Disclaimer: Same old stuff, Harry Potter, and everyone/everything that you recognize belongs to J.K, Rowling, not me.
A/N: Alright, I have some good news and some bad news. First the bad, school is back in session for me, and I have a lot of time-consuming classes. I will do my best to keep the updates coming in reasonable intervals, so we'll see how it goes. Now the good news, to get back to school I had a 3 hour plane ride in which I was able to write this entire chapter (YAY)!
Anyway, a great big thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter 7, you guys are the best! And I'm glad everyone enjoyed their sugar quills!
Shadow-n-the-dark – I'm sorry to hear that wood shop hates you so much, the class that always hates me is math, so I know how that feels. Anyway, I'm happy that you got to review again and that you liked the chapter!
Chantal J – sorry about the mistakes, I was working from a different computer cause mine was getting fixed, and it was frustrating me. So when I finally got the chapter loaded, I didn't bother to look it over and fix stuff. I'll be sure to do that in the future though! ;) Glad you liked the chapter!
Ginny-W13 – Thanks for the review! And in answer to your question, you shall have to read on and see what happens!
Phoebe Telumetar – Thank you very much, I'm glad you think it's at least somewhat original so far, and I hope you continue to enjoy it.
Alcapacien – lol now just cause you said t it I have the twilight-zone music stuck in my head! Glad you like it!
Hermione Weasley192 – wow, thanks! It's nice to hear that I'm portraying the characters reactions correctly. And no, they won't act like this forever, but for a while maybe. I hope the update came quick enough!
elektra30 – YAY you updated lol nice job btw. I'm glad you like plots, cause I like writing them and I agree, Hermione and Draco without problems, would just be boring. Hope you like this chapter!
roundrockrules, HarryPotterFan670, fieryred20, lhearttomfelton, zuvalupa, Sunflower18 – Thank you all so much! I hope you like this chapter!
Karma Chameleon – lol thank you, Hermione's fun to write about when she's angry (Draco is too for that matter). Anyway, glad you like it so far, and I hope this chapter is no different.
FalconWing – no, Harry and Ron were still in the great hall, the squelching noise is the sound that the colloportus charm makes. I 'borrowed' the description from OotP. And about your other question, you're right, you just have to wait and see. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
SwTnDrEaMyPnAy03 – lol of course you get a sugar quill! Thanks for the review and I hope you continue liking the story!
Sirius-harry-n-remus – yes, going to Dumbledore, would be the most logical thing for him to do, however you are correct, that's not gonna happen. Draco's got too much pride to seek help like that. Oh well. Glad to hear you like Blaise's character, hope you like this chapter too!
Shuggr-holic – ugh midterms suck! I hope this update came fast enough, and if not, than I hope you like it anyway!
Creshton Street – thank you :o) I'm glad you like the more serious stuff. There's gonna be more of it so I hope you like all that as well!
Alright, I'm sure everyone's tired of me talking now, so on with the story!
Chapter 8: Arising Doubts
Thursday morning Hermione awoke feeling refreshed despite what had happened the day before. The bath had really helped to relax her, and afterwards she had gone straight to bed. Today she was determined to get through the day without arguing with anyone. Plus, she was generally in a good mood because she was excited about presenting the yearbook concept to the prefects in the evening.
She wasn't sure if Draco had been released from the hospital wing the night before, so after getting ready, she knocked on his door, and softly called his name. There was no answer, so she poked her head inside and called his name again, a bit louder this time. The room was dark, as Draco always kept the curtains closed, the bathroom door was open, and the hangings around the bed were closed as well. For a second Hermione thought about opening the bed hangings, but she reminded herself of how strict Madam Pomfrey was about her patients, which convinced her that Draco was still in the hospital wing. Resolving to visit him before class, Hermione grabbed her backpack and walked down to breakfast alone.
- - - - - - - - - -
Draco had heard Hermione knock, he heard her call his name twice, and he heard her open his door. He had remained completely still and silent hoping she decided not to come in and look behind the bed hangings. He only allowed himself to breathe again once he heard her close the door. He shut his eyes tight; the pounding pain in his head was preventing him from seeing straight. He hadn't managed to get one wink of sleep all night. Every time he tried to clear his head, more thoughts, fears, questions and speculations clouded his mind, each demanding immediate attention. Of course he was paying for his lack of sleep now, in addition to his killer headache, his entire body felt as if it had been blindsided by about a dozen angry bludgers.
