Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to leave a review, it's always great to hear how people are experiencing the story!
It's definitely been fun building out more interactions between our favorite couple - I have decided to leave the rating at a T for now but will let everyone know if and when I decide to change that.
Enjoy :)
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Hermione clapped her hands together quickly, the sound muffled by her thick wool gloves. Neville had convinced her that it was part of the experience to refrain from using any warming charms, insisting that part of the fun of watching a Swimming match was freezing your butt off while doing so. Unfortunately, when she had agreed to his "rules" Hermione hadn't realized just how literal he was being. Apparently, the sport had originated a hundred years ago in the northern Norwegian islands and was supposed to be played in a cold environment. At least that's what she thought Neville was saying, but it was hard to hear him over the chattering of her teeth.
Despite the freezing temperature and blustery wind, Hermione was surprisingly excited. Swim meets were traditionally held on Thursday afternoons after class, and while normally she would have been holed up in the library she had decided to come watch Slytherin face off against Ravenclaw.
Luna had invited her to accompany she and Neville and as an added bonus she had decided to join the spunky 6th year in her support of the Eagles. She wasn't normally one to go all out for sporting events, even in her days of cheering on Ron and Harry in Quidditch, but she got a distinct thrill from watching as Luna converted her curls into a sleek French braid, woven through with blue and bronze ribbons. To add even more school spirit, she was wearing blue tights under her brown calf-length boots, rich chestnut skirt and simple blue jacket that she had charmed from its original cream color. Topping off the ensemble was a shimmery bronze eye shadow. The polished and spirited look was definitely out of character for her, but it felt freeing to step outside her usual persona.
She had noticed a few students giving her shifty looks when she arrived, but for the most part the mixed crowd was doing a good job of ignoring the brunette witch. She had caught sight of Harry, Ron and Ginny earlier, the latter of whom gave her an oddly pensive look. Hermione briefly wondered whether Harry had shared with his girlfriend any of their conversation from a few days ago.
It was painful, but after several hours of tears and self-pity Hermione realized that the confrontation had actually been a blessing. In so many ways she had been emotionally holding herself back since the end of the summer, stuck up on the disintegration of her friendships and the comfort surrounding the idea of her normal life. For months she thought that if she could just have a few minutes to explain herself everything would be okay again and they could go back to how things were (minus the cheating bastard). It was freeing to finally realize that, for once, this wasn't her problem to fix. She could mourn the loss of her friends, but she couldn't bring them back. It was up to them to make amends.
It felt like a great, invisible weight had been lifted.
Though, with this emotional clarity came another wave of anger. She had been too upset at the time to really respond to Harry's words. It was one thing to suggest that she see a mental healer (little did he know she had consulted with one extensively over the summer, just not for any reason he suspected). Yes, it was a bit condescending to recommend therapy to her without having actually spoken to her for 10 weeks, but it was even more infuriating that he had criticized her friendship with Draco and Blaise.
She wished she had had a clear enough head to defend herself and the two Slytherins in the heat of the moment, though it was a small consolation thinking of all the possible comebacks she might have thrown at him while she ran around the lake the next morning. She resolved to stop giving other people power over her by worrying about what they might think of her decisions. With that, she also resolved to stop second-guessing herself.
Hermione hadn't found a good opportunity in the past three weeks to try another sketch of Draco. The memory of their first and only attempt hung heavily between them, and sometimes in the evening she would catch him staring at her while they did their homework. It seemed they had both tacitly agreed not to mention anything of the drawings to Blaise, or really to acknowledge them at all. Hermione often found herself replaying the scene in her head, recalling the way his slender fingers had grasped at the expensive material of the tie, teasing against his firm chest. She imagined what could have happened if he hadn't been frozen in time. Maybe he would slowly tug it off and then undo the buttons on his shirt one at a time...
She gulped, glad that the biting air provided an excuse for her rosy cheeks.
Her little crush on her roommate hadn't exactly dissipated as she figured it would. When she had returned to their common room on Sunday after her spat with Harry, he was in his room listening softly to music with his door open. Though he would have adamantly denied it, she had smiled knowing that in his own way he was allowing her the option between needing space or wanting to vent.
