Oh, great, another chapter. Enjoy this one, okay? This chapter actually turned out longer than I thought it would. I got a new laptop, so I had to reload everything and such. Sorry, it took 5 days to update, but y'know how it is. Anyway, have fun and review; I liked this chapter. Chapter 11 will be in Draco's point of view :]
Chapter 9 Re-cap:
My vanity, the door leading to the toilet, the moon shining from the windows, and the royal red coating on the walls faded into place slowly. What was happening? I looked in front of me; the black curtain was fading away and I could see him, my beloved. He trailed his slender pointer finger along my jaw line, gazing into my eyes gently and lovingly. I raised my hand to place atop his own.
"My love, 'til another night," his voice said one last time before everything turned black.
What happened? Draco? I couldn't see anything but the darkness. I was frightened, I felt a cold rush run down my spine, and I wrapped my arms around myself. My lips trembled and my eyes battered together, eye lashes clashing. I opened them once more, and I found myself in a bed chamber. What had just happened? I held my head as my heart fluttered and I recollected what I remembered. Draco Malfoy? I love Draco Malfoy? It's absurd, isn't it?
I turned around, nearly falling back in the process. This was not my own bed chamber. Atop of the bed, Draco Malfoy lay motionless, sound asleep. Draco's bed chamber? - How in the world did I end up in all the way on Slytherin grounds? Is this a practical joke? Is someone trying to boggle my mind - if anyone, it'd be this man in front of me, his devious little mind.
I approached the bed and stopped at the bed side, staring cautiously at his face. His blond locks lay on his forehead, the tips touching his eye lids, his breathing was steady, his chest rising in a rhythmic pattern - up, hold, down, hold - and his eyes moved beneath his eye lids, was he having a dream? I wondered if it was pleasant, of course, it had to be, he looked rather peaceful, quite vulnerable and harmless, too, maybe even adorable, but I shouldn't get that far, should I? Though, we are technically engaged - oh, but it still feels so awkward to even think about such ideas, even that dream was simply mind boggling. Am I supposed to have these kind of thoughts about a man who I didn't even love - not to mention, I couldn't even tolerate him without attempting to decapitate his head - was it normal? Oh, Hermione, snap out of it, you're just kidding yourself - of course, it was just a dream, what sort of significance could it possibly have?
"Oi, mudblood," he spoke so suddenly with an intense voice, yet so soft.
I stared down, had he awoken? Had I awoken him? A closer inspection revealed that he was simply sleep-talking, thank goodness; if he were to find out I were in his bed chamber, I wouldn't hear the end of it from him. I memorized the way he spoke - clear and crisp. Was he dreaming about me, or perhaps another mudblood? - I doubted it, Draco Malfoy doesn't date mudbloods. Oddly, I grew unsteady at the thought - Draco Malfoy does not date mudbloods. I suddenly grew an intense desire to apparate back to Gryffindor. I took hold of my wand, and took one last look at my fiance, Draco Malfoy.
"Sweet dreams, Malfoy," I mumbled before I apparated.
The thought of Draco having sweet dreams with a mudblood in them baffled me; he probably dreamt of banning all of them from the kingdom or killing them, something of the extreme that went towards his beliefs. That's right, Draco disliked mudbloods. I cringed and lost my concentration. It happened all too quickly. I felt my body shift and suddenly, I fell against something hard. My wand fell from my grasp and slid across the floor. It was cold, my cheek touched the ground, my feeble hands tried to lift myself up without any luck. My thighs felt numb and the chill of the floor was spreading throughout my body, how cold it was frightened me.
"Good grief, what in the - what are you doing in my bed chamber?" I heard the voice.
Oh, dear, please, anyone but him. Once again, I tried to lift myself up, but only managed to roll over onto my back, the coldness of the ground seeped through my robe and into my skin. I heard his feet slide onto the ground, he'd gotten up and was now towering over me, staring at me with intense eyes - surprising, hadn't he just woken up?
"I asked you a question, mudblood; why are you rolling over my floors for, you filth."
I shivered, maybe it was from the chill of the ground; my instincts said otherwise. His words had stung. Sure, they had hurt before, but maybe because this time, I was vulnerable; such a cruel word. We're the same people, are we not? - We just so happened to come from a lower ranked blood lineage, isn't that right? For the first time in a long while, I wished I was a pureblood.
"Are you just going to lay there, or am I going to have to call the guards?"
