AN- This chapter gets pretty hot and heavy near the end. Please, if you're below the age of maturity, just skim past it or stop reading now.
The music stopped, for real this time, as Hermione and Draco parted. Their hands remained joined as Hermione confronted her ex-boyfriend. Everyone around them had seen what had happened and every eye in the room was on the three of them.
Nobody spoke at first. Hermione thought that perhaps everyone was in shock. Harry was standing close by, horror struck and Ginny beside him was hard to read.
"Ron… I was coming to find you" Hermione said.
"But, what? You tripped over and fell onto his face?" Ron spat.
"Watch it Weasley" said Malfoy, his anger directed as a protective gesture towards Hermione rather than a threat to Ron.
Hermione looked around at all the people who had gathered around to watch the goings on.
"Can we take this somewhere private?" she asked.
"No, I think we can do this right here" said Ron.
"Fine" said Hermione, as she straightened herself up and pushed back her shoulders, gathering some confidence. "Draco and I have been seeing each other, in secret, for weeks" she said. All the whispering stopped and the room was completely silent. Ginny had grabbed Harrys arm, as if in disbelief.
"What? What do you mean?" Ron asked.
"What I mean, Ronald, is that when you left me stranded in Australia, I arrived here at Hogwarts a month later all alone with no one to talk to, no one who understood how I was feeling, no one who had been through the things I had been through. Then Draco arrived and even though I was immediately angry and wanted him gone, I put up with him and realised he was actually a nice person, underneath all that pure blood bullshit. He took the time to come to me and ask me how I was feeling, if I was ok, why I was spending so much time on my own. He is the only one, out of everyone, to show me that he cared. That he cared about me more than quidditch, more than a relationship, more than his own reputation and family" she said.
"Hermione, we've been here for you, surely you know that" said Ginny, quietly.
"Of course you have been, Gin, but you've also had distractions. Draco has been there, has taken the time to get to know me and allowed me to get to know him". Hermione said, shutting down Draco's attempts to jump in.
"so, that's it, you're throwing away everything we had?" Ron asked. At this, Hermione was furious. She ripped her mask off, threw it on the floor and stepped forward towards Ron.
"No Ron Weasley, YOU did that all on your own" she said. "You ran out on me, you ignored me, you rejected me. Now it's my turn! Come on Draco, let's get out of here" she added as she pulled him by the hand and led him towards the exit.
As Hermione walked out into the fresh air outside, still hand in hand with Draco, her heart hammered in her chest and her eyes welled up with tears.
"How dare he…? How could he…? Why the hell…" she stammered.
"Hey… Its ok, you've got me" Draco soothed.
"I'm ok, that was just intense" she said after a while.
"Well, the dragon's out of the bag" he said as he enveloped her in his arms.
"Cat… The saying… The cat is out of the bag" she said with a small smile.
They stood holding onto each other for several moments before Draco whispered into her ear.
"Hermione, I love you. I don't care what happens. What I have to give up. These last couple of days have been the worst. To have you, hold you in my arms, feel like you're mine and then lose you… I'm never going to let that happen again. I love you". She pulled away enough to look into his eyes. The eyes of the man she had poured her heart out to in recent weeks. She realised then, in that moment, exactly how she felt – she loved him too.
"I'm sorry for this week. I just thought that it would be better, easier if… I don't know. We still have a lot to consider. I just know that I have fallen for you, Draco. I love you too" she said.
"I don't care about any of that stuff. I care about here and now and right now we have nothing but time" he said as he pulled her back into his arms.
As they stood there, relishing in their newly expressed emotions, swaying slowly to the music that had resumed, they were interrupted by Ginny, who had come to find them.
"I'm not going to say this isn't weird" she said casually as she walked towards the couple who were holding each other as though they were each other's life line.
"Oh, its weird alright" said Hermione. "I know how weird this is, trust me.
Draco remained silent as the girls awkwardly discussed him right in front of him.
"Why didn't you say something?" she asked.
"I was going to but… that conversation we had in the library. I couldn't have exactly said 'hey you know that guy everyone hates, well I snogged him'… What would you have said?" Hermione asked.
