Chapter Ten

Hermione spent the next week hiding in Gryffindor tower whenever she wasn't in class. She was more often than not curled up on Ginny's bed and crying whenever she had the chance. She couldn't bear the thought of returning to the Heads' dorms. Seeing Draco was more than she was willing to take on, especially after what he'd done. More than anything, she felt like a fool for letting herself believe he had changed. Nobody could go through that big of a change in so short a time, yet she'd stupidly hoped that Draco would be the exception.

He wasn't, of course.

Whenever she was in a class she shared with Draco, she did her best to ignore him. To his credit, he was doing a damn good job at pretending she didn't exist. Outside of classes, they didn't even communicate with each other about Head responsibilities or prefect duties. In fact, Hermione was too depressed to even bother thinking about those things. She could barely pay attention in class.

The whole situation was almost worse than when Draco had taken every opportunity to insult her.

And so she found herself in the fetal position on Ginny's bed at the end of the day on Friday. Ginny sat beside her, tapping her foot against the floor impatiently. She huffed out a sigh.

"'Mione, what can I do?" Ginny asked.

Hermione choked on a sob as she whispered, "Nothing."

Ginny tsked at her. "All right, that's enough!" she snapped. "I have let you sit around my room for the last week so that you could grieve this whole awful situation. But you've got to pick yourself back up, Hermione. Don't give Malfoy the power to ruin your life."

Hermione sat up rather suddenly and angrily wiped the tears from her face. "Oh, what do you know about lost love anyway?" she said bitterly. "You've loved Harry since before you even met him! And you got him! You can't possibly know what I'm going through!"

"Is that right?" Ginny asked with a sneer. "Harry's not the first boy I've dated, and you know that! Merlin, Hermione, it was your idea for me to date other people in the first place!"

Hermione closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "You're right; I'm sorry. I just don't understand how I could have been so wrong about him."

Ginny shrugged. "Well, I mean, I was absurdly wrong about Dean."

This forced a chuckle from Hermione. "I'm not sure how you missed it. It was painfully obvious to anyone paying enough attention that he and Seamus had a thing for each other."

"I was his bloody beard!" Ginny laughed.

"Well, at least they're together and happy now," Hermione reasoned.

"True."

Now that she had been pulled out of her melancholy state just a bit, Hermione had to admit that she felt more lighthearted than she had since last Sunday night. She took a deep breath and released it slowly, then straightened her shoulders resolutely.

"Gin, I can't stay in the Heads' dorms anymore. I'm going to talk to Professor McGonagall about moving back into Gryffindor tower."

"That sounds like a great first step," Ginny said, nodding. "If you want, I can go pack your things."

Hermione shook her head. "No, I'll move everything over here tomorrow. Right now I just want to talk with Professor McGonagall, then spend the evening with my friends."

Ginny smiled. "Okay. I'll go find the boys. Harry got a new deck of Exploding Snap cards. They're supposedly merged with Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, where the gross flavors are the cards that explode or something . . . it'll be great fun."

Hermione smiled. "Okay. I'll meet you guys by the lake, then?"

Ginny nodded. "Sounds great."

Hermione turned and left Ginny's dorm. As she left, she didn't see Ginny pull out a piece of parchment, scribble a note, then send it off with Parvati's owl.

Draco hated himself.

As soon as he realized that Hermione wasn't returning to their shared dormitory—and was resolutely ignoring him, too—he figured he owed her space. He gave it to her, certain that she'd never want to speak to him again. He'd seriously screwed up, and there was no way he'd ever get her to forgive him. He also supposed it was karma coming back to repay him for all of the horrible things he'd ever said and done to Hermione.

He was once again contemplating his situation for the umpteenth time, slumped at a table in the library on Friday after classes were over. He lamented his poor choices and he hated that he'd hurt Hermione so deeply. Mostly, he missed her.

