For What It's Worth
~hotsleekeyz~
Chapter 2
Moving On
************************************************************************
Hermione sat quietly on her bed, musing endlessly on her predicaments. With her hair brush in hand, she gently stroked it upon her now-auburn waves repeatedly, that made it shine more in the warm light of her room.
Her breathing was deep and suppressed. Her lips were clenched upon her teeth. She was controlling herself from doing anything wrong---like doing what Harry had always been doing when stressed.
Hermione wanted to cut herself but she knew well it was wrong. She didn't want to do it again as it left nasty scars on her skin. She had tried hiding some of them in the most unexpected places that one could place a mark like at the side of her stomach, just over her rib cage and over her chest where no one can see it.
But over the time that she had been doing it, she wasn't happy even if it was supposed to release her tension. It was a mind-boggling idea why one as her, who was considered the best student in their level, would do something like that. Hermione had already tried explaining herself to her friends, and obviously, only Harry would understand.
In the silence of her room, she heard a faint knock at the door. She easily stood up and laid her brush over the table beside her bed, and went towards the door.
Hermione opened the door and saw Ginny waiting outside with a huge grin on her face.
The two of them went in their room and sat by the couch that was at the foot of both their beds.
"What's with the huge smile your face? Anything unusually good happened to you today?", Hermione asked expecting eagerly for Ginny's story.
"Ummm, well, nothing unusual. . . Just extraordinary", Ginny claimed. She laughed at her statement and continued to talk. "We are going to have a new professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Lavender and I sneaked into McGonagall's office as she was the one who mentioned about it. We saw this picture in her files, of an extremely handsome-looking lad. We looked for information about him and saw them. He studied in Durmstrang and had been working for two years in the Ministry of Magic when he was asked if he was interested in filling in the space for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Though Lavender and I thought it was so odd that one from Durmtrang would be our DADA teacher, we dismissed the thought of the absurdity of one very well taught about the Dark Arts would be 'teaching against' it. Odd isn't it? But come to think of it, he is only 19 years old. Maybe he could choose one of us as his girlfriend. I bet you'll like him too Mione! He really looks like that handsome prince in fairy tales"
Hermione smiled at the thought though she reckoned she wouldn't be as giddy as Ginny was. If there was a new DADA teacher, it's fine. But the absurdity of the situation bothered Hermione much. She felt that having a teacher from Durmstrang would certainly be a problem in the long run, especially that Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, was a student at Hogwarts where the teacher would be teaching in.
"That's really odd Gin. A former student of Durmstrang would be teaching at Hogwarts? Gin, Durmstrang and Hogwarts are two different schools as they master in different arts of wizardry. This will cause some problems soon--- very soon, I tell you"
"Oh come on Mione! It's only once we'll have a good-looking DADA teacher after YOUR Gilderoy Lockhart of course!"
"Gin! That was before alright? I told you that I don't like him anymore. Ron and Harry were right about him after all. He just caught my eye. That's it"
Ginny led herself to her desk and grabbed for a spare parchment and quill. She sat there and started doing her homework due the next morning.
"By the way Mione. Someone's waiting for you outside"
Hermione was at that time getting her books as she wanted to go to the library to finish her homework due the week after.
"Who?", Hermione asked blankly.
"Malfoy. He's been there since I-don't-know-when. The Fat Lady had been telling him to get away from the Gryffindor's dormitory if he didn't want to be found beaten up. I don't know really. He was just there as if it was some old friendly territory", Ginny narrated as she gave a shrug at Hermione.
Hermione laughed for a while and then she responded. "Too right the Fat Lady was. I'd be the one to beat that ferret up if I had the chance to. By the way Gin, he couldn't be waiting for me. If he was, then death awaits him". Hermione finished her sentence and led herself out of the room.
************************************************************************
Hermione opened the portrait of the Fat Lady and revealed no one outside. Somehow, it was a huge sigh of relief for her, as she didn't want Draco to ruin her day just yet. The day was about to end and she did not want Draco to mess it up more for her.
