Chapter 9
Hermione's POV
"Are you sure that you can't wait?" I pleaded.
"Nope. Sorry. You might as well do it to, we're going there already. and why prolong the unnecessary suffering?"
I groaned softly as I was towed towards the Head's common room after class. We had had Herboligy, it was raining, and as we were walking back up to the school a mud ball came flying into the back of Draco's head. The culprit wasn't uncovered. Yet. We decided to eat dinner first, but now, it was shower time.
"Great. Juuust. Great
"Shower time. Woohoo!
Woohoo?
Yup. Minnie me grinned. Both of you have to shower, and you are chained together.
Ewww. Why do you always think like that?!
It comes with the job sweetheart.
Job? You're not being paid to torture me!...Are you?
I wish. No torturing you is just one of the many perks.
One of? What do you mean by that?!
Well, I get to annoy you. I rolled my eyes. And I see, think and feel whatever you do.
Oh good. So you know how mortified I am with the idea of SHOWERING IN FRONT OF A BOY!
Not exactly.
What does that mean?!
Well, technically he's of age, so you can't call him a boy.
Okay miss smarty. Anything else?
Yes, actually. Despite what you keep telling me, I am sensing that you are not as mortified as you are letting on.
What do you mean?
You and I both know that you are secretly wondering about what your new husband looks like without his clothes on.
WHAT?! Ab…Absolutely not! I blushed furiously.
I saw that. And yes you are. Yes, I am for that matter. Minnie me giggled.
You're disturbed.
And proud of it! This is your husband we're talking about here, so why shouldn't you be wondering?
Because. Unlike other marriages, this one wasn't for love.
Oh. And love can't grow with time?
Not in this marriage. We come from completely different worlds, I'm a muggleborn, he loathes me.
Then why does he keep trying to kiss you? Hmm?
For show?
You wish! The past two make out sessions happened in the common room, when no one else was around.
Th…That doesn't change anything.
Oh yes it does, and you know it.
Damn you. Do you always have to be right?
It's a gift. Minnie me shrugged innocently. As well, you aren't able to go without showering for two whole weeks. It was going to happen sometime.
Groan. There's no way out of this is there?
Nope. Minnie me giggled.
I was afraid you would say that.
Besides, Haven't you noticed how little, you and Draco have been fighting recently?
Kinda.
So then this whole showering business won't be so bad then will it?
Groan.
You two go and have fun now!
Ahhh! Stop it!
My only response was a giggle, then silence, as I was brought back to the real world.
We had stopped by the portrait, Draco had said the password, and we were now heading towards the showers and my ultimate doom.
Professor McGonagall POV, just outside the Head's common room.
I grinned as I walked down one of the many hallways of the school. I had been keeping tabs on the new married couple ever since the start of term. No one would ever guess this, but I had pulled some strings getting Draco into the position of head boy. His marks were good enough, but some of the teachers had felt bad having the son of a Death eater in this position.
My reasoning was simple enough. I was desperate for house unity, and the relationship that these two portrayed to the school was the exact opposite. My only wishes, for this year, were simply for these two students to learn to co-exist without killing each other. I never intended for them to marry. I laughed slightly at this as I turned the corner.
I was truly surprised. Hermione and Draco were now getting along much better than I could have dreamed it; most of the students even believed that they were actually in love. This whole marriage business was turning out to be a very good thing indeed.
I turned the last corner just in time to see the chained couple enter their dorm. I chuckled, just wait until the third part of the marriage spell kicked into action two weeks from now. I didn't know how they were going to react; it was going to be very entertaining indeed. This had happened to one of my cousins, so I had a fairly good idea of what these two should expect.
I walked up to the portrait and stared at it.
This portrait had been spelled to resemble the two head's living behind it and to portray, exactly the relationship that they were in. At first the prince and princess had been at complete opposites of the portrait and glaring at each other. That was definitely not the case now.
They had moved slightly closer together but were still turned away from each other. However, every so often the princess Hermione would sneak a peek at the prince, and vice versa. If she caught him staring at her she would turn away and blush. Whenever that happened the Prince would just stare out the corner of his eye at her and a small grin would spread across his face.
