1994 – Fourth Year

Hermione reached for another piece of wood, examining it for slightly longer than necessary before she threw it onto the fire and watched as the flames latched onto the dry bark. The crackling and popping noise the fire made was the only noise filling the Malfoy family secret room within Hogwarts, a room that over the years had become Draco and Hermione's secret also.

After staring into the fire for what seemed like a life time, Hermione finally pulled her eyes away to inspect the still empty room. She was beginning to grow inpatient, Draco had signalled using his ring that he had wanted to see here, quite urgently too, and yet she sat alone in their place for nearly two hours.

Her knees had been pulled to her chest as she hugged them tightly to her, tapping her feet alternatively the more restless she grew. She had no reason to think he was in trouble or in any kind of danger, so instead she assumed he had simply forgotten about her, which irritated her more.

With a heavy sigh she stood up and stretched her legs before walking over to the large chair situated beside the fire. She leaned over and grabbed her book from the table and forced herself to become distracted, rather than counting the minutes until Draco's arrival. Although, the words she skimmed over on her page were jumbled and difficult to place, instead of distracting her with their meaning, they had an equally desirable effect when she started to feel tired and her eyes grew heavy.

The warmth and soothing sounds omitting from the fire combined with her comfortable position over the chair, made it almost impossible for her to fight the tiredness waving over her, she knew her lack of food added to that and eventually submitted and closed her book along with her eyes.

A few seconds before drifting off Hermione reached for her necklace and held it between her fingers, pulling it tightly into her chest, the last thing she thought of was the warmth she could've sworn she felt from the pendent.

~X~

"Ah, Draco." Draco heard someone call his name, a voice he couldn't place but did not feel completely foreign to him.

"Where are you running off to?" The man continued as Draco turned to face him, his confused expression switching to understanding as it became clear who the voice had belonged to.

"We haven't officially been introduced, Igor Karkroff, Headmaster of Durmstrang, follower of the Dark Lord." Igor finished before he held out his hand in front of him for Draco to shake.

Draco's eyes darted around the corridor they stood in before he reached across and shook the man's hands, hiding the astonishment he felt as Igor introduced himself as a supporter of Voldemort so openly and casually.

"Your father speaks very highly of you. I believe you are climbing the ladder already, at the age of…14?" Igor asked, Draco nodded in response as the man looked him up and down like he was deciding whether or not he approved of in Lucius Malfoys decision to involve his son in their organisation.

"Has he told you what our plans are for this year?" Igor asked with a glimmer in his eye, an eager smile on his face.

"No, he hasn't." Draco responded, the mans smile faltered slightly before turning into a smirk before he folded his arms across his chest and stood back to get a better look at him.

"Not climbed high enough yet then it seems." Igor sniggered.

Draco didn't find himself insulted in this situation, nor any situation where he may be considered a poor follower of Voldemort, he never wanted or envisioned himself to be a good one. However, he knew the consequences of his actions should that be the case, he knew his father would not only be disappointed but infuriated if he embarrassed the family by acting anything less that a true supporter of the Dark Arts and with that, Voldemort himself.

'One day I won't have to do this' Draco thought to himself.

"Father hasn't burdened me with the information because he knows my education matters also, something I should imagine you are inclined to agree with," Igor scrunched his nose up as his smirk disappeared at Draco's words.

Just as Draco was about to continue, he felt a slight burning sensation on his finger. The ring had started to heat and was rapidly becoming difficult to ignore, reminding him the reason he was in the corridors in the first place.

"I will be updated when it is necessary, no sooner."

"Yes, well. I should imagine you will." Igor said slowly with a look of distain as he squared up the young Malfoy in front of him. "I shan't keep you any longer, first night back I should image there's lots of celebrating to be had."

