"You have been missing your classes, Mr. Malfoy." The old witch in front of Draco regarded him with clear disinterest, her long fingers positioning her glasses properly on the bridge of her nose, "Any excuse for that or shall I just so blatantly deduct a handful amounts from Slytherin?" Draco rolled his eyes, well, in his mind to not anger the old woman any further.

"I was not feeling well,Professor." He stretched the word. Come to think of it, it wasn't actually a lie— heindeedhad been feeling like utter shit since that godforsaken game he had been told to monitor with Granger. Not only was his fucking head spinning like it had been hammered, but his entire body felt like it was on fire; his skin aching all the time for Merlin knew what reason.

And let us not forget about that searing burn that visited him ever so often like a fast friend.

"Really?" McGonagall eyed him with suspicion, her tone laced with something Draco couldn't quite put a finger on— it wasn't concern, Draco noted, the old hag could never possibly feel something like that for him. But then, it clicked to him, it was distrust; of course she didn't trust the ex-deatheater. McGonagall regarded him a minute or two, Draco could feel himself getting uncomfortable with every passing minute the more she stared at his figure.

She wasn't buying it, he realized, not even when Draco nodded his head slowly to confirm his earlier words. Feeling the need to say something to save his sorry arse, Draco sighed, "It's true Professor," He started his placid lie, "Ever since that whole ordeal with—" He abruptly stopped and gathered himself, "With Miss Granger, I haven't been able to leave the dorm very much. I have indeed been missing classes because I had a talk with my parents after that kiss cam fiasco and they told me to stay out of sight until the talk died down, they can't have people talking bad about us, losers after the war or not, we are still purebloods and my father regards that with high respect. All this just exhausted me, that's why I was unable to attend classes. I should not have to explain this all about blood purity to you, Professor." It came so easily that even Draco himself was surprised. Lying had always been his forte, his piece of cake and cup of tea and he never missed an opportunity to show just that.

When McGonagall's mouth formed a perfect 'o', he knew he had her. He smirked to himself. "I didn't know the Malfoys still treated blood purity as an important thing." She shook her head a little. The argument seemed sensible enough to McGonagall, thought Draco, because in a minute she was nodding at him, giving him that pitiful look he had always hated. "One would think the war would have changed the Malfoy family's prejudices, oh how wrong one might be." Draco didn't speak a word. It was far from anything like he had spoken— truth was, the Malfoy family was treated like dirt and it was nothing that could be done to even hold their worthless opinions.

"I will not deduct any points from Slytherin, Mr. Malfoy, given your hearty explanation." Draco almost rolled his eyes, to hell with the house that had given him fake friends, he couldn't give less of a fuck. It was his reputation that had mattered him the most, like it always had. Draco was ready to walk out of the old cow's office but her stern voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"However you have missed a significant amount of schoolwork, almost half a month of classes."More like half a month of Granger and her addicting kisses,Draco almost corrected the woman but then decided against it; after all, he had been the one to propose that whatever happened between them stayed between the four walls of the head dorm they shared, absolutely no one else could know about it. "What I am trying to say is that, since you have missed so much work with the midterms approaching in due time, I'll have to pair you up with a fellow student to teach you all the things you have missed, which, may I add, are quite a few." Draco could swear McGonagall passed him a sadistic smile, he didn't like how this conversation was going. "I am afraid I would have to pair you with Miss Granger so th—" but he was not listening to her anymore, he watched her mouth open and close, speaking sharply but he just couldn't bring himself to hear any of the stuff she was saying.

"Why Granger?" Draco suddenly snapped, bloody hell he was fuming. "I will be fine perfectly by my own, Professor, I don't need her or anyone else to make me learn a few things I've missed for half a month." He hissed in her direction.

"I was at the top of my class!" Draco sneered at her. It was only when he saw her opening her wrinkly mouth that he held up a hand, "Fine! After Granger!"

"Precisely another reason for her to be your mentor in this difficult time, apart from the fact that it would be very convenient for her and for you seeing that you both share the head dorm." McGonagall twirled a quill in between her fingers, if one didn't know her well, it would seem like she was thoroughly enjoying herself, given the huge grin her her face.

