So before I went to upload I saw how many reads I've gotten since looking yesturday and all I have to say is that I love all of you very much!! It made my day so much better to see that people are reading! ^_^ I just hope you like it!
PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS!
***
“Hurry up! We’re losing him,” Ron whispered, he was determined to capture Draco in the act of something bad enough that he would look like a hero to Hermione.
Harry let out an exasperated sigh and hurried his pace, “we have the map you know? And we know where the room of requirement is.”
Ahead Draco was strolling the halls occasionally stopping by a painting and continuing, when they came to the room of requirement they waited for Draco to make the door appear and slipped inside right behind him. The room was filled completely with mirrors and a single wooden framed mirror stood in the middle, Ron and Harry moved to the side as Draco sat down in front of the mirror.
“Ron, I don’t think we should be here anymore,” Harry whispered urgently.
Ron began nodding slowly when he heard Draco sigh, “we’re stuck now.”
Harry nodded, “I told you.”
Ron’s ears began to turn red, “I worry about Hermione so shut it.”
They watched Draco silently as he began practicing random spells, then out of nowhere a spell was sent right over their heads and Draco stood smirking in their direction.
“Do you really think I’m that thick?” Draco called to them, both boys froze in utter fear as Draco began to slowly advance towards them. “Well? Show yourselves! Don’t hide behind your little cloak Potter and Weasley! I saw your feet reflected in a suit of armor we passed earlier.”
Harry and Ron looked at each other, they knew exactly when he was talking about. They had tripped up and both fell but neither believed that any body part had been revealed so they kept following Draco and now they were trapped.
Draco began to laugh manically, “I told you to show yourselves!” and he rushed at the two and pulled the cloak from them, when both were revealed Draco stood holding the cloak triumphantly—a smirk formed on his face. “well, well, well… if it isn’t the weasel and the pot? Why are you trailing me?”
Harry looked at Ron before speaking, “we wanted to know if you were up to anything that would hurt Hermione.”
Draco frowned, “I’m not going to hurt Hermione.”
Ron stepped back, the fact that a Malfoy would use Hermione’s first name and not her last was shocking. “why should we believe you?”
Harry put a hand on his arm, “Ron just leave it. Let’s go see Hermione.”
Ron shook his head, “no, why should I believe the guy who let death eaters in our castle and pretty much gave fuel the war that cost a lot of lives?”
Harry saw Draco’s fist clench and he restrained Ron even more, “because he’s been locked in a room with Hermione for five months now. That’s why, now let’s go!”
Ron stayed his ground, glaring back at a fuming Draco, Harry knew this wouldn’t end peacefully so he tried to pull Ron along with him. “that doesn’t mean anything, this git will hurt her at some point” finally Ron let Harry pull him away but then Draco called after them, making them both stop in their tracks.
“Did she mention that we kissed?”
Harry watched as Ron’s ears turned crimson and his knuckles turned white, the next thing Harry knew was Ron on top of Draco pounding him and screaming at him. Harry watched in shock as the two began throwing punches and rolling on the floor, at some points Draco got the upper hand but then Ron would gain the advantage. Harry tried to pull the two apart but nothing seemed to work, he didn’t want to get Hermione so he took out his wand and threw a shielding spell between the two of them.
“Both of you stop it,” Harry looked to both of the boys. Both had splotches of blood and bruises were beginning to appear on each of their faces, well this will be interesting to explain, Harry muttered to himself. “Ron, we’re leaving now. If you do anymore damage I’m pretty sure he’ll tell Hermione all about it.” Harry looked to Draco and sighed, “and then I’m positive that when she sees Ron tomorrow that she’ll put two and two together and everything will go to hell.” Harry pushed his glasses up and clenched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, “why Draco?”
Draco smirked, “he had it coming.”
Ron looked as if he were about to punch away when Harry held up a hand, “can’t you just leave him alone?”
Draco shrugged, “he needed to know. And you know what? Its after hours you should really be in your houses.”
Harry laughed and Ron smirked, “did you forget that I’m a prefect and you can’t do anything to me Malfoy?”
