Draco's POV:

'Where the hell is that bloody Gryffindor?' I muttered under my breath as my eyes scanned through room after room for the beautiful brunette. My mind was filled with concern after every room I found, empty. Finally, I carried myself up the stairs to the only place left to go.

As I grasped the circular black doorknob and opened the brown arched door leading to the watchtower, I sighed with relief as I saw the curly haired Gryffindor sitting by the window, staring out into space. The sound of the closing door made her jump in alarm, but she gave a light smile once she saw me and turned back to the window. Taking my lead, I ambled to the window and sat beside her. Her light brown curls framed her perfect face, partly covering the fact that she'd been crying. She had puffy eyes and her face was wet with tears. After a few minutes of silence, I took my hand and removed a curl from her face.

She looked up at me with disconsolate eyes and tried to hide her pain. I pulled her in and sat there with her body leaned up against mine. "You don't have to be brave all the time you know," I said as soothingly as I could. "Sometimes it's okay to cry."

As I finished off with those words, Hermione immediately wept into my shoulders, letting all her sadness and anger out. I sat there stroking her luscious curls, thinking about how daft and idiotic that Weaslebee was. Hermione felt me tense up and could see the anger in my eyes.

"Don't get angry," she said, "I'll be fine."

I fixed my gaze at her and our eyes met. We stared at each other for what seemed like a millennium before I pulled her up and said, "Come on, we better get back."

Hermione nodded her head and we stepped out of the watchtower and into the cold corridors.

Once we arrived in front of the Fat Lady, I waited for Hermione to let go of my hand and leave. Instead she didn't let go and went a light shade of pink.

"Um… Draco?" She whispered.

"Yeah?"

"W-well, I was wondering m-maybe we could g-go somewhere else?"

I looked at her with confused expression.

"I-I mean, it's just that I think R-Ron might be waiting for me in there and I-I don't really w-want to f-face him right now."

I couldn't tell whether she was stuttering because she was nervous or because she was still trying to contain herself from crying again. Whatever the case, I agreed.

"Okay, we'll just go back to my room?"

Hermione nodded and so we turned back and walked the other way, hand in hand.

Hermione's POV:

When Draco and I arrived at his room in the Slytherin House, he let go of my hand. An awkward tension fell upon us and we stood there, not knowing what to do.

"Well uh.. make yourself at home.. I guess," Draco mumbled. "I'll just be in the bathroom for a bit."

He made his way into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Once I heard the click of the door, I shambled around the four corners of the room, observing all of the little things that stood out to me. Quite frankly, I half expected the room to be filled with Slytherin markings and all that. Instead, it was a room just like any other teenager. After pacing around the room a couple of times, I sat on the edge of his bed and waited for him to come out.

It wasn't long until I heard the click of the door again. Turning my head towards the bathroom, Draco walked out half naked with a towel wrapped around his lower part and no shirt.

"Draco!" I yelled as I covered my face with my hands. I could feel my face heating up and turning the darkest red possible.

"What?" he asked, looking confused. Then he looked down at what he was wearing and chuckled. "Oh."

"Yes," I said. "Oh."

Draco laughed. "Sorry, I'm not used to guests at night." He winked and walked over to his wardrobe and picked out clothing to wear to sleep. I kept my face covered, waiting for my face to stop heating up. Finally, I looked up only to find my face heating up again because all Draco had done was switch the towel to some boxers.

"Oh come on," Draco complained. "At least let me feel at home a little bit."

I gave a long, audible sigh and let him continue wearing his 'sleeping' attire. Suddenly, it became silent.

Draco rubbed the back of his head. "Well uh.. there's only one bed so um… I'll just sleep on the floor and you can take the bed."

I felt guilty. Without thinking, I blurted out the following words. "No no Draco, it's okay you don't have to sleep on the floor."

Draco smirked. "Well where else am I supposed to sleep?"

Dammit, why did I just say that? "W-well uhm… y-you could maybe uh.. sleep in the bed too? Y-you know, I'll sleep on this side a-and you sleep on the other?"

Draco laughed at my awkward intimacy. "If you say so."

He climbed into the right side of the bed while I climbed into the left. Our bodies felt rigid and stiff under the blanket. Without realising it, I rolled over on the bed and stopped ¾ of the way through, realising how close I was to his body. Draco, sensing that I was near, pulled me in and hugged me tight. I slowly got out of his grasp and sat up slightly. Our eyes were fixed onto each other. I smiled and leaned in, giving him a subtle kiss.

"Thank you for tonight." I whispered.

He didn't reply and instead, lifted his head up and brought his lips onto mine. I melted at his touch. His tongue grazed the bottom of my lip, as if asking for entrance. I opened my mouth slightly and he slid his tongue in, exploring the inside of my mouth. He rolled on top of me and wrapped his arms around my body. I could feel him holding back. I pushed my lips harder onto his and felt the muscular tone of his body with my hands.

He stopped for a minute, breathing heavily whilst still on top of me. "Are you sure Hermione?"

I hesitated for a moment and then nodded slightly, knowing that whatever he did, I trusted him. He brought his lips back to mine and we began lip locking at every turn. I knew the risk that I was taking but I also knew that whatever grudges that I held on with him, I could let it go.

I closed my eyes and let him take control, forgetting everything that happened that night and gave it my all.

Well, there you have it. I took an extremely long time writing this chapter because of the scene above so please bear with me D;
Apologies for the weird title haha, could be the present as in the present tense or the present as in the 'present' present. Whatever floats your boat ~
Please review, thanks for reading and all known characters belong to the one and only JK Rowling :)

sapphire-lights x