Deny

He stared at her, his hands trembling. Hot tears welled up and slid down her cheeks as she waited for him to say something. She brushed them away angrily, ashamed at herself for exposing her heart to him with so little coaxing.

"I'm sorry," she said finally, gesturing helplessly with her hands. "This was a huge mistake." She removed the ring from her finger and held it out to him. When he made no move to take it from her, she stomped her foot. "For Merlin's sake, Draco, just take the damned ring!"

"I gave it to you," he said finally. "It's yours. I don't want it."

"Fine," she said, placing it on the end table. She tried taking several deep breaths to calm herself, but it wasn't working. She was too close to him, and she was becoming agitated under his continued scrutiny. She had to get out.

She left the room quickly and went into her bedroom, where she grabbed her coat. She slipped her arms into the sleeves and buttoned it up quickly, then turned and moved through the hallway and out the front door before Draco had a chance to say anything to her.

She ran as fast as she could, her tears blurring her vision. She had no idea where she was going, and didn't really care at the moment. All she knew was that she'd confessed her feelings to Draco, and he hadn't said anything to her in return - he'd just stared at her as though she were a blast-ended skrewt. It had hurt her more than she'd ever thought it would, too.

She'd realized that she'd fallen in love with him exactly six hours and forty seven minutes after he'd left, and it had devastated her. She'd cried the rest of the evening and most of the next day. After that, she'd realized that his leaving was probably for the best; after all, hadn't he told her that it would all end badly?

Well, it had. Even though she'd never planned on telling him, she'd imagined hundreds of different scenarios where she would tell him, and afterwards he would take her into his arms and whisper words of love in her ear as he made love to her. She sobbed harder at the thought. Somehow in her mind, the imagined confessions had turned into hope, and the hope had taken hold of her entire being.

When he'd shown up earlier tonight, she'd been amazed. She'd been even more amazed when he'd tolerated Charlie's presence (to some degree, anyway), and waited him out so that he could be alone with her and give her his gift.

She was too afraid to hope that the ring meant anything more than friendship, but then he'd kissed her. And, oh! How the time apart, short as it was, had dimmed the memory of his lips! They amazed her - his body already seemed to know hers by heart, and every touch, every glance, set her on fire.

And he'd danced with her. Danced with her, and kissed her, over and over again. She thought that when he'd mentioned Molly and her observations that he actually wanted her to say that what Molly had said was true, but now she knew that she'd ruined things. Why couldn't she have just been happy with what he'd offered? Instead, she'd proclaimed strong feelings for him, and had stunned him into silence.

She stopped walking and fell to her knees in the snow as she cried. What had she done? Why had she allowed things to progress to this point? She covered her face with her hands and shook violently with the force of her emotions.

Suddenly he was there, falling to his knees in the snow in front of her, wrapping his arms around her. She was past the point of caring, and buried her face in the front of his coat as she cried. He whispered soothing words that she couldn't make out and his hands gently rubbed her back.

Then he was in front of her, stretching her legs out and removing her shoes. She looked up in surprise - he'd transported them both back inside of her house, and she was sitting on the sofa in front of the blazing fire. She looked down at him, her mouth open slightly, and tears still running down her face.

He didn't look up at her - he just went about removing her shoes and coat, and then went into the kitchen. When he returned moments later, he was carrying two mugs of steaming cocoa. He handed her one, which she curled her frozen fingers around. She stared down into the mug, still crying silently.

He sipped at his mug silently for a long time. When he saw that she'd finally finished her drink, he cleared his throat. "You didn't have to leave like that."

"Yes, I did," she said. "And you didn't have to rescue me, either. I can take care of myself."

"But I'm so much better at it," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. She looked up and frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm so much better at taking care of you. Don't you agree? Look how I just let you run out into the freezing weather and almost get frostbitten. No one could have done that for you quite like I did."

"Draco, what are you nattering on about?"

"I'm sure Weasley would have never let you out the front door," he said bitterly. She sighed and stared into the fire.

"What does Charlie have to do with this?" she asked tiredly.

"Nothing, except that I saw the way he looked at you."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"He would be good to you, you know. He'd take care of you." She stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Now you're trying to encourage me to be with him?" she asked, shocked. Hurt flooded through her. He was trying to pawn her off on Charlie because of her admission of feelings toward him? How dare he! "You're right - perhaps I should send him an owl this very moment and tell him that I've reconsidered, and I can't wait to marry him!"

Draco looked up at her and narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't."

"Isn't that what you just told me to do?" she asked, frustrated.

