CONTEST WINNER THIS CHAPTER: "erb" recommended the song, "No Other Love" by John Legend & Estelle for this go around. So, this chapter is dedicated to erb - congratulations! Lyrics for that song appear at the bottom of this chapter. Hope you'll find this song somehow and give it a listen.
Remember, I'll accept song suggestions for each couple, as well as digitally manipulated images of live people and your original hand-drawn or digitally drawn fanart for this story up until the end of this fic is published. SEND ME YOUR LISTS OR ARTWORK! I'll pick my favourites, and reward you, as promised!
P.S. Unseenlibrarian - thank you for taking time out of your super busy life to beta this story for us again. We are all very grateful for you love and devotion to this story!
CHAPTER SIX: THE 5th QUESTION
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, Scotland
Room of Requirement
Sunday, June 14, 1998 (12:40 am)
Hermione's gaze strayed unwillingly again to her partner, despite Lavender's quietly murmured inquiry regarding Ginny's continued participation, as their friend hadn't appeared from her suite yet, and it was now past the ten minute overtime mark.
Malfoy stared with arrogant, unflinching eloquence right back at her, sharing a secret smile with her that made her stomach turn somersaults and her heart patter like mad.
The man's appeal had skyrocketed after the last action round, and her opinion of him had gone through a dramatic shift as well. His offer to make her a partner in his company implied that even if this game was nothing more than a one-off opportunity, he would not be impugning her reputation or attempting to abuse her later regarding the events of tonight.
True, she didn't have an iron-clad contract in hand yet, but his sincerity regarding the proposal seemed believable; she trusted her instincts enough to have faith that it wasn't all an elaborate and well-acted ruse to win her favour.
And therein lay the quandary: everything she'd assumed she'd known about Draco Malfoy had, in the course of four hours, been turned entirely on its head. He wasn't the spoilt, childish little boy she'd known anymore. He was a witty, charming, sensual, intelligent, stylish, and thoughtful man.
Clearly, he was still unsure of her intentions towards him, however. This, despite the fact she'd been, in her opinion, rather forthcoming about her attraction to him over the last few rounds. She feared that uncertainty would result in him falling back upon old habits, namely snapping at her in jealousy or in defensiveness.
…Not that she wasn't just as willing to repay in kind, to be fair. Her own temper was quite a volatile thing at times, she knew.
Still, the fact that her one-time former rival was beginning to take on the aspect of an obsession (a level up from 'infatuation') was somewhat troubling, for she was still unsure if this was a natural progression, based upon the set of rather intoxicating last few rounds, or if this was a result of the magic of the cards.
Her eyes moved to the decks lying innocuously on the table before her.
Just how harmless was this card game, truly?
"Someone should check on Ginny," Harry stated, glancing at his watch. "It's already three minutes past the chime."
"And Daphne and Blaise," Tracey commented, staring at the two empty spots to her right.
Hermione's eyes tracked Malfoy as he stood up.
"I'll go get Blaise and the She-Weasel," he offered.
She watched his arse as he walked away, and couldn't help the clenching in her belly as her mind imagined it naked…
To her right, Ron growled under his breath about pompous ferrets, just as Pansy turned to her right and slugged a suspiciously quiet Teddy in the arm. "What did you do to her?" she demanded, and Hermione remembered that Daphne was Pansy's best friend.
Teddy had his elbow on the arm of the couch and his hand over his eyes. He looked terribly unhappy, as evident by the heavily-lined frown. He didn't even flinch or look up when Pansy struck him.
"I didn't do anything," he muttered. "I think–"
He stopped, seemingly too choked up by emotion to continue, and Hermione thought he might even be on the verge of tears.
"She might not want to play anymore," Teddy finished.
Something about the way he said that had Hermione's heart slamming with anxiety. Malfoy had said his best guy friend had a penchant for pain…
"Teddy, did you hurt her?" she asked her ex. "Tell the truth."
He huffed with cynical denial. "Try the other way around." Jumping to his feet, he headed for the loo without a backward glance.
Unsure as to what precisely he'd meant by that, but concerned by the tone of finality in his voice, Hermione stood up and headed to the private suite he and Greengrass shared. At her side, walked a silent Pansy. There was a palpable tension between them; they weren't antagonistic rivals from different Houses then, but simply two women sensing one of their own might be in danger and acting together upon that intuition, determined to protect another woman.
When they arrived at the door, Hermione stepped aside, allowing Slytherin's Queen to take the lead. Pansy didn't bother to knock. She threw the door open wide and stomped in, bristling. Hermione discreetly followed in the other woman's wake, and then closed the door behind her.
The lingering scent of sex was strong in the air, but with a quick glance, Hermione could see no blood or implements that might be used to cause pain. There was a funky-looking chair and a table, but aside from that, no other furniture in the room.
Daphne was huddled against the wall nearby, her face hidden in her arms, which lay across her knees. She was sobbing. Pansy knelt down quickly at the blonde's side.
"Daph, sweet, what happened?"
