Title: Temptation, Pour Deux
Author: AJ Arsenic
Rating: PG-13 for now, may get to be R for violence, among other things.
Pairings: Draco/Hermione, brief Harry/Ginny and Ron/Fleur, possibly others later.
Disclaimer: Owned entirely by J.K Rowling. I'm just here to worship.
Time: Takes place in Draco and Hermione's sixth year at Hogwarts, after Voldemort has risen again and started to gain more followers.
Summary: Draco, Hermione, and the challenges they present to each other may change the very course of history…
Reviews: Please. I'd love constructive criticism if you see something wrong or something I could improve, since this is my first HP fanfic… otherwise my usual policy on reviews is if I don't get any, I don't post anything. So be a responsible reader, eh?
Note: This is my first Harry Potter fanfiction… I've read a few others, though not many, and written for various other fandoms. I love HP, so I figured I'd give it a shot-
Dedicated: All the Hermione/Draco shippers… and Phoebe (the Evil Muffin), of course.
Chapter OneAnd So it Begins…
"Pure ivory and ebony, face of glass and eyes of sea, beautiful I long to be, magic, show the best in me!" a distant-looking Hermione Granger heaved a sigh, flicked her wand, and put on as best a Slytherin smirk as she could manage. The charm began to work exactly as it should, her skin turning nearly white, and invisible hands twisting her now black and glossy hair up into an elegant bun. The Gryffindor's high cheekbones grew even more defined, and her eyelashes grew dark and thick, rendering a bit of mystery to her newly green eyes.
She sighed again, staring back at her far changed reflection in the mirror. If only she could always look like this- beautiful, mysterious, even cold. She looked like she knew what she wanted in life, like she had some purpose… power. She looked like a girl with power. Like Pansy Parkinson, or even more, her older sister Evelyn. She could do great things looking like this… wonderful things.
But the instant she stepped out of the bathroom the world would know she'd only been using more cosmetic spells.
In all honesty, she was nothing special. She was smart, yes… but as she remembered telling Harry so many years ago, it was books, and cleverness. She didn't possess any sort of real talent for anything, besides sabotaging any chance at a social life in her feverish pursuit of knowledge. A Muggle girl. Not born into a wizarding family, not even born into a family with wizarding blood. Plain, simple, features, brown eyes and brown hair… just like the rest of the world.
No, the clever little mudblood Hermione Granger could never be capable of looking this- this-
"Beautiful!"
Spinning around with a sharp intake of breath, she looked about the prefect's bathroom, quite relieved at not seeing anyone but her 'improved' self. With a quick finite incantum to erase the effects of her spell, she walked in the direction the voice had been coming from- the South wall, near the showers, and put her ear up to the stone, While she could hear voices, the words were frustratingly inaudible-
"Maximums
Audiem." she muttered, tapping her wand against the wall lightly, and was
instantly rewarded with a voice very familiar to her.
Draco Malfoy was on the other
side of that wall.
"Of course I've made arrangements, father. Mr. Nott has promised to teach me how to apparate- all safely, of course. No, you're right, it'd be better not to tell mother. As soon as the Dark Lord opens Azkaban she'll have more than enough to worry about, having offered to shelter the Lestranges-"
Hermione couldn't help but let out a yelp of surprise at that, instantly covering up her mouth. In another time, she would have cursed herself for being so foolish, but… the Lestranges were among the most loyal and dangerous of Voldemort's followers! And Malfoy -the little scumbag- and his parents were offering shelter for them! It was too bloody much. She listened on.
"I'll be home in a week, father… I would be most honored to meet him then. I suppose he'll be glad to have some eyes and ears in Hogwarts… I know he's still not sure of Snape's loyalty. I'm not even sure of his loyalty. Father, I'll have to cut this conversation short- I'll contact you again when I can speak more freely."
