One Last Kiss: Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Anything sane that has been read in this fiction belongs to, non other than the great author who created the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling. Anything off from the real series belongs to non other than the peculiar mind of mine.

I'm really sorry this chapter took so long! But my finals are finally over so yey! Holidays for me and more time to write chapters!

Thank you so much for those who reviewed and are waiting for this chapter. I hope you like this one!

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Hermione felt the warm rays of the sun on her cheek and the light illuminated through her closed lids indicated that it was already morning. She opened her eyes and saw green sheets on her bed. Bed. Her bed? This isn't her bed. Hermione sat up and looked around. This isn't her pillow, her study, her wardrobe. This isn't her room. She remembered now. Draco had asked her to stay with him after she took care of him at the Hospital Wing. But where was Draco? Hermione woke up alone. She looked around, maybe for a note where he'd gone but there was nothing. Hermione lied down again. Was that it? After what he said last night, was that it? But maybe he just went down early? Maybe he'll come back anytime now. Maybe he's waiting for her to come down.

She looked at her watch, seven in the morning. Hermione scrambled to her feet. She tidied up Draco's bed and pillows. With one last look at the room she opened the door slightly to check if someone was at the common room. She didn't want to be seen by anyone, coming out of Draco's room. That would probably spark rumours again. Thank Merlin it was empty, she ran to her room and shut the door quietly. Hermione didn't know what time they were expected by Snape. She forgot to tell Draco about re-brewing the Oblivious Unction. She quickly took a shower, put on her casual clothes and went down the common room. Draco wasn't there.

Hermione's heart started beating fast again as she remembered last night. It was the first time she slept in the same bed with a boy who wasn't a relative, ever. She never even slept in the same bed with Ron or Harry. And now, she slept in the bed of the boy her heart beats strongly for. After weeks of not involving herself with anyone, was her heart telling her she's truly ready now? Ready for a real relationship? Or was her heart telling her that there's only Draco?

She went out the portrait hole and made her way down to the Great Hall. She was glad that things were quite back to normal. Students simply passed her by. They didn't make any rude or inappropriate remarks and she was out of any rumour now. Bur what if she and Draco get back together? Hermione shook her head. Why was she on the topic of "getting back together with Draco"? She wasn't even sure of Draco's feelings. But didn't his words last night hit her? She wants to stay with Draco as well right? But he said just for tonight, too, right? It was for one night. Maybe he just really needed someone to take care of him and she was the one there for him. The night before was not something she should bother herself about. She knew it would be hard for her to forget about it, but unless she heard a real confession from Draco.

When Hermione reached the Great Hall, her eyes darted to the Slytherin table. She scanned the table for the young Malfoy, wanting to know if he really is alright and have recovered well from yesterday's almost life and death situation. She saw Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Nott, Zabini and the other sixth year Slytherins but not Malfoy. There was no sign of Draco. Where had he gone to? Is he alright? Hermione didn't want to be worried but she was. He was still quite out of it last night. What if he got up in the middle of the night?

Hermione stood there by the entrance of the Great Hall, worrying about Draco when someone pushed her aside. Louise just came in with her Ravenclaw friends. She looked at Hermione with daggers then continued to walk. Obviously, she still hasn't gotten over the fact that she was dumped by Draco because of Hermione. Hermione lost her balance from Louise's rough push that she wobbled and almost fell to the floor if she hadn't bumped into someone entering the hall.

"Ah, I'm so sorry," Hermione apologized when she caught her balance. Her catcher helped her stand properly as she held onto his forearm. "Sorry to have bothered you. Thank you." Hermione looked up and saw Draco looking at her. Her heart suddenly started beating hard and fast as she remembered these same arms that held her last night. "Dra-"

But Draco, slightly turning red, had turned away and went to the Slytherin table. Hermione was confused. He just avoided her, didn't he? But why? Did she do something to anger him? Hermione stood and watched Draco's back as he walked to his house table. She hoped for him to look back at her but he didn't. What was the matter now? Hermione walked toward her house table and sat beside Parvati.

