Chapter 11 Breakfast

Draco awoke from his sleep on the couch from the smell of something burning nearby. When he turned to look behind him he saw Astoria in the kitchen battling an ugly smoke with the end of her wand. He threw his blanket off and rushed over to help her, once everything was clear he looked at her and said, "What the blazes are you doing?!"

Astoria's face was wet with tears and dark circles around her eyes, "I was just trying to make you breakfast." She set her wand down on the counter and turned to walk away.

With a sign Draco grabbed at her wrist but she tugged with a gasped as if she was afraid. He frightened by him. "Are you okay?"

"Honestly Draco, do you think I'm okay? After what you did last night? I am trying here! I am trying to give you what you want and I know I'm no damn Hermione, but come on! We all can't be her and you obviously can't have her. So what is your problem? You need me! You need my family's name to put you and your mother back in the goodness of the wizarding world. With your father gone…"

Draco cut her off, "Don't you dare speak to me about my father Astoria!" He put his face in hers as he looked down at her he whispered, "I don't give a damn about my name or the goodness of it all."

Astoria stood on her tip toes in order to reach her mouth to Draco's ear, "But you do give a damn about your mother." She stepped away, "That's exactly why you haven't left me yet. That's why you won't go after Hermione. She's probably forgotten all about you by now, hell she probably hates you and she should!"

"I'm the one that hates you Astoria."

"I don't care anymore Draco, I got what I needed from you last night." Her words were confusing and Draco hadn't a clue what she meant. But her plan in her own mind was coming along nicely.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked her curiously with a bit of temper in his voice.

"We'll find out in a couple weeks." Her smile was devious and he hated it. He hated her. Everything about her was becoming so clear to him and he needed to find a way out. He needed to find a way to please his mother in some other way than by giving her this retched legacy to hang on to from the Greengrass's, it wasn't worth it. "You better schedule your tux fitting dear."

"What?" his voice was hoarse.

"The weddings tomorrow," was all she said before leaving to the bathroom.

"What?" he practically yelled the word after her but he knew she was already gone. How could the wedding be tomorrow? He was sure he still had just less than three weeks to figure everything out and now it's been moved up. He went after Astoria and walked into the bathroom where she had already stripped naked and had gotten in the shower.

She must've heard the door open because she called out, "Did you come to pound some more?"

He ignored her comment, "Did you say the weddings tomorrow, Astoria?"

Draco could hear her opening the shampoo bottle and squirting the substance into her hand. "Yes, mother called and it's been moved up. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Bloody fantastic," he then left her there alone and headed towards a window where he'd call onto an owl. He wrote on a piece of ripped parchment and scribbled words onto it before tying it to the owl's leg. The owl flew off as Draco's front door opened. It was his mother.

"Draco, my dear!" She came over to him in order to hug her son and give her congratulations on his wedding. "This is so exciting! I can't wait! You are going to look marvelous in the suit that Astoria's mother has chosen for you!"

"She chose it?" None of this was okay; Astoria and her mother were way out of bounds on this whole thing. "Mother, how can you be okay with this?"

Narcissa caressed her son's cheek, "I know that this is not as we expected for our lives but we must take things as they come. After your father…" She couldn't go on and he knew why. His mother was completely broke down after Lucius was sent away. She doesn't know how to handle herself without him or having the fear in their name in people's minds. He used to think she was strong-willed but now all she could do was cry and listen to Mrs. Greengrass's demands. His mother spoke again, "Draco, I will protect you until I die. You are all I have left and I will be damned if you become nothing in this world. You deserve all of this." She rested her hand on his shoulder before pulling him in for another hug.

She was right, he did deserved this but not in the way that his mother believed. Just then his owl flew into the window. He broke from his mother's hold and glided his way to the window sill to grab the new piece of parchment. There was an address on it. "I have to go mother."

"What about Astoria?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Just tell her I went out for a better breakfast, she'll understand!" and with that he apparated out of his home to somewhere completely unknown to him. He was standing outside a small house that had little room between the other houses around it. The steps were made of cement and the railings were black iron, it looked rather rusted. He rung the door bell and waited for an answer.

The girl who answered was wearing a light blue robe with white poke a dots with pajamas underneath. Her brown hair was tied up into a bun and her face was bright red as if she had been laughing uncontrollably. Her voice sounded too perky for Draco to handle when she spoke, "Hi, I'm Sienna!" Her smile was huge and a little creepy.

Draco looked around a bit taking in his surroundings before assuming he had the wrong address, "Oh, I'm sorry. I was looking for uhm... You know what, nevermind." He waved it off and went to turn around but Sienna's voice had yelped into the air again.

"Hermione?"

Draco spun slowly on his left heel as he looked Sienna in her eyes and just by the glow from her small irises he knew that he had found her.

"You're looking for Hermione Granger, aren't you?" She said with the biggest grin she could stretch around her face. "She's here! Hold on!" With a giggle Sienna turned into the house and was screaming for Hermione.

The girl who returned to the door wasn't Sienna. This girl, with her dirty blonde hair and eyes that glistened in the sun as his met with hers, was the only love he would ever know. "Hermione…"

Hermione stepped out of the door way and closed it behind her leaving Sienna in the background gasping from being excluded. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the blonde boy in front of her. She did not say a word.

Draco knew he was going to have to be the one to start the conversation, but with his sudden rush to be with her he never thought of a single word he was about to say. He studied her before he spoke. He noticed her wild curls frizzing up from the warm moisture in the air. He could tell that she was guarded by the way she stood. He knew that if she were to try and say just one word that she would fail due to the fact that she was on the brink of tears. He took a deep breath and began to speak the words that he never even had to think about; they had always been there. "I am sorry. I will not blame anyone but myself for letting this happen. I knew you were the one for me Hermione Granger, and while everything just spun out of control, I lost the only thing that made me who I am; you. I love you and I need to be with you. I won't let this happen to us Hermione; I am going to stop this. I promise you."

There was a long pause and he knew that she was contemplating every different way that she could respond. Because that what she always had done; she has always thought everything through and he admired her for that. She was brilliant, with always knowing what was right and what to do and how to do it. He wished he had been more like her in the beginning of all of this so that he could of done something sooner, stood up to his— Draco suddenly felt a hard smack across his face and his wide eyes showed Hermione's furious features as her face turned bright red and her eyes swelled with tears. He then felt her jump into his arms and her lips pressed against his.

The kiss was on fire and the taste of her salty tears weren't cooling it down. The two stood on her front porch intertwined with each other as they forget the cars driving by, the rain that started to fall, and the giggling roommate in the house. They forgot the world together.

A/N: I apologize for the wait and the length. I've had a tough couple months and haven't gotten the chance to organize this whole thing. Again I apologize and I hope you're still reading and still enjoying. Reviews are appreciated. xoxo