Chapter Three
Hermione paced down the hallway to the lavatory, lips set in a straight line as she mulled over a subject for her Charms essay. She kept her swift gait and pushed through the thick oak doors to the bathroom, barely realizing how unfamiliar the corridor seemed. The girl's hand ran over her tired eyes as she shuffled into the room and dropped her bag onto the floor. But then, Hermione's gaze became focused as she realized that she had stumbled into the boy's lavatory. Startled, the girl gathered her bag and hurried toward the door. But just as her hand fell against the grain of wood, she heard something. A soft whimper or perhaps, a stifled sob. The girl turned towards the sound and began to follow, placing each footstep more carefully than the last. She pressed herself against the wall and peered around the corner, every fiber of her being dynamic and ready to flee.
He stood there, hunched over the porcelain basin, slick face reflected in the mirror's sheen. Hermione watched as his back quaked with muffled cries, white shirt rolled up to his elbows, leaving his forearms exposed. The boy reached up to wipe his eyes with the back of his arm, glaring back into the glass as he straightened himself. Abruptly, his grey eyes locked onto the reflection of Hermione's where she peered out from behind the corner. Draco turned towards her, his eyes narrowing and his mouth twisting into a grimace as he was sucked in by her ethereal blaze, a moth testing the open flame. The girl stood in the archway, some of her thick brown hair gathered up by a barrette, a silver clasp that reflected the early morning sun as its rays poured down over her curls.
"I'm sorry," She stammered as the boy came towards her, "I'll go." Hermione spun towards the door, only to be stopped by a gentle touch on her shoulder.
"No," The beat of her footsteps abruptly ceased, her cloak swirling around her ankles as she paused, "Wait." Draco ushered her around to face him. The girl's eyes immediately dropped to the floor, her cheeks flushing with the stain of the criminal. She could not bring herself to look at him even as his gaunt hand tucked a loose curl behind her ear. Hermione's hand swiftly covered his. Draco could feel the warmth of her smooth palm radiating against his own skin and he swallowed, the breath caught in his throat as he began to tighten his hold on the supple flesh of her shoulder, daring her to meet his gaze. She finally looked up to meet his stern eyes, knowing his intentions certain were certain, he would have her. Hermione flinched under his watch, something inside her stirring amidst the want and setting her nerves on edge.
The boy staggered forward and kissed her openmouthed on the lips, exploring the lush texture of the girl's mouth with a relished slothfulness. She was all he had dreamed, she was as exquisite as he had feared and he found he was paralyzed by how faultless it all felt. He despised himself for enjoying it as much as he did. But the girl felt so right, her lips fitting perfectly against his like the setting sun fitting into the curve of a mountainous horizon line. Hermione could scarcely think or breathe, gagged by his embrace and stifled by his musky scent. But for just a moment, a thoughtless moment, she was lost. And contently so. Lost as his muggy breath poured down over her face, as his lips covered hers, leaving them damp and swollen, aching for more. The girl turned her cheek, denying him another kiss. Draco found her lips again despite her resistance, his movements hungry, frantic and full of long reserved need. "Why are you pretending that you feel nothing for me?" The boy whispered against her lips, his gut twisting with indignation, his lean muscles constricting against the girl.
"I don't," She breathed, air gushing hot between her lips as Draco pulled her towards him in one rough motion, his wan fingers wrapping around her thin wrist as he brought her form against his.
"You're lying, Granger," He returned. Hermione gasped as he jerked her forward into an awkward embrace, his sinewy arm cradled around the small of her back. Draco inched closer to the girl and pressed his lips tenderly to hers, a low sigh heaving from his throat as he pulled away momentarily. The pair remained unmoving a moment, Draco's mouth resting open as he searched Hermione's brown eyes, his arm contracting around her, bringing her closer like a python coiling around its victim. Hermione did not deny him; instead she kissed him back, tentative at first but then more eagerly. His hands roamed lower to the dipping curve of Hermione's back, his tongue forcing entry past the delicate gate of her lips. The girl's arms linked behind Draco's neck, her body relaxing as if she were melting into his contours, an even warmth spreading through her expanse. A thrill. Draco was completely enveloped by pleasure. He had her, pressed against him in the sweetest way. He could feel the breath entering her lungs, her chest expanding and deflating under his broad palm. As soon as you are home again. He could smell the sweetness remaining on her skin, the tint of her waving curls, almond and honeysuckle perfume. As soon as you are home again. He could taste the orange marmalade lingering on her lips from breakfast, the matchless flavor of her tongue welcoming his own. As soon as you are home again. And then finally, he pulled away, all of her loveliness separating from him, his body chastising him, beating him from within, his gut twisting in reluctance.
