Author's Note: I didn't know how to make Hagrid talk, you know, in his
special way of talking, so forgive me if he talks in an ordinary way. :-)
Thanks for the reviews, everyone!
The One: Don't worry, I remember very clearly everything I wrote, and there was a reason I put Lavender with Seamus and immediately after that with Ron. That was because, as you can read in this chapter, Lavender is a very shallow and superficial girl. She isn't very stable in her relationships. I wanted to show that Ron didn't make a better choice than Hermione did, so he didn't have any right to yell at her. OK? But I must tell you, you read very carefully, thank you for that. :-) I wondered if anyone would actually notice that tiny detail.
Until My Dying Day
By Roni Black
Chapter Six
Two weeks passed by. Harry and Ron weren't talking to Hermione at all now, and it hurt Hermione terribly, but she was still happier than ever before.
"What d'you feel, Hermione?" asked Hagrid. She had come to visit him, and they were sitting and drinking hot chocolate-milk.
The question surprised her.
"D'you think I don't know?" said Hagrid and smiled at her over his cup. "I've seen you with Draco out there in the garden..." he pointed to his window, "you two seem so happy, it was a pleasure watching you."
Hermione blushed. She stared at her cup. How was she going to tell him that Draco had really changed? That he wasn't the same idiot he used to be? Would he believe her?
"Harry and Ron aren't talking to you, do they?" asked Hagrid.
Hermione raised her eyes, her mouth slightly open. "How did you know?"
"I know you three," said Hagrid. "They don't accept this. Of course they don't."
"They won't even listen!" said Hermione desparately. "He's really changed, but they don't believe - "
"Tell me, Hermione," said Hagrid.
"Tell you what?" Hermione was confused.
"Tell me about Draco," Hagrid took a big sip and put the cup on the table. He leaned in and folded his arms. "I'll believe you, Hermione. I promise."
Hermione stared at him for a moment and smiled. Then she began to tell.
Her story wasn't long. She described what Draco had told her about his parents, and how he had really changed. But she talked for at least fifteen minutes about how much she loved Draco, and how much he loved her. "It's something I've never felt before," said Hermione with tears in her eyes. "I've never loved anyone as much as I love him."
"Are you angry?" asked Hagrid.
Hermione lowered her eyes and thought before answering. "I'm a little angry," she finally admitted. "I don't understand why Lavender Brown, who has never been a very good friend of mine, understands that I love Draco - but my best friends don't."
"Because mostly, people don't change," explained Hagrid. "I believe Draco has, Hermione. I truly believe you. I trust your judgement. But Harry and Ron find it much more difficult, because they used to hate Draco for six years."
Hermione sighed. "Next Saturday is the first Quidditch match... Gryffindor versus Slytherin. What if Draco beats Harry?"
"That would make things much more difficult," said Hagrid.
"It sure would," Hermione sighed and gazed out of the window.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The week passed slowly for Hermione. She couldn't spend a lot of time with Draco, as she got used to doing in the past few weeks, because he was busy with Quidditch practice almost every evening. Instead, she hung out with Lavender and Parvati. They were nice to her, but totally shallow. They talked about nothing but boys. Parvati kept describing her kisses with Seamus in such a lyrical way, that Hermione was going nuts with boredom.
She tried to put more effort into her studies, and sat down in the long evenings, memorizing things she had already memorized ten times before. After finishing her homework, which took her very little time, she had nothing to do. She thought Ginny might support her, but Ginny was busy with her boyfriend Dean Thomas, and they were both bust with Quidditch practice too. Ginny was a Chaser, and Dean was one of the beaters. Harry, as the captain, was just as enthusiastic as Oliver Wood and Angelina Johnson used to be, and forced the team to practice every evening.
Hermione missed Draco, Harry and Ron so much. The only thing she could do now was thinking about which team she was going to support - Gryffindor or Slytherin. She couldn't betray Gryffindor, and although she felt as if she didn't have friends there anymore, it was still her own house. On the other hand, she couldn't let Draco down. She couldn't support Gryffindor ONLY.
On Friday night, she decided she was going to support both teams. She would wear red, but put on many green ribbons.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
And so she did. Just before the match, she hurried over to Draco, hugged him and wished him good luck. Harry and Ron shot dirty looks at them.
"Good luck!" Hermione cried to the Gryffindor team. Ginny and Jessica were the only ones who thanked her. The others remained silent.
Hermione got back to her seat, near Lavender and Parvati, who were covered from head to toe with red ribbons.
Luna Lovegood was the commentator this time. It was her first time as a commentator, and Professor McGonagall had to push her gently to remind her to comment, since she was daydreaming.
