Chapter 1- Three weeks to go
A/N: Hi all you out there in fanfiction land. If you've happened to stumble across my borrowed plot I thank for you time and I hope you enjoy the story. In case you haven't read the signs posted, this story is not the property of a poor wannabe author, I'm just trying to keep the lawyers off my back, so if you really feel like taking someone to court, please go find someone that can afford it. All plots, characters, themes, etc… belong to JK Rowling and Co.
A/N#2- for some reason I can't get italics to work, so these symbols () are going to represent italics. Kapeesh?
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"Granger, stop! Wait up!"
"What do you want Malfoy?" Hermione replied as Draco Malfoy casually came up from behind her. She crossed her arms, turned and gave him her best sneer.
"Come now, don't be like that. Just for the record love, sneers don't look good on you. You just don't have the facial structure to pull one off." He smiled at her as he said this- a genuine smile void of mockery and malice.
"I honestly have no Idea what you are talking about."
"I think you do. As soon as I said your name your body tensed, you crossed your arms, and immediately became defensive. Come on I thought we were passed all this childish nonsense." Hermione couldn't help but see the slight hurt showing in Draco's eyes, as he exaggerated a pouty face.
Hermione uncrossed her arms and hung them at her side in a relaxed gesture, and took a slow and calculated step towards the boy. As she locked her eyes on his she noticed a spark enter his eye that hadn't been there a moment ago. A small smile tugging on the corner of his lips.
"Better?" she whispered
"Much." He replied just as quietly.
Taking a miniscule step back, she asked, "So. Was there a specific reason for stopping me in the middle of an empty hallway? Are you trying to seduce me Mr. Malfoy? Because if you are, it'll have to wait until we get back to our Head rooms. I have important studying that needs to be done."
"Oh you do not. If you didn't pick up another quill until our N.E.W.Ts in 6 months you'd still end up with the best marks of our year."
With a blush red enough to rival Ron's hair she made a small snort-like sound and said "yeah right."
"And honestly, no I wasn't trying to seduce you. I think it was the other way around. I just wanted to ask you a private question, and was hoping to catch you without the other two members of the golden trio. May I?"
"May you what? Ask me a question? I think you already have." At seeing his face fall slightly in disappointment, she giggled and said "go ahead and shoot. What is this question?"
"This isn't the question, but could we go somewhere a bit more, um… private?"
"Draco you might not have noticed but we're in a deserted hallway, I don't think it gets anymore private."
"Exactly, we're in a hallway, a public hallway, which means that at any moment, any person in this building could come around a corner and see us together. We agreed to keep 'us' private, right?"
"Fine. The old animagi room should be empty, and there are cushions in there so we don't have to sit on the floor, although if we can only find one, we might have to share…"
"Woman, you're really pushing it. Let's get into the room and then we can talk."
"Fine."
The couple split up at that point and went in opposite directions heading for the same destination. Ten minutes later found Draco sitting on the only un-ripped cushion left in the room and Hermione perched comfortably on his lap.
"So what's this insanely important question you couldn't ask me in a hallway,that we had to go up three flights of stairs to get to the only classroom in the whole school guaranteed not to be occupied?"
"Will you go to the Yuletide ball with me in three weeks?"
"… … … What?" she replied after picking her jaw up off the floor.
"I said, 'will you go to…"
'I heard what you said. What I meant to say was 'why'?"
With his head cocked to one side and a puzzled look on his face, Draco asked the obvious question (A/N just for the record I never claimed that Hermione was good with non-logical questions. Show of hands for those who would give an automatic YES!!!…) (Authoress raises hand as high in the air as it'll go)
What on earth do you mean 'why'? I thought it was a simple yes or no question but you have to go turn it into 20 questions!"
"I'm sorry. You caught me off guard there. I thought you wanted to keep our relationship quiet until the War was over, and Voldemort was gone for good. Why the sudden change of mind?"