"Good morning, Hermione," Parvati greeted happily. She then noticed the spaced out expression of Hermione. "Are you alright?" Hermione didn't answer, or rather, she didn't seem to hear Parvati. She just continued to put jam on her bagel. "Hermione, are you alright?" Parvati asked again. "Is it Malfoy?"

That snapped Hermione out of her thoughts, or questions, about what was going on. Well, was there really something going on between her and Draco? She accidentally dropped the knife on her plate, surprised at Parvati's question. "No-no, Parvati," she lied, trying to sound casual. "I was just wondering about re-brewing the potion we did yesterday," she said quickly as she resumed what she was doing.

Parvati looked at Hermione with wonder, watching her as she continued to put jam on her bagel. "Well, it's pretty easy so I'm sure you'll get it right away," she said, dismissing her thought that there was something bothering Hermione.

"Thanks, Pav. I'll go ahead, then," said Hermione, bringing her bagel with her.

"Aren't you hungry? You just have one bagel," Parvati asked but she didn't get an answer from Hermione since she seemed to be deep in her thoughts again.

Hermione was walking back to the dormitory, still wondering what happened earlier and why Draco had acted that way, when she was stopped by Snape.

"Ten o' clock in the morning, Ms. Granger. I expect you and Mr. Malfoy around that time," said Snape and he continued to the Great Hall once Hermione nodded.

In her room, after finishing her bagel and changing into her uniform since Snape didn't like his students doing make-up classes in casual clothes, Hermione decided to do her other assignments while waiting for ten o' clock. She reached under her study to get her bag, but it wasn't there. Hermione's heart quickly beat fast when she realized she left it at Draco's room. She needed to get it since her Potions kit is in her bag as well. She opened her door and peeked down at the common room. Empty. Hermione quietly and carefully walked over to Draco's room. As she was about to knock, she realized she didn't know whether she wanted him to be in there or not. However, it's still rude not to knock on the door, so with a deep breath, she knocked three times. No answer. She knocked again. Again, no answer. Hermione then decided to just go in and get her bag. It will be quick, it was probably just by the door. With a deep breath, she turned the knob on the door and opened it. She peeked inside. No sign of Draco. She entered the room and searched for her bag. It wasn't by the door. Hermione walked over to Draco's study. Maybe he kept his bag and her bag in there.

"What are you doing here?"

Hermione froze upon hearing Draco's voice. She didn't expect him to come in his room and thought that that was very stupid of her. She turned around to face Draco who had just closed the door. "I-I uhmm," Hermione started but it seemed that the sentence she formed in her head were jumbled. "Bag," she managed to say. "My bag."

Draco walked up to her, really close. Hermione stepped back until her butt bumped onto the chair with Draco's study. He placed his hands on each of her side, on the table, so their faces were at the same level with each other. Hermione could feel the heat creeping up her face.

"We-we need to rebrew the po-potion again. Snape's expecting us b-by ten," said Hermione, looking down at her feet. She didn't want to look at Draco. She didn't want him to see her blushing. She placed her hand over her chest, afraid that Draco would hear how fast her heart was beating. "I need my bag."

"Is that all you want to say?" Draco asked. He held Hermione's chin and made her look at him. She looked nervous. "Anything you want to ask?"

Hermione wanted to ask him why he left her that morning and why he ignored her down at the Great Hall, but who was she for Draco to answer those questions.

"No-noth-"

But Hermione was cut off when Draco's lips met hers. He kissed her, gently, planting small kisses on her lips. Hermione melted. Draco gently brushed his tongue against Hermione's lips, causing her to let her lips slightly part. He took this as an opportunity to slip his tongue in Hermione's mouth, deepening their kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to him while she snaked her hands to his shoulders and wrapped her arms over his nape. All Hermione wanted was the feeling of Draco's arms around her, just like last night. At that moment she didn't care about anything. She was happy being in Draco's arms. She was happy, about the feelings the kiss brought her. She was happy, to be able to convey to Draco her feelings without saying a word. And then...

