Note: Thanks for your comments on my long overdue last instalment. I have made some minor changes to the story to make it read better as it was written a bit sloppily (apologies, a lot going on). So, I think it is a lot better now for those who may want to go back for a read and refresh ahead of Part2. I also did write the Vampire Draco fic I mentioned, it's in "The Dinner Party and Other Tales" if you have yet to read it.
This is dedicated to AmethystRoseMalfoy who put in a suggestion for how to finish it which was basically a dope plot outline so this is more or less what she suggested. Thanks, and so good to see your name my love! xx
Disclaimer: M for adult audiences only and I do not own HP.
A Simple Offer II
Hermione snorted and took a big sip of firewhiskey. She couldn't believe had had made such a big song and dance about her and Theo, dragged her to this party dressed up like a complete slapper, and then left her to molest Pansy on the other side of the room as though she was not there at all.
Rolling her eyes, she turned her attention back to the rambling of Blaise Zabini, currently 'impressing' several younger Slytherin witches with tales of his mother's estate in Italy.
Beside her, she heard Theo snort. Clearly having noticed that Draco was distracted, he'd made his way to Hermione's side and she was quietly pleased about the development.
"Looks like you've fulfilled whatever debt you have to Draco and he is quite busy right now… too busy to say, walk you home?" he whispered, raising an eyebrow.
Hermione was just as excited for a reason to leave (without looking like a rejected loser) as she was to spend more time with Theo. Their heated moment after the last party has surely not left her mind since, even if she did still have some confusing feelings about Draco in the mix.
"I should probably say something to Draco," she replied, biting her lower lip.
Theo smiled serenely. "He seems rather busy Hermione, do you really want to interrupt?" he asked innocently.
Hermione glanced over and felt a small sick feeling in the pit of her stomach as Draco whispered something into Pansy's ear before kissing her neck. It really was gross.
She bit back the urge to yell 'get a room!' at full volume and instead turned to Theo and nodded. Disappointed though she was that she hadn't captured the blonde's interest despite her strange curiously, she wasn't one to waste her time on unrequited love or lust and instead decided to appreciate the handsome wizard currently offering her his hand.
"Let's go then," she said, taking his hand and strolling out of the party with him. Though their exit was quiet, it did not go unnoticed by several Slytherins.
"I should go find Granger," said Draco, ignoring Pansy's pouting while focusing his blurry vision on Zabini. He really had too many drinks tonight and was realising he was perhaps a little neglectful of the Gryffindor and entirely too publicly amorous with Pansy, carried away by teenage hormones and a lot of booze.
"No need mate," laughed Blaise.
"Why's that?" Draco asked, suspicious.
"Theo took care of her. Left holding her hand about fifteen minutes ago… he's probably balls deep in her Chamber of Secrets by now," he replied, cackling at his own crude joke.
Draco felt his blood boil and his hand tightened around Pansy's involuntarily.
"Why do you care?" scoffed Pansy. "She was just a bet anyway, wasn't she?" she added, looking up at him with what doe eyes that had absolutely no impact on him.
"She came with me though!" he snapped.
"So? You had your tongue down Pansy's throat and frankly she actually looked none too pleased about it. Not sure if she was just pissed you made her look like a mug or if the princess actually has a thing for you," replied Blaise, pretending to be bored by the whole thing. Draco knew that was far from the truth. Blaise loved this kind of drama.
"It was rude to leave without saying anything," he pouted.
"Ohhh, is it you that has a thing for the princess then?" asked Blaise, turning to smirk at Pansy after dropping that little bomb.
Draco opened his mouth to retort but was distracted by Pansy pulling her hand away.
"You need to sort yourself out Draco Malfoy!" she snapped, "what would your father say? Lusting after mudbloods?" she added coolly.
Draco wasn't sure why but he was offended by her use of the word. He just did not want Hermione addressed in the manner anymore.
"Pansy, you know that word isn't appropriate anymore," he lectured.
"Oh! Piss off would you. If I needed confirmation you have a thing for her, defending her against my correct assessment of her station in life is certainly it," she snapped, flipping her hair dramatically before she stormed off as Blaise doubled over in laughter.
"You are an absolute bellend!" hissed Draco, punching Blaise in the arm. The worst part was he'd lost all interest in Pansy now and couldn't get the image of Theo violating Granger in some dark corner out of his mind. More disturbing still was the raging jealousy that it wasn't him.
"Look mate. You made yourself an easy target," replied Blaise, straightening up and getting a handle on his laughter.
"So, she looked upset?" asked Draco, somewhat hopefully, though he felt he masked it well.
"Honestly?" asked Blaise, more serious now. Unlike many, he was able to see past Draco's well-kept façade and realised there was more to this than the rivalry he had with Theo.
"Yeah," said Draco, scratching the back of his head.
"Well, honestly... she looked jealous and a bit hurt. She tried to cover it up but… I mean, it wasn't hard to see through. But she seemed to cheer up when Theo came along. I think she did suggest she say goodbye to you but he talked her out of it… you were pretty indisposed at the time so I guess she agreed it wouldn't be a welcome intrusion to go over there," said the tall brunette honestly.
"well, shit," replied Draco, unsure what to do with the information.
"Oh, hey Malfoy," said Hermione, almost spilling some punch on herself as she slipped through one of the many dungeon hallways.
"Granger," he replied, nodding.
"How, um… how are you?" she asked, a light flush over her pretty cheeks. She'd had a few drinks he noted. He also couldn't help but notice the small bruise on her neck.
He pursed his lips as he considered the love bite.
Granger had been dating Theo for a few weeks now, much to Draco's up to now secret annoyance.
"Not as well as you I see," he said, pointing to the bruise with his cup.