"I'm just sick of keeping secrets. I tired of hiding. But most of all I'm tired of pretending that I don't care when you pretend to flirt with Longbottom. It kills me every time you give him a hug that suggests more than friendship, and I want to kill him when he tries to make good on that suggestion. Hermione, I love you, you know I do, and the moment Ol' Voldie's gone I'm putting the biggest Blue Emerald I can find on your finger and I'm going to beg you to be my wife."
A Blue Emerald? I've only heard of two Blue Emeralds on the planet and I know for a fact that one of them is at the bottom of the North Atlantic. How on Earth did you acquire the other one?"
"I have my ways. When I slip that ring on your finger you will be the only person on the planet to own one. Then everyone will know exactly how important you are, in both the wizarding and the Muggle world." Hermione blushed slightly as she replied with a small 'oh'.
"Now back to my original question which you still haven't answered…"
"Of course I'll go with you. How could you possibly think that I would turn down the chance? I was planning on skipping out on the party completely because I didn't want to be stuck at a table with some guy I don't love and have to watch you socialize with the other pureblooded women and have to pretend that I don't exist. It kills me every time that Parkinson bitch latches onto your arm and starts spouting off on how she was going to be married to the most eligible pureblooded wizard after the war was over. Implying that Harry was going to be killed and that you were going to honor the marriage contract that your parents signed right after you were born." Draco didn't have to look in Hermione's eyes to see that she was desperately trying to hold back the river of tears that were threatening to break free of her lids. He could definitely hear it in her voice.
"Hermione, you were going to stay behind because of me?" Draco looked deeply ashamed at the thought of the woman he loved abandoning her final Yule ball just because they couldn't go together.
"Yes I figured that if I couldn't go with the man I love then I wouldn't be going at all. I didn't want to go alone because, it would make me look pathetic and picky. People would talk about how the lowly mudblood thinks that she's good enough that she should have her pick of dates, when there were more than a few other mudbloods to choose from, she should feel grateful to be going, period." The dam broke and she began to sob. Draco pulled her closer onto his lap and tried as best he could to soothe her.
"Shhh, it's okay love, nobody's going to say that about you. If anything they'd be talking about how secure of your own identity you must be to have the courage to arrive on your own. Like you told me last year, you don't need a date to have a good time as long as you have good friends around. Right?"
It took a couple more minutes of gentle comfort before Hermione slowly pulled back and wiped away what was left of her tears. "Right. And I'm sorry."
"For what? Crying all over my silk shirt?" Draco managed to pull a weak smile from her frown.
"No… well… yes that too. I'm sorry for getting so emotional over a stupid dance like that. Did I ruin your shirt too badly?"
"Who cares? It's just a shirt. It's not like it can't be washed. Hermione why didn't you tell me that gong to the ball was so important to you. We could have made different arrangements, hell I would have announced our relationship earlier if I had known hat you were so unhappy."
"But you said that it was too dangerous for us to reveal our true feelings until voldemort was gone."
"Well really it is, but if we announce it at the dance then we can get engaged on Christmas Eve if you wanted to."
"Why me?"
"Now that I think about it, it would probably be better if we… I beg your pardon? What do you mean 'why you'?"
"I mean why do you want to marry me? Why are we together?"
" Why are we together? I can't believe you have to ask me this! Hermione I love you! I think I have since the first time I called you a mudblood. I was 12 years old and very confused about these feelings I had never felt before. I automatically fell back onto the training my father had given me about purebloods being superior to those of diluted blood. After a while it just became a habit and I couldn't break it. I found it easier to deal with at the time than the thoughts running through my head and the hormones through my body. But then you came to me in 5th year and asked for my help, and I think I fell all over again.
"Do you remember that day in 5th year when father came up to the school and demanded that I be released to him 4 days early? It was right before Easter."
"Umm… yeah I do. He made quite the scene in the middle of the entrance hall, when Dumbledore told him that you were… how did he put it again?"
"I believe his exact wording was 'indisposed at the moment, and even if he weren't, he has too good a heart to face the corruption waiting for him, when you take him to Voldemort.' "
"Yup that was it. What about it?"
