Hermione awoke to a suddent sweet smell and change in lighting. Her eyes fluttered open to see Draco hovering over her with a smile on his face. She noticed immediatly his lack of shirt and blushed at the sight of his pale skin, it almost looked like marble. Draco's smile widened as he noticed her checking out his chest, proud of his defined abs that the worked so very hard to get.
"Morning." He smiled as he leaned down and gently placed a kiss on her soft lips. But Hermione had other intentions, her mouth opened as her arms locked around his neck and pulled him in. Draco returned the intense kiss for a few minutes before pulling away. "There goes our sweet morning kiss, leave it to you Granger to turn it into a horndog snog." He laughed, rolling off her and pulling his shirt on. "And wasn't it you last night who said it was a bad idea?"
"Oh right." Hermione repsonded blushing as she sat up. "I forgot." He laughed as she stood up, checking his watch.
"Well, we have an hour or so before anyone gets up. Shower and breakfast?" He asked, holding out a hand. Hermione's blush returned as she took his hand, him leading her once again to the stone marble bathroom, switching into her own clothes after, which had been washed by house elves. Hermione quickly showered, only spending ten minutes, she was too eager to get out and spend more time with Draco.
Most of their days went like this. They'd wake up and allow Hermione to shower and eat nicely before everyone woke up, she'd spent the majorty of the day reading, switching books every few days. At night Draco would sleep next to her in the cellar, them cuddling for warmth. She'd wake up to him hovering over her, somedays snogging her goodmorning or simply a little peck. Hermione couldn't deny that she enjoyed her imprisonment, she was well fed, had good books, comfortable sleep, and most of the time the rest of the Malfoys ignored her.
It was about three weeks into her imprisonment that Hermione woke up to something different. The pale boy wasn't hovering over her with his usual smile, instead, he was standing across the room, leaning agaisnt the wall with a solem expression. His gray eyes were on her as she sat up and rubbed her eyes, confused on why he wasn't with her. Hermione opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but Draco spoke first.
"There's something I need to tell you." He said quietly.
"W-what?" Hermione asked nervousily, fearing that he could be something dreadful, such as another Death Eater party. Draco walked over to her, sitting cross legged across from her.
"Do you ever wonder why you liked me so much so fast?" He asked, glancing up from his lap to look into her eyes. The thought had never actually occured to Hermione, but now that he mentioned it, yes, she did wonder it. She had barley ever spoken to Draco in a humane manor in her entire life, and yet somehow she felt so close to him the second he held her for the first time. She felt so safe yet he was one who was dangerous. She nodded slowly. "I know why."
"I don't understand.." Hermione began.
"Memory charms erase memories...not feelings." He swallowed nervousily.
"What are you saying?"
"Our first kiss that you remember, wasn't our first kiss." Draco told her.
"Wait, what?" Hermione yelled. "Did you...tamper with my memory?"
"Calm down, Granger, geez. I know you don't remember but it was your idea."
"What, when? Draco, tell me everything. You're confusing me."
"Well, where to began?" He sighed. "Last year is when it happened, in school. I guess Potter was susicous of what I was up to, always sneaking around. You began to follow me, into the room of requirement. We talked a lot, I was kinda...scared a lot and we talked a lot."
"Wait, are you saying we did something last year-?"
"Just listen. We did more than something, we were something. I started to meet you in the library, and we'd talk even more. It was about two months after we started talking, I kissed you in the library. No one saw, no one else was in there, it was Saturday. Of course, you freaked out and ran off after I did, but you came back. You always did everytime you got mad at me." Draco smiled. "We never really said it, but we were in a seceret realtionship. We'd meet up in the room of requirement and other places to kiss, snog, whatever. Just be together.
"Then you found out about my task, to...you know, k-kill him. You didn't like it, and neither did I, but I had to do. We'd been together for almost five months when I finally told you everything, I even showed you my dark mark. That's when we decided what was best for the both of us..."
