Something to Remember

Chapter 8 Laugh to Keep From Crying

**

Hermione and Harry sat together in the library deeply immersed in their conversation. It was a full two weeks since the incident in Dumbledore's office, and although the memory of it still blazed through their mind confusingly all the time, at this very moment they happened to be having a heated discussion about a quite different yet no less uncomfortable topic (at least for Harry, anyway).

"...Cho is pretty sad these days, yes. But Harry, you were there. Who would be better to comfort her than you?" Hermione emphasized seriously. She had known Harry fancied her for ages.

"Yeah. But I dunno, Hermione. I don't want to invade her or anything," said Harry rather awkwardly, clearly not all the way certain.

"Harry, I think she needs you at least as a friend right now. Oh, and I think she fancies you just as well these days, mind you, anyhow," said Hermione slyly, adding the last part as though offhand.

Harry looked at her very sharply. "How do you know? Did she say anything to you?" he asked desperately, speaking a bit too quickly out of immense curiosity.

"Well, no, we don't talk much. But I've heard her in the bathroom with friends. She's constantly talking about you, Harry. And whenever she passes you, she goes redder than Ron's hair. And it helps you've gotten loads taller and kind of sexy, by the way," added Hermione with a flush, smiling as she herself (ironically) turned redder than ever.

Harry blushed back. "...Thanks, Hermione. So, do you think you could talk to Cho or something?"

"Sure, Harry. I know just how to do it I think." She confidently winked his way.

**

Draco and Hermione were giggling together as they planned the musical that they were working on at Professor McGonagall's request, In the Name of Love. The novel had been very romantic, very suspense-filled, and very tragic. Hermione, being such a girl, had loved it to death, saying it was 'almost as wonderful as Hogwarts, a History', which naturally came as a shock to everyone. Nonetheless, earlier today when Hermione discovered Draco too had read Hogwarts, a History, still she was positively delighted, and instantly even seemed to develop a brand-new intenser fondness for Draco.

He personally found this too amusing. "...Oh Hermione! Hasn't everyone read Hogwarts, a History?" laughed Draco, grinning.

"No...Harry and Ron haven't," said Hermione quietly.

"Oh, well, look who we're talking about though," sniped Draco daringly, smirking.

"Draco!"

"The truth is the truth, Hermione," said Draco flatly. A second later he couldn't stop grinning quite broadly, however.

"Oh, Draco, behave!" she retorted strongly, and then they both erupted into laughter all over again. Once they were calming down a bit, Hermione completely changed subjects. "Hey Draco, uh, I've meant to ask you...Don't you, err, sort of know Cho Chang?" Hermione was trying to sound inconspicuous as can be, but somehow she just knew she'd totally given herself away the very moment she finished speaking.

"Yeah, my mom knew her mom pretty well at Hogwarts. My mother and I meet them every once and a while, even though it angers my father very much obviously, as her family is not pure-blood," explained Draco, but then, wondering why they were talking about something so trivial in his life, questioned her motives for asking. "Why do you suddenly care about Cho Chang, though?"

Hermione hesitated for a moment before speaking, taking a second to decide how much was wise to share. "Harry likes her. I want to get them together. And that's where you come in."

**

Cho Chang was with a couple friends, sitting outside by the lake. If you had told Cho Chang last year that by today she would have completely alienated herself from her dozens of friends from all previous Hogwarts years, the then sixteen-year-old girl would have laughed in your face. Nonetheless, there she stood now, looking melancholy as ever (the usual as of late), hanging with just a couple of her closest friends since first year. They had been the only ones who understood her pain after Cedric died...

She and Cedric had been dating for months last school year, but then before she could even tell him a final goodbye, he died, was murdered in fact at the hands of You-Know-Who! Indeed, it was during the tournament, at the very end of the final task actually, when Harry and Cedric were nefariously portkeyed from the maze at Hogwarts to the graveyard where He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at last resurrected to life. The whole ordeal was crazy. But in spite of all things -- despite the fact that he only very miraculously was able to even save his own life -- Harry, bravely and gallantly, brought back Cedric's dead body for his parents in a narrow escape back to the castle.

