Ch 13 Love's Bitch
Draco sat in his self-assigned seat in the very back of the greenhouse during Herbology on Wednesday afternoon. Professor Sprout droned on about the various methods to prune chomping cabbages while Draco drew disjointed scribbles on his parchment. There didn't seem to be any point in paying attention since he was most likely failing this class. He couldn't be sure, since Sprout hadn't told him anything official yet, but without the credit for the wand project there was no way he could pass. He should have gone to meet Granger that day. It would've been so easy to just show up. She probably would have done most of the work anyway and he would have gotten full credit for the assignment. Now, he was screwed. There was no doubt in his mind that Hermione told Sprout about his lack of contribution to the assignment. Stupid Granger, he thought. Why does she have to be so damn righteous?
Draco scanned the room for the Gryffindor in question and his eyes fell upon the bushy-haired girl. She sat in the isle seat at a table near the front of the room and appeared to be taking notes…not surprising, she was always taking notes. Draco could not see much of her face, just the back of her frizzy head and one slender leg that peeked out from underneath the table. Granger probably doesn't even know, but she's got a nice body, he thought watching as she shifted in her chair and her pleated wool skirt rode up on her thigh. The skin looked smooth and he could see the definition of her muscle. He licked his lips and couldn't help imagining his hands running up those hot bare legs.
Soon, he thought of her underneath him on an old wooden floor. He wrapped his arms under her body and held her close. She grasped his forearms but slowly moved her hands up to settle on his shoulders where she gripped the tight skin. Draco looked up from the girl in his arms and noticed they were in the invisible stables just outside. He smirked, glad to be in a place with no interruptions.
The brunette placed her hand on his face and turned his attention back to her. He noticed a desperate look in her eyes and moved his head to gently kiss her neck. He smiled as she whispered encouragements in his ear and he sucked in a surprised breath when she curled her legs up and circled them behind his back. Her clean, sweet scent filled the air around him and he sighed appreciatively. That aroma, her skin, her voice, combined to create a painful craving deep inside his body. He felt shaky with an overpowering lust. He couldn't get enough of her. Her legs squeezed his body into her and he laughed as he turned his head to kiss her perfect lips. "Hermione," he breathed.
"What was that, Mr. Malfoy?" Professor Sprout's voice broke into his fantasy.
Draco blinked his eyes and the room came back into focus. He looked around and noticed everyone starring at him, including Granger. He looked at her hard and wondered if she heard him say her name. He cleared his throat and answered, "Nothing, Professor," in an entirely bored tone. Sprout gave him a stern look but then turned back to her lecture.
That was strange, Draco thought. Not the fantasizing about Granger part. He'd had fantasies about pretty much every decent-looking girl that he knew, so it wasn't that strange to have one about her too. No, it was strange that the fantasy seemed so real. He felt like he was actually touching her skin and smelling her scent. It almost felt like a memory more than a daydream, but he knew that was impossible. He'd never gotten anywhere near a naked Hermione Granger.
Another thing that seemed odd was that this wasn't the first time he'd had a fantasy like this. Just last week he'd been waiting for potions class to start and he found himself staring at Hermione and imagining himself kissing her in the Great Hall. In that vision, her legs were wrapped around his waist as he kissed her in front of the entire school. That time she'd caught him staring and he'd tried to play it off, but he couldn't understand why his subconscious took such a sudden interest in Granger. Was it because he accidentally saw her bra that day before Christmas? He really didn't think so. That had been interesting, but not anything that would make him have vivid waking fantasies about her.
"…Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger, please see me after class. Everyone else is dismissed." Professor Sprout interrupted his thoughts for the second time that day.
Well, damn. Draco thought. The moment of reckoning was upon him. He stood and slowly gathered his things as the rest of the students trickled out of the room. He glanced over at Granger who already stood next to Professor Sprout's desk. She pointedly ignored him as he slid up next to her. Can't even look at me, can you? he thought resentfully. Well then, maybe you shouldn't have turned me in, you straight-laced Gryffindor bitch! He chuckled a little at his lame inner cursing and composed himself. If he was about to be delivered a failing grade, he was going to receive it with the cool indifference that the loss of a secondary education deserved.
"Oh, there you are!" Professor Sprout beamed at the two students now standing before her.
Hmm, that's strange, Draco thought. She should look stern and angry, not delighted like a proud pageant mom.
"You wanted to see us?" Hermione prompted, keeping her eyes carefully trained on Sprout.
"Yes, yes. I just wanted to congratulate you on your wand. A centaur's hair as the core…how inventive! Which one of you came up with that?" she paused and looked both students in the eyes. Neither claimed credit so Sprout continued, "A collaboration, then? Well, that's even better." She clapped her hands together and twittered on about the ingenious design and the skilled whittling technique.
Draco stood utterly stunned. What happened here? Granger hadn't turned him in? Maybe she just hadn't gotten around to it yet. Maybe she was waiting for the right time…No, now would be the perfect time. Draco looked over at her and narrowed his eyes. She wasn't saying anything. He didn't know what to make of this situation. If it had been him, and he'd done all of the work to make a top-notch wand while she hadn't even bothered to show up, he wouldn't think twice about exploiting her lack of participation. So why hadn't she done the same?
Professor Sprout was still babbling when Draco turned his attention back to the topic at hand. "…now I have decided, with your permission of course, to enter your wand into the Amateur Division at the World Wand Convention." She paused for a moment to giggle with glee before continuing, "This would mean a weekend trip for both of you to Sydney, Australia, and a chance at the first place prize of 15,000 galleons for the best new wand. Not to mention this would be great publicity for Hogwarts. So, what do you say? Do you want to go?" The woman stopped her speech and took a deep breath. She was met with silence for a few moments before Granger laughed loudly and responded.
"Are you kidding me? Of course we want to go!" She smiled turning to look at Draco for agreement and stopping suddenly at the skeptical look on his face.
We? Draco thought confusedly. She is letting me claim credit for the wand and go on this trip with her? And since when did she and I become "we"?
"Wonderful! I'll get everything set with the Headmaster and let you know the details as soon as I get them!" The older woman turned to head for the door but stopped abruptly and spun around, "Oh yes, and one more thing. I was hoping that you two could put together a small presentation on the construction of your wand to show a few of my classes. I think it would be good for the other students to see what you two accomplished. It won't be a big deal, just ten minutes or so…sound good? Okay great." And she was gone.
Hermione turned to follow her professor but was halted by Draco's voice.
"Granger…" he called after her, a hundred questions swirling around in his head.
"Stop," She held her hand up, but didn't turn around to face him, "I only did it for myself…not to help you, so don't act like this matters."
How could giving him a free pass on his grade benefit her? "What do you mean 'for yourself'?" Draco asked.
Hermione huffed and turned to look at him. "Not like it's your business, but I didn't think it would reflect favorably on my character or my grade if I tried to complain to Sprout about your laziness on the day the project was due. She would have wondered why I didn't mention anything to her sooner and I wouldn't have had an answer for that." she looked at him sternly and was about to leave when she decided to add one more bit, "And just so you don't have to ask, I am not about to tell her now that my wand is going to be shown at the WWC. I don't want to risk disqualification, so you should just do us both a favor and pretend like you did your share of the work…smile when she complements you and look like you are just as happy as can be…that would be swell." With that the Gryffindor spun around and left the room in one swift movement.
Draco stayed in the room for a long time, thinking about what Hermione said. Something didn't add up. She was making excuses. But why would she want to help him? Normally he would assume that either his partner feared him or wanted him, but neither of those options seemed plausible. This was Granger after all. Maybe she really did believe what she told him. He wasn't about to complain about it. He knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. If Granger was going to keep her mouth shut he would do as she asked and keep his shut as well. He smiled at his luck and left the classroom feeling decidedly better than he did before the class began.
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At dinner the following Thursday, Draco sat staring pointedly at his plate. Lately, it wasn't safe to let his eyes wander. They always seemed to land on Granger. He couldn't get her out of his head. Whenever he let his mind roam, he would find himself inside one of those disturbing "fantasies" where he and Granger were going at it like lovesick newlyweds. Whenever he actually tried to focus, he found himself wondering why she hadn't told Sprout that he didn't do his share of work on the wand. All in all, he felt like he'd had far too much Granger for his liking.
"What's the matter with you?" Millicent Bullstrode asked from across the Slytherin table.
"What?" Draco said looking up from his plate for the first time in ten minutes.
The hefty black-haired girl set her fork down and narrowed her eyes. "You've been staring at your plate this whole time and you haven't touched a bite…"
"Yeah, what's your point?" Draco snapped feeling annoyed and a little bit defensive.
"My point is…What's the matter with you?" she asked again louder, causing a few other students to stop their conversations and notice his odd behavior.
"Nothing!" he spat looking around at his curious peers. "I just don't like fish," he amended grabbing his fork and poking at the grilled filet on his plate.
"That's not true," Pansy cut in. "He loves fish," she said winking at her friend and sporting a devious grin. "So why don't you tell us what's really bothering you, Draco?"
"Why don't you tell us where you slept last night, Pansy," Draco countered narrowing his eyes at the girl.
"Oh Drake, don't get mad. You're no fun," Pansy replied. "You don't have to say anything. Everyone already knows you're just put off because some girl finally had the sense to turn down your advances."
What does she know about it? he thought bitterly. I am not trying to make any advances.
"Oh Merlin, Millie! Did you see his face? He really does fancy someone! Tell us, Draco. Who's the lucky girl?"
Draco sneered at the two who were so obviously enjoying his embarrassment. "No one," he said turning his eyes away from the girls.
Millicent turned all the way around in her seat to follow his gaze. "Eww, it's a Gryffindor?" she cackled cruelly.
FUCK! Draco screamed in his mind as he realized his gaze had unconsciously sought out Granger. He quickly brought his eyes back to Millicent's. I can't take this anymore! "For the love of Merlin…shut the fuck up, you pestering women! If it bothers you so much, I'll eat the damned fish!" He angrily shoved a piece of the now cold fish into his mouth and had to take a large swallow of milk to get it down.
"Atta boy, Draco," Pansy smiled. "We just want what's best for you."
He responded by growling.
The rest of the meal passed slowly for Draco. He wanted to get up and leave but couldn't find the energy. He sat quietly as the other kids finished and began leaving in groups.
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from across the room. Scared gasps muffled the lone violent coughing. Draco jerked his eyes up to seek out the cause of the commotion and was delightedly surprised to find one Ron Weasley leaning over the Gryffindor table coughing. His normally pink face had taken on a horrendous cherry red and his body convulsed with each strangled heave. It appeared he was choking.
Draco curled his lips into an amused smile and watched the idiot get smacked over the back by his frightened housemates. Serves him right for trying to swallow the whole plate at once, he thought meanly. He wanted to stand there and watch the bastard cry and make a fool of himself until someone had the sense to cast a retrieval charm, but was robbed the opportunity when Granger stepped behind the redhead and forced the food out manually. He watched in awe as she wrapped her arms around the boy's waist and settled her clasped hands just above his stomach. With quickly forced movements, she thrust his body up and into her own. On the third try the offending carrot shot from Weasley's gagging throat and landed in a water goblet.
A slew of applause erupted from the remaining occupants of the Great Hall as Ron grabbed a nearby glass of water and downed it. He coughed only a few more times before turning to Hermione and gathering her up in a warm and grateful hug. Draco couldn't hear what they were saying above the noisy chatter in the Hall, but he could see Hermione's relieved expression as she rested her head on Weasley's shoulder and rubbed his back in soothing circles. Draco stared at the affectionate pair for a few moments before he had to look away. He felt like he might puke if they didn't stop soon.
Before he knew what he was doing, he found himself marching over to the Gryffindor table. "Granger," he called as he approached the embracing couple.
Hermione looked up at the sound of her name and her eyes met Draco's. She instinctually pushed away from Ron and blushed. She didn't understand why, but hugging Ron in front of Malfoy made her feel guilty…like he was catching her doing something wrong.
Ron turned around and frowned when he saw the Slytherin. He reached over and gripped Hermione's had possessively. "What do you want, Malfoy?"
Draco ignored the redhead altogether and kept his eyes glued to Hermione's. "Can I talk to you?"
Ron jumped in before Hermione could answer, "Why? What do you want from her?"
Draco still ignored him and continued watching Hermione. "Alone?" he asked cocking his head in the direction of the doors.
"Er…" Hermione paused uncomfortably and looked from Draco to Ron. Draco arched his scarred brow impatiently while Ron shook his head. NO! he mouthed angrily.
"…sure, I guess.." Hermione stuttered sending Ron an apologetic shrug. "Just give me a minute," she told Malfoy as he nodded and headed out of the room.
"Hermione, have you gone mad?" Ron asked bending over to look her directly in the eyes. "Why are you going to talk to Malfoy?"
"I don't know…it's probably important if he came up to me during dinner…don't you think?"
"NO!" He was yelling now, "I don't think so. He probably wants to get you alone so he can hex you without anyone around!"
"No he doesn't, Ron" Hermione scoffed. "It'll be fine…he probably just wants to talk about the wand convention or something." Her voice had taken on a soothing tone and she flashed Ron one of her most dazzling smiles. "I'll be fine…I promise," she assured him.
The weird thing was that she didn't know if she would be fine. She couldn't really think of any reason Malfoy would need to talk to her now. They had two classes together tomorrow, so anything relating to school, he could tell her then.
"Fine," Ron huffed, "but you can't go out there looking like that," he declared eyeing her partially unbuttoned shit and rolled up sleeves. She looked absolutely hot, and he wasn't about to leave her alone with Malfoy until she covered up. He hadn't forgotten Hermione's past with him even if she had. "Put this on," he said offering her his outer robe.
"Okay…" Hermione agreed confusedly. She didn't know why Ron was acting so weird, but she didn't feel like arguing about it either. She slid her arms into the oversized garment and fastened it at the collar.
Draco stood out in the entrance hall pacing slowly. What had he been thinking? He didn't have a clue as to what he "needed" to talk to Hermione about. He hadn't really planned past breaking up that sickening display that she and Weasley were putting on and now she would be here in a few seconds and he didn't have anything to say.
Suddenly the door opened and Hermione emerged along with Weasley. The pair spotted him and Weasley kissed Hermione on the cheek before turning to head up the stairs.
"Remember I'll be right up here when you're done," he said pointing up to the next floor. Draco thought it was more of a warning for him to keep his hands off of Hermione than a message for her.
"Yeah, okay," Hermione said watching the redhead ascend the stairs.
Once he was completely out of view she turned her attention to the waiting boy. "So?" she asked expectantly, "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Well…" Draco said scrambling to come up with something plausible. "Herbology!" he blurted suddenly. The surprised tone of his voice made him cringe and he immediately corrected himself. "I mean, Herbology…Sprout wants us to do that presentation soon so I thought we should come up with something in case she asks us tomorrow." He congratulated himself for coming up with such a good excuse.
Hermione looked skeptical. She stared at him narrowing her eyes like she was trying to solve some sort of puzzle. "Is this really what you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked doubtfully.
"Of course it is," Draco barked looking around awkwardly. "What else would I want to talk to you about?"
"I don't know…you tell me," she said.
This girl was far too smart for her own good. She'd seen right through his charade and was now demanding answers. The only problem was that Draco didn't have any. He sat down on one of the steps and looked up at the waiting girl. "Look Granger, I just wanted to get this Herbology thing settled, okay?"
Hermione was confused. Malfoy had been acting really weird lately and quite frankly she was sick of it. She wondered if it was because she hadn't turned him in for blowing off their assignment. She thought he would be grateful or at least indifferent, but this whole staring at her and not teasing her thing was really confusing. "Fine," she said after a while, "I'll come up with something tonight and give it to you tomorrow. All you'll have to do is memorize your part…Can you do that?" she asked wrinkling up her brows questioningly. If he wasn't going to say anything about what was on both of their minds then neither was she.
"Yeah," he answered as she nodded agreement and moved to walk passed him up the stairs. Wait, he thought feeling the air move as she passed. He turned to watch her leave and wondered if he would get a chance to talk to her like this again. He wanted her out of his head, but he didn't know what it was that kept her there in the first place. "Wait, Hermione…" he said stopping her departure. "What's the real reason that you didn't tell Sprout about me?" he asked.
Hermione turned and came back down a few stairs. "I already told you the reason, Malfoy," she hissed emphasizing his surname.
"I know that wasn't the truth. Telling Sprout that I skipped out wouldn't have made you look bad and you know it. So why didn't you do it?"
Hermione was quite for a while. She searched her mind. Why didn't I tell on him? She wondered.
"I don't know okay?" she said rolling her eyes. "I thought about telling her. I even went to her office, but then I thought how you would fail and I…I guess I felt…" she stopped and stared into his eyes, those same eyes that had glared at her for years, and couldn't bring herself to tell him that seeing him fail would make her feel bad. That would be like admitting that she cared whether he did well or not and she definitely didn't care about that!
Draco watched as Hermione's sentence fell off and her eyes glassed over in thought. She felt guilty turning me in? Why? He asked himself. Because she's just like that. She likes helping people. He smiled at that thought and wasn't sure why.
Hermione was still looking at him and he could hear her soft breathing. Suddenly, an image of her panting and kissing him flashed in front of his eyes. He blinked wildly trying to stop himself from slipping into one of his fantasies. Hermione's eyes narrowed questioningly and she opened her mouth like she was going to say something. Draco wondered what she was thinking about, and was pretty sure it didn't involve the two of them naked together. Why can't I get her out of my head? He wondered.
An idea came to him quickly and he decided to act on it before his conscience could tell him otherwise. He stepped closer to Hermione. I am going to kiss her. I just need to know what it's like.
She breathed out softly as he leaned closer and closer. Suddenly his heart was pounding. He could feel the heat radiating from her body as he lifted his hand just inches from her face. His finger tips brushed her soft cheek, his lips so close to hers that he could feel her breath on his skin.
It seemed like a slow progression to him, but in real time, his actions happened in a matter of seconds and the moment his fingertips touched Hermione's face, she flinched and pulled away from him.
"What are you doing?" she asked backing away up the stairs.
Draco's eyes snapped open. "…I was…just…" he didn't know how to finish that statement.
"Where you trying to…" It seemed they had both lost the ability to form words. "I'm going to…er…bye," Hermione stammered as she blushed furiously and ran up the stairs.
Draco stood watching her disappear into the darkened halls. What the bloody hell just happened?