Here's the next chapter! From this point on, I'm going to be shifting a bit away from what happened in real life for anyone who wants to know. I think the rest of the story will work better that way.
Also, I've started a new story for anyone interested! It's called The Lioness, The Witch, and a Malfoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.
The two of us had a strange ritual now. For the past three weeks since the auction, we would meet each other in the library after we were done with classes. Then we would sit in relative silence and do homework, with Draco breaking the quiet to steal a kiss from me intermittently.
I would look up, worked up into a righteous rage, only to find him calmly sitting in his chair and flipping through a book, as if he never even moved. It became a sort of game to him, as if he was testing how many times he could break my concentration before I lost my composure and screamed in the middle of the library.
Luckily, that only happened once. Or maybe twice.
Right now, he was doing something that was infinitely more irritating. Draco was just sitting there. Minding his own damn business. It was the same feeling I imagined I would get if a pig started flying. A mixture of bewilderment, wonder and slight fear. Pigs just were not supposed to fly. In a similar manner, there were some things Draco Malfoy just did not do, and sitting still while behaving himself was one of them.
I took this opportunity to watch him study without having his eyes constantly on me. All of the characteristic arrogance was missing. Whenever he walked into the room, he acted as if the occupants owed him their life. In fact, plenty of times Draco would walk into the library and if there wasn't a seat, he would send a withering glare at some freshmen and they scurried off as if Satan himself walked in, muttering about how that was the Draco Malfoy, star soccer player and an heir to Malfoy Industries. He would then ignore my distasteful look and motion for me to sit down next to him, stating that we may as well use the newly vacated table. According to Draco, he never told the other students to leave. They left out of their own free will. I'd forgotten how adept he was at getting out of trouble.
Watching him study was an entirely different experience, however. He was silent, only moving to turn a page in his textbook. The familiar scowl and smirk combination were missing as he was completely focused on his work. It was almost sexy. Almost.
As I continued my scrutiny, I realized that I never studied with him. I studied while he fucked around plenty of times, but I never saw him work diligently on anything before now. A smile played on my lips as I watched him push his glasses up the bridge of his nose and twirl his pen in his hand.
Another interesting development, Draco had glasses. I found that I liked him with glasses. Quite a bit.
"Are you through molesting me with your eyes?" he asked, feigning disinterest as he flipped over another page.
I could see the faint smirk. He knew I was watching him for a while. I briefly wondered if he had extra eyes hidden in that obnoxiously blonde hair of his. It was really the only explanation for how he always knew what I was doing.
"Malfoy?"
"Yes?"
"I think we need to clarify some guidelines for this arrangement."
"Yes Granger," Draco said, leaning back in his chair to settle an appraising gaze on me that made me shiver. "Continue to refer to me as if I'm a disease that you can't get rid of."
"Well, to be fair-"
"Guidelines Granger," he interrupted. "What are they?"
I took out a notebook from my backpack and flipped to a clean page as he put away his glasses.
"New notebook?" he asked, giving me a strange look.
"Mhhm," I answered. "Misplaced my old one."
I began to write contract in big letters on the top of the page. A scoff came from next to my ear and I turned to my right to find Draco leaning over me.
"I don't think a contract is necessary."
"Why not?" I defended, facing him. "We're not dating so we may as well both be honest about what we want from this and avoid any confusion."
"Alright," he rolled his eyes and pulled his chair closer to me before wrapping an arm around my waist and settling his chin on my shoulder so that he could watch me write. "Go ahead."
"First, when we study together, we don't try to annoy each other."
"Asking me to stop annoying you is like asking me to stop breathing."
"Whichever's easiest," I smiled innocently.
He pinched my side but motioned for me to continue.
"Fine. What else?" he asked.
"How many times do you want to meet each other?"
"If it was up to me beautiful," he began. "I would see you every day for as long as I can."
"That's not possible."
"Which is why it's not up to me."
