What Good is a Heart

Draco sat up and picked her up in his arms as he carried her gallantly through the crowd who were watching in silence with shock and awe. She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing her face closer to his, not wanting to see the eyes of the people who made way for them as he carried her through. Hermione felt every beat of his heart pounding against her own,ningning against his strong firm chest so warm and safe against her.

“Draco, wait…” she whispered into his ears as he looked at her and let her down. She could not just walked away without saying something to the people who have always stood by her side.

She walked up slowly to Ron who had his back towards her, facing the burnt altar, fighting hard to keep his tears from flowing with the unbearable pain stabbing through his heart.

“What, Hermione? What do you still want?” Ron asked coldly as he heard her footsteps walking towards him.

“I’m sorry, Ron…” Hermione said softly with real sadness behind her words.

“I don’t need your sympathy!” Ron roared as he whipped angrily to face her, his eyes wide opened with rage.

“I know you won’t ever forgive me, but…” Hermione continued hesitatingly.

“Forgive you? After you humiliated me in front of everyone?” He shouted back loudly.

“…But I hope that one day you will understand.”

Ron slapped her so hard that tears immediately came down her flushed stinging face.

“How dare you say that to me, Hermione?” Ron yelled at her bitterly, his own face as red as hers.

She looked up at him without saying a word, as she felt the sting on her cheek spreading all over her.

“It’s alright, Ron…” she finally replied softly with a sigh. “I can never be mad at you.” She paused to take in a deep breathe. “And one day, you may actually be thankful.”

“Why should I ever be thankful for this complete utter mortification?”

“Because you don’t love me.”

“How can you say that, Hermione?”

“You merely want to be in love with me, Ron. You want things to turn out how everybody wants them to turn out…But you never loved me.”

They stared at each other in silence as the warm summer breeze succeeded in finding its way into the church.

“Goodbye, Ron…” Hermione finally said with a genuine smile creeping slightly along the edge of her lips.

“Goodbye, Harry…” she added melancholically with a sweet linger in her eyes, as she turned to say goodbye to the dark brunette who was her best friend and had been watching all this time. “I’ll miss both of you…”

And Hermione was sure she saw Harry giving her a slight nod before she turned and walked back towards Draco who held his hand out waiting for her.

{What good is a heart, if you’re not gonna use it?}

The platinum blonde swept her off her feet and carried her in his arms again as he walked down the aisle towards the grand church door. Everyone watched without as much as a whisper as he carried her across the hall. Her hair hung messily over his arm, her wedding gown crumpled and torn as they revealed her smooth naked skin beneath, its long floral train draping dirtily on the floor as they walked passed. Yet her eyes had never been this bright and beautiful before. Hermione smiled at him sweetly, never taking her gaze away from his, as she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck and pulled herself closer to his face.

“Draco, do you…” she began to ask.

“I do,” he replied unhesitatingly, his voice low, warm and confident, without ever waiting for her to complete her question. It didn’t matter what she actually wanted to ask anymore, or what the original intention of her question had been. He looked at her as he carried her out as if waiting for her response. She watched strands of his blonde hair fall gracefully over his sharp, delicate features; how beautifully they framed his face. She noticed the rosy hue of his lips against his flawless skin and how beautiful they brought out his silver grey eyes.

“I do,” she whispered softly against him, as tears of joy began to rim the edges of her eyes, and he carried her through the opened church door and out into the warmth of the summer sun.

It was a beautiful day.

{What good is your love, if you\'re too scared to choose it?}

“Does this mean I just officially became a Malfoy?” She asked him teasingly with a smile across her face as he carried her through the grass field.

“Hell, no, Granger!” He replied in usual arrogant tone. “I’m just going to ravish you until you get tired of me.”

“Well, then, alfoalfoy,” she answered him, enunciating his last name in a familiar cynical manner, “I think you’ll have to wait in vain…Because I’ll never get tired of you!”

“Never?” He asked her, raising his eyebrow cockily.

“Never.”

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to try harder!”

And she squealed as he leant down to kiss her and his strong fingers tickled her forcefully, following the gentle soft curves of her body that were now his and his alone.

Although there may be obstacles and a long journey ahead, on that warm summer afternoon, the wind carried the sound of their playful laughter and happy frolicking without a care in the world.

And as long as he held her hand, the fire in her heart will keep her alive.

{If your heart is beating, then it\'s for a reason}

Ron stood by the terrace outside the church, fighting hard to hold back his tears as he watched Draco carrying his bride away in his arms across the grass field. But his eyes became wet anyway with the dust that the wind blew into them. Yet, despite the pain in his eyes, he kept watching them disappearing into the distance, watched how her hair blew messily in the wind and her beautiful white wedding dress dragged messily along the dirty earth. And he wondered.

He wondered if Hermione ever knew that it was the dragon that came to rescue the princess.

He wondered if she ever imagined that one day, she would lose her heart to the boy who called her a Mudblood at eleven.

And Ron wondered if she ever dreamt that she would love him so much – so much that she was willing to leave all her friends and lover behind - and still walked away with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

Ron looked up to the bright blue sky above and sighed. There were too many questions in need of answers. Perhaps life was never meant to have answers. Perhaps life was never meant to be simple. Maybe, in the end, all that we can do is just to keep living. To take things as they come and never look back.

And as he wondered, he saw Ginny in her beautiful peach dress, long red hair and white ribbons dancing wildly in the wind, as she stood by the tall stone pillar across the terrace watching him. His deep blue eyes locked against hers, eyes as vivid and blue as his own. And he finally realized, at that very moment, that he had understood what Hermione had meant all along.

{If you’re not even willing to start, what good is a heart?}