Draco took a step towards Ron, “did you forget that I’m head boy and can do anything to you?”
Ron took a step back reluctantly and nodded.
“Get out of here, both of you.” Draco growled.
Both left in silence, had Ron thought his plan to confront Draco through he would’ve fought back but he knew that by hurting him he’d hurt his chances of being with Hermione in the end because she would see his act of violence as a reminder of what he had done while they were on their mission. His chest began to hurt as he walked slowly back to his common room, he now knew what a breaking heart felt like and he couldn’t believe that it had happened because of a ferret.
As they entered the common room, Ron noticed that only a few people were still awake, as he walked towards the stairs he saw the frizzy hair that was pulled back by a pink bow but did not acknowledge her presence until she made it clear.
“Hello Ron,” she said.
“Hello Lavender,” Ron muttered back with a feeble attempt of smiling as he made his way to his bed.
*****
“Are you staying over the holidays?” Draco mused as they sat by a window in the common room, snow was beginning to pile up more and the trees of the forest were somewhat invisible.
Hermione looked up from her book, “actually I am…I suppose you will be too?”
Draco let out a sigh and gave a small smile, “it’d be a waste to go back to that empty manor.”
“What happened to everything your family owned?”
Draco looked at Hermione in shock, after his outburst a few months ago he never thought that she would ask about his personal life again. But after what happened a few nights ago it made sense to ask. “actually it’s all under my name now. I don’t know what to do with it all though, there’s just too much.”
Hermione nodded, “aside from what happened there…I thought your house was lovely. I imagined it never looked that dark and cold before right?”
Draco let out a small laugh, “it was always a dark place. But it got worse, you saw it at its most horrible moments. The cold just comes from have an all stone house—no insulation during the winter.”
Hermione smiled, “I’m sorry for asking.”
Draco shook his head and shrugged, “it’s alright. I’ve left McGonagall in charge of everything, she seems fine with handling it I haven’t heard anything recently.”
Hermione sighed and stretched, Crookshanks jumped from her lap and sulked towards the fire, “it looks like you’re stuck with me for the holidays then.”
Draco laughed and nodded, “because I wasn’t already stuck with you here in this suite.”
Hermione began to laugh and before Hermione could do anything he had leaned across the table and pressed his lips against hers, she didn’t resist him but Draco felt her shock as she paused before leaning towards him. When they broke apart only one thought crossed Draco’s mind: he should get Hermione a present.
*****
Hermione opened her eyes and looked around her room, the snow had stopped and the sky had reflection of the freshly fallen snow so her room was brightly lit. She stretched and got out of bed while Crookshanks watched her from his pillow at the foot of the bed. “Merry Christmas,” Hermione smiled at the cat as he meowed in response.
She got dressed and grabbed the present she had wrapped in green and sneaked out to the common room; she glanced around and didn’t see Draco anywhere. Hermione silently put the present underneath the tree Draco had brought to decorate for the holidays and sat in one of the overstuffed armchairs to wait for Draco.
Draco came out of his room a little while later, he was still in his pajamas and judging by the way he hid a package behind his back he had a gift for Hermione as well.
“Merry Christmas,” Hermione beamed at Draco.
Draco smiled in return, “Merry Christmas Hermione. I got you a present.”
Hermione smiled, “that’s nice of you. I have one for you as well.”
Draco smiled and handed the present he had wrapped in red to Hermione who handed him the green parcel, they opened the gifts at the same time and Hermione’s heart seemed to skip a beat as she opened the box. Inside was a small gold chain with a golden heart on it which had a lion engraved on it, Hermione’s breath caught in her throat and she tried to hold back the tears as she gazed at it.
“What do you think?” Draco whispered as he leaned in towards her.
Hermione looked up and didn’t know how to answer, she looked into the smoldering grey eyes and her heart began to race. For once Hermione didn’t think about her next actions, she just did what she felt; she went to hug Draco which led to a kiss but the kiss didn’t stop. The kiss seemed to last forever and it was until Draco had gotten Hermione’s shirt unbuttoned and Hermione was straddling Draco that they stopped and looked at each other.
“What are we doing?” Hermione whispered.
