Love According to Draco Malfoy

by Aoife Malfoy

HPDM Slash. AU. No HBP Spoilers. PostVoldemort. The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of. But Hermione resolves to find it out.

Title: Love According to Draco Malfoy
Author: Aoife Malfoy
Pairing: H/D
Genre: Fluff (Gah!)
Rating: PG-13 for language
Beta: er none. So all the stupid mistakes are mine.
Warnings: AU. No HBP Spoilers. Post-Voldemort.
Disclaimer: Property of JK Rowling. Only borrowing for my own amusement.
Word Count: 2,235
Author's Note: Another addition to my Love According to... fics. Please note that all fics in this collection are stand alone one shots and are not in any way chronologically connected to each other.
Summary: The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of. But Hermione resolves to find it out.

There I was happily minding my own business, keen on getting in some breakfast before grabbing a quick snog from my boyfriend, Draco, when two sets of hands grabbed me from behind. Alarmed, I started to struggle wildly, fearing a Dark attack from one of Voldemort's errant minions or some such. A spell hit me from the back and as I faded into unconsciousness a murmured apology followed me into oblivion.

"Ennervate!"

Blinking owlishly, I groggily sat up from the lounge I was laying on. Who? Wha-? Where? What happened? Suddenly remembering my last few moments of conscious thought, I grabbed my wand from my pocket and whirled around, a stunning curse at the tip of my tongue, ready to strike at my captors but I was startled when all I was met with was Ron's reddening guilty face and Hermione's pacifying smile.

"Ron? Hermione? What the fuck?" I asked bewilderedly, more than a little perturbed by this manhandling. I knew I wasn't spending that much time with them and have been devoting it on a certain Slytherin instead, but surely I wasn't mistreating them enough to warrant assault!

"Now, Harry, I know you're angry right now but know that we love you and we're only concerned about you." Hermione began as she held out a placating hand in front of her.

"Which is why you stunned me and hauled me to this room? If you wanted to talk to me you could have just said so!" I snapped, thoroughly put off that I was missing breakfast and my morning snog from Draco.

Sighing, Hermione continued as Ron averted his eyes and looked at anything but Harry. "Look, we figured you wouldn't come with us if you knew what we wanted to talk to you about. Isn't that right, Ronald?" She asked pointedly as she raised an eyebrow at her supposed partner in crime.

Caught between Harry's enraged glare and Hermione's glower, Ron made an executive decision and went with his gut. "Well, um, technically. Hermione, I didn't want any part of this. I told you, Harry was a big boy and could take care of himself." Ron explained anxiously as he surreptitiously tried to inch away from the now enraged girl.

Hermione snorted as she thwacked Ron upside the head. "Fat lot of help you are, Ronald Weasley!"

Rolling my eyes, and flashing a quick grin at Ron for his loyalty because I knew Hermione's smacks were not to be taken lightly. Merlin that woman could wallop like the best of them! "Hermione, can you quit hitting Ron for a minute and get back to the topic at hand? Why in Merlin's frilly knickers did you bring me here?"

Straightening with a final glare at Ron for good measure, she sniffed daintily. "I'm here to tell you that you need to do away with this self destructive behavior of yours. I love you, Harry, and I don't want you to continue on this path that you seemed so determined to take. It's pure insanity!"

More confused than I was a second ago before she even began her odd explanation, I managed a less than coherent, "Huh?"

Sighing, she began to pace and that's what really got me worried because her pacing sessions were obviously not only bad for the floor but the occupants of the room as well because it was always always! followed by one of her obsessive rants. With a small groan, I settled back into the sofa I was sitting on and prepared myself for one of her inane tirades, a sideways look told me Ron was doing the same thing, albeit with a louder groan of dismay.

"You have been living this dangerous life since you were eleven, Harry, and you're used to living on the edge. But now that Voldemort's dead and most of the Death Eaters are rotting in Azkaban you've begun to miss the excitement and the danger. The adrenalin rush that comes with saving the day and fighting the bad guys. And so now you found another source to get that from. Now you have Malfoy to give you that sense of risk and exhilaration and while I don't want to tell you how to live your life- Oh shut up Ron!" Hermione broke off to glare at Ron who had snorted in disbelief over her last statement and Harry couldn't help but crack a smile at his best friend who was digging his own grave by disrupting Hermione during one of her rants.

Huffing at Ron's antics, she continued. "As I was saying, you get your adrenalin rush by being with Malfoy and I don't think it's healthy. I honestly believe that you shouldn't be with him. You'll both just end up hurting each other."

Swallowing the bitter anger that came from listening Hermione psychoanalyze the one romantic relationship that had brought me any kind of happiness, I took a minute before I answered her. "Okay, Hermione. Ignoring the fact that you seem to think I'm some kind of fucked up idiot who not only likes having his life threatened at least once a year but also actually craves it, what makes you think Draco is bad for me?"

Rolling her eyes, she retorted, "Do you really need to ask? He has been nothing but horrid to you since the day you met him, even now that he's supposed to be your boyfriend!"

Gritting my teeth at the slight on Draco's behalf, I bit out. "Name one thing he has done to make you think this way."

Raising an eyebrow, Hermione replied. "Just one? You're making this too easy and you'll be proving my point! Last month when we were all headed out to Hogsmeade for some hot cocoa, he hid all of your outerwear!"

Smiling at the memory, I explained, "So he did. But that's only because he wanted me to stay with him that day like I promised I would."

Harrumphing, Hermione tried another. "What about the time he made your cauldron explode and you lost 10 points and had detention with Snape later on that day?"