"I thought you didn't do what I told you to," he pointed out.

"I don't! Damn it, Draco, don't turn this around on me!" The flames in the fireplace shot up. "I thought you weren't playing games!"

"I'm not!"

"It sure as hell looks like it to me!"

"What? Woman, have you gone completely insane?"

"I should think the answer to that was obvious," she snapped. "I told you what you wanted to hear, even though when I said it, it clearly wasn't what you wanted to hear anymore, and yet you're still in my home! So yes, I am obviously insane!"

She placed her empty mug on the coffee table with more force than was necessary, causing a small crack to appear. Draco stared at her in amazement.

"You really mean it."

"Mean what?" she retorted angrily, folding her arms over her chest.

"What you said." She leveled a glare at him.

"I am not in the habit of saying things that I don't mean, especially when they're of that caliber."

"I thought you were having me on," he said, tilting his head to one side as he looked at her. Her eyebrows shot up.

"You're a moron, then." She turned her eyes back to the fire. "But then again, you always have been."

"Excuse me?" he demanded, his eyes narrowing.

"You heard me."

"You think I'm-" his voice died, and an incredulous look crossed his face. It slowly turned into a smirk of epic proportions. "You're baiting me again!" he accused.

"I most certainly am not!"

"If you want me to stay the night, kitten, all you have to do is ask."

"Oh, right," she said waspishly, rolling her eyes. "I forgot, Draco Malfoy, God's gift to undersexed widows everywhere."

"You said it, not me," he said, highly amused.

"I am not baiting you for anything, Draco," she said. "I'm amazed that you have the gall to sit here and try to carry on any sort of conversation with me, in light of the events of the last month."

"The gall?" he echoed, his eyebrows shooting up. "You want to talk about gall, pet? We'll talk about gall. Let's talk about how you tumbled me in your bed and never let on as to what you were really feeling about it. Let's talk about how welcome you made me feel, and how nice you were to me, and then turned around and threw a gift back in my face when I didn't respond as quickly as you would have liked me to."

"Tumbled you in my bed?" she repeated, her lips tightening into a line. "I think that you're forgetting who made the first move, here."

"I'm forgetting nothing."

"Oh, really? What about me trying to slap you, and instead you turned it on me and tumbled me on the floor?"

"Best moment of your life, that was," he said angrily. "And don't act like it was anything else."

"It was degrading!"

"It was a bloody revelation!" he said, his voice rising. "And I know that you enjoyed every moment of it! Has your precious suitor ever made you feel that way?" Her cheeks and neck flushed pink.

"You know, I think I recall you saying something to the effect of you could never be jealous over me, because being jealous would imply that you cared about me! For someone who doesn't care, you really are starting to sound like a jealous boyfriend!"

"Did it ever occur to you that I might care, after all?" he shouted. She was shocked into silence. "Did it ever occur to you that I might be frightened of the way I felt about you?"

"Frightened? Why?" She frowned, confused.

"I came here with the memory of you in school burned into my mind's eye. I came here expecting trouble and anger and retribution on your part, because of all the hell I put you through at Hogwarts. I didn't expect to actually care about you!"

"It would be stupid to hold a grudge against you, when you had so many other things to deal with," she said, her brow furrowing in renewed anger. "And I wouldn't have retaliated against you when you were, for all intents and purposes, trapped here. That's something you'd do."

His face fell.

"Maybe before, you're right," he admitted, nodding. "But not anymore. I came here as one person and left as another. Being with you changed me."

"I'm sure it won't take you too long to put that behind you and get back to normal," she said, sighing.

"I don't want to go back to the way I was before," he said quietly.

"And why is that?"

"Because I don't want to go back to a place where I'm without you." She looked at him in surprise, and he gave her a knowing half-smile. "You told me how you felt, but didn't give me time to absorb what you'd said before you ran out on me."

"Is that what that was?" she asked, trying not to sound breathless. "You absorbing?"

"Okay, maybe it was more... basking than it was absorbing, but they're both practically the same thing."

"Only to you," she pointed out.

"Fair enough," he said, shrugging. "My point is that you didn't wait around for my reaction. You automatically assumed the worst of me, and subsequently acted like a spoiled brat because of it."

She frowned at him. "Are you trying to make me angry? Because it's starting to work."

"Hermione," he said seriously, his grin fading. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees as he looked at her, and his hair fell over his forehead. "I'm used to other people assuming the worst of me. I welcome it, even. But it hurts, coming from you."

She stared at him, her lower lip beginning to tremble slightly. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Can I have a second chance to react to your words?"

