A/N: Thank you very much for the follows, favourites and reviews, please let me know how you're enjoying the story and if you have any questions about plot points so far please feel free to ask! If anything seems vague of unclear at the moment – all shall be revealed in later chapters.

It occurred to me as a I re-read the chapter that people may feel like Hermione and Ginny are being a bit mean to Luna, but I assure you, Luna is chill. She isn't going to hold a grudge about their little fib.

Oh, what is that I smell… the faint tang of citrus? Hehe

If it wasn't clear already there will be lemons in this fic and we're getting up to them very soon – fair warning.

Finally, HUGE thank you to my beta lun27. Everyone should check out her fics, her characterisation of Hermione is fantastic if you're into angst!

Chapter 3

Students jumped out of the carriages in their weekend clothes, excited that the weather was fairly pleasant for an autumn excursion. The Golden Trio, with the addition of Ginny, made a beeline for the Three Broomsticks. Hermione beamed at the thought of sharing a fresh butter beer with her closest friends.

They found a cosy table in the back corner and were in rapt conversation about strategy for the Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor Quidditch game, but Hermione was only half paying attention. The continuous tinkle of the bell at the door of the establishment got lost in the hum of voices as people walked in and out, but when the sound reached her ears again something pulled at her to raise her head. She looked up to see Malfoy and Nott striding through. Malfoy was wearing a crisp black shirt buttoned all the way up with slacks to match and his hair was styled into its usual prim and properness. His eyes landed on her for all of half a second before he started scanning the room for a free table.

The two Slytherin boys made to walk past where they were sitting. Malfoy pointedly avoided her gaze and walked with purpose, but Nott came to a sudden halt when he saw her. He stopped in front of their table with an unnerving grin on his countenance unequivocally directed at her.

Oh no. He wouldn't. Or he would, I really don't know him well enough to predict his behaviour.

"Um, can we help you?" Harry asked, more than a little confused by this display of a Slytherin gawking at Gryffindors.

Nott's gaze didn't waver, dumb grin still firmly in place. "No thanks mate. Just trying to put the pieces together."

This cryptic ninny is going to out us for sure.

"How?" Nott spoke again, this time he had his arms outstretched towards her in a demanding pose.

Malfoy turned around from where he was across the bar, realising that Nott wasn't following him anymore. His eyes widened in realisation at the interaction happening in front of him. He took long strides back towards Nott and took him by the elbow.

"Come along Theo," Draco hissed.

"But -" he protested.

"Now!"

Malfoy had all but dragged Nott away from their table, leaving the remaining occupants to stare after him with differing levels of astonishment and shock.

Harry and Ron looked at each other with matching expressions of bewilderment, whereas the two girls shared a look of mild panic mixed with relief.

"What the hell was that all about?" Ron said.

"He clearly has a crush on our little Hermione here," Ginny offered offhandedly.

I'm not sure that's the best way to diffuse the situation.

Ron scoffed into his butter beer, sending small flecks of foam flying through the air. "As if Hermione would lower herself to dating a Slytherin. Could you imagine?"

And here we go.

"Hermione! With a snake! A slippery, scaly –

Harry joined in, "– poisonous, writhing —"

Hermione's face was flaming with mortification. "Okay!" She held up her hands in a motion for them to stop their character assassination. Little did they know they were actually assassinating her character. "I'm sure that isn't it," she finished in a dismissive tone.

"Well, if he does that again I'm going to hex him blind," Ron threatened.

"On another note, how about we do the figure eight play in the game with Ravenclaw on Friday?"

Hermione shot Ginny a grateful look for the swift change in subject.

Their Sunday in Hogsmeade recovered after their little encounter in the Three Broomsticks. Malfoy and Nott were all but forgotten to Harry and Ron as they stocked up on sweets at Honeydukes. The foursome made their way back to the castle, the two girls walking in front with their arms linked. Hermione concentrated on being present in this moment. She could hear Ron and Harry behind them discussing their Honeydukes purchases and doing periodic reviews of what they had tasted. Ginny's arm was comforting and securely wrapped around her own. She let herself feel a glimmer of hope that if she had these friends, she was going to be okay.

