Although Megan was there the next morning for Hermione's and Draco's training, she was absent for the majority of the next two weeks. After her third day of missing their morning training, Megan began encouraging Draco and Hermione to practice on their own.

"I'm sorry, you two," she said. Her head was floating in the fireplace of Head Chambers. She was speaking with them from Auror Headquarters while in the middle of a mission. "I didn't know this would take up this much time. You know what to do, though. Just practice sparring for a while. I promise it won't take much longer – and I'll really amp up our intensity when I get back."

It was the second week that Megan had been absent, and Hermione was jogging after Draco through the dewy cold English morning. The woods were wet from a storm the night before, but the air was still humid enough to make Hermione sweat copiously. She glanced over at Draco, running on her left, and noticed that the sweat was dripping off of his forehead into his eyelashes, where it hung there. He caught her staring.

"What?" he asked, puffing out the word.

"Nothing," she said, focusing her eyes straight ahead. They ran in silence until they reached the meadow where they stopped to stretch. The sun peered out of the clouds, making a rare appearance that day as it beat down on their backs.

Draco's mouth was open as he swung his arms around his body, loosening his muscles. He had taken his shirt off earlier during their run, and Hermione no longer had enough of an incentive to stop staring at him. His body was still pale, but impossibly lean and muscled. His shoulders were now broad and strong looking. Hermione openly admired his body in the rising morning sun.

She knew he could tell that she was looking at him, but she had no reason to feel ashamed. She caught him looking at her enough times as well. Draco began walking over towards her, and Hermione locked eyes with him, her heart racing. He stopped a foot away from her, and she had to look up in order to maintain eye contact. Her lips parted and she let out an inaudible breath.

"Ready?" he asked her.

"Ready?" she said, taken off guard. "For what?"

"Sparring," he said, wrinkling his nose.

"Oh, right," she replied, shaking her head. She turned around and took two steps away from him, facing him and dancing on her feet with her hands up. "You go first. I'll defend."

"Hermione, you're not doing it right," said Draco, as Hermione swung at him with her left hand.

"What are you talking about? This is the way I always do it," she grunted, as he easily blocked her and knocked her hand away.

"I know, you always do it wrong," Draco replied, ducking her next few punches.

"I do not, Megan would have said something."

"She does!" Draco said, dodging to his left. "Here, stop for a second. I'm going to teach you how to hook properly with your left."

"Bloody hell, Draco, I'm not doing it wrong," Hermione sighed, throwing her arms up in frustration.

"It's not completely wrong. I'm just going to show you how to do it to get you more power behind it. Your left arm is weaker than your right, so you need to compensate by changing your form to make the hit stronger." Draco moved behind her and gently grabbed her arm, positioning it behind her as if she was about to take a punch. Hermione was acutely aware of his bare chest pressed against her back and his breath hitting her neck softly. His sweat mingled with hers as he aligned their bodies together. As he moved her arm further back to demonstrate the form he was talking about, Hermione suddenly got nervous.

"Draco, the way I'm doing it is just fine," she said, stepping out of his grasp and turning to face him. "If Megan wants to say something to me about it when she gets back, she will. Now can we just practice what we already know?"

Draco shrugged his shoulders. "Sure," he said, putting his fists up indifferently. The two were mostly silent for the rest of the workout, and they jogged back to Hogwarts together. The sun had disappeared behind a cloud again, and a light rain had started to fall. They hurried through the main doors together, but had already suffered the beginning of the downpour. They walked back to Head Tower together, their sweaty and half naked bodies garnering stares from the few students already up and walking about the castle.

"After you," Draco motioned to Hermione after they nearly collided, both trying to get up the stairs at the same time. Hermione climbed the steps in front of him, vaguely aware that Draco was getting the perfect view of her spandex-covered ass as they trekked back to their chambers. She opened the portrait hole and they climbed through, plopping down on the couches inside in silence.

After a few moments, Hermione spoke. "Hey, I'm sorry, I know you were just trying to help."

"I wasn't trying to sound like a know-it-all, you know," said Draco sullenly. "I was just trying to help."

