Offending Shrubbery

By: Witchitaito

Authors Note:I had just finished reading a plethora of Dr/Hm fictions when I dozed off...This was the dream from that bliss full nap!

The only thing I own is the plot....

He pulled his cloak closer around him as he strolled through the hallway. It was a surprisingly cold morning and the cold stone of the hallway did nothing to keep the nip of the winter's teeth at bay. Unfortunately, the cold was not enough to keep his mind from writhing with thought.
The holiday season was here, and they did nothing to stop the dangers that paced back and forth at the castle gates. He was only safe in these halls for so long, and soon he would have to face reality; returning to that grotesque face waiting for him. Waiting… to bond…to kill…to rule….
It was these thoughts that kept him from sleep at night, which caused him to walk around in these cold stone hallways at this ungodly hour of the morning. Suddenly, there was a pull on his body jerking him from his thoughts and bringing him back to reality. Blinking a few times and looking around he was finally aware of his surroundings. He was very far from his starting point, if he was recognizing things properly he estimated himself to be somewhere near the astronomy tower.
Having decided since he was up this early there was no reason he could not watch the sunrise. Turning towards the steps that would carry him up to his destination, he again felt a tug and was unable to move any farther. It only took several seconds of confusion to figure out what this was; slowly he looked up to see the offending weed hanging mockingly above him, "Fuck."

She had been lying in her bed for hours unable to sleep. It had been like this for weeks, and the signs were beginning to show on her face. Everyone was clearly worried and trying to offer their help or advice. Warm milk, a bath, or dreamless sleep draught but she assured them with the same lie she always used, that she was fine just reading to late nothing to worry about. Yet here she was again staring at the top of her canopy bed wondering about the future to come. It was not long before she could no longer stand the confines of her room. The stuffy drapes around her bed, the soft breathing of her roommates or the snoring of others, she slowly moved out of her protective warm sheets. Wincing as the cold bit her skin she welcomed the feeling it woke her up and numbed the thoughts. Dressing quickly she slid out of her room down the stairs and out the door not a single person stirring to notice.
She walked for god knows how long, thinking and thinking all the while trying not too. The worry it brought made her stomach curl in knots. Who would fight, who would survive what would she do with out them? She continued this inner battle all the while not noticing where she was heading just walking anywhere until she heard someone call out.
"Granger! Wai……"

He had been standing there for several minutes wondering how he was going to get out of this one. Here he was caught at this disgustingly early hour under that offending piece of shrubbery. There would be no one up for another couple of hours but even then they would not be out wandering the hallways until breakfast. His biggest problem was who it was that was going to stumble upon him; he just hoped it was Snape.
Please don't be Snape, Please don't be Snape, Please don't be Snape, Please don't…

He heard her before he saw her, but when he saw who rounded the corner he wasn't sure whether he was happy or not that it wasn't Snape. He watched her as she walked slowly in his direction. It seemed she hadn't seen him yet and the closer she got he soon realized she was looking down and seemed to be in deep thought. Her hair was ruffled like she had just crawled out of bed, her brow was furled in thought and she had dark circles under her eyes, leading him to wonder if it was more then just this morning she had been out walking like this. But he soon realized how close she was getting and that she was paying no attention to him standing in the middle of the hall and the disgusting weed above his head. If he didn't do something quick the result would be disastrous. He didn't even want to think about what would have to happen.

The shout broke her train of thought right before she bumped into someone standing in the middle of the hallway. Looking up into a grey pair of eyes it took a moment for her to come back to reality and realize who it was. She peeled her gaze away taking in her surroundings only to realize how far she had travelled. She was near the astronomy tower if guessed correctly.

"Granger, what do you think your doing?"

Starring at him and blinking a few times she realized they were standing only a few centimetres apart due to her haze induced stroll earlier. Stepping back she replied to the last person she wanted to see that morning.

"None of your business Malfoy."

She hoped this would be over quick so she could get back to her room and warm bed. Having come out of her thoughts she was now painfully aware of how cold she was.

"Well I think it would be when you're practically tackling me over in the hallway."

Guess she wasn't going to be so lucky.

"I did NOT 'practically tackle' you over Malfoy. What are you even doing standing in the middle of the hallway anyway?"

He had not been looking forward to starting a fight this early in the morning. He just wasn't in the mood. He was just hoping to get back to his warm bed standing in the hallway he had become colder then he liked. Hopefully she knew a way out of this ordeal other then the 'usual'.

"Granger if you took your eyes of the floor and maybe looked forward you would have figured that out already."

Taking in her puzzled expression he sighed and pointed upwards.

"Granger, look up will you."

