A/N 1. Friendly reminder that this is an M-rated/18+ story.

9.

THE PREFECT'S BATHROOM

On Christmas Day, Hermione woke early in the morning to find a sprinkling of fresh snow and a generous spread of gifts from the Weasleys and Harry. She added a new Molly Christmas jumper to her collection and tasted a delicious chocolate frog, feeling naughty for doing that before breakfast. Her friends always found it easy to gift her books they thought she'd find interesting, but it was Ginny once again who won her heart with a book titled Witch Power: A Guide to Surviving in a Wizard's World by Pamela Plympton.

Hermione quickly dressed—foregoing her usual jeans for a corduroy skirt when she suddenly wanted to feel feminine—and stuffed two packages inside her beaded bag before heading down to breakfast. When she arrived at the Great Hall, only Professor McGonagall, Professor Gournie, Draco, Theo and two other kids were sitting at the table.

"Merry Christmas, everybody," she called before taking a seat beside Draco.

"Merry Christmas," said a chorus of voices back to her. Draco smirked at her and squeezed her knee under the table, silently sipping his pumpkin juice.

"Ah, there's an exclusive Molly Weasley Christmas jumper," Theo announced. "I aspire to get one sometime."

Draco snorted. "Keep dreaming."

"I don't know," Hermione said teasingly. "I think Molly would like you, honestly."

Theo flashed a triumphant grin at Draco and the latter rolled his eyes at his friend's silliness. After recently learning about how much darkness had plagued Theo's life, Hermione was happy to see that he was able to find positivity and good humour despite it all.

Later that morning, Draco, Theo and Hermione weren't able to enter the Room of Requirement, so they found a little alcove nearby and settled themselves on a few transfigured pillows from objects they found in a classroom. Hermione took out the packages she'd brought and passed each one to the boys for them to open.

Last summer, during her last visit to one of her favourite bookshops in London, she'd bought a few muggle science books in the bestseller section and a few of them she'd loved so much that she'd brought them with her to Hogwarts. She was very nervous to show these to Theo and Draco but when she went to bed the previous night, she thought it might be a good idea to gift them a part of her in a symbolic way.

Watching their faces as they opened the gifts made her second-guess herself and their evident confusion further embarrassed her, but she tried to ignore it. Of course, they knew right away. Wizarding books had a distinct quality to them, from the texture of the paper to the typography, not to mention the fact that most of them had moving pictures.

"Woah, Hermione," Theo said, immediately scanning the back cover of the book she'd selected for him. It was A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, a muggle British physicist.

During their many conversations, while she'd been in the hospital, Theo had confessed to her his fascination for how time and space interact. He hadn't put a name to it because it was a subject outside the realm of Astronomy as it was studied at school. Hermione had spent several hours teaching him about muggle subjects like Astrophysics, Cosmology, space and time travel. She'd skipped over her stint with a Time-Turner, but he'd let her know that he knew they'd existed before the Ministry banned them. She thought he would enjoy Hawking's research and accessible terms about the origin and evolution of the universe.

Draco became very silent and Hermione flushed scarlet and bit her bottom lip worriedly. She held her breath and watched Draco analysing his book. She'd decided to gift him The Periodic Table, a collection of short stories written by Primo Levi, an Italian-Jewish chemist who was a victim to the fascist regime during muggle World War II. Each story was told from an autobiographical standpoint and they each related to a chemical element, which Hermione thought would be interesting for Draco on two very obvious accounts: blood supremacy and chemistry. However, she was scared that he'd been offended and think she might be trying to push a message.

Hermione knew Professor Gournie had been teaching them chemistry for the better part of the first semester, so she thought this might help Draco further understand what went wrong with his family and better himself at the same time.

"This sounds incredible," Theo said enthusiastically. "I can't wait to dig in. What's yours, Draco?"

It took a few seconds for him to respond as he read the inside flap which explained more about the author. Hermione knew the back cover didn't exactly give away much information.

"It's uh…" Draco began. "I'm not sure, really."

"This author uses a metaphor between chemistry, which I know you understand now, and his life," Hermione explained, her voice shaking slightly. "He was persecuted by a German fascist group and his knowledge of chemistry saved him."

"A group of what?" Theo asked.

