CHAPTER 4~ A True Friend
Draco placed his lips over Hermione's. For some reason he just wanted to take away all of her pain. "How far do you want me to go?" he asked as he trailed kisses down her neck.
Her breathing was quick and shallow. "I don't know. I'll stop you when I want you when I think it gets too far." She wrapped her hands around neck and pulled him back down to her.
Sparks were sent through both of their bodies. The feeling was incredible. Draco ran his tongue over her lower lip and she parted her lips to allow his access. His tongue darted into her mouth and began exploring every corner and crevice.
Hesitantly, Hermione let her tongue slide into his mouth. She slid her hands over his back and brought them back up to play with the hair on the nape of his neck.
The room all of a sudden became very hot. Draco pulled his hoody over his head and tossed it to the side. While their lips were parted, Hermione decided to take the opportunity to discard of hers as well.
Draco ran his hands up Hermione's arms. He could feel her wince beneath him, so he stopped and looked at her. "All right?" he questioned with concern in his voice.
She nodded, but still appeared to be in pain. Her eyes were shut tightly and her body tense.
Draco shifted off of her and back onto the soft bed. Hermione's eyes opened slightly so she could look at him, but the agony was still present in her features. "I don't think we should do this right now," Draco said as he helped her to sit up. "You don't look so good and I don't want to hurt you anymore that you're already hurt."
"Really, I'm fine," she tried to assure him, but he wouldn't hear it. He knew that there was no way she was okay.
He sat up against his headboard and let her rest her head on his chest. His arms wrapped around her fragile body. "Why don't you stand up to them?" he questioned.
"I've tried," she stated with a loud sigh. "That just makes them even madder. I just don't know what to do anymore. I am actually afraid to go home. People usually are in a hurry to get home. Why does my life have to be so different? I'm sick of all this bullshit! I'm sick of school. I'm sick of not being able to trust anyone. I'm sick of my brothers. Everything! I really can't take this anymore, Draco!" She buried her head in his chest, but didn't cry. That wasn't something she did easily.
Draco smoothed her hair lovingly. He kissed the top of her head as her body involuntarily shivered. Seeing as she was so cold, Draco pulled a blanket around the both of them so she would warm up a bit.
"Why are you being so kind to me, Draco?" she whispered. "Why don't you just kick me out of here and tell me to never come back again?"
He shook his head. "I couldn't do that to you, Hermione. If it were up to me, you'd never have to go back to your house. If it were up to me I'd protect you from all the evils of this world."
Hermione laughed a little. "Since when did you start caring? You have been most of the evils of my world since we were kids."
"People change," he defended himself. "You've changed since we were younger. I don't complain about you. I don't question your motives for being with me."
"I wasn't questioning your motives. I just wanted to know since when do you care? You've never cared before."
"Contrary to what you might believe, I've always cared for you. Maybe very deep down, but I did and still do care about what happens to you. More so now then before."
Hermione peered at him, disbelievingly at first, but saw in his eyes that he was being completely truthful. "I'm sorry. I just have a tough time trusting people lately." She paused for a moment, but soon continued, "Draco, I don't want to go home. I want to stay as far away from them as possible, but I really don't have a choice." She looked up into his beautiful stormy grey eyes, which were filled with all the caring in the world.
He looked thoughtful for a moment. "You can stay here if you'd like," he suggested.
"Right, your father would allow that," she snorted. "That man hates me!"
"He doesn't know you. It's really your parents that he dislikes. Maybe if we give him the chance to get to know you he'll think differently. It really is worth the try. At least you'll be out of harm's way over here."
A sigh escaped her thin lips as she stared down at the sheets of his bed. "But if he dislikes my parents why should he even remotely like me? He'll think I'm exactly like them."
Draco nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck and kissed her lightly. "We'll make him see that you are a good person. It still won't hurt to try, right?"
She nodded slightly. "I guess you're right, but how are you gunna explain to him that I'm here in the first place? And how do I explain to my family that I'm spending the night a t a friend's house on a school night. I'm sure they'll all get very suspicious. They'll ask questions even though they don't care, but still." she drifted off.
