Chapter Four: Beyond Our Comprehension
Disclaimer: No, sorry. You've got the wrong lucky wench. (No offense, J.K. I love your work!)
A/N: Here's the last chapter of the day. I still have 4-5 typed up. It'll be here by weekend, I hope. Below, are my comments to my lurvely reviewers.
Ringette-chick: I'm glad you think it's good. Hehe. Here's more.
Attaasa: Um, was my story awesome? Or the fact that there weren't any logged reviews? Either way, I'm hoping that was the latter of the two, which is positive feedback, so thanks.
Cera: Thanks. I wasn't too sure about this one. It's just so overdone…
Emsdesire: Spankies!
Blanche Dubois: Wow. Big word! Argh! But, I know wut it is…lol. Um, interesting review.
MistressDeDraco: Spanks, again. Heh. I have such a hard time making her resist him (God knows I have a weak spot for bad boys…), but I tried meh best. Anyway, I'll try better after these chapters, cuz I don't have the time to fix it now. She may have resisted a bit here, but I can't recall. Oh well. And I know, this chapter isn't big on the resisting, but I was trying to get it to seem sweet. Like one of those 'caught-up-in-the-moment' things. I'll stop there…can't give it away.
****
Hermione sighed, leaning back into her pillows.
The nerve of Draco! Thinking he had the right to touch her like that!
"What didn't you understand earlier, when I said that I would what I wished. And if I wanted to throw down on my bed and take you right now, there would be nothing stopping me."
Draco's words drifted through her mind, causing her to shiver.Hermione found herself wishing that she didn't make him stop. Draco could've been her release.
"No!" she whispered, softly.
The voice of reason that generally sat in her mind, arguing to be smart, was gone.
Because Hermione got up, and crept toward Draco's room. She wanted some sort of sign that he was in fact, the evil person she thought him to be. Anything to remind her why the would-be relationship was terribly wrong.
But when she reached his bedside, all thoughts of his evil exterior was gone. He was asleep, to her surprise. To make matters worse, he had kicked off the covers sometime during his sleep.
Draco's silver-green boxers were revealed to her, causing her to gasp in shock.
His platinum hair was in disarray, several wisps falling into his sharp silver eyes...which were, of course, shut.
To top it all off, he had fallen asleep with a single candle lit. Its pale orange glow flickered across his handsome features.
Hermione licked her lips nervously, when he shivered from the cold.
Feeling a weird pang in her chest, she silently pulled the covers up over him, shielding him from the cold. Unable to resist the urge, she bent over his face, and brushed back his soft blonde hair. Standing up, she walked over to the candle, blowing it out.
Unbeknownst to her, the familiar smirk was dancing across his face, as his eyes flicked open, watching Hermione's every move.
~*~
"Thanks, Granger."
"For what?" she replied, not looking up from her homework.
"Last night," Draco replied, coolly. "Yes, I was awake."
"Why didn't you tell me?!" she demanded, looking up in wide-eyed surprise.
"I was curious to see what my favorite mudblood would do to me with the lights out," he snickered.
"Hate to disappoint," Hermione replied, gazing back down at her paper.
"Oh, you didn't. Now, I think we should continue from last night, don't you?"
"Depends on which part. Either way, really, I'm gonna say no."
Draco snarled, glaring at her. "That's fine. But just remember, Granger, I could make your life hell or heaven."
He laughed at the look of pure shock mixed with disgust on her face. It was a good change, because then he wasn't half as attracted to her, with these bothersome features on her face.
"Pick one," he muttered, moving for his room.
"Malfoy?"
He grinned. Just as he suspected. Draco had her cornered. "Yeah?"
"Can't we just…can't we just be friends?" she asked, her eyes shining with innocence.
His heart leapt to his throat. Friends? Him and Granger?
"Hermione, I'm really an all-or-nothing type of person," he said, coolly.
That's why the muggle phrase, 'Never let them see you sweat' was so helpful. On the outside, it looked like Draco was just aiming to hurt her, but on the inside, he was craving for a friend.
That, Draco realized, was the weird feeling that had been settling in the pit of his stomach recently. He wanted a friend, a real one.
"Draco, it would really benefit us. We are, after all, Head Boy and Girl. It would help us tremendously if we could get along."
"Oh, so this is all about appearance?" Draco sneered.
"N-no. I really just want all of this weird stuff to stop."
"Who says it would? Besides which, I doubt Boy Wonder and Weasel would appreciate it much."
"Since when have you been afraid of Harry or Ron?" Hermione asked, curiously.
"Since never. Last thing I need is two idiots bothering me over someone as insignificant as you," he spat, glaring.
Hermione stared up at him, her chocolate eyes aflame. "Forget it," she said in a huff, gathering her things. "It was stupid of me to even think we could be anything else besides enemies."
"Don't forget lovers," Draco laughed.
"Never…never would I sleep with you, Draco Malfoy!" Hermione shrieked.
"That's what you say now…"
She just made a noise of severe irritation, and slammed the door behind her.
He was left alone, with all those horrible thoughts swarming around his head.
Draco wanted a friend. Hermione would more than cover that point. But, he was playing that fun game with her. What exactly did he want? Surely, not the mudblood…
He shook his head, trying to pick out one thought from another.
"It's just easier to forget it, and keep playing the mind games on Granger," he mumbled to himself. They were so much fun, after all.
But, Draco had to wonder, were the mind games affecting him, too?
~*~
Hermione huffed about her room.
She couldn't believe that Draco still upset her. What was his angle?
