Story type: One-shot
Genre: General
Hermione carefully sat down on the grass, facing the shimmering sheet of dark blue resting on the lake, she had no intention of finding herself in one of the grassholes Peevs had dug throughout the school yard. Flicking a stay strand of hair out of her face, she gave a contented sigh, pulling her legs towards her chest and resting her head on her kness. It had been such a long time since she could find time to sit in the serene silence of the lake, with no sound louder than the soft spalshing of water agaisnt drowning grass.
She closed her eyes and massaged her temples, the noise in Hogwarts, especially in the Gryffindor common room - the explosions which the Weasley twins made - was enough to give anybody a headache. When she opened her eyes again, the sun had already began its decend to provide light to the other half of the earth, showering the darkening sky with warm rays of crimson and tangerine. Lazily, Hermione lifted her wand, "Ticio," she muttered, and a clock formed out of dewdrops on the grass appeared and told her the time before melting away. Groaning, Hermione realised that it was time for her dinner. She didn't feel like moving an inch from where she was sitting, much less drag herself back to the Great Hall and find herself in the middle of everything again. Its so much more peaceful here, Hermoine told herself, Besides, I'm not hungry. Smiling a little, she transfigured a blade of grass into a pillow and lay flat on her back, her rich aburn hair spilling out onto the grass.
By this time, the sky had turned an elegant shade of midnight blue, with stars sparkling and winking at Hermione in abundance. It was the first time she had ever seen the sky from the Hogwarts grounds, and not from her seat in the Great Hall. It was basically also the first time she had seen the sky so clearly, in both the muggle and wizarding world. She decided that the skyw as more beautiful in this world, maybe because in the muggle world, there were lights on no matter what time of the day, making it hard to see the stars, even if they were as bright as the sun. Perhaps I'll lay down in the driveway at home, she mused, But I'll be too worried about father running over me with the car to even notice the sky, Amused, she started chuckling, wondering how different life would be if she had never known about Hogwarts. It would have been so incredibly diff... However, her thoughts were interupted by the clearing of someone's throat.
"Well, well, if it isn't Granger with the big teeth," Hermione didn't even have to sit up and look to know who would make such a snide comment. "Malfoy," she answered in the same tone of voice Draco had greeted her with, "What a pleasant surprise," However, she made no move in getting up, the sky was so rarely seen in such perfectness, and she would much rather sky-gaze than have a insult shoot-out with Malfoy. "Can't think of anything better to say Granger? Your teeth took up all your brain nutrients?" Hermione sighed, but for once, kept silent. This took Draco by surprise, he had never known her to back-down from a battle. Hermione seemingly sensed his uneasiness, smiling in an amused fashion. "Surprised that I'm not saying anything Malfoy? Don't be. I've not run out of anything horrible to say, but I'm just much to proccupied to do so now," Her tone softened, "Why don't you sit down and take a look?" Draco shot her a suspicious glare, but Hermione, who never even looked at him from the beginning, didn't notice. "Am I that frightening that you would refuse to even sit next to me?" She voiced out, after Draco had stood brazenly by her head. Gingerly, he sat down, and as he did so, Hermione smiled and transfigured another blade of grass into a pillow for him. He relaxed when he realized that she was being sincere, but still held up his front just to be cautious.
"Have you ever known how beautiful the sky was at night?" Hermione suddenly asked him, turning her head to face his. Draco looked at her unblinkingly, as though he had not heard a word of what she had said, with a sudden jolt Hermione realised that his eyes were a brilliant shade of the lightest blue, with gray flecks complimenting the blue of his eyes. It was almost as if the sky was being reflected in his eyes, but a sky from a different dimension, and a sky that held emotions that it hid within the darkest of its depths. Unable to resist the challenge of discovering what emotions his eyes held bottled within, Hermione continued holding her gaze, peering past the icy facade and the mist, trying to grope her way into his soul.
Draco must have felt what she was doing, for with a quick jerk of his head, he broke their eye contact. Silently, he cursed himself for letting her even have a chance to look into his eyes. "Granger," his tone of voice displayed emotion, catching Hermione as well as himself by surprise. "Your wish to waste my time has been granted, is there any other way you have found to amuse me?" Immediatly, his voice hardened, Draco had coated it with his icicles once again. His comment rudely shoved Hermione back to reality, her peaceful state of mind cruelly shattered by his words. She sat up stiffly, feeling tears form in her eyes. "I tried to be nice, and all you do is continue to torment me, when will you have enough?" Her voice was shaking, not only from anger but also from her tears. "All I wanted was to have a moment of peace, must you ruin everything I want Malfoy? Is my misery so important to you?" Gathering her belongings, she began to strode off, but not before a strong hand caught hold of her arm.
"What do you want Malfoy? Have you not done enough? Go back to your rat-hole! Where ever it is!"
"Hermione.."
"What?"
"Hermione, look at me,"
Stubbornly, she kept her head down, refusing to lift her eyes to meet his. She had no wish to be stabbed by those piercing eyes of his.
"Hermione Granger, look at me,"
Both of his hands were holding onto her shoulders now, gently. When she still refused to, he sighed.
"Look, I'm sorry, I..I didn't mean to say it, its..just that I'm not used to you being so..well, friendly to me. I'm sorry, really,"
"Why are you apologising? Aren't you going to laugh at me again later and say that you were only pretending to be nice?"
"No, I..."
"Don't even bother explaining will you? I don't want to listen to your lies, all your words of deceit!"
"Listen, this is perhaps the only time you're going to hear me..."
"It can be the last time i hear you talk for all I care," Hermione rudely interupted, but Draco had gotten enough of it, and firmly placed his hand over her mouth. "No interruptions, please,"
"I don't know if I'll ever find another time to say it, but...when you looked into my eyes, I..I..don't know, like it was the first time anyone had done that, noone has ever tried to understand me, yet you have. What can I do Hermione? What can I do? It made me feel so vunerable, so...small, I..I just need someone to understand me, Hermione...Hermione..."
His hands still on her shoulders, Hermione stared for a moment, her mind registering the shock. Was this really Draco Malfoy standing before her? She touched his face, lifting his eyes to meet hers. Yes, it was him, but not the icy Malfoy everyone knew, this was the vunerable side of him, the side he had been yearning to expose for such a long time, the side even his housemates never seemed to be able to penetrae...Yet somehow, she had. Hermione pulled Draco towards herself, gently caressing his back, brushing her lips agaisnt his ear, whispering motherly words of concern. "Cry all you want, cry, I'll be here, I'm never going away, cry,"
She soothed him, pressing her lips on his forehead, down the fine arc of his nose. She wiped away his tears, streaming down, touched his hair, running her hands through it, combing his head of gold. She gazed into his crystal blue eyes, "I'll be here always, just like your sky, your beautiful blue sky,"
