A/N: Hey guys! I put up a new Katie/ Oliver story (with Cedric in it too).
It's called "On Top of It All." PLEASE go read it. Thanks so much! Oh, and
I know I said it may take a while for me to update this chapter, but
actually, that will be next chapter. I managed to finish this one on the
plane, so I'm going to post it. I hope you like it! Please review.
An hour later, the two of them were sitting above Basel, eating sandwiches, and talking about what happened after Hogwarts; they were both still avoiding the topic of what went on during school.
"So you lived in America and then stayed with Blaise Zabini for three months. You moved all around the world for a crime you didn't commit? Well, commit willingly," Hermione stared at him in amazement.
"It wasn't all bad," Draco bit into the peanut butter sandwich. "I got to see Blaise's baby being born," a small smile crept onto his face.
"Really?"
"Yeah. She was beautiful. Holding a newborn baby in your arms changes your views on a lot of things," Draco's eyes wandered from the view below them to Hermione.
"Such as?" she looked back at him curiously.
"The value of life. How even something that seems to be useless can turn into something amazing. The purest things are the most beautiful."
"It sounds like you picked up a lot of things from that baby," Hermione smiled weakly.
"Yes, I did. I learned how to play nanny for an infant," Draco chuckled. "Two months of slobber and dirty diapers."
"Fun," Hermione laughed.
"What about you? I heard you got a marriage proposal thrown at you."
"You mean Ron? Yeah, the ring was thrown at me. By a ruddy owl. He didn't even have the consideration to be face to face when he asked me to marry him," Hermione snorted.
"So I suppose you turned him down?" Draco stared at her with interest.
"Yes. Ron's a good friend and all, but I couldn't stand having to spend every day and every night with him."
"Oh, I see. You work at the Ministry of Magic, right? How is that?"
"Stressful," Hermione laughed. "Between the stress I put on myself there and the horrible attitude I had toward the rest of the world, I ran myself into an inescapable rut. That's why Harry sent me here. To relax for a week."
"Has it been working?" Draco turned away from her and bit into his sandwich.
"It was. Until you showed up."
"I'm really that stressful? I can leave if I'm disrupting the peace."
"No," Hermione looked at him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "We have things we need to work out and its better to get them resolved than living in the land of 'what-if'."
"The land of what-if?" Draco chucked.
"Always thinking about what would have happened if you had done something else. Or what if it was a different circumstance. It's where your actions weren't enough so you try to fill it in with new solutions and you lose touch with the reality of the situation."
"Ah." Draco's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion as he thought about what she said. "What ever happened with Voldemort after the attack in Hogsmeade?"
"Nothing happened. It was weird. Harry hasn't heard or seen anything of him since. We better be heading back," Hermione used her hand on his shoulder to lift herself off the ground. Draco got up and followed her off the rock and down the hill.
"Hermione?"
"Yes?" she stopped and turned around to face him.
"I never thought I'd see you again," he admitted before walking down to where she was and pulling her into a strong hug.
"I never thought so, either," she mumbled into his chest and wrapped her arms around his middle.
"I'm sorry," he kissed the top of her hair and pulled away from her, looking ashamed.
"For what?" Hermione placed her hand on his shoulder, still finding it hard to believe that he was standing there in front of her. Still feeling her insides warm from his sweet embrace.
"For what I did with Pansy. It was completely to make you jealous and angry when you had every right to have the doubts that you did. I had them, too. I just considered what he had to precious to risk losing, but I did. I lost it," an unfamiliar burning sensation crept into his eyes and he rubbed them furiously. "What the hell is wrong with these things?" he mumbled.
"Draco, look this way," Hermione grabbed his arm and turned him to her. "Put down your hands." Draco dropped his fists obediently and Hermione's smile grew. "You big oaf, you were crying. Well, almost," she wiped the water from the bottom of his eyes gently. "Haven't you ever done that before?"
