Chapter Twenty Six

Confessions

The next night Hermione had had enough. All her schoolwork was done, and she had finished all the books she had on her nightstand. She hopped off her bed and wrapped her dressing gown around her before creeping to the door and opening it just a crack to peer down the dim hallway. No one was out there.

She walked the short way to Draco's green door and knocked, hoping he would still be awake.

"Fuck off, Theo." An irritated voice sounded from inside.

She knocked slightly louder and whispered into the door, trying to be quiet. "It's me."

She heard him crash off his bed. The door opened a crack. A suspicious eye peered out. Then the door flew open, and she was enveloped in a crushing hug. Something she would never have expected of Draco. He released her, then smiled and kissed her.

"I didn't think you missed me," she said, teasing.

"You have no idea. I just didn't want to be the one to get you in more trouble. You think McGonagall would know if we went in each other's rooms?" he said, sounding hopeful.

"Knowing her, yes. But I'm not sure she would do anything," Hermione said. "Should I come in?"

They both stood there for a moment thinking it through, Draco's hands resting on Hermione's hips. She could just step into Draco's room and see if anything happened. After all, she had been in the common room, and it was fine.

"Maybe we should just go to the common room," Draco said, "I don't want your friends blaming me for anything else going wrong."

"They don't blame you," Hermione said sincerely.

"They do— and I'm honestly scared of what Sirius would do to me. So let's play it safe."

Hermione giggled at the thought of Sirius going after Draco. "You know Sirius is scared of me, I wouldn't let anything happen to you," she patted his shoulder and grabbed his hand. "Come on."

They sat on the couch together, drinking hot chocolate. They talked over a plan of what they would say at the hearing, making sure their stories matched. They agreed not to mention where they got their ingredients and not to speak a word of the Auror Marker Curse.

With a solid plan in mind, Hermione smiled to herself as she rested her head on Draco's chest. They lay on the couch closest to the fire, which she widened, so they both fit comfortably. Draco had fallen asleep with Crookshanks curled in a ball on his stomach. Hermione told herself she would rest her eyes for five minutes before waking the two to go to bed.

Hermione woke to a horrible screeching voice. The warm body that was her pillow suddenly moved, she woke up quickly. She rubbed her eyes to see Pansy Parkinson glaring at Draco, clearly ready to start her screeching again. Pansy's face was red, one hand balled into a fist at her side the other holding her wand, raised at the couple, flicking between the two as if unsure who to hex first.

Rushing to find her wand under a pile of cushions, Hermione was glad to see Draco had beaten her to it.

"What the fuck Pansy," he said harshly, aiming his wand at her.

"This is what you've been doing! Fucking the mudblood? What would your parents say? How can you lower yourself to this? Are you doing this so she doesn't get you arrested? Is that what this is? Tell me Draco!" she shouted.

Without hesitation, Draco sent a flash of red light at Pansy. She instantly buckled over as if she was punched in the stomach. Draco climbed over Hermione and sat on the edge of the couch with his hand on her leg. Hermione, now with wand in hand, was ready to attack.

"Do not call her that ever again," Draco said in a menacing tone that reminded Hermione of the old Draco, the arrogant brat, the spoilt Death Eater.

Pansy got up off the floor, clearly shocked, but unharmed. Hermione flicked her head to see their dorm mates racing down the stairs.

"Shit," she whispered under her breath.

Draco was oblivious to anything around him. Hermione could see his white-knuckled fingers wrapped around his wand. His jaw clenched, eye locked on Pansy.

"For a while there I thought we had the old Draco back. Do you know how pleased I was when I read that you tried to kill that know-it-all bitch! How happy our families would be that you hadn't turned your back on them!" Pansy hissed. "Now look at you. Weak. Defending a mudblood to save your own sorry arse from joining your family. You should be ashamed."

Hermione could see Draco's hand shaking with rage, she saw clearly what would happen next. Out the corner of her eye, Hermione could see their dorm mates spread out in the background in defensive positions around the perimeter of the room. The war really had changed the way they all acted.

"I warned you not to call her that again," Draco said. "Cruc—"

Without thought, Hermione tackled him from the side, throwing him hard into the couch, she ripped his wand out of his hand and straddled him pinning his arms down, his face pressing into a cushion.

"You are not going to Azkaban for something as stupid as this," she whispered as she threw a stunning curse at Pansy who fell hard on the floor, knocked out cold. Theo ran over to help Hermione as she struggled to restrain Draco.

