A Piece of Forever

Disclaimer: I'm not JKR.

A/N: this is a sad chapter and i hope you guys won't hate me for all the sad things happening to our favourite couple but after this, i promise, things will start to get better. swear. don't hate me yet.

enjoy!


Chapter Twelve:


Draco couldn’t believe that Alyssa wanted to have the wedding in the bloody church.

She just couldn’t.

That church- it was his and Hermione’s alone. It was all they had left.

He objected but could offer no reason and so it was set. The wedding was to be held there.

Alyssa was excited, always meeting up with some person or the other for the wedding details.

Draco found himself wondering more than once- what would it be like if the one whom he was marrying was the one he loved? Would the wedding be any different?

He had promised Hermione a lavish wedding but she had laughed it off and said that a grand wedding would make no difference if you weren’t marrying the one you love- on the other hand, if the one you were to wed was your true love, a simple wedding could mean the world.

And then she had smiled at him; a smile so lovely that it offered no doubt that her true love was Draco and Draco alone.

A bitter and coppery taste welled up in the back of his throat as he watched pretty Alyssa flit and fly across the living room, chatting to different people, sampling different delicacies. It was only ten in the morning and his house was bloody market.

He wondered if he could love her if he tried.

The next moment, he wanted to laugh at himself for even wondering about that. Even if he tried the hardest that he possibly could and more, she would never ever, not in this life, not in the next, mean as much to him as Hermione, nor could he imagine himself feel the same for her as he did Hermione. It was just not possible.

“Draco, do you prefer cream or white ribbons?” Alyssa appeared, holding up two different coloured ribbons, smiling.

“You pick,” he sighed.

“But I love them both! How can I choose?” Alyssa whined.

Draco sighed again, feeling even wearier. “Cream is fine.”

Alyssa beamed. “Cream it is then!” she bent over and kissed him on the lips, before running across the room to tell the planner that cream ribbons were their choice.

Draco sank back into himself, feeling nothing but blissful relief as he let his regret and guilt surround him like a cloud of thick black fog, closing in on him until his entire body was consumed and lost.

~

She received the invitation to his wedding while eating breakfast. She had woken up late that day- it was already ten thirty. She had made herself a nice cup of coffee and picked up the pile of mail on her coffee table, the invite was the one on top.

She tried not to fall apart all over again, her fingers trembling as she opened the card.

It broke her heart utterly, completely, just like before, when she read the venue.

She felt a sob bubble up her chest and escape her mouth in an almost animal sound, gut wrenching and wet. She pressed her forehead to the smooth scented paper, her breathing ragged and wet. She shook with the effort not to cry, not to give in but she was tired of pretending.

Tears spilled over, smudging the words on the invite and she wished that if only it was that easy to smudge the truth, until it was too blurry to make out and you could lie to yourself that it didn’t say what it actually said.

She felt her knees weaken and her body letting go as she fell sideways onto the sofa, and she did not resist when her eyelids slipped down to plunge her world into darkness. For once, she was thankful for the darkness that surrounded her and she told herself to pretend that everything was all right, because if she chose to face the facts, she was afraid that inside, she would die.

~

Draco had made his excuses to Alyssa, saying that he was meeting Pansy for coffee. Then he owled Pansy and told her to make his excuses if Alyssa came looking for him.

He let himself into her apartment the old fashioned way, and then slipped the keys that she had given to him back into his pocket.

She was sprawled on the sofa, his wedding invite fallen on the floor. He noticed a cup of coffee on the side table, next to her pile of unopened mail. He pressed the back of his hand to the mug, noting that it was still vaguely warm, not completely cool yet, which meant that she had fallen asleep not long ago.

He checked the clock- it read ten fifty.

He tried to make as little noise as possible as he sank down to his knees next to her, to watch her sleep.

Right now, there was nothing else he wanted- he would be satisfied just to stand beside her and hear her breathe.

She was so close to him, close enough to touch, to hold. He held his breath as he leaned closer, afraid to breathe too loudly and wake her up. He moved his face over hers, barely an inch away; close enough to feel her breath fan over his skin, warm and wet.

