A/N: Longest chapter yet! Thanks for all the reviews, everyone. I know we are getting slightly... impatient? But things needed to get nice and awkward before we could move forward. So I present you with... more awkwardness. With a side of excitement.
Wednesday, she and Draco worked in silence for the majority of the day. She stopped at the café for a cup of coffee on her way up, and when she arrived at the Level 2 conference room, she saw Draco quickly vanish the coffee cup he'd brought up with his tea for her.
Thursday, they needed to talk to each other more. They couldn't land on any definite answers on the runes case, so they prepared reports for Robards, listing the possibilities. She headed back to Level 4 with thirty minutes left of the day, hoping for some time at her own desk before heading out.
Once she'd settled into her cubicle, Aiden knocked.
"Hey, long time, no see," he said. She smiled, politely. "Are you still interested in meeting up for drinks tonight?"
"Yes, definitely," she said, moving paperwork around. Ginny had slipped a tube of mascara into her bag just for the occasion. "I will meet you over at Rosenberg's party, though. I want to try and get a few things done at my desk."
"Great," he smiled at her. "I'll see you soon then!"
She stared at the spot he'd vacated. It was worth a shot. She might as well see if she could stand him outside of work.
She worked for a little while, listening to people bid each other goodnight, and when she checked her watch it was half past five already. She quickly closed up, making notes, and was glad she was not needed to finish the reports with Draco tomorrow, because this pile was ridiculous.
She conjured a mirror and attempted brushing the black goo on her eyelashes, and then headed out. She arrived at the café after the group had already ordered food. Aiden waved her over and directed her to a chair next to him that he'd saved for her, and she was pleasantly surprised at how well Aiden included her in conversations, especially the ones she had no interest in.
She sipped on a glass of water, politely declining half of Aiden's greasy sandwich and French fries, and she found herself laughing more, trying to get to know her coworkers better. Aiden rested his arm around the back of her chair, but he didn't touch her shoulders or neck like Ron used to. She always found that so nerve-wracking.
Once the party began winding down, she bid Rochelle a happy retirement, and blushed when Rochelle asked her quietly if she might mind signing something for her granddaughter for Christmas.
Aiden steered her outside with another two Ministry coworkers she recognized and one of their girlfriends. They took a nice walk for several blocks, and Hermione took the opportunity to get to know the girlfriend better. All in all, it was a pleasant evening so far. That was the thought running through her head when Aiden guided her into the next pub, hand resting politely on her back, and managed to knock the shoulder of a blonde girl on the arm of Draco Malfoy.
"Sorry, love!" Aiden paused when he caught sight of her date. "Malfoy! Fancy running into you!"
Aiden launched into a verbose story about Rosenberg's retirement party as Hermione cursed her luck. She looked up at Draco and saw his eyes on Aiden's arm, still curled behind her back.
"O'Connor, Granger, this is Noelle," Draco said once Aiden was finished.
Noelle smiled and laughed for no reason whatsoever. Her blonde hair was cropped short and curled loosely around her face and she had a tiny button nose and blue eyes. Hermione thought she recognized her as one of Draco's tabloid dates in the past.
"Hi! Aiden," he introduced himself. "Nice to meet you." Aiden shook her hand.
"Hi, I'm Noelle." She was American. And vapid. She assumed.
"Hello," Hermione said. "I'm Hermione Granger."
"Oh, my gosh! You are?" Noelle's eyes lit up and she grabbed Hermione's hand to shake it. "This is so cool!"
Hermione's eyes flickered to Draco in time to see him take a deep breath and rub his temple.
Noelle was still talking. "We had news of the war in the U.S. too, and they would always mention the three of you! Ron Weasley and Harry Potter aren't here too, are they?" Noelle looked over Hermione's shoulder, as if she could wish them there.
"Er, no. I'm just grabbing drinks with coworkers tonight."
"Oh, Draco we have to stay now!" Noelle turned to Draco and grabbed his elbow. Hermione thought of white teeth and silky brown hair and tan long legs and suddenly was irrationally upset. How dare he do this to Katya. That angel.