"A second chance?" she echoed. He nodded.

"Tell me again how you feel, and let me respond before you run out on me."

"Right," she said, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at him. "I've already said it twice. This sounds like a ploy just to get me to say it again."

"Maybe," he said neutrally. "You've already said it twice, and I know you mean it now. Will it really hurt to tell me again?" She looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap now.

"It will hurt me," she admitted. "I know that I have a reputation for being stubborn and I have the tendency not to budge when it comes to things I'm passionate about, but I refuse to throw myself against a brick wall."

"Are you calling me thick?" he teased.

"Draco, I'm serious."

"I'm serious, too," he said, moving to sit closer to her. He locked eyes with her as he reached out to brush her cheek with his fingers. "Please, tell me again. I need to hear you say it."

"I don't know if I can," she said hesitantly, catching her lower lip between her teeth.

"When have you ever doubted that you could do anything?" he asked peevishly. She took a deep breath.

"I don't know why I'm being so open with you, since I do know you, and I know how you like to turn things around on people. I know that this could backfire on me," she said, shaking her head. "I don't pretend to understand what happened between us when you were stuck here," she began.

"I think we both understand what happened," he interrupted, smirking. "Anyone who's familiar with basic human anatomy knows what happened."

"I really could do without your five-year-old comments, you know," she snapped, annoyed. He closed his mouth, but continued to smirk at her. "I don't know why I bother! You're so aggravating, I don't understand how it happened! You've never stopped bothering me long enough for me to have actually fallen in love with you!"

"You're every bit as annoying to me now as you were at Hogwarts," he said, his eyes narrowing. "So it comes as a bit of a surprise to me, as well."

"If you don't believe it, then why are we even having this conversation?" she asked, throwing up her hands in frustration. "This is ridiculous, to keep rehashing the details like we are, especially if there's no future for us on the horizon!" He studied her face for a moment before he spoke.

"So that's it, then."

"What's what?"

"Your holdup - the reason you won't say it again."

"You're not making any sense."

"I'm making perfect sense, kitten," he drawled slowly. "You're afraid to tell me again because you think that we have no future together." She snorted and stared at the blazing fire.

"I never exactly pictured a house with a white picket fence to begin with," she said, shaking her head.

"I don't-"

"I know you don't want that," she said bitterly. "You're the type who'll probably remain a bachelor for the rest of his life."

"I won't be alone," he protested. She turned and met his eye.

"I never said you would be alone, Draco. I said you'd be a bachelor. I'm sure you'll find plenty of women to keep your bed warm, but I'm just as sure that you'll never marry any of them."

"You're right," he said, his silvery eyes locked on hers. "I'll never marry anyone who's just kept my bed warm." She broke their gaze and looked at the fire again. "What made you want to settle down?"

"What?"

"What made you so sure that Weasley was the one for you?" A watery smile appeared on her face.

"I wasn't sure, at first," she admitted. "Ron was very hard to get along with. He and I fought constantly, and we had some pretty bad rows before things got better."

"When did they get better?"

"Not too long after the Yule Ball in our fourth year," she said, her eyes sparkling. "He was so jealous of Viktor. We got into a particularly bad fight that night, and the next year or so was pretty strained. It wasn't until our sixth year that he asked me out, and that was only because Harry threatened to ask me out if he didn't."

"I always thought Potter had a thing for you," Draco said, amused.

"No, I don't think he did," Hermione confided. "I think he only did it because he suspected that Ron did, and he wanted to help him realize it."

"Surprising," Draco murmured, although his voice indicated that he wasn't in the least bit surprised.

"Ron was so sweet after that," she said quietly. "I'll always remember the day he told me that he loved me for the first time. It was late afternoon right before Christmas, and we were in Hogsmeade together. Harry had gone into Quality Quidditch Supplies, and Ron had stayed outside with me. He sat down with me in the snow and told me." Draco looked down at his hands for a moment. The sheer happiness present on her face was almost painful to look at.

"You loved him a great deal, didn't you?"

"I did."

"Is it the same way that you love me?"

"It's very different," she whispered. She stared down at her hands. "With Ron, everything was soft and sweet and relaxed. With you, it's sharp and intense and... and sometimes painful."

"Intense," he echoed softly.

"Intense," she agreed, still staring at her hands. "That's not to say that you don't have sweet moments, as much as you probably don't want to hear it."

"I've been sweet? When?"

"That morning after," she admitted, twiddling her fingers nervously. "In the kitchen. Standing there with you and talking and having you so close - it was nice. I wish we'd had more moments like that."

