Goodness, this chapter practically wrote itself! I did not expect to get done with chapter 10 this soon, but here it is.
When Hermione got up (early) on Wednesday morning, she groggily grabbed her clothes and made her way to the bathroom. It wasn't until she was standing outside of the bathroom that she noticed the sound of the water running. Hermione knocked on the door and asked loudly how soon Draco would be finished.
"Uhhhmmm….I dunno. Ye—two minutes?"
Somehow, Hermione didn't think that's what Draco wanted to say. "Alright, no rush. It's plenty early still."
Draco laid his forehead against his arm, which was braced on the shower wall. The cold shower had not done its job, and Hermione had chosen the exact wrong moment to come to the door. He quickly scrubbed his body and rinsed the shampoo from his hair, wanting to get out of the bathroom as soon as possible to avoid suspicion.
In his haste, Draco forgot to get dressed before leaving the bathroom. A dark green towel wrapped around his waist, he opened the door and walked out, coming face to face with Hermione. The expression on her face was an odd mixture of embarrassment and humor at her roommate's appearance. Confused, Draco looked down, went slightly pink, and turned to walk down to his room. His arm brushed against Hermione's on the way.
"Whoa, Draco, why are you so cold? You just got out….oh." Hermione's face flushed and the hint of a smirk completely left her face. "Never mind." She rushed into the bathroom and closed the door as quickly as she could.
Draco stood in the hall, sighed, and let his head fall back in exasperation. 'Will I never catch a break?' he thought, standing there for a few minutes to recover.
Just before Hermione hopped into the shower, she put on some more of her Muggle music. This time, she didn't sing along, though that was more due to her occupied mind than her embarrassment at being overheard the last time. She was almost afraid at one moment to get into the shower, but realizing that she was being ridiculous ('Just because I have no experience with…that…doesn't mean that it isn't perfectly natural for a teenage boy!'), she steeled her resolve and took her shower, relaxing at the feel of the warm water sluicing down her skin.
The rest of the morning was slightly awkward between the two, but during breakfast, both resolved separately to forget what had happened that morning.
At the Slytherin table, Theo was watching Draco intently. He kept glancing at Hermione at the Gryffindor table, blushing, and quickly looking back to his plate. He'd attempt to take a bite before repeating the process. Eventually, Theo reached out and grabbed Draco's fork before the blonde could pretend to be eating again. "Draco, just spit it out. What happened?"
Draco flushed and laid his head down on the table with a groan. An odd, muffled sound came out, in which Theo could only make out the words "Hermione," "shower," and "knows."
Theo and Blaise snorted. Blaise, smirking, said, "I'm assuming the word before 'shower' was 'cold,' yes?"
Draco looked up and said, "Yes, but you missed the part where that…wasn't…it didn't…oh Merlin, and she knows! Not that she knows what the dream was that made the whole…thing…necessary, but still…."
When he put his head back on the table, Theo and Blaise exchanged a sympathetic look. Theo patted Draco's arm in comfort and said, "Mate, I know it's embarrassing, but now it's out there, and you just have to get over it. You don't even have to talk about it or anything. Just act like it didn't happen and move on. I'm sure she'll forget about it soon enough if you do."
Blaise agreed, adding, "You're an eighteen year old guy, and it's perfectly natural. She may have been embarrassed to begin with, but she's a smart witch. Eventually she'll remind herself that it's totally normal and move on."
Sighing, Draco went back to his meal, saying, "Thanks, mates. I know you're right, it's just easier said than done."
Over at the Gryffindor table, Hermione and Harry were eating quietly while Ginny sat with her roommates and Ron talked to Neville about Care of Magical Creatures homework. When Hermione was convinced that Ron wouldn't be ending his conversation any time soon, she gathered her courage and asked, "Harry, can I ask you a personal question?"
He swallowed loudly. "Sure, 'Mione, ask me anything."
She bit her lip a little. "Well, I think I may have accidentally embarrassed Draco this morning, and I don't know how to fix it." She paused to take a deep breath and said, "I think that when I knocked on the bathroom door this morning—he was in the shower—that I…that I interrupted something intensely personal." She blushed some, but continued. "I didn't mean to bother him—how could I know?—and I realized a minute or two later that I probably really embarrassed him, but I don't think he has anything to be embarrassed about. What should I do?"
