Ch. 29

Hermione reluctantly got out of the shower after what felt like hours and she changed into a long black jumper and grey leggings. She decided to leave her hair down but air dried it with her wand, before looking at the clock and groaning. They had missed the entire day by sleeping in Draco's bed, and dinner was starting soon. She made a mental note to never take a Sleeping Draught during the week again as she left her room, finding Draco on the couch working on his homework.

He looked up at her as she came down the stairs, gesturing towards a glass of wine that he had poured for her when he heard the shower turn off. "We should probably talk about what happened."

She nodded in agreement as she took the glass and sat down on the couch next to him, turning so that she was facing him with her knees pulled up to her chest. There was a few moments of silence before she asked, "Is that going to happen every time we do that?"

Draco ran a hand through his hair and leaned back against the couch, draping an arm along the back as he looked at her. "I'm not sure. It very well might."

"What happened there?" She asked, taking a drink.

"Well," He bit his lip. "I, uh...my Veela got a bit excited, I guess you could say."

Hermione blushed as she took another drink. He grinned at her cheeks turning red and asked, "I take it you and Weasley never got very far?"

Shaking her head, she replied, "No, we didn't last long enough to get very far. We ended things right as summer started before I went to Australia."

He nodded in response and took a drink of his firewhiskey. "Hermione, I'm not going to push you to do anything you don't want to do, and I know you are most likely not ready to do anything like that."

She stayed quiet for a moment, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she thought about what to say. He watched her quietly, chuckling inwardly at the different emotions she was giving off. There was the frustration and longing battling each other, with guilt and frustration lingering in the background. Everything that she was feeling earlier. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, making him wonder exactly what she was thinking. He didn't have to wait long to find out though as she finally spoke.

"Well," She started slowly, avoiding his eyes. "I may honestly have been more ready than I thought."

He stared at her, his mouth hanging open. She was blushing slightly at this, avoiding his eyes as she continued. "I mean about the whole marking thing, not necessarily the mating part yet."

"No, no, no, I understand," He said quickly, setting down his glass and turning more to face her. "So...you're saying you're ready for me to mark you?"

"Well not right now, no," She said. "Earlier though, after that whole incident, I realized that I wouldn't have minded if you had gone on to mark me. Which, to be honest, is a very terrifying thought for me. I mean, we aren't even technically dating yet, even though we don't necessarily need to considering the fact that I've accepted that I'm going to be with you for the rest of my life and I've come to really care for you. I've never really gone into a situation without thinking about it heavily first so having these realizations is a new thing for me. And the fact that this is progressing somewhat quickly is still a little nerve-wracking for me. But like I said, I've come to terms with the fact that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together; I'm trying to come to terms also with the fact that you're going to mark me and that might possibly lead to us having sex right after; that part is just slightly more difficult to get used to."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "So you're able to accept that we will be together for the rest of our lives, but haven't accepted that I'm going to mark you and then most likely take you?"

Her nose scrunched up at that. "Well when you put it that way, it sounds insensitive. I've had more time to process that we'll be together for the rest of our lives. I've only just learned about the rest of it recently, as did you. You're alright with the fact that we're going to be so hopped up on hormones that we'll most likely finish the rest of the process in one night?"

"Why do you keep calling it a process?" He asked in a slightly annoyed tone. "You make it sound so scientific. It's just sex, Hermione."

"It's not just sex, it's the fact that I'm going to have your mark on me and you'll be claiming me!" She argued.

"I'm not claiming you," He said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm trying to make this as natural as possible to make you comfortable with it, but it's difficult to do that when you keep making it seem like it's unnatural."

"You would be claiming me, that's the entire point of the marking and mating! Your Veela making sure everyone else knows that I'm off limits! That I'm yours!" She didn't understand how this had turned into an argument, but she wasn't sure how he could just be so casual about the subject. "I understand you want it to be natural, Draco, but because you're a Veela, this isn't going to be the regular kind of natural. This is the process that's natural for your Veela, not for a regular relationship."

