Meddle not

by FictionalLizzy

Theirs was a forbidden but irrefutable love. Add a good helping of denial, trepidation, severe consequences and meddling parents and you had the perfect recipe for heartbreak. When Draco and Hermione decide to take a chance on each other, will their love be able to survive the meddling of biased parents and well-meaning friends? Or were they doomed to fail from the start?

4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello everyone

This chapter is a bit longer than the last. For some reason, I have way more fun writing Draco's POV. Nevertheless, I told you at the start of the first chapter that there will be times when you might hate one of the characters. This chapter could be one of them.

Songs to listen to:

Christina Perri - Jar of hearts

Cole Swindell & Lainey Wilson - Never say never

Paloma Faith - Only love can hurt like this

Chapter 4:

September 2005

"What's wrong with you?" Theo asked as Draco plopped down in one of the wingbacked chairs in his rooms, a scowl affixed to his face.

"Nothing. I'm fine," Draco said, pulling his scarf from his neck and tossing it to the coffee table.

"You look broody. Is it because of Granger?"

"I said I'm fine, Theo." Malfoy shot him a severe look.

"It's okay if you're bothered by her being here," Theo soldiered on, unconcerned about the fact that Draco was not in the mood to discuss his ex-wife's sudden presence at Hogwarts after years of silence.

Draco growled in warning.

"This is a safe space. You can cry if you'd like."

"Theo!" Draco finally snapped. "For fuck's sake! Can you just not?"

"Fine, fine," Theo lifted his hands in resignation, "I'll stop," he mimed locking his lips and throwing away the key.

Draco rolled his eyes, let out a frustrated sigh, and kicked off his shoes, resting his feet on the coffee table in front of him.

"If your mother could see you right now," Theo pointed at Draco's feet, grinning.

"Good thing she's not here, is she?"

"Oof!" Theo grimaced. "You really are in a foul mood, aren't you?"

"I thought you said you were going to stop digging?"

Theo sighed, looking serious for the first time since Draco walked in. "I'm worried about you."

"Don't be," Draco shrugged his shoulders, feigning indifference. "I told you I'm fine."

"Okay," Theo scratched his chin and pursed his lips. "Shall I pour us a drink while you pretend not to sulk over your ex-wife who suddenly showed up in your life again?"

"Yes to the drink," Draco deadpanned.

"You're still not over her, are you?" Theo asked, pushing up out of the chair, and making his way over to the liquor cabinet.

"I've been over her for a long time, mate," Draco drawled. "Contrary to what you believe, I'm not all that bothered by the fact that Granger decided to show up here, suddenly interested in teaching."

"Right," Theo nodded, unstoppering the decanter to pour each of them a hearty measure of firewhisky. "You're not bothered at all."

"I'm not!" Draco growled in frustration.

Theo stoppered the bottle, leaving it out, and returned with two glasses in hand. "I know. I just said that." He agreed with a patronizing grin. "I think it's great that you've moved on."

"Sod off," Draco grabbed the drink from his friend's hand, downing it with a gasp. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and summoned the bottle of firewhisky, desperately in need of more. "I have moved on. Over and over. With more women than I can count."

"Yes, you did," Theo raised his glass to Draco in mock salutation. "A fantastic coping mechanism for a man with a broken heart."

"It works for me," he muttered, pouring out another measure for himself, before reconsidering, and filling the glass to the brim.

"How's Turpin?" Theo asked, just as Draco took a large sip of his drink, making him splutter and cough in surprise, throat burning.

"How do you know about Lisa?" Draco narrowed his eyes suspiciously, mopping the firewhisky from his chin with a sleeve of his robes.

"The walls have ears." Theo offered simply, not elaborating.

"Right. Well, I guess it was bound to come out at some point," he shrugged. "I always suspected Lisa couldn't keep things to herself."

"So, how was she?"

"Meh," Draco pushed out his bottom lip, thinking of a word to describe the sex with Lisa Turpin. She was the only woman he considered shag-worthy in the castle, and while he didn't like screwing a colleague, their night together had been born out of desperation and too much alcohol. But as good as she looked naked, she wasn't a very responsive lover. "She was okay, I guess. A little on the boring side."

"Shame," Theo pretended to pout. "I was hoping you'd finally found someone you could settle down with."

"Don't be ridiculous," Draco huffed a laugh, finally relaxing now that the alcohol had started doing its job. "Once with her was enough. No need for a repeat."

"What?" Theo teased. "You mean to tell me you only used her for sex? How terribly unlike you."

"Funny..."

"No, but seriously, though. All bullshit aside, how are you holding up with Granger being back?"

"I told you," Draco leaned back, pretending to be unaffected. "I'm doing great. It's not like I'm still in love with her."

"No, of course not." Theo agreed with a patronizing nod.

"I don't even care that she's already strutting through the castle in those ridiculous fucking heels like she owns the place."

Theo hummed in agreement, leaning back in his chair to watch while he went off on a tangent about how unaffected he was by Granger.

"Or the fact that she's acting as if nothing happened between us. Like it didn't affect her at all. She's so aloof that she hasn't even apologized to me for what she did. For the way she just left her ring on my bedside table with a pathetic excuse for a note."

Theo watched on, saying nothing. And it grated on his nerves that his best friend wasn't defending him.

"And don't think I don't see the way you're giving her those fucking looks and pining after your friendship like a lost puppy. As if you've forgiven her for everything."

"I'm not pining..." Theo sighed, looking guilty. "But yes, I miss her. I miss how easy our friendship was...and dammit, Draco, something still doesn't add up. Her reason for leaving reeks of Lucius Malfoy's doing. Granger never cared what anyone thought. If she loved or befriended someone, she did it because she saw deeper. And why would she have been friends with Pansy, Blaise and me? Especially someone like me—with a Death Eater for a father—if she didn't want to be associated with us. She never made snide comments, judged us or brought up our pasts."

"Because it was all a big fucking secret. My relationship and marriage to her; your friendship. Always a secret. Never out in the open unless it was in another country. And when we moved back to the Manor, things became just a little too real for her. It was only a matter of time before someone found out she was married to an Ex-Death Eater."

"I think-" Theo started, but Draco cut him off. He was on a roll now.

"And I fucking knew I'd never be good enough for her. I knew she deserved better, but like a goddamn idiot, I ignored the facts and got involved with her. Until there was no turning back. I should have kept going the way I always have, avoiding feelings and relationships. Commitment. I was content with the way things were before she came along and fucked it all up."

"Maybe she realized her mistake, and that's why she came back. To try and apologize. To try and work things out."

"There's nothing to work out anymore, Theo. And it's a little too bloody late to apologize."

Theo pursed his lips. "Oh, come off it, Draco," Theo said, tipping the last mouthful of firewhisky into his mouth, gasping. "You're being a bit unreasonable. Have you ever asked her outright why she left?"

"She left that fucking note..." Draco said in a low voice, glaring at his friend. "And her ring. You saw them. I showed them to you the day she left. And you saw what it did to me. I have no reason to ask her what happened. My father told me what she'd said. And I told you. So stop fucking defending her!"

"Just consider asking her. What if there's more to it but you'll never know if you keep avoiding confrontation? You could work things out. Be happy again."

"Hell will freeze over before I ever consider getting back together with her."

"Why are you being so stubborn, Draco?" Theo challenged, a flush of frustration colouring his features. "I've never seen you as happy as when you were married to her. You were so good together."

"Yes, and look at how that ended."

"I still maintain that there was something she didn't tell you. Something that made her leave."

"She left because she wanted to, Theo. Because she didn't love me enough to get over my past and the Malfoy reputation."

"That's bullshit and you know it!" Theo challenged. "I could see how much she loved you. A fucking blind man could see it."

"That's just it, Theo!" Draco shot up, pain mixing with the alcohol, burning through his veins fiercely enough to push him over the edge. "She didn't love me. Otherwise, she would have been able to look past who I used to be. Besides, who in their right mind gets married at nineteen? Who gets married straight out of school?"

"Two people who couldn't imagine living without each other," Theo said softly, looking so earnest that it fucking hurt to look at him. "Two people who had been fighting for each other since the beginning. Who constantly had to be on the lookout. You know your parents never approved, no matter how much your father tried to make you think he'd changed. So, what if it was his plan all along to make you feel complacent while he continued with his underhanded scheming?"