"Look—" Draco sighed. He tried to count to ten his his head but suddenly stopped, even his mind played images of Granger. "We don't get along well, please try to understand." Draco was hopeless by now, he hoped that something of all the shit he'd say would make McGonagall change her mind, even though he knew it was as difficult as topping Granger in knowledge— point is, very hard.

"Well then you can take this time to change that, hmm?" McGonagall watched the pale boy with clear amusement, she didn't know what was so bloody irritating him to the extend of not seeking help from one of the brightest students, correction, the brightest student of the school. Draco did not say a word after that, he let his gaze fall to the floor, his mind already conjuring up several things that could go wrong with the whole tutoring thing.

For starters; he would want to kiss her senseless, bloody well snog her over the coffee table where their books would be.

Books had to be thrown off to make room for Granger on the table, mused Draco.

"Mr. Malfoy? I hope you're listening to me," when Draco passes on a slight nod, she took the que to continue, "You are one the most intelligent students Hogwarts has to offer, Mr. Malfoy, I will not risk your education for some some silly fight with a girl as bright as yourself. You've lost much already after the war, this would be another loss for you if you don't do well on your exams later on. The prior reason we had you invited back to Hogwarts for your eighth year was you being one of our brightest students that the school had produced, maybe even why you were given the head boy position despite your...past." she looked at him with sorrowful eyes, it was hard enough for her too, knowing that one of your most intelligent student had gone astray and followed down the path of evilness.

This was his chance to redeem himself, Draco simply had no other choice but to accept what the headmistress gave him.

"Do I make myself clear?" When draco nodded, McGonagall smiled brightly, pleased with herself, "You do not need to worry about Miss Granger, I will talk to her on my own. All you need to do is co-operate with her and of course," she smiled at the blond boy, "Attend classes from Monday, you have a weekend to catch up on as much as you can."

By the time Draco left her office for good, he was already drained. Just thinking of sitting close to Granger and breathing in her smell sent his mind to overdrive, Merlin, what had he gotten himself into?

--

"FUCK YOU, FLITWICK! WHAT IS THIS HORSESHITE?!" Was the first charming thing Hermione heard when she stepped out of her room on Saturday. It was almost three in the noon. She knew this was the day she began tutoring Malfoy and she'd be lying if she said that she wasn't batshit scared to her core. For almost two hours now, she had been trying to think of how to handle Malfoy when she looked at him because after that specific day, though they had been kissing on and off, nothing too passionate and lustfull like all the kisses they had shared before, they still hadn't uttered a single word to each other.

He'd come to her door at oddest of times; sometimes at four in the morning, sometimes at midnight, even surprising her one day and knocking on her door at precisely seven in the morning. He never came inside though. Hermione would comply, giving his cold lips a gentle graze before pulling away, she didn't touch him nor did he touch her, it was therapeutic, for both of them,and probably for the best if they didn't involve more skin than needed.

It wasn't like Hermione resisted the urge to kiss him, she only had one chance to walk upto his room and kiss him in the daylight one day— the rest of the times she felt the burn, he actually came on his own, like he could read her mind, knowing when she'd feel the seat and he'd come slowly from hallway, pressing his lips to her own, it was safe to say, both of them had grown accustomed to this temporary arrangement that would ultimately benefit the both of them equally.

"MY FATHER WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS, SLUGHORN!" Hermione couldn't help but giggle at his words, she watched him secretly from as far as she could, he was clad in black trousers and a green full sleeved shirt that was folded upto his elbows, giving Hermione a clear view of his strong forearms. She watched him mutter cusses after cusses as he continued to run his thin long fingers through his hair, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths— the pressure was definitely taking its toll on Draco, Hermione concluded.

Several broken quills laid next to Draco, Hermione noted as she ventured closer to his form sitting on the floor, elbows on the coffee table he had flipped over a good week or two ago. Hermione looked down at herself in a knee-length baby pink skirt and a blue half sleeve shirt, her hair was down on her shoulders, cascading down her back in untamed wavy curls. Taking a deep breath, she walked closer to Draco who seemed to be fully engrossed in his work, several books and notes scattered across him, clearly not the way Hermione would work, she noted dully.

