A/N: Guess what? I actually have a plot now!! So, maybe, if
I can stick to it, this story will be somewhat understandable in the long run.
It's still going to be a Draco/Hermione romance (obviously) but I am adding in
quite a few other things as well. The reason I've been able to write so much is
because I've been sick (yes, I've had a fever…which would explain the odder
things in this story!). I don't know if everyone has heard President Bush
request that every American school age child donate a dollar to the Afghanisti
children, but, if you are an American school age child, please do so! Thank
you, and Peace.
DEFEATED WE RISE
Chapter Five: It's Been A Month (Maybe I Love You?)
Today
marked the one-month anniversary of my parents' death. I should have been sad,
or at least angry, infuriated. But I wasn't.
I had had a
dream last night, and my mum and dad had spoken to me. They had whispered to
me, as if from far away, making the entire affair bittersweet. Now the whole
dream came back to me, poundingly, and I was thrust back onto my pillow, when I
realized it's full extent.
It was winter. The snow was
pouring down. It blinded my path, but I kept on running. Soon, the cold
overtook me and I fell in an anguished heap. Then, I heard them cursing me, and
I knew that I had lost.
***
It was Ron. 'Mione, you wouldn't
believe it! That slimy git, Malfoy, is gone! He's gone off to Durmstrang…'
***
'One day, a day sooner perhaps
than you would like, pumpkin, you're going to need this…' after embracing me,
warmly, my father left in my palm a necklace, a necklace that would help save
me from…
***
'Love, I know this is hard to
accept. But even though he's betrayed you in the past, you've simply got to trust
the Dragon…' my mother tried to soothe my shaking head. 'Child, do not mourn
our passage. Enjoy what you still have and we will meet again…'
***
'I swear I love you…'
I broke out
in a cold sweat. In a reflexive motion, I reached for my neck, and placed
around it was the amulet my father spoke of. It let off a light blue glow, and
appeared to be an oddly shaped piece of metal. If you really squinted at it,
though, you realized that it had no shape. It simply implied that it had shape,
that it existed.
I jumped up
and wrote down everything that I remembered from my dream, even though it was
probably simply nerves and stress and probably had no meaning whatsoever. Well,
yeah, I'd believe that, only, the necklace obviously existed.
I tugged a wrinkled
robe over my head and ran a brush quickly through my hair. I was too nervous to
bother with anything else.
I went down
to breakfast, and watched numbly as Ron piled toast, eggs, and bacon on a
plate, then pushed it towards me.
"'Mione,
eat." He looked at me sternly and went back to his own breakfast. I took a bite
of toast.
It was
Saturday morning, and just as I was running towards the library, I saw Draco
come groggily down to breakfast. No one, save Harry, knew that our relationship
was any different than it had been last year, or the year before that, or the
year before that. In other words, they still thought we were mortal enemies. We
had developed a way of greeting each other, so that no one would catch on.
"Morning,
mudblood" he sneered it out, but I caught the feisty glimmer in his eyes.
"Morning to
yourself, bastard" we were constantly trying to one-up each other on the
insults.
"Christ,
'Mione, why do you put up with that?" Ron had his hands balled into two red
fists.
"Because I
can always come back with something as equally rude as he can, can't I?" Harry
snorted. "Listen, guys, I've got some research to do in the Library, so go
ahead to Hogsmeade without me today, alright?"
Harry and
Ron nodded, and Ron commented to Harry as they left, "Sure am glad she's
getting back to normal!"
I shook my
head sadly and pushed open the heavy wooden door.
Cautiously, I
approached Madame Pince, who looked as sour as ever, and asked her where I
could find books on amulets.
"Amulets?
What sort of amulet?" She eyed me suspiciously.
I spread my
hands and said, "I'm really not quite sure…"
"Well, we
have a few books in the last row on your left, but the rest are restricted, and
don't you even think about looking in that section!" She huffed and went off.
After
several hours among thick volumes of mainly useless crap, I felt a light tap on
my shoulder.
