Eternally Yours

A/N: I'm so happy everyone liked the last chapter so much. So far it's my favorite chapter and I think I will have a hard time topping that one, but I will do my best.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Harry Potter world except for my own manipulation of its characters.

Chapter 6

~~~~~~Draco POV~~~~~~

The first light of morning penetrated the gloom of the dark bedchamber, bathing it and its lone occupant in its luminescence. Although the sun helped to chase away the shadows of the night, it did nothing to erase those that had taken up residence under Draco's grey eyes. He continued to lie in bed, wrapped in his satin sheets, completely oblivious to the lightening of his room. The pain in his chest had not eased and the queasiness he had felt the day before was even worse. I have heard of being love sick, the can't-eat-can't-sleep business, but this is bloody ridiculous! He thought to himself. Draco hadn't eaten since Saturday morning and here it was Monday...Monday? Aw shit, that means I have classes today. He groaned loudly. How the hell am I supposed to be able to concentrate on my work when I feel like this? Great, just perfect, now I'll probably fail all of my classes too. Won't that just make my life complete? He heaved a sigh before finally deciding to climb out of bed and get himself together. As he was buttoning up his white uniform shirt, a thought occurred to him. Hang on a tick, if it's Monday, that means I have Herbology and Transfiguration today with the Gryffindors. Hah! She can't escape me in McGonagall's class. She sits right next to me! Feeling a little lighter of heart, he threw his cloak over his shoulders and headed to the Great Hall.

When he took his seat at the breakfast table, he instinctively glanced over at the Gryffindor table and was a little disappointed to see that Hermione wasn't there. She's probably just running late. I'm sure she'll be here. He was interrupted from his thoughts by the arrival of his food. He nearly gagged at the sight of it before he could send it away. This is getting old fast. I'm going to starve to death if my heart doesn't explode first. The doors to the hall opened and Hermione walked in with Weaslette in tow. He watched her take her seat and smile at the other students sitting close to her. After he had been staring at her for only a few moments, she raised her head to look in his direction. He didn't bother looking away. He just kept staring with the same somber expression on his face. An odd look crossed Hermione's features when she looked at him, and he could have sworn it looked like concern. Damn, do I look that bad? Hmmm , for once I'm glad I'm not up to my usual standards. A little bit of guilt will do her some good. She didn't blush this time while she was looking at him, instead she continued to hold his gaze for a moment before she was distracted by Potter's arrival at the table. She didn't look at him again during the duration of the meal, but Draco refused to allow it to bother him. She was going to be stuck next to him in the next twenty minutes anyhow, so he just bided his time til then.

When the meal was over, he left the Great Hall before she did and headed in the direction of Professor McGonagall's classroom. He removed his robe upon arrival at his desk and slung it over the back of his chair before sitting. The churning in his stomach intensified as he waited for her to come into the room. He began to get worried as students started filing into the room, but Hermione was nowhere to be seen. She finally came into the room behind Professor McGonagall. They stopped once while the Professor said something to her he couldn't hear, then she nodded and took her seat next to him.

He was immediately assaulted by her scent and he had to grip the desk tightly to prevent himself from throwing her to the floor for a damn good ravishing. Oh boy, this isn't going to work. Her scent is going to drive me nuts. What the fuck am I supposed to do, hold my breath for the entire class??? He cursed lightly under his breath and he noticed her look in his direction so he turned his head to meet her gaze. Once again she seemed to wear an expression of concern on her pretty face before she turned to grab a piece of paper out of her bag. She nibbled on her lower lip while she wrote what he assumed were notes on the Professor's lecture. He watched her tongue slowly run across her lip, soothing the spot she had just been worrying. That was all it took and his trousers were once again tented. Dammit! Why the hell did I remove my robe? This is really not helpful. His internal grumbling came to a halt when a piece of folded paper landed on his desk in front of him. Huh? He opened the paper to find very neat handwriting staring at him.