Draco hummed in response, giving a slight nod in return to Igor's before he turned and continued around the corridor. Unable to shake the feeling of being watched, Draco made his way up the stairs and to the Astronomy Tower to avoid lurking eyes catching him entering his secret room. The ring on his finger heated once more, he knew he had to be quick, but he wasn't sure it was safe to travel to the room just yet, so instead he waited.

He allowed himself a few moments to take in his surroundings, the grounds of Hogwarts were always breath taking, no matter how many times they were looked upon. As his eyes looked over towards the horizon, he pondered over Igor Karkroff's words. He didn't want to climb higher, he wanted to stay firmly put at the bottom of whichever ladder Igor referred to. He became completely lost in thought of the Death Eaters plans and how they tied into the Triwizard Tournament, how something the Ministry were so heavily involved could be infiltrated.

Draco spotted movement from the corner of his eyes and quickly turned his head to examine that which responsible, when he noticed a small bird had landed on the floor of the Astronomy Tower. The bird hopped once and flickered its eyes towards him, before hopping once more to face him completely.

He turned his body toward the bird before it was joined by another, ever so slightly larger than its friend. He watched as both birds hopped around each other frantically before the large bird eventually stopped. The smaller bird hopped slowly towards its friend before it rubbed its head the larger birds chest. Draco smiled down at the interaction between the birds, the smaller one had feathers that were brown with just a small hint of amber that reminded him of his Gryffindor friend.

'Hermione!' He mentally kicked himself, he had detoured to fend off anyone who may be watching him and had completely lost track of time. Draco ran down the stairs of the tower without a second thought and headed towards their secret room, hoping and praying she would still be there when he arrived.

Once he reached the entrance to the room, he stopped for a moment to gather his breath. He leant forward and rested his hands on his knees as he panted before deeply inhaling through his mouth and slowly exhaling through his nose. Within a couple of seconds he had regulated his breathing and felt slightly more together as he pushed through the veil to their secret room.

His eyes scanned the room and his heart sunk when he found the window was vacant, Hermione's favourite seat. There was no trace she had been there, until his eyes landed on the dimly lit fire and the Gryffindor curled up on the chair beside it.

Suddenly, his heart felt warm again as he looked over to her, she lay sound asleep with such soft features, nothing like the fiery Gryffindor he knew. Draco discarded his robes and began walking towards her when he froze. The ring on his finger started to heat, more than it had when he had been in the corridor, it was more intense.

"Hermione?" Draco said quietly, she said nothing in response. With this he knew she was asleep, and yet the ring still burned. As he moved closer to her he spotted her dragon pendant between her finger tips, that was when he realised she must've been dreaming about him for him to feel the burn whilst she was asleep.

Draco stopped just before her chair and knelt down beside her, torn between waking her and just watching her for a moment, he chose the latter.

He watched as her eyelids fluttered as she dreamed, her long lashes twitching with each eye roll. He noted her steady breathing that lifted her chest slightly and the hand that held the pendent resting on it. After watching her for some time, he realised the her breathing had started to quicken and she had started to make soft noises, only audible to him because he was sat so close.

He sat with his back against the chair, one leg raised with the other out stretched, his eyes watching over her closely as he wandered what she was dreaming about that seemed to cause her breathing to quicken.

He turned away from her and looked into the nearly burnt out fire when he felt his ring burn once more. The intensity of it caused his own breath to quicken, his heart began to pick up speed before he could eventually feel it beating against his chest.

He turned towards Hermione, perplexed and slightly concerned. He didn't understand what he was feeling, what the ring was doing or why whatever Hermione was thinking about was causing him to feel so, heated.

Draco reached his hand up towards her and slowly stroked his fingers along her arm, the burning of the ring started to ease.

"Hermione." He said softly, causing her to stir and drop the dragon pendent. He noted that the feeling or adrenalin that was coursing through him started to deflate also.

Hermione's eyes slowly started to open before she realised Draco was knelt beside her. At this her eyes shot open and she sat up immediately, her cheeks flushed crimson as she looked down at her hands and away from him.

