Worth Having
Disclaimer: I don't own and of the original Harry Potter characters, much to my dismay. Everything belongs to Mrs. Rowling, lucky woman.
Valentine's Day was a horrible, cold, bitter, unsatisfying sort of holiday. How could it even be called a holiday? It was more like a day when the single people of the world realized how unnaturally alone they were. Single Awareness Day; yes…that is what this horrid holiday should be called.
"Happy Valentine's Day to me…" Hermione Granger groaned as she watched all the happy people around her in the Great Hall receiving gifts from owls and being handed chocolates and flowers from their significant others.
Kisses, squeals, giggles, and moans. All sounds that could be heard swimming around her. Wait…moans? What the hell? She frantically looked around her and almost gagged at the sight she discovered the moan was coming from.
Next to her, apparently after receiving a very generous Valentine's present, Luna Lovegood had pounced on her boyfriend (also known as one of Hermione's own best friends) Ron Weasley to successfully pin him down on the bench of the Gryffindor table and was proceeding to maul him to the point where he looked as though he was going to burst with excitement; yeah, excitement. And not the conservative kind either.
Hermione rolled her eyes. She gathered her books into her bag and then swung it over her shoulder as she stood. After grabbing a pink frosted heart-shaped cookie she started for the double doors, although she didn't make it far because just before she cleared the table a hand reached out to grab her wrist, causing her to spin unceremoniously back towards the table.
"Harry? What is it?" she asked impatiently when she found out who her capture was.
"Where are you going?" He asks curiously as he devoured a box of Sweethearts. You know those gross chalk-like conversation hearts. Blech. She cringed.
"I'm going to library, away from all these…sweets," she replied with disgust. "Harry, this truly is just one huge cavity waiting to happen, you know that, right?"
She saw Harry roll his bright green eyes and she sighed. "Come on, Hermione. It's Valentine's Day, lighten up a little bit. Have some candy." He held out a handful of candy to her.
"I've got all I need, thank you." She held up her pink frosted heart-shaped cookie.
Harry sighed. "Fine, but do you really have to go up to the library?"
She caught a glimpse of Ginny, Harry's girlfriend, who was sitting right next to him patiently waiting for him to finish his conversation with her. She smiled at Ginny who smiled back politely.
"Yes, Harry, I do have to go to the library because your girlfriend would like to spend Valentines Day with you and I don't want to be a bother to anyone."
Harry went to say something but Hermione stopped him by giving him a sincere smile. He looked like he would argue with her some more but knew it was no use. Her mind was made up and he couldn't do anything about it. He smiled back and handed her a chocolate rose.
The library was empty, much to Hermione's enjoyment. Being surrounded by books in complete silence was heaven to her. She could not think of anything more enjoyable; even if it was Valentine's Day.
She sat at her normal table in the corner, the one surrounded by windows looking out onto the still snow covered grounds. Her books were soon sprawled out all across the table and she was soon reading parts of each one while she wrote down random facts and interesting pieces of information. The cookie and the chocolate rose she had accumulated from the Great Hall were seated at the edge of the table to her right, almost as if they were teasing her. She glared at them.
How could a simple cookie and a chocolate flower cause such feelings to rise in her? It wasn't like those two things symbolized anything. They for sure didn't symbolize the love she wanted to feel and how much she wanted companionship and someone to give her candy and kisses on this holiday of love. No, definitely not. They definitely did not symbolize such silly things.
She sighed. Concentration was not an act she could perform at the moment apparently. She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. She closed her eyes and lost herself in her thoughts.
Why does it seem like everyone has a companion other than her? Harry had Ginny and Ron had Luna. Not to mention every girl in her dorm had someone too. They would all sit up and talk about all the cute habits their boyfriends had or the "juicy" details of what they had done the night before. She rolled her eyes. She made a note that whenever she (or if she ever) got a boyfriend she would not blab their most intimate details with other girls, no matter how much they begged. Love is something you cherish and it should not be thrown around lightly or blabbed about constantly. She would be a good girlfriend. No, she would be a great girlfriend. Yeah, she would be. So why hasn't she had a boyfriend yet?