Hermione walked a series of hallways and staircases, and at last, she was at the door of the library. She silently entered and saw Madam Pince quite busy at her desk. Hermione walked in without a word just as she always did and headed to her favorite part of the library where a comfortable couch was situated. She laid her books on the table at the side of the couch when she heard footsteps headed towards her direction.
A shiny pair of shoes was the thing she saw that belonged to the person who stood in front of her. Hermione looked up at the person and saw a gorgeous- looking, young man with a very pleasant smile playing on his lips.
"Good evening", the man said.
"Good evening to you Sir", Hermione replied though she didn't knew who the man was.
The man extended his hand at Hermione and said, "I'm Professor Malcolm Trent, your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher"
Hermione smiled and gave her hand to the man and shook it. "Pleased to meet you Professor Trent. I'm Hermione Granger from Gryffindor"
Malcolm gestured his hand over to Hermione's side and asked, "Do you mind?"
"Not at all. Please", Hermione replied though she didn't want the idea that she was sitting next to the new teacher that she expected to be a year- round heartthrob to all the girls at Hogwarts. Besides, she was known to be the nerdy-nerdy, goody-two-shoes girl who was found at the library almost every single day of their lives.
"So, Ms. Granger, you're from Gryffindor"
"Indeed I am Sir"
"Professor Dumbledore told me some things about you"
"Did he really?", Hermione queried slightly amused.
"The Headmaster told me that you are the brightest one in your batch, and probably the smartest among all the students here", Malcolm stated in yet a smile.
Hermione didn't know how to reply. Every one who knew her said those but it was the first time she'd gone speechless.
"By the way, first class would be tomorrow, isn't it?", Malcolm asked.
"Yes it is, Professor. First thing in the morning"
"Very well. I've been looking forward to meeting you all at last"
"If you'd allow me Sir, I would just like to ask some things about you"
"What is it Ms. Granger?"
"Are you from Durmstrang Sir?"
"Indeed I am. You want me to explain why I had chosen to teach here instead of the school where I used to study at, am I right?"
"Yes. I'd gone curious why all of a sudden one like you, who had gone to Durmstrang where the Dark Arts were taught would choose to teach here. I reckon it might raise suspicions from the students"
"You are the first one to come up with that idea. I'm impressed. Anyways, I was working at the Ministry of Magic when an offer from Professor Dumbledore came, and he told me that there was a job vacancy here. Work at the Ministry can get quite tiring at times and I reckoned that it would be better if I had a lighter job than what I had. And so, that same day, I forwarded my resignation letter to the Minister and sent my resume back to the Headmaster. What I knew next was that I was accepted for the position"
Malcolm eyed Hermione, wanting to question her back.
"Not to be rude or anything, but you haven't answered my question sir"
"Clever. If you were an ordinary student, I would have had gotten away with my answer"
Hermione blushed a bit that the new teacher found her nothing but ordinary. Malcolm carried on. "I hope you can keep a secret, Hermione"
Hermione was taken aback by the mere fact that the new professor called her by her first name.
"It's Granger, Professor"
"I'm sorry if you got uncomfortable"
Hermione nodded though at that time, she was feeling more uncomfortable at their connection.
"It's okay sir"
"Ms. Granger, Voldemort's forces are back on the loose again. I'm working as Auror for the Headmaster. He wanted to make sure that his students are safe from the Dark Side. He's expecting me to fish out information from the Dark Side, and that is why he hired me. To tell you honestly, we don't have a plan of telling the students where I came from. The parents might ask their students to be dropped off, not wanting to have their kids near a probable Death Eater"
"Are you?", Hermione asked cautiously.
"I have no idea"
"NO idea? How could you have no idea about it? Of course if you've gone through the ceremony, you'd know that you ARE a Death Eater"
Malcolm chuckled for the first time in Hermione's sight. Hermione saw the essence of youth in him for the first time as well, for Malcolm talked as if he was ages away even if he was only two years older than her.
