I was watching “Cinderella Story” with my sister, and I heard this song…I’ve always loved it, so, as I always do with songs I love, I searched the lyrics. As some of you may know, I have a Guardians of Time version of this fic, too, so I was searching in my mind a pairing for either this or GoT that could fit this song. Obviously, I found it. So, please, enjoy this, as I’m in quite a romantic mood at the moment, and only wish that I wasn’t away from home and my “Prince Charming”. And as most of you now know, whatever mood I’m in is usually reflected in my writing. Since I need to give you all a brief (yeah right) history lesson on stuff that probably never even happened, it’ll take a while to get to the song, just to warn you. I’m starting to doubt my skill as a Harry Potter writer……………nobody seems to review my HP fics anymore…………………………………

Chapter 25

I’ll Be

Summery (cuz I just feel like putting one here): This is quite AU, and takes place after the last chapter of DH but before the epilogue. We know that Harry and Ginny got married and had kids, and that the same happened with Hermione and Ron. We also know that Draco got married (though it’s not said in the book to whom) and had a son. But what we didn’t know is that, before all that happened, Hermione and Draco had a small affair…Some things in the song don’t totally match the story, but isn’t that how it is with most songfics?

Hermione sighed, looking for the last time around her old dormitory in the school which had given her some of the best years of her life. Sure, those years weren’t without their trials, but hey, it wouldn’t have been as much fun if those weren’t there. She remembered with a smile the crush she’d had on Draco Malfoy when she’d first come to Hogwarts, only to discover later on that he really wasn’t who she’d hoped he’d be. Once that dream was shattered, she felt very much like Ginny had when she’d found out that Harry hadn’t felt the same way about her as she did about him.

Just like Ginny, Hermione had moved on from Draco. But, also like Ginny, she’d never given up hope that she may someday have her wish.

The sound of the door opening brought Hermione back to Earth.

“ ‘Mione?” a familiar voice asked. “You almost ready to go?”

“Yeah,” she answered. “Just give me one more minute, Ginny.”

Ginny shrugged and left, closing the door behind her. This made Hermione think of how things had gone now. After many years of trying (and failing miserably) to hide it, she and Ron were together. Since Voldemort was gone, Harry had finally taken Ginny back, much to Ron’s dismay. Ron still hadn’t gotten over the heartbreak his best friend had bestowed upon his sister. He soon got over this, however, when he saw how happy Ginny became once she and Harry were an item once more.

Suddenly, Hermione felt a tear trickle down her cheek. She had no idea why she might be crying, except for the fact that she was about to leave behind six years of her life forever. Oh, but they were six years she’d never forget. How she’d come to the school thinking she knew everything about anything to do with magic; how she’d not thought much of Ron at first, and felt the need to prove to Harry that, even though he was famous, she was really good at magic and knew all about him; how she’d tried desperately to make friends that first year, and then became quite close to the last two people she’d think of.

Then her heart almost stopped beating as she remembered the first time she’d seen Draco…she’d always had a thing for blondes. The way his face would sneer, but his eyes would betray him. His beautiful, stormy gray eyes…She knew that no matter how he acted on the outside, it wasn’t how he truly felt on the inside. After she saw how horrible his father was, and once she found out that Lucius was a Death Eater, she truly felt bad for Draco. She knew that Draco’s opinions would be largely influenced by his father.

As soon as Hermione figured all this out, she knew that she would wait for as long as it took for Draco to become his own person. In the meantime, however, she also knew that it wouldn’t do to either dwell on him or to let it known that she had feeling for him. After all, he was Slytherin’s “prince”, and she was just the know-it-all from Gryffindor who happened to be part of the “Golden Trio”, a fact that only hindered her chances to be with him.

Ginny came back in the room. “Hermione, the boys are getting worried about you, and you know how Ron gets when he’s worried.”

“Well, why can’t Ron come up here and get me himself, then?” Hermione asked, not noticing how quickly the tears fell down her face.

