Disclaimer: I am not JKR and i do not own any of the HP characters although i would LOVE to
Catch a Falling Star
Catch a falling star
And put it in your pocket
Never let it fade away
His grip on her never faltered and his gaze was locked onto hers, sure and confident- confident, that was what he was.
He never doubted that his charm wouldn't work, never doubted that she could be the only girl who would not fall for him.
He spun her round, her pale green dress fanning around her knees and settling again as they stepped sideways in unison. She broke the connection between their eyes when she felt his fingers that were resting gently on her waist tightened barely.
She glanced down at his hand nervously and looked back up, then down at their moving feet.
She wondered if she could really trust him. After all, how well did she really know him? Did he really love her?
Could she allow herself to love him the way she did?
Could she throw all questions, all doubts to the wind?
Could she trust him with her heart?
Could she let him love her?
Could she ignore all the other eyes on them, all the other suspicious gazes, all the other people who thought people like her and people like him should stay far, far away?
Could she stop asking questions and stop wondering if they were really meant to be?
"Hermione."
She looked up hastily. "Yes?" she whispered.
"Stop thinking."
"I'm not thinking," she protested quietly.
"Yes you are. You chew on your bottom lip when you think," he whispered, his voice low as he dipped his head to her ear to whisper to her.
"Whatever." She said loftily, afraid to face the fact that he knew all these little things about her that no one ever noticed.
She was flattered. How could she not be?
He was one of the best-looking guys in Hogwarts and she was just the bushy haired bookworm. But he noticed how her hair blew back from her face in the wind, how her hazel eyes had golden flecks in them, how she tugged at the back of her blouse when she was nervous, and how one side of her lips would tug upwards when she was struggling not to smile.
Not that she didn't notice things about him… She found herself watching when he ran his fingers through his loose blond hair that was almost silver. She could intoxicate herself in the scent of him.
He sent her spinning out and she nearly tripped, startled.
Her face flushed red. How could she have been so deep in thought that she missed a step?
She wasn't usually so easily embarrassed. It was just because it was him. She was always so nervous around him.
She didn't know why but she just was. Some things just couldn't be explained- like love. She was old enough to understand there was no right; no wrong. There wasn't always a reason for everything.
The last notes of the song faded away and she stepped back from him, her heart beating dangerously in her chest. She needed to get away from him because when she was around, she couldn't think straight and there were important things to be thought through. It seemed that when she was around him, the only thing she could do was ask herself questions that confused her more and more.
It wasn't always so complicated, she recalled. It used to be simple- easy. Everything used to be black and white but now, everything was in shades of gray.
"I'm going to go get a drink," she said vaguely and backed away into the crowd before turning around and walking away quickly.
The further she got from him, the easier she could breathe.
She weaved through the crowd, gathering her dress up so she wouldn't trip. She found Harry and Ron, and ran over.
"How was the opening dance with the Head Boy?" Ron asked sullenly.
"Ok," she muttered. "Where's Ginny and Luna?"
"Over by the refreshments," Harry answered.
"Hey, I'm going to the bathroom for a while ok?" she said, clasping their shoulders lightly before exiting the hall.
Her high-heeled shoes clicked against the floor in the quiet hallways and her legs took her to deserted Quidditch Pitch.
She climbed the bleachers and breathed. She had never breathed like this for such a long time. She could stay there forever.
It was dark. The moon was a comma of yellow and stars were scattered across the night sky, winking down at her. It was nearly eight.
There was still two hours to the dance. She wanted so much for it to end. She couldn't stand being trapped in the same room as him for another minute, or she might burst from all the tension.
She sank onto the cool seats and closed her eyes, letting the wind blow her troubles away.
"Why are you running away from me?"
Catch a falling starAnd put it in your pocket
Save it for a rainy day
Her eyes snapped open and she leapt up from her seat.
He was there. Standing there alone, bathed in moonlight, she had never seen anything so breath taking. He was in his dress robes- black, so finely made it seemed fit for royalty, lined with green and silver patterns.
