A/N: Sorry for not updating for a while, I've been away. Here's the next part.
Chapter 11
Hermione went storming through the portrait of the prefects' common room just as Ernie and Padma were going to bed.
"Their patrol went well then" Ernie said dryly as Hermione slammed her door
"Definitely" Padma agreed as Draco stormed through the portrait moments later
Hermione sat on her bed cursing herself, why couldn't she have just listened to what Draco wanted to say? Why did she push him away when she wanted to be with him? Why did he make her so mad? The answers came from a little voice in the back of her head that told her she acted that way not to show she liked him incase it was thrown back in her face. Hermione buried her face in her pillow and screamed.
Meanwhile Draco was still in a temper and wondering why Hermione and himself could not have a decent conversation. He knew the answer though, because he was afraid of what her reaction might be if he revealed he had a crush on her, and the way things were going it looked like they hated each other.
The storm raged on, making Hermione jump at every clap of thunder and flash of lightening. She was now curled up on her bed, shaking slightly and the only one who knew her fear was Draco.
Draco was pacing his room debating whether or not to go and see if Hermione was OK, she'd told him to stay away, but had a feeling she didn't mean it as when he held her she relaxed slightly before going off on a rant.
Upon hearing a particularly large thunderclap and flash of lightening, Hermione decided that if she stood any chance of surviving the night with her nervous system intact she would have to be near Draco. Her thoughts had led her to the conclusion that maybe she did overreact a bit and shouldn't have taken her frustration out on the one person who could help her.
Draco had also decided at this point that he should try and talk to Hermione again, even if just to calm her down from the state she was no doubt in, and he wanted to apologise for previous behaviour.
With these thoughts in mind both walked out of their rooms at the same time. Immediately their eyes locked, they remained like that for a few seconds
"Hi" Draco said softly "Hi" came the quiet reply
"A-are you OK?"
Hermione thought for a moment before answering, she could either, say yes and go against everything she wanted in her heart to do, or say no and just go for it. Slowly she shook her head whilst looking down. Another thunderclap made her flinch causing her to want to be in Draco's arms even more.
Draco noticed her flinch but didn't want a replay of earlier so he stayed where he was. Noticing a tear fall down Hermione's face Draco decided to throw caution to the wind and walk over to her.
"Hermione?" he inquired gently whilst placing his hand on her arm
This had an instant reaction out of Hermione whose heart rate increased because he had said her name. Hermione looked up into Draco's gorgeous grey eyes and couldn't deny any longer that she was starting to fall for the Slytherin Prince. As Draco looked down into her dark brown eyes he knew this was the perfect opportunity to speak to her.
Draco traced his hand down her arm and found her hand, at the touch they both felt electricity shoot through them. Draco led her to his room and shut the door behind them. Hermione felt safer knowing Draco was with her. A sudden flash of lightening sent her flying into Dracos arms and this time she didn't pull away. As the storm continued to rage Hermione felt Dracos arms tighten around her as she closed her eyes and savoured the dizzying feeling.
After about ten minutes Hermione reluctantly pulled away and again looked into his eyes
"Draco, I'm so sorry"
She said his name! Draco almost stopped breathing
"Yeah" he finally replied "me too"
The temperature had dropped but neither noticed as they were more concerned with each other. It wasn't until Hermiones body shivered that they realised.
Draco suggested sitting on the bed so they could use the duvet for warmth. The weather continued to pound outside, so they ended up sitting at the top of Draco's bed under the duvet, with Hermione wrapped in his arms. At that point neither could remember being more content or having that exciting buzz.
"Hermione, I want to apologise for my behaviour, especially lately"
"I'm the one that should be apologising, for going at you when you were just trying to help"
"Did I? Help I mean" Draco asked
"Since that first time in the library"
Neither knew what else to say there was so much they wanted to say but still feared rejection.
"Please answer me truthfully, are you mad at the guys for talking to me?" Draco inquired
"No" Hermione said softly "I was mad at them for not telling me, especially Ginny because...never mind" she finished quickly
"Tell me" Draco encouraged "Please" he whispered near her ear, which sent shivers down Hermiones spine.
She again thought for a moment debating whether to tell him of her feelings or not, but felt so good with him that the words just tumbled out of her mouth.
"Well, I, er, um started to have a bit of a crush on you and Ginny was the only one who knew" Hermione bowed her head
"Y-you have feelings for me?" Draco stuttered in surprise
"Yeah, I mean I was so confused. One minute you acted like you hated me, the next you made me feel so safe, I didn't know what to think. Gin helped me put stuff into perspective and I kept thinking about you, there was the ball, then we kept arguing, then ignoring each other..." Hermione continued to ramble
Then there was silence. Draco cut her off by gently lifting her chin to meet his gaze before ghosting his lips across hers. The kiss was so soft that Hermione thought she'd imagined it for a second. She opened her eyes and looked deep into Dracos, Hermione then leant into him and brushed her lips over his in a lingering kiss. The kiss deepened, neither wanted to break away for fear of it being a dream. Finally the two parted, breathless and slightly shocked.
Hermione broke the silence
"Can you answer me something truthfully" she asked softly "why the change"
Draco told Hermione of the conversations between himself and Blaise and how they wanted to change, not believing in the things they were brought up with, then about meeting the Gryffindors.
Hermione listened but had a burning question
"Why did you have such a problem with me?" She asked quietly
"I was always told to hate you, but found especially this year I couldn't. I don't know when but I started to get strange feelings around you. I didn't want you to find out because I thought you hated me, and I was afraid of being friendly towards you incase you laughed at me" he answered sincerely
"So all this time we were arguing and ignoring this year was because we were both afraid of rejection" Hermione concluded
"Sounds stupid doesn't it" Draco commented
Hermione smiled. They both felt a wave of relief spread over them making both feel quite tired. Draco looked at his clock, it read 2am, the thunder had ceased but the rain continued outside. Hermione leant her head on Draco's shoulder and he softly kissed her hair.
"It's late, do you want to stay here tonight?" Draco asked tentatively
Hermiones room was only next door but she wanted to stay with Draco, where she was happy. She looked up at him
"Thank you, for everything" She whispered softly as they shifted down the bed until they were comfortably laying in each other's arms.
Both had concerns about the reaction of others to this, and how they were going to deal with it themselves but they would sort that out in the morning. For now all that mattered was the perfect bliss they were finally feeling.
A/N: I'll try to update as soon as I can, please tell me what you think. Thanx!