Only Fools Rush In
*Disclaimer – I *do not* own anything except my original characters, my story and plot lines and my scenarios, even though they've probably been used, mauled and distorted before. PLEASE DON'T SUE ME!!! And, also, please don't sue me for any of the copyrighted things in here (like music and songs) unless they're my own or if I added or changed a line, that line is MINE!. [Scratches head sheepishly.] Okay! Enjoy!* {I mean, really, c'mon, I were JKR, would I be posting these on this site?}
Chapter 5 – What A Girl Wants: Lessons from Malfoy and a Radio
Ron's POV
"Harry," I moaned, my head in my hands. "What am I going to do, mate? I mean, 'Mione's…"
"Oi, I know whatcha mean, Ron… Maybe… Maybe… Maybe it's just a phase?"
I looked up at him in disgust. "Oi, Harry. Wipe your mouth."
"What???" His face reflected his tone of voice. If I had been in a better mood, I would've laughed at the confusion in his stare.
"It's full of bullshit." And again my head went into my hands.
What is wrong with me? Did I do something to her to drive her to Malfoy? I thought dejectedly.
"'Mione! It's been ages since you've visited!" I looked around and spotted Ginny and Hermione in an embrace. I shot them a dirty look even though they were paying me no mind.
The two of them sat near the fireplace, exactly ten paces from mine and Harry's current position. They started talking, gossiping, no doubt, about things until I heard the name 'Draco' disgrace my sister's lips. I started paying attention. My eyes caught Harry's and we leaned closer together, to look as if we were in conversation, to eavesdrop upon them.
"Yeah, well, Harry and Ron made some sort of scene while I managed to shovel down my 'din-din'. He was defending me from them and when I walked away he caught up with me, simple."
"Then what's with the lip gloss? Or, well, lack thereof," Ginny commented.
"Weeeell, when he caught up with me, he was holding on to my shoulders and I," Hermione blushed a crimson to match the red in her outfit, "well, I pretty much melted when I looked into his eyes… Sigh. You know, his eyes turn from a light smoke to mercury highlighted with silver when he makes me melt, Gin! I swooned and he caught me and he asked for a thank you for defending me and all that rot. I wanted him to shuttup so badly that I just kissed him!"
Ginny gasped then continued giggling. "Go on!"
"And… Well, I told him the kiss was to shut him up and he asked for his thank you again and I," she grinned guiltily, "teased him into thinking that I'd give it to him in our dorm!"
"Oh, my God, Hermione! What did-- Wait. Did you do what I think you did?"
"If I did, Ginny, I'd probably be back in my common room, snogging him senseless! No, I brought him to our common room, gave him a peck on the cheek and said thank you! What were you thinking?" The two of them giggled at the predictability of Draco and men in general. "Anyways, he got so mad that I was afraid that he might go and break something, so I decided to come visit. Y'know, let him simmer for a bit."
"Hermione Bethany-Anne Granger, you are so cruel, you know that!"
"Well, Gins, that's me in a nutshell! What fun it was! Ohh, I could fancy a drink right now, you know? Maybe… Ohh, rum and coke."
Ginny's eyes widened as she gasped out "You drink?"
"On the occasion, honey, just when I feel like it." A cheeky grin was plastered on Hermione's face. I was thoroughly disgusted now. They went on talking, but I didn't feel like hearing anymore.
"Oi, Harry, you think it's just a phase now?"
"Well, it does explain a lot of things, you know, mate. Like, I visited her over the summer before, like last summer and the one before that. She seemed exactly like this, all… Exuberant. I guess…"
"What?" My tone of voice surged, causing some surrounding people to look at us.
"I guess this is really her. That's all I can think of. I've been so used to… Well, taking advantage of her all the time to not really notice what really makes up Hermione Granger." He held his had up at me when I made to protest. "No, Ron, look. We do take advantage of her. We use her for her book smarts, her loyalty and that's it."
"Well, what do we do?" I was desperate to try and get my best friend and girlfriend back.
