Author's Note: Hey there! I hope you all enjoyed that last chapter…there might be more? Don't worry…I'll be getting back into more of Ginny, Harry, and Ron now that the D/Hr relationship is truly introduced (but D/Hr will still be the main point!)!! Keep reading and REVIEW please!
Chapter Eight
There May Be a Way
Hermione and Draco woke on Saturday morning still curled up on the couch. The fire had died, but it was still cozy next to each other. "Pssst." Hermione woke first and as much as she loved seeing Draco sleep, she wanted him to be awake, too. "Draco, wake up." She shook him gently on the shoulder.
"Mmmmm…" he moaned. She laughed, causing him to open his eyes. "Well, hello there." They both grinned and she fell back on top of him and kissed him sweetly. She pulled back and gazed into his eyes.
"Sleep well?"
"Extremely."
They kissed again and he pulled her even closer so she almost couldn't breathe. "You know something?" he asked her.
"Yes, I know something, but probably not what you were going to tell me."
He stuck his tongue out at her. "Har de har har. You're sooo witty my dear. No, seriously."
She giggled. "What is it dahling?" She said "darling" like one of those sleek women in the old mystery movies. She and her parents used to watch them all the time. Hermione promised herself from an early age that she would never be the damsel in distress. She wanted to be on the detective end, and that's exactly what she had done for the past six years, and would probably continue to do.
"Last night meant the world to me," he said in to her ear, kissing it afterwards. She lay back down on his chest. "How did I ever survive without you? How was I so god damned stupid? Harry was right, you know."
"Oooh, Draco Malfoy saying Harry Potter was right about something?" She was curious now. "What was he right about?"
"Well, it wasn't that he was right about something specifically, I just should have followed the advice I gave him. On our very first day here at Hogwarts I offered to make friends with him, and told him not to go making friends with the wrong sort."
"What did he do?"
"He said, 'I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks.' I should have seen the wrong sort in the Slytherins the way he did."
"Do you want my opinion?"
"Usually. In this case, yes."
"Oh, now who's the funny one?" she poked fun at him. "Well, I think that you shouldn't blame yourself for what you did when you were eleven. You were still a daddy's boy back then. The point is, that now you've learned to think for yourself. I also think that if you told Harry and Ron what you've just told me, they would be quicker to forgive you."
Sure, it was easy for her to say all of this to someone else, but when it came down to telling her best friends about her relationship with Malfoy, it didn't seem like something she was really looking forward to doing.
"Wouldn't it be wonderful if that's all it took?"
"Hmmm," she agreed. She rubbed her thumb on his shoulder back and forth, while he did the same one her back.
It was amazing being this close to someone, knowing they loved you so much that they would do anything in the whole world for you. Draco would never admit it to anyone but her, but she made him feel safe, too. It had always felt like he was alone in the world. Sure, he had Crabbe and Goyle, but they weren't real friends. They were just groupies. He never had a real father figure the same way most kids have. Now, someone loved him. And Hermione wasn't just anyone, she was a Muggle-born, and it felt amazingly rebellious that he loved her. He would never use her that way, but it still felt good to know it would make his father cringe. It felt good to be able to disappoint him, and have someone there to back him up when it backfired.
Hermione still figured that the worst of her problems was what Harry and Ron say. It didn't matter to her what the rest of the school though as long as she had them behind her, and that's the way it had always been. It was then that she remembered Ginny.
"Oh no!" She stood up from the couch pulling the blanket with her leaving Malfoy naked on the couch. He didn't even try to cover up and that made her smile.
"What? What is it?"
"I have to talk to Ginny, remember?"
"Oh, yeah, right. Well, you'd best get going." He stood up, and walked towards her.
Hermione could have melted the way he walked, completely starkers, towards her. She smiled and opened the blanket for him to join her, and they wrapped their arms around each other. He looked down at her and then kissed her. He felt so good against her, but she couldn't let this happen right now. She needed to find Ginny. She pulled away. "I really do have to find her." She was still unable to let go. "Let me go get dressed." He let go and she ran off towards the dormitory stairs.
She came down ten minutes later, looking stunning to him. "You look amazing right now."
"Are you kidding me? I haven't even showered."
"I don't know, you just look illuminated or something."
"Is it that obvious how happy I am?"
"Kind of," he said honestly.
"Good." She walked over and plopped down onto his now-clothed lap. "I want the whole world to know." She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him again. "I really have to go. She's probably at lunch by now. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Meet me here at seven o'clock okay? I have a surprise for you."
"I will." She kissed him quickly and got up.
She was right by the portrait hole when he ran over to her. "Hermione, wait."
"What?"
"I just wanted to tell you I love you."
"I love you too." He gave her one quick kiss, and she dashed out of the portrait hole. Now the only question was, where would she find Ginny?