Her voice was soft, concerned, and when she reached out to pet her friend's hair her touch was soothing and gentle. This was a side of Pansy that Hermione would never have guessed even existed. The Slytherins were surprising her tonight, left and right.
Greengrass shook her head, looking up at her friend. "He tried to confess that he had fallen in love with me, but I prevented him from doing so. I was afraid to hear the words, even though they are all I have wished to hear for years." She closed her eyes, slumping in defeat. "I have ruined it all," she confessed in an uncharacteristic outpouring of emotion, her pretty cheeks stained with tears.
Hermione was taken aback.
Teddy loved Daphne? When had that happened? She'd been under the impression that the two had only a mild interest in each other prior to this game.
Then again, they were Slytherins, and one never knew what went through the minds of that lot of characters. Take Pansy, for instance. Hermione had always assumed the woman despised the very ground Ron trod upon. And Blaise Zabini had made it clear every single time he'd glared at Ginny that he meant to do bad things to her. Then there was Malfoy…
As she considered each couple again, she reaffirmed her suspicions that all of them—not just the Slytherins, but the Gryffindors as well—had apparently formed strong, almost irrational attachments to their partners in a short, few hours. Was this proof of the influence of the cards, or was it, as Draco had postulated, the result of being forced into intimate situations with each other?
"Why would you think that?" Pansy prompted, drawing Hermione back to the conversation at hand. The brunette smoothed strands of that long, golden hair back behind Daphne's ear. "Tell me what happened."
For a moment, Hermione thought she was an interloper on the conversation and considered leaving, but Daphne quashed that with her next words.
"He said he was considering forfeiting the game if I could not be the woman he needs."
That took a moment for Hermione to process, but when she had her anger was instant and hot. "Teddy tried to badger you into having sex with him and threatened to leave if you refused?" she snarled, her hands clenching in fists. "Malfoy and Harry should be told. That's a flagrant abuse of the rules!"
Climbing to her feet, Daphne rapidly shook her head in denial of Hermione's accusation. "No, I fear you misunderstand. He has all but asked me to be his steady girl after tonight, but I…I cannot. He does not understand, and I cannot offer him explanations, due to the nature of my reasoning." She was now wringing her hands. "It is I who has hurt him, but I cannot find the words to adequately explain why to him."
Pansy knees cracked as she stood back up. "You can't find the words?" She shook her head. "I can't say I understand, Daphne. You're the most articulate person I know."
Greengrass looked positively ill and despairing. "It is not a deficient vocabulary that restrains my ability to explain the circumstances. The issue revolves around the premise that if Theo were to discover my reason for denying him his heart's desire, he would come to despise me for not divulging such pertinent, irrevocable constraints in advance. Simply put, he would believe I had led him on."
Pansy gasped, her face paling. She grabbed her friend's hands, holding them up between them. "Your parents haven't arranged a marriage for you, have they?"
Hermione was floored. "Arranged a marriage? Who does such a thing here in England anymore? This isn't the Dark Ages!"
Parkinson turned hard eyes on her, his mouth set for battle. "It is an ancient and noble custom for pureblooded witches of the peerage to be established by their parents upon their coming-of-age. It is a great honor, and maintains the blood lineages." She said it as if it were well-rehearsed speech, but there was a sneer on that pretty countenance as she spoke, and that told Hermione more than anything that Pansy did not, in any fashion, truly buy into the garbage she was regurgitating. Still, Hermione had remembered her lesson from insulting Draco's traditions earlier, so she bit her tongue on the subject.
Daphne saved them from any possibility of argument by shaking her head. "Astoria and I will have no need to align ourselves according to such a convention, as my older sister, Amelia, took up that mantle of responsibility when she married Lucian Bole a few years back. My younger sibling and I are free to marry whom we choose now, so long as the wizard comes from pureblood stock." She sniffed, and Hermione conjured a handkerchief from the room and handed it over to the pretty blonde, who took it with a gracious 'thank you' and proceeded to wipe her nose delicately. "No, there is no arranged marriage for me waiting after graduation, but a different type of arrangement altogether – one I fear my Theo will not understand, nor respect." She closed those blue-gray orbs of hers in dejected misery and began crying again. "He will never forgive me, nor will he want me once the truth is revealed."
Pansy hugged her friend to her. "It can't be that bad, Daph. And even if it is, your friends will help you out of it, no matter what."
Daphne shook her head. "I am bound by oath and blood. I cannot walk away from this contract."
Hermione knew a thing or two about contracts, having done a fair amount of research for the extracurricular lecture series that she'd signed up for this year (as part of the new educational decree by the Ministry to better prepare the Seventh Years for a career immediately after graduation). "I wouldn't be so hasty to say that. Every contract has a loophole." She raised a finger and wagged it at the other woman, giving her a wink. "It only requires you to find and exploit it."
Slytherin's reigning monarch looked at her over her friend's shoulder, one dark eyebrow raised in interest. Hermione shrugged. "I opted for the Wizarding Law class with Binns this year," she explained.
Turning back to her friend, Pansy put on a forced smile. "You see, Daph, Granger here'll help you! She's not Head Girl and number one in our class for nothing!"
