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CHAPTER 32.
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"Oh my Godric!... What the... Draco! What the hell?" Hermione shrieked as she pulled her night shirt over herself quickly.
Draco laughed. "You've got it inside out Hermione."
"It's a miracle I managed to get it on me at all you prat!" Hermione continued yelling. "What were you thinking? This is my bedroom. I could have just come from the shower. I thought we had agreed on apparating only in the living room."
"But you walked in on me in my bathroom once." Draco pouted.
"That was a mistake!" Hermione bellowed.
"Well, apology accepted. We are on even ground now." Draco said coolly.
"Why, may I ask are you here in my bedroom so late at night ferret?" Hermione gave in.
"You wouldn't open the door or talk to me!" Draco complained. "So I had to take drastic measures."
"Good for you. You succeeded then. What is it now?" Hermione spat.
"I have something for you." Draco cajoled her.
"Look Malfoy, I'm not a child. I won't be bribed by presents." Hermione said stiffly.
"Hmmm." Draco mused, removing a packet from his pocket and enlarging the surprise. "Not even if they are wine soaked strawberries dipped in dark chocolate?"
Hermione's eyes widened.
That bastard!
That were her most favourite thing in the world and he knew it!
And he was taking advantage of it!
Well, she would show him. She wouldn't give in.
Oh no! But she really wanted to give in.
The succulent shiny wine dripping strawberries with the sinful cover of chocolate was beckoning her.
She was so close to giving in.
"I'm not Harry, Draco. You can't just buy me with a couple of chocolate strawberries."She said weakly although she was trying her best to stay strong.
"I'm what?" Draco looked scandalised. "Who says I'm buying you? I just happened to get them for Harry and I remembered you like them too. So I dropped by with them. If you don't want them it's alright. I'll just throw them. I'm too stuffed."
Draco motioned to leave but Hermione stopped him.
"Throw them?" Hermione asked incredulously. "Are you insane? Just refrigerate them Malfoy. No need to waste them."
Draco smirked. "Or you could just have them now Granger."
Hermione paused to think. She had already brushed her teeth. And she hadn't had anything sweet for almost 5 days. So a couple of strawberries shouldn't hurt.
She could always brush her teeth again.
Oh damn! Who was she kidding?
"Fine!" She made a show of annoyance. "Only because you landed up in the middle of the night in my bedroom, invading my privacy. I'm only forgiving you because of the strawberries."
"Fine by me." Draco said emotionlessly.
She took one from Draco and bit into some luscious juicy goodness.
The juices flowed into her mouth. The acidity of the fruit combined with the wine, swirled into a magical mixture in her mouth and she closed her eyes in enjoyment.
Next she bit off a piece with some chocolate and the sweetness just rightly complemented the acidity of the juices.
"Mmmmmmm." She moaned as she continued to devour her treat with tightly shut eyes.
A bit of the juice was dripping from the side of her lips but Hermione didn't seem to care as she continued chewing.
Draco meanwhile was transfixed. He knew she was only eating an innocent strawberry but the sight of her in front of him thoroughly enjoying the dessert had left him breathless and his mouth dry.
Never in his life had he imagined that when he would offer the dessert as a peace offering to her, she would turn the tables in such a manner.
She was so bloody sexy right now, buried in her succulent indulgence that Draco was gobsmacked. He had always found her endearing and many times sexy but at this moment he was sure that he'd never seen her sexier. And what made her even sexier was that she was completely unaware of the effect she was having on him.
To her, it was a silly act of devouring her favourite dessert but Draco was committing this sight to memory.
If he had a penseive, this would be one of the first memories he would be putting in.
He almost swallowed his tongue as she licked her sticky fingers. His mouth had gone supremely dry and he was finding trouble breathing.
"Mmmmm. That was sinful!" Hermione preened.
Sinful indeed, Draco chastised himself. If only she knew what thoughts were going through his mind, sinful would have a new meaning altogether.
"Draco? Draco!" Hermione said loudly.
