Disclaimer: This should be obvious by now, I am not JK Rowling, I do not own Harry Potter. I am just an HP fanatic who loves to write fanfictions about the most unlikely of pairings
A/N: I know it seems like I disappeared off the face of the planet, but I assure you that I'm still here. I am terribly sorry it took me so long to update, but the film I was producing took over my life last month, and I hardly had time for my other school work let alone to update my fanfics. However, I am happy to say that shooting went well, and so now I have more time to focus on my fics. Thank you all so much for sticking with me, you have no idea how much I appreciate it! I'm sorry For not sending individual shout outs for everyone who reviewed last chapter, but I have an essay that should have been done weeks ago that I am putting off in order to post this chapter for you all, so I hope you'll forgive me. Anyway to all who reviewed chapter four thank you very much, I really do love reading your thoughts on my work.
Chapter 5: Missions for the Order
The next morning, Hermione awoke feeling anxious and jittery. She got up and conjured herself a bowl of oatmeal, which she ate without tasting until Harry and Ron trampled downstairs. There was a heavy silence in the usually cozy kitchen as Harry and Ron prepared their breakfasts and Hermione sat at the table. All three of them seemed to have a lot on their minds and as a result, conversation was scarce.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, the post arrived. In addition to the usual Daily Prophet, a letter arrived; though it was not delivered the usual way via owl. This letter was delivered by a burst of flame which ignited in midair and left the letter floating gently down to the center of the table.
"Fawkes," exclaimed Harry as he lunged for the letter, reaching it only just before Ron.
Hermione lowered the paper she had been reading and stared at Harry as he read the note to Dumbledore. "Well," she urged, "what is it Harry?"
Harry glanced up, his expression thoroughly disappointed, before he read the letter aloud to Hermione and Ron.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione,
Be back at the Headquarters promptly at 4pm this afternoon to receive your assignments.
A. Dumbledore
"That's it?" Hermione tore the note from Harry's fingers to read it herself. "No explanation or anything?"
"That's it" confirmed Harry.
"Well that was quick," remarked Ron, "I wonder what he's having us do."
Hermione dropped the letter on the table and let out an internal groan. She of course would never dream of skiving off an important meeting with Dumbledore such as this, but she knew Draco was going to be pissed when she owled him to cancel their date for the afternoon. She wasn't too pleased with the situation either, but at least she knew that she had a very good reason for missing him. He on the other hand could have no idea what she was doing. With a roll of her eyes, she pushed herself none too gently away from the table.
The boys noticed the frustration in Hermione's action and Harry was the first to speak up about it, "everything alright?"
"Bloody fantastic," Hermione replied with a sarcastic tone, "I just have to owl Draco, I had promised him that I'd meet up with him after training this afternoon.
"What are you going to tell him?" Harry asked. He knew his friend wasn't stupid enough to betray the Order's secrets, but he needed to double check just to make sure.
"That something that I couldn't miss came up I guess. What else can I tell him? But I can tell you right now, it won't be easy hiding this from him, he's not an idiot and you both know he gets suspicious quickly."
"We'll help you figure out what to tell him Hermione, and whatever story you have to com up with you know we'll back you up one hundred percent," assured Harry.
"Absolutely," nodded Ron in agreement.
"Thanks guys, I'll be back in a minute." Hermione turned to go, but then turned back just as quickly. "Harry, do you mind if I borrow Hedwig?"
"Not at all, she'd probably napping in my room."
"Great, thanks."
Few minutes later, Hermione returned to the kitchen and the three of them apparated to the Ministry. They walked into the conference room just as the clock struck 9:00am. They all sat down and Hermione began to unpack her writing supplies when Kingsley spoke.
"Don't unpack your things just yet," he instructed.
Hermione had been in the middle of unscrewing her ink bottle top when she stopped and slowly retightened it. The five trainees viewed Kingsley with curious expressions.
"You will need to take notes later, however we will not be holding this morning's training session here. Today we are to learn about some of the various Dark Detectors the Ministry aurors have at their disposal to aid in the detection and capture of Dark witches and wizards."
