CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

'I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul.'
~Pablo Neruda as quoted by Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss~

It was dark when the doorbell rang.

Hermione groaned, rolling over in bed. Her room was pitch black, with the exception of the street lights that cast an eery glow in her room. She found the clock, which told her it was four thirty. There were footsteps outside in the hall, she guessed her dad's, by the sound of his slippers. She pushed her face into the pillow, hoping to magically fall back into the dream she had been ripped out of.

It almost felt possible, until her door opened. Someone had turned the light in the hall on and it streamed into the room. She kept her eyes shut tight, not ready to welcome the light. She groaned and tugged the covers up more. What did her dad need at this time? And who had been at the door?

She heard her name in the dark, but in her half awake state it didn't register. She groaned again and turned over, away from the light. "Granger," It said again, this time one side of the bed sinking in. Someone had sat down in the middle. The voice didn't sound like her dad, although it was for sure masculine. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. A soft hand touched her shoulder and again, "Granger."

She sighed, realising whoever it was not going away. Everything was probably being filmed anyway, so if she just got this encounter over with, she could go back to bed that much sooner. She cracked open an eye and shrieked, pulling away so fast she nearly fell off the bed. Draco Malfoy leaned forward with lightening fast reflexes to catch her shoulders before she went toppling off the bed. Hermione shoved him off, wiping the sleep and oil from her face. WHAT was he doing there? In her room? At four in the morning?

Her heart was pounding, reminiscent of the way it had when Harry kept reading over her shoulder. Once her eyes adjusted, she was able to see Draco clearer. His hair hung down in his eyes, but other than that he was dressed in all black, just as formal as ever. There should be a law against looking that put together in the morning, Hermione thought.

A grin settled across his face as he said, "Morning, Granger. Sleep well?"

"Wha-" She sputtered, her brain beginning to function properly as she woke up, "What are you doing here?"

He wasn't paying attention to the words coming out of her mouth, she realised. His attention had been taken away by her pyjamas. She glanced down, seeing the skimpy camisole she was wearing. The covers had fallen down to her lap when she sat up and she hastily tried to cover as much cleavage as possible. Draco looked up at her said, "Nice pyjamas."

He could have said nice jugs, so she was grateful. Instead of saying so, she glared and reiterated her question. While she waited for him, she grabbed the remote for the air conditioner in the room and shut it off. Doing so meant leaning over to the bedside table and her camisole slid up, revealing some of her lower back. She hastily pulled back, getting a nose full of Draco's cologne. It wasn't overpowering like so many men's cologne- it was nice. Pleasant, even. She pulled her shirt down again and tried not to flush as Draco was once again distracted.

He looked her in the eyes and said, like she should have known the answer, "We're going to Italy."

"Yes." She deadpanned, pointing at her packed bag in the corner. "I know that. I was supposed to meet you at the Manor at ten so we could Apparate." This was getting annoying and she knew her tone reflected how she felt. She also felt her eyes widen in an angry way as she finished.

Draco seemed unaffected by this and said, "Change of plans."

"What change of plans?" She growled. It was too early in the morning for this.

Draco looked more and more amused as this little conversation went on. "We're taking a plane. Heathrow to Rome." For a moment his confidence disappeared and he asked, "That is how muggles do it, right?"

"What did you just say?" Hermione asked, completely caught off-guard.

"It's a two hour flight," Draco went on, regaining his confidence in moments.

"How much was the ticket?" She asked, "What do I owe you?" There was no way he was paying for a plane ticket for her. She couldn't afford a new dress, but she'd find a way to pay him back.

"What? No." Draco shook his head. "It's on the Ministry. Now, there's a cab waiting downstairs. Up you get," He reached over and took her hands in his. Normally she would have stopped him from pulling her out of bed, but she moved like a robot under his guidance, too shocked to react.

Draco had planned their trip to Italy the muggle way? And the Ministry was putting up the cost? Right, the show. But wait since when did he-

"Geez, Granger. Give a bloke some warning." His voice brought her back to the present. She had no idea what he was talking about, so she glanced over at him, to find him staring at her equally skimpy shorts.

It was summer. What did he expect her to be wearing?

Instead of blushing, she glared at him, recovering her composure. "No one told you to show up at my house at four in the morning. If you had told me the actual plan-" It was no use, she saw, since he was still obviously checking her out. Her heart thundered dangerously and she noticed they were still holding hands.

She pulled away and started shoving him towards the door. "Granger- what are you doing? We need to get to the air base-"

"Airport!" She shrieked, pushing him through her doorway. She reached over, grabbing her duffel bag and threw it at him. He caught it, but not before it smacked him the gut. He grunted and she smiled at his pain. The door slammed shut and she spun around, looking at her dark room now that the hallway light had been cut off.

"You are getting ready, yeah?" Draco called through the door.