"Fuck!" Draco screamed, flinging his empty tumbler at the wall, watching it shatter into millions of pieces. "I don't know if I can do this," he moaned, pushing his hands into his hair and tugging hard in frustration. "I don't know if I can see her every day and not want back what we had when she's moved on from it all. And I don't know if I can deal with the fact that my father had a hand in our divorce. Or that Granger never once thought to come to me and tell me what my father said to her."

"What makes you so sure that she's moved on?" Theo asked.

"It's been five years, mate. If she wanted to, she could have come back to try again."

"Maybe that's why she's here now?"

"But what if I can't forgive her for leaving me? For being dishonest. For not trusting me. What if I'm already too broken to be the person she fell in love with back then?"

"Then I guess it's over," Theo concluded morosely.

xxx

With a throbbing headache and a mood even fouler than last night, Draco joined the staff table for breakfast in the Great Hall, barely greeting anyone as he took his seat.

Two weeks into the start of term, Granger was already pushing him to his limits with her mere presence. She barely looked his way, barely spoke to him, pretending as if nothing were amiss.

It was clear that Theo had been wrong last night because Granger's detachment showed Draco she felt content about the decision she'd made to walk away five years ago. She didn't feel guilty, because she thought she'd made the right decision to distance herself from a bunch of Death Eaters. Wouldn't she have approached him already, if, as Theo had suggested, his father had had a hand in their divorce?

Theo briefly looked up from his conversation with Septima Vector, nodding his head in greeting, before carrying on. He seemed right as rain this morning, with no signs of a hangover. But then, Theo hadn't consumed nearly as much firewhisky last night. The talk with Theo didn't make him feel any better today. He felt quite raw now, having scratched open old wounds, and his hangover wasn't doing him any favours. He'd done so well suppressing his past, and now he felt like he'd taken two steps backwards.

Draco tried to drown out the voices of his colleagues, chief among them Granger's, while he nursed himself back to life with black coffee and self-pity until he could brew himself a proper hangover potion later.

"Morning Draco," Lisa Turpin purred as she took the recently vacated seat next to him, sliding her hand slowly up his thigh to his crotch in an uncharacteristically brazen move. She gave him a firm squeeze, making him cough out a strangled moan in surprise. Thank Merlin his lower half was hidden below the table.

Draco looked up, feeling the urge to make sure nobody noticed what was happening, and found Granger scowling at them.

She promptly turned her head away when he arched a brow at her, and she rolled her eyes in response.

Interesting...

"I had fun the other night, Draco," Turpin whispered in a husky voice, leaning closer to him. Her fingers stroked the outline of his cock, already semi-hard just from the attention. The last time he'd had sex was almost a month ago. He was trying to be better. To do better. Fucking Turpin had been a mistake. Casual sex with colleagues could only end in disaster when you had to face each other every day. And while, admittedly, he wished it was anyone else's hand instead of Turpin's, he needed a shag very badly. All this tension with Granger, the unwelcome memories of when they'd been married, had him tense and irritable. He needed to blow off some steam...soon. "I thought we might have a repeat of the other night whenever you're free?" She asked, biting her lip saucily for him.

Turpin wasn't ugly by any stretch of the imagination, but their night together had been disappointing. For someone as athletic; as sexy, he'd expected her to be one hell of a shag. He'd thought she'd be a vigorous lover, and boy, had he been wrong.

He grinned, his mood lifting significantly when he noticed Granger's clenched jaw, a muscle ticking dangerously while she studiously pretended not to listen to his one-sided conversation with Turpin.

Perhaps Granger wasn't as unaffected as she pretended to be.

Even though Draco knew better than to perpetuate this thing with Turpin—he very rarely did repeats—he found himself willing to screw her again just to piss Granger off.

"How about I take you somewhere special tonight?" He asked, turning his attention to the woman next to him, giving her a licentious smirk. "Like the River of Light in the Forbidden Forest."

The sound of porcelain shattering had him turning away from Turpin abruptly, trying to find the source of the commotion.

He should have known...

Granger was glaring at him with murder in her honey eyes, the remnants of a teapot scattered all over the table and tea soaking into the tablecloth.

He huffed a laugh, exceedingly pleased with himself. He was vaguely aware of Turpin's furtive attempts to get his attention back on her, but he shrugged her off, finding himself suddenly much more interested in the ire of this temperamental Gryffindor beauty in front of him.

"Oh dear," Professor Flitwick tutted, turning to Granger. "Are you quite alright, Hermione?"

"Fine, thanks," she forced out through gritted teeth, eyes still intently focused on him. Flitwick flicked his wand, clearing the table with a quiet Evanesco while eyeing Granger with concern.

Draco shot Granger a mischievous smirk, knowing that the River of Light had always been her favourite place to visit with him. It had also been the place where he'd made love to her for the first time back in their eighth year, and many more times since then. It had always only been theirs—a secret neither of them had shared with anyone else—until now. And evidently, his offer to take Turpin there for what Granger assumed would involve shagging seemed to have pushed the poor thing just a little too far.

"You know," Theo said after breakfast as they made their way to their respective offices to prepare for the first lessons of the day. "You've really gone and done it now, haven't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Draco denied with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Sure you don't." Theo played along, "But just be careful that you don't ruin what might be the last chance you have to win Granger back."

"Who said anything about wanting to win her back?" He scowled, mood dropping at the sudden seriousness of Theo's tone.

"It's your choice, Draco," he shrugged with false indifference, "Just remember that you might not be the only one hurting right now. There's a good chance that Granger is struggling just as much seeing you every day."

xxx

Draco was surprised to find Granger waiting for him that afternoon, just as he dismissed his last class of the day. She was leaning against the doorframe to his classroom, chewing nervously on her lip. She stepped into the classroom and out of the way when the sixth-years filed out past her and kept her eyes studiously fixed on him.

He shuffled the papers on his desk that still needed to be graded tonight, stalling to gather his courage. Granger and he were notoriously bad—and good, he supposed—in close proximity, and seeing her nervousness meant that this—whatever it was she'd come to him for—could go either way.

"Professor Granger," he levelled her with a calculating stare while she watched him with a frown puckering her brow. "To what do I owe this honour?"

He flicked his wand to clear the blackboard, and pushed his chair into the desk, slowly making his way over to her.

She sighed, looking down at her feet for a moment, lip still pulled between her front teeth, pensive.

He stopped in front of her, crossed his arms in what he hoped conveyed nonchalance and waited for her to speak.

She didn't look up when she released her lip. "Don't take Lisa to the River of Light." She pleaded so softly that he almost missed it.

Her words punched him in the gut. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Please, Malfoy?" She looked up, begging. Her cheeks flushed the prettiest pink.

"I'm not sure how this is any of your business?" He snapped. She had no right to ask this of him. Not after everything.

"It's our place, Draco!" She growled suddenly and looked up at him, eyes burning with anger and resentment. "I thought that place was special to you too?"

Hearing her use his given name sent an unexpected shiver up his spine. It's been ages since he's heard it fall from her lips.

He needed to employ stronger defences if he were to survive this encounter. No matter how much she wanted to play innocent, she was the reason things ended. And now she wanted to pretend as if The River of Light and the memories attached to that place were significant to her.

"It used to be. Years ago. But I don't see how that matters anymore," he retorted with irritation, completely shaken by the direction their conversation was taking. "It's not like the two of us are going back there for a midnight shag again."

"It's a special place and it still means something to me. I don't want you to take her there for a meaningless shag."

"What exactly makes you think it will be meaningless? What if I'm in love with Lisa?" He bristled, suddenly affronted that she assumed he was incapable of having a meaningful relationship after their divorce. He was completely capable of settling down if he chose to do so.

Hermione suddenly paled, taking a step back in shock. He could tell she hadn't expected him to say anything involving love.

"You're in love with her?" Granger whispered wide-eyed, searching his eyes for the truth.

He swallowed thickly, feeling uncomfortable about lying to her. "Would it bother you if I said yes?" He should have been honest with Granger. Told her that he had no interest in Turpin, but she made him feel defensive. Perhaps it was the deep-seated need to get back at her for what she'd done to him. To hurt her as much as she'd hurt him.

Granger took another step back, eyes suspiciously bright like she was trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry, Malfoy," she shook her head and retreated further. Her voice cracked when she said, "You're right. It's none of my business."

Oh, Merlin…

She was preparing to run away.

And he couldn't let her go yet. He couldn't shake the overwhelming need to be in control when she walked out now. It needed to be on his terms. This time, he wanted to make her walk away. He wanted to watch it happen. He wanted to be the cause. Because, dammit, he didn't have a choice in the matter the first time. She took that choice from him.