"You know Hermione, you amuse me"
"Sir, It's Granger, if you may"
"I prefer to call you Hermione", Malcolm replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
Malcolm and Hermione heard someone coming towards their direction. It was Professor McGonagall.
"Professor Malcolm, I've been looking for you. Madam Pince told me you arrived a few minutes before. If you please, the Headmaster wants to talk to you at his office in ten minutes", McGonagall said as she stood in front of them. She continued on by saying, "Ms. Granger, I see that you'd been keeping our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I hope you'd welcome him here to our school being the brightest students of this age"
It daunted on Hermione that she had not welcomed Malcolm yet.
Malcolm interrupted, "She already did, Professor McGonagall. No worries. She was telling me a lot of things about Hogwarts. She is indeed very clever". Malcolm turned his head towards Hermione with his beautiful gray eyes staring at her intently.
"Very well. I'll leave you two first. Professor, remember that you are needed in ten minutes. Albus have last-minute pointers for you"
"I will proceed to the office Professor. Thank you for informing me"
McGonagall nodded and walked away.
Hermione spoke at once. "I'm sorry, I haven't---"
"It's okay. I was the one who bombarded you with so much information that you might have had forgotten"
"By the way, welcome to Hogwarts Professor Trent"
"Trent or Malcolm, if you may. We are almost the same age Hermione. There is no need to call me Professor"
"But I see it just proper to give due respect to call you Professor, since you are my Professor"
Malcolm brushed his sandy brown hair away from his face and rested his back comfortably at the couch as if he was just a student just like Hermione.
Hermione, on the other hand, just looked at Malcolm. She didn't want the 'closeness' they were having.
Malcolm felt Hermione's eyes at him, and so he turned his eyes towards her and smiled.
"You're a nice girl Hermione"
"Thank you Sir"
Malcolm took his hand over Hermione's that was resting on her lap. Hermione's hand immediately tensed with Malcolm's warm hand over hers.
"I've never seen someone like you in a long while. I think I won't have any regret of choosing to stay here"
Hermione wanted to take her hand away from Malcolm's but she thought it would be rude. She tried to pull it away though Malcolm tightened his grip on her hand even more.
"Sir, my hand", Hermione voiced, trying to sound as if she was offended. She was, though it was fine with her that Malcolm had his hand with hers.
"Hermione, I hope we could be friends outside the classroom. I don't want to keep that teacher-student gap in between us. I'm too young for that", Malcolm said as at last, he took his hand away.
"Too young?", Hermione asked though she knew that Malcolm was indeed young too teach at his age.
"Yes. I'm only 19"
"I know"
Hermione blushed as she was not supposed to know, and she had just divulged that she did.
"Hermione, could we be? Could we be---friends?"
Hermione's head lowered. She didn't want any connection with Malcolm more than being a student to him.
"I reckon so", Hermione mouthed rather reluctantly.
"Thanks"
Malcolm took his hand at Hermione's chin and led it up to him.
"You're beautiful Hermione. You know that?"
Hermione blushed profusely. Having her teacher talking like that wasn't a dream for her.
"Sir, you have to leave", Hermione voiced with her eyes looking at anywhere but Malcolm's.
Malcolm drew himself nearer Hermione. His breathing was felt on Hermione's skin.
"There is too much sorrow in your eyes Hermione. It doesn't suit you. You look too angelic to have a frown on your face"
"Sir", Hermione said again to stress that she was uncomfortable.
"Look at me Hermione"
Though already overly uncomfortable, Hermione slowly took her eyes to stare back at Malcolm's. She saw a friendly aura in him. Hermione thought that Malcolm was someone whom she could confide with. Her tensed muscles relaxed and she became comfortable in staring into Malcolm's eyes. She saw the beauty in him that Ginny and Lavender thought they saw.
Malcolm continued, "Can we meet her every night?"
"Yes. I reckon we can"
"Then I'll meet you here every night after dinner"
Malcolm leaned in to meet his reddish lips with Hermione's glossed ones. He pressed gently on Hermione's and then pulled away.