Harry was trying desperately not to directly associate Draco Malfoy with the issue at hand—'Uh, gross, why did I have to use that expression?'—and answer as honestly as he could. "Well, how do you know for sure that he was"—'Don't use the term "wanking" in front of Hermione!'—"you know, doing that? Did you…ew, you didn't hear anything, did you?"
Hermione flushed a little and said, "Not exactly. He sort of…moaned…before he answered my question. At first I thought it was just a contemplative sound, but….When he walked out of the bathroom, his arm brushed mine so it was ice cold. My guess is that the cold shower just wasn't enough this morning."
Both Harry and Hermione's eyes widened at her blunt phrasing, but they chose to ignore it and move on.
"Oh," Harry said. "Well, if that is what you…interrupted, I guess…then the best thing for you is to act completely normal. Don't bring up the subject and don't be embarrassed around him. If you really are as over it as you say, then you shouldn't make a big deal about it. Make him think you've forgotten the whole thing."
"You don't think I should tell him that I know it's natural or—"
"No! Definitely just leave the subject be."
Hermione nodded and went back to her food.
In Defense, Hermione and Draco sat next to each other again. Hermione greeted Draco cheerily when he sat down, taking Harry's advice to forget about the whole incident. Most everyone was early to Defense that morning, so the two Head Students had plenty of time to talk before class.
Eventually, Draco's curiosity got the best of him and he asked, "What were you happy about the other night that you didn't want to tell me about?"
Eying her roommate, Hermione said, "If I was going to tell you, I wouldn't have given 'hidden happiness' as the password, would I have done?"
Grumbling, he responded with, "C'mon, 'Mione! I'm dying to know. Please tell me?" He gave her his most innocent look, hoping to guilt her into telling.
It almost worked. Hermione smiled sadly at him and said, "If I say it out loud, it might stop happening, and then I will have ruined it. Can't I keep this secret?"
Draco opened his mouth to protest, but instead said, "For now."
The morning classes, Defense and Arithmancy, as well as lunch went by quickly and in a blur. After lunch, most of the seventh years had a free period; Hermione, Draco, Padma, and Anthony had History of Magic.
The lecture was both incredibly boring and a repeat of a lecture they'd had in the two previous years. Draco was too wired to sleep, so he decided to pass notes with Hermione. Professor Binns wouldn't notice, and he wanted to talk to his girl.
'My girl? Since when do I think of her as mine?'
He had to admit, if only to himself, that he loved the sound of that.
He scribbled a short missive and slid it on the desk over to Hermione's space, which was to his left.
I'm sorry about this morning.
You don't have anything to be sorry about.
Really?
(smirking) Yes, Draco, really.
We have rounds tonight, right?
Oh, yes, I've been meaning to mention that. So far, everything's been going well with the Prefects' rounds. No complaints.
Good. So, do you want to do rounds together or split up to cover ground more quickly?
Draco! You know we're not supposed to do that! It's dangerous to walk around the castle alone at night. What if one of us fell down the stairs and got a concussion? No one would find us until the morning!
Okay, OKAY! I was just asking.
Besides, we need to discuss our project.
(nods)
And it'd be nice to spend some quality time with my roommate.
(smiles) Agreed.
Speaking of Head duties, do we need to do anything for the Prefect meeting tomorrow?
No, I think the only thing on our agenda is updates on House relations, discipline, rounds, and the Halloween celebration. Since you delegated the Halloween thing, maybe you should ask Parvati to come with an update.
Good idea. Though, I trust her creative abilities much more than I would trust my own. I'm sure she'll do a fantastic job.
Just as long as it's not a masquerade. It's so cliché.
Haha, for sure! Hopefully she'll just have it a regular costume party.
That would be way more fun. What would you dress up as, Granger?
Hmm, I don't know. Someone from wizarding history, maybe. Or a Muggle character might be fun. What about you?
Huh, I hadn't given it any thought. (Pauses) What costume would you suggest for me, Granger?