"Oh! Sorry, everyone - " Luna began talking quickly into the magical loudspeaker. "And here they go! The Gryffindor team - should I say their names, Professor?"
After receiving a cold look from McGonagall, Luna went on: "And the Gryffindors are soaring! Harry Potter as the Seeker - he's also the captain, and a very good one, might I say. Two of the Weasleys are there - Ronald as the Keeper and Ginny as one of the Chasers. Jessica Laurens and Natalie McDonald are the other Chasers - they are new in the team - Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan are the Beaters, and yes, I think that's all, am I right, Professor?"
Nobody heard Professor McGonagall's answer, except Luna. "So, the Slytherin team - Draco Malfoy, the captain and the Seeker - Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle are the Beaters - Montague, Warrington and Blaise Zabini are the Chasers - Bletchly is the Keeper, yeah, that's all."
"Will you tell us what goes on in the match, Miss Lovegood?" said Professor McGonagall irritably.
"Of course, Professor, I'm sorry. So, Gryffindor is in the lead. Jessica Laurens is with the Quaffle - flying towards the goals - avoiding a bludger sent by Crabbe - GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"
"All right!" shouted Lavender and Parvati happily. Hermione merely smiled, and watched Draco, who was hovering around the Slytherin goals. Harry was at the other side of the pitch, chatting with Jessica.
Thirty minutes later...
"ONE HUNDRED FIFTY TO ZERO!" shouted Luna, and the crowd went wild with cheers. "Looks like Gryffindor is going to win easily - "
Luna stopped dead. Her face went white. Then everybody heard the immense cheering from the Slytherin stands.
"No! No!" shouted Lavender and Parvati, but it was too late. Draco had got the Snitch, because Harry was busy talking to Jessica.
"A tie," announced Luna weakly. "I don't believe it. A tie."
Draco soared high, his fist in the air and the Snitch in his hand. He made it. He couldn't believe it - he got the Snitch before Harry did. He hadn't won, but he didn't lose.
"What do you do when there's a tie?" asked Luna into the loudspeaker.
Madam Hooch went up to the louspeaker, taking it from Luna. "In case of a tie," she announced, "we give both teams half the points - which means twenty-five points. We will just sum the points up at the end of the year, and as usual, the team with the highest score - wins the Quidditch Cup."
Five minutes later, Hermione ran towards Draco and hugged him tightly. "I'm so proud of you," she told him, "you flew so well."
"Thank you," he replied and kissed her. Hermione then turned to look at Harry, Ron and the rest of the team, who were gazing at her furiously.
I knew it, she said miserable to herself. Slytherin didn't win, but Draco beat Harry. Will it ever be forgiven?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Whenever Hermione saw Harry or Ron in the following weeks, they shot nasty looks at her. She was hurt, and sometimes she would ask herself: Hermione, what did you do? Why did you give up your two best friends?
And then she would look into Draco's beautiful eyes, find so much love in there for her, and feel herself filling up with happiness. Then she would tell herself: this is why. He is the reason I gave up my best friends. He is the best thing that ever happened to me, what does everything else matter?
It was true. She was happier with Draco than she had ever thought one could be happy. He was also her best friend now, and she found out he wasn't a bad replacement after all. He was mature and clever. They spent hours talking, telling each other every single detail about themselves, everything from their past, their plans for the future.
"What do you want to do after school?" Draco once asked.
"I want to be an Auror. I want to protect the world from a new Voldemort. How about you?"
"I want to work for Gringotts. They want Arithmacy, and this is my favorite subject."
"Really? I didn't know you liked Arithmacy."
"Yeah, I've always liked it..." and they kept on talking...
Draco was happy too. For the first time in his life, he felt he wasn't alone. When his mother lived, he knew she was there for him, but he also knew she was his father's slave. She had to do everything he told her, or he just cast the Cruicatus on her. She was usually too afraid to help. Lucius also didn't like the idea of his wife talking to their son too much - he thought she might give him ideas. So Draco had never had a good, long conversation with his own mother; the kind of conversation he enjoyed now with Hermione.
Hermione was his love, his best friend, his whole life. He went to bed every night eagerly waiting for tomorrow, when he sees her again. She was his reason for waking up every morning. She gave meaning to his life. He loved her more than he had ever loved a person in his life. He loved every little part of her - her big, sweet, chocolate-brown eyes, her beautiful hair, her cherry lips, her shaped body; he loved her voice, he loved listening to her, he loved talking to her.
The only wish he had was to spend the rest of his life with her, and make her happy. That was all he wanted.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
REVIEWS! I WANT REVIEWS! PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE!!!!!!!
