Chapter 1:
"Oh, come on, Hermione, please?" Harry begged again. "You've got to, Kreacher and Dobby said he went into a Muggle club."
"So, what's that got to do with me?" Hermione asked, her clever mind already realizing what Harry was getting at.
"One of us has to see what Malfoy's up to in that club," Harry explained, "and it obviously can't be me or Ron, it'd look too suspicious for a pureblood or even a halfblood to be there. But you, you're Muggle born, you have an excuse in case he sees you."
"And what exactly is that excuse, Harry? Everyone at Hogwarts knows what a bookworm I am! Do you really think he's gonna believe that I, Hermione Granger, would go out on a school night? I mean, it's not exactly Crabbe of Goyle we're dealing with, is it? How the hell am I going to pull this off, Harry?" Harry hesitated a moment, then reluctantly said,
"Well, I suppose you would have to kind of...act."
"Act?! Act like what, pray tell?"
"Like...you have a dark side no one knows about. Malfoy could get into that."
"Are you fucking joking?! I don't want Malfoy to get into anything about me, even if I am only acting!!" she spat, furious at Harry for even thinking anything of the sort.
"Please, Hermione, we need to know what he's doing, it could be anything from meeting with Death Eaters to luring away Muggles for torture!" That one got her attention. She could tolerate Malfoy being an arrogant prick around school, but she couldn't stand by and allow innocent people to be tortured for sport by Voldemort's sick followers.
"Congratulations Harry," she sighed, "you've talked me into it."
"Great, Hermione, you'll go to the club tomorrow night, then?"
"Yes, yes, I'll go tomorrow night," Hermione confirmed, suddenly exaperated until Harry hugged her tightly, saying,
"Oh thank you, Hermione, thank you!! I swear you won't regret it!"
'God, Harry,' she thought, 'I hope there's nothing to regret.'
Chapter 2:
(as we join our heroine)
Hermione stood outside the club feeling as naked in public as she had ever felt before. She thought she looked like a whore, but Harry, Ron, and Ginny had all assured her before she left that she did not.
She wore high heeled, brown leather clogs with a rounded toe, gold studs decorating the sole of the toe with jeans with a brownish blue wash that rose only to about two inches below her navel. The top was olive green, and looked like a tight, stretchy v-neck t-shirt, except that it was cut off just below where her bra ended, showing off her entire midriff.
Ginny had helped her tame her bushy hair and it now hung fine and straight, just past her shoulders, with subtle red highlights lightening the dull chestnut color. She'd had also helped her with makeup (which Hermione almost never bothered with) so her eyes were smoky, her cheeks were blushing, and her lips were glossed. She (in fact) looked amazing.
Hermione sighed. 'Well, if it's acting, I have to do, then act I will,' she thought. She sauntered up to the bouncer, smiled, and flashed her (fake) Muggle ID. He undid the velvet rope without question, and she stepped into the club, not really knowing what to expect (she'd never been to a club before).
The moment she opened the door, the music hit her with a pounding beat and lyrics she didn't recognize. She looked down to see a packed dancefloor, people gyrating, bouncing, grinding, and just generally shakin' what their mommas gave them. She scanned the room for Draco, and saw no sign of him, though earlier that night the Marauder's Map had shown him leaving the castle. 'Ok, I guess I'll just wait. If he doesn't show up, then hey, at least I got to take a night off.' As she made her way down the stairs of the entrance towards the dance floor, she noticed a couple of guys looking at her. 'Wow,' she thought, 'that hasn't happened since the Yule Ball.' She pushed past the crowd on the dance floor until she reached the bar, taking a seat in the spot with the best view of the whole club. A younger looking female bartender, with hair as red as any of the Weasleys, came over to serve her.
"Hi, hon," she greeted Hermione, "want anything to drink while you wait?"
"What, um..." Hermione knew she couldn't drink, tonight she had to be on top of her game. "Do you, um, have anything without alcohol?" The bartender looked her up and down, smiled, and said,
"Well, I can make you a virgin daiquiri or margarita, or a Shirley Temple..." then, seeing, Hermione's look of confusion, explained, "Sprite with cherry syrup in it."
