Author's Note: My apologies for taking so long between updates. I wanted to get the final scene of this chapter perfect, and I'm finally pleased with what I have.
Thanks to all of my readers, I appreciate your kind reviews. Enjoy the latest chapter!
Chapter VIII
Her feet slowing down and her mind struggling to catch up, Hermione came to a stop. She had no idea where she had fled to, but as the steady flow of tears slowed to a trickle and the flood from her eyes cleared to a glistening on her flushed cheeks, Hermione began to recognize her surroundings. She had run to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She stifled a bitter laugh; how fitting that in her distress and hurt she had unconsciously been drawn to the lair of the most miserable of all Hogwarts' inhabitants.
Hermione sat on the ground, her back to the door. Surprisingly, the floor was dry. For once Myrtle had taken pity on Filch and not flooded the bathroom, or she simply hadn't gotten around to throwing a fit today.
Hermione drew her knees up and buried her head in her arms. Her mind was still swimming, everything had gone by so fast today. Events had left her bewildered, dizzy, and hurt. Hermione went over the past hour in her mind, slowing down the pace to try and make sense of it all.
The constant waking, the fitful sleep. Finally getting out of bed and into the shower. Deciding to give Malfoy a chance. Drying off. Getting dressed. Actually putting on makeup for Merlin's sake. Behaving like a giddy Muggle teenage girl. I ought to have had more sense than that, she thought. Leaving her dormitory. Getting to Arithmancy early. Draco appearing five minutes later. My smile, his nod. Trying to brush his hair back. His gaze, his realization. My retreat. His agony. His words, his scathing syllables…best not to think of those.
Hermione simply couldn't understand it.
His gaze, his realization. His agony.
It struck her. His agony. Malfoy did care about her. Draco realized what it must have meant when Hermione tried to hide her arm. He knew then that Hermione truly experienced pain and anguish and sorrow and all the unpleasantries that not all the spells in the world could cure. And when she had tried to pass it off as nothing, he had been hurt. She, that "Mudblood Gryffindor" had wounded Draco's heart. Merlin's beard, she thought, he really does care for me.
Footsteps. Hermione's head rose. Draco entered the bathroom, her bag in his arms. Moaning Myrtle must have become aware of his presence, as she shot out of a toilet and into his path.
"Hello, Malfoy. Are you feeling any better? I've got loads of time today if you'd like to talk. I've missed talking to you. You hardly ever come 'round my stall these days."
"Excuse me, Myrtle, but I'm…" Draco gestured towards Hermione.
"Hmph. Sure, I see your aim." Myrtle stormed off and dove into the nearest toilet. "Live girls aren't all they're cracked up to be, you know."
Draco and Hermione could hear her moans in the pipes as she slunk off to another part of the castle, most likely to start a flood somewhere.
Draco turned to Hermione.
"I've brought your things. You, er, left them behind in Vector's."
He handed the bag to Hermione; she stood briskly and took it. Hermione looked down and noticed that the sleeve of her robe was damp with blood. Choosing to ignore Malfoy, she shrugged off her robe, leaving her in a tight black shirt and a grey knee-length skirt. She rolled up her sleeves as she strode to the sink, bringing the robes with her. She washed the blood from the robe's sleeve, and then washed off her arm the sleeve of the sleeve. Drying everything with paper towels, she glared at Malfoy, daring him to say something. Malfoy just stood there, trying not to stare at Hermione's arm, trying not to let the pain show in his eyes. He opted to gaze down at his feet as he traded the weight from one to the other. His pale hands were trembling, and when he realized Hermione was transfixed by their quaking he hurriedly jammed them in his pockets. Malfoy closed his eyes and tipped his head back as he slowly breathed out. He stood up straight, focusing his eyes on Hermione's.
"Hermione, about what I said earlier…I'm sorry."
Hermione gazed back at him and let her face relax a little.
"I just thought, after yesterday, maybe…I didn't expect you still not to trust me. I had supposed you would have been willing to let me in a little more. I'm sorry."
Malfoy bowed his head and turned to leave. Hermione walked towards him as she whispered his name.
"Draco…"
As he turned Hermione wrapped him in her arms. Draco embraced her, one hand caressing the back of her head, the other gentle against the small of her back. She could feel his muscles loosen, his body relax. She buried her face in the nape of his neck, breathing in the scent that she knew from her dreams. Hermione grasped him closer, aware of the supple warmth of Draco's body encasing her. She felt his lips soft against the tender skin of her neck and she looked up into his face.
Their eyes met before their lips. As lids closed over her soft browns and his somber greys, the candles of the bathroom seemed to brighten to a blinding strength. Hundreds of suns surrounded them as they shared a breath, unaware of anything beyond this. A moment later and their lips were pressed fast together. A moment later and their lips were parted, Hermione stroking the sensitive skin beneath Draco's earlobe before they moved closer. Lost in waves of emotion, tossed like a wrecked ship upon seas of seething intensity, something stirred in the back of Hermione's mind, suddenly forcing the memory of her dream into the front of her thoughts and Hermione tensed, preparing for the shock of Draco's imminent reptilian transformation.
It never came. She was met only by the soft press of Draco's lips, the gentle caress of his tongue, the warm reassurance of his smooth skin against hers.
