Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me but the plot. But you know, I totally wish I could be J.K.
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Selfish
You hurt me more than I deserve, how can you be so cruel? I love you more than you deserve, why am I such a fool?
"You forgot."
Hermione's voice was quiet and calm but Draco caught the tremors of tightly-controlled anger as only he could after knowing her for so long. He paused, one hand on the door knob, scrambling to remember what he had apparently forgotten.
He had barely stepped into his apartment, but Hermione had already snatched her keys from the top of the shoe cupboard by the entrance and pushed past him. Draco whirled around, grabbing Hermione's arm and started to utter a 'sorry' but was stunned when Hermione had wrenched it back.
In the last few years that they had grown closer to each other, Hermione had never reacted so violently to his touch.
"I'm done." Hermione spat, not even looking at him.
"Wait— What—? I-I'm sorry. I had bumped into Pansy down at the bar on the way back and—" Draco momentarily lost his voice when Hermione turned back, and boy did she look pissed, and Draco had never seen her this mad, or at least, he had never seen so much anger directed to him all at once, especially from her.
"I'm fucking tired of being second best," She hissed, her fists balled up on either side of her petite form. "I think it's damned clear that you'd choose her over me in a heartbeat. So why do you keep me hanging on? You're so fucking selfish!"
Draco felt some sort of irrational anger bubble up in his chest. He hated being yelled at, especially when he didn't know what for, and Hermione knew that very well. They'd had this argument too many times before and he was sick of trying to calm her down every single time.
"Then why do you stick around!?" he lashed out recklessly.
Hermione's eyes flashed and he saw her face drop, but a moment later, her impenetrable façade was up and her eyes, pooling with tears, were trained on the ground. "Because I'm an idiot. I actually thought you would care for me more than her one day. But I'm done."
Her hand reached up to her neck and yanked the necklace she wore right off, the one that she'd taken from him after the first night they'd slept together, the one with an identical Malfoy crest charm like the one on the arm band he wore. She dropped it deliberately in the gaping distance between them now. And then she was gone.
Draco slammed the door behind him, still too stung and angry at the accusations. Maybe he shouldn't have said that but it wasn't as if Hermione knew what she was getting herself into. Draco did love her. He did, with all that was his heart. But he couldn't tell her that yet. Not until he had his father out of his life and was on his own way.
Hermione had no right to accuse him of being selfish.
These thoughts had fuelled him as he stepped out of the apartment again and back into the darkness.
You want me to make that decision?
Fine.
.
.
Hours later, Draco was back in the same position at the door. Pansy had so much as refrained from jumping at him when he agreed to take up on her previous offer of letting him bed her, which he previously so eagerly declined. His senses were drowned and overcome by the moment when he'd slipped his length within her soaking centre.
Everything seemed lost to him till the moment when she came. Her 'sensual' screeching ripping him from his trance, like cold water being thrown right over his naked body, and when she'd called out his name, it wasn't the way Hermione would've.
Hermione.
He'd shamelessly pulled himself away from her and dressed with phenomenal speed before running out the door and Apparating himself outside his front door.
But now, his anger slowly dissipated and panic began to seep into his stomach. He was no longer blinded by anger and hurt, no longer acting on impulse, and realisation of what he'd finally done trickled into his mind.
As he shut the door, he heard a tap at the window across from the door. In the darkness that hung around his home, Draco spotted the vaguely familiar owl as he drew the window open. Hedwig flapped around as she landed on his window sill, shaking a scrawny leg his way. He unlatched the magically-shrunken scroll from the bird and reached for his stash of owl treats in the shelf beside him. With a soft hoot, the bird was gone.
The scroll grew to its original size in his grasp as he read the print;
I don't know what you've done Malfoy but whatever it was, I hope you're sorry. I've been told to send you this on behalf of Hermione to tell you she's gone on a bit of a holiday. She didn't really mention anything about when she'll be getting back.
You'll be hearing from me again soon.
Draco raked his fingers through his platinum locks and sighed aloud. He was in deep trouble if either of the two found out what he'd just gone and done. But he felt the last of his anger at Hermione's outburst diminish, replaced by guilt, regret, and fuck, did he really just go out and screw Pansy out of spite? That would make a wonderful story to tell.
Draco agitatedly headed back to his room, taking off his black travelling cloak and easily manoeuvring his way through the darkness, but a movement caught his eye in the dimly lit dining room.
"Crookshanks!" Draco yelled when he saw the unruly ball of fur sitting on the dining table and eating from a plate of—
Oh dear Merlin.
Draco raised a shaky finger to flip the light switch, and the beautifully set table for two, complete with candles to be lit and his favourite roast lamb and vegetables with red wine all ready, staring back at him accusingly.
"You forgot."