a/n: fast update :) i'm trying to update every day or two days. i realllyyy neeed reviews though, guys. so PLEASE. i'm begging =/ aha. anyway this is a long ass chapter.. no sex yet, sorry ahah.
THREE :)
The cabinet was being difficult again. He could not get the apple he put in there the day before to come back, though he was sure Bourgin was trying, for they were secretly communicating through owl now. Draco let out an exasperated sound and punched the closest thing to him other than the cupboard. He fell back onto the couch that had just appeared and rested for a moment before standing up again and muttering furious incantations at the cupboard.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps. Draco raised his wand and shut the cabinet. He ducked behind the couch and listened as he heard the sound of whimpers coming closer. Someone had plopped down on the sofa Draco was hiding behind. From what he could hear, they were crying softly and muttering something. Draco could occasionally make out a word or two.
"Stupid, stupid Lavender… snogging ... I want... snog him… stupid… Ron… stupid… shit… skank…UGH!"
Draco knew without a doubt that it was Hermione Granger crying on that sofa, and from he could tell- Weasley had been snogging Lavender Brown. He thought about it a moment and almost laughed, but then he immediately felt terrible. Hermione was now just sobbing softly, so Draco slowly rose from behind the couch and looked down at her. She was curled into a tiny ball, her face hidden and her whole body shaking with tears.
Draco's insides roared. He wanted Ron Weasley dead for hurting Hermione. But then again, he was glad it hadn't been Hermione whom Ron was snogging. Gently and slowly, Draco placed a hand on Hermione's scrawny shoulder.
He didn't know what made him want to comfort a crying girl, since he usually avoided them, but for some reason he felt an extraordinary need to make her feel good.
She jumped up and pulled out her wand, and when she saw Draco, she lowered it and glared.
"What the hell are you doing in here, ferret?" Hermione snapped, and Draco felt his stomach drop.
"I was in here first… just trying to get away from it all." Draco said softly, and Hermione decided he wasn't lying. She sat back down on the couch. Draco hopped over and was seated right beside her in seconds. "Lavender isn't even attractive."
Hermione looked over at him and smiled slightly. Draco nervously shifted on the sofa, wondering what on earth he could possibly talk to her about… and how he would get her to talk back.
"I've gotten sleep, if you can tell," Draco said, stunning Hermione to the core. She slowly looked up at him in amazement. Then she glared.
"Not what I heard from half of the Slytherins," she sneered. "I heard you were shagging Pansy Parkinson all night."
Draco turned paler, if possible.
"Never you mind, Granger," Draco snarled. "I'm sure you've fucked Weasleby tons of times, by the way you look at him."
Hermione looked at him and then smirked a little. Having sex with Ron, or anyone else for that matter, never crossed her mind. Ever.
"I've never even snogged Ronald Weasley, Malfoy," Hermione whispered, and the scowl on Malfoy's face vanished. Part of him knew that Hermione was still a virgin, and the other half was just hoping she was a virgin so that when he made love to her he could be her – Malfoy shuddered.
Was he really just thinking about having sex with a mudblood? He quickly searched for something to say.
"You've never even thought about fucking Weasley?" Malfoy asked, enjoying the expression on her face when he said the word "fuck."
"Never." Hermione answered, looking embarrassed now.
"And you didn't fuck Viktor Krum, I'm guessing?" Draco asked, immensely curious now. Hermione shook her head slowly and smiled at Malfoy's expression.
"Just because you think shagging is a sport, doesn't mean I think of things that way," Hermione said softly, not meaning to start a fight. Draco chuckled and shook his head.
"You're just about the only person in the school that doesn't think about sex, and that's including the first years." Hermione let out a loud laugh that shocked Draco to the core. He beamed, knowing that he was the one that made her laugh like that when he knew she just wanted to cry.
"I suppose you're right," Hermione pondered, the lines of her laugh still etched into her pretty face. Her chocolate eyes fell upon Malfoy's face, and he felt goose bumps tickle across his arms.
She sure was beautiful…
"Even if you aren't planning on doing it, I'm surprised you don't think about when you're going to do it," Malfoy said, trying to pry something out of her. Hermione continued to ponder for a moment.
"I've thought about it… and when I imagined it, it was with a husband," Hermione said, but she squinted her eyes and shook her head. "I'm not so sure now…"
She was getting more and more comfortable sitting there with Draco Malfoy than she would have ever thought possible. And they were talking about sex, the only thing Hermione didn't have an opinion on before tonight.
"You would fuck Weasley, wouldn't you?" Malfoy asked, trying to keep the image out of his head as he said it. He wanted to punch something just thinking of Hermione snogging Ronald Weasley…
Hermione sat there, thinking. She looked at Malfoy, who was obviously trying to control his breathing. Hermione could tell he was uncomfortable with the idea of her and Ron having sex, and she immediately wanted to know why.
She opened her mouth to ask, but instead she figured she would have some fun with his emotions, now that she knew it was safe. Somehow, Draco Malfoy was different.
