The Killer Heart

Chapter 10

The next day, Hermione awoke with a pounding headache, and her arms had become numb, all feeling lost from her shoulders down. As the blood began to flow, she felt a rush of it drop down to the tips of her fingers and back to her chest, and sat up, checking the clock. 1200. It was then she saw her clothes scattered across the bedroom floor, and her body was completely bare. She sat up and hurried to put them back on, noticing a sealed note on her nightstand. A bouquet of roses lay next to it, fresh and elegant, tied with a silk ribbon. As she finished up the buttons and clasp on her jeans, she pinned her hair up into a ponytail with one hand, the other picking up the note and gently unfolding it.

"Dear Hermione,

Something i've always longed to hear you say over and over again is my name. Whether it slips from your lips as you hazily take me in your arms in the morning light, or pressed into a whisper so only i would be able to hear the soft words erupt from your throat. Something about those letters as they leave your mouth makes everything seem so wondrous and luminescent; my eyes shine brighter, i feel a bit lighter, and as your spring-filled eyes wait patiently for me, your name escapes the hurricane of words that cloud my mind and leaves me breathless, gasping for the air that only you can give me. You gave me everything in one night, and I shall savor your sweet taste and the beautiful sound that is your voice until i see you again, and you shall spoil me with your mere presence once more.

Draco"

Hermione had been brought to tears as she neared the end of the note. She held it close to her chest, sighing happily, as a curious thought entered her mind. So he was romantic, and swept her off her feet. But where had he gone? She laid back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, until she heard soft whines and wails from the room next door. She stood on her feet and began to walk towards the door, when she stumbled and fell to the ground, realizing her legs had lost all feeling as well. She smiled. So that's what happened last night. She scrambled to her feet, doing her best to wrestle against her own legs to the door.

At last, she reached the nursery, where her two sons, sleeping angels just a few hours before, had now become hungry, crying alarm clocks. Loud hungry, crying alarm clocks. She was sure the neighbors could hear. Quickly, she fed Junior, then Joseph, and laid them back in bed, tucking them in as their tiny mouths let out quiet yawns.

Silently, she slipped out of the room and headed downstairs, only to be greeted with a lovely scent that filled the room. In the living room, she spotted a small tray on the table, filled as full as it had been the day before, another note set beside it. Before looking at the delicious meal put out for her, she picked up the letter and unfolded it.

"Dear Hermione,

I always tried my hardest not to get close to people because they always end up breaking me and leaving me shattered into a million pieces that i need fix all on my own.

But there's something different about you. There always has been. You make me blush every time you speak. You cause me to have butterflies in my stomach. I want nothing more than to just cuddle with you under a blanket.

And you'll help me fix my shattered pieces.

You make me feel loved.

Draco"

Hermione's mouth broke into a weak smile at her letter. It was shorter, but made her heart melt nonetheless. She folded the note up neatly, and put it in her pocket with the first one, taking a look at what her thoughtful husband had left her for lunch, now eagerly wondering where he had gone.

Her jaw dropped immediately; A rich, crisp brown steak covered three-fourths of the plate, cooked with tender care, soft and succulent. Beside it, a corn cob lay in its own bowl, drenched in steaming hot water, coated in fresh gravy and topped off with a cool slap of butter; its smell mixed with the steak's tender, warm aroma filled the air, enough to make a grown man drool. A small cup of fruit lay off to the side of the plate, carefully chopped into bite-sized pieces, each one cold and freshly cut. Her glass was filled to the brim with wine, deep red in color, obviously the best that Draco could find.

Hermione finished off the tray in no time, starved by the smells, and headed to the kitchen to wash the dishes. As she finished, she went on with her daily routine, going outside for a walk. She went upstairs to change, coming back down with shorts, a tank top, and dazzling white running shoes. She headed to the door, spotting another note taped over the peephole. Before she touched the doorknob, she stopped running in place and took the note off the wood, opening it, and saw a heart carved into the door where the note covered it. A heart, with the letters D and H engraved carefully into it, in neat cursive. She looked down at the letter in her hand.

"Dear Hermione,

14 months

60 weeks

426 days

10226 hours

36827326 seconds

All spent on

YOU.

Draco"

She blinked a few times at the numbers she saw. Had time passed by that quickly? She sighed happily and folded up the note, and, just like the others, tucked it into the pocket of her shorts, where she had moved the other notes into.

She headed out into the streets, strolling along the sidewalk until she reached a stop sign. This stop sign was 2 blocks away from the local park, where she and Draco had gone a few times before. She loved this park; its tranquility, peacefulness, the soft twittering of birds in the trees, the laughter of young children as they played in the grass...

Her thoughts trailed away and she nearly ran into the sign. Stopping herself, she noticed yet another note taped onto the metal post that the sign stood on. This one was only a thin strip of paper, the words written carefully onto it, in tiny handwriting, barely visible. As she squinted, she made out the words, directing her to go somewhere.

"Dear Hermione,

70 paces East,

50 paces South,

64 paces East,

92 paces North,

45 paces West, 

105 paces North.

Draco."

He had taken the time to count each and every one? She couldn't help but smile, and followed exactly what the directions wrote, ending up at the stone gate in front of the park. She looked around. Left. Nothing. Right. Noth-- wait. What was that? she saw a thin, scraggly-haired man standing near a park bench, back straight and a warming smile plastered in between his chiseled cheeks. But he wasn't alone; he held a thick purple leash, attatched to a small black german shepherd puppy. As soon as the man saw a particular woman, his smile broadened, and he walked over to her. 

"Hello, Hermione." Draco kissed her tenderly on the lips, taking her face into one of his hands gently, the other tugging the puppy along behind him. She smiled, pleasantly surprised, 

"What's all this for?" She bent down to scratch the puppy behind its floppy, perky ears, and it pounced onto her, licking her cheek. Draco grinned when he saw her smile; he would do everything in his power to keep her happy. 

"Just because." He lifted the puppy up and set it in his loving wife's arms, happily watching her play with the dog on the ground, until it tired itself out and slept peacefully in the grass. He turned to her and looked her straight in her eyes.

"Never let that smile fade away. Okay?"

She nodded, and kissed him.

"Okay."