"Hermione?" Ginny exhaled hard as she spoke.

"Mhm?" Hermione replied.

"What if it was fate? Like, a prophecy or something? Like Harry and you-know-who?" Ginny whispered, conscious of her brother and his best friend behind them.

Hermione chucked dryly. "I bloody hope not. What twisted forces thought it would be funny to watch the chaos come out of a situation like this?

XXX

Hermione spent most of her free time on Monday and Tuesday researching in the library for spells involving the deflowering of virgins. She had slammed books shut more than once when she was presented with an array of explicit drawings and diagrams. Spells involving virgins could apparently do anything from sapping their magical energy that would then supplement your own, to acting as a strong fertility aid. None of them though, explained the compulsion they had experienced.

Hermione didn't feel like her magic was depleting. She would have to ask Malfoy if he had noticed anything.

If only I could get access to the restricted section without arousing suspicion.

She would have to think of a good enough reason to request access from McGonagall.

Hermione had also been trying to keep an eye out for anyone acting differently towards herself or Malfoy like they had discussed. While they were in Potions, she would discreetly observe her classmates for anyone giving the pair of them extra attention. Sometimes Pansy would glare daggers or wrinkle her nose in their direction, but she boiled that down to jealousy that Hermione had the honour of working with the Slytherin Prince and she didn't. In the Great Hall she would scan the crowd for clues that someone there was to blame for this mess. She even considered Malfoy himself again when she became really desperate, but that theory was easily refuted. He had nothing to gain by, in his mind, sullying himself with the likes of her. He could have easily found a nice, chaste, pureblood girl to enact this with.

She was slightly less nauseated than usual by the time Wednesday evening came around because Ginny was by her side. They entered the lab and found Malfoy already there, sitting cross legged on the floor, nose-deep in a book with his hand pushed into his hair. He was the picture of frustration, but she couldn't help the familiar pull of attraction at the sight. Apparently, she had a thing for dishevelled and irritated Malfoy.

"Ahem." Ginny cleared her throat, alerting him to their presence. Hermione worried that Ginny had seen her response to being in Malfoy's presence.

He looked up, a slight frown on his forehead in response to the interruption.

"Please tell me that obscenely bushy head of yours has found something," he pleaded.

Hermione bristled at his barb about her hair but eventually looked at him with pity. It appeared she wasn't the only one getting increasingly frightened that they couldn't make any sense of this. She sat in front of him with a soft thump.

"I haven't completely worked it out, but we're definitely getting closer. Ginny had a theory as well, but I still think we should focus on finding out if someone is using us. They could be slowly draining our magic and channelling it into themselves or a larger spell."

"What's your theory She-Weasel?" Draco asked, one eyebrow cocked expectantly.

"I thought perhaps it could be part of a prophecy. Might explain the strong pull you're experiencing — fate."

Draco let out an undignified snort. "Merlin, if that's the case we've really drawn the short straw on that one. They're so rare, and what kind of prophecy forces two completely incompatible people into bed? What purpose would that serve?"

Ginny replied, "I don't know, but it might be the next course of inquiry if this one doesn't pan out."

Malfoy let out a long, deep sigh. His whole body seemed to deflate. Ginny settled herself at a work bench in the back corner with a book of her own.

Hermione stood up and rooted around in her overflowing side bag to pull out a rather large tome. "Right, well this book here has a chapter on spells with the power of suggestion so I'm going to see if anything describes what happened to us while you work on the next phase of the Veritaserum."

"Is that so?" Malfoy disputed.

Hermione wasn't in the mood for his childishness. "Yes, that's so Malfoy."

He was standing too close now and they were practically nose to nose.

"Well, what if I wanted to do research instead of slaving away over a hot cauldron?"

"I found the book!" Hermione protested.

"I couldn't give a —"

"Oi! Personal bubble, people!" came Ginny's voice from the back of the room.

"In what way did this exchange give you the idea that we were about to shag?" demanded an incredulous Malfoy.

Ginny just shrugged and said, "Hate sex is a thing."

The pair reacted with matching expressions of horror and quickly took multiple steps back from one another.

Malfoy cleared his throat. "I'll get the cauldron."