"Yes! Grab a table with us!" Aiden was flagging down the friends they'd walked in with, getting them to push bar tables together. "Malfoy and I will grab a round of drinks."
"Awesome!" Noelle bubbled. "Hermione, sit next to me!" And Noelle took the stool on the end, patting the one next to it. This was… not the night she'd anticipated.
Once a stoic Draco and an animated Aiden had left for the bar, and Hermione settled next to her new best friend, she turned to Noelle and said, "What brings you to London, Noelle?"
"I'm home from Muggle university, visiting family," she said brightly.
"Oh, your family lives here?" Hermione said, unwrapping the scarf from around her neck.
"Yep! I was three during the First Wizarding War, so my dad sent me to America to stay with relatives and go to school out there."
Hermione nodded, not fully interested. "And how do you know Draco?" She tried innocence.
"Oh, our families have been friends for years," Noelle waved a hand, as if this was of no importance. "But you two went to school together, yeah?"
"Yes, we sure did." She looked up and Draco and Aiden were returning to the table. Draco levitated all the drinks, setting them down at each person – even Aiden's friends who he didn't know. Noelle got a frilly cocktail, firewhiskies for Draco and Aiden's two friends, wine for the girlfriend and Butterbeer for her and Aiden.
Aiden was trailing behind him, saying, "I got the next round, Malfoy!" Draco looked like he'd had quite enough of him already, which made her smile. Aiden grabbed the stool on Hermione's right, and Draco sat across from Noelle. An odd little picture.
"So, Aiden, what do you do?" Noelle asked, placing her delicate mouth on the straw of her drink in a way that Hermione found to be both adorable and vulgar.
"Hermione and I both work in the Department of Magical Creatures for the Ministry. We're both specialized in dragons."
"Oh, my gosh, dragons! I love dragons!"
Hermione raised her brow and took a sip of her Butterbeer.
"Yeah?" Aiden smiled brightly. "Do you have a favorite kind?"
"The blue one!" Noelle said.
Hermione blinked. "The… Swedish Short-Snout?"
"Whichever one is blue. Blue is my favorite color!" Noelle giggled and slurped her drink. Hermione flipped her eyes over to Draco and gave him a look that she hoped conveyed "are you fucking serious."
He met her eyes and looked down at his firewhisky. She was still watching him when a hand dropped on his shoulder, Slytherin ring on the thumb.
"I'd recognize the back of your head anywhere, mate."
Draco looked back at the Slytherin who'd just interrupted her glaring contest, and she was shocked to see his lips part into a huge, honest grin.
"What are you doing here, you bastard?!" Draco stood and gave the bloke a hug. She finally got a good look at his face.
Marcus Flint. He'd gotten his teeth fixed.
She watched Draco as he met with his old friend and Quidditch captain, watching him radiate warmth as they quickly caught up before Draco turned to them.
"Marcus, you remember Noelle Ogden?"
Something switched in Hermione's brain, hearing Noelle's last name. She filed it away for later when Marcus gave Noelle a friendly hug. She didn't have any happy memories of Marcus Flint, and was reminded of this when his eyes landed on her.
"Hermione Granger," he said. Something sparkled behind his eyes, and Hermione wasn't quite sure she liked it. But he wasn't sneering at her, which she supposed was progress. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes."
"Hello, Flint. How have you been?"
"Well, thank you." He was still staring at her, gaze gliding over her face. "Are Potter and Weasley close behind?" He raised a brow and took a look around the pub.
"No," she said. "I'm on my own tonight." She raised a brow, giving him a look that she hoped said that she could handle herself, even if the ratio of Slytherins had just risen.
Flint, Draco and Noelle started catching up, asking each other about old families, what was Gregory Goyle up to, how's your father Noelle, congratulations on your business Draco…
Hermione felt Aiden lean into her. "Is that Marcus Flint?"
"Yes," she said, bringing her half empty glass to her lips.
"I think he locked me in Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom when I was a first year."
