I can't let go, when will the night be over
******
"No!" She almost yelled when she snapped back to reality.
She felt a gust of wind come over her and her books. The candle that she took
outside with her went out, and she was lift in darkness. She reached into her
pocket for another match, but then found it wasn't necessary. The clouds moved
to reveal the crescent moon, which gave off as much light as the candle did.
She looked back to her book to see where she was, and found something very dear
to her.
It was her January Astronomy homework.
******
January 17, 1997
"Now, before you all go, here's yesterday's homework."
Professor Sinsistra (I think I spelled that wrong) said, holding a stack of
parchment. Everybody was anxious to leave, and another hold-up was the last
thing they wanted. She handed the homework to the first few people to the left
of the classroom, which included Draco. She put the paper on his desk. To
Draco's right sat Hermione, who was putting her Astronomy book away.
"Granger!" Draco said in a sharp whisper. Hermione put her
book back on her desk and looked at him. He was showing her his paper. It had
an A on it.
The professor dismissed the class, and the big mass
started their way to the Great Hall.
"You're welcome." Hermione said to Draco with a degree of
superioty.
"Who said I was thanking you?"
"Without me, you'd still be up there." Hermione said, sill
tagging next to him. "Come on, Draco, say it. You know you want to."
"If I don't thank you, you're just going to keep pestering
me, aren't you?"
"Yeah, probably."
"Thank-you." He said in a monotonous voice. Before
Hermione had a chance to say something, he added. "Mudblood."
"Oh, are we going back to those old tricks again? I
thought a real friendship was forming." She said sarcastically, and she made
her way, by herself, to the Great Hall, with Draco closely watching her.
******
I didn't
mean to fall in love with you
And baby
there's a name for what you put me through
It isn't
love, it's robbery
I'm
sleeping with the ghost of you and me
******
She slammed the book shut, not wanting to remember any of
it, but she found that quite impossible. She could still hear him calling for
her, still see smiling at her, and still feel his eyes looking at her.
She opened the book again, determined to get her work
done. But this time, she found a ripped, crumbled piece of paper in the cover.
She opened it, and saw a note.
******
January 20, 1997
After Draco had received that A, she could not stop
thinking about him. It was as if Hermione's mind was a stage, and Draco refused
to take his bow.
She always felt his gaze on her everywhere she went,
though he hadn't approached her. She was getting very confused about what
message he was sending until one day when she opened her Astronomy book and
found a note.
Meet me
at the Astronomy Tower at midnight. Come alone. I'll be there.
There was no signature, but she had a clear idea of who
had written it. She went up to her room, and got ready, even though she still
had 5 hours before she had to be there. After an hour of fiddling with her
hair, she laid down on her bed and waited.
"8:00 o'clock. What is he going to say?"
"Half past. Does he even want to say anything, or does he
just want to meet me?
"9:00 o'clock. I wonder what he's going to do?
"Half past. What am I going to do?"
"10:00 o'clock. Was the note even meant for me?"
"Half past. What if he didn't put the note? What if it was
someone else?"
"11:00 o'clock. Should I even go?"
"Half past. It's now or never."
She got out of bed, being careful not to wake the other
girls in her dorm. She crept down the Girls' Dormitories stairs and was about
to walk out of the common room when she bumped into something. She backed away
to see what it was but saw nothing. She gasped, and was about to run for it
when a voice called her.
"Hermione. Don't worry, it's only me." The voice said.
"Ron?" She asked to generally anywhere
Then, out of nowhere, appeared Ron, holding Harry's
invisibility cloak.
"Ron, don't you scare me like that!" She said in a sharp
voice.
"Well, what do you expect me to do? McGonagall checks in
here almost every night, and what would I say to her if she saw me here? 'Don't
worry Professor; I'm just waiting for Hermione to come down and ruin her life.
You do mind, do you?'" He said with a sarcastic tone.
"What do you mean?"
"I know you're going to the Astronomy Tower to meet
Malfoy."
"And that would ruin my life in what way?" Hermione asked,
trying to get passed Ron, but he blocked her.
"Oh, come on Hermione, this is Malfoy we're talking about.
He's either taken a new leaf on life, or he finds pleasure in messing with your
emotions." He said aggravated.
"Most likely, the former. Draco's not that bad. Besides,
it's not like there's anything going on between us, we're just friends." She
said, and Ron squirmed at the thought. If he tries anything on me, I know how
to handle it. Just let me go." She said. She tried to get pass Ron again, but
he stepped in front of her. The 2 just stood there, Hermione waiting for Ron to
move, and Ron, deciding if he should move. He finally took a step to his right,
and let her pass. She walked to the portrait hole, and was about to go through
when Ron yelled to her:
"You know, evil never dies. Just don't say I didn't try to
stop you." And with a swoop of the cloak, he was gone.
