Chapter 18.. not much to say. In writer's block over this chapter, I started a new fic, Fidelity's Fleece. Check it out. Bit of a wait for this one, but it isn't short and it was tricky to write. Hopefully it's worth it. As usual, I only own the plot.

"Hey Malfoy!" Ron Weasley shouted down the corridor after lunch. Draco rolled his eyes, cursing under his breath as he turned around to face the enraged redhead.

"What is it?" he asked impatiently, as Blaise raised an eyebrow beside him.

"Where are you going?" Ron demanded, pulling out his wand.

"As if it's any of your business, but I'm going to the Heads common room," he informed the redhead.

"I'll say this once Malfoy, leave Hermione alone," Ron muttered, glaring at the blond.

"A bit rich from you, wouldn't you think?" Draco replied, chuckling as Ron's wand was pointed at him. "You plan to duel me, do you?"

"Wands or bare hands Malfoy, your pick," Ron asked, a slightly maniacal grin on his face.

"In that case..." Draco muttered, rolling up his sleeves and loosening his tie. Blaise took a position of observer, leaning leisurely against the wall. "I'll allow you the first hit, if you'd wish."

Ron gave him a cautious look and Draco could sense his insecurity. He smirked.

"Unless of course, you never expected me to go through with it."

"You son-of-a-bitch," Ron whispered, throwing aside his wand as he wound up to swing squarely at Draco's jaw. Draco sneered as he saw Snape walk up behind Ron, eyes glowing with mirth.

"Detention, Weasley," Snape said easily, looking at Blaise, who was laughing openly. "What happened here, Mr. Malfoy?"

"He attacked me for no reason, sir," the blond drawled, grinning wickedly.

"Come with me, Weasley," the professor said as he turned and abruptly walked away. Ron shot the two Slytherins a glare and Blaise gave him a mock wave, Draco cracking up behind him.

"That worked out entirely too well," Draco said as they continued towards the commons. When they arrived at the portrait, Blaise grinned.

"I definitely forgot I had to finish my transfiguration essay for this afternoon, so I think I'll go do that now," he said, knowing full well that Draco could see through him.

"Bye, jackass," he replied, taking a deep breath as he pushed the door open.

He didn't have to look hard before noticing the brunette relaxed on the couch, lazily vanishing and re-appearing the desk with each flick of her wand.

"Hey," he said softly, sitting down next to her on the sofa.

"Hello," she said airily, not moving her fixated stare from the desk. "How was potions?"

"It was fine," the blond muttered, watching the desk flicker on and off. "I'll just ask; are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" she countered without hesitation, finally lifting her gaze to him. He blinked, shocked.

"If I remember correctly," Hermione continued, "I was the one who asked you to sleep with me, Malfoy." She grinned slightly and Draco was taken aback.

"I took advantage of the situation either way," he reasoned, wanting to slap himself for doing so.

"I said I wouldn't regret it, and I don't," she said, shrugging. "If anything, it was quite an enjoyable night." She smiled to herself, flushing light pink. Draco smirked at her comment.

"So is this what you do with all of your hours in here?" he asked, as she returned to her work with the desk.

"Sometimes I have it change colours," she informed him. He nodded, trying to look interested. Setting her wand down, she looked at him. "It gets rather boring, if you'd like to know the truth."

"I can imagine..." he began. "Will you come to transfiguration with me this afternoon? You don't have to talk to anyone if you don't want."

She sighed, fidgeting once more with her wand.

"Fine," she said, defeated. "But I'm going to hold you to that. And I will blame you if Ron and the others bother me."

He grinned. "If that's what it takes, then I will keep them away from you," he decreed. "What about Blaise?"

"That depends."

"On?" he asked.

"I'll talk to him as long as he doesn't treat me any differently from what he usually would," she muttered, feeling suddenly insecure.

"That can be arranged," he muttered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and she grinned, leaning into him.

"I do believe you've gone soft, Draco Malfoy," she told him.

"Have not," he said shortly, quickly standing up. "It's time to go anyway." Hermione laughed at his behaviour before biting her lip worriedly.

"I'm nervous, now," she said quietly and his expression softened.

"Don't be. If anyone gets on your nerves, let me know and I'll bash their face in," he muttered distractedly. He planted a firm kiss to her lips before smirking and walking out of the portrait, leaving her gaping in the doorway.

Hermione walked into the classroom slightly after Draco, looking carefully at the prospective seating. There was a spot next to Neville, and another next to Parvati, neither of which she was keen on. She felt a pang of hurt as she noticed Ron doing his best to ignore her as everyone else whispered amongst themselves regarding the newest arrival to the class.

Desperately, she skimmed the Slytherin side of the class, and her heart jumped. Blaise and Draco had saved her a spot. The brunette shot her a grin, as the blond just watched her, silver eyes gleaming. Biting her lip hesitantly, she walked across the centre aisle to take a seat next to Draco, listening as the whispers increased.

McGonagall entered the room, clearing her throat for attention. She shot Hermione a questioning glance as she noticed the source of distraction among the students, but she looked away, not wanting to talk to her professor.

Once the lecture had begun, Hermione immediately found her mind drifting. It scared and confused her, how she no longer had any enthusiasm for her schoolwork at all. She looked around the room at her peers, most of whom were taking notes, and felt a sudden wave of regret wash over her. She had still yet to think of any alternative to being locked forever out of the wizarding world after graduation.

When her eyes fell on Draco, he glanced at her from his peripheral vision, grinning as he saw her doing nothing.

"Bored?" he asked in a whisper. She nodded.

"Extremely," she returned and he laughed quietly.

He resumed his work, and her mind once again floated everywhere but transfiguration. The night before had been simply amazing. There was a small part of her mind that hadn't believed he would actually cave and do as she asked, but once he had begun there was no way she would have stopped him. As odd as it felt to have slept with the one man that most of the female population at Hogwarts craved, she didn't feel cheap.

Instead she felt needed, as if he had truly cared about her. Staring at his silver eyes, she recalled how they had been so full of passion that just the looks he had given her had set her on fire.

And his hands... They were certainly talented. She felt the color rising in her cheeks and couldn't stop a quiet whimper from escaping as her mind became overrun by unwanted thoughts, in class nonetheless.

The object of her thoughts raised an eyebrow, eyes full of laughter as he turned to look at her again. He grabbed a scrap of parchment, scribbling "you okay?" on it.

She was suddenly completely encompassed by desire for that same passion once again, the passion that she knew was so close to the surface. She took the quill out of his hand, her own brushing against the pale skin, and she was shocked by the sensation. After a failed attempt at writing an affirmative reply, as her hand was shaking altogether too hard to get out a proper answer, she nodded quickly, not trusting herself to speak.

He frowned at her, leaning forward. Her eyelids fell shut at his closeness, and the feel of his hot breath on her skin. She swore quietly under her breath, and he pulled back, puzzled.

"What do you need?" he whispered, sending a violent shudder down her spine.

"Nothing," she replied, eyes still shut. She wasn't about to admit that she needed him, especially in a room full of students. Why was this happening to her? She knew it was beyond lust, it was pure obsession, and it threw her off guard.

Draco on the other hand, had set aside his notes to observe the girl beside him. She was behaving beyond strangely, and seemed to be breathing heavier than usual. She was also furiously avoiding his attempts to make eye contact.

Out of frustration and concern, he finally reached over and turned her face to his. Her skin exploded from the touch, eyelids still heavy with need. He stared, confused into her eyes, as they had turned from their usual shade of brown to being very dark, almost black.

With an enormous amount of strength, she reached up and moved his hand off of her cheek, burying her head in her arms on the table.

"Tell me what's wrong," he demanded softly into her ear.

"Just leave me alone, please," she replied quietly, not looking directly at him.

Sighing heavily, Draco shared a puzzled glance with Blaise, following her wishes until the class finally ended. For Hermione, it had been an agonizing half hour, as she searched her brain for a reason she could be feeling so strongly towards him. Falling short, she became angry, not trusting herself to speak with him until after dinner that evening, even though the feelings had subsided when she was no longer directly beside him.

Hermione had left supper early, intending to get to the library before he could find her, and possibly do a bit of research. And if there was one thing she was good at, it was finding information.

She thought she was home free as she hurried out of the common room, only to find Draco on the other side, about to enter. He surveyed her with a cold glance, and she tried to look uninterested.

"Where are you going?" he asked quietly, leaning against the wall outside of the room.

"The library," she replied shortly, making to walk away from him.

"You have quite a short memory. The prefect's year-end celebration is tonight; we need to patrol the school for them," Draco said. "Besides, I won't let you avoid me forever."

"Damn, I forgot about that," she admitted bitterly, relieved to feel nothing out of the ordinary about him.

Running a hand through his platinum hair, Draco sighed. "Talk to me," he stated. "You were fine until class this afternoon."

"We have to be going for patrol now," she reminded him. "But I suppose we can talk on the way."

The walk was awkward and subdued at the beginning, neither too sure of what to say.

"Alright, so why wouldn't you talk to me in transfiguration?" Draco asked, breaking the silence.

"You don't want to know," Hermione informed him nervously.

