11 Reasons General Theme: 11 Reasons why Draco and Hermione Belong Together
Pairing: Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger
Title: The One Who Knows
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter
Word Count: 1075
Prompt: Table 3 (Favorites)—His: Flying
Notes: Many thanks to my betas, Z and eilonwy!

I'll take you to the mountains, I will take you to the seas
Dar Williams, "The One Who Knows"

ooo

"SHUT UP!" he yelled, angrier than he'd been in a very long time. "Shut up, just – shut UP!"

"NO!" she screamed back at him, poking him hard in the chest and nearly spitting she was so angry. "You're going to listen!"

"I am NOT going to listen to you blather on about – "

"You started this conversation, Malfoy, remember? You are going to follow it through! All I said was – "

Draco plugged both his ears with his fingers and glared at her. "I can't hear you! I can't hear you!" He was vaguely aware that there were other people in the room, but he was so angry he couldn't quite be sure.

She only screamed louder, so that not only did he hear what she was saying, his ears were starting to hurt from the sheer volume of her voice. He fleetingly thought she must have been descended from banshees.

"I happen to think – " she was saying when he decided he'd had enough.

He moved his hands from his own head to hers, cupping her face nearly entirely. "Shut up!" he growled and pulled her face toward his. "Shut!" He kissed her lips quickly and angrily. She struggled slightly then went perfectly still. "Up!" He kissed her again, this time harder. "Shut up!" and again planted his burning lips onto hers. "Just – shut – up!" The volume of his voice had lowered significantly, and he emphasized each word with an increasingly softer kiss.

When Draco realized she'd been quiet for some time, the realization of what he'd done hit him full force and he let go of Hermione's face as though burned and took a step back. She was gaping at him, eyes wide and slightly out of breath, which for an instant he found odd, as she hadn't kissed him back. She blinked, and took a few deep breaths.

"Oh, go on, you know you want to," came a voice as though from the end of a long tunnel. Vaguely he decided it sounded like Ginny Weasley.

Apparently, that was all Hermione needed. She stepped toward him and without a word, without a sound, she reached up and grabbed his neck to pull his face down to hers. She kissed him. Merlin, he'd never been kissed like that in his life. It was angry and desperate, like their argument, but soon it turned intense and all-consuming.

Draco stood there rigidly, his fists clenching and unclenching, in an effort not to make an idiot of himself. He accepted her kisses, returning them, encouraging her by sucking on her bottom lip. There was an instant when his brain kicked in to remind him that they weren't alone, but then Hermione had her hands in his hair and she clenched a fist, pulling on his hair hard, though not painfully. He groaned involuntarily and all brain function ceased. All he wanted was to never stop kissing her. .

Forgetting everything, he plunged his hands into her hair, twirling it, twisting it, and losing himself in its softness. And her kiss… it was ravenous. He felt like he was flying, somersaulting through the air, executing a series of near-impossible moves on his broom, soaring over mountaintops and skimming along the surface of the ocean. Racing for the sun, for the warmth locked in its sphere, dipping into clouds and chasing birds.

Suddenly he became aware of her hand, slowly yet deliberately moving on his back. He almost dismissed the thought when an annoying neuron fired, reminding him that, no matter how much he wished it weren't so, they weren't alone.

Draco's eyes snapped open and he stopped kissing Hermione, pulled away from her. Her hand arrested just at the place where his body began to curve out, his hands gripping clumps of her wild curls. She opened her eyes then and for a moment, he saw everything in them.

Someone cleared his throat and Hermione jumped back. No one said anything. Draco was staring at Hermione and she back at him. He felt three separate sets of eyes boring hot holes into the back of his head, but he could barely even think, much less move.

Hermione composed herself long before he did. She smoothed the front of her robes and adopted a mask of indifference. "Well," she said, her voice stronger than he would have believed possible. "I suppose I win, then." She turned and quit the room in just such a way as to not seem hurried, but at the same time conveying to him a desperate need to run.

He could relate.

He was left with her friends, her ex-boyfriend. Their stares had managed to drill through his skull now and were making quick work of his brain matter. Soon they'd reach his eyes.

Without looking back, without word, he squared his shoulders and strode from the room and then out the front door.

O

He didn't see her again for four days.

He'd been called to a meeting where it was learned that the end, for better or for worse, was fast approaching. The room was full, but somehow, after the meeting ended, it had quickly emptied leaving him alone with Hermione. He certainly hadn't meant it to happen. He'd been talking with Fred, and when the twin left for the kitchen, Draco looked up to find Hermione watching him, arms folded.

He felt as though he'd Apparated in front of a train.

Draco had no idea what to say.

Fortunately, he was spared the task of having to break the tangible silence.

"Malfoy."

"Granger."

"About what happened the other day. I'm not sorry."

Against his will, he smiled. Couldn't help it; she was funny in a blunt way sometimes. Slowly he felt the tension and anxiety melt from his bones and he leaned back in his chair. "Me either."

She nodded once. "So what happens now?"

He shrugged.

"I want you to say something," she said firmly.

He broke their gaze to peer over her shoulder. Huh. "I… suppose, then, that I would like to be able to kiss you whenever I want." He still wasn't looking at her, but he could feel her smile. It warmed the room.

"That's settled then."

"Reckon so," he returned.

"Draco."

He flipped his eyes to meet hers, a sudden wave of excitement tying his stomach in a knot. When he spoke again, his voice was just a bit unsteady. "Hermione."