Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Competition Prompts listed at the bottom.
Written for Jas, for the hearts and stars club. I hope you like it, love.
Stormbound
Hermione sighed to herself as she looked out of the hotel window. Rain battered down against the floor, hitting so hard it bounced back up again. The clouds were dark, threatening a lasting storm, and the winds howled loudly, the trees blowing and bending harshly.
She'd never imagined when she booked to be away for New Year that this would be the weather she'd have to deal with.
Still, she glanced around the lounge room, at least it was quiet. She'd be able to get her work done without friends bugging her to go with them to the many parties and events happening to commemorate the ending of yet another year.
She'd never understood the excitement of New Year's Eve. The idea of letting drunk strangers slobber all over her was horrifying.
A bang broke her thoughts, and she turned to see a familiar blonde head by the desk, just outside the room. Turning away, she retook her seat on the sofa, pulling her blanket over her.
What the bloody hell was Draco Malfoy doing here?
Shaking her head to herself, she pulled the files she was supposed to be reviewing closer to her on the little table and opened the first, keeping her head bowed. She knew she wouldn't find out why he was there unless she asked, but she wanted to speak to him about as much as she wanted to attend the biggest party in London.
Pushing the useless thoughts of him away, she immersed herself into the paperwork. This was a much better way to spend a stormy night in her opinion. All she was missing was hot chocolate and her favourite sweet treats, candy apples.
Hours passed and slowly, the pile of papers to review went down. She was almost done when the room was suddenly plunged into darkness. Cursing the fact that she was in a muggle establishment, Hermione waited for her eyes to adjust slightly to the darkness and looked around her.
A flickering light made her jump, but she quickly realised that it was the b'n'b owner, carrying two candles.
"Are you okay, dearie?" the older woman asked kindly, placing one of the candles on the table.
Hermione nodded. "I'm fine. I was just a little surprised is all."
"Shocking weather, isn't it? Still, we'll be fine, it's supposed to pass by the morning and we'll have someone out if the electrics don't come back on."
Footsteps on the stairs caught both women's attention and Hermione turned to see Malfoy standing in the doorway, his wand in his hand, lumos lighting up the area around him.
She closed her eyes briefly. Was he a complete moron?
"Oh, that's a bright torch, dear," the owner, Mrs Appleby, if Hermione remembered correctly, said cheerfully. "You be a dear and sit with this young lady for a few moments. I'll go and hunt out my grandson's night lights. Battery run, you know, so at least you'll have a little bit of light."
She wandered off, still holding one of the candles. Hermione stared at Draco in disbelief.
"Are you an idiot?" she hissed quietly.
"What? Granger? What are you doing here?"
"Never mind that," she replied. "What were you thinking, coming down here with your wand out like that. Of all the irresponsible things to do -"
"Granger, I cast a glamour on it. The muggle thinks it's a torch."
Hermione stopped talking, her eyebrows raising on their own volition.
"How do you know what a torch is?" she asked, stumped. The Draco Malfoy she knew certainly wasn't interested in any muggle items.
Draco rolled his eyes. "We're all allowed to grow up, Granger. I spend a fair amount of time travelling in the Muggle world for work, I've had to learn."
Hermione sat back down, gesturing to one of the armchairs for him to join her. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was curious about him - about how he was different, about what he was doing with his life.
She hadn't seen anything of him for four years.
"What is it you do?"
"I'm a researcher," he replied after a momentary hesitation. "I believe muggle healing techniques have some promise, I believe we can combine them with ours, and perhaps begin curing the incurable."
Hermione stared at him for a moment in absolute shock. She didn't know what she was expecting but it certainly wasn't that.
"That's… fascinating," she replied. Before she could say anymore, Mrs Appleby returned, holding two brighter lights in her hands.
"I found these two, dears. They're simple press ones, and I've got extra batteries. At least you'll have a little bit of light in your rooms."
Hermione smiled her thanks as she accepted one of the night lights, noticing Draco did the same.
"The central heating isn't working, would either of you like some extra blankets?"
With both of them telling her no; they could easily cast warming charms after all, Mrs Appleby was soon wishing them both goodnight as she left the room.