"They don't have to know."
"Right, 'cause I'm gunna go home and just walk out with a bag thrown over my shoulder and they're just gunna let that happen. I don't think so."
Draco narrowed his eyes a bit, but then said, "You can always say that you're spending the night at Lana or Kelly's. Would they get suspicious then?"
Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. We can give it a shot."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Master Draco, sir?" a high- pitched feminine voice asked, "Are you in there?"
"Yes, Anna," he responded lazily. "Where else would I be?"
"I was just makin' sure, sir. I wouldn't want to disappoint Master Lucius." Her voice was trembling as if she were terrified.
Draco rolled his eyes, but responded lethargically, "I don't think he really cares. You should know that by now."
"I'm sorry, sir. I will depart now." Her bow could almost be felt through the wall as she departed from the doorway.
Hermione looked up at Draco questioningly. "That's just one of the maids. They're always making sure I'm here. They think it makes my father happy knowing that I'm safe or something like that. Truthfully, he could care less about what I'm up to. So what do you say we go get your things and come back over here?" She nodded and they soon departed for the Granger's tiny house.
Danny and Dylan were watching the small television and sitting on the lumpy sofa. They both appeared stoned, but looked up with a malicious gleam in their eyes as Hermione entered the house, however both frowned when they saw Draco enter right behind her.
"What's the pretty boy doing here, Hermy?" Dylan taunted.
Hermione glared at the older boys, who were now approaching. "Making sure that you two don't bloody me up too bad," she replied as she headed up to her room.
The twins were dumbfounded as they watched her retreating back. Draco glanced back at them both to make sure they didn't attempt to do anything.
"How long do you want me to stay?" Hermione questioned as she started piling clothes into her duffle bag.
"I dunno. How long do you wanna stay?" he replied while laying down n her bed.
"You know that doesn't help me any, Draco," she scolded.
He laughed a little. "Well, how suspicious would your father get if you never came home? How lonely would your brothers get? How long would it be before they sent a search party?"
"Well let's see. My father is too drunk to realize that my mother is dead. My brothers don't really give a shit about what happens to me. And as for a search party, none of them have enough brains to think about that let alone care enough to send one out for me."
"So, now the question is how long do you wanna stay?"
"How long will your father let me stay?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "See this is where the problems come in. I ask you how long you wanna stay and you ask how long you can stay for. Stay as long as you want. I won't stop you."
She slammed her head against the wall. "This isn't gunna work. How 'bout I pack for a week for now and we'll see how things go? Does that sound good to you?"
"Whatever floats your boat," he said lazily.
She finished throwing clothes into her bag, grabbed her knife off the floor, which earned a death glare from Draco then headed out the door of her room.
Danny and Dylan were waiting at the foot of the stairs for them to come down, presumably looking for a fight. Danny grabbed Hermione's arm and Dylan took hold of Draco.
"Where are you going?" Danny asked while grabbing the bag from her hand.
"I'm sleeping over Lana's," she lied convincingly.
The twins exchanged looks of confusion. "If you're sleeping over Lana's, why is your boyfriend here?" Dylan said.
"Number one, he is not my boyfriend. Number two, I told you why he was here when we came in, so maybe you should clean your ears."
"I can hear perfectly fine. It just doesn't make sense as to why you would drag him along instead of Lana," Dylan pried.
"Yes, it actually does. He's stronger. He's male. And he could kick your asses any day. Are those good enough reasons for your miniscule brains or would you like something more? 'Cause I'm sure I can think of other reasons."
The boys didn't say anything, but let them both go. The walk back to the Malfoy Manor seemed to take no time at all. Maybe it was because they didn't talk, or maybe it was because there was an excited/scared feeling about what Lucius would say.
Maybe Lucius would come home drunk and not really know what was going on. It didn't seem like a good chance, since he usually came straight home from work, pulled out his laptop and continued to work from home.
Draco opened the front door of the Manor and stepped inside with Hermione right behind him. It was seven o'clock. The maids usually didn't let Draco out passed 6:30 in the winter months since it got dark early, but he rarely listened to them.
