(A/N)- Enjoy!
(Disclaimer)- I own nothing, blah blah blah.
Chapter Five- One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Hermione was left alone on the couch, trembling. She felt faint and dizzy.
"Oh my." Her head was spinning. She could hardly believe what had just happened. Heat was creeping into her face, but her body felt numb.
"Classes tomorrow. I need to go to bed," she thought. Thinking about Draco was too much to handle at the moment.
"I'll deal with it tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow." Hermione climbed her own set of stairs, trying to keep her mind off Draco. She quickly changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. Although she was very tired, her thoughts about Draco and the kiss kept her awake.
"He's supposed to be my enemy. but he kissed me! Draco Malfoy kissed me! (and it was wonderful)" said a small voice in the back of Hermione's mind. "Oh my gosh, shut up, Hermione!" She quickly corrected herself out loud. But it was no use. No matter how many times Hermione denied it, the small voice kept telling her she wanted Draco to kiss her again.
Meanwhile, Draco couldn't sleep a wink either. He tossed and turned, unable to forget the incident.
"What were you thinking, Malfoy?! She's gonna hate you forever. It's always one step forward, two steps back with you, isn't it?" Draco chided himself for his rash move. "Why did I do that, why?! Now I have no chance with her. Dammit! I shouldn't even want a chance with her! It's HERMIONE GRANGER, Miss Know-It-All." Draco sighed miserably. He was so confused. He actually wanted Hermione to be his girlfriend. "Talking all night tends to change your view of someone, Malfoy," Draco thought sarcastically. "But no, of course you screwed that up!" He purposely hit his head on the headboard, punctuating each word. "Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Having not slept a minute the night before, Draco rose early at five to ensure that he would not meet Hermione before breakfast. The thought of seeing her made Draco want to melt away, never to be seen again. Unfortunately, Hermione had exactly the same idea since she didn't sleep at all either. They entered their shared common room at the same time. The unexpected sight of each other caused both to gasp.
"Draco! Wh-What are you doing up so early?" Hermione nervously fumbled with her books. "Come on Hermione, calm down!" She pleaded with herself to stop her voice from trembling. She was afraid Draco would see right through her, see that she was beginning to care for him.
He strolled to the door leading out into the hallway. "Same as you, Granger." Draco had reverted back to his cold, contemptuous tone of voice to protect himself from being hurt. Eighteen years of life without love had taught Draco to never leave himself vulnerable, a skill that he thought he had mastered. until last night. During the sleepless night, however, he had put a hard shell around his heart so Hermione couldn't hurt him. He didn't know that she had no intention of doing so.
His frosty words stung Hermione. "But Draco, don't you think we should talk about last-" Hermione was cut short.
"Last night, Granger," Draco said, "was nothing more than a temporary weakness of mine." He smiled coldly. "See you in Double Potions." With that, he turned on his heel and stomped out of the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Hermione spent the day irritated with everyone. Harry and Ron tried to find out what was troubling her, but they only got looks of exasperation. Every now and then they heard what sounded like mutterings of "Men!" from under Hermione's breath. However, as Double Potions drew near Hermione grew silent.
"Almost looks like she's going to be sick, doesn't it, Harry?" Ron whispered in History of Magic.
"Double Potions is bad, but honestly, she's much better at it than we are! She shouldn't worry about it so much," Harry whispered back.
"Alright Hermione, you've ignored him before, you can do it again," Hermione thought to herself as her mind wandered as Professor Binns droned on about leprechaun battles in the 1500s.
Needless to say, Double Potions was a tense class for both Hermione and Draco. Each was determined to not even glance in the direction of the other.
"Well, Malfoy seems to be laying off us a bit, eh Ron?" Harry commented as he stirred his brown concoction. "He hasn't stolen our ingredients or knocked over our cauldrons or anything."
"I wonder why," replied Ron thoughtfully. "He hasn't even looked our way today."
Hermione made a small, exasperated noise in the back of her throat. Ron and Harry looked over at her.
"Living with him getting to you, Hermione?" asked Ron cheerfully.
Hermione glared at the snake skin she was adding to her bubbling cauldron. "It's harder than you know," she answered tersely.
~*~*~*~*~*~
After dinner, Hermione declined Harry's invitation to play Wizard's Chess in the Gryffindor common room.
"No, I have too much homework. We have too much homework, for that matter. See you both tomorrow." Hermione left Great Hall.
Upon reaching her common room and ensuring that Draco wasn't already there, Hermione sat down on the couch and began to do her homework.
About an hour later, Draco walked in. Hermione's head shot up, then quickly looked back down at her parchment.
"Hello," she said casually, not looking in Draco's direction. Hermione hoped Draco wouldn't catch the quiver in her voice.
"Evening," he said back, just as coolly.
Hermione's fury erupted at the sound of his indifferent, uncaring voice.
"You know, some people don't just sweep things under the rug and pretend that nothing happened, some people just talk about it!" She burst out.
"Well, I wouldn't be one of them, would I?" Draco retorted hotly.
"Well I am! Acting like nothing happened isn't going to help! I mean, obviously you had to have had some kind of feelings for me to just kiss me-"
"Of course I have feelings for you!" Draco shouted. Then he froze. "Damn, did I just say that?" He thought to himself.
Hermione stopped in shock. "You-you do?" She asked timidly.
"I mean, well, wh-what I meant was, um." Draco trailed off, looking down at the floor. "Damn her!" He thought. "I can't even lie right anymore!" He was so tongue-tied when he was around Hermione.
Hermione walked closer to him, and reached out her hand. "Why am I doing this?" She thought to herself. "He's just going to hurt me again." But Hermione couldn't stop herself from gently touching his hand. It was like some invisible force was drawing them together. She looked up into his eyes, and smiled.
"I like you, too," she said quietly.
"I-I thought you would hate me," Draco said, taking her hand in his. "After last night."
Hermione smiled again. She reached up to Draco's face, caressing his cheek with her hand. Pulling him towards her, she kissed him softly on the lips. He welcomed her into his arms, both feeling a growing sensation neither had ever experienced.
"Goodnight," Hermione whispered as they parted.
"Goodnight," Draco whispered back.
Hermione slowly walked to her staircase, a smile creeping up her face. She paused on the bottom step, and looked back at the handsome boy across the room.
Hermione blushed with pleasure, and then climbed the stairs to her bedroom.
(Disclaimer)- I own nothing, blah blah blah.
Chapter Five- One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Hermione was left alone on the couch, trembling. She felt faint and dizzy.
"Oh my." Her head was spinning. She could hardly believe what had just happened. Heat was creeping into her face, but her body felt numb.
"Classes tomorrow. I need to go to bed," she thought. Thinking about Draco was too much to handle at the moment.
"I'll deal with it tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow." Hermione climbed her own set of stairs, trying to keep her mind off Draco. She quickly changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. Although she was very tired, her thoughts about Draco and the kiss kept her awake.
"He's supposed to be my enemy. but he kissed me! Draco Malfoy kissed me! (and it was wonderful)" said a small voice in the back of Hermione's mind. "Oh my gosh, shut up, Hermione!" She quickly corrected herself out loud. But it was no use. No matter how many times Hermione denied it, the small voice kept telling her she wanted Draco to kiss her again.
Meanwhile, Draco couldn't sleep a wink either. He tossed and turned, unable to forget the incident.
"What were you thinking, Malfoy?! She's gonna hate you forever. It's always one step forward, two steps back with you, isn't it?" Draco chided himself for his rash move. "Why did I do that, why?! Now I have no chance with her. Dammit! I shouldn't even want a chance with her! It's HERMIONE GRANGER, Miss Know-It-All." Draco sighed miserably. He was so confused. He actually wanted Hermione to be his girlfriend. "Talking all night tends to change your view of someone, Malfoy," Draco thought sarcastically. "But no, of course you screwed that up!" He purposely hit his head on the headboard, punctuating each word. "Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Having not slept a minute the night before, Draco rose early at five to ensure that he would not meet Hermione before breakfast. The thought of seeing her made Draco want to melt away, never to be seen again. Unfortunately, Hermione had exactly the same idea since she didn't sleep at all either. They entered their shared common room at the same time. The unexpected sight of each other caused both to gasp.
"Draco! Wh-What are you doing up so early?" Hermione nervously fumbled with her books. "Come on Hermione, calm down!" She pleaded with herself to stop her voice from trembling. She was afraid Draco would see right through her, see that she was beginning to care for him.
