Chapter 10
Disclaimer: Not mine and stuff…
This chapter gets a bit physical toward the end and not the kick to the face kind of physical either, so prudes beware…
Oh, and all translations are at the end. You'll see what I mean.
Draco POV
Theo pushed open the huge wooden doors of The Great Hall, revealing hundreds upon hundreds of eating, talking and staring students. I closed my eyes for a moment. I most definitely did not want to do this, but it would look suspicious if I did not show up for breakfast three days in a row. Questions would be asked and to be honest, I wasn't sure that I would not become a hysterical idiot if the right ones were asked.
"You coming, Draco?" Theo stage whispered.
"Of course" I hissed and headed toward my seat, but a tall familiar figure was sitting in my usual space. I leaned against the edge of the table and watched as everyone shifted away from him, looking disgusted because of something he said. They were so enraptured that they didn't even notice Theo and me.
"You better hold your mouth, Urquhart." Davis spat, leaning forward threateningly. "Or I'll have to destroy your face all together"
"Shut up, half-blood. This conversation has nothing to do with the likes of you." Urquhart scowled and focused his attention on Blaise. "As I was saying, that Malfoy half-breed is not fit to lord over us. His death will not only be a blessing to me, but I am certain all of you as well."
"I for one will not betray Malfoy because of your petty jealousy." Daphne whispered heatedly. "Not only is he my superior, but he is my friend as well"
"You admit that a half-breed and blood-traitor is higher than yourself?" Urquhart hissed. "You disgrace you and your family with such traitorous thoughts."
"Enough of this." Blaise said calmly. "Draco is the best at what he does and I am certain that he will take care of us to the best of his ability when our initiation comes. If you have a problem with that, take it up with him yourself."
"You do not unders-" I grabbed Urquhart by the hair and whipped his head back, exposing his neck. His eyes bulged in their sockets when he saw that it was I who dared touch him. He yelped and started to struggle when I scratched my nails across his skin.
"Hold still or I will rip out your throat with my bare hands." I said loud enough that my voice echoed throughout the hall.
The student's heads whipped around to watch what the commotion was about. A few girls screamed when they saw what I was doing, while others watched me fearfully. I laughed when Potter's eyes connected with mine and he glared daggers at me.
"Let him go, Malfoy!"He yelled, pulled out his wand from his robes and pointed it at me.
"Mr. Potter, put that away immediately." McGonagall shouted from across the hall.
"-but, professor!" he started.
"You do not understand how dire the situation is Potter. Now do as I say!" she said harshly, before descending upon me.
"Good morning, professor." I greeted casually, as if I had just passed her in a corridor instead of talking to her over Urquhart's twisted neck.
"And to you, ." she said with a nod. "May I ask what this boy has done to deserve this?"
"Oh, him?" I asked as if I had just noticed him now. "I thought I overheard him trying to recruit my associates to start his own little vampire hunting squad, but I couldn't have heard right, could I?" I asked addressing Urquhart directly.
He shook his head vehemently, too afraid to speak. "It seems I have made a mistake, haven't I Davis?" I asked jovially. I gave her the opportunity to choose if she wanted to have her revenge on Urquhart herself for that nasty little insult he flung her way earlier or if she would allow us both to have it in one go.
"No, you heard correctly. He even threatened us when we refused" she spat. I smiled, delighted that she chose the latter.
"Now, isn't that funny?" I grabbed him around the throat and slammed him down onto the table. He was heavy, but luckily I managed to make the move look effortless. "I could have sworn that you denied it only a second ago."
I heard McGonagall bark an order at someone, but I was having too much fun too care what it was about. I had forgotten how exhilarating it was to have so much power over one person. How one look from me had the power to inspire fear or how just by my body language they could determine how much pain was coming. In a way I had missed it. I dug my nails further into his throat, feeling the skin split beneath the pressure.
"*Avez-vous menti a moi, Urquhart?" I hissed, reverting back to my seldom spoken home language. I knew he understood me, as all pureblood nobility was raised under the same tongue.
He nodded, his eyes half-closed, hands clutching my wrists as he started to suffocate. "Mr. Malfoy, I understand how this indiscretion on Mr. Urquhart's part would undermine your authority as a Master vampire, but I assure you that it if you let him go I will not allow it to happen again." McGonagall said, clearly alarmed.
