HEY!!!!! I'm back! yay! I did a LOT of writing at my grandma's house. The change of scenery helped me out a lot. So here's a nice long chapter for you. I really hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to review!!!

I've passed the 100 mark, woo hoo!!!! Thanks to ShortySC22, TriGemini, Befuzzled, bassoon1_hotb51, Sam, miss madison, GeekGoddess, SnOwAnGeL (my 100th reviewer, go you!!!! :D), neda, aprilreader, Saber, Xirleb70, Jessica-Black, xxsw33thunni3xx, Crystal Slytherin, and HardyGxtreme for reviewing. :)

disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any such related stuffs that are in the books. I own only the D'Evereuxs, Ducky, etc., and I'm making no profit from this. I'm just doing it for pure fun! :)

Chapter 9:

Draco's lips touched Hermione's and lingered for a moment, before deepening the kiss. His tongue lightly brushed against her lips, and she parted them allowing him in. She let out a soft moan as she raised her arms up and placed them around his neck. Draco's body shivered as Hermoine ran her fingers through his hair, the sensation making him want more.

Hermione melted into Draco as they kissed, and time itself had stopped. Never in her wildest dreams had Hermione imagined she'd be kissing Draco Malfoy, yet there she was.

She had never ever been kissed like this. Draco was so gentle with her, even more so than Harry if possible. He wrapped his arms around her waist firmly yet softly, as if he was worried about breaking her. His lips were soft, like there were thin sheets of silk layered over them, and when they touched Hermione's lips they sent shivers down her spine.

Hermione moved one of her hands down to Draco's chest and pressed up against it, and Draco moved one of his hands up to cup her face. The kiss was dramatically intensifying, when-

"Master Draco, sir, Master and Madame Malfoy are home, and they is requesting you and Miss Hermione's presence at dinner in an hour, sir." Ducky the House elf had arrived, following through on his orders as always.

Hermione and Draco had pulled apart by this time. Hermione was smoothing out her robes, while Draco on the other hand stood as stiff as a board, despite the fact that he was smoothing his hair. He cleared his throat.

"Ahem........Let them know we will be there," he said.

"Yes sir," Ducky replied, and with a grand bow he bounded out the door.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Yes, well, I guess I'd better go start getting ready." She opened the door, then stopped and turned around to face Draco once more. She smiled. "I feel the same way you do." The shut the door behind her on her way out.

Draco grinned to himself. He couldn't remember when he had been more happy in his life then he was at that moment. Things were finally falling into place.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A half an hour later Hermione was in her bedroom fixing her hair. Every once and a while she grinned, thinking of the kiss she shared with Draco. But, eventually her thoughts would land on Harry. She'd have to discuss the whole situation with Draco later that night. As for now, she had to worry about sitting for an hour with a man she was utterly afraid of...Lucius.

She looked back into the mirror. Her hair was almost finished, she just needed one or two more bobby pins. She walked into her bathroom where the smell of vanilla wafted through her nostrils from the softly flickering candles on the countertop. "Dammit," she said aloud. "Where are those bloody pins?" After digging through her drawers, she finally spotted them in the corner of the counter. Without thinking, she reached over one of the candles to get the pins, oblivious to the fact that fire does indeed burn things. "Blast," she muttered, as the pins slipped from her grasp. At this point she should have been screaming bloody murder for her wrist would have been cooked like a sausage, but oddly enough she didn't. She finally got hold of the bobby pins, and walked back into her room with them. A few minutes later however, she ran back into the bathroom.

"Merlin," she whispered. She lifted her wrist and stared down at it, and then at the candle. It had just come to her realization that part of her arm should have been burnt to a crisp by now, yet it wasn't. She thought back to what Draco had said earlier that night.

"...It also enables them to be immune to whichever element they have, meaning if they have water they can't drown, if they have fire they can't be burned, etc...."

She looked up into the mirror with a look of total shock on her face, and then dashed from her room to Draco's.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Draco had just changed into his more nicer robes when Hermione came bursting into the room.

"Hello beautiful," he smiled. His face quickly turned to that of worry however, when he saw Hermione's shocked expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked, worry lining his smooth voice.

"No time to explain. Come with me."

Before he could even answer her he was being drug off to her room. A minute later they were in her bathroom. "What on earth are we doing in your bathroom?" he asked.

"Shh. Just watch."

Hermione grabbed one of her candles, and brought it close to her. Then, taking one of her fingers, stuck it right in the middle of the flames.

Draco lunged forward. "Mione! Are you mad!?" he started, but Hermione cut him off.

