A/N: This chapter is very short, but I think it's the right length. Also it's very eventful, and I think you will enjoy it! Let me know in the reviews :)
"So," Harry asked the following day, sitting in the Common Room with Hermione, Ron and Lavender, "what did you do over the holiday?"
"Oh, nothing really. Reading, taking walks, thinking," Hermione replied with a private smile. Truthfully, the break had been perfect; it was a chance for her and Draco to feel like real friends and not worry about Voldemort's assignment for him. On top of that, she discovered some strange feelings she held for Draco, which was only further complicated when he nearly kissed her on New Year's. Did he know about the Muggle tradition? Probably not.
Harry nodded, brightening, "Thanks a ton for the book and broomstick set; I needed a replacement."
Hermione grinned, "I know. I had heard you complain to Dean about it."
"Of course you did," Harry smiled. "Somehow you know everything."
"I do not! I'm just observant!" she denied.
She definitely didn't know what to do about her new situation with Draco.
"Say," Ron interrupted, "where'd you get that necklace?"
Hermione blushed and tried to hide the pink tinge to her cheeks as she replied, "My mum."
"Woah!" Lavender's attention was on her neck now, where the jewels hung from the golden chain. "That's an awfully expensive gift to get from your mum."
Hermione thought she detected suspicion in Lavender's tone. "Yes, well, I'm very grateful she thought of me."
"I think," Lavender said with forced innocence, "that's more of a lover's gift, isn't it? That doesn't have anything to do with the cloak you were wearing when you returned from Slughorn's, does it?"
"I-what cloak?" Hermione pretended not to know about the Slytherin cloak she had returned in.
Harry and Ron raised their eyebrows and waited, deeply engrossed in her conversation.
"Oh, you know. It smelled like cologne and I think," she raised an eyebrow, "it was a Slytherin's?"
"Lavender," Hermione laughed, "I think that was a dream of yours. Whose cloak would I have borrowed, anyways? Definitely not Cormac's."
Harry snorted at the thought of Cormac, knowing what a real wanker he was from Quidditch practices and Hermione's date with him.
Ron looked like he wanted to say something, but kept his mouth shut, likely remembering that he wanted to repair their friendship and that bringing a boy up wouldn't help.
Good.
Ron had apologized to her when he returned from the Burrow, telling her he was sorry he acted like such an idiot. Of course, he was still dating Lavender, but Hermione didn't find herself shooting glares at him constantly.
Instead, a certain blonde Slytherin was constantly on her mind.
I need to see Draco Malfoy.
When she entered the Room of Requirement sometime in mid-January, Hermione was nervous to speak with Draco, something she hadn't felt since the start of her mission more than four months ago. She allowed him a week or two to try and put their near-snog behind him, but she knew eventually she would need to return to helping him with the cabinet.
"Hullo," Hermione slid into the seat beside Draco, purposefully leaving some space between the two of them.
Draco looked up, some of the cheeriness he had in his eyes over the break now gone, "Afternoon."
"Nothing new, then?" she sighed.
"Not a thing."
"Hm."
Well. This was bloody awkward. It was obvious from the tension that the two were both thinking about their almost-kiss. Hermione's eyes darted unconsciously to his lips and she tore her sight away from his face, willing her heart to stop it's erratic beating.
Hermione shook her head. This was stupid. Just because there was some sort of attraction between them didn't mean they couldn't be friends.
"So," Hermione put a small grin on. "Have you taken Pansy's offer up yet?"
Draco smirked, "Oh, yeah. Totally. I actually ended up confiding in her about the Vanishing Cabinet, so she's going to replace you now. I mean, it's undeniable that she's much more skilled, charms and spellwork-wise."
Hermione smiled grimly as she played along. "That only makes sense."
Another pause.
"Your parents didn't write to you about the cabinet at all, did they?"
Draco frowned. "No."
Hermione sighed, turning her attention to the cabinet sadly. "Draco."
He looked up.
She quietly said, "I understand if you don't want to tell me, but… can you tell me why we're fixing the cabinet? I mean, I'm assuming it's to bring Death Eaters into the school, but to do what?"
Any color in Draco's pale face immediately drained from his skin.
"You'd hate me if I told you, Granger," he whispered, closing his eyes.
"I can assure you that I wouldn't hate you. I mean, even when you were being an utter jerk to me all these years, I don't think I hated you. You can trust me."
Although Hermione already knew of his mission from reading his journal earlier that year, she wanted to establish trust with him.