"There's only one thing to do, Ron: we go to the one who obviously knows her best at the moment."
"That being…? You know, I'm not the brightest flame on the torch, mate."
"We got to go to Malfoy."
Draco's POV
"Granger, you fucking little blint! You can't do that to me!" I seethed out loud. I had to get her back, she couldn't just leave me hanging by a thread of my sanity!
"Damnit," I swore again as I threw her CD player across the room and repaired it with a flick of my wand. I walked over to where it was lying upright on the floor and turned it on to the radio setting.
"…And here's Sean Paul's 'Gimme Di Light' and you're listening to DJ Markey-Mark on the WWN, the world's best Wizarding Wireless Network!"
As the opening words and heavy beats came blaring through the air, I calmed down, even though I couldn't even comprehend half of the words. Diwali rhythms or reggae or something. Just some sort of dance music, I thought. A lot of the Muggle music was being played on the WWN lately, not that I minded. It was much better than ours. And it was a proven fact that the majority of famous people were actually wizards. No muggle could be that famous and get away with it.
I settled on the couch nearest as I let the heavy bass beats wash over me. I started smirking as I dreamt up a revenge scheme to get Hermione back. Three loud consecutive knocks from the doorway drew me out of my reverie.
"Malfoy, you in there?"
"Sounds like Potter. I must be delusional," I mused, getting up and walking to the portrait archway. I waved my hand in front of it and it became transparent from the inside. What I saw surprised. Not only was I right, I was right with a cherry on top. Potter and his red-headed boyfriend were outside my door, asking for me.
"What do you want, Potter?" I called, wondering exactly that.
"We need to talk, Malfoy. And this time I really mean talk."
"Well, the last time I heard you say that was… Never. Happy to hear you say that you need me, but I'm really not into that kind of thing, sorry! I'm quite happy with women!"
"Malfoy, let us in. We need to talk. It's about Hermione."
I raised an eyebrow, wondering what in bloody blue blazes they could want to talk to me about their friend. Or former, anyways.
"If you're just going to blame me for everything that's happened, then don't expect to be let in."
"No, we… We'd…"
"Yes, Potter? My time is precious, unlike your lives."
"Damnit, Malfoy!" He yelled. He face was screwed in concentration. "WE NEED YOUR HELP!"
I was taken aback. This really was something. I laid a hand on the now transparent picture backing and it dissolved in thin air, leaving me and them face to face. We stood, eyeing each other, for a full two minutes.
"Well, are you coming in or not?" With that I swept myself into the room, muttering distinct cleaning charms on the way to the couch near the stereo.
Harry's POV
As I walked in, I noticed that the place was big. Their common room was almost twice or three time the size of the one in Gryffindor. There were about a dozen doors on the east and west walls, punctuated by pictures and the Gryffindor and Slytherin house colours. I peered over to the large fireplace, large enough to stand in, and saw a picture of Hermione and Malfoy, standing together in front of their picture doorway. Smiling. It must've been a Muggle camera because neither figure in the image was moving.
When Ron and I had settled ourselves on a couch across Malfoy, I launched straight to the point, knowing Ron was just waiting to pummel him right then and there.
"Look, Malfoy, we need your help. Hermione's changed and we've learned that. But we want to know… Well, to put it bluntly? What makes you so special to her?"
He looked at us incredulously and then laughed. I bit my tongue waiting for him to finish having his laugh.
"Really, Potter, you need a lesson in women and in tact. If you want honesty to your question, I have no bloody clue. But if you want to ask her yourselves, you're quite welcome to it. Just tell me her answer, will you?" He reclined in his spot, arms spread on the couch back.
"Malfoy, just tell us, bloody hell, teach us!" Ron yelled, his hands gripping the golden cushion under him, knuckles white.
"Wow, never thought I'd hear that out of your mouth, Weasley."
"Look, Malfoy. We just want Hermione back, even if we have to share her with you!"
"Hmm, lesson one: Don't treat a woman like an object, in front of her or behind her back." Ron and I gave him a unified stare of confusion.
