So, here is my second Dramione story (and first one-shot). No serious plot intended. High level of lemons involved; you are warned!

(All rights on the Harry Potter Universe belong to J. K. Rowling!)

Halfway up

The deep blue summer sky was quickly fading to a grayish purple as the night fell on New York City. The streets, however, were as packed and noisy as ever, if not even more, as people flooded out of their homes and workplaces to add to the chaotic hustle and bustle of the city that never sleeps. The second he apparated from London to Manhattan, Draco had started sweltering in his expensive smart suit, before remembering to cast a Cooling Charm.

Composed and indifferent as usual, the young man strode into the huge entrance hall of the glass and iron skyscraper that hosted the headquarters of the Muggle bank Goldman Sachs. He made his way against the movement of the crowd of employees and clients that spilled out of the gates, scowling at the chattering and oblivious Muggles clad in suits and carrying briefcases, and hurried toward the row of metallic gates at the other end of the hall, where he stopped, waiting impatiently for an empty elevator.

A cabin reached the ground level and its gates slid apart with an eerie jingle. Draco waited for the new flow of people to spill out of it, before slipping inside the elevator and pressing the button of the last and forty-third floor. He leaned against the far wall of the cabin, his hands stuck in his pockets as he rehearsed in his head the speech he had planned for the CEO of the Muggle bank. Goldman Sachs was one of the very few Muggle companies to have business ties with the Wizarding world, and it supplied Gringotts (of which he was a top representative) with Muggle currencies.

Draco was watching the doors of the elevator slowly slide shut when he heard the loud stomping of woman's high heel shoes clatter in the general hubbub outside. A moment later, the woman rocketed into the cabin, looking winded as she skidded to a halt. Her gaze ran unseeingly over him, and she slammed her palm against the button of the last floor. She turned her back to him and faced the gates of the cabin, offering him the sight of an exceptionally thick mass of brown curls that fell on her shoulders and down her back. Draco's lips curled into a wry smile as he assessed the young woman; he could see the outline of her bra through her white silky shirt. His eyes lingered on her tight black pencil skirt on their way down her body, ran over her thin black tights, and went all the way back from her high heel burgundy shoes to her bushy hair.

"Long time, no see, Granger," he muttered to her back out of the corner of his mouth.

Her shoulders that had been rising and falling heavily froze for a second, before she whirled around, her eyes wide. Confusion and surprise flitted across her exhausted features, and then, a slight blush suddenly tinged her cheeks. She quickly averted her gaze and backed away against one of the walls of the cabin.

"Good evening, Malfoy," she hummed airily, her lips pursing.

She nervously tucked a loose strand of hair behind her right ear. Draco smirked. He knew what she was thinking about; the memory of the last time they had run into each other a little more than two months before was swimming to the surface of her racing mind. Her eyes ran around the cabin – landing everywhere except on him – as it started its long way up, making their insides plummet in their stomachs as it gathered speed within seconds. The buttons of the floors flashed green one after the other as the elevator passed them, and Draco could see Granger follow their progression anxiously. Feeling his gaze upon her, the young woman glanced up.

"Gringotts' mission?" she asked to break the lingering silence, her lips twitching into the shadow of a smile.

The former Slytherin nodded.

"Muggle Relations' project funding?" he shot back.

She hummed again, battled with her unruly strands of hair, and was about to say something when an awful squealing sound interrupted her and the cabin gave a violent jerk. They both stumbled, and Granger gasped in surprise when, for a split second, the floor of the elevator suddenly felt like falling away beneath their feet. Then, with another horrific shudder, the metallic box stopped dead, hanging in the void and sending Granger's body across the small space to collide with him.

Draco instinctively grabbed her by an arm and by the scruff of her neck to prevent her from falling headfirst, while the lights flickered and extinguished. A dull, wailing noise sounded in the sudden darkness as all the electric power was sucked out of the building. An emergency red light sparked to life above them, bathing the small space in a sickly glow – barely enough to make out their own bodies.

"A blackout!" exclaimed Granger's suddenly shrill voice next to him. "Power plants are overheating because of the heat wave…"

Draco let out an irritated grunt.

"Just what I needed!" he growled, reaching into his pocket for his wand.

