A/N: I am sooo sorry that this took so long to upload and everything, but I've been having problems with the computer. Also, I had incredible writers block, but then I lost it and wrote the rest of the story and an epilogue, so I'll leave you to read and review
Oh, big shout out to Beanie bop who got them beta so fast for me, I was so glad and I'm sorry that I couldn't upload them the day tht you sent them back.
Disclaimer: Go see the other chapters, as if I'm Jk Rowling incarnate anyway? Big, big shout out to all of my reviewers: they make me feel so loved, and because of that I want to keep on writing! J And also, and I'm putting this at the end so that you read it, a big hug to Riffy, because she/he makes me smile a lot, especially when I'm in need of it. She also does an incredible job at betaing, even though I don't need it, Anyways, I'll get on with the fic, so you can all get on with reading and reviewing! Luv, Mystic x
Chapter 5
I woke up this morning in such a happy mood. This was for several reasons. One: Ron hasn't spoken to me since yesterday. Well, he has spoken to me, but not "suggestively". It's now dinnertime and I'm in the library. But I'm not doing any work. I'm, and at this point I have a huge grin of my face, sitting with Draco.
He really is such a nice guy. I mean, yesterday he came and sat with me in the library. We chatted about school and friends, and did a little bitching as well. He also made a really corny, but funny, joke about being blonde.
I don't usually go for blondes, (dark and broody are more my type) but there's something about Draco that I find really irresistible, something sexy and attractive.
"Hermione? Hello, are you still there?" He waved a hand in front of my face. "I'm afraid we've lost her," he announced to the now-empty library.
Madame Pince looked mutinous, throwing Draco a "look". I giggled quietly, covering my mouth with my hand.
"Draco!" I whispered playfully, slapping his hand away. "I am here, don't worry." I laughed.
He looked suddenly serious. "I'm glad."
"Of what?"
"That you're there. I feel that I can trust you, and I've never had that before." He looked down at the table, and I got the distinct impression that his eyes were filling with tears, because he didn't look back up. I placed my hand over his. Oh yes, Parvati would be proud; go me!
"I'm glad you can trust me. You can. And if ever you want to talk about anything, I'm there. I like you too."
"Oh really?" he looked up, and I had the decency to look away so that he could wipe away the tear that had strayed down his cheek.
"Yes. You're not like Harry and Ron. You're funny and clever. You know how to have a laugh, but where to draw the line. Harry and Ron get on my nerves, they take things too far."
"Yeah." He nodded, "I get what you mean," He looked down at his hand, which, I realised with shock, I was still holding. I snatched my hand away, my face burning a deep crimson. Oh the humiliation! What's he going to say? I've suddenly got an extremely strong urge to run away! "Er, Hermione, it's ok, really." He looked down again. "I erm, I wanted to tell you something."
"Oh right then, go ahead."
"Erm, well, I'm sorry." Huh, what for??? "For calling you all of these years."
Oh yes! I started to get angry. Where did he get off being all pally? Is it me, have I become more approachable than I was before? Or is it Draco: is he in need of a caring friend at the moment, someone that he can talk to?
The uncomfortable silence that followed lasted for several minutes, while I had an internal struggle as to whether I should get up and walk out of the library, or ask him why he had changed his mind. After reasoning with myself that I was totally within my right to do so, I got up, gathered my things together, and walked out of the library.
"Hermione, wait!"
Draco followed me out, but I ignored him and carried on walking at a brisk pace, conflicting thoughts whirling around my head. He jogged after me, trying to keep up, but letting me stay far enough in front that he couldn't be accused of following me. After we got outside, and had walked as far as the lake, I turned and faced him abruptly.
"Am I imagining it, or are you following me?" I asked softly. He looked up, cautiously scanning my face; I guess for signs of anger and resentment. Instead my features showed only genuine confusion and a little hurt. His shoulders sagged.
"Do you know, I'd have preferred for you to have had a go at me, slapped me or something, I know I deserve—"
The slap rang across the lake, causing several birds to rise up in fright. His cheek flamed red instantly, but I felt no remorse, if anything, I felt a whole lot better.
"What was that?"
I looked at him calmly. "You know what it was for, if I need to explain it to you then you're obviously not sorry. But- why did you do it?"
