Remnants

REMNANTS
by Emaleth

GENRE: AU, Darkfic, Unresolved Sexual Tension.
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: So, Draco actually has a crush on Hermione and vice versa. But he\'s a Death Eater and she knows it. How much will Hermione give up to be with Draco? EVERYTHING! She gives everything up from her virginity to her friends, and even her soul. But is she the only one who is going to end up losing everything?
PAIRINGS: Draco/Hermione, Implied Harry/Hermione, Implied Harry/Ginny, Harry/Hermione.
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
AUTHOR NOTES: My first NC-17 ffic AND my first Draco/Hermione ffic. Bear with me on the cheesy pick-up lines (in the future chapters).

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CHAPTER 02- The Masked Dragon
(Wednesday. July 24, 1996)

It was another trip to Diagon Alley for Hermione Granger and unlike other students wandering about the alley whining that summer of fun and total brain decay was about to end, she, as usual, seemed very happy to be there. She had been in the Muggle World all summer since her parents had decided to ground her, asking her not to even think of anything magical and forbidding her see her two best friends, Harry and Ron, since the encounter with Lord Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic. Hermione felt that her parents did have a reason to be mad (she WAS almost killed!). Her summer was not half-bad anyway since she went on all the famous Muggle tourist spots in Europe and she was allowed to owl both her friends about her adventures.

After hours of pleading that morning, her parents finally allowed her to wander around Diagon Alley on her own if she was to be accompanied by the Weasleys. However, she forgot to mention one thing: they were to see each other at the Leaky Cauldron much later that afternoon and not that morning.

She originally planned to shop around with the Weasleys for Harry’s surprised birthday party the next week. Harry had also been stuck in the Muggle World (and with her aunt and uncle, to make it all worse than it possibly was) and the Weasleys decided to cheer him up by taking him to their home on his birthday and letting him and Hermioney wiy with them the rest of the summer.

She wanted to find Harry a birthday present and get a couple of books for herself. But if she were to walk around the alley with the Weasleys, She would not feel that great about it. Shopping with Ginny and her parents were just too tiring, as she felt bad that could not afford anything new. She also knew that people wouldn’t be staring at her (or her group) because she was wearing a pink T-Shirt and blue denim mini-skirt (which was not really popular in the Wizarding World) but because the Weasleys would be carrying items that would break in their hands as they take it out from the second-hand store. The last time the Weasleys were in Diagon, the cauldron that carried all the potions that they bought smashed to the ground, the potion vials with it. The commotion itself was embarrassing. Continuing to walk around after she and the Weasleys had turned a blue from the potion fumes made Hermione want to just bury her under the pavement.

So she first headed to the bookstore, Flourish and Blotts, since she knew it was one of the places that she could not bear be with the Weasleys in. She could finally skim through books without hearing someone say, “Not another book”, “what the bloody hell are you thinking?”, or “that’s not for us. We’re too young for that stuff.” She headed to her favorite area, the Incantations Section, and reached for the thickest book on the shelf at eye-level. However, she overestimated her strength for she dropped the book, and the rest of the books on that shelf, on the floor. Sighing as she kneeled down to gather the books she dropped, someone tapped her from behind and when she turned to face the person, she heard him say, “If it isn‘t Miss Smarty Pants.”

“Harry!” she exclaimed as she half-jumped towards him. “How are you doing? What are you doing in Diagon?”

“Nothing much. Just walking around.”

“Are you by yourself?” she wondered. “Don’t tell me you walkeoundound Diagon by yourself?!?”

“I am,” he answered coolly. “Hey, if I’m meant to die under the Dark Lord’s hands today, so be it.”

“Don’t even joke about that.”

“I am not. I am not joking about this either.”

Harry moved towards to her, closer than he had ever been before and Harry started to kiss her lips. His tongue was protruding iher her lips. Hermione did not pull back. She either did not mind Harry kissing her or was too confused to think.

“What was that for?” she asked after he pulled away.

