CHAPTER-10(ALONG CAME DARLENE)

ODE TO THE WEST WIND

V

Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is:

What if my leaves are falling like its own!

The tumult of thy mighty harmonies

Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone,

Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce,

My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!

Drive my dead thoughts over the universe

Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth!

And, by the incantation of this verse,

Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth

Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!

Be through my lips to unawakened earth

The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

When Ron left the shop, Draco got up and started setting things in order; like arranging the shelves, vanishing the pastries from the coffee bar, straightening the rug, all those things. Just as he was putting the light off in the display window, hermione came out of her office.

"I thought you left." She said as she got about closing the accounts on her counter.

"Oh, you're finally out. I was getting a little worried. So I kinda just got about shutting the place. But now that you're out, and both of us have a free night maybe we can go to my restau….." said Draco until hermione cut him off and said "no thanks. I've had a long day and I would really much like to go home right now."

"Okay. Maybe just head out over to Rajesh's and get a kulfi. How 'bout that?" continued Draco, undaunted.

"Malfoy. I think you should go now. I have work to do." replied hermione packing up a few parcels by hand.

"Ok. Listen ganger. Enough is enough. Its not that I'm begging for your company. I like hanging around with you. It's not like I don't have other friends, but don't you think that maybe you're acting a little too pricey?" said Draco trying to keep his cool.

"Yeah…so why don't you go hang around with your rich friends? Go exchange greetings with your fellow heirs and heiresses. I don't need your company. Don't spend any more of your precious time with me, a mudblood. Leave before anyone sees you." shouted hermione, hair flying out of her bun.

"Granger what's wrong with you? Why are you shouting? And I don't use that word anymore. Stop venting out your disappointment with the pitiful life you lead, on me." Yelled back Draco, fists clenched.

"My pitiful life?" said hermione in a deadly voice.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think about what I was saying. I'm angry and irritated right now. And you're not telling me what's wrong?" said Draco stepping towards her.

"Don't you dare come near me. I knew you hadn't changed. You still are the same self-obsessed little prat whose parents didn't care for him. And how dare you tell me that I lead a pathetic life when your whole existence has been nothing but a failure. Sadistic father, insane mother. Failed relationships with disaster endings. You can't even fend for yourself, Malfoy. If it hadn't been for Harry and Ron you would've been dead." Shouted hermione totally loosing control.

"Enough. You know what granger maybe you're right. I've had a pitiful life and yes I've made a lot of wrong decisions. But I'm gonna make a right one this moment by cutting you out of my life. This might be the best decision of my life." said Draco as he turned to leave.

"Like I care. So go die, Malfoy. And use poison this time." said hermione, her face red. For a long time Draco didn't reply, but then with his hand on the doorknob he said "you don't matter enough to me to drive me to that option, hermione." And then he was gone. Hermione had never felt so drained and empty her entire life. A small part of her knew that whatever had happened due to her fault. She just hoped that the huge weight that had settled on her heart would go away. But at least she had seen through his façade and tried to feel jubilant that she wasn't living a lie. The worst part was that when he had called her name, she felt as if the whole world had ended and it was then that hermione let the tears fall.

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Sadistic father, insane mother, failed relationships. These words kept blasting inside Draco's head with every step that he took. It wasn't the force with which she had said it that caused him pain but the fact that each and every word of it was true. She was right, what did he, Draco Abraxas Malfoy know about a content life when his own life was the exact opposite of perfect. He didn't even remember what all he had told her as all that he had felt the entire time was white blinding rage. Draco had sacrificed a lot, and was making up for his past mistakes every minute of his life, but whatever hermione had said had opened up past wounds. The bottom-line was that he was no longer what he was during his school days. Now he no longer lived his life behind a lie. He had full faith in what or who he believed in. now, he actually had real friends who cared for him as he for them. Friends who understood and appreciated him for what he was. He was just opening up to granger and was hoping for a friendship to be established between them when this happened. She was different, though not conspicuous or flashy she stood out from the others. A strong sense of opinion was one of the things that Draco found so alluring about her. He had not been so affected by anyone since Sarah, he just hoped that the huge void that materialised in his life would somehow get filled.

