Left Behind 2: Illusions (A Dramione Romance)

Mattering

"Come in," Draco's voice answered from the other side of the door and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

Every minute she had spent out there alone on his bed surrounded by his scent had felt like a miniature eon. She found herself growing more and more ashamed of letting him walk away thinking she was having a nightmare about him.

He's letting you in, she told herself. You can fix this.

How? She found herself asking.

How could she explain to him that she wasn't having a nightmare about him, without also having to explain that she had been dreaming about him in a very different way?

Just tell him it was about someone else.

An uncomfortable feeling washed over her at the idea of lying to Draco.

She had made him swear on his wand to be honest with her. It felt wrong to lie to him.

He told you it was okay to lie to him when you asked if he wanted you to swear honesty, she reminded herself.

That was just one more act of kindness on his part and somehow made it even harder for her to stomach the idea of a lie.

Hermione shook her head straightened her shoulders opening the door.

Draco was in the tub.

Naked.

Hermione froze, hand still on the handle.

He was gorgeous.

Both of his arms were outside of the water keeping his torso stretched out and showing off his wonderfully contoured form.

Fresh heat pooled at her core and she felt it throb with the desire to be touched.

Fuck, she cursed inwardly.

This was not part of the plan.

Seeing him this way right after her dream hit Hermione about a thousand time harder. 

Her breath caught in her throat and against her will she found herself following down the lines of his torso into the water. When she saw he had turned the water opaque she felt the tiniest pang of disappointment before a flood of embarrassment hit.

He did that for you, Turned the water opaque so you would feel more comfortable.

Hermione swallowed and tried to school her face into something reasonable.

She could still feel his touch from her dream, she wanted that touch again.

Stupid as it was...Merlin she wanted it and she knew why.

Last night Draco had asked for her to stay. He had reached for her and it had meant everything to her that he had trusted her like that--That he trusted and cared for her enough to reach out and be vulnerable again especially after she had accidently ruined the last time while inside his head.

And then you kissed him, she reminded herself.

Yeah...look how that ended.

The thought was like a cold splash of water.

They were allowed to care about each other without him wanting her. So why did it make her feel so awful to know he didn't? 

He was a cocky pompous git sometimes and wasn't the kind of guy to reach out and ask for help, he was too prideful...or rather he HAD been in the past. Hermione knew, on some level, his reaching out and trusting her was the reason why she had dreamed of him the way she had. A piece of her walls had crumbled because had had chosen to trust her.