"No," Draco stared at her like she was mad. "If I had, don't you think I would've known what it was?"
"Maybe. I can't believe it," she laughed. "I made Draco Malfoy cry for the first time."
"Stuff it," he growled and started down the path leading back to the house.
"Come on, Draco. It's not a bad thing," Hermione rushed to keep up with him. "It shows that you have some emotion hidden in that horribly skinny body of yours, though I'm not sure where." she grabbed his arm again and spun him around to face her. His face had gone back to its usual, gaunt look.
Since she had last seen him, he had become more hollow, the only thing making his body look somewhat healthy being muscle. His hair was longer than it had been and hung lossely by his ears. He also had grown, if possible, paler. His skin was nearly translucent. Hermione ran her finger over one of the veins showing in his neck. "Having emotion isn't a bad thing. But your not eating, that is bad," she smiled wickedly.
"I eat when I have the chance," he weakly defended himself. He was too busy looking in her hazel eyes to think. He held out his hand and grabbed hers. It was really there this time.
"Which obviously isn't very often," she used his trademark sneer against him.
"No, it's not. Now, stop stealing my facial expressions," he sneered right back. "They look better on me."
"Do not! And, even if they do, what are you going to do about it?" she raised her eyebrows questioningly.
He paused for a moment, pulling his eyes away from hers to look her over and then meeting up with them again, "Steal your breath away," he answered smoothly.
"And what, pray tell, makes you think you have any effect over my breath?" Hermione laughed.
"This," Draco placed his hands on her waist, leaned down, and captured her lips with his own. Hermione just stood there stiffly for a moment and then responded. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer into a soft, beautiful kiss that held the passion that they had saved for each other over five years. After a moment, she pulled away, flustered.
"Okay, you win," she laughed. "My breath was yours."
"Not even five years can change that," he smiled, but it quickly faded. "We can't get into this again," he blurted out and Hermione glared at him.
"Explain what that meant," she snapped angrily.
"Look, we're still from opposite sides of the world, Hermione. You're from the Ministry of Magic and I'm from Azkaban Bound Prisoners United," he laughed weakly. "Let's face it, even if Harry does convince the aurors, he's not going to convince the world. Everyone will still hate me and I don't want to get you caught up in that."
"No way, Draco. I don't care what the hell happens. Whether people hate you or not doesn't matter to me. Everyone hates me anyway. I've been moping around for five years, bitching people out for the tiniest thing and blaming them for my misery when it was truthfully entirely my fault because I pushed you away back at Hogwarts. I've been miserable because I was without you. I let you go five years ago and I'm NOT going to be stupid enough to let you do it now, mister," Hermione poked her finger in his face, yelling her rant loud enough for all of Basel to hear it. "I couldn't say this then, but I need to say it now," Hermione paused and took a deep breath. "I love you."
"Hermione-" Draco began.
"Don't argue. I haven't stopped thinking about you since I chased after your carriage on graduation day. You haunt my dreams and infest my thoughts. Ask Harry! I've been pining about you ever since that horrible day. I told him after graduation. I was a little drunk on butterbeer, forgive me. He was mad at first, but then he helped me through it, his most recent way being sending me here. Don't make me go through all that again. Don't make the miserable old twenty-three year old hag for a second time."
"Iloveyoutoo," Draco blurted quickly before she could cut him off again.
"What?" Hermione's face squinted up in confusion.
"Need me to say it again?" he laughed and took her chin in his hand. "I love you. Want proof? I've got about seventy-eight mournful songs written about you up in my suitcase. On the last day of Hogwarts, I had to force myself to sit straight in my carriage so I wouldn't turn around and run back to you. Wow, this is all happening really fast," he put his hand to his head. "First, I was running away from Aurors, then I saw you, next you put that silly spell on me to see if I was lying, and now we're saying things that have been cooped up inside of us because we were too stupid to say them five years ago. My head hurts."
Hermione laughed and grabbed his hand, "Let's get you some food," she dragged him down the hill. "If you don't fill out more, I'll have to dump your skinny butt. I can't stand guys who weigh less than me."
An hour later, the two of them were sitting above Basel, eating sandwiches, and talking about what happened after Hogwarts; they were both still avoiding the topic of what went on during school.
"So you lived in America and then stayed with Blaise Zabini for three months. You moved all around the world for a crime you didn't commit? Well, commit willingly," Hermione stared at him in amazement.
"It wasn't all bad," Draco bit into the peanut butter sandwich. "I got to see Blaise's baby being born," a small smile crept onto his face.
"Really?"
"Yeah. She was beautiful. Holding a newborn baby in your arms changes your views on a lot of things," Draco's eyes wandered from the view below them to Hermione.
"Such as?" she looked back at him curiously.
"The value of life. How even something that seems to be useless can turn into something amazing. The purest things are the most beautiful."
"It sounds like you picked up a lot of things from that baby," Hermione smiled weakly.
"Yes, I did. I learned how to play nanny for an infant," Draco chuckled. "Two months of slobber and dirty diapers."
"Fun," Hermione laughed.
"What about you? I heard you got a marriage proposal thrown at you."
"You mean Ron? Yeah, the ring was thrown at me. By a ruddy owl. He didn't even have the consideration to be face to face when he asked me to marry him," Hermione snorted.
"So I suppose you turned him down?" Draco stared at her with interest.
"Yes. Ron's a good friend and all, but I couldn't stand having to spend every day and every night with him."
"Oh, I see. You work at the Ministry of Magic, right? How is that?"
"Stressful," Hermione laughed. "Between the stress I put on myself there and the horrible attitude I had toward the rest of the world, I ran myself into an inescapable rut. That's why Harry sent me here. To relax for a week."
"Has it been working?" Draco turned away from her and bit into his sandwich.
"It was. Until you showed up."
"I'm really that stressful? I can leave if I'm disrupting the peace."
"No," Hermione looked at him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "We have things we need to work out and its better to get them resolved than living in the land of 'what-if'."
"The land of what-if?" Draco chucked.
"Always thinking about what would have happened if you had done something else. Or what if it was a different circumstance. It's where your actions weren't enough so you try to fill it in with new solutions and you lose touch with the reality of the situation."
"Ah." Draco's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion as he thought about what she said. "What ever happened with Voldemort after the attack in Hogsmeade?"
"Nothing happened. It was weird. Harry hasn't heard or seen anything of him since. We better be heading back," Hermione used her hand on his shoulder to lift herself off the ground. Draco got up and followed her off the rock and down the hill.
"Hermione?"
"Yes?" she stopped and turned around to face him.
"I never thought I'd see you again," he admitted before walking down to where she was and pulling her into a strong hug.
"I never thought so, either," she mumbled into his chest and wrapped her arms around his middle.
"I'm sorry," he kissed the top of her hair and pulled away from her, looking ashamed.
"For what?" Hermione placed her hand on his shoulder, still finding it hard to believe that he was standing there in front of her. Still feeling her insides warm from his sweet embrace.
"For what I did with Pansy. It was completely to make you jealous and angry when you had every right to have the doubts that you did. I had them, too. I just considered what he had to precious to risk losing, but I did. I lost it," an unfamiliar burning sensation crept into his eyes and he rubbed them furiously. "What the hell is wrong with these things?" he mumbled.
"Draco, look this way," Hermione grabbed his arm and turned him to her. "Put down your hands." Draco dropped his fists obediently and Hermione's smile grew. "You big oaf, you were crying. Well, almost," she wiped the water from the bottom of his eyes gently. "Haven't you ever done that before?"
"No," Draco stared at her like she was mad. "If I had, don't you think I would've known what it was?"
"Maybe. I can't believe it," she laughed. "I made Draco Malfoy cry for the first time."
