Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story, blah blah blah.
Chapter Six – Let the Heartache Commence, With a Dash of Eye Candy for Comfort
"Don't leave me!" I stretched out my arms in attempt to grab my angel. I found myself in the familiar dark place, sprawled on the cold floor in complete darkness. But something was different. From the corner of my eye I saw something glimmer. I tried to turn my head, but it was too heavy. I started to panic. The glimmering grew closer and I heard a familiar voice say my name.
"Hermione,"
It was my angel, he returned! But he sounded as if he was suffering, depressed. A knot formed at the back of my throat.
"HERMIONE!"
I woke with a start. That was the second time this month I had the same dream. The angel in my dream returned once I was in the dark place, but he was sad and I always woke up when he yelled out my name. I laid there in my bed for a moment trying to understand-wait, when did I come to bed? Oh wait, it's all coming back now, vaguely.
I don't even remember what happened after Ron stormed out of the house. It was all too much, I only remember Draco kneeling down beside at one point, and his beautiful silver eyes were the last thing I saw before everything blacked out.
I had no idea for how long I had been out. Harry and Ron had left sometime in the early afternoon and it was much too dark outside for it to be supper time. Then the memories came hurling back at me as if Zeus struck me with his lightning bolt.
Ron had ended our relationship and the chance that we could remain friends seemed only too slim. I had the worst fight I had ever had with Ron and now he hates my guts. He thinks that I was cheating on him with Draco because he saw me kiss him.
Oh Merlin, I kissed Draco.
Bloody hell.
But does it really count? I mean, he didn't kiss me back; he just sort of stood there completely frozen. His lips didn't respond at all, I was doing all the work. I must say that he does have such soft lips and I'm sure he would have tasted better if I had gotten my tongue in his mouth. It was more like me mashing my lips up against his. It doesn't count right?
I rubbed my eyes and hoisted myself up with my elbows. I gave a small gasp as I looked around the room and saw Draco sitting in a chair he brought up from downstairs, fast asleep in the most awkward looking position.
He was sitting at an angle, with one leg hanging over the arm rest, his back curved, arms crossed, and his head slowing falling forwards toward his chest. He snorted as his head flopped and suddenly woke up; looking around as if someone had woke him. He looked around his surroundings and must have remembered where he was and why the moment he saw me sitting on my bed.
"You're awake," he started as he stood and stretched his arms as I saw a glimpse of the Dark Mark. I merely nodded. He had removed Ron's furry sweater and was wearing a tight muscle shirt. He looked incredibly sexy as he stretched; ugh he was probably doing it on purpose. What a stupid, annoying ferret. Can't you see that I've just been horribly dumped and that I'm on the brink of breaking down again? I don't have time to ogle at the way Ron's too small muscle shirt is practically splitting at the seams along your incredible muscles. Or the way your arms flex as you stretch. Or to adore how your blonde hair tickles your face and the way you look at me through your hair with those gorgeous silver eyes.
Shut up brain. No one gave you permission to speak. This is Draco Malfoy. Don't you remember how he used to taunt us in school?
Merlin, I'm referring to myself as "us".
You just want to keep admiring his sexiness, admit it, even if it is Malfoy, you like him.
I told you to shut up!
After I had finished arguing with myself, I brought my knees to my chin and hugged my legs. I looked away from him as he frowned and bit his lip, lost for words. "I'm sorry for what happened."
"It wasn't your fault," I whispered so quietly I barely heard myself. "Ron and I weren't on good terms for a while. Our relationship would have ended sooner or later." I felt a knot form at the back of throat again. Man, why did I have to cry so much and so easily? I lowered my head onto my knees as I felt a tear escape.
"Is there anything I can do?" Draco asked helplessly. I shook my head a tad more violently than I had expected, giving myself a slight headache. He sighed quietly and left my room, closing the door behind him. Once the door was closed, I cried myself to sleep once more.
I woke up the next day, having slept horribly the whole night. I kept waking up in the middle of the night, sometimes because of the rain drops splashing up against my window and once or twice from the same dream. It was getting quite annoying. I looked over at my clock and it was only six in the morning. I could have rolled back and attempted to fall back to sleep, but I probably would have ended up just getting frustrated with all the tossing and turning. I crawled out of bed and dragged myself to the loo.
I looked at myself in the mirror as I brushed my teeth. I was a complete mess, but I didn't care. My hair had curled and was tangled up into one big puffy blob at the top of my head, I had dark circles underneath my bloodshot eyes, and I had some residue on my face. Probably dry mucus, tear stains from all the crying or drool or all three. I pulled the blob that was my hair back into a ponytail after I had finished brushing my teeth and washed my face. I am a sexy, young, confident woman. Ha!
I headed downstairs, forcing myself not to look around my bedroom to look at Ron's belongings that he was sure to retrieve as soon as he had the chance. The light from the television in the living area was on when I reached the bottom of the stairs. I peeked into the room and saw Draco sprawled sexily on the couch, facing away from me. He had one leg hanging off the edge of the couch and one hand intertwined with his hair. When did he get so incredibly sexy? He was sitting for Merlin's sake and I was drooling.
He must have either heard me come in or felt me watching him because he turned his head to face me. I blushed slightly and lowered my head.
"Good morning," he began. "How are you feeling?"
"Alright, I didn't sleep very well," I answered as I shrugged my shoulders.
"I was thinking," he sat up on the couch. "I'm the one at fault for getting you in this situation in the first place. I should have left sooner so that your relationship with the weasel wouldn't be in jeopardy. I don't want to sound rude or anything, I very much appreciated your hospitality, but I believe that I should leave before I cause you anymore problems."
