Stolen Innocence

Chapter Eighteen

The weekend went by quickly and uneventfully. Hermione spent most of her time in the Head's Quarters catching up on her work so she was ahead in every class as usual. Draco stayed with her nearly the whole weekend, watching her study while never picking up his books himself.

It was odd, Hermione had to work her butt off to keep up her reputation as the class brain, but yet Draco never seemed to work hard at all. She rarely saw him study, and he only ever opened his text books when they had a paper due. She thought this fact would annoy her, knowing that she had to strain herself to be ahead of a Malfoy, but it didn't. She actually started to admire it and often found herself wondering how he did it.

Yes, Draco Malfoy seemed to have it all. Brains without effort, skills on both the Quidditch Pitch and with the women, and, let's not forget, looks. Although Hermione would never admit it, she found herself on more then one occasion becoming more and more fond of her once known rival. The arrogance she'd once hated turned into admirable confidence, and the cocky smirk that used to make her blood boil began to make her knees weak. There was no denying it, her relationship with Draco was leading to something so much more.

But of course, Hermione refused to show it. She would not give in just because she was faced with a little temptation. But it wasn't just the fact that he was a Malfoy that made him off limits, it was the fact that Hermione was completely and utterly terrified of him.

It wasn't exactly like she was afraid of being around him, she actually enjoyed his company. It was comforting having him look over her shoulder while she read, watching her intently. But there was something about the thought of getting into an intimate position with someone that make her shiver. After all, she'd only had one physical relationship before, and look how that had turned out. So Hermione pushed her unwelcome thoughts into the back of her mind and consentrated on more pressing matters, like how to deal with Ron.

Although she and Draco had yet to solve the Ron issue, nothing more had been said about it. Everytime they were together she meant to bring it up, but Draco acted as if it wasn't a problem. He even let her send an owl to her parents by herself, knowing how badly she didn't want to be alone. But somehow, she still felt safe, as if the problem was really solved and nothing could happen. It was strange how one person could make it feel like that.

So there Hermione sat that Sunday night, at the desk in the common room, a candle beside her for extra light as she poured over her Arithmacy text book. Draco sat lazily on the couch behind her, his watchful stare fixed on the back of her head as he sighed in bordem. A rainstorm raged outside, the wind howling slightly against the glass of the windows.

"Hermione, how long exactly to you plan on having your nose stuck in that book?" Draco asked, impatience in his voice.

"Some of us have to work for our grades, Draco. We don't all have the luxury of being born with all this knowledge." She answered, not tearing her eyes off the page.

"Oh please, like you have to work so hard. How many lessons ahead are you now, six? Seven?" He said in a teasing tone, smirking playfully.

"I'm not that far ahead this year, what with all our new heads duties and NEWTs coming up I barely even have time to study." Draco gave out a forced laugh.

"Why can't you ever lay back and have some fun? There's more to life than just studying and school." He told her, standing up and grabbing her book from her.

"Hey, give that back! I'm almost chapter twenty!" She shouted, reaching to take the book back, but Draco took a step to the side, just out of her reach.

"No, I refuse to give this back to you until you let loose and have some fun. You work way too much and you need to treat yourself." He told her firmly. Hermione crossed her arms and gave Draco an annoyed look.

"Reading is my fun, now just give me my book back so I can continue." She said, holding out her hand.

"I'm not falling for that and I'm not five, don't speak to me like I'm a child. I meant real fun, do something wild, let your hair down." Draco told her with a smile playing at his lips.

"Draco, come on, I'm just not the wild type." She told him in a pleading voice, plopping back down on her chair.

"I'm sure you could think of something fun to do." He said, sitting down on the couch and staring at her with his hands under his chin. The two sat there for a few minutes, Hermione racking her brain for something wild, something unlike her to do. When nothing came to mind, she let out a sigh of frustration and threw her arms up in defeat.

"Oh, I don't know! Why can't I just be dull like I always am?" She asked, irritated that he just couldn't let this go. She was perfectly content being her plain old self, why couldn't he just accept that?