"I know," said Hermione. She couldn't explain why she hadn't wanted him to touch her at that moment – that she had felt weird feeling him that close against her. "Could you show me now?"

"Sure," said Draco. He grabbed a towel from the bathroom and mopped his face quickly, then returned to Hermione.

"Alright," he said, positioning himself behind her. He gently lifted her arm and pulled it back into a cocked position, and closed his fingers around hers to form a fist. "So this is how you would normally do it, with your right arm. But you can give a hook more power if you turn your fist slightly, like this." He turned her fist in his, demonstrating the correct position. "And then you have to also turn your arm, a bit like this." He moved her arm slowly in the motion, pulling it back several times to demonstrate it thoroughly. Hermione took her arm from his grasp and turned to face him.

"And this will give me more power in my left hook?"

Draco nodded. "Definitely. Go ahead and try it out on me."

"Ok." Hermione jumped slightly and Draco crossed his arms to defend against her. She tried the new left hook several times and succeeded in hitting him on the right arm twice.

"See?" said Draco. "It makes you a little quicker, too."

"Bullocks, you just wanted me to land one so it seems like you taught me a good technique," Hermione joked. "Why don't you really try to defend against me?"

"Oh, you want me to actually try?" Draco grinned. "Prepare for a world of pain."

"I'd like to see you block me," Hermione said, and quickly swung back for a surprise attack. Draco grabbed her wrist before she hit him, and Hermione let out a quiet yelp at his sudden strength. She tried to surprise him with her other arm, but he grabbed that one too. He slowly backed her up against the wall and pinned her arms there, behind her. Hermione looked into Draco's eyes in surprise. His face was only inches away from hers, his blue eyes dark and unreadable. They stayed like that for several seconds, staring at each other but only touching by their hands.

Hermione saw Draco's lips part, and she could see his teeth. He loosened his grip against her wrists, and Hermione seized her moment. She impulsively stood on her toes and pressed her lips against his, tasting the salt from his sweat. She felt him recoil slightly in surprise, but he bounced back, pinning her against the wall now with his whole body. The bare skin from their stomachs rubbed together.

Draco grabbed her under her ass and picked her up. Hermione wrapped her legs around him strongly. Their lips mashed together desperately, their teeth clicking together periodically. Hermione heard Draco sigh softly deep in his throat as his hands desperately roved her body – they were everywhere, first down her legs, then across her stomach, lightly skimming her breasts and finally settling in her hair. She wrapped her hands in his hair as well, clenching it between her fingers.

He worked his tongue between her lips in a surprisingly languid manner that clashed with the frantic pace of their kisses. She answered it with her own tongue, gently running it across his teeth. She hadn't previously tried to imagine what he would taste like, but if she had she would have been right – he tasted mainly like salt, almost a little bit like seawater. His scent and body was so masculine he made her insides throbbed. She knew she wanted him, right here, in the moment.

Her hands roamed quickly from his tousled hair to the waistband of his shorts. She tugged at it awkwardly, indicating to him what she wanted. He pulled his mouth from hers to rapidly pull his shorts off, then removing her bra from her body and flinging it across the shared chambers.

Draco looked uncertain as to how to proceed, and Hermione tipped his head to lock eyes with her. She gave him permission with his look, and without breaking eye contact with her, he pulled her shorts off and moved against her. She could feel his cock impossibly hard on her thigh, and she sighed in anticipation. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she let him lift her off the ground and press her against the wall as he grinded against her, making her wet. Draco buried his face against her neck and kissed her there over and over until she moaned, whispering "please" against his ear.

With that he moved himself inside her. She gasped at how perfectly he fit inside her. His bare cock inside her felt so raw and animal. He grunted into her neck and pushed her against the wall as he thrust inside her.

She moaned as she felt the sweat from his forehead on her neck. He thrusted into her harder, encouraged by the lubrication dripping from her wetness. She hugged him around his head, holding on as he increased their pleasure with long, frequent strokes. He suddenly pushed his hand against her clitoris as she moaned in surprise. He slowed down his thrusts as he moved his thumb against her, burying his head against her neck as he listened to her moans while he moved inside her.

