Human
It was late; an hour past curfew, but Hermione Granger refused to call it a night. Even though her Prefect's rotation ended at eleven she was still leaning against the wall of the cold corridor, deep in thought. Sighing deeply, Hermione thought of her fellow Prefect and school rival, Draco Malfoy and the conversation he had imprinted in her brain before he disappeared out of site.
DMHG
It happened when she turned the corner of yet another corridor and saw him leaning against the wall of the Prefect's lavatory. He did not see or hear her and she took this opportunity to observe the troubled Slytherin.
His head was set against the stone, his pointy chin jutting upward slightly. His eyes were closed and his wet face and hair shimmered lightly, reflecting the moonlight that bathed Draco through the arched window. He was breathing deeply; most likely trying to fight what might be another wave of unset emotions the pureblood always hid so carefully.
Hermione felt awkward and frowned at the strange notion. Here stood the bane of her magical existence, at the lowest point she had ever seen him in, and yet she felt as though she was a thief. She was intruding on something that was very precious to him; time. It was the time that he obviously needed to be alone, to vent and cope. Their sixth year was not a good one for Draco. His father was imprisoned in Azkaban, awaiting trial. He also always seemed to look over his shoulder to see whether or not he was being followed.
Hermione thought about going back and taking a different route but that would double the time of her rotation. She was already bone tiered and just wanted to get to the Gryffindor tower and sleep away her exhaustion. She had to continue with her original path. Hermione took her wand out of her robes, just in case Malfoy felt vindictive at her for disturbing his peace; she was fully prepared to defend herself.
As softly as she could manage, Hermione took one step at a time. She tried her best to walk swiftly on the cobbled floor, keeping her gaze on Malfoy, whose body predictably tensed at his broken heaven.
His silver eyes followed her movements from his right, meeting her heated gaze with his own when she was parallel to him and then followed her once more as she walked off to his left. He body did not move an inch as she passed him.
Hermione did not dare breathe until she reached and turned another corner. As she walked on, Hermione slowly put her wand back inside her pocket. The moment her hand was free again, she felt a sharp yank on her upper arm. Turning around, Hermione's eyes widened as she saw Draco Malfoy, whom she did not even hear approach her from behind, stand there. She immediately moved away from the dangerous Slytherin and brought her wand out once more, this time pointing at the dark wizard.
"Put your wand away, Granger." He snarled. "I am not going to hurt you."
"Said the spider to the fly," she replied just as snidely. When he just stood there, she prodded. "What do you want?"
"To talk," he simply supplied.
"So talk," she replied quickly.
After a long silent minute, Draco sighed and said. "You know, I am only human."
"Human?"
"Yes," he said loudly. "I am only human." When she said nothing, he continued. "This is war, Granger. I do what I have to do, just like you, to protect what is mine. I am the head of my family and I have to make sure that we survive this godforsaken war of greedy psychopathic maniacs. Just like you, I have to fight to survive."
"Malfoy," she said slowly, her wand hand wavering at the pure emotions that poured out of him.
That small error was all that was needed for Draco to knock the wood out of her hand and easily bringing her startled, petite body to his slim one, in a deep embrace. Hermione stiffened in his arms momentarily, as he touched his cheek to her hair, before she started to struggle.
"I am sorry." He whispered sincerely and she stopped her struggles. "I am sorry for what we are; Slytherin and Gryffindor. I am sorry for what we stand for; Pureblood and Mudblood. And I am sorry for what we must do when the time comes; kill one another."
"Malfoy!" Hermione whimpered insistently when he began to rock them side to side.
Draco continued as though he had not heard her.
"I wish," he began. "I wish that we have met in another lifetime, you and I, under different circumstances. Where there is a world of only facts and logic and no hate or discrimination. In a world where blood only has one color - crimson. A world in which I could come up and freely say that I fancy you, Granger, and maybe even court you like you deserve."
"Malfoy…" she whispered, trying to swallow a boulder that suddenly appeared in her parched throat.
"I am leaving." He stated as he inhaled the apple fragrance of her tresses.
"What?" She asked barely audible.
"I am leaving the school because, like so many other things in this forsaken life of mine, I have no other choice in the matter." Draco pulled back a little and waited until Hermione raised her own eyes to his. "I will promise you one thing though, Granger." He tapped her lightly on the tip of her nose and smiled genially. "You will not have to worry about my end of the wand if we should ever cross paths on the battlefield."
Smiling sadly, Draco smoothed the pads of his thumbs across both her cheeks where two teardrops had escaped. "And just for the record," he nudged her chin higher. "I have fancied you for years…Hermione." He whispered softly. "I am only human, after all." He finally let his dry lips touch her trembling ones.
Closing her eyes to the world, Hermione thrived as the electric current that passed through her body. Her first official kiss was stolen by Draco Malfoy for only a moment until she freely gave away more when she returned the kiss with equal fervor. The kiss was everything Hermione hoped her first kiss would be.
It was a gentle, yet passionate, lingering touch of their lips...a hesitation on both parts as they touched, as if both were taking the time to memorize the feeling before the reality pulled them apart.
After a long moment, Hermione opened her eyes, but Draco was long gone. She brought her trembling fingers to her lips and touched them softly as she leaned back against the stonewall, sobbing whole heartedly.
DMHG
The following night, Death Eaters infiltrated Hogwarts. Harry Potter told everyone that it had been Severus Snape who had actually killed their beloved headmaster instead of Draco before fleeing into the darkness of the night with the rest of the Death Eaters.
And as the whole school mourned the death of Albus Dumbledore, praying for the safe journey of the wizard's soul to the other side, Hermione could not help but offer a silent prayer for Draco Malfoy. She could not forget the Slytherin's confession. And even though, Hermione knew that Draco was responsible for almost everything that happened the night before, she could not help but wish to see him again.
Maybe they would meet again. Maybe they would meet each other in another world like the one Draco mentioned to her. A world where there was only facts and logic and no hate or discrimination. A world where blood only had one color - crimson. A world in which she could come up and freely say that she fancied him, Draco Malfoy, just as much as he fancied her.
There was no shame in wishing this, was there? After all, she was only human.
Sighing to herself quietly, Hermione closed her eyes and made her own silent promise to her former enemy. Draco would not have to worry about the end of her wand if they should ever cross paths on the battlefield.
The End!
Author's Note: This little story came to me after I watched the most amazing Dramione video made by the talented Eclairu. To me, this was a missing scene from the Half Blood Prince. Please watch the video and let me know if my fic goes hand in hand with the video.
http: / / www. youtube. com/ watch?v= cObRegKbHqc
(remove the spaces)
I apologize for not updating my previous stories. My hard drive was ruined and all my work with it. I am steadily rewriting some of the stories and hopefully will update them soon.
Thank you for reading. Please review.