Disclaimer: None of its my property. Its all JKR's. Cheers.
Title of Story: When Darkness Catches the Light
Summary: Can two sworn enemies ever find true love in each other? What happens when a seductive mission comes along to prod them in the right direction? Draco/Hermione
Rated: PG-13 for language, angst descriptions and some sexual connotations.
Chapter Ten: Obscured Sentiments
Put a message in a bottle
Watch it sail across the ocean blue
So free of limitations
A vision I can only fantasize
I'm floating in a new direction
As this is my life
--Running Away, Delta Goodrem
There was a full moon shining palely in the dark night, the contrast of colours becoming more and more apparent to the stargazers below.
And oddly enough, one of these stargazers happened to be Draco Malfoy himself.
His body was limply hunched in a seating position, his back arched crudely in front yet his head was perched stiffly in a stance that allowed full vision of the night-sky.
The blackness of the night had always been so enigmatic to Draco; the way that one shade of blue merged so precisely into the next shade, and into the next shade and into the next shade…
He sighed and rubbed his hand over his forehead. The skin seemed so blaringly hot against the cold of his hand. Draco withdrew from the action and gazed at his fingers, flexing them into clenched fists. The day's events were clearly playing back in his mind.
The meeting with the Dark Lord...
How dare he speak to me like that? Draco thought arrogantly, pounding his fist barbarically into the guiltless grass below him.
The blades of grass ruptured and the brownness of the earth began to surface. Draco hissed his impatience and desisted with the action.
Every bone in his body, every inch of his skin, felt like it was on fire; on an incensed fire. He never felt so angry at something in his life. And yet, he did not know exactly what he was angry about.
Was it the Dark Lord?
That option was both possible and promising. The Dark Lord had talked to Draco like he was a serf, a lowly inferior.
But I'm NOT! Draco screamed in his head, his face unconsciously mangling into a malevolent snarl.
Draco had a sudden urge to kill the Lord, or even hurt him. It would be so great to see the Lord suffer… suffer like he makes those million other muggles and Mudbloods suffer…
But Draco smiled grimly as he acknowledged that the satisfaction of murder would not last long. The remaining supporters of the Lord would be furious.
I'll kill them as well, Draco thought naively, closing his eyes firmly.
Draco felt a faint rustling behind him and he turned to examine a bush that was swaying haphazardly.
Funny… there's no breeze tonight that I can feel, Draco mused, frowning slightly.
Yet he dismissed the thought from his mind, turning his head back to look up at the stars once more.
There was something so familiar about tonight; it was almost like a Déjà vu. Draco fused his eyebrows together in thought, as he scanned the star-studded sky for an answer.
And then it dawned on him.
The night sky... dispersed with a perfect configuration of stars...
Tonight was just like that night up at the Astronomy Tower.
"With Granger," Draco whispered croakily, a nasty smile artlessly spreading over his face.
The bushes behind Draco rustled again, but either he didn't notice or he didn't want to notice.
He chuckled briefly as he remembered how seamless those moments in the Astronomy Tower had been… how spur-of-the-moment all his actions had seemed… sometimes it almost seemed like…
NO! Draco thought vehemently in his mind, shaking his head before the thought could enter his mind.
But he didn't need to shake his head to stop the thought. Because another thought was already clambering into his mind.
Granger's slap.
Draco grimaced at the mere memory. He still couldn't believe how stupid he had been, to kiss the damn muggle in the morning. He was planning to kiss her possibly in a month… Hoping to make her initiate the move so it wouldn't appear as if he had wanted to kiss her…
But as soon as he had seen those plump, luscious lips on Granger… he had a deep urge to claim them as his own… to smother them with his own… to let their juices mingle…
He scowled at his own weakness, and rubbed his eyes.
The rustling noise again came from behind Draco, and this time he could not ignore it.
Snarling, he crawled toward the bush in a lion-like predatory manner and sifted his hands through the bush, checking it thoroughly for eavesdroppers.
And the lion did indeed find his prey.
Hermione burst open the door to one of the dormitories upstairs, her wand impulsively clutched in her hand, ready to duel with.