"You're mad" she answered.
"Exactly" she said. "I tried to get away, to stop it. It only made me miserable" she said truthfully.
"That's what's been going on with you the last few days?" Ginny asked.
"I broke it off" she said, walking over to sit on the nearby seat. Draco stood nearby but far enough away to give them some space. Hermione was thankful for that.
"When we were at Hagrid's the other day, I just realised how difficult it is going to be, telling everyone about us, joining both our worlds together. We're so different, Ginny. Our lives are completely different" Hermione said.
"Well, you don't need to worry about telling anyone, I bet the whole world knows by now" Ginny said.
"How bad do you think this will be?" Hermione asked
"It won't be easy, but you're strong. And if you both care about each other…" she glanced over her shoulder at Malfoy, "…you should be able to get through anything" Ginny said.
"What about Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Don't you worry about the boys, I'll sort them out" Ginny said.
"Thanks" she said as she hugged her friend.
"So… is he a good kisser?" Ginny asked, whispering.
"Oh my gosh yes. It's just… Incredible" Hemione answered.
The two girls giggled before Ginny stood up.
"Well, come on, there's a Ball going on in there" she said.
"Oh, no I couldn't possibly" she said
"Everyone is talking about you already, you might as well make it worth it" Ginny said.
"You know what? Why not?!" Hermione said.
"I'll see you in there" Ginny said as she walked away. Leaving Hermione alone with Draco.
She wandered over to where Draco was waiting and put her arms around him from behind.
"You want to go back in?" she asked.
"I can thing of many things I would rather be doing" he said as he turned and faced her, "but yes, let's go in" he said.
"The night is young" said Hermione with a wink as she reached into the inside of his robes and retrieved his flask.
"What's in this?" she asked as she removed the lid and took a whiff.
"Muggle Vodka" he said as she took a swig and screwed up her face. Draco laughed as they joined hands and headed for the great hall.
They walked into the hall, hand in hand, looking around at all the people dancing and enjoying themselves. They slipped in, unnoticed by most of the people who were still there and headed to the dancefloor.
There was an upbeat song playing, but as soon as they arrived, the band began playing another slow song.
The two danced slowly, unperturbed as the eyes of almost everyone in the room fell upon them. This, they knew, was how their lives would be, and Hermione wasn't surprised by that. It would have been nice if they could have saved their public appearance until after Hogwarts, but it was done now and they were free to be a real couple.
When the song finished and the two proceeded to a secluded bench, Harry came over and embraced Hermione.
"I just want whatever will make you happy. I can't say it wasn't a shock, but he seems different" he said to her. Hermione wiped away a tear as Harry extended his hand to Draco. All the people who had been near them, pretending not to notice, were watching this exchange between the two enemies.
Draco looked at Harrys outstretched hand and back at Hermione before taking his hand and shaking it.
"Take care of her" Harry said to Draco.
"I intent to" Draco said in response.
Hermione was happier than she could ever have anticipated. Harry was one of the people she was worried about. He certainly had grown up from the boy who suspected Malfoy of criminal activity.
Despite the happiness she felt at this turn of events, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had when she thought about Ron. He had come to this event hoping to rekindle some kind of romance between them and she had thrown that back in his face by snogging Malfoy right in front of his face.
After a moment's awkward silence, Harry left to dance with Ginny, leaving Hermione and Draco alone once more.
"Do you want to get out of here?" Hermione asked him as she felt, rather than saw people's eyes on them.
Without answering, Draco took her hand and led her towards the doors.
They left the ball without anybody noticing and headed for the common room. As they walked side by side down the corridor, Hermione suddenly began feeling nervous and anxious about this relationship. She had declared to him that she was in love with him, but was she certain of that? She didn't know for sure, all she knew was that it felt right in the moment when she said it. Her whole life was devoted to things that she knew and she was confident when she felt as though she could understand something. The feelings she was experiencing were completely new to her, nothing about this was logical or could be learnt from additional study.