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard something like a chair squeak. She opened her eyes and yelped.
Across from her, at her table, sat a very inquisitive looking Draco Malfoy in all his bright blonde glory. In his hand he had her cookie, her cookie! And there was a bite out of it! How dare him.
"What do you think you're doing, Malfoy?" she asked irritably, masking her utter surprise.
She expected him to flash his trademark smirk and was confused when he didn't.
"I was just curious as to why you are in here all alone on the one day of the year where being coupled with someone is celebrated," he asked with curiously, no sign of spite.
She arched an eyebrow. "Well, I would have to be in a couple to be celebrated, now wouldn't I?"
It was his turn to arch an eyebrow. "You mean…you and Potter aren't dating?"
She looked at him oddly. "Um…no, he's dating Ginny."
Lightbulb. "Oh, the Weaslette. No wonder she is always attached to his hip."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why did you think they weren't together?"
"I don't know, I just thought it would be weird for the guy to be dating his best mate's sister. That is something I would never do," he answered after he shrugged his shoulders upward, breaking off bits of the cookie and setting them on the table.
She watched him meticulously and became increasingly confused. "Why are you here, Malfoy? Shouldn't you be off with Pansy or one of your other many "girlfriends" that are always hanging around you?"
His glass like silver eyes darted up to look into her dark chocolate ones and she felt herself shiver. She tried to read the expression he held but failed miserably. He was the only person she knew that she couldn't read. But Hermione Granger was not known to back down from a challenge.
"Firstly, neither Pansy nor any of those other girls are my girlfriend and I am disgusted that anyone would ever make that assumption. Secondly, why is it any of your business what I do on Valentine's Day?" he said in a very bored tone.
She hesitated a moment, her teeth capturing her bottom lip and pulling it into her mouth to nibble distractedly. "Um…well I guess it isn't but I just thought since you came over here and asked me about why I was here I would have the right to ask you."
He eyed her for a moment before smiling, not a smirk, but a real smile. "Fine."
Her eyebrow arched again. That was it? Fine? What kind of answer is fine?
She shut the book in front of her and propped her elbows up on the table, her chin in her hand. "So tell me, why are you in here alone on Valentine's Day and tearing apart my cookie?"
He looked down at the sugar cookie that he was absentmindedly tearing into pieces still and shrugged. "I have nothing else to do and this cookie looked way to delicious to just be sitting there unattended."
She snorted. "You're telling me, that the famous Draco Malfoy doesn't have a Valentine and would rather spend the day in the library?"
He didn't look up right away. His hesitation caught her by surprise and frankly, it kind of worried her.
"I have plenty of Valentine's. Just…none of them are worth having," he finally looked up at her with a look of seriousness in his eyes.
Her amber eyes connected with his hoary ones until she lost track of how long they had actually been looking at each other. How long had they been looking at each other? Seconds…minutes…hours? She didn't care. His eyes were beautiful and the longer she got to stare into them the better.
The silver color that graced them was one of mystery. She has never seen a color quite like the color that is this man's eyes. It was almost like the clouds on a day where the rain comes down in only a light mist; gray, yet when the sun shined through they took on a sterling silver appearance. Those silver orbs bored into her own with a look that was still a mystery to her. The look that sent those increasingly familiar shivers down her spine. Not the kind you get when something scares you, but the kind you get when you get the feeling that something means more than you think. This realization sent the scared kind of chills down her spine.
After many moments she moved her gaze from his eyes and they landed on her unopened chocolate rose. She reached out and captured it between her fingers. She noticed his eyes followed her the whole way.
"Did you get that from your Valentine?" he asked in a quite voice. She held back the hysterical laughter that was threatening to erupt from her lungs.
"Uh no, I don't have a "Valentine"," she told him as she smugly ripped the colored foil off of the pedaled part of the rose.
His silence was unsettling, but she couldn't bring herself to look up.
