A/N: This chapter is the reason the story has an R rating.
DISCLAIMER: The characters of Harry Potter don't belong to me, but to their owners.
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Chapter 2
As Draco watched Hermione, he was reminded once again of the Greek tale of Persephone.
When Persephone was allowed to leave the realm of Hades, the dark god gave her six pomegranate seeds to eat. She swallowed them, not knowing that the seeds would tie her to Hades forever. And so he tricked her.
"At least I still have my herbs," Hermione said, lifting the small basket she'd tied to her waist. "But-oh!" Her eyes widened.
"What's wrong?" Draco demanded.
"My wand! It's back at the stream! I...I dropped it."
"That's bad," Draco said, weaving deceit around them. "To leave an object of magic lying around on the night of Mabon is a very bad idea. You may not get it back unchanged, that is if you ever find it again."
"I have to go back!" Hermione cried, turning towards the balcony as though she might hop back on Draco's broomstick.
"What, and meet up with the hounds again?" Careful, he told himself.
"The hounds have found something else to hunt. I doubt they'll come after me again." Hermione looked around the balcony, and spotted a closet.
"You're mad, you know that? You're simply going to head back down into the forest right after Arawn's hounds nearly got you?" Draco shook his head, knowing all the while that she was only walking along the path he had set down for her.
And so he tricked her.
Hermione had examined the closet's contents, and found a broomstick. It wasn't anywhere near as good as Draco's Nimbus 2001, of course, which still had a lot of zip in it considering that Draco had had it for a few years now. Hermione was very grateful to that broomstick, which had saved her life.
And, well, as for Malfoy...
"Thank you."
"Hm?" Draco said, relishing the moment.
"For saving me tonight." Hermione's face was hidden from him. She was examining her broom quite carefully. But she spoke very clearly, very determinedly.
Draco quirked a smile. "Yes, so you can go right out and put my efforts to waste by letting Arawn have another go at you. It won't do. I'll have to take you."
"What?" Startled, Hermione swung around. "I cant...you can't..."
Draco's smile had disappeared before she could see. It would have scared her away, anyway. "What are you waiting for? Your friends will come looking for you in a bit."
"That's true. But why are you helping me?"
Draco made an impatient sound. "Do you want to get your wand back or do you want to stand around all night asking ridiculous questions?"
Hermione would have pestered him some more, but she was too anxious about her wand. Losing a belonging always made her feel that way, jumpy and worried.
"Let's go," she said.
And so he tricked her.
They flew over the forest again, this time with a sharp eye out for the hounds, but they seemed to have seen the last of them.Hermione found herself disturbingly aware of Draco's body behind her on the broomstick, warm and electric.
"There, there!" Hermione pointed. "Right where I found the faunsfoot. I'd left my robe there to get into the water."
Draco looked up sharply. She'd found faunsfoot? Hmmm...
He brought the broomstick down carefully to land at the edge of the stream. Hermione jumped off and ran for her robe. She picked it up and quickly began to rifle through the pockets.
Draco jumped off his broomstick as well and began to walk upstream. Hermione had nearly reached the source of the stream, he saw. It came out of a small cave in a hill, bubbling and clear. Draco bent and peered into the opening of the cave.
Perfect, he thought.
Just then, Hermione let out a shriek. "I found it! Thank goodness!" She examined her wand carefully for any scratches.
Draco meanwhile looked around in the sky. He found what he was looking for. Quickly he brought up his wand and muttered a few words, and made a quick squiggle with his own wand. He made his way to the faunsfoot plant growing in the shallow water.
"Well, it looks all right," Hermione began to say, when the deep baying of Arawn's hounds began again, right over their heads.
"They're back!" She cried. Draco glanced up from where he was standing ankle-deep in the stream.
"Quick! In here!" He began pulling at her arm. His touch sent a shock through her body, jolting her senses. WHY was she reacting this way? But she had no time to examine the idea with the hounds of Arawn close behind her.
"Where?"
"This stream! There's a deep cave under the hill, where it's coming out from! And the Cwn Annwn won't enter an abode with running water in it."
The baying was decreasing in volume, so Hermione didn't stop to question this. She allowed Draco to push her into the entrance of the cave. It was, she saw with surprise, spacious. The stream disappeared into the back of the cave, its origins even further in, but here it was...almost comfortable.