"Okay," Draco complied. He turned away from her, staring solemnly at the ground. "I-I have to kill Dumbledore."
He glanced at Hermione to gauge her reaction. Hermione simply nodded (it was her mission to help him and she had already known what he was to do beforehand, so it wasn't much of a shock).
"Okay."
"What, so that's it, then?" he asked, astounded at her nonchalant, almost breezy response.
"Yeah. What else is there to it?"
"I was expecting you to storm out of the room, tell Dumbledore and never speak to me again," Draco truthfully replied, in shock, running a hand through his hair.
Hermione forced herself to look at him. "Draco, you told me you had a mission from Voldemort, and I expected nothing less. I'm your friend and I want to help you-even if that goes against what I'm working toward. I… I care about you and I hate to see you struggle. I'm helping you repair the cabinet, even if it costs Dumbledore his life, because I care about yours. You… you matter to me."
He was silent for a few moments.
Draco looked up at her, his grey eyes glossy from unspilled tears. Hermione frowned.
"Sometimes letting it out is the best way to deal with it," she said softly, scooting toward him.
He broke. His face resting in his hands, Draco began to let out short, broken sobs. Apparently the confession of his mission on top of the steadily approaching end of the second term had pushed him over the edge.
Tentatively, Hermione placed a hand around his shoulders, pulling him closer to her. She leaned her head on his shoulder, wishing some of his pain would be taken from him.
As quickly as they started, Draco's sobs ceased, but he did not move his head. So Hermione stayed beside him, resting her head on his welcoming shoulder.
Finally, he brought his head up. His eyes were bloodshot and the corners of his eyes were wet from tears, but other than that, there was no sign of his breakdown.
Hermione thought he looked beautiful.
Picking her head up from his shoulder, she looked at him carefully. He sensed her change in demeanor and brought his head up to look at her as well.
Hermione felt his body shift slightly as he turned his knees toward her. His hand moved with hesitation as it rested gently on her face, cupping her cheek delicately.
Hermione felt her breath hitch in her throat, knowing what was coming.
There was no one to interrupt them this time. No students, no fireworks. The only thing that could stop him from snogging her was Hermione herself. But when he began to lean toward her, she lost control of any desire to stop.
He was close enough that she could count each individual speck of blue in his grey eyes.
"Hermione, I…" Draco trailed off as Hermione sealed the distance between them, pressing her lips onto his shyly. Bringing both her hands up to tangle themselves in his fine blonde hair, she moved closer to him.
Draco began to move his lips, and Hermione nearly groaned. The way he was kissing her was so sweet, so delicate, that Hermione could have cried. He brought his hand down from her cheek, moving them both so they wrapped around her waist.
As their snog persisted, the tone grew more and more fervent until Hermione found herself laying back on the sofa, Draco passionately on top of her.
Breaking away from his now swollen lips, Hermione took a deep breath. "Wait."
Draco narrowed his stare at her and slowly removed himself from on top of her, sitting back up. "Shit. I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for?" she laughed, breathless, also sitting up. "I'm the one who kissed you."
"I know," he groaned. "And now you regret it and any chance at something happening is ruined."
Hermione smiled, shaking her head, "Merlin, Draco, you're a bloody idiot. I certainly don't regret that. Do you?"
Draco's eyes flickered down to Hermione's red lips. "No. In fact, I wouldn't mind doing it again."
Hermione blushed. "I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't taking advantage of your emotions. You just exposed a vulnerable part of yourself and… I just don't want you to think that I was trying to use you or anything."
Draco offered her a small smile, "I would never think that, Granger-"
"Hermione," she ordered him. "I heard you say it earlier, and I would really prefer if that's what you called me."
He agreed. "Okay." Draco paused as he leaned back in, trying out the new word, "Hermione."
Their lips found each other again and the feeling of kissing Draco was oddly comforting, Hermione noted. In fact, she couldn't think of anywhere else that she would rather be than right there beside him.
After their small snog session which, of course, was stopped by the sound of the bell, Hermione pretty much bolted from the room, taking off to go sit in the Common Room and skip lunch.
"What have I done?" she asked herself, breathless.
What had she done?
Well, she snogged Draco Malfoy. And he snogged her back. And now he was the only bloody thing she could think about. A faint voice in the back of her head warned her against continuing their 'relationship' (what were they now? Friends? Snogging buddies?). She knew that by the end of the year they would have to cease seeing each other, if anything came from their kisses.
But Hermione couldn't help it. She wanted to snog him. No, Hermione thought glumly to herself, she wanted him. The snogs were just an added bonus.