As part of her new outlook on life, she had made the bold decision not to waste energy over-analyzing his every glance or every word. They were both adults (practically), they had both just been through a war, and they had both endured significant changes in their personal lives—granted, his were more subtle than hers. She figured she should just take a deep breath and allow herself to enjoy the spark he had unexpectedly brought to her life. Speaking of...
"Look, the teams are coming out!" Luna was bouncing lightly next to her, letting out a cheer with the other Ravenclaw fans.
She hadn't seen where they appeared from, but suddenly the two platforms at either side of the "field" were crowded with bodies. The identical wooden structures were small, only abou meters, and appeared to be magically suspended a foot above the churning water.
Unlike the training suit she had seen Draco in all those weeks back, each member of the seven person teams was decked out in a full black body suit going from their ankles up to their necks and wrists. Hermione still thought it looked unbearably cold.
"Neville," she turned to the boy next to her, "how do they keep from freezing in the water? It can't be any warmer than 6 degrees Celsius out there, not to mention the wind!"
"The sport is a huge mix between spell work and athleticism," he explained eagerly. "They all have a special type of warming charm cast over their bodies, it's probably not like being in the bath but they're definitely not at risk of hypothermia."
The student announcer began an enthusiastic pre-game spiel, commenting on each team's past performance and speculating on the new strategies that each captain might be attempting the first game out this year. Hermione was half-listening to Luna's comments on the Ravenclaw team, nodding as she pointed out each of the players, but her attention had focused in on the Slytherin captain.
Draco was kneeling down on the platform facing his team, presumably running through last minute instructions for the pending match. His blonde hair was slicked back from his face from the water and she had a brief flashback to his signature hairstyle from years past. She took a moment to appreciate how handsome he looked in the suit, the shimmery green serpent standing out like a beacon on his broad chest. Secretly, she wished he would stand up again and give her a better view. Unfortunately, as she turned her head back to re-focus on her friends it was clear that Luna had noticed the direction of her gaze.
"The suits are very flattering, don't you think?" Luna asked casually, offering her a knowing smile.
"N-no, well, I suppose for some body types. No way you'll ever squeeze me into one," she gave a nervous chuckle. Hoping to distract the observant blonde, she hurried on to include Neville in their conversation.
"I was just wondering, why don't they wear caps over their heads?"
"Caps?" Neville asked, confused. "Why would they want to wear a hat in the water?"
"No, like a tight glove-thing covering their hair. For Muggles, the professional swimmers always wear them."
"Why would they do that?" Neville seemed bemused but curious. Hermione just shrugged, she had never been a fan of water and had never bothered to learn much about swimming.
This prompted a detailed run-through of the suits each player was wearing, including the special insert along a single arm where players kept their wands. Apparently, it was a common strategy to have three players hang back and focus on casting the referee-approved spells while the other four executed a swimming "attack" to try and reach the other team's flag.
Hermione again returned her focus to Draco, wondering which role he would be taking in the upcoming match. It looked like the game would be starting any minute now. The announcer was going through each player's name to the cheers of the crowd, along with a healthy dose of heckling from the opposing side. She could see Blaise in the stands across from her cheering for the Slytherin team and quickly raised her arm to give him a small wave.
As he went to wave back she could tell the exact moment when he caught sight of her outfit, causing him to not-so-subtly burst out laughing. Hermione couldn't help but grin widely in return. She knew they were both thinking about how annoyed Draco would be if he could see her blatant support for the opposing team, which only made her grin wider. She hadn't told him she was planning to come and figured he'd be too busy concentrating on the match to bother searching the stands, especially on the Ravenclaw side. Of course, she hadn't counted on Blaise giving her away.
Standing at attention with his team, she watched as his eyes caught on his friend's laughter, then slowly pivoted around to focus on the object of his amusement. Her breath caught slightly when his steely grey eyes focused in on her, watching as they narrowed to a scowl once he had fully taken in her appearance. She simply smirked back at him, laughing as his scowl deepened before he finally rolled his eyes and focused back on the team across from him. She felt a little thrill knowing she had been caught out and settled down in excitement when the shrill whistle signaled the start of the first round.
