Chapter Eleven

"So how do we test this new theory of yours, Granger?" Draco asked. "If the answer to the riddle is love, how do we get that bloody stone? Do we have to dance naked in a circle chanting the bloody word?"

"I think an act of love would be more successful than that, Malfoy."

"Granger!" Draco cried sardonically. "Are you asking me to shag you?"

Hermione flushed red. Of course he would draw that conclusion.

"No – I – that's not my point, Malfoy."

Draco raised an eyebrow and made to untie his robes.

"What are you doing?" Hermione cried, jumping away from him on the couch.

"Well I prefer to shag naked," Draco smirked, "but if you have a fetish for fine cotton rubbing against your skin, I'm happy to grant your wish."

Hermione gaped at him. "That is not necessary."

Draco thought that anything that sounded so much like Professor McGonagall would turn him off for the rest of his years as a pureblood wizard. He was wrong.

Draco stopped and stared at Hermione for a moment. She had his body in a complete twist.

Hermione recomposed herself. "I think maybe it goes beyond just doing something," she said. "I mean, you and Pansy have probably shagged down here –"

"Pansy may have dreamed of it but it never happened – Ever."

Draco didn't quite understand the sudden need to assure her of this.

"Never?" Hermione asked.

"Not with her," Draco replied.

"Who…?"

"Mandy," Draco said with a shrug. "Sixth year."

"Sixth? You found time to –"

"I needed it, Granger," Draco breathed. "Especially around the time of Potter's Sectumsempra accident. It took my mind off things."

"You were dating Pansy –"

"Not during the later half."

Draco and Hermione looked at each other. "I don't know why I wanted to know –"

"Merlin, Granger," Draco said suddenly, his tone slightly strangled. He suddenly moved closer to her, startling her. "Why are we even bothering?"

"Bothering?" Hermione's breath was coming out fast and uneven.

Draco moved his head forward and gave her a light kiss on the lips. It was so soft and it was over so quickly that Hermione never got a chance to let it register.

Hermione's hand scooted to his chest and she pushed him away slightly. They looked into each other's eyes. Hermione bit her lip.

"It seems like the right thing to do," she whispered, hoping he would understand.

The last thing she had expected at that moment was for Draco to kiss her. Last night, they avoided admitting their feelings completely. It seemed that now all they wanted to do was have them out and clarified. It confused Hermione beyond belief.

Draco frowned at her words, not knowing what she had been referring to.

"Denying it seems like the right thing to do," Hermione elaborated, noticing his own confusion.

Draco picked up the fire stone abruptly and headed to the fire. With one swipe across it, an image of them kissing arose from the fire. They were surrounded by darkness but Hermione knew that they were at the entrance to the forbidden forest – she could make out a single branch of a tall tree.

"Denying it might not be effective enough in the future, Granger."

With that Draco left, heading up the stairs to mull over his thoughts.

Hermione sat back in the cushions of the couch in disbelief.

He actually seemed to want something to happen between them.

Brushing her fringe from her eyes, she stood and hurried out of the common room.

ooo

"Hermione, you can't have feelings for Malfoy!" Ginny cried.

"Why not?" Hermione questioned. "I'm human. He's human."

"This goes beyond humanity, Hermione."

"How so?"

"He's Malfoy."

Hermione took a deep breath. "A changed Malfoy." She put a great deal of emphasis on the word 'changed'.

"A few days ago you were complaining about him following you," Ginny said, "and teasing you."

Hermione nodded. "Yes but I only complained because it made my whole body go haywire. I was going mad, Ginny!"

"Hermione, you're not thinking of…" Ginny hesitated for moment "…having sex with Malfoy?"

"I –"

"Who's having sex with Malfoy?" Harry had arrived.

Hermione panicked and quickly came up with an alternate conversation.

"I was just telling Ginny that Malfoy has never had sex –"

"Malfoy's a virgin?"

"No," Hermione snapped. "If you'd let me finish. He's never had sex with Pansy."

"So he does have taste then?" Harry asked, chuckling.

"Apparently," Ginny said with a twinkle in her eye as she pointedly gave Hermione a side-glance.

Harry was oblivious; he grabbed a banana and started unpeeling it.

"Speaking of shagging," Harry said, looking at Ginny. "Ron –" He looked at Hermione suddenly.

"Ron what, Harry?"

"Ron shagged Lavender," Harry replied after another moment of hesitation, "last night apparently."

They both waited for Hermione's reaction. She merely nodded and dropped her fork. "Well at least he has better taste than Malfoy, right?"

Ginny stood as Hermione stood. "I wouldn't say that if I were you, Hermione," she said, looking at her friend carefully.

Hermione looked at Ginny for a moment. She may have just shared her feelings with Ginny but she had not spoken a word of Draco's. Did Ginny possibly know? Was Draco possibly showing more outward signs that Hermione had noticed?

After a moment, Hermione gave Ginny a small nod and started to leave.

Ginny looked at Harry who was frowning, having just watched the scene before him. "Sorry Harry," she said and she started to follow Hermione. "Hermione!" she called.

Hermione didn't turn back.

ooo

Hermione stood hesitantly at Draco's bedroom door. Mustering up some courage, she raised her hand and quickly knocked.

Receiving no response, Hermione breathed out deeply and knocked again, her hand shaking.

Again no one answered. Summoning her courage, Hermione hesitantly turned the doorknob and opened the door a crack. When she still got no response, she pushed it open wide.

She had never seen Draco's room. It was exactly the same as her own only Draco's linens were silver and green rather than scarlet and gold. To her right sat a collection of issues of The Daily Prophet, all of which appeared to be from the summer following the end of the war.

Grabbing the top one, Hermione saw a photo of herself, Harry and Ron gazing up with small plaques in their hands. Gracefully crossing his room, she headed out onto the balcony where she stood at the railing, the newspaper open in her hands.

After several moments of pleasantly reading interviews she and her friends had conducted regarding the war, Hermione was startled to suddenly hear a voice behind her.

"I see you let yourself into my room, Granger."

Hermione hurried turned to look at Draco, the newspaper falling from her hands onto the balcony floor.

"I was looking for you," she explained hurriedly, scooping up the newspaper. She stared at the front page for a moment. "I thought you said you never read any of this?"

"I did after you told me to, Granger," Draco replied.

"I never told you to do anything," Hermione said. "I was just surprised is all…"

"Granger, we need to talk," Draco said abruptly. "We need to put up some good strong boundaries because I don't want this morning to repeat itself."

"Agreed," Hermione said with a nod. "However, I honestly don't think boundaries will do us much good. We've tried them before. I've tried avoiding you, I've tried to stop these feelings and I've most certainly tried to prevent anything like this morning from happening."

"Is there any brilliant ideas in that bushy head of yours then, Granger?" Draco watched her closely. She was standing quite confidently before him as though she had a bright idea in that very clever head of hers.

"We don't avoid each other," she said simply. "We remember how much we used to hate each other and go back to that."

"No," Draco said.

"No?" Hermione said. "Can I ask why not? We were both happy then."

"These feelings make me enjoy getting your knickers in a twist Granger," Draco replied simply. "Hating you would only make you all the more desirable."

"Well that's only because you're a disturbed little boy," Hermione snapped.

"I can assure you Granger, I am far from little," Draco smirked.

"Well then Mr Malfoy," she said smartly. "You're as wise as I am. What do you have in mind?"

Draco did not respond because if he said what were on his mind at that moment it would certainly break the boundaries they hadn't quite set yet.