Chapter Twenty-One
How Much
It was thanks to a tonic Theo brewed up at the last minute that Draco was able to see, think and walk straight. He was glad he told his idea to his friend, because once the tonic touched his tongue he forgot about his plan instantly. Theo was always good in Potions and was a good friend to have told him of his stupid intent he had when he was drunk.
He knew he should have given up. It was over. Their marriage ended the moment she signed those papers, and Draco had sent them off for them to be filed away in a dusty drawer in an even dirtier building. But because their marriage was over didn't mean that they had to be. Not yet. This was the last day of their deal and despite that he knew the deal was void he was willing to take the one day he had and turn things around.
He dressed in his best black slacks and silk button-up shirt. Drake watched from the bed, his tail swishing back and forth. Draco scooped him up in one arm and hoped that Hermione hadn't closed of their Floo connections but when he stepped through to the overly neat lounge, he saw that she hadn't. That was a good omen, right? If she had been desperate to get rid of him she would've closed it immediately.
The lounge changed drastically. The pictures that he left for her under the floorboard in the guest room was still not up. Neither his nor the Weasel's flowers were in place, instead the vases were filled with sunflowers.
He waited by the fireplace listening intently for any sounds that she was in the house, Drake seeming to do the same his one ear perked forward, but then she walked through from the kitchen, a green flowered cup of tea in her hand. She jumped back, and it spilled, splattering to the floor.
"Draco! What're you doing here?!"
"Sorry," he apologized whipping out his wand and cleaning up the mess he'd made by startling her, the tea gone, the cups fixed.
She sighed and rolled her eyes but a flicker of a smile crossed her. "You brought Drake," she said cheerily as she knelt to pick up the tea and set it on the side table of the couch. She was too calm, too accepting. It worried him. Maybe he was too late.
"Yeah..." He let Drake pounce to the floor and run over to sweep his body across Hermione's ankles.
She bent and stroked him, but as he heard something in the far room he took off in a streak of orange. She stood her arms folding over her chest. "What is it you want? I signed the papers."
"I saw. I sent them off. We're officially annulled." Over. Done. Finite.
"Then why are you here?"
Honesty was the best policy right? He would find out. "Because I didn't want it to be over."
She raised a quizzical brow. "You're the one who sent the papers."
He sighed. He didn't want to have this conversation. He wanted to skip ahead to what he planned, but this conversation was crucial. She had to know how much she meant to him - would always mean to him.
"To let you know you had a choice. You signed them. I figured you've made your choice." He glanced at her left hand expecting to see the Weasel's engagement ring on her finger, but her fingers were bare.
"I told Ron it was best to be friends," she said before rising to her feet. She reached into her pocket and withdrew her closed fist. She took his hand and like Harry had done to her only two days ago, she pushed something into his palm.
He felt it before he saw it. His grandparents rings. The rings he'd given to her. "You're giving them back?"
"It's only right. They're not mine anymore. I suppose they were only loaners."
He nodded. "True." He dropped them in his pocket. They were the least of his worries, but it was all part of the plan. He needed those rings back.
She waved her hand at the fireplace as she returned to her place on the couch. "Feel free to show yourself out. You knew the way in."
Did she sound bitter? He hoped so. If she had any sort of feelings for him, even those that were low, he would take them. It meant that she felt something for him, that she was hurting too.
Rather than leave like she suggested, he walked over and sat next to her. He took the cup from her and set it down. He twisted his body to hers and seized her hands. Perplexed she stared at him.
It was time to know the truth, to dot the 'i's and cross the 't's. It was time to finish what he started at the ball. "Do you love me, Hermione? Did you mean what you said in the pond?"
"I'm not you, Draco, I'm not a liar."
He smiled at the use of his first name and that she had insulted him. That was the Hermione he knew.
"Did you ever love me, or was I some sort of conquest that you won." She said the last word with distaste.
He had a feeling that she would see it that way. His smile widened. "I have loved you for quite a long time. I have tortured myself over my imagination of having you. I love you. I love you more than anyone because I was willing to give you up, to let you live your life as you pleased with whoever you want. I loved you enough to sign those papers and send them to you. All this was out of my love for you. Now I need to know how much you love me. How much, Hermione?"
She inhaled a shaky breath observing his features as though they would give away something he was hiding. "I love you enough to risk giving up my friends and family. I've loved you enough to get on a broom and fly across an ocean full of sharks!" He chuckled but she went on. "How can you even think that I don't love you?"
He pulled his grandmother's ring from his pocket again. "Tell me, Hermione, do you love me this much?"
Tears brimmed her eyes, but she was beaming and Draco knew that they were tears of happiness. She nodded vigorously. "Yes."
He took her hand, and once again slid the ring on the intended finger. They both knew it would stay there for the rest of her life.
A/N: Sorry for the shortness of this last chapter. I didn't feel the need to say more.
Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed! It is very much appreciated!
If you keep up with Anlynne's Quill you know that this will be my last Harry Potter fan-fiction for a while. There is not another one written and I don't plan on one anytime soon. I do have another fan-fiction story that will be posted soon.