Chapter 18: Trouble Lingers Near

Draco woke up with a hefty smile on his face as he remembered what had happened before he fell asleep. The second his mind connected that Hermione and him fell asleep he looked downward, finding a peaceful sleeping Hermione still embracing him as she dreamt. Happiness floated around Draco, not once in his life was he taught that such happiness could be caused by something different than tormenting pleasure. He placed his hand in Hermione's hair stroking it, combing it through with his fingers, feelings its soft smooth texture slide across the tips. He leaned down kissing her forehead. Hermione stirred once he kissed her, as if he were waking Sleeping Beauty. Her eyes flew open gracefully, straight onto his as she recollected the events of the day before nuzzling against his cheek, finding even more warmth radiating off Draco's body.

"Mm" Hermione let out as she began to stretch her body out to be longer than normal "what time is it" she finished in a half yawn.

"Almost dinner time" Draco said placing his forehead again onto hers as Hermione smiled.

"Mm. Good" Hermione replied as she reached down for Draco's hands rubbing them softly before Draco took them up and intertwined her fingers with his.

"Are you ready to face the world as the one girl that is envied by all the others because you have me?" Hermione laughed, his arrogant ego still remained with him, but she adored it and showed it with a playful smile.

"And do you, want the world to see that you are with none other than the girl who is a step ahead of you academically?" she said with a wink. Draco rolled his eyes and attacked her by tickling the sides of her body. Hermione screamed begging him to stop. She squirmed and wiggled her body repeatedly, inching herself closer and closer off his bed, where she slid out from his grasp and she stood up staring at him with a mocking smile.

"Hey now, Just because you beat me academically in Hogwarts DOESN'T mean that you're smarter than me with things that do not pertain to school." He eyed her, as they playfully attacked each other verbally with comebacks and silly harmless insults. They laughed at each other and their remarks. Hermione looked over to the side seeing the clock.

"OH! Dinner, I'm starving" Hermione gazed at Draco for a moment and then darted out of his room down the steps and to the portrait, looking back to see if he was following, but he wasn't. Hermione stopped smiling and sighed while she stepped outside of the entrance. The thing Hermione didn't know was that Draco was behind her the whole time, like Harry, he had his own invisibility cloak that his father specially purchased for him the year when Draco complained to his father about Harry having one. With a quick swish of the cloak Draco captured Hermione who let out a small squeak, underneath the cloak shocked.

"Boo" Draco said laughing, "who is the brilliant one now?" Hermione shook her head seconds before Draco enclosed the space between them until he reached Hermione's lips for an embracing kiss unknown to students walking pass in the hall. When they pulled back they looked around laughing at how they were right in front of several students, kissing without them even knowing it was there.

"Come on Genius, Dinner time." Hermione escaped from the cloak pulling onto his hand dragging him along in the halls, for all to see as Draco placed it to where the cloak wasn't in use anymore. They stopped before the doors and with a quick kiss they departed to sit with their tables yet again, sitting across the room across from each other with their eyes locked and smiles beaming bright.

The Slytherin had never been so quiet, especially with Parkinson sitting there. Draco was the only person they all looked up to and also feared, and then he seemed to be the weakest one when the news of Hermione struck that is until he snapped at everyone proving that he is still on top regardless of situations.

Draco remained smiling while he poked at his food eating it happily, while staring back to Hermione who was laughing with her friends, then locking eyes with him before enjoying the rest of her meal with her friends. Draco didn't care that it seemed as if he were alone at lunch, as long as he had a seat where he could watch Hermione be happy. He amazed himself with how much a single person can control over your mind's thoughts. He would be what many would say, obsessed but in a healthy way.

Owl squawking was heard approaching the great hall, mail time. An elegant owl swooped down before Draco leaving an envelope that was a signature of his mothers, he smiled, and his mum's letters were something he treasured. He traced his finger along the sides of the envelope in his hands before opening it. He pulled the paper out carefully and his eyes traveled back and forth across the paper reading its contents.

--

My Dearest Draco,

I hope school is going well, I know that N.E.W.T.S is going to be coming around the corner very shortly, but you are a smart boy I'm sure you'll do brilliant. I wish this letter was just a greeting saying good luck for NEWTS and such but unfortunately it's more than just that.

Your father is going to be released from Azkaban sometime this week. Even though I love your father endlessly, his dark side makes me uneasy for you. I'm more than certain he has plans to yet again attempt to place the dark mark on you and making you a death eater. I know you don't want it and neither do I. So please son, watch your back, I don't want Lucius to turn you into what he's become. You are just like him in every way but the part before he looked to the dark lord, the side of your father I am very much in love with. Please don't make the same mistake as him. Control your life, don't let him make you think it's your fate to be the way he's become.

Love,
Mum

--

Great, Draco thought to himself, just exactly what I need. An angry father back from Azkaban, who knows how or why, who's not going to be happy about Hermione and is going to force me to do what he did years ago. Beautiful.

Dinner soon came to a close and Draco set aside to wait for Hermione to come over, where he met her gladly with a warming smile.

"Hey you"

"Hey yourself" she said smiling and grabbing his hand "Did you want to head back to the commons?"

"Yeah," Draco grinned thinking in his head of things "we could go back and lay down in front of the fire, book perhaps to read together." He smiled looking at Hermione's eyes bright up nodding excitedly.

They entered the common room and Draco looked over to his desk. "Hey I'll be just one second, my mum wrote me a letter and I wanted to reply to her ASAP." Draco replied telling her how he wasn't happy about hearing of his fathers release and any suggestions, then informed her of Hermione which she already knew some information of but not the updated parts. Moments later, he joined Hermione in front of the lit fireplace allowing her to rest her body against his while he leaned back onto the side of the sofa on the floor. She held the book proportionally as they silently read together at the same time through the book page by page.

Minutes spun by and it was time to go do a final round of Head Duties of monitoring the halls at curfew. Hermione took the western and northern side of the school where as Draco took the eastern and southern sides. Draco was bored to death, yawning about every 5 feet he took. All he wanted to do was finish his round trip and hurry back to the common room for a sweet goodnight kiss from Hermione before he went off to bed.

In the corner of his eye a red light glowed, lingering Draco closer. As he stepped closer, the light grew brighter. Soon Draco was shielding his eyes from the glaring light. He pulled out his wand from his side pocket for protection as he tried to reach an area where the light's glare wasn't as intense.

"Who is over here?" he managed to say, as he squint his eyes for protection of the glare. Soon Draco got close enough to find the origin of the light. Two red eyes shined together processing the light's cruel shine. Draco walked closer up mystified until it spoke three simple but uneasy words.

"I'm watching you."

As soon as that was said, the light shrunk into nothing and disappeared completely. Draco walked back in a bit of a fast pace to the common room, where Hermione awaited his arrival on the sofa.