Hello! Terribly sorry for the long wait, I've had a lot going on the past year or so.
Also, to the guest who reviewed asking if more intimate Dramione was to come: well, this story is rated M for a reason ;) I'll leave it at that
Chapter 9 - Hug a Slytherin Day!
For some reason, Draco Malfoy knew that it was going to be an awful day.
Maybe it was the fact that he had woken up on the floor for some inexplicable reason, or perhaps because he stubbed his toe not four but five times while going through his morning routine. Yes, Draco Malfoy knew that it was going to be an awful day.
But how wrong he was. For it was going to be much worse than awful; ghastly, dreadful, abominable, foul, repulsive, nauseating, and atrocious are a few words that might have made a more fitting description.
After the toe stubbing, Draco met Luna down in the common room to walk to breakfast together. Her tell tale smirk should have sent off some warning bells, but alas, it was still far too early for Draco to be thinking on the defensive. This was quite unfortunate, because the second he entered the Great Hall for a peaceful breakfast in solitude, Draco was assaulted by a pair of arms wrapping around his middle that proceeded to squeeze the living daylights out of him.
"Gah! What-" he yelped, his vision going blurry from lack of oxygen. Colorful blobs of people flooded past and around him, and Draco could distantly make out the cries of his fellow Slytherins. What was going on? Had Hogwarts been attacked overnight? Had the house elves poisoned the food?
"Hi, Malfoy!" someone said happily, and Draco glared down at the Weaslette, who was looking at him jovially, red head bobbing up and down in front of him. "You do have a six-pack! I knew it!" Draco quickly untangled himself from her, head snapping around in bewilderment.
"What are you- why- get off me!" he exclaimed desperately, his eyes now focusing in on his fellow Slytherins all suffering a familiar fate; Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws alike were taking Slytherins into tight embraces. Daphne Greengrass was using her purse to hit a Hufflepuff boy who got a little too "hands on" with her. Theodore Nott was clutching a spoon, eyes flitting around like a caged, wild, rabid animal from where he was crouching on the table. Blaise stood stoically as a Gryffindor first year hesitantly approached him with arms spread out wide, then Blaise bared his teeth and hissed, causing the kid to shriek and high-tail it in the opposite direction of the Zabini.
"You know, from far away you look like a prat, but up close, you're pretty bloody cute." The female Weasley was saying, and Draco snapped his gaze back to the girl still clinging to him.
"Get off me!"
With a pout and huge sigh, the arms reluctantly snaked their way back to their owners side. Eying her warily, Draco shook his head, bemused.
"What's going on?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer. Weaslette- Ginny, that's what her name was- gave him a toothy grin.
"Hug a Slytherin Day, of course!"
Draco's stomach hardened into a pit then dropped down somewhere near his toes.
"Wha…?" he stared at her dumbly, slack jawed with wide eyes.
"Well, I thought the title was self explanatory, but I'll explain it to you," she giggled. "It is a day where we spread love with hugs!" Ginny gently took his jaw in her fingers and pushed upwards, reconnecting his lips.
"But…why?" he questioned, feeling at a loss.
Ginny shrugged. "Because we felt like it?"
Shuddering, Draco put several feet in between him and the girl, picking his way through embraced couples until he reached the Slytherin table.
"HELPPPP MEEEEE!" Astoria Greengrass was screaming as Dean Thomas and Terry Boot both cuddled her. Daphne, sensing her sister in distress, yielded her purse threateningly at the two boys. They saw it and booked, having already seen what happened to the last boy who fell under the luxury leather.
Calls of despair echoed throughout the Great Hall as the three united houses continued their onslaught.
"I'm melting!"
"What is this magic?!"
"Ah! Happiness and warmth! It's blinding!"
Slowly, Draco began to creep out of the hall. He was not eager to be hugged again. Unfortunately, there was something that resembled a tribal battle cry followed by a scream-
"LOOK! It's Draco Malfoy!"
All heads turned to the Slytherin Prince. He gulped.
"HUG HIM!"
"ARGH!"
"AHHH!" Draco sprinted out of the hall and into the corridor, a battalion of students on his tail. He ran for his life through several corridors, twisting and turning in an attempt to lose them.
Eventually, he had to stop to bend over and knead a stitch in his side. It had been a while since he last ran from an obsessive hoard of girls. He ducked into a classroom and dove under a desk when he heard footsteps.
Just outside the door, the mass of females stopped. Draco practically went into cardiac arrest. He thought that they had found him
"As President of the Draco Malfoy Fan Club, I say that we find him and show him a little love!" a girl Draco had never seen before pumped her fist in the air. The sea of girls screeched "HEY YA!" and they too threw their fists in the air before charging off.
Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, the blond slid out of his hiding place. Cautiously, he peered out the classroom door, but the coast was clear. Deciding that there was someone up there who loved him, he stepped out into the corridor and carefully ducked his way through shadows to the first class.
Snape issued a heavy warning with lots of glaring right at the start of Potions. If anyone were to engage in 'illicit activity'- this was said with a sneer- and if Hug a Slytheirn Day should so much as be uttered in his classroom, everyone would have detention for a week. Therefore, everyone was dutifully- and sullenly, mind you- going through class. No one could deny that they had wanted to be the one to hug Snape and come out alive. It would be a miraculous feat, and one that would immediately land one on the Hogwarts Wall of Fame. Ah, oh well, there was always next year...
"So, Ron, how has your group been getting along?" Hermione asked as she stirred her potion. Snape had them making Veritaserum, and if Hermione weren't excited about making an advanced potion, she would have been busy growling about Snape having ulterior motives for doing so.
The boys, on the other hand, were not excited about making Veritaserum, so they were grumbling about Snape and plotting and evil scheming Slytherins and, 'I bet Malfoy had something to do with this look at his slimy smirk and-'
"Ron, your group?" Hermione pressed again, not eager to listen to their ranting. The red head looked up at her over the fumes of his potion, which for some reason were a sickening pink when they really should have been clear…
"You're with Parvati, Neville, Parkinson, Zabini and Cho right?" Harry leaned forward in newfound enthusiasm, knocking over several potion making equipment. Hermione rolled her eyes. That boy needed to get over his crush for the girl. After all these years, they'd only had one disastrous date and a kiss where she was crying- Hermione saw no future for them. Not that she was going to tell her friend as such. Not yet, anyways. It would crush his heart. Then again, Harry had admitted that their wet kiss and date had nearly put him off girls. Ron had great fun poking at the 'nearly' bit and made several suggestive comments for weeks about Harry's sexuality.
"It's alright. We're very…segregated," Ron mumbled unhappily. "Me, Parvati and Neville all band together, but then Parkinson and Zabini sit off in their own little corner- they've named it too, Slyth's Bunker, quite creative if you ask me- and then Cho just sits off in another corner crying. It hasn't escaped anybody's notice that she hasn't at least put in the effort to give her corner a catchy name either. It's, er….yeah." Ron finished when he saw Harry glare at him.
"Has anyone tried to comfort her?" Harry fiercely asked, and Hermione didn't even bother to hide her snort.
"That girl is unconsolable. She's been crying since fifth year."
"That girl is an angel from heaven that-" Harry immediately began to defend her, and now it was Ron's turn to snort.