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An hour and a half later and Hermione could barely feel her hands as she stiffly attempted to clap at the end of the match. It had been a close game, but in the end Slytherin had taken two of the three rounds and came away with the first win of the season. Watching the strange mix of magic and sheer physical exertion had been fun and she suspected she'd be attending other games throughout the year.
As she picked her way delicately out of the stands between her two friends she caught sight of Blaise waiting for her at the base of the floating walkway leading back to shore. Giving Neville and Luna a wave goodbye with a promise to catch up tomorrow, she made her way over to join him. He smiled as she approached, giving a low whistle and catching her hand to spin her in a clumsy circle.
"Love the outfit, Princess. I'm surprised there's not a matching pair of horns and tail."
Her laughter came out in a light cloud of condensation, loving his reference to her devious behavior. She was grateful when he wrapped a friendly arm around her and began walking away from the cold chill coming off the water.
Assuming he was leading her back to the great hall to grab some dinner, she was confused when instead he turned away from the castle to curve further around the lake.
"Where are we going?" she asked, thinking longingly of the careens of hot tea she knew were being set out at this very moment.
He didn't answer her but with every step she could see they were approaching a set of small buildings behind the stands, her eyes widening with the implications.
"Good game, Greengrass! You really creamed them with that tidal wave," Blaise called out to the group of figures emerging from the closer of the two buildings.
Hermione tried to dig her feet in and make a mad dash back to the castle, but Blaise just chuckled and held on tighter. Seeing the telltale blonde hair of the seventh person appear she attempted to school her features. Nothing terrifying about being surrounded by Slytherins while dressed up like a Ravenclaw fangirl. Nothing terrifying at all.
Seeing the two newcomers, Draco easily made his way over to the pair and Hermione barely registered it when Blaise moved away from beside her to join the celebrating team. She took a few involuntary steps back, nervously reaching a hand up to fiddle with the end of her braid while simultaneously smoothing out her skirt. Draco stopped a foot away, looking handsome in his causal jeans and grey hoody. The combination of his clean smell and the heat radiating off his body was almost enough for Hermione to forget herself and lean in to curl up against his chest. Almost.
Reaching out his arms he grasped both of her shoulders with restrained force, allowing his eyes to scan her and taking in everything from the blue tights to the bronze eye shadow. He let out an exaggerated groan before dropping his arms and roughly running his hand through his hair. By the time his eyes met hers, his lips were quirked in an exaggerated grimace.
"Having fun?" he drawled, voice dripping in exasperation.
"Very much," she retorted, refusing to be intimidated even as she had to crane her head to meet his much taller gaze. She hadn't worn the outfit just to piss him off, but she had to admit it was an added bonus. Involuntarily, she shivered as a big gust of wind barreled along the edge of the lake.
Draco frowned a bit as he took in her shaking form.
"You're freezing," he admonished, grabbing up her closest hand and pressing it between his own. She must have forgotten her gloves back in the stands.
"Well, Neville said being cold was part of the experience," she shrugged, not bothering to pull her hand away. "Something about tradition."
"Longbottom," he muttered, turning and dragging her back towards where Blaise and a few of the other players were still hanging around, now joined by a few other Slytherins from the stands.
"You guys go on ahead, we'll be there in a minute," he called over to the group, and though Hermione was nervous it didn't seem like anyone was paying much attention to the new addition in their midst.
She allowed herself to be dragged over to the bag he had apparently dropped before approaching her, watching as he released her hand and began rifling through it.
"Umm, good game, by the way," she murmured, uncertain what she should say or what he was doing. "You swam well." She wasn't sure what the proper terms were, but it was too cold to think up anything more eloquent to compliment him on.
"Thanks," he smiled sincerely, standing back up with a green jacket in hand.
