Chapter Five

Draco was a stupid fucking clown.

There he laid, his head nestled in the crook of Hermione's neck, seemingly dead.

But Hermione refused to accept that. She kept smacking his back and pulling his fine, blond hair but he still wouldn't budge. Now if this had happened while the house wasn't collapsi –

Hey. It stopped.

From the top of Draco's head, she could see that the mansion has ceased its murderous intent and everything was once more at a halt. It may or may not have felt guilty about Draco's apparent murder.

Either way, there was one really pissed off Hermione Granger, crushed beneath Draco Malfoy's body. She finally – slowly – moved Draco off her and cradled him.

"Draco," she called urgently, wiping soot and dust off his cheek and forehead, "Draco, wake up."

He was unresponsive and eyes remained firmly shut. . She checked for signs of breathing and found that Draco had a pulse, but it was a very low, weak one.

Hermione withdrew her left hand from the back of his head to reposition him on the floor, and found that it was tinted with blood. Hermione's panic soared very quickly. It was a shallow wound, but she didn't want to take any chances.

She got up on her feet and ran upstairs, climbing through the ruins of the mansion. She very nearly tripped into the master bedroom, but eventually got what she came for. She secured Draco's wand under his pillow, and a vial of Essence of Dittany. She stormed her way downstairs – Draco fucking Malfoy better not be dead.

He was still stock-still, on the floor as if he was sleeping. If only he was, Hermione wished, if only he was.

She slid onto the floor next to him and dropped the Essence of Dittany onto his wound and watched it close and heal.

"Rennervate," Hermione muttered while pointing Draco's wand at his forehead. Light glimmered from the tip of the wand, but nothing happened.

Hermione frowned. She tried again.

"Rennervate!" she said, this time forcefully and full of feeling, channeling all her magic and hopes that Draco would just wake up to annoy her once more with his attitude, mixed signals and his ponderings on love.

Still, nothing happened.

"Rennervate! Rennervate! Renner-fucking-vate!"

Over and over Hermione cast the spell yet nothing happened. Grey eyes did not open to meet hers and she was scared.

Oh, wait, maybe his wand didn't work for her!

She pointed at a large part of the wall that was on the floor.

"Reducto."

And then it exploded into pieces. Hermione frowned at the wand in her hand and tried to levitate a smaller part, and it worked.

"Fuck, what's the matter with you, Malfoy?!" she turned to Draco and shook him. She performed a quick scan on him. When the wand scanned through his head area, it lit up a fiery red.

Hermione stared at him and started tearing up. If he was hemorrhaging internally, which was probably the case, she needed to get him medical attention fast but –

She glanced at the door, still sealed shut and there was no fucking way she would let Draco Malfoy die. Watching the door doggedly, she leaned towards Draco a dropped a long, ardent kiss atop his lips and lingered. She had no idea why she'd done that, nor how it happened but she ignored it for now, as the main priority was keeping him alive. They couldn't Apparate straight to St. Mungo's and so she had to try something else.

Standing up and walking towards the front door, she gripped the wand tightly and aimed in front of her.

"I'll get you out of here, Draco," she said through gritted teeth, "I swear."

Hermione's face was boiling hot and red in colour.

She'd tried every single curse known to her (which was a colossal amount) in attempt to break down the door but it just wouldn't happen.

She checked Draco's pulse every now and then and would die a little inside every time she thought there wasn't a pulse. It was there, faint … hanging on to dear life. A life that, somehow, was in Hermione's hands.

In all honesty, Hermione was terrified. Not because someone was about to die, but mainly because it was Draco that was about to die. The thought shook her to the core, as her mind strayed to imagine a world without Draco Malfoy.

In retrospect, until about a month ago, she wouldn't have cared if Draco was alive or not – she was ignorant about his life as much as he was about hers, no doubt. Sure, if either one of them had died, they'll probably spend a good few minutes thinking about what had happened at Hogwarts, and that was it.

