Chapter 17:

Hermione opened one eye and looked at the clock buzzing by her bedside. She stretched out a hand and turned off the alarm. Monday morning...It had been 2 days since Ron had declared his love to Hermione. 2 days since THE Draco Malfoy had practically made her part of his future by gifting her his ancestral necklace.

Since her closest friend had found out about her cheating on Ron. Since she had realized she wanted to be with Draco and no one else. And still she was clueless how to deal with the given situation. She knew she had to face Ron today. Face Harry.

She felt overwhelmed at the thought and sighing to herself, got out of bed and made her way to Draco's room. Without knocking she opened the door and slipped into bed beside him. He was still fast asleep and Hermione snuggled closer to him. Hermione allowed his scent to ease her mind, her hand caressing with the heart around her neck. Draco's heart. She let out a soft moan of contentment as she felt him drape a protective arm around her. His warmth engulfing her. His breath soft on her face.

She turned in his arms and moved closer to him, "Wake up sleepy head."

Draco opened his eyes slightly and tightened his grip around her. "Good Morning beautiful"

He pecked her cheek gently. Hermione blushed and buried her face in his chest.

"You have to go out and deal with him, you know?" Draco murmured softly while stroking her hair.

Hermione looked at him sadly. She didn't understand how he could understand her so well. "I know. But how do you say to someone who says he loves you that you are in love with someone he hates?"

Her lips turned into a soft smile "I'm fraternizing with the enemy."

Draco laughed in spite of himself. He had heard the story about the Yule ball before. He stroked the necklace around her delicate neck, allowing his finger to stray and making Hermione shiver at the contact. When his fingers unbuttoned the top button of her night shirt Hermione gasped involuntarily and Draco took it as an invitation to continue. When the second button was undone he could see the swell of her breasts from over the lace of her bra and he ran a tantalizing finger over them. Hermione moaned a little and with a lot of self control pulled his hand away.

"We have Potions in less than 20 mins Dragon", she chided him playfully.

Draco laughed. Hermione truly was one of a kind.

He pulled the sheets off of them and sat up pushing his hair out of his eyes. Hermione followed suit and after giving him a swift kiss headed to her room to change. "I'll see you in Potions."

Hermione skipped breakfast. She wasn't too sorry about it - it had delayed meeting Ron. She wasn't really looking forward to facing him and she had to rush to the dungeons. And just in time too. She had only just entered the class when Snape walked in his robes billowing behind him.

The first things she noticed was that Draco was nowhere to be seen. She felt Harry's eyes watching her and felt panic set it. Trying to keep herself calm she sat at her usual seat beside Ron. Tentatively she looked at Ron expecting anger or hurt. Instead when he caught her eye it seemed like nothing had transpired between them. He gave her a warm smile and scooted closer so his leg was against hers. She smiled back at him. How she loved him and his simplicity. Nothing ever seemed to faze him for long.

"Miss Granger, need I remind you we are here to study the concoction of Veritaserum and not how to flirt with your boyfriend." Snape barked, "that will be 10 points from Gryffindor"

Hermione grimaced. Face turning red she mumbled an apology to Snape and put her head down to work. She missed Draco entering the dungeon looking striking as always. Snape didn't seem to care that he walked in almost 10 mins late to class and continued writing instructions on the board.

Draco however noticed Hermione sitting with Ron - too close for his liking - and was about to sneer at Ron when he noticed Harry watching him. Biting his tongue and avoiding Harry's eyes he went to the back of the dungeons and sat at his usual spot.

He watched Hermione from afar wishing he could share lessons with her, discuss ideas. Instead she stood with Weasley explaining to him the difference between fire seed and knot grass. Sometimes she held his hand to help him stir the potion correctly and Draco had to calm himself so he wouldn't break something. Something like that goofy weasel. As if on cue Hermione looked up and caught him watching her. She gave him the briefest of smiles and went back to helping Ron. But Draco noticed she no longer held his hand and it made him smile.

A/N: sorry I'm trying to get back into the writing mode! Next chapter will be better.

Let me know your thought!