"Master Draco!" came the shrill voice of Anna. "Where have you been? How come you didn't tell me that you were going out? And who is this-this," she appeared to be looking for the right word, "this person with you?"
"Calm down, Anna," Draco said with a note of irritation in his voice. "Hermione has been here since I came home from school. We went to her house for a little bit, and I would like her to stay for the week. I just need to call Father. He shouldn't have any objection since he is never home anyway and will never see either one of us."
Anna looked as she was about to faint then and there. "You said she could stay over without asking Master Lucius first?! You should have more sense than that! You know that he will not accept this kind of behavior!"
"Don't worry so much. I'm calling him now. Whether he consents or not, she is staying for the week. And I expect you and the other maids to treat her kindly as you would any of my father's guests. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir," she responded in a defeated tone.
Draco led Hermione back up to his room and told her just to sit down on the bed while he called his father's cell phone. Hermione complied as Draco picked up the phone and started dialing.
"Lucius Malfoy," Lucius replied as he answered his phone.
"Hello, Father," Draco said.
"What do you want?" Lucius asked coldly.
"I need a favor."
"Well what is it then? I'm a very busy man and I do not have all day to waste on you. So just get to the point and I will see if I can help you out."
Draco took a deep breath. "You see, I have this female friend who doesn't exactly have the best place to live and has to deal with some horrible stuff at her home. I told her she could stay here the week. If you consent, that is."
"Who is the female friend?" he demanded.
"Hermione. Hermione Granger."
"WHAT?! You befriended her when I specifically demanded that you stay away from that family?"
"Father, please? You should really get a chance to know her. Just because her parents are who they are doesn't mean that she is anything like them. You'd like her if you got a chance to know her."
"What is she to you?"
"I'm afraid I cannot answer that at the moment." He looked up at Hermione, who was giving him an odd look.
"So tell her to leave the room for a moment."
"Hermione, do you think you could give me a minute, please?" She nodded and headed out of the large room, shutting the door behind her.
"Now," Lucius said, "what is she to you?"
Draco lowered his voice to make sure that she wouldn't hear through the door. "I like her a lot, Father. We've been hanging out lately, and I'm pretty sure she fancies me as well."
"That really doesn't answer my question, Draco. I do not have the time to be asking you the same question three times."
"Currently she is a friend and that is all. I would like it to hopefully be more in the near future. I really do not want her to be at home right now knowing the situation that she is in. I would feel guilty for not helping her."
Lucius was silent on the other end, obviously pondering his decision. Draco was becoming a little impatient as he was waiting and began drumming his fingers on his desk. Finally, Lucius said, "All right, but I would like to speak with her when I arrive home."
"At what time will that be, Father? We do have school in the morning, so we should go to bed at a reasonable hour."
"Yes, of course. I will speak with her before she leaves."
"Of course you will. Thank you for allowing this."
"Don't get too excited. It will not happen very often."
"I know, Father. Goodbye."
Lucius said nothing as he hung up the phone. Once Draco replaced the receiver, he opened the door to let Hermione back in. He had a smile on his face, so Hermione knew that Lucius must have said it was all right.
"You can stay," Draco informed her although she already figured she could.
She threw her arms around his neck and whispered, "Thank you so much. This means so much to me."
"I know it does. I know."
Hermione pulled him down to her so that she could kiss him. Their tongues battled for control, but Hermione soon pulled away.
"Where am I to sleep?"
Draco smirked a little. "I wouldn't object if you wanted to sleep in here. But if you want your privacy there is a guest room down the hall. You could sleep there if you so desire."
She looked at him then all around his room. "What would you say if I told you I'd rather sleep in here and have someone to comfort me instead of down the hall where those dreams could easily come back?"
"What dreams?" Draco questioned softly.
"Nothing important. But you really wouldn't mind if I opted to stay in here?"
"Not at all."
Hermione laid down on the large bed with her hands over her eyes as if she were shading them from a very bright light. Draco kicked off his shoes and sat down next to her.
"I'm so tired," she mumbled.