“I would think that you, of all people, would realize that just because school’s out for the summer doesn’t mean that the castle’s enchantments would stop working.” Ginny grinned at her own statement. “There’s still the small matter of the whole ‘stairs turning into a slide if a boy tries to go up them’ thing.”

Hermione blinked, something that just made more tears fall. “I’m sorry if I forgot for a minute one of the many things this castle does,” she said, voice shaky. “Tell them to stop worrying, and that I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what you said ten minutes ago.” Ginny laughed, then stopped as she realized that Hermione wasn’t laughing with her. She walked over to the bed where the older girl sat. “What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned for her friend.

Hermione looked up with a watery smile. “I honestly have no idea,” she said, and both girls started laughing together before walking down to where Harry and Ron were waiting for them.

“Finally,” Ron said when they got there, kissing Hermione. “I thought you guys had gotten lost or something.”

“Please, Ron,” Hermione scoffed. “Do you honestly think that after spending six whole years here we’d get lost?”

He shrugged. “Hey, can’t a guy have his conspiracy theories?”

Harry laughed at that. “I’ve personally had enough of those for a lifetime.”

All four of them laughed together. It seemed to Hermione that things were finally looking up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few years later, Harry and Ginny were happily married, and Ron and Hermione were engaged. They all, Harry especially, enjoyed having normal lives for once, but Hermione desperately wished that she could see other people from their Hogwarts days aside from the three she’d been with forever. She knew that it was time for her to get a job. She also knew that she’d want to get a job soon, as she was the only one of the four of them who didn’t have one. Harry had a job at Hogwarts as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, which enabled him to be around, not only some of the teachers who’d taught him, but also Neville, who’d taken on the job of Herbology teacher. Ron was an Auror, as was Ginny. The only reason Hermione didn’t have a job was that she couldn’t think of what to do. For now, at least, she was content with being unemployed. Until the day that fate came knocking at her door.

“I’m coming!” she yelled at whoever was there. She frantically tied her bathrobe up, as she’d just finished having a shower. Her curly brown hair was still wet and dripping. All in all, she wasn’t looking her best. But then, if she’d known who would show up at her house that morning, she would have probably taken more care to tidy herself up.

She opened the door to reveal Draco Malfoy as she’d never seen him before; in Muggle clothes. She expected him to make some comment about her appearance, but he didn’t.

“Um, hi, Gra…I mean, Hermione,” he started, immediately arousing Hermione’s suspicions. The Draco she knew wouldn’t call her by her first name unless he wanted something from her. Although, since he wasn’t using her last name, she decided to do him the same courtesy.

“What are you doing here, Draco?” she asked, trying not to sound rude, but at the same time getting to the point.

“I, uh, came to apologize for how I treated you while we were at school together.” She studied his face, trying to see if this is a joke, or if one of his friends put him up to this, but came up with nothing. As far as she could tell, he was sincere.

“What do you mean?” she asked, knowing full well what he meant. She just wanted him to say it for himself.

“Well,” he sighed, “I’m sorry for making fun of you just because of your Muggle parents.”

Hermione, being clever and all, could tell that there was more. “And? What else did you want to say?” she asked.

“I…I wanted to say that…I know you used to like me.”

There it was. The heartbreaker. Despite how hard she’d tried to hide them, her secret feelings for Draco apparently weren’t secret anymore.

“And,” he continued, “I see that you still do.”

All thoughts of courtesy were driven from Hermione’s mind right then. She glared at the man standing outside her door. “Me? Like you? Dream on, Malfoy.” She made to shut the door, but he put his foot in the way.

“Please, Hermione, hear me out.” The tone in his voice coupled with the fact that he was still using her first name, although she had resorted to using his last name, made Hermione open the door again with a sigh.

“It’s not a bad thing that you still like me,” he said frantically, “because…despite how I’ve acted, I’ve always liked you, too. And I thought that maybe…just maybe…you’d want to go somewhere…with me…tonight.”

