A/N: Thank you one and all for sharing your thoughts.
pgoodrichboggs : Yeah I wish the same for them too. Hopefully, they would mysteriously discover some cure for hope for the best. Thank you for your wonderful review.
CoolFanfictionLover : They indeed are a wonderful pair. They complement each other so beautifully. Thanks so much
White Bishop : Thanks for your amazing support. First of all my deepest condolences for your loss. I thoroughly agree with your words, when you said we lose some part of us with everyone we lost. And sometimes those scars are never healed and those caverns are never filled. You are very blessed to have had such wonderful people in your life. Coming to happy endings, each and every person have their own versions. I can only hope that my take on it will be approved by my readers. I feel very fortunate to be able to receive your honest review. I mind each and every word of it and they have been a definite anchor all throughout my journey here. Thanks again for your generous words and just keep it coming.
Mooieast : Thank you, dear
Guest : You just have to keep reading
Some A/N at the bottom
A fine thread
Resolve
"Draco, I know that those bubbles are quite playful, but will you please concentrate," the irate voice of Hermione Granger snapped him back to the present.
"Right," Draco mumbled as he proceeded to rinse the soap out of the pan.
When Hermione mentioned about washing the dishes manually he had balked at the idea. But the plethora of bubbles emanated by that little drop of soap was fascinating for the first timer.
Draco squirted a generous dollop of the dishwashing liquid and started lathering up the remaining one plate. When he was satisfied the plate was coated enough, he put his hands in water and started rubbing them together, creating some large bubbles. He turned towards the girl who was pleasantly unaware about Draco's ministrations and was set to the task of drying them and putting them in the racks. She suddenly shrieked when a cold bubble landed on her neck. She glared at him while he went on blowing a continuous stream at her. She ducked trying to escape from the continuous attack of the cold bubbles and crashed into the low-lying table down there. She yelped and stayed in that position bursting into laughter at the tickling bubbles.
"Don't expect me to swoop down to help you, Hermione. I am not Weasley," Draco said washing off the remnants of the soap from his hand. His smirk was in place looking at her squirming from the onslaught of the soapy goodness.
"Really, for a second I thought how come Ron got so pale and instead of his beautiful red hair, why is he sporting that disgusting blond hair," she said breathlessly getting up from her place. Her eyes were twinkling in mirth at Draco's gagging expressions.
A tinge of concern graced Draco's eyes as she slowly tried to get up but he did not lose his aloofness.
"Somebody is excited about soap. You seem to be having a lot of fun washing them. I would be very happy to hand over this to you whenever you visit." She said taking the remaining stack of plates from the counter.
He did not answer as his thoughts were still stuck on the girl when she staggered to rise from the place where she crashed a minute before. Draco started to see her in a different light once he came to about the truth about her. He caught himself looking at her in apprehension. He tried to remain as stoic as possible but his indifference wavered even at the slightest hint of her vulnerability.
"Oye Malfoy! What are you thinking?" She said smacking him on the side of his head.
"Your punches are awfully strong for a person of your size," said Draco rubbing at the spot she hit him.
She laughed breezily moving the last stack into racks. Draco looked at her as he recalled Weasley's words. After she confessed to her actions to him that day, any kind of discussion regarding her, never turned up between them. Hermione avoided it and Draco had no intention to bring that up. He took notice how painful it was for her to talk about that and he never wanted to put her in such a tumultuous pain again. Both of them were skirting around it but never took the plunge to bring it forth.
Draco never one to step back, had continued to indulge her in the same way as before, if not more. Jack and Jasmine seemed completely oblivious to the changed circumstances between Draco and Hermione. The only change resulted after their confrontation was, she avoided going to his cottage or spend time with him in his potions lab, which Draco was missing dearly, but he did not dare to force her.
Hermione had rushed to her room to take bath, complaining something about ferrets creating a ruckus and messing up everything. Draco laughed strolling into the living room. His face got scrunched up looking at Jasmine and Jack who were silently arguing in between them. He maneuvered around them without their notice and snuck up on them.
"What's going on?" Draco whispered when he was near the kids, trying to make himself a participant in their secret discussion.
Jasmine squealed by jumping apart while Jack burst out laughing at her reaction.
"My goodness Draco, you scared me?" Jasmine playfully accused him.
"My apologies. What seems to be the problem?" Draco asked scooting in between them and brought Jasmine closer in the form a huddle. All their heads were put together as if they were in the middle of a deep discussion.
Jack started to say, "I heard a weird story today," but Jasmine cut him off.
"Let me talk. You are going to miss some crucial points." She seemed adorable bossing both Draco and Jack. Draco gave her cheek a light pinch and gestured her to continue. She glared at him but went on, "It really was an absurd construction. It is not possible at all."
