So Dramionie fans, I have updated again. Give me those nice and looong reviews that you know I love! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this next bit of story. For those of you who read bickering, let me know if you would like to read some more on that. I have an idea of extending it. Tell me what you think.
now here's more story. tell me what you think. love it? hate it? favorite part? let me know!
~FlamingRose
PS: I think Snape is awesome. Therefore, I have made Snape super awesome. :D
It was after Christmas, and she hadn't quite gotten up the courage to speak to Draco just yet. It had been a week since they had returned, but still. It was more difficult than she thought. She knew she had to talk to him, and she was adamant about talking to him, but that was before she had caught him snogging Pansy Parkinson of all people. This was going to be difficult.
Christmas was over. Thank God. That had been, if possible, the worst Christmas so far. The last couple of years hadn't exactly been wonderful, but this one had to be the closest one to hell he had yet encountered. He was glad to be back, even if that did mean he was closer to that godforsaken time where he had to carry out his, what did the Dark Lord call it? His destiny? Well right now, his destiny seemed extremely unimportant at the moment. He had to set things straight with Hermione. And he was going to today in potions. He had one more hour. He could possibly deal with that.
She was dreading potions. Not that she never did, but today especially, and a lot more than she had before. She used to look forward to it, being able to see Draco in a normal setting, seeing him, sitting close to him, stealing glances at him and sharing looks. And now, because of every single one of those reasons, she was dreading the class today. She didn't like the idea of having to be in the same room as him for a whole hour. A juvenile dread maybe, but that didn't matter. She couldn't help it.
He walked into potions and sat at his normal spot; across the aisle from Hermione. Taking a quick glance around to double check he was alone, he took out the long stemmed rose he had gotten just for her. It was just the thing for her. it had red gold petals and, with a touch of magic, he had managed to get it to change its colors from red and gold to emerald green and silver once put into the moonlight. It had taken him all of break and a countless number of flowers to master the spell, but he had finally done it. He put it in the nook between the podium style shelf underneath the flat surface of the desk and kept it there before anyone else walked in. he got out his book, set up his cauldron, and waited for the rest of the class to come in. As the room began to fill up, he kept a steady eye on the door. When she walked in, she was smiling and laughing with Potter. It seemed they were a lot closer now that Weasley was spending all his time with that girl Lavender. Draco had been there a couple of times. She was a terrible kisser. Too much giggling too. When she saw him, her beautiful smile faded, and she looked down at the floor. He looked away from the door and stared into his cauldron. He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all.
She sat down at her desk with her eyes focused in front of her and not to her right where a blonde haired boy she really didn't want to look at sat. She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't even want to look at him. Okay, that was a lie. Of course she wanted to talk to him. She was dying to talk to him, and it was hard not to stare at him with complete misty eyes, but fear held her back. She was scared to death of what else would be said about her, what he would think of her, what was running through his head, what would be running through her head, and she was scared of getting hurt again. Though it was already hurtful to see him snogging Pansy, she knew any form of rejection at this point would still hurt just as much, maybe more. Because now she knew no matter how much he hurt her, she would still think of him all the time, still see his face everywhere, hear his voice in her mind, still have the idea of herself with him stuck in her head.
He walked into his former classroom silently. He wasn't happy to be back in this position, but Slughorn was sick with the flu and at his age and size a man couldn't be too careful. Unfortunately he was one of those innocent bystanders that had to be affected by the old man's misfortune. He took a glance around the room to see the students he would have to teach. One caught his eyes. He watched Draco stare at the Granger girl thinking no one was paying attention. The poor boy. He knew that look all too well. A slight sting in his chest appeared as he remembered Lily, but pushed the thought from his mind. It was no time to focus on the past. Right now this boy was in sad shape. He kept glancing in her direction. He knew that look. He was falling for her, and hard. He took one more glance at the boy before clearing his throat and beginning class. As he observed the class he saw the boy glance down under his desk from time to time with an anxious look in the girl's direction. Whatever it was that was in his desk was obviously something he wanted to give to the girl.
"Mr. Malfoy," he said coldly, "would you mind getting my book from the corner of my desk in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. I seem to have forgotten it." he said. Draco nodded submissively and made his way out of the room. Snape began his rounds around the classroom as he had before when he taught this God awful class. As he passed Malfoy's desk he took a glance inside it to find a long stemmed red and gold rose. As he feared. He was falling for her. He put the rose back in its place and walked back to the front of the class to gaze blankly at the students. He watched the Granger girl as she prepared her potion. He was curious to see how she would react as the boy came through the door in the next five minutes. She was focusing intently on the task at hand. Draco walked through the door and he saw him stop just slightly to see if Granger had acknowledged his presence. He gave up and trudged towards his professor and protector.
He placed the book on the desk.
