It was the last day of the Easter break, and for the first time throughout the holidays it was raining. When Draco and his parents first arranged to visit The Dark Lord, he and Hermione had planned to spend the afternoon relaxing in the garden. Narcissa and Leah had already made plans to go out shopping, while Lucius and Voldemort settled themselves in The Dark Lord's study as they discussed possible ways to affect a breakout from Azkaban, while also discussing their plans to gain more power with the Ministry which would ultimately end with them overthrowing Fudge and appointing one of Voldemort's followers as Minister for Magic.
With their option of going outside removed, Hermione and Draco had settled in Hermione's room. For a while they were quite content to just lie on Hermione's bed and chat about their upcoming last term at Hogwarts. However, their teenage hormones began to make themselves known, and before Draco had even been at Hermione's house for an hour the pair were indulging in a passionate make out session.
Lying side by side on Hermione's bed, wandering hands began to creep into the young couple's activities. Hermione's hand had crept under Draco's t-shirt, while his hand had done the same with her. Gently sliding his hand up Hermione's slender stomach, Draco reached her bra covered chest. Hermione let out a small whimper as Draco's hand closed over one of her breasts, and she pressed herself nearer to her boyfriend, whimpering even more when she felt the hard ridge of his erection against her thigh.
"Do you want me to stop?" Draco muttered, briefly breaking the kiss.
"No," Hermione replied breathlessly, as she pulled Draco back into another heated kiss.
Not one to miss out on the opportunity to get a good feel of his girlfriend, Draco's hand continued its exploration under Hermione's top. However, as much as he wanted to touch her actual flesh, he kept his hand on top of her lacy bra. It was clear to him that Hermione wasn't ready to take things much further, and he wasn't going to do anything that would make her uncomfortable. They had all the time in the world to expand on their relationship and discover the physical aspect of it when they were both completely ready.
Ten minutes later, both Draco and Hermione were a panting mess as they tore themselves away from each other. It would have been very easy for them to carry on and do something they weren't ready for, but they both knew it was neither the time nor the place to be delving into sexual activity.
"We'll have to do this again sometime," Hermione said with a shy smile. "Maybe next time we can even go a bit further."
"There's no rush you know, Hermione," Draco reassured his girlfriend. "We can move as fast or as slow as you want."
Hermione nodded, appreciating Draco's understanding. There was a big part of her dying to take the next step with Draco, but she had to keep reminding herself they were only just getting to know one another. They'd only been dating for a few months, and before that their friendship had been a new part of her life.
"Thank you for your understanding," Hermione said, leaning back over and giving Draco a brief kiss.
"I'd be a complete arsehole if I didn't understand," Draco replied. "Because as much as I want to take things further, we both have to be ready. I wouldn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with."
"I'm getting more comfortable by the day," Hermione said, shooting Draco a grin filled with wicked promise.
"I'm pleased," Draco said with a grin of his own. Connecting his lips with Hermione's once more, he then flopped back on her bed and took a few calming breaths to get his mind away from all the things they could be doing.
Lying watching him, Hermione felt a pang of guilt for leading him on and not doing anything to help alleviate his arousal. Although she was in the same state, albeit less obvious, but she wasn't ready to take things further. For the time being Draco would just have to take care of himself until she was ready to do it for him. Something she suspected she would be ready to do before the end of term.
"So what now?" Draco asked, turning his head around to look at Hermione.
"What do you want to do?" Hermione asked. "It's still raining so we can't go outside. Although, to be honest I'm quite comfortable here."
"We can just stay here," Draco said, taking hold of Hermione's hand and pulling her closer to him.
Settling her head on Draco's chest, Hermione snuggled up next to her boyfriend as his hand absent-mindedly ran through her curls. Satisfied just to lie on Hermione's bed the couple chatted about school and what Hermione's father was up to. Both of them were excited to reach the end of the year and see what Voldemort had planned. One thing was for sure, it wasn't going to be dull now he was ready to stop beating around the bush and take the fight to the Order. They just hoped that when the time came, they would have a role to play and weren't just sitting on the side-lines.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Being back at school meant it was time for Hermione to dive into her revision for her O.W.L.S. While she was confident she knew what she was doing in every subject, she was still a bit wary about Defence against the Dark Arts. All year she'd been getting the lowest marks she'd ever received, and even though she knew it was only because Shackelbolt hated her, it still had her doubting herself. What if she wasn't good enough to get the grades she thought she was capable of? What if part of her good grades over the last four years had been a result of everyone thinking she was a perfect little Gryffindor?
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Draco scoffed when Hermione confided in him about her worries.
"Thanks for your support," Hermione muttered.
"Come on Hermione, you don't really believe that," Draco protested. "You know you're smart. You weren't getting good grades because of who people thought you were."
"How do you know?" Hermione questioned. "Just look at Shackelbolt and how he's treating me. He's grading me because of who I am. What if that was going on the previous four years? What if I was getting higher grades because I was supposedly best friends with Harry Potter?"
"If that was the case Potty and his pet Weasel would be top of the class, wouldn't they?" Draco pointed out. "And are your marks suffering in any other subject?"
"No, just Defence," Hermione admitted.
