Snakes by Luvscharlie
"You didn't see it slithering over the floor in my office. I'm not going back in there."
Hermione tapped her foot in impatience. "You see when we started working here together, we had an agreement. The lower half of the Ministry, you know, where your office is, belongs to you. This"—she used her hands to draw a box around herself—"is my space."
Draco tipped back in her chair. "I'm not going back down there."
"You are a Slytherin, for Godric's sake. I thought you liked snakes."
"Oi, you with the double standards. Would you fancy spending your day with a lion lurking about your office?" Okay, he had a point. "Besides, you didn't spend a year with a gigantic snake in your house." Draco shuddered. "I woke up once with that thing wrapped around me, it's fangs inches from my head. If Father hadn't hit it with his cane—"
She sat down across from him. They didn't talk of days past. "I—I'm sorry. I didn't know."
He got up and stalked out.
*~*
She was glutton for punishment. Really, she was. But, she felt somewhat guilty (okay, a lot guilty) that her comments earlier had caused him to remember days they would all rather forget. So, here she was, trudging down to his office to help him de-snake it. She hated snakes… was terrified of them.
She knocked. Unlike him, she was polite and didn't go barging into other people's offices.
"Yeah, what?" he snapped.
"No need to be snippy. I came to help you." She stepped inside and a shower of slithering, hissing creepy crawlers dropped from the ceiling and covered her. She screamed and tried to run, tripping in her haste to depart. He caught her. "What was that?" He used his wand to vanish the snakes away, though she feared some of them had made good on their escape.
"Who would do such a thing?"
His grin was wicked as he pulled her inside, pressing her against the wall and kissing her. "The things I'll do to get you to invade my space."
"You lying bastard. There never was a snake in here!"
"I prefer the term 'sexy bastard', if you please. I don't know who put that hex on my door, but I owe them a thank you. Look at the way you're shivering. Do you know what a turn on that is?"
She slapped him hard. "You did that, and you bloody well know it."
He shrugged his shoulder and smirked. "Got the adrenaline pumping though, didn't it? Can you even imagine what sex would be like right now?"
She shut the door with a quiet click, and walked over to his desk. "You made snakes fall on me. Snakes! This had better blow my mind or those bits you're so attached to—" She left the threat dangling as he lifted her to sit on his desk, tangling his hand in her hair and pressing his lips to hers.
Fin.
A/N: Originally written for Round 3, Challenge 5 of the Dramione_LDWS (Draco Malfoy-Hermione Granger Last Drabble Writer Standing) Competition on Live Journal. Our prompt was a horror/suspense drabble that must be set in the Ministry of Magic and had to be under 500 words. This one made it through to the next round but only by the skin of my teeth.