Reformed
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Goldensnitch18
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Rated M for Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Language, and Violence.
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Summary: Draco Malfoy is released from Azkaban and sent to Hogwarts for his eighth year where he has a year to show that he can be reformed. Hermione Granger, and her friends, are struggling to come to terms with what has happened to them and move on, but she has agreed to be Malfoy's Muggle Studies tutor anyway.
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Disclaimer: I am not profiting from this story.
Anything you recognize belongs to the great and mighty JKR.
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Chapter Fifteen
Saturday, October 31st, 1998
Hermione fell against the door to Draco's room the moment it closed behind her. She had just had sex with him.
Sex.
With Draco.
The very last person she had expected her first time to be with, and it had been amazing. She shivered as her eyes fell shut, and she remembered the way it had felt to have him so close, as near to a part of her as it was possible to be. They weren't even really together, or maybe they were. Everything just seemed so right with him, as if it was perfectly natural for her to skip the feast to be with him. Ginny would ask her where she had been. She would have to find some excuse, some lie, because this truth was too much to share. They weren't even really together.
She pushed away from the wall and moved to the shower to turn on the water. She dropped the rumpled clothes and wand she had hastily collected onto the sink and glanced into the mirror. Her hair was a fucking disaster of course. Her lips were full and red, and her skin seemed to be glowing. That was probably some trick of the mind or sweat.
She closed her eyes, remembering him, his skin, his hair, his lips. She would take them again right now. Her body ached and there was a not entirely unpleasant soreness between her legs, but she would have him again in an instant. She had been awash in him, and he had buried every bad and cruel memory so deep inside of her that for a small stretch of time she had forgotten them entirely. She hoped that it had been the same for him, that she had provided some respite from the pain that haunted him, that made him hers.
She turned away from the mirror, frighted away from her reflection at that thought. He wasn't hers. They weren't even really together. She reached her hand under the water, perfect as always, and climbed inside.
XXX
Hermione had slipped out of his arms to go clean up, and he had lain in bed, staring at the ceiling. She was fucking incredible. There was no getting around that. He was pretty sure that as far as first times went, theirs was damn good, and he was so bloody pleased. She had melted against him in the aftermath, their bodies seeming to fit so perfectly together even when he was no longer inside of her.
He let his eyes fall closed as the water ran behind the closed door. He had no idea what the hell any of this meant. He was a fucking Death Eater. He had done terrible things, been the antithesis of everything she fought for, and yet, she was here.
What did it mean?
He had felt so close to her from the moment she touched the scarred remains of his mark. He had been consumed by her, driven forward as he pulled at her sleeve, as she lifted her shirt, baring the outward reminders of their complicated past to him. The sight had made him ache with a need to heal them, to make them part of something good.
He rubbed at his face with his hands before he pushed against the mattress, moving out of the bed. He wondered if it was possible for her to see him as something good, to see what they had done as good. He was terrified, honestly. Terrified from the moment he'd whispered, let me. Hermione Granger deserved so much more than him. Surely, she knew this. Surely, she would wake up to this truth as she stood in the shower and washed away the evidence that he had ever touched her.
His feet padded to the dresser. His hands mindlessly pulled out clothes and dressed his body. Just don't let her hate me.
He didn't know what to do as he waited. Thankfully, she didn't take long. Shortly after he stopped pacing and decided to sit at the end of his bed to wait, she emerged from the bathroom looking much the same as she had when she entered his room earlier that evening. She averted her eyes, looking around the room, but not at him. He rose from the bed as she crossed her arms and bit her lip.
"Hey," he said.
She blushed, bringing up a rosy tinge to her cheeks. "Hey," she told him, finally meeting his eyes.
He moved closer to her, taking quick steps before he lost his nerve. His hand rested on the back of her neck, and he gently moved her closer to kiss her lips softly. She let her fingers curl into his shirt as she deepened the kiss. Memories of the way she felt beneath him flashed through his mind, threatening to convince him to pull her back to the bed.
