CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: For Draco's Sake

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They'll be back at Hogwarts and you'll start to see how the school reacts to Draco. It'll get intense next chapter but this one's kind of necessary before then. And no, Hermione's STILL not letting him touch her again but they do come upon an accord on their relationship. Enjoy the tension!

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She opened the door slowly, terrified of his expression, but he seemed calm enough. He stared much as she had at a random spot before him, his hands covering the Orb in his lap. When he saw her come in, he slipped the Orb into the bedside table drawer and smiled at her, extending a free hand. She took it and sat down on the bed, in the little spot he'd cleared just for her.

She smiled back and no words needed to be said. His hand caressed her cheeks, slowly down her neck to the neckline of her blouse. She winced and he drew back, wondering if she'd been injured there the way he had but finding no visible wound.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, taking his hands in hers and setting them back down on her lap. "Not yet. Not for a while."

He nodded, reaching for his vial of potion beside the Orb. She pulled her own long vial out of her side pocket and they drank at once. The drowsiness began almost instantaneously. She dragged herself off the bed and went to lock the door. She unbuttoned her shirt – it took her twice as long as usual – and slid out of her skirt.

Draco grinned when he saw she wasn't wearing any underwear. If she was, she'd taken it off as his eyes drooped closed. She slid into the bed beside him, careful not to aggravate his wounds, and fell asleep in his arms before they ever turned.

Tonight, he changed without pain and she without worry.

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They woke up the next day in essentially the same position they'd been the night before. Hermione had her leg intertwined with Draco's, her head still on his safe shoulder, and was whispering something unintelligible when the light knock came at their door. Draco sat up quickly, picked up the shredded sheets from the floor, and covered her up as much as he could, wrapping one of the shreds around himself before he opened the door.

"Hello, Weasley," he told Ron, sounding as tired as he felt.

"Well you healed up nicely!" he answered, sickeningly cheerful. He reached out and poked Draco in the ribs. He didn't even flinch. He looked down and saw two thin little scars where the gashes had been last night. "Though you had plenty of time since you've been sleeping all day. You guys ready to go?"

Draco groaned and turned back towards Hermione, still sleeping naked on her side of the little bed. She was the only ray of light in the entire dreary, windowless room. He smirked, watching her for a second longer. He so didn't want to wake her.

"Uh, we're going to need a minute and Hermione's going to need some clothes. Can you get Ginny to lend her some?"

Ron nodded and headed back downstairs. There was something wrong with him, Draco thought. He was much too cheery, as though he knew something no one else did, something Draco would sure dislike.

He turned his attention back to Hermione and went to gently shake her awake. "'Mione?" he whispered. "Baby, wake up. It's time for school."

She shot up so quick at the mention of school that her forehead rammed into Draco's nose. He let out a long string of profanities and brought his hands to his face. "Draco!" she shouted. "You scared the life out of me! I thought I was late for school!"

The pain quickly vanished and he responded lightly, "Of course not. It's Saturday evening. We've got all the time in the world, dear."

She smiled because she loved it when he called her dear. She smiled because she'd woken up naked in his bed so many times that she didn't even notice anymore. She smiled because for the first time in weeks, she did feel like she had all the time in the world because she knew now he would never leave her.

"They're waiting for us, apparently. Ginny will be up with some clothes for you in a minute and then we're off to Hogwarts."

She gulped like she'd just swallowed a very dry, very large piece of toast. "Draco, we have to talk."

He grimaced and stopped buttoning his clean, white shirt. He sat down beside her and, with a heavy sigh, gestured for her to continue.

"Look, we're going to be back at school and everything and I'd just like to get some things clear."

He nodded. "Go on."

"Are we—you know, an item?"

He laughed and fell back on the bed. "Oh please. Admit it. You only want me for my body."

She rolled her eyes and jokingly punched him in the stomach. "Draco, be serious. I mean, I know we're something but how public a something are we?"

He saw the fear and insecurity in her eyes, in the hunch of her bare shoulders, and sat up again. He ran a gentle hand up her spine and soothingly answered, "Hermione, word of what I am is probably already circulating every wizard newspaper in the country. Do you really want to be associated with that? Do you want people asking questions about why you're with me? About what we are?"

"I guess not."

He leaned to kiss her shoulder and continued, "One day, the world will not care about us and we can be who we want to be. Until then, we'll just have to keep to ourselves."

"A secret affair," she whispered, a hint of intrigue flashing in her eyes. He laughed and kissed her neck, then up her jaw. "Don't think you can get away with everything just because you know my favorite spots."

"Your favorite spots? Really?" He moved his tongue along her jaw and across her lips. He landed upon her bottom lip and gently bit and pulled. "Like here?"

She pulled away and announced simply, "No."

