Because I Love You: Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Anything sane that has been read in this fiction belongs to, non other than the great author who created the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling. Anything off from the real series belongs to the non other than the outlandish mind of mine.

Thank you so much to those who reviewed by the way.

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Up in Hermione's room, she summoned a vase with her wand and placed in it the rose Draco gave her. She placed the vase on her study table then sat on her bed. She was admiring the rose when Lavender barged in her room.

"Hermione Granger, tell me, what is this I am hearing about you and Malfoy kissing?" she asked her friend and shut the door. Lavender was prefect as well. She jumped on to Hermione's bed, waiting for her friend to tell her all the details.

Hermione's heart leapt as soon as she heard Lavender's voice. "That was nothing, Lav," she answered, trying to calm down her friend. "Sit down, will you?" she said when Lavender giddily moved around her bed. Hermione was blushing by now. She hadn't really thought about talking about the kiss with Lavender, after all. She knew how excited she is when something like that happens. "And if you're going to ask why, well, he did it to make Louise Phillips jealous."

Lavender raised a brow at her friend. "Why did you do it? You let yourself be used by Draco Malfoy? That's like making a deal with the devil," she said, touching Hermione's forehead to check if she has a fever. "Are you really Hermione Granger?"

Rolling her eyes, she removed her friend's hand on her forehead. "Because I wouldn't earn extra points for Gryffindor if he wasn't there to help," she answered. "I mean, the fights between Slytherin and Gryffindor before, I wasn't really there to stop it, and when I came to one of the fights, I saw Draco pulling off the Gryffindor from a bloody heaped Slytherin. It made me feel guilty," she explained.

"Are you sure that's all to it? I mean, that Louise girl is a member of his fan club, and you know what those girls are capable of doing."

Hermione nodded at her friend, though she knew that it wasn't just to help Draco. Was she crushing on him? She doesn't know. All she knows is, if she was crushing on him, she has to stop herself. "Don't worry, Lav. I've been in loads of trouble before. How hard could this one be?" she smiled at her friend.

"What about Justin? Is he totally out of the picture?"

"Well, maybe he just sees me as a friend. I mean, he barely talks to me. We just get to talk when we have classes together and that's about it," she answered. "Now, would you like to sleep here? It's quite cold, you know."

Lavender smiled. "Would I pass up the chance to have someone warm beside me? No," she answered and started for the door to get ready for bed to sleep beside Hermione.

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Hermione had counted a total of four days since the last time she had been seen kissing Draco Malfoy. Well, actually, since Draco had kissed her. And now, he was really into the pretending thing. He treated her as if they were a real couple. Every morning, when he would pick her up for breakfast, he would always have a rose for her and his tie would be messed up. Well, that was because Draco liked it when Hermione fixed his tie. Also, they started to sit at each others' house table, which was very awkward. At the Slytherin table, Pansy would start talking loudly about how their relationship wouldn't last for long, and that Draco didn't like bookworms at all. While at the Gryffindor table, it was eerily quiet between Harry, Ron and Draco which made the three girls, Lavender, Ginny and Hermione feel uneasy as well. So, they decided that every breakfast and lunch, they would sit at their own house table and they would take late dinners so they could sit together, either at the Slytherin house table or the Gryffindor house table.

That day, on their way to lunch, Draco and Hermione walked together when he spotted Louise with another Ravenclaw, walking to their direction. He looked at Hermione, who was staring at her feet as if they held the answers to life. He could feel her hand was getting sweaty and was slightly shaking. Draco let go of her hand, and faced the Gryffindor. He touched her chin with his hand and tilted it a little so they were looking at each other. "Look Hermione, if you changed your mind about this whole thing, you can tell me. I mean, I know you're not interested in these things and all," he said with a warm smile on his face.

With a smile, Hermione was about to tell him that it was alright to make the Ravenclaw jealous, as long as he wouldn't kiss her again. But as soon as Hermione opened her mouth, Draco was swallowing her reply, as the most delicious pink lips closed themselves in on her mouth and kissed her. She felt his tongue enter her mouth, but not fiercely. He was gentle this time, caressing her tongue with his. He slowly snaked his left hand around her waist and pulled her closer while he caressed her neck with his right. Hermione almost melted. Her thoughts all flew out of her head, and to her surprise, she was kissing him back. This surprised Draco too. Her hand found its way to the back of his neck, letting her fingers fondle with his soft hair, sending him off the edge. He deepened the kiss by pulling her closer to him, to which Hermione didn't object. He was getting into it when he felt her slightly pushing him. Draco didn't want to break the kiss but he knew he had to. He pulled away slowly and smiled at her. Hermione was panting, out of breath because of the kiss she and Draco just shared. Running his hand through his hair, she saw him remove his ring, the silver ring made up of a snake that bit its tail, and the one he always wore. He took her right hand and slid it on her ring finger.

