Vivid Recollections
(a sequel to Reset)
by Ridley Silverlake
"Thank you, Draco," Hermione smiled, "for the past five weeks. I don't regret any of it. I hope you know that. We just can't risk anything anymore."
"I know," Draco said, looking her straight in the eyes. Then the one thing his conscience had been telling him not to do, escaped his mind as all the emotions rushed to his head. He let go of Hermione's hand and dropped her shoes to the ground so he could touch both sides of her face. Hermione wore a worried look, but Draco paid no attention to it. Then he bent down and pulled her into a soft kiss.
One last brush of her lips on his, and he felt her pull away. He opened his eyes and saw her smiling. He gave her a lopsided smile in return, and let go of her.
Hermione picked her shoes up from the ground. And before stepping up on to her porch, which would finally shelter her from the rain, she gave Draco a hug.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Before Draco could reply, she had walked to her front door and turned the doorknob.
Knowing she wouldn't look back, he crossed the street and started to walk away not only from Hermione, but from the undoubtedly great summer he'd spent with her.
Before leaving everything behind for good, however, he looked back at her. He saw her standing on her porch, looking right at him. He wanted to smile at her for the last time, but something had caught his eye—tears. She was crying.
He saw her wipe the tears off her face, and then she did the one thing he thought she wouldn't do all summer. She took her wand out, and from across the street, he heard her mutter, "Obliviate."
Before he knew it, Draco took his own wand out out of reflex and blocked the memory charm. As he looked up, he saw an irritated Hermione raise her wand once more and cast another spell, which, this time, Draco knew wasn't a memory charm. His eyes widened in surprise before he came to his senses and blocked the second spell.
"What gives, Granger?" Draco looked up only to see Hermione storming towards him under the rain.
"I don't want you taunting me at school," she said, making sure Draco heard her perfectly even with the rain getting stronger.
"So you think wiping my memory of this summer's going to help? How very smart of you!" Draco yelled back, and walked closer to her.
"Obliviate," she said again, and Draco fended it off.
"Why should I have my memory wiped? Why not yours?" Draco argued.
"Because I'm less likely to tell anyone about anything that happened." Hermione said.
"So you think I'd fancy telling all my Slytherin friends I'd dated a Mudblood over the summer? You must be mad if you think I'd disgrace my name like that." Draco snickered.
"Well, if you think that way, then maybe you don't even deserve those memories. Here, let me take them for you and save you the humiliation." Hermione said angrily. "Obliviate."
Once again, Draco fended it off with ease.
"You don't get it!" Hermione stepped back. "I'd have to see you being a jerk to me again. I'd have to tolerate you making fun of my friends. And I'll definitely have to be able to stand it when I see you flirting with Pansy Parkinson because she's who everyone expects you to be with. I can't stand any of that knowing you'd remember everything we had the past few weeks!"
Draco remained silent for a moment. He hadn't thought of it that way.
"Obliviate," he heard her say again, and once more, Draco raised his wand to protect himself.
"Wait," Draco said. "Why would you even imagine that I'd do any of that? You think none of this mattered to me?"
Instead of answering his question, Hermione replied with a disarming spell. Much to Hermione's dismay, however, though she was the brightest witch of her age, they both knew which of them excelled more in defense.
"Can you please stop?" Draco yelled.
"If you want this to stop so badly, then you'd stop being so stubborn and keep still!"
"You expect me to just let you wipe my memory?" Draco asked angrily as they continued their duel. "If you think I'd let you do that, then you're obviously out of your mind. If you're willing to make me forget everything that just happened, then I might as well cast the charm on you, because clearly, this meant a whole lot more to me than it did for you!"
Hermione was taken aback by Draco's last statement, causing her to lower her guard, and allowing Draco to successfully disarm her.
Instead of attempting to retrieve her wand, Hermione stood still and looked at Draco as she tried to catch her breath and take in what he just said.
"How could you think that I'd spend a whole summer with you just so I could pretend it never happened, then go on treating you like trash like I used to?" Draco yelled, slowly making his way towards her. "Why would you even expect me to pretend I loved you just so I could hurt you again, more than I ever have?"
Hermione clenched her fist and raised her voice. "Because you're Draco Malfoy, that's why!"
Draco stopped and fell silent when he saw her start to cry. Just the mere thought that she would think his sole purpose in her life was to hurt her was devastating.
Hermione looked at the ground. She clenched her fist and stayed still, trying to stop her tears from falling.
"The mere fact that you would even think I did all this with you just so I could put you to more shame than I did in the past—which, if you didn't know, I'm deeply sorry for, by the way—disgusts me." Draco said softly. "And if you thought none of this meant anything to me, that I felt nothing for you," he raised his voice, "then you're wrong!"
Hermione felt a flood of emotions run through her chest. Not knowing exactly how she felt about what she'd just heard, she wiped the tears off her face and picked her wand up. As she raised her wand to cast a spell, she saw Draco rush towards her. To her surprise, he angrily tossed his wand aside and pushed her arm away so that her spell was interrupted, and before she knew it, Draco's lips were on hers.
His hands held both sides of her face, feeling the warmth of her tears as opposed to the cold raindrops. If anything, right now, he only wished he could stop the tears he had caused.
Slowly, he pulled away from her and held her in a warm embrace.
"I'll never forget any of it, Draco. I promise." He heard her sob against his chest.
"Neither will I," he said and kissed her on the head. "I wouldn't even dream of it."
When Draco looked up, he saw a vehicle speeding towards them. Had he remembered at that moment that Hermione lived in a Muggle street with Muggle cars passing by every once in a while, he'd have taken their fight some place else.
As the vehicle approached, Draco held Hermione tighter, not knowing what more he could do. He then heard its horn beep, louder and louder until it was all he could hear; and the headlights get closer and brighter until it was all he could see.
Next thing Draco knew, he was back in bed, and the Knight Bus alarm clock Crabbe gave him for his birthday was going off. He angrily switched it off and sat up on his bed to prevent himself from going back to sleep. He looked around and realized he was back in the Slytherin dormitories.
He got up and changed to his uniform so he could join his friends for breakfast. As he stepped into the Great Hall, a certain Gryffindor girl caught his eye. He didn't take his eyes off her as he sat down at his own table, not even when she looked up at him. Despite the awkward eye contact, Draco refused to look away. She, however, seemed to think otherwise and, with much hesitation, turned to look the other direction.
Draco shook his head. Of course she would turn away. How could he even think he'd ever have anything with Hermione Granger if not only in his dreams?
End.
Author's Notes: Tralalalala~
I wanted to make a happy sequel, but that'd be ruining the feel of the original oneshot, so… Mehehe. And I thought some of you might be confused as to which was real and which wasn't, but all I can say is that it's not for me to tell you.
Aaaand I swear that kissing scene would have been better on screen. I mean, their actions, the emotions, the climax, the build-up, the.
Have a nice day.
Love from Ridley Silverlake. *Inserthearthere*