Hidden Feelings - Dramione

Chapter Twenty One

Hermione sat on the bench and watched the water. It seemed so calm like time had stopped and they could go on forever.

"I'm sure we'll make it there in a week," said James, sitting beside her.

"Mhm," muttered Hermione, watching the water.

The blue sky reflected clearly on the water and she watched as the fish swam with now worries in the world.

"Can I ask you something?" asked James, turning to face her.

"You already did," muttered Hermione but looked at him, "Go on."

"Promise you won't get angry? And you'll tell me the truth?" asked James.

"I won't get angry and I'll tell you the truth," repeated Hermione.

"You have to promise," sighed James.

"Alright," said Hermione after a pause, "I promise."

"Do you love Draco?" asked James.

He visibly braced himself for the blow but Hermione sighed and looked down at the water again. She liked Draco a lot and felt something in her heart for him. But did she love him? She had loved Ron. Properly loved him and would - did - kill anyone who would attack him. She was sure she would do the same for Draco.

"Yes, I love Draco," said Hermione, after thinking about it.

James sucked in a deep breath and turned to face away from the water.

"You don't feel anything for me?" asked James.

"No... I'm sorry..." muttered Hermione, aware that she was breaking her heart.

"I guess I knew that. Not much of a surprise. I can't believe Draco doesn't see how much you love him," said James, turning to her again, "We were really close when we were younger. Sure, we fought a lot but we shared secrets and stuff like that. We were like true brothers..."

Hermione glanced at him, wondering why he was telling her this. She didn't want to think about him anymore. Not yet anyway.

"We sent lots of owls to each other. And I remember when we were in our third year, although I was at a different school, he sent me an owl saying there was this girl. The girl, he described, had long curly brown hair that seemed so soft to touch," James smoohed her hair and Hermione smiled, "she had chocolate brown eyes that any boy would love to fall deep into. Her cheeks were always so red, even more so when she was embarrassed or angry. And her laugh. Draco loved her laugh so much."

"Draco told you about me?" asked Hermione, turning to sit beside him.

"Yes, he was in love. I could tell from the way he described you. He didn't give me your name but now I know, he was talking about you," muttered James.

"He told me he doesn't feel anything for me..." muttered Hermione, "not anymore, anyway. He told me."

"He's a liar. You know he loves you, right? He's loved you since that day in third year. He was about to tell you how much he loved you before he left but I stopped him," said James, his eyes scanned her face for any emotion.

"We can't be together," muttered Hermione, "Draco and myself."

"Thats up to you. If you really love him you will find a way to be with him," James sighed and stood up, "You have to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Too bad. I wasn't asking you. It was more of an order," said James, chuckling to himself, and he walked to the cabin.

Hermione rolled her eyes and stared out at the sea.

---

The week passed by agonisingly slow for Hermione. She had spent most of her time staring out at the sea. The birds swimmed in the salty water and the birds squawked in the sunlight above her.

James spent most of his time reading and even writing. When Hermione asked what he was writing, he wouldn't tell her. She didn't push him.

She really wished to see Draco. She missed him a lot and it was really obvious to James.

James would show his consideration by doing a number of things for Hermione. If she had fallen asleep at night, he would cover her with a blanket. He would cook food for her and he made sure she was hydrated. Hermione tried to be productive too but under the sun she felt really lazy.

"Are you okay?" asked James, walking out and catching Hermione, rubbing away tears from her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," muttered Hermione, hoping he would leave it.

James knelt down beside her and took her hand. Hermione refused to look at him but he turned her to face him. Their eyes met and James rubbed away a lonesome tear with his thumb.

"What's wrong?" he muttered, his voice, although deep, was incredibly soothing.

"Nothing..." she stopped at the look on James face - a look of impatience and disbelief - Hermione sighed, "I just miss them. Draco, Harry, Ginny... Ron."

Tears sprouted out of her eyes and her heart felt as though it was only joined together by a thin piece of string, ready to break. James sat beside her and hugged her as she cried.

"We'll be back very soon," muttered James.

Hermione grabbed onto his shirt and cried some more.

----

The night before they were to arrive at Isle of Man, Hermione couldn't sleep. Although James couldn't sleep either.

"Where are we meeting him again?" asked Hermione, for what seemed like the billionth time.

"At this place we went to as kids. There's a really old tree there that we used to climb," chuckled James at the thought, "Draco nearly broke his arm."

"Really?" muttered Hermione.

"Yep," muttered James, laughing at the memory.

Hermione and James stayed up half the night, talking about general things which included Draco. Finally, Hermione fell asleep and James threw a blanket over her, shielding her from the scary night and cold.