Thankful to live in a world where we have Harry Potter. As always, reviews are really appreciated. I promise Hermione will not give in easily, I hope to develop this story for many more chapters! I am going to attempt to upload to this more. I hope it is read and enjoyed.

Chapter 6: Temper, temper

Hermione hated how Draco made her feel. Hermione decided she hated Draco as she chewed determinedly on her lip, as to not let the burning tears spill out of her eyes. She did not want to give him any power over her tears and did not want him to see her cry. Hermione hoped and prayed to Merlin that Draco would take the hint and spend the night in the dungeon with his Slytherin friends and give her some peace, but that hope was shattered as his voice echoed loudly behind her.

"Did I hurt the little mudblood's feelings?" Draco called after Hermione. Merlin, could this man not take a hint, Hermione questioned. She had made herself abundantly clear that they should be adults, but this man seemed determined to push her and she lost her fear about her recent growing temper. Hermione did not dare to even reply to his attempt to belittle her and continued to ascend back through the castle and climbed the stony steps as they passed the Great Hall. Hours ago, filled with tens and tens of students laughing and now, empty, and quiet. Hermione glanced quickly inside to ensure no one was in there and satisfied, continued to march on.

Hermione took a firm hold on the staircase and began on the second half of their rounds and as she marched on with her rage to fuel her and no longer feeling the need to cry. Hermione allowed herself to focus on the task at hand and not the prat behind her. She relished her role of head girl and even if he did not respect the task, he had been given does not mean she should not respect hers. Hermione allowed herself to focus on her current duty and began once again to search the castle for anything untoward. She sweeped through two more floors of the castle when she suddenly stopped abruptly. He was not behind her. Somehow, she had managed to block him out and had not realised he hadn't been behind her for some time. Hermione did not allow herself to revel in glee that he had gone but did allow herself to let out a small sigh of relief. Rounds alone was much better than rounds with Malfoy and she started slowly walking again.

Hermione's pace slowed as she began to relax a little as rounds were coming to an end and she did not have to worry about what was next. But this relief was short-lived as she turned a corner and bumped into something hard. Concussion be damned, her head was going to fall off soon. She grabbed hold of the hard object to steady herself and instead of what she hoped was metal or stone was in fact, soft black fabric. Hermione closed her eyes quickly and slowly as she felt large, rough hands wrap around each of her friends and pull them away, so she was no longer gripping the suit. "I believe I said I couldn't promise to stop 'manhandling' you, not that you could manhandle me."

Draco. Damn it.

Hermione allowed herself to chuckle as she couldn't believe she had allowed herself to feel relaxed and relieved that he had gone. Of course, he had waited to do this to her. He couldn't give her ten minutes of silent peace. "I thought we agreed to behave like adults Malfoy also, but it seems you are struggling with that too." Hermione gestured to where Malfoy still had a firm grip on her petite wrists. "Care to let me go?" Hermione questioned as Malfoy stared town at her from his towering height. As Hermione stared back at Draco, she became increasingly aware of how closely they were once again pressed together. Beneath his suit, Hermione could feel his hard body and she felt herself imagining what lay underneath his clothes. Malfoy appeared to be having similar thoughts because all at once, he used his grip on her wrists to pull her up and placed his lips firmly on hers.

Draco released his grip on her wrists but instead wrapped an arm securely around her waist and tangled another in her hair. Hermione gasped as Draco took his lips away and placed her hands once again against him to steel herself from falling and Draco used this opportunity to slip his tongue inside her open lips. Hermione felt his tongue inside her mouth demanding hers to respond as their lips moved together.

"Embrace it."

Hermione heard the voice and accepted this as permission to allow herself to kiss Draco and she found herself quickly becoming an active participant in the kiss. Hermione gripped his suit jacket firmly and angled her head and allowed Draco to deepen their kiss further. She did not know how she knew what to do but found herself becoming wrapped up in Draco's kiss and almost, enjoying it.

"Enjoy it."

Oh, she was. The voice in her head was freeing her. Hermione leant up on her tip toes doing her best to match Draco's large height and they quickly gasped for more breath and came back together. Hermione felt Draco's grip on her hair tighten as he pulled her head back, placing gently sporadic kisses on her slender neck as his other hand began to descend her body and he rested his hand on her bum. As Draco squeezed her there, Hermione felt herself come back into the present moment. She was willingly kissing Draco Malfoy. What was she thinking? Hermione relinquished her grip on Draco's suit and instead, hit him there several times until he finally let her go.