"You wanna eat or shower before you go to sleep?"
She shook her head. "I'm not really hungry, and I'll just shower in the morning. I just gotta wake up early enough."
"Well then would you like to change into your pajamas before you go to sleep then?"
"Now that sounds like a good idea." She smiled as she stood and grabbed her bag then walked into the bathroom.
Her pajamas consisted of a pair of plaid blue flannel pants and a black t- shirt with a dragon on the back. After brushing her teeth she climbed back into the large bed. A little later Draco followed.
He placed his arm around her waist. When she stirred he quickly pulled his arm away afraid that he woke her.
"Don't move away," she whispered. "I like feeling protected."
With a small smile he wrapped his arm around her once again. Although unused to the feeling, Hermione snuggled closer to Draco's chest. A small smile played across her lips as she fell into a peaceful slumber for the first time in a long time. If she had a dream that night, she didn't even remember the next morning.
~
A loud buzzing in awoke Hermione the next morning. She jumped and let out a small squeal of surprise. Draco groaned when he felt her stir. His hands instinctively went to his eyes to rub the sleep away.
With a yawn, Draco said, "Time to get up already? Feels like we didn't even get to sleep. What I would give for a few more minutes."
Still breathing heavily from the abrupt awakening, Hermione responded with, "That's how you wake up every morning? Are you insane? That thing could wake the dead!"
"Well that is the basic idea. Not much wakes me up." He kicked his legs over the side of the bed and made his way across the floor to his bathroom to get ready.
Hermione watched him retreat and fell back onto the soft pillows. She knew that somehow she wouldn't be safe for long. Somebody would tell her brothers that she wasn't at Lana's house like she said she would be. There would be hell to pay.
Within minutes, Draco was back wearing black jeans and a grey t-shirt. His hair was in his face as usual, and he appeared to be more awake than when he had stepped into the bathroom.
"Still asleep?" he teased Hermione, who was lying face down on the bed.
"No, but I wish I were."
He let out a small chuckle and leaned across the bed so that his face was inches from hers. "How do you plan on explaining the reason your not in school when your friends call your home? Then from there how do you explain to them why you're not at home? If you don't get up you will in essence just be making more work for yourself. So you see, it would be to your advantage to attend school today."
With a soft groan and a mumble of something inaudible to even Draco, she rose, grabbed her stuff off the floor and went into the bathroom.
On the walk to school, Hermione was trying to think of a way to explain to Harry and Ron why she was walking with Draco and not at the corner where she always met them. There had never been a day when they hadn't known where she was. If she wasn't attending school for one day she would call them.
Draco was rambling on next to her, and although she was desperately attempting to pay attention to him, she was very unfocused.
"Hermione? Hermione?! HERMIONE!" She finally snapped back to what he was saying.
"Huh? I'm sorry, Draco. My mind was somewhere else. What did you say?"
"Forget it," he mumbled. He shoved his hands into his pockets and hung his head down. "It's not really important."
She sighed as she watched him out of the corner of her eye. "Please, Draco? What did you say? I didn't mean to ignore you. I was just-"
"Thinking of Potthead and Weasel?" he finished for her. "It'll always be them first. I guess I just have to learn to accept that you'll always put them ahead of me."
"That is not true!" She stopped dead in her tracks and grabbed his arm so he could face her. "I don't tell them about what happens at my house. I tell you. They have never offered me a place to stay even when I've been hurt. You, the person who is supposed to be my enemy can give me what they can't. Right now, you are the only person who is on my good side. I was thinking about them 'cause there has never been a day we haven't walked to school together, and they're probably gunna be worried. That's all. It was bothering me. Now, what did you say before?"
He looked down at the floor, afraid to look her in the eye. "Well I was uh- I was wondering if you-if you finished all your homework 'cause I forgot to do some stuff for McGonagall. Yeah, that's all."
Hermione gave him a sideways look. "Um we didn't have homework for McGonagall last night."
"Oh that's right! That could explain why I didn't do it!" He put on a crooked smile and headed back toward the school with Hermione right on his heels, looking at him funny.