"Are you ok?" Draco asked, confused as he shifted to face her more, "You seemed like you were having a nightmare or something."

Hermione's eyes darted towards him and away almost as quickly, she felt embarrassed, like he knew something. She hadn't been having a bad dream when he had woken her, she had been having a good dream, that he was involved in. As the dream became more of a distant memory the more she joined the present, she began to calm down and she felt her heart relax somewhat.

"I'm fine, no need to worry."

"Are you sure? You can talk to me about it if-"

"No seriously, I'm fine." Hermione interrupted, her cheeks flaming once more.

Draco remained confused as he continued to stare at her skittish behaviour, when finally the penny dropped. His face relaxed as his eyes widened before he felt his own cheeks begin to heat.

"I see." He said with a smirk forming on his lips, "It wasn't a nightmare, it was a good dream."

Hermione said nothing, she only stared at him, willing him to stay silent, which only caused his smirk to widen and form into a grin.

"And I was in it." Draco said, pleased with himself as his smirk turned into a grin from ear to ear.

"I never said that."

"You didn't have to, it's obvious."

"Don't flatter yourself, Draco." Hermione said with a playful scowl as she sat upright, adjusting herself through her embarrassment.

"You fell asleep holding your pendent…"

Hermione looked down at her necklace confused as to the point he was trying to make.

"I discovered you don't have to be awake for the connection to work."

Everything clicked into place for Hermione, she suddenly realised he must have felt how much she wanted to see him during her dream, a realisation that embarrassed her more than she had already felt.

"Dreaming about me hey? What was the dream about?" He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing her to groan as she threw her hands up to cover her face and hide her cheeks, she could feel the warmth against her fingers.

Draco couldn't help but chuckle at her embarrassment, he had never seen her this bashful before, he quite liked it. He shifted to rest on his knees and leant forward, grabbing gently onto her arms and moved them away from her face.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about Hermione." He began, "We all have dreams like this from time to time."

"Really?" She asked innocently.

"Of course, I'm a teenage boy! You could not begin to imagine the dreams I've had." He laughed, causing himself to turn pink at the confession, but he had achieved what he had wanted and caused Hermione to laugh.

"I'm sorry I'm so late, Karkroff collard me on my way and I'm pretty sure he was watching me on the way so I took a detour and lost track of time."

"It's fine," She said, her mood sobered once he mentioned the former Death Eater by name, she pulled away from him and moved around him towards the fire, facing away from him before she continued, "What did he want?"

Draco felt cold once she removed herself from his grasp, he stared at the now empty seat, remembering why he wanted to speak to her so desperately in the first place, no doubt something she had clearly already remembered.

"He wanted to know how much I knew about this years plans."

"Plans?" She asked, turning to face him once more as he moved to sit on the seat she had just been on moments ago.

"Death Eater plans, not something I am privy to this year."

"Anymore."

"Anymore?" Draco questioned, raising an eyebrow as he stretched to an upright position.

"You were privy to the plans on the attack at the Quidditch World Cup were you not?"

"Hermione…"

"Please explain this one to me Draco, because I cannot begin to understand why you would let yourself be apart of something that horrific. There were children there."

"It wasn't a case of me letting myself be apart of anything. What're my options here? If I said no to father it would not have ended well."

"Oh so what if he gives you a slap on the wrist for not doing as your told!"

"Hermione, don't claim to know something about the way in which purebloods raise their children. This is something you are not an expert on, a slap on the wrist as you put it would be a welcoming punishment I would gladly take. If I was to turn against my father and refuse to have any involvement in the Death Eaters plans, he would disown me. Do you know what disownment is for a Pureblood Wizard?"

Hermione shook her head, curious as to where he was going, how dark this path could really be and eager to understand the reasoning behind his decisions.