Hermione was shocked even though in her mind she already expected that Malcolm would do that. She read Malcolm's actions at once but she didn't expect that he would really kiss her. She noticed Malcolm's intentions by the way he smiled and looked at her. At that moment, she was too confused to decipher whether she should be honored or disgraced to have such an absurd connection with the handsome DADA teacher.
To surprise Hermione even more, Malcolm leaned towards her once more and lightly pressed his lips against hers again.
Malcolm was controlling himself from doing any further than kissing Hermione. He was so mesmerized at Hermione who looked very stunning that night.
Malcolm pulled away and kissed Hermione on her cheek. He put his palm around Hermione's wrist and clutched it tight. "Don't leave another scar on your skin. Not here, nor anywhere else near your heart". Hermione was taken aback. //Did Malcolm know that I had been cutting myself?//
Malcolm stood to leave and faced Hermione one last time.
"Good night Hermione. I'll meet you tomorrow"
"Professor, what was the kiss for?"
"The last one was for being a nice friend"
"And the ones before that?"
Malcolm nodded. "Good night Ms. Granger". He sincerely smiled one last time and walked away from Hermione's sight.
"But you just scarred me on my lips Malcolm. . .", Hermione whispered to herself.
Hermione was still in a state of shock minutes after Malcolm had left. She took her fingers to her lips and seemed to have been feeling the kiss that her teacher gave her---the kiss of a new lover. . .
~Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns characters, setting, etc. Except: the plot is mine.~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
BLECH!
Haha. I had one good laugh when I was re-reading my fic. It really is a weird twist to have Hermione a lover in the person of a teacher. Blah, blah, blah. Anyways, to those who didn't like the idea of Hermione cutting herself, I'm taking it off, and hopefully, it will remain like that until the end. I don't really want her cutting. It's just something to add to make the situation more complicated on concern to Harry. And I bet some of you thought it was Draco inside the library. Well, it was supposed to be him but I think it would be better to add him on the next chapter, only to introduce the new DADA teacher before we get any further the story.
Thanks for reading. Please drop a review!
CIAO!
~kaye~
Chapter 2
Moving On
************************************************************************
Hermione sat quietly on her bed, musing endlessly on her predicaments. With her hair brush in hand, she gently stroked it upon her now-auburn waves repeatedly, that made it shine more in the warm light of her room.
Her breathing was deep and suppressed. Her lips were clenched upon her teeth. She was controlling herself from doing anything wrong---like doing what Harry had always been doing when stressed.
Hermione wanted to cut herself but she knew well it was wrong. She didn't want to do it again as it left nasty scars on her skin. She had tried hiding some of them in the most unexpected places that one could place a mark like at the side of her stomach, just over her rib cage and over her chest where no one can see it.
But over the time that she had been doing it, she wasn't happy even if it was supposed to release her tension. It was a mind-boggling idea why one as her, who was considered the best student in their level, would do something like that. Hermione had already tried explaining herself to her friends, and obviously, only Harry would understand.
In the silence of her room, she heard a faint knock at the door. She easily stood up and laid her brush over the table beside her bed, and went towards the door.
Hermione opened the door and saw Ginny waiting outside with a huge grin on her face.
The two of them went in their room and sat by the couch that was at the foot of both their beds.
"What's with the huge smile your face? Anything unusually good happened to you today?", Hermione asked expecting eagerly for Ginny's story.
"Ummm, well, nothing unusual. . . Just extraordinary", Ginny claimed. She laughed at her statement and continued to talk. "We are going to have a new professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Lavender and I sneaked into McGonagall's office as she was the one who mentioned about it. We saw this picture in her files, of an extremely handsome-looking lad. We looked for information about him and saw them. He studied in Durmstrang and had been working for two years in the Ministry of Magic when he was asked if he was interested in filling in the space for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Though Lavender and I thought it was so odd that one from Durmtrang would be our DADA teacher, we dismissed the thought of the absurdity of one very well taught about the Dark Arts would be 'teaching against' it. Odd isn't it? But come to think of it, he is only 19 years old. Maybe he could choose one of us as his girlfriend. I bet you'll like him too Mione! He really looks like that handsome prince in fairy tales"
Hermione smiled at the thought though she reckoned she wouldn't be as giddy as Ginny was. If there was a new DADA teacher, it's fine. But the absurdity of the situation bothered Hermione much. She felt that having a teacher from Durmstrang would certainly be a problem in the long run, especially that Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, was a student at Hogwarts where the teacher would be teaching in.