Thanks for the reviews, everyone!
The One: Don't worry, I remember very clearly everything I wrote, and there was a reason I put Lavender with Seamus and immediately after that with Ron. That was because, as you can read in this chapter, Lavender is a very shallow and superficial girl. She isn't very stable in her relationships. I wanted to show that Ron didn't make a better choice than Hermione did, so he didn't have any right to yell at her. OK? But I must tell you, you read very carefully, thank you for that. :-) I wondered if anyone would actually notice that tiny detail.
Until My Dying Day
By Roni Black
Chapter Six
Two weeks passed by. Harry and Ron weren't talking to Hermione at all now, and it hurt Hermione terribly, but she was still happier than ever before.
"What d'you feel, Hermione?" asked Hagrid. She had come to visit him, and they were sitting and drinking hot chocolate-milk.
The question surprised her.
"D'you think I don't know?" said Hagrid and smiled at her over his cup. "I've seen you with Draco out there in the garden..." he pointed to his window, "you two seem so happy, it was a pleasure watching you."
Hermione blushed. She stared at her cup. How was she going to tell him that Draco had really changed? That he wasn't the same idiot he used to be? Would he believe her?
"Harry and Ron aren't talking to you, do they?" asked Hagrid.
Hermione raised her eyes, her mouth slightly open. "How did you know?"
"I know you three," said Hagrid. "They don't accept this. Of course they don't."
"They won't even listen!" said Hermione desparately. "He's really changed, but they don't believe - "
"Tell me, Hermione," said Hagrid.
"Tell you what?" Hermione was confused.
"Tell me about Draco," Hagrid took a big sip and put the cup on the table. He leaned in and folded his arms. "I'll believe you, Hermione. I promise."
Hermione stared at him for a moment and smiled. Then she began to tell.
Her story wasn't long. She described what Draco had told her about his parents, and how he had really changed. But she talked for at least fifteen minutes about how much she loved Draco, and how much he loved her. "It's something I've never felt before," said Hermione with tears in her eyes. "I've never loved anyone as much as I love him."
"Are you angry?" asked Hagrid.
Hermione lowered her eyes and thought before answering. "I'm a little angry," she finally admitted. "I don't understand why Lavender Brown, who has never been a very good friend of mine, understands that I love Draco - but my best friends don't."
"Because mostly, people don't change," explained Hagrid. "I believe Draco has, Hermione. I truly believe you. I trust your judgement. But Harry and Ron find it much more difficult, because they used to hate Draco for six years."
Hermione sighed. "Next Saturday is the first Quidditch match... Gryffindor versus Slytherin. What if Draco beats Harry?"
"That would make things much more difficult," said Hagrid.
"It sure would," Hermione sighed and gazed out of the window.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The week passed slowly for Hermione. She couldn't spend a lot of time with Draco, as she got used to doing in the past few weeks, because he was busy with Quidditch practice almost every evening. Instead, she hung out with Lavender and Parvati. They were nice to her, but totally shallow. They talked about nothing but boys. Parvati kept describing her kisses with Seamus in such a lyrical way, that Hermione was going nuts with boredom.
She tried to put more effort into her studies, and sat down in the long evenings, memorizing things she had already memorized ten times before. After finishing her homework, which took her very little time, she had nothing to do. She thought Ginny might support her, but Ginny was busy with her boyfriend Dean Thomas, and they were both bust with Quidditch practice too. Ginny was a Chaser, and Dean was one of the beaters. Harry, as the captain, was just as enthusiastic as Oliver Wood and Angelina Johnson used to be, and forced the team to practice every evening.
Hermione missed Draco, Harry and Ron so much. The only thing she could do now was thinking about which team she was going to support - Gryffindor or Slytherin. She couldn't betray Gryffindor, and although she felt as if she didn't have friends there anymore, it was still her own house. On the other hand, she couldn't let Draco down. She couldn't support Gryffindor ONLY.
On Friday night, she decided she was going to support both teams. She would wear red, but put on many green ribbons.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
And so she did. Just before the match, she hurried over to Draco, hugged him and wished him good luck. Harry and Ron shot dirty looks at them.
"Good luck!" Hermione cried to the Gryffindor team. Ginny and Jessica were the only ones who thanked her. The others remained silent.
Hermione got back to her seat, near Lavender and Parvati, who were covered from head to toe with red ribbons.
Luna Lovegood was the commentator this time. It was her first time as a commentator, and Professor McGonagall had to push her gently to remind her to comment, since she was daydreaming.