That wasn't exactly what Hermione had in mind, but if she could offer her assistance (she was rather good at research, and had made a few solicitor contacts as a result of going to the Ministry for her final class research project), then she would happily do so. "Monday morning, if you want, you and I can sit down and take a look at this contract, Daphne," she tendered. "I'm not promising anything, but maybe we can find an ambiguity you can manipulate."
The flaxen-haired witch looked at her for several moments in silence, dabbing at her nose with the kerchief. "What would you expect in return?" she finally asked, sounding resigned.
Hermione felt her brows hit the ceiling; she had clearly forgotten the nature of Slytherins when she'd made the offer. "Nothing. I'm not looking to profit from the proposal. I might not even be able to help, honestly. But if there's a chance, and it'll help you and Teddy to reconcile, then it's worth it."
Greengrass looked down at the handkerchief in her hand, folding it carefully into perfect squares. "I was under the impression that you and Theo had had a falling out, Miss Granger." She'd tried to sound unfazed by the idea, but her words trembled off her tongue there at the end.
Sighing, Hermione realized that she had misunderstood the situation entirely. Apparently, Daphne was as threatened by her past 'relationship' with Teddy as Draco had been. "Well, yes, he's behaved like a complete prat over the last year. But I'll tell you what I told Malfoy: Teddy and I dated for two weeks back in Sixth Year, and he dropped me flat when I wouldn't give him what every sixteen-year old guy wants." She shrugged. "It was nothing major, and is all in the past as far as I'm concerned. I don't wish him ill. In fact," she grinned slyly, "I'm rather amused by the idea that he's about to have his libido finally reined in. If I can help that along, all the better for the rest of womankind."
Pansy looked at her with wide, enlightened eyes. "Well, well… It seems Potter wasn't the only one who might have been sorted into Slytherin if things had been different."
Hermione looked down at Daphne's nervous hands, refusing to divulge any private information about her sorting unless require to by the cards. Only one other person knew the truth, and she'd like to keep it that way, if possible. "In any case, the offer is on the table," she said, manoeuvering around that discussion. "If you want me to look at the contract, bring it to me on Monday. We'll go through it together. I don't mind. It'll give me something to do, since the Graduation Ball's plans have been finalized and Professor McGonagall has taken the lead on managing the event. I'll have plenty of idle time this week, aside from Wednesday, when it's back to dress shopping."
"Couldn't have that now, could we, Granger? Idle time, that is to say," Pansy teased with a grudgingly respectful smile, her tone light-hearted – friendly, almost.
Beating a hasty retreat at that point, seeing Daphne pluck up a bit (Pansy helping to make the other witch presentable once more), Hermione made her way back to the couches, quietly closing the door behind to give the two women a bit more privacy. When she got back, she noted that Draco and Teddy were missing, as were Davis, Zabini and Ginny. Ron, Seamus and Harry were on the other side of the room, talking quietly. Lavender jumped up from the couch as soon as Hermione put in an appearance.
"You missed the excitement," her roommate immediately glommed onto her. "Blaise and Ginny forfeited! Malfoy intimated they'd been having sex!"
Hermione's jaw dropped at first, and then snapped shut with annoyance. She'd secretly been counting on Ginny's rock-hard attitude to keep her own resolve not to be conquered by Malfoy on the straight and narrow path. Now she was alone and awash in an ocean of feelings, and could only hope her will was enough to keep her from falling under the sway of the cards and their powerful magical current. "Which one gave in first?" she huffed.
Lavender's grin was positively feral. "Zabini claimed it. We all heard him from the open doorway. Our team's up by one."
Glancing down at the card decks on the table again, Hermione bit her lip in serious consternation. Had they swayed her best girl friend's attitude, or had Zabini's natural charm done it? She just didn't have enough empirical evidence yet to make the call; all of these odd hook-ups could easily be explained away as teenaged hormones coupled with natural attraction.
"Nott's still in the loo hiding out. Malfoy went in after him," her friend continued her tongue-wagging. "Was Greengrass all right?"
Not wanting to appear rude for only partial attention, Hermione looked back at her friend. "Shaken up. She and Teddy had a fight."
Lavender snorted. "That one's got a volatile temper on him. He's up and down as much as a First Year on a broom."
Hermione hummed in agreement, nodding. "Pansy's helping to cheer her, though. She'll be out in a few minutes. I think it was touch-and-go about them forfeiting for a few minutes there – on her side, anyway."
Her Housemate lightly slapped her on the arm. "You should have let them! Then we'd be up by two."
That thought hadn't even occurred to Hermione, honestly. Shrugging at the lost opportunity, she approached the boys in the corner, Lavender trailing behind her. They turned as one and watched the approach of their teammates.
"Ginny's out, Zabini forfeited," Harry started to tell her, but she waved him off.
"Lav caught me up. Greengrass and Nott had a row, but she's coming back out in a bit," she informed them. "Where's Davis?"
Harry indicated the women's loo with a nod of his head.
