Hermione threw her arms up in defense, trying to wiggle herself free but the grip on her arms only increased and she stared up into the black eyes of Severus Snape.
She gasped loudly.
He stared at her, his expression signalizing her to be quiet. Her lips wouldn't move, even if she would have wanted to say something. Not the slightest sound left her lips, no part of her body seemed to be within her control at this moment. A tiny part in the back of her mind had been hoping though, had been almost convinced, that those hands would belong to Draco. That he was the one saving her.
God, you are so fucking stupid. Get a grip, Hermione!
Snape rushed around the corner and faced Crabbe and Goyle, Hermione pressed her back up against the wall. Her breath came uneven and shallow, too quick for her not to be gasping for air. She felt like she was suffocating, chocking on air that wasn't even inside of her lungs.
"I thought I had sent you to detention, hadn't I?" Snape snarled loudly. Hermione noticed how he kept his voice low, vicious still, but he had his own very peculiar way to penetrate someone's mindframe by the mere tone of his voice that it fascinated her not to hear them crouch to the floor, whimpering in defeat.
Instead they burst into a flood of tergiversations, babbling over each other.
"Enough!" Snape hissed and said something Hermione couldn't quite catch. Suddenly she heard footsteps, apparently they were leaving.
She exhaled noisily, shutting her eyes as she leaned her head against the wall behind her. Her heartbeat slowly calmed down as she figured that she seemed to be out of danger, the worst part was over. For whatever reason, Snape had just spared her from an unpleasant time, so to say at least.
"Follow me," Snape suddenly said and rushed past her.
Her eyes popped up and she stared after him, indecisive what this was about. With her head nodded down she began to follow him, not noticing that her heartbeat had already quickened again.
As they reached his office, he opened the door and walked behind his desk, seating himself on his chair. She watched him with a puzzled expression written over her face. Why did he bring her here? Whatever he wanted to say to her was from such an importance to him that it needed to be done in privacy. That thought didn't exactly make her feel better though.
"Have a seat, Ms Granger," he said, his voice surprisingly gentle.
She felt herself frown but sat down infront of him.
"I am sure that Mr Potter already informed you that he was requested to teach Mr Malfoy how to conjure a Patronus," he began and focused his gaze on her face. She nodded quietly.
"As soon as Professor Dumbledore heard about my proposition," he continued "he made clear that he wasn't fond of my choice. In fact, he needs Potter to fully concentrate on his lessons with our Headmaster. I'm sure you know about those too."
Hermione nodded again, her eyebrows slowly pulling together.
And this would be any of my business because?
"I suggested you would take over Potter's task. Dumbledore agreed, quite happily if I might add." He paused to frown for a second.
"No!" she cringed and sat up straight on her chair.
"No?" Snape repeated and curled his lips to a sly grin. "You don't have the authority to neglect our Headmaster's choice, Ms Granger," he explained.
Hermione opened her mouth to say something but she knew immediately that he was right.
"I'd like you to start this evening, I will inform Mr Malfoy right away. You can go to your first class now, you are dismissed."
She was unable to move, her body frozen. Not only was she forced to play Malfoy's tutor now, but had also received sudden help from Snape. Clearing her throat she brought her concern forward. "Professor?" she asked.
"The bell rang already, you'd do better to hurry Ms Granger," he snarled.
She didn't move an inch. "Why'd you help me, Professor?"
His eyes pierced into hers, the force of his stare made her feel slightly uncomfortable and of unease. She shifted around in her chair. "I can only recall reminding Mr Goyle and Mr Crabbe to head to their detention," he explained.
A deep frown creaped over her face but she kept her mouth shut and rose to her feet with a mumbled "Thank you, Professor."
As she walked out of the office she was sure that she could see out of the corner of her eye that a soft smile appeared on Snape's face.
Everyone around her was rushing through the corridors on their way to their first class but Hermione couldn't even tell where or what her first class was. There was the familiar, businesslike touch to the atmosphere around her but it didn't lure her in. She was suddenly reminded of Ron's expression inside of the Great Hall. Hermione stared at the floor as she was walking and tried to remember what exactly he had been saying before...everyone seemed to believe that she had spent the night with Malfoy, which in fact was true. He had been staying with her but she knew as much as anyone else should know too, that they didn't get close to each other. She grimaced. She couldn't even imagine them having a normal conversation without bickering, they were too different to even be able to agree on a topic they were both fond of. So anyone who wasn't out of their god damn mind had to see that the rumors were nothing more than that; just rumors.
But why couldn't she stop thinking about them? Why did it bother her so much? During the Triwizard Tournament, she had been literally bombarded with rumors about her relationship to Viktor Krum, with the help of Rita Skeeter's ignorant articles to be exact. She hadn't even cared when she had received all the hate mail for supposedly dating Harry but this tiny little rumor about having slept with Malfoy made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
"Hermione!" Someone shouted behind her, interrupting her disturbing conjectures.
She whipped around and saw Malfoy hurrying to catch up with her. She groaned.
Draco stopped infront of her, a cheerful smile on his lips. "Hi," he whispered. Hermione couldn't remember when she had ever seen him smile like this before. Other than that one day back in their third year where he had been so enthusiastic about Buckbeak being sentenced to death, of course. She scowled immediately at that memory.
Hermione turned around and continued walking. "I am late to class, Snape distracted me," she explained without looking at him. She heard his footsteps following her though.
He grabbed her wrist and turned her around again, yanking her body against his. She looked up into his eyes, his face outraged. "What's the matter, Draco?" she asked, truely concerned to see him like that.
