Alone Together

ALONE TOGETHER

They're going out again, with their girlfriends. It's the third night in a row that they've sneaked out, which means it is the third night in a row that they've overlooked me sitting by the fire, all alone. I guess I should've known this would happen; I should've seen it coming, we are teenagers, after all. It was only a matter time before we forgot about each other and spent more time with our significant others; only, I don't have anyone, and they both conveniently do. That's why I sit up by the fire late at nights, all alone.

They're too busy for me now, too busy with a new girl every week, sneaking out in the dead of night to find an empty broom closet to snog in. Funny, though, how they seem to remember about me when there's a Potions paper due, or when the Finals come around. They take me for granted, they've always have, and I always seem to let them.

But it's alright, really, I mean, they'll miss me when I'm deadÂ…

***

For some strange reason the dungeons seem colder than usual tonight. Maybe it's the lack of warm people, but then again, we Slytherins are anything but warm.

Crabbe and Goyle are sneaking out with Pansy and Millicent, those walking mountains will surely get caught. I'll bet almost anything I own that they'll run into Potty and the WeaselÂ…immature blokes have nothing better to do than sneak around with a new girl every week, only makes sense that Crabbe and Goyle would do so as well; but the thing that doesn't make sense is why I don't.

I could if I wanted to, really, I could. It's no big secret that I've become quite the catch these days, but for some strange reason, I stay here at night, sitting alone by the fire. Listen to me; I'm not making any sense. I have to get out of here before I'm completely frozen. I cannot sit here wallowing: Mafoys do not wallow. Quickly, before I lose the courage, I walked determinedly out of the Slytherin Common Room.

I need to go somewhere calming, somewhere where I can think without being interrupted by midnight snogging sessions, and I think I know just the placeÂ…

***

The portrait hole swings shut and I'm once again alone. It doesn't make any sense, any of it; I mean I'm not bad looking. I'm quite attractive, if I do say so myself. But no one notices. Everyone's too busy asking for Herbology answers or Transfiguration lessons to notice. If only they'd just stop and take a moment to look at me. Not the person I came here as, but as in the me, as in who I am now. That's all that matters, isn't it; the here and the now?

They'd notice how deep my eyes are; rich and velvety. My hair, now tamed and flowing gently down to the small of my back, ending in silky curls. They would notice that I've changed.

Listen to me! I sound like a self-pitying, wallowing, teenage girl! I have to get out of here before I drown in my sorrows; alright, perhaps that was a little too dramatic, but I do need to leave this bloody room before I blast it into smithereens.

I need to go somewhere calming, somewhere where I can think without being interrupted by midnight snogging sessions and I think I know just the placeÂ…

Before I lose the ambition, I walk out of the Gryffindor Common Room, down the hall, up two flights of stairs, and finally, two corridors later, I stop in front of a room that only I know of.

'Get a grip, Granger,' I tell myself as I try to control my shivering and, successfully, suppress my childish tears. 'It's alright, really, I mean, they'll miss me when I'm deadÂ…'

Without a second thought, I walk into the room, only to find it occupied by a certain silver-haired SlytherinÂ…

***

I turn as I hear the door being opened and I'm graced with the sight of Granger, standing in a fluttery, silver night negligee with an owl-eyed look of surprise.

A strong, unyielding silence covers the room as she continues to stand there, silhouetted in the light of the full moon. For a Mudblood, Granger was beautiful; as a matter of fact, she was beautiful for an anyone. Quite appealing to the eye, or at least mine.

She had changed these past seven years at school, and it was for the better. I bet Potty and the Weasel hasn't even noticed; I'll bet they never took a glance to notice at what they have here. Then again, those bastards wouldn't even notice if I switched their girlfriends. As long as they had someone to snog, everything was fine and dandy.

I think she's surprised at finding me here. She probably thought that only she knew of this room, as did I.

The silence seems to become heavier with an unidentifiable emotion. She looks sad, weighted down for some reason; bloody hell, I knew that feeling.

Quickly, I scan my mind for some arrogant and harsh insult to hurl at her, but to my utter bemusement, I come up with nothing. It was getting much harder to harass her. The sad and loneliness in her gaze is all too familiar, causing her to pierce the cold armor around my heart. Slowly, I begin to thaw, something that has never happened before, until now.

I find that I don't wish her to feel the seclusion that I do; I don't want her to be sad. Without knowing what else to do, I slide over upon the desk I'm sitting on, silently offering the comfort of my presenceÂ…

***

Understanding. That was the only word that could have been used as I watched Malfoy move over, inviting me to sit with him. Understanding was the only word to describe the thick silence. It felt weird, this knowing silence, but it comforted me better than any words could have.

I needed the comfort, yearned for the understanding. Belatedly, I realized Malfoy was offering these things to me; in a strange way, I needed Malfoy.

Slowly, and, at first, awkwardly; I went to him, sitting stiffly beside him.

I watched him from the corner of my eye, noting that he had changed during our last years here. It was no big secret that Malfoy was sexy. What, with his dashing looks and air of mystery, he was giving Harry and Ron a run for their money. But there was something more. Something he tried to hide, but I could make it out.

Malfoy was lonely, though he hid it well. I could still see it behind those misty, silver eyes.

For the first time in all of my life at Hogwarts, I thought of something I never thought of before. Maybe Malfoy understood the loneliness that I felt; maybe, just possibly, he and I were meant to be alone, together.

I shiver at this premonition.

***

I can tell she's staring at me, but wisely, I don't remark. I'm not a hypocrite. I wasn't going to snap at her for doing the same thing I was.

She gave the smallest of shivers, making me frown slightly. Perhaps she was cold. Not too hard to imagine given her current attire.

Reflexively, I slip my arm around her waist, enfolding her in the heat she had awakened within me. To my utter surprise, and yes, delight, she did not protest. Instead, she seemed to sigh into my embrace, lightly resting her head in the hollow of my shoulder, as if it were the most natural thing for her to do.

I couldn't help noticing how perfectly she fit into my arms, like that was where she belonged, in my arms. And it was; that was where she belonged. It felt right, and I didn't want to let this feeling go. I didn't want to let her go and it seemed she wasn't in a hurry to leave anytime soon.

All of these emotions, understandings and realizations had occurred in this charged silence. In the space of a few heart beats, Hermione Granger had forever changed my life, without uttering a single word.

She'll never be rid of me now; not after awakening a part of me that I had long thought was dead.

She sighed again, and, to my greatest pleasure, snuggled closer to me.

Resting my cheek on the top of her head, I finally realize that she and I were meant to be aloneÂ…together.

It was time to break this silent spell that had befallen us; it was time for the song to end.

I don't know why this thought came to me, but in a twisted way, it was the most comforting thing that I could conceive at that momentÂ…

***

I loved being in his arms. I felt safe; I felt home.

"Hermione," he tested the silence. I leaned out of the embrace to gaze into his warm eyes. A lump rises in my throat as I realize that warmth was for me.

Sensing he was going to continue, I smiled softly up at him.

"It will be alright, really, I mean, they'll miss us when we're deadÂ…"

Draco didn't know this, but those true words comforted me like nothing else had that night.