"Come on, Hermione. Live a little," Lavender said just before Hermione was forcefully dragged into the hot, crowded room by her arm.
"Ouch!" Her complaints were ignored. Typical. Especially when boys were involved.
"Oh, there's Terry." Hermione felt her arm being pulled. "He looks good, doesn't he?" Lavender sighed dreamily.
"Umm, sure." Terry Boot was not her type. She considered that she might want to get a new type. Ron was her type. He was nice and a whole list of other qualities she admired. A lot of good it did her. She'd fallen hard for the nice guy and where did it get her? Dumped. At least he had done it nicely, she scoffed to herself.
Lavender headed off to flirt shamelessly with Terry, leaving Hermione to fend for herself.
If this party was any indication, the post-war effort to bring unity to the houses of Hogwarts was working. Students from all four houses were in attendance. Mostly seventh and "eighth" years, but a few from the lower classes had made their way in. She noticed that even Malfoy and his little group of questionably redeemed housemates had shown up. Everyone looked like they were having a great time. She sighed. Now that she was here, maybe she should at least try to have some fun.
As if on cue, a random bloke, she was sure was at least two years her junior, shoved a glass of what smelled like diesel but was most likely cheap firewhisky into her hands and told her to drink up. She must really look out of place. She tried not to make anything of it that he hadn't bothered to try and chat her up, and downed the firewhisky in one long gulp.
Probably not the best idea she'd ever had, but she really needed to loosen up a bit if she expected to have any sort of fun. Alcohol also had the nice side effect of making her hurt feel less painful. She hated that the break-up still stung every time it crossed her mind, which was far too often.
Spotting an unattended drink, she looked around quickly before downing it in a fashion similar to the first. It burned. The burn soon turned into a nice warm feeling in her belly. Maybe just one or two more and then she'd stop. She's never gotten drunk before and didn't want to chance getting sick.
"Hermione! There you are!" Lavender said, bouncing about her like they'd just won the House Cup. It was making Hermione dizzy.
"Yes. Here I am."
Lavender pouted. "You're not drinking. You should have a drink. Here, have mine!" A full glass of firewhisky was thrust towards her. Sure! Why not! It went down easy. Maybe too easy.
Lavender's eyes opened wide in a wondrous stare. "Wow." Then her eyes lit up as if she just suddenly remembered something extremely important. "Terry wants to play a game. But we need a few more players. You're coming with me."
Hermione was sure she didn't have a choice in the matter.
The game was fun. One of those silly drinking games designed to make the players do and say embarrassing thing in front of each other. It surprised her that she'd actually been enjoying herself. She'd be enjoying herself even more if Malfoy and his snide remarks weren't here. He hadn't failed once to select her when the game required him to pick someone to do something particularly embarrassing.
"You cheated!" Malfoy shouted and pointed to Zabini, refocusing Hermione's attention back to what was happening in the game.
"I did not. But don't get your lacy knickers all in a twist, Malfoy. You can take your turn again."
Malfoy gave him a suspicious look and carefully examined the dice before tossing them. A quick gasp and then stunned silence settled over everyone playing before breaking on Lavendar's shrieking giggles.
Lavender nudged Hermione and then whispered in her ear, "Don't worry. Fifteen minutes isn't that long. Besides, it's Malfoy. Half the girls in the school are certain that he's not all that into witches—if you know what I mean."
Her brain was foggy. She stared at the dice, trying to remember if she had gotten the rules right. This game had far too many of them, considering the idea involved the participants being heavily under the influence. "Hmmm… wait, so him," she pointed at Malfoy, who was glaring at Zabini. "And me… are going in there?" The closed door of a rarely used coat closet loomed ominously.
Lavender giggled as if it was just the funniest thing she'd ever heard. "Yes. But remember what I said… don't worry!" Hermione heard Lavender call out as Malfoy abruptly pulled Hermione to her feet.
"Let's get this bloody over with."
Ouch! He was not being gentle. "Get your hands off me. I can walk just fine without assistance." She did not want to go with him either, you'd think he'd know that.
He let go and she immediately stumbled but only because the bastard had added a little shove when releasing her. Little bugger.
He opened the door and insisted that she went in first, which she refused to do. He called her some colorful names under his breath. It seemed Malfoy could be quite poetic when it came to cursing. Must be a Slytherin thing.
Finally, Zabini took it upon himself to shove them both in at the same time. "Don't worry, I'm very good with timing spells," he said with a grin.
Darkness enveloped them. "Lumos," she said, placing her wand across a set of hooks, illuminating the tiny space. "What is this about a timing spell?" she asked.
"It keeps the door shut for exactly fifteen minutes so there's no chance of us getting out." He slid a few coats across the rod and examined the back wall. "Or someone getting in, I suppose."