"R-really?" he stuttered in a tone she could only compare to one that was disbelieving. This peaked her curiosity.
"Yeah, really. I don't have a boyfriend, I don't have a Valentine, and I have no one that will send me flowers or chocolates or kiss me or make me feel like I am special so go ahead, Malfoy, laugh it up! Make fun of me! Make smartass remarks about how alone I am and how I probably always will be because no one will ever want to be with a know-it-all, too smart for her own good, ugly, little bookworm!"
Her sudden outburst shocked him. He had never seen her break like this before. Sure, that slap back in third year was uncharacteristic but that was nothing like this. This was pain from her heart that was being expressed; this was real pain.
For several minutes he just sat staring at her, his shocked expression still in place. He watched as her delicate fingers broke the thin chocolate pedals off of the candy rose placed in her fragile hand and dropped them into her mouth. Her plush lips closing to trap the piece of chocolate inside. With his eyes locked on her mouth it was easy for him to see that her jaw didn't move as any other persons would when they placed chocolate in their mouth. No. She wasn't chewing.
Occasionally her throat would relocate as she swallowed and each time this happened his stomach would flip. Why was he reacting to this simple action so strongly? It was just smooth, rich, velvety chocolate sliding down her throat behind the milky, flawless, creamy skin of her neck. He gulped.
"I'm not going to poke fun at you," he finally replied, his voice a little higher than he would have liked.
The chocolate flower in her hand dropped and landed on the table, little pieces of the pedals breaking off and resting upon the wood.
"Y-Your not?" Her definite shock was obvious.
He shook his head. "Nope."
Her characteristically manicured eyebrow rose in question again. "Why?"
Why?
Good question.
He leaned back in his chair, his arms crossing across his chest. Their eyes were connected again, but this time he was fidgeting. He would look into those mesmerizing brown eyes and then shift them to look elsewhere. Thoughts were flying around in his mind, colliding and crashing causing utter chaos and confusion.
Why? That question floated around searching frantically for the answer. His eyes landed on her supple pink lips again. Her teeth had taken her bottom lip as prisoner again and were nibbling away on it with such absorption he knew it meant more than it looked. But hell, he sure liked the way it looked.
Reason one.
Why? He watched as her dainty hand rose again to pick up the chocolate rose stem between her fingers. One of her long fingers ran along the length of the stem as a distraction from her own thoughts. He resisted the urge to reach out, capture that hand, and kiss each and every elegant fingertip.
Reason two.
Why? He finally raised his eyes to meet hers again. He felt the breath from his lungs leave him. The only thing he could compare her eyes to would be a pool of melted chocolate; smooth, velvety, delicious chocolate. But as they shifted, looking into his silvery orbs, the light would reflect on them and cause tiny gold flecks to appear. Gold covered in chocolate? A mans dream.
Reason three.
"Beautiful," he whispered, his stomach dropped as soon as he realized he had actually vocalized his private thought.
He watched her eyes grow at his statement, or maybe he just imagined it; the light in this room is becoming progressively deceiving.
"W-what?" she muttered, considering it was her inner hope making her think he had said something she had only dreamed of him saying.
It was now or never.
"I said beautiful," he started. Yeah, he was sure that her eyes grew this time; he repressed the urge to smile. "I'm not going to poke fun at you, Hermione, because…you're beautiful, and beautiful girls shouldn't be alone on Valentines Day, picking away the pedals of a rose given by their best friend out of pity because he feels bad for leaving you alone on Valentines Day. You should not have to sit here and wallow, slowly eating away the pedals of your chocolate flower of pity, because you have no one to, how did you put it, send you flowers or chocolates or kiss you or make you feel like you are special. You should have that person because you, Hermione Granger, are beautiful. And beautiful girls deserve someone to love them on every day of the year, not just Valentines Day."
