Lost In Our Memories (Dramione story) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 27

Hermione looked anxious, seeing how she kept wringing her hands, opening her mouth then closing it. She had suddenly forgotten everything she wanted to tell him. Every question she had was gone from her mind and the only thing she could think about was how much she missed him.

Draco on the other hand, seemed as calm as anything. He stopped a few feet away from Hermione and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms, and staring quietly at her. No one knew what lied behind that seemingly composed and indifferent attitude. In reality, he felt like a volcano, ready to erupt any moment, and upon seeing Hermione fret like that, he felt suffocated by his own feelings of remorse. Nevertheless, he had made a decision and it was time he acted on it. Not feeling himself capable of keeping up the appearances for too long and seeing how Hermione was too reluctant to start the conversation, he took a deep breath and began first.

"If you have something to say, please do, otherwise leave." He said in a cold voice, emptying his eyes and face of every emotion.

The coldness in his voice snapped Hermione out of her hesitancy. She frowned slightly, then sat back down on the couch, not trusting her legs to support her.

"I want to talk about what happened yesterday." She began, in a level voice.

"And what happened yesterday? Anything important that we really need to talk about?" he drawled.

"I think you know perfectly well what happened." Hermione said, stubbornly fixing his eyes. He only raised his eyebrows in response. "Harry told me everything." She blurted out after a second.

"Is that so?" he asked coldly. "Then why, prey, have you come here to bother me with questions if you already know everything."

"Bother you?" Hermione snapped. "I believe you owe me an explanation. It's the least you can do after lying to me all this time."

"I haven't lied to you." Draco said, fighting hard to keep the emotion out of his voice.

"Keeping something like that from me is the equivalent of lying."

Draco clenched his jaw and glared at her. Her brows furrowed as she glared back. His nasty attitude somehow made it easier for her to speak her mind, to get past her own feelings and confusion. She needed answers and she was going to get them!

"Why haven't you told me you were there, that day after the Battle of Hogwarts? Why, in all this time, you never told me who you were?"

She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. Draco took the opportunity to speak.

"What would have been the point? Would you have looked at me the way you have for the past few weeks if I had told you who I was? Let us be honest here, you wouldn't have given me the time of day if you knew what kind of man I was." He threw at her grimacing.

There was disgust in his voice, but it was directed at him. She didn't know that, and instead thought it was meant for her. Her face flushed with anger and resentment.

"How could you say that?!" she spat. "Is that what you think of me?! Is that the kind of person you think I am?!"

Draco did not reply. It felt harder and harder to control his features and keep his emotions in check. He had to end it quickly or else his walls would crumble, and he would break. Then, suddenly Hermione's expression changed. Perhaps there had been something in his eyes that gave him away, something that made her feel suspicious of his behavior. She got up and started walking towards him. Seeing her get close, Draco froze, fighting harder than ever to keep a reign over his emotions.

"Why are you doing this Draco?" She asked, her eyes narrowing. She stopped two feet away from him and was staring up into his cold eyes.

"And what exactly am I doing?" he snarled, pushing against the wall, and standing straight, his entire body tensed up to the max.

"You're pushing me away Draco, and I want to know why."

"Do I really need a reason? Or do you think I am the kind of man who would push you away in order to protect you?" he said, letting out a chortle. "What we had was nice and we had our fun, but that needs to end. It was always supposed to end." He finished, shrugging, and throwing her an evil smirk.

"Is that so." Hermione said slowly. "I wonder why that is."

"The answer is simple. I'm the proud Malfoy heir, Prince of Slytherin, while you are the know-it-all Princess of Griffindor." Draco drawled, waving a hand contemptuously.

"And that matters because?" Hermione prompted, feeling her heartrate increasing. She was dreading his answer more than she had anticipated. Everything depended on his answer.

"I don't..." Draco stopped abruptly, choking on his words.

For a second he had almost lost his mind, as he was just about to say that he did not deserve her, that he did not deserve her kindness. It was clearly a sign of his mask slipping.

No, that's not the way to go about it, not with her anyway. She will try to reason with me, convince me I am wrong, that I am a new man. I will not be able to handle that, Salazar knows it is hard enough as it is without her pounding me with her goodwill and kindness.

Draco took a deep breath and brushed a hand through his hair. He took a step closer to Hermione and looked down at her. He saw her eyes widening slightly, her gaze falling onto his face. He could see her desperately searching for any sign of weakness or a sign that he was only bluffing. But he didn't show any. If anything, he was feeling more determined than ever.

"I don't want you, Hermione Granger." Draco finally said, mustering in that one single sentence as much hatred and loathing as he possibly could.

He saw Hermione flinch at his words, looking as if he slapped her and he felt a part of him dying. Suddenly the realization downed upon him. It was happening all over again. He was hurting her with his words, giving her another scar, and the worst part was that, this time, he didn't mean any of it.

For a short moment his resolution faltered, and he was a step from running to her and hugging her, wanting nothing but to kiss her senseless and tell her how much he cared for her, how much he loved her. But he could not do it. He told himself he had to be strong, for her at least, even if it killed him to do this. He had to keep her safe and the only way to do that was to make her hate him. He shouldn't have gotten close to her in the first place and this was the price he had to pay.

"Goodbye, Draco Malfoy." He heard her say in a low, resentful voice.

As she moved past him, their eyes locked once more. It wasn't sure what each saw in the other's expression, but they both felt the condemnation of that exchange. Everything was now over between them.

After Hermione left, Draco went back into his room. Blaise was waiting for him, sitting in the same chair Draco sat before. The two friends stared at each other for a few moments, engulfed in silence. Then, Draco shook his head looking away from Blaise. He went to the window and saw his reflection in the glass. He looked like a shadow, a ghost of himself, as if Hermione had taken most of him with her when she left.

Taking one deep shaky breath, Draco put on his pure-blood aristocrat mask and assumed his role perfectly. Hermione's hurtful expression made everything seem final and there was no need to go back now. He could only move forward. 

Thank you all for reading this story! I hope this chapter wasn't too heart wrenching, but I'll be happy to know you all felt something while reading it. Stay tuned to see what happens in the next chapters. Until then, have a wonderful day! ^_^ <333