Hermione wrapped a warm wool towel around her as she stepped out of the bath; she only had time to brush her hair, now delightfully straight, before she heard Draco knocking softly on her door.
Shit, no time for a robe Hermione sighed as she opened the door for a very smirking Malfoy
Draco nearly lost his mind when she opened her door in nothing but a towel.
Only Granger could pull that off without it seeming like a ploy. She was pretty before, in a mousy way. She was beautiful at the Yule Ball but now...Now you can't keep away can you? Draco's subconscious mocked as real life Draco tried to find his words.
"See something you like Draco?" Hermione teased, she threw back her head and laughed as he stood at the doorway starring. Sparring him any more embarrassment she pulled out a black silk robe and retreated to the bathroom so that she could change.
"Sit down on the bed, I'll be right back" Hermione said, still chuckling to herself
Okay focus, you're here to apologize, not make an arse out of yourself.
Draco was desperately trying to refocus when Hermione remerged from the bathroom wearing what had looked like an innocent robe on the rack but was most certainly not innocent now that it was the only thing standing between Draco and Hermione's luscious figure. SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP...FOCUS!
"So what did you want to talk about?" Hermione asked as she plopped herself down on the edge of the bed beside Draco and turned to face him, unbeknownst to Hermione, her current position gave Draco a fantastic view of one of her creamy thighs.
"Yeah...um I thought we should...uh talk about the past imsosorryhermione" Draco managed to stammer
"I'm sorry, I missed the end there" She said confused
"I'm. So. Sorry. Hermione. When I was young I was just spewing all the bullshit I heard at home, and them when I got old enough to question it my dad told me I had to become a Death Eater or else I'd be risking my family's name and most importantly me mother's life. I may be a git sometimes but I love my mother, so I did it and I hated it and I hated watching my aunt torture you but if I even so much as turned away He would have seen it as a sign of weakness and tortured me. I'm sorry for everything that has happened to you and I wish I could kiss the scar away" Draco had spoken that last line without thinking, he rarely shared this much of himself with anyone and he wasn't good at it.
"I'm sorry, what? You want to do what to my scar?"
"You know, when children get a cut or a bruise you kiss it better?" Draco continued to stammer through his sentences
" Oh well then yes, you may kiss my scar all better" She giggled, giving him a teasing smirk and she lay her arm out in front of him with the dignity of a royal.
Draco wasn't stupid; he knew a good opportunity when he saw it. He immediately cradled her palm and flipped it over laying a gentle kiss on her knuckles; he then flipped her arm back over to once again expose her scar. Draco started at her wrist and trailed sweet little kisses all the way up her arm paying special detail to her scar, he kept trailing kisses until he reached her shoulder. She hadn't pushed him away yet so he took a risk and kissed her just behind her ear with a kiss that was sure to leave a mark.
Having not been met with resistance Draco pushed up his sleeves and went to cup Hermione's face. By doing this Draco hadn't realised that his dark mark was showing, Hermione certainly had though and she suddenly jerked away from him and stood up
"Shit I'm sorry that shouldn't have happened- I think you should leave" Hermione's words had never sounded so fake coming out of your mouth
"You're right; sorry got a little carried away. Couldn't kiss away your scar though sorry" Draco muttered trying desperately to not be kicked out of her room
"That's okay, you might have actually given me a new mark on my neck...tisk tisk Malfoy heading in the wrong direction with your strategy" She teased with a sad little smile on her face
"I'll keep trying" He said as he kissed her forehead before closing her door and slinking back to his room
What the fucking hell just happened there. First you're getting hickeys from the enemy and then you sit there smirking when he says he'll keep trying? Okay he's not the enemy but still he's only been nice to you for 2 hour, one of which he spent not talking.
Hermione was too tired for this and found solace in crawling under the covers and falling asleep.
The next few days passed without incident. Hermione and Blaise found that they got along quite easily- becoming almost inseparable. Her and Draco found it very easy to be civil to each other- but that's as far as it got, no repeats of the first night there.
As it turned out Hermione and Draco were Head Girl and Boy for the makeshift year of students that had come back to finish their final year. This meant that as they got on the train to Hogwarts they got to seek refuge in the cushy Heads compartment while Blaise had to go and hang out with the remaining Slytherins.
"I'm really glad that things worked out the way they did because or else we might have killed each other" Hermione joked trying to break some tension
"Yeah, I bet McGonagall is breathing a big sigh of relief" Draco replied lamely
As if on cue Minerva McGonagall, new Headmaster of Hogwarts strode in oozing authority.
"Now children, I have been informed of Miss. Zabini's circumstances and am overjoyed in the hopes that the two of you may now be a beacon of inter-house unity. As you know the Head boy and girl share a dormitory and organize all dances and other such events. By the way as the 'stars' of your respective rival houses it would be a VERY good idea for you two to go together to those dances" McGonagall said daring either of them to challenge her
"To all the dances? Is that an order?" Asked Hermione in an annoyingly whinny tone
"Yes Miss. Zabini- to all the dances. And it's not so much an order as it is a friendly suggestion from your Headmaster if you understand me" McGonagall left without waiting for a snappy answer from either of them
"What was that? 'To all the dances?' Seriously? What the fuck." Draco said raising his voice to louder than was appropriate or a train compartment
"I don't like being told I have to do something. What if I didn't want to go with you?" Hermione asked innocently trying to get him to calm down
"What if I didn't want to go with YOU?! I mean with Potthead and Weasel gone who the hell would you be going with?" Draco snapped back
"It was a theoretical situation, and don't call them that! What about you? Not like Pansy is around to sit on your lap and pant like a golden retriever!" Hermione screamed, loud enough that Blaise heard her from several compartments over and decided to go break up the fight
"God I leave you two alone for a few minutes and you're already yelling loud enough to wake Dumbledore himself!" Blaise hissed as he shut the compartment door and sat down beside Hermione
"Well at least we're almost at school" Draco mumbled as he used his wand to change into his robes
"Yeah, I'm sure the Heads dormitory has thick walls, we can start screaming at each other once we're alone and you'll never hear us!" Hermione hissed as she too used her wand to change into her robes.
"Oh my dear I wish you meant that sexually" Draco sneered as he rested his head against the wall and shut his eyes
"Oi, shut the fuck up man- she's my sister!" Blaise screeched hitting Draco in the shoulder
"Sorry mate, just stating the obvious" Draco muttered shutting them out
Hermione sighed and she too tried to escape the moment.
Once they got to Hogwarts and the usual feast/ speech/ sorting was dealt with Professor McGonagall brought them to the Heads dorm
"The password is 'Eternal'; we shall speak of your duties tomorrow morning. Goodnight" and with that the professor was gone.
"ohmygod. Draco we need to call a truce for 5 minutes so you can come and appreciate how beautiful the room is and how stunning the view is from the common room window" Hermione called to him as she rushed to the window.
Draco just stood behind her taking in her excitement and how the moonlight made her seem like an angel
"You're right, the view is beautiful" He mumbled, his eyes never leaving her face.
A.N. I know it's usually necessary to have Hermione and Draco stop their petty bickering when they agree to stop but I wanted to see if i could keep those sharp barbs interrupted only by them throwing innuendos, around for most of it. As always Reviews Are So Appreciated 3