OLA, amigas. I know it's been months. You prolly don't remember the story anymore. Sniff. But anyway, I am still going to complete the story, whatever happens. Oh and I apologize for the long gaps between the updates. RL has been taking over and it's either I sleep or I study after coming home from duty. It's sad, because I no longer have time for my DHM : ( enough of that! Here's the 9th chapter. Read and enjoy! And please do leave reviews.

PS. I finally have a twitter acct! I've been itching to plug my account here (forgive me loves for the shameless plugging), but really if you do have any questions or such, or anything for that matter, you can reach me via twitter. You can find me by this user name: SMariey and I'm new to that site so don't expect much from me. Heeeeheeee

Kisses

CHAPTER 9

"Is it really necessary that you dance with her, Draco?" Astoria asked irritably as she stood beside Draco outside the Great Hall. She was wearing an orange satin gown which showed off her big breasts, deep cleavage, and broad hips. Draco wasn't a fashion police or anything of that kind, but he had to say, she looked hideous in the gown. Astoria was beautiful, but tonight, she looked like a carrot. He was expecting a tightening in his pants on the sight of her bodice, but it wasn't there. Astoria just looked…meh. Maybe she got one of those Muggle tanning lotions and accidentally applied too much on her skin. She just didn't look appealing tonight.

"Yes," Draco quipped. He avoided looking at her again, afraid he might criticize her again. He was one decent bloke, all right.

"She's not even here yet!" Astoria complained, flailing her arms in the air. "We have to get inside now, you know. Blaise saved us a table," she said, languidly trailing a finger on Draco's chest.

"Stop doing that!" Draco snapped, wiping her hand away from his chest. Was she actually trying to seduce him? 'Cause it wasn't working, really! "Why don't you go ahead? Granger and I have to enter the halls together, anyway."

Astoria's eyes widened. "You're kidding me," she said, astonished.

"No shit. McGonagall's instructions," Draco answered smugly.

"But you said you only have to dance with her. And now you're actually taking her to the ball, as your date!"

Draco sighed irritably. "My hands are tied, Astoria. If you want to trail behind us and look like an idiot then you may do so. I'm not going to stop you."

"I can't believe this," Astoria complained again.

"Yeah, right," Draco muttered. He has a lot going on right now, and he did not have the strength to argue with Astoria. So when she left him and entered the hall, he did not even mutter a 'goodbye' or 'see you later'.

He leaned against the wall, placed his hands inside his trouser's pockets and closed his eyes. –

He'd been so annoyed at her snappy attitude that time and he needed to control the situation otherwise they would not achieve anything. So, instead of wasting his breath berating her, he pulled her close to him. He had not meant to pull her against her body, though. He tried his best not to show his blush. A blushing Malfoy. Crud.

When they had both settled to their proper dancing postures, he closed his eyes and imagined his own Utopia, or future, per se. He would live a good life, away from the darkness, away from all the people who had judged him. He would give his mother a good life, one that she rightfully deserved. He might even grow a heart and give his father a second chance.

And he would have a family of his own. A wife, and a dozen little malfoys running around their house. They would live a simple life, maybe, just maybe, he would even prefer living in the muggle world. Oxfordshire was growing on him and he could definitely see himself raising his children in that place. He would also be in love, very much in love with his wife. How that would happen, he did not know. People assumed that he didn't have a heart, but, well, he did. He might have once believed that he didn't have one. He did not need to shed tears for some chick. Maybe that was the reason why Pansy broke up with him in the first place. So why was he exactly thinking about Pansy right now? As far as he's concerned, they're history.

So, back to his wife, then. He knew he'd choose a girl who'd be pretty, one who would give him beautiful and handsome children. He'd be married by twenty four, have children by twenty six. He would come home to his wife and make love to her the entire day, or probably all day long.

They would dance under the rain. They would dance all night until she would fall into his arms, and he would carry her on their bed…

Draco felt an uncomfortable tightening in his pants. Crap. Wet day dreams. He opened his eyes and found himself staring right at Granger's brown orbs. Something about them haunted him, as if daring him to do something. His eyes fell on her lips. They looked so…inviting''—so soft, plump, and pink. Her cheeks had a tinge of pink on it. Somehow she fits the perfect description of his future wife.

Shit. What?

The music stopped and they stopped dancing altogether. They were also staring at each other, as if waiting for the other to make a move.

Damn. Why did she have to look so adorable today? Draco moved his head closer to hers. He did not know what he was about do, but he was going for it. At least that's what his head was telling him to do: Go for it! Go!

