What Once Could Never Be...

What Once Could Never Be...

Chapter 5: Opened Eyes

Draco blinked his eyes open against the bright light. He looked around the room. Sunlight was pouring in from the high windows near the ceiling. I must have fallen asleep. What am I doing in here anyway?

At that moment, Draco heard a muffled "mmm" and felt something move against his chest. He looked down at what he was holding in his arms. A sleeping Hermione was snuggled against him and had her arms around his waist. He smiled as he recalled the way they had opened up to each other last night. It had been hard to get all those things off his chest, but he felt better knowing that he had told someone. Hermione had been so comforting and understanding. He peered at her sleeping face. She's so beautiful when she sleeps, like an angel. If I don't watch out, I might fall in love with her. He remembered her words from the night before. Draco, I'm proud of you.

She began to stir against him. She mumbled something that sounded a lot like "where am I?" before pushing herself off of him. She raised her head and met his eyes.

"Draco, where are we?"

"Where we were last night."

"What time is it?"

Draco glanced down at his watch before answering. "It is 6:45 in the morning."

"We've been sleeping here all night?"

"Seems that way since I just woke up as well."

She crawled out of his lap and stood up from the couch. She stretched her arms out causing his cloak to fall to the floor.

He bent down and picked his cloak off of the floor and wrapped it back around her arms. He pulled it to the front and redid the clasp to secure it on her shoulders covering her form.

She shuddered as his fingers brushed against the bare skin on her arm. She cast her eyes up and met his gazing down on her. His eyes softened as they continued to peer into each other's eyes. Her eyes were full of wonder because something just clicked. At that moment, she knew. All the things we shared last night have made us different people. I should have realized that he could never have been so full of hatred by himself. He truly has changed, and so have I. Because of him. She drew a shuddering breath and her voice came out as a whisper. "Thanks, but won't you be needing it back?"

He chuckled. "No, you keep it for a while. I have others I can use."

"Well, I guess we should be heading back. People will start coming down for breakfast soon."

"Yeah, I guess we should."

They continued to stand there. His arms on the cloak around her shoulders, eyes never leaving the other's. Neither one made any move or indication that they ever wanted to leave the room. The silence was not deafening, but calming like the peacefulness after a storm.

She suddenly reached up and pulled him against her with her arms going around his neck. He returned the embrace. She leaned up to whisper in his ear. "I will always be here."

With that, she turned to leave, not glancing back. She knew he had changed her for the better. Whatever happened, she would continue to protect him. He had showed her another side of himself. That side was caring and vulnerable; showing signs of the little boy he once was before his father had broken his spirit and replaced it with hate. She wanted to keep him in her arms forever so nothing bad would ever hurt him again. The last punishment given to him by his father seemed to have broken him to the point of reforming. He had ceased to exist as a person filled with hatred. She knew now, like she had realized a few moments ago. She was in love with Draco Malfoy.

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Harry was sitting in the Gryffindor common room by himself.

Last night, he had went to Hermione's room to apologize to her for the way he had acted at the feast. When he had knocked for several minutes, he opened the door and was shocked at what he found there. Hermione wasn't there, but it look like she had been at one time. None of her belongings had been touched, but the bed was a mess indicating someone had been there. He walked into the room and looked around again. It's not like Hermione to not immediately unpack. He shrugged and walked back across the hall to his room, closing the door behind him. He would wait until the morning.

Harry awoke to the sound of his alarm clock. He sat up in bed and reached for his glasses on the bedside table. He got out of bed and went about his usual morning routine. When he was finished, he walked back across the hall to Hermione's room feeling certain that she would be there. He knocked, but still no answer. Once again, he went into the room. Panic started to set in when he realized that she had not been back last night. He made his way down to the common room and began waiting. If she misses a class, then something is definitely wrong. He had not been waiting for more than fifteen minutes when the portrait hole swung open and Hermione crept in. She was draped in a black cloak looking tired, yet peaceful at the same time. She started to creep towards the staircase when Harry made his way over to her. He grabbed her by the arm and spun her around to face him.

"Hermione! Where were you all night?!"

"Harry? Oh Harry! I'm so sorry that I backed out on you last night with prefect duties."

"It's okay, Hermione. But, you didn't answer my question."

She started to shift on her feet. "I was studying and I fell asleep."

He was not convinced, but decided to dismiss it and move to why he wanted to see her in the first place. He darted his eyes away from her face for a moment before returning to look at her.

"Hermione, look. I don't know what came over me yesterday. I guess I just saw you with Malfoy, and I got jealous because I thought you were friends with him now instead. I know that Ron and I have girlfriends now, but you're still our best friend. I can't speak for Ron, but I can speak for myself. Well, what I guess I'm trying to say is I'm -"

During his long apology, his eyes had traveled down her cloak and came to rest on something he did not like at all. He looked back up at her, his eyes livid with anger and his face burning with rage. She looked confused.

"Yes, Harry?"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WEARING A SLYTHERIN CLOAK?!? YOU WERE OUT WITH HIM LAST NIGHT WEREN'T YOU?!? I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT RON WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU!" With that, he turned from her and made his way out of the portrait hole.

"Wait, Harry!! You don't understand! He's changed!!!"

But Harry wasn't listening for he no longer had a friend named Hermione.

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Draco trudged back to his dormitory with a new outlook on life. He finally had someone that would listen to him and not make fun of him. He had a true friend and companion. Hermione had even cried with him last night and opened up to him as well.

His eyes were truly opened. He saw how beautiful Hermione was both as a woman and as a person. No wonder Potter and Weasley had kept her so close to them all these years. They thought that if anyone else found out what she was really like, they would try and take her away from them.

They were friends now, but he knew he had feeling for her. It would just take time.

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Hermione lay on the floor next to the portrait hole crumpled in tears. She could not believe that someone she had called her best friend had simply walked away from her. She quieted her racking sobs and pulled herself up off the ground. She continued to cry silently as she climbed the stairs to her room. She had classes to go to and would have to think about this later.

Truly, her eyes had been opened. Opened to her love for Draco and the need to protect him, and opened to her friends' blindness when she needed them the most.