Redemption.

Chapter 5

It was late in the night, and Hermione couldn't sleep. She lay on her bed, staring blankly into the darkness, thinking about...well she didn't know what she wanted to think about.
She'd been very happy when she first saw the room. Red and gold walls, symbolizing Gryffindor, a tiny bookshelf where she now kept all her books, a work table next to her bed, a door leading to the bathroom, and another one leading -surprisingly- to the balcony. Perhaps she should just pack her bag? But what was the point? She didn't know her schedule, and she was going to stuff all her books in her bag tomorrow anyway.

She decided she needed a bit of air and walked out onto the balcony. The view was spectacular- she could see the lake shining silver in the moonlight, and make out the shadow of the distant mountains now blanketed in a thin layer of mist. She heard the creaking of the crickets and the occasional hoot of the owls...
Over five feet from her balcony, there was an identical one- undoubtedly Malfoy's- which was currently unoccupied. It was close enough to climb over...

What the hell are you thinking? she snapped at herself. Honestly, she didn't know what happened to her sometimes. She was furious with him anyways, after their- for lack of a better word- conversation by the lake. How could he shout at her like that? She huffed in indignation. She was only trying to help! Considering all that he'd done to her, all the pain he'd given, she'd been nice to him, trying to give him advice! She didn't even know why she went to see him the first place. She'd admit she had watched him all through dinner not eating anything, and then he'd just gotten up and left. How was she supposed to take that?

Her contemplation was bought to an end as the balcony door on her right opened, and the Slytherin Prince himself walked out- shirtless. Hermione stared. How could she not? Even in the dim moonlight, she could make out his toned muscles, and the hard planes of chest. Draco Malfoy shirtless, she thought slightly dazed. His blonde hair whipped in the wind, and Hermione thought he looked simply gorgeous. Time seemed not to flow at all, as his hair shinned silver under the light of the moon. He leaned on the railing, his arms flexing, and Hermione's lip parted.

He didn't seem to notice her however. He stared straight ahead breathing deeply and she couldn't tear her eyes away from his torso. Hermione, look away! Look away! She told herself a hundred times, but she just couldn't. Who knew Malfoy was hiding this under his Slytherin robes?

And then suddenly he looked at her. Her eyes snapped back to his face, which looked slightly annoyed. Hermione held her breathe, as though waiting for him to explode again. But he didn't. He simply looked at her, and she noticed he didn't looked remotely annoyed anymore. She let out a breath she was holding. For a long moment they just looked at each other, Hermione trying to decipher what was going on in that mind of his. She thought she saw his eyes travel down her body for a second, but she was sure she imagined it...

She was starting to feel a bit cold, and she realized she was only wearing her night gown. Which was see through. FUCK! She tore her eyes away, and scrambled back into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. She tried to calm herself. Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out. Her heart rate finally slowed and she forced herself to analyze the situation.

What were the chances that Malfoy had seen what was underneath? It was quite dark outside, and he had been looking at her face. Yes...it seemed unlikely. But what about that moment when she thought his eyes had traveled down? Had she imagined it? Or was it...real? Merlin, she hoped not. The last thing she needed was for Draco Malfoy to find out that she wore lacy bra and underwear.

But it so happened, though she didn't know it, that he knew exactly what was underneath that see through night gown of hers...