Well… (pauses for a few minutes) What about King Arthur?
Not Merlin? I'm offended, Granger.
You really want to dress up as a 200 year old wizard, Malfoy?
(grimaces) Okay, I see your point. (pauses again for a moment) You should go as Guinevere, then.
Any particular reason?
We're going to have to dance together to open the evening. Just thought it'd be nice to match.
You'd better hope that no one dresses as Lancelot, then.
Good point. What if we went as Muggle characters, then? What about Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett?
(With an incredulous look on her face) You know Jane Austen?
Of course. Just because my parents were pureblood maniacs doesn't mean that they didn't raise me to be cultured. I know that Jane Austen is particularly popular with women, so I thought I'd suggest it. Do you have another Muggle pair that you'd rather go as?
Hermione couldn't believe what was happening at this point. 'He obviously wants to take me to the Halloween ball, but he didn't even ask me! Well, Malfoy, if you think you can get out of being ballsy and romantic, then you've another thing coming!'
I'm sorry, Draco, but I can't arrange my costume until I know with whom I'll be attending. What if whoever asks me wants to match costumes?
She timed it perfectly so that he just had enough time to read the parchment before the class had ended. "I'll see you after dinner, Draco. We'll need to work on our project, and I can tutor you in Muggle Studies, and then we'll go on our rounds. I'm going to Gryffindor Tower for the afternoon. See you later!"
When Draco read the note after Hermione had dashed out the door, he immediately grinned to himself. 'Little minx should have been a Slytherin,' he thought as he walked out of the History of Magic classroom. He made a beeline for the dungeons, already planning how to ask the Head Girl to be his date for the Halloween ball.
Hermione knew she was hiding, but it was all part of the plan. She didn't want to push her presence on Draco. After all, he was a guy, and that meant that he would sometimes be a little slow on the uptake. It might take him some time to figure out that her message wasn't a brush off—this time, it actually was a code for "try harder, stupid."
Hermione had filled Ginny in on the conversation she had written with Draco that afternoon, and the two discussed costume options—for any blonde-male-brunette-female couple, of course—in the Gryffindor common room and on the way to dinner. Hermione had finally narrowed it down to Darcy and Elizabeth, the Phantom and Christine, and Belle and the Beast. Hermione was leaning towards either the first (because it was Draco's suggestion) or the last (because Belle had always been Hermione's favorite fairy tale princess, valuing courage and love over looks). She was still considering the Phantom and Christine because The Phantom of the Opera was her favorite musical, and because both characters had some amazing costumes, but she didn't really want Draco's face covered for the whole evening. He was too handsome for that, and she wanted to show him off.
"So, Hermione, when do you think he'll ask?" Ginny wanted to know how long she had to keep quiet about her best friend dating the hottest (other than Harry, of course) and richest guy in school.
Hermione just shrugged. "Dunno. I'm not even sure he understands yet that I was telling him to ask me. I'd give that a few days, and then time for him to plan how to ask me. A week, minimum, I'd say. I don't really want to wait, but I can be patient when I need to be." A thought occurred to Hermione just then. "Gin…can you?"
The redhead giggled and rolled her eyes. "Yes, Hermione, I think I can wait seven days for you to be asked on a date."
"I mean it, Gin! You can't say a word to anyone, not even Harry. If anyone hears you—or me—talking about it, it could get back to Draco, and I don't want him chickening out if people start gossiping. Not. A. Word."
Very seriously, Ginny said, "Alright, Hermione, I promise. Not a word."
Draco, Pansy, Theo, Blaise, Hermione, and Neville all ended up leaving the Great Hall at the same time. The three Slytherins headed to the dungeons together while the Head Students and Neville started climbing the stairs.
They were chatting amiably when eight Slytherin fifth and sixth years rounded the corner and blocked the hallway, menacing looks on their faces.
"Well, Malfoy, I guess your fall is complete," said a fifth year named Claire.
Scowling, Draco said, "And what do you mean by that, Milton?"
Looking scathingly at Neville, she said, "Associating with Longbottom? We know you have no choice but to live in the same quarters as the Mudblood, but you obviously don't care much about that if you can stand to be in the presence of an idiot blood traitor with no skills whose only use is to be on the receiving end of a Cruciatus!"