Draco placed his lips over Hermione's. For some reason he just wanted to take away all of her pain. "How far do you want me to go?" he asked as he trailed kisses down her neck.
Her breathing was quick and shallow. "I don't know. I'll stop you when I want you when I think it gets too far." She wrapped her hands around neck and pulled him back down to her.
Sparks were sent through both of their bodies. The feeling was incredible. Draco ran his tongue over her lower lip and she parted her lips to allow his access. His tongue darted into her mouth and began exploring every corner and crevice.
Hesitantly, Hermione let her tongue slide into his mouth. She slid her hands over his back and brought them back up to play with the hair on the nape of his neck.
The room all of a sudden became very hot. Draco pulled his hoody over his head and tossed it to the side. While their lips were parted, Hermione decided to take the opportunity to discard of hers as well.
Draco ran his hands up Hermione's arms. He could feel her wince beneath him, so he stopped and looked at her. "All right?" he questioned with concern in his voice.
She nodded, but still appeared to be in pain. Her eyes were shut tightly and her body tense.
Draco shifted off of her and back onto the soft bed. Hermione's eyes opened slightly so she could look at him, but the agony was still present in her features. "I don't think we should do this right now," Draco said as he helped her to sit up. "You don't look so good and I don't want to hurt you anymore that you're already hurt."
"Really, I'm fine," she tried to assure him, but he wouldn't hear it. He knew that there was no way she was okay.
He sat up against his headboard and let her rest her head on his chest. His arms wrapped around her fragile body. "Why don't you stand up to them?" he questioned.
"I've tried," she stated with a loud sigh. "That just makes them even madder. I just don't know what to do anymore. I am actually afraid to go home. People usually are in a hurry to get home. Why does my life have to be so different? I'm sick of all this bullshit! I'm sick of school. I'm sick of not being able to trust anyone. I'm sick of my brothers. Everything! I really can't take this anymore, Draco!" She buried her head in his chest, but didn't cry. That wasn't something she did easily.
Draco smoothed her hair lovingly. He kissed the top of her head as her body involuntarily shivered. Seeing as she was so cold, Draco pulled a blanket around the both of them so she would warm up a bit.
"Why are you being so kind to me, Draco?" she whispered. "Why don't you just kick me out of here and tell me to never come back again?"
He shook his head. "I couldn't do that to you, Hermione. If it were up to me, you'd never have to go back to your house. If it were up to me I'd protect you from all the evils of this world."
Hermione laughed a little. "Since when did you start caring? You have been most of the evils of my world since we were kids."
"People change," he defended himself. "You've changed since we were younger. I don't complain about you. I don't question your motives for being with me."
"I wasn't questioning your motives. I just wanted to know since when do you care? You've never cared before."
"Contrary to what you might believe, I've always cared for you. Maybe very deep down, but I did and still do care about what happens to you. More so now then before."
Hermione peered at him, disbelievingly at first, but saw in his eyes that he was being completely truthful. "I'm sorry. I just have a tough time trusting people lately." She paused for a moment, but soon continued, "Draco, I don't want to go home. I want to stay as far away from them as possible, but I really don't have a choice." She looked up into his beautiful stormy grey eyes, which were filled with all the caring in the world.
He looked thoughtful for a moment. "You can stay here if you'd like," he suggested.
"Right, your father would allow that," she snorted. "That man hates me!"
"He doesn't know you. It's really your parents that he dislikes. Maybe if we give him the chance to get to know you he'll think differently. It really is worth the try. At least you'll be out of harm's way over here."
A sigh escaped her thin lips as she stared down at the sheets of his bed. "But if he dislikes my parents why should he even remotely like me? He'll think I'm exactly like them."
Draco nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck and kissed her lightly. "We'll make him see that you are a good person. It still won't hurt to try, right?"
She nodded slightly. "I guess you're right, but how are you gunna explain to him that I'm here in the first place? And how do I explain to my family that I'm spending the night a t a friend's house on a school night. I'm sure they'll all get very suspicious. They'll ask questions even though they don't care, but still." she drifted off.
