it's been so long, but I wanted it to be perfect. and then I just keep adding things, and adding things, and adding things ... but it's done now! pls enjoy!

the Room of Requirement, almost

It has been a few days since their intense talk (and their sexual escapade) in the Prefect's Bathroom and they still haven't been able to spend quality time together. A new week is beginning, and they have only been able to sneak away from their respective groups of friends (acquaintances, he would call them) for maybe half an hour before something pulls them apart.

She wakes early and dresses quickly, trying hard to not wake Parvati and Lavendar as they aren't very kind when rudely awoken, especially on a Monday. She heads down to the Great Hall, but she decides to wait for him so they can talk before breakfast.

She is grateful when she spots him, alone, walking up the stairwell into the hallway. As he passes the spot where she's hiding, she reaches out and grabs his hand, pulling him into alcove. He yelps in surprise as he stumbles into her, but upon seeing that she is the one kidnapping him, he scowls playfully and lightly boops her nose. "Warn a guy next time, alright?"

She deadpans back, "That was a pretty girly scream you let out just then."

"It was not a scream, and it wasn't girly!"

She snorts with laughter, "You keep telling yourself that."

He silences her with a kiss, but she giggles when he pulls away. "What's going on?"

"I have wonderful news — Harry and Ron are going to be busy with Quidditch practice all night after dinner. Sooo …" she grins suggestively and he's already excited.

"Sooo," he mimics, lacing their fingers together and squeezing. "So you think Gryffindor actually has a chance on Saturday?"

She rolls her eyes and swats his arm. "I don't particularly care. I am much more excited to spend time with my boyfriend, uninterrupted!"

"Ah, well, I'll have to check my calendar," he says, and she's definitely not amused. "Kidding," he smiles cheekily and quickly kisses her again. "Meet me in the Room then, right after dinner?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," she replies and squeezes his hand before checking to see if there is anyone in the corridor. No one appears to be out yet, so they exit the alcove and walk hand-in-hand to the Great Hall, eyes peeled for people.

"It's nice to be able to do this," he muses.

She smiles and bumps his shoulder with hers, "Yeah, it is."

Right before the entrance to the Great Hall, they let go and separate from each other. "See you tonight," she whispers before going inside.

However, cruel irony will prevent them from being together tonight. After Transfiguration, she exited class with Parvati and Lavendar — the boys were wrapped up with Dean, Seamus, and Neville discussing the game on Saturday — and the three girls headed to the bathroom before Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Do you think he knows I even exist?" Lavendar asks dreamily, looking back to watch Ron goof off with the other boys.

"Lav, you just said hi to him, and he said hi back. He definitely knows you exist," Parvati says as she opens the door to the loo.

"Sure, he knows of me but does he think about me? Hermione, do you know?"

"My guess is that he's probably thinking about not fucking up in the game," she replies, dropping her bag next to the sink.

"Hermione, you're not helping," Lavendar whines.

She laughs and enters the bathroom stall closest to the sinks. As she sits down, though, she is faced with a terrible reality. "Awh, damn it!"

"Ah, the sweet sound of a woman unexpectedly getting her period," Parvati commented.

Sadly, it's true. She didn't expect it until Wednesday, and with her plans for this evening, this is very unfortunate timing.

"Here you go, 'Mione," Parvati holds a tampon under the stall door, and she takes it with a huff.

"Well it's not like it's ruinin' any big plans of yours," Lavendar jokes to Parvati and the girls laugh.

She is grateful that she isn't standing next to Lavendar as she probably would have strangled her. "Whatever," she mutters, throwing the wrapper away and flushing the toilet.

"Hey, speaking of sex," Lavendar begins and both Parvati and her groan in annoyance. "This is good gossip, I promise. Have you guys heard about the mystery couple?"

She rolls her eyes and hits the soap dispenser a few times as it refuses to give her soap. "What are you goin' on about?"

"So apparently, there's this couple that's been havin' sexual relations," Lavendar whispers scandalously, "all over the school grounds."

Her blood runs cold and she falters in her hand washing. "Wh-what?"

"Seriously?" Parvati is intrigued now and leans against the sink.

"Yeah, so I heard from Leona, who heard from Conrad, who heard from Justin that Susan went to shower in the Prefect's Bathroom last week and there were two people havin' sex in there! And that's when Justin told her that he was goin' to do his Astronomy homework early and as he was walkin' up the tower, he heard people totally goin' at it!"

