Charming

Chapter Ten – In An Empty Room

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Disclaimer: I think I'm even getting over wishing I did own Harry Potter...

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Eyes wide, Hermione knelt down by Draco's side. Almost at once she realised that he'd been Stupefied, though exactly why was beyond her. Swapping his wand to her left hand, she pulled out her own, pointed it at his chest and muttered, "Enervate."

To her relief the effect was immediate. He stirred and groaned and tried to sit up, rubbing the back of his head where he'd probably hit it when he was attacked. "What... are you doing here?" he asked groggily.

"I could ask you the same," replied Hermione. "I was just walking past when I saw this," – she gave his wand back to him – "lying in the corridor over there." She indicated the doorway with a movement of her head, noting at the same time that the heavy wooden door had in the meantime swung silently shut, apparently of its own volition... odd. She looked back at Draco, taking in his ruffled appearance and deciding she liked it better than the ordinary Malfoy façade. "Somebody Stupefied you," she stated.

"Oh, really?" he cried in mock surprise. "I had no idea."

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Do you remember anything? Do you know who it was?"

"No," he said. "I heard someone shout a spell, and I hit the floor. That's all I know."

"Are... you okay?" she asked tentatively.

There was a moment's silence in which she thought he might be considering the question, but then he stood up and walked away from her as he said, "Why do you care?"

Hermione hesitated. "Because –" Because you're human too, and not half as untouchable as you'd like to think. But she didn't say it, because at that moment Draco reached the door and let out a startled yelp.

Hermione leapt to her feet on reflex and was half way to him when he cried, "Why in the seven hells can't I move? I'm stuck to the spot!"

Frowning, Hermione said, "Maybe whoever Stupefied you also cast a jinx on the doorway – like a Sticking Hex or... ah!" She'd reached Draco's side and suddenly found that she, too, was unable to take another step. "Damn," she swore. "I should have thought of that. Stupid, stupid, stupid."

"Now what?" said the Slytherin angrily.

"Now we figure out a way to get us loose," Hermione said levelly. "Whatever the spell is, it can't be too complex because it's probably been cast by another student, not an experienced witch or wizard – hold on a second..."

She set about casting several spells intended to uncover what type of enchantment was binding them in place, but with little success. Several minutes later, Draco – who would have been impatiently tapping his foot if it weren't glued to the floor – asked, "It's not working, is it?"

Hermione lowered her wand with a sigh. "It looks that way."

Draco lifted his eyes skywards in a gesture of despair, and did a double take before swearing loudly.

"What?" Hermione asked. "What is it?"

"Aside from the fact that I'm stuck in an empty classroom and unable to move? Look at the top of the door."

Hermione looked, and paled. There, at the apex of the door, seeming to be growing through the crack between the door and the doorframe, was a plant, sparkling with magical light. Mistletoe.

"Oh."

"Now what are we supposed to do, huh?" Draco seemed like a caged animal, restless and a bit frantic. "Charms," he cursed under his breath. "I've always hated Charms. Shouldn't be taught in civilised places, good for nothing, always causing trouble..."

"Um," offered Hermione, her heart pounding and brain working overtime as she tried to see a different solution to the only obvious one.

"Don't you um at me, Granger!" he cried, looking panicky.

"What else do you want me to do?" she shot back. "You know perfectly well what the Mistletoe Charm does and you know there's only one way to undo it. Haven't you seen poor Harry having to s—"

Draco's tone went beyond icy and into the realm of bitter arctic winter when he replied, "Oh yes, I'm sure that poor Harry really resents all the love and attention."

"You call it love, he calls it—"

"I don't CARE what he calls it!" screamed Draco. "I don't care about the stupid Savior of All That Is Good and Gryffindor! I don't give a damn about your stupid hero boyfriend! Just get me out of here."

Hermione's anger and frustration drained away upon hearing the pure, desolate desperation in his voice as he finished speaking. She realised that it wasn't just being trapped in a room with one of his ex-enemies that got to him, it wasn't just the fact that he knew he'd have to kiss her to get out – it was mainly the fact that he was sick to the core of constantly being controlled, of being forced to do anything and everything against his will.

She sighed as she understood, and looked up at his face. He looked so worried and fragile, and her heart went out to him.

"Come here then," she said.

He looked at her with wide, panicked eyes. "Are you sure there isn't another way? Are –"

"Honestly, you sound just like—" She stopped herself, knowing that mentioning Harry wouldn't help the situation at all. "You know that if there was another way out I would have found it by now," she amended. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to—"

"Okay, okay," he cut her off, looking away from her awkwardly. There was a pause. "Will... will it be enough to break the spell if... if we –"

"About half a second ought to do it," Hermione said, sparing him the trouble of finishing that sentence.

She watched his Adam's apple bob nervously as he swallowed before turning back to face her. She lifted her chin to look up at him – he really is rather tall, she noted absently, why haven't I noticed that before – his lips parted as he took a deep breath in – why am I focussing on his lips, Draco Malfoy's kind-of-perfect-if-I-can-admit-that-to-myself lips – he appeared to steel himself and leant forward quickly – I've never actually kissed him in my daydreams, I wonder if – ah!

For a fraction of a fleeting second, his lips were pressed against hers, just long enough for her to note that they were much softer and quite a lot nicer than Ron's lips – and then Draco pulled away and they staggered apart, their feet freed from the floor.