She decided to check the Gryffindor common room first. She reached the Fat Lady and said, Lemmon Drops. The Gryffindors missed Dumbledore more than any other house, and used their password as a way to remember him. "Precisely," the Fat Lady replied, swinging open for Hermione to enter. "It's been quiet without you and your friends this year." Hermione knew she was referring to her late-night escapades with Harry and Ron and smiled, climbing through the hole, and entering the crimson-filled common room.
She looked around for Ginny Weasley's fiery red hair and spotted her by the window all alone. Poor Ginny, now she really felt awful for ditching her yesterday. "Hermione!" someone called behind her.
"Oh, hello, Seamus, how are you?"
"I'm fine, but, how are you?" he looked at her in a way that made her suspicious.
"I'm wonderful, actually." She smiled and said, "Excuse me, but I have to talk to Ginny."
"Yeah, she was pretty peevish at you yesterday after dinner. What have you done, anyway?"
"No offense, Seamus, but that's really none of your business."
"It has something to do with that git, Malfoy, doesn't it?"
"Do NOT call him that, and like I said, it's none of your business."
"Fine, but just be prepared for worse than this if you're going to be snogging that jerk." Seamus walked away without another word. Hermione didn't care what he thought. She was worried about Ginny, and turned around, thankful that she was still over by the window. She was also secretly thankful that Seamus didn't rouse attention.
She made her way to the window and touched Ginny gently on the shoulder. "Ginny, I'm so incredibly sorry for not coming to dinner yesterday."
Ginny looked up and her then went back to staring out the window. "Yeah, sure. Where were you anyway?"
"I had to go talk to Draco. It was really important. I'll tell you about it later, but for now all I'm going to say is that he's in trouble. I had to find out what was going on."
"Is that why you went to see Snape? There wasn't any Head Girl business was there?"
"Yes, that's why I went to see Snape." Ginny still looked rather defeated, and slightly angry at Hermione. "Listen, Ginny, you're no less important to me, but I had to know. I can spend the whole day with you today, though. How about some lunch?" Ginny agreed, and the whole way down to the Great Hall, Hermione tried to make small talk without much success.
They were finally sitting down at a table and Hermione said, "Ginny, I have to tell you something, and I want you to hear it from me before it gets twisted around the school."
"What?" she still sounded a little mad, and Hermione hoped that this would make her understand why she never showed up for dinner.
"Well, after I talked to Draco last night and he told me everything that's been going on, I…well, I told him I love him too."
"You really do?" Hermione's prediction had been correct. Ginny was intrigued.
"Yes, I really do," and Hermione looked down, smiling, but her eyes were sparkling, and Ginny knew she wasn't lying, and wasn't exaggerating her feelings for the Slytherin. "I would do anything for him. He's really a good person, Ginny. He's badly misunderstood."
"I think you need to tell me what he's been doing."
"If I do you have to promise me that you will not tell ANYONE, Ginevra Molly Weasley. You can't tell a soul, not even Harry, yet. And I really think that when it comes time, I should be the one to tell Harry and Ron."
"FINE. I promise! Now will you tell me, please?" She was getting impatient.
Hermione whispered into Ginny's ear what Draco told her the night before, trying to make Draco sound as innocent as possible. Even though she, Hermione, knew he wasn't to blame, she wasn't sure how Ginny would take the news.
"WHAT?"
"Shhhhh!!! Are you crazy? Be quiet!"
"Sorry, but…I mean…are you serious? What if it happens to you?" she said more quietly.
"Well, it won't really matter." She leaned in closer to Ginny's ear. "We made love last night?"
"WHAT?"
"Ginny, really, keep your voice down."
"Hermione," Ginny started, really being quiet now, even though the Great Hall was rather empty, "you had sex with Draco Malfoy?"
"Yes, I've told you, I love him so much."
"Wow, okay. So, my best friend is dating a Slytherin. Cool!"
They both laughed, then Ginny suddenly looked very sad.
"Ginny, what is it?"
"Just, all this talk about love…" she cut off, choking up with tears.
"Harry's okay, and so is Ron. I know they are. If they weren't, we would have heard."
"I guess you're right." Tears welled up in Ginny's sad brown eyes. "I just miss him so much, Hermione. I spend every night trying to think of where he is, praying that he'll contact me somehow, but there's no way to do that."
"There must be a way for us to talk with them, but owls are too traceable."
"I've thought of everything."
"No, Ginny, you haven't quite thought of everything."
Just then, the Great Hall came to a sudden hush. Hermione looked up and saw that Draco had just walked through the door and nearly bumped into Crabbe and Goyle.
"So, Malfoy, where have you been lately?" Goyle asked, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Been hanging out with that little Mudblood, have you?"
Not even bothering with his wand, Malfoy went after Goyle with such force that it didn't matter that he was practically half his size. He was sitting on top of him, beating him with both hands in turn. "Don't," punch! "you," punch! "ever," punch! "call," punch! "her," punch! "that," punch! "AGAIN!" Now the teachers were rushing over. It seemed that it took them an awfully long time to acknowledge the problem. Hermione followed suit.