Hermione was utterly shocked at Draco's response. He whipped out his wand and Stunned three of the students before any of them knew his wand was even out. Then he managed to do the same to two more of them before the rest of them had been able to draw their wands. Hermione tried to help, but Draco growled, "NO! They're mine! No one will speak of my friends in that manner and get away with it!"
He dueled like a champion, which Hermione noted with pride. It was three on one, and though they were younger students, they were by no means unskilled. Within another three minutes, Draco had all but Claire Stunned, and she was bound with magical ropes. Draco walked up to her after catching her breath. He knelt on the floor and hissed in her face, "You're lucky you are a student and underage. If we were out in the real world, I would have done much worse. If I ever hear the words 'blood traitor,' 'Cruciatus,' or 'Mudblood'"—he spat the last word—"come out of your mouth again, you won't get off so easily. I'm taking you lot straight to McGonagall, and she'll deal with you. She will probably be more lenient than I, so count yourself lucky today, Milton."
When he stood, Hermione sent her Patronus to McGonagall to inform the Headmistress of the situation. Draco walked back to stand with Hermione and Neville while they waited for McGonagall to come.
Hermione scrutinized Draco's face and noticed a small amount of blood about to run out of his nose. She conjured a handkerchief and held it up to his nose for him. Draco raised his hand to his face to hold the cloth on his own. Then he looked into Hermione's eyes and said, very sincerely, "Thank you."
She rolled her eyes. "We should be thanking you, kneeling before you even. That was very…brave and noble of you, Draco. You know, you'd make quite the Gryffindor."
The three conscious and unbound students chuckled. Neville looked to Draco and said, "That was…really good of you, Mal—Draco. You didn't have to say what you did, but I want you to know I appreciate it." For a moment, it looked like Neville wasn't going to say anything more, but he soon gathered his courage. "It's nice to have a friend defend me so adamantly. If I can ever do the same for you, I promise you that I will."
The boys looked at each other for a moment before shaking hands and smiling hesitantly at each other. Hermione could feel tears gathering in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Just then, McGonagall entered the corridor, got the story from the three seventh years, and sent them on their way, promising to "deal with the children as would be befitting of the circumstances." The older students left, grateful not to have to be present for the unleashing of McGonagall's wrath.
Neville soon split off from the head students, and they made their way over to Pythia's portrait.
When they reached the portrait, however, Pythia was nowhere to be seen. In her painting sat a young man with brown hair playing a lyre. "Ah, good evening. Our Head Boy and Girl, I presume?"
They confirmed the young man's assumption, and Hermione asked, "Where is Pythia this evening?"
"She has some business to attend to in the Headmistress's office, I believe, and asked me to let the two of you into the common room this evening, providing, of course, that you give the correct password."
Draco spoke up. "Euphrosyne aides."
"You are very correct, sir. Have a good evening!" He swung forward and admitted them.
Once inside, Hermione fairly pounced onto Draco, squeezing him in the tightest hug he could ever remember receiving. Gobsmacked, all Draco could do was cling to her just as tightly. After a few moments, he had the presence of mind to ask, "What's this for, 'Mione?"
She loosened her grip and leaned back to look at him, but she didn't let him go. "This is what I was secretly happy about!"
Confused, Draco cocked an eyebrow at her and said (very eloquently), "Huh?"
Hermione laughed lightly and said, "I didn't want to say anything before, because I was afraid that you'd change your mind if I said it out loud, but….You're becoming friends with my friends! With Gryffindors. And I'm becoming friends with your friends—or, at least, with Pansy, and that's a start. I'm just so happy that our friends are getting along. It's only been a week, and we're already making progress with House unity! Of course, tonight's episode was a little disheartening, but….If you can get along with Neville and I can get along with Blaise, Theo, and Pansy, there's hope for everybody!" She was so giddy with relief that she grasped onto Draco again and laughed while holding him tightly to her.
