Authors note: I'm sorry this took so long to update! I've been super busy! Hopefully this next part won't take as long; I've got a better idea of what I'm going to write so… yeah. I hope you like it! :) Remember, I love your feedback!
It's been a week and a half… I've seen him every night and I seriously cannot stop thinking about him… I hope he's figured out what to do about this whole mess… We haven't talked about it much since that first night… I do hope he's okay though. He looks tired and considerably paler than usual, which is saying something. I think I should try to talk to him after class… I'll just pass him a note and tell him to linger behind and then we can try to sneak off somewhere so I can ask him if he's okay…
Hermione pulled out a scrap of parchment and wrote: Can we talk after class? It's kind of urgent. She folded it and gripped it tightly; then slowly walked towards the student storage cupboard. As she past Draco's table, she casually slipped the note on top of his books. She got some extra lacewing flies, to justify why she got up.
Draco's eyes darted up at Hermione as she passed again. She gestured slightly to his small stack of books. He quickly unfolded the note and read. He looked back up at Hermione, and gave a sharp nod. They had met after class a few times the past week, so they didn't need to discuss what to do. When Slughorn told them to finish their potions and clean up, Draco slowly gathered up his things.
"Coming Draco?" Pansy asked, she was standing next to him, ready to go.
"Not quite. I'll meet up with you later, all right?"
She pouted, "Draco, we never spend any time together anymore. What happened to us?"
"There isn't an 'us', Pansy. There never was an 'us', and there'll never be an 'us'. Can you understand that?" He snapped.
"Well… you didn't have to be so mean…" She turned and ran out of the classroom. Draco sighed and rolled his eyes. He didn't care what happened to her. After tonight… none of this will matter. I just have to remember that… I wonder what Hermione wants to tell me. I should probably tell her what I decided to do… but it's probably for the best that she doesn't know.
The classroom had emptied, except for Draco, Hermione, and Professor Slughorn. Hermione was asking him a question about the lesson, so it would seem like she had a reason for staying behind. Draco continued to shuffle his papers around until he heard Hermione say, "Oh, well thank you, sir."
He turned and saw Hermione walking towards the door; she looked over at him and nodded slightly. He picked up his book bag and followed her out. No one was in the small corridor. Just to be safe, Hermione slipped into a cramped broom closet. After waiting a few seconds, he pulled the door open and stepped inside.
"Hey." He whispered, a smile curling at his lips.
"Draco… Are- Are you alright? You just seem off today…" She bit her lip.
"Uh… of course." His smile faded.
"Are you sure?" Hermione stepped closer to him and studied his face. "I… I want you to be honest."
He sighed. "It's not easy to explain… I think it's best if you don't know until later."
"Draco." She said firmly. "Please… Can you just talk to me?"
He leaned back against the door and shook his head. "I want to… it's just… given the nature of the, uh, situation, I don't know if-"
"You can tell me." She spoke softly and placed a hand on his cheek. "I can help you."
Draco's chin quivered and he closed his eyes. "Hermione… no one can help me."
"I can try. If you let me I-"
"You can't. I don't want you to… I shouldn't have gotten you involved in this. I'm just afraid that you're going to get hurt."
"Draco, why would I get hurt?"
He looked away. "I decided what I'm going to do... But now really isn't the time for you to find out. I promise, I'll explain everything if you meet me up in the owlery tonight at eleven."
"You'll tell me everything?" He nodded reluctantly. "All right…"
Draco's smile returned a little. "Good." He kissed her on the forehead. "Now we can move on… I don't want to talk about it right now."
Hermione paused and then changed the subject, "I still can't believe we've been spending every night together since that… that first time last week." She blushed. "It's nice…"
"Oh yeah?" He asked, a smirk appearing on his face.
"Yeah…" Hermione kissed him, pressing herself against him. His hand fumbled to bolt the heavy lock on the door before he wrapped his arms around her waist. Someone could always use Alohamora to open it, but Draco didn't care. He pushed her back against a wall and began unbuttoning her blouse. He trailed kisses across her collar bone as her fingers worked at the buttons of his shirt.
They were kissing again when they heard a voice calling from the corridor, "Draco? Draaaaco? Are you still down here?"
