What Next?

 

They ask themselves, ‘What next?’

---

Nursing a bruised soul, she apparated to her destination before her husband woke up. He was nothing like she remembered. She remembered him to be sweet, charming and most of all – in love with her. Now all she could see in him was the aggression that he contained, the repulsion that he exuded and most of all – the fact that he wasn’t in love with her anymore. He was just possessive, not jealous and not hurt. Angry and possessive but nothing more and somewhere, her heart ached. She thought she knew her childhood friend better but evidently not. She thought she knew herself better but evidently not. She thought she wasn’t in love with him (and a face swam in front of her eyes making her gasp in horror – Malfoy.)

She appeared in a quiet Wizard alleyway where no one knew because she was the one who created it. (Well, they created it together as a rendezvous place for them and them only.)

She thought she was early, arriving a few minutes before the arranged meeting time. She came early so she could compose herself and think of what was going to happen to them. Were they going to stop? Were they going to continue? Were they going to admit their affair? Were they going to keep their silence? The questions hurt her head and unfortunately, she had no time to ponder because he was already there, waiting for her.

They stood there in silence with nothing but a question and a long and complicated history dangling in between them. She waited for him to ask the question, to point out the obvious. He waited for her to ask the question, to point out the obvious. And when she didn’t open her mouth, he asked the question for her.

“What are we going to do now?”

She stayed silent; her tongue had no answer on its tip and her lips unwilling to open. (But she knew what was going to say. It had already formulated in her mind. It just needed to pluck some courage and go on a perilous journey out into the tense atmosphere between him and her.)

“I understand,” he said when he saw that she made no move to talk. (What she was going to say had already reached him, just never via her mouth. I’ll stay with my husband, and you’ll stay with your wife, like how things were supposed to be and are always meant to be.)

He walked up to her and in a quiet voice, he kissed her lips softly and tenderly like he had never kissed them before. She closed her eyes as she felt tears building up but willed herself to be strong and not cry. This outcome was inevitable.

He broke the kiss sooner than she wanted and already, her lips missed the warmth he gave them. He leaned in, his head coming dangerously close to her ear, “Goodbye, Hermione.”

She was unable to say goodbye back as she felt tears slipping and she asked herself why. Why did everyone find out? Why did it have to come to this? (In the middle of asking herself why, she stopped. It was the first time outside intimate moments that he had called her by her first name.)

(And unfortunately, she realised that a second too late.)

---

She stared at the newspaper in her hands. He did exactly what she told him through meaningful eyes. (I’ll stay with my husband, and you’ll stay with your wife, like how things were supposed to be and are always meant to be.) But the media had always been too suspicious and too observant to not notice the discrepancies in the each of their respective marriages.

Long-time Enemies – Still Possibly Unexpected Lovers?

After the rumoured affair of Draco Malfoy and Hermione Weasley, nee Granger, both parties denied this rumour claiming that it was false. The rich CEO and the Brains of the Golden Trio stayed with their respective spouses. But after two years of this rumour, there is possibly a grain of truth in this ‘fabricated’ scandal. Draco Malfoy has been married to Astoria Greengrass for six years now and still, we have yet to await an arrival for the heir of the valuable Malfoy Inc. Similarly, Hermione Weasley has been married to her childhood friend and constantly-rumoured player husband, Ron Weasley, have been together for eight years and yet there is no sign of a baby bump on the way. These two coincidences cannot surely mean nothing.

It was a small article but it aggravated her that someone had noticed and managed to tell the world about it. Outdone by catchy titles and news of Harry Potter’s latest wild ways and her husband’s most recent rumoured fling on the front page, it was unnoticeable and was not a stable theory. But it still managed to be published by a small-time journalist who was a newbie to the media.

She threw the newspaper away into the fire, watching as it flickered and the pages blackened to ash. She turned her attention to the clock and saw that it was almost time. She stood up, her limbs moving with excitement and anticipation. A part of her simply could not wait.

She went upstairs and ducked into her wardrobe. Rummaging through the contents, she found exactly what she was looking for. She had carefully concealed the bag so that her husband could not see and so that he wouldn’t get ideas. It consisted of a negligee – a silk green one because her lover loved green on her. (“It makes you look Slytherin,” he would say and despised it whenever she wore red.)

She slipped it on before grabbing her favourite coat from a clothes hanger. She put that over her negligee, making sure to conceal everything that was hidden underneath.

She walked over to her dressing table and took the most expensive perfume (also, hidden so her husband could never see it) she had and made sure she smelt like it. It was her lover’s favourite perfume. She looked at herself in the mirror before she put mascara and bright, red lipstick. She made her hair look a little bit dishevelled. She slipped into her black stilettos and admired herself in the mirror. When she was satisfied, she smirked. He would be happy and that would make her happy as well.

Grabbing her wand, she apparated to her destination.  It was a cheap motel, classic place for secret rendezvous. But no one would suspect her here and no one would suspect him either. The location was perfect. She entered the doors and went through the lobby, making sure that she kept her head down so that no one was able to notice and recognise her. She made her way to the elevator and hopped in before someone could stop her. She urged the elevator to shut its door by pressing the door, wanting to take the journey alone. She wasn’t fast enough, though.

A hand shot out and the elevator doors immediately ran wide open, revealing a man with a top hat on his head. He kept his head down as he shuffled into the elevator. She wouldn’t have known who he was if it wasn’t for his scent and she wouldn’t have known who he was if it wasn’t for his dark green coat. She watched him as he stood in the elevator beside her, not wanting to make a word.

Knowing that he hadn’t recognised her yet, she stood in front of her lover and brought his lips up to meet hers. He was surprised for a second but as he recognised her scent, her clothing and her lips; he knew who she was as well. He started kissing back as his arms wrapped around her body, squeezing her against his body. He wrapped her arms around his neck and played with his silky hair. She smirked and she was sure that he could feel her smirk as well.

Breaking apart, she watched as he gave her an offended look. She smirked again (he had really rubbed off on her, hadn’t he?). Seeing this, he smirked as well and leaned towards her ear, whispering in a low voice. “I’ve missed you, Granger.”

She almost couldn’t stop the giddy smile making its way to her face as she whispered back into his ear in a low voice. “I’ve missed you too, Malfoy.”

 

 

FIN