Now … now it was different. She didn't know what it was but, everything has changed. She would care now if he died (Merlin forbid).

But nothing worked on the door and the windows. If she couldn't Apparate them both to St. Mungo's, she would at least need to be outside with Draco to be able to, and sending a Patronus whilst in this mansion would be useless because no one could get in and out.

"Fuck," Hermione hissed passionately as she wiped her sweat and watched Draco's chest rise and fall weakly. Hermione, on the other hand, was breathing rather heavily – in both anger and frustration – as she glared at nothing.

All of a sudden, she turned on her heels, raised her arms and looked at the ceiling.

"Take me instead! Take me, you piece of shit!" she started picking up bits and pieces of her ruined ceilings and walls on the floor and started to throw it at sporadic directions. "TAKE ME! Isn't that what you wanted?! Kill me and spare him! Killmekillmekillme!" she was jumping in frustration now as she ran out of rubble to throw.

Nothing answered and nothing happened. Something clicked in her brain and without thinking it through; she began to walk upstairs towards the second floor.

She was going to meet her.

It seemed preposterous, how this window would ever change anything. The only thing it managed to do was to endanger people's lives (Hermione suspected, after she was yelling at it the day before), and destroy shit. But this time, Hermione had nowhere else to go. It was worth a shot.

The house was dark and mostly in ruins, but the window was still the brightest and most pristine area of the house – it seemed to be glowing on its own, evidently due to some curious magic. That strange aura was also hovering around it.

"Look," Hermione stood right in front of her, staring straight into her amber eyes, "I don't know what it is you have against me, but can you please let us out so I can take Draco to the hospital? You're welcome to kill me some other time, I promise. I won't even resist. So come on. Let us out, then."

The lady stared back at her, unmoving but somehow alive. Hermione didn't want to ponder on how bizarre this all seemed, all she really wanted to do was to save Draco.

"Please, please," Hermione continued, in a softer, gentler – sincere – tone, "He might die, you know. He's hemorrhaging internally and … I really cannot do anything to save him right now, so he really needs medical attention. He will die if he doesn't."

It was quiet and nothing moved. Hermione was tired and frustrated, and was on the verge of breaking down. She slid down the floor opposite the window and sighed heavily.

Without any warning whatsoever, she started sobbing.

"Why can't you just – comply – for once," Hermione said through sharp intakes of breath and wiping of tears, "Just – this – once. I need to save him, Merlin knows why but I need to – so please."

Her sobs echoed throughout the entire mansion and that only made her cry more. Images of Draco began to flitter through her mind – his laugh, his smile, his nefarious attitude – and she really didn't want to lose that. Not this soon. Not this fast. She'd only begun to know him, how can the House of Destiny take away something so quickly?

"I read that you bring people together – those who are meant to be with each other, true love and all that crap" Hermione whined through her hiccups, "How can I even have that if you're taking that person away from me? I may halfway be in love with him and this happens."

"Please, please, let me get him to St. Mungo's before he dies, please, please," Hermione chanted, sniffing all the way, "I don't want him to die, please."

Hermione was muttering sleepily as she closed her eyes, suddenly tired from the tears and the rubble-throwing downstairs. She tried to convince the house to do something; she needed it to help save Draco. Dropping in and out of consciousness, Hermione's mind was filled with a gallery of Draco's face and she sighed before whispering, "I think I love him, for fuck's sake. Bloody hell, I think I love Draco Malfoy."

She was a few seconds into sleep then, before she heard a loud click on the periphery of her mind. The sound alerted her and she snapped out of her drowsiness and straightened her back. Following the loud click was a loud creak and Hermione instantly scrambled to her feet.

"Thanks!" she offered to the window before running downstairs to see that Draco was, mercifully, still breathing. That was the first thing she made sure of before noticing that the large, ancient door was no longer melted into the wall, but wide open, revealing the moonlight, clouds and the beautiful garden outside. Hermione understood; it was the mansion's way of telling her that they were free to go.

