I want you
By Kiska King
Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling, so I don't own Harry Potter, or more specifically, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy.
He trudged through the lonely streets, despondent and alone. He had lost everything. His friends, his family, his hope…he lost it all when he made the stupid decision to allow himself to be manipulated. He pushed his once perfect hair out of his slate gray eyes and smiled bitterly. 'At least there're no more tears." Movement caught his eyes. A girl in a swing. Slowly moving back and forth, dragging her feet in the sand beneath it. He recognized that mop of unruly brown hair, that slight form...
He walked over to the swing set. Sensing his approach, the girl looked up, revealing red-rimmed brown eyes.
"But…you…Malfoy?" she stuttered out. "Where…why?"
"Granger? Is that really you?" he asked her. He had too many hallucinations of his former classmates to trust what he saw at first.
"But…you killed him…you killed him! Why? Oh, God, why?" she cried out, her hands gripping the chain on the swing.
"I…don't…know…" he stumbled to find the right words, but failed miserably.
"You don't know?! You don't fucking know?! You killed the greatest wizard alive, and you don't fucking know why?!" Granger shouted at him hysterically.
"I didn't kill him!" Draco growled through gritted teeth. "I didn't kill him… I wasn't going to. Everything would have been fine…but Snape. Snape ruined it all. Snape killed Dumbledore."
"Snape? Snape did it?" Granger's tears fell again.
He couldn't take it. He hadn't ever been nice to Granger at school, but he knew what it was like to be torn apart inside. He picked her up off the swing and held her limp form close as sobs convulsed through her body.
She raised her head to look into his eyes. Shakily, unsteadily, she brushed away a stray hair from his face. As she did, he caught her hand and stared at the gold band on the ring finger.
"Ron. Ron asked me to marry him. After Dumbledore…after he died," Hermione whispered.
"Oh," Draco whispered softly. He knew he should leave. He knew he should walk away.
"Draco," she whispered his name softly. "Don't leave me. I think…I think I love…loved you."
He looked down at her in confusion. "Loved?" He didn't understand. She hated him. They insulted each other non-stop. He was responsible for the death of her idol. He was a pureblood prick. She was pure, and good, and sweet, and smart, and deserved better than him.
She just nodded. "I realized it in sixth year. Before it happened. In Slughorn's class. The Amortentia smelled like you. I couldn't get it out of my head. Then I thought you killed Dumbledore. And Ron was there, and I needed someone. I didn't want to be alone," she hugged herself tighter to him. "I don't want to be alone."
"Hermione." He had never said her name aloud. It felt right, felt intimate. It felt good. "I think I loved you, too."
She looked up at him again. "Loved?" her voice cracked.
"Loved," he nodded. "But, you deserve better than me. Hermione, you're married to Ron!"
"No," she shook her head. "I turned him down. I didn't love him like that. But, I kept the ring. I didn't want any suitors."
He smiled. "You still deserve better than me."
"I may deserve better than you, but I want you," she told him. Without warning, she pulled down his chin and kissed him, forcefully. It wasn't sweet, it wasn't lusty, it wasn't neat and perfect. It was angry and loving at the same time, and Draco surprised himself by kissing her back.