"Hardly. But I wouldn't doubt it if-"
"Let's not go there," right now, Hermione put her hands up before any one of them could snap.
"Right, well, my group was pretty dysfunctional until Zabini and Parkinson came up with a compromise," Ron said, sprinkling in some powdered asphodel root when he wasn't supposed to. Was that even on the ingredients list…? Hermione leaned over to check. No. Ah, Ronald.
"What kind of compromise?" Hermione asked, deciding to humor him for now while she casually leaned away from the potion that was now emitting green bubbles. "And how did that come about?" She wasn't lying when she said she was surprised that everyone had decided to listen to the two Slytherins.
Ron blushed slightly, which wasn't a good sign. "Well, it might be a little too, er, inappropriate for your ears…" He ducked his head as the potions textbook was sent flying his way.
"I'm not an innocent, sheltered little girl, Ronald. I am perfectly capable of handling myself." She all but growled, eyes alight with a fire that had everyone in range cowering.
Ron, realizing that his man bits were probably on the line, began stuttering out an explanation. "I-I just meant, well, you know how you spend so much t-time reading books in the library, so I just figured- incorrectly figured, incorrectly, don't look at me like that!- that maybe you weren't as…"
"As what?" ah, yes, he was terrified now. Harry had ducked under the potions table some time ago and Dean Thomas, who was working at the table behind her, had hidden behind his cauldron.
"As….informed…socially?"
"Well, Ronald, I'm sorry you feel that way. Because I can tell you that I am in no way, ah, what was it? Socially uninformed, I believe? Just because I prefer spending time in the library instead of entertaining you and your fancies, it doesn't make me any less adept when it comes to…certain situations," Hermione practically snarled, striking fear in everyones hearts.
"I wonder what kind of books she's reading," Seamus muttered under his breath.
What kind of books Hermione has had her nose in, however, would never be found out, because just then Ron's potion gave a mighty gurgle and SPLAT!
Luckily for everyone else in the vicinity, they had been hiding from Hermione's wrath, so when the potion exploded, the full brunt of it hit Hermione and not them. They cheered for a little bit and did a victory lap around the potions classroom before realizing this and the starry eyed look Hermione was giving Ron.
Of course, Snape was over in an instant with a swish of his cape and was looming about in his bat-like way.
"What is the meaning of this?" he growled for what was the second time that week. He looked as if he were going to say more but he was cut short by Hermione lunging at Ron and attaching herself to his side. The red head's eyes widened before a happy smile spread across his features.
Excited whispers filled the classroom and Draco clenched his jaw as Hermione cooed over the Weasel and wiped a speck of dirt from his nose affectionately. It didn't bother him to see her draping over Weasley. Not at all. Nope. Growling, he felt his stomach clench painfully. Blaise shifted his eyes over to his best mate, surprised at his antics. Interesting…
"Hermione has become infatuated with Ron…I bet he made a love potion by accident!" Dean exclaimed as he side stepped some of the pink gunk that had oozed its way to the floor. He crinkled his nose as a sharp, foul odor pierced the air.
Snape gave Dean a 'No shit, sherlock, you think so?' look.
"We aren't even making love potions…" Draco muttered as Hermione proceeded to hang off of Weasley.
Snape perked up at the aspect of being allowed to dock points from his least favorite house and his least favorite students. "Fifteen points from Gryffindor for incompetence and disaster making." He smirked broadly and swished his cape about himself in a peak of high self-esteem. "Weasley, take Ms. Granger to the hospital wing immediately. And no funny business," Snape's beady black eyes bore into Ron's soul.
Ron looked all too happy to oblige. He started shuffling to the door, an arm wrapped firmly around Hermione's waist. If one listened closely enough, Ron could be heard chanting his praises towards the Slytheirn Head of house.
"Er, professor?"
All eyes whipped towards the boy Savior, who now was cringing slightly under Snape's gaze. It wasn't uncommon knowledge that Snape despised Harry more than anything, and Harry always decided it best to hang low in Potions class. So speaking out of turn now? What could be so important?
"What more do you need, Potter?" Snape sneered, and a few Slytherins in the back of the dungeon snickered. The raven haired boy shot glares at all of them before turning back to the teacher with a fixed look of determination on his face.
"I don't think it's a good idea to send them to the infirmary together because of Hermione's current state of infatuation and Ron's current state of happiness at Hermione's current state." There was a lot about current states. But Draco sent a silent prayer to Potter and reminded himself to be extra tolerant of the boy tonight because Potter's nonsense made sense and everyone knew it.
Potter then suggested innocently, "I can take her, instead." Ah, so there came the ulterior motive. The 'get out of Snape's class free' card was on the table and anyone with a pulse was willing to play it. Immediately, all the students were shifting from foot to foot excitedly. Draco shook his head at the subtle Potter craftiness. He then banged his head against his cauldron for ever thinking 'subtle Potter craftiness.' It must have been all the fumes from the potion. Right, that was it. Because never in his sane mind would Draco utter those words, let alone think them.
Ron, meanwhile, was sending Harry a look of pure betrayal, greatly resembling a kicked puppy. At this, Hermione cooed some more and ran her fingers through his abomination he called hair. The betrayed look quickly melted into a smug grin, and his fingers tightened around Hermione's waist. A heavy feeling settled in the pit of Draco's stomach, and he had to clench his fists and bite his lip hard to keep from lunging at Weasley and putting distance between him and his group member. Any surprise at the strong feelings Draco was inexplicably experiencing were pushed aside by green envy.
Snape visually mulled over the Gryffindork's words for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Such a gentleman," a grease drop dripped from Snape's hair. Seamus lunged out of the line of fire. "But your current state, Mr. Potter, or rather, constant state of Potter and unintelligence makes you an invalid choice as an escort."
Harry deflated considerably and Draco suddenly knew what was going to happen.
"Malfoy."
All eyes snapped towards the blond. Dread filled his being as a serene smile curled onto Snape's features. "See to it that Ms. Granger makes it to the Hospital wing unharmed."
Draco would have complained but the look of absolute outrage on Weasley's blotchy red face made it completely worth it.
So that's how Hermione ended up with Malfoy.
"La di da, di di di di da," she idly mumbled to herself as she skipped along the corridors. Portraits and paintings were staring down at them and whispering amongst themselves in a manner that Draco found concerning. The last thing he needed was for this to be spread around the school by dinner time.
"So!" the drugged brunette chirped form his side. Draco cautiously glanced her way, finding Hermione lightly bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Do you think you could set me up with Ron? Maybe just casually mention my name or something like that…" Hermione trailed off in thought.
Draco gulped and continued to stare straight ahead. There was no way he was encouraging this type of behavior. He whipped around when he felt someone rap a fist against his head several times.
"Helloooo? Anybody in there?" Hermione called, extending her hand again. As skillfully as possible, Draco ducked out of the way.
"Bloody hell, woman!" he began, but he found that she was no longer paying attention. Instead, she was muttering to herself about the great weasel.
"Maybe Ron'll have a picnic with me, and after we eat posh little finger sandwiches and dance through the cool evening, we'll lie down in the grass under a blanket of stars and whisper sweet nothings to each other."
"That's so romantic I think I just peed myself," Draco rolled his eyes. Hermione subtly
shimmied away from him.