She did not know why she felt so angry; it wasn't really her problem, it was Harry's. Yet her innate loyalty to Ginny was fuelling the anger within her… not that it needed fuelling…
Hermione was having one of the worst years of her life. Even though it was only a few weeks into the year at Hogwarts, it seemed like an agonising forever to her. Everything was happening so fast, and it sometimes seemed to Hermione like the roller coaster ride she was waiting for had finally arrived.
And it didn't seem nearly as elating as she had thought it would be.
She swiftly scanned the room; the beds were unkempt, the sheets hanging shabbily from the sides, the pillows somewhat ruffled and the curtains still closed to grant a dark ambience to the room.
Hermione trembled reflexively and shut the door, not able to find neither Harry nor Lavender.
She didn't exactly know what she would do when she saw them… she would have to trust her instincts on that one…
But she didn't know anymore whether her instincts were indeed reliable.
Hermione gasped faintly as she remembered how she had left the Great Hall so abruptly after Ginny touched her… after the pain and prickling seemed to escalate to a positively excruciating level…
She shook her head before it could be submerged into confusion again, and continued to move into the next dormitory.
Her old dormitory.
Yet the pleasant nostalgia was quick to disappear, as she came face to face with a sight that made her eyes narrow and hands clench.
"Pansy, what the fuck are you doing here?!"
Draco dragged Pansy Parkinson's curvaceous body out of the bush, the smell of the leaves intoxicating his senses. The girl was looking at Draco with wide eyes, eyes filled with both horror and uncertainty. Her expression made Draco frown, not with impatience or malice.
But with confusion.
"Draco, you're fucking hurting me," she hissed, wincing under the boy's firm grasp.
He immediately let her go, dusting his robes absent-mindedly and returned back to the area where he was sitting previously. He did not want Pansy to resume her crybaby routine; it was indeed tiresome.
And he did not think he would be able to restrain himself from hurting her this time.
"Draco," Pansy purred, in a tone that she evidently thought would seduce him.
Draco merely sighed and shook his head. Pansy clambered next to Draco, her robes bunching up above her knees. Draco had to stop himself from gagging, and her turned away from her. Pansy pushed Draco lightly with one of her fat fists and he recoiled at the touch, however playful the intention had been.
"You never talk to me anymore," Pansy whined, extending one of her hands to grasp Draco's chin and firmly turn his attention toward her.
Draco did not protest, merely eyeing the girl with contempt.
She was mildly attractive, Draco mused, but was a bit podgy and therefore not worth attention (at least, attention from him). She was easy, another reason why Draco found her both irritating and boring. And she also held no elegance, no air of mystery or attitude about her.
But Granger… now, she was a looker.
And the most tantalizing thing about her was that she probably wasn't even aware of how gorgeous she was. And Draco admired that. It made every inch of his body ignite with deep, insatiable desire. A desire that had not even come close to being slaked with the stolen kiss… not even close…
"Draco, fucking hell, what is going on with you? Talk, dammit!"
Draco sneered at Pansy and thrust her hand off his chin.
"Has it ever occurred to you, Parkinson," Draco began simply, savouring the frightened expression on the girl's face, "that you bore me?"
Pansy's eyes began flashing.
"Oh and is that so, Mr Perfect?" she scorned, her eyes narrowing. "Well, as a matter of fact, I came here tonight to break up with you. So we are through. Got that?"
Draco's eyes widened with surprise at the girl's words.
He was certain that she had not planned to break up with him tonight… if that had been her purpose, she would have not have tried to be nice to him in the first place. No, that wasn't Pansy's style.
Draco was fairly sure that her words had been uttered on a fanciful whim, with the hopes to disarm him and cause him to break down in tears. Draco scowled at the mere thought.
But no girl ever broke up with a Malfoy! It was the other way around. Girls had no right to manipulate a Malfoy… to make them itch for just one more kiss… to make them pray for just one more encounter… to make them yearn to caress masses of chocolate brown hair…
"You're lying," Draco whispered dangerously, caressing Pansy's cheek in an attempt to pacify her.
He did not want the whole of the school to know that a stupid bitch like Parkinson had dumped him. It would not be beneficial for his rep, oh no.