"Disownment would mean my family would turn against me, my mother and father would have nothing to do with me, I get no inheritance or money, I would essentially lose my name. It would also mean that a blood curse is put on me whereby I cannot produce any offspring later on in life, my line would die with me. I would be completely alone in this world, with nothing to offer."

The shaking vibrations in his tone did not go unnoticed by Hermione as he finished his explanation. She softened her emotions and made movement towards him.

"You can't be sure they would do that." She tried to reassure him.

"You can't be sure they wouldn't." He fired back.

He was right of course, although she wouldn't admit it. Instead she knelt beside him and rested her hand on his knee, looking up at him before she spoke once more.

"You wouldn't be completely alone."

"Hermione, please done ask me to do this. Its one thing when I can fend for myself, when I'm able to make those kinds of sacrifices and know exactly what I would be giving up. Its another thing entirely to blindly swear off some very important parts of my heritage when I can be more help being involved than not at the moment."

"What do you mean?"

Draco lifted her hand from his knee and held it in between both of his as he looked intently into her eyes. He had been itching for this moment the second he saw her at the Quidditch World Cup.

"The only reason I didn't warn you about the Quidditch World Cup was because I only found out late the evening before the world cup. I didn't know where you were to send you an owl, I wasn't sure if you would be at the Weasleys. I didn't want to send you a magical message as that could be traced and I would get my family into serious trouble. In the meeting father said nobody was to be killed, it was more of a scare tactic, a come back as such. I didn't think it would get as bad as it did."

"I'm not sure where you are going with this Draco."

"Ordinarily I find out these things sooner, I can tell you sooner and we can come up with a way to prevent it. At least until I'm in a position to be able to actively do something."

Hermione took a moment to mull over his words. What he was saying was true, he could be of use being an insider after all, but the risk involved didn't sit well with her. There wasn't a single part of her that wanted any of this for him, she prayed that things would change sooner rather than later as the years went by, the older he got, the more dangerous these plans were becoming.

"I don't like this."

"I don't like it any more than you do, but it is what it is." He said softly, lifting the hand he had placed on hers to tuck a loose curl behind her ear.

"You look different." He commented, "Your hair looks tamer, lighter even. Have you done something with it?"

"Not really, just changed the way I style it." She lied.

The truth was, Hermione and Ginny had spent over two weeks in the summer experimenting with her hair, trying anything possible to get it to be less wild and in the end, she discovered a home made potion that worked a treat.

"Lets talk about something different," she said, becoming uncomfortable and embarrassed by his gaze, "What d'you think to the new students?" her voice raised slightly at the end of the question.

"Ohhh no, don't fire that question at me with a hint of judging. I saw your eyes wandering also." He held up his hands in his attempts to plead innocence.

"I was simply trying to figure out what all the fuss was about. Ginny has done nothing but talk about him since the World Cup, of course when he walked in she nearly lost it. I personally don't see it myself"

"Hmmm, sure you don't!"

"I don't! As for you on the other hand, you seemed quite taken by the lovely ladies from Bauxbatons. One in particular I noticed."

"That's because she was part Veela."

"Excuse me?"

"She's part Veela – its in their genes to seduce people, their looks and dance is hypnotic. You can't blame me for that."

"I honestly have never heard of a more thought out excuse than that! Bravo Draco!" Hermione mocked as she clapped her hands sarcastically.

"I'm being honest! You spend enough time with your head in books I'm surprised you didn't know that, look it up."

"Aright I will." Hermione said with a curt nod before she turned away from him, still not fully convinced.

Draco reached for her other hand and pulled her up onto her feet, he then scooped her up into his arms and placed her on his lap, before twisting his fingers through hers and held onto one of her hands whilst his other hand rested against her back, drawing circle between her neck and shoulder.

"Their appeal is superficial, its not real, its forced. Your beauty on the other hand is breath taking, and its real. I look at you and I don't just see your beauty Hermione, I feel it. I know it sounds soppy, but I don't want you second guessing yourself over some hens from Beaxbatons."

