Disclaimer: I wish had an imagination like J.K. Rowling so I could say that I own everything. But unfortunately, I am not, meaning, I own nothing (except the story). Please don't sue!
Chapter 9
As predicted, every newspaper in the wizarding world had printed a story about the Kingston Christmas Ball, and every one talked about Draco Malfoy's "engagement" to Hermione Granger. The Daily Prophet had a picture of Draco and Hermione snogging underneath the mistletoe. Lovely.
Draco awoke that morning, without feeling in his left arm. He opened his eyes, realized that he was not home, and saw Hermione, for the second time, snuggled up against him. Opps. Hermione and him had talked late into the night about William, the ball, and other things. They had fallen asleep and did not realize that Hermione would end up in Draco's arms yet again. He was only grateful that he woke up before she did this time. The last time the snuggling incident happened, Draco could not sit for a week on his left bum cheek.
Draco drew his attention to the small Victorian style clock ticking away on the bedside table. It read 7:30. He carefully pushed Hermione off to the other side of the bed, afraid that he had woken her when she started to move. He froze, but released a sigh of relief when she only positioned herself in a comfortable position, hugging her pillow. A lock of brown hair lay on top of her face as she breathed deeply and soundly, without a care in the world. Draco lightly pushed the stubborn strand of hair behind her ear, stroking her smooth face. She smiled into the pillow, fluttering her eyes as she opened them slowly.
"Damn you Draco, I was having a good dream," she muffled through the pillow.
"I noticed. Just thought I should annoy you. You know, it's my thing to do stuff like that." But Hermione did not hear; she had fallen back to sleep. He walked carefully to the bathroom, not wanting to awake Hermione again, and stepped into the shower.
He had kissed her last night, a real kiss. She had looked gorgeous, beyond recognition. He had considered telling Hermione that he had strong feelings towards her. It sounded better than saying he had a "crush" on her. He did not know why he wanted to tell her, he just thought it was the right thing to do. But now that he had slept on it, he thought against it. If he were to tell her he had a "crush" on her, she would probably laugh in his face and call him a lying prat. Since when did he start liking Hermione, in that way anyways? Did he not always dislike her in school, constantly tease her and annoy her? Was it really worth it?
Draco stepped out of the shower, wrapping a red towel around his waist as he walked in the bedroom again. He stopped dead in his tracks when his silver eyes made contact with violet ones.
"'Morning Drakey-poo," Marie said "seductively". "Were you thinking about me a lot last night? I sure was." She licked her lips as she said this. She wore a black skimpy see-through nightie, adorned with pink satin. It put emphasize on her breasty area; they were practically popping out.
"What do you want Marie? Who let you in?" Draco asked annoyingly, pushing Marie to the side as he walked over to his clothes.
"Why, I did love. Who else?" Marie followed him, pulling a strap of her nightie so it fell off her shoulder.
"Well get out. You have your own room. And put on some clothes or something. Haven't you ever heard of a shirt or pants? Yeah, those fake twins there, you're not supposed to be able to see them." Marie approached Draco, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Always the joker Drakey-poo. Don't you miss me?" She trailed a manicured fingernail down Draco's chest, trailing dangerously in places where the sun doesn't shine. "Don't you remember all those times we fucked?" She grabbed hold of his member. "Wasn't it fun? Why don't I help you remember Draco?"
"Don't touch me," Draco pushed Marie aside. "All those times were mistakes. If I had known you were such a whore, I would have never slept with you. Now get out." He took her by the arm, pushing her out of the bedroom, locking the door as he did.
"I am disappointed in you Malfoy. I did not think you would lower yourself so deeply as to sleep with someone like her." Draco spun around. Hermione sat crossed legged, sitting perfectly straight, hugging a pillow, and looking directly at Draco. Draco stood dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.
"Well, I-" he started.
"Don't bother," Hermione interrupted, waving her hand aimlessly as she jumped off the bed and headed towards the bathroom. "You're just typical; trying to screw as many girls as possible without a commitment, living the life of a man whore." Draco smirked.
"Be careful Hermione, I might start to think that you are jealous." Hermione turned around, shooting daggers at Draco.
"Jealous? ME? Of what exactly? That is completely preposterous! Why in bloody hell would I be jealous? And of her of all people?"
"I do not know, you're the one who is getting all worked up." Draco crossed his arms and wore a smug expression on his face. "Maybe you like me more than you think."
"You are such an insufferable prat!"
"Ah, you don't deny it. You do like me, maybe even love me." Hermione fingered Draco before she stormed off into the washroom, slamming the door behind her.
"Good morning to you too love," he called out after her. He chuckled. It was going to be a good day.
Hermione had spent the majority of the afternoon out shopping with KeeLee and her friends. Draco had avoided being around them with KeeLee's friends, trying to stay away from a couple of her friends that he had a certain, intimate history with. Maybe Hermione was right; he was a man whore. At the same time, he tried avoiding Marie, running in the opposite direction whenever she walked down a hall. He could not understand why she wore mini skirts in the middle of winter.
Draco walked down the halls, observing the various paintings and portraits hung up on the wall. He heard someone speaking in one of the rooms, realizing that he had been walking down the guest's corridor. He approached the door slowly, peaking in through the crack where the door was slightly open. He saw William and his mother conversing in low voices. He could not make out what they were talking about but his heart skipped a beat when he heard "Lucius".