Hermione snorted, finding this whole situation too comical and too taxing. She laughed, wiping her eyes, and shifting to see Aiden smiling at her. When she turned back to watch Flint again, Draco's eyes had just left them.
She followed the conversation with Marcus Flint for a bit, then turned and tried to get an understanding of where Aiden and his friends' conversation had gotten to. She hovered on the edge of each conversation, quietly sipping her Butterbeer, watching Draco's face light up every time Flint made a joke or brought up a memory. When Noelle slurped the end of her drink – like the commoner she was – Draco and Flint offered to get another round. As they left, Noelle turned to her.
"This is fun, isn't it?" Her eyes were wide and starting to glaze from the cocktails. Hermione tried a smile and thought that Katya would never allow herself to become inebriated in front of strangers. She had more class. She was so offended by this girl on Katya's behalf… obviously.
"How long have you and Draco been seeing each other?" Hermione asked, and immediately sobered. How had that come out of her mouth?
"Oh," Noelle laughed. "We're not really seeing each other." She sucked the melted ice through her straw, and Hermione wondered if Noelle knew about Katya – having been from the states, perhaps she didn't get the Prophet. Hermione brought the end of her Butterbeer to her lips. Noelle said, "He's only really after my money." And grinned at her while Hermione coughed.
"Wh-what?" She grabbed a napkin to keep from spitting.
"I mean, not my money. My father's money." Noelle cackled at the look on Hermione's face. "My father's Tiberius Ogden. He wants him to invest in his company, and join the Board of Directors."
Ogden. That's why it was familiar. Noelle and her brother were the heirs to the Ogden's Old Firewhisky fortune. Merlin, half the table was drinking the stuff.
"Oh," Hermione started. "I hadn't realized…"
"So, Draco's schmoozing us, essentially. We're going to have lunch with my father this weekend." She stabbed at her ice, casually.
"Oh, that's wonderful. Er, I mean… does that upset you at all?"
"Nope!" She laughed. "Draco Malfoy can buy me drinks and take me to parties all he wants! I mean, damn, he's gorgeous." Noelle stuck her tongue out at her, and Hermione laughed.
Alright. Perhaps Noelle wasn't so bad.
Draco and Flint returned with a round for the entire table. As they approached, Flint said something that made Draco laugh. Really laugh. His face split and his eyes crinkled and the sound boomed. It was lovely.
Aiden and his friends thanked them for the drinks, and she heard one of them whisper, "I had no idea Draco Malfoy was so nice."
A second Butterbeer slipped into her hands, but she hadn't asked for it. She really shouldn't drink it if she wanted any chance of Apparating home. Perhaps they had a food menu at this pub.
Flint took the only open seat at the table – the one across from her and next to Draco. Noelle was giggling next to her at something Draco said.
"Do you not drink, Granger?"
She looked up and Flint was examining her over the top of his glass as he sipped.
"No, I do." She wrapped her hands around the glass. "Just slowly." She met his eyes and a challenge was there.
"I bet you're taking points from us all in your head." He smirked at her. "'Ten points from Slytherin for having more than one drink per hour.'" He nodded at Noelle. "'Ten points from – whatever-the-fuck house you were in at Ilvermorny – for giggling out of turn.'"
Noelle proceeded to giggle. Hermione kept a cautious gaze on Flint. She had plenty of comebacks running through her head, but all of them would put a direct stop to this evening.
"Were you a goody-goody, Hermione?" Noelle asked, smiling.
Before she could answer – "Oh, she was the worst!" Flint said, eyes on her. "Even before she was a prefect she was walking around like Head Girl." His eyes were dancing, lightly teasing, but she could see the Slytherin working. She kept her eyes on him, not looking to Draco. He was sitting quietly. "Tell me, Granger," Flint continued, "did you ever break the rules, even once?"
Why was he doing this? He was goading her, but why did it feel like flirting? Her hands tightened on her glass.
"I broke the rules loads of times," she said to him. She picked up her Butterbeer, not blinking. "But unlike you, I never got caught." She sipped. Punctuating and ending the conversation.
