A/n:Hi guys.ü New chapter here...ü

And as always, I am in a hurry...ü

Anyways, the story.

By: Aningme

Chapter 12

Dilemma: The Sequel

She drowned herself to sleep in tears that night.

Hell, everything seemed to happen so fast, and she couldn't as much catch up in the race of time. It felt like she slept in a moment and woke up ten years later.

She had no idea what was going on in this space and time.

And she had no damn thing to do about it.

It was sensitive for him to give her a room for herself. She thought it might be a guest room in that implausible mansion.

But she felt so alone in that room, whatever beauty or magnificence it portrays.

She sat up desperately from the bed, and stared at the side table clock, reading five fifteen am. She didn't know if she fell asleep or not. It seemed like she did, but she felt so heavy like she was awake the whole night.

Swinging her legs down the bed, she hurried towards the windows and opened them up, letting the after winter winds enter her room. She felt the chill of the air caress her skin, clad in her thin night gown.

He had given that to her, she mused.

She hurt him. She knew that very much. He might have set a cool façade during their dinner that night, and spoke coolly to her.

But somehow she knew how to read his eyes.

She suddenly had the ability to read them, as much as she tried years before.

He was always a mystery to her. A puzzle in the brink of her mind.

They ate quietly last night, barely sharing a few words.

After their dinner, he just led her to her room and left her there.

It was true that she was afraid to go outside and roam the house. She knew she would get lost.

But she feared seeing him more than that.

She didn't know what happened. It irritated her to not know what happened. She always knew things, understand them, and make up solutions for them.

But, damn all demons to hell; she couldn't decipher her own feelings.

She felt great misery for Harry, a burning ache in her heart.

And when she sees Draco, on the other hand, she couldn't understand her heart tripping, seemingly stopping.

What had happened to make her feel this way?

What the hell happened to her life after the war?

Feeling desperate, she went to the couch and slumped on its cushions. Glancing at the coffee table, she found the cd he had given her. She stared at it, contemplating it, then grabbing it and loading it to the player before her.

She watched the screen turn to life, and found Ron's face again.

She watched everything, every detail of the videos and pictures, and found herself in the verge of tears again.

She watched Harry, still alive and well, his hair tousled in a mess, his glasses lazily resting on his nose.

Hermy, please, you know I hate cameras.

That's what makes it more fun.

She felt the dark hole piercing in her heart, knowing he's gone forever. And she cursed herself for not even knowing how he died.

But then, as she saw the wedding, she felt more pain than when she saw Harry.

She watched the way Draco held her, stared at her, and was in disbelief. She couldn't accept the fact that they actually married.

She couldn't accept the fact that he loves her.

Staring at his face intently, she tried to recall anything, anything from the past. Anything that had to do with her and Draco.

She remembered the Hogwarts days. Remembered him burning their home works, their projects, and their experiments. She remembered his insults, his sneers, his no good traps and cons. She remembered him making their lives miserable.

But then, she couldn't remember beyond that. He was just a boy in her past that made her life a living hell.

"No… No." She mumbled. She was starting to panic. She fumbled through her pockets and her jacket. She couldn't find her wand. "My wand…" She looked out into the lake. She left it in the car.

"Malfoy… Malfoy… listen to me…" She pressed her palms over his chest. "Breathe…" She pressed three times. "Breathe…" She pushed again, twice. "Breathe…" She opened his mouth and blew air. "Breathe…" She pushed again. "Breathe…" She blew air again. "Breathe!" She pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed…

"Breathe, you asshole!" She couldn't stop pushing. "Breathe Malfoy!" Tears slipped down her cheeks. "Don't you die on me!" She was sobbing. "Malfoy… you can't die!" She kept on pushing. Her chest was heaving. "Draco… Draco, please… Please breathe…" She held his face. He was still not breathing. "Draco… please… Don't leave me…" She stared at his face. His lips were turning pale.

She turned away and punched his chest. "How can you die when I saved you once!" She kept hitting his chest. "Draco! Come back!" She was furious. "I can't lose you, you bastard! COME BACK!"

Suddenly gasping out of her trance, she heaved a sob and pulled her knees into her arms.

Where the hell did that come from? She thought and tried to calm her shivering body.

Forcing herself to forget it, she rested her head on her knees and wept, feeling worn out.

