Another Chance?
Cedar1
A/N hope this isn't too confusing but first part is in Pansy's viewpoint, then Ron's with a kind of concluding paragraph at the end of each part.
Thanx to those who reviewed the last chap( am over a 100 Whey!): Draco Forever, yourGUN-myhead, pixie, tara, a, Felicity2, Jayscea, debbie,granger23, babygirl1832z, professor-fidget
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns characters, me the plot.
Chapter 15: Crazy...
Previously
Hermione Granger no longer the Gryffindor Golden Girl, the darling of wizarding society, instead a damaged, lost little girl who has finally realised what she has gotten into by falling in love with one Draco Malfoy - a life of misery. Welcome to my world Granger. If she was determined to steal Draco away from her so be it but Pansy wouldn't let it happen until she made sure Granger knew everything there was to know about Draco, the bad and the good. The ball was now in Granger's court: could she love all of Draco Malfoy and not just the part he had allowed her to see?
Personally Pansy doubted it.
And then he would understand that no one could love him like she, Pansy Flint, could.
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It seemed that Pansy's fate would probably be decided for her, and he had not a shred of pity for her, instead he thought it to be an act of justice, and it gave him a moment of comfort.
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"I hereby declare that Draco Malfoy has been deemed guilty by those present in the Wizengamot today. In light of the charges pressed against the accused Draco Malfoy is sentenced to death by nefastus venenum on the night of the twentieth of August."
I'm sorry Hermione was his last thought before Draco blacked out
Chapter 15: Crazy...
She had tried to run out of the Ministry. However the crowd and the press slowed her down. The cameras were blinding her with their brilliant flashbulbs. Light was cutting through the tears that were starting to spring from her eyes. She could feel herself cracking under their overbearing attention, from the consequences that had been the result of her testimony.
What had she done?
She had stopped now, exposing herself to the press, who were eager to get their photo for tomorrow's front page. She suddenly felt tired. Her legs so heavy. Her heart felt like a lump of lead in her chest. Dead and cold.
How had she come to this?
When had she given herself up fully for love, allowing it to run riot within her and dictate all her actions?
She had never been weak; emotions had never played a large role in her adult life, well not in public any way. And yet over the past month she had yielded to the feeling that was sweeping through her body, letting its bitter nature eat through her. Destroy her and every one else around her.
She felt sick.
She felt guilty.
She needed to get out of here, but she couldn't move.
She was surprised when she felt a hand enclose around her own. The strong arm dragging her through the masses, through a narrow hall way, reaching a door which led them to the outside. It had happened so quickly that she only looked up to see her rescuer's face when she could feel the fresh air stroking the dips and peaks of her face.
Weasley.
He was smiling at her. His thin lips pulled into an expression of sheer joy, while his eyes seemed to glitter in a dance all of their own. He kept bouncing from one foot onto another, excitement preventing him from keeping still.
"I wanted to say thank you," he said, oozing sincerity.
"What for?"
"You know what for."
He was looking at her like they were sharing some private joke. She half expected him to wink.
"Well I didn't do it for you," she replied. His smile fell and his eyes immediately narrowed.
"Why can't you just be happy? This is what we wanted wasn't it?" he questioned, his arms held out in front of him in exasperation.
Indeed it was what they had wanted. The conclusion could not have been any better, but she wasn't happy she was ashamed, let down by her inability to resist that deadly poison that was unrequited love. Of which as a result she had put to death not only herself, but also the only person in her pathetic existence she had truly cared for. She had killed him. There was nothing right with that picture. It was wrong.
They were wrong.
It had taken her so long to realise it, so long that it was now too late to do anything about it. Yet the man in front of her had a chance. Had the smallest possibility of seeking the forgiveness of the person he loved, an opportunity that was lost to her. Maybe if she was to tell him, just maybe, it would relieve the remorse that was consuming her...
"No I'm not Weasley. Don't you realise what we've done. We've destroyed the only people that we have ever loved."
"No we've destroyed their relationship, and only that. Hermione will get over him."
She could tell what he was thinking and she needed to put an end to it for his own good.
"She'll never love you Weasley. Give it up. You're just some guy that floats around in her life, someone completely dispensable."
