It had been a week since their first meeting in the trophy room and they had not spoken to each other a single time since then. And Harry and Ron were beginning to grow suspicious of the silence.
“Ya know what? Malfoy has not said a single word to me since that night he said something to you, Hermione. I think he is planning something.” Harry stated one day before Care of Magical Creatures. Hermione just shrugged her shoulders thought fully as they walked down the lawn. Once they made it down there they spotted Malfoy and his cronies standing off to the side, not talking, not snickering, nothing. Harry and Ron glared and him still believing he must be plotting something. Hermione just looked at him longing to be back in his arms again. As if he felt her looking at him, he looked up at her and caught her eye. She smiled softly at him and looked away to the sphinx that was being led out into the opening by Hagrid. The rest of the hour and day went by in a flash. Her mind would not stray for long off of the thought of the way it felt to be kissed by Draco. She barely even knew what the History of Magic homework was.
“Are you okay Hermione?” Ron asked tentatively at dinner that night. She had once again spaced off thinking of Draco. “Hmm?” She asked coming back to earth. “Are you okay? You have been awful distracted lately. Is something wrong?”
“No. Everything is fine. I am just missing my parents.” Ron and Harry both looked at her in disbelief.
“Liar. This is your sixth year and you have never been like this before. What is really up?” Hermione took a deep breath, quickly devising a plan.
“Well, if you really must know,” she said in a sharp tone, “I met a boy over the summer and I miss him. Alright?” Just as she finished her question an owl swooped in through the window and landed lightly in front of her with a scroll tied to his leg. She untied the letter swiftly and read it. Her heart pounded as she realized whom it was from. She smiled and wrote “Of course,” on the back of the parchment. Then tied it back onto the owl’s leg and sent him off. Hermione could not help herself; she could not stop smiling like a fool. Harry and Ron started guffawing,
“A letter from your boy?” They said in unison in a sing-song voice. Hermione squared her shoulders and said,
“Yes, as a matter of fact, it was. He wants to see me on the next holiday and he wrote of how much he missed me.”
The next morning finally came and it was time for the Hogsmead trip. Hermione was in the best mood that the boys had seen her in in a long time. When she came practically dancing down the stairs from the girl’s dormitory they had thought that someone had slipped her a potion of some sort. They gave each other a look that said, ‘what is wrong with her?”
The snow and wind blasted their faces so they shuffled into The Three Broomsticks after a quick circle of the shops. Hermione waited at the bar to grab the three Butterbeers they had orders once they arrived she slipped sleeping draft into two of them and brought them back to the table. Careful to give Harry and Ron the ones with the potions she sat and waited for the draft to get to work. Once they had fallen into a peaceful sleep Hermione left The Three Broomsticks and walked to the edge of town careful not to get stopped by anyone. As she reached the end of town she saw what, or who more exactly, she was looking for. Her breath caught in her chest as he turned around to look at her. As she approached her entwined his fingers with hers and they walked to the very edge of town. Then to protect themselves from the elements they walked up to the cave that Hermione had visited with Harry and Ron when they were hiding Sirius from people.
Once hidden Draco smiled at her and pulled her into a hug. She sighed and hugged him back. It felt so right to be in his arms. As they pulled away he kept his arms around her and looked at her. He searched her face as if it when a magnificent tapestry he was seeing for the first time. There was such a kindness in his eyes that she had not ever seen before. Then he kissed her. It was not like the last time he had kissed her; there was more passion and drive behind it. Before Hermione knew what was going his hands were undoing the front of her cloak and sliding around her. She could feel his cold hands through her sweater. She pulled away suddenly having just realized something. Draco looked startled.
“Did I do something wrong? Am I moving to fast? I’m sorry, I’ll stop.” His cheeks began to turn pink. Hermione giggled and touched his cheeks,
“No, no, it’s not that. It’s just that… well, I just realized… We can’t keep this secret for long. I just put my two best friends to sleep with a sleeping draft and well, you’re a pure blood and I am a muggle born. Your father would never approve.” She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. Draco reached up and tilted her face so she was looking at him.
“For once in my life, I don’t care what my father thinks.”
