Always Be Yours

The wind stirred and blew into her hair. She clutched the steering wheel tighter as another pang of unexplained torment flowed through her body. She had never driven this road before. Perhaps, she never wanted to. But she was here... because it called for her.

She drove past rows of trees swaying their leaves as if dancing in rejoice for the rain of bright sunlight. Even chirping birds played amongst the branches. Yet, they all remained unnoticed. This wasn't the day for rejoicing or singing. This day, she didn't want the warmth of the sun. The darkness and the cold were everything that seemed to fit the void.

Kung ang buhay ay isang umagang nakangiti

[If life is a picture of early smiling morn]

Draco Malfoy stood up as a car parked across the street. It's her, he thought, as a feeling of heightened rejuvenation filled his being. It was as if he had been waiting for this moment for so long - everyday, he sat unmoving, waiting for his light that never seemed to come. But now, She's here.

"Hermione," he whispered her name like it melted away all his wear of wait. He watched as she got out of her car. His smile couldn't seem to fade from his face as he remained in full anticipation. He didn't really know how long it had been since the last time his eyes fell on her but for sure, he felt like it had been ages.

Hermione closed the door without strength. Then, with vague hesitance, she motioned slowly toward him.

At ikaw ay ang lupang sinusuyo ng bituin

[And you are the earth that stars serenade]

Excited to greet her, Draco took a step closer. However, he stopped as he noticed something peculiar about her. Putting his hands in his pocket, he tried to search her face of answers but she was wearing sunglasses that concealed her eyes even under the bright sunlight. Hermione seemed different.

She moved slowly against the wind while her dress - black as night - moved brusquely around her as the wind spiraled in the air. Draco looked at her shift her sunglasses up as if the sun was a curse. He waved at her as she came closer. But his smile slowly faded into confusion when she merely bowed her head down and kept on walking.

Was she mad with him?

No, not angry, he thought. She just... doesn't seem happy.

There was something there. Something awful. But he couldn't put his finger on it.

'Di mo man silip ang langit

[Though the sky couldn't be seen]

Hermione kept her eyes on the ground. It seemed like watching her feet absent-mindedly was the only salvation she could feel right then.

"Soil," she said, looking at the green grass she was walking on. "Everything... just goes back to soil," she murmured once more, seeming to be genuinely unaware that Draco was just walking after her.

"What do you mean?" Draco spoke up, walking beside her now.

He received no reply - not even her head turned to acknowledge him. Then she spoke again - but still, it was more to herself than to him.

'Di mo man silip, ito'y nandirito pa rin

[Though couldn't be seen, it is here still]

"Draco, why do you have to drag me into this nightmare?" he heard her say ever so softly. It was like life had been drained from her voice. And her soul... left barely breathing.

He looked up at her, who was still gazing down the ground. Utter confusion quickly reflected in his eyes. His Hermione... sweet Hermione... She was all fixed up and beautiful. Her hair still looked as soft as he remembered. She was even wearing his favorite dress on her. Yet, her skin was pale and un-glowing under the radiance of the sun.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Draco called to her again. "Please talk to me - at least look at me."

"Draco," Hermione whispered as if responding to his plea, "help me through this." And then, she walked ahead of him.

Kung ang lahat ay may katapusan

[If all things have to come to an end]

Hermione's strides died down slowly. Her feet didn't dare to go on. It was like every step she would make starting from here on would be a constant stab in her heart... over... and over... again.

Draco seized this moment and instantly stepped and stood before her. "Why won't you answer me?!" he yelled at her. He wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her out of this maddening trance. But, no, he was already feeling his own frustrations overcoming him.

Itong paglalakbay ay makakarating din sa paroroonan

[This journey would get to reach its destiny]

He straightened when she finally looked up. A grin started to trace his face.

Hermione took off her sunglasses, revealing a pair of eyes so red that all they could narrate was - Pain, Draco finally realized what was different about her.

Thus, the smile slowly forming around his lips suddenly turned into concern. He read her eyes that seemed to be looking straight through him. "W-what happened?" He wanted to search for more answers but she quickly turned away.

"Draco..." she said slowly. Somehow, tears started to well in her eyes. Because she was here... standing in the place she most dreaded - where everything, true and real, felt like a ruthless slap on the face.

At sa iyong paglisan

[And in your time to leave]

"I know you've always told me to remain strong... but this hurt you caused me... it's too much..."

He was taken aback. Draco couldn't even look at her. He had no memory of anything he did that could ever hurt her. Not her. He knew he would never hurt her.

He tried to reach and hold the face of the one he most loved but she eluded him again. Hermione walked past him and he turned to follow. But his feet suddenly froze in the ground.