And then... Draco's hand found it's way under Hermione's shirt. He could feel her soft, smooth skin getting goosebumps at the parts he had touched. Her bare waist, her bare lower back, traveling up her back until his hand reached the clasp of her bra. He moved from her lips, to her chin and to her neck, planting small kisses on it. He could hear Hermione moan as he ran his tongue on her neck and move down to her collar bone. He reached for her bra clasp as he kissed Hermione on the lips again.

And then... Feelings. Her feelings. Happiness. Acceptance. Love. Love. She's in love with Draco. She was sure now. Just then, she felt him running his hand on her back, passing it under her bra clasp. Hermione could feel all the hairs on her body stand up. The parts where his hand ran felt hot. She felt him kiss her neck. Waves of pleasure ran throughout her body as she felt his tongue on her neck. She let out a moan when she couldn't hold back the pleasure she was feeling. She didn't want to stop but she knew she had to. She felt him trying to unclasp her bra when he kissed her. She pulled away from Draco, stopping their kiss and stopping his hands from carressing her any further before things got out of hand. Draco stepped back a little.

They looked at each other. They were both out of breath, breathing shallowly. Hermione held her hand to her chest.

"Sorry," Draco mumbled covering his mouth with the back of his hand and looking away. He was a light shade of pink. He bent down and grabbed Hermione's bag from under his study.

"Sorry," said Hermione as well as she took her bag from Draco's hand and walked out, back to her room. This wasn't good. She wanted more from Draco. Not just this. Not just the hugs. Not just the kisses. She wanted his feelings. His heart. All of him.

Hermione looked at herself in the mirror. She was flushed and her uniform top was a little disheveled. She fixed herself and decided to go to the Potions classroom even with thirty minutes left. She would just read about the potion there.

Draco and Hermione worked quietly as they rebrewed the Oblivious Unction. Snape sat there by his desk, watching the two students. For two hours the three of them were quiet until Hermione called Snape to have her potion checked. Once he gave his approval, Hermione hurried off while Snape checked Draco's potion.

DH********

For the rest of the week, Hermione tried not to think about Draco. But the more she denied herself of him, the more she yearned for his attention. Sometimes, she could feel his hands where he had touched her. Sometimes, she could feel his lips, his kisses, from her lips, down to her neck. It never failed to give her goosebumps and her stomach to do somersaults. She liked how it made her feel but she didn't want just that anymore. She knew she was in love but that didn't mean she'll let her feelings take over and let him kiss her or hug her whenever he felt like it. Several times she thought about talking to him. Try to ask him what happened. Why did he say those words the night he was sick? Why did he kiss her that way? What does he want to tell her?

Although, at times, Hermione could still feel Draco's eyes on her but whenever she snuck a glance at him, he would be looking somewhere else. Hermione would scold herself for assuming such a thing. She liked the guy, of course her mind would be feeding her feelings of flattering things.

Valentines's Day finally arrived at Hogwarts. The castle was buzzing with students with Valentine's ideas for their lover and the single ones, for the person they like.

Breakfast time, before classes, other students were going over to other house tables to give their Valentine's gift to the person they fancy. Harry and Ron received a few from Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaw. Ginny received some from Ravenclaws and, surprisingly, Slytherins while Lavender received some from Gryffindors, mostly young ones and Ravenclaws.

Hermione, on the other hand, received quite a few roses and chocolates from Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws and a few from lower years of Gryffindor. There were eight, to be exact. She blushed furiously at the men and boys who handed her their Valentine's and she wanted to thank them, but didn't know how.

"A kiss on the cheek would suffice," said one seventh year Hufflepuff. The others grinned widely at him then to Hermione and started saying "Please."

Nervously, Hermione looked around. Others were still busy with their Valentine's and only the Gryffindors would notice. Lavender egged he on to do it. Hermione stood up and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek and muttered "Thank you. Happy Valentine's". The younger ones scrambled to their feet and went back to their seats. The fifth, sixth and seventh years thanked her and walked back to their tables. Hermione sat back down and placed the roses and chocolates beside her.

"Well, that was something, wasn't it?" said Ginny excitedly at Hermione who just smiled and blushed. She really didn't know what to say.

