AN: Before you read, please promise to leave a review when you're done. HEHE! ;)
They soon went to Diagon Alley, and Draco and Hermione were at the last of the line. They were holding hands, so that Hermione's boils wouldn't appear.
They received lots of stares and whispers, well, Draco was more on the receiving end, no doubt the people they passed seemed to see he was gorgeous, and some people who knew Hermione were giving her curious glances as to how she was able to reel in a guy like Draco. The Latino Draco.
"Guess you love me now, huh?" Draco asked while putting his arm on her shoulder. "People can't stop staring, guess you love the new taste of being popular, eh? I know you always wanted me." Draco said and started to smirk.
Hermione glared at him and hit him at his side, "For your information, I can do well without fame, unlike you, who can't help being unnoticed." And she hit him one more time.
"Now now baby, stop hitting me, if I knew any better you're just finding ways to touch me." Draco teased and Hermione glared even more. He was enjoying the way Hermione kept going red and shot daggers at him, it was a fun habit he had.
"Just so you kn---" Hermione was cut off by a shriek.
"Hermione! Who is this guy? Are you going to introduce or what??" Parvati inched towards them and had a huge grin on her face. Draco couldn't hold back his smirk.
"Oh. Him?" Hermione said. "He's Drake Mendez. I'm with him." She said shortly and wrapped her arms around his waist, beaming at Parvati.
Parvati was taken aback, "Really? Wow.. I thought.. well. Wow Hermione! You're really good!" She said hastily, waved and left the two.
"You see, they simply love me." Draco smirked again as Hermione violently ushered him inside Three Broomsticks.
The moment Draco entered, heads turned and girls giggled, Hermione couldn't help but feel like hexing all of them and jinxing them to oblivion, all though she didn't thoroughly know why. She just brushed away her temper, held on tighter to Draco as if to say Back off, he's taken.
Draco quietly enjoyed the attention he was getting, but he couldn't help but be aware of a very guilty feeling that he liked the way Hermione held on even tighter to him as if she completely had possession over him He sort of felt that no matter how much attention all the girls were giving him, it wouldn't sum up to the way Hermione made him feel once she gave him her attention.
Draco pushed the thought away and thought that it was unacceptable, and decided to neglect it from then on.
They sat at the table where the rest of the gang was, and as Hermione sat down, he sat down real close to her and held her hand.
He had regular checks at Hermione to see if boils appeared, and he was glad there were none in sight.
They were all talking happily when Katie suddenly said, "Oh! Drake! Habla Espanyol? Entiende Espanyol?" (Do you speak Spanish? Do you understand Spanish?) She suddenly said and all the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and Draco suddenly realized that they expected him to speak Spanish.
Hermione was about to speak when Draco stomped on her foot and she simply let out a small yelp and blushed deeply when they gave her amused faces. "Hablo Espanyol, entiendo Espanyol un poco. Un poco." Draco suddenly said. (I speak Spanish, I understand Spanish very little. Very little.)
Hermione gaped at him and Malfoy simply smirked. "I used to speak when I was young but when my dear 'Mione here taught me how to be socially comfortable with people, I sort of, lost my Spanish touch." He said sheepishly. All the Burrow inhabitants were simply staring. Katie simply nodded in understanding.
Soon they finished all their butterbeers and it was getting dark, the sky was turning purplish blue and small stars were starting to appear.
"Well then, we better go." Fred just said, and they all hurried after him, Hermione and Draco the last again. It was their turn to go out of the door when Hermione heard a familiar voice.
"Why… what's this? Little Miss Granger's found herself a boyfriend! How'd you do it Mudblood?? Huh? Put some right dose of those Love Potions, am I right? Must've used a great deal of them, you seemed to fool yourself a pretty boy." Pansy Parkinson was standing there, her pug face staring vehemently at Hermione, and flirty with the Latino.
Hermione turned red and Draco saw this, he suddenly felt sorry for her and a strong rush of anger at the slut Parkinson. Hermione was about to retort when he held out his hand to stop her and stepped forward.
