A LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE
Chapter 1
"And I just want to say that this night- this wonderful, starry night - is made all the more beautiful by you brilliant people gathered here, ten whole years after we last parted. Although we have lived through dark times, may we always light up the world wherever we go. Cheers!"
"Cheers!" rang out everybody's voices, with the tinkling sound of champagne flutes being clinked together.
"Justin," said Hermione, interrupting him by laying a hand on his shoulder. "Someone's here to see you."
"Now?" he asked in confusion, craning his head to get a glimpse of the person at the entrance of the Great Hall.
"She says its urgent. Who is that, by the way? Never seen her around. "
"No one," he said a bit too hastily, and then grinned as if to hide it. "Enjoy the party, Hermione. I'm sure I've seen Theo around somewhere."
"I'll enjoy myself alright," she muttered under her breath as he walked away. Her best friends were probably half sloshed somewhere in the castle, and her fiance was nowhere to be seen.
"Looking for me, gorgeous?" he whispered at the base of her neck, as his arms wound around her from behind, his lips peppering small kisses on her cool skin.
"Theo," she sighed, running her hands up the arms encircling her waist. "And here I was beginning to think you'd abandoned me."
He chuckled lightly against her skin. "Never."
"Spare me the horror of you sappy idiots swapping spit, or I swear to Merlin I'm gonna be sick."
Theo Nott huffed on her shoulder and turned to face his childhood acquaintance.
"Draco. What a pleasure, as usual."
"Let's skip the unnecessary niceties you always insist upon, Theodore. I'm here to say hello to your beautiful companion. How do you do, Granger?"
"Well, thank you."
"How have you been keeping all this while?"
"If by 'all this while' you mean the one week since we last saw each other, suffice it to say nothing's really changed. You would know, considering you refuse to budge from my friends' side."
"Oh, they love me far too much to remove me from their side. Perhaps you're -"
"Hermione, love," Theo cut in, abruptly interrupting whatever Draco was about to say. "Would you like a glass of wine?"
"Wine would be perfect, thank you," she smiled, stealing a kiss to his cheek.
"The both of you are gonna make me throw up. Darling this and darling that. Why can't everyone just believe in the power of casual sex - like me? Would save a lot of unnecessary name-calling and tears."
"And the excessively dangerous threats to your little head."
At this, he burst out laughing and threw an arm around her shoulders, leading her to a more seclusive area. "This is exactly why I keep you around. You're far too entertaining."
"And you're drunk as usual, which is why I want nothing to do with 'staying around,' " she retorted, escaping from under his arms, barely hiding the grimace that graced her features.
"How's your job?" he asked.
"The rate at which you change conversational topics astounds me."
"How's your job?" he asked again.
"Fine. It's fine."
"I don't understand what a smart, incredibly sexy woman like you is doing in International Magical Cooperation. You should try out other ventures."
"Would you rather I became a stripper, the apparently sexy woman that I am?"
He grinned and picked up a doughnut from what officially was the Slytherin table, but was now serving as a food counter. "You can't deny it. I mean," he drawled on, leaning dangerously close to her, "don't tell me Theo's never said that to you in bed. You've got that whole prudish look about you, but I know that's just a façade. I bet you're -"
"This is making me uncomfortable," she suddenly said, as her back was now pressed against the table, and she was effectively cornered by his drunk self.
"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you've never thought about the two of us together, these past two years. I, for one, most certainly have."
With that, he closed the remaining distance between them and smashed his mouth against hers, bringing his hands up to her shoulders. Even though she'd known what was coming, she was still taken aback, but it didn't take her more than a second to forcefully push him away.
"How dare-" she began, but was interrupted when Theo, who'd seen everything, spun Draco from behind, and landed a bruising punch to his eye, sending him crashing into the doughnuts.
"That's my fiancee, you arsehole! You touch her again and I'll kill you!"
By then, every eye in the hall was on them, and cellphones had already been whipped out to capture the aftermath of Theodore Nott punching Draco Malfoy in the face over Hermione Granger at their school reunion.
