Saving the Enemy

Chapter 5

Hermione

    Hermione awakes to strong arms encircling her, holding her so close to their chest that their steady heartbeat fills her mind. For once, she awakes with a smile instead of being worried about Draco or if her locking enchantments are working. Her grin widens as the events of last night fill her mind.

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    “How is this even possible? This box has to be laced with enchantments to place tiny people in that prison,” Draco says, exasperated but purely fascinated. He doesn’t believe that a remote can turn on a television, making prerecorded things play for him like the news or some movies. Hermione smiles, loving his reaction to this Muggle device as he thoroughly inspects the remote.

    He looks over to Hermione to see her smiling and his look of bewilderment turns into a breath-taking smile. That smile could honestly bring world peace since it obviously enchants her to forget her entire thought process, to forget any worry, to forget that her boyfriend just got rid of her to move onto Astoria Greengrass. She understands that they had become distant, but she never thought it was this bad. It’s okay, she forgives him, but they need space.

    Draco is still shining his dazzling smile towards her, putting the remote down to move towards her, laughing deeply at the blush creeping onto her cheeks as he keeps staring at her. He sits right next to her on the grey couch. She is amazed that one look at her smile, seeing her happy, can make him light up brighter than any spell can ever illuminate. It’s as if her happiness causes him to become happy, like their emotions are in sync. Her high is his high, her low is his low and vice versa. She just can’t figure out why, which surprises the brightest witch of their age.

    “Hermione,” he says, her name rolling off of his tongue, his voice sounds sweeter than treacle tarts and she can’t help but crave more.

    “Yes?” she replies breathlessly.

    “What are those cases?” he asks, curiosity filling his features again as he points to a pile of movies next to her television. She blushes deeper as she is filled with a strange sense of disappointment.

    “Those are called movies. You can put one into the DVD player here,” she explains, getting off the couch to demonstrate how to put in a movie, “and you can watch the story that is already filmed. Here, this is my favorite.”

    Hermione inserts Beauty and the Beast into the slot, skipping the previews and pressing play at the menu. She sneaks a peek over at Draco to find him looking bewildered yet again, but purely fascinated like a young child just figuring out how to use a wand. She smiles before getting up to make some popcorn.

    “Here,” she says, plopping next to him with a freshly made batch of popcorn covered in butter and salt. “This is called popcorn. It is a food usually eaten while watching a movie.”

    He looks at the kernels warily, but takes one all the same, popping it into his mouth. His face is scrunched up as he decides whether he fancies it or not, but after just a split second, his face lights up and he takes a handful from the container, making her giggle at his reactions to all of this.

    Hermione decides to scoot closer to Draco, unsure what compelled her. She tries to convince herself that she was just cold, deciding to stick to that story. She nestles her head just below his shoulder as Draco slings his arm across her behind her head, causing her to move closer. She is surprised that he encourages this action, but his face is unchanging, still fixated on the screen, analyzing everything about this new technology.

    She finds herself drifting off as his breathing patterns lull her to sleep.

    Hermione becomes more aware as she feels her body being picked up by strong, sturdy arms, holding her as if she were a child, one arm under her legs, the other under her neck to support her head. She feels the man struggling and she recognizes the smell he gives off to belong to Draco.

    Hermione allows a small smile to grace her features as he gently lays her down on the fluffy bed, feeling the mattress dip as he climbs into bed beside her.

    “You know, you look beautiful with that smile on you,” he hears Draco whisper to her, his breath tickling her cheek as he clearly still thinks she is asleep as he plays with a few strands of her hair. “I’ll keep you happy, I promise. I won’t hurt you again, that smile is worth it.”

    That is when she drifts to sleep again as he lays on his back beside her, still running his fingers through her hair.

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    Hermione gazes at the sleeping man beside her, looking so peaceful. She runs her hand through his soft locks for a small while, trying to memorize his features before getting up. She takes a quick shower, pulling her wet hair into a bun on top of her head. She pulls on her black pants and emerald green blouse, not to impress Draco of course. She reattaches her otter necklace around her neck, showers being the only time she ever takes it off.

    She passes through the bedroom again, smiling at the sleeping figure of Draco before making her way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast: scrambled eggs and toast. Simple but one of Draco’s favorites. She makes a quick batch of orange juice from concentrate. She places the finished product on a tray along with the appropriate silverware and takes the tray to the bedroom, placing it on the side table before going over to wake Draco.

    “Draco, honey, it’s time to get up,” she says quietly, stroking his hair gently out of his face. “Draco!”

    He jolts awake when she yells, looking disoriented before zeroing in on her, relaxing a bit once he sees she is safe. He smiles at her, obviously surprised to be woken by her, especially when he notices the breakfast behind her.

    “For me? You shouldn’t have,” he teases, grabbing the tray and gesturing for her to sit beside him so she can eat too. “I have good news.”

    “Yeah, what’s that?” Hermione asks, settling into the bed and grabbing a fork before digging into the eggs.

    “No nightmares,” he says, smiling so wide, so happy that the horrid dreams aren’t plaguing him every night.

    “That’s brilliant, Draco! This is a major breakthrough!” Hermione exclaims, dropping her fork onto the tray before embracing Draco tightly, laughing with him in pure joy. To see him this happy makes Hermione’s heart flutter to life, as if he is the only one it beats for, like he is the reason the blood pumps through her body.

    Draco pulls back before brushing a strand of loose hair behind her ear. He smirks when she blushes slightly, turning back to his breakfast. She turns back to hers, thinking that he can be better soon. Soon he won’t have to think about those death eaters because she will catch them. This is a sign that soon she can go back to work to save him, to protect him from whatever they have in store for him. She can get rid of them before any of them have to find out their sick plans for Draco.

    He is too happy for anything else to bother her, so they make small talk, laughing more often than either of them have for a long time. A major breakthrough indeed.