She bit back a laugh and ended up snorting. "Go away!" She called, grabbing clothes from her drawers before ducking in for a shower.

She never thought she'd ever be this happy this early in the morning. Draco Malfoy was taking her to Italy on a plane! He was flying the muggle way. And he had planned this trip. Wait- were his parents waiting down in the cab? She scrubbed the sleep away and pulled on clothes for travel.

Since her bag had been packed the night before and she threw it at Draco, all she needed was her purse. She went over to her parent's room and told them about the shift in her plans for Italy, but they didn't seem to mind. Crookshanks' food bowl was empty and she went to add some more dry food to hold him off until his actual breakfast. He usually came running when he heard food, but nothing happened. She had a bad feeling she knew where he was.

Sure enough, there her cat was on Draco's lap. She huffed and stalked passed them, grabbing her bag Draco had deposited at the end of the couch. "Get a room," She muttered.

What she didn't see was Draco's hand shoot out to grab the bag and his strength made her stagger backwards as the bag didn't budge. She shot him a questioningly glance, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he gently nudged the cat off him and stood up, taking her bag with him. She laughed, seeing his trousers covered in orange fur all around his nether region. Draco grinned and before he could use the appropriate spell, Hermione had already done it for him. "Pity," she joked, "it was a good look for you."

Draco chuckled, and tugged the bag out of her grip and gestured for the door. She smiled and then looked over at her cat, who seemed miffed that she was leaving and taking Draco with her. She rolled her eyes and led Draco to the door.

She was expecting to see Lucius and Narcissa in the car, but it was empty, except for the driver, who met them at the back to put her bag in the trunk. One of the cameramen joined the driver up front. Draco let her slide in first and once they were both in, the car took off without asking either of them for a point of destination, which meant he already knew.

"So where are your parents?" Hermione asked, "Wasn't this whole trip Narcissa's idea?"

"Dad was feeling under the weather," Draco said smoothly, looking out the window as they drove through the darkened city. "So they're gonna Apparate for the dinner tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night?" She asked, feeling her stomach churn. "So it'll be you and me? Alone? Overnight?"

Draco glanced over at her and she mentally slapped herself for the 'overnight' bit. She probably sounded like the biggest prude. He quirked an eyebrow at her and said, "Everything okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Psh, everything's fine. But just to clarify, we'll be alone."

"In Rome," Draco added, "We'll Apparate to Tuscany tomorrow night. That's where the Scozzolis live."

"Right," She took a deep breath. Ginny had spent all week telling her it was a 'romantic getaway' and she had insisted his parents would be there. And now they were all alone speeding towards Heathrow, just the pair of them. But it still wasn't a romantic getaway, right? He didn't like her that way. Sometimes she wondered if they were even actually friends.

"Ron told me he loved me," She blurted out. She bit her lip, hearing him suck in a breath. She didn't know why she said it- maybe it was because a part of her wanted this to be a romantic getaway and she was trying to gauge if he liked her the way she was beginning to fear she liked him.

Draco turned to face her, his face a perfect mask. His voice was tightly controlled, the only indicator that he was trying to stay calm. "Oh?"

She played with her fingers, staring at the seat cushion between them. Glancing up, she saw he was still looking at her and she forced herself to nod. "The other day. At the Burrow."

"So are you... back..." His face contorted up in a pained sort of way and he finally said, "together?"

She shook her head and watched him carefully. It was like he was an experiment she was studying under a microscope. He let out a deep breath and his lips twitched like he was holding back a smile. These seemed like positive signs. "Why not?" His voice wavered a bit, like he was trying to contain his excitement.

Because I'm mad about you. Merlin, she realised, her face probably betraying her, it was true. Luckily, he didn't seem to have guessed what she was thinking, but he did notice the change in her. He looked at her curiously and she faked a smile. "We're better off as friends."

Draco looked away and she suspected he was smiling, although she couldn't see. They sat in silence the whole way to the airport and Hermione tried to work out how she was feeling and what she was going to do about it. Because even if she really did like Draco, was it possible he liked her? They had a history and not a very good one. He hated her merely because she existed. He seemed to have changed his world views now, but could he erase the past? And could she look passed everything he had done?

Hermione took charge once they arrived at Heathrow. It was clear to her Draco had never been to a Muggle airport and a thought occurred to her as the cabbie unloaded their bags. She turned to Draco, "You don't have a passport."

In response, he pulled out a tiny maroon coloured book and flashed her a smile. "How did you get that?" She asked, as they walked inside. "And don't you dare say 'wizard!'"

He chuckled, "But this actually does have to do with magic."

She eyed him warily as they joined the line to check in for their flight. "Go on."

"The Ministry made one and they put a little masking spell on it so muggles won't question it." Draco grinned, "And it only cost a little bribe."

"That is horrible." Hermione rolled her eyes. "And that's why we can never fix anything in the way this government is run."

