Chapter 5: Draque

"Whoa, check that guy out," Ginny murmured, and Hermione, who had returned to the breakfast table after noting that her Ancient Runes class really did not need that much revision, made a disapproving face.

"Gin, you know that you're not over Harry yet," she said sternly; the redhead had confided her still-strong feelings towards her best friend to her a week ago.

"I know, but this hunk is the thing," her friend breathed, and Hermione, rolling her eyes, turned to see who she was gazing at – and almost fell out of her seat.

"Mal – marvellous, I mean!" She rapidly changed her exclamation, but Ginny was in no state to notice; her eyes were still glued to none other than Malfoy, who was striding to the register table at that very moment. His air was self-assured, and Hermione watched as he picked up the pen and, without pausing, wrote on the paper. Shit, she thought to herself suddenly. He didn't put his real name down, did he? The movement had seemed too fluid, but Malfoy did not seem to have noticed as he strode over to the Gryffindor table straight for Hermione and inquired in 'flawless' broken English,

"May I zit down wiz you?"

Ginny almost melted (along with about a dozen other Gryffindor girls, including Parvati and Lavender), but instantly recuperated as she shot death glares are the other girls and a meaningful glance at her best friend that screamed "Don't you DARE turn him down." Hermione smiled weakly and motioned for him to sit down next to her, which he did promptly. Ginny immediately took over the entire conversation.

"What's your name?" she said sweetly and slowly, batting her eyelashes so that Hermione had trouble stopping herself from slapping her.

"My n-name?" Malfoy said with the expression of an unfamiliar foreign student. "Eet iz Draque. Just Draque."

"Draque is a nice name. I like it a lot…it fits you," Ginny said, and Draco smiled to himself. Was the Weasel's sister actually hitting on him? This was a moment not to be missed, but when he looked at Hermione, he saw her blushing at her friend's forwardness and flirtatious words. His grin widening, he carried on the conversation with Ginny while the brunette stared at her plate and felt oddly left out.

Since Draco, or Draque rather, had been the last person to register at the front table, McGonagall cleaned everything up with a swish of her wand and seized the roll of parchment with the names on it as it flew towards her. Then, she cleared her throat loudly and called for attention.

"We would like to welcome the Spanish students from the Wizarding Academy of Seville to Hogwarts. Let us all give them a round of applause for having the strength to make a long and arduous trip to England after their Headmaster was regrettably put under an Imperius curse by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

The hall burst into applause and cheers, after which McGonagall resumed her speech.

"Each of the Spanish students will select a partner from his or her own year and the two of you will go to the same classes. You are responsible for making your partner feel at home here, and I will expect best behavior from everyone at Hogwarts today and in the future." She gave the students a stern look. "Now you may obtain a partner and then I shall dismiss you to class."

Immediately, a flurry resulted, as some Spanish students were besieged with requests to be partners and some sat alone, looking dejected. Neville Longbottom, especially, turned bright red when an actually good-looking girl asked him to be her partner; he started stuttering uncontrollably and the girl moved away quickly. That fathead. But Draco had no time to mock Longbottom in his mind, for a horde of seventh-year girls from all four Houses immediately surrounded him, claiming him simultaneously as their partner. In the confusion, he noticed that Hermione's seat was empty; she had vanished. Probably off to class already, he thought, and smilingly picked a girl from the crowd randomly. It was Parvati Patil, and she almost fainted with delight at the choice while the others slinked away, disappointed. It was not until then that Draco noticed where Hermione was – she was standing at the Ravenclaw table with her back to him, talking to a dark-haired Spanish boy who was obviously enjoying her company. As he watched, the Spanish boy took her hand and kissed it while she laughed, and they set off out of the Great Hall. Draco tried to suppress a highly uncomfortable feeling that had arisen at the sight of Hermione and the other boy together. You just can't believe that a girl would leave you to talk to someone else, he thought to himself, and left the Hall with Parvati almost dragging him along at a delirious pace. He didn't bother to get rid of his first thought at seeing Hermione's back: damn she has a nice butt.

