Draco had difficulties finishing his dinner that evening since all he could think about was what was going to happen after. Hermione and him had met in the Room of Requirement on several occasions before, but for some reason it felt more urgent this time. He felt like he had to see her, no matter what and wondered vaguely if it had something to do with them having had their first real fight. But that was ridiculous, he thought, couples fight all the time and their argument hadn't even been of great magnitude. As far as Draco was concerned, that was, perhaps Granger felt differently.
"You're staring at her again," Blaise said matter-of-factly, causing Draco to spill juice all over his shirt.
"Wh-What?" he stuttered, hastening to take his gaze of Hermione, whom he had in fact been staring at.
"You're so transparent," he continued and Draco felt his throat tighten. Was it apparent then, how he felt about Granger?
"I mean it's so obvious you want revenge, why not give into it?" Blaise continued, rubbing his unshaven chin.
Draco relaxed, once again Zabini had misinterpreted the situations and he couldn't help thinking that if people continued being this thick he could be kissing Hermione openly and no one would be the wiser.
"I'm trying to be a better person, Blaise," he said before scourgifying his shirt clean.
"Whatever, I'm just saying," he started, looking shiftily at Hermione, before adding "you know, if it wasn't for her being in Gryffindor I might've just asked her to the dance."
Draco clenched his jaw, looking daggers at Zabini. Why was it that every sleazeball out there wanted to date his girlfriend?
"What? She didn't humiliate me," he chuckled, once again misinterpreting the angry look on Draco's face.
"Whatever," he said before rising from his seat and leaving the Great Hall, careful not to look at Hermione. Reaching the Room of Requirement, he didn't bother waiting for her before getting in. And once inside he noticed that there had been some changes to the room. Where there had once been empty space, there was now a table and two chairs, a small sofa and next to the bed stood a large bookcase, filled with hundreds of books.
"What the hell," he uttered quietly as he heard Hermione enter behind him.
"Wow, did you do all this?" Hermione breathed.
"How could I have?" he said, looking at her awe-struck expression.
"Well you must've, this room becomes what you ask of it and you were here first," she said.
"But then, how did you get in? I mean we must've been thinking the same thing, right?" Draco asked uncertainty.
"Oh, well, yes, I guess you're right," she said smiling now, as though she understood something he didn't.
"But what does it mean?" he asked.
"I think it means that we've just taken our relationship to the next level," she said, looking positively beaming now.
Comprehension dawned on him. Their relationship had gone from being about sex to being serious. Not that it had ever just been about sex for him. But perhaps them having a fight had been a good thing.
"Well, would you like to read or..." he started, not getting a chance to finish his sentence before Hermione lunged at him, kissing him with all her might. Draco pushed her towards the bed, simultaneously unfastening his belt and pulling off her shirt. Within a minute, their clothes were in a pile on the floor and he was, once again, transfixed by her naked body.
"You're so beautiful," he said huskily, positioning himself on top of her, watching her blush at his words. He'd never get tired of this, he thought, pushing into her and savouring her moans.
After over an hour's hard work, he collapsed on the bed feeling exhausted. But she quickly draped her leg around his waist.
"Draco, we're not done," she whined.
"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" he said closing his eyes and wondering if women knew how much effort men put into sex. Sure, they had to deal with some pain, he knew that, but from an objective point of view men were ones doing most of the work involved with it. Not to mention the mental strength it took to refrain from coming until she'd gotten enough orgasms. But then again, there are worse things, he thought smiling to himself, before pulling her close to him and falling asleep nuzzled in her hair.
He was woken the next morning by Hermione in the midst of her usual morning routine, which he secretly referred to as her "stressed chicken-dance". Drowsily, he watched her pick up her clothes from the floor at the same time trying to flatten her crow's nest hair using her hands.
"Hermione, must you do this every time?" he asked "why can't you just come back to bed for a second?"
She glared at him, haphazardly pulling on her shirt.
"Yeah, that's an idea! Then I can be late for class sporting the latest fashion: wrongly buttoned blouse and sex-hair!" she snapped sarcastically. Draco looked at her incredulous, before burying his face in his pillow with a groan. Would he even understand women?
Shooting him an annoyed glance, Hermione said "see you later" over her shoulder before hurrying out the door. She was running down the halls, feeling starved after last night and hoping desperately that she wasn't too late for breakfast. However, reaching the Great Hall, she was relieved to see it was still packed with students and after sitting down opposite Ron and Harry, she practically devoured a stack of syrupy pancakes in one go.
"Hungry much?" Ron said, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, shut up," she said, feeling self-conscious about wearing the same clothes she'd had on the previous day and her hair being even messier than usual.
