Chapter Ten: Don't Cry…
She blinked a good few times, the sun shining so brightly that it hurt to keep her eyes open. After a few moments of adjusting to the light, Hermione turned over to see Draco lying beside her sound asleep.
"Draco? Draco, wake up…its morning…"
He jumped awake, blinking a good few times as well. "Its morning? Are you serious!" His eyes quickly glanced down at his watch. "It's five thirty…we stayed out all night."
"I know. It took me a few moments to realize that it was morning and I was still with you…I can't believe we stayed out all night…"
Draco giggled. "I wonder if anyone is looking for you at the Ministry…"
"At this point, I really wouldn't give a care…"
"You know, I noticed something about you…you never swear. I mean, you have never said any curse word. Fuck, shit, ass, damn, crap…none of them."
"I think it makes you seem very unintelligent and rude…it's just a personal preference…"
"Did your mummy tell you not to swear?" Draco grinned, thinking this would get to her.
"No…" Hermione blushed a shade of brilliant crimson. "Well…maybe."
"Hermione…you're twenty one years old. For Merlin's sake, just say one word. Just one. Your mummy can't hear you…"
"No! I refuse to swear!"
Draco gently kissed her, caressing the top of her mouth with his tongue once more.
"You brat…you little brat."
"Come on…please?"
Hermione shook her head, stubborn as usual. "I refuse to swear."
"You are so cute when you're angry with me."
"Shut up."
"Make me."
Hermione took a deep breath, then she uttered her first swear word in twenty-one years. "Crap…"
Draco grinned. "See? I can get to you…"
"It's just because you kissed me…I go soft when you kiss me."
"This is the second time I've kissed you…"
"So? I can tell these kind of things pretty quickly…."
Draco stared at her with a confused expression upon his face. "Okay…sure."
Hermione giggled. "You are a brat. I just don't get you sometimes…you have so many layers beneath your regular personality that come out every once and awhile…"
"I'm a novel. You have a lot more to read about me, my dear."
"I can tell…but why do you hide so much of your personality behind that mask you wear? You are so cruel to people sometimes…why do you hide behind that anger?"
Draco looked into Hermione's eyes, tears welling inside them. "Did I ever tell you about my childhood?"
"No…"
"My father expected too much out of me…he was such an awful person. He made me become almost identical to him. Evil…black-hearted…but the summer when I was fourteen, I snuck out of the house and began to see this girl. She was the same age as me and had the same troubles as me…she was my sister."
"What!"
"I know, I know…she wasn't my real sister, though. She was sort of my adopted sister. Alexis was her name…she came to our door one morning and my mother, the kind-hearted soul she was, took her in. I was so attached to my mother, but the day my father turned her heart black…that was the day I left with Alexis…"
"What did you and Alexis do?"
Draco turned away. "I gave my virginity away to Alexis, and she gave hers away to me…we weren't truly in love, but we knew we would be rebelling against my father, so we did it anyway." In an effort to change the subject, he turned back to Hermione. "What happened between you, Ron, and Harry? I thought you three were the best of friends."
"Oh…well, Ron and I tried to create a relationship where we were still friends, but we kissed and all that jazz. It really didn't work out the way we wanted it to…so we had to become a couple. That didn't really work out the way we wanted it to, either. It's kind of funny…he's had feelings for me for so long, but the moment we tried to initiate a relationship, he shied away from me."
"That's terrible…but what about Harry?"
"Harry? Harry ran off with Ginny Weasley about two years ago. Rumor has it the two of them were dating in Harry's seventh year, and the only way Harry could see Ginny during her seventh year was to become an Animagus and slip in at the cover of darkness. Her mother had a heart attack when she found out that Harry and Ginny were secretly dating behind her back."
Draco shook his head in laughter. "Mrs. Weasley…she's very overprotective of her children. Bill and Charlie had to get away from that…"
"She sure had a cow when Ron and I tried to date each other during our sixth year. It was rather humorous, actually…but I want to know more about this Alexis you told me of. Who was she? What did you two do?"
"Alexis was an orphan, or at least that's what she told me. I think she ran away, but that's just my feeling. Anyway, she came to our doorstep and begged for food when I was about seven years old. We were the same age and we ended growing up together from age seven and on. But, the summer when I turned fourteen, my mother's heart turned black and threatened to leave Alexis out on the street if she didn't leave that exact moment. Alexis had always had a secret crush on me, but she decided that the only way she could be with me was if we ran away together," Draco paused for a moment, choking back on tears. After a few moments, he continued, "Alexis and I hid in a small apartment that was vacant…at least, from what we saw. In a way, she took advantage of me. I was young, I didn't know much about love…sex…all that jazz, like you say. My mother never told me anything about that…she thought I could figure it out for myself. Well, I did."
"What happened?"
"She forced me onto the floor and began stripping her clothes off in front of me. I closed my eyes, not wanting to watch this happen. The moment I knew she was trying to have sex with me was when she began to strip off my clothes and…oh, you know what happened next."
"So…you're not a virgin?"
"No…I lost my virginity at age fourteen because a girl who came to my doorstep begging for food and shelter. I personally think she wasn't that bad off…she was well dressed, and she didn't look thin."
Hermione shook her head in disgust. "I can't believe she did that."
"I can't either…" Tears began to fall down his cheeks as he thought of this horrible event in his life. "My father kicked her out…but I didn't care. I never wanted to see her again."
"Oh, baby…don't cry…" Hermione wiped his tears away from his eyes. "You are a strong person…if someone had done that to me, I would have locked myself in my room and never come out…"
"I did lock myself in my room. I didn't leave for almost six months. My mother only opened the door to give me food and water. I never spoke to her…I never said much."
"But you came out of the room…I would never have left it."
"I WAS A BROKEN CHILD, HERMIONE!" Draco got to his feet, running off down the small path along the water.
"Draco!" Hermione got to her feet and watched him run. She wanted to run after him, but she knew it wouldn't help. He would just keep running.
She sat back down, curled into a ball, and wept. She wept for Draco, she wept for herself…but she wept more for what Alexis had done to Draco. She destroyed him…
She created a monster that she could never destroy.
Hermione looked out over the water and saw that Draco had stripped his clothing off and was taking a dip in the Thames River. She walked over to the edge of the pathway and called to him. "Draco!"
He looked up, grinning. "I've never done this…I've always wanted to swim in the Thames River."
Hermione smirked back. "You seem better."
"Oh, I ran for quite some time. You must have sat there longer than you thought…then again, I do swim rather fast."
"Can I come in?"
"You can't swim in your clothes, though…"
Hermione started to strip off her clothing, her beautiful body glinting in the sunlight. After she completely stripped away her clothing, she gracefully dived into the water and swam over to Draco.
"You are…the most beautiful woman I have ever seen…"
She smiled. "Thank you…no one has ever told me such a nice thing before…"
"Where have you been hiding out all these years?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've never shown off your body before…I mean, I always thought you were beautiful, but…there's something about you that makes you special…"
"Oh, be quiet. I'm not THAT spectacular."
Draco swam over to her, tucking the hair that covered her pale, porcelain-like face behind her ear, smiling. "You are spectacular…you are my angel, Hermione Granger."
Hermione began to softly cry tears of utmost joy.
"Ssshhh…I don't like to see you cry…"
"But, that was so beautiful…no one has ever told me something so wonderful in my life."
Draco grinned, and he began to softly hum a song that he had heard a long time ago on the Muggle radio.
"Don't cry…no…don't cry…tonight, my baby…don't cry…you'll always be loved…don't cry…tonight, my baby…"