They don't know about the things we do
They don't know about the "I love you"'s
But I bet you if they only knew (they don't know)
They would just be jealous of us,
They don't know about the up all nights
They don't know I've waited all my life
Just to find a love that feels this right
Baby they don't know about, they don't know about us
The morning of the funeral came. The pain and sorrow Hermione felt was like a crack of the whip to the heart.
At 7:30 she couldn't sleep any longer and crawled out of bed. She sat in front of the fireplace and hugged her knees. It's strange, even when you know you're loved, you can still feel so alone at times. This was one of them.
She cried quietly for the world that was ruining the lives of others. A world derived from hate and death. It was sickening what the world had become.
She heard the ring of Draco's alarm and rushed to the bathroom to get ready for the day. She just didn't feel like seeing anyone for the moment. Hadn't he said she was an only child? That was obviously a response told to Draco from McGonagall. The stress was affecting the poor headmistress more than ever.
After half an hour she was in the Great Hall setting up for the funeral. She lowered her wand and held Arianna's picture in her hands. She flinched when she thought of the nasty and horrible end for this little girl who had a big future.
By 9 o'clock the entire school had gathered in the Great Hall to send Arianna off. It was one of those times that she could see the unity of the school despite background, blood or house. Without knowing it the school had found a reason to come together in solidarity.
Hermione stood at the back of the Great Hall as they carried Arianna in. She felt Draco wrap his arms around her in the shadows. She leaned into him as tears streamed down her cheeks.
She wept harder when she saw Marianna holding her stomach and sobbing into Andrew who had tears running down his face. Annabeth who looked to be about in third year was crying hard and rocking back and forth. Charles was in seventh year, Ginny's year, and was standing solemnly as tears trailed slowly down his cheeks. His posture was stiff and pained.
"Today, we say goodbye...to one of Hogwarts' bravest and strongest students." McGonagall spoke gravely. "We lost Arianna Trench last week, it was a terrible death, one that will not go unaccounted for. There were many things that Arianna deserved. She deserved a future, she was capable of so many things, she deserved to live out her life with her family...she deserved to graduate and get a job, start a life. But she did not….deserve to be…..murdered by death eaters. Arianna's life was lost to a dreadful cause, but Hogwarts will always remember the little girl who fought." McGonagall finished before walking stiffly to her seat. The little girl who fought. I liked that, it described her perfectly.
There weren't many others who spoke of Arianna. Her death was such a painful one and completely unnecessary. Flitwick, Sprout, Pomfrey and a few friends spoke. Hermione felt herself walking towards the podium.
"Hogwarts lost a talented and brilliant witch. The world lost a wonderful student. It is a shame what this world has become in a time of hatred. It is a shame to see what people are willing to do if someone gets in the way of what they want. It is a shame to see innocents murdered for being nothing more than who they were." Hermione felt tears trailing down her face followed by anger. "Arianna was one of the most strong and amazing students I've ever met. I remember seeing her on the day of her sorting. She fell but got up and continued. She was a fighter. I also remember seeing her stand up for a student who was too shy to. She was strong. I finally remember seeing her go back for injured students and saved the students. I'm just so sorry I couldn't save her. I will never forget her. The world is not what it used to be. Arianna's death showed that." Hermione ended before walking back to her spot and collapsed into Draco's arms. She felt his tense muscles and his hand stroking her back.
"That was really kind of you. I don't think her parents knew that. You made her death a bit more bearable." Draco whispered holding Hermione tight.
"My sister," Charles spoke loudly but struggling to maintain an even tone. "Was a determined little girl. I'm not going to tell you about how good she was because I think you can get the picture from all the kind words said. What you don't know, is that there will be consequences for this world that took my sister away from me. She didn't deserve to die." Charles paused a lone tear running down his face. "She had her whole future ahead of her. What she stood for, what she did," he shook his head. "Will never be forgotten. And neither will the death eaters. The death eaters will pay. And Arianna will be remembered." Charles whispered before stumbling into his mother's arms. She hugged him tight and the hall was silent in loving memory of Arianna Trench.
The weeks passed slow and painful. Everyone was quite curious on the backstory of what Hermione knew with Arianna's bravery.
All Hermione wanted was for the holidays to come and for her to spend them with Draco. Draco had been slow and gentle with her seeing her reaction to Arianna's death. She knew he was having it hard too with all the hardships of school, his threat notes and the Marcus' death. Sometimes, at night, she would simply lay in bed with him. Their world was a world of pain and hate and spending time alone with Draco, was her only escape.
She was sitting in the library a week from when Christmas break would come. She held her book tightly as she sat beside the window and watched Draco fly around. Tomorrow was the Slytherin vs Hufflepuff match. Draco led the team in some drills before stopping and talking to them before flying again. They had been practicing from 4:30 and now it was 6. She was absolutely paranoid now with Draco. Last night he had received a letter with a self sacrificial deadline for tonight. Along with a threat that if he didn't come, another muggle family would find themselves in a tough position. Hermione would be keeping a strict eye on him, she wasn't willing to watch him go. If it was selfish, oh well. So was sacrificing his life.
