Chapter
Five
Hermione ran towards the lake. She considered going to her common room but she didn't trust herself to be alone there at the moment. Since Draco "saved" her the past two times she tried as much as possible slit her wrists anymore. How could she have been so stupid? Of course Draco wouldn't care for her. As Pansy said, he was destined to be with her. That thought hurt a lot. She sat on a rock at the edge of the lake and cried. After telling herself not to Hermione suddenly felt like cutting herself again. As fast as the feeling came, she put it behind her. She wasn't going to cut because of Malfoy. The cut wasn't worth it.
***
Draco was getting scared. He
looked all over the castle for Hermione but she was no where to be found.
"What if she cut herself again?" He panicked. "What if I don't get to her on time?"
He started to quicken his pace. His thoughts were driving him mad! He decided to search outside.
"Maybe she's in the forbidden forest" he though.
He ran towards the forest when he saw a figure by the lake. He approached the lake silently. Hermione was seated on a rock and was crying so hard and the cold weather made her shiver. Draco approached her silently.
"Hermione - -" he started.
Hermione visibly jumped when she heard Draco's voice. She wasn't aware of his presence. She ignored him and continued to cry.
Draco didn't know what to say. He just stood there for a while when he noticed that her arm was bruised. He grabbed her arm to take a closer look. He saw her wince so he loosened his grip.
"Did Pansy do this to you?" He asked with his voice cold and void of emotion. His voice scared her.
"She did." Hermione managed to say through her tears. She looked up at hi. Draco looked like he could kill someone.
"What did she tell you?" he asked trying to calm himself. He was so furious right now. He was going to strangle Pansy. "No one was going to hurt Hermione and get away with it while he was around." He thought. He felt unsettled by his sudden insight.
"She s-said t-that…" she stopped to wipe away her tears and continued. "She said that both of you were fated to be together," she said quickly with tears streaming down her cheeks again. "Is it true?" she asked after a few moments of stillness, dreading the answer.
Draco stared at her. He knew that what Pansy said was true but he didn't know how to tell her.
"It is." He finally managed to say.
Hermione looked up at him with her eyes filled with anguish. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying but to Draco, she looked more beautiful that ever. He saw through her. He saw that aside from this depression, she was a beautiful girl filled with happiness and optimism. He suddenly regretted what he said when Hermione broke eye contact and started to walk away.
"Hermione" he called, finding his voice. She stopped for a while and he walked over to her. "It's not like I wanted this to happen. Please don't walk away. Lets talk, I don't like seeing you hurt." He whispered.
She started to walk away again. She was crying so hard she could hardly see and she was shivering so hard. He watched her for a while then, in three strides Draco caught up with her, turned her around and kissed her.
***
Kissing her was the best thing Draco did. When they parted Draco hugged Hermione and noticed, for the third time that she was still shivering. He took off his cloak and put it on her. The silence that followed was deafening.
"What is going to happen now?" Hermione asked, breaking the silence. Draco thought for a while before answering her. He knew that he was putting Hermione in danger by just kissing her but his insides were telling him that this was the right thing. He realized that he cared about her and he wanted to ward danger away from her. He sighed.
"I don't know." He finally said. "I'll worry about Pansy and my future later, but right now; I just want to spend my time with you. I can't really promise you that we'll be together forever but I'm willing to give you what we have now." He said holding her tighter.
"I guess I'll take that chance Draco." She said before he bent down and kissed her again. After a while, their lips parted and they headed for the castle hand in hand.
~*~
Pansy emerged form her hiding place behind a tree when Draco and Hermione left. She came from a meeting with her father and the Dark Lord in the forbidden forest when she saw drama between the two. "I'll take that chance MY ASS!" she thought bitterly.
"That bitch will pay" she muttered. "She will pay" she thought to herself as she stomped off to the castle with an idea forming in her head.