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"So, is it clear, we start with table number 7 and end with table number 86. And remember the strawberry flambé must be served before the upside down pineapple cake with ginger sabayon. And put two sangria pitchers on each table. Keep that smile at all times. Now go." said Draco as he gave a prep talk to his waiters and waitresses. The 711th ministry ball was a huge spectacle with the spectra theatre all decked up. The ballroom had a subtle and sophisticated feel, with pale pink and yellow dominating the décor. His serving staff was dressed smartly and was already serving refreshing coolers to the assembled witches and wizards. Then he went back inside the kitchen and was informed by his assistant that Darlene was waiting for him entrance. Draco nodded curtly and went towards the grand entrance. The woman waiting for him at the portico was best described as 'smoking hot'. Darlene smith was tall, lean and fair with chestnut brown hair which for this occasion had been arranged in neat large curls. She was wearing a long flowing red dress which criss-crossed at the back in strings of red stones. Even though she made a substantial effort to enhance her beauty, Draco thought that Darlene looked her best when she was without make-up. He had known her since his childhood and fortunately had lost contact with her before he turned 13 as her family moved to Spain. 'Fortunately' meaning that Draco was happy she didn't get to be a part of his life after he got sucked into the mess his father had created. But on a trip to Barcelona, to inaugurate the restaurant of a business associate, he met her at the press conference. Darlene worked as an editor on the Spanish equivalent of the 'the daily prophet'. Surprisingly as it seemed, she was not the type of heiress who just paint their nails and buy expensive dogs. She wanted to remain in touch with reality and had hence led a normal life; however her monthly cheque went to her favourite charity without fail. Although she had all the qualities and a personality that Draco would find endearing, he was never interested in anything but friendship. But he didn't have any need to worry as Darlene swung the other way i.e. she was gay. And had agreed to go to this ball as a friend and also because Draco ha no date.

"Draco, you owe me a big one. The trouble I had to go through, dios mio. Selena thought I was seeing someone else. But thankfully she calmed down after I explained the situation. You look very nice by the way." greeted Darlene as she hugged Draco.

"Good to see you too. Thank you so much for coming. If you hadn't shown up, pansy would've definitely set me up with some bimbo who would grope me the entire time. Anyways how's Selena? Still painting, huh?" said Draco as he hugged her back and led her into the main ballroom of the spectra theatre.

"Oh ya she's painting more than ever. In fact now she's even retailing to a muggle gallery. Oh look your redhead friend is waving to us. Isn't he the one who tried to flirt with me on your birthday?" asked Darlene as they both headed towards the table where Ron was sitting with a stunning brunette, a disgruntled Harry and a very touchy couple in the form of Blaise and pansy. Draco laughed and said "ya he's the one. But in his defence he had no idea that you had a different appetite. Hey everybody. Everyone this is Darlene smith. Nice dress, pansy. Or should I say nice strings." Pansy just smirked as she smoothened her skimpy outfit.

"Hello Darlene. Nice article about the Columbian transfiguration council. How's Selena?" asked Blaise as he fished a cube of melon out of his glass of sangria.

"Thank you. They needed to be brought to justice. Selena's fine, misses your movie marathons a lot. Hey who's that pretty woman headed towards our table? I've never seen her before." Said Darlene as everybody turned to see hermione approaching the table with an Asian man. Seeing that Ron was too busy feeding bits of fruit to his date, Harry answered "oh that's hermione granger. She owns the bookstore 'the velvet parchment'. She's a very close friend of ours. You might've not seen her at Draco's because they had umm… a slight difference of opinion, but that's all sorted out now. Hey, Mione. You look amazing." Hermione was wearing an off-shoulder navy-blue dress encrusted with magenta sequins and shot with silver piping. Her hair was set in a loose knot at the base of her neck.

"Thank you. How's Ginny? Little David still keeping you guys up at night?" said hermione.

"More than ever. But now we take turns on who gets to stay up at night. Just a couple more months and then its supposed to get better. And hermione I suppose some introductions are in order." replied Harry motioning towards her date.

"Oh yeah. Everybody this is Lee Chon. Lee is a representative of the parliament of magic, china. He's here to help sign a pact with the ministry of international affairs." Said hermione hugging Ron and pansy, Blaise was too interested in his salmon steak to notice. Lee shook hands with everybody on the table.

