An Honest Face – Chapter 5
Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling, and that speaks for itself. :)
~oOo~
Draco Malfoy was annoyed. Annoyed and perplexed.
Any other, normal, hot-blooded female would have given over to his advances by now – long ago, in fact. And yet, there was Granger, who – even after two separate... confrontations – remained out of his reach. In fact, after the second time she had apparently decided on pretending he didn't exist... and being ignored was one thing Draco couldn't stand.
He looked in his bedroom mirror, admiring his own pale features. His hair hung almost, but not quite, in his stormy grey eyes, framing his face in just the right way. Long gone were the days of slicking back his long blonde locks – sure, it was less convenient to have his hair hanging in his face all the time, but he accepted that vanity was a bitch. What was a little inconvenience in the name of beauty, after all?
Glancing down at his bare torso, he knew that he was hardly deficient in tone or musculature, either. He was tall and undeniably handsome, and with those cheekbones... who could resist?
Granger, obviously.
His fine eyebrows pulled together in a frown. Well, he thought, if she's determined on ignoring me for much longer, I have other methods of catching her attention. Donning a shirt and gathering his things, he headed out of the dormitory and up to breakfast with a smirk already on his face.
Draco surveyed the Potions classroom from where he sat. It was dim and gloomy as usual, rows of individual desks lining the area. The class had begun with theory, as always – tedious and dull to Draco's mind.
He could see Granger scribbling away across the aisle from him. He rolled his eyes at her, but she, of course, didn't notice. That was definitely what irked him most about Granger – she refused to pay him even the slightest bit of attention the vast majority of the time.
Surreptitiously he pulled out his wand, holding it beneath his desk. Things are about to get a lot more interesting in here. Glancing around to make sure no-one had seen him draw it, he directed his wand at Granger and muttered the incantation, then settled back in his chair to watch the show.
~oOo~
Hermione didn't know what had hit her. From one moment to the next she'd gone from comfortable to decidedly not so. It was suddenly much to warm in the room, but she was sure she'd thought dungeon as dank and cool as ever when she'd walked in at the start of the lesson.
Draping her cloak over the back of her chair, she thought, It's a little early for hot flushes... what's wrong with me? Trying to ignore the sudden heat blooming under her skin, she hunched over her books again, intent on continuing with the recipe for the Transylvanian Chilling Draught. She snapped back upright straight away, a feather of heat brushing its way up her spine. Her nipples tingled where they'd just touched the desk through her blouse and bra.
What is this? she thought. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on something else – anything else. That was when she became aware of the fact that someone was talking to her.
She opened her eyes, and there was Snape pacing towards her from the front of the classroom, saying, "Daydreaming, were we, Miss Granger?"
There came a quiet snort from her right, and Snape turned away from her. "Is something funny, Master Malfoy? No...?" He strode back along the aisle, glancing at peoples' books as he went. When he got back to Hermione, he smiled evilly and drawled, "Tut, tut, Miss Granger, you haven't finished your notes."
Then he looked sharply at Malfoy, who appeared to be struggling not to smirk.
"Perhaps Master Malfoy would like to assist you in brewing the Transylvanian Chilling Draught. He ought to be able to keep you on task." And with that he flapped back to his desk like the giant bat he probably was. A cursory flick of his wand sent desks, chairs and their occupants sliding magically across the room – soon everyone found themselves seated next to a partner. "Get to work, class," he said, and seated himself behind his desk once more.
Amid the groans and complaints of the class, Hermione loosened her collar and groaned. The movement of the desk had done something to her... in both a good and a bad way. She crossed her legs and fought back another gasp as the movement sent a pang to her erogenous zones. It felt good, but almost painfully so. This is definitely weird, she thought. Why am I feeling aroused in Potions?
And there, smirking in her peripheral vision, sat Malfoy.
The very miscreant I've been trying to avoid. Great. Just bloody great.
She looked towards him – and the moment she did so the room got inexplicably hotter. She was struck by his stormy grey eyes and the way his hair fell almost in them, framing his somewhat pointed face in just the right way...
She quickly shifted her gaze away from his face, and ended up focussing on the rest of his lean form; his muscular arms, his long body, with just a hint of toned muscles outlined through his shirt... down to a different outline in his pants...
She desperately tore her eyes from the boy next to her, refusing to even think about the fact that she'd just been staring at Malfoy's—
"See something you like, Granger?" he said, just loud enough for her to hear him.
She started at the sound of him talking to her, and then what he'd actually said sunk in. Instantly her mind conjured up some extremely dirty images of them alone, and what he could do to stop this burning arousal she was feeling and—
Wide-eyed and horrified at herself, she could only stare mutely as he smirked at her some more and murmured to her alone, "I thought so."
He opened his mouth to add something more, but before he could, Hermione gathered herself somewhat and blurted, "I'll go get the ingredients from the storeroom." And she all but ran off with every intention of doing just that.
Malfoy's eyes narrowed. Then he stood up and went after her.
~oOo~
Author's note: So, what do you people think should happen next? I do have a plot worked out, but I'd love to hear your opinions and ideas. That said, please review – I reply to every one! :)