Author's Note: Thank you for all of your reviews! I'm glad you liked the
'pancake' bit, it just came to me when I was writing the story. Can you
believe that? Oh well... I'm also glad that you liked the whole thing with
Emil being betrothed and all that! For those who are wondering if
Hermione's going back to the future, well, I'm not giving anything away
yet. But if you're wondering how things will work out in the end, don't
worry... I got it all planned out! So just sit tight and read on!
Chapter 14: Relearning How to Live
A week or two had passed; Draco didn't have the presence of mind to count. All he knew was the days were endless when he was with Hermione. Oh sure, he didn't openly admit it, but it was true.
He looked down at his right hand, which she bandaged sometime ago. He recalled how he'd merely sat down on a hard chair and watched her as she went all about, fussing over his injury. She'd told him repeatedly never to hit stone walls again, even though she knew not of the reason why he hit a stone wall in the first place.
Hermione had cleaned the wound, dried it ever so carefully and bandaged it with a clean white cloth she'd appropriate as gauze. She was about to leave him there when he grabbed her hand, pulled her down to him and kissed her on the lips. And from what she gathered from her last kiss with Draco, his kisses were intoxicating... even more than intoxicating because it enveloped you almost to the point that you never wanted to pull away.
When they did pull away, Hermione blushed when she realized that she was sitting on his lap. After all, he did pull her to him. Standing up and not meeting his gaze, which earned her a half-smile from him, she quickly got the things she'd used and went off to the kitchens.
Draco snapped out of his trance when he saw a flash of forest green. He was sitting at the dining table that crisp January morning when he saw Hermione coming towards him in that green velvet gown. He stood up and nonchalantly pulled her chair out for her, as it became a habit for him.
"Good morning, Draco." Hermione greeted as she sat down. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. And a good morning to you as well." Draco replied, sitting down as well. "What brings you here this early? You don't usually wake up at this time."
"I'm glad you're keeping track of my waking up and sleeping, my lord." Hermione teased and Draco raised an eyebrow. "And to answer your question, it's because I wanted to get a head start on the day!" She said, smiling. Little did Draco know, Hermione was knee-deep in her planning for his birthday party.
"Very well." Draco said as Rose brought in the food and greeted the two of them. They first ate in companionable silence... when Hermione felt it was the right time to ask, she pounced on the occasion.
"Draco," She started, propping an elbow on the table and leaning towards him. He looked at her expectantly. "What are you doing today?"
"Nothing. It's too cold out for the men to train. Why are you asking?" Draco asked.
"Well..." Hermione stalled, trying to project her best sweet look at him. "Do you want to help me sort out your oh so lovely stuff in your storage room?"
"What needs sorting?" Draco asked, his brow furrowing.
"Oh lots of things... parchments, old armor, a few paintings." Hermione replied. "So, are you going to help me? The windows are boarded up and you can definitely help me with that..."
After thinking about it, Draco finally nodded and Hermione smiled at him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed happily.
And so, after breakfast, they both went up to the storage room and surveyed what needed to be fixed. Draco looked at the room as if he had never seen it before. There was still the dust and the cobwebs everywhere, but there was an amount of space to work in. Hermione looked at Draco and laughed at his expression.
"You look like you've never even seen this room before, Draco." Hermione teased.
"I haven't, to be honest with you." Draco replied. "When did you learn of this room?"
"When you went away... I had nothing to do at that time except to write." Hermione said. "How do you think I got all the tapestries for Christmas?"
"They were in here?" Draco asked, obviously impressed by her creativity. Hermione nodded and she went over to the window.
"Draco, you think you could remove this board so that we could see the room better? The candles are such as drag." Hermione asked, turning to him and pointing to the thin wooden board for emphasis. Draco nodded and went over to her. With one sharp tug, the board was off and a few snowflakes entered through the window, making Hermione smile.
"You're going to catch a cold." Draco commented, placing the board aside.
"No I'm not. It's warm in here..." Hermione said. Then without saying anything else, she went over to some of the wooden crates and boxes and rummaged through them.
Within a few hours, Hermione had sorted almost everything into neat piles. One was for throwing out, one for using sometime soon, one for decorating and one for keeping. Draco got up from where he had been sitting and stretched. He was definitely tired... and immensely hungry. Hermione was still busy with some tapestries that could still be used. It was amazing that Draco had all these beautiful, unused yards of cloth.
"Aren't you hungry, Hermione?" Draco asked, still stretching and was stifling a yawn.
