Two days later, the 8th year returning students were settling into their new accommodations. McGonagall hadn't told the rest of the school anything other than it was more appropriate for them to be houses together due to their age and similar experiences. Hermione hadn't spoken to Malfoy about it at all, hadn't interacted with him beyond passing him in the halls and attending classes that they shared together, but she was made aware that he knew. The common room was like a large circular room, with individual dorm rooms leading off around the sides. Hermione initially made a fuss about being housed right next to Malfoy, but when she was finally able to sleep, she decided that she had to accept it for what it was. If she could remain in close proximity to him but not have to speak to him, this could work until they found a way to reverse it.

Hermione and McGonagall met every three days to discuss changes or updates to the situation.

So far, there were only positives to note. She felt better most of the time, noticing that both herself and Malfoy tended to stick to the 8th year common room, apart from meals and classes. She was yet to find a way to communicate with him about where she was going, when and why. She also had no way of speaking to him alone, without the other Slytherins being involved.

Despite writing to them both almost daily, she hadn't told Harry and Ron, and she hoped that she wouldn't have to. It was clear that no one else knew, or there would be gossip around the school in no time.

During one of their meetings over the Christmas break, Hermione disclosed her concerns to McGonagall that both herself and Malfoy were dancing around this whole thing and she was desperate to go to the library but also eager to do so while she was feeling well.

It was then that McGonagall decided it was time to bring them together, to discuss it openly and find a way for them to have a normal life, regular routines, without suffering.

Hermione fidgeted in her seat when Malfoy walked in. She wasn't nervous about talking with him, just annoyed by the entire situation.

"The two of you are both aware of what has been happening and you both know that things aren't working. Malfoy, you've reported feeling a decline in your physical health and magical capabilities and Miss Granger, you expressed concerns regarding communicating your whereabouts and planed activities to Mister Malfoy" McGonagall said.

Hermione was stunned that Malfoy would disclose something so powerfully vulnerable, and also shocked that he was beginning to regress. She hadn't felt anything like that so far, and was disheartened to think of what was to come. When proximity wasn't enough, then what?

"Miss Granger, you would like to attend the library and other areas of the castle?" McGonagall said.

"Yes, I would like to attend the library while I feel well. Other places I can manage, I believe" she said.

"Mister Malfoy, you have made adjustments to your room so that your bed is closer to the wall of Miss Grangers room?" McGonagall asked.

He simply nodded. Hermione looked briefly in his direction. He was staring at the floor. He was embarrassed, mortified, humiliated. She didn't feel those things, she felt more a sense of urgency to fix this.

"I'll do the same" she said, wondering why she didn't think to do the same.

"You may want to come up with ways to communicate between you. If we can't reverse this soon, there is no telling what the bond curse will lead to" McGonagall said, causing Malfoy to roll his eyes. "You have a thought?" she asked him.

"With all due respect, headmistress, my family isn't known for its leniency. This curse will only get worse, fast, and it will not stop till one or both of us are dead" he said matter of factly.

Hermione gasped at this.

"What, Granger, are you shocked?" he asked, looking to her for the first time since the beginning of the school term, his eyes alive.

"I'm not prepared to die over this. I'll make adjustments, I'll move my bed, I'll do what I have to do, but I will not let this take my life" she said.

"Noble of you, Granger, but sheer will power can not overcome a curse like this. You can't demand your way through this. It wants a bond, it wants to cause pain and harm. It will only get worse till one or both of us die or until we succumb to the bond" he said.

"Of course, Draco, you're right, ultimately, if not reversed, the curse will seek to destroy you or force you together" McGonagall said.

Hermione's mind went into a fit of rage.

"Wait a minute, you told me that it would be ok. You told me you'd figure it out. You said this could be fixed" she said, standing from her chair. With Malfoy sitting next to her, she hadn't felt so strong in such a long time and it was showing through her rage.

"And it can be" McGonagall said.

"Not from what he says" she spat.

"It can be manageable" McGonagall said.

