A/N: Alrighty guys, time for another Twin Exchange submission! This particular fic is Dramione, unlike my others. I just had to take the chance to write for this pairing again when the idea hit me. If you enjoyed this fic, please don't forget to go to the Twin Exchange forum and vote for this fic! I'd greatly appreciate it!
Pairing: Draco/Hermione, Prompt: Flag, Quote: "On the roof."
When it came down to it, Hermione had no one to blame but herself for her current situation. This was a new feeling, one she hoped she didn't get adjusted to. Normally, she could pin her misfortunes or sheer bad luck on her best friends. She supposed that was just about the only perk of being friends with accident prone idiots...minus the love and affection, or the feeling of belonging...
But that was besides the point. This was completely and utterly her fault entirely.
The tragedy of the Triwizard's ending had left not just those close to Cedric, but almost every student in the school in a lull. The summer had recently come to a close and the teachers hopes that the time off would rejuvenate the student's was shattered.
Lost, with no other way to liven the moods, the staff had begun to brainstorm ideas to pick up spirits. Their search seemed to be coming to a close when Hermione chose to open her huge, know-it-all mouth to offer a suggestion.
Her preachings of inner-house unity that normally fell on deaf ears finally fell on desperate ones. McGonnagal listened carefully, issuing a quick nod and thanks before altering the younger witch that the topic would be discussed with the headmaster.
If she had known what she had gotten herself into, she wouldn't have smiled at her praise or been excited for what could possibly come.
Obviously, the teachers had jumped at the suggestions, eager for any attempt at raising morale. Hermione had been called forward to give her full idea to the staff. For the first time, she was able to teach her professors as she reviewed the rules of the various games. Professor Dumbledore thanked her for her help, awarded her 50 house points, and sent her on her way.
She had no say in how the school would be split up or how the teams would be decided.
If she had, she certainly wouldn't be in the situation she was now.
She heard a groan from her right and resisted the urge to let out one herself. Her chocolate brown eyes flicked over to glimpse at his platinum blonde hair that stuck out harshly amongst the forest green surroundings. They were positioned, kneeling behind a thick bush, with the outline of the castle just visible through the tree trunks in front of them.
"I'm no more excited about this than you are Malfoy, trust me."
One of his trademark snickers now escaped his lips and he turned to return her gaze.
"You expect me to believe that?" He let out a boisterous laugh that caused the brunette to roll her eyes dramatically. "You're the one who came up with this whole ridiculous event, it clearly was your way of getting close to me." His pompous attitude and smirk was flaring her temper. She had to fight to control her actions. "I mean, you can't be blamed, surely my devilishly good looks and status in the wizarding world would be appealing to a m-"
Hermione, who was not in the mood to hear his obvious insult, smacked his arm with as much strength as she could muster. The hiss that emerged from the boy caused her to smile triumphantly.
"Ow! What the bloody hell was that for?!"
Hermione rolled her eyes again, as if it were obvious. "We're on the same team, we have to work together. That's not going to be possible if you call me...that. I won't be held accountable if I slap more than your arm."
Draco huffed, his voice suddenly a tone quieter as he turned his head forward to avoid looking at her. "That's fine, I deserved that..."
The awkward silence that surrounded them was driving both teens mad.
Hermione, as always, was analyzing his words and trying to determine if he was being honest or saying what was necessary to avoid a beat down. She looked over his somewhat sullen profile and felt compelled to believe him.
He seemed deep in thought and she had no clue if she should break his concentration. Granted, they were on a time-sensitive mission, but the way he looked was keeping her from speaking again. For the first time, she was seeing him with his guard dropped. He was allowing himself to get lost in his thoughts and his arrogent and cocky demenaour was gone. Instead she noticed only his calmed features and could almsot see the wheels turning in his head.