"Why don't you say what it is, Sweetie? We will decide whether to believe or not, for ourselves," Draco interjected. Jack groaned and held his head.
"Today at school, someone from Jack's class was talking about a weird phenomenon that happens in this village. He told Jack that every few years an old man suddenly appears from nowhere. He was supposed to be scary looking with one eye and he was rumored to carry a foul stench with him. The only one person the old man himself has chosen can see him. He does something magical to the chosen person and disappears in the same way he came", explained Jasmine.
"Hey, I was going to say the same," Jack whined.
"No, look at the absurdity of the story. How can that be possible at all? There is no logic in that. It is one of those silly bedtime stories," Jasmine dismissed. But Draco's mind was still wandering on the old man they mentioned. He turned to Jack and asked him, "What else did they say?" Somehow it all sounded too familiar.
"Draco, you are just adding fuel to his assumptions. Jack started believing all that nonsense. Given time, soon he will be sprouting all kinds of nonsense about flying broomsticks and magical wands." It seemed to strike a nerve in Jack. He huffed and moved to another place. Draco bit his lip hard, to keep the chuckle that tried escape, at a bay.
"Jack, I didn't mean in that way," Jasmine called after him but Jack turned away, dragged a book from his school bag and stuck his face in it. Jasmine sighed and spoke to Draco, "I was just looking out for him. I was just suggesting to think logically. I don't want him to be hurt. The boy that told the story was just making fun of Jack."
"I will talk to him," Draco assured the girl and joined Jack at his table while he was trying to solve a typical arithmetic problem. Draco looked at the series of books in front of him containing things very similar to Arithmancy equations. He saw Jack scribbling down in several pages trying to figure out the problem.
"So what else did the boy say about that old man?" Draco asked taking the book from his hands to see his work.
"Nothing. Jasmine says it's just a made up story and there is nothing like magic."
Draco didn't say anything. There are so many things around this innocence. They were still kids and sometimes ignorance saves them from the woes of harsh reality. He turned his attention back to the book. "This looks familiar," Draco mused taking in Jack's work.
"This is hard," Jack groaned.
"Why don't you ask Jasmine or Hermione to help?" Draco asked perusing the problem himself.
"Oh no! Jasmine always says that I have to work it out myself or else it's going to elude me every time," he said in a mocking voice. "But Hermione helps. She maintains some kind of notes regarding these." Jack said pointing to the huge set of Arithmetic equations in front of him. "But nowadays she seems tired so I thought I should see how far I can go," said Jack chewing on the back of his pencil.
Draco slowly pried the pencil from Jack's hands and put it aside. He was quite fascinated by those little pencils when he saw them for the first time. He had outright voted for them as they seemed much more convenient than a quill.
"If you don't mind I would like to try," Draco said in an earnest voice. Those little equations definitely captured his attention. "But I think I would need Hermione's notes before I start to decipher them," asked Draco.
"Great," Jack said finally turning happy that he is going to get that assistance with those little arithmetic questions.
"Where can I find it?" Draco said trying not to waste any more time.
"In her room. You can find her notes on her study table," Jack said pointing upstairs towards her room.
Draco hesitated but then started climbing the steps with an idea to just gather the said notes, but his sneaky Slytherin mind had its own plans.
He had been to this house many times before but never once went into her room. Even when he picked her up for their date from the window, he didn't get a proper view of her room. Now here he was standing totally blown out of his mind.
He knew Hermione was not a usual girl and he definitely did not expect to see girly pompous colors adorning her room. He sure expected to see a good amount of books but he was amazed to see that the three walls out of four were covered in carefully categorized books. He was sure there were no less than 5000 volumes in there.
There was no bed in the room but he could see a rolled-away bedding on one side. But his attention was caught by a small floor table on the far end corner littered with a lot of papers. There were a few picture frames on the table and Draco moved closer to get a good look at them.
One of them was a wizarding photo as he saw the images moving. But as Draco had guessed it was a picture of the Golden trio at Hogwarts. All three of them were looking thoroughly exhausted and he could see the wreckage of the war behind them. It was taken immediately after Potter had defeated the Dark Lord. His eyes moved onto the remaining pictures. All of them were still pictures. One was a picture of an older couple with Hermione. Most possibly her parents Draco thought as he noted the similarities. Hermione was leaning into her father as he encompassed her while her mother looked on dotingly at the affection they shared. Draco smiled looking at the love between them, which he sorely missed growing up.
Draco put the picture down and looked confusingly at the third and the last picture. It was Hermione with a bunch of children in this very house. He could see Jasmine, Jack, the twins and few others. Hermione was laughing gleefully in the picture as she hugged Jasmine closer.
