Fic; Beneath Your Window; Chapter 9//The Date
Title: Beneath Your Window
Summary: Hermione's life is turned upside down and she figures that the best solution is to run away from it all. What will happen when she realises that she's not the only one running from life?
Characters/Pairings: Draco/Hermione, Harry/Ginny makes an appearance
Genre: Romance/humour
Rating/Warnings: PG-13. Some swearing and mentions of sex, but not much else.
Word Count: 3115
Chapter 1//The End
Chapter 2//The Decision
Chapter 3//The Meeting
Chapter 4//The Neighbour
Chapter 5//The Check-up
Chapter 6//The Mistake
Chapter 7//The Terms
Chapter 8//The Talk
Chapter 9 // The Date
Hermione Granger was getting ready for a date. She had made a tasty, yet simple dinner. She was wearing her best jeans and her hair was satisfactorily tamed. As time crept closer, she took a seat by the small wooden table facing her living room window. Her dinner was placed delicately in front of her, the omnioculars resting right next to her glass of water. She brought the fork up to her lips and gingerly closed her lips around it, waiting patiently for the date. Draco Malfoy and Lola’s date.
It wasn’t that she really cared. No, she just couldn’t stand the thought of her friend lowering himself to such standards. Why should a reasonably intelligent, charming and understanding man settle for someone who could offer nothing but good looks? Not that she even knew Lola, of course, but she knew the type. And when she saw the younger girl stride up the pathway on long, tan legs her thoughts were immediately confirmed.
When he came to open the door and Lola greeted him with a wide smile, her eyes were focused on them unblinkingly, hungrily devouring every detail of the scene in front of her. They disappeared from sight once he let her in the door, and she chewed furiously on her dinner, reaching for the omnioculars. She rose them to her eyes, pressing down the small flutter of guilt racing through her.
She wasn’t a stalker, she was just concerned. Maybe it wasn’t quite the right way to go about things, but she did tend to have some rather creative solutions for certain problems. Always quite inside the boundaries of rules, but creative nonetheless. At least this way she could save him if the date turned disastrous. What if Lola was a spy sent from Harry who had accidentally found out about him being her neighbour? Alright, now her excuses were getting ridiculous. The point was; She wasn’t a stalker. She was just a concerned and caring friend.
Through the omnioculars she had a prefect view of the two love birds standing in his living room. She immediately regretted not installing a bug, as she could see them talk, but couldn’t make out a single word. She would definitely have to learn to read lips if he was going to keep this dating game up. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Lola step towards the comfortable chairs by the fire, and her mind quickly revisited the night she had been seated in that very chair pouring her heart out. She ignored the twinge it caused, and concentrated on the elegant movements of that damn perfect blonde.
Why did Miranda always have to be right? They did look amazing together, and it infuriated her even further. Who was this girl to just march in and look like she was made to be with him? Not that Hermione cared, obviously. It was just slightly annoying, that’s all. She clutched harder onto her omnioculars as she watched the date progressing. The two were soon seated for dinner, a meal Hermione knew for a fact he had made himself. She watched them keep light conversation, talking easily back and forth. It seemed to be going disturbingly well. When he actually laughed merrily at something Lola said, Hermione knew she could no longer follow the date with the pretence of saving him if it went wrong.
With a small sigh, she put the omnioculars down on the table, before grabbing her now empty plates. She rose and turned her back to the view to his house as she headed into the kitchen with the dirty dishes. They were dropped unceremoniously into the kitchen sink and she sunk against it, suppressing the depressing thoughts threatening to make themselves known. She glanced over to her kitchen door where the photograph of her hung, slightly leaning to the right.
She didn’t like the way her thoughts were heading, so she pushed away from the kitchen counter and headed into the living room, making a conscious effort not to look out the window. Okay, so she had hoped the date would be a fiasco, and she tried to block out the fact that it obviously wasn’t. She walked restlessly back and forth in the living room, trying to force herself to think and feel as little as possible. She had a distinct feeling she would not like what her thoughts could tell her.
After pacing aimlessly for ages, she relented and fell to the floor in front of the fireplace. She took a small portion of the little floo powder she had and tossed it into the flames with a slightly annoyed flick of her hand.
“Hey, Gin,” she greeted, and almost flinched at how dull and unenthusiastic her words sounded.
“Uh oh,” the redhead retorted, slipping down from the couch she had been inhabiting.
