Disclaimer: Good Lord, why must we put a disclaimer on each chapter?! If you haven't gotten the point by now, you are stupid and I hate you. Not really, I'm just becoming agitated, I love you. smooch smooch
Author's Note: Okay, we get a bit of action (finally) in this next bit, just to let you know. Oh, and thankfully, the title is starting to come to me. Isn't it annoying how sometimes you have a title in your head so clearly (that's how it was with my other story) and then you have to build the story around that and other times there's a story in your head and you have to work out an appropriate title? Another food tip for everyone, one that seems to me much weirder than my tomato suggestion- Reese's pieces (you know, those little MnMs with peanut butter and colored in orange, yellow, and brown... I think) and cheese. Note, you don't eat them together, but merely take a bite of Reese's pieces, then a small bite of cheese. It's much better than it sounds.
Anyway, on to the story...
Chapter 4: Lady in Red
Malfoy raised an arm expertly to hail down a taxi whizzing by. It hurtled to a stop in front of the pair and Malfoy opened the door for Hermione to climb in the backseat, following her closely.
"Where to?" the driver asked in husky voice.
Malfoy handed him a lined piece of paper holding an address and phone number.
"Make it quick."
The car jolted forward and began their journey to wherever Malfoy had in store for them.
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked carefully, still afraid of the handsome boy sitting beside her.
"A little alley we're both familiar with. I assume you haven't done your shopping this year." He smiled and slid deeper into his corner of the cab.
"You mean..." she leaned forward to get a better look at him.
He nodded and raised his fingers to his lips, glancing at their muggle driver. She was elated- they were going to Diagon Alley. Man, how she had missed it.
The drive was long, seeing as where they were going from and Hermione soon grew tired. Malfoy offered she lay across the seat, her head in his lap, but considering the compromising nature of the position, both opted for the contrary. Hermione laid her head on her coat, her legs stretching and curling over his lap and soon fell asleep.
As Hermione lay there, beside him, Malfoy began to observe her. Her body was tall, slim, but not at all lanky. She had grown into her body nicely, her legs shapely and her hips round. As the knee-length skirt she wore slowly edged up her legs with each turn the taxi made, Malfoy could see higher and higher up her well-defined legs. They were fair, paler than her arms because of their want for sunlight, but still a creamy, pleasing complexion. He very suddenly had the desire to touch those legs, to see if they were just as creamy and smooth as they appeared.
Glancing around, as if anyone else were in the backseat with them, he nonchalantly rested his arms across her legs, making Hermione stir slightly. His thumb rested against her suntanned ankle and he slowly rubbed back and forth, the skin slightly rough but still soft to touch. He ventured his fingers slowly up her shin, until reaching her knee. The round bend in her leg was slim and defined and easily admired. As he traced the circle of her knee he found that he adored the purity of the small prickles of hair that had been missed in her shave that morning. He exhaled delightedly at the thought of her shaving, gliding her razor across the supple skin. Did he dare venture farther? Slowly, he traced the line of her skirt against her leg, until he found his fingers against the inner thigh, sandwiched between both legs. She shifted and his fingers were pulled further, tensing as the warmth grew nearer. He savored the feeling for a moment until finally catching himself, breath quickening and body reacting to her. He pulled his hand away and rested it against the window, drawing his eyes to her face, where he watched her sleep peacefully for the next twenty minutes.
Malfoy led a still sleepy Hermione out of the cab and down the crowded muggle street, after paying the driver his hefty fee.
Hermione ran ahead of him, suddenly oblivious to everything and everyone other than herself and the fact that she would soon be in Diagon Alley. Malfoy, in fact, had to jog behind her- keeping her mane of hair in view and chuckling at the amount of people temporarily blinded by it striking them in the face.
When Hermione finally made it to the Leaky Cauldron, she regained her sense of Malfoy and waited impatiently for him to join her.
"Geez, Granger, if you could fly as fast as you can run, you'd be Gryffindor's star Quidditch player."
She smiled playfully and grabbed his wrist to pull him further into the small pub. She didn't even look at the other customers; she went straight to the back, moving the bricks correctly to step through and out, into Diagon Alley.
She was in euphoria and Malfoy was glad to see it. He didn't quite know why he was so quick to make her happy; he still had the same child's opinion of her- know-it-all, snobby, and a friend to Harry Potter- but somehow he felt sorry for her, out of her element for so long. He supposed a long time ago that he admired her, if nothing else, and he attributed this uncharacteristic kindness to the admiration he had grown to have for her.