"Not a bad idea, that," Seamus agreed, and headed for the men's without another word, pressing a kiss to Lavender's cheek on the way past.
The witch blushed and watched her beau walk away, smiling like a fool, and Ron nudged her playfully. "You and Sea back on then?" he asked, a teasing light to his aqua eyes.
Brown merely raised an eyebrow at her sometimes-lover. "How about you and Parkinson?"
Ron's head shot around at the sound of Daphne's door opening, and Pansy leading her best girl friend out, talking to her in low tones, holding onto her hand for support as they headed back to the couches together. His eyes were practically glowing with a possessive lust, trained as they were on his partner. "Hell. Yes." He glanced at Lav out of the corner of his eye. "Sorry."
The blonde shook her head. "Don't be. I'm a little surprised by how well you two have got on given your history, but I'm happy for you. You look… good together, honestly."
"Even if she is a Slytherin," Harry piped in playfully.
Ron snorted. "You're one to talk, Sucky-Face."
Harry had his hands clasped behind his back and he rocked on his heels, grinning like a lovesick kneazle. "Yes, well, it's allowed. We're dating now," he announced proudly, watching as the woman in question exited the bathroom and made her way back across the room. "It's alright to kiss a lot under such circumstances." As Davis approached the seating area, Hermione watched her best male friend's face alter from foppish to passionately heated. "Speaking of… talk to you later," he murmured, and made his way over to his… well, girlfriend now, it seemed… and immediately took her in his arms (her own arms going about his neck naturally in a smooth motion). The two touched foreheads, talking in whispers, their conversation occasionally punctuated with gentle kisses. It was a rather romantic display that had Hermione's cheeks warming up.
Ron's hand on her shoulder brought her around. "How about you, 'Mione?" he asked, concerned. "Are you being… treated well?"
Remembering the events of last round, Hermione's temperature rose ten points, and her face positively blazed. "Yes, Malfoy's been… a gentleman, surprisingly. I'm have a lovely time with him. And I'm finding that I rather like him, odd as that sounds. He's charming now that he's all grown up." She looked into her other best friend's face and smiled. "He's not how I expected."
Her ex- assessed her for a moment, those pretty blue-green eyes of his burrowing to the core to find truth in her words, and then finally, he nodded, accepting her at her word. "Just be careful, yeah? I think… He seems kind of…"
"Smitten?" Lavender chimed in.
Ron's lips twisted, as if it pained him to admit it. "Yeah, definitely smitten with you. Maybe more than that - and for a lot longer than just tonight."
Hermione felt her heart speed up again under her breast. Her partner had intimated during their conversations that he'd been somewhat taken with her for the last three and a half years, since the Yule Ball, but the revelation that even Ron – who was basically clueless about emotions most of the time – thought Malfoy had stronger feelings than a mere passing infatuation (coupled as it was with a definite physical attraction) spoke tomes. Was there more to Draco's interest in her than simply the desire to get into her knickers and to use her brains to achieve his business aims? The idea made her chest ache and her body tighten with need.
She looked down, crossing her arms over herself to hide the evidence of her arousal. "I'll be careful," she promised. "You, too. Both of you."
Lavender, who was only an inch taller than her without heels (but two inches more so in them) hugged her from behind, leaning her chin on Hermione's shoulder in a sisterly fashion. "Sea's asked me to be his, too," she admitted with a sigh of longing and a smile in her tone. "We're working through our issues still, but I think there's good possibility for a solid future. He's… amazingly sweet… and yummy. Just don't tell him I said that."
"I promise not ta say a thing, angel," Seamus teased from behind, and Lavender squeaked when she was forcibly drawn away from Hermione and into his arms. "The man's ego's already outta control, yeah?" He snogged her while grinning ridiculously.
Ron rolled his eyes in disgust. "This is getting too mushy for me. I'm out." He was smirking despite his censorious commentary when he walked back to the couches, sitting on his side to considerately give Pansy and Daphne their private girl time. Having nothing to do at the moment, he leaned back into the cushions of the sofa and closed his eyes, resting them.
Hermione thought that an excellent idea, herself. Although she'd napped this afternoon in preparation for being up late tonight, she found her body starting to drag. Crawling up into the couch at Ron's side, she leaned towards the empty spot that Ginny had previously occupied, and once more was forced to accept that her friend wouldn't be back to participate; she was too busy shagging her brains out with a man known to break hearts as easily as his two male Slytherin friends. She hoped the redheaded witch knew what she was getting into… Closing her eyes, she'd only intended upon a quick respite.
Ten minutes later, she was being shaken awake by Harry. "We're starting again," he informed her, and he helped her to sit up.
"Back from Kadath and the Dreamlands, finally," her partner drawled teasingly from across the way.
It took a moment for her mind to process what Malfoy had just said, and then Hermione was sitting forward on the sofa, hands gripping the cushions tight, having recognized the literary reference. "You've read H.P. Lovecraft?"
He looked at her like she was daft. "Of course. He was only one of the more famous Slytherins in history. Well, he was until his two aunts pulled him out of Hogwarts and moved him back to America during the summer before his Fourth Year so he could attend Miskatonic instead."