She had no way of knowing if this was a lustful affair or if she truly was falling for him.
"Are you ok?" he asked her as they entered the common room.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking. You know me" she said.
"Your room or mine?" he asked her as they stood in the middle of the common room.
"Uhhh…." She said, wondering what his plans were for the night. Was she ready for whatever was about to happen? She thought she had been with Ron, but that had been after weeks of dating and snogging. Realistically, Hermione and Draco had only been snogging for 2 weeks and one of those weeks was spent avoiding him. Not to mention, she had known Ron for the last 8 years. Up until a month ago, Draco was her mortal enemy.
"Relax Granger, we don't have to do anything you don't want to do" he said, reading her mind. "I can tell when you're anxious. Your body gives you away he said.
"You study my body now do you?" she asked.
"Granger, your body is one thing I have studied in great detail" he said. She rolled her eyes and he pulled her by the hand towards the door to his room. She followed him, feeling a little better and as they entered his room, she closed the door behind them.
"I'm not saying I'm not ready for… whatever you had in mind. But I just want to make sure its perfect, you know?" she said.
"Well, the only thing I'm going to do tonight, apart from appreciate how fucking amazing you look in this dress, is kiss you… here…" he said as he kissed her lips gently… "and here…" he continued, kissing her neck, "and here" he whispered as he kissed her collar bone. Her body almost convulsed as tingles ran through her body.
"mmm" was all she could get out.
She thought that if he were to try anything more, there would be no way she would be able to resist.
She reached up and pushed his robe off, taking care to hang it on the rack next to his door. Beneath, he was wearing a crisp shirt that he had unbuttoned between the ball and the dorm room.
"Hmm…" he said, "You removed something of mine, what can I remove of yours?" he asked cheekily.
She thought for a moment, before holding up a high heeled foot.
He knelt down and unbuckled first one shoe, then the second, as she supported herself by placing one hand on the wall.
When he dumped the second shoe on the floor, he allowed his hands to slowly run up the length of her leg, taking time to feel every centimetre. Hermione was captivated by the tingling sensations that it sent throughout her whole body and she closed her eyes to allow herself to immerse herself in the moment.
As his hand travelled higher and higher up her leg, she held her breath, anxious for a moment that he was about to venture higher than she had anticipated.
"Breathe…" he said. "I can read your body, Granger" he continued.
She let out her breath and looked at him as he stood and kicked off his own shoes.
"I told you, we weren't going to do anything like that" he said.
"It's not that I don't want to…" she said.
"I know" he replied, as he cupped her face in both his hands.
"I really do want to, in fact" she breathed.
"As do I" he replied.
"So… what are we waiting for?" She asked, suddenly realising that if they both wanted this, then why wait?
"I want to make it special for you... For us. Not some heat of the moment jumbled mess of an experience that we'll both regret and not be able to enjoy" he said. "When I make love to you, it will be special. It will be planned and romantic and it will definitely not be something that either of us regret" he said.
With that, Hermione relaxed a little.
"I might go get out of this dress I think" she said.
"Do me a favour first?" he asked.
"What's that?" she asked.
"Just turn around, slowly… I am a mere male after all and I want to take this all in" he said.
She giggled as she did a slow spin and walked towards him.
"uh, can you help me with my zip?" she asked, even though she could reach it herself, she thought that she could perhaps give him some payback for what he did to her just moments ago.
She held her hair to one side as she turned her back to him. As he slowly undid the zipper, she heard his sharp intake of breath as her dress exposed her naked back, all the way down to her lacy underwear. She smiled to herself as she walked through the door to their shared bathroom. She pushed the door to his room closed with her back to him as she let her dress drop, leaving her exposed ho him for just a fraction of a second. She had never felt like this before. Like a sexual goddess, someone who was admired and gazed upon. It was completely new to her and she was loving the fact that someone was appreciating her for more than her mind. It was incredibly girly and completely un-Hermione like, but she was so enthralled with these feelings of passion and desire that she didn't even know what was like 'her' and was wasn't.
In her room, she threw on a camisole and some pyjama pants and headed back for his room.
