Chapter four.
"I am so pleased you two have decided to return to Hogwarts. You are both very bright and I am sure you will manage to catch up with the few weeks you have missed." Professor McGonagall beamed.
"In light of what you have told us about the turn of events though Mr Malfoy, you shall not be staying in the Slytherin Dungeons this year. It would not be safe. Many students from your house have all of a sudden returned in the last two days and not by coincidence I should think." She said pointedly.
Draco hung his head. "They're keeping an eye on me. For my father."
"I thought as much." She said.
"Miss Granger considering your role in the situation I would prefer you stayed far away from Draco, as suspicions may rise and you yourself will be in danger."
"Yes Professor."
"Good. Miss Granger you may leave now. The elves have already taken your possessions to your bedroom. Mr Malfoy, if you will follow me." Professor McGonagall said as she ushered for them to follow.
Hermione walked with them until she reached the turn off for Gryffindor tower and parted from them. Draco looked over his shoulder at the retreating figure of Hermione. He gave her a discreet wave goodbye when she looked back before quickly turning and following their Headmaster up towards his own room. Hermione smiled and continued on her way.
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"Hermione!" Luna Lovegood squealed as she rushed over and embraced her friend.
"Luna! Oh I've missed you!" Hermione gushed.
Ginny raced over and flung her arms around Hermione.
"Oh Hermione it's so good to have you back! Are they okay!? Is Ron and Harry okay?"
"Yes last I heard they were perfectly fine."
Many more Gryffindor's noticed Hermione enter the room and rushed over to talk and welcome her.
"How are they going with the quest Hermione?" Seamus Finnigan asked.
"Are Ron and Harry coming back too Hermione!" Padma Patil squealed.
"No guys. They're not coming back. Only me." Hermione said quietly.
"Oh…" Was all they said as the smile left there faces.
"Oh Hermione it doesn't matter I'm just glad you're back." Luna said hugging her friend once again.
"Thank you Luna." Hermione grinned.
"Hermione!!" Another voice yelled
"Neville! Oh thank Merlin your okay!" Hermione squealed as she rushed over and wrapped her arms around his neck. "When did you get back?"
"This morning. I checked out of St. Mungo's and they told me the safest place for me was Hogwarts. So I packed my bags and headed here." Neville grinned.
"How did you know I was in trouble any way Hermione?" He asked quizzically.
"Dra… I mean Professor McGonagall told me that Malfoy rescued you." Hermione blushed
"Oh yeh…" Neville said. "Bloody amazing isn't it."
Hermione smiled. "I am famished lets go eat. You can tell me all about it then."
Ginny scoffed. "My goodness Hermione who says famished."
Hermione grinned. "I haven't the faintest clue." Was her reply and they exited the common room and headed towards the hall.
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Draco entered the dining hall after settling into his room. He had been told that meals would be brought to him but he preferred to go down with the rest of the students simply so he could see Hermione. He truly had no idea why he even wanted to see her. Just because he didn't really give a shite that she was a mudblood anymore doesn't mean she wasn't an extremely irritating know-it-all. But the truth was there was no-one else here for him. The Slytherin's he hardly believed would welcome him with open arms as they would all know by now about his betrayal. It just seemed so unlikely that he would find a friend in Hermione Granger of all people. It made his head spin just thinking about it. And the fact that he kissed her cheek? Well that was extremely puzzling even to him. He just had an urge to and before he knew it he had kissed her.
As he entered the Great Hall it fell silent as all eyes turned to him. Draco felt alone. The Slytherin's glared as he walked past and the Ravenclaw's looked on in shock. Most of the Gryffindor's eyed him suspiciously, whilst half of them actually smiled at him. Draco walked past where Hermione was sitting and dropped a piece of parchment onto her lap.
Hermione quickly shoved the piece of parchment into her pocket and looked over her shoulder to see Draco sit down at the Slytherin table with obvious caution. Hermione turned back to her meal when all of a sudden she heard uproar from behind her.
"You traitor! Why don't you go join the Gryffinwhores over there!?"
Hermione turned around again to see most of the Slytherin's standing from their seats and shouting profanities at Draco. Many crowded around him and drew their wands.
"You worthless scum! You traitor!" One shouted
"Hex him! Go on hex him already! Said another.
Almost the whole of Gryffindor stood and pointed their wands at the Slytherin's.
"Leave him alone!" Hermione screamed joining the Gryffindors on their front. If there was one thing Gryffindors were it was honourable. Most of them already knew Malfoy had saved their fellow Gryffindor from the clutches of dementors and they may not like Draco very much but he deserved their help.
