Author's Note: Okay! Finally the next chapter is up! Sorry for not updating as soon as I usually do, I've been busy with competitions. But luckily it all ends this month, so I will have more time to post and such. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and when you're done, don't forget to review loves!
The Missing Piece Chapter Sixteen
Day: 37
Hermione's days were much more tolerable now that her feelings were set and somewhat clear. She woke every morning with a clear mind, and untangled feelings that did not interfere with her routine in life. Sometimes, Hermione felt as if she were living a dream, living through someone else's eyes. How could she fancy Draco Malfoy? How was that even possible? But she knew it was, and it had happened, so she tucked those thoughts behind, and left them behind as she moved on with her day.
But those thoughts reentered once more as the aristocratic blond man stood in her living room, having just come out of the fireplace. She studied his calm demeanor, piercing silver eyes, and smooth complexion for a moment, allowing her eyes to wander across his features as he stood there, waiting for her greeting. How could one not fall for such a handsome man? Because, no matter how much she wanted to deny it, it was true: Draco Malfoy was quite a sight to behold. The only thing that clouded his good looks was his overwhelmingly arrogant personality, but that had faded away with time, leaving nothing but an honest, beautiful man standing before her.
Hermione felt slightly nervous now as she opened her mouth to speak. It seemed harder to be around him, now that she had openly admitted her feelings for him to herself.
"Hello, um, can I help you?" Hermione asked him sheepishly. A blush crawled along her cheeks, covering her entire face in a light shade of pink. She felt foolish and stupid—and Hermione Granger never sounded stupid. All she wanted to do at that moment was slap her palm against her forehead repeatedly, because no one says, "may I help you?" unless they're working at a muggle store. Malfoy's chuckle didn't help her spirits either. She blushed even deeper, and turned away.
"Nice ring." Malfoy said teasingly, yet in a way that was quite alluring and soft.
Hermione felt beside herself with embarrassment. She hoped he didn't take her wearing the ring as a sign of indirectly admitting her feelings for him.
"I have more memories for you." He said through a knowing smile, not waiting for her reply. Hermione spared a glance in his direction and found his eyes sparkling with excitement, making Hermione smile herself.
"Let's have a look then." Hermione replied simply, stepping toward him and forgetting her embarrassment. The blond man turned to grab a handful of floo powder, throwing it into the fireplace. Draco Malfoy stepped aside, allowing Hermione to enter the fireplace first, like a true gentleman.
"Malfoy Manor!" Hermione yelled into the green flames, immediately feeling a spinning sensation against her navel. After a total of about twenty seconds the spinning slowed down, and she found herself inside Malfoy's lavish home once more.
"I have three memories for you today." Malfoy told her once they were in the library. Hermione stared intently at the jar of memories, feeling a mixture of eagerness, curiousness, and apprehensiveness at what she was about to see. She remained silent as Draco Malfoy placed the clear fiber-like strings inside the basin, swirling into black as soon as they touched the surface. Hermione watched, leaning in closer as her curiosity grew. She gave Malfoy a quick look to assure herself it was okay to enter the pensieve, and as soon as he nodded, her nose hit the surface of the water and she felt herself leave the present, and stepped into the past.
"It's not… bad, Muggle London." Memory Malfoy observed, as he walked beside Memory Hermione along the nearly empty street. Hermione observed Malfoy closely now, probably due to the fact that she knew she had feelings for him. Malfoy walked with his usual swagger and haughty demeanor but there was something else—a mellowness about him, perhaps, that made him look pleasant to be around. Hermione studied him closer, and found his posture to be relatively tensed. She figured it was because of the muggle setting- Malfoy had probably never been inside a muggle neighborhood until that moment. Memory Hermione simply chuckled, taking his hand.
"No, not bad at all, see?" Memory Hermione replied, looking up at Memory Malfoy and smiling. Memory Malfoy swung their linked arms as they walked, a pensive look on his handsome face.
"Where are we going?"
"A park." Memory Hermione replied simply, looking forward. Hermione looked around. She remembered walking around this neighborhood about two weeks ago. They were going to London Public Park. A sudden feeling of excitement wrapped itself around her as she followed behind Memory Malfoy and Hermione, eager to see the park as she had when she was younger.
