Hello all! Welcome again to one of my stories. It has taken me quite a bit of time to write this one. Well actually it only took me a day or so to write the first 3,000 words, and then there was a couple month gap before I finished it. I am not sure exactly what I think of this story, but as long as you all enjoy it I will be happy. Though on a good note I am glad to say that I think my writing is getting better. You can all be the official judge of that. I always appreciate reviews and comments on the story, plot, and my writing in general. I am thinking of making this a oneshot and then perhaps writing an offshoot of the story that is about Draco and Crookshanks. Something like the Misadventures of Draco and Crookshanks? What do you think?
As I promised I would, I must give mention and thanks to my two wonderful Beta Readers! This story would not have reached its full potential with out you!
So thanks to SparkyCSI for all of your help! (For any one looking for a good read visit SparkyCSI's page) And...
Thank you Taryn! Also know as Dracosluvr4eva20! I really appriciate all of your help as well!
And now to the story.
Read and enjoy.
The seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was most commonly nicknamed "Hell Year" by all those who had miraculously survived it. Stories, centuries old, had been passed down for generations about Hell Year.
Horror stories, all about the students who hadn't survived their seventh year, were told by the house ghosts who claimed to have witnessed it all. Rumors had circulated that there was a whole floor at St. Mungo's dedicated to Hell Year's victims. The work load was said to be unbearable, the NEWTS soul crushing, and for relationships, devastating. If anyone had any hope of surviving, they had to devote all of their time to studying, sucking up to the professors, and acing all their classes. That is often why relationships during seventh year never worked out: simply not enough time.
Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy had found a way around that.
Unknown to all the other students and to the professors (although Dumbledore might have known; he seemed to know everything), Hermione, every night for the first four months of Hell Year, had been spending her time in the cold, dark dungeons. She didn't find anything in particular wrong about that, seeing as she got to snuggle up to her gorgeous Slytherin night after night.
Their first week of seventh year had been disastrous; they had been dating since the last month of their sixth year and, after a whole summer apart, all they wanted to do was spend their time in each others' arms.
Unfortunately for them, Hell Year had begun and, after a summer without classes or homework, the professors had started to really pile it on. You could ask any professor, portrait, ghost or student about what was called "The Great Opposites Attract War", a.k.a. Hermione and Draco's first fight. They had almost become Hell Year's first victims, as they publicly and brutally battled it out in the Great Hall one Saturday afternoon. The Great Hall was under reconstruction for weeks after, and all the students had been made to eat in their common rooms. It is unknown what stopped their fighting, but Draco had whispered something and suddenly Hermione threw herself into Draco's arms and they exited hand in hand, leaving all those who had been witness to the war completely confused.
What had Draco said?
Hermione thought back to that day in the Great Hall. She had just been about to throw a nasty Bat-Bogey Hex at him when he looked at her, wand raised to counter whatever curse she sent his way, and said "I love you. Spend the night with me."
She was so shocked she almost still hit him with the hex but, at the last minute, she turned her wand and sent the hex toward some poor unsuspecting Hufflepuff.
Her first thought was 'Oh my god. He loves me!' Then she thought about what he had said next..."spend the night" with him. 'Surely he didn't mean...' So soon in their relationship? But soon her thoughts went back to what he had said first and she flung herself into his waiting arms.
Draco wasn't quite sure what possessed him to say what he did, but it was true; he did love her. Seeing her eyes furious, wand raised and ready, he just couldn't resist telling her anymore. And about her spending the night, it was innocent enough; their entire fight was about not having enough time for each other. He figured she could sneak down to the dungeons and they could spend the whole night together. Whether they spent that time talking until the sun came up, sleeping peacefully in each other's arms, or doing other fun things, at least they would be able to spend some much needed time together.
After hearing Draco's plan, she was more than ecstatic; she couldn't wait for that night to roll around. Once it did, she was almost overflowing with excitement. After the long summer and the terrible first week of school apart, she would finally be able to spend some time with her boyfriend.