Not that she would ever admit it to anyone, especially him, but Draco Malfoy was incredibly attractive. The entire female population at Hogwarts, even the Gryffindor girls, constantly talked about how handsome he was. And, as much as Hermione liked to forget sometimes, she was a girl. Meaning, she also found him very appealing to the eyes.
But the way he looked now. She was sure that some girls would kill to see him like this. The way his features were so relaxed and calm...she felt herself getting lost as she looked him over, subconsciously looking for a fault so she could stop being crazy and agreeing with the rest of the girls.
If only he wasn't so evil and so biased, it would have been easier for herself to admit that he was potential friend material, being that he seemed to be one of the only in the school capable of keeping up with her and shared her passion for knowledge and success.
Draco, on the other hand, for the first time felt genuinely terrible. For the first time in his life, he reflected on his life choices. Here he was, squished next to the bookwork best friend of his enemy.
Yet all he could think of was how she had looked at the Yule Ball the year before. He fought the urge to laugh when he thought of how many times he had been smacked by Pansy that night when she caught him staring, but the small amount of pain had been worth it every time.
He fought the urge to smirk, or let out a laugh at all when he thought of the girl next to him. She really was a piece of work. Although he always tried to deny it, she was much better at him in their classes. How someone with no knowledge of the wizarding world before the age of 11 could possibly be even with him, a pureblood raised to be successful at Hogwarts since birth, was astonishing. Even his father, with all of his pureblood pride, had to admit that she was an interesting creature.
And then when she had shown up at the ball, her homely appearance replaced with the cleaned up one, she proved to the whole school that she was not only far brighter, but was better looking than them to boot. While still deep in thought of the way she looked that night, his head turned towards her to try to catch another glimpse.
It wasn't until he noticed that she was staring back at him that he realized they were making eye contact, something he wasn't sure they had ever willingly done before. He watched as her deep chocolate orbs dropped from his to scan his face, an action he quickly mimicked. It wasn't until their eyes met again that he noticed her eyes widened slightly.
Then it hit him. He had just been checking out Hermione Granger, and had made no attempts to hide it like he had at the ball. His head spun again to look forward, this time in an attempt to hide the light pink tint that was rushing to his cheeks. If he hadn't turned so abruptly, he would have noticed she wore a matching look.
"And for the record, I was going to call you a muggle born..." He mumbled before doing his best to look as if he was focusing on the castle through the trees as a way to take the attention off of his words.
Hermione couldn't help her mouth from dropping for a second as she processed his words. Her eyes widened slightly and her cheeks grew another shade redder. "O-oh, sorry..."
At the sound of her apology, his eyes shot over to her again. Had she really just apologized? To him?
"You're the one apologizing?" Draco let out a small laugh, although this one didn't sound as mocking as his usually did. "I should be. You had every right to think I'd call you that, since that's my normal insult anyways."
Hermione could only shrug her shoulders, unsure of what to say. She looked up at him again for any sign of if this was another one of his jokes. "Are you alright?" She asked, realizing after how friendly she was sounding and how concerned she actually was.
Draco nodded slowly, seeming to collect his thoughts for a second before turning to her with a small frown. "Your little trio weren't the only ones friends with Cedric, you know?" He sighed and shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Anyways...we've got a job to do. You ready?"
She shook her head in agreement, for the first time feeling stupid. Of course Draco and Cedric would have been friends. They were both from wealthy pureblood families, they would have been brought by their parents to the same functions. And seeing as they were around the same age group, they probably sought each other out to help pass the time. Maybe discuss their mutual love for quidditch or their lessons. How had she not seen it, or even considered it?
Without thinking, she reached out to grab his arm when she noticed him start to crawl for the brush in front of them to get a better look. "Draco?" She said quietly, hoping to use his first name to get his attention. Just as she expected, his head shot to her in surprise and shock, probably second guessing his hearing. She didn't pause long enough to let him interject and continued. "I'm sorry, I didn't know...do you, um, want to talk about it."