"You love me," Draco continued, watching amusedly as Pansy's eyes closed and her cheeks began to flush red. "And I want you… now…"
"Harry!"
Hermione burst through the door, and eyed the people within it with disgust.
Harry was grasping Lavender's dark hair in his hand, passing his fingers through the magnificent tresses, and his other hand was clutching the girl's slender waist. Lavender's head was resting snugly into the hollow of Harry's neck, and Hermione's heart dipped slightly as she saw how content the two of them looked with each other's company.
It made Hermione remember the good old days with Ron…
Even though she was not in love with him, she still liked him, and this like was enough to ignite passion within her. Perhaps it was not passion exactly, but more so a superficial lust that had made the time spent with Ron vaguely worthwhile. But Hermione wanted more than lust.
She wanted love.
She wanted to experience that feeling of yearning for another's company, always thinking about them whenever they were faraway or having electrical desire pass through her every time their eyes locked together in profound intimacy…
"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed in response, pushing Lavender away from him hastily. "I… er… was just… um… helping Lavender… with… um…"
Hermione raised her eyebrow at him. "You were helping her to look for head lice weren't you? Or perhaps you were smoothing out the wrinkles in her robes near her waist, huh, Harry? You pick which one is most true."
Harry looked down at his shoes uncomfortably while Lavender massaged her flushed cheeks with her hands.
"Ever heard of knocking, 'Mione?" she hissed, eyeing Hermione with annoyance.
Hermione let out a vacant laugh.
"What, and miss this amorous spectacle? Not for the world, Lavender, not for the world," she spat cynically, meeting the other girl's gaze with equal dislike.
Harry sensed the tension and cleared his throat loudly. Hermione quickly shifted her attention toward him and her eyebrows fused together even tighter, if it were at all possible.
"What the fucking hell is going on here, Harry? Oh and spare me the bullshit please because I think I've had enough from the darling Head Boy himself and I most certainly don't need any from you."
Harry's eyes quickly narrowed.
"What's he done to you 'Mione?" he bellowed, his hands beginning to clench into fists.
Hermione paced angrily up to the handsome boy and restrained herself from punching him.
"You know what, Harry? Right now, I think you're even worse than Draco. And don't fucking DARE to call me ''Mione'."
"And don't you go start calling that git 'Draco' either!" Harry hissed, looking at Hermione as if she had sprouted two fluorescent orange heads.
Hermione laughed, a cold, hollow laugh that made Lavender observe her with wide eyes.
"But Hawwy I wuv Dwaco," Hermione whispered dangerously, her lips quirked in mock of a pout. "Even though I wuv my wittle Wonny, I am CHEATING ON HIM WITH HIS WORST ENEMY!"
Hermione extended her hand and slapped Harry hard on the face, savouring the impression of shock on his face. She sensed Lavender stiffen next to him, but the girl did not say anything.
"Hermione, it's not like that," Harry managed to gasp, deeming Hermione's last statement as irrational sarcasm. "I don't want to hurt Ginny okay? But you won't even listen to me so why should I bother?"
Hermione felt her heart clench slightly as she noted the almost wistful expression on her best friend's face, and she placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.
"Go on," she urged, striving to maintain neutrality in her voice.
Harry nodded and pulled Lavender closer toward him. Hermione grimaced inaudibly.
"I… love Lavender," Harry blurted out, his hand tightly clutching Lavender's own, his eyes trailing the crevices of the wooden floorboards beneath his feet.
Hermione nodded slightly, fighting against the notion to express the anger that was welling up within her. She wanted to hear the full story first.
"Harry thinks Ginny is immature," Lavender continued somewhat bluntly, the contempt never leaving her voice.
Hermione felt her hands clench by her side, but she said nothing. A part of her agreed with the sentiment.
"Well not really," Harry said uncomfortably, looking up at Hermione in the hopes of seeing understanding in her expression.
But Hermione remained eerily impartial.
"I just… I don't know if you know this Hermione, but Ginny asked me out over the holidays and well," Harry muttered, his gaze falling back down onto the floor, "I didn't want to reject her, so I said yes. But I didn't really like her in that way at the time, you know what I'm saying? I just thought that maybe the like could develop into love later on, if I gave it a shot. I didn't want to cause unnecessary conflict."
