Categories > Books > Harry Potter > A Fine Line Between Love and Hate
A Fine Line Between Love and Hate
Hermione Granger stood at the entrance of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, gazing up at the place she had studied at over 5 years ago.
Has it really been 5 years since I was last here? she thought in amazement. So much had changed since her (almost) carefree school days with her two best friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley; Harry and Ginny Weasley were now married, as were Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. Ron and herself had split up a couple of years ago, although they had remained sort-of friends, (they weren’t quite as close as they were before they had started dating) and Hermione was now a Healer, working full-time at St Mungo’s.
It had been 5 years since Harry had finally killed Lord Voldemort and now the people who had been involved in the Final Battle had been invited back to Hogwarts to celebrate Voldemort’s defeat and remember those who had died in the long struggle against him.
Hermione took a deep breath and followed the slow trickle of old friends and former students into the Great Hall.
Draco Malfoy sighed and stifled yet another yawn. Pansy Parkinson had managed to find him amongst the crowd, (even though he had tried to hide himself as soon as he saw she was there) and now would not leave him alone, clinging to his arm and chattering on and on about her fiancé, some man who had attended Durmstrang named Edvard she’d met on holiday in France a year ago.
‘…And then, a mere 3 months after we met, he proposed, I was so shocked, but of course I accepted, I mean, he has so much money, is well respected in his community and his house is practically a castle…’
On Draco’s other side, his best friend Blaise Zambini sniggered as he watched Draco’s face change from boredom to horror as Pansy went on to describe her sex life with her fiancé.
‘Stop laughing Blaise and help me.’ Draco hissed out of the corner of his mouth, trying to lean as far away from Pansy as possible.
But help was to come from a very different source.
The Great Hall was crowded, all around Hermione old friends who had lost contact were catching up on past news, meeting wives, husbands, fiancé/es, girlfriends, boyfriends; cooing over photographs of children…
Hermione pushed through the crowd, occasionally stopping to greet an old friend, but the people who she really wanted to see, she couldn’t find. Harry and Ginny had been away for a year, getting themselves ready for life as a married couple. They had returned a few hours before the event and had promised to meet Hermione there, Ron had promised to be there too, but there was no sign of him either. Neville and Luna hadn’t been able to make it because Neville’s gran was ill in St Mungo’s and they had promised to visit her.
Hermione stopped to say hello to Parvati Patil who was recounting her date with Harry to The Yule Ball. Hermione threw the young man she was talking to a sympathetic look and a smile.
‘I’ll talk to you later Parvati.’ she said, turning to go, thinking she’d seen a flash of red hair amongst the crowd.
‘Later Hermione…then he totally ignored me for the rest of the night, can you believe that…’
Parvati’s voice faded as Hermione fought her way to the place where she had thought she had seen what she thought had been red hair. Suddenly there was a squeal behind Hermione.
‘HERMIONE!’
Hermione turned just as a curtain of long red hair obscured her vision, but not before she caught sight of a blond haired young man.
No, not Malfoy she thought horrified.
‘HERMIONE!’
Draco turned in surprise as he heard a scream, catching a glimpse of a brown haired young woman.
No, not Granger he thought in panic, but, as he looked again, he noticed there was something different about her. As the red haired woman Draco vaguely recognised pulled away, Draco got a third, much better look at Hermione and what he saw amazed him. Hermione had filled out, the lilac one-shouldered dress she was wearing proved that and her hair was shorter and less bushy, twisted into an elegant bun at the back of her head. A strange thought suddenly struck Draco as he remembered how Hermione used to look. An old Muggle saying he had heard ‘There’s a fine line between love and hate’ Could Draco have been in love with Hermione Granger all this time, just mistaking his love for hatred?
Draco shook himself, she was a Mudblood after all, he could never love her and after all he’d said to her, the way he’d treated her over the years, she could never love him.
Music started on the small stage erected at the front of the Great Hall and people began to dance.
‘Draco?’ came Pansy’s shrill voice beside Draco, it was clear she was expecting Draco to ask her to dance.
‘Sorry Pansy, but I need to use the bathroom.’ replied Draco, reclaiming his arm and striding off.
‘Don’t be long Draco. Come on Blaise, dance with me.’ Pansy said, grabbing Blaise and dragging him onto the dance floor.
