Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They are all property of J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 8

Tell Me

The night grew longer as Hermione and Draco slept. It was as if an unseen force didn't want morning to come. Both lost in dreams, still held on to each throughout the course of the night. Subconsciously neither dared move for fear of waking the other.

Hermione dreamt of walking hand in hand with Draco to Gryffindor tower entering and seeing all of her friends sitting in arm chairs close to the crackling fire. She told her them about her relationship with Draco. They were shocked but, despite that, they were happy for her. If looks could kill, Draco would have dropped dead on the spot when Ron looked over at him. She and Draco sat in an arm chair by the fire and talked to Harry, Ron and Ginny about their meetings on the days passed. Harry stood and extended his hand for Draco; shaking hands, Harry told Draco how happy he was for them. Ginny giggled, because that's what girls do. And Ron scoffed but didn't have and snide remarks to make. Hermione was happy knowing she and Draco didn't have to sneak around her friends and she didn't have to lie anymore.

Draco's dream; however, was very different. He had gone to sleep deeply concerned with what Hermione had told him. He dreamt of fury and fires, heartbreak and tears. His dream seemed so real to him. In his reverie, Hermione woke and leapt from his bed, struggling to cover herself. She screamed at him, telling him he was nothing; refusing to listen to his reasoning. She was so infuriated. She yelled as she hastily threw her clothes on. He was thunderstruck. He loved her. Why was she doing this? He tried to explain himself; tired to tell her he was sorry; though he didn't really know why she was angry. He tried his best to make her happy, make her see he was in love with her. She ran from his bedroom, in tears, into the Slytherin common room; Draco leapt from his bed not caring to cover himself, and ran after her. When he had reached the landing outside his bedroom door he heard laughing and sneering. He knew the common room was full of his fellow Slytherins, and there he stood; completely naked, Hermione in tears feet from him. Hermione shot him an evil look and ran down the stairs; just avoiding the reaching Slytherins, across the common room, and out the door. He couldn't move; he was paralyzed with a hurt he could never have expected.

Draco shot up in bed like a bullet. He was covered in sweat and was in a frenzy as he looked around his room. He saw Hermione was still in his bed but she was no longer asleep she was awakened when he sprang up.

Draco placed his hand over his heart, trying to make it stop pounding his chest. He looked at Hermione's face, "I thought I'd lost you."

Hermione wrinkled her brow, "What?"

Draco leaned close to Hermione's face and kissed her on the cheek, "I was dreaming, it was nothing. I'm just glad you're here with me."

Hermione smiled, "I was having a dream too, though I don't think it was at all like yours."

Draco asked Hermione to tell him about her dream, sense he was sure it was a better one than he had. She told him all about it, and about how she was sure this was the way Harry, Ron, and Ginny would act. Draco doubted it. He had been such a prat to them all, especially Harry. He was still very jealous of Harry though, he didn't know why.

Draco and Hermione were still talking when the sun had completely risen; they hadn't really noticed. Hermione stretched, winching because of her sore muscles. Draco reached over and places one hand on her back and rubbed it, trying to relax the tight muscles. He knew how it felt to use muscles one wasn't used to using, though he hadn't done this in a long time.

"I'll be right back." Draco said standing up from the bed and stretching, his back to Hermione.

Hermione blushed faintly when she saw Draco was still unclothed; she hadn't really seen his body the night before. "Where are you off to?"

Draco looked over his shoulder at her, "bathroom." And he walked around the bed to a door on the other side of the room.

When Draco was out of sight Hermione laid back on the bed, stretched, and smiled to herself. But as she did this, she remembered what she had said to Draco last night; how bad she made him feel. Truth be told, he did nothing erroneous, she was, in fact, overwhelmed and frightened. She didn't know why she had told Draco he was too rough with her, he hadn't been. She lied. She didn't mean to but she did. She closed her eyes and frowned inside. Draco thought he did something wrong, and she caused this though. She had to tell him something. But what? She didn't know why she was so hurt and angry only minutes after experiencing something so beautiful with the man she loved. She did love him, with all her heart. She smiled again, sitting back up as she heard the bathroom door open.

