Never Walk Away Angry
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in this story. If I did, I most likely wouldn't be writing this story…
He had walked away angry. Something she made him promise never to do. He regretted it; horribly. He made that promise to her because he knew how much it hurt her to watch someone you love walk away angry. But he had a reason; a good reason. She was leaving him.
They had had a fight.
Hermione had gotten accepted to the finest Wizard University this side of the Atlantic, and he hadn't. She was going to go, he had told her to go. That was a mistake on his part. He really didn't want her to go and last night, he confessed that to her.
She was livid.
She was sad.
She was hurt.
She was all the things he never wanted her to be. And it was entirely his fault. But he was blind to that fact because he was being selfish and didn't want her to go off to the big fancy school and leave him in the dust.
Draco didn't need to go to school. He would take over his fathers company without the need of a higher education. The thing was, he wanted to be with her. He wanted them to be together. She wouldn't need to work if they were together forever. But she was stubborn, and so was he. She was going to go to school, because he had told her too, and because she thinks that is what she needs to do. Plus, well she's brilliant for Merlin sakes! Of course she is going to go.
Hermione had been so nervous the day she got her acceptance letter. Her hands were trembling as she held it out to him that beautiful spring day in the middle of April. The moment he read the word accepted his stomach had fallen to the floor. She asked him if he wanted her to go. She had asked him. Why was she putting her future in his hands? He had been so stupid then. He hadn't realized that she actually was putting her future, no their future, in his hands. Why did he say "yes, Hermione, of course I want you to go!" WHY!? He was so stupid!
So last night he had made up his mind, he was going to tell her that he didn't want her to go and that he wanted her to stay with him. It was night before graduation; the night before they were free of this school and were to set out on their own paths. He had chosen this night to tell her that he didn't want her to go forth on this path. Wow, what an ass he was.
She was so angry with him. There was lots of yelling. Tons of "why didn't you tell me before now's" and "because I want you to be happy's". But this fight ended with him walking out, angry. Something, now that he thought about it, that made his own stomach churn uncomfortably.
She had cried herself to sleep last night; he knew it. He knew because when he passed her in the hallway on his way down to breakfast this morning he saw that her beautiful brown eyes had bags under them and they were puffy, and her bottom lip was slightly pinker than usual in the way he knew it got when she would bite it to try and stop crying. Seeing her like this made his heart break. He was at fault here. Not her.
It was an hour before the graduation ceremony and everyone was getting dressed in their robes and caps. He and Hermione shared a large dorm because they were Head Boy and Girl. He wandered around their common room, taking it all in for the last time, but he was really waiting for her to come out of her room.
"Hermione, come on, baby…we are going to be late," he called gently, trying to get back on her good side. He knocked gently on the door and was surprised when it opened from the pressure of his knocking. It was dark and she was no where to be found. He sighed. She had left without him.
As he made his way down to the Great Hall where the ceremony was to be held he asked everyone he saw on his way if they had seen Hermione. Not until he made it to the Great Hall did he find someone who knew where she was. This person pointed him to the room just off the stage, where the teacher's tables usually were. He thanked the person, yes, Draco Malfoy actually thanked someone. When one loves someone so polite and pristine, it tends to rub off on one eventually.
He sprinted all the way to the door and without knocking he pushed it open. The room was full of graduating students in their specific colored robes; each had the color of their houses, just like his own. His eyes fell onto a girl with curly brown locks wearing a deep red robe with a gold sash around her with the words Head Girl printed in red, her fingered the smooth fabric of the one that hung around him; his silver with green writing. She looked so beautiful. Even in a set of heavy robes, she took his breath away. Draco Malfoy had never felt this way about anyone in his entire life, and the feelings she gave him scared him sometimes. Now was one of those times.
She was sitting by the fireplace across the room looking over, what he assumed, was her speech. They were each supposed to write a speech as a farewell to their teachers and their fellow students. She had written his for him, he was rubbish at writing his feelings, and he knew darn well that she knows his feelings better than he does. That is one of the many reasons he loves her so much.
He glided towards her through the crowd, roughly pushing people out of his way until he stood before her. She didn't look up at him. This made him smile. He knew that she hadn't even realized he had come up to her. She wasn't ignoring him; she wasn't being stubborn, although she really was as stubborn as an owl that wasn't given his Knut. He sat down on the hearth beside her, looking into the fire.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
She jumped. Her eyes drifted up to her disturber and she her mouth hung open slightly.