Draco shook himself and shut his gaping mouth as Hermione looked at him.
"Thank you. Even though I'm still mad at you, there was no need to punish the strawberries." Hermione said shrewdly.
"Ummhmmmm." Draco mumbled.
"What? Why are you really here Draco? I'm sure it wasn't only this?" Hermione asked.
Draco managed to retrieve his voice that had gotten lost and said. "Hermione .. I .. Wanted to say sorry. I'm really sorry for being such a huge git."
Hermione didn't say anything else.
"I .. I was being just stupid. The ball sounded so boring. But then again as you said, its all about being with friends and if going there makes you happy, I'll go with you. You've come everywhere with me. The least I can do is go with you." Draco said sincerely.
Hermione smiled.
"What? Why are you smiling? Did I say something wrong again?" Draco asked.
"You called Harry and Ginny friends!" Hermione said excitedly. "You consider them as friends!"
"What? I .. No.. I meant your friends." Draco tried feebly.
"No no. You can't take it back now Malfoy." Hermione laughed evilly.
"Damn!" He said to himself. "Whatever Granger."
Hermione leaped at him and hugged him tightly. "I love you, you little ferret." She said sweetly in his ear.
The words were spoken so innocently, in a friendly manner but they still invoked such warmth that he could probably conjure a patronus in Azkaban with this memory.
He found himself grinning from ear to ear as he continued hugging her, not even bothering to remove her hair from under his nose.
He didn't trust himself to speak at the moment so he just settled into her hug.
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"I hate balls!" Hermione Granger groaned as she slammed her quill onto her parchment.
"Hey hey! Careful there Granger. You've just spent an hour writing that essay. You don't want ink all over it do you?" Draco asked her.
Hermione promptly repositioned her quill.
"Draco why do we need to have a Yule ball? Isn't it enough that we're having the Triwizard Tournament? Who has the time for a stupid ball? Harry hasn't even figured out his clue yet. There's no time for enjoyment." She almost yelled.
"Hermione is there something bothering you?" Draco asked concerned.
Hermione sighed. "I'm just worried about Harry."
"That's not it. You're irritated and it's not the ball." Draco said with surety.
Hermione sighed again. "You're right. It's Ron."
"What did that bloody fool do now? I swear if he's troubled you I will..."
"You'll what Draco?" Hermione laughed. "Make him puke slugs again?"
Draco's lips had formed a thin line and he wasn't smiling.
Hermione took his hand into hers and said gently. "I admit Ron's a stupid prat. And more often than not you want to box him. And although I find that awfully sweet, you have to remember that in public we aren't friends. Imagine the surprise if people found out why you punched Ron."
Draco sighed. "I hate all this secrecy."
"I do too." Hermione stated. "But it was your idea remember? Although at first I didn't care much but it's also your safety at stake. And I won't compromise on that."
"What did that weasel do this time?" Draco asked to divert the topic.
Hermione found herself getting angry all over again.
"That idiot! I don't know what he thinks about himself. He's so dense sometimes that a log of wood would have more intelligence than him." Hermione bubbled with anger.
Draco chuckled. She shot him an annoyed look and he sobered up and put on a straight face again.
"Today he realised that I'm a girl. And he just assumed that no one would want to go to the ball with me. He was having tough luck asking or getting a girl so why not ask the last option; Hermione Granger! Of course I'm a girl! I've bloody been a girl for 14 years! That blind idiot!" Hermione fumed. "How dare he insinuate that I was lying about having a date!"
"Wow! That sodding idiot!" Draco fumed himself. "He wouldn't know a girl if it was spelt out for him."
"It's like I'm the last resort! And when I said I already had a date he refused to believe me! He called me a liar!" Hermione yelled.
"Just one punch Hermione! I'll make up some silly excuse to hit him. Please please let me do this. His idiocy has reached the limits. How can he imagine that he can get a date and you can't? I mean, look at you!" Draco said before he could realise what he had said.
Hermione looked at him quizzically.