Are you all right? (Write your answer on the paper, but don't give it back to me. I placed a Pairing charm on it and I have the twin to it over here.)

No way, he thought to himself, it couldn't be her, could it? He glanced in her direction and discovered her looking back at him with a rather expectant look on her face. When he did nothing, but stare at her in shock for a few moments, she started discretely gesturing to the paper. He turned back to the paper and tried to think about how to answer her. Finally he just sighed and started writing.

Am I all right you ask? Was that a rhetorical question or do you really want to know?

No, you Prat, it was not a rhetorical question and yes I really want to know.

Giving me a pet name already, Love? I'm touched...

Will you just answer the bleeding question!?

He sighed and scratched the back of his neck before answering.

Not really.

Oh spare me all the details! (Just in case you are too thick to notice, that was sarcasm :-) )

He chuckled, then covered his mouth quickly, before looking up to see if McGonagall had noticed. When the teacher didn't acknowledge the noise, he figured he must not have been as loud as he thought. He looked at the paper once more to find that she had written something else.

Don't worry about the Professor, she won't bother us, she understands the situation. Now will you please answer the question with a little more detail this time?

Are you REALLY sure you want to know?

No Malfoy, I'm blowing off my class just because I wanted to exchange witty banter with you....

I'm sorry I seem to be a little thick. Was that sarcasm again?

Oh for the love of Mike! Will you just answer the damn question?

Mike? Who's Mike?

He turned to see her thunk her head down on the desk top and had to once again cover his mouth to quiet the sounds of his soft laughter. He paused for a moment and thought. This is the best I have felt since the potion business started. I need to keep her talking, because I am in no rush to return to my previous state.

All right, all right I'm sorry. I just don't want to scare you if I tell you.

Oh good grief Malfoy, out with it already.

Fine. I haven't slept since Friday night because I can't get you out of my head, coupled with the fact that my heart aches so badly, it feels as though its trying to beat its way out of my chest to get to you. Then there is the fact that I haven't eaten since I ingested the potion because I Draco Malfoy am LITERALLY love sick. I can't eat, and I can't sleep because I need to be near you so much, to hear your voice, to touch your skin. This is serving to dampen the pain in my chest a bit, but I know it won't last. I figure the longer I'm away from you, the worse it's going to get. But I promised I would stay away until you felt more comfortable with talking to me, so I have. So there you have it. Are you going to run away from me now? Because I'll tell you, that would probably finish me off right about now.

When she didn't start writing back, he glanced over at her to see her reaction. She was once again nibbling on her bottom lip while staring at the paper. He so desperately wanted to lean over and run his own tongue over her lip to taste her. His cock twitched at the thought and he had to catch himself before he moaned. He placed his quill back on the paper and started writing furiously.

Bloody Hell Hermione! Will you stop biting your damn lip before I lean over and do it for you? You are currently creating an even worse problem for me.

First off, you wouldn't dare, and secondly, what problem?

The one that is currently growing in my shorts Granger.

This time when she didn't answer him right away he thought he must have frightened her, so he turned to look at her only to see her having a completely different reaction entirely. She had a hand covering her mouth as her shoulders shook with silent laughter. When she looked over at him he frowned at her and started writing again.

I'm glad that my current discomfort is so amusing to you. You know, if you were really worried about me, you would help relieve it.

He sent her a wicked grin and she snickered in return.

In your dreams, ferret.

If I could sleep, it WOULD be in my dreams. And if I could eat something, it would be p—

Don't you DARE finish that sentence Draco Malfoy!

Why? I was going to say pie. What did you THINK I was going to say?

He glanced her way and raised his eyebrow at her inquisitively while fighting a grin. She looked as though she didn't know whether to laugh or spit.

You are a real pain in my ass...

I'm sorry, would you like me to rub it?

Will you knock it off!?

Sorry Love, but remember, I offered. If you change your mind, all you have to do is wiggle...