By 7, the team was heading into the change rooms and Hermione had closed her book, intending to meet him outside. She put her cloak on and had made her way to the Slytherin change rooms. She met him outside and he rolled his eyes at her worry but his eyes held exhaustion. They walked into the castle trying to look like they were returning at the same time.
"Can we have dinner in the kitchens?" Hermione asked pleadingly. She wanted to be with him tonight. He sighed but nodded as he was reluctantly pulled to the kitchens.
"I thought you were against house elf mistreatment?" Draco inquired as she politely asked the house elves for some dinner.
"Oh I am. But I leave stuff for them at night and slip some knuts into it." Hermione replied holding his hand tightly.
"Hermione…" Draco prodded with his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her unsure if she was comfortable. She willingly complied and leaned into him. She hadn't been that...intimate lately. She had been so grief stricken, she had begun to feel bad for neglecting Draco at times. But he understood and that made the pain lessen.
"I'm sorry I haven't been that….into it lately." Hermione whispered.
She wished she could just hide with him forever away from their problems as she buried her head in his chest.
"Hermione that isn't all I want from you." Draco said softly. She sighed hugging him tightly.
"I know. But thank you for being so understanding." she murmured kissing his temple.
"Of course." Draco responded but his eyes began drifting towards the baked potatoes, soup, vegetables, chicken and pasta being brought out. Hermione rolled her eyes. Boys.
After their meal together Hermione gripped his hand tightly as they creeped back to their dorms.
She sat with him on the couch in front of the burning fire and snuggled close as the minutes ticked by. Draco was rather stiff the entire time waiting for midnight when either Draco or a muggle family would die.
"I feel so selfish." Draco murmured as he watched the clock above the fireplace.
"You know sacrificing yourself is selfish too. You're giving in to them. And...you're leaving me." Hermione replied shivering inwardly at the thought. It frightened her how much she depended on him after a while of dating. It wasn't truly frightening but rather surprising.
"I'm always with you." Draco whispered nuzzling her ear. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"You better be." Hermione said daring him to counter her. He gave a weak smile and slowly pulled her in. His lips were soft and gentle, knowing how sensitive she was. She responded more eagerly and desperately. She wanted him to know how much she relied on him. His strong hands wrapped around her waist resting on the small of her back. He seemed hesitant for a moment so Hermione pushed him back and she was on top of him kissing him hard. He seemed taken aback but responded lovingly.
"I love you." Hermione whispered when they broke apart. The fire crackled as she wondered if she said the wrong thing.
"I love you too Hermione." Draco murmured pressing his lips to hers. She held him in a strong embrace afraid that at any moment he would slip through her fingers….just out of reach.
She had a sudden vision of Draco being hit with a green light emitted from an avada. She was standing there and couldn't do anything to help him except watch. He was just out of her reach as she desperately reached for him. She gasped and pressed her head onto his chest and without knowing that tears were spilling onto his robes.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She felt more tears escape when she saw his loving face. "All our days are filled with so much tears and death." he murmured sadly as the clock chimed midnight. Hermione inhaled sharply and straddled him around the waist.
"Hermione you're really scaring me now." Draco warned sounding alarmed. Hermione laughed through her sobs. She looked up to see his bewildered face, her arms still locked tightly around his waist.
"I just…..I just pictured….what would happen if you had gone…." Hermione cried softly. "I'm so grateful….that you're still here….I don't care if it's selfish." Hermione continued as Draco pulled her onto his lap.
"I'm glad to be here with you. Stop crying Mya, I'm here." Draco chided hugging her tight. Mya?
"Mya?" Hermione asked. Was it another girl? No. No he wouldn't do that. Right?
He grinned sheepishly. No. "Can't I give you a nickname?" he asked at her worried expression. She hit his arm lightly. He laughed and she could feel his laughter reverberating off his chest.
Her-my-oh-knee. Oh….My-Mya. She felt stupid at her doubt but felt assured all the same.
"Are you alright?" Draco asked when she went silent. She nodded.
"Just thinking." she smiled inhaling his scent.
"You're always thinking. But I know how to get you distracted…." Draco grinned wickedly. She blushed a deep crimson when he pulled her in a swift motion and pressed his lips to hers.
The next morning Hermione sat tiredly in the great hall. She had woken early and untangled herself from Draco's sleeping form to study for N.E.W.T.'s. Just then, the owls swooped in to deliver the daily post. A newspaper fell into Hermione's lap and she hastily opened it and right there on the front cover was what she dreaded.
