AN: I really am dragging this out, aren't I? Sorry, but I'm a bit too wordy for my own good. I like keeping chapters at three pages and nothing more, nothing less. Tell me if the story's going too slow in a review, will you? HINT

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling not me. Own these people I don't. You not review I kill you if.

Dedications at the end, as usual.

Chapter Six: Of Little Voices and Absolution

Barely even friends

Then somebody bends

Unexpectedly

- Beauty and the Beast

Hermione stared at Draco. "Draco, what reason have you given me in the past fifteen hours is reason enough to trust you by crawling into some unknown tent?" she snapped. Draco shrugged, his expression blank. "If you think of it, I haven't given you any reason at all to trust me, let alone call me by my first name like that."

He let go of the tent flap, letting it fall into place. He got up from the ground, where he was kneeling, and brushed off his hands. "Shall we retire to bed then?" He set off toward the house, and an unexplainable sense of guilt rushed through Hermione and it got more and more intense as she caught up with Draco.

"Draco..." she ventured, feeling small.

"No, call me Malfoy." he said noncommittally, looking away from her.

"Draco..." she repeated stubbornly. "I know I shouldn't have brushed you off like that... it's just that I'm... oh..." she sighed, still walking beside Draco, trying to catch his eye.

Suddenly, without a word, Draco whirled on her, catching her by her slim shoulders and turning her so she faced him.

"Wha- what are you doing?" she asked, suddenly very aware of the way her body was pressed against his, and that he was staring into her eyes with something... something inside those dusky grey depths that made her temporarily forget the cold.

And he pulled her to him, and kissed her.

~*~

Hermione's eyes widened under the sweet onslaught of senses. All she could see through her suddenly hazy eyes was a blur of ivory skin, eyelashes like beautifully drawn ink lines on an equally exquisite cheekbone, and over Draco's shoulder, she could see the jet-black sky, with one star shining, like a metal stud against black velvet. She could hear only the pounding of her heart in her ears, and she could only breathe in the scent of Draco... of mint, stars and stone.

And she could feel. She could feel his body pressed close to hers, one of his arms wrapped around her back, pulling her closer and closer and deeper and deeper into the kiss. The incredible softness of his lips on hers, the warmth... no, the heat... his skin was so incredibly smooth...

She was aware that she had closed her eyes, and was kissing him back, because she knew she wanted this to go on forever and ever and ever... as long as that one star she had glimpsed before closing her eyes would burn, as long as his heart beat against hers, and her blood flowed like liquid fire in her veins... this kiss should last...

It was over.

Too soon, too soon... don't go... Hermione tried to reach for Draco, but he was gone from her embrace, standing a good two feet away from her in the dark garden. He must have backed away... whispered the little voice in Hermione's head, bringing the blood to her face in a dizzying rush.

"Oh."

Hermione gasped. Draco looked extremely amused. Hermione touched her lips, still a bit dazed. "Oh." He kissed you, Hermione. And you liked it. Draco crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against a spindly tree. "What were you saying?"

Something in his smirking tone snapped sense back into Hermione, and her eyes cleared and she glared at him. "What. In. Bloody. Hell. Was. That?! Malfoy?!" she spat, the voices in her head chanting wildly against rational thought.

Draco smirked once more, his ice-god beauty radiant in the moonlight. "That, Hermione, was a reason for you to trust me." He winked. "And for you to call me by my first name. No Malfoy-ing anymore..."

Hermione stepped towards him, her eyes burning. "How dare you..." she whispered. Draco looked unruffled. "How dare I what? Boss you around? Tell you how to live your life... oh come on, Hermione. I've heard them all." he looked at her with equal intensity.

"How dare you..." she stepped up to him, and Draco's expression flickered. "How dare you kiss me, and act as if nothing happened?!" she hissed viciously, and her hand whistled through the air, striking Draco on his cheek with a snap as crisp as the frigid night air.

Draco hardly flinched, but the reddening weal on his pale cheek glowed under the starlight. "Well. Maybe I haven't heard that one before." he said simply. " But put it this way. I have to kiss a lot of girls. I have to win a lot of trust. And I have to pretend nothing happened."

