14. Irresistible Sliminess
"You would do anything for me?" She asked with a grin I nodded. "Good, I would do anything for you too." I smirked and pulled her to me, sealing my lips over hers. I felt a heat building between us that had never been there before and my mind snapped back to our hands being attached. Red, I thought to myself, unwilling to pull away and voice it. The other colour, green, was a little harder it had two sets of meaning, one was positive, the other not so much. Again, I ignored the attachment in lieu of snogging Hermione. Our attached hand just stayed suspended between us, while my free hand glided down her side to rest on her hip, and pulled her closer to me. She hummed lightly in the back of her throat and the sound drove me wild. I was about to pull back, but her hand threaded into my hair and she pulled closer yet. I gave in for a few more minutes but knew I'd have to put an end to it soon if I wanted to avoid a mistake. I leisurely changed the tone of the kiss, going from something desperate and clawing to something a little more familiar, just a comforting exchange. Hermione sensed my intentions and I felt her smile against my lips before pulling back to feather kisses down my throat. She rested her head lightly on my shoulder and sighed. I brought my hand to her hair and held her against me for a couple of minutes while our breathing and heartrate slowed.
"See, this is why you should always listen to me." I brought our fused hands level with her eyes. She laughed and looked up at me.
"I don't really care about this, do you" I thought about it.
"I guess not, it could be really inconvenient if either of us are attached have to go to the bathroom, or we got attached somewhere more awkward than hand to hand. But I suppose for the most part the pros outweigh the cons. I would have thought that kiss just now would have dispelled the attachment, but there must be something else it wants."
"Well that certainly would have broken it before, and even with the red thrown in there, it probably would have been broken, it's the green I think. Red, passion and desire, and all of that – that's new, I don't know what to think about that."
"Are you worried about it?" I asked. Her eyes flicked down for a second before looking back up at me.
"I don't have…much experience with passion or desire, as it relates to romance anyway. I'm afraid I won't be good at it." Her cheeks tinged with pink and she looked down. I found an affectionate smile covering my mouth. I tilted her chin up with my finger.
"You're already good at it." I assured her. "Don't worry about the mechanics of anything; we'll just deal with this bonding stuff and our emotions as they come up. We're not going to rush into something we aren't ready for." She smiled and gripped my hand where we were attached a little tighter, thanking me without words.
"So, it must be the green still keeping us together. Now I hardly think that it means nature and prosperity in this case." She shot me an amused look. "Were you jealous Draco?"
"I don't mind admitting that I was. It's who I am. I never did share well. I know we're not officially an anything, but, I don't like it when you run after the weasel and I don't like it when Potter touches you. I understand that they're your friends and it doesn't mean anything when you do those things, and I'm not asking you to stop. It just triggers the jealousy in me."
"I'll keep it to a minimum, but you know Draco it really doesn't mean anything to me outside of friendship. Harry is like the brother I never had growing up, and while I used to think I had feelings for Ron, I can see how wrong I was. They are my very best friends, and we've been through so much together that I can't imagine my life without them." I nodded.
"I'm not asking you to change anything."
"I know, and I appreciate that. Would it make you feel better if we put some kind of parameters on what we are?" I smirked.
"Is that bookworm for Draco will you be my boyfriend?" I asked, she smacked my arm lightly but smiled.
"I guess so; I know it couldn't be a public thing…more just a way for us to know where we stand." I grinned at her response.
"Hermione Granger, will you be my girlfriend?" I asked with a grin. She laughed and nodded.
"Of course," As soon as she assented the attachment magic burned off and we could finally separate our hands. The symbol had altered slightly, there was a band encircling the heart. The heart remained gold and pink, and the band was red and green. Hermione's looked identical to mine. I already knew what this meant symbolically, and while the circle could represent the commitment of an engagement, I was sure that this just stood for the commitment to each other that we had just made. Which probably went deeper than anything I had experienced before – we both knew that fighting the bond was near impossible, and though I didn't want it to control my life I couldn't be unhappy about where we were headed.
"I still maintain the right to flirt with Blaise though." I told her, she bust out a laugh and shook her head at me.
"I'm not threated by Zabini." She declared.
"Good, he's got nothing on you – but he is rather charming." She laughed.
"Well if you get to flirt with Blaise I want to be able to flirt with Luna Lovegood."
"Fine by me, bit of an odd choice, but, I support you. The only thing is what if Blaise and Luna start dating each other and we can't flirt with them?"
"Well then I guess I'll be stuck flirting with you." She grinned. "I can somehow oddly picture Blaise and Luna hitting it off." She commented.
"Maybe that's the purpose of our bond…to be matchmakers." I joked. She laughed and shook her head at me.