Draco stepped into the door way, wearing a towel around his waist. "Do you want to take a shower?"

Hermione looked over at him, he was so handsome, standing there with his perfectly toned body, in the door way. She gawked at him for a moment, "yes, I probably should. Are you going to have one too?"

Draco smiled, "I thought we might bathe together."

Hermione turned her head slightly and smiled, "Okay."

She stood up, wrapping the blanket around herself, and walked toward Draco. When she reached where he stood she leaned up and kissed his lips.

They walked into the bathroom together and Hermione was taken back, even it was beautiful. The floor was black marble as were the sink, toilet, shower stall, and bath tub. The shower stall had two shower heads and was big enough to fit four people at once. The bath tub was like a miniature swimming pool, five or six people would fit in there comfortable. The walls were a marbled kind of print, black and silver, and a huge chandelier hung from the ceiling, it was beautiful with its silver trim and frosted glass; candle flames dancing upon the ceiling.

As the bath tub came closer into Hermione's view she noticed it was already full of water and bubbles. She turned to look back at Draco and smiled. He walked closer to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, kissing the side of her face. He extended one arm toward the bath tub saying 'get in.' Hermione dropped her blanket and stepped into the mass of bubbles. The water was hot but not too hot and it soothed her aching muscles as she sat down and reached for Draco's hand.

Draco took the towel from his waste and threw it on the floor in front of the tub, he stepped in and Hermione slid over so he had room to sit. Draco lowered his body into the hot water and bubbles and grabbed a near by sponge. He dipped in into the water raised it and rang the water out. Instinctively, Hermione moved in front of him, sliding between his legs. Draco drug the sponge over Hermione's back, moving her hair away from her shoulders. He dipped it into the water again and squeezed the water down her back. He put the sponge back into its previous resting place and put his hands on her shoulders, massaging them. Hermione felt the tension lifting from her body, under Draco's fingers. She was being relieved of her pent up stress. Draco rubbed her shoulders for a long time then simply put his arms around her waist and pulled her back to him so her head was on his chest.

He didn't want anything from her, only to sit there with her in the warmth of the water, washing away all of her worries. Hermione sat in front of Draco and dropped her hands into the water on either side of Draco's legs, daintily stroking them with her thumbs. She was completely comfortable sitting there with him.

Draco kissed Hermione's hair, "did you mean what you said?"

Hermione looked up at him, "what?"

"What you said last night." He answered.

"Oh." Hermione said looking away from his face, "yes, I did."

Draco smiled and tightened his grip on her waist, "me too."

Hermione sat there for a moment trying to think about how to tell him she was sorry, about accusing him of not considering her feelings. She didn't want him to continue thinking he had done something wrong. Finally, realizing she had no way to best phrase it she said, "About what I said… the thing about you being rough…" Her voice trailed off.

Draco stiffened a little, "yes."

She turned to face him, "I'm sorry."

Draco looked down at the fading bubbles, "I'm the one who should be sorry. It was my fault."

"No, it wasn't." She said sincerely, "I wasn't being completely truthful with you. You were fine, you didn't do anything wrong."

Draco's face flushed. "You lied to me? Why would you do that?"

Hermione didn't expect this, she didn't mean to lie. It was just such a baffling time for her. "I didn't mean to. I was scared, Draco, I had so much going through my mind. What we did… I have never felt so happy and so overwhelmed at the same time. I was thinking about what Snape told me. I was thinking about… what he… what he did. I don't know what happened. I really am sorry."

Hermione really did feel like dirt. She didn't want to hurt him; she was just confused and scared.

Draco's eyes glistened, "Hermione, you need to talk to someone about that. You lied to me because of him. To me, Hermione. You said you love me but you lied to me. Do you know how it made me feel? I felt like the biggest ass hole in the world. I thought I hurt you, I thought you were mad at me. And that thought alone makes my heart feel like its breaking."

Hermione leaned in to kiss Draco's chest, just above his heart. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. But I am not going to tell anyone, it's too… too embarrassing. I was too weak to fight him off, it's my fault he did it. My fault." Tears filled her eyes.