But the panic in her eyes made him weak. It shouldn't have softened him as much as it did to see her so vulnerable. He should have fucking revelled in it, and yet...

"Granger," Draco soothed. He lifted his hands in a placating gesture and approached her cautiously. "Stop trying to walk away."

She shook her head again, biting her lip to stop it from trembling and took another careful step back, keeping her wide, bewildered eyes trained on him.

"Let's finish this conversation," he implored, taking another measured step toward her while praying he wouldn't scare her off.

"No," she whispered, shaking her head once. "I don't think I want to hear about you and Lisa any more than I already have."

"Then why did you come here?"

"Doesn't matter. You can do what you like with whomever you like. It's not like we're married anymore."

A gasp sounded from behind them, and for the first time, Draco noticed Padma standing in the corridor, watching with wide eyes. Eavesdropping.

Granger whipped around at the sound, alarmed. "Padma?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to listen to your conversation," Patil shook her head, trying to justify her lack of respect for their privacy. "I was just looking for the two of you because McGonagall wanted us to discuss a change in the patrol schedule for the professors."

"Oh," Granger nodded, looking disconcerted. "Right."

"So..." Patil eagerly looked at both of them in turn, obviously not bright enough to leave well enough alone. "You were married?"

"Patil..." Draco warned at the same time that Granger begged, "Please don't tell anyone."

"Of course not," she promised, but the excited gleam in her eyes told Draco that within an hour, most of the staff would know, and come dinner time, even the students would be in on what was Granger's and his secret. Patil reminded him so much of Rita Skeeter at that moment that he felt an overwhelming desire to throttle the nosy witch.

When Patil hurried off with a suspicious skip in her step, Granger clapped her hands to her face and let out a groan of frustration. "Shit!"

"It will be fine." Draco lied, trying to brush it off as nothing of importance while knowing otherwise. "I'm sure she won't say anything."

Granger pulled her hands away from her face and scoffed at him, "You don't truly believe that, do you?"

He sighed and shook his head with dismay. "Unfortunately, no. She's probably told half the school by now if she's still as much of a gossip as I remember her being back when we were students."

"Fucking Padma and her rotten timing," Granger muttered.

"I'm sorry." He sincerely wished he could make all of this go away.

"Why are you apologizing?" She snapped suddenly. "It wasn't you who let the cat out of the bag with the door wide open for all and sundry to hear. I should be apologizing to you. I should have checked to see if anyone was listening. It could just as easily have been a student."

"It's not that big of a deal." Another lie. This would be prime gossip for the next two weeks, if not the next month. But he supposed it was worse for her than for him because she'd worked so hard to distance herself from him and his family.

"That's what you say now, but wait until it gets out and all those perfect pure-bloods you string along find out that you fucked a mudblood and married her for good measure."

"Don't!" He spat. "You know I hate that fucking word." He stepped toward her, eyes narrowed in anger. "You don't get to talk about us like that. And don't pretend as if I was the one who made our relationship a dirty little secret."

"But it's true, Malfoy! We were a dirty little secret! Otherwise, we wouldn't have hidden our relationship—our marriage—from most of the wizarding world."

"I was never ashamed of other people finding out, and you know it. I was only scared of my parents finding out in the beginning. And when we moved back to the Manor, my father asked us to keep things quiet. But I would have had no qualms if people found out about us. So don't go putting this on me."

"Merlin..." Granger groaned, dragging a hand down her face. "You're so full of shit. Are you really going to-"

"Look," he cut her off abruptly, not in the mood for an argument. "This is not the time and place for this discussion. And we're due in McGonagall's office. Best not keep her waiting."

"Fine," she clenched her teeth. "Let's just sweep everything under the rug, yes?"

With a heavy sigh, Draco ignored her barb. "How do you want to handle the fallout from Patil's big mouth? Because you can be sure she's spilling the beans as we speak."

Granger straightened up and lifted her chin in typical Gryffindor-fashioned bravery. She squared her shoulders, eyes shining with determination. "We're going to go up to McGonagall's office with our heads held high. Show everyone that we're not ashamed of our past."

Once again, her words contradicted the reason she'd walked away from their marriage. There was a niggle in the back of his brain that made him think there was more to the story. But they had bigger Grindylows to fry right now. "And then?"

"Then, we take it one step at a time. Handle the fallout as it comes our way. But this time, we stop lying. We don't have anything to hide. Or, at least, we have to make it appear that way. We fell in love and we got married too soon. And it just didn't work out. It's not that big of a deal. There are tons of witches and wizards who have gotten divorced. We weren't the first and we won't be the last. No need to go into detail."

They headed to the Headmistress's office in silence, both brooding over Padma Patil and her terrible timing.

Draco didn't consider himself a coward, but in this particular instance, he was glad to have Granger on his side when they had to face their colleagues in the few minutes it took to get to the staff meeting. She was a great ally—he knew this from experience. She was stubborn to a fault, determined, and smart enough to know where a situation could be manipulated to benefit her. Sometimes he thought she'd have made an excellent Slytherin.

A noticeable hush descended over the office when Draco and Hermione entered together. Every single eye shifted to them, but Patil flushed and looked away as if she felt guilty.

And just when he felt ready to turn around and walk back out, Theo burst in with impeccable timing. "Sorry I'm late," he apologized, managing to cut the tension and draw the focus of the room momentarily away from what was the Granger-Malfoy soap opera. "What did I miss?" He grinned at Draco with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, apparently aware of the gossip making rounds.

"Right," McGonagall cleared her throat and folded her hands together behind her back, eyeing Granger and Draco curiously for a moment, before she focused on her staff. "This will be a short meeting. Finnigan had to tend to a family emergency and will be away indefinitely. And Professor Entwhistle's wife has gone into premature labour, so he'll only be back in about two weeks." The Headmistress pursed her lips as if these emergencies could have waited for a more convenient time. "This, however, means that I've had to shuffle some of the initial pairings to make up for the absence of Finnigan and Entwhistle."

"Are you okay?" Draco whispered in Granger's ear while McGonagall prattled on in the background.

"Yeah, I guess so." She whispered back with a subtle nod of her head, but her hands were clasped together tightly in front of her. She looked stressed. "You?"

"I'm okay, too," he confirmed, heart stuttering for a beat when Granger looked up at him with her large doe eyes. Gods, those eyes. He swallowed thickly, feeling raw and exposed. "I expected worse."

She hummed her agreement, eyes still on him. "But there's a very good chance that the worst part is yet to come. I imagine the Great Hall will be humming with our scandal come dinner time."

He nodded, eyes involuntarily dipping to her lips for a moment. He wanted to curse the effect she had on him. Hated that he was still so attracted to her. But most of all, he hated what she'd done to him when she'd walked away from their marriage. He felt like he was close to drowning at this moment, and he wasn't sure if he had enough strength to keep his head above water.

"I feel I need to make sure that the two of you are comfortable with this arrangement, Professors Granger and Malfoy?" McGonagall interrupted their moment.

"Yes, Headmistress," Draco agreed automatically, turning his head back to McGonagall with absolutely no idea what she'd just asked of them.

Granger also agreed to the request, nodding her head vehemently. But she shot him a bewildered look as if asking: 'What the hell did we just agree to?'

"Just-" McGonagall shifted uncomfortably. "Just try not to kill each other when you're patrolling together."

Ahh...so, it appeared the Headmistress had thought it a wise decision to pair them for patrols. If there was ever a disaster waiting to happen, this would be it.

Draco followed out after Granger at the end of the short meeting and pulled her into an alcove hidden behind a tapestry, away from curious eyes. "I know what I said in McGonagall's office, but do you think it's a good idea for us to patrol together? We can barely last a minute without starting up an argument. I find McGonagall's fear of us murdering each other not completely unwarranted."

"Can't we just call a truce? Try to be friends?" Granger asked, looking exasperated with him. "All this bickering and arguments—it's tiring, and frankly, I've had quite enough to last a lifetime."

"I told you a long time ago that we'd never be friends, Granger."

"You also said you couldn't stand me, but then you ended up marrying me, remember?"

"I do remember, funnily enough," he quipped sardonically. "But you were my wife and my lover. I don't fuck my friends."

"So, it's a no then?" She cocked an irritated brow. "To being friends?"

Draco sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he'd have to be truthful to get Granger off his back. "It's either love or hate for me when it comes to you. Nothing in between. And since love is out of the question after everything that happened..."