"I want you to wear this always so they'll know you're mine," Draco said as the snake swallowed its tail once again to fit Hermione's finger, and he kissed her hand. Hermione admired the ring that fit perfectly on her finger. "Shall we go?" he asked and all she could do was nod. She was too busy staring at the ring. It was beautiful, like nothing she had ever seen before. At the Great Hall, Draco kissed Hermione on the lips before they parted. "Thank you for earlier," he whispered to her ear before walking to the Slytherin house table.

Hermione sat down between Ron and Harry, trying hard not to smile. She didn't want her best friends to think she was enjoying the whole pretending. But she did feel guilty. She couldn't believe that she had just kissed Draco Malfoy, and she rather enjoyed it. After all, she never kissed someone before like that, how was she to know that it felt good?

"What took you so long? Ron almost ate up all the beef, Hermione," Harry said when he saw his best friend sit beside him. True, there were just a couple of beef steaks on the platter and a whole lot on Ron's plate.

"Hey! I'm a growing young man and a Quidditch Keeper, I need all the energy I can get to block the Quaffle," Ron said defensively, some of the beef spraying out of his mouth.

"Now, now Ronald, mind your manners," Lavender reminded her smoochy-poo, wiping some of the sauce from Ron's mouth.

Hermione laughed at the sight of Ron and nudged Harry. "I know you wouldn't let him eat everything, Harry."

While they ate and chatted at the same time, Lavender noticed the ring on Hermione's hand when she brushed her hand through her hair. "Oh Merlin, Hermione! Is that Malfoy's ring?" she asked, grabbing her friend's hand. Hermione's fork fell and clanked on the plate. "It looks so beautiful. I can't believe he gave it to you."

Draco saw, from across the hall, what was happening. He could see Hermione was blushing from the attention Lavender Brown was giving her because of his ring. Even Potter and Weasley leaned in to have a closer look. He saw Weasley scoffed at the ring. He looked at Hermione again; she was biting her lip, when Lavender showed the ring, still on Hermione's hand, to the other Gryffindors. And then, the incident at the corridor flashed back in his head. She kissed him back. Hermione Granger kissed him back. Draco smiled to himself when he remembered her hand playing with his hair. This sent shivers down his spine. All the girls he had kissed and slept with did that, but why was Hermione's different? Because she did it so naturally. The other girls had talked about how Draco loved it when the girls did that to him, and so every girl tried it. Finished with his lunch, and seeing Hermione was already sitting alone at the Gryffindor table since the sixth years had their afternoon free, he stood up and walked towards her when Louise blocked his way.

"Hi love," the Ravenclaw greeted, snaking her hands around the Slytherin's neck. "Missed me?"

With a smirk, Draco removed Louise's hands from his neck and continued to walk to Hermione, leaving the Ravenclaw in shock. He kissed her on the cheek before sitting beside her. "Why didn't you go with Potter and Weasley?" he asked leading to his mouth the piece of beef Hermione was going to eat.

"Uhmmm… Draco?" Hermione tried to compose herself, not wanting any emotions to show when she asks him her next question. "How do you expect Louise to be aware of your attraction if we're together?" she asked timidly. "I mean, she might think that we're just doing it because we…" she paused to search for the right words to use, "because we're… in love," she continued.

Taking a sip of Hermione's Pumpkin Juice, he smiled at her. "Well, that's the whole point. She'll think I'm in love with you and that's what she wanted in the first place," he answered, looking over at the Ravenclaw table. "In no time, she'll be begging me one of these days."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "You're so full of yourself, you know that?"

After she was finished with her lunch, they went out by the lake and sat under a tree. Hermione wanted to do some reading, but Draco insisted on taking the day off from school work. She sat beside him, while he continued to read the book she lent him. She leaned against him, looking at what part he was on when he turned his head slightly to face her. "Don't you know it's rude to read over someone's shoulder?" he asked, closing the book a little. Hermione pouted, and ignored him. She sucked on her blueberry flavored Sugar Quill while she observed the people walking by. A few hours later, Draco felt Hermione rest her head on his shoulder. He thought she was reading over his shoulder again, so he tried to look at her, to tell her off, but saw she was asleep. Draco smiled at the sight of Hermione. He leaned his head against hers and continued to read away, eventually he, too, fell asleep as the day went on.

