Hello... I'm rather at a loss for words right now. Not incredibly proud of this chapter, but I figured I'd better get somethinmg up. I suppose that's what happens when you continually stop writing in the middle of tangents. This is NOT the end, as it would be a rather stupid way to end a story, and since I still want to delve slightly into the summer, but it's coming close.
If any of you have a minute, I'd really love to hear your opinions on my newest little plotline, Fidelity's Fleece. It's a post-Hogwarts HGDM fic, of course, where Draco follows Hermione about, trying to convince her to join the dark side once again. Muchos history between the pair. With.. various details woven in that affect her decision.
Anyway, onto chapter 19! I own nothing, please don't mistake me for JK. Enjoy, review, whatever you wish for me to say.
From that evening onwards, it was like the shade that had been obscuring Hermione's vision had been lifted. The next morning she rose early and began planning her study schedules, like any other year. And true to Draco's expectations, she was simply mortified about her behaviour.
He had watched her, bemused, until NEWTs had finally approached them. And of course, when the time actually came down to it, she excelled in every subject. Hermione had snatched the highest marks in every class, except for potions. Her pride was damaged slightly, but she was still proud for Draco, even though he reminded her almost constantly.
Ever since the day after NEWT results had come in, Hermione was receiving a mad amount of owls daily, recruitments from various institutions, organizations and wizard colleges. Sadly, she put every bit of mail in a stack at the bottom of her trunk, which was all but packed.
Hermione was incredulous at the pace seventh year had taken, running off at top speed, and leaving her behind to get caught up. It was her second to last day at Hogwarts, and the graduation ceremony would be taking place that evening, with the Hogwarts Express leaving the next afternoon.
Along with her awaited return to reality, she had slowly come to accept that Harry wouldn't be around for his graduation, but at the mention of leaving the school, Hermione felt her stomach knot up something awful. It was still immensely painful for her to talk about the loss, but it helped at least slightly that Ron had taken up noticing her once more. He had even stopped her once in the hallways, shortly after exam results were out, to tell her that "Harry would have been proud."
She had immediately teared up and grinned at him, throwing her arms around him in a somewhat awkward hug.
As the remaining hours of her time at Hogwarts as a student trickled away, Hermione began to feel herself fill with nerves. She was sitting quietly in the common room, deep in thought, until the door swung open and Draco and Blaise came in, throwing themselves on the couch beside her.
"What are you doing up here?" Draco asked, leaning in. "The party's downstairs." He smirked, watching Blaise pick up a random book on the side table.
"Just thinking," she said quietly. "I don't want to leave here." She gave a sad look around the room.
"Hermione, Hogwarts was only the beginning of everything," he whispered, staring intensely at her. "You'll never really be leaving."
"What if I can never come back?" she asked absently.
"We've talked about this already, and you know there's no way I'm going to lose you to a Muggle life. If they force you to stay, just owl me or Blaise and we'll have you out of there right away," he muttered earnestly. She smiled faintly, nodding. He grinned back wickedly, pointing his wand discreetly at Blaise and whispering a curse.
Blaise's perfectly spiked hair was suddenly bright blue, and he seemed to take no notice at all. Hermione started to giggle uncontrollably, and Draco pressed his lips firmly to hers to shut her up.
"Honestly, can you two not keep that in private?" Blaise asked, mocking disgust. Draco pulled away, grinning conspiratorially at her.
"Fine Blaise, you win," Draco said lightly, standing up away from Hermione, as if to prove his best friend's victory, hands raised in defeat. Hermione stood to leave and Blaise tossed himself over the back of the couch.
"Took him two hours to do his hair for tonight," Draco muttered in Hermione's ear once they had started walking.
'Two hours?' Hermione mouthed in disbelief. Draco smirked, nodding. Hermione glanced at her friend and burst out laughing once more. Blaise stubbornly ignored the pair until they reached the great hall. The rest of the seventh years were mingling around, an occasional early bird parent mixed in. Hermione wandered off on her own, watching her friends as they celebrated their graduation.
Blaise caught up to her a few minutes after, draping an arm loosely over her shoulders.
"Dear Hermione," he muttered in her ear and she slanted her head up to look into his malicious eyes. "Just what colour is my hair right now?"
"It's a rather noticeable shade of blue," she admitted, grinning.
He sighed, muttering the counter-spell so his hair was its usual colour once more.
"Malfoy thinks he's quite the comedian, doesn't he?" Blaise asked conversationally, dragging her around the great hall.
"He seems to think that, yes," Hermione replied. Blaise stopped, standing up higher to look across the crowds. He smirked at a particular blond head, sending a hex across the room. Draco stopped talking as his hair suddenly transformed into a spiked mohawk. He lifted a hand cautiously, and his eyes widened in shock as he felt his new hairstyle.
Several Ravenclaws walked past, stopping to watch as the blond Slytherin stormed over to the other, revenge evident in his expression.
"Draco, you look simply mutinous," Blaise said mockingly. "It was merely my vengeance to you. The tables are even."