"I've thought of myself in a lot of terms, but sweet was never one of them."

"You can be," she said decisively. "You have a very soft side to you, I think, if you'd ever let anyone in to see it."

"You saw it."

"I think it was an accident on your part. You never let your defenses down. You never relax long enough to let anyone near you - you would never have done it on purpose."

"I don't want that ring back. I bought it for you."

"I don't need expensive gifts," she said, shaking her head. "You don't need to buy me off as though I were a common prostitute."

"Do you honestly think that that's what I was trying to do by giving it to you?" he asked, his voice tinged with anger. "Pay you for services rendered?"

"I don't know. Isn't it?"

"Then what were you doing to me, by giving me an expensive gift, as well? Trying to pay me?"

"No!" she protested, finally lifting her eyes to meet his. "I thought you might like it - that it might help you feel more like you used to."

"And how is that?"

"Spoiled. Pampered. Rich. I don't know!"

"You wanted to make me feel like I used to? Like when I hated you?"

"What an idiotic question!" she snapped, her temper flaring. "And really, why are you even still here? I'm tired of arguing! Get out!" She stood and took a step towards the door before she ran into an invisible wall. She whirled around to glare at him. "Let me go!"

"And let you just kick me out of your life like this?" he asked, standing. "Oh, I don't think so, kitten. It's not going to be that easy."

"What do you want from me?" she asked, desperation setting in.

"I want you to say it again."

"I can't," she said, turning away from him. Suddenly he was behind her, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. She closed her eyes and tried not to shiver when she felt his breath near her ear.

"You can, but you won't."

"I told you, I refuse to be hurt again. Please leave."

"I don't think you really mean that."

"I do."

"Prove it," he whispered, catching her ear gently in his teeth. She sucked in a quick breath. "Tell me you don't love me." She felt her hair being brushed aside, and then his lips were on her neck, rendering her almost completely breathless.

"I don't want to talk to you anymore," she whispered, trembling. "I want you to leave me alone and let me live in peace."

"You can't say it," he accused gently, kissing the place where her neck met her shoulder. "Because you do love me."

"Did you come here to torture me? Why can't you just end things on a good note?"

"I told you, Hermione. Nothing is ending."

"So you're just going to come to me whenever you feel like it, and have your way with me?" He chuckled softly.

"While that sounds like a lovely idea, I have no doubt that if I walked out of here tonight, I wouldn't be able to get back in the next time I sought you out."

"Then what?" He gripped the hem of her jumper and tugged up on it, pulling it over her head without protest from her. He tossed it onto the couch and reveled in the sounds of her arousal as his hands traveled over her bare stomach.

"You're mine now," he whispered in her ear. "You were mine from the moment I touched you. You'll never belong to another man." His hands moved up to gently cup her breasts, and she gasped.

"Ah," she murmured.

"Say it. Tell me you're mine." He began to knead her breasts gently, and she shuddered.

"I - I'm yours," she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Now tell me that you love me." His hands moved slowly down her body, sliding beneath the waistband of her slacks and coming to rest at the apex of her thighs.

"I love you," she cried, hot tears making their way down her cheeks. He withdrew his hands and turned her around to face him. His mouth slid onto hers as he tangled his fingers in her hair. He held her there for a long moment, kissing her into oblivion. Her lips grew sore, and still he kissed her. She tasted her own tears, and still he kissed her. She was lightheaded, and still he kissed her.

When he finally pulled away from her, her lips were swollen and she was breathless. She met his eyes, and was surprised to see warmth emanating from them in waves that were almost palpable.

"Why didn't you just tell me when I asked, love?"

"What did you just call me?" she breathed in amazement. His thumbs caressed her cheeks as he smiled softly at her.

"You heard me." At her continued look of awe, he chuckled. "Don't tell me you prefer kitten, after all?"

"I-I-" she stuttered.

"I've no intention of ever letting another man touch you," he whispered, staring intently at her. "And I've no intention of leaving here tonight, so you can just stop asking me to. I was trying to tell you earlier, before we exchanged words, that I wanted a second chance to react to your words. Well, there it was. Are you as disappointed as you were before?"

She shook her head dazedly.

"Will you keep my ring?"

She nodded once.

"Even if it means accepting that it was given in more than friendship?"

She nodded again.

"Even if it means accepting that it was given with a lot more than friendship in mind?"

"How much more?" she breathed.

"Say it again." Her bottom lip began trembling.

"I love you, Draco."