He can almost feel her breath on his face. He must be that close. He was breathing hard and he knew it was coming. He closed his eyes slowly, dipped his head a little more, and finally, he felt soft lips against his.

Shock was his initial reaction, but he immediately pushed that down. Granger's lips were moving against his lips just as he felt her arms winding around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her small waist, pulling her closer. Her body was so soft and small, and the feeling of it just caused him to kiss her hardly. He dipped his tongue into her mouth, tasting…tasting nothing but sweetness. She returned the favor and darted her mouth on his lips. Girl can kiss, and she was doing it so well.

The kiss turned more hungry and urgent. Lips crashed against lips, and bodies collided against each other. Neither was stopping nor pulling away. Both just asked for more, demanded for more.

Draco felt the very familiar tightening of his pants. This time, he liked it. He might even get something out of it. He felt like smirking but he didn't want to ruin the moment. He was thinking with his dick, but he can't actually stop himself. A few kisses from Granger intrigued him that much and made him ask for more. So now that he was getting more than he could have possibly asked for, he wouldn't stop. Unless she pulled away.

His heart beat faster when he heard her moan. He pushed her against the wall, which was kind of funny, because he didn't notice that wall when they were dancing. His hand went lower to her back, just above her butt. She took a peak at her and noticed she was already flat on her toes, so he has been dipping his head lower than the first time. He'd have a bad kink in his neck after this.

So he grabbed her thighs and raised her until their mouths were on the same level. Hermione pulled away and rested her forehead against his. Draco panted just as well, and stroked her thigh. Them skirts was doing him a whole lot of favor. As he continuously stroke her thigh in circles, Hermione moved her lips on Draco's necks, and started nibbling at a certain spot. Draco saw stars. He even saw dancing deatheaters. He was so turned on, and he could not believe he was having a good time with Granger.

He tried to block out the fact that he was snogging with Weasley's—and possibly Potter's—girl. He was smitten with the girl and he couldn't just stop! Not when she's so willing and inviting.

Granger pushed her lower torso and Draco could just groan in pleasure. She's been nibbling and licking on the skin just below his ears, and fuck it, it was driving him mad. Her legs were wrapped tightly around her waist, just as her legs were now bare against Draco's hands. He gripped her bum lightly and felt her stop her tongue works on his skin. She pulled his face towards him and kissed him on the lips so lightly. He even thought it was so sweet. He had never been kissed by a girl that way.

"Fuck me," he heard her whisper.

Draco froze. Had he heard her right? He felt his heart drop on the ground, the lust, desire and craving going down with it. He should feel turned on by this, but he didn't. He wanted things to come natural, not like this—her asking for sex, like she was desperate.

Draco almost felt a bubble of anger form in his chest. She was just using him to get past her loneliness, and fuck it; he had been so blindly willing to submit. "Granger, stop," he willed himself to say. Granger didn't stop, as if she had not heard him. She was now kissing his jaw, and it was making him have a harder time to think.

He unwrapped her legs around her waist, and did the same to her arms after. When she settled on her feet, she looked at Draco who had a pointed look on his face.

He just looked at her, until he noticed a deep pink color on her cheeks—as if finally coming to her senses. "Shit," Granger whispered weakly.

"I—"

"No…move." Granger pushed Draco to the side and went inside her room. He leaned his forehead on the wall. Well that went bloody well.

ooo

"Hermione, let me see you," Ginny mused.

Hermione lazily stepped out of bathroom, dragging her shoes with her. "I look like a vegetable."

Ginny stood up from her bed and peeked at Hermione's entering figure. He jaw dropped at the sight of her friend. "Merlin's pants, you look perfect. Ron will be on his knees by the end of the night."

"Fuck off," Hermione snapped.

Ginny had her previously hanging mouth snap shot. "What?"

Hermione shook her head and said her apologies. "I'm sorry Gin', I just had a tough day."

"Ok, but no need to bitch out on me, Hermione. I'm just helping you out here."

"Ok," Hermione mumbled.

"Yes! Now stand before the mirror and look at yourself." Ginny pulled her towards the mirror standing by her bed. "See?" She asked with a huge grin.

Hermione examined herself on the mirror. The green cocktail dress fit quite perfectly on her. It did hug her body on the right places. She did not exactly have big breasts or bums, but she settled on her body just fine. Her dress ended on her knees and it showed her creamy, thin legs. She wore black heels and she had to admit it, it made her legs look sexy. Just those legs, alright. She had long conceded to the fact that she was a shrimp. Draco Malfoy just proved that to her. So maybe she was being a bit rash about her actions, but it was just rude of Malfoy to do that. She felt lower than dirt.

"I'll do your hair and make-up, 'Mione! Don't worry about it!" Ginny exclaimed as she stood behind Hermione.