"Thank you Mr. Malfoy," said Snape and watched the girl watch the boy sit down at his desk and look down into his cauldron with no intention of working on it. Her face was painful to see. He was relieved to see the boy would not suffer long. After all, she was aching for him too. He looked down to his book and busied himself with not paying attention. For once he didn't care what happened in the class. It was best he didn't. The less he knew of this exchange of glances, the better. The less he knew, the safer they were, the both of them. They may have been sixth years, but they were only children still. Sixteen was not the appropriate age to have so much on one's shoulders as they did. He left it alone, and waited for the right time to interfere again. The right time turned up five minutes before class ended. He told them to start cleaning up their mess and they did as they were told.
"Miss Granger," he called, "please come here." His stoic gaze gave nothing away as she walked up to the desk with a worried and confused expression on her face. He was sure, being who she was, she was trying to go through the day's events in her head to try to find where she had screwed up.
"Yes professor?" she asked politely.
"Please put all of the ingredients into the potions supply cabinet. If it helps I will add five points to Gryffindor." He added sarcastically. She took the supplies without a word to the cupboard and kept her eyes busy on the labels and placement of the items obviously avoiding any activity being done by the boy behind her. Draco however, unlike his class mates whose eyes were focused completely on their tasks or buried in books, was looking about to make sure no one was watching him as he slipped the rose under Granger's desk. He quickly made his way out of the classroom and slipped out the door towards the Slytherin common room. Granger came back from putting the supplies in the cupboard and got her books. Professor Snape watched as she stopped at the sight of the rose in her desk. She looked at her companions who were waiting for her and nodded at them to go on without her. They took the hint and left. As soon as they left she slipped the rose out from under her desk and delicately touched its leaves and was careful not to prick her fingers on the thorns. She looked at its red gold petals with an awe in her gaze and Severus' mouth twisted into a small undetectable smile. She walked up to her professor and placed the rose on his desk.
"Yes Miss Granger?" he asked.
"Do you, by any chance, know who left this in my desk?" she said softly, almost scared to know the answer.
"Now Miss Granger. You know who put that rose in your desk, but if I were to admit I knew who it was, I would know too much in order to ensure your safety." He leaned forward in his seat and spoke softly to her so only she could hear.
"I know he has shown you his mark. You should know that it is dangerous for anyone to know what you are to him." He sat down and said in a louder tone, "With that in mind, please make your way to your next class." He took his book, stood up, and made his way to his own office. He didn't know that he had shown her his mark, but it was a safe guess. From this moment, he decided, he would rid his hands of this situation. If anyone were to ask, he did not know of anything from the start.
Hermione Granger slipped out of her robes after a long day. Whispers weren't going around as fervently. The press had not come back to Hogwarts, but she had no doubt in her mind they would come back sooner or later. Unfortunately it would probably be sooner instead of later. She got into her pajamas and slipped under her bedding. She turned around to look at her bag on her nightstand that hid the rose she had gotten in potions. She turned over on her other side to avoid the temptation of taking it out and looking at it again. This side wasn't working. She flipped over on her stomach and propped her chin on her pillow to stare out the moonlit window. It was a full moon tonight. She hoped there weren't any younger witches and wizards going out there at this time of night. She had been down that foolish path. It was for good reason, but not recommended all the same. She looked towards her bag again and sighed. She gave up. She reached in and carefully brought out the rose, being mindful of its thorns. As she took the red gold petals to her nose, she witnessed something unbelievable. The colors of the petals swirled into oblivion as they touched the moonlight and were replaced by an emerald green and silver. She watched the transformation with wide eyes. It was gorgeous. He knew her too well. She brought the rose up to her face, letting the petals graze her cheek. It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be easy to hate him. She wasn't supposed to be friends with him or anything. She wasn't supposed to be in love with him. She was supposed to hate him enough to where she could possibly kill him if she concentrated hard enough. A tear dropped from her eye onto the emerald and silver petals of the rose and melted into its hues. She carefully placed it in a safe place no one would know of it and laid in bed, gripping her sheets to her chest as if trying to stop the sobs emitting from deep in her chest and rising up out of her mouth.
He laid there in the Room of Requirement. Nothing was there but a hammock and a window. He rested in the hammock, staring up at the ceiling and letting the moonlight touch his face. He wondered if she had looked at it yet. He knew she had found it. She was smart. Of course she had found it, but had she dared to look at it, to really look at it?
Something hit him then, when the moonlight was eclipsed by a thick cloud that she had. She knew how he felt about her, and that she had been daring enough to look at the flower. He smiled. She was a Gryffindor after all. A smile grazed his lips, but left as quickly as it came. If she was hurting because of it, he would never forgive himself. He had hurt her enough. He made a resolve then and there. He had to speak to her tomorrow during potions. He would have to straighten this all out. No more lingering and beating around the bush. Tomorrow, he would tell her.