WRITTEN FOR QLFC, Book Club

These Violent Delights

Prompt:

[dialogue] "You know me. Running around. Loving life. Committing arson."

AU! No war.

The Fire In His Heart

Hermione tries to stop Thorfinn, but the damage is already done.

While out on a brisk walk to refresh her memory before her midterm exam, Hermione stopped by one of the large windows that looked out towards the Forbidden Forest. Breathing heavily, she placed her hand on the windowsill and leaned over to get some fresh air.

Just then, she caught sight of a tall, broad-shouldered student striding towards the patch behind Hagrid's hut. Even from a distance, she easily recognised Thorfinn Rowle, the sixth-year student who had made life hell for her ever since she had corrected his spell pronunciation in the library.

Hermione gasped when she saw the Slytherin boy had his wand out, and she knew he was definitely up to no good. Without hesitation, she sprinted down the stairs, her heart pounding with fear at what the boy was planning on doing to Hagrid.

Having surveyed the Weasley twins' map, Hermione knew of several routes that would lead her to the castle doors, and she used all that she had at her disposal. She crawled into a secret alcove that led her to the third floor, entered a long tunnel that was hidden behind a tapestry, and finally slid down a small hole near the Transfiguration classroom.

Once she was outside, she sprinted after Thorfinn, who was hovering over the pumpkin patch, and she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Rowle!"

"Incendi—" Thorfinn stumbled at the sound and dropped his wand into the patch. Instantly, the large pumpkins burst into red-hot flames. The ravenous flames leapt towards the trees and the two students.

"Merlin, Granger!" Thorfinn roared as he leapt at her, knocking her down before the flames could reach her. "Are you daft, witch?"

"Get off of me," Hermione hissed, trying to shove him away but failing. Thorfinn was pure muscle, and if he didn't want to move, no one would be able to do anything to change that. "Rowle! The fire!"

"Oh, let it burn," Thorfinn murmured, reaching up to stroke her cheek. His striking blue eyes were filled with a heat that had nothing to do with the fire raging near them. "Let it all burn… Soon, it will be just me... and you."

Hermione groaned loudly. Not again! Since the beginning of the year, the Slytherin had been flirting with her—outrageously, might she add—and trying to ask her out to Hogsmeade. Though Harry and Ron intervened now and then, the boys would always laugh at Hermione's plight.

"Rowle, the pumpkins are on fire! The forest is on fire! How can you be so calm?" she cried, still pinned beneath the mammoth-like boy.

"Granger," he murmured, placing his forearms near her head. For once, his long blond locks were pulled back in a loose ponytail, and Hermione could see his angular jaw. "What about the fire you've lit within my very soul?"

"Rowle! We need to do something!" she cried, panicking as the flames reached higher than before.

"My Love is like to ice, and I to fire:

How comes it then that this her cold so great

Is not dissolved through my so hot desire,

But harder grows the more I her entreat?"

"You—Muggle—poem—" Hermione was dumbstruck, and Thorfinn took the opportunity to lean down and press his lips against hers.

Though the brash Slytherin stole her first kiss, he was cunning about it, too. Hermione's heart skipped a beat at the unusual feeling of his lips moving over hers, and she subconsciously closed her eyes to enjoy the moment, forgetting where they were.

"Fire! Fire! Professor Dumbledore!" Hagrid's panicked screams brought Hermione back to reality, and she inhaled sharply as she shoved Thorfinn off.

This time, he allowed her to throw him off, and he watched as she shot to her feet, pulled out her wand, and cast Aguamenti on the pumpkin patch. He grumbled under his breath about the giant oaf ruining everything, but he got to his feet and moved closer to Hermione, not wanting her to get hurt.

Professors Dumbledore and Snape came running out of the castle and quickly put an end to the inferno. And then, the Potions' professor turned towards Hermione and said in his low, smooth voice, "What is the meaning of this, Miss Granger?"

Placing his hand on Hermione's waist, Thorfinn pushed her behind him and said, "It wasn't her, Professor."

"Hermione couldn't have done this, Professor!" Hagrid added, wringing his hands nervously. "She's innocent!"

Professor Dumbledore cast a spell, and Thorfinn's badly burnt wand flew from the blackened patch towards them. "Mr Rowle, is this yours?"

Thorfinn hesitated but replied, "Yes, sir… I got startled by something and my wand fell in."

"What were you doing near my patch, Rowle?" Hagrid asked, scowling at Thorfinn.

"That's personal."

Professor Dumbledore nodded and said, "Very well. Seeing as this looks like an accident, I'll let you two go back to your dorms. Mr Rowle, I'm sorry about your wand, but you'll have to get another one soon."

Tensing his shoulders, Thorfinn gritted his teeth and nodded, his eyes trained on his charred wand. A pang of guilt hit Hermione, and once the professors and Hagrid had left, she placed her hand on his arm. "I'm… sorry about your wand, Rowle. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"

"Nothing can make me feel better, Granger," he murmured, shaking his head slowly. "Except for, perhaps… a kiss."

"In your dreams, Rowle!" Hermione laughed as she waved at him cheekily and turned around to walk away.

Thorfinn's fingers suddenly wrapped around her wrist. She gasped when he pulled her flush against him, her heart pounding against her ribcage at the smooth motion. "What are you—"

Thorfinn smirked as he slowly ran his fingers through Hermione's curls before he cupped her face, his touch surprisingly gentle. "Granger, you are my dream."

Hermione's cheeks turned as red as the flames that had ravaged the pumpkin patch a few minutes ago. "Oh, shut up."

"Make me."

Hermione glowered at him, trying not to show him how flustered she was. "What. Do. You. Want?"

"Go out with me this weekend. If you don't have fun with me, then I'll back off. But if I get you to laugh… then it's game over for you. You're mine."

Merlin, he's smooth. Hermione sighed and said, "Just one date, then."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes."

A devious smirk formed on his lips. "You won't regret this."

"Where were you?" Marcus Flint demanded, smacking Thorfinn with the butt of his broom. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"You know me. Running around. Loving life. Committing arson."

"Committing what? Thor, you're kidding, right? Tell me you didn't set fire to the pitch. We need to train! We have to defeat Wood."

"Nah, I set fire to Hagrid's pumpkins."

"Why?"

Thorfinn scratched the back of his neck and said, "I was trying to steal one for my girl—"

"She's not your girl, Thor," Marcus said, rolling his eyes.

"Yet. But she's going out with me this weekend—she's as good as mine now."

"Whatever. Just please, stop lighting things on fire and focus on the match."

"You got it, Flinty!" But despite his claim, Thorfinn couldn't help but daydream about Hermione and their upcoming date.

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