He was standing on top on the stairs, looking down at her.
"I'm… I need fresh air," she said softly.
"Oh," he said, accepting her excuse to spare her any embarrassment but she knew he had seen right through her. She was never a good liar.
She never liked being a liar, which was why she never bothered polishing her lying skills.
"Actually I needed to get away from you," she said truthfully, sitting back down.
He regarded her for a few moments before lowering himself into the seat next to her. "I see. And why is that so?"
"Because of the way you make me feel," she said, turning around and looking at him square in the eye.
He smiled.
It threw her off by surprise. It transformed his face entirely, lighting up his eyes.
"Was that funny?" she asked cautiously. She had never spoke to him like this before- alone, so honest and open. But the tension had dropped and she was thankful for that and she wasn't going to complain.
"No, not really," he shook his head facing the front.
She turned back and let out a long deep breath.
"How do I make you feel?" he asked, still facing front.
"How do you make me feel?" she repeated carefully. "So you want the truth?"
He turned to face her, looking bemused. "You could lie if you want to but you're not really good at it."
"You make feel all sorts of things," she said, turning her face upwards, imagining the sky engulfing her. "And it scares me, because I don't know if that's the way I'm supposed to feel."
"How are you supposed to feel?" He asked. "Is there a correct way to feel?"
"Maybe I'm supposed to hate you," she said simply. "But I don't, which makes me confused and afraid. I'm new to this, you know, all this strange foreign feelings that I can't identify. I've always been confident and sure about how I feel. But lately, I don't even know how I feel anymore and I don't know what it means to feel this way about you."
"Do you know how to sing the song 'catch a falling star'?" He asked suddenly.
She thought and answered, "The muggle lullaby?"
"Can you sing it?" He asked.
" 'Catch a falling star, and put it in your pocket'?" she sang softly and looking at him to check if she was right.
"Yeah, that's the one," He said, smiling. "My mother used to sing me that when I was young."
"Your mother's pureblood," Hermione stated.
"Yes, she is," Draco nodded. "But she learnt the song from an old friend who was half blood. The song has a whole new meaning for me, personally."
Hermione cocked her head, listening.
"My father hated that song, like he hated all things muggle. But I loved it and so my mother would sing it to me to calm me down when I cried. I always associated the song with feelings of safety, comfort and love. My mother never sang it to me again after I came to Hogwarts because my father said that the song was for babies and I was a baby no more. I forgot how it sounded but I always remembered how I felt when I heard it." He looked at her. "After my mother's death last year, I never wanted to hear that song again."
"But why did you ask me to…" she asked haltingly.
"Because I never thought I would find a person who could make me feel the same that song makes me feel, and I think the person could be you," he said quietly.
Hermione's mouth had gone dry.
He looked at her intently. "Hermione?"
She never thought her name could sound so beautiful, she mused. It was near impossible to say a name with such emotion.
He leaned in, capturing her lips with his lightly.
" 'Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket…'" He sang, pulling away.
" 'Never let it fade away,'" she continued softly, her eyes fluttering close as he moved closer, cradling her head in his hands as though she was something so precious he couldn't bear to let go. She felt him tilt his head slightly to kiss her deeper and when his lips touched hers; she found that she had a whole new impression for the word kiss.
For love may comeAnd tap you on the shoulder
Some starry night
She never knew she could felt this way.
She never expected for things to come to this, but she wasn't going to give it up for anything.
Her heart was full and lying wrapped up in his arms as they kissed, she couldn't imagine needing anything else.
Her hands stroked his hair as he nudged her into a more comfortable position.
She pulled away for air and wiped her mouth.
He laughed. She tried not to smile but she failed.
She got to her feet and turned to stand before him. She lowered her self until she was face to face with him, her hands on his knees for balance.
"Now that I know how you feel, isn't it only fair that I tell you how I feel?" she asked.