"Potter, listen to your own words. You said you wanted her back even if you had to share her with me. You're treating her like an object, like a toy three little boys are squabbling for."
"…And here's one for the ladies, B2K's 'What A Girl Wants' and then we'll have Christina Aguilera's version! And guess what? You got that right! It's the Battle Bomb between…"
"There, boys. Your first guideline to women."
"What? What are you spouting off now, Malfoy?" Ron shot, face reddening with anger.
"Listen to the songs. The titles should be enough for you. 'What A Girl Wants'."
Yo I don't know what's going on but I do know one thing
You gotta make it right aiight
Man what's going on with you
Why you treat her like you do
When you know the girl is all about you
Tell me, why you always lose your head
Should find a better way to handle it
You need to stop this game, before you
mess around and lose (just trying to help you)
"See?" Malfoy pointed his wand at the stereo and it stopped. "Now, let's analyze this. 'Man, what's going on with you/Why you treat her like you do/When you know the girl is all about you?' Answer that."
"Treat her like what?"
"Treat her the way you do, Weasel! Look at the wording, it isn't very complex, even for you. I'm asking why do you treat her like the boring, un… Hmm, understanding, boring bookworm that she looks like?" He looked at us, and when I looked him in the eye, I could tell he saw the more alive part of Hermione me and Ron never noticed before.
"Well, if you aren't going to answer, I'll go on."
Ron's POV
"'Tell me, why you always loose your head/Should find a better way to handle it.' A little straightforward, isn't it? Like you, Weasley. Tap down the temper, like that night in the hospital wing. Can't let her piss you off. Well, you can, just don't show it."
I was confused. Is this what I had done? I mean, I admit, I really didn't want to come to Malfoy, but he was actually giving me some insight. Maybe if I wasn't such a hot head sometimes I could actually get and keep a girlfriend.
"Malfoy, lemme ask you something. How come you know so much about this? Like, women and stuff?"
"Well, Weasel, a few reasons. One, majority of purebloods are raised knowing, two, let me ask you how many hourglass figures on legs have you dated and three it's just common sense! I mean, if a girl asks if she's fat, you say no. If she accuses you of lying, just give her the old slip of the tongue and she feels loved for hours. And what you give you shall always receive. Tenfold." He smirked and waggled his eyebrows.
"Is that all you think about, Malfoy? Your trysts, your conquests?" I said, outraged. He sighed and closed his eyes.
"As much as you'd like to think it, Weasel, no. I do care, I do give a damn about my girlfriends. Why do you think I haven't had many? Only enough to count on one hand if I cared to try."
I was startled. Malfoy, opening up to us, let alone being civil? When did Blast-Ended Skrewts talk and Umbridge become human?
"Okay, Malfoy," Harry said. "What's next? I mean, I really want to start talking to Hermione again."
"Hmm. Where were we?" He seemed flustered. "Yeah. 'You better stop this game/Before you mess around and lose'. Obvious, innit? I mean, it's like what I play on the outside, egotistical jerk. But I know better. I know how to treat a person, treat a woman, and do it properly." I just quirked an eyebrow in disbelief. "C'mon. I'll tell you more later. I'm starved. You guys put me off an excellent dinner earlier."
(*A/N: I just thought you'd be sick of the guys for awhile. Gonna go see what 'Mione's up to! ^_~*)
Hermione's POV
I sighed as I sat on Parvati's bed along with Ginny. Parvati, Lavender, and a pair of seventh year Gryffindor twins, Sueyeng and Asia Manchester, were scattered about on beds and on top of desks.
"'Mione, where'd you get this stuff? You rock!" Sueyeng exclaimed as she sipped a Mike's Hard Lemonade.
"Yeah, 'Mione, you know you could lose your position if anyone found out." Ginny said seriously as she sipped a Pink Lady.
I looked at them over the rim of my margarita. "You guys, if you haven't noticed, I don't care anymore. I'm sick of playing that little… game with myself every year!"