She walked to the Astronomy, narrowly escaping Mrs.
Norris. "Why didn't I ask Ron for Harry's cloak?" She asked herself after that.
"Because you're a mindless git who can only think about Draco." Her
subconscious told her, but she didn't hear it, and went on.
She crept up the Astronomy Tower stairs, trying not to
make too much noise. She opened the door to the room, looked around, and saw
that no one was there.
"Maybe I kept him waiting too long." She said, looking at
her watch, but it only read 12:03. She closed the door behind her and to her
surprise found Draco, his arms crossed in front of him and his back leaning on
the wall.
"You're late." He said
"Sorry, I had an issue to deal with. Now, what did you
want to tell me?" She asked
"Do I have to have a reason to beckon you? Can't I just
enjoy your company?" He asked like he was offended.
"I guess so." Hermione said, not really knowing what he
was going at.
"Well, how was your day?" He asked, sitting on one of the
desks.
"Just fine." She said. "Listen, what do you want. It's
kinda obvious that something needs to be said." She practically yelled.
Draco sighed, jumped off the desk, and said. "I can't get
anything past you, can I? Well, the truth is, ever since I saw you laugh on the
Astronomy Tower, all I've been able to think about is you. You never seem to
escape my mind."
Hermione was about to say something, but Draco cut her
off.
"Please, let me finish." He said. "I've had my share of
girls these past 6 years, and I never felt any genuinely felt anything for
them. But you, you're…different. I can't seem to get you of my mind, and I
can't deny what I feel for you. I just thought I'd let you know." He said. He
started to walk away but Hermione called him.
"Malfoy!" She yelled. Draco then turned around, with a
grin on his face. He walked p to her and said,
"I thought first names had a purpose."
"Sometimes, last names just work better." She said, and
they kissed.
******
Seen a lot of broken hearts go sailing by
Phantom
ships, lost at sea
Well one
of them is mine
******
She smiled at that thought. As much as she hated him now,
that was always one of her better memories of him. She went to the page of the
constellations, and looked down to this month's list. She knew what the next
constellation was, but she didn't care. "Apus, Ara, Corona Borealis, Draco."
She looked up to the sky, and looked for the
constellation.
******
March 18, 1997
"Look, there's Carina." Hermione said, pointing to a line
of stars.
"What's it supposed to be a shape of?" Draco asked her.
"It's just a long line right next to Volans." She said,
pointing to a group of stars that looked like a shrunken Little Dipper. Draco
pulled her closer to him, and she rested her head on his shoulder. She thought
it was uncanny how perfectly her head went on his shoulder. He kissed her
forehead, and they both looked out into the night sky, Hermione still pointing
out different constellations.
"There's one called Draco, did you know that?" She asked
him.
"Where?"
"It's on the other side of this building. It won't be
visible on this side until July. But I know how we can see it."
"How?"
"Summon your broom." She said, taking his wand out of his
back pocket and giving it to him.
"Accio Meteor 600." He said. After about a minute, the
door of the Astronomy Tower flew open, and in came Draco's broom. He clutched
it in his hand, and gave it to Hermione. She boarded it, and gestured Draco to
get on. He got on, slipped his hands around her waist, and they were off.
She flew to the other side of the castle, which was almost
in front of the Ravenclaw area. When Hermione was sure that the broom was
steady, she let go, and went in search for Draco.
"There!" She yelled, pointing to a group of stars. "Right
there."
He looked to where Hermione was pointing and saw something
that looked like the Big Dipper except it had a much longer handle.
"Doesn't seem like a constellation worthy of my name." He
said. "Draco means dragon in Latin. That would usually mean that anything
associated with the word Draco should have to do something with a dragon. Looks
more like a panhandle."
"Don't worry." Hermione said, turning to him. "You'll
always be my dragon." She put her hand on the back of his head, and they
kissed. Hermione broke away from him for a second and added,
"And my panhandle."
******
Raising my glass I sing a toast to the midnight sky
I wonder
why the stars don't seem to guide me
******
She quickly found it, and remembered that night. She
jotted down something on the parchment, and quickly, her thoughts returned to
her.
"If only all my thoughts were that pleasant." She said.
She looked to the stars, and felt nothing from them. She
used to think that stars were magical, that they possessed a healing power that
only shone down on people when absolutely necessary. But she learned quickly
what they really were, just another reminder.
******
April 9, 1997
Hermione picked up her books, and walked up to the
Astronomy Tower at sunset. She used to do her Astronomy homework with Harry and
Ron in one of the towers by the Forbidden Forest, but she started to come less
and less until she stopped coming all together. Now, she went to the Astronomy
Tower, hoping that she would run into Draco, trying to identify certain
constellations. She went up slowly and quietly, so she could surprise Draco if
he was up there.