It looked as though he considered the tought and quickly shook his head. "I'm fine, really." He did his best to hide the somewhat embarrassed look on his face but it was enough for Hermione to pick up on. "But, uh..thanks though."
Her blush returned as she slowly took her hand off of his arm and looked up at him. "Alright, let's go win this for him then." She offered him a warm, comforting smile and felt her heart twitch slightly when he returned the gesture.
He nodded and gave her face one last quick scan before turning again and crawling forward slightly to get a better view of their surroundings. Hermione crawled up next to him, following his lead as he laid down on his stomach to try to make themselves as small as possible.
Both sets of eyes scanned the perimeter of the visible parts of the castle and Hermione's smile widened when she spotted it. "There! The flag's on the ground, right in front of the tower."
Draco felt a smile of his own form on his lips as he began to push off of the ground to rush forward. "Excellent! Let's g-"
His words caught in his mouth when he felt Hermione grab him for the second time that day. Her hand was on his, in an attempt to stop him from moving any more. Her action was effective and he sank back to the ground.
"What?" He questioned, only noticing their closeness when he turned to look at her, confused. She shook her head and pointed with her free hand towards the sky. "On the roof." He voice came out quickly and in her usual matter-of-fact tone. "There's two of them, they must be acting as guards."
Draco looked up to where she pointed and his eyes widened. "Only two guarding the flag? But we left half of our team behind at ours..." How had she seen them so fast?
Hermione shook her head, thinking of the various History of Magic lessons she had attended. Apparently, she hadn't been the only one paying attention since the other team seemed to have a few strategies of their own.
"We split our team, half staying to guard and half to split in pairs and go out and get the flag, to increase the chances of finding it faster." She looked from Draco to scan the surrounding woods. "No, it's not just the two of them. Afterall, they're up far too high to actually catch up with us by the time they got down." She smiled as she fully realized their plan and turned to him, simply beaming. "They're lookouts."
"Lookouts?" Draco questioned, processing her words before the smile of his own formed. "So they're hiding in the woods then? Picking us off before we can get there, and if they miss us, the two up there call us out?"
"Exactly!" Hermione's smile widened as she nodded quickly. She felt herself let out a small laugh and nudged him playfully with her shoulder that was still pressed against hers in their closeness. "You have no clue how nice it is to not have to spell everything out everytime I figure something out."
She noticed what she had done too late and waited for him to pull away in disgust or to mock her for her momentary lapse and use of such a friendly gesture. "You're telling me?" Instead an equal grin spread across his face and he returned her laugh and nudge. "Are you forgetting my trio consists of Crabbe and Goyle?"
Hermione had to cover her mouth as his words caught her by surprise and she let out another slightly louder giggle. "You know, I'd never really considered it before!" She tried to fight her giggle, wondering what was coming over her, but lost her ability to stop when she noticed he was joining in her laughing. "You do have it so much worse than I do! Do you even try to explain things to them, or just let them follow?"
Draco shook his head and tried to ignore the stinging in his cheeks from smiling so much. "I stopped trying after first year." He hadn't remembered the last time he had smiled so much.
"At least you were smart enough to stop." Hermione smiled, now able to control her laughing. "I still have to spell things out for them."
Draco shook his head and smiled. "And we're this effective with morons. Imagine the plans we could come up with if we had intelligent people on our teams!"
"Or if we teamed up." Hermione countered, realizing too late what she was saying. Her cheeks tinted with a blush as her smile disappeared only to be replaced with a nervous look. She looked over his face to see his reaction, worried that his laughing would change to mock her or if their somewhat friendly moment would be ruined.
Draco's smile never faltered as he nodded. "We are now..." He pointed out, hoping to help her return to how she was. He had never heard her laugh before but he was already missing it. "Perfect time to start, right? Show the idiots what their geniuses are capable of?"
