Part 10: Ten Lords a Leaping:

"It's fifteen after five, Malfoy," Hermione said from her desk. "It's two days before Christmas. Everyone else has left already. Surely you have somewhere to go on December 23rd?"

Draco plopped his feet up on his desk, his arms behind his head and he said, "Trying to get rid of me?"

"Not at all," she said with a smile. She closed her notebook and placed her quill in its holder. "I merely thought you might have something to do, and since it's after five, I thought you would want to leave."

"No, I have nothing planned for this evening," he said. He gave her a cocky smile. Hermione Granger hadn't hinted even once today that she was waiting for her 'Ten Lord's A Leaping'. He knew that the suspense had to be killing her. Draco loved every minute of it. He played it cool all day long. He acted as if nothing happened between them last night…not the kiss, or the intimate moment before it, because she acted as if nothing happened. He decided two could play that game, so if she was going to ignore their incredible kiss, so was he. Still, she didn't act as if she was a woman waiting for a present, damn her.

They were the last two in their department, hell, they might be the last two people left in the Ministry, and the fact that he hadn't given her the tenth gift yet was driving HIM insane. She had to feel the same way. SHE SIMPLY HAD TO FEEL THE SAME WAY!

She stood up and said, "Okay then, well, I for one have a lot to do before my Christmas party on Thursday, so I think I'll go on home."

Okay…maybe the fact that he hadn't given her the tenth gift yet wasn't even important to her.

Putting on her outerwear she concluded, "I'll see you tomorrow, Christmas Eve you know, the last day before our break, and then of course, I'll see you at my party on Christmas day. Happy Christmas, Draco." She started toward the door.

What was she playing at?

Draco kept his feet on his desk, but regarded her with hooded eyes. She seemed to be walking very slowly. Now she was fumbling in her purse. Yep, she was stalling. She crossed back over to her desk, pretending that she forgot something…oh wait, she did forget something…she held up her wallet, which she had left on top of her desk, and said, "Bye, Draco."

She left, closing the door behind her.

Draco dropped his feet to the floor and stared at the door in shock. What? Didn't she care about her 'Ten Lord's a Leaping'? This was a hard one to think of, too, and here she didn't give two figs about it. She left without a care. Now that she knew he was the giver of the gifts, she should wait around for him to give her the damn things! First she didn't mention their kiss and now she didn't wait for her present. What was wrong with her?

And their kiss was incredible last night! He didn't imagine how insanely wonderful it was! It was a real, honest, to goodness, nice, open mouth, full tongue, knee buckling, and heart pounding, groin-tightening kiss! He knew that she felt the connection just as much as he did! Yet, she acted as if nothing happened this morning, played it cool, and all that, and now she left without a care in the world.

What a wanker.

He frowned and pulled out the package for the 'Ten Lords a Leaping'. To think, he spent more time on this gift than some of the others, and he even wrapped it with pretty paper this time. He could take it to her house, but she might not even have gone home. She said she had 'a lot to do'. Feeling totally defeated, and deflated, Draco left the package on her desk, (she could get it a day late) and he retrieved his coat from the hook near the door. Once wrapped up against the impending cold he opened the door to find Hermione Granger standing right outside, waiting for him.

"It took you long enough!" she accused. "You didn't even insist that I stay! You didn't even hint around that you had yet to give me my present, you didn't seem like it mattered to you if I left or stayed or anything! You didn't even mention that kiss from last night! I mean, did you like it? Did it mean anything to you? OH MY GOODNESS..." and then she gasped.

He was gobsmacked at her total lack of decorum! He felt so flustered by her barrage of words that he couldn't get a word in edgewise. He tried, he really did, especially when she asked if their kiss meant anything to him, but then she gasped and said, 'Oh my goodness,' as if something terrible had happened.

He took a step backwards, back into their now dark office, because her gasp took him off guard. She pushed on his chest, hard, sending him even further into the room. She slammed their door shut and she said, "It didn't mean anything to you, did it! You were appalled, or shocked, or disappointed, weren't you? That's why you've yet to mention it! That's why it's been business as usual today! That's why there's no more gifts forthcoming!"

He lifted his hands, in a defensive mode, in case she attacked, when she suddenly gasped again. At this rate, she was going to inhale so much air that she might burst.

With her gasp this time she said, "Oh no! This wasn't some elaborate joke was it? This wasn't some plot to get back at me for something I did to you when we were kids, was it?" She began to pace around their dark office. He felt in his pocket for his wand.

"I broke up with Ron for you! How could I have been so stupid! How could I have been so bloody blind! I really thought my feelings were reciprocated! I mean, I've liked you for so long, and I thought you were beginning to actually like me!" She sank down on the floor, hung her head and cried out, "I'm such a fool! I'm so embarrassed! I flirted with you! I told my mother I might be falling in love with you! Oh my stars, I'm an idiot."

