Harry Potter and the White Bumblebee
Chapter XXI
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!
There was a knock at the door and Hermione jumped. She scrambled to stuff the bit of material back into the scrapbook before anyone saw it. "Are you alright in there?" Asked Regulus. "I-I'm fine just a bit tired I guess. I think I'm just going to go to sleep. Let me know if I miss anything." "Alright then." Regulus called through the door. "Sweet dreams then." Hermione smiled at the thought. "Thanks, goodnight." She turned her attention back to her plan. She made up the invitations for the kissing game and silently peeked out the door. Nobody was coming. So she sent the invitations out to each room. 12:00am for Harry and 2:30 am for Draco. Now she would find out what she wanted to know.
As 12:00am was approaching Harry sat looking down at his invitation. "What in the world was she thinking?" He said to himself. He was thinking of how much this was what he wanted to happen but also he wanted to keep that safe distance between himself and Hermione. He wasn't supposed to live, she could get hurt in battle because of him, and on and on. All of the negative reasons why he shouldn't go were staring him in the face. "It wouldn't be fair to her." He mumbled to himself. "Who says?" Someone in the corner said. Harry jumped and spun around with his wand pointing right at….Regulus, in cat form. "I really do wish you would stop sneaking around!" Harry shouted at him. Regulus just smiled at him and said, "Sorry, but like I said, it is fair to her if this is what she wants, and believe me this is what she wants." "Are you sure?" Harry asked him. "I have been living with her as a cat for a long time and trust me I know more about it than you do. Besides, if you are going to die would you like to know you wasted your only opportunity at true love?" "Well I-I..." Harry stammered. Regulus turned back into his human form and put his hand on Harry's shoulder, "How can you die if you have never really lived?" Then he turned and left Harry to think about it.
Hermione was waiting for Harry under the steps. She looked at her watch. Two minutes after midnight. He was late. Maybe he wouldn't come after all. She felt betrayed. Maybe she should forget the whole thing. What was she thinking, kissing two boys to find out which one really cares, was a ridiculous thing to do. She decided to leave. She would just send a note to them both and tell them it was all a joke! She spun around to leave and ran right into Harry. He grabbed her arms and held her to him and said, "I'm sorry Hermione. I can't get involved with anyone right now, you know that. What if something happened to you because of me? I would never forgive myself for that, because….I love you Hermione. I really do love you." And despite what he thought he should do he found himself leaning down to kiss her anyway, and he did. Their lips met and Hermione thought she would explode from the love she felt for him. He felt the same way. He didn't want it to end but he knew it had to, for her sake. He let her go and told her, "I really do love you Hermione, but we can't be together, not now, maybe someday when Voldomort is gone. Just know I love you." Hermione had tears in her eyes, "I love you to Harry." And then he was gone. She sat down on the dark basement floor and wept for what might have been.
Regulus found her there, two hours later still sobbing to herself. He walked up to her in his cat form and snuggled onto her lap, and she hugged him tight. "Oh Regulus, What have I done?! I think I just made things worse. It was better not knowing he cared. I wish I had never done it!" "Do you?" asked Regulus, "Why? If he dies tomorrow at least you know how he feels and he knows how you feel. That's something you should never regret. Never be ashamed to tell someone you love them, you might never get the chance to do it again." Hermione picked him up and hugged him harder, "Thank you Regulus, You are the best friend anyone could ever want, and I love you too." Regulus purred, "Thank you Hermione. You are a good friend too and I love you also, but you are choking me to death!" Hermione put him down and started to laugh, "Sorry Regulus." She tried to muffle her laughter behind her hand. "That's OK." He said, coughing. "I think I'll have to hack up a hairball now, (coughing) excuse me." And he trotted up the steps.
Hermione was so upset that she had completely forgotten the time. She stood up and stretched and yawned. "Oh, I'm tired." She mumbled to herself, "It's time to go to bed." And turned to walk right into…Draco. "Really." He said. She gasped. She had forgotten all about him! Oh what was she thinking! I'm such an idiot! She thought to herself. "I know I'm a bit early," Draco said to her, "But I really couldn't wait any longer." He grabbed her to him and she tried to fight him off. She loved Harry! This was a mistake! A horrible mistake! "I'm sorry Draco," Hermione said pushing him away "I made a mistake. I shouldn't have sent that note. I'm sorry I have to go." She tried to push past him but he wouldn't allow it. "Hermione." He said, "Stop! Look at me! I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you." Hermione stopped struggling and looked into his eyes, "You do? Just talk?" "Yes." He said in a quieter tone, almost a whisper. "I just got your note and I came to talk about it." "You did?" She said looking into his pale blue eyes. "Yes, I have a confession to make. I don't know why I'm telling you this but, here it goes." He took a deep breath and looked into her chocolate brown eyes, "I have never felt this way about another person. I don't know what it is about you. I used to hate you, everything about you. It was just prejudice I guess. But when Dumbledore and Snape took me in and protected me, I felt like someone truly cared about me. For the first time in my life I knew what it was like to have someone care about me and what happened to me. My family never really cared about me. It was all about what I could do to make them look good, you know, like I was a possession, a piece of furniture. But you, you really care about people too. I saw that and for the first time in my life I wanted someone to care for me in return. I want you to care for me. I-I I Love you Hermione. So much, because I've never loved anyone before." She stood mesmerized by his eyes and his touch. He leaned in and gently and kissed her. And then he kissed her harder and she kissed him back and clung to him. She felt the explosion now, in her heart, her head, she couldn't think of anything but him. It felt so familiar, like she had done this before…with him! She thought about the bit of material she found under the steps. She broke away from him and looked him in the eye. "Have we done this before?!" He smiled that cocky smile, "Maybe?" He said. "Oh, Draco." She whispered. "That's all I wanted to hear." He told her as he pulled her to him again and kissed her until she thought her heart would explode!