Seven Reasons Not to Love

Part Eleven - A Trip to Remember

Draco lay for a long time in silence, unable to think of anything but how completely and utterly screwed he was. He had done a stupid thing. His father had tried to kill him. And had nearly succeeded. He felt a sudden pang from the wound and closed his eyes tighter. If he ignored it, then maybe it would go away. But more than all that, the fact that he had done something right was weighing on his mind. He'd stopped his father killing Hermione Granger. Why? He couldn't say. Or maybe his mind did not want him to say. That was more like it. He rolled onto his side, ignoring the pain and opened his eyes. He almost shouted out when he saw there was someone there.

"Ow!" he said, his muscles stretching painfully as he sat up.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?" Hermione said, looking worried. This was new to him; someone being worried they'd hurt him.

"Er...fine, thanks," he said. He was staring at her, and was completely aware he was doing it, but his brain couldn't seem to decide if he was angry, or happy that she was here. Or why she was here. In the end, he decided to ask, but they both seemed to have the same idea.

"Why are you here?" Draco said.

"Do you want me to go?" Hermione asked. They blinked. Hermione smiled and sat down in the chair by the bed.

"Why have you come to me?" Draco asked again, looking forwards so he didn't have to see her expression.

"To see...to say...I..." she stopped and took a breath, and he wondered why she was nervous. Then he remembered all the times he'd tried to curse her, literally and verbally. Something twanged in his stomach, and it was nothing to do with the injury.

"I guess I wanted to say thanks," she said. "And that I wanted to talk...I dunno." She paused and stood up. Draco watched her walk off to Madam Pomfrey's office, completely confused. Moments later she came back with a steaming goblet of potion.

"Drink that," Hermione said. "Then we can go out for a bit. I mean, if you think you're up for a walk?" She still looked nervous, and Draco took the potion from her, drinking it in one gulp.

"Sure," he said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and looking for his clothes. He looked back at Hermione. "Um...I'm going to need to get dressed."

"Oh! Sorry," she gasped, her cheeks turning slightly pink as she swung away from him quickly and he heard her walk to the bed on the opposite side of the room. Draco shut the curtains and pulled his pyjamas off quickly. He grabbed his jeans and a grey t-shirt. Looking in the mirror he saw he still had blood and dirt in his hair. Wrinkling his nose, he combed it anyway, and opened the curtains. Hermione was perched on the edge of the bed on the opposite side of the room, looking out of the window. When she looked back at him she smiled slightly and stood up.

"It's snowed. Have you got a cloak?"

"Yeah," Draco threw his travel cloak over his shoulders and stepped away from the bed. When he walked he felt a little sick and dizzy, presumably because he'd lost blood, and his wound stung a little with every step. "Where are we going?" he asked. Hermione looked back out of the window as she spoke.

"I thought we could go over to the lake and take a boat out. It's not frozen over, and we wouldn't be overheard." Draco thought this a bit of an unusual statement, but agreed anyway.

Five minutes later they were out of the hospital wing and traipsing through the foot of snow that had fallen. All around them there were people wandering around, having snowball fights and just generally taking a break. There were very few large groups out though, and Draco wondered why at first, but then decided he didn't care after all. He simply followed Hermione towards the lake in silence. Neither had said a word since they left the hospital wing, and Draco was starting to feel confused again. He didn't really know what he was doing following her anyway.

They reached the edge of the lake and stepped into one of the small wooden boats usually used for ferrying the First-year students across the lake. They were now all moored by the edge for the use of the students. Once both he and Hermione were settled in the boat it drifted off in the direction of the forest. Draco mentally noted how useful this was, and how he liked having to make no effort. He was gazing around at the picturesque castle in the snow when he remembered he was here for a reason, and looked back at Hermione. She shifted next to him before bringing her gaze level with his. He still could not decide whether or not he was angry, but she spoke first anyway.

"Draco, I wanted to know...I mean, not that I'm implying you didn't want to or anything...but why did you help us?"

"What do you mean?"

"You came to classroom C for some reason didn't you? Unless..." she drifted off and looked away. Now he felt a pang of anger. She thought he'd come to do what Pansy was doing. He narrowed his eyes.

"Of course I went there for a reason. I wasn't going to sit back and allow myself to be murdered was I?" when he spoke his voice was cold. Hermione looked back at him and he deliberately looked away. He wasn't sure why, but he felt stung by her unspoken accusation. She laid a hand on his arm and he froze. What was he doing? A Mudblood touching him?

"Sorry. I had to be sure...I mean, I wanted to know what they did to you?"

"They have outcast me. I am a blood traitor." He turned to face her, too aware of how close they were. "I was framed by the people I trusted, and named traitor. My connection with you only proved the lies. Only now they are true."

"What lies?" Hermione said softly.

"I was part of that group. Just ask Weasley, I'm sure he'll happily tell you lots of horrible things I did. But then something went wrong, and I was blamed, even though it wasn't my fault. They threw me out and my father somehow got word. He threatened me, so I went to speak to him, and he said he would not protect me from the Dark Lord. I decided the only way was to speak to Weasley, but as you saw, you lot did not want to listen."

"Can you blame us?" she said, gawping at him. "After what happened to Ron?"

"You saw Pansy try to poison me. I thought you might believe me."

"I did. I do. But when I saw you there, and Ron and Ginny curled on the floor...I'm sorry," she said quietly. He stood up shifted to the other side of the boat, wrapping his cloak more tightly around himself and staring angrily into the black water. His anger was rising now. And he knew he only had himself to blame for his loss. He should've listened to his father...maybe the Dark Lord would not have killed him. But he remembered the pain...the questions they'd asked were stupid. And the Dark Lord's twisted face, contorted into the most hideous smile he'd ever seen. He closed his eyes and wished the images away. But they would not go.

Turning to Hermione, he saw her eyes were shining as though she wanted to cry, and her face was strained. She looked at him with pity. Or was she feeling guilt? Draco thought she should be. It was because of her he had nothing left.

"I had everything," he said quietly. "Everything right there for me, and now it's gone. Taken." He shook his head, shivering slightly from the cold. Hermione shifted closer again and took his hand. He felt a quiver of fear about this, and he couldn't place why, but supposed years of making a big deal out of being near a Mud...a non-pureblood was taking its toll. She pushed his chin up and he stared at her, his expression still completely blank, and his feelings still swirling and fighting with each other.

"You didn't have everything. You had material things, but you never had the thing we all need the most. You never had the love and respect everyone deserves."

"But not I don't even have my wardrobe," he pondered out loud. Hermione laughed a little, and their eyes met. She ran her hand down his cheek and he shivered. Before he knew it she was leaning towards him, and gently brushed her lips against his. For the first time he felt cared for, and thought that someone besides himself was looking out for him. Still trembling, possibly from the cold, or possibly from nerves he wasn't sure, he brought his other hand to the back of her neck, and pulled her closer into a proper kiss.

Every inch of him told him it was wrong, and that she'd pull back and laugh in his face as he did it, but she didn't. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, as he did to her. Her lips were warm and soft, and Draco felt some of her warmth extending out to him. He pulled back, smiling slightly, recognising he'd never felt this way before, and unsure exactly what it was he could feel. Hermione smiled to and leant against his chest. He put an arm around her and they lay together in the boat for almost an hour, simply being together. But after that his injury started to ache, then hurt, and he cringed when she shifted. Seeming to understand, she moved to sit on his lap.

"Are you okay?" she asked. He nodded and she brushed another kiss over his lips. Grinning she whispered in his ear, "It's Valentine's day today." Draco blinked and then smiled too. Inwardly he cringed. Valentine's day was a stupid day.

"Well then, it seems we don't have an excuse not to be kissing," he said, pulling her into another kiss.

~FIN~