There had been a murder of a muggle family by the name of "Danforth". She looked up, eyes wide and her eyes locked with Draco's grey guilty ones. She swallowed and shook her head fiercely at him and scowled.
Another letter just fell onto her lap delivered by Harry's owl. She nervously pulled it out and read it over. He had told her that the newspaper hid some of the truth as to not put Draco in danger. There had been a message written under the dark mark. "Never doubt the words of the Dark Lord's force. Slimy swines would know first hand…..not self sacrificial are you Mr. Malfoy?"
The message brought shivers to her. She glanced up to see Draco reading a letter from the ministry. Probably from Harry who knows about the case with the threats.
As the bell rang, Hermione made her way to her DADA/House Unity class. They would be doing their second challenge today. She was bristling with anxiousness as she took her seat beside Draco.
"Nervous?" Draco drawled. Hermione chewed her lip as Giurbin walked in.
"Not at all." Hermione replied ignoring Draco's smirk.
"Today's challenge is a more physical task. Both you and your partners will be outside today and your job is to avoid getting hit by a snowball, fired from other pairs. Wands may only be used to levitate and launch snowballs. Not defend or dodge. It is similar to a muggle game-lazer tag. If you are hit, your wand is rendered useless and you can not throw for 20 seconds. Only wands, no hands. There are trackers on your wands so it can count your successful throws and unfortunate hits. This task requires teamwork and union. " Giurbin droned as he draped a scarf on. "Get ready and meet outside." The class bustled outside rushing to get their cloaks.
"We have to win." Hermione insisted as she threw on her cloak in a rush.
"We will." Draco assured. "We're head boy and girl. Slytherin. Gryffindor. Brains and brawn. Even though I do have brains." Draco said thoughtfully as they made their way outside.
Something clicked for Hermione. Head girl, head boy. Brains, brawn. Slytherin, Gryffindor. Pureblood, muggleborn. Complete opposites but somehow they matched. Beauty and the Beast.
In the beginning of the year, Draco thought of himself as a beast because of his war guilt and all the pressure from the press about sending him to Azkaban. His hardships from the past and his history with Voldemort had torn him. And he thought of himself as a beast when he realized what he had done. Then that first day on the train, he had called her a beauty. His hatred, not for her but for him, after the realization of everything and when he had been relieved of the pressure, had brought all these negative thoughts on himself made him believe he was the beast.
But to her, he was so much more. She didn't want to tell him she understood his thoughts for the sake of disrupting their atmosphere of lightheartedness, so instead she just grabbed his hands tightly. He gave her a confused look and she just smiled.
Once outside, the rest of the class was almost there so Hermione separated herself from Draco trying to put a reasonable distance between them.
With a flick of his wand Giurbin sent a buzz through their wands. "You may begin."
The pairs sprinted away from one another in fear of being hit. Draco pulled Hermione behind a large tree trunk. "Climb," Draco whispered creating a snowball with his wand as his eyes scanned the area. Hermione scampered up the tree and created a snowball herself keeping watch as Draco climbed up. When they were both perched up on the tree raising snowballs a loud scream came from behind the castle. Pansy came running shielding herself as a snowball hit her back and Dean yelled for her to look out. Zabini was smiling wickedly and Neville looked sheepish as Zabini launched one at Dean. Dean tried to dodge it but Neville threw one from the other side hitting him in the face.
"You must work together!" Giurbin called in a bored tone. Hermione smiled to herself. She and Draco worked well and they had to win.
"Should we throw some?" Hermione asked. Draco shook his head his eyes still scanning the area.
"It'll give away our spot. I'll sneak over to behind Hagrid's house and fire some at the stumbling Pansy and Thomas. You stay here and cover my back." he said.
Draco was already sliding down the tree before she could respond. She had to trust him on this, strategies weren't her best strength regarding this battle. She had a pile of growing snowballs beside her now and was preparing herself as she carefully watched Draco slink his way behind Hagrid's house going unnoticed. His stealth surprised her as he whipped up some snowballs and launched them the scowling Pansy in the stomach. She howled and fell hard on her butt. She could picture Draco's signature smirk as he threw another one at Dean who looked startled.
Her eyes sharpened as she spotted Zabini sneaking behind him looking smug. He was about to shove one down Draco's back but Hermione fired a fast snowball that hit Zabini on the hand sending the snowball skittering. He looked shocked as he swiveled around to find the culprit. He missed me in the trees however Draco grinned to himself and threw one at Neville on the shoulder who was standing absentmindedly to the side.
Draco made his way back to their tree hitting Seamus and Millicent. Oh how she hated Bulstrode. She felt a triumphant smirk come to her lips as her chest filled with pride at Draco. She had spotted Zabini dumb enough to try sneaking up on Draco again. She actually laughed at his need for vengeance as she hit him square on the top of his head. He looked murderous as Draco turned back to see then laugh as he dodged Neville's weak attempt and hit him on the chest with a snowball before racing past our tree to feign our hiding spot.