She "borrowed" Harry's Invisibility Cloak and stealthily made her way down to the Slytherin common rooms where Draco was patiently waiting. As she expected, they stayed up the whole night talking and laughing, as well as having a few amazing snogging sessions. Draco was an amazing kisser; he had the ability to take her on an adventure with a single touch of his lips, just thinking about it she could feel goosebumps rising on her skin. Although, everyone was extremely curious when Hermione and Draco both showed up to class the next morning looking dead on their feet, and rather like they had been hit by a Muggle bus. With the work load that was placed on them this year the sleep that they were sacrificing to spend with each other was bound to take its toll but that was a risk both Hermione and Draco were willing to take.
One night, after a rather heated snogging session involving a bit of foreplay, Draco had teasingly pushed Hermione and caused her to tumble out of his bed, knocking his lamp over in the process. Blaise, whose room was right next door, heard the commotion and came barging into the room to see if his friend was all right. To say Hermione was embarrassed as she looked up at Blaise would be an understatement, especially since she had been wearing her nightly attire of short shorts and a pretty tight, almost see through, tank top. She let out a squeal and dove back under Draco's covers, pulling them over her head in an attempt to hide her bright red face. Draco acted much more calmly to the intrusion, probably due to the fact that Blaise was his best friend, and he was secretly glad that Blaise had walked in. He would no longer have to keep Hermione's nightly visits to himself, he could now do what he does best, brag!
Blaise let out what could only be described as a chuckle and explained, saying, "I heard the commotion of what I can only assume was the lamp breaking, and thought perhaps your clumsy self had managed to fall out of bed. I see I am mistaken, however, so I'll just leave you two to your previous activities." He turned and was about to leave the room, when Draco finally got his wits together enough to form a sentence and he said,"Clumsy? Me? You are definitely mistaken. I'll have you know that the Malfoys are some of the most graceful wizards around. We don't do clumsy!"
Blaise smirked and replied, "Whatever you say, mate. Whatever you say." His laughter could be heard as he walked back to his room. Since then, they had only been caught one other time, and it was by one of Hermione's house mates.
It was a Monday night like any other and Hermione was about to leave her warm common room for the Slytherin dungeons. It was a quarter past midnight and she had figured everyone would be tucked away in their beds sleeping. A look down into the common room from her room told her as much. All the lights had been turned out and the fire that had earlier been glowing bright had burned down, until all she could see was the glow of the still hot embers.
Making her way to the door she bumped ever so lightly into one of the end tables and the noise that that movement made, a noise that would normally be lost in the chaos of the Gryffindors, seemed to bounce off the walls of the empty common room. She paused, unconsciously holding her breath and listening for even the slightest stir from the dorm rooms above. To her utter surprise a sound came from almost directly behind her as she heard, and saw, a light flick on.
"Hermione Granger, where in the name of Merlin are you sneaking off to this late at night?" a curious voice whispered.
Startled, Hermione whirled around, wand raised and ready to attack.
"Whoa, take it easy, Hermione. It's just me."
Seeing what, or rather who, was in front of her, Hermione started breathing again and lowered her wand. "Ginny! You gave me a fright. What in the world were you doing sitting in the dark?"
"I happen to like the peace and quiet of sitting here in the dark; you know I never get that back home, but back to you. Where are you going, and don't even try to evade the question. Oh, wait! You aren't going where I think you're going, are you?" She excitedly asked with her voice raising with every word.
"Ginny, you know that I don't read minds. I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."
"So you are!" Ginny all but squealed. "You're spending the night with Draco!"
Knowing she had indeed been caught, she gave in. "It isn't anything like you're thinking, you know. It's just, with it being our seventh year and all, we've been so busy and this is the only way we can spend time together."
"So you do this a lot, then. I mean, the sneaking out?"
It was Hermione's turn to smirk at her friend. "Only every night for the past three months."