"So it's Shackelbolt who's an arsehole," Draco said reassuringly. "Even McGonagall isn't marking you down. Granted, she might not ask you to answer as many questions and it's clear she has a problem with you, but she's not letting that affect her marking of your work. Besides, if that's how it worked, you would have had rubbish marks in Potions for the last four years."
"I guess I'm just being neurotic," Hermione said sheepishly. "Sorry."
"No need to be sorry," Draco replied with a shrug as he pulled Hermione into his arms. "It's part of your charm."
"Being neurotic isn't charming, its nuts," Hermione snorted. "I just need to relax and not think about these bloody exams for a while. I can pass them, I know I can, I just need to stop worrying about things I can't control."
"Too right," Draco agreed. "It's just Shackelbolt putting these crazy ideas into your head. You'll pass your exams with flying colours, and with any luck his days of teaching are numbered anyway. Once your father's in control we won't have to put up with pathetic losers like him. You never know, he might even get Potter and Weasley thrown out of school."
"I think he wants to do more than kick Harry out of school," Hermione replied with a chuckle. "As long as Harry's alive, he's a threat, just like Dumbledore. I think my father needs to take them both out."
"And are you okay with that?" Draco checked.
He'd never quite managed to get a handle on how Hermione felt about Harry and Ron as her attitude towards them varied depending on how they treated her. When it was first revealed she was Voldemort's daughter, she seemed hostile towards them, but by the time they'd returned to school she'd thawed towards them. For weeks she only acknowledged them when they acknowledged her first, and she didn't seem to really hate them until they really started to try and wind her up. Then came the fuss with the poisoning, and since then she hadn't had a good word to say about either of her former friends.
"I always knew it was going to happen," Hermione replied. "But I guess they've made it easier with how they've been these last few months. I would have found it harder if they'd just backed off and left me alone, but they kept taunting me and then they tried to poison me. Quite frankly, I couldn't care less what happens to Harry, Ron or anyone else associated with the so called light. The sooner they're gone, the better it will be for all of us."
"You still think they were involved in your poisoning?" Draco asked.
"Don't you?"
"Definitely," Draco agreed with a nod. "They might not have done it themselves, but I'd bet every galleon in my Gringotts vault that they know who was behind it. I wouldn't even be surprised if they'd even helped in some way. Luckily for us, they failed."
"And what if they try again?" Hermione asked quietly and Draco could see she was genuinely worried about the prospect.
Cupping Hermione's face in his hands, he briefly brushed his lips over hers. "No-one is going to hurt you, Hermione. I won't let them. You're perfectly safe. Now stop worrying about such things and let's go to dinner. What you need is a nice relaxing evening, with no talk of exams or Gryffindors."
"That does sound like a good idea," Hermione agreed as she let Draco lead her from her dorm room and down to the common room where their friends were all sitting.
Gathering the rest of the group, Hermione and Draco led the way to dinner. As Draco promised there was no mention of O.W.L.S or Gryffindors. Hermione was able to relax and forget all about her worries for one evening.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"You look brighter this morning," Blaise remarked to Hermione as she settled down opposite him at the breakfast table.
"I feel it," Hermione answered with a wide smile. "I really enjoyed last night."
"We need to do it more often," Draco said, settling down beside his girlfriend. "Just take an evening and forget about everything. No studying, and no talking about anything serious."
"I'm always up for a night off studying," Blaise said with a grin.
Blaise's sentiments were echoed around the group, and it was decided that they would have a regular night off from their school work. Once a week they would just have a fun night of relaxation, and for the rest of the week things would carry on as normal and they could study for their exams.
Halfway through breakfast the owls began to come streaming in through the high windows, and Hermione got a surprise when an owl landed elegantly in front of her. Beside her, Draco was untying a letter from the ankle of his majestic eagle owl, while Pansy, Daphne and Theo were also receiving letters from home. However, Hermione hadn't been expecting any post, nor did she recognise the owl that was sitting right in front of her.
"Is everything okay Hermione?" Blaise queried, peering around the owl.
"It's fine," Hermione answered as she snapped into action and removed the parcel from around the owl's leg.
The second the parcel was free the owl took off and disappeared back out of the Great Hall. Glancing down at the parcel, Hermione's face broke into a small smile when she recognised her mother's handwriting. For some reason her mother must have used an owl from some sort of public service like the post office.
"Are you okay?" Draco asked his girlfriend.
"Fine," Hermione answered, tearing into her parcel.
Once the parcel was open, she was faced with a box from an expensive looking jewellers. Sliding the lid off the box, she let out a quiet gasp at the silver and emerald bracelet nestled inside the box.
"Nice," Theo remarked from her other side with a low whistle. "What's the occasion? We haven't missed your birthday, have we?"
"My birthday's in September," Hermione replied with a light laugh. "And as for the occasion, I have no idea. There's no note with the bracelet. But knowing my father, he'll have just wanted to spoil me."
Still smiling at the present, Hermione plucked the bracelet from the box and fastened it around her wrist. However the second the clasp clicked shut, she felt all the breath rush from her body and everything went black. With a strangled cry, she pitched forward, collapsing face first into her half eaten plate of scrambled eggs.