I considered my schedule as Draco played with a strand of my hair, twirling it around his pen and then appearing mildly perplexed when it got ensnared. He gave an experimental tug and frowned when it somehow became even more tangled.
Draco insisted on using pens all the time. Not once have I ever seen him write with a pencil. Once I asked him about this strange quirk of his. Apparently, pencils suggest the need to correct for mistakes and Malfoys never make mistakes. At that point, I chose to remind him that he had to have made some mistakes since he was below me in class rank when we were at Hogwarts. He promptly told me to go jump in front of a bus.
"I can maybe do twice a week?"
"What about on average three?"
"Okay, but sometimes we'll have to study."
He smiled brightly and kissed my cheek. Draco could be such a complete ass sometimes, but then be strangely sweet. Luckily, he was always confusing, so there was some consistency I suppose.
"Deal."
"That brings me to my second rule Malfoy," I admonished, flicking his nose gently with the end of my pencil and removing his hand from around me. "No PDA."
"What?
"Oh, however will you live?"
"You say that sarcastically but I'm dead serious."
"Malfoy," I sighed. "What even is the point of PDA?"
"To show you how much I like you?"
"That's why you have the ability to speak."
"I like you Granger," he smirked.
"Yes, the tent in your pants proved that to me the last time we made out."
"See?" he said, pointing at me as if he caught me red-handed. "I can't just tell you I like you when you're such a smartass."
"And how does PDA make me less of a smartass?"
"Well Granger, when my tongue is shoved down your throat-"
"Alright Malfoy."
"It stops you from speaking doesn't it?" Draco finished, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
"I could stab your eye out with this pencil."
"You could," he admitted. "But you won't because you like me too."
"I tolerate you," I corrected.
"Same difference."
"No PDA."
"Fine," he huffed. "But then can I see you alone once a week?"
"Can it be when we're studying?"
"Sure. What if we just study in my room from now on?" Draco offered.
"Alright. Also, during exam weeks-"
"Don't worry Granger," he reassured me. "When you have exams, I don't expect to see you at all. You need to study and you would be too tense to enjoy spending time with me anyway."
"Who says I enjoy spending time with you now?"
"The painfully obvious blush on your cheeks whenever I kiss you," he grinned.
"That's from mortification actually."
Draco pulled on my hair in response, finally retrieving his pencil with a satisfied expression.
"Anything else beautiful?"
"Just a couple more things. I don't trust you."
"We established that right before you tried to rip off my clothes."
I whacked his hand with my pencil before I continued. Sometimes his immaturity surprised even me. If I didn't know better, I would swear he was a ten-year-old running around in a nineteen-year-old's body.
"I don't trust you," I repeated, "and I want to be able to before we go any farther."
He seemed to take our conversation more seriously then.
"Of course."
"So, I'm thinking to help with that, I get to ask you to do three things for me. They can be anything I want. Consider it a gesture of good will," I said.
"Okay," he replied slowly, eyeing me with more than a touch of suspicion. "Do I get anything in return?"
"You can ask me to do three things for you?"
"I'll ask for one thing. I trust you enough," he shrugged. "I don't need three."
"If you trust me, then why do you need one?"
"I said I trust you Granger. I didn't say I was stupid."
"Fine," I rolled my eyes. "My last rule is that this arrangement is easily breakable. The moment either one of us wants out, it's over with no strings attached."
"Fair enough," he crossed his arms over his chest. "Are we done now?"
In response, I pushed my journal over to him and gestured for him to read through the contract. I watched as his eyes moved rapidly over the page for a moment before he nodded in affirmation.
"Sounds good to me. Should we seal the deal with a kiss?" he winked.
I groaned at his suggestive tone but couldn't hide my amused smile. Leaning forward, I cupped his face with my hand and tried to kiss his cheek. He turned at the last second and gave me a gentle, but thorough kiss, tangling his fingers through my hair to pull me closer with every tug on my lips. When he finally pulled away, my breathing was uneven and I was speechless.
