Sign Your Name Across My Heart
Chapter Five: Gravis Epistola
Proclaimer: I own my kitty, and my brother owns his kitty, and my friend owns his puppy, and I own this story.
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An hour later, Draco emerged from the dark dungeon office, wiping the sweat from his brow. It had been a long session, but he was gradually getting better at it. He grinned as he thought back over the past couple months. He had been horrible when he first tried it, but now he was beginning to master it.
He walked up to the Head common room and said the password, then walked in. He put on a fake smirk when he saw Granger sitting on the couch in front of the fire, her legs curled up beneath her and a book in her lap. She looked to be too caught up in the book to notice him, so he moved so he was close enough to read the book upside down. A History of Charms, he thought as he recognized the contents. He had read that book already. He started to move away when Hermione jumped.
"Malfoy?! What were you doing??" Hermione gasped, as she suddenly noticed his looming figure.
"Just looking at your book. What did you think I was doing?" he rolled his eyes.
"I- Never mind. Where were you?"
"If you must know, I was helping Snape with a potion," Draco easily lied. "Now leave me be, I'm a bit pressed for time and need to do my homework. Goodbye." With that, he turned and walked to his room, where, as he had actually finished his homework long ago, he proceeded to clear his mind and fall asleep, in preparation for the next day's Occlumency training.
Hermione rolled her eyes and returned to her reading, but her mind was elsewhere. Shutting her book with a slam, she tossed it on the couch and strode out the common room.
"Ron!" she called out when she stepped in the Gryffindor common room. Hermione closed her eyes a short moment, letting the waves of nostalgia wash over her. This was where she had lived for six years, where she had gotten her first kiss, hung out with her best friends, where she had fallen in love...
"Hey Mione," Ron was saying affectionately, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "What's up? How are you?"
"Great, you?" Hermione murmured, leaning back against Ron and snuggling comfortably in his arms.
"Wonderful- now that you're in my arms," Ron said sweetly. Hermione smiled happily, then turned around to face Ron full on. She looked up at him, then impulsively kissed him passionately. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his arms encircled her waist- she pulled herself closer to him- how could she ever have been crying, when she had such a perfect boyfriend-
"Hey, hey, PDA," Harry interrupted.
Hermione broke away immediately, grinning sheepishly at Harry.
"How are you?" Harry asked Hermione.
"Great," Hermione smiled, then looked at her watch. "It's only eight; do you want to go for a walk?" she asked them. Last year, the three had decided to go for nightly strolls out to the lake, using warming spells during winter. They had nearly gotten caught several times, but each time it happened, they would stop going for walks for a week, and just sit in the common room to talk.
"Alright, I'll be right back," Harry agreed, and ran up to his dorm to get his cloak. They headed off under the cloak to the lake and started their walk, talking about their hopes for the future, their classes, and other random things.
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The next day, Hermione woke up to find the common room empty. She smiled and headed to the shower. She wouldn't have to deal with the Ferret yet today. When she finished her morning rituals (not that she had many), she went down to breakfast, and then after breakfast was NEWT-level Potions. Hermione entered with Harry and Ron, and they found seats next to each other.
"Good morning, class. Today, I will assign you all partners for a... project. Heads, you're together. Potter and Brown, Weasley and Thomas...." Snape listed off all the partners, and told them all to choose a potion for their project from the board. Hermione and Draco decided (well, Draco suggested, Hermione agreed) to do the forgetfulness potion.
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That evening, after supper, Draco and Hermione decided to work on their Potions project. Draco conjured a lab table and gathered the ingredients, while Hermione penned the instructions into the air in front of them. They worked together in silence until they finished the last stage of their first day. The potion would have to sit for at least 13 hours (at most 26) before it would be potent enough to add the dragon's blood and continue with the potion.
Hermione opened her mouth as if to say something to Draco, when a tap came from one of the windows in their common room. They both quickly looked to see the owl hovering in front of the window, waiting for entrance. Draco ran to the window and quickly let the owl in. He removed the letter and the owl hastily flew away.
Hermione figured that the letter wasn't for her, as the owl let Draco remove the letter; however, she was still curious as to what it was about. She watched Draco's face as he opened the letter; his face paled, and she saw his Adam's apple move as he swallowed in a nervous gesture. She frowned. "What is it?"
Draco looked up, startled, as if he had forgotten her presence. He swiftly pulled out his wand and muttered a quick spell, causing the letter to turn to ashes and fall to the floor. "None of your bloody business, Mudblood," he spat, before walking up to her, his wand pointed menacingly at her. "If you tell anyone- and I mean anyone, so that means not even your bloody boyfriends- about tonight, I will personally hunt you down and torture you until you die like the filthy Mudblood you are," he threatened through his teeth, glaring at her angrily. By then, he had his wand pressed up against her neck, and she was up against a wall.
Hermione gasped, tears filling her eyes as she thought about what he said. She didn't hesitate at all to nod, and was relieved when he took his wand away from her neck and left the common room.
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A/N: Hope you all don't hate me for this cliffie... Draco is still 'evil, mean, horrible, Ferret Boy' to Hermione, so he has to keep his act up :P
Katerina: Aww, that's too bad, I hope you get better soon! The flu is definately not a fun thing to go though. I'm dedicating this update to you cause you had the flu. :)
DanishGirl: Heh, thanks, I really enjoyed writing Draco's dream ;)
ss: :P I live to confuse people.
LadyLoca231: He was going to say something :P but you have to guess. I'll give you a hint: Draco doesn't yet like Herm. He still resents her very much.
RebelRikki: May not be a great review in your mind, but it's like I just got a free filet mignon and a chocolate dessert thing at Morton's steakhouse! I just love get responses from people! Thanks for enjoying my story! :D
Guitar Gurl: Thanks, I will! :)