"Well," Lavender said, standing from her Indian-style position on the floor and holding up her martini in the air. "To a brand new year, new chances, new opportunities and, most of all, a new Hermione Granger!"
We all stood and clinked our glasses, alcohol sloshing over the rims. We giggled and resumed our former positions.
"So what's the guy dirt?" Asia asked over her Long Island iced tea. Parvati shot her eyes at me and giggled, spilling a bit of her Bacardi down her front.
"My God, Parvati! Could've given me a chance," I laughed, downing the last dregs of the bright blue margarita and getting up to fix myself some more at the portable bar in the corner.
"Well, what's the Draco news?" Sueyeng pressed, her lips pressed to the top of the alcoholic lemonade bottle.
"Okay, I know that Draco has the most… To die for eyes!" I gushed, picking up a bottle Smirnoff Ice out of the cooler. "You melt in his hands!"
"Ohh!" they all replied, looking at me like I was their last meal. "More!"
"Like, how far have you gone?" Sueyeng pressed again. I looked at the petite Asian girl and thought I'll never be as pretty as her or Asia.
Sueyeng and Asia Manchester were short, standing 4'10" at full height. They had come to Hogwarts in our sixth year and a lot of the girls were immensely jealous of them. They had small, blue almond shaped eyes, the only British attribute in their Anglo-Chinese heritage. Their skin was a perfect creamed-coffee colour and they had straight-as-pins black hair with red, brown and gold highlights. They were perfect in every way, physically and personality-wise: they were friendly, funny, everything any guy wanted. The only difference was that Asia wasn't really enthusiastic for parties and such. She was like the Hermione façade: bookworm. Sueyeng (*A/N: Sueyeng is pronounced 'Sue-jen' or 'Sue-yen'.*) was the typical, stereotype teenage girl, only deeper, more real.
I pushed aside my thoughts and answered her.
"Well… Not very far," I lied. I blushed and didn't even try to cover it up. It was like I wanted them to know but I didn't.
"Liar!" Asia exclaimed, breaking out of her quietness. She could always party when she wanted to, that one. "Ohh, have you gone all the way?"
"No!" I exclaimed then I gave myself away with a giggle, drowning it in vodka.
"AHHH! You didn't! Oh, my God! You did! When? You should've told me!"
I was bombarded with questions and I tried to answer them all but I became confused. I remember saying something in French mixed with English mixed with Latin, but it came out as total drunken jargon.
"I tinks," I slurred after my sixth round of drinks, "I tinks it's time 'Mione's gotten a sobering charm!"
After I managed to find my wand, I pointed it at myself and slurred out 'Siccus funditus!' and my head instantly cleared. I looked at my watch and saw it was already midnight.
"Ew, you're a wet blanket, 'Mione!" Lavender laughed out.
"C'mon, guys! If I left you for drunk, you would've woken up with hangovers later on! That would've give us away!"
"She's right, girls. I suggest we sleep," Asia called from a corner. Everyone looked at her, daggers for stares. "And do this again tomorrow!"
"Yeah! Go Asia!" everyone cheered. We cleaned up and went back to our respective beds and rooms for the night. Little did I know that the alcoholic stupor would've done me some good before I stepped into my common room with a shrunken cooler in my pocket.
Draco's POV
After I had managed to down some food from the kitchens in fifteen minutes, I was dragged back to my room by Potter and Weasley.
"Didn't realize I was so popular with the blokes in this school," I laughed as I smirked and followed the two others in front of me to the Head Tower to continue their 'lessons'.
"Shut up and say the password, Malfoy."
"No need to get your knickers knotted, Weasley." I leaned forward and a tall, statuesque wizard in green and silver robes (obviously cheering for Slytherin in that portrait) popped his head out of the crowds.
"Password, please, sir?"
"Dorlain, must we go through this every time? I mean, you know it's me."
He scowled and repeated his request.
"Fine, fine. Oh what a tangled web we weave/When we first practice to deceive. Happy now?" Dorlain just grunted and the portrait dissolved.
