Pancakes at Dawn

Chapter Ten

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Hermione gasped and allowed her eyes to slowly open when she realized they had safely landed. She looked down at her shaky hand which was still gripped tightly in Draco's and she let out a breath of relief that it was over.

"Hey," she heard from beside her. "Are you alright?"

"Mhm.." she nodded slowly as she tried to control her breathing. She knew Draco had done all the work but that was the first time she had used magic in around three years. It was a shock to the system if she was honest. She let out a slow breath and blinked twice before glancing up at him. "Sorry."

"You have no need to apologize, Hermione." said Draco softly with a gentle squeeze of her hand. "I know how difficult this must be for you but I want to help you get past this."

"Where are we?" she asked, glancing around the alleyway they had landed in.

"We're outside of our potions warehouse in Muggle London." replied Draco as he walked towards one of the large black doors fitted with several big padlocks. With a quick wave of his hands, the locks all sprung open and he pushed the door open slowly. "I thought this would be a good place to practice."

"Is it soundproof?" asked Hermione as he warily stepped inside into the darkness.

"Soundproof, waterproof.. you name it."

"How about fireproof?" Hermione asked timidly and Draco sighed, glancing at the ground.

"Not quite," he told her, slamming the heavy door shut. She could hear clinking outside of the door and she realized it was the locks closing themselves back up once more. "You have nothing to worry about. As long as you relax, you'll be fine."

"I don't feel fine,"

"Hermione," he muttered, taking her face in his hands. "You're going to be fine."

She gulped, feeling her face flush at his closeness. She had to scold herself for thinking of him taking her right there against the wall in the darkness. That wasn't what they were there for after all. After a few seconds, he let her go and gave her a small reassuring smile. Her hands were shaking as he took hers in his and lead her along the pitch black hallways, emerging through a door into a potions lab. There were cauldrons bubbling all around and little glass potion jars lined up. Hermione glanced around, confused when she couldn't see anyone else around. Surely a business such as this had staff?

"Where is everyone?"

"Lunch," Draco responded, glancing down at his watch. "We're got about an hour before the hoards descend back down here."

She didn't move when he motioned to a door on the opposite side of the room.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

Her legs shook as she stood and she slowly shook her head. He let out a small sigh.

"You have to overcome this, Hermione." he told her, holding out his hand. "You're in control, remember? We just need to get rid of those bad thoughts and monsters in your head."

She wandered towards him, once more taking his hand in hers and he lead her through the door and down a set of steps. Hermione took the stairs one at a time, taking a few seconds on each to control her breathing. She knew Draco was right and that she just needed to relax but she was terrified. She was scared of hurting him and of hurting herself. When she finally reached the bottom, he helped her down the last step. The brunette used her other hand to grip on the strap of her bag so that it stayed in place on her shoulder. They continued on down a narrow hallway to a thick black door at the very end. Draco flicked open the lock and stepped inside, pulling out his wand and illuminated the entire room. He slowly manoeuvred her inside of the room and closed the door behind them, all the while stroking her arm gently in an attempt to calm her down. Her eyes flashed around the room. There were no windows and they were quite clearly underground. The walls were thick and metallic looking and the lights flickered slightly above them.

"Okay," said Draco. "It's now or never."

"I don't suppose I can chose never, can I?" she asked with a small smirk and he chuckled, shaking his head.

"Nope."

With a huff, Hermione shrugged the bag of her shoulder and it hit the floor with a thump. Bending down, she unzipped the bag and there on top sat her wand. The piece of wood she had kept hidden away for the best part of three years was now directly in front of her. She hadn't so much as laid eyes on it in years, never mind pick it up. It had stayed hidden away in this old gym back and shoved to the back of her wardrobe. She glanced up at Draco and he nodded his head in encouragement.

"I can't.." she whispered, her eyes not leaving his.

"Yes, you can." he told her firmly. "You're Hermione Granger. You can bloody do anything."

His words rang in her ears and with a gulp, she reached down and picked up the slender piece of wood between her fingers. As she did, she felt her hair stand up on it's own as tiny sparks of electricity shot through her finger tips. Her breathing became deeper and with each breath, the shocks became stronger. She only held the wand between her fingertips but the shocks were making her entire body jump.

"Okay, slowly now." she heard Draco's voice beside her but her eyes never left her wand. She began to rise up from the ground and gathering all of her courage, she closed her hand around the wood. A loud rumble of thunder sounded and Hermione let out a yelp when the wand suddenly shocked her, sparks coming from her fingertips. A bright light surrounded her as a further crash of thunder sounded. She screamed this time, brandishing her wand in front of her. Hermione screwed her eyes shut just as a burst of power shot from the tip of her wand which then fell from the witch's hand. The curse however did not stop. In fact, it was heading straight for Draco.

"Shit!"

Draco managed to duck just in time as the curse shot above his head and hit the wall, leaving a large crack down the middle. He span around to see the damaged wall, satisfied that the walls were not going to crumble around him. He gave a wave of his own wand but this did nothing to patch it up. He cocked his head to the side and tried once more. Nothing. Whatever the curse was, it had got into the wall good. It was going to take some fixing, that was for sure. It was also something that would need to wait.

The blond turned back around to face the woman behind him and he frowned as he watched her slump to the ground, her wand rolled a few feet away from her. He took a few steps closer to hear, listening to her soft sobs.

"Hermione," he spoke softly, not wanting to spook her.