Tracey gave an "ooh!" in excitement. "Isn't he that half-blood author whose mural is in the Common Room - the one who wrote about that weird squid-faced monster who lived in the ocean?" she asked.
"Yes, that's the bloke. And it's Cthulhu," Draco replied offhandedly. "Lovecraft's eccentric imagination caused him to suffer a mental breakdown at the end of his Third Year and he was withdrawn from Hogwarts as a result; kept on and on about imaginary creatures he called 'Night Gaunts' haunting the dungeons."
Ron snorted. "Sounds like a complete nutter."
Hermione slugged her best guy friend's arm; Ron had dared to insult one of her favourite authors. "On the contrary, H.P. Lovecraft is considered one of the most brilliant horror writers of this century. His stories have inspired hundreds of other celebrated novelists, poets, and playwrights in the field, and he was a contemporary and friend to many renowned authors of his time as well, including Robert Howard, who wrote the Conan series."
Her ginger-haired ex- sat up now with interest. "Isn't that the story of that huge barbarian bloke who went around swinging a sword, fighting evil, and having-at busty babes in reward?"
Throwing him an exasperated, flat-eyed stare, Hermione snuffed in annoyance. "Very Philistine of you, Ronald, but yes, you have the basic outline. Apparently, the fact that the series single-handedly launched the pulp 'sword and sorcery' genre in Muggle writing seems utterly eclipsed by its descriptions of expert sword handling and lewd encounters with scantily-clad Valkyries, however." She tsk'd in distaste.
"Hey, what's there not to like about chicks in chain-mail bikinis?" he gave a shite-eating grin, and then leered across the aisle at his partner. "Whaddya say, baby?" He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Care to play dress-up for me?"
Pansy giggled, her face colouring neon red. "We'll talk. We'll see." Her too-bright eyes, however, spoke volumes about her willingness to try such an outrageous cosplay fantasy for her man's pleasure.
Harry cleared his throat. "Not that this topic isn't interesting, but haven't we already got a rather interesting fetish game going on here and now?" His emerald gaze shot to his partner across the way and mysterious smile graced his lips. "I'd like to get back to it, if you don't mind."
Tracey was blushing, and started when she realized that her partner had just given her the cue to read the next question, as it was her turn. Bending forward, she pulled the top card off the green deck, reading it quickly. "Oh, well, this one isn't so bad."
"If you had to snog someone tomorrow at the breakfast table in the dining hall in front of everyone, who would you choose?"
Play moved immediately to the blonde's left – to Malfoy.
Her partner grinned over at her, as relaxed as the cat that ate the proverbial canary. He looked with feigned interest at his fingernails on his right hand as he spoke. "I think it's rather apparent to all and sundry by now that I'd pick you, Granger." He looked up pointedly, capturing and enchanting her thoroughly in that moment. "In case you missed the memo, I'd happily do anything to you that you so desired, princess, with or without an audience."
Hermione felt her cheeks explode with brilliant colour as a naughty image of him laying her back on a table in the Great Hall and unabashedly ripping her knickers off and diving in, eating her pussy out, uncaring of observers, flashed through her mind... Holy hellcats, she was going to seriously need a blow dryer for her thighs before this night was over!
As Draco reached for a red card, play passed to Seamus. The Irish grabbed a Deeds card off the top of the deck, and turned to his partner. Tilting Lavender's face towards his, he kissed her senseless right there, without preamble. It was a sweet, intimate exchange. "I'd kiss ya anytime ya want, anywhere... forever, angel," he unashamedly admitted, his voice low, his eyes locked onto the witch in his arms.
Lavender nodded, clearly entranced by her man. "I'd pick you, too," she shyly admitted.
It took Ron clearing his throat to remind his former lover to draw an action card before he could answer. Absently, Lavender picked up a card from the proper stack, and immediately turned back to her beau. The couple then became lost in tasting each other somewhat relentlessly, clearly tuning out the rest of the proceedings.
Ron snickered, and looked across the way at his own partner. That wicked smile climbed up his cheek slowly. "There won't be any 'if' come Monday, baby," he told Pansy bluntly. He licked his lips, and his gaze traveled possessively – knowledgeably – down the woman's body, and it became abundantly clear to Hermione that Ron and Pansy had had sex already, and her friend was seriously infatuated with Slytherin's Queen. "You're mine," he informed the dark-haired witch rather firmly. "And I'm lettin' everyone know it."
Pansy's face sheeted white as she stared back at her partner, and for the barest second, panic flashed in her eyes. It was quickly replaced by a hesitant smile in an attempt to cover up, but Hermione had seen it. The problem was that she was sure her ex- hadn't, as his eyes had firmly been locked on Pansy's chest just then. "O… okay," Parkinson agreed, her features set in accepting happiness. "I'd like that." The words had been delivered with some enthusiasm for the idea, but to Hermione, they rang false, and for a moment, she was sincerely worried for her clearly-besotted friend.
Ron's movement to take a card had her realize it was her turn now to answer the question.