"No deal." I said, mildly-interested in the light blue color that was spreading across Urquhart's face. I jumped slightly when a pair of delicate hands settled over my own. I glanced away from Urquhart, surprised to see that it was Granger. "Let him breathe, Draco."
Reluctantly I eased my grip, so that he could take in a breath of fresh air, before I cut off the supply again. I wondered for a second if she would entertain my little display of fake vampirism and act along. "How mature" she rolled her eyes. "What did he do?"
"Enough to warrant his death." I said simply.
"You can't kill him Draco. He isn't one of us. There are things that even the Ministry's Equal Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans can't forgive." She was playing along. How interesting. I would not have taken her as one for theatrics.
"I need to set an example for others."
"Then let's compromise, shall we?" she said, eyeing both McGonagall and I. "You will pick the punishment and Professor McGonagall will make sure it doesn't break any laws. That way you get to set an example and the Professor won't have to explain the death of this idiot to his parents."
"Agreed?" she asked, eyebrows raised.
"I accept these terms." McGonagall said, though she didn't look to happy about it.
"Fine." I spat and let go of him. Immediately McGonagall pulled him away from me and ordered everyone to class as she conjured a stretcher and laid him in it.
"I've got to go." Granger said as she made her way toward the door. "-but we are going to talk about this later."
"Yeah, yeah. Get to class already."I rolled my eyes. The table had already cleared and restocked itself when I sat down next to Blaise only a moment later. I scourgified myself before pulling a plate closer.
"What is up with you and Granger?" Blaise asked, taking a bite from his toast as everyone got up and headed for class. He didn't seem the least bit shocked at my behavior.
"Nothing" I said, dribbling some honey over my pancakes, not in a particular hurry to get to class either.
"Please" he rolled his eyes, before taking a sip of pumpkin juice. "Give me a bit more credit than that. I can see the way you have been acting around her lately. Something's going on"
"That is ridiculous" I said and focused on my plate, but suddenly the fresh cream and berry filled pancakes didn't seem as appetizing as before. I sighed and pushed the plate away, fully aware that Blaise was watching me intently.
"I am serious, Draco." he said with just above a whisper. "It's like you two gravitate toward each other and I am not the only one who has noticed."
I pressed my lips together and stared straight ahead, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "What are you trying to say?"
"What I am trying to say is that this thing going on between you and Granger may be dangerous." He said with a sigh. "Not only for you, but for her too"
I just shook my head and gave a fake laugh that hopefully sounded sincere. "There is nothing going on between us. The very thought is ridiculous! She is a mudbl-"I coughed. The word seemed to get stuck in my throat.
"Yeah, I thought as much" he said smirking. "Just be careful. There are those out there who will not be as accepting as your friends are."
As if his fingers had a mind of their own, they wrapped around his own left arm. He was still unbranded, but his time was coming. We both knew it.
"Blaise, if you need someone to talk to-"
He shook his head, jaws clenched, before his usual smirk replaced it all. "I will be fine. I happen to know the guy who is next in line. Kind of pale, looks a bit sickly and into the goth scene right now, but Merlin he can kick arse."
My heart jumped into my throat. To be honest I had forgotten all about my mission in the struggle, but it all came crashing back down on me the second Blaise uttered the words 'next in line'. An over-whelming bout of nausea hit me and I pushed myself to my feet-ignoring Blaise's questioning look- and ran for the place where I knew I would not be interrupted.
*Avez-vouz ment a moi?: Roughly translated means 'are you lying to me?'
Hermione POV
As I made my way to last period Arithmacy class I wondered to myself why Draco had made such a big scene at breakfast. I understood that he was exploiting the Vampire rumors to his advantage, but what I didn't understand is how the professors didn't know about his blatant lies. It must have something to do with some kind of inter-species protection laws that I didn't know that much about yet. I made a note to myself to go to the library when I had the time.
I turned the next corner and flinched when I heard a loud sob. The sound was short and it made every nerve in my body scream out that something was terribly wrong. The rough texture of my wand relaxed me a bit as I wrapped my fingers tightly around it and pulled it from my cloak pocket. My sneakers echoed against the stone floor as I advanced on the big oak door of the rarely entered girl's bathroom from where the sounds where coming from.
I could hear at least two voices coming from behind the door, one soft and murmuring and the other loud and distraught. My fear spiked when another sob echoed and someone yelled something in what sounded like French. It was a man and unless I was mistaken, it sounded like Draco.
