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Whispers In The Dark	By : articcat621 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 9629 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Thanks to AnnHarrisForever for betaing this! Seriously, I appreciate all the reviews, favoritings, and alerts! You all help feed my picky muse, and I love it! So thank you all! Now on with the show!

Chapter 7
Hermione felt something wet on her face. Still feeling very sleepy, she wiped the wetness away. She shifted in her sleep, rolling onto her side.
Moments later, she felt the wetness again.
"What the…" she grumbled, opening her eyes. Immediately they protested at the amount of light in the room, she must have forgotten to shut the curtains to the balcony.
She found a big ball of orange fur inches away from her face.
"Crooks?" she asked sleepily.
He meowed in response, moving forward to lick her again.
"Crooks, stop," she said, pushing the half-kneazle away. "You never lick me, so what's going on?" she asked, knowing that he couldn't respond to her. She reached down, scratching him behind his ears. He purred, rubbing himself against her stomach.
Grabbing her wand off her nightstand, she cast a tempus charm. "Eleven in the morning, erm, I guess I did sleep in." Bending down, she kissed Crookshanks' squashed face. "Thanks for waking me up."
Crookshanks meowed in response.
Sitting up, Hermione swung her feet over the side of the bed. The rest of the students would be arriving today. Her heart thumped nervously in her chest. She was anxious to see everyone.
The last week had been torture. After hearing from Professor Dumbledore about her need to consummate the bond with Draco, she couldn't get the blonde out of her mind. In a way it was an inconvenience to her. She'd be sitting there, reading a book, when a naked image of him would just pop in her head. She cursed herself, especially because she didn't even know what Draco looked like naked!
But now that the day was here, Hermione was nervous. All this time, she had thought of Draco in a positive light… but what if he wasn't? What if he returned to her as a pompous git? What if she had imagined all the niceness? She liked to think that since she was going to be his wife, that he'd be somewhat nice to her.
She groaned. "Too early for all these thoughts," she mumbled.
Standing up, she grabbed her grey silk robe and slid it on. Draco had a matching one, but she had left it draped over a chair. They were a wedding gift from Tonks.
Hermione made her way towards the balcony. She still didn't even know how her room had one, seeing as she'd never seen one anywhere else in the castle. But then again, she had never been in any of the Professor's private chambers, apart from Minerva's and even then she had only been in her living room.
Their room was on the east side of the castle, on the seventh floor. It was an abandoned area though, and no one would know it was there unless they knew what they were looking for. The balcony over looked the Black Lake and part of the grounds. Every once in a while, Hermione would see the giant squid appear, often to just lie near the surface.
"Dinky?" Hermione called out, still not being used to having a personal house-elf.
A small house elf appeared moments later. She looked at Hermione happily, her large ears bent. "Yes, Mistress Malfoy?"
Hermione blushed. She still wasn't used to her title, it just seemed so unreal. "Dinky, since I've missed breakfast, would you mind getting me something to eat? Just something small."
Dinky nodded. "Of course, Mistress." The house-elf disappeared, only to reappear moments later with a tray of food. She placed it on the table before turning to face Hermione. "Anything else?"
"No, thank you, Dinky," Hermione said with a smile.
Dinky nodded before disappearing with a pop.
Hermione sat at the table, bringing her legs up and tucking them underneath her. Dinky had brought her some tea, toast, and fruit. She smiled; those were her favorites. Pouring some sugar into her tea, she stirred it. Taking a bit of toast, she was surprised to find orange marmalade on it; Dinky always surprised her with different kinds.
After popping a few grapes into her mouth and finishing her toast, Hermione found that she was full. Glancing at the clock she realized everyone would already be on the Hogwarts Express and on their way here.
She couldn't shake the feeling of nervousness. Maybe taking a shower would help her feel better.

Hours later, Hermione found herself nervously sitting in the Great Hall. Most of the teachers were already seated up at the High Table.
