Disclaimer: I do not own anything in affiliation with Harry Potter or JKR. Nor Do I own the song The Best Of Me by The Starting Line.
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lyrics
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A/N: I want to thank everyone who reviewed for chapter 2. I love you guys!
- PsYcHoJo- I just had to add the 'him smelling like her' thing. It just seemed too cute for him to notice that!
- lala- thanks so much for the review!
- some13- Awww, thanks for wishing me a happy birthday. You are too cute!
- Winter Fae- Thanks so much fir the review! It really made my day that you liked my story.
- wutever- Yay! You reviewed both chapters! Thanks so much!
- Draco'a Draca- I'm so glad you noticed my birthday announcement! I loved your review so much, it made me giggle. And if you still think you might want to beta, I wrote you an email about it.
THANKS EVERYONE YOU GUYS ARE MY HEROES!!!
Chapter 3: Reflections
When they look back at those first two days, Draco and Hermione can still feel the confusion. This is one of the main reasons why most people don't actually hear the story of how 'The Couple' had started. In a school like Hogwarts, most secrets don't stay that way long. Yet this has been one that has been kept all these years.
Maybe Hermione doesn't want to tell people because she seems so emotional in the stories. That's not something that she really likes to be, so I guess one can understand why she wouldn't want everyone to know.
And maybe Draco doesn't want to tell people because he seems so very nice and comforting in the stories. Although, whether or not people would actually believe that he was is a good question.
Yet, the funny thing is, that when the two of them look back on those times. The qualities that they don't want people to know about are the very ones that made them so intrigued with one another. Funny, isn't it, how life works.
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here we lay again
on two separate beds
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After the meeting, Hermione had started directly towards the Gryffindor common room. She knew that Ron and Harry would want to talk to her about the meeting, but she also knew that she didn't want to talk about it at all.
As she walked through the portrait, she looked around the room and felt a sense of home start to seep through her. This is where she belonged. In this safe, cozy, warm room. A place that was always filled with people she knew, things she understood, and nothing that would ever hurt her.
She started to make her way to the girl's dormitory and suddenly remembered that, since she was Head Girl, she had her own room in Gryffindor. So, she made her way to her new bedroom, and soon found herself fast asleep and dreaming. In her dreams was one slightly mysterious, gorgeous, and confusing jerkoff that had held her as she cried that night.
Draco had tuned out most of the Head's meeting, preferring instead to over analyze what had happened with Hermione. This is what he seemed to do with everything. Over analyze, all the time. It was crazy really; that he had not stopped thinking about her and what had happened. Crazy that he had made it through the hallways, into his room, and on the bed without ever realizing it.
Crazy. That's what she was. Why he had even had the slightest urge to comfort her was lost on Draco. She was just a stupid, little, bitchy girl. He knew that he shouldn't waste anytime on her. But he was. Oh God he was, and he didn't know why.
The next day came with frustrations running high. Oh sure, most everyone was enjoying being back at school with their friends. And no one was really dreading classes yet. But there Hermione sat, eating breakfast, talking to her friends, and she couldn't for the life of her be excited for the day to come.
"Hey, 'Mione, can you believe we have double potions today? I thought you told us the schedules would be different than last year! This is horrible." Whined Ron as he ate his breakfast.
"Well, I thought they were going to, but I guess they aren't." Hermione said, trying as best as she could to get the topic off of her. "Anyway, what's wrong with double potions on Mondays? We have to have it sometime. Sheesh."
"Well, sorry. I guess someone had a bad meeting last night." Said Ron.
"Yeah, what happened anyway?" Asked Harry.
"It was fine." Gritted out Hermione. This is when she tuned them out. Slowly replaying what had happened that night. And as she did she turned her head to see him, from far across the room.
"Draco, honey, you're sitting next to me in potions right?" Asked Pansy as she turned her bright green eyes on him.
"Yeah, yeah sure, whatever you say." Draco mumbled, not really paying attention to the pretty girl next to him.
"You sound like you don't even want to. So you don't have to, I don't care, really. Leave me alone, see if I care." Pansy said.
"Pansy, I am sitting next to you! For goodness sakes, will you just calm down okay. Your freaking me out, literally, sometimes you are so controlling." Shouted Draco, his frustration finally reaching their limit. This is when he stopped listening to her whining. And he found himself looking around the hall, searching her out. Then he saw her, and to his surprise, she was looking at him.