"Draco! You're on His side! You're a Death Eater! No, this all wrong." Hermione cried, hiding her face in her hands. "Do you think I chose this? I have to! He'll kill my family, Granger, I can't let Him do that!" Draco yelled, stepping towards her. She turned away from him when his warm hand set on her shoulder. "We have to stop this, Draco. I c-can't anymore." Her voice was so soft he barley heard it. "I can't stop. I-" He hesitated for a moment. "I think I love you. No, I do. I won't be able to stop this." Hermione whiped around, her face a mixture of pain and shock as tears poured from her eyes. "Draco, I love you as well. But that's why we can't. This war, and we both have jobs to do that don't include each other." She turned her head away. "I need to forget you so I won't come back." His heart sank, eyes beggining to water as he slowly pulled out his wand. "Can I at least kiss you one last time?" Draco choked out trying to hold back his tears. Hermione turned and lightly kiss him, but he couldn't help himself. He pulled her closer and wrapped one arm around her waist, another locked in her hair to hold her face close and kissed her. "No, don't." Hermione sniffed. "It'll be harder for both of us. Now, go on. Make me f-forget you." "But I won't forget you." Draco said raising his wand. "I know. Maybe one day when this is all over...you can tell me. But for now, this is best." She sqeezed her eyes shut. "Bye." "
Draco ended his tale, trying to hold back tears. Hermione sat and pondered, was he telling the thruth? Or was it some stupid trick? But it would explain how she could possibly feel what she did after only being with him less than a month, and asking him to erase her memory did sound like something she would do. And how could Draco fake his tears, or fake how much love he put into their morning kisses, or why he cared so much about her saftey. Draco Malfoy...loves me. Hermione thought with a shock.
"Why would you tell me now? If anything, the conditions are worse than we decided to end it...if it really happened." Hermione said as Draco snapped his head up shocked.
"Do you think I'm lying? Yes it happened. And I can prove it. I know all your secerets, like when you were five, you accidently pushed over your dads fish tank because you were playing with a ball in the house and it killed the fish, then you blamed it on the cat. Or how the first time you showed any magical talent was when you were three, you'd sneeze and your blocks would float. Your parents thought they were crazy until you got your Hogwarts letter, and you kept a lot of your magical talent hidden. You could lock your door without touching it." Hermione sat in shock as Draco told her stuff she had never told anyone. Could it be a form of Occlumency that she didn't remember him doing?
"How do you know all this?"
"Because you told me." He cried. "You love me, and you know it! You've loved me since the first day you were here and you didn't know why! It's because everything I just told you is true. Use Occlumency, look into my mind. You will find my memories."
"I d-don't know how to-" Hermione started. Draco grabbed her hands and pointed his wand at himself as images flashed through her vision. She saw herself talking to Draco, holding his hands, running from Filch in dark corridors laughing, outside at night holding hands, kissing behind some statue, crying as they argued, her mind be erased...
"There! You just saw my memories!"
"They looked real, but-"
"Do you honestly think I'm lying?" He yelled rather loudly.
"I don't know! I'm just debating all the possibilites. Can't you just give me my memory back? You can't fake that." Hermione muttered.
"If I only I knew how to. You knew how to do that. Funny, isn't it? The one thing I can't do is the only thing that will get you to beleive me. I've been studying for weeks trying to figure out how to do that. I've been practicing an elfs, taking away simple memories like how to cook a pie and then tried to give it back. I've honestly screwed up a few elves, and I don't want to screw you up-"
"You practiced on elves?"
"MY GOD GRANGER! This is not the time to be fucking worrying about house elf rights! Do you not hear what I'm trying to say? We were in love, we still are! You know you love me still! What will I have to do to make you beleive me? Ask me anything about you, I know everything! Just, please, beleive me. I've gone through hell because of your stupid idea to make you forget. The rest of the year I could never stop thinking or looking at you and everytime you'd see me looking at you..." His voice trailed off as Hermione remembered. When she thought about it, she remembered Draco often looking at her near the end of the year, with a solem expression and turning away and even getting up and completly leaving. She remembered often turning around to see what sight had upset him, but it never occured to Hermione that it was her.
Draco's lip gently pressed agaisnt hers suddenly. She shut her eyes and tried to remember, but nothing came. All she could feel was her heart pounding and a strong desire to never let go of him. He pulled away, staring into her confused eyes. "What did you feel?" He whispered. "Do you feel love?"
"I-I don't know what love feels like."
"Have you ever kissed anyone else?" She nodded. "Does it feel the same when you kiss me?" Her head shook slowly. "You feel more." Hermione nodded again. She turned slowly to the pile of books, remember reading something a few days ago about memory charms. The books she was currently reading had a whole chapter on them, she had skipped over it to read about elf magic, and told herself she'd read it later. What time was better than now. Hermione reached for the book, flipping through the pages. "What are you doing?"
"I wanna know if there's another way to get my memory back, there's something in here." She muttered finding the page and scanning through it before reading aloud. "'Although powerful, there are non-magical ways to break a memory charm, such as strong mental or emotional stimulation-'"
"We could go to Hogwarts and snog in the room of requirement." Draco shrugged, not being entirley serious.
"Think less physical. It says emotional stimulation."
"So what, we gotta do something romantic or whatever?" Hermione nodded unsure, trying to find more information but was left with nothing more. "You were the one who told me to get rid of your memory, honestly, Granger, and now you don't beleive me. Magic sucks." He half-laughed, half-scowled. "Well, we better get going. I have a few ideas in mind, and I will do anything to make you remember."