"I assume this means we can Apparate, too!" Hermione yelled to no one in particular and fell on her knees next to Draco. "Shut the door when we leave though, some people might intrude. Though … I don't think you'll have problems dealing with them."

She clutched Draco tight, shut her eyes and …

… felt that familiar pull of Apparition.

They arrived at the hospital, both in one piece, and Hermione rejoiced. Draco had enough damage done to him and Hermione really did not need him to get splinched.

They were smack dab in the middle of the busy hospital, and caught attention almost immediately. Within a few seconds, Healers came to take charge of Draco, and Hermione was finally, finally at ease.

She collapsed onto one of the waiting chairs and exhaled, sending a Patronus to Harry a few seconds later.

The Boy-Who-Lived emerged minutes later, hair ruffled, face serious.

"Harry!" Hermione stood up and threw herself at him, enveloping him in a tight, tight hug.

"Hermione, I'm so glad you're alright!" Harry squeezed her and added, "I did try to get you out of there, but there was nothing, believe me."

"I know, Harry, nothing could break the curse," she nodded and pulled away from him. "But I'm glad Draco's getting help now. I was so scared then, I thought he was going to die."

Harry's green eyes bore into hers, a knowing smile on his face but he said nothing. They sat next to each other, holding each other's hands, so glad that they were with their closest friend once more.

"So how did you do it, then?" Harry asked suddenly, breaking the minutes-long silence.

"Hmm? Do what?" Hermione looked up at him questioningly.

"Break the curse. How did you do it?"

"Umm, I, umm," she blushed furiously then, and did not know how to tell Harry.

Harry grinned. "So I take it you're in love with him then."

"I … I don't know," she shrugged and tried to push her confession earlier on at the house far, far away.

"Well, you have to be otherwise the curse wouldn't have broken. It had to be mutual. I read about it."

"Umm, I don't know, really. It was the heat of the moment kind of thing. I was desperate to get him help."

"Why were you desperate to save him?" Harry asked, an amused smile on his face.

"Because he was hemorrhaging internally, Harry! He could have died!" Hermione said exasperatedly, wishing she could escape this conversation. "Do we really have to talk about this?"

Harry laughed at her flustered face and put his arm around her shoulder, "Aw, come on. I was just teasing. It is truly okay if you're in love with him. He's a nice chap. A changed man but with some elements of the old Malfoy, though not entirely unlikeable."

Hermione laughed at that and shook her head, "I agree."

"So what now, then?" Harry asked. "Now that you two are out of the house?"

"I go back and fix it and … well, Draco can go on with his life."

"Are you serious?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "Why are you still so skeptical about this whole romance thing? It's right there in front of you, Hermione, take it!"

Hermione kept quiet and sighed heavily.

"I'm still not so sure. I'm stubborn, I know but … what if whatever we felt was only for the time we spent together? What if it … fizzles out now that we're free from each other?"

"Well, it's a risk you both must take but … if it's any consolation, a form of magic unknown to us, and very ancient one at that, knows that you both are for each other. It's never wrong, apparently."

"It's just really strange … it's …"

"Destiny," Harry nodded confidently.

"I mean to say it's too fast to say anything."

"Oh."

Silence.

"Well, if you insist," Harry said after a while, "Stay away from him for now, and then if you somehow find your way back to each other, or if these feelings still linger, then you know it's love."

Hermione's heart skipped a beat at that, for she suddenly remembered what Draco said once: Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

A Healer came out from the treating room then, and smiled at Hermione.

"Mrs. Malfoy?" she asked.

"Not yet," Harry sniggered next to her and Hermione elbowed him hard.

"Umm, nope," Hermione answered, and could only take the Healer's smile for good news.

"He seems to be doing fine, and he should be awake in a few hours," the Healer said, "You can go in and sit with him if you like."