Draco crawled in after her.
Outside, they could hear the hounds barking softly but ferociously, but none entered.
Apparently the story was true.
"How did you know?" Hermione asked.
"It's the common way to escape, most wizards know the story. Rather, it's a cautionary folktale."
They waited in the semi dark, but the hounds wouldn't go away. Hermione was getting tired.
Draco muttered under his breath and pointed at the ground with his wand. A flame sprang up. He reached into the small knapsack he was carrying and pulled out a teakettle and two small cups.
Hermione watched with surprise.
"That's a lot of things to carry around," she remarked.
"It's good to be prepared," Draco said shortly. He dipped the kettle into the stream and filled it with water. He set the kettle on the fire, waiting for it to boil.
"I suppose you have tea, too?" Hermione asked sarcastically.
"Actually, yes, I found some tea-root when I was searching for my plants," Draco said calmly.
Hermione coloured. An apology was at the tip of her tongue, but...Draco was acting so strange.
The water boiled up, and Draco dropped a bit of tea-root into the kettle. Carefully, he poured out two cups of tea for Hermione and himself, then offered her one.
She took it gratefully.
"Mmm, it's very comforting," she said, sipping carefully, not noticing Draco's eyes on her.
"Yes, thanks," he said. Again, he thought of Hades, the lonely god, tricking his queen into staying.
They sat for a while, sipping their tea. Hermione was growing comfortable and warm. She found herself slipping glances at Draco's downturned profile every so often. The flames from the fire played eerily on his coldly handsome face.
"I can't believe we're sitting here together," Hermione remarked. "You and me, that is."
"Yes, well, stranger things have happened," Draco said quietly. He looked up, and she was captured by the clear grey orbs, with the black irises clearly delineated in the centers.
"Oh? Like what?" Hermione was curious.
"Like discovering that you've beat me at something else."
"What's that?" Hermione asked easily. She felt rather relaxed, almost bubbly. She leaned back and stared into Draco's ringed grey eyes.
"You've lost your virginity."
"What?" Hermione began to laugh. "How did you know that?" Inside her, she began to feel that laughing wasn't quite the reaction to Draco's revelation. Ought she not to be...furious?
Draco smiled unpleasantly. Time to pull his trap shut around his prey. "I overheard you talking to Weasley's sister. About your experience."
Hermione was shocked. "You heard that?"
"Yes, and I'd like a taste of what Sean got."
There was a moment of silence. Shock bubbled beneath Hermione's new calm, but her mind felt euphoric, as though she were floating.
"Why?" she asked calmly.
"Because I need a lesson in seduction. There was this girl I was planning to seduce, but at the last moment, something happened, and then nothing happened, if you see what I mean."
Hermione tut tutted. "All too well, Malfoy. But what makes you think I'm going to entertain this mad proposition from you?"
She couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. It was as though she was drunk, or a completely different person, one who felt comfortable enough with Draco Malfoy to discuss sex. Hermione's logical brain couldn't hold onto the very brief thought that normally she couldn't discuss the weather with Malfoy without wanting to shove her wand through his eye.
Draco finally allowed himself to smile at her. Persephone, he thought, you're mine.
"Because I've put a slight scraping of faunsfoot into your tea," he explained. "It makes you feel you can handle anything, and odd things seem quite normal. Doesn't it seem normal to want to have sex with me?"
Hermione eyed Draco's form. "Very much," she replied. "All right."
She crawled over to him on her hands and knees. Draco's eyes narrowed as he took in the image.
She drew his head down gently, into a kiss, deepening the kiss until little sparks began to flash around in her brain.
Quickly, she began to unbutton her blouse.
Draco knocked her hands aside. "Allow me," he said. But his fingers weren't as nimble as usual. In fact, they seemed to be shaking, he saw. Thankfully, Hermione would not remember too much of this. Gritting his teeth, he forced his hands to stillness, and carefully flicked open one button after another, exposing Hermione's slim torso to his gaze. He found the sight unexpectedly stirring.
"That's it. Now I should like you to touch me." My goodness, I sound so confident, Hermione congratulated herself.
