Draco could see her watching him and part of him wanted to yell at her to mind her own business but part of him was enjoying the attention he was getting. If this was the only attention he would get from her in his lifetime, then he would bask in it for however long she would give it to him. He held the crook of his arm out to her and she stared at it for a moment as if his elbow was an exotic Ethiopian.
"On Hogwarts, do the gods not do this to escort this young goddess before me?" he asked.
She shook her head, "Mother doesn't like it when gods talk to me much less touch me."
Draco laughed, "Yes that sounds about like my dear sister," he said and reached for her hand which she quickly hid behind her back, "I'm not going to hurt you."
"I don't trust you," she murmured.
"Trust me," he whispered and he slowly reached for her other hand. His cold hand held hers and he was amazed by how soft and warm they were.
"Are you always this cold?" she asked and she blushed as soon as she realized what she said, "Sorry I-."
"No it's okay," he smiled and took her hand and placed it inside his arm, "I don't mind you asking," and he gently pulled her down the hallway, her curvy body brushing up against his hard and sturdy body every couple steps, "The reason why my palace and I are so cold is because I don't really love," he confessed.
"So you would have been forcing me into a loveless binding ceremony," she spat out.
He slightly nodded, "Well, we would have learned to love each other eventually."
"Part of me wonders how long eventually would have been," she said as her eyes connected with his for only a moment.
"Maybe sooner than you would have thought," he said, "From what I can tell, we are very similar."
She giggled lightly and it was like music to his ears, "Very similar? I highly doubt it," she said with venom. Part of him thought that she definitely was a rose, thorns and all, and that was exactly what he wanted in a queen and wife and maybe lover? "I don't abducted people, one and two; I don't force them into a marriage," and that shut him up. Point one for me, she thought.
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Hermione gasped as Draco lead her out of his palace and into the garden. Hermione definitely needed to think of a new word for this "garden" because garden did not describe this extreme layout of exotic flowers and trees. Hermione thought for a moment and then the perfect word popped into her head; oasis.
"Do you like it?" Draco asked with a smile on his face as he studied her. Her hair seemed more alive for it had streaks of gold running through it. Her brown eyes also seemed more alive and they sparkled. He mentally took a picture of her and promised himself that he would try to always remember her this way.
She turned to look at him, a bright smile on her face, "Do I like it? I absolutely love it," she said and then started to laugh, "Don't tell my mother but I think your garden is so much better than hers."
Draco burst into laughter also, "Well come on, let's explore," he pulled her down the stairs, "I don't even remember what half of this garden looks like," he smirked at her.
She rolled her eyes and then she realized what she had done. She let go of his now warm hand and went over toward some of the flowers. Large willow trees blew in a gentle wind above her and a small creek chirped with it. She reached out and cupped the large orange and blue flower bud. She recognized it immediately as Bird-of-Paradise and it sent a gentle smile to her face. She hated the way she was starting to act around him now. I think I was flirting, she thought, if anything that Cho (Aphrodite) had taught her, in those days when she was becoming interested in boys, was correct that is.
She felt a cold hand upon her warm shoulder and she stopped herself from shivering and making a noise, "Did I say something to offend you?"
She turned around and smiled warmly up at him, "Of course not. Just seeing all of this makes me miss the world I was taken from," and she turned around and a small gasp left her mouth as she felt something running down her cheeks. She quickly wiped away the salt water before Draco could see it.
"I'm sorry," she heard him mummer.
"For what, my lord?" she asked.
"Please call me Draco," he said, "And I'm sorry for taking you. I was just so tired of being lonely down here, spending a good millions years by yourself does that to a god," he chuckled lightly, "I was just so desperate to be loved and jealous of my family of their love that I took the one thing that everyone loved," his hand slowly trailed down the underside of her arm, stroking the soft skin there, "I took you," his eyes watched her reaction.
She sighed, her breathing breaking, and she closed her eyes, and "I understand, Draco."
His hand was then gone and she opened her eyes which were now dark with an emotion she did not understand. She quickly blinked and the darkness disappeared, "Do you really? Cause not even my own friends understand?"
She turned around, her eyes a blaze with fire, "Are they really your friends or more of your servants? I'd answer that first."
Draco's silver eyes exploded with flames and he raised his hand as if to strike her. She shrunk back, falling to the ground, away from him, her eyes as wide as the ball of fire that Helios controlled. Draco gasped, the flames disappearing and being replaced by wide irises. Draco stepped away from the goddess before him, his hand, which was raised, collapsed on to his face. Hermione watched, still curled up in a ball like a cat, as tears poured down Draco's high cheek bones. Draco collapsed where he was on the ground. Hermione too started to cry.
So this is what my capture really is, she thought, and I was acting like such a foolish Dryad that I even believed that he was different from what my family had said about him, the little it was.
Inside Draco's head was a whole other matter though, what have I done? What have I done? I took this goddess before me. Someone so loved and someone so care free. I showed her a part of me that I didn't know I had and now look what I've done. I am becoming my father.
Hermione was always such a bold goddess and she was the first to make a move. She crawled forward slowly toward the broken god before her. She slowly reached out to touch his face and when she felt the cold soft skin beneath her fingers, she didn't realize how long it would last before it disappear.
"Don't!" Draco barked out in a rough voice as he scampered away, "Don't touch me!" his voice became more emotional, "I'm a monster."
"No you're not, Draco," Hermione said as she crawled forward and gently reached out to cup his wet cheek, "You are not a monster."
"But I am," Draco cried to her, "I'm a monster. I'm becoming like my father."
Hermione just smiled at the god and gently stroked his cheek, "I'll tell you something, Draco," she said to him as she scooted closer, "The world is not split into good gods and goddesses and bad gods and goddesses. We all have a little bit in each other, even I, though it may be hard to imagine," she chuckled which brought a smile to his face, "It's the part we decide to act on that define us and you are not a bad god, Draco. You are a good god who is lost and broken, almost an orphan," she brought her face close to his, her warm breath a gentle spring breeze upon his skin, "I can wrap Uncle Harry around my little finger and I will force him to invite you every time he has one of his silly parties, alright?" she asked. Her promise though was empty.
Draco just raised his hand to her own cheek and she leaned into it, "I'm so so sorry, Hermione."
"I know," she said and her hand slowly backed away from his face and his from hers.
"Your majesty?" she heard a teenage boy call out and she quickly got up off the dirt ground and was followed by Draco.
Draco quickly brushed off his cloak, "Yes, Antonius?" he sniffled and ran his cloak clad hand over his eyes and cheeks, riding himself of tears.
A ghostly blonde male appeared in front of the two immortals, "You have a visitor."
Draco nodded, "Thank you. I'll be right back," he smiled at Hermione, "You are welcome to continue exploring the garden," she smiled back at him and he followed Antonius back inside the palace.
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Hermione looked up at the lime green leaves of the willows above her and sighed. She felt something inside her twist in pain but she ignored it as she stepped over the small line of rocks that separated the path and the gardens. She looked around her trying to see if anyone was around before stepping all the way in and disappearing into the brush.