Hermione stood up then and Harry followed suit, and the Healer left after opening the door for them.

Draco was still unconscious and Hermione really, really wanted to see those grey eyes again.

Harry was kind enough to stay with her, allowing her to not over-think about what to say to Draco once he wakes up. They chatted about work and the damage done to Hermione's house, and promises of a house-warming party soon.

"Speaking of which, I need to fix my wand," Hermione told Harry, "It's broken."

"Hmm, it might take a while if you want it fixed."

"Shit. How on earth am I supposed to get home and get to work without a wand?"

"Consider a replacement?" Harry suggested.

"No, Harry, I'd rather get it fixed. I'm so attached to that wand, it was my first."

"Then you wait," Harry shrugged.

A foreign voice joined their conversation, "And you can use mine while waiting for yours."

Hermione's head snapped towards Draco so fast that she almost sprained her neck, and her brown eyes met grey.

"You're awake," Hermione stated.

"I was, for quite a while, but then listening to you two got extremely painful," Draco drawled.

"Malfoy, you wanker," Harry laughed and stood up to walk to his bedside.

"Ah, Potter, creative as usual," Draco grinned at Harry.

Hermione was fidgeting as they both conversed casually, and she really, really, wanted to not be here. Could she really want to be with Draco? She didn't know. This was not the place to think of such things. She needed some space to think about it, long and hard.

"Draco, I'm so glad you're alright," Hermione interjected, and the both of them looked at her. "Thank you for saving my life. However, I cannot stay and … umm, well, bill me later? And I'll return your wand soon."

"But Hermione -" Harry started, but Hermione shook her head.

"Bye, Harry," she said and looked at Draco, "Draco, I'll see you around."

He nodded and smiled and that smile was the last thing Hermione saw before she Disapparated.

2 weeks later …

"I mean, what the fuck was I thinking, right?" Hermione told the window, one of her most favourite places to rant now. "I know I'm stubborn but … I ran! Me! Hermione Granger. I ran."

She sighed. "And I'm sure everyone would think Draco Malfoy would be the one who'd run first. To be honest, I don't know why I ran. Call it a momentary lapse of judgment. He must think I'm mental."

It had been two weeks since Hermione had run away, like the coward she never knew she was. She was a 'distancer' and she knew it. She'd been so scared of losing herself after so long that she sabotaged her almost-something with Draco. She wanted to see him, she really did, but she was scared of that too.

"Oh dear God in Heaven, help me," she mumbled angrily and pulled on the carpet she was sitting on.

"Hello? Hello? Excuse me, we're from Comedge! We're here to fix up your new door that you ordered!" Someone called from downstairs.

"Ah, yes! New doors!" Hermione got up and ran downstairs.

With a wand, Hermione easily fixed the damage, except for the doors. She ordered new ones and got her wand fixed on the same day last week. Since then, she'd been holding on to Draco's wand … until when, she didn't know. Until the house tried to kill her again, she supposed.

Hermione greeted the rotund men at the wide-open door. She'd left them open as she was expecting them already.

"The light brown one goes on the third floor, you won't miss it. It's the only room without a door. This one's for the second floor, next to a stained glass window of a lovely woman," Hermione told them.

They set to work and got it done fairly quickly, and when she was sending them off at the entrance, Draco Malfoy was standing in the garden.

"Hello," Draco greeted and nodded at the workmen.

"Ah, hello!" Hermione said, heart suddenly beating a billion times faster, her throat thickening. "How are you? How's the head?"

She tried to keep it as casual as possible but she was really beginning to find it hard to swallow.

"Fantastic and all good," he smiled and touched the back of his head lightly, "And yourself?"

Suffering. Craving and wanting you here. The house feels empty without you. I want to try to be with you but I'm a bit of a stubborn idiot, despite how clever I am.

"Great," Hermione smiled, "Come in."

