The next morning Hermione woke up extra early. She dressed in black work pants and a baby blue 3-¼ button down shirt. She tied her hair up in a knotty bun and went into the kitchen hearing Draco in the bathroom she quickly put the coffee on. Luckily he went back in his room and she had time to pour the Veritaserum into one of the two coffee mugs.
"What smells good?" asked Draco walking in.
"Breakfast" she answered starting to cook eggs and toast. "Here's your coffee" she handed his the mug starting to have second thoughts. He only held it for a minute while he starred into space. Hermione watched, eyes glued on him, not paying attention to the food she was cooking.
Draco stood up and yelled at her, "Watch out!" She did not see, but he sleeve caught fire. Draco whipped out his wand and muttered the freezing spell which instantly put out the fire and froze her half burned sleeve.
"My favorite shirt!" wined Hermione.
"Thanks anyway" she said. "Whatever" muttered Draco going to take a sip of his coffee.
"NO! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Put the coffee down" yelled Hermione reaching to him so she could take the mug away.
"I'm so sorry Draco, I really am..I…um kind of put something icky in there." She scrunched her nose.
"What, spit?" asked Draco half heartedly keeping his temper.
"No."
"Poison?"
"No."
"Toothpaste?"
"What? No! I sort of put…um…Veritaserum" she said forcing a grin and a small laugh.
"Why the hell did you do that for?" he burst out.
"Member when… you kissed me when you were drunk and attempted to comfort me las' night?" she asked quickly again running out of the kitchen and into her room and shutting the door. Draco got up and followed. He stomped down the hall and threw open Hermione's door only to see her with her shirt off.
"Get out you idiot" she screamed. "I'm changing."
"Okay whatever, just say whatever you were going to say before, please."
Hermione leaned against the door as she thought to herself 'he sounds desperate'. On the other side Draco leaned against the door, "Please, I'm desperate."
"Come on, it can't take you that long to change you shirt" he called.
"Yes it can."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"Whatever, please come out?"
"No."
"Well just listen please?"
"Fine."
"This is hard to put…erm…well you see e-ever, oh god how do I say this"
"I'm waiting"
"Ever since the day I saw you…never mind, I'll skip that crap…" He took a deep breath, "Okay… I – I sort of like you. I really do" he said in a whisper.
Hermione opened the door quickly, in shock to yell at him. Instead, because he was still leaning with his back against the door he fell in and landed looking straight up at her.
"What'd you do that for?"
"Well I didn't expect you'd fall trough or I wouldn't have done it."
"Just drop it" said Draco getting up. "Follow me." They walked down the hall past the kitchen into Draco's room. He searched around until he found his robe and then reached into one of the inside pockets. He pulled out what seemed to be a picture. "Here" he handed her the picture. "Hey, how'd you get this?" she looked at a picture of herself and Harry and Ron on both sides of her, though their faces scratched and scribbled out but yet they were still moving.
"No wait. You nicked this from me in our 4th year, didn't you?"
"Yeh."
"So that's where it went."
"I'm trying to tell you that I actually liked you all these years. But you see, we couldn't be together. My father would have killed me, I mean literally. That's kind of the reason we ran into each other and that's why I'm here. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner. I was afraid, hurt, lost, and destroyed, so naturally my in despicable character still sticks with me. And the only reason I hated you and Potter and Weasley is because he rejected me first year, so it kinda stuck and I kept telling myself I hated you when I was really lying and I liked you."
Hermione sat there in total shock not believing a word coming out of his mouth. He began to tell her about the day he was banned from his house replaying it in his head.
FLASHBACK 6 months earlier than present time"What is the meaning of this," asked Lucius Malfoy bursting into his son's room, holding up a foot-long piece of parchment. Draco hopped up from his bed where he was reading a quidditch magazine. "What's that?" he asked.
"Well lemme read it to you,
Malfoy,
How's your summer. Have you seen any babes that catch your eye? Anyway what's the deal? You've changed, loving mudbloods, not wanting to be a deatheater, hating your father, what is the world coming to? I never thought I would ever hear you talk about your father like that! Bloody hell! I sound like my mother!
Blaise
Lucius raised an eyebrow. "That was, he was-" said Draco, his face turning red. Lucius continued, cutting him off, "Now the reply.
Blaise
You are such an idiot did you know that? I told you, my father is an old fag, it's always 'son do this' or 'son do that'. And Voldemort, jeez where do I start? It's a friggin' nightmare around here. I don't want to live this pathetic life as a deatheater, or Malfoy. I just want to have a simple fucking life as Draco."
Lucius looked up furious. "Explain," he said.
"Why don't you explain to me why the hell your reading my bloody mail!" yelled Draco.
"That ruddy new house elf read on the front 'Malfoy' assuming it was for me, now explain yourself!"
"You want to know this is about, do you? Lemme put it this way, I don't want to be a deatheater, I don't want to be your son either. You're ruining my life!" he yelled.
"What are you talking about? Since your 7 years in school you've wanted nothing more than to follow in my footsteps" said the long blond confused and angry.
"Well guess what? That's changed, are you too old to here that? You treat me as bad as the house elf, planning my life. What are you gunna fucking do next? Huh? Tell me what words to speak? How to eat? A-and I can't be a deatheater ad I wont be because I can't kill. I'm not ready for that. I'm not you, and for now on I refuse to take any of your orders" said Draco feeling relieved in a way.
"You do not speak to your father that way!" "What are you going to do about it?" Looking as if Lucius was about to leave he walked over to the door and touched the handle. Just then he pulled his wand out of his robes placed it a foot from Draco's chest and shouted "Stupfey!"