Hermione appeared indifferent to this announcement. She had already read all about Dark Detectors in detail, and while that normally wouldn't have affected her interest in the lesson, today she simply had other things on her mind, such as their meeting with Dumbledore that afternoon, and even more pressing in her opinion was her get together with Draco afterwards. Harry also looked rather indifferent, bordering on bored. After all, he had already been exposed to many sorts of Dark Detectors back in his fourth year at Hogwarts when he had visited the imposter Moody's office. Ron, Michael and Toby on the other hand all looked rather excited at the prospect of seeing the tools they were to be using eventually.
Hermione fell to the back of the group as Kingsley led them to the floor which housed the Ministry's stock of Dark Detectors. In her mind she was contemplating what excuse to use when she saw Draco. But no matter what she came up with she did not feel that she would be able to back it up convincingly. He was just as sharp at reading her as she was at reading him so whatever she came up with had to be as believable as possible. Unfortunately, her musings were interrupted by the very unwelcome voice of Michael.
"Someone looks worn out this morning," he began in a rather rude, almost accusing manner, "not very thoughtful of your boyfriend to keep you up all night is it? Especially when, unlike him you actually have important things to do in the morning and can't sleep all day."
Hermione scoffed, "you don't know what the fuck your talking about. Draco did not keep me up all night, and Harry and Ron can vouch for me." With that she stuck her nose up in the air and charged forward to the front of the group so that Harry, Ron and Toby were between her and Michael.
Harry and Ron, who had been eavesdropping on the conversation, sent each other a look. While they still could not stand Hermione's choice in a boyfriend, they were not about to let anyone speak to her in such a manner because of him. As if by silent agreement, Ron moved forward and placed his arm, in a comforting gesture around Hermione's shoulders while Harry slowed his pace until he was next to Michael.
"Just ignore him Hermione," whispered Ron so that Kingsley wouldn't hear.
"That's what I've been doing since training began. I thought he'd stop after Draco returned, but obviously I was wrong. Right now I'd just love to slap him right across the face."
"Are you sure you want to do that Hermione?" Ron asked with a mischievous grin. "Because the last guy you slapped is now your boyfriend."
This had just the effect Ron had been hoping for, Hermione's face broke into a grin and she laughed. "You're right," she agreed, "perhaps I should punch him in the stomach instead."
"That could work," Ron said in a thoughtful, yet joking way as he dropped his arm from her shoulders back to his side.
Meanwhile at the back of the group, Harry was walking next to Michael with a stern expression on his face. "look mate" he muttered sarcastically, "If you don't stop annoyring Hermione about Malfoy then in addition to dealing with both her and Malfoy, you're going to have to answer to me and Ron as well. Because we're tired of seeing you harass our best friend like you are."
"What do you care?" spat Michael, "you don't even like Malfoy. Besides don't you think that she deserved someone better that that lowly Death Eater scum?"
Harry glared at Michael but his words had caused a startling revelation within Harry. His first inclination had been to say yes, she did deserve better. But then in a flash he thought of all the things Malfoy had done for Hermione. Harry had on more than one occasion been shocked at how well Malfoy knew Hermione and what he did for her. A frightening thought then entered Harry's brain, one which literally caused him to stop dead in his tracks; there was no one who was better for Hermione. Sure, despite what Malfoy may think of himself he was far from perfect, but then again so was everyone in one way or another. And it didn't matter what Harry, or Ron, or anyone thought of Malfoy as long as he and Hermione loved each other.
Suddenly Harry found himself defending Malfoy for Hermione's sake, "Hermione loves him, end of story. Besides, he obviously respects her much more than you do! So like I said, leave her alone, or deal with three really annoyed people, and one pissed off Malfoy." Harry stomped forward to join Hermione and Ron, leaving Michael scowling at their backs.
