A/N : House : Slytherin

Category : Drabble

Prompt : Boggart

Word Count : 821

"Malfoy? Could you come here, please?" Hermione cried from the common room she and Draco shared as the Head Girl and Head Boy.

"What is it, Granger?"

"There's something rattling around in my clos-oh, never mind, it's probably just a boggart."

"I'll come anyway. Safety in numbers when it comes to boggarts, right? Confusing it and all that."

"Oh, uh-yeah, I guess."

Draco quickly got up, making his way to the bushy-haired girl's side. "Besides, I doubt you'd be able to get rid of it on your own. It's a big, scary creature that thirteen year olds are only just learning to get rid of."

"Shove it, Malfoy. I can get rid of a boggart just as well as I can get rid of evil Slytherins," she muttered, elbowing him in the side, though she knew it was just playful teasing. It was a nice change from the demeaning, hurtful insults of the past.

"Okay, okay! Just kidding! No need to get mean," he said, raising hands in mock surrender. "Anyway, let's get to it, shall we?"

Nodding, Hermione turned to the closet. "Alohomora."

Immediately, the wardrobe burst open. Chestnut hair piled up atop her head in an intricate updo, Hermione Granger stepped out, wearing a white ball gown. No, Draco thought to himself, his mouth suddenly dry, a wedding dress.

Before either of them had time to react, Ron Weasley, dressed in those awful robes he had worn to the Yule Ball, followed Hermione out, and an altar materialised before them.

"Riddikulus," Hermione said tightly. There was a noise like a whip-crack, and the boggart disappeared.

"Well, that was - uh," Draco mumbled, shaken to the core and left speechless. That was something he had never wanted to see, and he never, ever wanted to see again.

"Yeah," Hermione whispered, her voice halfway between a laugh and a sob. "I - I'm gonna go lie down."

"Uh - don't you wanna explain what that was about?" Draco asked, his voice firmer than it had been.

"Uh-I had no idea that boggarts could make themselves into multiple things at once. I really couldn't explain that," she said tiredly.

"You know that's not what I mean."

"Yeah, well, the boggart must just have got confused."

"Are you sure, Granger? Is there something you-"

"I'm not bloody afraid of weddings, Malfoy," she snapped.

"Oh. Was it the dress robes? I've had some pretty bad nightmares about those, you know. They really-"

"Oh, shut it. They're funnier than they are scary."

"I beg to differ. What is it, then? Commitment?"

Hermione sighed. "Why do you care?"

"Just curious, Granger."

Hermione sighed once more before sinking down into a plush armchair. "It's not commitment that scares me. It's him." She said the last part so quietly that Draco wasn't sure he had heard her right.

For reasons he chose to ignore at that precise moment, he felt a sudden rage bubble inside him. "What did that bastard do? I swear to Merlin, if he laid a finger on you..."

"No! Not like that. I mean, I'm scared of marrying him."

"Well then, don't. It's your choice, Granger. We're not in the Middle Ages anymore."

"It's just not that easy. I mean - uh - he's nice and all, and he really likes me..."

"But you don't. He'll get over it, you know. Probably."

"But-"

"No buts."

"Ginny would really like to be my sister-in law, you know. And Harry-"

"I don't care about the Weaslette! And please, don't talk about The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Annoy-Me. It's not good for my complexion."

Hermione sighed yet again. "I - It's just what everyone expects." When Draco didn't say anything, she added, somewhat bitterly, "And I always do what other people expect."

"Do what you want to do, then. Come on, Granger. Where's that Gryffindor bravery? The first thing that pops into that pretty little head of yours. Do it."

Suddenly, realising that Draco Malfoy had just called her pretty, Hermione Granger did what she had been wanting to do for months, and she kissed him.

While a little surprised, Draco quickly returned the kiss.

"What was that for? Couldn't keep your hands off the devilishly handsome Slytherin Prince?" he asked when they finally broke apart, a smirk playing on his lips.

Hermione shrugged, her smirk mirroring his. "Just something I've been wanting to do for a while."

This time, it was he who kissed her.

Later on, sprawled out on the couch and fingers intertwined, Hermione and Draco were just drifting off to sleep when she suddenly sat up.

"Draco, why did the boggart only sense my fear? Do you think you have some kind of boggart blocking gift? Maybe it works against Dementors too. I could look-"

"Shh, Granger. The boggart showed my exact worst fear."

"Wh-"

"I'm known to be quite selfish, you know. I wasn't planning on sharing you. Honestly, you'd think that the smartest witch of her age wouldn't be quite so slow."