A/N: I'm back with Round 2 of the Houses Competition! Thanks to hollyhobbit101 and nottheonlyfangirl for betaing! :)

Enjoy!


A Heart-to-heart


Draco draped the thick winter cloak over himself to ward off the cold, which seemed to permeate the walls of Hogwarts oh so easily. One of the perks of being an eighth year was that he didn't have a curfew, so he practically ran down the dark hallways to the main entrance. He felt the need to be alone, to isolate himself from the other eighth years, and especially to escape a certain girl.

Finally, Draco reached his favourite spot at the lake. The night was frosty, and a chilly wind toyed with his cloak, but he enjoyed the fresh air after the sticky eighth year Common Room, which had been created especially for them.

He couldn't make head nor tail of Hermione's behaviour, or her words for that matter. She really seemed to like him – him, the Ex-Death Eater. He, who had brought so much suffering upon her and her friends. But ever since he'd come back to Hogwarts, she'd been especially friendly, even kind, to him. Draco, of course, knew the reason he'd fallen for her. She'd been the only person who'd accepted him, who'd protected him from the revenge of other pupils, who'd actually cared. But she couldn't possibly feel the same for him. Even if she'd said so herself. It simply wasn't possible.

Sighing deeply, Draco stared at the dark lake, which resembled a black mirror, in which the moon admired its countenance.

After a few minutes, a slight change in the air alerted Draco to someone else's presence, but without turning he knew it was Hermione. He didn't know what it was – instinct maybe – but he could always tell if it was her. His very being seemed to react to her presence.

Automatically, Draco leapt to his feet, staring at the intruder, but Hermione didn't say a word. She just silently, almost casually, conjured a blanket and sat down, looking at the lowly glittering lake. Her chestnut hair seemed nearly black in the darkness, and Draco found himself admiring the way it fell over her shoulders.

"Are you just going to stand there or will you sit with me?" Hermione said suddenly, interrupting his thoughts. She looked up at him, her disarming smile taking the sharpness out of her words, and Draco found himself obeying. But as soon as he had sat down, leaving a few inches between them, she shifted so she could lean against his chest. At once he froze.

"Relax," she whispered and snuggled closer, pulling his right arm around her.

Draco took a calming breath and leaned back against the tree, savouring the feeling of her warm body next to his. Every inch that still separated them felt like an itch he couldn't reach. He wanted to erase the negative space between them, draw her in, and fill the emptiness inside him – but he couldn't.

"Why do you even like me?" he asked after a while. "Weasley was right..." He stopped her protest with a shake of his head. "I bullied you, I called you Mudblood, I let you be tortured... I don't get it. What do you see in me?"

Hermione sighed and looked back at the lake. "Why do you need me to spell it out? Isn't it just enough to know it's there, to know I lo- like you?"

Draco shook his head. "Tell me."

She leaned her head back, so it rested against his shoulder, and was silent for a while; so long, in fact, he thought she wouldn't answer at all.

"It was the little things," she finally whispered, so low the waves on the shore nearly drowned her words. "It was the urge at first to protect you, to step in front of you and any harm, and I didn't know why. I wasn't even sure I liked you then. Something had changed about you after the war, something that had changed inside of me too, like chemicals reacting to each other. I couldn't help it. If you weren't near, I suddenly felt as if I'd been filled and didn't realise it until the absence rushed back in and swallowed me. You made me feel protected, you made me feel... safe. Though, I only realised all that too late... when you considered quitting school." Her fingers pressed into his palms. "I couldn't let you go then, and I can't do it now."

Hermione's confession overwhelmed him, but he realised she hadn't answered his question. "But ..." Draco whispered.

She turned her head slightly. "What?"

"Why me?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. It could've been Ron if..." She shook her head, interrupting herself. "Fate, I guess."

Draco stared at her disbelievingly. "There's no such thing as fate." Because even fate couldn't be so cruel and give them the past they had lived through. "But, I wanted to know what you liked about me. You don't know me."

"I know how you drink your tea," Hermione replied immediately. "I know why you gulp down that pain potion if you think I'm not looking, I know the way your hair curls if it gets too long, I know you hate mushrooms but eat them anyway, I know how your right brow rises in disdain, I know the way you smile at me sometimes – a smile that seems only reserved for me, without a hint of sadness, only joy." She tilted her head. "Isn't that enough?"

Draco looked at her with wide eyes. The way she had mixed the casual things with the terrible made him feel like she really saw him. "For now," he choked out. "We never do this. Talk. I miss talking."

He could picture her smile although he couldn't see it in the dark. "We talked. Maybe you didn't listen." Hermione moved her body a bit and cold night air touched skin she had previously occupied.

"I want us to talk more, though. I want us to tell each other everything," Draco added.

"Do you want us to be together?" she asked quietly. "Because I want us to be, and you keeping your distance, barely allowing me to touch you, is practically killing me."

Hermione was a master in masking her words, giving them a casual appearance, but piercing his soul with them. Draco hadn't wanted to hurt her with his behaviour; he just didn't know what to do. He didn't feel that he deserved her. But he wished nevertheless that they could be a couple. "I don't want to pressure you into something you'll regret later."

She turned to look at him and her elbow pressed uncomfortably into his stomach. "You think I'm going to wake up tomorrow and realise all this has been a mistake and run back to Ron to have two children we'll call Rose and Hugo?"

Draco swallowed. That was awfully specific for a vague possibility. "Maybe," he answered. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable or go too far."

She snorted. "And you think confessing that I love you wouldn't make me uncomfortable?" She shook her head and thankfully took her arm away from his stomach, facing the lake again.

Draco took in a shuddering breath. Yes, she had said that, but, even if she really meant it, they couldn't be together. However much he wished for it. "I-I wouldn't hold it against you," Draco whispered. "It's just words."

"Not for me," Hermione replied. "I could give you more than words if you'd just let me."

Quickly, he shook his head. "Let's not rush into things."

"What's there to rush? We're both reasonably sure it's what we want, aren't we? So why not act on it?" she asked, her voice breaking a little, betraying her calm facade. Her whole body was shivering, and it wasn't just from the cold. Draco realised now that she deserved the truth.

"I'm afraid," he admitted. "I'm afraid of hurting you, I'm afraid of getting hurt, I'm afraid of other people's reactions..." He tightened his grip on her. "I can already picture the headlines: Former Death Eater imperiuses War Heroine or Is Hermione Granger changing sides? I don't want that for us, for you."

"You want to keep it a secret," she stated frankly, searching his gaze.

Draco shrugged. He was afraid he had hurt her with that. He didn't want to keep her a secret, he just wanted his private life to stay private. And he genuinely didn't know if he was brave enough to have a relationship with her.

But she was right. They couldn't go on as they had for so long. He had to make a decision – it was all or nothing. She would be either the best or the worst for him, as much was clear.

"It's getting cold," Draco replied, untangling himself from her. "Let's get back to the castle."

Hermione didn't protest, but he could feel her gaze on him the whole time. Yes, he had to make a decision, just not now. He wasn't ready yet. But something was certain, he would be ready someday, and when that day came, he would embrace it with open arms.


*Written for the Houses Competition, Year 2 - Round 1*

House: Ravenclaw

Category: Short

Prompt: "[Romantic Pairing] Non-canon pairing of your choice."

W/C: 1, 514