She instantly knelt down to check if Theo had inflicted any serious damage to his eye, when Draco caught her hand and rasped out,"Congratulations. Have beautiful brown haired babies. And don't forget to make me godfather."
"Ow!"
"Stay still, you idiot. If you were stupid enough to go after Hermione then you've got to bear the consequences!"
"A bit more to the left, Harry," piped in Ron, his hands holding the ends of the high wooden stool in the Hogwarts kitchen.
"Shut it, Ron."
"There," Harry said after a bit. "We're done, mate. But I'm giving you a bit of this salve in a box. Apply it twice a day and you'll be good to go."
"Thanks, Healer Harry," Draco mumbled out, patting his best friend's shoulder. "I don't know why the bastard had to punch me in the eye. All I did was-"
"Make a move on his girl. Which definitely comes under the header of When To Punch A Bloke. And really, you have a very bad track-record with Theo's girlfriends," Ron said, starting on an apple pie kept on the granite.
"Yeah. All you've done is shag every single one of them. I still don't get why he'd punch you over making a move on his girlfriend," Harry added sarcastically.
"Oh, haven't you heard? She's not just the girlfriend anymore. She's the-"
"Fiancee," Harry finished. "We've heard. And we've also heard that we're not supposed to side with you because that'll only encourage you in your immature, alcoholic behaviour."
"Man, she can be scary when she wants to," Ron said, twisting his mouth.
"Yeah. She's hot when she's angry."
But no sooner had the words left his mouth, than Harry had smacked him on the back of his head. "No thinking about Hermione in that way. She's engaged to be married and she's almost like my sister, so thank you very much for putting that repulsive image in my brain."
"I'm sure that and the one the locket showed you keep you up at night. If she's like your sister it must've been nauseating to watch yourself do THAT with-"
But by then, Draco had caught Harry's wide eyes and slight shake of the head, and knew that he'd said enough. They never brought up that incident in front of Ron - not if they could help it.
"You're the biggest bullshitter ever," Ron said, and he tried to play it off with a laugh.
They were immersed in an awkward silence for a moment before Draco jumped out of his stool and adjusted his shirt.
"What's happening between you and Hannah?" he asked, hoping it'd lighten the mood, which it did, and considerably, but only at Ron's expense.
"Hannah's...being difficult. She refuses to listen to me. I can't be exciting and dangerous. I'm not like you, Draco! I mean, look at me..." he trailed off, running a hand through his ginger hair.
"Hey. You're brilliant just the way you are, Ron," Harry spoke with an encouraging smile.
"Yes. And any woman that doesn't appreciate that can very well fuck out of your life!" added Draco enthusiastically. "Look at me, for heaven's sake. Former death eater, self-confessed alcoholic, a complete arsehole to everyone...I have nothing on you, mate. You should be thankful you're nothing like me. Because your ginger head is not fit to be a prick to women. Not knowingly, at least."
"Yeah!" Ron shouted, his right arm raised in a sign of victory. "I'm not gonna bow down to her. I'm great just the way I am!"
"You tell that to her, Ron," Harry said, barely hiding the curl of his lips. "You tell her that."
At that, his bright face changed countenance altogether, and he spoke dejectedly "But I love her. I can't just give up like this. I-"
"Mate, to be very honest you fall in love with all of them pretty darn fast," Harry said matter-of-factly, as he slapped his hands against his thighs and got up from his stool.
"He's absolutely right, you know," Draco added, ushering them out of the kitchen and towards the steps. "I mean, you practically fell in love with Granger the moment you laid your puppy eyes on her, on account of she being that much smarter than you."
"Hey! I did not fall in love with her - then. She told me I had dirt on my nose! Heck, she was an unbearable pain in the bum for the majority of our first year."
"Oh, aren't you aware of my rocky history with Ronald, Draco?" a saccharine voice rang out from behind them. "I'd thought these two had updated you about every mundane detail concerning their lives. It seems I was wrong."