She sniffed and lifted her head to look at him, her cheeks tear-stained.

"Hey, come on," said Draco. "Don't cry."

"I never wanted to hurt anyone." she replied with another sniff, her gaze dropping back to the floor where her wand sat. It was almost like it was taunting her now, laughing at her inability to use it. Laughing at her failure. "I almost hurt you!"

"But you didn't," he pointed out. Hermione let out a huff at that.

"I almost-"

He sunk down to her level and sat beside her on the floor, placing his fingers underneath her chin and lifted her head up so that she was once again looking into his eyes.

"You didn't hit me, Hermione. I'm fast." he said with a smirk as she diverted her eyes to the floor once more. "I was a seeker in school, remember,"

"A pretty shit one." she mumbled and he began to chuckle at that. She glanced up at him and he playfully bopped her on the nose with his finger.

"Meow," Hermione giggled lightly at him and he smiled. "Just because you preferred Saint Potter."

"Harry was a good seeker."

"He still is from what I hear. He plays charity matches sometimes and he always catches the snitch." said Draco, trying to pull her mind elsewhere.

"Really?" asked Hermione, her mind drifting to a memory of a twelve year old Harry flying around on his broom with a huge smile on his face. Draco nodded his head at her question. "I'm surprised you keep track of him."

"I don't." replied Draco. "Like I said, you three were pretty hard to avoid. The Golden Trio were always plastered on the front pages of The Prophet. That didn't change when you left, Hermione."

"I miss him," said Hermione honestly as she swiped a finger under her eye to catch a tear that fell. She sniffed as Draco gave her hand a small squeeze. "Draco, why is this happening to me?"

"I don't know," Draco told her. "But if you'll let me, I'll try my best to find out."

"I don't know if I can try this again." she replied with a startled look on her face. "Look at what happened this time."

"I think you should rest now," said Draco. "I told you I had an idea, Hermione. I'd really like to test it if you'll let me."

Hermione sighed.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Are you ready?"

Hermione blinked and glanced up, spotting Draco above her. They had been sitting on the floor for around forty-five minutes just resting and talking. They had heard people return from their lunch break, milling about in the potions lab above them. That thought made Hermione nervous but Draco assured her she was fine down here with him. He told her that no one would come down here, that the door was locked. With a huff, Hermione grabbed his outstretched hands and he pulled her up from the ground.

"This is only going to work if you relax, Hermione." he told her and she slowly nodded. "I think we should try it without your wand for starters. If this works, then we can work our way back to the wand."

"What exactly is your idea?" she asked him.

"It's a very simple one really," said Draco with a small smirk as he let go of her hands. She allowed her arms to drop to her sides and she stared up at him curiously. "I think you need a distraction. You're thinking too much when it comes to magic."

"I can't help it, " muttered Hermione. "I just panic..."

"I know you do,"

Draco circled her where she stood and came up behind her, his hands resting against her hips as he pulled her flush against his body. A blush crept onto her cheeks at his bold move in what was essentially a public space. She knew no one would come down here but it still made her stomach flip. One hand moved upwards to stroke her arm, producing goosebumps on her skin. She let out a shaky breath and her eyes fluttered closed.

"Keep your eyes open," Draco told her and her eyes snapped back open as she felt his right hand slide under hers to lift it up, her palm flat. "Don't think about it, Hermione. Just do it."

With that, his hand left go of hers and resumed it's place on her hip, his left hand still running up and down her arm. She let out a shiver at his touch and smiled slightly, her hand in the same place with palm facing upwards in front of her. He gently kissed her bare shoulders and she let out a delighted whimper as he slowly trailed his lips up her neck, stopping when he reached her ear.

Hermione began trying to concentrate but she felt like her skin was on fire. His touch was like heaven as she felt his hot breath against her skin. She groaned when he chose that moment to take her earlobe in his teeth and nibble on it. As he did this, his right hand moved from her hip upwards to rest on her stomach underneath her clothes. The brunette slumped against him and her outstretched hand clenched tightly as she tried to bite back a moan when his fingers trailed down towards her pants. Hermione could feel something tickling in her hand but she was too busy to care. His fingers were playing with the button of her jeans and she allowed her eyes to flutter closed once more. She heard Draco let out a throaty chuckle.

"Hermione, you did it."

"What?" she whispered breathlessly, ignoring everything around her.

"Look at your hand."

Opening her eyes, she glanced down at her hand when was still firmly clenched. She could see green strands poking out between her fingers and she cocked her head to the side, allowing her hand to fall open. A flower popped up immediately, not looking crushed or damaged, despite the position it had been in. It was a beautiful yet tiny buttercup with bright yellow petals. She gasped at the sight of it and realized that everything was still in one piece.

"I did it."

She span around in the blond's arms with a huge smile on her face, the flower vanishing from her hand as she did. He was grinning back at her, glad his idea has actually worked. He knew she was still in there and more than capable. She just needed a distraction, something to pull her out of her own head.

"Draco, I did it!" she let out a squeal of joy and pounced on him, her lips attacking his. He gripped her waist and the two of them fell to the floor with a bump, him breaking her fall. Hands roamed as the pair joyfully celebrated, ripping off pieces of clothing as they did, their synchronized moans filling the room.

I know I'm a week late with the update but I'm only just getting over the jetlag from my vacation and I'm back to work full time. See you next week for an ON TIME update! Leave a review and let me know your thoughts.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!