Ginny's mouth dropped open. "You mean, you've been sneaking out for that long and you are only just now getting caught?" 'Ginny's expression right now made me getting caught worthwhile', Hermione thought and she giggled internally.
"Yes, I have. I really am that brilliant." Hermione laughed.
"You really are starting to sound like Draco, and I am not so sure that is a good thing."
"Oh hush, I was only kidding. We were caught one other time actually, but by his Slytherin friend. You wouldn't believe my embarrassment as I stared up at his friend from the floor only wearing my pajamas! I could have died!"
"What in Merlin's name were you doing on the floor? Wait, you don't mean that equally sexy friend of his, do you?"
"If you're referring to Blaise Zabini, then yes, the one and only."
"Merlin Hermione, some girls have all the luck!" Ginny exclaimed looking rather put out.
"Ginny, if you haven't forgotten, you do have a boyfriend yourself. A certain Harry Potter, I believe?"
"Well, yes that is true, and I do love my gorgeous Gryffindor seeker..."
"That's great, Harry would love to hear that!"
"Yeah, but I mean those Slytherins..."
She didn't get to finish as Hermione cut her off. "Ginny!" She scolded.
"Just kidding," Ginny laughed "Really, Hermione, you're kind of gullible! You should probably be going. I would hate to keep your Slytherin waiting."
Looking down at her watch, Hermione realized she was running quite a bit late. Giving her friend a quick grin, she ran out the common room doors, she didn't want to worry Draco.
After that night, Ginny would occasionally stay up with her and wait for all the other Gryffindors to go to sleep. They spent that time swapping secrets, fears, and of course the latest gossip. She was actually quite glad that she had been caught by her that night; she and Ginny had become really close. Sometimes when she arrived at the Slytherin's common room, Draco and Blaise would both be sitting on the couch chatting away like gossipy girls themselves. It made her smile every time she saw the two; she was really happy that Draco had such a great friend.
Every time she walked through the doors Draco would smile, a genuine smile, and look over at her. She was gorgeous to him; he couldn't believe that he hadn't realized it sooner. To think, all the time he had spent hating her could have been spent loving her. It made him angry every time he thought about it, and he blamed it entirely on his father...if only he hadn't been such a Muggleborn hater.
Blaise would look up at her, nod, and exchange a polite hello before heading to his room leaving the couple to be together. Hermione made a mental note to actually talk to him sometime. Any friend of Draco's was a friend of hers.
Speaking of friends of hers, Ginny had given her an idea the other night, but she was still wondering if she should go through with her plan. She wasn't sure it would be worth the argument Draco would surely give her. Then again, it might actually be worth it.
Grinning, Hermione thought back on said conversation.
Hermione and Ginny had been sitting on a couch in the far corner of the common room, once again waiting for it to be time for Hermione to slip out unnoticed, when Ginny looked at her and asked, "So how come Draco never comes and spend the night here with you?" Absolutely flabbergasted, Hermione replied "Um, why would he? He is a Slytherin." Looking strangely at her friend, Ginny realized it must have never crossed her mind before that perhaps he could be the one to sneak to the Gryffindor commons.
"And you're a Gryffindor. I just figured why should you be the one having to sneak around and spend the night in his bed? He is a Slytherin, after all. Isn't sneaking around sort of their thing? He could easily sneak up here and be the one to spend the night in your bed."
Pondering what her friend said, Hermione realized that Ginny was right. Why did she have to spend every night down in the cold dungeons with him? Why couldn't he be the one to come up to her warm common room and sleep in her bed? She did quite miss it. Her bed, that is. It had been months since she had slept in it.
"By George, your right!"
"No, no, no. By Ginny, I'm right...however brilliant George is, this one was all me!" Ginny said laughing at her own joke. Hermione just looked at her cackling friend strangely before backing slowly away.
"Yeah...I am going to leave now, okay Gin?"
