What Binds Us Chapter 6, a harry potter fanfic

Title: What Binds Us [Chapter 6/??]
Author: Rorania
Rating: R
Warnings: Language, sexual references
Word Count: 3,238
Summary: Starts after HBP. Draco's under protection of the Order, much to the Golden Trio's dismay.

Chapter 六

六六六六六六

ー

The next morning, Hermione returned to her dorm to change clothes. She stopped short, noticing something yellow peeling out from the sofa. Walking closer, she saw that Malfoy had sprawled out on the couch, one shoe on, tie and outer robe flung about, and the top few buttons on his shirt missing, his collar gaping open. Coming around the couch to inspect him further, Hermione saw his chin was bruised and his lip cut open. She bent over him, and reached an unsteady hand out to trace the small trail of blood dried on his chin. She shifted and she gasped startled, pushing on his cut a little too hard. It started to bleed again. Hermione stared at it, staining her fingertip.

She glanced up at Blaise came out of his room. Blaise strode out, but paused when he noticed her and Draco and then the blood dripping from her finger. He glanced down at Draco and noticed the source of the blood and looked back at her in horror.

"What?" she frowned.

"Please, tell me you don't have an open sore." Blaise breathed.

Hermione's frown deepened. What an odd request. "Why?"

"Because the mixing of blood in the Wizarding world constitutes the first step of the marriage rites."

Hermione stared him down.

"Oh really? Then how come they can screw any witch they see? They certainly share DNA there."

Blaise shook his head. "DNA is different from blood. At least to wizards. It means you both are bound to each other for a year."

Hermione lifted a brow, not buying any of it. "Just a year?"

Blaise nodded. "It's called a honeymoon period. It was to make sure the witch would get with child before her husband strayed."

" 'Strayed?' I see you wizards put a lot of stock in yourselves." She scoffed.

"Just wipe your hand off or something before it mixes with your blood."

Holding Blaise's gaze, she took a corner of Draco's robe and wiped the blood off her finger.

Holding up her clean finger, she waved it at him. "Happy?"

"That my dorm mates aren't binded? Yes, considering the circumstances, very."

Hermione just rolled her eyes and stood, heading for her room. She heard Blaise sigh, and a thought occurred to her.

"Blaise?"

He looked up from where he was bending over Draco.

"What would happen if either of the…'honeymooners' strayed before the year was up?"

Blaise gave her a look. "The unfaithful one would die." He stared at her a moment before turning away.

Hermione turned back to her room and closed the door behind her. She held up the finger so recently covered in Draco's blood for inspection. Hermione could still see the slit of skin from her papercut.

"Bloody hell…" she muttered.

：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：：

Refreshing herself for the day, she went down to remove the decorations from the ball as quickly as possible, skipping breakfast, before zooming off to the library. She needed to know more about these Blood Rites and laws…

That evening…

Hermione came into her common room, bleary-eyed. She walked over to the couch as sat, in a daze. She must've been there a good half hour, just staring into the fire. Faintly, she heard the door open, but didn't have to look up to know it was Draco. He had a distinctive swish sound to his walk.

Draco stopped at the sight of her bushy head. He frowned when she didn't turn, just stared straight ahead.

"Granger?"

No response.

"Granger. What's wrong with you?"

"We're bound."

Draco frowned, not hearing her clearly. "What?"

"We've been bound. There's nothing to be done," she repeated in her monotone.

Draco heard that, and it only made him more confused. He rounded the couch to sit beside her.

"Granger, what are you babbling about?"

She looked over at him slowly. Her eyes went to the cut on his lip.

"Your blood. My cut. It bonds us."

Draco frowned as he looked between her and the finger she was holding up to him. He saw where her skin had broken on the tip. He touched his lip as he came to a realization.

"…Granger, did you touch my lip?"

Slowly, as if she didn't hear him right away, she turned her head towards her lap and nodded.

"FUCK!"

Hermione started crying.

Draco jumped up and started pacing before the hearth.