Hermione watched as Memory Malfoy gave Memory Hermione a questioning glance, curiosity and excitement clear in his silver eyes. Hermione noticed a hint of hesitance as well, but Memory Malfoy hid it well. The couple turned a corner, passing the same sign Hermione had seen two weeks ago: LONDON PUBLIC PARK: Established 1986. It was a tad consoling that the sign had not changed at all. Of course, this time it wasn't on the ground, but the overall appearance of the sign had not wavered.
As Memory Malfoy and Memory Hermione entered the park, Hermione looked around. There, off in the distance she could see the top of her favorite willow tree, and she knew the pond would be nearby. It was winter in this memory, made evident by the remaining last bits of snow scattered randomly on the ground, but the temperature in the air was pleasant and not the usual chilling winter air Hermione was accustomed to. Hermione felt a bit chilly as she walked behind Memory Malfoy and Memory Hermione, still hand in hand. The couple followed the stone path leading to Hermione's favorite spot, and once they were there, Memory Hermione let go of Memory Malfoy's hand and ran to the tree. Hermione watched as Memory Malfoy paused mid-stride, admiring the flowing hair of his girlfriend, shinning like gold in the sun. He smiled to himself, and continued walking.
Hermione was the last one to enter the willow tree. As she moved the low hanging strings of leaves, she gasped. It was just as she remembered, if not better. The leaves of the willow tree created a sort of curtain, hiding anyone inside it from view. There was a small break in the leaves that allowed one to view the lake, sparkling in the sun. It was quite beautiful.
"This is so serene." Memory Malfoy told Memory Hermione, as he sat down beside her at the base of the trunk. His expression portrayed great wonder, as if he were a little child again, discovering something new and extraordinary.
"I know, I used to come here sometimes when I was younger. It's my favorite place in the world." Memory Hermione agreed, placing her head upon his shoulder. Memory Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, clearly enjoying her time with Memory Malfoy.
Hermione heard the occasional steps of others making their way through the park, and the sound of ducks, swimming across the lake.
"Ducks!" Memory Hermione gasped, opening her eyes and picking her head up with excitement. Memory Malfoy chuckled.
"Here." He said simply, taking out his wand, and conjuring some bread. Memory Hermione took it, and ran to the edge of the lake with the bread in her hands.
As soon as Memory Hermione threw the first piece in the lake, the ducks began to swim toward her desperately, making Memory Hermione giggle, and throw more. Memory Malfoy came up to her, and hugged her from behind as Memory Hermione threw more pieces of bread to the water. Hermione looked at them, happy as can be, completely content with everything and anything. Memory Hermione's face expressed great happiness. Hermione had never seen her own eyes glow as bright as they were now. Memory Hermione smiled as she threw the last piece of bread at the ducks, quickly turning around to face Memory Malfoy, and planted a small kiss on his lips. Memory Malfoy smiled back and rested his forehead on hers, giving her an eskimo kiss.
They looked so… blissful. Hermione felt a strange yearning to leave the pensieve and cuddle with Malfoy right then, in the hopes of reliving her forgotten moments but before she could wish for it a second longer, the scene began to change, wrapping her in a curtain of black swirls.
She was back in her flat. Her own flat as she remembered it. The flat with beige walls and no handprint on the wall. Her flat. She felt a sense of surprise as she spotted her furniture, taking a moment to realize it was actually her home. She was about to explore her home with a great sense of nostalgia when Memory Hermione and Memory Malfoy walked out of the kitchen in a fit of giggles, probably due to the fact that Memory Malfoy had the remnants of what looked like brownie batter all over his hair.
"I told you—p-put the mixer on—l-ow!" Memory Hermione gasped out between laughter, clutching her stomach and grabbing the wall for support.
Memory Malfoy looked highly embarrassed, and Hermione noticed his cheeks turned a deep red. It was evident that Memory Malfoy was trying hard not to laugh: His lips were pressed in a thin line, but every so often Hermione could see them quiver. She found it adorable that he was trying to keep a straight face.
Memory Malfoy just stood there, shaking his head, while pulling out his wand and muttering a cleansing spell. The brownie batter disappeared immediately.
"Oh, you're no fun!" Memory Hermione shot at him.
Memory Malfoy placed an expression of mock appallment. "I'm no fun?!" Memory Malfoy acted surprised so well it made Memory Hermione giggle. "I'm no fun?" He repeated once more. "You're the boring one with your—your beige walls!"
"My beige walls?" It was Memory Hermione's turn to be appalled. "There is nothing wrong with my walls!"
"Yes there are it's so boring, like you!" Memory Malfoy countered.
Memory Hermione giggled, slapping him playfully on the arm. "I'm not boring."
