Hey guys! I'm back from my short trip and updating like promised!
Oreo69not96: I know that this is a little fast paced, but I hope that it isn't so fast it sucks. I just wanted to get into the Draco/Hermione goodness fast! Yes, Ron would have been furious, but I kind of made him like my friends. After years of knowing Hermione, he knew that fighting with her only causes pain to the both of them, so he just gave up right away. He isn't happy about it, but he knows it's her life. This story is turning out to have a lot of my life in it! I made Hermione show a bit more cleavage for my own selfish happiness. It was a way for me, who has never been super attractive, if at most pleasant to look at, to kind of feel like the super hot girl. Lame excuse, I know, but at least I'm honest.
As I said in last chapter, Lucius had Draco under an Imperius curse that controlled only his thoughts and opinions, so I thought that maybe underneath Draco didn't know Hermione and just wanted to know her more. The previous curse couldn't allow Draco to do that, so I figured that now maybe because Lucius is in Azkaban (oops, may have spoiled, I don't know if I put that in!) and the curse is lifted he is now able to explore possible relationships that were impossible before. Also, the strawberries aren't meant to be sexual, just good. I forgot that sometimes they were meant sexually, but I just used them because I love chocolate covered strawberries with whipped cream!
Okay, wow, I'm so glad to clear all that up. I hope next time it won't take up as much room. For sure, though, I really honestly don't know what I would do without your reviews Oreo! Thanks so much. Thanks also to may-ann, yanely1167, Crazy-Physco, and psychoticsmileyface, who are really awesome people for reviewing!
She gasped when she saw the room. It glowed with the soft light of candles, and the mingling scents of vanilla and strawberries tickled her nose. Draco was standing there, in the middle of it all, dressed in black dress pants and a crimson sweater. His hair was loose and hung, unkempt, all over his head.
"Hermione, I wanted to make this incredibly special for you." He stepped forward and took her hand, leading her over to the couch, which he had transfigured into soft cream colored suede chaise lounge.
"Draco, what's all this for?" She looked at him in wonder, still amazed at the beautiful surroundings.
"This, my dear, is because I wanted you to feel beautiful. If you go into your bedroom, there is a present for you on your bed." Hermione got up and walked into her room with Draco not far behind. She let out another gasp at the sight of it; on her bed was a crimson cocktail dress. She motioned for Draco to leave while she dressed. It wasn't hard to put on, and soon she was sliding her feet into matching dress sandals.
When she came out, it was Draco's turn to gasp. The dress fell to just below her knees, where it rippled and twirled tempestuously when she walked. Her hair fell down in a long, straight wave, complementing the dress with its simplicity. She walked over to Draco, who took her hand and led her to the chaise. He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips before speaking once more.
"You look amazing, Hermione. I hope you like the dress." He smiled at her.
"I love the dress. It's very pretty." Hermione blushed and lowered her long eyelashes.
"I have something else for you, too." She raised her eyebrows in surprise but quickly regained her composure.
Draco pulled out a necklace from a small jewelry box. It was a silver chain with a small, heart shaped locket. Inside were two small stones; one, a glittering red ruby, the other a sparkling green emerald. "I hope you like this, as well. I picked it out myself."
"It's gorgeous, Draco!" She exclaimed, and he fastened the necklace around her neck. She looked at him once more, her mind reeling.
"Why did you go to all this trouble?"
"Because I really like you, and I wanted you to feel very special the night I asked you out." This shut her up for a minute, but soon she opened her mouth to speak again.
"Hang on, let me say my part. Hermione, will you be my girlfriend?" He was down on one knee, looking up at her with love – or what she thought was love, she'd never seen it in anyone's eyes like that before – in his silvery grey eyes.
"Of course, Draco, I'd love to go out with you!" She smiled so widely she thought she'd break her jaw. He sat beside her and took her chin in his hand, bringing her lips up to meet his. They kissed briefly, before he reached over and took one of the strawberries from the bowl. After dipping it in chocolate, he brought it to her lips for her to bite. He smiled as she daintily took it in her lips and bit off a small part.
"This is good, Draco, have you done this before?" He shook his head before biting the strawberry.
They sat there and ate strawberries for a bit, laughing and putting whipped cream on each other's faces.
"We should go to bed, Draco, it's getting late." Hermione said tiredly. They were sitting on the chaise by the fire, Draco's arm wrapped around her as she rested her head on his chest.
"Yeah, we've got classes tomorrow morning. Thank you for the lovely evening, Hermione." He smiled and hugged her tighter.
"Thank you, Draco, for the beautiful setting. I've never been treated so nicely in all my life." She kissed him lightly on the lips.
"Get used to it, sweetheart, it's all you'll be getting from now on." He kissed her back passionately before she got up and began to walk to her bedroom.
"Good thing I have a photographic memory, I want to remember this night forever." She smiled.
"That's how you've been doing so great in class! Lucky." He walked to his own room and opened the door. "Night, Hermione."
"Night, Draco." She whispered, and as she changed and went to bed, she knew that all night she'd be thinking of Draco.
Hermione woke up and smiled, remembering the events of last night. She was now, officially, Draco's girlfriend. She fingered the necklace on her nightstand, yawning loudly. After dressing and doing her hair – she charmed it so it had silver streaks in it, which shone in a metallic way – she clasped the necklace around her neck and went out into the common room.
"Morning, Draco." She murmured, and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He turned to catch her lips in a kiss before standing up.
"I like the hair, it's very sexy." He smirked his famous smirk and took her hand. "So I take it we're allowed to walk into the Great Hall together today?" His eyes dropped to the necklace and then bounced back up to her face.
"Of course we are, we're dating now." They set off for the Great Hall, curious to see what everyone's reactions would be.
The reaction was the same as at the Halloween Dance. Nearly every head turned towards them, even the ghosts, and a stunned silence rippled through the students like an earthquake. Soon, talking had resumed, though it was lower as though everyone was whispering. Draco whispered to her to be strong and ignore the rude people, then kissed her on the cheek and left for the Slytherin table. She continued the walk to the Gryffindor table, where Harry, Ron and Ginny had saved her a seat.
"What was that, are you two dating now?" Seamus asked. Harry and Ron seemed quite curious at this too, though they tried to hide it.
"Yes, we are, is there something wrong with that?" Hermione chided herself for her voice being a bit strong.
"No, no problem, Hermione. Just wondering." Seamus kept to the other Gryffindor students for the rest of breakfast.
The trio all ate their food in silence for the rest of breakfast, and then walked together to Transfiguration. After a long class, they headed out into the cold, snowy outside to the Care of Magical Creatures class, which they had with Slytherin.
Pansy Parkinson approached Draco and Hermione, who were standing together talking animatedly. She looked at them with a disgusted look upon her face, as though she had manure underneath her nose.
"Filthy, you're dating that thing? At least I'm honorable, Draco."
"Honorable? Yeah, how honorable can you be after screwing every Slytherin and most of the other general population?" Hermione spit back, and Draco laughed loudly.
"You lot, any problems?" Hagrid's booming voice came their way as he heard the beginning of a fight.
"No, Professor. Parkinson here is just insulting me, but I got her back, so no worries." She laughed, and the rest of the class did as well. Pansy slunk off to Crabbe and Goyle, who grunted in an unfriendly manner.
"Righ' then, class, le's keep on it." He turned around and began to teach again. Draco turned to Hermione and smiled.
"That was great, Mione."
"Thanks, Draco." They resumed paying attention to the lesson and taking notes.