"There will always be people willing to do stuff for money. Have been ever since the day money was invented. If we all just kept trading silk for rice, then we'd all be okay." said Draco.

"It's just paper. It's not even backed by gold and silver. There is no money anywhere in the world backed by gold and silver. All this drama for paper." Hermione shook her head. They were nearly at the front of the line, so she turned to Draco asked for their ticket confirmation.

He riffled around in his bag and retrieved a folded up page. There was a brown stain in the corner and she glanced at Draco with a raised eyebrow. Draco rolled his eyes and explained, "Puffy spilled coffee on it."

"Why were you drinking coffee?"

"I needed something stronger than tea. Bleeding muggle computers are the devil incarnate." He said, not looking happy as the memory of securing their tickets flashed across his mind.

She smiled, feeling a small bit of satisfaction. The Malfoys and plenty of other pure-blood families had considered themselves so much better than muggles for years. They looked down on them because they didn't have magic. But muggles had electronics and they were a different kind of magic that took time to learn.

"Ruddy house elf knew exactly what to do." He muttered, presumably a little bitter.

"You mean I have Puffy to thank for getting me a seat?" Hermione grinned. "I hope you thanked her."

"Sure, Mum," He rolled his eyes. "I also punished her for spilling coffee all over the irreplaceable, oriental rug."

She didn't have the chance to respond since it was their turn at the check-in counter. She handed the woman in a blue uniform their passports and ids along with the folded up email confirmation. After getting them window seats, they put their bags on the weighing scale. Hermione half expected Draco's bag to be overweight, chopped full of all his pure-blood luxuries, but it went through without a problem and then they were off towards security.

"You're gonna have to take of your shoes," She instructed, "and anything metal. Like your belt."

"If you wanted to get me naked, Granger, all you had to do was ask." Draco quipped, sending a naughty smile her way.

She rolled her eyes and said, "They're going to take a picture of you naked."

For a second Draco lost his calm composure. "What?"

She smirked, having the upper hand. "Unless you want to have a pat down by a chubby bloke. The choice is yours."

"Seeing as I've already taken a naked picture..." He trailed off, grinning wickedly at her. Hermione rolled her eyes, trying to maintain an air of nonchalance, but on the inside she was burning. All she wanted to do was reach out and take his hand. He was trying to rile her up, she doubted he'd actually taken a naked picture of himself. But she wasn't going to feign interest.

"I know what you mean. This should be easy peesy."

His mouth dropped, making her want to do a victory dance. He smiled brightly at her and shook his head, more to himself. And then he reached out, his arm going around her shoulders as he tugged her against his side. She sucked in a breath as her body tingled and she fell against him. There was no awkward sharp bone in his side that plunged into her, like when she was with Ron. This felt right.

He didn't let go and she didn't pull away. It almost felt like they were a couple.

They moved through the line together and soon enough they were pulling off their shoes and Hermione was secretly telling Draco what to do. They cleared security fine and Draco was determined to find their gate.

"It's B15," Hermione said, trying to hold in a smile.

"I heard you the first time, Granger," Draco said, a few feet ahead of her, looking around at all the signs.

She shook her head, silently proud at his determination to function in the muggle world. She glanced behind them, where the camera crew was trailing. They also had fancy Ministry passports. Draco turned right and she followed, finding him stopped and waiting for her. "I'm right, right?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yippee, you found the gate. You're just as smart as every other muggle."

"Sarcasm is a last resort for the emotionally barren," Draco chided.

She snorted, "Me? Emotionally barren? What more you?"

"You've no idea," He said, reaching out to wrap his arm around her shoulders again. They walked over to one of the many small shops by their gate to buy tea, before sitting down by the window to watch the planes take off.

"Are you nervous?" She asked, noticing the way he kept biting his lip and staring intently at the giant airplanes. "Is this the first time you've seen a plane?"

Draco nodded, distracted as a jet rocketed passed them on the runway. "It's different from a broom, that's for sure."

"You'll be fine." She said, but when he didn't seem convinced, she added cheekily, "I'll protect you."

Draco laughed and finally tore his gaze away from the planes and settled it on her. He eyed her appraisingly before saying, "I've no doubt about that."

A/N Are you excited? Come on, those two are so cute, aren't they? :D I hope you're enjoying and you're excited and all that jazz. And there's the holidays coming up. I love Christmas. All my presents for everyone are wrapped up and I got my first college acceptance letter last week. Anyway, thanks for reading and all reviews are appreciated. AND I JUST GOT THE ULTIMATE EDITION OF HP7 AND 7.2. :D

Thanks to: alannalove1990, Taylor F, CheshireCat23, edwardsoneandonlylove, Jazu-chan13, Honoria Granger, HarryPotterGeneration, Kleptokitten, and Loveable Leo.