No Regrets
Chapter One
"I cannot believe you, Ronald Weasley!" Hermione Granger yelled when she saw her lover and best friend in the world in the arms of Lavender Brown; An ex of his from a year ago.
Why had he gone back to her?, Hermione asked herself.
To her, they seemed to fit together like puzzle pieces. But her piece had been broken; Torn in half so his piece fit with someone else.
"Hermione, wait!" Ron called after her.
But he was too late. The tears had already begun to spill from her eyes.
Hermione clapped her hands over her eyes and ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction, determined to get the hell away from Ron and Lavender.
When she decided she'd run quite far enough, she stopped, leaned up against a cold stone wall and slid down, dropping her head into her hands, not caring who saw her crying.
It felt like an eternity when she heard a familiar voice- or laugh, rather- fading down the corridor. As much as she despised it's owner, she couldn't bring herself the move or even stop crying.
"Granger?" the beautifully disgusting voice asked, getting closer to her.
Hermione didn't look up. She couldn't. Her head felt like it weighed a ton from how much crying she was doing.
"Granger, is that you?" he asked, the slight clack his dress shoes made against the stone acting as Hermione's metronome.
Her heart beat at exactly the same pace. Slow. Painfully slow.
When the steps stopped, Hermione could feel that he was very close to her. Maybe six inches at the most.
"Granger, look at me." the blonde ordered.
Hermione, submissive due to her heartbreak, obeyed, looking up into Draco Malfoy's silver eyes.
"Granger, why are you crying?" Draco asked, genuinely wondering as he knelt down next to her.
"What do you care, Malfoy?" Hermione snapped back.
Draco bit his tongue and closed his eyes for a split second before replying, "Well, excuse me, but if you saw someone bawling their eyes out in the middle of an empty corridor, wouldn't you be curious?"
"Not curious enough to ask, had it been someone I'd particularly loathed since first year." she replied, slightly joking.
"Well, I'm curious. So, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, Malfoy. Just get lost."
"No. I'm staying until you tell me."
Hermione groaned and dropped her head back into her hands.
Draco raised his cold fingers and pried her hands from her face.
"Don't cover up your face, Granger."
Hermione sniffled as more tears spilled from her eyes.
"Draco, I don't understand. Just yesterday you were telling Crabb and Goyle about how much you hated muggle-borns, me especially."
Draco shrugged and sat down completely next to Hermione.
"Like I said, I'm not leaving until you tell me why someone like you is crying."
"I hate the male population."
"Thanks, Granger. Means a lot." Draco said in mock appreciation.
"Sometimes I just feel like boys don't give a damn about a girl's feelings and just go on with whatever they want because it's what they want, nevermind what she might think... Or walk in on." Hermione sobbed.
"What did you walk in on?"
"Ron was with Lavender. Kissing her. And not just a little peck. No, all out snogging her. I don't think I've ever cried this hard in my life. Not even when you called me a mudblood."
"Sorry for that, by the way. And well, as for Weasley, sorry for that too."
Hermione still hadn't stopped crying, despite having someone to vent to.
"I have something that'll make you feel better. Or, might at least. C'mon." Draco said, standing up and reaching his hand down to assist Hermione with standing up.
"I'm not moving, Malfoy." Hermione stated, doing exactly what she said she would- Nothing.
"Then I guess I'll have to make you move." Draco laughed.
"What are you gonna do, Wingardium Leviosa me?"
"Nope," he replied, leaning down slightly and wrapping an arm around her waist and another behind her knees, lifting her small body up. "I'll just carry you instead."
"Put me down, Malfoy!" she yelled, trying to fight his grasp.
"Nope. You're going to come with me, and I know you won't if I put you down."
Hermione sighed and decided to give up in her efforts to get him to let her go and just revel in the feeling of his arms around her.
Hermione had always harbored secret feelings for Draco Malfoy, though she would never admit them to herself much less anyone else.
For their entire walk, the only sound Hermione could hear was Draco's shoes padding across the stone until the sound completely disappeared.
Hermione had closed her eyes and wrapped her arms firmly around Draco's neck to assist him in holding her up, even though, clearly, he didn't need her help. Through the years of playing Quidditch, Draco had gained quite a bit of muscle that Hermione longed to feel as his arms wound around her waist, causing his shoulders and shoulder blades to flex in that way that made her want to-
"Granger? I said you can let go. Fallen asleep, have we?" Draco laughed, toying with the hem of Hermione's shirt.
"No, I haven't. I'm just quite comfortable." Hermione blurted out before she could make sense of what she was saying.
Draco's laugh vibrated both of their forms, making Hermione shiver contently.
"Well, Granger, as much as I enjoy holding you like this, my knees are starting to ache, so unless you want the two of us to both tumble to the ground, I suggest you let go of me."
Hermione sighed before retracting her arms from around Draco. Draco's arm beneath her knees dropped to his side, dropping her legs so she landed firmly on the ground.
"The library?" Hermione asked when she finally realized where she was.