He groaned as he slowly sat up. He was in no mood to be anywhere around people at the moment, but all the same he was starving. His conversation with Blaise last night had left him with no chance to eat a proper dinner, and his stomach had been reprimanding him for it for hours. Draco stumbled over to his trunk and searched through it until he found was he was looking for. It was a medium sized, nondescript black jar. Draco carried it to the fireplace, unscrewed the lid and poured out a pinch of black powder. Narcissa had always made him keep a jar of floo powder with him because as she had always reminded him, you never know when you may need it. Draco placed the jar on the fireplace mantle so he wouldn't have to search for it again if he ever needed it. He then stepped in front of the fireplace, tossed the powder in and clearly stated "Hogwarts kitchen!" He then stuck his head in the flames, and after a dizzying feeling in which his head felt very detached from his body, he opened his eyes to see the Hogwarts kitchens. Hundreds of house elves were scrambling around, in the middle of the breakfast rush. Draco loudly cleared his throat and the nearest house elf squeaked in surprise and scurried over to the fireplace.
"Good morning sir" squeaked the house elf "is you wanting something?"
"Yes," ordered Draco harshly, "deliver a single breakfast to the heads common room immediately." Draco pulled his head out of the flames so fast that he barely even heard the house elf's response ("Yes sir! As you wish sir!")
Once his head had joined his body back in the common room Draco decided to take a shower. He took off his shirt in the bathroom and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and cringed with disgust. His eyes were horribly bloodshot, his hair was all disheveled, and his skin was even paler than usual. The sight made him very thankful that Hermione hadn't seen him, because she no doubt would have demanded to know what was wrong with him. With that thought he stepped into the shower, and seriously thought about attempting to drown himself in the water.
- - - - - - - - - -
When Hermione entered the Great Hall, she immediately scanned the room for Harry and Ron. When she spotted them, she walked over, but did not sit down right away. She wanted to make sure that this wasn't going to be another angry confrontation between them. Harry looked up at her hopefully, with a slight grin on his face, clearly wanting things to be okay between them. Ron meanwhile was stubbornly staring at a random spot on the table in front of him, "Where's your boyfriend" he asked with obvious resentment.
"He's still in the hospital wing" answered Hermione coolly as she sat next to Harry.
Ron humphed, but Harry turned to Hermione with a confused look, "no he's not."
Hermione gave them a stern look and spoke very defensively when she answered, "well, he wasn't in the common room this morning, so where else would he be? Besides, whether you two believe it or not, Ron really did hurt him yesterday."
Ron let out a loud self-satisfied laugh, but Harry frowned, "Well Hermione, he's not in the hospital wing, we both saw him here last night after you left. He came in after nearly everyone was gone."
Hermione looked at Harry with mild shock and confusion, "are you serious? You're not making this up?"
"I'm completely serious Hermione," answered Harry. "He and Zabini were talking about something. Whatever it was must have really shocked Malfoy, because he practically dragged Zabini out of the room. He definitely didn't want their conversation to be overheard."
Hermione looked away in disbelief; three questions were running through her mind. 'Where was Draco? What had he and Zabini been discussing? And why hadn't he spoken to her since he had gotten out of the hospital wing?' After a long moment of silence in which Hermione thought about what was going on with Draco, and Harry viewed her warily, Hermione blinked and shook her head as if to clear away some unpleasant thoughts. "Oh," she finally said, attempting to sound cheerful, but only succeeding in sounding awkward, "well, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for where he is."
Harry nodded, but could tell that Hermione didn't even fully believe herself. What he had seen yesterday, his unease now, and the fact that Malfoy was obviously hiding something did not do anything to help relieve Harry's skepticism of Malfoy. "Hermione," said Harry calmly, "please don't take this the wrong way, but please be careful around Malfoy. I know that you care about him, but I'm feeling very uneasy about him, and I'm worried about you. None of us want to see you get hurt."
Hermione closed her eyes, a small bit of doubt was swirling in the back of her mind, but she was not about to let either Harry or Ron know that she doubted Draco at all. When she opened her eyes and spoke, everything about her tone and gaze conveyed confidence and resolve, "I know you are Harry, but trust me I'm fine. Draco's not hurting me, and I'm sure he has a perfectly good explanation for why he was not around this morning." Hermione gave Harry a reassuring smile, and he smiled back weakly.