Not waiting for her friend's answer, she quickly exited the room.
That conversation had taken place nearly a week ago, and after thinking about it, Hermione decided it was time to go through with her plan. So far, her idea was basically to go down there and simply demand he spend the night with her, so it wasn't much of a plan at all, but it was all she had. As she walked down the hall under the safety of Harry's "missing" Invisibility Cloak, she realized that there was just no way Draco could argue with her and win. It was unfathomable.
She made her way to the Slytherin's Common Room Entrance and whispered the password, allowing it to slide open before she entered, still invisible to those inside. Draco glanced over at her with a smile as she slipped the shimmery cloak off her shoulders.
Both boys stood up from the couch, Blaise giving her a small smile and slipping silently from the room, and her adorable blonde boyfriend swooped down and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"I missed you."
Hermione laughed and said, "Draco, I just saw you at dinner."
He just shrugged, looking down at his watch. "It's been six hours, that's far too long."
Hermione nearly melted right there. "I know, I missed you too!"
"Well my dear, what do you say? Should we head up to my room?" Draco jokingly said while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Hermione let out a quiet laugh, careful not to wake the other Slytherins, and whacked her boyfriend lightly upside the head.
"Just kidding, honest," he said holding his hands up. Hermione just shook her head at him before he continued speaking.
"Let me take your bag for - wait, Where is your bag? Or were you planning on sleeping naked?" he asked seeing her hands empty.
Letting his comment slide she replied, "Actually, I wasn't planning on staying the night."
"What? Why? We always spend the night together."
"Well, I never said we couldn't spend the night together. I just said I wasn't planning on spending the night," Hermione responded as innocently as possible.
"You don't mean..."
"Yes, Draco. I was hoping that perhaps you could spend the night with me?"
"No way. It's not happening. I refuse to spend the night with the...", but Draco cut himself off before he could say something he would regret. But the damage was already done and he saw anger in his petite girlfriends eyes.
"With what, Draco? Spend the night with the filthy Gryfindors?" Hermione huffed at him, her nostrils flaring like they do when she is mad.
"No! I wasn't going to say that. It's just that I am a Slytherin. I like my nice, dark, cold dungeons."
"And I love that you like your nice, dark, cold dungeons, but I happen to rather like my nice, bright, warm room. Why can't you just spend one night with me in my room?" Hermione retorted, folding her arms across her chest to let him know she was entirely serious. She was not going to let him win!
"Because I am a Slytherin! I don't belong in the Gryffindor tower!"
"Please Draco, tell me that this isn't really about your Slytherin pride? That is plain childish! You're right, you don't belong in the Gryffindor tower, but you do belong with me." When he didn't reply, Hermione decided it was time to resort to drastic measures, so she turned and started walking to the door.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"To my room. I'm glad that you, being a Slytherin and all, like the cold so much, because your bed is going to be nice and cold tonight." Turning back around she smirked a surprisingly Slytherin smirk, knowing he wouldn't be able to deny her any longer.
Draco groaned knowing that she had him beat. He was going to have to spend the bloody night in the Gryffindor's quarters.
"Fine. You win. I will spend the night with you" and he sighed in defeat.
Hermione squealed and ran over to hug her boyfriend.
"You won't regret it, I promise."
Little did Hermione know that he actually would regret it.
It had gone well enough on the way up to the tower, with Hermione only having to scold Draco once for purposely dragging his feet.
"You really don't have to look like you are going to meet your death." She didn't quite catch his mumbled reply, but it sounded a bit like he said, "I would rather that be the case at the moment."
"You're a bit of a drama king, you know that?"
Draco either didn't hear her or preferred to ignore her, because he never responded, instead choosing to stay silent on the rest of the trip up. They got into the common room quite easily because the Fat Lady was nodding off against the edge of her portrait. Hermione clearly stated the password and the Fat Lady only blinked at her once, swung the portrait open and promptly went right back to sleep.