"That's really odd Gin. A former student of Durmstrang would be teaching at Hogwarts? Gin, Durmstrang and Hogwarts are two different schools as they master in different arts of wizardry. This will cause some problems soon--- very soon, I tell you"
"Oh come on Mione! It's only once we'll have a good-looking DADA teacher after YOUR Gilderoy Lockhart of course!"
"Gin! That was before alright? I told you that I don't like him anymore. Ron and Harry were right about him after all. He just caught my eye. That's it"
Ginny led herself to her desk and grabbed for a spare parchment and quill. She sat there and started doing her homework due the next morning.
"By the way Mione. Someone's waiting for you outside"
Hermione was at that time getting her books as she wanted to go to the library to finish her homework due the week after.
"Who?", Hermione asked blankly.
"Malfoy. He's been there since I-don't-know-when. The Fat Lady had been telling him to get away from the Gryffindor's dormitory if he didn't want to be found beaten up. I don't know really. He was just there as if it was some old friendly territory", Ginny narrated as she gave a shrug at Hermione.
Hermione laughed for a while and then she responded. "Too right the Fat Lady was. I'd be the one to beat that ferret up if I had the chance to. By the way Gin, he couldn't be waiting for me. If he was, then death awaits him". Hermione finished her sentence and led herself out of the room.
************************************************************************
Hermione opened the portrait of the Fat Lady and revealed no one outside. Somehow, it was a huge sigh of relief for her, as she didn't want Draco to ruin her day just yet. The day was about to end and she did not want Draco to mess it up more for her.
Hermione walked a series of hallways and staircases, and at last, she was at the door of the library. She silently entered and saw Madam Pince quite busy at her desk. Hermione walked in without a word just as she always did and headed to her favorite part of the library where a comfortable couch was situated. She laid her books on the table at the side of the couch when she heard footsteps headed towards her direction.
A shiny pair of shoes was the thing she saw that belonged to the person who stood in front of her. Hermione looked up at the person and saw a gorgeous- looking, young man with a very pleasant smile playing on his lips.
"Good evening", the man said.
"Good evening to you Sir", Hermione replied though she didn't knew who the man was.
The man extended his hand at Hermione and said, "I'm Professor Malcolm Trent, your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher"
Hermione smiled and gave her hand to the man and shook it. "Pleased to meet you Professor Trent. I'm Hermione Granger from Gryffindor"
Malcolm gestured his hand over to Hermione's side and asked, "Do you mind?"
"Not at all. Please", Hermione replied though she didn't want the idea that she was sitting next to the new teacher that she expected to be a year- round heartthrob to all the girls at Hogwarts. Besides, she was known to be the nerdy-nerdy, goody-two-shoes girl who was found at the library almost every single day of their lives.
"So, Ms. Granger, you're from Gryffindor"
"Indeed I am Sir"
"Professor Dumbledore told me some things about you"
"Did he really?", Hermione queried slightly amused.
"The Headmaster told me that you are the brightest one in your batch, and probably the smartest among all the students here", Malcolm stated in yet a smile.
Hermione didn't know how to reply. Every one who knew her said those but it was the first time she'd gone speechless.
"By the way, first class would be tomorrow, isn't it?", Malcolm asked.
"Yes it is, Professor. First thing in the morning"
"Very well. I've been looking forward to meeting you all at last"
"If you'd allow me Sir, I would just like to ask some things about you"
"What is it Ms. Granger?"
"Are you from Durmstrang Sir?"
"Indeed I am. You want me to explain why I had chosen to teach here instead of the school where I used to study at, am I right?"