"Well I guess I did deserve it. But I don't know why." He sat down heavily on the grass near to the edge of the lake, stiffly bringing his knees up to his chest. He then curled his arms around them into an upright foetal position. I sat down and did the same. "There's no one particular reason why. I think that it was a lot of things together that made me treat all of you the way that I did. Basically, I was really nervous when I started here at Hogwarts. I had so much to live up to. My father," he swallowed, "my father expected me to be in Slytherin, I don't think that there were any other options open for me. If I'd have ended up in Gryffindor," he drew a finger across his throat, "I would have been disowned or worse. Nobody disagrees with my father and walks away from him unscathed.
"I would have loved to be in Gryffindor, personally I think that it's the best house; what with all of the bravery and..." He trailed off. "Maybe that's why I was so nasty. I was jealous. And when my father heard about Harry Potter, he told me to either get him to join us or make his life hell. Harry secured the latter one; and I have been treating him badly ever since that point in the first year. I didn't like centring everything on him, so I decided to include you and Ron.
"I didn't like any of it Hermione, don't think that for a moment I did. I'm sorry, really sorry, especially about the way that I treated you; even more so since I started to... But it doesn't matter. I know what's expected of me, and I've never had the courage to stand up to my father before." He looked down at his arms, and whispered; "until now." Then he cleared his throat and became silent, staring at the ripples on the lake morosely.
"Since you started what?" He looked at me blankly, and then a look of understanding came into his eyes. He looked down again and mumbled something unintelligible. "Draco, I didn't hear you, what did you say?"
He took a deep breath, "I said; since I started to love you."
I stared at him open-mouthed. He looked down again, refusing to meet my eyes. He looked scared of what I was about to say. But nothing came out of my mouth when I opened it. Instead, I leant over and cupped his face with my hand.
"Look at me Draco," I whispered softly. Then I lifted my face up to his, and kissed him gently. He met my gentleness with a hunger that surprised me, and we ended up kissing for ages. Finally we broke apart, and I laid back on the grass, breathing heavily. He stretched out and rested his head on his elbow, looking at me intently. Then he reached out hesitantly, and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I smiled dreamily, and studied his face. His eyes were glowing, green and inviting. He saw me looking and leant down again, kissing me slowly and teasingly. I ran my hand through his silky, blond hair, realisation hitting me.
"I love you too."
Cool. So that's that chapter out of the way. I'm sorry about what it looked like when I first put it on, but I don't know what's wrong. It's done that a few times now. Erm, anyway, review please x
Oh, big shout out to Beanie bop who got them beta so fast for me, I was so glad and I'm sorry that I couldn't upload them the day tht you sent them back.
Disclaimer: Go see the other chapters, as if I'm Jk Rowling incarnate anyway? Big, big shout out to all of my reviewers: they make me feel so loved, and because of that I want to keep on writing! J And also, and I'm putting this at the end so that you read it, a big hug to Riffy, because she/he makes me smile a lot, especially when I'm in need of it. She also does an incredible job at betaing, even though I don't need it, Anyways, I'll get on with the fic, so you can all get on with reading and reviewing! Luv, Mystic x
Chapter 5
I woke up this morning in such a happy mood. This was for several reasons. One: Ron hasn't spoken to me since yesterday. Well, he has spoken to me, but not "suggestively". It's now dinnertime and I'm in the library. But I'm not doing any work. I'm, and at this point I have a huge grin of my face, sitting with Draco.
He really is such a nice guy. I mean, yesterday he came and sat with me in the library. We chatted about school and friends, and did a little bitching as well. He also made a really corny, but funny, joke about being blonde.
I don't usually go for blondes, (dark and broody are more my type) but there's something about Draco that I find really irresistible, something sexy and attractive.
"Hermione? Hello, are you still there?" He waved a hand in front of my face. "I'm afraid we've lost her," he announced to the now-empty library.
Madame Pince looked mutinous, throwing Draco a "look". I giggled quietly, covering my mouth with my hand.
"Draco!" I whispered playfully, slapping his hand away. "I am here, don't worry." I laughed.
He looked suddenly serious. "I'm glad."
"Of what?"
"That you're there. I feel that I can trust you, and I've never had that before." He looked down at the table, and I got the distinct impression that his eyes were filling with tears, because he didn't look back up. I placed my hand over his. Oh yes, Parvati would be proud; go me!
"I'm glad you can trust me. You can. And if ever you want to talk about anything, I'm there. I like you too."
"Oh really?" he looked up, and I had the decency to look away so that he could wipe away the tear that had strayed down his cheek.
