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I do not own harry potter.
Chapter Seven: One down, one to go.
Hermione was the smartest witch her age, as she had been told many times before. She never thought she would find herself pacing back and forth on the seventh floor, by the portrait where Draco Malfoy slept at. She had been so confident just minutes before when she spoke to Ginny about her situation. Now she was doubting herself, wondering if what she thought she needed to do was the right thing to do.
Did she need to tell Harry and Ron about this first? What if Draco denied her and if she had told her best friends this, it had been all for nothing? She knew this would crush Ron. How could she want to be someone like Draco before Ron? He was her best friend, and although she thought she had feelings once before for him, they had been quickly shot down before she could make her way down that road.
The knots in her throat she could feel all the way down to her stomach. She was making herself sick to her stomach thinking over this so much. No matter how much she tried to talk herself out of this, she found herself right back to where she was. Tapping her foot, waiting for Draco. She didn't even know if he was in his room, but she didn't want to knock to find out. She was going to wait for him for as long as she could to try to prolong this for her sake.
"Hermione." said a voice behind her, after some time of her standing there with her hands in her hair as she tried to figure out how she was going to make this happen. She turned around slowly, realizing she hadn't had enough time. Draco Malfoy was standing there, he hadn't been in his room all this time and he was clearly surprised to see her standing there waiting for him. He looked at her face and could see the pain and was dreading what she was clearly there to talk to him about. "What are you doing here?"
Hermione gulped, she clearly wasn't ready for this. How could she have risked her life so many times in the years she had been at Hogwarts, ran for her life for a year with Harry and Ron, and battled in a war but couldn't stand there to tell someone how she felt.
"I needed to talk to you." answered Hermione, but Draco didn't move any closer. "Maybe right now isn't a right time." she noticed the distance and she didn't like it, and feel her eyes burning. she couldn't believe she was acting like this because she had never had been like this over someone before. She turned her heel and decided to quickly walk away, unable to handle seeing his face anymore. She could see through his eyes and it was like he was looking right through her.
"Wait!" said Draco, when Hermione began to walk away but she didn't listen and continued walking, her pace quickening. she made it through a corridor before the tears began to form and began to fall. Her chest tight like she needed to keep her arms wrapped around herself to help keep herself together. What was she thinking? How could someone that hated muggle-borns for so many years before like her? The very one that had teased and made fun of her for many years before; why would she even think the feelings she had be returned by that boy?
She didn't have time to answer herself when arms grabbed hers and made her turn her around. She leaned against the wall to see that it had been Draco to grab her and stop her from running away from him. She had been so caught in her own thoughts racing through her mind she hadn't heard the calls out from him and his foot steps getting closer to her as she went.
"Why are you running away?" asked Draco, letting go of her after she stopped moving.
"Why?! Isn't it obvious? I can't even find the courage to talk to you about what I need to talk to you about."
"Well, spit it out so we can be on our way."
Whatever response she had thought he was going to say, wasn't that remark. She looked taken back as she narrowed her eyes at him, surprised.
"Excuse me?" snapped Hermione, getting angry that he would talk to her this way.
"What would you need to tell me? You told that you needed to tell Potter and Weasley about us and with the look on your face you told them. I'm assuming it didn't go well so here we are about to have a conversation we can no longer be friends anymore."
Hermione gaped at him, surprised that he would seem so angry over that if that been the reason why she was standing there. Would that have been an easier conversation the for her to stand there and admit to her feelings? The lump in her throat was coming by and the tears stung her eyes.
"Why are you crying?" he asked, as the tears fell down her cheeks.
She tried to wipe them herself, but his hands stopped her as his thumb brushed against her cheeks and wiped the lingering tear away.
"That has nothing to do with why I was waiting for you to talk with you. I haven't even said anything to them."
"Oh." his tone and expression suddenly softening. "The way you're acting I thought you were coming to tell me we couldn't be friends with me anymore."
"It might still be over."
"Now you're confusing me. Why are you saying that? If they haven't been told yet why would you still say something like that?"
"Draco, I can't figure out what we have. What this has turned into in the past few months. We are almost in December and this has been going on since the start of term and I can't help but to think its something more."
"You think we have something more then just a friendship?" he moved closer to her, and she backed away from him, her back hitting the wall.
"No, I don't think we do because nothing has happened." she paused, not able to look at him anymore. "Which is why I was there to talk to you but somewhere from the Gryffindor common room to your portrait I lost my courage to tell you."
