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The tingle soon turned into a mild burning feeling akin to indigestion - it was uncomfortable, but not particularly painful. As Hermione descended further down the cool stone stairs to the dungeons, the air around her turned into a cool humid mist, almost. The walls beside her glistened brightly, the droplets of sweat catching the glare of the torchlight. It was exceptionally unpleasant down here.
Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase, Hermione heard two voices echoing off of the walls heading in her direction. She had not been expecting to see anyone down there, and she certainly did not want to be seen herself. In one swift motion, Hermione threw her hood over her head and back into a darkened nook in the wall, covering herself in the shadows.
"Really, he's quite a prick," one voice said with a huff. "I mean, he always has been one, but he's on one today, I'll tell you that."
Hermione caught sight of the two Slytherins as they stepped into the light. Millicent Bullstrode and Theo Nott - two of Malfoy's supposedly close friends.
"Today?" Theo scoffed and adjusted his robes as the two approached the moistened staircase. "He's been a complete wanker all bloody year, so far."
The pair stopped and Millicent coyly fixed Theo's robes for him, causing him his skin to flush a light pink. Hermione was surprised at the exchange - the two never seemed to speak in public at all, and she'd never seen them even sit near each other during meals or class. Not that she cared, really, but she found it interesting.
"It was rather sexy, you know," she said as she grabbed him by his lapels and pulled him towards her, "when you told him off back there."
"Mmm, yea?" He leaned down to give her a small peck and pulled back to look at the dark haired girl.
"Yes - I wouldn't be surprised if he spent the whole night in the study room just to avoid the embarrassment."
"Hm, we'll see. Malfoy's not the type to really give a rat's arse 'bout what I say."
"Well, you got him to lock himself away just now, so let's call that a win and move on, yea?"
The two then kissed passionately before ascending the stairs. While disturbing, the exchange let Hermione know where she could find Malfoy. That was a step in the right direction, at least.
Suddenly, a harsh pain struck her like a hot poker in the middle of her chest. She let out a hiss as she dropped her wand to the ground and clawed her robes open to unbutton her shirt. The heat and pain was overwhelming to the point that she couldn't seem to think or breathe. Hermione slid down the cold wet wall to the ground and tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she started to hyperventilate. Suddenly, she was struck with an idea - in an attempt to assuage the pain, she managed to stand back up and press her body face forward against the wall.
The pain began to pass and returned to the feeling of heartburn. As her thoughts began to return, Hermione reached for her wand and took several deep breaths. Whatever just happened, she never wanted that to happen again - and she imagined if she didn't find Malfoy quick, she would be feeling it soon.
After a good thirty minutes of searching for the study room, and two more episodes of burning, searing pain (increasing in length and intensity each time), Hermione started to feel the heat lighten. As she walked further down this particular corridor, it seemed to get lighter and lighter until she found herself standing outside a large, dark wooden door. The irritating sensation had all but disappeared at this point.
Hermione was washed with relief as she took in a deep breath. He must know she's found him, if he felt what she had been feeling too - which she assumed he must have. In one quick motion, Hermione burst into the room and slammed the door shut behind her.
There he was in all his pretentious, arrogant, careless glory. Hair so blond it was nearly blinding and a book in his hands as he refused to look up to her, and -
Hermione paused. He was shirtless - almost. His shirt had been unbuttoned down to his navel, and he appeared to have a paste slathered across his chest. A soothing salve of some sort, she had to imagine. He'd premeditated this.
Suddenly, she was filled with a rage so hot that the pain she had gone through was nothing compared to it.
"What the hell?"
"Mm, took you longer than I thought it would to come find me, Granger," Malfoy drawled without taking his eyes off the book for a single moment. "I really thought you'd be on my case after I missed Potions."
"Is this some game to you, Malfoy?" She demanded - she simply did not know what to say. "I - I don't know what to say."
He lowered his book and looked at her with mock surprise. "Then don't try so hard - if there is nothing to say, why bother looking for the words?" He returned his eyes to the book and flipped to the next page.
"Accio book," she flicked her wand with purpose and Malfoy's book came flying out of her hand into his. This got his full attention. "Obviously something needs to be said, because I truly don't understand what is wrong with you!"
Malfoy sighed and began to button his shirt up. "Look, Granger. I get it. We have to be around each other. I'm not actually stupid, you know," he said as he stood up and looked into her eyes.
"Then tell me what the hell this was all about, because I'd love to know," she said with a humorless laugh, "why you felt the need to make this far more difficult for both of us than it already is."
"I was curious," he said with a shrug. He reached for his pristine black robes and grabbed a handkerchief that was embroidered with the Malfoy family crest in Slytherin Silver and Green. He cleaned his pale, smooth chest of the salve and buttoned his shirt up the rest of the way.
