Chapter 6: Krum

H e r m i o n e G r a n g e r

A creaking noise startled Hermione as she tiptoed down the staircase using her wand to ignite light to guide her way through.

"Be careful." Ginny whispered.

Lavender and Parvati were standing behind Ginny trying to hold in their giggles. They were pretty excited to hear that Hermione was going to sneak out to meet Draco.

"Remember to be back before 11." Parvati whispered out loud. "We can only cover for you for so long."

Hermione turned her head, giving them a smile. "I know." She whispered back before heading out of the Gryffindor Wing.

Hermione stood outside wrapping her knitted Gryffindor scarf tightly around her neck, her cheek's turning bright red from the coldness. She crossed her arms over her chest trying to keep as warm as possible while watching the moon shine its light on the snow. She's been waiting outside for about 14 minutes now thinking that she'd be safer outside than in. It was freezing outside and she was now wishing that she'd stay inside instead.

Hermione exhaled watching her warm breath disappear into the distance. She stepped back wiggling her toes in her boots making sure that they were still alive. A few seconds later she felt someone pulling her back grabbing her by her waist while smothering her mouth with a leather glove.

"Did I scare you?" Draco smirked.

"Not funny." She said hitting his arm. "I thought you were a murderer or something."

He started to laugh while Hermione stared at him. She was still a bit scared about what he just did. Draco looked back at her meeting her pouty eyes, his laughs fading away. Hermione felt her heart flutter as he leaned in closer wrapping his arms around her tighter. She just realized that Draco never let go of her when she got pulled back. She could feel her heart pounding through her chest beating faster each second he came closer, finally touching his nose against her numb one. This feeling in her chest, she had no clue why it was being like this. A forced gulp made its way down her throat wondering why she was feeling this way. Maybe it was because she never had her first kiss yet. Draco could be it…

Hermione quickly snapped back to reality realizing that she didn't want her first kiss to be a fake one. She wanted it to be real with someone she truly loved. Not to be wasted on someone who was just a part of a scheme.

"So… Why were you late?" Hermione whispered softly pulling Draco out of his daze.

He leaned back letting go of her clearing his throat. "Sorry… It was hard getting pass the prefects."

"Oh…" Hermione replied sort of wishing that he never let go of her. "So… Why did you ask me to come out late?"

"I kind of just wanted to hang out with you…"

"Okay." Hermione said surprised. "You must be used to sneaking out all the time right?"

Draco looked down fiddling with the snow between his boots. "To be honest… This is the first time I've ever snuck out to meet a girl."

"You're joking right?" Hermione laughed. "You don't need to lie to me. I hear all the news being spread around the school."

Draco leaned against the wall a sigh leaving his mouth. "Everyone exaggerates…"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked raising an eyebrow. She was quite curious to hear what he had to say.

"My lips accidentally crashed into Pansy's on our first year when I caught her from falling down the staircase."

"I remember hearing something like that… That's how you got you're so called 'amazing' reputation."

"But you probably heard it as 'Draco and Pansy: The most passionate couple ever'."

"Something like that…"

"After a while, people expect you to do more… You get used to having a million fake kisses with other people."

Hermione stared at the Slytherin boy in front of her remembering the sixth rule that Ginny added to the diary. Rule 6: Don't trust his words. Maybe because of his cheesy pickup lines that he'd throw at her at the beginning of the school year, he had to try to get to Hermione from a different angle. He was a Slytherin after all. They were pretty sly and duplicitous. She had to act like she believed in every word he said.

"Why are you telling me this?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not very sure." Draco replied looking up to meet Hermione's eyes again. "You seem different Gran- … Hermione." A smile crept upon his face.

Hermione smiled back at him a little stunned and quite satisfied to hear that he actually called her by her first name. She stared at him wondering what he was thinking. He seemed to be deep in thought. He couldn't be lying to her, could he? That look in his eyes looked pretty convincing to her. She realized that maybe there was more than just a cocky shallow side to him. Draco Malfoy actually had a soft side.

Draco lifted his wrist to check his watch. "It's 10:25… We should go back in. I don't want us freezing to death, and it will take me awhile to sneak back pass the prefects."

"Yeah…" Hermione said softly walking towards the door.

Draco grabbed her arm pulling her back against him. "Thanks." He whispered leaning in to kiss her forehead. "We should try sneaking out when it's warmer."

