Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
"So what was so secret that you could only tell me here?" Daphne asked Hermione, flopping down on the couch in the Room of Requirement. It looked exactly like it had the first night that they were there. Daphne had been surprised to receive a passed note during class from Hermione asking her to meet here after classes.
"Well…I just, I had some questions." Hermione said, looking nervous.
"Are you asking me to give you the sex talk?" Daphne asked with a huge smile on her face. She wanted nothing more than to tell this little muggle-born all about sex. She longed to make her hair curl. Honestly, Hermione was such a smart girl, but sometimes Daphne thought she was more naïve than a first year.
"No, it's just well…I kissed someone." Hermione started. Daphne raised her eyes as if to say, "so?", before Hermione continued. "Who wasn't Graham."
"Oh." Daphne said, her face settling into a thin line, cautiously deciding how to discuss this with her. "Listen, Hermione. You and Graham aren't dating so I see no reason for you to sit on your hands like a little monogamous virgin. Graham certainly won't."
"But, I just don't want to seem like a tart." Hermione said with a blush on her cheeks.
"You won't, trust me." Daphne said, before adjusting her spot on the couch so that she was even closer to her. "So, who did you kiss?"
"Well, it was more that he kissed me." Hermione told her quietly. "Promise you won't tell?"
"Slytherin's honor." Daphne said with a teasing smirk on her face. "No, Hermione, I promise I won't tell."
"It was…Malfoy." Hermione said with a grimace.
The gasp of shock that came out of Daphne's mouth startled her, but Hermione was even more surprised to see how excited Daphne looked at the prospect of her and that ferret kissing. "How was it?"
"It was…well, it was pretty much perfect actually. He caught me completely off guard when he walked me home from the Slytherin Common Room on Saturday, but then it all happened so fast, it was over before I knew it." Hermione told her with a frown. "I think I…I think I want to do it again."
Daphne looked triumphant on the couch, perched like a queen. "Then you absolutely should do it again. I want you to take what you want, Hermione. You deserve it."
"So, what just walk up to him and grab him and plant a kiss on his lips?" Hermione asked. "I don't know, he seemed pretty aghast that he'd done it in the first place."
"No, here's what you do." Daphne told her with a smirk, before giving Hermione a devious plan to get Draco's lips back on hers.
Draco was minding his own business, walking down the hallways on his prefect rounds. It was the first time since he'd gone on them since he'd walked Herm-Granger back to Gryffindor Tower. Oh, Merlin, he couldn't believe he'd done something so stupid like kissing her! But she'd felt so perfect in his arms. He didn't know why he felt so possessive about her, but he found himself caring less and less on the way.
She was smart and witty and had a bit of a mean streak. Not to mention that the subtle changes to her appearance had him appreciating her in a completely new way. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't attracted to her before. He could admit that to himself, now. But, she was beautiful now, and how that her wrapper was a bit more attractive other boys were starting to see that too. And for less noble reasons than he wanted her.
Draco snorted at that idea. He didn't want her for noble reasons. He just wanted her because he'd noticed her first. He was no better than Pansy for kissing someone just because he wanted to kiss a mudblood. No, Hermione wasn't a mudblood. She was a muggleborn. That word was much too crass for her.
While he was pondering, he didn't see the broom closet door opening up, or the pair of hands reach out to grab him when he walked by. Draco tumbled into the broom closet and he heard the door shut with a click of the latch.
The pair of hands grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him to the other body in the closet with him. He brought his hands up to lean against the wall behind his attacker to steady himself, and he was met with wild curls and the scent of nutmeg. Could it be, Hermione?
He felt silky smooth lips meet his own. He resisted the kiss and slowly pulled away, taking his wand to light the small area. "Lumos." He was met with the furious firewhiskey colored eyes of Hermione Granger. Her lips were pressed together in a thin line. "What's the meaning of this, Granger?"
"I am just getting even with you." She told him. "You can't just kiss me like that and then run away." She stood on her tip toes and pulled his face to hers again. This time, he eagerly returned the kiss, pressing her body against the stone of wall behind her. He settled his leg in between hers and was pleased to feel the heat radiating from her core underneath her school skirt.
God, he felt amazing under her fingertips, she thought. His short hair was downy and soft and his lips felt perfect pressed against hers. Although they had a significant height differential, it didn't feel forced or awkward. When she nibbled on his bottom lip, he groaned, making Hermione feel very powerful to have this boy – no, this man – under her control.