"Well, aren't we touchy this morning," Ron tutted "Where did you go off to yesterday, I didn't see you in the common room?"
"No, I was busy. Schoolwork," she lied. She felt guilty lying to them all the time, knowing there was only one thing she could do to put an end to it. Tell them, said a voice in her head. But I can't, it's not the time, she thought. Coward, the voice told her. But, then she remembered something.
"Hey, Ginny!" she called to the other side of the table where Ginny sat talking to Neville, and hearing her name, she looked up at Hermione.
"Yeah?
"Can we go into Hogsmeade later? I'm in desperate need of a dress for Friday," Hermione said with a smile and watched Ginny nod excitedly.
Draco had missed breakfast. Again. And he might've also skived off all of that day's lessons. However, he didn't feel in the least bit guilty about it, thinking that last night had been worth it. But it was afternoon now and he was starting to get restless, wondering how to turn the room back into his practice space. He hadn't practiced in weeks and thought he should resume his training. Putting on his clothes he attempted to force the room to transform by concentrating and thinking I need a place to practice, but nothing happened, so he tried a different approach. Now standing just outside the room he once again concentrated on the thought and watched the door magically appear before him. When he opened it, the room had been turned back into its former self.
"Brilliant", he muttered, before going ahead with his training.
After hours of practicing every jinx and hex he could think of, Draco felt satisfied and left for dinner. Entering the Great Hall he immediately spotted Hermione talking animatedly to Ginny. From the look of it, they were discussing the dance and Draco felt a pang of grief in his chest, remembering Hermione and him wouldn't be attending together.
Hermione stood scrutinizing her reflection in the mirror. It was the night of the dance and she was wearing a red strapless dress that Ginny had helped her pick out, which according to Ginny made her look "ravishing". Her hair looked sleek and polished and she'd even taken the effort to put on some light make-up. Content with her appearance, she left her dorm to meet up with the others in the common room. Ron, Harry, Ginny and Neville all looked great; the boys wearing black dress robes and Ginny wearing a fitted lavender dress.
"Wow, you look great Hermione," Ron told her when she walked down the stairs.
"Thanks Ron," she said, before asking the room at large "shall we?"
"Well, you guys go ahead. I said to wait here for…" Ron started, and then with a guilty look at Hermione, he finished "Hannah".
"As in Hannah Abbot?" Hermione said, raising an eyebrow. She was glad to notice she didn't feel a shred of jealousy. In fact, she felt happy for him.
"Yeah," Ron said, scratching the back of his head, still looking embarrassed.
"That's great," Hermione said sincerely, watching Ron relax.
"You really think so?" he asked her.
"Yeah, I really do," she said smiling broadly at him, before saying "Well, I guess we'll see you and Hannah at the dance".
And all of them except Ron left for the Great Hall. Arriving there they saw that the vast room had been turned into a winter wonderland, with silver and white decorations and snow falling from the enchanted ceiling. It was perfect, she thought as they went to get drinks, finding that they too were winter themed. Hermione settled on a white drink with a frosted rim called "snowflake" and sipping on it she spotted Draco. Their eyes locked across the Hall and she watched him mouth the word "beautiful". This is ridiculous, said the voice in her head. There she stood just metres away from him, her boyfriend, who was looking indescribably sexy in the black suit he was wearing and she couldn't even talk to him. She prepared herself to argue her usual case for why they should wait with going public, when she suddenly put down her drink resolutely on the bar, thinking: Sod it!
Draco watched Hermione stride the length of the hall towards him and felt his heartbeat quicken. What reason would she come up with for talking to him this time? As far as he was aware he hadn't beaten up any of her other suitors lately.
"Hi you," she said, approaching him.
"Hi yourself," he said in a levelled voice, not sure why he felt the need to keep his composure. Was it because they were in a room full of people or was it because he wanted to keep his own expectations lowered?
"Aren't you going to ask me to dance?" she said with a mischievous smile, which made him drop all pretence.
"You're serious?" he asked, smiling at her now.
"Of course, are you going to ask me to dance or not?" she demanded.
"Well yes, would the lady like to dance?" he asked, putting on a serious face and straightening up.
"I'd like that very much," she said laughing. Pulling her towards him, he put his hand on the small of her back, brushing her hair with his lips.
"What happened to being discreet?" He murmured.
"Let them talk!" she answered in an offhand voice, resting her chin on his shoulders as they swirled over the dancefloor. Draco felt his insides soar, then looking around the room he could see that Hermione had been right; people were already talking. However, he didn't mind it, knowing what it meant. She was officially his now.