Cheeks creeping with heat, shoulders tense, back ramrod straight, she forced herself to look up at Malfoy and finally admit that she was beginning to have real, heart-fluttering feelings for him. It took a lot of her inner courage to get the simple words past her teeth, however. "You," she admitted with a great amount of trepidation and a small amount of resignation, staring straight into the gray storm without flinching. "I'd pick you."
Draco's face softened with the decisive confession, as if he'd been concerned she wouldn't answer or would pick another person to name, and he rewarded her bravery with a genuine, approving smile that erased the shadows about his cheekbones, giving him back a touch of his long-lost innocence.
Had it been only a few days ago that she'd commented offhandedly to Ginny that she thought his face too serious and pinched and his eyes too icy and unfeeling?
Those luscious kissable lips of his drew her full attention again as they continued to curve into a fuller expression of pleasure. It made things in her belly turn over and melt. "I'd definitely pick you," she heard herself breathlessly admit again, and was shocked by her own impassioned response.
"I'd let you," she watched his mouth form the words, and imagined that soft, pink tongue dipping into her slit…
Ron nudged her, rousing her from her fascination, and indicated she should take a card. Blushing to the roots of her hair, she reached for a red card and forced herself to stare at the image of Eros and Psyche embracing on the back of the laminated cardboard, struggling all the while to control her pounding heart.
To her left, Harry was all playful exuberance. "Let's see here… hmmm… who would I pick?"
A flash of sudden movement through the air made Hermione look up quickly. A soft, white couch pillow smacked her best male friend in the head, having been teasingly thrown by Tracey. "Don't you dare say anyone else, Harry Potter!" the pretty blonde bantered, pointing at him in warning.
The dark-haired boy-turned-man (when had that happened exactly, she wondered for not the first time, for it only seemed yesterday that he was eleven in her mind's eye) beamed a fresh grin at his new girlfriend. "As if I'd want to," he reassured her with a wink, fluffing the pillow and leaning back onto it. "Yours is the only kiss I want."
Tracey lowered her hand, her smile brightening. Twin pink blossoms appeared on her cheeks. "Really?"
Harry's face lost its teasing, and something much more masculine and dark crept into his verdant gaze for a moment. "I'll prove it to you in a few minutes," he promised, reaching for the proper-coloured action card.
Davis looked like a doe caught in wand light at night; her blue eyes were wide, the pupils enlarged, her rosy lips were parted in partial surprise-partial eagerness, and her chest had simply ceased pumping air for several heartbeats. Her stillness was so absolute that it made Hermione hold onto her own breath, as she waited for a reaction. Finally, long, golden lashes blinked. "Okay."
It was only one word, but there was a wealth of meaning behind it, none of which Hermione was privy to. Harry, on the other hand, seemed inordinately pleased and he nodded, as if making some sort of silent accord with his lady.
Feeling like the fumbling gatecrasher during a private, intimate interlude (this was Harry, after all, and she didn't want to think about him as a sexual being, honestly), Hermione shifted, crossing her ankles, her gaze turning aside to the next player…
Teddy's concentration was directed towards the far wall; he didn't move to answer the question or to draw a card. Instead, he sat quietly, lost in thought. The brokenness reflected across his face and in his baby blue eyes said that he was suffering a difficult decision, and Hermione knew it was as Daphne Greengrass had described: he was considering whether to stay and try to make whatever he had discovered with Daphne tonight work, or whether to forfeit this game and walk away from her, the girl he had professed to love. She felt so sorry for him then – for them both.
No one was saying anything, not even Malfoy, who was assessing his best friend in silence. Daphne looked positively green around the gills, staring at her hands in her lap. Something had to be done… "Teddy," she murmured gently, not sure why she was sticking her neck out, knowing she'd probably end up on the wrong side of this as a result, but braving ahead anyway. "Give her the opportunity to explain."
Her one-time interest turned slowly to stare at her, his eyes hooded in forewarning that he would bite if she pressed the issue, his lips set in a thin, disapproving line. In that moment, he looked very much like a serpent.
Hermione refused to be intimidated. "Maybe that's what this game is all about, after all - taking chances," she firmly insisted.
His eyes shifted momentarily to Draco and then back to her.
She nudged her chin at the Forfeits deck with encouragement. "Take a blue card, and let's all keep going, right?"
Teddy's jaw twitched and he shook his head. "You want me to take a chance?" he growled and turned irately towards Daphne, who sat on the other side of Pansy. "Look at me," he demanded of his partner, his tone tightly controlled, hard. With amazing courage (the likes of which, Hermione honestly didn't think a Slytherin had within them), Daphne glanced up and over at his bidding. "I'd choose you. I want you," he stated very precisely to his witch, uncaring that there were others in the room just then, his whole self focused on the female who sat a mere arm's length away. "But so help me, Daphne, I won't let you toy with and tear out my heart for a night's amusement. It's all or nothing. If you don't feel for me the same as I do for you, then tell me now and be honest about it. Otherwise, I'm gone."
