Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Author's Note: So, I wasn't sure if I wanted to make a cliffhanger or not. I began thinking about how I make lots of twists and turns in my stories, but I couldn't really think of any cliffies in this story. So then I thought, what would be the perfect way to end this? I didn't want to continue writing for a while, and end mediocre. My first thought was to have Harry on the other side of the door, but even I'm not that cruel. My second thought was Draco, and it seems to have worked really well. The cliffhanger did exactly what it was meant to do. Yay. Also, Hermione is very out of character in this chapter, and seems to be for most of the story. I just wanted to warn you, so be prepared.
Chapter Fourteen
After classes, Draco was walking down the corridor to the Head's dormitory. He wasn't in the mood for dinner, and didn't want to deal with anyone. He wanted to talk to Hermione.
He needed to know why she had gotten upset with him so suddenly. He had thought they had ended on a happy note the day before. She had at least been cordial to him that morning, before breakfast. But for some reason, she had been really aloof the rest of the day. He didn't know what he had done, but whatever it was, he wanted to fix it, and fast.
He hadn't even realized that he was passing in front of a closet until it was opened. He looked up uninterested, but this quickly turned to shock and surprise as he saw that it was Hermione and Blaise on the other side.
"Um, hello," he said uncomfortably. They stood in silence for a few more seconds. "I'm gonna...go now." Draco turned on his heel and continued his walk.
Hermione turned to Blaise. "Look, I should probably go talk to him. This must have been a shock."
Blaise reached out and grabbed Hermione's hand. He attempted to pull her to him. "But I thought we were going to go talk." He began kissing her neck again, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Hermione gently untangled herself from Blaise, and grasped his hands. "I don't think the kind of talking you want to do is the same kind of talking that I want to do. And I don't think Draco would appreciate your kind of talking, either."
Blaise smiled and sighed. "Alright. We can talk later." Blaise gave Hermione a final kiss, then walked in the opposite direction, to the Slytherin dungeons.
Hermione watched him walk off, then turned around and hurried to the Head's dormitory. Entering the common room, she saw that it was empty, but could hear Draco moving around in his room. She crossed the common room in long strides, and knocked on his door.
Draco opened said door, wearing only boxers. This threw Hermione off for a second, because he was even hotter without a shirt than when he was wearing one, but she quickly regained her composure.
"Can we talk?" she asked, cocking her head.
Draco gave her a quick once-over, thinking, then held the door open a little wider. Hermione entered the room, and looked around quickly. It was pretty much the same as her room, except for green and silver, and messier. She picked herself across the room, stepping over things, before landing on the bed. She looked around some more, then smiled up at Draco.
"I see the housekeeping classes you took this summer have really helped."
"Yeah, I know," Draco said, following suit and sitting next to Hermione. "I've been...distracted this year. Haven't really had time to clean."
Hermione smiled and scooted to the head of the bed. She leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes. "Your bed feels fabulous, though. Today has just been so tiring, and this is really relaxing."
Draco was a little uncomfortable having Hermione on his bed. Her breathing had slowed, so her chest was moving up and down with each breathe. Her hands were resting on her stomach, her hair splayed out across his pillow. After watching her for a few seconds, Draco joined Hermione at the head of the bed.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Draco asked. When she didn't respond, Draco looked over at her. Her eyes were shut, her face the look of serenity. She was asleep.
Draco got off the bed slowly and walked around to her side. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. He stood up fully and walked to the door.
"Wait," Hermione said. Draco turned around and saw that her eyes were partially open. "Don't leave. Come lay with me."
Draco wasn't sure how smart an idea this was. Obviously Hermione and Blaise were dating, and Draco didn't want to hurt his friend. On the other hand, when would he ever get another opportunity like this? While he was figuring out what to do, Hermione crawled underneath the blanket, and scooted over to make room for him. She looked up at Draco expectantly.
"Well?" she asked, a smirk on her face.
Draco returned the smirk and got into bed next to her. He reached over and turned off the light, then faced Hermione.
"What the hell are you doing to me, Hermione?"
"Shh." Hermione turned around so her back was facing Draco, and snuggled against him. She grabbed one of his arms and wrapped it around her waist. Her eyes slowly closed.
Draco attempted to calm down and close his eyes, but the scent from Hermione's hair was almost too much for him. He could feel himself responding to the fact that she was so close.