"I shan't be long, I've only come to pick up my bag of … hate and snobbery, as you call it," he winked and stepped into the threshold.

"Oh, yes, that," Hermione nodded and recalled seeing it plenty times on the third floor near the bedroom. "I was meaning to umm, umm …"

Draco waited patiently for her to finish her sentence.

"I was going to contact you," she said truthfully, "I just didn't know what to say."

"Right," he nodded, smiling, "I understand. I'll just go get my things and be on my way."

"All right. I haven't moved them, so you'll find them at the place you left them."

"Of course," Draco nodded and jogged up the stairs.

Hermione waited until he was out of sight before she too, jogged up the stairs, only she went to the second floor.

"Fuck, he's here! Is this your doing, too?!" Hermione pointed at the lady at the window. "I said I wasn't ready for fuck's sake!"

"Now what do I say? Oh, shit. Oh, shit," Hermione paced and tapped her forehead, "I mean, I really am not ready for this, can't you see?"

"What was I supposed to say – umm, Draco, I've been such an idiot. I think I really am in love with you and not because of how close we were for a month, I really feel that way and I'm such a coward and so on and so forth, FUCK! I can't do this."

"Um, Hermione?" Draco emerged from the stairs.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucking hell.

He walked up to her with his bag of whatever and raised an eyebrow.

"Were you talking to the window?" he asked.

"No."

Did he hear that bit? Fuck. Fucking fuckity fuck.

"You were. I saw you."

"Um, I do that, sometimes. The old housekeeper said it was good … that I must keep a good, healthy relationship with the house."

"Right, I'm going to go," Draco announced and spun on his heel.

"Okay, see you. Umm, house-warming party next Saturday."

Draco didn't say anything, merely disappeared down the stairs.

"Fuck, I blew it once more," Hermione hissed and turned to the window, "Right, could you kill me now? Please? This time, I beg you to please, please kill me."

"Really, what the fuck are you doing?" Draco's voice came from behind her and she jumped a mile.

"I'm talking to the window," Hermione answered monotonously.

"Right. I'm going to go ahead and say it; are you quite done with your little experiment with this propinquity effect rubbish?" Draco asked, crossing his arms.

"What do you mean?"

"Surely, this … staying away from each other with little to no contact must be a silly little experiment of yours, isn't it? To see whether we really do feel for each other or not?" Draco said, his face very serious.

So was that it? Was that what Hermione was doing? Conducting an experiment to find out whether she really was in love with Draco? But she knew that the second she left the hospital, only she was too chicken shit to do something about it.

"No …?" Hermione wasn't sure how to answer, now that Draco literally answered her unspoken question.

"So … you'd rather tell your feelings to a window, but not to me? I'm right bloody here, Granger."

"I'm in love with you!" Hermione said – no, shouted – at Draco.

And he snapped his mouth shut.

"I was a little dubious about the feelings we had for each other, and I thought that if we stayed away from each other, it'd go away. But I guess the reason why I kept your belongings and your wand still is because … in the event that I do prove this destiny crap to be absolutely false, I'd still have a reason to … to umm, to get to you."

"Well, that worked. The first time, and this time," Draco answered quietly.

Hermione knew – that at that moment, her eyes were shining brilliantly. Her knees were shaking quite alarmingly, and she moved to the wall to support herself.

"I'm sorry, my knees can't stop shaking at the sight of you," Hermione huffed out truthfully and laughed.

"That's quite all right," Draco purred and then suddenly, he was right in front of her. "I'll make it so that you won't be able to stand."

"With a kiss?" Hermione asked, somewhat hopefully.

"With a kiss," he nodded and crushed his lips against hers. It felt like years since she'd kissed Draco's lips – the last time was the strange kiss she'd given him when he was unconscious and it didn't feel half as good as this, when it was returned.