But she was the one who was going to be surprised.
She opened the door slowly, pausing if the door made even
the slightest creak. When the door was open enough for her to walk in, she saw
something she never dreamed of seeing.
Sure, Draco was there, but he was kissing another girl.
Pansy Parkinson to be exact.
She quickly got out of the room and left it open enough so
she could hear what was going on.
"Come on, let's go watch the stars." Draco said
He said
that to me when he kissed me, Hermione said to herself.
"Oh Draco, you're so romantic." She said. "I'm glad you
finally told me what you really felt for me."
"I've never felt so strongly for anybody." He said
Doesn't
that sound familiar? Hermione said to herself sarcastically.
They walked to the balcony, and Hermione, pulled by either
anger or sadness, went over to the balcony.
She stood on the balcony, and started to tap her right
foot on the stone floor.
Draco turned around, and looked at her, with a look of
shock.
"So, it is a routine lure girls in, isn't it?" She said,
crossing her arms in front of her.
"Hermione, it's not what you think." Draco said, hurrying
to his feet.
"Yeah, anyways, Pansy, did he tell you that he's never
felt for anyone the way he does for you?" She asked Pansy, who was still
sitting on the floor.
"Yes, how did you know?" She replied.
"Typewritten. I guess this calls for the usage of a last
name. Goodbye Malfoy." Hermione said rather calmly. She held her posture in the
room, and could hear a loud slap coming from the balcony. When she was safely
out of the room, she ran to the common room in tears.
******
The ghost of you and me
When will
it set me free
I hear
the voices call
Following
footsteps down the hall
Trying to
save what's left of me heart and soul
******
She could not contain herself. A tear or two fell from her
eyes. She faced the fact that he never truly loved her, but she still had those
lingering feelings for him. She used to think that those feelings were destined
to be trapped inside of her forever, but she learned that she would be freed
from them, it would just take time.
She could still feel his gaze, hear his voice, see his
smile.
She lay down on the grass below her, and looked up to the
sky. She let their beauty take over, and she closed her eyes.
******
April 10, 1997
She sat on the tower, looking out to the sky. No, she was
not sitting on the balcony to the Astronomy Tower, but Harry and Ron's Tower,
which used to be hers also. But she had not been there in so long, and didn't
think that she deserved to have that be her tower also.
"There's Ursa Major, and Leo Minor." She said, trying to
get her mind off of him. But how could she? He was the center of her attention
when she thought he had feelings for her, and he was more so now that she knew
she was just a pawn in Draco's little game. She started to cry.
"Ron was right." She told herself. "Why didn't I listen to
him?"
'Because, like I said, you're a mindless git that can't
think of anything but Draco' Her subconscious told her again. But this time,
Hermione heard it.
Loud and clear.
Speaking of loud and clear…
Hermione heard footsteps, coming up the stairs. The
footsteps scared her, because everytime she heard footsteps coming up the
tower, it was Draco, waiting for Hermione to show him another constellation.
She froze, hoping with all her might that he wasn't there.
"Hermione?"
She flipped her head back, and looked at the new comer. It
was Ron, who looked very concerned.
"Ron, the last thing I need is for you to say, 'I told you
so'" She said to him, hoping that he would leave her be.
"I wasn't going to say that." He said, walking over to
her.
"Well, what is it?" She said, tears still running down her
cheeks. Ron stooped down to her and wiped them off, as if it pained him to see
them there.
"Are you ok?" He asked, sitting down next to her.
"Am I ok? Of course I'm not ok!" She said, jumping up I'm
crying for a reason! He used me! He never cared for me!" Then, a sudden burst
of tears came, and Hermione collapsed to the floor, crying. Ron went to her,
and held her as she cried. They sat there like this, Ron stroking her hair, and
Hermione crying into Ron's shoulder. Occasionally, Ron would whisper something
like 'It's going to be ok' in her ear, hoping that it would make her feel better.
Her sobbing got softer and softer in time, and after
awhile, she lifted her head off his shoulder, and looked at him.
"You were right, evil doesn't die, no matter how…how…" She
said, trying to find a word for it.
"Stupid."
"Yeah, no matter how stupid it is." They stood there in
silence for awhile, until Hermione said, "Ron?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank-you"
******
Watching the candle flicker out in the evening glow
I can't
let go
When will
the night be over
******
She opened her eyes again, and looked to the sky. She
still half expected that the stars would shine on her and she would be ok again,
but she knew that she would never be ok again. She loved him, and he took away
everything from her, leaving only her pain and sorrow.
'I'll be
ok, I'll be ok, I'll be ok' She kept telling herself, knowing that it wasn't
true.
She picked up her quill, and looked for constellations.
"Hercules, Norma, Ophiuchus…"
Finis****
