Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters or elements of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter. Anything written here is purely for entertainment and will not be making any profit.

'A Reason. An Incentive. A Motivation.'

Summary: Essay-season in Hogwarts. Draco needs a little spurring on, an incentive of sorts.

Main Characters: Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger.

Rating: T.

Warnings: Suggestive themes.

Genre: Romance. Humour. Fluff.

A Reason. An Incentive. A Motivation.

'Draco, no. I don't have time for this. We don't have time for this.'

Draco Malfoy slouched in his seat, having detached his arms and lips from fellow Head student, Hermione Granger, mere moments before.

As the bushy-haired student pulled another sheaf of parchment towards herself across the large work table in the Heads' Common Room Draco heaved a sigh, rolling his eyes and grumbling under his breath.

'Moan all you like, Malfoy, but I know full well you want to graduate with O's just as much as I do.'

'Well maybe I'd be happy with E's.' He snapped.

'Yes, and I'm about to get down on one knee and propose to Cormac McLaggen.'

Draco leaned forwards across the desk. 'You know I don't like it when you joke about things like that.' He growled at her.

'And you know how much seeing you jealous turns me on.' She winked at him over the tome she held in front of the dimming light.

He slumped, pressing his forehead against the piled library books they'd splayed across the table, groaning loudly as she giggled at his reaction.

'Hermione...' He whined, still face-down in the dusty parchment of an old rune dictionary.

'Ok, Malfoy, I'll strike you a deal.'

'I love it when you use my last name. Dominating.'

It was Hermione's turn to roll her eyes, although she couldn't quite suppress the smirk creeping its way across her lips.

'Alright. One more hour's work here, for three hours work up there.' Her gaze lingered on his bedroom door at the top of the large staircase, the room they spent most nights in together, now. Although they would be hard-pressed to admit such a fact in front of the majority of the Hogwarts population.

'Three, you say?'

She nodded in response, her lower lip slipping between her teeth in a move that had nothing to do with nerves or stress.

His breathing audibly quickened as his eyes roamed her body, knowing full well he would find some Slytherin-green hidden beneath the uniform robes.

He swallowed noisily. 'You drive a hard bargain, Granger.'

'I prefer the term 'motivation'.' She counted, batting her eyelashes and smirking again before turning back to her Arithmancy essay.

He groaned once more and lurched forward to dig out his quill hidden beneath the stacks of books surrounding them.

Needless to say Draco Malfoy's essay was completed in good time, and graded perfectly with an 'O'.

Motivation indeed.

A/N: I cannot begin to apologise for distinct absence from the site for the past few weeks. By way of explanation, please understand that this is DEADLINE SEASON at university, and I need to get at least 3 firsts this semester in order to be in with a chance of graduating with First Class honours overall. So it is hard work aplenty in the library at the moment!

I am truly very sorry for having been so neglecting of my stories and this site. The Wheels Are Falling Off The World is NOT abandoned! It is NOT on hiatus! And it WILL be updated by the weekend! My main deadlines are for Wednesday, which also happens to be my birthday, so I should be much freer and able to indulge in the wonderful world of fanfiction again. I have sincerely missed it.

So, as a peace offering, I send you this. The title is awful, but I needed something snappy in a 15 minute break in writing my Animation Critical Commentary and Evaluation. It's mostly fluff, something in the way of flirtatious, and a desperate bid for some sanity amongst the madness of the season. So I apologise for any glaring mistakes and/or complete incomprehension.

Other than that, happy May!

SimpsonSortia