He totally forgot about the arithmetic notes for which he had come into his room. His mind was totally enthralled by looking at the carefree Hermione in those pictures. He didn't realize at that moment that he was just a door away to a very naked Hermione Granger or what is she going to say when she caught him snooping. His attention shifted to a dark drawing on a paper below the picture stand that was fluttering very lightly to the light wind coming from the same window from where he had scooped up Hermione onto his broom.
He picked the etching up from the table with an apprehension taking bloom in the depths of his heart as the drawing looked quite familiar. His heart thudded quite hard when his doubts were confirmed. It indeed was a very detailed drawing of the Dark mark. His eyes got glued to each and every shade of that monstrosity. It was hideous even in her beautiful artistic creation. He took his finger and ran it across the art. He felt the ugly mark hissing at him at his actions.
He saw various Arithmancy equations in the adjacent paper regarding the relations between different quantities of emotions. Her research was quite intense. There were recipes for different variations of the potion he was currently using. Wow, she didn't give up her research Draco thought.
A bout of immense gratitude bubbled in Draco's heart for the muggle born witch. She really was incredible. She is still working for the betterment of the people she thought deserved a second chance. Crushing the darkness that was lurking in her body, she intended to use her remaining time on her research. Draco immediately wiped the tear that had escaped from his eyes. He put down the papers and tried to pick a journal that was very similar to the ones he already had. He mused thinking that may be the last piece in Snape's experimentation. His inquisitive mind urged him to take one more peek into the mysterious journal of his favorite potion's master.
"Draco," he heard a shout as he dropped the journal unceremoniously onto the table. Before doing that he caught a list of names in the index page of that. Draco's keen eyes took notice of Jack and Jasmine's names were first on that list. Before he understood what they meant he heard that shriek that made him jump out of his skin.
"Hermione," Draco gasped as he took in her state. For a moment he forgot she was taking bath in such proximity. But looking at her like this brought back the thought of doing some very pleasurable things with her. She was draped in a white towel. The pearly white fabric rested on the top of her breasts and reached her mid thigh. Her hair, wet from the bath was dripping onto her shoulders. Her creamy skin looked flush and her face even though it looked furious at him, had a rosy tint, which looked endearing.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked as her panicked gaze wandering to the table apprehensively.
Draco found his voice back when he understood her concern. He absolutely didn't want her to know that he had known about her research. If she wanted to keep it hidden, then he would play along. "I was looking for the notes, you kept to help Jack with some kind of Arithmancy."
"Oh! It's over here," her pupils moved understandingly towards the bookshelf that is on the other end of the room. Her feet moved towards it, dragging Draco with her. She seemed very eager to put some distance between him and the table. She searched through the shelves and came across the one she was looking for. "Here take it," she hurriedly pressed that into his waiting hands and went on to push him out of the door.
"Calm down Hermione, what's the rush?" Draco said carefully excusing himself from her arms. He slowly perused the room taking it in its entirety, "A very interesting place," he said ignoring the anxiety in the pretty brunette's face.
"Thanks," said Hermione guardedly. Her eyes were following his movements while he lazily sauntered across the room.
"How do you entertain somebody here Granger? There is just one damn chair in this room."
"Well, that's my intention. I don't even think of bringing somebody into this room. Entertaining is out of the question," Hermione said looking quite impatient. "What were you doing at the table?" she asked suddenly.
"Your pictures," Draco said checking out some of the books on her racks. He knew he couldn't fool her. So he went on his next best plan, distraction. "You do have quite a collection Granger. A fine balance between muggle and wizard authors," he said taking one of the volumes out and waved at her. "Can I borrow this?" he asked casually.
"Sure," mumbled Hermione, but her skeptical eyes didn't leave him. She growled at him when he sat down on the floor leaning onto the wall. "I think I perfectly made clear that I don't want to entertain guests in here." Hermione was totally unaware that she was giving Draco a very tantalizing view of her delectable curves when she placed both of her arms on her hips that made her look quite fetching.
He looked at her with an amusing smile. "I must agree that you look very alluring like this but I suggest you put on some clothes before you catch cold," The words came out of his mouth in a breathy tone.
She gasped looking down and covered her body with her arms and yelled at him, "Get out Draco."
Draco let out a chuckle getting up. But instead of heading to the door he came towards her. He traced her face with his finger and caught the tiny droplet of water that was clinging to her cheek. Her whole body went stiff when he ran the same finger over her lips. He felt her gasp through the finger. He hummed slowly taking the same finger into his mouth as he sucked on the water droplet on his finger that traced her face. "You're beautiful, Hermione," he breathed and brushed his lips over her cheek. Before Hermione could come back to her senses he was out of the room, taking the notes in his hand.
Once outside he was relieved that he might have definitely distracted the witch from his motives and strolled down the steps. But the things he had seen in that room never left his mind.
