Hidden In the Pensieve (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

The memory appears to be night time, possibly midnight, at the Leaky Cauldron, maybe three and a half years ago. Hermione is entering a room there at the Leaky Cauldron. She sets her luggage down in the corner, closes the door, and sits down on the bed.

"Granger, what are you doing in my room?" a familiar, icy voice speaks. The voice belongs to Draco Malfoy.

"Oh! I'm sorry. This is the room the girl gave me. I'll have this fixed right now," Hermione apologizes.

"Don't bother, the girl's probably gone to bed by now," Malfoy replies.

Hermione mumbles a thank you and walks over to her luggage, to pull out her pajamas. She changes, facing away from the bed, into a pastel blue tank with lace on the chest and thin straps, and the matching shorts. Hermione, then, crawls into the bed and nestles under the covers, probably feeling strange lying next to Draco Malfoy.

It's almost as if Ginny is in the memory, but she's on the sidelines. She stands in the corner of the room, watching. The next memory begins, however not much time has elapsed since the last memory. It looks to be only a few hours later.

Draco and Hermione are lying with their backs against each other. Draco turns his body over to the other side, wrapping an arm around Hermione. She walks up to the bed, leaning over Draco and Hermione to see whether or not Draco is really sleeping.

"I love you," Draco mutters in his sleep.

Ginny's eyes bulge.

Hermione's eyes flutter open and a small gasp escapes her mouth.

A thud interrupts the memory, even though it is coming to an end. Ginny lifts her head from the pensieve. She creeps down the attic stairs and pushes it up gently. She walks down the hallway and peers over the stairway. The group of friends are laughing and drinking, like they had been before Ginny left for the bathroom.

Ginny wanders down the hallway again, to Hermione and Ron's room. She enters the room and begins searching for Hermione's time turner. She finds it sitting on a dresser, next to Hermione's jewelry box. Ginny walks over to the hallway and pulls out the attic staircase, with the time turner in her hand.

Ginny turns the time back to when the group is first arriving at Ron and Hermione's new home, in order to have time to see other memories. Ginny feels a twinge of guilt for invading her friends privacy, but a little voice inside her head is urging her to look further.

The sound of rain pounds gently on the window pane. Hermione opens her eyes and allows them to adjust to the light. Draco's arm is still wrapped around her, as it had been during the night. She eases his arm off of her and slowly begins to sit up, which causes Draco to awake from his sleep.

Draco sits up, yawning and stretching out his arms. He glances over at Hermione, whose eyes are fixed on him.

"Are you aware?" Hermione inquires, as if he knows what she means.

"Pardon?" Draco replies, furrowing his brows in confusion.

"Are aware that you....um...mumbled something in your sleep? I love you....I reckon that's what you said," she says, seeming embarrassed by having to tell him this.

"Oh. That doesn't sound like me, does it?" he comments rhetorically, with a short, awkward laugh.

"Do you love someone? Who do you love?"

Draco sighs, running his hands down his face. He looks at Hermione, with a pained expression; like the answers hurts to say. However, Hermione nods, urging him to go on. Draco shakes his head, inhaling deeply before answering.

"You. I love...you," Draco utters softly.

A glare surfaces Hermione's face. "That's not funny."

"No, it's not funny at all. I am being completely serious here," responds Draco, his face matching his words.

Hermione seems almost convinced by his words and expression, but, as Ginny would have, concludes that he must be lying and is attempting to play some sick mind game, which would be plausible considering his past.

She starts, "I dunno what you're trying to do here, but it's not going to-"

Draco presses his lips against Hermione's, interrupting her words. Hermione doesn't break away; she can't. It's as gravity is forcing her to stay put. She even kisses back and peculiar as it is, she acts as though it's exciting, wondrous, and even addictive. His lips look surprisingly soft and they seem to fit almost perfectly against Hermione's. Draco's right hand sits on the middle of her back, Hermione's body reacting as if it's left a tingling sensation, driving her wild in the strangest way.

Ginny watches the scene, flabbergasted. She waves her hands about, as if to try to break them from kissing. She suddenly realizes, that she is not really there. This is Hermione's memory and she has no control over it.

Coincidently, Hermione pulls away, in order to catch her breath.

"This.......doesn't make sense. You're not supposed to love me. I'm Hermione Granger and you don't love me.........you're not supposed to kiss me! And......I'm not supposed to feel like this!" a distraught Hermione cries.

"Like what?" Draco asks, moving his face right in front of her Hermione and smiling mischievously.

Hermione's breathing becomes nervous and her heart rate speeds up. She loses her train of thought, momentarily, then turns her eyes away from Draco.

"Stop that!" she orders, with agitation her voice. She pauses to gather her thoughts, then says, "You taunt me and tease me, now you're telling me you love me? All these years you've never said anything? Why?"

"I've always fancied you. I was afraid to tell you how I felt and I'm not sure I could have anyway. I'm very sure that if my father would have gotten knowledge, he would have murdered me. If he didn't, Voldemort would have...or worse, Voldemort would have murdered you," Draco explains.

Hermione bites her lower lip, sheepishly. She looks into Draco's eyes again.

"Ron and I...we're broken up, you know," Hermione shares. Her expression suddenly reads "what am I doing?!".

"That's a plus, then. However, I would have kissed you anyway," Draco responds, smugly.

Hermione rolls her eyes, laughing. She shakes her head.

"Oh, what have I gotten myself into?"