Hermione ignored Ginny's giddiness. She was annoying her. "Who's taking you, Ginny?" She asked nonchalantly as she watched Ginny mumble spells to fix her hair.

"Harry," she replied, blushing.

"That's nice."

"It is. There! Done, you're good to go!" Ginny cried. "Malfoy will be gawking at you the entire time!"

Hermione's stomach turned and her heart throbbed against her chest, painfully.

ooo

"Malfoy."

Draco snapped his eyes open and landed on the girl standing before him. Gods. His heart pounded loudly against his ears. He can't even. He did not know what to say. He watched her closely as she moved closer to him.

"You're just going to stand there?" Hermione asked crisply, not quite looking at Malfoy. He was looking at her like a dog. Fuck. Has she got something on her face or dress?

Draco shook his head and unwittingly took Hermione's hand. Together, they entered the halls and were cheerfully greeted by their teachers and peers. "Fuck, we've got an audience."

"Don't puke now, Malfoy," Hermione said acerbically. She gripped Malfoy's hand and saw him wince in what must have been pain. 'Bitch', she heard him say.

On cue, they stopped at the middle of the floor, faced each other, and positioned themselves for the dance. Hermione pasted a forced smile on her face, and Draco, still as ever, with his robotic face. Hermione daintily placed her hand on Draco's shoulder, and stepped closer to him.

Draco, meanwhile, placed his hand on Granger's lower back while holding her other hand.

Memories came flooding back to her mind. She felt sweaty all of a sudden. Malfoy was looking at her so intently. "I apologize for what happened this afternoon," he said.

Hermione wanted to run and jump over the Astronomy tower. Why did he have to bring this up now? She could not quite look at him now. Maybe if she ignored him, he would leave the topic.

"I apologi—"

"I heard you the first time, Malfoy," Hermione interrupted before he could further proceed.

"Then why did you not answer?"

"Because I have nothing to say!" Hermione snapped.

Draco shut his mouth and looked at her menacingly. "It's not that I didn't want to do it." Oh, gods. He felt like puking. Definitely a wrong move on bringing up this topic.

"I wasn't thinking, ok?" Hermione conceded, still unable to look in his eyes. "Can we just…can we just keep it to ourselves? I don't want to make a big deal out of it."

Yeah, but it was, for me. Right, like he'd say that. "Did you regret it?" Draco asked instead.

Hermione scrunched her nose in pure loathing. He was trying to embarrass her. Fuck this twat. "What are you playing at, Malfoy?" She asked brusquely.

"I'm just asking, Granger."

"I'm not interested in this mumbo jumbo, Malfoy," Hermione hissed.

Draco quirked his eyebrow. "What?"

"Don't make me hit you. I don't care how many people are here right now. I could beat you into a bloody pulp, Malfoy. Don't wait for that to happen."

Draco mumbled something like 'temperamental' and earned himself a glare from Granger. "I didn't regret it though, if you'd ask me."

Crud. She knew she was blushing mad. They still had one last song before their dance would end. She felt that funny feeling in her stomach again and she hated every bit of it. "Why are you being a dick, Malfoy?" She asked, exasperated.

"I'm not."

"Well then, stopped feeding me lies!"

"I'm not."

"You are! Gods, Malfoy, if you'd stop being such a prick, people might actually like you."

Hermione saw a flash of something in Malfoy's face but it was gone before she could even decide what it was. "Would you?" He asked.

"Would I what?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Like me, if I stopped being a prick," Draco mumbled.

Why was he being so brash about this? Hermione wanted to cry! He was torturing her! "I don't know, maybe," she said, quite unsure of herself.

Draco sighed. He spun her around and caught her in time. The song had ended, but he just held her right there. He didn't know why he would not let go of her. He just…stared at her. He's been doing that a lot lately.

Applauses filled the room just as the dance ended. He was still holding her. And she just stood there. Simply looking back at him with confused eyes. He knew she was confused. It was written all over her face. Maybe if she thought harder and stopped being so naïve, she would understand. It's not like he hadn't been subtle for her not to notice anything. "Ok. Thanks," he said simply.

Wait, was that hurt in his eyes? Did she say something offensive? His mouth fell into a frown and he stopped looking at her. "Malfoy," she started. But Malfoy simply pulled away from her, and curtsied.

"I'm sorry for your loss, H-Hermione. I hope you find your peace," he said morosely. He was being awfully nice and Hermione wanted to hug him for that. A kiss also seemed a wonderful idea at the time. Before she could say anything else to him, people started flocking her way. He lost her sight of him, and he just…vanished.