"Fascists," Hermione said. "They committed genocide against millions of Jewish people because they grew up following a different…culture, let's say."

Theo's eyebrows shot up, and his expression looked between horrified and surprised.

"Is it too heavy?" Hermione asked Draco. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to indoctrinate you, but I thought it'd be interesting. I didn't have a chance to go shopping after I knew I'd be spending Christmas with you guys, I only wanted—"

"Hermione," Draco said, resting his hand on her bare knee next to him. "It's okay, I understand. These are your books, right? You didn't just give us whatever you had, but you selected them for us."

He looked at Theo meaningfully. "Yes, exactly!" Theo said helpfully. "And they sound very, very interesting. Plus, they're the only presents we've got, so…"

"Indeed," Draco said nodding. He looked at her and put his hand under her chin to bring her mouth to his, pecking her sweetly. "Merry Christmas. Thank you."

"Yeah, thank you, Hermione," Theo said and crossed the little space on his knees to one-arm hug her. His other hand held his book to his chest as though he didn't want her to take it back. "Merry Christmas."

Hermione could feel herself melting right on the spot. Her tortured bottom lip throbbed a little but she let out a long exhale in relief.

"Merry Christmas, guys. You're very welcome," she said smiling.

After that, the boys lamented not having anything to give her, since they hadn't braved going into town assuming they wouldn't be welcomed. However, Hermione reassured them that it didn't matter. Draco didn't seem very happy about it, but she was so adamant that he had to let it go. She was just so happy that she had them with her. Theo teased her for sounding too sappy and she loved it.

Sometime later, they reconfigured the pillows into their original form and returned them to their original places. Draco said he needed to go check on the Felix Felicis potion for a while and offered Hermione to join him, but she declined in order to go visit Hagrid, who was missing at breakfast, and to send the Weasleys and Harry thank you notes from the Owlery. Theo went on his way towards the Slytherin common room and they all said their goodbyes.

· - ·

She'd been knocking for several minutes, but it seemed like Hagrid wasn't home. She walked around the path to the Owlery and sat down outside to write three notes. She decided it would be wise to write to Harry and Ginny separately, then a different one for the rest of the Weasleys. She didn't want to single out Ron, especially after his last letter. Eventually, she knew she'd have to talk to both him and Harry.

She assured everybody she was perfectly fine, out of the hospital, and she hoped they'd enjoyed the presents she'd sent with Ginny.

She'd also sent a present to Luna, whom she hadn't had a chance to see before she left, and she hadn't responded, but Hermione figured she'd see her friend eventually.

When Hermione exited the building, wrapping her coat tighter around herself before descending the icy stairs, she saw in the distance how Hagrid walked out of the forest towards his hut carrying a bunch of wood. She stepped down as quickly as she could without slipping and marched up to the cabin. Once again, she knocked on the door. She heard a loud bark inside and smiled as Hagrid opened the door.

"Hermione!" he greeted. "Aren't yeh freezing out 'ere? Come in, come in!"

He offered her some tea and she asked where he'd been. As she saw a blush materialise under his bushy cheeks, he explained how Professor McGonagall had permitted him to use the Floo from her office to contact Madam Maxine, who was somewhere in London attending to some law reforms for giants.

"She's been workin' hard with the Ministry," Hagrid said proudly. "Grawp loves her and I…well, ya know."

They spent the better part of an hour catching up before his expression turned sour and he asked about her accident. She gave him an abbreviated version and he grunted when she regrettably mentioned Draco's name.

"So how is it that you were goin' round with him and the other boy yesterday?" Hagrid asked inquisitively.

"We're…" she stopped herself before continuing, "friends."

"Yer what?" Hagrid exclaimed. "After all he and his father have done to yeh? To us?"

For the first time, Hermione considered that Draco hadn't just been mean to Harry, Ron and especially her, but he'd also gone after Buckbeack and had made Hagrid's classes more difficult for him. She understood where Hagrid was coming from, but it didn't lessen her feelings for Draco. It only made her determined to somehow fix how the half-giant viewed him.

"I don't have to defend myself or him," she said in a calm voice. "I don't condone his actions in the past, but—"

"Of course yeh don't, Hermione!" Hagrid said fiercely. "He's despicable!"

