A/n: Okay, this is the first real chapter of "Purple Rose." If you haven't read the prequel, "Reminiscing", you MUST! I guarantee you will not understand anything to come in this story if you haven't read it. If you have, read on, and you MUST review!! I want ten reviews from this chapter. And I will wait until I get ten. Anyway, I hope you like it!!

From the prequel: Reminiscing

She pulled up next to the sidewalk along Harry's street, noticing only one figure walking along the path, a ways down. After she turned off the ignition, she opened her door and got up and out of her car, closing and locking the doors with an electronic device on her keychain. Hermione backed up a bit and turned to start down the sidewalk when she bumped right into the figure, and stumbled back. 'I must have misjudged how far he was from me,' she thought. As she straightened herself up to apologize, she looked into the face of a man she'd thought she'd never see again. Hermione gasped, as before her stood the same platinum-blonde that had deserted her four years earlier. She spoke with a voice slightly above a whisper, "Draco..."

Purple Rose

By: RomanceCharm

{Chapter 1: A Harsh Return}



Hermione gazed up at him in astonishment. She couldn't believe it; Draco Malfoy was standing before her, and with an expression that merely said he wasn't expecting to run into her either. Neither adult moved for a moment, seemingly not wanting to break the eye contact they held. Those dark, blue eyes pierced her; eyes she thought she'd never see again. Eventually Hermione turned her head away, but when he huskily addressed her as, "Granger," she faced him once more, curious.

Granger? What had happened to 'Mya', or at least 'Hermione'? Was four years long enough for him to forget the love he'd shared with her? She assumed so, because of the hard star he was giving her. She attempted to break the ice that seemed to surround them.

"Um, what are you doing here?" she asked carefully.

Hermione could see a storm of emotions brewing in his eyes. Was something trying to prevent him from saying what he wished? Yes, and it was loyalty, she was sure of it. "I'm here to scope out the area. I was thinking of relocating," he answered gruffly.

Liar, she thought, squinting into his eyes. "You do know that Harry Potter lives around here?" she casually inquired.

Draco was always good at masking his emotions, and he was now. "Oh, well then consider this area marked off of my list," he mechanically replied.

There was a silence, as Hermione eyed the sidewalk nervously. She still couldn't believe this was happening, but she might as well take advantage of the situation, find out what she wanted to know. She looked back to his face and asked, in a quiet voice, "Why did you leave me, Draco?"

The past love he held for her seemed to conquer over the loyalty and break down the walls he'd put up. His features softened, and he pulled her close to him, encapturing her in a kiss.

Hermione was lost in bliss. She didn't think she'd ever touch or kiss Draco again, and yet here he was, holding her close and kissing her softly. Hermione felt her body go limp as Draco held her up, cradling her gently in his arms. His warmth radiated off his body, and in his wonderous kiss.

When he finally pulled away, leaving Hermione breathless, he gently told her, "I never meant to, Hermione. I had intended on coming back after the two weeks I had promised you. I figured I'd need about that much time to straighten out Lucius's priorities. But he took my trip home to iron out mine," he admitted, glancing down the street. "He threatened to kill you and James if I returned. So I started plotting a way to destroy him, but the perfect opportunity never arose. You may not understand, but a situation as delicate as this could only be handled at the right time, or else it would falter, and he'd be furious at me. So again, he'd kill you and our son to punish me. You can't even imagine how badly I wanted to come back to you, and James; how much I've missed you both; and that I couldn't return, and risk endangering your lives, crushed me," he explained, his eyes pleading with hers for forgiveness.

Those eyes soon ignited a flame within them, and Draco took her hands in his. "Saturday night is the most important ceremony of Lucius's life; he is to be initiated as Lord Voldemort's personal henchman, a promotion my father has hungered over for years. That's when I'll take his life. When he's gone, there will be nothing separating us," he said. "We can finally be reunited once I have my vengeance on him."

Hermione's eyes had lit up at the prospect of Draco coming back to her and her son, but now, though he still had hold of her hands, she stepped back in apprehension. Lucius and his cronies must have really corrupted Draco's mind over the last four years, as the idea of committing murder seemed to please him. Hermione admitted to herself that he was scaring her, and she grew worried. "Um...maybe. What has he done to you, Draco? Why are you acting like this?" she questioned.

"Hermione, he took me away from you and our baby. I could kill him for that alone. But he had tortured me severely over the past few years for falling in love with a Muggle-born. I don't want him to be able to torment anyone like that ever again. I want to make him pay for my only being able to see you through spying on you, never getting a chance to reach out and touch you, hold your hand, or have you in my arms. It is past time he be eliminated," Draco stated.

Now Hermione completely pulled her hands away. "You father has really done some emotional damage to you, Draco, and you've got issues you need to work out. Call me when you have straightened out your life again," she told him, and headed past him up the street, holding her breath.

"Mya..." he called sweetly after her. She kept on walking, urging herself not to give in to his charming demeanor. Draco caught up to her and gently grabbed her arm, pleading, "Mya-"

"You're scaring me, Draco!" she turned to scream at him, and he looked taken aback by her sudden outburst. "Your new attitude really frightens me!" Hermione took a second to calm down and then quietly told him, "You need help. Now go."

"But I want to see James-" he started to beg.

"Go," she sternly demanded.