Yes, Cho believed Harry. And she desperately wanted to speak him, too, but she couldn't. It was so hard for her to speak to almost anyone these days. But Harry surely had seen He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named kill Cedric, and she had to talk to him eventually.

And not only that, but was she fancying Harry these days? She had seen the best of Harry at the end of last year, he had such wonderful qualities in a person, and he was attractive - not sexy, but decent-looking. And that's all she really wanted, honestly. She had been a bit shallow before, yes, but now Cho realized there were more important things...

"CHO! Hey! Long time no see!" came a sudden, familiar and rather friendly-sounding male voice.

Cho, startled, looked behind her to see Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, the supposed new couple, staring directly at her with amicable smiles. Draco was addressing her with an energetic wave.

Beside herself for a minute there, Cho was delayed a minute before awkwardly replying, "Oh, hello, Draco ... Hermione." Cho smiled faintly. Draco and Hermione could probably tell she wasn't in the mood for surprise visitors, but if so they clearly didn't care. Meanwhile, Cho's two best friends, Rebecca Anderson and Chelsea Smith, were looking over quite curiously, cautiously on guard like always lately, for they felt ever-protective of their dear broken friend.

"Cho, we'd really like to talk to you if you could please spare a moment," requested Hermione politely, smiling amicably.

Cho nodded, acquiescing in a casually intended but nervous-dripping voice no less. "Sure," she squeaked breathlessly. Telling her friends she'd be back in a few minutes, Cho let Hermione and Draco lead her a little ways away to a bench at the northeast corner of the lake. But by the time they'd reached this final spot Cho could wait no longer and broke the ice herself. "So...what can I help you with, mates?" asked Cho nervously, her smile growing fainter even as she pushed to sound extra outgoing.

"We have a friend, Cho, who, err, REALLY wants to get to know you," began Draco suggestively, winking at her. "He never stops talking about you -- it's quite annoying actually."

Seeing a perfect opportunity to back Draco's lead, Hermione jumped right in without hesitation. "Yeah, Cho, he's positively just beyond fond of you to be quite honest! I really think you two should get together and talk soon, for both of your sakes as a matter of fact," persuaded Hermione calculatingly, impressing her agenda upon Cho with skill (although her growingly flamboyant clown-like smiling was starting to scare Cho just a bit).

"Really? Who?" asked a now genuinely interested Cho. But however starkly taken she was by this news (especially since she couldn't pretend to not have a promising speculation as to the identity of her admirer), she knew immediately that her front of obliviousness had nonetheless barely sounded convincing; no, inside Cho was simply too overwhelmed by a desperate private wish to be correct about who this 'friend' was, as the person who'd immediately surfaced on her mind might, she was momentarily realizing, be the victim of her own heart's infatuation just as well!

"Harry, and he desperately wants to talk to you about what actually happened the night of the Third Task, by the way...He feels like you have a right to know what happened to Cedric," revealed Draco very upfront, seriously on a roll and not at all willing to hold back.

"He said that? Really? Oh, Harry!" Tears were filling Cho's shiny beautiful, albeit despairing, eyes now. Cho normally liked to avoid talking about Cedric as much as possible, but now she understood that she had to talk about it, that she needed to know the truth if her heart were to survive the turmoil that his death left behind. Her heart skipped a beat. "Well where is he, then?! It's so hard for me to admit this but I've wanted to talk to Harry for ages to tell you the truth...Oh God, finally someone who will understand! He really wants me, mopey sappy Cho of all people?" An overcoming mix of relief, joy and sorrow was inundating her insides all at once.

"He's in the library right now. Why don't you come along to talk to him?" suggested Hermione, asking in a gentle manner in light of the obvious emotion written all over the poor girl's face. Silently, though, in the suspense of it all Hermione could only hope that with Cedric now the central topic brought up, Cho would simply not be able to turn the offer away...

Alas.

