A/N: I've been busy, promise to get some more updates as soon as I can. I have been on a time crunch lately. Any encouragement in the form of a review or two would be appreciated. I know, a shameless plug for comments. Hehe

Chapter 11: Blushes, Bubbles, and Baths

"Oh hell, I forgot," moaned Hermione from the couch she lay on in the common room, her head nestled under a bag of ice someone had gotten for her.

"Forgot what?" asked Kelly, who was flipping through a reading assignment for divination class the next day.

"Forgot I have to tutor Draco tonight. What time is it?"

"7:30, what time do you meet him?" quipped Lavender, leaning backwards over the arm of the chair she was flung over.

"8:00, do you think he'd even notice if I don't show up? He's self-involve enough not to notice, right?"

"I think you're fighting a loosing battle, sweetie. You have to go, I'm thinking. If you are anything, Miss Granger, it is responsible and you agreed to help him." Kelly smiled as another groan left Hermione's lips.

"Fine, I'll go and be responsible, but I won't like it."

Hermione slowly lifted herself off the couch, grabbed the necessary books, shoved them into her bag, and wandered through the portrait hole, wishing she were not such a responsible person.

How to go about catching a girl who didn't want to be caught? It was an interesting challenge that one Draco Malfoy felt he was very up to meeting. So the Gryffindor girls needed help bringing Granger out of her shell. He was glad to oblige them. He had always thought, while a mudblood, she was a mildly attractive girl. Her breasts weren't too large, but they weren't small either so there was some satisfaction in looking at a girl who was well proportioned. He didn't so much like having to listen to explanations for spells he already knew how to work, but she did have an admirable knack for the class. Yes, Hermione Granger was different, a little self-centered perhaps, but she was something he could get used to seeing.

He had wondered occasionally, as he had about many girls, what it would be like to caress that smooth, milky skin of hers, to look into her eyes and see nothing but his reflection. He relished the feeling of being the sole thought in a woman's mind. Of course, it was just a game, nothing more. He wouldn't lose a bet to a bunch of Gryffindor, even if they were mildly attractive, and occasionally convenient, girls. He would admit, under pressure, Kelly was an excellent lay, but there was too much that he had to do to get her into bed to do it too often.

Glancing at the clock, Draco gathered his things for another painfully useless tutoring session. Life would be so much easier if he could just throw her down on a desk and have at it. Everyone would be better for it, in his opinion. She got an experience she would never forget, he got some action, and the deal was sealed with the girls, he would win hands down, his job done. It was true, if would definitely be easier if he didn't have to be tactful and gentlemanly about the whole damn affair. Waving off Crabbe and Goyle with a gesture, he left the dungeon common room. The castle was quiet this time of night, when the students were either studying or putting off studying. His shoes made little noise on the stone floor as he climbed the marble staircase up to the classroom they had used for the previous session. He pushed open the door and was surprised to find the room empty, no Hermione early and waiting impatiently for him to show up so she could get on with her life. Curious, and slightly annoyed, he waved his wand at the torches and lit the room. With a flippant gesture he put up the night sky she had created in their previous "lesson." Why not impress her with his wonderfully improved skills? The sarcasm in his head just didn't sound the same until he got to express it to someone.

A moment later the door opened and in popped a decidedly pale and bedraggled Hermione Granger.

"Alright, Draco, sorry I'm late. Bad day, moving on. Summoning spells are easy, please cooperate. I am in no mood to deal with you at the moment and am only here out of the goodness of my heart and the fact that I have an obligation to help a stupid, arrogant student in need. So, open your book, read the spell, say it, and we'll work on your wand work when I see what you can do, got it?" Her eyes dared him to argue with her.

"My, my, my, Granger, you are certainly in a huff tonight. What happened? You look awful." He smirked.

"Oh, honestly," she snapped. "If you must know, I ran into a wall, broke my nose, nothing serious. Can we move on now?"

"Ah, yes, a wall. Nasty things, walls. They always seem to move around when you least expect them."

"Oh for heaven's sake, pick up your wand or I am out of here, so you understand me, young man?"

"Did you just call me 'young man'? Are you my mother now, Granger?"

"Come off it! Honestly, pick up your damn wand and give it a swish. If I'm lucky maybe you'll make yourself disappear. Oh," she looked up, "nice work on the ceiling, by the way. I just noticed. It's nice to know you're not a complete waste of space. I was beginning to think----what do you think you're doing?"

Draco had moved close to her, hand trailing lightly over the skin of her arm, just enough to make the tiny hairs there stand at attention. "Nothing, just wanted to know make you quite babbling. I figured if you were being complimentary then I could get a little touchy-feely too."

"You know what?" Hermione said, pulling her arm out of reach and hoisting her bag onto her shoulder. "I think we'll have to reschedule. I would much rather be in the bath I had planned than be stuck in here with you. Good night, Malfoy. Send me a message when you come back into your own head and I'll see if I have time to deal with you."

She shook him off and shot through the door like the floor was on fire. He watched her retreating back through the door and smiled. He had a better idea.