But Granger's hand closed around his wrist and yanked his arm away.

"No!" she shrieked. "It's a bank; they have a backup generator to power the surveillance cameras, and there are Muggles outside. Besides, have you forgotten about the treaty? We can't use magic!"

Draco squinted into the darkness at her dark silhouette and gritted his teeth. The young woman let out a shuddering breath and let go of his wrist.

"All we can do is wait for the power to come back," she sighed. "It shouldn't take more than a few hours."

Cursing under his breath, Draco backed away to the wall and let himself slide to the floor. He took off his suit jacket and tossed it to the side, before outstretching his legs and resting the back of his head against the metallic wall. A thud indicated him that Granger had dropped her handbag, and a soft rustle of clothes followed as she settled heavily against the wall opposite.

His eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness, and he could now make out her curled up form in the feeble reddish glow of the emergency light. She was slightly rocking back and forth, with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her breath was escaping her chest in small, fearful puffs. Soon, she was drawing in the air with a wheezing sound that made his hairs stand on end.

"What's the matter with you, Granger?" he snapped at her.

The young woman sucked in another shuddering gulp of oxygen.

"I-… I might be-… a bit claustrophobic…"

Her voice was merely a strangled hiss. Draco quirked a mocking eyebrow at her, but she couldn't see it in the darkness. He listened to the painful sounds she made as the minutes passed, feeling his annoyance grow with every breath she took until all he could think about was her suffocating. He had had a rough week – a rough month in fact – was completely jet-lagged, apparating at the most absurd hours between continents, and the speech he was supposed to give to the CEO (he hoped was still waiting for him on the last floor of the building) was leaking out of his brain as exhaustion and irritation crashed down on him.

"Granger," he huffed, "you have to stop that."

The young woman held her breath and fell silent. Draco thought she was never going to answer.

"Could you… Malfoy, could you…" she whispered suddenly.

"What?"

"You know, it is said that… exerting a pressure on the body to stimulate the… parasympathetic nervous system… is good when… you know… somebody is having a panic attack…" she stuttered between her gasps. "Could you… please…"

"Spit it out, for Merlin's sake!" snapped Draco. "I don't get a bloody word of what you are saying, Granger!"

She only breathed shakily, but he thought he saw her glaring at him with anger.

"Could you hold me tight?" she blurted out at last, sounding thoroughly mortified.

Taken aback, Draco stared at her shivering form. He considered telling her off with some scathing remark about her ridiculous childishness and lack of self-control, but he heard a barely audible sniff from her side of the cabin and something inside him gave way.

"Okay, come over here, Granger," he sighed, parting his crossed legs and beckoning her into his lap.

She didn't need telling twice. She scrambled to her hands and knees and crawled across the small distance between them, before flinging herself against him. Draco closed his arms around her and squeezed her as she buried her face in his shoulder. He felt her teeth graze across the fabric of his shirt.

"Calm down, Granger. You are a big girl," he said soothingly in her ear.

"Stronger…" was all she answered.

He held her tighter. Her hair was tickling his chin, and she had gathered fistfuls of the fabric of his shirt as she clung onto him. Draco moved his arms a little, and his hand found her cold ones. He squeezed her rigid fingers in his palm and pulled her into his embrace with as much strength as he could without risking hurting her.

"Remember that rooftop bar in Madrid? See this red light? There were red lamps in that bar, remember? We are in that bar, Granger. This is not a bloody elevator. You have the whole city stretching everywhere around you and the sky above you."

He thought he felt the shivers in Granger's body recede gradually as he spoke.

"Can't breathe…" she choked out. "Everything spinning…"

"That's the sangrias, Granger. I told you to stop after two of these. If you keep drinking like that, you are going to make a fool of yourself again. Seriously, who taught you to dance like this? Loony Lovegood?"

Granger let out a small laugh that sounded more like a whimper.

"You liked it…" she whispered, with her face still buried against his shoulder.

"You are flattering yourself. I laughed at it. You were swaying like a drunken weirdo with your arms in the air, hopping around the dance floor. And that's why I decided to teach you how to dance properly so you could stop embarrassing yourself. And the humankind in general. And me, as you decided I was your drinking buddy that night."