Hermione looked at her feet. “Draco,” she began, hoping to make this short and sweet. “I’d like to go somewhere with you, I really would, but I can’t. You see, I-“

“Have a doctor’s appointment? Have other plans?” he tried to supply for her.

“No. I’m engaged.”

Whatever he’d expected to hear, she could tell this wasn’t it. “I’m sorry,” she added quickly. “Maybe if you’d been about a month earlier, I could have said yes, but my fiancé probably wouldn’t want me going out anywhere with another guy, especially not you.”

Draco’s face fell. “Who’s your fiancé?” he asked

Hermione bit her lip. “Ron,” she answered, “and he proposed to me a few weeks ago, at Harry and Ginny’s wedding.”

“Well, we could still go for coffee or something, couldn’t we? You know, just as friends?”

She hesitated, unsure. “I…I suppose that would be alright.”

“Perfect, let’s go!”

“Uh, Draco? There’s just one problem with going right now.”

He looked at her. “What’s that?”

“I’m kind of still in my bathrobe, and need to brush my hair.”

“Oh. Oh, okay. So, should I come back later?”

“No, no. You can come in, and wait in the living room. I won’t be too long.”

He did just that, wondering how in the world Hermione could afford such a luxurious place. He sat himself down on a couch, taking in as much of the scenery as he could. A few minutes later, Hermione came back down the stairs.

“You ready to go?” she asked.

He looked up at her, and his jaw nearly dropped open. There she was, just wearing a pair of blue jeans and a red V-neck shirt, but Draco thought she’d never looked better. There were some people who couldn’t pull off the simple look. Hermione wasn’t one of them. Her hair was in a ponytail, and the only makeup she wore was some light pink lipstick. As for jewelry, all she had was a pair of red studs in her ears and, of course, the engagement ring on her finger.

“Uh, yeah, let’s go.”

The two of them walked down to a small little coffee shop, and once they were seated, they began to talk.

“So, what do you do for a living?” Draco asked.

“Nothing,” Hermione answered truthfully. “I don’t have a job yet.”

This surprised him. “Well, then, how did you end up with that huge house?”

She smiled. “Ron got it for me. He’s an Auror, so he gets paid a lot of money. What about you? What do you do?”

“Actually, I’m supposed to get the position of Potions teacher next year,” he said. “Aside from that, I don’t do anything yet.”

As they spoke to each other, Draco couldn’t help but stare into Hermione’s eyes.

“…you should have seen the look on Ron’s face when Ginny told him that she and Harry were going to get married,” Hermione was saying. She laughed. “It was priceless.” She noticed Draco’s gaze and looked back at him. “What are you doing?” she asked with a smile.

He smiled back. “Just looking at your eyes. I’ve always liked girls with brown eyes, and you’re no exception. But your eyes are different than other girls’.”

She frowned slightly. “No, no, not in a bad way,” he assured her. “I can’t explain it. There’s just something…nicer about yours.”

The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful

Stop me and steal my breath

Emeralds from mountains thrust toward the sky

Never revealing their depth

Tell me that we belong together

She smiled and lowered her eyes, blushing slightly. “Do you think that might be because most of the other girls you’ve seen are Slytherins?” she asked. Draco laughed.

“Maybe,” he said.

They talked for a long time, during which Hermione wondered if saying yes to Ron was still a good idea. The more time she spent with Draco, the more she thought that maybe, just maybe, he was really the one for her.

Dress it up with the trappings of love

I'll be captivated

I'll hang from your lips

Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

These meetings went on for a few weeks; the two of them would meet for coffee, talk about themselves and what they’d been doing since Hogwarts, and every day, Hermione felt less love towards Ron and more towards Draco.

Then, the day came when Hermione got news that would change her life…she felt for the worse. An owl came for her, saying that her parents were dead. Nobody knew how they died, but since nothing seemed wrong with them, the Aurors who were assigned to protect them assumed that some previous Death Eaters who liked killing almost as much as Voldemort had had decided to just pop in and kill them.