"Couldn't help it," he murmured in explanation, keeping his forehead pressed against mine.
I noticed his breathing wasn't quite steady either.
"I want to use one of my favors," I looked up at him.
He pressed a kiss to my forehead, then to my nose and a last chaste one on my lips before releasing me.
"No more PDA," he assured me. "I promise. What's the favor?"
"Granger when you said favor, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."
"Good. I live to be unpredictable."
We were currently parked in Draco's Ferrari outside of an STD testing clinic, much to his displeasure.
"No, you live to be a pain in my ass. I don't need to get tested for an STD!"
"As soon as they confirm that," I said nonchalantly, "then we can leave."
"I don't see how this has anything to do with trust," he grumbled, still refusing to move.
"Because after today, I will trust that you won't infect me with anything if we decide to you know."
"Oh," Draco scoffed. "You asked me to get tested for STDs and now you're shy about the idea of us having sex?"
"Just shut up and get out of the car."
"This is very insulting."
"Why?"
"Because you don't think that I used protection when I had sex!"
"Of course I do," I said, taking his hand in mine and pulling him towards the door of the building. "But condoms aren't a hundred percent effective. This is just a healthy precaution. Plus, there's so much unnecessary stigma about it. I'm getting tested today too, but you don't think any less of me do you?"
"Why are you getting tested?" Draco asked incredulously as we entered the clinic, still holding onto my hand like a scared child. "You're a virgin. Why would you have an STD?"
"You can get an STD through any kind of contact with an infected area of another person Malfoy," I informed him. "That means third base can give you an STD."
He still looked unsure of himself. I could tell that the moment anyone came towards him with any kind of pointed object, Draco would most likely make a dead sprint for the door. He was out of his comfort zone. Taking pity on him, I turned the boy towards me and stood up on my toes to give him a kiss on the cheek, which caused his eyes to brighten a little as he wrapped his arms around my waist and held me to him.
"I thought you said no PDA?"
"You looked sad."
"So, if I'm sad you'll kiss me in public?"
"Not always Malfoy," I chuckled and removed his hands to emphasize my point. "Look, if you really don't want to do this then I won't make you. I promise it's probably nothing like whatever you're thinking it is and it'll be over really quick. It would just make me feel better if we were both cleared."
"Fine," he sighed, "I'll do it for you."
"How sweet."
"Don't patronize me Granger."
An hour later, Draco and Hermione were parking the car and walking up the stairs to his apartment.
"How was I supposed to know that I just had to give a little blood and pee in a cup?" Draco asked her. "You didn't tell me that!"
"Well, sorry, but I didn't realize peeing in a cup would make you feel better," she said, rolling her eyes as she unwrapped the hideous, fuzzy red scarf covering her neck. "And I thought you were afraid of needles. I didn't know you were stupid enough to think they would try to shove something into your penis."
"For the last time, I'm not afraid of anything. I thought my pride and joy was about to be threatened! And you're the future doctor. I don't know about any of this stuff!"
"Good to know that after almost twenty years of being alive, your greatest accomplishment is your dick. And most normal people, regardless of whether or not they want to be a doctor, know that is not going to happen if they go into an STD clinic."
"I was exaggerating Granger," Draco defended himself.
"Sure you were."
At this point, the two of them reached his apartment. Draco pulled out his keys and unlocked the door to let her inside.
"Theo?" he called.
No answer. A mischievous grin spread across his face at that realization. They had the entire apartment to themselves.
She walked in and placed her scarf on one of the armchairs in the living room.
"So, what do you want to-" Hermione's words were cut off by a strangled yelp as Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his body, peppering kisses along her neck.
"Oh, dear god!" she said in irritation as she whacked his arm.
"Close beautiful, but it's actually Draco," he murmured as he nipped the shell of her ear.
She snorted but didn't pull away.
"That's unoriginal."
"Sorry, I'm a little distracted right now."