He lifted the hand entwined into hers and kissed her fingers before offering her an uncharacteristically sweet smile.

"Jealousy suits you." He said with a smirk, she used her free hand to swat him playfully.

"I'm not the only one who gets jealous, clearly!" She said, trying to sound serious but failed.

"Of course I get jealous, I don't want anyone else to think they have a shot and believe me, plenty want one."

Hermione scoffed and shook her head, she never was one to accept a compliment, or believe that many would be of the mind frame to offer one.

"You don't believe me?" She shook her head in response, this time it was Draco's turn to scoff.

He shook his head, used the hand he had positioned on her back to pull her forward slightly, making it easier for him to lean into her and press his lips to hers. They hadn't shared many kisses, but each they had were a result of many of Draco's sleepless nights and the cause for all of his cold showers.

Hermione untangled her fingers from his and moved her hand to rest on his face, leaning further into the kiss. He moved his now free hand along the top of her thigh and stopped on her hip before taking a firm grip and pulling her closer towards him.

This was the welcoming Draco had wanted, after weeks of only seeing each other briefly and for short amounts of time, in public and at a bookshop, this was what he had wanted to do since the last time they had kissed.

Hermione wrapped her other arm around his shoulder and pulled herself further towards him. His grip tightened the second the her movements became to much for him to handle, each time she shifted on him, each time she brushed up against his lap, he struggled to maintain himself.

Draco was the first to stop and pull away, panting and flustered with his eyes still closed. Hermione rested her forehead to his, rubbing the tip of her nose against his before she closed the gap once more and began kissing him again.

She moved the hand she had rested against his cheek and placed it on is chest, gripping his shirt beneath his fingers before pulling herself against him once more. Draco could no longer handle the sensation of her movements on him, however before he could do something, Hermione stopped abruptly.

She pulled her face away from him slowly and looked down at him, the embarrassment clear in his eyes. Sitting back slightly, she looked down towards her lap, as if she would see more than her own legs. She couldn't see him of course, but she certainly felt him. Her eyes shifted back up to his and her hand shot up to her mouth to hide her smile, she bit down on her lip to fight back the urge to giggle at the scene.

"I'm so sorry." Draco mumbled, his apology caused her to tip over the edge and she could no longer hold in her laughter. It wasn't that she was laughing at him of course, more that she was laughing at the situation. They had let their hormones get the better of them and as a result, Draco's body had reacted to the touch of hers.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, I just – would you like me to move?" Hermione struggled to say between giggles.

"I think if we want it to go away, your best to. Every time you giggle... you move more..." Draco said shamefully.

She felt a pang of guilt that she was laughing at him as she climbed off of his lap. She hadn't meant to embarrass him, she just couldn't handle the awkwardness of the situation, she wasn't sure how she was supposed to react. In Hermione's mind it was perfectly normal for a young boy to give that kind of response in the situation they were in, but in her mind she was also far to young to be engaging in anything remotely close to that kind of activity.

She moved across the room to the window seat and sat down, pulling her legs up to her chest before she turned to look outside at the rain against the window. Draco leant forward in his seat, resting his elbows against his knees with his head in his hands. He took a moment to regulate his breathing and focus his mind, attempting to pull it from the gutter. After what felt like a lifetime, he eventually felt himself relax and his issue seemed to have gone away.

He stood and shook his limbs like he was completely expelling any rude thoughts and behaviour before heading over to Hermione and joining her at the window.

"You good?" Hermione asked through a smirk.

"I'm good." He responded, returning her smirk with one of his own. "I can't be held completely responsible." He shrugged and tried to play it off.

"How'd you work that one out?"

"I was keeping my cool, I pulled away and tried to steady myself. You went back in for more and rubbed up against me, more than I could handle clearly. As a result, I…"

"Got a hard-on."

"Yes. Precisely." He scowled at her playfully and gained another giggle in response.