‘Ginny, how are you?’ Hermione hugged her friend before stepping back and looking her up and down. ‘You look amazing.’
‘You don’t look too bad yourself ‘Mione, you scrub up well.’ said an amused voice behind Hermione.
‘Harry!’ cried Hermione, whirling round and hugging her best friend tightly.
They found an empty table and sat down.
‘So how was America, you look like you had fun. Did you bring me back lots of photos and presents?’ asked Hermione smiling cheekily.
‘Beautiful, ‘Mione, absolutely beautiful. We were almost tempted to stay and don’t worry, we took lots of pictures and brought everyone a present.’ replied Harry with a grin.
They sat and talked about what had happened over the past year for a few more minutes, then another, more familiar, song struck up.
‘’Mione, do you mind if I steal my wife for a dance?’ asked Harry.
‘No problem Harry, go ahead.’ said Hermione, smiling. Harry rose and held out his hand to Ginny then whisked her out onto the dance floor.
Hermione sighed and looked around the Hall; there was Ron, a few metres away, slow dancing with someone who looked suspiciously like Lavender Brown. Hermione frowned.
A Butterbeer was placed in front of her and someone slid into Harry’s empty seat beside her.
‘Knut for your thoughts Granger?’ came Draco Malfoy’s voice.
‘What do you want Malfoy? Missed having someone to torture?’ replied Hermione, turning her head towards him.
Draco shrugged.
‘I just wanted some civilised conversation; Pansy talking endlessly about her sex life was beginning to drive me crazy. Honestly, you’d think sex was the only thing in the world that mattered the way she was going on about it. But, if that’s how you feel…’ Draco began to rise from the seat he had just sat down in.
‘No, I’m sorry Malfoy.’ Hermione, not thinking what she was doing, placed a gentle hand on Draco’s arm. They both stared at it in shock, for a moment, then Hermione snatched her hand back and was surprised when, instead of insulting her and stalking off, Draco sat back down again. An awkward silence followed.
‘So…how have you been?’ asked Draco, breaking the silence.
‘Not too bad, yourself?’ replied Hermione, still not quite believing she was sat having a normal conversation with Draco Malfoy.
‘Same, you and Weasley still… together?’
‘No, we split up 2 years ago. What about you? Met anyone special?’
‘Nope, still single…would you like to dance?’
Hermione blinked ‘Pardon?’
‘Dance, you know, music, two people, dancing.’
‘You’re asking me to dance?’ asked Hermione in shock, her eyes wide.
‘No Granger, I asked if you’d like to go for a swim in the Lake, of course I’m asking you to dance.’ Draco replied; rolling his eyes and sighing, for a smart girl she really could be quite stupid.
‘All right, but just one.’ said Hermione.
Draco rose, held out his hand for Hermione to take and smiled, it wasn’t a smirk this time, but a genuine smile and that made Hermione, however much she didn’t want to; smile back.
Draco couldn’t believe what was happening, he must be dreaming because for some reason, he was dancing with Hermione Granger and, stranger still, he was enjoying himself.
Now here they were, slowly waltzing around The Great Hall with everyone staring at them in disbelief. Even Weasley looked jealous.
‘Oh no.’ Draco suddenly muttered to himself, Pansy was back, dragging Blaise along after her as she looked for him, Draco had forgotten all about her.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Hermione, looking up at him. She had beautiful eyes; Draco had never noticed them before.
‘Pansy.’ Draco answered, nodding in her general direction.
‘But you told me she was engaged to some former Durmstrang student, what’s she want with you?’ asked Hermione, looking round in the direction he’d nodded towards.
‘She is, but I think she still has a thing for me, I mean, who wouldn’t?’ Draco said, smiling cockily.
Hermione laughed and hit Draco’s chest gently.
‘Still have an ego the size of England I see.’ she said, although now, she could see why he could be so cocky. He looked very handsome in his black dress robes and he hadn’t gelled his hair back, instead he’d let it fall into its natural place, framing his face and making it less harsh and pointed. He had also been in the sun, because he wasn’t as pale as he used to be.
Both were unaware that the song had ended; unaware that Harry and Ginny were talking to Ron, who was pointing at them, unaware that Pansy had spotted them...
