"...wait so you mean he...he cheated? Are you being serious?"
Hermione looked down at her hands as she fiddled with her fingers. The fire crackling in the background made quite an ambient sound which soothed her distressed mind. Recollecting Harry's betrayal had always been taxing on her emotionally.
She lifted her head and saw the scandalized look etched onto his face, like her being cheated on personally affected him. Her eyes locked with his, which held... anger? Shaking his head, Draco gave a chuckle of disbelief, which sounded less like so and more like a menacing laugh with a threatening aura. "That slimy git."
Hermione nodded, a ball of tears forming in her throat, threatening to cut off her breathing as it attempted to squeeze out of her. Dammit, you're not crying in front of him, I won't let you.
You've cried in front of him before. There's no use trying to hold the tears back.
"In our eighth year. I-I just don't understand what went wrong for him to do what he did. We hardly fought, and he hardly seemed unhappy around me. I just knew something was up when he started acting cold and detached. I only grasped that somethung was going on when he went for quidditch practise on Tuesday, when there wasn't any practice!" Hermione explained, her voice an octave lower than it usually was. She swallowed, still futilely fighting down the ball in her throat.
"Damn Granger, I'm sorry." Draco said, voice tender and expression warm, his usual frigid guise momentarily ignored.
"That's not the worst of it though," Hermione sighed. "He...He impregnated her. They have a son now, he's five, and are expecting another one."
Draco's eyes widened in realisation. "Wait... he cheated with Weaslette? But isn't she a friend of yours as well?" Hermione scoffed bitterly. "I thought she was." She mumbled.
"But what bother me the most," She sniffed, unknowingly sending the ball forward, close to its exit. "Is that I still can't get over it. I still can't fully rid myself of the heart break." Her eyes began to sting. Oh Merlin no. Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath, refilling her hollow lungs. The tears were very close by, teetering at the edge. "Every time I see them together I feel my organs twist, and that horrid ache return. Five years and I still haven't gotten over him. Now I'm sure that qualifies as pathetic in your book now doesn't it?"
She awaited his sharp admonition, for the old Malfoy to emerge from the folds of kindness that enveloped him, tongue ablaze with unkind words that would surely cut through the thick armour her heart had equipped.
Instead, Draco took her hand, and gave it a soft squeeze, thumb pressing against her palm. "No Granger, I don't think you're pathetic. Not even a little bit. What's so pathetic about feeling anyway?"
What's so pathetic about feeling? Maybe the countless hours spent locked up in a room, crying her eyes out as she recalled every painful memory, her pillow damp with tears. Maybe that's what suck about feeling.
"In fact, Potter's the one that's pathetic. How could he steer his attention to another when you're right here, all beauty and brains, with that fiery attitude that can burn an entire avenue of buildings. Merlin, Granger I-" Realising that he had said too much, Draco broke his grasp on her hand, his eyes fixed on his hands which lay awkwardly on his lap. A pregnant silence occupied the space between them, until Draco cleared his throat.
"W-what I'm trying to say is that you didn't deserve to be cheated on Granger. Potter is a git and you deserve better." With that he stood up, and walked out of the library. Hermione followed his movements until he finally left the room.
Why didn't he finish his sentence? What was he about to say?
I love you, perhaps?
Oh, don't be daft.
Hermione felt something hot trickle down her face. Am I crying?
Sure enough, when she reached out to touch her now wet cheeks, she made contact with warm, salty tears. Strangely enough, after speaking to him, the man she once swore to be her mortal enemy, she felt a lot less empty like his words had managed to locate and replace some of the lost fragments of herself.
A soft breeze blew at the unkempt blades of grass on the Malfoy's field, a soft rustle emanating from each overgrown stalk. The soft scent of lavender wafted into his nose, filling him with nostalgia as he silently reminisced about better times... less problematic times.
The lavender fields weren't too far off from where they sat, in fact it was close enough for them to see each purple stalk do a serene dance in the wind. Many times, he had kissed her in those fields, the scent of lavender engulfing them. Many times, under the cloak of the dark night, when little Scorpius was fast asleep, he had made love to her, bodies synchronised as they rocked together, stalks of lavender tickling their bare skin.
To think, that one day, those moments will be no more.Draco tightened his grip on her hand. "I'm scared, Astoria." Merlin, he sounded weak, and he absolutely abhorred sounding weak. He needed to be strong, for her, for Scorpius.
Astoria gave a soft chuckle. If she still had her hair, it would surely be flowing with the wind. Unfortunately her beautiful blonde curls had not been spared by the ailment slowly claiming his wife's life.
Cancer, it was called. Draco had fought tooth and nail to find a remedy, a means to free her from the shackles of that terrible illness, but according to every healer he had sent her to, since her Cancer had progressed so far, there was nothing more they could do. She was given five months, at most.
His poor wife, it seemed as though she had aged twenty years. Her once voluptuous figure had been lost, her body bony and frail. Her skin was so pale that he could make out the green veins running across her arms. Her eyes, they lost that mischievous sparkle that he had been enthralled in. She wore a shawl over her head to cover up her baldness, which was unnecessary, seeing as he still found her beautiful even without her magnificent blonde locks to run his fingers through.
"We'll get through this Draco. You, me and Scorpius." She assured. "And we'll be a happy family again. I promise."
"You lied." Draco spat bitterly, as he glared at the photo on his desk. In it Astoria cradled a tiny Scorpius, her blonde her sprawled out over the sheets. The little blonde baby's legs flailed around, small fists grabbing at his mother's nightie. He remembered that night all too well... Scorpius had just turned four months old. Astoria had decided on taking a well deserved nap with the baby, and Draco had found the moment too adorable to not photograph. So he quickly retrieved a camera and took a snap of the mommy and baby.