Draco cupped her face and kissed her cheek, “nothing I suppose.”
Hermione quickly stood up and blushed while grabbing her shirt and pulling it closer to her body, “what about Ron?”
Draco laughed, “really Granger? After everything that’s happened, you still love that ignorant git?”
Hermione sat down on the sofa next to him and put her head in her hands and sighed, “I don’t know.”
“You know, you told Potter that you fancied me but yet here you are saying you love the weasel when you told Potter something completely different.” Draco stood up and sighed, “at least I know what I want. I fancy you, I wasn’t sure before but now I am. I hope you like the necklace, it took me a while to carve that lion on there.” With that Draco walked to his room and shut the door, he had been so wrapped in her reaction to his present that he had forgotten she had given him one as well. He unwrapped the parcel and found his favorite sweets and a handmade scarf of green and silver with a small snake and a few brooms on it. Draco had never gotten a more thoughtful gift and he loved it, he found it to be the most amazing thing he’d ever received, before he knew what he was doing he ran back into the common room where Hermione was and scooped her up and brought her to his room.
“Draco, what’re you doing?” Hermione shouted as he put her on his bed.
Draco sat down next to her and held up the scarf, “I love it.”
Hermione blushed and nodded, “it was nothing really, it only took me an hour to make.”
Draco kissed her, it was getting easier and easier to just lean over and kiss her even though he had been the last person who would ever be expected to kiss her after the way he used to treat her. Normally he got whatever he wanted but the little gesture of getting this one single thing that was just a minor present meant more to Draco than anything he’d ever received before.
“Seriously Draco, what’re we doing in your room?” Hermione looked around the silver and emerald room noticing the lack of personal objects there were scattered around—this made her heart break for Draco.
Draco shrugged as he grabbed for a chocolate frog Hermione had given him, “I didn’t really think. I wanted to give you a hug at first and then I picked you up and by that time I thought I might as well bring you in here. You know change is sometimes a good thing right?”
Hermione laughed, “any plans for today?”
Draco shook his head, “stroll the grounds I suppose.”
Hermione frowned, it was Christmas. No one should be alone today, “I’m going to see Harry but maybe I’ll see you at lunch?”
Draco gave a false smile and nodded, “sounds nice.”
Hermione stood up and hugged Draco, “thank you for the necklace I love it.”
Draco saw the flash of gold and couldn’t help but smile, the weasel was going to have a heart attack when he saw that and it made Draco feel as if he were walking on air.
*****
Hermione entered through the portrait hole and he noticed the flash of gold around her neck, he swallowed hard. After realizing how he felt about Hermione, Ron had begun to notice the little things about her such as what sort of jewelry she owned and he knew that this was brand new.
“There you are Hermione! I was beginning to worry!” Harry exclaimed as Hermione came to sit down next to him and across from me. She smiled at me but that was it.
Harry handed her his gifts first and she thanked him and showed him her gratitude and then it was Ron’s turn to give her gifts. Ron handed over the three small parcels he had wrapped and watched as she opened them, her eyes got watery as she opened the earrings that Ginny had help Ron get and the small bracelet Ron had seen her admire the other weekend we went to Hogsmeade. A tear escaped her eyes as she looked at Ron to say thank you, Hermione went to hug Ron tightly just as Ron went to kiss her. When they kissed it was not like what she felt with Draco, Ron’s kiss felt sweet and desperate where Draco’s had felt genuine with passion behind it.
“Thank you Ronald,” Hermione whispered.
Ron smiled, “I hoped you liked them,” Ron leaned in closely to whisper, “can we talk in private?”
Hermione nodded and followed Ron to his dormitory as Harry stayed down in the common room. When they were alone Ron turned and sighed, “I don’t mean to ruin today but I need to know…have you thought about it?”
Hermione let out a small sigh, “Ron. Not now, Please.”
“I’ve given you plenty of time! Why can’t you answer me this once?”
Hermione shook her head, “I don’t know how you expect me to trust you when you hurt us during the war!”
“Really? That’s what’s stopping you?”
Hermione nodded, “and the fact that I was always there for you waiting and when the chance came it wasn’t me but Lavender.”