"I mean.. That come on.. The weasel is just a mop of red hair and freckles and Merlin alone knows what dress robes he'll wear. No girl will want to go out with him." Draco mumbled hurriedly, trying to insult Ron as much as he could so that Hermione would forget what he had said previously.
"Draco! That's not nice. You know I don't like it when you insult people on their appearances or wealth." Hermione said predictably.
"I know Granger. But he insulted you. And you're not letting me punch him. The least I could do is insult him back." Draco said relieved that she had taken the bait.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boys are just so immature."
"Even Krum?" Draco asked teasingly.
Hermione blushed. "Well, Draco I think we both have work to do."
"Hermione, you do know that I would have loved to take you to the ball with me, right?" Draco said seriously. "As friends of course." He added quickly.
Hermione smiled warmly. "I know Draco. I wish I could too. I never would have said yes to Victor if you hadn't forced me to. It would have been nice to go with you."
Draco sighed. "I'm sorry." He said simply.
It was difficult enough seeing that oaf Krum babble on in broken English to Hermione and make a fool of himself. He obviously fancied her. That's why he had asked her to the ball. He had felt so annoyed at Krum for that. But then he started wondering why he cared who asked Hermione out.
It's not like she could go with him anyway. So how did it matter who she went with?
But then he thought that even though the weasel was supremely slow and rather dumb, desperate times would call for desperate measures. Draco suspected that Ron felt something for Hermione, although he was too oblivious and dumb to understand those feelings.
Luckily, Hermione returned none of those feelings. Neither Krum's nor the Weasel's. Wait! Luckily? Why would it be lucky for him?
Well, she was his friend. So obviously he would be protective of her. He would never want some silly boy to get close to her or worse for her to start fancying some silly boy.
That is why when he learned that Krum had asked her to the ball he figured that she was better off going with him than Ron, in case Ron got over his swollen head and asked her; if she was dateless she would go with Ron. But if she already had a date she would decline Ron.
And in the present scheme of things, Draco decided that Hermione with Krum was lesser of the two evils.
Krum would ship off to Bulgaria after the tournament and he was so stupid that Hermione would never fall for him.
He was less of a threat than Ron. So yes! She should go with Krum.
Wait! Threat? Malfoy what is wrong with you? He asked himself.
Why was he getting so worked up? Hermione was perfectly capable of deciding whom to fancy or not. What was his problem?
Shaking his head, he decided not to think about it and went on to convince Hermione about Krum.
"It's not your fault." Hermione said. "I hate these balls anyway. And Ron's just spoilt my mood."
Draco took her hand in his and said. "Well then. We'll just have to do something to unspoil it, won't we?" He said cheekily.
Hermione raised her eyebrow at him.
Oh! The eyebrow!
"Look, tomorrow is Christmas eve and the ball is day after so we have the whole evening free tomorrow and I have a surprise planned for you. So meet me at 7 in the Room of Requirement. and let's say that tomorrow will be a dress rehearsal for the Yule ball." He said with a glint in his eyes.
Hermione looked sceptically at him. "What is the surprise Draco?"
"Well it won't be a surprise if I tell you now will it?" He smirked. "Please Hermione, trust me. You'll have fun. I promise."
"Hmmm. Okay. If you say so." Hermione smiled. "Now can we get back to work?"
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Draco was pacing in the Slytherin common room late that night.
It was easy to ignore his inner voice when he was with Hermione at the library. But now in his solitude, he found himself wondering about his recent; well not exactly recent feelings but recent and gradual realisation of feelings.
To say he was confused would be an understatement.
He enjoyed Hermione's company greatly. She was his best friend and there hadn't gone a day in the last year and a half when they hadn't met.
They would meet secretly in school and even during holidays, most often they tried staying in school but when they could not, they constantly kept in touch via the two way diary.
And Dobby was forever ready to help Draco meet Hermione.
It was safe to say that Draco couldn't spend even one day without meeting or at least speaking with her.
