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The Seeker Chases

The rest of that afternoon was spent in the house for the outside had gotten quite hot. If the hottest day of the year was to be three days from then Hermione wondered what the ones in between were to be like. They would probably be steamy just like that one.

She spent the time following Draco around the house as he showed her everything. They still encountered no one, which was beginning to make Draco nervous. Had the Dark Lord kept everyone away from the house just for them? Did he intend for them to bond? Was he trying to make one of them fall for the other? Or both?

Those questions flew around like flies inside his head. The Dark Lord probably did want them to grow closer because it would be impossible for him to legitimately have a child with her if she hated him and refused to speak or touch him. But could the Dark Lord really be trying to get him to fall for a Mudblood?

The last place he took Granger was the place he knew she'd love the most. He also knew it would take the Dark Lord himself to pry her from there. He took her to the manor's library.

He watched her face as he opened the doors. Her eyes went wide and her mouth turned up in a joyous smile, something he had yet to see on her that close up before. Not that he'd noticed her smiling from afar.

She slowly and tentatively entered the large high-ceiling room. There were two floors of books the second floor being a small walkway at the base of the shelves that lined every wall. A spiral iron staircase on in the back left corner and one in the front right were the only ways to get up there. The furniture in the center of the room looked old and a tad on the shabby side but comfortable none the less.

Draco closed the double doors behind them as to not be disturbed. When he turned around he found Granger had moved from her spot before him and was gazing at the books on the shelves. Her hand reached up and dusted the covers off. It had been a long time since anyone had been there to care for the books in particular. The room was cleaned everyday but the books were left alone. Forgotten much like the girl who now tenderly stroked their spines.

His eyes followed her all the way around the bottom half of the room. Every once in a while she would tuck strands of hair behind her ear and continue on. She took care not to miss a single book yet it didn't take her long to get through the thousands of books on the first floor alone. When she ended up right back where she started he expected her to head to the nearest staircase and start up to repeat her act on the second floor but she didn't. She stood their all her weight on one leg while her other foot began to tap the soft throw rug beneath it. She was trying to pick a book.

"You know Granger, you shouldn't get to attached to this place." He said having to burst her happy little bubble.

"Why not?" she said turning to him with a frown that shot straight through his mask of meanness to his heart. He was taken aback by how that look made him feel.

'Feel, I'm not supposed to feel anything about her!' he cried in his head. But then he remembered her question and put off his mental scolding to answer it.

"Because we'll most likely have our own library at our house that you can tend to." He said as if it were an everyday thing to mention. He walked past her and sat in a particularly overstuffed armchair. He sank a bit into it but had no other problems.

"Our house? We're going to have a house? I would have thought we'd just stay here until school." She said following him. She stood beside the chair looking down at him.

Draco looked up and saw how flushed her skin had grown in the last few minutes, just after the mention of the house. She was embarrassed for she knew that by living with him things would never ever seem normal again. She'd see him everyday, whether she wanted to or not. She'd also, though he didn't want to think about it either, have to share a bed with him.

"Have you seen it?" she asked softly.

"No. All I know is that my father bought it for us." He said turning his head so it faced forward.

But that room from his dream loomed up in his mind. He wondered what she would say if he told her about the dream. She had confessed to him about her suicide attempt, it was only fair. His wasn't even that bad compared to hers for his was only a dream whereas hers was real. Her pain was real; his was only what he caused for himself.

"Sit down Granger." He commanded. His voice was low as he resolved to tell her.

"Don't tell me what-" but she stopped when she saw the look in his eyes.

'He's about to tell me something important.' She said to herself as she took a seat opposite him.

"My dream was about us. We'd been married for two years almost. We didn't look much different, your hair was straighter and mine was a little longer but nothing major. What made the dream so memorable, and I don't necessarily mean that in a good way, were two things."

She nodded understanding and encouraging him to continue.

"We had children. Not just a child but two boys. The oldest must have been a product of our wedding night because he wasn't more than two." He stopped seeing her look. Her eyes were watery again something he had seen enough of for a while.

"What did he look like?" she asked. He realized why she was crying. It was her son as well. He had seen their son, a beautiful creature that they would make together, no matter how much they hated each other.

"He had your eyes. My hair. He had chubby cheeks and your nose. His name was Damion." Draco said softly. A tear fell from her eye as they widened.

"That was the name I've always wanted for my first son." She said in a whisper.

