Sublime

Part III

There is beauty and there is beauty. The two are not mutually exclusive, but rather represent two poles on a continuum. At one pole is the beauty that is associated with a sense of lightness and balanced order. It has a faintly decorative quality to it. At the other extreme is the much darker form of beauty that we associate with profundity and truth. This latter form of beauty I will analyze in terms of the containment of the sublime. The distinction between these two extremes of beauty has less to do with the objects under consideration, whether a flower, a sunset, a poem, a painting, or a piece of music, than it does with the attitude of the considerer of the object. That is, anything that possesses beauty of the first kind can also be viewed as possessing beauty of the second kind, if the attention of the viewer is directed appropriately. The differential across the continuum is constituted by the degree of awareness of the element of the sublime in the beautiful.

Richard Gilmore

Concordia College

Hermione let the sun beat down on her skin; it was a beautiful day for a lunch out. She was sitting under the awning of her favorite Diagon Alley Café breathing in the sunlight and warmth on her lunch break. Working in ministry of magic was tiring; she had begun her work with S.P.E.W now on a greater scale in the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. The paperwork piled up on her desk at the very moment was toe-curling, but she put it in the back of her mind and took a sip of her iced-tea, suddenly she felt a sudden hush come across the street. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as the whispers whipped through the busy Diagon ally street. She looked around hastily immediately spotting who had caused all the commotion. She hadn't seen him in five years, since their eyes had locked across that bloody battle field. He looked older, but not as tired, almost…healed. She was frozen in her seat, turned around staring at him when he turned to look at her, almost as if he knew she was there. She could still feel the softness of his lips on her forehead on that last night, the pressure of his hands against her neck. His mouth lifted at the corner that small grin she felt like was always only for her. He took a step across the street, and she panicked. She was with Ron, engaged-practically married. She couldn't be having these thoughts about a past flame-not even flame…past- she didn't know what they were but she had to leave. Shooting up out of her chair she threw some money onto the table and quickly apparated back to her apartment she shared with Ron. She quickly wrote into work, calling out the rest of the day sick before crawling into her bed and pulling the covers over her body in a feather down cocoon. The small curve of Draco Malfoy's grin haunting her even in her dreams.

He was headlining news on the next morning's Daily Prophet.

Draco Malfoy Back In London!

By Parvati Patel

The long lost son of deceased Lucius Malfoy is back in London, he was spotted in Diagon Ally yesterday afternoon around lunch time. Rumor has it that he has spent the last five years in Paris, healing or hiding, we're not sure. He was spotted looking just as handsome as ever ladies, and remember he was never convicted of any crimes during the war. And for all we know he's still single so ladies-

Hermione crumbled up the paper and set it on fire in her office trash can. "Headlining news, better off in that rag Witch Weekly..." she muttered to herself pouring another cup of coffee. She ate lunch in her office for the next week, too afraid to see him again- too afraid to feel again. Two weeks of dreams featuring his sly smile, she heard a knock on her office door her secretary peeped her head in.

"Ms. Granger…you-um have a visitor." her secretary's face was flushed.

"Let them in," she said slowly, her breath caught when the door opened to reveal none-other than the person she had been avoiding for two weeks. He causally sat down in the seat across from her, smiling at her from across her desk.

"So, how have you been Granger?" he asked causally, his voice rushing over her familiarly. Her face flushed in anger, and she closed the door and set a silencing spell.

"You can't just come in here after five years and ask me how I'm doing?" she spat, standing up angrily her hands flat on her desk.

"Missed me Granger?" he asked slyly, smirking at her.

"No…but I thought…" she trailed off blushing, sitting back down and letting her head drop into her hands.

"Thought what?" he said softly, standing up and moving to stand behind her chair his hands resting lightly on her shoulders.

"Nothing Malfoy…could you just leave?" she asked helplessly.

"What do you want; I'm here now…just tell me what's wrong." He leaned down and whispered in her ear, his warm breath washing across the skin of her neck.

She whipped away from him standing up and putting space between them, "I waited for you! After everything died down, I said no to Ron because I was waiting on you! It's too late now, you're too late…I'm engaged." She cried, wiping the angry tears from her eyes.

"Hermione…" he said approaching her slowly thumbs wiping the tears slipping from her eyes. "It's okay, I'm back now." He said softly, pulling her into her arms. She clutched the back of his robe, feeling his strong back under her fingertips.

"You're too late, I'm getting married…" she whispered against the fabric of his shirt. He tipped her chin up to stare into her watery eyes; he lowered his mouth and kissed her softly. She melted against his strong body, falling into him. Everything about him made her head swim. His hands slid slowly up her back and sides, before pulling back and staring at the curves of her face, pressing her hair away from her forehead softly. His fingers curling around the back of her neck he pulled her back to him, kissing her slowly.

"Draco…" she murmured against his lips, a plea.

She felt him smile down to her toes, and his hands were suddenly everywhere, her back, her neck, her stomach. She shuddered under his touch, and she lost herself in him. She always could lose herself in his touch. When it was over and he was holding her in the aftermath, kissing the back of her damp neck, his fingers splayed across her hip, his strong body behind her. She wept. She pulled herself away from him and curled into a ball on her office couch.

"Get out." She said quietly, he reached to hold her but she shied away. He dressed quietly and left her. She sobbed quietly into her knees, thinking of all the people she had just hurt, thinking of Ron, she had cheated on him.

With quiet determination she got re-dressed, and resumed her work.

She got married a month later.

She was pregnant within the first year. She made herself forget Draco Malfoy, except in her dreams…he was always in her dreams.

She saw his wedding announcement in the paper; Astoria Greengrass was beautiful of course. She feigned indifference as she rubbed her pregnant belly.

She saw him in passing over the years; mostly she saw his rise to fame in the papers. It wasn't until Rose's first year at Hogwarts that they saw each other again. She kissed her daughter on the crown of her head, blinking back tears as she held little Hugo's hand. She looked up trying to blink away her tears when she saw him. He had his hand on the shoulder of his young son, and they locked eyes. As always the world seemed to pass between them, every regret was spoken loud and clear between grey and brown. She turned away first, watching as her daughter hurried onto the train. She watched the train pull away with both happiness and sadness. She waved at her daughter as Hugo squeezed her hand. As Ron lead them away from the tracks and out to the car she turned back to look at him one last time. He raised his mouth slowly in the grin he saved just for her and then he was swallowed by the crowd.