Disclaimer: THE HP SERIES BELONGS TO JKR!
A/N: This is dedicated to one of my favorite fanfic authors. She's an amazing stapler who deserves a lot of love. Larrythestapler…
She had read. She is reading. She will read.
She had slept. She is sleeping. She will sleep.
She had sat. She is sitting. She will sit.
She had kissed. She is kissing. She will kiss.
She had woken. She is waking. She will wake.
She had lived. She is residing. She will die.
No one talked to her as she sat in the local library, pouring over the piles and piles of books that surrounded her like a fish in the sea. No one told her pets weren't allowed in the library as her fingers stroked the rough scraggly fur that covered every inch of her cat or as the old beast wearily walked an inch behind her heels as she strolled by the bookshelves. No one told her that she wasn't allowed to take books home without a library card as she walked outside everyday with a stack of books in her hands. And when she disappeared one day and relocated to a different library, no one missed her.
Her insides were rotting away and her heart was icing over from the silence that reined her life. After the war, all she locked all her feelings away and kept them under lock and key. Not a tear had fallen and not a smile graced her lips. She broke off all relationships she had in the wizarding world and left the place that had once given her so much hope. Only her cat came with her.
The air around her shimmered with danger but also with seclusion.
No one approached her… but knuckleheads.
Draco Malfoy denied being called a knucklehead.
It was astonishment that first appeared on his face as he saw a flash of ginger fur rush past his feet. The thing hissed at him, standing on its four paws and arching its back as it did so.
He smirked down at it, giving it a soft kick. The cat in question leapt up at him. It growled and clawed more like a bear than a cat. Within seconds, it reduced Draco's face to bloody strips and jumped off the table smugly.
It landed on its feet.
It was only as the cat sauntered off smugly toward a brunette with its tail swishing high above its head, that Draco realized what just happened. He admitted that maybe he was a knucklehead.
He just got beat up by Crookshanks. That helped his ego a bit.
And where there was Crookshanks, there was Hermione. Hermione Granger…
Draco's crotch jumped up to attention at the brunette. The years were as good to her as they were to him. Draco didn't pay attention to the little details, only noting the cold atmosphere surrounding her. He had always been raised around people with mass covering their every emotion. And behind Hermione's he saw pain and loneliness… it was up to him to make that pain go away and for her to end up in his arms!
With a satisfied smirk on his bloodied face, he reached the witch. Her back was to him as she leaned against the bookshelf, pulling out a hardcover and roving over the word that littered the back cover. Draco's eyes took in the hot curves that had formed in her womanhood.
With one swift move, he swept the woman around by the shoulder, watching as her hair followed behind her head. In a moment, he grabbed the soft delicate chin in front of him and pulled the witch into a kiss.
She stood still against his lips, not responding, but not fighting either. It was only when he pulled up for air that she laid a slap across his features, marring her hand with the blood that covered his face. Draco twitched but squashed the urge to cup his cheek.
"Malfoy…" The words spilled out of her mouth as she peered at him through narrowed eyes.
Draco let out a laugh and gave a mock bow. "At your service Madame." He looked up from his bow and met her eyes before outreaching his hand and grabbing hers. His cool lips met the soft surface of her hand for a fleeting moment before he released the appendage.
A sneer that could rival any Malfoy rose to Hermione's lips. "It's mademoiselle."
"Of course beautiful. Now how about you join me for dinner so we can catch up? The wizarding world has been quiet without your know-it-all-ness."
"Do you seriously except me to go out to dinner with you if you called me a know-it-all?" Hermione asked rhetorically with a roll of her eyes. She bent down to pick up the book that she had dropped at their feet when the knucklehead attacked her.
'Of course. It's a DINNER WITH ME! How could anyone refuse?" Draco questioned with a cheesy grin lighting up his face as he put a hand on his chest.
The sneer was now joined with a glare. "You are so full of yourself."
"I'm so full of you," Draco corrected.
Hermione's glare went away and an eyebrow rose. "You're full of me? Silly Malfoy. I didn't know you liked female domination. Sorry but I don't have any strap ons. Oh well for you."
For once in his lifetime, Draco's cheeks flushed and he began to sputter as he searched his mind for the right retort. "I could slap you. I could walk out of the library right now. But I'm not. I want to love you."
"And I want to throw up." Hermione walked down the aisle, away from Draco and began to search for another book. Crookshanks seemed to shoot the blond a smug look before following his mistress.
Draco huffed at being shot down before taking a few quick steps and leveling himself with Hermione. "Quit frowning Hermione. It makes you look like shit."
"Your face is shit," Hermione retorted, not even turning around to face him. Her curly hair bounced as he she walked on.
"From this day on, I live to make you smile," Draco declared, passing off the mean comment.
"Do you not understand what I mean by 'BACK OFF?' I'm telling you to stop and leave me alone," Hermione said, turning to him angrily. Crookshanks was once again hissing at Draco.
"What if I don't want to back off? What if I want to follow you around for the rest of the day? And what if I can tell that deep down, you don't want me to leave either?"
"Then I'd tell you to shut the hell up."
"Why won't you let me take you away from this life you're leading?"
Hermione gave him one glare before parting her lips and letting the answer leave. "My cat is allergic to you."
A crack resounded in the room, not of Draco's shock personified, but of Hermione apparating out of a library packed full of muggles. Within seconds, Draco broke into laughter at the irony of it all.
At home, Hermione slumped up against the door and slid down to the floor, clutching a book in her arms. In one last meeting Draco changed her back. In that meeting she spoke more than she had in the past month.
After that meeting, people talked to her as she sat in the local library, pouring over the piles and piles of books that surrounded her like a fish at sea. People told her that pets weren't allowed in the library as he fingers stroked the rough scraggly fur that covered every inch of her cat or as the old beast wearily walked an inch behind her heels as she strolled by the bookshelves. People told her that she wasn't allowed to take books home without a library card as she walked outside with a stack of books in her hands. And she never left that library, because people would miss her.
Her heart thawed out and her insides were rejuvenated in a way like never before.
The air around her shimmered with happiness. Crookshanks's allergy to Draco even began to disappear as he came every day to the library, stalking Hermione like the knucklehead he was.
She had read. She is reading. She will read.
She had slept. She is sleeping. She will sleep.
She had sat. She is sitting. She will sit.
She had kissed. She is kissing. She will kiss.
She had woken. She is waking. She will wake.
She had lived. She is living. She will live.
A/N: Too much fluff. Ehh. So what do you guys think?
This was inspired by a mug I saw when I went shopping earlier. It said 'I left my husband. My cat was allergic.' I was immediately thinking of Hermione and Crookshanks! And so I sat down and began typing…and somewhere in this, Hermione began mirroring one of my best friends. –cheesy grin-
Larrythestapler, we totally love you! And sincerely hope that you keep on writing and stop being discouraged.
To my readers, I want to say that larry is an awesome authoress and that her writings are beautiful and amazing. I know those are lame words but I just can't describe her writing. It's so varied. She has things ranging from serious angst to crack and from drabbles to 10k long ficlets. Please check out her fics if you're looking for a good read. I have to link to her profile on my profile. Please and thank you.
Please review and spread the love (larry needs some loving too).
XOXO
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PS: 105th fic!
PPS: Oh and just a note: I'm going to pick up the ABCDMHG drabbles again in a while.
PPPS: It is adding the P right? Because it's Post Script… SO it makes sense to say Post Post Script… right?