"Yes. I'd gone curious why all of a sudden one like you, who had gone to Durmstrang where the Dark Arts were taught would choose to teach here. I reckon it might raise suspicions from the students"
"You are the first one to come up with that idea. I'm impressed. Anyways, I was working at the Ministry of Magic when an offer from Professor Dumbledore came, and he told me that there was a job vacancy here. Work at the Ministry can get quite tiring at times and I reckoned that it would be better if I had a lighter job than what I had. And so, that same day, I forwarded my resignation letter to the Minister and sent my resume back to the Headmaster. What I knew next was that I was accepted for the position"
Malcolm eyed Hermione, wanting to question her back.
"Not to be rude or anything, but you haven't answered my question sir"
"Clever. If you were an ordinary student, I would have had gotten away with my answer"
Hermione blushed a bit that the new teacher found her nothing but ordinary. Malcolm carried on. "I hope you can keep a secret, Hermione"
Hermione was taken aback by the mere fact that the new professor called her by her first name.
"It's Granger, Professor"
"I'm sorry if you got uncomfortable"
Hermione nodded though at that time, she was feeling more uncomfortable at their connection.
"It's okay sir"
"Ms. Granger, Voldemort's forces are back on the loose again. I'm working as Auror for the Headmaster. He wanted to make sure that his students are safe from the Dark Side. He's expecting me to fish out information from the Dark Side, and that is why he hired me. To tell you honestly, we don't have a plan of telling the students where I came from. The parents might ask their students to be dropped off, not wanting to have their kids near a probable Death Eater"
"Are you?", Hermione asked cautiously.
"I have no idea"
"NO idea? How could you have no idea about it? Of course if you've gone through the ceremony, you'd know that you ARE a Death Eater"
Malcolm chuckled for the first time in Hermione's sight. Hermione saw the essence of youth in him for the first time as well, for Malcolm talked as if he was ages away even if he was only two years older than her.
"You know Hermione, you amuse me"
"Sir, It's Granger, if you may"
"I prefer to call you Hermione", Malcolm replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
Malcolm and Hermione heard someone coming towards their direction. It was Professor McGonagall.
"Professor Malcolm, I've been looking for you. Madam Pince told me you arrived a few minutes before. If you please, the Headmaster wants to talk to you at his office in ten minutes", McGonagall said as she stood in front of them. She continued on by saying, "Ms. Granger, I see that you'd been keeping our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I hope you'd welcome him here to our school being the brightest students of this age"
It daunted on Hermione that she had not welcomed Malcolm yet.
Malcolm interrupted, "She already did, Professor McGonagall. No worries. She was telling me a lot of things about Hogwarts. She is indeed very clever". Malcolm turned his head towards Hermione with his beautiful gray eyes staring at her intently.
"Very well. I'll leave you two first. Professor, remember that you are needed in ten minutes. Albus have last-minute pointers for you"
"I will proceed to the office Professor. Thank you for informing me"
McGonagall nodded and walked away.
Hermione spoke at once. "I'm sorry, I haven't---"
"It's okay. I was the one who bombarded you with so much information that you might have had forgotten"
"By the way, welcome to Hogwarts Professor Trent"
"Trent or Malcolm, if you may. We are almost the same age Hermione. There is no need to call me Professor"
"But I see it just proper to give due respect to call you Professor, since you are my Professor"
Malcolm brushed his sandy brown hair away from his face and rested his back comfortably at the couch as if he was just a student just like Hermione.
Hermione, on the other hand, just looked at Malcolm. She didn't want the 'closeness' they were having.
Malcolm felt Hermione's eyes at him, and so he turned his eyes towards her and smiled.
"You're a nice girl Hermione"
"Thank you Sir"
Malcolm took his hand over Hermione's that was resting on her lap. Hermione's hand immediately tensed with Malcolm's warm hand over hers.
"I've never seen someone like you in a long while. I think I won't have any regret of choosing to stay here"
Hermione wanted to take her hand away from Malcolm's but she thought it would be rude. She tried to pull it away though Malcolm tightened his grip on her hand even more.