Draco had to bite his tongue to keep from swearing aloud. They turned to see Hermione standing there with her hands on her hips, seething with anger.
"Hi, Hermio-"
"Oh, shut up, Harry, and let me have a little one-to-one with your friend over here."
"Me?" Ron asked, gulping.
"No, you fool," she huffed. "Inside," she said to Draco, pointing towards an abandoned classroom. "Go on, then."
"Look, Hermione," Harry cut in, obviously a bit uneasy. "You do know we aren't taking his side, or any side, don't you? We do not agree with what he did out there, and I've already reprimanded him for-"
"Hannah was looking for you, Ronald," Hermione bit out coldly, completely ignoring Harry. "I'd suggest the two of you head back downstairs."
"And don't worry," she added as an afterthought, when they'd begun their descent. "I'll give him back in one piece."
"Well?" Draco asked, nonchalantly.
She said nothing but walked into the classroom, and he had no choice but to sigh at the imminent disaster, and follow.
As soon as they were in, she slammed the door shut behind her, and cast a silencing charm for good measure.
"How dare you?" She asked furiously, whipping around to face him, a look of obvious loathing and disgust written all over her pretty face.
"How dare you even think you can try your shit on me, you sorry excuse for a human being?" she continued, her eyes almost brimming with tears.
"That was one time. All those years ago," she whispered, slumping down onto a bench. "We were drunk. Then again, you almost always are, but we swore, you fool. We swore we'd never mention it to anyone, let alone allow the thougt of the possibility of a second time to form in our heads. And you just had to screw it up. You just-"
"Look, Granger," he replied, his tone soft and eyes kind, reaching out a comforting hand to rest on her shoulders, that she promptly shook off.
"Don't touch me."
"Hermione."
"I said don't. It's not like you want anything to do with me. So, don't touch me."
"And what? Am I just supposed to ignore the fact that I may be into you? Ignore it like you are, and have been doing for so long?"
"Oh, spare me, Malfoy," she icily spat out. "What am I to do, split up with my fiance and come running into your open arms because you "may be into me"? We've had this conversation before. And I was willing to, you know? I was actually considering it for a while. But then, thankfully, I acted rationally.
"I mean, what would I do with a man who refused to even acknowledge that there is a little thing in this large universe called love? A little thing, but large enough to parallel the power of that which we live in. Something that saved my best friend's life countless times. Something I'd thought I felt for you. And something you didn't even believe in. What future would I ever have had with a man like that, a man like you?
"Because powers of persuasion aside," she grimly chuckled, "I frankly don't think I have it in me to convince you to love me. Didn't then, don't now."
And with that, she hastily got up from her seat and walked out, her head held high, as a few silent tears escaped her eyes, leaving the very shaken man behind.
"Hannah," Ron said nervously, tapping the strawberry blonde on her shoulder.
"Oh, Ron," she turned, immediately engulfing him in a fierce hug. "You just walked off like that," she whispered, pulling away to look into his eyes.
He could see that there was something wrong. Hermione called him tactless and a bit...desensitized to feelings in general, but he had finally learnt to pick up from nuances of people's behaviour what they were feeling. At least, people he knew very well. And Hannah, to him, had become an open book.
Like now, for instance. There was a flicker of worry, and a murky dread that had overcast her beautiful hazel eyes.
"What is it?" he asked her.
"I'm sorry, Ron," she replied, and buried her face into his shoulders again, shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
He tried to pull away from her so that they could properly converse, but she held on to him as though he were her lifeline, and she needed him so desperately in that moment, that he didn't ask her to move.
"It's just that," she hiccuped, "I tried really hard you know."
She continued, mumbling into his shoulder. "I tried so hard. But I just can't kid myself - or you - anymore.
"I'm sorry Ron. I can't be with you anymore. And don't ask me why. Not yet, at least."
She finally pulled away, tears staining her cheeks, as she took in Ron's pale face.