"I don't understand why Granger insists to make it swing open. It's very dangerous," I said to no one in particular. "It's better if it dissolves into thin air. Much more dramatic. So I changed it when she left."
They just looked at me like I had suddenly morphed half my body into a Hippogriff.
"Well, are you coming in or what? Must I remind you that this was your idiotic idea?"
They tromped in and the portrait resolved itself into its place. I resumed my seat from earlier and poked the stereo with my wand.
What a girl wants
what a girl wants, what a girl needs
What a girl wants, what a girl needs
A guy to be there for her
What a girl needs
what a girl needs what a girl wants
what a girl needs what a girl wants
Honesty, love, and a friend
"Listen to that, Weasel. Take the advice of people with experience," I said as the chorus came floating in from its paused status previous.
"Shut up, Malfoy. I don't see how you possess those qualities," he retorted as I poked the music system again and it paused once more.
"Well, you don't see them. Any other female would think differently. I mean, when she asks you a question, the only time I'll lie is when I absolutely have to or if I don't know or if I care for her considerably."
"Do you care about Hermione?" Potter asked quietly, leaning his elbows against his knees. "Do you, Malfoy? Or are you just using her for the time being? Does she mean shit to you? Do you give a flying fucking fruitcake about her?"
"I don't have to answer to you, Potter. You don't bear any significance to me, so you have no reason to be asking me that." I stood over him, jaw clenched. I never even heard the entrance fizzle open. All my attention was consumed by trying not to strike his seated form. Then he stood. I still towered over him, my 6'11" form shaming his 6'5", 6'6" stature.
"Just answer me, you unworthy bastard. Do you really care about her? I just don't want to see Hermione hurt when you leave in the corner of one of your dark, dank dungeons."
"Remember what I say about what happens when you assume things, Potter," I seethed, staring him down although he wouldn't budge. "You make and Ass out of you and me."
"Yeah, but just remember this: you do anything wrong to her, one hair on her is out of place, you're dead. I don't care about Daddy Dearest or of your sissy little Dark Lord. You hurt her, your world will crumble."
"Actions speak louder than words, Harry. But just remember that thoughts never hurt anyone; actions do."
I looked up from and past Potter and Weasley (who had risen behind his friend) to see Hermione's small figure behind the silver satin upholstered couch, hands resting on the backboard. Her golden eyes flickered upon me. My eyes widened in shock to see… Wait… Blink… Yes, she had no pupils. It was just shades of gold, graduating from a early sunrise on the outsides to molten bullion where her pupil should've been.
"Draco," she acknowledged quietly, accentuated with a small nod, sending the feathered hair around her shoulders rippling.
"Hermione," I replied in greeting, stepping past the gaping forms of both Neanderthals. She hesitated and stepped back one before launching herself at me, full force. I caught her and held her in my arms, waiting for her sobs but they never came. She just buried her head in my chest.
"Clear off," I whispered enough for all in the room to hear.
"No, Malfoy. We need to talk. Me, Ron and Hermione."
"Oh, sod off you prick. Are you blind? Do you want me to strengthen the prescription on those glasses of yours? Now leave before I get Snape in here."
Hermione's POV
I heard Ron try to argue but he was silenced quickly by Harry. I didn't dare to look up from Draco's chest, afraid of what I might do. I felt like hurting them for coming to Draco when they had already made it clear they loathed me now. I felt that if I face either one, I might just regard them coldly. I felt that if I saw their faces, I might just forgive them and we might just go back to before, which was the prospect I hated the most. I couldn't go back to before, never to remember this like an unspeakable scenario that was just imagined. I couldn't and I wouldn't.
"Hermione, when you think things are… okay again, you know exactly where to find us. We'll be right there, waiting."