Draco lowered his hands, very slowly, when it finally appeared that her verbal assault was at an end. She was still sitting on the cold floor of their office, only a meter from where he stood, and she had just accused him using her, of pretending to like her to get back at her for something she did as a child, for discovering that he found her revolting, and wait…did she say that she told her mum that she loved him?

He got down on one knee, and then down on the other. He threw his gloves on the floor, and then he threw off his hat and even his coat. He picked her up by her shoulders, bringing her to her knees. She stared at him in shock. He peeled off her gloves, hat and then her coat, and threw them with his own.

Then he placed his hands on her shoulders and he shook her. Really shook her. He shook her hard. "What did you say?" he almost shouted.

"You want me to repeat all of it, because I don't think I can remember every rant and rave I just said," she pouted. He saw a tear go down her cheek.

"You are a fool, Granger," he said. He knew he sounded gruffer than he meant to sound, but how could she be so insecure? He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. He knew how. She was insecure because it was he. She was insecure because of every terrible, evil deed he had heaped upon her as they were growing up. She was insecure because he had spent the better part of their lives telling her that she was inferior to him, and that she was below him, he was above her, better than her.

She was insecure because HE was insecure. He pulled her into his arms, held her tighter than he had ever held another living being. "Tell me again the part about what you said that you said to your mum about me."

"What I said that I said to what?" she asked, confused. She wiped her cheeks with her hand as she pushed away from his chest to look at him.

"You said that you told your mum that you might be falling in love with me. Is that the truth?" he asked. He brought his hand up to her cheek. It was still wet from her tears. He had made her cry, yet again. He couldn't even count on one hand how many times he had made Hermione Granger cry during their lifetime. He had never regretted any of those times as much as this time. "Tell me that part of your mental breakdown again," he urged.

"I told my mother last night on the phone that I broke up with Ron." He took her hand, helped her to stand, led her to her desk, where he sat down, and he pulled her between his legs. He placed his arms around her waist. She said, "When Mum asked me why I broke up with him, I told her it was because I might have fallen in love with someone at work. She asked me who it was, and I told her that it was still new, so I didn't want to share the name with her yet."

"Because you were afraid it wasn't real," he confirmed. It wasn't a question. Everything she had just said to him, her whole 'explosion' confirmed that.

Nevertheless, she shook her head no. "No, not because I didn't think it was real, but because I didn't want to share it with anyone yet. I wanted to wait to confirm my feelings, and yours, on Christmas day, at my party. I still want to wait, except, maybe not. Draco, please, tell me, have you changed your mind about me?"

He closed his eyes again. He willed himself not to call her stupid. It didn't work. "You stupid, stupid girl!" She tried to back away. He held one arm with his hand and reached around to the top of her desk to grab her present. "HERE!" He shoved the package at her. "I was going to give this to you sometime today, but then every moment seemed like a terrible one, and when you never mentioned the kiss, I thought you changed your mind about me, and well, we're both stupid. Damn, these last two days haven't gone like I planned."

She sniffled and moved from between his legs to sit beside him on her desk. She fingered the lovely, silver wrapped present, with the purple ribbon and bow, and said, "How did you plan today to go?"

He knocked his shoulder into hers and said, "Okay, well, this morning you would come into the office, blush at the sight of me, make some little remarks, little innuendos about our shared passion, and all day long we would share longing looks, and perhaps little touches."

She reached over, touched his hand briefly, and asked, "Like that?"

"Well, less conspicuous, but yes." He stood, walked around her, pretended to drop something, and when he stood, he reached over for her leg to steady himself. "Like that," he suggested. He placed a hand beside each of hip and leaned toward her. "We would smile at each other, knowingly, and I would wink at you a couple of times, and then you would send everyone home early, and when you least expected it, I would give you your present." He placed his nose along her jaw, moved it from her cheek to her chin, and then moved away.

"Okay, here's the flaw in your scenario," she said. "YOU DIDN'T DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS! I did send everyone home early, yet you did nothing! I walked back and forth behind your desk like a hundred times today, and I touched your shoulder twice! I even pretended you had a string on your sleeve just to touch your arm! I smiled at you! I don't know if it was knowingly, because I'm not show what a knowingly smile looks like, but still, you didn't smile knowingly back at me once." She poked him in the chest.

"You didn't wink at me!" she accused.

She poked his chest again.

"You didn't touch me back!" she shouted.

She pushed him completely away from her and she jumped off her desk.

"And I sent everyone home hours ago, and you sat at your desk, working, and you didn't say a single word to me, and you didn't give me my present! Maybe I didn't act like you expected me to act after our little interlude, but you didn't do any of the things you just said you expected, either. Let's face it, this is new territory for us. We're used to hating each other, not…," she stopped, hesitated. He wondered if she was going to say the word, 'loving'? Instead, she said, "Not liking each other."