The rest of the walk to the infirmary came with Hermione rattling on about Weasley's eyes- them being "as blue as the Mediterranean sea and my underwear!" or something to that degree. Draco wasn't sure what was so special about Weasley's eyes, though. In his opinion, they were more of a dull blue. Nothing special, and certainly nothing compared to grey eyes.
"Second time this week. I'm starting to become suspicious that you're the one jinxing the students…" Madam Pomfrey glared at Draco skeptically as the duo entered the Hospital wing. Draco winced. It was times like these that having the school nurse hate you was detrimental. Then again, she was prejudiced against all Slytherins, so it wasn't a fate he bore alone.
"Accident in potions. Love potion," Malfoy said shortly before practically tossing Hermione onto a bed. Upon hearing Hermione's uncharacteristic squeal, Madam Pomfrey frowned.
"Stay with her and make sure she doesn't…try anything."
Suddenly very alarmed, Draco exclaimed, "What might she try-?" but the medi-witch was walking brusquely to a back store room. Sighing indignantly, Draco unwillingly took the chair beside the bed inhabiting his group member.
To his great relief, the two sat in silence for a great deal of time. However, the sound of quiet sobs had Draco rolling his eyes before turning over to her.
"What's the matter with you?" he heaved a sigh. Hermione sniffed noisily and blew her nose on her drawn up knees.
"I don't know if he'll ever look at me like I do him. My eyes are swimming with tears. See? They swim! They swim I tell you!" Hermione pointed at her eyes and waved her arms around before flopping down on the mattress.
Draco didn't know why he was entertaining her while she was under a potion, but he couldn't stop himself from saying, "Maybe he doesn't deserve you then. Maybe you should try to seek someone else's love, someone who you would mean everything to, and you could be their everything." His mouth had suddenly become very, very dry, and was it just Draco, or was it getting hot in here?
The way Hermione was staring at him with her deep brown and gold eyes as though they were penetrating his very soul, his throat suddenly constricted.
"Alright, alright," Pomfrey bustled over to them in a fuss of potions and jars. "Now, since this is a standard love potion I simply have to-"
Draco quickly interjected, "It's not! Weasley was attempting to make Veritaserum and he managed to create a love potion instead-"
Pomfrey promptly dropped all of her jars. "Why didn't you tell me this?" she glowered at his disdainfully. Bewildered, Draco stuttered slightly, but the older woman was not listening. She stormed back to her cupboard, cursing loudly- probably about Draco- and slammed the door.
When Pomfrey returned, still muttering about Draco's painful demise, she brandished a flask full of thick green liquid. Hermione crinkled her nose and began to shake her head, but the older witch gripped the girl's chin and forced all of the fluid down. After several gags and splutters, Hermione had taken all of the potion down. Pomfrey nodded in satisfaction, informing Draco that the effects would begin momentarily. With that, the nurse swept away and locked herself in her office.
Draco squirmed in his seat as Hermione readjusted. The sight of her flushed cheeks, dark, shining eyes and her pink tongue flitting out to wet her plump lips had his heart skipping a beat. In a masculine, suave way, of course. He tried to distract himself with other thoughts that did not center around the curly haired witch in front of him. Draco briefly reflected on his breakfast, his Divination homework and the Dream Catchers, if anyone had tried to give Snape a hug today…
BAM!
Wood splintered as the hospital wing doors were flung against the wall. Both Hermione and Draco whipped towards the sound, wands at the ready in an instant. A shadowy figure appeared, and Draco felt his shoulders tense. The figure was tall and intimidating, an uneven lurch to it's step. In fact, it appeared to be teetering on its feet in a fight to stay upright…
"Seamus?!" Hermione exclaimed, sitting up and gaping at the person falling through the threshold. Dean Thomas appeared right behind him, carefully picking his away around the fallen boy come…deer?
Draco had to squint and rub his eyes multiple times to process what he was seeing. Seamus Finnigan was now sporting a pair of antlers, which cast shadows as he walked and Dean had to dive out of the way several times to avoid being taken out by one of the branches.
"What happened?" he asked in awe as Seamus pitched forward and landed too close for comfort on the bed next to Draco. He scooted his chair a little closer to Hermione's bed, reddening slightly when Hermione caught his eye.
"He hugged Snape," Thomas explained shaking his head, and the others 'ahhhhed' in understanding.
"How'd Snape get way with that?" Hermione asked in disapproval; apparently the antidote had completed its course.
"I think the real question is how did Seamus get away alive," Draco said, looking at Seamus as though he were a martyr.
"He said that the hug startled him so much that his wand moved on its own accord from his pocket to his hand and misfired with perfect accuracy directly at Seamus," Dean recounted and Seamus pouted and allowed his head to tilt to one side to better distribute the weight of the antlers now on his head. Draco had to hand it to Snape, the man had gotten artistic. There was a few wildflowers sprouting along the antlers, and even a birds nest with a tiny blue bird chirping in it.
Hermione frowned and opened her mouth to no doubt launch into a lecture out fairness and rules, but a shriek from the other side of the room drew everyones attention. With renewed concern, Madam Pomfrey rushed over to Seamus, pushing Dean out of the way and sending him careening to the floor in her haste.
"Ow," complained Dean loudly.
"Oh dear, oh dear…" Pomfrey muttered as she watched Seamus, who was aimlessly batting at a butterfly that had suddenly appeared, fluttering around his head. After a bit of examining and more muttering, the medi witch bustled off to the storage closet again once she firmly ordered Dean to keep an eye on Seamus.
When she had left, Seamus said, "I personally think this would be a great idea for a group costume, bubbly jack rabbits represent!" Seamus fist pumped the air and hit his hand against his left antler. He yelped in pain and retreated to a corner, where he proceeded to get wedged in because of the antlers' size.
Just then Pomfrey appeared again and quickly ushered Hermione and Draco to the door. "You two return to class," she ordered before turning to try and coax Seamus out of the corner. Dean sent them a pleading look but Draco was already dragging Hermione out into the corridor.
"And I better not see you back here unless you're dying, Mr. Malfoy! Or else I'll give you an injury to worry about! Wasting my time and resources, blah, eh…" the woman was mumbling to herself as Draco sprinted out the door.
"-and eyes as blue as the Mediterranean, or my underwear!" Draco sang in a high-pitched voice.
Hermione smacked him upside the head.
"Ow! Okay, I think we should establish a rule that bans violence! I don't like this trend we're setting here," Draco rubbed the spot on his skull where she had smacked and previously knocked.
Hermione smirked and flicked her hair over her shoulder cheekily. "I do."
"You like hitting on me?" Draco asked smugly, and as expected, Hermione immediately flushed red. And then smacked him again. Muttering angrily at twisting her words, Hermione flounced ahead.
The blond watched her retreating back before running his hands through his hair.
Maybe he didn't know why, or how, or when it happened, but he recognized his plain jealousy for the red haired prat this afternoon. And that thought alone made Draco very uneasy. Because after jealousy came liking someone, then attachment, then love, then marriage and babies and growing old together and death and then came all that stuff that came with the after life and-
"Are you sure you're alright?"
Draco tuned back into reality and looked at the concern etched on Hermione's face. She had glanced back and having seen the look on his features, slowed down. It seemed that she had momentarily forgotten her irritation with him.
