Chapter Five
All in all, Draco was surprised that he didn't feel more contemptuous towards Hermione. In Hogwarts he had always disliked her and had called her "Mudblood" countless of times. She was dirty-blooded, self righteous in the most obnoxious way possible, and worst of all she always had something to counter Draco's remarks or spells. In Hogwarts he had hated every inch of her, even though he had to admit that the older she grew, the prettier she became as well.
Even after he had turned to the Light side, he had hated her. He hated her for being the know-it-all that she was, like as if she could never ever break down. But the war changed everything. After the war he had begun to see a side of Hermione that seemed human to him. That seemed normal. And it was what he liked about Hermione. He always had the theory that Hermione can never be normal, literally in terms of blood, or figuratively in terms of sanity.
Draco Apparated back to his house. It was a far cry from the Malfoy Manor, but then again, he never ever wanted to see the Manor again.
Draco finished showering and sat down on a chair.
I wonder what Hermione is doing now, he thought.
It was funny how Draco thought about Hermione practically twenty four hours a day, but never seemed to realized it. Somehow he had been used to it and taken it for granted. It was normal by now. He never stopped to consider the fact that any outsider might have mistaken him to be in love with Hermione, until now.
He was not. Draco wandered aimlessly to his room and put on his pajamas. Of course he was not. How could he be in love with Hermione? He thought and chortled to himself. "That is like me liking Crabbe or Goyle," he said out loud, firmly to himself.
But somehow, Hermione Granger turned up in his dreams that night.
"Ginny, you seem a lot better," Hermione said, surprised. She was having dinner with Ginny and Harry.
Ginny smiled at her. "Thanks," she said. "Harry helped me. He made me realize that I was just wasting my time and my youth here, mourning over Ron and Bill," she said cheerfully and put a spoonful of stew in her mouth. Harry smiled at her. Ginny smiled back.
Hermione put her spoon down. "Wait a minute," she said slowly. "You two – you two are together," she said finally.
Harry blushed. Hermione stared again. She hadn't seen Harry blush since the day he asked Cho out, years ago.
"Erm, yeah," Harry said. Ginny rolled her eyes. "Hermione, don't look so surprised," she chided.
Hermione tried to smile. Seeing Harry and Ginny together somehow reminded her of Ron. He would have given anything to see them together. He had always been against Ginny's choice of boyfriends, all except for Harry. And although he didn't say anything, Hermione knew that he was as devastated as Harry the day Harry had broken up with Ginny.
Ginny seemed to read her mind. "Hermione, don't be upset," she said quietly. "Ron wouldn't have wanted you to mourn for him your entire life. He would have wanted you to move on," she said.
Hermione couldn't bring herself to say anything. She missed Ron so badly, the idea of her finding another love seemed incredulous.
"Hermione." Harry's voice bore into her thoughts. "Promise me that you won't mourn over Ron forever?" Harry said quietly.
Hermione swallowed. Then she reluctantly nodded. Yeah, right. She thought silently as Ginny scooped more stew for Harry. But Harry seemed satisfied with what Hermione knew was an empty promise. So she didn't say anything else.
Hermione groggily Apparated back to her house. She felt exhausted after a day of work and dinner. Without a single thought she quickly showered and fell back on her bed. She was asleep by the time her head hit the pillow.
"Hermione."
Hermione awoke and stared at the face in front of her. The face belonged to no other than Draco Malfoy. He smiled gently at her.
"Hermione," he began. Hermione got up and started running. She had no idea why but she didn't want to see Draco Malfoy. Her heartbeat increased rapidly. "Hermione!" Draco called out. His voice was getting further and further…
Suddenly, the dream changed. It changed into a single image – the image of Ron's dead mangled body. And Draco Malfoy was standing above Ron's body, smiling triumphantly…
Hermione screamed.
Hermione awoke, her heart beating wildly. It was a dream, she realized with relief. But the image of Ron's body and Draco Malfoy still remained, etched vividly in her mind.
Hermione walked slowly to the kitchen. It had been a few days since she had gone to the kitchen in the morning. She started to make two cups of tea.
The phone rang. Hermione bit her lip as she poured away the second cup of tea. It was as if she was stuck in some kind of loop. Let go of Ron? She thought. I can't even do a simple thing as that. Hermione felt utterly disgusted with herself.
The phone continued ringing as Hermione dressed hurriedly for work. She drank the cup of tea and Apparated to work.
JE: Well, she's nice enough to post all 5 chapters at one go so you don't have to wait.
So? Review! Because this will be the last of JE in this fic.