It was Draco's turn to feel his heart flutter when her smile and contagious laugh returned, knowing full well that is words and actions had caused it. "Exactly!" She let her gaze linger on him for another second before coming to her senses and going back to surveying the puzzle that was the flag. "So, any suggestions?"
His shoulders shrugged as he looked over the distances from the flag to the Forbidden Forest. "Only one." He turned to look her over again and frowned slightly. "I'm bait."
Hermione's eyes widened and flicked from him to the flag before returning to lock with his. "You'd really do that?" Would he really risk being the victor for the sake of their team? That definitely didn't seem like the Slytherin thing to do...
"Of course. It's the only way we could win." He nodded slowly and jerked his head back towards the bush they had been hiding in previously. " You can hide there. I'll rush the flag, come back this way and drop it off to you when nobody's looking." He noticed her face turn to one of shock but he kept speaking. "They'll all think I'm alone so they'll keep chasing after me. I'll call to you when the coast is clear and I'm far away and you book it back to base."
Hermione racked her brain, thinking desperately for an alternative but could see none. In all honesty, it had been her plan to sacrifice herself, but he would be faster and would be more successful at clearing a path for her. She nodded slowly in agreement, although her frown was stuck on her face.
"It's the only way." She agreed, although reluctantly. He nodded in agreement and offered her a comforting smile. "And then I'll meet you again at base once you've returned the flag and we've won."
She forced a smile in return, knowing that things would return to normal once they were away from their little section of the woods. Any moments of friendship would be quickly forgotten and replaced with their usual sneers and snide comments. She sighed, not wanting to voice her thoughts. They were far too embarrassing and one-sided to ever speak them.
If only she had known that similar thoughts were flowing through her partner's brain at the same time, mentally chastising himself for speaking so soon. But both knew there was no point in building up false hope. Afterall, both teens were practical and knew what was realistic.
He heaved a heavy sigh before pushing up from the ground slightly to crouch. "Alright, I'm going to go. You head back to the brush and get low and as hidden as possible. As soon as I drop it, push it under so it's not visible." Draco watched as she nodded and laughed slightly. "Not that you needed to be told, sorry...used to idiots."
Hermione laughed again, the sound of their joined laughter almost painful when she realized it would be their last. She raised to a crouched position with him. "It's fine." She offered him one last warm smile. "Good luck...Draco." She muttered his name quietly, the feeling of saying it foreign and new to the both of him. Taken by surprise, she watched as his cheeks turned red and he nodded before letting their eyes meet again.
"Thanks...Hermione." He had to focus on speaking to say her name, knowing it was a word he had never used before, especially in front of her. "Good luck to you, too."
The blush crawled to her cheeks, their faces now matching in color. And, still in a high from hearing him say her name, she moved hastily and without thinking. She gave him a quick warning to "Go!" before pressing her lips quickly to his cheek and rushing for the bush for cover.
If she hadn't been moving, she would have noticed his cheeks match the color of a tomato. Or seen his fingers flash up to touch his cheek. Or seen his eyes flick to her back to watch her go as he tried to process what had just happened.
His movement was halted for another few minutes before he rushed forward, using the insanely fast beating of his heart as motivation to win. For her. And the effect she was having on him.
From her spot behind the bush, she risked one last glance at his retreating figure before securing her hiding spot.
And from there she heard the commotion.
The guards at the top of the tower started to scream as soon as they noticed him. She felt a smile form on her lips when she heard them bellowing that he had the flag. It was when she could hear footsteps approaching that she realized there were more than just Draco's two booming towards her.
She jumped slightly when she noticed the flag being tossed in front of her. She pulled it under the brush with her quickly, making sure the hide it completely. Her eyes darted up to watch him as he ran away, the two making quick eye contact as he ran away before his eyes snapped forward to concentrate on putting distance between himself and his followers.