"I'm just dandy."
That made Hermione put her hand to Draco's forehead, and if possible, she looked even more worried. "I think I'm taking you back to the hospital wing. You do feel a bit warm…" she began, but Draco snatched her cool hand from his forehead and held it in his own.
"I feel fine," he assured her, trying not to notice how small and perfect her fingers felt while captured in his bigger ones. "Besides, she threatened to kill me if I came back there again."
"Pity," Hermione muttered.
"Hey, why are you holding hands? Are you sleeping together?"
Jumping apart at the voice, the two students spun around to see Pansy Parkinson approaching them. Hermione crinkled her nose for the second time that day as the pug-like girl got closer. Out of her peripherals, she could see Malfoy stiffen as well.
"As much as I'd love to stay and chat…" Hermione said as she began to slide away. Pansy sneered and flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"Granger, you're too kind. But why don't you stay a moment more and bask in my presence?"
"Right, no thanks, I'm not too keen on smelling like wet dog," Hermione muttered, turning away before a thought struck her. "Oh, and Parkinson!" The puglet looked at her with a questioning look and a sneer combined on her face in a rather unflattering mixture. "Happy Hug a Slytherin Day!" Hermione did a suicide dive into Pansy's arms, squeezing tightly in hopes of temporarily suffocating the girl, before shrieking, "Protegro!" and sprinting off down the corridor.
"Well that was odd," Draco mused.
"I'll say," commented Pansy with a dazed look on her face. She shook her head as if to rid it of fleas before asking, "Do I smell like dog to you?"
Draco almost laughed before he remembered he was mad at her. "I think it was in a more figurative sense than literal."
"Ohhhhh good." Pansy nodded happily, before stopping and pondering his words a moment longer. She apparently didn't like what she found because she shook her head again. Draco made to attempt a quick escape during her lackluster thought process, but the witch gripped him by the back of the collar.
"I'm going to have to go through with my threat, Draco. I really wish that you had gone to McGonagall so that I wouldn't have to betray you like this-" Pansy began to hiss, and Draco shook her hand off his arm roughly.
"I already talked to her," he growled and stalked off down the corridor. The girl stood in the middle of the hall blankly for a moment before rushing after him.
She huffed to catch up with his fast, sweeping stride. "How'd it go?" she asked, and Draco could hear the relief of not having to go herself evident in her voice. He rolled his eyes, walking faster in agitation.
"She said no."
The sound of Pansy's following footsteps halted, and reluctantly, Draco slowed and turned to face her.
"Oh Draco," she grimaced in sympathy, "I'm so sorry." She tried to put a hand on his arm, but he retracted and wrapped his arms around himself tightly.
"It's fine. I'm fine. I didn't expect anything to come of it anyways," Draco grunted. He shouldered past the dark haired girl once again, but this time she successfully intercepted him.
"Draco," she said softly, but he refused to look at her. She put a hand to his cheek and turned his face to hers. No matter what kind of mask Draco could put up for the world, it was futile in front of his best friend. She could read any emotion flickering through his eyes, and what she saw at that moment led her to wrap her arms around him and hug him fiercely.
"You know I wouldn't cross you like that if I thought I had a choice, right?" she murmured in his ear. Draco breathed in deeply before whispering,
"I hope so."
"I didn't want to do it, I was just trying to help."
That translated to 'I'm sorry' in Pansy language. "Are we good?" she asked him hesitantly. Draco gave a short nod, uncomfortable with the amount of contact between them. Pansy seemed to pick up on this.
"Now get off me. We're starting to look like we're advertising that damned 'Hug-a-Slytherin-Day'." Pansy brushed herself off brusquely, and Draco couldn't help but smiling. They were good.
"There's a reason I quit this class you know! So that I would never have to associate myself with it again!" Hermione sniffed disdainfully. She picked up a stray goose feather and blew it away from herself before sneezing violently. The feather drifted to Ron's side of the small circle the three friends had made out on the grass of the courtyard. He picked it up mindlessly.
"There's a reason we keep you around, too," Ron muttered, stabbing a feather at his makeshift netting. Harry's eyes widened and he immediately came to the rescue.
"What he means to say is, thanks for helping us, Hermione," he corrected quickly. He was ignored and Hermione snapped a twig in her palm. Both boys flinched at the crack in made.
"Don't worry, Ronald, there's a reason I'm helping you create this dream catcher. A very specific- ulterior motive- devious- evil plan- reason." Hermione seethed. She was still ticked about the potion's class incident earlier that day. Ron was bitter about the love potion ending, and still quite terrified of what Hermione would do in revenge.
If Hermione was going to act on her evil plan just then, they wouldn't find out, for Luna- life-saving, precious, amazing Luna- entered the courtyard and spotted the trio. She glided over to them, her presence immensely welcomed by the two boys, who at the moment, were in fear of their lives.
"Would you like to join us?" Ron practically demanded enthusiastically. He deduced that if there were enough people around, Hermione would refrain from publicly murdering him. It would make the trial more difficult, to say the least. Ah, logic.
"Are you making fairy houses?" inquired Luna loftily.
"Dream catchers, for Divination," Harry explained, holding up the twigs, small colorful pebbles, feathers, netting, and assortment of over items. He tried to smile at Hermione, but she was too busy rubbing two twigs together fiercely- possibly to create a spark- whilst muttering about death by twig.
"I think I'll join you then, yes," Luna made to sit down next to Harry, but Ron quickly made a space between him and Hermione for Luna to sit. Probably so that she'd be in line of fire if Hermione tried anything… Oblivious to the plotting occurring around her, Luna continued. "I always find it fascinating to rob other peoples unconscious thoughts and emotions."
The plotting stopped, and the trio paused in their work to stare at the girl.
"In theory, of course," the girl smiled, and the three Gryffindors laughed uneasily.
"So, Luna," Hermione began, threateningly twirling a twig in her fingers and glancing at Ron. He gulped surreptitiously. "How have you been today?"
Either the girl didn't notice or she didn't care about the imminent blood bath between the red head and Hermione. She smiled to herself, "Oh, I'm quite alright, thank you. I've become quite intrigued by Blibbering Humdingers and have decided to expand my research on them."
"Do you mean your search for them?" Ron said rudely, and Harry kicked him in the shin non too subtly. Again, Luna didn't notice.
"Oh, no. Recent studies suggest that the mysteries Humdinger may not be a bird, but a species of fish."
The other teens cooed in pretend understanding. Hermione took the opportunity to launch a pebble at Ron's eye.
"Ow!" he whimpered, rubbing his face and ducking to the ground for cover. "I wasn't going to try anything, alright? Everyone is exaggerating about the love potion thing, I wasn't trying to manipulate you!" Harry coughed. Hermione's eye twitch menacingly. "And I know you're not sheltered-!" Ron squawked.
"Maybe you should have thought of that before-!"
"Alright, alright!" Harry raised his hands to calm everyone. Unfortunately, they had feathers glued to them, so the gesture's seriousness was substantially lowered. As he spoke, Luna began plucking the feathers off of him and tucking them into the curls of her hair. "Ron, just say sorry, you're too young to live like this. Hermione, stop trying to plot Ron's death. You'll miss him the next morning…maybe…" Harry said. Luna made a sound of delight as she admired her hair now twisted in with feathers. She greatly resembled an over-grown quail, but best not to burst her bubble.
