Disclaimer: I'm just wasting time and space typing this message...
Draco had been released, much to the displeasure of the public. The fact that he was still able to roam free was a mystery to them and would remain a mystery as long as Arthur Weasley remained Minister. As he was escorted out, Draco rubbed the ugly mark on his arm. It would always be there, reminding him of his past and what would be instore for him in the future. He was cursed. His mind wandered back to the event that had happend only hours before. She was gone.
Oh please. You act like you wanted her to stay. You're free now. Free from her and free from them, said the voice in his head.
You want her back though... sneered the other voice.
No we didn't.
What about the first time you'd met her. You wanted to see her again.
We wanted a shag. She was the only one who looked worth shagging!
But you never got a shag. Well at least not until you married her...
What's your point?
Admit it. You love her and you know it. You just refuse to admit it.
Yeah well, she's gone now. There's no point discussing this.
You can go after her...
What? And be more like Weasley than we already are?! Have you gone stark raving made?!
No, I haven't. I'm just telling you... If you love her, you shouldn't just let her go like that.
You know what. You need to shut up.
Draco had reached the apparation point and the Aurors had reluctantly released him. He stepped up on the short platform and gave them all a smirk.
"I'll be seeing you later."
Hermione looked up when Harry stepped into the room, grinning like an idiot. She smiled.
"What are you so happy about?" Harry noticed her and gave her an even goofier grin.
"Nothing." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Nothing my arse. What? You kiss Ginny?" Harry shook his head.
"No I did not kiss Ginny. I'm just glad to be some where familiar." Hermione watched him carefully and then down at the pictures Molly had given her upon request. She ran her fingers over the figures as they moved around.
"I wish I remembered something..." Harry sat down beside her and took the picture. It was of Hermione and Ron. It was a candid shot and it looked like they didn't even know about the picture. Hermione was sitting on the couch in the family room in front of the fireplace, reading a book. What made the picture so intimate was that Ron was there also, his head in her lap. He looked to be sleeping, though it was hard to tell. Hermione had one hand running through his hair absent-mindedly as she read. Harry smiled as Ron shifted and opened his eyes slightly, saying something. Hermione smiled down at him and answered him, nodding. Ron sat up, gave Hermoine a small peck on the cheek and then left the picture. It then restarted. Harry looked up at Hermione.
"You two look like you were close..." Hermione blushed, snatched the picture away and stuffed it into her pocket.
"It doesn't matter... I don't remember anything."
"You like him though." It wasn't a question. Hermione looked up, her face slightly distressed.
"I don't know. I want to, but.." Harry frowned.
"What?" Hermione pulled out another photo. In it, the photographer was capturing Fred and Bill playing chess. Suddenly it swirled around to two shouting figures. Ron and Hermione were screaming at each other and from the looks of it, the source of the argument seemed to be over something broken on the ground. Hermione was probing Ron in the chest and from the expression on Ron's face he didn't seem to be enjoying it. There was more screaming and then something happened. Ron took a step toward Hermione and she flinched. It wasn't anything big, but it was still noticable. Ron glared at Hermione then turned and left the room. The photo then started over. Hermione pointed to it.
"Look at us, Harry." She pulled out the previous photo and placed them next to each other. She sighed.
"Molly said that this one," she motioned to the one of her and Ron by the fireplace. "Was taken the night before... how is it possible for me to get to know him if there's so much... friction in our past. Look at us. We're absolutely ghastly! How could something so calm turn into such a big mess so fast?" Harry took the pictures and placed them to the side. He took his friend's hands.
"Hermione... just because you two fought... a lot. That doesn't mean you didn't care about each other... It just means that there was a lot of tension... most likely sexual tension." Hermione looked down at her hands.
"I don't know Harry..." Harry nugded her face up with a finger.
"Hey... do you trust me?" Hermione gave him a small smile.
"With my life..." Harry pulled her into a hug.
"Then trust me when I say that Ron cares about you. You may not remember it and I may not remember much, but I can see that he does." Hermione held onto him.
"Thank you, Harry."
Tori didn't know what time it was. All she knew was that she wanted to die. She wanted to find the most deserted, murkiest ally in London and just curl up and die. Why had she let her emotions get the best of her? She had nothing now. Her family had been killed by deatheaters, she had lost her baby and now... She closed her eyes.
He never loved you, Torince! You were just a shag to him, nothing more, nothing less. He saw you as dirt.