When she noticed the group chasing after him, she had bite down harshly on her tongue to keep herself from laughing. Out of all of the people to have chased after him, the front-runner had been Harry and Crabbe, who had somehow been paired up together as well. She watched as the dozen or so students followed after him. Not one of them seemed to be focused on their surroundings and instead were too focused on the blonde in front of them.
Time seemed to pass by so slowly as she waited for the cue to leave. She tried to imagine how far away they might be, or if there was any way their plan could fail. It was when she started to go over what had happened between her and the Slytherin Prince that she heard his voice again.
"Hermione!" His voice boomed, although obviously very far away and in the opposite direction of their base. "Hermione, go!" His second words jolted her from her thoughts and she gave one last listen for footsteps before jumping to life.
She untangled herself and the flag from the twigs and leaves and took off at a full-speed run. She dodged the trees expertly and took the quickest path she could to get back to the pitch. All she had to do was bring the flag gripped firmly in her hands to her waiting team.
With the majority of the other team following Draco, she felt somewhat assured, although she didn't allow herself to slack or slow down. He feet pounded on the ground and crunched the leaves under her feet until she reached the edge of the forest.
The pitch was in sight and she resisted the urge to stop for a breather or slow down at all. Draco and the rest of her team was depending on her and she wasn't going to let them down.
A voice behind her caused her to jump and almost drop the flag in her hands. Ron was calling her name, and from the sound of his voice, was closer than expected. He must have been one of the ones to not follow Draco. She risked a glance over her shoulder and noticed that he was closing in on her.
His proximity fueled her and she sped up, faster than she even realized possible. When she was finally spotted by her team with flag in hand, they started to cheer and call out her name. The praise and encouragement from her classmates, most of which weren't from her own house, was the last bit of encouragement she needed.
She boosted forward until her feet landed safely into the section of the pitch marked as their base. With the flag still held firmly in her hands, the rest of her team rushed forward and hoisted Hermione into the air as the pitch was overwhelmed with squeals of excitement at winning and her name was chanted.
She wondered momentarily if this was what it was like to win a quidditch match and felt herself laughing slightly. A few minutes later, she was finally lowered and the flag was taken from her to be placed next to theirs to symbolize their victory.
It wasnt until she took the time to look around the crowd that she noticed him nearing the pitch, a wide smile already on his face as he scanned the group of celebrating students.
When their eyes bet, both froze, unsure of how to react. Hermione, unable to control herself in her excitement from winning, let her wide grin return. One was soon present on Draco's face as well as they realized they had worked together to accomplish something that neither of the teams had been able to do.
As if it were a normal thing to do, Hermione rushed forward towards him. Watching her hurry towards him caused his smile to widen as he began to walk to meet her sooner, enjoying the view of the brunette jogging to meet him while it lasted. As she neared, he expected her to start to slow, to keep a respectable distance. They were enemies after all, despite their 'forced' partnership.
But when she showed no signs of stopping, he did the only thing he could. He opened his arms for her and waited for the impact. Hermione blushed when she noticed that the gesture seemed welcome and closed the distance, not slowing her pace as she wrapped her arms around him.
The force from her jogging caught Draco off guard and he felt himself falling backwards. He braced himself for the impact and wrapped his arms instinctively around her, in a somewhat protective way. When the two landed, Hermione's head shot up to looking at him, terror on her features. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I was just excited we won and..."
Her words trailed off when she noticed that his arms were still wrapped tightly around her and he was looking her face over again, much like he had before. She chewed on her bottom lip nervously as she surveyed his face again, this time from a much closer proximity.
The action of her lip being pulled between her teeth cause his eyes to flick to the motion. He watched as she nibbled slightly, and strangely felt himself growing jealous at her ability to chew on her plump lip. He'd watched her perform the same action countless time in the library when she was studying, so why did it suddenly drive him so crazy?
Driving himself crazy watching, he looked up at her quickly to see if he had been busted watching her. But when he noticed her eyes were scanning his face as well, with the same hint of appreciation and longing, a new wave of encouragement washed over him.