A hand touched her shoulder. Turning, she saw Minerva smiling at her.
"I've never been more proud of one of my own," she said, her voice thick with emotion.
Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes. Immediately, she reached up and brushed them away.
"Thank you, Professor."
Minerva beamed. "This year will be difficult, but I'm confident you will get through it. Come to me with anything, whether its problems with your friends or Draco. You can always confide in me."
"Thank you so much, Professor. I appreciate everything you've done for me."
"The students have arrived," Nearly-Headless Nick announced.
"Well, time to gather the first years," Minerva said with a huff. "Good luck dear," she said, bending down to kiss the top of Hermione's head.
She watched affectionately as Minerva walked away, in full professor mode. The two of them had become incredibly close during the summer, and Hermione had come to think of her as a mother figure.
Any moment now, the students would enter the Great Hall and take their seats.
Hermione fidgeted in anticipation.
The large doors of the Great Hall swung open and the students began to file in. She began to scan the crowd.
Imagine her surprise when she realized it wasn't Harry or Ron she was searching for, but Draco. Her eyes had drifted towards the Slytherin side of the room, looking for her husband.
She pursed her lips together, trying to muffle her happiness when she saw him in one piece. He was one of the last to sit at his table, next to Blaise and Pansy. Leaning over, he whispered something in their ears, causing them to laugh.
His grey eyes flicked upwards and met hers.
She released the breath she didn't know she had been holding.
He smiled at her briefly, before turning away.
Hermione's heart thudded in her chest. That one look was enough, enough to know that he was all right.
Suddenly, she felt someone knock into her, hugging her tightly.
Turning, she saw Ginny and Ron both hugging her.
"Can't… breathe…" she murmured.
They both released their hold on her.
"Hermione, are you okay? Dad didn't really say much, only that you had to stay at the castle," Ginny said, sitting next to Hermione.
"Oh, well it's actually a really long story, but I'm fine… everything's fine," she replied with a reassuring smile.
"Missed you, Mione," Ron said, sitting on her other side, wrapping his arm around her.
She shrugged her shoulders out of his embrace. "I missed you too. Sorry I didn't write, I've just been so busy."
"Summertime access to the library?" Ginny asked, arching her eyebrows.
Hermione blushed, causing Ginny to laugh.
Looking around, she realized that someone was missing. Scrunching up her face, she turned to the others. "Where's Harry?"
Ron shrugged, watching as the sorting began.
"Ron?" she asked, looking at him incredulously.
"What? I don't know. I'm sure he'll show up."
Hermione shook her head in disbelief. How could he not even care that Harry was missing? Especially with what had happened a few months ago!
She watched as the sorting went on, her eyes drifting towards Draco every so often. He didn't meet her gaze but she didn't really expect him to.
The sorting finished and everyone began to put food on their plates. Hermione, however, was too nervous to eat. Harry still hadn't shown up.
"How can you possibly be eating when your best friend is missing?" she snapped at Ron, crossing her arms.
He mumbled something incoherently.
She glared at him.
The doors to the Great Hall opened and Harry shuffled inside, immediately making his way towards them.
Hermione's eyes widened in horror when she saw he was covered in blood.
He sat between Ron and Hermione, ignoring their looks.
"What have you done to your face?" Ron asked, goggling at him like everyone else in the Hall.
"Why, what's wrong?"
"Harry, you're covered in blood!" Hermione said. She pulled out her wand, saying "Tergeo!" siphoning off the dried blood.
"What happened?" Ron asked again.
Harry shifted uncomfortably. Leaning forward, he told them in hurried whispers about eavesdropping on Malfoy while on the train.
Hermione bit her lip when Harry told them how Draco had punched him.
"He's a Death Eater," Harry finished.
She shook her head. "No, that's not true Harry, he's too young."
Harry snorted. He opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off.
