One More Year

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Hermione sat alone in her room, sitting in front of her wooden desk, staring out the window into the dark sky. The stars shone brightly overhead, reminding Hermione about her and Draco's date in the forest. She reluctantly tore her eyes away from the night, and from the memories, and returned to looking at the blank parchment in front of her, chewing her lip nervously. Crookshanks padded by, rubbing up against Hermione's leg, purring loudly. Hermione absentmindedly reached down and scratched between his ears while chewing on the end of her quill, trying to figure out what to say to Ron. Draco would be coming in shortly, he typically entered her room just after eleven. "Dear Ron," she wrote. She put the quill down and held her head in her hands as she struggled to find the words. This was even harder than when she tried to write him while they were dating. When she written Harry about her and Draco, she had told him that she would be telling Ron as well so to please not say anything to him, until she had a chance to write to him herself. She wanted Harry to know, so Ginny wouldn't have to keep any secrets from him. He hadn't written back. She knew he had discussed it with Ginny, who had been very secretive about the contents of the letters she had received from Harry since then. She knew this wouldn't be easy, she knew it would take her best friends some time to get used to this idea. She also knew that Harry would take it better than Ron and it was disappointing that Harry had taken the news so poorly. "I hope you're doing well and the store is doing great business. School is going great, we've been learning a lot and it's getting close for us to take our NEWTS, I haven't been studying nearly as much as I should be." She added to the letter. Now comes the hard part, she paused, dipping her quill into the inkwell. "I wanted to let you know,", she was interrupted with Draco entering her room, his hair damp and sticking up on ends from the shower.

"You look stressed," he observed, approaching her with a lazy smile. "What are you working on?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied quickly, moving a textbook over her parchment, hiding it from view. "Just studying for our NEWTS."

"You're going to do great. I'm sure you don't need to study at all. Now Blaise on the other hand, has barely lifted a book. He's too busy sucking Daphne's face." He said with a disgusted look on his face, that made Hermione laugh. "Come here," he beckoned as he sat down on the bed. She eagerly went into his waiting arms, where he started massaging her neck. The letter could wait until tomorrow.

*****

Hermione awoke in the morning with the blankets, tossed half off her. It was getting warm outside, she smiled. She turned towards Draco who started waking from the sudden movement. She stilled, hoping he would fall back to sleep but it was too late. He awoke, yawning.

"Good morning, beautiful." He was rewarded with a half-smile and an eye roll. "Trust me Hermione, there is nothing more beautiful than waking up naked next to you." She pulled the blankets closer to her body, instinctively covering herself. "Are you really trying to hide yourself from me, I've seen you naked Hermione. More than once and I've always enjoyed the view."

She blushed crimson. "Thanks," she muttered. "We should get ready for class."

After the usual, sneaking out of her room, they met back up as they made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Theo joining them.

"Honestly, I can't even stand it anymore." Theo started yelling, "Between Blaise and Daphne and you and Hermione, you're all making me sick!"

Draco quickly hushed him. "Keep your voice down Theo, do you want the whole school to know about us."

"Are you kidding Draco? I'm sure they've figured it out by now. The way you two are always looking at each other. Honestly, just find a room."

"We have Theo." Hermione corrected. "It's my room."

"Thank Merlin for that. However, Daphne and Blaise do not have a room, which means they end up in my room. Do you have any idea how hard it is to go to sleep, while you can hear them slurping each other's faces." Theo looked disgusted. "For once, how about I sleep in Hermione's room and Draco you stay with Blaise."