"So you would rather hate me than try to be my friend?"

"It's complicated."

"No, Malfoy. It isn't. You're either willing to bury the hatchet and try to be my friend. Or you're unfairly going to continue holding a grudge against me for leaving you, while you were anything but an innocent victim. And we'll continue to snap and fight and shout."

He opened his mouth to add his two knuts, but she cut him off before he could even get a word out.

"It's your choice, but I'm not going to resort to begging or forcing you. You're a big boy and it's time you started acting accordingly. So..." She crossed her arms, looking adorably vexed. "That's that. I don't have anything else to add."

"A first, I'm sure." He deadpanned, deliberately trying to piss her off. He'd probably stop if she didn't respond with so much…fire.

Granger turned away with an aggravated huff and marched off in the direction of the Great Hall for dinner, leaving him staring after her.

xxx

Draco found Turpin waiting for him in his office down in the dungeons after dinner when he walked in to fetch a stack of essays that needed to be graded tonight.

And she was naked.

So naked...

On top of his desk.

He froze on the spot, unsure of what he should do. On the one hand, he knew it would be a very bad idea to give in to his needs and fuck Turpin. And on the other...

She spread her legs slowly, maintaining eye contact with him the entire time. One of her hands trailed down her stomach and over a neatly trimmed mound, to slip two fingers inside her cunt.

She moaned, so completely the opposite of the way she'd been with him the first time—timid and unresponsive—that his cock twitched in response.

When she pulled her fingers out, they were slick and glistening...and why the fuck was it a bad idea to shag her? He couldn't quite remember at the moment.

"I've been thinking about the time you shagged me in the loo at the Three Broomsticks. And I don't think I gave you the right impression of me. You see..." She said and hopped off of his desk. "I was very drunk, and I'm afraid my reactions were a bit...off. But I would really like to have another go. Show you how good I can be." She came to a stop in front of him, pushed his robes from his shoulders and tugged on his tie to loosen it.

And he shouldn't want this. Shouldn't feel this guilty either. Why couldn't he have her when she was serving herself up on a silver platter?

But by the time Turpin had finished undressing him, he was so, so hard. Throbbing.

She lowered to her knees and pressed her lips to his abdomen, tongue flicking out to taste his skin. She hummed her approval and continued her exploration of his body, sucking at the muscles and sweeping her tongue lecherously over the dips and swells, working her way up to his chest. When her mouth closed around his nipple, teeth scraping against the flat disk of sensitive skin, his resolve finally crumbled.

Fuck it...

He deposited her on his desk and stepped in between her thighs with his cock fisted in his hand. He stroked himself a few times before he pressed his tip against her entrance, and with one sharp thrust of his hips, he was deep inside of her. And she was warm and wet...just what he needed right now.

She moaned for him and threw her head back when he curled his fingers around her hips and picked up speed, fucking her so hard that her tits bounced and the desk groaned with every thrust. Maybe it would have been a good idea to cast a silencing charm beforehand, but he doubted anyone would be taking a stroll around the dungeons at this time of the evening.

His balls tightened and flames licked at the base of his spine—a warning that he was close. He needed to slow down immediately, or he was going to bust a nut before she could come. He couldn't allow that to happen. He had a reputation to uphold, after all.

He stilled his movements, let go of Turpin's hips and squeezed the base of his cock as he carefully pulled out of her, dragging slow, deep breaths into his lungs to regain control of his body. When he was sure he wouldn't come, he tugged her toward his chair, sat down and motioned for her to get onto his lap.

He was pleasantly surprised by how much more responsive she was tonight. Perhaps it had been the alcohol that first night. But he suddenly remembered why this was a bad idea. She was his colleague; he'd already fucked her once; she was going to the Quidditch Championships at Ilvermorny with him and the others in November. Fucking her again could make her impossible to shake off. And the way she'd cornered him in his office, waiting for him stark naked, made him wonder if she expected more than just a good time. But he'd already been inside her just now. The damage was done, wasn't it? What difference would it make if he finished the job? Got rid of some of his tension.

He pulled her onto his lap and guided her hips upward so he could slip inside, leaving her to set the pace and take what she wanted so she could get off too.

When they were both sated and breathing heavily, Draco cast the contraceptive charm himself, just to be safe, and wondered how he was going to get her out of his quarters without sounding like an arse.

But Theo showed up to save the day, as usual.

Even though Draco knew he would get a verbal lashing from a very disappointed Theo, he couldn't help but feel relieved that his best mate had turned up as if he'd been summoned.

Theo waited, with his back facing them, while Draco lifted Turpin off of him so he could slip out of her; for them to get dressed. But Draco could see the stiff set of his friend's shoulders. Not a good sign.

"Mind giving us some privacy?" Theo asked when Turpin had slipped on her shoes and was smoothing her hands over her hair. "There is an urgent matter I must discuss with Draco."

"Right now?" Turpin pouted, trailing her hand over Draco's arm.

"I'm afraid it can't wait." Theo levelled her with an icy look, daring her to challenge him.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Turpin gave a weak wave and left the room.

"What the hell, Draco?" Theo growled when the door shut behind the witch.

He was thinking the same thing. What the hell had he done? Now he would never get Turpin off his back.

"What?" Draco pretended to play dumb.

"I came here to find out if you were alright after Patil spilled the beans, but here I find you going at it with Lisa fucking Turpin. I thought you said she was boring. That you didn't want a repeat?"

"Needs must when the devil drives," Draco shrugged. "And we were done when you walked in, you know. It's not like we were mid-shag when you showed up."

"And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Theo growled. "Needs must? Really?"

"I was horny. And she was waiting naked, with her legs spread wide open, on my desk."

"Oh, well, sure..." Theo feigned indifference, but his eyes were murderous. "Why not stick your dick into any witch who wants a shag?"

"What's your problem?"

"My problem is that you can't even show an ounce of fucking self-restraint. Aren't you getting tired of this? Haven't you screwed enough witches to last you a lifetime? And what about Granger? You know...the witch you're still in love with. The one your eyes had been glued to the whole time we were in that staff meeting tonight?"

Draco barked a laugh. "I'm not in love with her, Theo! It's high time you started getting it into that thick skull of yours. Granger and I are done. She made her choice. And I've accepted that. I have no one to answer to. Not even you. So, I will shag whom I want, when I want without having to explain myself afterwards."

"Grow the hell up." Theo snapped, turned around and walked out of his office, slamming the door on his way out.

**FLASHBACK**

March 1999

Pansy walked into his small living room late one evening, mascara streaks running down her cheeks. She looked visibly shaken.

"Can we talk?" She asked warily and sat down on the couch next to him where he was reading up on a charms topic professor Flitwick had dipped into during class that day.

"Of course, we can," he sat the book face down on the coffee table and turned to her, frowning. There weren't very many things that could upset Pansy Parkinson enough that she'd cry. So this had to be something big. Something important. "What's wrong?"

She shifted uncomfortably and looked down at her clasped hands resting in her lap. She seemed to consider her words whilst scraping together enough courage to tell him what was on her mind. She looked up, vivid blue eyes wide and imploring. "You need to swear our conversation will not make its way to anyone else. This is important, Draco. Nobody can know."

"I won't tell a soul, Pans. I swear." He shifted, sitting cross-legged beside her.

She nodded and sighed resignedly. "Good. Because if this gets out, I'm fucked."

"Okay, don't worry. I won't say a word to anyone. You know you can trust me."

"Yeah," she considered him for a moment, hand rubbing over her eyes. "Something happened tonight. And it took me completely by surprise. I didn't even know it was something I wanted until it happened. It never made sense why I felt the way I did. But I get it now."

"You'll need to clarify, Pans." Draco encouraged, lost as to what she was trying to tell him.

"Gods..." She blew out a long breath and tipped her head up towards the ceiling. "I was with Astoria tonight, helping her study for her Transfiguration when she kissed me."

Draco blinked, momentarily surprised by the news. Of all the things he'd expected her to say, this was not it. But he chose to refrain from saying anything that would make her retreat and instead he simply prompted with a slow, "Okay…"

"It took me a moment to realize what was going on, and then I couldn't stop myself from kissing her back. From touching her. Things progressed quickly from there. I mean, Astoria just went for it. She undressed me. Kissed me everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I mean," she looked down at her lap pointedly, "Everywhere. And it felt so fucking good. So right. But I felt guilty. And when it was all over I got dressed and walked away without saying a word. I mean…how the fuck was I supposed to respond, you know?"

