Chapter numero the eighth

Hermione was feeling tingly, like she had just gotten a static shock. She closed Draco's door and went back to her room, thoughts flying everywhere

I hate him I love him I hate him I love him…..

Flipping her door open, she strode over to her laptop, intending to e-mail her muggle best friend, Rachel. Rachel was better with these strange things than Hermione was. Flipping open her Dell, she signed on. Swiftly signing into her e-mail account, she saw that the inbox hosted about 41 messages, all from Rachel.

She took time and read some, and deleted the rest. Typing so fast it was a stroke of luck she didn't spontaneously combust, she described everything that happened, leaving out all the supernatural parts. Clicking "send", she sighed and stretched her hands. Now for some web-surfin'… she thought, grinning as she typed in her xanga address. Once on and logged in, she looked down at her comments. There were 86 e-props, 44 comments, most of which begged her to update. Rolling her eyes, she obliged, recounting all of the events that had happened, leaving out the bugmen and the school of magic bits.

Draco sipped his Earl Grey tea, wishing to stop all the thoughts pounding in his head. It was giving him a headache. He thought of how good it had felt, of how he wanted it to happen. Those thoughts were soon replaced by his ideals. She was a) a Mud-blood b) one of his worst enemies and c) soooo not his type. But….he shook his head to clear it, trying to get the thoughts and emotions straightened out. It hit him then, clearing his mind instantly. These ideals were the ideals of his father, not him. It was his choice, and whatever he chose there would be consequences. If he chose to pursue a relationship with Hermione, it would shock many of his friends, leaving him friendless. If he chose not to, however, feelings would stir inside him, until he couldn't bear it, and go insane or mutilate himself. Now, he felt, all he had to do was choose. Leaning his head back, he shut his eyes and thought long and hard.

A tentative knock on his door jerked him out of his thoughts, and he managed to spill the rest of the steaming hot tea on his pants.

"Oh for the bloody love of" regaining his composure, he called out, "JUST A MINUTE!" and ran to change his pants and put on a shirt. Throwing a pair of jeans and a studded belt on, he searched frantically for a shirt. Finding none of his casual shirts, he grabbed his school shirt and hastily buttoned it on. He winced at the clashing of the two.

Hermione paused, listening to a dull thud on her door. No, wait. It's too soft to be on my door…. And she got up, twirling her wand lazily between her fingers, to go look out her door. Opening it just a crack, she groaned.

Ron and Harry were waiting, wands at the ready, muttering about which jinxes they would put on Draco. There were also muggle canisters in their hands. Spray paint, she noticed. To her horror, the Head Boy's door opened. Draco stood there, wearing a white shirt, jeans and oh, my god…a studded belt. Surprise flitted across his features before he was hit with many different hexes, including Bat-Bogey and Jellylegs. Next, Ron and Harry performed the Petrificus Totalus spell on him and ran into his room, where the next second, the hiss of spray paint cans could be heard. Hermione should've wanted to join in the trashing of Draco's room, but now she felt an overwhelming urge to jinx Harry and Ron into next week. Controlling the urge, she dragged the pale-haired boy into her room, closing the door just as the two Gryffindors began to hurl furniture magically.

Quickly performing the counter-jinxes to every one of the hexes, Hermione swore under her breath as a knock came at her door.

"You HIDE!" she barked at Malfoy, who nodded meekly and scrambled into her bathroom. Shaking her hair out of her eyes and wiping the sweat off her lip (magic can exhaust you), opened her door. Ron and Harry stood, grinning like idiots. The overwhelming urge to slap and jinx the boys resurfaced, but she squashed it down and smiled.

"Hello, Harry, hey Ron."

"Hey Mione. Guess what we did!" Ron practically shouted. She inwardly rolled her eyes and asked what they did.

"WE TRASHED MALFOY'S ROOM!" they both shouted, jumping like two year olds.

"Alright, alright, don't wet yourselves…" she muttered, rage rising and subsiding.

"C'mon, 'Mione! Come see what we did!" Ron urged, a hungry look in his eyes.

"No, thank you. I think I want to finish Snapes essay" (a lie. She'd finished it on the day it was assigned)She turned and stiffly walked back into her room, slamming the door in the faces of the two boys.

"Draco, you can come out now." She said, rolling her eyes at the stupidity of boys.

Draco came out, trying to wrap his hand up (it started bleeding again), got tired, and magically healed it. He looked around, nodding at what he saw. It was a nice room.

"Hey." He croaked, trying to put bravado into his voice. And not succeeding.

"Look, Harry and Ron trashed your room, and you should tell the Headmaster." He just stared. Was Granger willing to rat out her friends?

"Uh, sure." He was still woozy form being hit with many hexes at once. He stumbled, and Hermione came over and grabbed his arm to steady him. A jolt of electricity zapped his arm where she held it. The choices he had came back to him in a rush. He grabbed her shoulder to steady himself, and found her eyes looking into his. He was so close….He tried to squash the impulse, and failed miserably. They kissed, and he said to himself, I have chosen.

It seemed like an eternity, and when they stopped, instead of making a sarcastic and pointed comment, Draco held her. They broke away, and she looked at him, a question in her eyes. He smiled, and bought his head to hers, and there they stayed for what seemed like years. Her hand found his, and glued itself to it.

As for anyone else, well, screw them. He had something he had longed for, and if they didn't like it, well they could go screw themselves. He was in love.

Sorry bout the wait. Life happened. So did school, and secrets, and break-ups, and I was just asked out and I've not exactly thought much about this story. Sorry :-P

It might seem a little sucky, but hey, we all have our moments, don't we?

G2G, I need to go to therapy.

-Wheatus