Hermione was completely alone as she stretched out her hands to try to feel her way out of the darkness. Nothing made sense. Everything was black; not a single shade of color was visible.
“Help!” she finally yelled, falling to the floor from exhaustion.
Nobody came. A sudden flash of red light made Hermione turn around, and she saw Harry.
“Oh, Harry!” Hermione yelled, running to him. “I thought I was alone.”
Hermione hugged him, looking up at his face in happiness.
Harry stood unresponsive to her hug, smirking at her. “But you are alone, Hermione.”
Ginny suddenly appeared beside him, dressed beautifully in a pale blue dress. She looked at Harry, who took her hand and kissed it tenderly.
“You are all alone.”
Backing up, Hermione covered her face with her hands; when she opened her eyes again, they were gone.
“Help…” she yelled again, but already knew no one would come. Another flash of light came from her left. This time, Hermione was hesitant to turn to the source, but this light was so bright that she was more than forced to look.
What she saw was an angel. Beautiful gray eyes peeked out at her from a stunningly flawless face with short blonde hair. The angel was male and as it reached out to her, Hermione obeyed and a feeling of security enveloped her instantly.
The angel mouthed something to her and seemed to be floating away.
“Don’t go!” Hermione yelled, holding on tight to his hand, and the angel smiled.
“Don’t worry, Hermione.” The angel spoke in a voice almost too beautiful for imagination. “I will always be here.”
With that, brightness flooded into the area, and Hermione smiled at the angel. Her eyes grew wide as she finally saw him clearly, and she backed up again.
“Malfoy?”
“Hermione? Wake up,” Draco whispered, shaking her gently. “Are you all right?”
Hermione finally opened her eyes and sucked in her breath when she saw Draco hovering over her, looking very much like he had in her dream.
“You were shaking,” Draco explained. “I’m sorry I woke you up. You can go back to sleep, if you want.”
“Where am I?” Hermione asked, sitting up slowly and looking around. The bed was in a beautiful room, decorated in a heavenly manner from floor to ceiling. Almost everything was immaculately white, although patches of color were visible here and there, giving the room a homey feel. Hermione’s eyes shifted to the huge fireplace in front of the bed, and she suddenly glanced at Draco lying beside her, her brown eyes large.
“What are you doing?” she shrieked, pulling the blanket up to her chest. “Why are we here?”
Draco rolled his eyes at her. “Relax, Granger; I didn’t touch you. I can control myself, you know.”
“But-“
“I brought you home after last night. You didn’t exactly have anywhere to go, Granger. I couldn’t very well send you back to Potter, now, could I?”
The events of last night flashed briefly in Hermione’s mind, and she sank back into bed. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Draco asked, propping himself up on his elbow to look at her more clearly.
“For being a burden,” Hermione replied, closing her eyes. “You have done so much more for me than I deserve, and all I keep doing is accusing you of being a rapist.”
Draco chuckled. “You do do that a lot. But you’re in no way a burden, Granger. I mean it.”
Hermione smiled as she opened her eyes and looked at Malfoy properly. It was then that she realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Hermione had heard from several sources how magnificent Draco’s chest was, but never had she imagined something so…sexy. Draco had a very lean body, but the firm muscles on his arms gave away how strong he actually was. Even without touching him, Hermione could tell that the muscles on his chest were just as hard, and his abs…
“Granger…”
Hermione tore her eyes away from Draco’s chest and felt herself blushing. “I was just… I wasn’t-“
Draco smiled and inched closer to Hermione on the bed. “I wasn’t objecting. I only wanted you to know that you simply cannot look at me like that and do nothing about it.”
Hermione backed away, but reached the edge of the bed and was stuck, at least for the moment. “I wasn’t looking at you.”
“Hmmm…” Draco murmured, inching even closer. “Mind if I ‘not look’ at you?”
Hermione sat up in bed once more as Draco’s hand stroked her shoulder. “Malfoy, I don’t… I… don’t we have to go to work?”
Draco smiled. “We do, actually, but I sent a letter to the office saying that I needed you.”