They kissed slowly at first – like kissing on a first date – but Hermione supposed that their storyline was too unconventional to allow a first date kiss. It ignited a slow fire deep within Hermione and the longer they kiss, the bigger and hotter it got. What were shy touches here and there developed into aggressive clawing as they suddenly felt possessed. Their kisses got hungrier and hungrier, both drinking off each other like parched travellers, and soon, Hermione was hoisted up against the wall, legs around Draco's waist.

"Okay," Draco pulled away, "Maybe it won't end with just a kiss."

"I thought as much," Hermione panted, fingers buried in Draco's hair. "But maybe … maybe not here."

"Why not? Aren't you comfortable?" He smirked and pushed his body onto hers, and Hermione shivered deliciously as he rubbed her in the best ways possible.

"I am but …" she shut her eyes as Draco commenced that thing with his hips, "She's watching."

Hermione opened her eyes to watch Draco turn and look at the lady, who was ostensibly watching them with amber eyes.

"Let her watch," Draco shifted his smouldering gaze towards Hermione again, "It's what she wanted."

"No," Hermione gasped as Draco kissed her neck seductively, "It's what I wanted. It's what I want."

Draco paused and pulled his head back to look at her in the eyes.

"Really?" he asked, "Are you sure?"

Hermione nodded and caressed his cheek.

"It's what I want, too," Draco confessed and kissed her once more.

They continued ravishing each other and Hermione was becoming more and more distracted by Draco's ministrations, but she managed to gasp out, "We … should move …"

"Why, love?" He whispered silkily into her ear as she unzipped her skirt and let it fall to the floor. It was kinky being watched by some sentient being, but the fact that they were half dressed made it even kinkier – Hermione's skirt was kicked elsewhere, and hands were up her blouse – caressing, stroking and burning. Draco's shirt was half off and his pants were – well, Hermione didn't know where she threw his pants to. Her panties were ripped off and his boxers were violently pulled down and Draco began to tease her by undulating against her.

It was so hot – so hot that she felt feverish. It felt as though they were running out of air but she welcomed it, content to live on Draco. But she couldn't wait, she needed him. He was one thing she never knew she needed and now that he was here, she couldn't wait.

"Come on," Hermione kicked him slightly in the back of his thigh, "Come on, come on."

Draco chuckled darkly and finally relented, giving them both what they needed. He pushed into her and every part of her sang blissfully. They pushed and pull, both hovering over the edge of ecstasy and Hermione opened her eyes to watch the beautifully pained expression on Draco's face.

Her eyes then locked onto the stained glass window behind her and caught amber eyes.

"This is kinky," she gasped out.

Draco then touched her cheek and moved her face so that she was facing him, looking into grey eyes.

"This is destiny," he whispered, and with one final push, they both fell over the edge of seventh heaven.

Hermione swore she saw the lady's face shift into a smirk after Hermione cried out so loudly that it echoed throughout the entire mansion.

Next Saturday

"Ah, Greta! You made it!" Hermione exclaimed as Greta walked into the crowded mansion. "I wasn't sure you got the message about the house-warming."

"Oh, I did and I see that you," she watched Hermione and then glanced at Draco, who was talking to some other people, "And your destiny have found one another."

Hermione reddened at that, "I suppose so. It took quite a dramatic feat to get us together, though. Not to mention dangerous. Perhaps the house dislikes me compared to its previous owners."

"No, no … The house knows. It always knows. It knew you were a stubborn one, and it knew that only by doing what it did, that you two would finally acknowledge what was long dormant," Greta said with a knowing smile and then winked, "Now if you don't mind, I think I see champagne."

Hermione stood there by herself and laughed, "I see."

Warm arms wrapped around her from behind.

"Now what are you laughing about by yourself?"

She turned and wrapped her arms around Draco, his grey eyes twinkling.

"I hold destiny in my hands."

THE END!
Well, hope you enjoyed reading that, I certainly enjoyed writing it.
Review! It's your destiny to review as much as it was your destiny to read this! Hint hint.