‘DRACO!’ screamed Pansy; Draco, who had been unconsciously leaning in to kiss Hermione, jerked his head up as Pansy stormed across The Great Hall and dragged him away from Hermione.
‘Pansy...’ he began, but Pansy cut him off.
‘No Draco, come away from that Mudblood at once.’
Draco twisted in Pansy’s grasp and looked back at Hermione, she was stood where they had been dancing, staring after him with an expression on her face that was a cross between shock and confusion. Ginny appeared at her side and gently led her away.
Hermione stared after Draco as he was led away by Pansy, remembering how close he had been. Had Draco Malfoy been about to kiss her? Hermione didn’t have a clue, but now she thought about it, it sent an involuntary shiver down Hermione’s spine and it wasn’t a shiver of revulsion.
‘’Mione, what happened? What did Malfoy do to you?’ asked Ginny once Hermione was sat down next to Ron and had been handed a Butterbeer.
‘He didn’t do anything Gin, we were just dancing.’ replied Hermione, coming out of her daze and taking a gulp of Butterbeer.
‘You and Malfoy were dancing?’ asked Ron with a sneer that rivalled Draco’s.
‘Yes Ron, we were dancing, you saw us.’ snapped Hermione, glaring at Ron ‘And what business is it of yours? You were too busy with Lavender to even say hello to me like you promised.’
Ron flushed and looked away.
‘Yeah, but Draco Malfoy? He’s a Death Eater.’
‘No Ron he was a Death Eater, Voldemort’s dead remember? Harry killed him. Stop trying to control me like you did when we were dating, you dumped me so now I can dance with whom I want, even former Death Eaters.’ and with that, Hermione stood and half walked, half ran out of the Great Hall.
‘Nice one Ron...no, leave her Gin, she needs some time on her own.’ said Harry, catching his wife’s arm as she began to follow Hermione.
Pansy had managed to get Draco out into the Entrance Hall before he was able to shake her off.
‘Pansy, what was all that about?’ he hissed.
‘You were dancing with the Mudblood Granger, why?’ Pansy backed up a little when she saw the way Draco’s eyes flashed at her in anger.
‘Because I wanted to, you are not going to tell me who I can dance with, Pansy, no one is.’ Draco snapped.
‘But...the Mudblood...’
‘Stop saying that word Pansy!’
Pansy took another step back ‘But why Granger? You hate her.’ she recovered, shaken by the force of Draco’s words.
‘I don’t hate her Pansy, not anymore.’ replied Draco, avoiding Pansy’s eyes. Pansy gasped when she realised what Draco meant.
‘You...like her?’ she whispered.
‘I don’t know. Look, I need some time on my own, I’ll see you later.’ said Draco, turning and leaving before Pansy could say anything else.
Hermione sat beneath a tree in the grounds of Hogwarts crying, although she had little idea about why.
Someone sat down heavily on the ground on the other side of the tree and sighed. Hermione, unsure of who it was, quickly wiped away the last of her tears and peeked around the tree trunk.
Draco Malfoy was sat with his back to her, his blond hair dishevelled as though he had been running his hand through it repeatedly, he wasn’t wearing his jacket or tie and he had undone the buttons on his sleeves and rolled them up over his elbows, Hermione didn’t look at his arms, she didn’t want to see the Dark Mark. Then he turned and looked straight at her.
Draco had heard the soft rustle of fabric as Hermione moved and turned. Hermione was surprised, his eyes were red and his cheeks were wet. Had Draco Malfoy been...crying? She wanted to comfort him, but something inside her hardened and after giving him an icy glare, she got up and walked off towards The Lake.
Draco was after her in a second.
‘Granger, wait.’ he said, grabbing her arm.
‘Draco Malfoy, let go of me at once!’ snapped Hermione, turning to Draco, eyes blazing, hair that had been previously tied up, coming loose. Draco snatched his hand away and took a step back in alarm. Hermione, after sending Draco another glare, began to walk away again.
‘Hermione, wait, please.’ Draco called, running after her.
Hermione stopped in amazement, not just because Draco had said ‘please’ but because he had called her ‘Hermione’ instead of ‘Granger’. Draco, who had been sprinting after her, tried to stop when he saw her pause, but couldn’t and crashed into her, sending them both tumbling down the hill towards The Lake.
