A/N: Written for the Overheard in Hogwarts Challenge at the HPFC Forum. This was very fun to write, and now I think I may ship Hermione/Draco. Review, please?
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The Serpent and the Lioness;
It was early in the morning and the orange hue that was the morning sunrise, shone through the window. The castle was deserted. Most pupils were asleep; relaxing and having a lie in – taking advantage of the fact that it was a Saturday morning. ...But then again, Hermione Granger was not 'most pupils'. She had been in the Library, researching on extra material for Flitwick's charm essay. Of course, only Hermione would do something like that, when most pupils would just write it down without a thought, or in Ron's case, copy.
On her hands and knees, she was crouched on top of a large table, rifling through books. Her bushy hair was swept to one side in a messy ponytail, and it was evident that she was getting increasingly frustrated. Finally, throwing her hand despairing into the air, she 'swore';
"Merlin, I wish finding books were easy for once!"
In front of her lay a bookcase of massive proportions, crammed with thick and dusty volumes. It towered above her, dwarfing everything around it and as she looked up, Hermione suddenly felt extremely claustrophobic. Shaking her head, she turned around and sat on the table, facing away from the shelf. She placed her head in her hands and then rubbing her eyes, she sighed;
"Friggin' Library." She thought exasperatedly, when she heard a voice beside her. She turned again, and saw the one and only...;
"Malfoy?" Her eyebrows raised out of sheer surprise and disbelief. What was Malfoy doing up so early, and moreover what was he doing in the Library?
He smirked;
"Yep. It's your lucky day, Granger. Welcome to the Library, where your wildest dream come true!"
He threw out his hand dramatically, and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Hermione simply rolled her eyes, and pushed herself off the table and onto the floor.
"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously with her hands on her hips. He, in response simply looked a little shocked;
"I simply don't know, Granger. You know I think I might be dreaming..."
She sniffed, sceptically;
"Dreaming?"
He nodded, and smirked, leaping up to sit on the table behind her;
"Yeah" He paused to tap his fingers on the desk;
"…I think this is the one where...Wait. Did Harry die?"
Hermione blinked and then took a step back, her face creased in confusion;
"...No?"
He rolled his eyes and then slapped himself, as though it was the most natural thought process in the world, to think that you were dreaming when you were most obviously awake. Hermione on the other hand, thought he was absolutely mental and raised one eyebrow.
"Oh...I must have had that dream again." He answered, matter-of-factly.
Hermione rolled her eyes and grabbed a nearby book;
"Well I don't know about dreams, Malfoy… but what you put in your pumpkin juice this morning is another matter..."
Now, it was his turn to look confused as he took one step toward her. Then, suddenly he pulled a face and laughed aloud, gaining a harassed and scarily mean look from Madam Pince from the other corner of the Library.
"Only joking,'Mione. You should have seen your face, though."
Hermione scowled and placed the book back onto the table.
"That's not funny, Draco."
He simply rolled his eyes and jumped off the edge of the table onto the floor, and now stood, facing Hermione, his hands place indignantly on his hips.
"As I said, you should have seen your face."
Stepping forward, he cast a quick glace over his shoulder and then quickly he planted a soft kiss on her cheek.
"You so owe me for this. Pansy is going to kill me."
Hermione smirked, and flicked her eyes up to meet his.
"Oh come on, Draco! Pansy?"
He shrugged, in a non-committal way and then smiled.
"I know! She is…annoying to say the least. Y'know, I think she is slightly psychotic."
Rolling her eyes, Hermione took his hand and led him over toward a window at the end of the corridor. Hoisting herself up onto the large, flat window sill she patted the stone and gestured for Draco to join her.
"It's either that, or her mum didn't love her enough."
Draco laughed lightly, as he hoisted himself up onto the sill next to her.
"True, true."
There was a slight, awkward pause, which was then promptly broken by Hermione.
"Now we have to think of something to talk about…"
Draco raised one eyebrow;
"Not really. You're just making it awkward."
"I am not!" She replied, indignantly.
He smirked and ran a hand through his hair, then slipped on arm around her waist;
"Well then, maybe we don't have to talk…."
He winked suggestively, yet Hermione made a small disparaging noise, and gestured over to Madam Pince. Draco just chuckled.
"Oh come on, Hermione. Live a little, why don't you? Seriously, if you didn't have me, you'd be a nun."
She rolled her eyes in response, whilst disentangling his arm from around her waist.
"Now that is pure arrogance, Draco."
He smirked.
"It's only arrogance if you're wrong. Which I clearly, am not…"
Hermione blushed and looked down.
"I have seen other boys, you know. It's not just you…"
Loosening his tie a little, he glanced over to Madam Pince, before saying;
"I would hardly call Viktor Krum a date…"
She hit him, scowling as she did so.
"Viktor was nice!"
Draco paused;
"Is that all? Nice? Come on, 'Mione. What you need is a man…"
In one swift movement, he had pinned her up against the window frame with his hands either side of her. Their lips were almost touching and both were breathing heavily.
" Draco Malfoy, you arrogant tosspot. So far, all I've experienced is coldness and evil."
He leant forward slightly, until their lips brushed silencing her.
"You call this evil or cold?"
She smiled, and she leant forward silencing him in a kiss.
Closing his eyes, he leant forward and drew her closer, snaking his arm around her waist. Deepening the kiss, he traced his tongue along her lips, teasingly until she parted them. His hands intertwined in her hair and she traced her hands along his stomach, trying to find a loose button hole. She substituted for his tie and drew him even closer, smiling against him as she did so.
Suddenly, before anything else could happen, there was a large bang behind them and the two sprang apart. Both, were breathless and looking around wildly for the source of the noise. Draco quickly re-tied his tie and Hermione leapt down from the sill.
"What the hell was that?"
They paused, still breathing heavily and both glanced nervously around the Library. Madam Pince was still on the other-side, so who…?
"Smile!" came a sprightly voice, quickly followed by a flash of light, as the slight figure ran off, giggling.
It took Hermione and Draco a while, before the image processed through their brain. Then…
"Colin Creevy, you complete pervert!" yelled Hermione, grabbing the nearest book and chasing after him.
Draco, now in complete panic mode, leapt down from the sill and also grabbed a book, following Hermione's suit.
"Hand the pictures over Creevy, or darling Potter gets it!" he said, running after Hermione out of the Library.
Madam Pince looked up, at the ruckus taking place, only to see one thing.
"Books!" she screamed, rushing after Hermione and Draco; "…out of the Library!"
If Draco had learnt anything that morning, he knew one definite thing. Pansy was going to be furious.
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Fin.
Review?