It All Started At a Lake

chapter 14

Saturday, November 6th, 1998

"Granger are you coming in or not?" asked Draco

She had been sitting on the edge of the grass with only her feet dipped in the water for five minutes already.

"I don't know if I trust my warming charm enough. It's been getting colder out here recently." she replied

Draco rolled his eyes and swam towards her. With the temperature dropping, Hermione hadn't come in. This was the second time that she hadn't joined him in the water this week.

"Your are much better at charms than I am, so if I can stay in here without freezing, I think you can too." he said

"I don't know though. I don't want to risk anything." she replied

"Granger, you have fought in a war, took care of two idiots, almost died, was on the run for months and destroyed dark artifacts and your afraid that a lake is going to make you cold?" he asked

"I'm not afraid that I'm going to get cold, but it would be nice if I didn't get hypothermia." she replied

"If you're not afraid then prove it." he said

Her eyes flickered with something that he didn't know what it was and she was suddenly on her feet. 

"Turn around." she said

Draco smirked and turned around. He knew he could be very persuasive when he wanted to be. He heard the sound of her jeans falling to the floor along with the rest of her clothes. A moment later there was noise behind him.

Hermione was right in front of Draco when he turned around. Her body had gone pale and she was shivering. He reached out in front of him and hesitantly put his hand on her shoulder. Her body still trembled with his hand on her.

"It appears I overestimated your charm abilities. How powerful is your warming charm?" he asked

"It's really powerful. I'm not really shaking because I'm cold, it's more like I'm outside with a slight breeze with barely any clothes on." she replied

"So you don't feel like you're going to freeze of hypothermia?" he asked

She shook her head. "I think I just need to swim around a bit." 

He removed his hand from her shoulder even as her body was still trembling. She took off and started swimming laps around the more shallow area of the lake. Draco watched in amusement as her feet kicked at the water and she swam in circles. She was quite a graceful swimmer.

She swam five laps before swimming back to where Draco was standing. He watched her even as she stood in front of him. 

"Are you warmed up now?" he asked

"Yes. I feel much better now." she replied. Her body had stopped trembling and some of the color returned to her face. Her lips were their rich color again.

He felt the urge to reach out to her and kiss her. Draco wasn't sure where that urge came from or why he felt it, but he held back enough to not reach out to her. He looked her in the eyes and the urge was back.

"Granger, are you feeling anything different right now?" he asked through gritted teeth

"Are you alright? I mean I feel something, but you're not looking too well." she replied

He put one hand on her cheek and connected their mouths. She didn't kiss back at first, her body was frozen in shock. He was afraid that she was going to push him away and never talk to him again, but he was filled with joy when she kissed him back.