Draco made sure he left the house before the feisty witch came down from her room. Whatever may be her condition, he was pretty sure she wouldn't hesitate to hurt him for the stint he had pulled there. He wanted to help Jack sitting with Jack but he still needed some kind of preparation if he should be able to help the little boy. So he headed home before bidding goodbye to both the kids. He was out of the doors as soon as he heard Hermione's footsteps trailing down the stairs.
But the witch was quick. It was not two minutes he heard her calling his name.
"See you later, Hermione," answered Draco not bothering to stop.
"Just you wait, ferret," her voice was closer this time.
"Not me," Draco sped up. But the tiny witch was faster or maybe Draco just wanted to be caught by her, whatever may be the reason she ran forward and blocked his way. She was panting from the entire running. She had changed into a pair of yoga pants and an oversized shirt, but all that Draco saw was her towel-clad form.
"Aw Hermione. You were so much hotter before," pouted Draco adding a sly wink to their banter.
"Save it Draco," she was not in the playful mood as expected. "I think I made my intentions very clear the other day. What are you playing at Draco?"
"Hermione," Draco stepped closer, this time deliberately entering her personal space. He knew his game was up. All this cat and mouse play was yielding no result. Now the only way was to put everything on the table and confront it. "What is wrong with what I did"? He tucked a wet stray curl behind her ear. He brought the same hand to cup her face as she looked at him with those beautiful eyes. He could not dismiss the layer of sadness lacing those gorgeous chocolate colored irises.
"We can't Draco. You know we can't," she said clutching his offered hand. "Don't do that to yourself."
"Why do you fight it, Hermione? Don't tell me that you don't feel that connection. What we have is pretty amazing." She put her head down with a resignation. He gently lifted her head with his finger forcing her to look into his eyes. He caught her tightly as he felt her shudder by seeing the naked emotion pouring out of him. "You are amazing Hermione, I want to see where it takes us".
She pushed him away with a force when an understanding dawned upon her face. "It is not going to take you anywhere Draco. You are going to end up hurting pretty bad. It is not fair to you. Please don't ever do that again. I cannot carry the guilt of causing you pain. You are in a state of delusion and I don't have any feelings towards you except for friendship. If you cannot give up the idea, it's better we stop being friends as well." Her statements were harsh but he could see the underlying concern in them. She turned towards the house stating the end of discussion.
Draco was swift when he hauled the retreating witch back. Her body crashed into him and he held her there with a firm yet gentle grip. "You make everything bloody difficult Hermione, if this is what it takes you to realize what is in front of you, then so be it." With the whisper of those words, he captured her lips with his. He felt her shock through them. She became rigid at his actions. Not to be disappointed by her actions, he angled his face to get a better access to those lips he had been wanting for a long time. One of his hands was on her lower back while the other was tangled in her bedewed hair. An aroma of orange blossoms attacked his senses. His heart soared when he felt her relax in his embrace. But before he could experience the endearment, he felt her tears on his cheek and Hermione pulled back.
He looked at him with frustration. "For God's sake, I am dying here. Please leave me alone," Hermione tried to step away from his grip.
"I don't care Hermione. I just want you. I feel vulnerable around you." Draco took her hand and placed it on his heart. "Feel what you do to me. See how it races just being around you." Hermione kept shaking her head denying. "And I know that little thing in your chest acts in the same way. I can see it in your eyes. You can deny how much you want to, but it doesn't change a single thing." Draco said finally leaving her hand. "I am not Weasley just so you can push me away. Soon you will acknowledge what I said was right." Hermione rushed into the house leaving a distraught Draco outside.
He growled in frustration. He knew she felt the same attraction for him and he is not going to leave her until he had proved the same to her. He had a pierced feeling that if Hermione came to know about his condition she will push him further away. But he is not going to back out and he would definitely win her affections. With a new determination taking life in him he headed towards his cottage. He may have started pursuing her for his own selfish reasons, but spending time with Hermione Granger had definitely changed his attitude. He was now able to see far beyond his self-indulgence.
He had many things in his mind. First, he would have to contact somebody who had an implicate knowledge about Dolohov's curse and he knew just the person to contact. That is going to be his first and foremost task. She had not given up on him and Draco's heart leaped out in gratitude. He wanted to reciprocate the same to her. He will get to the bottom of that curse. There is a lot that needs to be done. And secondly, he will make her acknowledge the feelings she is suppressing under the weight of her pain. He would draw them out. He would make Hermione Granger understand the depth of his affections.
A/N: I know this is a filler chapter. But after the intensity of the past two chapters, I just wanted to portray a normalcy between them. Who is that mysterious person Draco thinks could help him in finding out about Dolohov's curse? Let me know your thoughts. Please R & R.