"I've had enough" Hermione said, before picking up her bag and storming out. She immediately felt her magic wane and her anger replaced by fatigue, so she waited by the stone gargoyle till Malfoy descended.

"I want to spend some time in the library this afternoon" she said.

'I can manage that" he said, attitude and venom dripping from his words.

"We can be polite about this, Malfoy" she said.

"We can, but we don't have to. I don't like you Granger, this is intolerable to me" he said.

"Likewise. But there's no point wasting what little energy we have in being argumentative is there?"

He didn't speak, just followed after her as she stormed off to the library taking her time, perusing the shoves for books she might want or need.

Mostly, she was just desperate to be around the scent of old books, of peace and tranquillity that came with the library however, she soon found that Malfoy's presence was far more of a distracting annoyance than anything.


"Granger" he said, startling her out of her blissful daze

"Yes?" She asked sweetly. She was in a great mood she was feeling good after having had a great week and spending almost a whole day in the library.

So far, the plans to remain in close proximity were working... For her at least. She felt mostly OK with the occasional lapse when they got too far away from each other. But mostly she was OK. He, however, seemed mostly very... Flat.

"I need to do something" he said.

"uh, OK"

He stood there impatiently looking anywhere but at her.

"Oh, you want me to come?" she asked, pointing out the obvious. If he needed something from her he'd bloody well ask her for it

"I don't get into the habit if just advertising my plans to randoms" he spat.

"OK" she said, getting up.

"Bring your coat... And a book" he commanded.

She never actually thought he'd change because of their situation buy she did expect a tone of civility. She summoned her thick coat and boots wandlessly, only because she could, only because he was standing so close. It felt good to feel her magic in her fingertips.

"Marvellous display of wasted magic, now let's go" he said, heading for the door.

"Wasted? I bed to differ. It felt great" she argued

He made to counter but closed his mouth, walking along in silence. His long strides were difficult to keep up with but she somehow managed to make her way, following him to the entry hall and out into the snow.

"Are you trying to freeze me to death in hopes that the curse will lift?" she asked.

"If I thought that one if us dying would life the curse if have seen to it already" he said coldly.

She stood there, her mouth agape at his confession. He'd easily have just killed her. Just like that. Suddenly, part of her remembered just who he was, where he'd come from, all the things he'd done. She was very afraid yet, now, part of her felt like she was safer with him than anyone else. After all, no one else had reason to want her alive as much as he did.

She didn't sat a word when they headed into the forest and she didn't sat a word when they went deeper into the thick trees. She wasn't afraid, she had been here many times.

The further they walked, the more she realised why he needed her to come. If his progression was worse than hers he'd never make this trip alone.

As she thought about the idea of another few months in the immediate presence of Malfoy, they came to a clearing, not unlike the one that she had first met Buckbeak in. She briefly wondered if he was going to make a mends to the herd but soon forgot about it when half a dosen small dragon like creatures cane bustling out of the bushes, heading quickly towards them.

"Are they..." she began, mesmerized by the creatures in front of her.

"Miniature dragons" he said.

"Right..." she replied unsure of what else to say. She had no idea they existed, let alone that they existed here in the Hogwarts forest

"You can sit over there" he said directing her to a large rock where he had thrown his bag down. "There's a blanket in the bag" he added.

She narrowed her eyes at the back of his head before turning to do as he instructed. She took out the blanket and sat on half, wrapping the other half around herself for warmth while Malfoy tended to the group of dragons that were no bigger than a Maltese Terrier.

She tried reading her book, she indeed read almost a chapter, however she was continually distracted by the goings on around her. Malfoy seemed... Calm... In their presence, almost like they eased all of his burdens and took away his pain. She watched as he sat and played with them with sticks and leaves and fed them bits of meat that he had surely stolen from the kitchens.

She was on her feet before she realised, taking the blanket with her. She had watched Harry battle a fierce dragon and ridden to safety in the back of a blind dragon that feared for it's life, but never had she seen anything as curious as a family of miniature dragons.

She approached with caution, watching them watch her from the corners of their eyes. She spread out the blanket beside Malfoy and revelled in the bliss of feeling well, before sitting down.