"Damn right you do," he whispered, his lips descending on hers. As soon as their tongues touched, she felt as though she was being burned alive. Her skin was on fire everywhere his hands were. She pulled his shirt up over his head and dropped it on the floor.

Her hands were cool against his chest, causing him to groan. Her fingers were everywhere - on his chest, his arms, his shoulders, his back. He pulled her slacks down and nearly burst when he felt her cool fingers against the skin of his stomach, unfastening the buttons on his jeans.

When their clothes were gone and there were no barriers left between them, he lowered her gently to the floor in front of the fire. He was above her, propped up on his hands, looking her in the eye when he took a deep breath.

"What are you going to do with this house when you move in with me?" She frowned, and her hands stopped moving on his shoulders.

"What?"

"Will you sell it?"

"I'm not moving into the Manor."

"Why not?"

"What would people say about you, moving your Mudblood Mistress in?" she snorted. She tried to pull him down for another kiss, but he wouldn't budge.

"I don't intend on having a Mistress, Hermione."

"I'd be a sorry excuse for a roommate, then."

"I'm not asking for a roommate, either."

"You want me to join your harem?" she asked uncertainly.

"I haven't got a -" he stopped and a large smirk appeared on his face. "Well, I won't have a harem."

"I don't really feel like talking right now, Draco."

"Then it's settled, and when I leave in the morning, you'll come with me."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"You expect me to move in here?"

"I don't expect anything from you," she said softly.

"I know you don't," he murmured, planting tiny kisses on her cheeks and forehead. "And that's what makes me want to give it to you."

"Give what to me?"

"The white picket fence." She rolled her eyes.

"I don't need any home improvements, thanks."

"I didn't mean literally, I meant metaphorically. I know what the white picket fence symbolizes to you - a happily ever after."

"That's the stuff of fairy tales," she scoffed.

"You had it, once upon a time." The teasing glint in his eyes was hard to resist, and she smiled.

"You're stupid. Do you realize everything that goes along with the picket fence? A home, marriage, love, children. They're things that you would never give me."

"Might have given you children already," he said, his expression serious. "We never used contraceptives of any sort - Muggle or magical." A slightly panicked look crossed her face as the gravity of his statement hit her hard.

"Oh, no."

"Would it be such a bad thing? A baby, I mean?"

"You've gone mental," she accused, her eyes frightened. "Draco Malfoy, with a baby?"

"You said I wouldn't give you those things, not that I couldn't. You're wrong."

"I should have said couldn't," she amended, embarrassed.

"You're still wrong," he said softly, watching her expression closely. She gave him a puzzled look.

"I don't understand."

"I want you to come to the Manor and live with me - not as my Mistress or as my roommate, but as my wife." Her eyes widened.

"Your what?"

"My wife. I want you to marry me and give me so many children that they fill all the rooms in the Manor."

"Draco, if you want children-"

"Don't tell me to adopt or marry someone pureblooded, because neither of those things will work. I want you to have my children, and I won't accept anything less."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I love you."

"You -" her voice died with her ability to form a coherent sentence. He bent and brushed his lips lightly against hers before trailing slow kisses across her jawline and down her throat. When his tongue touched the highly sensitive skin at the base of her neck, she moaned and tried to pull him closer. She was disappointed when he pulled away slightly.

"You said you loved me with an intensity that you didn't feel with your first husband. I never want that to change, Hermione. I want you to feel as passionately about me as I do about you, and I just couldn't live with myself if you didn't."

"What are you saying?"

"If you have any feelings for Weasley - any at all - then you'd better tell me now and get it over with. I will not be made a fool of."

"Charlie is my brother, nothing more."

"Then will you be my wife?" She gazed up at him in something akin to wonder.

"You love me? You're not just saying it to make me feel better about the prostitute comments?"

"Do you really think that if I considered you my whore that I would even pretend anything otherwise?"

"No, I know you wouldn't," she murmured. She reached up and gently swept the hair away from his face with the back of her hand. "But marriage is a big step, Draco, and we've not been together long."

"We have a lifetime ahead of us, and I don't intend to waste a second of it," he answered. "I'm absolutely sure that I want you to marry me. Are you unsure?"

"No, I know my heart."

"And?"

"And if you truly want me to, I will marry you." A smile like a sunrise burst across his face, and she touched her fingertips gently to his lips. His smile was so beautiful, it made her entire body ache.

"Say it again."

"I love you, Draco Malfoy."

He lowered his head and claimed her mouth with his. An unspeakable joy sang throughout her body- Draco loved her, and he was going to marry her. He wanted her to have his children.

Perhaps happily ever afters did exist, after all.

0

14

DENY