A Late Night Rendezvous & Afternoon Invitations
Late in the night, two figures stole out of their respective areas and met on the steps of the school.
"Is it set?" A female voice asked.
"He'll make the move tomorrow during the sixth period break. I'll make sure of it." A male voice answered.
"At the lake?" The female asked once more.
"At the lake," the male retorted. They shook hands and nodded to each other before reentering the castle.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Draco Malfoy hurried through the corridors and down the stairs to get to the rock by the lake. Blaise had promised him that SHE would be there. As soon as the bell had rung at the end of fifth period, he sped out of the classes to get there as soon as possible.
Just as he jumped down the last few steps, he caught sight of her figure sitting primly on the rock in her uniform. Draco's breath caught and he smiled inwardly as he made his way towards Hermione.
Hermione tapped her fingers impatiently on the rock, wondering where HE was. Ginny had told her that HE would be here during the sixth period break for the sixth years.
"Hermione?" A voice called out, startling her. She had been so startled that she had moved, lost her balance, and fell ungracefully off the rock.
Draco's bright blond head popped out from behind Hermione's sitting place, a worried look on his face. "Are you okay?" He leapt over the obstruction and held an arm out to help her up.
Hermione stood unsteadily on her feet, a tingle shooting up her spine from Draco's touch. Thinking about what had just occurred, she unsuccessfully stifled a giggle, causing Draco to chuckle lightly. That was followed by a loud guffaw from Hermione, accompanied by a quite unladylike snort, making Draco laugh out loud for the fist time. In no time at all, the two were leaning against the tree and each other for support as they laughed loud gut-busting chortles that left Hogwarts students speechless at the sight of a Gryffindor and a Slytherin laughing together on the castle grounds.
After dismissing the crowds and letting out a few more snickers and giggles, Draco spoke.
"Okay, enough funniness, I've got something to ask you." Both of their faces suddenly held a solemn exterior. Inside, Hermione's heart was beating out of control and Draco's hands were sweating so much that he shoved them in his back pockets out of embarrassment.
He took one big breath and asked, "Will you go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?" Draco bit his lip in hopes of trying to look cute and have that hopeful look so that Hermione would not reject him. In reality, Hermione's erratic heart skipped a beat, realizing that something in her life was actually taking a turn for the better this time.
'I guess that's number three off the Impossible List.' Hermione thought as she readied herself to answer Draco's proposition.
"Well," she began, wringing her hands, "I don't THINK I have any plans for tomorrow, so… yes, I will." At her answer, Draco's face glowed brightly as, for the first time in front of Hermione, his face lit up with a smile to send any girl's knees weak.
Draco and Hermione just stood there for a moment, staring at each other with googly eyes and toothy smiles. Impulsively, Draco hugged Hermione, practically squeezing the air out of her.
"You don't know how long I've been waiting for this!" Draco's statement surprised Hermione. She pushed him away and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Hold on, you called me a mudblood, made me seem like a total freak show in front of the student body, and basically ruined my life for about five and half years. Now you're telling me during that time, you LIKED me but you STILL treated me like crap?" Hermione asked, aghast at the information that had just been revealed to her.
'Nice, Draco; you screwed it up!' Draco thought. "Now, don't take it that way, Hermione! I had a reputation to keep up; I couldn't let ANYONE know that I, high and mighty Draco Malfoy, had thoughts that were solely focused on Hermione Granger, know-it-all and mudblood. But, I promise I'll make it better. I'm a better person; I have been since my father got locked up. Hermione, please, forgive me, and give me a chance, please?" As Hermione stared into Draco's eyes, she did not find the eyes of the stolid sixteen year old that he was. Instead, she found those of a small child just wanting to be loved by someone, even someone whom he had ruined the life of for so long.
"Okay, you're forgiven… you are just so adorable when you act like a little kid!" This time, Hermione did the impulse hugging and kissed him on the cheek before flouncing off into the castle with a wide grin plastered on her face.
Hermione was giddy… literally. She was basically skipping down the corridors and jovially waving at random people, scaring everyone: student, teacher, and ghost.
Draco, on the other hand, still held his emotionless expression, but apparently not too well. He was smirking so much that he was crossing the borders of smirking and smiling. People went up to him and asked if he was sick or feeling all right, to which he answered with an 'I'm fine!' or 'Life is wonderful!' and once, with a jaunty flourish of his hand.
They were seriously scaring everyone, and each other. The question buzzing around the school was, 'Since when did THIS happen?'