The fear that is gripping my heart for most of these days is the possibility that you may die. It is funny how much I have denied the existence of having a heart until I felt it breaking.
No Fairytale Lasts Forever (T+)
He somehow expected that if he finally realized that the girl he was so completely entranced by was in fact Hermione Granger, he'd finally get a hold of himself. As fate would have it, Draco didn't see that happening anytime soon
Novelette
On Their Own Terms (M)
"Merlin, how could you not hate me? I was a goddamned coward! How could you not detest my entire existence? How could you –”
Hermione's hands reached out and grasped Draco by his shoulders, halting his pacing.
“Malfoy, look at me,” she said to him, firmly but gently.
He took a few more breaths and then looked at her.
“I need you to understand something,” she said, making sure they maintained eye contact. “I never blamed you for that night. There was nothing you could have done where it wouldn’t only put you, your parents, but Harry and the rest of us in more danger. You had no choice.”
Summary: An auror and a museum curator are on a mission to Barrymore Hall to investigate the suspicious death of Sir John Barrymore. Was it from a natural cause or was a spectral creature from a family curse the culprit?
Hermione and Draco work together to uncover the truth behind the legend to protect the new heir from the same fate. Throw in a few new twists, magic, and romance that make solving the mystery just a little bit trickier. The game is afoot!
Based on and inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Hound of the Baskervilles."
Takes place on the eve of Draco's and Astoria’s wedding. Preview of this new idea for a Dramione WIP swirling in my head...
“Why do you want to marry me?”
Draco Malfoy was staring at a dying flame at the hearth of the fireplace in his mid-century modern decorated living room holding a glass of Muggle bourbon filled to the brim. At first, he barely heard her.
“What?”
“Why do you want to marry me?”
There was no change to her volume, tone, or inflection of her question, but the words finally registered to Draco despite his alcohol-induced haze. He had not even heard her enter his home, but he turned to find his fiancée, Astoria Greengrass, leaning on the doorway that led to the foyer. She was wearing a hooded cloak over slate blue dress robes with her dark hair in low chignon at the nape of her neck, looking back at him with an unreadable expression on her face. In fact, she was practically stoic.
“What do you mean why do I want to marry you?”
“It’s a perfectly simple question, Draco,” Astoria replied, her expression still indecipherable.
Draco turned away, just wanting to get back to studying the fire fizzle out and downing glass upon glass of the bronze liquid as fast as possible. He didn't have the time nor the energy for this. However, his fiancée made no move to leave and remained standing in his doorway, her face impassive, yet expecting him to respond.
That was new. She usually left immediately when he refused to engage in conversation or dismissed her by turning his back towards her…but this time, he continued to feel her eyes on him. He cursed inwardly.
“You are seriously asking me this now?” Draco said irritated, turning to her once again and setting his drink down onto a console table situated by a velvet sectional. “On the eve of our wedding?”
Astoria went from leaning to standing straight and took a step towards him.
“Yes, Draco, now."
Almost immediately, the stoicity of her features dropped.
Her eyebrows knitted together and Draco inwardly winced at the sudden sharpness of her voice.
“Because for the past six months, you have spent every damn night gazing at a fire until it dies out, despite the fact that you can reignite it with a flick of your wand." She brandished her own and nonverbally cast Incendio towards the fireplace. The flames came roaring back to life. Draco bristled, but she wasn’t done.
“You constantly drown yourself in Muggle liquor because for some reason Blishen’s Firewhisky doesn’t cut it anymore!” She sighed heavily. “The rest of the time you’re like a ghost. You repeatedly ignore owls from Theo, Blaise, Pansy, and even your mother. You lock yourself in your townhouse for hours and when you do show up…you’re never really there. Your mind is always somewhere far away. I can’t watch you do this yourself another night. And goddamn you, I deserve a solid answer!”
“Because I bloody well wanted to! That’s why!” Draco yelled at her. “For Merlin’s sake – Astoria, you got your answer. Now, please leave me the hell alone!”
“Don’t talk to me like that,” Astoria snapped back. “And don’t insult my intelligence. We both know you didn’t want this. You again thought you had no choice so you did what your parents and what my family wanted… I was just stupid enough then to go along with it.”
She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Draco had denied it many times but she knew he had grown to resent her, whether consciously or subconsciously, because of the situation they were in. This whole mess had put a strain on their friendship. No matter how many times she had tried to show him she was on his side, his frustration always made him feel the need to attack.
“You’re one of my best friends, Draco,” Astoria said finally. “But we don’t feel – not for each other anyway. Not in the way that we needed to.”
“This is total bollocks,” Draco said to himself angrily. He made a motion to dismiss her. “And you’re being utterly ridiculous –”
“Do you love me?”
If anything could make Draco stone-cold sober for even just a moment, it was that question. He looked up at her to make out if she was serious as the dancing flames continued to cast shadows on her face.
She had never asked him that question before and they never discussed love; much less shared any enamored feelings for each other, despite being close friends. It just wasn’t an important nor a pertinent subject for either of their families. Whether it was clearly expressed or just implicit, they knew love, romantic love in particular, was never a significant part of the equation to gaining approval from the Malfoys and Greengrasses.
“W-what?” Draco sputtered.
“Let me rephrase. Do you actually want to spend the rest of your life with me?” Astoria said. “It’s another simple question, Draco.”
Draco ran an irate hand through his hair. A simple question? A simply loaded one at that, he was certain.
“I honestly don’t know where this is coming from, Astoria, and why, of all times, tonight,” Draco said exasperatedly. “Why would you think otherwise?”