"It's your favorite place in Hogwarts. I figured this would cheer you up. Or, I hoped it would." Draco said, scratching the back of his neck, suddenly feeling embarrassed.
"Why are you being so nice to me, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, sitting on a desk in that was between the two book shelves Draco and Hermione were standing near.
Draco stood in front of her, so close that their knees were touching.
"Hermione, I don't see how you haven't noticed. When you're even remotely close to me, I can't concentrate on anything besides you. You know, when people say that when a guy picks on a girl it means he likes her?" Hermione nodded. "It's true. Honestly, if I needed to pick on someone for having such strong feelings for you, it should have been Weasley because he had you and I didn't. I just took it out on you because I didn't know what else to do. I'd done you so much wrong and I couldn't even come up with anything to repair the damage I'd done. So, when I saw you crying I knew that if I hadn't helped you in some way, I'd regret it for the rest of my life. I'm so sorry for everything I've ever done to you, Hermione. And I'm not asking for forgiveness. I don't expect it either. I don't know what I can-" Draco was silenced with Hermione's thin finger over his lips.
"Draco, I have to be honest, I can't hate you after this. You listened to me when I needed someone to talk to. Not many people can do that. And I can say with the utmost sincerity, you are positively the most vile, wretched, slimy, and despicable person I've ever met," Draco's face fell and he backed up away from Hermione. "But," she began again, reaching out and grasping his neck with her left hand and his cheek with her right. "I can't seem to get you out of my head. You're all I can think about. Silently, you're the one I cheer for at Quidditch games. When I was sitting on Ron's lap last week in Potions because we ran out of seats, I wished it were you. When Ron would come up behind me, wrap his arms around my waist and tell me he loved me, I imagined it were you playing with the hem of my shirt, tracing tiny circles on my stomach. When Ron would kiss my neck, I had to bite my tongue, fearing that I'd accidentally say your name, rather then his. Don't you see, Draco? Sometimes things fall apart so better things can fall together."
With no hesitation, Draco leaned down and pressed his lips to Hermione's, clawing at her hips with his nails.
x~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~x
Once Ron came to his senses and realized he'd just let the best thing in his life slip through his fingers, he pushed an already half-undressed Lavender off of him and shrugged his undone button-up back onto his body before leaving the room, not giving Lavender an explanation.
"The library." Ron said to himself as he speed-walked and buttoned up his shirt.
Ron knew Hermione would always end up in the library, no matter the circumstances. A fight with Ron, she'd go to the library. A bad grade on a test, she'd go to the library. A derogatory comment from that snake, Malfoy, she'd go to the library.
It was her favorite place in all of Hogwarts. Maybe in the whole world.
Once he got there, the entire room was dead silent. As always.
Ron explored every and all the different sections before he heard something unusual.
"Draco..." a female voice panted breathlessly, as if it's owner had just spent the last fifteen minutes snogging someone senseless.
"Yes, love?" the familiar Slytherin's voice reverberated off the walls.
"You have no idea how long I've waited for you to be kissing me."
"But I do. I told you that I've had feelings for you since first year. I think seven years is an awful long wait."
Ron crept closer to where the voices seemed to come from to get a closer look. He tried to be as silent as possible, and seemed to pull it off quite well.
Ron's heart clenched when he saw who Draco's admirer had been... Hermione.
Draco's head was bent, buried in Hermione's neck as he kissed her pulse point.
Hermione had her hands behind her, supporting her weight and that of Draco that he wasn't himself supporting. Her head was tilted back and her eyes were closed. Her feet, which were bare now, caressed the backs of Draco's legs.
When Draco pulled his head back from Hermione's neck, Ron could see that a dark purpley-red bruise was already forming on her neck from Draco's mouth.
Ron had to smack his hand over his mouth when Draco leaned in and kissed Hermione's lips. At first, it was just an innocent kiss before Draco's tongue shot out and began to pull Hermione into what felt like her own world of just her and the blonde Slytherin.
"Did you mean it?" Draco asked when he ended his assault on the young girl's mouth.
"Mean what?" Hermione asked, smiling brightly, her cheeks completely flushed with a soft pink like when you come in from just having been out in the snow.
"When you said that whenever Weasley would do something to you- kiss you or hug you- you'd picture me doing it to you?"
That was Ron's undoing.
He didn't care to hear Hermione's answer. He took off like a bullet from a gun in a desperate attempt to flee the scene of his heartbreak.
"Ron? Are you okay?" Harry Potter asked when Ron made it to the Gryffindor common room.
Harry didn't get an answer. He didn't need one. One look at Ron and he knew he was upset. He just didn't know why.
Maybe Hermione will know.
Geeze, I'm on a roll with these one-shots! This idea came to me while watching Tom Felton interviews on Youtube. Lol. Yes, I do that. :P
Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this! I think it's much better than my other Harry Potter fanfic.
I love you all!
Thanks for reading and reviewing!
xoxo,
K.J