They stood there just looking at each other for a few long seconds before Draco turned and reached for the door, slamming into it with his shoulder when it didn't move straight away. Hermione watched as he cussed and tried the handle again and again, struggling to get the door to move.

"Here, let me try," offered Hermione, but when she did, the results were no different.

"Maybe it's stuck?" he said.

Hermione frowned. "The handle turns fine, though... Let's try both of us pushing it at once."

He nodded his assent and they both rammed their shoulders into the door at the same time. Hermione felt it give a little at the same time as there was a clanking noise from the other side of the door – then it slid back into place.

"Again," prompted Draco, but their second attempt met the same result as the first. A little bit of give, clanking, and the door was pushed fully closed again.

"Once more," said Hermione. "I want to see if I can get a look through the crack; maybe there's something on the other side."

Draco grunted as he threw himself at the door for the third time. "Dammit, Granger, that hurt! How many times do you expect me to—"

"It's blocked," Hermione interrupted. "It's got to be a suit of armour, I saw chainmail."

"Great. Just great. So how do we get past it?" the Slytherin whined.

Hermione blew out a breath. "I'm guessing we don't," she said. "According to Hogwarts: A History, all the suits of armour in the castle were enchanted by the original founders. That's some really strong, old magic, and I don't—"

She was cut off by a particularly loud expletive. "Argh! Can anything else go wrong today?" Draco began to pace, but got only a few steps before stopping mid-stride and swearing again. Cussing and muttering, he ran to the opposite side of the room, launching himself over desks and chairs as he went. Hermione was halfway through asking him what on earth he was doing when she realised: there was another set of doors across the classroom.

Which would have been wonderful, if they hadn't also refused to open.

"Have you tried Alohomora?" Hermione asked, and was met with a glare that said For Merlin's sake don't insult my intelligence as clearly as words could. "On three, then," she said, but the force of their combined weight against the door only produced the same effect as earlier – the slightest bit of give and some clanking.

Hermione sank down against the heavy wood of the door. "There must be another suit of armour behind this one," she sighed.

Draco banged his fist on the frame in frustration and added tersely, "That would explain the noise."

There was a moment's silence wherein both the room's occupants digested the fact that the only two exits were somehow blocked – before that silence was broken by a whisper from behind the door.

Immediately Draco tried to whip around, and would have succeeded were it not for the fact that his feet were unable to leave the floor. So instead of turning ninety degrees to face the wood, he overbalanced and fell painfully into Hermione's lap.

"Ow, Draco, what—" she began.

"Can we focus on the important things here?" he fumed. "Like how my feet are stuck to the fucking floor for the second fucking time in five minutes?"

There was a second's pause. They both craned their necks upward, and sure enough...

"Mistletoe." Draco slumped against Hermione's shoulder in defeat, which brought unwelcome thoughts to Hermione's mind of the hours they'd spent cuddled up together in her daydreams.

Fervently hoping she wasn't blushing, she cleared her throat and murmured, "Can you see that window over there?" Draco looked up instantly and she went on in hushed tones, "I think we can safely guess there's someone in the corridor behind us who's orchestrating this. They're trying to keep us here for some reason. The two doors are easily accessible from the main corridor but if whoever it is wants to get to that window to block it off, they're going to have to run around two Transfiguration rooms and up a staircase. Meaning—"

"—that we should be able to get across to the window, climb that desk and get the bloody hell out of here before they stop us," he finished for her. "The only problem being—"

"—that we have to unstick ourselves from the floor first."

"Right."

It was then they realised that they were awkwardly tangled together and uncomfortably close, almost nose-to-nose. Hermione could see every eyelash around Draco's eyes, and he could likely see every freckle on her face. She knew she was blushing now.

"Um—" she said as she broke eye contact. "You—mmph!"

His mouth came crashing down on hers, her eyes were wide with surprise, and nothing mattered because his lips were moving, and she began to kiss him back – and then the charm released its bonds and they toppled backwards onto the floor with an oof. Startled grey eyes met wide brown as they both took a shaky breath in. Then Draco scrambled to his feet and ran for the window.

"Come on!" he called, and she jolted into action.

It was only a matter of seconds later that the desk was scaled, the window broken, and both panting teenagers tumbled to the floor outside. Having picked herself up, Hermione pointed her wand at the hole they'd made and muttered, "Reparo."

The glass fixed, she turned to Draco standing silently by her side. He seemed to be struggling with himself. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again and said, very quietly, "Thank you."

Hermione could only watch as he bolted away. Thank you for what?

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Author's Note: Wow. I am so, so sorry for leaving everyone hanging for this long. I mean it. (At least you got a longer-than-usual chapter this time, right? Heheh. Eheh. :S) The reason for my absence is the fact that I've started university this year, meaning I've been very, very busy. I'm on my mid-year break at the moment, but I have to go back on Monday, so there'll probably be another wait before I can get you the next chapter – and I'm really sorry about that. :/ It can't be helped, I'm afraid; uni takes up basically all of my time.

However, I've promised I'll get this fic finished, and finish it I will. I'm aiming for having it done around the end of this year/the beginning of next, so I'll try to keep to that if I can.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who's stuck with me and with Charming for this long! You guys are awesome, and your feedback is what keeps me writing this. Thank you again and see you next chapter! :)