Draco complied. His cool hand slid smoothly over Hermione's warm skin, causing her skin to pebble at his touch. He encased her shiver by slipping his arm around her waist.
"Um, uh, now..."
"Yes? Now?" Draco teased, delighted at how flustered she seemed to be. Somehow knowing that she would take everything in stride, that she was supposed to be in control, took the edge of his own nervousness. This had been a brilliant idea.
Hermione drew a deep breath.
"Gently rub your...um...thumb, across..um, my...yes! Oh!" Hermine squeaked and tensed."Gently! Ahh...yes."
For a few minutes she allowed Draco to explore, heroically suppressing a need to return the favour. "Now, your hand down my stomach." Draco followed her instructions carefully, skimming Hermione's warm belly with splayed fingers. The rough masculine feel of his fingers were nearly her undoing. She whimpered, and dug her face into the curve of his shoulder. After all, she wasn't GREATLY experienced. Draco, meanwhile, slid his palm down to cup her hip, his hand delving beneath the slim crescent of her panties, following the curve of her thigh.
"You can...take my bra off," Hermione whispered.
"Excuse me?"
"You can take my bra off."
"How?"
"Just reach behind me and unhook it."
Draco tried, but the evil thing seemed to have a mind of its own.
"Is this some Muggle contraption?"
"Yes, but it's easy."
Draco struggled a bit longer, cursed, and finally succeeded. Hermione could tell because suddenly there was cool air on parts that normally were shut away.
He drew both hands up the sides of her ribs, smoothing away the feeling of the bra, making her skin tingle.
Hermione decided to help him out, and quickly drew off her shirt. She slipped out of the unhooked bra as well.
Draco;s eyes abruptly hooded as he stared down at her. His fingers at her sides spasmed. Desire was something he was familiar with, but this...this emotion coursing through his veins was completely unexpected.
Lust. He had never expected to lust after Hermione Granger. He'd been fairly confident that he could rise to the deed itself with no problem, but she certainly wasn't the first girl he'd have picked to deflower himself.
But now...
The firelight shone on her hair, turning it lustrous. Draco stared at her hair as she began working on his shirt, keeping her eyes on his buttons.
When the shirt was undone, she drew it off his pale sleek shoulders, admiring the subtle play of lean muscles there.
"You're beautiful." The words slipped out unintended.
"What?" He asked, disbelieving.
She thought quickly. "This is the part where you say something nice about your partner, presumably so they won't feel like they're making a big mistake."
Draco looked lost in thought. Something almost like pain flitted through him for the briefest second. Then he reached out and pulled her close against him. Hermione gasped. She could feel him, hot and hard against her. She found the idea unbearably exciting. Draco leaned in a little, his ivory bangs obscuring his eyes.
"This is what you do to me." His voice was curt, and rough with restraint.
Hermione's throat went abruptly dry. What sort of girl had turned him away? She wondered.
She swallowed. Heat seemed to be pooling within her, and her only instinct then was to crawl vertically up Draco's lean body.
"Um, well, since this is the first time, we..." her throat was dry.
"...can dispense with further foreplay?" Draco asked silkily.
"You catch on fast."
"I'm learning." Yes, indeed he was, Draco mused. He hadn't taken the time with Melissa to create this intense, sensual desire that enfolded the two of them like a silken web, that created a world of only them, where the outside world could not intrude. Right now, he was completely focused on Hermione. He had to give her points for that. Her every breath, sigh, glance and movement was of interest to him. When she ducked her head, he had the urge to follow, to envelop her, to find her hidden self, to delve deep into her warmth.
With this new insight, Draco took the lead. He caressed Hermione's curves again, and brought a hand back to smooth over her breasts, carefully plucking at the rosebud nipples. She closed her eyes, and her breathing deepened.
Inspired, Draco bent his head and took one nipple into his mouth. Hermione gasped and her fingers sank deep into his hair. With fierce relish, Draco swirled the nipple with his tongue, enjoying the taste, the soft feel of her. He sucked, and Hermione screamed as a line of lightning shot from that point deep down into her belly. She convulsed, then shook. It hadn't been this...intense... with Sean. It hadn't been...this dark craving.