Ron shook his head, “fine! You know what? I can’t believe you, I give up.”
Hermione let out a soft sob as she sighed and followed Ron down the steps to the common room, “why am I always the bad guy? Why can’t you see this my way?”
Ron turned and glared back, Harry stood up and stood beside Ron looking between the two, “I say you’re being unfair and unreasonable. I’ve been waiting for you for months now and all you can do is drag this out, I can’t believe you haven’t chosen me when you know yourself that you love me!” Ron sighed, “I just don’t understand what’s stopping you.”
Hermione stood her ground and glared back, “you left us in the middle of a war. Even before that I waited patiently for you for two years and now you finally come around. How can I trust you to not make the same mistakes?”
“Just tell me one thing,” Ron growled.
“What is it?”
“How could you kiss him?”
Hermione was completely confused and as she stared at Ron it wasn’t getting any clearer, “what’re you going on about?”
Ron let out an angry sigh, “Malfoy! You kissed him.”
“I…I did no such thing Ron.”
Ron shook his head, “I figured that git was lying but I wasn’t sure.”
Hermione nodded slowly, somehow Draco had told Ron they kissed, this wasn’t going to end well for her. “I suppose I’ll go back to my suite, I don’t think I’m wanted here.” Hermione glanced around the room and noticed that people who had remained were coming back from the Great Hall, one of them was Lavender Brown and Hermione’s eyes narrowed as she watched Lavender look at Ron like a sick puppy who just found their long lost home—that was not a sign she liked either.
“I’ll walk with you Hermione,” Harry whispered as the two walked out of the common room and into the hall.
“Harry, has Lavender been….you know?”
Harry glanced around before nodding, “yes. She has and Ron hasn’t caught onto that but he’s letting her get her nails into him very slightly.”
Hermione nodded, “just what I wanted to happen.”
Harry stopped walking as he looked at her curiously, “did you and Malfoy really kiss?”
Hermione stuttered and couldn’t answer at first, the silence between his question and her answer was just enough conformation for Harry as he sighed and began walking, “I was hoping it wasn’t true.”
“Harry what you have to know is…”
Harry glared darkly, “you’ve been stringing Ron along and now you’ve dug yourself a hole. What else do I need to know?”
Hermione gasped as his words pierced her heart, how could she be so selfish and foolish. Harry was completely right. “That I actually was going to choose Ron.”
They made their way in silence, only broken by Harry’s suggestions of things to do when they arrived back to her room. Draco had been sitting in front of the fire when they came in, he smiled slightly at them before looking back towards the fire. When Hermione went to her room to finally get dressed Harry turned to Draco who looked at him expectantly.
“I’d monitor what the weasel drinks from now on, I heard some girl talking about slipping him a possible love potion when I was in the great hall.” Draco muttered.
Harry laughed, “so when Ron’s not around you’ll be the person who wants a second chance and then the second he’s around you’re a complete arse.”
Draco sighed, “He started it.”
Harry sat down and glanced at Hermione’s door before continuing, “listen here. You want me to trust you and gain my support? You have to play by my rules and that includes respecting Ron.”
“You do realize that there’s a girl who keeps trying to get him right? I caught them snogging the other night.”
Harry sat up straighter, “what was that?”
Draco shrugged, “I caught him kissing some other girl who wasn’t Hermione the other day.”
Harry nodded slowly, “don’t tell Hermione that.”
“And make her depressed? Yes, that makes perfect sense! Because when you go back to your house I’ll be stuck with the sobbing girl.”
Hermione appeared from her room before Harry could respond to Draco’s sarcasm, Ron was so desperate to win Hermione that Harry had noticed that Ron wouldn’t eat unless she was there so he could watch over her.
Harry looked at Draco with a knowing look, one that said they were going to talk more in private. “Is everything alright you two?” Hermione questioned as she looked between the two.
Draco turned his attention and nodded, “broom talk.” He glanced at Harry who nodded in agreement.
Hermione shrugged before continuing, “game of exploding snap Harry?”
For the next few hours Harry and Hermione played numerous games of snap while Draco watched from his seat.