By the next morning I was kicking myself for running. I knew it hadn't been fair to either of us but I couldn't help it. I'd never done anything like that before and I couldn't take the thought that I could have been rejected after a kiss that earth shattering. Running away was all that I could do. What terrified me the most was the intense need that I felt to repeat that kiss. Nobody had ever made me feel that way before, and the fact that it was Draco Malfoy who had evoked such emotion made me wonder if I had wandered off the deep end. So I tried to forget, and Draco and I both pretended that nothing had happened.
The first meeting after that night we managed to be perfectly civil. Then Dumbledore requested that we meet more frequently and everything went down hill. We were meeting three times a week and the more we saw each other the more we started to snap at each other. For some reason neither of us could move forward. We started picking petty fights about the smallest possible things. The littlest things would set me off and I found my moods carrying over into my everyday life.
One particular incident convinced me that it was time to have a talk with Mr. Malfoy to see if we could work things out. I was sitting at breakfast one morning when Ron spoke to me for the first time in weeks. He asked me to pass the marmalade and I took his head off. I'll never forget the look of wide eyed surprise on his face. It was that morning that made me take a step back and realize that whatever had happened between Draco and I, however stupid I felt we had to figure out some way to work together in relative harmony. After I apologized profusely to Ron I decided that when we met that night Draco and I had to clear the air.
That night I went to the Room of Requirement geared up for confrontation. I paced the length of the room like a caged animal waiting for Draco to arrive. Imagine my surprise when he barreled into the room at full speed. He skidded to a stop in front of me and doubled over, his hands on his knees, his breathing labored.
"We have a problem."
I stared at him as my heart pounded from the surprise of his appearance. "What's wrong?"
He started to pace much as I had been only moments before. "Voldemort's decided when to attack."
Fear clutched at my heart. "When?" I whispered.
"Two weeks from Thursday."
Two weeks was too soon. I felt panic wash over me, had to swallow the bile that rose in my throat. And then I panicked. "We'll never have time to get everybody ready, it's too soon. There's too much to do. We have to go to Dumbledore so he can tell everyone."
My ramblings were cut off by his harsh voice. "What do you expect him to do, make an announcement at breakfast?"
"He has to do something!" I replied indignantly.
He shot me an exasperated look. "Get a grip! He can't just tell everyone publicly. There are people at this school who are loyal to Voldemort. If they were to figure out that we know what we know we'd be in more trouble than you could ever imagine."
I sighed. He had deflated me slightly, but not quite enough. "Well we have to do something," I snapped.
"Obviously," he snapped back. Then he turned and strode determinedly from the room and headed towards Dumbledore's office.
The walk to the Headmaster's office seemed much longer than I remembered. Around halfway there it occurred to me that I hadn't gotten my chance to have the talk I was prepared for. I made a mental note to try and work it in before the night was over. When we got to Dumbledore's office we gave the password and waited. When Draco knocked the Headmaster's voice immediately told us to enter.
"Well, what a lovely surprise. It's so very rare that I get to speak to both of you at the same time," he said with a smile.
Draco didn't mince words or waste any time. "The date of the attack has been set. We have two weeks."
Dumbeldore's smile flickered before he spoke again. "Well then we'll have to begin out preparations. I'll make sure that the students who need to know are notified. We will assure that none who are loyal to Voldemort are aware of what is going on."
"Is there anything we can do Professor?" I asked.
"I'm afraid not Hermione. All that you and Mr. Malfoy can do now is prepare for the fight like the others and let me know if anything else comes up."
"Thank you professor," Draco said. "Come on." He nudged me with his shoulder and we both stood to leave.
I waited until we were out in the hall to launch into my discussion. "We need to talk."
He kept walking, fast enough that I had to sprint to keep up. "Really?"
"Yes really. I'm sure you're repulsed by the memory of me kissing you but whatever happened and whatever we feel, we need to work it out. I can't stand and the snapping and the backbiting. It's driving me insane." I said.
He came to an abrupt stop and turned to look at me with wide eyes. "What the hell? You are without a doubt the most aggravating woman I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with!" he cried. He turned and strode away.
I ran after him and grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop. "What do you mean?" I asked, feeling my own anger rising.
"I mean that I'm going insane, and you're driving me there. You make a move like that and leave me sitting there burning and then just pretend nothing happened? That kiss wasn't repulsive, it was God damn earth moving, and you just try to forget about it!"
"I left and tried to forget because I didn't want the rejection. I threw myself at you and I figured you would have preferred me trying to forget about it."
He grabbed hold of both of my arms and held me firmly in place. "In case you didn't notice I was a more than willing participant. Wake up!" He let go of me and walked away.
"Maybe I could wake up if you would just come out and bloody well tell me how you feel!"
"Fine." He wheeled around and before I had time to blink I was up against the wall, caged in by his arms on either side of my body. "I want you so bad I can taste it, and it kills me to know that I may never get the chance to have you. I've watched you these past months and wondered what it is that draws you to me, but I can't figure it out. What I'd really like to do is find a dark corner and do things that even hearing about would make my mother blush, but I can't. Happy now?" He moved away, pushing a hand roughly through his hair. I could see him battling to reign in his emotions.
"No," I whispered. "I'm not happy. I'm terrified because nobody has ever made me feel the way you do. Something inside of me died a long time ago and I need to figure out why it is that you seem to make that part of me come back to life. I want that dark corner too because I'm afraid to let myself die again. I can't let myself die again."
He turned to me, his gorgeous blue eyes full of emotion, emotions too dark and deep to be easily deciphered. "Tell me exactly what you want," he whispered, his voice raw.
I looked up into his emotion riddled eyes and with a deep breath I took the plunge. "Teach me to live."
He stared back down at me. "Tell me again."
"Teach me to live. Give me the wings to fly."
I gasped as Draco pulled me hard against him and his lips came crashing down on mine. Suddenly I was drowning, lost in a sea of emotion that kept crashing over me and forcing me farther under. All that seemed to matter was the feel of his lips on mine, his hands cruising greedily over my body, and his silky hair fisted in my hands. I heard the moan again, but this time I knew it was me.
He pulled away and I whimpered. We barely had a moment to breathe before I pulled him back down and molded his mouth to mine. He moaned into my mouth and sent shivers running down my spine.
"Need to breathe," he gasped, pressing me against the wall and turning his attention to my neck.
"Overrated," I replied.
I pulled him back to my mouth and we shifted again. He pulled me off my feet to gain better access to my mouth and I dimly realized that I was just dangling there. For both our benefit I wrapped my legs around his waist. My back was pressed hard against the stone wall and through the haze of pleasure I dimly felt the stone scrape against my back where my shirt had ridden up slightly. I managed a small sound of discomfort and Draco pushed back from the wall, letting me slide to the ground.
Our contact broke when I hit the floor but I immediately pulled him back to me. I didn't care how he got there, I needed to be consumed. Finally, what seemed like hours later but was really only minutes, we pulled apart.
Draco pulled in a hard breath and dropped his forehead to mine. "You drive me insane," he whispered, kissing my hair.
I drew in a shaky breath and wrapped my arms around him, pressing my hands against his back and my cheek against his chest. "Good insane or bad insane?"
He bent to capture my lips in another searing kiss. "Definitely good insane."
I lifted my head to gaze into his eyes. "Thank you." I said, fighting back tears.
"For teaching me to live," I whispered.
Rather than say anything, he merely wrapped me up tightly in his arms and dropped a sweet kiss on my forehead. I've never felt more wanted in my life than I did in that moment, and I felt a crack in my heart slowly knit together again.