"I'm not the only one who gets all hot and flustered in that kind of situation, its just my tells are a little more obvious."

"And where is your proof that you're not the only one?" She chuckled.

"The way my ring heated, the way it made me feel as you were moaning in your sleep, that wasn't any innocent dream you were having, that was something like what just happened but no doubt more."

Hermione blushed furiously as her smirk fell from her face, it was his turn to laugh at her embarrassment, he suddenly didn't feel so bad for what had happened now.

"Lets change the subject." She told him, and he nodded in agreement with a grin still plastered over his face.

"Do you think there will be a ball at the end of all of this?"

"All of what, the tournament?"

"Yeah. With two visiting schools and no quidditch, they have to throw in some sort of festivities, surely."

"That would be fun." Hermione deduced, excited by the idea of a ball.

"Would it though? Having to get dressed up in some ridiculous get up, get forced to dance despite the uncomfortableness."

"Beautiful dresses, music to enjoy, drinks, generally a good time."

"That is one positive I guess… I'll get to see you in a nice dress."

"Who said I'll be going."

"You cant not go, the whole school will be going, if it happens that it."

"No, only people who get asked to go will be going, are you going to ask me?"

"Hermione… I… it's…" Draco stumbled over his words as his face fell and he grew visibly pale, he pushed himself off the wall and leant forward, closer to her.

"I'm kidding, I know you can't ask me. But that's kind of the point, I don't want to go with anyone else, so then why would I go."

Draco said nothing in return, he too couldn't picture another person he would want to attend such an event with besides her. He'd been to enough balls over the years to know they weren't something he enjoyed, but going with Hermione would completely change that, only, he knew that was impossible.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought the mood down like that." Hermione said as she leaned forward to take a hold of his hands.

"Don't apologise, it is what is it. We should be used to it by now."

"Doesn't make it any easier. Its very easy to forget when we are in here and its just the two of us."

"Hmm," Was all Draco could muster up as a response. He looked down at his hands that were entangled in hers before looking up into her eyes.

With a heavy sigh, he gave her arms a tug and pulled her forwards into him, leaning back against the wall with her head resting against his chest, he stretched his legs out and snuggled down until he was comfortable.

"So, who do you think is going to get picked for this tournament then?"

"I'm not sure, but I know one thing. Fred and George are going to try their dammed hardest to get their names into that goblet, even if it kills them."

"More fool them."

Draco and Hermione continued their idol chit chat regarding the Triwizard Tournament, discussing one another's theory's on what the tasks where going to be and how the contestants where expected to overcome their opponents.

Despite their efforts, neither one could get the idea of the possibility of a ball out of their minds and what that would mean for them. Neither one could stay behind when their friends would be attending, but neither one wanted to go without the other. Hermione prayed that no such ball would happen, whilst Draco willed it with every fibre of his being so that he didn't have to see her dance with another boy.

Author Note

I just wanted to say thankyou to everyone for all of your kinds comments. I know I'm not exactly responsive to your words, but they are exactly what keeps me going. The good, the bad and the ugly, your opinions are what have kept this story going for over a year. I know its been a long journey and I for one am someone who doesn't normally entertain WIP's but my GOSH! It's been hard work and now I fully appreciate the effort that people put into their stories, sometimes it's like having a full time job!

As you may have noticed I have been trying to update more frequently. I'm aiming for Sundays, but that may not always happen, such as today, but I will aim to update every Sunday going forward, don't hate me if that doesn't happen.

I hope, despite this never ending journey, you're all still enjoying the ride. As much as I've been excited to write about fourth year, I'm having to be careful how I play on Dramione's emotions. I have to remember that they are still only 14, smut will come, but not yet, they're still babys! I want awkward before it gets hot. Lets be realistic, nobodies first time was exactly a Christian Grey or Hardin Scott moment. So I'm trying to keep it tame! Thanks again guys!