Hermione started her ramblings again. "Blaise was right. The book said we're to be faithful for a year. Only a ceremony and the Marriage Vow is needed to make it permanent."

"How could you let this happen?!" Draco rounded on her.

"I don't know!" she cried. "What kind of wizard came up with a blood transfusing requisite to being married?! He should be shot!" she wailed.

Draco just sighed in exasperation. "Well, don't get any funny ideas about Scarhead now. Don't want your death to be on his head before I kill him."

She looked up at him through her tears. "That's not funny!"

"I'm not laughing!"

Then he did laugh. It was a nervous, disbelieving laugh as he plopped into a chair.

"Well. I guess this makes you my fiancé? ..Of sorts."

Hermione just looked at at him.

Draco shrugged. "You got us into this mess…"

"ME?!" Hermione threw a pillow at him, feeling marginally better when it hit him in the face before flying behind him.

"You just had to run off with Potty in the middle of my best moves…"

"Don't you dare blame this all on me, Draco Malfoy!"

"…Knowing what that would do to me, making me crazy enough to brave Gryffindor tower, only to get clobbered by those apes you call friends…"

Hermione stood. Glaring down at him she spoke, "First of all, Harry was my date, not you. Second, I had no idea what my spending time with a friend in need would do to you. Especially considering my world does not revolve around you! Third, don't threaten my friends; they've actually cared for me the past six years! You only seem to make me miserable and confused to no end!"

He stood to tower over her, glaring back.

"You're daft if you think I'm going to let you ignore me," he said, his eyes steely.

Hermione deflated then. "I guess I don't really have a choice now, do I?" she returned, just as calmly.

Feeling him search her face, she turned away and strode out of the room.

The minute she was out of sight, Draco sighed heavily and sank back down. What a bloody mess.

Hermione sat in class that Monday, stiff. No emotion showed on her face and it looked as if nothing else mattered in the world but her notes. She'd spent Saturday crying in Ginny's dorm and Sunday, studying in the Gryffindor common room. Ginny, thoughtfully brought her meals, even though she said she wasn't hungry. Who could think of food when one was bound to Draco, possibly for all time.

Harry and Ron wanted to know what was wrong, but the one time they asked, before she could say a word, she broke down in sobs instead and ran up to the girls dorm, so they didn't ask again.

Harry figured it had something to do with Draco so he sent scathing looks at him any time they had classes together and stuck close to Hermione.

Draco noticed this and shrugged it off. Bothering with Granger only got him in trouble, and he didn't feel like having a happy engagement night any time soon, despite what he knew of the binding.

Much to their misfortunes, they finally ran into each other that afternoon. Hermione's head was down as she came out of a corridor straight into Draco, sending her stumbling farther into him, her arms full of books pulling her down.

Draco caught her more to push her away than anything else, as her book's corner dug into his ribs. Regaining her balance with his help she stepped back about to stutter an apology when she looked up to see who it was. Then her apologetic face melted into an angry scowl and she brushed past him.

This made Draco mad so he spun and followed her.

"Watch where you're going, Granger." He snarled.

She ignored him so he continued. "What you think you're better than me? That I'm so low you don't have to respond? Look at me when I'm talking to you, Mudblood."

With that, she took her books and tried to slam the corner into his groin but he anticipated this and grabbed her wrists, squeezing painfully. She cried out and dropped the heavy tomes right before Draco shoved her back and pinned her against the wall.

"Let's make two things clear here, Granger. One, I did not get us into this mess and two, I am no more happy about it than you, so knock it of with this holier-than-thou attitude. You think I wanted to be bound to an annoying, know-it-all Gryffindor Mudblood?"

Hermione gave him the death stare.

"Of course not. And that's why I'm so angry because I know you'll use very single day that we are bound to tell me so!"

"You got us into this!" Draco roared back. "Why the hell did you have to touch me?! If I am so abhorrent to you, why such a gesture?"

"It was a moment of weakness, I assure you I will always regret," she bit out at him.

