Chapter Thirty

Acceptance

"I'm being honest, Hermione. I know I don't deserve it, but I want us to be together. You're the first girl who's ever made me feel this way and I want to try" Draco added, slowly moving closer to her lips.

He released his hold on her and his hands moved up to her face, stroking her cheeks with his fingertips and brushing the wet curls away from her forehead.

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes, raising her arms until they rested on Draco's shoulders to keep some distance. She didn't want to hit him anymore, but she couldn't forget it all so quickly either.

"I... I have to... I have to think this through. It's too much to take in, and besides, I might get expelled for using the Cruciatus Curse" she muttered, opening her eyes again.

They looked at each other and Draco nodded.

"All right, I'll wait... but don't make me wait for too long."

Hermione smiled and so did he.

"Why did you go into the lake to save me?" she asked in a whisper.

"Because you did the same for me... and because I love you" Draco said, still looking at her.

A shiver ran down her back, setting off all her nerves.

He moved closer and left a soft, quick kiss on her lips. When they broke apart, Hermione felt an emptiness spreading through her body. That little kiss had tasted like nothing, but first of all she needed to clear her head.

"I don't think you'll be expelled, it's forbidden to use curses on humans and that mermaid isn't one. Besides, you did it in self-defence and the Minister of Magic is a friend of yours."

She nodded, smiling at the thought of Arthur Weasley.

"Where do you think my wand is?"

Draco looked towards the lake and pulled his wand out of his pocket, concentrating on thinking about hers.

"Accio wand" he muttered, pointing it at the centre of the lake.

It wasn't long before they saw something small come out of the water and fly to them. Hermione caught it with one hand and smiled when she saw that it was her wand. It had gone through the protective shield and was in good condition.

"Thank you, Draco."

"You're welcome" he said, happy to hear her say his name again.

He took two steps back from her.

"Shall we go to the Hospital Wing now and get those cuts healed? McGonagall is waiting for us in her office."

"Yes, let's go" Hermione replied.

The two of them walked together towards the castle, exchanging glances and smiles along the way.

Hermione remembered that Draco had put the bracelet on her inside the lake, so she lifted the sleeve of her robes, trying to untie it and give it back to him, but he stopped her.

"Don't. With the shield the professor has put up, I don't need it anymore."

"But it was a gift" Hermione answered.

Draco gave her a crooked smile.

"We can make a deal... I'll take the bracelet if you keep this" he mumbled, pulling a silver necklace out of his pocket.

Hermione pursed her lips as she recognised the small silver rune he had given her three months earlier.

"Wasn't it Pansy's?" she asked, frowning.

Draco shook his head.

"It's always been yours. She only kept it when I was stupid enough to try and throw it away."

"You told me it didn't mean anything" Hermione replied, narrowing her eyes at him.

Draco sighed heavily.

"That's the only time I've ever lied to you" he muttered, looking away.

Hermione let out a small giggle as she shook her head. She took the rune from his hand, tying it around her neck. He smirked and did the same with the blue stone bracelet.

They walked through the castle doors, meeting dozens of students going about their lives, oblivious to everything that had happened at the lake.

After the interminable talk with McGonagall and having to explain herself to several aurors and even Arthur Weasley, Hermione entered her common room on Luna's arm.

The wounds on her leg had started to hurt more. The nurse explained to them that merpeople had poison in their claws before cleaning the cuts and giving her an antidote. She needed to rest for it to take effect, so Luna had offered to walk her to her bed in front of a very worried Draco, who didn't want to be separated from Hermione.

Seeing them enter, Ron, Ginny and Harry ran up to them.

"What's happened? My father is here, but he didn't tell me anything" Ginny asked with a frightened voice.

Hermione sighed.

"Will you tell them, Luna? I need to lie down."

Her blonde friend nodded and she slowly made her way up the stairs to her dormitory.

"You'd better sit down" Luna said to the three Gryffindors.

They nodded and sat down on one of the red sofas. Luna did the same on the huge red rug in front of them and crossed her legs before she started talking. As she explained everything that had happened at the lake, in the Hospital Wing and in the Headmistress' office, the faces of her three friends began to lose colour.

"My joke has come true" Harry muttered under his breath.

"Malfoy thought it was you again at first. He hesitated for a few seconds before going to save Hermione because of that."

"Why didn't you stop her?" Ron asked, frowning.

"I tried but she wouldn't let me, she even threw me to the ground. I didn't understand what was happening and I didn't know how to react properly. I should have gone into the lake after her like Draco did, and attacked the mermaid."

"Merpeople are a lot more dangerous than they look" Harry said, remembering his encounter with them in fourth year.

"Yes, but Hermione was a bit out of line using one of the Unforgivable Curses" Ginny added, sighing.

"I guess when she woke up and saw she was sinking in the lake, she panicked and said the first thing that came to her mind" Ron murmured thoughtfully.

"So she'll be alright by tomorrow, then?" Ginny asked with a worried face.

"Yes. The potion will work while she sleeps, and when she wakes up, all the cuts the mermaid gave her will have healed" Luna replied, smiling.

The three friends sighed in relief and leaned back against the sofa.