"Can we please just leave this all behind us? At least for the time being? I'm going to fail if I don't have a dream catcher to give to Trelawney to inspect."
As the white flag flew in the air, the group peacefully returned to constructing dream catchers. They didn't even notice when Luna kept taking the materials and using them as accessories or jewelry.
Breathing hard, Draco pressed his back up against a bookcase. He had just managed to escape a hoard of girls adamant on hugging the Ice Prince. They were still looking in Moaning Myrtle's toilet, probably. Shivering, Draco peeled himself off of the rows of books and looked around him. Knowing that it was such a beautiful day outside, not many people were in the library. On second thought, not many people would be in here regardless, it was the library for Merlin's sake. The only person that held residence here was Granger, and she was no where to be seen. He huffed a sign of relief at that.
Still cautious and mentally scarred from Hug a Slytherin Day, Draco slunk to one of the back tables where he was less likely to be noticed in that case that someone did come to the library. As he settled down in a chair, he breathed slowly, inhaling the smell of parchment, ink and oak. The silence was loud and everything was still. He felt the stress and tension leave his body as he relaxed.
Ah, peace, serenity, solitude-
"Hey, D!"
Blaise Zabini. The moment was ruined.
"What are you doing here? I didn't know you could read," his fellow Slytherin commented, grasping one of the books Draco had pulled out and tossing it behind him after inspecting it. Draco rolled his eyes.
"It's the only place that no one will come and find me for…you know what," Draco's voice dropped to a whisper as understanding dawned on Blaise's face.
"Ah, yes. No one will come here and find you for hugs. Except for Granger, possibly? That works out nicely for you, doesn't it," Blaise casually reclined in the chair across from Draco, surveying him with a steady eye.
Draco muttered "Sure, make yourself at home," and let Blaise do just that before throwing a book at his head. It made purchase and there was a sound of a body hitting the floor with a thud. "And of course not, you prat, don't try to understand things you couldn't possibly begin to," Draco hissed at the floor. He felt a bit odd doing that, seeing as how he couldn't actually see Zabini, as he was mingling somewhere amongst the table legs.
"Love is love, D, it's a universal thing, really," responded a muffled voice from the floor. "This rug smells awful…"
"Go away, Blaise, I can't think with you here," said Draco irritably.
"I'm sorry, am I encroaching on your time to fantasize about Granger?" the muffled voice got sassy. "But really, do they ever wash this rug? They should invest in that."
Draco shook his head. "I don't know why you're so obsessed with this."
"So there IS a 'this'!" Blaise popped up near Draco's elbow, who yelped in surprise and as a result, elbowed Blaise in the face. The boy fell back to the floor again.
"Violence is not the answer. It doesn't help with anything," he moaned, caressing his forehead where an egg was forming.
Draco smiled for the first time since Blaise appeared. "Yes it does."
Blaise rubbed his forehead and pouted. "How's that?"
"I feel better now," the blond smirked.
It was the faux calm before the storm. It lulls you into a false sense of security and then strikes. The fragile peace could be shattered by a single noise, or in this case, a single person. It…it….
"Incoming!" yelled Seamus and tension immediately filled the air. Everyone had been waiting wearily for their last group member to come home to them. They knew that he wouldn't be happy, either. Judging by his heavy footfalls coming from the portrait, he was royally pissed off.
Draco Malfoy stomped into view and everyone waited with baited breath. He stopped in the center of the room and glared at all of them. "I am assuming that I have you all to thank for Hug a Slytherin Day?" he seethed, his glare piercing fear through the hearts of all..
…Except for Seamus. "You know what they same about assuming. It makes an ass out of you and me," Seamus noted airily from his lounge against the wall.
…. And Lavender apparently as well. "The projected success rate for next year is astronomical!" Lavender clapped her hands in excitement. Draco blanched, fists unclenching in despair.
"This isn't happening next year! Not again! I can't!" he practically whimpered, and Luna patted him on the back.
"We're making it an annual holiday. Be thankful, because the weekly option was on the table," she said unsympathetically. Draco looked as though he were going to melt into a puddle.
"Shall we eat? Or should we do the card first?" Hermione stood up from the couch and stretched. Draco's eyes locked on the skin that was exposed as her shirt rode up an inch. A hard nudge from Luna had his face turning red. She wiggled her eyebrows in a suggestive manner and made a noticeable head jerk in Hermione's direction. With a sigh, Draco pinched the bridge of his nose.
Somehow all of this went unnoticed by the Gryffindor princess.
Lavender smirked at the red-faced Malfoy before turning back to the oblivious Hermione. "I'm starved. How about we hit two birds with one stone and eat while we answer the question?"
"What if it's a really gross question, though? What if it asks us about…about…Snape?" Harry shuttered and said Snape's name as if it were a curse. Draco rolled his eyes unceremoniously.
"I think you'll live." He said flatly.
With the rest of the group in agreement, they filed over to the dinner table. Somehow, Luna managed to maneuver Hermione right next to Draco. And was it just Hermione, or were the chairs pushed a little closer together than usual? When she sat, her thigh was almost touching Malfoy's. She glanced over at him to find him staring at their legs, a pink flush spreading on his cheeks.
"So, how was everybody's day today? Pass the salt, will you Drake?" Lavender calmly cut her potatoes. Draco, halfway through passing the salt, dropped it in a pitcher of orange juice.
"Drake?" he said incredulously. Lavender sent him a bright smile and began fishing out the salt from the juice.
"I thought it had a nice ring to it. Don't you agree, Hermione?" Lavender sent the brunette a pointed look. Hermione looked around the table to find everyone staring at her expectantly. She resolutely did not look at the blond in question.
"Er…yeah, it's kinda…cute, I guess," she mumbled in embarrassment, trying to ignore Harry's scandalized gasp and Draco's almost unnoticeable smile.
"Bonus points if you let her call you that, Drake," Luna muttered from behind a bowl of salad.
Lavender was smirking as if she had proven a point. "How was your day today? Especially with the success rate of the new holiday…" she trailed off and stared at him. Uh oh, treading into dangerous and uncharted territory, Lavender, beware.
"I suppose I… did appreciate the creativity behind it," Draco sniffed, and Lavender pumped her fists in the air and screamed, "SCORE!" Harry was so startled he fell out of his chair. Down goes the Wizarding World's Savior.
"Hey, Harry, since you're already out of your seat, how about you go grab the deck of cards," Seamus called down to the floor. A mumbled 'Yeah, yeah' was the response. After a bit of shuffling underneath the table, Harry reemerged with the cards, presenting them to Lavender to choose from. She clapped her hands happily and picked one.
"What is your most embarrassing moment?" she read, eyes narrowing slightly as she thought.
Hermione groaned and buried her face in a plate. "Oh no."
"Scared?" Draco drawled, and Hermione hit him with the aforementioned plate.
"Ouch! Remember our no-violence rule we established earlier? No smacking innocent people with plates just made the list!" Draco shrunk away from Hermione, but Luna chose that moment to 'casually' prop her feet up on his chair, effectively pushing Hermione and Draco's chairs together once again.
Draco looked at her in betrayal. Luna shrugged. "I have bad circulation," she gestured to her feet.