"Oh, oh, um, yeah the uh...Shirley Temple sounds good" Hermione replied, still keeping a sharp eye out for Malfoy. Suddenly, the DJ cut off the music and said,
"And now, for your entertainment, we can kick off our karaoke night, here at Thunderstruck!! Sign up right here in front of the DJ booth if you're brave (or drunk) enough to sing up here on stage!!" With that, he put the dance music on autoplay and went to mingle within the crowd. Then, from behind her, Hermione heard a familiar drawling voice say,
"Excuse me, miss, can I buy you a drink?" 'Holy shit,' she thought, 'it's him! Ok, act cool, be sexy, don't blow it. Remember, he doesn't know who you are yet. Make him think you have a dark side, a...a...Slytherin side...yeah...' She turned around slowly to face him, and looked him up and down. He wore a tight black t-shirt with a copper foil dragon design on it with well fitted, dark blue jeans. Hermione couldn't help but think, 'Gee, I never would've guessed he had such a nice body under all those robes.' Then, quickly remembering with she was there in the first place, she regained composure and purred,
"Hello, Malfoy."
"Sorry, have we met?" he said, a look of surprise on his face, but slight panic in his eyes.
"What, Malfoy," Hermione said, relishing every word coming out of her new sexy, dangerous self, "you don't recognize a mudblood in this sea of Muggles?"
"Did you just say Muggl--HOLY SHIT!!! GRANGER?! Why the fuck are you here? And what the hell happened to you? You're--you're--"
"Hot?" she finished for him, smiling and very satisfied with the reaction she was getting.
"N--no!!" he sputtered, but she could tell he was lying.
"So, Malfoy, why would you of all people ask a girl who you thought was a Muggle if you could buy her a drink? And in a Muggle night club, no less?" she knew he probably wouldn't tell the truth, but she just had to hear the lame excuse he came up with in a moment's notice.
"I'm...uh, doing...I'm...spying on Muggles. Yeah, that's it, I am soo evil. Yup, bad to the bone, that's right. Fear me and my badassness!!" Hermione gave him a disdainful look, sighed, and said,
"Ok, first of all, Malfoy, I thought you were smart enough to realize that I'm not a complete moron. Did you really think I would believe that sorry explaination? Like you would really admit to spying on Muggles...and what the hell is with the whole 'fear me and my badassness' thing? Come on, what are you really doing here?"
"You...you think I'm smart?" Malfoy looked as if that was one of the only compliments he'd ever gotten.
"Well, uh...yeah, I guess so...I mean, you get the best marks in the year aside from me, don't you? Now, out with it, why are you here?"
"Allright, I'll tell you the truth...ok, here goes...goddammit...I'm the, um..."
"Dammit, Malfoy, spit it out!"
"Look, I'm the reigning karaoke champion here, ok?!" he blurted, clapping both hands over his mouth afterwards, as if the words had come out of their own free will. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at that,
"No, seriously Malfoy, enough messing around. Why're you here?"
"I'm not joking, really, ask anyone here! Like, um...oh, her!" he pointed to the bartender who was just returning with Hermione's drink. "Hey Sam," he asked, "aren't I the karaoke champion here at Thunderstruck?" She sighed, as if she were tired of hearing him talk about it, and (rolling her eyes) replied,
"Yes, Draco, you're the karaoke champion here. Now if your highness will allow me to return to work..." she turned to Hermione and smiled, handing her the Shirley Temple, then walked away to serve the other people waiting on drinks.
"Hah! See, I told you I was the champ!" Malfoy gloated. "So Granger," he continued, "now you know why I'm here, but what are you doing here? I've never seen you here before tonight." 'Oh damn, now I've gotta think up a really good excuse!'
"I...well I...uh..." she had a hard time thinking up anything even half believable at this point. 'Come on, girl, act!!' "Oh," she said, suddenly nonchalant, "I like to sneak away every now and then to...release my tension." Malfoy looked utterly shocked by this news. "Hell," she laughed, "I don't even tell Harry and Ron about it!"
"Well well well, Granger," he said, looking rather smug about somthing, "I always knew you had a dark side..." Hermione noticed that as he said this, his hand on her knee, and he was leaning forward slightly. "Ever since you punched me in our third year...no true Gryffindor would ever hit an enemy when they weren't expecting it. That'd be the Slytherin thing to do." His hand was advancing slowly upwards on her leg. She was starting to feel hot, and not in the sexy way.
"Back off, Malfoy," she hissed, crossing her legs so that his hand slipped off. "I've got a dark side, but it isn't that dark."
"Suit yourself, Granger, but you don't know what you're missing..." As he turned to walk away, Hermione realized she had missed an crucial bit of information to why he was at the club in the first place. 'Shit!'
