Absolute Gravity

Chapter Two: Unleashed

A/N: Yes this was up rather quick [this is rare]. I'm honestly not going to be the fastest when it comes to uploading chapters cause like I'm crazy busy at the moment. Especially since majority of my Saturdays will consist of being at school to rehearse to my school musical… Just wanna say thank you to all those who took the time to review, much appreciated. I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying it x

Disclaimer: If only I owned Harry Potter. If. Only.

Light-beams stretched across Hermione's face as she smiled back at her reflection. She'd chosen to wear one of the dresses Viktor had bought for her; a red one with a dipping back. Her hair was hanging loose and she was glad that over the years her hair had settled and now, though still crazy, looked much better. Ginny had done her makeup, but not too much of it. "You hardly need any," her best friend had said warmly. Just a splash of colour in her cheeks, mascara and a light amount of lipstick.

The wedding was in an hour but she'd planned to be seated in about five minutes or so. She gave her reflection one last nod, accepting there was now nothing more she could do. She picked up her bag, throwing in her wand, purse and invitation and headed out of the room. She reached Viktor's shared room with Charlie and knocked lightly, "Viktor?"

There was a small scuffle and then the door swung open revealing the Quidditch player in a very complimentary suit. "Going already?" he asked.

"Yeah, I want to be there early," she explained, "If you're not ready I can just go…"

"No, I'm ready." He paused. "You look beautiful."

She blushed, "Thank you, you look handsome as always." Then he took her hand and they headed down the stairs, just as they turned into the kitchen they both stopped very suddenly. Harry and Ginny were wrapped around each other, kissing rather intently. Viktor looked rather stunned whereas Hermione gave a polite cough. They jumped away from each other instantly like they had been electrocuted and then when they saw Viktor and Hermione they both turned red.

"Ready to go?" Hermione said, her smile almost turning into a smirk. Harry looked very determinedly at his shoes whilst Ginny, still blushing furiously, nodded. Viktor let out a deep chuckle and led his girlfriend out of the Burrow, Ginny and Harry following behind. It was a beautiful day, the sun shone brightly in the stretch of blue sky. A cool breeze gently washed over them, shaking the flowers that were scattered in the grass. A perfect day for a wedding.

Viktor and Hermione proceeded inside the marquee where Ginny went to find Gabrielle, her fellow bridesmaid and Harry helped the twins and Ron greet and direct guests. At three o'clock, half an hour later, a large cry of, "What the hell is he doing here?!" from Ron attracted their attention. Hermione turned and her heart quickened at the sight of silvery blonde hair. Malfoy. Malfoy was the only one in Hogwarts who provided her with competition, who actually got her a bit nervous. Since first year they'd been fighting furiously in a battle of wits and over the last year or so it had stopped being just infuriating and had started to also bring her pleasure. Pleasure at seeing him rage over her or watching her words work him into a state. She had also noticed the feeling was mutual. She could see in his eyes he relished making her squirm and scream at him.

"We were invited, Mr Weasley," Narcissa Malfoy said coolly displaying her invitation, "I think you'll find we are close friends of the Delacours." Ron swallowed, avoiding eye contact with the woman as he let them pass, his ears turning red.

"Well, that was interesting," Viktor murmured in her ear.

The Malfoys sat in the row across from them, she turned to her gaze towards them and she smirked as she looked him over. He was rigid, he kept wetting his lips and tapping his foot; all of which meant he was nervous. Then her eyes latched onto his steel grey orbs for a second before he looked back at the front.

"See something you like?" Viktor asked gently enough, but there was a hint of a darker tone underneath.

"Don't be silly, Viktor. Malfoy and I hate each other," she murmured taking his hand and pecking him on the lips. Completely unawares to her, Malfoy had turned back to look at her and his mouth fell open. It took him three point two seconds to remember to close his mouth again.