Hermione raised her eyebrow.
“For business matters,” Draco added, chuckling.
The corners of Hermione’s mouth turned up slightly. “Won’t you get into trouble for slacking off work?”
Draco shrugged. “We don’t have much to do, anyway. It’s our last day together, you know.”
Hermione nodded, feeling strangely sad at realizing that, after today, she wouldn’t be working with Draco any more.
“How are you feeling now, anyway?” Draco asked; the sudden concern in his voice making Hermione’s heart melt just a bit.
“I’m fine, Malfoy. Much thanks to you.”
Draco smiled and sat up as well, revealing more of his chest in the process. “Don’t I get a reward?”
At that, Hermione laughed. “You’re my boss, Malfoy. I really don’t think you should be talking to me like this. I could sue you for sexual harassment.”
Draco chuckled. “Let me do something more, then, if you going to sue me anyway. It will give you a stronger case, after all.”
Hermione giggled. “You’re horrible. You know that, right?”
Draco laughed and finally stood up. “I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t.”
Hermione grinned at him and tried to keep her eyes from roaming over the firm muscles of his legs Draco was revealing.
Thank goodness for boxers, Hermione thought, keeping her eyes focused on his face with effort.
Draco noticed the strain in Hermione’s face and wondered if she had a headache.
“Are you sure you’re well, Granger? You can talk to me, you know. I didn’t bring you here mainly to try and seduce you.”
Hermione smiled again. “Why did you bring me here, then, Malfoy?”
“I told you before, Granger,” Draco replied in a soft voice. “You didn’t have anywhere else to go. I couldn’t drop you off in some hotel, where, God knows, countless horrible things could happen to you. And I would never in a million years send you back to Potter. You really do deserve better, Granger. And… well… I wanted to take care of you, help you heal.”
“But why, Malfoy?” Hermione asked, her voice an octave higher than usual. “Why do you care?”
Draco was silent a few seconds too long. “I promised, Granger. I’ll always be here for you.”
“Because?” Hermione continued.
Draco shrugged. “I’m a good person. I just don’t want you to get hurt. Is that really so hard to believe, Granger?”
Hermione smiled. “Coming from you? Yes.”
Draco laughed too and walked to the door. “I’m going to bring up something to eat. I know how you women like your comfort food.”
“Though…” Draco continued, with a sparkle in his eyes, glancing at Hermione. “You could really make do with losing a few pounds, Granger.”
Draco was ready for the pillow Hermione flung at him, and disappeared through the door. He reappeared a few minutes later, holding his wand towards the several floating plates of French toast, bread, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, yogurt and as many cold cuts as you can imagine that were currently leading their way inside the room. Several jars followed. Hermione couldn’t help but stare in amazement as bottle after bottle of jam, olives, sweet peaches, sliced pineapples and fruit cocktail floated into the room. Packages of every imaginable snack arrived next, and Hermione felt her mouth begin to water at the immense amount of chocolates she counted. Glasses came in next, and Hermione started laughing when the drinks floated past her, the most innocent of which was the orange juice.
“Is there more?” Hermione asked, still laughing.
Draco held up his wand higher and in came a bucket of ice. “There. I believe we now have everything.”
Hermione looked around the room and smiled at the vast amount of food now perched neatly on the bed.
“And where are we supposed to sit?”
Draco smirked. “Has my charm made you forget that we are wizards, Granger?”
With one more flick of his wand, the dishes raised a couple of inches of the bed and remained floating in the air. The bed was now free to sit, or lay on, with the food just in inches of reach.
“After you,” Draco continued, holding his arm out to her grandly.
Hermione smiled as she allowed him to lead her to the left side of the bed and blushed faintly when he moved in beside her. He was too close, his clean smell was overwhelmingly attractive, and Hermione couldn’t stop her eyes from wandering to his exposed chest once more.
“What?” Draco asked, noticing the pretty pink tinge on her cheeks.
Hermione shook her head; instead of answering, reached for the first thing she saw floating in front of her. Sliced pineapples.
