In The Head Lights - Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: These characters all belong to J.K. Rowling, yadayadayada.

A/N: Hey, people. Thank you all for the reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter, even though I’m not too pleased with it.

Hermione woke the next morning feeling confused but very warm and happy. She went to roll over, but realized that something was weighing her down. With great reluctance she opened her eyes and saw that she was enveloped in two strong arms, her head against someone’s chest. The confusions spreading, she looked at the person she was lying on and saw Draco sleeping peacefully, his arms holding her to him, a slight smile spread across his face. She didn’t have the heart to move him once the memories of the night prior came flooding back, so instead she leant her head back down onto his chest and listened to the slow rhythm of his heart, wondering what he was dreaming.

After only a few minutes she felt him stir. He squeezed her tighter, then sat up slightly, pulling Hermione with him.

“G’morning, beautiful,” he murmured through his sleep induced haze, blinking slowly and looking around the room slowly. “Did we fall asleep here?”

“No, I woke up extra early and dragged you from your bed before putting you on the couch,” Hermione smiled.

“Oh, ha-ha. Very funny,” Draco said sarcastically. He let Hermione go and she stood up slowly, stretching. “I’m going to go and take a shower, and then do you want to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast?”

Hermione nodded once and decided to go and take a shower herself. She had fallen asleep in her school clothes from the day before, and she could bet that her hair was messier than usual. As she let the hot water run over her, her thoughts drifted to the conversation she had had with Draco the night before.

They had talked about their lives, their families, and once they had both run out of things to say, they would fire questions off at random, learning more about each other than ever before. Hermione had told him some things she had never told Harry, Ron or Ginny, and that thought surprised her.

She stepped out of the shower and changed into some fresh school clothes, drying her hair with a wave of her wand. After she was satisfied with her appearance, she went down to the common room where Draco was waiting for her. She resisted the urge to run over to him and hug him, but she immediately took his hand when he held it out to her. He smiled at her eagerness but didn’t say anything, and they walked to the Great Hall together. Draco stopped outside the doors, just out of view from all the students inside.

“Do you want to walk in together? I mean, it’s so soon after Ron and things,” he said, and she bit her lip.

“Maybe it’s best if we go in separately, at least for today,” she decided after a few moments. Before going in first, Draco pulled her to his chest, and they stood there holding each other for a minute before breaking apart. “I’ll see you later, ‘kay?”

Draco nodded and watched her go in, smiling to himself.

As soon as she walked in Harry and Ginny noticed her, and Ginny jumped up and ran to her best friend.

“Hermione, are you okay? You look really tired,” Ginny frowned after hugging her friend.

“Yeah, I’m okay, just pretty tired. I stayed up kind of late last night,” she explained as they took a seat beside Harry. Ron was sitting further down the table talking to Seamus and Dean with Lavender clinging onto his arm as though it were a lifeline.

“What about you and Draco?” Ginny asked, lowering her voice to a whisper at the last word.

Hermione smiled slightly. “We’re fine, as a matter of fact,” she said, digging into a plate of bacon and eggs.

“Really?” asked Harry. “I thought you would rip his head off as soon as he walked into the common room.”

“No, we made up,” Hermione said, shaking her head. Ginny cast Harry a confused look, and he shrugged in response.

“You made up? After what he said?” Harry asked, making sure he was hearing everything right.

“Yes, we made up. We have Transfiguration, right?”

“Yeah, we do,” Harry said, taking her change of topic and running with it. “Did you finish the homework?”

“What do you think?” Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow and grinning.

Both Harry and Ginny laughed, and the chime that meant they had five minutes to get to first class rang shrilly through the Great Hall. Harry and Ginny kissed goodbye and Ginny headed off to Charms whilst he and Hermione went to their Transfiguration classroom.

Lessons with both Ron and Hermione were awkward for all those concerned, because Harry now had to sit in the middle and try and keep the peace. Now, ever since Lavender had decided that she wanted Ron back, the situation was worse because she was constantly trying to distract him which also distracted Harry and Hermione from focusing on their work. Transfiguration was slightly better because Professor McGonagall had divided the desks into sets of two, but Ron always seemed determined to sit next to Harry.