Granger's shoulders shook with nervous giggles. Draco smirked and rubbed small circles on her shoulder blades. The tip of his nose touched the top of her head. He inhaled silently, feeling as the painful knot in his neck suddenly seemed to dissolve. Even on the floor of a dark, broken, metallic box, she smelled like sun and summer air.

"Come on, Granger," he drawled, gently pushing her away. "Let's see what you remember of our lesson."

He could distinguish in the dim half light of the cabin the puzzled look the young woman gave him as he stood up stiffly and offered her a hand. After a short moment, she hesitantly slipped her cold left hand in his and let him pull her up onto her feet. Her shoulders trembled as she reached up to put her arms around his neck, and Draco felt tiny spasmodic shivers run up and down her spine when he settled his hands in the small of her back.

"This is ridiculous…" she laughed nervously, turning her face away from his chest.

"Everyone else is dancing. Why shouldn't we?" replied Draco casually.

He sensed her draw in a breath as though she was going to say something, and her body started as to recoil. Pulling her firmly closer instead, the young man leaned in, his mouth hovering over her left ear.

"Relax, Granger. Try to hear the music. The noises of the city. Switch off that big brain of yours…"

He shifted slowly, moving sideways and pulling her in his wake. They barely had enough space to make three steps in every direction, but as they slowly turned around the dark metallic cabin, Draco could feel the tension in Granger's body gradually disappear. He started humming quietly, lost in thought as he tried to remember the air of the music they had been dancing to that night. He wasn't doing well; the air coming out of his throat was too slow, too soft, and he definitely did not have a musical ear. But it seemed satisfying enough for her.

Her arms wrapped tighter around his neck, pulling him closer, and she rested her forehead against his chest. Her body went limp against him as she let him lead, and he maneuvered them to the middle of the cabin. He spun her around, his hums and steps growing more rhythmic, and pressed her back to his chest. He wasn't sure she was going to follow him into this more sensual dance, but she seemed to follow the same trail of memories as he was. She raised her left arm and reached back to put her hand in the crook of his neck, while she turned her face so as to the tip of her nose nuzzled the side of his jaw. Her right hand closed on top of his as he gripped her hips and made her sway against him the way they had seen Spanish men and women do.

"This is no good, Draco…" she breathed against his cheek. "You are making me lose all common sense."

He didn't know whether it was the feeling of her bum pressing and moving against his front, or the sound of his name spoken in her voice, but suddenly their dance went to a whole new level of intimacy. Just like in Madrid. Fuck. And by Granger's sharp intake of breath, he knew she had noticed it too. But contrarily to what he expected, instead of recoiling, she arched against him, melting in his embrace. The back of her head dropped on his chest and the fingers of her hand holding his entwined with his own. Feeling the muscles of his lower abdomen tense and his heart rate pick up, Draco inhaled once more the sweet scent of her hair and turned her around without letting any space settle between their bodies.

"Good," he answered in a low voice. "It did wonders last time."

Embarrassment and doubt flitted suddenly across Granger's features. He saw her lips part and knew the yet unspoken words. It was a mistake… The heat… The alcohol… The music… Two overworked adults in another place… Just a one-time mistake. Her lips were lying. But her eyes not. They were merely two black orbs in the reddish darkness, but he knew the images flashing beyond – sharp and engraved in their brains among the blur of exhausted and drunken memories that remained after these two days in the Spanish capital. They were crawling under their skin – the same story watched through the eyes of two different sides. The glasses of ruby red drinks… Too many drinks, obviously… Hot skin against hot skin… Irrepressible laughter… A hotel room… Clothes falling to the floor and chairs knocked over as they stumbled around… Glass splinters on the carpet as a vase crashed onto the floor while he seated her onto the desk… Not caring…

A one-time mistake… He didn't let her speak the words. His lips landed on top of hers, knocking all air out of her lungs. His teeth caught her lower lip and tugged gently, coaxing her mouth open. She gasped into his mouth, their breaths mingling as his tongue delved between her lips and tasted hers, turning, exploring, commandeering. He pushed her against the wall, imprisoning her between himself and the metal, his hands on the wall on either side of her head, while hers gripped the hair at the back of his head almost painfully. He licked and sucked at her lips, his teeth nibbling gently at the soft, plump flesh, and she responded him with a matching eagerness.

