My Final Battle Chapter Nine, a harry potter fanfic

Chapter Nine

Draco/ Drake and I were not friends anymore. No, we weren't enemies anymore either. That ship had sailed a long time ago. Yet, we weren't exactly lovers either. We seemed to be a mix between the first and the last.

We had given up fighting our…physical urges for each other. So we acted like friends during the regular day. However, once the clock struck about midnight, we became different. The night was ours. It was like Cinderella working in reverse.

But of course, besides pure animal attraction, I felt a deep affection as a person and companion growing inside of me for him.

It was now the next Friday, and we were to perform at night, eight o' clock. The final ten.

It was early morning, eight a.m., and I was in his apartment, in his bed still. Looking at another letter from another owl.

"They've been coming all week. I can't just keep chucking them in the bin."

Draco, on the other side of the bed, turned around to face me on the pillow and said, "I know. But I can't tell you what to do."

"Why?" I whined. "You always try to."

He smiled, though a bit painfully. "It's your decision. This is one choice no one but you can make."

We both turned our faces toward the ceiling thoughtfully.

"Maybe I should finish the singing contest first. I mean, it'd be a shame to simply let you win without any real competition."

"Perhaps," he replied with some relief in his voice, hidden but still detectable.

I decided it was still too early to be up and snuggled into his body and closed my eyes.

As far as I was concerned, the "regular day" hadn't started yet.

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"Mia, you and Drake definitely have a thing."

I was out to lunch with Lisa at this great Cuban restaurant, and the food was delicious. However, the topic we were on was making me uncomfortable.

"I don't know what sort of weird relationship you guys are in, but you've been together every night this whole week. And during the day, you guys are like completely normal, denying anything and everything to us… Can't you just lay it down?"

I swallowed my bite of my rice in black beans (so good, practically orgasmic), and confessed, "Okay, so I've slept with the man. You all knew that. But not every night."

"Oh, Hermione," she chided. "Don't lie now. I have clearly seen you two go off in some empty apartment every night of this week, I am sure of it."

"Well, yes, but three of those nights we didn't shag." Another bite. Oh, Merlin, I was definitely going to have Cuban food more often.

Lisa, however, paused in her eating. "What do you mean?"

"I mean on three of those nights, we just talked and slept in the same aparment. Not a big deal. You and the guys do that all the time and sleep on the same bed as well, before you say anything about that." Which was all true. I had learned a lot about Draco in those nights, and I swear, he can be so funny at times, and at others, surprise me with something so deep. I must admit, I do like it.

Flashback

"Hermione," he said. "I hate who I was. I was a coward and I was just…pathetic. I didn't know anything back then."

He paused and looked away. I scooted closer to him, tentatively. It was 3 a.m. Our time. Darkness seemed more secure than night.

Sorrowfully, he looked back at me. I was so unused to this vulnerable Draco Malfoy, without a trace of arrogance or confidence.

"I thought joining the Dark Lord would earn me so much, thought it would be so glamorous. But I saw what it was all about…and it was sick. So I just fled."

Silence. Then... "I'm glad I did. I'm just not glad about how I did it. And inside of me, I'm always going to be ashamed of that part of me. That's why I didn't want you to call me by my surname. Or my original first name, even."

I nodded. "It's understandable."

He stared straight into my eyes. "But now, since I've embraced your presence…"

He got up and looked out the window. I patiently waited for him to continue, careful not to push him.

"Just call me Draco."

End Flashback

It was that night when I truly found out just how hurt he was by his experiences. It was also that night I knew what kind of song I wanted to do.

"Wait," Lisa said meaningfully.

I paused before my forkful of shredded meat.

She put down her fork on the table and seemed to be very excited about something. "You guys have sex- normal. But on some nights, you just sit up for hours…talking? In your own little rooms, all private?"

"And?"

"And? And? This is so different from me, Mia! Me and the guys, we're all together in the same room, so it's all impersonal and cool, but you guys are all alone! How completely adorable! Oh, I just knew it was going to happen between you two."

"What are on about?" I was getting more alarmed at the conclusion she was implying. "You're not actually suggesting that-"

"Why not?" she asked excitedly. "I mean, you two obviously already share a chemistry that not many achieve, the sexual tension between you guys is unbearable, and you guys can talk. All night!"

