Chapter Two:

Preparing for a Night She'll Never Forget

The Manor was alive with chaos that morning. Decorators were scurrying around, making final measurements and barking orders. Draco Malfoy stood on the upstairs balcony watching the chaos. This was the first ball held at this house since the war. He had finally come full circle with his family name. No longer were the Malfoy's known only for death and destruction, but now for kindness and generosity. For Draco, however, this night was about a whole lot more than just benefactors and Ministry employees and their loved ones. This night was going to be the first time in a year he had seen HER. The first time since that awful night at Hogwarts during the last Ministry Ball that had destroyed his entire existence. The night she had left everything they'd worked so hard for because of a stupid mistake on his part, something that meant nothing but ruined everything.

He knew she was with someone new now, rumors told him the great Harry Potter in fact. He knew her better than anyone, or so he thought. There was no way she could be happy with him. Sure he was a great guy; they were acquaintances if not friends. They didn't hang out or anything but there was a mutual respect between the two former enemies. But he was predictable, probably treated her like a queen, which of course was exactly what she deserved, what Draco had always tried to do for her. However, thanks to one moment a year ago, everything he had planned and worked for with Hermione was gone. Thanks to Pansy, the slut, Parkinson who just couldn't take no for an answer.

Flashback :

Slytherin Common Room

"Oh, come on," Pansy drawled, walking across the quite common room where she had found Draco an hour earlier, sitting alone on the couch, half asleep.

For the past hour, Draco had been trying desperately to ignore the annoyance that was his former girlfriend. He had come to his old common room, knowing it would be deserted, for a few moments of quite napping. He never really got into the whole social circle. Sure he accompanied his girlfriend, Hermione, to every Ministry function and every party or get together they were invited to. But deep down, a quite night at home with the woman he loved was enough for him.

He had barely passed out when he heard the click of heels moving across the room towards him. Sighing, he'd opened his eyes just in time to see his former annoyance standing in front of him in one of the most revealing dresses he'd ever seen a woman wear, clicking her tongue at him.

"Well, well," Pansy said, moving to sit on the chair beside Draco. "Bored already are we? Shouldn't you be escorting your little arm candy around the floor?"

Pansy had despised Hermione since day one. She had hated her in school because she was prettier and smarter than most of the purebloods in the school. Which back then, to Pansy and about every other Slytherin in existence, was a big deal. But there were other reasons she couldn't stand Hermione. Like the fact that she seemed to invade Draco's thoughts all the time. The fact that someone like her could even catch his eye, even for disdain as he swore back then it had been, drove Pansy insane. Pansy was betrothed to Draco, ever since they had been born their families had been deciding their fates. Then the war came and the Dark Lord's reign had finally ended. To Pansy, this had been good for the world but had destroyed hers. Unlike Draco, who had gone along with the relationship and the betrothal simply because his father had forced him to, Pansy had always been in love with Draco. She worshipped him, and was ready and willing to become his wife after graduation. But when the war ended, so did that relationship. Her mother, now that her father was dead, had decided that no daughter of hers was going to have to do anything she didn't want to do, and had the betrothal cancelled. This, obviously, made Draco thrilled but shattered Pansy. She fought for the next six months after graduation trying desperately to convince him that family or no, they were still meant to be together. It didn't work. Draco and Hermione had become increasingly close in the months following graduation, once Draco had renounced his father's ways and realized that everything he'd been told his entire life was a lie. He had become friends with those they despised in school and a few months later, he and Hermione had become an official item.

But after almost four years of not being able to get anywhere near him without the little tramp nearby, Pansy saw him asleep on the couch and saw this as her chance to remind him of what he gave up.

"Pansy, really," Draco sighed, after a long hour of listening to her whine and giggle and annoy the crap out of him. "When are you going to get it through your head that times have changed? You and I, we don't exist anymore. You need to move on, Pansy, it's becoming pathetic."

But Pansy wasn't giving up. She finally had him alone and , knowing how women's minds worked, knew that it couldn't be much longer before Hermione came looking for her boyfriend. Knowing this could be her last chance to remind him what he was missing out on, she jumped from the chair and slid onto his lap, strattling him right there on the couch. Draco opened his eyes and immediately rolled them.

"Really? Get off , you damn cow." Draco said, getting irritated. Pansy didn't move, though. Instead she suddenly grabbed his face and kissed him as desperately as she could, grinding herself against him in hopes that he'd forget HER. Draco lifted his hands and placed them on her hips to push her off of him but before he could move fast enough, they heard the loud "AHEM" from the doorway. Pansy smiled maliciously as she turned her head to look towards the sound, knowing full well who was standing there, and allowed Draco to push her off, knowing the damage was already done.

Draco jumped up from the couch and tore across the common room, shooting Pansy a look so deadly she was surprised she didn't drop dead right there on the spot. He chased after Hermione and Ginny, through the stairwells, shouting after her desperately. He watched as she found Harry in the Great Hall and pulled him out the front doors. Knowing how her mind worked, he sped up , pushing his way through the crowd and out the front doors behind them. He came through the doors and tore down towards the gates, seeing in the distance as Harry grabbed Hermione around the waist and the two disappeared. Draco was sweating bullets by this time, his side aching from running so fast; his heart pounding a million beats a second, feeling like it was going to burst from his chest and shatter into a million pieces.

He apparated to their Manor, his family Manor, and darted down the path and through the doors. Climbing the stairs two at a time, he ran directly to their room and stopped in the doorway, panting heavily, feeling like his whole body was on fire.

The next hour seemed like one long blur to Draco, all slowing down to a crawl as the words "I can't do this anymore" came out of Hermione's mouth. He begged and pleaded with her to listen to him, to stop and let him explain, to not throw away the last four years of their lives. But nothing he said or did made any difference when she walked out of the house sadly. Rushing out to the balcony, unable to believe what was happening, he watched her helplessly as she made her way to the front gate. With one last sad look up at him, he saw her mouth the words "I love you" and disappeared out the gate and out of his life."

That was all that Draco thought about, every night, for the past year. Now it was exactly one year since the night that tore his world apart and he knew that she would be there. Harry had to be there, being that it was a Ministry function and he was a big part in the Ministry of Magic now. And knowing, but definately not liking, the fact that Hermione was now his girlfriend, she would be right there with him. He wondered if she knew that it was at his home this year. He guessed Harry hadn't told her yet, not that he could blame him.

Everything had to be perfect, he was going to pull out all the stops. He had the entire ballroom decorated in elegant silver and white. The balcony off of the ballroom was to be lit with enchanted fireflies. The fountain was to sparkle like diamonds. He had to find a way to lead her out there. Had to find a way to talk to her alone, to make her remember him, not just what happened a year ago. He missed her so much, she still held his heart and soul in the palm of her hand, even if she didn't know it. Before she left the Manor tomorrow night, Draco hoped that she would at the very least remember how much she had loved him for so long.

She had to remember. He needed her.

A/N: Okay sorry for the short chapter, I promise that I'm trying to get my inspiration back and will hopefully have another chapter up soon. Don't worry this isn't going to be one of those boring, oh im sorry okay lets go back to how it was stories. There will be plenty more in this story to tell :)