Title: Examinations
(Subtitle: Loser. Kisses. Winner.)
Author: luckdragon
Rating: oh, PG again I suppose
Summary: Life is full of tests. There's nothing that says they can't be fun.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, but I have invited them out to play.
Author's Note: Happy Holidays, everyone! First off, I'd like to give a big, huge THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed… what wonderful Christmas presents! Next, I'd like to reassure you that the muses have spoken to me regarding this collection of ramblings, and I believe that I have some direction for it – and it's not all entirely fluff, either (hurrah for substance!). Lastly, this chapter still is rather fluffy. So, now that you're forewarned, off we go:
Hermione knew that she looked quite frazzled. She knew that she had a dark ring framing each eye. She knew that she held in her hand a perfect Arithmancy exam. Hers.
There was literally no way he could have done better.
Now she'd see how he liked it. Losing, that is, she thought hurriedly, flushing slightly.
She tried not to look all too self-satisfied. She failed. He saw this.
Draco approached her, and she could tell that he was reading her expression.
"Did well, then?" he questioned in an inscrutable voice, still a few steps away.
"Perfect score," she announced, brandishing her paper proudly.
"Okay," he said. He continued forward, barely breaking pace.
She was used to her own hesitation in these sorts of situations, and barely had time to drop her prized exam paper before he closed in upon her.
He approached matters differently in other ways, as well.
He took her in his arms, for example.
She huffed out a startled breath at being held so firmly in contact with him a mere second before he was able to press his mouth against her own in a very firm, ardent kiss.
He pulled back just a bit.
"One," he whispered.
Her eyes, which had popped open while his remained shut, widened, then resealed as he moved back in. Her hands, resting on his upper arms, clutched a bit as he kissed her again for rather a longer period of time and with a bit more thoroughness.
"Two."
Hermione felt rather helpless. Or adrift. Or unfocused. She realized how cliché each word choice seemed as it flitted through her head, but didn't much mind.
Not when he was actually snogging her properly now.
Dear goodness, when had she started grasping onto him so?
Their lips broke apart suddenly. She was duly embarrassed to find herself nearly panting and struggled to find a deeper breath in her repertoire.
There was no time, as he murmured, "Three," in a decidedly lower tone and set himself upon her again.
Some time later – she reasoned that there's no way it could have been more than – oh, who knew, anyway? Some time later, he released her mouth gently and managed to sigh "Six," after a winded breath.
Pliable. That was a better word. She felt pliable. Her very skin felt pliable.
"You skipped four and five," she whispered back, keeping her eyes closed and her forehead on his.
She felt his smirk more than saw it. "In that case…" he began, but she interrupted his subsequent forward motion with her own words:
"Why did you make this bet?"
Unable to kiss her properly, he settled for pecking the corner of her lips. "Four," he said, before continuing in a muted, thoughtful tone. "I've heard it said that there are only two reasons that anyone does anything," he said quietly, leaning back just a bit.
She dared to open her eyes.
In a way, she wished she hadn't.
His eyes could best be described as rather fiery. In fact, they had the same effect on her as a fire – she was suffused with heat, and felt nervous that she might be standing too close.
"Oh," she replied in a tiny voice.
He actually laughed at that.
He released her a bit and she slowly became that, yes, there was still a room surrounding them. A classroom. A different one this time. She saw a bit of it as he leaned slightly away, but still retained a grip on her elbows, over which he rubbed his thumbs lightly. She found that this move left her hands in the same spot on his arms.
"So, tell me. How did you manage a perfect score?" he said in an almost conversational tone. "That exam was beastly!"
Hermione's lips quirked mirthfully and her eyes narrowed just a bit. "Well, you see, I paid attention in class, and took notes on the important bits. Then, on the nights leading up to the ex –"
"All right, all right, truce," he interrupted with a chuckle.
Draco Malfoy had just laughed. Twice. Within a minute. Non-derisively.
Hermione Granger was shocked.
She pulled back more, and took a seat. This was antithetical to her wishes, but her body was still operating without her authority and had made the decision on its own. He dropped sideways into the next chair, facing her. Somehow, she felt that this was no less intimate.
"Well, it certainly is a difficult topic," Hermione admitted. She struggled to bring herself back to her real life. "But I find it helps me to remember if I make up pneumonic devices to help me keep all the steps in order."
He nodded thoughtfully. "You'll have to tell me some of those. Truthfully, I didn't have any hope at beating you this time 'round."
She bit back a smile, but was moved to reveal its cause.
"Of course you didn't. I haven't done bloody anything else in the past four days other than study for this exam."
He shook his head a bit and gave a mock-sigh. "Granger, what did I tell you about carrying on with books versus carrying on with people?"
"But one leads to the other, you see," she said good-naturedly, but still going a bit red.
"One would think that being lavished with attention by the best-looking boy in the school might actually make you spend less time with those blasted books. One stands corrected."
"One is certainly conceited."
"What? You don't think I'm good-looking?" he asked her archly.
Well, how was she to answer that?
She did, actually. But she was a horrid liar, especially under the pressure of embarrassment. She was also dreadfully opposed to inflating egos that certainly need not grow any larger.
So she said nothing for a minute.
"I thought so," he said with a smug smile.
"Prat!" she half-seriously shot forth without warning.
She made a mental note that she might not have any more control over her voice than her body.
"Bookworm," he answered a bit more mildly.
She started to feel an honest irritation creeping over her, but he leaned forward out of his chair and bestowed one more exhilarating kiss upon her before sinking back into his seat, smirking.
"Five," he said.
Hermione sighed. He had her all out of sorts, there was no doubt about that. So, she asked what was on her mind.
"So, what's up next on the agenda? Potions again?"
Certainly, the time to be uncomfortable about being forward had passed. She even felt a bit of a… dare she say it… affable connection at the moment.
"You mean to tell me that you don't know when the next test is?"
She shrugged. "Not offhand."
Now he appeared a bit ill at ease.
"We don't have another exam for over three weeks."
What?
Hermione and Draco's eyes met. They looked at each other uneasily.