"What did he want from you?" His voice sounded panicky.
"I think you will find out soon enough," she muttered and tried to pull herself free but his grip was too tight, he pulled her even closer instead. His jaw clenched and his eyes looked for hers. She could see every little detail of his skin now, realizing that there was a tiny scar just below his left eyebrow, clearly not coming from his fight with Ron. It was older, possibly from a Quidditch match or a downfall even? She parted her lips already to ask him where he got it from but he cut her off.
"What did he want from you?" he insisted, his tone turning icy.
She sighed out. "Instead of Harry I am now supposed to teach you how to conjure a Patronus," she said, avoiding the force of his eyes.
Why would no one step between them?
'They must be thinking the newlyweds are having their first fight,' she thought bitterly, unaware of the fact that there was no one but them in the corridor.
"And?"
He knew about the rumors already! She should have figured that much before.
"Nothing," she lied and stared down at their feet, waggling her toes awkwardly inside of her shoes. She wasn't sure why she wasn't telling him that Crabbe and Goyle were out to start something, possibly even torture her as far as her imagination went, but if by any chance Draco didn't know about the rumors yet she didn't want to add another aggravating factor to his mood. She didn't want to make it worse.
Now it was his turn to sigh. All of a sudden his finger was underneath her chin and he pulled her face up, forcing her to look at him. His eyes were glowing - his pale face darkened with honest concern. "What's the matter with you, Granger?" Hermione noticed how he called her by her last name again.
"You are hiding something," Draco said, making no move to pull away. His face was just inches away from hers now.
"I have to -"
"Hey Granger! How did your encounter with Crabbe and Goyle go?" someone yelled, laughing.
Both Hermione and Draco jumped, drifting apart immediately. They turned around but found the corridor empty. Whoever that had been, he was long gone already.
Draco slowly turned back at her, his eyes tightening. He gritted his teeth together. "What kind of meeting?"
"Nothing," she said and began to walk away again. He stopped her immediately and grabbed her hands. "Stop that now."
"Stop what?" Hermione challenged, suddenly glaring up at him.
Could you just stop touching me?
"Stop trying to run away from me," he said, much to her surprise. "Has something happened? What did they want from you, Hermione?"
There he went, approaching her by her first name again. He seemed to be more indecisive than any woman Hermione knew.
"Teach me some respect," she finally broke the silence, her voice unnaturally quiet.
His grip on her tightened, drawing her closer if that was even possible. Their bodies were barely touching but she could feel the strong hammering of his heartbeat. "Teaching you some respect for what?" he growled.
Her cheeks blushed a dark crimson color and she fixed her gaze on a spot of his shirt as she spoke. "For being your mistress."
Draco let go of her so sudden it startled her, as if her touch had stinged his skin. He took a few wary steps back, reconciling her words inside of his mind. "M-my mistress?" he stuttered.
Hermione watched him shake his head slowly, his face turning from bewildered to something she couldn't quite entitle. Was he really worried?
Within a blink of her eyes he was right infront of her again, his hands suddenly holding her face.
What's going on here?
"Are you alright?" he whispered gently, his eyes scanning her face.
"Mhm," Hermione mumbled almost incoherently.
"You are not." He corrected, trying to hold her gaze as she looked away again.
She took a deep breath to steady herself and shifted backward so that she wasn't that close to him anymore. As the constriction began to fade, she felt something else.
It took Hermione a minute to recognize why she was staring down again, her blush returning - why her stomach felt uneasy, why there was too much moisture in her eyes, why she suddenly wanted to run away from here.
Anxiety washed through her, strong and instinctive.
She knew it was irrational, Crabbe and Goyle weren't much of a threat to her if she had her wand, but the feeling still seemed to grow more intense with each moment that passed. She was unable to shake it off.
Draco sighed again. His hand moved under her chin and he pulled her face up until she had to look at him again.
"I'm here." He murmured silently.
Hermione didn't answer. Instead she clenched her fists and felt the smooth cobbles of her knuckles brush some warm part of his body but she didn't allow herself to look and see where. He was standing so close to her now, she could taste the tang of his breath as it spread through the air and for one awful yet rapture inspiring moment, she considered to throw her arms around him, to bury her face in his chest. She found herself not able to stop thinking about it, she wanted to share her thoughts with him, the thoughts she was now drowning herself in, the need and longing dissipated by her firm imagination.
He scrutinized her face for a long moment while she tried unsuccessfully to twist away from his gaze. This wasn't the right moment to be vulnerable, not the right environment and certainly not the right person to be vulnerable infront of. His brow furrowed and his expression became thoughful.
"Let's go."
"What?" She almost choked on her tongue, his words took her by surprise completely.
"Let's go," he repeated urgently.
"Where are we going?" Hermione whispered, her voice full of doubt.
His response was bleak. He seemed to be having a hard time keeping a straight face. "Away?"
Hermione shook her head, grimacing. "We have classes now, Draco. We can't just - "
"This is far more important." He interrupted, suddenly almost pleading. His long light eyebrows slanted up in the middle and pulled together, his mouth turning into a thin line. "Please," he whispered and held his hand out for her.
She folded her arms across her chest. "I can't -"
His eyes narrowed and he groaned. "Yes, you can." He reached out and grabbed her hand, his movements full of determination.
Hermione didn't protest as he dragged her down the corridor.
Ehhh, not so content with the way this chapter turned out but I just had to get it off my mind, I hope you still enjoy it (:
