Hello out there! This is my first fic under this name. (I had others, but they were really bad, sooo….) We sang this song in my Chorus at school, and I thought it would be great for an HP fic. (Hey Sirius Ravenclaw, wassup????)
I looooove Draco, and love H/D fics, so that's what this is about… God, I suck at intros, don't I? I'll stop torturing you and let you read the story now. It takes place in the summer between HHR's 6th and 7th year, and it's from Hermione's POV.
DISCLAIMER: JKR owns Harry and all the other lovely characters. Eric Clapton owns the song, or whoever wrote it, or whatever. (I only use part of it anyway.) I own Artemis, the M.O.M's Crime Prevention League, and Arnold Flipperwhit.
"Hermione, dear!" my mother called. "Your owl is back!"
I smiled and slid off my bed, putting The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7 aside. Poor Mum, I thought. I suppose it took a long time to get accustomed to an owl swooping in and out of the house at all hours. Harry had given me Artemis, a beautiful barn owl, for Christmas. I loved her, but I wasn't sure Mum and Dad felt the same way.
"Coming!" I called. I walked through our house and into the kitchen. Mum was standing against the stove, as far away from the window as possible.
I laughed gently. "Mum, she's very sweet," I said. "I promise, she's not going to hurt you,"
"I-I know," Mum said, but her voice gave her away. Shaking my head, I took the letter from Artemis. "Come on," I said softly to the owl, and she followed me out of the room, gliding silently behind me.
The letter I held bore the Hogwarts seal, but it was far too early for the annual letter about new books and equipment, wasn't it? It usually arrived at the end of July, and it was only July 15. I went into my room, and sat back down on my bed. Artemis flew across the room and began drinking from the little tray in her cage.
I opened the letter and shook it open – and gasped.
Dear Ms. Granger,
Hope you are having a good summer. However, I am afraid the Hogwarts community has suffered a great loss. One of our pupils, Draco Malfoy, has passed away. I do not know the details of this tragedy, but I believed the students and faculty should be aware of this before the Daily Prophet gets wind of it; it is my belief that it is a kinder way to find out.
I am sure you will keep Draco and his grieving family in your thoughts.
Enjoy the rest of your summer.
Sincerely,
Prof. Albus Dumbledore [A/N: I'd put in all that "Supreme Mugwump" jazz, but I don't have my book with me, and I don't know his official title. Sorry.]
I slid off my bed, one hand pressed over my mouth. My head was spinning. "No, please," I thought desparetly. "It can't be…" I read over the letter again, making sure I had really seen what I thought was there. The words swam before my eyes. I blinked back tears, but they flowed freely down my face any way.
~flashback~
I sat outside in the courtyard. I didn't know why I let Pansy's words get to me. I'd always told Harry and Ron just to ignore them, that their opinion didn't matter. But for some reason, her yelling, "Granger! Hey! How's your famous boyfriend Krum doing these days?" in front of everyone had hurt the worst. As if everyone didn't already know he'd been broken up with me at the end of the summer after 4th year. He'd announced his engagement to that stupid girl from his Quidditch team in the Daily Prophet back in March!! Engaged! At 19!
A lone tear slid down my cheek, matching the raindrops that were already drenching my hair and robes. Why? Why did she have to be so horrible to me?
"Hermione?" a voice behind me said. I turned. It was Malfoy.
"What?" I demanded in a voice unlike my own. "Come to poke your own fun at me? Watching Pansy wasn't enough?"
"N-no," he said. "I-I mean, it was enough. I mean, I-I didn't enjoy it. I, um, don't think she should have, um…" His voice trailed off. I stared at him. I'd never seen Malfoy at such a loss for words. He came and sat next to me on the bench. "What I mean is…" he said quietly, "I don't think Pansy should give you such a hard time. It's, um, not nice."
"Oh, really?" I snapped. I felt bad about the edge to my voice. "I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to, um, I didn't mean to be so sharp," I could hardly believe I was apologizing to Draco Malfoy, but he had been treating me very differently recently. He hadn't called me "mudblood" in ages, and I'd overheard him trying to change the subject when Milicent Bulstrode was sneering at my hair.
