Summons

Hermione felt instantly aroused when Draco shoved her against the wall of the corridor outside of the DADA classroom. She knew she shouldn't feel that way. The whole purpose of this was for her to be scared and disgusted, but ever since the night they'd shared in the Room of Requirement on Valentine's Day almost two weeks ago, she could only think about his hands on her, making her body shake and shudder. It was most distracting.

They had yet to have a repeat performance, but every day, he'd try a little harder to make her uncomfortable in front of their peers in the name of 'staking his claim' to her. He was being more aggressive in his pursuit, and while her outward appearance showed fear and annoyance, her eyes were telling a different story.

"I think you are liking this, Granger," Draco sneered as he trapped her between his strong arms. Harry and Ron hadn't made it out of the classroom yet, but a small crowd of Gryffindors and Slytherins were gaping at the scene in front of them.

"In my nightmares, Malfoy," Hermione spat, trying to push him off of her. "What the hell is your problem anyway?"

"Nothing," Draco drawled, running his fingers up and down her left side as he held her against the wall with one had on her shoulder. "Just admiring one of God's mistakes."

Hermione's eyes blazed at that as she struggled against him. "Get off me, you ferret! What makes you think you can just put your hands on people?" she snapped.

"Oh, I don't know," Draco replied, his voice bored and haughty at the same time. "Perhaps the fact that, with the flick of my wand, I could own you," he said, his eyes boring holes into her.

"Oi! Malfoy, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Ron yelled from the doorway of the class. He pulled the blonde off of Hermione with a little more force than strictly necessary considering he knew what Draco was really doing.

"What's it to you, Weasel?" Draco asked, brushing off his robes as if he didn't want to catch 'germs' from Ron. "Afraid your girlfriend might like the touch of a real man?" His eyebrow cocked in question. He knew, even if Hermione ignored it, that Ron wanted her, and he couldn't help but feel more superior to the git for having Hermione's affections. Draco knew for a fact which man Hermione wanted to touch her. The thought made his cock stir. He turned his attention back to the matter at hand. The whole DADA class was now gathered around, watching the scene unfold.

"I'm gonna kill him," Ron screeched, but Harry pulled him back.

"No," Harry said. "You'll only get yourself in trouble. He's not worth it." Harry pulled Hermione close to him and out of Draco's reach before turning back to the blonde boy. "Stay away from Hermione, or I'll make sure you are never able to touch a woman again," Harry warned, glaring at Draco.

"Like I'm afraid of you, Potter," Draco spat, but he quickly turned back to his cronies and sauntered away. He turned back to Hermione one last time throwing her a wink. "I'll see you later, Mudblood."

Hermione growled in frustration before stomping off in the other direction, a pissed off Ron, and amused Harry following behind.

"That...was...so...hot," Hermione gasped between heated kisses that night in the Room of Requirement.

Draco chuckled against her lips. "Who would have thought Hermione Granger would be so kinky?" he asked, pulled her face back to look at her.

Hermione blushed under his scrutiny. "Is that bad?" She asked.

Draco laughed harder. "Bad? Definitely not," he assured her. "Actually, seeing you get turned on is a turn on for me."

"Is that why you..." Hermione said, unable to finish her sentence.

"It's called an orgasm, Hermione. It's not a bad word," Draco said with a laugh.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Fine. Is that why you wanted to give me an orgasm? Because it turned you on?" She was honestly curious. Guys never talked about sex in front of her, so she knew very little about what they liked, didn't like, or how they behaved in bed. Her time with Viktor Krum had been clumsy and innocent, while her brief relationship with a Muggle boy when she was fifteen had not been much steamier. She'd never felt desire like she did with Draco. What the girls in the dorm described was nothing like what she felt.

Draco pulled back settling her in his lap before looking into her eyes again. "Partly."

"And the other part?" Hermione asked. Her voice was filled with curiosity. He smiled at her need to understand everything.

"I wanted you to feel what it was like to give over control to your urges," Draco said simply.

"Can I ask you something without you getting mad?" Hermione asked, her eyes still filled with curiosity.

"I'm not going to get mad at you for asking a question," Draco assured her.

