Chapter Nine: The Only One Worth Your Tears…
Ron was, at the very least, glad that the previous tension had evaporated far quicker than he had estimated…by about a decade.
It seemed too easy for them, especially because they simply never made up this quickly. But apparently, a friend in dire need of another sped up the forgiveness period.
Of course, he was still angry that she hadn't told them, even though he knew that they still would have been angry. As overly protective friends, it was their prerogative. Five years of betrayal made it far worse, and it was a festering jealousy that rested in his heart as he heard her out.
"Only Kyle knew. He had to know; if I was going to…carry out the plan I was considering. Of course, you know the basics to that," Hermione smiled. "It's nothing short of shameful now."
"'Mione, don't be ashamed…be embarrassed," Ron joked lightly, offering a lopsided grin.
She rewarded him with a genuine, grateful smile. "Don't worry, I am. It's not an easy thing to admit; loving him. Especially the lengths I went to just to be with him."
"I still don't quite understand that, Mione," Harry voiced, grabbing her attention. "Just to be with him…and he didn't even know who you were."
Ron watched her shift, slightly uncomfortable. "I wanted to know if five years had changed him any. I wanted Carrie to finally have the father she deserves. It was mostly innocent," Hermione explained, her brown eyes shining faintly with a dreamy expression.
He had a hunch that there was more to the story, but didn't push the matter. Besides, from what he understood, the "relationship" was more or less terminated.
"No harm in that," Ron offered cheerily, rising off his seat. "I'm thirsty, do you mind?"
She shook her head.
"Anyone want anything while I'm up?"
Harry requested a glass of water, and Hermione shook her head politely.
~*~
Harry watched Ron exit the room, and he leaned into Hermione.
"What aren't you saying to us?" he asked a bit too perceptively for her taste. "No lies, Hermione. Has he said something? Was there some other motivation?"
"If it's alright with you Harry," she began a bit brusquely, "I'd rather not relive any experiences involving Draco. As for the past, it's going to stay there."
He brushed back his dark, mussed hair, and closed his vibrant emerald eyes briefly. "Of course," he answered off-handedly, leaning back into the sofa.
With the way he had responded, and the chalant look he possessed by slouching so indifferently; Hermione thought he looked much like his father reincarnated. From the pictures she saw, and leaving aside the fact that they were supposed to be like twins.
They sat together in silence until Ron came back in with two cups of water. He easily saw and felt the tense silence, but chose to say nothing.
"So. What now, Hermione?" he asked casually. "No more going back to Draco? We'll help you with her, if that's what you want. Promise."
Hermione smiled thankfully at him, nodding. "That's really kind of you, honestly it is, but I simply couldn't—"
Cutting her off, Ron insisted, "Right then. So I'll baby-sit her whenever you like. Whatever you need, I'll do."
"And I'm sure James would love to have a friend over," Harry offered up. He gave a lopsided smile. "I'm sure he'll love an older woman," he joked with a wink.
~*~
Draco was leaning against a tree not far from her house, debating going up to it and knocking, when he saw Weasel and Potter exiting. They were laughing and smiling, waving to Hermione.
Ron made a promise to come, and Harry told her he'd bring James over on Saturday. She looked happy, content. Her life was back to perfection, and he hadn't even gotten the chance to try to make things right.
He had completely ruined his financial life by storming out of his house for her, and right now it seemed totally worthless.
Draco sniffed indignantly, and pulled his sunglasses down to shield his eyes. He adjusted the black button-up shirt, and continued to lean against the tree for another good five minutes simply watching them bid each other good-bye.
Once he was sure they were gone, Draco strolled leisurely up to her welcoming house. Standing almost anxiously before the door, he tucked some stray hair behind his ear before ringing the doorbell nonchalantly.
Hermione had her hair down, and was laughing as she opened the door. "What have you two forgotten now?" she giggled before actually looking at him.
Her laughter faltered at the sight of him, dying down abruptly. "Malfoy," she greeted in the form of an exhale. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm sorry," Draco said immediately. "I was out of line yesterday. I was only caught off guard, which is no excuse, I know, but I was sincerely hoping…"
Hermione stared at him while he spoke, her expression unreadable. A complete first. She sighed softly, tossing a look back into her house. "What makes you think that you could come here—dressed like you were straight out of Cruel Intentions, no less—and hope for anything?"
He looked down at his clothes, bewildered. "It was never any sort of purposeful intention of mine! Cruel, yes, but—"
"It's a movie," she cut in quietly, pursing her lips. "Please leave."
He heard a voice exclaim, "Mommy!" from behind her, and surpressed a stupid grin from appearing. Draco watched calmly as a little girl clutched Hermione's leg, with his infamous stony face. His heart pounded madly at the sight of her, and gave Hermione a curious look.
