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Hermione Granger once believed that she’d marry a certain redhead. One she was part of a trio with.
She also thought he’ll ask her to the Yule Ball. He did not. Made her cry instead.
She thought he would come through for moments she needed him most. It was wishful thinking.
She once believed that once they were together, they will eventually get married and have four or five curly ginger-haired kids with blue or brown eyes.
But like most fantasies, they were crushed.
Shattered.
Ended up in shards and pieces.
It caused her pain.
But that same pain saved her.
There’s a beauty in sadness that makes happy moments more precious.
And sometimes, sadness attracts sadness.
For a while, everything she looked at was seen in a pair of sad eyes.
Everything had shades of blue.
Until Draco Malfoy.
Here was a pale young man, with platinum blond hair, and clad in black clothing.
But in her eyes, he was glowing.
That maybe they weren’t so different after all.
They were both solid representations of everything they went through; life, pain, loss, and death.
What started as a quiet bonding in a park, drinking in silence, changed her view.
Everything was now in shades of grey. And she didn’t know if it was better than seeing things in blue vignettes.
One thing that didn’t change though, was Draco Malfoy’s glow.
Then one day in December, after a few months of quiet meetings, he kissed her, under a mistletoe in a pub they stumbled upon.
Now there were tinges of red and bright orange in her view.
Somehow the world looked like it has color again, a bit dull, but colored.
March came and she was surprised to find him standing outside her door. He looked nervous, holding a bouquet of yellow cosmos and butterfly ranunculus. A gift on his other hand.
She was surprised to see it in full color, practically making her view clearer than she ever knew.
“Happy White Day,” he said.
“White day?” She asked.
“It’s a tradition that started in Japan. Wherein during the fourteenth of March, the males give their… significant other a gift in return. Cause the women give chocolates to their partners during Valentine’s Day.”
Significant other , she smiled at the thought.
“But I didn’t give you anything this Valentine’s,” she said, cradling the bouquet in her arms.
“I knew you’d say that,” he smiled. “But you did. You gave me company. You gave me acceptance. You gave me peace. You gave me a chance.”
She tried not to tear up but she did. Did she give him all of that?
He was the one giving it to her.
𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢, 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣.
He opened the gift to show a lighting-up kaleidoscope music box.
“Consider this as my official proposal to court you, Hermione Jean.”
She felt her cheeks go warm. She was blushing. It has been a while.
“Alright” was all she could muster.
They both went to a Japanese restaurant that day. It seemed fitting.
But that night, as she lay in bed, she waved her hand and opened the music box.
Her room lit up with soft colors, while it played familiar music she can’t remember what the title was, but she cried.
𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙖𝙮.
When June came, she found herself outside Malfoy Manor.
It brought back memories, and she wrapped her coat tighter around her. But every room he was in brought upon new light, changing her view.
“Happy birthday, Draco,” She said.
He opens up the box and inside was a coat.
It was the same color as the different cloaks and coats in his closet but this one is the most special because it came from her.
“Try it on,” she said happily. So he happily did. He notices a white heart embroidered on the right sleeve, just before his hand.
Hermione smiled, and shows him her sleeve, putting it together with his. He knew that symbol too well. It was, after all, the constellation he was named after.
The Heart and the Draco constellation glowed in gold once she aligned them.
He couldn’t be any happier.
𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙫𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙨𝙚, 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙨.
It made his heart skip a few beats and once it started again, he knew it beats only for her.
“What does this mean?” He asked softly.
“It means yes,” she smiled and kissed his hand, “It means I’m yours.”
Nobody had made him cry.
Until Hermione Granger.
And when she leaned up to take his lips, he was more than ready and met hers with the same amount of love they both know they have for each other.
When their lips parted, their tears fall.
“Do you know why I gave you those flowers and music box?” He asked, cupping her face.
“No, but I did want to know why.” She gently thumbed his warm cheek.
It gave her warmth too. His hands, his presence, his everything.
“Cosmos and Butterfly Ranunculus are underappreciated flowers. Like you, they don’t always get the credit they deserve.”
She looked at him fondly, “Draco…”
“And the kaleidoscope music box is because, for a while, everything I saw was in shades of blue.”
She cupped his face too, what he’s saying was making her heart beat faster and slower at the same time.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚.
“Everything was dull, but you brought color back into my life, Hermione. Slowly, but surely, you did. You’re my light. You’re glowing in my eyes.”
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙤 𝙈𝙖𝙡𝙛𝙤𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩.
𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮.
How their friends and family accepted them, she doesn’t remember anymore. She doesn’t care to keep it in mind.
What matters is the here and now, and Draco is her present and future.
Whose hand she will surely hold for the rest of her life.
One she knows will never let go of hers.
Their love was, 𝙞𝙨 secure. Sure. Definite. Certain.
They both know it in their moments of haze, in lazy mornings, wrapped in each other’s arms, fondly looking at each other.
Hermione Granger once thought love was burning red.
But she knows better now.
It’s golden, like daylight.
Like Draco Malfoy.
And she knew she’s the same for him. A light, a guide.
Morning has indeed broken for them. Dawn is here.
𝘿𝙖𝙮𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩.