"Malfoy?" Hermione asked softly. His body shuddered randomly as his chest heaved, his lungs striving to get oxygen. He gave no reply, not the slightest sign that he had heard her. She knelt beside him, reaching out to place a hand on his quivering shoulder, but he edged away, sliding across the floor until he was backed up against the wall. He did not look up, but sat silently, the tears and shudders beginning to subside.
Hermione stood slowly, a million or more contrasting thoughts racing around her overworked mind. She walked over to where he sat against the wall, and sat beside him, being careful not to touch him or make any noise. She was scared, and although his use of the sectumsempra curse was weak, the fact of the matter was that he knew the curse, and probably many more like it.
"Draco, I don't know what you're going through right now, but I don't want you to be angry at me. I promise I won't tell anyone about the curse or anything that has happened, just please let me try to help," Hermione pleaded with him quietly. It came as a shock to her, but she really cared about him, and actually felt sorry for him. He looked up at her slowly, turning his puffy bloodshot eyes to her bright brown ones. His cheeks were red and tear soaked, and his face showed nothing but pure sorrow and gratitude.
"Do you really mean that?" he asked hopefully.
"Of course I do. I've told you exactly how I felt about everything else, right?" she replied, attempting to lighten the mood a little. To her surprise, he gave a tiny laugh, and smiled at her. She smiled back. They stared into each others' eyes for a minute, until Draco began to lean closer to her, placing a hand on her knee. She wasn't sure why, but she followed his lead, leaning towards him and closing her eyes. Their lips connected softly, and Draco's other hand landed on her waist. Parting her lips, Hermione slid her tongue around the front of Draco's mouth, and then withdrew it quickly. Draco's followed eagerly, twisting with her own. His hand began to slide up her thigh, pushing her skirt up with it as his other hand squeezed her waist tightly.
Hermione suddenly pulled away, prompting a groan from Draco. He looked at her questioningly, but she only winked in reply. She swung one leg over Draco's, positioning herself on his lap, facing him. Flicking her bushy hair out of the way, she dove back in, kissing him hard. He moaned in delight, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Their tongues played in their mouths as Draco's hands fumbled with the buttons of Hermione's blouse, but suddenly she stopped again.
"What now?" he exclaimed exasperatedly.
"I don't think we should do this," Hermione replied. Draco watched silently, his mouth agape, as she stood and walked over to the bookshelves at the back of the room. After she had been flicking through books for several minutes, he finally snapped out of his stupor.
"Hey!" he yelled suddenly. Hermione spun around, dropping a copy of 57 Ways to Read Tea Leaves on her foot and yelping in pain. She glared at him as she held her foot, muttering under her breath.
"Look, you can't do that to a guy!" he cried, and Hermione realised he was hiding what looked like a large erection with his hands. She covered her mouth, attempting to smother a laugh.
"Do what?" she asked, playing innocent.
"Do what! Are you kidding! You can't get a guy all worked up like that and then just stop! There's no bathroom here you know, so I can't just go and…" Draco said loudly, but Hermione cut him off.
"Okay, okay! Please don't finish that sentence," she pleaded, still trying not to laugh. Her smothering attempts failed, and she burst out laughing.
"Well, what do you expect? You were all over me!" he exclaimed, his cheeks turning pink. Picking her book up, Hermione walked to the nearest pouf and sat gracefully, opening the book and beginning to read. She was still trying to hide her amusement, but with little success. Draco's cheeks went from pink to red, his embarrassment quickly replaced by anger.
"You can pretend all you want, Granger, but I know you wish you had the guts to take it further," he said angrily. Hermione twitched slightly at the truth she knew he spoke.