Hermione was surprised by how comfortable the silence was when they were left alone once more, and she turned her attention back to the little paperwork she had left. With the night light, she could see the writing again.
She was surprised that Draco remained in the room while she worked, but she was more surprised that his presence didn't bother her - indeed it felt… companionable?
She was reading the last page when a rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. Hermione shivered. She didn't like thunderstorms.
Adding a last notation to the bottom of the page, she put the papers away into the folder they belonged in and pulled the blanket more firmly around her.
"Are you okay?" Draco asked, when she jumped at a much louder, closer rumble of thunder.
She was about to tell him she was fine when a flash of lightning lit up the lounge and she winced.
"You're scared of thunderstorms?" he asked, raising his eyebrow at her.
"Not scared," she denied vehemently. "Just… don't particularly like them."
Draco chuckled. "Of course."
She shifted uncomfortably, counting the seconds silently until the next rumble sounded overhead. She didn't realise Draco was moving until he was sitting beside her on the sofa, stealing half of her blanket.
"What are you doing?" she asked, though she didn't sound half as scandalised as she'd wanted.
"I'm cold, and I'm not particularly comfortable doing magic in such an open area," he replied, smirking at her.
"What about the torch?"
"I had an alibi planned for that," he answered promptly. "Can't very well sit sweating when it's freezing and tell her it's my inner fire doing it, can I?"
Hermione laughed despite herself. "You don't think you could pull off warm blooded?"
Draco nudged her shoulder with his own. They lapsed into another silence, but when a crack of lightning lit up the room and Hermione jumped, Draco was ready with a hand on hers, squeezing gently.
"It's alright," he murmured. "It won't hurt you. Just think, we can apparate away if anything bad does happen."
"How would we explain that?" she replied, though she was currently beginning to consider the idea as viable.
Draco shrugged. "Just disappear. They'd just think you left."
Hermione shook her head. "I told you, I'm fine."
She didn't mention that she hadn't moved her hand. Thankfully, neither did Draco.
Slowly, he drew her into conversation, distracting her from counting seconds. They discussed his work, her work, the people they knew from Hogwarts.
"What happened to you and Weasley?" he asked, looking slightly uncertain as to whether he should be asking at all.
Hermione shrugged. "We realised that while we'll always have feelings for each other, we're better off as friends. I'll always love him though."
Draco nodded. "That… makes perfect sense."
"I heard you'd been betrothed to Astoria Greengrass?"
He shrugged. "I broke the betrothal. I wanted… freedom, I suppose. I want to chose my own partner, someone I love, rather than someone my parents have chosen for me. I want a woman who'll challenge me, someone with some ambition and someone with a backbone. Astoria… she's a lovely girl, but she was brought up to be a trophy wife."
"Why?"
"Why what?" Draco asked, looking confused.
"Why would you want someone like that, I guess? You never struck me as the type to want someone who'd stand up to you."
Draco laughed. "Someone who wouldn't think twice about smacking me in the mouth for being a horrible little snot, you mean? I told you, Granger, I've grown up. We all have."
She nodded. "True enough, I suppose."
A bell chimed, the grandfather clock in the corner, and Hermione was surprised to find it almost midnight. She hadn't realised how long they'd been talking.
Far away, they could see sparks of colour as people set off fireworks to celebrate the new year.
"Happy New Year, Granger," Draco murmured, smiling slightly at her.
"Happy New Year, Draco," she replied, pointedly pronouncing his name.
He leant over, pressing his lips to her cheek gently. When she raised her eyebrow at him he shrugged.
"It's tradition, Hermione."
She shook her head grinning. Leaning forward, so her lips were brushing his, she whispered, "You missed."
"Challenge accepted," he replied, joining their lips together, his hand stroking up her arm into her hair.
Written for;
Writing Club - Book Club - Mare Barrow - A Storm / DracoHermione / Lightning
Writing Club - Showtime - 18. Night light
Writing Club - Themed List - Candy
Around the World - United Arab Emirates - Useless
Friends Competition - S6Ep10 - The Routine
Are You Crazy Enough? - 165. "Why?" / "Why what?"
Halloween Character Challenge - Candy Apple - Draco Malfoy
Word Count Without An - 1561