After all of the horrible things that had happened in the past few years, after feeling as if his life was surely over, after living in constant fear and anxiety for so long, Draco marveled at the utter bliss and peacefulness that now surrounded him. And it's because of her, he thought in amazement, the little girl who I terrorized for over six years. He smiled as he gazed down at Hermione, who was sleeping next to him, one of her hands snuggled beneath her cheek, the other firmly clutching a handful of his t-shirt as if, even in her sleep, she was afraid to let him go.
Draco wasn't surprised she was exhausted: it was obvious that she had never experienced snogging and fooling around for more than nine hours straight. Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he had as well. He couldn't remember the last time it had felt so magical to be with a girl, or if it ever had felt that way at all for that matter. Parkinson hadn't been interested in romance: it was stamina and kinky new things that were high on her list of priorities. They certainly hadn't spent hours staring at each other, hadn't ever kissed for this long, certainly never this enthusiastically.
He shook his head when he remembered Parkinson accusing Granger of being "boring." He couldn't think of a word that was more ill-suited to Hermione. He felt he could hold her forever and never grow the least bit bored. Now, as Malfoy leaned to kiss Hermione gently, he laughed to see her smile in her sleep, her arms automatically reaching to pull him closer. Several times throughout the night and into the early hours of the morning Draco had asked her if she wanted to try and get some sleep, but she fervently insisted that she was not tired, which amused him to no end.
"You know, I'll still be here in the morning," he had murmured in between kissing her. "Are you afraid I'll disappear?"
"Yes, sort of," she had giggled, making him laugh. Draco couldn't recall ever having this much fun being with someone. Every new touch, every new experience for Hermione was like a new one for him as well, and to see her reaction to the things he said and did to her was unlike any other feeling he had ever known.
Although Draco had been concentrating on Hermione for most of the night, eventually she had gotten curious regarding how to please him, and it was somehow wildly exciting for Malfoy to see her uncertainty as she hesitantly touched him.
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," he had gasped, feeling as if he would explode if he didn't get some relief, still trying desperately to keep his promise to himself that he would remain a gentleman.
"But I do want to…will you show me how?" she had shyly asked, to his delight. She didn't need to ask him twice. As she let him guide her warm little hand over his throbbing hardness, at the same time trailing soft little kisses down his chest and stomach, it had only taken him moments to climax. After he had recovered, he had to laugh again at the expression on her face when she saw the result.
"What?" he had asked her, chuckling and reaching to touch her hair. "It's a bit messy, I know. Does that scare you?" he teased, to her great embarrassment.
"No, no it doesn't," she stammered, blushing. "I just…never, you know…" she struggled to finish speaking until he grinned and pulled her towards him to kiss her gently.
"You don't have to say anything. It must be a bit…odd to see it for the first time. And thank you…that was brilliant. You are a fast learner, aren't you, Granger?" Again he had to laugh at the innocent expression on her face.
It had, in short, been the best night of his life thus far. He was glad it was Sunday and they both had the day before them. He smirked as he held her, thinking to himself, she must really love you, Malfoy: she hasn't even mentioned homework once, not once.
Strangely, in his own mind he had already decided that he loved her, although neither of them had yet spoken the word. It seemed he had loved her all along, just never realized that she could love him too, not until Ginny had teased her the other night about thinking he was sexy in that Quidditch picture. The fact that she had a crush on him had come as such a shock, but looking back on the past few months, the looks, the stammering, her finding excuses to be close to him, it all seemed so clear in retrospect.
Malfoy had always prided himself on knowing where he stood with girls, on being cool and aloof, wielding his sex appeal like a weapon. He never thought he could love someone this deeply, or feel so vulnerable. Not so long ago, he would have considered it a waste of an evening if he didn't get an actual shag. Getting girls to give it up had been more of a sport for him in the past. But being with Hermione, holding her and touching her, growing to know her in such an intimate way after all those years of glaring and arguing, was the most exciting thing he had ever experienced. It made him reevaluate his place in the world, and for the first time ever he looked forward to his future with a different kind of confidence, one that didn't make him feel dirty. He felt right, truly right, for the first time in his life.
