The crowd around Hermione erupted into cheers and the whistle blew to signal the end of the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Harry had caught the snitch right from under Harper's nose, winning the game for her house. But Hermione was not in the mood for celebrating.
The team disappeared into the changing rooms, cheering and almost dancing from their triumph. Unable to hold in her anger any longer, Hermione got up from her seat and stormed down to the changing rooms, ready to give her two best friends a piece of her mind.
Ron and Harry were the only two left in the changing room by the time she arrived. They seemed as though they were just about to leave when she entered. She twisted her Gryffindor scarf in her fingers, trying to summon the courage to say what had been bothering her since breakfast.
"I want a word with you, Harry." She took a deep breath. "You shouldn't have done it. You heard Slughorn, it's illegal."
"What are you going to do, turn us in?" demanded Ron.
"What are you two talking about?" asked Harry, turning away to hang up his robes.
"You know perfectly well what we're talking about!" Hermione snapped, furious that he would even deny what she had seen him do with her own two eyes. "You spiked Ron's juice with lucky potion at breakfast! Felix Felicis!"
"No, I didn't," Harry protested, turning back to face them both.
"Yes you did, Harry, and that's why everything went right, there were Slytherin players missing and Ron saved everything!"
"I didn't put it in!" said Harry, grinning at her. He slipped his hand inside his jacket pocket and drew out the tiny bottle that Hermione had seen in his hand that morning. It was full of golden potion and the cork was still tightly sealed with wax. "I wanted Ron to think I'd done it, so I faked it when I knew you were looking." He looked at Ron. "You saved everything because you felt lucky. You did it all yourself." He pocketed the potion again. Hermione felt her heart sink as she realised what she had done. She had accused Harry of breaking the law, and also insinuated that Ron was completely useless at Quidditch. In her defense, he usually was, but that didn't make her feel any less horrible for basically saying it to his face.
"There really wasn't anything in my pumpkin juice?" Ron said, astounded. "But the weather's good... and Vaisey couldn't play... I honestly haven't been given lucky potion?" Harry shook his head. Ron gaped at him for a moment, then rounded on Hermione, imitating her voice. "You added Felix Felicis to Ron's juice this morning, that's why he saved everything! See! I can save goals without help, Hermione!" Ron mocking her was like a stab to the gut.
"I never said you couldn't - Ron, you thought you'd been given it too!" She tried to justify her words, but she knew that she has crossed a line. Her heart hammered in her chest and tears stung her eyes.
But Ron had already strode past her out of the door with his broomstick over his shoulder.
"Er," said Harry into the sudden silence. Perhaps he was regretting pulling this little stunt now that it had backfired so horribly. "Shall... shall we go up to the party, then?"
"You go!" she almost shouted, turning her back on Harry so that he wouldn't see the tears starting to fall down her cheeks. "I'm sick of Ron at the moment, I don't know what I'm supposed to have done…" She stormed out of the changing room, not looking back.
Hermione ripped her scarf from around her neck as she walked quickly up to the castle, tears falling freely now. She wanted to get as far away from Harry as possible so that he wouldn't see how upset she was. When she thought about it, she had to admit that he really hadn't done anything wrong. He had only wanted to help Ron's confidence - and it had worked, too. But then she had had to go and ruin everything, showing both of her friends that she didn't have faith in either of them.
She decided to take a longer route back to the common room, hoping to avoid anyone from her house and to give herself a chance to calm down. She stopped off in a bathroom to splash some water on her face to try to calm the pink blotches that had appeared. It worked a little bit. Truthfully she hoped that she could just slip into her dormitory and avoid being seen by anyone - the party was likely to be hectic so it wasn't to unrealistic to hope that no one would notice her sneaking through. She had no interest in celebrating now, even if the match had been won legitimately.
She climbed through the portrait hole and was instantly hit by a wave of noise - cheering, singing and general rowdiness. Hermione wanted nothing more than to climb into bed, take a potion for her sudden throbbing headache, and pretend like this whole day just hadn't happened.
But as she tried to worm her way through the celebrations, her eye caught the one person she wanted to see least, doing the thing that she least wanted to see. Ron Weasley was snogging Lavender Brown. Hermione felt like she had been punched in the gut. For a few seconds she could do nothing but stand and stare at them, overcome with shock, before picking her jaw up off the floor and succumbing to the urge to run straight back out of the common room. She darted back towards the portrait hole, no longer caring who saw her anymore, only desperately trying to hold in the next round of tears until she was safely back into the corridor and out of sight.
"F-u-u-uck," she gasped aloud as soon as the portrait closed behind her. Then, she started to run - where she was going, she didn't know, she could barely see for the tears. She knew that Harry might try to follow her, so she ran and ran until she was out of breath, barely able to see where she was for the tears still flooding her eyes. Harry couldn't see her like this.
Eventually she collapsed into a small corridor. She didn't recognise it, so she hoped that meant it was unused and that she wouldn't be disturbed. She slid down the wall next to a suit of armor, burying her face into her knees and sobbing.
Was this all her fault? Had she driven Ron away with her constant nagging and general inability to break the rules? Had she just pissed him off one too many times, to the point of no return?
