hoping that she'd understand that this was one huge, awful misunderstanding. He hadn't killed them, for Merlin's sake! He wouldn't have been able to hurt her that way. She knew he loved her, didn't she?
No, she obviously didn't. She hadn't come to visit her once in the two months he's spent here. She'd probably ran away, trying to bury her memories of him. Oh well, he couldn't really blame her. It must have really looked like he had killed her parents. Hell, he'd screaming that he had! And when he'd seen her looking at him, he knew what was going to happen, and the bitter irony of it all had made him laugh like some psychopath. It was perfectly natural that she'd jumped to conclusions. Well, the Cruciatus Curse hadn't been strictly necessary. He hadn't killed them, after all.
He couldn't deny he had a part of responsibility, though. On the counter of the kitchen, a piece of parchment had been left behind. On it, there was a message written in suspiciously red ink.
"This is what you get for turning one of us into a traitor, filthy Mudblood."
He hadn't recognised the handwriting, so he couldn't be sure it was a member of his family, but it didn't matter. Hermione's parents had been killed because of him. It was his fault.
Still he wondered. Where was the love they once had? If she really had loved him, how could she let him rot in here because of a mere assumption? Why didn't she question herself? Had everything she'd ever told him been a lie? She'd always been full of fire, and he longed for that fire to come back and burn the ice that must have settled inside her heart for leaving him like this. He'd rather be dead than hated by her. In fact, he sometimes asked himself if he'd rather she hated him or forgot him. He still hadn't figured out the answer. For the moment, he just kept breathing, holding on to the hope that they'd be together again, someday.
However, he didn't know how long he was going to cope. The Dementors made him slip a little closer to insanity every day. They kept feeding on the thought that Hermione had buried him alive in this awful prison, and had run away from the whole situation, hiding from the knowledge that her lover had killed her parents. She wouldn't come back. He couldn't really blame her, could he? It was the kind of predicament nobody wanted to face. Still, as his life, or at least his mental health, depended on it, he couldn't help feeling a tiny bit concerned with the fact that she hadn't come to question him yet.
When the Ministry Officials arrived, a Dementor in their tow, Draco knew there would be no questioning. Potter had pulled some strings. Ironically, he'd always wanted his life to end with a kiss. He'd always pictured Hermione doing the kissing, though, not some soul-sucking creature. Oh well, he could cope with that. In a few minutes he wouldn't even remember her name anymore. She wouldn't have that luxury.
A/N: Alright, this really didn't go according to plan! I intended to write a series of light, fluffy songfic drabbles, who were supposed to have nothing to do with one another, and then the story ran away screaming with me. I still think it turned out okay. Sorry if you think it's depressing. What did you think? I'm not used to writing angst. Happy birthday again!