- - - - - - - - - -
Draco stirred from sleep to wakefulness because of an incessant tapping sound. He strode over to the window where the sound was coming from and allowed the snowy owl, Potter's owl, inside. Hedwig flew in and landed on the back of a chair which was closest to the window. She held out her leg in a grudging manner, as if she would rather be anywhere other than where she was.
Draco meanwhile, scowled at the owl and took his time uniting the letter, simply to further piss the bloody bird off. When he finally removed the letter completely, Hedwig flew off, her wing hitting Draco in the face. "Bloody owl!" Draco called after her as he closed the window. He opened the letter and was unsurprised to see Hermione's handwriting, however though it was recognizable; this was not her usual perfect handwriting. It almost seemed as if her hand had been shaking when she wrote the note, for the letters were jumpy and messy compared to her usual standards. This observation did not bode well in Draco, so it was with much reluctance that he read the brief note's contents.
Draco,
It was so great seeing you again last night, and I wish more than anything that I didn't have to do this right now. But I have to cancel our plans for this afternoon, something came up that I can't miss. I'm so sorry and I promise that I will come over as soon as I can.
All My Love,
Hermione
Draco's initial reaction was of course that of anger. 'How can she cancel on me like that without any sort of explanation?' he raged to himself as he read the letter a second time and began stomping around his room. But upon rereading the letter, his anger quickly faded into concern. Why was her handwriting all messy, she couldn't have been in trouble could she? 'No' he answered himself, 'If that were the case, she would have told me what was wrong.'
The more he considered it, the more his thoughts slipped from concern into suspicion. That was not like Hermione, to cancel without providing a good reason that sounded more like something he would do. Something he would do if he had something to hide. Why would Hermione have anything to hide, and what could it possibly be to have occurred so suddenly?
Draco's mind was suddenly bombarded with conflicting thoughts as to what he should do, how he should feel, and what he should say to her in his reply. Had she been anyone else, the answers would have been simple; he would accuse her of hiding something and demand the truth. But the plain fact was that Draco did not want to be mad at Hermione. He had missed her far too much and had gone far too long without seeing her to allow one suspicious letter to ruin everything.
'Besides' he added to himself, 'she's never given me a reason not to trust her, and if she were really hiding something, then she would have known about it before this morning anyway so she wouldn't have made plans to begin with.' Judging by the untidy handwriting and by what she had said, whatever it was that she had to do had come as much of a surprise to her as it was to him. 'I have nothing to worry about' he convinced himself, though he was only partially successful, 'she'd never hide anything important from me. I'm sure she'll tell me all about it later anyway.'
Draco changed into his robes before setting down to write a response to Hermione. He didn't want to come off as angry, but since a part of him still was a little mad he needed the time to plan out what he was going to write.
Once he felt calm enough, he sat down at the desk in his room, pulled out a piece of parchment, and loaded a quill with ink and penned a response to Hermione. He wasn't in a rush to send Aries off with it because he knew that Aries wouldn't be able to deliver it until Hermione went on her lunch break. Draco folded and addressed the note, and then casually strode through the Manor to the breakfast room where Mimi was waiting.
"Master Draco!" she bowed low, "Good morning sir. What is you wanting for breakfast?"
"Just the usual Mimi," Draco sighed with a distracted wave of his hand, not even glancing at the elf.
Draco took his time eating a rather large breakfast, and once he was finished, he wandered outside to the owlry to give Aries the note for Hermione. Aries was lounging on his perch, appearing as if he had just been drifting off to sleep. Whether he rather would have been sleeping or not, he did not let on as he swooped gracefully down to Draco's shoulder.
"Hey, Draco stroked Aries' feathers before tying the note to the owl's outstretched leg. "Deliver this to Hermione. You won't be able to bring it to her in her class, so just wait until they break for lunch alright. If she looks like she's going to respond, then wait until she's finished, otherwise you can come back here for a long nap and a pile of owl treats."
Aries, who had seemed annoyed at the thought of sitting around and waiting to make his delivery, perked right up at the mention of sleep and treats. He gave Draco an affectionate nip on the ear and took off with an air of grace that only a Malfoy owl could attain.