Parvati laughs with glee as Lavendar recounts the gossip, and they start to wonder who the couple could be, slowly ticking off who is currently in a relationship.

She, on the other hand, begins to panic. If people have heard them, they could have seen them, which means people could know about them. She is already feeling slightly nauseous from her period, but now she is sick to her stomach with anxiety.

"So, so — no one knows who they are?" She asks, trying to sound interested and not scared for her life.

"No! No one has seen who it is or heard anyone screamin' any names. Justin said he just got the hell out of there, Susan too," Lavendar giggles.

That eases a little of her worry, but not much of it. She can't wait to tell him about this.

The rest of her day passes slowly and she is now starving and nauseous at the same time as well as experiencing severe back pain. The first day of her period is always the worst, as it is for most females, and today is no exception. She doesn't eat much dinner, and when she sees him leave the Great Hall, she excuses herself as well. Harry and Ron go off to the Quidditch pitch with Ginny and their other teammates, so she begins the trek up to the Rooms of Requirement, slowly as her body aches and her stomach twists.

He's on her the instant she's through the door, though, and she briefly forgets of her unfortunate visitor. His tongue is warm as it rolls over her's, his hands holding her face firmly, yet stroking her cheeks gently, and he's drowning her in passion.

She doesn't remember until her back hits the wall and she can feel his blossoming hard-on against her stomach. She pulls away quickly and murmurs his name, "Draco …" He ignores her, instead moving his lips down to her throat. One of his hands moves into her hair and tugs on the hair tie, letting her mane fall down to her shoulders. "Draco, stop."

He does, and he looks very worried as he searches her face. "What? Did I —"

"No," she shakes her head and puts some distance between their bodies. "No, you're fine. You're actually going to hate me, though."

His brows draw together and he is confused. "Why … why on earth would I hate you?"

She worries her bottom lip and sits on the edge of the couch. "We can't have sex today."

He looks even more befuddled. "What's wrong?" But then, an alarmed look flashes over his face, "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, I just …" she grimaces, "I got my period … a few days early, so we can't …"

"Oh," he says dumbly and flops down on the couch. It's silent, and then, "why would that make me hate you?"

Okay, fair point. "We haven't had any time together since we had our talk, and now we can't because of me and my stupid uterus, so it would be fine if you were annoyed with me."

He chuckles and leans back against the back of the couch. She throws him a perturbed look and he reaches for her hand. "Look, 'Mione, I'm definitely not mad at you, not even annoyed. I'm slightly disappointed, but it's not the end of the world." He rubs circles on the back of her hand and she nods, the anxiety in her stomach receding. "Hey, we should just be grateful it came at all."

She laughs lightly at his insinuation. "Yeah, I suppose we should." He kisses her temple and wraps his other arm around her shoulders. "I'm still sorry though," she mumbles, resting her head against his chest.

"It's okay, we can just do other things, like the homework we are currently neglecting."

She sighs and agrees, although she feels like she could just rest with him for a few hours and it'll be more successful. He squeezes her shoulders and stands, holding his hand out for her. She takes it and stands, but then a shooting cramp runs across her back and abdomen and she's groans, immediately doubling over in pain.

"Hermione, sweetheart, are you okay?" He bends down to hold her cheeks in his hands as he searches her eyes. He looks distressed and very unaware that he called her sweetheart.

She thinks it's sweet, but the thought is buried by the period pains. "I'm okay," she breathes out. "It's just my back pain and cramps, they'll go away."

"Because of your period?" He asks, nodding sympathetically. "What do you usually do?"

"Do?" She asks, breathing deeply and standing straight up slowly. "Like to feel better?"

"Yeah, I don't want you to be in pain," he insisted.

"I usually crawl into my bed, curl into the fetal position, and wait for it to pass."

He makes a face. "That sounds horrible."

"It is," she agrees and walks to her backpack to get her homework. He pauses to think, then a grin crosses his face.

"All right — new plan!" He announces, stopping her from getting anything and guiding her to the bookcases. "No homework today. Find a book you want to read and get comfortable. Maybe there's some pajamas here, somewhere? I'm going to find you some remedies for your cramps and probably some chocolate too, that has to help. Maybe some tea? I don't know. I'm sure I can find something that will help and then we can sit and read and —"

"Draco, honey, breathe."