"W-what did you just say?" she said breathlessly.
His lips curled into a small guilty smile; he never told her sorry enough. He should do it more; she looked cute when she was flustered.
"I said…" he slid down onto the floor and onto his knees. He reached for her hand and put it between his larger ones. It was so small and dainty, but absolutely perfect. He wanted to kiss it, to trail kisses from one fingertip to the next then up her arm and all over the rest of her precious body. "…I am sorry. I am so sorry, Hermione. It was selfish of me. I shouldn't hold you back from your future."
Tears rose in her eyes. He saw this and felt his heart stop. He hated when she cried. And yet again, he was the cause of it. He squeezed her hand comfortingly and waited for her to speak.
"N-no…you aren't selfish, Draco. I am. I don't want to leave you; I don't want to go that far away from you. But…but I want to be a teacher…and I need education for that…" she was rambling in that cute little way Draco had come accustomed to when he knew that her mind was cluttered with many thoughts. He reached one of his hands up to cup her cheek, his thumb caressing her soft skin. There was a rosy flush on her cheeks, it was always there when he was around, he had noticed. He didn't know why, but he really loved it.
"Shh…" he shook his head and moved closer so he was kneeling between her legs. "Baby, I don't want to ruin your dream. Go…go to school. I will be here when you get back. I promise." He leaned up and pressed a gently kiss to her forehead. He would wait for her forever if that is what she wanted. He loved her that much. He just hated the fact that she would be away for such long periods at a time.
She had opened her mouth to say something more but just then the Headmaster came in and said it was time to start and they were all suppose to get into formation.
Draco and Hermione stood at the front of the two lines, leading them into the Great Hall. When they sat down, the ceremony began.
Professors that were the head of each school house gave speeches, Draco gave his, then Hermione gave hers, even some of the school ghosts got up and told some funny tales of mischief. But the evening ended with Headmaster Dumbledore rising and taking the podium.
As the gray haired billion year old man (well sheesh he looks that old doesn't he?) spoke Draco's mind began to wander off into his dilemma with Hermione. He wanted her to go to school…but he wanted to be there with her…but his father would have his head if he didn't come to the company right after graduation…but he really didn't want to go. He rubbed his temples and then looked over at Hermione whose attention was completely on the Headmaster. He knew she was drinking in every word he said, he would have to ask her what he was saying later.
He stared at her beautiful brown locks, yearning to reach out and touch one, to bring it under his nose to sniff the warming vanilla scent that he had come familiarized with. She was so beautiful. He couldn't let her go. He couldn't let her wander off to that school full of college boys and let her be corrupted by their less than satisfactory attire and their "roll out of bed" hairdos and not to mention the fact that they might touch her. No. No one would touch his precious Hermione. He couldn't even entertain the thought of someone else touching her without wanting to stab his wand through their privates.
The love he held for Hermione was unlike anything he had ever loved before. Come to think of it, he had never really loved anything before. Sure he loved his possessions, but he knew Hermione wasn't a possession. She made that clear to him one night after he had yelled at the waiter at that prissy little restaurant in Hogsmeade when he had looked at her just a little too long for Draco's liking. Draco had called her his and said that that waiter had no right to look at something that was his. She whipped around on him so fast that he was sure she would have whiplash. She yelled at him right there on the spot and told him that she was no ones possession and if that was the way he was going to treat her then she was going to hex his manhood to a different planet. Right then he knew he was in love.
As he sat here, in the middle the graduation service, the drowning voice of their Headmaster in the background of his thoughts, he thought of all the reasons why he loved her. There were so many. But the main one was the way she made him feel. She made him feel safe. She told him many times that he does that for her, but he has never told her that she does it for him. He wanted that one to be a secret. To protect his "masculinity" he supposed. She made him feel whole. She was the other half of him; the better half of course. If he couldn't do something, she always could. If he said something goofy, she would say something that made it make sense. She was the ying to his yang; his frosting to his cake; his peanut butter to his jelly; his chocolate chips to his cookie; his princess to his empty tower. How could he live without his princess?
He pondered this thought for a long time and realized that he couldn't. The answer was simple. How come he didn't see it before? Stupid, Draco.