XXX

Hermione and Ginny were walking to their dormitory after dinner. Harry and Ron had spent the meal teasing and probing the girls about their newfound attachment to each other. They had always been great friends, but Ginny wasn't devoting nearly as much time to hanging out with Luna or Neville and the boys had noticed. It was only a matter of time before their suspicions would turn into action and they whipped out the map or cloak to surreptitiously spy on the pair.

"We have a problem." Ginny announced.

Hermione looked at her quizzically.

What now?

"It's an evening game for Quidditch tomorrow. I won't be able to come to the Potions Lab with you."

Hermione's heart sank.

"But," Ginny continued, her face bright with hope, "I have the perfect replacement chaperone and we wouldn't have to tell her a thing. Let's go." The red witch smiled in triumph.

Ginny led the pair out to the grounds of Hogwarts, towards the Black Lake.

"Ginny!" Hermione hissed. "We're not supposed to be out here."

"You've shagged Draco-bloody-Malfoy in the Room of Requirement. I think we can manage to not get caught out past curfew," Ginny retorted with an eye roll.

Hermione continued to walk with her, somewhat unhappy and constantly scanning for Hogwarts staff or prefects on patrol.

A slim, blonde figure became apparent the closer they got to the lake.

Luna Lovegood.

"Hi Luna!" Ginny started spiritedly.

Luna turned around with her trademark vacant expression. "Oh, hello there. What brings you to the Black Lake on this fine evening? I'm down here to feed the Crumple-Horned Snorkaks."

Hermione and Ginny exchanged equal expressions of exasperation.

"Actually, we came to ask you a favour." Ginny explained.

"Oh?"

Where is this going?

"Hermione and Malfoy have been working on their Veritaserum potion in the lab, but ingredients and tools have been going mysteriously missing." Hermione was impressed by how convincing Ginny's concerned tone was.

"Could be Nargles," Luna mused. Her head drifted back to observe the lake.

"My thoughts exactly!" Ginny exclaimed. "We were wondering if you would mind helping them tomorrow night."

Luna took some time to mull this over. She considered aloud, "Nargles are more partial to clothes and shoes… but I suppose it wouldn't be completely out of the realm of possibility. I'd be happy to help."

Ginny was an actual genius.

"Thank you so much Luna, I really appreciate it," Hermione gushed to the ethereal witch. "All this thievery is really hindering our progress," she added for good measure.

XXX

The next night, Hermione met Luna in the corridor adjacent to the potion's lab.

"Thanks again for coming, Luna." She smiled gratefully at the strange little witch in front of her.

"Oh, it's no problem. It's one of my dreams to be able to catch a Nargle in the act."

Hermione felt a small stab of guilt at that last statement. The poor girl wouldn't be catching anything except perhaps a stray insult from Malfoy tonight.

They were the first ones there. Luna began muttering and wand waving around the lab. A few minutes later, Malfoy sauntered in. He caught sight of Luna and directed a weary look in Hermione's direction.

"What is this now? Where's the red headed one? Have you been flapping your gums —"

Hermione cut him off before he could completely put his foot in it.

"Luna is here looking for Nargles. You know... for all the stuff that's been going missing."

She threw him a desperate look, imploring him to go along with it.

Catching on he replied, "Oh, right. Yeah. Nasty things, those Nargles. Bloody nuisance," he groused.

They were up to a particularly complex part of the brewing process that required the partners to be completely in sync. The concoction had to be divided in half, brewed separately with different ingredients, and then combined again all within a very tight timeframe. If they didn't do this correctly, they would have to start all over again. Which would mean they would most certainly fail as there was only a fortnight left before they would be graded. Hermione Granger did not fail.

"Okay, are you ready?" she asked him with determination in her voice.

He nodded in confirmation. They started their familiar dance of chopping, measuring, pouring, sprinkling and stirring.

"Okay, well I think we missed the Nargles tonight. Let me know if anything else goes missing. I best be off then," Luna proclaimed in her melodic tone.

Draco and Hermione shared the same muted, alarmed expression.

"Oh?" Hermione tried not to sound as panicked as she was feeling. "Are you sure you can't find them tonight? I'm sure I heard something scuttling around in the back there." She pointed in the general direction of the tables stacked in the corner of the room.