"Just watch," she replied.

Draco looked down. The small flame was dancing wildly around Hermione's finger, yet she wasn't being burned. He looked up at her.

"How the hell?" he asked. She set the candle back down on the counter. "I have no idea," she replied. "But, I was thinking back to what you said earlier, and...well, you're going to think I'm a bit daft, but..."

"But what?"

"I think I may have an element."

Draco's eyes widened. "What? But how would you have them!? Do you have any idea how much danger you'd be in if you have them, or even just one?"

Hermione nodded. "I do, but think about it. There's no other possible way I could have avoided being burned by that candle."

Draco sighed and sat down on the rim of her bathtub. "All right. Let's say you do have the elements, or at least one. Where would they be?"

Hermione frowned. She looked down at herself. She was wearing a plainly elegant white dress, no shoes, her star shaped earrings with the blue stones in the middle, and about a dozen bobby pins. She looked up into the mirror and stared at herself, trying to think where exactly an element would be on her body, when her head moved slightly, and one of her earrings sparkled from the reflecting light on the mirror.

Can anyone say "epiphany"?

"Draco," she began. "I think I know where it is." Draco stared at her as she turned to face him. "It's in my earrings." She took both of them off, and handed them to Draco. She then grabbed the candle once more, and stuck her finger in the flame. Not even a second later had she retracted her finger, blowing on it to try and cool it from the heat.

Draco looked down at the small studs in his hand. "Hermione, you can't tell anyone about this do you understand?"

Hermione nodded.

"Here, just put them back on and wear them like you normally do. We'll talk more about this later tonight."

He bent down and kissed her on the cheek. "See you at dinner." He smiled and then walked out the door.

Hermione took a deep breath and then finished getting ready. She knew exactly who she had to tell about this, but she had to wait an entire week to do it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hermione walked along the cold corridor alone, her navy blue robe billowing behind her. Shivreing, she wrapped the cloak tighter around her as she continued, heading toward Draco's room at. They had planned to meet there at midnight, to sort out everything.

Dinner had not been as bad as she was dreading it to be. She mostly stayed quiet, only speaking when she was spoken to. Afterward, she returned to her room where she counted down the hours until she got to see Draco again. Her heart lept higher with every step she took, a smile gracing her face. She couldn't wait to feel his lips against hers again. Turning a corner, she was now only thirty or so feet from his bedroom door when she heard a cold, smooth voice.

"Miss D'Evereux...what are you doing in this wing so late at night?"

Hermione turned around to see Lucius Malfoy, wearing robes of black, his hair pulled back in a ponytail, shutting the door of a room he had just come out of.

"I...was...just...just going to the library, she lied. 'Nice one Hermione, you dingbat,' she cursed herself.

Lucius smirked. "I daresay you'll have some trouble finding it, seeing that the library is in the east wing of the house."

'For someone who is a the their class at school, you aren't too bright, Hermione,' she cursed herself again. She paused, thinking of something else to come up with, and just as she was about to spit out another lie, Lucius spoke again.

"Well, I suggest you be careful when you're wandering around alone here...there's lots of things you'd be shocked to stumble upon..." he slowly took a few steps closer to her so that they wre merely inches apart, and dropped his voice to almost a whisper, "we wouldn't want you to get hurt." His cold grey eyes flashed before he turned on his heel and heded down thte hall. SHivereing slightly, Hermione continued on, though walking at a faster pace. Once at the door, she opened it quietly and walked in.

A cool breeze drifted over her face from the open window across the room. Moonlight shone through it, streaking across the floor, mixing with the light from the chandelier overhead, creating a soft, pearly glow.

Her heart still beating faster, Hermione quietly closed the door behind her and walked across to the window. Draco was no where to be seen.

"Maybe he had to go speak to his mother or something," she whispered aloud. She prayed that he didn't run into his father and have another riff with him. She closed her eyes and sighed. Where was Draco? Just then, she felt a pair of arms seize her around her waist, but before she could scream, the person whipped her around so she could see him.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his bright smile in the light.

"Where have you been? And why did you sneak up on my like that?!" she asked. She was slightly annoted, but nontheless extrememly glad he was there.

Draco laughed. She looked so cute when she was angry. "I was only joking."

Hermione suppressed a amile. 'Yeah, whell, I -hate- it when people do that to me. Ron does it all the time." She looked at him, he was still laughing slightly. Raising an eyebrow, she asked "where have you been, anywya?"

