Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter's characters. Everything
belongs to J. K. Rowling. Everything unfamiliar is mine. 6/4
A/N: Thanks again for the reviews. By the way, I need to know if there's someone still interested. If there were anything you'd like me to change or add, do it in the reviews. I'm open for suggestions.
Title: Models
Chapter33: Relationships
Hermione woke up in the arms of Draco. She didn't realize that she was in Hogwarts once again. The place looked different. She didn't know where she was. She felt his arms around her and tried to break free. Draco was a light sleeper so the simple movement that Hermione made woke him.
"Is something wrong?" He asked her.
"Nothing, get back to sleep."
"Where are you going?"
She looked around to search for a door. "Where exactly are we?"
"It's a secret only Slytherins are supposed to know."
She raised an eyebrow. "So we're in Hogwarts? I thought we were captured or something."
Draco smiled at her.
"I have to go." She said as she stood up. "Where's the door?"
He muttered something and it appeared. "There's the door but I doubt that you'll find your way. There's a maze outside."
"Just tell me what to do and I'll get through."
"I'll do something better. I'll take you out." He stood up.
Hermione noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt and blushed.
Draco noticed her reaction and smiled to himself. "I like to sleep in the nude but seeing that I have company, I thought this would do." He pointed to himself before he reached for his shirt.
Hermione turned her back embarrassed at watching him dress up.
"I'm decent. You can turn around now." He teased her.
She did turn around but didn't raise her head. "Uh last night."
"We snored nothing else. Do you always wake up this early?"
She nodded not yet recovering from her embarrassment.
"Are you alright? It's not as if we did anything last night?"
"It's just."
"What?" He said softly as he walked towards her.
"Last night."
"Last night was the best and happiest night that I've ever had."
She noticed that he was saying the truth. She didn't have the heart to tell him that last night was a mistake. She just smiled at him.
He smiled back and started to lead her to the door.
~~~~~~~~~~
She decided to stay in the library. She didn't want to face Draco or Harry. She started her assignment on McGonagall's class. That occupied her mind for about an hour. The next minutes began as torture. She started thinking of what happened last night.
She remembered her kiss with Draco and that left her breathless. 'I shouldn't be thinking like this. Harry, I like Harry not Draco. Harry and I have been friends for a long time. I know him as much as he knows me. It would only make sense if I ended up with him than with Draco.'
'No doubt Draco is a better kisser than Harry, as far as I can tell anyway. She began remembering the different sensations that came alive when his lips touched hers.'
'That's not fair; I never had the opportunity to do so with Harry. I shouldn't be comparing them that way. I've only had a peck with Harry it was not really a kiss. Yet there was something in that simple peck.'
'What is it in them that makes me think this hard when I never think this hard on academics.'
'I like Harry for the person he is. He is kind, responsible, understanding, smart, warm, everything else. While Draco is his complete opposite. He is dangerous, arrogant, deceitful and lonely.' She sighed as she thought of the last word.
'With Harry I feel like I can learn to love him. He's easy to love. Draco, maybe I'm only attracted to him because we're nothing like each other. He's just different. Or maybe I feel sorry for him. Technically, I hated him until he found out that his mother's dead. That must be it. I associated pity with attraction. I could never love someone like him.'
'What if he's changed?'
'Do you actually think he would?'
'What about last night?'
'He just needed comfort and I was the only available person around.'
'That settles it. If he proves that he has change, that's the only time I would even consider him.' When she looked up she saw a face smiling down on her.
"Hi!"
'Speaking of the devil!' "Uh. hi!"
"I just thought that we should, um, talk?"
'What's he getting at?' "What is it Malfoy? I have lots of things to do." She said as she pointed to the piles of paper in the table.
Draco felt a stab on his chest as he heard her call her Malfoy again. "Draco, remember?"
"Right. I thought it was only for last night."
"No. It's permanent." He smiled.
"Right." Before any of them could speak something caught her eye. Harry was entering the library looking for her.
Draco turned to look at what caught her eye. He glared at the person coming towards her.
"Hermione, there you are. Ron and I were getting worried. We couldn't find you anywhere." He eyed Draco with much loathing.
"I'm almost done anyway. What did you guys have planned anyway?"
Draco felt the knife go deeper as she admitted the lie she told him. 'Busy eh!'
"It's about the extra classes."
"I should've known that you couldn't handle simple potions." Draco was getting more and more irritated at the person next to him.
Harry didn't bother to reply as he sat across Hermione. "Almost done yet?"
"I'll just carry these back to my room." She said as she lifted several heavy books.
Draco was ready to help but.
"Allow me." Harry stood up and took her things.
Draco glared harder at him.
"Oh, wait." She turned to face Draco. "You were saying something?"
"I was thinking private."
"Is it important?"
This time it was Harry's turn to get irritated at being neglected for Draco Malfoy. "Uh, these are getting heavy."
