Chapter Eighteen

Exams were coming up and Draco was having an awful time studying even with Hermione's help. They'd been exploring their relationship for nearly six weeks and a lot of that time was spent comparing notes and studying. But as the end of the year drew closer, Draco knew it was close to the time that the Dark Lord would be demanding answers about the vanishing cabinet.

"Hermione…" Draco started. They avoided the subject of the war and his tasks. "We really need to talk about the cabinet."

Hermione looked up from her end of the sofa. They were hidden in the Room of Requirement; Draco was rubbing her feet and she was reading a novel. She placed a bookmark in her page and sat up, pulling her foot from Draco's grasp.

She sighed. "I know we do. We can't keep living in a fantasy world. There are things that need to be done. When does… he expect the cabinet to be finished?"

"Any day now I expect. I think I need to talk to Dumbledore and Severus to set up a date." He watched as Hermione's face constricted. Draco telling the Dark Lord he had accomplished his task meant Dumbledore was that much closer to dying. "I'm sorry Hermione."

She cleared her throat and looked away from him. "It's not your fault. A-and this is war. It's bound to happen to many of us." He watched as she wrung her hands in her lap and tried to keep herself from crying. "There's also something I want to talk to you about – to show you before we go to Dumbledore."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her as she reached for her new beaded bag. It was purple and Draco smiled to himself, proud that he remember it was her favorite color. He had never paid so much attention to another person before.

"Now, when you see it you might think it is silly but let me explain what it is before you scoff," Hermione explained as she pulled a long, thin box from her bag. It didn't look like it would have even fit into her bag. She smiled at him when he eyed the bag suspiciously. "Undetectable extension charm. Don't tell anyone."

She opened the thin box she was holding and showed him two matching watches. One was clearly larger and more masculine whereas the other was dainty and feminine. He looked at her.

"Like I said, seems like a silly gift. But look," she lifted his watch from the box and placed in on his wrist before doing the same with hers. She laid a finger from her opposite hand on the watch face and looked expectantly at Draco. Within seconds, he felt his watch heat slightly. As he looked down at it, a message appeared.

Hello, Draco.

Draco instantly looked back up at Hermione. "What? What is this?"

"It's my new take on the Protean charm. You know how I had used it on the galleons for the DA… Well, I've now made these. Draco, at some point you and I are going to be separated and… no matter what happens between us, I will want to know you are alive. I don't know what will happen to us after he knows about the cabinet. I don't know if I will be able to return to school next year. But I do know that I care for you and I will need to know you're safe."

Draco was entirely stunned. They had spent so much time and energy avoiding the topic of war, he hadn't even considered she had thought this far into it – thought this far into the future. And knowing that she cared for him, needed to know of his wellbeing… He was speechless.

Hermione smiled shyly toward him. "I'm sorry if you don't like it. Or don't think of us that way. You don't have to wear it – oh!" Draco had pulled her onto his lap and hugged her fiercely.

"Hermione, thank you. I love it. You truly are a brilliant witch," He said earnestly into her hair. He kissed his way across her neck and up to her lips. He loved when she sighed into him as he kissed her.

Draco tried to keep his kisses light, if not passionate. He was afraid of pushing her too far. He knew he wanted her, and he had had a few fumbling experiences with Pansy and also Daphne Greengrass, but Hermione was different. She deserved more than a few minutes in a broom cupboard. Besides, he wasn't sure if she had ever gone further than kissing and he didn't want her to think he was after her for anything indecent.

Despite not wanting to push her, she was in a precarious position on his lap and if she didn't move soon –

"Oh," Hermione breathed as she moved her hips slightly. "I'm sorry, I didn't m-mean – "

"It's okay," Draco helped her off his lap. "It's fine, really. We don't have to go there."

Hermione cocked her head at him. "It's not that I don't want to. I have thought about it you know. And read about it," Draco snorted at that. Of course she'd read about it. "I am just nervous. I've just, well I've never. You know?"

Draco nodded. "It's really okay. We don't need to. Just being around you is enough." He pulled her closer to him on the sofa and wrapped his arms around her. He smiled when she nuzzled in closer.

"So when do we talk with Dumbledore?" her voice was slightly muffled on his chest.

"I'm not sure. I need to set up a time with him," Draco replied, twisting the ends of her hair through his fingers. "I think it needs to be soon."

Hermione sighed. "I think it does too."

For another thirty minutes they sat that way, staring into the fire just enjoying one another's presence. The threat of war and separation clung to them differently that night. Draco was not ready to let her go, so soon after even opening himself to her. He was sure she felt the same way and he was worried about their future. He was worried about her future without him.

He most likely would not survive this war.