At the far end of the Great Hall, where the Slytherin house table is, there was a swarm of girls at one side. It was no surprise that Draco and Blaise were being handed loads of Valentine's. Blaise gladly received each one and kissed the girls on the cheek. Draco, on the other hand, wasn't interested. You can't be too careful when it came to something that should be eaten. What if some girls placed a love potion in it? But, he didn't turn them down rudely.

"Instead of giving me a Valentine, let me just give you one," said Draco to the girl who tried to hand him a box of chocolates. He took her hand and kissed it, like a prince would do. The girls almost fainted at this gesture.

One girl noticed a few scratches on Draco's hands. "Oh dear, what happened to your beautiful hands?" asked the seventh year, Ravenclaw (Louise glared daggers at her).

Draco smiled. "Quidditch," he simply answered and he proceeded to give the woman's hand a kiss.

"Not interested in receiving Valentine's this year, eh, Malfoy?" Blaise Zabini noticed what Draco was doing.

"Mind your own business, Zabini."

Hermione watched as Draco gave each one a kiss on the hand. She had actually thought of giving Draco a Valentine, but again, her pride got the better of her. She didn't need a lovelife, really, so there's no point of having to do something so desperate, in her part. Although she did felt a pang of jealousy towards those girls.

Other Valentines, who didn't want to reveal themselves, sent it through mail. Owls, frogs, ferrets and cats came in, carrying letters, flowers, chocolates and stuffed animals in their mouth. It was an adorable scene.

"Hermione, isn't that Crookshanks?" asked Harry, noticing the ugly-faced cat walking down the aisle with a boquet of flowers in his mouth. The other students had also noticed Hermione's cat, finding the feline quite adorable even with its flat face. Hermione looked to Harry, then to her left where Crookshanks was approaching. He jumped to the chair, then to the table and dropped the boquet on Hermione's plate.

"Crookshanks! I was eating that," said Hermione, picking up the boquet of roses from her plate. The feline merely meowed and purred at his owner and sat beside her after cuddling. Hermione wondered who could've sent her this bouquet. She looked for a card. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Lavender and the other Gryffindors looked on, even the few Hufflepuffs, whose house table was beside the Gryffindor house table. She found in the middle of the boquet, under the flowers. Hermione opened it and silently read it:

Hermione,

Please meet me at the Quidditch Pitch tonight. I'll wait by 8.

Hermione slid the letter back in its envelope. The letter seemed to be charmed since it was written very beautifully. She couldn't think of anyone with handwriting this beautiful. Who could this be from? No one ever showed her interest. No one. Well, except one. But she couldn't really call that as "showing interest" at all.

"Well? Who's it from?" Lavender asked eagerly. "What did the letter say?"

The others leaned closer to Hermione, waiting for an answer. Hermione stood up, slung her bag over her shoulder, carried Crookshanks on her left arm and the bouquet and other Valentine's flowers on her right. "It's a secret," she answered coyly and left, leaving her friends mouths dropped open.

She went up her room and placed the flowers and boquet in a vase, along with the roses Draco had previously given her. Hermione looked at the flowers, especially at the bouquet. Who are you? Are you for real? thought Hermione, looking at the letter and reading the note over again. Are you Draco?

For the rest of the day, Hermione's friends kept bugging her about the bouquet and the note, pleading her to tell them what it said. But Hermione didn't want anyone to know. If it was true or a hoax, she wanted it to be kept private and sort it out before telling them. She kept her mouth shut about the note until they gave up on her.

DH********

That night, Hermione stayed in her room, constantly glancing at the bouquet on the table and the note in her hand. Was she going to go and meet this mysterious person? Well, in any case, she'd bring her wand with her. She didn't go down to dinner since she didn't feel hungry. And she was too busy thinking about this Valentine. Hermione wanted to wait until it was 8 in the evening before she went down to the Quidditch Pitch. She didn't want to look excited by going there on time. Thinking about this, she eventually dozed off to sleep.

A few hours later...

