CHAPTER 16

The next day passed almost in the same manner. The only difference was that he was home. He behaved normally but kept his distance. The morning peck on the cheeks, small smiles, staring while I was working, all were there. But there was a strange kind of anxious energy around us. I could feel it.

That night after dinner, he wished me good night and retired to the other room. The whole day I had tried to understand the sudden difference, but I really could not find a reason. Last Sunday when I had gone back, I had asked for some time. Ever since Friday night I was giving it my best, yet now he was retreating. It was very frustrating. I grudgingly got into bed, hoping to get a good night's sleep.

Of course that was not to be so. I had dreamt again of the Manor, and as soon as I had woken up, a chill had passed all over my body as it had registered that was exactly where I was now. Almost immediately I found myself being pulled into an embrace.

"Its okay, it's over. No one's going to harm you." I squinted open my eyes to find him whispering. He had pained look on his face that suddenly reminded me of a pale boy from sixth year.

"I'm okay." I whispered back. I really didn't understand how I felt at the exact moment. I wanted to do something to remove that pain from his face, yet I was surprised to find him so expressive. All that I had seen him express was loathing, anger and frustration. Seeing him express so much was very confusing.

"Sleep, I'm here." His voice was really soft. 'Good' I thought. His body felt very warm and comforting, two adjectives that I never would have thought of using for him. But feeling strangely safe in his arms, I fell asleep again.

"Granger, wake up. You need to be back to school." I open my eyes to find him already dressed and leaning over me with a smile on his face. "Wake up, time for school." He pecked me once and grinning walked towards the door. "I'm waiting for you at breakfast."

I took my time to take a bath because I needed time to think. Malfoy was confusing me and I didn't like to be confused. The long bath felt good but that left me with hardly any time for breakfast. I rushed through it, aware of his eyes on me. After I finished, I grabbed my bag and quickly bid him goodbye before stepping into the floo. I wondered if I should have kissed him like he did to me, but then I thought, 'too strange and too awkward.'

I was not the only one who is late that morning. Me and Ginny were almost on our way to the classes when we found Susan walking towards us. She seemed flushed and both of us stared at her wondering what could have happened this early in the morning.

"Hey." She wished us, blushing. That definitely had to mean something.

"We went down to St. Mungo's this morning." She was speaking so softly that we had to almost strain our ears to listen. "I'm pregnant." Shyly she looked up at us through her lashes. The next second Ginny had launched herself on Susan, almost knocking her down.

"Oh my God! I can't believe it." We both had brilliant smiles on our faces. I hugged her and offered my congratulations. Ron was going to be a father. That sounded so strange. He himself was so childlike and now he would have his own baby.

The news was as comforting to me as it is disturbing. A lot of the couples who had been examined had been found to be pregnant. It made me feel uneasy. It made me feel like a clock was ticking and I had not completed my homework, but becoming pregnant too felt strange. Not only that, people conceiving also meant that they have that level of intimacy among them.

I scowled at my food at dinner.

"Hey, are you alright? You have been very quite the entire day." I looked up to find Ginny staring at me. I sighed. I wanted to share what was on my mind, but I really didn't think these things were worth discussing.

"I'm fine, just a little tensed with the classes and all."

"How's Malfoy?" she asked, still staring at me.

"He's fine." I reply, feigning nonchalance.

Ginny stared at me a minute more before shaking her head and turning towards me. "I'm sorry Hermione. I really am sorry. We should have talked more. You are living with Malfoy… it can't be that easy. I should have paid more attention. Ron, Harry, me… we are all so busy with these new things… we should have talked. Hermione you know we care and we can talk about anything. You know, don't you?" she seemed so genuinely upset about it.

"Really Gin, I'm fine." Her talk was only convincing me that my decision that I had come to, may not be so wrong.

"You keep saying that all the time."

"Because it is." I give her a genuine smile. I know my answer did nothing much to convince her, but it did enough to give me the courage to take a step ahead.

I flooed to the Cottage after returning from dinner. Dippy gave me a surprised smile. Obviously, all this time I basically had to be dragged here. Today I was here of my own accord. I found Malfoy sitting at the desk in our bedroom, our bedroom, working on something. Upon hearing the door open, he turned. The surprise was evident. It was just Monday. Sometimes I didn't even end up here on Friday evenings.

"I thought about it." I started before he could ask something and before I lost my nerve or mind about what I was about to say. His puzzled expression clearly stated he did not understand what I was talking about. "You know, about giving it a try. I thought we could start by trying to know each other better." I said, fidgeting a little. That had seemed so sensible when I thought about it the entire day. But now, saying it in front of him, felt kind of stupid.

The smile that crossed his face was really unlike him, but nevertheless it looked good on him and definitely worth it. But that was it. I didn't know what to do next. Apparently I should have thought about it a little more. I always thought about everything beforehand, but where he's concerned, somehow all my conventional methods went down the drain.

"I'll get going then. Good night." I'd rather get out of there instead of feeling awkward. I almost ran to the floo to get back to school. As soon as I stepped out of the grate, I heaved a sigh of relief. But that was pretty pointless as the floo flared again and Malfoy stepped out.