She'd wanted Damion to be her son's name? That was a Slytherin name. A name that he hadn't pegged Granger for. He thought, maybe he'd thought of the name or even his father or the Dark Lord. But definitely not Granger.

"What about the other one?" she asked.

"He was over with the nanny so I didn't get to hold him. But he looked like me. Just like me as a child. He couldn't have been more than ten months. I didn't get his name either."

"You got to hold him too." She was taking this much different than he thought.

"Yeah. He ran in and jumped on my lap. He kept calling me Daddy." Draco said smiling to himself. But she saw it and it softened her heart. He did have a tender side. If it wasn't toward her at least it was toward the children they would have.

"What was the other thing though?" she asked drying her eyes.

"The nanny called me Dark Lord." Hermione stopped.

"You become the next Dark Lord?" she asked.

"Supposedly. But it was just a dream. I mean something you told me in the dream seems like it would never happen." He said brushing some lint off his pants.

"What did I tell you?" she asked feeling strange asking that question.

"You killed Potter and Weasley to save the Dark Lord. They had come to rescue you and found their way to the Dark Lord. You had been in his quarters when they arrived. Potter went after him while Weasley got you away from danger. But you grabbed his wand and used the killing curse on him then on Potter before he could react." Draco said his tone even and flat. "But it was just a dream so…"

"I wouldn't do that. No. Never. They're my best friends." She said to him.

"I know Granger." He said looking at her.

"I can't believe this is all happening so fast. I didn't plan to have children until after I had completed Auror training. I didn't want to start a family so soon." She said shaking her head.

"Well I didn't want to get married or have kids at all. And especially not with a Mudblood." Draco said before he could stop himself.

Hermione stood angrily. Her eyes were dangerously dark and glistened with fury. Her hands were balled into those tiny familiar fists but now something was different. There was an aura about her that put Draco on the defensive immediately. It felt like the Dark Lord's aura when he grew angry.

"You cant just look past that can you Malfoy. You just have to keep bringing it up just to hurt me. You're no better than Voldemort." She said marching past his chair toward the door.

"You don't know what I'm like Granger!" Draco shouted fed up with her mood swings.

"That's because you can't talk to someone without insulting them. I don't want to get to know you Malfoy. I don't want to marry you and I don't want to have sex with you. I don't even want to be in the same room as you!" she screamed at him. She kept walking toward the door as Draco stood.

"Well I frankly don't care what you want Granger. And it's not an insult it's the truth."

"Well you want to know the truth. You're a bastard."

"Don't you dare insult me Granger. I don't care if you will be my wife or not, you wont say things like that to me."

"Sod off Malfoy." She said her hand reaching for the doorknob.

Draco strode across the room as she started to open the door. His hand slammed onto the dark wood forcing the door closed. His other hand grabbed Hermione's upped arm and turned her around, slamming her back into the door. She let out a gasp and a short whimper as his fingers bruised her skin.

Draco was angrier than he'd ever been and he truly didn't know why. He wanted to lash out to yell scream kick. He wanted everyone in the world to know how much he hated this, how much he hated the way his life was going. But the only thing there was Granger. Now she was getting the full brunt of his anger.

"Don't speak to me like that you stupid Mudblood. I won't tolerate it." He said pushing her harder to the door.

"Let me go!" she screamed. Her eyes were fiery, like someone had sparked the life back into them. She seemed to come alive like she'd been waiting for this. Her face grew a reddish tint to it as her arms wiggled under his grip. Her hands were suddenly flat against his chest and she was pushing him back. Draco didn't let her go as he took a step back. She was pulled with him and they were standing in the middle of the floor glaring at one another.

"Don't tell me what to do. I'll touch you if I want to, you're going to be my wife." He said arrogantly. "I can do what I please."

"You think just because we'll be married that you'll own me." She said her fingernails digging into his forearm. He didn't even flinch though she was beginning to draw blood. "Well news flash, you don't and never will own me."

"I'll have the wand Granger. You won't get yours back until school. I will have control over you until then."

"You won't have control over me ever. You have no idea what I'm capable of Malfoy. Now let me go!" she cried. She twirled in a circle making him cross his arms breaking his grip on her.

She rushed away from him as he recovered and started after. She made it halfway to the iron stairs in the back of the room when she felt him grab the back of her dress. He pulled hard and she was thrown backward as a tearing sound was heard from the dress.