At the same time, he couldn't forget how she'd used him. He felt wretched about deceiving her, true, but he was furious that she'd played him the whole time. Had she slept with him to ensure that he'd be completely hooked? If so, it had worked. He knew he would never be the same Draco Lucius Malfoy he had been before the bet.

He was startled out of his depressed musings when two people sat down across the table from him. Blaise and . . . the She-Weasel? He raised an eyebrow at them imperiously.

"Miss Weasley here has given me some interesting news, Draco," Blaise said.

"I really don't care, Zabini," Draco scoffed. "And I really don't want to speak to you right now."

Blaise waved a hand dismissively. "And I really don't care what you want. You're going to answer some questions for me, and then you're going to hear Ginny out. It's important."

Draco rolled his eyes but motioned for his interrogation to begin.

"At what point did the bet cease to be your motivation?" Blaise inquired.

Draco's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "What?" he yelped.

"You heard me. You've got feelings for Granger, and I want to know when that happened." Blaise stared at him patiently, obviously willing to wait for as long as it took to get his answer.

"I guess it was that first Sunday," Draco admitted reluctantly.

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "What happened to change things that day?"

Draco simply folded his arms and looked away.

"I don't know what changed emotionally for him," Ginny inserted, "but I do know that they had sex."

Blaise's mouth dropped open. "What?!"

"You were her first, you know," Ginny told Draco quietly.

Guilt settled in Draco's chest, feeling heavier than before. He nodded. He knew he'd been her first, and as far as he was concerned, she'd been his.

"Merlin, Draco. I was right," Blaise said slowly.

Draco narrowed his eyes at his best friend. "What are you talking about?"

Blaise shook his head in disbelief. "I've suspected you'd had feelings for Granger for years, but I didn't really want to believe it." He stared at his friend in shock, then whispered in awe, "I was right."

"So what?" Draco snapped. He was tired of this conversation already. "Even if I did have feelings for her before—which I'm not saying I did—what does it matter? She was playing me the whole time anyway!"

"And this is where Ginny comes in," Blaise said.

Ginny cleared her throat. "She wasn't going to go through with it."

"Wasn't going to go through with what?" Draco sneered.

"Last Sunday, when she got back to the castle, Hermione and I talked for a really long time about what happened. She told me she wanted to stay with you, and she was going to tell Harry and Ron at the Easter ball that they were just going to have to deal with the two of you being in a relationship."

Draco was floored, but hid his surprise from his companions. Hermione cared about him? He mentally shook his head. It still didn't make a difference. She might have been willing to consider a real relationship with him, but that was before she found out about the bet. He pushed himself to his feet with his classic sneer and slung his bag over his shoulder.

"That doesn't change anything," he snapped.

Ginny glared back at him. "At least think about this, will you? I've never seen Hermione so depressed. She may not admit it right now, but she needs you."

Draco scoffed and stalked out of the library. He couldn't afford to get his hopes up. It wouldn't do him any good. What he really needed, he decided, was to talk to his mother about this. She always knew exactly how to handle situations such as this one. He hurried of to Professor McGonagall's office to ask if he could use her fireplace. The hallways were deserted, and he made it to the headmistress's office with no delay. She quickly agreed to his request, and within minutes, he was getting out of the fireplace at Malfoy Manor.

He found his mother in the sunroom where they had dined with Hermione last Sunday. She was resting on a chaise lounge with a blanket draped over her lap. Draco sat beside her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

Narcissa opened her eyes and looked at him. "Hello, Draco. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Draco took a deep breath. "I need some advice."

She nodded. "Start at the beginning."

He gulped and told her everything, starting with the bet he'd made with Blaise, about everything that happened over the course of the ten days he'd dated Hermione—including having sex with her—and finishing with their dramatic blowout at the Easter ball. It was cathartic, being able to freely express the things he'd been feeling without fear of judgment. He knew his mother wouldn't be greatly pleased with the fact that he'd slept with Hermione, but she didn't say anything about it. When Draco was finished with his story, he felt like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Narcissa stayed quiet for a long time. When she finally did speak, it was to simply say, "What are you doing here, then? You need to tell Hermione how you feel."