Hermione wasn't sure why she had crawled into Draco's bed, and why she had asked him to get in with her. She had just made out with her new boyfriend, for Merlin's sake, who also happened to be Draco's best friend. For some reason, Draco made her forget about what was going on in the real world and just let loose, and do things she wouldn't normally.
Hermione wrapped one of her legs around Draco's leg, and nestled closer to him. She felt something prodding into her back, but was too tired to consider what it might have actually been. She didn't think about what cuddling with Draco might be doing to him.
The next morning, Hermione woke with Draco wrapped around her, almost protectively. She was on her back, and he was practically on top of her, his arm and leg thrown across her body. It was a little stifling at first, but she relaxed and tried not to fight it.
Of course, after glancing at the magical clock on Draco's bedside table and seeing that they had fifteen minutes until classes started, she cried out and shoved Draco off of her with more strength than she thought she had. Draco grunted and flipped onto his back. Since the bed wasn't too big, and Hermione had pushed him rather far, this caused Draco to fall off the side of the bed.
"What the hell?!" he cried out from the floor, as Hermione hurried to the bathroom. His voice made her stop.
"We have fifteen minutes to get ready!" Hermione rushed over to him and grabbed his arm. "Get up!"
Hermione yanked Draco up and the force caused him to run into her. He would've knocked her over had he not wrapped his arms around her and held her steady. He pulled her close to him, and nestled his face in her hair.
"Can't we just go to bed?" he mumbled. "Aren't we given, like, a sick day, or something, for being Heads?"
"No, we're not," Hermione said, pulling away from him. "Is it okay if I use the bathroom first?"
Obviously Draco wasn't going to be able to convince Hermione to stay with him. "Yeah, whatever," he said, defeated. After she left the room, he began looking for a clean uniform to wear.
Most of the day went by quickly. Hermione apologized to Ginny for not meeting her in the library, but didn't tell her that she had instead spent the night with Draco. Even though she and Ginny were really close, she didn't want to admit that she had commitment issues. It was something she was going to need to work on.
During Hermione's last class of the day, Herbology, a sixth-year came in and handed the teacher a piece of parchment. It was a note for Hermione and Draco from Dumbledore, asking them to come see him as soon as possible. The two walked down the hallway in silence, several inches apart. Things were going to be tense between them for a while.
They entered the Headmaster's office, and took their appropriate seats across from Dumbledore's desk. He, however, was not in the room. Hermione and Draco sat quietly for a few moments, waiting for him.
Finally, he came out of a door in the back of his office, that, previously, neither had noticed. He smiled at the two Head's, and sat down across from them.
"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, it is a pleasure to be meeting with you," he said, the first thing spoken in the room since they got there. "I'm sure you both are wondering why I called you to my office, no?"
Draco and Hermione nodded, but were silent. This caused the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes to widen, and he continued. "After the success with the Yule Ball several years ago, I have decided that it would be good for the students to have a few dances a year. The first one for this year is coming up, or, at least will be coming up if all goes as planned. I was hoping to have it in October, around Halloween. That way, the dance can be themed, and it won't take too much work. Since this is your first time planning a dance at Hogwarts, I figured I'd give you something easy.
"For the next few weeks, during the Prefect meetings, I want you to be talking about the dance. Of course, your are still allowed to discuss any issues going on in the Houses, but I want the main idea to be the Halloween dance. I will have Professor McGonagall monitor a few of the meetings, just to make sure that you are on track. Also, I want the two of you to think up some ideas, and I expect to be aware of any news that goes on with the dance planning. My advice is to start planning in the next two or three Prefect meetings. If you plan for several meetings in a row, then you could probably take off a meeting or two, and discuss other important issues.
"Alright, that's it. I just needed your attention for a few minutes. Is there anything going on right now that you want to discuss?"
Hermione and Draco glanced over at each other. So much had happened since the beginning of the year, from cheating on boyfriends, to flirting excessively, to sleeping in the same bed together. They made a silent agreement to be quiet, and simultaneously said, "No."
Dumbledore smiled mischievously, and leaned back in his chair. "Good, then. You are free to return to class." He watched the two stand and leave the room, walking pretty far apart. Obviously, something interesting was going on with the Heads.