"Maybe that's how Malfoy treated his friends, not Hermione. We've been friends..."
She cut him off. "That's my point. Friends. Not lovers. Not soul mates. Friends."
But her last word was said to his back as he walked away from her, and she watched open mouthed as the door swung shut in her face. What they had done was wrong and if he couldn't realise that then he was an even bigger fool than she already thought he was. They should have just lived through their rejection no matter how painful it was, for they still had the chance to be in the presence of the one they loved. Loving from afar wasn't that bad, was it? Well it was better than what it was now, which was nothing. Draco probably wouldn't even spit in her face now. She, they, had ruined everything they had had.
And it hurt. It hurt so badly.
Trapped in the world of grief she herself had helped to create Pansy had been unaware of the shadows that were now following her stumbling footsteps. She was deaf to the rustle of fabric against fabric from behind her as wands were slipped from robes. There had been no time to react to the shouts of Avada Kedavra that hit her back. She fell to her knees as green light evaded every sphere of her vision, clouding her life. There had been no pain when her cheekbone had cracked as her face had hit the hard cobble streets with a resounding thump. She could practically feel the life draining out of her, spilling onto the dirty ground beneath her. Her eyes flickering for a moment before finally shutting.
Her face had made the news the next morning. Her stiff body greeting those who opened the papers. Nobody had been too surprised; many would say she had it coming. Few mourned; her own husband not among them as he had already remarried hours after her funeral to one of his many mistresses. The murder was soon forgotten however one detail would continue to prey on some minds. The smile. She had been smiling, almost like she had been craving for death instead of fearing it.
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How dare she? thought Ron as he strode back to the courtroom. Ungrateful bitch. Hadn't they set out to do this in the first place? Break them up. Get Draco in prison. The bastard deserved it and there she was trying to say what they had done was wrong. Well fuck her. He had killed. The prick had killed and he was supposed to be shedding tears of sorrow. Fuck that. A small voice spoke in his head annoyingly telling him that his reasons hadn't been as selfless as he would have liked. So what. Perhaps he had done it primarily to rid the blonde freak who had taunted him by his closeness to Hermione. So what if he had thought that once this was done the path would be clear. That there would be no-one to compete with him when he kissed Hermione, loved her. That he would finally be free of Malfoy. Well it doesn't matter. Ron shook his head from side to side, silencing the voice of the ugly truth. It was the end that counted. The means were neither here nor there.
As for what Pansy had said. Hermione would forget him. Eventually. What she had felt was nothing more then an attraction to the dark side, the desire to taste the other way of life. Well she had tried it and, as it should, it had ended badly. Their love was not real. It was too impossible to come into the realms of reality. Whereas him and Hermione it was right, it was possible, and Ron would wait for however long until she too realised that.
His long legs had made quick work of the passage way and he soon emerged in the central reception area. People began grasping his hand, shaking his arm wildly up and down. Whacks of congratulation rained down on his back as he made his way to the head of wild raven hair he could see in the distance. The sound of cries of jubilation that sung in his ears cementing his belief that what they had done was right.
"Ron!"
His friend for seventeen years was now running towards him, and Ron's breath was taken way as Harry's arms crushed round him.
"We've fucking done it mate!" Harry screamed into his face once he had been let go.
Behind him Ron could see his sister hugging Seamus Finnigan, her cheeks glowing with sheer delight. But he couldn't see Hermione. He knew she had been there despite her attempts at blending in with the background. His eyes were darting from one elated face to another. From one smile to another.
"Harry where's Hermione?"
His friend's face instantly sobered, a vacant expression quickly turning to that of concern. He too had seen her in the dungeon, but not after. Without so much as a word passing between them the two men parted, weaving through the throng of people that were celebrating.
The thought that she could possibly have done something stupid, something that made Ron's stomach turn with horror was not lost in his mind as he filtered his way through the crowd. He was pushing people out of the way now. Shit. Where the fuck was she? He was breathing harder and harder. Panting with fear.
"Ron!" A voice yelled.
He turned round sharply and there was Harry, a dishevelled Hermione by his side and his fear was let out with a sigh of relief. He was just about to make his way towards his friends when his sister grasped his arm.
