Just a Kiss

Chapter 8

Hermione wakes with a sharp gasp and a flutter of her lashes. There is an initial moment of panic as she comes back to herself, then she is taking a deep breath and making a mental checklist, as per her morning ritual since the war. 

I'm awake, no one is hurt, there were no nightmares, I'm in my own living room, there is someone beneath me.

Her brow furrows as she checks the last one off, her head lifting to look down at the place where her cheek had been pressed and finding a solid chest. It takes nearly a whole minute for her brain shake away the muddled mess that sleep had made it, but when she processes the situation, she screeches and tumbles off Malfoy. She groans from the floor, sorting herself out while Draco shoots up out of sleep and looks wildly around, his gaze falling last on her. 

Draco's lips twitch upwards, so he purses them to cover the almost-smile. To keep up appearances, he schools his expression into a scowl and peers over the edge of the cushion at her. "Why did you wake me up?" 

Hermione, already flushed and indignant, sat up straight and points at him. "Why were you sleeping with me?" After seeing the way his lips tilted up into a smirk, she snaps, "not like that, you revolting imp!" He chuckles as he props himself up on his elbows. 

"If you must know, you fell asleep on me, so, being the perfect gentleman that I am, I didn't wake you up," he says. Hermione huffs and crosses her arms. 

"Ignoring the fact that you even let me, a mudblood, touch you," she spits, "why on earth did you take your shirt off?"

He hides his grimace by looking down at his bare chest. "I got warm in the middle of the night and I was more comfortable with it off," he replies with a shrug. Spotting said shirt beside her, he reaches out to snatch it up, but is stopped short by a sharp pain shooting up his back. "Merlin's beard," he groans, mostly out of shock. Reaching around, he massages the knot in his back. 

Hermione snorts, "hurts, doesn't it?" She'd already discovered a similar knot in her neck when she'd fallen. Draco rolls his eyes and carefully climbs to his feet. He stretches his arms above his head and bends backwards until there is a pop and the muscles burn with a borderline-painful ache. Hermione winces at the sound and rubs her neck to relieve the tension there. 

"Your neck hurts? You must have laid on my chest wrong," he snarks, smirking at her blushing cheeks. When all she does is glare in response, he saunters away to the kitchen in search of food. 

It's another minute before Hermione's neck feels well enough for her to move her head around. When she's as comfortable as she can get with the crick in her neck, she stands and follows after Draco, finding him making a bowl of cereal. "I see you managed to make one of the more simple muggle breakfasts," she says. Draco jumps in surprise, spilling the sugar-coated bits all over the counter. A moment of silence passes, then she retracts her earlier statement. "Perhaps you haven't, after all."
He is turning to shout at her when the familiar roar of flames cuts him off.

A bright voice calls her name, making Draco scowl as he cleans up his mess and Hermione grin at the new arrival. Harry bursts into the kitchen, bounding across the room and dragging her in to a tight hug. Hermione gasps and laughs, throwing her arms around her friend. 

She exclaims, "Harry, so wonderful to see you too!" Harry lets her go, smiling all the while, until his eyes fall on Malfoy. All at once, a wall slams down and his eyes are flashing with fury. 

"Malfoy, what are you doing?" 

Without so much as a glance his way, Draco snatches his bowl and stalks towards the stairs. "Going upstairs, where i won't be bothered anymore. You two keep it down out here, don't do anything I wouldn't do, and for Merlin's sake, stay off the table. I eat there," he barks over his shoulder. The sly look he shoots back to Hermione leaves her red and sputtering for something to shout back. He was already gone though, door slamming behind him.