"He's really not, listen, he was brought up with a bad mentality," she tried explaining. "But he's changed. He knows he was wrong."

"I reckon he knows, he did it all on purpose."

"You've dealt with this, Hagrid," she argued. "You've had to face giants who chose the dark side to survive, and they could have changed if they'd been given the opportunity, I'm sure. Look at Grawp, he's been raised by you, hasn't he? And he's good."

She knew she was barely reaching, grasping at straws, but she had to let him see somehow and she knew Hagrid's soft spot. It felt like a low blow, but it was also a half-won battle.

"I don't know," Hagrid said, shaking his head, but he didn't sound entirely convinced. "I don't know."

"Think about it, please?" Hermione implored. She was already thinking about how she was going to try to convince Draco to apologise to Hagrid, but it had to come from him. Otherwise, she'd still be wrong.

After a few minutes of silence, she awkwardly said goodbye, she tried to pat Fang on his head as he moved it to lick her hand, and left the warmth of Hagrid's hut towards the castle. She had to find Draco.

· - ·

Returning to the castle, Hermione walked down the dark staircase and into the dungeons. She spoke the password, hoping for the door to the Slytherin common room to appear and it did. She walked in and saw Theo and Wanda playing Wizard's Chess, or more like Theo was teaching Wanda how to play.

"Hi," she told them. Wanda looked up at her in surprise.

"I know, don't tell Pansy she came by," Theo said to her, pointing at Hermione and rolling his eyes. "She figured out the password, the sneaky witch."

"Have you seen Draco?" Hermione asked looking around. They were alone.

"He left for the Prefect's Bathroom a few minutes ago," Theo said wiggling his eyebrows. "I'm teaching Wanda. She's brilliant, learning very fast. I'd ask you to join us, but you probably have to leave, don't you?"

"Uh…" Hermione noticed Wanda was blushing from Theo's praise. "Yeah, I'll see you later, then."

Leaving the dungeons, she was suddenly nervous. Thinking of Draco in that large bath sent chills down her spine, but she thought he might just want to be alone and relax for a while. She decided to go up and wait for him outside.

As she approached the door to Prefect's Bathroom, Hermione noticed she could hear voices inside. Was he talking to himself? She couldn't pick up any of the words, but he was definitely one of the people speaking. When she heard a distinctly feminine voice, Hermione felt as though a freezing bucket of water had landed on her head and trickled down to her toes. A tiny voice in the back of her mind was telling her to run away, but the louder voice was compelling her to speak the password. The door opened and she snuck in, her heart already working fast.

The bath wasn't immediately visible from the entrance and vice versa, and the door didn't make any sound, so she was able to conceal herself behind the first pillar to her right and listen.

"Yeah, that felt very good," Hermione heard Draco drawl. She could imagine him sitting in the warm water, lazily moving his arms across the surface like she'd done multiple times, feeling the bubbles. This time, however, instead of a fiery sensation in her stomach, something like acid rose from her neck and she felt sick. But who was he with?

"I need to return the favour, but how?" Draco continued. "I don't have anything to give. A massage, maybe?"

A feminine hum echoed through the room and Hermione covered her mouth to smother a gasp. She heard a splash of water followed by another as something (or someone) dived in and then resurfaced, and for a second, she imagined the most horrible scenario.

"It's silly," Draco said. "I've never felt this before, I don't know what to do with it."

Then, she heard it, a girly high-pitched giggle resonated from somewhere high up and Hermione finally realised.

"Oh, silly, he says," a familiar voice said in a whiny tone. "You don't care about my broken heart, then?"

Hermione could picture the owner of the voice in her head, her pitiful pout, her crossed arms, her pigtails and her glasses.

Draco chuckled. "You're a ghost," he said gently, knowing the girl he was talking to had a short fuse. "I've told you before, I can't be with you."

"Myrtle!" Hermione said in a scornful tone coming out from behind the pillar.

She saw Moaning Myrtle floating above, opposite to where Draco was sitting against the walls of the bath with his back to Hermione. Myrtle let out a sound between a startled yelp and a gasp, and Draco turned so fast he almost gave himself whiplash.

"Granger," he said startled. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough," Hermione responded with her eyes fixed on Myrtle, who was squinting her eyes at her. "I heard voices, I thought—"

Draco raised an eyebrow at Hermione. "You thought what?" he asked. "That I was having my way with another woman?"