"Right," he pauses. "Did you just call me 'honey'?"

She bites her lip and fidgets with her sweater sleeves, clearly embarrassed. "You called me 'sweetheart' earlier." He blinks, trying to remember when he did that. "Was it okay, I don't have to —"

"N-no, it's just that no one really uses terms of endearment around me, other than my mum of course."

She nods sadly, "Well, was it … okay with you?"

He grins, "Yeah, it was nice. Sweet. Wonderful. I don't know." He chuckles nervously and rubs the back of his neck. "I liked it."

"I like it too," she admits and strokes his cheek with her thumb. Returning to the matter at hand, her brow creases thoughtfully. "You're very much more okay with talking about my period thank I thought you'd be."

He shrugs, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you're a guy?" She states as though it is obvious.

He chuckles at her comment. "Hermione, I spend a lot of time down there —" she blushes at his lewdness — "and we have a lot of sex. Your period is just another thing your wonderful body does."

She admires his manliness. "Amazing, this is what maturity looks like. Every time I mention it to Harry or Ron, they say 'boy, that sucks' and run in the opposite direction."

He is going to respond with something snarky, but then he notices the new items that have appeared on the table. He steps around her and approaches the table, examining each item. There's two potion bottles, a Calming Draught and a Pain-Relieving Potion, a tin with various chocolate candies, a small canister with tea leaves, and two pairs of pajamas.

"Damn, this place is amazing," he mutters, acknowledging that each of the items on the table is something he must've rambled on about a few moments ago. He reaches for the pajamas and the potion and returns to Hermione, who used the brief interlude to look at the books. "Here, take some of this and change into these."

She's surprised, "Where —"

"The Room," he says as his only explanation. She nods and takes the obviously smaller pair of pajamas and the potion bottle. "I'm going to make some tea, okay?"

She nods and pulls the stopper out of the bottle before swallowing two gulps. He starts to steep the tea for them and she tugs off her uniform, dropping her clothes on the floor in a heap. The pajamas the Room provided are soft and warm, like they just came out of her mum's dryer. She sighs and plucks a book off the shelf, Pride & Prejudice. She crawls into the big bed and lays down on her side in the middle.

She reads a few pages and begins to feel her stomach settling and her back loosening. She stretches slowly, delightfully noticing there is no sudden pain. He hums softly as he brings two cups of tea and sets one on the nightstand next to her. She thanks him and takes a sip, testing the temperature. "Mmm, it's perfect," she whispers and drinks some more.

He grins, feeling successful, and kisses her forehead. "I'm going to change and then I'll join you, okay?"

"Okay," she nods and continues reading, occasionally drinking the tea.

He joins her not a few moments later, and she starts to shift so he has enough room on the bed too, but he stops her, pulling her back securely against his front. She sighs, content with his warm body gently pressed against her back. They don't typically spend time like this, participating in the calmer aspects of a relationship. It's not that they always fuck-and-run, not anymore anyway, but they usually just don't have time. Tonight, however, they have all the time.

"How do you feel now?" He murmurs, tucking his left arm under the pillows and rubbing her stomach lightly with his right hand.

She hums in response, putting the book down and closing her eyes. "Much better. I'm stealing the potion bottle."

"Honestly I think it's kinda your's, since it appeared in here for you."

"Dunno how property laws work in the Room of Requirement," she mumbles, covering his hand with her left one. "Don't really care."

He smirks and nuzzles his nose into her neck, resting his head there and breathing in her scent. He continues to rub circles along her stomach and asks, "When did you know you were a witch?"

She giggles, "What are we doing, playing 20 questions?"

"What's that?"

"A game where you take turns asking twenty questions."

"Oh, I guess that was self-explanatory," he concedes and she snickers. "Sure, we can play it. When did you know you were a witch?"

She sighs, "Everyone thought I was just a bit odd when I was a kid, a weird one who could do things that aren't natural. My parents, uh, actually tried to hide it. They don't know anyone in my family who had magic, so no one knew it was, like, a thing. When McGonagall showed up and explained, I believed her instantly. I just knew, this is why I can do these things without explanation. My parents … they were more hesitant. It took a trip to Diagon Alley before they believed her."

"What was the first magical thing you did?"

She snorts at the memory, "I was in time-out, bored, wishing for something to entertain me. All of a sudden my favorite book zoomed towards me. It was what I was thinking about. When my mom found me with the book in time-out, she thought I had gotten it when she wasn't looking and got mad. She took it away and said 'time-out is not for reading!'"