"When he came to school that day he was under the strictest orders to have me delivered to Voldemort's side immediately. It seems that Ol' Voldie was getting sick of Lucius' failures, but didn't want to give up the Malfoy's financial support. So Lucius was ordered to have me brought in for an immediate marking and initiation, because I was to replace him in Voldemort's inner circle. Pansy of course… you knew that Pansy is-was a death eater right?" a slight nod both answered his question and urged him to continue. "Pansy told me beforehand what my initiation was to be in order to prepare myself, when the time came. A death eater's first task is always given to them prior to actually being told by Voldemort. It's a tactic they do so that when the information is given the rookie, no surprise or other facial expression is given. Voldemort sees emotion as a weakness and won't hesitate to punish the victim accordingly…"
"That's absolutely barbaric!" the look of horror on Hermione's face was proof enough that he had indeed picked the right side that day. It didn't take long before the look of horror turned to the dawning of comprehension "your initiation task. It was to eliminate Snape, wasn't it."
"Yeah it was. They figured 'hey if we make him kill not only his mentor and godfather but the man who had been a major player on both sides of the chess board, then there's nothing that proves he's not completely loyal. Do you remember what you told me that day when you found out that Snape was on the hit list of both Voldemort and Dumbledore's little warrior- Potter?"
"Of course I do. I told you flat out that I knew you really were a good person, and that you just needed better influence in your life than a death eater father. As well as the fact that I knew you would make a good, moral decision when the time came to choose."
"And now you fully know the decision I made. Not only did I defy my father, and lose my birthright, I dissed the dark Lo- Voldemort and technically betray my heritage. But I think that the best decision i could have ever make was the one where I decided that I wanted to earn -and keep- your trust and love. Some days I still can't believe that I'm dating the smartest and most beautiful witch in Hogwarts."
Hermione made a sound of disbelief. "Phff, I may be smart but I'm by no means beautiful. My hair controls me rather than the other way around, and I have a next-to-nothing figure. The only reason I have normal size teeth is because of that misfired hex you sent at harry in 4th year."
Draco had the good grace to slightly blush at the memory. "Thanks. I'd forgotten about it until jut now. But honestly, you are beautiful. How you style your hair is just another part of who you are. That messy 'I couldn't-care-less' bun held together with a Muggle pencil is all part of your individual charm. As for you figure, I think you are perfectly proportioned-"
"But the other girls have more… curves and they have no qualms about flaunting them."
"And that does not interest me at all. You have just as many curves as they do, but while their willing to show everyone, everything, you have enough modesty to try and hide your figure, but not so much that you seem like a prude." He leaned forward slightly and gave her a kiss.
"You know we seem to have slipped off topic again. Not to mention that we've been hiding up here for almost two and a half-hours. Ron and Harry are probably looking for me, and Zabini is more than likely trying to hunt you down."
"Why do you still call Blaise by his last name? I've made an honest effort to not terrorize Potter and Weasley. I'm not quite to the point where I'm buddy-buddy with them, but I am trying. You know this right?"
I do. But it's hard to undo 6 years of formality in next to no time. I am giving a 100 honest effort at being civil and almost friendly It's just going to take some time. I mean Zab-Blaise is the only other person in this school that knows about us… other than the death-eater offspring that know of your betrayal."
"I know baby, I know."
"Not to change the subject yet again, it's actually going back to our main topic. What am I going to do about a gown? I don't have anything appropriate for the ball and with less than three weeks I have no time to go shopping. I know for a fact that my gown from my last ball doesn't fit anymore."
"Obviously. Every male in the school will vouch for the fact that you have definitely filled out since fourth year. Are you still in contact with Viktor Krum?"