The wedding service began and all Draco could think was, 'What. The. Actual. Hell.' Granger was with Krum. Viktor fucking Krum. He sighed, ignoring the look Narcissa gave him. One point to Granger he supposed. She had a famous, good-looking Quidditch player for a boyfriend and he was sat here with his mum. It didn't even matter he was in an expensive suit because she was in an equally expensive dress which she actually look bloody gorgeous in. He sighed again. There was no point denying it. Not even You-Know-Who could kid himself to belief Granger didn't look good in that dress. Another sigh and he was pretty sure his mother was about to slap him. He didn't care. She didn't understand. He was in enemy territory watching two people he didn't really care about get married and Granger was winning.

How was it possible they were making a competition out of this? It wasn't even supposed to be a competition until he saw the bloody smirk Granger was sending him. Then he felt like breaking something. He hated it. He hated how she could just smirk and irritate him beyond belief. Of course if the situation was reversed he would feel ecstatic and his signature smirk would be plastered across his mouth. That was another thing he hated. How over the years Granger has perfected her own replica of his smirk which was equally irritating as his own. He clutched his hands in fists. 'Stop thinking about Granger,' he told himself sternly, 'Focus on this stupid wedding and forget about her and her ridiculous boyfriend.' So he did. Or rather, he tried.

A small wizard with tufty hair had turned to the Weasley with the long ponytail and said, "Do you, William Arthur, take Fleur Isabelle…?" Draco, without thinking, turned to look at Granger. She was beaming, clutching Krum's hand, she turned round and caught his gaze; her eyes were filled with tears.

"… then I declare you bonded for life." Granger suddenly seemed to realise who she was looking at and turned back around. Beside him Narcissa sniffed and dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief. He resisted sighing. There was nothing he could see that was remotely moving about this. A smug know-it-all voice, which sounded annoyingly like Granger echoed in the back of his head, 'Just wait until you fall in love. Then you'll understand.'

Hermione laughed as Viktor whisked her around the dance floor, then as he dipped her back and brought her up to kiss her sweetly. He tugged the out of breath Gryffindor closer to him, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist as her arms snaked around his neck. They swayed and turned on the spot, talking quietly.

"It's like the Yule Ball," he murmured.

"Except this time I can dance," she added, "I didn't step on your feet at all this time." He chuckled at the memory. "Don't laugh! It was mortifying! I'd somehow gotten this guy many years older than me, who all the girls were crazy about, to ask me to the Yule Ball and I was the worst dancer ever! I was scared I would send you running."

He kissed the top of her head, "Unlikely." She smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder, her eyes closing, he still hadn't changed much. Even though he could now speak nearly perfect English, he was still rather quiet. When the song changed she opened her eyes and found Malfoy staring venomously at her, she smirked. 'That's right, Malfoy. Eat it up.' He sneered, understanding her expression perfectly.

They did another circuit of the dance floor and when they came back, Narcissa Malfoy was sitting alone. Her eyebrows scrunched together. "Something wrong?" Viktor asked. She shook her head and they continued to dance. He twirled her around and as she spun she saw a flash of blonde hair. Shock slammed into her causing her to trip but luckily Viktor caught her before she landed on the floor.

Malfoy looked directly at her; holding back laughter. In his arms was a gorgeous part-Veela, who was playing with his hair, her lips grazing his jaw. She was wearing a tight, short and tasteless dress which showed off her breasts. He sent one last victorious look at Hermione before he leant down and kissed the Veela. Hermione clenched her jaw. That womanizing, cocky, big-headed, little-

"Hermione?" Viktor asked worriedly, he'd not yet noticed who she was glaring at, too busy checking if she'd twisted her ankle.

She inhaled and exhaled deeply, looking away from Malfoy. "Yes?"

"What happened? Are you hurt?" All irritation washed from her at his concern, she shook her head. "Okay, I think we should sit down anyway. I'll get us some drinks." When Viktor left she looked back at Malfoy who was tightly locked in an embrace with the Veela.

"Git," she muttered.

When Draco had successfully shaken off the Veela, he sauntered back to his mother who had raised an eyebrow at him. "Well that was quite a spectacle," Narcissa commented, handing him a glass of firewhiskey. "I see Miss Granger did not approve."

"No," he agreed, unable to keep the growing smirk of his face, "I don't think she did."

There was a brief silence as his mother stared at him and then to Granger and then back at him. He sipped his firewhiskey."So… you and Miss Granger…?" his mother asked slowly, the expression on her face a mix between surprise and confusion.

