Chapter Seventeen

The passage

"I suspected it since you talked about the guy you liked the other day as we were eating" Luna said, letting out a sigh.

She was with Hermione in the Ravenclaw common room, in one balcony from where they could see a large part of Hogwarts gardens.

Hermione grunted with annoyance, letting her arms fall on the stone railing. She rested her head in her arms and looked at the horizon, some snowflakes were falling from the clouds.

"Well, I thought the only thing I felt for him was a little affection."

Luna got closer and put an arm around her shoulders, hugging her with tenderness.

"You two have been months like that. Since we returned to the castle he has got closer to you and you got carried away... I think it's normal that you started to fall for him, Malfoy has been so nice to you and that's weird coming from him."

Hermione moved and looked inside the common room with frightened eyes.

"Don't say his name! Someone could hear us" she whispered, glaring at her blonde friend.

Luna rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"Everybody is outside watching the first snow."

Hermione leaned on the railing again and sighed.

"At least I ended this thing on time."

"How are you dealing with being in class with him and having to work together?" Luna questioned with a worried voice.

"It's so weird... I used to feel comfortable around him but now I'm always tense, though he respects what I said and doesn't look at me or talk to me unless he has to."

"What about changing your Arithmancy partner?"

Hermione shook her head.

"I'm not doing that, Hermione Granger doesn't give up. It may be awkward but I'll keep working with him and I'll get the best grade, as always."

"That's my friend" Luna said, patting her back.

Both laughed and decided that it was time to go to the Great Hall.

Draco was lying on one of the green sofas of his common room, staring at the fishes he could see through the windows with a serious expression.

Pansy left her dorm and got startled when she saw him there, all alone and with a dark face. There were almost no people in the common room because it was Sunday and it was snowing for the first time. She approached her friend and sat next to him.

"Why the hell have you had that long face for almost two weeks?"

Draco gave her a sideways glance.

"This is the face I have, Pansy. You should know it" he grunted with a deep voice.

"No, you've been in a shitty mood for days, and I think I know the reason."

"Oh, really? Enlighten me with your wisdom, then" Draco answered with sarcasm, sitting up and looking at her with one eyebrow arched.

"You got bored of your silly games with Granger and told her to piss off, but she doesn't leave you alone and that's why you're in a bad mood."

Draco grimaced and looked away.

"Bad guess. She's the one who got bored of me."

"What? That mudbl..." she stopped when he shot her a death stare and rectified. "Granger dared to say no to you?"

"I don't know why you think that's odd" Draco murmured with a snort.

"I don't believe you, there's something else. Girls usually don't resist you, and you are the one who gets bored of them in no time" she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"She told me she was starting to have feelings for me, and asked me to stay away from her."

Pansy's eyes widened with shock.

"For fuck's sake! Granger is in love with you?" she asked incredulously.

Draco gave her a look of hatred.

"Not so loud" he warned her.

Pansy looked around and saw that the three only guys who remained in the common room were leaving.

"Relax, there's no one around. And you? ... is my Draco falling in love too?" she asked with a mocking voice.

"Cut the crap."

She nudged him.

"I've never seen you like that for a girl before, something happens."

Draco rolled his eyes and let his body fall onto the back of the sofa.

"I don't know, I just liked to spend time with her" he admitted in a low voice.

"Start looking for the next one" his friend answered, shrugging her shoulders.

He frowned.

"I don't want the next one, I want her."

Pansy lifted her brows and was about to speak, but they heard a knock in the glass. Both turned their heads and saw a mermaid in one of the windows, staring at them.

"Damn it! Don't look at her!" Draco shouted, looking away and forcing Pansy to do the same.

"Why? What's a mermaid doing here? It's the first time I see one visiting our common room, they tend to be at the bottom of the lake with the rest of them."

"I have no idea but I've seen her three times, and the last one I almost drowned because of her."

"What?" Pansy screamed with a scared voice.

"She put me under a spell just looking at my eyes. I don't remember anything, but I went to the castle grounds and into the Black Lake somehow. If Hermione hadn't help me, she would have taken me to the bottom of the lake and I would have drowned... who knows what she would have done with my body then."

