Draco slunk around Hogsmeade, wondering if he could find a way to speak to Hermione. They'd been back at school for just over a month and so far he'd seen his girlfriend once. Dumbledore was keeping an exceptionally close eye on Hermione and she'd only been able to sneak down to their secret room one evening when Severus had been able to reassure them that the Headmaster was in a staff meeting and would be busy all evening.
Since that was their only meeting they'd had to concentrate on Hermione's plans for vengeance so they'd had precious little time for themselves. Draco had reassured Hermione that Lucius was pleased with how things were progressing with Sirius, and things were being set up in regards to the twin's investor pulling out of the business and an accident for Charlie. Hermione had told Draco that her plans with Ron were working well, and he told her that Theo was beginning to make progress with Ginny.
Draco just wished they could meet up more regularly, so they would actually be able to spend some time together focusing on their relationship. As much as he was loving the plotting and scheming that went along with Hermione's need for vengeance, he missed spending time with his girlfriend. At the minute he would give anything just to spend a few hours alone with Hermione when they weren't plotting something or other.
Knowing that sulking wasn't going to get him anywhere, Draco stalked off to the bookshop. He knew if he remained in the shop long enough that Hermione would eventually show up and the chances of her having Potter and Weasley with her were slim to none. He knew the pair rarely ventured into the bookshop, so it could be his only opportunity to get Hermione alone. Even five minutes would be good considering how little time they'd had together recently.
When Draco arrived in the bookshop, Hermione was nowhere to be seen. Luckily he could spend almost as much time in the shop as his girlfriend and he had no trouble filling his time by browsing the shelves and even picking himself a few new books to buy. As it turned out Draco was in the bookshop for nearly forty minutes before he heard his girlfriend cheerily greeting the witch serving behind the counter. Making sure he remained in the shadows, Draco watched Hermione and waited until she was alone in one of the back aisles before making his move. Casting the same charm around the area that he had just before the attack on Hogsmeade, Draco slipped into the aisle with his girlfriend knowing no-one would disturb them.
"It took you long enough," Hermione said, turning to face her boyfriend before he even had a chance to let her know he was there. "I thought you were never going to approach me."
"I was waiting until you were in a suitable place," Draco retorted. "I can only use the spell in certain areas of the shop without it being noticeable."
"And here was me thinking you were just turning into a stalker," Hermione replied, smirking at her boyfriend.
"I bloody well feel like a stalker," Draco muttered as he closed the distance between himself and Hermione. "This last month has been torture, I don't think I can last until Easter like this."
"I know," Hermione sighed as she took hold of Draco's hand. "But Dumbledore is always around at the minute."
"Do you think he's starting to become suspicious?" Draco asked. He'd assumed Dumbledore was just being cautious given the fact Potter's father had just been killed, but maybe the headmaster sensed something wasn't right with Hermione.
"No, I think he's just being careful," Hermione replied. "I don't know if he's worried that Lily or Sirius might have said something about me when they were upset. I don't get the impression he's worried about what I might do, I get the impression he's checking I'm okay."
"So he's either worried that they've told you and you're going to get upset or go off the deep end, or he's worried they've told Potter and he's going to turn on you," Draco said.
"I think so," Hermione said. "Of course I don't know for sure, all we can do is be careful when he's being so cautious. I'm hoping if he is worried about what someone might know then he'll start backing off when he realises that everything is just the same as it always is."
"Let's hope that's the case," Draco said. "I miss my girlfriend. Do you have any idea how long it is since I've last kissed you?"
"Too long," Hermione replied. "Although we're making it even longer by talking."
"Let's rectify the situation then," Draco grinned as he lowered his head to Hermione's.
Draco pressed Hermione into the bookshelves behind her and she wrapped her arms around his neck as the pair kissed. With such a long time having passed since their last encounter both Hermione and Draco were more eager than usual and the kissing soon took a more heated turn. When hands started to wander and Draco seriously contemplated taking Hermione right there in the shop, he decided it was best to end things so he reluctantly pulled away from his girlfriend.
"I was enjoying that," Hermione pouted as Draco disentangled himself from her embrace.
"So was I," Draco admitted. "In fact I was enjoying it so much I was seconds away from tearing off your clothes and shagging you right here and now."
"As hot as that sounds, it wouldn't have been a wise move," Hermione said, trying to control how aroused she was getting at the thought of doing naughty things in public.
"No, it wouldn't," Draco agreed. "We've come too far to let our hormones ruin things. As tough as it is, we'll have to wait until we can sneak some time alone."
"Hopefully it'll be soon," Hermione said with a small smile. "With any luck Dumbledore will get bored of watching my every move."
"Hopefully," Draco smiled back at Hermione. "Although I suppose we better be separating. The last thing we want is for your friends to come looking for you. If Dumbledore finds out you've been spending plenty of time away from them he might continue to watch you."
"Yeah, I really should be going," Hermione sighed, not wanting to leave the small bit of privacy she and Draco had together. "I'll try and get away some time tonight or tomorrow night. Even if it's only a few hours it's better than nothing."
"I'm sure we can find something pleasurable to do for a few hours," Draco grinned wickedly.
