Forbidden (Dramione)

Explanations

    "Granger, did you just stamp your foot at me?"

     Hermione spun around and stomped over to Draco furiously.

    "YOU. COMPLETE. IDIOT. DRACO!" She pushed his shoulder as he tried to rise and he landed back on the floor. He looked bewildered. "Wha-" "I thought you were seriously injured or DEAD. You can't just NOT respond like that!" Hermione's anger was gone as suddenly as it arrived and she looked at Draco to see him smiling (Yes, smiling, not smirking) up at her.

     "A person is only dead when they stop breathing, Hermione," the smirk was back,"or didn't they ever teach you that in school?"

"Ha. Ha." She each word sharp. Then in a softer tone, she whispered, "You can't worry me like that, Draco. I can't take it when your in pain." His cheeks flushed as he attempted a scornful remark. "Why? You didn't have much trouble earlier when you teamed up with your boyfriend."     It was Hermione's turn to go pink. Still, she spoke in the same soft tone and this time Draco found it comforting. "Draco, I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean it. I've seen you play quidditch. You're brilliant! Slytherin would be stupid not to put you in the air. I guess I just got angry when you called Ron my.....my boyfriend. Because he's not and after today I don't think he ever will be!" Her voice got louder as she rushed to the end. Draco's eyes, which had been on the floor, rose to meet Hermione's. A glimmer of happiness and something like hope shone in his eyes. "And why, exactly, aren't you?" He asked, trying, and failing, to seem nonchalant.

  "He was-" Hermione shook her head and looked around the room, as if it would help her find the right word. "Horrid. Abominable. He was being so mean! It's not like him. I'm truly sorry." She stood up and leaned on a desk, clearly uncomfortable with how she and Ron had treated him. Draco stood too. "I forgive you. Not Weaselking, but you I can forgive. It's hard to figure out how to act when you shouldn't like someone. That's not why I was...uh, here, anyway." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief at his forgiveness before turning to the point both of them had been avoiding.

    "I know this might be hard, but I think you should tell me what happened." When he started to object she put a hand on his chest, stopping him. "Let me rephrase that: You are going to tell me what happened. And we'll find a way to fix it." She almost couldn't get through the sentence because she could feel some very toned abs through his shirt. She blushed but held her ground and stared at him expectantly.

    Draco noticed her blush but decided to to smirk for once. He nodded, "Okay." He took a moment to gather his thoughts and then they spilled out in a jumble of words.

     "I wasn't in pain because of what you said. Well, maybe a little but I'll get to that later. I was walking to the Slytherin common room when my owl, Squiggles-" he paused when he saw the expression on Hermione's face. Her eyes were watery and she bit her lip to keep in the rapidly rising histeria. He kept eye contact now trying not to laugh himself.  Finally, Hermione couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. It was a wondrous sound, thought Draco.

      "What?" He mocked being offended. "I'm s-sorry, but why the n-name Squiggles?" She descended into another attack of the giggles. Draco waited for her to calm down a bit before he responded. "For your information I got him when I was three. I liked drawing. And now he won't respond to any other name, no matter how hard I try." He shook his head and Hermione smiled. "I can forgive your three year-old self for that. Please, continue."

      He glanced around at the classroom. His eyes lingered on an old potions poster (evidently this had once been a potions classroom: maybe for advanced 1st through 5th years, before NEWT level) which said something about researching Angel's Trumpet Drought, and started from where he had paused. "When my owl," he pointedly paused staring at Hermione, but she was looking anywhere but him in her determination not to laugh, and to finally understand what had happened. "Suddenly swooped through the window by the charms classroom. I didn't think it was him at first because I never get mail after breakfast in the great hall. Lately, I haven't gotten any mail at all." He looked down at his hand which immediately started tracing the part of the desk closest to his. "My mum has been going on trips to France recently and my dad-" He stopped abruptly, took a deep breathe and pushed himself to start talking again, even if he was getting choked up. It didn't matter, she'd already seen his embarrassing scene on the floor. "Anyway, he prodded me until I knew it was him and I untied the letter. This is it." He then took a crème envelope from the pocket of his robes and handed it to Hermione. "Read it." She took the envelope pretending not to see his slow blush when their hands brushed past each other.