"Ah, a little bookworm from the start then," he says with humor in his voice. She laughs and nods, turning in his embrace to look at him. "Do you wish you had siblings?"

"Hold on, I haven't asked you a question yet!"

He chuckles, "Okay, okay, ask away."

She looks at him thoughtfully, then asks him, "What do you wanna do when we're done with Hogwarts and the war is over?"

He blows out a breath and groans, running his hand over his face. "I have no idea. I don't know what even sounds interesting. I just want to survive."

"Life isn't worth living if you're just surviving," she says.

"I meant survive the war."

"I know," she rolls her eyes. "But even after that, just existing isn't enough."

"I suppose."

"Well, what did you want to do when you were little?"

His cheeks turn pink and he grimaces. "I, uh, wanted to become a Quidditch star."

She grins at his reaction, "Why do you look so embarrassed? You're a great Seeker! It makes sense that you'd want to play the game you love."

He shrugs the best he can and drops his head to hide his face. "My father wouldn't have allowed me to."

She's confused, "Allowed you to … be a Quidditch star? Didn't he get everyone on the team new brooms in second year?" She asks incredulously.

He bobs his head up and down and sighs, "Sure, but he thinks Quidditch is just a fun game, a pastime, not a profession. Eventually you get old and can't play anymore. Then what?"

"Then you … find something new? I don't know either, I guess."

He stays quiet, then admits, "I thought if I could beat Potter, then he would see that I'm good enough to be a professional player." He rubs his forehead and closes his eyes while grimacing. "But I never actually beat him."

She strokes his hair slowly and watches as his brow uncrinckles. He unclenches his jaw as she runs her hand along it, and then he kisses the pad of her thumb when she traces his lips with it. "I thought you just wanted to beat Harry so you … could say you beat Harry. I didn't realize there was an end goal."

"All of my actions have an end goal. Don't yours?"

"Well, yeah. But I guess in the past, I thought your actions were more —"

"Sinister?" He suggests.

She chuckles, "Sure, let's go with that."

He stares at her for a moment, then asks, "And now?"

"What about now?"

"How do you view my actions now?"

"Hmm with me, your actions are loving and careful and passionate. Doesn't matter if we're doing this or doing other things, you're always thinking about me and making me happy. It's actually kinda strange for me."

"Strange?"

"Well, normally I'm the one taking care of other people."

"And who takes care of you?"

"No one, usually. But now, it appears, you do," she smiles and kisses him lightly. "And for that, I am grateful. No one has ever gone to these lengths to make me feel better."

He smiles happily, "You're welcome, sweetheart."

She blushes at his deliberate use of the pet name and pushes him onto his back, curling into his side. He withdraws his arm from under the pillows and wraps it around her body, resting his hand on her hip. She grabs his left hand with her right, laces their fingers together, and sighs. He pushes her hair back and kisses the top of her forehead as she snuggles into his shoulder.

The sun has set over the trees of the forest, and now only a sliver of the moon is visible amongst the stars.

She watches his chest rise and fall as he breathes slowly, content laying there with her. Slowly, her eyes travel over to his arm and land on his mark. She asks quietly, "Did it hurt?"

"When I fell from heaven? Nah, just a little bruise on my —"

She rolls her eyes and elbows his side. "You know what I mean."

He clears his throat to stop laughing at his own joke and pauses before answering. "It wasn't a pleasant experience, no."

She nods a little, sighing. Her eyelids are beginning to feel heavy and the sound and feeling of his heart beat is calming her. She doesn't usually fall asleep this fast. "Did you put something in the tea?"

He chuckles lowly and rests his cheek on her head. "The Room provided a Calming Draught so I few drops in your tea, hoping it would help you relax."

She hums and nuzzles his neck. "Well it worked."

"Are you sleepy? We can sleep here for a little while."

"Or the whole night," she murmurs and shrugs. "I'll say I fell asleep in the library, or something. I don't care. I just don't want to leave."

He smiles and whispers, "Neither do I."

"Okay," she says, her voice barely above a whisper. "Goodnight, Draco."

"Goodnight, Hermione."

a reprieve from the usual sex-filled chapters, but hey, women have periods, get over it. pls leave kudos and reviews, they're like crack cocaine for me