The smirk was wiped off his face and he started to choke on his firewhiskey whilst shaking his head furiously. Once he was able to speak again, "No, no, no! It's not like that!"

"Then what is it like?"

"Well… it's like…" He struggled to find words, "We like competing, you see and well she's dating Krum so…"

"Um."

He sighed, "Don't worry about it, Mum. It's hard to explain, just trust me when I say this: I will never ever date Granger nor will I want to." She nodded slowly, not really believing him but not in the mood to argue with him either. "Seriously Mum, I'd rather date Pansy."

"What's wrong with Pansy?!" Narcissa demanded.

"Nothing! She's just like an annoying sister. And there's nothing wrong with that," He added quickly at the sight of his mother's glare, "But I'm not really looking to date my sister." Narcissa raised her eyebrow, remembering when she'd found them kissing in the pool three summers ago.

Draco rolled his eyes. Mothers were impossible. Soon after he caught sight of the Veela girl scanning the room and he had a horrible feeling she was looking for him. "Er I think I'm going to take a walk outside." And before she could even offer a reply he'd ducked out into the cool evening air.

Hermione plopped down onto a make-shift swing that hung from an old oak tree. Viktor was inside, talking with some friends or at least that was what he was doing when she had sneaked outside to get some fresh air. She was smiling absentmindedly, staring across the grass at the sun sinking behind the hills causing a river of orange, pink and purple to ripple across the sky.

Music from inside hummed dully against the sound of the crickets chirping. It was one of those moments where everything seems perfect, like anything you ever dreamed of was possible. When you'd get giddy off the perfection of nature and humbled by it all at the same time.

She closed her eyes and as she absorbed the smell and feel of a perfect night, someone exited the marquee behind her, spotted her and started walking towards her. It was only when his breath tickled across her neck as he said, "Having fun, Granger?" that her eyes snapped open.

"I was," she answered darkly and before she knew what was happening he had started pushing the swing. She licked her lips but said nothing, protest would only satisfy him.

"Oh that's a shame." Only she would have been able to detect the sarcasm laced into that sentence. She clenched her jaw.

"I saw you were having some fun earlier. I didn't know whorish Veelas were your type. But then again you look just like one and you obviously love yourself…" her sentence drifted to an end. The next push was slightly rougher and a smirk tugged on her lips.

"At least I'm not a gold-digger, eh?" he murmured sweetly. The effect was immediate; her whole body tensed and she, without thinking, hissed. "I'm sorry, did I hit a nerve?"

"No, of course not. You're entitled to your own deluded opinion."

"Deluded? Now that's a bit harsh."

"Is it? Oh, I'm ever so sorry."

"Bullshit."

"You calling me a liar, Malfoy?"

"Certainty looks that way."

"Now I think that's a bit harsh."

"Whatever you say." He grabbed the swing and pulled towards him so his mouth was right by her ear, "By the way, you look good enough to eat tonight, Granger."

The electricity that rushed through her stunned her, her mouth went dry and her heart stopped beating for way too long. She had to close her eyes and count to ten before she answered, surprising steadily, "You too, Malfoy." Then she got off the swing and walked as fast as she could without making it look like she was running.

Well that was new. He'd never rendered Granger silent for that long before.

He'd taken a chance with that compliment and caught her completely off guard. He realised as he watched her speed away he'd thrown them into a completely different game. He'd broken some sort of rule that kept them in order and he could feel the chaos he'd unleashed with every pound of his heart.

He wasn't sure whether or not he should be afraid, for he knew when it came to him, Granger was about as reckless as Potter when someone needed saving. He knew Granger well enough to know she wasn't going to back down. He'd just set her a challenge and when the shock wore off she'd be ready for war. Excitement tingled through his veins, making his fingers twitch in anticipation. He had a feeling this year was going to be… interesting.

A/N: You like? I certainly enjoyed writing this one. Let me know what you think! Leave a little review, won't take too long! A simple, 'I like it' or 'More dialogue' will do the job (if you want to write more, feel free ;P) I just want to know how I can improve and if you're enjoying it. - Orla