Chapter Thirty-five
NEWTS
"I think it's been hidden here since it was used to protect the Philosopher's Stone."
"How do you know that?" Hermione said, taking a few steps back.
Draco shrugged, looking at her with mysterious eyes.
"The portraits in this castle tell many stories if you listen to them."
"When did you find this?" she asked, still very surprised.
"Over a month ago. I was bored, and I've always wondered what was in here."
"And what do you see when you get close to the mirror?" Hermione whispered, watching Draco curiously.
He folded his arms over his chest and made a face.
"The first time I came here, I saw you. You were looking at me in a way... just like you're looking at me now. I didn't understand it then, but now I know it was because of my feelings for you" he confessed quietly.
Hermione felt like she was about to melt. She couldn't believe he was telling her all that.
"Now I don't know what I'd see and I don't care, I have everything I want" Draco added, scratching his left arm as he lowered his gaze.
Hermione grinned and pounced on him, kissing him anxiously. With a flick of his wand, he turned an old chair into a huge bed and flopped down on it, with Hermione on top of him.
They both laughed and she moved a few inches away from his face.
"Are we going to sleep here?"
Draco nodded, stroking her temple with his hand.
"I don't know if we'll get much sleep, though."
"Are you that needy?" she asked in a teasing voice.
"It's been over a month since I've been with you like this... so you can imagine what my answer is."
Hermione started laughing and he hid his face in her neck, chuckling softly.
"I really missed being this close to you, and I want you too."
Draco shook his head in surprise and, after looking at her for a moment, he kissed her deeply on the lips.
"And what would you see if you looked in that mirror?" he asked, pulling away a little and scanning her face with his eyes.
"There's only one thing I want that I can never have... my parents. At least I know they're happy, that's enough for me" Hermione said, letting out a sigh.
Draco's stomach lurched and he kissed her again desperately, turning them to lie on top of her. He began to slowly undress her, his lips travelling from her lips to her throat.
When they both had no clothes left on, he pulled away from her face, panting softly.
"I love you, though I won't tell you that. I'd rather show you" he whispered, staring into her brown eyes.
Hermione knew she was about to cry, but she blinked several times to control her tears.
"I love you too... I told you one day, it slipped out of my tongue, but you didn't hear me" she confessed, kissing him again.
Draco smirked between her lips and nibbled on them, lifting one of her legs to place it over his shoulder.
"I'm sorry for everything I said to you when we were younger... I was an idiot and you had a hard time because of me, even this year... Can you forgive me?" he asked, pausing and searching her gaze.
Hermione bit her lower lip, staring at his body and feeling his warmth.
"I'll forgive you everything if you make love to me today."
"That's what we've always made, Hermione... but neither you nor I knew it" Draco murmured, lowering his head and catching her lips again between his as he slowly sank into her.
Their bodies pressed together and they both gasped at the same time. Both of them continued to enjoy each other until late into the night, when they cuddled together and fell asleep.
The NEWTs began and all the seventh year students, repeaters and newcomers alike, faced what would be their new destiny in the magical world.
Their future jobs would depend on their grades, and they all knew it.
The atmosphere was charged with nerves and tension every time they had to go to the Great Hall to take one of those exams. More than one student threw up before entering, and the Weasley's calming pills were sold out in less than two days. Ron himself wrote to his brother, asking him to send more to the Hogsmeade shop urgently.
For each exam, the four big tables of the Great Hall disappeared, and in their place were hundreds of desks, with parchment and vials of anti-trap ink.
Hermione left the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam. She smiled as she saw Harry and Ginny waiting for her by the door. Draco stood a few feet away, leaning against a column and glaring at Harry with a sneer.
"How did it go, Hermione? What took you so long?" Harry asked nervously.
They had just done the writing part, and Hermione had been the last one to leave the Great Hall, still writing with her lucky quill when Harry went out.
"I think I've written too much about the defence spells, but I couldn't help it" she replied, twisting her index finger in one of her curls.
Both of her friends rolled their eyes and Hermione heard Draco's soft chuckle very close.
"Once a swot, always a swot" the blond boy muttered teasingly.
Hermione gave him a look of hatred and his grin widened.
"All you have left is the practical part" Ginny said in a nervous voice.
Hermione blanched and Harry made a face.
She immediately felt Draco's arm around her shoulders and closed her eyes, leaning her back against his chest and breathing in the scent of his cologne. The smell that used to make her anxious had become a source of calm.
"Don't be afraid, Hermione. Whatever happens, you'll do fine. Remember it isn't real" Draco said, his voice deep.
"You're not scared?" she asked, looking up.
"I'm terrified" he whispered really close to her, so that only she could hear him.
"I don't like it either, Hermione... but we're strong. We've been through worse for this to affect us so much" Harry mumbled.
She sighed and nodded, looking down.
"They're calling you now, you need to go back inside."
The three of them turned at the sound of Luna's voice, and saw her standing next to Ron and Neville, near the doors of the Great Hall. Draco squeezed her shoulders and kissed her temple, walking away towards the rest of the Slytherins from his year.
They entered the room and several gasps were heard as everybody saw the wooden chest in the centre of the room. Hermione pursed her lips and made her way to the chairs on the left, where the Gryffindor students were sitting.
The professor began to call out to them one by one, asking them to stand inside the protective circle he had drawn on the floor. He cast spells at them, which most of the students defended themselves well against, and then asked them to attack him until he was disarmed.
But the worst was after that, when he stepped out of the white circle and waved his wand at the chest. At that moment, each student had to face their worst fear, the one they had hidden in the darkest corner of their heart.