"Leave it then, I'll accompany her to her room."
"That won't be necessary, I can handle this and I doubt that you can."
"Are you guys finished bickering?" Hermione was irritated at the 2. "If you need some more time then go ahead. Harry, you know my password, when you finish please take my books back. I'll go hang with Ron for awhile."
That got the attention of the 2. Once again, they exchanged deadly glare at each other.
"Wait Hermione, what about our talk?"
"What did you have in mind?"
'Hermione? Since when did they became first name basis?'
"Private Hermione."
"Harry's the only one here what's there to hide?" She then remembered last night and that made her worry. 'He wouldn't.'
"Fine then, I want to know what last night was for you."
"What's going on?" Harry felt out of place.
Nobody bothered to answer him. "Last night was nothing."
"What do you mean?"
"What do you want me to say?"
Draco just stared at her feeling his heart being torn into little pieces. "Nothing." He turned and left.
Hermione regretted saying such harsh words. 'Fuck! Why is it that it hurts me to see him like that? It'll be for the best. I hope. I don't want him to misunderstand.'
"What just happened?"
"Harry, let's just drop this please?"
Harry didn't but he nodded. 'I'm gonna find out what happened last night if it's the last thing I do. I swear.'
~~~~~~~~~~
Draco didn't attend his advance class with Snape anymore. 'What's the point? She won't be there. Potter would be. Even if she's there, no doubt she'll entertain him than me.' Every time he thought of Hermione his chest seemed to hurt.
'I thought she understood me! Bitch! What did I do wrong? She enjoyed every minute of it. I know she did. Was she just playing me around? What does Potter have that I don't?'
~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione went to Dumbledore's office. She didn't know why she was called. "I'm here professor."
"Come in Ms. Granger."
Hermione sat across the headmaster. "What did you want to talk about sir?"
"Mr. Malfoy hasn't been feeling well has he?"
"No sir he hasn't."
"Do you know why?"
Hermione was getting uncomfortable and started fidgeting on her chair.
"I assume that you'd know since you've been spending time with him."
"Actually sir, I was busy."
"Really?"
"The extra classes had me occupied."
"Mr. Malfoy is experiencing his hardest times ever. It would be a pity to let him suffer on his own."
"Sir, do you want me to suffer with him then?"
"All I ask is for you to be with him. He is alone now, confused. The last person he would turn to are the person responsible for his lose."
"Are you saying he can be persuaded to leave his father?"
"That's me wishing. Anything's possible. You could help him choose a different path than what was willed to him. Help him break their tradition."
"You've put some faith in me sir but what can I do when he hates the likes of me."
"What are the likes of you?"
"Muggle born."
"Do you think that he should have control of his life?"
'Why is it that it's like he's been reading my mind?' "Yes."
"Good! I do hope you'd be able to persuade him." He winked at her.
As she left the office, 'This means I have to speak with him.' She shook her head and proceeded to look for him.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Draco!" Hermione called as she saw him going through the forest. "Wait up!"
Draco stopped in his tracks but he didn't turn around.
"I want to apologize."
He then turned around. "What for?"
"The time in the library, I was just confused."
"Is that all?" When she didn't answer, he resumed walking towards the forest.
"Look, this is hard for me."
"You think this is just easy for me?" He couldn't help but raise his voice.
"What do you want me to say? Do you want me to say that with just one night alone with you, I have fallen in love with you? Don't be so arrogant!"
"That's not what I wanted to hear."
"Oh? Then what? Tell me so that I may please you."
"That one night was something special for me and I thought it was the same for you."
"Well it wasn't. I can't fall in love with someone who hated me for 6 years. You can't make me do that!"
"I thought you were different!"
"We all are. Look, it was just one night. I admit some things have changed since then. I got to know you a little better but that's all."
"But that night you were."
"I admit, I was attracted to you, I still am. But that's where it all ends. Attraction, lust, that's it. There's no feeling. No doubt that's what you're feeling too."
Draco didn't understand what she was saying.
"I'm just. I'm not ready to fall in love. All I can offer now is friendship."
"Like that of Potter and Weasley's?"
"Something different. Harry, Ron and I have been friends for a long time. We're just getting started. We could end up having deeper friendship." She smiled uneasily as she waited for his answer.
'If I can't have her, I'll take anything that she'll offer.' "What about you and Potter?"
"As I've told you, I've decided that all I can handle right now is friendship."
"What about him? Do you think he'll be alright with staying friends?"
Hermione looked down wishing that the situation were different. She could be Harry's girlfriend by now. "He'll understand."
"Ok."
"Ok what?" She smiled hopefully.
"I'll take what I can get."
"Friends?" She held out her arm.
"Friends." He took hers.
~~~~~~~~~~
'Friends huh!' Harry was watching near the two. He was wearing his Invisibility Cloak. He turned around and went straight to his room.
