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Hermione hits his shoulder.
"You are terrible, I hope you know that, going around sticking your tongue down people's throats." For all that she's pink-cheeked and teasing, though, she is smiling. "I'm not just going to kiss anyone, you know. I would like to love them - or at least like them."
"You are terrible, I hope you know that, going around sticking your tongue down people's throats." For all that she's pink-cheeked and teasing, though, she is smiling. "I'm not just going to kiss anyone, you know. I would like to love them - or at least like them."
He laughs, even as he pulls back to dodge the hit. "If those were my qualifications, I would virtually only ever kiss my friends. And I don't have enough of those to make that feasible in the slightest. I don't even like half of the people I've slept with."
"Then maybe you should start trying. I've heard it makes it better when you love them." Which makes her think of the hundred years, of course, and how many people he might have loved and lost - and her mind skips over that, forces her to think of the now. "You've shown me that kisses can be very lovely. Are you happy?"
"Everyone in the Drabwurld will have to try and compare to Dorian Gray's executive kissing technique." It makes her laugh, the sound escaping her even as she leans up to wrap her arms around his neck to hug him. "How will I possibly survive the unfortunate comparisons? My poor future husband."
"Not really? I've never really been interested in girls that way. They're beautiful, of course, but when I ever thought about relationships..." Well, it had been boys. Viktor and then Ron and then Luke, here, in this world, but she's biting her tongue on that matter. "Boys, I think."
"Oh, no?" He pushes to his feet. Away from the table he walks, over to the fireplace. It isn't burning so strongly, with spring coming into fullness, but still it burns to fight off the last of winter chill. And down he kneels, perfectly prepared to shove his head right into the flames—
"No!" Hermione stands up, moving over. "Accio Dorian Gray!" It doesn't pull him to her, of course, not the way the spell works, but Harry had told her he had used it on Hagrid once - and he does move away from the fireplace and closer to her, which is what she had wanted. Dropping to her knees, she glares. "Are you absolutely mental?"
"That doesn't mean you can joke about it," she says, voice soft, her fingers brushing over his skin. "Not this, not with me. I know that you've suffered, but you don't... You shouldn't have to suffer just because you can." Hermione's hand drops, touching his chest, where his heart lies, before she leans in and kisses him again, another chaste thing, comfort more than anything else. "I would take all of it away if I could."
[ All she can do is offer him a soft smile, a budding tenderness inside of her that she can't quite put words to. It's a bubbling flame of concern and care that is not just directed at the baby but also the man, the one that she has come to care about more than she had expected. She had thought that he was just stern and aloof when they had first met, dangerous and a little frightening, but she had learned her lesson. Faolan is kind and dedicated, he is strong and determined, and she respects that, all of it.
Even as she kisses the side of Breidei's had, the scales strange against her mouth, she's thinking of Faolan. ] Of course. That's what friends do - we help each other. If there's something I can do to make life easier all you have to do is tell me.
Even as she kisses the side of Breidei's had, the scales strange against her mouth, she's thinking of Faolan. ] Of course. That's what friends do - we help each other. If there's something I can do to make life easier all you have to do is tell me.
There it is: one of those sudden moments of coldness. After all that play and fun and offering of protection, the wall comes down.
"You can't. And I wouldn't want you to." He draws to his feet, away from her touch. "There's no stripping back what I've been through to reveal the real boy underneath it."
"You can't. And I wouldn't want you to." He draws to his feet, away from her touch. "There's no stripping back what I've been through to reveal the real boy underneath it."
"Maybe I don't want just the boy." Hermione stands up, turning to look at him. "I don't want just - whatever you want to pretend to be, or the person you might think you want me to have. I've seen your soul, Dorian, and I'm not running away. I'm not turning my back on you and wherever you go I'll go with you if you need me to." Her arms cross tight across her chest, unsure; no matter how many strides she makes she continues to ruin the friendship between them, saying the wrong thing and bringing back that ice. "I told you. I love you, not what you might think I think you are."
"Of course I do. I loved him, but Dorian," she takes a step closer. "I can love you too. It's not a situation where I have to pick either one of you. You're right here and, yes, maybe sometimes I miss him, but that doesn't matter. Because I get you. I get to see you and I get to talk to you and I get to be around you and have toast with you and just... Have a friend. And it doesn't matter if you're not that child any more. I still love the man you've become and I'm going to until the day I die."
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