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XII. Reading The Dictionary

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The first thing Harry saw when he returned to his home was Pansy. She was relaxing in an arm chair flipping through a Witch Weekly magazine, looking quite bored. Harry strode furiously over to her and she looked up at the sound of his approaching footsteps. He looked angry, but when he was next to her he roughly pulled her up to him and seized her lips with vigour. When the kiss broke, Pansy stared at him.

"What was that—"

"Shh," he silenced her.

"Well, how did—"

"Shh!" he said again.

She was quiet for a minute, but when he still hadn't said anything—she assumed he was thinking—she spoke again.

"Potter, what are you—?"

"Marry me," he interrupted.

Pansy stopped. Her jaw hung open. Then she laughed. She pulled away from him and moved into the kitchen. "Good one, Harry," she laughed.

Harry was still in the living room. He called out to her. "I'm not joking," he stated. She stopped walking away. Slowly, she turned back to him.

"What?"

"I'm not joking. I want you to marry me."

Pansy laughed airily. Then, with a shaky breath, she tilted her head and said, quite helplessly: "What?"

Harry quickly joined her in the kitchen. "I love you," he said with gleaming eyes.

"Oh, no you don't," she assured him.

"I do. I want to marry you."

"I'm already married; so are you!"

"Not really," he said, pointing to her. "Not anymore," he said, pointing to himself.

"I love Draco," she insisted.

Harry scoffed. "No you don't. Malfoy is an idea, Pansy. He is something you want to love, but never can. Besides, can Malfoy do this?" He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. He kissed her again, slowly.

Pansy opened her eyes a moment after Harry had let go of her. He was standing in front of her, desperate for her answer. She drew a breath. "I can't marry you," she sighed.

"Why not?"

"I don't know…I…I just can't!" She turned away from him and ran out of the room, then out of the house.

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Something had changed between them, Neville noticed. Instead of the frivolous flirting, the past week had been full of close contact, loving gazes, and he had even seen them kiss on more than one occasion. He excused himself from Emma's side as Hermione left Draco's.

"Hermione," he whispered urgently and was pleased when she stopped.

"Hey Neville," she smiled. "I saw you eating with Emma. How's that going?" She was trying to make conversation.

"Fine. But what's up with Harry?"

Hermione's smile faltered. "Oh…It's not going to work," she admitted. "I—uh—I asked for a divorce."

Neville was surprised. "Really? When?"

"A week or so ago. I haven't heard from him since." She bit her lip. "I kind of have to use the loo…can we talk later?"

"No need to, unless you want to. I just wanted to know why you've changed in the past week and now I do."

Hermione was interested. "Why have I changed?"

He grinned. "You don't know?" he laughed. Then he softly whispered the reason. "Hermione, you're happy. You're in love."

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That night Hermione pondered Neville's words. The past week she had been with Draco every night and morning and though she had to admit that she was much happier in his arms than she had ever been in Harry's, was she in love? Draco loved her and she liked him a lot. She wanted him; she felt passionate when she was with him. But did those mean she loved him?

"What are you doing?" Draco asked from his bed. Hermione looked up at him.

"Oh, reading…"

"Well, care to join me? You can read later." He suggestively raised an eyebrow.

Hermione laughed. "Give me a second. I want to finish this line." She quickly finished the passage and shut the book. As she hurried over to him she saw Draco staring at the book.

"What were you reading? The dictionary?" he asked incredulously at the thickness of the tome. She just grinned and laid her head down on his chest. He ran his hand along her back as her thoughts ran through her head—all of them pointing to the last line she had read.

love n. a strong attraction brought about by affection or desire.

A/N: Only one chapter left, we hope you're still enjoying this!

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Brittany and Amber