Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, they are the brilliant works of the marvelous J.K.Rowling. I also do not own Coldplay or To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee.
CHAPTER 9
Draco entered the Common Room swiftly, expecting to go up to his room uninterrupted. He saw something move off the couch and all of a sudden he was enveloped in a hug of sleek curly hair and sweet smelling perfume. He was released, and two worrying eyes stared into his.
"What happened? What did Madam Pomfrey say? Are you ok?" She was talking fast again and he sat her back down gently to collect herself. He sat next to her, his hand caressing hers.
"It's...she said it was just a blackout. Nothing serious" He did not look at her while he said this, but looked at her hands, as if he had no interest in what he was saying or that Hermione was hanging on every casual word he said.
"I was so worried about you. Do you remember anything?" He appeared to flinch a little at this question, but regained himself quickly.
"No. It's all blurry. Nothing really until I woke up."
She smiled. A truly happy smile, and he was pleased that he had made her smile himself. He smiled back, and continued, this time in a more affectionate voice.
"When I was...out...I don't remember much of what I dreamt, but I could hear your voice, and it was almost as if I knew what was going on. And I felt like, if I never woke up again, that I'd never be able to tell you how I felt...how I feel" Hermione was shocked. 'Could this be happening? Wow, now I must be unconscious!' He raised his hand and stroked her soft, pale cheek. She could feel him leaning in again, and was so overcome with emotion she too leant in. Their lips met: for the second time. Last time had been special too, but different. You would have thought that that first kiss would have been the start of something, a relationship, a closer friendship, but things had gone on as usual after that, as if nothing had happened.
They did not break apart so early this time, but instead it started getting more intense. He was leaning in so far now he was pushing her backwards, until he was lying on top of her. He inched his hand up under her shirt and ran small circles on the small of her back. She was running her hands through his silky hair and up and down his neck. Their lips finally broke apart, and while she was taking many quick breaths, he was kissing her neck and nibbling at her ears.
"We...should...go to...lunch" she managed to get out between breaths. His head dropped into the crook of her bare shoulder and he did not stop.
"No, let's stay" He muffled between kisses. She began to push him off, though she made it playfully so he would not get offended. Hermione sat up, breathless, hair in a mess with Draco still attached to her neck.
"This is lovely, but everyone will be wondering where we are" She got up and left him looking disappointed on the couch. 'He looks so gorgeous, and we really had a moment there. Why did I have to go and ruin it? Oh well, there will always be after lunch...'
She put out a hand to him to help him get up, and he took it. By simply running a quick hand through his hair he looked completely normal, whereas she had to run many fingers through hers to get it looking reasonable. He saw what she was trying to do and walked behind her to help with the job. He was gentle, and she felt completely comfortable with him, though felt there was something he was trying to keep from her about this morning.
Monday rolled around all too soon again, and they were sitting in the study of Muggle objects class. They had been reading a novel called 'To Kill a Mockingbird', written by Harper Lee in the 1960's, and was said to be a piece of classic literature in the Muggle World. The Griffindors and the Slytherins shared this class, and were up to the part in the book just after Tom Robinson's death. Their teacher for this subject, Professor Smith (she was Muggle born) asked Celia Morgan to read the next paragraph for the class. She read:
"Mr. Underwood didn't talk about miscarriages of justice, he was writing so children could understand. Mr. Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting or escaping. He likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children, and Maycombe thought he was trying to write an editorial poetical enough to be reprinted in The Montgomery Advertiser" she sat down.
"Thank you" The Professor said. She then began to go on about 'what do you think that means?' and 'why was the point raised about Mr. Underwood likening Tom's death to that of songbirds?' though Hermione did not hear much of what she was saying. This teacher was rather new, and did not notice Hermione's lack of attentiveness out of the ordinary, having not known Miss Granger long. Hermione was too busy thinking about...you guessed it, Draco.
The rest of the class seemed to breeze past Hermione, she was too caught up in Draco to know what was going on around her. Harry and Ron too had trouble paying attention. They were too busy at first trying to figure out what was bothering their friend, and after they had realized that she was staring dreamily at the blonde haired boy, they spent the rest of the lesson thinking of what she could possibly see in him.
The lesson ended, and Hermione rushed back to her room between classes to get some books. She opened the Common Room door to find a figure standing in the centre of the room, all dressed in black. He approached her with a long stemmed red rose in his hand. She took it, and he moved closer.
"Shall we?" He smiled and moved as if to take her hand.
"How did you have time for all of this?" She asked.