Draco watched his owl shrink smaller and smaller into the distance. He found that he was hoping for a response from Hermione, any explanation would do and help relieve him of his suspicious thoughts. He did his best to shake them from his mind, but he couldn't help it, it was in his nature to be suspicious.
As he was standing there, pondering his thoughts a figure loomed towards him in the sky, but Draco did not fully notice it until it was close enough to be recognized. Narcissa's owl was flying directly towards him. The owl landed gently on his shoulder and held it's leg out with an air of impatience.
Draco,
How are you? Who knows when and where Ebony will find you since you don't see fit to write your own mother to inform her of your travel details. I hope your lack of communication means you are busy and enjoying yourself.
I wanted to tell you that I will be residing in France for a while longer, I just love this country so much it'd be a shame to leave. I just wanted to tell you in case you were home and were wondering where I was. Or if you are still traveling, you might decide to visit your mother for a while.
Write back, and let me know what you have been up to. I am your mother after all, I have a right to know what my son is doing.
Love,
Narcissa.
Draco rolled his eyes and chuckled at his mother's haughty humor. He knew she was not actually angry with him that was just how she was. He did feel a slight twinge of guilt at the fact that he had completely forgotten to write her once since he'd left, he supposed he should be a good son and grant her request for a response.
Draco stalked back into the Manor, Ebony still settled on his shoulder. He sat at a desk in the closest room to pen his letter.
Mother,
I am happy to hear that you are enjoying France so much, although I can't understand what about it draws your attention. I am back at the Manor, but I did have a good time traveling. I went to our place in Italy, and then I went down to Australia. It's magnificent down there Mother; I am planning on purchasing another vacation home so I can visit more often. I just got back home, so I'm still looking for something to do other than rot in the Manor all day. I'll probably go flying once I send this, but other than that I'm rather bored to be honest.
Have fun in France.
Draco
"Return this to Narcissa," Draco ordered Ebony as he tied the letter to the owl's leg.
Draco carried the owl over to the window where it took off without so much as a hoot, not that Draco cared, Ebony had never seemed to enjoy delivering letters. Draco thought that was because Narcissa spoiled her owl too much, not that he cared.
With his letter sent and an entire day ahead of him to waste, Draco made his way to the back of the Manor, where the smallest room in the whole house was. This room was where Draco kept all his quidditch gear, Narcissa kept her gardening supplies (not that she ever used it, it was more for looks than anything else), and any other outdoor things they owned. Draco lifted his broom off of the display shelf on which it sat when it was not in use. His Nimbus 2001 was no longer the fastest broom on the market by any means, it had long been surpassed by the firebolt and others, but it was his and he enjoyed flying it nonetheless. After double checking that his broom was picture perfect, he carried it over to the crate of quidditch balls. He had a complete set, however since he had no one to fly with, he only removed the snitch.
Once outside, Draco released the snitch and watched it fly around a bit before it disappeared in the golden light of the sun. There was a steady breeze which might have been chilly to some, but to Draco it was perfect flying weather. He mounted his broom and with a firm push, kicked off into the sky. He took a speedy lap around the entire Manor before beginning his search for the snitch.
With the exception of a short break for lunch (which Mimi insisted that Draco take) he spent the entire morning and afternoon flying. Sometimes he would search for the snitch, other times he would just fly around for the sake of flying.
Finally, when the sun had set below the horizon, Mimi came racing outside and squeaking to Draco, "Master Draco you is flying too late! It is dark and you is going to get hurt if you is staying outside! And Mimi is preparing you dinner for you sir, it is ready and is getting cold!"
Draco rolled his eyes and accioed the snitch to him, "Very well, Mimi, I'm coming!" he called from the air. While he was annoyed at Mimi for attempting to order him around, he had to admit that it was getting a bit late for flying, and he hadn't even realized how dark it was. He landed just outside the back entrance to the Manor and deposited the snitch and his broom back to the proper places before heading inside for his dinner.
