Happy Saturday!

Welcome to all the new readers that have commented, favorited, or followed this week! I'm so happy you found this silly, not-so-little story just as we're about move into the more Dramione-centric parts of the present day! I hope you've all enjoyed it thus far.

Alpha: CuppaTea90, Beta: LaBelladoneX - thank you both for all you've done! =)

Hermione woke up in the Room of Requirement, wrapped in Draco's arms. It was Ron's birthday, so she knew she wouldn't be able to stay long. She started to shift, causing Draco to groan and hold her tighter.

"Granger, it's early. Go back to sleep. The library will still be there in a few hours," he mumbled, bringing his mouth to her neck to lick and suck on his favorite spot.

Hermione felt her body start to wake and she let out a small moan. Draco's hands began to roam over her torso and between her thighs. She smirked, knowing he wouldn't be interested in going back to sleep now. She pressed herself snugly against him, enjoying the feeling of being nearly enveloped by his warm body. She was just starting to turn over to face him when Harry's stag Patronus burst into the room.

"Fuck, I hope I'm doing this right. Hermione, I can't find you on the Marauder's Map. Ron's been poisoned and we're in the Hospital Wing. Please come as quickly as you can!"

Hermione froze, completely in shock. Who would poison Ron? She could understand Harry, but certainly not Ron. The small part of her that still fancied Ron went into a panic. She forced herself out of Malfoy's arms and started searching frantically for her clothes. Her knickers seemed to have vanished.

"Malfoy, what the bloody hell did you do with my knickers this time?"

She saw Draco sit up in bed, feeling around in the sheets for her discarded scrap of teal lace. He found them near his feet and retrieved them, extending his hand, knickers dangling from his finger, in her direction.

"Right here, Granger. They're in one piece," he drawled.

"You're bloody lucky. I can't even tell you how many pairs of knickers I've lost since term started because of you!"

Hermione felt his hand wrap around her wrist, and she stopped moving. She looked up into his eyes, and she saw they were still blazing with desire. Her breath caught as his scent started flooding the room. The mint was stronger than usual, like it had been when he was jealous of McLaggen. He pulled her to him and snogged her thoroughly, wrapping his hand around the back of her neck.

Draco broke the kiss, but he kept his possessive hold on her neck and wrist. "I know you have to go, Hermione, but will you be back?"

She tried to collect herself for a moment before speaking. "I can try to get away tonight for a bit, depending on how Ron is—"

"Please. I know it's selfish of me, but I want to finish what we started," Draco replied, smirking at her.

Despite her worry about Ron, Hermione felt her blood start to boil in the best way possible. She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "Okay. What time will you be here?"

"After nine? That gives you the whole day with Potter and whatever Weasleys end up here," he answered, bringing her hand to his mouth and kissing each of her fingers, making sure to gently suck on each one before releasing it.

Hermione let out a whimper and pulled away. "I'm sorry, I have to go, Draco!"

"I know. Get dressed and go," he replied, reclining back into the pillows with his arms above his head.

Hermione's eyes feasted on his body. His muscular arms and torso drove her to distraction once again, and she gave her head a gentle shake.

"Ronald. Poisoned. Hospital wing. Harry. Sort out your priorities," she muttered to herself while getting dressed.

Once she was fully clothed, Hermione took the few seconds to lean down and kiss Draco goodbye properly, gently nibbling on his lower lip before letting go. After that, she made herself face the door and leave the room quickly before her libido won out over her common sense again.

After Hermione left the room, Draco let the rage break through his mask. Why the fuck was Granger still running to Weasley's side? Was she still pining after him? Did she want to fuck him? Was she just biding her time until he and Lavender Brown broke up? Would this all end ahead of schedule?

Weasley can't fucking have her. She's mine. I'm the one who has been with her for the past five fucking months! I'm the only one making her scream a few nights a week! I'm the one who gets to see her come undone!

Thoughts of Hermione kept running through his head. Draco knew she had started shagging him right around the time Weasley started fooling around with Brown, and he didn't think that was a coincidence. There had been bets going for years about when Weasley and Granger would get together and how many little redheaded half-bloods they would produce. While Draco couldn't imagine Hermione with Ron now, he knew it was still a very real possibility that they would start dating either during or after the war. And if he allowed himself to be realistic, Draco knew it made more sense for Weasley to get the girl — he certainly would never be involved in the absolute clusterfuck that was Voldemort's regime.

Before he knew it, he was imagining Hermione comforting the Weasel in his hospital bed. Draco could see her holding his freckled hand and bringing it to her lips. He visualized her delicate fingers running through a mop of red hair rather than his own blond strands, her nails raking across the scalp and then the back of a hideously freckled neck. Draco's brain started playing a scene where Weasley woke up and they confessed their long-time crushes to one another and then started snogging. He groaned and forced that red-haired git from his mind.

