No Tomorrow
Chapter 9: An Unexpected Reunion
Author's Note: Firstly, thank you to everyone who has been reading my fanfic. It's very encouraging to read your comments and it helps me get motivated to finish my story. Secondly, I hope the last chapter helped explain why Draco had suddenly become "nice". I had a few people comment on how weird it was and I figured it owed it to my readers to slip in an explanation. Thirdly, I hope you continue to read my story and comment on it. I have 4 other stories, 2 finished and 2 in progress in case you ever want to read those. Happy reading! Oh, and I'll work on the paragraph spacing.
Hermione sat on her queen sized bed with a sketch book and a very nice set of colored pencils completing a sketch of an outfit she was creating. It had a bit of a mob look to it, but she found it to be incredibly sexy but very professional. With black pants and a white poplin shirt, she gave the drawing strappy black shoes, a gray fedora hat and red tie.
She had enjoyed her job as a page girl at the fashion company she had been working for, but she found herself craving for more. She received a decent wage and her employees were all very helpful in educating her in the fashion profession, but something inside of her scream and screamed until she finally picked up a pencil and began sketching out a fashion line for Muggles and witches alike.
She had been working at the corporation for six months. She worked overtime and weekends to earn up enough money to buy herself new furniture for her flat. Her manager even gave her a raise because of how proud he was of her work ethic. She also had another reason for needing so much money. There was a small store very close to her residence that would be perfect for opening up a boutique. No one's been in it for about two years and she was very close to having enough to buy it out. She unfortunately was not able to receive a loan because she had no real collateral, so day and night for six full months she worked as hard as she could so that she could become the owner of this store.
She put down the sketchbook and laid it out on her table. She had been studying different sewing and tailoring spells so that she could mass produce her clothing. With Ginny's help, whom she visited on a regular basis not only to catch up but to also help out with her children, she soon mastered the art of cutting, measuring and sewing patterned clothes. Hermione was incredibly excited for the next few months to come.
She had healed very nicely in the past months. She had gained back the weight she lost while she was in the hospital, she was working out, maintaining a toned and healthy physique, she took cooking classes to learn how to prepare nutritious and delicious food, and she even bought herself a pet to keep company with. She bought a cat, naming him Rutherford, after an American president whose name she found to be quite amusing. The cat was very special to her, because she adopted him on the anniversary date of Harry's passing. On that day, she went out to the spot where he had drowned, said a prayer to him and blew a kiss out into the horizon. A warm breeze whipped through her hair shortly thereafter, and she knew that Harry had received the message. Yes, Hermione was doing very well for herself.
The next morning after a fitful night's rest, Hermione rose to a beautiful sunny morning. She bet that it was a little nippy but otherwise very pleasant outside- perfect for a morning jog before work. She fed Rutherford his breakfast before lacing up her shoes and jogging down the city market. It was her favorite time of the day, going by the closed stores, seeing the men and women open up their kiosk's waiting for the day's customers to arrive and purchase their inventory. She loved the smell of fresh bread and Danishes the bakeries made each morning, the sight and the sound of people. It was always this time that Hermione felt like she was living again.
Upon her return home, she stopped by the vacant store, which she hoped to be hers one day. She peered inside the window, closed her eyes and imagined what the store would be like, customers purchasing her clothes and searching through the racks trying to find the perfect outfit. She hadn't come up with a name yet, but she had hundreds of crumpled up pieces of paper lying on her bedroom floor, names written all over.
As she turned back to her flat, she accidentally ran into a tall man with a broad chest.
"Excuse me, sir I'm so sorry!" she looked up and was shocked to see it was Draco Malfoy.
"Draco...Um...er...sorry about that." It was an incredibly awkward moment. She hadn't seen him in six months. The night of her graduation, she had sat down with him and he told her everything, about being a prisoner, Voldemort and his sudden transformation. And then he told her that he was falling in love with her. Startled, and frightened by this, she claimed that she needed some fresh air. She walked out of his flat and never returned.
Hermione started jogging off back to her flat, a little quicker than normal when an arm suddenly grabbed her from behind.
"And where do you think you're going?" Draco asked, a bit peeved.
"Well, if it's alright with you, I was going back to my apartment so that I could shower and get to work," Hermione responded sarcastically. She retracted her arm from Draco's grip and looked at him in his gazing blue eyes. Her heart began to flutter as he began to speak.
"You look good, Granger," Draco said, softening his voice.
"Thanks, so do you," she replied. There was another awkward silence before Draco spoke again. But she knew what was coming.
"Why did you run away from me, Hermione? I stayed up all night waiting for you to come back so that we could talk about what I had said and you never came back. Why?"
"I don't know Draco, I just didn't. Can't we just leave it at that?" she responded, exasperated and growing very impatient.
"No, we can't. I bore my heart and my soul to you and you just got up and left. You broke my heart, Hermione. And after everything we had been through."
"I was scared, alright!" People were starting to stare. "I was afraid because you had told me all of these horrible things that happened to you, I was scared because you told me that you were falling in love with me, and I was scared because I knew that my feelings for you were growing, but I was too dumb and too cowardly to admit to it. I didn't think enough time had passed between Harry's passing and then you rescuing me. I just wasn't ready to handle falling in love again and I knew if I had stayed with you I would have and I my heart was just not ready to commit to it." Tears were forming in her eyes.
"You know, not a moment has gone by where I haven't though about you." He put his hand upon her cheek, stroking it lightly. She did not pull back. "Every waking moment I had I thought about the way your skin felt, how your hand felt in mine, the smell of your hair, the sparkle in your eye..."
"Draco, this is all very wonderful, but..."
"Please, just don't speak. Come by my flat tonight around 9:30."
"But-"
"Just, please, do it for me?" He looked down at her pleadingly.