Hermione narrowed her eyes. “Uh oh, what?”
“I know that look.”
“I’m not wearing a look,” she replied indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest even if Ginny couldn’t see it.
Ginny didn’t reply, but her challengingly raised eyebrow spoke volumes.
“Oh okay. I admit it,” Hermione sighed. “I’m wearing my ‘I-have-to-talk-to-my-annoying-bestfriend Who-thinks-she-has-me-completely-figured-out-even-if-
she’s-not-even-close’-look”
The girl just snorted and shook her head.
“I know your ‘boy-trouble’ look from miles away, my dear,” she said, making herself comfortable on the floor. “What did Ron do now?”
“Ron hasn’t done anything,” she answered truthfully, and only realised her mistake a second too late.
Ginny’s eyes widened and a beaming smile spread across her face.
“Oh Great Merlin! You’ve found someone new!”
Oh bugger.
“I haven’t found anyone,” she replied, a slight surge of panic making itself evident.
“Don’t you try to lie to me, Hermione,” the redhead threatened, crossing her arms angrily beneath her chest.
“Look, I’m not lying. I met this guy, but he’s just my neighbour. And we’re friends, but that’s all.”
Ginny huffed. “Your disheartened look states otherwise.”
“I’m not disheartened, you annoying little know-it-all.”
Ginny gave a barking laugh at this, and the irony wasn’t lost on Hermione either.
“There isn’t anything going on between us,” she said with force. “In fact, he’s on a date right now.”
“Aha!” the youngest Weasley cried, raising her hand above her head. “I knew there was something up.”
Hermione found herself blushing slightly, to her own horror and frustration.
“The new object of your affections is on a date with another women. That is a tricky one,” she commented, her slender finger tapping her chin repeatedly. “But I suppose the solution is quite simple after all.”
Hermione wasn’t sure if she wanted to know or not. This was entirely ridiculous.
”You need to snatch him for yourself before he gets serious with the other bitch.”
”Ginny,” Hermione complained, groaning in frustration at the entire ordeal.
“Snatch who before he get serious with who?” a familiar voice questioned.
“Oh, Hermione’s found a new guy,” Ginny explained before turning around to beam at Harry, who had appeared in the doorway.
“That’s great,” he grinned, moving from his place by the door.
“Well, he’s on a date with this other girl,” his girlfriend said in a hushed voice.
“Oh, less great.”
“He. Is. Not. My. New. Guy,” she growled in frustration, rolling her eyes at the two.
“Don’t think you can fool us, you’re wearing your ‘boy-trouble’ look,” Harry chastised, wagging his finger before her eyes.
“You people are unbelievable,” she sighed, shaking her head in complete perplexity. “I don’t have a look, for the last frigging time!”
“No need to get defensive,” Ginny told her soothingly. “We know it can be scary when you figure out you have feelings for someone.”
Hermione closed her eyes and sighed heavily.
“You stubborn, know-it-all Gryffindors,” she cried, setting her lips into a visible pout.
Harry and Ginny both burst out in hysterical laughter at this. Harry bent over and held onto his knees while looking at Hermione with an incredulous look.
“Did you just insult Gryffindor?”
“Er... I... suppose I did,” she replied sheepishly, wondering where on earth it had come from.
“I think he’s a bad influence on you, that guy,” Ginny commented, her cheeks flushed from laughter. “But you deserve some fun, so I’m going to let it slide.”
“Too bad for him that he’s just my friend, then.”
“Oh, Hermione. You are so very cute when you’re in denial,” Harry said with a sweet smile. “Just stop fighting it and let life move forwards. You deserve to move on from Ron, there’s no need for you to keep having your mind on what happened in the past.”
“I saw the picture in the Prophet, Harry.” she told him with a roll of her eyes. “You don’t need to drop small hints about moving on so I won’t be crushed when I find out, cause I already know.”
Harry looked positively stunned, but he pulled himself together quickly.
“I’m sorry you had to see it,” he said in a murmur.
She shrugged. “My friend helped me through it.”
She didn’t miss the wink Ginny gave her, and she glowered in return.
“Just stop trying to deny it, Hermione,” she said, giving her friend a soft smile. “Who knows what wonderful things you will miss out on if you don’t take this chance.”
“You two are so annoying,” she told them with a glare.
