Authors Notes: Okay... Hermione chooses... another chapter! WOO. xD.
'Dirty Work'
Where It All Started
It had not been long since Hermione had been here. Not long at all... in fact, as odd as it may seem, she was here last week. With Draco.
The cemetery was the same. The same gravestones, the same names on them... the same mood. Hermione didn't know why she was here in the first place, but she thought she might find some peace in the silence it naturally gave.
The very soft wind billowed behind her, and the sun rested slightly on her cheek. She knew this must have been a sad place to be, but the feeling was calm. She liked it.
When Hermione had come here with Draco, she had meant to visit Harry's grave. It was her plan, once Draco was gone, but they were together the whole time, except when Harry revealed himself. There was no need to visit his grave after that.
But visiting Harry's grave was what she was about to do, and especially after what happened last night, she thought it might help.
It had ended, for lack of a better word, ugly. Harry had stormed off before the ball ended, Draco disappeared after the confrontation, and the crowd was left to gossip because no answer was given to Harry's proposal.
Not that Hermione cared, of course. All that really mattered to her now, was setting things straight. Her mind was not playing a trick on her this time, and she knew that the decision had to be made. The aftermath of it all did not really matter to her either, for other things were more important.
She came to a stop at a large tree, the oldest and most respected looking one that was in the centre of the cementary. It had a noble look to it. Hermione took her place in front of the gravestone that was before the tree, and knelt, reading the words on it.
Harry James Potter
1980 - 2000
Order of Merlin - First Class
The Boy Who Forever Lives
Beneath the words were flowers Hermione had put there months before. They were already withered and dead. She came back this time, however, with new flowers, and she replaced them slowly.
Hermione remembered staring at this every morning for the first month after his supposed death and crying her eyes out. She remembered wishing with all her heart that he were back, and telling Ginny and Ron that there was no one else out there for her.
But then again, she remembered going to the furniture shop with Draco, and smiling for the first time in a long time. She remembered kissing him at this same place, and the feeling she got when he admitted his love for her in his time of need.
The question on Hermione's mind... which memory is worth taking back? Which memory is she willing to erase and start over with again?
She knew it in her heart, which ones she wanted to keep but it hurt her to know that she had to tell one man she didn't love him like that anymore. It hurt her more than anyone would know.
Hermione heard the crunch of grass behind her, and almost immediately she snapped out of her thought and turned around. Looking so beautiful in his natural clothes, Harry stood before her, a weak smile on his face.
"So, this is my gravestone?" he asked, while looking around. "It looks beautiful."
Hermione gulped and nodded.
"Are those from you?" He jerked his head towards the flowers before the gravestone. Hermione nodded again. He smiled.
"How did you find me, Harry?"
He shrugged. "You'd think after being your best friend for seven years and courting you for two, I'd know you better than you think." Hermione smiled at this.
"Kneel with me, Harry," she requested.
Harry did so obligingly, but with a sad smile on his face. Hermione noticed this, and immediately her heart sank. Seeing him sad always killed her.
"You seem pretty good, especially after what happened last night," Harry told her.
"Only because you're with me now." He blushed slightly. Hermione, however, sighed. "But you and I both know it didn't end well..."
"I know, I know... I half wondered if it was my fault."
"Oh, Harry, don't even think that!" Hermione warned. "You - you were perfect, okay? My mind was just a little off last night..."
"So was mine... to propose to you... what a fool I had been."
"Are you saying it was a mistake?"
He looked at her, aghast. "No, of course not! I would have done it anyways if not that night, Hermione. It was just the wrong timing."
Hermione did not answer. She stared at the gravestone and held back her sadness.
"Not to guilt trip you, Hermione, but you not answering me last night... it killed me." Harry tried to chuckle but Hermione could hear that it was forced and contrived. A sad attempt to make their situation a little bit lighter and happier.
Hermione only held back a sad sigh. She began watching him, his tilted head and the sad smile on his lips. She thought she saw something there. She knew him, and if she knew anything at all, it looked as if he was about to do something he didn't want too.
"I love you enough to propose to you again and again till the day I die, even if you'll never answer, Hermione," Harry said suddenly, while watching her as well.
Hermione could not take it. She let go of all her sighs and placed them in front of her. She let only one tear fall from her eyes. Hermione took the deepest shudder of all shudders while swiping a tear from her eye furiously and cursing herself angrily in front of Harry.
"Tell me there's something wrong with me, Harry... there must be."
"Why?"
"You're perfect. You love me like I want to be loved and I know you of all people will never be angered by me, no matter how much I might deserve it... there must be something wrong with me..."
"Hermione... what's so wrong with you?"
"You don't understand..."
"Tell me," he pleaded.
"There must be something wrong with me," Hermione started again, after taking another gulp, "to not want... you."
She looked at him apologetically and it broke her heart to see his eyes suddenly brimming with tears. Like her, however, he held them back. He even tried to smile weakly at her. The silence they had at the moment was killing Hermione.