As soon as his eyes darted down to her trapped lip, he could think of no other way to stop her and used his newfound bravery to attempt. Unwrapping his arms from around her was out of the question, so he leaned his head forward slightly. He paused close to her face for a second, giving her a chance to pull away. But when he felt no resistance, he pushed forward.
Hermione froze and her eyes shot open. Sure, she had been distracted by the way his lips had curled into a genuine smile, but she had never imagined she would ever feel them, especially on her own. She allowed herself to relax slightly when she noticed that he seemed to be slightly nervous.
Her eyes fluttered closed and she released her bottom lip to kiss him lightly back. Her arms instinctively wrapped a little tighter around his neck as she felt his lips reacting to hers. The tightening of her heart earlier was nothing compared to what she was experiencing since their lips had met. His arm pulled her closer while one made its way up her back until it reached her hair.
She blushed slightly, suddenly self-conscious of her bushy locks, but the thought was quickly pushed from her mind as his fingers threaded through them. Having never had anyone play with her hair (minus Ginny of course), she let out a soft moan at the contact. Her cheeks flared and she was about to pull away with an apology, but the sound seemed to fuel him. His fingers gripped her hair again as his tongue flicked lighty against the bottom lip she had been nibbling on earlier.
Blinded by inexperience and surprise, she parted her lips slightly and allowed the kiss to deepen. When their tongues met for the first time, it was his turn to let out a small moan of his own. Hermione felt her head spinning at the feelings that were washing over her in their moment. Her fingers followed his lead and tangled themselves in the hair at the base of his neck.
Draco, who was wondering if he had been knocked out by his pursuers and was currently having one of his post-Yule Ball dreams again, was assured that this was reality when he felt her fingers give his hair a tug of pleasure. Another moan was muffled as he pulled her body closer to his. Without breaking the contact, he rolled quickly to the right, allowing himself the advantage of being placed on top of her.
Hermione, who now had the extremely handsome Slytherin on top of her, let out a gasp. She felt him start to pull back from the kiss, most likely to check on her after her surprised noise, but allowed her hands to drop to run over his chest in an attempt to keep him there.
The feeling of her hands on his body were driving him insane and he felt himself compelled to finally do something he had always wanted to since the first time he had seen her study.
He broke the kiss for a second, but didn't bother to pull back at all. Instead he pulled her bottom lip lightly between his teeth. When he felt her gasp again at the feeling, he used the noise as encouragement and again began to nibble lightly.
He flashed back to all of those times watching her in the library and smirked against her lips as he realized how much he'd unknowingly longed to be in this position. He flicked his tongue against it again, this time with it still planted firmly between his teeth.
Feeling bold, he took her lip into his mouth and sucked on it lightly. The moan that escaped her lips was much louder and need driven.
Never in his life had he imagined he'd have heard Hermione Granger make a sound like that.
Never in his life had he imagined he's be the one to make her do it.
It was just as her fingers were digging into his back in pleasure that the throat clearing behind them pulled both teens from their moment.
Eyes shot open and the two stared in shock at each other. Draco's eyes flicked down to her now very red and swollen lip and found her eyes again, unsure of what to say. They both turned to look at the crowd that was now surrounding them and the two instinctively pushed apart. Faces bright red and embarrassment evident, they looked from each other around as both teams surveyed them, looks of shock on everyone's face.
Except Dumbledore, who was clearly the one to break them up. That twinkle was in his eye as he looked from the two to the group surrounding them. He turned and started to walk towards the school, clearly symbolizing that the show was over and that the students should return with him. He called over his shoulder, giving the couple another wink and warm smile.
"Now that's what I call inner-house unity!"
A/N: There you have it folks! This was intended as a one shot but if you'd like, I'll gladly continue it! Just let me know :D Please leave me a review if you liked this story, it's greatly appreciated! And also, don't forget to check out the Twin Exchange and vote! Thanks for reading!