She waited for him to calm down. "You shouldn't have done that Draco," she said quietly. "You need to calm down and sit up."

He stopped trying to fight her. Neville, Hannah, Dean, Michael, Susan and for some reason Ginny moved in closer. Hannah and Susan checked on Pansy, the others sat or stood in various awkward positions. Hermione ignored them for the moment.

"You can let me up now," Draco said, muffled by his face pushed into the couch. The others in the room had their wands at the ready, clearly concerned for Hermione's safety.

"Hermione, be careful," she heard Neville warn from behind her.

She got off Draco and knelt next to him on the couch and pulled on his hand, helping him to sit up. He let her pull him in. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck, she felt his warm breath.

"I'm sorry," he whispered so only she could hear.

She rubbed Draco's back waiting for his breathing to calm down to normal. She ignored the quiet mumbling of the other voices in the room. She looked up when Theo started talking loudly. "Okay, you can all stop gawking now, as you can see Draco and Hermione are both fine, not in the hospital, not in Azkaban."

"I already knew that," Ginny pipped up.

"But why are they hugging?" muttered Neville.

"Why are you even here, Ginny?" Hermione said. "And I can hug whoever I like Neville." She heard Draco give a snort of laughter as he released himself from underneath her hair. He seemed to have regained his composure.

"That she can," Draco said, putting his arm around Hermione's shoulders and pulling her in close next to him. Okay, so we're doing this. Hermione said to herself as her heart skipped a beat.

"And what are you doing here little Miss sleeping-her-way-through-our-common-room? Who is it now?" Draco said, first looking at Ginny, then at the boys in the room.

Neville blushed but shook his head. Dean and Michael both looked at each other confused. Theo stood there with his arms folded whistling and looking up at the ceiling. Draco raised his eyebrows at Theo then shook his head. "Forget I said anything, I take it back, don't want to know."

"This isn't about me," stammered Ginny. Then she gasped. "The magnetic punch! George! It was Malfoy, not Sirius! It all makes sense now."

Hermione felt her face go red, regretting telling Ginny about that day. Plus Ginny had been kind enough to tell everyone that night at the party, they all knew. Hermione refused to be humiliated.

"Yes, Ginny, it was Draco, and it was very embarrassing, so stop bringing it up!" Hermione said. Draco laughed. Everyone looked more relaxed, seeing Draco and Hermione both at ease.

"I was so sure it was Sirius, I mean after—"

"Ginny! Stop! We have been over this, and with all the same people who are here now so, please drop it." Hermione said, trying not to sound desperate but not sure it worked.

"Fine," Ginny folded her arms and sunk into an empty chair, looking sulky.

"Um— so what actually happened to you, Hermione? You know with the potion?" Neville asked cautiously. "I mean, it looks like Draco really didn't try to kill you, so that's good— I guess," he said, eyes darting toward Draco.

"The potion Draco and I were working on isn't exactly legal," she explained. Hannah and Susan exchanged glances, the others sat there blinking as if they didn't understand. Hermione went on, "You see, one of the ingredients we acquired was from a somewhat questionable source, and the seeds we used were more potent than we calculated and caused me to overdose."

"Also, Hermione decided to take the potion out of my hand as I tried to take it, and I should have been the one in hospital," Draco said.

"You called her Hermione," Neville said blankly.

"Yes, unlike some other people," he nodded towards unconscious Pansy on the floor. "I have changed my ways."

"Yes, he has," Hermione said. "So our potion got confiscated by the Aurors and is being investigated by the Potions Masters at St Mungo's to determine if it will work. If it does, we might be able to get out of this for helping the Wizard community after the war. But, if they deem it unsafe, or doesn't work, we will possibly be going to Azkaban."

It was the first time she had said it aloud, and it suddenly felt all too real. She swallowed and tried to appear as confident as Draco. "We broke more than eight laws in making the potion so there isn't much we can do if it turns out it's too dangerous."

Everyone was staring at Hermione and Draco in awe. "So tell us what the potion does already," Dean said, anticipation showing on his face.

"Oh right— well it's meant to cure the symptoms of relapses from the Cruciatus Curse. I have pretty severe attacks and a lot of daily problems, as does Draco, so we both had good motivation to get this to work."

"And it will work, and we won't be going to Azkaban, no way," Draco said firmly. Hermione got the impression he meant it, that it would work and there was no way he would ever be going to Azkaban. She squeezed his hand.

"So you two are actually together?" Ginny asked.

