You're a Fox?

Close call

Hermione Pov
"No, no, no Astoria. Look, I'm sorry but you've got enough energy to race a hippogriff, and we all have class tomorrow. Besides, you know you can't spend the night in the Heads rooms without getting the Headmistress permission" Draco spoke to Astoria as if to a child, but when he was done all she did was turn to me, a shocked expression on her face.
"You've done it." I look at her, confused, not knowing what it is she's accusing me of,
"I beg your pardon?"
"You've made Draco follow the rules" her eyes full with wonder and awe as she looks at me, " I never thought in a million years that Draco would care about school again, much less about someone the way he cares about y-" quickly stopped by both Draco and Blaise's hands covering her mouth, Astoria gives him a smirk, as if she's won at something.
"Well...you've both met her, you should get to bed now" giving Astoria a kiss on the forehead, Draco give Blaise a curt nod, as they both come over to me.
To stop her from squashing me again, Blaise holds the back of her shirt a bit, as she gives me a small but tight embrace, only to receive the same nod from Blaise.
Once they'd left, Draco instantly came over to me and grabbed my arm, not moving my sleeve, but covering what lies there from the outside.
"Did she hurt you? I'm so sorry, I knew you wouldn't want me to tell them, but when she jumped on you, I saw you grab your arm, and then when you stood up it kept shaking and I-" his eyes feverish, as they search my face for any sort of discomfort or pain, I rest a hand on his cheek in attempts to calm him.
Taking a breath, Draco leans into my touch, moving his hand from my arm and leading me over to the lounge, as he laughs
"That was a Close Call, it normally takes 10 people to make Astoria do something she doesn't want to do" chuckling lightly to myself, I think about how scary her amount of energy was,
"Ya' know, Princess? we have that 'super secret, super special' advanced transfiguration class tomorrow... What do you think it's gonna be?"
"Probably just advanced theory and the creation of transfiguration and stuff" taking a moment, I look up at Draco through my lashes, and take a breath, "Draco? You know that you can't call me 'Princess' anymore, right?" Hurt and confusion etch into his face, as he goes to speak, before I cut him off, "After all, why on earth would you call a meek, little, spit-fire, Slytherin girl, a Gryffindor Princess?" Stopping my laughter, as it finally registers to him that I am now a Slytherin.

I'm not bound to the Gryffindor's
I'm not bound to any of them.

Draco's Pov
"Pri-Hermione, sorry, if you're a Slytherin...the does that mean that we...well that we don't need to 'hate' each other in public anymore?"

Taking a second, I watch as her face contorts and converts from confusion to utter joy, and only have a second to process it before she jumps on me, effectively almost knocking both of us off the sofa. Arms wrapped around my neck, it takes me a moment before I engulf her in a hug.
"We don't have to hate each other...We don't have to pretend anymore" once those words passed her lips, my arms dropped from their embrace, and the rest of my being stiffened.
"Draco? What's wrong?" Moving to sit back in her original position, I see her fearful doe eyes looking at me, and mentally slap myself for what I'm about to do,
"Why did you do it? Why did you run from me? After COMC (Care Of Magical Creatures), you did it, then you ran. Was it because of me?" Pain registers on her face and her eyes full with tears,
"Oh...Draco, no. No, it wasn't you. I mean, it was you, but it wasn't your fault. It was my fault and it's not you it's-" jumping off the sofa, I walk to the fireplace, my hands pulling at my hair,
"DONT. Don't do that, Hermione. 'It's not you, it's me'? Right? Well I'm sick of that, it's bullshit. Why do you do it? Why do you hurt yourself over and over. And don't say that you don't, Princess, because I've seen it. For the past 8years I've seen it" in two strides I'm back to standing in front of her, with confusion at what I'm saying, I take another step and kneel down in front of her, but with our height difference, it makes me just bellow her level. "First year, they hated you, called you names, used you for your gifts, and Potter got the credit. Second year, you were petrified and almost killed trying to save them, you literally had a bit of paper with the answer all laid out, and Saint Potter was the one who 'saved the day'. In third year, they ignored you for months because you had a cat. Then Weasley had a hissy fit because you attracted Krum, he got a girlfriend, you fought off the death eaters that invaded the school, and still, every time there was a success, Potter was rewarded" as I see she's about to object on their behalf, I cut her off, "Hermione...I gave you the note, about the basilisk, I told Krum that your favourite flower was a blue gentian... I-I gave potter his wand back...as the manor and I" taking a breath, tear cloud my eyes as I remind myself, 'Malfoy'S don't cry', "I am the one who summoned Dobby, in the drawing room, so that means that I-I'm the reason he died. But I would do it again, I would never stop protecting you" looking at her, I am waiting for her to scoff, to tell me to stop being emotional and grow up, like all the other Slytherins expect.
Hoping down from her place on the sofa, she sits next to me, turning me so that I face her, and pulls me into a hug, whispering sweet nothings into my ear.
"You never were a bad person, were you? My god Draco, for years I told them they were wrong, that you weren't with Voldemort because you weren't a bad person" looking down to her, I see un-shed tears in her eyes, "I knew I was right to believe in you"
"Princess? Can you please do the spell again?" Smiling at him, I get up from my spot on the ground, grab my wand and some blanket, and slowly return. Laying them all out, I mutter the spell, "Stellae Revelare", place my wand on the ground, and watch as the constellations once more explode around us. Taking Draco's hand, we both lie down on the blankets, and watch the stars dance, before I feel his breath on my neck, and his whisper in my ear,
"I'm glad, that it was you who believed in me" looking up at him, I smile softly as, I slowly lean in, and press my lips to his.
We spend hours watching the stars, until finally, we both drift off to sleep