Draco watched her as she took a bite of the pineapples and reached for one himself to distract him from the way she was taking adorably tiny bites of the fruit.
“Toast?” Draco asked, offering Hermione a piece of bread; she took it gratefully. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until right now. She hadn’t eaten anything since lunch the day before, and she was absolutely famished.
“Thank you, Malfoy,” Hermione said, in a small voice, after a few minutes of silent, yet comfortable, eating.
“This is really nothing, Granger.” Draco replied, with a shrug. “I couldn’t very well let you starve. Then I would have never been able to tempt you.”
Hermione gave a small smile. “Not just for the food, Malfoy. For everything… for taking care of me. I really don’t deserve this.”
“Whatever made you think that, Granger?” Draco asked, pausing in the act of biting into a strawberry to look at her. “Of course you deserve to be taken care of. You’ve just been trying to find that in the wrong people.”
“Really wrong people.” Hermione agreed in a small voice. “I feel like I’ve just lost my two best friends. First Ron and now Harry… maybe I’m just not girlfriend material.”
Draco snorted and gently stuffed a cherry into Hermione’s mouth. “You’re smarter than that, Granger. Don’t tell me you actually believe that.”
Hermione chewed on the cherry thoughtfully, barely noticing that Malfoy was feeding her. “I may be correct, Malfoy. I haven’t ever been in a really successful relationship. Both Ron and Harry found someone who satisfied their different needs, and it wasn’t me. I didn’t even do well with Krum. All he wanted was… um…”
“Your deliciously glorious body?” Draco answered for her, giving her a bite of chocolate.
“What else?” Hermione replied with a laugh, chewing on the grape Draco gave her next. They continued eating for a few more minutes, and Hermione was amazed at how comfortable she felt with him. More than once, she could feel her eyes dropping to his chest before quickly averting her gaze - little did she know that Draco was doing to exact same thing.
“You’re wrong though, Granger.” Draco suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence.
“About what, Malfoy?” Hermione asked, starting to reach for a bowl of porridge.
“Never has anyone been more suited for being a wonderful girlfriend than you.” Draco continued, looking deeply into her chocolate brown eyes. “For one, you are incredibly smart, and yet never have I caught you boasting. You’re strong and completely capable of yourself, but you’re also sweet and wonderfully soft. You can be tough at times when you need to be, but you have a brilliant heart of gold.”
As he spoke, Draco moved closer to Hermione. Hermione’s breath caught in her throat as she watched him leaning over her, his chest touching hers.
“You don’t have a dishonest bone in your body,” Draco continued, his voice gentle and beautifully silky. “You are as honest, as loyal, and as trustworthy as anyone could be. And, above all that, you are breathtakingly beautiful.”
Draco’s lips were mere inches from Hermione’s. He was so near that Hermione could clearly see the beads of sweat that had now formed on his lower lip and wondered if he could feel how fast her heart was beating. As though by instinct, Hermione sensed her eyelids lowering, and felt Draco’s soft lips on hers a second later. So amazing was this simple kiss that Hermione was sure the earth was shaking around them and pulled back to make sure everything was still in place. Draco’s smoldering eyes watched her, searching for her reaction. Hermione’s eyes locked with his as well, and she inhaled sharply when she felt his hand caress her cheek.
“You are so wonderful,” Draco said, in a soft voice, lowering his hand towards her chest.
Hermione caught his hand instantly and backed up. “Malfoy…”
Draco breathed out. “What’s the matter, Granger? How long are you going to try to pretend there is no chemistry between us?”
“I’m… I can’t-“
“Yes, you can.” Draco replied, watching as Hermione stood up from the bed. “Nothing is holding us back now, Granger.”
Draco followed Hermione out into the hall and backed her up against the wall. Hermione’s head moved frantically from left to right, searching for a way to escape.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Granger,” Draco continued. “I just want to give you the thing you’ve been itching for, for such a long time.”
“Malfoy, no… we can’t-“
“And why not, Granger?” Draco asked, pushing his body even closer to hers. “Don’t you even try to start telling me you don’t see how right this feels.”