“But you love us anyway,” Harry chipped in, giving her a smug grin.
“Unfortunately, yes,” she retorted and gave them a brief smile before pulling her head out of the fireplace again.
She remained seated on the hard wooden floor in front of the fireplace, her mind wandering mercilessly to forbidden grounds. They couldn’t be right, could they? She wasn’t really having any feelings for Draco Malfoy? That would be absolutely absurd. Not only had she hated him for most of her life, but the thought of them sharing anything romantic was ridiculous... wasn’t it?
It was late in the evening that she noticed something she would rather not think about. His living room was now empty, but Hermione had never seen her leave the house. The thought made her swallow heavily and she clutched onto her book almost violently. There was only one place they could have gone, wasn’t it?
Before she could catch up with her racing imagination she had darted up from the chair in desperation and began pacing the floor. She couldn’t look through his bedroom window from her own bathroom window because of that bloody tree blocking the way, so that plan was out of the question. But she had to know. Why she had to know was an entirely different matter that she refused to think about.
Cursing her own weakness, she wrecked open her front door and crept out onto her own lawn. She backed herself up against the wall of her house and followed it stealthily around the corner, all the while keeping her eyes locked on his bedroom window. There was no way she could see what was going on in there from all the way down here, and she knew she had to get up higher somehow.
She figured the first step was to get over the hedge, which she managed after several failed tries and a bruised hip. Once she was on the other side it dawned on her that she could have just walked around it, and she sighed at her own stupid antics. But even if she felt like an idiot, there was no stopping her now. She had to find out, and the answer was staring her right in the face.
The large tree stood between their houses, many of its branches growing conveniently close to the walls of his house. If only she could climb the tree, and get onto one of the branches, she could probably stand on the half-timbering under his window and peak inside.
She set to work immediately, trying not to think about how disturbing this behaviour really was. If someone saw her, she knew what it must look like... well it looked exactly like it was, she supposed. But they couldn’t understand how she needed to know. She desperately needed to know if she was up there with him, to know if perfect Lola was going to enter a relationship with Draco Malfoy and be the perfect blond couple.
After a few failed attempts of climbing the tree, she remembered a convenient sticking charm that she applied to the soles of her shoes. It made it considerably easier to climb the stem of the tree, and she reached up towards the branches higher up to pull herself further towards the top. She had quite forgotten how fun it was to climb trees, since she hadn’t actually climbed one since she was about 8. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Her heart picked up speed as she stood shakily on one of the thicker branches, arching closer to the wall of his house. She was so close, and she was steadily getting more nervous. Her hand finally made contact with the white stone wall, and she carefully stepped on the piece of timber running in a line underneath his window.
Her hands closed around the window sill, and she pulled herself up to peak through the window. She didn’t know if she was relieved or unnerved, but the bedroom seemed to be completely empty. Maybe he wanted to be more adventurous? Maybe they had taken their activities somewhere more exciting? The thought made her retch. She turned her attention downwards to check if her feet were still sticking to the wood, keeping her balanced.
She seemed to be standing at least somewhat controlled, and she turned her gaze upwards again only to yelp loudly in panic. Oh fuck. She closed her eyes and begged that it would be gone when she opened them again, but as her eyelids reluctantly rose to regain her vision the horrific image was still there. And it was smirking. Widely.
She stared into his pale face, where his lips was pulled into a familiar smirk, his eyebrows raised in a very questioning manner and his head was inclined slightly to the side.
“The entrance is on the other side,” he commented dryly, and her cheeks burned bright red in embarrassment.
She gave a dry laugh. “So... where’s Lola?”
She could have killed herself. Could she be any more obvious? If it hadn’t meant certain death, she would have released her hands to beat her fists against her head repeatedly.
Her cheeks became, if possible, even redder as his expression lit up in comprehension.
“Oh, so that’s what this is all about,” he said, a small chuckle escaping from his lips. “You’re risking your life to check if Lola and I were shagging?”
“I’m not risking my life,” she bit. “I will have you know that I have cast a very competent sticking charm on my shoes.”
He threw his head back and laughed heartily, before shaking his head in what appeared to be amazement.
“Lola Apparated home an hour ago, after our meal had finished,” he told her, and she desperately tried to hide her relief. Though she wasn’t entirely sure how much of a point that was, considering the situation.