"Blast it all, when you're right, you're right, Granger," he sighed. He took a step closer to her and pushed her back toward her desk. Her bum hit it hard, as he was now poking her in her chest. "But you know, you're supposed to be the smart one, old girl," he said, (poke, poke) "You should know after nine bloody days of gifts that I want to be with you." (Poke harder)

"If I didn't read your signs today, then you should have hit me over the head with something really hard, that would have gotten my attention." He poked her chest again, but this time, he kept his finger right in the middle of her chest.

"That last poke hurt, Malfoy."

"Really? Sorry." He removed his finger, placed his hands on her shoulders, pulled her closer, and leaned his head down to kiss her jaw. "Does that make it feel better?" he murmured against her skin.

"Not really," she said. His arms went around her and he kissed down her neck. He moved the collar of her shirt to the side, to kiss her collarbone. He could see the strap of her bra. It was red, just like her blouse. Interesting. She grasped his shoulders, tightly.

"Does that help it feel better?" he asked. He gazed up at her. Her eyes were closed. She shook her head no.

He placed an open palm on her chest. Her heart was beating wildly. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, like the rhythm of a drum. His hands moved slowly to her the front of her blouse. Now she opened her eyes. He unbuttoned two buttons, the top two were already unbuttoned, and so he unbuttoned numbers three and four. His thumbs moved the silky material of the red blouse aside, and in an act of brazen daring, (or pure lunacy) he leaned down and kissed her cleavage, between her breasts, where the tops of her breasts began to rise, over her heart. He did it slowly, languidly, a tepid but meaningful kiss. He brought his head up, looked in her eyes, and said, "There, I kissed the place I poked. Does it feel better now?"

She looked as if she couldn't speak. Draco didn't want her to speak. He wanted her to fist her hands in his hair, throw her legs around his waist, and ravish his mouth with hers. Instead, as he waited for her answer, he reached around her for her present. His chest rubbed against hers. He wondered if that was a subtle enough 'little touch' for her?

He leaned back and handed the present to her, still waiting for her answer. "Well?" he asked.

"It's much better, thanks," she said softly. He reached up and stroked her face, then pulled on her hair slightly. He moved her hair away from her shoulder, and then let it fall back into place. He remained close as she fumbled with the purple ribbon that was around the package. He helped her.

He threw the ribbon over his shoulder. She removed the paper and held up a black bound journal. She moved it around her fingers, from hand to hand, and then looked up at him, questioning.

"Inside, are my ten favourite Lord Byron poems. It's the best I could do for 'Ten Lords a Leaping'," he explained. She immediately smiled.

"You like Lord Byron? I would have thought you more a Lord Tennyson fan," she remarked. She opened the soft, leather bound book and hand written, in a calligraphy style font, were ten Lord Byron poems. His head was close to hers as she perused the pages.

"The one I especially associate with you is written last. Shall I tell it to you?" he asked.

She nodded.

He took the small volume from her hand, placed it on the desk, and then kept her hands in his. He pulled her to stand from the desk and he began to quote his favourite Lord Byron poem. He said:

"She walks in beauty, like the night,

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that's best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes:

Thus mellow'd to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impair'd the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o'er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

When he was done quoting She Walks in Beauty, he leaned toward her and chastely kissed her cheek. "When I was younger, I read that poem, and even though there was never any love loss between you and I back then, for some reason, I immediately thought of you."

She threw her arms around him. She kissed his cheek and said, "Thank you so much, Draco. This was the best present yet. I keep saying that, but each day, I mean it more and more."

He held her. His arms tight around her, his nose in her hair, he smiled as he held her tightly. He loved her. Perhaps he had for a long time. Perhaps he fell in love with her the day he read that poem, when he was eighteen years old. Perhaps he just fell in love this moment. It didn't matter. He really loved her.

He pushed away from her and said, "I won't torture you over tomorrow's present, I promise."

"I'm sure you probably will, but that's okay, I'll know that just means that you like me," she said, smiling. Yes, he LIKED her, all right. She turned quickly, picked up the book and said, "I want to read the rest."

"Aren't you familiar with his work?" Draco asked.

"Oh yes, he's one of my favourite poets, too," she said. Still, she moved to sit down in her desk chair, started at the beginning, and read aloud each poem. He moved back over to his chair and listened.

When she was done, she closed the book, and said, "It's getting late, and I really do have a lot to do tonight. I'll see you tomorrow, Draco." She stood up, picked up her things, but unlike earlier, when she left without much ado, she stopped by his chair, placed a hand on his shoulder, kissed his lips briefly, and then whispered in his ear, "I think I do love you." She almost ran from the room.

He placed his feet back up on his desk, his hands behind his head, and he smiled. As already stated: he loved her, too.