"You should go," he told her, breathing the words against swollen lips.
"I know." She didn't move. Her body remained pressed against his, her hands now gripping his sides tightly.
"I'll never let you sleep if you stay," he said. His fingers traced up her arm.
"I'll never be able to sleep if I go," she answered, looking up into his eyes.
"We can't keep doing this," he reminded her. "We'll get caught." It was inevitable. They shared a common space with too many people.
"I know," she said softly. "I just don't think I care tonight." His lips had just touched hers again when the knock made them both jump.
"Draco?" a voice asked from the other side of the door.
"Theo," he whispered to her. He watched her eyes grow wide as she turned to the door. She did care after all.
"I'll go in the bathroom," she whispered back.
"I'll try to get him to go away quickly," he promised as she began to move, taking sure, silent steps back to the bathroom. He waited until the door had shut softly behind her before he pulled open his other door to the common area. Theo was still in his robes, his arms crossed as he waited.
"Is someone in there?" he asked, one brow raised.
"No," Draco pulled the door open a little wider, allowing Theo to let his eyes move across the room. The blankets on his bed were rumpled, but all signs of Hermione were safely inside his bathroom.
"Thought I heard you talking to someone," Theo told him. His eyes glinted with suspicion.
"Just reading this play Granger gave me. She says it's meant to be spoken aloud." This was only half a lie. She had told him this once.
"Hmm," Theo said. Draco wasn't sure if he was buying his half truths. "Why weren't you at the feast?"
Draco scoffed. "Oh, yes. That's just what I needed tonight. To have the entire school staring at me."
"Not everyone in the school is as obsessed with you as they think you are," Theo countered. Draco considered reminding him how the trip to the library had ended up but decided against it. He needed Theo to go away.
"Is that all you needed? I was going to head to bed." Draco gripped the doorframe, making it clear that he had no intention of inviting Theo in tonight.
"Fine." Theo shook his head and looked back as two other students made their way into the common area. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said. Draco nodded briefly and shut the door.
When he turned, Hermione was standing in the doorway of the bathroom. "I guess you're stuck with me for a bit," she told him softly.
"Terrible luck," he said, but he grinned as he crossed the room.
XXX
Monday, November 2nd, 1998
Two days later, with Hermione in front of him and the memories of Saturday night in his head, it was impossible for Draco to concentrate. She had muggle currency and was trying to show him how to use it, but he just kept staring at her exposed knee or her neck just below her ear and wondering what she would do if he reached out to touch her. He finally couldn't handle it any longer. As she was telling him about the pound, or quid, or whatever it was, he put his hand on her knee, drawing small circles on her skin. She reached down without stopping to grab his hand and move it away, but he saw the merest hint of a smile at the edge of her lips.
She continued on, and Draco leaned in as if to see what she was demonstrating with the money on the desk, but he turned and ran his lips along her jaw line.
"You shouldn't," she whispered.
"Why?" he asked, sliding his chair closer to hers as his hand rested back on her knee.
"It's just not right. We're supposed to be studying," she said.
"I don't care," he told her. His fingers pushed the fabric of her skirt up her leg.
"You will if you fail," she told him, attempting to sound stern.
"I won't fail. You won't let me," he said, and his lips brushed against hers. Her eyes fell shut as she leaned into him.
"Study time should be study time," she argued. With each word, her lips moved against his.
"What about a break?" He stood, and she followed, obviously failing to convince even herself that they should be working. Draco pushed his books back on the desk and lifted her onto it. She licked her lips, and he kissed that soft skin below her ear that had entranced him just moments ago.
"We just started," Hermione said softly, keeping up the pretenses of an argument.
"Yes, we did," he agreed, chuckling softly against her neck as she gripped his hair tightly in her fingers.
"I'm not sleeping with you on a desk," she demanded, and it actually sounded like a real protest for the first time.