"No, not really. You can go and eat if you want... I'm fine right here." Hermione replied, still busy with her sorting.
Now Draco was brought up never to leave a woman just to go and eat. He debated on her reply. Maybe she thought that she wasn't hungry, but in reality she was. "I can't leave you here, Hermione... It's not polite."
"Go and eat, Draco. I'm fine... I know that you're pretty tired and hungry and I was the one who dragged you to help in the first place, so just go and eat. I'll be fine here. I'll eat later." Hermione answered, not looking up from what she was doing.
Draco shook his head. Hermione could just be so stubborn at times... He looked at her, crouched down on some other thing she found fascinating and then it hit him. Smirking, he neared her and without warning, he grabbed her waist and pulled her to her feet. She let out a surprised gasp and when she was set down on her feet, she whirled around on him in anger.
"Draco Malfoy! What do you think you're doing?!" She demanded apprehensively, crossing her arms over her chest. "Is it not rude also when you simply pick up a lady just like that?"
"It is not when she'd starving herself with all this work." Draco replied coolly.
Hermione's eyes narrowed as she replied. "I'm not starving myself. I'm simply not hungry."
"I think you are... and I think it's time for you to take a little rest."
"And since when did I make it clear that you could choose what's best for me?" Hermione retorted.
"Since you came in here from the future." Draco replied, obviously not fazed by her spite. "You are in my castle, my lady."
Having nothing to say, Hermione merely muttered something unintelligible as she fumed.
"May I say something?" Draco asked mischievously.
"Go ahead." Hermione said, still fuming.
"There's something about you being angry that makes you fascinating to look at." Draco said, a small smile forming on his lips.
Hermione looked at him in utter disbelief. "And now you're being funny..."
"I'm trying to be funny." Draco offered. "To make you less angry at me."
"Well... whatever it is you're doing." Hermione started, taking a deep breath. "It's working." Then she looked at him in her lack of hope of getting the last word in this conversation and smiled.
"Good." Draco said, now fully smiling at her. Hermione groaned.
"You know, you can get anything you want by just smiling like that." She remarked.
"Remind then, to give you smiles more often..." He said. "Now, will you come and join me for lunch?"
Having no more of her defenses up, Hermione agreed and laughed in spite of herself. Draco took her hand in his and they walked out of the room, all things forgotten.
* * *
"Draco?" Hermione asked a few days later. The room they had been working on was now fully sorted and fixed up. Hermione had used some of the tapestries and appropriated them as a rug (after washing them of course). Draco had uncovered a fireplace and had fixed it up. The room was now being used as a sitting room by both of them. Hermione had even placed her desk on one side, using the room as a study and as a writing area because of the window's breathtaking view of a small meadow, which was covered in white snow.
The place was now brighter and warmer than it had ever been. Torches were placed on the stone wall, and a fire burned merrily in the fireplace. They spent a lot of their time in here now, having more privacy in here than the rooms downstairs.
"Aye?" Draco said, looking up from sharpening a sword he'd uncovered from one of the boxes. It was the sword he'd gained from winning one of the many battles he participated in during his younger days. He'd been in Spain during that time and with the money he'd gotten from warring, he'd had purchased a sword... but then forgot about it. He was sitting on the rug, his legs stretched out and he was leaning on a chair's legs. Hermione was not too far off, as she was sprawled out on her stomach and writing something on a piece of parchment.
"Tell me about your mother." Hermione said, looking up from what she was doing. Draco looked at her in confusion.
"What would you want to know about her?" He asked. Now was the test of his trust in Hermione. She asked a basic question about his family, meaning that she wanted to get to know him a little better. Yes, it was true. Hermione wanted to open him up and know what was really troubling him.
"Anything you want to tell me." Hermione replied. "I've heard from the others how she was beautiful and kind and caring..."
"She was." Draco agreed, thinking about the time during battles when all he thought about was getting back to her. She was all he cared about... ever since the death of his father...
"I was imagining how she looked like." Hermione mused out loud. "Having a name like Narcissa meant that she was beautiful... very beautiful."
"She looked like an angel... at least that's what my father called her." Draco replied. "I guess she did... she was kind and caring and free- spirited. She reminds me of you, Hermione." He blurted out, more shocked by what he said than she was.
"Really?" Hermione asked, smiling at him and pulling herself up into a sitting position.
"Aye. She would have liked you."
Hermione thought about that for a while. "What was it like with her in the castle?"
