Disclaimer: I'm not J K Rowling… if I was I sure wouldn't be sitting here typing this! I don't own Harry Potter and Co. but I do own the plot… at least I think that I do! Hehe, I'm sure that someone's written it before but I'm claiming this one as mine.
Summary: A Christmas time argument can make or break a relationship…
Love Decided
'My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known to late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me,
That I must love a loathed enemy.'
- Juliet, Act 1 Scene 5
Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare
The couple sat side by side on the rock over looking the Dark Lake, neither of them speaking though they would occasionally steal glances at one another from the corner of their eyes. It was Christmas Day and what should have been a magical day had turned bitter with the angry words spoken between lovers. There air between them is thick with tension and neither seems to be able to break it, the silence is deafening. Of course it isn't really silent, in the distance there are the sounds of other students laughing and yelling to one another combining with the sounds of snowballs hitting and missing their marks. The two seem shrouded in their own little world and the noise of their fellow students seems unable to penetrate the silence that has fallen between them.
Most would not find it unusual that the Head Girl and Head Boy were sitting together in the snow had they been any other Head Boy and Girl. But there sat Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy both members of two of the fiercest rivals Hogwarts had seen in many years. And it was this fact that had caused the tension between them. Finally Hermione sighed, unable to maintain the tense silence any longer.
"Draco we have to decide right here, right now if this is the end of what could be one of the most precious things that we will ever find, or do we give up and let this go?" She asked wearily. They had been there for over an hour and what had started out as a romantic Christmas stroll in the snow across Hogwarts grounds had turned into a fight that would either make or break the relationship that they had so recently discovered.
"Do you want to break up?" He asked, immediately on the defence.
"Merlin Draco, no I don't want to break up." She ran a hand over her face in frustration and frowned at him. "Don't put words into my mouth, Draco, I can't stand this fighting. All we ever seem to do now is fight, and it's worse than when we were enemies," Hermione sighed again and looked away from Draco and out over the Dark Lake.
"I can't help it if your friends pick fights with me whenever there is the chance," Draco exclaimed immediately defending himself even though he knew that he started as many fights as they did.
"That isn't the point Draco and don't try to make yourself to be the innocent. I don't really care who starts the fights and this isn't about Harry and Ron, this is about you and I," Hermione cried. She took a deep breath to calm herself and Draco looked away from her, his usually expressionless face turned down with a furrowed brow and his mouth twisted into a scowl.
"Please Draco; all I ask of you is to tell me what you want," Hermione said pleadingly, finally at the end of her tether. They had been seeing each other for just over a month and, because of resistance from both parties, Draco and Hermione had decided to keep their relationship secret, and the fights that now occurred between the groups of Slytherin and Gryffindor were because they had been caught staring at one another and their friends had not liked what those looks might mean.
"What do I want? I'm sick of sneaking around or having to pretend that we only meet because we have our duties to discuss. I'm sick of your friends thinking that they are so much better than me and I hate the fact that when they complain that you are spending too much time with me you agree with the insults they throw at me." At this point Hermione had the grace to blush.
"Need I remind you that it was your idea in the first place to keep our relationship from everyone; I'm not afraid of what my parents will think of you and I know that deep down Harry and Ron would support me if I told them that we were going to be together, not that they would like it but they would respect my decision. I know that it is harder for you with your family being who they are and believing what they do, but honestly Draco you can't place the blame for the secrecy on me. I know that I agreed that it was for the best for us to keep our relationship quiet but now all I can think of is that you are ashamed of being with me." Hermione's face flushed redder not only from the cold but now from anger.
"Ashamed of you? That's rich, Hermione; you won't walk near me in halls and the only time you agree to spend time with me, like this afternoon you make absolutely sure that you little wonder friends aren't going to accidentally stumble across us somewhere. Where are your little friends now, Hermione?" Draco asked cruelly.
"They are visiting Hagrid before it is time for the feast; you want to know why I avoid you in the halls? It is because I am afraid that if I walk next to you I will be tempted to touch you or talk to you or any of the other hundred impulsive things that cross my mind when you are near and I know that you wouldn't like it if I did any of those things in public, Draco, so stop trying to make me out to be the bad one. I don't see you going out of you way to talk to me in the halls." Inwardly Hermione cringed at the turn the conversation was talking; this was not how she wanted to spend her Christmas, arguing with the one she loved. The trouble with their relationship was that nothing was ever clear cut, most of the time it was like trying to navigate on a tightrope over a ravine with large jagged rocks underneath.
"The reason I don't talk to you in the halls, Hermione is because you always have the Boy-Who-Just-Wont-Die and his poor sidekick fawning all over you, it is hard not to be sick seeing the three of you parading down the halls like some fucking threesome, bloody Golden Trio," Draco bit off; his anger had overwhelmed his normally cool façade.
"Oh come now, Draco, don't hold back, tell me what you really think." Hermione said, sarcasm dripping from her every word. Draco was silent for a moment, as was Hermione; they were both trying to reign in their emotions, which had gotten out of control. Hermione took a deep breath and swallowed back the tears that threatened to spill at his spiteful words.