Neither of the two figures seemed to notice the other's reaction, so they both stayed in one place on the canvas.
Interesting. Very interesting indeed.
I turned around and started the long walk back to my office, grinning all the way.
Ron POV
I walked quickly down the hall way and looked behind me to see if anyone was following, before ducking into the empty classroom.
"About time you showed up." I whipped around as a figure came walking out of the darkness at the front of the room.
"Pansy. Why did you want to meet me?"
"Oh I think you know, just what I want Weasly." She smirked and perched on one of the desks. I sat on top of the one right across from her. I nodded, she continued.
"Draco should be mine, and Granger you want for yourself. We're a perfect pair for this job."
"What job?"
Pansy smiled then drew a small glass vial from the inside of her robes.
"Is that…?"
"Yes. One of Granger's hairs. She and Draco sit right in front of me in charms, so it was a simple matter for me to pull it off of her robes."
"What are you going to do with it?"
"It's not what I am going to do, but what we are going to do."
"And that is?"
Pansy explained her plan to me and I almost smiled, but at the same time I wanted no part in it. I took the vial from Parkinson's hands and stared at its contents. If this worked then, it may just break up Hermione and Malfoy for good. On the downside, it would hurt Hermione, and as much as I was angry with her right now I still thought of her as a friend. Still, the fact that she never told me about her and Draco, really made me mad. I sighed, then handed the vial back to Pansy.
"I'm in."
She smiled.
"Excellent."
Hermione's POV
"Please don't make me!"
"Too late. We're already here and we both need to shower." Draco grinned at me amusedly. I huffed.
"Alright, fine." I gave in. Draco's grin widened.
"Now, as I am such a wonderful husband, I'll let you shower first." I glared at him, "And I won't peak!" He said raising his arms in defeat. I smiled.
"Good, now turn around so I can get in." He turned around, and I started undressing. I thanked all gods known and unknown for the eight inches of chain between the two of us that would let me shower in relative privacy. I stepped into the shower, closed the curtain, reached for the shampoo and felt a tug around my waist.
'Uh Oh. Dammit, the chain isn't long enough, I can't reach the soap.'
Trying to compose the little dignity I had left I reluctantly called out.
"Umm, Draco?" I said hesitantly.
"Yeah?" I heard him reply from the other side of the curtain. I saw his shadow shift slightly.
"Umm, the chain is too short."
"What?"
"The chain. I can't reach the shampoo."
"So, what do you want me to do about it?"
I winced slightly before replying. Just get it over with. "Could you come in here with me?"
Silence.
"Please Draco? As much as I am dreading to admit it, It's the only way."
More silence, then: "Alright, but keep your eyes closed."
"Same goes for you." I said back to him, he chuckled. I saw through the curtain as his shadow removed first his shirt, then his pants. I closed my eyes then and felt the chain slacken as Draco stepped into the shower. He called out.
'Hermione where are you?"
"I'm right here. Just turn around, I'll do the same, and then we can open our eyes."
"Okay."
I turned, then hoping that I was facing the right way I opened my eyes a crack then wider as I found myself facing the end of the shower.
I let Draco use the shampoo first as he was the one with the muddy hair, then I picked it up as he set it down. I sighed inwardly as I felt the hot water wash the soap out of my hair and relieve my aching muscles along the way.
I had just rinsed out the conditioner when it happened. I lost my footing on the shower floor, grabbing the closest things to me. Unfortunately for me those things happened to be the shower curtain and Draco's shoulder. I felt Draco freeze at the touch, neither of us breathed.
My hand seemed to burn and tingle as I quickly retracted it from his shoulder.
That's not a good sign
Why not?
Just because.
Just because what? Because your body is reacting quite positively to his nearness?
Exactly
And how exactly is that not a good sign?
We've had this discussion before.
Yes, we have. And so far they have almost always ended with you admitting that you like him.
Pause.
Ooh la l a. Minnie me giggled.
What do you mean!? What's Ooh la la!?
I think you might want to close the shower curtain a bit Hermione.
Huh?
Yes. Close the shower curtain…and look up.