- - - - - - - - - -
The trainees spent the morning learning about the various Dark Detectors the Ministry had. Kingsley had held the lesson in a huge room; one wall was completely lined with shelves which held sneakoscopes, the Ministry's entire collection of Veritaserum, which Hermione thought was awfully small, and secrecy sensors. A closet, which extended from the main room, was filled with foe-glasses of various sizes and sensitivities. Finally, a second room, which linked to the main room, was filled with filing cabinets documenting various Auror missions in which the Ministry's dark detectors had been used.
Hermione had put he thoughts about Draco to the back of her mind during the training session mostly because she couldn't think of any good ideas anyway. She walked ahead of the rest of the group in order to stay away from Michael as they all crossed the lobby in the direction of the Ministry restaurant, but as she passed the fountain something happened to return her thoughts about the upcoming afternoon full force. An owl hooted and before Hermione had the chance to look up, it landed on her shoulder.
Hermione let out a small shriek of surprise, causing the boys behind her to laugh. She sent them a glare and then continued walking. "So Aries, what did Draco have to say? Was he mad?"
Aries simply looked at her, providing absolutely no answers. Hermione arrived in the restaurant and seated herself in a table for two, she did not feel like eating with the others this afternoon, plus she needed time to read Draco's letter without being disturbed.
Hermione,
I can't pretend that I'm not disappointed about you canceling our plans for this afternoon.
"Aww, what's the matter? Trouble in Paradise Hermione?" Hermione had not noticed that Michael had snuck up behind her to read Draco's letter. In a flash, Hermione hid the letter and leapt out of her chair.
"Do you mind?" she spat at him.
"Not at all," he remarked with a false smile, "so, you and Drakie have a fight last night or something? Is that why you looked so exhausted this morning?"
"No, Draco and I had a wonderful night, not that it's any of your business."
"Sure, that's why you canceling on him tonight then right?"
"No, for your information I forgot about plans I already had this afternoon. But not only will I be seeing Draco tonight, I'm planning on spending the whole night with him!"
Michael looked furious, but he could not seem to come up with an adequate retort, so instead he stalked away.
Hermione meanwhile sat back down to finish reading Draco's letter.
I'm sure you have a good reason for your letter. So I still look forward to seeing you whenever you're done. I hope that everything's alright, your handwriting seemed a bit shaky before. See you tonight.
Love,
Draco
Hermione let out a relieved breath. He didn't seem mad, certainly not as mad as she anticipated he would be. And while she still did not have a real excuse, her confrontation with Michael had given her an idea of something that might distract Draco enough to avoid the question. A part of her felt guilty for deceiving Draco in such a manner, but it was the easiest way to avoid problems, so it had to be done. As Hermione was thinking, Aries seemed to decide that he had stayed long enough, so he gently nipped her ear and took off with an elegant swish of his wings.
After watching the eagle owl fly away, Hermione sped through her meal and returned to the regular conference room where Kingsley would be holding the rest of the day's session. "Finished with lunch already?" Kingsley asked as she walked in.
"Yeah," Hermione felt a tad awkward not knowing what to say.
"Where are the others?"
"Oh they're still eating, I ate alone today. I guess I just needed a break from boys," Hermione shrugged.
Kingsley let out a deep chuckle, "I'm sure to a young woman as ambitious and hard-working as you a group of guys such as them can become a bit annoying."
"I'll say," Hermione agreed with a smile.
"Well, you won't have to spend as much time with all of them anymore, when they return I am going to be assigning you all to your mentors."
"Mentors?"
"Yes, you are each going to be paired with an Auror who will instruct and guide you, a sort of on-the-job training if you will."
"Really? That's so exciting!"
"Yes, we feel it's best to give you a taste of what an Auror does day to day as soon as possible so you can be fully prepared, it's not all chasing dark wizards. That is a large part of it, but there is also a boring part to the job, which is of course what you will all begin learning."
Hermione laughed, "of course, well it's important to learn about the whole job and not just the exciting part of it I suppose."