It was startling to see the girl look like an almost exact female replica of himself, yet look and resemble Hermione so much at the same time.
She shot him a death glare warning him not to say a single word. So he watched, feeling separated as Hermione bent down to pick the girl up.
"This is Carrie," she said, motioning to his child. Hermione didn't look very happy about the introduction, and didn't bother to introduce him.
"Who's this, Mama?" Carrie asked with a smile. "Did he bring presents?"
Draco actually laughed, falling silent upon the look on Hermione's face.
"Honey, this is…an old friend," she bit out. He was sure she'd say a bill collector, or something equally absurd.
"Hi!" Carrie greeted, motioning to be put down. Once down, she tugged on his black pants. "Did you bring a present?"
Hermione pulled her gently back, looking almost sternly at their daughter. "Carrie, that isn't polite!" she scolded. "It's fine, we're going to the store soon."
Draco felt his heart restrict, and conjured up a tiny charm bracelet. "As a matter of fact," he began with a cough, "I did, Carrie."
She squealed with delight, running back up to him. He was dangling the silver bracelet before her, and she politely took it.
"What do we say?" Hermione prompted, looking angrily at him.
"Thank you!" Carrie exclaimed, running back inside.
Draco had a strained look on his face, and he could barely speak. "I didn't do anything to it, you know?" he asked.
"I'm sure not," Hermione replied sarcastically. "I really think you should go now. You've seen her, so…"
She began to close the door, but Draco desperately grabbed her wrist. "Please," he begged softly. "Please, just…"
Her brown eyes were filled with hurt, and she shook her head, curls bouncing. "I'm sorry," she insisted, closing the door finally.
~*~
"I need help," Draco pleaded. "You're the last person I'd go to, trust me. But I really need your help."
Kyle stared at him in disbelief. "What makes you think I'd help you?"
"Look, I know you two are planning on…marrying…but I just. At this point, I'd be happy just to get to spend time with Carrie."
"Where in the world did you get the idea—" Kyle began, confused.
"Thompson, please."
"Malfoy, we're not getting married," Kyle finished, nearly laughing. "I don't know where you conjured that one up, but we're just friends."
"What are you talking about?" Draco growled. "Hermione said you were!"
"Why do you care, anyway?" Kyle asked, switching topics. "You've spent this entire time insisting that she meant nothing to you, didn't you?"
"Yes, but—"
"So what you're telling me is the second a child pops into the situation, you've been madly, head-over-heels in love with her this entire time. And it's been your intention the entire time to find her and passionately apologize to Hermione, asking for her hand in marriage because you simply can't live without her?" Kyle cut in, an amused smirk on his face.
Draco looked grumpily at him, and pulled down the sunglasses that had before been set on his hair. Clearing his throat while at the same time looking decidedly important, he said, "Thompson, you've had far too much time on your hands these past few years."
"So that's it, then?" Kyle asked, sounding like a wounded lover. "You're going to leave, after spending the last twenty minutes begging and pleading for my help?"
"First off, I do not beg nor do I plead for anything. And it's like you said—I've spent twenty minutes here, and all you've done is badger me about it. All I've tried to do is make things right."
"I can tell you right now, you're the only one who sees it that way. You think Hermione's going to simply accept that you love her? If you can't find the reason, how could you possibly find the means?
"What it sounds like to me is that five years ago, you finally landed one of the most impossible lays of the world, only to have the glory interrupted by your father. And in that moment of passion, you confused lust with love. But never got the chance to correct that, because of…your father," Kyle said slowly, with what he clearly thought was perception.
This frustrated Draco, because he hated it when people pretended or thought they knew what he was all about. Abhorred it.
"For your information," he snapped, "I'm not some hormonal teenager! I am perfectly capable of determining lust from love; otherwise, I would have thousands of wives! And certainly, if I loved her only because of sleeping with her, I would have hundreds more wives. Finally, I love her for who she is as a person—not what she's like in bed. I've had five years to sit and think about it. So trust me, it's been well thought about."
When Draco saw the grin on Kyle's face, he immediately knew he'd been tricked. Stupid cunning, sly Slytherins.
"Well then. I suppose you are in need of some assistance, Malfoy."
~*~
Hermione was still stewing in her juices the next morning, infuriated that he thought simply because he was handsome and charming that she would immediately fall into his open arms the moment he apologized. Who did he think she was? Clearly he'd had the entirely wrong perception about her these past few years. Because she wasn't some mindless drone, built to appease him. No, not like every other girl out there.
