Chapter 10

Hermione carefully moved along the corridor towards the hospital wing. She had to wait till after the curfew to snick out of the common room and go and see him. Thankfully tomorrow was Saturday and she could sleep all she wanted. The Gryffindor was absolutely exhausted but she could not go to bed until she spoken to the Slytherin Prince. There were too many questions that needed to be answered and could not be delayed any longer.

Last night after hers and Draco's dramatic landing in the hospital wing they had endured a lengthy conversation with Dumbledore, which left her feeling annoyed and guilty at the same time. She lied to her Headmaster for the first time in her life. Moreover she lied to keep Draco Malfoy out of trouble. If somebody had told her that a year ago, she would have laughed.

To make matter worse, a few hours later she also lied to her best friend coming up with a fake story that she wanted to pick an especially rare plant in the Forest and just stumbled across Malfoy and Zabini. Her conscious was screaming at her but Hermione ignored it. She was already too far in to back down. If she had told them that Malfoy had got into her head then everything else would have come out and she was not ready for it. Her decision was to first speak to Draco and find out whether he would help the Order. And she would not have a better opportunity than today when he was alone in the hospital wing. Zabini was under the effects of a deep sleep potion, so would not disturb the conversation.

Hermione peeked into the room making sure that the coast was clear and quickly strolled towards the blond boy who seemed to be fast asleep. She had never before seen him like that, stretched out on the bed with covers half kicked and hair sprawled like a halo around his head. He looked almost angelic and at the same time incredibly sinful. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, she came here for a reason and it was not to stare at sleeping Draco Malfoy.

"Like what you see, Granger?" she heard his voice as his grey eyes snapped open. Hermione rolled her eyes; it was so typical that he would catch her staring at him. It seemed that Merlin himself had a mission of putting her into embarrassing situations in front of Malfoy. He stretched leisurely and set up in bed, "I knew you would be coming," he continued, "with your love for asking questions I am surprised you lasted the whole 24 hours."

Hermione shot him annoyed look, "You are ungrateful git, Malfoy. After what I've done for you, I think I deserve some gratitude."

His smile disappeared and he looked at her seriously, "Who said that I am not grateful, Granger?" He shifted and pulled out a box from under his pillow. He then proceeded to open it. Hermione looked curiously and saw a beautiful gold pendant that had a large opal stone in the centre surrounded by an intricate design. The opal was the colour of melted silver and was shimmering softly in the uneven light of the room. It was beautiful, "Do you know what this is?" she heard Draco ask. She shook her head. "It's a Link Pendant."

She looked at him surprised. "But…" she started. "They are so rare!!"

"I know. Sit down," he ordered.

Hermione did not move staring at him with wide eyes. "But Draco…"

His eyes looked at her steadily, "Sit down," he repeated again. This time Hermione complied.

She felt a chain slip around her neck as he whispered the words of a spell, she did not recognise the words except for his and hers names being mentioned. The stone touched her skin and was followed by his hand. His warm fingers circled around the pendant as he finished the incantation. He then released his hold and looked at her, "Now if you ever need me, all you have to do is hold the pendant and think my name."

She looked at him in surprise, "Why did you do this?" she asked. "You could have just say thank you. It would have been enough."

He looked at her surprised then shook his head, "I would never understand you, Granger. If you really think that I am such an ungrateful pig, why did you help me?"

She lowered her eyes, "I…"

But he interrupted her, "You helped save Blaise's life and then came back to help me. I owe you for that. With this," he pointed at her chest, "I will have a chance to repay you."

Hermione did not know what to say or think. Draco Malfoy, the arrogant and stuck-up pureblood had given her one of the most rare artefacts of the wizardian world- a pendant that would bring him to her side when she needed him and would bind him to help her even if it meant risking his life.

She felt confused, flustered, pleased and embarrassed at the same. And she realised that even for the sake of her life she would not be able to start her long waited conversation with him. So she muttered a quiet "Thank you," and started getting up to leave. She would talk to him tomorrow, when her head was clear and she would not feel like crying or swinging her arms around him. In any case he was stuck in the hospital wing and it was unlikely that he would do something dangerous in the next day or so.

"Are you leaving already?" he raised an eyebrow, "Not going to even ask me how I feel?"

Hermione turned bright red, "I can see you're better," she muttered. "And I am tired, it's been a long night…" she could not look at him and turned her gaze to the next bed, where Blaise was soundly asleep, "How is he?" she asked aiming for a change of subject.

"He's going to be fine," his voice sounded unusually rough and she looked back at him. "He woke up this morning and remembered everything, now we'll just have to wait for the wounds to heal." Draco's words were clipped, but his eyes were full of emotions: anger, worry and relief - were all mixed, as he stared at Blaise's sleeping figure. Over the past months Hermione had learnt that the Slythrin Prince cared about people, at least those he considered friends. But it was still a rare sight to see these feelings on his face. Emotions made his almost unearthly beauty - human.

She watched him in fascination and as usual got caught. She wanted to turn away but froze when Draco moved closer to her and his right hand cupped her face. Their eyes locked and Hermione started to drown in the pools of melted silver. For a second she thought that grey eyes suited him really well mirroring his conflicted personality, a mixture of good and evil, but the next moment all thoughts left her. Warm lips touched hers eliciting a quiet gasp from her. It made her teeth part and his tongue invaded her mouth. What she felt was indescribable. A warm feeling rushed through her blood, making her tingle and melt at the same time. Her hands developed a life of their own and she grabbed onto his shoulders for dear life. His other arm came round her waist pulling her closer as he continued to devour her mouth. And she was responding to him. Without even thinking about what to do and how, like she did with Ron, she was kissing him just as boldly as he did. It stopped as abruptly as it started. They both needed air. Both his hands released her as he leaned back into the pillows.

"You have nothing to worry about Granger, and nothing to learn. Don't let anybody doubt it," his voice sounded lower than usually, his eyes were half closed hiding from her his thoughts and feelings.

Hermione jumped of the bed as if it burnt her. She was blushing furiously and her breathe was coming in pants. But before she could say anything, he spoke up again, "You can't be mad at me. You said you wanted compensation and I just followed your wishes."

Hermione did not know what to do, die of embarrassment or punch him. At the end she decided that the best thing would be to leave. Malfoy was difficult to put down in the best of times and at the moment she felt too confused and tired to even attempt a verbal warfare with him. She raised her head high and gave him a cold look. "Appreciate your opinion, Malfoy. Pleasant dreams." She swirled on her hills and left the infirmary.

Draco watched her leave and inwardly sighed. If only she knew… But there were slim chances of that …

His life sucked. Big time…

Sorry for the short chapter. Too much to do and too little time. Hope you'll enjoy it. Let me know what you think...