Flint smirked. Noelle giggled. Draco shifted.
She spent the next hour in this awkward limbo. She tried desperately to latch on to Aiden's conversation, which he graciously would catch her up on, but Flint kept pulling her back towards him. Asking questions about Harry and Ron, prodding at her to relive disastrous memories from Hogwarts. Draco would frown every time Flint would speak to her and stay silent. Noelle would giggle. She eventually turned her entire body toward Aiden, hoping her physical language said she was done.
Aiden offered to buy the next round, and after declining a third drink she took the opportunity to grab his chair and scoot closer to the girlfriend – whose name she'd already forgotten – and away from the Slytherins. They chatted briefly as the group started morphing. Noelle took a trip to the loo causing Draco and Marcus Flint to stand, like the pure-blood gentlemen they were raised to be, and one of Aiden's friends followed him to the bar. Flint and Draco remained standing, stepping slightly away, laughing. When the girlfriend saw a friend of hers and excused herself, Hermione sipped her drink and began concocting her escape plan. It was nearing nine o'clock, and she wanted to get to work early tomorrow to make progress on her desk.
She shook her head, realizing that she'd been staring at the woodgrain on the bar table for thirty seconds or so, letting her mind run through her tasks for tomorrow. She must have looked quite soused.
The Butterbeer was making her so warm. Hermione finished the last of it and placed her glass on the table, reaching into her bag for a hair tie. She threw her hair up in a bun and discreetly used a bar napkin to pat her neck dry.
She looked around and found Aiden talking with a familiar face, possibly a Hogwarts alum. Draco had his arm around Noelle's waist, chatting with Flint. She decided to run to the loo to splash cold water on her face. And then maybe she'd bid Aiden goodnight and go home.
Slipping off the stool proved challenging, and she blamed that second Butterbeer and her lack of dinner. If only she'd ordered something at the first café, but all the food looked so greasy.
She'd heard Ginny tell her once that you never know how sloshed you really are until you stand up, and she was feeling the full effect of that for the first time. She wandered over to the hall with the bathrooms, and found three girls leaning up against the wall, waiting. She leaned with them for a moment, fanning herself. The girl closest to her leaned in to her.
"If you think you're going to heave, you can go ahead of me."
Hermione smiled. "That's very kind, but I'm just so warm. And a little dizzy."
"Did you have one too many? I'm trying to pace myself by standing in line for the bathroom, but usually I'm in your shoes." She smiled a crooked smile at her. Her bangs were too short for her forehead.
"I guess so." Hermione closed her eyes. It felt so nice to lean against the cool wall. "No, wait." She stood tall again. "I've only had two Butterbeers tonight."
"Maybe it was something you ate? Not settling?"
"Right. That must be it." Hermione pushed off the wall. "I'm just going to step out for a second."
The girl said something to her, but she wasn't listening. She was concentrating on walking. Her heels were wobbling underneath her… She looked down at her flats. She wasn't wearing heels.
She found the exit sign in the air, floating above a side door, and pushed her way out, feeling the cool air against her cheeks before her foot missed the step down. She didn't even see it. She righted herself by throwing her hands out and onto the ground, feeling the cement scratch her palms and hearing the door close behind her. She stood tall again and the momentum threw her back against the door. She turned to her left and crept along the wall, away from the exit.
This wasn't right.
She hadn't eaten. It couldn't have been food poisoning.
Poisoning.
Hermione gasped and leaned against the brick. She felt her wand against her hip. Her bag still across her shoulder. Her body was sliding. She tried to stay tall. She was sliding left. Her hand found a dirty crate and kept her up, leaning.
She needed Harry. She needed to…
Where was Harry?
Harry wasn't here.
She needed to get home. She had ipecac there. She pulled her wand and it dropped to the ground, clacking against her eardrums. She leaned to grab it and fell forward again. Her fingers grasped it and she used the crate to push herself up.
How did this happen? She'd had two Butterbeers. It was in the Butterbeer. Someone had slipped something into her drink.