While their tongues stroked each other, Hermione felt his hand slip underneath the white school shirt she wore, stroking the firm skin of her stomach. His fingers were surprisingly calloused and felt heavenly against her. She wanted him to touch her all over her body.
Draco let his hands push her shirt up farther and farther until it was impractical. He instead removed them from the shirt and unbuttoned the top few buttons. His fingertips traced the edge of her bra, and he moaned again at the feel of lace. What color was it? He couldn't tell. He'd dropped his wand and his spell had ended. She wasn't making any moves to stop him, so he pushed the cups of her bra down so he might touch her breasts. He palmed one globe of her breast with his hand and was pleased at how perfectly it fit in his hand. Her nipples were already hard and she pushed herself against him harder.
It was true that Hermione wasn't very experienced with sex, but she knew the practicalities of it. However, she wasn't expecting it to be so overwhelming, so all consuming. And she certainly didn't expect to have any of these feelings with Draco Malfoy. Realizing that it was him that was giving her all these feelings made her stop and push him away.
He was reluctant to remove his lips from hers but he did eventually, taking a step back. He listened to the sound of rustling fabric and instinctively knew that she was righting her clothing. Buttons back in their own little holes, he waited for her to speak. "This is the last time, Malfoy. That can't happen again." She didn't wait for a response before stepping out into the hallway. When he looked for her in the hallway, she was already gone.
Graham had taken to spending time with Hermione in the library when he didn't have Quidditch practice. Hermione usually welcomed the company because he didn't bombard her with endless questions about homework. Also, they usually spent the last thirty minutes or so before curfew in a passionate snog.
It was hard for Hermione not to compare Graham to Malfoy. Graham was rather dominating, which she liked sometimes, but they just didn't share that same level of…rightness that she had with Malfoy. She wasn't entirely sure why she couldn't get him out of her head. He was obviously attractive; anyone with eyes could see that. But recently she'd seen him in a completely new light with regards to his thoughts on blood purity. Plus he'd been so nice to her several times, before reverting back to his old ferrety ways. He seemed to understand her in a way no one else did.
She was also happy to spend time with Graham as Ron and Harry were still being stubborn about her going to Hogsmeade with a Slytherin. Ginny was making progress, though, as she tried to get the boys to see things from Hermione's perspective. Harry had been talking to her a little bit at dinner, but only when Ron was too absorbed in Lavender's mouth to pay attention to him.
Just then, she looked up from her work, realizing that Graham had been trying to get her attention. "Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts. What did you say?"
Graham smirked at her. "That's my little bookworm." Hermione tried not to grimace at the term of endearment. "I was just wondering…well, I know we've gone on a date, but I have really enjoyed our time together. I was wondering if you might want to go for a little more of an exclusive relationship?"
Hermione nibbled on her lower lip. Graham had a way of asking questions like they were statements. Obviously she would go out with him, or that's what he thought. Hermione wasn't sure though. She still couldn't stop thinking of the way he'd kissed Pansy, or the way that he'd fibbed about the Montague family. "You know Graham, let me think on it? I like what we have right now, and I just want to be sure before we take that next step."
Graham gave her a broad smile. "Alright, you make as many pros and cons lists as you need to. Just don't make me wait too long."
Hermione smiled back at him. "Thanks." What was she going to do?
When she returned to the Common Room that night, Harry was sitting at one of the couches by the fire, reading his potions textbook. Before he could get up or say anything to him, Hermione flopped down in the seat next to him. Ron was nowhere to be seen. "Graham asked if I wanted to exclusively date him." She confessed.
Harry stared at her, surprise clearly evident on his face. "Like boyfriend girlfriend?"
"Yes, I would imagine." Hermione said an amused look on her face. "I've asked him to give me a few days to think it over."
"What's there to think over? Do you like him or not?" Harry asked, genuinely surprised.
"Well, I sometimes worry that he only likes me because of the way that I look. That he doesn't know the real Hermione." She said, staring into the flames of the fire. "And I would hate for it to drive a further wedge between you and Ron and me." She admitted. She'd really been missing her two best friends.
Harry looked immediately guilty. "Sorry about that. Ron and I have been a little bit out of line and Ginny has been helping us to understand it better. We don't – I don't want you to be unhappy Hermione." Harry looked at her with a small smile on her face. "And if Montague makes you happy then, I won't stand in your way."