"Who wants to go first?" Lavender sang, stuffing her face with more potatoes so that she couldn't be the first candidate. Once again, everyone fell silent. No one wanted to be the first to admit anything. Until…
"Er, I once peed on the Scandinavian Minister of Magic's head."
"What?!" everyone stared at Draco in bewilderment. Draco dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. Why did he have to go through with this? He sighed heavily, knowing there was no going back now.
"I was six, and my parents had dragged me to some fancy party. I had to go really badly but they said it wasn't polite to leave the party. So, during a toast to the hostess of the party, I slipped outside to one of the balconies. I didn't see any other option, so I did my business over the side of the balcony. Turns out, the Minister had just gone outside the story below to get some air because he thought he was going to faint. And it just kinda…exploded out of me, I couldn't stop it, even when I saw him come out from below. So I…ended up nailing him, and at that opportune moment, he passed out, so he was lying on the ground in a puddle of piss, continuing to get pissed on, and there was nothing either of us could do about it." Draco rushed out, face turning pink at the memory. There was a moment of silence before everyone burst out laughing. Even Draco smiled a bit, though it was an embarrassed smile.
Seamus was howling with tears streaming down his face. "So, you peed on him and he passed out. Double whammie," Seamus whistled, whipping snot and tears from his face.
"I hid in the curtains for the rest of the night." Draco admitted in shame. "It was a…marking moment in my life."
"In more ways than one," Hermione snorted, earning a 'shove' (it's called flirting, friends) from Draco.
"I thought you were going to say the ferret incident," Harry commented from the side. Draco shrugged.
"I thought so too. I guess this one was a bit more exposing."
Seamus was still laughing quietly. "What an ice breaker. Okay, I can go after that," he said, and he stood up.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, and her eyes widened when Seamus began to undo his belt. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" she shrieked again, and Harry held his hands up.
"Woah, man, one second here-" he began, but Seamus was quick to explain.
"I'm leaving the undies on, no worries," Seamus said calmly, though that hardly did much to appease anyone. "This is part of my embarrassing moment. You won't get the whole effect if you have no idea what I'm talking about."
Hermione hid her face in her hands as more white Seamus thigh was revealed.
"I know I said my embarrassing moment was exposing, but I didn't think it would prompt you to expose yourself!" Draco cried out, wincing as Seamus's pants fell around his knees.
Lavender was blushing profusely. Makes one think that it wasn't her first time seeing Seamus with his pants down, hmm?
"This," Seamus said, propping one leg up on the table for everyone to see.
"Eee!" several shrieks sounded, and Seamus rolled his eyes.
"I'm not tryin' to flash you. Just look!"
"No! Don't make me!" Hermione moaned, and Draco patted her on the back, earning himself another suggestive look from Luna. He retracted his hand immediately.
Finally, after much coaxing, Seamus had everyone's eyes on him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he continued. "Good, it's getting cold here, mates. Okay," he cleared his throat. "This is a birthmark," he pointed to large patch a skin that was darker than the rest. It expanded from his thigh all the way down over the side of his knee to the top of his calf.
"So…?" Harry began, but Seamus shushed him.
"Soooo, back at home, someone in my neighborhood spotted it one time and said that I looked like I had poop all over my leg. From then on, I've been dubbed SOTL, or Shit On The Leg. I'll never live it down, they still call me it today."
"That's…oddly pathetic." Draco was staring at Seamus, who nodded in shame.
"Ok. You can put your pants back on now," Hermione squeaked from behind her hands.
Seamus looked confused for a moment before it dawned on him. "Right, heh, sorry. Puts a whole new suggestion to what this 'bonding' class might actually mean." He was met with several cries of disgust. "I was joking! Sheesh, can't take a joke…" he muttered to himself as he did up his pants and sat back down.
Harry slammed his hands down on the table in front of him to get all attention. "New ground rules. Pants stay on at all times in the common room."
Everyone nodded enthusiastically in agreement. Harry nodded. "Alright, I guess I'll go now. I would have to say my most embarrassing moment was during the Tri-Wizard Tournament."
"I know, fame and eternal glory are such terrible things, aren't they," Draco said drily from the side. Harry shook his head.
"No, it was embarrassing knowing that everyone thought that I was so attention-seeking that I had put my name in the cup. Literally everyone was against me and hated my guts because I was in search of everlasting glory and…I don't know, it wasn't my brightest hour," Harry finished the last part in a mumble. Hermione winced.
"Oh, Harry," she said, knowing full well that she was one of the people who had at first accused him of that.
"It's not your fault," Harry responded, shaking his head. "I'm over it now, it was just at the time that it was miserable."
"Can we have someone else go, now? Brighten up the mood a bit?" Lavender blurted out, and Harry leaned back in his chair.
"Of course. Thanks for volunteering, Lavender," he smiled thinly at her. She sent him a glare.
"Er," Lavender scratched her head for a moment, and Hermione bit back a response pertaining to her intelligence. "One time my family had over a bunch of people for dinner. One of them was a guy our age and he was really cute. I flirted with him all night."
What's so bad about that?" Harry frowned in confusion.
Lavender sighed. "It was only after I tried to kiss him that I found out he was my cousin."
"Ohh!" everyone winced before laughing once more.
"That must have been an uncomfortable situation," Draco muttered, and Lavender nodded.
"To say the least," she pulled a face. After a bit more laughter, it was Hermione's turn.
Oh no. She knew of an embarrassing moment, but not one she was eager to share. Unfortunately, she could feel the pull of the magic on the cards willing her to answer truthfully. She was left with nothing to do but spill. "Er, during the Tri-Wizard Tournamant, at the Yule Ball, Krum pulled me aside for a bit and decided to get…frisky," Hermione said, her face rapidly turning red. Beside her, Draco tensed. "I kept on trying to push him off and get his attention, because we were not in a secluded area, but he didn't notice. His head is very thick."
Several of her group members blanched and stared at her.
Hermione recoiled in horror and slapped and hand to her mouth as she realized that her words had been taken the wrong way. "His skull! Not his- oh, er, never mind," Hermione thought she was going to die. Why her? Nothing left to do but continue now, she thought miserably.
"Well, I didn't know what else to do, so I took my shoe and knocked him on the head a few times to try and get his attention. And… I guess I knocked him a bit too hard, because he fell unconscious. So, I, er, was pretty embarrassed about that, so I dragged him into a nearby broom closet and erased that part of his memory so he wouldn't remember what had happened. I ran back out to the Great Hall and just told Harry and Ron that Viktor had gone to get drinks…not that he was comatose in a closet somewhere courtesy of my shoe." Hermione blushed. She could feel the heat of it spreading down her neck.
"What base did he get to?" Lavender asked in interest. Hermione gaped.
"That's all you got out of this story?" she asked in shock, and Lavender responded with a shrug. "Well, that's really none of your business," the blush was spreading further down now, and it was turning a few shades darker as she spoke.
"Hmm, look at that blush. That means at least second base," Lavender winked and raised her glass of orange juice to Hermione in salute. She took a sip. "Hmm, salty…"
"Anyways," Draco cleared his throat loudly. Harry looked equally uncomfortable at the idea of his best friend's sex life, but not as livid as Draco appeared. Luna was suddenly hit with a bout of bad circulation once again and she pushed the chairs until they were touching.
