Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all claims to the characters and setting enclosed herein.

The Morning After the Night Before

Harry walked into the Great Hall bleary-eyed after a restless night. The physical satisfaction from what he had coined "the bathroom encounter" had unfortunately not translated to emotional satisfaction, and he'd spent the entire night half in disbelief, half in shock at what had transpired. Had he really had a threesome with Draco and Hermione? What was WRONG with him? His first… experience… with Draco had been shocking enough, but this? This was unbelievable. Incredible. Impossible.

Well, not impossible. The red-purple bruises on his neck and shoulders were evidence enough that it had really happened. Either that or he had gone sleep-wrestling with the Giant Squid.

It was early, the Great Hall was practically deserted. A few early-bird students sat sipping assorted hot drinks and drinking juice while they waited for breakfast to be served, but no-one Harry recognized. He sat by himself at the Gryffindor table, poured a small glass of orange juice and looked into it glumly. The thought of food made him feel a little ill, but at the same time he was starving – being up all night worrying does that to you.

After about half an hour the Hall was a quarter full, and breakfast appeared steaming in the centre of the table. Harry grabbed a couple of pieces of toast and made to get a quick getaway into the grounds before he had to talk to anyone. Unfortunately he walked right into Ginny.

"Hey, Harry!"

"Oh, um, hi Ginny, I was just –"

"Yikes, what did you do to your neck? Go wrestling with the Giant Squid?"

"Nothing, you mean, um, this?" he said, clamping a hand over his neck. "Oh, this is nothing. It's, um, hives. I get it sometimes in spring."

"It's autumn Harry, and you're a terrible liar. Quite besides, I have six older brothers! I know a love bite when I see one."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Harry looked around to find somewhere to run, but Ginny was blocking the only exit.

"Come on Harry, you can tell me! Who's the lucky girl?"

"Wha, I, Uh, Gotta…"

"Right, you gotta go, I understand. Well, if you want to talk about it later or whatever, I'm around."

"Okay, thanks Ginny, I'll… I'll be seeing you."

"Right," said Ginny, moving to one side to let Harry through. She was a little hurt that Harry hadn't confided in her, but she understood. After all, Harry had never been hugely forthcoming when it came to his feelings, and it wasn't as if she was his best friend. Only his best friend's little sister.

Harry, on the other hand, felt nothing but relief as he hurried past Ginny and escaped into the grounds outside. The grass was crisp with frost, and the air was cold, sending up shoots of steam as he exhaled. His legs carried him towards the Forbidden Forest, but before he was even halfway there they gave out and he sat on the grass, head buried in his hands, tired, nauseous, and hungry, to wait.

-----

Hermione, meanwhile, had passed the night in the sweet comfort of sleep. Though last night had been a little… odd… it had been fun nonetheless, and that was an understatement. With a certain buoyant joy in her heart she threw open her curtains and gazed out across the grounds. Looking at the crisp frost that overlay the orange foliage and green grass she could almost smell that clean autumn air already! She decided this was just what she needed to wake up. A walk.

She got up and dressed.

Walking through the invigorating morning grounds, she had the acute feeling as though the air was caressing her skin, pressing its lips against her neck. It was a delicious, nearly palpable emotion of excited contentment.

Last night had been fantastic.

She could still taste Harry's lips on her own, more gentle and innocent than Draco's. His inexperienced hands fumbling somewhat, breathing as though he knew not what was happening to him. It had been months since she had thought about Harry this way.

She briefly flashed back to the expression on Harry's face when he had been asked to join in, and laughed. It was this laugh, perhaps, that alerted Harry to her arrival.

"Hermione?"

"Oh, Harry! Hi, I didn't know you were out here! Why aren't you at breakfast?"

"Couldn't eat," he said gloomily.

Sensing his mood, or perhaps just his tone, Hermione spread her cloak onto the ground and sat beside him, trying to ignore the cold.

"What's wrong Harry?" she began, turning towards him.

Harry turned slightly to answer when he heard a sudden intake of breath as Hermione gasped, and covered her mouth with her hands.