She loved Ron - well, she thought she did, but she had never been in love before to know for sure. She also thought that he had loved her back. But perhaps she had just been a stupid, delusional teenage girl. Ron didn't love her - this wasn't how you treated someone that you loved, shouting at them and then sucking the face off the first girl who looked at you! No, now she was sure that Ron didn't love her, and the realisation was like someone had just cast a 'bombarda' on her heart.
"What are you doing up here, Granger?" came a sneering, familiar voice, "Did they finally get sick of your mudblood stench and kick you out of the common room? I have to say I wouldn't be surprised, I don't think I'd have lasted a week."
She didn't even need to look up to know who it was. Malfoy. Why? Why him? What else did the universe care to throw at her today? Talk about kicking her whilst she was down!
"Go away!" she demanded, not even bothering to lift her head, which was still buried in her arms. It was bad enough that he knew she was crying, nevermind him seeing her red, tear-streaked face.
"I'm afraid I don't take orders from mudbloods," he said smugly, "In fact, now that the Dark Lord is back, you might be taking orders from me, soon. He's going to put your lot back in their place, and that place is certainly not here, dirtying the Hogwarts corridors with your muddy tears."
Hermione didn't respond, she just sobbed quietly. She didn't really care about his insults, she had heard it all before. The little ferret wasn't nearly important enough to make her feel any worse than she already did.
"Don't ignore me, Granger!" he demanded. He was closer now, she could sense him standing directly over her, but she still didn't look up. "What's wrong? Did Weaselbee dump you? I know he's a filthy blood traitor, but even he could do better than a sub-human piece of filth like you."
Hermione finally felt something inside of her snap. She jumped up onto her feet and he leapt backwards in surprise.
"I said GO AWAY!" she screamed, her hand diving into pocket and retrieving her wand. She pointed it at Malfoy, yelling "Stupefy!"
If Malfoy's wand hadn't already been in his hand, he wouldn't have had the chance to throw up a 'protego' in time, blocking Hermione's spell. The sneer on his face disappeared instantly, and was replaced with rage. He didn't have a witty comeback to that - he pointed his wand back at her.
"Petrificus totalis!" he snarled, shooting the curse at her which she deflected instantly. She shot more curses at him and he retaliated, but they seemed fairly evenly matched, and as they duelled, not a single curse hit its target. She knew he was holding back on her though - he definitely knew darker spells than the ones he was using. Hermione was just about to fire another curse at him when-
"Expelliarmus!" Draco commanded. Her wand flew out of her hand and he caught it with ease. She was shocked by the sudden loss of her wand, but she wasn't about to let that stop her. Not today. So she screamed, charging at him, tackling him to the floor. She straddled him, and started to hit him everywhere that she could, tears starting to fall again.
"I - WILL - NOT - LET - YOU - BULLY - ME - DRACO - MALFOY!" she yelled, laying a smack on him for every word that left her mouth. Draco didn't fight back, he just looked at her in shock, as if he couldn't have ever imagined that she actually had feelings.
And then, without any idea why she was doing it, she lost all composure entirely, collapsing onto him and weeping into his chest. She fully expected him to throw her off at any second, cursing her into oblivion for daring to dirty him with her mudblood tears, but he didn't even move. In fact, she barely felt him breathe.
And suddenly, not knowing what the hell had came over her, she kissed him. Just one quick kiss, lasting less than two seconds. She opened her eyes, to see his grey ones staring back at her - confused, concerned, all hate and anger gone.
"Granger-" he started.
"Don't," she gasped, kissing him again, "Don't say anything."
He didn't. She heard the sound of both wands dropping to the floor, and his hands found their way to the back of her head instead. He pulled her towards him, kissing her back for the first time. Her heart fluttered as she felt his tongue trace the gap between her lips. She kissed Draco Malfoy! And he was kissing her back! And it was … oh Godric!
His lips were gentle but passionate, his tongue dancing on her lips as he gently grasped her hair with one hand. The other hand trailed down her back and rested on her hip, squeezing it lightly. His precise and experienced movements set her body on fire. She knew that, on his end, it was probably like snogging a wet fish, what with her tear-streaked face and total lack of experience, but she found that she didn't really care.
She felt her breathing start to quicken, her entire body burning and begging for more. She pulled away from the kiss, opening her eyes and looked deep into Draco's, and she knew that he was thinking the same thing.
"There's an empty classroom just over there if you want to-"
"Oh gods yes," she gasped, dragging him up off the floor. She barely stopped to think about what she was doing. She had never had sex before, but she was definitely just about to let Draco Malfoy, of all people, fuck her senseless in an empty classroom.
She pulled him by the hand towards the door, and as soon as they were inside, Draco cast some locking and silencing spells on the door. The second he was done, he threw the wands aside again, and roughly, desperately, grabbed Hermione, wrapping his arms around her and pushing her against the door.
His kisses travelled from her mouth down to her neck. He pulled off her Gryffindor scarf, opening more of her skin up to his tender kisses, and when he dared to nibble at her neck, it nearly pushed her over the edge.
