This chapter is for my best bud, Aly, who was the only reviewer for the last chapter! I really hope there are more people reading and not reviewing… shrug whatever.
So the rest of this I wrote late at night, two days before the final copy was due remember, I wrote it for my English teacher in 8th grade so it's really rushed. Sorry.
Here it is! Please remember to review, guys. Seriously, that's all we authors want in return for taking time to post. Thanks.
Disclaimer: Don't own it, yadayadayada.
The pair spent several more hours reading together, taking turns reading out loud or in unison. This lasted far into the night, and by the time both of them were too tired to stay awake, they had found out quite a bit about each other, and themselves. They came to realize that they actually had more in common than they had first thought; both loved reading good literature, and had a thirst for strong and powerful language, so reading Shakespeare together by the warm fire that winter eve was quite satisfying. They analyzed the text and tried to determine what everything meant, and actually finished the chosen play, Romeo and Juliet (Draco had started reading that earlier, as well).
They laughed together much easier then anyone would have thought; she found him interesting and so excitingly different to talk to, and he valued her knowledgeable opinions. When they would disagree on something, they'd talk it out until a plausible answer surfaced. If not, they shrugged it off and kept reading, planning on asking Professor Winnikin the next day. They soon realized that tomorrow was coming all too quickly and they'd better get in bed, or Hogwarts would have two very tired, if not cheerful, Head students, so they went to bed after bidding each other good night.
Muggle Studies was fourth hour, right before lunch. Draco and Hermione decided not to walk there together and rouse suspicion immediately. They both had Potions right before that, and after they made their way to the classroom on the second floor.
Hermione got there first, and took a seat towards the center of the room, and a few minutes later Draco arrived, without his cloak, just as promised. He sat right behind her, and she stopped herself from turning around and grinning at him.
Professor Winnikin, a witch in her sixties with long, silvery hair, began class by asking who had gotten the book they would be studying out of, and most of the students raised their hands. Many in the room kept looking at Draco strangely, as if he was in there by mistake. Even the Professor looked at him in surprise because of his visibility, but changed it into an approving look. She then went on to explain the next project that they'd be doing; read a play of your choice and report back on it with a partner. They were allowed to choose whom they were to be working with, and Hermione found herself being tapped on the shoulder by none other than Draco Malfoy.
"Be my partner?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Oh, all right…" she feigned reluctance and turned her desk around to face his. This really got others in the class to look at them strangely, and then whisper speculatively to their friends.
Hermione shrugged and rolled her eyes, "I knew we'd get this if we started tolerating each other… you sure you still want to work with me?"
Draco smiled charmingly as he got out his book, a quill and ink, and parchment, "Yes."
She dropped her gaze, glad he had stayed true to his promise, and also got out supplies for the assignment. "Shall we do Romeo and Juliet for our project?"
"We already finished reading that one…" Draco replied, puzzled.
"Exactly, therefore giving us more time to do other homework instead of reading yet another play." It was her turn to smirk.
Draco nodded, "Very good, Granger. Thinking more like a Slytherin now, are you? I'm surprised… not much like you to try to skive off homework like that."
She just uncorked her ink and dipped her quill, "Well to be with a Slytherin, I guess you have to act like one. Besides, we read it several hours ago so it's not that big of a difference. Ready to get started?"
&&&
The rest of the day went by smoothly enough, neither Hermione nor Draco had any close friends in Muggle Studies, so they didn't really hear many people talking about them. Slytherins and Gryffindors had double Transfiguration that afternoon, and though they didn't actually talk to each other, they had their share of secret smiles across the room when no one else was looking.
Several times, Ron and Harry kept asking Hermione why she was smiling so weirdly, and why she kept staring off into space with a strange expression ion her face.
"Oh, it's nothing…" she would reply, giving them reassuring grins, "I'm just a bit tired; stayed up too late doing homework."
Her friends would then shake their heads and return to their work without a second thought.
After Transfiguration, the seventh years' schedules were free, and Hermione declined an invitation to have a snowball fight out on the grounds, insisting she had Muggle Studies work to do. This wasn't a total lie so she didn't feel too bad at her friends' disappointed faces; she hoped to speak with Draco again soon.
He wasn't in the common room when she arrived, however, so she just went upstairs to work on other homework. This soon got tedious, even for a bookworm like her, and Draco was still nowhere to be found, so she decided to go down and see if Harry, Ron, Ginevra, and other friends were still battling.