Draco was still holding one of her wrists captive against the wall. He stared down into her malevolent gaze, searching for any trace of the attraction he still felt, radiating from their sole physical connection. Hermione frowned back at him and shifted, uncomfortable under his scrutiny. She put a hand out to his chest to push him back but her protest died in her throat as a wave of the attraction hit her. Her gaze shot up to his. His head moved slowly towards hers.

As Draco pressed his lips to her upturned mouth, Harry and Ron rounded the corner. They stopped abruptly in shock, seeing their best friend kissing their archrival and enemy. When they saw Draco deepen the kiss, they snapped out of their shock.

Ron stepped forward. "Oi! Get off of her!"

Hermione tore her mouth from Draco's and gasped upon seeing her two livid friends. Harry followed one step behind Ron, who reached Draco and shoved him back.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ron yelled, while Harry grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her out of the way.

Draco calmly glared at his red-headed attacker as he wiped a bit of saliva from his lip.

"Not that it's any of your business, Weasel, but a man is entitled to a bit of…alone time with his fiancé."

Harry and Ron glanced at Hermione at her sharp intake of breath. She was glaring at Draco, so that's what they did.

"What are you playing at?" demanded Harry.

Draco glanced at Hermione. "Well, sweetheart, will you tell them or shall I?"

"You bastard…" Hermione spoke, her voice no louder than a whisper but carried more loathing and hatred than any of Ron's shouting. She spun away leaving all three of them.

They stared Draco down, who simply smirked at them before heading off the opposite direction.

Left alone, Ron and Harry looked at each other.

"Do have any idea what the fuck he was on about?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. "But I'd like to find out."

The boys finally found her at the lake. She sat under a tree looking out along the water.

"Hermione?"

She looked up at them and sighed.

"What's going on?"

Hermione went back to looking out at the water, as she told them what happened the morning after the ball.

"But that's ancient!" cried Ron. "Wizards don't to that part of the ritual anymore!"

Hermione sighed. "Your sister said the same except that the old 'Pureblooded' wizarding lines still do, like the Malfoys or Goyles. The magic still applies."

Harry frowned. "So if either of you…date, or kiss, or…sleep with anyone other than each other, you die?"

Hermione looked away.

"I believe kissing or dating and one would gain a life-threatening illness. The spell was made to keep the wizarding line going without any muggleborn bastards popping up, ironically."

"So what was Malfoy going on about you being affianced?" demanded Ron.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Because it's akin to an engagement, since we aren't officially married, just bound."

"You seem to be taking this well now."

Hermione glanced up at Harry. He was looking reserved and coolly at her. She frowned at him.

"You think I'm okay with this?" she asked, her voice raising.

Harry shrugged. "I didn't see you stopping him from kissing you?"

Her gaze turned hard. "We've talked about this, Harry. It's no longer simply a matter of my hatred for him and his discrimination of me. I can't explain it, it just happens."

Ron was frowning in confusion now. He glanced between his two best friends.

"What?"

"Why'd you dance with him at the ball then?"

"I was being polite!"

"Oh really? Is that why you let him lead you outside for god knows what?"

Hermione gaped at him.

"What is wrong with you?" she demanded.

"Several things really, you know, on top of having to kill a powerful, crazed lunatic who enters my head at will, one of my best friends is snogging one of his former minions! Is that enough of a problem for you?!" Harry yelled.

"Well, I'm sorry I forgot the world revolves around you, Harry! It escaped my mind in the middle of having to deal with Malfoy, and Blaise, all on my own this year, on top of Head duties, on top of finding those bloody horcruxes just so you and I, can live for the next fifty years!"

They both spun away, Hermione heading back to the castle, Harry towards the quidditch pitch. Ron looked one way before stepping the other way, in complete confusion. Normally, he and Hermione would fight, not Harry and Hermione. He didn't know who to go after or what to do. Shaking his head he cleared and thought. Okay, well he wasn't really good with girls and he always remembered Harry coming after him in one his fights with Hermione, so…

Ron went to follow Harry.

Meanwhile, Hermione stormed to her dorm with tunnel vision so even if Malfoy was in the common room, she didn't see him and slammed the door to her room behind her.

