Chapter 11—Learning to Cope
September 2
My love, Mr. Darcy,
Lately, I've found myself thinking more and more on those first days we spent together. The times that we were so close, that we felt the connection, felt our bond pull us together, and were yet too blind or too scared to act on it. Can you imagine, my love, if we hadn't waited so long?
It seemed you and I were always in the middle of some plot or another. We never could truly find a moment of peace, could we? Of course, none of that mattered, so long as the two of us were together.
I miss you endlessly, dear. I sometimes think that I can feel you getting closer, but I don't allow myself to believe that wholly. You and I, love, are magnetic, and I know we will find our way back to each other. Hopefully soon.
My heart is with you.
Hermione
There was no hiding her shock at his words. Warm brown eyes bulging, mouth hanging open, arms slack at her sides: Hermione Granger was the picture of a shell-shocked woman. Who could blame her, though, after the bomb that Draco Malfoy had just dropped on her?
"I-I-" she stammered helplessly. "Draco, I- I truly don't understand. What does this mean?"
She saw the beginning of a smile, or more likely a smirk, playing at the corners of his mouth. "Now, Hermione dearest. Would it be any fun at all if I revealed my hand so soon?"
As hard as she tried, and that was rather hard indeed, Hermione could not make any sense of what was happening. "I- I really have to go. I think Ginny's waiting for me."
She turned abruptly on her heel and began striding away as quickly as she could. The witch felt herself trying to analyze Draco's motives, but also felt a foreign sense of pleasure at the idea that he would have asked her to the ball. It was unsettling.
As she continued back towards the Gryffindor dormitories, she heard the Slytherin call, "Don't forget! Room of Requirement, tonight after patrols! Granger?"
Without answering his call, Hermione sped off around a corner and out of his line of sight. She didn't stop until she was well out of his reach. Pausing to catch her breath, the brunette leaned heavily against the stone walls of the hallway. Her mind was racing, her heart was beating rapidly, and for some odd reason there was a sense of glee coursing through her veins. What in the name of Merlin's pastel pajamas was happening?
Desperately in need of someone to talk to, Hermione dashed up to Gryffindor tower in search of Ginny. As she breathlessly climbed through the portrait hole (after some polite conversation with the Fat Lady), the brunette's eyes widened in shock yet again.
There, sitting casually in the middle of the common room, were Ginny Weasley and Blaise Zabini. That wasn't the odd part; what shocked Hermione was the fact that their bodies were entangled on the sofa, looking quite comfortable with each other. Blaise was casually running his hand up and down Ginny's leg, and the redhead was playfully toying with his other hand. They were speaking in hushed tones, laughing lightly at each other's jokes.
Hermione cleared her throat shyly, wholly regretting ever coming here. At the sound, Blaise leaped to his feet and glanced awkwardly at the brunette. "Erm... Hello there, Granger. Ginny and I were just—"
Ginny cut him off, eyes darting between Blaise and her bewildered friend. "Blaise, maybe I should talk to Hermione for a minute? And I'll find you after dinner, yeah?"
The dark Slytherin nodded his head eagerly. "Sure, yeah, that sounds good. I'll see you later, then. Bye, Hermione," he added as he rushed out of the common room.
As soon as the portrait hole closed behind him, Ginny began her rapid-fire explanation. "See, I was going to tell you, I really was. I just didn't want to say anything to you if it wasn't going to amount to anything. Blaise and I have just been talking, and I find I rather enjoy his company. He's funny, and smart, and he's truly sweet to me. Even for a Slytherin, he's a truly great person, and—"
"Gin!" Hermione cut in, worried that the younger witch would forget to breathe. "Honestly, I was just surprised. I was just coming up to talk, but if you'd like I can go and chase him down for you. I doubt he'll be too opposed to coming back here..."
The redhead shook her head vigorously. "No, really, it's quite alright. You came up rather quickly, that's all. Something you wanted to talk about?"
Hermione felt her face redden as she remembered why she'd dashed up to see Ginny in the first place. "Yes, well... It's about Malfoy."
She could see Ginny shift into a more mischievous version of herself. "Oh, really? What have the two of you been up to, hmm?"
Without revealing Draco's Veela identity, Hermione told Ginny everything that had happened between them. The strange familiarity, the constant incidental seclusion, the mysterious pull that drove her into a haze whenever she was around him, the way she wanted to be near him when they were apart. The whole time, Ginny nodded her head enthusiastically, a wide grin stretched across her face. Hermione definitely did not like that at all.
