Note: Sorry for not updating sooner! I didn't have a computer for a while. I hope you guys enjoy.
Chapter 4 – An Accident
Hermione sat next to Malfoy in potions the next day while they brewed a stress-management potion. He did not offer to help her as she carefully cut their ingredients, but also made no snide comments. The class was going by quickly.
"How's your hand?" Hermione asked in his direction.
Malfoy snapped out of long gaze at the opposing wall. "It stings." He sat there for a few minutes while she added ingredients to her cauldron. "I'm going to the bathroom to clean my hand," he said finally. He stood up, slowly getting away from his chair.
"Do you need me to show you the way?" Hermione asked.
"No, it's right around the corner," he said.
Hermione was nearly halfway done when she heard Malfoy head back in through the door. His hand trailed along the wall as he wound his way back towards Hermione. As he went to sit down he tripped, knocking the contents of the potion all over Hermione's lap. Malfoy tried to stabilize himself but fell into the mess of potion on the floor.
"Oh, no!" Hermione screamed. She quickly threw off her robe, but the potion was all over her legs.
Snape rushed over to her and pulled out his wand. "Evanesco," he said smoothly. The potion evaporated, leaving Hermione and Malfoy clean.
"Well, hopefully you did no damage to yourself or Mr. Malfoy," said Snape. "That's another zero, Ms. Granger." He smirked.
Hermione scowled and gathered up her toppled cauldron, and packed her bag. She led Malfoy out of the room, slightly irked at him. She walked quickly and he struggled to keep up.
"Want to slow down a bit, Granger?" said Malfoy, whose hands were reached out blindly in front of him.
Hermione took a deep breath, and slowed down on the way to Transfiguration.
In class Malfoy sat staring at the rat, the tiny purple glasses not covering a look of anxiety in his eyes. Hermione waited patiently, having already perfected her handkerchief in front of McGonagall.
"You can do it," she said to Malfoy.
"Shut it, I'm concentrating." Malfoy was breathing quickly. He seemed legitimately nervous.
He raised his wand, flicked it, and again the rat's cage collapsed. Hermione quickly corrected it.
"All right, not quite. Try again," she said.
It was the same drill as back in their common room. Malfoy became quickly upset and started to swear under his breath. By the eleventh try, his face was red with anger. To her surprise she felt herself becoming annoyed.
"Malfoy, could you just concentrate, please?" she snapped.
Malfoy looked her way with what seemed to be confusion. Up until that point Hermione had been calm and reassuring. "Thanks. I'm trying, Granger," he said, sounding irritated.
Hermione was infuriated. Malfoy picked up his wand and flicked it again. The rat turned into a perfect handkerchief, but yelled loudly. He jumped up from his chair, in apparent surprise.
Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were sitting nearby, turned to look at him curiously. Malfoy was sputtering out words.
"Wha- the rat! The rat! It was right there! Did you see it? Granger! The rat, it was there right in front of me!"
"What?" said Hermione. Her stomach sunk. What had just happened?
"Is he gonna be okay?" asked Seamus.
"I don't know… I'll take him to the infirmary. Malfoy, come," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him out the door.
She led him out of earshot of the door. Malfoy was still raving fanatically.
"The rat, though, Granger! It was right there! I saw it!" he said.
"What happened, Malfoy?" she asked.
"Granger, I saw the rat! It was right there!"
"That's impossible, though!" she yelled. She thought quickly.
"How do you think I was able to transfigure it?" Malfoy said furiously.
Hermione stopped. What if Malfoy was right, for once? What if he had actually seen the rat, and not just imagined it?
"But… but how?" she pondered aloud.
"I don't know! I remember I was really pissed off, and then I just felt really calm and I saw the rat for a split second," said Malfoy.
Hermione remembered how irrationally angry she had felt. "Malfoy, do you believe what just happened? We were just telepathically connected! It must have been the potion!"
"But wasn't it finished? It shouldn't have done that," he said.
"No, it wasn't," she replied. "I hadn't added the half of the ingredients before you knocked it over. Merlin, I've read accounts of this happening! It's extremely rare, but the documented cases that are kept in the library –"
"Granger, stop talking and try to do it again," Malfoy cut her off.
"Okay, just stand still. I don't really know what I did," said Hermione, excitedly. She focused on the portrait of Voudon the Villainous across the hall, and with all her willpower imagined sending the image to Malfoy.
"Is it working?" she asked after a moment.
"Erm, no."
She looked intently at the photo, and focused completely on the thought of pushing the image towards Malfoy.
After a minute she sighed in exasperation. "Why is it not working? What were you doing when you saw the rat?"
"Nothing. I was really angry, and I was waving my wand, I suppose."
"Oh, I know!" exclaimed Hermione. "It has to do with emotion. Whether it works with anger solely, or with just strong emotion in general, we'll have to find out. It's so odd that those ingredients actually did anything…" she said.
"Well one of us has to get really mad, then. That's lovely," said Malfoy sarcastically.
"But it might not just be anger. Here! Try to recapture the moment when you could see the rat. Imagine how happy you were. I'll focus on the picture and we'll see if this works."
Malfoy folded his arms. Hermione focused on the portrait again. Suddenly, she realized she could sense Malfoy's excitement.
Malfoy cried out. "Stop! Don't do anything else! It's working!" Malfoy walked straight forward with his hand out. "I can see the painting!" He walked right towards Hermione, and his outstretched hand landed on Hermione's chest.
"Malfoy, what the hell?" she yelled at him, turning around to face him.
"Merlin!" He stopped moving, closing his eyes. "Stop it, stop it! Turn it off, damn it!" Hermione realized that he must be seeing himself staring back.
"'Mione?" she heard Ron's voice coming from the classroom. McGonagall's voice was barking out the homework. Ron was wondering towards them.
