A/n:OMG! I finally made it through!ü Hi guys:)

I actually submitted a complain about the uploading thing.ü

Seems like they worked it through.ü

Anyways... the 17th chapter FINALLY.ü

Enjoy!ü

By: Aningme

Chapter 17

Dilemma: The Sequel

He believed he had arranged the groceries in their proper places in their storage room. He already talked to the gardeners about the disaster done to the rose shrubs by the pond in their supposedly "backyard" which one of them accidentally sprayed low brand insecticide and killed it. He already gathered all the papers his master needs for his contract agreement about the hotel management. The delivery stocks to Draco's headquarters were already filed, packed, good to go, and prepared for the plan implementation. The samples for the hotel improvements were also already on his desk.

He made sure everything was set in their proper places.

Sitting behind the console, he observed the security room and rubbed a finger over the desk, holding approximately fifty screens. He rubbed it with his index finger and listed in his mental note to have the room cleaned. The domestic droid hadn't cleared every dust in this room which was instructed to her. He must inquire this to his master for reprimanding and repairing.

But before he would fume over a domestic droid, he suddenly caught movement from one of the screens, the main gate, opening and letting his master enter the premises. He leaned over the screens and examined the slow movement of tires on stone grounds, moving its way to the garage. Moving over to the next screen, he opted to operate screen manually, zoning in to fifty percent, and took a closer lookat Draco Malfoy by the windshield of his classic black sedan. After parking the car on exactly a millimeter away from the limit line, he stared at his master, and watched him stare blankly into space. He sat there for a full minute, and then casually draped his arms over the wheel and buried his face in it.

Pity swamped at him as he saw Draco stay that way for another five minutes. He knew things will be different around the premises without the presence of Hermione around.

And he seemed to have underestimated the degree of the changes.

Stepping out of the car, Harvey watched carefully as Draco stepped up over into the shaft, listen intently to his wife's voice over the panel, stare at it for a full minute, and curve his lips. He suddenly stepped back out again and directly walked outside into the gardens, not minding the soft drizzle of rain pouring down on him.

"You forgot your coat in your car." Harvey mumbled at the screen, still watching intently as Draco strolled down the curves of the garden and into the front door. Entering, he paused a moment to look at his house, his fortress, standing in its tremendous beauty and elegance. But his smile wasn't reaching his eyes, Harvey mused, and there was frustration on his face: the way his eyes fade into a lighter shade of silver, and the shadows under and in his eyes haunting over him. Harvey, too, sighed in frustration. He gathered a deep breath and stood up from the comfy leather chair to the door.

He stared at his own house, his own palace, and wondered how it all came to be.

He remembered his causes and motives of bringing forth such a tremendous domicile into reality. He only wanted out from his father's house, and build one that is better, bigger, and in a way, warmer. Though he couldn't say the house that his father built was one of ugliness and without trend, it was still nothing with the coldness living in it.

He built this house to make his own.

He built it to survive from his reality, and reborn his old life to new.

But then, his new life never became overly complete. Until Hermione. He never thought a woman like her would be taking his heart in just the sight of her. He hated her so much most of his life. And his hatred for her turned to love for her.

He feared and felt unworthy of loving her long before, but learned to accept it, show it, and treasure it. He became so undeniably dependent on her, making him annoyed at himself of that simple fact.

But, pardon his pride, he needed her. He needed her more than anything in this whole world. He never thought he would feel such intense passion for somebody.

He never knew he would know such a thing as love this strong.

But then, knowing that she'd gone away from him left a heavy air around their home. It left a hole in his heart, and emptiness in him. Losing her meant losing his life.

And having her away, he felt like a dead corpse.

Having her away, he didn't know how to live.

"You're soaking wet." A voice suddenly disturbed him, pulling him back from the deep abyss of his thoughts into reality.

It took him a moment to look up at Harvey, standing by the newel post, studying him.

Draco stared back at him and started up the stairs. "It started raining."

Harvey just kept his gaze on him and let out a sound similar to a sigh. "You left your coat in your car."

"So I did." Draco muttered.

"Draco."

Draco stopped halfway to a step. Harvey hardly calls him by his first name around anybody. He only does that when he speculates something of him. Or if he worries about him.

Amused, Draco turned to him and stared down at him.

Harvey stared back, his body ever so straight. "A moment with you, if it's no trouble."

Draco, studying him, took his time coming down to the landing and turned to him, eyes level and composed. "I presume this isn't about any businesses."

"You presume right." Harvey agreed, handing him a robe. "Change up before you get sick. After winter is still in the air."

Draco smirked at him and took the robe.

It had been a long time since Draco had indulged in a drink with anybody.

He sat on his comfy sofa in the parlor, calmly watching the fire heating up in the fireplace. He wore his robe loose, lounging on the sofa with his long legs stretched out over the coffee table.

Harvey sat beside him, a pint at hand, and his free arm draped neatly over the arm of the sofa. He stared at his master and watched him gaze at the fire, orange blaze eddying around his silver pupils.

"I always thought you prefer whiskey." Harvey commented, and glanced at the butterbeer Draco had been drinking.