"Oh gods Draco," she gasped, almost panting now, "I need more. Please."
He didn't dare to hesitate. Within seconds her robe was off, and he had pulled her top off over her head. His lips crashed against hers again as she hastily undid his tie, throwing it to the floor before starting on his shirt buttons.
He now had her bra off and discarded, his hands exploring her breasts with that exquisite level of gentle firmness that he seemed to have perfected. His mouth was on her neck again, sucking, kissing, lightly biting. She threw her head back and an involuntary moan escaped her lips. Every fibre of her body tingled with desperation - if she didn't know any better, she might have thought she'd been waiting her whole life just for this moment.
Hermione's hands travelled down Draco's creamy toned chest and pulled at his belt. Then she fumbled at the buttons on his trousers, clumsily pulling them down just enough to free his solid erection. She was shocked to see the physical proof that he wanted this just as much as she did - if that was even possible. Until now, he could have just been playing a cruel prank on her. But there was no doubting it - Draco Malfoy was desperate to fuck her, and she was damn well going to make his dream come true. He trailed kisses down from her neck to her breasts, kissing her nipples and teasing them with her tongue in that torturously perfect way.
"I can't wait a second longer," she groaned, her tone begging, "I need you to take me right now, Draco Malfoy!"
She heard a groan of pleasure escape his lips and she knew he didn't want to wait either. He hooked his arms under her legs, lifting her up and holding her against the door. She felt his cock pressing hard against the damp fabric of her underwear, desperate for access to her, so she reached down, pulling her knickers to one side, and Draco slowly buried his cock into her in one swift movement.
Hermione cried out with pain as he tore through her hymen. Draco's eyes widened with surprise - clearly he had not expected her to still be a virgin. He stopped for a moment, obviously not knowing whether he ought to continue, before she growled:
'If you even think about stopping I will hex you so hard you'll be in the hospital wing for a week".
Draco smirked, slowly starting to thrust into her. He buried his face in her neck, his breathing erratic.
"Oh fuck Hermione," he whispered, "You're so wet. You're so tight. You feel so good."
Hermione groaned at his silky voice in her ear. She felt like electricity was running through her body. Was that the first time he had ever said her first name? It didn't matter. All that mattered was that he never ever stopped fucking her exactly as he was. Her legs ached from being pushed backwards, and her back was sore from being pressed against the door, but Draco's lips on her neck, his cock sending wave after wave of pleasure through her body… It was unparalleled by anything she had ever experienced.
"Please don't stop," she begged.
"I don't plan to," he purred, picking up the pace.
"Oh shit. Oh fuck." Her moans grew louder until she cried out every time he thrust into her. Thank Godric for silencing spells.
"I didn't realise you had such a foul mouth, Granger," he hissed in her ear, "Then again, I didn't know you were this dirty little minx either. If I had, I might have had my way with you a long time ago."
"Oh gods. Oh gods." She couldn't say anything else. She could barely think straight as she felt her orgasm building, her magic crackling around her and threatening to blow up the entire classroom if she didn't contain herself. "Just a little more. Pleaaaase!"
Draco complied, thrusting into her deeper and harder than before, and Hermione felt felt fireworks exploding inside of her as he pushed her over the edge. Her toes curled and she screamed.
"Draco! Oh gods Draco!"
Hermione's entire body tingled and she couldn't make enough sound to express the pleasure she felt. She knew that he was about to climax too - he buried his face in her neck, groaning and grunting until eventually he thrusted deep into her, filling her as he gasped with ecstasy. His legs went weak and buckled. They both slid down the door until they were a tangled, panting mess on the floor. Hermione closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing, wondering why orgasms she had given herself had never come close to what had just happened. Draco kissed her again, softly again now.
Slowly Hermione caught her breath and the afterglow faded. Finally the realisation of what has just happened dawned on her. Her eyes shot open.
"Oh Merlin, what have we done?" she gasped. She had just lost her virginity. In a classroom! To Draco Malfoy! He just smirked.
"In case you didn't notice, Granger, we just had sex. Very enjoyable sex, at that.'
She pulled away from him, scrambling to put her clothes back on.
"Y-yes, you're right, it was. Perhaps we could keep this as our little secret?" she asked timidly.
"Of course," he said, as if anything to the contrary was simply ridiculous, "I think I would be murdered on the spot if a certain dark wizard found out about this."
"Of course," she stammered. She pulled her robe back on and replaced her Gryffindor scarf. "Maybe, as soon as we leave this room, it's like none of this ever happened? You can go back to calling me a mudblood and I'll try not to jump on you next time?"
Draco barked out a laugh. "Sounds good to me."
"Okay, I'll leave first, you can follow. I guess I'll see you in Potions on Monday."
She picked up her wand and cancelled the charms on the door. She reached for the handle, but Draco stopped her from leaving by placing his hand on hers.
"Hermione." She looked up at him, her brown eyes locking into his grey. He leaned in and kissed her gently. When he finally pulled away, he smiled at her. "Our little secret."
Hermione blushed, smiled back, and turned the doorknob. She headed back into the corridor, leaving Draco Malfoy and their little secret behind her.