Hermione's eyes looked strangely bright, reflecting the metallic gleam of the stars. "But why did you have to do that to me?"

Draco stared at her. "Because." he shrugged.

Hermione covered her mouth with her hands, and let out a choked sob. Draco stood under the tree, in the half-shadow, looking like a dream come true.

Silence.

And then.

"Was that enough?" Draco didn't move from where he was when he asked the question, simply standing there, looking up at the constellations splashed across the skies.

"Don't talk to me." Hermione's voice was muffled.

"Do I have to kiss you again?"

"What for?"

"Your trust."

Hermione glared up at him. "My trust can't be won over by a kiss! What are you trying to do, seduce me?"

Draco raised a cool eyebrow. "Hmm. Sounds like a good back-up plan, but what I'm really trying to do is give you your birthday present."

Hermione held up her wand. "Isn't this it?" she asked, swallowing slowly. Draco glanced at it. "Yes. And no. Do you want the other half of your present, or are you not easily won over by roses and kisses and conversations under the stars?" his voice grew soft and mocking.

The girl sighed. She seemed drained, and tired. Fragile, even. "Whatever pleases you." Draco chuckled. "Oh, pleases me?" Hermione looked up at him. "No more, okay? Just... get it over with."

Draco shrugged. "I hoped you would be more enthusiastic." and he began to walk back towards the direction of the tent. Hermione watched him until he was a little way ahead, then sighed softly, a puff in the midnight air, and followed him.

Draco held open the tent flap once more, eyes emotionless, saying not a word. Hermione dropped to her knees. "This had better be good, Draco." she told him, and he shrugged. She crawled in, and Draco followed.

And then, a moment of utter surprise.

"My god. Oh my god!"

Hermione was standing in the middle of a fairly large-sized room, decorated in blue, green and silver tiles, with soft blue curtains draped around the walls. The light glancing off the pool's water made beautiful patterns on the low ceiling above, which, like the one at Hogwarts, was charmed to look like the one outside.

The pool was beautifully shaped, and large enough for two people to swim comfortably around without crowding each other. A splashing sound gurgled from a small waterfall nearby, and it was sweet enough to lull anyone to sleep.

Hermione clasped her hands together, and turned to Draco, who was leaning against the wall, surveying his handiwork.

"Oh... Draco!"

"Yes, quite nice, isn't it?"

"Nice?! It's beautiful!"

"And it's yours."

Hermione turned red. "Oh no, no... Not after what I did… and… I couldn't... you barely know me. You barely like me, and you're giving me a swimming pool for my birthday?!" Draco hardly blinked. "It's a heated swimming pool, mind you."

Hermione stepped forward, hand out. "Draco... it's our swimming pool. And..." she looked away. "Thank you. I'm also sorry for..."

Draco held up a hand. "No time for Hallmark expressions. You've got two choices. Go to bed, or try out the pool."

Hermione stopped. Come to think of it, she was quite sleepy. And the perfumed waters weren't making it any easier for her to stay awake... "I'll be going to bed, Draco. And... thanks again."

Something in his eyes flickered. "I'll be testing the waters. So to speak. Go on, then. Sleep well."

The last thing Hermione saw before she ducked out of the tent was a blonde head sitting by the waterfall, fully clothed.

She smiled.

The first genuine smile in weeks.

--- --- ----

Dedicated to:

Viet Angel, Lime and Salt, Elle-poohbear, Epequa, Sila-chan, mirei-nochi, christine, Moon Revenge, emma, slinky, FairieDust, couch-potato, f0xyness39, KrayZM, sapphire613, EmiV, Jessica and Felicity.

Thanks for the reviews! :)

*glomp!*

Also to: EroticAngelz and Lady Alanna Salmalin of Conte, who both threatened me on pain of electrocution until I write more chapters. *grin!* Also to KAOS, who offered me a Mercedes-Benz [poster? aw…] in return for the uploading of the next chapter. Here you go, then!

And to Katana47, whose faithful reviews never fail to make me smile. I still owe you a ficlet, m'dear!

And last, but definitely not least, to The Hate of Abel, luv ya too!