"Tell me what?" he asked, waiting for Hermione to tell him. Tell him something he had wished he had been able to tell her, something he had been waiting for her to say. Now, he was getting impatient with the witch, the procrastination she was creating. "Tell me what, Hermione?!"
"To tell you that what ever this is between us, I have feelings that shouldn't be there! Feelings that I can't get away. I can't think, I can't eat. I can't even talk to my best friends about it because I don't even know what to tell them! Do you know how frustrating it is for me to sit there trying to do my homework and I find myself reading the same sentence multiple times because I can't focus?! This has never happened to me. I need to know if there is something more that you feel like I do."
Draco mind and heart was racing so fast he couldn't even think straight. He couldn't find himself to say a sentence to her and reassure her that she wasn't the only one feeling the same feelings.
"So, I can see this is just a one sided thing. Goodbye, Draco." she mumbled and turned to leave. Draco didn't know what else to do and instead, grabbed her and pushed her against the wall lightly, his body coming into hers and closing the gap in between them. one of his hands came up an brushed the hair out of her face while the other cupped her cheek and he stared straight into her brown eyes.
"I've waited for months to hear you say anything like that." he held her gaze, both of them smiling as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
The moment they had been waiting for finally was happening. His lips came against hers, brushing them lightly before completely crashing into hers. It was a moment they had both wanted in a long time, neither wanted to break a part. His soft lips teasing her, as he deepened the kiss and let the tip of his tongue hit her lips asking to be invited it.
"Hermione?!" yelled someone out in the corridor.
Oops. They both had forgotten they had been standing in the middle of a corridor. Luckily for them before it had been completely empty. Not many people were up on the seventh floor, especially since this corridor they stood in was for an empty classroom. When they were interrupted they quickly broke apart, afraid to turn to look who was just calling her.
Harry Potter was walking toward them, with Ginny trailing after him looking completely worried. Harry walked quickly, looking furious as he came closer to Hermione and Draco.
"What is this?!" demanded Harry, his wand out.
"You need to back away, Potter." snapped Draco, putting himself in front of Harry.
"Harry, please, keep your voice down." said Ginny, looking more apologetic then she had ever in her life. Hermione stood motionless, this was not how he was supposed to find out.
"Keep my voice down? Are you kidding? Were you snogging him?! What has he done to you?"
"Harry, what are you talking about? He has done nothing to me."
He threw his hands up in the air, "Done nothing to you? How long has this been going on?"
Hermione glanced to Ginny, who stood behind Harry and shook her head.
"Potter, I think you need to walk away before you cause a problem for yourself." said Draco, not moving from his spot that was between Harry and Hermione.
"No, I don't think I will. This is my best friend and I'm not going to let this happen."
"Harry, you don't even know what has been going on. He's done nothing wrong, Harry. Really, please just listen. I wanted to tell you, I just didn't know how." she looked to Ginny, hoping for some reassurance, but there was none.
"Did you know about this?" asked Harry, turning to Ginny.
"Don't you dare, get mad at her over this, Harry. I begged for her to not tell you because it wasn't her place to tell you. It was mine, she was going to tell you and I wouldn't let her. I kept telling her I was going to tell you but kept putting it off because I knew you were going to act like this."
"Will someone please tell me what is going on then?" he snapped.
"At the beginning of the term I asked Hermione to be my friend. I wanted forgiveness for everything that had happened."
"Beginning of term? You apologized for everything you have ever done to her? Do you know exactly what you had done? What your family had done to us?" he spat at Draco like he was vermin.
"As Hermione reminded me so dearly. Yes, I did apologize. Are you happy to hear that?" Hermione could see the tension building in Draco, his arms tensing and the anger building.
"Draco, you don't need to explain. Calm down." she held his arm to reassure him as she looked at him and he looked back to her as he calmed down. Hermione broke his gaze to look at Harry as she continued the story.
"He wanted to start over and he came to me to help. I wanted to turn him down at first, I really did but after what he explained to me.. I just couldn't. I wanted to try to help him. I wanted him to be better. Which he has. Every day he shows me how much he has changed. Harry, please. You have to trust me when I say he isn't who we thought he was."
"I don't understand any of this." said Harry, putting his wand back in his robes.
"We have been meeting since the start of term. Studying in the library together, talking walks together. We didn't do it so out in the public because of your type of reaction. Harry, I can't help the way I feel anymore. I tried to block it away but I can't anymore."
"What about Ron?"
"Ron has to move on. I told him already that those feelings are not there for me. How do you expect me to be with someone when I have feelings for someone else?"