“For being a great pal to me all these years. For being you, for being you and for allowing me glance at your god-like beauty.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow as she half-giggled. She moved closer to him as to place a book on the shelf and he, thinking that she was up for another kiss, locked her back into a passionate kiss. When he finally let go of her, she smiled.

“I don’t smell Butterbeer or any other liquor on you. Are you alright?”

“Never better, Granger.”

“Granger? When did you ever call me Granger?”

“I was trying to make it rhyme.” He turned away from her for a few seconds and said, “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“Really?” she asked. “What other surprise are you going to pop into my face today, Harry? I think I’ve had enough with you kissing me.”

“Well, I left in the Leaky Cauldron. I‘ve been there by myself.”

“Harry! Did you run away from the Dursleys again? Dumbledore must have been furious!!! You know…”

“Just… just come with me!”

“Fine. Give me a minute. I want to buy some books.”

“Yeah, yeah. Alright then,” he said as he hurriedly pulled keys from out of his pockets. “Meet me at room 13, floor 2. I really have to go.” He then stormed off.

Hermione found it quite odd since Harry was a gentleman and, unlike Ron, he usually waited until she was done with her purchases before leaving the premises. She continued to buy about three books, mainly non-school-but-still-makes-her-smart books. She paid for them and headed straight to the Leaky Cauldron.

She climbed two flights of steps, placed the keys in the keyhole of room number thirteen and took a few steps in. The room was exquisite. If she was to comparing it to a five star restaurant was an understatement. She was left in awe by the beauty of it

“Harry?” she shouted. “Are you in here?”

“In a second. Sit on the bed. And lock the doors for the meantime. I‘m undressed.”

Hermione sighed as she locked the doors and made herself comfortable on the bed. She rubbed her hands on the satin sheets, feeling the exquisite fabric as much as she can. She found it quite odd that Harry would order satin sheets since he used to say that “satin is for sissies” and that the statement was contradictory at that moment.

“Hermione.”

Hermione jumped up as she turned around to face Harry, only Harry looked very different. His hair was lighter than his usual black.

“Harry! Your hair!”

A demonic smile painted Harry’s face, and Hermione started to worry.

“Harry, what’s wrong?”

“Accio wand!”

Hermione’s wand flew from her pockets and to Harry’s hand. He threw it towards the opposite direction and away from her. He pointed his own wand at her, his hand trembling.

“Harry… what are you…”

“Stay quiet,” he said angrily. He walked towards her and she walked away from him. A few seconds later, he had forced her into a corner.

“Harry, stop it!” She shouted at him. “You are scaring me. Harry…”

Right before her eyes, Harry’s complexion changed from sun-kissed to pasty white and he had suddenly gotten a few inches taller.

“Who ever said I was Harry?” The voice changed and was both very familiar and ominous. His eyes seemed familiar but the difference was that the eyes were lighter than Harry‘s green, but it was as if there was a dark entity under it. A dark entity that was up to something. Seconds later, Harry’s tousled black hair became blonde.

“Malfoy! You creep, how dare you?”

“I see you love Harry enough that you’ll follow him anywhere,” laughed Draco. “A little lovesick, aren‘t we?”

“You sick prat. How dare you use a Polyjuice Potion to get to me? What do you want from me? Let me go.”

“I can’t,” he said weakly. “I can’t let you out of this room.”

“I won’t tell anyone! Just let me go.”

“You think it’s that easy? You get out of this room without me, you will be hurt.”

“Let me go or I’ll scream. Help! HELP!!!”

“Scream all you want!” he shouted above her breaking voice. “The walls are sound-proof. Listen! I do not want to hurt you, Hermione. But I have to do this.”

“If you‘re going to kill me, then do it fast. That‘s the least you can do!” By then, she had broken down in tears, shivering in fright, as she let her whole body crumble on the floor.

But Draco pulled her and hugged her, dropping his wand right on her feet as he wiped the tears from her eyes.

“I love you, Hermione,” he whispered on her ears. “I’ve loved you all these years and I’m sorry for every drop of tear you had shed because I’d been mean to you.”