They had to show courage and concentration, standing up to it and getting the boggart back into the chest as quickly as possible... and Hermione knew they were going to see some very unpleasant things.
Everyone held their breath when she was named.
Hermione held her wand tightly in her right hand and got to her feet, placing herself inside the white circle. She didn't have to struggle to repel the professor's attacks, and she was the fastest to disarm him.
He stepped out of the circle, congratulating her, but Hermione's smile disappeared when she heard the chest creak open.
She put her feet together and took a deep breath, looking up... and saw with horror that Bellatrix Lestrange was slowly emerging from the chest, wearing her trademark evil grin. In one hand she carried her twisted wand, which Hermione knew well because she had used it to sneak into Gringotts, and in the other she had a dagger, blood dripping from it to the floor.
The scar on her forearm began to ache as she recognised the knife that had made it, and she knew it was her own blood that was dripping. She froze for a few seconds, her mind blank as Bellatrix's high-pitched laughter echoed through the room.
"I've been dreaming about cutting you with this again" the witch murmured, laughing again as she raised the dagger.
Hermione clenched her fists. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking and there was nothing she could do about it.
"Did you really think he could love someone like you? Stupid girl, my nephew enjoyed it the most when I tortured you... I remember I caught him wanking more than once after that day, while he was thinking about your screams of pain" Bellatrix added, laughing harder.
Hermione looked away.
"You're lying" she replied quietly, taking a deep breath.
"Ask him! You know that there's no point in him being with you. All he wants to do is use you and then he'll end your life, which is what I should have done" Bellatrix said, baring her teeth angrily at her.
She raised her wand at the same time as Hermione.
"Crucio!" Bellatrix shouted with a cruel smile.
"Expulso!" Hermione said, aiming for her upper body.
The two spells met and Hermione's spell disintegrated the other, hitting Bellatrix in the chest. The Death Eater flew off and slammed into the protective field around them, falling to the ground.
"Accio wand!" Hermione shouted, and Bellatrix's wand levitated into her hand.
She smiled as she grabbed it and looked back at the witch, who was screaming and lunging at her with her dagger raised.
"Levicorpus!"
The Death Eater began to hover, shouting and cursing loudly. Hermione ignored her words and continued to control her with her wand, until she placed her on top of the chest. With a swift movement, she slid the boggart inside and closed the wooden lid.
The silence in the Great Hall was deafening.
Bellatrix's wand disappeared from Hermione's left hand and she sighed, looking at the professor.
"You may return to your seat, Miss Granger. Well done."
She nodded and sat back down next to Harry, who took one of her hands and squeezed it. They were still shaking.
Hermione turned her gaze to where the Slytherin students were standing and immediately met the grey eyes she was looking for. Draco was very serious but, as soon as their gazes met, he winked at her and lifted one corner of his lips, giving her a small, forced smile.
Students continued to pass through the circle, more than one of them left crying after standing up to the boggart.
She and Harry looked away as Neville's grandmother emerged from the chest. She was some kind of zombie and blamed him for her death. Luckily Neville was soon able to get rid of her with a stun spell and put her back in the wooden box.
Her whole body tensed as Draco was called. He entered the circle and fought the professor, he was also one of the fastest to disarm him although it took him a little longer to repel all the professor's attacks.
He walked away and it was Draco's turn to face his fears.
A black cloud came out of the chest, settling in front of Draco. As soon as it hit the ground, it transformed into a writhing, screaming body, as if in incredible pain.
Hermione felt all the blood rush from her face as she recognised herself. She was wearing the same clothes as the day Bellatrix tortured her with the Cruciatus Curse. Just remembering the pain made her wince, and Harry's hand gripped hers tighter.
Draco's face was blank. Hermione watched him swallow and point his wand at it.
"Silencius."
The screams stopped, but the boggart in Hermione's form was still convulsing uncontrollably and had begun to bleed.
Draco used the levitating spell and slowly pulled Hermione's body back into the chest. He slammed it shut and both Harry and Hermione let out the air they didn't know they were holding.
Draco stepped out of the circle without glancing at the professor or searching her gaze, and returned to his seat.
He continued to avoid her eyes as Harry faced a shape-shifting ghost, showing the faces of Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, Fred, Ojoloco...
Once the exam was finally over, everyone left the Great Hall and Hermione said goodbye to Harry and Ron, running towards the dungeons. It didn't take her long to catch up with the group of Slytherins, and she saw that Draco was ahead of them all, walking too fast.
Hermione ran to him and held one of his hands without speaking. Draco looked at her and slowed his steps as he saw her beside him, interlacing their fingers.
She entered the Slytherin common room with him and they walked up the stairs to his dorm. The rest of the students watched them and stood around, talking about their boggarts. As soon as they were inside and Draco had closed the door, Hermione wrapped both arms around his neck and hugged him.
"Don't say anything" he asked quietly.
Hermione nodded, pulling away to watch his face. She stroked his cheek with her fingers, noticing that his grey eyes were still as cold as they had been when they looked at the boggart.
She pulled him closer and kissed him, and he soon responded to her kiss by snaking his arms around her waist, pulling her against his body too tightly, as if he wanted to melt into her.
They kissed desperately for what didn't seem like a long time to Hermione, until someone knocked on the door and they heard Blaise's voice.
"Draco, we have to go eat now."
His footsteps trailed off and the two of them stared at each other, trying to catch their breath. Hermione looked at the clock on the wall and giggled.
"I can't believe we've been here for over half an hour."
Draco smiled and gave her a deep kiss, after which he opened the door and walked down the stairs, holding her hand.
Just two more exams and their studies would be over for good.
The next one is the epilogue :)