"Oh that's cool. But where did you guys meet?" asked Pansy as she sampled a bit of shrimp and cheese salad.

"Lee came to the shop to buy some books on the British ministry of magic. You know to get a background. And plus he got an official invitation to the ball, and asked me if I wanted to go. As I was free I said yes." answered hermione as she poured herself a glass of sangria.

"Hey hermione. Let me introduce you to Darlene smith. She's a friend of Malfoy's and a journalist with the Spanish daily prophet." Said Ron as Darlene smiled and held out her hand, which hermione shook heartily and said "hello. So do you come to London often?"

"No actually the only time I'm in London is when Draco calls me. Most of my family is settled in Barcelona and various other parts of Spain. But whenever I'm here I make it a point to head to your bookshop, coz it has an amazing collection of art books. By the way, that's a very nice necklace you're wearing. Very elegant. I didn't think they made pendants like that anymore." said Darlene as she looked at the necklace admiringly.

"Yup. This is actually an antique piece. It belonged to my grandmother. This was her first anniversary present from my grandfather." Replied hermione as she picked up the menu card.

"Draco, why so quiet. Is something wrong? By the way the food is awesome. This pasta reminds me of Rome." Said Harry as he dug into a plate of penne served with peppers and sun dried tomatoes and chicken cubes in white sauce.

Ever since granger had joined them on their table, all Draco had done was, stare. He had turned his head when Harry had informed Darlene that she was coming, and since then he had not been able to take his eyes off her. He looked at her from head to toe; her shoulder blade and collarbone area would blush a delicate pink whenever she laughed at a joke Blaise told her; her flat stomach rose and fell as she breathed; her long shapely legs countered perfectly against the smooth fabric of her dress. But when Draco's eyes rested on her hair he flinched, he liked it better when it was curly and unmanageable, and it gave her whole personality an endearing quality. Then he studied her face; her tinted cheeks, creamy skin, full pink lips. But try as he could hermione would not turn and look at him. No eye contact at all. Then that nasty Asian pumpkin bent over and whispered something in her ear at which she smiled and whispered something back. Look at that shcumtz, laughing with her and staring into her eyes and touching her hair. Weirdly images of knives, chopping and blood started appearing in front of Draco's eyes. He was jolted out of his reverie by a squeeze on his arm. The food on his plate was desiccated beyond limit and when he looked up he saw everyone staring at him. Even her.

"Draco?"

"Malfoy?"

"Dude!"

"What? I'm fine. I'm just not happy with this dish. I'll be right back." He replied and then without looking at anyone or offering some plausible explanation, he got up and left the table. He then went to the terrace and breathed in the fresh cold night air. He felt invigorated and then involuntarily went to the nearest window and peered inside the hall. He saw Weasley smiling and talking to that model date of his with his arms round her shoulders; he saw Harry and Darlene talking with their heads down as Harry drew something with his pasta sauce on the table; Blaise and pansy kept making googly eyes at each other; even she was laughing and smiling at whatever that insect was saying, sometimes even patting his hand. I must stop all these feelings from coming on surface; there's no future with us. She's ignoring me and has no interest in me. What she had said at the book store that day were still ringing in his ears. But she had recovered and so will I. everyone's enjoying themselves and so shall I. and with that thought in his head, Draco put a smile on his face and entered the room.

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Lee was good for her. Lee was perfect for her. He was very focused, very smart and extremely down to earth. Even though he didn't have a sense of humour like that of Harry and Ron, he was funny. But these days she had become so used to Malfoy's witty retorts that everything else seemed bland. But he had no interest in her other than an 'acquaintance'. A little part of her was sorry that she had yelled at him that day, after all she can't force him to like her if he doesn't want to can she? But she was just frustrated and had blown off. Spending time with him was something that she looked forward to. In fact she had felt the tension in the air when he had cooked for her. But hermione was not going to moon about him and anyways last week's yelling match hadn't affected him any bit. She unknowingly started comparing lee and Malfoy, and while fact suggested that lee was the better candidate, her heart didn't agree. Malfoy woke a new feeling within her, he excited her. Lee was predictable and organized, in other words just plain boring. Her reverie was broken when she saw him coming towards the table. Her heart started racing as she noticed him take long practised strides. His black tuxedo fitted him perfectly and clung to him in all the right places especially his broad shoulders, his pants hugged his well shaped butt tantalizingly. Through the open tuxedo jacket she could see how well his grey shirt fit him around his well toned stomach. Hermione had a sudden desire to run her hands all over him. Hermione stop! Bad hermione! But she couldn't stop, she then noticed his chiselled face with its perfect bone structure. His beautiful silver blond hair falling at the sides of his eyes looking deliciously messed up. She dove into his lucid grey eyes but couldn't admire them properly as he wasn't looking at her. He was greeting and waving to people on his way to the table. She then lowered her eyes and noticed that lee was holding her hand while talking to Ron's date.