Hermione looked down at him. "I don't know," she said, shrugging and feeling embarrassed.

"Don't tell me your mystery girl is her!" Myrtle said indignantly before she began moaning and crying, racing around near the ceiling. Suddenly, she took a plunge into the water and came up nearly nose to nose with Draco, whose eyes widened.

"I don't like being treated like a second fiddle, boy," she growled and dove back in before disappearing. Draco sighed in relief and Hermione watched his back relax into the waters.

"She's quite dramatic," Hermione said.

"I don't know," Draco responded without turning to her. "Hiding in a room and listening in on a conversation after making certain presumptions sounds pretty dramatic to me."

"I'm sorry," Hermione said and the echo in the room made her wince at the sound of her own voice. She sounded pathetic.

"Who did you think I was shagging in here?" Draco said. She couldn't determine his tone. For some reason, he sounded light, but she couldn't tell whether he was teasing or scolding her. She thought she probably deserved the latter.

"I—I didn't think—"

"You didn't think I would do that?" he pressed.

"No, but…I was curious," she said. "I had to know."

He turned around to face her, his shoulders barely breaking through the surface of the water. He leaned up on the edge of the bath with one arm and extended his other, offering his hand to her.

"Come here," he said in a gentle tone. "I understand."

A huge weight lifted off her shoulders and she moved further into the room. She sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of him, briefly flashing him her knickers. He smirked and she snorted lightly, taking his hand. He caressed her skin with her thumb and she felt goosebumps rising on her legs despite the warm floor. His grey eyes were open and intense, his hair was darker from the water and he looked beautiful in the soft light.

"I understand, okay? You don't have to apologise," he said. "With so few people left in the castle now, I could have been going mental and talking to myself for all you knew. I would have been curious, too."

She nodded feeling glad that he wasn't angry that she'd invaded his privacy.

"Seems like Myrtle doesn't like you," he said with a smirk. "How did that happen?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I brewed Polyjuice potion in her bathroom during second year and let's say I never developed a tolerance to her dramatics."

Draco laughed heartily bringing a smile to her face. "Of course," he said.

"How do you know each other?" she asked realising for the first time that Draco had been telling the muggle-born ghost rather personal information. His ears turned red.

"Believe it or not, she was my confidante during sixth year," he explained. "When Potter found me in that bathroom, before—" he cut himself off when he saw her eyes travel down to his covered chest. "that incident, I was talking to her."

Hermione's brows furrowed. Harry had told her the story of finding Draco sobbing in the boys' bathroom on the sixth floor, but he never mentioned having seen Moaning Myrtle there.

"You were crying then," she so much as whispered and squeezed his hand.

Draco sighed before looking up and closing his eyes. "Ah…Thanks, Potter," he said, sounding annoyed. "Yes, I was frustrated about my plan. And scared. We fought and...yadda, yadda, yadda."

She stayed silent as he continued in a hoarse whisper, "I can still hear her screaming at him to stop in my dreams sometimes, but it's no longer directed at Potter. I can hear yours now, too."

Hermione closed her eyes, feeling tears threatening to escape. She hurt so much for the struggle he went through.

A few moments later, she felt him let go of her hand and turn around. "I should come out," he said.

She opened her eyes and put her hands on his shoulders, feeling his tension. "No, wait," she said. "I don't want to leave it like this."

"Granger, the water's getting cold," he insisted. "We can go look for Theo and do something before lunch."

"Stay," she ordered and he complied, sighing.

She swallowed heavily, a dangerous plan forming in her head. She pulled out her wand and turned on the faucets to renew the water. She took off her boots, put them to one side and peeled off her long knee socks before submerging her legs into the water.

"What—" Draco began, looking back at her.

She pushed him forward and started massaging his shoulders, kneading with intent. It wasn't long before she felt him relax and heard him moan, eliciting a delicious blast of desire which bloomed from her belly. Knowing he was naked in the water and thoroughly enjoying her massage made her cheeks feel flaming hot, but she loved it.

"Fuck," he gritted out. "I should be doing this for you, not the other way around."