Hermione almost fell out of her seat, and only by getting a hold of Draco's leg was she able to keep her balance. He stiffened as she grasped his thigh, his breath catching in his throat as her hand slid up a little higher and she pulled herself up into her chair. Once she was properly righted in her seat, Hermione seemed to first take notice of her hand on Draco's thigh.
Luna's bad circulation miraculously disappeared. She appeared satisfied for some reason, though Hermione couldn't imagine why.
Hermione was immensely grateful that the table blocked all view of her hand on Draco's leg. After her confession about Krum, Harry was completely scandalized at the prospect of his friend being a female.
"Sorry," she muttered quietly, though she didn't take her hand off of him. His muscles were flexing unconsciously under her touch, and he weakly breathed out,
"It's okay."
Hermione retracted her hand slowly, and both teens seemed able to breath again.
Their attention was brought over to Luna once more. Thankfully no one else had noticed the little exchange between them, as everyone was looking at Luna as she responded in a dreamy tone, "I think embarrassing moments only happen if you aren't confident enough in yourself." The group let the wise words wash over them…
"You had to wait until the end to say that," Harry said glumly.
"Well now that we've established that we all have the self-esteem of a slug…" Seamus said somewhat bitterly, and Luna shook her head.
"No, no, not a slug, I'd say a fish," she corrected.
"Ah! Much better!" Lavender clapped her hands happily.
"We all have different standards," Hermione said in a low voice.
"Yes, I suppose Krum defined them for you, didn't he," Lavender smiled at her cheerfully, and Hermione gaped at her in bewilderment. "Lucky for Draco, really," the blonde sent Draco a wink that had his jaw dropping in shock.
"Wha-?" he began, but was interrupted by Harry.
"Now wait just a minute, Hermione, I think we need to talk about taking safety precautions during sexual activities and-"
Hermione squeaked and raced for the stairs. There was NO way they were having a talk about her level of 'sexual activity'. And Harry was one to talk, really! How many girls had he actually been with? Cho? But did that even count? Not unless a single kiss while the girl cries over her dead boyfriend is coital these days.
"We'll just talk to Draco about it then. As long as one of them knows, they'll be safe," Lavender said to Harry, who nodded idly before his eyes widened.
"Malfoy?! He isn't going anywhere near Hermione-!"
"That's my cue," Draco was soon rushing after Hermione up the stairs, but he was in hot pursuit by Harry.
"Don't you dare go into her bedroom, Malfoy! I think we have to lay some ground rules-!"
His bedroom was unbearably stuffy despite the window being wide open. The wind was making the curtains billow outwards, a testament to the fresh air rushing in, yet Draco still felt like his throat was constricting. He rolled over onto his side, fingers digging into the soft pillow. It was on nights like these that he wished he were back in the Slytherin dormitories. If he couldn't sleep, Blaise always seemed to know, and he would join Draco down in the Common room while he paced his worries away, no matter how tired he was.
Draco sighed to himself. He missed his friends. Bloody Gryffindors complaining, Draco thought darkly, at least they have each other.
On this thought he rolled over to his other side, attempting to get comfortable and praying that his insomnia would leave him, but of course it didn't. Rising to his feet in defeat, Draco ambled across the room and opened his door. He would pace the common room alone tonight.
Upon entering the dimly lit room, the blond found that he wouldn't be able to do just that. The floor in front of the fireplace was already occupied by a certain bookworm. True to herself, a large book was spread out on the floor before her, its words seeming to flicker under the fire light.
Hermione turned around sharply at the sound of his footsteps. "Malfoy," she said, her tone only slightly chilly.
"Granger," he greeted with a nod. After watching him anxiously for a moment, the girl turned back to her book. "Can't sleep?" he asked her, and she turned around to face him again. She looked almost surprised that Draco was still standing in the stairwell.
"You too?"
"Yeah…" Hermione trailed off. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "How's your hand?" Draco's other hand flew to the previously injured one and rubbed it absently.
"S'fine."
"Luna's quite handy with a wand, isn't she,"
Draco looked at her in bewilderment. "Get your head out of the gutter," Hermione rolled her eyes, causing the blond to flush slightly. "What happened to it, anyways?"
"I, uh-"
Oh, I punched a wall because I kissed you. Flattering, right?
"Actually, that's none of my business," said Hermione, and Draco had to blink a few times to get over the shock of her not poking into his life. "I found a book with an entire section dedicated to what we have to write the Charms essay on. It's proving quite useful, seeing as I have to write Harry's for him as well,"
"I have to write Pansy's too," Draco said, and cautiously he sank down next to her on the floor. Hermione sent him a side glance before shifting slightly in her spot. At her subtle movement, Draco noticed that their arms brushed lightly together. A small jolt of electricity travelled through him at the contact, and he swallowed thickly.
"Hmm, looks like we both have slightly academically-incompetent friends." Hermione noted jokingly, unaware of Draco's suddenly hot face.
Draco smirked, jumping at the chance to distract himself from his new train of thought. "Yours more so than mine." How he loved riling her up.
"Oh, shut up, Malfoy." Hermione rolled her eyes, turning back to her book.
The boy shifted a little closer. "Make me."
He wanted to challenge her now? "I don't think you mean that," Hermione said, casually flipping through the pages of her book. She wondered why Malfoy was talking to her at all. Sure, he had been a little more friendly than usual that evening, but that hardly warranted him willingly spending time with her, did it?
"Oh, but I do," Hermione risked a glance at Malfoy, and she found him staring at her intently, eyes glittering in the firelight. He had a roguish grin on his face that made her stomach feel queasy, and not necessary in a bad way.
Needing space in between them and needing it now, Hermione stood up abruptly, startling Malfoy into falling backwards. She went over to the small kitchenette and started opening several cabinets, careful not to make too much noise to not wake her sleeping group members.
The blond followed her, slowly sitting down at one of the island stools. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously.
"Going to enlighten you." Hermione muttered distractedly, throwing multiple cans of food onto the counter behind her. A delighted 'aha!' had Draco's ears perking up as the girl extracted a can and slammed it down on the counter in triumph.
Draco stared at it blankly.
Hermione stared at him expectantly.
"What?" They both said at the same time. Hermione shook her head and frowned, pointing at the container.
"How much do you want?"
"What?"
"How much hot chocolate do you want?" she repeated herself, and she was rewarded with an even more confused Draco Malfoy.
"Hot chocolate?"
Was she missing something here or…?
Then it dawned on her. "You've never had hot chocolate?" Hermione stared at him like he had sprouted another head. Draco tugged at his shirt sleeve in discomfort. That was all the answer she needed.
"Oh, no!" she exclaimed in horror. With a wave of her wand, she quickly had the beverage making itself, much like Mrs. Weasley's dishes washed themselves. "I can't believe this! And this is such a disappointment, this isn't the best quality of hot chocolate either. I wish I had a better kind to show you…" Hermione trailed off as she realized she was rambling. Bother, bother! Hermione scolded herself. You always make yourself look stupid in front of him! Whatever gene pool had the suave, sexy traits, she had obviously missed out. Come to think of it, though, her parents certainly weren't what she would call 'smooth talkers'…
Off topic!
