Let Me Help You

DracoxHermione

Rated NC-17

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling

Let Me Help You

Chapter 14

It was the beginning of the new term and Hermione was looking forward to seeing Draco. She hadn't seen him since Christmas Eve when they had to cut dinner short. And when she was on the Hogwarts Express to head back to Hogwarts, she wasn't able to speak with him because he was immediately carted off with the Slytherins and Harry and Ron were intent on catching up with her. Or in Harry's case, explain to her his suspicions and thoughts concerning Draco and Snape and his loyalty to Dumbledore. Hermione would silently admit that she too found Snape suspicious at times, but seeing what he was doing to protect Draco over the last few months and that he was actually working for Dumbledore, her opinion of him was very high.

At the moment she was in the library studying ahead for her Ancient Runes class in a quiet corner. She had invited Harry and Ron, but Harry was called to Dumbledore's office and Ron was with Lavender. Lavender had bragged to her that she and Ron were a couple when they got back to the dorms from break. Hermione figured she was trying to rile her up since Lavender thought she was into Ron or something, but the girl stopped when she wasn't getting any sort of reaction out of the brunette. Not that Hermione cared who Ron dated; she had Draco after all.

A smile came to her face as she thought of the blond boy. Even though they hadn't been able to see much of each other as of late, they still made it a point to send letters to each other. To make things easy for them, Hermione had charmed two notebooks that if they wrote something, the other person would be able to see what was written and could send their own messages. Draco in returned charmed them so that if they ever got lost, stolen, or someone other than themselves looked into the notebooks, it would look like school notes. But even so all Hermione wanted was to be able to see Draco and spend some time with him, even if only for a little bit. Luckily her time came sooner rather than later.

While reading a very important section in her book, an owl flew into the library and landed on the table next to her. She smiled seeing it was Draco's owl and stroked its head while taking the letter from its beak. Opening the letter she read the words written on the piece of paper, the smile on her face growing wider.

Hermione,

I miss you so much right now and I want to see you. No, I need to see you. Not seeing you in driving me insane, or more insane than I am being forced to be at the moment. Please meet with me in that special room you showed me during dinner time. I have a surprise for you.

Yours,

Draco.

Casting Tempus, Hermione saw that it was getting pretty close to dinner. Packing her things she placed them in her school bag and headed towards the exit of the library. Just as she had stepped outside of the doors of the library, a voice called out to her, startling her a bit.

"Granger!" the voice, female, called out.

Turning Hermione's brown eyes widened as she none other than Daphne Greengrass coming her way. After a brief moment of finding her voice Hermione replied, "Greengrass."

Daphne stopped in front of Hermione and looked her over, her blue eyes regarding her closely before saying, "I have to admit, I see why Draco has taken a sudden interest in you."

"Wh-What?" Hermione asked surprised.

"Oh, don't act like I don't know. Actually, I might be the only person not oblivious to notice the longing goo-goo eyes he makes at each other during meals or classes when no one is watching. And from what I can see, you fancy him just as much. Now I want to know all of the juicy details, because I'm sure there are plenty."

Hermione didn't know what to do or how to respond. She was sure that they were being very discrete with their secret looking at each other, but here was Draco's fellow Slytherin Daphne telling her that she noticed it. The brunette opened her mouth to deny it, but with the way she stumbled over her words and her face turning pink, she knew the blonde wasn't going to buy it.

Daphne smiled and said, "You seem to be on your way somewhere, so how about I walk with you and you tell me what's going on between you and our Slytherin prince. I promise not to tell anyone; you can trust me, Granger."

"Really?" Hermione couldn't help but ask. Daphne was a Slytherin after all. She knew not all of them were bad, but she just needed to be sure. When Daphne made the motion to cross her heart and sip her lips closed, Hermione sighed and nodded. As they walked Hermione told Daphne how she had found Draco upset and comforted him a bit, and then after that they began to spend time together in secret. She also told her how she had had a crush on the blond boy for a while but kept it a secret from him. When she told her that they had kissed underneath the mistletoe before Christmas break, Daphne couldn't help but squeal excitedly about it. After the two of them giggled about it, the brunette continued to tell the blonde about how Draco told her he wanted to properly court her, as well as being invited to Christmas Eve dinner and that they had just started dating. By the time they had reached the fourth floor, Hermione had finished telling Daphne all about what had already gone on between her and Draco. She made sure to leave out everything concerning Draco being a secret Death Eater and what he was doing for Lord Voldemort. He didn't need anyone else other than her knowing about his secret work. He was putting all of his trust into her and she wasn't going to betray him to anyone, especially now that they were a couple.

"That is amazing, Granger. I'm glad Draco is with someone like you," Daphne said with a genuine smile. "It's a miracle he never submitted to Pansy; that would've been disastrous. Just seeing him take her to the Yule Ball in Fourth Year was a nightmare to witness."

Hermione couldn't help but chuckle at hearing that. At least she wasn't the only one who wasn't fond of Pansy Parkinson. Turning to the blonde she said, "Thank you for listening Greengrass, and thank you for promising not to tell anyone."

Daphne waved it off and replied, "No problem, Granger. And please, call me 'Daphne'."

"Okay, and you call me 'Hermione'."

The Slytherin girl turned and said, "I'll talk to you later, Hermione. And take good care of Draco; you're good for him."

Hermione nodded and watched her walk away, calling after her, "I will."