A/N: Thanks again for the reviews. By the way, I need to know if there's someone still interested. If there were anything you'd like me to change or add, do it in the reviews. I'm open for suggestions.
Title: Models
Chapter33: Relationships
Hermione woke up in the arms of Draco. She didn't realize that she was in Hogwarts once again. The place looked different. She didn't know where she was. She felt his arms around her and tried to break free. Draco was a light sleeper so the simple movement that Hermione made woke him.
"Is something wrong?" He asked her.
"Nothing, get back to sleep."
"Where are you going?"
She looked around to search for a door. "Where exactly are we?"
"It's a secret only Slytherins are supposed to know."
She raised an eyebrow. "So we're in Hogwarts? I thought we were captured or something."
Draco smiled at her.
"I have to go." She said as she stood up. "Where's the door?"
He muttered something and it appeared. "There's the door but I doubt that you'll find your way. There's a maze outside."
"Just tell me what to do and I'll get through."
"I'll do something better. I'll take you out." He stood up.
Hermione noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt and blushed.
Draco noticed her reaction and smiled to himself. "I like to sleep in the nude but seeing that I have company, I thought this would do." He pointed to himself before he reached for his shirt.
Hermione turned her back embarrassed at watching him dress up.
"I'm decent. You can turn around now." He teased her.
She did turn around but didn't raise her head. "Uh last night."
"We snored nothing else. Do you always wake up this early?"
She nodded not yet recovering from her embarrassment.
"Are you alright? It's not as if we did anything last night?"
"It's just."
"What?" He said softly as he walked towards her.
"Last night."
"Last night was the best and happiest night that I've ever had."
She noticed that he was saying the truth. She didn't have the heart to tell him that last night was a mistake. She just smiled at him.
He smiled back and started to lead her to the door.
~~~~~~~~~~
She decided to stay in the library. She didn't want to face Draco or Harry. She started her assignment on McGonagall's class. That occupied her mind for about an hour. The next minutes began as torture. She started thinking of what happened last night.
She remembered her kiss with Draco and that left her breathless. 'I shouldn't be thinking like this. Harry, I like Harry not Draco. Harry and I have been friends for a long time. I know him as much as he knows me. It would only make sense if I ended up with him than with Draco.'
'No doubt Draco is a better kisser than Harry, as far as I can tell anyway. She began remembering the different sensations that came alive when his lips touched hers.'
'That's not fair; I never had the opportunity to do so with Harry. I shouldn't be comparing them that way. I've only had a peck with Harry it was not really a kiss. Yet there was something in that simple peck.'
'What is it in them that makes me think this hard when I never think this hard on academics.'
'I like Harry for the person he is. He is kind, responsible, understanding, smart, warm, everything else. While Draco is his complete opposite. He is dangerous, arrogant, deceitful and lonely.' She sighed as she thought of the last word.
'With Harry I feel like I can learn to love him. He's easy to love. Draco, maybe I'm only attracted to him because we're nothing like each other. He's just different. Or maybe I feel sorry for him. Technically, I hated him until he found out that his mother's dead. That must be it. I associated pity with attraction. I could never love someone like him.'
'What if he's changed?'
'Do you actually think he would?'
'What about last night?'
'He just needed comfort and I was the only available person around.'
'That settles it. If he proves that he has change, that's the only time I would even consider him.' When she looked up she saw a face smiling down on her.
"Hi!"
'Speaking of the devil!' "Uh. hi!"
"I just thought that we should, um, talk?"
'What's he getting at?' "What is it Malfoy? I have lots of things to do." She said as she pointed to the piles of paper in the table.
Draco felt a stab on his chest as he heard her call her Malfoy again. "Draco, remember?"
"Right. I thought it was only for last night."
"No. It's permanent." He smiled.
"Right." Before any of them could speak something caught her eye. Harry was entering the library looking for her.
Draco turned to look at what caught her eye. He glared at the person coming towards her.
"Hermione, there you are. Ron and I were getting worried. We couldn't find you anywhere." He eyed Draco with much loathing.
"I'm almost done anyway. What did you guys have planned anyway?"
Draco felt the knife go deeper as she admitted the lie she told him. 'Busy eh!'
"It's about the extra classes."
"I should've known that you couldn't handle simple potions." Draco was getting more and more irritated at the person next to him.
Harry didn't bother to reply as he sat across Hermione. "Almost done yet?"
"I'll just carry these back to my room." She said as she lifted several heavy books.
Draco was ready to help but.
"Allow me." Harry stood up and took her things.
Draco glared harder at him.
"Oh, wait." She turned to face Draco. "You were saying something?"
"I was thinking private."
"Is it important?"
This time it was Harry's turn to get irritated at being neglected for Draco Malfoy. "Uh, these are getting heavy."