Draco laughed menacingly, as Blaise and Hermione shared a glance. The blond raised his wand into dueling position, staring Blaise in the eye, as he whispered a spell loud enough for Blaise to hear it. Blaise's eyes shot open in horror, as Hermione looked mildly bewildered. Suddenly Blaise's well-groomed hair undid itself, two hours of work vanished, and other patches of hair simply fell out.
"You bloody jackass," Blaise muttered, glaring at Draco. Hermione ducked out away from Blaise as the spat seemed not to end. Blaise quickly put his hair back to normal, pointing his wand back at Draco. "You know not to fucking mess with the hair, Malfoy."
Draco grinned at his outraged friend, quickly shooting a freezing spell at him, walking closer.
"I know how jealous you are, but there's no need for unauthorized contact of what isn't yours, Blaise," Draco said quietly, so no one else heard. "Including Hermione." He unfroze Blaise, who smirked, and Draco laughed in genuine humour, sneaking an arm around Hermione's waist as he took her through the crowd with him.
Hermione could taste the buzz of fresh gossip as she laughed out loud, leaning into Draco. It wasn't known around the school that anything existed between the two other than friendship. His latest actions had basically screamed out to the school that there was more, and Hermione suddenly found herself overwhelmed by euphoria. She turned around to see a horde of girls questioning Blaise on the couple, others watching them closely.
"I think they'd be disappointed if we walked away, Draco," Hermione suggested innocently, and he smirked.
"What are you saying, Hermione," he asked quietly, and she grinned up at him, eyes sparkling. He waited no longer for a response, before swiftly kissing her, a kiss full of passion that left no one in the hall with doubt. "Come with me," he breathed, grabbing her hand and pulling her outside to the grounds.
He took a seat by the lake, watching as the sun began to set, leaving the lake to glow a bright orange. Hermione followed suit, sitting cross-legged next to him.
"Hermione," he drawled, looking thoughtful. "I know I'd be lying if I said I wasn't upset about having to leave you alone for a part of the summer. But I meant what I said about owling if anything comes up." He glanced over at her, sighing. "I'm not going back to the Manor."
Hermione lifted her head to meet his eyes. "You aren't?"
"I can't go back there, after... all that's happened this year. I'm going to be renting a flat in wizarding London, and I'll owl you as soon as I get the address. I'm hoping that," he broke off, gazing into the water. Hermione dug into her brain to recognize his expression and realized with a jolt that he was nervous. Draco Malfoy, who had never really shown nerves in the seven years she had known him.
"I want you to come visit me. And also, to stay with me for a part of the summer if you can manage." His silver eyes shone into hers once more, before he looked away. "If you want to, that is. I know we lived together all year, but it wouldn't really be the same. Merlin, this all seems so final doesn't it?" he asked, and she nodded, deep in thought.
"Have you decided what you're going to do?" she asked, finding her mouth suddenly dry. He shrugged.
"I don't want to rush into anything, especially fresh out of school. I've got a list of possiblities," he said quietly. A slightly uncomfortable silence fell over them, and Draco glanced over at her.
"What's on your mind?" he muttered, looking at her inquisitively.
"Nothing, really. It's just... I'm no good at standing up to my family. What if they expect me to stay? I don't want to cut myself off from them," she said, voice wavering.
"If I were you, I'd worry about that if the time came. Either way, I'd appreciate some kind of contact, to know how you were getting on," he said earnestly, and she gave him a tiny smile.
"I'll probably end up owling you seven or eight times a day, and you'll get annoyed and tell me not to contact you anymore," she joked and he laughed.
His eyes suddenly went serious, and he turned back to face the lake.
"I'm sure this means hardly anything to you, but... I've never asked anyone this. I realize that things between us haven't been exactly official, and I'd love if I were able to call you my girlfriend," he glanced at her hopefully.
"Oh," she said softly, not entirely sure what she was expecting. "I'd love that as well, Draco," she said, smiling genuinely at him. He grinned back, and Hermione was struck by how attractive he really was, especially with a sincere smile upon his sharp features. Though it was still rare for him to open up, Hermione was incredulous at the amount he had changed that year, and overwhelmed that he had chose to include her in it.
Her head jerked up as she heard the noise level coming from the castle lessen, along with one prominent voice.
"We should get inside," she said quietly, as he glanced back at the castle in surprise.
"Yeah," he answered, watching her closely. "Still worried?"
"Terrified," she replied, not meeting his gaze.
"Not much to be worried about, really," he said conversationally, eyes glowing. "It's only life, after all."
By the time dinner was served, Hermione was more than gracious to be doing something. She never imagined her graduation from Hogwarts to be so... boring. After about the thirtieth speech, and as the last person received their diploma– Blaise, with an entirely normal appearance– Hermione was ready for it to be over.
The Head Boy and Girl were to eat their dinner at the table with the staff, and Hermione shot Draco a quick grin of relief as the ceremony ended. He rolled his eyes back in reply and Hermione hastily coughed over her laugh. Draco smirked as he took a rather seductive bite of his potatoes, and his eyes widened slightly as Hermione's heel met his foot.