Hermione chuckled in response, and after promising to try her best to get away she disappeared from Draco's sight. Draco gave his girlfriend a few minutes to leave the shop before he exited the aisle and grabbed the books he'd left nearby. After paying for his books, he shrunk them and placed them in his pocket before leaving the bookshop. Instead of heading straight back up to school, Draco decided to first call at Honeydukes for a treat. He wasn't much of a sweet person but every now and again he liked to treat himself to something from the sweet shop.
Unfortunately for Draco he hadn't been in the shop for five minutes when Potter and Weasley made an appearance. A quick glance through the window of the shop revealed that Hermione was waiting outside, where she was happily talking to Ginny about something or another.
"Great, look who's here," Ron grumbled, spotting the blond Slytherin browsing the shelves.
"I may be good looking Weasley, but that's no reason to stare," Draco sneered at the redhead. "I don't want blood traitors like you looking at me."
"And we don't want snakes like you blocking our way," Harry retorted. "Move so we can get down this aisle."
"Go around the other way, I'm busy here," Draco replied, refusing to budge from his position in the centre of the aisle. He wasn't at all bothered by the display of peppermint mice in front of him, but he wasn't going to move just because Potter ordered him to.
"There is no other way," Ron spat. "Move or we'll make you."
"I'd like to see you try," Draco laughed.
Draco's laughter was abruptly cut off when Harry and Ron exchanged a look before simultaneously barging directly into Draco. Draco was taken so off guard by the move that he lost his footing and went crashing to the floor. Harry and Ron both laughed at the Slytherin sprawled on the floor and Ron deliberately made sure he placed his foot on Draco's hand as he went to move past him.
"Git," Draco swore, grabbing hold of Ron's other foot with his free hand and yanking the redhead off his feet.
Ron went crashing to the floor with so much force that a nearby display toppled over onto the floor. Immediately Harry helped Ron to his feet while Draco jumped to his own feet and stood glaring at the two Gryffindors.
"You'll pay for that," Draco promised the duo as he clutched at his hand that had been stood on.
"What are you going to do, run to Daddy and tell on us?" Harry taunted.
"At least I have a father to go running to," Draco retorted with an evil smirk. "Remind me Potter, where is your father? That's right, he's dead, and even if he wasn't he wouldn't have been here for you. He was going to run off with his mistress and begin a new life away from you and your filthy mudblood mother."
"Don't you dare talk about my father," Harry cried, pulling out his wand and pointing it at Draco. "Stupefy!"
Harry's spell shot out of his wand with so much force that Draco was blasted back against a shelf on the wall. When Draco went falling to the floor the shelf went with him and the blond boy was stuck stunned on the floor buried under sweets. Harry and Ron quickly approached their enemy as the shopkeeper started yelling at them for fighting. The commotion had also drew Hermione and Ginny's attention and the two girls burst into the shop.
"What the hell is going on?" Hermione demanded, gasping when she spotted Draco's familiar hair under a pile of sweets.
"We're giving Malfoy what he deserves," Harry answered, before throwing a stinging hex the blond boy's way.
The hex seemed to counter act the stunning curse and Draco let out a low groan of pain as the curse hit him and he began to move.
"Harry, stop it," Ginny cried, trying to grab onto Harry to stop him from inflicting more damage to the Slytherin.
"No." Harry brushed Ginny off and aimed another stinging hex at Draco.
"Enough," Hermione cried, pulling out her own wand and pointing it at Harry. "Expelliarmus!"
Instead of Harry's wand flying harmlessly into Hermione's hand, everyone was stunned when Harry went flying across the room and slammed into another shelf as his wand almost hit Hermione in the head it came to her with such force. While Ginny and Ron went rushing to Harry's aid, Hermione stood in shock, not sure what had happened. She'd cast a simple disarming spell, so she had no idea how Harry had gone flying across the room. She just hoped it wasn't a manifestation of her darkness and she would be exposed as a result of trying to protect Draco.
"I'm contacting the school," the shopkeeper announced angrily as she shooed the other students who were standing around watching out and closed up the shop. "I will not tolerate this sort of behaviour in my shop."
As the shopkeeper went off to summon someone from the school, Hermione walked over to where Draco was still lying on the floor. Acutely aware that Ginny and Ron were watching her as they tended to Harry, Hermione checked the Slytherin was okay. Draco was also aware enough to realise they were being watched so he snapped at Hermione as he managed to sit himself up. The two stinging hexes on top of the stunning spell had left him in a bit of pain, but he was able to subtly let Hermione know he was okay.
"It sounds like he's okay," Ron grumbled when Draco told Hermione to leave him alone.
"What about Harry, is he okay?" Hermione asked, genuinely worried in case she'd killed him. She may have wanted revenge, but she didn't want to kill Harry.
"He's unconscious," Ginny replied.
"I didn't mean to hurt him, I only wanted to stop him from getting into trouble," Hermione said as she approached Harry, Ron and Ginny.
"We know you didn't do this deliberately," Ron reassured Hermione. "Something clearly went wrong with the spell, I'm sure Dumbledore can sort it."
Hermione smiled weakly, feeling sick at the thought of Dumbledore investigating what had happened. The last thing she wanted was for him to look at her more closely, but she did need answers about what had happened. How on earth had a simple disarming spell caused so much havoc? And more importantly, would this spell the end of her plan for vengeance if Dumbledore decided to let everyone know who she truly was.