"Was this your first time with a woman?" He probed carefully. "Physically, I mean?"

She nodded, teeth digging into her bottom lip.

"And you've had sex before? With a guy?"

"I have, yes," she said, picking nervously at her nails. "Marcus Flint last year—he was my first—and then Adrian Pucey about a month ago. And I never understood why I couldn't enjoy it the way I was supposed to. The way Daph and the others did. I felt sick to my stomach every time Marcus or Adrian touched me, but I'd thought that perhaps I just wasn't into either of them; that maybe I needed to have significant feelings for a wizard to actually enjoy sex." She paused and considered her words for a moment. "There have been a few witches I've found myself attracted to. I even fantasized about kissing them or touching them, but I didn't pay it much mind. I thought it was normal to be curious. Daphne and Astoria have kissed other witches often when we played spin the vial, and they never seemed grossed out or embarrassed about it. It was all just good fun. So I didn't give my curiosity and attraction much thought. I never imagined something more for myself than what my parents expected of me. Then Astoria happened, and it was like a revelation. Everything just clicked; fell into place. And I have no fucking idea what to do about it. Before tonight, I didn't even know Astoria was gay. And she certainly never let on that she had feelings for me. Romantic or sexual. I still don't know what it is she wants from me, but I know we can't continue."

"Why not?" Draco frowned. "If it feels right with her, or with any other woman for that matter, why shouldn't you follow your heart?"

"My parents would lose their shit over this, Draco. You know this!"

"We're not talking marriage here, Pansy. I'm simply suggesting you figure out what it is you want. And whether that's with a witch or a wizard, it doesn't matter. You can figure out a plan when you feel comfortable with your decision."

"You think so?" She lifted her head to look at him with a flicker of hope and relief in her eyes. "You're not judging me?"

"How could I? You're not doing anything wrong here."

"Then why do I feel so guilty?"

"Because our parents want to force us into a life of their choosing. They won't let us decide what we want for ourselves. And because people suck. They judge without putting themselves in others' shoes." He gave her a weak smile, "And possibly because you should have talked to Astoria instead of walking away. She's been your friend for a long time. Can you imagine what she's feeling right now? She probably thinks she fucked up your friendship for good, tonight."

"You think I should go talk to her?"

"Yes." He nodded emphatically. "You should. The sooner the better. And forget about your parents and everyone else. Forget about what's expected of you when you graduate. Focus on what you feel when you're with her. Find out if there's a connection worth pursuing."

"You're the fucking best, you know?" She scooted closer to him and pulled him in for a hug. Draco tightened his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "You deserve to be happy, Pansy. And I promise to keep this to myself. Until you decide what you want. I've got your back."

xxx

Granger was sitting with her usual crowd: Longbottom, She-Weasley, Thomas and Finnigan. The latter was gesticulating wildly as he told a story, evoking laughter around him.

"The dolt probably blew something up again," Theo leaned in conspiratorially, also eyeing Finnigan.

"Like that's new for him," Pansy scoffed, fixing herself a cup of tea with a level of finesse that would make his mother proud.

Draco ignored them, unable to look away as Granger pushed a stray curl behind her ear, appearing disinterested in whatever Finnigan was saying.

She suddenly looked up and straight at him, expression guarded.

His stomach flipped and his pulse sped up when he remembered how soft her skin had been the other day in her room. How alluring and innocent she'd looked lying stretched out on her bed with her shirt pulled up to the undersides of her breasts. The way her lips had felt against his in the supply cupboard. The way she'd tasted when he'd sucked her bottom lip between his. He remembered the way she'd looked at him yesterday in the corridor outside the potions classroom before she tried to kiss him again.

Over the last month after their talk on the Quidditch pitch, he had done his best to avoid her, because despite finding her irritating and stuck-up, he knew there had been a forbidden spark.

Granger was pretty and intelligent—a combination he's always found very attractive in a woman, and the way she looked at him made him feel like she saw past his bank accounts; his reputation with women; his past as a Death Eater, and saw him for who he really was.

Every interaction with her made him more and more aware of how blind he'd been. And he wondered how he'd ever thought she wasn't his type when he couldn't stop thinking about her. Couldn't stop looking at her.

Hermione Granger was spellbinding in the rawest ways possible. She was beautiful without wearing a stitch of make-up or a single glamour. She was innocent and kind-hearted. Sexy in a quiet, unobtrusive way that the other girls in school could only aspire to be.

She possessed the kind of beauty that wasn't immediately evident, yet was impossible not to notice once you've discovered it for the first time. And he knew he'd never deserve any kind of relationship with her—friendly or romantic—because of his past. Because of the skull and snake on his arm. Because of his reputation for jumping into bed with any girl he wanted without bothering to consider what it did to them when he walked away as soon as he'd gotten what he needed from them.

He would never be good enough for someone like her. But more than that, he knew a relationship with her would be impossible. His parents would make sure of that.

And yet, he found himself unable to look away.

Granger blushed, belying her supposed indifference and it made him wonder what she was thinking of at that exact moment.

"Just shag her and be done with it, Draco," Pansy leaned in to whisper. "Because we both know that's all it can ever be."

Draco tore his gaze away from Granger to scowl at Pansy and muttered, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please don't insult my intelligence, darling," she leaned closer to squeeze his hand. "I know you. And I see the way you look at her," she insisted, affording him a look of genuine concern.

Of all his friends, Pansy was probably the one who understood forbidden love better than anyone. And because of this, he knew her advice was given with good intentions.

Now that he thought about it, all of his friends had coincidentally chosen to get involved with people they weren't allowed to. Ones that would never get the stamp of approval from their parents. Yet, Pansy was the one who would suffer the most for it, because she was a woman and was completely dependent on her parents for financial support.

Theo and Blaise would be judged for their choices too, but not nearly as harshly. And it helped that they simply didn't give a fuck about the consequences. They had solid plans for employment after school, while Pansy had been raised with the expectations that her husband would provide for her. She wasn't expected to pursue a career after school. Choosing to become involved with a witch instead of a wizard would have her ostracized from her family.

"You know, Pans. I was just thinking the same thing," he agreed bitterly, hating that the truth hurt so much. "I know nothing could ever come of it."

"As badly as I want to see you happy, I don't know that Granger would be worth alienating your parents for, or sacrificing your inheritance," Pansy said softly, looking at him with pity. "And even if you are willing to risk it—if you're truly done with your casual dalliances, and serious about Granger—chances are you two would kill each other before your third date. You both have wicked tempers when you're thrown into a room together."

"Three dates is oddly specific." Blaise chipped in with a mouth full of toast.

"Shut up, Blaise." Pansy waved him away.

"I'm going to go ahead and disagree with you, Pans." Theo challenged with a glint in his eyes, bringing his tea to his lips to savour a mouthful while deliberately making them wait for his supposedly compelling argument.

"Today would be great, Theo darling." Pansy coaxed with a sneer, impatiently waiting for him to continue.

"I think," he smirked lazily, "All that rage is just sexual tension and attraction, and as soon as our dear Draco here locates his nuts and shags Granger, there will be no more rage and bickering. They'd be really good together. He's different lately and I can't help but notice that the change started ever since they began interacting more this year."

"Noted," Pansy accepted Theo's opinion, "But his parents?" She shook her head briskly, "They'll never allow it. So compatibility, sexual or romantic, is irrelevant."

"They'd disown him, for sure," Blaise added unhelpfully, grinning for some reason.

Draco failed to find any humour in all of this.

"And then he'd be poor as shit." Theo piled on, scrunching his nose at the thought.

"And let's face it," Blaise scratched his chin thoughtfully, "Without any money, Granger might not even be interested in him anymore."

"It's true," Pansy sighed dramatically, pushing Draco's hair out of his eyes. "You're not even attractive, are you? You poor thing."

"And there it is…" Blaise enthusiastically tapped his hand against the table in agreement, feigning remorse. "Sorry, mate. But she's right. You're shit to look at and it probably could have been overlooked if you'd had any semblance of intelligence."

"So..." Theo shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we've all reached the same conclusion, haven't we?"

"We have," Blaise nodded solemnly. "No reason to worry about Lucius and Narcissa having a conniption because there's no way Granger would ever be interested in Draco."

"See," Pansy cooed, "Problem solved." She bumped his shoulder playfully, grinning while Draco stared at his friends in shock.