"What are you doing here?" I was trying to avoid the awkward situations, but it seemed like the situations were following me.

"You wanted us to try and know each other." He said smiling and taking a step towards me. "I was thinking I could try to show you something about me." He tentatively stretched his hands out as if to judge if I would allow him to touch me. When I didn't step back, he slowly reached to caress my face with one hand while talking a step forward.

"Do you have your night mares when you are here?" His voice was so soft, that I was sure no one had ever heard him speak like that before.

"Sometimes." I didn't see a reason to lie. He had seen me in those situations too many times now.

"Would you mind if I stay the night?" The question was strange. It truly was, because it felt like we were in a relationship and he was asking permission to spend the night for the first time at my place, with me. Though in some ways it did feel like this cottage was mine and the one at the manor grounds, his.

I smiled at the thought and when I looked at him, I realized it wasn't just me who had felt that about the question. But then when I really tried to assess the question I realized I really didn't know how to feel about it. We had never really slept together, consciously at least, and by that I mean really sleep.

The uneasiness probably was etched on my face because he forced me to look at him. "If you don't want to, it's fine. I'm just saying because I'm worried. Recently it seems like you are having them every day." How did he know that? "I don't want to leave you alone with them. You don't seem to be taking any medication for it, so I'm guessing you didn't see a healer about it. If you don't want me to stay behind then can you please let Dippy stay here?"

Concern, I could see that on his face, in his eyes, in his voice. But that was where I got stuck every time. I did not know if I could believe it. I was trying, and that meant letting him be by my side. So I shook my head, "You won't have problems staying here?" I asked.

"Is that a yes?" That smile, I couldn't help responding to that, wondering why in the world he never thought of being like this forever, because that smile was beautiful. I couldn't possibly describe it in any other word.

The next morning when I woke up, it was to find him staring at me. It was a little unnerving being stared at like that especially while you are sleeping. "Did I scream last night?" I asked, sitting up, trying to break the silence.

"No." He was still staring at me and frankly I thought it was kind of creepy. Probably this was how Harry felt when he was being followed around by Colin…. I shook my head to clear the thought. It really wasn't a good idea dwelling on those memories early in the morning.

"Can you please stop staring like that?" I got up and walked towards the bathroom. I didn't want to be late for classes on a weekday.

He slowly got up and walked up to me, still not taking his eyes off me. "Can I kiss you?"

I turned around sharply, staring at him. I wasn't expecting that.

"Let me kiss you and I'll stop staring. I promise." There, that smirk was back. I felt like stomping on his foot hard and walking off and for a second I thought that probably wouldn't be that bad. So I did just that. I stamped on his foot hard and walked off towards the bathroom to get ready for school. That groan was pure music to my ears. But for that split second that I had before I closed the door, I could see that he was still looking at me and smiling.

He came back every night and every morning started off at the same note. The only difference was that he now knew when I wanted to stomp his feet. So he always managed to step back right at the exact moment. Even though that irritated me, somehow I started expecting the same thing every morning. But Friday morning was different.

Friday morning when I woke up, he wasn't on his side of the bed. He was right there, leaning over me, staring. I huffed. Really, expecting him bickering and staring was one thing, but this was something else.

"Malfoy," I tried feigning a smile, "what are you doing?" I asked in a sugary soft voice.

"Staring of course. Now you'll ask me to stop staring and I'll tell you to let me kiss you. Then you'll try to stomp my foot and walk off towards the bathroom. That was getting monotonous, so I thought I'll try something new today."

I was trapped. He was leaning up on one of his elbow and the other was draped over me. So even though I did not wish to hear his blabbing, I had no way to escape. I glared back to show I was in no mood for silly games.

"Every day I ask if I can kiss you and you refuse me, so I decided to modify my request."

He waited for some kind of response from me. "Okay, what?" he smiled and leaned in a little closer. I drew a sharp breath. We may not be on best of terms but that did not mean that I was immune to his presence.

"Kiss me." I stared straight back at him. The difference in request was clear. He was asking me to kiss him, unlike everyday when he would seek permission to do it himself. "Kiss me Granger, and I'll let you go."

I tried shuffling away once, but that led him to lean in further. I gritted my teeth in frustration. He was not going to let go. I shut my eyes , took a deep breath, leaned up and pecked him once.

"Now, let me go."

"No." I wanted to give him a curt reply, but he bet me to it. "That wasn't even a proper kiss."

That's it, I was about to be late. I shoved him hard and dashed to the bathroom. I didn't even get the chance to step inside when he grabbed me from behind.

"Let me go Malfoy." I tried fidgeting, but he only tightened his hold on me. When did he get this strong?

"I wonder if you are ticklish." And I stopped trying to escape. His voice only a whisper, breathe ghosting over my neck. I could feel him smile. He softly planted a kiss there, "I plan on finding that out tonight." And with that he pushed me towards the bathroom and shut the door himself. "Have a good day Granger."

And another chapter is up. I have a few more chapters jotted down which I'll try to put up before the New Year. My sis is coming with her one year old and the kiddo is a handful, so I guess the updates will be a little irregular come next year. I hope you guys will bear with me.

Love ya!