"So, what am I buying first?" Hermione turned to him, smiling widely.
"Well, if you're going to be out in public... with me, no doubt, we'd better get you a good set of robes so you won't be spot the first day you're in hiding."
"Right," Hermione said, "then we'd better get to Gringotts."
"Why?"
"So I can get money to buy those robes we just talked about."
"No, no, if you get money they'll have you on record and everyone will know you took money out of the bank the day you disappeared. I'll buy the robes."
"No, you don't have to..."
"Oh yeah, then how else are we going to buy you anything?"
Hermione frowned in thought. She couldn't come up with an answer.
"Right then, I'll buy what you need. Don't worry, it's not like I'm a refugee and this bit of cash is the difference between my next meal. I could buy custom-made robes for all the yard-gnomes in Europe without my wallet feeling a thing."
"I guess that's true, isn't it?" Hermione said, feeling quite glad to be taking his money all of a sudden.
"Yeah," he answered shortly before pulling her into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
Hermione stood looking at all the wondrous things she could buy with Malfoy's money, realizing slowly that this year could be far from bad.
"Granger," Malfoy whispered urgently, drawing Hermione's attention to the dressing rooms where Malfoy was calling her. She looked at Madam Malkin, absorbed in persuading a robustly wide woman into buying some sort of sheer negligee. She realized that Malfoy didn't want anyone else's notice but hers.
Hermione made her way to Malfoy, curiosity being the only thing from revealing his position. When she was within arm's reach, she said, "Malfoy, what are you-"
But she didn't finish her thought. Malfoy pulled her into the dressing room, pressing his palm against her mouth and edging her into the wall behind them so he could close the door, concealing both.
Hermione's eyes filled with fear- why had she been so fast to trust him? She closed her eyes and could still feel his fingers between her legs, reaching as she tightened her muscles. Opening her eyes again, she met his, staring deep into hers, his hand tightening across her mouth and his body pressing even deeper into hers.
"Granger..." he whispered roughly, with that silky shade that he seemed to never lose.
Hermione made a slight gurgling noise in her throat to let him know she heard.
"Don't do anything without me telling you, do you understand?"
She was becoming more afraid; she nodded and gulped.
"I didn't want anyone knowing we were even in Diagon Alley, let alone Madam Malkin's and you could very easily have blown our cover."
That's what he wanted? she thought. Oh, that was fine. But she really wished he'd let her go- her lips were starting to hurt.
She tried to squirm out of his grasp, but he held her tighter. She moved her hands to his arms, trying to grab them away. The struggle took on a new effect, a sort of game for the two of them. Malfoy pulled her harder towards him, refusing to let her go, and Hermione resisted relentlessly, starting to kick her legs when Malfoy lifted her against the wall to meet his eyes. She stopped fighting and he loosened his grip on her mouth, keeping her at eye level. His breath was ragged and when he spoke the whisper sounded more like a sarcastic exhale.
"Was that fun?"
Hermione nodded in heavy breaths and smiled a laugh.
"Well, I'm glad," he placed her on the ground, "because it was more work than I was prepared for this early."
She shifted her eyebrows at the floor, trying to erase that comment from her mind.
"What are we doing in a dressing room?" she finally asked, the question having been asked in her mind over and over during their tussle.
"We are purchasing some new robes for you." He spoke in a tone of certainty, creating only more puzzlement on the behalf of Hermione. Malfoy moved her out of the way so they were both sideways against the door and back wall. He took a small key from his back pocket and when he moved to place it in the wall, a small keyhole was there, ready for it. He moved the key and the wall opened to reveal a shop both similar and completely unlike Madam Malkin's. It obviously sold robes, the only real similarity between the two, but other than that key feature, the shop was something unique from everything Hermione had previously seen.
The walls were a deep green color, with slight traces of silver and white glinting out of it, giving it a shimmering quality. The robes on display hovered behind the buyer, following them through the store, awaiting purchase.
Malfoy walked straight into the women's department of the wondrous store, Hermione following him, gulping in every detail she could. He approached a hovering robe, one of a slightly silver color with long, slender arms, a tight bodice, and a slightly ruffled skirt.
"This one's nice, isn't it?" Malfoy held one of the sleeves and observed the soft fabric.
"It's beautiful, but I can't see myself wearing it," Hermione said truthfully.