It was already dark when Draco jerked awake. He saw Harry or Ron walking towards them and realized it must've been really late for one of them to go out looking for Hermione. He tried to wake her up before the person reached them. She stirred awake and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "Potter or Weasley's here to pick you up," he said to her, pointing at the person walking towards them. Draco stood up and helped Hermione to her feet.

"Hermione, we've been so worried!" Harry said, finally reaching the couple. He gave Hermione a hug, as if Draco wasn't standing beside his best friend. "Come on, you missed dinner already," and he led her away from Draco.

But before Hermione could turn her back on Draco, she reached out her hand towards him and grabbed his hand. Surprised, Draco had to run to catch up with his hand that Hermione held. The three walked to the castle in silence. Ginny was by the entrance when they arrived. "Oh, good thing you found them," she said, reaching her hand to Harry. "We've been looking all over for you, Hermione."

Hermione yawned a little. "I'm sorry, Harry, Ginny," she started, letting go of Draco's hand. She gave the couple a hug at the same time. "Don't worry, alright? I'm okay and Draco was with me the whole time," she said and kissed both of them on the cheek. "We'll just grab dinner," she backed away from the two and took hold of Draco's hand.

"Alright. Next time don't make us worry like that, okay?" Harry said and then eyed Draco. When Ginny sensed the tension building up again between the two, she led her beau up the Gryffindor Tower.

After dinner, Hermione and Draco did their rounds together, in case Louise showed up again. They were talking about school work and homework when they heard a couple of voices.

"I heard that mudblood Granger's been sleeping with the whole seventh years ever since she became Draco's girlfriend. She's taking advantage of him, she has," a third year Slytherin boy said, walking towards the Dungeons. Then they heard another one ask, "Who told you that?" The first boy laughed and said, "I've got resources," in a cool tone.

Hermione felt Draco's fists ball up. "Let's go," she said quietly, pulling him to the opposite direction. "Let's go, Draco."

"No," Draco answered flatly, and before she could stop him, he was out of reach already and was raising the boy from the floor. "Next time I hear you say that again, I'll…" Draco felt Hermione's hand on his shoulder.

"Stop it, Draco. You'll hurt him," she said, trying to get him to calm down. With a glare, he placed the boy down. The two boys were apologizing to her, their eyes wide in shock. "It's alright, don't worry. Now off to bed for the both of you," she told them then faced the still infuriated Draco behind her. "What was that?" she asked him.

Draco's face softened upon hearing Hermione's question. He too wondered why he just did that. "I…" he started, but no other words came out. Being in Hermione's company almost every day, Draco learned a lot of new things about Hermione. It turned out, everything he thought about her for the past years were wrong. Yes, he had learned to care for the pretty Gryffindor in front of him. "I just don't like other people talking about you like that," he tried to answer her again.

Hermione was taken aback by Draco's answer. She smiled at him. She never thought he would defend her from anybody, especially the Slytherins. She cupped his face in her hands and gave him the softest kiss on the lips. "Thanks," she said, blushing a little as she let go of Draco. What she just did was so un-Hermione, but she liked it. She cleared her throat and looked away from him. "Next time don't go around lifting people up from the floor, you've been like that to me before, remember?" she said, walking away from him.

"I know, and I'm sorry," Draco said as he caught up with Hermione. He still had the silly smile on his face after she kissed him. He took hold of her hand while they walked and continued with their rounds.

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November finally came and everybody was worked up about the Christmas holidays. Whenever there was a Hogsmeade weekend, students would go back to the castle with lots of paper bags in hand with gifts inside.

Draco and Hermione were in the prefects' common room that Saturday morning. He wouldn't be able to go to Hogsmeade since Snape asked him to do some tasks. "Well, I'll see you later then," Hermione said and climbed out the portrait hole. She was happy that she could be with her friends on that Hogsmeade weekend, but part of her was sad that he wasn't going with her. Lavender and Hermione walked around Hogsmeade together since Ron had to do something too, so they left Harry and Ginny alone.

"Hermione, where are you staying for the holidays?" Lavender asked as she looked through the different probable gifts for her family and friends.

Hermione took a snow globe from the shelf and shook it while the little wizards inside it tried to build a snowman. "I don't know. Dad hasn't owled me yet, you?" But that wasn't a surprise. Usually, she receives a letter two weeks before the Christmas break.

Lavender took the things she chose and placed it on the counter. "Well, mum told me we'll be staying at my grandfather's house in Germany. I guess we'll be spending Christmas there too," she answered as she paid for the things she bought.

