New Year's Resolutions
A/N: Thank you to everyone who favourited/alerted/reviewed the last chapter! Hope you like this one – it's less morbid and has Dramione interaction! Please R&R! xxx
Chapter 3: An Over-due Reunion
It took him twenty minutes to knock on her door. Twenty long, painful minutes in which he found himself plagued with doubt and second thoughts. What if she didn't want to see him or hear him out? Would she be broken hearted after her divorce and therefore feel nothing but indifference towards him? Had she forgiven him for leaving her six years ago? Did she understand why he'd had to do it? Was she even at home?
He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, grimacing as it made contact with the matted blood from a wound on his head that he kept forgetting about. He assumed that he'd hit his head on the fireplace as he'd fallen from a mixture of exhaustion and pain from his father's endless torture, though he wasn't about to rule out the possibility of it having been inflicted by his hand. Things were so incredibly twisted. His life wasn't supposed to turn out this way. He'd never planned it to be all sweetness and light – that was far too unrealistic and happy for his taste. But he had expected it to be a lot easier than this.
He raised his hand and knocked before he could change his mind again. He hadn't gone through the pain of apparition to simply stand outside her door. Where was his cocky stance and pretentious humour? It had never deserted him before? He sniggered at the thought of his father beating it out of him, and then smirked at the realisation that he still had it. There was no point being morbid about everything – he was here on a mission to win back Hermione Granger's heart, preferably before midnight, and that was what he was going to do.
Or at least that's what he thought. Before she opened the door.
She stood facing him, eyes wide and jaw hanging open, her brain trying to process everything as quickly as possible. She looked confused, shocked, a little disorientated, but most of all; beautiful, just as she always had, and it threw him off guard completely.
Hermione's brow creased in complete, unfathomable confusion as she took in the sight of Draco Malfoy, battered, bruised, bleeding, and still as handsome as he'd always been. She couldn't quite process the fact that she'd just been thinking about him, and here he was! On her doorstep. Wait, battered, bruised and bleeding?
"What in Merlin's name happened to you?" she whispered in horror as her eyes swept over his injured form, slowly taking in his swollen jaw, torn shirt and numerous gashes, not to mention his head injury that seemed to stand out the most, on account of the scarlet clashing loudly against the luminous blond of his hair.
He was surprised to see so much concern amongst shock in her eyes; it gave him silent confirmation that she still cared for him, and that meant more to him than he'd imagined. Yes, this was Hermione Granger, the girl with the biggest heart he'd ever known, but he was her ex boyfriend. He'd hurt her in the past and it meant a lot that she still cared about him, even if it may be to an extent.
"I took a stand."
Her eyes widened even more and he knew she was reliving their last conversation six years ago. The conversation that had quickly escalated into an argument, and had resulted in him leaving her to follow in his father's footsteps and take over the running of the family business.
He looked at her face and was happy that it hadn't changed much, except for a slightly mature tint that highlighted her cheekbones, and remembered the way it had been a mask of desperation as he'd tried to walk away. Her hands had clutched his robes in a tight grip that demonstrated her physical desire to not let him go. The echoes of their young voices washed over him, and from the distant look in her eyes, he knew she could hear them too…
"DON'T DO THIS DRACO!" she screamed pleadingly, a part of her convinced that the louder she said it, the more likely he was to hear her desperation and concede it.
But the hard armour coating his eyes made her realise just how small that part of her was, because that one look at his face had been enough for her to see just how strongly he would fight her on this. She watched as he fixed her with a cool stare and shivered at the harsh contrast to the gentle looks of love he'd sent her before.
"WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?" he exclaimed, fury at her persistence engulfing him completely. Why couldn't she just let him go? He should never have pursued her, never have complicated their lives. But he'd been selfish and weak, and now they both had to pay the price. "HE'S MY FATHER!"
His words carried so many meanings with them – meanings that neither of them needed to voice. Lucius Malfoy was his father, but he was also a past deatheater. A man who always got what he wanted. A man skilled in the areas of dark magic, and who certainly wasn't afraid to show off his talents. Draco thought it would be enough to make her realise why what he was doing was best for them, best for her. He'd underestimated the fire that burned within her; the fire that he'd started by lighting a match and tossing it carelessly over the gas that had leaked from the vulnerability she'd shown him. She'd let him into her heart and allowed him to do whatever he'd pleased with it, regardless of the warnings her conscious had provided her with, and she would not be proven wrong.
