Hermione felt that her bed was empty without someone else sleeping in it, specifically without Draco sleeping in it. She was colder, she missed the way his arms felt around her body and how the rise and fall of his chest made her feel protected. She never experienced anything like this before so she never knew what it was like to miss it.
They had agreed to meet tomorrow, trying out a discreet meeting place. They both knew perfectly well where to go, even though they haven't said it. Hermione wondered how it would affect him to be back there; at least it would be different this time. She would be there for him.
Still, she couldn't help but run through what Harry and Ron will say when, or if, they find out. She has never had to keep something like this from them before. She had new found feelings for this man who has always been the enemy, so why could she change her mind about him so quickly? Or at least what seemed like a short period of time.
In reality her affections for Draco had been growing for a long time. Hermione thought back to that day in their third year when she sent her fist flying into his nose. He really was arrogant. As she looked back she realised that in the early years of his time at Hogwarts he really was as arrogant as he sounded, but as the years went by it became more of a mask to cover the gaping hole that was growing inside of him. He used his arrogance to hide his insecurities and protect himself from anymore hurt.
But what was it about her? Why was he letting his guard down for her like he never had with anyone else? Even Pansy, especially Pansy. She must have been a part of his cover, so long as she was as nasty to him as she was, he didn't have the chance to feel any good, and therefore lost all hope in a better life. Hermione couldn't imagine feeling so alone and powerless that she would have to remove all the happiness from her life just to be able to live it.
She thought back to the day when she performed the memory-removal spell on her parents, obliviate. She had felt like it was the only choice she had to keep them safe, but she still had Harry, and Ron. She couldn't imagine living with no joy, or even without any hope of ever finding it.
Her mind was running around in circles with all of this information, and the excitement and anticipation of seeing Draco tomorrow. It took her a long time to finally get to sleep.
She woke early the next morning and practically threw on her clothes and ran down to the great hall for breakfast, just hoping to meet his eyes across the room. She ate her breakfast slowly, constantly looking up and over at the Slytherin table. She sat in the hall for over an hour, waiting for him to show up. They agreed that she would meet him at the room of requirement at noon. It was currently nine in the morning.
She took a walk around the castle; time was ticking by far too slowly. She headed to the library and took out an old book to read. She looked up at the clock after a while of reading to see that only an hour had passed.
She sighed and slumped back in her chair, will midday never come?
It seemed like forever to Hermione but she held herself back until half past eleven when she decided it was okay to head up to the seventh floor.
She was suddenly nervous, was this going to end up the same as their last meetings? All they did was fight, hopefully this would be better.
She walked past the entrance three times, needing to find the room with Draco in it and as she walked back towards it she found the door materialised in the wall. She opened it slowly to see Draco standing with his back to the door, muttering a spell, or a charm. He didn't see her so she just smiled as she watched him. She didn't notice anything around him; he was wearing his blue jeans and his white school shirt semi-tucked in and rolled up at the sleeves. He looked so gorgeous.
"What are you doing?" She smiled as he turned around quickly.
"Oh, I was just… come here." He held out his other hand and turned up his mouth in half a smile and looked over at her expectantly.
She stepped forward and took his hand. He led her to the centre of the small room and put his wand in his back pocket to take her other hand.
"Look up." He said.
She tore her eyes away from his and looked up to the ceiling. "It's enchanted!"
The ceiling was the midnight blue of the night sky with shiny specks of light for the stars. They whirled around the ceiling and sparkled like glitter.
"I spent the night looking up a spell, just…be warned, it might start raining. I'm not even sure how, but it starts like this and then a storm comes."
"If it rains it rains." She let go of his hands and wrapped her arms around his neck.
As her lips found his he tentatively placed his hands on her back. She pulled her lips away from his and whispered to him.
"It's perfect." He dipped his head and pressed his lips into hers.
"You'll change your mind when it starts raining on the food." He sighed slightly and she put her hands on the side of his face.
"Food doesn't matter, besides, I think you'd look really nice in the rain." She blushed a little as she spoke, it sounded a little stupid but the worst bit was that she meant it.
He managed to put on a real smile and moved aside to show Hermione the rug on the ground with a flask of pumpkin juice, muffins and some other bits and pieces. They sat together on the ground and he poured her a glass of juice and she looked up to the starry ceiling.
"You really spent the night looking up a spell to enchant the ceiling?" she asked.
"I didn't want you to be let down. And I didn't get you anything for Christmas." He reached into the pocket of his school shirt and flashed the golden watch that she had given him just a day earlier.
"I was pacing the library for hours just waiting to meet you here. I know, it's stupid." She looked away from him and her hair fell over her face.
He reached out and brushed it back behind her ear. "It's not stupid, it's a disappointment isn't it? I knew I should have bought you something, I'm so stupid!" he screwed up his eyes and turned away from her.
"Draco! Don't do this again. The first thing I noticed when I walked through that door was you…because that was the reason I was so impatient. You couldn't have disappointed me Draco, and the sky is just amazing. No one has done something like that for me before." She scooted over so that they were touching and leant over to give him a kiss.
His hand rested on her thigh and he opened his mouth to slide his tongue along the inside of her lip. She slipped her tongue into his mouth and they danced together. Hermione gave a small sigh as he pulled her leg over his. She pushed her body even further into his and their lips pressed harder together, becoming even more demanding. Hermione put a shaking hand on his chest and started to slide it down his body. As she reached his navel she heard the thunder. Their lips separated and they looked up at the ceiling which was now playing host to growing grey clouds.
"It doesn't really rain does it?" She asked.
Another crack of thunder echoed in the room and suddenly the rain started to fall.
"I don't know how…" Draco said over the sound of the rain.
She laughed and gave him a firm kiss. His lips twitched into a smile before he wrapped his arms around her and rolled her to the floor before giving her another long hot kiss in the cold pouring rain. The only thing that could come between their lips was the rain and the sound of Hermione's exhilarated laughter.