I took a deep breath through my nose and let it out through my mouth, then reached out with my left hand, wand raised high in my right. I opened the bathroom door, shoving it against the wall so that I knew somebody wasn't hiding behind it. I meant to run in, wand ablaze, but what I saw stopped me cold.
Draco was sprawled across one of the many sinks that stood at the centre of the room, white school shirt unbuttoned and revealing a lean rippling stomach. His white blond hair hung messily in front of his stormy grey eyes, which were a bit red around the edges and teary. I spared a moment to admire him. Even in this state he was still beautiful.
A semi-transparent girl floated next to him, hand resting on Draco's lower back, whispering things into his ear as if she were a lover or intimate friend. I didn't like her touching him like that. It made me feel a streak of possessiveness that I haven't felt since I was a little girl and someone tried to take away my favorite doll. They both seemed unaware of my presence even though I had made such a loud entrance.
"*Je n'ai pas besoin de votre aide. Evadez-vous de moi!"Draco yelled and pushed himself away from her, a horrible grimace forming on his face.
I couldn't understand a word of what he had said, but it must have been highly offensive, as Myrtle screeched something so high that I couldn't make out a word and flew down one of the closest toilets with a resounding splash. I jumped when Draco let out a roar of pure unadulterated rage and punched the mirror in front of him. Small cracks spread across it and distorted his reflection.
"Draco?-"I whispered, afraid that he might turn all that anger on me if he noticed that I was here and had not announced myself.
Ever so slowly he turned his head, before his eyes locked onto mine, a slight frown on his face. "Granger?-"
All I could do was nod. I seemed to lose the ability to create an intelligent reply when I was confronted with gorgeous half naked men, that spoke seductive languages, but that was only natural wasn't it?
"*Comment avez-vous me trouver?"He whispered and turned to face me.
"I don't understand you" I swallowed thickly and closed the door behind me with a flick of my wand. I didn't know if he was swearing at me or talking about the queen's frilly pink bloomers, but Merlin he sounded down right sexy talking like that. He frowned at me for a moment before the realization dawned on him.
"Oh, sorry" He said, looking a bit sheepish. "I sometimes fall back into my *maison langue when I get…emotional"
"Don't worry about it." I said, trying desperately not to sound like a complete idiot. "I know that most British purebloods still use the French language, even after William the Conqueror tried to preserve the English language. Most see it as snobbish, but I think it is a rather beautiful language and I am actually glad that your parents kept to that particular tradition. Even though I can't really imagine your parents deviating from any traditions. You jump between accents wonderfully though, I almost can't tell-"
"Granger, I get it, you can stop now" Draco said, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
I could feel the blush heating up my face and turned my head away from him so he wouldn't see. It was a rather embarrassing habit of mine to babble or spout out random information when I got uncomfortable. Feeling like a coward, I locked my eyes to his, blush be damned. A rather arrogant smirk spread across his face and instantly sparked my anger.
"What are you smirking at?" I growled.
"I just find you infinitely charming at the moment."
I didn't know what to say to that, as Draco had never complimented me before, so I settled with an "Oh…"
The smirk grew as he leaned back against the sink and started to button up his shirt. My eyes followed his long elegant fingers as they worked, until they stopped just below his collar bone and slowly traced their way back down his stomach, before they disappeared into his pockets. The room suddenly felt hot.
"So-"Draco started, my eyes flicking back to his "What do I owe this little visit?"
"It isn't a visit!" I countered, feeling angry and defensive for some unknown reason.
He raised a brow. "Acting a bit defensive aren't we?"
"Am not!" I hollered, and then cringed at my own immaturity.
"If you are expecting me to answer with an 'am too' you are horribly deluded as to who I am."
"Oh I know precisely who you are!"I hissed angrily. A little voice in the back of my head whispered that I was being childish and unreasonable, but I ignored it. "You're a stuck up, arrogant little rich boy who had his life handed to him on a silver platter."
"What do you know, Granger?" He spat and crossed his arms across his broad chest. "I haven't got time for you and your judgmental attitude, so just do me a favor and sod off."
"I suppose I should be feeling sorry for you, because that's what you want isn't it?" I seethed as I paced up and down before him."Poor, Malfoy. Got a girl knocked up because he couldn't keep his prick in his pants and now he's blubbering on about it"
"Shut up, Granger" He seethed, taking a few aggressive steps toward me.
"Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself, Malfoy. Except for this latest little mistake, your life is a bloody bowl of cherries, so stop being this weak, spineless, mendacious arsehole and grow a pair." I bit out, too angry to be afraid of him.
I took a step forward, glaring up at him. Strong hands circled around my wrists and pulled them up, so that I was pulled flush against Malfoy's masculine body. The smell of spices, cinnamon and something purely Malfoy enveloped me and instead of fighting to get away, I breathed in the smell deeply, feeling a bit giddy and intoxicated.
He tightened his grip on my left wrist painfully and released my right so that he could grab my chin and force me to look up at him. I stopped breathing, when I saw that his lips were hovering just above mine, his breath ghosting across my face in quick little pants. He leaned that painfully beautiful face closer, so that our lips brushed together lightly.
His eyes were narrowed. A dark swirling mass of emotion and none of it seemed friendly. For a moment I thought he was going to hurt me, but the thought was quickly brushed away when his face changed and a look I had only seen on Krum's face before cross his features. My heart jumped into my throat.
He kissed me hard enough to bruise and I immediately retaliated by weaving my fingers through his downy soft hair and pulling him so hard against me that I could feel his teeth against my lip. One of his hands was suddenly in my hair and the other woven tightly around my waist, as if was trying to pull me into him. I shuddered when I felt the hot wetness of his tongue as he tried to force my mouth open.
I bit his lip hard enough to split the skin before I opened my mouth to him, letting him inside me. I could feel the muscles of his mouth, jaw and neck work as he explored me, dominated me. At the last thought, I frowned. I was not one to be dominated and with that I pushed my tongue into his mouth and fought for control.
He moaned into my mouth, the sound echoing throughout me, and tightening things lower in my body. I hooked one of my legs over his hip and pulled him closer, so that I could feel the hard length of him against me. Draco let go of my hair and grabbed my thigh forcing his lower body harder against mine, before gently laying me down on the ground, pinning me underneath him.
He pushed himself up into a half push-up position and bucked against me, causing a delicious friction between my legs.
"Draco…"I hissed and dug my nails into his backside as he lightly bit the skin over my neck, collar bone and slowly working lower. Suddenly his weight was off of me and I blinked in confusion.
I pushed myself up into a sitting position and saw that Draco stood at least five feet away from me, breathing heavily. It was halfway on my lips to ask him why he stopped then, when the rational part of my brain kicked in. Colour rose up in my cheeks. Would I really have let him take me on the dirty bathroom floor?
I quickly got up to my feet and pulled down my grey school skirt that had rolled up around my waist, revealing the deep blue lacy knickers that Katie had bought for me as a prank. To her surprise I had actually liked them.
An uncomfortable silence settled between us.
"Aren't you going to apologise?" I asked, not because I really wanted him to, but because I wanted to break the silence.
"Shit, Granger." Draco said with a laugh and wiped the blood from his lip. "After that display, I'd say we're pretty fucking equal."
"I'm sorry for saying those things earlier" I said suddenly, feeling partly guilty and partly desperate to change the subject. "I didn't mean it. I was just angry and I say things I don't mean when I'm angry"
Draco smiled. Actually smiled. "Don't worry about it"
"You weren't really sad about the Pansy thing, were you?" I asked tentatively.
"No, it wasn't about that"
"Can I ask you why you're so upset then?" I asked and walked over to him. He watched me until I stopped in front of him.
"You must understand, that if I tell you this Granger, your entire perception of me will change-"he said, eyes watching me sharply"-and your reaction will decide what will happen with this…friendship we have"
"Whatever it is, it can't be that bad."
I don't know what I had expected. A secret hatred of himself maybe, or at worst a disfiguring scar or deformity that he had hidden for years, but what he did next shocked me. He pulled back the sleeve of his school shirt, which revealed a wrist sheathe with a wand, pulled it out and muttered a spell. I watched in awe and horror when the familiar snake and skull spread across his wrist.
Authors note:
Whatcha think?
R&R please ((=
Rough Translations:
* Je n'ai pas besoin de votre aide. Evadez-vouz de moi : I don't need your help. Get away from me.
*Comment avez-vous me trouver? : How did you find me?
*Maison langue : home language.