Another month, another setting of challenges!

This "story" will be a series of unrelated chapters in answer to NeonDomino's 2016 Monthly Prompt List Challenge: February. It is a continuation of my effort to combat writer's block and explore new territory. I will again touch on pairings I never thought to write about and scenarios I otherwise wouldn't have wanted to write about.

At the beginning of each chapter, I will list the prompt and the pairing/characters, genre, and rating I used to answer it. Unless otherwise explicitly stated, these will be [short] one-shots that I have no intention of pursuing into a full-fledged story. If a chapter strikes your fancy and ignites an idea in you that you want to pursue into a story, just let me know and I will happily let you take these half-formed ideas and run with them (just let me know so I can later stalk your story if you decide to post it!).

So for the first challenge:

[Item] Dragon Tattoo

Characters: Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy

Genre: Humor/romance

Rating: T

Challenging Expections

It was a day no more remarkable than any other. She was in her customary table in the library, hair pulled into a knot on the top of her head. A plethora of books surrounded her, overwhelming her table. But for once, her quill was not moving rapidly across the parchment. Her gaze was fixed out the window rather than on the book open in front of her. Her mind was a million miles away from the merits of jobberknoll feathers as opposed to ostrich feathers in the making of memory potions. It was an idle curiosity, not a class assignment.

Hermione blew out her breath, pushing away from the table to move closer to the window. Sunshine made the grounds majestic, and if she squinted, she could make out the quidditch pitch where her friends had pulled together an impromptu game. Not for the first time, Hermione wondered what her life would be if she'd been athletically minded instead of being a book-smart know-it-all. Certainly she wouldn't be using other people's taunts to label herself!

"If you miss them that much, you could always join them." A familiar voice said from behind her.

"I'd only get in the way." Hermione disagreed, keeping all hints of regret from her voice. She didn't turn to look at Draco Malfoy, though she was irritated by his interference. This would make the third time this week he'd approached her in the library. The tenth time this month, and it was only the fifteenth of November.

"You could cheer from the stands." He reminded her.

"I've done that plenty." She tore herself from the window, returning to her seat without looking at him. "I'd rather not today."

"Too busy researching?" Malfoy snorted.

"Yes." Hermione said primly, tugging the book closer for emphasis.

"Does it ever get old?" He wondered, pushing a stack of books out of the way so he could lean against the table more comfortably. "Endlessly reading these stupid books just to prove what you've already proven?"

"And just what have I proven, Malfoy?" Hermione demanded, leaning back in her chair to look at him properly.

"That you're twice as smart as the rest of us." He grinned down at her. "You don't have to prove it more."

"I don't believe you." She narrowed her eyes at him in mock affront. "If I stop studying now, then you'll get a mistaken impression that you're smarter than me."

"I would never make that mistake, Granger."

"Harry is convinced you're going to kidnap or kill me." Hermione informed him, rather than analyze his words.

"Oh?" A frown touched his face.

"So which is it, Malfoy?" She cocked her head to the side, eyeing him. Malfoy spent a moment just looking at her.

"Kidnap." He decided eventually. "Definitely kidnap."

"I'm getting bored of waiting."

"Then come on." He held his hand out.

"You think I'm going to come willingly?" Hermione snorted.

"Well it's come politely, or I'll throw you over my shoulder and drag you off, don't think I won't!"

"I don't doubt it for a minute." She placed her hand in his, allowing him to pull her away from the table and her pile of books. She wondered where he meant to take her. They'd been playing a game of cat-and-mouse since the start of the year. She was the only one who'd talk to him. The only one willing to look past the mark on his arm and see the man he was trying to be.

"What is it that Potter thinks I'll do with you once I've kidnapped you?" Malfoy asked, heading for the back of the library.

"Probably kill me." Hermione shrugged, half-laughing. "Maybe corrupt, but at this point, I don't think he'd believe it of me."

"Corruption, is it?" He tugged her into a hidden alcove, pressing her into the bookshelf. "Perhaps he isn't worried enough."

"Perhaps you're misjudging my willingness to cooperate." Hermione snorted, pressing her hands to his shoulders.

"Perhaps you are." Her breath caught in her throat, because his lips were centimeters from hers.

"This is a terrible idea."

"That's what makes it fun."

"I'll never make the mistake in thinking you care for me at all." She snapped.

"There's more than one reason to have sex, Granger." Malfoy informed her with a half-smirk.

"Oh?"

"It's exercise, silly. How else do you think I keep this lovely—" She closed the distance between them, pressing her mouth to his. Hermione expected him to jump back. To give up the game and possibly try to humiliate her. The kiss was little more than an excuse to shut him up. But his hands drew her closer, pulling her flush to his body. He deepened the kiss, tongue tracing her lower lip.

Oh this is very, very bad. But it had been so long since she'd been kissed. There wasn't any real harm in snogging Malfoy in the back of the library. She parted her lips for him, tongue entwining around his. She ran her fingers through his hair. Was there a touch of desperation behind his actions? Behind hers? She went after the buttons on his shirt because there was more they could do without getting completely inappropriate.

"Mmf!" Malfoy pushed her back, batting her hands away. "No!"

"No?" Hermione gaped at him, shocked. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?"

"No." He repeated, eyes wild with alarm.

"You're joking." She said flatly, eyes on the way he gripped his left forearm. Malfoy said nothing. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours." She baited, undoing the buttons on her sleeve impulsively.

"Granger…" Anger colored his voice, but he trailed off as she showed him her forearm. He'd been witness to Bellatrix Lestrange carving MUDBLOOD into her arm, but no one knew that she'd gotten a tattoo around it over the summer. A dragon curved in and around the letters of the scar, adding emphasis to the brand.

"You can't change the past, Malfoy." She said coolly. "I know what you were, and I know what you did in the final battle. Learn from your mistakes, and embrace the things you can't change. This," she held up her arm. "Is not an insult to me anymore. It's simply who I am."

"This," Malfoy hissed, ripping his sleeve back to expose the Dark Mark. "Is something I'd just as soon forget ever happened!"

"Don't forget." Hermione challenged. "Do not ever forget the mistakes you made, or why you made them. As soon as you forget, you're in danger of making them all over again. Learn from it." He stared at her, frozen somewhere between shock and anger. Hermione turned from him. "If you ever change your mind about…having fun, you know where to find me." She called over her shoulder.