Hermione could see the steam billowing from the bubbly water and she found it irresistibly inviting. In a bout of Gryffindor courage, she let go of his shoulders, stood up and began undressing until she was standing before him in only her white bra and pale blue knickers. He seemed speechless, sitting in the water with his mouth open and his eyes half-closed.

"You're a vision, Granger," he croaked and she gave him a sheepish smile.

She hesitated before taking off her bra. It wasn't like she didn't have insecurities about her body. She thought her breasts were too small and her hips too wide, but the look in his eyes gave her the push she needed. She felt satisfied with her decision when he licked his lips as he watched her sit down on the edge of the bath. Finally, she motioned for him to move closer and he obliged, diving under the water and coming back out right in front of her. The bath was shallow enough that when he kneeled, he was level with her and, looking down, she could discern a smattering of blond hair disappearing under the bubbles from his navel.

Draco put his hands on the floor on either side of her and leaned in to kiss her passionately. She felt it right down to her core and she couldn't resist wrapping her arms around his middle, bringing him skin-to-skin and feeling his slippery chest against her breasts. The sensation was divine. His kisses grew heavy as Draco gently bit down on Hermione's lower lip before, in a quick motion, he suddenly cupped her arse, moved around and threw her into the water without letting go of her.

He slowly sat against the wall of the bath with her astride him, but after a few minutes of snogging, she still wasn't close enough. She blindly searched for his hair and massaged his scalp while bringing herself upon his lap until she made contact with his erection, earning herself a shock of pleasure up her spine like electricity. She gasped in his mouth when he thrust up as though by reflex and moaned in response. She pulled back a second to catch her breath and he quickly attacked her with his lips and tongue behind her ear and down her neck to the part where it met her left shoulder. She felt him lapping at her skin there before he looked up at her.

"We match again," he said softly.

Hermione's eyes focused down at his chest almost on their own accord and there she found a similar scar to hers, but much more pronounced and larger, running from the top centre of his chest down below the water. She blinked at him, unable to respond, and moved down her hand to touch his scar with one finger, following it down, down, down almost to his navel.

Something in his eyes told her to keep going and she did. She touched his navel and it tickled him, which helped lighten the moment, but not for long because she continued down that little trail of soft hair until she found her prize. She gently wrapped her hand around him and he rolled his head back onto the edge of the bath.

"Yes," he hissed.

"Hmm?" she encouraged.

"Please," he gritted out.

The view in front of her was magnificent. This man, Draco Malfoy, was at her mercy, begging for release. It was her choice to give it to him, and she was loving every second of it. She stroked him a few times and he moved his hips up accompanying her hand. While she did that, she kept close enough that the grazing of her hand and his movements also relieved her ache. She leaned her forehead down on his shoulder and he brought one of his hands first to her hip, then her breast, like he couldn't decide which he liked more, and with the other, he kept brushing her hair soothingly while she worked them both up. She closed her eyes, focusing on moving her hand up and down and listening to his breathing.

When she felt herself right at the edge of ecstasy, she slowed down, thinking he might have been taking too long. She raised her head and looked at Draco's face. He seemed to be enjoying this, but was it enough? Should she go for more? She wondered.

"Have you done this before?" she whispered feeling like an idiot as the words left her mouth.

Draco opened one of his eyes and squeezed her hip. "Have I what?"

"You know," she said, her voice wavering with nerves. Why did she have to say anything? "Do you…want more?"

"Granger," he said, wrapping his hand around hers and halting her movements. "Do you not want—Are you a—"

"No!" she exclaimed, flushing furiously. "I mean, I'm not a virgin, but I've also never done it…here, in the water. Is it feeling good for you?"

"Oh, Merlin," he muttered, putting some pressure on her hand around his erection. "It's feeling incredible to me, is it not obvious?"

"Well, yes," she said a little defensively. "But I was about to finish and it didn't look like you were there yet, so I wondered whether you maybe…wanted more…"

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Who have you been with before that—Nevermind, don't answer that," he said sighing. "Hermione, I do want more with you, in every way possible, but not here."

"No?"

"Listen, whenever we have sex, it's going to be somewhere proper with a big bed, a fire, a lock on the door…" He hooked his finger under the fabric on her hip, pulled lightly and let go. "…and without these, most likely."

