Ch. 8

Hermione said her goodbyes to everyone and stumbled out of the portrait hole, chastising herself for finishing that drink that Ginny had given her. It had much more vodka in it than her first drink. But she only had two, so she thought she was alright.

The walk to her dorm was longer than usual, though it could be because she was walking much slower, and with her eyes slightly out of focus she was having issues walking straight.

She could hear the screaming before she turned the corner. She panicked slightly, pulling out her wand and peeking her head around the corner to see someone standing at her portrait door, yelling profanities at an empty portrait.

Rolling her eyes as she recognized the voice, she put her wand in her back pocket and straightened up, trying to sober up a bit before turning the corner and making her way to her dorm.

"Pansy," She started coolly. "May I ask why you are outside the Head Dorm past curfew?"

Pansy glared at her. "Well if you know, Granger, I'm here to see Draco. But your bloody portrait hole won't let me in!"

A touch of jealousy ran through her but she pushed it away. "Go back to your dorm, Pansy. It's late, and I'm sure Draco is probably asleep."

"Don't tell me what to do, Mudblood!" Pansy sneered. "Just because you don't have a boyfriend and never will doesn't mean you should prevent me from seeing mine!"

"Reverting back to name-calling, are we?" Hermione said angrily. "Five points from Slytherin."

"How dare you!" Pansy shrieked, pulling out her wand. "I should hex you right here! How dare you think you are above me!"

"Seeing as I'm Head Girl, Parkinson, I above you," Hermione smirked. "Ten more points from Slytherin for threatening the Head Girl."

The portrait hole suddenly swung open and Draco looked between the two of them before growling at Pansy. "Pansy, leave."

"But Draco, I was just wanting to see you!" She immediately dropped her wand to her side and batted her eyelashes at him, giving him what she must have thought to be her sweetest, flirty smile. "And this Mudblood here was preventing me! Now come on, love, let me in so we can spend some time together!"

Hermione felt another pang of jealousy shoot through her, but she looked at Draco and immediately saw the anger in his eyes. As she took a step backwards from fear, Draco suddenly looked at her as she did and he seemed to calm down, taking in a deep breath before rounding on Pansy. "Do not call Hermione that ever again. And I have told you, on more than one occasion, that I am not interested in you. Now go back to your dorm before I tell the headmistress you were out after curfew."

Pansy looked taken aback, but she turned away after giving Hermione a glare and stalked down the corridor.

Hermione knew Draco was looking at her before she even turned back to him. They silently looked at each other for a few moments before Draco moved slightly away from the portrait hole for Hermione to get through.

She tried to hide the fact that she had been drinking, but as she stepped through the portrait hole, her foot caught on the bottom frame and she went flying forward. She prepared herself to hit the ground but instead she found herself landing against Draco's chest, his arms wrapping around her and preventing her from landing on the floor. Her hands were on his chest, and even though she should have felt trapped, she felt...safe.

He slowly helped her straighten up but didn't remove his arms when she was properly on her feet again. He felt his Veela practically soar when he felt comfort radiating off of her, knowing that he was the cause of it. This made him happy, the happiest he had been in a while, and he couldn't hide the smile it gave him.

"Falling for me, are you?" He joked.

She scoffed but felt herself turn red. "In your dreams, Malfoy."

He only grinned more. Then he caught a whiff of her scent. It was intoxicating but there was something else mixed into it. He fought the urge to pull her closer and figure it out, but instead he leaned in and took a deep breath. "Have you been drinking, Hermione?"

She frowned and pushed against his chest slightly. He loosened his hold a little bit, enough for her to drop her arms but he still had his around her, dropping them to her waist. She looked down at his arms and then back up at him, and he could tell that she was feeling conflicted about it.

"It was a Gryffindor party," She said. "Everyone drinks at those."

"You had vodka?"

She frowned again. "How did you know?"

He shrugged, giving her a small smile. "I know what it smells like."

Giving him a skeptical look, she stepped away and out of his arms, almost regretting it instantly but ignoring that feeling as she pushed past him. "You better not let your little girlfriend catch you holding me like that.

"Are you jealous, Hermione?"

She stopped and looked back at him. "What on earth gave you that idea?"