Now I really felt like crying. I felt guilty for hurting Harry. Not so much Ron, because he was annoying, predictable and… Somewhat dim. His looks had improved over the years but not much else. But Harry was a different story altogether. I couldn't bear hurting him anymore than he was already hurting. After losing Sirius in our fifth year, he closed himself up and it took a long time for us to help him through it. Everything he ever had, friends, girlfriends, he cherished with his life, always in constant fear that he would one day lose everything at the hands of someone he loved. It was that that broke my heart.
"And I'll be right beside him, Hermione," Ron said, his tone strange for a consolation. But I found out why. "I'll be right beside him waiting to say 'I told you so'. But then I'll be ready to take you back, to forgive you."
(*A/N: I gasped at myself at how rude the Ron in my mind replied, too!*)
I gasped at his bluntness, his forthrightness. I looked up at Draco, his face swimming along with the tears in my eyes. I turned moved back from him, letting the tears fall, to face Harry and Ron. Draco kept his hand on my shoulder and it felt like he was giving me the strength to do what I was going to do.
"Stay away, Weasley. Whatever you do, do not get in my way. Do not provoke me. Don't talk to me."
"Or what? Hmm? Get your boyfriend after me?" He taunted me now, suddenly never remembering all our adventures and escapades together.
"No, I'll do worse. I'll let go of all coherent thought and go after you myself. You'll be bleeding so bad that Snape wouldn't have enough Blood Restoration Potion, you'll look so disfigured that your mother won't recognize you, wouldn't want to."
"I'm so scared," he mocked, eyes challenging me to do something.
"You should be, Weasley. What we had was a lie. I used to be a lie, so consider never even knowing Hermione Bethany-Anne Granger."
Harry's POV
You always coming down on her(why)
Using all the foul words(why)
When you know she'll do anything for you
Tell me, why you always lie to her
And doing things she don't deserve
Man if you don't stop
Then she'll end up leaving you
As I watched Ron and Hermione simultaneously turn their backs on each other and walk off, I was torn. I knew that Ron would never in his right mind show himself to her anymore and I also knew that he would be moping around for a long time. But Hermione, I just wasn't sure anymore. Now it was me and Malfoy left in the living area of their tower.
"Malfoy, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Why, Potter? Just stay away from her, from us, and you'll be fine."
"No, Malfoy. I still want to try and understand this… All of it. It wasn't me who said all those things. It was Ron. As much as you'd like to believe, we do not share a brain. So I'll see you after lunch." It was Saturday tomorrow so I could probably spend my day tearing myself between my two friends who were former friends and significant others at one point.
I turned around without waiting for an answer and left, the wall dissolving as I approached.
Draco's POV
"Hermione? Hermione, answer your door. Please…"
"Go away, Draco… Just go away…" I heard her break into fresh sobs. I turned to the little girl in the portrait. She was looking scared and worried. I remembered seeing her sometimes playing with Ian in my picture door. I just couldn't recall her name…
"Hey," I said gently to the girl. "Can you let me in? My girlfriend's in there and she's really sad."
"Nuh-uh," she whispered, shaking her little blonde head. "Not 'less you know da passh-word."
Thankfully I had persuaded Ian to tell me Hermione's password. He told me he had been there when she had changed it.
"I know it, sweetheart. If I told it to you would you let me in?" She nodded. "I think it goes something like Somewhere there's someone who dreams of your smile/And finds in your presence that life is worthwhile/So when you're lonely, remember it's true/Someone, somewhere, is thinking of you. Right?"
"Yeah… Okay, buhbye." The little girl scrambled up the tree in the background and the picture disappeared to reveal a large oak door. I knocked lightly and invited myself in, pushing it open and peeking my head in a little to make sure she wasn't going to curse me to bits and pieces.
"How did you get in here?" she asked quietly instead. Her eyes were red and puffy and she was curled up in a large, fluffy, red velvet armchair.
"I found out your password. I'll tell you some other time. Scoot."
I heard a small giggle and a word sounding like 'Scoot?' from her curled up form as she moved into her corner even more.
"Care to let me in on the joke?" I lifted her into my lap so that she was half lying on me and half on the chair. She recoiled herself so that her head was on my chest, the rest of her body dumped on my legs. I tried to hold myself back as she squirmed on top of me.