When she arrived, he was laying on his bed, wearing a singlet and pyjama pants of his own reading her trashy muggle novel she had been reading one night the previous week.
"Twilight? What kind of name is that for a novel?" he asked.
"Its supposed to represent phases of the moon or something. I'm not really too sure. I just have the series to take my mind off study occasionally" she said.
"You mean there's a whole series? How many?" he asked.
"There's 4 books" she said, sitting down on his bed.
"I'll have to see how the story ends" he said, stroking the back of his hand up her arm.
She turned to him, completely captivated by how he was able to make her feel so much, just with one touch. She wanted to at least attempt to tease him in some way.
She climbed onto his bed on her knees, straddling his legs between hers and seated herself on his lap. His hands rested on her thighs and his gaze fell to her eager lips.
Within seconds, their mouths met and their tongues teased one another before performing a dance that they had almost perfected the previous week. Hermione could feel Draco coming alive beneath her and relished in that thought. She moved her body ever so subtly and continued kissing him, with such desire that she had not had before. Even with Ron, on their last night, she only thought to take things further because it seemed the logical next step. This time, with Draco, the passion was increased 10-fold, but still, there was no hurry to move things along.
His hands travelled up her sides, to her back and down to cup her backside. He aided in her movements so so gently so that the most intimate parts of their bodies would have been touching, if not for clothing. She felt his arousal, hard as stone, grinding against her most sensitive areas and as she kissed him and he moved her body for her, she felt a warmth build up inside her. There was no gentleness to the way he was guiding her movements now. It was purposeful and intentional. It wasn't like any feeling she had ever experienced, this was different. This made her want to let go of all her inhibitions and give herself to him completely. As their bodies were grinding against one another and both of their breathing sped up, the warmth inside of Hermione increased till it was an intense throbbing sensation and she felt like she was about to burst. She threw her head back, groaning with pleasure as he rocked her body against his. He released her, moving his hands up to encase her breasts which were perky, beneath the camisole she wore, but she continued to move. She kissed him with urgent desire as she felt her body begin to climb and once again threw her head back with this strange new pleasurable sensation.
"Let go" he whispered to her and with his words and the feel of his breath on her skin, she completely came apart on top of him, groaning with pleasure through her very first orgasm.
Her body collapsed on his and she vaguely felt him stroke her hair as she laid there with her eyes closed.
"Is that what it's like…? The real thing?" she asked him.
"I wouldn't know" he answered.
"What do you mean?" she said.
"You think I… I haven't… I mean… almost have, but never…" he stammered.
Hermione was shocked. She thought for sure he and Pansy Parkinson had gone all the way.
"I'm sorry… I just thought that… you seem so confident in yourself" she said.
"Its all part of the act" he said as he continued to stroke her hair.
"Well… that was… I mean… what happened then…" she started to say.
"Was it ok?" he asked. "I know I said we wouldn't…but…"
"Well, technically we didn't… and it was beyond ok, it was incredible" she said with an unseen smile.
They laid there, on his bed holding each other for a while until she heard his breathing slow to a deep even pace. She realised he must have fallen asleep, so reaching behind her on the night stand, she grabbed her wand and turned the lights out, closing her eyes and allowing herself to drift off to sleep.
AN- Please review. How was that scene for you all? I have written a few of these scenes and every single time I post one I cringe at the awkwardness of it all. There will be more of these (and worse) in the coming chapters so please let me know if they're as cringy for you as they are for me and I'll change it up a bit. I hope everyone is happy with the outcome of the ball. Hermione was really anxty in that last chapter. It just demonstrated how much she has changed but still understands that this is actually MALFOY she is snogging here. Oh, and also, anyone really getting sick of the word 'snogging'? have some alternatives they can suggest? I'm pretty bogan Aussie so I'm trying to make it as readable as possible on an international scale. I would be interested to know if there are some really Aussie words through my writing that i should stop or change also... Thanks for reading. Next chapter might look at where Ron fits with all this now and what the repercussions are of this new romance throughout the castle.