She sighed, glad that Carrie wouldn't be up for another three hours, because she needed more time to think and fume about him. The entire night hadn't been enough, apparently, and this made her even more furious that she couldn't stop thinking about him. Hermione shook her head and growled, remembering the way he had been dressed yesterday.
"Bastard!" she snarled loudly, and turned around. Kyle was standing right there, causing her to jump and shriek in surprise, throwing her coffee back.
"Mornings have never really been your thing, have they?" he grinned good-naturedly. "As for muttering to yourself…well, that's not such a good sign, either."
"Kyle…how'd you get here?" she asked shakily, tightening her robe unconsciously. "It's six in the morning. What made you think I'd be awake?"
"That's the beautiful thing about magic, Hermione. I apparated, of course. And you're always up this early, purely out of habit," Kyle answered, sliding his hands into his pockets.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked nervously, playing with a stand of hair that had fallen from her sloppy bun.
Kyle took a step forward, being unusually intimidating today. "Mione…darling…would you care to explain why our dearest Malfoy believed we were getting married?"
"I—what?"
"He came by yesterday with the most curious idea that our engagement wasn't just a farce. Said you'd confirmed it. You know how much I detest the man. I don't like being bothered by him, and the living arrangement was only because you made me."
Hermione watched him pace away from her, an inquisitive look upon her face. She briefly wondered if it were really Draco using a potion, but dismissed the idea of Kyle helping him out.
"I thought it'd make him go away. And it did…mostly."
"You're a very stubborn person, Hermione," Kyle voiced from the couch, where he had somehow managed to sneak to without her noticing.
"I know," she granted, moving towards the chair opposite the sofa he occupied. "I…I know I am."
"And as your friend, I must admit it's not a good quality. Look at what it's keeping you from. What it's kept you from," he told her, staring directly into her eyes with his searching sapphire ones.
"What are you getting at?" Hermione asked quietly.
"I know people say there are other fish in the sea, but it seems slightly absurd to say if you don't know whether or not the bad fish is really the right fish."
"That makes absolutely no sense."
"How many men have you dated since Malfoy, Hermione?" he asked, plowing through.
"Well, none, but that was because of Carrie. And not for lack of trying, either—"
"Trying how hard? Have you ever wondered if maybe it was because your heart wouldn't let you date others? Perhaps…perhaps you knew that you had already met the one?"
"Kyle, you're really confusing me!" she cried, feeling suddenly afraid. She didn't like the things he was implying.
"All I'm saying is that despite how much I hate Malfoy for doing this to you, maybe…Well, I've heard the only one worth your tears is the one who wouldn't make you cry. And you've been crying for the past five years, haven't you?"
"He isn't worth my tears!" Hermione insisted angrily, jumping up indignantly. She was on the verge of making him leave.
"Then why cry, Hermione? Why cry for so long for someone who wasn't worth your tears?" Kyle asked quietly.
She had her back turned to him at that point, and she looked up at the ceiling as if searching for strength to retaliate.
"Why don't you just butt out?" she demanded finally, whirling around to kick him out. Of course, Kyle was already gone.
Damn him and his flair for dramatics. Damn him for having the last word!
…Damn him for being right.
~*~
A/N: I am so sorry for taking so long, I swear! It's just…I got a new fic idea, and I got so caught up in it, that I ran out of ideas for this story. But I've gotten so many ideas telling me to get my butt in gear, or officially say I've given up on this.
BUT! I'm not. I won't. I've only got one more chapter left, I think, so it's been an awesome ride. After this, I don't think I really anything more for this. I'll just keep on. Finish my other stories, write more and so on.
If you're interested, my new story is going to be Lily/James…yep. If you like my style of writing with bicker and banter, etc. etc, that what they're portrayed as. I see them as the Draco/Hermione of the past. The '7os, whatever. Hehehe.
Also, those of you who were curious, yes, Hidden Dragon had of course been finished. But for whatever reason, they took a few chapters down. The Author's Note, I understand, but the rest, I don't. So, ok, whatever. Ummm, they're going back up. My chapters are totally harmless, and there's no explicit NC-17 sex. Just hints and such.
So, yeah! Thanks so much for being patient (though you had no choice), and please do review. I'm a bit of an attention whore. And hey, besides, I did come back to finish it. My life has been a bit busy, because I've recently immersed myself into the wonderful world of extra-curriculars, and like I said—the L/J one.
Adios, and I love you all. Happy Spring Break (to most). And watch out, because in a fanfiction.net near you, I have a new fic planning on hitting.
FINALLY, I'm thinking of creating an update LJ, so tell me what you think of that. Then you can know, instead of guessing, what's going on.
[Submitted: April 4, 2004]