"What?" Harry said, unconsciously bringing his hands up to hide his neck.

Hermione grabbed his hand and pulled it away, letting out a low moan that reminded Harry uncomfortably of last night. "Oh, Harry! You're neck! What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything! It was you and your crazy boyfriend who did it!"

"He's not my boyfriend," Hermione said automatically, before wondering if it was true. "Anyway, Harry why didn't you just get rid of them?"

"With what?" Harry said, starting to get angry. "Make-up? 'Cos incase you haven't noticed Hermione, I don't wear-"

"Not make-up, magic you dolt! Don't you remember – oh, never mind! Hold still then." Whipping out her wand she pointed it at Harry's neck and in a flash the bruises had disappeared leaving a lingering smell of witch-hazel.

"Oh, right," Harry said, embarrassed as Hermione put her wand away. "I didn't think of that."

"Did anyone see?"

"Huh?" Harry said, thinking of the spell.

"Your neck, Harry! For goodness sake, did anyone see it?"

"Oh, um…"

"Oh Merlin! Who?"

"Well… Ginny."

"What did she say?"

"Well, she asked who'd been sucking on my neck, basically."

"And what did you say?"

"I didn't say anything, I just ran off."

"Oh, this is just great. Okay, we'll just sit here until I think of something."

Hermione's good mood was definitely shot.

-----

Draco yawned silently as he stretched his fingers and arms, pulling himself into a sitting position on his bed. The grey green hue diffusing through the dormitory revealed it was quite late in the morning. Draco usually woke much earlier than this, as he seemed to need less sleep than average people. A snort from his left told him that Crabbe was still sleeping, so it couldn't be too late. Crabbe would never miss breakfast.

With the powerful grace of a cat Draco pulled his bed curtains to one side and stepped out of bed. The muted magical sunshine of the morning illuminated his long pale legs and slender upper body. A pair of green, pure silk boxers interwoven with a heating spell hid his manly lower body to some extent, although certain curves and bulges were visible as he moved.

Without looking to see who was watching, Draco dropped his boxers on the ground and quickly changed into his school robes and undergarments (but not in that order, obviously.)

He ran a hand over his hair. Being a son of an illustriously long line of pureblooded rich and powerful wizards, Draco never had to spend much time getting ready. From magic infused through generations his hair was always brushed, as were his teeth, and his skin always looked clean. It even smelt faintly of soap! He also never had to use the de-bruising spell Hermione sometimes used as his skin naturally resisted bruising and repelled most unsavoury blemishes, for example, dirt.

Feeling clean, and highly satisfied, Draco left the dormitory and climbed the stairs out of the dungeons. The clean, crisp air was like a splash of cold water upon his face, and feeling refreshed he turned towards the open doors of the entrance hall and looked onto the grounds. The morning was still.

Suddenly movement drew his eyes, and he noticed two figures sitting out by the lake. Both were instantly recognisable. Years of dislike mingled with fascination allowed him to identify Harry and Hermione even from a long distance, or in large crowds.

Thinking back to last night, Draco wondered what Harry and Hermione would be talking about now. An unbidden smirk flashed across his eyes as he figured it was probably about him. Well, let them talk, Draco thought. They can compare obsessions. He almost turned away in search of breakfast, but quite suddenly noticed the way Hermione's shoulders were set. Something was worrying her, and there weren't any tests today. Curious… thought Draco. Deciding it was worthy of investigation, he set down the path towards them.

A/N

Sort of a plot-based chapter, this was. I'm trying to introduce a little more character development and stuff, but never fear! More porn is on its way probably the chapter after next. And though this chapter was a little Harry-centric, the fiction still totally revolves around Hermione and Draco, so you fans out there don't worry. I'd love to know what you thought of this chapter and the character portrayal and everything.

Also sincere apologies for not updating sooner. I guess I was busy with stuff, but mostly I had a lot of trouble figuring out where to go after the threesome thing. I'm also thinking about editing chapter 5 sometime in the future as you guys didn't seem to like it that much, and I wasn't too happy with it either. Anyway, I will be updating more if there's still interest. :)

Thanks for reading! Please Review!