Draco was thrown off his feet and landed 5 feet away crashing into his desk. Quietly in server pain Draco got up and ran past his hysterical laughing father. He didn't see his father following, but as he reached the stairs his father hit him in the back with another stunning spell. Draco fell down all 277 steps crashing into a column that held a vase with black roses and green liquid.
The vase swayed dangerously and crashed right on top of Draco leaving a piece of glass stuck in his side. He moaned, trying to move. Lucius watched his son as he slowly walked down the staircase.
"You think you're so tough, eh? Well let me put it this way. You don't follow my rules and stay loyal to the dark lord, you can't stay here" he said. Draco now stood barely conscious. He winced as he pulled the piece of glass out of his side.
"This won't be the last time you see me. I will find a way" said Lucius. The last thing Draco remembered was the front door being open and his father hitting him with one last stunning spell, which sent his flying out the door, now unconscious.
END FLASHBACK"I only remember waking up to find myself getting on the night bus, leaving for the leaky cauldron" Draco finished as he looked at Hermione's horrified yet bewail expression.
Silence
"Please say something" he asked. He might be doing this out of spite, he could be lying. I need evidence…hmm…the scar! These were Hermione's thoughts as she tried to find words.
"A scar, do you have a scar?" she asked pointing to Draco's side. He stood up and uncovered a cut about 6 inches long. Just by looking at it you could see that it was severely deep.
"Oh my-Draco did you have any muggle or magical treatments for this?"
"No."
"Wait, How has this not healed in 6 months?"
"Are-are you sure you didn't get anything in it?" she asked running her finger over his wound, causing him to shutter. He stood there trying to remember. "The green stuff" he said. "Green stuff?"
"When I crashed into the vase-"
"Huh?"
"There was green liquid in the vase when it spilt it got in my side, the pain was horrible, it sizzled, ugh!"
"Oh…I mean…I'm sorry. Why don't I patch that up for you." Before he could protest she walked out of the room into the bathroom. She came back carrying a first aid kit. "What's that?" asked Draco concerningly afraid of what the box may contain.
"Don't worry, it's a muggle first aid kit. I don't want to use any magic, it might make it worse" she said opening it and setting it aside onto the bed aside Draco.
"Oh."
"Erm…you might want to lay down…you know, it's easier."
"Oh…okay" he said awkwardly laying down turning on his unhurt side. "As soon as I can, I'm going to research that um…green stuff" she started quiet giggles while Draco gave a small smile.
"Ouch, watch it" he said as she put alcohol on his side.
"Sorry. You know, I-I never knew your father was like that".
"No biggie, I won't be seeing that bastard any time soon. Just as Hermione put a last piece of tape covering the wound, she tried to choose her next words carefully.
"D-Draco. I- as long as we knew each other, every time I was around you, weather it be us fighting or just passing each other, I could sense passion coming from you. You were like a lost soul desperately crying out for something-someone. I wanted to help you, but the circumstances. I didn't know the full you, and couldn't really trust you. Although living 7 years like we used to be, it's kind of hard to change all of a sudden. This is strange cuz we've been enemies for as long as I can remember. This is just not right."
As she finished Draco tried to sink in the rest of the words and felt his heart rip in half and then put through a grinder. "I'm sorry" he said.
"Why?"
"You and Victor."
"I never said that I would like, marry him or anything, but I can't be 100 sure yet that we could ever have-you know, a thing."
Neither spoke for a minute until Draco sat up, his heart half repaired by Hermione's words.
"D-do you think that you could gimme until Christmas, a-and I'll prove to you why you would feel like the luckiest women on earth, to be with me?"
Again there was silence. Hermione looked through the kit and took out an ace bandage. She was in complete awe of what was happening.
"Whow, erm…you know what? That's a good idea, till Christmas" said Hermione unbuttoning Draco's shirt and taking it off.
"So, how exactly do you make a women feel the luckiest on earth…bed them a few 100 times?" she said starting to warp the ace bandage around his muscular body covering the patch. As she did Draco shot her an amused death glare. By her touch it sent chills up and down his spine.
"Just so it stays on." When she was done she looked up. Draco's eye's no loner felt cold and dangerous, his touch was warm and safe. "Do you think I could start right now?" he asked. Hermione stared at him and how cute his untidy blond hair looked.
"Sure-I guess" He leaded in to kiss her. She kissed him back wrapping her arms around his neck. He slowly put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. He laid down taking Hermione with him not breaking the kiss. Hermione ran her fingers through the back of his hair and playfully tickled his neck. On the other hand Draco had the desire to right then and there, win her over and take it one step further. He felt until he reached her shirt and began to take it off. She broke away with a little wasp of air.
"No! Um…I mean not yet. This is all just fast."
"O-of course. Whatever you want. I promise." He sat up and put his shirt on while Hermione fixed hers. Several seconds past until she spoke again.
" You know what?"
"What's that?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Well, you didn't have to stop. You could have ignored me and forced me into it, but you didn't. So thanks. It helps this situation a little. It's still I mean, you…me…that's a 'yikes'."
"Anytime. I'm here till Thursday," he said cracking a smile.
"Do you want to get a tree?" she asked suddenly standing up. "You mean a Christmas tree?"
"Of course."
"That sounds like fun."
"Shame on me. One week left and I haven't got one yet!" she threw her arms up in the air as she walked down the hall, heels clicking in a rapid rhythm that hypnotized Draco temporarily. He got up and followed "You know, at my house, except for exchanging gifts, I never really celebrated Christmas."
"Oh Draco!" Hermione hugged him. They both stood there in each other's arms.
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