Draco lifted her up as she laughed and gently laid her down on the couch. Her legs wrapped around his waist and Draco groaned when he settled himself between them. He was entirely pressed against her and it felt like heaven. Adjusting himself so that his weight wasn't crushing Hermione, he kissed her forehead and pushed some strands of hair away from her face.
She was breathless, her hair was a mess, and her eyes were slightly closed due to lust. In Draco's expert opinion, she'd never looked better.
"I like you Granger," he said as if it was something he said every day.
Dear god, did she turn him into someone with feelings? Draco didn't even mean to say it out loud. In the library, he only said it to provoke her.
He liked her body sure and she was one of the only people who could engage him in a conversation without boring him to death. But there was no way in hell he actually liked her. As in the taking her on dates, thinking unselfishly of her before him, buying her all kinds of nauseatingly sweet gifts kind of like. Draco liked her in the way where he liked that she couldn't annoy him if he was kissing her.
He just wasn't a romantic and it would be better for everyone involved if she knew that too.
Her eyes widened in surprise. Hermione looked confused and weary, but not necessarily upset, which Draco supposed was an improvement compared to how she normally looked at him.
"You've mentioned that."
"I know."
"And I told you that I know that because of the tent in your-"
Draco pressed his lips to hers again, muffling the rest of her sentence. Part of him was thankful that she didn't read into his words. It looked like she wasn't very romantic either.
"Just. Please. Shut. Up," he murmured in between kisses. "You ruin it when you talk."
"I-"
He interrupted whatever indignant, no doubt witty, response she was about give him with another, much longer, kiss, grinning against her lips when she sighed in pleasure.
Draco liked the effect he had on her. Hermione always appeared so composed, but he had the unique ability of reducing her to a bundle of nerves and anticipation, a skill Draco used to his advantage whenever they argued and it got out of hand. Which was almost every time.
However, to be fair, Hermione was able to completely undo any of his resolve with just a glance or a smile. Fortunately, he was better at hiding her effect on him.
He pulled away to watch her react to his touch underneath him again. Hermione was just so expressive. Her eyes were feverish in their intensity and she was staring directly at his lips with dilated pupils.
"Malfoy," she tugged insistently on his collar.
Hermione had been repeating his name a few times. Of course she would get irritated when making out with him.
"Hm?" he asked, indulging her by leaning down to place open-mouthed kisses up her neck until he got to that spot behind Hermione's ear that made her arch against him desperately.
"Nothing."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and tightened her legs around him until he was as close as their clothes would allow them to be.
Speaking of clothes…
Making some distance between them with one last lingering kiss, Draco looked into Hermione's eyes and fingered the edge of her red sweater, which he dimly noted was just as unnaturally hideous as her scarf. He tilted his head to the side questioningly. Not bothering to say anything, she just grinned and nodded. If possible, he felt himself get even harder at that point and buried his face against her neck, kissing and biting gently at her skin. He made his caresses gentle, so that they tickled her and caused her to laugh a little underneath him. Finally giving Hermione a moment to catch her breath, Draco tugged his shirt off and reached for her again. She leaned forward and stretched her arms above her head. He kissed her before starting to pull her sweater off.
"DRACO!"
The world flipped upside down and Draco winced when his head connected with the hardwood floor. The next thing he knew, he was looking up at a startled, still fully clothed, Hermione on the couch and a frazzled Theo. It looked like Theo slammed open the door and shouted, causing her to fling Draco off in surprise.
He groaned in pain and closed his eyes, praying that whatever deity was guarding the obsidian gates of hell, because there was no way he was getting into heaven, would just kill him already and get it over with. Death would be better than this strange torture where he was repeatedly tempted with Hermione Jean Granger, only to have her cruelly wrenched away from him every time.
Just put me out of my misery.
He felt a foot nudge his side. Draco opened his eyes to see Hermione grinning widely down at him.
"Sorry," she said, not a trace of remorse apparent on her face.
