When they arrived back in their cabin, Draco and Hermione nervously sat down on the bed. Neither of them were sure how to start the conversation, so for a few minutes silence reigned between them.
"Maybe we should just forget this and go back to normal." Hermione suggested, finally breaking the silence.
"You want to pretend we never admitted how we really feel?" Draco questioned in surprise.
"Yes." Hermione nodded, before she changed her mind and shook her head. "Maybe, I don't know." She sighed.
"Hermione, look at me." Draco reached out and took hold of Hermione's chin, gently raising her head so she was looking at him. "This isn't going to ruin our friendship, I'm not Weasley."
"How did you know that's what was worrying me?" Hermione gasped. Even though she'd spoken to Draco about her failed relationship with Ron and their subsequent falling out, she was unsure how he'd worked out it was affecting her relationship with him.
"I'm not stupid, Hermione." Draco chuckled. "It was very clear whenever you spoke about Weasley that you regretted losing his friendship, not the romantic relationship. It makes sense that you're wary of changing another friendship into romance. But I'm not Weasley, thing won't turn out the same way."
"How do you know that?" Hermione asked. "If anything happens between us and we then broke up, I would lose the best friend I've ever had. As hard as it was losing Ron, it would be worse losing you."
"I can't guarantee any romantic relationship between us will work out, but I can guarantee you'll always be my best friend." Draco responded. "I never want to lose you, and I will fight to ensure you stay in my life."
"That's why we need to just stay friends." Hermione sighed, getting up off the bed and pacing the floor in front of Draco. "Ron and I said some pretty horrible stuff to one another when we broke up, stuff we couldn't take back. I don't want that to happen to us, I don't want us to hurl hurtful insults at each other."
"When do we ever do that?" Draco asked. "We don't always get along, we do fight even as friends. But we never throw hurtful remarks around, not anymore. Neither of us have really insulted each other since school, so why should it change now? If anything being romantically involved should lessen the chance of hurtful insults, you shouldn't want to hurt someone you love."
Hermione was silent as she thought about what Draco was saying. It was true that they did still argue as friends, but it was also true that they never insulted one another when they fought. Hermione never once brought up Draco's past and the things he'd done, and he'd never once resorted to using her blood status against her. The worst thing they ever said to each other was to call the other person annoying, stubborn or frustrating. On the other hand she and Ron had often exchanged more hurtful insults in both their arguments as friends and as lovers. Hermione had lost count of the time Ron's words had seriously wounded her in an argument, and she knew she'd done to same to him. When she'd been upset she wasn't opposed to hurling remarks aimed to hurt his feelings. However she would never dream of throwing an insult at Draco that would hurt him in the same way.
"If you want to forget this, we can. We can go back to normal and pretend we never said anything." Draco sighed, taking Hermione's silence as an indicator she didn't want to discuss the topic further.
"I don't want that." Hermione admitted quietly. "Yes, I'm scared of losing my best friend. But if we just bury this under the carpet it will eat away at our friendship and we'll drift apart. We need to talk properly and make a firm decision about our future."
"Perhaps we should start by both revealing what we want from each other." Draco suggested.
Hermione nodded and sat back down next to Draco. "You go first."
"I want you." Draco replied quietly. "I've been in love with you for years, and I just want a chance to see if you could possibly feel the same way."
Hermione smiled at Draco's confession as she took hold of his hand. "I already feel the same way. I've loved you for so long, I was just too afraid to tell you."
"Because of the mess with Weasley." Draco stated, understanding where Hermione's hesitance had come from.
"Yes." Hermione nodded. "I don't want to make the same mistake twice. So what's your excuse for not telling me how you felt sooner?"
"I was scared." Draco admitted. "You know absolutely everything about me, both the good and the bad. You know my past and you've seen first-hand what sort of person I used to be, and what I've done. How could I ever expect you to be interested in me, knowing what you do? I'm bloody lucky you'll even be my friend, I don't even deserve that."
Letting go of Draco's hands, Hermione placed her hand on Draco's cheek. "You have to stop beating yourself up about the past. All those bad things are behind you, you're no longer the same person. You're a good man, Draco, and you more than deserve to have someone who loves you."
Hermione knew how much Draco tortured himself over his past, and she just hoped her words would sink in. On a whole he was pretty positive and tried not to let his past get him down, but every now and again something would happen and he would end up wallowing in self-pity.
"I'm not a good man." Draco shook his head and pulled away from Hermione. Grabbing his wand he waved it over his left arm, revealing the dark mark that he permanently kept hidden with a concealment charm. "This isn't the mark of a good man."
"It's the mark of man who did what he had to do to save his family when he was just a boy." Hermione argued, gently running her fingers over the faded black mark that marred Draco's pale skin. "I don't hold the mark against you, I know how you suffered. I understand that you struggle with the past, but I don't. I don't think of you as the boy who bullied me because of my muggle background, I think of you as the man who supported me when I thought I was losing my father. I don't see who you used to be, I see who you are now. And who you are now, is the man I'm madly in love with."
Draco looked at Hermione in awe, he definitely didn't deserve someone so compassionate and forgiving, but he wasn't going to turn her away. Instead he would be selfish, and hold onto her as tightly as he could.
"I love you, Hermione. And if you're willing to take the chance, I'll show you just how much."
"I'm willing to take the chance." Hermione smiled.
