Untouched

Chapter 3: A Mistake In The Making

The next morning, Hermione woke up grumpy; she had very little sleep due to several nightmares, all featuring none but Draco Malfoy. This mission is going to be the death of her, she thought grimly. When she finally decided to leaver her room, it was only because her stomach was rumbling so loud she couldn't ignore it anymore. She almost closed the door again instantly when she opened it to find Malfoy standing in front of her.

"I thought you were never coming out." he said, stepping closer, he was standing so close now, it was suffocating her.

"How long have you been here?" Hermione asked, her brows furrowed.

"Not long, an hour or two, but it was worthwhile." he smiled at her then bent his head down kissing her briefly before pulling back and taking her hand. "I'm starving, let's go eat before we miss breakfast."

Hermione was so reluctant to move that she actually let him drag her to the great hall, she was horrified at the idea of anybody seeing her enter the hall with Malfoy. She wanted to tug her hand free and run away in the opposite direction, hide in her room and never come out until the three remaining days were over. Only three days! Hermione thought, one day had already passed and she knew nothing about what Malfoy was hiding, by the end of today half of the mission's period will be over and she'll only have two other days. What if she was never able to extract the information from him? Taking up this mission was bad enough but failing at it would be too much for her to handle...all this for nothing!

She raised her chin up as if secretly accepting a challenge,. When they finally sat at the table and breakfast was served, she looked up at Malfoy who was smiling at her and she smiled sweetly. Taking the piece of toast he held from his hand, she said "Let me help you with this." then she started spreading raspberry jam on it. He took the toast eagerly from her hand when she offered it, intentionally letting his fingers brush her hand when he did.

"I don't think bread and jam ever tasted so good!" he marveled.

Hermione who was helping herself to a second serving of french toast, almost grimaced at him but she held back.

"Well, I've noticed you haven't been eating much lately, you look so tired, as if something is stressing you." she remarked trying to sound as incurious as possible.

"That's because something is stressing me_" he confirmed "_but if you make a habit out of sharing my meals I think I would eat more often." he added.

Hermione tried to produce her most genuine smile before saying "Maybe I can help with more than just food, whatever it is that's stressing you I'm sure I can offer some advice." she suggested

"I don't think anybody could help me out with that, but I really appreciate your willingness to help_" he reached for her hand raised it to his mouth and kissed it lightly before putting it back on the table "_thank you." he whispered.

He stood up abruptly and Hermione was taken aback by the sudden movement "Come with me." he said enthusiastically almost running down the halls, he was heading to the dungeons, Hermione realized. He finally stood in front of one of the rooms and opened the door for her, inviting her in. She looked at him as he held the door patiently, looking at her. Hesitating for a while, she finally gave in and entered the room.

He can't add more Slytherin to this room even if he tried, Hermione thought, green and silver dominated almost every corner in the room, but aside than that, the room was very uncharacterized. There were no pictures of his family, no books scattered here and there, not even a picture of his favorite Quidditch team, there was nothing personal about this room.
He left her side and walked to open a box that lied in the corner of the room, turning around he held a big rectangular parcel. He gave it to her and she just looked at him blankly.

"Open it" he urged.

Out of sheer curiosity, Hermione did. Beneath the wraps was a book: Alchemy, Ancient Art and Science by Argo Pyrites. Her eyes widened, she had actually wanted to read that book, but never had the time to buy it, how did he know?

"It looked like something you would read" he said, breaking the silence.

"It is...thank you." Hermione muttered

"I'm glad you liked it." he beamed at her, sighing with relief. He was worried she wouldn't like the book! Hermione mused.
Sitting down, she opened the book and skimmed through its pages, it was only when he sat next to her that she realized she had actually sat on the bed. Jumping away from it abruptly, she earned herself a puzzled look from Malfoy.

"Let's get out, I need some fresh air" she said, putting the book on the bed before walking to the door followed by Malfoy.

Hermione thought that making him walk the grounds of Hogwarts with her would eventually tire him and he would retire to his room, but there was no such luck, she was drained of all her energy before he showed any signs of exhaustion or boredom. It was dark when they finally went back to the great hall for dinner, it disturbed Hermione that she didn't keep track of time. But Malfoy was actually amusing, she brooded.

"Aren't you tired of all the walking?" Hermione asked in despair.

"Not at all, walking with you takes my mind off things." he replied.

"What things?"

"They're not important."

Hermione was furious at him, every time she tried to push him for answers he would give her that same hollow answer, it was frustrating her, and she decided that simply asking him wasn't enough, she had to push further, she had to approach this smartly.

"Draco, you don't love me!" she yelled at him suddenly

"Of course I do!" he frowned at her, not understanding where this was coming from.

"If you did, you would trust me, but you don't. Every time I ask you what's worrying you, you give me pointless answers, fake ones. If the person who pretends to love me can't even trust me then how is that supposed to make me feel?" Hermione fumed at him and before he could answer she turned around and left in the fastest pace she had, she could her him calling after her but she ignored him. If that didn't provoke him to tell her what he's planning then nothing will.

Hermione waited anxiously in her room, he will be knocking that door at any minute now, she thought. But her wait wasn't over soon, Malfoy never showed up and it aggravated her, so she decided to push him even further. Making her way through the dungeons, she took a deep breath before knocking the now familiar door.

"Hermione!" Draco exclaimed as he opened the door, surprised to see her.

She looked at him in horror, he was standing there holding the door with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair was dripping water everywhere.

"Come in" he invited, interrupting her thoughts.

"No." she said strongly, her voice too loud even to her own ears.

"I came to take the book; I left it here earlier." she spoke, raising her chin up defiantly.

"Yes you did, it's over there" he nodded at the desk that lied at the end of the room

Her eyes traveled between the book and the boy in front of her then she finally walked in, went to take the book and then turned around to leave. But when she did, she found Malfoy standing in front of the now closed door, looking directly at her, and she knew she had made a huge mistake when she left her room.