The fact that Hermione, someone who he had always considered brilliant and destined for greatness, even when they were kids who detested each other, would allow him, Draco Malfoy, to be the man to introduce her to making love, completely blew his mind. He realized with a start where much of his resentment towards Potter and Weasley had come from. Now that he thought about it, he remembered feeling such anger and jealousy at the sight of the three, disgust at her being so close to a goofy git like Weasley, especially around about fourth year when Granger had started to grow into her looks so nicely. I was the git, he thought shamefully as he leaned again to brush his lips against hers, fascinated with how beautiful she looked when she slept. If I hadn't been so hateful to her, so jealous that a muggle-born could be smarter than I, maybe we could have been doing this long ago.
He squeezed Hermione tightly against his chest, closing his eyes and breathing in the wonderful way she smelled. He smiled as she mumbled something into his shirt.
"What was that, Granger?" he leaned to whispered in her ear, running his lips lightly along her neck. She opened her eyes sleepily and reached up to touch his hair.
"I said I'm sorry I was always so mean to you. If I'd been nicer, maybe we could have done this long ago." He stared at her, literally feeling his heart skip a beat.
"How strange: I was just thinking the exact same thing," he whispered. She gazed back at him in wonder.
"Really? Were you really?" He smiled and nodded. She suddenly looked at him with sad eyes and he raised an eyebrow curiously.
"What's wrong, Hermione? You look so sad all of a sudden," he said, stroking her lips gently.
"Draco…in third year," she said in a small voice, her eyes pleading with him, "about Buckbeak…I was so mad at you and…and I'm sorry that I…" she blushed as he snickered, finally understanding what she was trying to say, enjoying watching her struggle.
"That beast? What about him?" he said teasingly, leaning to kiss her with a smirk.
As he kissed her she sighed deeply, kissing him back eagerly. When he pulled away to smile at her, he saw her eyes were still closed. "You were saying, Granger?" he said, leaning to breathe in her ear, feeling her shiver as he did.
"What was that?" she asked vaguely, moving to find his lips again with hers. He chuckled into the kiss.
"It sounded as if you were going to apologize to me for something, if I'm not mistaken," he said with a grin. Her eyes snapped open and she blushed.
"Oh, right. I was…I was going to ask you…if, well…Draco, did it hurt when I punched you? I wish I hadn't done that. Can you ever forgive me?" Again she looked at him beseechingly. He shook his head and rolled his eyes as he pulled her closer to him. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and sighed again. He smiled and kissed her forehead.
"Silly little Gryffindor. I had it coming, first off. Secondly, you've more than made up for anything you think you've done. I only hope I can make up for a fraction of the times I tried to make your life miserable." Her eyes lit up and she smiled at him.
"You have," she whispered.
"Oh, and yes, it hurt like Hell," he added with a grin. She giggled up at him.
He smiled back at her before sitting up in his bed and stretching with a groan. He saw that it was almost 9:00 am.
"Are you hungry?" he asked, sliding off the bed and standing up. "Because I'm starved." She nodded.
"I'm hungry too. I suppose we should make an appearance at breakfast," she said, unable to hide the regret in her voice. He laughed.
"You just want to keep snogging, don't you?" he teased, throwing a pillow at her. She grinned shyly.
"Well, it is rather fun. But I wouldn't mind some breakfast. Will you sit at our table then? I sat at yours last night at dinner." Draco raised an eyebrow.
"Only if you promise to protect me from Weasley if he tries to kill me. You obviously have a better left hook than I, my dear." Hermione laughed.
"Are you kidding? If he tried anything on you, I'd use my wand and Crucio him." Draco looked at her in disbelief, making her laugh.
"Granger, did you just…that joke was so…Slytherin. Am I rubbing off that quickly? I'd hate to think I've created a monster." Hermione giggled uncontrollably as Draco smirked and shook his head.
"Yes, you are dangerously close to the Dark Side right now," he joked as he began taking clothes out of his dresser. "I daresay I like it," he added to Hermione's delight, walking back over to the bed and grabbing her for another kiss.
"Go on, get dressed, woman, I need food if I'm to have enough energy for you later."