Finally, they came to a stop, lying side by side, laughing.
‘Are you okay?’ Draco managed between laughs, looking at Hermione. Her dress was ruined, oh well.
‘I’m fine, you?’ replied Hermione, looking back at him, still giggling.
‘Fine.’ Draco leaned back and tucked his hands underneath his head, looking up at the stars above them. It was then that Hermione saw his left forearm, where the Mark was supposed to be, was smooth and unblemished apart from a couple of scars from The War. She sat up and hesitantly reached over, taking it from behind his head.
‘What’s the matter?’ Draco asked in confusion as Hermione ran her fingers over the exposed skin.
‘You didn’t take the Mark.’ Hermione breathed in amazement.
‘I didn’t want it.’ Draco replied quietly.
‘Why not?’
‘Whatever you may have thought of me, I was not, am not, evil.’ said Draco.
‘Didn’t your father, or Voldemort force you to have it?’
‘My mother protected me, just long enough for me to escape, but she paid a terrible price for her betrayal.’
‘The Cruciatus Curse.’ whispered Hermione, shivering slightly.
‘Yes, but how did you know?’
‘Your Aunt took great delight in using that curse on me during the War.’ said Hermione.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know.’
‘Don’t worry about it, it’s time we all put the past behind us.’ said Hermione.
Draco gently took his hand back, stood and held out his right hand for Hermione, who took it hesitantly. Draco helped Hermione to her feet and (accidently on purpose of course) pulled her so she fell against his chest.
‘Hey, careful there Granger, how many Butterbeers have you had?’ Draco teased.
Hermione’s face fell ever so slightly, the moment had passed and she was ‘Granger’ again, but she managed to look indignant.
‘I only had one and a half, the one you gave me and a half Harry gave me.’ she said. They were so close...
Draco looked down at Hermione; she was little bit shorter than him and she was shaking slightly, her hand resting on his chest where she had put it out to steady herself. Draco reached over and tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear.
‘I’m sorry.’ he said softly, looking away from Hermione and up at the night’s sky.
‘For what?’ asked Hermione, blushing slightly as Draco’s hand lingered on her cheek as he brought it back down to his side.
‘Everything, the taunts, the name calling, just...everything.’ replied Draco, finally having the courage to look back down at Hermione.
‘It wasn’t your fault, it was your father and the way you were brought up, you’ve nothing to be sorry about.’ said Hermione.
Draco stared at her in disbelief, no one had ever said anything like that to him before, then the tears started to fall again, but they weren’t tears of sadness, this time they were tears of gratitude.
‘Dance with me?’ Draco whispered, Hermione nodded and allowed Draco to take her in his arms for a second time that night.
There was no moon, but the stars blazed overhead as Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, the Pureblood and the Mudblood, danced away from prying eyes.
‘Do you remember the old Muggle saying about there being a fine line between love and hate?’ asked Draco as they revolved slowly across the grass.
‘Yes, I remember, what about it?’ replied Hermione. Draco was silent for a moment, pondering what he was going to say next.
‘Malfoy?’ prompted Hermione, wincing slightly as Draco stood on her foot.
Draco didn’t know how he did it, it just happened, he took hold of the back of Hermione’s neck, tilted her head back and kissed her gently. He was very surprised when, instead of pulling away, yelling at him and slapping him, Hermione responded, hesitantly at first, then much more fiercely than him.
They didn’t know how long they stood there, but it was some time before they broke apart.
‘Draco...’ Hermione breathed, dropping the politeness and using Draco’s first name, gasping for air, her eyes still closed.
‘I hate you Hermione Granger, I hate the fact I’ve fallen in love with you.’ Draco whispered huskily in Hermione’s ear, twisting a piece of her hair between his fingers.
At the word ‘love’ Hermione’s eyes flew open and she took a step backwards.
‘I...I can’t...Draco...’ then she fled back up to the castle.
‘Hermione!’ Draco shouted after her, but she was already gone and Draco’s shout was lost in the night.
*************
A/N
Yay, new fanfic! As always reviews are most welcome and a great big hug and choc chip cookie to all those who have reviewed my other fanfics 'Still Waiting' and 'Dear Mum and Dad'. If you have'nt read them all ready, what are ya waiting for? Please have a read, thankies :)
Hermione Granger stood at the entrance of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, gazing up at the place she had studied at over 5 years ago.