"And what are you going to do about that, eh? Yes, she's with me, she didn't use some love potion alright, I just simply like her. Why? Is something wrong with that? She's very pretty and alright you know!" He bellowed before he could stop himself.
Pansy seemed taken aback and muttered a low sorry before she disappeared in the crowd, and Draco vehemently opened the door and held Hermione's hand rather tight.
Hermione was staring in disbelief. Did he just say that? Why'd he stand up for me? She wanted to say thank you but instead she found herself gaping at the boy.
Draco was livid, he was angry, but he didn't know why. Something inside of him snapped, and he was having a hard time trying to pinpoint it. He himself was starting to get confused and bewildered at his own actions, Why'd I just do that? He asked himself, and shook the matter off. He decided that he was just in a bad mood from seeing Pansy and started to let go of every bit of disgust he felt towards her. After all, he was disguised.
"Never mind what happened, she's disgusting." Hermione found Draco saying hastily, she decided to keep quiet and they were simply walking in silence, hand in hand, Hermione basked in astonished silence while Draco was sporting a dizzy head from confusion.
They were finally at the Burrow,( Hermione and Draco caught up with the lot saying sorry since they met someone.) and Mrs. Weasley was there with Mr. Weasley, all ready to eat dinner.
"Why!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she saw Draco. "Who's your visitor?? And where's young Mr. Malfoy?! Oh dear.. What happened?! Oh no, Dumbledore! Livid! His father! Oh Arthur! Boys! Wha—"
"Mum! It's alright!" Fred finally said, and he approached Draco, flicked his wand and Draco was back to himself again. Silver, platinum blond hair, piercing gray eyes, and unforgettable smirk.
Mrs. Weasley heaved a sigh and had them all eat dinner. "Very clever disguise." Mr. Weasley said approvingly and they all smiled.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley didn't know that Hermione had boils that were curable only by Draco, so until dinner at the Burrow they were very much glued together, Mrs. Weasley giving Hermione worried looks as if sooner or later Draco would Avada Kedavra Hermione, and Mr. Weasley was simply bewildered.
They both gave sheepish smiles and simply muttered that there wasn't any other place as a lame excuse.
Soon, after dinner, they all fetl downright tired from the fun day out and decided to retreat to their bedrooms and sleep.
"After all," Fred childishly said to them as they were all going up the stairs, "we're going out again tomorrow! Oh this is going to be so much fun!" He exclaimed and they all murmured, too tired to be as happy as Fred, while Draco, on the other hand, was simply scared again, afraid of what was soon to come.
On the other hand, Draco thought that this day wasn't so bad either, so he didn't feel that scared about tomorrow. Draco slapped himself to shake away the thought of enjoying the day, forgetting that he didn't do it mentally. He suddenly felt a stinging burn on his right cheek.
Fred and George stared, "What's wrong with you?" They said bewildered.
"Absolutely mental." Harry, Ron and Ginny said, and they all started laughing.
"Well, that's our Ferret Boy…" Fred trailed, as they all reached the landing and retreated into their bedrooms.
"Good night everyone!" They all said, so much that Draco couldn't distinguish who's greeting from who, and he and Hermione retreated to their room too.
Draco and Hermione were silent, awkward silence since the Pansy incident, and soon enough, Hermione was in her nightgown, prepared for bed, and Draco was again, topless.
Before Hermione went to the bed she stopped by the window and simply stared at it, but Draco didn't notice since he was already making his way under the covers.
"I always wanted to be close to the stars…" Hermione said gently and Draco looked up.
He saw her staring out of the window, looking at her look at the stars, a dreamy expression in her face and longing in her eyes. She looked so peaceful and hopeful that Draco couldn't help but smile. He quickly bit his tongue and replaced it with a smirk.
"Why don't you go on then." Draco said in a flat tone, but Hermione didn't seem to mind.
"I don't know how…" She trailed. "I've been dreaming of that since I was young, I mean, you know, how do you really get that close to them? I mean, it's too high for flying and besides, I don't do flying." She said disappointedly, turning to him, locking a piercing gaze with him. Draco found that he couldn't look away.
"It has always fascinated me… and whenever I feel like I need to wind down and relax, I simply look up at the night sky, and already, I feel satisfied." She said, looking at the window again, a small smile spreading across her lips.
