Chapter Seventy-Six: Love Is In The Air
Btw, A Very Potter Musical fans, see if you can catch the reference in this chapter. ;)
Once they got to the reception, Draco went to go find and talk to Severus Snape. Once he found him, he walked over to him. "Excuse me, can I talk to you for a second Professor?" He asked him.
"This has to do with Miss Granger doesn't it?" Severus questioned him back.
"Is it really that obvious?" Draco wondered.
"I see myself when I look at you and the affection you have for her is the same kind I had and will always have for Lily." Severus told him.
"You mean love?" Draco inquired while turning his head to look back over at Hermione and then back at him. "I'm not sure what love is. I mean,.. I guess my mother sort of loves me." He told him.
"Let me ask you a question." Severus began. "You came to me because you wanted to seek advice for asking her out right?" He asked him as Draco silently nodded at him in response. "Why?" He wondered before he simply just shrugged at him. "In other words, what do you like about her?" He asked him.
"She's attractive, nice, funny,.. and she's forgiven me for being a dick to her back when we were kids. She also taught me that blood status doesn't actually matter." He told him. "She brought out the best in me." He added as Severus slowly nodded in return.
"That's what love is." He responded before slowly turning around and walking away. Snape's words rang through his mind again and again. "That's what love is." That's when Draco suddenly realized the truth. He was in love with Hermione. He couldn't get her out of his mind. The way she looked, how her hair smelled. That's when he knew that he had to go find her and tell her. He started running back towards the dinner table when he ran into Harry.
"Hey Harry, have you seen Hermione? I have to go talk to her about something." He told him but that's when suddenly Harry nervously turned his head away from him and glanced down at the ground. "What is it? You're hiding something from me aren't you." He told him.
"You don't want to know." He told him.
"Where is she Harry? Where is_?" Draco began while he quickly glanced up and looked over Harry's shoulder and saw Ron and Hermione dancing together and suddenly, he felt as if his heart ripped out of his chest, and he ran out of the room and into the men's room and slammed and locked the door behind him starting to sob as Harry just simply heaved a sigh while he turned his head and watched him leave.
Once the song was over Harry walked over to Ron and Hermione. "I hope you're happy. You just made Draco really upset and he likes you. Possibly even loves you." He told Hermione.
"It was just a dance, it's not like I was planning on marrying him." Hermione told him. "I didn't mean to make Draco upset though. Where is he? Just let me go talk to him." She added.
"He locked himself in the restroom and he won't come out." Harry told her and that's when suddenly an overwhelming sense of guilt fell over Hermione.
"Oh no." She whispered as silent tears rolled down her own cheeks before she raced out of the room herself.
"Why do I suddenly feel like I'm a part of a soap drama?" Ron questioned while looking over at Harry. "All I did was dance with her." He pointed out.
"I know, but the problem is that Draco's crazy about her and he overreacted and thought into it more than there actually was." Harry told him. "If they really do love each other, they'll come around. Right now I can't mess this up for Stevie and Chase since it's their wedding night, and my aunt Petunia is very excited about her new boyfriend, Sarah's excited to be going to Hogsmeade, and Tobey's excited to be starting Hogwarts next year. All we can do right now is be happy for them and pray that Draco and Hermione work things out." He explained as Ron nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, come on. Let's go." He told him before they headed back to the rest of the group.
….
After the wedding reception Harry invited Draco to stay with him and his family for a while since it was still really upset. "Draco, I know you're hurting, but you should talk to her about it and tell her how you feel. I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt you." Harry told him while placing a comforting hand upon his shoulder while they started walking back to the house together. Draco sniffed and wiped his nose on the back of his hand.
"I know, you're right. It's just that,.. what if she doesn't feel the same way about me?" He questioned him.
"You'll never know if you never say anything about it." Harry began. "And for the record, I wouldn't be all that surprised if she does." He finished. "I've seen the way her eyes light up around you." He told him as Draco smiled back at him.
"Really? You have?" He questioned him eagerly.
"Yep." Harry began before he leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Especially when she's looking at your behind." He added as Draco slyly grinned.
"Well, Well, Well. I guess there's a bit of a naughty girl inside her after all." He began. "Thanks Harry, I feel a lot better now and since it's rather dangerous to be one of my enemies,.. it's a pretty good thing that we're friends." He told him.
"Anytime." Harry replied as they exchanged smiles.
"Oh my father would kill me if he found out that I was friends with you and in love with a muggleborn." Draco told him when suddenly Harry regained his worried expression. "Wait, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" He wondered.
"I don't think he knows about us being friends, but he knows about you and Hermione. I heard him talking to Voldemort about it when I was in the graveyard. I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to scare you and I didn't know whether or not you would believe me." Harry explained. "I don't think there's anything that either one can do about it though and you don't live with your father anymore so I wouldn't worry about it." He told him as Draco nodded silently back at him silently hoping and praying that Harry was right.