C'mon, body! Work with me here! I screamed at myself. Now's not the time, no matter how enticing her giggle, no matter how much she squirms… *drool*
"No, not really," she sighed into my shirt. "But I will say I'm sorry and thank you."
"Sorry? Sorry for what?"
"That little prank I pulled earlier. I know you were steamed. And thank you… For, well, obvious reasons."
I kissed the top of her head, in the middle of the part in her hair. "No problem. Anything for you. By the way, aren't you curious or, well, 'steamed' at why those two dorks were here?"
"Not really. I was actually waiting, really. I mean, Harry isn't really as dim as he seems. Quite bright, actually."
"Right. I'll believe it when I see it. So, what's your… Plans for tomorrow, baby?"
"Baby? When did this happen?"
"I don't know. You tell me."
"I quite like it, actually. So, I don't know. What are you doing tomorrow? Well, we really should be saying today…"
Hmmm, this was interesting. It was almost as if we were a couple… Maybe, just maybe…
"Well, there is the subject of Quidditch practice. Gotta get the ol' team back in shape. Then we have a Prefect and staff meeting. And I do need to start my homework. And then there is the time where I devote my whole, undivided attention to you. And food."
"I get time from you?" She looked up at me, warm molten orbs of gold (pupils back in place) pulling me in. I couldn't help it. I leant down and kissed her.
It was just something simple and small but I felt her grin against my lips.
"Draco," she said as she pulled away, arms wrapped around my neck. "Draco, are we… Are we an 'us'?"
"I don't know, are we?" I replied teasingly. She pulled me down for another kiss, this one more breathtaking, yet also as simple.
"I guess so, darling," I said, trying my hardest to breath evenly.
"So where does that take us?"
"Wherever we want to go, Hermione. Wherever fate takes us."
"Oh, my big, strong, sexy, philosophical man," she teased. "I mean, what do we do now? Can we tell everyone? Or do we…"
"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if Weasley won't keep his trap shut. So I guess that only leaves… Making everyone around us sick like you did when you had your little fling with him."
"Really?" She cocked an eyebrow. "But what about everyone? I mean, not just the Slytherins and Gryffindors, but… Your father, Voldemort?"
"Well, to paraphrase your words, love, I run my life, not my son of a bitch father, not that little wannabe Dark Lord or any of these stupid gits in this school. I mean, to be blunt, I'll just go tell them to go sit on their fingers and rotate."
"Oh, I wonder where you got that from," she said, winking. I grinned at the memory. "Well, I'd love to see Snape's face when you say that to him."
"Well, I'd love to see it too, and live, but we all can't get our wishes, now can we?"
"Right. Well, as the song goes 'Funny How All Dreams Come True'."
Hermione's POV
What a girl wants
what a girl wants, what a girl needs
What a girl wants, what a girl needs
A guy to be there for her
What a girl needs
what a girl needs what a girl wants
what a girl needs what a girl wants
Honesty, love, and a friend
(Oh! Dreams do come true, don't they darling!)
(A/N: I know you were waiting for the annoying-egos! Thought I wouldn't put them in this chapter, huh! =P)
"Been dreaming about me now, eh, Granger?" Draco replied silkily, lazily blinking his eyes in an amused manner. To get him back, I writhed in his lap casually. I saw his eyes go from smoke to mercury in a flash and back again and I knew he was willing himself not to show.
"Well, after today, maybe."
"Evil little wench," I heard him mutter. I just unbuttoned his off blue silk shirt and claimed his chest as my pillow.
"You know," he said out loud again. "I think we should go to sleep. It's late and we don't want to sleep in too much. I booked the pitch for us at one thirty."
"Well, I can sleep in. I don't fly. So you can wake me up when you get back."
"I don't think so, 'Mione," he replied, picking me up from his lap and placing me on the bed. I got up and stretched, following him to the bathroom.