As he finished, his eyes never leaving hers, he became aware of the look she was giving him. Her arched eyebrow had descended to its original residence and her eyes had taken over a glossy sort of expression. This scared him because he could not read her expression. The one thing Draco Malfoy was good at was reading people and now that his sole gift was failing him, at the most crucial part of his life so far, he was becoming nervous. He had just spilled his most intimate thoughts to a girl that was once his enemy. Well, not so much enemy as maybe an annoyance. But over the years he has come to realize that nothing about her annoys him, oh no, quite the contrary really; everything about her stirs something up inside him that he can only compare with love. The way she puts her hands on her hips when she's frustrated, the way she twirls a strand of hair around her finger when she confused, they way she bites her lip when she's nervous, the way she touches everything as if it were made of glass, how she cares for people no matter who they are or what they've done. Yes, this is the girl he loves. This girl may be his complete opposite but damn it, he loves her. The opposite of him is everything she is; she is everything he is not and that makes her everything to him.
The chocolate rose was laid against the hardwood table between them again. She stared into his eyes, searching for any sign of a dishonesty or hilarity and found none, which made her smile slightly. There was still one question that was battling against her mind and her mouth; her mouth prevailed.
"But, if I am…beautiful then why don't I have a Valentine?" her tiny voice asked.
He smiled. "Because you haven't found the one that is worth having yet."
"Or they haven't found me," she replied.
He shook his head. "Oh, don't worry, he has found you."
Her eyebrow arched again, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. "Has he?"
He nodded. "He has."
She smiled a sly smile and began to look from left to right and all around the room. "Well, I don't see him."
He smirked, a chuckle escaping from between his lips. "Well, then you're blind because he's right in front of you."
She had suspected this was where he was going with this but as soon as she heard it, it was like it was finally real and the reaction she had was one no one expected; she smiled.
"Are you asking me to be your Valentine, Draco?" she said sweetly.
He smiled and reached across the table to grab the chocolate rose. He stood from his chair and walked until he stood in front of her. With one swift movement he was down on one knee, the rose held out in front of him for her to take.
"I am asking you to be my girlfriend, Hermione," he said, nervousness snaking through his sweet words.
She reached out and took the flower into her hand, her fingers brushing against his, resulting in a shocking display of heat radiating from both of them. She smiled.
"I'd love to be your girlfriend, Draco," she replied.
His heart skipped with joy and he felt his cheeks tingle, a feeling he has never quite experienced before. He stood up and tugged her up with him.
"Come here, pretty girl," he whispered in a husky tone as he pulled her close to him, her chest colliding with his, both of their breath escaping their lungs and mixing between them.
The rose in her hand fell to the floor, forgotten, shattering into a million tiny brown pieces. But they never noticed.
He reached up and pushed a strand of her beautiful cinnamon locks off her forehead, smiling a smile that reached his shining eyes. They were connected again, their eyes, but this time it was deeper. They shared the same look; love. Both were radiating the aura of love.
"Happy Valentines Day, Hermione," he whispered, their lips becoming closer every second.
"Don't you mean happy Single Awareness Day?" she replied in a hushed tone, her lips curled in a playful smile.
He chuckled airily before pressing his soft lips to hers. They started gentle but as soon as they both got a taste of the other they became hungry for more. They were soon battling with one another, trying to become victorious by getting the fullest taste of the other.
When they parted for air they were both left with the rich taste of milk chocolate upon their taste buds; a taste they will never detest or forget.
Still, the rose on the floor lay forgotten and broken, but the love it created will stay alive forever and on to eternity. Never again will the brown eyed girl with a heart of gold stay cooped up, forgotten and lonely, in the library on Valentines Day again.
Well…not if her blond night in shining armor has anything to say about it. Besides, what's the point of having a Valentine if they are not worth having?
A/N: I know this came out late but I started writing it ON Valentines Day and I just couldn't finish it that day, but at least I finished it. :D I hope you liked it. Please review.
Oh, and for the record, the term "pretty girl" is from one of my favorite show's "One Tree Hill" and it was also used in another story on this website and if the author of that story has a problem with this I will change it. But just keep in mind that that name was not yours to begin with so I am not liable for "plagiarism".