The blonde witch swallowed heavily and nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks again. With shaky hands, she took off her glasses. "I… I feel the same, Theo. I truly do. But my future is uncertain, for reasons I would prefer not to speak of in public. Will you allow me the opportunity to discuss this with you further in private? I promise to divulge all you wish to know then."
He watched her warily for a good minute in anxious silence, measuring her up through narrowed, speculative eyes. With a curt nod, he reached forward for a Deeds card, settling the matter temporarily; he would give Daphne the time she'd requested to make her case. Perhaps it would be enough.
Nott sat back into the sofa cushions without another word, tapping his card against his inner thigh, his eyes never leaving his partner's face. Awkward!Hermione thought, and tried to get Parkinson's attention so the woman would take her turn and break the stalemated uneasiness in the room. Slytherin's Queen was too busy holding her friend's hand and trying to support her, though. It took Ron to get them back on track.
"Hey, baby, this is your chance," he tried for light-hearted, catching Pansy's interest easily with a teasing tone, a mischievous smirk and a wink. "Say the right thing and there'll be a repeat of last round in your near future."
To Hermione's surprise, Pansy's face lit up like a rocket on Guy Fawkes Night, and the woman bit her lower lip coyly. "Promise?"
Ron nodded very decisively. "Oh, yeah."
Shaking her head, but smiling in amused disbelief, Pansy chuckled. "You know I'd pick you, muffin."
Harry chortled in great amusement over the rather silly nickname, and received another pillow to the head, compliments of Tracey (who had taken it from Pansy's hand). That only made the man bust out into hearty guffaws. "You are so unromantic, Potter," Parkinson dryly told him. She turned to her left and looked over Daphne's head at her other female friend. "What do you possibly see in him, anyway?"
Tracey started giggling. "Well, he dances and sings well enough, and he gives me flowers. Oh, and his kisses are rather nice. I suppose that's enough to keep him around."
Pansy's eyes widened. "Dances and sings… flowers…?" She slyly looked over at her own partner. "Is that so?"
Ron sat up, straight as an arrow at that. "Oh, hell no! I don't sing. You wouldn't want to hear that, trust me. Flowers – no problem. Singing and dancing – not a chance."
In that second, Pansy looked just like the cartoon version of Dr. Seuss' The Grinch when the evil, fat git had come up with his plan to rob Whoville of its Christmas; that same nefarious smirk said she was going to start watering away at the evil seed that had been planted in the fertile soil of her mind. "We'll talk. We'll see," she stated again, reaching forward for a red card.
Ron slumped back in the couch and glared over at Harry. "Thanks, fucker."
Harry sniggered. "You're welcome… muffin."
Play moved on to Daphne, who had not paid the previous few minutes of cheerful chitchat any attention, too caught up in her own misery. Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she replaced her glasses on her nose, composing her features once more and sighed heavily. "I would choose Theo," she stated, and reached to take a card from this round's most popular deck. Her beau didn't respond to that; he just kept tapping his own card on his thigh, staring… staring…
Play finished with Tracey, who didn't bother with artifice. "Harry, obviously," she smilingly answered, and reached for a Deeds card.
Malfoy, whose interest had been on her for much of the round (at least, that's how it certainly felt to Hermione), took charge immediately. "Alright, you know the drill. If you have to perform an action now, say so."
Everyone turned over their cards.
Hermione felt the rush of wet desire dampen her knickers as she finished reading her action card and she kept her thighs firmly clamped together in the hopes that her sudden longing wouldn't infuse the air and alert everyone in the room as to her state of now-throbbing arousal. Merlin Almighty, she couldn't wait to have Malfoy perform this card on her!
Heart pounding loudly in her ears, she risked a glance over at her partner. His eyebrows were lifted in what appeared to be surprise, but when he met her stare, he leered. All right, what did that mean this time?
When no one spoke up to perform an action, Draco stood. "Time, Potter," he drawled.
Harry reached into his pocket and checked his watch. "It's 1:26." He looked up. "Anyone tired yet? I can ask Dobby to bring us some strong tea."
Draco scoffed. "No need. I made in advance and brought along some restoratives – one for each of us." He reached into his Bag of Holding (she really must charm one of those handy, little things for her own use one of these days!) and pulled out a series of vials, handing one to each person. Hermione stood to accept one, and his long, well-manicured fingers intentionally caressed hers in the passing. "A single sip will give you the same energy as a cup of the blackest espresso coffee," he explained. "So be cautious and use it sparingly. I don't fancy petrifying someone because they're bouncing off the walls - literally."
As he tucked the charmed bag back into his front trouser pocket, he gently clinked vials with Hermione. "Cheers," he offered her and she returned the salute. They unstoppered their potions and each took a small sip, their eyes locked on the other. Having his warm body this close made her stomach riot.
When they'd finished, everyone put the corks back in tight and then laid their glass tubes down next to their Partners cards on the main table. Thankfully, Hermione noted that Draco did not need to pick up his wand again… although Seamus did, as did Teddy. All of the women, of course, cast the C&DC on themselves at her urging before leaving their wands behind again.
"It's 1:32 now," Harry informed Draco.