"What d'you mean? I'm sleeping in!" I exclaimed with a yawn.
"Yeah right. You're coming to watch even if I have to carry you down in your pajamas." He turned to smirk at me as he headed to the sink next to mine. He took out his toothbrush, squeezed some toothpaste onto it and started brushing. I followed suit.
"No point in arguing, baby," he said as he put away his toiletries and headed for his room.
"Fine," I said, fake pouting. Then I stopped and pouted for real. "Stay with me tonight? Please?"
He walked over to me and embraced me into his arms. Despite the 12 inch height difference, I fit into his arms perfectly enough for him to lightly rest his chin on my head.
"I'd never leave you, babe. Never for a moment."
Those were the words I'd been longing to hear from someone, anyone, who cared. I had actually found them, him.
"Now, if you'll let me go get my pj's on, we can go to sleep. I suggest you do the same. I'll see you in you're room?"
I nodded. "Yeah. But I warn you, I might already be asleep."
"Try and wait, babe," he replied, winking.
"Chauvinist," I joked, calling it out to him from the open door to his room.
"Chauvinist? What did I do?"
"Nothing. Just felt like saying it, you know. See your reaction." I shrugged.
As I walked into my room, I thought about my day, about my whole life. How much I had changed, how much my world was livening up from a full stop that was the bossy, bookworm of yesteryear, to the full-blown tornado that was now.
I'm bi-polar, I thought, grinning. Happy, drunk, excited one moment, murderous and on the verge of tears the next.
(Just figured that now, hmm? I've had to witness every single thing you've done over the past seventeen years. I found that out a long time ago.)
Thanks for enlightening me sooner, I told her sarcastically.
(No problem, dearie. No problem.)
Draco's POV
You don't know what you got, until it's gone
And you left all alone
She'll be up and out the door
And I'll be right there to say I told you so
Oh no you had your chance
Take a hike, should've been a man
Now she's gone
All because you were doing wrong
Should've listen to me.
I stood over my dresser, thinking about Hermione. Amazing. She was right. Funny how dreams do come true.
I shucked off my sweats and slipped on a pair of black silk (*A/N: I know, so cliché.*) pajama pants and grabbed the matching button down shirt from its hanger. I slipped it on, unbuttoned, as I walked through the bathroom to the open door of her bedroom.
"J'adore tu, ma cherie. Je ne aurai pas ressortir," I whispered, staring at her sleeping form on the large bed. I quietly stepped forward and sat on the edge of the large four-poster. "Jamais. J'ai pormettent."
"You know, I love it when you speak French," she whispered without opening her eyes.
"J'aime tu quand tu as tranquille," I joked at her, laughing. (I like you when you are quiet.)
"What?" she asked, opening her eyes to look at me suspiciously.
"Tu dois écouter, Hermione," I replied, grinning and enjoying out little game, which I was winning. (You should listen, Hermione.)
"You know, I should've learned French when I had the chance," she muttered, pulling me down on the bed and burying her head in my chest again.
"I could teach you," I said and I instantly regretted it. She looked up avidly.
"Really? Would you?" I just groaned.
"Please? Draco you wouldn't know how much this would mean to me!"
"Fine. That adds something else to add to our schedule tomorrow, then."
"Tomorrow? We can start tomorrow? Really?"
"If you want to, you better get some sleep, babe."
She pouted, probably wanting to start at this exact moment. I just laughed and hugged her.
What a girl wants
what a girl wants, what a girl needs
What a girl wants, what a girl needs
A guy to be there for her
What a girl needs
what a girl needs what a girl wants
what a girl needs what a girl wants
Honesty, love, and a friend"I never want you to leave, Draco. Never again," she whispered sleepily.
"I already told you I never would. Je ne aurai pas ressortir. Jemais. J'ai promettent. It means 'I will never leave. Never again. I do promise.' And I'll do just that."
I heard her sigh and I waited until her breathing became even against my chest. I hugged her tightly, wishing I could hug her forever and leave all the evils of the world behind.