Lovelight

Voulez Vous

Facing twenty thousand of your friends...

Draco Malfoy was staring at her as she pranced about on a makeshift stage, singing to her daughter for her bachelorette party. Hermione didn't want him there, didn't want him staring at her, didn't want to be near his angelic yet demonic eyes. Well, she did want him, but she couldn't have him in the way she wanted, so she was forced to demand his disappearance instead.

How can anyone be so lonely...

Hermione was lonely. Draco seemed lonely enough. Maybe she could have him, if only—

No. She could not have him. He broke her heart, damn it, and she would not cave. She would be strong. For herself, for her daughter, for the life they built on the island, together. She didn't need a man. She had Maia. Her daughter and her friends were all she needed to keep her loneliness at bay.

Part of a success that never ends...

Pfft. If only Hermione could have had never-ending success.

Her eyes caught his again, flashing, practically sparkling in the moonlight. Damn silver—

No. Grey. They were grey. They were not silver.

Stupid silver. Stupid prat.

She rolled her eyes. He probably had unending success. Bastard.

Still I'm thinking about you only...

Touché, ABBA, Hermione thought, focusing back on the lyrics and the task at hand, the task at hand that was dedicated to her daughter, her daughter who deserved her undivided attention. That had been part of the reason why she had left the UK, hadn't it?

The rest of the song passed without another thought of the blond idiot passing through her mind. All of her energy, all of her love, all of her magic, rushing through the air and infecting the space around them, was focused on Maia, occluding out the distraction in the crowd.

It was all for Maia. It had all always been for Maia.

And when the music stopped, Maia herself reminded Hermione why it was that she had come to the island, why she had only let their life consist of each other for so long. The girl wrapped her arms around her mother, holding her tight, whispering a few words into her ear, words that brightened Hermione's heart so much that it could have rivaled the truth held by the moniker the City of Lights.

"Thank you, Mum. I love you so much."

She had to choke back the sobs that threatened to overtake her at her daughter's display of affection, simply muttering a quick, "I love you too, Maia. I'm so proud of you," instead of the lengthy words she wanted to share.

Merlin, there was so much she wanted to say. She wanted to express just how badly her heart burned with her love for Maia. She wanted her to feel the unending adoration for the woman she had become, for her magic, for her brilliance, for her capacity to care for everything and everyone around her. She wanted to list just how proud she was, proud of her courage, of her cunning ability to stand up for what she believed in and get what she wanted, of the way she made the most of the life that she had. Hermione was so unbelievably proud of her.

There were other things she wanted to tell her as well, but her bachelorette party was not the time nor place for those secrets to be shared. Besides, she doubted she would ever share them. Maia didn't need that stress in her life. Hermione could bear it for her.

Her light's eyes twinkled at her as she pulled away, embracing her aunts before succumbing to the calls of her name from the dance floor in the center of the courtyard. And just like that, as soon as Hermione saw her daughter safely nestled among her friends, dancing in the same way she used to with Pansy and Luna, her magic fell, her weak attempt at Occlumency faltering as it never had before.