I looked up at him, shocked.
"Don't be ridiculous Malfoy," I said as I shook my head. "Ron and I already had issues before you came along. My life with Ron was in a rut, it wasn't going anywhere. Ending the relationship was probably one of the smartest things Ron has ever done, for the both of us."
"That may be the case, Hermione, but I don't think you would have wanted the relationship to end the way it did. He was obviously jealous at the way you would ogle at me." He put an annoying emphasize on my name and smirked at his last comment, teasing me with his eyes. I blushed feverishly.
"Don't be so proud of yourself Malfoy, you had nothing to do with the reasons my relationship ended." I knew what I had said was stupid and I had just walked into a dead end. He raised an eyebrow at me, giving me a look of disbelief.
"Is that so? So the weasel wasn't pissed at all when he saw you kissing me? Might I remind you," he walked towards me. "That ever since I stepped foot in your house, Ronald suspected an affair between the two of us?" He came excruciating close to my face. He was taller than I was and I had to crane my neck slightly to look up at him. He looked down into my eyes, piercing them with his breathtaking diamonds. He stood there for a moment just staring into my eyes before he backed away at a more respectable distance.
What a tease.
"I felt that I have caused you enough trouble," he continued as he crossed his arms behind his back. I simply shook my head in disagreement.
"Where will you go? I think you're being completely absurd. I don't think you should leave until you have a stable and secured place to live. And," I bit my lip as I hesitated. "As much as I hate the feeling of being babysat, you told Harry to stay here to take care of me." He cocked an eyebrow at me again. I don't blame him, it was a lame excuse and not to mention a terrible lie.
"I have the feeling that you don't want me to leave just because I don't have another place to go." He flashed me his annoying but oh-so-sexy smirk. "Do you want me to stay here with you?"
YES! Yes, yes, and three times yes! Say yes you dumbass!
"It's up to you really," I shrugged my shoulders. "I can't force you to stay if you don't want to." To be honest, I was getting used to having Draco around the house. Something inside me was hoping he would stay longer. I didn't want to be alone right now, which is strange for someone who likes their independence. Draco could be quite helpful around the house without having to ask him. The house would always be clean when I'd come home from the ministry, but that was when I was still with Ron. These days I just stayed home, having nothing to do without Harry or Ron. I figured he would just cast a cleaning charm to clean the house but throughout the time he had been living here, I hadn't seen his wand.
Although, I almost did a glimpse of one. Shut up brain.
He watched me carefully, trying to make sense of my words and body language, as if trying to figure out my real reasons for not wanting him to leave. I wasn't exactly lying to him, just not telling him certain details. He stared straight into my eyes again for a moment in complete silence. He smirked again when I shifted uncomfortably.
"It's alright if you fancy me Granger," he moved closer to me again. My heart skipped a beat when there was barely an inch between us.
I couldn't move and my lips decided to have a mind of their own. They were slightly puckering as if they were ready for a fantastic snog fest.
"You're not the same Granger I knew back in school, you've grown up and weasel is going to regret the rest of his life for ending your relationship and not knowing how to cherish you."He then softly ran a finger along my cheekbone, chuckling lightly when I shuddered underneath his touch. Damn, why did I have to react that way?
"I'll stay a little longer," he whispered. I could feel his sweet breath on my face. "But only because you can't live without me." With that he walked away to the kitchen.
Annoying ferret!
Three weeks later
I need to distract myself. Draco was such an annoying tease and I kept being reminded of Ron in every room of the house. Seeing a pair of his furry socks would bring tears to my eyes and I would end up running to the bathroom to quietly weep.
Draco, annoying as he was, was very comforting. I was glad that he stayed, even if he thought I fancied him. Which, I don't.
I felt that I could trust him, oddly enough. He would listen to me dither on about my failed relationship and he would lightly rub my back and hold my hand when my voice would begin to crack and a tear would escape. Other times he would hold me for hours in his strong arms. That would somehow make me feel at ease. He would carry me to bed when I would cry myself to sleep in his arms. He was extremely sweet and considerate, using careful words when he would comfort me.
After some time, my constant crying stopped and I could almost laugh at some of the things Draco would say. I was learning that he was quite easy to get along with.
He was a tease though. I couldn't help myself when he would lightly touch my arm or he would look at me with those piercing eyes. I would simply melt. He enjoyed himself. I only wished that I could have an effect like that on him too.
We were chatting in the breakfast nook one morning, some three weeks after Ron and Harry had left on their mission.
A small tapping on the window caught our attention as Draco walked over to allow an elegant barn owl swoop in. The owl stood quite proud on the breakfast table and stuck out its small leg which had a letter tied around it.
"Strange," he said. "That's my mother's owl Metis."
"How did she find out where you were?" I asked. No wonder the owl seemed proud. It was a Malfoy owl.
"My mother probably has no clue where I am, but Metis is a clever owl. She can find anyone in our family without having to know an address."
"Oh I see, so it's almost like she has a homing device on you,"
"A what?"
"Never mind." I began to clean up the dishes from our breakfast that Draco surprised me with. I had no idea that he knew how to cook. When I turned back to face him, Draco had a blank look on his face. He was paler if that was possible and he had crinkled the parchment tightly into the fists of his hands. It slightly frightened me. "Draco, what's wrong?"
He looked at me with cold eyes. His eyes were almost transparent, like two pieces of grey ice.
"My father is dead. And my mother is dying."
A/N: Aw, I think Draco needs a hug. I'm there are lots of people willing to give him one or two. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter; it's longer than my other ones yay. Thank you for all your lovely reviews/comments! Don't forget to do so for this chapter!
-Necia