You know, randomly spamming the A/Ns is probably the best prerogative from posting fan fiction online.
So, I went to have my first ultrasound on Friday and the baby mooned us for fifteen minutes... Yup, that brat is definitely mine...
Anyone else going to play Age of Conan once it goes live? I'll be surprised if anyone says yes. XD
"Are you going to stay mad at me all day?"
"I can't believe you told her!"
Blaise sighed, looking over at his blond friend, who was currently pouting. They were having a free period and had relocated to their common room, but so far Draco had refused to do anything even remotely entertaining.
"So I told her," Blaise said, shrugging. "She would have found out eventually."
"Maybe. We'll never know, because you fucking told her." Draco sounded really upset. Blaise wasn't sure he understood this at all.
"Is it really so bad that she knows?"
"Yes!"
"You were just going to let her slap you without telling her what you did for her?"
"Yes!"
"Well, good thing I told her, then!"
"For pity's sake, Blaise. It's not what I wanted." Suddenly Draco looked weary and defeated.
"Do you even know what you want?" Blaise cautiously asked. Draco glared at him with renewed ire, and he was really glad that looks couldn't kill. "Well?" he persisted.
"Yes," Draco finally said.
"And that would be…?"
"None of your business."
"I take that to mean 'her', then."
"It's none of your fucking business." Draco was raising his voice again.
"I probably helped you closer to getting what you want, you know. Birds like the self-sacrifice bit and keeping it a secret from her was a really nice touch."
"So now she's obligated to act fake towards me, you mean? Now she might give me a pity snog? Forget it, I'm not going for it."
Blaise looked thoughtful. "Well, if you look at it like that…"
"I do."
"I had no idea you were so serious about her."
"I'm not."
"Then who cares why she's doing it? As long as you get what you want."
"You may think this is strange, Blaise, but I actually prefer my girls willing."
"She would be willing."
"… And wanting it as opposed to being disgusted with it."
"You made her want it last time didn't you?"
Draco looked away without answering. She had slapped his face for daring to kiss her. He failed to see how that translated into 'want'.
"Obviously, I meant the last time you succeeded," Blaise clarified, seeing the look on his friend's face. He couldn't help but hate Granger for doing this to Draco. He wondered if she would have been cold-hearted enough to keep being so sanctimonious if she had seen the look on Draco's face after her cruel rejection. It had been obvious to Blaise that his friend had been deeply hurt, and he had just wanted to make her see. He hadn't meant to piss off Draco in the process.
"She was drunk," Draco coldly pointed out.
"Then get her drunk again!"
"You're suggesting I… I violate her? Really smooth, Blaise."
"It wouldn't be like that. And who says you need to go very far? Just remind her why she liked snogging you, perhaps you wouldn't need alcohol the next time then."
"Robbing a girl of her senses because it's the only way to get her to give you the time of day is a violation – no matter how far you choose to go! I'm not going to force her."
"We're not going to agree on this."
"You're damn right we're not."
"So you're just going to give up?"
"Weren't you the one who kept claiming this was a really bad idea and I shouldn't act on it? Well, it is a really bad idea and I won't act on it. It's just physical anyway, and it's just because of the bracelet. As soon as I take it off her, it will all fade."
Blaise shook his head, not believing for a second that anything would fade. "I changed my mind, obviously. I think you should act on it. No need to suffer in vain."
"For the love of… Blaise, Theo wants her. She wants Theo. Theo is our friend, remember?"
"So?"
"So how would you feel if I went after Tracey?"
"I would fucking kill you. But I already made her mine; as far as I can tell, nobody claimed Granger yet."
"Theo kissed her first."
Blaise made a dismissive hand gesture. "Kisses don't count. Everyone's kissed her. It's becoming quite the sport this year. 'Hogwarts Granger Kissing'."
"Then wh—…" Draco cut off as he got Blaise's meaning. "You can't be serious!"
Blaise leaned back and smirked. "Time to raise the stakes."
"Absolutely not. I refuse to even have this conversation with you. Besides, she won't even kiss me, much less… that."