Just as he made up his mind Dumbledore had waved his hand at their whole class, it was their cue to stand. Everyone stood quickly…but Draco.
"I am proud to announce…"
Dumbledore's voice rang in his ears as he got down on one knee, reaching over to take Hermione's delicate hand in between his own. He heard gasps and some laughter, but he paid no attention, all he was focused on now was the way the most beautiful set of eyes had just focused on his, full of confusion, sudden shock, but all mixed with the twinkle of love that was now always apparent in her eyes.
"…the graduating class…"
Stupid old man. Draco blocked out everything but Hermione now, she looked like she wanted to say something, but he knew she couldn't. She always got choked up when he did unpredictable things, and this one would definitely top the list.
"…of 2007!"
Caps were thrown and there were cheers and laughter but neither the brown hair girl nor the grey eyed boy heard. All either of them heard was the sentence that sounded from between Draco Malfoy's smooth lips:
"Hermione Granger, will you marry me?"
Tears instantly rose in her eyes as they had done just an hour earlier. She put her shaking free hand up to her mouth as she laughed sort of nervously.
"You…you want to marry…me?" she asked disbelievingly, although her heart was being as fast as a hummingbirds.
It was his turn to chuckle now. "Yes…I, Draco Malfoy, want you, Hermione Granger, to be my wife, to hold and cherish for ever and ever. I will get a priest right now if you want and we can do it right here…or hell, we can do it in the library if you want. Anywhere is fine with me if it means I will have you for the rest of my life."
Tears were falling freely from her eyes now. She let out another nervous laugh and then reached her hand up to wipe her eyes. Her expression was so full of love that he was almost convinced he could actually see hearts in her eyes as he had seen in that silly Muggle cartoon she had made him watch. It was cute on her though, not on that stupid bloody rabbit with the big ass feet and that stupid carrot who kept talking about some bloody doctor.
"So…come on here, baby, give me a hint…I don't know if I can take the suspense much longer. Do your tears mean yes or do they mean no? Throw me a bone here, princess…because if you say no I can still brush this off and say that I thought I saw Weasley wearing new Italian shoes…then I could plead insanity because the whole world knows that that will never happen…and then they will turn to you and think you are a loon for dating an unbelievably handsome, yet nutty, man and then your pristine reputation would be ruined and they would probably lock you up in a loony-bin with Lovegood down there…and with me they would-"
If he wanted an answer, then he sure as hell got one. When she had finally got fed up with his meaningless rambling she leaned down and grabbed the collar of his robe and pressed her lips to his roughly. This made him moan in the way she could only make him moan.
When they parted their eyes met and Draco was the speechless one now.
"My answer is yes, Draco, yes! They will never take you away from me…no one will…I wo-"
This time she didn't get to finish because he had stood up and lifted her off the ground and began spinning her around on the stage as he kissed her lips lovingly. The people around them were too busy shooting off random charms from their wands that sent sparkling fireworks into the enchanted ceiling above them to notice the couple as they kissed and held one another closely.
He rested her on her feet again, but didn't let her go. He rubbed the side of his nose against her, his eyes still closed.
"I'll come with you to school…we can get a charming little flat near the campus and live there until you finish. I will tell my father that if he really wants me to join his company than he should let me start by dong smaller things that he could send to me where we are going to live. I can work at home while you are at school and then when you graduate…we can move back here…back home…and you can become a teacher and we can have millions of little Malfoy's," he whispered all of this too her, well aware that she was smiling, even though his eyes were still closed.
Draco's smile increased as he waited through her long pause. He knew she was trying not to cry. He reached his hand up to cup her cheek, his eyes finally fluttering open to meet her brown ones that were full of tears.
"You don't have to say anything, Hermione," He said softly, "you agreeing to be my wife is more than enough. I love you."
He watched her take in a shaky breath; he loved it when her cheeks got rosy like that.
"I love you too," she managed to gasp out.
He pulled her into another mind blow kiss and that was the start of their new life together. Their life outside of school. The life that they would work to build and enjoy…together.
A/N: Yeah…it was kind of a pointless story, but the idea came to me and I thought I would write it out and this is how it came out. I liked it…it wasn't the best, but I would love to hear what you all think. I know there are a lot of unsaid details and background things, but that gives you a sense of imagination. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading. :D
3 TennesseeSweetheart