"Why do you think of it like that?" He exclaimed. "Why can't it be two people being in a regular relationship together, doing what people in a relationship do while one of us just happens to be a Veela? Why do you have to turn everything into such a big deal, like it's going to majorly affect your life?"

"Because it going to majorly affect my life!" She said with a raised voice. "It's majorly affected my life already! I didn't get a choice in this!"

"You did have a choice, Hermione," He said angrily, gesturing to her. "You didn't have to accept me!"

"And just let you die?" She scoffed. "Yeah, that's one hell of an easy choice, Draco!"

"So what, you only accepted me so you wouldn't feel guilty?" He stood up, anger surging through his veins. "So you wouldn't feel bad about having blood on your hands?"

She stood up as well, gaping at him. "No! I couldn't just let you die like that!"

"So I was just a charity case for you," He huffed angrily. "How sweet, Hermione Granger being with someone so she can make sure they don't die. I greatly appreciate it you saving my life."

"Dammit, you prat, I did it because I love you!"

They both froze, staring at each other. Any anger he had left him completely and it was immediately overtaken by guilt. She angrily wiped away a few tears that had escaped, turning away from him and walking back towards her room.

"Hermione, wait!"

She ignored him, slamming her bedroom door behind her and leaving him alone in the common room. He stood frozen in place, staring at her door and waiting to see if she would come out again. But she didn't, and he continued to stare at her door, not even flinching when he heard the portrait open from behind him.

Ginny and Blaise entered the dorm, both immediately falling silent when they noticed Draco standing next to the couch, facing away from them.

"Uh," He heard Blaise start. "Mate, you alright?"

Draco looked back at him before turning back to look at Hermione's door, not answering. Ginny gave Blaise a confused look before walking up to Draco.

"Did something happen with Hermione?" She asked quietly.

He nodded slightly, looking down at the floor. "She's right; I am a prat."

Ginny gave Blaise another look before walking up the stairs to Hermione's door, knocking on it gently. "'Mione? It's Ginny. Can I come in?"

The door opened and Ginny disappeared behind it, leaving the two boys alone. Blaise appeared next to Draco and put a hand on his shoulder as he gave the blond a concerned look. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Draco sighed and turned his head towards Blaise, still looking at the floor as he leaned against the couch and put his hands in his pockets. "She said she loves me."

"That's good!" Blaise gave him a surprised look and when Draco didn't respond, Blaise slowly asked, "Right?"

Draco sighed and straightened up. "She said it angrily so I'm not sure. Let's go talk in your dorm. I want to give them some privacy."

Ginny sat on the bed, watching Hermione as she explained everything that had happened that day, including the events in the bedroom. When she was done, she sighed and wiped away a few stray tears that were leftover from the argument.

"And now he thinks I only accepted him to save his life," Hermione said sadly. "I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix this. I don't even know how it turned into an argument, and now I feel like I'm going to lose him."

"But you said you love him," Ginny countered. "You told him that you accepted him because you love him; were you telling the truth?"

Hermione thought about it for a few moments before nodding. "I do love him. It's such a short amount of time though, I didn't even realize I love him until then, but I really do."

"And everything's been good between you two," Ginny said reassuringly. "It's natural to fall in love when you're that happy with someone."

The brunette thought about it quietly, staring down at her hands. "I suppose. He was right though; I do make everything into a scientific process. I don't know how not to. I'm just a logic-driven person, not an emotion-driven person. This entire situation has turned my life upside down. I would have never accepted the fact that I was going to spend the rest of my life with someone as quickly as I have with Draco. It's terrifying to me, but at the same time, I'm happy. I'm happy thinking about a future with Draco. I was even willing to let him mark me earlier."

Ginny's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

Hermione nodded. "I wasn't ready for the next part after, but with everything happening I just got caught up in the moment, and after it all ended, I realized that I wanted it to go on."

Ginny stared at her friend as she wiped away a few tears and sighed, looking at the door. "I don't even what to know what he's thinking about right now. It can't be good things. You should have heard how angry he got, Gin."

While Hermione wiped away more tears, Ginny glared at the door, forming a plan in her head.