"Draco, I love you, something that I wasn't sure I was capable of feeling for anyone. But I do, I love you as much as it is possible for me to love. My heart aches when you're gone and when I see you again, it feels as if it will burst. You have to get over your jealousy and deal with the fact that my best friends are both male and I love them both dearly as if they were my brothers, brothers, Draco, not lovers. If you can't come to terms with that, then we can't be together," Hermione laughed bitterly.
"Look, just think about it Draco and when you have decided what you want to do, I'll be here. If you don't love me as much as I love you, well… there isn't much I can do about that. I can't change who or what I am, Draco, and you have to decide if you can deal with that and the repercussions it will cause. If you do love me as much as I love you, then this can't be a secret anymore, the longer I keep it the more something dies inside of me when I know that I am lying to those that I care about most in the world. Sit here and have a good think about this, Draco, and when you have decided what you want I will be willing to listen to you, until then good bye, Draco." Hermione turned and trudged back to the castle, making deep tracks in the cold snow that she had so enjoyed walking through with Draco earlier.
The pleasantness had gone, only to be replaced with a cold, bitter wind and each snowflake that fell on her felt like stinging ice striking her from the heavens. The joy of Christmas had left her and now all she wanted to be was alone. It was the first time that she had told someone that she loved them, truly loved someone. Not as a friend but as a lover and the fact that she was unsure of how he felt about her left her feeling cold and empty and for once in her life uncertain of the answer to a question and she was desperate to know. She was halfway to the castle when she was stopped and spun around so that she was facing Draco.
"You love me?" He puffed out, wonderment clear in his eyes.
"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it, Draco." Hermione said quietly, not able to look into his eyes in case all she saw was rejection.
"Even with my possessiveness?" Draco asked and now Hermione couldn't help, but look at him.
"Love isn't selective, Draco; real love means that you love someone exactly as they are. I do want you to understand that I have no interest in Harry or Ron as anything other than as friends but I want you to understand that I love them as well. I love you with all your flaws, Draco," Hermione said.
"Flaws? Malfoy's have no flaws!" Draco declared dramatically and Hermione shook her head with a slight smile. It broke the tension that had built almost to the point of explosion.
'Oh sorry how could I forget the absolute perfection of the Malfoy line," Hermione deadpanned before adding, "I suppose that now is not the time to remind you of how many relatives of yours that are completely round the twist?" Draco scowled at her before a glimmer of a smile crossed his face.
"I don't know what love is, Hermione. I don't know if I ever can love anyone. I enjoy our fights and the fact that you are a know-it-all and have to be right all of the time. Yet, despite all of the things that frustrate me about you, I wouldn't have you any other way. I don't know if that is love or not, but I am willing to stay with you and find out," Draco said his face entirely serious.
"That is the only thing that I can ask of you, Draco. To be honest, I do like that you are possessive of me; it lets me know that you care about me. I would never ask you to be friends with Harry and Ron. I'm not sure that that could ever happen but I will ask you to be tolerant of them and the time that I spend with them." Hermione said.
"Alright, I will try; I can't promise you any more than that. The next question that we have to address is if we keep this a secret," Draco looked at Hermione and each stared deeply into the others eyes.
"If you're willing to tell everyone about us then I am, Draco… I'm sick of hiding." Draco nodded and Hermione smiled.
"Ok then, if you're going to be brave then so can I," Draco said.
With that, Draco leaned down and kissed her. The kiss spoke volumes, it spoke of relief that they had cleared the air, hope for their future and even if they both didn't realise it, it was all the sweeter because of their love.
"No time like the present I guess," Draco said once they had parted. Hermione nodded once and with entwined hands they made their way slowly through the snow. The cold snow was no longer bitter and the wind had died so the couple enjoyed their walk, the way they should have earlier.
When they made it to the castle they helped each other brush off the clinging snowflakes and Draco couldn't help but kiss the snowflakes from her eyelashes. Those soft kisses led to longer, lingering kisses before Hermione finally told Draco, with a giggle, to stop procrastinating. They walked the remaining distance together hand in hand to the Great Hall where noises from in the hall suggested that the Christmas feast was just getting underway. When they reached the large oak door each took a deep breath and looked at one another, with a tentative smile the opened the doors and walked in together...
Hey guys,
I wrote this fic as a part of the 'Celebrate the Season with Hermione and Draco' fic exchange for Kimi and the requirements she gave me were as follows:
Rating(s) of the fic you want:
PG-13 or R
Three things you want your fic to include:
D/Hr Head Boy and Girl, A walk in the snow, Jealous/Possessive Draco.
Three things you do not want your fic to include:
Excessive fluff, suddenly slutty Hermione, "Nice" Draco
I hope that you all enjoyed it and as for now it will remain a one shot though I may develop it further at a later date.
Once again a HUGE thanks goes to Meg for being my beta! Ta lovey!
Spaced Out Space Cadet