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...After Happily Ever After	By : Lissa & snowblind12 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 25739 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Harry Potter or J.K. Rowling. I make no money off of these stories. This is just fun for me.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
AN: Would still love to hear from you all! :o* XOXO ~*LissaDream
Chapter Twelve
October 1998

Lizzie didn't know what to do. Both boys had asked her to make a decision, and she really couldn't blame them. If roles had been reversed, she would have never waited around as long as these two extremely different boys had.
She had a pro-con list a mile long. Both of them peppered with positives and only a few negatives. She wanted to talk to Hermione about her struggle, but felt her friend would be very biased when it came to Ron and was positive she would point the blonde in that specific direction.
She sighed deeply and covered her face with both hands, elbows plopping down on the desk at the end of her four-poster bed. "Fuuck," she groaned after another minute, throwing down her quill.
"What's up, Lizzie?" Susan Bones startled her and she jumped, whirling to look at her as she entered the dormitory. The cute redhead stopped and looked at the pretty blonde for a moment. "Boys." She decided when the girl didn't respond, and summoned a chair to pull up next to Lizzie.
"Yeah," Lizzie groaned. "I have to choose, Susan. I've let this go on too long, but…" She trailed off, looking desperate.
"I don't know how you think it's much of a choice." Susan looked at Lizzie with wide green eyes. "I mean, Ron Weasley is…" She stopped herself, looking horrified.
Lizzie didn't notice, too caught up in her own personal torment. "Ron is wonderful," she agreed whole heartedly. "He's sweet, and cute, and so, so funny. I never stop laughing when I'm with him. And I love his friends."
Susan watched the girls' profile glumly. Go figure. The most beautiful witch at this school likes Ron. All you have to do is look at him to see he's nuts about her, too. I'll never get a chance. With ever the kind heart, Susan reached out and covered Lizzie's small, still tanned hand with her creamy freckled one. "He's lucky to have met you," she whispered, holding back her sadness. "You're so lovely. Ron has been so through so much." She patted the American's hand.
Lizzie turned her hand over and squeezed Susan's fingers. "You're the sweetest," she told the Hufflepuff girl. "Draco, though…" Her words petered out again, another mournful sigh leaving her pouty lips.
"Malfoy is a rotten git and doesn't deserve your attentions," Susan said harshly, standing.
A wave a fury swept over Lizzie, and she almost retaliated harshly. She caught herself in time and reigned it in. "I know his past hasn't been the best - "
"Hasn't been the best!" Susan scoffed, flipping her flaming mane. "His lot have basically left me a family-less orphan. I have no sympathy for him."
Lizzie bit her tongue and Susan continued, pointing a finger at the blonde accusingly. "You'd be daft not to choose Ron Weasley. Draco will do nothing but break your heart in the end. No one changes that much."
That brought Lizzie up short. Forcing down her last bit of anger, she realized her friend was just trying to protect her. Maybe Susan was right, Draco was dangerous. He had admitted his past to her himself. She knew some of the terrible things he had done. Does a Nundu change its spots? No. Holy hell. But…oh, God that kiss. Whenever she thought about that damn panty-wetting kiss, her insides melted like igneous rock at the center of the Earth.
"Thank you, Susan," she murmured after a moment. "I value your opinion very much."
Susan's defensive stance deflated quickly. "I'm sorry, Lizzie," she mumbled kindly. "I know this has been eating you up, I see it in your face. You're obviously seeing a side to Malfoy no one else does. I just wouldn't trust him any farther than I could throw him – without a wand."
Lizzie snorted. She understood, and Susan wasn't the first one to say something like this to her. The girl had every reason in the world to mistrust and despise Draco. "You're probably right," she admitted reluctantly, turning back to her list. She felt Susan pat her shoulder before crossing the room to rustle something out of her trunk.
"See you at dinner?" she asked, just before she left the room. Lizzie nodded.
She didn't have much time left, she was meeting Draco tonight, and told Ron she would tell him the next morning what her choice was. She either needed to break it off with Draco tonight or Ron in the morning. Neither prospect excited her over much.
~.oOo.~
"Come off it, Malfoy." Theodore Nott sneered. "What are you doing with that trumped up little blonde Mudblood anyway?"
Draco gritted his teeth, he was tired of having this conversation with his friends. And, fuck, he hated that word. Impossible to get his asshole friends to stop using it, though. The fact that Lizzie still hadn't stopped seeing Weasley was very apparent to all his Slytherin classmates. It was getting to the point where it was almost pointless to defend the girl anymore, but damned if he was going to let Nott get away with being an arse.
