The Keeper Of My Heart

THE KEEPER OF MY HEART

CHAPTER TWO

Draco stopped kissing Hermione when she suddenly went cold and rigid. She pushed him away and scrambled towards the farthest corner of the bed, trying to put as much distance between them. He merely stared at her, his face an unreadable mask.

Hermione, wide-eyed with shock, couldn't speak. She realized with despair that she couldn't trust herself anymore, not after she responded to his kisses, and this terrified her. She felt completely helpless and utterly vulnerable.

Moments later, when Draco reached out to her, she trembled. His eyes narrowed upon seeing her shaking like a leaf. He grasped her arms firmly, allowing no escape. He looked at her brown eyes filled with naked fear; and he suddenly wanted to erase that fear.

'Why am I thinking this way? She's just a Mudblood to play with.'

His right hand reached out to cup Hermione's face, but she quickly averted her face so he ended up kissing her cheek instead. He tasted the salty tears which streamed down her cheeks. He used his finger tips to wipe away the tears; but the tears kept flowing and then she gave a horrendous heart-breaking sob. His arms automatically wound around her, enveloping her in a firm embrace.

Hermione struggled against him, trying to push him away. "You bastard!" she cried as she pounded her fist against his chest. "What do you want from me?" She hissed angrily, as she tried to slap Draco on the face. "Get your filthy hands off me!" she continued to shout, her voice getting soar from yelling too much.

Draco just held her tightly, not saying anything.

"Please, just let me go." It was more than an hour when she begged in a small broken voice that was so unlike Hermione Granger.

The sobs went on for a long time . It was after a few moments before Draco realized she had already fallen asleep with her hands curled into tight fists. His shirt was soaked with her tears. He placed a hand on her cheek, and to his surprise, her skin felt hot. He quickly placed a hand on her forehead.

"She's running a fe ver." Without even thinking twice, he scooped her up and carried Hermione to his room. After placing her gently on the bed, he started to remove her wet dress. Draco couldn't help but gaze at the creamy smooth complexion of her skin, down to the long length of her legs.

"Damn!" he cursed silently. Draco tried to focus on her face instead, as he removed the rest of her wet undergarments, then covered her with the blanket. He went out of the room and returned a few minutes later, with a towel and small basin with lukewarm water. He sponged her face gently with the towel, then did the same treatment with her body. All the while keeping his eyes averted, Draco wasn't one to take advantage of a sick girl. He sighed deeply. "This is going to be a long night," he said with irritation.

He dressed her with his black robe then covered her again with the blanket. Afterwards, he removed his wet shirt and took a shower. Within twenty minutes, he was back in the living room, seated on the couch and staring at the flickering flames, a glass of brandy in one hand.

'Damn you, Granger, for making me feel like this.' His train of thought was filled with bitterness and anger towards her. After a few seconds, he made up his mind.

'Tomorrow, I'm going to put the memory charm on her and bring her back to wherever she came from,' he finally decided grimly. Satisfied with his decision, he went back to his room.

Seeing her looked so vulnerable in her sleep, he couldn't resist touching her cheek. His hand caressed her cheek for two seconds, then quickly jerked his hand away as if he was burned. He turned off the night lamp and went to sleep next to her.

***

"Hermione, you looked absolutely stunning!" exclaimed a shrill voice from behind.

Hermione, who wore a shimmery green sexy pull over style tube gown with a form fitting bodice, turned around to see who it was. The woman wore a red three piece gown, adorned with flame flower rhinestones with a sequined mask covering half of her face. Judging by woman's voice, Hermione immediately guessed who it was.

"Brown, Lavender." She smiled to the girl. She and the rest of them were all invited at this once-a-year special masquerade ball, hosted by the richest wizard in the Magical Community. It was nice to see a familiar face among the huge crowd.

Lavender quickly hugged her. "Oh, it's so nice to see you again!" She looked behind Hermione, "Where's your date?" she asked curiously.

"I went stag." Hermione smiled ruefully. "I even forgot this was a masked ball."

It amused her that Lavender was much friendlier than when they were both still at Hogwarts. She remembered how Lavender used to be practically inseparable with Parvati Patil.

"You looked great," Lavender cooed. "Besides, I hate this stupid mask anyway. I couldn't see a bloody thing!"

She jerked the mask off her face. Hermione noted that Lavender's pretty face was radiant with happiness.

"Lavender!" shrieked several girls from a distance. Hermione and Lavender were quickly surrounded by a group of tall European ladies. One of them, a blonde, hugged Lavender excitedly.

"Lavender! Ve missed you!" exclaimed the blonde.

Lavender responded eagerly, "I missed you all too. Why are you here?"

Hermione simply looked on with interest.

The blonde who hugged Lavender answered, "Ve are invited here for a month."

Lavender turned to Hermione and introduced her to them. "Hermione, they were my friends in Europe when I stayed there for a year."

She pointed to the blonde. "This is Cat." Then she pointed to the next girl in line. "Taeria, Eyela, Melinda, Pippy, Eterna, Amber, Lishel, Amalia, Allyana and Widgen."

They all nodded to Hermione and exchanged friendly greetings.

"I love your dress. It's very beautiful," said the brunette named Eyela to Hermione, who thanked her. Then all of them turned to ask Lavender, "Ver is your fiancee?"

Lavender pointed towards the bar, where a young man wearing a turban stood. "That's my fiancee, Malcolm Baddock."

The European ladies oohed and aahed upon seeing Baddock.