She needed to throw up. To empty it before it entered her blood further. There was a spell for it. What was it?
Who did this? Who handled her drinks? She tried to remember what the bartender looked like. The streetlamp across from her blurred into two. Would she die? In this alley?
Something was familiar. Something pulling at her. Slipped something into her drink. There was something so… Muggle about it. Why wasn't she dead yet? What was the point?
Date drug. That was the phrase.
Drugged? Who drugged her? The only person to give her drinks tonight –
"Granger?"
The heat left her. As she dragged her eyes to the door to see Draco Malfoy scrutinizing her, she felt a chill like ice.
"Malfoy." She whispered. Her tongue heavy.
He let the door close behind him, and it was silent. It was only the two of them. Her heart was racing.
"What are you doing out here?" she asked, words tripping.
"About to ask you the same question." He looked down at her wand in her hand. "I hope you're not trying to Apparate, Granger. You don't look like you're in any state."
"Why are you out here?" She tried again. Maybe he didn't hear her the first time. She tried to focus her eyes on him as he walked to her but he was blurring.
"Just how many did you have at the retirement party?"
… first right to auction them off to the highest bidder… for whatever purpose they would like.
She felt her heartbeat in her ears, spinning, and her lungs grabbed for air.
"How did you know I'd come out here? What do you want from me!"
He stood in front of her now, two steps away. His face came into focus and he was squinting at her like she was a stray dog he needed to leash.
"What's wrong with you?" he said. He might have taken a step closer.
… for whatever purpose they would like.
She clutched her wand in her right hand, wood indenting her skin, and tried to put up her left, telling him to stop, but she heard the words tumble from her lips and they were jumbled.
"You're bleeding," he said, and she remembered the sting as she fell forward, palms catching her. She turned her palm over and Draco reached for her, grabbing her left wrist to look at the cut.
The moment his fingers brushed her skin, she exploded.
Magic shot down her arm, into her chest and down to her curl her toes. It was warm and cool at the same time. There was buzzing in her bones, and her blood rocketed through her veins, and she knew something was wrong but it felt so good. She gasped and dropped her wand to the ground as she scrambled to touch him.
She grabbed his collar to pull him closer, fingers sliding up onto his neck, burning as she touched skin, and she must have launched herself at him because she was falling forward into him. He gasped as he caught her, and her cut left hand wound into his hair. Finally.
Her toes barely scraped the ground as he righted them, his hands on her hips, and her face was against his neck. The scent of him made her fingers curl and she sighed into his ear.
"Draco…"
She needed more. Her lips found the spot where his jaw cut a beautiful line away from his neck and she kissed him there. His skin was so warm. She needed more.
She kissed a line down his jaw, letting her tongue taste him, gasping for breath, and finally his arms moved.
One hand stayed on her hip, squeezing and moving slowly to press her pelvis closer, and one danced up her back, moving up to her neck. She moaned as he touched her skin.
"Granger, what are you doing?" he wheezed.
Her lips were making their way to his, and one of them was shaking. This… wasn't right. She was burning for him, but how did they get here.
She knew it was the drug. She'd been poisoned and was attacking him with her body and mouth. This wasn't fair. This wasn't how it was meant to happen.
She gathered any strength she had left as her mouth sucked on his chin, his head turning towards her, and pushed him away. He stumbled two steps back and the force of it threw her back as well, landing against the wall, head smacking against the bricks and she saw stars.
Every ounce of her body wanted to reattach to him, but she could feel the buzzing stop, the spinning in her abdomen slowing.
"What did you do to me?" she croaked, her vision blurring again, though she didn't know if it was due to the slight head injury.
He was panting. She couldn't make out his face, her head heavy, and she was glad for the wall behind her.
"What?" he whispered.
"Why are you doing this?" she said, slowly coming back to sense and remembering that she was alone in a quiet alley with the boy who wanted to sell her… or buy her. And she wasn't sure which was worse right now. And her wand had rolled away.
"Granger?"