"Then why did he marry me?" she asked out loud. As she headed down the dark street, she felt something wet land on her head. "Oh great..." Soon the downpour was the only thing that could be heard on the old, deserted streets. Some lights flickered as she continued to walk, ignoring the rain as the silence echoed the feelings of her broken soul.
"My, my, my. What have we here?" Tori turned to see four men standing there. Two of them were hardly older than her, though it was hard to tell in the rain. Tori began to back up.
"What do you want?" One of the men, most likely the leader, took a step forward smirking. His eyes roved over her wet body ravenously.
"What do you think I want?" Tori screamed and started to run, but they were to fast for her. They grabbed her and dragged her into a near by ally, kicking and screaming. One of them slammed her up against the wall and his hands began to grope her, searching for anything that would be deemed harmful to him and his gang. Tori managed to squirm free and kneed him. The other man slugged her across the face, knocking her down. The one she had injured grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up against the wall, pinning her successfully.
"I don't like the way you play," he breathed into her ear. She made him yelp by biting down on his ear, tasting blood.
"Yeah, well, I've dealt with a man who likes to play rough." The man's lips smashed up against hers and she yelped. She felt his hands searching her body greedily and she didn't like the way it felt. She manuvered her hands under his shirt and dragged her nails down. The man screamed in pain and backed off, gripping his stomach.
"The bitch scratched me!" The fourth guy, also the biggest, smirked.
"You don't know how to hande vixens do you?" The other glared at her.
"You have a go." Tori didn't have enough strength to fight off this guy. The big guy grinned.
"I'd love to meet the guy who taught you how to do that." Suddenly the man buckled over in pain. A shadow appeared in the entrance of the ally.
"Nice to meet you." The other three cracked their knuckles and one of them grabbed Tori. He pulled out a knife and pressed it against her neck.
"What do you want?" The figure took a step foward.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man holding Tori laughed.
"What're you going to do? Scare us to death?" The man had said the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time. He was the first to fall. The others yelled and looked at the figure.
"Let's get out of here!" they scattered, staggering past the figure as it rushed over to Tori, who looked ready to fall at anytime. The figure helped her to the wall and let her sit on the wet floor. She was shaking violently as she stared with fear at the limp form.
"Is he?"
"No... just unconscience. I wouldn't do that while you're around." Tori closed her eyes, trying to block out images of men falling at the hand of him.
"What are you doing here?" Draco took off his cloak and wrapped it around her.
"Enough talk. Come on." He picked her up and dissapparated.
They arrived at the old white house and Draco carried her up the stairs. Placing her on the bed, he searched for wounds. She waved him off.
"I'm fine..." Draco leaned back on the ball of his feet and stared up at her. She brushed the hair that was plastered to her face. "Draco... what are you doing?" He stood.
"I wanted to make sure you were ok." Tori felt her heart swell slightly. He was worried about her. He looked down at her.
"Are you ok?" She shrugged.
"A few scratches-"
"That's not what I meant," he snapped. That's when he realized that he was talking about the baby. She frowned and stood shakily to her feet.
"Draco... what your father did..."
"You were right about me..."
"What?" Draco looked up at her.
"The day after I found out about what you were... you said that I would always be like my father..." Tori couldn't help but catch the disgust in his voice when he had said the former. To the latter, she frowned.
"Draco... you will always be your father's son... you will always have his looks... quirks... his rage..." Draco looked away at that. Tori sighed. "But you don't have to be like him. You have the chance to change what your father made you to be..." She reached up and touched his face. "Draco... I'll only ask this one more time... do you love me?" He turned to her and searched her face. He leaned in and kissed her gently. Tori gasped at his touch then sighed. She stepped closer, letting him hold her as his lips caressed hers. Kissing Draco Malfoy was like stepping into a cage with a tiger. Very dangerous yet, if the thing doesn't kill you, you have the pleasure of knowing how beautiful it could be. Tori pulled away slightly, her breath ragged from the simple kiss. She tried to collect her thoughts and remember that he still hadn't answered her question.
"Is that a yes?" she asked, breathlessly. Draco's eyes prooved to reveal nothing. He lifted his hand and ran it along her cheek, following it's movement down her neck until it rested on her shoulder. Then, some what reluctantly, he nodded, pulling her back into a much more passionate kiss. She yelped as Draco lifted her into his arms as she deftly wrapped her legs around his waist, still kissing him passionately. She kicked off her shoes and Draco expertly stepped out of his shoes and socks as well. Draco laid Tori down on the bed, hovering above her. He carefully pulled her shirt off of her body, as she pushed his robes off his shoulders and unbuttoned the blue shirt he was wearing, tossing it to the side. The only sound was that of their ragged breathing, the soft rustle of the sheets on the bed as well as the clothing being shed, and the loud, thunderous cries of the lightning outside the window. The storm seemed to get worse as they continued into a world of lust.