She snorted and he chuckled with a smug expression on his face before kissing her.

"Until then," he added, "this is perfect."

"Okay," she said smiling.

After that, she resumed her ministrations, pumping his erection while pleasuring herself and alternating between fast and slow, making them both go mad until they reached the point of no return, one quickly after the other. They stayed embraced for a while afterwards, enjoying the afterglow.

Hermione felt like this had been a significant moment, but promised herself to keep their communication about this topic more open. He knew where she stood in terms of partners, but she had no real idea about his experience. She could only assume, and that wasn't good.

When the water started feeling cold and his fingers became pruney, he helped her out. She cast a drying charm on both of them and a Scourgify for good measure before they started dressing back up. He was trying to de-wrinkle his shirt with a charm when she approached him. She could see now more clearly his Sectumsempra scars, along with other ones on his arms in different sizes, including the infected Dark Mark in his left forearm, which was starting to heal nicely.

He was all sinewy muscles and old wounds. And way too thin. Maybe it was the effect of everything else about him or her rose-coloured glasses that she still found him attractive, but if he lost any more weight he'd be on the verge of unhealthy. Malnutrition wasn't a good look. She reached out and touched the scar on his chest as he kissed her chastely.

"I hate that he did this to you," Hermione said. "I was so angry with him. I couldn't believe he'd been so bloody stupid."

"And he went and did it again," he answered with disdain still struggling with his shirt. "What a genius."

"I forgave him both times, too," she said, shaking her head. "But I think I resent him still."

"Good. He doesn't deserve you."

"Well, this time you didn't help with the taunting, did you?" she said and angrily grabbed his shirt to perform the de-wrinkling charm on it correctly at once.

Hermione thrust his shirt into his hands and walked towards the door. She looked back at him as he put it back on, his eyebrows furrowed.

He looked up at her after buttoning slowly and seemed surprised when she hadn't left without him. She waited as he approached her. She opened the door but he didn't exit.

"You're right, I'm sorry," he said quietly. She nodded and he continued, brushing his hair back and breathing deeply, "I—Potter gets on my nerves. All the time. But I put you in danger when I fuelled the fire."

Hermione saw the guilt in his eyes. "Thank you, Draco," she said simply.

As they walked down the corridors and stairs, she reached out and took his right hand to let him know they were okay. He kept his eyes straight as they descended, but she saw his small smile from the corner of her eye. However, it didn't last long, because when she ran her thumb against his skin, a sudden thought popped into her mind. It was something that had caused her to wonder from the first moment he returned to school.

"Where did your ring go, by the way?" she asked curiously.

He stayed silent for a few seconds and she thought he might not answer.

"I got rid of it after the Final Battle," he finally said, his voice steady. "I didn't feel like having another mark to keep up with anymore."

She squeezed his hand in response and he squeezed back in acknowledgement.

"I suspect Mother still has it somewhere," he muttered bitterly. "She's a collector of tragedies, after all. It should remind her of my biggest one."

She didn't ask what he meant, but it sounded to her as though he had some kind of resentment against having been sorted into Slytherin. She saved that thought to herself and put it away for a future conversation. She recognised it wasn't the time to push him for more.

Draco led her through the door that opened into the dungeons and, once again, she found herself in that dark and cold staircase. As soon as the door closed behind them, he pushed her back and kissed her with an intensity that had her moaning in surprise, but it wasn't unwelcomed. She kept up with his pace for a few moments until they both ran out of air. He attacked her neck instead and, with her eyes closed, her head rolled back against the door to give him more access.

"You have a big heart, Granger," he said breathlessly against her skin. "I don't deserve you, either."

"Lucky that I like you, then," she responded teasingly.

He looked up as she opened her eyes, chocolate meeting silver. "I do feel lucky," he declared gravely.

This rocked her chest differently considering his recent confession about making his own Felix Felicis potion so that he could spend a day without hardship. The fact that she could possibly represent for him an ounce of relief, maybe even happiness and something else she was yet hesitant to think about—from what she'd heard him say to Myrtle—it floored and elated her.

· - ·

A/N 2. Warned ya...Phew! How are we doing? Thanks for reviewing, everyone!

As always, AurorEowyn & Girl of Chaos rock! :3

Stay safe and healthy.