"Do you really mean that?" Hermione asked, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Yes." Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I promise that I will be your friend no matter who you date."
Hermione smiled, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "I'm gonna hold you to that."
"Just don't go out and try to date like…Voldemort or anything." Harry said with a laugh.
"Haha, I won't." Hermione told him. She felt immensely better having had this little chat with Harry.
"Sorry for the way we've been acting. I just know what a menace Montague is on the Quidditch pitch and well, him being in Slytherin and all. I was just worried about you, that he wouldn't treat you right or he was using you or something." Harry still felt guilty about the whole situation. "I guess I need to learn to look past some of my prejudices."
"I've been learning that too recently." Hermione told him. "Sometimes we hold people back by our expectations of how they should act." She thought about Malfoy's kind act of walking her back to Gryffindor Tower. Or the time that she'd spilled her secrets to him in the library. There was much more to him than what met the eye. "Alright, Harry, I just stopped by to drop off my books. I've got prefect rounds."
"Be careful. I'll get Ron to come around too." Harry promised.
Hermione walked through the deserted corridors, mulling over Graham's proposition. Did she want to be exclusive with him? She could think of what Daphne would say – definitely not right now. But, it would be rather nice to have a boyfriend, Hermione thought. The only problem was that Graham wasn't the person she saw as her boyfriend.
Before she could register what was happening, she was pulled into a broom closet, just like she'd done a week earlier. A familiar pair of lips planted themselves on hers with surprising eagerness. Hermione pulled away to confront him. "Malfoy what are you do—"
He cut her off with another kiss to her lips, his tongue pushing its way into her mouth to explore her, wrestling her into submission. Before she knew it, she was relaxing into his arms. Oh, it felt so right to kiss him. Like they were meant to do this.
When he sensed that the fight had left her, he desperately brought his fingers up to her blouse, unbuttoning the little buttons in a practiced move. He dipped his head to her neck to kiss and bite and soothe the skin of her neck. She desperately grabbed onto his head, forcing his lips to go lower and lower, until his fingertips were pulling down the cups of her bra and his tongue was swirling around the hard little point of her nipple.
Hearing her keen his name into his ear was almost too much to handle. He was harder than he'd ever been with a girl and he knew he wanted her. He wanted Hermione Granger. "Oh, Malfoy." She was rubbing herself on his leg, desperate for some kind of friction to ease the ache she must feel between her legs.
He trailed on hand down her body, only to have it slink up under the front of her skirt. He sought out her panties and was surprised to feel the fabric soaked. He tried to rub against the silky material, but that seemed to remind her of what was happening and she pushed him away again, his lips leaving her breast with a loud pop.
She was breathing heavily and took a minute to catch her breath. "Malfoy, what are we doing?"
He could practically see the concerned look on her face. Her adorable face, with freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose and with teeth a little too large, but perfect for her. "We are snogging in a broom closet."
"But why?" She asked desperately. "What do you want with me?"
"I…" He couldn't put into words what he did want with her. He wasn't even sure that he could identify that in his thoughts. All he knew was that he thought Hermione Granger felt perfect in his arms.
"We can't keep doing this." She finally told him breaking the stifling silence of the broom closet.
"Why not?" He asked dumbly. It seemed to work out just fine. They both got what they wanted and they both enjoyed the experience.
"Graham asked me to be his girlfriend." Hermione said, letting the words settle before continuing. "Exclusively."
That felt like a dagger in his heart, though he didn't know why. Why would Graham want to do that? Hermione wouldn't really agree to that would she? "You can't do that."
"Why the hell not, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, mad this time. She was sick of people telling her what she could and couldn't do.
"Because…I don't want you to date that tosser. Remember, Granger? You're mine." His voice sounded a lot more confident than he felt.
"Well, what are we going to do, just continue snogging in broom closets?" Hermione asked, upset. He could see the outline of her with her hands on her hips.
"Well, yeah." Draco said. That was actually exactly how he had seen it going.
"No." Hermione said. "Absolutely not. I will not hide away in broom closets, Malfoy. I want more than that. And you can't give that to me."
When he didn't immediately respond, Hermione huffed and left the broom closet behind.
Hermione finished her rounds by walking to the Room of Requirement. She opened it to find Daphne there, reading a book on glamour charms. "Thank god. I thought you'd be here."
Daphne took one look at her appearance, before letting out a low whistle. "Who have you been tumbling with?"