"Malfoy! Please turn around. Come on!" Hermione yelled after his receding figure.
"What, Granger, what do you want to talk about?" Draco asked, giving her a vicious glare.
"About last night Malfoy. About what happened." She said, pleading with him with her eyes.
"What? I'm not sure I know what you're talking about. Maybe you're wrong, maybe nothing happened." He said. Not knowing why he was doing this to her, yet knowing that he couldn't talk to her about what had happened.
"God, come on Draco, don't do this, don't be stupid. We are talking about this. I do not care what you say. Follow me; we'll go talk in the old charms room." She said forcefully.
And something in what she said and how she said it made Draco follow her. So they made their way through the winding hallways of Hogwarts. On the surface they looked like any random two students at the magical school. Yet if you could really look at them, at their spirit, you would have seen something totally unique right then. Something that was connecting the two of them, and at the same time was pulling them apart.
"So, I guess I just wanted to say sorry. And thank you. Yeah, sorry and thank you. Sorry for crying on you, that was just stupid. And I wanted to say thanks, for uh, for letting me cry on you, for being a decent human being for once." Hermione sputtered out. Relieved to finally have it off of her chest.
"Well that was beautiful Hermione, it really was, but I'm not sure I accept your apology. And for one thing, I have been being a decent human being, as you would say, since that talk we had last year, so don't even try to pull that." He said back to her as his voice slowly rose in volume.
"What do you mean you don't accept my apology? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She asked, and now she was mad, there was anger in voice and a little bit of hatred.
"It's supposed to mean that I'm not going to accept an apology that I don't understand. I don't know why I wanted to comfort you, okay? I have no idea. I also have no freaking idea why you were so sad last night. No, I'm not going to let you off the hook until you tell me what happened out there. No way." Draco yelled, suddenly extremely caught up in their conversation.
"You want to know why I was sad? Yeah right. That is such shit. You just can't believe you actually had feelings last night. I don't know why I even wanted to talk to you!" She shouted.
"You wanted to talk to me?" He asked, completely surprised, "Why, why would you want to do that? Come on Hermione, talk to Draco, you wanted to last night, why can't you know?"
"Shut up!" She shouted, "God, for once in your life stop being an asshole and talk to someone."
"No, I think we've talked enough for one day Granger." He said, his voice suddenly calm. "We don't have to be friends, we don't have to talk, and we don't have to enjoy each others company, we just have to be able to finish this year as Head Boy and Girl. Okay? Good, I'm leaving."
"Fine!" She shouted. "But Draco? The truce stands, okay? I'm not going to let everything go back to the way it used to be."
"Yeah, sure. Truce stands. Whatever. Oh, and no more freaking bullshit okay? I don't know why you thought we needed this little 'talk' here, but it was totally worthless." And with that he left. Leaving Hermione all alone.
And you might have thought that she would have gathered her books and quietly gone to class. Instead, she stayed where she had been and slowly fell to the ground. Tears silently streamed down her face for some insanely unknown reason. Loud sobs erupted from her body, shaking the girl. Sadness overwhelmed her, one that she could not explain.
The boy, Draco, was walking out of the classroom when he heard the sobs of the girl coming from inside. It was then that he felt a pull toward her, one that was telling him to go comfort her. So he did, for the second time in 24 hours.
Hermione felt the arms wrap around her, and without realizing it she leaned against him, trying to get as close to him as she could. Draco laid his head on top of hers and planted one tiny kiss on her head.
"I'm sorry Hermione." He whispered, knowing that most of this was his fault. "And I forgive you, for yesterday, and for today."
"It's okay." She said in between tears. "It's okay."
That night two people quietly reflected on what had happened the past two days. They had no idea whatsoever what was going on in their worlds. They found themselves thinking about it way too much. So, they resorted to sleeping. And this led to dreaming, which led to two very confused people in the morning.
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we reflect on miscommunication
and misunderstandings
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Thanks for reading! Please review. I can't tell if I like this chapter on not so feedback would be AWESOME! Also, any idea you guys have for the upcoming chapter I would love to hear!
MY BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW!! (Monday!) I'M GOING TO BE 16!! Wooohooo!
**Tracy