He smiled slightly. "Hermione, how could I ask for anything else?"
She blinked in surprise. "Don't you want to know? Don't you want me to tell you?"
"Hermione, not everything has to be said in words," He whispered. "You don't need to tell me how your heart beats harder when I'm near you and you're afraid that I can almost hear it pumping in your chest; you don't need to tell me how you can't think straight when you're close to me because your brain is all messed up."
She straightened as he stood up. She looked up at him- he was almost a head taller. He placed his large hands on her shoulders- slightly calloused from Quidditch training, with long and slender fingers.
"Draco, how is it that you can make me feel all the things that nobody has ever been able to?" she asked in bewilderment.
"Hermione, how is it that you make me love you the way I do?" he asked back, quiet and solemn, letting the wind carry them into the night
"Draco, I barely know you… we only stopped detesting each other last year and even now, I can hardly call us friends!" she protested.
"Hermione, you've known Potter and Weasley for seven years, and has either of them ever been able to make you feel this way?" He asked tenderly, brushing a lock of hair away from her face.
"No, but-," she argued and broke off as his mouth settled over hers once more.
This time she felt like she was completely submerged in him, lost- but blissfully lost. She never wanted to find her way out, satisfied to stay forever in his embrace, kissing him like there was tomorrow.
And so they stood entwined in the moonlight, kissing as the ball went on in the Great Hall.
And just in case you feel
You wanna hold her
You'll have a pocket full of starlight
They would notice that she was missing.
No trip to the bathroom could take this long. They would be worried.
Hermione lifted her eyelids heavily, unwillingly. "I have to go back," she breathed, breaking the kiss and resting her head on his shoulder.
"Why? Can't we stay this way forever?" he murmured.
"Nothing lasts forever, Draco," she said quietly.
He pulled away, staring at her. "You're right. Nothing does." He looked at her long at hard, his eyes freezing to steel again. "I'll see you around," he said flatly.
He turned and walked away quickly, into the shadows, because he wanted to walk away from her before she could walk away from him.
Hermione watched as he left, her heart falling.
She sat back down, pulling her knees to her chest, propping her chin between her knees.
Why couldn't things just go right for her? Just once? Just this once? Why couldn't she learn how to fall in love?
And when the tears came, she had already convinced herself that she was numb.
In the sky above her, the stars blinked down at her and seemed to spell out his name. The wind seemed to sing the words to his song.
She parted her swollen lips as she forced a raspy note up her throat.
Catch a falling star, she sang, and put it in your pocket, never let it fade away.
Never let it fade away.
Put it in your pocket- never let it fade away.
Never let what fade away?
She pressed her knuckles to her eyes, crying loudly as sobs ripped from her chest because she didn't know how to love.
Never let it fade away. Never let love fade away. Never let the glow from the star fade away. Never let him fade away.
Never.
Never ever.
Forever.
Was there a forever?
Was there a forever for them?
Hermione struggled to breathe through her nose and nearly gagged. She coughed again and again before she managed to breathe through her mouth. She gasped for breath, her chest aching in a way she never thought possible.
The air never seemed to fill her lungs enough to stop the pain, to satisfy that aching need.
She threw her head backwards, facing sky wards, her chest rising and falling, wondering when she started needing him like the air she so desperately needed now.
For when your troubles start a-multiplying
And they just might…
She was right.
They were worried, Draco noted with a heavy heart. Why did she have to be right about everything?
Potter and Weasley were roaming the hall, trying to find her.
Draco swirled the red liquid in his wineglass, his brows knitted into a deep frown.
Potter and Weasley were moving towards him.
"Have you seen Hermione?" Potter asked coldly.
They could never stop hating him. It never ends, Draco mused. There, here was something that would last forever he could tell her.
Draco wondered how to answer.
"Have you seen Hermione, Malfoy?" They repeated the question loudly, as though he was deaf.
"I'm not deaf," he hissed.
"Yeah, we're asking you a question!" Ron snarled.