The two girls went to the Three Broomsticks and ordered Butterbeer from Madame Rosmerta. Hermione removed her gloves and placed her hand over the candle that was burning at the center of their table. "Honestly, Hermione, I still can't believe Malfoy would let you wear his ring. He must be really serious about that Ravenclaw," Lavender said as she held Hermione's hand. Smiling, they both admired the ring on her finger.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" she said, rubbing her hands together. "But I can't remove it. I tried to remove it so it won't get wet when I took a bath, but I can't pull it off of my finger," she told her friend, trying to remove the ring again.

"Well, it is Malfoy's ring, so maybe he's the only person who can remove it," Lavender said also trying to remove the ring. The two girls then talked about anything they could talk about under the sun until it was time to go. "Finish that up, Hermione. We need to leave," she said as she took in one gulp the remaining Butterbeer in her mug.

Before they started to go back to the castle, Hermione pulled Lavender in Honeydukes. "I almost forgot to buy Draco some Chocolate Frogs," she said as she paid for the five Chocolate Frogs she brought to the counter. She saw Lavender smiling broadly at her. "What are you smiling at?" she asked her as they stepped out of the shop.

"If I'm not mistaken, I'd say you're falling in love with Malfoy," said Lavender getting all lovey dovey eyed over Hermione. Her friend blushed a little but denied it. "Come on now, no need to blush. It's not impossible to fall for someone, Hermione, especially when the both of you spend so much time together and alone at that." Lavender stopped and faced Hermione. "So, are you?" she asked, placing her hands on her friend's shoulders.

Hermione didn't answer for a few moments. Was she? "Lav, I don't know. And that's the only sure answer I can give you," she said, holding Lavender's hands over her shoulders. "But thank you, for you know, having this kind of conversation with me." Lavender smiled at her and gave her a hug. "I know we weren't such good friends for the past years, and I'm really glad we are now."

"Stop being so emotional, Hermione. You're making me cry," said Lavender, pulling away from her and they went off back to Hogwarts.

Lavender set off to search for Ron and Hermione went up the prefects' dormitory with the bag of Chocolate Frogs in her hands. Draco wasn't in the common room, so she went up the stairs to his room and knocked on the door. She waited for a few seconds and when he didn't answer, she peeked in to see if he was inside. She saw him standing by the door to his veranda. He was in quite loose black jean and a navy blue turtle neck, looking out far away in his thoughts, with a forgotten letter in his hand. Hermione stared at him in awe. His hair was down and flowing, the sunlight shifting the silvery blonde strands like liquid silver. Butterflies surfaced in Hermione's stomach. She remembered what Lavender had told her earlier. Could she really be falling in love with Draco Malfoy?

Draco had just received a letter from his mother. Apparently, since the death of his father, Lucius' family disowned them and took away the Malfoy possessions, including the Manor. Narcissa was now staying at the Leaky Cauldron since the Black family had disowned her as well thinking she had something to do about Bellatrix's disappearance. She would go about in London searching for a house where they could stay when Draco would come over for the holidays. But that wouldn't be possible for the mean time. He turned around to place the letter on his table when he saw Hermione by his door. "What are you doing here?" he asked with a smile, as Hermione let herself in. He looked at her as if all his troubles were gone at the sight of the Gryffindor.

Hermione handed him the bag of Chocolate Frogs, a little nervous. "I figured you'd miss buying Chocolate Frogs so I bought some for you," she said trying, smiling nervously. "Well, that's all," she said and turned for the door. Draco grabbed her hand before she could reach for the knob.

"Don't you want to stay a little longer and share these?" he asked. He missed her that day. He wasn't used to not being with Hermione anymore. Feeling her cheeks go red, Hermione didn't turn to look at Draco and she figured she really shouldn't spend any more time alone with the Slytherin if she really was falling for him.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Hermione started, pretending she didn't hear what Draco just said, "Louise asked where you were," she continued, hoping the color on her face would go back to normal. After a few shallow breaths, Hermione could feel herself back to the normal Hermione.

"I didn't ask abo-"

"I'll be in my room, alright?" she said to him and left his room in a hurry.

Draco was left in his room, stunned at how Hermione had acted. Why she was acting that way, he doesn't know but in the back of his head, a certain cupid Draco was hoping for something.

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Draco knocked several times on her door. Hermione was late. "Hermione? Hermione, are you in there?" he asked, knocking a few more times. She didn't usually make him wait that long. It was Monday and Potions was their first class. And knowing Snape, detention would welcome them that morning if she didn't hurry up. He fixed his tie on his own, with magic, figuring Hermione wouldn't be able to do it for him that day. Draco wondered what was going on with Hermione. Saturday, she left him alone without uttering another word. She didn't eat dinner with him, so he had to eat alone. And on Sunday, she told him she'll be spending the day with Lavender Brown.