"You and I were meant to be, Harry. But not this way. You're my confidant... my advisor... my best friend. It kills me to break your heart, and it breaks mine to see you like this. I don't want to hurt you but I have to... Please understand, Harry... but I love Draco... I do."
Harry let out a final sob, before taking Hermione in for a hug. They held each other for the longest time, and Hermione appreciated more than anything right then, her first love. Even in turning him away, did he still love her. And she would love him always for that.
She could feel him smile into her shoulder however sadly it was, and rested her head on his chest. Hermione knew right at this moment, that things might turn out okay. Even if she were not to be with Harry. Things were going to turn out just fine.
"Hermione... I'll always love you. There will be a special place for you in my heart forever, I won't deny that." Hermione's heart broke a little more.
"But you know that," he sniffed, "as long as your happy, I'll be happy too. If he makes you happy... then so be it."
Hermione smiled through her tears and knew as well, that she too would always have a special place for Harry in heart, no matter what.
"You were my first love Harry. You never forget your first love."
Harry chuckled to himself and let go of her, and he may as well have died doing so.
"It's not like we're saying goodbye," he said, swiping at his eyes behind his glasses. "We'll still have each other. We will." Hermione nodded, but she knew he was somewhat wrong there. They were saying goodbye. Goodbye to a romance that would not last.
"You'll always be my best friend. You'll always be in my heart if not the same way as before."
Harry chuckled, and smiled to himself. It looked sneaky to her however. And something occured to Hermione.
"Harry... why are you here again?"
Harry grinned and his frown was gone from his lips. "You'd think after being your best friend for seven years and courting you for two, I'd know you better than you think," Harry said again. Hermione's brows connected.
"Come on, Hermione... you didn't really think I didn't know this was coming? If you really picked me, you would've said yes to me right then, the moment I proposed to you... but you didn't."
Guilt flooded Hermione's mind. "Oh, Harry, I'm sorry..."
"So am I," he interuppted, but he didn't look as sad as he once did. "And of course, I knew you'd be here... you always loved the silence. So I came... and I made you end things between us. I didn't want to see you hurt anymore."
"Oh, Harry..."
"But not only that," he said, his face lighting up only more, "I knew you would probably still be sad. So I brought a friend to cheer you up."
He turned around and gestured with his hand to the man standing a few feet behind them, with a smile on his face. Hermione gasped.
"Your friend?"
"Well... we have yet to work on that. But if he's going to be with you, I may as well try, right?" Harry jerked his head for Draco to come forwards, and he did so hesitantly.
"Harry... you shouldn't have..."
He smiled at her and pulled her up. He took Hermione by both sides of her face, and kissed her forehead softly. She sighed, while his lips stayed there for a moment. He finally pulled away, and turned around to Draco.
"She's all yours. You should know, Draco... you're a lucky man."
"And you're a real friend. Thank you," he said, and he walked over to the man he once detested, and shook his hand. With his free hand he grasped his shoulder. "Thank you."
Hermione thought she saw a quick exchange between the two while they shook hands. As if something had gone from Harry's hand, to Draco's. She ignored it.
Harry smiled at the two, who stood on either side of him, and winked. He turned around to leave.
"Goodluck," he said to Draco.
...And Hermione didn't quite know why.
xxxxxx
She watched Harry trek off by himself, and ignored Draco for a moment. It was not like she was never going to see him again, but it was almost like just saying goodbye to someone in a coma before pulling out their life support. It was devestating.
Hermione pulled quickly out of her thought when she heard Draco clear his throat. She still did not look at him however.
"I'm glad you're calm enough to talk to me," Draco said, after he too saw that Harry had completely gone. Hermione shifted where she stood and nodded slightly, to show that she had heard.
Hermione had not forgotten that she was angry at him last night. Hermione wasn't even quite sure it had completely dissolved, but although she was angry at him, she knew she loved him. And that fact, seemed to cancel everything else out.
"I hope you're okay," he said to her.
"Okay? Do you really think I would be okay, after turning away my first love?"
Draco nodded sympathetically. "He's a good man. I understand now what you saw in him."
Hermione was surprised by this. "How did he bring you here?"
"It was his idea. He had a lot of thinking to do after the ball, according to him, and when he finally realized that your feelings had changed, he said he had to do something about it. He's an upstanding man for admitting something so horrible to himself."
"He is. Harry was always an upstanding man."
Draco took a step closer to her, and Hermione had to force herself not to take a step back. He didn't know what he was going to do, but it scared her.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, and he tilted his head. "Please tell me you're okay."
She couldn't. What she had just done amazed her, and how she had the courage to leave Harry was amazing. But it stung her, and she was terribly bruised about it and had not yet fully recovered after only five minutes.
After a moment in thought, Hermione had to hold back tears once more, and choked out, "I'm going to miss him so much."
Draco sighed, and enveloped her in a comforting hug. She loved the feeling and she held tightly to him for dear life. He let her sob whatever tears were left in her system till they were all gone, and Draco did not mind one bit he was probably soaking wet.
By the time Hermione pulled away from his chest, her eyes were red, and only one tear that was about to fall was remaining in her eyes. Draco smiled down at her.
"It's okay. You have me."
