Life After Hogwarts
By Arime Setta
Chapter Six: Fawning the Flame
It took me a moment before I realized our sound proof bubble had burst and what Draco was about to say would be for the world to hear (or at least all of Hogwarts). Draco's face was not contorted into a tearful woeful expression and he was on his knees. I loomed above him with a shocked expression on my face and worried what was about to happen.
"Hermione, please for give me. I should have never denied my love and passion for you. It was a stupid mistake made in a moment of peer pressure. I was afraid of everyone's reaction to me, Draco Malfoy, dating you. I am willing to ignore all preconceived notions about you and I am even willing to ignore the difference in class and position in society. I just want to be with you Hermione. You complete me." And with a swish of fabric and a sudden spin Draco pulled me into his arms and kissed me soundly on the lips. His soft lips kissed me silent and the 7th years around me hooted and whistled.
It felt like my world was spinning. Draco Malfoy was kissing me. In Public! I wanted to pull back and smack him clear across the face but I also wanted to keep going, not because it was Draco Malfoy of course but because it has been far too long since my last intimate moment with someone else. A wisp of blond hair tickled my nose and then my anger set in. I could feel heat boiling inside me, no longer from the kiss but from my rage. How dare he embarrass me like that.
I could hear Ginny and Lavender telling me to forgive him with grace and forget his terrible ways. Quickly my mind tried to get my thoughts together and figure what the next step would be. If I turned Draco down now I would be the school's ice queen, even though so much of what he said was offensive. If I accepted him- my plan was formulated.
"Oh, Draco, baby, please let me catch my breath. I don't even know what to say. I love you so much! Pookums this means so much to me. I accept your apologies as long as you promise to listen to me when we are, erm, intimate. I really want to help you." I kissed him forcefully on the lips to shut him up then smirked so only he could see. Clearly forgiving him was not something he expected.
Gently I whispered, "Wiling to admit you are an arse yet, Mr. Malfoy? Oh wait I mean pookums. Don't forget to keep your cool Ferret Boy." I kissed him again and began to wonder if I was actually enjoying the bit of intimacy until sense was knocked back into me. These lips I was kissing were attached to Draco Malfoy. Ugh.
"Oh Draco I have to go write this in my diary. I've been writing everything we've done down, even those embarrassing moments. I'll see you later shoomkums." I smiled pleasantly and began to walk away when Draco had to respond with, "I'll walk you as far as the 7th year dorms. I wouldn't want you to have to be alone with your thoughts."
Hand in hand we glared at each other as we made our way out of the Great hall. We received many odd looks as we left but what was worse was the twinkle in the eyes of a certain professor. Clearly we weren't as good at faking a relationship as we thought. If I know Dumbledore as well as I think I do he will be telling all of the professors before the end of dinnertime about our little game.
Once we were finally out of the eye of the student body of Hogwarts we dropped hands and began a heated discussion under our breath. I quickly cast a disillusionment charm so our little charade wouldn't be discovered by a wondering student. We made our way towards my rooms making general mocking comments at each other but once inside my rooms the storm truly began.
"Hermione! I can't believe you! Little miss PRUDE is actually speaking openly about sex with Hogwart's Sex God. You shock me!"
"Draco Malfoy you are NOT A SEX GOD. Actually word around the castle is that you are less than well endowed and incapable of handling even that little bit of erm responsibility. Oh, and I am NOT a PRUDE! I just have morals, unlike you!"
"Yes, well morals and ice queen are two different things! I bet that was your first kiss! Do you really think you can handle going head to head with DRACO MALFOY! You must be crazy and delusional!"
"I will not even deem that worthy of a response. What I have done is not you business. The way you slobber all over me quickly reveals you are not nearly as experienced, as you would like to be… either that or you really so suck at the most basic concepts of passion."
"You are making this up now! I am a great kisser!"
"I've made everything up until that last comment you twit! Or did you forget we haven't had a relationship? Oh, and Malfoy I am NOT BELOW you just because I'm not a rich spoiled pureblood bastard!"
"Right you're just below me in bed but you are inferior to me in social status, mudblood." Finally Draco's true feelings were out and in the open. I quivered with anger and fisted my hands to stop be from smacking him or maybe to be ready to punch.
