Masked

Chapter Nine

The next day of wand waving, note taking, spell speaking, and potion making passed painfully slow. Hermione continuously watched the clock, counting down the minutes until she would see Draco again. She never thought she would want to be around Malfoy so badly, but she did. After a long day of waiting it was finally time.

"Alright alright my turn" Hermione said, sitting on a blanket with Draco's arms around her, their backs against the tree. They were in the middle of a game of 20 questions. "Remember in 3rd year, when professor Lupin made us confront the Boggart, what did you see?"  She asked looking up at the Slytherin, whose hair seemed to glow in the moonlight.

"Nothing" His gray eyes stayed on the dark water of the lake. Confused, Hermione started asking questions like 'did you not get a turn?' Draco just shook his head. "I saw nothing. It was just an empty room. I was alone"

She frowned "what did it change into when you said the spell?" Hermione asked, but wished she hadn't when she saw Draco shake his head.

"Riddikulus didn't work. I was stuck in the room until Professor Lupin distracted the Boggart" he said looking down. Feeling bad, Hermione took his hand and laced their fingers together.

They spent the next hour talking and holding hands. Once eleven o'clock rolled around they said their goodbyes. "Until next time" Draco said before kissing her softly.

Before stepping through the portrait, Hermione fixed the cloak, so Draco's house crest wouldn't show.  Silently, She slid into the common room to only jump and knock over a chair when she heard her name. Looking up, she saw red hair and freckles.

"Where have you been?" Ron asked coldly. Fixing the chair before anyone woke up, Hermione said, "The library. I stayed late to work on my transfiguration essay. What's got your knickers in a knot?" Ron glared at her.

"Where were you really? You honesty  expect me to believe that bloody lie?" He stood up from his chair, he had been sitting and waiting on. Ron has suspected something since the ball. That strange box. Hermione and Draco had agreed to keep their relationship a secret. They didn't want to deal with the drama their new relationship may cause.

"The Library you bloody prat" Hermione spat and ran up the stairs to the girls dormitory, leaving Ron in the common room. What was Ron's bloody problem? Hermione threw Draco's cloak into her trunk to keep it hidden and crawled into bed thinking of Draco. "Until next time" she whispered before drifting off to sleep.