Head Above Water

The Lake

We were sitting by the lake eating for a long time. Malfoy had brought some firewhiskey and butterbeer as well as the food. Knowing myself to be a lightweight, I tried not to drink too much. As the night went on though, I got more and more drunk. 

"So." Malfoy was slurring his words by this time, but still held his own. "I want to get to know you, and what better way than.. 20 questions. I read abou that in some muggle book." 

"You've read a muggle book?"

"Yeah. My father was not happy, he took it and Incendio'd the shit out of it."

"What? He burned a book? That's horrible!"

"Yes Granger, worry about the book and not the damage on my psyche. That's so like you"

"Fine then. 20 Questions, and since you suggested it, you have to go first."

"Fine, bossy." He was considerably drunk. "What could you possibly see in the Weasel? I never understood that."

Wow, hard questions right off the bat. 

"I don't know honestly, we were best friends, and his mom was always pushing it, but after we broke up I realized we were never really right with each other. He's back with Lavender." 

"Lavender Brown?" With this he started laughing hysterically again. 

"What's so funny about that?"

"She is! She was always so obsessed with him. I remember her coming to the dorms to ask Parkinson how to make him love her. Apparently the idiot made the potion too strong and he went silly for days."

"She did! And it didn't help that she put it in a box full of chocolates. He ate the whole thing!"

"What a Weasel! Well I hope they're happy. Your turn."

I couldn't think of anything to say, so I asked the first question to come to my mind.

"What about Parkinson then? Weren't the two of you an item?"

He seemed to instantly sober. He was silent for what felt like an eternity before slowly answering.

"We were engaged from birth. Our parents arranged it. She actually hated me, and was madly in love with Theodore Nott. She pretended to like me in front of our parents, but she hated me. When the war happened, they both got the Dark Mark, and then they both died in the Battle of Hogwarts."

Taken aback, I instinctively reached out and touched his arm.

"I'm so sorry."

Looking down, he moved his arm and took another drink, pretending not to notice. 

"Past is past Granger. My turn."

We went a few more rounds with lighthearted questions, trying to avoid anything that might bring back a memory of the war. We both kept drinking, and the September air was almost as warm as the alcohol burning our throats. I took off my sweater and Malfoy quickly turned bright red and averted his eyes. 

"Sorry Granger, I don't sleep with drunk girls."

I looked down and saw that my shirt had stuck to my sweater and I was now sitting before him in only my bra. 

"You bloody git! I was only trying to take off my sweater because it's so damned hot out here!"

"Oh." He started laughing again as I struggled to get my top back on. 

"Well. I believe it was my turn, question number 18 was it?"

"Yes. It was. But if you keep laughing at me, I'm taking away one of your questions!"

"You can't do that! What happened to the rules?"

"What rules? It's 20 questions!"

"Fine, fine, I'll just ask my question. Hmm.. I'm running out of ideas. What's your body count?"

"Body count? I haven't killed anyone."

"No! No, it means who you've slept with."

"Oh.." It was zero on that count as well. If I wasn't drunk, I never would have responded with "Zero. But I've kissed 4 people."

"Zero? Follow up question?"

"Sure but that's number 19."

"Who are the ones you've kissed?"

"Viktor Krum, Cormac McLaggen, Ron of course, and Ginny."

"Ginny Weasley? As in your ex's sister and your best friend's girlfriend?"

"It was a long time ago, during a drunken truth or dare in the girls dorm 4th year."

"So you get a little wild when you're drunk eh, Granger?"

"That's question 20! And no, it's truth or dare! It's just a game."

"Ugh fine. Well, you've still got three, unless you're too tired to keep going."

He winked suggestively at me. Apparently, he's the one who gets wild drunk. I giggled at the thought, looking at him still winking and wiggling his eyebrows at me. 

"Just one. Since you know I'm a virgin, what about you?"

"Yup. I couldn't exactly date, and Pansy wasn't exactly offering. So I'm in your boat there 'Mione."

What was that? Let alone calling me by my first name, but a nickname? I puzzled over what this could possibly mean, and decided he was just drunk. 

"Draco." I quite liked the feel of his name on my lips. "Draco, you're too drunk. Let's go back to the castle."

I had no idea how we would get back without being spotted, and resigned myself to getting detention in my first week back. To my surprise, Draco started walking way from the castle towards a large pile of rocks near the shore.

"Revelio."

I followed him over and saw a  tunnel open up under the lake, apparently towards the Slytherin dorms. 

"There's a path?"

"Of course! You don't think I'd keep the Head Girl out this late without a plan right?"

"I suppose not."

We walked through the tunnel, and ended up right outside the door to the Slytherin dorms behind a tapestry depicting a huge snake curled around a wand. 

"If you're stopped on the way back upstairs, tell them you were talking with Sluggy. He always vouches for people he likes, whether or not he was with them. And he likes you. That's why he stuck you with me. 'Night."

And he walked through the stone into his dorm. leaving me to wonder what the hell just happened. I walked back up to my dorm, and to my luck wasn't stopped. As I prepared for bed, Crooks at my heels, I wondered how I was going to make this new friendship work. Especially because I could still smell apples and pine and my heart wouldn't slow down.

A/N: So, Hermione's catching feelings and Draco isn't as bad as she thought. I promise, there'll be more drama coming soon. Thanks for reading! Tay <3