Chapter Nineteen

A Tale of A Forbidden Love

Harry Potter

starjade

A Rejection and A Return

I think I love you..

I think I love you..

No matter what way he said it, it still sounded wrong. Out of place. Strange and absolutely shocking.

And he had absolutely no idea what was wrong with his reaction towards it.

Half of him wanted to puke. His whole life, he hated mudbloods. And here, the brainiest, most despicable QUEEN of the mudbloods just admitted her love for him.

This was freaky!!

He stared at her, bushy brown hair surrounding her pale head like a halo, her face looking up at him, almost expectantly. Nervousness caused beads of sweat to form on her forehead and her deep brown eyes sank into his, through his body, down his form, settling at his knees and weakening his joints-

The other half wanted to jump for joy.

Elation had swept over him battling furiously for dominance. Realizing that Granger still needed an answer, he croaked out an intelligent, " What?"

Hermione flushed. " Do I have to repeat it?" She asked, huffing a bit. " I know you heard it Drake. Just tell me whether or not...you..." She seemed to be searching her head as she said calculatingly, "...accept...my love."

She looked at him and he let out a ball of smoke, almost exasperatedly. What was this? Why did this have to happen now?

Yeah! He felt a thought bubble up. I'm still a sexy beast even IN beast form!

He shook his head, smiling to himself. He was very attractive-

Something whirled through him unbidden anditrang like a warning bell through his mind.His father. Voldemort. If they found out about this, of her love, of his....strangeness, of this connection OF ANY of it, they would see it as an opportunity to sling him back onto their side.

Using her as bait, obviously.

His eyes snapped wide open and he stared at the quiet girl in front of him, fear seeping through his veins. He couldn't accept it....he couldn't even reject her gently...

He'd have to go in for the kill.

Hermione could feel the sweat beats running down her back and wondered why she was so nervous. She knew his answer. She knew that he'd reject her, she WANTED him to reject her. Besides, even if he did accept her love, what kind of relationship would that be?

A dragon, for god sakes. A mystical animal! She didn't even think a relationship would be biologically possible...

But he sure was taking his time...her fingers clenched into fists and she waited with baited breath for his answer.

Then she heard a grunt. Almost like a bark erupt from him and his silver eyes seemed to change, glinting now with a dangerous spark.

" Ha! Can you even hear yourself speak? You sound pathetic! Even for a mudblood and I hardly think that's possible! You just came here and told me you LOVE me...." He twisted the word love, making it sound nasty and whiny, " and expected me to what? Tell you the same?"

Hermione felt her jaw drop as he sneered at her, his sneer even more menacing as the scales around his jaw twisted into an ugly smile. " You, my dear, aren't even worth Harry Potter's time. Why would you be worth mine? No wonder he rejected you. Your just desperate."

Hermione couldn't believe it. This...this was what she was expecting but not...not like this!

" Drake what-what are you-" She attempted to intervene but he was too caught up to listen.

" All you've been for me was entertainment. A little mudblood, crying about her love woes. I'd be surprised if anyone did love you, my dear. You are quite wretched," Drake finished, glaring at her. " Now leave. Never come back. Ever."

Hermione could taste the bile rise to her mouth. Tears sprung to her eyes and she could hardly choke out the words, " What-what's wrong with you?" And before he could answer, she had run off, back to Hogwarts, back to her haven and away from her friend who she had trusted...and had turned his back on her.

A week had passed. Draco Malfoy was still not found. The school was getting worried and even Harry and Ron looked a bit uneasy as rumours about the cause of his disappearance ranged wildly. People still believed that Hermione had to do something with his disappearance but Hermione hardly cared.

She was seen in the library now, in her corner, not talking to anyone. Her face was stony, her mood was always a little off and Harry and Ron could hardly muster the courage to approach her. She gave off a vibe that almost felt like she would bite off their very heads if they even spoke a word to her and they were clueless for the reason.

Hermione, however, felt it all. The betrayal Drake had given her, the responsibility of Draco's disappearance....her own feeling of failure...Drake, she had trusted. Drake, she had lo-loved. She knew it now.