"Leave it then, I'll accompany her to her room."
"That won't be necessary, I can handle this and I doubt that you can."
"Are you guys finished bickering?" Hermione was irritated at the 2. "If you need some more time then go ahead. Harry, you know my password, when you finish please take my books back. I'll go hang with Ron for awhile."
That got the attention of the 2. Once again, they exchanged deadly glare at each other.
"Wait Hermione, what about our talk?"
"What did you have in mind?"
'Hermione? Since when did they became first name basis?'
"Private Hermione."
"Harry's the only one here what's there to hide?" She then remembered last night and that made her worry. 'He wouldn't.'
"Fine then, I want to know what last night was for you."
"What's going on?" Harry felt out of place.
Nobody bothered to answer him. "Last night was nothing."
"What do you mean?"
"What do you want me to say?"
Draco just stared at her feeling his heart being torn into little pieces. "Nothing." He turned and left.
Hermione regretted saying such harsh words. 'Fuck! Why is it that it hurts me to see him like that? It'll be for the best. I hope. I don't want him to misunderstand.'
"What just happened?"
"Harry, let's just drop this please?"
Harry didn't but he nodded. 'I'm gonna find out what happened last night if it's the last thing I do. I swear.'
~~~~~~~~~~
Draco didn't attend his advance class with Snape anymore. 'What's the point? She won't be there. Potter would be. Even if she's there, no doubt she'll entertain him than me.' Every time he thought of Hermione his chest seemed to hurt.
'I thought she understood me! Bitch! What did I do wrong? She enjoyed every minute of it. I know she did. Was she just playing me around? What does Potter have that I don't?'
~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione went to Dumbledore's office. She didn't know why she was called. "I'm here professor."
"Come in Ms. Granger."
Hermione sat across the headmaster. "What did you want to talk about sir?"
"Mr. Malfoy hasn't been feeling well has he?"
"No sir he hasn't."
"Do you know why?"
Hermione was getting uncomfortable and started fidgeting on her chair.
"I assume that you'd know since you've been spending time with him."
"Actually sir, I was busy."
"Really?"
"The extra classes had me occupied."
"Mr. Malfoy is experiencing his hardest times ever. It would be a pity to let him suffer on his own."
"Sir, do you want me to suffer with him then?"
"All I ask is for you to be with him. He is alone now, confused. The last person he would turn to are the person responsible for his lose."
"Are you saying he can be persuaded to leave his father?"
"That's me wishing. Anything's possible. You could help him choose a different path than what was willed to him. Help him break their tradition."
"You've put some faith in me sir but what can I do when he hates the likes of me."
"What are the likes of you?"
"Muggle born."
"Do you think that he should have control of his life?"
'Why is it that it's like he's been reading my mind?' "Yes."
"Good! I do hope you'd be able to persuade him." He winked at her.
As she left the office, 'This means I have to speak with him.' She shook her head and proceeded to look for him.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Draco!" Hermione called as she saw him going through the forest. "Wait up!"
Draco stopped in his tracks but he didn't turn around.
"I want to apologize."
He then turned around. "What for?"
"The time in the library, I was just confused."
"Is that all?" When she didn't answer, he resumed walking towards the forest.
"Look, this is hard for me."
"You think this is just easy for me?" He couldn't help but raise his voice.
"What do you want me to say? Do you want me to say that with just one night alone with you, I have fallen in love with you? Don't be so arrogant!"
"That's not what I wanted to hear."
"Oh? Then what? Tell me so that I may please you."
"That one night was something special for me and I thought it was the same for you."
"Well it wasn't. I can't fall in love with someone who hated me for 6 years. You can't make me do that!"
"I thought you were different!"
"We all are. Look, it was just one night. I admit some things have changed since then. I got to know you a little better but that's all."
"But that night you were."
"I admit, I was attracted to you, I still am. But that's where it all ends. Attraction, lust, that's it. There's no feeling. No doubt that's what you're feeling too."
Draco didn't understand what she was saying.
"I'm just. I'm not ready to fall in love. All I can offer now is friendship."
"Like that of Potter and Weasley's?"
"Something different. Harry, Ron and I have been friends for a long time. We're just getting started. We could end up having deeper friendship." She smiled uneasily as she waited for his answer.
'If I can't have her, I'll take anything that she'll offer.' "What about you and Potter?"
"As I've told you, I've decided that all I can handle right now is friendship."
"What about him? Do you think he'll be alright with staying friends?"
Hermione looked down wishing that the situation were different. She could be Harry's girlfriend by now. "He'll understand."
"Ok."
"Ok what?" She smiled hopefully.
"I'll take what I can get."
"Friends?" She held out her arm.
"Friends." He took hers.
~~~~~~~~~~
'Friends huh!' Harry was watching near the two. He was wearing his Invisibility Cloak. He turned around and went straight to his room.