"TAKE A STAND AGAINST HIM! AGAINST WHAT HE STANDS FOR! IT'S NOT YOU, DRACO! IT NEVER HAS BEEN AND YOU KNOW IT NEVER WILL BE!"
Instead of replying, he'd untangled himself from her grip, fixed her with a last look that he'd hoped had conveyed all of his feelings of regret, and walked away. Just like that, without a second glance.
He'd been too weak to do it then; take a stand against his father, both physically and emotionally. He'd spent so long regretting it, but now, in that very moment, he finally felt that he'd made the right decision. He'd needed that time to gain the strength to walk away from all that he'd ever known. And he'd walked to her door. Where else would he have gone?
Her eyes softened as she realised just how difficult this must have been for him: going against his father was one thing, but to knock on her door after everything was a huge step. She knew because it would have been the same for her. She still didn't understand what could have possibly made Lucius hurt him so badly, but what confused her more was his decision to come to her. It made no sense to her, and she hated it when she couldn't understand something.
"As nice as this is, do you think you could invite me in? It's freezing out here!"
His voice brought her back to the present and she jumped into action.
"Oh, of course! Sorry, come in!" she babbled, standing aside to give him room. She cursed herself inwardly as he slid past her and she felt the flimsy material of his torn shirt. She wouldn't be surprised if his skin was blue from the cold, amongst other things.
She led him into the living room and he carefully lowered himself onto the couch where she'd sat moments ago. She stood looking at him with a concerned expression, a million questions floating around her mind. She still couldn't quite believe he was here, in her living room, on her couch. She'd envisioned seeing him again so many times, but never like this. He looked weak, even though he was trying so hard not to. Some things never change she thought dryly.
"Draco, what have you done?" she asked in a small voice, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.
He looked at her with a lopsided grin and stretched himself into a more comfortable position so that he could look directly at her.
"Well," he said in a light tone, as though he were telling the story of Cinderella to a child. "I broke off my engagement to Astoria Greengrass, thus jeopardising an important business deal and shaming the Malfoy name, earning myself a one-way ticket to being disowned. Oh, and I told them that I was in love with someone else."
Hermione's eyes widened and he smirked.
"Who?"
"You know who."
There was an odd silence that hung in the air; it wasn't awkward, but neither of them knew how to get passed it. Draco watched as she looked away from him, everything getting too much for her to take so suddenly. He hadn't meant to perplex her so much, but he knew it was necessary before he did anything else. She needed to know the ins and outs, but he was never one to purge details. He knew she wouldn't appreciate simply being told information – she was smarter than that and he knew it.
"Did you call off your engagement for me?" she asked, her eyes returning to his. It was a stupid question; the sincerity in his eyes and knowing feeling in her gut had already confirmed the answer.
"Yes."
She nodded and slowly went to sit down next to him. He offered her a smile, thinking that maybe things would start to get a little easier from now on, but she disregarded it. She scanned her eyes over his body, making him smirk knowingly, before finding an unharmed part of his arm and poking it hard.
"OW!" he yelled in a mixture of pain and surprise.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" she exclaimed angrily.
"Me? You're the one who poked me!" he choked out.
"Yes, because you are an absolute idiot! How could you do that?" she asked, her eyes steely with fury.
"I was trying to do the right thing!" he said, a little irritated with her lack of gratitude. "Any other girl would find it romantic!"
"Yes, but I'm not any other girl, am I?" she retorted before getting up and pacing. "Did you think I'd just run back into your arms and we'd live happily ever after?"
"I don't think you'd be able to run into my arms given the state my body's in at the moment," he said sarcastically, eliciting a glare from the brunette witch. "And no, I didn't think that, though I did think you'd be a little happier to see me!"
Hermione sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I am happy to see you. I'm just…surprised, that's all."
Draco grinned triumphantly and she rolled her eyes.
"Don't get too cocky! I can throw you out at any moment I like!"
"You wouldn't throw a helpless, injured man out onto the streets would you?" he taunted, knowing that the majority of the tension had been lifted, for the moment anyway.
"I might have no choice if the man in question aggravated me to the point of pure irritation!"
She turned to leave and he sat up quickly, before wincing in pain. She looked at him in concern.
"Draco?"
"Where…are you…going?" he wheezed out.
"If you're going to be staying a while I don't want you bleeding all over my couch!" she said with a small smile before leaving. Draco smirked and realised that all the pain was worth it if it meant she'd give him another chance. And by the looks of things, he was on his way there…