"And, um," Draco continued. "I, uh, also wanted to say I'm, um, sorry…for, uh, everything, you know, in the past years, that I've said to you…"
I sat there, flabbergasted. Draco Malfoy, apologizing? It didn't make sense!
He was still speaking. "…and, I-I take back everything I've said. I mean-" he slid cautiously closer to me "-I, um, think you're really pretty, and, um, smart…" He came a little closer. I realized how beautiful his gray eyes were. "I feel really bad for giving you, uh, such a hard time-" we were face to face now, and my heart was beating faster "and, I mean, I was a real idiot, when I was-was calling you those names-"
I gently lifted my finger to his lips. "It's OK," I whispered. "It's OK. I understand." And then he moved forward, and so did I, and we were kissing…
~end of this flashback, fades to two weeks later, in the corridor with Ron and Harry~
"All right, I'll meet you guys in the Dining Hall," I told the two boys. "I've just…for got something in the classroom…" Harry and Ron turned away, calling, "See you there!" over their shoulders. As soon as I was sure they were far enough away, I turned and ran, back around the corner and into an empty classroom. Draco was there, of course. We met here all the time.
He took my into his arms and gave me a sweet kiss. Then he pulled, it seemed, from nowhere, a beautiful sunflower. He knew they were my favorite. "Oh, Draco," I said, delighted.
"For my own beautiful flower," I smiled and kissed him again.
"I just wish we could tell people about us," I said. "It was be so much easier if we didn't have to hide."
"I know," he said, a bit sadly. "But you know they wouldn't understand. You're in Gryffindor, and I'm in Slytherin, and…well, you know." I nodded. "And my father…" his face darkened, "really wouldn't understand. I don't want anything bad to happen to you," He looked deep into my eyes, and held me close…
~end of flashback~
I knew I would never forget the way he held me, and kissed me… Rain began to fall outside, and I could hear Mum's wireless in the kitchen playing.
Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven?
Would it be the same
If I saw you in heaven?
Without bothering to get changed, I got back onto my bed and just lay there, holding the letter, tears flowing down my face. Crookshanks could tell something was wrong; he laid against my back and purred. Soon, I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
I awoke the next morning around 9. I looked out my window – it was still raining. Great large raindrops dripped down the screen, and wind lashed the trees outside. I didn't bother to close my window.
A knock came on my door. "Hermione?" It was Dad. "Your newspaper's here. Are you awake?"
"Yeah," I said. My voice was a bit croaky.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"Um…uh-huh," I lied.
"OK, well, uh, your paper's here, if you want it…" I heard him set something light down on the floor, and leave. I knew he meant the Daily Prophet, my wizarding-world newspaper.
I opened the door slowly, picked up the paper, and shut the door again. I didn't feel like talking to anyone. I sat down on my bed and unfolded the paper.
The headline read "School's Ex-Governor's Son Found Dead – Mysterious Circumstances". I knew in an instant it meant Draco. Tears welled in my eyes again, but I read:
Members of the Ministry of Magic's Crime Prevention League entered the home of Lucius Malfoy this morning to find young Master Draco dead. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy were nowhere to be found. Arnold Flipperwhit, the corenor for the Ministry found evidence that Malfoy had been killed by the Avada Kedavra curse at around 11:30 p.m. last night. Also, it was apparent that he had been subjected to the Cruciatus Curse before his death. Killings such as this have been more and more frequent since the rise of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named; however, this particular murder differs from the other in that there was no Dark Mark above the house, and no signs anywhere of a break-in. Due to these facts, and the facts that Mr. Lucius Malfoy was nowhere to be found upon discovery of the body, he is being considered a prime suspect.
Members of the CPL entered the home because they had received telephone calls from wizard neighbors, claiming they heard loud bangs and screams from the home. They say all noise stopped at around 11:30, which is the victim was killed.
Draco Malfoy was 16 years old. He was to enter his seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in September. The Malfoys had no other children.
Suddenly, a great gust of wind blew through the screen and blew my journal pages open. Something flew out of their pages and gently across the room.
It was the sunflower Draco had given me. I had pressed it between the pages of my diary.
Time can bring you down
Time can bend your knees
Time can break the heart
Have you beggin' please…
OK, well, that's it!! The ending was supposed to be all dramatic and sad…didn't really work…oh well!