Draco took control, increasing his pace with both his thrusts and his strokes as he listened to Hermione's wails and sighs of pleasure. She dug his nails into his back and bit down on his ear, feeling the waves of pleasure slowly building. Suddenly, she felt herself getting close. She moved herself against his hand even more quickly, whispering in his ear "I'm coming," as it hit her. She bucked against his hand, crying out and breathing in short pants. She rode his cock desperately, feeling pleasure hit her and ride up through her body. Draco waited till she was finished and then quickly increased his strokes, biting down on her shoulder and coming soon after with a startled gasp and an almost surprised look.

Afterwards, he pulled out of her slowly and let her down onto the floor. Hermione stood there with her back against the wall as they both breathed heavily, each looking at the other still naked. She was almost afraid to speak – now that the moment was over, she didn't know how to proceed.

Draco clearly didn't either. He was standing there, looking at her like she had grown another head. He reached out and wiped some of the sweat off her forehead, then took a step towards her. He looked down at her, like he was about to kiss her on the lips, but kissed her on the cheek instead.

"I'll, umm…I'll see you later, Hermione," he said, and with that he left to go to his room.

Hermione quickly gathered her clothes and retreated to her room as well. What had she just done? One thing was for sure: she had definitely changed.

Hermione made up her mind to ignore Draco for the next few days. She really didn't know how to process what had just happened between them, and she didn't feel up to having a long, heavy conversation about it. She was afraid she'd blurt out something stupid, or that it would get awkward. So she would just let Draco be for the time being.

She was pretty sure he was avoiding her too, because she didn't see him in their chambers for the next four days. The two trained by themselves also, since Megan had not yet returned from her mission.

Hermione busied herself with other things. Since Megan was gone, she was able to operate more on her own schedule, and she found more time to see Harry and Ginny. She even sat down to dinner with Ron and Harry one night. Although Ron and Hermione barely spoke, just the minimal courtesies, she felt it was the opening they needed to start rebuilding their friendship.

Since she was spending less time in Head Tower, she revisited her old haunt, the Hogwarts library. Hermione felt rested and caught up on her studies. The library was a continuing place of solace for her, and she began to feel like her old self as she spent time there.

Unfortunately, Megan was to return the next day, which meant she would have to face Draco in the morning. She dreaded their first encounter – she didn't know how he would react to seeing her for the first time after their tryst. She was worried it would be uncomfortable. She was even more worried that Megan would be able to tell that something was up between them – she didn't miss a thing.

Hermione woke up too early for their workout the next morning and spent a long time in the bathroom shower. She splashed water on her face, trying to convince her mind that today was just a normal day and that she and Draco would be fine around each other. It didn't work.

She wrapped her towel around her chest and headed back to her room, discreetly making sure Draco hadn't entered the common room while she was showering. She pulled out her top dresser drawer and rummaged around through her exercise clothes before settling on her least revealing top: a loose tank top that went well below her hipbones. She threw on some sloppy gym shorts for good measure.

When she couldn't wait any longer, Hermione left Head Tower and headed down to the grounds to wait for Megan and Draco. To her surprise, they were already there and looked entrenched in a serious conversation. When they saw her, Megan jerked her head up and smiled.

"Hey, Hermione," she called, waving. "It's good to see you again."

"Hey Megan, you too," Hermione smiled back. "Morning Draco."

Draco smiled back at her. "Good morning."

That wasn't too bad, Hermione thought to herself. We aren't being too friendly, but it's not really obvious either.

"So, unfortunately for you both, my absence means that you two are going to have to work even harder for the next few days. It'll be fun though, I have some interesting stuff planned. But first, we have to warm up. Follow me!"

Megan took off running through the woods and Draco and Hermione followed after her. They ran for a long time, almost an hour, before Megan brought them to a small pond. The pond looked disgusting: it was mainly a murky brown color, and there was thin film of algae and various slime coating the top layer. She could see schools of tadpoles rippling the surface, and the pond as a whole looked stagnant and toxic.

