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

Chapter 10

Reconciled Differences

Two weeks passed and neither Hermione nor Draco had been talked to by their friends. Any time either of them would enter their Common Rooms who ever was in there fell silent. This didn't really matter to them though; they were too involved with each other to pay too much mind to others. Hermione did wish her 'friends' would say something to her, even if it was rude. She just wanted to know they could still speak.

Even Crabbe and Goyle didn't talk to Draco, they were; however, talking up a storm with Pansy. Draco assumed she had told them some bogus story about him and they were mad about it. But he didn't mind, Crabbe and Goyle weren't the brightest two in the school. He was better off with out those bumbling idiots.

Throughout the corridors the whispers and hisses of their fellow students echoed off the walls. Every one seemed to have something to say about their relationship but no one ever said it to their faces. When they would walk in on a conversation everyone fell silent. They quickly became accustomed to this behavior and over looked it.

In the classes they had together, Hermione and Draco sat alone together. Everyone else squished five or six people to a table, trying to avoid the 'disease.' It was a funny sight to see and the teachers didn't seem to like it. But nothing was said about it, even they, the teachers, were shocked to see Hermione and Draco together. Snape's disapproval seemed more prominent than that of any other teacher.

In Potions class with Snape, Hermione was constantly given bad marks and dirty looks. Snape knew she had not heeded his warning and this made him furious. But he was hardly going to say anything to her about it with Draco at her heels. For some reason, he held his tongue around Draco. But Draco's grade dropped steadily as well. Not that he and Hermione were doing badly, it was Snape's form of retaliation.

On one instance, he walked by their cauldrons and taped them with his want, making their potions disappear, without even looking at them. This was most irritating to Hermione but she never said anything about it in front of Snape. She was determined not to let him see how very intimidated she was by him. If she did this, Snape was winning, and she couldn't let that happen.

At every meal, both Draco and Hermione sat alone, and they joined each other as soon as meals were over. They were inseparable. Most of the nights, they slept together in Draco's dormitory, because Hermione's wouldn't let Draco in; every time Draco started to walk up the stairs to Hermione's room, they flattened and made a sort of slide, so he couldn't climb up them. No one was the wiser to their sleeping habits, Draco made sure Hermione wasn't seen entering or exiting Slytherin House. If she were, he knew, Snape would probably make sure they were both expelled. It didn't matter much to Draco, he had had his fill with Hogwarts, but the school meant the world to Hermione.

Through the week, the two of them studied and did their assignments together, barely pausing to be intimate. But the week ends were a different story. On the weekends they didn't leave the comfort of Draco's bed. Making love seemed so much more appealing to them. Hermione had never experienced a hunger such as the one she had for Draco. He was the very place her heart dwelled. He was the one person she could never get enough of. Her body craved him. He too felt this way; he loved the way he felt when he was with her, inside her. He wanted her forever. The love they had was miraculous, never had either of them thought a love like this at all possible.

She was so unlike Pansy in every possible way. She didn't make him do unspeakable things like Pansy did. She didn't threaten to leave him if he did something she didn't like. She was not spiteful or vindictive. Hermione was caring and loving; everything Draco was looking for and so much more.

In their time apart, whether it was during classes they didn't have together or when one of them went to use the bath room, their bodies ached for one another. It was like they were only half a person when the other was absent.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning and Draco awoke to the sound of Hermione hurrying off to his bath room. He sat up in his bed, naked, and watched her run into the bathroom clutching her stomach.

"Are you all right?" He called after her as she stood and pulled on his boxers.

Hermione didn't answer.

Draco, being worried, rushed to the bathroom door and just as he stuck his head in, Hermione had thrown up all over the black marble floor. He crinkled his nose and went to his bedside table for his wand. When he reentered the bathroom, Hermione was kneeling on the floor trying to wipe up her vomit with a towel.

"Don't worry about that. I've got it." Draco said.

He muttered an incantation and the vomit disappeared, leaving the marble as gorgeous and clean as before. He walked over to Hermione and placed his wand on the counter behind him.

She was still kneeling in the floor when Draco said, "Are you feeling all right?"

She stood up and shook out her mane of brown curls, "I'm fine; I just wasn't feeling very well, that's all."

Draco nodded, took a glass off the counter, filled it with water and handed it to Hermione. She drank down the water and sighed.

"We'd better get dressed and go have some breakfast then, I'm feeling a bit famished." Draco said taking the glass from Hermione.