Hermione agreed. She was now considering Draco to be her first real kiss.

The next day, Hermione sat at her designated spot early in the morning all eyes on her. They were all excited to hear about what they did together and if Draco was starting to have a change in heart.

"What did you guys do?" Lavender asked. "Did you finally kiss him…?"

All their eyes widened in anticipation. Hermione knew for sure that Ginny was waiting for the day that they kissed. Every other girl would have kissed him on the first day, yet Hermione was there, three weeks of mingling with Draco and still nothing.

"Yeah…" Hermione lied. She didn't want to disappoint them for what felt like the millionth time. "It was wet…"

"He's good at it right?" Lavender threw out her mouth starting to salivate. Hermione started to wonder if he was actually that good. What was good anyway?

"Yeah Lavender… He was really good. I thought you were just exaggerating." Hermione laughed trying to convince all of them that she kissed him.

All the girls started to whisper around her as Hermione went deep in thought. Last night, she couldn't sleep. She was feeling these knots in her stomach and was actually starting to consider wanting to kiss Draco. Even at this very moment she was still contemplating whether or not she should. She had no clue why she lied to them in the first place. All they did was talk. Why couldn't she just say that? It's not like they would be disappointed to hear that she didn't… They were probably used to Hermione letting them down each day with a 'No we didn't kiss' answer. Besides, she didn't want to kiss him in the middle of a classroom with all their classmates watching them. That would be uncomfortable.

"You coming?" Ginny asked holding her herbology textbook and a few pieces of parchment paper in her arms.

All of the other girls around the table started to pick up their books and belongings while tucking their chairs back into the table.

"Where?" Hermione asked snapping breaking away from her thoughts.

"The bell just rang..." Ginny raised an eyebrow. "You're usually the one too notice it."

"Oh… Yeah, sorry… I'm just a bit tired from the lack of sleep I had last night."

"Okay." Ginny said giggling with the others before walking away with them. "I'll see you in class."

Hermione turned to look at Lavender still putting on her robe. The little confession Draco made last night of him not even having a real conversation with a girl before made her curious. He was with Lavender for the whole summer, probably because he didn't have enough choices around him to choose from, but would they really be snogging just for the whole season? Did Lavender lose her virginity to him? A whole bunch of questions were popping into Hermione's head. "Hey Lavender… Can I ask a question?"

"Sure." She replied whistling a tune out of her mouth.

"Have you ever talked with Draco? Like have an actual conversation."

Lavender stopped whistling to think. "No… When you think about it, it was mostly snogging or just running around the fields… We could have kissed for hours though." Lavender paused trying to think a bit harder. "When we talked it was mostly him telling me about the great adventures he's been on, but nothing too personal."

"Okay…" Hermione replied feeling a sense of relief.

"Why do you ask Hermione?"

"Nothing really… Just wanted to compare to see if I was making any progress or not…"

Lavender leaned in close to Hermione cupping her hand around her mouth and started to whisper into her ear. "To be honest… When you break his heart, I want to be the one to sweep him back onto his feet."

Lavender stood back up giving Hermione a smile. She twirled around the room humming to herself as she made her way out the door.

Hermione sat there for a moment speculating if she was actually the first girl to hear about Draco's sensitive side. Lavender was one girl who didn't have a personal conversation with Draco, but he probably had with some other girls. The knots in her stomach tightened. She was dying to know about his past relationships with every girl and the fact that Lavender still liked him made it even worse.

Hermione lifted her wrist to look at her watch. Seven more minutes until she was officially redeemed late. She then stood up from her seat tucking her chair in looking up to see Viktor Krum in front of her. Her eyes widened wondering why a hunk like him wanted to talk to her.

"Do you have a second?" He asked nicely helping her gather the textbooks being spread around the table.

"Sure." She replied. "But you have to make it quick; I don't want to be late for class." Hermione pointed at the clock.

Viktor gave her a sweet smile. "Don't worry it will only take a second."

"Okay… How may I help you?"

"I know we don't really know each other, but would you by any chance like to go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Hermione smiled at Viktor seeing someone behind him at the corner of her eye. She took a quick glance behind him to see Pansy Parkinson glaring at her. Pansy stormed out of the room as soon as she saw Hermione staring back. There was something wrong with that girl…