To say that Draco was terrified when he heard a scream rip through the Potions room would be a major understatement. He'd been forcing himself to take notes on what Slughorn had been saying, as it would keep him from glancing at Granger, when the sound he knew all too well entered the room. His ink had gone all over his notes and a bit had gotten onto the robes of the girl in front of him. Not that he would actually mention that; he had no desire to get screamed at for ruining that girl's outfit. And then, before he could even give a thought to the fact that he wanted his feelings for Granger to remain secret, he'd rushed to her side and attempted to grab her hand to make sure she was okay.
Of course he'd had to go run to the hospital wing after she'd been escorted there by Potter and Weasley-and Draco had really hated seeing Weasley touch her-to make sure that no one who didn't care about her got into the infirmary. The news of Granger falling to the floor screaming would travel fast around the castle and she didn't need people gawking at her. And that had worked, he'd turned away quite a few people without her actually knowing what he was doing, until Professor McGonagall had caught him at it. They'd argued for a good ten minutes, where McGonagall insisted that he go in and just deal with her other friends and Draco had furiously refused to do that. He'd had no choice, though, when she'd grabbed his arm and pulled her into the room behind her.
The expression on Granger's face when she heard what he'd been doing made him want to look away. She looked incredibly surprised, but at the same time her expression had been very thankful. And then he'd uttered the words she had me and everyone stared at him with surprise. The words had even caused Weasley to quit glaring at him for a moment, which Draco appreciated. He was beginning to hate being under Weasley's cold glare. He got enough of those from other people; he didn't need it from Weasley too. Weasley's glare had quickly come back into place though. Surprisingly, he was the only one who started glaring.
His sister had a slightly confused expression on her face; it quickly switched to understanding and she stared at Granger with an open mouth. Longbottom seemed to be letting out a sigh and nodding. Lovegood only smiled dreamily, in a way that made Draco wonder if she was even smiling about what he'd said. Potter was smirking at him which made Draco scowl. "Took you long enough to reveal it," Potter muttered.
Granger's shocked expression was slowly fading, but her eyes remained focused on him and Draco chose to keep looking at her as well. For a few seconds that continued, though Longbottom was quickly clearing his throat. Draco's eyes snapped to him as his face went warm; he didn't want to look at Granger again. "You know, guys," Longbottom said slowly. "Maybe we should step out for a minute?"
"Why would we-" Weasley began.
Potter grabbed Weasley's arm and pulled him away from the bed Granger was sitting on. "I think Neville's right. We're going to-" He hesitated, trying to come up with something to say and not really succeeding.
"We're going to grab a sandwich from the great hall and then we'll be back," Weasley's sister stated, offering Granger a large smile. "We'll see you in a few minutes, all right?"
Granger nodded, her face going warm as well. They probably looked similar in that aspect, something that Draco realized was an odd thought for that moment. After having his mind focused solely on her for far longer than usual he was now thinking about how they looked. It was absolutely ridiculous, he knew, but there it was. After her friends had left, Granger cleared her throat and frowned at him. "Why were you standing out there?"
"I didn't want anyone to come stare at you. And believe me, they tried,"
"But you didn't have to do that,"
"Have I had to do anything when it comes to you this year?"
The comment made her quiet for a few seconds and she stared at him quizzically. "Draco?"
"What?" he asked, his tone slightly sharp.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"This," she said, her voice steady yet sad. It made him irritated to hear the sadness in it, especially because he knew it was his own fault. "Why are you caring and trying when you don't even want us to go anywhere?"
"Granger, I-"
"I don't want to name whatever's going on," she said, turning her head to the left and staring out a window. He sighed quietly, knowing that if he were in her position he wouldn't look at whoever he was talking to. "But if I'm going to keep going on caring about you and-and kissing you-" The words sounded like they were hard for her to say. She probably thought he was just toying with her emotions to mess with her, and that made his heart pound a little harder. He didn't want to hurt her, and if that thought was in her mind like he was sure it was then he was doing just that. "-then I'd like some kind of assurance that you at least want something else to happen. Or you can see it happening in the future,"
"I-"
"And if you can't give me that, then we need to stop. I can't let this go on for absolutely no reason. No matter how much I've grown to care for you,"
It wasn't the first time that year he'd been completely furious. And the irrational anger that sprung up at her words nearly made him dizzy. He was mad that she'd even suggest stopping and letting go of what they had. He cared far too much about her to just-His eyes widened slightly at the realization. He cared too much about her to spend time away from her and stop what they had. Draco didn't know exactly what that meant but he knew it freaked him out. It was an idea he'd been thinking of for a few days, though nothing had proved it as well as his last thought.
"Draco I think you should go," Granger said quietly.
"If I said-"
"It doesn't matter, Draco. I know you don't want anything to happen in the future. It's okay; so we want different things. I think we always have,"
"But what if I do?" he asked, wishing she would look at him.
His wish came true as Granger's surprised eyes met his, widening ever so slightly. He hoped his expression was sincere enough to convince her of his words; he knew they were true, but if she didn't believe him then there was nothing he could do to change her mind. "But you-"
"I'm worried about how it will work. Because if we go any further then people will know and-"
"Somehow I think they already do,"
"What?"