"She was lively and cheery. She took charge in most things..." Draco recalled wistfully. "I... I somehow took that for granted."
"How so?"
"I did not have the chance to tell her something before she died." Draco said sadly.
Hermione swallowed. "How did she die?"
"In her sleep. I came home from warring and found out that she had died a week before. That's why I became angry with women... because she was ill a long time before she died and the healer couldn't save her."
"Oh... the healer was a woman." Hermione clarified.
"Aye." Draco looked at Hermione and saw the understanding in her eyes. She didn't ask anymore questions after that. "Tell me more about your life in the future." He said, changing the topic.
"I was born into this rich family... but not as rich as you." Hermione said, smiling. "My parents loved each other from the first time they met. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. I had this older brother, Michael who's a doctor. I was a writer."
"I think you're still a writer." Draco said, gesturing to the parchment she had in her hands.
"Oh well... I guess so." Hermione smiled wistfully.
"Do you miss them?" Draco asked, he regretted asking because he didn't want to know the answer. But he felt the need to ask her.
"Yes."
"Do you want to go back to your time?" Draco asked, looking at her intently.
Now that was the million-dollar (or pound, in this case) question. Did she want to go back to her time? She thought about it. In her time, she would be back with her parents, being with them until they grew old and loving every minute spent with them. But then, the future also meant Ron.
Ron. She looked at her bare hands and wondered how he was taking the news of her disappearance. She knew that she didn't love him... long before Draco made a move. Long before she even came into Draco's world. But being with Draco and slipping off into his being made it extremely difficult for her to even think about Ron. Sure, she felt the sadness. But that was because she felt sad for him... She was sure that he truly loved her and she refused to reciprocate that kind of love.
Her thoughts drifted to Draco. She was attracted to him the first time she saw him, the first time she talked to him. But did that mean that she loved him? It was too soon for that... But he was warming up to her. He was smiling at her, talking about things he'd rarely discussed with other people, he was making her laugh and smile and making her feel vital to his survival every time she came close to him. His kisses were unlike anything she'd experienced before... and his soft, subtle touches were telling her that he was finally letting someone come close to him, starting to make him live again.
And if that didn't make her body melt, her heart pound, her brain swoon and her soul fly, she didn't know what could. She looked back at him and saw the apprehension in his face. He was frightened of what her answer would be.
"I don't know..." she answered finally. "I would want to make them worry less about me, after all I did disappear into thin air... But... I wouldn't want to leave you."
Draco looked slightly relieved but was still nervous. "You wouldn't want to leave me?" He asked in a soft voice.
"No..." Hermione said, shaking her head for emphasis.
"Why?"
She bit her lip. "Because you've shown me too much for me to give away."
"What have I shown you?" Draco asked.
"Oh nothing but parts of your being... merely parts of your heart." Hermione explained. "Coming from you, that's a huge honor." She said, smiling.
Draco placed the sword back in its sheath and set it aside. He reached out for Hermione and pulled her to him. She smiled up at him, letting herself be cradled in his arms. She rested her head on his chest.
"Thank you." Draco said finally, stroking her long hair. "I would want to tell you more about myself but..."
"Ssh..." Hermione interrupted, looking up at him and placing a finger on his lips. "I know. And you can tell me when you feel that it's time... I mean, I am staying, right?"
"Aye." Draco said, grasping her hand and kissing it lightly. Then, he pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the lips. He tentatively ran his tongue over her lips and she opened her mouth, letting him probe deeper. Her hand was still in his and he was tracing small circles on her palm, making each little circle burn. Her heart was beating wildly, she knew that Draco could feel it against his chest.
She responded to his kiss as well, pushing herself closer to him, relishing the feel of his hand on her lower back, supporting her. She felt the sureness in his fingertips, holding her gently but protectively, almost possessively. She was soon running her hand through his hair, feeling the softness of the blonde locks which were never bound.
After a few moments, the kiss ended when they both needed air. But Draco never let go of her and he didn't intend to. He kissed her forehead and let her sink into his arms. Hermione lay content and happy, being in the arms of the one man she was falling in love with.
She was brought to her senses, thinking about what she'd just admitted to herself. She was falling in love with him... with Draco Malfoy. And it wasn't brought up by his mind-altering kisses or the touches or the words he said at the right time and place. It was brought up by him, letting her into his life and relearning how to live, and possibly relearning how to love. Because of her.
She smiled before drifting off to sweet slumber in his arms... not knowing if he was falling in love as well, but knowing that he was close to getting there.