"No problem beautiful."
He hoped his tone made it obvious that he meant bitch.
"Need help?"
"I'd rather just die here if that's alright with you."
She shrugged as if she had no real feelings concerning his mortality.
Well damn.
Another pair of eyes joined hers above him.
"Why are you shirtless on the ground?" Theo asked.
"Because Theo," Draco started. "I've decided that this is the most comfortable spot in the entire apartment. I will now live and die right here."
Theo rolled his eyes at the other boy's dramatics before the earlier panic crept back into his eyes.
"You guys have to help me."
"Unless the actual Grim Reaper has followed you home Nott," Draco said as he got off the floor and relocated his shirt, "I don't want to hear it. Now if you'll please leave, so that I can continue seducing Granger?"
Hermione pinched his shoulder, causing him to wince in pain.
"Ignore him Theo," she said, glaring at Draco, who quite honestly didn't know what he'd said that was so wrong. "What's the matter?"
"I have a date with Loony Lovegood! WHAT DO I DO?!"
"Well first, you should probably stop calling her the nickname that we gave her when we were twelve," Draco noted dryly.
"You have a date with Luna?!" Hermione exclaimed in shock. "She's never dated someone before!"
"NEITHER HAVE I!"
"If you could stop shouting Theo," Draco said, "I would sincerely appreciate it."
Hermione glared at him with enough venom to paralyze a large animal, before pulling Theo down to sit on the opposite side of her on the couch. They energetically began to exchange ideas for where to take Luna on the aforementioned date and how to make sure Theo didn't accidentally screw up, which he was convinced would happen.
The brunette was arguably his best friend, but right now, Draco was plotting how to murder him without going to jail. When Theo asked him if he wanted to live together, he wasn't expecting this to happen.
"Yes Theo," Draco muttered to himself. "I would love to live with you. We'll have so much fun."
"What was that?"
"Nothing," he said, smiling at Hermione with feigned enthusiasm.
She grinned back at him and squeezed his hand before turning back to Theo. Draco felt his annoyance ebb slightly when she didn't let go of him and instead tangled their fingers together. He brought their hands up to his lips and kissed each of her fingers gently as Hermione continued to talk to his roommate.
How does she care so much about other people? he wondered.
Her kindness was contagious. Just the other day, a sleep-deprived freshman had spilled all of her coffee onto his expensive, Italian suit, which he wore for a presentation he had in his economics class. She promptly started sobbing and stammered out apology after apology. Instead of berating and sneering at her like he normally would have, Draco found himself buying her another coffee and snapped at her to stop crying. She'd looked up at him with big brown eyes, much like Hermione's, and thanked him profusely, offering to pay for his dry cleaning. His only response was that she should stop being such a clumsy idiot before he stomped away in his drenched clothes.
He wondered what possessed him to be so nice to another student, especially one that seemed so incompetent. Draco knew he was charming, but only when he would benefit from it. He was rarely pleasant for no reason.
When he arrived at the library a few minutes later, he immediately realized that it was Hermione's influence. She was sitting there, tapping the end of her pencil on the table and reading a book as she waited for him. It made him smile and feel all warm inside, which also caused him to feel disgusted with himself.
When he took his usual seat across from her, she'd glanced up at him before resuming her reading. After a while, she asked why he smelled like coffee and didn't change before meeting her. He wondered out loud if that was an offer to help undress him, to which she answered that she understood it was difficult for monkeys to accomplish such complex tasks by themselves but that he should try to do his best anyway.
Draco grinned at the memory. He was rubbing off on her as much as she was rubbing off on him. It filled him with satisfaction knowing that he was slowly corrupting Hogwarts' Golden Girl. She usually reserved her biting remarks for him, but sometimes they slipped out unintentionally with other people.
