TWENTY
Saturday, 20 September 1944
Draco woke to fingers running through his hair. The touch sent tingles through his entire body which led to a shiver. He thought it might have been a dream and he kept his eyes closed, not wanting it to stop. The next thing he noticed was the humming. It was faint, but it was definitely coming from the person playing with his hair. The melody wasn't one he recognized, but combined with the crackling of the fire and the occasional turning of a page from a book, it was heavenly.
He inhaled deeply, taking in the warm notes of honey and vanilla with a trace of rose underneath. It combined with the smoke and burning wood in the fireplace and nearly made him salivate. He cleared his throat and forced his eyes open, wanting to see what it was that was driving his senses crazy.
He froze at the sight. He was lying stretched out on the couch with his head in Granger's lap and she was staring at a book hovering in front of her.
She was continuing to read, the pages turning when she willed them to. All the while, she continued to hum and kept her fingers threading in and out of his hair. He wasn't sure if she even knew she was touching him in such an intimate way. He sure as hell wasn't ready for her to stop. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard.
When her humming stopped, he opened his eyes again and found her smiling down at him. "Morning," she greeted.
"Morning," he returned.
She surprised him by continuing her ministrations and returning her gaze to the book in front of her. He watched her for a few minutes and then realized that the more awake he was becoming, other parts of his body were beginning to stir as well. He cleared his throat and sat up, sitting in a way that he hoped wouldn't draw attention to his morning wood.
"What time is it?" he asked.
She lifted her wand and the time displayed for them. It was early enough that they didn't have to head back to the common room right away. Not that he was looking forward to going back there, but if he stayed here, drowning in her scent any longer, he was going to do something he wasn't sure she was ready for. He was in need of a either a cold shower to drive those thoughts away or a hot one to give into them.
He felt himself pale at his own thoughts. Sure, he had already admitted to himself and out loud to her that he had found her attractive, but she had never been part of his wanking material. And at the thought of her becoming a part of it, he hardened further and winced.
To make matters worse, she noticed the action and had turned towards him with concern in her eyes. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Granger," he tried to assure her, but the strain in his voice was audible. "Is there a loo in here?"
She nodded and pointed to the door behind them tucked away in a little alcove. He shot to his feet and hurried away, throwing the door closed with more force than he meant to. It was most unfortunate that he had to get up because now his bladder was demanding he empty it. And he had already found out the hard way he could not do that with a hard on.
He stood at the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror. Realistically, he knew he could probably rub one out fairly quick, but he wasn't sure he could look Granger in the eye properly after. Instead, he settled on thinking of the least attractive things he could. His usual go-to was writing lines. It was boring and tedious, but it led to thinking about ink and quills. Which led to sugar quills and the way Granger looked while consuming them.
He stared up at the ceiling a raked a hand down his face before pinching the bridge of his nose. Merlin, this wasn't going to be easy. He forced himself to think about everything he could never associate with Granger and slowly but surely, he felt his body relax. Thank Merlin, he thought, pouncing at the opportunity to relieve his bladder before washing his hands and returning to the common area.
He stopped in his tracks when he noticed her standing at the back of the couch. She was holding the Slytherin jumper in her hands while leaning against the sofa. She was staring down at it with reluctance and it made him feel sorry for her. Slowly, he strode to her and she looked up when he placed his hands on the jumper and gently pulled it from her.
Slowly, he lifted a hand to her face and watched as she turned her cheek into his palm. His thumb caressed her skin as their eyes locked and gradually, he dipped his head down to hers. He was waiting for her to stop him, but she didn't move. His lips laid gently over hers and he felt her go still for a just a moment before relaxing into his touch.
He was content staying exactly as they were; even as his body begged to turn the innocence of the moment to something more. Before he gave in, he pulled his lips away and rested his forehead against hers. "We should go."
She nodded and slipped out from her spot between him and the sofa. She reached for the jumper again and made her way towards the bathroom without a word. He bit his bottom lip as she closed the door and tried his best to clear his mind. He desperately needed away from her if he wanted to keep his thoughts innocent about her.