"The Dark Lord created them. He figured he could get them on his side. Turns out, they're more... Independent than he realised. I don't know how they got here. They just... Called to me. I can't explain it. He said, almost whimsically. She wasn't sure if he realised who he was talking to.

"They're incredible" she said.

" They have a social hierarchy, it's quite interesting. The oldest member of the group, in this case, a male, calls the shots and everyone just falls into place. No one challenges him, no one questions him, he just looks at them and they know what he wants" he said.

"Must make life pretty simple, just having rules and blindly following them. Not having to make choices, not having to decide what to do or when" she said.

"It's different".

"That's for sure".

They sat in silence for a while, Hermione wondering what could be going through his head, why he was talking like this. These dragons brought something out in him.

"I've ridden on a dragon once obviously much larger than these ones" she said out of no where

"Ah yes, who could deny your famous Gringotts escape" he said, his regular tone returning.

"I was still so weak from... Well, everything that had happened, I almost didn't want to. I'm so scared of heights and that dragon hadn't flown in such a long time. But we made it. The dragon made it. We survived, barely" she said, reluctantly trying to converse with him.

"You shouldn't have" he said suddenly, breaking what had been a developing silence

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, there should have been adults responsible for what you three had to do" he said.

"There wasn't. It was Harry. It always had to be Harry" she said.

"At the end yes. Potter or the Dark Lord, we all know that. But he didn't have to do everything in his own. Drag other kids into it" he said.

"He didn't drag anyone into anything. Everything we did, everything we've done over the years we did, we volunteered for. More often than not against Harry's will . He never forced us into anything" she said.

He looked at her for the briefest second before turning his attention back to the small dragons briefly.

"We should go" he said, his ambivalence towards her shining through again.

She wondered if she would some day break through his walls, or if she even wanted to. If they had to continue to remain in close proximity of one another more long term, surely they would converse? Surely they would get to know each other eventually?


She sat in the head mistresses office, feeling incredulous at the things she had heard.

"What do you mean there seems to be no cure?"

"At this stage we haven't formulated a reversal spell for the curse" McGonagall said.

"Who do you have working on it?" Hermione asked.

"I assure you Hermione, we have a skilled team working on it" she said.

"Sure just like there were skilled people working to destroy Voldemort, when really all along it was three teenagers and some helpful sidekicks along the way" she spat, catching herself before she continued. "So what now? Now that he's much worse and I seem to be following in his footsteps. I can't very well be beside him every single day" she said.

"There is something that I've read about... In a other book" McGonagall said tentatively handing a different book to Hermione.

She turned to a marked page and couldn't believe what she was reading.

"Intercourse?! I need to... In order to... We need to... This has to be some kind of joke" she screeched.

"It's the entire pretence for the curse miss Granger, to have two enemies forced to be near each other. Unfortunately it's the next step" McGonagall sad sadly.

"But... I can't... I mean, I haven't... I can't have my first time be with him, of all people" she said, realising that she'd have to give her virginity to Draco Malfoy or risk a slow death.

"Oh... I assumed... Never mind" McGonagall stammered.

"I mean, there want much opportunity for that kind of thing, growing up, fighting Voldemort at every turn, trying to survive and fighting battles we weren't ready for" Hermione ranted, shocked that McGonagall would even consider that she'd have had time for romance.

"You and mister Wesley?" she asked as Hermione suppressed a surprised gasp.

"No, I mean, we got close but never... It didn't go that far. We're too different" she said, now wishing they had taken things further than they had, just so she could have avoided this exact discussion.

There was silence while Hermione mulled this over

"So, to clarify what we've jut spoken about I have to have sex with my high school bully, my sworn enemy, lose my virginity to someone I've hated for the last 8 years and who had literally thought I was scum of the earth, or essentially waste away till I die?" she summarised.

"Essentially yes. It would be a short term solution" the headmistress said, looking at the arrangement of items in her desk.

"and... it would be more than once?" she asked.

"It would have to be a regular thing, I'm afraid...the books says..." she drifted off.