"Malfoy," she called, hoping to bring him back to talk just a bit more, "Malfoy! Oi, Malfoy!!" She sighed, knowing she had only one other option. "Draco!!" He stopped dead in his tracks for a moment before he turned on his heel, striding back toward her. He stopped, bowing, took her hand, and kissed it lightly before looking up and saying,
"M'lady?" 'Holy shit, when did he get so charming' she thought, blushing against her will.
"So, um...how did you become the, uh, 'karaoke champion' here, anyways?"
"Oh, well that's simple, I...wait a sec, why am I even telling you this? I mean, you'll probably just go tell the whole school, anyways." The slow look of comprehension that then dawned on his face showed that he'd just realized she could already tell the whole school a lot more than he wanted them to know. "Oh fuck, Granger! You're not gonna tell anyone about tonight, are you? Nobody can know about this!!"
"Oh, come on, Malfoy, of course I'm not going to tell anyone about this! I'd get in trouble, too, you know. Remember, I snuck out, as well!"
"Well...yeah, you're not gonna blemish that spotless record of yours..." he decided. Sighing, he said, "Allright, I'll tell you. You know how my father was locked up in Azkaban after the attack on the on the Ministry last year?" Hermione nodded, and he continued, "Well, before, then, I'd always taken everything he'd ever said to heart. I always followed his example, you know? In my eyes, he could do no wrong. But then, he was locked away, and at first, I was mad at Potter. But after I'd been at school for a bit, away from my mother, I started to realize that maybe my father was wrong. And if he could be wrong about following the Dark Lord, what else could he be wrong about? I knew the one thing he'd always drilled into me was that 'Muggles are inferior to us.' Naturally I had to see if he was right about that, so I came here, to the closest all-Muggle gathering point to Hogwarts."
"And..." Hermione said, willing herself not to make eye contact with him.
"And I've found that Muggles, while not able to do magic, aren't that bad after all." Hermione had not expected that in the least. She'd never realized that Malfoy was so...well, that he was anything but an asshole, really. But now, as she looked at him, she finally realized just how attractive he was. 'NO!!' her head screamed, 'No! Down girl! He's still Malfoy! Remember him? The first person to ever call you a mudblood to your face? Your best friend's mortal enemy?
"Well, Malfoy," she started, trying her best to seem distant, but he cut her off,
"Call me Draco..." 'Damn him!'
"Draco...I'm glad to see you've reconsidered your views on Muggles, then, but it's um...it's getting late, and I think I should be getting back up to the school now..." His expression changed to a look of worry.
"No! I...I mean stay...just a little while longer, I'm still gonna sing..." Hermione laughed.
"Ok, but only because this is something I sooo have to see!" Malfoy smirked.
"I knew I could get you to stay."
"For your information, Draco," she said hotly, "I'm only staying to see you make a fool of yourself onstage, then I'm going!"
"Whatever, Granger. Oh, look, it's my turn," the DJ had just called for the champion to come up and defend his title, "I'll see you in a minute." He walked up onto the stage, as people clapped and cheered for him. 'Stupid Malfoy,' she thought, 'smug, cheeky bastard, oooh, I'd like to...' Then she heard Malfoy speak into the microphone,
"This song goes out to you, Hermione..." 'Holy hell, did he just call me Hermione? He knows my first name? Man, this night just keeps getting weirder and...' and then she recognized the song that was starting up. 'Oh, no, oh no, not this one...' Yes...that one.
Chapter 3:
(Drums start)
"Cum on feel the noize
Girls rock your boys
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
Wild, wild, wild"
"Damn," Hermione thought aloud. 'He's really not that bad of a singer...' Then, Malfoy looked down, and made direct eye contact with her as he sang,
"So you think I got an evil mind, I'll tell you honey So you think my singing's out of time, it makes me money
And I don't know why
And I don't know why
And I don't know why
And I don't know why anymore
Oh no
He took the mike off of its stand and began to pace up and down the stage. So cum on feel the noize So you think I got a funny face, I got no worries So I'm a scruff bag well it's no disgrace, I'm in no hurry So cum on feel the noize
Girls rock your boys
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
Wild, wild, wild,
So cum on feel the noize
Girls rock your boys
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
Until dawn
And I don't know why
I don't know why
And I don't know why
I don't know why anymore
Oh no
Girls rock your boys
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
Wild, wild, wild,
So cum on feel the noize
Girls rock your boys
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
Until dawn
Malfoy suddenly jumped off of the stage, into a spot where there were no people, and started to make his away across the dance floor. Hermione thought he was just showing off until she noticed he was heading straight toward...her.
