Draco

He had not expected Hermione to arrive at his room with a book in her arms that weighed more than her and he couldn't exactly say that he was thrilled. She collapsed onto his couch, tied up her hair with some twine and set to work.

"Hello, nice to see you too. Go ahead, make yourself at home." He announced sarcastically, shrugging sarcastically.

"I have work due tomorrow." She announced as if that made it make sense.

"Okay… So why didn't you cancel. I would've understood." He assured her. Maybe she was afraid to break plans. That wouldn't be a good thing. He didn't want the bird to be afraid of her.

"Maybe.. Maybe I wanted to spend some time with you. Did you think of that?" Hermione replied without looking up. A blush crept up her cheeks and okay, that was cute.

"Oh." He responded dumbly.

"Oh." She parroted.

"Make yourself at home then, I'll keep myself occupied." He promised.

Hermione

That lasted for about fifteen minutes.

"I have work to do." Hermione muttered, not looking up from the text. Why was this so dense? Why did herbology suck so much?

"This is more important." Draco argued, skimming his mouth over her neck, the stupid hound dog.

"This is optional. I will die if I don't finish this." She corrected and it was true, Minerva would kill her. As in totally, absolutely dead.

"You will not die. " Draco scoffed, clearly not understanding the severity of the issue.

"I will die." She repeated.

"I will die if I don't get my hands on you right this second." He countered, still wrong. Boners were not medical conditions. It would go down and then maybe she'd fool around with Draco, if she finished this.

"You will not die." She reminded him.

"I will die." Dang it, she had lost her place.

"I disagree." She stated curtly. "Draco!" She squealed, laughing as he kneeled in front of her and began pressing kisses to her inner ankle "what are you doing?"

"Multitasking." He continued up her leg, tucking up her skirt as he went, lingering at the side of her knee.

"That is not helping me focus." She laughed, he smirked and oh, that was a dangerous expression to have whilst in between her legs.

"Good. I'm not good at sharing attention. Only child you know." He teased, kissing right above the side of her knee. He was looking up at her but she was very aware of how close he was to her knickers.

"I can tell." Her breath caught as he slid his hand up the lower part of her legs, massaging her calf. He stood slowly, his movement predatory. "Draco." She said darkly. He smirked. She glared. He traced the side of her face gently. She continued to glare.

"How much would you wager that I'd be more engaging than that book?" He asked, his eyes were dilated, signaling his apparent arousal.

"I'm sure you would be. It's still not going to happen." He kissed down her neck as if that would change her answer

"Will you let me mark you?" He asked suddenly. She jumped.

"Excuse me?" She sat up suddenly. It was one thing to talk about it while drunk out of his mind; it was entirely different to suggest it now.

"Not somewhere anyone would see." He scoffed as if it was the obviously solution to the problem she was having with it, as if that was the problem she was having with it.

"Are you nuts?" She demanded, pulling back to look at him seriously. He shrugged and then gently kissed along her jaw. That didn't make it difficult to talk or anything.

"It's a time honored tradition for OA pairs." He reminded her, as if she didn't know exactly what she was talking about. When she was really, really little, she had dreamed of having a pretty mark on her neck, had painted it on her skin. Since then, she had learned better. Now she woke up with nightmares about a stranger's label on her body, never being able to get it off. She had woken up frantically scratching at her neck more than once.

"It's a brand, like for cattle. I've already got one of those remember?" She shook her wrist at him. He caught it and carefully pressed a gentle kiss to some of the more recent cuts that it had inflicted.

"This will be different. It's from me and something you agreed to." He argued, kissing up her arm and lingering on her inner elbow. She had no idea that that area was so sensitive.

"I'm not agreeing to it. That's not, that's not something we can have." She struggled to explain, her words failing her.

"I get that we have a time limit, but that just means that we don't have time to waste. Why shouldn't we have exactly what we want while we can get it?" He countered and she saw in his face that he believed it, every word.

"Because not everybody gets what they want all the time Draco." She sighed, it was like arguing with the most pesky, brilliant, child ever.

"Yes, but I am lucky enough to be amongst the fortunate few." He laughed, his eyes lighting up.

He lifted her. Easily, like she was a little doll. She squeaked as he slid beneath her and settled her into his lap. Her foot clipped the stack of books on the coffee table. Her notes feel to the ground. He ran his fingers through her hair. She laughed.

"So much for keeping yourself occupied, huh?" She teased.

"You prefer it this way." He insisted and gently nipped her ear. "Do you want jewelry?" He asked, and okay, that was random.

"Why would I want jewelry?" She asked. When would she wear it? She had never been one for flashy bling, no matter what Astoria said about diamonds being her best friend.

"Aren't you supposed to?" Draco looked surprised, and wasn't this a strange conversation to be having in his lap. She was going to start taking offense real soon.

"Let's not worry about what either of us are supposed to do from now on." She suggested, smirking. It wasn't as if she was following any rules anymore.