When she emerged, she draped the Gryffindor jumper on the back of the sofa and stared around the room. When she looked at him again, she did a double take at his outstretched hand. She took it and smiled at him. "We can come back to this anytime you want," he promised.
"Thank you," she said, stepping into him to kiss his cheek.
He nodded in return and they took their leave. By the time they made it back to the dungeons, Granger seemed to be back to her old self again. She had kissed him again upon parting ways for their dorms and he rushed for the showers to deal with his earlier problem, hoping it wouldn't return every time she looked his way.
He was relieved to find that he could look her in the eye when he saw her next.
Hermione had been suspicious that Malfoy was up to something when he parted ways from her after breakfast. He told her not to worry, but it went against her nature to relax. In an attempt to get her mind off of things, she gathered her bag and went to the library to work on her assignments for the week.
It was there that Riddle found her. She did a double take at the cold look in his eye as he slipped into the seat across from her at the table she had chosen. "At least I had the courtesy to send you a note that I would be absent from our study session on Thursday."
She considered playing dumb and pretending to be surprised that she had forgotten, but instead she shrugged. "I'll be sure to send one next time," she promised him.
"You intend to miss another observation night, Miss Granger?"
"No, but it was it wasn't my intention to miss it last night either," she informed him, going back to sorting out her notes for her Charms essay. "And I'm sorry I didn't show."
He leaned in, like a snake waiting to strike, and she froze. "I guess I misjudged you, Miss Granger. I thought you were smarter than the average teenager. That you valued academia above extracurricular activities." When she looked up to meet his gaze, she was surprised by the anger she saw. "But I suppose I was wrong."
She narrowed her eyes and her nose scrunched in distaste. "Are you mad because I didn't show up or are you mad that I chose to spend the night with Draco elsewhere in the castle?" A smirk tugged at her lips as he answered her when his pupils dilated ever so slightly. "What, were you jealous when you realized your one hour of true alone time with me was being spent with my boyfriend?"
"You were out of bed after curfew and-"
She snorted and pushed back, arms crossing over her chest. "Spare me the Head Boy speech, Riddle," she demanded and then took a deep breath while shaking her head. "You have no right to be upset after what you did this week."
"What I did?" he questioned, his eyes shifting from mad to curious in an instant.
"During our duel. Draco said we weren't speaking aloud which means you were in my head the entire time. And then on Wednesday you were in my head again, taking advantage of my panic attack. Whatever game you're playing at, I-"
"Where did you get the traces of Dark magic from?" he asked, cutting her off.
"Prolonged exposure to a cursed object," she answered automatically.
His head canted to the side. "And what object was that, Miss Granger?"
"Does it matter?" she asked.
He inclined his head, eyes blazing. "Immensely," he answered and she shuddered at the way his voice wrapped around her. "Dark magic leaves traces, everyone knows that. But what I would like to know is how you ended up with traces of my Dark magic on your core."
Hermione cursed herself for not realizing that aspect of magical traces. Of course he would have been able to tell. Maybe he hadn't been goading her after all. Maybe he was trying to lift the darkness from her and siphon it back to where it belonged. As her mind raced with those thoughts, she almost missed his mind slipping into hers.
When she realized it, it was too late. Her mind had already conjured up the locket. It was brief image of her staring at her reflection in the bathroom of the tent. Of the chain around her neck as her hand slowly crept up to wrap around the locket; the Dark magic pulsing beneath her fingers. Her eyes closed for a moment as the magic caressed her skin, longing to consumer her. When she opened her eyes again, Riddle was staring at her from behind, their gazes locked in the mirror.
He retreated from her mind on his own and when she realized she was back in reality, she was gripping the arms of the chair hard enough to turn her knuckles white as she panted for air. Riddle's eyes had gone nearly all black with rage as he stared at her. His chest heaved with indecision and disbelief.