He and Hermione pulled on comfortable clothes; she now had several outfits in his room, becauseshe spent somuch time. They left the bedroom,gave the bed one last look and walked down the stairs into the empty common room. People still stared at them as they walk down the corridors hand in hand, but they didn't notice anymore.

Breakfast was much the same as it always was; no one talked to Draco or Hermione. Hermione looked down the Gryffindor table in Ginny, Ron, and Harry's direction but none of them looked at her. She sighed and began eating her toast, she wasn't feeling much like eating this morning, and her stomach was turning with the smell of the food.

After she had eaten only a few bites of toast, she decided she couldn't bare the smell anymore and stood from the table. Draco saw her stand and piled biscuits in his hands; he too stood up. Hermione looked over at him and laughed, he did look rather comical.

As Draco walked nearer to Hermione he said, "Still not feeling well?"

She shook her head, "No, but I'm sure I will be fine."

"Maybe you should go and see Madam Pomfry." He said as he stuffed the rest of his biscuit into his mouth, spitting out a few crumbs as he spoke.

Hermione wiped Draco's mouth with one hand and replied, "No, I will be fine, it's a just stomach virus, I think. Maybe I had something at dinner last night that didn't agree with me. If I don't feel better by the middle of the week, I'll go see her."

Draco nodded as they left the Great Hall. All the way back to Slytherin House, Draco ate his biscuits, almost choking as they mixed with his lack-of –saliva and gummed up in his mouth. He wished he had a glass of water now, but he couldn't take out his wand because his hands were full of biscuits. He and Hermione walked back toward Slytherin House, passing many students who seemed rather interested in them. They were focused more on getting into Draco's room and getting naked, they knew this is what was going to happen anyway, it always did.

Draco went into the portrait hole first, just incase, then he motioned for Hermione to follow him. Again, the common room was desolate, everyone was enjoying the day, outside. There were no classes to study for, no teachers to assign homework, it was perfect, as the weekends always were.

Hermione and Draco retired to their usual dwelling, Draco's room. Draco finished eating his last biscuit and sat down on his bed, brushing the crumbs off of his black t-shirt. He patted the bed beside him as he leaned down to remove his shoes. Hermione smiled, kicked off her shoes and climbed up onto the bed.

She and Draco sat there, him stroking her hair and whispering sweet nothings into her ear. His warm breath on her neck made the hair on the back of her neck prickle. They sat there talking about some of the same things they always talked about, but they didn't seem to mind repeating them selves.

Hermione, again, brought up Harry, Ron and Ginny. She missed them, though she didn't like to admit it. They were her best friends; she didn't expect them to stay mad at her for so long.

"Just go and talk to them if it bothers you so." Draco said, still stroking her hair.

Hermione's body stiffened, "What if they don't want to talk to me?"

"Well there's no harm in trying. If they are really your friends, they will accept the fact that you are with me. They should see that you are happy and support you in your decisions."

Hermione sat up, "You're right. I'm going to go talk to them."

She kissed him then leapt from the bed and began pulling on her shoes. Draco was shocked, he didn't mean for her to go now. He wanted to spend some 'alone time' with her.

His lips curled, "Okay, I will be right here."

Hermione looked over her shoulder at him, "You need to at least walk me out. If a teacher was in the common room right now, it'd be both our hides!"

Draco grumbled and stood up, stuffing his feet back into his shoes.

He walked to the portrait hole and stuck his head out; there was no one in sight. Hermione followed him down the stairs and across the common room. They kissed each other just before she disappeared through the second portrait hole.

Hermione walked rather slowly back toward Gryffindor Tower, she was hoping to find her friends in there, though the likeliness of that was slim. She entered the portrait hole and to her surprise, Ginny was seated in an armchair with her back to the entrance. Hermione knew it was Ginny because of the long red sheet of hair that hung down her back. She was nervous now and was having second thoughts.

'Okay, easy does it,' She thought to her self as she walked closer to Ginny.

Ginny didn't look behind heras shesaid, "What do you want?"

Hermione's mouth fell open, "How'd you know it was me?"

"You reek of Malfoy," She said through clenched teeth.

Hermione decided not to let Ginny's comment bother her. "Oh."

"Well, out with it then, what do you want?" Ginny repeated.

"Gin, we need to talk. This has gone on long enough." Hermione said as she stepped in front of Ginny.

Ginny looked up at her with an expression on her face one could take as a death threat, "You're right; it has gone on long enough. I expect you're here to tell me you've broken it off with him."

Hermione sighed, "No, I'm here to tell you I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"Why do you care?" Ginny snarled.