The first class that the Gryffindors had was Charms with the Ravenclaws, and the students filed into Professor Flitwick's classroom dutifully, sitting down in neat rows. Hermione, as usual took the first row, and her Spanish friend José sat down beside her. Two rows back, Draco Malfoy, aka Draque, sat down directly behind her, while Parvati, who was content with gabbling on about herself and congratulating herself on her luck at having him for a partner, took a seat beside him. Draco did not focus too well on Flitwick's lesson that morning; his attention was almost entirely spent in watching every move Hermione and José made. Five minutes before class ended, Hermione dropped her pen and bent down to get it while her friend did the same; their heads knocked together and they laughed, while she carelessly glanced to the back – and saw Draco's icy eyes boring into her. After class was dismissed, he took the extra care of bumping into her as she exited the classroom, but she did not even look at him.

Uncomfortable without knowing why, Draco did not enjoy the rest of his classes. Herbology with the Hufflepuffs proved to be a boon, for as they tried to evade the parachuting seeds of the All-Sprouting Dandelion, he 'accidentally' knocked a pot of the plant over on Parvati, who screamed continuously as dandelions spouted all over her body. Amid laughs and whoops, Professor Sprout told Draco to take Parvati to the hospital wing, since he had tipped the pot over. He decided to play the part of the new Spanish student.

"I do not know vere ze ozpital ving iz," he explained to the short, plump professor, who promptly said, "Hermione, dear, go and take Mr. Draque and Parvati to the hospital wing, will you?" Draco smiled. Kill two birds with one stone, he thought.

The moment they left Parvati with Madam Pomfrey and were in a deserted hallway, both of them stopped at the same time and apparently made up their minds to yell at each other simultaneously.

"Listen, Mal – "

"What's the deal – "

They stopped, fumed at each other for no reason at all, and then Draco started yelling again.

"That guy is an idiot!"

"You don't even know his name!"

"All I know is that he's a complete ass – haven't you seen how he smoothes his hair back every, like, two seconds? He's a complete fop – "

"Oh my god, Draco Malfoy is calling somebody else a fop? If anybody is a self-satisfied ass, it's you, and you know it!"

"At least I'm more than qualified to possess an ego, unlike somebody whom you seem to like so much!"

"You're a pathetic, harebrained – "

She never got to finish her characterization of Draco, for in less time than she could say "quill," he had her pressed up against the wall, her arms pinned to either side of her, his face mere inches away from hers, and growled, staring into her flashing eyes,

"You got something to say, Granger?"

His low, husky voice sent chills coursing down Hermione's body, leaving behind hot trails that she did not understand. His bluish-gray eyes were burning into hers with a strange fury, making her hot and flustered; it was all strange, very strange; it was almost as if they were challenging each other to see who would give in to the tension first. It was then that she licked her lips almost unconsciously, and it was then that Draco snapped.

"Damn you, Granger," he whispered before crashing his lips to hers. Their mouths met with overwhelming fury and unlimited passion; immediately, his tongue sought entrance to her mouth, which she granted. Their tongues fought for dominance, earning moans from both, as Draco became increasingly aware of a certain discomfort in his nether regions. Minds wiped blank by pure lust, they kissed each other into delirium, and Draco moved his lips to her neck, nipping and sucking at her tender spots, leaving enormous hickeys, while she moaned and did the same. Grinding against her hard, he groaned with pleasure when she wrapped one leg around his waist and moved against him. When he started licking her earlobe, though, it suddenly hit him: he was making out with Hermione Granger.

The thought smashed into his brain with incredible force and he pushed her away roughly, backing up several steps and then staring at her. Her face was flushed, she was breathing heavily, and her lips were swollen from his kisses. A goddess…supporting herself against the wall, she stared back at him with her chocolate eyes, chest heaving, and Draco felt an almost overpowering desire to pin her back to the wall and ravage her. But no……

Hermione gathered herself and fled from him again.