"Potter, I have changed. Would I be standing here letting you continuously insult me and act as if I weren't here if that weren't true? I don't need to explain myself to you. " his fists balled up at his sides, as he tried to contain the anger that was rising inside him. "Hermione and me have an understanding of each other. I know how she felt when we began our friendship and she understood where I was coming from. It's not my fault that you didn't notice something was going on with her all term."
"Draco." snapped Hermione, "That's not going to help."
"You're right, I didn't notice because I didn't think Hermione would lie to me."
"Harry, I really think that is enough." said Ginny, finally speaking after standing there in silence. "This is exactly why she kept this from you. As much as I wanted and asked her to tell you sooner this is why she couldn't find the strength to tell you. You need to look at this and realize this as a way to move forward from all that has happened. He isn't the bad guy here." she glanced at Hermione, "For once."
"Draco, maybe you should go." mumbled Hermione, seeing that this wasn't going to go anywhere for now. She didn't want to cause a scene in the middle of the corridor and bring other students up to where they were. They had somehow managed to not be spotted from anyone else and she wanted to keep it that way.
"No-" began Draco, but Hermione cut him off.
"Draco, please." begged Hermione. "I will find you later." her eyes were begging, she knew she needed to talk to Harry alone, without the presence of him making this worse for Harry. She needed to tell him everything without Draco interfering and irritating Harry more.
"All right, all right. I'll wait in my room." he didn't look back to Harry and Ginny, standing there waiting for him to disappear. Instead he took one look at Hermione before grabbing her again and his lips coming to hers. Her heart began to race, and she could only imagine the look at Harry's face watching them kiss. He didn't hold the kiss for long and then with a hand squeeze he quickly walked away down the corridor and disappeared around the corner.
"What in the hell are you thinking?" demanded Harry, as soon as Draco was out of sight and he turned to look at Ginny. "If you knew about this how did you not try to stop it?"
Ginny gaped as she looked at her boyfriend. "You really wanted me to try to stop my best friend from being happy? Honestly, I thought you knew me better and I knew you better." she said sadly. Which made Harry stop everything he was thinking to look at Hermione. She stood there silently, unsure if there were anything that could make this better. He was right, it was Draco Malfoy after all.
"This is all real?"
"It wasn't supposed to be like this, Harry. I promise. He came to me at the start of term basically begging for a friendship. He wanted to make better for everything he had done. Everything he had ever said to me that he shouldn't have, the name calling. What happened at the Manor. Do you know what he told me? He tried to prolong that night, hoping that if he kept denying who we were we would somehow escape. It was the only way he could think of to help us get out of there, without getting us killed along himself. That's the truth, I believe everything he has told me."
"She fought with herself for a long time, trying to denying all of this." said Ginny, trying to help Hermione soften the blow.
"I don't want to lose you, Harry. You're my best friend and we've been through so much for it to be thrown away over something like this. You of all people should know that you cant suppress your feelings. I tried too, all we did most the time was meet in the libraray and studied together, we took walks and that's it."
Harry knew she was right, as much as he hated that nasty ferret. "Do you love him?" he asked, trying to hide the any form of disgust he was still feeling. Ginny raised her eyebrows at Hermione, knowing she was just battling herself over this question with her an hour before in the tower.
"Harry-" said Hermione, not wanting to answer the question.
"Tell me the truth, Hermione." this time, she didn't hesitate to answer.
"Yes, I think I do." Harry sighed, not knowing what else he could say. If there were only one thing he knew about Hermione, it was once her mind was made, it was nearly impossible to change it.
"Don't expect me to be best friends with him." smirked Harry, pulling Hermione into a hug. "What about Ron though? You know he's not going to take this as lightly as I seem to be right now."
"One day at a time." mumbled Hermione, hugging him tighter.
Hermione found her self pacing once again in front of Draco's portrait. She was surprised by now that she hadn't been spotted by Blaise, but Draco was right it seemed that he nearly never was in their room unless it was when he was headed for bed. She was nervous now seeing Draco again. After the heated moment they had between each other, then after they were found by Harry and Ginny. Now what did they do? Ron still needed to be told and she needed to be the one to tell him before he found out by other students spotting them in the corridors.
After holding her hand up to the portrait for nearly a moment, fighting with herself to just walk away to convince herself she was crazy, there was some twist she was missing. Now she didn't care, she knocked on the portrait, and it only took Draco moments before he had the portrait door opened.