"They don't have to know."
"Right, 'cause I'm gunna go home and just walk out with a bag thrown over my shoulder and they're just gunna let that happen. I don't think so."
Draco narrowed his eyes a bit, but then said, "You can always say that you're spending the night at Lana or Kelly's. Would they get suspicious then?"
Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. We can give it a shot."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Master Draco, sir?" a high- pitched feminine voice asked, "Are you in there?"
"Yes, Anna," he responded lazily. "Where else would I be?"
"I was just makin' sure, sir. I wouldn't want to disappoint Master Lucius." Her voice was trembling as if she were terrified.
Draco rolled his eyes, but responded lethargically, "I don't think he really cares. You should know that by now."
"I'm sorry, sir. I will depart now." Her bow could almost be felt through the wall as she departed from the doorway.
Hermione looked up at Draco questioningly. "That's just one of the maids. They're always making sure I'm here. They think it makes my father happy knowing that I'm safe or something like that. Truthfully, he could care less about what I'm up to. So what do you say we go get your things and come back over here?" She nodded and they soon departed for the Granger's tiny house.
Danny and Dylan were watching the small television and sitting on the lumpy sofa. They both appeared stoned, but looked up with a malicious gleam in their eyes as Hermione entered the house, however both frowned when they saw Draco enter right behind her.
"What's the pretty boy doing here, Hermy?" Dylan taunted.
Hermione glared at the older boys, who were now approaching. "Making sure that you two don't bloody me up too bad," she replied as she headed up to her room.
The twins were dumbfounded as they watched her retreating back. Draco glanced back at them both to make sure they didn't attempt to do anything.
"How long do you want me to stay?" Hermione questioned as she started piling clothes into her duffle bag.
"I dunno. How long do you wanna stay?" he replied while laying down n her bed.
"You know that doesn't help me any, Draco," she scolded.
He laughed a little. "Well, how suspicious would your father get if you never came home? How lonely would your brothers get? How long would it be before they sent a search party?"
"Well let's see. My father is too drunk to realize that my mother is dead. My brothers don't really give a shit about what happens to me. And as for a search party, none of them have enough brains to think about that let alone care enough to send one out for me."
"So, now the question is how long do you wanna stay?"
"How long will your father let me stay?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "See this is where the problems come in. I ask you how long you wanna stay and you ask how long you can stay for. Stay as long as you want. I won't stop you."
She slammed her head against the wall. "This isn't gunna work. How 'bout I pack for a week for now and we'll see how things go? Does that sound good to you?"
"Whatever floats your boat," he said lazily.
She finished throwing clothes into her bag, grabbed her knife off the floor, which earned a death glare from Draco then headed out the door of her room.
Danny and Dylan were waiting at the foot of the stairs for them to come down, presumably looking for a fight. Danny grabbed Hermione's arm and Dylan took hold of Draco.
"Where are you going?" Danny asked while grabbing the bag from her hand.
"I'm sleeping over Lana's," she lied convincingly.
The twins exchanged looks of confusion. "If you're sleeping over Lana's, why is your boyfriend here?" Dylan said.
"Number one, he is not my boyfriend. Number two, I told you why he was here when we came in, so maybe you should clean your ears."
"I can hear perfectly fine. It just doesn't make sense as to why you would drag him along instead of Lana," Dylan pried.
"Yes, it actually does. He's stronger. He's male. And he could kick your asses any day. Are those good enough reasons for your miniscule brains or would you like something more? 'Cause I'm sure I can think of other reasons."
The boys didn't say anything, but let them both go. The walk back to the Malfoy Manor seemed to take no time at all. Maybe it was because they didn't talk, or maybe it was because there was an excited/scared feeling about what Lucius would say.
Maybe Lucius would come home drunk and not really know what was going on. It didn't seem like a good chance, since he usually came straight home from work, pulled out his laptop and continued to work from home.
Draco opened the front door of the Manor and stepped inside with Hermione right behind him. It was seven o'clock. The maids usually didn't let Draco out passed 6:30 in the winter months since it got dark early, but he rarely listened to them.