I did, and froze. I was staring at the bathroom mirror, and what was in it. I was hidden, however when I grabbed the curtain to right myself it had apparently not closed fully, so now I was viewing an unobstructed reflection of Draco's backside. I blushed. I blushed very deeply indeed. Then I rushed to close the curtain hoping that Draco didn't notice anything. (Hermione's end of the shower is the closest to the mirror so when she peeks out she can see right behind herself).
See what I mean?
Blush
And might I personally thank all Quiddich gods, and their extremely toned seekers. Another giggle.
Fine, fine, you win this round.
Thank you. Now aren't you glad we met?
Do I have to answer that right away?
Hermione! That hurts. Minnie me said, and I would have believed her display of hurt was it not for the fact that she laughed immediately after saying it.
Alright then. Now if you keep me here any longer I'm going to shrivel up like a prune, so if you don't mind…
Say no more. My lips are sealed…For now.
And with that I was once again brought back to reality, her giggle slowly fading away.
"Umm Draco?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you done?"
"Yup."
By mutual consent we both closed our eyes again and stepped out of the shower. Our towels weren't hard to find as they were right next to the shower, so we were able to cover ourselves before any more embarrassment could take place and with a quick drying spell we entered our room to change for bed.
When my turn came to change I opened the drawer that held my nighties and looked inside. I had two in there that hadn't been worn yet but I really didn't think that this present situation was a good time to introduce them. One was all black, and the other was Green silk with silver lacing, (I hated that green and silver were the Slytherin colours, but they were also my favourite colours, darn). I settled on my Sapphire and silver one then turned to face Draco.
"One day down,"
"And thirteen left to go." He replied.
"Great." I rolled my eyes, and he laughed.
"Come on Hermione, just admit it, there are many worse people for you to be chained to right now."
We got into bed with minimal difficulty .granted we had to both get in on my side then Draco had to shift over.
"That's true." I replied, settling under the covers, however doing that presented another problem. Draco was the first to comment.
"I don't think this isn't going to work."
"Neither do I." We couldn't comfortably lie on our backs, as our shoulders scrunched together. "Let's just turn our back to each other and sleep on our sides then."
Draco turned towards me and smiled. "Nope won't work."
"And why not?"
"Because. That would involve me sleeping on my right side when I can only sleep on my left."
I rolled my eyes. "Can't you make an exception?" I half pleaded.
"Nope." He grinned. I groaned. "Sorry, either I sleep on my back, my left, or otherwise I'm up all night."
"Fine."
I turned away from him and lay on my left side as well, however that left me with an incredibly untrustworthy feeling so I turned under the covers to face him.
"Why, hello there." Draco said amusedly. "Just couldn't stay away could you?"
"Stop flattering yourself. I just don't trust you when my back is turned."
"Moi?" Draco said in fake disbelief. "Shouldn't you always trust your husband?"
"If it was anyone else then maybe."
"Ouch. Well since we have already established a truce, why don't we make one for trust then?"
"Draco?"
"Hmm."
"Why are you being so nice to me?"
"Nice?"
"For you, this is nice."
"I guess you're right."
"So will you answer my question or not? Why are you being so nice to me?"
Draco paused before answering, and when he did the words came softly.
"I guess…well…You're starting to grow on me."
I lay there stunned. That was definitely not the answer that I was expecting.
"So are you going to answer my question now?"
"What question?"
"Do you or do you not want to agree to always be truthful, and trust worthy to each other?"
"I think trust is something that is earned Draco."
"Well, maybe if we agree to be truthful then that trust will come. So, what do you say?"
Again I was surprised by his words.
"Sure, I guess. I could live with that."
"Excellent! Now, let's seal it with a kiss."
Before I could react his lips were suddenly on mine and I could once again feel the fireworks and the skip as my heart fluttered erratically, and when his lips left mine, they experienced the same burning tingle that my hand had, in the shower. I was grateful that the lights were low enough that Draco would not see my glowing face. He chuckled.
"Good night Hermione."
See! I told you that he was always trying to kiss you! But you didn't listen!
Shut up.
However it was hard not to smile slightly at Minnie me's words, especially since she was currently doing a victory dance inside my head. I gave in.
I smiled.
