A Winter's Kiss

by EgyptianAngel
 
 

Chapter 2
The Secret Chamber
 

"Draco, where are we?" Hermione asked through the darkness of the cave.

"Deep below the castle' he replied, and from the sound of his voice she could tell he was
far ahead of her.

"Try and keep up, will you Granger?" he said in his usual taunting tone.

"I can't believe I kissed you!" Hermione shouted.

"Come down Granger, you know you want me. Now keep up" he snapped back.

"It's hard to keep up with you in the dark, not everyone has night vision like the almighty
Draco Malfoy you know." she said rather darkly.

Draco could only laugh as he imagined Hermione's lips in a pout. "Are you a witch or
aren't you? Last time I checked the almighty Hermione Granger knew the "lumos" charm
you know."

Draco laughed again and Hermione stopped in her tracks. She rolled her eyes at her own
stupidity as she pulled her wand from the pocket of her cloak and whispered "lumos" into
the darkness. Light filled the cave, and she realized she was all alone. She looked around
the cave, walking in circles, and still, no one. A trickle of fear began to sink into her skin.

"Draco?" she called, her small voice trembling. Only silence gave her a response.

She continued to desperately search through the cave until finally she came to a wide
opening. Straight in front of her was stone wall, on either side there lye narrow passageways.
Should she go left or right? Should she try to make it back to the entrance and find Draco?
She knew she had been searching for Draco for quite sometime now, and she was beginning
to lead o the conclusion that they was all just some cruel trick. Girls tend to jump to
conclusions when it comes to the one they love. No, not love. It couldn't be...it was an...
infatuation. An infatuation with a Slytherin?

She held her wand up to the stone that rest in between the passageways. On the wall
was a emerald colored serpent and guessing from the faded and chipped color, it had been
painted many years ago. Hermione stepped closer to the stone, there was something about
the serpent painting that troubled her. Just below the serpent was ancient silver writing.
 

erehwo leba desr uctn afnisaw nrobot nisih snieveht dool
bfoeht tnap resdid peessih dlihc htiw eht eno, ohwsi erup,
llashe beht wenrieh ereheh sawnrob dnaereh hellahs eid.
 

She heard a low hissing sound and was becoming drawn to the serpent. It was almost as if....

"Come on Granger! Honestly, I can't bring you anywhere without you getting lost.....wondering
off to god knows where...." Draco teased.

Hermione quickly whirled around to face Draco, the serpent quickly fading from her mind.
She walked up to Draco, and did something she hadn't done since her third year, and slapped
him across the face. He touched his cheek, looking stunned.

"Don't you EVER do that to me again!" she demanded.

"Why you little Mudblood! Im gonna...."

"Can't unless you catch me!" she said loudly, drowning out the last words of his sentence.
She ran away, laughing.

Draco grabbed his wand and whispered "lumos" and took off running after her. She ran
threw the cave, having no idea where she was going, and yet never once looking behind
her. She didn't need to look over her shoulder to know that he was not too far behind
her. She had become a much better runner than she had been in her earlier years. She
supposed it was because he cousin was also pushing her to her physical limit during the
summers.

Just then, she felt a gentle tap on her right shoulder, and looked just in time to see Draco
pass her, gaining speed every moment. She couldn't believe it! She sped up, closing in on
the distance between them. This time it was she who tapped him on the shoulder and
passed him, or at least she would have done so if he hadn't grabbed her by the hand and
kissed her powerfully, just as quickly running away. She froze for a moment, shocked
by the kiss, but began to run again, wondering if they would ever reach this mystery
destination. No sooner did this thought leave her mind did she stop running, for she had
entered an ancient, beautiful chamber.

There wasn't any furniture in the chamber, no pictures on the wall, nor windows. It was
very simple, but elegant. It was obvious that no one visited this place often. But then again,
who would? And why would they? It wasn't the most breathtaking place she had ever
seen, but it was the most mysterious. The only things the chamber did hold within it was
an exotic spring that took up almost half of the chamber. It was off, out of place, and
clearly magical. The waters of the spring ran silver. Besides that, there were a few statues
scattered about the room of who Hermione guessed were of famous wizards of the past.

"Is....this what you wanted to show me?" Hermione asked curiously.

Draco nodded and untied his cloak and threw it onto the chair that appeared just in time
to catch it. Hermione's eyes widened. Never before had she seen magic to that extent. He
then removed his boots and also set them by the chair. Hermione's curious eyes went from
the spring to Draco and realized what he wanted to do. Draco noticed the eyes upon him.
He looked up at Hermione and smiled. "Aren't you going to undress to swim? It's the perfect
weather outside for a nice warm swim. " he said, removing his black silk shirt and black
pants. Hermione turned away, blushing. She looked back at Draco, trying not to make it
look obvious what she was doing and saw that his back was facing towards her. She didn't
notice it at first glance, but when she looked a second time there was no way of missing them.
Draco had scars all over his back that spread up onto his shoulders. Scars that could only
have been made from knives and whips.

He turned around to see Hermione looking at him, a smirk spreading from his lips.

"Watching me undress are you Granger? That's awful naughty for a Head Girl to be
doing." he said teasingly. For once, Hermione did not respond with a sassy remark. She
turned Draco around so she could look at his scars more carefully, she traced a finger
along all of them gently. Draco flinched a bit, and turned around before Hermione could
do anymore.

"Please don't tell anyone Hermione." he pleaded with desperation in his eyes. He hadn't
called her Mudblood nor Granger. He had called her Hermione.
 
 
 

What will Hermione discover about Draco's scars? Will he tell her anything about them?
Find out in chapter three, Tears of December. Twists, tears and troubles ahead!
 

Back to Chapter 1
Chapter 3