Their breaths were growing shallow, reflecting their hunger as they clung onto each other, and sounded louder in the small space of the elevator. Draco's hands left the wall and flew to the her face, where his thumbs traced briefly the outline of her jaw. His palms were burning with the need to touch the soft curves of her body he felt pressing into him. His lips trailed down the side of her face, deposited a series of hot kisses up her neck and nipped at her earlobe. His hands ghosted over her arms and shoulders, before running up and down the sides of her body. Granger exhaled loudly, her face lifted to the ceiling, the sounds escaping her throat almost strangled moans.

She let go of his hair to roam his back, clawing feverishly at his shirt and lingering on his arms, where her fingers squeezed briefly as to feel his muscles. Draco felt a pang of pride when the young woman arched even more into his chest, obviously appreciating what she touched. But it was quickly overshadowed by the sensations at the pit of his stomach, when Granger's hands dropped to his waist and pulled, shoving their hips together. He groaned softly as she bucked her hips a little and slipped a knee between her legs, but her skirt was too tight to allow spreading them. The young woman all but whimpered in desire, grinding their hips together, rubbing small circles and bucking up and down against his hardness beneath his trousers. Draco groaned again, almost in frustration… There were way too many clothes involved!

But he couldn't bring himself to tear his body away from hers even to hike her skirt up. Pinning her to the wall, with his erection pressed against her lower stomach, he sucked into his mouth the flushed skin above her collarbone and ran his hands up her body, stopping on her ribs right under her breasts. He could feel the bottom line of her bra under his fingertips beneath the silky fabric of her shirt. Granger stilled against him, her breath hitching. Slowly, Draco pulled away and looked down at her, his features hard and darkened with lust. Even without the red glow of the emergency light, he would have seen the look of desperate want in her dilated pupils as she met his gaze.

Their hips were still locked together, so hard that they felt like bruising. The young woman was panting, sweat beading in the crook of her neck and shining over her pulsing veins. Draco felt her heart thunder under his right palm, throwing itself frantically against her ribcage like a crazed bird. He slowly brought his hands up, his palms ghosting over her breasts but not quite touching them. Instead, he grabbed both sides of the collar of her shirt and snapped them apart. A tiny pearly button fell somewhere in the darkness at their feet. Granger did not move, her wide, wild eyes boring into his. The small movement of her tongue as she licked her lips attracted his gaze. It lingered on her delicate, slightly swollen mouth, before traveling down to her heavily rising and falling chest.

In the darkness of the cabin, he couldn't tell whether her silk bra was dark red, purple, or even black, but all he needed was the dull glint of the small clasp between her breasts, which indicated that it was to be unfastened on the front. It was just too perfect. His fingers were already moving to the best invention since magic wands themselves when Granger suddenly shuddered and her hands caught his wrists.

"Draco… The cameras!" she whispered apprehensively.

"I don't care… Let'em watch… They'll never get the chance to see a woman come as hard as I'm going to make you now!"

He attempted to pry his hands from her grip, but she was already moving away. The young man grunted with frustration as she ducked under his arm and out of his reach – at a complete loss as to how to get rid of the hard-on he was sporting, being trapped with Granger in three square meters. The sight of her flashing at the back of his closed eyelids every time he had gotten himself off over the past two months – ever since their infamous night together in Madrid – was maybe even worse than the sign of a temporary loss of sanity after all. And with her perfume floating around him and the lingering heat of her body, he realized it only now. The bloody woman had gotten under his skin…

Draco watched helplessly as Hermione dropped to her knees next to her bag, wondering in mute dismay whether she adopted such posture just to torture him. She rummaged through the contents of the purse but didn't actually take anything out. She just paused, holding something inside the bag, and muttered under her breath, looking up in the direction of the surveillance camera. She then stood up and turned toward him, smiling mischievously. Draco quickly tried to regain his composure and stuck his hands in his pockets, looking at her coolly. Hermione frowned, puzzled by his sudden change of demeanor.

"No more cameras…" she grinned hesitantly.

Draco felt his heart leap inside his chest.

"Oh!" he said.