"Oh! Sorry, everyone - " Luna began talking quickly into the magical loudspeaker. "And here they go! The Gryffindor team - should I say their names, Professor?"
After receiving a cold look from McGonagall, Luna went on: "And the Gryffindors are soaring! Harry Potter as the Seeker - he's also the captain, and a very good one, might I say. Two of the Weasleys are there - Ronald as the Keeper and Ginny as one of the Chasers. Jessica Laurens and Natalie McDonald are the other Chasers - they are new in the team - Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan are the Beaters, and yes, I think that's all, am I right, Professor?"
Nobody heard Professor McGonagall's answer, except Luna. "So, the Slytherin team - Draco Malfoy, the captain and the Seeker - Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle are the Beaters - Montague, Warrington and Blaise Zabini are the Chasers - Bletchly is the Keeper, yeah, that's all."
"Will you tell us what goes on in the match, Miss Lovegood?" said Professor McGonagall irritably.
"Of course, Professor, I'm sorry. So, Gryffindor is in the lead. Jessica Laurens is with the Quaffle - flying towards the goals - avoiding a bludger sent by Crabbe - GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"
"All right!" shouted Lavender and Parvati happily. Hermione merely smiled, and watched Draco, who was hovering around the Slytherin goals. Harry was at the other side of the pitch, chatting with Jessica.
Thirty minutes later...
"ONE HUNDRED FIFTY TO ZERO!" shouted Luna, and the crowd went wild with cheers. "Looks like Gryffindor is going to win easily - "
Luna stopped dead. Her face went white. Then everybody heard the immense cheering from the Slytherin stands.
"No! No!" shouted Lavender and Parvati, but it was too late. Draco had got the Snitch, because Harry was busy talking to Jessica.
"A tie," announced Luna weakly. "I don't believe it. A tie."
Draco soared high, his fist in the air and the Snitch in his hand. He made it. He couldn't believe it - he got the Snitch before Harry did. He hadn't won, but he didn't lose.
"What do you do when there's a tie?" asked Luna into the loudspeaker.
Madam Hooch went up to the louspeaker, taking it from Luna. "In case of a tie," she announced, "we give both teams half the points - which means twenty-five points. We will just sum the points up at the end of the year, and as usual, the team with the highest score - wins the Quidditch Cup."
Five minutes later, Hermione ran towards Draco and hugged him tightly. "I'm so proud of you," she told him, "you flew so well."
"Thank you," he replied and kissed her. Hermione then turned to look at Harry, Ron and the rest of the team, who were gazing at her furiously.
I knew it, she said miserable to herself. Slytherin didn't win, but Draco beat Harry. Will it ever be forgiven?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Whenever Hermione saw Harry or Ron in the following weeks, they shot nasty looks at her. She was hurt, and sometimes she would ask herself: Hermione, what did you do? Why did you give up your two best friends?
And then she would look into Draco's beautiful eyes, find so much love in there for her, and feel herself filling up with happiness. Then she would tell herself: this is why. He is the reason I gave up my best friends. He is the best thing that ever happened to me, what does everything else matter?
It was true. She was happier with Draco than she had ever thought one could be happy. He was also her best friend now, and she found out he wasn't a bad replacement after all. He was mature and clever. They spent hours talking, telling each other every single detail about themselves, everything from their past, their plans for the future.
"What do you want to do after school?" Draco once asked.
"I want to be an Auror. I want to protect the world from a new Voldemort. How about you?"
"I want to work for Gringotts. They want Arithmacy, and this is my favorite subject."
"Really? I didn't know you liked Arithmacy."
"Yeah, I've always liked it..." and they kept on talking...
Draco was happy too. For the first time in his life, he felt he wasn't alone. When his mother lived, he knew she was there for him, but he also knew she was his father's slave. She had to do everything he told her, or he just cast the Cruicatus on her. She was usually too afraid to help. Lucius also didn't like the idea of his wife talking to their son too much - he thought she might give him ideas. So Draco had never had a good, long conversation with his own mother; the kind of conversation he enjoyed now with Hermione.
Hermione was his love, his best friend, his whole life. He went to bed every night eagerly waiting for tomorrow, when he sees her again. She was his reason for waking up every morning. She gave meaning to his life. He loved her more than he had ever loved a person in his life. He loved every little part of her - her big, sweet, chocolate-brown eyes, her beautiful hair, her cherry lips, her shaped body; he loved her voice, he loved listening to her, he loved talking to her.
The only wish he had was to spend the rest of his life with her, and make her happy. That was all he wanted.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
REVIEWS! I WANT REVIEWS! PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE!!!!!!!