Before she even had the chance to protest he had managed to wrap it tightly around her. It clearly belonged to him as it was branded with the Slytherin crest and colors, and fell all the way to her mid-thigh. Hermione slowly felt herself defrosting from the effects of the built-in warming charm while he helped to roll back the sleeves to allow her hands to poke out.
"Thanks, Draco." It felt very intimate to be wearing his clothing, even if it was just a jacket, and a faint blush stole across her cheeks. Her eyes widened as he stepped closer in to her, leaving just half a foot of space between their bodies.
"What are you—" she began, stopping when she felt the tip of his wand touch against the back of her head. "Hey!"
With a smirk firmly in place, he slowly drug his wand down the back of her neck, between her shoulder blades and across the swell of her rear to finally come to a halt against the back of her thigh, right below the start of her skirt. It was so blatantly sensual, she couldn't help but gape at him, too stunned to move.
Of course, some of the tingling was definitely magical and she wasn't surprised when she looked down to see that her tights were now green. No doubt the ribbons in her hair had received similar treatment.
"Come on Granger, we're late."
Without a second glance he picked up his bag and began strolling back towards the castle, leaving her no choice but to follow him.
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Not much was said between the pair as Hermione nervously kept pace with him back to the castle. They weren't headed to the dungeons, to her relief, but nor were they heading to the Great Hall for dinner, making her wistful once again for a warm beverage. Instead, they continued heading up until it became clear that he was leading her to the Astronomy Tower.
"What's going on here?" she asked suspiciously, placing her hands on her hips and adopting her best Head Girl look.
"Settle down, it's just a post-game celebration. Nothing against the rules."
She didn't trust him in the least on that one, raising a single eye brow to convey her skepticism. He just grinned in response.
A group of Slytherins were gathered on one of the larger observational platforms with a buffet of food and drink spread out before them. Hermione saw Blaise, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, and Daphne Greengrass from her year. There were also a few younger students that she recognized from the swim team, including Astoria Greengrass whom Blaise had complimented earlier.
Despite attending the same school for seven years, Hermione had never actually hung out with any of the group before (aside from Blaise) and she couldn't decide if it would be more awkward to make a quick escape or take the few steps forward to join them. As though sensing her discomfort, Blaise stepped in.
"Come join us, Princess," he patted the spot next to him on the ground and held up what looked like a skewer of steak and vegetables.
She shuffled over and sat down, tucking her legs to the side as gracefully as she could manage.
"We used your trick of asking the house elves for a special order," he continued, indicating the elaborate spread. "Help yourself."
She watched as Draco situated himself between Theo and a sixth year who's name she couldn't recall, immediately grabbing a butterbeer and downing half the bottle. She could see that Pansy and Daphne were looking at her in curiosity, but Astoria seemed to be downright glaring. She decided to grab some food, if only to give her hands something to do. She was suddenly grateful for Draco's earlier color-reassignment maneuver.
It was clear that the group was used to hanging out and she listened as the conversation flowed from the recent Swimming match, to the latest Weird Sisters' song, to the mysteriously disappearing drapes in the Slytherin common room. At one point, Pansy had even struck up a conversation with her on the Transfiguration essay due next week, and Hermione was surprised to find herself having such a normal conversation with the girl.
It didn't take long to make it through the food, and before she knew it they had pulled out a bottle of Firewhiskey and Dragon Barrel Brandy to pass around. She might have indulged occasionally with Draco and Blaise, but she knew the younger students at least were under-age. Biting her lip to keep from making a scene, she decided to occupy herself by transfiguring her own glass into a large lantern and filling it with blue-bell flames for warmth.
"Neat trick," Pansy commented, raising a brow in admiration.
"Ahhhhhhh, that's amazing," moaned Theo holding his hands up to the flame. "Can you do one more?" Hermione smiled and accepted the glass Draco offered her, secretly pleased to be impressing a group of purebloods with her magic.
"Well, we didn't come up here to look at the stars," began a sixth year, Derrick if she wasn't mistaken. "Who's up for a round of Battalia?"
"I'll play," offered Daphne. "But no way will I be on your team again, not after last time."