Hermione and Draco looked at each other, they were yet to have that conversation. Hermione shrugged, "I guess so?" Looking at Draco for confirmation.

He kissed the side of her head. "This puts me in a much better light than being your attempted murderer, though no one will believe it. Look at their faces," he said, gesturing to the group around them. "They don't believe it, and certainly don't look impressed. The media will have to do a one-eighty on their lies."

"I guess it's more favourable than the stories they've been spreading about Malfoy, most people kind of believe them," Neville said with an apologetic look.

"Don't worry, your potion will be perfect, and we can have a big party to celebrate and surprise the media with an engagement announcement of Granger and Malfoy. How brilliant would that be!" Theo said, squeezing himself into the armchair next to Ginny, who shot him a very dark look.

"It would be kind of funny," Ginny admitted as she was squished into the side of the chair. "Can you imagine how Ron would react!" The whole room cracked up laughing.

"Ron really hates you Malfoy," Dean said.

"Ah yes, I recall him being a bit of a prat that weekend at Hogsmeade when you made him think you were sleeping with Hermione," Theo said. Several of their friends were in the pub that day and nodded in agreement.

"That's right! I never did hex you for that." Hermione said, giving Draco an evil stare. "Ron was ready to kill you, not to mention the death stares he was giving you at the hospital the other day."

"Plus Sirius might kill you if something happens to Hermione. You've got some crazy ex's to deal with there Malfoy." Ginny added.

Malfoy gave Hermione a quizzical look at the mention of Sirius as an ex. She avoided meeting his eye. "Plus Tonks," she added. "She threatened Draco and said she would hunt him down if anything happened to me." She smiled innocently.

"There you go everyone, I'm pretty much dead if anything happens to Hermione, so you all have nothing to worry about," Draco said.

"Good enough for me," Theo said.

"Theo, you're meant to be on my side," Draco said.

"Don't worry mate, I've got your back," Theo said, leaning back in the chair, draping an arm over Ginny's shoulders, which she promptly removed.

"Well if Ron comes after me I'm going to tell him who's screwing his sister, that should take some of the heat off me," Draco replied.

Theo shot a stinging hex at Draco, who in turn shot a wave of aggressive bubbles in Theo's direction. The room was soon a mix of bizarre hexes. Everyone else joined in. Hermione put a stop to it once a flock of chickens somehow scattered across the room, creating chaos.

With that all over, everyone trailed off, leaving Draco and Hermione sitting there, still in their pyjamas.

"So what's this about Sirius being your ex?" Draco asked.

"He's not my ex, that's Ginny exaggerating again." She shuffled awkwardly in the chair.

"Fine, but there is something you're avoiding telling me about him that everyone else seems to know. I was meaning to ask you that day you took the potion, but you're nearly dying made me forget— until now."

"It's stupid really— this thing at Christmas where everyone got the wrong idea about the situation, and with that article in the paper everyone though me and Sirius were together, and I had a row with Mrs Weasley, and it all got out of hand."

"Just tell me," he said.

Hermione sighed and folded her legs under her. "I had a Cruciatus attack Christmas Eve, and Sirius helped me." She paused, "He slept in my bed, and the next morning, Mrs Weasley came to get me, and Sirius, for some reason opened the door, and it all went downhill from there. Mrs Weasley assumed we were sleeping together and was very rude about Sirius so I stood up for him and may have given her the wrong impression."

Draco did not look pleased. His lips were thin and tight, she could see he was trying hard to control his temper. Maybe this wasn't the best time to talk about this, he had already lost it once that morning. Hermione glanced over at Pansy, still lying unconscious on the floor. Someone had put a pillow under her head at least.

He didn't say anything. She went on, "So Christmas day a lot of people seemed mad at me, it was after the newspaper thing. It was kind of a shit day, but I got that info out of Tonks, so it wasn't all that bad…"

"So why didn't you just tell Mrs Weasley what happened? Wouldn't she have just believed you if you just said Sirius was just helping you, as you claim he was doing."

"It might have had something to do with the way Sirius answered the door and the way I reacted to Molly's insinuations. The look on her face, she was disgusted in me, and I didn't like the way she reacted to Sirius, it didn't matter what he was doing in my room she shouldn't have acted like that, and I gave her a piece of my mind."

"So what were you both wearing?" Draco said accusingly.

She didn't like where this was heading, Draco's face was back to his emotionless mask. Though she did pin him as the jealous type, this was ridiculous, they weren't even together then.

"Why do you even care? It's not like we were together then," Hermione said.