And she was slipping to the left again. It was okay. She knew the crates would catch her again. She put her hand out to stop herself, and gasped when she felt Draco's arm come around her waist. It wasn't like before. She wasn't affected by the poison. Maybe it was over?
"What's happened to you?" he demanded. Her head lolled and he must have tried to help her, because suddenly it was all back. The dancing electricity. The burning. His hand was on her cheek, keeping her head up and she groaned and attached her hand over his, keeping him there.
His other hand was already on her waist lightly and she used her free one to grab his shirt again.
"Oh, god, Draco."
She turned her head and began kissing his palm, then lapping at his wrist, holding it to her. She moaned, sucking on the thin skin. She could feel his breath on her face. His hand left her waist and supported them against the wall as he moved closer, and the image of Draco and Katya came to mind. Just like this. Outside of a bar, pressing her up against a wall.
"Granger…" His voice slipped over her like oil.
"Stop!" She dropped his hand and pushed. He released her and she could breathe again. "Don't do this!"
The burning stopped and just before her vision blurred again, she saw him step back, holding both hands up in surrender. His cheeks pink and his breath misting in the air between them.
She leaned heavily against the wall. "Why did you follow me out here?" Her voice was clear at least.
He kept his hands held in front of him, fingers spread. "I saw you exit."
Why did that matter? Where was Noelle?
He wasn't going to buy you. He was going to save you.
She shook her head, bouncing Lucius Malfoy's voice around until it was silent.
"What did you give me?" she snarled at him. She began to sweat, a mist hazing her sight, and she knew it would stop if he would just let her touch him again. She squeezed her fists.
"Give you?" He squinted at her. And she noticed that his hair was jumbled from her fingers in the most attractive way.
"What did you put in my drink, Malfoy?!"
She watched as he opened his mouth, and closed it. He brought his hands down and stared at the door they'd come from. Then he blurred again and she couldn't watch him.
"What is it? How do I stop it?" Her words tumbled again, and she felt her body sliding. She heard him step forward to help- "DON'T TOUCH ME!"
His form stopped. She grabbed for the crates and leaned. "Why did you poison me? What do you want?"
He remained silent as the world continued to spin. Her brain worked. The point of the drug would be to take advantage of a "willing" partner. But he'd stopped every time she'd pushed him away.
She looked up at him. He was scowling down at her, his hands clenching and unclenching, his jaw doing the same. He wanted to help her, but she wouldn't let him touch her.
Maybe it wasn't him.
He took a breath, opening his mouth to speak, and the side door squelched open.
"There you guys are!" Aiden.
Hermione closed her eyes and focused on her breathing.
"We're talking about heading to the pub down the street," Aiden said, his cheery voice cutting through the alley. "What do you think?"
She opened her eyes and tried to stand up tall. It was a bit easier. It was clear from Aiden's face that he found nothing wrong with his… "date"… being alone in an alley with another man. She envied that optimism and naiveté.
"What's going on?" he said. And she realized they hadn't responded. She looked at Draco and his eyes were on the ground.
Maybe it wasn't him.
"I… I had one too many." She swallowed, and felt Draco's eyes. "Draco caught me trying to Apparate home. And I'm in no state." She laughed lightly.
"Granger," Aiden laughed. "You're such a lightweight!" His face was sliding in and out of focus. She pushed hair out of her face and heard him say, "You're cut?"
Aiden reached for her wrist. Draco jumped, and she was too slow. He touched her skin. And nothing.
"What happened?" Aiden asked, still looking down at her hand, oblivious to them.
Hermione looked from where Aiden's fingers touched her bare skin up to Draco, to find him looking at her wrist too. If she was only affected by Draco's touch, why would anyone else have done this to her?
His eyes slid up to her, and she glared at him, tears blurring his face.
"I fell."
Aiden chuckled. "Okay, let's get you home, Granger." He swung an arm around her shoulders, and Hermione watched Draco take them in. He looked back at the ground. Aiden said, "Good chatting with you tonight, Malfoy!" and began to steer her down the alley towards an Apparition point.