And by her actions it seemed that it was the same on her end. She seemed to light up whenever she saw him. Even if it had been only 8 hours since she'd met him last, she would greet him so warmly that an outsider would say that they were meeting after ages.
She told him everything. Absolutely everything. Even stuff that went on with Harry and Ron. He also found that although he had been raised to keep secrets and feelings pent up, it was easy to share with Hermione.
She was slowly and steadily chipping away the bad Malfoy traits from him without even knowing it. It just was the goodness that emanated from her that made him feel like being worthy of her.
That they were inseparable as the best of friends was clear to him.
But recently he had noticed that he craved to be with her more. He sought her out amongst crowds and whenever she gave him secret smiles that were meant only for him, his insides would do a weird jumbling that he couldn't explain.
He found himself paying attention to how she smelt and he could close his eyes and find Hermione if he ever got a whiff of her hair.
He would sit closer to her when they had a chance and would find reasons to touch her or brush past. Her touch, which earlier had been completely normal now caused a wave of awareness in the form of pleasant sensations.
There was an electric air between them whenever they hung out. He tried to ignore them as much as he could but as days passed, they became more prominent; just like her beauty.
Draco had never thought her to be bad looking but now he found himself gazing at her when she wasn't looking. He could spend hours just looking at her smooth milky skin and those unbelievably expressive eyes.
He hadn't noticed much before but her eyes seemed to speak volumes. She always claimed that Draco knew exactly how she felt and what mood she was in. This was all thanks to her eyes. He had learned to read her eyes so expertly only because they gave her emotions away and Draco paid close attention.
She constantly complained about her hair but he found it adorable. They added character to her look and it was so Hermione Granger that he couldn't imagine her with any other hair.
All in all, Draco Malfoy was thinking about Hermione Granger almost all the time.
He put it off at first but when Krum asked her to the Yule ball, his internal reaction to it really shook him. He was livid. And how. How dare he, a guest of Hogwarts that too, have the audacity to ask her out?
But then again, Hermione was single and she was beautiful. Sure she didn't see herself that way and many idiots in school also didn't think so but Draco knew it was just a matter of time that Hermione would bloom into her true colours and then there would be many boys to keep her away from.
Again, Draco wondered why he cared so much about keeping her away from the boys. She had a right to choose whomever she wanted to be with.
But why did it feel so wrong then? Like it was wrong for her to be with anyone else. So wrong.
He knew that Ron would be one of the first and strongest contenders for her affection. He couldn't exactly pinpoint it but he was sure that Ron had feelings for her that he himself hadn't realised. And it would be only too soon before he realised and acted on them. But then again he was extremely dense so maybe he would take long.
He normally wouldn't have worried but he knew that Hermione and Ron were close too. Not like Harry and Hermione. Draco had no qualms about Harry. He was like a brother to her. But the dynamics with Ron were different and he was aware that if given a chance, Hermione could reciprocate his feelings.
Draco didn't know why the idea of Ron and Hermione made him so sick. It was as bad as the idea of Hermione with anyone else but that anyone else being Ron just made it all the more worse. Whether it was because he was a Weasley and all time enemy or whether it was because he too was Hermione's close friend he didn't know.
But all that he knew right now was that Hermione was extremely special to him and he was definitely not enjoying the idea or thought of sharing her with anyone.
He stopped his train of thought midway, not wanting to acknowledge anything more tonight. It was hard enough admitting most of his possessiveness as it was.
He went to bed thinking about his surprise for Hermione. He hoped she would like it.
He didn't know what prompted him to do it.
He had considered it ever since it was known that a Yule ball was happening and Hermione had been upset that they wouldn't be able to go together.
He hoped that Hermione wouldn't be put off or worse confused by his surprise tomorrow.
The more he thought about it, the more romantic the entire idea seemed.
Which was ridiculous of course; why would he do anything romantic for Hermione?
It was absurd. Wasn't it?
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Hey there readers!
A little flash and a little make up!
i hope you enjoyed it!
next up will be the surprise for Hermione!