"Granger!"
Hermione froze mid-step when she heard her name hissed from the shadows of an alcove. Setting her previous thoughts aside, she turned towards the alcove, and the voice within it, and put her hands on her hips impatiently when nothing further was said. Making a show of it, she cast a quick tempus and glared irritably back at the alcove, nearly jumping in fright when it responded.
"Oh, forgive me for the intrustion Mudblood, I didn't realize you were the only one in a rush. Get over here, and be quick. Someone could see you any minute now."
Pursing her lips at the derogatory word, she hurried into the darkness of the alcove with her wand firmly in hand.
"What is it Malfoy? Hurry up and spit it out, and I don't mean that word."
Malfoy feined innocence and put his hands up, showing he had no wand at hand.
"I had to get your attention so you'd quit dawdling about the hallway like a damned troll. And for the record, that word is just that. Nothing but a word. You're good with those, right?"
"What of it? Surely you didn't play hide-away in an alcove just to tell me that."
When he didn't respond immediately she urged, "Go on, then, get on with whatever it is you want! I am in a hurry."
Malfoy huffed and looked to the wall behind Hermione, struggling to string together the sentences he so desperately needed to get out.
"I... There was an... accident. Yes, accident is a good word. Someone threw... There was a duel of sorts in my common room, and... Well it was aimed at-"
"Please do hurry Draco. I really want to get there soon, so I don't lose my seat. Can we finish this later?" Hermione asked, checking the time again.
Malfoy sighed in defeat and dropped his head, which had raised at the use of his given name.
"Fine Granger, you want short? I'll give you short. Duel. Hexes. Misfire. Curse. ME. Problem. Fix it now.." Daring a glance up at the bushy-haired witch in front of him, Malfoy saw that she was bouncing dangerously between disbelief, impatience, and amusement, and he couldn't afford it to be any of the three. He sighed heavily, and whispered wistfully, "Please..."
Embarassed, he hung his head and let his hair cascade across his face, hiding his reddened cheeks.
Hermione sighed quietly, more to herself than to Malfoy, and put her hands on his shoulders carefully.
"I understand how hard that was to say... so... just... stay here. Okay? Stay right here in this alcove, and I'll be right back."
Malfoy's head shot up, and his eyes glinted in brief terror. He opened his mouth to say something to stop her, but she cut him off before he even started.
"And no, Malfoy, I'm not off to tell anyone. I'm bumping my appointment before it's lost for good, so I have time to help you. Just stay there, and I will be right back."
He closed his mouth and nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment.
'Gods what have I been reduced to... asking for anything, let alone help from that Mudblood... I swear if she can't help me I'm going to die of embarassment. What if she tells someone? Oh Merlin, she could be telling Potter... shit, this was a bad idea. Very bad. If I leave now, maybe she'll think it was a joke? An... illusion? No, she's far to smart for that.'
Leaning his head against the cold stone wall behind him, Malfoy sighed at his inner defeat.
"Fuck me."
"Tempting offer, but I'm afraid I don't go that way."
Malfoy's eyes shot open, and he sneered at the speaker.
"As if I would offer it to you. I was merely thinking out loud. Besides, what way is it exactly you 'don't go'?"
"Blondes, of course. Miss me?" Hermione stepped deeper into the alcove with Malfoy, and smirked.
"Never. So? Are you going to help me?"
Hermione sighed, folding her arms across her chest.
"You've yet to tell me what, exactly, it is I'm supposed to be helping you with."
Malfoy mimicked her folded-arms stance, and huffed.
"Well if you hadn't been in such a bloody hurry, I might've actually managed to get that bit out."
Hermione waved her hand in the air to show concession, so he continued.
"As I was saying before, I got hit with a curse in the middle of a rather... heated... duel."
"What were you doing dueling? Let alone at school, I can only imagine the trouble you'd be in if-"
"It wasn't me Granger, it was a bunch of idiots I happen to be housed up with! Will you please let me finish one bloody sentence without your interuptions?" Malfoy said, his whisper becoming a harsh sounding hiss.
Hermione nodded, and pursed her lips tightly.
"Thank you. Now. Once again. It was most definitely not my duel, but I got hit with this bloody curse anyway. And now, I need you to fix it. Just, do some spell I'm sure you know, and undo the last spell that hit me, or something." Malfoy finished and waved his hand lamely, blowing hair out of his face and looking back at Hermione.
What he saw wasn't very promising. She was looking at anything she could to avoid his gaze. Frowing, he kicked his foot towards her to get her attention.
"Well? Can you do it, or not?"
"I'm sorry... I don't know of any spell like that." Hermione hasted to continue, sensing Malfoy's anger, "At least, not right now. If I could just research it, I'm positive I could find something! But..."
"But what, Mudblood. My patience has vastly run out."
"But... If you could just tell me what symptoms you've having, or.. or better yet what the exact curse was, I could find out right now how to fix it! For sure..."
Malfoy visibly paled at her implication.
"I'm not telling you my bloody symptoms."