‘Malfoy, loving me?’ she asked herself as she half-smiled.d I d I loved you too, if you were not the prat that you were.’

“I don’t believe you,” she spat at him, pushing him away. “You hate me! You called me a Mudblood. You have also threatened my life before!”

“I didn’t want to! I had to. If word got out that a Death Eater’s son loved a Muggle-born, father would have punished me. But thanks to you, he is in prison and I am now allowed to love who I love and be what I am born to be. Like father like son, Hermione. Well, soon enough I will be a Death Eater.”

Hermione was not shocked to find out, since she, Harry and Ron had deduced he was born one. But now that she had been assured, she knew he would kill her as an order from Voldemort.

“Do as your Master pleases you to do then. Kill me. Kill me and put me out of my misery. Do me one favor and make it quick painless.”

Draco kissed her softly on the cheek and looked her straight in the eye.

“The Dark Lord knew of my love for you. He wanted to kill me for loving a Muggle-born, for being a blood traitor. He wanted you gone for clouding his dreams for me. But I made a proposal to him.”

In her mind, she knew what the proposal was: that Draco was to eventually kill her, after hurting her or raping her, as to prove that he is worthy to be a Death Eater. But Draco continued.

“He knows I can’t bear to lose you. If He were to kill you, He knew it would anger me. I will lose his loyalty towards him. I told him, right at his face, that I would kill him with my bare hands if He laid a finger on you. He would not believe that I can prove that you have feelings for me. I know you like me and you will do anything for me. I even bet my life on it.”

Hermione was left speechless. The past five years he thought of Draco as spoiled, arrogant and cold. Now, she realized that he was just a boy, just like Harry and Ron, dealing with relationships or rather, lack of it. And here he is, no, not cold and numb like she thought he would be but actually pouring his inner thoughts, proposing his love for her. And even betting his life for her?

“I DO NOT HAVE FEELINGS FOR YOU,” she said to him slowly. “I don’t even like you one bit. I detest you.”

“No you don’t,” he argued. “That is what Harry and Ron made you feel. But you do not hate me. You do have feelings for me, I know it.”

Hermione wanted to change the subject but she knew there was no way out of it. Inside, she knew she had a crush on Draco despite the mean things he had said and done to her. But should she admit it? Should she admit that she does love him or should she keep her pride

“I have no feelings for you, Draco!” she screamed at him and turned away. “Besides, how am I to prove that I love you, when I don’t even know you? Your mere presence makes me want to vomit.”

“Then how come you’re not saying this to my face, Hermione?” he asked angrily. “You hate me for making you cry and making your life miserable. But I know, inside, you love me. You do.”

“You are a fucking liar Malfoy!” she heard herself shout. She couldn’t believe that she could shout that loudly nor that she could curse at all.

“You are the one lying to yourself, Hermione! You are betraying your own feelings.”

‘Lying to myself?’ she asked, but she knew she did not sound believable enough.

“Prove it, Malfoy! PROVE THAT I HAVE FEELINGS FOR YOU!”

Draco took a deep breath in and pulled out a piece of parchment paper from his pocket. There were writings on it: small, neat and cursive. Hermione knew it was her handwriting.

“Then what’s this, Hermione?” he asked as he unfolded the paper. He started to read:

“Let me be the princess, Rapunzel.
May you be my shielding dragon.
Imprison me in the high’st castle,
Hold me captive in thy dungeon.
May your tresses of golden silver,
Shine with my ordinary red.
And that would happen never ever,
But you will still be in my head.
Let your gray eyes cast me Imperio,
As to explain why I want you.
If a spell allows such, let it be so,
Control my senses, my heart too.
But what I want from you is verity.
I want you, in this love, take part.
Learn all there is to know about me.
Learn how to steal my longing heart.
Others will see this as but my dream,
Nothing, a worthless illusion
But things are never what they seem.
Still I hope in desperation---
That under the stellar skies we dance,
Our arms locked together as one
Leave me powerless in your trance,
Let all that existed be gone.
A solemn promise to you I give,
If chance will allow you be mine
For as long as we ever shall live,
My heart, my mind I give to thine.
I’ll promise to go where’er you go,
E’en betray who I am for you
My one, my only love, Draco,
I’ll do anything just to be with you.
H.G. Finished 1994.”