Hermione staggered backwards, touching her lips carefully where Draco had just ravished her. Her chest heaved up and down quickly and harshly as she tried to recover her breath from their activities, and she willed herself to calm down. Hermione stared at him, as he stared at her, and they seemed to stay like this for some time. She watched as Draco clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides and she had some sort of hope, he was affected by this too. Draco made to take a step forward towards her and this seemed to be what Hermione needed next to allow her to move.

She dashed past Draco quickly who did not stop her, and she ran and ran and ran down the corridor until she reached the portrait to her dormitory. She uttered the password quickly and repeatedly as she waited for the portrait to slowly swing open as she felt Draco's presence edging closer and closer to her and she planned to be in her room before that happened.

Hermione scurried through the portrait hole but found Draco now behind her. "No, no, no!" Hermione shouted in some attempt to dissuade Draco to not touch her, but this did not seem to work as she felt his wrist close over her aching wrists. She tried to fight him this time and turned abruptly and felt herself lose her balance. As she braced herself for the floor again, something she seemed to be making a habit of, she stopped. Draco's arm was around her waist, and she found herself held in a princess hold with Draco angling over her.

"Afraid of me, Granger?" Hermione steeled and pushed forward her Gryffindor courage and shook her head to signify no. Draco chuckled at her wordless response, "Oh but you should be." Draco leant forward and placed a harsh kiss on her lips and let her go. Hermione did not give him the satisfaction of saying 'ow' as her bum hit the hard floor, but she stared him down with hatred in her eyes. Hermione needed something as a small act of defiance and wiped his kiss from her mouth with the back of her hand and threw a nearby book at his head. "Oh, Hermione." Draco laughed again as she winced at his use of her first name, "Temper, temper!"

Hermione grumbled as she shrugged her robe over her shoulders and stared at her reflection in the mirror. It had taken her some time to fall asleep the night before. She burrowed herself down into her soft pillows and her layered, scarlet sheets but she could not switch her brain off. Hermione felt scared. She felt scared at who she was becoming. Losing her temper, kissing Draco, this voice in her head. Hermione knew she should tell somebody about what was going on, but she could knock think who and did not think they would believe her. Not at least, without taking her head girl role from her. At some point, her overworking brain must have given in and allowed her to sleep but she knew she did not have any more than a few hours. Hermione took one final glance at her appearance, casting a quick glamour so as not to look as tired as she felt and packed her bag with what she needed for a day filled with classes. It so happened the day after she had had so little sleep was one of her busiest.

Hermione inched her door open an inch and looked out carefully to see if she could spot the blonde-haired git and sighed gratefully as she saw she could not and dashed quickly through and out of the dormitory before her good fortune ran out. As Hermione took her morning route down to the great hall, she joined the throng of students making their way to breakfast and she hoped this time, she would miss the boys, so they did not ask her too many questions. Yet, whilst her good fortune granted her a Draco-less morning, it did not grant her a boys free morning as she entered the hall and they waved at her from the breakfast table. Hermione weaved her way through the students in the hall and took a seat beside Harry, across from Ron.

"Morning Mione." The boys hummed as they stuffed their mouths full of breakfast. "Good morning." Hermione replied, as she carefully poured herself a scolding hot cup of peppermint tea and sipped carefully. She could only manage one sip before the questions started. "You had patrols last night didn't you with the ferret? How was it?" Harry asked, and Ron parried, "He didn't do anything stupid, did he? You can tell us if he did." As though, his ears must have been burning, at this point, Draco walked through the doors and stopped in the doorway as one of his friends from his house caught his attention. Hermione watched carefully and they shared a quick glance with one another. Hermione knew in this moment; she could tell, or she could continue to keep this a secret. As she paused a moment too long and watched as Draco smirked at her, she turned back to the boys and confidently spoke, "No, no he did not." Harry and Ron shared a worried glance with one another but could tell, there would be no use in asking Hermione any further questions as she carefully spread butter on a warm piece of toast. "You worry too much. He's a git but he's fine. I'm fine." Hermione shared, as she took another careful sip of her tea and looked back to her two best friends. "When are the quidditch trials then?" She knew this was all that was needed to steer their attention firmly away from her and as they launched into a rant about their plans and what it was going to be like. This distraction seemed to take their attention away from Hermione as they did not notice, they also did not have hers. In fact, Hermione was not even listening to their voices but instead, another.

"You didn't tell them because you liked it, didn't you sweetheart? You like the feeling of darkness."

Hermione thought back to her sleepless night before and knew there was some truth to what the voice said in her head. As she laid there, she had imagined how impressed she felt at her power from the destruction she had caused and the satisfying feeling of her body and lips pressed against Draco. Hermione continued to sip cautiously at her hot tea, as she tried to escape her thoughts and focus instead on what Harry and Ron were saying.