"Works for me." He laughed, but she cut him off, pressing her mouth to his. He tasted sweet and it only took a half a beat before his tongue was tracing the seam of her lips. She opened up for him and he caught her lower lip between his teeth, tugging gently. She sighed. His hands went to her hips and his thumbs skimmed her back just beneath her blouse. She shivered. It was all too surreal. She had snogged Viktor on more than one occasion while he worked for the Greengrasses but that had always felt awkward and fumbling and she had always just kind of gone with his lead. That's not what she wanted not anymore. She scooted closer, letting her hips get nearer to his groin, and reached her hands back to wrap her fingers through the hair on the back of his neck. She pulled, slowly but firmly and Draco groaned, his hips twitched. He brought his hands back in between them and started frantically undoing her corset.

"Wait." She gasped. His hands stilled. She looked at him for a beat, unsure how to phrase her concerns even as her stomach flipped with worry.

"I won't compromise your virtue, unless you want me to of course." He assured her, his eyes had that arrogant gleam, even though it didn't minimize his sincerity. He was such an ass.

"Okay.' She said, nodding slowly. He went back to what he was doing, even as he sucked a mark high on her neck. The loosened corset felt freaking amazing as it dropped off, but she barely had time to think about it as he sucked a little harder. "What the fuck, you can't leave a hickey!" She hissed, she felt him smirk against her skin.

"Wear your hair down more often and it won't be a problem." She rolled her eyes.

"I thought you hated my hair. Didn't you call it a bush?" She reminded him.

"Well I couldn't exactly say that I wanted to pull on it while you sat on my cock now could I?" He smirked. She felt the color rise on her cheeks at his positively filthy words. His smirk got larger.

"We're you actually thinking that?" She asked. It seemed ridiculous. They were literally fighting at the time.

"I'm generally thinking that." He answered.

"Well then." She responded, not quite sure what to say. At least she didn't have to worry about being desirable.

"And you know what else I think about?" He asked, something dangerous flickered in his gaze. "This." He continued, kissing her again. He tongue immediately met hers, twining together. It was so easy to imagine that tongue going to work elsewhere on her body. After what could've been minutes or moments he pulled back and slipped his hands underneath her blouse. "And this." He added before catching her mouth again. His hands slowly skimmed up her back and over her ribs. She was incredibly aware of how close his fingertips were to her loose breasts. Slowly his fingers skimmed just below her breasts. She whimpered. She had no idea that was so sensitive. She didn't have time to explore her own body, most of the time she wasn't even sure what was going on. Draco seemed to know what he was doing with a woman's body. That was kind of a scary thought. He must've felt her stiffen because he froze.

"You okay?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah." She murmured but she wasn't quite sure that that was true.

"Nothing has to happen today you know." He reminded her. She blushed.

"Of course. I'm not some damsel. I know how to say no." She defended herself.

"Do you?" He asked skeptically.

"Of course." She answered stubbornly.

"Okay then." He concluding before kissing her again. As caught up as she was in his mouth and as breathless as he made her feel, she was still very aware that his hands didn't leave her lower back. It pissed her off, the part of her that was a strong, take no prisoners, kind of woman, but it also made her feel incredibly safe, even from herself. She could call his bullshit and apparently he could call hers. She let it go on for a little while longer before finally pulling back and standing up.

"I do have to study this you know." She sighed, grabbing for her textbook from the ground. It had fallen face down and she hurried to gather up the notes.

"That's mine." Draco corrected. She blinked, staring at the cover. She was pretty sure that was hers.

"No, it's mine." She responded, displaying the cover.

"Couldn't be, that's crazy high level stuff Granger." Draco scoffed, and okay, now she was mad.

"Excuse me?" She snapped, and looked around the room, and there, on one of the bookshelves was the same neon orange herbology textbook that she was currently reading. "There's your copy, that one is mine." He turned to look where she pointed and a weird flicker of almost realization crossed his face.

"You're reading that?" He asked, astonished.

"Yes, I'm reading that." She answered slowly so he didn't get lost.

"I just put my foot in my mouth , huh?" He cringed as full recognition dawned.

"Big time." She answered, dropping into the arm chair with her very large book.

"How the hell are you reading that?" He asked, and she had to look up again because sometimes stupidity astounds even the people most used to it.

"You should totally just keep digging that hole." She suggested, what else could he possibly say to piss her off.

"I barely made it through that book." Draco stressed with that same confused tone.

"Are you suggesting that you're smarter than me?" Not that she assumed she was smarter than him, but he had no idea how smart she was.

"I… I'm just saying that I had tutors, crazy good ones." He back pedaled, finally finding the line and struggling to get to the right side of it.

"I was educated, had many of the same tutors as Astoria." She informed him, cracking open the ridiculously heavy book. Thankfully she only had to read the first half of the textbook for tomorrow, and she was halfway done. Only two hundred and fifty pages to go.

"It's just… why?" He asked as if the idea of her being educated was to absurd to believe.

"Excuse me?" She snapped, looking up again. His eyes bulged out as he realized his mistake, again.