Draco scowled.
He could never stop hating them but for her, he could try. For her, he would try anything. So why wouldn't she give him a chance?
Did he ask for too much? All he asked for was for her to let him love her.
"Malfoy!" Potter said sharply.
Draco took a sip of wine. "Why do you want to know? Isn't she always with you two?"
"Well, she isn't now, that's why we're looking for her," Weasley gave him a look that plainly stated that he thought Draco was stupid.
"I don't know where she is," Draco said icily, turning away.
Potter narrowed his eyes, obviously suspecting something. "Are you sure?"
"Merlin, Potter, will I lie about something as stupid as this?" Draco spat.
"You will, seeing that you pretty dumb yourself," Ron said maliciously.
Draco whirled around, eyes blazing. "You keep your bloody mouth shut or I will shut it permanently for you," he hissed.
Ron's lips turned up in a sneer as he walked away. "Watch your back, Malfoy. It will all come back to you in the end."
Draco stopped to ponder this. Will it all come back to him in the end? Even if it did, he wouldn't mind if she was by his side because nothing but her mattered anymore.
It was as though everything in his world had all faded away and he was standing alone and then he saw her- really saw her, with her long wavy brown hair, her golden eyes and that dazzling smile.
He wondered when it was that he started to fall in love.
He sighed- long and deep.
He left the half-full glass sweating on the table and wormed his way out of the crowded hall.
He wondered where she was. Had she left the pitch to return to the sides of beloved best friends?
Why couldn't he be important- more important than Potter and Weasley for once? Why couldn't anyone think he was important, for once? When had he ever been better than Potter? When had he been able to protect the way he wanted so badly too? Why was it he never could, with Potter and Weasley acting as her guards by her side all the time? Didn't he deserve something good after all the torture all these years? Didn't he deserve her? If he could have her, he wouldn't ask for anything else, he swore, just her.
Was he asking too much? Was she too good for someone like him?
His legs carried him to the lake. It was cool and the wind was blowing towards him, making his robes billow out around him.
He heard a slight movement behind him and drew his wand, turning behind cautiously.
She was there.
"'Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, never let it fade away,'" she sang, eyes locked to his as she took a step closer.
He didn't dare to breath, in case he breathed too hard and ruin this.
The hand gripping his wand quivered and went slack as his wand landed on the grass as she took another step forward.
"'Catch a falling star, put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day,'' He had never heard anything so beautiful. He wanted so much to hold her, to love her. She took another few steps, and he saw that her eyes were swollen and red from crying and were filled with tears.
Her voice shook as she stretched out her arms towards him tentatively. "Draco?"
He felt a lump rise in his throat as she rushed into his arms, pressing her mouth to his with unbridled passion and need. Their hands fell on each other- on her hips, on her shoulder; on his neck, on his back, stroking, hugging and kissing as though they would never stop.
Her eyes overflowed, smudging tears all over their faces.
He could taste the saltiness of her tears and it only made him kiss her harder, wanting to kiss all her tears away and never let her cry again.
"Nothing lasts forever, Draco," Hermione whispered when she finally broke the kiss, gasping for breath. "But for now, you're all that matters."
It's easy to forget them without trying
You'll have a pocket full of starlight
Happily ever after may only exist in those muggle fairytales, but Draco thought at that moment, holding her in his arms, that it was possible.
You'll have a pocket full of starlight
She never knew this was how love felt, all warm and golden and able to make her feel light-headed and giddy. And lying there in his arms, she almost believed in forever.
Catch a falling star
And put it in your pocket
Never let it fade away
Catch a falling star…
A/N: please review and tell me what you thought. pleasepleaseplease.
reviews are LOVE (: thank you.
if AFF is better, you can check out my longer chaptered fic called A Piece of Forever which is my very own baby (the first fanfic i've ever written) and remember to review! we authors are a sucker for reviews. xD by the way, i'm listed at AFF under the penname of lissie.