He leaned further out of the window and peered down on her flushed face. “You’re a real fruitcake, you know that, right?”
She sighed in defeat, but only nodded in reply as his face seemed to be all too close. All the small details of his face was visible as he bent out over the window sill, peering down on her as she stood on the piece half-timbering on the wall of his house, clutching his window sill tightly.
It was only for a split second that she saw him leaning in before she felt a warm pressure against the lower part of her face. It was yet another second before she understood it was his lips... on hers. As she opened up to the feeling of soft heat and answered his kiss, her eyes fluttered shut and her body seemed to be losing all control. Perhaps he sensed this, because he grabbed her wrists to hold her in place. His fingers closed around her racing pulse as his lips moved gently across hers. If she had known his kisses felt this good, she would have done this much sooner.
A few moments later, when her pulse was even higher and she felt so warm all over that she could hardly stop herself from squirming, he broke the kiss carefully and stared down on her. She gave a sheepish grin, having a hard time disguising her euphoria, but paled slightly when he took out his wand. Was this one of those I could kiss you, but then I would have to kill you kind of deals?
Her eyes widened in horror, and tried desperately to find a way out of this mess.
“I’m levitating you inside, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said in exasperation, rolling his eyes in an over exaggerated manner.
Her mouth formed into an ‘o’, feeling quite silly for jumping to such drastic conclusions. Seconds later he levitated her carefully in the window, and she was quite relieved when she landed safely on her feet next to him. She looked down and ran her hands over her clothes to remove the dirt and creases.
“Who knew you found stalkers a turn on,” she commented with a sideways grin.
His face held an amused expressions as he watched the facts slowly dawn on her. At first, her cheeks darkened into a very unflattering crimson red, then her hand flew up to her mouth and her eyes grew wide. She had stalked Draco Malfoy. Hermione Granger had stalked Draco Malfoy. She saw his shoulders shake with suppressed laughter, and she wanted to scream in utter embarrassment.
His hand reached out to sooth her, but she suddenly turned and ran out of the room. She couldn’t stand there in his bedroom with him, knowing she had entered it through the bloody window. Things were absolutely crazy. And as if that wasn’t enough: Lola had been on the date, but somehow Hermione had ended up with the goodnight kiss.
Ing//Hufflepuff
Summary: Hermione's life is turned upside down and she figures that the best solution is to run away from it all. What will happen when she realises that she's not the only one running from life?
Characters/Pairings: Draco/Hermione, Harry/Ginny makes an appearance
Genre: Romance/humour
Rating/Warnings: PG-13. Some swearing and mentions of sex, but not much else.
Word Count: 3115
Chapter 1//The End
Chapter 2//The Decision
Chapter 3//The Meeting
Chapter 4//The Neighbour
Chapter 5//The Check-up
Chapter 6//The Mistake
Chapter 7//The Terms
Chapter 8//The Talk
Chapter 9 // The Date
Hermione Granger was getting ready for a date. She had made a tasty, yet simple dinner. She was wearing her best jeans and her hair was satisfactorily tamed. As time crept closer, she took a seat by the small wooden table facing her living room window. Her dinner was placed delicately in front of her, the omnioculars resting right next to her glass of water. She brought the fork up to her lips and gingerly closed her lips around it, waiting patiently for the date. Draco Malfoy and Lola’s date.
It wasn’t that she really cared. No, she just couldn’t stand the thought of her friend lowering himself to such standards. Why should a reasonably intelligent, charming and understanding man settle for someone who could offer nothing but good looks? Not that she even knew Lola, of course, but she knew the type. And when she saw the younger girl stride up the pathway on long, tan legs her thoughts were immediately confirmed.
When he came to open the door and Lola greeted him with a wide smile, her eyes were focused on them unblinkingly, hungrily devouring every detail of the scene in front of her. They disappeared from sight once he let her in the door, and she chewed furiously on her dinner, reaching for the omnioculars. She rose them to her eyes, pressing down the small flutter of guilt racing through her.
She wasn’t a stalker, she was just concerned. Maybe it wasn’t quite the right way to go about things, but she did tend to have some rather creative solutions for certain problems. Always quite inside the boundaries of rules, but creative nonetheless. At least this way she could save him if the date turned disastrous. What if Lola was a spy sent from Harry who had accidentally found out about him being her neighbour? Alright, now her excuses were getting ridiculous. The point was; She wasn’t a stalker. She was just a concerned and caring friend.
