She awoke, sweating, with Initima in hand. She looked down at what she was holding and stared at the book for a while, wondering. Once she arose from her bed, she realized that no one else was in her dormitory.
Maybe they've all gone down to breakfast.
She got dressed and quickly rushed down to the Great Hall (with Initima in her hand). Once she arrived at the Great Hall, she quickly scanned the room for Harry and Ron; but to no avail.
She decided to eat alone, and fast. After she finished eating, she spent her Sunday in the library all day, trying to figure out what Initima meant. She searched thoroughly through the bookshelves, tracing the Restricted Section; but she knew Madam Pince would catch her, so she dared not.
Instead, she endlessly searched and searched through translation books, but to her misfortune, she couldn't find any English word that matched with Initima.
Finally realizing how hungry she was, considering she missed lunch, she went down to the Great Hall again. Initima in hand, she walked down the corridors, deep in thought, wondering where Harry and Ron had been all day.
When she reached the Great Hall, she walked about two steps, when suddenly, someone grabbed her by the waist and whispered, "Come with me." Her eyes and mouth were covered by two dark, slightly sweaty hands. They started pulling her away, in a direction which she did not know. And as much as she struggled, no one in the Great Hall seemed to notice Hermione Granger being dragged away against her will.
ϟ ϟ ϟ
"Who—are—you?" she screeched when her mouth was finally uncovered.
"Relax," whispered an unrecognizable voice. "You're safe with us."
"Well, I don't feel safe! Will—you—let—me—go!" screamed Hermione, feeling helpless.
"Don't worry, love, you're alright," came a deep, soothing voice that seemed to be coming from Draco Malfoy.
"Draco?" Hermione asked, feeling slightly relieved, but didn't let her guard down. She felt around for her pocket for her wand, but she couldn't find it.
They must have taken it.
"What have you done with my wand?" asked Hermione, slightly panicking, but determined to sound calm.
"Nothing of your concern," said the voice that Hermione failed to recognize.
"Draco…what—" She was interrupted by a sudden kiss. The warmth of her breath and the coldness of him mixed and over took her. The shock of it all made her forget the book in her hand, which she nonchalantly clutched tightly.
He forced his tongue inside her mouth, daring her to kiss back; which, by force, she did. He grabbed her hands and put them on his shoulders, and he placed his hands on her waist. She tried to push away, but it didn't work.
His lips left hers, and his hands began to decrease; descending down her legs. She felt him kiss her on the neck and whisper, "Darling, don't leave me."
She felt a wand in her partner's pocket, and she took it out, slowly, careful not to disturb anything in case he felt it.
Lumos, she thought; she was quite good at nonverbal spells.
Her partner flinched and pulled away at the sudden light, and she saw the bleach-blonde hair and relaxed a bit. She smiled and said, "Why did you scare me like that?"
"I wanted to surprise you," answered Draco, smirking.
She looked around, and flashed the light towards the back of the room. She was surprised to see a boy, sitting in the corner in the back of the room. Instantly, by the light, she recognized Blaise Zabini.
"Blaise?" she asked, "what are you doing here?"
"Helped with the plan of attack, Granger," he said, picking at his hands. He looked quite bored, but amused at the same time.
Hermione turned back to Draco, who didn't take his eyes off her. His face was about an inch from hers. She gave a slight smile and he smirked back.
This is perfect.
"Where are we, Draco?"
"Guess."
Quickly, Hermione looked around and recognized the same old, unused classroom that they were in last night. Still dark, as they found it before, again Hermione took the choice to lighten it up.
"Expecto Patronum!" she said, and her otter sparked out of her wand, and she smiled.
"Exactly," said Draco, smiling. Turning around suddenly, glowing because of the Patronus light, he said, "Blaise—Do you mind?"
"No," said Blaise, looking quite relieved. He got up from the corner and walked out of the door, slamming it on the way out. From the light of the door mixed with the light of her Patronus, Hermione noticed Initima on the floor, close to them both.