"Malfoy just pulled me into another broom closet." She said, with a defeated sigh. "He used my own trick against me."
Daphne made a little noise to show she was sorry, but the look on her face was anything but. "Do you want a cigarette? It might help calm you down."
"What? No." Hermione said, annoyed at the idea. "Graham asked me to be his girlfriend today. And I am going to accept."
"But Hermione...don't you and Malfoy have kind of a thing going?" Daphne asked, surprise on her face at the turn of events. "I thought you didn't even like Graham that much."
"Yes, but Graham will give me a public relationship. All that Malfoy can give me is stolen kisses after curfew." Hermione huffed, still annoyed with his behavior.
"But isn't that romantic? Isn't that what you want?" Daphne asked, surprise on her face. She so badly wanted Hermione and Draco to be together. It seemed to Theo and her that they did like each other more than they realized and were slowly understanding the depth of their feelings.
Hermione was annoyed with Daphne, more so than she'd ever been. Here she was, finally seeing things from Daphne's perspective and now she was telling her she was wrong again. "You're one to talk." Hermione spat out angrily. "You are head over heels for Nott and he still loves you too, but you spurn him at every chance, while constantly trying to make him jealous by hanging all over the likes of Pucey!"
The look of hurt on Daphne's face made Hermione feel a little bit guilty. "It's different for me. It's a lot of money and Theo would resent me for it."
"So? Make your own goddamn money!" Hermione told her. "That's what the rest of us do."
"But how? I won't ever be a healer or a curse breaker or anything like that." Daphne said forlornly.
"Daphne. You have a real talent with your beauty potions. You could sell those and make a fortune." Hermione told her, watching the normally vivacious girl sniffle on the couch.
"If you are trying to make him jealous, it might not work." Daphne finally said, pitifully quiet. "Theo has never...he's never done anything to let me know he cares."
Hermione pushed her hair out of her face, annoyed with Daphne for not understanding her situation, and annoyed with Malfoy for pursuing her. "I don't know what I'm trying to do, honestly. But I refuse to be hidden away in a closet like some kind of mudblood secret."
A/N: Uh oh! A little bit of trouble in paradise. What do you lot think Hermione will do?
Huge thanks to those who followed and favorited after last chapter! And big thanks to my reviewers: Laila x (Happy Belated Diwali! Even though I have it all written doesn't mean I have it all edited. Also, this gives me time to get a headstart on my next two fics, which allows me to update regularly. It's a necessary evil for me.), Pwrmom2 (Glad you enjoyed :) ), Guest (Why would you specifically read a Hermione makeover story, just to review that Hermione is plain? Besides, I am hoping that this fic promotes the idea that self-confidence is attractive, and caring about your appearance, without being obsessed with it, can go a long way.), Xasmin (Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and all of its developments...), everlastingtrueromance (Haha, he is definitely a greedy spoilt guy! I think that Hermione might like it more than she plays it off as), marianna79 (there are so many feelings, but no one is slowing down enough to think about them and figure it out!), pianomouse (thanks! he really can't help himself!), CrazyPendantic (thanks for your review!), SereniteRose (Haha, Harry and Ron will definitely get their acts together soon!), laumirot (Glad you liked it!), brittany . alsip . 3 (thanks for your review!), apriljunemay (Haha, so many more kisses in this chapter! I think that Harry would definitely be clueless unless Hermione flat out told him), The Butterfly Dreamer (Glad you liked it!) , articcat621 (haha, Draco just couldn't help himself! Thank you so much for all of your reviews! I've missed you!), niknik0201 (he's really clueless isn't he? He definitely needs someone to spell it out for him), HarryPGinnyW4eva (Yes, Hermione definitely hasn't turned her back on her old friends. I think Draco and Hermione are still grappling with what they are feeling and what they think they should be feeling...hopefully they will pull it together!), Becca (Haha, I bet she might have a different perspective on it if she gave it a little time...thanks for your reviews! Being mentioned in the same sentence as Colubrina is a huge honor - love her stuff! Hope you liked this chapter!) and kelseyemilia (thank you so much for reviewing! i am really glad you enjoyed Back to the Future as well!)! I can't believe this broke 100 reviews! Thanks so much for your comments!
So, please let me know what you thought of chapter seven and be on the look out for chapter eight next week! Oh, also! I have a new story coming out next Tuesday! I'd love for you to check that out as well!