Today was no different, with Ron shaking Lavender off at the door once he saw Harry sitting by himself, but just as he approached to sit down, Hermione slid into the seat next to Harry, much to his anger.

“What are you doing?” Ron snapped at her as she pulled out her books.

“Sitting, what are you doing?” Hermione asked, smiling pleasantly.

“I always sit next to Harry.”

“Only because you’re trying to shake off Lavender. Besides, I would like to talk to Harry this lesson,” Hermione said, still keeping her cool demeanor.

“I don’t care if you need to talk to Harry, that’s my seat,” Ron’s face was starting to turn red.

“I don’t care that this is your seat, I need to talk to Harry,” Hermione said, a flicker of annoyance dancing over her face.

“Ron, just let her sit here. She never does usually, and I’m sure it won’t kill you to sit away from me for a lesson, mate,” Harry said, placing a steady hand on his friend’s arm.

Ron opened his mouth to retort but Harry looked at him pointedly and he wandered off sullenly.

“Thanks,” Hermione flashed Harry a warm smile which he returned. “I would have thought you’d have stuck up for him.”

“You’re my best friend too, Hermione, and Ron’s been a bit of an arse to you. The way he acted at the ball was just out of line, and now he’s already back with Lavender? I don’t like it,” Harry shrugged, and the two fell silent as Professor McGonagall began to give them their instructions.

Once she had told them what they would be doing (transfiguring cushions so they could talk) she allowed them to talk quietly whilst they worked.

“So, do you want to tell me what happened with Malfoy?” Harry asked as he practiced the wand movement necessary for the spell.

“We made up. He came in after Ginny did, and told me that he knew what he did was unforgivable, and told me that he was really sorry and wouldn’t hurt me again. Then we stayed up late talking,” Hermione explained simply, and Harry seemed amazed.

“You just forgave him? For everything he’s done?”

“He’s changed, Harry. You’ve seen it, and you’ve said so yourself. He didn’t have a choice in his actions before this year, so I’m giving him a fresh start,” she said, waving her wand so her cushion emitted a squeaking noise.

“I ‘spose, but it’s hard to imagine a nice Draco Malfoy,” he admitted with a shrug as his cushion let out a squeak which was nowhere near as audible as Hermione’s had been.

“It isn’t hard when you’ve spent the entire night talking about your life with him,” Hermione said as her cushion made a noise which sounded a lot like someone saying hello.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better at least,” Harry said, making his cushion squeak again, this time louder and at a lower pitch which sounded more like a voice.

“So am I,” Hermione agreed with a smile as her cushion introduced itself to her and Harry. “There we go, that was easy.” She said, placing her wand down after Professor McGonagall had checked her work and had a decent conversation with her cushion.

“Very good, Ms Granger. Now, start packing up, we shall continue on this next lesson,” McGonagall said, with a wave of her wand summoning all the cushions to lie neatly in a box behind her desk. The bell went and Hermione bid farewell to Harry with a wave before heading to Arithmacy.

On the way to her class she felt someone take her hand and she looked up into the smiling face of Draco.

“Hello, beautiful. What do you have now?” he asked. They could be as close as they liked in the busy Hogwarts corridors without fear of being seen, and Draco obviously knew and took advantage of the situation.

“Arithmacy. Want to walk me to my class?” Hermione asked, and Draco nodded swiftly and led the way.

“Are you coming back to the common room for break?” Draco asked as they reached the door.

“Uh-huh, I have a free period after break as well,” Hermione said.

“Lucky me, so do I,” Draco smiled, winking at her. They hugged quickly, for the crowds were thinning out quickly and they didn’t want to be caught yet. “See you later,” he said as he walked away, waving over a crowd of first years.

Hermione walked into Arithmacy feeling lighter than she had all day.

A/N: There you go, a nice, happy chapter. I’m not happy with it, but I’m not feeling too well at the moment so I don’t really want to try and make anything amazing yet. I’ll try and update tomorrow or the next day, but school is ridiculous at the moment and my social life has disappeared lately, so I might focus on those a bit more. Until then, R&R, and I hope you enjoyed it!