Hermione blushed and averted her gaze as she took a dry swallow. "Curious about what?" She asked in a voice that seemed to falter.
Malfoy didn't notice - or, at least, she thought he hadn't. He would have mocked her if he had. "What it would feel like. How manageable it would be," he said with a shrug. He took two long steps towards her and ripped the book out of her hands. "Now I'm going to need to get a new one - I'll never get your Mudblood scent out of the binding," he muttered in disgust as he stepped back from her.
Ignoring his bigoted and childish jab, she pressed him, "And? Are you satisfied with how not manageable that was? How painful this is?" She instinctively began massaging her sternum, feeling ghost pains from earlier.
He laughed a bitter laugh and shook his head. "It's nothing new to me," he said. "But if you really can't handle the pain, I guess we'll go forward with our… arrangement."
Nothing new? She was confused by this - what did he mean? Did she dare to ask? "Well, we can avoid it, so I would prefer to." She chose not to ask him anything - she would only be setting herself up, and she knew he wouldn't open up to her. Not that she wanted him to, really.
"Right," he said. "Well, I'd rather not spend more time alone with you than I have to, so if you don't mind -" he made a move to step around her.
Hermione reached out and grabbed his arm. "Wait," she said. He looked at her with disgust and yanked his arm out of her hand.
"Get your filthy hands off of me, Granger," he growled. His eyes shot daggers at her and she rolled her eyes as she stepped back from him.
"Look, Malfoy. I get it," she said in a bored tone. "You hate me, I'm a disgrace, I'm vile, so on and so on. But to my dismay," she took in a deep breath, "I think we need to be in the same vicinity for a few hours to avoid this," she gestured to her chest. "I'm going to the library to meet Harry and Ron. I think it should be fine if you go up there as well and sit a few rows away."
Malfoy let out a malicious laugh. "Right," he began sarcastically. "So because you need to do something, I have to tag along?"
"Yes," she replied hotly, her nose in the air. "You wouldn't have to if you went about today as normal, but yes - now you do."
"And you're going to make me?"
Hermione let out an exasperated breath. "No. But maybe I go to the library tonight and realize this isn't the sacrifice I want to make," she warned him.
She was serious and he knew it. He spent a long moment calculating her face before sucking on his teeth and rolling his eyes. "Right. I'm at your mercy, Saint Granger."
"Tonight you are," she confirmed. "And you will be anytime you purposely make this more difficult than it needs to be."
Malfoy adjusted his robes and tucked his hands into his pocket, his book held firmly under his arm. "I was going up there anyway," he informed her brusquely. He turned to walk out the door, but stopped as his hand grabbed the knob. "And Granger?"
Hermione was feeling smug with her small victory. "Yes?"
"I didn't take you for a black bra kind of girl, but it's good to know," and with that he opened the door and walked out, leaving her standing there with shades of red speckled across her cheeks.
Hermione looked down and noticed she'd left her shirt unbuttoned this entire time, and her black bra had been exposed the entire time. She quickly buttoned her shirt up to the collar with shaky hands. After a moment of hot embarrassment, Hermione made her way out of the room and towards the library.
Unfortunately for Harry, Ron and Hermione, the book of Hogwarts student records proved to be a fruitless effort on their mission to identify the Half-Blood Prince. Fortunately for Hermione, her plan of having Malfoy sit in the library had worked - the pain had not returned.
The following two weeks passed by as though nothing had changed aside from Hermione's new living situation. She would go to class, study in the library, eat meals with her friends and hang out in the Common Room. Hermione only entered her living quarters through her private entrance, and only stepped into their common area to access the shared bathroom. She and Malfoy knew each other's schedules by heart, and knew how to avoid each other at all costs.
All in all, Hermione felt as though she had done the right thing, and by now she no longer even considered this "bond" a sacrifice anymore. She hadn't felt the pain since that first day, and her schedule hardly seemed to change at all. She was rather content.
As she walked into the Common Room on a Saturday morning, she noticed it was empty save for a pair of second years that she had seen around, but never learned the names of. She walked over to the two dark haired girls who were whispering in one another's ears and tapped the taller girl on the shoulder, causing her to jump. "Sorry to startle you," Hermione said with a reassuring smile, "But do you know where everyone has gone off to?"
The taller girl looked to her companion who spoke up, "They're all down at the Quidditch pitch. Almost everyone is down there, whether it's to watch or to try out," she explained, "We don't care much about Quidditch, so we'd rather stay here by the fire," she added unnecessarily.
Hermione's eyes widened as she turned on her heel and ran back to her dormitory; she'd totally forgotten about Quidditch trials. She'd promised both Harry and Ron that she'd be there, and she forgot! Stupid, stupid! No matter, she would get there before anyone noticed that she was late.