"Master Draco!" came the shrill voice of Anna. "Where have you been? How come you didn't tell me that you were going out? And who is this-this," she appeared to be looking for the right word, "this person with you?"
"Calm down, Anna," Draco said with a note of irritation in his voice. "Hermione has been here since I came home from school. We went to her house for a little bit, and I would like her to stay for the week. I just need to call Father. He shouldn't have any objection since he is never home anyway and will never see either one of us."
Anna looked as she was about to faint then and there. "You said she could stay over without asking Master Lucius first?! You should have more sense than that! You know that he will not accept this kind of behavior!"
"Don't worry so much. I'm calling him now. Whether he consents or not, she is staying for the week. And I expect you and the other maids to treat her kindly as you would any of my father's guests. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir," she responded in a defeated tone.
Draco led Hermione back up to his room and told her just to sit down on the bed while he called his father's cell phone. Hermione complied as Draco picked up the phone and started dialing.
"Lucius Malfoy," Lucius replied as he answered his phone.
"Hello, Father," Draco said.
"What do you want?" Lucius asked coldly.
"I need a favor."
"Well what is it then? I'm a very busy man and I do not have all day to waste on you. So just get to the point and I will see if I can help you out."
Draco took a deep breath. "You see, I have this female friend who doesn't exactly have the best place to live and has to deal with some horrible stuff at her home. I told her she could stay here the week. If you consent, that is."
"Who is the female friend?" he demanded.
"Hermione. Hermione Granger."
"WHAT?! You befriended her when I specifically demanded that you stay away from that family?"
"Father, please? You should really get a chance to know her. Just because her parents are who they are doesn't mean that she is anything like them. You'd like her if you got a chance to know her."
"What is she to you?"
"I'm afraid I cannot answer that at the moment." He looked up at Hermione, who was giving him an odd look.
"So tell her to leave the room for a moment."
"Hermione, do you think you could give me a minute, please?" She nodded and headed out of the large room, shutting the door behind her.
"Now," Lucius said, "what is she to you?"
Draco lowered his voice to make sure that she wouldn't hear through the door. "I like her a lot, Father. We've been hanging out lately, and I'm pretty sure she fancies me as well."
"That really doesn't answer my question, Draco. I do not have the time to be asking you the same question three times."
"Currently she is a friend and that is all. I would like it to hopefully be more in the near future. I really do not want her to be at home right now knowing the situation that she is in. I would feel guilty for not helping her."
Lucius was silent on the other end, obviously pondering his decision. Draco was becoming a little impatient as he was waiting and began drumming his fingers on his desk. Finally, Lucius said, "All right, but I would like to speak with her when I arrive home."
"At what time will that be, Father? We do have school in the morning, so we should go to bed at a reasonable hour."
"Yes, of course. I will speak with her before she leaves."
"Of course you will. Thank you for allowing this."
"Don't get too excited. It will not happen very often."
"I know, Father. Goodbye."
Lucius said nothing as he hung up the phone. Once Draco replaced the receiver, he opened the door to let Hermione back in. He had a smile on his face, so Hermione knew that Lucius must have said it was all right.
"You can stay," Draco informed her although she already figured she could.
She threw her arms around his neck and whispered, "Thank you so much. This means so much to me."
"I know it does. I know."
Hermione pulled him down to her so that she could kiss him. Their tongues battled for control, but Hermione soon pulled away.
"Where am I to sleep?"
Draco smirked a little. "I wouldn't object if you wanted to sleep in here. But if you want your privacy there is a guest room down the hall. You could sleep there if you so desire."
She looked at him then all around his room. "What would you say if I told you I'd rather sleep in here and have someone to comfort me instead of down the hall where those dreams could easily come back?"
"What dreams?" Draco questioned softly.
"Nothing important. But you really wouldn't mind if I opted to stay in here?"
"Not at all."
Hermione laid down on the large bed with her hands over her eyes as if she were shading them from a very bright light. Draco kicked off his shoes and sat down next to her.
"I'm so tired," she mumbled.
