Disclaimer: Don't own anything! And also, I'm sorry for the gratuitous sex! It wasn't me, it was the one-armed man!
I Can't Make You Love Me
Chapter 2
Hermione stepped into the prefect's bathroom, shutting the door quickly and leaning back against it. It was still early in the morning, about 5:30. Hermione sighed, straightening up and walking into one of the private showers. It was more of a room, really. There was a small counter, a mirror, and of course a shower.
She slowly stripped off her clothing, leaving herself bare before the mirror. Her soft eyes looked over her reflection. She didn't look any different, she thought. She just felt different. A mix of emotions kept running through her head. There were alternating moments between elation and revulsion at herself. Most of the time though, she just felt numb.
How could I have done that? she wondered, not for the first time. After all, it was...Malfoy. The sworn enemy of the Golden Trio, as some of the school had termed Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
She couldn't help it though. Even though she wasn't sure how she felt about last night, she didn't regret it. This she knew for sure.
She climbed into the shower, lathering up under a stream of burning hot water. She hummed a bit to herself, drifting off into thought, which invariably led back to Draco. Suddenly, she felt some of the same desire from last night coursing through her.
"Draco," she whispered softly, closing her eyes and imagining his hands on her. Abruptly, she realized what she was doing and shook her head roughly to snap out of it.
She got out and began toweling herself off, when she heard a sound outside of her own cubicle. She continued drying off, trying to be silent. She really didn't want to see anyone until she'd slept for a while and thought things through.
She tucked the towel around herself, and was just gathering up her things to leave when the door opened. Her jaw dropped as Draco Malfoy walked in and closed the door behind him.
"What are you doing here?" she blurted out before realizing she really didn't want to know.
He regarded her coolly. "What did you leave so soon?"
She gaped at him. "What?"
He didn't reply, but merely gave her a thorough look-over up and down, sporting his usual smirk. She only now realized she was still just wrapped in her towel.
She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin. He had seen her naked only hours ago; she refused to be embarrassed now of all times.
"Why did you do it?" he asked in a low voice, suddenly dropping the smirk and taking a step closer. Involuntarily, she took a step back.
"Do what?" she said nervously, fiddling with the hem of her towel.
He shook his head at her and took another step closer. "Don't play dumb Granger. It doesn't look good on you."
She shifted uncomfortably, wanting to distance herself from him, but unable to do so unless she backed up into the shower. "I don't know. You're the last person I should want," she said awkwardly. "Harry and Ron would kill me if they knew..."
"Merlin, Hermione, is it always about your boy toys?" Draco said fiercely, taking another step closer so they were nearly chest-to-chest.
"So that's it," Hermione realized. "You just want to make sure I won't tell them, or anyone I suppose. Well, don't worry, there's no chance of that," she said defensively, pushing past him to walk out, but he caught her by the arms before she could.
She stared up at his face, which (unexpectedly) looked uncertain. He loosened his grip on her and slowly slid his hands up and down her arms, not meeting her eyes.
"Why did you really come here?" she said slowly.
He looked at her face again. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out for once.
Hermione was feeling that feverish feeling well up in her again. She couldn't take it, she felt like she was going to melt away or disappear or something equally dramatic. And worst of all, she hadn't seen it coming. It had never once been mentioned in the texts she so avidly poured over day after day. She had no way to fight it or understand it, and the only way to ease it seemed to be with him.
They eyes were still locked when she reached up to brush his lips with her own. His hand rose to cradle her chin for a moment before he groaned and his hand traveled southwards again.
He clasped her thighs and lifted her legs around his waist before maneuvering her on top of the counter. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. He tilted her head back a bit more and slid his tongue gently across her lower lip. He nibbled on it, and when she opened her mouth to gasp out in pleasure, he slid his tongue into her.
Hermione felt as if stars were exploding behind her eyes. He released her mouth, and made his way down her jaw line to her neck, where he licked and suckled for a few moments as she tilted her head back in torturous bliss.