Tears welled up in my eyes, so full to the brim; no, I mustn't cry, not in front of him, especially Malfoy. I pulled my arms back and lifted myself slowly up towards my knees forward. When I got up, I hugged my knees and placed my forehead against my kneecaps, trying to wipe away the tears with the hem of my robe. I heard a clatter beside me and I took it peek at it - my wand; I took a glance through my peripheral vision boundaries and say Draco, his arm outsretched, having dropped the wand in front of me as if it were filth - it probably was in his perspective. Slowly, I grasped it and tried to apparate, but I couldn't get the flick correct and ended up failing after three consecutive tries - blast it. I wiped the remainents of my tears with my sleeve and took in a deep breath, taking a brave look at Malfoy.
"What are you looking at? Hurry up and apparate already!"
I looked away and mumbled, "Why are you so cold hearted, Malfoy?" I stuck my head back in towards my knees, "Why do you treat me as if I'm some piece of filth?" I shouted.
"What do you mean, 'why'? I'm supposed to - you're a mudblood, remember? Has that fall gotten to your head?" he smirked; I didn't see it, but I knew it, the statement practically yearned for a smirk - the Malfoy smirk.
"I'm just the same as you as you are to me. We're both the same creature, I just have parents who are muggles. What's so wrong about it? Just because I don't come from a wealthy wizarding family doesn't automatically mean I'm a load of ashes, y'know!" I picked up my head and spoke firmly.
"Then why in the world are you in my bed chamber; if you're going to complain about your social status, do it elsewhere, I'd like to get a decent night's sleep."
My mind drifted back towards yesterday; what was it again? I had just come back from the boutique, calling for Luna. I saw Draco and Luca together, and at first, I had no idea what was going on, but I felt oddly possessive. I had stopped at the foot of the hill just to see what I had in front of me; Luna and Draco - together - drinking pumpkin juice, having a fairly nice time together. I wondered why he couldn't have a nice time with me; just because Luna's 'pure' and I'm not. I felt the tears winding back up to my eyes once again and I tried to suppress them, all in all, I failed. I felt my shoulders beginning to tremble and suddenly, I seemed more aware of the cold floor, so cold it burnt my bottom; how I longed to be in front of my fire place now, how I longed to be near warmth. I tried once against to apparate, but my fingers trembled and it slipped out of my hands once again, rolling and stopping at my feet. I sighed in failure, this was by far the worse night I'd ever had.
I raised my head and leaned my chin against my arm. He wore a black robe, myrtle green pants, and black sleep-slippers; was his upper torso bare? - I blushed at the thought, this wasn't at all correct. My mind wandered, good grief, make it all stop. I brought my hands to my face and tried to hide myself; I really wanted to just disappear into darkness.
"Goodness, Granger, if you're going to sit there and mope all night," I heard his foot steps echo towards me and come to a stop, "just be quiet, like I said, I want a good night's sleep," I felt something fall over me, something quite heavy, but warm, "just be gone when morning comes," I heard him walk towards his bed, and I peeked up to see him, upper torso bare, "good night," he spoke as he got into bed, facing away from me.
I felt his robe lying atop of my shoulders, warm, as I pulled it around my body. It smelled wonderful, his scent. I pulled my arms through the sleeves and stood up; the robe fell to my ankles and the sleeves were much too long. I inhaled his scent, putting a sleeve against my face. I stayed like that for a while when I realized Draco was fully asleep; his breathing had become calmly steady. I bent over and picked up my wand, and walked over to his side of the bed - once again. I watched his chest rise and fall beneath the blanket.
Ever so slowly and gently, I brushed the back of my fingers against his temple, sliding them down to his chin; I realized then he had very sharp features. I removed my hand from his physical form, holding them against my chest; this wasn't correct, touching Malfoy, dreaming about Malfoy, thinking about Malfoy, hearing Malfoy - engaged to Malfoy. My heart felt as if it were treading through waters - quick beats. Was it wrong? Was it so wrong to be engulfed by Malfoy? I'm sure many women do it, right? I mean, what's so wrong about this attraction? Wasn't it normal for an engaged couple?
I suddenly felt aware of my drowsiness. I yawned, covering my mouth, careful to be quiet. My legs felt weak, so I leaned down onto the floor, leaning against Draco's bed side. Had I been so enticed by Draco that I'd forgotten how tired I was? Abruptly, as I shut my eyes, fragments of the dream clustered back towards me, my heart stopped. I yearned for his gentle touch and sweet words - I yearned for his acceptance of muggle-borns, his attention, his touch, and his love.
Great, how was this? Did you like it? Was it fluffy and such? - I sure hoped it was; I was on a fluff-frenzy this entire week thinking about this. Stay tuned for Chapter 11. By the way, I know this story is getting a bit lengthy, so again, for all of you who want a one-shot Dramione, it's obvious this isn't a one-shot, so don't waste your time here. Thanks for everyone who's stayed true to this and continued to read despite its longevity; I seriously appreciate it, and you guys are the best. Thanks, and review :]