Draco wanted to get lost in her. He wanted to forget the hate. The consuming loathing he still felt for his father... The level this little muggle had brought him down to was mind boggling. Nine months ago, he would have killed her. Is that all it had been. Nine months.
Tori moaned when he pressed against her, sending shock waves up and down Draco's body, causing him to groan appreciatively. She giggled lightly, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck. Never had he shown this much feeling. This much emotion. That one groan showed her his submission to her. This one little muggle had penetrated through the icy fortress and some how... he didn't want it any other way...
Two figures appeared in the graveyard. One of them, pulled her cloak more closely around her, muttering dark words as the rain continued to fall. The other figure smirked.
"You're not the outdoors type." The woman glared at the man.
"Don't toy with me. I hired you for one reason and one reason only. If you want to make smart comments like that, then I'll have you fixed," she gritted. The man rolled his eyes, ignoring the flashes of lightening.
"What did you hire me for?" the man snapped. The woman took out a picture and handed it to him.
"I want you to get her for me." The man looked over the picture and let out a bark of laughter.
"You're kidding right. This whore's on tight security. How do you expect me to get her?" The woman grinned and held up a small test tube. In it were two strands. The man took the strands and frowned.
"What's this?" The woman didn't feel like explaining everything. She took out a large thormus and handed it to him.
"Just put those in that. Then make sure you're here." She handed him a piece of paper. He raised an eyebrow.
"The Victory Gala. You got me tickets." She nodded. He looked up at her. "What did this bitch do?"
"That's for only my own conscience. I just want you to get her. After that, we'll talk." He stuffed everything in his cloak.
"Fine." She grinned.
"Granger will pay..."
Tori woke to a small creak and sat up, pulling the sheets to her chest.
"Draco!" she called out. It was dark and hard to see around the room.
"I'm here." came his voice. He emerged from near the window. It was still raining.
"What's going on?" She asked quietly. He stayed by the window, glancing out.
"We're being watched." She began to reach for the light when his voice stopped her.
"Don't. They'll see." She frowned.
"Deatheaters?" He nodded. Finally, he pulled away from the window and came over to her. Sitting down on the bed, he looked over to the open door. She took his hand.
"Are you ok?" she asked. He looked over to her and nodded, his mind wandering back to the events of last night. He suddenly stood up, knowing that if he stayed near her for to long, he'd do something that would, by his father's standards, be deemed irrational.
"Get dressed," he stated coldly. She could tell he was slightly uncomfortable and decided that she didn't want to add to that discomfort. She looked around for something to cover herself with and was handed his cloak. She looked up at him and saw only his fierce grey eyes. She blushed slightly and took it, wrapping it around her and exiting the room. She came back a few minutes later, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Draco looked her over. She crossed over to him.
"Where are we going?" He touched her face and kissed her slightly. He leaned in so his lips brushed her ear.
"Some where safe."
A/N: I made this one extra long because I'm probably not going to update over the weekend. I have too much work to do!
WoodsKeeper: Thank you soo much!
Reader of Canon FF: I don't know about Ginny telling Harry about their little crush/love thing but there will definitely be hints in the next chapter for Harry to figure it out. Or for Hermione to tell him because like all men, he is to immature to recognise it.
Wesker888: Thanks for reviewing. I hope you can figure out who it is who wants Hermione.
rheartsu: I will absolutely put some sparks between Ginny and Harry in the next chappie!
With Love x: Have you changed your account?
katerina: I'm excited also!
dilaimar: I always love new reviewers!!!
sarah-keyko: Wow! That was a long review! I love Ron/Hermione also. It's the only true couple! I hope you liked this chapter and I hope your sister and friend like it also. I made it just for them!
Avanell: Things are about to get darker. Not in the next chapter but in the following ones.
Coconut Girl: I will probably make a little more serious relationship thing in the next chapter... i'm not sure.
Chapter Tease:
"Hey," he greeted. She looked up and gave him a smile.
"Hey yourself. What are you doing up so late?" Harry shrugged.
"Couldn't sleep. You?" Ginny shrugged as well.
"Couldn't sleep."