Granger backed against the wall opposite, casting him sideways glances.

"Oh," he repeated, finally understanding that he could stop trying to remember the list of all the properties of Bubotuber pus.

A few feet away, the young woman shifted uneasily. Her dark bra was contrasting with the whiteness of her half-unbuttoned shirt. Within a few seconds, Draco felt his softening cock grow hard again. Without breaking eye contact, he closed the distance between them in two strides, but instead of letting Granger pull him back against her as she tentatively reached up, he sank to his knees before her. His fingertips found her ankles and stayed there, tracing lazy patterns with barely-there touches.

"Tsk, tsk… Breaking the treaty rules and using magic within the buildings of a partner Muggle company…" he muttered, smirking and looking her dead in the eye.

Her breathing was completely inaudible, but by the movements of her chest and shoulders, he could tell it was quickening. His fingertips traveled up her legs, caressing her calves through her thin tights, before lingering in the bend behind her knees.

"You really want it that bad, do you?" he continued in a low voice, his eyes flashing darkly.

His fingers pressed on the sensitive spot behind her knees, which trembled and buckled a little, allowing him to pull them apart. A heavy curtain of curly hair had fallen on the side of her face, shielding it completely from what little light there was. Draco saw her hands claw at the wall in nervous anticipation, on each side of her hips.

"You naughty little witch…" he grinned wolfishly.

His hands slid up her thighs, finding the hem of her skirt on their way and slowly lifting the fabric up to her hips. No, not tights after all. Draco hummed appreciatively, discovering the lacy top of the black hold-ups she was wearing and the thin, almost translucent, matching knickers. His fingertips slowly stroked the smooth fabric, running along the waistline, down the seams on each side of her hips, and finally pressing against the soft area right between her thighs, where the fabric was already all wet. The young woman above him drew in a shaky breath and squirmed, while he seized the waistline of her knickers and dragged the small, lacy garment down her legs. Draco tugged a little at her ankles, giving her a commanding look, and she complied, stepping out of the underwear he then tossed to the side. His hands returned to her hips and pinned her to the wall.

"Your leg. On my shoulder," he ordered, a feral hunger audible in his voice.

He felt the muscles of her waist tense under his hands as she shifted to hook her left leg over his right shoulder. He looked up into the darkness where her face was for a few more seconds, certain she was holding her breath in anticipation, and smirked before dipping his face between her thighs. His lips brushed the hot, fleshy area, pulled away to deposit a small kiss on her inner thigh, before his teeth bit gently at the same spot, and he nuzzled his face all the way back to her cunt. He inhaled her faint, musky, feminine aroma that sharpened all of his senses at once and made him want to taste her without any further teasing. His mouth pressed against her softness and opened as he darted his tongue and licked at the wet heat, parting her outer lips.

Hermione's body gave a jerk and she let out a ragged gasp when the tip of Draco's tongue suddenly rolled over the tiny, tense spot between her wet folds. His grip on her waist strengthened, holding her still. He pulled away the tiniest bit, his lips sucking gently at her most sensitive spot, before flicking his tongue over it once and tearing his mouth away. The young man chuckled darkly at the sound of her desperate whimper. Her hands clutched the hair at the back of his head and her hips bucked against his hands restraining them.

"Draco… Please…" she begged, her head thrown back against the wall and her face turned to the ceiling.

"Please what?" sneered the Slytherin tantalizingly.

"More… I want… your mouth…"

He growled, like a cat purring from delectation before devouring its prey, and pressed his mouth to her, his eyes shut and frowning in concentration. His tongue swirled around her clit, slid in the wetness between her lips, and lapped at the clenching muscles around her entrance. A blissful moan rewarded him and reminded him at the same time the nagging need he felt to enter her tight, hot core. The leg she still had on the floor was trembling uncontrollably, and he had to hold her firmly by her hips to keep her standing as she writhed.

"Oh God…"

Her weak cry electrified every nerve in Draco's body. She was intoxicating, dripping wet for him, her arousal smeared all over his chin and mouth. He pressed the plane of his tongue against her clit and massaged it with quick licks. Her body suddenly locked and she stilled. But instead of pulling his face closer, she tugged at his hair and slammed her back against the wall, tearing them apart. Draco looked up; she had her face turned to the elevator doors and seemed to be listening with a frightened concentration. Now that she had fallen silent, he could hear it as well: there were voices and footsteps on the other side. They seemed to come from above and under at the same time, indicating that the elevator was stuck between two floors. Dismissing the noises, Draco turned back to the young woman against the wall and was about to bring his face between her legs again, but she stopped him.

