Fandom(s): Harry Potter
Summary: Draco wants to do the right and noble thing, and Hermione doesn't want him to.
Author: Lilly Gray
Title: The Right and Noble Thing
Series: None
Characters: Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger
Genre: Drama, Supernatural, Romance.
Rating: Rated T
Warnings: None that I can think of… maybe some OOC happening. Oh, and major sap!
Beta/Pre-Reader: None
Banner by: Lilly Gray
Word Count: 833
Prompt/inspiration: Response to Quiet Ones 30-minute Challenge #1. Include A Rose, Wine, Rain, An apology, and a Kiss.
Time: 7:09pm to 7:36pm… if I did my math right that's 27 minutes. :O)
Status: Complete
Disclaimer: I do not own The Harry Potter Series. The recognizable characters, settings, locations, plot lines, quotes, etc. from the franchise above belong to their respective owners, not me. I am making no money from this story, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: As of August 07, 2004, this was the very first thing I'd written in almost 2 years… and I've NEVER written in this fandom before or since…
The Right & Noble Thing
By Lilly Gray
The house was deathly quiet except for the harsh breathing of both parties in the living room. Draco took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his blonde hair. "Hermione, I need to do this. If you care for me at all, you have to see…"
Hermione's face became hard as he spoke and she interrupted him through clenched teeth. "Get out."
"Hermione, I…"
"Get out of my house."
Draco looked at her. "I just wish you could understand," as he continued his voice grew in volume, "but I suppose it was too much to ask a bloody Gryffindor to understand about doing the right and noble thing. Don't know why I thought you of all people…" He turned towards the door and took his cloak off the hook on the wall. With one last look at her, he whispered "Goodbye Hermione."
He opened the door satisfied that the weather agreed with his mood as rain poured down from the cloud filled night sky. He made sure to slam the door on his way out.
Hermione stood still as a statue with tears running down her face. She grabbed the rose sitting on the coffee table and threw it. Completely unsatisfied she grabbed her wine glass off the table and threw it towards the door. Still not satisfied, she picked up the mostly full bottle of wine and flung it at the door, her heart breaking as she watched the bottle shatter to pieces, wine splattering all over the door and wood floor.
Draco leaned against the house trying to collect his thoughts before apparating back to the Manor. He flinched when he heard glass shatter against the door. He was only doing this because he loved her. "Glad I didn't tell her that part, this would've been ten times worse." He mumbled to himself.
Draco was pulled from his thoughts as the front door was violently pulled open.
Hermione bolted out the door and down the path. The rain immediately soaked her to the bone, and she shivered. Her hair was a mess and her clothes stuck to her, and he knew he had never loved her more than at that moment.
She reached the end of the path and crumpled to the ground sobbing. "I do care. I do." She gasped between sobs, "Please come back. I need you."
Draco stepped away from the house intending to reveal himself but stopped short when he heard her next words. "I love you, please come back."
After confirming to himself that he wasn't hearing things and she was, in fact, repeating, "I love you." between sobs and gasps for breath, he walked down the path and stopped behind her. Reaching out his hand towards her shoulder, he said loud enough for her to hear over the rain, "I love you too." He knelt and wrapped her in his arms, "I love you too."
She turned her body toward him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. Her breath hot on his neck she whispered, "I'm sorry Draco, so sorry."
His hands came up to cup her face so he could look at her. With a crooked smile, he said, "Shh, Hermione, all you did was throw me out of your house. It wasn't the first time, and it probably won't be the last."
Hermione looked at him thoughtfully and replied, "Draco, I'm scared. If He finds out, he'll kill you, after he tortures you for who knows how long." As she finished, she started crying again.
He pulled her head back to his chest. "Luv, I have to do this. I have to make up for all that my father has done." He paused to collect his thoughts. "The Order, which I'm involved with because of you, and only you, needs someone to do this, and I'm the only one in a position to get in."
She shuddered, "But I need you here, with me, where it's safe."
"You are not safe." He replied gently. "But I might be able to change that. I need to do everything I can to keep the woman I love safe, and no matter how un-Slytherin it might be, I want to honor my God Father's memory. He's the reason I stopped hating you on principle alone, he showed me that my principles were skewed. I have to take his place. I owe it to him, and to you."
Hermione pulled him closer to her as she took a shuddering breath. "I don't think I can survive you dying."
Draco pulled her face from his chest and looked her in the eye. "I promise to do my best not to die."
Before she could respond, he leaned toward her and kissed her softly. Standing he swept her up into his arms and said, "Time to get out of the rain, Luv." before he carried the woman that he loved back into the house.
The End