Draco spent his night in his home office, drowning himself to work.

His eyes wanted to burst out of his skull, and his head did nothing but throb in pain.

His body begged for mercy, but he just stared at his screens, watching stock markets on his left, and checking over his new projects on the other.

He double checked the financials and set ups of his new model MT 500. It was a new devised model of air transportation that he predicted would sell very well in markets and will eventually see them in streets as a new norm of the generation. Perfected, mastered, he checked the on going production of his machine.

And hell, nothing went any better than this.

Everything seemed to be in order, but he couldn't stop himself from checking everything for the millionth time. He checked his new hotel he purchased just a week ago, a new hobby for him. He thought he wanted to build another area for his empire.

He wanted to rebuild faded and wasted properties and make them something big for profit.

Why waste a perfectly good space and just leave it there damned? He could make it into something else. Something better.

He smiled at that thought and sulked on his comfy leather chair.

He got everything he wanted. He worked hard for everything he had now.

But he couldn't reach the only person he wanted the most.

She was home now. She remembers him very well enough.

But he lost her just as he lost her before.

Staring at the ceiling, he closed his eyes and tried to relax himself, cool himself down. He had no idea how to bring her back. Before, he could just run a search in every part of England to find her. Track her down, follow her, and find her.

But she was right here, under the same roof as he is, and yet she was too far away to reach.

What could be worse than that?

She stared at him, his eyes closed, his face tired and exhausted. She knew he didn't sleep. She could see it on his face, the shadows under his eyes, and the paleness of his lips. It made her feel awfully guilty, making him miserable like this.

And damn it, she had enough hours of grieving and feeling sorry for herself. She had to do something about him, suffering too in her part.

She slowly stepped into the room, walking to his console, and nudging a hip on his desk.

"The beds in this mansion of yours are exquisite. You ought to try it for yourself." She mumbled, surprising him.

But he just opened his eyes ever so casually, hiding every alarming sensor in his mind. He stood up from his black leather chair and walked to his counter, grabbing a fresh mug of coffee. He needed the jolt. "You're awake?" He checked his wrist watch, reading five thirty in the morning.

She was, as always, a woman of routine. "Very much. I really had a good sleep."

He turned to her and studied her. "How come there are shadows under your eyes?" He whispered, as he just watched her.

She gazed back at him, watching the dim light of dawn pouring down his face. He looked like a fallen angel set down from heaven. It only made her stomach flutter and jutter.

Feeling weird, she frowned at herself and turned away from him, casually looking around the room, as if interested. "Well, I'm still a little tired, I guess."

"Then you shouldn't keep yourself up. You still need rest." He was dismissing her. Again.

She studied him, his eyes blank, cold. He was just standing there, waiting for her to leave.

But to her bewilderment, she suddenly felt annoyed. "I had enough sleep now. Thank you very much."

He felt the pang of anger in her voice, amusing him. "You don't seem to be."

"I can perfectly handle myself. Not like you." She snapped.

They just stared at each other for a moment, bewildering each other.

She didn't know where that came from. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what, Hermione?"

"This." She pointed at the screens. "Drowning yourself to work. Look at you. You look like a corpse."

He raised his brows now. "Suddenly worried about me, Hermione?"

She felt her cheeks flush. She couldn't control the words spilling from her mouth. "No I... I mean I'm just... well... Argh..." She sighed and shook her head. "Am I always like this?"

He laughed, a hearty one, and walked up to her. "Yes, very much." He tucked locks of her hair away from her face. "And I like that about you."

"You want me grumpy?" She asked, giving him a sidelong glance.

He chuckled. "You want some ice cream then, to cheer you up?"

She beamed. At least she made him laugh. "Why not?"

As he called Harvey for ice cream with his desk link, she just watched him intently. She had too many questions for him. There was so much to ask.

Maybe she needed to talk with him. "I'm sorry."

He glanced at her, baffled. "For what?"

"For yesterday." She whispered, and smiled. "I'm trying to work this out."

He stepped across her and touched her arm. "Me too." He smiled and took her hand, kissed it. "Me too."

A/n: Yey.ü

Anyways, I have to go quickly. I still have to go somewhere to deal with a project.

But more or less, I hope you liked this chapter.ü

I hope to post messages soon..

Just hope so...

But for now, I'll see you guys for the next update.ü

Take care now, and see you all.ü