And it was true. She did have him. She smiled.
"I'm glad."
He chuckled. "Me too."
He kissed her on the nose, and Hermione giggled because of the tickle it gave her. He barked out a laugh as well, and before Hermione even knew it, they both were laughing, both suddenly in good spirits. Although the tear was still threatening to fall from her eyes, he was with her and she loved it.
The two stood there for a while, the other one in the arms of the other. If there ever were a moment to end all sorrows and forget all sadness that there was, Hermione knew it would have had to been that one, and she cherished witih all her heart.
"Are you a little better now?"
"Well, I'm with you. Of course I am now."
Draco wrapped his arms more tightly around her waist and smiled.
"So about last night..." he suddenly began, changing the subject a little bit.
"Oh Draco," Hermione began, "really, I'm not angry with you anymore." She herself remembered last night and how things ended between the two of them. Hermione with her harsh words and Draco with his sad face. She kinked her had up cheerfully. "I'm happy, see?" Hermione smiled, showing all her pearly whites. Draco barked with laughter again.
"No, no, no. My proposition for you to come to Paris with me, I'm talking about that." Hermione scrunched up her eyes. Ah, yes. His offer. It seemed like a million years since that happened.
"Of course. What about it?" she asked him.
He let go of her and shoved his hands inside his pockets.
"Well, I was just waiting for the right time to say this... and this seems perfect, since you're so cheery now." Hermione stuck out her tongue a little.
"And so?" she asked him.
"Well... I'm sorry to say, but I have to take back my offer."
"What?" Hermione asked, completely shocked. "But I thought... you and I... huh? I don't understand. You said - wait! What? Why not? What's wrong?" Hermione could hear herself going on incoherently but she could not stop herself. "Were the expenses not fully payed? Did you find someone else to take? Tell me you didn't!" she continued with a little more panic in her voice than intended.
Draco chuckled so hard he almost fell to the floor. Hermione blushed and punched him lightly on the shoulder.
"No, no, nothing like that."
"Then what?" Hermione demanded.
"We're still going you and I."
Hermione stared at him. "...I don't understand. You said you took back the offer - "
"Correct," he said breezily, "I took back the offer. Meaning now, it's mandatory."
"Well, of course it is now."
"Not yet," he corrected.
Hermione scrunched up her eyes yet again and dropped her mouth in confusion. What in Merlin's name was he talking about?
"Draco, you're confusing me."
"Good," he said heartily.
Draco took a step back from her and took something out of his pocket. He smiled at her, and Hermione stared, wondering what in the world he was up to.
Before grabbing him and shaking an explanation out of him, Hermione watched him, as if in slow motion, kneel. She gasped.
"You see," he said, while on one knee, "it's mandatory now, because you're going to be my wife."
And yet another gasp escaped her lips.
He opened up the same velvety box that covered up most of his palm and held it right in front of Hermione. It was the same one Harry had used to propose to her before the war and last night. Hermione suddenly remembered their quick exchange and smiled to herself. Good old Harry. Inside it was still the golden band that took Hermione's breath away.
"Now, you know I love you. No matter how long it's been, you know that I love you more than life itself. You make me want to be a better man, and you would make me the happiest man in the world, if you were to be my wife."
Hermione's hand went straight to her heart, which she feared would pop out of her chest.
"Hermione. I love you. Please... marry me?"
The final tear that threatened to spill left her eyes, and it trailed down her cheek, and onto the grass. She smiled.
In the very back of her mind, she replayed everything that they had gone through in the past month.
"Can I ask you something? Why are you doing this whole Charity Ball thing?"
"...it's the right thing to do."
--
"Hey, Malfoy!"
"Yes?"
"Thanks for the invite."
--
"Hey, Granger!"
"Yeah?"
"Would you like to go to the Three Broomsticks with me?"
--
"So? I have no feelings for you. What about it?"
"Who said that I haven't?"
--
"The lights... did you - ?"
"May I have this dance, Hermione?"
--
"I think I love you, Hermione Granger. Is that okay with you?"
"It's more than okay."
--
"Look at what you've done!"
"Look at what I've done? Hermione; take a look at what you've done."
--
"This isn't anyone's fault. And I just... want to take some time off."
"Time off? Off of what? Us?"
"There never was an us."
--
"And I just want to ask you, just in case I have any chance at all to be with you... will you come with me to Paris? Take this trip with me and leave behind your troubles? Because I would show you what you mean to me... really. I love you, Hermione, honestly."
--
"Hermione... I'm so sorry..."
"Stay away from me. Your words have done enough for one night."
And now;
"Hermione. I love you. Please... marry me?"
Did he really need an answer after all of that?
Well, yes, he did. And that's exactly what she said. Yes.
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TBC.
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A/N: OMGOSH, please don't kill me, I beg of you! Sorry if it didn't turn out the way you wanted it too! And I don't know about an epilogue... tell me in a review or rather a PM if you want one, and if majority rules, I'll make one! But if you like the way it's ended, then tell me that too:)
Review please! I love you all for your continued support!
Yours truly,
Sevengee/Lina.