A little bit more fluff for all of my fellow Lemon lovers out there!

Chapter 18

The rest of the week passed by in its normal routine of classes, with break times spent in the library with Harry searching every tome Hermione could get her hands on that could possibly contain any references to Horcruxes. They had deduced, from Professor Slughorn's reaction in the modified memory, that a Horcrux was, as Hermione had assumed, more than likely some form of Dark Magic; this helped them to narrow down their search somewhat, but not enough. They still had yet to find anything even mentioning the word by Friday night.

On Saturday morning, Hermione once again told Harry that she would be spending most of the day in the library, this time to work on some of her assignments for class. He didn't want to come with her, burnt out from their time spent in the library during that week. He also had Quidditch practice scheduled for later that afternoon. This was all perfectly fine with her, as she'd had no intention of actually going to the library, anyway. She left him in the Common Room, nose in that infernal Potions book again; she glared at the innocuous cover in disdain before walking away in a bit of a huff.

She didn't even bother to tell Ron where she was going; he was currently in a chair in the corner of the room with Lavender perched in his lap and her mouth plastered to his. She was quite certain that neither of them would have heard her had she bothered to say anything to them anyway, even if she were to cast a Sonorus first and then scream the words in their ears. She sighed heavily. As unequivocally over Ron as potential boyfriend material as she now was, as she had been for quite some time now, she still thought of how nice it would be to have her friend back.

She made her way to the seventh-floor corridor, a route so habitual at this point that she hardly paid any attention to where she was going apart from ensuring that no one was watching her when she arrived. When she entered the Room of Requirement, Draco was already inside. She dropped her bag beside the low table that sat in front of the couch, flopping down onto the chair that was opposite the one he currently occupied. He looked up at her and smiled, slipping a bookmark in between the pages of the book he was reading before closing it.

"Hey, Granger," he said.

She smirked at him. She found it funny that he still called her Granger. Of course, it definitely lacked the disdain that it had held when he had said in their younger years, instead becoming something of a pet name; now it made her stomach do funny little flips when she heard it said in his lazy drawl.

"Malfoy," she returned the greeting in a mock, hoity-toity voice. He smirked back at her in return.

They spent most of the day together. Hermione really did want to get her assignments completed, so she and Draco worked on them together. He was honestly one of the best study partners she had ever had. He was incredibly intelligent and, after six years of assuming that he was second to her in grades due only to privilege and arrogance, she finally understood that he really was quite brilliant. It was nice to work with someone who contributed as much to an assignment as she did.

After completing an essay on the Ear-Shriveling Curse for Professor Snape's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, one on Golpalott's Third Law for Professor Slughorn's Potions class, and a rather complicated translation for Ancient Runes that left the two of them flipping through Spellman's Syllabary for at least an hour and led to a particularly heated, albeit good-natured, discussion, they had finally completed all of their homework for the following week.

They eventually ended up on the same couch, Hermione snuggled into Draco's side and his strong arms wrapped around her shoulders. Hermione loved this feeling; loved the heat of his body soaking into hers and warming her up from the inside out. She looked up at him, smiling, then watched him as he leaned into her. His lips met hers softly at first, then more insistently. She sighed happily, and he took advantage of that to deepen the kiss. It wasn't like their last kiss, which had been passionate and intense. This one was soft and unhurried, lingering and tasting.

She felt his fingers thread their way through her unruly curls, massaging her scalp and causing a shiver to race over her skin. As the kiss grew in intensity and their tongues dueled for dominance, the scent of apples mixed with the ever-present undertones of parchment and the outdoors flooded her senses. It was a smell that she would always associate with Draco. Breathing him in deeply, she twined her own fingers through his silky platinum locks and tugged, pulling him closer to her and bringing his chest flush against hers. She felt her knees grow weak and knew that if they had been standing, she would have been in danger of collapsing.

Sweet Merlin, this wizard knows how to kiss! she thought to herself, feeling her cheeks grow rosy.

When, with one last gently kiss laid against her lips, he pulled away, they were both breathing heavily, and Draco's normally pale face was flushed. He rested his forehead against hers, his sweet breath falling in heavy pants against her cheek. After several moments he leaned away, swallowing deliberately, and she very clearly saw the uncertainty in his beautiful eyes, now a molten silver in his desire.

"What's wrong, Draco?" she asked, holding his hand and gently rubbing her thumb across the back. "You can tell me anything, you know."

She watched as he nodded, seeming to gather his thoughts and, perhaps, his courage.

"I just want to you know this; no matter what happens to me, or to us…"

Hermione was beginning to grow nervous. She released his hand, reaching out with both hands to fist the front of his robes, needing something to ground her. His demeanor was frightening her a bit and, considering what he was caught up in, there was no telling what he was going to say. He swallowed heavily again; so heavily, in fact, that she could see his Adam's Apple bob up and down with the movement.

"Hermione I…I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. I won't let you get hurt… Whatever happens, I'll protect you."

Hermione leaned into his firm chest, tears filling her eyes as she made a promise to herself in that moment, as well.

I'll keep you safe, too, Draco. I won't let anyone, Light or Dark, harm you. You are mine to love, mine to protect. I will keep you safe however I can. I love you, Draco Malfoy.

She didn't say the words aloud, certain that he was not ready for them yet. She wasn't even certain she was prepared to say them out loud herself. But she meant them with her whole heart.

She tilted her head up, ignoring the single tear that had escaped and was trailing down one cheek, and placed small kisses along his strong jawline, loving the slightest hint of a beard that was growing in already following his shave earlier that morning. She nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck, allowing herself to get lost once more in his familiar scent, which she was beginning to equate with one single word: home.

Song Inspiration: The Reason - Hoobastank

Love those lemons 3

sbz