As she ran out of the Common Room, the small girl called out to her with a slight sneer, "You're welcome!"
Hermione ignored her and leapt out of the portrait hall. She didn't really care much about politeness at the moment, she just needed to get out to the Quidditch pitch.
She ran through the halls, which were nearly empty. She thought this was odd, even for a Saturday, because there were always plenty of people buzzing around the castle. Where was everybody? As she rounded the corner, she ran right into a shell of armor that she had forgotten was there. The metal clanged as she fell onto the floor, and she thanked Merlin that no one was around to see it. She rose to her feet and halted when she heard a familiar voice behind her. "Perhaps that's why there are rules against running in the castle, Miss Granger."
Hermione blushed red as she turned slowly to face the owner of the dark voice - Professor Snape. She rubbed her arm self-consciously as he examined her with disinterest. "And here I was thinking you knew every nook-and-cranny of this castle; haven't you read Hogwarts, A History?" He asked her sarcastically, only causing her blush to deepen, but she kept looking him in the eye.
"Well you thought wrong, sir," she said rather boldly. She expected a reprimand, but her only smirked at her.
"Maybe so. 10 points from Gryffindor for running in the castle, Granger," he said smugly to her.
"10 points for running?" She asked incredulously; that was a bit over the top, if you'd asked her. "Honestly," she muttered under her breath, sounding exasperated.
He scowled at her, "And 5 more for cheek; I won't have you acting audacious with me, Miss Granger," he said, looking down at her.
Hermione opened her mouth to say another snide remark, but decided against it. Since that day, Snape had been less cruel and harsh to her than usual. "Right, sir. I apologize."
"Good," he said, as he turned on his heel and began marching away from her.
"Wait, Professor," she called out and he paused. She looked around at her surroundings before approaching the man. "Things are going well with Malfoy. Professor Dumbledore was right about -"
He turned quickly back to face her and stormed towards her with a purpose. He got eye level with her, "What did the Headmaster and I say about what happened leaving that room?" He asked her dangerously.
She froze - her face drained of colour, leaving her feeling light headed. "It doesn't leave the room."
"It doesn't leave the room; you know what you've done? Anyone could have overheard that," he said lowly.
She looked around, "There's no one here but the two of us," she said back, feeling annoyed at his attitude towards her.
He scoffed and pulled back, "If that's what you honestly think, Granger, I suggest you wise up," he spat. "Never refer to that situation again, it could end in trouble for us both, and especially for Mr. Malfoy."
Hermione hadn't thought of that. Her face began to flush with red as she stewed in her embarrassment for being reprimanded.
"Understood?" he demanded as he looked down his beaky nose at her.
She groaned and ground her teeth, "Yes, sir."
"Be off, then. Wouldn't want to miss Weasley get burned by McLaggen," he called out as he strode away and disappeared around the corner.
She sighed and walked out of the castle, her mind now on Ron Weasley and Cormac McLaggen - both going head to head for the Keeper position. Both also going to head to head for something else Hermione was not aware of behind the scenes.
As she entered the stadium and took her seat next to Luna and Neville, she noticed Harry looked quite irritated. She also noticed that half the kids on the pitch weren't even from Gryffindor. She turned to her friends, "What do they think they're doing? Do they think this is a joke?"
Neville shrugged his shoulders, "Harry's famous, people want to be near him more, I guess."
Luna looked at Hermione with glassed over eyes, "I know if I played Quidditch, I'd try out with Harry too."
Hermione, Neville and Luna watched the trials in near silence; not because they had nothing to say to each other, but because it was a train wreck to watch. Half the people trying out had no clue how to ride a broom, let alone play Quidditch. As time continued, Hermione could see Harry getting angrier and angrier, until he exploded. "Alright! Everyone touch down, now!"
Everyone complied, now apprehensive. "Anyone who has never ridden a broom or played Quidditch before, leave! That also goes for those who are taking this as a joke! Now!" He yelled, and a group of 4th year girls giggled as they ran away, along with about 10 other people. Harry huffed, then began playing again.
The trials were almost over with, and Hermione was cold and exhausted. The last portion was Keeper, and Hermione watched as McLaggen took up position. His eyes scanned the crowd, and when he found Hermione's he shot her a wink. She shivered at this, and not pleasantly. She watched as he saved one, two, three, and four of the shots taken. She got nervous as she looked to Ron and saw that he was green in the face. She quickly whipped out her wand and before she knew what she was doing, she shot a Confundus Charm towards the slimy seventh year, causing him to miss the last shot. She looked back to Ron who was smirked deviously.