"I normally do." Draco answered, staring at his mug and the foam on top of it. "I just suddenly missed this. A token of the past."

"Past indeed. Hogsmeade's best drink it could offer." Harvey broke into a smile. "Thinking of a homecoming?"

Draco stayed quiet for a while, as if pondering it. "Not yet." He began, and sipped butterbeer. "I managed to stay away from Hogwarts and anything connected to it for the past ten years. I think I have strayed for too long. And I also think I did for just a short moment." He let out a sigh. "I haven't decided yet."

Harvey smiled. "You have managed to stay away from it. But for only seven years." Harvey turned to him. "Not ten."

After a moment of staring, Draco suddenly laughed, his voice thick and slurred. "What the hell." He laughed again and stared back at the fire. "The past does really haunt you, doesn't it? You can't get away from it."

Harvey felt the sudden shift of his tone, from cheery to a soft melancholy. He felt the tug of pity grabbing for his heart. "She loves you."

Draco's smile suddenly faded; his eyes from his drunken gleam to pale silence. "I don't know if she does."

"Then believe me when I say it. She loves you." Harvey repeated, desperation almost clinging to his gut. "She only needs time to get away from things, understand things and digest them. All are coming down on her like she's a child just learning the ways of the world."

Draco didn't budge. "She loves Potter."

"That's a different matter."

"It comes down to the same fact: She loves Potter." Draco insisted and gulped down the rest of the butterbeer. "Merlin, I forgot how this tastes good." Grabbing for the bottle, Harvey sighed and took it out of his reach.

"You're drunk. That'd be enough."

"I'm most certainly not drunk." Draco pointed out and tried to reach for it. But when Harvey dodged him, he stared at him calmly. "Samuel Harvey, hand it over."

"Your hands are usually fast." Harvey started with a smile seemingly related to a sneer. "You're not that fast now, are you master?"

"Don't you dare mock me." Draco smirked at him and snapped his fingers. The bottle suddenly slipped out of Harvey's hand and floated back to him. "I still know some tricks." He chuckled and started gulping down butterbeer from the bottle itself.

Harvey laughed and snapped his fingers too. "So do I."

The butterbeer suddenly stopped from coming out of the bottle, the liquid seemingly stuck inside the neck of it. Draco stared at it and shook his head. "You don't give up, do you?"

"I am older than you." Harvey pointed out, grabbing back the bottle and putting it away from Draco. "I know this world better than you."

"Point taken." Draco amended. He then stared at the bottle and took out his wand, muttering a spell, shattering the bottle, and dragging the floating liquid in his mug. He smiled, lifted his mug as if in a toast, and drank. "But I always get what I want."

Harvey watched his master indulge in it, and shook his head. "I believe you do."

Draco laughed at that and stood up, almost staggering over the coffee table. He swayed his way to the window sill and stared up at the crying sky. "I always get what I want." He repeated, smiling lazily at the drizzling rain outside. But then, as he thought about it, his smile slowly faded; his emotions suddenly identical to the dark heavens. He turned away from the window and glanced at Harvey, his eyes coming back to the murky shadows of his sorrow. "But how come I can't have the heart of the woman who has mine?"

Harvey smiled at him and walked up to him, watching the rain pour down over the beautiful flowers starting to bloom. "Spring's coming up fast, isn't it?"

"It sure is."

"It is my favorite time of the year. After all the coldness of winter, all the secrets and beauty of the world blooms and renews." He smiled at the thought and sighed. "You and Madame Hermione are like that."

Draco cocked a brow. "Are we?"

Harvey chuckled. "Well, we can just say that Madame Hermione is a flower. And you are spring." He smiled. "Odd, it may sound. But if you look at it, flowers in their nature bloom into their best state during spring. But as of now, the flower is lost from its nature, and doesn't know when to bloom."

Draco pondered over it and stared at him, managing to steady his doubling vision.

"When the flower returns to its nature and detects that spring has arrived, it would bloom." Harvey pointed out. "Until Madame Hermione finds herself again, she would know her place, herself, her own feelings, and she would return to you."

"You sound like you read her like a book."

"You can say that. It's quite apparent actually." Harvey turned to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I saw how she looks at you. I saw how she talks about you, how she touches you, and worry about you. Even if she had forgotten some of her memories, she would still be, and will always be, the same Hermione Granger you know."

Draco smiled and touched the golden band on his left finger. "You make it sound like I'm stupid." He chuckled weakly. "Some marriage huh?"

"I don't know much about marriage, but I do know its one hell of a ride." Harvey nodded. "Most people crash and burn with it. But in your case, you'll both survive."

Draco sighed, walked over to the sofa and sat down on its arm before his knees gave up on him. "I hope we do."

A/n: Hi guys.ü

Hoped you liked that.ü

By the way, for those I haven't PM'd yet, I'll take this opportunity to apologize for taking this so long...

I encountered problems and all in uploading and fighting with my siblings in using the computer and stuff...

So... I'm really sorry...

Anyways... next update.ü

Hope you'll like that too.ü

P.S. I missed you guys.ü