She reached Draco long before the teachers did, and she tried to grab him off while he was still punching Goyle, and got pushed to the floor. Suddenly realizing what happened, he flew towards her and wrapped her up in his arms. Her nose was bleeding. "Oh, God, Hermione! What have I done?"
"Draco, I'm fine, really." She reached for her wand and pointed it at her own nose and said, "Episky!" Tonks taught her that last year, and this was the first time she had actually had to use it. Within seconds she was good as new.
"Hermione it was an accident, really!"
She reached up for his face settling her palm on his cheek, and sat up on her own to look at him. The teachers walked to Goyle, not rushing, but walking calmly while the rest of the students in the Hall looked at the Slytherin and Gryffindor on the floor embracing each other. It suddenly seemed much fuller now. Ginny was a few feet away, but turned to talk to Luna, who didn't seem to care that Malfoy and Hermione were acting differently than years past.
"Draco, honey, I'm fine, see?" She pointed to her nose. "I'm not bleeding, and," she pointed her wand at her face again, "Scourgio! I'm all clean too." He kissed her, in front of everyone, who gasped.
"Well, I'm still sorry."
"You're still forgiven. And, thank you for defending me, but I'm sure you're in trouble now, especially being a Head Boy."
McGonagall approached them. "Mr. Malfoy."
"Oh, bloody hell." He turned around.
"I'm sorry Professor, but he called her that word."
"You mean the word you used to speak fluently?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Malfoy hung his head in shame, and Hermione grabbed his hand. "Please, Professor, don't punish him for this. Goyle deserved it, really, he had it coming for six years."
"Just see me in my office at five o'clock this evening, both of you."
"Yes, Professor," they chimed. McGonagall walked back toward the staff table without another word.
"I'd better get back to Ginny," Hermione told Draco. "We were kind of interrupted with a very important discussion."
"Okay, love. I'll see you at five, I guess."
"You sure will." She winked and kissed him again, causing the Hall to once again fill with the buzz of gossip. This time he pulled her close and let their kiss linger for a moment. Ginny walked over, and as Hermione and Draco parted and walked away from each other, their hands touched until the last possible second when they couldn't reach anymore.
Once Hermione and Ginny were outside in the entrance hall, Ginny said, "Well, that was dramatic."
"Very," Hermione agreed. "Now, as I was saying, I think there might be a way for you to speak to Harry. Follow me." They broke out at a run, Hermione leading the way towards the Headmaster's office. They reached the stone gargoyle, and Hermione recited, "Lacewing flies," forcing the gargoyle to jump aside.
They raced up the stairs and knocked on the door. "Come in."
When Snape saw them he said, "Miss Granger…and Miss Weasley. What can I do for you?"
"Actually, Professor, we need to speak with Professor Dumbledore."
"We do?" Ginny asked. Ginny hadn't spoken with Dumbledore since before he died.
"Did someone call upon me?" Dumbledore's portrait spoke.
"Yes," Hermione answered.
"Ah, Miss Granger, once again. I trust you've spoken to Mr. Malfoy?"
"Yes, I have and we're just fine," she blushed and tried to cover her smile.
"Is it possible that you're better than, 'just fine?'"
"We're actually…er…well, we're dating Professor, but that's not why Ginny and I are here. We're here about Harry and Ron." She changed the subject quickly at Dumbledore and Snape's surprised yet understanding reactions. "I was wondering, sir, if you happen to have the other half of the mirror Sirius gave Harry. I think Harry has it with him."
Ginny squealed. "Hermione! You're brilliant!"
"Professor, please, we need to speak with Harry and Ron. It's important." She knew there was nothing particularly urgent to tell or ask them, but it was still important to Ginny to see them, and it was important to Hermione as well.
"Well, girls, I'm sorry to tell you that I don't have it. My brother Aberforth is in current possession of the mirror."
"Where is he? Is there somewhere we can find him?" Ginny asked urgently.
"I believe that you should be able to find him at the Hog's Head Inn. He's the owner, you see."
"That's your brother?" Hermione asked curiously. "The one who was with you in the Order of the Phoenix?"
"The one and only, yes."
Both girls looked shocked. Recovering, Hermione said, "Our next Hogsmeade trip isn't until two weeks from now." Ginny looked defeated. Clearly, she had thought of this obstacle as well.
Snape surprised everyone by chiming in, "I would be willing to escort Miss Granger to Hogsmeade this evening."
"Thank you so much, Professor! But, Draco and I are meeting with Professor McGonagall at five o'clock."
"You can meet me in the entrance hall at six o'clock, Miss Granger."
"I will, Professor. Thank you so very much. We'll be going now."
She escorted Ginny out of the office and both girls were giddy as they walked down the stairs and headed outside to spend the afternoon at Hagrid's hut.