"We can't do this," Draco muttered as he smoothly unwound Hermione's arms from around his neck and dropped his hold, taking a step away, his lips slick, evidence of their kiss still fresh on his mouth.
"I want to, Draco," Hermione admitted, the words exiting the entrapment of her teeth before she could think any better of it. There was a moment of silence between the two, the dank bathroom sounds seeming to pause, afraid to break the stillness.
"Say it again," Draco lunged forward at the girl, his broad palms cupping her warm cheeks as he kissed her, Hermione's hand pressed to the back of his neck. He stumbled against her awkwardly, her back hitting the wall, his hand curling around her waist as he gasped for breath between kisses, a slippery smile sliding between Hermione's lips.
"I want you," Hermione confessed frantically, leaning back into the stone, her free hand joining its mate around Draco's neck, her back arching as Draco kissed down her neck to the blush creeping up from her chest. Draco sought her hand blindly and linked it with his, the fingers intertwining as he pinned the arm above Hermione's head, his other hand greedily seeking the yielding flesh of her breast. Draco pulled apart from the girl, her quick breath suddenly audible, his nose touching hers as he searched her ample brown eyes. He reached down and grabbed her bottom roughly for a moment and then ran his hands down her thigh, guiding it up and holding it against his hip, the delicate pleats of her skirt falling away. Draco pushed his hips against the white undergarments. Hermione's eyes shut as Draco kissed up her neck to her ear where he stopped and lightly bit the earlobe, his tongue then painting down her jaw. As his hands searched for purchase, wandering the slopes of her body, he realized that he could no longer deny himself. This was what he wanted and what he would have. At any price.
"Mr. Malfoy," A voice drawled from behind suddenly, its deep tones eerily familiar, causing the two to freeze, locked together in their embrace, "If you would please, meet me in my office once you've composed yourself." Draco swiftly pulled away from Hermione and turned towards the noise, his gut sinking when he confirmed his own fears and the black tail of the Potion's Master's robes slunk out of the bathroom. Hermione stepped towards Draco, flattening her skirt anxiously and hurriedly fixing her hair,
"Should I go with you?" She asked quietly, drawing her robes together and crossing her arms, her eyes studying the spot where he had disappeared. Draco nodded without turning to her, not wanting her to see the fear prickling his eyes like ice, not wanting to her to see how his face contorted in shame.
"No," He responded sternly, "I'll be fine." Hermione watched as Draco slipped from the room and then bit her lip, her mind still buzzing with pleasure, her skin subject to the roaming ghost of Draco's touch. She remained in the bathroom a moment longer and then made her way out towards Charms, wondering all the while if Draco truly would be, fine.
Draco stepped into Snape's office, his jaw clenched and his chin lifted as the Professor motioned him in, while inwardly his knees were knocking, his chin trembling, his hands shaking once again. He took a seat in the chair before Snape's broad desk, resting against the plush back and staring back at Snape coldly.
"Draco," Snape began, his wide hands resting on the wood before him, the sallow color against the dark making them look like two massive albino spiders, biding time until they seized their prey, "I'll have to deduct thirty house points for your inappropriate behavior as well as assigning you several detentions." Draco sneered at his sentence,
"But sir," He replied insolently, testing the man's patience, "What've I done?" Snape's look soured even further,
"You know what you've done, Draco." Draco tried to look innocent as he folded his hands to cover the tremor of his left, his anxiety finally permeating the surface. Snape stood, the deep groan of his chair being pushed back resonating throughout the office,
"What would your father say?" He spat, looming over the desk, his shoulders rolling forward as he glared down the boy, "What would he do if I told him about the disgrace I just stumbled upon?" Snape's voice was stark and harsh, "Think of what he would do," He paused and leaned closer to Malfoy, staring down at him past his hooked nose, "If he knew that it was, Granger. All of this nonsense over a mudblood slut." Draco's muscles tensed, his body wanted nothing more than to curse him, to feel the satisfaction of bone crunching under his touch, to hear the pain quivering between his vocal folds as he begged for forgiveness.
"I'm afraid I don't know," Draco hissed back, lifting his upper lip in disgust as he finished, "Sir." Snape prowled closer, coming around his desk and standing before Draco,
"Oh, yes you do," Snape bent down so that his cold eyes were level with Draco's, his greasy black hair falling like a veil around his face, "You know exactly what he can do, when provoked." Snape withdrew himself and paced back around to his seat and lowered himself into it, his sullen eyes suddenly seeming weary.
"I'll see you Monday then," Snape said flatly as he leaned back into his chair, "Seven o'clock, detention." Draco stood hastily, his mouth pressed into a strained line of displeasure as he turned to leave. "Oh, Draco," Snape added sullenly, "Be grateful for that warning." Draco clamped his fists, refusing to turn towards the man as Snape finished his thought, "For many do not get that luxury."