He didn't look good. He had a bewildered look on his face as if he was ready for anything thrown at him.
"What took so long? I was about to come find you myself." he snapped, pulling her into his common room.
"Everything is fine, will you calm down? Lets sit down." said Hermione, taking his hand to walk with her to the couch. "Is Blaise here?" she asked looking around, not spotting the other boy.
"No, he's never in here. He's out somewhere else." he watched Hermione closely, waiting for her to begin what ever it was that happened between Harry and her after she left. "Are we just going to sit here? Tell me what happened."
"I still need to tell Ron. I told Harry about everything between us, how it started and how I felt. It's not easy talking to someone who is so hard headed as him. Trying to reason to him."
"What did he say to finish it?" asked Draco, moving on the couch, closer to Hermione.
"'Don't expect me to be best friends with him'" she said, attempting her best impression of Harry. Draco rolled his eyes.
"I wouldn't dream of it." she laughed, knowing that if the two of them could become what they were now, there could still be hopes that one day Harry and him could become friends too.
"Hermione, why are you crying again?" asked Draco, staring at her surprised. She rubbed her eyes, and shook her head as if she wasn't entirely sure why she was. "What did you tell Harry of how you felt?"
"He just asked me a question is all, and I told him what I thought was the truth." he looked at her, waiting for her to tell more.
"All right, and? What was the question and answer?"
"He asked if I loved you." she said, nearly whispering. Staring right at him as she spoke. He didn't blink or move from his spot. Instead her stared right at her, his eyes pouring into hers, as she could see him taking a deep breath as the gulp went down his throat.
"What did you say?" he asked after a moment, and he spoke so softly if she hadn't been watching him so closely she wouldn't have known he spoke.
"Yes, I believe so."
He moved so fast, she didn't even have a moment to respond. He came across the couch, closing the gap they had between them moments before. His eyes hungry, as his lips came upon hers. She let her senses take over, as she pulled herself across his lap and sat there, wrapping her legs around him. He kissed her lips, her chin, down her neck and she arched her head back and let him take over. Her skirt wrapped around them, the thin material making her be able to feel everything as his area hardened in his trousers.
"Draco." moaned Hermione as his lips came back up her neck and found her lips.
"Shh." he whispered in her lips, kissing them lightly as he hugged on her tightly."
"No, stop." he stopped kissing her and looked at her in alarm.
"What, whats the matter?" he said, not wanting to go over the line with her if she wasn't ready.
"We can't do this on the couch."
"Oh, do you want to go to my bedroom? Or the bathroom?" he smirked, pointing to the door. "We have a nice large tub in there.. I do recall a dream you told me you had." she smacked him in the arm as she pulled herself off him. She watched as he adjusted himself, and turned to look at her.
"I was only kidding, I'm sorry." he rested his hand on the side of his head and Hermione couldn't help but to just stare at him. He looked so perfect, his eyes shimmering at her, his lips curved in a smile and his skin nearly glowing. It was the first time he had ever looked truly happy. She squirmed inside, knowing that she was the reason. He was happy because of her.
"I know, I just don't know what I'm doing." answered Hermione, finally.
"What do you mean? About what?" She rubbed her temples and sighed, why was she so embarrassed over this?
"This!" she threw her hands up between the two of them, in meaning of what they were just doing moments before and it took Draco a few moments to catch on to what she meant.
"What-Oh." he looked around the room scratching his chin as if he weren't sure what to say. "That's all right. You don't have to be embarrassed over it. Everyone starts somewhere, Hermione. You have nothing to worry about."
"What if I'm not any good at it?" she said out loud, before she could stop herself from asking such an embarrassing question. Then Draco did it, he made the situation worse for her, he began laughing and Hermione stared at him in disbelief nearly wanting to leave the room and him behind in it.
"What?! That's what you're worried about? You're perfect at everything, I'm positive you have nothing to worry about." he pulled her closer, holding her so she couldn't leave him as if he knew exactly what she had just been thinking.
"Not at everything." but he didn't care, she was perfect in his eyes in everywhere. Nothing could change that.
"Come on," he said standing up and putting his hand out for her to take it.
"What are we doing?"
"Do you want to go to my bedroom?" he kept his hand out, growing afraid she wasn't going to take it. She didn't say anything as she reached for it and followed him into his room and he shut the door once they both were in there.
a/n: ohhhh the anticipation oh gosh! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it may seem a bit sloppy. I wanted to get another chapter up since its been a bit of time since the last one was posted. Please leave a review!