He was smirking, his hands in his pockets as he slowly walked towards her. "Because I'm fairly certain that Pansy Parkinson is not and never will be my girlfriend."

He stopped in front of her and she raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest as she shifted her weight to one leg, almost losing her balance before catching it again. "Then what was that display at the Black Lake the other day?"

"Were you watching me?" He grinned at her, and when she didn't respond, Draco could help but laugh. "You jealous!"

He could tell he was annoying her but he couldn't help it. She was cute was she was jealous. And he knew that in order to be jealous, she had to have feelings for him.

"I am not jealous!" She argued loudly.

He shook his head, smiling at her. "Keep telling yourself that, dear."

"Dear?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" He replied. "You don't like it?"

"I've never really been one for terms of endearments," She said in as much of a matter-of-factly tone as she could manage.

She could slowly feel the vodka hitting her harder, and figured it would probably be a better idea to leave the conversation. But at the same time, she was enjoying arguing with him. Harry and Ron never really gave her much to work with as far as banter. Malfoy...Draco could at least keep up with her. But of course, she was impaired right now so she couldn't argue as well as she normally could.

Draco found it amusing that she was trying so hard to fight her feelings right now. But he knew that progress was being made, and that made him and his Veela happy. Especially since this was the longest amount of time he had been able to talk to her in a few days. It was like breathing in fresh air after staying inside the same, stuffy room for a week straight.

And he knew she didn't necessarily want to leave. If she really did, she would have. So he decided to play a little more.

"Well I guess then I'll have to play around and find one that you like," He said, teasing her.

"Good luck with that, Malfoy," She replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed."

She twirled around and nearly fell over, catching herself against the wall with an arm while Draco rushed over to her. He simply laughed at her and put an arm around her waist while saying, "You should probably have some help; if the portrait hole tripped you up, I can only image what the stairs will do to you."

Hermione tried to wave him off but he only held her waist tighter, and she found her arm snaking around his back for support as she sighed in defeat. He loved feeling her arm around him and wanted to hold her closer, but at the same time he didn't want to test his boundaries.

She stumbled a little more before Draco made a quick decision and leaned down, putting his other arm under her knees and sweeping her up. He expected her to fight it, but she simply giggled and patted his chest.

"Look at you being a gentleman!" She said sarcastically. "I could walk up the stairs on my own!"

"I highly doubt that," He laughed as he slowly carried her up with ease. His Veela side made him stronger, but he assumed even without being a Veela that she wouldn't have been difficult to carry in the first place. "You stumbled walking on flat tile."

"You know," She said quietly, resting her head on his chest, "This makes me almost want to forgive you for blasting my bathroom door open."

He nearly froze when he felt her rest fully against him, his chest swelling with happiness. "Oh really? I'm forgiven?"

"I did say almost, Malfoy; don't get too excited."

They reached her door and he realized he didn't know the password to it. "Hermione, what's your password?"

"Hmm?" She slowly lifted her head, already starting to fall asleep against him. "But you're here."

"Yes, but you need to go to bed," He said, shaking his head at her. "Just change the password tomorrow; I won't abuse it."

She huffed and looked at the door, slurring, "Bouillabaisse."

The door swung open and he muttered, "Yeah, I would have never have guessed that."

"Oh hush, Malfoy," She scoffed, laying her head back on his chest and closing her eyes.

"I thought I told you to call me by my first name," He said quietly, walking her over to her bed. He was trying to walk as slowly as possible to put off having to release her from his arms.

She mumbled something incoherent before quietly saying, "After you've explained yourself."

He smiled slightly. "We can talk tomorrow when you've recovered."

She mumbled again, nuzzling her head against his chest slightly. He sighed, stopping at the foot of her bed and holding her closer. He knew she had fallen asleep already, and he was more than willing to stand there the entire night, holding her close while she slept.

But he knew he couldn't, and it pained him. He sighed, kissing her forehead and gently laying her down on the bed, pulling the covers over her. She looked so peaceful as she slept, and he moved a piece of hair that had fallen across her face.

He had to pull himself away, pausing again at her door and looking back at his mate, smiling at her. "Goodnight, Hermione."