"Granger." His voice gave her chills. The good kind and the bad.
Aiden turned them around and she saw Malfoy retrieving her wand from between the crates and holding it out to them. She took it.
"Oh ho!" Aiden laughed. "The Golden Girl taken down by a few Butterbeers, huh?" He squeezed her shoulder and turned them back down the alley. She watched her feet as they walked, feeling more in control the further away they got from Draco.
She frowned, tears pricking behind her eyes. Aiden didn't know how right he was. She had let her guard down with the Slytherins. And she'd been attacked.
Aiden had helped her up the stairs, made sure she got the door open to her flat, and had given her a silly smile as he said they should do this again sometime. Hermione almost laughed, or cried.
She shut the door behind her and found Harry and Ginny watching television. They smiled at her. She dropped her bag, entered the kitchen, opened the cabinet underneath the sink and pulled out the ipecac. She pulled her hair back, took a swallow, and coughed over the sink.
She heard Ginny's quiet footsteps against the tiles. She placed her hand on her back and rubbed, grabbing the ipecac bottle and reading the label.
"What's wrong?"
Hermione was gagging and crying and she squeezed the counter as she heaved, regretting losing the taste of Draco's skin even as she hated him.
She stayed up all night, running through the events of the evening and researching love potions. With a clearer mind not muddled with panic, it was easier to surmise that Marcus Flint had something to do with this.
Draco had only touched her skin when concerned about the cut on her hand. Had he slipped her a potion and followed her outside to….
Had that been the goal, he could have made contact with her skin immediately. He seemed just as confused about the effects.
Also, why?
And before the number 35,000 could run through her brain, she amended: Why now? Why in a public place?
She went in to work about an hour late. She headed directly to the second floor, and straight into the conference room. Draco was standing over the table, papers splayed out before him. He lifted his head when the door opened and locked eyes on her. She shut the door behind her and held her head high.
"I'm sorry I accused you of drugging me last night," she said. He set down the paperwork he was looking through and turned to face her, the entire twelve-person conference table between them. "I had… I had just figured out what was happening when you stepped outside. I thank you for coming out to check on me, but I know now that your intention was not to follow me out to…" She looked over his shoulder and swallowed. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I was scared."
She looked back at him and he was looking down at the desk. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle. He tossed it to her and, surprisingly, she caught it. There was one drop of a silvery potion inside.
"Ashwinder egg, asphodel, and several other things," he said. "Its effects should be a slow heating process, followed by dizziness and disorientation, and eventually lust when touched by the person whose hair has been added to the potion." He stared at the bottle as she examined it. "It was Flint."
She looked up at him. "And he used your hair, and not his own?"
He swallowed and as his throat moved she saw the bruise on his neck from her mouth. She looked down at his right wrist and saw another.
"Marcus has very interesting ways of amusing himself." He kept his eyes on the papers. She wondered why he didn't use a glamor on his neck and wrist. His knuckle was scraped, too. From the wall?
She pocketed the bottle. "Thank you for coming outside to check on me. And thank you for not… taking advantage of the situation."
He breathed a laugh. It was almost a sneer. Was that funny? Was it an outrageous idea that he would have taken it any further? She felt embarrassed for even mentioning it.
"I must have a different definition of 'taking advantage of the situation,'" he said, giving the table a condescending smile.
She frowned. He felt guilty. She thought of his hand running up her back and the way his mouth almost turned towards her. The way he stepped into her, pressing her back against the brick wall.
"It could have been a lot worse last night." She turned and left him there.
She took the lift down to Level 4. She got to her desk and Aiden popped his head out.
"There she is!" She could punch him. "Feeling better? Ya know, we missed quite a bit of fun last night."
She grimaced. "Really?"
"Yeah! Pub brawl! Malfoy and Marcus Flint!"
She stopped, heart beating. "What happened?"
"I guess right after we left, Malfoy went back inside and started wailing on Flint! I guess he was flirting with Noelle or something?"
"Huh. Sorry to have missed it." She smiled at him and went to her desk.