CH-71

A moment later, we're both standing in his living room. Draco walks into his bedroom, and I follow, levitating Ginny to take her inside with us. Draco conjures another bed, and I lower her on top of it gently.

"I'll have Naree supply you and the others with food, so you won't have to worry about that. Unless there's an emergency here, I'll probably be gone for a few days. I advise you not to go outside if you can help it. I don't like the thought of people coming and going as they please."

I nod. "I'll tell the others, then."

"They're staying in a new room, by the way," Draco says. "You'll see the new door when you go back into the living room—if you didn't see it already."

I hadn't noticed, but it isn't very important to me at the moment. "Thank you so much," I say.

He looks indifferent to my words, and I realize that he's hidden himself away again.

"I really should be going," he says.

He keeps saying that, but he hasn't actually left. Is he staying on my behalf? That possibility brings me a strange sort of satisfaction. God, this is going way too fast. I should get my head on straight before I decide on my feelings for him.

But I want to draw out his emotions. I want to break down his walls and force him to show me his feelings for me—now that I know they're there, I selfishly want proof that he cares. I guess this is the girly side of me, craving attention from the boy who's admitted that he likes me.

I step over to him, and he doesn't move away. I lift my hand and gently cup his cheek. He flinches at my touch, and I smile.

"When someone thanks you, you're supposed to say, 'you're welcome'," I say.

His lips twitch with amusement. "You are welcome. Theyaren't."

"They are my friends."

"And that's why they're here."

"Really, Draco. Thank you," I say softly.

Then I lean up and plant a chaste kiss on his lips.

For a fleeting moment, when our lips are connected, I sense a raging beast inside him that's barely being contained. I back down to my normal height and observe that he's rigid and that his eyes have darkened into deep pools of molten silver.

Some daredevil part of me wants to reach inside him and unleash that beast, just to see what will happen. Draco always has such tight command over his emotions, his words and actions, his world. I want to see him spiraling wildly out of control. I want to see him, without all of his restraint.

But the moment passes very quickly, and he gives me a small smile.

"You're welcome, Hermione."

Warmth floods my chest as I hear him address me by my first name for the first time, and I suddenly wish that he'd always called me Hermione.

And then I'm reminded that he's about to leave, that he might be gone for a few days. He could die on any given day—as long as he's not in this cottage, he's not safe. Suddenly I feel so much more worried for him.

"Take care of yourself," I say. "If you don't come back, I'll never forgive you."

Another faint smile. "I'll always come for you."

Then he's gone, and I move to sit down on his bed, a bittersweet sensation filling my body.

I find it so hard to believe that I didn't just imagine that conversation. I pull the heart charm out from under my shirt and look at the initials that are still engraved on it. He gave me this golden heart when we first met, after three years of separation. Suddenly it means so much more that he chose the shape of a heart. I hadn't read into it at the time, of course, but now…

I already can't wait to see him again.

"Did Draco leave already?"

I look up to see Blaise entering the room.

"Yes, he's gone," I reply.

"What were you thinking about?" he asks me.

I shake my head. "Nothing."

"Oh, I know you better than that."

I sigh and get to my feet, holding out my arms. "Give me a hug, okay?"

He smiles. "Whatever you need," he replies, pulling me into a hug.

It feels so good to be held, but Blaise's arms are just different. I recall the feeling of being in Draco's embrace just a few minutes ago, right after we kissed. I wanted him to hold me as close to him as humanly possible. I hadn't felt so safe in years. That I could feel that sort of security around a former nemesis… it's inconceivable.

I hear Ron clearing his throat loudly from the doorway. When this doesn't affect us, he says, "Let go of her, Zabini."

"Hello, Weasley," Blaise says without releasing me.

I can't see anything around him, and I start to back away, but he continues to hold onto me. "It's all right," I say. "You can let go of me now."

Blaise pulls his arms back and turns around to face Ron.

"I always see you grabbing at her. Can't you keep your hands to yourself?" Ron says heatedly.

Blaise smiles. "I don't hear Hermione complaining."

I sigh. "Can't you two just get along?"

"Sure," Blaise says, grinning and backing up a step to put his arm around my shoulders. "I'm perfectly fine with being Weasley's friend. He just has to learn to accept that you and I are friends."

The vein in Ron's forehead is pulsing furiously, and he's glaring at the arm draped around my shoulders, but he doesn't respond to Blaise.

"It's the middle of the night," I say. "Why don't both of you get some sleep? I'm pretty sleepy myself."

Ron doesn't respond, only continues to glare at the offending arm.

"All right. Sleep well, darling," Blaise says.

I turn toward him to raise an eyebrow at him and see that he's grinning widely at Ron's infuriated expression. Then his face turns in my direction, and he leans down to kiss my forehead.

"Get away from her!"

"Ron, shut up!" I hear Harry shout from outside the room.

Blaise starts laughing. Unable to stifle my own giggles, I join him. It's just so amusing to watch—or in this case, I suppose it would be hear—Harry act like a parental figure around Ron.

Then Blaise is flung back against the dresser and crashes to the ground.

"Ronald Weasley!" I bark, all laughter fading in an instant. I Disarm him and catch his wand. "What the hell are you doing?"

I rush toward Blaise, but he's already getting to his feet. I expect him to be furious, but he's only looking at Ron with an amused expression. It's hard for me to understand—didn't that hurt?

"Are you all right?" I ask him.

"Yes, I'm fine," he replies.

I glance back at the doorway to see that Ron is gone. "I'm so sorry about that. I didn't expect—"

"Believe me, I didn't expect it either. Do you think it'd be that easy for him to throw me otherwise?" Blaise says.

"You're taking this rather well," I observe.

He shrugs. "It's just Weasley. I'm used to him by now. I don't understand how the same things still piss him off every single time. You'd think by now he'd be used to seeing me put my arm around you."

"Can you please stop provoking him? He's already short-tempered—he doesn't need any more fuel for his fire."

"It's just so fun," Blaise says. "But I guess I'll give it a try."

"Thank you. I really am sleepy though, so…"

"I just wanted to know… did you ever talk to Draco about—"

"That is none of your business," I say, hiding away the smile that's threatening to spread across my face.

K̾o̾-̾f̾i̾

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