Once, a man approached her while they were studying and started asking her many questions about herself. Draco knew he was fishing for a date, but Hermione only seemed frustrated with the interruption. She had a project due the next day and was worried she wouldn't finish in time. Even Draco knew not to bother her right then. Eventually, she'd snapped at the stranger to get lost because he could obviously tell she was busy and she didn't have time to deal with his horniness. When she realized what she said, Hermione started babbling about how sorry she was and that she didn't mean to yell at him, while Draco just watched the whole exchange with pride and mild amusement.
Despite his influence, Hermione was still the sweet, patient girl that he'd met when they were fifteen overall, with an additional level of confidence that Draco found extremely attractive. It surprised him how strong she actually was, though he'd always known not to underestimate the petite girl. While she appeared to be gentle and kind to almost everyone, her numerous barbs warned others that she wasn't someone you wanted to mess with. Of course, Draco chose to ignore those warnings in favor of seeing her eyes spark with anger and her chest heave in frustration. To him, she looked undeniably sexy when she was mad.
Draco sighed as he returned his attention back to the other two people on the couch. Hermione was no longer holding his hand, and was instead fully engrossed with the task of helping Theo.
Picking up his book on the coffee table nearby, Draco began to read in an attempt to distract himself from fantasizing about poisoning his friend's breakfast. He'd probably regret it if he did.
After almost an hour of reassuring Theo that he would not mess up and be killed by Ginny for hurting Luna, he calmed down enough to disappear into his room and get ready for bed. I shifted in my chair to face the man still sitting next to me. Draco was reading a book, looking like he didn't have a care in the world.
"Hello," I said, watching him curiously.
"Hm," he acknowledged.
While Draco appeared to be calm and relaxed, I could see the way his grip on the book was slightly too tight and how his eyebrows were a little too furled to be pleased.
His Highness appeared to be upset at something.
"We have plans tomorrow."
"Do we? I don't remember planning anything."
He wasn't listening to our conversation at all, I belatedly realized.
"We need to go on Theo's date with him," I informed the blonde, waiting for the inevitable fury and corresponding temper tantrum.
"I'm busy," he replied simply.
"Doing what?"
"Watching grass grow while I eat tin foil dear."
He put down the book and stalked into the kitchen. I sighed before getting up to follow him. When I walked in, I found him examining the contents of the fridge.
"Malfoy," I chided gently.
His only response was something about idiotic roommates and the logistics of poisoning someone.
"Malfoy," I repeated, going up to him and poking his side. "Are you listening to me?"
"Unfortunately yes, there are very few things capable of drowning you out."
"You seem tense," I observed.
"Do I Granger? How kind of you to notice."
"Why?"
"Because I would like to spend some time alone with you without any other living thing within a twenty-foot radius."
"Some people would consider that weird and slightly threatening."
"Yes, because I definitely want to kill you," he said sarcastically, leaning against the counter opposite of me and crossing his arms across his chest.
"Did you know you're high-maintenance?" I asked him.
"Yes," he said with an expression that clearly conveyed: do you even have to ask.
At least he's self-aware, I guess.
"And spoiled?"
"I prefer to call it being assertive."
"Alright you overgrown man child," I relented, "if I make it worthwhile, then will you help Theo?"
"I'm not really a helpful type of person-"
"I'll spend the night with you."
He fell silent, probably expecting me to immediately take it back. But I didn't.
"You're serious?"
"Yes?"
"Like actually serious?" he repeated, appearing dumbfounded.
"Well I was," I said, "but now you're making me doubt whether I should be. Padma and Luna are going back to Fayetteville for the weekend and I don't really want to go home, so I'll spend the weekend with you if you want."
"That's two nights. Are you sure?"
"No sex."
"I figured, but you're willing to spend two nights with me?"
"A willingness that dwindles with each passing second," I told him, raising an eyebrow. "Will you help?"
"Of course," he said with a smile that could charm the fangs off a snake. "I would love to."
Hope you enjoyed! Remember to favorite/follow and review to let me know what you think! Also check out my other story if you're interested.