He found her reaction slow but amusing as she continued to look at him suspiciously while eventually giving up and gazing above her. A little 'oh' escaped her mouth as her eyes went wide. Only after a few seconds of gazing she finally seemed to put two and two together and her gazed quickly snapped back to him.

"no…No…NO….there has to be some other way!"

She looked frantically around try to wrack her brain for a solution she had read somewhere hopefully, but all she could keep thinking was how she had wished she had NOT gotten out of bed that morning.

"I was kind of hoping you had the answer to that…."

She seemed to be ignoring him, he was a little annoyed with it but if this is what it took for her to come up with an answer he was willing to take it. He watched her pace back and forth for several minutes in the confines of their little prison. She still hadn't said anything and worry was beginning to nip at him.

"Granger?"

"Granger!"

"GRANGER!"

"What Malfoy!?"

She was annoyed with his yelling. Here she was trying to thinking of a way out of this predicament and he was yelling at her. How did he expect her to think of a solution?

"How do we get out of this?"

Finally stopping her pacing she looked up at him annoyed to see him standing there as if nothing was wrong; leaning his weight on his right foot, arms crossed and wearing an annoyed look. But it only took a glance at his eyes to see there was a bit of worry in them. Obviously he was no happier then she was at the situation. It just had to be a quick peak nothing more nothing less and they could get back to their lives as if nothing happened. Sighing she prepared herself to give the news she knew they both didn't want to hear.

"Unfortunately Malfoy there is only one solution I can think of and I'm not to happy about it."

Face paling even further he felt his stomach drop. This can't be true, there had to be another way because there was no way he was going to lock lips with HER. Frantically he tried to force an answer to appear. Alas, nothing came to him.

"Granger, I refuse to touch you. You'll just have to think of something."

"Malfoy believe me I WISH there was, but I can't think of one and I don't plan on standing here in the cold until the school finds us."

He stood there for a second taking in fully what she said. There was no other option, they had to do it. Either they kiss now or wait until the school finds them and do it in front of an audience. It was just a peak anyways it would be over within less than a second. Mustering up everything he had he made his decision and took a step forward closing the already small space between them. He reached out with both hands and grabbed her shoulders. Her eyes had gone wide with fright and she had stiffened up like a board.

"Ma….Malfoy….what are you doing?"

He had suddenly grabbed her and had begun closing the space between them. She knew what had to be done but that doesn't mean she was ready for it. And here he was already leaning in for the awful moment.

"What does it look like Granger? Now hold still and let's get this over with. As much as I loath the idea of having to touch you, I don't wish to do it with an audience later."

He tightened his grip on her shoulders not noticing her wince as he did so and slowly began to lean in. He stopped with mere millimetres between them, suddenly thinking he better close his eyes, he didn't want to have to look at her too. And with that he closed the last of the space between them.

She had been expecting the worst, but that's not what she got. His lips weren't slimy, cold and gross. They were warm, slightly dry and possibly trembling. She didn't know how long they stood there but it felt longer than a peak.

He had been preparing for the worse; cold, wet, tainted lips, but that's not what had happened. Her lips were warm, plump and curved just the right way around his. He didn't know when, for this kiss was going on longer then he expected and he didn't know who initiated it but the kiss had begun to deepen. He knew he should pull away but that little voice that was shouting at him to do so was being shut out and muted quickly by something else.

She felt one of his hands leave her shoulder and twine around her waste, pulling her closer as the kiss seemed to mutually deepen, while the other moved up to caress her cheek. As their bodies moved closer she felt her arms, as if they had a life of their own snake up and around his neck where her fingers tangled themselves in his tussled bed head.

They continued until their bodies need for oxygen became apparent and they were forced to separate. Slowly moving apart and breathing haggardly he opened his eyes to see she was staring right back at him with the same confused look he knew he was wearing. They stood there for several seconds just gazing wondering what had happened and unconsciously not wanting to let go. Slowly he broke the gaze to look up only to see that disgusting weed had moved on to find another victim. As he let a smirk dance across his lips he felt the warm bundle in his arms shift and move away. Frowning at the cold he quickly felt he looked down at her.

She didn't know what to say; she had no rational explanation for what had just happened or how to react. All she could do was step back and continue the silent standoff. After a few minutes of awkward silence, she finally mumbled a goodbye exclaiming she needed to get back before someone missed her. Turning on her heels she hurriedly walked back the way she came.

He watched her retreating form unable to reply or move. He had no idea what had happened or why. Knowing she would never speak of this to anyone and neither would he, he felt the secret of their encounter would remain safe. No longer feeling the bite of the cold he turned and slowly made his way back to the dungeons.

At least for a few nights they would have something else to think about.