Hermione woke up in the middle of the night, the sheets twisted around, trapping her in her nightmare. As she untangled herself, she tried to remember what her terrible dream was about. But the harder she tried to remember it, the faster it seemed to slip away from her. All that was left of her sleep was a blur of colors and the necklace Draco had given her.
Hermione tried to get back to sleep, keeping her mind off of Draco Malfoy. After half an hour of tossing and turning she decided sleep had definitely left her room, so she went to her desk. Might as well do some studying so she could sleep in the morning. She determinedly avoided her Transfiguration book since she was studying it last with him. She decided to catch up on her History of Magic. As she pulled the book out of her ginormous bag, a note fell out.
She picked up the note and smoothed it out. It was written in very familiar handwriting.
Meet me tomorrow in the Room of Requirement after dinner. I need to talk to you.
Draco
Hermione frowned at the note. So much for keeping Draco out of her head. She didn’t even know that he knew the location of the Room of Requirement. Apparently, he had stumbled across it once or twice. She could just imagine Draco running away from some teacher, hiding a forbidden object in the vast expanse of the room…
Show some control, Hermione. Stop thinking about him. She was getting really bad at doing that. Maybe she should just stop. She let the memory of their last lesson flow over her, trying to pick up small details that she may have missed in the spirit of the moment. When did he slip the note into her book? She closed her eyes, trying to recall the exact setting of their lesson. Draco had seemed a little sad when he first sat down, but cheered up as they started on Potions. She knew this was a favorite subject, not only because of Snape’s favoritism, but because he found it thrilling. When Hermione said it was very similar to the Muggles’ chemistry. He laughed, but yearned to know more. They had then moved onto Charms, which came to easily for him so they proceeded to Transfiguration. Only after Hermione could no longer contain her laughter at Draco changing the shape of his nose, did they stop the lesson.
She opened her eyes with a snap. She hadn’t even had her History of Magic book out yesterday! How the hell did he get the note in there? It wasn’t even casually wedged into the front cover. It was in the very center of the book. There was no way he could have gotten it in there without opening the book. They had only briefly glanced at the book… last week.
“Oh my goodness!” Hermione quickly put on her dressing gown and hurried out her door. She slowed down a bit when she got to the Common Room so she wouldn’t wake Ron, and tried to calm her racing heart.
No wonder he had been sad at the beginning of our lesson. I didn’t turn up! Oh, I really hope he hangs around the Room of Requirement all night. She quietly snuck out of the room, closing the door carefully.
If Hermione ran into any teachers, she would say that she couldn’t sleep, so she decided to do some patrolling. This was a moment she was glad that she was Head Girl; she could make up lies like this and they would be completely believable. Unlike Ron, she took her Head Girl duties seriously, something all the teachers at Hogwarts were aware of.
When Hermione reached the seventh floor corridor, she stopped and stared at the blank stretch of wall that would become the Room of Requirement. What did this mean, going to meet him? What if he wasn’t there anymore? What if it’s all an elaborate trap? What if Malfoy is just putting on a show to torture me even more?
Why can’t I trust my heart just this one time?
“I need to meet Draco. I need to meet Draco. I need to meet Draco,” she whispered quietly as she paced in front of the wall which transformed quickly into a door. Taking a deep breath, Hermione reached for the handle, hoping that Draco would still be there.
The door opened to reveal a common room much like the one she had left only minutes ago except that it was furnished in silver and gold. Strategically placed windows allowed the light of the quarter moon to fill the room with brightness Hermione had never seen before. As her gaze passed around the room she noticed Draco lounging in one of the golden chairs apparently asleep. She couldn’t blame him. He’d probably been here all night and many nights before that.
Fighting the other voice in her head she tried to walk as quietly as she could on the hard marble floor towards Draco. But her footsteps echoed loudly around the high-ceiled room and Draco stirred slightly and woke up. His eyes roamed a little around the room before settling on Hermione.
“Sorry I’m so late. I only just found your note now,” Hermione said quietly, knowing her voice would echo as she continued to walk toward the Slytherin.
Draco sat up a little straighter in his chair and smiled. “What were you doing reading your History of Magic book in the middle of the night?”
“I couldn’t sleep,” Hermione said as she settled herself into one of the chairs near Draco’s. “This room is absolutely amazing. How did you ask for it?”
“Oh, so you know how the Room works? I thought you were delayed but not knowing what the hell I was talking about.”
“No. I guess I just didn’t do my History of Magic homework since last week.” Hermione smiled, knowing that a reprimand was coming.
“Hermione Granger! Not doing her homework! Perish the thought!” They both laughed freely, something they rarely could do in the library. Their laughter reverberated around the room leaving a shining happiness behind it that covered the whole room.
“So,” Hermione said leaning back into her chair with a smile, “what is the reason you brought me down here. The note said you needed to talk to me.”
“Yes,” Draco said, his smile fading a little. With a rush, it seemed like the jollity had zoomed out of the room, leaving Hermione and Draco in an awkward, cold silence.
“When all this tutoring stuff happened, I wasn’t too happy about. Something I’m sure you noticed,” Draco began, hoping his beginning would work out like he had planned.
“Yes, I did.” Hermione smiled again.
“Well, after a while, I got used to you ‘teaching’ me and I think I really got to know you. I think I’ve stopped thinking of you as the smart-ass Gryffindor. Now you’re just Hermione to me.
“I think I really know you now. I wish I could have stopped being an arse to you sooner. But we were from different sides and I wasn’t raised that way. I’m trying to break the mold I’ve been put in.”
During this whole speech, Hermione noticed that Draco was oddly uncomfortable. He kept on pausing and shifting in his seat. He refused to meet eyes with her. He took a deep breath and tried to start again, but Hermione stopped him.
“Draco,” Hermione said so loudly that he started. “Shut up for a minute and look at me.”
Squirming in his seat he looked up into Hermione’s chocolate brown eyes. But all Hermione could see was the pain etched in every inch of Draco’s face.
Teaching the Dark by BittersweetLove
Chapter Notes: A/N: Not a very angsty chapter, contrary to the title. Sorry, sorry, sorry SORRY for the uber long delay. But I still like reviews.