Elevator Rides and Office Confessions » Dramione [One-Shot]

Elevator Rides & Office Confessions

The news that broke my heart:

Ronald Bilius Weasley and Hermione Jean Granger. Expected to wed 22 July, 2002.

It shouldn't have hurt me the way it did. We were enemies. The only time we've ever had a pleasant conversation was during our interviews for the Ministry of Magic, which, unfortunately, we had to have together.

I don't even know why it hurt so much. We weren't even friends. It's only because I pity her for having to marry the Weasel, I decided.

But she's probably ecstatic about it. Right? Yes, she must be. Why else would she say yes?

Hold on. Why would anyone say yes to the Weasel? She must be insane. Honestly, though, I wouldn't be surprised if she was. Now, if she had said yes to someone like me, I wouldn't think that she's insane. On the contrary, I'd think that she's brilliant. Well, she is brilliant. She is the smartest witch I know. And I know a lot of witches. (I hope you don't read too much into that.)

But the day after the announcement, I saw her. She certainly didn't look too ecstatic. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I believe she even looked sadder than usual. No, it can't be, she'd just been engaged. And then she looked at me, and I could see it in her eyes. She looked, dare I say it, depressed.

So, against all my past beliefs, I walked up to her.

"Granger." She looked up at me. "What's wrong?"

"Oh. Oh, I see, Malfoy. You come here to gloat, did you? Well, I'm not having it. Not today, at least." She pushed past me, making sure to not let me see a stray tear slip down her porcelain cheek. Unfortunately, I did.

So, I did the only thing I could think of. I followed her. I had no idea where she was going, but when she got into the elevator, I followed close behind.

"Malfoy, can't you just leave me alone?" She was crying. Although she wouldn't show her face, I could tell.

"No. Tell me what's wrong." I took a step closer to her. She took two steps back, which caused her to hit the wall of the elevator behind her.

"Why do you care? Or do you just want to know so that you can make fun of me? The latter surely sounds like a Malfoy thing to do, doesn't it?" She looked at me in fury, causing me to be able to see her tear-stained face.

I lifted up my hand to wipe away a tear that was falling, but she smacked me away before I could.

"Don't touch me."

"Why?" I asked, painfully.

"Because I'm a Mudblood, and you don't want my Mudblood germs on you. Right?"

"Hermione," The use of her name caused her breathing to hitch for a miniscule second. "you're not a Mudblood. And I'm sorry for calling you that when we were in school."

"You're sorry?" Her tears ceased and I took another step towards her.

"You have no idea how sorry I am." Another step.

"I accept your apology." Another step.

"Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Another step. And now, I was standing right in front of her, our lips close enough to touch.

"Before I do, answer me this: Why do you want to know?"

"Believe it or not, but I care for you Granger, and it hurts me to see you hurt."

She looked up at me, confusedly, and I just smiled. A real, genuine smile. My first genuine smile in ten years, at least.

"You care for me?" I nodded. "But we hate each other."

I frowned. "Do you hate me?"

"Well, no. I was just saying that..." She trailed off.

"That what?"

"That we could never be friends," she amended, causing my frown to deepen. "Harry and Ron certainly wouldn't approve of you. And I know for sure that your parents wouldn't approve of me."

"Oh, come on. My mother would love you. You're just like her."

"But your father—"

"Don't speak of him. He's not my father anymore."

"I'm...sorry. I had no idea."

"It's not your fault." After what seemed like forever (but was actually only a few seconds), I remembered what we were doing in here. "So, are you going to tell me what made you cry?"

She laughed. "And here I was hoping that you'd forgotten about that." The elevator doors opened. "This is my stop. Why don't you come into my office and we'll talk?"

"Okay," I laughed out. I couldn't wait until she told me what had happened. I planned on hexing whatever or whoever it was. Luckily, her office was right around the corner.

"We're here," she proclaimed, as we entered. She took a seat behind her desk, looking at me expectantly. "Aren't you going to sit down?" I complied, sitting on her desk, right in front of her.

"Now, tell me what happened."

She sighed. "Alright, but you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone."

"I promise."

"Fine. As you may know, Ron and I are engaged." I nodded. "I-I never wanted to marry him. Everyone was pressuring me to say yes, and it was in front of his entire family. I just couldn't bring myself to break his heart in front of everyone. So, I planned on breaking things off that night, when were alone, of course. But they started talking about the dates and wedding plans and everything. Then, to my absolute dismay, my parents showed up. They found out, of course. They, my mother, Molly, and Ron, made a date, without my consent, obviously. And then it was in The Daily Prophet and I knew that I couldn't back out. But, Malfoy, you've got to understand: I never wanted any of this to happen. I didn't want to rush into anything. I don't even love him." She paused, letting the tears fall. "I'm in love with somebody else." Her voice broke.

I was stunned. Who knew that the golden girl of Hogwarts was one for crying a lot. Hesitantly, I put my arms around her. She stiffened, but soon relaxed into my arms. Who knew I could be this nice? I certainly didn't. She mumbled something inaudible.

"Hmm?"

"I asked you if loving someone other than Ron made me a horrible person."

"No. No, of course not. You can't help who you love. And you're certainly not a horrible person."

"But I can't love the person I love."

"Oh, please." I scoffed. "Who can you possibly love, then?"

"You'd think it was silly." She sat up, away from my arms, leaving me with a sudden empty feeling.

"Try me." She raised an eyebrow, as I smirked. I knew she couldn't back down from a challenge.

"Fine. I love you." My smirk was gone. Absolutely gone. And my voice, too. I couldn't seem to be able to say anything. Taking it as rejection, Hermione was quick to apologize. "I'm sorry. I really am. I know you'll never love me. I know that we can never be together. You're a Malfoy, a Pureblood Slytherin, and I'm a Mudblood Gryffindor. Please forgive me for—"

As I couldn't speak, I took my one and only chance of fixing things.

I kissed her.

Word Count: 1176