Draco licked his way to her other breast, his confidence increasing with her moans of pleasure and the way she pulled his head closer.
At last he raised his head, triumph shining in his eyes. Hermione felt uncharacteristically irritated. Her student was doing well, she should be proud. He'd be swiving his reluctant summer girlfriend in no time at all. The thought made her feel even more irritated.
Well, she wasn't done with him yet.
Smiling, Hermione reached down into his pants and wrapped her hand around him. Draco's eyes widened. Hermione grinned.
Draco smiled in return and brought his hand up to cup Hermione's smooth inner thigh, so high up that his knuckles brushed her panties. Her eyes widened, and Dracos' smile grew. He hooked an index finger into the edge of her underwear, and ran his finger along the...
"Malfoy!" Hermioen shrieked, clutching him tightly. "What are you doing?"
"Granger," he drawled, "What DO you think we're doing?"
Hermione stiffened as Draco's fingers moved deeper. Her lashes drifted closed, and she sighed, enjoying the sensations, a blush on her face. Draco found it charming.
Nevertheless, he was a Slytherin. Torture was a part of their motto, along with cruelty and suffering. Draco was very cruel to Hermione. She suffered. She whimpered. She begged.
But Draco was in his element now. Having successfully navigated the first, most awkward part of this business, he found now that he was a skilled musician, and Hermione was making sweet music in his arms. He may not be perfect yet, but he certainly understood the rhythm.
Finally, he bent his head and whispered in her ear, "Do you really want me to...?"
"Yes! Bloody hell, yes!" Hermione almost sobbed.
Swiftly, he positioned them, and when Hermione was poised over him, allowed his conscience one moment to wonder what he was doing. But things were too far gone, and he had to finish what they'd started.
Smoothly, he lowered Hermione into him, and she sighed in pleasure as she encapsulated him. She wrapped her legs around him, and her arms around his neck.
He began to move, slowly at first, enjoying the feeling so much more than he'd ever expected to. Then the rhythm caught them both, and they moved together, faster and faster, until Hermione screamed, and clenched around him, and Draco came with her.
Glorious, was all he could think.
For some seconds, only heavy breathing filled the room. Draco unconsciously wrapped an arm around Hermione before sleep claimed them both.
When he woke up, the temperature in the cave had dropped several degrees, and he knew that Hermione was awake before he even opened his eyes.
"You wretch!" she hissed. She had dressed, and was even wearing her robes. But her hair was a glorious mess of curling mahogany and her eyes spit sparks at him.
She had her wand pointed at him, and that was spitting sparks too.
"Please don't say I raped you," he murmured, pushing his fair hair out of his eyes and propping himself up on his elbows.
"What else would you call it?"
"You know the properties of faunsfoot as well as I do," he said, mentally searching for his wand. "It only creates confidence - of the berserker kind, if you will- but it does NOT create..." he squelched the urge to run his eyes down her body. "...desire."
Furious tears rose in Hermione's eyes, and the hand holding her wand shook.
"I do NOT desire you," she cried. "Slytherin!" Child of the house of deceit.
"You lie," he snapped. "If you hadn't desired me, the fausnfoot would not have made you say 'yes'. You know that as well as I do, Gryffindor." Be honest with yourself, child of the house of truth, he was telling her.
Hermione drew a deep breath. "You used me," she said finally.
Draco bent his head in assent.
"I should have known," Hermione said, happy that her voice didn't tremble. "When you saved my life last night, I thought...Well, I hope you're happy. You've learned everything that could be expected. I can't imagine anyone refusing you now."
She rose, and he watched silently as she marched to the entrance of the cave.
"Thank you," he said, but she didn't reply. Nor did he expect her to. She was right, they both knew it. He'd stoked desire in her, and then used her to further his own goals. Yet, he felt cold inside as he watched her walk away.
Hermione sighed. The faunsfoot's false confidence had ebbed a lot, leaving her feeling lost and alone, as well as a monumental fool. She looked outside. It was dawn.
The Wild Hunt was over, and she could return to Hogwarts.
She used her wand to spell a branch she found. It wasn't a broomstick, and it would be awkward and unwieldy, but at least it would get her home. She climbed on it and ordered it up.
She didn't look back as the branch rose and left.
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