Disclaimer: Rarararara, I don’t own these characters, they are all the property of le J.K. Rowling.
A/N: Yay, here we are at chapter fourteen! Imagine my surprise when I check my email this afternoon and find 16 emails from here. That made my day :). Anyway, thank you to my reviewers, please keep on reviewing! On we go…
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Hermione woke the next morning feeling an unexpected weight on her torso and once she had squinted against the glare of the sun she found Draco’s pale arm wrapped loosely over her body. She scooted back slightly, leaning her back against his chest. To her surprise he was already awake, and he kissed the back of her head gently.
“How are you?” she asked, rolling over to face him so their foreheads were pressed against each other’s.
“Better than I have been in a while,” he murmured and kissed her nose. “Come on, you overslept. We have Ancient Runes in half an hour.” He rolled out of the bed and Hermione flopped back onto her pillows, groaning as she tossed an arm over her eyes. “Let’s go, lazy,” Draco teased, and before she realized what was going on, he had scooped her from the bed and placed her on the cold stone floors.
She squealed as the coldness came in contact with her bare skin and jumped from the floor.
“Awake yet?” Draco called as she ran into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. He heard the shower start and he chuckled to himself, running a hand through his blonde hair. He left Hermione’s dormitory and went to his own, picking out his usual school attire of black trousers, a white shirt and an emerald green tie, followed by his black cloak. A quick glance in the mirror told him he looked respectable (“You look lovely, deary” it had said in a wheezy voice), and he headed back to the common room where Hermione was already waiting for him.
“Time for breakfast?” she asked him cheerily, though the bags beneath her eyes told him she had had a restless night.
“You’re tired,” he remarked, pushing her down gently into a chair and beginning to get the two of them a bowl of cereal each. “Didn’t you sleep well?”
“No, not really. I thought this year was going to be simple, easy even, but with everything that’s been going on, it’s been far more stressful than I thought it would be. I spent a lot of last night just mulling everything over, and hoping that yesterday was the end of the stress,” Hermione said, smiling gratefully at him when he placed a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee in front of her.
“Eat,” he urged, and she obliged. “I know what you mean. After he was gone, I thought it would all be over. But then of course, there are always the repercussions of war, and then there’s the stuff that you never thought would happen, and it turns your life upside down.”
Hermione nodded, unable to speak due to a mouthful of cereal. She swallowed it quickly. “I take it by the last thing you said you’re talking about us?”
“Maybe,” he smirked, winking at her. “We should probably go.”
Hermione sighed but picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder anyway, and the two walked to class quickly. They took their seats at the front of the class, and Professor Babbling began the lesson promptly. There was little chance to talk during the lesson, and they separated with a prompt kiss as Hermione headed to Charms without Draco.
“Hey, Hermione,” Harry said, waving to her. Ron was already sitting beside him, so Hermione took the seat behind the boys.
“Hi, Harry. Hello, Ron,” she said, trying to keep it civil.
“Hello, Hermione,” Ron mumbled, nodding towards her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Harry roll his eyes, and a moment later Ron was rubbing his ribs and complaining as Harry’s elbow slid out of sight.
“How is your family?” Hermione asked Ron, genuinely concerned about the wellbeing of the Weasley’s who had been through so much in such a short period of time.
“Eh, they’re okay. George isn’t doing too well, but I spose that’s what you’d expect,” Ron said and shrugged, turning around.
‘So much for a decent conversation,’ Hermione thought, scribbling down some notes which Flitwick had put on the board. They were to be focusing on healing charms for the next few weeks, something which she had already studied before her, Harry and Ron had gone on the search for the horcruxes.
The practical study of the spells would have to wait until they all had the theory fully understood, because those charms could go seriously wrong and cause more harm than good, and Professor Flitwick was yet to find anyone or anything willing to be used as a test subject for the students. The lesson was dull as Hermione went over theory she had already memorized, and the fact that she was unable to talk to anyone made it even more tedious. Despite the fact that Charms was one of her best subjects and also one of her favourites, the bell ringing for break was something that relieved her, and she hastily put her books in her bag and hurried from the room.