Has it really been 5 years since I was last here? she thought in amazement. So much had changed since her (almost) carefree school days with her two best friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley; Harry and Ginny Weasley were now married, as were Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. Ron and herself had split up a couple of years ago, although they had remained sort-of friends, (they weren’t quite as close as they were before they had started dating) and Hermione was now a Healer, working full-time at St Mungo’s.
It had been 5 years since Harry had finally killed Lord Voldemort and now the people who had been involved in the Final Battle had been invited back to Hogwarts to celebrate Voldemort’s defeat and remember those who had died in the long struggle against him.
Hermione took a deep breath and followed the slow trickle of old friends and former students into the Great Hall.
Draco Malfoy sighed and stifled yet another yawn. Pansy Parkinson had managed to find him amongst the crowd, (even though he had tried to hide himself as soon as he saw she was there) and now would not leave him alone, clinging to his arm and chattering on and on about her fiancé, some man who had attended Durmstrang named Edvard she’d met on holiday in France a year ago.
‘…And then, a mere 3 months after we met, he proposed, I was so shocked, but of course I accepted, I mean, he has so much money, is well respected in his community and his house is practically a castle…’
On Draco’s other side, his best friend Blaise Zambini sniggered as he watched Draco’s face change from boredom to horror as Pansy went on to describe her sex life with her fiancé.
‘Stop laughing Blaise and help me.’ Draco hissed out of the corner of his mouth, trying to lean as far away from Pansy as possible.
But help was to come from a very different source.
The Great Hall was crowded, all around Hermione old friends who had lost contact were catching up on past news, meeting wives, husbands, fiancé/es, girlfriends, boyfriends; cooing over photographs of children…
Hermione pushed through the crowd, occasionally stopping to greet an old friend, but the people who she really wanted to see, she couldn’t find. Harry and Ginny had been away for a year, getting themselves ready for life as a married couple. They had returned a few hours before the event and had promised to meet Hermione there, Ron had promised to be there too, but there was no sign of him either. Neville and Luna hadn’t been able to make it because Neville’s gran was ill in St Mungo’s and they had promised to visit her.
Hermione stopped to say hello to Parvati Patil who was recounting her date with Harry to The Yule Ball. Hermione threw the young man she was talking to a sympathetic look and a smile.
‘I’ll talk to you later Parvati.’ she said, turning to go, thinking she’d seen a flash of red hair amongst the crowd.
‘Later Hermione…then he totally ignored me for the rest of the night, can you believe that…’
Parvati’s voice faded as Hermione fought her way to the place where she had thought she had seen what she thought had been red hair. Suddenly there was a squeal behind Hermione.
‘HERMIONE!’
Hermione turned just as a curtain of long red hair obscured her vision, but not before she caught sight of a blond haired young man.
No, not Malfoy she thought horrified.
‘HERMIONE!’
Draco turned in surprise as he heard a scream, catching a glimpse of a brown haired young woman.
No, not Granger he thought in panic, but, as he looked again, he noticed there was something different about her. As the red haired woman Draco vaguely recognised pulled away, Draco got a third, much better look at Hermione and what he saw amazed him. Hermione had filled out, the lilac one-shouldered dress she was wearing proved that and her hair was shorter and less bushy, twisted into an elegant bun at the back of her head. A strange thought suddenly struck Draco as he remembered how Hermione used to look. An old Muggle saying he had heard ‘There’s a fine line between love and hate’ Could Draco have been in love with Hermione Granger all this time, just mistaking his love for hatred?
Draco shook himself, she was a Mudblood after all, he could never love her and after all he’d said to her, the way he’d treated her over the years, she could never love him.
Music started on the small stage erected at the front of the Great Hall and people began to dance.
‘Draco?’ came Pansy’s shrill voice beside Draco, it was clear she was expecting Draco to ask her to dance.
‘Sorry Pansy, but I need to use the bathroom.’ replied Draco, reclaiming his arm and striding off.
‘Don’t be long Draco. Come on Blaise, dance with me.’ Pansy said, grabbing Blaise and dragging him onto the dance floor.