"Close your mouth, mate," Theo chastised mockingly. "It's unbecoming to gape."

"And you might catch flies," Blaise added.

Pansy nodded her agreement, ferrying a piece of fruit to her mouth.

"Thanks for cheering me up," Draco muttered sarcastically. "You knew just what I needed to hear."

"Yes, because Slytherins are renowned for being cheerful," Pansy deadpanned.

"Touché," Draco relented with a miserable sigh, frowning down at his plate of cold, untouched eggs. He knew his friends were trying their best to cheer him up, but it was clear that all four of them agreed on one thing: A relationship with Granger was impossible.

xxx

Their fifth night of detention on Friday was torture. Not because Slughorn had set them the 'glamorous' task of scrubbing cauldrons that Draco was sure had been forgotten for at least fifty years, but rather because of the tension between Granger and himself.

The previous three nights had been almost as bad, with them trying to sneak inconspicuous looks at each other while they prepared and pickled rats' brains for their second detention, and disembowelled frogs for their third. For their fourth detention, they had to disembowel bats for their spleens, and after that, measure out African Sea salt to fill eighty jars. But after their encounter at the Three Broomsticks earlier today, it felt much more palpable.

Draco had joined his friends for a drink in Hogsmeade, unwinding after a gruelling week of never-ending homework, when Granger had walked in with Red, Weaselbee and Potter, the latter leading the way.

And after fetching their drinks from the bar to relieve Madam Rosmerta of at least one trip through the bustling pub, Draco had bumped into Granger. Literally. With the drinks hovering beside him, he'd clasped her arms to steady her, and had gotten lost in the honey of her eyes for a minute. They'd shared an intense, lingering look, both unaware of their surroundings. Their eyes had volleyed back and forth between each other's lips and faces, speaking a secret language of desire that no one else could understand. And just when he'd worked up the courage to invite her over for a drink at his table, Weaselbee had interrupted with the most unfortunate timing, spewing the same tired bullshit from their schooldays, whilst trying to defend Granger's honour.

It had been something Draco had found confusing since neither he nor Granger had even spoken a word to each other yet. But maybe Weaselbee had seen the way they were looking at each other. And maybe Draco had misread the looks she'd been giving him. Maybe Granger belonged to Weaselbee...

This only highlighted the fact that he never even stood a chance in the first place, never mind their backgrounds, their pasts, their sides in the war, or even his parents and their opinions on blood.

When he felt as if he'd implode if he spent another minute enveloped in the tension thrumming between them inside the potions classroom, Draco lifted his gaze to where Granger was battling to scrub away a stubborn bit of calcified potion on her cauldron.

He scraped all of his courage together and decided to approach her. He put down his scrubbing brush and walked over to her, coming to a stop behind her.

"Need any help?"

She jumped at his sudden appearance and snapped a defensive "No!" before relenting with an apologetic sigh, "Sorry, Malfoy. I didn't mean to be rude. You just startled me."

"Mmm," he hummed in response, "You startle easily."

"You walk too quietly," she turned her head and smirked at him over her shoulder. "I'm almost done," she nodded towards the cauldron in front of her. "You?"

"All done with mine," he said and looked up to find Slughorn watching them wearily from over his evening Prophet, probably just waiting to intervene the second they looked like they might start arguing again. "I think we're going to give professor Slughorn a heart attack if we keep standing so close together," he murmured in her ear, relishing the way she shivered in response to his proximity and voice as goosebumps rippled across her skin.

She gave one last determined scrub before dropping the steel brush back into the cauldron with a dull clank, sighing with satisfaction. And then she turned to face him, wiping the tiny beads of sweat from her brow. Her eyes flicked up to his for just a second before she looked away with a blush.

Was it possible that she felt it too? This riveting, undeniable, forbidden attraction.

Granger swallowed nervously and cleared her throat, still avoiding eye contact. "Perhaps you should stop standing so close, then. If you're so worried about the poor professor."

"Perhaps you're right," he agreed with a low hum that made Granger's eyes flutter shut for the briefest moment. "I just don't know if I can..."

"Malfoy! Granger!" Slughorn barked a warning, clearly believing the two of them were seconds away from ripping each other's throats out. "What's going on over there?" He narrowed his eyes as if trying to see them better in the dim light of the classroom.

"Nothing to worry about, sir," Draco reassured casually. "Just trying to apologize to Granger for the things I said the other day."

Slughorn harrumphed and shook out his copy of The Daily Prophet, but Draco could have sworn he saw a smile appear from behind the professor's bushy moustache just seconds before his face disappeared behind the newspaper again.

"We should probably get back to work," Granger suggested and turned her back to him to try and heave the cauldron from her workstation. "This baby just needs a nice rinse, and then she'll be good as new."

Malfoy's hand slipped over hers to stop her, and his stomach flipped unexpectedly at the contact, her skin just as warm and soft as he remembered.

Her grip slipped for a split second, and she almost knocked her cauldron over.

"Let me help," he offered, sliding in next to her. "These gold-bottomed cauldrons are notoriously heavy."

"Thanks," she stepped aside with a grateful smile and rubbed her hands on her robes as she watched him intently while he lifted the cauldron from the table. She followed behind him through the archway and into a secluded room as he carried her cauldron to the large basin, and she took over from him once he'd set it under the running water.

He was acutely aware of the familiar loaded silence settling between them when they found themselves alone again.

"How long have you and Weaselbee been seeing each other?" Malfoy asked with feigned casualness, leaning against the side of the basin, watching her with interest as she washed out her cauldron.

Satisfied with her handiwork, she closed the tap before turning to him. "We're not together, actually," she said and bit her lip, looking down at the floor.

Her denial of a relationship with Weaselbee made Draco sigh a breath of relief, and he pushed away from the basin before he registered his intentions. He stepped closer to her, pinched her chin gently between two fingers and tipped her face up to his. "You scare me to death, Granger," he confessed with a whisper, eyes dancing between hers intently before he lowered his lips to hers.

Heat detonated inside his body the moment their lips touched, her mouth opening greedily to allow him in. He groaned his appreciation into her mouth and slipped his tongue inside to meet hers, deepening the kiss. With a step forward, he pushed his body tighter to hers, forcing a moan from over her lips while her fingers desperately curled around his biceps.

"Fuck..." he panted as he ripped his mouth from hers, lifted her onto the edge of the basin and stepped in between her thighs. "What are you doing to me?"

Granger's eyes were on fire, lids heavy and lips swollen when she met his eyes, and then she surprised him by wrapping her legs around his waist. One of her hands trailed from his arm up to his shoulder and over his collar to trace across the exposed skin of his neck. And then she curled her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer to bring his lips back to hers for more.

He was suddenly very aware of his raging erection and how it pushed brazenly between her legs. When he ground himself against her dizzying heat, she broke the kiss to tip her head back, keening her pleasure.

"I don't believe it!" Slughorn's voice boomed from the arched entryway, making them jump apart abruptly.

Draco panted heavily, and carefully angled his hips away from the professor to hide his arousal, feeling exposed without his outer robes on.

Granger blushed and ran her hands over her clothes, making sure she was decent.

"I can't seem to leave the two of you alone together," the professor shook his head, looking equally as embarrassed as the two of them felt right then.

Draco looked at Granger briefly, clamping his lips together to fight a smile. She narrowed her eyes at him in warning, and he realized the seriousness of getting caught in such a compromising position.

"I don't even know what to make of this," Slughorn gestured between Granger and him. "One moment you're ready to murder each other, and the next-" He cut off abruptly, flushing crimson. "Get to bed. Alone," he emphasized as if it needed to be said. "I'm too old for these shenanigans." And then he turned away, muttering to himself as he left the room, with a dismayed shake of the head. "They don't pay me nearly enough for this."

xxx

They didn't kiss, touch or flirt again the next night in detention. But they didn't fight either.

Under Slughorn's discerning eye, they kept to their workstations, scrubbing diligently on yet another batch of cauldrons.

Draco jumped, head snapping up toward Granger's table in alarm when she shrieked suddenly, scrabbling to get away from her cauldron.

"What?" He snapped at her at the same time that Slughorn pulled off his reading glasses and put his potions journal down to watch them. The professor was still very wary of them after the other night.

"Spider," she pointed to her cauldron, looking adorably frightened.

Draco scoffed, walking over to have a look. A large spider was lurking at the bottom of the dirty pewter cauldron, looking equally as scared as Granger, making no move to scurry away.