"You wanna eat or shower before you go to sleep?"
She shook her head. "I'm not really hungry, and I'll just shower in the morning. I just gotta wake up early enough."
"Well then would you like to change into your pajamas before you go to sleep then?"
"Now that sounds like a good idea." She smiled as she stood and grabbed her bag then walked into the bathroom.
Her pajamas consisted of a pair of plaid blue flannel pants and a black t- shirt with a dragon on the back. After brushing her teeth she climbed back into the large bed. A little later Draco followed.
He placed his arm around her waist. When she stirred he quickly pulled his arm away afraid that he woke her.
"Don't move away," she whispered. "I like feeling protected."
With a small smile he wrapped his arm around her once again. Although unused to the feeling, Hermione snuggled closer to Draco's chest. A small smile played across her lips as she fell into a peaceful slumber for the first time in a long time. If she had a dream that night, she didn't even remember the next morning.
~
A loud buzzing in awoke Hermione the next morning. She jumped and let out a small squeal of surprise. Draco groaned when he felt her stir. His hands instinctively went to his eyes to rub the sleep away.
With a yawn, Draco said, "Time to get up already? Feels like we didn't even get to sleep. What I would give for a few more minutes."
Still breathing heavily from the abrupt awakening, Hermione responded with, "That's how you wake up every morning? Are you insane? That thing could wake the dead!"
"Well that is the basic idea. Not much wakes me up." He kicked his legs over the side of the bed and made his way across the floor to his bathroom to get ready.
Hermione watched him retreat and fell back onto the soft pillows. She knew that somehow she wouldn't be safe for long. Somebody would tell her brothers that she wasn't at Lana's house like she said she would be. There would be hell to pay.
Within minutes, Draco was back wearing black jeans and a grey t-shirt. His hair was in his face as usual, and he appeared to be more awake than when he had stepped into the bathroom.
"Still asleep?" he teased Hermione, who was lying face down on the bed.
"No, but I wish I were."
He let out a small chuckle and leaned across the bed so that his face was inches from hers. "How do you plan on explaining the reason your not in school when your friends call your home? Then from there how do you explain to them why you're not at home? If you don't get up you will in essence just be making more work for yourself. So you see, it would be to your advantage to attend school today."
With a soft groan and a mumble of something inaudible to even Draco, she rose, grabbed her stuff off the floor and went into the bathroom.
On the walk to school, Hermione was trying to think of a way to explain to Harry and Ron why she was walking with Draco and not at the corner where she always met them. There had never been a day when they hadn't known where she was. If she wasn't attending school for one day she would call them.
Draco was rambling on next to her, and although she was desperately attempting to pay attention to him, she was very unfocused.
"Hermione? Hermione?! HERMIONE!" She finally snapped back to what he was saying.
"Huh? I'm sorry, Draco. My mind was somewhere else. What did you say?"
"Forget it," he mumbled. He shoved his hands into his pockets and hung his head down. "It's not really important."
She sighed as she watched him out of the corner of her eye. "Please, Draco? What did you say? I didn't mean to ignore you. I was just-"
"Thinking of Potthead and Weasel?" he finished for her. "It'll always be them first. I guess I just have to learn to accept that you'll always put them ahead of me."
"That is not true!" She stopped dead in her tracks and grabbed his arm so he could face her. "I don't tell them about what happens at my house. I tell you. They have never offered me a place to stay even when I've been hurt. You, the person who is supposed to be my enemy can give me what they can't. Right now, you are the only person who is on my good side. I was thinking about them 'cause there has never been a day we haven't walked to school together, and they're probably gunna be worried. That's all. It was bothering me. Now, what did you say before?"
He looked down at the floor, afraid to look her in the eye. "Well I was uh- I was wondering if you-if you finished all your homework 'cause I forgot to do some stuff for McGonagall. Yeah, that's all."
Hermione gave him a sideways look. "Um we didn't have homework for McGonagall last night."
"Oh that's right! That could explain why I didn't do it!" He put on a crooked smile and headed back toward the school with Hermione right on his heels, looking at him funny.