"No… No… We don't have time…" she breathed, shaking her head.

"Granger…" he growled threateningly.

She shook her head again.

"Take me… Just take me… Right now!" she hissed, her voice quivering in need.

Draco blinked at her and jumped to his feet.

"Oh fuck, yes!" he rasped out, turning her around so she was facing the wall.

His mind was a hazed mess, but somehow he remembered to take out his wand and cast a Contraceptive Charm on the young woman, before throwing it to the floor. The small piece of wood clattered away into the darkness. In one second, Draco had unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants, tugging them down with his boxers. She was already ready for him; bending over, her palms against the wall, her back arched and her legs spread a little, with her skirt lifted over her bum, shivering as she waited for him to enter her. Draco grabbed her hips and lined the head of his cock with her entrance, sliding it a little in her wetness. Granger gasped and bucked her hips backward, guiding him impatiently into her. He let out a throaty moan and his eyelids fluttered shut as he reveled in the first sensation of her tightness around his cock.

"Ask for it…" he drawled hoarsely.

"Take me… Fuck me, please!"

She sure as hell knew how to drive him wild! He thrust into her roughly, his hips slamming against her bum, while she struggled to bite back moans, stuttering his name now and then. He felt her wet heat drip down his balls.

"Oh God… Harder!... Yes, yes!... Like this!"

He could see her fingers curl on the metallic wall. Her inner muscles were already starting to ripple, and she rocked back and forth on her feet to accompany the pace of his thrusts.

"Oh fuck!... Her… mio… ne…" he hissed, his jaws locking together.

The cold, white lights overhead flickered and sparked to life. The wheezing of electric power returning filled the air and the elevator hanging in the void gave a shudder. They both froze, like petrified.

"Oh no!" gasped the young woman, looking frantically around.

Draco felt like howling in frustration as she shifted and reached for the keyboard of the elevator. But her fingertips slammed against a red button at the very bottom, and with a squealing sound, the cabin stopped dead just as their insides started to plummet in their stomachs with it moving. Hermione whirled around, breathless, disheveled and half-naked. They looked at each other.

"Five minutes," she warned.

"Open that bra and I can make it three."

"Good."

"Perfect."

She snapped the clasp of her bra (cherry red) open while Draco lifted her against the wall. The young woman splayed her hands across his back and wrapped her legs around his waist as he entered her once more, one arm under her bum to hold her, his other hand cupping her breast. He let his head fall in the crook of her neck and closed his eyes, focusing on the feeling of her plump breast in his palm and her hardening nipple under his thumb as he stroked it, on the sound of her barely stifled moans, and the sensation of her delicious cunt around his cock. The metallic cabin was clanking dangerously as he slammed her against the wall with each thrust but his building orgasm was erasing all awareness of his surroundings.

"D-Draco!" Granger whimpered through gritted teeth.

Her inner muscles were clenching around him. Her fingers were digging painfully into his shoulders.

"That's it…" he husked in the crook of her neck. "That's it… Come for me, Hermione!"

Her body arched and stilled, her legs locking around him. Draco quickly let go of her breast to put his hand behind her head to prevent it from banging against the wall as she threw it backward in pleasure. He pressed himself into her, buried deep inside of her, while she trembled and cried out in bliss. His face went taut and he closed his eyes again; Granger had gone limp between him and the wall, gasping and moaning softly. But she was still tight and clenching in waves around his cock, the sensations bringing him so close to his own release. Gripping her hips, he pounded into her, low, animalistic groans escaping his chest. He shivered, his mouth pressed to her collarbone, and the movement of his hips slowed down gradually as he rode out his orgasm, before stilling completely.