"Fuck off, Nott," he growled, shoving his hands through his recently chopped hair. He had noticed that morning after he was done in the shower how much he was starting to resemble his father. It had bothered him immensely, so he'd made use of the Hogsmeade day and stopped at the salon. He was practically bald, now. Well, not that bad, it was buzzed up the sides and back and he'd left it longer on top. The witch who had cut it had done a decent job and talked him into a styling paste concoction he couldn't remember the name of so he could style it back. He thought it made him look older and nothing like his father.
"Draco," Zabini berated. "I mean, I know she's a seriously hot piece of ass. Everyone knows you're not fucking her, though. Weasley has made it clear she's only 'getting to know you' both before she decides who she wants to date seriously."
"She's making you look like a fool," Nott sniggered. "You're letting her make you look weak."
Something inside Draco snapped and he growled at his friends. "She's going to make her decision tonight," he boasted. "When I'm done with her, everyone will know she's mine."
"How are you planning on doing that?" Zabini demanded doubtfully.
"I'm going to give her a reason to not walk away," Draco said evasively.
"Draco!" Lizzie protested, giggling while she pulled her face away from him. She felt breathless and dizzy. His kisses, while remaining chaste and kind, were coming frequently tonight. She was overwhelmed and very close to breaking the promises she had made herself.
"C'mon, Lizzie," Draco muttered against her lips with a grin. He slid his hands down her back while he pressed her into the wall of the alcove he had warded off for privacy. "It's been weeks. I know you feel this, too. I know you do." His mouth pressed against hers again, tongue sliding out to caress the seam of her lips while he palmed her back just above the swell of her bum. Lizzie gasped, and Draco took the opportunity to pillage her mouth the way he'd been dying to since he left her standing breathless just off the pitch after her tryout.
They both groaned together as their tongues swirled around each other. Lizzie's heart fluttered into her throat, making it hard to breathe. His body backed her even more tightly into the stone wall, the torch above them making their shadows dance like moths caught in a lantern. He felt her give in to him as he explored her mouth with his probing muscle, sweeping the roof of her molten maw before pulling back and sucking on her bottom lip. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his back, dragging her nails up his spine. He growled at her unshielded response and hitched one of her knees up around his hip and ground his pelvis into her, delighting at her sigh of pleasure.
He trailed an inferno of sizzling open-mouthed kisses down her jaw and suckled on the sensitive nub of her neck just below her left ear, nipping her pulse. "Uh," she whimpered, tilting her hips into his. Her mind was scrambled, trying to figure out what she had been going to tell him. "Draco, you have to stop." It was said without any real conviction as she pressed kisses into his shoulder. I can't think!
He was suckling at her collar bone now, his groin grinding into hers provocatively. She was losing her mind. He either didn't hear her or chose not to respond due to her lack of persuasion. His head shot up again and he attacked her lips with new vigor. "Dra-mmph…" She panted, scoring her nails into his hair. He needed to stop ... but she didn't want him to … but he needed to. She ripped her mouth away from his, sucking in air as if she had been about to drown, trying to collect herself. He moved his ravenous attention to her earlobe, nipping the sensitive tissue with his teeth. Pull it together, Elizabeth!
"Stop, Draco," she said, forcefully, finding her mind even as she gripped his hair in her hands, pulling his face away her.
He growled his frustration and slammed his open hand down on the stone next to her head, making her flinch, before spinning away from her.
"Dammit!" His own hands flew into his newly shorted locks, tugging at them like he was mental. "I don't want to stop, Lizzie!" He turned back to her, his eyes blazing with heat and exasperation. "I've been nothing but patient! I've let you make me look like a fool in front of the whole school! Waiting while you choose between me and Weasley!" he spat.
Lizzie made a noise that sounded like he had slapped her, and he instantly regretted his words. "I'm sorry, Draco," she muttered.
"Don't be sorry, just end it with him! He's an idiot!" The gorgeous blond swarmed back into her personal space and grasped her face in both hands, pressing his mouth to hers again.
"Draco," she mumbled around his lips, pushing at his chest. Gah! He made her brain so fuzzy! He was starting to frighten her, too. All those voices in her head telling her he was dangerous. Telling her she couldn't take him at face value. Telling her he would only hurt her. Is this where his façade drops? Is he going force me to do something I don't want in this secluded, warded corner of the castle? He's not paying attention to me! "Please stop, Draco!" she gasped as his hands tugged the hem of her shirt out of her skirt. Her hips bucked in response.