"Why aren't
you in Hogsmeade?" Malfoy was towering above me.
"Because I
had…something…to look up." I never was good at lying.
"The
Creation of Amulets, Famous Amulets, The Power of Amulets, Tricky Stones, and
Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to All Amulets?! What, exactly, are you trying to
find? And have you had any success?" He sat down opposite me.
I sighed.
"Well…no, I've not had a bit of success. You see…I had this dream, or maybe you
would call it a nightmare…and in it, my father gave me an amulet that was
supposed to protect me from…well, what from I'm not sure. But the point is,
when I woke up this morning, the amulet was around my neck."
Draco let
out a long, low whistle. "You know, I hate to sound like Professor Trelawny" I
groaned at the mention of her name "But that dream really might have been,
well, clairvoyant. Do you remember anything else from it?"
I looked
down into my lap, where my hands were twisting nervously around, destroying a
piece of parchment. "Yeah…"
"But you
don't want to talk about it. I see. I just was coming to tell you it's been a
month." With that he stood up again.
I looked up
at him. I looked at my arms, which were covered in little silvery scars, but
had no new gashes. I had gone back to living relatively normally, and I mainly
had him to thank.
I knew that
I would be bringing parts of my nightmare into existence by going forth with
this, but somehow, I felt that I would lose more should I hold back.
He had
gotten up to leave.
"Draco…" He
turned around and looked questioningly at me. "Please don't go."
***
"Draco…please
don't go." That was all she said, but I felt rooted to the spot, to her side,
for eternity.
It was
strange, how Love crept up on one.
It was strange
how close Love and Hate really were. It was unsettling how I seemed to get the
two confused.
Part of me
told myself to run, to get away while I still could, because this would only
bring heartbreak, and maybe death, for the both of us. We were dark and light,
we were like the moon and sun. The moon is condemned to forever orbit the sun,
who is condemned simply to look on. The result is eternal dark and light with
very little time in between.
Instead I
held my hand out to her, and she jumped up from her stack of books, and
together we walked down to the lake.
I wasn't
really paying attention to what she was saying as we made our way down, because
I was too wrapped up in the fact that I wanted her, badly, and that she was
completely unaware. She was the little mudblood I had nursed back to health,
and my father would kill me were any of this to get out. She was the one thing
I couldn't, wasn't allowed to have, and, by God, I would have her.
***
I wasn't
really sure what I was rambling on about. I think I was talking about amulets,
but really I was thinking about him.
I knew he
hated me; he always would, it was simply the way things were. But I couldn't
help remembering my dream, and the way I had wanted those last words, that 'I
swear I love you' to come from his lips…
I knew,
too, that he would betray me. It all made me very uneasy. Would he go to
Durmstrang? When? How much longer would I have with him? This made me feel that
time was of the essence. Everything felt terribly urgent.
My heart
was beating in my throat by the time we reached the lake. I kept casting quick
sideways glances at him, but he never once looked my way. He sat down on the
grass and motioned for me to sit next to him.
***
She sighed
as she sat down next to me. I watched as she chewed nervously on her lower lip,
as if deep in contemplation. I didn't mind the fact that it had gone quiet.
Then, her eyes flitted towards mine…
And I could
no longer resist.
I pushed
her down onto the soft, plush carpet of dying grass, and connected my lips to
her own. I took her by surprise, but only for a moment, and then, oh, lovely
day! She began to kiss me back, with an urgency I hadn't thought she held. She
kissed me as if today were her last day, as if the world would end tomorrow. I
thought of the moon and sun eclipsing, and knew that it was this often that I
would be allowed to embrace her.
I broke the
kiss and looked thoughtfully down on her. She was now blushing furiously, which
only added to the appeal in my mind. I brushed a stray hair away from her face
and closed in again. And again. And again. . .
~Well, there you have it, they're in love (awww….) so now it's
your turn to make *me* happy and REVIEW!!! Trust me, I love it when you do…~