"Why are you telling me this?" Draco asked flatly again. For a moment he cursed himself for being so cold but threw it away. He did wonder why she was telling him this.
"Oh… nothing. I couldn't tell Ron and Harry because they would think it was softy stuff or whatever, but Ginny knows…" She trailed. "I told you because you're an enemy, you wouldn't mind whether you knew this or not, and I just felt like telling it. It would be like falling on deaf ears, really." She said, this time her voice was flat, and for the first time, Draco experienced what it felt like to be talked to in that kind of tone.
"Oh." Draco said expressionless and scowled.
"Anyway." Hermione quickly said, and went to the bed, also making her way under the covers.
"You're not that bad." She simply said. Then, even through the dark, Draco could feel her smirk. "Even if you are a self centered, conceited, proud, arrogant, boastful, merciless, good for nothing prat and git." She said triumphantly. "That's a double insult, mind you, prat and git. Never met someone who was worthy of that before." She said in a happy tone.
Draco snorted. "Yeah, whatever Granger." Draco said coldly.
"Why are you so cold?" She suddenly asked him. "It's like you always have a problem, problem with what's happening, problem with who you're with, problem with everything." She said.
Draco was taken aback, caught off guard at her sudden question. He scowled. "What's it matter to you anyway?" He asked.
"You see, that's what I'm talking about. You talk as if the person killed your dog or something. Why are you always like that? Ever wondered of softening up a bit, being a bit lighter? Maybe you'd appreciate life then…" She trailed.
What is she doing, lecturing me? Draco thought to himself.
"Dunno." He merely said. "How 'bout you!" He suddenly said. "Why are you off wandering and trespassing into people's natural personality?" He accused.
He could feel her smile. "Oh, I'm not trespassing, if that's what you call it. But I can tell it's not your natural personality." She said matter-of-factly.
"You always have to be a down-right know-it-all, do you?" He asked her.
"I'm surprised you're even talking to me." She simply said.
He kept quiet. Hermione took this as a 'why.'
"Well, I wouldn't think the boy who made Harry's, Ron's and my life miserable for the past six years simply talk to me or bare living at the Burrow. The boy who hated us Gryffindors so much, now living amongst the very ones he hated, the boy who never lets us be…." She said. "You know… that kind of stuff."
If Draco heard this from someone he would've thought the person was trying to piss him off, but no, he could tell that by Hermione's tone she was simply telling the truth and didn't have any intention of getting to his nerves at all.
"How do you know I'm still that person, Granger?" He asked expressionless but rather coldly.
Hermione didn't answer him. Instead, she said,
"Thanks for standing up for me a while ago." And with that, she rolled on her side, and went to sleep, and Draco knew, that was her version of an answer.
Draco found himself rethinking everything that had happened.
He couldn't deny the fact that while they had to keep contact with each other, he had fun, especially when they were pretending to be a couple, tugging her hair and stomping at her foot, he was also sure her fingernail marks were still burning at his skin near the waist.
And he couldn't deny the fact either that he simply wanted to stand up for Hermione, after what that slut of a Slytherin said. He also came to a realization that it was the first time he had ever felt and experienced real fun, especially during the summer.
Most of the time, inside his Malfoy Manor, he would just be stuck looking for things to do, or occasionally going out to Pureblood parties and the like, but nevertheless, he never really enjoyed himself.
Whereas in the Burrow, he was only in day two, and he already had more laughs than he had during his whole summer in the Manor times, he already went out a full day at Diagon Alley, and there never was a dull moment here.
He also came down to another realization…..Hermione.
Something told him he already knew this summer was going to be different, and as he painfully accepted the fact that living with his least favorite Gryffindors could be actually fun, he couldn't tell if he was ready to face the lurking idea that kept creeping up the back of his mind, no matter how hard he kept postponing it, blocking it, denying it, he knew it would creep back up again… And there, he lay wide awake in the darkness, thinking only one thing.
He had started to develop feelings for the girl sleeping right next to him.
Hermione Granger, Muggle-born Gryffindor.