"Bet you he's off in the Slytherin common room snogging Parkinson!" interrupted Ron loudly.
Whatever repairs Harry had made between Hermione and him and Ron, were completely lost with Ron's comment. Hermione slammed her fists on the table, causing her plate to rattle. "That's not funny Ron!" she shouted furiously, causing some curious heads to turn around them.
Ron didn't respond, he simply proceeded to angrily smash his breakfast to mush with his fork.
Hermione sat for a moment with her arms crossed over her chest, "I'm not dealing with this today," she announced. Then as she slung her bag over her shoulders and walked away, she called back "I'll see you in class Harry," which only caused Ron to ground up his food even more forcefully.
Before leaving, Hermione's head snapped over to the Slytherin table. She was relieved to see that Pansy was sitting there next to Zabini, which meant that she was not in the common room snogging with Draco. Hermione felt guilty for allowing herself to think that he would cheat on her like that, and with Pansy of all people. Still, despite her relief in knowing that wasn't what he was doing, she could no ignore the queasiness, or the extreme jealousy that Ron's comment had sparked in her. She knew that she had absolutely no reason to be jealous of a horrible thing such as Pansy Parkinson. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not erase the images from that year that had engraved themselves in her memory, the images of Pansy on top of Draco, and of them kissing in Hogsmeade still made her want to vomit.
As she passed the hospital wing on the way down to Hagrid's hut for care of magical creatures she stopped. 'Maybe Harry was wrong,' she thought hopefully. But when she looked inside, she was disappointed, but unsurprised to see that the bed Draco had been occupying was now vacant. She sighed, again feeling a slight pang of doubt in the back of her mind. It was a feeling that she desperately tried to ignore as she shuffled across the grounds to class.
- - - - - - - - - -
Once he had finished his shower and breakfast, Draco didn't feel much better, but he at least looked somewhat presentable. Certainly not his best, but at least good enough to get through the day without anyone noticing that something was wrong. He took a deep breath, as if preparing himself for some physically strenuous activity. He put on his air of arrogance, the cold impenetrable (well impenetrable to everyone but Hermione) wall that blocked off his emotions, and made him seem untouchable. He ate his breakfast, and then set out to class, successfully faking his own confident swagger even though he was anything but confident on the inside.
By the end of the day, Draco was so exhausted from keeping his cold exterior wall up and pretending to be himself that when he finally arrived in the common room, he just collapsed on the couch and lay his head back, trying to fight off the impending stress headache.
He was half asleep by the time Hermione entered. When she saw him, her first reaction was one of anger. She had been trying to catch his eye all day whenever she saw him, but his thoughts were clearly somewhere far away. Now that she was able to, she was determined to get some answers.
"So here you are," she called loudly, not caring at all that he looked completely wiped out.
Draco's eyes shot open and his head shot up in surprise. Anyone would have been able to tell that Hermione was pissed, but Draco, for the life of him, could not figure out why she was mad at him. "Good afternoon to you too," he muttered, the sarcasm and confusion in his voice was obvious.
Hermione didn't care for his tone, but she was not to be distracted. She marched over and stood above him, clearly telling him that she was in no mood for games.
This was too much for Draco. He had had enough shit to deal with without his girlfriend being angry at him for absolutely no reason. With a stubborn and determined look, he stood up. They were centimeters apart, their eyes bearing into each others like knives, but the passion that normally filled the room when they were this close together was missing completely. Instead it was replaced by an overwhelming feeling of pent up stress and frustration.
They stood like that for a few moments until Hermione finally broke the heated silence, "well?" she asked expectantly.
Draco's response was more than exasperated, "well what?!"
"I believe you have some explaining to do," Hermione answered shortly.
"Explain what?" Draco racked his brain for anything he could have done in the past day that would have set Hermione off like this.
"Well for starters, you can explain why you never bothered to tell me that you got out of the hospital wing yesterday so I wouldn't have been worrying about you all night, then you can explain where you were this morning," demanded Hermione.
Draco gaped at her in disbelief, "you have got to be fucking kidding me!" he shouted, "That's why you're so pissed at me!" Hermione crossed her arms looking very stubborn. "Fine," continued Draco tersely, "you want explanations, here they are. After I got out of the hospital wing I went to dinner, after which I went to sleep. Then this morning I slept late and had a house elf deliver my breakfast here, satisfied?"