Instead, he started to remember how Hermione had felt crushed against his body when he woke. Draco concentrated on that, and his mind immediately went to how her breasts had felt against his palms when he was caressing her and how slick she had been between her thighs. He wondered what the naughty little lioness had been dreaming about to get her that ready for him.

Draco rolled over and buried his face in Hermione's pillow, inhaling the scent he was absolutely enamored with. He was painfully hard still but had to get something accomplished on his task. Time was not on his side, especially now that the Easter holidays were approaching. He would surely be summoned to the Manor to give a report, and he hadn't made all that much progress.

Deciding his aroused state would not help his concentration, Draco decided to think about what he would have done to Hermione if Weasley hadn't gotten himself poisoned. He needed the release, and it would be easy to achieve with her scent still surrounding him.

Draco started stroking his cock, rubbing the precum down his shaft for some moisture. He pictured her riding him slowly while he reached up and played with her nipples. Her hair was wild and messy from sleep, and her cunt hot and slippery. He squeezed his dick harder, trying to imagine it was Hermione clenching around him. In his mind, her head tipped back in ecstasy and she moaned his name… and he finished in time with fantasy Hermione.

With a flick of his wand, Draco cleaned himself up and got dressed in last night's clothes. He headed down the many flights of stairs to the dungeons to shower and redress. Before he could head into the Great Hall for breakfast, Snape grabbed his arm and pulled him outside. It was still unusually cold for the beginning of March and the grounds were still covered in snow.

"Please tell me you didn't send poisoned mead to the school, Draco!" He bellowed once they were out of earshot.

Draco felt his stomach turn. If Snape was asking about the poisoned mead, and Potter had sent Hermione a Patronus saying Weasley had been poisoned…

Fuck. Fuck! She's going to find out I was the one who was responsible for the poisoning. She and Potter always fucking figure everything out.

Snape was still glowering down at him, and Draco put on a sneer while he readjusted his shirt. He was trying to buy more time, and he was sure that Snape knew it.

"If I had done that, and I'm not saying I did, it would have been around Christmas and made it to the right recipient!" Draco snarled, feeling he couldn't successfully lie to Snape at the moment.

Snape shook his head, focusing his black eyes on Draco. "This is just as foolish as the necklace, Draco! Are you trying to get yourself locked up in Azkaban, or murdered?! You've nearly killed two students who are extremely close to Potter now!"

He had to play dumb. "I know about Bell. Who got poisoned?"

"Ronald bloody Weasley! Harry Potter's best friend!" Snape snapped.

Draco let his face pale and he inhaled sharply, trying to convey appropriate surprise and fear. He noticed Snape's nostrils flaring, like he was trying to sniff out a lie. It didn't phase Draco much; his Head of House was nothing if not a bit strange.

"How?" Draco asked, letting his voice come out a little higher than usual.

Snape glared and replied, "Slughorn, the great glutton, bought the mead as a gift for Dumbledore and never gave it to him. Weasley had been dosed with a large quantity of love potion, so Potter took him for an antidote. Once everyone was in their right mind again, Horace suggested a toast for Mr. Weasley's seventeenth birthday."

"And how did the Weasel survive?"

"Potter was the hero as usual. He summoned a bezoar from Horace's personal stores," Snape explained without flourish.

Oh, thank the gods for Potter. While killing Weasley would keep his ugly, freckled face away from Hermione, I have no desire to do it.

Draco thought for a moment. "And was it like Katie Bell? Did Potter immediately suspect it was me?"

"No," Snape bit out. "He thought it was me this time because that oaf Hagrid overheard a heated conversation between me and the headmaster. You need to be more careful, Draco. We're both going to end up being caught."

"I won't be sending anything else to the school. I've made progress on my original plan and I won't need to resort to alternatives… I can complete this by the end of the year," Draco stated with more confidence than he actually felt.

Snape nodded and, knowing he would no longer be able to eat, Draco left his office to go and work on the fucking Vanishing Cabinet yet again.

Hermione was sitting at Ron's side in the Hospital Wing. She was crying and sniffling, not even joining in the debate about who possibly could've gotten the poisoned mead into Hogwarts. She scoffed internally — hadn't she already told Harry about how people were smuggling love potions in? It was obvious that liquids being sent into Hogwarts were not being thoroughly checked.

Ron muttered something that sounded a bit like her name in his sleep, and then began snoring again. Hermione was having a hard time staying focused on him and the conversations going on around his bed. She was thinking about Malfoy and her unfulfilled desire. It was completely inappropriate and she was a rubbish best friend. Honestly, why did her mind seem to desert her when it came to Draco and sex? She had never been driven to distraction like this. Was it just because she was getting older and wanted it more often? It didn't seem like the other girls fixated on it the way she was right now. Maybe they just didn't talk about it?

With a sigh, Hermione tried to focus her attention back on Ron — the boy she had thought she was in love with until she had started this fling with Malfoy. He had been fucking poisoned and nearly killed. Harry had saved him, and she should be grateful and lavishing him with her attention. Malfoy could wait. She would see him after curfew when she couldn't be focused on Ron.