Hermione gasped, more quietly this time. Malfoy, working directly for Voldemort? Meeting face to face with him? She'd always known he was stuck-up- going on about his 'pure blood' and all that- God only knew how many times she'd had to hold Ron back from punching his face in for her. But this- this went beyond cruelty, beyond bad family ties- she froze, mid-thought, as two ice-cold hands gripped her shoulders roughly.
"I should have known one of you three would be following me around. Silly me, not thinking to cast an anti-eavesdropping spell…" Malfoy whispered into her ear, chilling her to the bone. She couldn't help but shudder at the steely undertone in the young baritone... he'd grown from the little pillock who liked to drop bugs down the front of older girls robes, and not in a way she liked. Preparing herself for a fight, she spun around, pushed Draco off her, and backed up against the wall, reaching for her wand.
"You little bastard. I- I never wanted to believe it-"
"Oh believe what, Granger?" he sneered, moving closer to her and snatching the wand before she had a chance to raise it. She cursed under her breath, causing him to smirk. "You couldn't believe that students at this school could actually follow- gasp- the Dark Arts? That some of us actually had families that pledged loyalty to Voldemort rather than Dumbledore?" voice dripping with sarcasm, he moved even closer to the now furious girl, laughing as he traced the Gryffindor seal on her robe. Her glare grew even more lethal. "Grow up, mudblood. The entire wizarding world isn't good- barely anything is, anymore. You were always so interested in learning everything about everything- have you ever even thought about it? About what it's like to cast the imperius curse… or how it feels to have some bloody Muggle begging at your-"
"That's enough, Malfoy!" she screeched, slapping away the hand that had been wandering perilously close to her breasts. "Would you use your head for one bleeding second? Think who my friends are- who one of my best friends is. I know evil when I see it, and I know you well enough." her eyes and voice were smoldering now, with rage and a bit of fear. She'd always thought of Draco as essentially harmless- rude, of course, and terrible to Harry, but intelligent enough not to grate on her nerves. As long as she wasn't with her friends. This was an abominably rude awakening.
"There is no good and evil, Granger." he drawled, shocking himself by feeling almost disappointed in her. "There are only two sides, and I happen to be on the one that uses all the resources available. Dumbledore's weak… with his petty morals, his need to be fair and perfect- the world isn't fair, nor perfect Granger, and most wizards don't seem to understand that. But I do. My father does, and Lord Voldemort has mastered the concept. We are only wizards- wizards trying to protect our own. Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same."
"Malfoy, that's not the point-"
"It's exactly the point." he interrupted. "I would have thought you, at least, a somewhat intelligent girl, mudblood that you are, would be able to see the beauty in such power- see that there are two sides to the coin."
"Two sides to the coin?" she fumed, pushing past him and off towards the door, trying to ignore the fact that she didn't entirely disagree. Nearly all the philosophers in the world had, in fact, agreed with him- but what was she thinking? "I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to contemplate the Zen of the world, Malfoy- in Azkaban, with your parents."
The bathroom door quite abruptly slammed in her face, and she spun around again, to find Malfoy twirling her wand in his fingers with a very familiar smirk. She tried to ignore the voices in the back of her head… the voices that told her to go to him, to listen to him- God, when would he ever speak to her again?
"Come here, Hermione." He said, in a voice that made it damn near impossible to refuse. "Take off that Gryffindor robe- let's just be us for a moment, all right?" He slowly slid his robe off his shoulders, allowing it to fall carelessly to the floor. Idly, she wondered if he did that at home- rich boys didn't have to pick up after themselves. Not quite sure why she was complying, she removed her robe as well, folding it up neatly and setting it on the counter. They were both trying very hard to forget that it was summer, and that neither was wearing more than a tight tank top underneath. There were, after all, far more important matters at hand than hormones.
"What's this all about, Malfoy? You can't keep me in here forever- and I don't think even you are quite advanced enough to do a memory charm on me. You're only delaying the inevitable." she told him, trying to sound much more sure than she was. Who knew what he was capable of, or what they taught future Death Eaters at home- Draco only laughed, taking her hand and pulling her on to a bench with him.