"Well why not? Do you want my help, or not?" Hermione stood forcefully and put her hands on her hips.
"Want, Granger? No. I'd rather suck my own cock before I ever go so low as to want anything from you. But need, is a different matter altogether. I need you."
"Then you need to tell me what you're experiencing."
"That's not going to happen."
"Fine. Don't ask me for help again, I won't give it. Bye Malfoy."
"Damnit! Fine." Malfoy grabbed her arm as she headed towards the opening and swivelled her around to face him, then shoved her harshly against the wall and pressed his whole body flush against hers.
Grabbing the hands she was pressing against him, he pinned them against the wall above her head and leaned his face closer to hers, whispering against her skin, "There. Can you feel my symptoms? Are you bloody well satisfied yet?"
Hermione shook her head fearfully, her heart thumping entirely too loudly in her own ears to comprehend anything else that was happening. What was she supposed to feel exactly?
Grunting angrily Malfoy bucked his hips forward and ground against Hermione for a split second, before releasing her arms and turning away from her altogether. She couldn't be allowed to see his embarassment.
Hermione stood with her hands limp at her side, trying to comprehend what Malfoy was trying to get her to see. How could she possibly comprehend his symptoms?
Mulling over the encounter in her head, she suddenly felt as if she had been doused with ice water. The grabbing, the touching, the the bucking...
"Oh god..."
Malfoy winced as she spoke, knowing she realized his predicament.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, he took a deep breath and waited for her to continue.
"Malfoy? Are... are you saying that... Is that a symptom?"
He sneered and turned his head slightly so she could see his face.
"No Granger. Of course not. I dream about touching your body with mine every night when I lay down to sleep. Of course that's a bloody symptom."
"Is that.. all?"
"Is that all? Are you dense? It's not a small problem I'm talking about here. This isn't some... troublesome erection, Granger, this is a serious issue. That duel? It was three weeks ago. Three bloody weeks, and this thing hasn't gone away, not once!" He gestured roughly towards his groin, and the obvious hardness it held.
Hermione flushed at his gesturing, her eyes trying to stay far away from the entire area Malfoy encompassed.
"Have you tried...you know? Or a shower, or.. something?"
"Yes. Yes to any other ridiculous ideas you pop out too. I've shagged half my house, and enough of the other three houses to fill a bloody brothel and a half. It. Will. Not. Go. Away. I can't even-" He hesitated, unsure if he should tell her the rest of it or not.
Sighing, he decided to get all the humiliation out of him now. Almost...
"I can't even come, Granger. Nothing I've tried has worked, and the longer it goes, the more I think about P.." His eyes widened and he clamped his mouth shut.
Hermione stared at him, trying to wrap her head around what he had said.
"So... you're obsessed with... someone? This curse did that to you?"
"...yes. No. Sort of. Amplified it more like."
"Okay... and... have you tried...?"
"Have I tried what?" Malfoy looked mollified at the very idea of approaching the lover in his wetdreams.
"You know... having a go with her?"
"Her? Her who, Granger?"
Hermione blushed, and continued, "Pansy. Isn't that who it's about?"
Malfoy could do nothing to stop the dropping of his jaw as he gaped at her.
"Wait.. you think...Pug-nose? Bloody hell, never! She's absolutely insufferable. Barring that, she is thankfully enamoured with Blaise."
"Well... then who? Never mind, I'm not sure I want to know. So, just making thing clear... you haven't tried approaching this person?"
"No."
Hermione sighed, unable to think of anything better to say at the moment.
"Maybe... maybe you should?" Seeing the horror-struck look on Malfoy's face, she added, "Just... at least while I do some research. It sounds like maybe a spell that has effects similar to Amortentia, but... severely altered. I have to find out what it is before I can help you Malfoy, I'm sorry."
"So, that's it then? I just continue on about my business hard as stone and completely engrossed with... Bloody hell, you're supposed to be an insufferable know-it-all Granger! You're hardly holding up to your reputation." Malfoy ran an agitated hand through his hair and grit his teeth together.
"I'm sorry... I wish I could help you, really, I do! I just... can't..." Hermione drooped her head solemnly and chewed her bottom lip.
Malfoy felt a twinge of guilt and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"It's alright... I guess there's nothing to be done right now. Just... Swear to me you won't tell anyone about this? That's the last thing I need right now."
Hermione's brow furrowed, but she nodded. There were so many books she would need to reference, and many probably weren't even at Hogwarts right now.
"I swear it Malfoy, no one will know I was even here."
"Thanks... And thank you, Hermione. For the help." Malfoy kept his gaze down until he heard her footsteps fade away down the hallway, then straightened his robes to cover his erection. Taking a deep breath, he strode out of the alcove purposefully, head held high, and slammed into a very solid body.
A very warm, very solid body.
Looking up with a sneer on the edge of his face, Malfoy's face fell into a gape of shock.
He was on his back, his arms propping him up and his feet heavily tangled with the legs of the solid body partially under him.
His groin was very much visible, very much tented, and very much under the scrutiny of a very green gaze.