"Ready to go Hermione?" They both smiled at her happily, as they each grabbed their belongings and rose from the Gryffindor tower to go to their first class. This class happened to be a class they shared with each other but also, the Slytherins – Defence Against The Dark Arts. As they walked together to class, the boys caught Hermione up on the antics of the Gryffindor tower and what the new first years were getting up to with some of Ron's brothers' products. Hermione laughed gratefully, as she found laughing with the boys made her feel more like herself. They walked together into the classroom and found a space together and waited expectantly for their new professor. Hermione glanced around the room whilst they waited and saw Draco leaning casually against a wooden beam in the back of the classroom, surrounded by his Slytherin friends. However, instead of speaking with them, she found him staring at her.

Hermione stared back, as she imagined what they had shared the night before. The man before her had not only now stolen her first kiss but now her second and she could not believe how she had reacted. Draco angled his chin down and stared at her carefully through his thick, long eyelashes and he winked. Hermione felt her cheeks flush, and she quickly turned back to face forwards.

The doors swung open, and Professor Snape marched into the room. "I forgot to mention, when Dumbledore and I went out, we found an old professor. Slughorn, who is teaching potions, so Snape is now DADA." Harry whispered under his breath to Ron and Hermione.

"Dueling," Snape began, "is an essential skill for every witch or wizard to learn and to have. We will begin this term practising this. You will be in pairs, and this will allow me to assess where your abilities or more weakness lie." Snape finished as he cast a look of despair at Neville Longbottom. There were murmurs of excitement, as the student had not had many opportunities to practise duelling in school under a professor. Hermione glanced around the room, looking at the other Gryffindor students trying to decide who would make a suitable partner. She knew Ron and Harry would undoubtably partner up, but she did not want to be left with someone useless. Snape glanced down at the pupils from the raised, wooden platform, "Do not be mistaken. The pairs have already been assigned." Professor Snape waved his wand and the chalk leaped into life as it began to scribble the names of each partnership.

Hermione listened to occasional groan as she quickly realised Snape had paired them with the opposite house and she tried to stifle her own groan as she watched the chalk drawn an arrow from her name to Malfoys.

Upon finishing its work, life left the chalk, and it settled back into its spot and Snape turned to his class. "You are permitted to use only the spells written upon the board. No more, no less. Begin." Students began to reluctantly walk to their partners and take their duelling stance.

Hermione stayed put and waited for Draco to come to her. "You won't embarrass yourself, will you Granger? I will not fail because you are hopeless with duelling." Hermione slammed her full bag to the floor and turned to Malfoy who waved his wand menacingly in his hand, as if to mock her. He took some steps towards her and leant down, as though he was going to whisper in her ear. "Or, are you going to show me some of this temper you seem to have? I know we have other ways for you to fuel it." Hermione knew he meant to rile her, as he referred to her outburst after their shared kiss the night before. She instead, however, pressed her lips together and took the appropriate duelling stance in front of Malfoy. He took a moment to take her in before he mirrored her stance.

She did not allow him a moment to compose himself as she began to send a flurry of spells at him, using only what was allowed as dictated by Snape. Draco laughed at Hermione's speed and began to respond with his own spells. Hermione allowed herself to admit that Draco was a good caster as his spells hit her each time and she had to parry them with her own continued accuracy. Hermione did not want to grant him 'victory' and began once again to fire spells at Draco and as she raised her wand to command a spell, Draco seemed to mirror her movements and do the same. As their spells collided together, they seemed to join and spark. Hermione watched on confused as they continued to join harmoniously together. This temporary distraction was what Draco needed and he sent a final spell Hermione's way pushing both of their magic towards her and Hermione felt her wand spring from her hand and land carefully in Draco's. Hermione fumed. She had lost.

Hermione refused to acknowledge the embarrassment of her loss that bubbled beneath the surface of her skin and the confusion she felt. She could feel her anger itching to burst out from her. She watched Draco carefully, as he weighed her wand in his hand and walked toward hers with hers held firmly against her own.

"Did you feel that, Granger?" Hermione was surprised he seemed to be acknowledging what had happened then to their magic. "Notice what?" Hermione did not want to give him the satisfaction. "The loss that just occurred." Hermione raised her hand and clenched it into a fist. "Temper, temper. Don't forget what I said Hermione. You will get used to succumbing to me." She knew he used her first name to rattle her. "And, anyway, I meant that spark." Draco placed her wand into her robe pocket and stalked away, collecting his belongings and left the classroom.

At this time, Hermione noticed she was the only one left and the class had somehow finished. She let out a shaky, rattling breath and grabbed her own belongings dashing through the corridor to her next class.

Hermione did not know what was happening between her and Draco. She just knew she was afraid to find out.