Draco's Angels

The Line Between Love and Hate

                 

Many weeks had passed since Draco moved into Hermione's flat; Leslie was almost two months old. In general, the tension had eased a bit. However, when any hint of a tender subject came up, there was another shouting match followed by slamming doors and silence for hours. Despite all of this, Leslie was still one of the happiest babies anyone had ever seen. On a few occasions, Hermione had taken Leslie to Ginny so that she could speak to Draco, but it always ended badly so she stopped that quickly. Having Leslie around somehow softened Draco just enough for him to pierce Hermione with fewer vulgarities.

"Granger, how much longer are you going to be ignoring me for?" Draco had appeared in the doorway to Leslie's room, he leaned against the doorframe casually.

"What are you doing in here?" Hermione scrambled to cover herself up, Draco knew not to come in when she was breastfeeding Leslie.

"Please, Granger. It's not like I haven't seen it before." The wizard rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly, flashing his signature smirk at her.

"It still makes me very uncomfortable." Hermione narrowed her eyes at him as she stood to put Leslie into her crib. "What are you here for?" She crossed her arms across her chest, taking a step toward the man sharing her living quarters.

"Very funny, I asked you first." Draco crossed his arms as well, remaining in his relaxed pose in the doorway.

"I'm talking to you now, I can't possibly be ignoring you. Can I?" The witch batted her thick eyelashes and viewed him through them. Her pink lips formed a pout as she taunted him.

"Well, aren't we a barrel of laughs today Granger." His eyes rolled so heavily they may as well have stayed back in his head. "May I remind you that, while you have a sharp tongue, that does not mean that you have a keen mind."

"Shut up, Malfoy. I didn't ask to have you here!"

"That there is what I'm talking about. I suppose ignoring me is not the correct wording, ignoring this situation is probably better. Half the time, it's as if I don't even live here." His voice rose as he began to mock her. "'Oh, Ginny, I'm so lonely here. There's nothing to do while Leslie naps. I wish you could come over here.' You're full of bullshit, Granger. You know that?"

"Oh, wow. In order to make more brilliant observations, you'd have to grasp your ears firmly and pull; you just might be able to remove your head from your ass."

"Why are you so rude to me, I've been nothing but nice to you this whole time!"

"Nice? So you've been nice? Listen up you money-grubbing, grandiose, mirror-obsessed, bum-licking jerk-off, I envy those who get to see you when you're being cruel. And you were the answer to a prayer! Your parents prayed for the world to suffer, and you came along. Are you fed up yet? I could keep this up all day! And I used to think that you were a colossal pain in the neck, but now I've realized that my opinion of you is much lower! I don't know who you think you are, Malfoy, but you should think again. You're not as great as you think you are!" Draco opened his mouth to speak, but he didn't have words. Hermione had stepped toward him with every cutting remark, leaving him now against the opposite wall of the hallway. She now stood in the doorframe, and she softly closed the door behind herself. "My feelings for you are so strong, I can't even wrap words around them. I don't just hate you, nor do I loathe you. I absolutely abhor you. You make me sick, Malfoy. I wish I had never gotten caught up with you!"

This pushed him over the edge. "Okay, it's my turn. I didn't ask to get involved with a pseudo-intellectual floozy, but it looks like I did anyway. What I did to deserve the wrath of you, an egotistical tart, definitely wasn't worth it. So you can go ahead and shove it!" Draco stepped intimidatingly toward her, but she held her ground. There they were, fractions of an inch away from each other. Her head tilted up dramatically to be able to meet his angry gaze. Their heavy breathing was the only sound as the tension batted between them. The instincts finally took over in both of them, turning the intensity around in a different direction entirely.