Hermione closed her eyes and sat down across from Ginny. "Gin, you're one of my best friends, I do realize what I did, by not telling you, was wrong. I am willing to accept that and I do apologize, but you have to accept the fact that I am with Draco. He makes me happy, Ginny."

Just as Ginny was about to reply to Hermione, the portrait hole opened and someone yelled "Oi, Ginny, come on, me and Harry are going to go practice." It was Ron.

Hermione looked up at Ron's face as he ran into the common room, Harry right behind him, brooms clutched in their hands. She didn't say anything; she just sat there, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"Oh bollocks!" Ron said directly at Hermione, "I didn't know you'd be here. What, did you finally figure out Malfoy was using you?"

Hermione looked away.

Ginny spoke up, "She was here trying to apologize for being a prat."

Ron looked at Harry as he spoke, "Ron, Ginny, I think it only fare that we listen to what she has to say."

Ron silently protested, his face turned a bright shade of red.

Harry walked closer to where Hermione and Ginny sat and laid his broom down at his feet as he took a chair closest to Ginny. Ron didn't immediately follow but after hesitating for a few awkward minutes, he sat on Ginny's other side and leaned his broom on the chair beside him.

This made Hermione even more uncomfortable than she was before. She was sitting across from her three 'friends,' but it felt more like sitting across from three judges. She wondered to her self what her fate was going to be.

"Well, Hermione…" Harry said straightening his robes.

Hermione cleared her throat, "Well, I know you guys are angry with me and I understand. But you have to see, I didn't mean to lie to you about it. I wasn't even sure what was happening. I was just as confused as you are."

"That's rich." Ron growled.

Ginny shot Ron an impatient look, "Shut up, Ron!"

Hermione shifted in her chair, "I don't want you guys to be mad at me anymore, I want us to be friends. I'm not asking you to be buddy-buddy with Draco, but at least support my decision."

"And what does Malfoy have to say about this?" Harry asked, taking off his glasses to clean the dirt off of them.

"For your information, Draco is the one that told me to come here and talk to you about it." Hermione huffed.

Ron, Harry and Ginny were astounded that Draco would actually tell her to talk to them. They half expected him to tell her to just forget about them, turn the other cheek. It did seem logical, after all, in the nearly, seven years Ron and Harry had been in school with him, he never once had anything good or nice to say about them.

"He's just showing off." Ron said.

Hermione was losing her temper with Ron, "Honestly, Ronald, can't you for once, try and see the good in him?"

She didn't wait for Ron to reply, "Draco and I are together, as if you didn't know, and there is nothing in this world that's going to change that. And for your information, Ron, I am not his 'new slut.' We are in love. We have agreed to leave the past exactly where it is, in the past. And I would expect you three," she pointed to Ron Harry and Ginny, "to understand that. He is not the same person he was. You can't condemn him with the things he said or did in the past, because I surely will not."

Harry look directly into Hermione's eyes, "But we don't have to like him, right?"

Hermione smiled, "No, you don't have to like him. But I think if you gave him the chance, you would realize he is not the person you think he is."

Ron still stayed silent.

Ginny crossed her legs, "Hermione, I'm sorry; I got so angry with you. I am more than willing to give him… er… Give him a chance. If you care about him and you think he has changed, I am willing to try and get to know this new and improved Malfoy."

Hermione looked at Ginny wide eyed, "Thanks Gin! You don't know how much this means to me. I knew you'd understand."

Ginny smiled and looked over at Harry and Ron expecting them to follow her lead.

Harry cleared his throat, "Er… I… I'm sorry too, Hermione. I, we, shouldn't have reacted like we did. Malfoy has always been such a prat to all of us, but that's no excuse to have treated you like we did. We turned our backs on you when you were trying to be honest with us. It must have taken all of your courage to tell us something like that."

Ron was staring at Harry, with his mouth gaping open.

Harry looked over at Ron, "Don't you have something to say, Ron?"

Ron shook his head, mouth still open. He couldn't believe Ginny and Harry were going to let Hermione off the hook like that. He was still enraged, how could she be with Malfoy, Mr. I'm-too-good-for-you-because-I'm-a-pureblood-and-a-rich-prat.

In truth, he was hurt probably more than the other two. He was completely infatuated with Hermione and had been sense he first met her. He thought she deserved better than Malfoy. She was supposed to be with someone who had better morals. Someone like him. No, it was him; she was supposed to be with him. But he had waited so long to say anything to her about it; he never once told her how he felt. This, he thought, could have made all the difference in the world. If he had spoken up, she would not be with Malfoy right now, she would be with him. This stupid fight will have never happened.