She wrapped herself up in the shredded sheet and came downstairs in search of clothes. Draco waited but she never came back up. He got dressed and met them all downstairs by the front door. His mother was standing next to Mad-Eye, the same strangely honest smile on her face. They all had similar knowing smiles, except Hermione who seemed genuinely scared of something.

"What's going on?" he asked, searching their faces for an answer. Hermione looked away at the floor so he couldn't read her eyes. Nobody spoke a word on the way home but maybe that was for the best.

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Their rooms were just as they left them, not a sock out of place. Since they didn't have class till the next morning, they decided to stay in and avoid any mess. They'd arrived late so they'd yet to see another living soul. Harry was apparently meeting with Dumbledore, which never bode well for anyone. The Order had taken care of the bodies at the hotel, erasing some memories in the process, and Dumbledore was not happy. Being Harry, everyone automatically assumed they were after him. Hermione and the others didn't correct them but they had to suspect Draco had something to do with everything. After all, he was one of them.

They had not planned anything but something in Draco's perverted mind had conjured up some sort of romantic evening at home. Just as Hermione got out of the shower and slipped into her nightgown, Ginny came through the portrait hole with a worried expression on her face. "Hey Gin," greeted Hermione. Both bathroom doors were open so Draco could hear everything. "What's wrong?"

Ginny sat down on the bed and timidly asked, "Can I stay here tonight? I don't feel like being alone."

Draco leaned against the doorway into Hermione's room and looked upon them. Ginny shot him an apologetic look but he just smiled back reassuringly. Despite her lousy taste in men and her even crappier lineage, Draco had grown to like her. He'd always respected her for her flying skill and there was something about being the enemy's girl that made her seem sincerely badass in Draco's eyes. After all, to be Harry Potter's girl, she had to be special. But to be Hermione's possibly only girl friend, she had to be pretty fucking great.

"Of course, Gin," answered Hermione. "But I don't understand? What's happened?"

"Harry's not back from Dumbledore's. I don't know—I don't want to worry. I know it's silly to fret over every little thing but it's Harry and I hate not knowing where he is."

Hermione raised an eyebrow and shot Draco a look. "I know the feeling. It's fine. And I'm positive he's at Dumbledore's. Poor guy just has a lot of explaining to do."

Draco nodded furtively. "No worries. You ladies get some rest and if you need me, I'll be next door."

Ginny raised an eyebrow after Draco shut the door. "No offense, 'Mione, but it's still eerie to see him be nice to us. Especially back at Hogwarts."

They laughed, despite the truth of it, and took their side of the bed. When Hermione woke up the next morning, Ginny had already rushed back to the dormitory so nobody would notice she'd left her bed. The first thing she did was check that Harry was in his bed and, glad to see him snoring in the same clothes as last night, she hurried to change for her Divination class.

Draco had heard Ginny leave and went to check on Hermione. He so hated sleeping without her next to him that he barely managed fifteen minutes of deep rest. She saw that it was him, smiled, and lifted the sheets so he could get in beside her.

"We have an hour before classes start again," he whispered.

"An hour before we go back to pretending we don't exist to each other?"

He nodded into her neck. He'd come to the realization that he wasn't sure whether it was her favorite spot and it didn't matter. It was one of his. "Yup," he answered solemnly, running his hands through her hair. It was silkier than usual and he thought he could spend the rest of his day exploring the feel of her hair running through his pianist's fingers.

"It's just a few weeks and then I get you all to myself for Christmas."

Her eyes shot open and she stood from the bed, seemingly startled. "Christmas?"

He realized he'd probably said something inopportune and quickly dismissed it. The last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable so early on. "Well, yes, I thought we'd—uhm, never mind me. I didn't say a thing. Go back to looking like an angel and we'll talk later tonight."

An angel? Now she knew something was wrong.

"Draco, has Dumbledore talked to you at all about what happened?"

He winced and smiled falsely, trying to reassure her like a parent keeping a secret from his child. "Nope. Don't worry about it."

Yea, she didn't feel any better.

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They skipped breakfast, terrified of the crowds, and headed to class early. He had a lecture in the astronomy tower first because apparently Neville had burned down part of the greenhouse during a little experiment with mandrake teenagers and booze. When he got up the tower, he instantly found himself alone with a dark-skinned boy with long hair tied back in a neat ponytail.

"Draco," he greeted.

Draco just glared back and went to grab a seat on the floor near the telescope. "Blaise," he growled softly, his eyes unmoving from the boy's face.

Blaise raised an eyebrow and paced slowly before Draco, who had begun to reach blindly into his bag for his notebook.

"He's very disappointed in you, Draco," said Blaise in a sing-song voice.

Draco's eye involuntarily twitched. "Tell him what you want. He has no claim on me or my mother anymore."

"I was talking about your father."

Draco smirked and looked up again through his eyelashes. "So was I."