The two stood embracing for some time. Eventually, the laughter died out, and a sweet, romantic desire to hold each other took its place. Draco, who was beginning to fear his body's reactions to her, eventually let her go enough to kiss her forehead and then move to the love seat. He pulled out his Muggle Studies book and asked, "We're still doing homework together, right?"
Hermione, frozen to the spot because of his kiss, snapped out of her trance and said, "Yeah! What are you guys working on in Muggle Studies right now?"
They spent a good hour and a half on Muggle Studies before they had to get ready to go on their rounds. Eventually, Hermione ran up to her room to change into Muggle clothes—jeans and a jumper—that would be more comfortable in which to wonder around the castle. Draco followed her lead, coming down the stairs in dark, slimming (not that he needed it) jeans and a dark green, long sleeved tee.
For the first ten minutes or so of wondering around the castle, the pair walked in comfortable silence. Eventually, Draco brought up the subject of their seventh-year project. "Obviously those diaries aren't going to hold exactly what we're looking for. Some of my ancestors seemed to know of people who had been involved in the building of Hogwarts, but they weren't personally acquainted with them." After a few moments, he continued. "Maybe we should ask some other older families if we can look through their libraries."
After a moment of reflection, Hermione said, "How many of them would give us permission, do you think?"
Draco snorted. "Not many, I'd wager."
When they reached the trophy room a few minutes later, Hermione had a sudden inspiration. "Draco! What were the names mentioned in your family's diaries?"
"Hmm, there was Acker, Miller, and Samson…Prince—"
"THAT'S IT!"
Draco nearly fell over. "Geez, 'Mione, give a man a heart attack, why don't you?"
Sheepishly, she said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm just so excited!" Hermione took a deep breath to calm herself before saying, "Draco. You're godfather was Professor Snape, yes?"
Confused, Draco said, "Yes. What does that have to do with anything?"
Rolling her eyes, she said, "His mother's maiden name was Prince! Eileen Prince was a pureblooded witch, probably descended from the Prince mentioned in your family's diary. And what's more, Snape left everything he owned—including his family's home and private library—to Harry! I grabbed a few books from Spinner's End to bring along to school this year, because Harry said I could have free reign of the texts. Maybe the diary we need for our proposal is there, at Spinner's End!"
During Hermione's speech, Draco had become increasingly excited. At this point, he was certain that his godfather's library housed exactly what the pair needed to finish this project. Laughing, he picked Hermione up around the waist, pulled her to him, and spun her in a circle. When he finally stopped, they were so dizzy that they dropped to the floor in a tangle of legs, but they kept laughing. A huge weight had been lifted off their shoulders, if only temporarily.
Sitting there with the man she had come to both admire and want, breathing heavily and smiling like fools, Hermione began to feel very self-conscious. She looked down, calming her breathing, and eventually made to stand. Draco held out his arm for her to hold onto, preventing her falling back to the floor. When she was safely righted, he also stood, and then they walked off to complete their rounds. The conversation turned to their classes, their classmates, and the wizarding world in general. The only topics they avoided were the Halloween ball and their burgeoning romantic feelings for each other. Around eleven thirty, they began their walk back to the Head common room.
When they reached the portrait, they were surprised to find it empty. Hermione was exhausted. She sat on the floor across from the painting, pulling Draco down next to her, and leaned onto his shoulder. She had just enough energy to send a Patronus to Pythia before falling into unconsciousness on Draco's arm.
Pythia returned to her portrait shortly after Hermione entered the land of dreams. Not wanting to wake her, Draco carefully stood and picked her up in his arms, giving Pythia the password and entering their domain with his witch in his arms. Not thinking he had the energy to climb the stairs with her, he sat them both on the love seat and cuddled her to him. Soon he joined her in unconsciousness, his arms wrapped around her waist, her head under his chin, and her right hand on his heart.
There you go! Just as a note, the "try harder, stupid" line is a reference to the movie Hitch (great movie with Will Smith, I highly recommend it). Also, any suggestions as to how Draco should ask Hermione to the Halloween ball? I have a partial idea—when and where to ask—but I can't think of a cute way for him actually to ask. If you have any suggestions, I will take them into account. Also, let me know which costume idea you like better (I'll take it under advisement, too :) Have a great rest of the week, guys! :D