Chapter 22: Headaches, Heartaches & Epiphanies
This chapter is dedicated to GryffGirl7 because she actually made me a Hogwarts accteptance letter. One of the best surprises I've ever gotten. Thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much.
Hello! A HUGE thank you to everyone who wished me happy birthday and voted.
I [3 the song on the side. rockthesmurf, its not a 1D song this time, so you can sigh in relief :)
I thought the picture kind of goes witht the chapter.
There are two little questions at the end of this chapter. It would be wonderful if you's answer them :)
Enjoy!
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Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real -- Iris Murdoch
The next morning, Hermione woke up with the worst headache she had ever experienced. And the bright sunlight steaming though the window certainly did not help her throbbing head. Closing her eyes, she wondered why she had such a terrible headache when she suddenly remembered the party they had attended last night.
“I must have drunk a lot,” she thought. “I don’t remember anything. Gah! Why is it so sunny?”
Suddenly, her eyes shot open as she realized that her room didn’t have a window that faced the east side and that she was therefore in someone else’s room. A frantic look crossed her face as she began to remember bits and pieces of the night before.
“Oh Merlin! Please don’t let have happened!” she prayed frantically. A sigh of relief passed her lips when a peek under the covers confirmed that she was indeed wearing her clothes. She then tentatively walked out of Draco’s room and into the living room. She was almost to her room, when Draco’s voice stopped her.
“You’re up! Good. I thought I’d have to leave a note or send a patronus,” Draco called out as he walked out of the kitchen. “Breakfast is in the kitchen and so is the hangover potion. I figured you might need some of it. Like a cauldron full of it,” he added with a smirk.
“Uh, thanks,” Hermione replied trying to judge the possible levels of awkwardness between them. “Um…so…about last night…”
“Hermione, don’t worry about it. We were both drunk. And this is not the first time in history when drunk people did things that they wouldn’t normally do when they are sober. So, it’s all good. Don’t worry about it,” Draco cut in as he began putting on his shoes. “I have to go and explain to my father why I skipped the last conference. I honestly don’t know how he just heard about it today. I swear we have a bunch of morons working in our company.” Fastening his cloak, he continued, “You missed the howler father sent. That was one heck of a howler. Though it didn’t surpass the one that Weasel got in second year. Anyways, see you later.”
Hermione just remained rooted to the spot. She couldn’t decide if she was relieved that everything had worked out so well or disappointed that she was the only one affected by the events of the night before. Unable to decide, she chose to drink the hangover potion instead.
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That evening when Hermione returned from work, she found Draco waiting for her in the armchair by the fire.
Closing the door to the apartment, Hermione asked, “So, how did the explaining go?” After seeing Draco’s blank look, she added, “Um, you went to explain to your father why you skipped the conference. Right?”
“Oh. Yeah. That. That went well. It wasn’t too important of a conference,” Draco replied absentmindedly, his mind clearly elsewhere.
“Okay, then. I’ll go to my room now,” Hermione declared awkwardly, feeling as if she was speaking to a wall.
“The New Year’s Ball is tomorrow,” Draco declared out of the blue.
“Huh?” Hermione asked, completely oblivious as to why this was so important.
“The annual New Year’s Ball is tomorrow, That’s when they decide who the Witch and Wizard of the year are,” Draco elaborated, still staring at the fire as if they were having a staring contest.
“Oh. Okay. That’s g--- Oh,” Hermione came to a stop when she realized the significance of the event. “So…uh…tomorrow is it then?” she asked internally dreading the answer.
“Yes,” Draco replied curtly, staring at the fire like it was the most intriguing thing in the world.
“Oh,” was all Hermione could utter. After standing in silence for a few minutes, Hermione turned to go to her room when Draco spoke, breaking the silence.
“Hermione?”
“Yes?”
“Tomorrow, wear that white dress I got for you at Vivienne’s.”
If Hermione thought it was an odd request, she didn’t let on. Instead she replied, “Ok. Goodnight, Draco,” and softly shut her door behind her.
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Half and hour later, as Hermione lay on her bed, trying to fall asleep, she began thinking about what will happen after tomorrow. And while she was thinking this a profound thought struck her. She realized that although she and Draco had only spent a few weeks together, most of which they had spent by insulting each other and making sarcastic comments, she could not imagine life without Draco Malfoy.
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I know this chapter wasn't exactly that long, but I prosmise the next one will be considerably longer.
So, now to the questions...
1) Do you think I should enter my story in the watty awards? I know the chances of winning are basicaly nonexistant. But should I enter anyways?
2) This story is coming to an end (6 more chapters!!!), so which cover do you like the best?
a. The first one (Draco and Hermione)
b. The second one (just Hermione)
c. The current one
Oh, and I initially wrote that Cho Chang had a flower shop, but now I changed it so that the flower shop is Hannah Abbotts. Because Cho Chang will play a bit of different role...any guess as to what she will do?