Tears sprung to her eyes. She had always thought she'd fall in love with someone amazing, be attracted to them to the point where they both couldn't keep their hands off each other and eventually, they would make love and it would be special. Romantic. Now? None of that was possible she was running out of time and she'd have to give herself to Malfoy or let her magic die and her body slowly deteriorate.

"Aren't there other potions? I could fight harder?" she asked, almost begging, now flipping through the pages of the book.

"You're taking the highest dose now. Mister Malfoy is struggling more and more everyday. The curse is worse for him than it is for you" she said.

"Does he know? About what we need to do?" she asked.

"He does"

"And what was his reaction?" Hermione asked, curiously.

"He was much less emotional, he is quote closed off I'm afraid, so I have no way of knowing how he feels about it" she answered. Hermione was glad to get the truth.

She thought about how she would go about this, how she could bring herself to allow him to take this from her basically against her will. How could she let her first time be with him?

"Do you have any questions?"

"No. I'll go" she said as she stood and left the office of the headmistress

She thought about this she needed to take control of her own life. She needed to make the choice, she needed to be in charge. She wasn't like some miniature dragon who allowed the elder member of the group to tell her what to do.

She turned and went back into the office, standing before the head mistresses desk.

"I need to leave the castle" She demanded.

"You can't. It will cause quite significant health decline for you both" McGonagall said.

"Just for a few hours. Malfoy can.. He can sleep in my bed. Proximity to my, possessions may satiate him for a few hours" she said

"And exactly where are you going to go?" the headmistress asked.

I'm going to take care of the issue. I'm going to go and see Ron.


She knocked on the door of the flat above the store, hoping Ron would be home and he'd be alone. She didn't think till now that he may have a girlfriend.

She had drank a quarter of a bottle of firewhiskly just to dull her nerves and calm the ache in her bones.

When Ron appeared wearing his pyjama pants and a vest she hesitated.

"Hermione? What at you doing here?" He asked.

"Are you... I mean, can I come in? Are you alone?" She fumbled over her words.

"Have you been drinking?" He asked.

"A little. Maybe" she responded, as he opened the door to let her in.

"You're supposed to be at school" he said, shutting the door behind her.

"I know, I just... I got a gate pass. I needed to see you" she said.

"I was just reading your letter" he said, heading to his bedroom. She followed, thanking fate or whatever it may be for not forcing her to drag him there.

He stood by the small desk in his room, surrounded by boxes of products stacked against the wall and his Chudley Canons bed spread laid out on his double bed.

She looked around the room before looking to Ron. He was the most logical choice. He cared about her enough to go slow, they had at least fumbled around a bit already before. She couldn't trust anyone else with this.

She took a step towards him and saw his brow furrow. He had no idea what she was doing or why she was there. It was obvious.

She took a deep breath in before taking off her jacket and lifting her shirt off over her head.

"Hermione..." He began, but she silenced him with her lips on his. His familiar lips. It was a comfort really even if she didn't feel that way about him, he was familiar. It would be OK. She reached down and pulled off his vest, revealing his toned chest. Working was doing him justice he looked good.

"Hermione.. What are you doing?" He asked.

"Don't ask questions this, please, I just... I need this" she said, unbuttoning her jeans and letting them fall to the floor.

"This... This?" he asked shocked.

She could only nod her head before she brought their lips back together, hoping he'd consent. She hadn't thought a out what she would do if he said no. She supposed she'd face the rejection and allow it to be Malfoy.

Are you sure? He asked.

"Yes Ron, I'm sure" she said, pulling at the drawstring of his pyjama pants, leaving him standing nude in front of her.

He took her by her waist and led her to the bed where they both laid down. She took off her underpants, now aware that she was as naked as he was.

His hands were gentle as he ran his fingers up her thigh, towards their apex. They had done this before, only with more clothes on. She allowed her legs to part as his fingers fumbled for her entrance. She had performed a lubrication charm already with what was available of her magic and she could hear Ron's sharp intake of breath at how ready she must have felt

He wasted no time positioning himself on top of her, lining himself up at her entrance. She was nervous, she was afraid. She didn't want it to be like this but at the same time, it was perfect. She loved Ron, she had always loved him and most importantly, she trusted him.