"Oh, right." She knew that. "So what is it we're supposed to be doing in here?"
He laughed, "Even you can't be that naïve."
Oh, that! She blushed. It had been a perfectly acceptable question! It was her first time playing this game. Stupid game. "That's not going to happen." He infuriated her so much. Snogging Malfoy was out of the question. Too bad it was him in this closest and not that cute Ravenclaw that kept smiling at her from across the game table.
Draco glared and snidely remarked, "As if I'd want it to."
"Yes, Lavender told me." At least she didn't have to take his rejection as personal.
"Told you what?"
"That you… that… that you'd be a lot happier about all this if it were someone like Dean or Seamus and not me."
"Why do you even listen to the brainless bint? I don't particularly care for Thomas or Finnigan much more than I do for you. The whole lot of you bring annoying to a new level."
"Maybe not them specifically, but, you know, they're boys and I'm a girl, so…"
"What is it you're trying to say?"
"It's nothing to be ashamed about."
"I'm not ashamed about anything." He moved closer. She felt suddenly claustrophobic. "What is it you're thinking I should be ashamed of exactly?"
"That you're gay."
"I am not gay!" He said it with such force that she jumped back.
"It's okay if you are."
"Of course it is! But I'm not."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "Lavender said that you weren't very interested in… umm… spending time with her. She said other girls said the same thing."
"So just because I don't want to whore around with every slag in this school, I'm gay? It's called having standards, Granger. For the record, I like women."
"You sure? Lavender seemed pretty certain of it."
He rolled his eyes at her. "Of course I'm sure!"
When she didn't say much in return, he stared at her intensely. Frankly, she didn't care much who Malfoy was attracted to. And she was honestly surprised that his feathers got so ruffled by a silly rumor. The male ego was such a fragile thing.
He took a step closer to her. "You do believe me, don't you?" he murmured while roaming her body with his eyes.
She gulped. He was making her uncomfortable. She licked her lips. Malfoy groaned and came even closer. She really didn't like the explosion of butterflies that had just erupted in her stomach. "Yes."
"I don't think I believe you." He played with the edge of her shirt sleeve, his fingers lightly brushing the skin of her arm. "I'd feel more certain about it if I proved it to you. You're into that kind of thing — facts, knowledge, the truth — isn't that right, Granger?"
Just the way he said her name made her heart speed up. No one should be able to do that with just their voice. Especially a first class git like Malfoy.
"Wait. What about your standards?" Anything to persuade him that his whole 'convince Granger' idea needed rethinking.
"Normally… but in this case, you'll have to do."
"Nice. Insult me and try and kiss me at the same time."
"I always insult you. Why stop now?"
"You can't be serious. You don't just insult a girl and expect her to be all over you."
"Listen, Granger." He leaned in and whispered, "Most days it makes me happy to get you all worked up but today, now, I really want to kiss you. So just let me. You never know, maybe you'll like being kissed by a guy who can't help but comment on that hideous mane of yours."
His breath was like fire on the skin of her neck, causing her pulse to race. It made his ridiculous words have some sense. She had gone for the perfectly nice guy who would never dare insult her hair. Why not at least give in this once and indulge in something so wrong when it made her feel so amazingly good?
She started to speak but her words came out like soft moans, "Malfoy… I…" His mouth had trailed up her neck and was now hovering just above hers. She caught his eyes as he stared at her. He wanted her. The bottom fell out of her belly. She could see the intensity and determination in his gaze.
She closed her eyes and whispered, "Yes."
For someone who supposedly didn't get around much, he was a very skilled kisser. She had been hoping that he'd be terrible at it and she wouldn't have a second thought about shoving him off her. But if felt really good. Too good. She didn't want to stop. Being slightly drunk and well-snogged was just what she needed to forget everything — Ron, the breakup, NEWTs.
Malfoy's hands drifted down the side of her waist. He had a slow way of moving his hands that felt amazing. When they reached the edge of her shirt, she could feel him toying with the fabric. She wiggled in an effort to get him to take the final step. She wanted his hands on her skin.
He stopped.
She stood there panting and looking at him, trying to read the expression on his face. What was the problem? They were having fun. Fun she probably shouldn't allow him to have, but she brushed that thought aside quickly. She could rearrange her priorities for one night.
"Are we stopping?"
He grinned. "Do you believe me now?"
"If I say no, can we keep going?"
Author's Note: Written for the 2010 Reverse Challenge on Hawthorn & Vine. The gorgeous artwork that inspired this story can be found in my profile. I highly recommend that you check it out! And a big thanks goes to my betas, AkashaTheKitty and Terra, for their help on this fic.