She collided roughly with his chest as his right arm grabbed her around the waist keeping her tight against him. Her dresses left strap ripped and the front of the dress flopped down almost exposing her left breast. Luckily she grabbed it with her hand and clutched it to her.

"I don't think you understand Granger. I will have complete control over you. No Potter or Weasley to help you." He whispered in her ear. "I'll get to have something Weasley could never seem to get. You'll be mine, even though I don't want you. I don't want to have my first son and heir with a filthy disgusting Mudblood."

"Fuck you." She said softly. Her voice was strong as she suddenly elbowed him. He'd expected it and released her before her elbow could come in contact with his ribs. But what he wasn't expecting was for her to turn around and slap him right across the face.

It seemed that Hermione hadn't been expecting it either. After she did it her hand flew to her mouth, utter surprise written on her face. His head slowly turned to face her again his eyes filled with hate and anger. She turned and ran.

She reached the steps and started to scramble up thinking there might be a way to escape. She didn't know that there wasn't however. Draco followed at a slower pace knowing she was trapped.

She tripped at the top and landed on all fours with a thud. She could hear his feet on the stairs just a few feet below as she scrambled to her feet. She couldn't go as fast because of her shoes which kept tripping her. His feet moved a little faster as she jogged down the walkway the shelves of books flying by. She looked wildly for a door but found none. She saw that he'd reached the top.

"Trapped Granger. There's no way out from up here." He called in a playfully menacing voice.

"Malfoy I didn't-"

"Shut up Granger."

She watched in fright as he started to jog toward her. Her only chance was to get to the other staircase. She had to get down and get out of the library. She would have to find a room to lock herself in until he cooled down.

So she started running down the narrow walkway rounding the corner. There it was just at the end. All she had to do was get there. But Hermione had never been a fast runner and Malfoy was an athlete. There was no way that she would make it.

Draco rounded the corner and caught up to Granger halfway to the stairs. He grabbed her arm, which was a bad move. She was running in flip-flops and she tripped taking him with her. They landed with a thump on the floor of the walkway both panting. Hermione started to struggle to get out from under him and get to the stairs but he was too strong.

He pinned her to the floor beneath him after flipping her over to face him. Her dress was ripped exposing the skin just above her breast. Draco couldn't help but look as he panted above her. His hair hung down shadowing his face. His mouth was open slightly as he stared at her.

Her face and chest were red whether from embarrassment or tiredness he didn't know. Her hair was spread out around her head in gentle brown waves. Draco wondered if it was as soft as her skin. Her eyes were wide with fear as he chest rose and fell with her hard breaths. Her lips were parted and he could feel the warm breath coming out of them.

'She's…well…' Draco didn't want to admit it. He knew that she was pretty. He was perfectly happy tricking himself into believing she was ugly. But was it wrong to think your fiancee was pretty? Even if she was a Mudblood?

Draco wondered what she would do if he kissed her. He wondered what she would do if he ran his fingers through her hair. Ran his hands over the hot skin of her shoulders and arms. Would she push him away or allow it? There was really only one way to find out.

Draco's head lowered as he moved in to kiss her. Hermione watched and waited to see if he really would. She had her doubts thinking he was just trying to bait her into it. Then at the last second pulling away to laugh at her belief that he would kiss her. No she would wait.

Their lips were less than an inch apart. Both could feel the others warm breaths brushing their skin. Hermione felt his weight atop her as his hands released her shoulders from their death grips. On moved up and touched her hair as the other was felt running down her side. She felt a shiver from his touch.

Less than a second and they would have shared their very first kiss, but the house elf that appeared caused both to jump up and scramble away from one another. Draco had thought it was his father while Hermione thought it was Voldemort. They looked around and saw the elf by the stairs huddled and looking nervous. Draco stood and brushed himself off. Then too a few steps forward passing Hermione whom still sat on the floor.

"What is it?" he demanded angrily. He'd almost done it. He'd been so close.

Hermione slowly rose to her feet behind Malfoy all the while her eyes following his every movement. She still clutched her dress to her not wanting to expose herself more than she already had. She could still feel his hand running down the length of her side over every curve. She could still smell his cologne on her dress and feel his warmth against her. But she was supposed to hate him. She shook those things from her mind as she pushed some pieces of hair from her face. When she lifted her head she saw Malfoy staring at her.

"What's happening?" she asked in a bashful voice.

"My friends are here."

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Starry