‘Ginny, how are you?’ Hermione hugged her friend before stepping back and looking her up and down. ‘You look amazing.’
‘You don’t look too bad yourself ‘Mione, you scrub up well.’ said an amused voice behind Hermione.
‘Harry!’ cried Hermione, whirling round and hugging her best friend tightly.
They found an empty table and sat down.
‘So how was America, you look like you had fun. Did you bring me back lots of photos and presents?’ asked Hermione smiling cheekily.
‘Beautiful, ‘Mione, absolutely beautiful. We were almost tempted to stay and don’t worry, we took lots of pictures and brought everyone a present.’ replied Harry with a grin.
They sat and talked about what had happened over the past year for a few more minutes, then another, more familiar, song struck up.
‘’Mione, do you mind if I steal my wife for a dance?’ asked Harry.
‘No problem Harry, go ahead.’ said Hermione, smiling. Harry rose and held out his hand to Ginny then whisked her out onto the dance floor.
Hermione sighed and looked around the Hall; there was Ron, a few metres away, slow dancing with someone who looked suspiciously like Lavender Brown. Hermione frowned.
A Butterbeer was placed in front of her and someone slid into Harry’s empty seat beside her.
‘Knut for your thoughts Granger?’ came Draco Malfoy’s voice.
‘What do you want Malfoy? Missed having someone to torture?’ replied Hermione, turning her head towards him.
Draco shrugged.
‘I just wanted some civilised conversation; Pansy talking endlessly about her sex life was beginning to drive me crazy. Honestly, you’d think sex was the only thing in the world that mattered the way she was going on about it. But, if that’s how you feel…’ Draco began to rise from the seat he had just sat down in.
‘No, I’m sorry Malfoy.’ Hermione, not thinking what she was doing, placed a gentle hand on Draco’s arm. They both stared at it in shock, for a moment, then Hermione snatched her hand back and was surprised when, instead of insulting her and stalking off, Draco sat back down again. An awkward silence followed.
‘So…how have you been?’ asked Draco, breaking the silence.
‘Not too bad, yourself?’ replied Hermione, still not quite believing she was sat having a normal conversation with Draco Malfoy.
‘Same, you and Weasley still… together?’
‘No, we split up 2 years ago. What about you? Met anyone special?’
‘Nope, still single…would you like to dance?’
Hermione blinked ‘Pardon?’
‘Dance, you know, music, two people, dancing.’
‘You’re asking me to dance?’ asked Hermione in shock, her eyes wide.
‘No Granger, I asked if you’d like to go for a swim in the Lake, of course I’m asking you to dance.’ Draco replied; rolling his eyes and sighing, for a smart girl she really could be quite stupid.
‘All right, but just one.’ said Hermione.
Draco rose, held out his hand for Hermione to take and smiled, it wasn’t a smirk this time, but a genuine smile and that made Hermione, however much she didn’t want to; smile back.
Draco couldn’t believe what was happening, he must be dreaming because for some reason, he was dancing with Hermione Granger and, stranger still, he was enjoying himself.
Now here they were, slowly waltzing around The Great Hall with everyone staring at them in disbelief. Even Weasley looked jealous.
‘Oh no.’ Draco suddenly muttered to himself, Pansy was back, dragging Blaise along after her as she looked for him, Draco had forgotten all about her.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Hermione, looking up at him. She had beautiful eyes; Draco had never noticed them before.
‘Pansy.’ Draco answered, nodding in her general direction.
‘But you told me she was engaged to some former Durmstrang student, what’s she want with you?’ asked Hermione, looking round in the direction he’d nodded towards.
‘She is, but I think she still has a thing for me, I mean, who wouldn’t?’ Draco said, smiling cockily.
Hermione laughed and hit Draco’s chest gently.
‘Still have an ego the size of England I see.’ she said, although now, she could see why he could be so cocky. He looked very handsome in his black dress robes and he hadn’t gelled his hair back, instead he’d let it fall into its natural place, framing his face and making it less harsh and pointed. He had also been in the sun, because he wasn’t as pale as he used to be.
Both were unaware that the song had ended; unaware that Harry and Ginny were talking to Ron, who was pointing at them, unaware that Pansy had spotted them...
