Title: Like A Fairytale

Author: Stardrops

Genre: Romance

Rating: PG 13: Some violence and slash, precautions only.

Summary: Faced with difficult decisions about his future, Draco forms some unlikely friendships. A passionate romance is sparked – but is not as secret as he supposed. Someone is stalking Draco at Hogwarts – suddenly, keeping himself and Harry safe is more complicated than he imagined.

Chapter Twelve: Hermione

Harry sat alone on the edge of his bed, his breath coming out in raged gasps from the realisation having set in. There was no going on with Draco. It was over. It seemed so unreal; Draco couldn't have been speaking the truth. Harry had been so certain that Draco wanted him. So certain that he meant something to Draco. All he remembered about previous moments they'd shared the past few months was blurred and strange, the way he'd felt when he watched a movie that was all in French once. He couldn't understand a thing about it. A burning sensation bloomed at the back of his throat as he remembered the secret lust they'd felt for each other during their detentions. He found himself wondering if it had really been a returned feeling for Draco or if Draco had been simply playing along to see how far he could get with Harry without Harry picking up on signs that Draco was really playing with him.

Harry squeezed his eyes tightly shut. His throat was really sore now – that terrible feeling when he knew tears were about to fall. If there was one thing he refused to do, it was to cry over this.

Draco had seemed to be as delighted by their first kiss in the rain as Harry had been. He remembered the feel of Draco's lips upon his, and clenched his fists to hold back any emotion as he remembered the little sighs of delight Draco emitted when Harry tenderly kissed the side of his neck. He remembered sitting there and simply watching Draco blink back the rain from his beautiful lashes.

The worst feeling was the warmth in his heart. It had vanished and was replaced by a sickened, painful feeling in his gut. He massaged his stomach and lay back on his bed to try and rid himself of it, but nothing could stem the depression that washed over him like a wave. He felt cold suddenly, as though someone had left a window open on that cold winter's night. He sat back up quickly and looked out the window. He could only just see the flakes of snow falling down through the glass. A bitter smile spread across his face as he remembered how once he'd thought snow was beautiful. It was when Draco was walking through it, the black cloak enveloping the boy and making him look like a lone shadow stepping lightly across the grounds. He frowned and silently berated himself. How could he remind himself of such images? It was only bringing more aching to his heart to remember.

Suddenly light flooded through the room, temporarily blinding Harry. He swore loudly and rubbed at his eyes. As he blinked, white spots still appearing in front of his eyes, he registered the sight of Hermione standing in the doorway, her wand in her hand and pointing at the fireplace where now was burning a merry, bright fire. Harry glared at it first and then at Hermione, refusing to admit to himself that the warmth coming from the grate was actually rather enjoyable. He sighed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Hermione in a tone that was none too friendly.

Hermione slipped her wand back into her robes and stepped silently to Harry's bed. Sitting beside him on the bed, she faced him seriously. "Harry, what is the matter? When you walked past earlier, you looked like the world was ending."

"Why are you even in here? You'll get in heaps of trouble if you're found out, girls aren't even allowed in the boys dormitory," Harry replied grumpily, wishing with all his heart that she would just leave him in peace.

Hermione dismissed this with a single wave of her hand. "Oh, there's no one here. And besides, no one will care anyway. And if they do, then sod them. Harry – talk to me. I can tell something is really wrong. And you've been acting so strangely the past few days. Something is distracting you from your work and even from eating, which I never thought was possible. What is going on?"

Harry deflated silently. "Hermione, I really would rather deal with this on my own."

Hermione cut him off. "No, Harry, because I know you. You'll say that, and then you'll just mope up here without actually thinking it through or trying to get over the problem. The only way you will get through it is to talk to someone, and I intend to be that someone this time." Harry snorted and Hermione frowned sadly. "Harry, honestly. I am your friend. Ron and I care about you, and we can both tell something is really wrong. Nothing would affect you this badly. Is ..." she leaned in closer to whisper confidentially, "...is it something to do with Voldemort?"

Harry let out a mirthless laugh. "Oh, no, it's nothing as serious as that. In fact, it's not very serious at all. You'd much better get back downstairs and continue your little tiff with Ron. "

Hermione sat up primly. "We were not having a tiff Harry. We were simply talking."

"Oh, that's what we're calling it these days, is it?" Harry muttered.