"Oh, I think you could."
In an instant, Hermione was wearing the robe. It fell perfectly, the skirt falling just to her feet and the sleeves holding on to her arms, snug around the mid upper-arm. The neckline was a round v-neck, revealing her delicate collarbone and long neck, along with just enough cleavage to make Malfoy uncomfortable.
"Damn," he whispered, and then spoke a bit louder, "Yeah, you could wear that."
"I am, aren't I?" Hermione heard the words, rather than said them. She spoke in a slightly lowered voice, marveling at her own splendor. Had she ever felt this beautiful? "I don't really like the color though," she decided she wanted to see what all this shop could do.
"What color do you want it?" Malfoy asked, trying to sound innocent.
Hermione started walking towards Malfoy, feeling more powerful than she perhaps ever had. She leaned forward into his ear, and said in a low, distinct voice, "Red."
The gown changed instantly into a deep red, more of a garnet than the glaring red of a fire truck or cherry.
She smiled with satisfaction, feeling even sexier than before. "Let's see," she thought of the numerous ways she could change this dress to fit her body, "why don't we show a bit more leg?"
The robes ended abruptly at the knee, displaying her defined, feminine calves and ankles and small, strappy shoes.
"No," she said, "I want even more leg."
The robes rose even further until they met her mid-thigh, still ruffled femininely.
"Yeah, that's it."
Malfoy tried to pry his eyes from her long legs, but knew it was his soft spot and there was no hope.
"Any changes you would make... Draco?" Hermione asked dangerously.
Malfoy filled the space between them, holding her by the waist and falling back into the shadows of the corner. He felt her smooth face with his hands then ran his fingers down her neck, her shoulders, collarbone and finally brushed into the soft cleavage of her chest. She wrapped one leg around his to pull his body closer, deeper into the molds of her form before bending her face in to kiss his neck softly, probing it with her lips, up, up until she tasted his earlobe softly. It was nearly more than Malfoy could stand and he pulled himself from her, knowing the regret he would feel later.
He said loudly, "I don't like the robes, take it off."
And instantly, Hermione's small dress was replaced with her average school clothes. Thoughts of what she had just done came pouring through her head like an avalanche. Good Lord, she thought, panicking, what did I just do?
Malfoy sighed, relieved beyond his wildest dreams, "That's better," he said softly. The last thing he wanted was to be turned on by Hermione Granger in the middle of a clothing store.
"What was that?" Hermione asked, sounding distinctly disturbed with herself.
"That was a very dirty trick I just played on you," Malfoy said honestly.
Her eyes questioned him furiously.
"That particular kind of robe is designed for the sole purpose of seduction. It kind of controls the inhabitants."
"You mean you just made me seduce you?"
He shrugged honestly. "I figured there shouldn't be any lies between us, since we'll be stuck together for a rather unbearably long period of time," he stopped briefly then looked up at her and continued, "It was the old Malfoy having a little bit of fun with the old Granger."
Hermione pursed her lips in thought and asked, "Then why did you pull away?" she considered her words, "I mean, not that I'm complaining, because that would have been a nightmare... but since you wanted me to be sexy and... stuff, then why didn't you let it do its job?"
"Yeah, I did for a second, then I realized how awkward it would be for the rest our, oh, I don't know, lives."
Hermione nodded, "Yeah, it wouldn't have been good if we had..." she stopped mid-thought. Did she really even need to continue?
"Screwed in public?" Malfoy didn't seem to find the words difficult to say at all.
"More or less," Hermione agreed.
"True, we'll have enough time to do that privately."
She groaned in frustration.
"Just out of curiosity, what makes you think you're going to get any action at all?"
Malfoy smiled devilishly at her, "You just keep bringing it up."
She smacked his arm roughly before turning and walking back to the door they had used to enter this place. She opened the door and found herself in the familiar dressing room in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
Malfoy followed her in, his body pressed against hers for what must have been the millionth time that day.
"Oh, and by the way," Malfoy said softly, before opening the door and walking back out into the store, "You looked really great in there."
She raised an eyebrow subconsciously.
"I mean before you were all sexed out."
He smiled and left the dressing room, leaving Hermione speechless.
End Note: Well, there you go. I told you I have a difficult time with humor- you'll notice the distinct lack thereof in this chapter. Please review and tell me what y'all think so far. Oh dear, I just wrote y'all. I'm doomed.