"I'm quite sure. Nargles don't make a sound. It's why they're so elusive. Have a pleasant evening."

Luna left the room swiftly with her blonde locks swishing back and forth before Hermione could implore her again to do a more thorough check.

"It's fine," Malfoy said, "we're occupied. We couldn't stop now if we wanted to or that's two weeks' worth of work down the drain."

He was right. They returned to their ministrations on the potion before them, with more vigour and intense concentration than before.

Forty minutes later, they were holding their separate bowls of liquid poised over the cauldron. "One… two… three," they counted together, before tipping their bowls over.

The liquids swirled and they both looked for the expected reaction.

"It's green! It turned green! Look!" Hermione exclaimed in excitement. She was bouncing up and down on her toes and pointing towards their success.

Malfoy chuckled deep in his throat and smiled down at her. Actual joy was evident on his face. Not a smirk or a sneer. A genuine expression of enjoyment. "I can see that. I'm actually a bit surprised, I don't imagine there would be more than two or three groups that could have managed that," he admitted, visibly pleased at their success.

"But we did it!" Without thinking, Hermione let her exuberance get the best of her. She flung herself at Malfoy and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He was as still as a statue. Malfoy didn't dare make a move to either reciprocate or break the contact. She almost immediately woke up to herself and pulled back to check for his reaction. Hermione looked at him contritely, but still hadn't fully moved away. She lowered her arms from around his neck, taking in his stony expression.

"Sorry – got a bit carried away there. Ginny warned me that working together might —"

"Oh, for fucks sake," he growled before his mouth descended upon hers. Neither of them seemed to be resisting at all this time. His hands were everywhere. Pushing her robes off her shoulders, loosening her tie, squeezing the curve of her ass. They were frenzied and desperate to divest themselves of clothing.

"This." Kiss. "Is." Kiss. "All." Moan. "Her." Growl. "Fault!"

Hermione assumed he was talking about Ginny and she had to say, in this moment, she agreed with him. If Ginny were here, she would have repelled them both before Hermione had a chance to throw her arms around him.

Hermione let out a little squeak as Malfoy picked her up roughly, she wrapped her legs around him for support. He pushed the remnants of the potion making out of the way, still having enough sense to avoid the cauldron. He sat her on the table and claimed her mouth again while undoing the buttons on her school shirt. Hermione let out a whimper as he massaged one of her breasts over her bra. She moved to loosen his tie and nimbly worked on the buttons of his shirt.

He pulled back briefly to declare, "This is happening." Stormy desire swam in his expression. As if she hadn't already decided the same thing.

Draco used his knee to separate her legs as he stepped between them. She inhaled sharply as a skilful hand reached up her skirt. He was pulling her knickers aside to gain access to the place she was desperate for him to touch the most. Malfoy's fingers stroked her panty line as he continued to leave a burning trail of kisses on her neck and chest.

A wanton moan rose up from inside her. He was killing her with all this teasing.

Hermione grabbed a fistful of blond hair and yanked his head up to meet her gaze.

"For the love of Merlin, get on with it," she pleaded, not even caring how desperate she sounded.

There was that rumbling chuckle again, which did nothing to quell her ever increasing desire for him to end this torture.

"Good to know your bossiness extends to all facets of your life," he murmured against her chest, returning to his previous ministrations.

Hermione didn't even register the insult because she was finally getting what she wanted. He used two fingers to gently press into her moist core, and she rewarded him with a satisfied moan.

Malfoy was looking up at her now, studying her face for how she was responding to his attentions.

"It isn't fair how hot you look right now," Draco complained, his voice husky with his own barely restrained arousal.

Even in the midst of what was proving to be a rather rapid rise to ecstasy, she heard muffled sounds echoing from the outside corridor. Hermione stilled Malfoy's hand and placed a finger over his mouth. He looked at her inquisitively, wondering why she would be halting what he knew to be very enjoyable for her.

Oh Merlin. Harry and Ron.

"They're coming!" she whispered frantically to him.

They exploded into action, buttoning shirts, smoothing hair, wiping lips and straightening ties.