Ron shook his thoughts from his head, "No, I don't have anything to say. I still think Malfoy is a huge git!"

Hermione drew in a deep breath, "Well then, Ronald, I think you've said enough. I can take you calling me a slut but I absolutely refuse to sit here and let you talk about someone you won't even bother to get to know! This is completely ridiculous!"

Harry and Ginny stared at Ron with disbelief. Why couldn't he just let it go? Did he want to lose Hermione forever? They surely didn't, that's why they decided to support her.

"Don't be a selfish git, Ron." Said Harry.

Ron jumped out of his chair, "I'm being the selfish git? Me! That's the most preposterous thing I've ever heard! I'm not the one fraternizing with the enemy here, she is!" He pointed at Hermione. "I'm not just going to forgive and forget. Incase you have forgotten, Harry, Malfoy is the one that has always gotten us into trouble. He is the one who's father was trying to get Dumbledore kicked out of office. His father is a Death Eater! And for all we know, Malfoy is one too." Ron was furious.

Hermione stood up, realizing she was not welcome in Ron's presence, "I think I've had enough. I'm going to go back to my so called 'Death Eater' boyfriend. If you two," she indicated she was talking to Harry and Ginny, "want to come see Draco and I, we will be at Dinner tonight, maybe we can talk."

Hermione walked quickly across the common room and exited through the portrait hole with out looking behind her. She was glad Harry and Ginny had listened to her are were willing to give Draco a chance, but she was livid with Ron. He was being so selfish. She didn't understand why he was being an insufferable prat.

As she reached Slytherin House, she remembered she didn't know the password. This was highly inconvenient for her, she would have to either wait out there for someone to come out and give her a dirty and maybe on the off chance that she could get in behind them, she would have to let everyone in the common room see her. Or she could go back to Gryffindor Tower. Neither of these two options was appealing to her.

She walked by the portrait of the scary long nosed wizard a few times before deciding to go down to the Great Hall, lunch was almost over, but she could sit in there for a while.

She was almost out of sight when she heard someone call her name and spun around. It was Draco.

"How'd you know I was out here?" She ask running toward him.

"Don't know. I just had a feeling you were." He said as he moved aside so she could enter the common room. "How did things go?"

Hermione stepped into the common room and Draco followed. "It was okay really. Better than okay, Harry and Ginny are going to hang out with us tonight after dinner. But Ron… UGH! He's so… so… irritating!"

Draco laughed, "Well two out of three isn't bad."

"You're right," Hermione said as she grabbed his hand and began pulling him toward the stairs leading up to his room.

Draco followed her as she tugged on his arm. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?" He asked, knowing all too well where they were going.

Hermione dragged him up the stairs and pushed him against the portrait that was his door. She leaned close to him and kissed him enthusiastically. He was trying to say this password but couldn't break his lips away from hers long enough to do so. Finally after about five minutes he grabbed her by the shoulders, held her away from him, and said his password. The portrait swung open and Hermione pushed him back into the room, the portrait closing behind them.

She rushed toward Draco reaching for the bottom of his shirt as she kissed him again. Draco lifted his arms as they kissed and Hermione pulled his shirt off over his head, only pausing so it could pass their mouths. Hermione unbuckled Draco's belt and pulled it out of his belt loops, causing his body to come very close to hers. Draco, still kissing Hermione, leaned down and pulled off his shoes. When he straightened up again, he put one hand on the back of Hermione's head, pulling her face closer to his, with the other he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. Hermione pushed Draco's jeans down to his knees and began walking backward toward the bed, pulling him with her.

When they reached the bed, Hermione turned around and bent over it. Draco stood behind her for a moment then leaned over her back and kissed her neck as he pulled up the back of her skirt. He placed one hand on her shoulder and straightened up. He then pulled her panties down with his other hand and withdrew his, very prominent, erection with the other. With one quick movement of his hips, he thrust himself deep into her. Draco groaned as he began moving faster; Hermione was breathing rather hard as well.

They were very caught up in their making love, but were terribly interrupted when Draco's portrait swung open slamming back into the brick with a loud crashing sound. Draco immediately froze and looked over his shoulder as Hermione struggled to pull her panties back up around her waist.

"Don't mind me." A dreadfully familiar voice growled as a person dressed in long black robes entered the room.

The portrait swung back into place, sealing the room shut.

A/N: Now here is my warning, the next chapter will be much worse than the previous ones. If you think I've used too much sexual reference, you should stop reading here! Ch. 11 will be worse!Thanks for reading and remember to let me know what you think! Sway