"Kill the thing, Malfoy." Granger implored with impatience. "Before it gets loose and goes on a rampage through the castle."

He chuckled despite himself, knowing it might incite an argument. He found it ironic that Granger had fought in a war and came out victorious, having faced the likes of Greyback, Dolohov, and his aunt. But here she was, terrified of a harmless spider.

"I'm serious," she whined and he bit his lip to suppress another laugh."If your best friends had almost been killed by a cluster of spiders, you'd have been scared too."

He stuck his hand into the cauldron and scooped out the spider, watching in fascination as the critter lazily clambered over his hand.

"Malfoy, please," she begged with wide, frightened eyes, retreating a few steps.

"It's just an innocent little spider, Granger. Relax."

"Are you going to kill it or not?" She huffed impatiently, taking another step back.

"Of course not," he said, looking up at her with a frown. "It's an innocent creature. It doesn't deserve to die. I promise I'll take it out when detention is over."

He saw the impact on Granger's face the moment he spoke those words. Her fear melted away into surprise and then respect—something he'd never seen directed his way by anyone, let alone someone as inherently good and pure as Granger. And he wanted her to look at him like that for the rest of his life.

xxx

Something had changed in Granger's attitude after that night with the spider. He could see it clearly. Where there had been a definite attraction between them before, but an obvious undertone of reluctance, she was now more relaxed and agreeable toward him.

And he should have just killed that fucking spider...

He should have been content with their awkward, stilted conversations that had resulted from their heated 'moment' in Slughorn's office. That certainly would have been easier. But now...

Now he had this fledgling hope that they might be headed for something good. Which was a disaster for so many reasons:

One: He didn't want to want Granger. Didn't want to slip his hands into his underwear when he got into bed at night. He was content screwing a different girl every other day. And yet, he wanted to spend as much time with her as she'd allow him.

Two: She was annoying and tight-arsed, spewing bookish answers in class like she was trying to prove herself. Followed rules to a T, when he liked to break as many as he could.

Three: She was too good and kind for someone like him. She knitted hats for disenfranchised house elves, fought for the underdogs, fought for peace and equality, and made friends with everyone she met. He was self-serving, mistrustful and insensitive.

Four: She was the type of girl that wizards fell head-over-heels in love with; married; worshipped. And he wasn't the type to fall in love. He fucked, and then fucked off. Granger would hex his bollocks off if he tried that with her.

How did annoyance turn into this kind of undeniable chemistry and desire, anyway? One moment she was still that insufferable fucking swot with a stick up her arse, and the next he couldn't suppress this overwhelming desire to kiss her, touch her and make her his.

It had to stop.

And yet...he'd never wanted a witch as much as he wanted Granger.

xxx

On their last night of detention, they had moved on from scrubbing cauldrons to the much more 'riveting' task of plucking nightshade petals.

Granger was sitting on her workbench, feet swinging as she carefully plucked off the purple petals and deposited them into a glass jar beside her.

Her posture was relaxed as they casually flirted with each other. She had a smile on her face, eyes bright as they talked about the way Snape had always favoured Draco, versus the horrible insults and punishments he'd doled out to Granger and her friends. And it was hard to keep his focus on the conversation and not on her supple lips while she continued to talk and laugh, or on her bewitching face.

"It was probably that eagerness of yours to answer every question with a hundred words more than was required. And that blind Gryffindor optimism of yours. I think Snape had an aversion to optimism in general."

"I never would have guessed," Granger pressed a hand against her chest in feigned surprise and then grinned. "He was always such a jaunty individual."

Draco barked a laugh at this. "He's probably rolling over in his grave right now for being called something as ridiculous as jaunty."

"I'm sure he is," she slipped down from the table, still grinning when she wiped her hands on her robes and looked up at him. "I need more jars for the flower petals."

Draco looked over her shoulder, counting at least ten large jars filled to the brim with purple petals. He was slacking, having focused more on her than his task. "Want me to come with you?" He offered, eyes dropping to her mouth just in time to catch her wetting her lips with the tip of her tongue. He swallowed with difficulty, trying his best to force his eyes to look up from where they were glued to her perfectly kissable lips. He knew how those lips tasted now, and it left him seeking more...

"Thanks. I'd appreciate that," she accepted but didn't move.

"Get on with it, you two," Slughorn prompted, apparently not recovered from the embarrassment of finding them practically dry-humping against the basin in the backroom.

"Yes, sir. Just going to get more jars for the flower petals," Draco smiled genially at the professor.

"I'll come with you," Slughorn insisted and pushed his chair back to get up. "Lest you two end up in more compromising positions."

Granger flushed magnificently and walked off, clearly too embarrassed to listen to Slughorn moan about their minor indiscretion.

xxx

"Hey, wait up!" Draco called out, jogging to catch up with Granger who was already headed back to her room.

Thanks to Slughorn's not-so-subtle attempt to stop them from leaving his office together—probably worried about what might happen if they did—he didn't get to say goodnight to her. And he really wanted to.

"What did Slughorn want?" She asked when he reached her.

"Oh, you know," Draco shrugged. "Just blatantly trying to separate us so we don't end up snogging in the corridors."

"Oh," she flushed pink and looked down at her feet. Was he just oblivious before, or had she always blushed so prettily for him?

"Well, he didn't do a very good job, did he?"

"Didn't he?" Draco asked and watched her speculatively, "We're not snogging in the corridors, are we?"

"Aren't we?" She flirted shamelessly, biting her lip as she lifted her eyes to his.

Fuck! This witch was going to be the death of him.

An idea popped into his head completely out of left field and he grabbed her hand, pulling her to him. He leaned into her, assaulted by the scent of her shampoo. Honeysuckle? It took him an embarrassingly long minute before he could focus on what he'd wanted to say.

"Come with me?" He whispered in her ear. He desperately needed more time with her.

"Malfoy!" She gasped indignantly for some reason, pulling away. "I'm not going to bed with you!"

"What? No!" He took a step back, lifting his hands placatingly, but he grinned despite himself. "I meant we should go do something together."

"Right now?" She eyed him with suspicion.

"Yes." He nodded his affirmation, wondering if she'd agree.

"Like what?" Still suspicious.

"Granger, do you trust me?"

"I-" She hesitated for a moment and it stung a little that she couldn't answer immediately.

Just as he dropped her hand and looked away, ready for her rejection, she closed her hand around his wrist to get his attention, her eyes sincere. "I trust you, Draco."

Only a prat would admit to feeling butterflies, but fuck if that wasn't what was happening to him hearing his given name fall from her lips. "Say it again."

She blushed. "I trust you."

He gave a step closer, now standing flush against her. And she was breathing so fast, pupils dilated with what he hoped was attraction. He, in turn, was praying that she couldn't hear how his heart pounded against his ribs. Or see how his hands trembled. He shook his head, "No, not that part."

"Draco..." She whispered with a tone that bordered on seductive.

He hummed appreciatively, closed his eyes for a moment and then murmured, "Let's get out of here," and then he brushed his lips against hers just once, unable to help himself.

xxx

"Where are we going?" Granger whispered, her tone loaded with excitement as they hurried through the corridors, keeping an eye out for Filch and his annoying familiar.

"The Forbidden Forest," Draco offered, pulling Granger into a dark broom closet just in time to avoid colliding with Peeves who was looking for an opportunity to cause trouble. He whispered a Lumos, providing them with some light.

"You can't be serious?" She gaped at him in shock.

"I thought you said you trusted me?" He mock-pouted.

"Fine, you prat," she rolled her eyes in resignation. "But if this is some elaborate scheme to feed me to the Acromantulas, I swear to Merlin, Morgana, and Godric Gryffindor himself that I will haunt you for the rest of your days."

"I thought we just re-established that you trust me?"

"I do. But-"

"No, shhh," he pressed a finger to her lips and squeezed her hand imploringly. "Stop worrying, Hermione. I promise I won't hurt you." He leaned in and whispered against the warm, soft skin of her temple. "And I won't let anything bad happen to you." When he pulled back, Granger was looking at him with blazing amber eyes that stared right into his soul.

"Okay," she nodded with conviction, restoring his confidence when she laced their fingers together.

They breathed out a combined sigh of relief when they made it out of the broom closet, through the Entrance Hall and out the front doors of the castle without further incident.

Draco dragged his thumb across the back of her hand that was still linked with his, brought it to his lips to press a kiss to her skin and pulled her along, heading for the Forbidden Forest.

"Is this where you take girls when you want to impress them and maybe even get them to shag you?"

