Out of Hand II: A Matter of Time by relativelypositive

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter related and I make no money from the use of the characters created by J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 2

"So my penis is dangerous, huh?"

"Not as dangerous as I'd like it to be."

Hermione smiled as Draco's blush bloomed.

"You can dish it out, but you can't take it? Come on, Slytherin!"

Hermione loved that Draco was such an enigma. He had a sense of sophistication about him that fooled everyone, yet he was so innocent.

But only when it came to sex. When it came to danger, violence, and fear, Hermione was discovering that he was well seasoned.

Regardless, she did have vague plans to sit down with Draco and make sure he knew she was mostly kidding when she peppered their conversation with innuendo. She had found out the hard way that he was skittish.

"Let's go get some lunch," he changed the subject. "We can catch just the end, then I think we should go find a secluded spot and make out. We should probably spend time together while we still can."

"Is this really such a huge thing? They can't really keep us apart, right?"

Draco sighed, and Hermione didn't like the forlorn note to it. "The Wizengamot is making an example of us. Well, my mother is forcing them to. I don't know why she's doing all this, other than to try to save face."

"I understand. If we can't be stellar examples, let us serve as horrible reminders."

As was their new habit, their hands were securely linked as they approached the Great Hall. Other students were giving them a wide berth, still seemingly shocked at the couple.

They were in their own little world as they entered the Great Hall. Hermione automatically went left toward the Gryffindor table, and Draco veered right toward Slytherin. They both stopped short when their linked hands separated.

"Oh," said Hermione. They hadn't discussed any of the practicalities, and she felt irrationally upset. Could she take Draco to the Gryffindor table? Would he come to the Gryffindor table?

She didn't feel like she was up to braving the Slytherin table, so she didn't offer.

"I guess…I'll see you after lunch?"

"Yeah," Draco agreed, but instead of moving away he grabbed her hand again and pulled her out the door. When the doors shut Hermione found herself lifted and pressed to the wall in front of those students unfortunate (or fortunate!) enough to remain in the hall.

Hermione lost track of time as Draco kissed her.

She was brought back to the world by a loud scoff.

"You slut! Clearly that's how you get a titled husband! Spread your legs and—hmmph!"

Hermione's eyes had popped open in surprise when the nasty girl she didn't even know started her tirade. Hermione was ready to disentangle herself from Draco and go on the defensive when he whipped out his wand and jinxed the girl without even a pause in their kissing.

Hermione giggled, effectively breaking the kiss. She earned a glare from the departing girl, but her attention was quickly drawn back to Draco.

"You go ahead and have lunch with your friends, I'll go see what's going on in my house, and we'll rendezvous in the library. Sound like a plan?"

Hermione couldn't for the life of her think of how to express herself in that moment. Draco could passionately kiss her and curse a girl with nasty boils at the same time! He defended her, even though he knew she could protect herself. Harry would have let her defend herself. Ron would have blustered and yelled, but ultimately done nothing.

It didn't even faze Draco. He just took care of the issue and moved on.

Wow. She wanted to find fault, to tell him that hexing that girl wasn't the solution, but she felt a warmth that she had never experienced, and it was awesome.

She was going to find a word for this feeling. She just needed to think on it for a while to discover what it was.

XXXXXXXXX

Draco smirked as he watched Hermione being greeted by her friends. She ducked her head shyly with a little smile.

She was so pretty.

"You smug bastard. Sit down and let me live vicariously. Tell me she kisses better than Pansy."

Draco sat down across from Blaise and prepared to spread the good word.

"No comparison."

"What did your mom want?"

"To expedite the wedding."

"You're shitting me."

"Nope."

"She's not expecting it until after your apprenticeship, right? It would just be nuts otherwise."

"Nine months."

"Nine months after your apprenticeship? Perfect!"

"No, nine months from now, immediately after my seventeenth birthday."

"You're shitting me!"

"Nope."

"Is she out of her mind?"

"Quite. She also has orchestrated chaperones."

"For who?"

"Originally I think she was trying to torture Hermione, but Dumbledore, in his infinite insanity, decided to give me a chaperone as well."

"Sucks to be you!"

"Indeed."

"Where did she hit on the idea of chaperones?"

"She petitioned the Wizengamot to reinstate the Courtship Mandates."

"Since yesterday? You're shitting me!"

"Nope."

"That crazy bitch! No offense."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione had just settled between Lavender and Neville when a set of owls flew in. The students were all confused, as correspondence was delivered at breakfast.

Hermione had an inkling what this was about as an owl stopped in front of her and offered her his envelope. As she expected, it was about the flipping Courtship Mandates. She was to pack her trunk, as she'd be moving into dormitories formerly used by guests. She'd be joined by the other engaged girls and their chaperones.

She strained to see who else had gotten owls, but didn't want to be obvious about it.

The two owls she could see were both at Ron's spot. A large basket was sitting in between them, bursting with baked goods and other small treats. What in the world? It wasn't his birthday. Was Molly feeling guilty about something? Hermione looked for Ginny, and noticed that she was busy ignoring her brother and his treasure.

She craned her neck, finally gave up, and stood to see that Draco had also received an owl. Blaise was next to him, trying to stifle his laughter, when another owl came and perched in front of him.

Hermione couldn't hear him, be she saw his reaction. His face fell, and he turned to Draco and punched him on the arm. Hermione wasn't the best at reading lips, but she was positive that the words that came out of Blaise's mouth were, "Your fucking mother!"

She smiled to herself as she sat back down.

"You look awfully smug." Lavender was leaning toward Hermione as though they were confidants. "What's in that letter?"

Well, Hermione thought, it's not like it's going to stay a secret forever.

"I'm moving out of our room and into a different dormitory where I'll be living with the other girls that are engaged and our chaperones."

Lavender leaned back in shock. "They don't do that anymore! My grandmother used to talk about her chaperone all the time. Said she was a sadistic bitch. Those were her words. My ancient grandmother said that to me. I was probably seven."

"Well, I'm getting one, and Draco's getting one, and—"

"Wait, why are the boys getting chaperones?"

"Equality. Part of these Courtship Mandates."

"Courtship Mandates? Are they putting you through any of the tests?"

"What tests?"

"There are these invasive tests where the Ministry checks to see if you've been living virtuously."

"They want to know if I'm a virgin?"

"Hermione! Keep your voice down!"

"Jeez. Sorry. So what, they wave a wand around you a bit and pronounce you slutty or pure?"

"It's a physical examination. Down there."

Hermione thought about that for a second, wondering where the indignities would end.

"Well, if they're going to go spelunking for my hymen, they're out of luck."

A/N:

ASJS! I've missed you so. How was your September? As my sole reviewer for chapter one, I just wanted to check in. Thanks for all the reviews on the original story and I hope you like this section just as much.

Thanks for all the follows and favorites!