Draco had never been in the Gryffindor common rooms, so what he saw before him shocked him. It was bright and warm. The couches were various shades of reds and golds; the whole room had a sort of cozy feel to it. Being in a tower instead of a dungeon the huge room actually had windows. Sparing a glance out the windows, he realized they had a wonderful view of the grounds. The type of view he wouldn't mind waking up to day after day. Over all he was quite impressed with the common room, though he would never tell Hermione that.
"So, what do you think?" Hermione asked as she turned to look at him.
Draco shrugged. "It's...nice."
Hermione just rolled her eyes; she had seen the surprised look in his eyes when he first viewed the room. Of course, he would never admitthat he liked it. The Slytherin and Gryffindor common rooms were like polar opposites. At first glance, the Slytherin's common room looked dark and cold, and over all, very unwelcoming. The Gryffindor's room on the other hand looked bright, warm and inviting.
She was pleased that he had enough sense to not insult the common room; she had been living there for seven years and she really was quite attached to it.
Making her way to the stairs on the left, she kicked the bottom stair lightly, as not to wake anyone. Over the years she had lived here, anytime a boy had tried to climb the girl's stairs they would quite suddenly turn into a slide, causing them to slip right down to the bottom again. It was in her 5th year, when she was trying to sneak Ron and Harry up to her dorm to talk in private that Fred and George offered up their knowledge, telling them that if you kick the bottom step lightly, boys could then walk up without the stairs turning into a slide.
Draco looked quizzically at her as she kicked the stair, but followed her up the staircase none the less. Pausing at her door, Hermione tried to remember if she had left anything embarrassing out in her room. Deciding she hadn't, she pushed open her door and ushered Draco in. Turning to look at him, she watched as his eyes scanned her small room with a look of mild curiosity on his face. Seemingly satisfied, he made his way to her bed and sat down on the very edge.
"Well?" she inquired.
"Well, what?"
Sighing at her stubborn boyfriend she replied, "Well, what do you think?"
Thinking up a reply that would both satisfy his girlfriend and not give away the fact that he actually quite liked the Gryffindor's dwelling, he answered, "I like it; it's very you, and I love you." Watching Hermione's eyes light up he knew he had said the right thing.
Hermione detected the slight amount of sarcasm in his voice, but chose to ignore it; she knew that he really was trying, and she was still impressed that she had gotten him up here. Getting under her covers she patted the spot on the bed next to her. Taking that as his invitation he slid under her covers and snuggled up close to her inhaling her intoxicating scent.
Minutes passed in silence as they left each other to their thoughts; Draco had been on the verge of falling asleep when Hermione dragged him back to consciousness. Having him in the Gryffindor tower, in her warm bed, made her realize more then ever how lucky she is to have him. She felt compelled to share her feelings with Draco.
"Draco?"
Looking at her he saw her eyes blinking rapidly in an effort to stay open. She looked absolutely adorable in her sleepy haze." Yes?" He answered with what he was sure was as tired an expression as the one she wore.
"I am really happy that you came here tonight….I love you."
"I love you too, Hermione." Smiling down at her, he watched as she drifted to sleep, and it wasn't long after that his own eyes fluttered closed, not knowing of the events to happen in a few hours time.
Only a couple of hours had to have passed when Hermione was awoken abruptly by hitting the floor. Rubbing her sore arm she sat up dazedly. 'What had happened? Did I roll out of bed?'
"Hermione!" She heard Draco hiss. Confused, she stood up, and from the light coming in the window she saw that Draco was on the other side of her room with his backed pressed to the wall and he looked absolutely terrified.
"Draco! What's the matter?" She questioned, partially confused and partially frightened, searching for her wand in the darkness.
Pointing at something behind her he exclaimed, "What is that?"
Spinning quickly around with her wand raised, she prepared herself for some unknown attack. Scanning the area she was surprised to find that there was no threat and that Draco seemed to be pointing straight at Crookshanks. 'Is something attacking that I can't see?'