Through the omnioculars she had a prefect view of the two love birds standing in his living room. She immediately regretted not installing a bug, as she could see them talk, but couldn’t make out a single word. She would definitely have to learn to read lips if he was going to keep this dating game up. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Lola step towards the comfortable chairs by the fire, and her mind quickly revisited the night she had been seated in that very chair pouring her heart out. She ignored the twinge it caused, and concentrated on the elegant movements of that damn perfect blonde.
Why did Miranda always have to be right? They did look amazing together, and it infuriated her even further. Who was this girl to just march in and look like she was made to be with him? Not that Hermione cared, obviously. It was just slightly annoying, that’s all. She clutched harder onto her omnioculars as she watched the date progressing. The two were soon seated for dinner, a meal Hermione knew for a fact he had made himself. She watched them keep light conversation, talking easily back and forth. It seemed to be going disturbingly well. When he actually laughed merrily at something Lola said, Hermione knew she could no longer follow the date with the pretence of saving him if it went wrong.
With a small sigh, she put the omnioculars down on the table, before grabbing her now empty plates. She rose and turned her back to the view to his house as she headed into the kitchen with the dirty dishes. They were dropped unceremoniously into the kitchen sink and she sunk against it, suppressing the depressing thoughts threatening to make themselves known. She glanced over to her kitchen door where the photograph of her hung, slightly leaning to the right.
She didn’t like the way her thoughts were heading, so she pushed away from the kitchen counter and headed into the living room, making a conscious effort not to look out the window. Okay, so she had hoped the date would be a fiasco, and she tried to block out the fact that it obviously wasn’t. She walked restlessly back and forth in the living room, trying to force herself to think and feel as little as possible. She had a distinct feeling she would not like what her thoughts could tell her.
After pacing aimlessly for ages, she relented and fell to the floor in front of the fireplace. She took a small portion of the little floo powder she had and tossed it into the flames with a slightly annoyed flick of her hand.
“Hey, Gin,” she greeted, and almost flinched at how dull and unenthusiastic her words sounded.
“Uh oh,” the redhead retorted, slipping down from the couch she had been inhabiting.
Hermione narrowed her eyes. “Uh oh, what?”
“I know that look.”
“I’m not wearing a look,” she replied indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest even if Ginny couldn’t see it.
Ginny didn’t reply, but her challengingly raised eyebrow spoke volumes.
“Oh okay. I admit it,” Hermione sighed. “I’m wearing my ‘I-have-to-talk-to-my-annoying-bestfriend Who-thinks-she-has-me-completely-figured-out-even-if-
she’s-not-even-close’-look”
The girl just snorted and shook her head.
“I know your ‘boy-trouble’ look from miles away, my dear,” she said, making herself comfortable on the floor. “What did Ron do now?”
“Ron hasn’t done anything,” she answered truthfully, and only realised her mistake a second too late.
Ginny’s eyes widened and a beaming smile spread across her face.
“Oh Great Merlin! You’ve found someone new!”
Oh bugger.
“I haven’t found anyone,” she replied, a slight surge of panic making itself evident.
“Don’t you try to lie to me, Hermione,” the redhead threatened, crossing her arms angrily beneath her chest.
“Look, I’m not lying. I met this guy, but he’s just my neighbour. And we’re friends, but that’s all.”
Ginny huffed. “Your disheartened look states otherwise.”
“I’m not disheartened, you annoying little know-it-all.”
Ginny gave a barking laugh at this, and the irony wasn’t lost on Hermione either.
“There isn’t anything going on between us,” she said with force. “In fact, he’s on a date right now.”
“Aha!” the youngest Weasley cried, raising her hand above her head. “I knew there was something up.”
Hermione found herself blushing slightly, to her own horror and frustration.
“The new object of your affections is on a date with another women. That is a tricky one,” she commented, her slender finger tapping her chin repeatedly. “But I suppose the solution is quite simple after all.”
Hermione wasn’t sure if she wanted to know or not. This was entirely ridiculous.
”You need to snatch him for yourself before he gets serious with the other bitch.”
”Ginny,” Hermione complained, groaning in frustration at the entire ordeal.
“Snatch who before he get serious with who?” a familiar voice questioned.
“Oh, Hermione’s found a new guy,” Ginny explained before turning around to beam at Harry, who had appeared in the doorway.