“But you, I don’t want-“
“Granger, when will you understand that I am nothing like Potter? And I am definitely nothing like Weasley. I know when a good thing has come into my life and, unlike them, I’m not letting you go. Whether you like it or not.”
“But-“
“Shut up and let me kiss you, Granger.”
Hermione watched as Draco’s lips inched nearer to hers as though in slow motion. Every cell in her brain was screaming for her to stop, but every nerve in her body was telling her to pounce on him herself.
“Malfoy, I can’t.”
The words tumbled out of her mouth in a rushed mess just as Draco’s lips were about to touch hers.
“I just can’t.”
Hermione’s limbs ached in pain as she pushed Draco away and she watched him through tear filled eyes as she removed her wand from her pocket.
“Granger! Stop!”
Draco’s jumped at her one second too late and fell flat on the floor. Hermione was gone once more.
Hermione allowed herself a few seconds to calm down before completely collapsing on the white sofa in her apartment.
The sleeves of her sweater were soon wet with tears and as she tried to wipe off the remainder from her face, an annoying voice began grumbling in her head. A voice she could only distinguish as her own.
Now tell me, the voice began, what good did it do running out on him?
“It’s for the best.” Hermione replied, a sob catching in her throat as she did so. “You know how he is. This is Malfoy were talking about. Malfoy the womanizer. Malfoy the playboy. I’m not going to be just another girl that falls for him because of his incredibly good looks.”
But you love him for more than just his looks. Don’t lie to me. I’m your inner voice for crying out loud. I know you.
Hermione gave a sad smile to her empty apartment. “Of course I love him for more than just his looks.”
Hermione sighed as she played with a lock of her hair. “He’s amazingly sweet. He’s caring, honest and has an absolutely brilliant mind.”
Not to mention a completely gorgeous body.
At that Hermione laughed. “I admit, his body is gorgeous.”
Then why did you leave?
“I don’t know.” Hermione replied sadly, still talking to herself. “I think I’m just scared. I’m falling for him way too fast. How do I even know this is as real to him as it is to me?”
Don’t you trust him?
Hermione thought about this for a moment before answering. Flashbacks of Draco floated through her mind and she smiled as she remembered how he had saved her the night she found out about Harry and Ginny. Thinking about all of it now, she couldn’t think of a single moment when Draco was even the tiniest bit mean to her. Of course they fought that one time, but that was mainly her fault. She should have believed Draco when he told her that Harry was seeing Ginny. He had never yet lied to her, and Hermione doubted that he could.
“Of course I trust him.” Hermione answered in response to the question the annoyingly right voice had asked. “I’m just not sure how much.”
“And when were you planning to tell me any of this?” a male voice replied and Hermione’s head shot up from the sofa to see Draco, sitting idly on the edge of her kitchen table.
“How long have you been here?” Hermione asked in shock. “I didn’t even here you arrive!”
Draco shrugged. “I’m better at apparating than you, Granger.”
Hermione frowned. “Why are you even here?”
Draco sighed at her. “Isn’t it obvious to you, Granger? A playboy like me can’t have his reputation ruined.”
Hermione bit her lip. “You heard that?”
“I heard a little more than I wanted to, actually.” Draco replied, not getting up from his position on the edge of the table. “I have learned a lot though about what you think of me.”
Hermione continued chewing on her bottom lip in distress. Though Draco noticed this, he pretended to ignore it and continued.
“For one, you still think of me as a womanizer. Malfoy the womanizer. Malfoy the playboy. Those were your exact words I think.”
“Malfoy, I-“
“But I also learned that you think of me as amazingly sweet, caring and honest. I even heard you say that you think I have an absolutely brilliant mind. Not to mention my gorgeous body.”
Hermione’s cheeks turned scarlet and she began cursing herself in silence. What was she doing talking to herself anyway? She wasn’t crazy.
Draco stood up from the table and walked towards her. Hermione set her eyes on the red stain on the sofa she had once made while eating spaghetti by herself one night.
“I also learned that you trust me, Granger.” Draco continued in a soft voice. “but your not sure how much you can trust me. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t trust myself around you sometimes as well.”