When she was within a few meters of him, she cleared her throat, hoping that he'd not be a sodding prick about it, she actually hoped that she could teach him all the stuff he had missed, for the sole reason to study the whole thing again for herself.

But she also knew it was partly because she didn't want to see Draco failing in the midterms too.

The first time she cleared her throat, Draco paid her no mind, still swarmed with the notes he was reading earlier, but the second time she did, his eyes immediately snapped over to her, eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

He didn't think she'd actually come, let one agree to teaching his sorry arse. He had secretly hoped that Granger would have refused to do such a thing, but here she was, meaning that she actually wanted to be here.

Holy fuck, she wasn't forced into this.

Hermione bit her lip, struggling to come up with a decent converstion starter with the Malfoy heir. They had been snog buddies for half a month now, like the name suggested— all they did was snog, no strings attached.

So you could see why this was becoming difficult with every passing moment for the both of them. Draco's eyes suddenly fell on the girl before him, her bottom lip in between her teeth, he didn't know what he was doing next— standing over, nearly toppling over the inkpot on the table and marching off on her direction. Hermione held up a finger, "So we can start fro—"

The last thing she saw before closing her eyes in ecstacy was Draco making a dismissive hand gesture (most probably to whatever she was about to say) and then, she was being scooped into strong arms, holding her in place while his mouth did wonders to her. Her joke felt her toes curl beneath her as Draco wrapped his arms around her shoulders, as if he was afraid she won't be able to handle the impact if their kiss. Her eyes rolled at the back of her skull, Hermione couldn't help but note how this particular kiss was so much more different than the previous smooches they had shared. It was catastrophic and bloody beautiful. Before Hermione could knot her fingers in his slimy hair, he had already pulled away from her lips, he held his forehead next to her own, both of the catching their breaths whilst looking at each other's lips. Hermione's arms folded around his neck and Draco placed his own on her small waist, noticing how fragile and small she actually looked in his arms.

Draco couldn't help but notice Hermione's gaze lurking on his pale lips, which, thanks to her, had gained a vivid shade of pink and red, so he leaned forward again and captured her lips in a sweet yet passionate kiss, Hermione immediately responded, cupping his face and pressing another kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"Alright Granger, I'm sure we will be kissing plenty of times during a simple essay on fucking potions so no need to get your knickers in a twist already." Hermione blushed at his crude language, a deep crimson taking over her cheeks. Just when they both pulled away, he grabbed her hand, dragging her along to the floor where he was previously sitting.

Neither of them talked about if they had felt the burn or not, and it was probably better that way— considering none of them would have an explanation to kiss the other person without having felt the burning sensation yet.

Almost as if Draco could feel Hermione tensing up next to him, he looked at her expectantly, with an eye roll he regarded the distance between them, "Granger," he said in a flat tone.

"Yeah?" Hermione responded almost robotically, avoiding his perching gaze.

"Scoot over, I don't bite." he laughed at his own silly joke, "At least not when I'm with you."

Hermione blushed harder at his words, she didn't know why she was acting like a hormonal teenage girl, one could say Lavender Brown and Hermione Granger were practically sister when it came to hormones. Normally, she had been very good with her hormone control agenda, now, it was proving difficult —however, she could confirm that the reason was the pale boy sitting across from her.

"I think we should put a suitable distance between us Malfoy," Hermione forced her words, heck, she couldn't even see the text on the books from where she was sitting.

Hermione heard Draco scoff. "Granger, a fucking troll could fit in this space you've put between us." she heard Draco shuffling around and then her eyes snapped at him. Ever so quickly, he walked over to her, crouched down to meet her at eye level and grabbed her chin— he forced her warm eyes to gaze into his ice cold ones. "Fine," he breathed, "If you're not going to move your pretty little arse over to my side," Hermione's eyes literally widened at his words, she had to force herself to be composed, "I'll sit right here," with a grunt, he folded his long legs whilst sitting down right next to her, it was almost invasion of her personal space but that didn't make Draco Malfoy give two tosses about it.

Eventually after many harmless arguments between the two, Hermione telling Draco to stop talking crap about his teachers just because he didn't understood the formula of a an simple Arthmancy equation, Draco practically tearing off any parchment he could lay his eyes upon until Hermione had to take them far away from his reach and several little smootches here and there, both the head girl and boy laid exhausted in the middle of the living area.