Hermione saw Draco's wounded expression before he turned and started down the street again in slow strides, and a tear slid down her cheek. How hard it had been to send him away; when she really wanted him to hold her from then on and never let go; but she had to. Something was really out of alignment in his head, and his murderous behavior scared her, and it'd absolutely terrify James. Walking up the path to Harry's porch, she had totally forgotten about the reason she was picking her son up so early; to talk to Harry about getting together. All thoughts were focused on Draco and the scene of minutes before as a grinning Harry opened the door.

"Morning, Harry," Hermione weakly greeted him.

Immediately Harry took notice of her dreary mood, and his broad smile drooped. "Mione, what's wrong?"

Hermione shook her head and insisted, "It's nothing, just nothing," as she started past him into the house. Yet she collapsed into tears in the doorway, and Harry took her into his arms and rocked her, soothing her.

After a few minutes, Hermione looked up at him with tear-glazed eyes. "Oh Mione, you know I can't stand to see you cry," he told her softly, as he thumbed away the tears on her face. Hermione gave him a small smile, and Harry released on arm from around her to lead her to his tan leather-décor living room. Once they were seated on his couch, Harry spoke again, "What happened, Hermione?"

And so told was the tale of the incident that took place before his house minutes before. Harry's eyes widened at the fact that she had run into Draco. "He really frightened me, Harry. I couldn't believe it was him," Hermione finished, looking down at her hands.

"I'm really sorry, Mione," Harry said. His finger then went under her chin and lifted her face to look at him. "I will do all I can to protect you from him. No man with a murderous attitude will come near my Mione, I'll make sure of it," he promised, and pulled her into an embrace, planting a kiss on her forehead.

Hermione smiled through his shirt. Her Harry could always save the day, and rescue her from the sources of evil out to harm her. But was Draco really evil, and did she truly wish to be saved from him? Yes, she decided, for he was now the haunting image that everyone had made him up to be. How could she give herself, and her son, to a man whose eyes burned with such fury at someone that they'd kill them?

Yes, she loved him, and he probably still loved her, but how could she be sure that she would never be the object of his anger? Or even worse, it could be James to bring him to his boiling point. Though Hermione knew she would always be in love with Draco, she just couldn't take that risk.

As Harry ran a gentle hand through her hair, Hermione took pleasure in the great comfort he gave her. Such a thought reminded her of the reason she had come to get James earlier than usual. Hermione pulled back to look at Harry, and couldn't help but smile at his grinning face. "Harry," she started, "there's something I wanted to-"

"MUMMY!" screamed a young boy from the top of the stairs above them, and he quickly hurried down.

"Hey honey," Hermione smiled as her son ran into her arms. "How was your weekend with Uncle Harry?"

"It was great!" James exclaimed as he pulled back from her embrace. Hermione took a good look at her handsome little boy. His hair and most of his facial features matched those of Draco, the exception being his nose. Hermione was glad he didn't have the sneering nose his father had had in his childhood; James had taken on Hermione's small nose, and her eyes. Those deep brown eyes were an exact copy of those of his mother. The fine blonde hair that fell over his forehead was the only immediate reminder that he was a Malfoy, as his shining eyes really stood out. Hermione beamed proudly at her son, as he called her back to reality.

"Uh, Mummy...are you there?" he asked, turning his head to look at her sideways and waving a hand before her face.

This broke her from her trance, and she smiled. "Yes, James, I'm sorry. I just couldn't help but notice how handsome you've become over the weekend," Hermione said, and reached out to tickle him, and James was soon enveloped in giggles.

"Alright," Hermione sighed, picking up her son and his overnight bag, and rose from her seat. "We're going to get going, Harry."

"Okay," Harry said, and stood before her. "Oh, what was it you wanted to say before, Hermione?" he remembered.

"Oh, I had just wanted to thank you for being there for me, again," she laughed through her lie.

"You know it's no problem, Mione," he told her with a smile as she swung James's bag over her shoulder. "I love to be able to comfort you," he admitted, and paused. "I love you," he said with a kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks again, Harry," Hermione said as she pulled away and started toward the door. Harry followed her, and closed the door behind her once she'd walked out onto the porch, with James on her hip.

As Hermione drove home, with James playing with the toy steering wheel mounted on the back of the driver's seat, she mulled over Harry's last words yet again. Again, he'd told her he loved her. Hermione didn't know how much longer she could tolerate the pained expression she always saw on Harry's face when she didn't say it back. Oh, she could tell him she loved him, for she did, but she didn't think she loved him in the way he did her.

Also, there was now the matter of Draco's reappearance. Hermione found it extremely odd that after four long years of being separated from him, she just ran into him on a sidewalk. But then, she remembered, he did say he'd followed her undercover. The sole idea that her fiancé had to spy on her to see her tore Hermione's heart again. This was what his life had come to, too, and she felt sympathy for him. But she couldn't go back to Draco, at least not right now. He was planning to kill his father, and though Hermione despised Lucius Malfoy to the core, she didn't wish death upon him, or anyone else, save Voldemort. And she couldn't believe that her Draco, the one she had come to love, was willingly pinning himself to the title of cold-blooded killer. Hermione could never put herself or her son, up in the same house as a murderer. So unless plans changed and Draco realized how fatal he was acting and calmed his intensions, Hermione vowed she would never be with him again. A silent tear slid down her cheek, unseen by the eyes of their young son.

{End}

A/n: Tell me what you think. Please don't be too harsh though, I don't really like flamers. Politely-delivered, constructive criticism would be appreciated. So please review respectively. And remember, gotta get that review count to ten! ;)

To those of you who write, in my QuickEdit when I try to add more lines between paragraphs it always deletes them. Can any of you tell me why, or how to fix it? That'd be greatly appreciated.

Laura