In her haste she walked straight into a rather firm chest covered in a white shirt with an emerald tie and, feeling the blush rise in her cheeks, she looked up into the rather amused face of Draco.
“How do you get to my classes so quickly?” she asked once she had recovered from her embarrassment.
“It’s just a knack I have for knowing all the secret passages,” he shrugged. “What do you want to do? Do you want something to eat? You didn’t really have breakfast this morning.”
“Even though we’ve been together for a while, you still have no idea how odd I find it for Draco Malfoy to be concerned about my wellbeing,” Hermione grinned, and Draco raised his eyebrows at her.
“Would you prefer the snide, horrible person I was before you?” he asked as they rounded the corner towards the Great Hall where there were snacks on the tables.
“Oh, definitely. I really loved the insults. They boosted my self-confidence,” Hermione said with a straight face, and Draco looked doubtfully at her. “Of course not. I love this you.”
“Aha, I was just waiting for you to say you loved me,” Draco smirked, and Hermione chuckled.
“I’ll say it whenever you want,” she laughed, picking up a croissant and pouring herself a goblet of pumpkin juice. “Rather, I’ll say it whenever you want me to, as long as you say you love me whenever I want you to.”
“Draco Malfoy, confessing his love for you? Never!” he said in a mock shocked tone.
“As if you haven’t said it before,” Hermione said, poking her tongue out at him.
“Now, now, you two. Break it up,” said a familiar voice, and they both watched as Ginny sat opposite them with Harry on one side and Ron on the other. “Hermione, Ron has something to say to you.”
Ron looked around sheepishly until Ginny gave him one of most Mrs. Weasley-ish glares, at which point he recoiled slightly but seemed to give up avoiding the situation.
“I’m…sorry for getting so mad at you and trying to attack you. I have no right to get mad about who you date, even if it is Malfoy,” Ron said slowly, narrowing his eyes at the last word.
“Gee, I’m so glad you’ve finally accepted the fact that I can make my own choices,” Hermione said coldly, returning to her croissant.
“Hermione,” Draco murmured warningly, eyeing off the tension between the two former best friends, unsure if she should act.
“No, let her say what she wants to say, ferret,” Ron snapped, and Draco scowled.
“Alright, I’ll finish. You have absolutely no right whatsoever dictating who I can date. I broke up with you for my own reasons, and trust me, they were damn good reasons. Then you go and accuse me of moving on too quickly when, the day after I broke up with you, I saw you snogging Lavender Brown. Then when you find out that Draco and I are dating you get your knickers in a twist because of what? You don’t think he’s suitable for me? And if all that’s not enough, you even try to attack us after interrupting a private moment? You really don’t think, do you, Ronald?” Hermione said shrilly, attracting a few glances.
“Hermione!” Draco said again, this time more forcefully, but Hermione didn’t seem to take any notice of him.
“What were those good reasons for breaking up with me then? You never told me, you just walked out of the room like it was nothing. What the bloody hell did I do wrong?” Ron said, fuming.
“Ronald, calm down right now,” Ginny said angrily, getting to her feet. She was fiery when she got going, and people around seemed to back away slightly, for fear of getting in the way of one of her hexes.
Just as Hermione opened her mouth to shoot out an angry retort, the bell rang loudly, cutting through the tension somewhat. Hermione gritted her teeth as she saw Ron storm out of the Great Hall.
“You need to calm down,” said Draco softly as he walked her from the hall a few moments after Ron’s leaving.
“How am I meant to calm down with him around,” Hermione said, her tone almost whiny. “He’s being such an arse about this entire situation!”
“Trust me, I know he’s being a stubborn arse about it all, but he’ll come around eventually,” Draco murmured soothingly in her ear as they hugged one last time before separating to go to their different classes.
“I hope so,” Hermione pouted, and walked into Transfiguration, Draco turning away and walking to his Divination class.
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A/N: Well that was a short chapter, but I’m suffering from a touch of writer’s block at the moment. As usual, please R&R!
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