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Hermione hurried to Advanced Potions some time later. Slughorn shot her a strange look as she went to sit down and she realized then that the class hadn't arrived yet. She was maybe ten minutes early. Nonetheless, she relaxed and opened up her book.

She gasped. A black note had been slipped in between the pages, folded in half and stamped with the blue wax seal of a dragon wrapped around a fleur de lis. She'd seen Draco's signet ring on his bedside table and remembered the days when he wore it without exception. She wondered what the significance of it was and why he'd stopped wearing it but something told her it was best he didn't wear it after all. She ran her fingers over the paper, feeling the texture.

Can't he just write me a regular note on regular parchment like a regular guy? she thought, sighing heavily as she ripped open the seal. It was such a pity. The seal was so lovely and so… French, though with a name like Malfoy, that was to be expected.

When she opened it to read the silver ink, she realized it wasn't from Draco at all. It read:

Dear Ms. Granger,

I am sorry to have to ask this of you – so much has been asked of you already in the name of our family – but I need you to keep what you saw back at the house a secret. As you know, my son is not aware of my plans to divorce his father. I ask that you watch over my Draco, whatever your relationship will become. I fear that you will overestimate the convictions of his heart and his only allies will fail him. As you know, my dear, you are all he has now. And I could not be prouder to welcome you into my family.

I'll be seeing Lucius at Azkaban this weekend. Since I'm sure he'll try to contact me to see how I am, I cannot hide the fact from him but I ask you occupy him so he does not insist on coming along. I do not wish him to see his father. You surely understand why.

Please let him know I am well and that I think of you both constantly.

All my love,

Narcissa.

She read it over several times, slipped it back into her Potions book, and looked around the room. The class had started to fill up. She looked for Draco but he didn't walk in until the very last second, a large bruise around his left eye. She cursed softly beneath her breath and turned back to the blackboard.

She took out a piece of parchment and scribbled her own note to him as Slughorn stirred something on his desk.

What happened?!?!

She figured she'd take a page out of the Draco book on class notes. She folded it up under her desk, giving it wings like an airplane, and sent it flying towards him across the room. It landed on his lap and he instantly recognized it as her handwriting.

She watched him make up his own bird note, expertly crafted, from the corner of her eye. She pretended to bend down to fetch something from her bag as the bird came towards her. She opened it up on her lap and read:

Not important. I'm fine. Want to have dinner tonight?

She smirked and began writing her reply when Slughorn snatched up the note. "Ms. Granger! You should know better than to pass notes during my class! Now, I'm sure the class will be interested to know what was so urgent."

"But, professor—" she began but he quickly interrupted to read the note.

"'Stop trying to get into my pants, you…' Oh my, Ms. Granger, this is definitely inappropriate!" he shouted as the class burst into laughter. "No no no! I don't know who you intended this for, Ms. Granger, but I doubt you'll be seeing much of them in detention with McGonagall."

She groaned as her cheeks caught fire with shame. "Yes, professor," she said dumbly. She didn't bother looking around the room to know Draco was laughing hysterically along with the class.

Harry and Ron came rushing into the class, late as usual, and sat down beside her. "What did we miss?" asked Harry, noticing the red in her cheeks. She shot him a look like he shouldn't even ask and it instantly shut him up. He tensed and backed away from her ear. The class eventually quieted and the lecture continued but Hermione barely caught a word.

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As soon as class ended, Draco ran out of the room. She didn't bother questioning his speed until she felt him pull her into the girls' bathroom and pin her against the wall. "That was fucking awesome," he said huskily into her lips, kissing her passionately. When his hand started to round her thigh, she yelped and pushed him away.

"I'm so glad you find my public humiliation entertaining!" she shouted.

"Oh crap," he whispered. "You're angry."

She stomped her foot and crossed her arms, creating a barrier between their bodies. "Of course I'm angry! I have detention!"

He just smirked and stared at her. She noticed his bruise again and extended a careful hand up to caress his cheek tenderly. He winced and took a step back.

"Draco, did you get that looked at?"

He shook his head, avoiding her eyes. He knew she could read him with a single look. "It's nothing."

"No, you need to see Pomfrey."

"Can't you just heal it up really quick?"

She laughed. "No. Go to Pomfrey. I don't want people questioning who's healing you up all the time. I'm the only one in our grade who knows these healing charms. Sooner or later, someone's going to put it all together. Now, stop avoiding the question and tell me how it happened."

He put on a false smile and kissed the palm of her hand. "I'll tell you in detention."

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This is the final chapter before my birthday, which is this Monday the 13th. I hate that I'm turning 19. I feel so bloody old! Anyway, next chapter is going to be hilarious. Everything from now on is going to be comedy laden with subtle mystery. Well, slightly more than usual. Each chapter is a different way to keep Draco and Hermione from sleeping together. Lol! I know. I'm evil. Well, enjoy it because I won't be updating for a little while I celebrate.

Reviews are better than sexual innuendoes in the classroom.