"You're ridiculous." She intoned. I ginned and pulled her against my side, she instantly cuddled in.
"Yeah, but you like it." She made a sound of assent and relaxed further against me; I smiled and wondered as I often did how my life had changed so completely.
"Oi, Malfoy, wait a minute!" I heard a shouting from behind me. It was early in the week after Hermione had tried to make Potter, Weasley, and myself friends, and I was just heading to the dungeons after class when Weasley could be seen striding after me and calling to me. I turned and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Something I can do for you Weasley?" I asked.
"I want to talk to you." He asserted. I shrugged and looked around us the halls were full of students milling around. He tilted his head indicating I should follow him. We wound up in some obscure alcove I had never before noticed.
"Is this the part where you confess your feelings for me?" I asked with a laugh. Alcoves were almost exclusively populated by couples looking for a quick snog or a heated argument.
"Yeah, how did you guess Malfoy?" I found myself surprised by the response.
"Well you did pull me into an alcove…." The left side of his mouth dipped up in a grin.
"Aside from your irresistible sliminess I did actually want to talk to you about something." He paused, taking a deep breath before talking. "Harry told me what he saw the other night…the attachment stuff. I want to apologize for the way I've been acting towards you all year. I saw you getting close to Hermione and I panicked. I guess I understand now why it was all happening, and that makes it easier to deal with. I don't think you and I will ever be good friends, but, if you are going to be part of Hermione's life then I suppose I'll have to get used to you. That and you'll be staying at my house this summer too. You might not be the Draco Malfoy we always thought you were." I took a moment to reflect on what he had said.
"I am trying to change. I appreciate you coming to talk to me, I know you don't like me, and I know we will never be best friends, but, I'm going to try to prove I'm not the ferret I used to be." Weasley nodded.
"I'll still be watching you know?" I nodded.
"Rome wasn't built in a day Weasley." He wrinkled his forehead not quite catching what I meant. "I understand gaining trust won't be instant. Thank you for the chance and thank you for talking to me. I'll try to reign in any ginger weasel jokes that may be floating around in my head and discard them."
"I'll try not to cause anymore scenes in the Library yelling about you brainwashing Hermione."
"That would be greatly appreciated." We nodded at each other and I remembered that I had rounds with him this evening. "I'll see you later up on third, we've got patrol together tonight."
"Right," he nodded. "See you then." With that he stepped out of the alcove, and I watched his retreating form feeling a little confused. This year was doing my head in.
The sky was full of frosty, sparkling snow – beautiful, but deadly cold. Professor Sinistra seemed to be losing her mind calling for a late night star gaze in the middle of winter. We couldn't even cast heating spells because magic clouded what we saw, apparently. She insisted there was a rare celestial event happening that we had to see, but, no one could see much of anything. After two hours of listening to her prattle on, and trying to see out of a telescope, she finally decided to call it a night. "Professor Trelawney promised me this storm would pass. I'm very sorry students; I know you all really wanted to see the eclipses that were happening." The whole group made mildly irritated sounds as we headed down from the Astronomy Tower. I exchanged a glance with Hermione and gave a slight nod. We both took separate ways, but ended up in the Room of Requirement. Hermione had arrived first and was standing by the fire thawing her hands. I looked out the window at the snow. I'd been here before.
"You've dreamt about this haven't you?" Hermione asked drawing my attention. I nodded. I walked over to her and wrapped her hands in mine.
"What, are you actually part furnace?" She asked in a perfect duplication of my dream. She covered her hands more fully with mine.
"Good one Granger." I felt like I was reading from a script as I pulled her over the sofa and sat holding her icy hands. A sigh escaped me as if on cue, Hermione gave me a questioning glace. "I don't want you to leave tomorrow." It was the first day of winter holidays the next day, I was staying put at Hogwarts, and she was going home to see her parents. It would be not only really boring for me without her around, but it would also press the limitations on our bond. We had only ever gone around twelve hours without seeing each other, and less than a full twenty-four hours without hanging out since the attachment had happened. Hermione threw me a sympathetic look.
"You'll be fine Draco, probably happier without me bugging you all the time. I'll write to you, at least once a day." She slid a hand out from between mine and placed it gently on my face. "I'll be back before you know it." My eyes dropped seemingly of their own accord and I nodded. She pulled closer to me and laid her lips over mine. I leant us back, and felt Hermione's body draping over mine. She added a bit more power to the kiss; I smirked and pulled back, unwilling to let it get too heated. Hermione rested her head on my shoulder, and I hugged her closer to me.