And from the way Draco held her, the vow he promised himself when he first kissed her, the feeling in his heart as she slept on his chest... he was closer to getting there than Hermione guessed.
Chapter 14: Relearning How to Live
A week or two had passed; Draco didn't have the presence of mind to count. All he knew was the days were endless when he was with Hermione. Oh sure, he didn't openly admit it, but it was true.
He looked down at his right hand, which she bandaged sometime ago. He recalled how he'd merely sat down on a hard chair and watched her as she went all about, fussing over his injury. She'd told him repeatedly never to hit stone walls again, even though she knew not of the reason why he hit a stone wall in the first place.
Hermione had cleaned the wound, dried it ever so carefully and bandaged it with a clean white cloth she'd appropriate as gauze. She was about to leave him there when he grabbed her hand, pulled her down to him and kissed her on the lips. And from what she gathered from her last kiss with Draco, his kisses were intoxicating... even more than intoxicating because it enveloped you almost to the point that you never wanted to pull away.
When they did pull away, Hermione blushed when she realized that she was sitting on his lap. After all, he did pull her to him. Standing up and not meeting his gaze, which earned her a half-smile from him, she quickly got the things she'd used and went off to the kitchens.
Draco snapped out of his trance when he saw a flash of forest green. He was sitting at the dining table that crisp January morning when he saw Hermione coming towards him in that green velvet gown. He stood up and nonchalantly pulled her chair out for her, as it became a habit for him.
"Good morning, Draco." Hermione greeted as she sat down. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. And a good morning to you as well." Draco replied, sitting down as well. "What brings you here this early? You don't usually wake up at this time."
"I'm glad you're keeping track of my waking up and sleeping, my lord." Hermione teased and Draco raised an eyebrow. "And to answer your question, it's because I wanted to get a head start on the day!" She said, smiling. Little did Draco know, Hermione was knee-deep in her planning for his birthday party.
"Very well." Draco said as Rose brought in the food and greeted the two of them. They first ate in companionable silence... when Hermione felt it was the right time to ask, she pounced on the occasion.
"Draco," She started, propping an elbow on the table and leaning towards him. He looked at her expectantly. "What are you doing today?"
"Nothing. It's too cold out for the men to train. Why are you asking?" Draco asked.
"Well..." Hermione stalled, trying to project her best sweet look at him. "Do you want to help me sort out your oh so lovely stuff in your storage room?"
"What needs sorting?" Draco asked, his brow furrowing.
"Oh lots of things... parchments, old armor, a few paintings." Hermione replied. "So, are you going to help me? The windows are boarded up and you can definitely help me with that..."
After thinking about it, Draco finally nodded and Hermione smiled at him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed happily.
And so, after breakfast, they both went up to the storage room and surveyed what needed to be fixed. Draco looked at the room as if he had never seen it before. There was still the dust and the cobwebs everywhere, but there was an amount of space to work in. Hermione looked at Draco and laughed at his expression.
"You look like you've never even seen this room before, Draco." Hermione teased.
"I haven't, to be honest with you." Draco replied. "When did you learn of this room?"
"When you went away... I had nothing to do at that time except to write." Hermione said. "How do you think I got all the tapestries for Christmas?"
"They were in here?" Draco asked, obviously impressed by her creativity. Hermione nodded and she went over to the window.
"Draco, you think you could remove this board so that we could see the room better? The candles are such as drag." Hermione asked, turning to him and pointing to the thin wooden board for emphasis. Draco nodded and went over to her. With one sharp tug, the board was off and a few snowflakes entered through the window, making Hermione smile.
"You're going to catch a cold." Draco commented, placing the board aside.
"No I'm not. It's warm in here..." Hermione said. Then without saying anything else, she went over to some of the wooden crates and boxes and rummaged through them.
Within a few hours, Hermione had sorted almost everything into neat piles. One was for throwing out, one for using sometime soon, one for decorating and one for keeping. Draco got up from where he had been sitting and stretched. He was definitely tired... and immensely hungry. Hermione was still busy with some tapestries that could still be used. It was amazing that Draco had all these beautiful, unused yards of cloth.
"Aren't you hungry, Hermione?" Draco asked, still stretching and was stifling a yawn.
"No, not really. You can go and eat if you want... I'm fine right here." Hermione replied, still busy with her sorting.