"Your mouth is telling me no, but your body is telling me yes," he muttered against her throat, suckling the hallow above her collar bone. She moaned – her heart was going to beat right out of her chest in a chilling combination of exhilaration and fear. Panic clawed up her throat as his fingers made contact with the bare skin of her mid-drift. Suddenly the dread and alarm was overwhelming.
"Draco!" She sobbed, trying to push him away, terror overriding her passion. "Stop!" He still continued, brazenly palming her breast, and her alarm heightened. Not knowing what else to do to get his attention, she bit him when his mouth attempted to claim hers again, and tasted blood
"Fuck!" he shouted, pulling away with a murderous look on his face while wiping his lip. He froze, though, when the anger and pain cleared the lust from his brain. Taking in her appearance, he was disturbed with himself. She was sexily disheveled, her blouse untucked and pushed up, her hair a wild mess, but that was where the appeal ended. She was boneless against the wall, hands out in front of her ready to fight him off if he came back at her. Tears cascaded down her face. The worst thing, though, was look of terror in her eyes.
"Lizzie," he whispered, taking control of himself again. He reached out to her and she winced, side stepping him and rounding so her back was not to him.
"Do-on't!" she cried, the word hitching in her tight throat. "Stop!"
"Lizzie, I'm sorry!" He pleaded, trying to let his remorse permeate the atmosphere. She continued to back away.
"Don't touch me, Malfoy!" She yelled as he grasped for her again. Suddenly her wand was in her hand and he was rooted to the spot. He didn't know if it was the wand, or the fact she called him Malfoy with so much regret and contempt in her voice that made his heart sink. He knew in that moment he had made a mistake he couldn't fix.
"I lost my head." He implored her. "It won't happen again. Please, Lizzie, I didn't mean to scare you!"
She shook her head, the moisture in her eyes leaking freely. "I should thank you." He hated the disdain in her voice. "You've made my choice all the clearer, now. I can't be with you."
"Lizzie," he whispered, horrified. How stupid could he be? What had he done?
"I can't trust you! Everyone said I couldn't." She was angry and hurt and so confused. Her heart throbbed at the devastation on his face.
"Of course everyone said you couldn't trust me." Even to himself he sounded defeated. He hated it. Hated how this girl had made him let his guard down. Hated he had confided so much in her over the last two months. Hated that he felt sick to his stomach. Hated he knew what was coming. Hated he felt like he was going to cry. So, he did the one thing he did best – he put his walls back up. He would walk away on his own terms.
She watched in appalled fascination as the stone mask of their early days slithered back into place and settled with familiar grace. His back straightened and his shoulders squared. His hands moved to clasp behind his back and he stepped away from her. He looked every bit the young aristocrat and nothing like the boy she had grown so fond of.
"My apologies, Miss Williams." His voice was cold, detached, and polite. All the feeling and emotion of moments before was gone, just like that. "I lost my head in the moment and I regret what happened. I did not mean to scare you. I hope you can forgive me."
"Forgive…you…?" Lizzie found herself giving a surprised, jerky nod as her resolve slipped. The very core of her being screamed no. She had worked so hard to tear those walls down. She couldn't believe she had talked herself into choosing Ron. She cared about Ron, very much, but the passion wasn't there. The sizzle, the spark – that existed only with Draco. It had never existed with anyone else.
Should he have stopped when she asked him to? Yes. Yes, he should have. If she hadn't been so in her own head, though, would she have even asked him to stop? If she was being honest with herself, that answer was no.
She had made the mistake tonight – she had made the wrong choice before the night had even started and this was the outcome.
He watched as her face went from fearful, to surprise, to doubt. He brushed off the flicker of hope the doubt caused and continued to rebuild his walls. "I hope you find what you need with the Weasel." He spat the last word, grateful he could at least get in that dig.
Her flinch didn't make him feel as good as it should have.
"Draco, wait," she murmured, for the first time stepping towards him instead of away.
He would be the one to leave now.
"Good night, Miss Williams." He gave a curt bow of impeccable formality and spun on his heel, disappearing without another word.
Lizzie covered her mouth with her hand to smother the cry that strangled through her throat.
