A/N: This chapter does contain a sort of sexual scene. I'm known for writing the scenes tastefully and limiting them as to accentuate their feelings rather than the actual act. You've been warned.
Just Like a Domino - Chapter 3
"Hermione are you alright?"
The black-haired girl turned around to look at Harry and Ginny staring at her with unease and worry in their eyes. Hermione simply rolled her own brown eyes before she looked back to the window, the snowy landscape of the countryside practically flying past as the Hogwarts Express moved forward.
"I wish everyone would stop asking me that. I'm fine."
"Sorry," apologized Harry sheepishly.
"It's just we're–"
"Worried about me, I know," interjected Hermione, sighing heavily. "You know, I'm a fairly independent person. At one point I kind of, sort of, maybe did things on my own, no? Why don't you let me get back to that and stop asking me every five minutes how I am? I'm not glass; I won't break."
With those words, silence fell over them again. It seemed to be a recurring event as of late. Each time they would bring something about her being back, she would usually give them a short answer before succumbing to being tacit again. Harry and Ginny knew it was hard on her, being back and all, which was why they never pushed her to speak. They knew in due time she would come to them.
"Anyhow, I've got rounds right now so I guess I'll see you two later."
"Bye Ginny," muttered Harry, his gaze still on Hermione.
Ginny looked over to Hermione, but after waiting several moments for a response and receiving none, the redhead merely walked out of the compartment, shutting the door softly behind her.
The sixth year girl turned away to bump directly into a tall blond figure.
"I'm sorry—Oh...it's just you, Malfoy," she spat harshly.
"Glad to have disappointed you. Who were you expecting? The squib Snevilles?" Draco smirked at her angry reaction.
"Neville is not a squib!"
"Right," he replied sarcastically.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Malfoy?" she asked mockingly. Draco just smirked as she pushed him aside, not even bothering to wait for an answer from him.
It was then when he looked through the glass window of the compartment and his silvery eyes locked with Hermione's. For the briefest of moments, they both let their guard down and spoke silently to each other. He had longed for her, as she had him, and finally they were within each others' reach. However, one person stood in the way. A green-eyed golden boy to be exact.
Draco wanted so much to walk through the compartment and pull her fiercely into his arms, but he had to remember to be smart about the situation. She was on a mission. It vexed him that he was out of the loop in regards to knowing. Hermione's particular assignment was top secret. He knew Hermione was forbidden to tell him, but that didn't change how much he wanted to know.
He sensed there was somebody watching him, other than his girl, so he moved along without bothering to look over his shoulder. Within a few moments, an arm linked around his shoulder.
"How you been, mate?" asked Blaise Zabini, one of Draco's friends who was actually capable of forming coherent sentences. When Draco really thought about it, Blaise was probably the only true friend he had. Well, aside from Hermione.
"Alright, I s'pose. How about you?" Draco asked in a bored manner.
"Winter break was bloody amazing. Honestly, some of these girls...just throwing themselves at me."
"Right.
Blaise normally joked with Draco in a way which demeaned others, something which probably would have caused their mothers to faint if they heard the vile, nasty words coming out of their sons' mouths. However, Draco was not participating this time and it worried Blaise.
"What's your problem, Draco?" asked Blaise.
"I uh...I s-sort of..."
"Draco Malfoy is stuttering? Now I'm really scared." Draco glared at him for a moment before he pulled his friend into an empty compartment. Well, it wasn't really empty, but after pushing out two second year Ravenclaws it was.
"Tell me what in the bloody hell is going on," hissed Blaise.
"Look," began Draco, inwardly terrified of his friend's reaction. So terrified, he decided to be a Slytherin and not tell him everything, yet at least; "I sort of, met someone. I met her a while ago and over the course of...we've kind of gotten close."
"Oh, that's all? Damn it, you had me really worried for a second," muttered Blaise relieved.
"Sorry, mate. It's just, I can't get this girl out of my mind and I shouldn't be like this. I shouldn't."
"Come on, Draco. Even your dad eventually came around to your mother. All the greats eventually feel something for one particular girl. I just didn't think it would be this soon. I mean, we're in our prime right now so we should be getting with as many lasses possible, no?"
Draco looked down and away from his friend's grin alerting the black-haired boy just how big the situation was.
"Draco, I was kidding," he uttered, mystified for a moment. Then it hit him; "You really like this girl."
"I uh..."
"Who is it?" he asked, somewhat scared for the answer.
"Um...I can't really say."
It was with Draco's short statement that Blaise felt the tingling, foreboding sensation of something being terribly wrong. It had to be. Since when was Draco Malfoy afraid to spill about a girl?
When the girl of question is the one girl he is not suppose to be with.
"It's Granger. You fell for the enemy."
"She isn't the enemy!" barked Draco defensively; more so on behalf of Hermione than himself.
"Are you crazy?! She is still the enemy. At the end of the day, I don't trust her and–"
"If the Dark Lord trusts her then so should you!" screamed Draco, his frustration practically burning through his skin.
Blaise rolled his eyes as he said, "Oh please. The Dark Lord no more trusts her than he does Professor Dumbledore. Actually, I think he trusts Dumbledore more than the mudblood given how we all know what to expect from him. We have no idea what this mudblood is capable of."
Draco's normally pale skin was shifting into a crimson glow. Blaise had the strong impression that if it were possible, hot steam would have been springing out of his ears. Draco looked made enough to kill.
"Do not look down on her–"
Before Draco could finish, Blaise cut him off, "SHUT UP! Merlin, Draco what the hell were you thinking?! Were you thinking?" After shouting the questions, Blaise began to pace around the room in an attempt to remain calm. Thankfully, there were no other people in the compartment for the both on the verge of hurling curses at one another.
"I don't trust that girl. I know you have spent more time with her considering she was your task, but I don't give a shit; she cannot be trusted."
"That's what I thought and grew up thinking," said Draco slowly, as to articulate everything he was trying to say very well, "but I was wrong. I've learned so much from her and she...she is amazing Blaise. I mean, put aside what she use to be, you'll see she is completely capable. The suggestions she has made regarding Potter and the ruddy Order are superb. Even my father thinks so and if she can convince a man like my father of something, anything, then you better believe she is a changed person. She isn't going down Potter's path anymore. She is fighting for the right side."
"Does anyone know about your little endeavor into the loving world of Granger? Please, let me know. Does your family know? More importantly, does the Dark Lord know?"
"My mum figured it out, but aside from her, no. I think you're the only one," whispered Draco, nearly inaudibly.
Blaise sighed. "You were assigned a task and–"
"AND I COMPLETED IT!" shouted Draco.
"Yes, you did. No qualms from me there. However, it was only suppose to be a seduction. You weren't suppose to fall in love with her."
"What does it matter? Blaise, if she is on our side then–"
"We still don't know she is on our side for sure. That, mate, is the problem."
0000000
Hermione walked into the main entrance of Hogwarts to be greeted by dozens and dozens of stares, most of which she was unfamiliar with. At one time she knew them, but not anymore. He had taught her that only the important people in her life were the ones to remember and none of the people staring at her were them.
None.
"Don't worry about them. Let's just get into the Great Hall and then we'll be off at the Gryffindor table, away from prying eyes," said Harry, slinging an arm around her shoulder. She realized she must have been looking upset for his reaction to occur, but it was alright. His reaction was taken in stride and appreciated for it meant Harry was buying into her facade even more.
"Thanks," she said quietly.
Hermione, Harry, and Ginny walked into the Great Hall where Hermione's eyes drifted to a certain table. She met his eyes. She met those beautiful, hungry, icy eyes which she loved so much. He was staring at her with a fire and she knew only one way to put it out.
It was not the time. It was not the time nor the place, but it did not change how much she wanted to run into his arms, throw herself into him, and snog him senseless. Oh bloody hell, she wouldn't care if he threw her on the Slytherin table and shagged her in front of everyone. She could not give into her desires. She had a mission and she was going to do it.
"Hermione?"
The daydream she was having, consisting of Draco Malfoy on top of her in the Great Hall, was pushed out of the way quickly and revealed the concerned eyes of her former best friend.
"Sorry. I just...got lost in my mind for a moment." It wasn't a total lie even though she really did not give a sickle for lying. Nonetheless, not lying to him made this easier. Made her, in an odd way, feel sneakier.
"I was just asking if you'd like some pumpkin juice. Would you?" Harry's eyes were almost pleading with her, something she did not quite understand. It was a mundane thing—he was offering pumpkin juice. That was it. Nothing more so why did he look like a wounded child asking for a healing spell?
He wants everything to go back to normal. He wants his old friends, his old life, and everything else back in seventh year. Idiot. Doesn't he realize that people change?! Honestly.
Hermione accepted his offer allowing him to feel what he wanted—like himself again. Just him and his friends enjoying dinner in the Great Hall.
Oh, how she was about to be sneaky and ruin all of it for him. Well, in a way.
What he doesn't know, won't hurt him.
Her eyes scanned the room again and sure enough, he was staring right back at her, just as she had planned on. Giving him the faintest of nods, he smirked at her before she rose to her feet.
"Hermione?"
"I'm just going to the lavatory Harry. I...I need to be alone for a moment. I need a moment away from all these people staring at me. Okay?"
Harry nodded sweetly. She gave him a warm smile back only it was colder than he thought—much colder.
I've got him wrapped around my fingers so tight, it's nearly pathetic.
Hermione walked beyond the Gryffindor table to the door with her head down which forced her tumult of heavy hair to shield her face. In the obscurity of her brown locks, nobody could catch the smile tugging the corners of her lips.
Harry went back to his dinner completely unaware that if he were to turn around...a certain Slytherin would be missing from his house's table.
With a slight swagger in her step, Hermione made her way down the empty and dark hall toward the Gryffindor tower. There was a soft breeze in the hall from the open window at the end so her body was shaking from the slight cold. Not to mention it was a drafty castle in the first place even with all the charms and spells supposedly keeping it warm—
Suddenly a hand flew over her mouth and dragged her into a nearby classroom without so much as a second to simply breathe. When the hand was removed from her face, again she had no time to breathe as lips smothered her mouth, forcing her to back into a wall. Her assailant did not need to identify himself as she ran her hands through silky tresses. Draco was finally kissing her after what felt like, to her—to them both, years.
"Merlin, I've missed you," he panted in between kisses; "I've missed you so bloody much."
"I've missed you, Draco."
He plunged his hands into her thick curls and brought her lips back to his, ceasing all talking between them. His free hand wrapped around her waist and inched up the hem of her shirt, brushing against the newly exposed skin of her back. Immediately, instinctively, her body shivered into his as a moan went directly from her mouth and was lost in his.
When his mouth drifted away from hers to drag his kisses down her neck, she whispered, "I've missed this. I've...missed the way...you make me feel..."
"How is that?" he asked before he plummeted back down to the flesh of her neck.
"ALIVE!" she screamed as his hand, which had for the most part been rubbing her back in sensuous circles, moved beyond the fastenings of her Hogwarts skirt. Hermione was completely lustful for his touch and famished for his presence.
Oh, those hands. Hands of a bloody artist...
Hermione's knees bucked from the downward movement of his hand and she would have fallen to the floor had he not been holding her so tight. If she thought she was needy, she could not even imagine what he felt. He was not simply craving her touch, but damn well aching for it—quite literally in a piece of his anatomy which was much lower on his lean frame and currently protruding out.
"I have been wanting to do this since I saw you on the train. Fuck...you looked so beautiful with your hair pulled back like that—"
"I could...have kept it up," she interjected through her panting. She felt a shake against her neck before his lips, which had resumed kissing, were pulled back.
"No. I much prefer your hair down...wild and untamed. At least when I'm ravishing you."
Hermione's face broke into a smile prior to forming a perfect 'O' with her lips. His fingers had just...well, yeah.
"Merlin...you're so fucking beautiful, Hermione."
Hermione's lips contorted into a disappointed sneer when Draco pulled his fingers away from her. Draco smirked at her moan of distaste.
"My, my, aren't you a bit snippy?"
"Draco, please..." she gasped as she leaned her head back against the wall.
Her discomfort did not last. Draco lifted her left leg up and gently tugged off her knickers. A smile of delight crept across his features when he looked at the lacy panties in his hand.
"I um...I have never seen this one before."
Hermione giggled.
"Maybe that's because I just go them. Nobody has seem them before."
"And I'm afraid, my dear," he murmured, "Nobody ever will."
She saw him pocket the green knickers before he drove his lips back into her, tasting every essence of her.
0000000
"You were gone so long. I was starting to get worried," managed Harry, more concern filtering through his voice.
"I was...well, I was upset. I just hate facing everyone like that. I feel them burning my face with their intrusive eyes and I'm sick of it, you know?" she spat harshly. Harry bought into her act thinking the harshness was pointed at them.
It was all an act.
One big act.
"I know, but it's going to get better. In a few days time, nobody will even remember a time when you weren't here. You've always been here Hermione and everyone loves you and we're glad you're safe and–"
"And you're babbling, but I get it. Thanks, Harry."
For the first time since they arrived at Hogwarts, Harry truly smiled at her. Hermione's plan was working oh so well—
"Ow!"
Harry was on the ground. He had bumped into a large figure, one which Hermione heard cackle slightly at the Gryffindor boy's discomfort. Her face scanned to see who had knocked down the guy she was attempting to play, but stopped her irritated inward screams when she realized it was a blond Slytherin.
"Oi, Potter—why don't you watch where you and your mudblood girlfriend are going? You may be the Boy-Who-Lived, but here you're just a student like everyone else. We all have to walk down this hall."
Someone who was looking for it, like Draco, would have just barely been able to catch the small smile flicker across Hermione's lips before she bent down to help Harry up to his feet. He brushed off his shirt as he stared daggers into the Slytherin.
"I'm surprised your fat head can even fit in this hallway," quipped Harry.
"You really got me, Potter," replied Draco as he pushed past them. Hermione felt his fingers brush against her arm as he did so.
"The nerve of him," sighed Hermione, returning her attention (somewhat) to the dark-haired boy.
"Forget about him. Him, I can deal with. It's you who I am worried about," he said seriously.
"Trust me, Harry—everything is going fine. Perfectly fine."
And it was going perfectly fine.
Perfect.
0000000
Draco's detour was only made so he could run into Hermione. Making his way back to his own common room in the Slytherin dungeons, he managed to bump into someone he was not expecting and for reasons he never planned on.
"Mr. Malfoy."
The cold, tetchy voice belonged to none other than Minerva McGonagall, the Gryffindor head of house.
"Yes, Professor," he drawled, turning around to face her.
Without warning, she held up a pair of green knickers. To be more precise, Hermione's green knickers.
Run...
Scream...
Blush...
Deny...
Nearly every other boy, if not all of them save for him, would have done at least one of those things, maybe even all of them. Draco, on the other hand, simply smirked and had the audacity to look pleased with himself.
"When you exited the Great Hall, I saw this...fall out of your pocket."
She handed over the knickers which he crumpled and slid back into his pocket with the smirk still plastered on his face.
"Mr. Malfoy, do you need me to go over the code of conduct regarding how young wizards and witches are suppose to be acting while they are staying here?" she asked in a narked tone.
Draco looked down to stifle the urge to laugh. Once he felt capable of proceeding without snickering, he looked back up at the stern woman.
"I know the code very well, professor," he said flatly.
"Well," she said, still unnerved by the situation, "Unless they are yours, I do hope never to see them again. If I do, I will be informing Professor Snape about the incident and he will be talking with you as well as the female Slytherin population, is that understood?"
She thinks they belong to a Slytherin. Perfect.
"Understood."
The peeved woman moved past the young wizard in the opposite direction. Draco watched her leave as he thought...
Another one down.
Just like a domino...eventually they all fall down.
A/N: What did you guys think? Let me know! I'm always eager to hear from everyone. Know that the scene between Draco and Hermione was something I wanted to be tastefully done. I don't like writing smut so I choose to keep it limited - I just happen to feel their relationship needs it.
Thank you to everyone who wished me luck on my midterms! I still have two left - one written, one in class - so again, bear with me. Thank you all for waiting patiently :)
READ AND REVIEW!! If you can read it, then you can review it!
Evil's Mistress is the work of fanfiction. The characters belong to J.K. Rowling, but the featured story is mine.