Darkness enveloped Draco's office, a soft glow cast by the moonlight providing little illumination to the room. Several bottles of firewhiskey laid scattered across the floor.
"You left me Astoria, you left me in this cruel world all alone. How could you?" He slurred. His eyes desperately searched the picture, hoping to get an explanation from the photographed version of his wife. When received none, the framed photo went flying into the wall, the frame shattering. "ANSWER ME! WHY WHY WHY WHY!?" He screamed at the now broken photo. It felt as though a knife had been lodged in his heart, each breath he took driving the blade further into it.
"Why Astoria? Do you n-not love me? W-what have I done wrong for you to abandon me?" His hostile tone began to disintegrated, voice coming out throaty and quivering, as he held back sobs.
He felt exactly like he had felt that first night without her. Broken, desolate, and carrying the heavy burden of being not only a widower, but a single father. He grabbed the half empty bottle of Odgen's off his desk, and took a large gulp of the caramel substance, the drink burning his throat with its intensity.
"Astoria Why? Do you want me to suffer? Is that it?"
All of his rage and his heartache were momentarily geared towards the memory of her, deep betrayal plaguing his heart at the though of his one true love having left him, abandoning him in the worst kind of way.
He took another swig from the bottle, his usually neat and gelled back hair dishevelled. Rage suddenly burst inside him, the supernova of ire nearly blinding him as he flung the bottle towards the wall, the bottle shattering against it, it's caramel contents sliding down the wall and forming a puddle among the mess of glass.
In a blink of an eye the entire office was in a state of disarray, desk flipped over, furniture broken, paintings slashed so harshly that it looked like a wild animal did it, glass glittering on the carpeted floor. The glass crunched under his feet as he walked around the office, observing the mess with an almost feral inhumane look in his eyes. The broken fragments of items around him rattle around him, affected by the intense magic that emanated from his body.
"Draco I heard a loud noise- what happened here?" Draco turned at the sound of the familiar voice. Hermione stood, in her pink pyjama bottoms and white tank top, slippers on her feet. Her curls were messier then usual, indicating that she had just risen from her slumber, probably shaken up by the noise Draco made.
It seemed as though Hermione's presence pacified him, as the fragments stopped rattling, and his eyes, which were a dark black, returned to their normal colour. "Draco did something happen? Was there an attack? Did someone break in?" She asked frantically, as she rushed into the room and to Draco's side, who was panting heavily, wand clutched tightly in his hand, not a single scratch on his body. A breeze swept through the broken windows, whipping at his hair.
"Draco? Are you okay? What hap-woah!" As soon as she laid her hand upon his arm, she was dragged into a hug by the male, his muscular arms wrapping around her body, practically crushing her into him. "Don't go... please don't go." He slurred, his breath tickling her neck. "Uhmm Draco are you okay?" Hermione asked, as she tried (but to no avail) to push him off. He just wouldn't budge, almost just like Scorpius when she read to him during bedtime.
"Don't... leave... me. Don't ever leave again, please. I love you, don't go."
Although Hermione was fully aware of his intoxicated state, her heart couldn't help but get caught in her throat.
Her arms snaked around his body as she awkwardly reciprocated his embrace.
I love you... The words continuously reverberated through her mind as she led him to the bedroom adjoined to his study, arms slung over her shoulder. Dragging a full grown man to bed certainly did prove to be a challenge, what with Draco slowly losing consciousness, his entire body weight on Hermione's shoulders and back causing it to ache terribly. She gave a sigh of relief as he dumped his unconscious form onto the bed.
Just as she was about to leave, she heard a soft cry leave Draco's lips, and when she looked down at him she noticed that his face had been contorted into a sorrowful look. "S-Stayyy... I-I n-n-need youuu." He sobbed, a translucent tear running down his pale face.
Hermione sighed, pity nestling deep within her heart. What could've been troubling Draco, the man who usually looked and acted as tough as nails? The tears running down his face, which conveyed sadness, was not something she was familiar with seeing on Draco. She only knew his annoyance and his frigidness.
Hermione let out a scream of surprise as she felt something latch onto her wrist, her rapid heartbeats only subsidising when she realised that it was only Draco. His eyes were open now, wide and scared, much like a child's. It was terrifying how much he resembled Scorpius now. "Stay... Stay please. I-I need y-you here, n-next to me." Hermione blushed at his request. "B-But Draco-" He tugged her arm harder (but still quite weakly) his eyes glistening with a familiar sheen. "Please."
Sighing, Hermione reluctantly slipped off her slippers, and climbed into bed with Draco. All while she did this, her heart thump with vigour, threatening to jump out of her chest. Her head sunk into the soft pillow. Her breath hitched and heat rose to her cheeks as she felt his arms wrap around her waist and draw her into his body so they were in a spooning position. His breath fanned her neck, the smell of alcohol now prominent.
"I love you so much." He whispered. Hermione simply gulped, attempting to swallow the large ball lodged in her throat. Minutes later, his soft snores sounded in her ears. Hermione gave a huff of relief; now she could escape from this dilemma she had landed herself in!
Her triumph was short-lived however when she attempted to pry his arms off her body. He held her with a fierce, iron grip, guarding her almost like she was a valuable treasure. She made a second attempt, then a third, and then for the fourth and final attempt she used her wand, only to find, to her horror, that he somehow, in his slumber, used his magic to firmly bind her to the bed using rope. I didn't even feel him tie me up! She thought indignantly.
Hermione gave a huff of frustration, and yielded all attempts to free herself from him. It was clear that there was nothing left to do but succumb to her fatigue bought about by the troubles she had encountered that day.