"Hermione!" Ron yelled when she came out, running and giving her a very cold bear hug. Harry said hello by bombarding them with snowballs from behind a barricade they had made.
"I love you too, Harry!" Hermione yelled, laughing and scooping a snowball of her own to throw back at him. She missed horribly, and it hit Seamus Finnigan instead. She then hid behind Ron, so Seamus thought it was he that hit him.
With a war cry, Seamus launched a snowball at Ron and it struck him square in the forehead. That got Ron back into the fight, and it became extremely chaotic, and snow was flying everywhere.
About two hours later, the group of Gryffindors trudged back into Hogwarts, dripping water on their way. Hermione was smart enough to perform her drying-spell on herself, so she was no longer wet and was quickly warming up. She told her friends she was going back to her dorm to change and get warm, and they said good night.
This time, Draco was there, almost as if he was waiting for her. There was a blazing fire in the grate, and he was sitting on a couch sipping Butterbeer.
Hermione stumbled into the common room, and Draco looked up with a smile, "I had dinner brought up. I figured you'd be tired and wouldn't feel like walking back to the Great Hall."
"Oh Draco… you really didn't have to. I'm fine." She muttered, blushing at his considerateness.
He shrugged, "Well what's done is done. You can go down with your other friends, I'd understand." He turned back to the fire.
She chuckled a bit then sat down by him, slumping in her seat and immediately feeling the warmth of the fire wash over her. She let out an appreciative sigh, and Draco handed her another bottle of the warm, yummy liquid that was Butterbeer.
"Mmmm…" she murmured, smiling contentedly and closing her eyes for a moment.
"Want to eat now?" Draco asked.
"Sure, what do we have?" she asked, sitting up straight again.
"Whatever the house-elves sent up… Let's see… there's turkey, potatoes, green beans, rolls, Pumpkin Juice, and for dessert… apple pie." he listed, nodding in approval.
"Sounds good," Hermione agreed, and she took a plate for herself.
They ate quietly for several moments, not knowing what to say. So much had changed between the two of them neither knew exactly what they felt for the other.
"I'm afraid I'm not very good at making conversation," Draco apologized, "In Slytherin we're not really much for friendly chatter."
"Oh, you did fine last night," Hermione reassured him, "It's just been a long day and we're too tired to put the right words together."
"So you won't blame me if I say the wrong thing?"
"No…" she laughed, "unless it's really far out there… Why?"
"What if I asked you to be my princess?"
"What?" she asked, confused. That was definitely not what she'd expected.
"You're always calling me 'the Slytherin Prince.' I need a princess. And I want her to be you." He stopped there, afraid to continue. Why did he always say the stupidest things!
Hermione didn't say anything for a moment. Draco thought for a confused second he hadn't actually spoken, but had just thought it.
"What exactly do you mean…?" she sounded helpless, like she didn't know what to do.
"Be my Princess, my girlfriend, my sweetheart, my love." Oh man, was he crazy. She'd never let him live this one down… Please say something… he silently willed her, almost cringing at the derisive answer that was bound to come.
She looked at him seriously, peering deep into his eyes. He tried not to yield emotion, but with that chocolate-brownness so close it was nigh impossible.
"Are you asking this seriously, Draco Malfoy?" she asked calmly, the opposite of what both of them were feeling, "not as a joke to laugh at with your friends, or even by yourself?"
He remembered the lost, vulnerable expression on her face when she told him about her boyfriend form the last summer. He could never do that to her, not after the last two days, and definitely not on purpose.
"Yes, Hermione Granger. Do with me what you will." He gave a small, humble grin that just screamed out to her, Take me! Don't just sit there! All I ask for is you.
The look in his eyes made her stop thinking. She leaned over and hugged him tight. He took that as a yes.
Draco: I can't believe you made me say such a ridiculous thing!
Sarah: Yeah, well you're hormonal. And a bit… loopy from the butterbeer.
Draco mutters: No, you're just a lousy author…
Hermione: Oh be quiet, spoil sport. It was sweet.
Sarah: Yeah. It was. And I had a deadline to finish this story, so the last few chapters are really rushed. Therefore, you've got some stupid lines. Seal with it.
Draco: Oh fine…
Hermione waves at readers: Remember to review!