Chapter Thirty-two

The bet

"I told Potter I'd get revenge for his last little prank. I'll never forgive him for making me think he was in love with you... but I'll let it go for now, and beat him fairly this time."

Hermione gave him a big smile.

"Thank you... Harry was just trying to help us, you know?"

"Help me what? To piss me off? I don't need help for that" Draco replied, snorting and frowning.

"To make you realise how you felt about me, you git" she muttered, tapping him on the shoulder gently.

Draco smirked, staring at the freckles on her nose.

"Well, he did. That was the day I realised it... when I tried to sleep with someone else."

Hermione's face darkened.

"Don't get mad. I told you I didn't get to do it because I couldn't stop thinking about a certain know-it-all I know" Draco added quickly, seeing her pout.

Her expression relaxed and he leaned closer to kiss her again.

"You don't know how many times I've dreamed of doing a lot of things to you here, in my bed" he whispered over her lips.

Hermione's heart fluttered and her breath caught in her throat.

"Don't... don't say that. Nothing's going to happen" she replied, stuttering.

"Don't you want to?" he asked, pulling back a few inches.

"I... we could get caught at any moment, it's not a good idea."

Draco's eyes twinkled.

"Then you do want to... but you don't dare" he murmured, attacking her lips again.

A cloud of desire surrounded them, and the temperature in the room seemed to rise, as did the heat of their bodies. The kisses were slowly increasing in intensity, as were the caresses they were making on each other. Their tongues kept intertwining and the feel of each other's breath against their skin was making them forget everything else.

He felt Hermione trembling in his arms, so he stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm scared. Maybe one of your roommates will come" Hermione said, trying to catch her breath.

One corner of Draco's lips curved upwards and he rolled off of Hermione, laying down on the bed. He pulled her until she was lying against him, and wrapped his arms around her body.

"I was joking, Hermione. I wasn't planning on having sex with you now, even though I'm dying to."

"Did you bring the other girls here too?" she asked, pursing her lips.

"No, I think you're the first girl to come near my bed."

She smiled, leaning closer against him and resting her head in the crook of his neck. They were silent for a moment, their hearts returning to a normal rhythm as they were thinking about everything they had said. One of his blond locks tickled her forehead, and his scent reminded Hermione of something.

"Where's the potion?" she asked suddenly.

"Potion?" Draco repeated with confusion.

"Yes, you know... that bottle you have of Amortentia."

Draco sighed, pulling her tighter into his arms.

"I don't have it anymore. When Potter kissed you, I got angry and broke it... though it wasn't a good idea, because the whole dorm smelled like you. It's been a few days, but it still smells a bit" he muttered, twisting his lips into a pout.

He heard her soft chuckle.

"You know, I love your smell too. It's very intense, and... I used to get really nervous at first when you'd get close because of it" Hermione admitted quietly.

Draco smiled and gave her a sideways glance.

"I could tell you were nervous. You don't know how to hide it" he replied teasingly.

"I suspected as much."

They both laughed and Hermione sat up, pulling out the food she had in her pockets.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, tilting her head to one side and smiling.

He nodded and rested his head on one arm, lying on his side.

They shared what she had brought and Draco pulled two butterbeers out of his trunk, where he had a whole pack.

Pointing his wand at the two bottles, he whispered the freezing spell.

"Glacius."

The bottles were covered in a thin layer of ice and he held one up to Hermione. She took a swig and it froze her to the brain, it was the coldest beer she'd ever had in her life.

"Ugh, it's so cold it hurts" she said with a chuckle.

Draco joined in.

"But it's better this way, and if it was something with alcohol in it, it would be even better" he replied, arching his eyebrows.

"You want to get me drunk?" Hermione questioned, raising a brow at him.

Draco pretended to think about it for a few seconds.

"Well, it wouldn't be bad to see you with a couple of drinks in your body... we could go to Hogsmeade next weekend and have a drink there."

Hermione froze.

"A date?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Yes, I suppose so" he muttered, scratching the back of his neck and averting his gaze from her.

He was nervous, she smiled at the realisation.

"We'll add it to the bet... if you win, I'll have a drink with you in Hogsmeade. But not too much, I don't want to end up doing something I'll regret" Hermione agreed, stroking his cheek with one of her hands.

