Simply fate.

Chapter thirteen

One snowy afternoon of February, Hermione was in her secret room, reading a book. She was sitting in an armchair by the window from which she could observe the delicate snowflakes falling, covering the Forbidden Forest and the frozen Black Lake with an immaculate white blanket. There was something rather magical about this atmosphere. The Forbbiden Forest so dark and the snow yet so light. The contrast was making the landscape almost surreal, as if the mountains would at any moment reveal a nice giant quietly napping under a white and fluffy cover to protect himself from the frezzing cold of winter.

The girl was suddendly woken up from her daydreaming by the sound of the wooden door. She watched as the pale face of Draco Malfoy emerged from behind the door. He looked throughout the room and when he spotted Hermione, he stopped of his track. There she was, by the window, quietly looking trought it, a book resting open on her lap. The cold light from outside was making her skin look like porcelain and the contrast with her deep brown eyes was making them pop. She looked as if she was some kind of snow spirit, from the tales you read to children.

"Oh I'm sorry to disturb you. I did not know you were there, I gonna go..." he said, an unoticeable light tint of pink spreading on his cheeks, starting to turn around.

"No ! It's fine. You can stay. I guess that now we are in peace so we can completly share a room, can't we ?"

"Yes, I guess so...Thanks for letting me stay."

"My pleasure...I mean, um... You know what I mean." she stammered.

He quickly nodded as he made his way towards the settee located in front of the fireplace. Draco gladly received the warmth coming from the bright and lively flames as he opened his book. He let the pleasurable feeling of the fire engulfe his body as he sat deeper on the sofa. From where he was, Draco could easily be pretending to read his book while he watched Hermione from the corner of his eye. "How can she be so beautiful while simply reading a book ?" he thought. At that moment, the girl looked up from her book and caught him staring. Draco was expecting a frown or a bitter remark, but instead she offered him a small smile before geting back to her reading.

And that is how the afternoon passed, both of them quietly reading with the sound of the cracking fire on the background. It was around 6 p.m that this peaceful atmosphere changed. Hermione stood up and the boy thought that she was living, after all she did spend the afternoon reading in his compagny instead of being with her friends. Well, not reading with him but reading in the same room as him. If you think about it, that was quite a progress to see that they could be together in the same room more than five minutes without acting spitefully toward one another. Anyway, she stood up, but instead of exiting the room, she sat down next to Draco on the settee. He unthinkingly tensed up.

"I'm sorry, I hope it doesn't bother you if I seat here but I was getting quite cold by the window and this spot looked so comfortable that... Oh ! But I can seat over there" she said, pointing at an armchair, "if I'm making you feel uneasy." She started to get up but he put his hand on her forearm.

"No, it's fine. You can stay." He gave her a quick smile.

"Thank you."

Malfoy snapped his head in one go.

"Granger, I reckon that it is the first time that you've ever thanked me. I must admit that I am quite shocked." he said with an astonished look on his face.

"Well, you better get used to it, now that we are friends it will happen a lot more." she giggled. "And you can call Hermione."

"Oh, okay. I guess I allow you to call me Draco then." he said in a dignified manner.

"Thank you, your Majesty. You are too good !" she joked.

"Aren't I ?"

They stared at each other in silence a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

"Look at us ! Who would have thought that the Gryffondor Princess and the Slytherin Prince could enjoy themselves together." Draco said, wipping away a tear from his laughter at the corner of his eye.

"The Gryffondor Princess ? Me ? I reckon that you're wrong. Nobody think that way about me."

"Well, you might be surprised that there are still things that you ignore, Hermione."

"Is that so ?" she said, absentmindly, as she re-opened her book and focused again, a smile still on her lips.

The minutes passed, and then the hours. It was already dark outside and Draco moved to grab his wand in his pocket in order to cast a quick Tempus to see what time it was. But he soon realised that he couldn't move. Indeed, there was some kind of weight on his left shoulder. He turned his head and discovered that Hermione had fallen asleep next to him. You could think : why didn't he remarked it sooner ? Well, from the time that the girl sat beside him, he stopped making side glances towards her. If he had, he knew that he wouldn't had been able to hide his blush from her. The truth is, Malfoy was not really used to have someone so physically close to him. Of course, he had received hugs from his mother and from Pansy Parkinson, but that was different. They were family to him. And the affection from the many girls that had date was also different. He had never felt anything more the physical attraction towards them, it was just for fun. Draco was used to touch but not from the one girl who made him feel like he was truly living. The girl who was unaware of the fact that she possessed his heart since third year.

So, in order to contain his feelings, Malfoy took great interest in his book. He was so focused that he had been oblivious about Hermione until she moved in her sleep to put her head on his shoulder. Draco did not move, he had no idea of what to do. But he knew that it was almost dinner time and that Hermione hadn't had anything to eat since lunch. But most of all, he knew that her friends were going to be quite worried if they did not see her at the Gryffondor table. So he decided to wake her up. But first, he enjoyed watching her sleep. He was the only moment where he could completly appreciate her delicate features. The way her nose was sparkled with freckles, or how long her eyelashes were. Then, he gently shook her arm and she opened her eyes.

"Merlin's beard ! What time is it ?" she said, panicking.

Draco cast a Tempus.

"Well, just in time for dinner." he answered.

He got up and rearranged his robes.

"Off we go ?" he asked.

"Yes, you're right. We ought to be in time for dinner." she said as she stood up.

"Glad to hear that I am right about something." he said with a smile.

And they both went downstairs. You can easily imagine the look on Ron and Harry's face when they entered the Great Hall together.