Memory Malfoy just looked around her flat, scrunching his nose at the walls, resulting in another playful slap from Memory Hermione.
"Hey!" he exclaimed.
"That's what you get!"
Hermione just smiled, watching them bicker back and forth about the color of the walls, feeling the sadness in her chest begin to grow. It still remained there, even after the scene changed once more.
This time Hermione found herself standing outside her own door behind Memory Malfoy. He knocked three times before Memory Hermione opened the door, smiling wide as soon as she saw him.
"Ready?" She asked with glowing eyes.
Memory Malfoy just laughed; making Hermione wonder what on earth they were talking about. Memory Malfoy stepped inside her flat, and Hermione found that all the furniture was completely gone.
"You really don't want to get paint on anything, do you?" Memory Malfoy said to her once he spotted the lack of furniture in her flat.
"No." Memory Hermione replied simply. "I've just shrunk it and moved it into a drawer in my room."
Memory Hermione then walked into the kitchen, returning a few seconds later with two cans of baby blue paint, and two thick brushes. She spotted the questioning look on Memory Malfoy's face and added, "We're going to do it the muggle way, because that's the fun way."
He gave her a look, clearly wondering if the state of her mental health was all right. Memory Hermione ignored him, and just handed him a bucket of paint and a brush, grabbing one herself and dipping it into her own bucket. Memory Malfoy watched her as she painted the wall for a few seconds, and then moved his bucket right next to hers and began to paint the wall himself.
The couple spent the next two hours painting the wall in complete silence, just enjoying the time together, and the stillness of the atmosphere they've created. It was then that Hermione realized how dynamic their relationship was: They could laugh, joke, and love, and just be with each other as well. They didn't need to flirt or laugh all the time, because just being with each other was just as good.
They both stood back, admiring their hard work for a few more moments, wiping their brows.
"You missed a spot." Memory Hermione pointed out, reaching for the paintbrush and walking toward the far wall.
Memory Malfoy let out an exasperated sigh, and followed her. While Memory Hermione painted over the spot Memory Malfoy had missed, Memory Malfoy wrapped his arms around Memory Hermione's waist, planting soft kisses along her neck as she painted. Memory Hermione's brush paused at a spot along the wall, and her eyes fluttered closed for a moment. Memory Malfoy's hand slid up the hand Memory Hermione was holding the brush with, sliding it all the way up to her fingers, making her drop the paint brush with a small thud. A small bit of paint splattered along the floor. Memory Hermione turned to face her boyfriend, searching for his lips and capturing them in a heated kiss. Memory Malfoy let go of her hand and placed it upon the blue wall and pressed himself to her, keeping his other hand by her waist so she did not lean against the wet wall.
Hermione just stared at Memory Malfoy's hand, her heart beating faster. So that's how it happened. That's what the moment was like. Everything clicked.
Memory Hermione broke away from the kiss suddenly, her eyes wide.
"The wall!" She exclaimed loudly, turning back around to face it. Memory Malfoy immediately removed his hand from the wall, though she had already spotted the blue paint on his fingers. Memory Hermione gave him a look, narrowing her eyes at him. Memory Malfoy just shrugged and smiled, placing an innocent look on his face.
"You're just so beautiful, I couldn't resist." He said suavely.
Memory Hermione blushed, apparently forgetting what he had done, because she connected her lips with his once more in a small peck.
"We have to clean it now."
"No we don't." Memory Malfoy countered.
Memory Hermione sighed staring up at him with her big brown eyes.
"Keep it." He told her softly, grabbing her hand and kissing it softly.
"Okay."
It felt weird. Awkward even, to just stand there in front of Malfoy after what she had just seen. To even think that they had been intimate and loving toward each other at one point was hard for her to swallow. Her developing feelings for him weren't making her time with him much easier. So when she left the pensieve, she immediately made an excuse that even she didn't remember what it was, and left the manor without so much as looking at him in the eye. Because if she looked at him in the eye she would see the gentleman from the pensieve, the lover from the park, the hand with paint. She would see all that was, and all that might have been. And she couldn't see that right now. Not until she got her emotions straight.
It also didn't help that he invaded her dreams that night, filling her mind with images of him kissing her cheeks, lips, arms, hands, chest, everywhere. He was there in her mind, penetrating every sense, consuming her with his charm, and silver eyes, asking her one thing and one thing only: "Come back to me."
A/N: How is it so far? Please review!