Mystified, she said, "That is a cat, Draco. I'm confused; what is this all about?"
Ignoring her question he said "How in the world did it get in?"
"Get in? Draco he lives in here; he's my cat."
"Your cat? You never told me that you had a cat!"
Puzzled at his reaction to her beloved cat she replied, "I thought you knew about him. I've had Crookshanks since third year."
"Crookshanks? You mean to tell me that that beast has a name?"
"Beast? Draco you can't mean…." She couldn't believe her eyes. He was afraid of cats! Trying her hardest not to laugh she asked, "You're afraid of cats, aren't you?"
Appalled by her accusation, and realizing that he was indeed cowering against the wall, he straightened up and huffed indignantly, saying, "I am not!"
Still trying not to laugh she asked, "Okay then, if you're not afraid of cats then what is the matter?"
Aghast, and still puzzled that she keep that thing as a pet, he said, "Look at that thing! He wants to kill me!"
Following his gaze back to Crookshanks, Hermione realized that the half-Kneazle did look quite menacing. He had a cat-like glare as he stared fixedly at Draco and his tail flicked back and forth quickly, but it was preposterous to think he wanted to kill Draco. Crookshanks is a perfectly friendly cat! No matter what Ron might argue.
"Draco, honestly you're being ridiculous! He's not going to kill you, he's a cat!"
"But Hermione-"
"No buts, Draco; you'll be fine. Now come back to bed. I'm exhausted!"
Not wanting to give up the fight, but realizing that there was nothing he could do about the bloody cat, he stomped over to the bed and sat next to her. He did not intend to sleep, though. He would stay up all night if he had to; just to keep an eye on that cat! 'Why did I agree to come to the bloody Gryffindor Tower anyway!'
Maybe it was the fact that it was the middle of the night or maybe just that it was funny but seeing Draco sitting up on her bed, arms crossed and glaring at her cat was more then enough to send her into a fit of giggles. Draco gave her a look that, once upon a time, would have made her cringe, but now it only made her laugh more.
Catching her breath she said, "Oh Draco! I'm sorry, really, I am. It just seems funny to me! Big Bad Draco Malfoy who, if looks could kill, would be a mass murderer is afraid of one little bitty kitty. Please try and sleep; I promise Crookshanks will be good, he has never harmed a fly(or a rat that didn't deserve it). I love you." Not knowing if he would listen to her or not and being too tired to wait up and see, she drifted to sleep and had the strangest dream about Crookshanks chasing Draco around the forbidden forest.
Waking in the morning, to the first light of the day reaching the windows, Hermione had a hard time figuring out if last night had really happened, or if it was all just a dream. When she opened her eyes though, any doubts she had that it hadn't happened diminished, for Draco was still sitting up next to her. Even though he was still in the position he was when she went to sleep, Draco's head had dropped down onto his shoulder and his mouth was agape. Pushing back the hair that had fallen across his face she smiled and gently kissed his forehead. 'Draco Malfoy definitely has more to him then one could begin to imagine.'
Shaking her head at her boyfriend, she snuggled up close to his side and pulled the blankets over them. She had a feeling that Draco was not going to be happy when he woke up and realized that he had fallen asleep while Crookshanks was in the room. Just thinking about it made her chuckle...Draco Malfoy afraid of cats! Who knew?
So, what did you think? Please leave me a review. I would love to be able to improve my writing and your reviews would help with that. Constructive critism only please. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
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I would just like to say thank you to those of you that actually take the time to review! It seems strange to me when a story gets over 1,000 hits yet only 6 review! So thank you!
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UPDATE-Hello all, long time no see. Just wanted to let you know that I am back and I have edited, added to, and fixed the mistakes in this story. I hope you enjoy. Also, I wanted you to be the first to know that I am currently writing something called The Misadventures of Draco and Crookshanks. It looks right now like a series of drabbles. What do you think? Stay tuned!