"Now that I think about it, yes. I would… make love… with Ron."
"No you wouldn't."
"Excuse me? How are you to know what I would or would not do with-?" Draco inched closer and placed a hand on her hand. She flinched at his touch but let him keep his hand there.
"Because you know that sex is a very big deal, and you wouldn't give away your innocence to a boy who goes around snogging hags like Lavender Brown," Draco whispered, not realizing how intense he sounded. Hermione was having trouble breathing with him so close, his scent clouding her mind. She couldn't deny how right he was… and the way he put things made Hermione wonder how much thought Malfoy had put into her having sex with Ron.
"Uh, Malfoy?" Hermione squeaked, and Malfoy immediately backed away and casually sat on the other side of the couch. Hermione blushed- he had thought she wanted him to move… when really that was the last thing she wanted. "You didn't have to –" Draco looked up at her, his gray eyes scorching her. She was the one to turn away this time, her cheeks growing pinker. "I'm just waiting for somebody perfect, then."
Draco snorted. "No one is perfect… besides me." Some of his old Malfoy-ness found its way back into his voice. Hermione smiled and shook her head.
"I meant… someone who is perfect for me." She took deep breath. They were both silent for a couple minutes, most likely thinking about what she had just said.
"You're the strangest sixteen year-old girl I have ever met, Hermione Granger," Draco said, and Hermione gasped. She had never heard her first name come out of Malfoy's mouth in her life. Trying to play off her surprise she quickly responded, "Is that a bad thing?"
Draco looked at her for a moment. Her eyes were puffy from crying, but she seemed at ease being there with him in the room, alone. Draco pictured for a moment what they could be if he wasn't so terrible to her all the time. They could be kissing on this couch, trying to get away from it all, together. If she wasn't a mudblood- or even better, if Draco wasn't a pureblood- everything would be okay. They could be together.
No. Draco swiftly became disgusted with himself, he scooted away from Hermione and crossed his arms.
"Yes, it is a bad thing, Granger. You're such a freak." Draco snarled, keeping his face on his shoes. Hermione contained her gasp. "Filthy… mud…."
"Well, you're the most enraging boy I have ever met! How dare you touch me… how dare you say my first name and then insult me?" Hermione screamed, standing up. "I thought maybe you were growing up, Malfoy. But you're still the impudent prat that you have always been."
Draco did not look up. His insides burned, his heart sank. He ruined everything. He couldn't let her leave; he had to make things better. But she was getting up, stomping across the room.
"Granger… Hermione!"
Hermione turned around immediately and looked at him, and he saw the tears dripping down her face. He stood up and took her in his arms, and she hesitated but soon enough she was clinging to him and crying into his shirt. She couldn't even understand the situation. All she knew was that she had never, ever, EVER felt so weak in front of a boy.
Just being in his arms made Hermione feel vulnerable, yet strangely safe. The way his arms constricted around her waist and practically crushed her body was so comforting and lovely, Hermione never wanted to let go. But she knew this was wrong. Very wrong.
Draco's hands were stroking her face, collecting the tears with his thumbs. Hermione trembled in his arms, not believing she was even there in the first place. Then her chin was being tilted up, and she found herself looking into Draco Malfoy's stormy gray eyes.
Draco didn't even know what made him do it. Maybe it was the fact she was the most fragile, yet strong-willed girl he had ever met. Or maybe it was because she was so damn pretty, and soft… and the way she had buried her head in his chest to cry made him want to scream…
But whatever the reason, Draco pressed his lips against hers gently for three whole seconds. As soon as he let go of her face, Hermione's tears spilled out and she began to sob into his chest.
"Why are you crying?" He asked with his voice low and concerned. Hermione pulled away to look up at him. Malfoy couldn't help but think that she was pretty even when she was crying. That was something Pansy never managed to achieve.
"I'm confused," Hermione said. "You're confusing me! I thought you hated my guts… I thought you wanted me dead. My whole time here at Hogwarts was spent trying to avoid you. I'm muggleborn. You're supposed to hate my guts, not kiss and make me feel... make me feel like… ugh!"
Draco sighed and shook his head, which made new tears spring from Hermione's eyes. Draco felt the truth already slipping out of his mouth. The truth that no one had ever heard before.
"Granger, I only ever acted that way because I didn't know how to deal with the fact that I've always been… very fond of you," Draco began, and Hermione was gripping his arms for dear life, her eyes never leaving his face. "Plus, if I ever made a move, Potter and Weasley would probably murder me. And then there's the rest of Slytherin… and my father. But the other day, I realized that it was worth a chance. If anything, Granger, I'd like to be friends with you."
Hermione took a deep breath and then stood on her tip-toes. Draco stayed very still as Hermione's lips brushed his cheek, and he truly smiled for the first time in weeks. Hermione rest her head on his chest and Draco took this to mean he was allowed to wrap his arms around her. They embraced for a couple minutes before Hermione let go of him.
"I barely know anything about you," she said with a smile. "Talk to me."