She shook her head, but did not retort. After several moments she started writing again.

Well now that we have established contact, did it help any?

It's helped to take the edge off, but I doubt that will last long.

He stopped writing for a moment and looked like he was deep in thought. After a moment he wiped a weary hand over his face and sighed before he continued scribbling.

I need to be able to hear your voice Hermione. Talking to you on paper is all well and good, because it helps to ease my mind, but I need your voice to soothe more. Having you this close to me is a blessing and a curse. Your presence helps to alleviate some of the pain in my chest, but in other ways it's worse, because I can't just reach over and touch you like I want to. No, like I NEED to. I'm having to fight with myself not to reach over and take your hand, or push that damn piece of hair behind your ear. Even those simple gestures would help to pacify my problem. I'm sorry if I am making you uncomfortable with these admonitions, but I think you want the truth, and I believe you deserve it.

She paused for a minute before placing her quill back to the paper, but when she went to write, the tip broke off. Cursing under her breath she placed the broken quill in her bag. She dug around in there looking for a replacement, but came up empty handed. She looked over in his direction and leaned closer toward him.

"Malfoy, would you have a spare quill I could borrow?"

He almost groaned at the sound of her voice so close to him, it made him tingle all over and he felt his shoulders relax. He reached behind him into the pocket of his robe and grabbed one of his spare quills. When he reached out to hand it to her, she gripped his hand in hers lightly for a moment, before extracting the quill from it. The feel of her skin on his was like a momentary balm to his soul. The ache in his chest died down to almost nothing and the queasiness was almost gone. Thank Merlin for cheap quills. He thought to himself.

When he looked back down at the paper, there was new writing on the page.

Better?

He glanced over at her in surprise, before returning his gaze to the paper before him.

You did that on purpose?

She giggled quietly next to him. Yes

Why?

Because you needed it.

Well in that case I REALLY need a handj—

Stop that! I know what you're doing Malfoy. Every time the conversation or situation seems to get too serious or too sentimental, you get uncomfortable, then you ruin the moment by making another wicked comment. As amusing as I find the things you say (yes I think you're funny, don't let it go to that already overly-inflated head of yours), it isn't the right time for them. You don't have to feel uncomfortable around me.

Am I really that transparent?

To me you're clear as glass.

Ouch, woman that hit below the belt.

Well then I should have helped cure another of your problems then......

If they had been alone, he would have thrown his head back and laughed, but seeing as they weren't, he had to cough to cover his laughter. She shot him a saucy little grin. Fuck me, if I wasn't already in love with her, I think I would be well on my way now. I've never met anyone who could so smoothly and effortlessly put me in my place before. He looked back down at his paper and read her next question.

Do you think you can bear to live without me til this evening around say 11:00pm?

I'm sure I'll find a way to cope, (smart-ass) why?

There's no time to explain, class is over, just make sure that you are outside the entrance to your common room at 11:00pm.

All right, I will be.

See you then.

She put her things away in her bag, got up and walked out the door. Draco waited til almost everyone else had left before he finally stood up. He wrapped his robe around himself quickly to hide the bulge that was still very evident, before grabbing his things and walking out the door. He was about five steps from the door when he heard his name.

"Forget something Malfoy?"

He turned around to see Hermione standing with his quill in her hand. They approached each other slowly til they were only about a foot apart, then Hermione extended the hand that held the quill out to him. His eyes never left hers as he reached out to take it. He grasped her hand with his own gently, caressing the back with his thumb before letting go. She gave him a soft smile.

"See you in Herbology, Malfoy." She turned to walk away, but he said something she couldn't hear. "What?"

"I said my name is Draco."

She smiled at him again and he had to control the urge to grab her and kiss her silly.

"All right, Draco then. See you in class."

He watched her walk away in the direction of their next class with a grin on his face. With a sigh of what was most likely temporary contentment, he started off in the same direction with a little extra bounce in his step.