"You sure you want this?" He asked.

"Yes Ron I'm sure. You're my best friend. If... If we died tomorrow, I want to say that I did this with someone I loved... Someone I trusted" she said as she felt him probe at her entrance.

The stretching pain was immediate. He went slow but it hurt.

"I'm sorry", he said as tears fell from her eyes.

"It's OK, I'm OK, just keep going" she said.

He did as she asked and pressed his body into hers slowly.

It was intense painful and fast, but she was glad it was with Ron. She didn't feel explosions of pleasure like they talk about in books but she did feel immense gratitude for having Ron be part of her life in this way.

"You need to know Hermione, I care about you, but our reasons for breaking up haven't gone away" he said as he held her tight against him. He was right and she was glad that he wasn't proposing some kind of relationship. It would be unbearable.

"I know, I just... Like I said, I want this to be with someone I trusted" she said.

He kissed the top of her head and settled in under the covers. She wanted nothing more than to leave, get back to her dorm where she could lay in her bed beside the wall adjoining Malfoy's room so she could feel a bit more like herself. She felt the heaviness in her body, the draining of her magic. She knew she had to leave but she could have Ron think less of her, think that she was a slag who creeps into guys beds whenever she wants.

"Ron... I have to get back" she said quietly.

"Stay. You can apparate in the morning. I'll make you breakfast and you can see the shop" he said.

"The gates will be shut, I have to go now, I'm sorry" she said.

He stilled for a moment before releasing her. She sat up and dressed quickly, trying not to notice the smear of blood between her legs from her broken virginity. With her lethargy setting in, she kissed him on the forehead and headed for the door

"Thank you Ron" she said.

"For what?"

"For the fact that you won't tell anyone about this"

"I... how did you know I won't say anything?" he asked.

"Respect. You're a good man and I hope you find someone right for you" she said.

"I do.. Care about you, Hermione..." he said.

"I know. Me too" she said as she left his room and left the flat above the shop.

Ron was making something of his life, he was a partner in George's business, going well by the looks of the scattered plans on the desk in his room. He was a planner, he was a strategist and that was what would lead him towards success.

She took a long swig from the bottle of firewhisky that she had stashed in her beaded bag before apparating to the gates of Hogwarts. She stumbled as she arrived, falling to the ground, glad not to have splinched herself.

"Are you insane?" Came an accusatory voice.

"Probably" she replied, taking another long drink from the bottle.

"You can't go around apparating everywhere, you'll splinch yourself" he chastised.

She narrowed her eyes at Malfoy and huffed before heading through the gates.

"Where have you been?" He asked.

"None of your business" she replied. She wanted to argue but she was just not in the mood.

"It is my business, if we're supposed to stay near each other to stay alive" he said.

"I doubt you'd have wanted to have been involved in what I was just doing" she said.

He just looked at her as they walked to the castle. She was feeling much better, but also much more drunk.

"So you know what we have to do?" She asked.

He didn't say anything

"Just... Give me a few days. I'll leave my room unlocked, I'll sleep without my pants on. Just come in do what you have to do and leave" she said, having thought that if she didn't have to initiate it then it wouldn't be as bad. If it was just a dirty little secret that happened in the dead of night they could avoid it.

"Right" he said.

Their footsteps echoed through the halls as they made their way back to their dorm. It felt strange walking beside him like this. It felt strange that he had waited for her by the gate.

"You didn't have to wait for me. I could have made it back on my own" she said.

"I know that"

"So why did you?"

"I thought..." He ran his hands through his hair and stopped walking. "I thought you'd left for good" he said.

"Why...? Why would I do that?"

"To torture me? To make me pay for everything I've done?" he said.

"Torture you? And torture myself while I'm at it? This effects me too, or did you forget that part? Besides, The greatest torture is yet to come, Malfoy when we have to sleep together in order to survive!" She spat before she turned the handle to the door of the 8th year common room.


AN - Still with me?