You remind me…
I happened to hear Usher's song You Remind Me, and this little story popped into my head. The lyrics wouldn't leave me…so here you go. A little shot for you. I own nothing, well not really but certainly not Usher's song or JK's characters. Xoxo AW
Draco couldn't help himself; once he noticed her he couldn't stop staring. The cat and mouse game continued for another twenty minutes.
Shit and now she is on her way over. Damnit Draco, he scolded himself in his head, you had to be a creeper. He sighed; you are so getting a drink thrown in your face.
He turned to face the gorgeous woman now standing in front of him.
"Hello" she smiled "I noticed you from across the bar and thought…"
"I am so sorry" Draco interrupted "I couldn't help myself, you remind me of a girl I once knew. I apologize for interrupting your evening and I promise I will stop" he rushed out unable to look her in the eyes
"Oh yeah, a girl you once knew, tell me about her" a genuine smile emerged and Draco finally looked at her, that smile was amazing
He gave a shy smirk "Really? You want to hear my tale of how I let the love of my life get away?" he arched his eyebrows "It is not a story for the faint of heart" dear Merlin he was flirting with her now, what was he doing!
"Well then, we will need something stronger" she pushed her wine glass to the side and got the attention of the barkeep ordering two firewhisky's
She turned to look at him waiting, wide eyed
"Well, have you ever heard of Romeo and Juliet" he waited for her nod "I thought so, well the thing is my girl and I, we were them, only more" he paused in thought "… amazing sex, fiery fighting, long hours spent making up, she was amazing. The blessing if you will, in the story Romeo and Juliet, they died before having to deal with life. Parents, friends and society didn't come after them. Their past wasn't thrown in their faces." He took a long pull of his drink and let the burn sink in.
She sighed "A pair of star-crossed lovers…so no one approved?" she asked "Is that why you aren't together now?"
He smiled and turned from his glass to look at her "I wish it was that easy. Have you ever been in love?
She nodded
He moved closer to her and spoke quietly never breaking eye contact "I mean true love, where you ache when they are gone, and when they are near you it's nothing but fire? You can't seem to get close enough even when you are joined together, are one and making love all night"
He was so close to her now she could feel his breath on her face, her eyes were wide with surprise and understanding, Draco heard her breath hitch and stop all together, he smirked thankful he still had the Malfoy charm
"Then you know how oblivious you can be to things, wrapped up only in each other. But the longer you are together those things that never bothered you before creep in and that's when the doubt, fear, resentment, and ego's wreak havoc" he laughed with no humor in his voice "And I have one of the biggest egos ever" he shook his head, finally releasing her gaze to look over the bar at the patrons and slowly back to her
"So who left who?" she asked breathless
"She physically left first, but I left her long before then. I was an idiot, so consumed with pride…when she left it was the worst day of my life"
"Is it hopeless? No possibility of winning her back?
"I don't think so, she wanted space and I gave it to her, but I think I gave her too much. I should have fought for her, begged her …whatever she wanted, I would have done it. Or at least now I realize I would have. I was so stupid; I just let her walk out the door."
"How do you know there's no hope, have you asked her?"
He shook his head lowering his eyes "Where would I even start?"
"Tell her everything you told me tonight, beg her, woo her, and make her hear you. But whatever happens at least you tried."
"You're right." Liquid courage taking over his brain "I'm going to go now. Thank you so much" smiled, threw down some Galleons and rushed out of the bar.
Draco took a deep breath, he stared at the door in front of him, and he started to sweat. You can do this, he told himself; just tell her how you feel.
He swallowed the lump in his throat and knocked. The door flew open and before him stood his goddess in the silky robe of dark green he bought her for their first Valentine's Day. He groaned with need, he didn't even care that she was clearly angry.
"Hermione, I know it's late but…" she held up her hand and he stopped
"Draco Malfoy! I left that damn pub an hour ago, this is how you attempt to woo me?" he swore her hair crackled with magic she was so upset
Suddenly his brain shut down and he reached for her pulling her into a deep passionate kiss, she only resisted for a second before she melted into him. After a few minutes or several days, he didn't know, they broke apart
"Sorry love but I had to go pick something up" she felt his left arm leave her waist and reach for something in his pocket. He held his palm out to her and laying there was her wedding ring.
"Oh Draco, I thought you would have gotten rid of it, I shouldn't have thrown it at you when I left" the tears welled in her eyes
"Never. You are still my wife and I hoped, no prayed one day I could put it back on your finger." His grey eyes burned for her
"We were idiots" she buried her head into his chest and sobbed
"Hey" he lifted her face to look at him "we can start fresh, and you can start by putting this back on" he took her hand and added the ring to her finger
Hermione looked at her hand "I'm so glad you were at that pub tonight" she said as she pulled him by his shirt front into her apartment
I'm glad Ginny called me and told me where you would be, he thought, he would never call Ginny Weaselette again….well maybe only in a very affectionate way
Authors note: I wrote this months ago, and like many people here I use this to practice my writing skills. So it sat in a folder on my desktop and I tweaked, and tweaked, never fully happy, but here it is. I love that there is a forum where people will give kind, constructive feedback, and I at least always appreciate it. Also, I may not be posting a lot right now but I am very much reading and still writing. xoxo AW