"You have until 2:22 to get back out here," Malfoy told them all, and then offered her his arm. "Care to join me, beautiful?" he asked, smiling mysteriously.
Unwittingly drawn to him like a pixie to flame, Hermione reached out and tucked her arm into his. "Lead on, handsome."
Draco's eyebrows shot up and he grinned like the Cheshire Cat as he guided them to their room. "Well, at least your eyesight has improved now that you've stopped seeing the Weasel... and his brother."
Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "Are you sure all of those bludgers you took to the head over the years didn't give you brain damage?" she blithely asked. "I mean, anyone with any solid intelligence knows that it muffs-up their chances of getting a girl into bed if you rag on her best friends." Pinching his cheek merrily as they stopped at their door, she gave him an impish smile. "Then again, you are only the Salutatorian. Maybe I'm just giving your lack of Quidditch skills too much credit for what is probably just an innate mental impairment?"
As she breezed past her partner, he leaned down and brushed her temple with a quick kiss. "Keep sniping like that and I'll give you a bludgering you'll never forget, my witch." He gave her arse a firm swat to back up the promise, before closing the door behind them and locking them away from the outside world once more.
TO BE CONTINUED...
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
PLEASE REVIEW, FOLKS! What did you think of this chapter?
.
H.P. Lovecraft = A very famous American horror/scifi/fantasy writer from the 1920's – 40's. He is the man credited with coming up with most influential horror device in literary history – the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire that contained all of the secrets of evil (necromancy, summoning evil gods, etc.). He also created the race of Old Ones and Elder Gods that authors the world over have since capitalized upon in their own writings, including the dreaded beast, Cthulhu. He is considered among the top five greatest horror influences in early literature, compared to the likes of Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, and Gaston Leroux.
Night Gaunts = Fictional creatures made up by H.P. Lovecraft for his stories. For the sake of this fic, I am pretending that even wizards think Lovecraft's claims of Night Gaunts to be bordering on nutter's city (Lovecraft would have been seen as being along the same lines as Luna Lovegood's numerous claims about mythological beasts and creatures).
Miskatonic = In H.P. Lovecraft's worlds, this is a fictional school/university located in Arkham, Massachusetts (a fictional city). For the sake of this fic, I am pretending that Miskatonic was a real wizarding school located in Arkham, Mass, but that Muggles don't know that (they believe it to be fiction).
Mad as Hatters = Contrary to popular belief, the phrase "mad as a hatter" was common at the time Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland (1865); the phrase had been in common use in 1837, almost 30 years earlier. The origin of the phrase, it's believed, is that hatters really did go mad. The chemicals used in hat-making included Mercurious Nitrate, used in curing felt. Prolonged exposure to the mercury vapors caused mercury poisoning. Victims developed severe and uncontrollable muscular tremors and twitching limbs, called "hatter's shakes"; other symptoms included distorted vision and confused speech. Advanced cases developed hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms.
Robert E. Howard = A very famous fantasy writer from the 1920's-30's, and friend of H.P. Lovecraft. Credited best with his creation of the Conan the Barbarian series (through a series of correspondence between them, Lovecraft influenced Howard's creation myth for the universe of Conan, in fact). Howard is considered the second most influential author in the fantasy genre, behind only J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings).
.
Musical Selection for this Chapter: "No Other Love" by John Legend & Estelle. Lyrics are as follows...
(man to woman singing)
No other love,
No other touch,
Gimme, gimme oh, so much.
Turn me on, turn me on...
Won't you please get outta my head?
Get back into my bed, now come kiss me, come with me...
Cause I can hardly sleep without you, can't stop thinkin' bout you, girl.
I want you, I need you.
And I'm ready for love, ready for us to lose control.
You know and I know...
No other love,
No other touch,
Gimme, gimme oh, so much.
Turn me on, turn me on...
No other kiss,
No one like this,
Feelin' like I can't resist.
Turn me on, turn me on...
I had my share of lovers,
But there is no other girl, you're special, now let's go.
Cause, love, I want you more than ever, want to do whatever - now -
To keep you, I need you.
And I'm ready for love, ready for us to lose control.
You know and I know...
No other love,
No other touch,
Gimme, gimme oh, so much.
Turn me on, turn me on...
No other kiss,
No one like this,
Feelin' like I can't resist.
Turn me on, turn me on...
(woman to man singing)
I said you're turnin' me on, now.
Said you're turnin' me on.
Said you're turnin me on.
From your smile to your lips to the words of the song...
I know I used to say I was too young,
Now I'm grown up.
I got you when you need that strong, real goody-good loving.
Stevie Wonder said, "it's been so long,
and I'm a give it if you need it.
Are you ready to receive it?"
Boy, i wanna give you some love,
wanna give you some love and affection.
You got my attention.
(both together)
And I'm ready for love, ready for us to lose control.
You know and I know...
No other love,
No other touch,
Gimme, gimme oh, so much.
Turn me on, turn me on...
No other kiss,
No one like this,
Feelin' like I can't resist.
Turn me on, turn me on, turn me on...