#9 CENDRES
Rating: The themes may be a bit hard and dark on some people. Please proceed with caution: trauma, and lot of implied violence and torture ahead hence a rating M.
AN: This was my entry for the Weeping Willow Fic Fest. It got Honourable Mentions in the We Are Never Getting Back Together Award - Best In Category: Break-Up. This was a great fest, thank you so much the mods for hosting it!;)
My Prompt was "Category [Break - Up] - Prompt ["We could've had it all."]".
Alpha love to the wonderful cinnamonbun24 & beta love to the great Postal Ninja.
Cendres
OS.
Many years ago, she had disappeared from the world.
M
2007
His eyes were stuck on her face, as if he wouldn't lose her if he didn't blink.
Maybe he had learned that lesson the hard way. She guessed that she had, too.
"How...," he swallowed heavily as he dropped flowers onto her bedside table, "how are you?"
Her gaze landed on a spot on the wall next to his head, not looking at him as she answered.
"Well... I'm fine."
He raised an eyebrow at her, seeming deeply annoyed at her comment.
"I don't ask you to pretend to be fine."
She snorted. What would he know?
"And I didn't ask you to come and see me."
He glared at her, sending daggers her way as she shrugged easily, as if it didn't hurt like a son of a bitch to move a single muscle.
"Guess we both won't get what we asked for."
2010
"I could have missed you."
His voice was muffled by her hair as his nose stayed hidden in her curls.
"You almost did."
She smiled as his hands gripped her tighter.
"I'll hold on tight."
2001
No one knew. No one could fathom a guess.
Except him. He had been the last to see her. See her smile. See her figure walking away in the pouring rain. Seen her. He had been the last.
Hermione Granger.
The war-heroine.
Gone in a moment. Disappeared. Vanished.
What had happened?
Had someone caught her? Hurt her? Killed her?
No one knew.
But Draco knew deep down that he had been the last one to see, across his building, as she had marched away from him. His place. His fame. His money.
And she had never been found again.
2008
"I'll take care of you."
She looked up at him from her armchair; her head resting on the pillow he had brought for her.
"You really don't need to."
He merely smiled, his green eyes contemplating her with a serious look.
"I want to."
He strode away quicky, not bothering to remind her that he had made a promise. To keep her safe. To take care of her. And to cherish her, almost. For all the wrongs his kind had done to her.
She inhaled softly until she heard the sharp intake of breath by the window.
Opening her eyes, she met his angry stare, grey storms heavy with fury, fiery resentment, regret.
"How come he's here?"
She merely raised a brow.
"Theo helps me."
His hands were shaking with rage, but she pretended not to see it as he clutched the bloody flowers he kept insisting to bring. It was easier this way, if he wasn't involved in her well-being.
He had long lost the right to ask about her. About her progress. About her health.
She wasn't his anymore. And she wasn't his atonement either.
1999
His steps stopped at her doorstep.
"I want to take you out."
"No."
"To diner."
She didn't raise her head to look at him as she repeated herself in a huff.
"The answer's still no."
He dropped his body onto the chair in front of her desk.
"Humour me Granger."
"No."
"I'm not taking no for an answer."
"Guess you'll have to."
She left the room without waiting for an answer. No chance in hell was she going out with that tosser.
2006
He gulped from his glass, his friends sharing a worried look over his shoulder.
When he went in for the fourth drink in a row, Blaise put a hand on his arm.
"Whoa, slow down... The booze isn't going anywhere."
He chuckled darkly.
"What's the point anyway? It just dulls the pain..."
They exchanged another glance as he tossed back his tumbler, not caring at all about their concerned faces.
"Mate, it's been five years... Move on."
His grey eyes shot daggers at them. They wouldn't understand. They had never loved and lost...
His mouth opened to say the very same things he had been telling himself for the past years.
"I should have kept an eye on her. I should have known she'd be a target, I should have kept her in the house despite our petty fights, and the silly arguments..."
He shook his head, pouring himself more alcohol.
"I'll have a look at my father's study tomorrow. He's been gone for a month. Even though I'm pretty sure there's no point, I'll search for any lead."
Theo sounded dark as he sipped his own brand of whisky.
"But you have to move on."
He swore once again to any deity that if ever she was found, he'd do anything, anything, to win her back. To mend her heart. To love her like he couldn't the first time around. If only he had another chance.
2000
"Hello Granger."
She nodded, looking around his office.
"Malfoy. I see you've tried to make a name out for yourself."
His smirk was sarcastic, his voice biting as he answered.
"I intend to change a lot of things."
She merely scoffed as he came to stand next to her.
"I intend to make a lot of things mine."
He towered above her.
"Including you."
2009
"I would have waited my whole life for you."
She met his watery eyes, gently wiping the tear that has trailed down his cheek.
"I guess it won't be in this life."
She smiled sadly as he pressed his face into her palms.
"Not for us."