Draco smiled back at Hermione, before closing the gap in-between them and connecting their lips. Unlike the kiss out on the deck, this one got pretty heated rather quickly. Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and pulled him closer as his tongue invaded her mouth, causing her to let out a contented moan. When they finally parted, both of them were slightly out of breath, but eager for more.
"Now I think it's time you showed me exactly how much you love me." Hermione said with a seductive smile.
"Are you sure?" Draco checked. "I don't want to rush you into anything. There's no hurry to do anything."
"Yes, there is." Hermione chuckled. "We've spent the last few days playing at being a couple, and it's driving me mad. It's so frustrating getting to kiss you and touch you in public, but never being able to act on how attracted I am to you in private. Sleeping next to you, but not doing anything has been torture."
"It hasn't exactly been easy on me." Draco said. "I've woke up every morning, with you wrapped in my arms, and all I wanted to do was stay in bed and make love to you."
"I wish you had." Hermione whispered. "I hated it when you got up and went to the bathroom. I would much rather have been the one helping you relieve yourself."
"You were awake?" Draco gasped.
"Yeah." Hermione nodded.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"The same reason you never did." Hermione chuckled. "I'm an idiot, in fact we're both are. If we'd only talked to each other earlier we wouldn't have had to act at all on this trip. We could have just came as a couple."
"At least we can leave as a couple." Draco said. "But to be fair, the only acting I ever did was pretending everything was an act."
"You know I think we've done enough talking." Hermione said. "A few days ago Astoria mentioned that sex on a boat was supposed to be amazing, do you fancy putting her theory to the test?"
"Definitely." Draco grinned. "Although if I remember rightly, you told her it was the best sex you've ever had. So I guess, I'll have to make sure it is. I wouldn't want to make a liar out of you."
Hermione laughed in response as she pulled Draco towards her and reconnected their lips. As they kissed, the couple fell back onto the bed where their clothes began to rapidly dwindle. The couple took their time as they undressed each other and explored every inch of each other's body with their hands and mouths. Eventually they were naked and slowly they began to make love.
As it turned out Astoria was right, sex on a boat was amazing. The slight rocking motion helped them set a gentle rhythm and it seemed to increase the pleasure they felt. Hermione was also right with what she'd told Astoria, it was the best sex either her or Draco had ever had. Although both Draco and Hermione suspected the latter part was more to do with being together, than being on a boat. No doubt wherever they were together the sex would be amazing.
Hermione and Draco spent the entire afternoon in bed, talking and making love. They only got out of the large bed, when it was time to get ready for dinner. Of course when they showered they did so together, which caused them to get distracted and stay under the hot spray of the water for longer than they'd intended. As a result they had to dress in a hurry and were very nearly late for dinner.
"You two look flushed." Theo smirked as the couple settled down at the dining table, seconds before the starters were served. "Had a fun afternoon, have you?"
"We did, yes." Hermione replied with a large smile.
"You two look as though you're in the first flushes of romance." Ginny remarked to the grinning couple.
"Yeah, you wouldn't think you'd been together years." Pansy added.
"We'll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell Astoria." Hermione whispered, glancing down to the other side of the table where Astoria was sitting out of earshot. She and Draco had discussed things that afternoon and decided to inform their friends of their real story.
"Hermione and I have only just gotten together today." Draco said, once everyone agreed to keep their secret. "We were just posing as a couple to keep Astoria away from me."
"Nah, I don't buy it." Blaise shook his head disbelievingly. "There is no way these past few days have been an act. Anyone with half a brain cell can see you're crazy about one another."
"We are, we just hadn't admitted it to each other." Draco replied. "This afternoon was the first time we've talked and admitted how we really feel."
"Judging by the smiles you're both sporting, I'd say you did more than talk." Theo snorted.
"We may have gotten to know one another in a physical sense as well." Draco grinned.
"That's quite a ruse you put on to escape the clutches of my little sister." Daphne said.
"And she was still hard to shake." Draco said. "I hate to think what she would have been like if I didn't have Hermione with me."
"She would have been impossible." Daphne sighed. "For some reason she's rather obsessed with you. She's dated plenty of men since you moved to Australia, but you're still the one she mentions the most. I think she had her heart set on marrying you and becoming the next lady of the Manor."
"That was never going to happen." Draco replied with a snort.
"We all know that, but getting that through to Astoria is another matter." Daphne said. "You never know, hopefully this week will help her move on with her life."
"Speaking of moving on with lives, I think you two owe me a thank you." Blaise said to Hermione and Draco.
"What for?" Draco questioned.
"For bringing you together." Blaise answered. "If I hadn't warned you about Astoria, you would have shown up to the wedding alone. But because you had advanced warning she was on the prowl, you were able to bring Hermione along. Then you managed to fall in love on my boat."
"To be fair, I think they were already in love with each other, but were just too bloody stubborn to see it." Harry pointed out.
"Even so, my boat was the catalyst." Blaise insisted, waving off Harry's protests to the contrary.
"Whether it was your boat or not is debatable, but we will thank you for the advanced warning regarding Astoria." Draco said. "You're right, if I hadn't known about Astoria I never would have invited Hermione, and who knows if we ever would have admitted how we felt. So thank you Blaise, for providing us with the opportunity to get together properly."
Blaise grinned proudly as the four couples toasted Hermione and Draco's new relationship, and his small part in making it happen.