Author's note: Again I apologize. It has been MONTHS since I last updated. Lots has gone on to stunt my writing and I felt like I lost it for a long while. I hope, though that this will appease and I am surely trying to finish this up and stop dragging it on for those of you who seem to be enjoying it. Again, I thank you for reading and I appreciate the support and kind words.
-Jo

Chapter 3: I Know You Feel the Same

Hermione woke late the next day. All of her roommates were gone home for the holidays. She had almost forgotten Ron and Harry had left as well, probably off to the Burrow for a Weasley family gathering of sorts every day until they returned back to school. No telling what the boys would be up to without her. But she couldn't dwell on the boys or the empty dormitory she'd have to herself for a few weeks. No, her thoughts were on the reason she stayed here; the reason she'd ditched her parents. It was the first time she'd thought about what she would tell her parents. Quickly she grabbed a scrap of parchment someone had left on a table in the common room and scribbled a note to her parents about her staying at Hogwarts for the holiday. Something inside her ached as she did so. But before she had time to dwell on that ache she rushed up to the Owlery where she found a nice brown owl to take her note to London. "Quickly, please!" she called after it, leaning out of the paneless window. Then swiftly Hermione rushed from the tower only to run into something, or someone.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she began softly backing up and turning her eyes slowly to who she had bumped into.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," his slick voice mocked. Before she even finished looking up she knew who it was.

Her instinct reaction was to roll her eyes and push past him which she began to do before he grabbed her wrist and wrapped his arms around her. In that moment she realized she actually had feelings other than hatred and loathing for him.

"Stop it," she protested, pushing against his chest softly. An enormous part of her hoped he didn't but she couldn't just bend to his will in a matter of seconds. She was stronger than that and the thought of playing hard to get with Draco Malfoy entertained her.

"I see you're not on the train back to London," he muttered, a smooth smile upon his lips.

Hermione gave a soft shake of her head as she looked up at him still slightly trying to struggle against his arms. It pained her that nothing witty or clever came to her mind. She wanted so badly to confuse him, to give him some sort of false hope but something deep within Hermione no longer wanted to fight this feeling.

Finally, he dropped his grasp from her, just as she was becoming accustomed to it. The young witch stood before him. After a few moments of the pair simply staring at each other Hermione pushed past him heading down the tower stairs.

"Hermione, wait," Draco called after her.

Hermione froze, her eyes closed and something deep within her ached. He'd said her name. Not with the distain and abhorrence she'd heard from him numerous times before. No, this time there was longing and hope. Her heart pounded within her chest as she slowly turned to find he'd descended a few steps and was looking down on her. Without saying a word she simply looked up at him. He drew in a breath and she couldn't help but do the same. She could feel it. The air changing. Their relationship growing. Her own feelings morphing into something she could not even begin to describe to anyone.

Draco stood before her looking her in the eyes as an equal for the first time in the years they'd known each other and suddenly Hermione was closing the gap between them and embracing him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she held him close to her. No words were spoken. No kisses exchanged this time. And in a matter of seconds Hermione was letting go and rushing down from the Owlery all together.

As soon as Hermione reached the Gryffindor common room she found her books and threw herself into her studies as she said she would. She could not allow her mind to be consumed by thoughts of Draco, of a romance forbidden. After only moments, however, the young witch threw her books aside and found solace in tears. Hermione laid her head upon the table before her and shook with sobs.

Soon, however, she heard a soft noise and jerked her head up. Quickly she wiped away her tears and stood looking at a young boy who must have decided to stay behind.

"Are you all right?" he asked her softly, unsure whether or not to approach her.

"Quite," she muttered before turning away and heading up to the girls' dormitories leaving behind her books and things in the common room.

Lying upon her bed, Hermione struggled to clear her mind. But the only thoughts she could muster where those of Draco. The look in his eyes when she turned to him, the warmth of his embrace, the sound of her name coming from his lips. It was all too much. She couldn't bear to let this affair continue. Hermione knew that absolutely nothing good would come of it. It was doomed from the start. But just as in one of her favorite Muggle stories, Romeo and Juliet, she couldn't deny the love she felt for the boy she was, in a sense, forbidden to be with. He was nothing like the Romeo in her beloved story but the romance, the tragedy was somewhat familiar.

With this realization Hermione dressed for dinner. She made her way down to the Great Hall and couldn't keep her eyes from wandering around the sparse amount of students as she searched for the object of her affection. Just as she was finishing her dinner, however, he surprised her. A young Slytherin first year made his way over to her. Saying nothing he handed her a piece of parchment. Hermione looked to him for a moment before taking what was given her. Then her eyes wandered over to the Slytherin table where Draco was nowhere to be found.

Slowly, she opened the parchment. That same tiny script graced her eyes and she felt a smile play upon her lips before she even read the words scribbled there.

"I know you feel it, too. Meet me tonight."

Hermione folded the letter back to its original shape and rushed from the Hall. She had no idea where he could possibly want to meet but she started in the first place she associated with this affair. Slowly she made her way down the hallway near the Gryffindor common room entrance. Her eyes wandered trying to find him. Just as she was about to give up and try elsewhere she saw something floating in the air above her only a few steps away. It was exactly where they had first kissed. Her heart leapt as she ran to the object finding it another piece of parchment. Ripping it open she read, "Meet me down near the dungeons."

A slight panic reached Hermione as she read this, but soon was dispelled when she found there was a small heart etched in the corner of the note. Her smile rushed back along with a soft blush upon her cheeks.

The young witch found herself racing to the dungeons. Her mind raced. What would Harry and Ron think? What would anyone think? What was Draco thinking with all of this? Looking into his eyes Hermione knew there were no lies. He couldn't be pulling a prank or trying to get close to her to end her best friends. The thoughts, though, of evil on Draco's part where there. However, she pushed them away as soon as she neared the dungeons. Looking around Hermione tried to decide where Draco could be hiding. This part of the castle was not one she often explored.

Suddenly arms wrapped around her and lifted her from the grounding spinning her slightly. She knew that grasp and felt her heart race. As he put her down she turned to face Draco, his beautiful orbs piercing hers.

"I knew you felt the same," he whispered before leaning down to press his soft pink lips to Hermione's, the pair wrapped in each other's embraces in the darkness of the Hogwarts Dungeons.