Hermione was getting ready when she heard Draco knocking. 'Bugger,' she thought as she looked at the time. Ten minutes before eight and no time for breakfast. And she really needed breakfast that time. Checking herself in the mirror, she opened the door. Draco was standing there, a rose in his right hand and two apples on his left. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she apologized.

Handing Hermione the rose and the apple, Draco took her bag and carried it. "I figured we won't be able to go to breakfast so I asked Dobby to bring back a couple of apples," he said, letting the Gryffindor out the portrait hole first.

"Thanks," Hermione said as she took a bite out of her apple and placed the rose in her book, with the flower sticking out of it.

On their way to Potions, Draco and Hermione were walking in a hurry when they saw Louise Phillips and Kylie Richards, the Ravenclaw's tittle-tattle queen for a best friend, just ahead of them. The two were walking towards the direction where they came from. Draco stopped and whispered something to Hermione's ear which made her giggle. Louise walked by them, looking at the couple while Kylie whispered to her. When the Ravenclaws were gone, Hermione frowned at Draco. She was irritated by the threat that he whispered to her, "Giggle or I'll kiss you." She walked ahead of Draco the whole way to the dungeons.

"Well, well, well, the lovers finally arrive," said Snape, glaring at his late students. "Detention. Now sit down," and he started his class.

Through the rest of the class, Hermione was quiet. She didn't talk to anybody, not even Ron, Harry or Lavender. Draco asked her a question, and she just ignored him. When their class was dismissed, she quickly gathered her things and went out the room. Draco, Ron, Harry and Lavender looked at each other when Hermione stormed off the room, as if they all had an understanding there was no point going after her since she clearly wasn't in the mood to talk. But Draco felt somewhat guilty. He caused the delay after all when he stopped Hermione to stage a scene for Louise. With a nod at the other Gryffindors, he followed her and saw her on her way to the Great Hall. She walked so briskly he had to run to catch up with her and she didn't care whether she bumped into anyone. It was as if all that was in her head was she needed to eat, according to Draco that is.

There were only a few people in the Great Hall that time since it wasn't lunch time yet and Hermione and Draco had two hours vacant time from the other sixth years in their houses which was usually allotted for Heads' and prefects' meeting. He saw her sitting alone at the Gryffindor table, helping her self to some mashed potatoes and a fillet of fish. He sat in front of her, and still, she acted as if he wasn't there. Starting to be annoyed because of being ignored, Draco held Hermione's wrist. "Do you mind telling me what you're so upset about?" he asked trying to stay as calm as possible. "Is it because of detention? Look Hermione, I'm sorry with what happened, but I don't think I deserve this."

"No," Hermione answered flatly.

"Then what, for Merlin's sake, what?" he asked, not just asking for an answer, but demanding it. The woman was driving him crazy making him wonder so much.

Hermione tore away from his grasp. "I don't know, alright? How can I tell you what it is I'm so upset about when I myself don't know why?" she answered, her voice gradually getting louder. "Can't you just let me eat without upsetting me any further?"

Calmed down, he sat comfortably and scooped some of the food on his plate. And then, it dawned on him. Girls getting upset over nothing. Their mood shifts so fast it was hard and annoying to keep up with. And he never really had patience when they were like that. Every month they had to go through it, and he never really understood why they act like that. "Is it that time?" he asked Hermione. She looked at him, about to yell when she saw the pure wonder on the Slytherin's face. With a deep breath, she nodded slowly. "Next time, Hermione, let me know. You're driving me crazy."

"Sorry," Hermione muttered.

The couple worked silently in every subject they had that day, but Hermione didn't appear so upset anymore. She still didn't like to talk much, though. While in their History of Magic class, Hermione opened her book on the page where the rose Draco gave her that morning was kept. She smiled upon seeing the rose and caressed the petals with her thumb. She did feel guilty for blowing off on Draco earlier, but she couldn't help it when her period came. Her mood swings were so fast, she herself couldn't keep up with it sometimes.

After their Transfiguration class, the Gryffindors' classes for the day were over, so Hermione walked Draco to his next class with the Ravenclaws. While on their way to the Greenhouse, Hermione kept on looking at Draco, who only looked straight in front of him. She wanted to apologize properly about the way she acted earlier and she didn't know how. They finally reached the Greenhouse, and still, neither of them said a word. Draco faced Hermione, waiting for her to do something like kiss him on the cheek or say 'see you later,' properly, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out. But she surprised him at what she did next. She stood on her toes and hugged him. "Sorry about earlier. I'll tell you next time, I promise," she whispered. Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled when he heard her apologize. "Go on, now. I'll wait for you in the common room," said Hermione, as she let go of him.

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