Hermione looked over to the wall clock, it was three when they started, now it was bloody half past seven in the evening. They had covered a substantial amount of coursework throughout their banter, she only hoped that Draco could use his mind properly and not let her effort and time go to waste. Hermione couldn't even move herself to stand up without hearing a few joints cracking in her back, the stress was definitely there, she noted. Draco, however, was a different story, he looked calmer than before (when Hermione had found him shouting cusses at Flitwick and Slughorn) like he was finally at peace after a long hard effort. His eyes were closed as be laid on the floor, his head slightly angled towards Hermione's lap.

Seeing his eyes closed, Hermione took the opportunity to admire his beautiful pale face in her lap— his golden eyelashes fanning over his pale cheeks and soft pink lips that she had kissed quite a few times now, more than she'd like to admit. His hair was soft, just like she had predicted. Her fingers ran through his mane, grazing his scalf ever so slightly, if one didn't know the hatred they both had for each other, they'd actually think they were a couple.

Hermione nearly laughed, Draco Malfoy and her a couple? Gods no, never.

Hermione smiled down at his sleeping figure, he looked so calm and peaceful, Hermione couldn't ho but bend down and press a chaste kiss to his forehead, moving on to both of his cheeks, his nose and then finally, the addicted path down to his lips, her favorite. Hermione had barely touched her lips to his own when a cold hand crept upto her cheek. Her eyes bulged at the thought of being caught red handed, but even more when she realized that Draco's silver eyes had decided to grace over her again, shooting open in a sharp manner to take in her appearance. Hermione didn't stop cradling his head in her petite hands, just like Draco didn't dare to move his head from her comforting lap. His hand was around her wrist, grasping her firmly but gently, neither of them knew what was happening to them, where were the sudden...feelings coming from.

"Do you always kiss people when their sleeping, Granger?" Hermione blushed at his words, she didn't even have a retort for him. "Well? Do you?" Draco pressed, caressing her palm that he held onto. Hermione felt herself closing her eyes and leaning into his touch even more, her head dipped slightly to be even closer to him.

"No," It took every ounce of her courage to say that, "Only you." and then, Draco had her pulled down to meet his lips and they were kissing, hungrily, feverishly, passionately. Tongue on tongue, teeth on teeth. The weird angle almost made Hermione pull apart but Draco held onto her, twisting his body ever so slightly that it was easier for her to kiss him back. She bent down to him; their mouths met again, and the shock of sensation was so strong, so overpowering, that Hermione shut her eyes against it as if she could hide in the darkness. He murmured and gathered her against him, like a fragile doll who'd break the moment he let go, Draco was now sitting, his eyes gazing the witch before him, a different kind of sensation pooling at his heart.

He didn't like it, it was addictive, temporary and not to be talked about.

"What are we doing, Draco?" she looked into his silver eyes, her knee touching his on the floor now.

"Something we won't talk about in the morning," he replied, pressing his lips to her own again. While he kissed her senseless and Hermione let out a soft moan, at the back of her mind, his answer still disappointed her; but then she realized that Draco Malfoy was not someone who she could have feelings for, this no strings attached thing was what was best for them, she could not, under any circumstances, get attached to him, if that stupid kiss cam had given her the chance to snog him for at least a month then she'd do exactly that.

"Granger," Draco's lips were on her jaw and trailing down a wet line from her jawbone to her throat. She closed her eyes on utter ecstasy, relishing the moment of urgency, she made the bold move to pull off her shirt, that's when Draco's eyes widened— seeing her in a blue bra and pink skirt was anything but discomforting to him. "Granger, are you sur—"

"Something we won't talk about in the morning, yeah?" Hermione repeated his words from earlier and pulled his face towards herself, kissing his lips, his throat, his jaw, any part of skin in her sight, "Take off your shirt Malfoy, it's just one night." it was the burn that was talking, that much she knew but when she saw Draco removing his shirt,

Did it even matter?

--

Hey guys, I was feeling generous so I updated, yay! Can we get 90 votes for the next chapter? How are you enjoying the story so far, I'm sorry for any typos, my editor will work on it soon enough!

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