Chapter Twenty-Five:
(A/N. What's up, everyone? Well guess what? My birthday is a little more than a week away! I'm so excited! I'm turning 16! YEAH! Okay everyone, wish me a Happy Birthday since I'll be going away for a week. So therefore I will update two new chapters on Friday (which is when I'm leaving.) Alright? Okay. Enjoy this short chappie!)
Hermione stared after him. Had he been about to say love? Did he love her? She sighed; she must have scared him away. She had lied to him, she had noticed that Ron no longer looked at her the way he had in their second or third year. He'd begun to see what others had seen long before him, that she was a pretty girl. She had tried to ignore the looks and touches filled with more meanings than she cared to decipher. She hadn't expected Draco to get jealous. She knew for a fact that Pansy and many of the other girls Draco had dated had tried to elicit some feelings from him other than a cold civility by cheating on the handsome Slytherin. He had only laughed contemptuously. Why had he reacted so strongly now? Because he cares about you, because he loves you, a small voice at the back of her head whispered temptingly. She sighed again and stood up. She wouldn't indulge in these torturing thoughts any longer. For the rest of the afternoon Hermione did necessary chores around the house. At 4:00 she set the table and went upstairs to check on Draco. She gently knocked on the door but there was no answer. She opened it and peered inside. Draco lay on the bed, fast asleep. She smiled and closed the door. She went back downstairs to make dinner. Her parents arrived an hour later and the noise drew Draco from his room. He looked groggy but much calmer. They had a pleasant dinner and Hermione pulled Draco outside at the end. They walked in silence.
"I'm sorry for getting mad." Draco said finally. She could tell that he wasn't willing to talk so she let it go.
"Let's just forget about it." She said. He smiled and slung his arm around her and they talked a while about the constellations before going to bed. Hermione couldn't shake the strange nagging sensation, which told her that Draco's feelings for her were getting deeper.
The rest of the summer blurred by, lost in countless days of horseback riding, quite picnics, and long strolls through the forest. Hermione was enjoying herself but she could never stop remembering that their euphoria in each other's company would soon disappear once they got to school. The feeling pressed closer the day before they were meant to go to King's Cross Station for the start of school. Draco and Hermione were walking through the forest one last time late in the afternoon, their hands tightly intertwined.
"Hermione, you know no one will accept us at school." Draco said softly. Hermione sighed and looked away.
"I know."
"I don't want to lose what we have, Hermione." He said. She looked at him sharply her eyes searching his.
"You want to stay together?" She asked her voice filled with hope. Draco smiled and nodded. She smiled back. "I want to too." She said.
"It's going to be hard. We're going to have to go back to being mean." He said. She shook her head.
"Nah. We can just be civil to each other. We'll say we don't want to risk our positions as Head Boy and Girl." Hermione said. They had both received the letter informing them of their new position a week before. Dumbledore had added a note saying at the smallest disturbance they would lose their title. Draco nodded.
"Alright." He said. He stopped her and looked deep into her chocolate eyes. "I'm going to miss you so much." He whispered. She smiled at him shakily.
"Not as much as I'm going to miss you." She murmured. He laughed and stroked her cheek with his hand. He bent and kissed her. They kissed for a long time before Draco pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.
"You're so beautiful." He whispered. She laughed and kissed him again, her lips lingering on his silky ones. They walked back to the house talking quietly. By the time they got back it was dark and so they separated with one last kiss and went to their separate bedrooms. Both didn't fall asleep until much later, when the moon had risen and spread a milky glow over the land.