By the time Harry and Ron entered the room, Hermione and Draco were on opposite sides of the work bench, each pretending to be engrossed in their respective tasks with their breathing slightly laboured.

"Blimey, did yours explode as well? You look like you've been through the ringer!" cried Ron.

"Can't you Gryffindorks tell time? You're fifteen minutes early," Malfoy sniped, his form looking especially tousled.

Ron's eyes narrowed at Malfoy's taunt. "I wasn't speaking to you ferret."

Draco responded with a scathing snort. "How original."

This was going to escalate quickly.

"Hermione, are you okay? You really do look out of sorts." Harry's eyes were taking in the full extent of her appearance.

She needed to deflect quickly. Adopting a dignified tone, she replied, "I am perfectly fine, Harry. This was just a particularly difficult part of the brewing process, which you two will soon find out."

Hermione could tell that Ron wasn't quite done with the conversation though, he had a scowl marring his usually light features and his nose was pinched with anger.

"You sure he didn't do anything to you?" he spat, pointing at the rumpled blond wizard opposite her.

"Nothing she didn't thoroughly enjoy," she heard Draco mutter under his breath. She prayed that it had been too soft for her two knights in shining armour to hear.

"What was that?" Harry demanded.

Hermione exhaled in irritation; this constant exchange of snipes and insults was positively exhausting.

"Nothing I can't handle. Just the usual rapier wit about my inferior blood status. It's like white noise to me now." Hermione waved a dismissive hand in Malfoy's direction. "We've been working in stubborn silence for pretty much this whole time."

It wouldn't be believable for her to say he had done nothing to her.

Hermione fixed her stare on Malfoy as she noted the beginnings of a retort forming on his mouth. "You should go. I'll clean up."

He seemed to think about blundering ahead anyway with his next cutting remark, but ultimately accepted that this was the best way for him to extricate himself from the tense situation.

"Happily," Malfoy bit through his clenched jaw. Then, with one final withering look towards Ron and Harry, he was gone.

She remained for another ten minutes cleaning up the remnants of their potion, true to her word. Hermione willed the heat to recede from her face as she wiped over the table she had been sitting on mere minutes ago, begging Malfoy to bring her to completion.

As she collected her things, she left her two best friends with some wise words to help them succeed at the challenging task before them.

"Now remember, you have to be completely in sync with your partner or it won't work. If you aren't anticipating what they are going to do next, or you don't get into a good rhythm, you can say goodbye to a passing grade." Her words came off more threatening than she intended.

Satisfied that she had done all she could to help them, she walked out. Hermione hadn't gotten far enough down the corridor to be out of ear shot though because Ron's next words nearly caused her to faint on the spot.

"How the hell did she get into a rhythm with Malfoy?"

XXX

Ginny sought Hermione out in the library after breakfast on Saturday morning.

"How did I know you would be here?" She smiled at Hermione with fondness.

Her smile gave way to concern though when she saw the patent expression of despair written all over Hermione's face.

Ginny cast a quick muffliato before taking her seat in front of her. "Oh no, what happened?"

"Luna left early," Hermione offered by way of explanation and she let the fiery witch come to her own conclusions.

Realisation dawned on Ginny's features.

"Oh, sweet Godric, did you two whomp each other's willows?"

Why does everyone have to be so bloody crass?

"Not quite, but it was a close call," Hermione clarified. "There were hands in places… mouths on things..." She drifted off momentarily into the memory of the sinful things Malfoy had managed to do to her before they were interrupted.

"Where was his mouth specifically?" Ginny prodded; her eyes narrowed in question.

"Ginny! No! This isn't us talking about some random boy I'm getting hot and heavy with, this is Draco-sodding-Malfoy, former Death Eater and current prat!" Hermione exploded.

The youngest Weasley backpedalled quickly, "Sorry, I forgot. I promise I'll act with the appropriate amount of revulsion in the future."

Hermione could tell by Ginny's fidgeting hands that she had more to add.

"I just think that me echoing your self-disgust isn't going to make you feel any better. What's happening to you isn't fair or right, but that doesn't mean you should deprive yourself of what little enjoyment you can while we figure it all out. You said it yourself, it's not like you're having a bad time while it's happening."

