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Phone Tag

He knew her thoughts. He had thought those exact same thoughts when he was avoiding her. But now she, of all people, was avoiding him! After what she did, why, the nerve of that girl! Yet Draco, thinking about her gift to him, would not have stopped her if she chose to give him such a gift again.

Yes, he was thinking about her kiss. It happened so quickly; he was still trying to process it when he saw her fervent blush. He'd almost missed it. Yes, Hermione was an exceptionally smart girl; she'd caught on to his feelings and returned them.

That thought, that she, the perfect Hermione Granger, had returned his, Draco Malfoy's feelings, was unbelievable. In fact, the thought rendered him giddy as a young schoolgirl.

Still, he was happy, she seemed happy, so why would she avoid him? 'Now I know how she felt after I first called her Hermione.'

But he was tired of playing phone tag. Both of their feelings were going back and forth. He loved her and then avoided her. She loved him, and she avoided him! It was time to settle it. He had to find her and talk, no, really speak to her.

It wasn't easy cornering her in the daytime, far away from the moonlight that would complement her features so perfectly. But no, he felt that since all of their previous encounters had been at night, he should continue the tradition.

Hermione was good at hiding from him, but he waited patiently for her to make just one mistake.

And then he pounced.

Draco looked around the hall and found her; he smirked at his accomplishment and was two feel behind her before she heard his footsteps and turned to see him.

Hermione gasped and tried to run in fear. Draco was quicker, though and grabbed her wrist. Her face turned to him, and he silently cursed a nearby window for shining the full moon's light on her.

"Don't run away," Draco said in the most demanding tone he could manage. "Please," he added softly.

He had an entire conversation planned in his head for weeks. Yet practicing in the mirror hadn't prepared him for her beauty. Really, nothing could. In a feeble effort to gain enough of her trust to date her, Draco had attempted poetry. If his father ever knew that he had stooped to comparing her to...

And that was the problem. He couldn't compare her to anything that would do her justice.

Now, as he gazed over her features, his entire pre-planned conversation flew straight though his brain and out his left ear.

"Draco...?" She muttered softly, transfixed in his gaze too. He suddenly realized that he was still gripping her wrist, and quite tightly too. He quickly let go. His hand, needing to hold on to some part of her, slowly inched up her body until it gently folded around a lock of her hair. Hermione gave up.

"Why me? Why?" She asked rather loudly and sat on the ground. Her face showed she was troubled as tears gently flowed down her face.

Draco immediately bent down and held her while she spoke. "No other boy has ever thought of me that way, not Viktor, not Ron, not Harry, no one. And yet you, who have been tormenting me for as long as I've been at Hogwarts, tells me, I'm..." Hermione stopped, overwhelmed.

"Perfect?" Draco finished gently.

"Yes!" She wailed. "You're a Slytherin; I'm a Gryffindor! You're a pureblood, and I'm a Mu-mu-mud-"

Draco put a finger to her lips. "No, you're not." Her said sternly.

"You're the one who told me I was!" Hermione said furiously, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"I was wrong." He admitted, and he was surprised how easily it came off of his lips. "I was jealous too. But I don't need to be. I can be with you." Draco had never heard his voice like this before. She had some sort of effect on him. Her close presence was making him a better person because she was rubbing off on him, if that was possible...

Hermione looked into his face. Sincerity. He truly wanted to be with her... Looking into his gaze shut her brain off. It was only when her brain was off that she heard her heart, screaming in fact, YOU LOVE HIM TOO! She didn't know how or when it happened, but in every fairy tale her parents had ever read to her when she was a child, the maiden listens to her heart and finds that she loves the prince. However, that was just it. They were fairy tales.

"Draco..." It felt so strange to say his name, so bad, but somehow good. "I think...I might...possibly...love you." She saw his face go into an expression of pure joy that she had never seen before. "But what about Harry and Ron? And your father? What will they think..." Hermione trailed off.

Draco smirked. "You've gone and let them brainwash you." Draco paused, "We can do whatever we want."

Hermione was horrified. "Absolutely not! There are rules for a reason, for your safety and well-being and to keep-" Hermione stopped when she heard Draco laughing. "What's so funny?"

"You need to have more fun." Draco said simply. "I wish I could've taken you to the Yule Ball, now..."

"Everyone would have seen us!"

"Eventually, they will. You learn to care less about those sorts of things...besides, it would've been fun."

Hermione smiled and nodded in agreement. Perhaps Draco could make her a better person, or at least he could maybe help her to have fun...

Then Hermione had an idea. She whispered in Draco's ear, and he too smiled.

"Brilliant..."

The two had met in a spacious empty classroom. He had come with a boom box and she the map and the cloak. She checked that Filch and Mrs. Norris were nowhere near by, and he set up the music. They had both wore their outfits from the Yule Ball.

"Care to dance, love?" Draco bowed and extended his hand.

"Of course."

They danced the night away, occasionally checking the map. Miraculously it was a perfect night, and each time they danced through the moonlight shining through a window, the two shared a perfect kiss.

Needless to say, Draco was leading, and on more than one occasion, he performed a wrong step to steer into the moonlight.

Of course, she didn't mind.

Fin.

I wrote this story when I was on a Harry Potter kick and I finally got around to finishing it. I have an excuse! I actually wrote the beginning one day in Study Hall, but then I lost the paper, and I didn't want to write the last chapter without the paper. Even after I found the paper, it was months before I finally finished it. Thank you's go out to all of the wonderful people who review on every chapter and who have alerted. Many thanks.

I was thinking of writing a sequal. Tell me what you guys think. :)