"Looks great, huh?" breathed Megan. Hermione and Draco stared back at her, unsure of how to reply nicely. "No I'm just kidding. It's rather unpleasant. Just like today's lesson – as an Auror you don't ever get to pick where you go. You often get assignments in poor weather, foul areas, or in difficult places to reach. So today we are going to practice around this little pond. Your first task is this: I hid ten rings at the bottom of the pond, five silver and five gold. Draco, you are to retrieve the silver rings and Hermione, the gold."

Hermione really didn't mind the task – she was pretty sure that Megan knew she was accustomed to much worse while fighting Voldemort with Harry and Ron. However, she didn't think Draco would enjoy the task very much. She looked over at him and wasn't surprised – he was curling his lip and barely hiding his disgust.

"Ready?" called Megan. "Bring them back to me as fast as you can. On your mark, get set, go!"

Hermione plunged head first in the water in a pretty good swan dive. Mid-air she saw Draco plugging his nose in preparation for the jump. She hit the water and immediately the foul stench of the pond filled her nostrils. It wasn't very deep, probably only seven feet or so throughout, but the water was very murky and the visibility was poor. She didn't find her first ring until she was less than three feet away from it. She grabbed it hurriedly and put it on her finger, shooting up for air. She gulped down the air hurriedly and returned to the bottom of the pond.

The next three rings were found quickly, but the last proved to be a challenge. She had to return to the bottom many times before she found it. Once, not looking where she was going, she collided into Draco. They looked up at each other in surprise, and Draco squeezed her fingers briefly before swimming in another direction. Hermione's fingers tingled where they had come in contact with his.

She finally found her last ring in the muddy bank of the pond, nestled into the side. She rose from the water, flashing the five rings on her finger.

"Good, Hermione," said Megan. "You clearly have no problem getting dirty." Hermione started for a second, wondering if there was a double entendre in her words, but Megan seemed oblivious and gave her a thumbs up.

Hermione crawled out of the pond and stood dripping next to Megan, admiring the golden rings on her fingers as they waited for Draco to finish. He didn't take much longer than Hermione to find his fifth and final ring – for all the disgust he felt at the task, he was good at pushing it aside and working through it. Hermione stroked the back of her hand where he had squeezed it as he walked over to them on the edge of the pond.

"That was great," said Megan. "It's not an incredibly hard task, but one that most are reluctant to do. During your first few years as an Auror, you rank at the very bottom of the totem pole. You often get assigned the very grungiest, most tedious tasks, since no one else wants to do them. It blows, but it's what you're going to have to be willing to do. This task was meant to get that point across to you."

"Next we're going to go back to sparring, but this time you'll have to do it in the lake. Fighting conditions aren't always ideal, and you might have to pursue a target into a lake or another body of water. So…let's practice!"

Hermione and Draco both got back in the lake and stood at a point that hit them both about at the hips. "Hermione, you go first," Megan called. "Draco, you defend against her."

Fighting in the pond was tough work, but it was kind of fun. The water was cool and a change from their usual routine. However, Hermione noticed that she and Draco were skipping the usual banter they had between them while they fought. She missed his taunts – even though they were playful, they usually spurred her on. Today their conversation could best be described as cordial.

After a little while Megan let them back out of the water. "Okay, good work today you both. I need to be off, but you should run back to the castle and shower before class."

"Actually," Draco said, "can I talk to you for a second? Hermione, I'll catch up with you on the way back."

"Okay," said Hermione, puzzled. Draco looked at her, waiting for her to leave, which she did. After running a few paces, she looked over her shoulder. Draco and Megan again appeared engaged in the same type of serious conversation she had interrupted earlier that morning. She wondered for a fleeting second if it was related to what had happened between her and Draco the week prior, but she shrugged off that thought. Draco wouldn't discuss something that private with Megan. She assumed it was something about training.

However, she couldn't help but wonder about it more on the way back home, and startled several rabbits on the path as she got lost in her thoughts.