"You do know that most things are done by magic here, don't you?" He looked her up and down with approval. This made her suspicious, and she looked down wondering what he was smiling at. She gasped at the dress she was wearing. It was red; thin straps held it up with a rather revealing neckline. It reached a little past her feet, frilling at the bottom with many strips of material. It looked like ripples with the way the material is hanging. He suddenly twirled her around while she was still marveling at the dress, seeing it spin in a mass of red.
They came back and met suddenly in the middle, their faces coming very close together. Both chests are heaving, hers at the shock of these sudden movements, his at the adrenaline of having her react this way. She now noticed she had a large red flower tucked behind her ear and bright red lipstick on. They twirled around until they were both dizzy. Suddenly he brought her into a low dip. She was in perfect form, one thin leg appearing out of the slit in the dress. He kissed her deeply, her arms held tightly around his neck. He lowered her to the floor, and laid half on top of her, half next to her. They were getting more and more passionate, falling apart before it got too heated, and eventually falling asleep in front of the fire in the dimly lit Common Room. The words 'you're so romantic' escaping her lips as they nodded off to sleep. All thoughts of lateness escaped Hermione's mind as soon as she had seen Draco standing there looking so charming.
They missed their next class. And lunch. And their next class after that. They didn't wake up until just before dinner. Draco awoke first, and woke her gently by stroking her hair and her face. She looked so beautiful when she slept, more beautiful than usual that is. She woke up slowly, he could see her remembering the events before they had fallen asleep. Once she remembered all, she began stroking his hair and face in turn, and together they lay for another while. She knew the time by now, though it didn't seem to phase her that she had missed so many classes. He started with an apology.
"I'm sorry I didn't really do anything before this. The thing is, most relationships are all passionate at the start, and then it gets boring. I wanted it to be boring at the start and then exciting afterwards, when there was more build up. I was planning on holding out longer than this, but after seeing the way you looked so upset in Muggle objects today, I couldn't wait any longer"
She smiled, and felt a little guilty that her emotions had sparked this attack, but also pleased that he had noticed. She was also overwhelmed that he had acknowledged them as 'having a relationship'.
"Well, at the same time as we want it be exciting and full of passion, we'd better not get ahead of ourselves and rush in and do all the fun things too soon". Her eyes wandered to the way they were laying, him half on top of her, affectionately stroking her hair. He noticed this, and removed himself from her.
"I didn't mean that dramatically...I'm sorry" She looked down as if feeling bad. He noticed this also, and rolled back onto her playfully, just a little at first.
"You mean, like this?" He rolled onto her a little more and she laughed.
"Well, I guess we had better get to dinner. They'll all be looking for us" He agreed.
"Yes, knowing Pottsy and Weasel they will be here afterwards banging on the door making sure I haven't 'harmed you' in any way" He smirked and helped her up. He had said it jokingly, but thought about it a little more and realised he probably wasn't far from the truth.
He turned them back into their robes with a quick flick of his wand and they left for dinner. When they entered the Great Hall, they were met by many stares. They were standing close taking in the sight, and as they went to their separate houses he gave her a small nip on the bottom, which surprisingly no one seemed to notice. She laughed all the way to her table, where she was met by many curious looks and lots of questions. Most of course from Ron, Ginny and Harry.
"Where were you! You missed almost all your classes and almost all of dinner!"
"What were you doing? Haven't seen you since Muggle Objects!"
"Hermione? What's up with you lately?"
"Want some peas?" She was surprised at this last question, and looked around to see Ginny with a sympathetic look in her eyes. She was holding a bowl of peas, Hermione's favourite in the 'greens' line. Her features also held a hidden message. 'I won't ask you questions now, but we'll talk later'. Hermione answered yes with a similar glance, and accepted the peas. She then turned to answer the other questions coming at her thick and fast.
"Ok, ok. I went back to my room to organize my books for my next class and Draco and I began..." Her glance flittered nervously around the room.
"Talking. And then I fell asleep" They did not look satisfied.
"But we saw you running back to your room. It's not like you had time to be 'talking' let alone falling asleep! And talking! How is it possible to put up with his - " He put on a posh English accent and a strange face as he said this, " - witty speech - " He dropped the accent " - all the time?" She was a little annoyed at him for speaking of him like this, but caught herself before she let it show. They were talking about the enemy here.
"You'd mind his witty speech if you were 'locked away' with him every day" She said it as if they were overreacting, with an air of 'I can handle him'.
"He's really not that bad you know. You guys should give him a chance" She got up and took her plate with her, signaling to Ginny that they would meet later before heading off to her room.