Chapter 9: An Unexpected Reunion
Author's Note: Firstly, thank you to everyone who has been reading my fanfic. It's very encouraging to read your comments and it helps me get motivated to finish my story. Secondly, I hope the last chapter helped explain why Draco had suddenly become "nice". I had a few people comment on how weird it was and I figured it owed it to my readers to slip in an explanation. Thirdly, I hope you continue to read my story and comment on it. I have 4 other stories, 2 finished and 2 in progress in case you ever want to read those. Happy reading! Oh, and I'll work on the paragraph spacing.
Hermione sat on her queen sized bed with a sketch book and a very nice set of colored pencils completing a sketch of an outfit she was creating. It had a bit of a mob look to it, but she found it to be incredibly sexy but very professional. With black pants and a white poplin shirt, she gave the drawing strappy black shoes, a gray fedora hat and red tie.
She had enjoyed her job as a page girl at the fashion company she had been working for, but she found herself craving for more. She received a decent wage and her employees were all very helpful in educating her in the fashion profession, but something inside of her scream and screamed until she finally picked up a pencil and began sketching out a fashion line for Muggles and witches alike.
She had been working at the corporation for six months. She worked overtime and weekends to earn up enough money to buy herself new furniture for her flat. Her manager even gave her a raise because of how proud he was of her work ethic. She also had another reason for needing so much money. There was a small store very close to her residence that would be perfect for opening up a boutique. No one's been in it for about two years and she was very close to having enough to buy it out. She unfortunately was not able to receive a loan because she had no real collateral, so day and night for six full months she worked as hard as she could so that she could become the owner of this store.
She put down the sketchbook and laid it out on her table. She had been studying different sewing and tailoring spells so that she could mass produce her clothing. With Ginny's help, whom she visited on a regular basis not only to catch up but to also help out with her children, she soon mastered the art of cutting, measuring and sewing patterned clothes. Hermione was incredibly excited for the next few months to come.
She had healed very nicely in the past months. She had gained back the weight she lost while she was in the hospital, she was working out, maintaining a toned and healthy physique, she took cooking classes to learn how to prepare nutritious and delicious food, and she even bought herself a pet to keep company with. She bought a cat, naming him Rutherford, after an American president whose name she found to be quite amusing. The cat was very special to her, because she adopted him on the anniversary date of Harry's passing. On that day, she went out to the spot where he had drowned, said a prayer to him and blew a kiss out into the horizon. A warm breeze whipped through her hair shortly thereafter, and she knew that Harry had received the message. Yes, Hermione was doing very well for herself.
The next morning after a fitful night's rest, Hermione rose to a beautiful sunny morning. She bet that it was a little nippy but otherwise very pleasant outside- perfect for a morning jog before work. She fed Rutherford his breakfast before lacing up her shoes and jogging down the city market. It was her favorite time of the day, going by the closed stores, seeing the men and women open up their kiosk's waiting for the day's customers to arrive and purchase their inventory. She loved the smell of fresh bread and Danishes the bakeries made each morning, the sight and the sound of people. It was always this time that Hermione felt like she was living again.
Upon her return home, she stopped by the vacant store, which she hoped to be hers one day. She peered inside the window, closed her eyes and imagined what the store would be like, customers purchasing her clothes and searching through the racks trying to find the perfect outfit. She hadn't come up with a name yet, but she had hundreds of crumpled up pieces of paper lying on her bedroom floor, names written all over.
As she turned back to her flat, she accidentally ran into a tall man with a broad chest.
"Excuse me, sir I'm so sorry!" she looked up and was shocked to see it was Draco Malfoy.
"Draco...Um...er...sorry about that." It was an incredibly awkward moment. She hadn't seen him in six months. The night of her graduation, she had sat down with him and he told her everything, about being a prisoner, Voldemort and his sudden transformation. And then he told her that he was falling in love with her. Startled, and frightened by this, she claimed that she needed some fresh air. She walked out of his flat and never returned.
Hermione started jogging off back to her flat, a little quicker than normal when an arm suddenly grabbed her from behind.
"And where do you think you're going?" Draco asked, a bit peeved.
"Well, if it's alright with you, I was going back to my apartment so that I could shower and get to work," Hermione responded sarcastically. She retracted her arm from Draco's grip and looked at him in his gazing blue eyes. Her heart began to flutter as he began to speak.
"You look good, Granger," Draco said, softening his voice.
"Thanks, so do you," she replied. There was another awkward silence before Draco spoke again. But she knew what was coming.
"Why did you run away from me, Hermione? I stayed up all night waiting for you to come back so that we could talk about what I had said and you never came back. Why?"
"I don't know Draco, I just didn't. Can't we just leave it at that?" she responded, exasperated and growing very impatient.
"No, we can't. I bore my heart and my soul to you and you just got up and left. You broke my heart, Hermione. And after everything we had been through."
"I was scared, alright!" People were starting to stare. "I was afraid because you had told me all of these horrible things that happened to you, I was scared because you told me that you were falling in love with me, and I was scared because I knew that my feelings for you were growing, but I was too dumb and too cowardly to admit to it. I didn't think enough time had passed between Harry's passing and then you rescuing me. I just wasn't ready to handle falling in love again and I knew if I had stayed with you I would have and I my heart was just not ready to commit to it." Tears were forming in her eyes.
"You know, not a moment has gone by where I haven't though about you." He put his hand upon her cheek, stroking it lightly. She did not pull back. "Every waking moment I had I thought about the way your skin felt, how your hand felt in mine, the smell of your hair, the sparkle in your eye..."
"Draco, this is all very wonderful, but..."
"Please, just don't speak. Come by my flat tonight around 9:30."
"But-"
"Just, please, do it for me?" He looked down at her pleadingly.