Knowing her tears were no longer hidden, Cho turned away in embarrassment before willing a weak and very brief nod of her head, not speaking another word.

**

That was almost too easy, thought a very humored Draco as he and Hermione walked Cho to the library to meet Harry. They'd completely made up everything which they assured her Harry had said, easily convincing her to come with them. The poor girl looked like a human hosepipe now, tearfully out of control. Draco privately wanted to tell Cho to seek professional help immediately if she was truly that weak, although he knew that wouldn't gain points with Hermione.

"So, uh, how's your mom, Cho?" asked Draco kindly, making forced conversation.

"Oh, same as usual, you know," answered Cho blandly, barely being able to talk.

"That's good," replied Draco, trying to ignore the fact that she was crying quite dramatically. Hermione was trying to comfort her by putting her arm around Cho's shoulder and wiping her tears away, but it didn't seem to be working too well. Sighing, needlessly said Draco was quite relieved when they finally arrived at the library following a few minutes which felt like eternity passing. "Here we are."

The three of them entered the library, and there was Harry working on an essay for Snape. He noticed them almost right away, immediately brightening up at the arrival of company. But then Draco saw Harry looked very upset to see Cho crying. Empathizing, Draco gave him a careful look followed by an encouraging little wink. Now work a miracle, Potter, if you want the girl not a hosepipe.

"Cho! Hi," Harry said in an exasperated voice, finally, as they came over to him. "Do you want to sit down?"

Cho nodded and sat next to him. She wiped away her tears once more, and this time it actually left the others surprised as ever because, somehow, more tears did not come...Had Harry's presence seriously been enough to calm down a girl that just seconds prior had been beyond inconsolable? Draco couldn't believe it.

Hermione also seemed to pick up on this very good sign. "Um, Draco and I actually have to go talk to Terry Boot over there about Charms. Bye Cho! Bye Harry!" said Hermione sweetly, giving her best friend a look meaning good luck.

Draco and Hermione strode right over to Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw in their year. Unfortunately he was with one of Draco's least favorite people, though -- Celeste Zabini. The boy, by the looks of it anyway, seemed to have no knowledge of the animosity between them two, however. "Hey," said Terry casually.

"Hi, Draco!" said Celeste excitedly, as though they had known each other forever and were great friends. "Haven't seen you that much, lately."

And thank God for that, thought Draco bitterly. He didn't even respond to her, thinking about how irritating the whole persona of the juvenile girl was. Celeste was so innocent and free, stupid and ignorant. She didn't even know her father was a Death Eater, barely anyone did. He concealed it from his own family some amazing way or another, considering the other Death Eaters' families probably knew Zabini was a Death Eater.

"So, Celeste, do you and your sister get along well?" Hermione and Celeste seemed deep into having their own conversation now; he must have spaced out for a delaying moment 'cause the girls looked pretty engaged. Draco continued ignoring them and instead kept glancing over at Harry, trying to make sure he was doing okay.

Harry was laughing, and by some unforeseeable miracle of sort, so was Cho -- hard, too! Potter was a lot smarter than Draco had estimated, apparently. The guy was having her laugh to keep from crying with success, so it seemed, as Cho looked like she was really enjoying herself. No one had seen her look this happy in a while, so this promised to be a very good thing. Harry was avoiding talking about Cedric, probably, something Draco rather suspected could actually turn out bad for him in the end...And then Cho's face changed serious all the sudden. (Don't Fuck up, Harry! Draco thought to himself.) Draco was willing to bet the subject just went to Cedric. A second later he was made one-hundred percent sure of this in fact, because Cho began crying again. Draco tried to listen in as Harry, who looked self-loathsome 'bout now, did his best to console her.

"Yeah, Voldemort -- I mean He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! -- just killed Cedric right off the bat; I guess for him it was a matter of getting rid of the spare. That was it though, Cedric didn't suffer. He just didn't care about Cedric. I'm so sorry, Cho," explained Harry very fast and very exasperatedly, certain he was making it worse. Panicking, he did the first thing that came to mind--

Right, now Cho was in his arms, just crying a river against his collar instead. Still, she seemed to appreciate the gesture because she tightened her embrace around his back. They stayed like that for quite a bit of time...