"Sir, my hand", Hermione voiced, trying to sound as if she was offended. She was, though it was fine with her that Malcolm had his hand with hers.
"Hermione, I hope we could be friends outside the classroom. I don't want to keep that teacher-student gap in between us. I'm too young for that", Malcolm said as at last, he took his hand away.
"Too young?", Hermione asked though she knew that Malcolm was indeed young too teach at his age.
"Yes. I'm only 19"
"I know"
Hermione blushed as she was not supposed to know, and she had just divulged that she did.
"Hermione, could we be? Could we be---friends?"
Hermione's head lowered. She didn't want any connection with Malcolm more than being a student to him.
"I reckon so", Hermione mouthed rather reluctantly.
"Thanks"
Malcolm took his hand at Hermione's chin and led it up to him.
"You're beautiful Hermione. You know that?"
Hermione blushed profusely. Having her teacher talking like that wasn't a dream for her.
"Sir, you have to leave", Hermione voiced with her eyes looking at anywhere but Malcolm's.
Malcolm drew himself nearer Hermione. His breathing was felt on Hermione's skin.
"There is too much sorrow in your eyes Hermione. It doesn't suit you. You look too angelic to have a frown on your face"
"Sir", Hermione said again to stress that she was uncomfortable.
"Look at me Hermione"
Though already overly uncomfortable, Hermione slowly took her eyes to stare back at Malcolm's. She saw a friendly aura in him. Hermione thought that Malcolm was someone whom she could confide with. Her tensed muscles relaxed and she became comfortable in staring into Malcolm's eyes. She saw the beauty in him that Ginny and Lavender thought they saw.
Malcolm continued, "Can we meet her every night?"
"Yes. I reckon we can"
"Then I'll meet you here every night after dinner"
Malcolm leaned in to meet his reddish lips with Hermione's glossed ones. He pressed gently on Hermione's and then pulled away.
Hermione was shocked even though in her mind she already expected that Malcolm would do that. She read Malcolm's actions at once but she didn't expect that he would really kiss her. She noticed Malcolm's intentions by the way he smiled and looked at her. At that moment, she was too confused to decipher whether she should be honored or disgraced to have such an absurd connection with the handsome DADA teacher.
To surprise Hermione even more, Malcolm leaned towards her once more and lightly pressed his lips against hers again.
Malcolm was controlling himself from doing any further than kissing Hermione. He was so mesmerized at Hermione who looked very stunning that night.
Malcolm pulled away and kissed Hermione on her cheek. He put his palm around Hermione's wrist and clutched it tight. "Don't leave another scar on your skin. Not here, nor anywhere else near your heart". Hermione was taken aback. //Did Malcolm know that I had been cutting myself?//
Malcolm stood to leave and faced Hermione one last time.
"Good night Hermione. I'll meet you tomorrow"
"Professor, what was the kiss for?"
"The last one was for being a nice friend"
"And the ones before that?"
Malcolm nodded. "Good night Ms. Granger". He sincerely smiled one last time and walked away from Hermione's sight.
"But you just scarred me on my lips Malcolm. . .", Hermione whispered to herself.
Hermione was still in a state of shock minutes after Malcolm had left. She took her fingers to her lips and seemed to have been feeling the kiss that her teacher gave her---the kiss of a new lover. . .
~Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns characters, setting, etc. Except: the plot is mine.~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
BLECH!
Haha. I had one good laugh when I was re-reading my fic. It really is a weird twist to have Hermione a lover in the person of a teacher. Blah, blah, blah. Anyways, to those who didn't like the idea of Hermione cutting herself, I'm taking it off, and hopefully, it will remain like that until the end. I don't really want her cutting. It's just something to add to make the situation more complicated on concern to Harry. And I bet some of you thought it was Draco inside the library. Well, it was supposed to be him but I think it would be better to add him on the next chapter, only to introduce the new DADA teacher before we get any further the story.
Thanks for reading. Please drop a review!
CIAO!
~kaye~