"How many women have you...I mean..." Hermione found it hard to finish her question. She knew Draco was no virgin. Part of her didn't want to know how many girls he'd made come like he had her, but a bigger part of her just had to know.

Draco shifted uncomfortably but never took his eyes off hers. "Are you sure you want to know?" When Hermione nodded he sighed. "Twenty-two," Draco admitted, finally pulling his eyes away from Hermione. He heard her breath catch, but she didn't move out of his lap, so he took that as a good thing.

"Twenty-two..." she breathed, trying to wrap her mind around the number. It was big. Huge, to her. She'd just had her first orgasm and the man who'd given it to her was on his Twenty-third woman...at least. He was only sixteen.

"Hermione..." he started, tightening his grip on her and forcing her to look him in the eyes again, "they didn't mean anything."

"That doesn't really help," Hermione said harshly.

Draco sighed. "I know." He tried to find a way to make her understand. "I...I don't know how to explain this."

"Try," Hermione replied crossing her arms over her chest defensively. She knew she had no right to get mad. She'd asked him. He'd told her the truth. But the truth was so shocking, she was having a hard time processing it.

"The first time I had sex was at the end of third year. Pansy and I had been dating and we thought we were adults so we did it," he started. "From then on I was unstoppable. I slept with many of the girls in our year, Slytherin and a few Ravenclaws."

"Which ones?" Hermione asked before she could stop herself.

"Hermione, you don't want to know the answers to these questions. Why are you asking them?" Draco countered.

Hermione's eyes filled with tears without her consent. "I don't know. I just want to understand," she said, pulling herself off Draco's lap and pacing before him.

"It's not like I can take my past back," Draco countered, his voice showing his own irritation. What was he supposed to do? Lie? Why was he being punished for mistakes of the past? He thought they were past that.

"I'm not asking you to," Hermione exclaimed, but her voice was equally frustrated.

"Then what do you want? I told you the truth, and now you are mad." Draco's voice was raising with each word until he was close to shouting. He didn't know why he was so pissed off. He'd know that the truth would shock her. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that it hurt his insides to see her this disappointed in him.

"I don't know what I am to you," Hermione shot back, her own voice laced with anger. "I...I mean, twenty-two? I've only ever kissed three guys. And that includes you. I'm just trying to get a little perspective on this. Twenty-two!" Hermione shouted. She plopped down on the couch next to Draco, but out of arms reach. She muttered unintelligible things under her breath.

"So what, you don't want to be with me now?" Draco asked. "I'm used goods, and not good enough for Miss Perfect, is that it?" he shouted. His voice was shaking now with rage and fear.

"What rubbish are you talking now?" Hermione sneered. "This is not about me. I haven't slept with anyone. You have no one to stand in comparison. I've got to compete with twenty-two other bimbos! Why can't you just understand that this is hard for me?"

"But it doesn't have anything to do with you," Draco said. "Those girls meant nothing to me. They could never compare to you. I was immature and looking to get off. Have I ever once pressured you to do something you didn't want?"

"Well, no..." Hermione said.

"And I never will. I didn't care about them. I just wanted to come. I thought I was more adult than I was." Draco tried to explain. Part of him was desperate for her to understand and another part of him was irritated that he even had to defend himself.

"How would you feel if I told you that I used to bed any willing guy who came my way?" Hermione countered.

Draco considered it. Of course, the thought made his blood boil with jealous rage, but that response wouldn't win him any points. "I'd still want to be with you. Damn it, Hermione, why can't you..." But he was instantly cut off by an intense burning in his left forearm.

"Oh shit," He said, clutching at his arm, hoping to dampen the pain, but it didn't work.

"Draco, what is it?" Hermione asked, moving over to him and grabbing him by the upper arm. Their fight was instantly forgotten.

"I'm being summoned," Draco gritted out.

Hermione's eyes went wide for a moment before her professional instincts took over. "Okay," she said, taking a calming breath. "You know the protocol. Make sure your barriers are in place before you Disapparate from Hogsmeade."