"Exactly."
"If I may, who will I be paired with?"
"Actually, you are being paired with me."
"Oh, excellent," Hermione said with more than a hint of surprise.
"Yes, and Ron will be with Tonks, and Harry will be with Moody, although we will tell the class he is being paired with someone else since Alastor is technically retired."
"So you wanted us to be paired with Order members," reasoned Hermione in a voice hardly above a whisper.
"Best not talk about that here Hermione, what's the first rule we learn as an auror?"
"One can never be too careful," Hermione recited promptly.
Kingsley nodded, and it was clear that the conversation was over.
- - - - - - - - - -
Hermione Harry and Ron rushed out of class and apparated back to Grimmauld Place, Kingsley had held Harry back to inform him of his real mentor partner, so they were running a bit late. The house was still empty when they arrived, so they all stood around looking at each other. "So what'd you guys think about our mentor pairings?" Ron broke the silence.
Harry shrugged, "it's nice that they paired us all with Order members I guess."
"Yeah," agreed Ron, "you know what that means don't you? It means we're going to be going on actual missions not just doing stupid paperwork like Toby and Mike."
Hermione snorted, "or maybe we're paired with Order members to prevent us from doing just that."
"Oh come on Hermione," argued Ron "they know we're perfectly capable of handling ourselves out there."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "even so, they're certainly not going to encourage us recklessly chasing after Death Eaters."
"You are quite right Miss Granger."
The trio whipped around to face Dumbledore, who had somehow arrived without a sound and had apparently been listening to their conversation. "The Auror you have been paired with is who you will report to with you progress on the tasks which I will now assign you.
The three listened with rapt attention; the mood of the room was suddenly completely serious. They were all interested in learning what sort of work they were expected to do for the Order.
"First Harry, you task is additional training. Three times a week one of the Order Members, most likely either Alastor, Remus or myself will come by in the evening to teach you additional highly advanced and complex magic we feel you need to know.
Harry appeared slightly disappointed at first that his task was more lessons, but he understood their importance, and at least it wouldn't be like the occlumency lessons he had taken with Snape back in fifth year. These lessons were sure to be much more useful.
"Hermione," Dumbledore continued, "as you know, it is important for us to ally ourselves with as many groups of magical creatures as possible." Hermione nodded. Dumbledore pulled a roll of parchment out of his robe pocket. "This is a list of the major groups of various types of magical creatures. Next to each group you will find the name of a leader or leading organization. Your task is to get in contact with as many of them as possible to find out where their loyalties lie. If they seem to be on our side let me know and we will go from there. For now, I want you to focus on finding out how best to contact them all."
Hermione took the scroll, feeling as if by accepting it she was placing an unbearable weight on her shoulders. This was quite a large task Dumbledore was placing on her, and of course she was determined to do her best, but still it was quite a but more responsibility that she had anticipated being saddled with for her first Order task.
Once Ron had been given his task and Dumbledore had excused himself, the trio made themselves something for dinner. As if by silent agreement, no one brought up the subject of their Order missions. Instead they discussed trivial things, such as the young blonde receptionist witch that Ron had been fancying for the past few days.
"Why don't you just ask her out Ron?" Hermione asked with a laugh.
"I can't do that! I don't even know her name," he cried.
"Well then, go up to her, introduce herself, ask her for her name, then ask her out."
"You make it sound so easy."
"Hermione magically cleaned her spot at the table, got up and leaned down next to Ron's ear, "that's because it is that easy Ron."
Ron grunted with disbelief.
Hermione jogged up the stairs to her room and place a set of pajamas and robes for the following day in her bag along with her parchment notebook. She then bustled back downstairs and stopped in the kitchen doorway. She cleared her throat, feeling rather awkward about what she was going to tell Harry and Ron.
The two looked dup at her with questioning gazes.
"I just wanted to let you know, I'm going over to Draco's."
"Alright, see you later," waved Harry.