Belatedly, Hermione wondered where Lavender was…

"Harry? Did anyone tell Lavender about what happened?" She inquired.

"Oh, bloody hell, no! I honestly don't think he'd want her here, Hermione. He's a bit annoyed with her at the moment," Harry replied, running his fingers through his messy black hair again.

She tried to ignore the feeling of dread that popped up in her stomach, but she just couldn't. Her thoughts were going in a dangerous direction again and she was afraid to speak out loud. She thought she might end up blurting something about Draco.

If Ron and Lavender break up, I'll have to stop this thing with Malfoy. Ron will be single, and maybe we'll finally start seeing each other. That's the plan, isn't it? He may not have noticed I was a girl until fourth year, but that's true of most of the boys here. We're old enough now that we should both be ready to be with who we truly should want to be with. We're both seventeen. Draco said that's when the purebloods get married, right? Ron's a pureblood, but his family isn't as traditional. Maybe it's too soon. Maybe with the war going on, we shouldn't start anything. I mean, I'm already getting everything I need from Malfoy. It seems to work well between us, and honestly, I'm not sure Ron could hold a candle to Draco in the bedroom…

Oh fuck. I can't be thinking like this. Draco isn't mine to keep. It's all going to end with this school year. After June, he will be on one side and I'll be on the other. Hogwarts is a safe, neutral zone. It's not like his parents will let him come and go from the Manor to shag his Muggle-born fuck buddy. When it comes down to it, that's all we are to each other. It's all we can be to each other.

Hermione felt her face starting to heat, and she knew she had to stop thinking about Draco and sex — especially around other people. Those two topics, especially when combined, were off fucking limits. She needed to start distancing herself from him; she was clearly becoming too attached. She had known about Ron's feelings for a couple of years, and she really felt like she could reciprocate them. Draco was making her question that in a way no one else had, and Hermione could see her eventual heartbreak coming at her, full speed, from the other side of the proverbial Quidditch pitch. Even if the war wasn't approaching, she couldn't see Draco giving up everything for her, so she resolved not to do the same for him.

However, it did not stop her from wishing he would just say fuck it all and hold on to her, prejudiced parents be damned.

Once Hermione was back in the girls' dormitory, Ginny ambushed her. Before she could even react, she had been silenced.

"Listen, Hermione, I know you say this guy you're shagging isn't a big deal, but we needed you this morning and no one could fucking find you! You're being so secretive, and it's just not like you. I'm so fucking worried, alright? Things with Ron and Lavender are coming to an end so it's time to stop what you're doing," Ginny lectured, an angry fire behind her eyes.

The Silencing Charm was lifted, and Hermione glared. "Gin, give me a fucking break! I'm missing one morning and it's the end of the world?"

Ginny shook her head. "And you're lying to me! We don't do that, Hermione! I heard Lavender tell Parvati that you're sleeping somewhere else at least twice a week! She was worried you were with Ron!"

"Fucking gossip queens," Hermione snarled. "Regardless, it's still none of your business! Stop pretending to be worried about me and worry about yourself! It's obvious that you and Dean aren't getting along."

"Stop trying to turn this conversation around on me, Hermione. Seriously, I know things are not right with Dean, but I'm more concerned about what's going on with you! A guy who wants to keep you a secret isn't a good choice. You have to know that!"

"Have you ever stopped to think that I'm the one who wants to keep it a secret?! That maybe I don't want anyone to know that I'm with him?" Hermione shouted back.

Ginny froze and looked at Hermione; there was a large shield forming around her, and magic crackling in the air. Hermione rarely lost control like this, but when she did, it was dangerous for everyone. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. It helped a bit, but she was still in her shield bubble.

Hermione walked over to her bed and reached under the pillow. She was a bit embarrassed, but there was only one thing that could calm her right now. She had stolen a shirt from Draco and she lifted it to her face, breathing him in deeply. Her heart rate started to slow and the magic started to die down.

Ginny cleared her throat and spoke up. "Yes, because sniffing the shirt of the guy you're casually shagging should definitely be able to stop your magic from going wild. Use your huge fucking brain, Hermione. You and this mystery guy went past casual weeks ago."

Hermione watched Ginny leave the room and felt completely miserable. She knew this thing with Malfoy was beyond casual. She had been able to feel the difference since before Christmas, and she knew he could too. It wasn't one-sided, thank Merlin. She sat on her bed, still holding the shirt near her nose. His scent excited her and calmed her all at once, and she knew in her bones this wasn't a normal reaction to have.

But she also knew she wasn't ready to fully let him go, either.

Author's Note: I'm so sad that I'll only be posting on Saturday next week... but I think I'll post a little snippet/preview on Wednesday on Tumblr. I'm so excited to post this chapter. We'll see more of Ron's little "plan" and Harry will be coming around.

Find me there at potionchemist.

Til next week!