"Hermione, when you think of evil, what do you think of?"
"Oh come off it Malfoy, what's the point?"
"Hermione." he pleaded, pale grey eyes seeming to pierce into her train of thought. She wasn't sure whether to shiver or blush. "Just answer my question."
"Don't be a fool. I, and most well likely the rest of the wizarding world, think of… well… Voldemort." she winced at the name. But Harry had made her, Ron, and Ginny swear to use it last year- and he'd been right. It did take from the fear.
"Not me?" he asked, shifting so he could look at her in the eyes. She moved back, becoming a bit uncomfortable at his closeness. And his eyes.
"No, not you. Or- or any of the Slytherins, for that matter. You're only children." she added hastily, not quite able to read the look on his face. She couldn't become too personal in this. God, to think she was sitting here, chatting with some- some dark wizard- but she couldn't tear herself away. There was something- something about the way he was looking at her, the way he seemed to genuinely want to convince her. But why?
"I'm not a Slytherin right now, remember Hermione? And you're not a Gryffindor, either. Ignore the good and evil, remember it doesn't exist, Hermione, and tell me this… do you hate me?"
Her eyes widened at the pure absurdity of the question, her mind still running itself around in furious little circles. Did she hate Malfoy? Oh, she didn't like him, she most certainly did not- but could she hate him? Ignoring Voldemort, as he'd said, could she really bring herself to hate someone for being born into a rich family? Being born on the wrong side, the currently winning side of this war?
Were there two sides? And what was good and evil? She supposed that evil meant death, and good meant life- but life and death for whom? There was a good chance that in the next few years she, Harry, and Ron would be dead. Because of evil. And there was also a good chance that Malfoy, Pansy, and the rest of the Slytherins would be dead because of good. So who was right? Who deserved to live?
There was no answer, was there?
"I don't hate you, Draco." she looked up at him, brown eyes meeting blue, searching for some sort of emotion in that heartbreakingly handsome face. She wanted to know how he felt. Out of all things, wanted to know why he seemed to care. "For some reason, I can't, even after all you've done to Harry, Ron and I over the years-"
"Then tell me, Hermione, why do you so easily hate the Dark Arts?"
"That's completely different Draco, and you know it-"
"No, Hermione, it's exactly the same." he stood, pulling her up to her feet as well, keeping an arm wrapped securely around her waist. She tried to struggle free, but after one good look into his eyes she all but gave up.
"Why are you doing this to me, Malfoy?" she snapped, losing her temper with his games. If he was going to curse her, he should curse her already-
"Because I expect more out of you, Granger." he replied just as quickly, smirking and leaning down to capture her lips in a kiss. She tried to squirm free but he only held on tighter, as he all but forced her mouth open with his tongue, noting that even as she kissed him back even as she tried to regain control. He tangled a hand in her hair, their mouths still as one, before they both broke free at the same time, her glare only softening slightly. He smirked and she huffed, picking up her robe and flushing a deep shade of red. Draco followed her to the door, slipping his robe on as well.
"And that- conversation I had with my father, Granger? You won't tell anyone will you? Or do you need more convincing?"
If Hermione could have used an Unforgivable on anyone, it would have been him, right then and there. Bloody well like him, wasn't it- throw her mind and body into turmoil at the same time, twice the chaos-
"I won't." she muttered between clenched teeth, still unsure why she was covering for him. But before they'd- well before, anyway, it had begun to make sense to her. His… his theory. She needed to do some serious thinking. And research.
"Oh, and Hermione?" he said, that ever-present smug tone in his voice growing even stronger. "I'll see you in the Astronomy tower, tomorrow at noon. I know you don't have classes then."
"Malfoy, I'm not one of your-" he cut her off with another heart-wrenchingly perfect kiss, eyes sparkling with amusement.
"I'll see you tomorrow… Hermione."