Hermione jolted awake. She looked at her watch. 10:45PM. Shit, she was more than 2 hrs late. She hurriedly went down the common room and out the portrait hole. She wasn't really excited, but she was embarrassed for coming so late. She stepped out the castle and was a quarter of the way to the Quidditch pitch when she saw Draco Malfoy walking in her direction.

"Draco?" Hermione said when she was sure they were near enough to hear each other.

Draco seemed to look taken aback upon hearing Hermione call to him. But he just looked at her and then continued to walk.

"Uh, Draco? Did you happen to see anyone still at the pitch?" Hermione asked, following Draco now going back to the castle. "I-I received this note telling me to go there but I'm late and-"

Draco opened the door and continued to walk while Hermione talked. He turned around and was about to say something when professor Snape saw them.

"You two aren't on patrol duty tonight, are you?" The two froze upon hearing their professor's voice. "Well?" said Snape, waiting for an answer. The two just shook their head. They've forgotten that Snape was the professor supervising and helping the prefects on patrol duty that night. "Very well. Detention. Tomorrow," he said and continued for the dungeons.

The two looked at each other and then Draco continued to walk towards the main staircase.

"Draco, wait," said Hermione grabbing Draco's hand. She was surprised to find his once smooth hands had a few cuts on them.

Draco looked at Hermione and then he just seemed to snap. Still holding hands, he dragged her inside the Great Hall and pushed her gently against the wall.

"There was no one in the pitch but me, Hermione," he told her. His voice was shaking. "If you really didn't want to go, you could've sent a note through your cat. He would've known who to send it to." He looked intently at Hermione who seemed scared and confused. Unable to hold back himself anymore, he moved to kiss Hermione but was surprised when he didn't feel her lips, but instead, the back of her hand.

"I-I'm sorry," apologized Hermione through her hand. "I don't want to be kissed. Not without real feelings from you."

Draco was surprised upon hearing Hermione's words. Did he just got confessed to? Draco removed Hermione's hand from her mouth, cupped her cheeks and kissed her gently on the lips.

Hermione pushed him away. "Will you please listen to me?" she told him, quite frustrated that he just does as he pleases. "I don't want just this, anymore," she started again, "I don't want half-hearted kisses. I don't want a spur of the moment 'I love you's. I don't want to be just another girl you can snog when you feel like it." Hermione was looking down, embarrassed at the situation at hand. "I don't want kisses without feelings." She couldn't believe she was confessing to Draco Malfoy, but she couldn't hold it back any longer.

"Hermione, did you really hear a thing I said since I pulled you in here?" Draco asked once Hermione stopped. She looked up at him, quite surpised and blushing. He cupped her face in his hands again and kissed her on the side of the lips. "That was a kiss for a person who I find cute." He kissed her again, gently on the lips. "That was a kiss for someone I want to know more." He kissed her again, this time, with his tongue touching her lips. "That was a kiss with feelings for the person I have strong feelings for." This time, they were both blushing. "You asked me to stay away from you, Hermione. I promised you I will until you ask me to stop. But every time you're near me, every time you're the one coming to me, I can't hold myself back. I waited for you to tell me to stop leaving you alone but you wouldn't so I thought tonight was the time to confess to you."

"Crookshanks," said Hermione, who didn't know what to say, and held Draco's hands. "Is that why you have these cuts?"

Draco let out a chuckle. "Your cat's as stubborn as you are. He didn't want to carry that bouquet in his mouth. I had to bribe him with a pail of fish to get him to do it," answered Draco. Hermione started to laugh quietly as she imagined how Draco and Crookshanks interacted. "It's nice to hear your laughs, again, because of me," said Draco, looking away as he blushed.

Hermione looked lovingly at Draco. It must've took him a lot of courage to have done those things today. She pulled him to her, kissed him on the lips and hugged him tightly. "I never imagined you'd do something like this," she whispered, "and, for me, too."

"Because I love you, Hermione," Draco whispered as he hugged her tightly, as well.

"I love you, too, Draco Malfoy," said Hermione as she let go and looked at Draco.

Draco bent down a little and kissed Hermione passionately. A kiss with real feelings from two people who are in love with each other.

DH********

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