Her Last Sentence
Everything just when back to the way it had always been. The trees were back to its dull green, the sky back to its usual grey. It was as if that night had never happened. Suddenly, Granger was avoiding me in the halls, turning abruptly away when I saw her, only catching her brown hair turning in a corner every time I looked. Not that I had the courage to talk to her anyway, I hate myself for being such a coward.
I would spy at her continuously from above my book when she flitted through the shelves in the library. The way the sun hit her hair and it glinted was ethereal, she smiled slightly in comfort as she picked up a book and sighed with disappointment as she set it down. The curve of her peach lips was enticing. She did this almost every day. And every time, I was there to catch it. I sensed the library was the only thing so precious to her that even she could not avoid it on the count of my presence.
I wanted to do the same, I wanted to ignore her, tease her, and despise her. But I could not, and what stabbed my heart till it bled was her hurt gaze she gave me every time she met my face. I could not stand it.
She was doing it right now, this very second. The evening sunset was displayed in various shades of reds, oranges and yellows, there was but a scanty number of students left in the enormous library right now. Staring at me from across the floor, I could feel her gaze burning a hole in my head.
It was as if instinct grabbed me and roughly pushed my chin up, for I tilted to meet her delicate face. I caught her small figure a distance away, her face was shadowed by red light, her eyes held my stare for a few seconds before she averted her gaze and stumbled out of the room.
My eyes returned to the words on the pages in my book and my heart clenched painfully. But even as I scanned the words, my mind registered nothing. The meanings of every single letter were lost in the depths of my head, I could not see, smell nor think of anything right now.
My fingers ran over the worn and yellowed pages of the book, my mind took that in. Every crease, every texture, every color, I noticed. And I could notice nothing else. Frustrated, I slammed my book down and walked out of the library dejectedly; following the route I usually took back to the Slytherin dorms.
I was walking purely by memory and my stare was set on the uniform grey stone tiles of Hogwarts. The evening sun made it look red, warm even. But to me, they were still the cold grey tiles that embraced me in my darkest hour.
I walked stiffly into the Slytherin common room. The room had the familiar green I had become accustomed to over the years. The black couches littered with deep green cushions in a side, the Slytherin bookshelves on another. But the fireplace blazing with heat was what looked best to me. The chatter came to a standstill as I entered. Younger students bowed their heads and left the couches, while older students just walked away.
I did not even have the strength to roll my eyes before I collapsed on the couch. I closed my eyes as I felt the soft pillows and reveled in the security when an arm snaked across my chest.
"Draco…" a high-pitched female voice whispered. I expected this welcoming consistently when I entered the Slytherin common room. Perhaps it was one of the reasons why I loathe coming back here. Pansy's hair scratched against my face annoyingly. I was not in the mood today.
"Not today, Pansy," I commanded briefly. Pansy's arms froze and did not move for a second before she redrew her hands hesitantly. It was not long before she followed the students and returned to her room.
"Something's up, Draco," Blaise commented as he too, thumped on the couch. I opened my eyes lazily and peered at him sullenly. His hair fell over his face and nearly covered his eyes; he swept it to the side and continued speaking.
"You don't usually reject Pansy's offers, and did you notice Granger running away from us the past few days?" he asked, at the comment of Hermione brought me back to the dispiriting mood. I frowned, was she that obvious? I had better do something before things got out of hand.
"We had better do something about that then," I drawled. Blaise raised his brow, and smirked in an entire Slytherin-like manner.
"That's the Draco, I know, let's set her up at her common room tonight, she studies there till midnight every day," Blaise said. I wondered how he knew so much about her when a major loophole surfaced in front of me.
"And can you get into the common room?" I asked a little irritated, how could one miss such a crucial part of a plan?
"Longbottom left a whole week's worth of passwords, it was begging to be stolen," Blaise said.
I nodded satisfied at his answer. We were going to give Granger a hell of a night today…
The night was freezing cold; my school cloak was not going to shield me from the chilling winds in the least. Blaise handed me the scrap of paper containing the Gryffindor passwords for the week, he said he was going to be late, very late since he had something to attend to. He did not tell me what the thing was, and I did not question further either.
The place was so different in the evening and in the night. No longer the warm red stone tiles that shone comfortably in the sun's rays but it reverted back to the grey cold tiles that I was so very used to. I liked that. I liked that a lot.