So you think we are the lazy type, you should know better
I don't know why
I don't know why
When he reached her, he leaned in (but he never touched her) until the microphone was the only thing their mouths, and looking deep into her tea-colored eyes, sang,
So you say I got a dirty mind, I'm a mean go getter
I don't know why
I don't know why anymore
Oh no
He slowly backed away, not losing eye contact with Hermione until he made his way back through the crowd, repeating the chorus as he hopped back onto the stage.
So cum on feel the noize
Girls rock your boys
We get wild, wild, wild,
Wild, wild, wild"
(Fade out)
The crowd was going nuts as the DJ said "Oh, sorry to all those who competed, but it looks as if Draco is still our reigning champion." Malfoy took a bow, then jumped off the stage and once again made his way back to Hermione, who was wearing a look of utter shock.
"So, did you enjoy me making a fool of myself?" he asked innocently.
"I...well...SHIT, MALFOY!!! Where'd you learn to sing like that?!"
"Around," he replied vaguely.
"So, why was that song dedicated to me?" she questioned. "It's not as if you like me or anything...right?" Malfoy looked at her with a small smile on his face, before saying,
"Yes I do."
"WHAT?!" Malfoy laughed,
"Yes, Hermione, I've liked you for quite some time now. In fact, I believe since you punched me in our third year. I just didn't want to admit it to myself, because you were Muggle-born."
"But why didn't you ever tell me?"
"I was afraid of what my father would think. But I don't have to worry about that anymore, do I?" And with that he leaned forward, lightly pulled her toward him with a hand on the back of her neck, and kissed her.
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It was almost 5:30 in the morning before they'd gotten back to the school. The two had danced and talked the whole night. They crept into the entrance of the Great Hall. Draco whispered,
"Can you get back to your common room allright?" Hermione replied,
"I got out, didn't I?" Draco smiled and kissed her.
"You know we'll still have to pretend to hate each other during school, right?" he asked. Hermione sighed,
"Yeah, but it's only until next week, right?"
"Yes, I'll see you down here at 11:30 next Thursday night. We'll to the club together." Hermione smiled at him,
"Sweet dreams, Draco."
"You, too, Hermione." They kissed once more, a lingering kiss, to make up for the following week of "hating each other," then they made their way back to their respective common rooms.
Epilogue:
(the next morning)
"God, Hermione, you were out late last night," Harry observed when Hermione came down to meet him to go to breakfast the next morning. They each took a seat while they waited for Ron to realize that they had classes that day. "What did you see?"
"He, um...he never showed," she lied. "Yeah, Dobby and Kreacher must have gotten the name of the club wrong or something, cause I was there all night and didn't see any sign of him." Harry looked rather disappointed, but said,
"Ah, well, no big deal. Hey, I really do apprieciate you trying, though." He rose and give her a thank you hug.
"Hey, Harry, c'mon, what are friends for?" she said, just as Ron came bounding down the stairs.
"Hey, guys, let's get to breakfast, I'm starved!"
(at breakfast)
Hermione followed Harry and Ron downstairs to breakfast, as they discussed who might win in the Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin quidditch match that weekend. Hermione sat down to eat, using all her willpower not to look at the Slytherin table. After awhile, though, she couldn't help herself, and she glanced up quickly, only to see Draco looking right at her. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, then he made a small motion with his head, indicating that she should meet him in the stairwell down to the dungeons. He rose, said something to Blaise Zabini (whom he had been talking to before), and headed toward the dungeons. Hermione waited until he'd been gone a moment, then told Harry and Ron,
"Hey, guys, I've gotta go grab something from the student's potion supply cabinet, I'll meet you in Herbology, ok?"
"K, Hermione, see you in a bit!" She grabbed her things and followed the path Draco had just taken, until she was out of sight of the Great Hall.
"Draco," she whispered, "what did you need to talk about?" An arm shot out and grabbed hers, pulling her behind a statue of Gludsel the Intelligent, and she found herself pinned against the wall behind the large statue.
"Talk?" Draco repeated silkily, "Who said anything about talking?" His lips came down on hers forcefully, as one hand slid down her side, coming to rest on her hip. After a moment, Hermione broke the kiss and asked,
"So this is how it will be for the rest of the year? Us, sneaking around, making out when we can, going out to party and sing karaoke once a week, and pretending to hate each other the rest of the time?" Draco thought about it for a moment, and replied simply,
"Yup."
"Ok, just wanted to make sure." And she dragged him into a passionate kiss.
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