When she finally mentioned how Draco had let slip that he'd intended to take her to the ball, Ginny interrupted for the first time. "He told you this?! Did he give you a reason? Not that you're a total catch, Hermione Jean, but that seems quite unusual for Malfoy. Although, to be fair, none of this between you two is anywhere near ordinary."
"He just said something about not revealing his hand all at once, which I took to be really odd. I mean, he makes it sound like I'm just a pawn in some great scheme of his!" For some unfathomable reason, Hermione felt her heart sink at the thought.
"Didn't you say you'd be patrolling with him tonight? Try to suss out the situation then, I say. There's got to be something going on in that boy's brain that you can squeeze out of him."
With Ginny's advice in mind, Hermione retreated to her dormitory. Thankfully, Draco was nowhere to be found when she got there. The last thing she needed at the moment was to be faced with him so soon; she found that her mind was highly unreliable when he was in the vicinity. There was no logical reason for this, no reason that she should be so distracted by his proximity, no reason that he should make her feel so out of control. But it wasn't necessarily so bad, was it?
Shaking her head, the brunette showered quickly and changed into black jeans and a Gryffindor jumper. She had about a half hour before meeting Draco for patrols, so naturally she passed the time with her favorite book: Hogwarts, a History.
Too soon, it was time for her to meet Draco outside of the Great Hall. Sighing, Hermione replaced the tome on the shelf, put on her robes and prefect pin, and made her way down. Just as she'd predicted, her stomach started doing backflips when she caught sight of the unmistakable shock of blond hair waiting outside the Hall for her. He hadn't heard her approach, so she decided to try and defuse the anxiety she felt.
Sneaking up lightly behind him, Hermione tapped on Draco's right shoulder and swung around to his left side. Unfamiliar with the silly Muggle joke, Malfoy whipped his head around to find the source of the disturbance. Hermione laughed, pleased that she'd fooled him, and turned him gently by his arm. "You really need to get out more, you know that?"
Another rare smile slowly spread across the blond boy's face, and Hermione allowed herself to fixate on that smile. "I think I'm doing just fine, thanks very much," Draco said airily. Together, the co-chairs began patrolling the school, scolding students who were sneaking off after hours. As they walked, Hermione felt herself forget about her plan to confront Malfoy about his earlier comments; instead, she reveled in conversation about Muggle versus wizarding fiction.
About an hour into the patrol, Hermione heard a sound coming from one of the old Charms classrooms on the fourth floor. She gestured silently for Draco to follow her and unlocked the heavy door with a nonverbal Alohomora. Inside, she found two fifth-year Hufflepuffs snogging heavily on top of a desk.
"Hey, now!" she said abruptly. The two sprung apart as if a Protego had been cast between them. "I'm assuming you both know it's well past curfew, don't you?" The students nodded sheepishly, not making eye contact with either prefect. "Well, then, off you go. And twenty points from Hufflepuff for good measure. Don't let me catch you again."
The couple darted out of the classroom, and Hermione was sure they'd be off to their dormitories; she could be rather terrifying when she wanted to be. Draco had definitely taken notice of that. "Quite the iron fist you've got there, Granger," he laughed lightly. "You nearly made those two cry!"
"I did nothing of the sort!" Hermione protested. She barely noticed that she was unconsciously closing the distance between herself and the pale Slytherin. Her feet seemed to be moving of their own volition, and soon enough there was barely a foot between them.
"Don't worry, it was quite entertaining," he murmured, taking hold of her wrist softly. She allowed him to pull her closer, not really knowing what was happening. It was like they were magnetic, drawing closer and closer together. The classroom, the patrol duties, the school: all of it melted away as she focused singularly on the beautiful man in front of her. "And honestly rather attractive," he added quietly.
His eyes, the color of gunmetal, seemed to peer right into her soul. At this point, his arm had circled her waist and the two were nearly chest to chest. Hermione felt her breath hitch, her pulse quicken, and her spine tingle. Being this close to Draco was intoxicating: the smell of his perfume, like oak and spearmint, seeped into her pores. She was certain she knew what was coming, and yet—
"Draco," she whispered softly. His head dipped in response, now only centimeters from her face. "Yes, Hermione?" he replied quietly. He was no longer meeting her gaze, but instead staring rather intently at her mouth. It almost pained her to say, "You have an appointment with the Room of Requirement and quite a few anxious Ravenclaws, remember?"
Just like that, the spell was broken. His strong arms released her, and she felt every cell in her body scream its displeasure. Draco bowed his head, looking directly down at his feet, and said, "Of course. Thanks for reminding me. Let's go, then; I recall you agreed to come along?"