I was navigating by pure moonlight as I turned the last curve, I was sure this was the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. The Fat Lady was snoozing deeply; I was not going to let anything obstruct me in my way to see Hermione. No matter what I'm going to say to her.
"Oi! Wake up!" I hissed rather loudly and gave the painting a kick. I was not sure whether she felt it but her eyes snapped open and she peered at me sleepily.
"Umm," I muttered as I stared at the scrap of paper, "Cockroach Clusters?" I asked, glaring at the seven different passwords on the paper. It must have been right because the Fat Lady nodded and the painting swung open and I hurriedly stepped inside.
Granger must have been so engrossed with her book because even as the painting shut with a loud thud, her eyes have never left the book. It was time for me to say something, and from all those years of insulting her, I was ready with a familiar attack.
"Granger, Granger, always studying," that seemed to have caught her attention because she lifted her gaze to meet my grey orbs, she gasped in surprise. "I knew that you had no social life, but this is dumb, even for you," I sneered. My words must have hurt her, for her gaze shrunk back but then remerged bright with fury.
"For your information, Malfoy, there are people who care about their future, and..." she dragged to emphasize the next point, I did not care what she said, as long as I could see that beautiful face, that messy hair again. "My social life is none of your business, Tasteless Snake,"
My attention was back to her lecture at the name, Tasteless Snake. My joy and relief evaporated, she should not have insulted me so easily alone.
"What did you call me?" I growled with unbridled anger. She seemed to have not expected that because her cheeks went red and she backed away with her chair, seeming to want to ignore me again. She was not going to get away that easily.
All my frustration from the past few days seemed to be unleashed; I advanced on her in a predator catch prey kind of way. Her eyes widened and lips were parted in fear.
"Say it," I hissed, her frail frame just a few feet from mine.
"Malfoy?" she asked, trying her luck. I stared at her pointedly. Her face fell before she sadly mumbled.
"Tasteless… Snake…"
Her brown eyes were wide; her lips were still parted, breathing heavily. Her hair was around her face like she had just got out of bed. Her shoulders were back, preparing for attack. She had an embarrassed flush; she stared up at me from under her lashes.
Hermione must have infected me with a drug because even as she repeated the insulting name, my heart hammered hardly against my chest. I was yet still a few inches away from her lips. I could stand it no longer, she was an enchantress. I dipped my head and her lips met with mine.
That must have taken her by surprise because she stood up clumsily and attempted to dislodge her lips. She had no such chance. My hand gripped her back roughly and pushed her to me, her brown eyes were alight with fury. I just stared back at her softly.
I could feel her rigid posture melt into my arms, her shoulders fell and she relaxed. I smiled against our kiss and brought it to a deeper level. She had closed her eyes; every inch of my skin was on fire. She was mine for this very moment, and no one else's. We collapsed on the couch, lips still interlocked. Her arms were around my neck, and she smelled enticing.
I delved deeper; she tasted like a mixture of heaven and hell. I was startled by my boldness. There she was, engrossed in our share of intimacy. Positioned on top of me, this was stretching my self-control to the limit, but I did not want to stop. I never wanted her off me.
Her soft skin on mine, her dark hair, a curtain around out faces, shielding us from the outside world, her lean body was full on mine; I could feel her everywhere, my arms were circled around her waist. Then, the painting slammed open…
"Draco?" Blaise asked bewildered as he strode into the common room. We broke apart immediately, stung by the presence. I wonder how this must look. Our hair disheveled, my shirt was crumpled, and Hermione's tiny tank top was hitched up to reveal her pale stomach.
"So is she your mudblood whore now?" Blaise asked, he had a disgusted frown on his face. I leapt up and was determined to pummel him for such an insult when Hermione pulled me down using my tie, nearly choking me in the process.
"You will not tell anyone about this, are you, Blaise?" Hermione asked her brown eyes silently calm and pleading. I looked at Blaise as well, softly urging him to reply with my expression.
"No," Blaise said resignedly, "I will never snitch on Draco, neither anyone else, for that matter."
At that very moment, I was intensely glad I was friends with Blaise. Who knew that Slytherin actually had a decent guy? I smiled at him slightly and he nodded curtly.
"We must make our departure, Ms. Granger. Pardon us," Blaise said and pulled me out of the warm Gryffindor common room where my beloved was to the cold dark abyss of the halls once again…
Credits:
DeviantART's Artist: bonana-chan for the work that gave the weird inspiration to write this chapter.
Work: dramione fan comic pt 1, dramione fan comic pt 2