Draco grabbed her face in his hand, "it's his fault, Hermione, don't go and blame something like that on your self. There's nothing you could have done. He's a full grown man; I doubt I could have fought him off. Please tell someone. Just say something. They will take care of him. Sack him probably."

"I just can't. Not now." Was all she said as she sank back into Draco's chest.

Draco knew he was fighting a losing battle; he decided it best to just leave the subject alone for a few days. Maybe the next time he brought it up she would take his advice. Maybe when she mustered up enough bravery, she would tell someone. Though, he could always do it for her, go to Dumblrdore and tell him what happened. No, he couldn't do that. It wasn't his place; Hermione was the one that needed to do it.

The bubbles were long gone and Draco and Hermione's skin resembled the outside of prunes when they finally got out of the bath tub. Draco wrapped his towel back around his waist and handed one to Hermione, then turned and walked back into his bed room. He rummaged through his clothes chest and found a blue fitted t-shirt and a dark pair of jeans to wear. Hermione, however, put on the clothes she had worn the previous day because she didn't have any others.

The two of them, being very hungry, decided to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Draco had to leave the room first to clear the common room so Hermione could leave, unseen. Seconds after Draco left his room; he called back to Hermione assuring her it was okay for her to leave the room as well. She walked out of the portrait hole and the painting closed behind her. She and Draco walked down the stairs and across the common room talking about when they would meet again. Hermione knew she wanted to see him again but she still had to write her Potions essay, as did Draco. They decided to meet in the library after breakfast.

Draco arrived in the Great Hall a little while before Hermione, because she went to Gryffindor Tower to change her clothes.

None of Hermione's friends were in the common room when she entered, which was a good thing. She ran up to her room and threw on a pink sun dress and some brown sandals. She tied her hair back in a pony tail and hurried down to breakfast, by this time she was starving; neither she nor Draco had eaten sense breakfast the day before.

When she entered the common room she saw Harry, Ron, and Ginny sitting with Neville chatting as they ate. She took in a deep breath and sat down beside Neville. As she started filling her plate, her friends stopped talking and stared at her.

She looked up from the bowl of scrambled eggs, "what?"

"Slept late, did you?" Ron asked. "We didn't see you when we got back from Hogsmead. Or at supper, or in the common room, come to think of it. Where have you been off to?"

Hermione shook her head, "I told you I had things to do. I still haven't finished my Potions essay."

Harry choked on his mouthful of pumpkin juice. "What? You haven't finished an essay? You mean Ron and I was done before you? Ha!"

Ginny looked up quizzically, "are you feeling all right?"

Hermione sighed, "I have many things to do, you know. I'm feeling just fine, but I've been a bit preoccupied. And please don't patronize me."

"We weren't trying to part…trinize… you, Hermione." Ron said unsure of his words.

Hermione laughed as Ron fell over his words. "Well then, why don't we talk about something else? How was your trip?"

Hermione made some small talk with Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Neville through out breakfast, looking in Draco's direction as often as she could. He was talking with Crabbe and Goyle; Hermione still didn't understand why. Those two were probably the least intelligent people she had ever met. She was happy to see Pansy was sitting at the other end of the table, as far from Draco as she could be. She still looked a bit upset though.

When breakfast was over Harry asked Hermione to go back to the common room with him, Ron and Ginny. She couldn't blow him off again, so she said she would, even if it was for only a little while. She looked over at Draco as they were walking out of the Great Hall. Draco pointed up at the ceiling and mouthed 'are you coming,' Hermione shook her head and pointed at Harry. Draco frowned then nodded his head in understanding.

She followed her friends into the Gryffindor common room and stood as they all sat down. She looked around, they were alone. It was just Hermione and her three friends; everyone else seemed to have better things to do on a beautiful Sunday morning. As Hermione saw it, today was the day to tell all. They deserved to know.

She cleared her throat. "Guys, we need to talk." And she sat down in front of them in a large arm chair.

A/N: Yes, I've left you all with a bit of a cliff hanger. Sorry about that, but I decided this was the best place to end this one. Just one question for you, are these chapters too long? please R&R, I love the reviews. Sway