"Quite obviously you aren't over this pureblood infatuation as you would like us to believe. Maybe you just jumped ship long enough to be on the winning side, traitor!"
Draco was toe to toe with me by this point and the room had gotten quite warm. Our breath was labored and our chests were heaving. My blood was racing through my body and my hands shook. We were both seconds away from being close enough for our noses to touch when a voice called out from the flames of my fireplace.
"Miss Granger? Mr. Malfoy? A word with you two in my office please. Don't worry neither of you are in trouble." Dumbledore's voice sparkled with his usual twinkle and it was obvious he knew what was going on and maybe even what was about to happen.
Not that I would ever purposefully kiss Draco, erm I mean Malfoy, unless it was in a moment of revenge not passion, especially after the "m" word. Instantly the situation defused and the air around us relaxed. My stomach gurgled and I temporarily forgot my anger at Draco's previous statement. His face slowly went from red to pink to pale and he attempted to shake off his anger. He ran his hand through his hair as he mumbled under his breath and grabbed his bag off of my chair.
"Great, now I'm hungry and have to wait until after this meeting to eat." I realized I hadn't even gotten to eat a bite of my dinner before Malfoy interrupted me with his tirade.
"It's your own fault. If you hadn't begun this ridiculous relationship we wouldn't have missed dinner. Come on let's just hurry and get this over with. I'm sure they want to scold us for our outburst." We stepped out of the portrait guarding my door and slowly made our way towards professor Dumbledore's office.
"But he said we weren't in trouble. They can't be mad at us. We were silent for all of the yelling and then your last bit was reasonable enough. It's not like that was the first couple to make up in the great hall. Plus we are allowed to leave the great hall at anytime." I twisted a piece of my hair that had escaped my bun as I nervously contemplated why we would be in trouble.
I may not be a prude but I do like to keep away from trouble. I don't like being scolded and I absolutely hate being yelled at for nothing. Draco laughed at my worried expression as if it proved my prude-ness.
"Well, we are both in your dorms and that is against the school rules. No purpling."
"Draco do you realize you are making absolutely no sense?"
"You're the one that said 'we were silent for all of the yelling.' That is a whole lot of sense. Purpling is when boys and girls mix since boys are blue and girls are pink. You're a muggle; have you never been to a summer camp?" I came to a stop and looked at him completely shocked. Draco, Mr. You-are-inferior-for-being-a-mudblood himself, had been to a muggle summer camp? I had never had the inclination to go as a child but I knew how truly muggle they are. Camping and hiking did not seem like things a Malfoy would be caught doing with out many house elves and magical tents.
"First, that statement made completely logical sense since we were yelling within our bubble. Second, no I have not been a summer camp and am very interested to hear about your experience. Draco Malfoy as a muggle… Oh and Purpling is a silly expression. Plus I don't think 'purpling' in my dorms is against school rules as long as it is before curfew. I've had Ron and Harry over loads of times."
"It is not a silly expression thank you very much. Yes, I have been to a muggle summer camp. Purely for research and survival purposes of course. It was actually where Snape and Dumbledore hid with me. We pretended that I was Snape's son and he enrolled me into camp then we all hid out in my cabin. I must admit I used a little magic to make things a bit more comfortable. It was the only way for the three of us to survive until Harry found us." We finished the walk in silence.
I had clearly hit a sore spot. Draco and Harry never spoke about what was going on when Harry found the three. Everyone trusted Harry and Professor Dumbledore enough to believe they were hiding somewhere and then were found. No one ever asked how Professor Snape and Draco had kept Professor Dumbledore alive. A muggle camp. Oh the irony.
We arrived in front of the gargoyle and I whispered the password (starburst jelly beans) then made my way up into Professor Dumbledore's office. We sat down and sucked some lemon drops as we waited for him to begin. Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape were standing behind him pacing slightly.
"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy. I have a special mission for the two of you."
A/N: Well, a bit of a cliffy but not too bad. I hope you enjoyed the fighting. I don't think it was too extreme but of course I prefer and realistic Hermione versus the completely cannon innocent, prude know-it-all. Malfoy of course is just a… but oh so sexy too.
PLEASE REVIEW and let me know you enjoyed it. I feel a little hurt by the lack of reviews but I love those that have alerts, reviewed or put me on their favorite list! You guy make this worth it!