"Wait a minute... did you say Hermione?"

Draco looked at her with furious eyes.

"That's the only thing you got from all I said to you?" he asked, his voice filled with anfger.

"And why the hell does a mermaid want to take you to the bottom of the lake?"

"How do you want me to know?"

He stood up and got his wand out, pointing it to the window without looking at it.

"Go away, piece of shit! And don't ever come back!" he shouted in rage.

Pansy looked at the window out of the corner of her eye, really scared, but she sighed with relief when she saw that nothing was there.

"She's gone."

Draco turned his head, checking that the mermaid was no longer in sight.

"Fucking mermaid, I won't let her fuck with me again" he grunted, putting his wand back in his pocket.

"You are a drama queen, Draco."

"Shut up."

Pansy got up, getting closer to him.

"We should go to the restricted section tonight and search all the information we can about merpeople. I wanna know why they can bewitch humans."

Draco tightened his lips and rubbed his chin with one hand, thinking about it. He needed to know what the hell that fucking underwater beast wanted from him.

"That's a great idea. I also wanna know why."

"We'll go to the library at twelve. I'll wait for you at the dungeon's door."

He nodded and both let their common room, it was almost lunchtime.

"You cannot say anything about all of this" he warned his friends as they climbed the stairs.

"Don't worry. Your secrets are safe with me, as always. I won't say anything about you and 'Hermione'" she said, making air quotes while she said the name of the Gryffindor girl and glaring at him with mocking eyes.

He furrowed his brow but said nothing, walking faster to leave her behind.

Draco was watching Hermione during lunchtime, she was chatting calmly with her friends. He saw her talking to Weasley too, and that was odd. Draco had no idea that they were friends again and seeing that bothered him so much.

He saw her standing up to leave the Great Hall alone and decided to follow her, telling Theo and the others that he was going to the library.

Draco was sure she was going there too, and he wanted to ambush her. He couldn't stand to be away from her anymore, all his body wanted to be with Hermione… and he knew he could easily seduce her again.

He walked to a different corridor and ran to the stairs, climbing them to the third floor and hiding to wait for her. Shortly after that, he heard footsteps and, when he had a look, he saw that it was Hermione.

He hid again behind the column, a twisted smile curving his lips. She was not expecting him at all.

As her footsteps got closer, he left his hideout and wrapped one arm around her waist, covering her mouth with the other hand and pulling her until she had her back pressed to the stone column. Hermione stifled a scream and her heart started pounding when she saw that Draco was the one holding her.

"I need to talk to you" he said in a low voice, loosening his grip.

"Why? What's wrong?" she asked, her breath was heavy for the scare.

"Not here."

He took one of her hands and walked fast, until he was in front of the statue of a witch.

"Dissendium" Draco mumbled, looking at the statue.

Her hump moved, showing a hole.

"How do you know about this passage?" Hermione asked before following him in.

"I caught Potter using it years ago, and I found the way to get in... so, when we were rebuilding the castle this summer, I unblocked all the passages I knew about."

Once they were inside, the statue moved again and the entrance closed. Hermione took her wand and used it to light one of the passage's torches.

"What do you want?" she asked, turning around to face Draco.

He grabbed her by her shoulders, trapping her against the wall. Hermione let out a gasp. Draco put an arm on each of her sides and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply with his nose buried in her hair. He had missed her scent so much during those two weeks.

She blushed and tried to push him away.

"What are you doing? I told you I don't want this, I can't."

Draco opened his eyes and stared at her.

"The mermaid has come for me again."

"What?" she said, very shocked and with widened eyes.

"Yes, but I didn't look at her and she left."

Hermione hesitated.

"I... I don't know what to say, Draco. I already told you all I know about merpeople."

He grinned.

"Your heart is beating really fast, Hermione. I can hear it."

"Prat" she grunted, frowning and pushing him again.

"I can't take this anymore, I want you so badly" he whispered, breaking the distance and kissing her.

Hermione froze when his lips were on hers and tried to pull apart, but she gave up a few seconds later. Sighing, she closed her eyes and her hands reached to lay at the base of his neck.

Who was she kidding, she was also dying to be with him but she knew it was a terrible idea.