Now Draco was brought up never to leave a woman just to go and eat. He debated on her reply. Maybe she thought that she wasn't hungry, but in reality she was. "I can't leave you here, Hermione... It's not polite."
"Go and eat, Draco. I'm fine... I know that you're pretty tired and hungry and I was the one who dragged you to help in the first place, so just go and eat. I'll be fine here. I'll eat later." Hermione answered, not looking up from what she was doing.
Draco shook his head. Hermione could just be so stubborn at times... He looked at her, crouched down on some other thing she found fascinating and then it hit him. Smirking, he neared her and without warning, he grabbed her waist and pulled her to her feet. She let out a surprised gasp and when she was set down on her feet, she whirled around on him in anger.
"Draco Malfoy! What do you think you're doing?!" She demanded apprehensively, crossing her arms over her chest. "Is it not rude also when you simply pick up a lady just like that?"
"It is not when she'd starving herself with all this work." Draco replied coolly.
Hermione's eyes narrowed as she replied. "I'm not starving myself. I'm simply not hungry."
"I think you are... and I think it's time for you to take a little rest."
"And since when did I make it clear that you could choose what's best for me?" Hermione retorted.
"Since you came in here from the future." Draco replied, obviously not fazed by her spite. "You are in my castle, my lady."
Having nothing to say, Hermione merely muttered something unintelligible as she fumed.
"May I say something?" Draco asked mischievously.
"Go ahead." Hermione said, still fuming.
"There's something about you being angry that makes you fascinating to look at." Draco said, a small smile forming on his lips.
Hermione looked at him in utter disbelief. "And now you're being funny..."
"I'm trying to be funny." Draco offered. "To make you less angry at me."
"Well... whatever it is you're doing." Hermione started, taking a deep breath. "It's working." Then she looked at him in her lack of hope of getting the last word in this conversation and smiled.
"Good." Draco said, now fully smiling at her. Hermione groaned.
"You know, you can get anything you want by just smiling like that." She remarked.
"Remind then, to give you smiles more often..." He said. "Now, will you come and join me for lunch?"
Having no more of her defenses up, Hermione agreed and laughed in spite of herself. Draco took her hand in his and they walked out of the room, all things forgotten.
* * *
"Draco?" Hermione asked a few days later. The room they had been working on was now fully sorted and fixed up. Hermione had used some of the tapestries and appropriated them as a rug (after washing them of course). Draco had uncovered a fireplace and had fixed it up. The room was now being used as a sitting room by both of them. Hermione had even placed her desk on one side, using the room as a study and as a writing area because of the window's breathtaking view of a small meadow, which was covered in white snow.
The place was now brighter and warmer than it had ever been. Torches were placed on the stone wall, and a fire burned merrily in the fireplace. They spent a lot of their time in here now, having more privacy in here than the rooms downstairs.
"Aye?" Draco said, looking up from sharpening a sword he'd uncovered from one of the boxes. It was the sword he'd gained from winning one of the many battles he participated in during his younger days. He'd been in Spain during that time and with the money he'd gotten from warring, he'd had purchased a sword... but then forgot about it. He was sitting on the rug, his legs stretched out and he was leaning on a chair's legs. Hermione was not too far off, as she was sprawled out on her stomach and writing something on a piece of parchment.
"Tell me about your mother." Hermione said, looking up from what she was doing. Draco looked at her in confusion.
"What would you want to know about her?" He asked. Now was the test of his trust in Hermione. She asked a basic question about his family, meaning that she wanted to get to know him a little better. Yes, it was true. Hermione wanted to open him up and know what was really troubling him.
"Anything you want to tell me." Hermione replied. "I've heard from the others how she was beautiful and kind and caring..."
"She was." Draco agreed, thinking about the time during battles when all he thought about was getting back to her. She was all he cared about... ever since the death of his father...
"I was imagining how she looked like." Hermione mused out loud. "Having a name like Narcissa meant that she was beautiful... very beautiful."
"She looked like an angel... at least that's what my father called her." Draco replied. "I guess she did... she was kind and caring and free- spirited. She reminds me of you, Hermione." He blurted out, more shocked by what he said than she was.
"Really?" Hermione asked, smiling at him and pulling herself up into a sitting position.
"Aye. She would have liked you."
Hermione thought about that for a while. "What was it like with her in the castle?"
"She was lively and cheery. She took charge in most things..." Draco recalled wistfully. "I... I somehow took that for granted."
"How so?"
"I did not have the chance to tell her something before she died." Draco said sadly.