Hermione chose to ignore this and instead took one of Harry's hands in her own. She laced her fingers in his and stared imploringly into his face. "Harry, for the last time, I only want to help you. If you really want to just leave it, then fine, but I honestly think you should talk about it instead of continuously bottling up your emotions. It's really not healthy."

Harry did not pay attention to what she was saying. Instead he was staring at their entwined hands. The warmth of Hermione's hand was evident, but it was so different to the smooth coolness of Draco's skin when it held Harry's hand, or the heat that had radiated from the beautiful, perfect epidermis when Draco's fingers stroked the sides of Harry's face as they kissed. To his absolute horror, he felt himself tearing up again.

Hermione did not miss this. She immediately gasped and released his hand, pulling him into a hug instead. "Harry! Oh, Harry, what on earth is it?"

He couldn't speak, his throat had completely seized up and he feared his voice would wobble when he spoke, or worse yet, that he would instead begin to allow the tears to fall.

Hermione studied his face as she pulled away. "Harry, are you having girl problems?"

Harry laughed out loud. To his immense relief, he felt his throat's tightness subsiding as his sarcastic laugh broke his silence. He faced Hermione with eyes he knew would not be alive or dancing even in the firelight.

"I think I can promise you safely, Hermione, that it is not girl trouble."

Hermione shook her head in bewilderment. "Then what could possibly be wrong? You've never cared about your reports enough to get this angry and upset."

Harry simply sat still. Hermione studied him for a moment and then asked hesitatingly, "Harry ... would this have anything to do with Malfoy?"

Harry's head snapped up. "What?" he barked.

"Well ... I have noticed you looking at him a bit lately. And it's not like he hasn't been looking at you either. Have you two been having more fights that you've just not been telling Ron and me about?" Hermione asked bluntly.

Harry shook his head sadly. "No."

Hermione waited, but he offered nothing more. "But ... but it does have something to do with him?"

Silence met her question, which she took as agreement. "But you and Malfoy have never been friends, so why the sudden fascination with each other? Ever since the summer when he came back to Grimmauld Place, you've been acting less callous towards him. And while I don't have anything against you being friends with him, hasn't he done some terrible things to you and Ron and even to me during the past few years?"

Harry shrugged. "Maybe."

"I always thought you thought he was a dickhead."

Harry tensed up slightly. He could never think that now.

Hermione threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Harry, you are really not being much help here! If it wasn't for the fact I know it's completely insane, I'd think that you and Malfoy were having a secret love affair and you were quarrelling now, which is why you're in such a bad mood!" Hermione let a little giggle escape her before realising that Harry wasn't laughing.

"Harry?" Hermione asked after a little pause.

Harry's eyes were shut firmly and his hands were clenched into little fists. The secret was out. There was no point denying it to Hermione. She was too damn perceptive for her own good. She knew things that even Harry himself didn't know about himself and Ron, which must be something to do with all the psychology books she read when her homework books became less interesting (ie. After she'd read them for the twentieth time).

Hermione was still looking at him as though not daring to believe what he was implying.

"Harry?"

"What?"

"Why did you pause?"

He finally looked back to her. "Yes, okay?"

"Yes? Yes what?" Hermione still seemed not to be processing what he was saying.

"I've been secretly seeing him!" Harry said in a voice that was probably louder than necessary.

Hermione's eyes were wide and her mouth opened and shut a few times, cleverly imitating a goldfish though Harry was certain that was not her intention. He knew that it would be difficult for her to process, but at least he could talk to her about this. If it had been Ron, there would have been absolutely no chance whatsoever.

"But – I – no – this can't – Harry, is this a joke?" Hermione sputtered.

"If it were, it would be in really poor taste Hermione."

Hermione sat with her eyes wide and glued to Harry's face. "But how on earth did that happen? You two always hated each other!"

Harry shrugged and stared down into his lap. His face was the picture of misery. Much as he knew it would help for Hermione to process what he was attempting to make her realise, he didn't want to recount everything about his relationship with Draco. That was private to him. Even if it no longer existed. But it still seemed like a dream to him anyway, so if he stopped thinking about it, maybe it would just go away.

He got to his feet. "I just don't want to talk about it, all right?" he snapped.

Hermione pulled at his hand. "No – Harry – you can't just walk away from that!" With a rather powerful tug on his arm, she brought him back to sit beside her again. Harry looked, besides being a little peeved, shocked.

"I never knew you were that strong."