"I care because you gave me the impression that everything about you and Sirius was made up, but now I'm finding out otherwise so excuse me if I want to know the truth. I mean, come on Hermione, you still live with the guy. Shouldn't I at least know all the facts?"

He had a point. She had never lied but had definitely avoided this topic.

"Fine," she said, shrugging. "If you must know— Sirius was wearing pyjama pants, and I was in my underwear." Draco's eyes were growing darker. He'd been let down by so many people, betrayed, she felt like she was being added to his list.

"He looked after me numerous times over summer when I had attacks, I didn't care if he saw me like that."

Draco ran his hand through his hair, "So you're telling me you slept with him several times over summer?"

"Well—" she stuttered, again not liking where this was heading. "Yes," she said quietly.

"Did you have sex with him?" Draco asked.

Hermione could see him gripping his wand tightly. She swallowed. "Yes, but not since summer." She kept her head up and watched him breathing heavily out his nostrils, his hands were shaking, but he hadn't moved an inch.

"But we were never together, like a couple or anything. We were recovering from the war and needed each other, we helped each other," she said feeling like she was grasping at straws.

"I don't care about that. I don't care that you fucked him. I care about the fact that you didn't tell me— that you lied. You made me feel crazy for being jealous of him, for thinking something was there that wasn't. But I was right. The whole world was saying it, and I listened to you— I trusted you."

He stood up calmly. "You need to decide what you want, Hermione, because you can't have it both ways. Let me know when you do."

Hermione felt the tears welling up in her eyes, followed by a flush of hot anger. He was already at the stairs. "What the hell am I meant to do with Pansy," she yelled after him.

"Do whatever you like, I don't give a shit," he said without looking back.

She sat there in shock. What just happened? She stared at Pansy's frozen snare, wondering why she was such a horrible person and to think, Draco was just like her once. Was it really possible to change that much, or was he hiding his true nature? She didn't want to think about it.

Unsure what to do with Pansy, Hermione took the cowards way out. She performed a rennervate spell on Pansy before running up the stairs, not waiting for her to wake up. She raised every ward up on the bedroom that she could think of and threw herself onto her bed face first as she burst into tears.

She let it all out, finally sitting up to wipe her eyes, feeling like an idiot. She felt miserable and it was all because of Draco. No. It was all because of her. Because she was too much of a coward to tell him about Sirius earlier. He had the right to be mad at her.

Hermione made the decision then and there that she wouldn't come out again until the hearing. Future Hermione could deal with everything. Right now, she wanted to ignore the world and everyone in it.

Time crept by slowly and a week passed by as Hermione was left alone with her thoughts. It was Thursday night and all Hermione could think about was Draco hating her, the same feeling that had hung over her like a dark cloud all week. The silence of her room forced her to listen to her thoughts, thoughts she'd been pushing to the back of her mind too long.

As she sipped her chamomile tea, images of Draco paraded across her mind and she was faced with reality. The potion, her grades, finishing school, getting a job, none of that mattered if Draco wasn't there. She thought about what life without Draco would be like and didn't like the prospect.

Life had taken a very different direction recently, she no longer obsessed about grades and making the potion work. Now it was out of their hands she felt that whether it was them or someone else doing it, at least there was a chance of it getting made, it was out there in the world.

Draco had been nothing but nice to her for months, yes he was often his grumpy, snarky self but he had also saved her from a Lethifold, helped her stop taking dreamless sleep, got Crookshanks back, even gone to lunch at Grimmauld place. He was a much better person than people gave him credit for and deserved much better than how she had treated him.

Hermione put her tea down and stared blankly at the book she been trying to read. This was more than just a romantic fling or a bit of fun. She couldn't think of any future where him wasn't there and it was in that moment she realised she was in love with Draco Malfoy.

She smiled to herself. She supposed she had known it for a while, but never admitted it and it felt good. Like a weight being lifted off her shoulders.

His words echoed in her mind You need to decide what you want, Hermione, because you can't have it both ways. Let me know when you do.

She felt an icy pressure in her chest. He was waiting for her. She had to be the one to say something or do something. Their hearing was scheduled for the next day, Friday the 19th of February. She would talk to him tomorrow, hoping he was in a forgiving mood. She swallowed back her nerves, she should have fixed this sooner. Sleep didn't come to her at all that night.

Authors note: Hi everyone. Only three chapters to go! The last two will be posted Christmas day if you want to look out for them. I can't believe this is nearly finished!