"Come on, there has to be something that you've always wanted to do, but haven't." He replied, a look of amusement on his face as he watched her. Hermione put a finger to her chin, biting her lip in thought. She scanned the room with her eyes, thinking, until the window was directly in her line of vision. She watched the rain pouring outside, pounding on the glass. Ispiration struck her as she recalled a long lost childhood fantasy.

"I've always wanted to dance in the rain." Hermione admitted to Draco as he gave her a look of slight disbelief.

"Dance in the rain? That's the wildest thing you could come up with?" He asked, smirking at her.

"If you're just going to make fun of me then why'd you ask in the first place?" She questioned, pouting at his reaction. She'd thought that'd been a great idea, amusing and totally safe. Draco smirk disapeared at the look of hurt on her face.

"I wasn't making fun, it's just kind of funny how that's how you want to let loose, that's all." He told her quickly.

"See, I knew it was a stupid idea! Just forget I said it." She said, turning her back on Draco and staring at the wood of the desk. Draco walked over to the pouting girl and grabbed her arm, gently pulling her up without saying a word.

"What are you doing?" She asked as he led her to the door.

"You wanted to dance in the rain so we're going to do just that." He told her.

"Wait, I have to change my clothes!" Hermione said frantically, looking down at her favourite top and jeans. Draoc rolled his eyes at the girl.

"Do you have to be so careful about everything? Who cares about your clothes, we can dry them after."

"Fine," She replied, allowing him to continue to pull her towards the door. "Wait!" She suddenly shouted, causing them to stop abruptly.

"What now?" Draco asked, annoyed. Hermione pointed to the text book in his hands.

"That really can't get wet." She told him.

"You're right." He said before throwing the book across the room, making Hermione gasp in shock. He gave her a smirk and a shrug of his shoulders. When Hermione was still standing there with her mouth open, he gave her arm a tug and practically pushed her out of the room.

The corridors were pretty much empty as the pair walked through them, dinner being long over. The castle was dark and quiet, but you could still the hear the odd footsteps from high above as the staircases changed. The two stayed close, keeping their eyes peeled for the stray student. Luckily they met no one on their way towards the grounds.

When the front entrance was in view, Draco took Hermione down a different corridor, leading towards the dungeons.

"Draco, where are you taking us?" Hermione asked, a tone of unease in her voice. She'd never been any closer to the Slytherin Dungeons then Snape's old Potions room, and being down in the dark stone corridors make her nervous.

"Don't worry about it, just a secret passageway outside that no one knows about." He reassured her as he led them down. Hermione kept a firm grip on Draco's shoulder as they passed by a stretch of blank wall. He stared at the wall as they walked, keeping his eyes glued to it as if he expected it to burst open. They turned down another corridor which led to a dead end. Draco walked right up to the wall, pulling out his wand and tapping a few bricks. The wall began to shake and Hermione backed away from it slowly until Draco grabbed her arm and held her in place. The bricks began to rearrange themselves just like the entrance to Diagon Alley, revealing a damp tunnel with a staircase at the end.

Draco gave Hermione's arm a comforting squeeze as they walked down the dark corridor. Hermione gazed around in wonder at the finely constructed tunnel. She'd never heard of this secret entrance before, and she couldn't remember it ever being on the Marauder's Map.

"How'd you find this place?" She asked curiously as they walked, making sure to keep close to Draco.

"You didn't actually expect us to leave through the main entrance, did you?" Draco asked with a small smile.

"Well, we did last time." She answered, feeling quite stupid when Draco laughed.

"Come on, you're smarter then that. It's nearly sun set, after dark they lock all the door and windows, didn't you read the pamflets McGonagall gave us at the beginning of the year?" Hermione felt her face flush at remembering that she'd overlooked reading those over, having been too busy with all the Ron business to give it a second thought.

"Must've slipped my mind." She admitted shly, causing Draco to gape at her in shock.

"Hermione Granger has mind slips?" He teased. She playfully hit him on the shoulder and kept on walking towards the tall staircase.

"But how did you find this? I've never heard of it before." Hermione told him as they began to walk up the stairs.

"Slytherins are very cunning." Was Draco's only answer. She figured he didn't feel like telling her so she let it slide, making note to bring it up another time.

It was a long walk up to the top of the stairs. The two walked in silence, Hermione more because she was out of breath then anything else. But like so many other things, Draco made this look easy, his face never even flushing.