Hermione's eyes widened considerably at Harry's words. The situation seemed so similar to her own… she had not loved Ron but she hand only gone out with him to please everyone… and Harry had only gone out with Ginny to please everyone too…
So why did she feel so angry at Harry all of a sudden?
"Fuck you, Harry," Hermione snarled coldly, resisting the impulse to slap him again. "You don't play with people emotions like that. It's not fair… it's just not fair…"
Hermione stepped away from the two of them, moving slowly toward the door, but when she turned around to walk out, she heard Lavender speak up from behind her.
"Please don't tell Ginny, Hermione. It's not your duty; it's Harry's. Please don't tell Ginny."
Draco walked clumsily up to the Hogwarts Castle, straightening out his robes and tidying up his dishevelled hair. He had a romp session with Parkinson, and judging from the abhorrent expression on his face, it wasn't as good as he had hoped it to have been.
Sure, it was mildly engaging and relaxing, but it was not fulfilling. Parkinson was not the person that Draco lusted for, he was sure of it.
But then again, he didn't know whom exactly it was that he wanted so, so badly.
He had a suspicion, of course, but he knew that Mudbloods were impure and over-emotional. Sex was purely physical and not emotional, as some of the delusional muggles seemed to deem it. And he did not dare delve into the depths of poignancy so late in the evening…
Draco turned a corner as he entered the castle, hugging his dark green cloak even tighter to his lithe body.
But just as he entered a narrow corridor, he felt someone grasp his robes and his heart dipped slightly in trepidation.
"Its not safe for ferrets to walk late at night, Malfoy."
Draco felt his lips mangle into an amused smirk as he recognised the owner of the voice.
"Nor is it safe for weasels," he responded simply, turning around to face the redhead with contempt.
The boy flinched slightly but his expression resumed its determinedness.
"Just came to remind you that our duel was tomorrow," Weasley snarled, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Draco chuckled and passed his hand through his hair. The corners of Weasley's lips twitched but he did not say anything.
"You know Weasley, one would think, what with all the sour expressions, that you're not getting any from my darling partner in crime," Draco murmured, stifling raucous laughter from escaping his lips.
Weasley grimaced faintly and his ears turned pink, but his eyebrows narrowed a moment later.
"You've just been inactive for all of this year anyway, Malfoy," he sneered. "What's the matter? Cat got your manhood? Or are ferrets just asexual?"
Draco extracted his wand from his robe pocket, twirling the slender twig in his fingers.
"Detention every day for the rest of the year, Weasley, if you don't get out of my sight right now," he whispered dangerously, his eyes flashing with menace.
Weasley recoiled to some extent, his eyes looking at the wand in Draco's hand precariously.
"You… you can't do that…" he managed to stutter, not bothering to disguise the uncertainty in his voice.
Draco cackled.
"And you don't sound so sure of yourself," Draco replied. "But even though I would love to show you the extent of my privileges, me being Head Boy and all, I can't stay and engage in idle chit-chat. Do not forget our little rendezvous tomorrow evening. Oh – and bring Granger along. I'd like her to see me when I obliterate you."
"You wish, Malfoy," Weasley hissed.
"No, Weasley – I know."
A/N: Omg – I have over a hundred reviews! Woo hoo! I honestly didn't think my story would ever reach that mark, I was writing it for fun! Hehehe. Thanks so much you all, but its amusing to note how some of the people that I mentioned personally in my last author's note did not review that chapter (nine) at all. Yes, I find it amusing and not at all frustrating. Lol. Thanks for the constructive criticism, I actually agree with you all about the repetition of words and hopefully you like this chapter. My chapters will begin to decline in size because I think its unfair to keep you all reading really long ones and also its becoming unnecessary to read people's thoughts because I'm sure people get bored by that coz I do sometimes. I'm sorry for not updating sooner than usual, as you can see this chapter is significantly shorter than previous ones because as I said, i just think its becoming unnecessary and tedious for people. Any hoo, tell me what you think. Next chapter will be the duel (yay!) and also the first Head Boy and Girl duties for the year smirk lol. So - Review this chapter too (thanks!) and until next time – ciao!