The incredible smell of cocoa filled her senses, and Hermione excitedly pulled out two mugs, one for her and one for Malfoy. She filled them both, practically jumping up and down. "Which color mug do you want? Wait, never mind, I'll take the blue one," Hermione handed Malfoy the white mug and kept the other for herself, cradling the warm beverage in her fingers and sighing when she inhaled the heavenly scent.
Draco's eyebrows shot up as he grinned. "Should have known you would go for the blue one, it's the same shade as the Mediterranean, I believe, or maybe even…your underwear?" Draco smirked suggestively, and Hermione's face bloomed red. She quickly handed him the white mug and ducked her head so he couldn't see her blush.
"Not fair!" she pouted as she sat down on the rug in front of the fireplace once again. Malfoy settled down beside her, his feet brushing against hers as he slid his legs out in front of him. Hermione's heart fluttered inside her chest at the contact. She tried to scold herself for being a pathetic romantic, knowing that the touch was probably accidental. There was no need to work herself up over it.
Draco, unaware of Hermione's inner turmoil, stretched languidly. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as several muscles flexed. "How'd you get yourself into that mess anyways?" he asked, and it took several moments for Hermione to realize he was referring to the love potion incident.
"Long story," Hermione growled, her mind returning to murder plots for Ronald.
"I heard Weasley dug himself quite the hole in potions. Something about you not being…educated?" Malfoy said, leisurely taking a sip of his hot cocoa and moaning at the taste. Hermione's heart stopped. She almost fainted when his pink tongue slowly licked his bottom lip, capturing every last drop of the melted chocolate.
Draco continued on as if Hermione weren't practically salivating in her seat. "And I also heard you argued back. So I can only assume that you have experience in certain…areas," he trailed off and let his heated gaze wander down her body. Both of them had a healthy flush on their cheeks by the time his eyes returned to hers.
Hermione stammered, "I'm sure I have no idea what you mean." Okay, his foot rubbing lightly against her ankle and calf could definitely not be an accident. She may be inexperienced, but even she could tell that this was on purpose. Shivers shot down her spine. Her skin felt overly sensitive where his foot was grazing hers. She felt like giggling at the pleasant, light, tickling feeling crawling over her skin.
"Oh, but I think you do," Draco set his mug down beside him. "And it makes me curious about something…"
Was it hotter in here? No? Maybe the fire had inexplicably become a hundred degrees warmer in the span of two seconds? Still no? Oh…
"Yes, Malfoy?"
His face was closer than she remembered it being as he asked, "Are you a virgin?
Her heart took off at a thousand miles a second. "DRACO MALFOY!" she shrieked, whacking him upside the head. He laughed out loud, ducking when she made to hit him again.
"Yes, love?" he teased, enjoying it immensely, and Hermione blushed profusely. 'Love' sent little tingles running down her spine.
Hermione sputtered. "You can't just-why would you-you can't…You can't just ask me that!" She glared at the boy, but it didn't have the desired effect. Why would he ask her that? Was he trying to give her a heart attack at the tender age of 17? It was personal information, nothing she would ever sacrifice to anyones ears, let alone his.
"Ah, but I just did," he gently pried her mug from her fingers. It wasn't until then that she noticed that she was at risk of spilling the precious contents.
"Well, I'm not going to answer," she huffed, turning back to the fire and staring at the orange flames licking at the stone. She froze when she felt his warm breath tickling her ear.
"Why, because you are?"
Oh gods, this was not going to end well. "That's none of your concern," she said curtly.
"Maybe we should make it my concern." His voice was like the hot cocoa, rich and velvety.
Still, she stood her ground. "I beg to disagree."
"I can make you beg," the velvety, ethereal quality to his voice had her whole body shuddering, and suddenly it was very hot in the common room. She needed to get out, now. More importantly, she needed to put some distance between her and Draco Malfoy, for the second time that night.
"I have no doubt that you could," What was she saying?! Why did she have to open her stupid mouth?! Oh, humiliation. Draco grinned broadly, and Hermione rushed to continue. "But it won't be necessary. I don't need you're assistance to know the state of my virtue."
"Are you sure? I can check for you." What was this? Flirty Malfoy had her melting into a puddle of goo. Not that she minded, but it definitely couldn't be healthy!
"This conversation is over."
"You're right. Less talking, more-"
"Goodbye!" Hermione launched from her seat. As she made her escape to the stairs, a hand grasped her wrist gently. Her breath caught in her throat as warm fingers wrapped around wrist and slowly slipped lower entangle her own fingers.
Hermione whipped around to face Draco, who was still sitting on the floor, gazing up at her. "Don't leave, I'll stop," he said, the crinkle in the corners of his eyes showing his hidden laughter. Huffing in defeat, Hermione allowed him to pull her back down beside him. This time, though, he pulled her so that there was even less space in between them. Her side was almost completely pressed up against his, and her body felt like it was going to burst into flames as she felt his body heat enveloping her.
She needed to be back in her element. She cleared her throat in what she hoped was a covert manner. "So, this text describes the charm in depth-" Hermione began, but she was cut off by Draco grabbing the book from her hands and throwing it over his shoulder. She whimpered as the binding hit the floor with a crack.
"Don't be a bore, Granger," Malfoy shook his head. "You can do better than that."
Hermione huffed, offended. "I am not boring," she protested, feeling more uneasy as the seconds ticked by.
Draco snorted. "Yes you are."
"No, I am not." Hermione glared firecely.
"Yes you are."
"No I'm-" she stopped when she noticed the small smile of his face. He was teasing her. Suddenly she felt like a fish out of water. Mean, arrogant Malfoy she could deal with. Flirtatious Malfoy? Merlin kill her now.
"And you always have to be right, too," he was chuckling now, and the sound was music to her ears. Gods she was dying.
Still, a girl must defend herself, especially if she's as stubborn as Hermione. "No I don't."
"Yes you do."
"No I don't!" he stared at her meaningfully and Hermione huffed, getting his point. She crossed her arms against her chest, completely unaware that in doing so, Malfoy's eyes had shifted downwards and were now staring at her breasts.
His smirk had her admitting defeat. "Fine, you win," she groaned, and Draco grinned in victory. "This time," she added. The two fell into a comfortable silence, though Hermione had to question how it was comfortable. Nothing with Draco Malfoy and her should be comfortable. It went against nature. But here they were, and her heart was pounding unnaturally fast in her chest because of it.
"Hey, Malfoy," Hermione said suddenly. The blond turned towards her, arching a perfect golden eyebrow. "Technically, it's still Hug a Slytherin Day," she smirked, and before he knew what was happening, her arms were tightly wrapped around his middle.
Draco shuddered in a breath and stiffened when he took in her scent: cinnamon, he noted, and something else entirely Granger. Tentatively, slowly, he raised his arms to wrap around her, pulling her closer to his chest. Her face ended up pressed against his chest, and he could feel her hot breath against his skin through his thin shirt. He sighed, dipping his head to press into her soft hair.
Hug a Slytherin Day never put a time limit on how long the hugs could be. Why question it now? Hermione was perfectly content with her body pressed up against his, the steady beat of his heart lulling her into a state of ease. Never question a good thing.
Hey guys! I have a question: would you like to see other groups as well i.e. Ron's group, or would you rather I stick with just this one? Let me know!
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review!