"Yes, I do. Your eyes were black and it freaked the hell out of me," he admitted, stopping outside of a classroom to listen for students out past curfew.

"I... can't remember," she said lamely.

"Like hell you can't," he smirked. "What's it gonna take to get an answer out of you?" he asked suggestively, running his tongue along his lips.

Hermione's stomach lurched at this action, and her mind was flooded with the same thoughts that had controlled her mind that afternoon. She leaned against the wall for support, trying hard to eliminate the desire to take control of him. They were in a dark corridor, after all...

The blond's eyes widened in surprise as he noticed what was happening to her, and then he smirked, beginning to laugh outright. By the time he had regained his composure, clutching his stomach, Hermione was glaring at him.

"Merlin," he muttered, wiping his eyes. "Fuck, I completely forgot about that. This how you were feeling in class?" he asked. She nodded spitefully, focused intently on the way his hair fell sharply over his silver eyes.

"If you would stop laughing long enough to explain what the hell is so funny, Malfoy," she said coldly. He did as she asked, becoming serious.

"Ever heard of the Malfoy charm, Granger?" he asked, and she nodded slowly. "Good. You're under it."

"What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously. He pointed his wand at her, and she was able to think normally once more.

"It's a side effect of... well, sex, with someone of the Malfoy bloodline. Particularly the first time. I don't know which idiot came up with it, but one less trustworthy than me could use it to his advantage," the blond explained, smirking. Hermione bit back a comment at his sarcasm, knowing full well he probably had used it to his own advantage.

"So every girl you've ever shagged has... wanted you afterwards?" she asked hesitantly, feeling slightly awkward to be discussing her sexual activity with someone so much more experienced.

"More or less," he said thoughtfully until an idea hit him. "Except, the person will feel lust at a higher intensity, the more I care about them. In this case, you would've been fighting bloody hard to hold it back." He grinned and Hermione had to smile back at his revelation.

"So why didn't you just drag me off to a broom closet somewhere? I wouldn't have complained," he smirked.

"It was embarrassing and I didn't know what was happening," she said, blushing once more.

"I would have explained," he muttered, sneaking an arm around her waist.

"Yes, before or after you'd had your way with me?" she joked.

"Don't give me so much credit, Granger, you would have been all over me," he breathed in her ear. Feeling adventurous, she shoved him away from her into the wall, trapping him against the stone.

"Yeah, all over you?" she whispered in his ear, winding his tie around her hand as he watched her closely.

"Definitely," he replied, meeting her volume. "You would've been mad with lust."

She pulled his face closer to hers by his tie, so their lips were less than an inch apart.

"You sure about that?" she asked, tasting his lips with each word.

"Very sure," he whispered, eyes glowing with anticipation before she crushed his mouth with her own, quickly demanding entrance with her tongue. Draco moved away from the wall, wrapping one arm around her waist as the other slid up to her neck. Her other hand was buried into his hair, as the real contact was engaged in the heated battle of tongue on tongue.

He took control once more, moving to attack her neck and collarbone with his tongue, one hand drifting into her robes, and underneath her shirt as she brought his lips back to hers, moaning loudly. The hand she held onto his tie with worked madly to loosen it, beginning to unbutton his own shirt, as the kiss continued to further intensify.

Hermione was against the wall, though neither had noticed the switch. Draco leaned forward to taste her entirely, when her head smashed against the stone. It was enough for her eyes to open in pain and she stopped reacting to his advances. He withdrew, turning to see what she was staring at with wide eyes. Three first years stood in the hall, looking horrified but Draco smirked, moving his hand out from where it fiddled with her bra strap.

"Fifty points to Hufflepuff if you never mention this," Hermione bribed them after she had caught her breath. They looked grateful for a second, still wary of the two until they saw the Slytherin's eyes light up.

"Now Hermione," he said softly, but loud enough so the kids could hear him. "It doesn't work quite that way, does it?" he asked the Hufflepuffs, who were shaking in fear. "I say if you don't get out of my sight in ten seconds, your house will lose fifty points. Unfortunately the Head Girl isn't in shape with the rule book, I'm afraid," he said, appearing considerate at the same time.

The three quickly turned and ran, and Hermione laughed at Draco's sense of persuasion.

"You think they'll tell anyone?" she asked, though she found she really wouldn't have minded.

"They were far too embarrassed," he answered. "Besides, not many eleven-year-olds get to witness such a hands-on Sex. Ed class," he smirked.

"You're a bastard," Hermione told him, laughing.

"I know," he replied seriously. "But I'm also smouldering hot and you know it," he muttered in her ear, causing her to shiver, confirming his suspicion.

"I do, don't I?" she asked, grinning and he nodded.

"Only natural."