"I'm not asking you to," he told her, but he couldn't deny that the prospect was delicious once it entered his mind. Maybe one day he could change her mind.
XXX
Friday, November 6th, 1998
Harry heard the footsteps approaching his desk and looked up to find Ron towering over it, hands shoved in his pockets. "You're coming home with me, yeah?" he asked.
"I was going to -"
"C'mon, Harry," Ron insisted. "This will all be here Monday. They ran us ragged today. Come home, and let's have a drink."
Harry sighed and looked around his desk. He really had nothing to do except look over more old case files. He was just avoiding home, but if Ron was going to be there, then it would be all right. "Yeah, okay." He pushed up from his desk and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair to pull it on over his arms.
"Good. You're here more than anyone else. They are going to have you take the first year exam early if you aren't careful. The papers will go nuts. 'Infamous Harry Potter Blows Auror Exam Out of the Pitch. Youngest Official Auror in a Century'"
"Just what I need," Harry laughed and shook his head. He wanted nothing more than to give the Prophet nothing else to report on as long as he lived. Unfortunately, his current position seemed to be failing to do that. Every week at least, there was a new article about him printed. He was still mentioned nearly every day. It was considerably less funny without Ginny around to tease him about them.
Ginny.
That was a topic he was attempting to avoid thinking about these days. He still wasn't convinced that her staying at Grimmauld over the holiday's was a great idea, but there was no way he was going to argue the point any further. He could see her side of it now, sort of, but it was also hard to know that he was part of keeping Ginny from them. He rubbed at the back of his neck as he reached down to grab the file he had been going over.
Ron's hand reached it first, landing firmly on top of it. "Leave it," he said firmly, and Harry frowned up at him. "One weekend. Just one where you don't drown yourself in invisible work."
"Fine," Harry told him, resigned. He wrapped his scarf around his neck and moved around the desk to leave.
Ron followed after and quickly came up to his side. "So, you want to play chess tonight? Maybe Exploding snap?"
"What is Lavender doing?" Harry asked, not looking over to Ron. He could see his best friend shrug anyway.
"Parvati is going over there. She's not crazy about me," Ron admitted.
"Because Lavender dumped you when she thought you were in our dorms alone with Hermione, and now you're back with her?" Harry asked, laughing.
"Well" - Ron ran a hand through his hair - "yes, I suppose that's probably it." Ron grinned.
"So, you are together," Harry said.
"Yeah," Ron agreed, shrugging again.
"Does Hermione know?" Harry asked, hoping that the answer was yes. He didn't need them arguing over this also. They didn't need another thing between them.
"I told her last weekend," Ron said, and Harry was grateful.
"Good. She's okay with it?" The reached the lift and stopped.
"She seemed fine. Not great, but said she was happy for me." Ron looked sheepish despite his words.
"Are you bringing her to Christmas? Ginny was asking." Harry tried to sound like it was no big deal to bring up Ginny, but the truth was it was hard to get her name past his lips to her brother.
"Yeah, I expect I will," Ron said as the lift doors opened. The woman inside stared openly as they walked inside. Harry tried to ignore her.
"Ginny's supposed to write your Mum. Let her know that we'll be there," Harry said quietly.
"Good," Ron said, and Harry could tell that he wanted to say more but wouldn't. He wasn't sure if it was because of the woman or because of their friendship. "Mum will be glad."
A/N: I'm unbelievably glad and relieved with how the last chapter went over. The lovely oblivionbaby did a read through for me and assured me it would be fine, and I should clearly always trust her. I was laughing a bit and grinning like crazy at your reviews. You are all so very, very lovely.
I hope you liked this chapter!
Also, I started posting another Dramione today. It's a 6th/7th-year bond story, so if that is your thing check it out in my profile. I'm so excited about both of these stories and having you all along for the journey! Thank you for inspiring me to keep writing.
xoxo
Meg