"Come on we're all going to the Yuglingers to celebrate."
He had half a mind to say that he would wait for Hermione and Harry but seeing his sister bursting with eagerness he couldn't say no. No doubt they too would join them.
Indeed they did, but then so had everyone else. Yuglingers was packed to capacity; there was barely room to move. Ron kept intending to get to Hermione who he could see in the corner of his eyes, but for every inch he moved there was somebody else who wanted to compliment him and buy him a drink, and by the time he got to the spot where Hermione had been it was empty. She somehow always managed to end up on the opposite side of the bar to where he was. Eventually he gave up, deciding that the better plan would be to stop by hers later on in the night and say all that he needed to then. For now he lost himself in the atmosphere of flowing alcohol and boisterous chatter.
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The partying had carried on late into the night and when Ron had finally emerged from the bar the light blue sky had given way to its darker counterpart. In the glow of the moonlight Ron stumbled to the flower shop he knew he would be open. Roses. Long stemmed roses. She would like that. Full of high spirits he greeted the elderly stall-owner with a bone crushing hug.
"Lovely night isn't it? A bunch of red roses please." Ron ordered, as he hand dove into his robe pockets looking for some change.
"Where is it? Oh there we are." The knuts dropped from his unsteady hands onto the table.
The owner laughed at his drunken state, handing him the roses, warning to be careful of the thorns. Normally Ron would have hated being the source of humour but tonight he just laughed along, waving good-bye as he made his way to Hermione's house.
"Hermione. I love you."
He practised the phrase again and again.
"Hermione. I love you." He thrust the roses in front of him, to his imaginary Hermione. She would of course start crying in happiness before enveloping him in a hug of acceptance. It seemed so perfect in his head.
How could it not be perfect in real-life?
No. It would be fine. It was fate, he reasoned.
Hermione's door came into view and the collection of butterflies started fluttering in nervousness in his stomach. Having reached the stairs he stopped and passed his hand through his hair, down his robes trying to get rid of the dirt and wrinkles his robes always seemed to attract.
This was it.
He went step by step. Pacing himself. Breathing in and out in even rhythms, calming himself. A white fist knocked on the door.
Tap. Tap.
No one.
TAP TAP.
Still no-one. Perhaps she had been caught up in conversation to someone. Well he would wait and he collapsed onto the stone steps. It was probably for the best. Give him time to really think about what to say, an outright declaration of love was possibly not the greatest tactic anyway. She had been through a lot. Subtlety was the way to go. Ron sighed in dismay that had never been a quality of his.
Minutes turned into hours and the alcohol that had made a fog of all his thoughts had cleared, leaving behind a painful headache and an even more painful realisation.
She wasn't coming back.
He pulled out another cigarette. Shit only one left, the rest had been discarded at his feet in a messy pile of useless butts and ashes. He lit the remaining fag, breathing it in deeply; making full use of the calming effects of the nicotine, for it was the only thing that stopped him from screaming and tearing his hair out.
Sunrise had been and gone and she hadn't turned up. Maybe he was just being pessimistic, there were lots of possibilities on her whereabouts, and yet some how, in some tiny, dark part of his brain he knew she wasn't coming back. Sitting here on the step he had had a lot of time to think and much of it had been spent mulling over Pansy's words.
Friends?
It wasn't a bad thing to be. She still loved him, just not in that way. Not in the way she had loved Malfoy - Ron threw the flowers onto the ground in anger. Petals flew up into the air before floating back down again, making a strange picture with the cigarette remains.
He closed his eyes in defeat. So Malfoy had won. The bastard. Suddenly he heard footsteps ascending up the stairs.
Just maybe.
Just maybe it would be her.
He could feel his heart getting lighter with the hope that was building up within him.
Just maybe.
He opened his eyes, and he couldn't stop the tears that rolled in a stream down his face.
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A/N a bit of a cliffie, but I'm allowed cos have only 2 more chapters left! And I know Ron and Pans are not most peoples fav characters but I'm afraid it had to be done. Will be explained in nxt chap (don't wanna give the rest of the story away!) Oh and I know Pansy suddenly got a heart but what the hey I gave her the benefit of the doubt!
Reviews are def appreciated,
Luv Cedar1