"Ah. Finally Draco, I was starting to get a little worried about you. Is everything ok?" asked Darlene eyebrows wrinkling in concern.

"Of course. I'm fine, why shouldn't I be….and I feel like cooking. We should celebrate your coming to London. Tell me, what will you have?" asked Draco rubbing his palms together.

"Draco, its ok. And we are celebrating. See. Plus I'm eating food from your restaurant too. Maybe you should sit down and here have a sip of water." said Darlene looking extremely unnerved and exchanging looks with Harry and Ron who were both staring open-mouthed at Draco. Pansy and Blaise looked more amused than shocked. Hermione was equally surprised, she had never seen Malfoy like this. He never grinned.

"Ron what about you? How about the Shepard's pie that you adore?" asked Draco.

"Ummm…..dude. Its ok, I can have it some other time. Not right now…" started Ron but Draco cut him off "ok then, one Shepard's pie coming right up." and started walking towards the kitchens.

"Maybe Malfoy's in his 'cooking' moods. Remember when he made an entire batch of strawberry jam just coz he felt like it…..at 3 'o' clock at night." reminded Harry and Ron nodded while Darlene looked puzzled.

"Yup. But it was really good. Granger what do you think is wrong with Draco?" asked Blaise.

"I don't know, maybe he had too much sangria. Anyways guys I've had a long day and am really tired. So I'm gonna take off. See you guys around. And it was very nice meeting you Darlene." said hermione as she got up.

"I'll leave you home. It's getting late. It was very nice meeting all of you. Good bye." piped lee, also getting up.

"No, no. there's no need…." started hermione but lee held her hand and said "please I insist." To which she could only nod. So then the couple bid everyone a good night and started towards the door. The minute they reached the door, they dissapparated as lee had not left Hermione's hand.

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Both of them apparated in the middle of the hallway of Hermione's flat.

"Thank you for the nice evening, hermione. I had a great time and it was nice meeting your friends." said lee holding both her hands and looking into her eyes.

"Oh it's no problem. You had an official invitation, we couldn't have allowed it to go waste…." Flustered hermione, but lee had already started leaning in. hermione closed her eyes and slowly dipped her head. Their lips were almost touching when she turned away and lee's lips landed on her cheek. He looked at her questioningly.

"I'm so sorry but no I can't. I'm really messed up right now. Don't get me wrong, you're a really nice guy and I like you. But maybe you deserve someone better. I'm sorry lee." said hermione. Lee smiled apologetically and nodded his head. "It's ok. No problems. Couldn't say I didn't try. But anyways thank you for showing me around. Lead a good life." He said, hugging hermione. Then he turned to disparate but stopped and said "by the way is there something going on between you and the blonde guy? Coz he was checking you out the whole time. Good night." And with a crack disappeared, leaving behind a stumped and confused hermione.

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As Draco waited for the pie crust to turn brown, he started seeing black spots in front of his eyes. Gradually when his head started getting dizzy, he decided to get himself a glass of water to shake away the nauseating feeling. But the moment he got up, he collapsed to the ground and felt breathlessness take over. He tried to call out for help but all that came out of his mouth was a gasp. The last thing Draco heard was the 'ping' of the oven timer. Then everything predictable went black.

A/N- Waddup, dawgs? Yup I've done it. Even in times as dire as these, I've uploaded a chapter. Dire times to be read as exams time. Keep it tuned right here. Vamos rafa!!