Not entirely," answered Hermione cheekily, "what were you talking about with Zabini last night?"
Draco's eyes widened ever so slightly. But even though the rest of him remained still, it was enough so that Hermione knew that he had never intended on telling her about his conversation with Blaise. A small bit of distrust was added to the doubt that was still swirling in the back of her mind. "What are you talking about?" Draco asked calmly. Inside he was panicking, thinking that she had somehow seen him bring Blaise into the common room without him noticing. If Hermione had not seen the slight change in Draco's eyes, she would have never suspected that he was hiding something.
Hermione pursed her lips, "Harry said that he and Ron saw you and Zabini discussing something that looked very serious last night in the Great Hall. He said it looked like you didn't want to be overheard."
Draco frowned, 'damn that bloody meddling Potter!' he thought. He had forgotten that Potter and Weasley had seen him and Blaise last night. Draco decided that the best was to avoid probing questions was to be as honest as possible without revealing specifics. "That is correct; Blaise and I were having a discussion which we wanted to keep private."
"About what?" asked Hermione. She was desperate for an answer, any answer that would allow her to fully trust Draco once more.
Draco sighed, an action which was mostly for show, but he wanted Hermione to think that he truly wanted to tell her. Plus he used the time to think of how best to handle this situation without arousing her curiosity and suspicion. When he spoke, he made an extra effort to keep his voice calm and even. "Hermione, I am sure that there are things you talk about with Potter and Weasley that you do not share with me, and I never question you about it." Hermione bit her lip which showed Draco traces of guilt, so he knew he was right. He continued, to make sure she wouldn't pry further. "What Blaise and I were talking about last night was one of those things. I just can't tell you, I'm sorry." While he was talking, Draco slid his hands over Hermione's waist. Part of him felt guilty for using seduction tactics, however small they were, to distract her, but he was ready to do whatever it took to get her thinking about something else.
Hermione lowered her eyes; she had felt guilty for not trusting him when he brought up Harry and Ron. He was right; she didn't tell him anything they discussed, so she should give him and his friends the same courtesy. Hermione lowered her head so that her forehead was leaning against his chest, and she looped her arms around him.
Draco closed his eyes and hugged her back. He was relieved for successfully managing his way around a situation that was potentially very difficult to deal with. Just as he was beginning to relax, Hermione suddenly released him and stepped back. "Well," she said quietly, "we better get going; we have a meeting with the prefects to get to."
Draco groaned, he had completely forgotten about their meeting. Reluctantly, though without a fuss, he followed Hermione out of the portrait hall and to the meeting room.
The meeting took place in the empty history of magic classroom. By the time Draco and Hermione arrived, the prefects were already assembled, ready and waiting to begin. Hermione entered first, and led the way to the front of the room. The two heads stood next to each other, Hermione looking at Draco, expecting him to begin the meeting. But Draco's migraine was back full force and it was taking all his energy just to keep his eyes open. As much as he loved being in charge of things, he just didn't have the energy to be a leader now, so he looked at Hermione, and raised his eyebrows, indicating that she was to begin.
Hermione did a double take before beginning. Draco never deferred leadership responsibilities, and though Hermione also liked being in charge, it always took her by surprise at first. She turned to the prefects, all of whom were looking at the two of them expectantly. "Right," she began, "well, let's begin with the usual business." She paused and scanned the prefects briefly, "so has anyone noticed any problems between students, either within your house, or between houses?"
Many of the prefects looked awkwardly at each other. Hermione recognized the action, it was the same thing that happened when she was a prefect and there were problems that no one wanted to be the first to mention. Hermione gave them an opportunity to begin, but when it became clear that no one was going to speak up, she decided to help out a bit. "You know, Draco and I cannot do anything to help you guys monitor the other students if no one brings up any problems at these meetings. So if there's something we should know about, tell us now."
Finally one of the fifth year Gryffindor prefects raised her hand, "yes?" asked Hermione.
"The only problem I've seen is with them," she pointed at the Slytherin prefects, who sent her scathing glares. "They abuse their privileges and use them to punish students from all the other houses for doing nothing while they let other Slytherins get away with anything!" All the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw prefects nodded in agreement while the Slytherin prefects sneered furiously.
