Following their steamy encounter on the Astronomy Tower Draco had struggled to find Hermione; she hadn't met him once in their location over the previous week and he was worried. What little he had seen of the curly haired witch had been fleeting glances in the corridors where she'd blush and hurry away. She hadn't eaten a meal in the Great Hall either, he'd know since he'd ensured he was there from the moment each meal started until the moment the food was cleared away. He wasn't sure what the girl was feeling, was she angry, embarrassed, did she feel he'd taken advantage of her or was she regretting kissing a Death Eater? So many questions kept him up each night but the thing that worried him most was their friendship, did she still want to be friends. In the post war climate, he'd found it hard to connect with people even those he had known for years like; Blaise, Pansy and Theo yet in the darkened night he'd forged a connection with her, a girl every bit his opposite yet someone who had seemed to understand him better than everyone.
He'd really hate for their friendship to be over and needed to speak to the girl, did he need to apologise he wasn't sure, he'd do it though, Granger was worth it. A week after their encounter Draco found himself stood in a small alcove behind a tapestry of each of the four house crests, Granger was in her Ancient Runes class around the corner and would have to pass where he hid to get back to Gryffindor Tower. Draco waited silently waiting for the sound of students moving around the school, raising his wand he silently cast a charm at the tapestry to allow him to see which students were passing his hiding place; first a collection of fourth year Hufflepuffs went by heading towards the Ancient Runes classroom and then a small huddle of Seventh and Eighth Year Gryffindors came in the opposite direction.
"Why did I choose to take that class again," Ginny Weasley was saying her arm linked with Grangers, Draco whispered a confounds cham hitting the older girl silently.
"I'm not sure Ginny, you go on, I've forgotten something in the classroom," the girl said distractedly.
"Are you okay Hermione," the redhead asked.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine, I will see you in the Tower," she told the girl before turning to head back to the classroom. Ginny looked bemused but continued anyway, following the other Gryffindors out of the corridor. It didn't take long for Granger to return, shaking her head and muttering about her foggy memory. Draco took his opportunity and pulled the tapestry aside and tugged the girl into the alcove with him.
"Draco," she whispered shocked at the sight of him.
"You've been avoiding me Hermione," he accused her just as quietly.
"I'm sorry," she replied, biting her lower lip worriedly.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let things get so far, I took advantage of you," he told her firmly.
"No, you didn't I wanted to do what we did, I threw myself at you like a slut, like I was desperate," she whispered, her face flaring with embarrassment.
"You don't have to be embarrassed of your desires," he told her.
"What must you think of me, one minute I'm upset over my failed relationship and next thing I'm all over you begging for release," she squeaked.
"I didn't think anything bad about you Hermione, I've been attracted to you for a while now, I was in awe that you'd even contemplate letting me near you as more than a friend," he told her honestly.
"Draco what are we," she asked him after a moment of silence.
"I don't know, at the very least you are my friend, my incredibly beautiful friend. I'd be crazy to say I didn't want more than that, but I will take anything I can get," he told her.
"I'm attracted to you too, I don't think I'm ready for another relationship, but I'd like to be more than friends," she whispered, biting her lip once more between her teeth and twisting her hands nervously.
"We can be friends with benefits Granger, but I don't share, it will be just the two of us playing together, nobody else," he whispered his voice deep.
"Exclusively friends with benefits," she agreed with a small nod.
"Can we keep this secret," she asked timidly.
"No point upsetting our friends," he whispered.
"They wouldn't understand," she agreed.
"No, they wouldn't he told her leaning down to claim her lips in a heated kiss, his hands gripping her to him firmly, his tongue slipping into her mouth when she let out a small moan.
"Hermione," a girl's voice called from down the corridor and the spell was broken, Hermione puled herself away from him panting quietly, her face flushed, and her lips swollen.
"That's Ginny, I'd better go she whispered, Draco smiled down at her brushing some of her hair behind her ear and gently kissed her on the forehead.
"Meet me tonight in our spot," he asked her quietly.
"I will, I promise," she agreed with a brilliant smile, her eyes bright and happy.
"I'll hold you to that," he told her before claiming her lips in a final kiss.
"Bye," she whispered as she slipped out of the tapestry moments before her ginger friend rounded the corner.
"Hermione where have you been, why do you look so," the redhead paused her eyes roaming the older girl from her wild frizzy curls to her rumpled uniform, flushed face, and swollen lips, "Snogged, why do you look so snogged, miss I forgot something in the classroom" the girl asked her eyes scanning the corridor for the culprit who had snogged her friend, Hermione squeaked in embarrassment at her side.
"I-I erm," the curly haired witch stuttered.
"Relax Mione, tell me when you are ready, whoever this guy is I hope he is better than my tosser of a brother. Hopefully, he's fit too, I can't wait to talk about him together, do you need any advice or help, Harry likes it when I do this thing with my," the girls voice grew quieter as the pair walked away and Draco was quite thankful that he never learned what Harry Potter liked his girlfriend to do.