𝐂𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐄 | 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦

nine

The hotel only had one large suite available on such short notice, so Ginny, Luna, and Hermione took the room and Blaise and Draco slept in the living room (much to Draco's displeasure).

Ginny jumped on her and Hermione's bed, a grin on her face, eyes full of mirth. Hermione said, "You were right, Gin. This is great."

"Sometimes it's good to not overthink," Ginny said. Hermione nodded, tying her hair up in a towel. Luna sat cross-legged on her bed, writing something in a notebook.

"What are you writing about?" Ginny asked Luna, tilting her head so that she could better see her looping cursive.

"My wrackspurt sightings," Luna said. "I promised my father I would log them for him."

"Ah," Ginny said, leaning back, as if were a perfectly sensible thing to do. 

There was a knock at the door, and Hermione opened it.

"I've got to use the bathroom," Draco said.

"Sure," Hermione said, stepping aside to let him through. She tried very hard not to think about how lovely and soft his hair looked when it wasn't stiff with gel, or how beautiful he looked with a simple T-shirt hanging off of his angular frame.

"'Scuse me," Draco said, raising his eyebrows. "I'm trying to get out the door."

"Oh! Sorry," Hermione sputtered, moving out of the way. A blush spread across her face, and Ginny's eyes narrowed. As soon as the door closed behind him, Ginny said in a whisper, "Someone's caught feelings."

"I have not!" Hermione hissed, sitting down next to Ginny. They had to share, since there were only two beds and Luna had informed them that she kicked people in her sleep.

"Your face is red," Luna said, closing her wrackspurt notebook. "I think you have."

"It's just hot in here," Hermione snapped, flustered. Ginny smirked, sliding underneath the quilt. "If you say so."

Draco raked his hand through his hair, trying to get Hermione out of his head. She looked so... she looked so happy today. Happier than he'd ever seen her. And happiness on her was beautiful, like a light coming from inside of her.

"You like Hermione," Blaise whispered from his spot on the armchairs they'd pushed together. "Still."

Draco's eyes snapped open. "I do not."

"Yes, you do. You keep looking at her and smiling. Smiling, Dray. You never smile, not like that," Blaise insisted. "It's like we're at Hogwarts again."

"I am not. Would you please let me sleep?"

"Sure. Dream sweet dreams of Hermione," Blaise said, smirk evident in his voice.

Draco scowled and put the pillow over his head.

Hermione rolled over again and looked at the clock. 2:34am. Bloody hell, why couldn't she get to sleep?

Ginny's words kept running through her mind, and she kept trying to dismiss them. No. She absolutely did not have a crush on Draco Malfoy. The idea was preposterous.

But was it, really? It had happened once before, not that she had ever told anyone about it.

She groaned in frustration and swung her legs over the side of the bed, not trying very hard to let Ginny sleep. It took a lot to wake her. Like a fire. Or a tsunami.

She slipped out of the hotel room, making a more concrete effort not to wake Blaise or Draco. She walked down the lobby, then sat there, trying to gather the thoughts whirling through her head. The tired receptionist ignored her, tapping at his computer instead.

"You look lonely, Hermione."

Hermione looked up. Draco was standing above her, hands in his pockets. He looked carefree, something she rarely saw on him. And honestly, it suited him, so she smiled widely at him.

She never thought that he would be- well, he was a lot of things that she didn't think. He was fun to be around, had an actual sense of humor. He was incredibly intelligent, and actually cared about what she had to say, which she appreciated more than she could express.

When she was younger, especially at Hogwarts, everyone would just tune her out. Ron, especially, and even Harry, sometimes. There was a time when she'd just stopped talking since no one seemed to really care. To have someone take an interest in her interests meant a lot to her. He made her confident in herself. She'd forgotten that when she had first gotten together with Ron, she realized. Maybe everything that had happened- it was for the best.

So she said, "Not anymore, now that you're here."

His head snapped up in surprise to look at her, and he gave her a real, genuine smile. She automatically smiled in return, her heart warming. Then and there, she decided that yes- Ginny was right. She'd caught feelings for Draco Malfoy.

And there wasn't anything wrong with that.

"Here, sit down," she said, scooting over. He sat down next to her, so close that their shoulders brushed. 

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked.

"No. It was just something Ginny said that made me think," she replied.

He laughed quietly, and she bit her lip to stop herself from smiling at the sound. "Me too, honestly. Blaise brought up something that I had never thought of, but now..." he trailed off.
Hermione smiled in understanding. "I get it."

He looked back up at her, smiling back, absolutely unguarded.

She sucked in a breath, taken aback by how young he could look when he wasn't frowning or scowling, when the full force of his smile was focused on her. She was especially struck at how bright his eyes were. She didn't miss the lively spark of intelligence, shining brightly behind the molten silver of his irises.

"Hermione, you're staring," he said, smirking slightly.

"I was not," she said defensively. He raised an eyebrow. She amended, "So maybe I was."

He smiled smugly. Then his eyes darkened, expression becoming more serious. "Look, Granger, I just wanted to say sorry for the way I treated you at Hogwarts, when we were younger. You didn't deserve it, at all."

"It's fine, you already apologized in 7th year. You've turned yourself around," she said, offering him a grin. She was surprised that Malfoy of all people would apologize, and twice. "I actually love hanging out with you."

His eyebrows rose, surprise in his eyes. "Oh?"

"Mhm. You know that," she said. "Don't let it go to your head." 

"We should do it more often, then," Draco said, the corners of his mouth uplifting in a small smile, then dipped slightly into a frown. "I can't believe we drifted so far after Hogwarts."

"Yeah, we should," Hermione replied, "I can't believe it either... I can't believe that I didn't realize what I was missing."

He stared at her, liquid eyes intent on her face. "Yeah..."

"Uh, Draco?" she asked, fidgeting uncomfortably underneath his scrutiny.

He blinked, snapped out of his reverie. "What?"

She didn't miss the way his cheeks colored lightly. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No... no, sorry, I just zoned out," he said. She laughed. "I do that all the time. Drives Ginny crazy."

"Ginny's already crazy," Draco said airily. Hermione laughed. "That she is."