‘DRACO!’ screamed Pansy; Draco, who had been unconsciously leaning in to kiss Hermione, jerked his head up as Pansy stormed across The Great Hall and dragged him away from Hermione.
‘Pansy...’ he began, but Pansy cut him off.
‘No Draco, come away from that Mudblood at once.’
Draco twisted in Pansy’s grasp and looked back at Hermione, she was stood where they had been dancing, staring after him with an expression on her face that was a cross between shock and confusion. Ginny appeared at her side and gently led her away.
Hermione stared after Draco as he was led away by Pansy, remembering how close he had been. Had Draco Malfoy been about to kiss her? Hermione didn’t have a clue, but now she thought about it, it sent an involuntary shiver down Hermione’s spine and it wasn’t a shiver of revulsion.
‘’Mione, what happened? What did Malfoy do to you?’ asked Ginny once Hermione was sat down next to Ron and had been handed a Butterbeer.
‘He didn’t do anything Gin, we were just dancing.’ replied Hermione, coming out of her daze and taking a gulp of Butterbeer.
‘You and Malfoy were dancing?’ asked Ron with a sneer that rivalled Draco’s.
‘Yes Ron, we were dancing, you saw us.’ snapped Hermione, glaring at Ron ‘And what business is it of yours? You were too busy with Lavender to even say hello to me like you promised.’
Ron flushed and looked away.
‘Yeah, but Draco Malfoy? He’s a Death Eater.’
‘No Ron he was a Death Eater, Voldemort’s dead remember? Harry killed him. Stop trying to control me like you did when we were dating, you dumped me so now I can dance with whom I want, even former Death Eaters.’ and with that, Hermione stood and half walked, half ran out of the Great Hall.
‘Nice one Ron...no, leave her Gin, she needs some time on her own.’ said Harry, catching his wife’s arm as she began to follow Hermione.
Pansy had managed to get Draco out into the Entrance Hall before he was able to shake her off.
‘Pansy, what was all that about?’ he hissed.
‘You were dancing with the Mudblood Granger, why?’ Pansy backed up a little when she saw the way Draco’s eyes flashed at her in anger.
‘Because I wanted to, you are not going to tell me who I can dance with, Pansy, no one is.’ Draco snapped.
‘But...the Mudblood...’
‘Stop saying that word Pansy!’
Pansy took another step back ‘But why Granger? You hate her.’ she recovered, shaken by the force of Draco’s words.
‘I don’t hate her Pansy, not anymore.’ replied Draco, avoiding Pansy’s eyes. Pansy gasped when she realised what Draco meant.
‘You...like her?’ she whispered.
‘I don’t know. Look, I need some time on my own, I’ll see you later.’ said Draco, turning and leaving before Pansy could say anything else.
Hermione sat beneath a tree in the grounds of Hogwarts crying, although she had little idea about why.
Someone sat down heavily on the ground on the other side of the tree and sighed. Hermione, unsure of who it was, quickly wiped away the last of her tears and peeked around the tree trunk.
Draco Malfoy was sat with his back to her, his blond hair dishevelled as though he had been running his hand through it repeatedly, he wasn’t wearing his jacket or tie and he had undone the buttons on his sleeves and rolled them up over his elbows, Hermione didn’t look at his arms, she didn’t want to see the Dark Mark. Then he turned and looked straight at her.
Draco had heard the soft rustle of fabric as Hermione moved and turned. Hermione was surprised, his eyes were red and his cheeks were wet. Had Draco Malfoy been...crying? She wanted to comfort him, but something inside her hardened and after giving him an icy glare, she got up and walked off towards The Lake.
Draco was after her in a second.
‘Granger, wait.’ he said, grabbing her arm.
‘Draco Malfoy, let go of me at once!’ snapped Hermione, turning to Draco, eyes blazing, hair that had been previously tied up, coming loose. Draco snatched his hand away and took a step back in alarm. Hermione, after sending Draco another glare, began to walk away again.
‘Hermione, wait, please.’ Draco called, running after her.
Hermione stopped in amazement, not just because Draco had said ‘please’ but because he had called her ‘Hermione’ instead of ‘Granger’. Draco, who had been sprinting after her, tried to stop when he saw her pause, but couldn’t and crashed into her, sending them both tumbling down the hill towards The Lake.
Finally, they came to a stop, lying side by side, laughing.