Draco glanced sideways at her and tugged at the collar of her jumper, catching her lips again.

"I'll win, no matter what" he whispered between kisses.

She let out a giggle and pulled away, taking the last sip of her beer.

"We'll see about that. Harry's really good and he's caught the snitch before you in almost every game all these years" she murmured, grinning wickedly.

She wanted to annoy him and she succeeded.

"It doesn't matter. I've beaten him once this year and I'll beat him again. I have several very good reasons for doing so, Miss Granger" Draco said, lifting his eyebrows a couple of times as he stared at her.

Hermione looked away, setting the empty bottle down next to Draco's on his bedside table.

"We should get going or we're going to be late for Potions class" she commented, getting to her feet.

She started to walk towards the door but his arms caught her from behind. She felt his breath on the back of her neck and a huge chill ran through her body.

"I want to add something else to the bet" Draco said, nibbling gently on her ear as he spoke.

"What?"

"If Slytherin wins, after Hogsmeade, you'll sleep with me that night."

Hermione blanched.

"Sleeping together? Here?" she asked, startled.

"I'll think of a place... but it'll be somewhere where we'll be alone all night."

Hermione breathed out slowly, trying to calm down. Even though she'd been going through some very intense things with him for months, that boy was still capable of making her very nervous.

"Okay" she agreed.

Draco left a small bite on her neck and released her from his grip.

"Shall we go?" she asked, turning her head to look at him.

He nodded and opened the door, taking one of her hands.

After descending the stairs, Hermione knew that her face was burning when she saw those third year boys still standing there and staring at her wide-eyed, hallucinating. Draco gave them a hateful glare and they looked away, once again speaking quietly to each other.

They walked out into the dungeons and Hermione let go of his hand, completely embarrassed.

"Once I win the match, you'll have to let me do whatever I want to you, even if there are people in front of us" Draco muttered, walking beside her.

Hermione frowned.

"Whatever you want? No way, there will be limits" she grunted, annoyed.

"And those limits will be set by me, because I'm the one who won."

Hermione snorted and he elbowed her.

"Don't you trust me?" he asked with a mocking voice.

"I do... though I don't know if I should" she admitted.

They were very close to Professor Slughorn's classroom by then, and there were more and more students in the corridor.

"I want you to trust me, Hermione. Can you do that?" Draco asked in a whisper.

Hermione gave him a small smile and nodded. He winked at her and walked away, heading towards the desk where Pansy was already waiting for him.

Letting out a sigh, she made her way over to sit next to Dean. She set her book down on the table and looked around for her two best friends, immediately finding Harry's green eyes on her.

He raised both eyebrows, shooting her a mute question. She pulled back a little and held up a hand, giving him a thumbs up. Her friend smiled and turned to Ron, saying something to him. They both looked back at her a few seconds later with big smiles on their faces.

Hermione settled back in her chair and focused on the professor, who was already standing right in front of her.

The day of the Quidditch match arrived, and the whole school packed the pitch again.

It was a very sunny morning, which made it easy for the seekers to see the snitch. Draco stood in his team's room, shaking his leg nervously as he waited for everyone to finish changing clothes.

"So we're going after Potter then, aren't we?" asked Gregory with an evil look on his face.

Draco snorted in annoyance.

"No... I want to beat him in a fair way for once, so no cheating, and no more annoying than usual. Got it?" he said, raising his voice so that the two batters could hear him.

"Whatever you say, Draco" Theo muttered, confused by the change in strategy.

Hermione was sitting in the Gryffindor stands with her friends, also quite nervous. Since the talk in Draco's room, every time they had seen each other he had stolen a kiss when it seemed like no one was looking, but she noticed a lot of people watching her and whispering about her... surely those boys in the Slytherin common room were telling about what they had seen.

Besides, his last words before the match had given her goosebumps.

"You should be ready, Hermione... if I win, people will talk for months about what I'm going to do."

The two teams walked out onto the pitch and began to fly over it at full speed.

She saw her friends Harry, Ginny and Ron going to their positions. All three knew about the bet with Draco and didn't plan on letting the Slytherin team beat them again. Hermione bit her lower lip and watched as Mrs. Hooch put the balls into play.

No one had noticed, but there was a ghost floating behind the stands. Draco had told her what he was planning to do, and Myrtle didn't want to miss it for the world.