Hermione could feel the cool autumn air as they neared the top. The breeze felt good against her hot skin, causing goose bumps to form on her forearms under Draco's firm but gentle grip. Draco walked ahead of her for the last few steps then pushed up what she'd thought was the ceiling, revealing a flat wooden door. He motioned for Hermione to go ahead, allowing her to step out into the cool evening air.

Hermione closed her eyes as she stepped out of the dark tunnel, welcoming the cold air as the rain began to soak through her clothes. Draco followed her out, careful to put something in the door to keep it open, just in case. He put an arm around her waist as he led her further into the rain. The raindrops fell softly onto their skin, soaking them instantly. Hermione's clothes stuck to her body, giving whoever was looking a full view of her every curve. She closed her eyes and tilted her head towards the cloudly sky, not feeling Draco's admiring gaze on her.

She allowed the rain to wash away all her stress as a smile spread across her face. She looked over at a soaking Draco, his white shirt transparent and sticking to his toned chest. He gave her an encouraging smile as she began to spin in circles, feeling completely care-free. She relished in the feeling of the cold water on her skin, relaxing her every muscle as she spun, Draco watching her with an amused smile.

Hermione allowed the rain water to melt away all her worries as she moved her body rythmically to the rain pounding on the grass. For the first time in her life, she didn't care how she looked, she didn't worry about the consequences of her actions. She turned off her brain and listened to her heart, doing what felt right.

Feeling Draco's stare on her, she walked back over to him, taking his hands in his and leading him away from the castle. He kept his gaze locked on her face as she returned his stare, looking directly in his silver eyes. She tried to get him to dance, but he was stiff and refused. She gave him a pleading smile, trying to get him to loosen up more. He stared at her awkwardly as she swung their arms, spinning the pair around. She laughed loudly as she saw the look on his face.

As the rain persisted, Hermione managed to get Draco to loosen up a little. He began to laugh as she dance, her body moving to an unheard rhythm. Instead of joining in like she wanted him to, he backed away and watched her dance. As thunder began to clap overhead, Hermione's movements began more intense. She moved her body with skill she never knew she had, staring at the sky as lightening flashed, laughing without a care in the world.

As the lightening began to strike brighter, Draco took Hermione's hand and led her to a low part of the roof. He helped her up on top as the two climbed up higher. When they were about fifteen feet up, he motioned for her to lay down before laying down beside her. The two stared up at the sky, watching the bolts of lightening strike across the sky.

The two sat in silence for a while, just watching the beauty of nature unfold before their eyes, smiles plastered on both their faces for reasons unknown to them. As they laid there, their hands found each other and they held on tightly. They glanced at each other as their hands met, their eyes locking. Hermione gave Draco a small smile, which he returned before their both turned back to the sky, contently laying beside each other in the rain, sighing happily every now and then, just happy to be with each other. They didn't worry about lessons, they didn't worry about what tomorrow would bring. They just laid there, hand in hand, listening to the claps of thunder ringing through the air.

To Be Continued...

Wow, that just took me about three hours to write. Can you tell I have no life? Sorry it took me so long to update, my internet's been so messed up lately and I just have so much going on, I'm really stressed. Hopefully this long chapter will make up for the long wait. Anyways, thnxx goes out to:

-catysmom, glad you like it.

-Kay_Rage, yeah, sorry about the length. I've kind of had some writer's block and I didn't really have time to write a long chapter. I'll try to make them longer.

-angelnomiko, it is always good to laugh in times of need, it really does help with your health. Here's your update.

-kel, happy you like it, sorry for the long wait.

-nat, awe, thank youu.

-alice, well I always love to hear how much readers like this story.

---Alora_Rohr--, well thanks, I'm glad to hear you like it so much.

-Sara, well I'm happy you're liking it so much. Hopefully this will tide you over for a bit then.

-Miss Dee, we all miss you already, can't wait to see you Thursday, hopefully you like this chapter.

I'm so happy with all the positive feedback I'm getting from this story. More reviews will make me even happier, and they'll definately encourage me to update sooner.

Much Love...

XXX

Xx-.k.a.y.y.-xX