The brunette continued to climb the stairs to the fifth floor and headed down the corridor to the broom cupboard that led to the secret room. Hermione cleared the way to the little doorway and crawled in, using her wand to place everything back in front of it so that it stayed hidden. She then crawled until she was able to stand, then climbed the stone steps and pushed open the door. Stepping into the room she closed the door behind her before turning around, gasping at what she saw.

In front of her was a table for two set up with a white table cloth with candles and a rose in a vase. There was a romantic dinner set up on it and standing next to the table was Draco dressed in a very fancy suit and tie. His platinum blond hair was combed neatly and he had a bright smile on his face, his grey eyes lighting up at the sight of her. Walking over to her he wrapped his arms around her and held her close, kissing her sweetly, yet passionately before looking her in her brown eyes and saying, "Good evening, Hermione."

"Good evening," Hermione replied a bit breathlessly.

Draco smiled and said, "I hope this wasn't too sudden, but I've wanted to see you and I couldn't wait any longer. Especially since Severus isn't doing any more Occlumens and Legilimens lessons until next week."

Snape wasn't going to continue their lessons until he had all of his classes situated, so they had until next week before they started again and she would see Draco per usual again.

Hermione smiled and said, "Well, I must say I am looking forward to this romantic dinner you set up, though I think I'm a bit underdressed. You could have told me to wear something fancy or something."

Draco chuckled before planting another kiss on the brunette's pink lips. Pulling back he looked at her school uniform before taking his wand and waving it, pointing it at her. They watched as her uniform turned into an elegant, off the shoulder amethyst purple dress that stopped just below her knees, a slit on the left side. Her shoes were replaced silver heels and her hair was pinned up in a side updo. She was also wearing silver earrings and a necklace to complete the ensemble. Needless to say she looked very elegant and classy.

With a smile Draco said, "Now you don't look underdressed. In fact, I'd say you look just right for our date."

"Date? This is a date?" Hermione couldn't help but ask with a smile on her face.

Draco chuckled and held his hand out for Hermione to take, and he then led her to the table so they could begin their romantic dinner date, the sound of violin music playing in the background.

Hermione sighed happily as she leant against Draco on the white chasse lounge at the foot of the large bed. They had just shared dinner and had talked more than they had been able to over Christmas break and when they came back to Hogwarts. Sure there was the notebook, but talking was completely different face to face than through paper. And she was glad that they got to have this moment together. Even if they were just in this secret room together, it felt as if they were somewhere else, completely away from Hogwarts and its grounds.

Draco, who had his arm wrapped around the brunette's shoulders, kissed the top of her head before resting his own on top of it. He was so glad he was finally with the one person he cared for most outside of his mother and Severus. He felt he was under constant pressure all of the time, but with Hermione he just felt free, free to be who he really was and not be judged. She made him feel things that he had never felt before and probably would only feel with her. It was probably a bit early in their newly established relationship, but he wouldn't deny what he felt. And for her to stick by him and continue to do so after all that he had done and was probably going to do to save his mother made him care for and appreciate her even more.

"Hermione," Draco said softly.

"Yes?" Hermione responded.

Turning to face her he held her close to him with both arms, his face in her neck as he whispered, "Thank you."

Hermione was a bit confused at first, but she then smiled and returned Draco's hold, her arms wrapping themselves around him as well. She realized what he was thanking her for and even though he didn't have to, it warmed her heart knowing that he did. Turning her head she kissed his temple and whispered, "You're welcome."

The two of them continued to sit there in each others' arms, reluctant to let go. After a while Draco pulled away and said, "How about we spend the night here?"

A bright pink blush appeared on the brunette's face and she spluttered out, "Dr-Draco!"

Realizing what she thought he meant, Draco's own face turned red and he quickly corrected himself. Waving his hands he said, "Not for that! I wouldn't do anything unless you were ready to. Not that I'm implying that we'll do that in the future or anything. I mean…" Taking a deep breath he finished calmly. "I mean, let's just sleep here. I promise that we'll be ready in time to stop by our Common Rooms to get our things and be for classes in the morning."

Hermione considered Draco's suggestion for a moment, weighing whether it was a good idea or not. Rationally she should decline and head back to the Gryffindor Common Room and sleep in her own bed, but she couldn't deny that her boyfriend's suggestion wasn't enticing. And on top of that she wasn't ready for her time with Draco to end. Coming to a decision she looked up into grey eyes and smiled sincerely.

Nodding she said, "Yes, alright."

Draco smiled before gently cupping Hermione's face and kissing her passionately, pouring all of his emotion into it. Pulling away he laughed softly at how pink his girlfriend's face had turned. Snapping his fingers he caused their fancy clothes to turn into pajamas; his were his regular blue and white striped ones, and he put Hermione in a pink satin night gown. Hermione looked down at what she was wearing in awe. She didn't own anything this nice as far as sleeping clothes went. She ran her hands over the material before reaching up and taking her hair down, running her fingers through it to get all of the tangles out.

A large, warm hand took hold of hers and Draco led her over to the huge four poster bed and pulled back the gold comforter. He allowed Hermione to climb into it first before he followed. After they were both comfortable Hermione took her wand and Noxed all of the lights in the room. Once that was done they both laid down and snuggled under the sheets and against the plush pillows. Draco reached over and wrapped his arms around Hermione, pulling her against him and kissed her softly on her forehead.

"Goodnight, Hermione," Draco said softly.

Hermione smiled and tilted her head slightly to kiss the boy's chin before replying just as softly, "Goodnight, Draco."

It wasn't long before the both of them drifted off to sleep, content in each others' arms and finally happy that they were able to spend some more time together, even if their private time had to end the moment they stepped foot into their separate Common Rooms.