He stopped laughing, but still held the smile on his face. "I've been here the entire time. Potter's not the only one with an invisibility cloak." He gestured to his right and Hermione saw a small heap of silvery, water like material lying on the floor. 'Where'd you get that ?" She knew invisibility cloaks were hard to come by.

Draco shrugged. "My father."

'Figures', she thought.

They both looked at each other, before Draco walked away from the window and plopped down on his bed. Hermione followed suit and sat down next to him. He smiled, pulling her closer to him so that her head was resting on his chest. Everything felt so right, like puzzle pieces falling into place.

Hermione lifted her head up to kiss him, just a soft simple kiss. She wished that she could just stay in that moment forever...but, she knew that she couldn't.

"Draco," she started, reluctantly sitting up from the comfy position she was just in.

"Hm?"

"We have to figure out what we're going to do."

Sighing, Draco nodded.

"Okay, first off. This whole...element thing. What am I suppoesd to do about it? Do I act as if nothing's going on? I mean, I have an idea as to what I can do-"

"Yes," Draco replied sharply. "Listen Mione, you have absolutely no idea how much danger you could be in if people knew you had the Fire."

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off.

"I've been doing some thinking. We need to find out if you have any more Elements and, well, if you're up for it....we could do a few...experiments."

"Experiments?" Hermione replied. "On who?" There was no way in hell she was going to play guinea pig.

"On you."

Hermione's expression at these words clearly showed how she felt on the subject, but Draco quickly explained.

"Just some testing to see if you have anymore elements. I promise nothing will happen to you."

There was a moment's silence before she agreed. "It's only because I trust you though. If anything happens to me..."

He smirked.

"'And," she continued, "as I was going to say earlier before I was so rudely interrupted," she gave a smirk, "I was going to go straight to Dumbledore about this."

Draco stared. He had never been too fond of Dumbledore.

"I mean, it's only logical. Dumbledore knows loads about, well everything, and I bet you anything he'll know how to deal with this."

Draco shook out of his short stupor. "Alright, but I'm going with you."

"Why? I can handle myself."

"Yes, but you don't understand, Mione. If word gets out that you have an element..."

Hermione supressed a small smile. "Okay okay, fine." She closed her eyes, thinking of how amazing it was for him to care that much about her. She liked Draco, a lot, but she wasn't sure about loving him yet. She was still closely attached to Harry, and there was still a part of her that wanted to stay with him. He was her whole life for so long, but now things were changing. Opening her eyes back up, she sighed again, saying "Now, about school."

Draco knew this was coming. There was no way to avoid it.

Hermione continued. "Like we agreed earlier, once school starts everything goes back to normal."

"No," Draco replied.

"What?"

"Listen, we can go back acting like enemies, but there's no way that I'm going to stop feeling the way I do for you."

Hermione looked shocked, but deep deep down she was very impressed.

Draco continued. "Look, Heads share a common room and their bedrooms are connected to each other. We only need to bicker when we're in public."

"It must be getting late, otherwise I would have thought of that," Hermione said, smiling. It was getting late though, they had been talking for an hour already. She got up, getting ready to head back to her room when Draco grabbed her wrist.

"Stay here tonight."

She looked into his jewel-like eyes. "But won't-"

"My parents room is on the other side of the mansion. And, if for some reason they were to come here, theres a secret passageway that leads into the library in my closet behind the shelves in there. You could slip in there and be back in your room in no time at all."

Hermione was hesitant, but gave in to Draco's pleading look. "Alright."

He scooted over, allowing her room on the bed. "I promise I won't do anything," he said.

She smiled, slipping beneath the covers next to him. She felt his arm wrap around her waist, his body pressed against hers. Everything felt so wonderful, so right, but she couldn't help the feeling of guilt about what she was doing to Harry.

Slowly, she found herself giving into sleep. But before she fell into slumber, she whispered to Draco.

"Draco?"

"Hm," he murmured. His voice sounded so smooth. Not cold like his father's, but full of warmth.

"Promise me one thing."

"Mm hm," he mumbled. His voice was softer now...she then heard the slow, steady sound of his breathing...he was fast asleep.

"Please don't fall in love with me."

*Gasp*!!

Ah jeez, what am I getting myself into? I can see the flames now. LOL! Please help me out by reviewing this chapter and telling me what you think. Seriously you guys, think about it if you were in her shoes: You had been dating this awesome guy with whom you were deeply in love with, who you've known forever, and all of a sudden someone you've hated for a long time suddenly is in a whole new light in your life. Wouldn't you be confused too?? I know I would. Also, this adds some things I can work with...you won't be disappointed. Just keep reading. :)

**Emerald Smoke