"Fuck... that'd be Pansy…" He whispered, looking annoyed.
"You don't think she'd look in here, do you?" Hermione asked.
"Shhh. Hang on…" He placed a finger on her lips and listened.
"Draco? I'm sorry I bothered you… Draco?" Her voice slowly faded away.
"Probably checking down in the common room." Draco shook his head. "Don't know why she's so obsessed with me…"
"Well… you are quite attractive." Hermione bit her lip.
Draco laughed softly. "Thanks for noticing." He placed his hand on her cheek and smiled. "But you are truly the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."
She looked down and blushed. "I doubt that."
"You are." He kissed her again and she could tell that he meant it. "Trust me."
She smiled and flung her arms around his neck. She kissed him with such passion that he stumbled backwards. They fell back onto the cold stone floor, laughing.
"Ow. That really hurt." Draco said through his laughter.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that…" She giggled and positioned herself so she was straddling his lap.
"I don't think I mind…" He raised his eyebrows suggestively. He ran his hands over her legs and let them rest on the small of her back.
"I definitely don't mind." She leaned down and kissed him again. She sighed against his lips and brought her hand up to his cheek. He ran his tongue over her lower lip, making her shiver. She pulled away and whispered, "Oh Draco, why do you make me feel like this?"
"I wish I knew…" He closed his eyes as she kissed him softly; he knew their time together would be limited. After tonight, he didn't know how long it would be until they could be together again.
Hermione quickly walked up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. She ran her fingers through her hair a few times before approaching the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Password?"
"Tapeworm." She said, making sure her shirt was tucked in all the way. The portrait swung open and she stepped inside. It was beginning to get late, so the common room was emptying out. She saw Ron and Harry sitting at a table and joined them. "Hello there."
"Where have you been?" Ron asked, looking up from his Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. "And what is that?" He pointed to the silver ring from Draco. Hermione had forgotten to take it off.
"Looks like something Malfoy would wear." Harry added, sounding suspicious.
"What? It's nothing." She slipped it off and dropped it into her pocket before they could get a better look. "I found it in a small shop in Diagon Alley at the beginning of the term. I'm surprised you haven't seen me wear it before."
"Yeah… well I haven't." Harry said shortly. He shoved his books into his bag and stood. "Dumbledore asked me to meet him up in the astronomy tower. So if you'll excuse me." He turned to Ron and said in a low voice, "Just tell her what I said, all right?"
"Sure." Ron muttered. Hermione took Harry's seat as he walked away. "Erm, listen… Harry and I have been talking. We've noticed you've been missing a lot of class. That's defiantly not like you. And we also noticed that, well… in all the classes you miss or show up late for… Malfoy's gone too. We just think, we're not accusing you of course… but we just can't help but wonder if something's going on…"
Hermione took a deep breath. "Oh Ronald. How can you possibly think that? Maybe I've worked something out with Professor McGonagall again. I need more study time and she's given it to me. As for Malfoy… well I don't know what he's doing out of class. And I don't think I want to know." She was surprised at how convincing she had managed to sound.
"Well… I guess that makes sense. But I doubt Harry will believe you."
"And why is that?"
"Oh, you know him. If he thinks something about someone it's hard to change his mind." Ron shrugged. "If he really suspected something… I'm surprised he didn't check the map. Seeing where you two are."
Hermione forced a laughed, relived to hear that he hadn't. "Well it's not like he had anything to worry about. Just imagine… me and Malfoy sneaking around doing god knows what!"
Ron snorted. "Yeah, what kind of a person would ever do that with that prat?"
She laughed dryly, "Yeah. Hey, what time is it?"
Ron checked his watch, "Oh, nearly nine."
"Okay. Great, thanks." She pulled out her arithmancy book and began working on her assignment.
Just about two hours until I get to see Draco…
"Hey, Ron?" He grunted in response, so she continued. "There's a book in the restricted section I'm interested in… would you mind bringing me Harry's invisibility cloak? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
"Sure, sure." He raised his arms over his head and stretched with a yawn. "I'll go get that for you."
Ron got up and ascended the stairs of the boys' dormitory. Hermione smiled to herself, thinking about getting to see Draco.
I wonder what he's going to tell me tonight… I do hope it's nothing bad.