Hermione continued to admonish herself in silence and didn’t look up as Draco touched her hand.
“But do you know what I liked best about your short-lived moment of madness?”
Hermione looked up to see Draco wearing his famous mocking smile.
“What?” She asked him bitterly.
“You finally admitted that you loved me.”
Hermione eyes grew wide. She realized in an instant what he said was true as scraps of her conversation with herself glided through her mind. I’m falling for him way too fast… Of course I love him for more than just his looks…
“No, I didn’t.” Hermione tried to refuse, but the way Draco was smiling already told her there was no way she could win this argument.
“Granger…” Draco sat down next to her on the floor in front of the sofa and turned her around to face him.
“Do you know what I myself have realized?”
Hermione shook her head, unsure if she wanted to hear his realization.
Draco smiled down at her. “I realized that you have a right not to trust me just yet. We might have known each other forever, but we’ve only truly known each other for only about a month.”
Hermione nodded slowly in agreement. “And, so?”
“And so my dear,” Draco continued. “I’ve just realized that I’m fine with that. Because I’m ready to fight for your trust for as long as it takes. I mean it, Granger. Look at this serious face.”
Hermione smiled at Draco’s comically grave expression and couldn’t resist resting her head against his chest. “Do you seriously mean that?”
She felt him nod and that single movement made Hermione’s heart beat a little faster.
“I do, Granger.” Draco replied. “Seriously. I wouldn’t spend this much time and effort on you if you were just a passing fancy.”
Hermione grinned at him then and hugged him with all she had. “I’m sorry about what I said to myself.”
Draco chuckled. “Apology accepted. Just don’t ever let me catch you talking to yourself again.”
Hermione giggled at his mock admonishments and her eyes suddenly grew wide once more as she felt Draco’s fingers softly wandering over her body. All the worries she had before were forgotten now, and she wanted nothing more than to give herself up completely to the wonderful sensations Draco was already causing.
“You are truly adorable. Do you know that?”
Draco kissed Hermione’s nose lovingly and she backed away from Draco who sighed.
“Not this again, Granger.”
Hermione didn’t reply and gave a small gasp when Draco pulled her close.
“How long are you going to try to resist me, Granger?” Draco asked softly, his voice a mere caress. “I didn’t apparate to your apartment just to leave you here alone once more. I know you want this just as badly as I do. Why won’t you admit it? Will you still be able to tell me to back off once I do this…?”
Draco began kissing Hermione’s neck, slowly, dreamily, wonderfully. Hermione’s breathe quickened, but she continued to hold her arms at her side, willing herself not to touch him.
“Or this?”
Draco reached into Hermione’s sweater; before she could object, and a moan escaped her lips as Draco began caressing her in a way she had never been touched before. Hermione felt her restraint fading away and tried to hold on to the last bits of self-control she had left.
“Stop trying to stop yourself, Granger.”
With that, Draco’s fingers moved from Hermione’s sweater to inside her skirt. And, with one touch, Hermione’s restraint completely disappeared. She moaned softly and allowed her arms to curl around Draco’s neck. Gently, Draco picked her up and carried her into the upstairs bedroom he had already visited once before. Closing the door behind them, Draco laid Hermione on the bed tenderly. He was positive that, never in his whole life, had he seen a more beautiful sight than Hermione sitting on her bed, her eyes full of love and passion.
His fingers shook as he removed Hermione’s clothes, and Hermione noticed the beads of sweat that formed on Draco’s forehead when he saw her naked for the first time. Everything after that was unforgettable. Draco’s clothes came off, as if by magic and Hermione remembered nothing else but swirling colors, wonderful heat and beautiful, passionate love.
Draco’s moans matched hers as they rose together in harmony. They peaked at exactly the same time, and collapsed into a sweaty heap on the bed.
“I love you, Hermione,” Draco whispered into Hermione’s hair and her heart soared with happiness.
“I love you too, Draco.”
They made love once more and to Hermione, it was even better than the last. Nothing in the world could have ever ruined this, and no way was Hermione going to let it.