He suddenly didn't have enough strength to remain standing and holding her at the same time. They both slumped down against the wall, ending in an entangled mess of limbs on the floor, her legs still wrapped around him and clinging onto each other as they battled to catch their breaths. After a long moment of heavy panting, Draco felt the young woman stir between him and the wall. Her hands pushed against his chest as she tried rather clumsily to pull away. He flinched as he withdrew out of her, and Hermione's cheeks flushed a deep red at the unpleasant feeling of their bodily fluids flowing out when she managed to push herself off his lap.

"Hmm… Draco…" she mumbled, looking at him as though she was expecting something.

Her gaze shifted down her left arm, and the young man realized that he was still holding onto her wrist.

"Oh," he said, quickly letting go of her.

He could see as she stumbled to her feet shakily that the reality of what they have done was slowly but surely sinking into her mind, exposed as it was in the again brightly lit cabin. Her gaze was flickering between his jacket and his magic wand scattered on the floor, the small black heap of her knickers in a corner, her bag in another, and finally herself; an outright panic flashed across her features as she took stock of her crumpled clothes – skirt rolled up over her hips, shirt ripped apart, and bare chest with her bra hanging miserably from her shoulders.

After hurriedly putting her knickers back on, she scrambled to her bag and took out her wand to cast as fast she could a series of charms; the small trail of thick liquid flowing down her inner thigh vanished, the pearly button of her shirt jumped from the floor and sewed itself back to the right place, the fabric of her clothes smoothened and they covered once again her body. Draco watched as she kept readjusting needlessly her skirt and raking her fingers through her hair. She looked as neat and decent as the moment she entered the elevator, and only her rosy cheeks and unusually brightly sparkling eyes were any indications of their recent activities. With an unexplainable pang of annoyance, Draco noticed that she was carefully avoiding looking at him.

Sighing, he stood up from the floor – resisting the urge to roll his eyes as Granger scuttled to the far corner of the cabin and stared resolutely at the tip of her shoes – and picked up his wand to do some necessary cleaning as well. When he turned around to look at the silent young woman, she was frowning at the mobile phone they used to communicate with their Muggle partners.

"Everybody from the Directorate is gone. Meetings re-scheduled," she muttered and glanced up at him briefly. "We've been in here for nearly two hours."

"Great," huffed Draco, leaning against the wall and running a hand through his hair.

He put as much irritation in his voice as he could and scowled, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to feel any disappointment as to his seemingly useless presence here. His eyes followed Hermione as she shifted and reached tentatively for the keyboard of the elevator. She pushed the red button again and then the one of the ground floor and glared at the flashing green numbers as though her gaze could make the elevator go any faster. Her knuckles were white as she clutched forcefully the handle of her bag. Gryffindor courage they say. Draco gritted his teeth and watched her intently; he was not going to make it easy for her.

The eerie jingle announced the ground floor.

"Malfoy," nodded Hermione and darted out of the cabin before the doors were even fully open.

That was it. She was going to flee, and he would only catch a glimpse of her from time to time in Ministry corridors over the next months. The odds of running into her drunken self abroad or getting stuck with her in an inescapable small space were wearing thin. Not that he was looking forward to anything of that kind…

"Granger!"

Fuck.

She turned around and looked at him warily.

"You don't need your common sense on weekends, do you?"

Hermione's eyes widened and her brows shot up. Then, a curious change happened in her expression as though she was thinking something over. The corners of her lips trembled and twitched into a small smile. Her warm hazel eyes were boring right into his for the first time since their kissing.

"Nor do I on certain evenings…" she answered quietly.

Draco smirked.

"Do you need it tomorrow?"

Hermione grinned.

"I'll make do without."

"Mind if I take my time with you this time?"

The young woman shrugged, pretending to take her time to consider the question.

"I can allow you a few hours. Good enough?"

"Perfect."

She chuckled and shook her head, turning to walk to the exit of the building.

"Tomorrow then… Draco."

"Tomorrow. Hermione."

A/N: I dedicate this to L., K., and M., my friends, who had been joking with me about having sex in an elevator. While we were on holidays in Madrid. Where we went to a rooftop bar. Yep, that's how stories are born!

So… A tad cliché, but this was a lot of fun to write!

The characters were (very probably) OOC… for the sake of smuttiness.

My apologies if you found any grammar/vocabulary mistakes; English is only my third language.

Reviews are highly appreciated!