‘Are you okay?’ Draco managed between laughs, looking at Hermione. Her dress was ruined, oh well.
‘I’m fine, you?’ replied Hermione, looking back at him, still giggling.
‘Fine.’ Draco leaned back and tucked his hands underneath his head, looking up at the stars above them. It was then that Hermione saw his left forearm, where the Mark was supposed to be, was smooth and unblemished apart from a couple of scars from The War. She sat up and hesitantly reached over, taking it from behind his head.
‘What’s the matter?’ Draco asked in confusion as Hermione ran her fingers over the exposed skin.
‘You didn’t take the Mark.’ Hermione breathed in amazement.
‘I didn’t want it.’ Draco replied quietly.
‘Why not?’
‘Whatever you may have thought of me, I was not, am not, evil.’ said Draco.
‘Didn’t your father, or Voldemort force you to have it?’
‘My mother protected me, just long enough for me to escape, but she paid a terrible price for her betrayal.’
‘The Cruciatus Curse.’ whispered Hermione, shivering slightly.
‘Yes, but how did you know?’
‘Your Aunt took great delight in using that curse on me during the War.’ said Hermione.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know.’
‘Don’t worry about it, it’s time we all put the past behind us.’ said Hermione.
Draco gently took his hand back, stood and held out his right hand for Hermione, who took it hesitantly. Draco helped Hermione to her feet and (accidently on purpose of course) pulled her so she fell against his chest.
‘Hey, careful there Granger, how many Butterbeers have you had?’ Draco teased.
Hermione’s face fell ever so slightly, the moment had passed and she was ‘Granger’ again, but she managed to look indignant.
‘I only had one and a half, the one you gave me and a half Harry gave me.’ she said. They were so close...
Draco looked down at Hermione; she was little bit shorter than him and she was shaking slightly, her hand resting on his chest where she had put it out to steady herself. Draco reached over and tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear.
‘I’m sorry.’ he said softly, looking away from Hermione and up at the night’s sky.
‘For what?’ asked Hermione, blushing slightly as Draco’s hand lingered on her cheek as he brought it back down to his side.
‘Everything, the taunts, the name calling, just...everything.’ replied Draco, finally having the courage to look back down at Hermione.
‘It wasn’t your fault, it was your father and the way you were brought up, you’ve nothing to be sorry about.’ said Hermione.
Draco stared at her in disbelief, no one had ever said anything like that to him before, then the tears started to fall again, but they weren’t tears of sadness, this time they were tears of gratitude.
‘Dance with me?’ Draco whispered, Hermione nodded and allowed Draco to take her in his arms for a second time that night.
There was no moon, but the stars blazed overhead as Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, the Pureblood and the Mudblood, danced away from prying eyes.
‘Do you remember the old Muggle saying about there being a fine line between love and hate?’ asked Draco as they revolved slowly across the grass.
‘Yes, I remember, what about it?’ replied Hermione. Draco was silent for a moment, pondering what he was going to say next.
‘Malfoy?’ prompted Hermione, wincing slightly as Draco stood on her foot.
Draco didn’t know how he did it, it just happened, he took hold of the back of Hermione’s neck, tilted her head back and kissed her gently. He was very surprised when, instead of pulling away, yelling at him and slapping him, Hermione responded, hesitantly at first, then much more fiercely than him.
They didn’t know how long they stood there, but it was some time before they broke apart.
‘Draco...’ Hermione breathed, dropping the politeness and using Draco’s first name, gasping for air, her eyes still closed.
‘I hate you Hermione Granger, I hate the fact I’ve fallen in love with you.’ Draco whispered huskily in Hermione’s ear, twisting a piece of her hair between his fingers.
At the word ‘love’ Hermione’s eyes flew open and she took a step backwards.
‘I...I can’t...Draco...’ then she fled back up to the castle.
‘Hermione!’ Draco shouted after her, but she was already gone and Draco’s shout was lost in the night.
*************
A/N
Yay, new fanfic! As always reviews are most welcome and a great big hug and choc chip cookie to all those who have reviewed my other fanfics 'Still Waiting' and 'Dear Mum and Dad'. If you have'nt read them all ready, what are ya waiting for? Please have a read, thankies :)
Sign up to rate and review this story