In an instant, he felt invisible and fading.

Ang tanging pabaon ko... ay pag-ibig

[My only thing for you to take... is love]

His knees wanted to give in right then and there, realizing before his eyes the reason of her agony. Yet, he carried his feet step by step though they suddenly felt like heavy boulders wishing to stay put and unmoving.

IN MEMORY OF DRACO MALFOY

Sa pagbuhos ng ulan, sa haplos ng hangin

[In the fall of the rain, in the touch of the breeze]

"No!" He didn't even dare read what followed. He hurried and bent down beside Hermione's kneeling figure. "Hermione, tell me this isn't true," he said, pleading for reality to stop sinking in. "No..." a lump in his throat formed, signaling the tears that he refused to let come. "Don't cry," he said to her... in vain.

Draco tried to reach for her - wishing he could wipe away the tears, falling like rain, from her face. But before he could even touch her with the tips of his shaking fingers, she cleaned her cheeks clear of water with her hands.

Alaala mo ay nakaukit sa pisngi ng langit

[Your memories are etched in the face of heaven]

"The war's over. But what good is it right now? You never came back to me..."

Draco froze at the sight of his lover's grief. One by one, flashes came to him, telling him of reasons he wanted to know. He sent her far away - to a place she could be safe - distant from all the troubles of Hogwarts right when the Dark Lord had declared his war on everyone who dared defy him. She wanted to stay with him - to fight or die with him. But he promised to come home to her. That when all the madness was over - he'd come back to her.

But he never expected this to happen. To wake up from the misery, rage, and distress - only to find out he had lost himself into this nightmare.

"Why'd you have to leave me like this without even saying goodbye...?"

'Di man umihip ang hangin

[Though the wind wouldn't blow]

Their tears touched their cheeks at the same time - Hermione for the pain throbbing immensely in her heart; and Draco - at the vision of her anguish flowing incessantly from her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he uttered, leaning close to her. He whispered in her ear, things before he could never say. He was always stubborn and almost cold... until she changed him - into a man who would whisper, "I'm sorry. Please don't cry, Hermione..." And though he knew it all dissolved into thin air, with a last try, he touched her face and breathed, "I love you."

'Di man umihip, ika'y nandirito pa rin

[Though wouldn't blow, you are here still]

"Draco?" Hermione suddenly stopped, feeling a soft cold breeze brush across her cheeks.

"I'm here..." he whispered in bleakness and despair. But she never heard him.

Hermione wiped her eyes of tears. She wanted to cry no more. She almost wanted to tire of it. And imagining Draco beside her wasn't going to make things any better.

Kung ang lahat ay may katapusan

[If all things have to come to an end]

She cleared the tombstone of the leaves that had gathered on it. This was the first time she had the courage to visit his grave. Perhaps, she had been trying to deny it was all true. Perhaps, she still wanted to wait by her front door, hoping for him to show up.

But it was all here, letters engraved in stone of marble.

IN MEMORY OF DRACO MALFOY

BORN AUGUST 15, 1980

DIED JUNE 26, 1998

Itong paglalakbay ay makakarating din sa paroroonan

[This journey would get to reach its destiny]

"I would have come sooner," Hermione muttered as she traced his name engraved in the stone. "I just couldn't bear that it wasn't you who showed up at the front steps," she continued, remembering how the news of his demise had reached her. It was Harry, who traveled all the way to her but just to say that the one she was waiting for was never going to come.

At sa iyong paglisan

[And in your time to leave]

As she reached the end of the imprints, she started muttering something inaudible.

Draco could barely hear her but he recognized it as a spell she was casting.

Ang tanging pabaon ko...

[My only thing for you to take...]

He watched while more words formed as Hermione ran her hand across the gravestone. He sat by her side imagining her soft hands caressing his skin.

IN MEMORY OF DRACO MALFOY

BORN AUGUST 25, 1980

DIED JUNE 26, 1998

D-U-T-I-F-U-L S-O-N

F-A-I-T-H-F-U-L F-R-I-E-N-D

And in spite of the unhappiness, he smiled. He could feel that she was starting to let the grief subside and be ready to move on. It was all for the best. Maybe in the next life, they would have each other still. I'll find you...

She stopped for a second. Her hand was still lying motionless on the marble. But then she whispered again... and wrote in lastly - one more phrase that had left him in between consolation and remorse once more.

Ay pag-ibig

[Is love]

W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L F-A-T-H-E-R

Draco looked at her in surprise. A father? He was a father...

"He has your eyes... and your smile..." she whispered, with a faint smile on her face. "I love you and I miss you... so much. But for now, it's time for me to go on - until we're all together. I'll always be yours, my love."

~~THE END~~

April 11, 2004