"And I never knew that you and Draco were doing anything. Is that where you've been all those times when you've been sneaking around? Ron and I did wonder where you'd gone, but the thought of you pursuing a secret romance had never entered our heads! But – if you're in a romantic relationship, then why are you so angry and depressed right now?"

Harry shrugged.

"Oh, no, you're not getting off that easily. What happened?"

Harry shrugged again. Hermione tried one last time, her eyes concerned and anxious.

"Harry – please. I'm just a friend trying to help you."

To his disgust, he found himself rattling off the entire tale, from the beginning. How he'd begun to see the beauty in Draco's face once it stopped sneering, how unbelievably attracted he'd been to Draco during detention, that night in the rain and everything since then. He censored it, of course, because he didn't want Hermione to know the most intimate details and he was sure that she was not interested in hearing them.

Hermione, however, seemed to guess how much Harry liked Draco from the smile that hinted behind his forced blank expression as he spoke about the times he and Draco had been together. She couldn't help smiling inwardly herself.

But as Harry's story went on, she couldn't even begin to contemplate why Draco would suddenly announce the end of a relationship he seemed to enjoy as much as Harry. The thought of course was there in the back of her mind that perhaps Draco was using Harry for entertainment, or possibly as a joke for Slytherin. But even this didn't seem to calculate properly. Surely not even Draco Malfoy could be that callous.

"Anyway, it doesn't really matter, so let's not make a big deal of it, all right?" he muttered to Hermione as he finished.

Hermione saw right through this. "Harry – don't even think about it. You always shove things aside as though they don't matter. This matters, okay? Stop acting like it doesn't. Ron and I will see right through you every time."

Harry froze. "You're ... you wouldn't tell Ron, would you?"

Hermione sighed. "Of course not, Harry. You can trust me."

Harry nodded. "Anyway ... now there's nothing to tell, so I guess it doesn't matter."

Harry was not teary any longer, though he did still feel slightly nauseas and his heart literally ached as he related his tale to Hermione. Talking slightly helped, as it brought back memories that made him sadder, it also helped to have someone understand.

Hermione looked sympathetically at him. "You really like him, don't you?"

Harry couldn't bring himself to speak, so he simply nodded. Once again, he felt his throat tighten and knew he was going to cry. And for the first time that day, he was truly glad to have a friend like Hermione there with him. Maybe being alone when you mourn isn't always the best option. As Hermione took him in her arms and hugged him, he was simply glad she was there.

He only wished Draco were as well.

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A/N: Yeah ... you all have the right to be mad, I know I promised it within a week or two, but this has been a little while longer. It's been hellish at school, graduation is in four weeks and I've been super busy with drama rehearsals. :) Hope this was up to everyone's standards, and thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. This chapter was a little boring, perhaps, but it was necessary.

Special thanks to:

Ancient History: Hehehehe thanks mate!

Vulpixfairy: I somehow don't think it will be complete for a while ... the story is only just about a third of the way through. It will be completely developed soon though, and then there'll only be the mess to unravel. Until next time, hope you continue to like!

Ronin Daiymo: Thank you! That was not Pansy date rape by the way, but we've already had this conversation.

Morbidity: Thank you! I live to serve :P

Princess Of Mirrors: You'll know who it is sooner or later :P It will be unmean soon, I promise! And thank you, if I'm cool, you are cooler!

Fenix Rivere: Yeah, don't worry. It may be better soon! Look on the bright side. If you were Harry, would you take no for an answer?

Jazz Maffia: It was just something like, 'why is Potter staring at you?' the first time, and then they were agreeing to leave the second time.

AngelWings6: I'm glad! I'm pretty sad to write it, I don't like them being at odds, they make such a cute couple. Thank you for your compliments! Hope you continue to like it!

Piper 13: Thanks! You'll see soon ... but who says they're going to get through this? ... nah, they will if I have anything to do with it!

Kazillion: Shorter means faster updates though :P Lucius is an arsehole, yes. Sorry about that. There may possibly be a bitch slap just for you. I may add that in. In fact, yes. I like that. I will definitely add that in. Thank you! :P

RoschLupinBlack: They're strong! Together they may get through this! If we will really hard, I'm sure they'll sense our pain and get their act together :P

Ancient History:  Loving it then?

Pecame: I'm glad to hear you like it. I never really thought about Harry and Draco slash until I read some really good ones (my friend forced me to, I had no choice) and now I'm addicted.

HpAZN: Yay! You reviewed! I know, Lucius is such a ... a ... oh well you know. :P Glad you still like, keep me posted on how its going aiight?