Draco nodded, moving to the door of the room. The Dark Lord expected the commute to be longer for him as well as Snape, since they both had to Disapparate from Hogsmeade rather than Hogwarts, but he didn't want to be too late. "Draco," Hermione called, pulling him back to her.

He turned to face her. "I'm sorry," she said, tears unshed in her eyes. "Be careful. I'll be right here when you get back."

Draco pulled her to him, and held her tight. "No matter what I've done in the past, don't question my feelings for you," It didn't matter how irritated he was with her; he could not leave having her question his loyalty to her.

Hermione just nodded. "Just, please be careful." Draco nodded and kissed her roughly on the lips before turning to leave.

Hermione collected herself for a moment before conjuring her Patronus. She really needed to talk to Harry.

"So, how long ago was he called?" Harry asked, cutting through the tense silence in the Room of Requirement. Luckily, Ron had been busy in a game of Wizarding Chess with Dean, and he didn't have to sneak out of the Gryffindor common room to get to Hermione when she called for him.

"About thirty minutes," Hermione said. "You don't have to stay; I just wanted to talk for a minute."

"I'm not doing anything," Harry assured her. "What's up?"

"I don't think I'm cut out for this, Harry," Hermione said facing her best friend.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked. "You're brilliant at this. Look at all Malfoy knows now that he didn't before."

"I know I'm good at that." Hermione said with a roll of the eyes. "But I don't think I'm cut out for waiting around to see if he's been killed or not. The worrying about what's happening and if he's been found out is too much. I'm his handler. I'm supposed to be clear headed and all of that, but all I can think about is the fact that we were fighting when he was summoned," Hermione explained.

Harry wrapped a comforting arm around her, he said, "If you care about someone, it only makes sense that you worry about their well being. But you're being unfair to yourself. Even if you and Malfoy were not...involved, you'd still care about all those things. It's what makes you great at what you are doing. You aren't a robot. You have feelings."

"I guess," Hermione said, unconvinced.

"What did you fight about anyway?" Harry asked, unable to abate his curiosity. It seemed that Hermione and Malfoy had been eerily close since they decided to start their...relationship, or whatever it was. He'd sort of been waiting for some kind of blow up.

Hermione blushed, but it occurred to her that Harry might be the perfect person to talk to about the fight they'd had. He's been very fair to Draco so far, and he was a guy. "You cannot tell anyone about this, especially not Draco."

"Okay," Harry said with a roll of the eyes. "I'll be sure to leave this out of our weekly coffee chats."

Hermione pushed him playfully, but quickly returned to her serious pose. "I asked him how many girls he'd been with."

"Oh, you didn't." Harry sighed, knowing exactly where this conversation had gone. No girl ever wanted to know the answer to that question unless the answer was zero. He might have had little experience, but he knew that much.

"Well, I wanted to know," Hermione defended herself. "And I had no idea the number would be so large. I was thinking four or five at most."

"And I take it was more," Harry said, motioning for her to continue.

"A lot more than that," Hermione said, not giving him the exact number. "And I may have freaked out a little."

"By a little, I'm guessing you mean, a lot," Harry said.

"Yes, but come on, Harry. He's been with so many girls, and I'm so inexperienced. How do I know he's not just getting what he wants out of me, and then he will be off to the next girl?" Hermione asked.

Harry sighed and pulled her close to him. "If you really can't trust him, then you shouldn't be with him, Hermione. But if you do, you shouldn't be threatened by his past. We all have one."

Hermione smiled at Harry. For someone who seemed to be clueless about how to write a Transfiguration essay, Harry was truly wise.

"Of course, I trust him," Hermione said. "He's so different, Harry. You guys don't see it. And what with the charade with Nott, he must look like a total git," Hermione tried to explain. "But he's not like that."

"Hermione, wait," Harry said, stopping her from continuing. "You don't have to explain anything to me. I know that you wouldn't be with him if he were the same guy."

Hermione smiled. Harry always trusted her, and that was something she greatly appreciated. It was in that moment that the light clicked in her head. That was it. Because of her reaction, Draco thought she didn't trust him. After everything they'd been through, and after all he'd done to prove he'd changed, she made him feel like the same old Death Eater.

