The Hidden Secrets
A Hermione/Draco Romance
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I am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing.
Chapter 7
Snape was pacing. He didn't seem to stop, nowadays. How was it possible that his sister, his incredibly stubborn sister, had produced a wizarding son whom he hadn't heard about?
His family had disowned Ceveina when she'd married a muggle. He still remembered the look she'd sent him when he'd turned his back on her... they had once been best friends, telling each other everything. He remembered how betrayed he'd felt when his parents had told him that she was seeing the muggle.
He stopped pacing and looked towards the door. The silhouette of someone was walking down the stairs to the dungeons - three guesses who it was, he thought glumly.
"What's wrong, Uncle? You look... what's the word... stressed. Anything I can help you with?" Servus' speech was mocking, he knew all too well that his Uncle didn't like him. Snape glared at the boy for a minute, before looking away and walking to his desk.
"You know very well, Servus, that there is nothing you can do to help me besides graduating early, or talking your mother into sending you back to your old school." Snape's retort hit the mark, and he knew it.
"Your sister, Uncle, is currently under 24-hour care. I have no other known family member, besides you, who is in a fit position to take me in... I do believe you barely fit that category..." Servus looked at his watch. "Oops, I have to go, Uncle, I have some things to finish up. Do try not to act differently to your usual way."
He headed for the door, but Snape had an as yet unused comeback still waiting. "How's your head, Servus? I do believe the King of Slytherin remains on his throne..." Servus said nothing, just continued to walk away. He would find his own way to show up Draco Malfoy...
It was horrible, not being able to see. The darkness just seemed to always be there, just off the side. He wasn't sure if he'd already passed this way, the wall seemed far, far behind him... but he was sure if he turned and headed back, he would find it before too long. Maybe it's just better to get out, and come back with help he thought.
The small mound of dirt in front of him wasn't there minutes ago - he really was moving. He collapsed to his knees, feeling the mound go up, and on in front of him at about knee height. His breath caught in his throat, he didn't want to believe what he was thinking... the dirt felt freshly dug, there was a slight smell that almost made him hurl... it couldn't be, it just couldn't!
Still, he moved on, along one side of the mound, moving his hands along the top so he didn't go straight past it. Soon, the mound started to lower, and he realised he was shaking. A small wooden stick was stuck into the ground, he felt along it, and soon it branched off in either direction. His head spun, his mind whirled... it was a grave!
Servus watched as Draco walked towards the main Slytherin common room. Soon, he thought, soon the King of Slytherin will be no more than a fallen soldier. No one will remember him... I'll make sure of that.
Draco turned off into the portrait, Servus soon following, staying out of sight. His father's people had raised him well for this sort of thing... before his father had disappeared, of course. He continued his watch on Draco, trying to avoid everyone else as they would stop and try to talk to him, thereby distracting him from what he was about to do.
Inside the Slytherin common room was the Prefect common room portrait. One of them. He watched as Draco went from person to person in the common room, talking quietly, almost as though he didn't want someone to hear him. He still watched as Draco walked to the portrait hole, whispered something, and continued on into the prefects area... into her area... What would Mr. Malfoy say when he heard that his son stood up for a Mudblood?
Hermione sat on the couch staring at the flames in the fireplace. These were only for show, as they were enchanted to have no heat. It was comforting, though, just to sit, and watch, and remember.
Just sitting there, she let her mind drift back to the last summer holidays she'd had with Harry and Ron...
Harry sat on the steps, laughing, as Ron and Hermione fought playfully under the water fountain the Weasley's had just installed. Ginny was on the steps behind Harry, also laughing. They soon changed their tunes when Hermione and Ron turned the water on them!
"Hey, Harry! Where's the broom gone to?" called Ron when they'd finally had enough of the water and had dried off. Harry looked up from what he'd been working on and grinned. "I think Fred borrowed it... or maybe George... one of 'em!"
Ron sighed theatrically. "Will you never learn which of them is which?" Everyone was soon in fits of giggles, as Ron got them confused more than anyone now they had moved out of home for good, and into their apartment above their store.
The rest of the week was similar to that - laughing, joking, and having a generally good time. Especially when she and Ron were alone.
They'd started dating, if you could call it that, at the start of the holidays. Once she'd been almost taller than he had, but now, he'd shot up faster than the snitch at a world cup! She'd hardly grown at all, it seemed.
They hadn't actually done much, aside from a lot of making out, and hugging. But that all changed when Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gone and left them on their own for the weekend to attend a wizarding conference in Ireland.
When Harry, and Ginny, were asleep, they crept out of their rooms and met in Percy's old room... Percy's room had the only double bed in the house, aside from Mr. and Mrs Weasley's room, of course. It wasn't like they hadn't talked about it, they'd just been waiting for the right moment.
"Are you sure?" Ron whispered, and Hermione had only been able to nod. He leaned in to kiss her gently, taking his time, leaving her feeling relaxed. Without either of them really noticing, they found themselves sitting on the edge of the bed. "Tell me now, Mione, if you don't want to… I don't think I could stop if we keep going…."
Hermione replied by leaning forwards and capturing his lips with hers, more forcefully then before. His hands found the buttons of her shirt, and slipped them free, before her shirt droped gracefully from her shoulders. Fumbling around kisses, they undressed one another, until they were completely naked before the other's gaze.
"You're perfect, Mione," Ron whispered, suddenly at a loss for any other words. Hermione blushed, taken aback; Ron was giving in his own way, but seemed to be at a lack of words when it came to compliments. This was the only one he'd ever need give her, at this moment; she knew she'd never feel so beautiful at any point in her life after that.
As they lay down next to one another, Ron moved over her to kiss her again, still softly, gently. He moved to her neck, and Hermione almost gasped at the sensations from just that light kiss. His hand moved to cover her breast, and played lightly with her nipple. She felt as though small bolts of electricity were jumping throughout her system. When he moved to replace his hands with his mouth, she gasped and felt herself arch her back. A hot pool of need was tightening in her belly, and she didn't know how she could withstand any more of this… torture….
Ron let his hand rest on her stomach for a moment, before letting it slip down lower, his middle finger finding her centre, and pushing gently inside, momentarily slating the desire that had coiled there.
Moving gently, so as not to disturb the moment too much, Ron moved to slide the condom into place (thanking god for knowing some things about Muggles!), before lying over her; Hermione felt his erection pushing against her thigh, and a sudden moment of panic swept over her. Noticing this, Ron took her mouth with his again, feeling her loosen completely. It was at this moment of pliancy that he moved, ever so slightly, and gently began to push inside her.
She couldn't help tensing, but Ron's gentle caresses, and soft kisses left her so completely relaxed that she barely felt the slight pain as he was sheathed inside her completely. For a moment, he didn't move, allowing her body to stretch to accommodate him, and for himself to bring himself back under some sort of control. He wanted this to be perfect for her, not over in moments.
He began to move once again, slowly, so as not to hurt her too much. In this blissful embrace they met, melded so completely together that neither knew where one ended and the other began. And when, after what seemed like forever, she arched her back and barely suppressed a low moan of pleasure… Ron met her moments later, with a final long thrust into her. For Hermione, the moment Ron withdrew seemed to her a moment of loss, replaced instantly by warmth as he pulled her to him. For most of the night, they slept like that, wakening only to sneak back to their beds just before dawn.
The next morning, Hermione was sure that Harry and Ginny knew something was different. But neither seemed to notice anything, or if they did, they didn't let on.
When the Weasley parents returned, no one mentioned anything, no one noticed anything, and Hermione was glad. She didn't know what she would say if anyone were to confront her about it!
The holidays soon ended, but no one thought that it could be the last time that they'd see each other... no one.
"Has anyone seen Servus today?" Draco asked as he walked through the portrait from Slytherin's common room, startling Hermione. Everyone else looked up, shaking their heads. Iris and Marcia were working on something, same as Gregory and Hermione... only Hermione didn't seem to be actually doing anything.
Iris stopped work and looked at him. "No, but considering that we're in different years, its not so surprising. Why? Did he do something?"
Draco shook his head. "No... but I have a feeling that he's tailing me... I can't explain it."
Hermione looked at the fire again, the slight shock of seeing Draco walk into the room wearing off, sending her back into her thoughts.
"...Hermione? Hello? Earth to Hermione? Are you in there?" Iris was standing right beside Hermione's shoulder, and it took a gentle nudge before she looked up. "Wha... what?"
Iris laughed. "We're all heading off to bed now, you staying up?" Hermione nodded, she didn't feel like going to bed just yet. Iris nodded. "Ok, you and Draco can do the rest of the candles then... G'night..." And she headed through the door to her own room.
Hermione looked down to see Draco sitting sideways on his couch, tapping candles with his wand, looking bored. Each tap sent a different colour along the length of the candle, in different designs. She noticed that each colour was either red, gold, or black.
She walked over and shoved his legs off one end of his couch, taking a seat and moving so that she leant against him. He shifted his arms so that they rested on either side of her, handed her his wand and the box of candles, and finally clasped his hands on her stomach.
"Since you stole my seat, you can do my work. Fair deal?" he whispered in her ear. She nodded, setting to work, taking only moments to get used to the strange wand.
An hour later, Iris came down to the common room to see if everyone had finally gone to bed. Seeing the fire still going, she knew someone was in the room, but couldn't see where they were. She walked back towards her room's entrance, and noticed what she'd missed when she'd walked into the room. Hermione was leaning back on Draco, on the Gryffindor couch, his arms obviously around her, underneath the Slytherin blanket. She walked over to the pair, her smile turning to a frown slowly. She hated to wake them, but she couldn't let them be caught together by any of the teachers… only two could be trusted with a secret like this, McGonagall and Dumbledore, and they were the least likely to come to the common room.
Gently, trying not to wake both of the sleeping couple, she tapped Draco's shoulder. He jumped awake with a start, looking around for who had woken him. Seeing Iris standing above him, he sighed and let his head fall back to hit the armrest on the couch again. Iris looked away for a minute, watching to see if anyone was coming, before she started talking in a hushed tone.
"Draco, as much as you like to pretend you're the big bad king of Slytherin, you'd better make up your mind about Hermione before your father cottons on. I know about your father, and don't take offence to this, but he isn't going to like the fact that you're so close to a muggle-born witch," she stopped abruptly when Hermione moved in her sleep. Draco didn't so much as bat an eyelid. He nodded slowly, as though he were weighing things in his mind.
"Iris, I know the odds of my father liking what I feel for Hermione, and they're about as likely as Hagrid becoming Seeker for England tomorrow. And if I get my way, my father wont cotton onto anything besides the fact that I'm a prefect," he looked down at Hermione, who was currently smiling in her sleep, and continued. "I promised her I wouldn't intentionally hurt her, and I don't mean to. I may be a Slytherin, but I keep my promises."
Iris smiled, "Well, you'd better take her up to her room before a teacher walks in. I don't want to have to explain this to anyone outside of the prefect group." She turned and walked away, flicking her wand at the fire as she went, letting it reduce itself to coals, which would automatically disappear when the others left the room.
Draco waited until Iris had left before gently pushing Hermione out of the way, enough for him to slide out from underneath her. He turned and picked her up gently, carrying her easily up the stairs and into her room. He placed her gently onto the bed, realising he'd picked up the Slytherin blanket as well. Dropping a gentle kiss on her lips, he picked up the blanket and walked from the room.
A/N: Well, this updating shite is really giving me a pain in the neck.. along with my two cousins yelling behind my head... hmm... o well... pls R&R and make all this pain go away! Lol!