"Nope," Draco popped the 'p', soldiering on toward his intended destination, aware of the rapidly dwindling light the school offered from behind them. "I usually don't have to go to such lengths to get what I want," he smirked at her.

"Yes," she cocked an unamused brow. "I'm very much aware."

He knew she was referring to the couple of instances when she'd caught him in the act, and he looked away, suddenly feeling guilty and cheap. This was certainly a first for him, after years of admiration and slaps on the back from the male students for his reputation.

He slipped his wand from his pocket and whispered "Lumos Maxima", immediately banishing the darkness to light up a path that he could practically locate in his sleep by now. "I've only ever visited this place on my own," he admitted and hesitantly glanced her way again to find her looking pleased this time, instead of unimpressed. "Not very many people know about it, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"My lips are sealed," Granger promised with a hint of a smile.

"Good," he nodded his approval, leading them deeper into the forest. "I'd hate to come here one day to find it littered with students who don't appreciate it the same way I do."

"Are you sure we're not lost, Draco?" She asked a while later, his name on her lips again. "It's okay if you are," she reassured him benevolently. "I'm quite good with the four-point spell."

Draco chuckled at her apparent lack of confidence in his navigating abilities. "Don't worry. We're almost there," he promised as he guided her through the thickening underbrush. "I know my way around by now."

Granger gasped when, after another ten minutes' walk, a dim blue light filtered from between a dense stand of trees. She turned her face to look at him with wide-eyed enthusiasm, "I can see something..."

Draco put a finger to his lips, warning Granger to keep quiet as the light brightened with each step closer to their destination.

She paused when they stepped into a large clearing, bisected by a bubbling river. The luminescent blue water reflected in her eyes as she gaped in awe at what she was seeing, walking closer toward the river.

The grass in the clearing was scattered with wildflowers and massive ferns. Flutterby bushes, starry night petunias, golden clover, evergreen moss and moon bells grew abundantly near the edges of the water. Leaping toadstools hopped around as a herd of Bowtruckles chased after them, trying and failing to catch them, and the whispers of a waterfall could be heard in the distance. But sadly, there were no unicorns tonight.

"Draco, it's beautiful," she looked at him over her shoulder, eyes alight with joy, before she crouched down at the bank of the river. "Is it safe?" She gestured towards the water, hand hesitantly stretched out.

He nodded, enthralled and delighted by her appreciation. "Yes, you can touch the water if you like."

For a while he simply watched as Granger explored, stroking her fingers through the luminous water, leaning closer to observe the vast variety of plants, flowers and creatures as she lost herself in her surroundings. His stomach flipped with a warm, foreign pleasure at the sight of her wonderment. "Sometimes there are unicorns that come here to drink and graze. It's quite a sight to behold," he told her, taking a seat on a thick patch of grass and patting the spot beside him invitingly.

Granger strolled over, eyes still eagerly drinking in the beauty around her. She lowered herself down next to him and breathed out a sigh of contentment. "This is amazing," she gestured to their surroundings. "Thank you for bringing me here."

He nodded, looking down at a blade of grass he was picking apart, acutely aware of how badly he wanted to fist his hands in those unruly curls of hers and claim her mouth. He felt lost and unstable, completely out of control with her around, and he was frantically scrabbling to find solid ground.

"Are you alright?" She asked, and he looked up to find her staring at him speculatively, eyebrows drawing together. "Do you regret bringing me here?"

"Of course not," he dropped what was left of the grass between his fingers and shifted closer to her.

"Then tell me what's bothering you."

"I just really, really want to kiss you right now, Granger."

"What's stopping you?" She cocked a brow in question, aware that his hesitation wasn't just about feeling nervous.

"My parents, for one," he said, stating the obvious. "The fact that I should be ashamed of even thinking I deserve more than hate and disdain from you." He shook his head, dismayed. "And you can be sure that the wizarding world will have something to say about Draco Malfoy, Death Eater and blood purist corrupting the kind, strong and innocent Hermione Granger."

"You deserve so much more than you give yourself credit for," she insisted passionately, taking his hands between her smaller ones. "I've seen a completely different side of you recently, and I find that I'm so attracted to this kind, gentle, passionate version." She offered him a tender smile, before squaring her shoulders with determination. "As for the rest of the world—perhaps they should mind their own business."

His heart squeezed painfully. She was so much braver than him. "I meant it when I said I wouldn't survive being with you, Hermione."

"What did you mean by that, by the way? It's been driving Ginny and me nuts trying to figure it out."

"Ginny?" He asked, shocked.

"Ginny Weasley," she explained, misinterpreting his tone.

"You told her about us?" It hadn't occurred to him that she'd want to share their complicated 'interactions' with anyone. He was convinced he'd be her dirty little secret if things ever did progress beyond unexpected kisses and flirting.

"Well, yes..." she frowned with concern. "Should I not have?"

"No, no," he waved away her concern. "I guess I just didn't expect you to want to share it, you know?"

"Did you not tell your friends, then?" She looked a little put out.

"Oh, believe me, Hermione," he rolled his eyes. "Blaise, Theo, and Pansy are very well versed in the Granger-Malfoy dilemma."

She groaned up at the thick canopy of leaves overhead. "Do I even want to know what Pansy Parkinson has to say about it?"

"They're not against any of it if that's what you're thinking," he reassured her.

"Really?" She raised a skeptical.

"Really," he confirmed. "They are just concerned about what would happen if my parents found out."

"Hmm," she looked pensive. "I take it your parents wouldn't be happy?"

Draco barked a mirthless laugh and shook his head emphatically. "No. Unhappy would be an understatement."

"Look, Draco," she said after a long stretch of silence. "I know you're worried about what being with me would mean for me, but I'm not willing to ruin your life either. Your parents are important to you, and if you think it would put too much strain on your relationship with them, it might be best if we stopped before things progressed beyond whatever this is." She gestured between them.

"Yeah." He sighed, knowing it was the truth.

"Because if you meant what I think you did, I suppose you need to know that I wouldn't survive being with you either."

He flinched at her words, both pain and hope flaring inside him at the thought that she might feel the same way. "Don't say that, Hermione. Please..." He begged, sighing into his hands. "I'm trying hard to be noble here, and it sucks trying to do the right thing for a change, instead of just doing whatever I want."

"What if what's right for us and what's right for everyone else isn't the same thing?"

"I don't even want to consider that, because then I might end up doing something really stupid."

"Which would be what, exactly?"

"I'd let myself fall in love with you."

"That would be very stupid, wouldn't it? The pure-blood and the muggle-born."

"So we both agree that we shouldn't do anything stupid then?" He just needed her to tell him they didn't stand a chance. That this tenuous 'thing' between them was a bad idea. It would make walking away from her so much easier for him if she simply wasn't interested in trying.

"Probably not, no." Granger grinned at him.

"So, no falling in love, then?"

"Right. We'll just...have fun?"

Draco nodded, feeling optimistic. "Exactly. We'll snog until we've both had enough. Get it out of our systems."

"Okay," she agreed. "Maybe we'll shag a few times until the novelty of it has worn off, and then we'll go our separate ways like nothing ever happened."

Draco choked out a moan at her comment. Gods, why was she making this so difficult for him? He hadn't even considered the possibility that she'd allow him into her knickers. And the mere idea of following through with it was exciting and terrifying in equal measure because he was very sure sex would complicate things. A novel concept for someone like him who was used to casual dalliances with absolutely no feelings involved.

Granger laughed heartily at his reaction, looking very, very smug. "And we'll avoid doing anything stupid. Seems harmless enough."

"You know this is a disaster just waiting to happen?"

"I find I don't give a single fuck. I just-" She cut off with a heavy sigh.

"I know, Granger," He nodded his agreement, understanding exactly what she meant.

He felt so jaded; battle-weary after fighting his attraction to her for over two months. He was ready to just give in. Even if just for a short while.

Granger gingerly climbed into his lap, a leg resting on either side of his thighs, leaned in slowly, and pressed a cautious kiss to his lips. "What if we're just overthinking this?"

"Yeah," he agreed with a slow smirk, relishing the way she felt seated in his lap, "Maybe we should stop talking about this. At least for tonight, so I can kiss you until we can't keep our eyes open." And then he pulled her face to his, closing the distance between them.

A/N: Any thoughts on this chapter?

Are you also disappointed in Draco? Or do you get why he's doing what he's doing?
If you liked the chapter, please feel free to leave a review.

See you next week
X