"Hannah may have mentioned a few nights ago that she'd seen us holding hands in the early morning,"
"And Potter knows," Draco added.
"And, well, I think some of the professors do as well. Professor Sprout said something to me about it a while ago and I-well, I didn't want to freak you out,"
He shrugged and sighed again. "I don't think very many people will take it well. I don't want them to say anything about you either, and I know they would. That's why I didn't want to do anything else. But..." he trailed off and felt his face go warm again. He was thankful that Granger kept quiet instead of pushing him to continue; if she'd done that he would have snapped at her and that wouldn't have been good. "Granger I don't know how to explain it and I don't plan on doing that. But I don't like the thought of not having you around. I don't like thinking that there's no you when I'm older. So yes I want something to happen. I just want-"
Before Draco could finish his thought she was climbing off the bed and kissing him. Draco didn't know exactly what had inspired her to do that but he definitely wasn't going to complain about it. Her hands were gently holding his cheeks and Draco was absolutely positive that she was smiling. "Thank you," she said quietly. "I know I shouldn't really need that but I just... I wanted to hear it. I wanted to know that there was at least a chance,"
"Why do you need that chance?" he asked, unwilling to take a step away from her.
"Because I-" she stopped quickly, frowning at him. "Draco I just feel like..."
As he listened to her explanation, Draco couldn't help but feel like he wanted to smile. He absolutely refused to, because that would be crossing one too many lines that day, but he still wanted to. And before he knew it they were kissing again, as gentle as usual but a little longer.
That proved to be their mistake.
Just as Draco was beginning to feel like he should pull away from her, there was a loud clatter and a shout of, "Oh shit!"
Granger was the one to jerk away from him, but she kept her face relatively close to his. "Well this is great," she whispered.
"Any chance we can just erase their-" Her expression filled with pain before it quickly became blank. "Shit, Granger, I wasn't thinking," he said quietly. "I'm-sorry,"
"It's fine," she said, nodding slightly. "But I think-"
"What the hell is-" Weasley's angry voice shouted as footsteps approached them.
"Ron, mate, you need to-" Potter started, though his words didn't come fast enough. Granger was quickly yanked away from him and Draco was promptly punched.
"Ronald!" Granger shouted furiously.
"How could you?" Weasley asked furiously, rounding on Granger. She stared at him defiantly, and Draco knew that she would be fine but he was still bothered by how angry Weasley was. "How could you do that? Kiss that bloody Death Eater like it's-"
"Because, Ronald, I have feelings for him and that's what tends to happen!"
Weasley looked as if he were the one who'd been hit. "You-You have-How long?"
"Ron-"
"How long, Hermione?" he asked. "Was it-had it started before you and I-"
"No," she said quickly, her voice genuine and careful not to sound harsh. "No, Ron. Of course I cared about him then because I wanted to be friends, but it was nothing like what I feel now,"
"But how can I be sure?" he asked weakly. Draco almost felt sorry for him, though he honestly didn't feel that bad.
"Because you know me," Granger said, her voice beginning to sound hurt as well. "I would never do that to you. I wanted things to work, Ron, I honestly did but how was I supposed to go on how we were? This was for the best. I-I'm happy. With what's going on between Draco and I. And I'm sorry it upsets you but-" Weasley turned and left the room before she got to finish; his sister went after him immediately.
Potter and Longbottom were staring at him while Lovegood was smiling serenely. That seemed to be a common expression on her face, though Draco was beginning to think that there was a slim possibility that he could get used to it. "Well? Are you two going to be mad at me too?" Granger asked defensively.
He was bothered for a moment that she needed their approval, but Draco chose not to say anything about it. He was a little too busy holding his hand to his cheek and plotting ways to get revenge for the punch. "Honestly I saw it coming," Potter shrugged.
"As long as you're happy, I don't care," Longbottom said. The surprise on Granger's face was obvious. "Really, Hermione, what did you expect us to say? We want you to do what's best for you,"
"Can I have a word, Malfoy?" Potter asked loudly.
To his surprise, Draco nodded and followed Potter out of the hospital wing. "What do you want?"
"Have you told her yet?"
"Told her what?"
"About your trial, Malfoy," He went pink in color. Of course he hadn't forgotten about the trial that would happen after he finished Hogwarts, but it had been in the back of his mind after Granger had screamed. "I'll take that as a no,"
"I'll-"
"You have to tell her," Potter said. "She'll be furious if you don't. It's not like it will change anything anyway, between you I mean. She won't care and she'll probably help you try and build your case,"
"I don't want her to do that," Draco snapped. "I watched what happened to her in third year and I won't allow that to happen for my sake,"
"But she-"
"Drop it, Potter. I'll tell her but it will be on my time and I won't let her do anything that could make her condition worse,"
Draco expected Potter to argue with him and run into the hospital wing to tell Granger everything he didn't want her know. "Just promise me you won't do something to hurt her,"
"I won't," Draco said. The worst part was that despite how much he wanted the words to be true, they would most likely be one of the largest lies he ever told.