"I'm glad my father is the Minister of Magic, otherwise Hermione might have been expelled" Ginny said.

Ron nodded and Harry frowned.

"If someone tries to kill you, the least they deserve is a crucio" the green-eyed boy growled between his teeth.

"You know... she and Malfoy seem to have been talking. They kept looking at each other in McGonagall's office when they thought no one was watching" Luna whispered, careful not to let anyone else hear her.

Ginny narrowed her eyes.

"And what did they talk about? I don't trust him, maybe he just wants to play with her heart again."

"I don't think so. I've always known that Malfoy is in love and I think he's told her" Luna replied with a small smile on her lips.

"I doubt it, he's not capable of admitting something like that" Ron grunted, snorting.

"We'll see about that... I'm off, it's been a long afternoon and I want to rest too" Luna said, standing up.

The three Gryffindors waved at her and, after a small debate about whether or not Malfoy deserved another chance with Hermione, they too decided to go to bed.

Draco woke up early that morning. He was nervous about what Hermione would decide and worried about her, so he had barely slept.

He got up and, after taking a shower, left his room first and walked through the dungeons. It was very quiet in the castle, hardly anyone had woken up yet.

He climbed the stairs to the main floor and turned into the corridor on the left, passing several professors and a few students heading for the Great Hall.

Draco peered up at the huge, shifting staircase and sighed as he saw several people in Gryffindor uniforms walking down it, but he didn't recognise Hermione or any of her friends. He clenched his fists and began to walk up the stairs, dodging the curious glances of the other students, and stopped in front of the fat lady's portrait.

"Password?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know the new one, I'll wait" Draco said, leaning against the wall.

A couple of minutes later, the painting moved aside and out of the hole came Harry and Ron. Draco gritted his teeth at the sight of them and snorted, running towards them.

"Weasley."

Ron turned his head at the sound of his surname and frowned as he saw the blond boy standing there.

"What do you want?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"How is she?"

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, and they both looked back at Draco.

"She's fine, fully recovered. She'll be going down to the Great Hall with Ginny shortly" Harry said.

Draco looked at him for a second and nodded, heading back up the stairs.

"Aren't you going to wait for her?" Ron asked with confusion.

"I just wanted to make sure she's okay" Draco replied quietly with his back turned, and continued down the stairs.

Ron grimaced and Harry rolled his eyes. They followed in Malfoy's footsteps and sat down at the Gryffindor table, where Luna was already waiting for them.

Ten minutes later, they were joined by Ginny and Hermione.

"How are you feeling?" Luna asked when she saw her.

Hermione smiled.

"Perfectly fine, as if yesterday hadn't happened" she murmured, lifting her robes to show them her leg, where there was no trace of the wounds.

She looked sideways at the Slytherin table and saw a pair of grey eyes fixed on her.

When the Great Hall was full, Professor McGonagall rose from her chair and everyone fell silent.

"Yesterday, there was an incident at the lake, with one of the mermaids. I don't want you to worry, it's under control now and today I have a meeting with the queen to re-sign an agreement to make the lake safe for everyone at Hogwarts. The mermaid that attacked will most likely be removed from the castle grounds and moved elsewhere."

There was a murmur throughout the room. Everyone was wondering what had happened.

"I'll just say that everyone involved is fine, and that the only thing that bothers me is that I didn't know what was going on earlier. If any of you have any problems with any magical creature, you should let me know immediately."

She sat back down and everyone continued with breakfast.

"She's right, we should have told her as soon as it happened" Luna muttered quietly, so that only Hermione could hear her word.

"Draco didn't want to tell anyone... though I shouldn't have listened to him" Hermione replied, sighing.

"Well, it doesn't matter now. You're safe and sound" her blonde friend added, resting her head on her shoulder.

Hermione smiled and nodded, finishing her toast.

"I suppose you should know... he was waiting outside our common room, and he wanted to know if you were alright" Ron said.

Hermione looked up.

"Who?"

"You know who" Harry said, gesturing towards the Slytherin table.

Hermione's cheeks flushed slightly and she continued eating, a soft smile on her lips.

"What are you going to do, Hermione? What did he say to you yesterday?" Ginny asked quietly.

She cleared her throat and looked at her four friends.

"That he loves me. He said he was sorry, and he wants us to be a couple."

"Are you going to start seeing him secretly again?" Ginny snorted with annoyance.

"No, he told me he doesn't care if everyone knows."

Her four friends looked at each other in surprise, and Luna grinned.

"You two are going to be the new school's gossip" Luna commented, giggling.

"I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet" Hermione replied, frowning.

Luna rolled her eyes.

"I bet you a thousand galleons I know what's going to happen."

Hermione ignored her and sipped her juice, glancing back to Draco. His chin was resting on one of his hands as he chatted with his friend Pansy.

She felt that twist in her stomach that muggle films defined as 'butterflies' and sighed, knowing that Luna was right. As much as she wanted to deny it, she had been trapped in his snake's jaws for months.

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Six more chapters to go! I have translated all of them now, so I'll post one or two chapter per day. I want to end this story so I can start with the second part haha