"Yes. You're not like Harry and Ron. You're funny and clever. You know how to have a laugh, but where to draw the line. Harry and Ron get on my nerves, they take things too far."
"Yeah." He nodded, "I get what you mean," He looked down at his hand, which, I realised with shock, I was still holding. I snatched my hand away, my face burning a deep crimson. Oh the humiliation! What's he going to say? I've suddenly got an extremely strong urge to run away! "Er, Hermione, it's ok, really." He looked down again. "I erm, I wanted to tell you something."
"Oh right then, go ahead."
"Erm, well, I'm sorry." Huh, what for??? "For calling you all of these years."
Oh yes! I started to get angry. Where did he get off being all pally? Is it me, have I become more approachable than I was before? Or is it Draco: is he in need of a caring friend at the moment, someone that he can talk to?
The uncomfortable silence that followed lasted for several minutes, while I had an internal struggle as to whether I should get up and walk out of the library, or ask him why he had changed his mind. After reasoning with myself that I was totally within my right to do so, I got up, gathered my things together, and walked out of the library.
"Hermione, wait!"
Draco followed me out, but I ignored him and carried on walking at a brisk pace, conflicting thoughts whirling around my head. He jogged after me, trying to keep up, but letting me stay far enough in front that he couldn't be accused of following me. After we got outside, and had walked as far as the lake, I turned and faced him abruptly.
"Am I imagining it, or are you following me?" I asked softly. He looked up, cautiously scanning my face; I guess for signs of anger and resentment. Instead my features showed only genuine confusion and a little hurt. His shoulders sagged.
"Do you know, I'd have preferred for you to have had a go at me, slapped me or something, I know I deserve—"
The slap rang across the lake, causing several birds to rise up in fright. His cheek flamed red instantly, but I felt no remorse, if anything, I felt a whole lot better.
"What was that?"
I looked at him calmly. "You know what it was for, if I need to explain it to you then you're obviously not sorry. But- why did you do it?"
"Well I guess I did deserve it. But I don't know why." He sat down heavily on the grass near to the edge of the lake, stiffly bringing his knees up to his chest. He then curled his arms around them into an upright foetal position. I sat down and did the same. "There's no one particular reason why. I think that it was a lot of things together that made me treat all of you the way that I did. Basically, I was really nervous when I started here at Hogwarts. I had so much to live up to. My father," he swallowed, "my father expected me to be in Slytherin, I don't think that there were any other options open for me. If I'd have ended up in Gryffindor," he drew a finger across his throat, "I would have been disowned or worse. Nobody disagrees with my father and walks away from him unscathed.
"I would have loved to be in Gryffindor, personally I think that it's the best house; what with all of the bravery and..." He trailed off. "Maybe that's why I was so nasty. I was jealous. And when my father heard about Harry Potter, he told me to either get him to join us or make his life hell. Harry secured the latter one; and I have been treating him badly ever since that point in the first year. I didn't like centring everything on him, so I decided to include you and Ron.
"I didn't like any of it Hermione, don't think that for a moment I did. I'm sorry, really sorry, especially about the way that I treated you; even more so since I started to... But it doesn't matter. I know what's expected of me, and I've never had the courage to stand up to my father before." He looked down at his arms, and whispered; "until now." Then he cleared his throat and became silent, staring at the ripples on the lake morosely.
"Since you started what?" He looked at me blankly, and then a look of understanding came into his eyes. He looked down again and mumbled something unintelligible. "Draco, I didn't hear you, what did you say?"
He took a deep breath, "I said; since I started to love you."
I stared at him open-mouthed. He looked down again, refusing to meet my eyes. He looked scared of what I was about to say. But nothing came out of my mouth when I opened it. Instead, I leant over and cupped his face with my hand.
"Look at me Draco," I whispered softly. Then I lifted my face up to his, and kissed him gently. He met my gentleness with a hunger that surprised me, and we ended up kissing for ages. Finally we broke apart, and I laid back on the grass, breathing heavily. He stretched out and rested his head on his elbow, looking at me intently. Then he reached out hesitantly, and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I smiled dreamily, and studied his face. His eyes were glowing, green and inviting. He saw me looking and leant down again, kissing me slowly and teasingly. I ran my hand through his silky, blond hair, realisation hitting me.
"I love you too."
Cool. So that's that chapter out of the way. I'm sorry about what it looked like when I first put it on, but I don't know what's wrong. It's done that a few times now. Erm, anyway, review please x