“That’s not mine!” Hermione refuted, but she knew thar chr cheeks were already red from shame. “It’s not.”

“I know it‘s yours,” he said as he waved the poem in front of her. “The initials: H.G. and hearts instead of periods. I know you wrote this.”

“How do you know I was not talking about someone else?”

“ ‘Golden silver tresses,’ ‘dragon.’ And ‘Draco’ was a dead giveaway. You like me. I know it!”

“That was then, Malfoy. Not anymore. I finally realized how much of a bloody bastard you are.”

“Sure,“ he joked sarcastically. “If you don’t have any feelings for me now, you would’ve picked my wand up minutes ago since it’s right by your feet. You would not have listened to anything I said either. I know you have feelings for me, Hermione. You do.”

Hermione hurriedly picked up the wand at her feet and stood up, pointing it directly at him. Her hands were quivering and though she knew many spells and enchantments, she could not think of one.

“What are you going to do, Hermione?” asked Draco, showing no signs of fear. “You won’t do anything.”

Hermione thought of spells but not a single one would pop into her mind. It was if all her knowledge about incantations had flown out her brain. The reason she could not think clearly because she was staring at Draco and everything she could lay her eyes on. No one can blame her though. He had a long, handsome, his eyes were piercing gray, and his skin was flawless. He was tall for a guy of sixteen, but he didn’t look awkward. He was neither skinny or big in build and though she could not see through his shirt, she knew his body was cut and built by his Quidditch practice.

“Hermione?” asked Draco. “If I can help you a bit, Stupefy or Petrificus Totalus are two examples of spells.”

She lowered the wand to her side, dropped it, and walked slowly towards Draco. She knew that there was no point lying anymore. She had a crush on him. She had feelings for him and she meant every line in the poem, even in the present. But she didn’t want to admit her feelings. She did not want to lower her pride.

A few seconds after she had dropped the wand, Draco trapped her in a passionate kiss again. She did not fight back and rather, looked into his eyes as she tried not to kiss back. She inched away after he Frenched her but Draco pulled her back towards him. He finally pulled away and traced the outline of her face with the back of his hand.

“You‘re beautiful, Hermione,” he said before kissing her forehead. “I love you.”

Draco started to move closer to her again but Hermione lightly pushed him off.

“We can’t do this,” she spat at him. “We can’t Draco. I… I…”

“Yes we can, Hermione. We can. Just…”

But Hermione had kicked on his knee and pushed him down on the floor, ran towards the door, picked up her wand and stormed out.

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Draco remained sitting on the floor minutes after Hermione had left. He felt defeated. He thought that he would be with Hermione by the end of that day. He thought that by that afternoon, they would have discussed about their lives, made out more, and he was optimistic about getting her to bed. He sighed as he thought of what Hermione would tell the others of their little meeting.

He knew the risks involved when she said no to him. Even if he continued to pursue her, she would be closely guarded by the Gryffindors and he would have no access to her. To make it worse, she would definitely tell the entire school that he was going after her. He would be the laughing stock of all Hogwarts and the target of the other Slytherins. But he didn’t care. He wanted her. And he knew she wanted him.

He slowly rose up and pick up his wand. He held it in his hand as he thought of the humiliation he was going to get once he walked through the Great Hall. He felt his face burn and his ears turn pink just thinking about it.

He walked out of the room, locking the door behind him before returning the keys to the innkeeper. As he walked towards the streets of the Diagon Alley, he pulled his hood up as to hide his red cheeks.

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Author Notes: Review please!!!
Might take me a bit longer to write the next chapter. I\'ll be waiting for more reviews first ^_^