It all started with a dance

13

Draco woke up the next day and noticed that he wasn't in his room, the scent of Jasmine perfume engulfed him, raising his head he noticed that he was in the room that was red and gold, groaning he let his head drop

He tried to recall how he got the Gryffindor tower, and who he had hooked up with

"Glad to see you're still in my bed" someone said

He shot out of the bed and saw the head girl standing by the bathroom door

"I hooked up with you?" He yelled, groaning when his headache got worse

Hermione smiled and started laughing, to the point where she fell to the floor and and tears streamed down her face

"Oh! I can't breath!" she laughed, when she finally calmed down she looked at him

"I haven't laughed that hard in months, oh Malfoy, do you truly believe everyone wants to hook up you?" She asked him

"What am I in your room?" Draco asked

"Zabini ordered me to keep an eye on you, and since I somewhat tolerate him, I reluctantly agreed to make sure that you didn't choke on your own vomit" Hermione told him

"I smell like you now" Draco grimaced slightly

"That's an update Malfoy, congratulations"

The two looked at one another, the conversation was still clear on Hermione's mind, she didn't want to bring it up and ruin whatever place they were, he was drunk, he didn't mean it, he was Draco Malfoy, he does not apologize to muggle-borns

She spun on her heels and walked to the bathroom

"You know I meant it" Draco spoke up, he vaguely remembered apologizing to her, and he wanted her to know that he meant every word, he may have been drunk but it was his liquid courage

Hermione turned to see him and shook her head

"No you don't" she answered

"Why won't you take my apology?" Draco asked and crossed his arms

Hermione sighed and dropped her head, she didn't want it, she couldn't want it, it felt... she didn't have any words to explain

"Because I spent years hating you, loathing you, I punched you even! And in a span of five weeks you have gone from being the person I despised to the only person who has ever seen me break down, I am losing control and you are taking it all from me, I need to hate you Malfoy, I need to keep control, and your apology takes it all from me" Hermione explained, running her fingers through her hair, she looked away from the head boy "So please Malfoy, don't apologize" she whispered and went into the bathroom

Draco dropped his head, he had probably ruined whatever they had without even trying to ruin it, just like he's ruined everything else

He left her room, he didn't want to taint it with his presence anymore, he entered his room and immediately felt empty, something about Hermione's room made him feel full, it was probably the fact that light was absorbed by the Gryffindor red curtains, sitting at the foot of his bed he put his head in his hands

Hermione was leaning against the door, she had wrapped her arms around her body and silent tears streamed down her face, she was terrified of what it meant if she accepted his forgiveness, where would they go? Their whole life they had hated one another, and in a span of five weeks, Hermione felt powerless because the annoying flying ferret has already earned her forgiveness and she didn't even realize until that moment

"Damn it Malfoy" she whispered

Pushing herself off her door she took a deep breath and opened it, walking out she noticed that he was gone and immediately felt an empty hole in her chest, Draco without intention had taken a place in her room, she's sensed him ever since that night that she woke up screaming and he helped ground her

Gathering all her Gryffindor courage she went to Draco's room and knocked gently

"Go away Granger" she heard through the door

"Malfoy come on, stop pouting" she said

"I'm not pouting" she heard through the door

"Yes you are, open this door Malfoy" she told him

She heard him moving and heard the click of the door being unlocked

He opened and walked back to his bed

"Eight years" she told him, he turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow

"We have hated one another for eight years, you have hated me for eight years and I have hated you for eight years, I was tortured in your drawing room, you have done so much to me, you have made me cry in the bathroom and in my room after a harsh insult or when you called me you-know-what" she said, Draco rolled his eyes at her

"What are you doing Granger, trying to make me feel worse?" He asked her

"Just shut up and listen to me, will you?" She ordered him

She took a deep breath and continued

"But you have seen me after a nightmare, you have gotten drunk with me, you have seen me not okay, not Harry, nor Ginny, nor Ron have seen me like that, you have, and I hate you for that, because you make hating you almost impossible, granted there are moments where I still hate you, but you make me feel things, you make me feel not numb, for six months I was numb, and then I have the most unfortunate luck of being head girl with you as head boy, and you broke that frozen phrase, you made me hate you and now...now I feel things again, and it's all because of an annoying over-gelled ferret, I forgave you, long before I knew I had forgiven you, I forgive you Malfoy, but if you do anything to make me regret it, I will make your life miserable" she told him

"It seems to me Granger, that you're falling in love with me" Draco smirked

Hermione scoffed

"That's all you have to say? Seriously Malfoy, how old are you? I come in feeling incredibly guilty and uncomfortable and that's all you have to say?..." She began her rant, not realizing the the blond was truly smiling for the first time in years "...why are you smiling? Is this a joke to you? Was this all a big funny joke to you Malfoy?" She asked him angrily

"You know your hair gets three times bigger when you're angry? It actually grew" he laughed

Hermione glared at the blond who was laughing, she has never heard him laugh, she's never seen him smile, he had always either had a frown, a glare, a smirk or a sneer on his face, he actually looked happy, of course it had to be at her dispense, he was holding tightly to his stomach and tears of happiness were streaming down his face

He finished laughing and looked at the brunette, he couldn't stop smiling

"That was revenge for this morning" he said, he extended his and and Hermione eyed it suspiciously

"What in Merlin's beard are you doing now?" She asked him

"Calling a truce" he said as if the common thing

She took his hand and shook it, had someone told her a few months ago that she would be making a truce with her bully she would hex them into the next century

"Drink?" Draco asked

"We have class Malfoy, and I have an image to uphold" she told him

She left and Draco smiled

Granger and her priorities he thought to himself and chuckled