Draco was in the common room and smirked at her antics. Getting up from the couch, he strolled to her door and tried the knob. It was open, like he thought and he peeked in. Hermione was removing her jumper when her angry gaze saw him.

"Get OUT!" she screamed.

Draco only smirked and quickly slipped in and closed the door behind him. Hermione stormed towards him, wand out. Seeing her anger and not wanting to get blown up by accident, Draco waved his hand muttering expelliarmus, watching her wand go flying. She looked at his wandless hand in disbelief.

"Since when can you do wandless magic at will?" she demanded.

Draco shook his head and lifted his hand. She noticed a glittering silver ring. Suddenly it changed shape into a wand before changing back to a ring. While she was still processing this, he spoke.

"Scarhead and Weasel didn't take the news well?"

She frowned as his words registered. "Get. Out."

He stepped towards her, a mysterious glitter in his eye. She stepped back. He continued to back her up as he said, "I can't."

Disconcerted by his intent gaze, Hermione frowned. "Why not?"

It was the pull again. Feeling her magical energy crackling around her when he entered started it and he couldn't help but follow. Now, after seeing that brief glimpse of her stomach and undershirt, he couldn't seem to look away.

When he didn't answer, Hermione stopped abruptly and held her hand out to push him back.

"Stop it."

Draco's hand lifted to her hair and cupped her neck, pulling her mouth to his. Hermione's emotions were still racing and this combined with Draco's proximity, she couldn't pull away. She closed her eyes and moaned as he slanted his mouth across hers. The sound drove Draco crazy and he pushed her further back till he landed on top of her on her bed. Moving his hands up her sides, he continued his thorough exploration of her mouth and tongue with his. He pulled away after a while, lifting the bottom of her jumper to reveal her stomach and undershirt and traced the line of her jeans. She tensed at this, but relaxed slightly when his hand went up rather than down. Then it registered just where his hand was going to go instead and with all her might, she shoved him off of her. Draco rolled to the side and hit the post of her bed as she leaped to her feet. Turning she saw a very annoyed Draco Malfoy trying to get to his feet.

"A simple 'no' would've sufficed." Draco groaned.

"I-I can't do this." Hermione stuttered. "We don't like each other. Harry and Ron hate me now for having anything to do with you. You tried to kill Dumbledore, for Pete's sake!" she rambled to herself.

Draco frowned. "Who the hell is Pete?"

Hermione looked up at him, as if just noticing him.

"You have to go."

"Why? Because Potty and Weasel can't handle you making your own decisions?" Draco challenged.

"This isn't my decision! This is a horrible circumstance that we'll just have to bear for a year, and then forget about."

She stalked past him. Then she paused at his next words.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Granger?"

Hermione closed her eyes, wishing she could make him disappear with her thoughts.

"I know you read in your little research of the only way to get out of this…arrangement."

Hermione refused to look at him. "It said if we didn't want to wait a year and if that's the only alternative, then I'm fine with the year."

Suddenly, Draco was right behind her. "Are you sure?" he spoke in her ear.

She looked at him. She couldn't help it. Turning, she faced him. "Sleeping with you won't solve anything between us."

Draco lifted a brow. "I beg to differ."

"We won't be bound anymore, but then what? You continue your pathetic campaign to make my life miserable?"

"It doesn't have to be miserable," Draco countered, his voice deep.

Hermione searched his face before looking away. "That's the magical attraction talking."

Draco shook his head. "Oh, no. Granger, on occasion, I make decisions all on my own."

"And what have you decided?" she asked softly, despite her defiant gaze.

"That," he looked down at her, his breath fanning her cheek softly, "we could be very good together."

Hermione shook her head. "That is absurd." She stalked past him and opened her door. "Get out. Now."

Draco smirked at her and walked to the door. He stopped next to her and made to caress her cheek but she pulled away.

"This is not finished, Granger. I always get what I want."

Then he swept out the door.

Hermione watched him go out of the corner of her eye.

"Then you better want more limbs…" she muttered.