His eyes roamed her face greedily, eager to drink in the sight of her.

He watched, his heart aching so painfully in a way he never thought possible, as a lone tear ran down the arc of her cheek.

He learnt from her that you do not have to be awake to cry.

~

Hermione sat up, a gasp escaping her lips at the familiar face looming over her. He yelped, falling backwards at her sudden reaction.

“Jesus Christ!” she screeched. “Are you trying to scare me to death?”

He laughed at her look of fury, a beautiful sound.

She felt big fat bubbles of happiness fill her chest and she picked up a cushion and hurled it at him, whacking him square in the face.

“You little witch!” He growled, chasing her around the living room as she screamed, trying to escape.

“Gotcha!” he yelled, cornering her and pinning her effectively to the wall.

She was panting, her cheeks flushed as she realized that she was being held prisoner by his body.

“I win,” He said huskily before dipping his head down to capture her mouth gently with his.

“No,” she murmured into his lips as she looped her hands around his neck. “I win.”

“Oh yeah?” his hands came up to frame her face as he kissed her deeper.

She smiled into the kiss. “Boy, you have no idea.”

He chuckled, pulling away. “Woman, I swear, you get hotter every time I see you.”

“Was that sarcastic?” she narrowed her eyes.

“No way,” he declared. “Even in your teddy bear pajamas,” He grinned teasingly. “You still incredibly shaggable.”

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. “You and your sweet talk, Draco. What do you want?” She crossed her arms and waited.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He pulled her towards him, settling her head over his heart. “Hermione, how could I want anything else, when I’ve got you?”

“Does Alyssa know you’re here?” Hermione asked the burning question.

“No, I told her I was meeting Pansy,” he admitted. “What should I have told her?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “That you were sorry?”

“Sorry for what?” he asked, frowning.

“Sorry that you can’t be a good husband that you should be,” Hermione said, “And it’s all because of me,” and then her throat swelled shut.

“No,” He said. “No, God, no. It’s not your fault, Hermione, it never will be. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s me.”

“You don’t understand, Draco,” she said. “If I was the good person you think I am, I would tell you never ever to look me up again, forget about me, forget about us, forget about whatever that happened between us and tell you to love Alyssa, but Draco, I’m not brave enough. I’m so scared if I do what I’m supposed to do, I might die inside.”

“Hermione, you are the good person, you can’t be anymore perfect than you already are, love. I can never forget about you, or us, or anything that has got to do with us for that matter! And I can never bring myself to feel for Alyssa the way I feel for you.”

She held up a hand to silence him. “Draco, listen to me. Nno matter what happens, I want you to love Alyssa.”

“No! What? Why?” He took a step back in shock.

“Look, you got her pregnant, Draco. She’s your responsibility. And so is the baby,” Hermione sighed. “There is nothing you can do about it.”

“Hermione, but I love you! How could you-” Draco said, his voice cracking.

“I know!” she shouted. “Haven’t you ever thought that this hurts me more than it hurts you? Fuck, I’m bloody well letting you go! I am asking you to love another woman, Draco, can you imagine how much it’s killing me?” She took a deep breath. “All I want is not to let another person get hurt.”

“Hermione,” Draco choked out. “You are letting someone else get hurt. And it’s me.”

“Draco, I’m so sorry,” she covered her face, her words punctuated with heavy sobs. “I have to do this. It’s for you. I’m doing this because I love you.”

“No, Hermione, you’re breaking my heart,” He whispered.

“No, Draco, I’m breaking mine,” she said and then continued. “And I’m setting you free.”

She turned and walked into her room, the door closing shut behind her with a click of finality.

Draco squeezed his eyes shut and leaned heavily against the door. “Hermione, God, Hermione, you can’t do this to me.”

On the other side, Hermione pressed her forehead against the wall. “But I’m doing it for you, Draco,” she whispered and outside, the sky turned an ominous black and the weather took a change for the worse.


~*~


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