Chapter 10: Telling the Friends
"What are you so happy about?" Ron asked seeing Hermione appear in the Gryffindor common room with a huge grin across her face.
"I can't be happy is that what you're asking?" Hermione retorted, noticing that Ginny wasn't in the common room.
"No, it's just that you haven't been this cheerful the past two months. You haven't been unhappy, but you haven't been really happy." Harry added seeing as Ron didn't seem to know how to explain it himself.
"If you insist." Hermione shrugged, "Where's Ginny?"
"Still sleeping." Harry stated motioning toward the staircase leading to the girls' dormitories.
"It's almost noon though!" Hermione checked
her watch.
"Maybe she's not feeling well. You should go
check." Harry asked looking concerned.
"Sure." Hermione replied before leaving to tell Ginny about Draco asking her out.
She reached the 6th year dormitories and saw that Ginny was indeed, still sleeping. Hermione carefully picked up a pillow and tossed it at the youngest Weasley's head. Ginny groaned from being woken up, but sat up in bed anyway.
"What do you want?" She asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes open.
"Ginny, it's me. I have some good news!"
Ginny's eyes shot open and she suddenly became much more awake. "Okay, I'm up. Now tell me!"
Hermione told Ginny all about what had happened that morning with Draco. How she asked him why he was avoiding her and then how he kissed her before going to his room.
"That's wonderful Hermione, but how are you going to keep this a secret forever?" Ginny asked, worried that the news would soon spread.
"Not forever, just until we're ready. Maybe we'll act more like friends in the hallways and eventually act more like a couple. I'm sure we'll talk about it sometime soon."
"Good idea." Ginny nodded in agreement, "So where's lover boy now?"
Hermione laughed at Draco new name, "'Lover boy' is sleeping, He should be up soon though."
"Then go wake him up and I'll say good err… afternoon, to my lover boy."
"Sounds good, and whatever you do, please don't tell Harry and Ron, especially Ron." She said feeling sorry for keeping this from her two best friends besides Ginny.
"No problem, and tell Harry that I'll be down in a minute, I just need to change." Ginny said, still in her pajamas.
"Okay, see you later."
The portrait hole closed silently behind Hermione as she looked around the head common room. Draco door was open but he was still sleeping peacefully on the bed. Hermione tiptoed inside and sat carefully on the bed next to her tired boyfriend.
"'Mione?" Draco mumbled sensing weight added to the bed.
"I'm sorry! Did I wake you?" Hermione asked quietly as Draco sat up in bed.
"Yeah for the millionth time this year," Draco laughed,"But I was about to get up soon anyway." He placed a strong arm around her shoulder.
"If you want, I'll leave so you can go back to sleep again."
"I already told you I was bound to wake up eventually. Plus, what good is this relationship if I'm sleeping all the time?"
"I like this new gentle and caring Draco. You should be like this more often." Hermione kissed his cheek and he pulled her closer so that her head rested on his shoulder.
"Draco?"
"Hmmm?"
"You smell dreadful from Quidditch last night. Go take a shower." Hermione giggled trying not to inhale his scent anymore.
"I guess I should." He smirked and let go of her, "I went straight from the field to the hospital wing, then back here to bed, sorry."
"It's okay; I'll still go out with you." Hermione smiled, helping Draco with his crutches.
"Oh good. I thought you would have left me forever." He said sarcastically before entering the bathroom and closing the door behind him.
Hermione and Draco had their time alone in their common room and the minute they stepped out through the portrait hole, they acted as if they hated each other with the strongest passions. Ginny watched their actions closely and picked up the smallest things that showed they were dating, but everyone else was too busy with their own lives to notice them.
The fire crackled in the large, common room fireplace as Draco sat staring deeply into Hermione's brown eyes. He had just come back from the hospital wing where Madame Pomfrey made sure his leg was fully mended before sending him off, bandage free.
"I'm glad you're able to walk without those horrible crutches now." Hermione smiled, breaking the silence.
"You're just not allowed to come to anymore of my Quidditch games or practices from now on. No more distractions." Said a smirking Draco as he wrapped an arm around his new girlfriend.
"No fair!" she laughed and hit him playfully on the head. "I guess I'll just have to find an invisibility cloak then!"
"I guess you will." Draco nodded, agreeing to her unlikely to happen plan.
He leaned in toward Hermione and their lips gently collided. She hung her arms around his neck as Draco played around with her curly brown hair. Just as Hermione thought things were getting good, there was a loud knock on the portrait hole, causing the couple to jump in fright and break away as if nothing had happened.
"Draco! Let me in!" Blaise Zabini called from the outside corridor.
"What do you want Zabini?!" Draco replied angrily, standing up from the couch to let him in. Hermione quickly made her way to her room as Blaise entered to speak with Draco.
She shut her door carefully behind her, receiving a weak smile of apology from the man she had just been snagging.
"You should have heard that girl scream when you fell off your broom the other day." Blaise laughed stepping closer to the fire.
"You seemed a bit preoccupied when I glanced at you. I didn't think you were paying much attention to the game."
"Yeah well I don't think Granger was either." Blaise smirked and Draco suddenly remembered how he hadn't yet told his best friend about his new relationship.
"About Hermione… I err… we are dating now. Not in public of course though." Draco admitted looking at the back of Hermione's bedroom door.
"That explains her hair looking messed around with when she walked away before."
"Shut up." Draco said, kicking his friend hard in the shin. Blaise cursed at him before turning to leave.
"See you later." He called, not really mad at Draco for causing him pain. "Have fun with Granger for me!"
"Blaise, I swear if you tell anyone—"
"You'll kill me? Don't worry, you can trust me to keep you're 'dirty little secret'. Just kidding about the dirty part." He added quickly after Draco gave him a death glare.
"Bye." Draco said watching Blaise close the door behind him, limping ever so slightly. Hermione reentered the common room right away.
"Can we start where we left off?" She asked slyly, pulling Draco by the hand.
"Before we were so rudely interrupted?" He said positioning himself next to her on the leather couch.
"Yes."
"Sure." Draco smirked before closing in on Hermione's mouth once more.