Narcissa suddenly brought her hands to her face as her shoulders heaved up and down. William approached her, taking her in his arms, stroking her hair and whispering, "Shh, it will be alright." William lifted her chin with his finger, bringing her face to meet with his. William whispered in a low voice something to Narcissa that Draco could not make out. He stroked her face with the back of his hand as she looked deeply into his eyes. Draco had never seen his mother look at a man this way. William lowered his face, bringing his lips to Narcissa's, kissing her in a loving and gentle way. Draco's jaw dropped open; he was afraid that he was going to drool all over his new shoes.
Narcissa parted from the kiss, bringing a hand to her lips, eyes full of shock and surprise. Her and William said nothing to each other, but rather, she made her way to the door. Damn! Draco looked frantically for a place to hide, choosing a large vase beside the bedroom entrance. He hid behind the vase, watching his mother walk away. William came out seconds later, heading in Draco's direction. Panicking, Draco moved behind the vase in the opposite direction, not wanting to be seen by William. He was able to breath again once William was around the corner. What the hell was that about?
"Dancing with vases are we now Draco?" Draco spun around, recognizing KeeLee's voice, and hitting his head on candelabra attached to the wall, cursing as he did so. Clutching his forehead, and after blinking several times, he saw that KeeLee, Hermione, and Co. had returned from their day of shopping, their hands full of bags and packages from various shops. Hermione rushed over to Draco, placing her newly bought items on the ground, while the others were dieing of laughter.
"Draco, are you alright?" She touched his face ever so slightly, her eyes filled with worry and concern. Her hands were cold and her face was flushed from the cold air outside. Smiling, Draco took her hand, kissed it and replied, "Perfect, now that you're here love." She blushed. The laughter died down as the girls wiped tears from their eyes, not wanting to have their mascara run.
"Draco, you remember my friends don't you?" KeeLee said, motioning her hand to the group of girls. Draco gulped. "Well, I'll introduce them again. This is Arlene," she pointed to the pretty brunette with a purple coat. "Brianne, (cute petite blond; she waved at Draco in a flirtatious way, winking at him as she did), Catherine (red-head who looked awfully familiar), Cindy (blond who wore a coat that said "JESUS LOVES ME" on the back), Aryn (another blond that was singing carols to herself), Sarah (strawberry blond who gave a polite smile before turning her attention to her iPod again), and finally, Meghan (curly hair punk-rocker chick who jerked her head slightly and said "sup")."
Draco smiled at each of them, starting to remember seeing these girls whenever he would pay a visit to KeeLee. He remembered Catherine; they had a…history. He noticed that she wore an engagement ring; he smiled at the thought, she deserved to be happy.
"Yes, well, it was nice seeing you all again, but Hermione and I must be off. We have to discuss some things, wedding plans and such. You know, what all engaged couples do." Draco started laughing uncontrollably, and all the girls looked at each other, wondering if Draco had completely lost his mind. He took hold of Hermione's purchases and left in the opposite direction, Hermione trailing beside him.
"Draco? Are you sure you are okay? You hit your head quite hard," Hermione asked, with a smile slowly curling around her lips. Draco said nothing, he was still in a state of shock.
They entered their bedroom, and Draco locked the door behind Hermione. He leaned up against the door, and sighed heavily. Hermione walked over to Draco, bit her lip, and slowly took his face in her hands. Draco could feel her shaking.
"Draco, tell me what's wrong. Did you discover something unnerving dealing with our mission?" Draco looked into Hermione's eyes; they were filled with concern. Maybe she actually cared. He took one of her hands and gently kissed her palm.
"I will tell you later love, here the walls may have ears," Draco answered.
"Why do you call me that Draco?" Draco stood still clutching Hermione's hand in his.
"Call you what?"
"Love. There's no one here to make believe you love me." There was a silence between the two of them, with both Hermione and Draco starring into each other's eyes, searching for an answer. Hermione gasped slightly, her free hand covering her mouth. Draco smiled at her, wrapping his arm around her waist. Surprisingly, she did not spit in his face or pull away. He leaned in closer to her face, the scent of cinnamon tickling his nose.
Hermione's heart was pounding. It felt as if it was ready to burst from her chest. A million of questions raced through Hermione's head. What was going on? Something inside of her burned, she wanted to kiss Draco again, taste him again, but why? She had not felt this way before and was she actually going to allow Draco to kiss her again, even with no one there? Why did he want to kiss her anyways?
"Hermione," Draco's lips were inches from hers. The way he said her name sent shivers down her spine. She soon found her arms wrapped around his neck. They moved slowly towards the bed. Draco looked into Hermione's eyes. She could see warmth inside his silvery eyes. Her heart beat faster. They fell onto the bed and Hermione could feel Draco's heart against hers; it was beating just as fast or even faster.
He stroked her face, looking lovingly into her eyes. He moved hesitatingly towards Hermione's lips. He looked at her once more, Hermione's eyes widened and Draco embraced her into a passionate kiss.
A/N: Merry Christmas! I'm so sorry for the long update. I've been so busy with school! With diploma's coming up, it's been crazy. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I hope everyone has a very safe and joyful holiday. Remember to hit that review button!