“That’s great,” he grinned, moving from his place by the door.
“Well, he’s on a date with this other girl,” his girlfriend said in a hushed voice.
“Oh, less great.”
“He. Is. Not. My. New. Guy,” she growled in frustration, rolling her eyes at the two.
“Don’t think you can fool us, you’re wearing your ‘boy-trouble’ look,” Harry chastised, wagging his finger before her eyes.
“You people are unbelievable,” she sighed, shaking her head in complete perplexity. “I don’t have a look, for the last frigging time!”
“No need to get defensive,” Ginny told her soothingly. “We know it can be scary when you figure out you have feelings for someone.”
Hermione closed her eyes and sighed heavily.
“You stubborn, know-it-all Gryffindors,” she cried, setting her lips into a visible pout.
Harry and Ginny both burst out in hysterical laughter at this. Harry bent over and held onto his knees while looking at Hermione with an incredulous look.
“Did you just insult Gryffindor?”
“Er... I... suppose I did,” she replied sheepishly, wondering where on earth it had come from.
“I think he’s a bad influence on you, that guy,” Ginny commented, her cheeks flushed from laughter. “But you deserve some fun, so I’m going to let it slide.”
“Too bad for him that he’s just my friend, then.”
“Oh, Hermione. You are so very cute when you’re in denial,” Harry said with a sweet smile. “Just stop fighting it and let life move forwards. You deserve to move on from Ron, there’s no need for you to keep having your mind on what happened in the past.”
“I saw the picture in the Prophet, Harry.” she told him with a roll of her eyes. “You don’t need to drop small hints about moving on so I won’t be crushed when I find out, cause I already know.”
Harry looked positively stunned, but he pulled himself together quickly.
“I’m sorry you had to see it,” he said in a murmur.
She shrugged. “My friend helped me through it.”
She didn’t miss the wink Ginny gave her, and she glowered in return.
“Just stop trying to deny it, Hermione,” she said, giving her friend a soft smile. “Who knows what wonderful things you will miss out on if you don’t take this chance.”
“You two are so annoying,” she told them with a glare.
“But you love us anyway,” Harry chipped in, giving her a smug grin.
“Unfortunately, yes,” she retorted and gave them a brief smile before pulling her head out of the fireplace again.
She remained seated on the hard wooden floor in front of the fireplace, her mind wandering mercilessly to forbidden grounds. They couldn’t be right, could they? She wasn’t really having any feelings for Draco Malfoy? That would be absolutely absurd. Not only had she hated him for most of her life, but the thought of them sharing anything romantic was ridiculous... wasn’t it?
It was late in the evening that she noticed something she would rather not think about. His living room was now empty, but Hermione had never seen her leave the house. The thought made her swallow heavily and she clutched onto her book almost violently. There was only one place they could have gone, wasn’t it?
Before she could catch up with her racing imagination she had darted up from the chair in desperation and began pacing the floor. She couldn’t look through his bedroom window from her own bathroom window because of that bloody tree blocking the way, so that plan was out of the question. But she had to know. Why she had to know was an entirely different matter that she refused to think about.
Cursing her own weakness, she wrecked open her front door and crept out onto her own lawn. She backed herself up against the wall of her house and followed it stealthily around the corner, all the while keeping her eyes locked on his bedroom window. There was no way she could see what was going on in there from all the way down here, and she knew she had to get up higher somehow.
She figured the first step was to get over the hedge, which she managed after several failed tries and a bruised hip. Once she was on the other side it dawned on her that she could have just walked around it, and she sighed at her own stupid antics. But even if she felt like an idiot, there was no stopping her now. She had to find out, and the answer was staring her right in the face.
The large tree stood between their houses, many of its branches growing conveniently close to the walls of his house. If only she could climb the tree, and get onto one of the branches, she could probably stand on the half-timbering under his window and peak inside.
She set to work immediately, trying not to think about how disturbing this behaviour really was. If someone saw her, she knew what it must look like... well it looked exactly like it was, she supposed. But they couldn’t understand how she needed to know. She desperately needed to know if she was up there with him, to know if perfect Lola was going to enter a relationship with Draco Malfoy and be the perfect blond couple.