"Let's do a few practice battles to warm up," suggested Pansy, standing and moving over to the edge of the balcony.
Hermione wasn't familiar with 'Battalia' and watched in fascination as a burst of yellow shot out of Pansy's wand, twisting in mid-air to form something that looked like a cross between a thestral and a unicorn. Derrick quickly joined her, and soon a blue hawk-like creature had joined the yellow one and they began to fight silently, but in earnest.
A hand at her lower back startled her and she gasped before realizing that Draco had moved up behind her while she was distracted.
"How are they doing that?" she asked quietly, twisting her head over her shoulder to make sure he could hear her.
"It's a very basic, modified version of a personal protection spell, sort of like a patronus. Everyone's' creature takes a slightly different form, and you can control their energy through the connection with your wand. A lot of pureblood families play this game," he shrugged, seeming strangely self-conscious.
Gazing back at the night sky now lit up with dog-sized creatures, she had to admit it was a flashy piece of spell-work.
"Would you like me to show you," he murmured, leaning closer against her back to whisper in her ear. She nodded eagerly, fumbling to reach her wand under the green jacket that she still wore.
He guided her smoothly to the edge of the balcony and positioned her directly in front of him so that they had some space from the rest of the group. It made her nervous to have him standing so close to her, and when he wrapped his arm around her body to lay it against hers she jerked slightly in his grasp.
"What are you doing?" she squeaked, quickly glancing around to see if anyone was watching them.
"Relax," he chuckled. "Don't you trust me?"
Not in this moment, no she thought to herself sarcastically, letting out a small "Hummph" and straightening her shoulders in an attempt to concentrate on the task before her instead of the firm muscles she could feel behind her.
Wrapping his hand around her wrist, he guided her through the proper wand movement and incantation, explaining that concentrating on different types of energy would bring out different types of creatures.
Her first attempt, though successful, was clearly not as impressive or energetic as the other creatures currently doing battle. It was purple and kind of cat-like, and though she sent it encouraging energy through the connection in her wand all it really did was walk around and paw at the air.
She frowned and pulled her arm out of Draco's grasp. "I think you're distracting me," she complained, breaking the connection and watching the creature fade away. As she raised her wand to try again, she felt him shift behind her and was shocked when he moved her braid to the side and gently grazed his lips up her neck to the shell of her ear.
"Come on Granger, a Gryffindor wouldn't let a little distraction get in their way."
OH MY GOD! She thought, eyes wide and heart pounding. Is he really doing this? Here? Part of her wanted to run while the other part wanted nothing more than to lean back and give him better access. Unfortunately, Astoria chose that moment to interrupt.
"Draco, come be on my team." Her voice was controlled and even and Hermione had no idea whether she had caught them doing—doing what? What was it exactly that they had been doing?
Casually pulling away from her he went to stand with the others, laughing at something Astoria said that Hermione couldn't hear from her spot frozen against the balcony. She felt warm all over but when she moved to take her borrowed jacket off a wave of dizziness gripped her. She reached out to the railing to steady herself, knuckles turning white under the exertion.
When the moment passed she straightened up and slipped unnoticed behind the others, making her way quietly towards the stairs. Curfew was still 30 minutes away but after that confusing display and her sudden dizziness it felt like the right time to make her exit.
While she wanted nothing more than to replay over and over again the moment when Draco's lips had skimmed her neck, her lightheadedness was mounting with every step she took and it became increasing difficult to even walk in a straight line.
"Are you alright, dear?" a portrait asked in concern as she stumbled against the wall.
She had made it to the fourth floor but was still a number of hallways from the Head dorm when her knees gave out beneath her. She caught herself in a crouched position against the floor, feeling the shock from the impact traveling up her arms and legs. Her palms were sweaty where they touched the cool stone and she could feel the blood rushing in her ears.
She tried weakly to call out for help, but before she could utter a sound a wave of nausea gripped her and forced her to clench her jaw shut.
Without another conscious thought she collapsed completely, her body curled in the fetal position against the wall.
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