Hermione was devastated. Draco came over and knocked on her door. Trying to contain her tears, she got up to answer it. “I don’t want to go out today,” she told him, not taking her eyes off of the floor.

“Hermione, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she said. “What gave you the idea that s-something was w-wrong?” She felt a tear slide down her cheek.

Draco walked inside and closed the door. He put an arm around Hermione and led her to her own living room. She didn’t seem to really care, because she didn’t say anything about it.

“I’d think that after all the time we’ve spent getting to know each other, that you’d feel alright talking to me about things,” he said.

Hermione looked up at him. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I-I don’t know what came over me.”

He sighed. “I thought things were going so well with us,” he started. “But if you’re not going to even tell me what’s wrong…” He made to get up, but Hermione put a hand on his shoulder.

“No, please don’t go,” she said. “I really am sorry. It’s just…” she sighed. “Draco, my parents are dead. The Aurors think that some remaining Death Eaters killed them.”

His eyes widened and he sat back down, putting an arm around Hermione again to draw her close to him. She turned her face into his chest and started crying.

I'll be your crying shoulder

I'll be love suicide

I'll be better when I'm older

I'll be the greatest fan of your life

After that day, Hermione and Draco became even closer. And, of course, she didn’t say a word to anyone else. After all, the others just wouldn’t understand, she reasoned with herself.

“How would you like to come over sometime?” Draco asked.

“I’d love that,” Hermione answered.

So, he took her to his house, and she was surprised to see that it wasn’t a giant mansion like she’d expected. Rather, it was just an ordinary house. They went inside, and he gave her a tour. She sat down on his bed, and he sat beside her. With a hand, he turned her face towards his, and kissed her. She returned the kiss as one thing led to another…

Rain falls angry on the tin roof

As we lie awake in my bed

You're my survival; you're my living proof

My love is alive not dead

Tell me that we belong together

Dress it up with the trappings of love

I'll be captivated I'll hang from your lips

Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

I'll be your crying shoulder

I'll be love suicide

I'll be better when I'm older

I'll be the greatest fan of your life

“What if Ron finds out about us?” Hermione asked, breathless.

“The only way he could find out,” Draco answered, “is if one of us tells him. And I know that I won’t be saying anything.”

“I won’t breathe a word,” she promised.

Unfortunately for both of them, Ron already knew.

I've been dropped out, burned up, fought my way back from the dead

Tuned in, turned on, remembered the things that you said

Hermione returned home to find Ron in the living room.

“Ron!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“Wondering where you’ve been for the past month,” he replied.

“What are you talking about? I’ve been here. I haven’t left.”

“No, but every time I try to see you, you’re always out.” He looked up at her. “How could you, Hermione?”

“How could I what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me! I know about you and Malfoy.”

“His name is Draco!”

“We’re engaged! If you’re already going behind my back, then I don’t think we should get married. That would just lead to mess.”

Hermione’s eyes widened. “No, Ron, please! You have to understand! I haven’t seen very much of you for a long time! You’re always busy at work. You didn’t even ask how I was feeling after I found out my parents were killed!”

Ron’s expression immediately softened. “ ‘Mione…”

“No! You’re right…” By this time, she was crying again. She took a deep breath. “It’s probably best if we don’t get married.”

With that, she walked out her own door. She walked down the street, with no idea where she was going. She looked up when she stopped, and she’d ended up in front of Draco’s house. She went to the door and knocked.

“Hermione?” Draco said when he answered it. “That was quick.”

She looked at him and flung herself onto him. Startled, he took her inside. She told him what happened, and he comforted her.

I'll be your crying shoulder

I'll be love suicide

I'll be better when I'm older

I'll be the greatest fan of your life

From then on, Hermione lived with Draco…at least, until he had to leave for Hogwarts and his first year as a Potions teacher.

End

Sorry about the ending…I was running out of ideas…I guess that’s what happens when you make a long fic…sigh. That really was insanely long, wasn’t it? Hope you enjoyed it, anyways! Review if you have any song ideas!! Or even if you don’t…I like reviews…