She brought up a hand to cup his face, but he moved back instantly, shoving the hands that had been wrapped around her into his pockets.
That one gesture said it all. Hannah sniffed, just nodded, and ran out of the corridor they'd agreed to meet in.
As Ron saw her retreating figure, he finally understood that she had been holding on to him for dear life, only so she could let go.
Harry whistled, his hands snuck deep into the pockets of his trousers, as he walked closer to his cottage in Godrick's Hollow.
It had been best for him to move out of Grimmauld Place and get a place close to where his parents had once lived. He didn't want to go back to their cottage, but one in the same neighbourhood made him feel as though his parents would have been oddly satisfied.
He wasn't looking where he was going, and suddenly collided with a soft figure, sending it flying backwards, scattering several things onto the snow.
"I'm so sorry," he sputtered, reaching down to help the woman up. "I wasn't quite looking where I was going and I hope I didn't hurt you?" he asked, genuinely concerned for the lady in front of him.
"Nah," she rasped out. "I'm fine."
He bent down to gather the things that had fallen from her grasp when he'd banged into her. There was a large carton, from which several photo frames had tumbled out.
He paused on one with two girls waving at the camera, identical Gryffindor scarves tied around their necks, as a shaggy haired, but undoubtedly handsome man snuck up from behind them and spun the brunnete around, kissing her soundly.
The other woman stood grinning at them, her ginger-red hair flying in the wind, with eyes just like Harry's gleaming at the camera.
"That's..." Harry trailed on, finally noticing the woman before him properly, then one whom Sirius had been kissing. "That's my mother."
"What?" she replied, obviously taken aback. She suddenly pushed Harry under the light of the lanterns hanging by the street.
"My God!" she exclaimed. "Harry!"
"Yes," he replied. "And you're Mary, right? Mary MacDonald?"
"You bet I am," she whispered, studying his face intently, his arm still held by her in a vice-like grip. "It's good to see you, Harry."
Part of her face was hidden in shadow, but there was no mistaking the solitary tear that dashed down her cheek.
"I was just moving in, actually," she said, wiping at her eyes with her shirt sleeve, turning away to pick up the carton. "Was about to levitate this when you bumped into me."
"Old Mary MacDonald," she muttered under her breath. "Living a normal life while all of her friends are either dead or insane."
"Sorry?" Harry asked. "I didn't quite catch that."
"You weren't supposed to," she replied airily, and then invited him into her new house, all the while expressing delight at having him as her neighbour.
"I could tell you so much about your parents your head will reel," she whispered into his ears a little later as he made to leave, bright blue eyes boring holes into his green ones.
She was rather beautiful, he decided then, as she shut the door behind him. Wavy black hair cascading down her shoulders, bright blue eyes shining amidst the slightly wrinkled skin forming what people called crow's feet. It suited her, though. Made her look like less of those porcelain dolls Dudley used to buy for the purpose of breaking.
He arranged for a floo visit to Malfoy Manor, and found Ron slumped over in a stool at Draco's personal mini-bar.
"Hannah broke up with me," he said to him. "But I'm okay. OK?"
"Okay mate," Harry winced, exchanging a knowing glance with the platinum blonde haired wizard sitting behind the bar, who seemed a bit down himself.
"Guess who I bumped into tonight?"
"Who?" Ron asked rather miserably.
"Mary MacDonald."
That got Draco's attention.
"MacDonald? The Gryffindor? Wasn't she..."
"In my parents' year, yes," Harry confirmed, eyes glittering behind his round glasses.
"Good for you, buddy," Draco said softly. "You can get to know them some more."
Ron lifted his head up from the counter and patted his childhood friend on the back.
"This calls for celebration. I mean, it isn't everyday Harry gets this excited, is it?"
"It certainly does," Draco replied, producing three small, uncorked bottles of firewhiskey from under the bar, handing them one each. "I'll drink to that."
"Cheers," they chimed in together, each wishing for the life the other lived, as a comfortable silence descended onto them.
To be continued...
A/n - Leave a review!