Hermione swallowed. "How did she die?"
"In her sleep. I came home from warring and found out that she had died a week before. That's why I became angry with women... because she was ill a long time before she died and the healer couldn't save her."
"Oh... the healer was a woman." Hermione clarified.
"Aye." Draco looked at Hermione and saw the understanding in her eyes. She didn't ask anymore questions after that. "Tell me more about your life in the future." He said, changing the topic.
"I was born into this rich family... but not as rich as you." Hermione said, smiling. "My parents loved each other from the first time they met. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. I had this older brother, Michael who's a doctor. I was a writer."
"I think you're still a writer." Draco said, gesturing to the parchment she had in her hands.
"Oh well... I guess so." Hermione smiled wistfully.
"Do you miss them?" Draco asked, he regretted asking because he didn't want to know the answer. But he felt the need to ask her.
"Yes."
"Do you want to go back to your time?" Draco asked, looking at her intently.
Now that was the million-dollar (or pound, in this case) question. Did she want to go back to her time? She thought about it. In her time, she would be back with her parents, being with them until they grew old and loving every minute spent with them. But then, the future also meant Ron.
Ron. She looked at her bare hands and wondered how he was taking the news of her disappearance. She knew that she didn't love him... long before Draco made a move. Long before she even came into Draco's world. But being with Draco and slipping off into his being made it extremely difficult for her to even think about Ron. Sure, she felt the sadness. But that was because she felt sad for him... She was sure that he truly loved her and she refused to reciprocate that kind of love.
Her thoughts drifted to Draco. She was attracted to him the first time she saw him, the first time she talked to him. But did that mean that she loved him? It was too soon for that... But he was warming up to her. He was smiling at her, talking about things he'd rarely discussed with other people, he was making her laugh and smile and making her feel vital to his survival every time she came close to him. His kisses were unlike anything she'd experienced before... and his soft, subtle touches were telling her that he was finally letting someone come close to him, starting to make him live again.
And if that didn't make her body melt, her heart pound, her brain swoon and her soul fly, she didn't know what could. She looked back at him and saw the apprehension in his face. He was frightened of what her answer would be.
"I don't know..." she answered finally. "I would want to make them worry less about me, after all I did disappear into thin air... But... I wouldn't want to leave you."
Draco looked slightly relieved but was still nervous. "You wouldn't want to leave me?" He asked in a soft voice.
"No..." Hermione said, shaking her head for emphasis.
"Why?"
She bit her lip. "Because you've shown me too much for me to give away."
"What have I shown you?" Draco asked.
"Oh nothing but parts of your being... merely parts of your heart." Hermione explained. "Coming from you, that's a huge honor." She said, smiling.
Draco placed the sword back in its sheath and set it aside. He reached out for Hermione and pulled her to him. She smiled up at him, letting herself be cradled in his arms. She rested her head on his chest.
"Thank you." Draco said finally, stroking her long hair. "I would want to tell you more about myself but..."
"Ssh..." Hermione interrupted, looking up at him and placing a finger on his lips. "I know. And you can tell me when you feel that it's time... I mean, I am staying, right?"
"Aye." Draco said, grasping her hand and kissing it lightly. Then, he pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the lips. He tentatively ran his tongue over her lips and she opened her mouth, letting him probe deeper. Her hand was still in his and he was tracing small circles on her palm, making each little circle burn. Her heart was beating wildly, she knew that Draco could feel it against his chest.
She responded to his kiss as well, pushing herself closer to him, relishing the feel of his hand on her lower back, supporting her. She felt the sureness in his fingertips, holding her gently but protectively, almost possessively. She was soon running her hand through his hair, feeling the softness of the blonde locks which were never bound.
After a few moments, the kiss ended when they both needed air. But Draco never let go of her and he didn't intend to. He kissed her forehead and let her sink into his arms. Hermione lay content and happy, being in the arms of the one man she was falling in love with.
She was brought to her senses, thinking about what she'd just admitted to herself. She was falling in love with him... with Draco Malfoy. And it wasn't brought up by his mind-altering kisses or the touches or the words he said at the right time and place. It was brought up by him, letting her into his life and relearning how to live, and possibly relearning how to love. Because of her.
She smiled before drifting off to sweet slumber in his arms... not knowing if he was falling in love as well, but knowing that he was close to getting there.
And from the way Draco held her, the vow he promised himself when he first kissed her, the feeling in his heart as she slept on his chest... he was closer to getting there than Hermione guessed.