Hermione turned to Draco, expecting him to be the one to say something, but was surprised to find that he was no longer standing next to her. Rather, he was sitting with his head in his hands behind the professor's desk, apparently exhausted and not listening at all. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to the Slytherin prefects. She took a breath to build up her confidence, "you all know that being a prefect is a privilege, and in order to maintain that privilege you must respect your duties, which includes treating all students fairly and equally."
The Slytherin's scoffed at Hermione and a particularly bold one muttered, "yeah right, you can't do anything to us you stupid mudblood." He said it very quietly, but still loud enough so that everyone heard him. Everyone, including a particular Slytherin Head Boy who had appeared to have been not listening to the meeting which was going on in front of him.
To everyone's surprise, Draco shot up and slammed his fists on the desk, there was a raging fire in his eyes, and it terrified every one of the prefects. "That is enough Thomson!" His fiery glare was directed directly at the offending Slytherin, his eyes were dark with both rage and exhaustion. "If you continue to abuse your powers, I will personally see to it that your prefect status is suspended indefinitely, and if you ever speak that way to the Head Girl again, I will make sure that that badge is revoked!"
Thomson stood up defiantly, "you don't have the power to do that!"
Draco swept out from behind the desk so quickly that it caused Thomson to take a step back. Draco didn't stop until he was a mere few inches away from him. Everyone in the room was sure that he was going to draw his wand, but no one dared to speak. They had all heard of Draco Malfoy's infamous temper, but none had ever seen him in such a rage. Draco whispered menacingly, "watch me." In one swift motion he ripped Thomson's badge off his robes causing them to tear. Then he took out his wand, turned away, threw the badge at the wall, and hit it with a spell that caused it to shatter in mid air.
Thomson watched in horror as his badge burst into thousands of tiny pieces. Draco slowly turned back to him, "I'm sorry, but this meeting if for prefects and heads only, as you are neither, you are not allowed. So you are dismissed."
Thomson looked around at the other prefects, seeking support, but they were all staring at Draco with wide-eyed fear, no one dared to speak. With no other option, Thomson left the room, still unable to believe what had just happened.
Draco calmly returned to his place behind the desk, directing his attention toward all the prefects, and looking very powerful indeed. "Let that be a lesson to everyone, I am not going to be taking any crap from any of you this year, you will not abuse your privileges, and you will show nothing but the utmost respect to both me and Hermione. Is that understood?"
Every prefect nodded quickly, none blinked. Draco considered that acceptable, so he nodded at Hermione to continue, and then resumed his position seated with his head in his hands, again looking as if he was not listening to a word.
It took Hermione a good couple of minutes to regain her composure after Draco's little scene. On the one hand, she was touched at how quickly and forcefully Draco had come to her 'rescue' and defended her so vehemently. Her heart had swelled when he yelled at Thomson, and at the moment she could not believe that all day she had doubted him and even been a bit suspicious of him. Obviously, she had no reason to worry. But still, even with the proof that he was devoted to her, the more rational part of her brain knew that Draco would be hearing from Dumbledore because of what he had done. And that part of her wished that Draco had not acted as he did because she didn't want either of them to get in trouble. She shook her concerns away, knowing that there was nothing she could do about it now, and knowing that she never would have been able to stop him anyway.
The prefects were still looking at Draco apprehensively as if afraid that he was going to lash out at them if they so much as breathed wrong. Hermione gathered her thoughts and cleared her throat, "Right, now that we're through with that, I have a new project to announce." Slowly, the prefects began turning their attention to Hermione, vaguely interested in what the new project was. "It is a lost tradition that we are going to be reviving this year, and I need everyone's complete cooperation and dedication to make it work. It will be a lot of hard work, but I think it will be more than worth it once we're finished."
Hermione continued to explain the yearbook project, she presented the ideas she and Draco had come up with, and allowed the prefects to add a few of their own. By the end of the meeting, the prefects were very eager to begin working on it. Hermione instructed them to keep it a secret until she and Draco announced it to the school. Each group of prefects had been assigned certain sections to oversee, and morale was running high. Despite the incident in the beginning of the meeting, the prefects all left in good moods, although the Slytherins were in noticeably lower spirits, and they kept shooting Draco angry looks.
With the exception of his outburst Draco had not uttered a single word throughout the entire meeting. Once everyone was gone, and Hermione was sure they were alone, she walked over to the desk and leaned on the edge, looking curiously at Draco. Once Hermione had begun talking about the yearbook, Draco really had stopped listening, and was now hovering in a state somewhere between sleep and wake. In the back of his mind, he was aware that the meeting was over, but he just didn't have the energy to open his eyes, let alone get up and go anywhere. With a bit of concern, Hermione moved behind him and massaged his shoulders a little, "hey," she whispered, "are you alright?"
Draco let out a small groan, partly to answer Hermione, but partly because the massage she was giving him relieved so much tension that he couldn't stop himself. He leaned back, but kept his eyes closed, "I'm just tired" he muttered "I didn't sleep well last night." Then, to avoid questions he added, "I was still sore from the potion burns, so I had trouble sleeping."
"Aww," said Hermione sympathetically as she leaned down to kiss his forehead lightly. "Well, why don't we go back to the common room, so you can get to sleep?"
Mustering up all his remaining strength, Draco stood up and allowed Hermione to lead him (and partially support him) back to their common room.
Once they were inside, Draco turned Hermione toward him and holding her close he kissed her deeply. "Good night."
"Night," she whispered and watched him disappear into his room.
Draco didn't even bother to change his clothes; he just collapsed on his bed and fell sound asleep almost instantly.
After Draco closed his door, Hermione returned all the yearbook materials to her desk in her room. After that, she decided to hear down to dinner. "Hey guys" she greeted when she saw Ginny, Harry, and Ron.
"Hey," they responded back.
"How was your meeting with the prefects?" Ginny asked.
"Ugh, you wouldn't believe what happened!" Hermione proceeded to tell them what Thomson had said, she couldn't help but grin at the reactions from her friends.
"You didn't let him talk to you like that did you?" cried Harry.
"I couldn't do anything to stop him," answered Hermione.
"Did Malfoy bother to say anything to him?" asked Ginny.
Hermione laughed, "Oh yes," she answered, "that's why I didn't get the chance to say anything" Hermione told them everything Draco had done to Thomson. When she finished her friends were speechless.
"Are you serious? He just blew up Thomson's badge!" Ginny said with amused astonishment.
"Yup," answered Hermione, unable to stop the proud smile that formed across her lips.
Harry rolled his eyes, obviously not enjoying the topic of conversation. Yet he wasn't about to say anything, he liked seeing Hermione in a good mood, and he didn't want to ruin that. Ron meanwhile was resolutely talking to Dean and Seamus so that he wouldn't have to listen to anymore talk about Malfoy.
"Hey, speaking of Malfoy, where is he?" asked Ginny, noticing for the first time that he had not come to the Great Hall with Hermione.
"Asleep actually, he didn't sleep well last night, and he was exhausted."
"Doubt that," muttered Ron, finally unable to ignore the conversation any longer. It was the first time he had spoken to them since Hermione arrived, and he was obviously still in a bad mood.
"Shut up Ron," warned Hermione, suddenly growing cold.
"You trust him way too much Hermione," argued Ron. "He doesn't deserve your trust, he doesn't deserve you! He probably left as soon as you were gone!"
"Ron, either you shut up now, or I'm leaving. I'm tired of arguing with you and dealing with the same shit every time I see you!"
Ron didn't respond, which was fine in Hermione's opinion, if he didn't talk, they wouldn't fight. The rest of dinner went along fine, though Ron and Hermione continued to ignore each other. In truth what bothered Hermione most was that the doubt had returned to the back of her conscience. She did her best to convince herself that she had nothing to worry about, she tried to bring back the feeling she had felt during the meeting when she had adoringly watched Draco defending her. She tried not to give into the doubt, but she couldn't help but walk a bit faster on her way back to the common room.
She hurriedly said the password and went directly to Draco's room. She was relieved to see him sprawled out on his bed, and she chuckled when she was that he was still dressed. She shook her head lovingly and quietly tiptoed over to him. She took off his shoes and his tie, she then unbuttoned his shirt so he would be a bit more comfortable. Her fingers slightly grazed his abs as she was unbuttoning his shirt, but he continued sleeping soundly. Before leaving, she ran her hands through his hair a few times and kissed his lips lightly. He shifted a bit, but remained in a deep sleep. Hermione walked to the door, and turned back to look at him. She couldn't believe that she had again doubted him for no reason; with a small smile she whispered "I love you." And then she retreated to her room for the rest of the night.
As always I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts about it (reviews make me so happy!) :o) I think for this chapter, all my reviewers will recieve some fizzing whizbees as a thank you for reviews, cause I love hearing from you all so much!