Disclaimer: First and foremost, I do not own any of the characters, locations, objects etc. in the 'Potterverse', I'm simply making use of them. They are all J.K Rowling's creations; hers entirely, and I am not about to claim otherwise.
I also do not claim any ownership of any of the lyrics that appear at the beginning of each chapter. All lyrics used are by the band 'Bright Eyes ' - chapter titlessong titles. Just no one try and sue me, k? ;) The only thing I lay claim to is some of the ideas in this fic and perhaps an OC or two.

Warnings: Violence. Substance Abuse. Bad language. Possible sexual scenes.

A/N: Ok, this is my first attempt at a Dramione, merely for trying on the ship for size as it were, as well as for the sake of a certain friend of mine who is equally inclined when it comes to pairings.. Not quite sure where it's headed, but I have a vague idea so bear with me ;) lol.
Oh, and R&R S'il Vous Plaît. Even if you hate it, I'm somewhat lost in this ship, so I'm open to any critique you deem fit.

Dedicated to my SCB, again.. ;)

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- Chapter One -
Smoke without Fire

"So in a drought learn to dance.
And pray the dead will return.
And dream of smoke without fire.
Just come see me again when it burns."

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Her heels clacked and pounded against the pavement as she ran, piercing the stillness of the night with every hastened step. Her hood had long blown off of her head due to the cold wind rushing past, and her hair flowed behind her in a bushy tangle of curls, the occasional knotted strand whipping at her face as she ran onwards toward her destination. Slowing her pace a little she brought her arm towards her face, shaking it free of the bulky fabric of her cloak and squinting down at her wristwatch to check the time, to her ultimate annoyance in doing so. Cursing under her breath as she realized she was running fairly late, she resumed the same pace as before as she hurried towards the clock tower that was peering over the building ahead. 'Just a few more steps to go.. If he's going to be a prick about it, you can always just leave..' she thought to herself, nodding along with such musings as though reaffirming her own opinion with such a motion.

Before long, she was stood in front of the clock tower as had been requested, scanning her surroundings for any trace of him, but finding none wherever she looked. Sighing to herself frustratedly and rechecking her watch, she gave the face a stern seeming tap as if willing it to steal back the ten minutes she had been late by, frowning even more so as her rather ridiculous seeming want did not come to pass.

Smirking from the shadows of a nearby alley, he watched and waited in silence - studying her for a good few moments and smirking over the growing look of annoyance on her face as she continued to look around for him; a clear and pitiless satisfaction scoring smile lines across his face as he watched her foot nervously tapping against the pavement beneath it. Pulling a rather dulled metal flask from inside his pocket and raising it to his lips, he let the dark amber liquid trickle down his throat as he rummaged around in the opposite pocket for a case of cigarettes that he had buried somewhere within. Detaching himself from the flask for a moment and flipping the case silently open once it had been retrieved, he removed one of the thin white sticks with a shake of his head, all the while silently cursing Millicent Bulstrode for ever having introduced him to the blasted things that now seemed to have such a strong hold over him. His wand soon drawn forth from his inside pocket, he turned his back on her for a moment, tugging his cloak around both himself and the offending muggle object that was protruding from his lips, and lighting it with another shake of his head at such an action once more presenting itself to a Malfoy, of all people. Taking a long drag before turning his attention back to the rather impatient seeming witch stood just a few feet from him in the dim lamplight of the street, he blew the first drag of smoke up into the air above him, watching it collide with the darkness surrounding him and slowly sink into it before his eyes fell back towards her, watching with a smirk and waiting for a moment before deciding she had suffered enough.. For now.

Placing the cigarette between his lips once more and running a hand back through his hair, he took a few slow steps towards her, his feet seeming to float across the pavement without a sound - so much so that she had not even realised his presence until a cold set of fingers clamped themselves around one of her wrists. Her gasp in regard to such a sudden action was easily ignored, instead being replaced with the slight pressure of his chin resting on her shoulder as the other hand lifted the cigarette slowly from his mouth, letting a fine stream of smoke pre-empt each harshly whispered word to follow.

"You're late, Granger.."

Her head snapped round to face the source of the familiarly impatient voice, her eyes locking onto the thin trail of smoke that was winding its way up towards a nearby streetlamp and shortly following the quickly dispersing whiteness down towards its origin with a slight frown at the look on his face. He merely gazed blankly at her, one eyebrow raised as he blew a thick stream of warm smoke into her face and smirking to himself as she wafted it away; his expression remaining the same as it had before as she turned back to face him over her shoulder with a slight scowl not only at such an action, but at the close proximity that she seemingly could not let herself escape from. Briefly closing her eyes, she opened them narrowly a moment later, her voice dripping with as much sarcasm as she could muster in the way of a reply.

"Well, aren't you just as charming as ever, Malfoy.. You know how much I hate those things.."

He shook his head slowly and disapprovingly, as if words were not needed; his eyes staring down at her as coldly and brutally as their pale colouring seemed to dictate. Her frown deepened at such, but he didn't notice, simply shaking his head and taking another long drag from the cigarette before tossing it down at her feet; causing her to step backwards towards him with an objectionable frown at such a turn. Hermione's mouth opened as if to voice her irritation, but Draco simply shook his head in a bid for silence; one that was met with the closing of her lips and a bitter seeming scowl to steal her features as he continued to whisper darkly into her ear.

"And you know how little I like to be made to wait.. As well as how little I generally care about what you approve and disapprove of, Granger.. You should be thankful that your kind managed to come up with at least one thing that I can actually enjoy.. If it weren't for these.."

He smirked briefly, leaning away and moving round to the front her before stopping in her eye line and holding the cigarette up with a typically distant expression.

"..I'd probably have just cursed you out of my life as soon as you waltzed back into it.. So you might do well to just shut up and quit while you're even marginally ahead.. Unless you want me to just fuck off and entertain myself, that is.."

He smirked slightly, raising an eyebrow as though it would be a hard challenge for her to decline and soon finding himself rewarded with the sheer look of loathing in her eyes. Whether such an odious look was a depiction of her feelings towards him or herself, he didn't care.. In the months that such a situation had presented itself more frequently and fervently than he would ever had dared imagine in his most twisted nightmares, he had realised one thing and one thing alone. It all came down to power; to the general aspect of control. And ultimately to the fact that he was the one in charge of such an affliction for a change.

Having long tired of watching her mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping to be back in the water, he merely smirked at her lack of reply, cupping her chin in one hand and leaning in as though to kiss her. Watching her mouth pucker into a pout at such an action for a moment before her eyes closed to accept such a move; he remained a hair's breadth from her lips, grinning cruelly and shaking his head until her eyes opened enough to see him doing so. At her confused seeming frown, he released his grip on her face for a moment and shook his head before taking a few paces back from her and raising an eyebrow.

"So.. Are you coming or not?"

Not waiting for a reply given the fact that he already knew which side of the situation she would end up falling towards, Draco simply grinned and turned abruptly away from her, grabbing his flask out of his pocket again and taking a long series of swigs as he strode back into the darkness of the alleyway and on towards his home; a path that Hermione knew well enough to follow by now.

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AN: Ok, this is my first EVER attempt at a Dramione fic.. It probably sucks , but I wanted to challenge myself a bit and write something that was COMPLETELY out of my usual shipping domain. Please R&R if you can, any level of feedback is encouraged seeing as I have no idea what I'm doing in this ship lol. But either way, let me know what you think, even if you're flaming me - I know I'm in over my head here, so feel free to tell me exactly where I've screwed up.