He had rejected her.

And it was still there, still present, still underneath her chest, waiting to rise up and take over. She loved his intelligence, the way he spoke to her, his kindness and his beauty. And yet, when he revealed everything...the fact that he used her for "entertainment," that he actually just thought her to be a "desperate" mudblood...

Something inside her insisted that he was lying.

But why would he?

All he had to do was say no. Tell her that he thought the love would be impossible. Just a silly school girl's crush..

But instead, he crushed everything she had-THEY had. Their friendship, their connection....everything, anything was gone.

And she missed him. God, she missed him. She thought of him during class, while stirring the cauldron, writing her notes, listening to the lecutres-she missed him and she wanted to race out in the middle of class and shout at him, beat her fists against his scales and yell and scream and ask him why he would do that, why he would do that to her...

You're too late. He's dead. More will join him if you don't agree.

And that message still resounded in her head. Voldemort had killed Lucius. He sent a mesage to Draco telling him to agree to something...that Draco didn't want to agree to at all. And now Draco dissapeared...right after asking for her help.

Hermione squeezed her head. This was all just so complicated..

The first thing he noticed when he woke up was that he was cold.

Very cold.

Then the second thing he noticed was that he needed to go pee.

He never needed to go pee during his dragon form.

That was when his brain clicked and he looked down.

Pale white legs met his eyes and his eyes widened in ecstatic joy. " I'm HUMAN again!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, getting up so fast he nearly tripped. He grabbed onto his legs and his arms like he had never seen them before and laughed in happiness as he felt human skin.

" I'm human! Human, human, human!!" He cried, a wide smile on his face. Then his smile dropped and he looked down. " A butt-naked human..."

His hands went automatically to his crotch, covering it quickly and looking around anxiously, hoping no one came to these parts of the forest and had seen him in all his glory.

Usually he had clothes nearby, but because he had been a dragon for so long, he suspected that his clothes had already been burnt to a toast in one of his fireball games.

" Oh bloody hell," He swore, waddling and shaking in the cold. He was naked and frozen in the middle of the bloody forest and the whole school thought he was missing and this was just not fair!

Then he realized something very important.

He was human.

Meaning not a dragon anymore.

Meaning the curse was....gone.

" The curse..." He whispered to himself, his eyes moving to the skin on his hands, his fingers touching his blond locks in absolute wonder. The curse was gone. Lifted. Erased. That was the only answer.

But why?

Why would it be gone?

I think I love you....

The words echoed through his brain and he groaned. He remembered one of the ways to end the curse...True Love.

Hermione Granger, Miss Know It All, bloody mudblood and a girl he had hated almost all his years at Hogwarts...truly loved him?

" That is frickin hilarious." He whispered, grinning a bit. He touched his chest and wondered at the funny feeling inside of him as he repeated the words echoing in his head, " Hermione Granger loves me."

And for some reason that wasn't a bad thing at all.

" DRACO MALFOY?!?!"

Oh shit. He thought.

And he quickly announced his thoughts as he turned around and saw the head of his house and the headmaster standing there in the company of Hagrid and Professor McGonagall, looking quite harassed.

" What in all seven hells are you doing out here??" Severus Snape roared.

" Naked, I might add," Dumbledore pitched in, his voice carrying a light trace of amusement.

Draco could not move his thought process mostly because he thought his skull had frozen and because he was so shocked, so he said the only thing that came to mind.

" Don't you four say ANYTHING about this to ANYONE!"

Whispers blew around the castle like stray leaves in autumn and a wildfire of rumours had broken out like a bonfire. Hermione was quite used to these things already and ignored it as she walked down the hallways but when Harry and Ron ran to her, bright flushes of emotion apparent on their faces, she grew intrigued.

" What's going on?" She asked the two, her voice confused.

" You don't know yet?" Ron asked, his voice full of emotion. " It's all over the school since he was seen walking-"

" Miss. Granger," A voice interrupted him and Hermione turned around, recognizing the voice as Professor McGonagall's. " Please come with me. Headmaster Dumbledore would like to have a word with you," She said, her pointed hat as stern and as straight as her face.