She stroked her fingers across his hair tremblingly as he tossed aside their clothing (or lack thereof) and ran his hands over her. She cried out softly when he entered her, her muscles tensing up instinctively. She opened her eyes to look at him, and found him to be staring right back at her. They remained motionless for a moment, but then he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her.
These kisses were sweeter then any he'd given her. Not only that, they were filled with something other than pure passion. Not love, she was certain, but maybe something...
They began moving against each other, Hermione's legs tightening around his hips. At the crucial moment, their lips came together again and they cried out, muffled within their mouths. Hermione panted for air, her legs feeling like jelly as they slipped from Draco's body.
His forehead came to rest against her own as he struggled for breath too. Eventually, Hermione recovered, and slid off the counter to stand.
"We can't just keep doing this," she said softly, her voice void of it's normal bossy tone.
His lips twitched with what was either a grimace or a grin. "No kidding. My father would kill me if he found out."
Just the way he said it made her certain he was not exaggerating. His father probably would kill them both if he found out.
Suddenly, they both heard a voice coming from the main area of the prefect bathroom.
"Hermione? Are you in here?" a female voice called.
"Shit, it's Ginny!" Hermione hissed, panicked. She shoved him into the shower, pulling the curtain shut behind him. Then she grabbed her towel and wrapped it around herself before peeking her head out the door.
"I was just taking a shower, Gin'," Hermione called out to her.
"There you are! Where have you been all night?" she said worriedly, coming over to the door. "Lavender and Parvati told me you haven't been in bed all night!"
Hermione heard a faint snicker come from behind her. She had been in bed after all, just not her bed.
"I was working on a project for Arithmancy. It's due in two weeks, and I haven't even finished researching it yet!" Hermione lied easily. Well, it wasn't really a lie. That was a big paper that she needed to work on.
Ginny rolled her eyes, but Hermione could detect that she was relived as well. "Geez, make us all worry and it turns out you were just studying the whole time! Anyways, breakfast is in a few minutes, so I'll meet you down there?" she asked.
"Sure!" Hermione said, attempting to turn her nervousness into cheerfulness. She waited until Ginny was gone for a minute before pulling the shower curtains back.
Draco was practically bent double with laughter.
"What's so funny?" she asked suspiciously, hands on hips.
"Merlin, you're friends are stupid," he laughed.
She frowned. "No they aren't! They just trusting," she defended them. He kept smirking, so she poked his stomach and said, "And I betrayed them to be with you, a slimy Slytherin git."
He smirked even more. "Better that than a goody-goody, know-it-all Gryffindor."
She rolled her eyes. "Put some clothes on, git."
"Never!" he said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her soundly.
Hermione laughed through their lips. Who knew Draco could be so...well, let's face it, downright giddy after sex?
She pulled away reluctantly. "I have to go meet Ginny. If I don't, she'll start getting suspicious."
"Not bloody likely," Draco muttered.
"Look who's talking, with friends like Crabbe and Goyle," she said.
"Don't talk about them," he groaned. "You're ruining the mood," he pulled her closer again.
"Stop trying to distract me," she said crossly. "It's not working."
He smirked, again. "Of course it's not." He bent down and flicked his tongue against her earlobe.
"That's it," she said with a shiver, pushing him away and grabbing her clothes. "I'll see you later." She walked out of the bathroom, and he heard the outer door shut firmly.
He stood there for a few minutes, thinking, wondering. "Maybe you will," he said finally, before getting dressed and heading back to his room.
Author's Notes: I wasn't going to make this into a series, but of couple of people seemed interested in that, so I thought why not? So you can either take the first part as a stand-alone, or a part in a series. I know the styles are pretty different, but you can't write a multi-part fic in that weird, dream-like way. ANYWAYS, please review if you feel the urge!
"Oh, you're beautiful, a beautiful fucked-up man..." –Sarah Mclachlin, Building a Mystery