"Actually, I think I might spend the night over there," a deep blush began to form on Hermione's cheeks which she cursed herself for. "Just because I had to cancel on him before and we hardly get to see each other anyway, so…"
"Hermione," interrupted Harry, wanting to think about what Malfoy and Hermione might do all night as little as possible, "it's ok he's your boyfriend we understand, just promise us you talk about him next time we see you."
Hermione laughed, "deal. See you tomorrow guys!"
With that, she skipped out the front door, thought clearly about Draco's Manor With a pop she dissaparated and a moment later had apparated to the front steps of the imposing residence. Forgetting that he might still be mad at her, Hermione felt positively giddy with the anticipation of seeing him again. She knocked on the door with the heavy silver serpent door knocker, and a moment later was greeted at the door by Mimi.
"Miss Hermione!" Mimi bowed and opened the door wide to allow Hermione entrance. "Mimi is so happy to be seeing you again Miss."
"Thank you Mimi, is Draco around?"
"Mimi believes Master Draco is in the shower Miss, Mater spent the whole day flying."
"Oh, well then, do you think you could bring me to his room? I forget how to get there on my own."
"Yes, of course Miss. Is you wanting anything else?"
"No, not right now thanks."
Mimi bowed again and proceeded to lead Hermione through the expansive Manor all the way up to Draco's room. "Thank you so much Mimi."
"You is very welcome Miss. If you is needing anything you call Mimi Miss." Mimi let herself out of the room and Hermione dropped her backpack at the foot of Draco's bed and looked around the room. She was becoming rather giggly because she knew Draco would be surprised, and that excited her.
Hermione could still hear the water running in the shower, so she allowed herself a tour of the balcony, which she truly loved. After a couple minutes, she heard Draco turn off the water, so she rushed back into his room and seated herself on his bed doing her absolute best to suppress the sudden fit of giggles which threatened to overcome her. After taking a very deep breath, she calmed herself down just in time, for Draco was opening the door to the bathroom.
The first thing he saw was Hermione sitting on his bed, and the sight cause him to stop short. "Hermione."
"Evening love," Hermione grinned proud that she had succeeded in surprising him. Much to Hermione's pleasure, he had a towel wrapped tight and low around his waist, displaying his perfect abs, a sight which she was sure to take the time to appreciate. She sauntered towards him, making slow movements so as to take in as much of him as possible.
Draco stepped forward to meet her, and automatically placed his hands on her waist, she could feel the dampness of his wet hands soaking through the fabric of her shirt, "what a pleasant surprise," Draco remarked in a husky whisper as he placed a welcoming kiss firmly on her lips. "I was worried that something was wrong because of your letter this morning."
"I'm glad I could surprise you," Hermione smiled as she placed a second quick kiss back on his lips. Hermione decided to continue before Draco asked any questions she was not prepared to answer. "And nothing was wrong, I just had something to do."
The way Hermione had dodged the question didn't sit well with Draco, and he opened his moth to tell her so, but before he could get a word out she interrupted him, "I was thinking, since we couldn't get together sooner, maybe I would just spend the night."
This also took Draco by surprise, for while he had always hoped Hermione would stay with him, she had always seemed to be against the idea. He still wanted to get a full explanation from her, but perhaps that could wait until morning. She was here now, a fact which he confirmed for himself by holding her tighter, so did it really matter what had kept her away earlier? Draco didn't want to spoil what could potentially be a very enjoyable night, so for once he allowed the issue to slide. "What about training in the morning? Or about what Potter and Weasley?" he questioned in a skeptical tone.
"I'll be fine for training, and I already told Harry and Ron I wouldn't be back, so we have the whole night together, all alone."
Draco pulled her into a longer sensual kiss, "I like alone." And much to both Draco and Hermione's pleasure they did have a very enjoyable night together.
I hope everyone enjoyed that chapter even after the long wait for it. Things are going to start picking up plot wise pretty soon so hopefully that will encourage me to write more and update more frequently. Of course getting reviews doesn't hurt either ;o) Thanks!