He strolled to the door leading out into the hallway. "Same as you, Granger." Draco had reverted back to his cold, contemptuous tone of voice to protect himself from being hurt. Eighteen years of life without love had taught Draco to never leave himself vulnerable, a skill that he thought he had mastered. until last night. During the sleepless night, however, he had put a hard shell around his heart so Hermione couldn't hurt him. He didn't know that she had no intention of doing so.
His frosty words stung Hermione. "But Draco, don't you think we should talk about last-" Hermione was cut short.
"Last night, Granger," Draco said, "was nothing more than a temporary weakness of mine." He smiled coldly. "See you in Double Potions." With that, he turned on his heel and stomped out of the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Hermione spent the day irritated with everyone. Harry and Ron tried to find out what was troubling her, but they only got looks of exasperation. Every now and then they heard what sounded like mutterings of "Men!" from under Hermione's breath. However, as Double Potions drew near Hermione grew silent.
"Almost looks like she's going to be sick, doesn't it, Harry?" Ron whispered in History of Magic.
"Double Potions is bad, but honestly, she's much better at it than we are! She shouldn't worry about it so much," Harry whispered back.
"Alright Hermione, you've ignored him before, you can do it again," Hermione thought to herself as her mind wandered as Professor Binns droned on about leprechaun battles in the 1500s.
Needless to say, Double Potions was a tense class for both Hermione and Draco. Each was determined to not even glance in the direction of the other.
"Well, Malfoy seems to be laying off us a bit, eh Ron?" Harry commented as he stirred his brown concoction. "He hasn't stolen our ingredients or knocked over our cauldrons or anything."
"I wonder why," replied Ron thoughtfully. "He hasn't even looked our way today."
Hermione made a small, exasperated noise in the back of her throat. Ron and Harry looked over at her.
"Living with him getting to you, Hermione?" asked Ron cheerfully.
Hermione glared at the snake skin she was adding to her bubbling cauldron. "It's harder than you know," she answered tersely.
~*~*~*~*~*~
After dinner, Hermione declined Harry's invitation to play Wizard's Chess in the Gryffindor common room.
"No, I have too much homework. We have too much homework, for that matter. See you both tomorrow." Hermione left Great Hall.
Upon reaching her common room and ensuring that Draco wasn't already there, Hermione sat down on the couch and began to do her homework.
About an hour later, Draco walked in. Hermione's head shot up, then quickly looked back down at her parchment.
"Hello," she said casually, not looking in Draco's direction. Hermione hoped Draco wouldn't catch the quiver in her voice.
"Evening," he said back, just as coolly.
Hermione's fury erupted at the sound of his indifferent, uncaring voice.
"You know, some people don't just sweep things under the rug and pretend that nothing happened, some people just talk about it!" She burst out.
"Well, I wouldn't be one of them, would I?" Draco retorted hotly.
"Well I am! Acting like nothing happened isn't going to help! I mean, obviously you had to have had some kind of feelings for me to just kiss me-"
"Of course I have feelings for you!" Draco shouted. Then he froze. "Damn, did I just say that?" He thought to himself.
Hermione stopped in shock. "You-you do?" She asked timidly.
"I mean, well, wh-what I meant was, um." Draco trailed off, looking down at the floor. "Damn her!" He thought. "I can't even lie right anymore!" He was so tongue-tied when he was around Hermione.
Hermione walked closer to him, and reached out her hand. "Why am I doing this?" She thought to herself. "He's just going to hurt me again." But Hermione couldn't stop herself from gently touching his hand. It was like some invisible force was drawing them together. She looked up into his eyes, and smiled.
"I like you, too," she said quietly.
"I-I thought you would hate me," Draco said, taking her hand in his. "After last night."
Hermione smiled again. She reached up to Draco's face, caressing his cheek with her hand. Pulling him towards her, she kissed him softly on the lips. He welcomed her into his arms, both feeling a growing sensation neither had ever experienced.
"Goodnight," Hermione whispered as they parted.
"Goodnight," Draco whispered back.
Hermione slowly walked to her staircase, a smile creeping up her face. She paused on the bottom step, and looked back at the handsome boy across the room.
Hermione blushed with pleasure, and then climbed the stairs to her bedroom.