"Stuff it," he growled and started down the path leading back to the house.
"Come on, Draco. It's not a bad thing," Hermione rushed to keep up with him. "It shows that you have some emotion hidden in that horribly skinny body of yours, though I'm not sure where." she grabbed his arm again and spun him around to face her. His face had gone back to its usual, gaunt look.
Since she had last seen him, he had become more hollow, the only thing making his body look somewhat healthy being muscle. His hair was longer than it had been and hung lossely by his ears. He also had grown, if possible, paler. His skin was nearly translucent. Hermione ran her finger over one of the veins showing in his neck. "Having emotion isn't a bad thing. But your not eating, that is bad," she smiled wickedly.
"I eat when I have the chance," he weakly defended himself. He was too busy looking in her hazel eyes to think. He held out his hand and grabbed hers. It was really there this time.
"Which obviously isn't very often," she used his trademark sneer against him.
"No, it's not. Now, stop stealing my facial expressions," he sneered right back. "They look better on me."
"Do not! And, even if they do, what are you going to do about it?" she raised her eyebrows questioningly.
He paused for a moment, pulling his eyes away from hers to look her over and then meeting up with them again, "Steal your breath away," he answered smoothly.
"And what, pray tell, makes you think you have any effect over my breath?" Hermione laughed.
"This," Draco placed his hands on her waist, leaned down, and captured her lips with his own. Hermione just stood there stiffly for a moment and then responded. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer into a soft, beautiful kiss that held the passion that they had saved for each other over five years. After a moment, she pulled away, flustered.
"Okay, you win," she laughed. "My breath was yours."
"Not even five years can change that," he smiled, but it quickly faded. "We can't get into this again," he blurted out and Hermione glared at him.
"Explain what that meant," she snapped angrily.
"Look, we're still from opposite sides of the world, Hermione. You're from the Ministry of Magic and I'm from Azkaban Bound Prisoners United," he laughed weakly. "Let's face it, even if Harry does convince the aurors, he's not going to convince the world. Everyone will still hate me and I don't want to get you caught up in that."
"No way, Draco. I don't care what the hell happens. Whether people hate you or not doesn't matter to me. Everyone hates me anyway. I've been moping around for five years, bitching people out for the tiniest thing and blaming them for my misery when it was truthfully entirely my fault because I pushed you away back at Hogwarts. I've been miserable because I was without you. I let you go five years ago and I'm NOT going to be stupid enough to let you do it now, mister," Hermione poked her finger in his face, yelling her rant loud enough for all of Basel to hear it. "I couldn't say this then, but I need to say it now," Hermione paused and took a deep breath. "I love you."
"Hermione-" Draco began.
"Don't argue. I haven't stopped thinking about you since I chased after your carriage on graduation day. You haunt my dreams and infest my thoughts. Ask Harry! I've been pining about you ever since that horrible day. I told him after graduation. I was a little drunk on butterbeer, forgive me. He was mad at first, but then he helped me through it, his most recent way being sending me here. Don't make me go through all that again. Don't make the miserable old twenty-three year old hag for a second time."
"Iloveyoutoo," Draco blurted quickly before she could cut him off again.
"What?" Hermione's face squinted up in confusion.
"Need me to say it again?" he laughed and took her chin in his hand. "I love you. Want proof? I've got about seventy-eight mournful songs written about you up in my suitcase. On the last day of Hogwarts, I had to force myself to sit straight in my carriage so I wouldn't turn around and run back to you. Wow, this is all happening really fast," he put his hand to his head. "First, I was running away from Aurors, then I saw you, next you put that silly spell on me to see if I was lying, and now we're saying things that have been cooped up inside of us because we were too stupid to say them five years ago. My head hurts."
Hermione laughed and grabbed his hand, "Let's get you some food," she dragged him down the hill. "If you don't fill out more, I'll have to dump your skinny butt. I can't stand guys who weigh less than me."