"Lizzie?" Hermione whispered, she glanced at Susan and Hannah with wide eyes. The Hufflepuff girls, not knowing what else to do for the poor distraught blonde, sought her out to come help their friend. The girl was sobbing into her pillow, curled into a tiny ball of nerves and regret. When Hermione laid a hand on her shoulder, the anguish only got worse. "Lizzie, sweetie." The Head Girl was almost panicked. She sat down on the bed and pulled at the girl, trying to get her to look at her.
"We'll give you some time," Hannah whispered, tears in her own blue eyes. Hannah was such a sensitive person, she often cried whenever anyone else did.
Hermione nodded her thanks and the other two girls left the room. "Lizzie, c'mon," she murmured, rubbing a soothing hand on her friend's back. "What happened?"
Hermione was pretty sure she knew what happened. The blonde had obviously ended it with someone tonight and it had gone bad. Her heart lurched, feeling bad for Ron. At the same time, she was confused because she had just run into Ron and Harry in the hall before Hannah and Susan had found her and he had seemed perfectly fine.
"Honey," Hermione whispered, desperately trying to figure out what to say. "Lizzie, it's okay."
"It's not," the girl whimpered. "It's not okay. I hurt him."
"Sweetie, I don't think he was that hurt," Hermione disagreed. "I saw him a few minutes ago and he seemed fine."
"You saw Draco?" Lizzie sat up quickly, searching Hermione's face.
"Oh." Now Hermione was very confused. She would have put money on Lizzie choosing Draco over Ron. "You ended it with Draco?"
A fresh wave of tears spilled from emerald eyes. "No!" she wailed, burying her face in her palms.
"Good Godric, girl!" Hermione pulled her into a tight embrace. "You're freaking me out, tell me what happened!"
Brokenly, Lizzie explained what transpired in the secluded corridor of the third floor. Hermione grew more and more confused, then angry, and then baffled. "I don't understand?"
"Neither do I!" Lizzie's voice was hoarse from her tears. "I had every intention on ending it with Draco tonight – "
"What?!" Hermione was appalled. "I thought you were going to choose Draco."
"You did?" Lizzie's eyes met brown ones, clearly shocked at the revelation.
"Well, yes," Hermione admitted reluctantly. "There's just so much more…heat…between you and Draco."
"I…" Lizzie was ashamed of herself. How could she have ever thought Hermione would be angry with her for choosing Draco? "I didn't want to disappoint you." More tears spilled over red-rimmed eyes. "I'm such a moron."
"Oh, Lizzie," Hermione was exasperated. "What kind of friend do you think I am?"
"You love Ron so much," she whispered. "I thought you would be upset with me. Our friendship is so new, and I – I adore you. I didn't want to break our trust."
Hermione pulled the girl back in for another hug. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't want to lead on Ron, so I guess I'm going be done with both of them." Lizzie breathed out heavily, blowing hair out of her face. "What a fool I've been."
Ron took her let down well. At first, he had looked utterly shocked and a bit angry. When she explained she was no longer going to see Draco, and hoped they could still hang out, he calmed immediately. Hermione's suggestion of playing up the need to focus on her studies this year instead of boys seemed to sit well with him. He invited her to sit with the Gryffindor's at lunch. She politely declined, reporting she had promised to sit with Hannah and Susan, but would see him later.
Draco wasn't at lunch. She overheard a few whispers from the Slytherin table as she made her way to her seat. Nott and Zabini were staring at her, daggers in their eyes. She flushed.
"Ignore them," Hannah hissed at her. "You did the right thing. Who needs boys anyway?"
Susan nodded vigorously. "I was blown away when I heard you'd told both boys no." While she was being sympathetic to her friend, Lizzie didn't miss the way her eyes sparkled with excitement. "How did Ron take it?"
Lizzie studied Susan for a moment before responding. "I think he took it well. He was a bit upset at first, but better when I told him I wasn't going to be seeing Draco, either."
"Poor Weasley," Hannah sniggered, she knew how bad Susan's crush was. "Always friend-zoned! First Granger, now you."
Lizzie had the grace to look abashed. "Didn't think of it like that. We're better off as friends, though, there's really no spark between us."
Susan looked horrified and Hannah laughed again. Lizzie looked questionably between the two girls. "Am I missing something?"
"Oh, only that Susan has had a crush on Weasley for the last three years!" Hannah guffawed at Susan's betrayed grimace. "Oh, come off it, Sue. Lizzie doesn't want Ron. Now that you know, just be honest!"
Lizzie's mouth had dropped open and she looked at Susan with wide-eyed speculation. "Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.
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...After Happily Ever After