What she wouldn't give to be able to peek inside his mind. The problem was, it was most likely a dangerous place, and there was risk of getting caught.
Sighing, she walked toward the library, which was her second home in Hogwarts.
Hermione was definitely surprised to see Draco sprawled across a sofa already, intently reading a book.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she grasped her book tightly, and sat on the couch next to Malfoy.
"Well, isn't this the little surprise?" Draco said in his drawl.
"I highly doubt it. But, I'm pretty shocked to see you of all people."
"Why is that? Don't I look like the type of person that reads?" he asked, gently putting down his book.
Hermione gazed at his raised eyebrow, inhaling. "Well-"
"But then again, you don't really know who I am, now do you?" Draco cut in, standing up swiftly.
"No. But, you don't have to leave. I won't bother you."
Draco just glared at her, with his mesmerizing silver eyes, and walked off.
She blinked. Almost immediately, she remembered his last comment, and found herself really wishing that she knew the real Draco Malfoy.
~*~
God damn, that Granger girl never ceased to piss him off!
"Get out of my way, Potter," he spat, after Harry bumped into him.
"I wasn't in your way," he replied, bitterly. "I really don't know how Hermione could stand to live with a stupid git like you."
"Maybe it's because this 'stupid git' makes all her fantasies come true when the lights go out. You should hear her scream, it's delightful."
Harry glared at him for a split second, before punching Draco multiple times. "Like she'd ever sleep with you!" he replied, out of anger.
"You'd be surprised," Draco whispered, walking away.
He took out his wand, and said a quick healing spell, watching the blood running from his nose stop. After that was taken care of, he mumbled a cleaning spell, letting the blood evaporate.
He was surprisingly calm over the whole thing. Stupid mudblood. He always enjoyed a good fight.
As if she were God, Hermione was sitting in the common room reading, already.
Hadn't he just come from the library?
"Are you fuckin' God? How do you get from there to here before me?"
"There's a shorter way," Hermione replied, without looking up.
"Leave it to you."
She looked up, her eyes focusing on his bruised eye. "What happened to you?" she asked softly.
"Nothing. Since when does it matter to you, Granger?"
"I was just asking, get a grip!"
Draco rolled his eyes. "I can take care of myself, ok?"
"Not from the looks of that eye. Lemme fix it, Malfoy."
He sighed irritably. "Make it quick."
She stood up promptly, walking slowly over to him. Taking out her wand, she conjured an ice pack, and held it gently over his left eye.
Draco stared at her, confusion filling his eyes. "Couldn't you just do a spell?"
~*~
Hermione smiled. "Not really. This sort of thing just doesn't go away."
She moved a little closer to Draco, to hold the ice pack easier.
She was quite surprised when he hadn't told her to sod off, or demand that he hold the pack.
"Just a little more," she whispered, after seeing him flinch from the cold.
Hermione tried valiantly to slow down her heartbeat. But being this close to Draco set something off.
Ten minutes later, she started to lower her arm, and the pack.
But Draco caught her wrist, staring intently into her eyes.
She swallowed roughly, forcing herself to gaze back into those penetrating silver orbs, with brief flecks of blue. There was something in those eyes that were never there before.
"Draco," she breathed.
He smirked a little. "Draco? I thought I was Malfoy."
"That's…that's what I meant," Hermione whispered, her eyes still fixed on Draco's.
"Uh-huh."
Her breath fluttered out, when she realized the proximity of their bodies.
For minutes, they stood frozen like that. His hand still gripped her wrist, right next to his chest, making it impossible to escape…not that she had any intention to. Mere inches separated them, and he was towering over her. Draco's head was bent over hers, just inches away, too.
His other arm suddenly snaked around her waist, pulling her closer, to eliminate what little space separated them.
Draco finally let go of Hermione's delicate wrist, and lifted up her chin.
"Do you think this is wise?" she whispered, only letting half of her brain work. She knew if she let it all work, this couldn't happen. It simply couldn't.
"For once in you life, Granger, for God's sake, don't think. Just do," Draco replied quietly, swooping in for the kill.
~*~
"Albus, I'd have to agree with Hermione," Minerva said. "Is this wise, to let our two top students entangle themselves within each other?"
"My dear professor, even if it wasn't, there's really no way to stop it, now is there?" Dumbledore replied, his blue eyes twinkling.
"But, come on. Nothing good can come from their union!" Severus argued.
Both teachers gazed down at the bowl containing the transparent substance, where the two students were dangerously close to kissing…again.
Albus sighed, shaking his head. "Everything good can come from this. Besides, we can't exactly inform them that we've been watching them. Also, isn't it like a teenager to want to disobey their elders?"
Snape shook his head. "But this is…" he trailed off, at a loss for words.
"I agree with Severus. Hermione and Draco, they just shouldn't be together for more reasons than our ages combined," Minerva said.
"Why's that?" Dumbledore asked, with ease.
"Well, for one, Draco's destined to follow Voldemort's path! Then, even if he doesn't, there's Lucius. After that, there's Harry and Ron, who would kill him if they found out. And they could fall behind in their work, completely caught up in each other!"
"Isn't it our goal to unite students?"
"But not these two, Albus," Snape replied.
All the Headmaster did was shake his head.
"There are higher purposes in life that we can't even begin to comprehend. There is a reason behind these two. Whether or not they unite tonight, it is inevitable. You can't cheat fate, now can you?"
****
A/N: Well, there's my soon-to-be-famous scene with the teachers!
I haven't much else to say, except please review, and check out meh other story!!!
[Submitted: April 2, 2003]