She tried to move it closer with her foot, but Draco noticed what Hermione was staring at and he swung around and picked it up before she could.
"Hey—Draco, that's mine!" said Hermione.
"I just want a look," said Draco. He opened the book to the first page, looking slightly confused.
"The Beauty of Fear? Granger, what is this, some dark romance novel?" joked Draco.
"I actually—I don't know what it means, Draco. I've been trying to figure it out. I haven't gone past the first page. It's driving me mad…" said Hermione, jumping, trying to grab it out of Draco's hands.
"No, no, Granger." He said playfully, while pulling the book out of her reach. He smirked, watching her try and jump to get the book. Finally, he gave it back to her while kissing her on the cheek.
"What now, then, Draco?" asked Hermione, sitting on a desk but also wanting to do something productive.
"I don't know, Granger…What do you want to do?" asked Draco, sitting next to Hermione, while pushing the hair out of her face.
"Anything," she said, grabbing his hand. He looked at her with great intensity, and pulled her in for another kiss. On top of the same half-broken table, Draco put his hands on her face, playing with her hair. She placed her hands on his shoulders wanting to deepen the kiss.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and her Patronus suddenly vanished. Before Hermione could look up, there was a bellowing, "HERMIONE?" Horrorstruck, Hermione pulled away from Draco and jumped hastily off of the table. She brushed herself off quickly, and looked up. There stood her two best friends, Harry and Ron, who were too speechless to say anything more.
"What do you want, Potter?" asked Draco harshly, wanting to protect Hermione from whatever they were about to say. But they didn't say anything; they remained speechless.
"I—we were just—" stammered Hermione.
Draco, bravely piping up with his hands deep in his pockets said, "What are you two doing here, anyway?"
"We were just about to ask you the same thing," said Harry, finally out of shock. "And for your information, we were coming in here to look for Hermione because she wasn't in the common room or the Great Hall or the library."
"And what makes you think I was here?" asked Hermione, wanting to turn the tables on them.
"Well, sometimes you come into empty classrooms and practice your charms. But obviously you were practicing something else," said Ron, folding his arms, scowling at Draco. He looked as though he was madder than ever.
"It's none of your business," said Hermione, trying to sound strong.
"None of our business? Hermione, you're our best friend! How can it be none of our business?" bellowed Harry. He too looked like Hermione just crossed a very fine line.
Hermione took one last look at Draco, who was looking at her anyway, and gave him a look that said, I'm so sorry. She gripped her book and power-walked all the way up to the Gryffindor common room, knowing Ron and Harry were trailing her.
ϟ ϟ ϟ
"HOW COULD YOU JUST WALK IN LIKE THAT?"
"HOW COULD YOU JUST SNOG HIM LIKE THAT? HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE OUR ENEMY. AND YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES HE'S GOTTEN US INTO TROUBLE."
Hermione plopped down on a chair she was standing in front of and buried her face in her hands.
"I don't know, Harry. It all started in Potions class; remember when Snape paired us together? I spent so much time with him—we just—we sort of—"
"Got together?" Ron suggested sadly; sitting down on the chair farthest away from Hermione.
Harry, who was still standing, said, "I still can't believe you're with him, Hermione. After all he's done to us—and you! He called you a—a—"
"Mudblood, I know," said Hermione, finishing Harry's sentence. "But—But I think he's changed, Harry."
"You think so, do you? Or is he just using you?" said Ron angrily.
"Ron—he wouldn't—Ron, he's not using me!" Hermione retorted.
"And how do you know?"
"Well, I am his girlfriend, Ron!"
Ron shivered, as though "girlfriend" was an obscene word. Hermione rolled her eyes and walked off to bed, wanting nothing to do with Harry or Ron for the next couple of days.
END OF CHAPTER 4
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hello darlings! I realize my chapters have been really messed up, so I think I fixed it for y'all! :)
Hope you like it; newly revised!
Love, Xan
P.S. Oh hey review! And if you spot any errors, message me!