Draco opened his mouth to argue.

"Don't you dare fight me on this, Draco Malfoy!" Narcissa interrupted. "Hermione has offered to help me figure out how to fix my health. If she rescinds her offer because of you, your inheritance will all go to charity."

"But Mother," Draco complained, "it's not like I'm the only one at fault in this mess! Hermione was using me just as much as I was using her in the beginning. I just don't see us resolving things so easily."

"So apologize," Narcissa said slowly, as if he were dim-witted. "Tell her what you told me. You'll never find out if she will forgive you if you don't try."

He sighed. "Okay. I'll think about it."

Draco returned to Hogwarts feeling almost more confused than when he'd left. He slowly walked back to his dorm and locked himself in his room. He fell into a restless sleep, dreaming repeatedly that he apologized to Hermione with various outcomes.

He was abruptly awakened by the dulcet sounds of thunks and bangs from the common room. He bolted upright in bed, his heart giving a painful lurch. Hermione?

Draco clambered out of bed and practically sprinted down to the common room. His heart dropped into his stomach when he recognized the long mane of red hair. The She-Weasel was the one making such a racket, and Hermione was nowhere in sight.

"Weasley? What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Ginny turned to face him, a sad and resigned took in her eyes. "I'm picking up Hermione's things."

"What? Why?"

"She's moving back into Gryffindor tower."

He was out of time.

"Wait. Please don't take any of her stuff yet. I have to talk to her. Where is she?" Draco nearly begged.

At this, Ginny smiled a tiny bit. "Where else? In the library, of course."

Draco nodded and dashed out of the common room without so much as a 'thank you.' He ran up the stairs two at a time, and arrived at the library in record time. He took a few deep breaths, then waved his wand so that his rumpled clothes straightened out and his hair looked more presentable. Then he pushed open the doors and went to find Hermione. She was at her usual table, engrossed in a book.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" Draco asked as he sat beside her.

She jerked in surprise and turned to look at him. "I'm . . . reading?"

He shook his head. "No, I mean what are you doing moving out of our dormitory."

"I don't have a choice," Hermione said sadly. "I can't live in the same space as you anymore. It's too painful."

Draco took her hands in his. "I love you, Hermione," he said bluntly. "I think I always have. And I'm sorry—more sorry than you'll ever know—about the bet I made with Blaise. It was wrong, and I shouldn't have done it. But please, please don't leave."

Tears filled her eyes. "How am I supposed to believe you?"

"Ask me anything. I'll take Veritaserum . . . put me under the Imperius Curse!"

"Draco, that's absurd," Hermione said with a watery chuckle. After a lengthy pause, she said, "I wasn't going to do it, you know. I was going to tell Harry and Ron that—"

"I know," Draco interrupted. "Ginny told me."

Hermione smiled wryly. "I should've known. Ginny never was one to mind her own business."

Draco chuckled and nodded. "Please, come home."

"I accept your apology," Hermione finally said. "And I'm sorry too."

"If we're being honest, I did deserve what you had planned," he admitted. "But I also have to say that I never would have admitted to myself that I've had feelings for you for ages if Blaise hadn't made the bet with me. I kind of owe him one."

Hermione laughed outright. "Is that right?"

He nodded again. "I do love you, you know," he reiterated.

"Can we start over?" she asked softly.

"I'd like that."

"Me too."

With that, Draco pulled her into a deep kiss full of longing. She kissed him back eagerly. In that moment, he knew he would never let her go again. He would do everything he could to keep her happy for as long as she'd have him. And he was relieved beyond words that she loved him in return. He didn't need to hear her say it; it was obvious in the way she wrapped her arms around his neck and tangled her fingers in his hair. Whatever problems came their way, Draco knew he'd be able to face them if Hermione was by his side.

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The End

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