Slow Grenade

Chapter Fifty-Seven

When Hermione awoke that morning, head pounding slightly, she was still comfortably entwined between Draco's limbs. Logically, she knew they were playing a dangerous game: the blurring lines of their relationship would inevitably lead to heartbreak, but she felt powerless to stop it.

Pushing these thoughts from her mind she carefully extricated herself from his arms and, before turning to leave and get ready for the day, allowed herself a moment of weakness and indulged in admiring his sleeping form.

He was always beautiful but, in sleep, he looked almost angelic - Hermione scoffed at the thought. His white blonde hair fanned across the pillow and he looked serene with no smirks, sneers, or frowns contorting his features. Shaking her head, she made her way to the girls bathroom.

Draco was still there when she re-entered her room, sitting in her armchair and looking perfectly at home.

"Where's your necklace?" he asked pleasantly.

Hermione automatically brought a hand to her bare chest. "Oh, I keep forgetting you don't know what happened while we were looking for Horcruxes."

He gave her a formidable glare. "I shall refrain from commenting on that particular suicide mission." His jaw clenched. "But why would you forget that I don't know?"

"No particular reason," she said, instantly realising her mistake. "So, the necklace?"

Draco growled, "Granger?"

Her face was now decidedly warm, and she knew he wouldn't let it go. "Fine, fine! I missed you so... well, I wrote pretend letters to you, about what we were doing. Happy now?"

His eyes blazed and he stepped forwards. Twisting her curls through his fingers, he tilted her head back and claimed her mouth in a searing kiss, before suddenly realising himself.

"Sorry," he muttered, dropping his hands.

The pink tinge in her cheeks showed no sign of fading, so she continued as though nothing had happened, "yes, well, the necklace. Harry and I had gone to Godric's Hollow and Voldemort's snake attacked us – "

"What?"

"Don't interrupt, clearly I am fine. Anyway, I wondered whether the necklace you gave me, oh this sounds stupid, but I wondered whether it, well, saved me."

Draco's eyes were wide as he digested this information. "Obviously I hoped you'd never have to find out but, yes, it probably did save you," he ran a hand through his hair. "I charmed it to rebound one magical attack against you back to the assailant."

"I suppose the snake was so interconnected with Voldemort, it counted as magical," Hermione mused.

"That would make sense."

"Well, thank you for, you know," she gestured awkwardly towards herself.

Draco beamed. "Saving your life?"

"Yes, that. Why did you want to know where the necklace was, anyway?"

He opened his palm which contained the bracelet he had given her and the ring that matched his own. "I am plotting, Granger," he smirked. "Plotting."

Despite his clear lack of boundaries when it came to her possessions, Hermione couldn't help the corners of her mouth turn up. It had been a long time since she had last seen him in such a good mood.

Draco wanted to walk down to the Great Hall together that morning, to which she adamantly refused. As a compromise, they left her bedroom at the same time and subsequently went their separate ways.

She soon came to regret this decision as, upon leaving the common room, a voice shrilled her name. She sighed inwardly as she turned and saw who it was. "Parkinson."

"Don't sound quite so pleased to see me, people will talk."

Hermione glowered and continued walking, assuming Pansy would catch up. As they reached the first set of stairs, she noticed the dark-haired girl open her mouth, close it, and then open it again.

"Are you in pain?" Hermione inquired.

Through gritted teeth Pansy answered, "No, Granger, I just – I wanted to – well, to apologise."

"Oh."

"Yes, I was surprised too."

An uncomfortable silence swelled around them as they waited for another staircase to move in their direction and provide passage down to the Great Hall.

Hermione shifted and, unable to tolerate the quiet, asked, "For something, specifically?"

"Other than being a bit of a twat for however many years, yes," Pansy said with a forced laugh. "I'm sorry for offering Potter up to the Dark – to him."

"Ah."

"I was scared," she admitted. "Self-preservation and all that, well, it kicked in."

Hermione considered the apology. It was undoubtedly not one of the best she had ever received, but it felt truthful and so she nodded her forgiveness. They continued to walk in silence again.

"Sooo," Pansy said eventually, elbowing Hermione's side, "you and Draco, hey?"

Apparently, she and the former Slytherin were now friends.

"Oh, it's nothing."

Pansy rolled her eyes. "I know that's not true, Granger." Hermione looked at her in surprise as she continued, "As much as I tried, he was just never interested in me and I always wondered why, until our evening with the Veritaserum. It's always been you, and it always will."

Hermione made a non-committal grunt.

"When I think about everything he went through, I wonder whether you were actually the only thing that stopped him from going to pieces."

"He wants us to have a public relationship," Hermione blurted, surprised at her own candour.

Looking pensive for a moment, Pansy said, "There would be repercussions for you both."

"His parents might never speak to him again."

She nodded. "And that might be the least of your problems."

They reached the Great Hall and, whilst the conversation had to finish, Hermione's mind was racing. All she had wanted before the war was for everyone to know about her relationship with Draco and now, with the mindset of someone who felt much older, she wasn't sure whether it was the right decision.

As she and Pansy sat down, however, any lingering thoughts were banished from her mind at the look of horror etched on Draco's face. The two girls laughed, perhaps a little excessively, and Hermione decided she had a made a good decision regarding forgiveness that morning.

Theo was unmistakably avoiding eye contact with her and she reminded herself to ask Draco what he had said or done the night before.

As she began to choose breakfast items for her plate, Professor McGonagall approached their table and an instant hush fell.

"I'm pleased to hear that you have all been settling into your new accommodations and getting along well," the Headmistress said, smiling genially. "In the most recent staff meeting, we were hoping to entrust the twelve of you to organise a whole school event, based on the theme of inter-House unity." She looked around at the students, "Do you think that would be possible?"

There were a few nods of agreement. Hermione bounced slightly in her chair, face flushed with excitement, but managed to refrain from leaping up and taking control of the situation.

"Excellent," Professor McGonagall nodded. "I look forward to hearing your plans."