Still wearing the smile, I relaxed further into my chair. "I was very busy during that time with training for the upcoming war and had no time for him and even though he made a mess and lost me points, he did make up for it by sneaking in during my detention and helping me clean the cauldrons afterwards.

A distressed groan interrupted us and I turned to see Ron turning green at the mere suggestion of just how Draco hade made up for his prank. "Sorry Ron!" I offered with a sheepish smile.

Not one to give in, Hermione soldiered on, "What about when he made Ginny cry by calling her a Weasellette slut?"

"Was that before or after she tried to get into my pants when I declined her rather aggressive invitation?" I challenged.

Another strangled groan, this time louder. Poor Ron. I thought with a sympathetic shake of my head.

Racking her brains for more reasons, Hermione pressed, "He tried to destroy your invisibility cloak!"

Flushing guiltily, I stared down at my shoes. "Only when he discovered I was trying to sneak out of Hogwarts to avenge Lupin's death by facing Voldemort single-handedly."

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked in mortification.

"I know! I know! Sorry was a bit racked with grief at the time but believe me, Hermione, he chewed me out good over that one!" I tried to placate her before she got into the full swing of her usual hysterics.

Huffing, she said. "I should hope so! Merlin I can't believe you'd be so foolish!"

I had the grace to look sheepish and managed to give her a mumbled apology.

However, Hermione was not to be deterred from her intervention. "How could you forget the way he used to torment us?"

Rolling my eyes at her question, I answered. "Just because I'm dating him doesn't mean I've forgotten the past! I know full well who he is and what he's done! I also know what he hasn't done and in case you're forgetting that's not fighting for the Dark Lord even when he was being tortured into doing so and also not following his father's wishes at the cost of his own inheritance. When I first realized I loved him more than I wanted to shag him, Hermione, I finally understood that the past doesn't matter as much as I thought it did."

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she mumbled, "Well, why does he still hate us then?"

Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Now that is something I can't answer, you know that. His reasons for his behavior towards you are his alone. I can't deny that it does hurt me when he's still nasty to you guys but I can't dictate his actions. I respect him enough not to change who he is and he extends the same courtesy to me. Though I admit this is a part of him that I don't like, I still accept it because it is part and parcel of Draco Malfoy. When I decided to be with him, Hermione, I signed up for the whole package even the nasty bits and I've never regretted my choice."

Hermione sank into the chair in front of him with a dazed look on her face. "When did you get so eloquent?" she mused with a slight smile.

Seeing that I was weakening her stride, I pounced, "Look, love according to Draco Malfoy will never be easy to understand and I admit that sometimes I have to think really hard to decipher what he really means but I like that about him. He makes me work for his affections and I like it because it tells me it is something he doesn't bestow on people easily. He is also loyal to a fault, for once you've managed to endear yourself to him there is no limit to what he'll do for you. He'll lie, steal, and yes even, kill for you. And I'm the first person who'll admit that our relationship isn't perfect and it's even perhaps a bit mad but it works. He and I've never had the standard issue happy childhood, maybe you could rationalize it that way. Or better yet you can write it off as unresolved tension from our schoolyard rivalry. All I know is that I love him and he loves me. Because when I'm with him, it's easy for me to relinquish control for once and let him take care of things. Because when we're together, it's comfortable for we've already seen the worst in each other and we no longer have to hide it with painted lies and games of pretend. And finally because when he looks into my eyes and tells me that I am special, for the first time in my life, Hermione, I believe it."

Her eyes misting over, Hermione threw her arms around me. "Oh my! Harry that's so-"

"Ridiculously sappy, mate! When did you become such a girl? Guess we know who wears the bloomers in this relationship!" Ron joked as he sensed a mushy scene on the horizon.

Swinging around and landing another smack on Ron's arm, she admonished him. "You're so tactless, Ronald!"

Laughing at my best friends' antics and feeling greatly relieved, I stood up and shepherded them all into a group hug. "No more of this nonsense, alright?"

"Hey! Don't look at me, mate! It was all her idea! I'm just a fairly innocent bystander." Ron protested.

"You really want me to hurt you, don't you Ronald?" Hermione threatened as she narrowed her eyes.

Laughing once more, I released them and before Hermione could do further damage, I manage to steer them out of the room. Breakfast was close to being over and we might as well head for our first class. Hopefully Draco wouldn't be too cross that I missed our daily snog. Speaking of the devil, I wonder what he's doing now.

Meanwhile in the Great Hall…

Draco sneezed violently into his tea and immediately made a mad grab for the tissues in his robes' pocket.

"Here, Draco!" a smiling Pansy offered her lace handkerchief. "I bet someone's thinking of you!"

Rolling his eyes, Draco asked. "What the bloody hell are you prattling on about, woman?"

"Everyone knows that when you sneeze out of the blue it means someone's thinking or talking about you! I bet it's Potter! Lord knows the boy can't stand to go twenty minutes without you!" Pansy squealed in delight at her friend's blossoming love life.

Smirking, Draco retorted. "Of course it can't be simply that my allergies are acting up or that the dust in the air has made me sneeze? It has to be because of some old wives' tale!"

Raising an eyebrow, Pansy returned the smirk. "Oh please, Draco! You're probably tickled pink at the thought of your boyfriend thinking about you!"

Draco snorted as he stood up, determined to find Harry who had yet to come in for breakfast. "Silly girl. Malfoys aren't gauche enough to be ticklish and we certainly don't associate with anything pink. And of course he's thinking about my gorgeous arse! How could he not?" Then with a saucy wink, Draco sauntered out of the Hall determined to hunt down his absent boyfriend.

Finite.

AN: Like it? Hate it? Comments are love!