"Oh, Harry, I messed up," Hermione cried. "I was jealous and nervous and insecure, and I made him feel like he was some kind of...slut!"

"Then when he comes back, tell him you were an idiot." Harry laughed, trying to get her to relax.

"You mean, if he comes back," Hermione pouted.

"No, I mean when," Harry said seriously. "You and Snape have prepared him for this. He will be fine, or I'm not 'The Chosen One'."

Hermione swatted him on the arm again, but smiled in spite of herself. Harry always knew what to say. She had to think positively or she'd surely go insane.

Draco shook off the nausea as he landed in the dining room of Malfoy Manor where it seemed the Dark Lord had taken residence. His stomach turned again at the thought. The house he'd grown up in, no matter how cold it had always been, was now the den of a murderous psychopath. He'd never be able to return there and feel comfortable again.

Snape apparated in just after him and neither of them looked at each other as they made their way into the circle of Death Eaters. They were the only two not wearing Death Eater masks, as it would have blown their cover at Hogwarts. Theo Nott hadn't been called. This was an inner circle meeting, which apparently included Draco now. The thought thrilled and scared him.

"Our last guests have arrived," Voldemort hissed, beckoning them all closer. "Come friends."

They silently pulled in closer until the Dark Lord beckoned Lucius to his side. "Lucius, you may have noticed your son has been called to the inner circle."

"Yes, my Lord," Draco's father said, his voice reverent. Draco wanted to punch the man in the face. When had such a strong man turned into a sycophantic asshole?

"Though it appears, he's had a little trouble with the mission he's been given," Voldemort wheezed. Both Lucius and Draco swallowed hard. He'd hoped that would remain unnoticed for the time being, but apparently, the Dark Lord wasn't pleased and wanted Draco's failure to be made public, at least to those who knew of his mission to begin with.

"Sir, If I could..." Draco started, but he was instantly cut off with the most intense pain he'd ever felt.

"Silence!" Voldemort ordered.

"Lucius, it appears you never taught your heir proper manners," The Dark Lord sneered, still aiming his wand at the blonde boy.

"My Lord, I assure you..." Lucius started, but the glare Voldemort sent him was enough to shut him up.

Draco finally felt relief from the pain, though the curse continued to tingle his insides, and coughed before standing on wobbling legs. "My Lord," he said, again, learning his lesson. Never make excuses for yourself. "I apologize. I promise to fulfill my duty," he said, his voice emotionless but strong.

"You had better," Voldemort hissed, "because if you do not, more than just your life will be forfeit."

Draco gulped and chanced a look at his father, whose face was expressionless. "I understand," Draco said.

"Tonight, shall be in your honor, Draco," the Dark Lord began, moving from his place at the center of the room. He lifted Draco's chin to look him in the eyes, and Draco felt him slither into his mind for only a second before slithering back out. "You have displeased me."

Draco's heart began to pound. He was feeling Déjà Vu and he was terrified of what would happen next. Would he ever see her again? Would that fight be the last thing she remembered of him? He wasn't ready to leave the earth, or her behind.

"However," Voldemort continued, turning away from him to face his closest Death Eaters, "your heart is pure, and so we shall celebrate your entrance into the inner circle of my Death Eaters." Draco's heart actually skipped a beat with relief. It worked. The bloody Occlumency worked like a charm. Moreover, he was going to be in the inner circle. He heard voices of approval around him and he stepped up to the center of the circle as Voldemort beckoned him.

"My son, you shall be held above all others, the closest of my followers, to do my deeds and receive my mercy," Voldemort said, tapping his wand on the top of Draco's head. He felt a cool sensation travel through his body and made a mental note to ask Snape what the hell it was when they got back to school.

Draco stepped back when the Dark Lord finished with him, and he hoped that would be the extent of the evening. It wasn't. "Congratulations, Draco," the Dark Lord nearly cackled with glee. "Now, about your failure. Punishment is in order." Draco nodded, knowing a compliant Death Eater was much more likely to make it out of any punishment alive. "Men, do your worst," Voldemort said calmly.

The first curse that hit him was a slicing curse. He watched it erupt from his father's ebony wand.