Hermione looked at Harry and Ron, her expression betraying her fear and they gave her encouraging looks as she walked behind Professor McGonagall down the familiar route to Dumbledore's cabin.

Professor McGonagall quickly said the password and led her up the stairs until they broke into his study.

" Ah, Miss. Granger! How delightful to see you!" Dumbledore's voice said, cheerfully but Hermione had stopped.

Her heart had stopped.

Her eyes widened until they were saucers on her face and her breath caught in her throat as she fought to breath.

Draco Malfoy was sitting on a chair looking back at her with an almost nonchalant expression on his face.

Draco...Malfoy...

The boy who she had been guilt-ridden over for the last few weeks, who she had wondered, thought and worried herself to death over...

Sat healthy and strong in front of her. He wasn't dead, he wasn't burning in some weird death eater's cult...he was....there...whole...

" Hey, Granger," He almost said the words but they were cut off as Hermione let out a screech of half relief and half happiness as she raced across the room and threw herself at Draco.

" Miss. Granger, please-" Professor Snape started but Hermione was nearly hysterical.

" Malfoy!!" She gasped, grabbing onto his face and looking at it with utter relief. " Your alive!! Your bloody alive, merlin, thank you, I've been looking for you, you bloody bastard how could you leave? Ask me for my help and leave, like that, do you know what you did to me you Slytherin git?!!?" She bubbled out, relentlessly.

" Gerrofff!!" Draco growled, but Hermione had clung onto him.

" Merlin, your alive....." She finally trailed off and then realized the position she was in and what environment she actually was placed in.

And then she turned bright red and looked up into Draco's annoyed grey eyes.

" You want to get off me now?" He drawled.

Hermione slid off his lap as quickly as she could and stood up, meeting Dumbledore's twinkling eyes. " I-I'm so sorry, Professor, I didn't mean to-I mean, I just-" She stumbled, her face bright red and absolutely ashamed of herself. She had thrown herself at her arch-enemy and then proceeded to babble on and she swore! Oh Merlin, she had sworn in front of teachers, her headmaster!!!

" It's quite alright, Miss. Granger," Professor Dumbledore said, encouragingly and Hermione sunk into her chair, aware however of Professor Snape's disapproving gaze as she did so. " I called you here to ask you a few questions. You are aware that you are the last known person to have communicated with Draco Malfoy before he had disappeared, am I correct?"

" Yes, sir," She whispered, wondering what was going on and where Draco Malfoy was the whole time.

But he was alive. He was okay.

And that was all that mattered.

" Well, it seems that we found Draco Malfoy here...in quite a state in the forbidden forest and he will give us no reason why he was there. Do you have any idea, perchance, where Draco Malfoy has been this whole time?"

Hermione snuck a quick glance at the pale faced boy but he had stubbornly turned his face to the other side and looked like he was muttering angrily and she shook her head slowly. Her mind flashed with the note she had read but she didn't say a word as she looked Professor Dumbledore straight in the eye.

" No, sir. I knew that he had asked me for help before he left but he was gone before I could ask...what he needed help with and why," Hermione answered, softly.

Dumbledore was silent. " I see." He said, slowly.

Snape broke in, almost impatiently, " Albus, do you not think I could brew a batch of veritaseum maybe, if they are not willing to answer-"

" No," Dumbledore said, shortly. " If they are not willing to answer, then we will wait until they are ready. Draco, if you left by choice then you will have to make up the work that you missed by yourself and you will be responsible for it. Your relatives will be informed and you will serve two weeks detention. IF you can tell us why you left and if it was...forced, then it will work out to be beneficial for you. Do you have anything to say, Draco Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked.

Draco looked at the headmaster, grey eyes flashing. " No, sir." He answered simply.

" Very well, then." Dumbledore sighed. " You may leave."

Malfoy got up, sneering as he left the room silently. Hermione got up to leave as well but Dumbledore said, " Miss. Granger, a second please."

Hermione halted and turned around. Dumbledore looked at her severely and said quietly, " Miss. Granger, you may be getting involved into things that are beyond your control. Ask for help. And the next move you make will be punished, I apologize Hermione, but this is getting too dangerous. Do you understand what I'm saying, dear?"

Hermione stared at him confusedly and then understanding swept through her. He knew....He knew about her nightly visits to the dragon...

He knew...

Hermione's lip tightened and she whispered, " That will not be a problem, sir."

Dumbledore's fingers formed a tepee and he sat back on his chair. " Then that will be all," He finished and Hermione walked quickly out of the office. As soon as she reached the Hogwarts hall, she let out a sigh.

That was nerve-wracking, she thought to herself. Then a more important issue came to her mind and she halted in her steps. He was back....Draco Malfoy...where the hell was he this whole time?

Then an arm came out of nowhere and pushed hard against her chest, slamming her against the cold wall so fast that a gasp of shock was forced out of her mouth and her head jerked up in fear.

Cold grey eyes bore into hers.

" Dr-Draco!" Her shocked voice seemed to be a breathy gasp but the pressure of his arm on her chest was taking away her breath.

He was staring at her, into her eyes for what seemed like hours, searching for something in her soul. Hermione had felt her heart sigh with relief when she had seen him but now, she felt her body reacting in quite a strange way at his touch and the way he stared at her.

" Granger..." He drawled out, long and slow. " You...."

" Yes?" She choked out, not because of his arm against her chest but because of the feeling that had a strong grip around every vital organ in her body.

Silence enveloped the two and she was aware of every single area they were touching.

" You're strange," He whispered, his soft whisper echoing in the silence.

That wasn't what she was expecting. The guy who hated her, who she knew would not hesitate to throw her into a pit and hurl unforgivable at her...called her strange?

And what was more strange..

Was the softening look in his deep grey eyes as he looked at her.

" I'm strange? How?" She whispered, softly, not knowing what she was saying. She wanted to ask, where he was...what he was doing...where that letter was from...why he was doing this to her...

But he couldn't. For some reason, everything reasonable had been wiped from existence and all that was left was his grey eyes.

" You're just...." He replied, his voice deep and husky. " I can't believe you would....you..." He was stuttering on his words and she waited for him to talk, wondering why her heart was twisted into knots because of a boy she hated...no wait, she didn't hate him...she...

And he was getting too close.

And she knew it was way too close when soft lips landed on hers. And then her mind exploded.

Everything was so sudden. Everything was happening at once and she couldn't take it.

So she let it all go, and let her arms go up and wrap around his neck. She let her fingers trail to the back of his neck and let his body push in closer. She pressed against his lips harder and yearned for more contact as his mouth opened and nudged hers open as well and she accepted and sighed, with a hearts content she thought she'd never achieve-

And then with a strangled gasp, he had pulled away from her. And he was running, running down the hall, faster then she had seen anyone run before and soon, he rounded the corner and was out of site and she was still against the wall, panting from both the crash of emotions and his kiss..

Her fingers rose up and lay against her lips in absolute surprise.

" I love Drake..." She whispered. Then she looked at the direction in which Draco Malfoy had fled. " But Malfoy..."

Something...wasn't right...

Draco slammed his back as he reached the end of the corner and stared at his hands in shock. Scales had spread down each of his fingers and his fingernails were lengthening considerably.

He groaned, and the groan was lower pitchedthen usual and he felt jaggedteeth begin to form in his mouth and he began to run down the hall, towards the usual route towards the forbidden forest.

The curse hadn't been lifted. He was turning into a dragon.

a/n: Lol, a lotta things happening in this chapter, but this story is wrapping up soon, so this chapter doesn't reveal a lot about the ending but maybeee if you pick up a few of the key ideas. sorry about the long time wait and if this chapter aint up to my usual standards, sorry about that too, haven't written in a loooong time, so I'm shocked that I could evne write anymore! lol ahaha, but anyways, if you guys still like it and are still a fan of this story, review for me, aight?

see ya latez,

starjade