Hermione's arm flew up and she blushed furiously.
"Shit!" she hissed.
Draco couldn't help but find it endearing. Girls in his circle would certainly not be embarrassed by it. They'd see it as a badge of honour.
"Don't get your knickers in a twist Granger…" he laughed.
She seemed to relax then.
"Sorry, I am just not used to… that sort of thing," she admitted.
"No need to apologise Granger," he smirked, taking advantage of the privacy the dark hall afforded by stepping into her personal space.
"Is that so?" she asked, a little more flirtatiously than she may have if she hadn't had a questionable number of drinks.
"It is so," he said, flicking a lock of hair that had fallen over the mark. "Although, maybe you should apologise that it wasn't me to give that to you."
Hermione opened and closed her mouth, her brilliant but foggy mind clearly trying to make sense of what he was saying. She'd have a hard time, given he hadn't yet made sense of his own feelings and impulses towards her recently.
"You took me to two parties and spent the whole time trying to get in another girl's knickers," she finally replied, trying to slip past.
Draco grit his teeth and blocked her path, looking around to check they were still alone.
"That was a mistake," he replied, keeping her in place.
"Twice?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Would you have liked me to pay you that kind of attention?" he asked.
Hermione chewed her lower lip.
"I think I might have," she confessed, looking up at him with eyes he found hard not to get lost in.
Unfortunately, he spent too long thinking about the implications of her answer and she slipped away, lost to him like a snitch in the wind.
"Granger…" greeted Draco, "where's Nott? Surely this Hogsmeade trip is the perfect opportunity to woo you with those pureblood manners of his," he added, somewhat bitter.
As weeks went on watching them date was worse and worse. He didn't think it was that serious between them, they certainly did not appear to be courting in such a way that would lead to a more serious commitment, but it needled him none the less.
For his part, things had fizzled with Pansy ever since she realised that he had a schoolboy crush on Granger and he'd yet to find a suitable replacement for his bed.
"If you must know, he has gone home to deal with a family matter," she replied coolly, unimpressed with his remark.
"Oh, sorry Granger," he replied.
"Sorry?" she asked, stopping dead in the snow in shock.
"Yes, I have been known to say it!" he snapped, refusing to look at her.
"No, you haven't," she laughed.
Draco looked up and smiled, encouraged by her laughter.
"Okay, no I don't," he admitted, smirking.
"You should work on that," she replied, clearly joking with a raised eyebrow.
"Would you like to help me?" he replied, stepping forward and gesturing that he would like to carry her new books.
"Well, you do have a number of things to apologise to me for so I would be as good a test subject as any," she said flippantly, handing him the new tomes.
Draco's mouth was dry. This was certainly not his area of expertise.
"Would you like to get a coffee with me?" he asked suddenly.
"Now?" she asked.
"It's as good a time as any isn't it?" he retorted.
"I am not sure… Theo…" she replied.
"Has he given you a token of his commitment?" asked Draco seriously.
"What?" she asked.
"So, that's a no," he snorted.
"If he was serious about you Granger, he would give you a token, it is how we were raised," he replied. "He shouldn't be giving you love bites if he isn't willing to make a commitment to you."
"That is rich coming from a wizard who goes through witches like fresh underwear," she snapped.
"Ouch," he said, putting his hand on his heart.
"Why does it need a label," she replied, trying and failing to appear unfazed.
"It does not need a label but if he has given you no token despite dating you, it is not serious. Alternatively, if you are both fine with it not being serious, then where is the issue in your getting a warm drink with another, better wizard?" he asked, flashing her the most charming smile he could muster.
'Shit, logic!' she thought angrily.
"You only took me out to win a bet with Zabini, Draco," she said seriously.
"And I declined to collect on that bet after what happened," he said truthfully, looking around to make sure their conversation was private.
"What happened?" she asked challengingly.
"I fucked up and let a lucky git take home the witch I brought with me and neglected," he replied, cards on the table.
Hermione's eyebrows shot up. She couldn't believe he'd been so direct with her. It was very… un-Malfoy.
"I am confused now," she breathed, as he took a step into her space and nudged her into the alley they were standing near for added privacy.
"Does this," he began, stroking her cheekbone, "help?" he added, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. She immediately leaned into the warmth.
Draco dropped the books and pulled her close, demanding entrance to her sweet mouth.
Hermione groaned and grabbed his coat. She enjoyed kissing Theo, but despite the number of times they'd been hot and heavy, it never led to the physical reaction only one innocent kiss with Draco was giving her.
Finally finding the willpower to stop, she stood back. Draco looked at her intently, seemingly trying to catch his breath.
"Wow," she said replied, not letting her eyes drop from his.
"Yeah," he replied, seeming as shocked by the power of it as her.
"Sooo…" she said, looking down at her beautiful new books, thrown haphazardly in the snow.
"Sorry about the books… can I take you for a coffee to make up for it?" he asked.
"Yes, that would be nice," she said, deciding that she would worry about Theo later. After all, she was young… and she knew enough about courtship in the wizarding world to know Draco wasn't lying when he mentioned the significance of Theo having yet to commit to a token.
"Excellent," he said, giving her a sinful smirk. "And after, perhaps I could walk you home?" he added, his tone loaded with inuendo.
"I think I'd like that," she replied, wicked thoughts of the two of them sweeping through her curious mind.
Fin
Alright squad, that was more drizzle than lemon, but some stories just don't go down the shameless smut road. What should I write next? I need some good scenarios to put our star-crossed lovers into. That's my biggest block at the moment! I read your reviews so let me know if you have any ideas.
Finally, please stay safe out there. The world is still a really dark place right now and I hope each and every one of you is in the best possible position you can be in through this.
xx