"Every day, you promise?" I asked. She nodded in response. "Good," My hands roamed lazily up and down her back drawing circles. I looked down and saw that she was sleeping against me. I smiled and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. I didn't honestly know what I was going to do without her for two weeks. My mother was telling everyone that I had come down with some highly contagious illness and was being sequestered in the hospital wing until it could clear up. I fell into the last dreamless sleep I would have in weeks, holding Hermione firmly to me. Her stirring in my arms was what woke me in the morning as well.
"Morning Draco, did I wake you?" I nodded closing my eyes again.
"It's okay. What time is it?" I asked.
"Half past eight." She replied. "I need to get my packing done and get down to the Great Hall for breakfast. The train leaves at eleven."
"Don't remind me. I can't come down for breakfast because I'm already supposed to be sick in the hospital wing." She frowned and laid herself against me. Her lips pecked at my neck twice.
"I'll miss you too, you know." I nodded. I took hold of her hand with mine and pulled her close to me, sealing our lips together in a kiss. It was raw and heated and for once I didn't really care. I poured my feeling for her into the kiss, and felt her reciprocate. I kept our hands fused together, and the other one wandered into her hair, holding her close to me. Her other hand was bunched in my shirt, right over my sternum. She hummed as my tongue brushed against her lower lip and intensified the kiss. My hand slid from her hair, falling to her back before coming to rest on her low back, under her shirt. In a rare occurrence for us, Hermione pulled back first. Her breath heaving in and out of her body, her face flushed, it did nothing to quell the ardor I felt for her at the moment. "I have to go." She breathed. "I'll come and see you before I go down to the Great Hall." I nodded.
"Sorry if this was…too much." She smiled at me and leaned in kissing me once more.
"It wasn't too much. But, I can't be late today, and it was verging into this will make me stay at Hogwarts because I've missed the train territory."
"Well in that case…" I grinned kissing her again. She laughed against my lips. She shifted to she was standing and finally broke the kiss.
"I'll be back to say good-bye. See you soon!" I waved her off and sighed plopping my head back against the couch. My body had unfortunately reacted to the heated exchange and I had to deal with it before Hermione got back. I headed toward the bathroom and started the shower. I had moved quite a few of my things up the Room the night before, knowing this is where I would be spending most of my time during the holiday. I stepped under the water and quickly dealt with the issue at hand before actually showering and then toweling off. I put a fresh outfit on and then padded out to the main room to wait for Hermione. The thought of spending two weeks without her was verging on terrible, but, we didn't have a choice. I would never ask her to spend Christmas away from her family, and there was no way I could go with her. I crossed my arms and tried not to scowl. I was one of the only students staying behind this year so I could go to the Library and wander the castle freely, but that was the only perk. I was drawn from my thoughts by the door opening. Hermione appeared and I stood up.
"Don't leave me." The words tumbled from my mouth and I was shocked by them. She frowned and walked toward me.
"You know I don't want to, but, I can't pass up this Christmas with my parents."
"I know, I didn't mean to say that." I reached out and took her hands in mine, our palms pressed together and our fingers entwined. "I'll miss you so much." I felt vulnerable and odd saying it. Where was the Draco from the beginning of the year I wondered idly, he was invulnerable and didn't care one iota for Granger.
"I'll miss you too! I'll write you as soon as I get settled in at my parents' house. I've convinced Harry to lend me Hedwig for the holidays, so it'll be easier for me to keep in contact with everyone."
"That was nice of him." I commented. I really must thank Potter for that, I thought. "One good thing is I'll probably have figured out everything to do with our bond before you come back, because I'll be bored senseless." She tried to smile and nodded. "Have a good holiday." I whispered. She nodded.
"I'll be back before you know it." She stepped closer and laid her lips against mine. I kissed her softly. We broke the kiss and she stepped closer, wrapping her arms around me. I hugged her back and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before stepping back and letting her go. "Bye Draco," She said quietly taking another step back towards the door.
"Bye Hermione," I was just as quiet as she took the last step and walked out the door. I frowned and made my way to the couch flinging myself down onto it in a huff. This was going to be a long couple of weeks.
AN: Let's get right onto the note. This chapter is a little...messy? I was not too sure what I wanted to accomplish with it, but, I think it turned out alright. It's very hard to reign in the fluffy bunnies that are bouncing around in my brain, but the story needs substance I guess... I might kind of power through the rest of the school year here, because most of the story points that I have planned happen later on. But we'll see what my fingers decided while I'm writing. Things are getting a little caliente between our two lovebirds here. Like I said trying to reign myself in.
Thanks as always to my brilliant reviewers! Loesagoodstory19(I'll take that challenge!), nicolemae666, ASJS(Welcome back!), pinkduck2587, Mykie, and CancerScorpio15! You guys are the absolute best!
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~WS