EDITED;;

Chapter 8: Painful Realizations

"Malfoy lets go to the lake." Hermione said aloud breaking the silence. Draco nodded and rose to his feet dusting the snow off him. He then held his hand out looking down to Hermione to help her up. She grabbed his hand after hesitation and smiled meekly, nodding in thanks, freeing herself of the snow on her body as well.

"Shall we?" Draco asked holding out his hand for hers. Hermione just stared at it for a moment, grabbing his hand. It was cool but warming, tight but comforting, but for a lack of better words, it was perfect.

They walked hand in hand to the lake where several other matches stood, the moment they came out to where they could be seen, everyone stopped doing what they were doing, to see that Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger were indeed matches. Some gasped in reaction, some gagged, others amazed. Hundreds of years could go by and no one could dare have the thought of a Pureblooded Malfoy to want to be with a Mud Blood. Everyone was convinced that they both were on Antantrum. They had to be, right? That was it, the two people most famous for having a high disliking for each other MUST have taken Antantrum. Rumors of this flew. Draco and Hermione were under the influence of Antantrum, poor things.

Draco glanced and glared at everyone staring but for once, he didn't care about his reputation, or his ego, or anything else others would think. He wanted to live what he had dreamt of for the longest time and now it was his chance. Hermione looked around seeing what Draco had saw, everyone was staring, and it made her uneasy. Draco and Hermione found a spot where they wanted to sit and he zapped at the ground for a blanket to appear on the ground for them to sit on.

"Malfoy… everyone is staring." Hermione said nervously.

"I know, but who cares? I don't." he shrugged the comment off as if it were a soft breeze.

"You don't?" Hermione raised her eyebrow in surprise. "Why?" staring at Draco as he looked back at her in result to the sound of her voice.

"Look, if you're worried what they are thinking, it's more than likely that they've concluded we had to take Antantrum, so how I look at it, just do what you want"

Draco had a point. The Antantrum was expressed a lot about how it would make things easier. Besides she told Harry and Ron that's what they were going to do anyway. It was a good excuse to fall back on if it had became an issue.

"True" she finally said nodding. He was right and they could easily use it to their advantage.

She leaned her head on his shoulder and he took that as a sign that he could be comfortable with her. So he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. She could smell his scent, not the expensive cologne that Draco likes to wear but the actual Draco scent. She closed her eyes while she listened to the sound of the water softly brushing against the shore. She was cold, but she didn't seem to mind, the warmth from Draco's body made her content. Draco leaned his head down to where their heads were resting together and they lost themselves in another moment. Nothing around them seemed to be present. Not even the eyes staring confused by the image they possessed. He liked the feeling being so close to Hermione. He liked it so much he started to wonder why he was so stupid for not expressing it sooner because if he had years before, he'd be able to have a longer time holding her in his arms and really being close to someone for once in his life.

The problem with Draco was that he's afraid of getting hurt. He learned that being in love made you vulnerable and being vulnerable means you are weak. If he were weak, he could get hurt and the whole image he possessed was him as a strong Malfoy, who could never be broken or hurt. His mind traveled to the reason of why he never had such a possession in his life and remembered why he had always been mean to Hermione. He pulled his head up and tucked his hand back in realization. Hermione made him vulnerable. Hermione made him weak. Hermione has always been his weakness. So now the question was answered. It wasn't the fact that she was best friends with Potter. It was the fact that he secretly knew Hermione was his weakness.

Once Draco pulled away from her, she raised up.
"What's wrong?" she asked puzzled.

"Nothing." he said glaring into the water.

Hermione just sat there, wondering whether or not she should push to know since it was more than just nothing. It was something. However she didn't want to fight him. She realized what she was just doing. Leaning against her enemy, engulfing his scent into her memory, soaking up each second that passed by. Sudden reality fell upon her, in the back of her mind, pushed back so far because it would be illogical to think of, was the fact that she has liked Draco for a while.

So there the two sat awkwardly in realization that they've had a secret even from themselves of needing the other. Hermione looked one way, Draco looking the other, with a confused but angered face. Maybe they should have had the Antantrum after all.