Hermione thought the name sounded familiar. She was about to say so when a burly man brusquely tapped her shoulder. All of them turned to look at the man.

Since the man was wearing a mask, Hermione couldn't see or recognize him. The man graciously bowed to her, then spoke in a thick accented voice, "I would like to dance ve you."

She cringed. 'Uh-oh. This the reason why I hated going to masquerade balls.'

She was about to refuse when a voice came from behind them. "The lady is with me."

Upon hearing this, the burly man glared at the intruder and upon seeing the steely glint in the other man's eyes, the burly man quickly bowed to Hermione and excused himself.

Lavender and the rest of the girls looked at the man curiously. The man was tall with a well-toned body, silky blond hair and an extremely sexy voice.

Lavender looked like she wanted to ask why Hermione had told her she had no date. Then she saw her fiance waving at her, she turned to Hermione and said, "I have to go. Talk to you later." She motioned at the European girls to follow her.

Hermione didn't even noticed that Lavender and the rest had left. She was too caught up with the man in front of her. When she realized that she was rudely staring at his face for several seconds, she blushed crimson red. Feeling nervous all of a sudden, she bit her lip. 'Granger, say something or he'll think you're an idiot.'

"Uhm, thank you." Her voice was a mere whisper. She was about to turn away when he spoke.

"May I have the pleasure of this dance?" His voice sent chills down to her spine.

"Okay," she agreed, her eyes intently fixed on his masked face. He gave his arm and she took it and felt the masculine hardness of his arm.

Once they were at the center of the dance floor, his right hand encircled her waist as she placed her left hand on his shoulder. They danced along with the rythmn of the music. As he whirled her around, she felt mesmerized by his eyes, it was icy gray and she felt drowning into it. She couldn't scrutinize his features since he was wearing a black mask. All she could see was his eyes and his mouth which was pressed into a thin line.

'He seemed very tense, I wonder why?' Hermiojne thought, as she felt the undercurrents coursing through him. His clenched jaw made her wonder why he was very angry at the moment.

'Strange, why would he be angry? He's certainly not angry at me,' she wondered, feeling confused.

She didn't exactly know why she felt so secure. And as the music continued, she placed both hands around his neck and lay her head on his shoulder. He instantly stiffened. Hermione didn't remove her head from where it was nestled comfortably on his shoulder.

'Who is this guy? Why does this feel so familiar? Why do I feel that I've been held like this before?' These thoughts swirled inside her head but she pushed them at the back of her mind. All that matters was she was in his arms.

It had been six months since he last saw her. He did place the memory charm on her and the Weasley girl got married to Potter without a hitch. He went back to his life and forgot about the cursed Mudblood. He certainly didn't expect to see her among the crowd, as he stood in a dark corner, leaning against the wall and bored out of his mind. Then he saw her and she took his breath away. She wore a dress which fits her perfectly and she wasn't wearing a mask.

Draco didn't have the slightest intention of coming near her, let alone dance with her, but when he saw someone about to ask her for a dance, it immediately galvanized him into action. He gave the man the deadliest glare he could possibly give; it was all he could do from ripping that man's throat. He was so shaken by what he felt that he didn't trust himself to speak to her. When she stared at him with those beautiful brown eyes, he had the strongest urge to scoop her in his arms and never let go of her. It was only his iron will which held him back. And when she thanked him and turned to leave, he was relieved, but to his horror, he heard himself asking her to dance.

It was a stupid thing to do. Once she was in his arms, it was both delightful and agonizing at the same time. He fought the urge to kiss her for he had promised himself not to touch her. 'She is nothing but trouble and should be avoided at any cost .'

But when she nestled her head on his shoulders, it was pure hell. He wanted to push her away for his good sense gets clouded with the heady arousing scent of her hair, smelling of wildflowers and strawberry. He gritted his teeth. 'Remember Malfoy, she's a Mudblood.'

At that exact moment, the music ended. When she realized the music had stopped and that she was still clinging to her, she immediately took her arms away from his neck. Hermione knew she was blushing but she looked at him straight in the eye. He merely nodded and walked away.

Hermione wasn't prepared with the overwhelming emotion she felt. 'Why do I feel so hurt? I just danced with the guy for five minutes,' she wondered in confusion.

She turned away as her eyes dulled with pain. She couldn't for the life of her understand why she suddenly felt a huge lump in her throat. To her horror, her eyes suddenly filled with tears and threatened to spill out. She quickly ran all the way to the hall and took her cloak and left the ball room.

'Why am I acting so pathetic? What the hell is wrong with me?' she thought with self-disgust. She flagged the Knight Bus with a shaking hand. Within seconds the Knight Bus appeared. She went inside and flopped onto a bed, then the tears finally spilled across her face unchecked.

"Who the hell is he? Why does he make me feel this way," she whispered sadly, as she covered her face with a pillow. A sob rose from her throat, as a wave of fresh new tears flowed down her cheeks.

'I'm not really the emotional type. I mean, I just met the guy. It wasn't as if he had proposed or something. So, why do I feel like I lost my best friend?' she asked herself, as she gazed at the window.

She had already stopped crying by the time the Knight Bus arrived at the doorstep of her flat. Lost in her gloomy thoughts, she wasn't aware of the shadow behind her. It was only when she felt someone breathing down her neck that she turned around.

"You!" She gasped. Before she could do anything, a clamp was placed on her mouth to stifle the screams and then everything went black. Her last thoughts were, 'Oh no, not again.'

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