As Ron took position, Hermione smiled. She knew he was going to do just fine now knowing McLaggen had messed up. As he saved the first shot, a solitary cheer erupted from behind Hermione. "Woohoo! Go Ron!" Hermione turned her head to look back at a heavily done up Lavender Brown, who was bouncing up and down excitedly.
This vomit inducing cheering went on for the rest of Ron's shots, and as he touched ground after saving the last shot from Ginny, he turned to the crowd and caught Hermione's eye. He, too, winked at her. She smiled. Lavender saw this and she, on the other hand, was not too happy.
"Two boyfriends at once, never thought I'd see the day," she said nastily, moving in closer behind Hermione.
"What?"
"Ron Weasley and Cormac McLaggen? Getting around this year, I see. How about saving some for the rest of us?" Lavender said maliciously.
"Cormac is not my boyfriend, I don't even know who he is! The only thing I know about the oaf is that he ate Doxy eggs last year," she scoffed, standing up from her place on the bleachers
"Wow, you're easier than I thought, then. I guess that's what happens when you go from ugly duckling to decent swan in less than a year," she said as she descended from the bleachers, leaving Hermione standing there with her mouth hanging agape.
She turned to Luna and Neville, who were also surprised, "What is she on about?"
Neville shrugged his shoulders and stood, "Don't ask me," he said as he, too, left the bleacher area.
Luna stood and placed a hand on Hermione's shoulders, "She's jealous, that's all. You should be happy, it's more of a compliment than I ever got," she said with a smile.
Luna and Hermione both went down to ground level before parting ways. Hermione met up with Harry and Ron a few moments later. "Oh, Ron! You were fantastic!" She exclaimed as she hugged him briefly.
He smiled and flushed a bit, "Yea, I was, wasn't I?"
She hit him on the arm, but before she got the chance to reply, an angry looking McLaggen approached the trio. "I demand a rematch! I swear, something happened out there… something unnatural! And it wasn't exactly fair his sister got a shot at him either, she went easy."
Hermione laughed, "If that's your argument, McLaggen, I'm afraid it's a weak one. Let's go guys," she said, turning and walking away, being followed by Harry and Ron.
Harry patted Ron on the back, "Go on ahead, I need to talk to Hermione a moment, I bet there are people waiting for you anyway," Harry said, causing Ron to nod and walk away, headed back toward the castle.
"Is everything alright?" She asked, suddenly concerned.
He smirked at her, "I saw what you did out there, Hermione."
She flushed, "I have no idea what you're on about, Harry Potter… I really don't."
Harry shook his head and ran ahead to catch up with Ron. Hermione watched and smiled as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"I saw it too," a cold voice drawled in her ear, causing her to jump out of her skin. Hermione turned around and came face to chest with Draco Malfoy. He was standing far too close for her comfort.
"W-What?" she asked, her eyes flashing around to make sure no one was around to hear or see them. "What are you on about?"
"Oh, Granger," he took one step forward, causing her to take one step back. "I didn't think you had it in you to pull something so wicked."
"Whatever you thought you saw, you didn't," she said as she cleared her throat. "The better Keeper won."
Malfoy laughed joyously. "Oh, believe me, I am beyond glad you did what you 'didn't do'. Truly, it will make it much easier for us to trample you lot this year."
Hermione groaned and turned around as she began to walk away from the Slytherin behind her. "Ron won fair and square. What were you doing here today anyway, following me?"
Malfoy moved forward to walk in step with her. "I always come to the other houses' tryouts - it helps me scope out the talent pool. Now I know we have at least one easy win in the bag."
"Right," Hermione scoffed. She didn't even bother to respond.
"And I've been noticing McLaggen taking a liking to you. I had guessed you were fucking, but now I think I may have missed the mark. What's it like to fuck a Weasley?" He asked her in a mocking tone.
"Alright, what is it you want from me?" She asked. "Clearly you came here to get on my case about something, what is it? Have you been watching me, waiting for me to mess up so you have something to hold over my head?"
"Ouch - that hurts," he said sarcastically, as he held a hand to his chest. "However, you are right. There is something I require from you. Since we're already in this predicament, I figured I might as well use it to my advantage."
"What could you possibly want from me, Malfoy?" She stopped to look at him - she clearly had no patience for whatever he was going to say.
Draco looked around. "Not here. Tonight, meet me in our common room." As they approached the castle, he gave her a vicious look over and walked away - he had been spotted by several of his friends. She assumed he needed to make it look like he'd insulted her - not that he ever needed to stage that.
He left Hermione standing there in confusion - what is it that Draco Malfoy could possibly want from a dirty, little Mudblood - aside from all she's given him already?
She supposed she would have to wait until tonight to find out.
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