A few moments later, Draco was laughing with Hermione in the tree.
"Blaise is just so thirsty for revenge against an unseen enemy." Draco chortled.
"We made a pretty good team." Hermione smiled creating more snowballs.
"It isn't over yet." Nott teased throwing a snowball packed with ten others and his Hermione hard on the back spiraling her forward as she fell in a heap on the soft snow that caught her fall.
Draco looked angry as he was hit too but not enough to topple him over. Nott laughed and friendly punched his shoulder as Parvati looked sheepish behind Nott.
He leaped down and helped Hermione up before they raced towards an empty bleacher near the quidditch pitch.
"I will get Theo back for that." Draco vowed although he had a goodnatured smile on his face.
"You do that." Hermione replied feeling amused by their antics. "I think it's time to stop hiding." she said curtly before launching snowball after snowball at hidden players.
Together, she and Draco dodged and threw working like a well oiled machine. They had hit many targets and were returned with many angry players. Draco was hit once when he was laughing so hard from Zabini being whipped in the butt. He was hit by Nott who looked mischievous but it was soon gone when Hermione fired one at Nott.
The class was herded back into the classroom by a harassed looking Giurbin who was shuffling around looking at some results as he tallied up the scores.
"Our winners for this challenge are our head boy and head girl. Scoring a total of 357 points and a -50 points. Congratulations on winning the second challenge." Giurbin said monotone as the bell rang dismissing us.
Hermione was beaming as she exited the classroom and heading off to the library for her free period. She smiled brightly at Draco before entering the library. He winked as he whisked off to Charms.
She found a snug spot at the back of the library at a desk by some books in an area that was deserted.
Hermione spent her last period scrawling out more study notes and reciting from a few textbooks. Before she knew it, angry footsteps approached her.
"Do you know what time it is?" Draco's fiery voice demanded. She raised her eyes to meet his questioning ones. She felt herself blush as guilt flooded her. "It's 8:30. 8:30 Mya and I didn't see you eating dinner."
"Sorry, I lost track of time." Hermione said sheepishly packing her stuff up.
Draco sighed wrapping an arm around her. The library was empty, no one was ever here this late. "I wonder how you survived without me reminding you to eat."
Hermione grinned as they walked down a shortcut that led to their dorms after stopping for a late dinner in the kitchens.
"I told Theo and Blaise today." Draco said as they entered the common room. They had discussed telling Draco's friends this time since last time Hermione well, explained to Ginny what scene exactly she saw.
"And?" Hermione asked becoming slightly worried.
"Well let's just say that Theo owes Blaise 2 galleons." Draco smiled. "They bet on when we would get together." he added and began blushing.
Hermione laughed. "Ginny called it when we were at the Halloween dance."
"When did our friends become so involved in our love lives?" Draco asked pulling Hermione beside him.
"Draco N.E.W.T.'s are coming up…." Hermione reminded struggling to reach her books.
"And you've studied enough." Draco whispered huskily kissing her neck.
"Draco…." Hermione warned. Draco laughed a throaty laugh.
"Can't I kiss my girlfriend?" he asked smirking.
"Of course you can. But not when she's trying to study." Hermione huffed.
"I'll make you a deal, as soon as Christmas break starts, you stop studying till after." Draco said crossing his arms.
"Deal," Hermione said already scrambling for her notes.
"Bye Ginny. Tell Mrs. Weasley thank you and wish everyone else for me." Hermione said hugging Ginny. She smiled and nodded before falling into the crowd leaving for the holidays.
"And the holidays begin!" Draco singsonged as Hermione re-entered the dorm.
Hermione sighed. "I will keep my word."
Draco laughed at the expression on her face. "Don't you want to spend time with me?" he asked mock hurt
"I do Draco I'm just stressed." Hermione replied kissing his cheek.
"So what did you get me for Christmas?" Draco asked seductively as he kissed her jaw. She groaned and smiled a small smile.
"You can't get it out of me." Hermione said running her hands through his hair.
His lips trailed till they found her lips. They moved in a well practiced dance in sync with hers.
"Not even now?" Draco asked his eyes twinkling.
"No, but nice try." Hermione smiled.
The next evening Hermione looked around the dorm in a tough frustration.
"The room looks so…..boring." Hermione commented when Draco came out of the shower.
"Not with you in it." Draco smirked wrapping his arms around her waist. She shook her head but placed her hands on his.
"Nice. But no that's not what I meant. It looks too formal." Her eyes lit up. "Why don't we decorate a Christmas tree?"
"Aren't they magically pre-decorated?" Draco asked furrowing his brows.
Hermione smiled at his confused face. "Come on," she said pulling him towards an empty space to fit their first tree together.
Author's Note
Sorry for the long wait. Thanks for support :)
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