"I'm not saying that you don't deserve it or aren't worthy or whatever but why does a Astoria's personal attendant need to be an expert in herbology?" He asked, a little more carefully.

"I'm not always going to be Astoria's personal attendant." She explained idly. Wouldn't that be hell.

"What are you going to do instead?" He asked, genuine curiosity in his voice. It was hard for her to remember that he didn't have any options in life or opportunities, he always knew what his future was going to be like, and all of his friends knew theirs. She was the only one who had ever been uncertain.

"The plan is to work under Minerva officially when we go back home. Then eventually I'll take over once she retires." She shrugged.

"Minerva? As in McGonagle?" He asked in disbelief. Minerva arraigned most of the accommodations, it wasn't surprising that Draco knew her name.

"Yes." She answered simply.

"You're going to manage the whole household?" He asked.

"That's the plan, yes." She clarified. Though if she had to do it one more time she was going to scream.

"Wow." He leaned back as if he had to work to take it all in.

"Thank you for that tone of surprise, it's really flattering." She snarked, not as mad as she wanted to be.

"It's just, that means, you're brilliant. Like crazy brilliant. I knew you were smart. We've spoken. But I had no idea you were brilliant." He rambled; she blushed and the heat kind of hurt.

"I'm not brilliant. I'm hardworking. There's a difference." She corrected. She was proud of her accomplishments, but that's what they were accomplishments. Brilliance implied talent, it implied ease and neither of those things were true for her.

"Is both not a possibility?" He asked.

"I'm just not brilliant." She shrugged, feeling embarrassed now. She curled up in the chair, tucking her knees in. God not wearing a corset is fabulous, she glanced at the dark brown garment on the ground and wondered if she could get away with leaving it there for good.

'I disagree." Draco answered simply before rising to grab himself a glass. She watched him pour amber liquid into a glass and wondered briefly if he was ever totally sober. He grabbed a book off of his shelf and dropped onto his couch. She raised an eyebrow. He smirked. "I have studying to do too you know. Have to have the Sacred Twenty eight memorized by tomorrow."

"Just the surnames?" She asked, Minerva had her memorize that three years ago, was he really so far behind?

"Nah, I messed that up last time. Now I need to know all of the individual members." He shrugged and that made more sense.

"There's a tapestry in the Northwest wing." She informed him helpfully. Or at least that's how she saw it. He laughed.

"That thing? The charms been broken for as long as I can remember, it creates false branches on the family tree." He explained. Hermione shrugged before returning to her book. They lapsed into silence as Hermione slogged through over a hundred pages. Eventually she yawned and stretched like a cat. She liked cats, she had wanted one as a child but Astoria was allergic.

"I should go, Astoria should be getting to bed soon." Hermione explained and rolled her stiff neck as she picked up her annoying corset.

"Does she really need help?" Draco asked in disbelief. Hermione cocked an eyebrow with equal skepticism as she did up the laces on the binding piece.

"You can't expect me to believe you run your own baths." She pointed out.

"Yeah I don't." He shook his head. She rolled her eyes.

"That hair doesn't wash itself." She announced, standing up and walking towards the door.

"Wait." He called, she turned expecting the worse, but he had stood up and was walking towards her. She blushed as he pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes." she answered with a smile. He grinned for a beat and then caught her mouth in a kiss. In an instant it became anything but chaste. It was filthy and dirty and he smelt delicious. He mused her hair with his finger, no doubt making sure she looked as wrecked as she felt. His mouth made promises even when it wasn't speaking. He convinced her with the press of lips and the caress of tongues. The way he looked at her brought to mind sirens, totally utterly under his spell. And the worst part. The absolute worst of it all, was that she wasn't sure that she minded very much.

"And you'll think about me tonight?" He asked headily when he pulled away. She was dizzy, totally out of breath, but even so she was sure she spoke the truth as she agreed.

"Absolutely."

"Good, I like my attention. Only child you know." He repeated. She rolled her eyes.

"Good night." She said simply.

"Good night." He called as she slipped out the door. It was only as he cheeks started to hurt while she knock on Astoria's door did she realize she had a dopey smile stuck on her face.

A/N: Hello lovelies. Here's a little fluff to get you through the next week or so. My life is going to get crazy busy and stressful for a little while so I don't know how often I'll be able to post for a bit. But reviews will definitely speed up the process! Please, please please leave me a review they will keep me sane.

Here's some questions to get you started.

I thought it was really cute that Hermione couldn't look Draco in the eye when she confessed to wanting to spend time with him. What did you think?

Fun fact, I researched bras for this chapter because I really know how to manage my time well and in the Renaissance women didn't wear bras they just had waist corset that happened to push up the girls and support them but that was their secondary purpose. I personally really enjoyed Hermione's hatred for corsets in this chapter, how about you?

What did you think about the comments about Hermione's hair?

Do you think it's possible to be hardworking and brilliant?

Why do you think Hermione clings to "hardworking" so much?

Who's surprised that Draco's a charmingly possessive asshole?

Do you think these two will be able to keep this sneaking around up?