"Yes, but I'm allowed to have a purely physical relationship, aren't I? Even if it's with a…friend?" I finished off rather pathetically, for it sounded whorish even to me.

Well, he is clever. And good- looking. Witty, can make me laugh. Obviously an incredible singer. Talented in so many areas. And of course, unbelievable in the sack.

But I couldn't love him. I could never even start a real relationship with him. So many complications.

I mean, what if Harry and Ron found out? What would I say? Hi, guys. I've been missing for almost two months now, I've become a singer, and oh, I love Draco Malfoy now. Yes, he's the one who we've been after, you remember him?

Oh God. But he is sweet. Perfect for me. But…it would never happen for us.

We dropped the subject, but it stayed on my mind for a while.

My sweet, familiar stage. My familiar voice. The smooth, black microphone. The encouraging audience. I was going back to it. It felt like home.

He drowns in his dreams.
An exquisite extreme, I know.
He's as damned as he seems-
And more heaven than a heart could hold.
And if I try to save him-
My whole world would cave in.
Lord, it just ain't right-
Lord, it just ain't right.

No more audience by this point. Not in my world.

Oh and I don't know-
I don't know what he's after-
But he's so beautiful-
Such a beautiful disaster.
And if I could hold on-
Through the tears and the laughter-
Would it be beautiful?
Or just a beautiful disaster…

I could see his face in the darkness in front of me, the setting of the lights.

He's magic and myth.
As strong as what I believe.
A tragedy with-
More damage than a soul should see.
And do I try to change him?
So hard not to blame him.
Hold me tight-
Baby, hold me tight.

Oh 'cause I don't know-
I don't know what he's after.
But he's so beautiful-
Such a beautiful disaster.
And if I could hold on-
Through the tears and the laughter-
Would it be beautiful?
Or just a beautiful disaster…

Here's the hook.

I'm longing for love and the logical-
But he's only happy hysterical.
I'm searching for some kind of miracle-
Waited so long…
So long…

He's soft to the touch-
But frayed at the end he breaks.
He's never enough-
And still he's more than I can take…

My part where I could show off and let go.

He's beautiful…
He's such a beautiful disaster…

Another performance: a success.

We were both in the final three. The last round. How typical.

I confronted him on the subject I was thinking about most that day.

"Draco…where are we going?"

He looked at me strangely. "We're going the apartment building. Unless there's another particular place you want to-"

"No, no. That wasn't what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I mean us. You and I. Where are we going with our nighttime…flings, could you call them? I don't even know what they are. Where are they leading us?"

All of a sudden, he grabbed me and pulled me so my back was smooshed against his chest, looking around furiously.

"What? What is it?" I whispered, alarmed.

"I could have sworn I heard…" He released me. "Never mind."

We walked the rest of the way talking about the singing contest instead, with me wondering if he actually heard something earlier.

Laughing, we went inside the apartment building.

"You think I'm going down? I beg to differ!"

"Hermione, honestly. You're just a beginner. I've been singing for years now." This was all teasing, mind you.

"Which will make it all the more satisfying when I beat you!"

"Dream on! You must have had too many Seductions if you feel that way!"

"Seductions by you or Seduction the drink?" I asked innocently.

He narrowed his eyes playfully and began chasing me.

We both laughed all the way up to his floor. He inevitably caught me.

"Draco, stop!" I giggled. "I'm ticklish!" Of course, he continued his torture on me. "No! Draco, I can't breathe!"

Finally, he ceased. We both leaned against the wall and slid down, tired from our juvenile little show.

I let out a little laugh as he got up and straightened his jacket. "May I give you a hand?" he asked mock- professionally.

I looked at him with a smile. "Well, not if you're going to pretend to be the adult you're not!"

"Of course, what was I thinking?" he shook himself and said in a more childish voice, "Give me your hand so I can pull you really close to me and ravish you once we get inside."

I shook my head. "Much better," I said, giving him my hand and holding back a laugh.

As he promised, he pulled me really close to him, with such force that we practically toppled over. Our hands were still linked together.

He opened door and we went inside, still laughing. I guess we were still in a tipsy phase, due to the celebration after our performances for getting into the last showdown.

We talked and laughed all the way to his bedroom, but nothing inappropriate. I knew it was going to be one of those "talking nights".