She only hoped he wanted her as well.
How was it that after only a month or two of friendship, she wanted more? That after only realizing her feelings toward him a few weeks ago that she was so entrenched in him?
Lust, said the small, rational voice in the back of her head.
Godric, Hermione was in trouble. What happened to not acting on her attraction toward him?
As if you actually planned on ignoring your feelings, the voice countered sarcastically.
"Shut it," Hermione said to the voice, staring angrily at the Common Room wall.
Hermione had been ignoring Draco out of worry and embarrassment the next week. January was nearing a close with only a little over a week left, and Hermione had managed to avoid going to the Room of Hidden Things.
Unfortunately, she couldn't ignore her Prefect Patrols. And according to the schedule, she and Draco were patrolling together that night. A few minutes before she needed to leave, she checked the map for Draco's location.
It appeared that he was walking on the seventh floor, moving toward the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione sighed, closed the map and placed it in Harry's hands before buttoning her cloak, knowing how cold the corridors got at night.
"Hermione!" Ron called out, talking with Harry.
"Oh, hi," Hermione said, about to leave. "What are you two doing?"
"Talking about Quidditch strategies," Harry sighed, analyzing the paper laying in front of him.
Ron noticed her rushing demeanor, and asked, "Where are you off to?"
"Prefect Patrols," Hermione smiled.
"Oh," Harry nodded, "With who?"
"Er-"
The portrait door swung open to reveal Draco waiting outside. Leaning on the wall, he looked amused. Hermione glanced down at her watch, noting that she was a minute late.
"Malfoy?" Harry sneered. "Gross. Sorry, Hermione."
"Shit," she swore under her breath. "Harry, Ron, I've got to go. Talk to you tomorrow!"
She left the Common Room through the Portrait hole and stepped beside Draco. When she looked up at him, she felt a blush spread across her cheeks.
The Fat Lady swung shut, mumbling something about 'Bloody prefects ruining her beauty sleep' as they stepped away.
Hermione swished her wand, casting Lumos, and they were off, walking in silence.
"Oh, come on," Draco complained after a few minutes of not talking. They stopped walking.
"What?" Hermione asked nervously.
"You know damn well what," he frowned. "I knew that I ruined things."
Hermione bit her lip, thinking, before replying, "Draco, you didn't ruin anything. I was just unsure how things would be and didn't want to deal with it."
Draco raised an eyebrow, a slightly hopeful expression on his face. The expression soon vanished. "But you regret it."
Hermione's blush intensified. "No."
Draco took a step closer to her. "So, if I said I wanted to do it again…"
Hermione, breathing a bit heavier than usual, nodded ever-so-slightly, and Draco's lips came crashing down onto hers.
Unlike their original kiss, this was more passionate. Hermione was a bit in shock from the intensity of it, stumbling, but quickly came to her senses and threw her arms around his neck, matching his ferocity.
Breathing heavily, Hermione felt Draco moving her until her back touched the cold, stone wall. Hermione opened her mouth and Draco responded, their tongues now dancing together, before pulling apart, just to seek each other out again.
Hermione moaned slightly, and Draco ate it up.
Draco pulled away, breathless. "Gr-Hermione, I think we should stop."
Hermione frowned slightly, her chest heaving and her back still against the wall. He's right, you know, the rational voice piped up. "You're right."
Draco stood up, moving back to the middle of the corridor. He grabbed Hermione's hand to pull her out with him. She didn't pull away from his hand after they were back to the patrols and intertwined her fingers with his instead.
"What does this make us?" she asked quietly, looking up at him curiously.
Draco shrugged. "It makes us… it makes us Draco and Hermione. Nothing new. I think we should just see where it goes and just let whatever happens happen."
Hermione, the stickler of rules and lover of plans and organization, was strangely okay with that idea. "Okay."
Draco smiled down at her and Hermione lightly squeezed his hand.
Overall, Hermione found this patrol to be very... satisfying.
Quietly, as not to wake anyone, Hermione entered the Common Room about ten minutes past midnight after finishing her patrol.
How strange my life has become, she thought to herself. She turned around, about to make her way to her dormitory, but stopped when a familiar voice cleared its throat.
Harry was sitting in an armchair, a furious expression in his face. His arms were crossed, and in his map lay a parchment.
The Marauders Map.
Harry must have seen Draco and Hermione's names close together.
"So," Harry said quietly, "why don't you tell me what you and 'Draco' were doing for three minutes standing a centimeter apart?"
Fuck.