She took a nervous glance down the table, wincing as she met Snape's gaze, inwardly smiling at his puzzled expression. She laughed out loud as Draco tried to step on her own foot, noticing Snape's eyebrows vanish into his hair as he looked away.
Trying to act neutral, Hermione set down her fork and pointed at something by the doors. As Draco turned his head to look, she sent an elbow hard into his ribs, eyes aglow as he bent over slightly, gasping in pain.
"You win," he breathed in surrender. "Granger, you'd have made a bloody good Slytherin."
"I suppose I can take that as a compliment, coming from you, Malfoy," she replied happily, taking a bite of her steak.
"A compliment of the highest degree," he admitted, openly aiming a spoonful of salad at Hermione's hair.
"I've no idea what you're about to do, Malfoy," she said blandly, eyeing the salad carefully.
"Mr. Malfoy, put your food down," Professor McGonagall hissed sharply, and Draco begrudgingly set the lettuce back on his plate.
Feeling as if she wanted the last hit in their competition, Hermione childishly stuck her tongue out at Draco.
"I'll get you back later, don't worry," he assured her softly, grinning lightly at his plate.
"Can't wait," she replied sarcastically.
"I wouldn't be able to either," he said wholeheartedly, running a hand along her thigh and smirking at her intake of breath, still not meeting her eyes.
"Stop it," she gasped, glaring at his self-assured smirk.
"And if I don't?" he jeered, allowing his fingers to trail over her covered flesh.
"Maybe I won't allow you to get me back later," she suggested in a low voice, and he reluctantly took away his hand.
"You're no fun," he informed her, returning to his meal, as if nothing had happened.
"Draco, we're surrounded by professors, for Merlin's sake," she cried. "Don't tell me that honestly turns you on."
"You'd be surprised at what turns me on," he said quietly, so that even Hermione had to strain to hear, and she merely shook her head, grinning.
Hermione ate the remainder of her dinner in silence, ignoring Draco's glances, and unwillingly falling deep into thought. She was jerked from her trance by Blaise, when he caught up to her as she drifted her way to the Head's common room afterwards.
"Can I talk to you?" he asked as she blinked, startled.
"Of course, Blaise. What about?" she asked, eyes shining with expectation.
"It's complicated," he replied shortly. "I'm not entirely sure myself."
Hermione glanced at him expectantly, confused when he didn't continue.
"I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong," she said softly, grinning. Her smile quickly faded into a frown as she received no reaction.
"I just... I guess I wanted to thank you," Blaise began cautiously.
"For what?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
"For everything. Not just about the war; for being unable to prejudice against me, and for giving me an actual shot this year." His dark eyes were honest.
"When I approached you on the train, the whole idea was to make a statement, and prove a type of rebellion. I didn't care who I was fighting with, only who I was fighting against," he continued, coldly. "I never expected you to be so open."
"Blaise, I–" Hermione began in reply, but he cut her off.
"The more I think about this, the more something is ingrained into my mind. For the past seven years we've been surrounded by the pressures of living in the magic world, even more so since fourth year. It's been drilled repeatedly into our brains that when it comes to war, people win and people lose."
"Come inside," Hermione said quietly once they reached the Heads dormitory. She sat on the couch, though he didn't join her. Instead he stayed standing, watching her.
"They lied to us," Blaise said quietly, as if in defeat, and he sat next to Hermione. "It was all lies. No one bloody wins a war, do they?"
"No, I can't imagine they do," Hermione replied softly, intrigued by Blaise's words.
"There was no clear outcome. Both sides lost valuable members, no one gained anything."
"You're right, Blaise," Hermione broke in. "I can't recall a single person smiling at the post-war banquet."
"And now we're all about to leave this place for good, and this war will be our last memory. SO when we think of Hogwarts, we'll think of pain and hatred," he admitted darkly.
Hermione frowned, remaining silent until the portrait opened and Draco sat down next to the fire, observing the quiet pair with raised eyebrows.
"Are you two having a silent contest or something?" he asked, confused.
"I was just leaving," Blaise muttered. "I'll catch up on the train tomorrow." Hermione gave him a slightly sympathetic smile as he left, and turned to Draco.
"Last night in the commons of luxury?" she asked, lips quirked into a suggestive grin. He shot her an innocent look.
"Granger, your innuendo puzzles me. Surely you weren't intending anything by that statement," he muttered, pulling her close to him, flicking his tongue into her ear.
"Of course not, Malfoy," she whispered, leaning over to kiss him slowly, one hand buried in his smooth hair. He slid a hand up her thigh, maneuvering her body so that she was straddling him, and he intensified the kiss. The heat from his close contact encouraged Hermione to become bolder in her actions, as she struggled to unbutton his shirt.
Catching on, Draco pulled her up the stairs, leaning in to her ear, muttering, "I hope you didn't plan on sleeping tonight."