Fear took hold of her and her natural instinct of flight took precedence. She bolted from her seat and down the nearest aisle, but he was faster. He caught her around the waist and dragged her back, slamming her into one of the bookcases. His fingers curled around her throat and she reached up to claw at him.
"Where did you get that locket?"
With each move she made in her struggle, his hand tightened its hold. It wasn't until her vision began to spot that her magic sparked at her fingertips and he released her. She sagged against the bookcase and gulped for air.
"Tell me," he demanded again.
She straightened and stared up at him in defiance. Against her better judgement, she spat at him. In his surprise, she tried to run again, but he was much faster than she anticipated. He slammed her right back into the bookcase, this time face-first. He then pressed himself against her back and yanked her head back with a fistful of her hair.
"That locket belongs to me, Miss Granger. And if you do not return it, I am afraid I will have to-"
"Granger?"
They both went still at the sound of Malfoy's voice. "Not one word to him," he demanded, tugging her hair harder until she nodded as best she could. "This is not over," he promised and released her, disappearing all together.
She took a few deep breaths as she tried to get her body to stop trembling. She adjusted her hair, hoping that it didn't look too messed up. She wasn't sure how she would be able to face Malfoy without him knowing that something had happened to her.
"Ah, I thought I might find the two of you here."
Cold dread swept through her at the sound of Riddle approaching Malfoy.
"What do you want, Riddle?" he asked.
"Harmony did not show for our observation last night. I was hoping I could catch her up on my findings."
She could practically hear the smirk in Malfoy's voice as he marked his territory with his words. "That would be my fault. It was her birthday yesterday and in my haste to make it a proper one, there wasn't much time to send you a note," he said. "And with you being Head Boy, I couldn't take the chance of you ruining my plans by catching us."
Hermione took one last deep breath and stepped around the corner. As she approached them, she forced herself to act nonchalant. "Couldn't find the book I needed," she said to Malfoy as she came to stop at his side. "Sorry about last night, Riddle," she said, trying to keep her voice from wavering.
"Perhaps you have some time before lunch to discuss what I observed?"
Her mouth had gone dry, but Malfoy answered for her. "No can do. We're meeting Dumbledore soon. He's taking us to Hogsmeade."
Hermione wished he had said anything else. She felt him tense up at her side as wrath poured out of Riddle despite the calm demeanor he retained. When his eyes connected with hers, she could feel the panic begin to rise again and had to cast her eyes down in order to stop it from hitting with full force.
"More of that special project?" he questioned. He didn't wait for their confirmations before adding, "Then before dinner?"
She nodded quickly and looked up at Malfoy, automatically reaching for his hand to lace their fingers together. He searched her eyes to see if she was okay and knew he could feel her trembling where she held his hand. She averted her gaze to Riddle. "We were going to come back and work on our assignments for the week. You're welcome to join us to share your observations."
He inclined his head and gave her a smile that made her tighten her hold on Malfoy to the point where she heard him take a sharp breath. "Then we will continue this later," he said and took his leave.
When he was gone, she let go of Malfoy's hand and dropped into the chair she had vacated when her knees gave out. He pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. "You nearly broke my hand, Granger. What gives?"
She took a deep breath and looked up at him, a smile plastered on her face. "Something about him today just felt a little off."
He nodded absently, studying her still. "Yeah, I felt that too," he said after a moment. "Good call on telling him I would be here for your study session this time," he said.
She let out a breath of relief. She was better at hiding her panic than she thought. "The less time I have to spend alone with him, the better, right?" she quipped and forced a smile before packing up her things.
"You sure you're okay, Granger?"
She nodded and continued what she was doing. "Come on, we should make sure we're prepared before we meet Dumbledore. We have what, an hour or so?"
He confirmed with a wave of his wand and nodded at her. "You really think you can tidy up your notes any further?"
"You think I can't?" she challenged, looking up at him.
He grinned from ear-to-ear and she found herself returning it with a smile of her own. At the action, she was able to get herself under control and shove the incident with Riddle to the side. Feeling better, she eased into a conversation with Malfoy as they waited for time to pass to leave for Hogsmeade.