He had been too close to her. No one made Hermione Granger lose her cool head, no one, and she wasn't about to be heckled by Draco Malfoy when she already didn't feel up to being in the same room with him. She headed down the corridors until she came to the prefects bathroom. She could use little privacy instead of using the easier access one in the girl's half of Gryffindor Tower. The room was delightfully empty, save for the sleepy-looking mermaid in the picture on the far wall. Hermione dumped her things on a fabric covered bench set against the wall. She stripped off her robe and went to turn the bath on, complete with her favorite scented, blue bubbles. She returned to the bench and pulled the curtain surrounding it to undress. Even if no one was in there at the moment, she didn't really want any of the other prefects walking in on her partially naked. Freed from her school uniform, crimson towel wrapped around her like a dress, she unfurled the curtain and made her way to the bath, slipping out of the towel and into the perfectly temperatures water. She leaned her head against the edge of the tub and closed her eyes with a sigh, inhaling the relaxing scents of lavender and mint. This was exactly what she needed, just a few moments alone to relax and regroup her thoughts.

Why did Draco have to be such a jerk all the time? Why did he touch her? His fingers barely brushing her skin had sent shiver in a ripple affect up and down her body. He had to know the affect her had on women, but then again he was only screwing with her. He enjoyed taunting her about everything else, why wouldn't he try to cross the line into physically harassing her? Still, she wasn't dead; she admired his looks and mind. If only he would use that big, fat head of his for something other than being a total jackass, then she might even be able to like his company.

She was partially dozing, lost in her own thought, and did not head the door open, or the rustle of clothing as someone walked in. It wasn't until the shadow fell of her eyelids that she opened then and slipped beneath the water, mouth open, and came back to the surface sputtering, wiping the soapy water from her eyes.

"Malfoy, what the hell? Do you follow me now, or what?"

He stood on the edge of the bath and smiled down at her, blond hair sliding into her eyes. A pile of clothing in the middle of the floor attested to the fact that he thought nothing of modesty. He stood there, naked as a jaybird, grinning broadly at her as the towel trailing from his hand fell to the floor. Hermione's eyes widened.

"Oh, hell no," she started, while reaching for her towel. He moved just enough out of reach that she would have had to show some breast to get to it. "You're insane, obviously."

"No, not insane," he began as he lowered himself into the bath near her. "Just curious. Why aren't you attracted to me? I know I'm not ugly, so that can't be the problem. We both know I can keep up with you in the intelligence department, yet you still seem to have no interest in me. Why?" He took a step forward towards her in the water.

"You're attractive, you don't need me to tell you that, but you also should have more sense than to pull a stunt like this. Now turn around so I can get out."

"No," he said, reaching for her wrist as she backed up. "Come here."

"No way." It was useless though. The floor of the bath was slick, the water collarbone deep on her, and she slipped, again, toppling into the water. Draco pulled her up, coughing bubbles, hair covering her face like a shaggy, wet dog's hair does. Well, she would have looked like a shaggy, wet dog if that particular dog had enjoyed multiple shades of blue bubbles in their hair.

"Let me----" He cut her off with small touch of his lips to hers.

"Let you, what?" he asked.

Using her free hand to push the hair from her eyes, she stared at him: his bare chest, his blonde hair, his dancing eyes. He leaned back in pulling her body against his. The feel of her soft, damp skin along his was interesting to say the least. She blushed as she turned her face up to look at him, the red creeping across the creamy, pale skin of her cheeks. He kissed her again, lips more adventurous this time, pressing harder, demanding that she kiss back this time. She did; it felt like the right thing to do at the moment. His free hand roamed down her arm, across her shoulder, down her back, tracing the gentle curve of her hip, before coming to rest on her lower back, pressing her into him. He slipped from her lips to her neck, nipping lightly with teeth, but not wanting to scare her off just yet. Hermione let out a little sigh, not exactly moan, which is what he was aiming currently. He bit the tender skin where her neck met her collarbone. Her hand convulsed around his bicep, where she had put them, ready to push him away at any moment, but obviously not really wanting to. He felt blood rush downwards from the rest of his body. Hermione did too. Her eyes widened and it was as she felt him growing against her stomach that she shoved him backwards into the water.

She took the time he was submerged to climb out and grab her towel. She rushed to the curtain as he came back up to the surface of the water, coughing like she had been and cursing more like a very wet sailor than any high born wizard.

He climbed out after her mumbling something like, "girls." Toweling off, he got to the curtain just as she was flinging it aside to make a break for the door.

"Hermione," he said, grabbing her by the shoulder to stop her forward progress.

Surprisingly, she stopped. "You used my real name. I didn't think you were actually capable of that."

He tried to kiss her again, but she stooped under his arm and did a kind of pirouette so that she was facing him. "Malfoy, I don't know what's gotten into you, but I cannot deal with this right now. Leave me alone….please." The last bit was very quiet.

Then she was gone through the door back to Gryffindor Tower where she could effectively hide from him for the rest of the night.

"Damn," was all Draco could say as he stared at the closed door, before gathering his things and dressing.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed it. Let me know what you think, please.