After a few failed attempts of climbing the tree, she remembered a convenient sticking charm that she applied to the soles of her shoes. It made it considerably easier to climb the stem of the tree, and she reached up towards the branches higher up to pull herself further towards the top. She had quite forgotten how fun it was to climb trees, since she hadn’t actually climbed one since she was about 8. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Her heart picked up speed as she stood shakily on one of the thicker branches, arching closer to the wall of his house. She was so close, and she was steadily getting more nervous. Her hand finally made contact with the white stone wall, and she carefully stepped on the piece of timber running in a line underneath his window.
Her hands closed around the window sill, and she pulled herself up to peak through the window. She didn’t know if she was relieved or unnerved, but the bedroom seemed to be completely empty. Maybe he wanted to be more adventurous? Maybe they had taken their activities somewhere more exciting? The thought made her retch. She turned her attention downwards to check if her feet were still sticking to the wood, keeping her balanced.
She seemed to be standing at least somewhat controlled, and she turned her gaze upwards again only to yelp loudly in panic. Oh fuck. She closed her eyes and begged that it would be gone when she opened them again, but as her eyelids reluctantly rose to regain her vision the horrific image was still there. And it was smirking. Widely.
She stared into his pale face, where his lips was pulled into a familiar smirk, his eyebrows raised in a very questioning manner and his head was inclined slightly to the side.
“The entrance is on the other side,” he commented dryly, and her cheeks burned bright red in embarrassment.
She gave a dry laugh. “So... where’s Lola?”
She could have killed herself. Could she be any more obvious? If it hadn’t meant certain death, she would have released her hands to beat her fists against her head repeatedly.
Her cheeks became, if possible, even redder as his expression lit up in comprehension.
“Oh, so that’s what this is all about,” he said, a small chuckle escaping from his lips. “You’re risking your life to check if Lola and I were shagging?”
“I’m not risking my life,” she bit. “I will have you know that I have cast a very competent sticking charm on my shoes.”
He threw his head back and laughed heartily, before shaking his head in what appeared to be amazement.
“Lola Apparated home an hour ago, after our meal had finished,” he told her, and she desperately tried to hide her relief. Though she wasn’t entirely sure how much of a point that was, considering the situation.
He leaned further out of the window and peered down on her flushed face. “You’re a real fruitcake, you know that, right?”
She sighed in defeat, but only nodded in reply as his face seemed to be all too close. All the small details of his face was visible as he bent out over the window sill, peering down on her as she stood on the piece half-timbering on the wall of his house, clutching his window sill tightly.
It was only for a split second that she saw him leaning in before she felt a warm pressure against the lower part of her face. It was yet another second before she understood it was his lips... on hers. As she opened up to the feeling of soft heat and answered his kiss, her eyes fluttered shut and her body seemed to be losing all control. Perhaps he sensed this, because he grabbed her wrists to hold her in place. His fingers closed around her racing pulse as his lips moved gently across hers. If she had known his kisses felt this good, she would have done this much sooner.
A few moments later, when her pulse was even higher and she felt so warm all over that she could hardly stop herself from squirming, he broke the kiss carefully and stared down on her. She gave a sheepish grin, having a hard time disguising her euphoria, but paled slightly when he took out his wand. Was this one of those I could kiss you, but then I would have to kill you kind of deals?
Her eyes widened in horror, and tried desperately to find a way out of this mess.
“I’m levitating you inside, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said in exasperation, rolling his eyes in an over exaggerated manner.
Her mouth formed into an ‘o’, feeling quite silly for jumping to such drastic conclusions. Seconds later he levitated her carefully in the window, and she was quite relieved when she landed safely on her feet next to him. She looked down and ran her hands over her clothes to remove the dirt and creases.
“Who knew you found stalkers a turn on,” she commented with a sideways grin.
His face held an amused expressions as he watched the facts slowly dawn on her. At first, her cheeks darkened into a very unflattering crimson red, then her hand flew up to her mouth and her eyes grew wide. She had stalked Draco Malfoy. Hermione Granger had stalked Draco Malfoy. She saw his shoulders shake with suppressed laughter, and she wanted to scream in utter embarrassment.
His hand reached out to sooth her, but she suddenly turned and ran out of the room. She couldn’t stand there in his bedroom with him, knowing she had entered it through the bloody window. Things were absolutely crazy. And as if that wasn’t enough: Lola had been on the date, but somehow Hermione had ended up with the goodnight kiss.
Ing//Hufflepuff