The Ravenclaw's caught on and joined the Gryffindor's in the stand against the Slytherin's, followed by half of Hufflepuff. The rest stayed seated obviously unaware of what was going on. The Slytherin's wands all turned towards the Gryffindor's apart from the few which stayed threatening Draco.
The headmistress rushed into the room. "Put your wands down this instant!" She screeched and the Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's quickly sat back down ashamed. The Gryffindor's and Slytherin's seemed not to have heard.
"Get up scum!" A Slytherin shouted and grabbed Draco by the collar and threw him to the floor. Draco landed in front of Hermione who quickly lent down to help him up. He pushed her off and sneered. "I can do it myself Granger. Stay away from me." He stared her in the eye and Hermione felt her heart begin to break.
"Everybody drop your wands this instant or face severe consequences!" Professor McGonagall shouted. It echoed around the hall and reverberated off the walls. The Gryffindor's and Slytherin's slowly put their wands away, but continued to glare at each other.
"Mr Malfoy, please retire to your room." She said calmly. Draco stood and walked towards the door, turning only once to look at Hermione. Their eyes locked for only a second before he continued on his way.
Hermione began towards Gryffindor tower along with the rest of the students after an extremely long lecture from the headmistress, when she remembered the note Malfoy had slipped to her.
"I'll catch up with you guys later; I've got things to do." Hermione said and her friends nodded and continued on without her.
Hermione quickly withdrew the parchment from her pocket to reveal a map to Draco's room. There was only one word written beneath the diagram which Hermione assumed was his password.
Hermione ducked between the students and quickly slipped down a long dark corridor. She went up eight flights of moving stairs and continued down a passageway which was lit with flame torches on the walls until she came to a portrait of a man on a white stallion.
"Leaping light" Hermione muttered and the portrait opened. The room she walked into was quite large and contained a living room around a lit fireplace, and a small dining room. She couldn't see Draco so walked through a door on her left which she assumed to be the bedroom.
Draco lay down on his bed feeling terribly guilty about what he had said to Hermione. But he didn't have a choice. If the Slytherin's found out they were friends or that she had saved his life he was certain her life would be in danger. He closed his eyes when he heard the door creak open. Hermione came and lay down on the bed next to him.
"I thought you weren't going to come." Draco said softly without looking at her.
"I wasn't. But… I don't know… I ended up coming anyway." She replied.
"I'm sorry about being mean to you in the Hall. I didn't mean what I said." Draco replied turning and facing Hermione.
"I know Malfoy, it's okay. I was hurt at first but I should be used to it by now." "Granger I just can't have them knowing about us. I don't want you getting hurt." Draco said
"What do you mean us? You used to jump at the chance of having me get hurt." Hermione said turning and facing away from Draco.
Draco frowned at this.
"Hermione I've already told you I don't care about the blood bullshit anymore, so it seems pretty ridiculous to tease you about it. I thought you understood that."
There was silence before Hermione finally turned back around to look at Draco. His silvery eyes were begging for forgiveness.
"Why did you kiss me the other night Draco?"
"That's the first time you've called me Draco." He smirked
"No its not, I called you it last night as well, but fine then don't answer the question." Hermione said angrily and began to get off the bed. Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She landed flush against him, her nose inches from his. She placed her hands against his chest attempting to move just that little bit further away, Draco held onto her tight as he stared into her deep brown eyes.
"I kissed you because I wanted to." He whispered.
Hermione's heart began to race. She felt his hands loosen around her waist as he brought one into her hair. It was a lot softer than he thought it would be as he ran his fingers through her long wavy brown locks. He brought her head in that inch closer, and pressed his lips up against hers. When she didn't resist he deepened the kiss.
Hermione's heart was pounding and she tried hard to concentrate on what she was thinking but found it impossible once she felt his lips against hers. Hermione removed her hands from his chest and cupped his face. Draco's hands traced down her back and underneath her shirt to rest on her lower back. He needed to be close to her. To feel her soft skin.
Hermione felt his warm hands on her lower back and pulled away. 'What was going on?' She thought. Her mind kept pushing her, telling her to leave but her heart was pounding and telling her it was right.
Hermione of course listened to her mind and quickly rolled away from him and got off the bed.
"I'll see you in class tomorrow Malfoy." She said quickly and headed for the door.
Draco smiled at how flustered she was. Knowing that he got to her as much as she did to him.
"Bye Hermione." He said softly as she exited.
She stopped suddenly and looked over her shoulder at the smug Draco on his bed.
She cleared her throat.
"Bye." And with that she closed the door and exited through the portrait.
A/N: Please review. I'm so uncertain about this story right now. I'm not sure where it's going. I have a few things planned for the next couple of chapters but I'm not sure how to get to the finishing point... dear oh dear. xo