"What's going on?" he sounded confused. Malfoy was cowering next to Hermione with his hands over his eyes.
"Oh… nothing," she lied quickly. "The potion explosion messed with his head a little bit. We're going to the infirmary."
"Do you need a little help?" said Ron, eyeing Malfoy maliciously.
Hermione laughed, wanting to get away from him. "No, don't worry, Ron. Malfoy, that's it. We're going." She took Malfoy's arm and dragged him in the direction of the infirmary, not giving him a chance to insult Ron.
"We're not actually going to the infirmary, Granger," Malfoy whispered.
"Of course not," she said shortly. She held on tightly to his arm and walked quickly towards their dormitory. She could not wait to continue testing this new ability. She pulled Malfoy though the doorway, nearly causing him to trip.
For the next hour, Hermione worked on sending images towards Malfoy. They discovered that Hermione's emotions equally affected their telepathic bond. They sat in the common room, Hermione attempting to send Malfoy images of a flower pot. When excitement at Malfoy's new sight wore off, however, Hermione suggested that they think of memories with strong emotions.
"No," said Malfoy, flatly.
"Why? Don't be stubborn," Hermione argued.
"Because," he said, "I don't really feel very comfortable with that."
"Malfoy, if you want this to actually work, you're going to have to start thinking of memories. Unless you want me to hit you every time you can't seem to come up with strong enough emotions," she offered.
"Ha, ha, no."
Hermione thought. "Why don't you try to think of how you felt last night," she said tentatively.
"No! I don't you want you to know about that," he said. His voice was defensive.
"I was there, Malfoy, so that would be a safe memory for you to use."
"Hmm, I suppose…" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
Hermione concentrated on the flower pot. She began to feel a growing sadness. She thought harder, but Malfoy's misery was almost overwhelming. She felt frustration and helplessness, and looked away towards where he was sitting.
"Granger, could you stop looking at me?" he said gloomily. "It's kind of creepy to feel like you're look at yourself."
Hermione got up from her seat and put her arms around Malfoy, hugging him gently. The sadness was overpowering.
"You're making me sad, Granger," he said, trying weakly to make a joke. He hugged her back.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. The sound of a soft voice telling him that he wouldn't see again ran through Hermione's mind. There was a sinking feeling in her gut. She pulled back a little bit, looking at his face, and lightly kissed him on the lips.
Malfoy sputtered. Hermione immediately pulled away, her face turning red. She didn't know what had come over her.
"Do you mind closing your eyes?" he asked. She opened her mouth in surprise, but he pulled her towards him, kissing her roughly. Hermione felt a mixture of intense sadness and lust emanating from him. He pulled her down on to his lap. Hermione was shocked at first, but quickly melted into his arms, trying to keep her eyes shut. Malfoy's hands entangled themselves in Hermione's mass of hair. She kissed him back passionately.
Malfoy picked her up off his lap and put her face up on the floor. She opened her eyes accidentally.
"Gahh," said Malfoy. His hand fumbled around on the table next to them for the handkerchief Hermione had transfigured the previous night. "Sit up," he said.
Hermione didn't argue. He moved behind her, tying it over her eyes. "Can you see?" he asked softly.
"No," she whispered. Malfoy kissed her neck, and turned her around again. Hermione didn't know what Malfoy was doing, or why she was going along with it, but she didn't actually care. He unbuttoned her shirt quickly, leaving Hermione's bare skin open to the cold air. She shivered. His mouth worked its way from her neck down to her chest. He pulled off her robe and shirt, and then reached behind her back to unbutton her bra. Hermione was surprised at his deftness at blindly undressing her.
He slid off her bra, taking one of her breasts in his hand, and lightly brushing his fingers against the nipple. Hermione sucked in air. Malfoy put his mouth on her nipple and sucked. Hermione could feel the lust radiating from him. She pulled his head towards hers and kissed his mouth forcefully. She pulled off his robe and his shirt. Her hands ran nervously down his chest and abdomen, and she broke contact with his lips to kiss his stomach. Hermione frantically undid the belt, but he stopped her from going any farther.
"Not yet," he said. Malfoy picked her up and placed her on the couch with relative grace. He ripped off her school skirt and shoes, and then slid a finger into her white cotton panties. He kissed her as he plunged in to her, and Hermione moaned, holding on to him. Malfoy pulled off the underwear and sucked on the skin of her inner thigh, before placing his mouth on her. Hermione writhed under him as he used his fingers and his tongue, and a while later she cried out as she came.
Malfoy stood up, and hastily removed his shoes and pants. He moved on top of her and kissed Hermione passionately. She didn't mind that she could taste herself on his lips. "Is this okay?" he asked.
"Yes," she said. She was scared.
"Are you sure?" he asked skeptically. She forgot that he could tell.
"I'm all right, Malfoy," she said, reassuring him.
She felt him push himself into her, and she yelled in pain. "I'm sorry. I'll move slowly," said Malfoy. He pulled out and gradually pushed himself back in. The pain lessened and Hermione held on to him. He continued to thrust, and Hermione whimpered in pleasure. He crushed her mouth in a kiss and pushed himself in deeper, causing Hermione to moan. After a while, Malfoy made a noise, and came, before collapsing on top of Hermione.
They lay on the couch for a while afterwards, breathing heavily. Hermione didn't remove the blindfold. When they had both regained their breath, she spoke.
"I think we should keep this a secret, Malfoy. The potion, the images, this…" she trailed off.
"I agree," he said.
Hermione knew she should be getting off the couch in alarm, throwing the blindfold off, and running away from Malfoy. However, somehow she felt safe there. She could feel a warm emotion coming from Malfoy. He pulled his arms tightly around her, and she fell asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.