Faint blush. "Yeah. He owls me every once in a while to keep in touch and get updates on his friends and whatnot. He's still playing Quidditch and isn't dating anyone at the moment. Umm… I think that in his last post he said that he's been given the task to try and recruit Harry ASAP… before some other team tries. And though he grumbled about it for quite a while I think there may be more to the effort than just getting Harry onto the team. We all know that Harry's as straight as the loop-de-loop on a roller coaster. Did you know that he's given up on wanting to be an Auror? Yeah, he says that after this war is done –as long as he survives- he wants to leave England and all his bad memories behind. He's thinking either Canada or the US where there are still fairly large wizarding communities, but personally I think he has his heart set on Australia…"
"Amazing. You are truly amazing…"
"What did I do?"
"I asked you about Krum and the topic has once again turned to Harry hasn't it?"
Hermione threw her hand to her mouth in embarrassment. "Oh my God! I didn't even realize I'd done it." A giggle escaped her mouth before she could even think about restraining it. "I'm sorry I really didn't mean to. Forgive me?" she gave Draco a quick kiss on the lips.
Mmm… I don't know. ' He said in a slightly singsong voice. "I think it's going to take a lot more than that poor excuse of a chicken peck to win my forgiveness. Care to try again?'
In response to his challenge, Hermione shifted her position on his lap so that when she settled back down she was straddled over his hips. Then she dipped her head and kissed him deeply, lightly running her tongue over his lips as she waited for permission to enter. Draco greedily obliged.
(A/N sorry I'm horrible with descriptive make outs but I really wanted to add one to this story, so this is where it's going to end. PLEASE DON"T SHOOT!)
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After several minutes, the need for oxygen finally overcame their need for each other and they reluctantly broke apart.
"Am I forgiven now?" Hermione asked in between gasps and pants.
"Definitely. Although there is more to be done tonight you know. This classroom may be deserted but that doesn't stop other sex-deprived teenagers from staking out the room for 'private' use, now does it?" A crazy but gorgeous grin was plastered on his face at the sight of her 1000-watt blush as she thought of the possibility of being caught with her pants down- literally. "So we're cool about the dance?"
"Except for the slight problem of no dress, yes I would say we're 'cool' as you put it."
"Your dress is a minor problem. And it is not one that you are allowed to worry about. I will have everything dealt with. The only thing I want you to worry about is getting to the main hall on time looking absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. Clear?" the arrogance radiating off of Draco at the moment was almost enough to remind Hermione of the blond death-eater wannabe she knew from her first three years of school, but them she saw the warm smile on his face and realized that he was toying with her.
"Crystal." Another kiss followed the agreement.
Minute that felt like seconds later, Hermione came to a realization, and quickly ripped her mouth from his. "What are you using to pay for a dress? I know that your father disowned you after you refused the Dark Lord, so how could you possibly afford one of the ball gowns at Madam Malkine's?"
'Easy. I'm not going to Madame's. I plan on going to Lady Sarah's Formal Dress and Gowns, the selection is vaster and the quality more than four times anything you'd find in Daigon Alley. There's also the small fact that I've been going to Lady Sarah since I was a toddler, and she's always given me an awesome discount on everything I need. As for whether I'm able to able to afford one, when mother died I was named her only heir and so I became the only person allowed to touch her share of the Black fortune. Though I have nowhere near what I did when I was the sole Malfoy heir, with the interest earned from her fortune over the last 20 years alone, I have enough to live comfortably by for several generations, so no worries my love."
"I didn't know that. I just didn't want you spending a fortune on a dress if you couldn't afford it."
"I promise you with every bone in my body that there is more than enough for us to get by on, even if it were only until we got settled and decide what we're dong with the rest of our lives. Now will you pleeaase let me buy you a dress worthy of you?"
"Okay, okay. I yield to your persuasions, though I still don't understand why you're so insistent that I get a robe from Lady Sarah, when a normal dress from Madame Malkine would have been fine for me."
"It's simple really, love. I know that you try really hard to try and hide that gorgeous body of yours, but there is one thing that you can't hide, no matter how hard you try." His face broke out into a smug smirk at the puzzlement showing in hers.
"And what is that?'
"I'll tell you at the ball." And with that he lifted her off of him, stood up as gracefully as possible, and walked out the door.
He had plans to execute…