"I-I'm just worried." Ginny gave her an expectant look to continue. "Last night I don't even think I tried to prevent it at all. He didn't seem to fight very much either. What if whatever is happening to us is getting stronger?"

Her friend pondered this for a moment before replying, looking on Hermione sympathetically.

"Well, if I were you this is what I would do. Put things in place to reduce opportunity for shenanigans, but if shenanigans ensue you can't wallow in a dark cloud of self-loathing every time afterwards. Your will is not your own, so your guilt and shame are misplaced. What's done is done and you can't turn back time to take it back."

Hermione raised her finger to counter, "What if we – "

Ginny cut in with a shake of her head and stern tone, "– No, we are not stealing the time turner from McGonagall. You know as well as I do that too much time has passed from the first incident and it would probably fundamentally change the future if we attempted to."

Hermione nodded her head in agreement, looking crestfallen. Still thinking about how any consequences of her not sleeping with Draco Malfoy surely couldn't be that bad.

XXX

The beginning of the following week passed by uneventfully, which Hermione didn't mind one bit. She never thought she would be so content with the mundaneness of her regular routine. She woke up, had breakfast, went to classes, had lunch, went to classes, had dinner, went to the library and the best part of all was that she barely caught a glimpse of a certain surly Slytherin.

Theodore Nott decisively put an end to her brief reprieve the night before she was due to meet Malfoy again. She settled into her usual nook of the library; its familiarity surrounded her like a warm blanket. Hermione read happily for a short while, but the feeling of someone watching her caused her to break focus and look up.

Nott was sitting at the table opposite her, staring and smirking again.

Hermione closed her book with more force than strictly necessary and stood up to make her way over to him.

He had started silently laughing to himself at her obvious discomfort.

"Nott," she hissed. His shoulders continued to shake with mirth, which had the desired effect of incensing her further. "I know you know. What neither Malfoy nor I need is your ridiculous behaviour letting anyone else know."

She glared at him through the riotous curls that had annoyingly escaped her scrunchie.

"People are starting to ask questions," she pushed on, getting very high pitched towards the end of her statement and desperation seeping into her tone.

Hermione cast a furtive glance around the library to check there weren't any witnesses to this exchange.

Theo had finally stopped chortling and scratched under his chin. "Oh, really? Have the whispers started already? What, pray tell, have the whispers deduced?"

It was irritating her to no end that he was apparently enjoying this situation as much as Ginny.

How did we end up with two such infuriatingly cavalier confidants?

"Well, if you must know. Harry and Ron are currently under the impression that you have some sick obsession with me."

He laughed more at that revelation. "Little do they know it's so much worse!"

Hermione closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath, swallowing all the insulting phrases that were threatening to burst out.

"Look," she started, trying to maintain her composure, "I can only assume that Malfoy confided in you because he trusts you for reasons I'll never understand."

"Not really," Nott responded bluntly, "I caught him in our dormitory staring slack jawed at a pair of knickers with the initials 'H.G' stitched into them. I'm a smart cookie," he teased with a wink, tapping the side of his head.

Hermione's face flushed with embarrassment and she silently regretted the day she had started charming her initials into her clothing so that Lavender wouldn't run off with them quite so often.

"Are you going to tell anyone?" she asked with trepidation. "Is this some juicy piece of blackmail you plan on cashing in on?"

He faked shock, putting his hand to his chest as if she had greatly offended him.

"Miss Granger, do you truly think so little of me? No, I think I'd much rather just revel in the chaos that will undoubtedly unfold even without my assistance."

With that declaration, he shot her a final smirk before leaving.

Hermione didn't feel completely convinced that Nott wasn't going to make her house of cards come crashing down.

A/N: I'd like to personally thank the people that have taken the time to review, getting positive feedback really helps with motivation to churn out the chapters – I've almost finished! So, you can expect that this fic will not remain as a WIP and I'll post regularly It looks like this is going to be a fic of around 30 chapters.

Thank you to:

Elisablackcat

Raecarey

just-wakeup-ki

thegingertech

Lena2244

ForsakenKalika

Mila06

Special thanks to the following for being repeat reviewers:

beccasullivanwrites1

lun27