Indeed, she had. As they walked out of the old classroom, Hermione found herself trying every possible distraction she could think of to clear her head. Think of Ginny. Ginny Weasley, your nutty best friend, a true force of nature, a hotheaded Weasley... who had been snuggling with a Slytherin herself. Ugh! Never mind then. Potions, think of potions! All sorts of fun potions. Veritaserum. Draught of Living Death. Polyjuice... which Harry and Ron had once used to turn themselves into Slytherins. No! More potions. Amortentia... Dear Merlin, why couldn't she stop thinking about love and Slytherins?
Soon enough, they'd reached the Room of Requirement, and were greeted by about twenty chattering Ravenclaw girls. Hermione was surprised to see Luna Lovegood among them, considering the fact that Neville was still clearly smitten with her. As it turned out, Luna was only there to ward off nargles, seeing as they would likely ruin the mood for Draco and his host of possible soulmates. Hermione cringed at the thought.
Malfoy stepped in front of the wall, and seconds later a door handle appeared. As he tugged the Room open, Hermione spotted a plush seating area set only a bit away from a simple red loveseat. Draco turned to the Ravenclaws, who were all suddenly very quiet. "Well, go on, then," he said brusquely. "Let's get this started, shall we?"
The girls were abuzz once again, and Hermione allowed them all to enter before walking in ahead of Draco. She could feel his gaze on her back, felt butterflies in her stomach, but sat wordlessly next to Luna and listened to her describe the repercussions of starting a relationship in the presence of blibbering humdingers.
Hermione felt a heavy knot form in her stomach as she watched Draco greet and chat with the striking young women that had come out to see him. She felt even worse when he kissed one of them: a petite raven-haired beauty named Margaret. She did feel slightly better, though a bit guilty for it, when she saw that they'd bumped teeth.
And so it continued. The girls would follow Draco to the loveseat, talk in quiet tones for a few minutes. He escorted some of the Ravenclaws out after short conversations, and others he'd kiss clumsily. One girl pulled away after he kissed her, in tears over how magical she thought it was (he walked her out awkwardly, grunting noncommittally when she'd asked him to dinner). Another seemed to have spritzed a little too much perfume before she'd arrived, and Draco coughed heavily while simply waving her away. Yet another girl missed his mouth completely, and hurried out of the room soon after. Hermione watched all of these interactions from her vantage point beside Luna, feeling herself relax a bit after each failed connection.
It really didn't take long for the room to clear out. Luna found that her dirigible plum earring had lost a few rhinestones and ducked out to replace them. After only about an hour and a half, Draco and Hermione found themselves alone once again. The room, sensing the change in atmosphere, removed every seat except the couch Hermione occupied and the loveseat Draco had been sitting at all night.
"Well, that was rather... educational," he began lamely. Hermione laughed at the discomfort in his voice.
"Come on, they can't have all been so bad," she replied coolly, though she hoped she was wrong this time.
"Terrible. Bloody terrible. Did you see the one that basically just licked at my face? I had to be alone for a few minutes after that. Traumatizing, I tell you!" He laughed out loud, a hearty sound that made Hermione's heart swell.
"Sorry it didn't turn out your way, Malfoy," she said with a small smile. She truly hoped her inexplicable joy wasn't evident. "You'll find her soon enough, though, I'm sure of it."
"Yeah, I think I will," he said in a more serious tone. And for the second time that night, Hermione found herself entranced by his gaze, unable to fight the urge to be near him. This time, though, he walked slowly over to her. He took a seat beside her and took her hand lightly. Hermione felt dizzy, as if her head were completely separate from her body. She shifted in her spot so that she faced him completely and he began toying with her hands lightly. Without breaking eye contact, he pulled her fingers up to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to the back of her hand. She shuddered softly, reveling in the feeling that came over her, emanating from the spot where his mouth touched her smooth flesh. She scooted closer to him, but rather than tilting her head up to meet his, Hermione tucked herself into his chest. His muscular arms wrapped around her torso, pulling her in tighter, leaving no space at all between their bodies. Wordlessly, she sat, trying to memorize the hard lines and warm feeling of his body pressed against hers, the way his unique scent tickled her nostrils, the way she could feel his heart like the steady beat of a drum. Basking in the closeness, the profundity of the moment, Hermione allowed herself to experience pure bliss without thinking of the consequences this little encounter might have.
Author's Note: Merry Christmas all! This chapter goes out to my magnificent beta reader, MJ. We manage to make it work despite a fourteen hour time difference, ha! Just to let you all know, I've run out of pre-written chapters to post, which means my updates will likely be slower from now on. I expect to get at least a chapter a week out to you, if not two a week. Hope you all enjoy! Please leave me a review, let me know how you think the story is progressing—I love getting your feedback!
See you in chapter 12!
xx entirelymyown