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Find A Way
I'm using the movie & book for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as a storyline. This idea popped into my mind while watching the movie. I have read all the books, I just felt like these scenes in the movie left something to be desired.
Hermione
"Oppungo" said Hermione then she walked away from the room. She could hear Ron's screams as the birds pecked away at his skin. She could care less, she wanted him to feel pain. Hermione couldn't feel any pain at this point, she'd become numb. She knew there were tears streaming down her face, but she didn't wipe them away. Hermione had been walking for some time now. She could no longer hear Ron's yelps. Her lungs felt exhausted from the crying. She felt stifled inside the castle, she needed fresh air. Hermione knew she couldn't just walk out of the castle, not with the security this year. She noticed she was near the stairs to the Astronomy Tower and decided that would have to do. Hermione wasn't a normal visitor to the tower with her fear of heights. She climbed the stairs slowly and carefully. They were a bit icy from the recent snow. Hermione got a chill up her spine. She wished she had worn a cloak. Also, she wished she didn't have her ridiculous Gryffindor shirt on. Hermione walked to the railing, she gripped it tightly. The snow melted under her touch. She sighed and let the rest of the tears fall. 'Lavender of all people?' thought Hermione. The bubbly, giggly, pink-loving Lavender was like the anti-Hermione. She thought Ron had reciprocated her feelings lately. Hermione continued to cry and think of how wrong about Ron she had been. All she could hear were her own sobs until she heard a footstep behind her.
She jumped and with that slipped on some ice. She was incredibly too close to the railing and fell back onto it. The ice made it hard to keep her footing on the ground. She was going to fall over the railing. Before she could actually tip over the railing a strong hand grabbed her upper arm. It gripped her tightly and managed to pull her away from the railing. The ice caused both of them to fall to the floor of the tower. Hermione landed on top of her rescuer. She opened her eyes to see the last pair of eyes she ever expected.
'Malfoy?", it came out in a whisper. His eyes were this silvery, blue that Hermione had barely ever noticed. His eyes reflected hers, both were rimmed in red. Hermione hadn't been the only person crying on the tower. His eyes were filled with the same sadness and devastation that filled Hermione's. He looked back into her eyes. He hadn't thrown her off of him yet. He hadn't even flinched. They laid there staring into each other's eyes for which seemed like an eternity. Finally he spoke, "The ground is really quite cold, so do you think we could stand up?". Hermione took a moment to comprehend what he said. She stood up in a hurry, almost falling again but Malfoy grabbed her arm. "Always this clumsy, Granger?" he said with a half-hearted smirk. It didn't sound as malicious as his comments normally did. She just stood there with her arms wrapped around herself for warmth and shook her head side to side. They stood at the railing looking out at the grounds. It was very quiet. The snow began to fall lightly on them. Hermione couldn't help but shiver from the cold.
Hermione hadn't even noticed he moved. she was too busy focusing on trying to stop her teeth from chattering. Hermione felt warmth cover her shoulders. Malfoy had taken off his cloak and put it on her. He had put it on top of her hair so she pulled it out and put it over her right shoulder. She felt the cold air on her exposed neck. Then she felt warm where the cold had just been. Hermione felt the heat of Malfoy's breath, it sent heat all over her body. His lips pressed to her neck for a single moment.
Before she could even turn all the way around, he was walking away. He was at the top of the steps and he stopped. "Don't stay up here too long. It won't make you feel any better, it just makes you frozen." He was gone before she could blink away the new tears that had formed. 'What just happened' thought Hermione. She slowly turned back to the railing and looked up at the sky. Snowflakes fell onto her face and hair. She closed her eyes and felt the precipitation melt on her face, mixing with her tears.
Draco
Draco stood on the Astronomy Tower gripping the railing crying his eyes out. He was contemplating jumping. He was a dead man as it was. People would think he just slipped with all the ice. He's a wizard though, he could stop himself from smashing into the ground. He thought of his mother then, he couldn't leave her to fend for herself. The Dark Lord would know he pitched himself off the Astronomy Tower and his poor mother would pay the price for it. He heard her screams in his head and tried to shake them away. He just did not know how to fix the cabinet. He could not figure it out for the life of him. He stopped crying for a while, he knew he needed to be stronger for his mother.
He saw two figures on the stairs through a window kissing. Draco thought about how he would love to be so careless. He wished he could just be a normal sixteen year old. Lately, he even wished that he wasn't a wizard or maybe that he'd come from a muggle family. Yes, at this moment Draco Malfoy would give anything to be a muggle-born. He was distracted by his thoughts when he heard soft steps on the stairs up to the tower. He moved into the shadows. No one could see him like this.
It was Hermione Granger. She looked a mess. She walked to the railing. Draco was thinking she was going to jump. She gripped the railing tightly, just as he had been doing moments before, and she began to cry. Draco had never heard such sorrowful sobs. Something awful must have happened to her. She was shaking as well. He didn't know if it was from the crying or the cold. She was only wearing a maroon t-shirt and muggle jeans. Draco stepped forward not thinking and she jumped. He must have startled her. She slipped on the ice and fell back onto the railing.
Draco took one long stride towards her and grabbed her arm. Her skin was cold, but so incredibly soft. His own thought startled him. He pulled her away from the railing with too much force causing them both to fall onto the floor. She landed on top of him with her eyes squeezed shut. When she opened them she starred into Draco's eyes.
"Malfoy?" she asked it as a question but it was such a quiet whisper he didn't respond. They laid there for a while. She was so light on top of him. Her hair was long and tickling his neck. Though she must have been so cold, he felt warmth from her body. After lying on the ground for what seemed like an eternity to him, he decided they should probably move. "The ground is really quiet cold, so do you think we could stand up?" he said to her. She continued to stare into his eyes without moving. Then she sort of jumped up, causing her to almost fall again but Draco grabbed her arm. He noted that she got chills as soon as he touched her. He knew he should tease her, say something mean, but he couldn't do it. "Always this clumsy, Granger?" was all he could get out. He only half-heartedly smirked at her as well. His comment didn't have the same edge to it that it normally did. She just shook her head at him and looked at her feet. He'd never seen Granger look so vulnerable. He knew he normally would take advantage of this opportunity to torture her but he couldn't make her hurt anymore, her sobs were engrained in his mind. They stood their looking out on the school grounds. They didn't speak.
He noticed her shivering. Without really thinking about it, he took off his own cloak and placed it over her shoulders. She fixed her hair and pulled it all to one side. Her could see the pulse in her neck. She was so alive, feeling so much emotion. Draco would have done anything to feel alive. He learned in slowly and kissed right where her pulse was. As he felt the warmth from her skin against his lips, Draco came to the realization of what he was doing. He quickly walked to the stairs.
Something stopped him though. He couldn't just leave this broken girl up here. She turned around and starred at him, watching him go. "Don't stay up here too long. It won't make you feel any better, it just make you … frozen." was what he said to her. He hesitated before he said frozen because that was how he felt, inside and out. With that, he walked down the steps. Before he stepped into the hallway, Draco wiped away a single tear he hadn't even realized had fallen.