This fic is based on the song Turning Page by Sleeping At Last.
I do not own Harry Potter or any other characters; J.K Rowling does! Nor do I own the lyrics which belong to Sleeping At Last. The storyline, however, is mine.
The flashbacks are not in chronological order.
19 September 2013
She would have been thirty- four today, had she been alive to see the day. Instead, she lay now in the ground with a white rose held in her grasp, both frozen forever, neither changing nor aging.
Hermione Jean Malfoy's grave stood in the middle of the garden of Malfoy manor, a place many would have puzzled at. Around her grave stood Harry and Ginny Potter along with a tired looking Ron Weasley. They each held a white rose, that they placed at the base of the podium, which held the coffin containing their best friend.
Standing opposite from them, stood Draco Malfoy with his face set in a picture of utter sorrow and loss. To many this sight would have seemed odd, but to these four people it had become a yearly occurrence since the accident.
It had all started in their seventh year of Hogwarts, after the Golden Trio had defeated Voldemort. During that year, Hermione and Draco had found themselves becoming closer, their relationship evolving from enemies to something more than just friends. This continued to advance until it seemed that maybe the couple would live to see their happily ever after, but alas! Fate had other ideas.
One day, during a walk they had been attacked by a Death Eater who had evaded the Aurors and Ministry. He had shot a killing spell at Draco but Hermione had leapt in front of him and cast a spell that saved him. This spell, however, came with a horrible consequence; it caused the caster to be frozen in a state of ever-lasting slumber.
Draco had watched helplessly as Hermione slowly froze into a state of rest, all the while clutching her hand, his eyes trained on her face as Aurors seized the Death Eater.
It had happened four years ago, and for these four, it had rocked their very world. Every year, the three friends came to pay their respect to their best friend and every year the sorrow in Draco's heart had increased.
It had been too long without her, she was his missing piece, his love, his heart, his soulmate. And so he had finally decided to join her in her eternal slumber. He watched the trio depart with a sense of detachment, his mind racing as he planned his farewell to the world.
At last, at the stroke of midnight he had made up his mind. He summoned up another coffin and placed it on a podium next to hers. Next, he summoned his piano before sitting on the bench in front of her coffin. Hermione had always begged him to play for her and sometimes he would, today it would serve as a farewell to his miserable existence and a greeting to an eternity with his one true love.
Draco drew in a deep breath and began to play.
"I've waited a hundred years
But I'd wait a million more for you
Nothing prepared me for
What the privilege of being yours would do"
His mind took him back to their wedding day and how beautiful Hermione had looked as she walked down the aisle towards him, her eyes twinkling as a shy smile graced her face, the sound of her voice as she said, "I do," and the blush in her cheeks as he slowly drew his lips to her, sealing the start of their lives as husband and wife.
"If I had only felt the warmth within your touch
If I had only seen how you smile when you blush
Or how you curl your lip when you concentrate enough"
This time, he was taken to the first time he had seen her after the Great Battle. She had been sitting curled up on a chair in the Heads dormitory with a book on her lap. He had watched as she bit her lip and the corners of her eyes crinkled as shadows from the fire danced on her face. She had looked like an angel to him, an angel who had fallen just to land in front of him. She had noticed him then, and they had shared their first true smile.
"Well I would have known
What I was living for all along
What I've been living for"
The Yule Ball had just finished and Hermione had dragged a groaning Draco out into the rain. She had laughed as he had pouted at her and then squealed as he had chased after her, a smile on his face. He had finally caught up to her in front of the lake. And with the moon lighting the lake up, he slowly drew her into his arms and spun them around in the rain. Her face had lit up with joy as they twirled, both still in their formal attire. The rain had caught on her emerald dress and it had made her shimmer like a goddess, Draco had stopped and simply stared at her, before leaning down and kissing her softly.
"Your love is my turning page
Where only the sweetest words remain
Every kiss is a cursive line
Every touch is a redefining phrase"
It had been a torturous day for Draco, he had had to watch Hermione laugh joyously in the Great Hall, and he ached to be the cause of that wonderful sound. After a few more minutes, he had had enough. Standing up, he had walked briskly to the Gryffindor table. He had taken a single look at her before pulling her up gently and kissing her. He marvelled at the honeysuckle taste of her mouth and the way she fit perfectly with him. He had pulled back and stared into her mahogany eyes, he still remembered the words he had uttered, " I think… I think I like you…a lot." He also remembered the look she gave him, before she pulled his face to hers once more, " I think that I like you too, " she had said, breathlessly and with a lovely blush spreading on her cheeks.
"I surrender who I've been for who you are
For nothing makes me stronger than your fragile heart
If I had only felt how it feels to be yours
Well I would have known
What I've been living for all along
What I've been living for"
Draco had just turned his back on his father after he had shouted at him for proposing to Hermione. He had finally had enough of his father's bigotry and he calmly walked out with his fists clenched so as not to go back and hit his father. He walked down the stone steps of Malfoy manor and turned the garden. He sat on one of the granite benches and thought about his life. It was like this, that Hermione had found him a few hours later. She had run to him and wrapped her arms around him. "I thought you had left me," she had said, her voice sounding cracked. It was then that Draco realised that he would stay with her forever, that she was his and that she was all he could have ever wanted and needed.
"Though we're tethered to the story we must tell
When I saw you, well I knew we'd tell it well
With a whisper, we will tame the vicious seas
Like a feather bringing kingdoms to their knees"
Lastly, Draco remembered the day he had carried her carefully and had set her on the satin sheets inside the coffin. He remembered how it felt to see her peaceful smile and the way her eyes still crinkled at the corners. He remembered how she looked as he closed the glass lid on her coffin, forever sealing her in her eternal slumber. Her once wild brown curls gently framed her heart shaped face giving her the appearance of a resting angel. It had been on that day that Draco's world had lost all of its colour.
Draco drew in a ragged breath as he finished the song and he rested his head on the piano. He slowly, but determinedly, raised his head and walked towards the coffins. He opened Hermione's first and placed a soft kiss on her lips that would forever stay warm, he then cast a spell, linking the two coffins into one. He shook off the imaginary dust from his shoulders and laid down next to her, his fingers intertwining with hers. He looked at her before whispering, " Soon my love, we will be together again." And it was with the same breath that he drew his wand, pointed it at himself and softly said, "Et dormiant somnum sempiternum, dico tibi."
After he had uttered the spell, he placed his wand next to him and turned his head towards Hermione, a smile gracing his face. The coffin had been enchanted to seal for all time so as not to disturb the slumber of the two, who now faced each other in a realm where they were finally together for eternity, their hands forever linked together.
The spell Draco used roughly translates to –eternal sleep I call to thee.
Criticism is much appreciated as are reviews!
Ps: sorry for anygrammatical or spelling errors.
Adieu!