"End of discussion, there's too many people around right now to talk about this," Hermione snapped. Her eyes flicked towards her husband, who was talking animatedly to some other Slytherin.
Harry grumbled under his breath before telling them how he had met the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.
Professor Dumbledore introduced him moments later, but as the Potions professor. It seemed Professor Snape would finally secure the Defense position as he'd always wanted.
Good for him, Hermione thought to herself.
The feast finished and everyone was getting ready to make their way towards Gryffindor Tower. But once they reached the seventh floor, Hermione discretely pulled Harry, Ron, and Ginny aside.
"I'm not staying in the Tower this year," she said, biting her lip.
"Why?" Ron asked, a bit too loudly.
"Because… well… I can't tell you… at least not yet. But umm… it has something to do with the War."
"Dumbledore gave you a mission?" Harry asked sharply.
She nodded. "Yes, I suppose so. I just can't tell you three what it is yet… please don't be mad at me," she added when she saw Ron's face turning red.
"That's okay, Hermione. You can tell us when you're ready," Ginny said, moving forward to give her a quick hug.
"Thanks, Ginny," Hermione said, hugging her back. "I'll see you two in the morning, okay?"
"Can we see where your room is?" Harry asked, looking around.
"Not tonight, I'm just too tired. Okay?"
The two boys nodded.
"Right, see you in the morning."
She waited until the three of them were out of sight before slipping down the corridor. Arriving at the portrait of Persephone, she whispered the password, "Fortunatus."
Slipping inside, she saw Draco had already shrugged off his outer robes. He was wearing a crisp white shirt and black slacks.
They stared at each other awkwardly. It had been so long since they've seen each other, everything just felt so strange.
"Hello," Draco said softly.
Hermione snorted. "I don't know whether to hit you or kiss you."
Draco let out a small laugh. "I choose option B."
"Mmmm, don't think so," she murmured, quickly crossing the room. Before he could do anything, she reached up and slapped him across the face. "That's for breaking Harry's nose, you idiot!"
"Hermione," he said, grasping her wrist as she went to hit him again.
Her other hand came up, hitting his chest. "That's for not even sending me a single letter!"
She hit him again.
"That's for putting me in this position."
Again.
"That's for being too cozy with Parkinson at dinner."
By now, the tears were flowing down her face. She continued to hit him, but with much less effort this time.
Draco sat on the bed, pulling her into his arms. "Hey, it's okay," he whispered, pressing soft kisses to her forehead.
"I thought you were dead!" she sobbed. "I had no idea what you were doing or where you were… and this stupid bond made me so worried. I just… Draco, I don't even know how to feel."
He let her cry for a few more minutes before tilting her head back. Gently, he wiped away her tears. "I'm sorry, Hermione, I wanted to write to you, but I was sure my owls were being intercepted."
"He doesn't trust you?" Hermione asked, sniffling.
Draco smirked, shaking his head. "He doesn't trust anyone."
"Dumbledore told me you were given a mission," she began.
His expression turned cold. "We're not discussing that… not now, not ever." Cupping her cheek, he brushed a kiss against her lips.
Hermione mentally sighed, enjoying the contact that she had been missing. Almost immediately she could feel her hormones calming down. Draco was alive… he was safe. That's all that mattered, wasn't it?
She opened her mouth to speak, but he shook his head. "Why don't we get some sleep, okay? I'm tired, and I'm sure you are too."
Hermione nodded.
The two of them got ready before making getting into the bed. "You know, we should probably-" she began, her cheeks turning pink.
"Yes, we should, but not tonight." Draco climbed in, lifting the duvet for her.
She slid in next to him, feeling awkward. Should they cuddle? Sleep away from each other? She wasn't sure what the proper protocol for something like this was.
"Just go to sleep," he murmured, kissing her curls. He turned away from her, curling up into his side of the bed.
Hermione inhaled and exhaled deeply, before allowing herself to fall asleep as well.
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Whispers In The Dark