Then Cho lifted her head up and looked right into Harry's prominent green eyes, his mother's ... Harry looked back at her, entranced by her beautiful but despairing gray eyes ... And they were getting closer...And closer...And closer, a centimeter from being nose-to-nose... A second later the two were locking lips, surrendering themselves to what seemed to be a very sad, depressing kiss. Unexpectedly though, Draco couldn't be sure no less that neither of them were enjoying it; surprisingly the two lovebirds were somehow unreadable (a 'for once' in Harry's case, notably). Cho's misery had probably just been partly rubbed off thanks to Harry...

Okay, now it was obvious: Cho definitely liked him back.

Chuckling a slight bit, as Malfoy spied he joked privately in his head, I reckon now they could be miserable together by the looks of it! Draco gave Harry a thumb up and a complimenting grin. Then Draco actually bothered to pay attention to Hermione, Terry, and Celeste again, uncaring about his own rudeness. It sounded like they were making fun of Professor Trelawney or something like that. Draco rather thought this was slightly retarded since first years like Celeste didn't even have her as a teacher. The pathetic girl was faking it. Damn, Celeste is such a desperate wannabe.

"Hermione, look," interrupted Draco amusedly, pointing over at Harry and Cho, who were happily talking away. Harry had his shoulder around Cho, and she was clinging on tight to him, as though he alone was her source for comfort.

"I knew she fancied him," boasted Hermione, uncharacteristically pretty conceited really as she added, "It was blimey obvious this would happen, Draco, was it not?" And she winked his way reassuringly.

**

Later that day, Draco and Hermione were at the lake again (it seemed to have turned into their trademark spot), only this time it was after midnight. They were watching the moonlight. They had had Astronomy lessons together that night, and they decided to go down to the lake for some time to themselves.

"Hermione, finally, it's been so hard hiding it!" And Draco, thrilled beyond all excitement, was on top of her now, kissing her all over, feeling his body pressed onto hers. He knew he was allowed, knew it and loved it so much, as a matter of fact, so he moved his hand slyly over to his queen's more "forbidden", yet also most bliss-eliciting, regions; and then Draco Malfoy simply let his blown-away mind (to put it lightly) feel the ecstasy that Hermione Granger -- for him the epitome of a female goddess -- was...

Hermione took the next action, kissing all over Draco's body, and she stripped off his shirt and started feeling him all over his chest. Draco knew she wouldn't take it any further, but he was enjoying every last moment of it, as they rolled over and switched positions, with their tongues glued to each other.

"Draco, I love you, I really do," she suddenly said.

And Draco did something he thought he might never do in his life. He looked at the ring on his finger, belonging to the Malfoy, family, and decided it was the right time.

If you had asked Draco Malfoy what he thought of Hermione Granger four years ago, he would have called her a filthy Mudblood. If you had asked Draco Malfoy what he thought of her two years ago, he would have said she was a bright young girl who was still filth. If you had asked Draco at that very moment what he thought of Hermione Granger, he would have said she was the love of his life, and the one girl he had realized was the one for him, and the one girl unlike any other; the one he never wanted to part from.

He took the ring off that had been in his family for centuries and looked at Hermione in the eyes. "I want you have to this ring. It's been in my family, passed along, for eternity. And I want you to marry me."

Hermione was shocked. He could tell she hadn't expected this in any way. She looked so astounded Draco could have laughed. But then she became serious. "Draco, the time we have spent together has been the happiest of my life. I have always admired you since I first met you, and I always knew there was good in you, though I never spoke it. I spent four years hating you - but I understand now, you're the only one for me. Draco, I would die for you. Draco, I will marry you, and I swear to God if you live through this with me, I swear that I will die for you."

And Draco put the ring around her finger, and they held each other for what seemed like hours passing by.

**