"Don't make me try to go for it myself. I don't actually like the girl. But if you won't get your act together…"
"You stay the hell away from her! If I even hear a whisper that you may have been looking at her lasciviously, I swear… you're dead, and it will be slow and painful!"
"Way to not care, Draco."
"I care. Theo likes her. Theo is going to get her. Without you interfering. I was a fool for what I tried to do, and I blame you for the whole thing! Stop trying to put ideas in my head and start dealing with your own problems instead!"
There was a flash of pain in Blaise's eyes. "I'm dealing," he quietly said. "I'm trying to move on. You'd better hope you never find out how hard it is to not go beg the girl you want for another chance."
Draco snorted. "I would never beg any girl for anything. There are plenty of other witches out there, several of them quite pretty and nice. Maybe Tracey was right – maybe you just couldn't handle that she dumped you first."
Hurt and anger flared in Blaise's eyes. "I'm going to forgive that you said that," he said in a tight voice, "because you're upset right now, and you don't know what this is like. But one day you will eat those words."
"I really doubt it," Draco said, getting up. "I'm going to my room to do my homework. See you in class!"
He turned his back on Blaise and hence didn't see the questionable salute his friend chose to give him.
It was still quite hard for Hermione to believe that Draco should willingly have suffered any inconvenience for her, much less endured actual pain. Yet, both Zabini and Theo had said the same thing, and Draco himself hadn't denied it. Worse – he hadn't bragged or tried to use the feat in any way. He seemed genuinely disgruntled that she had found out. She had wanted to say 'thank you', but the words just wouldn't seem to come. Instead she had practically interrogated him, making him withdraw even more.
Knowing all this, she did feel even worse for hitting him, but she just didn't know how to make it better. She had tried to explain and apologize, but she knew it hadn't gone over well. He wasn't inclined to forgive her. She supposed it didn't matter if he did, they weren't exactly friends and he had been incredibly nasty to her, but he hadn't deserved this reaction – not for… well, not for what he had done then. And she had also noticed that he hadn't retaliated. He hadn't thought up some awful thing for her to do that would ruin what was left of her good name and dignity. If anything, he seemed to be avoiding her as much as he could, while still keeping her close like he had said he would.
Maybe his feelings had been hurt a little. After all, she supposed that he'd actually – by Malfoy standards – been acting almost decent towards her the past week or so. If he'd really been trying to get along and even to protect her from his house, then such a violent rebuff from one small advance would have to have hurt him. Just a little.
She felt awful.
The nasty looks Zabini kept sending her didn't help. She got the message, for crying out loud, no reason to rub it in!
Just three more days…
And then what? The question gave Hermione pause. Well, then everything would return to normal, wouldn't it? She would finally be able to tell her friends what had really been happening, they would forgive her, everyone would agree that Draco was an evil git and… life would go on as it had before.
Truth be told, that sounded a little depressing. It was true that most of the time she had been wearing the bracelet had been far from pleasant, but at least something had been happening every day. She didn't know if it was the personality of Draco Malfoy or the nature of the bet, but she'd certainly not been bored. It was true that come this weekend, she could finally relax, but it seemed to her that the rest of this year would then revert to homework and Head Girl duties. Oh, joy.
She stopped and frowned.
Since when did she find homework and Head Girl duties dull, anyway? This was about her future! And, fine, she wasn't bored around the sadistic blond Slytherin, but she was certainly not enjoying herself either. She couldn't wait until she could actually have fun again.
"Would you hurry up already, Granger? Class is over; I don't plan on standing here all day!"
Hermione started at the irritable voice. Class was over, and Malfoy apparently didn't appreciate having to wait for her. "You could just go ahead," she muttered.
"What? And allow you the time to snog some poor innocent bloke before coming down? I don't think so. I said you weren't leaving my sight and that's how it's going to be."
"Are you going to follow me to the loo as well?"
"Charming, Granger. Let's go."
It didn't take Draco many minutes to become thoroughly exasperated with Hermione. She seemed to be at her most annoying behavior today.
"I don't know why you're doing this," she said, pouting.
"Don't you?" he neutrally asked, fighting to keep the sigh out of his voice. Why couldn't she just be quiet? At least until they reached the dungeons and he could make a pretense of being consumed by homework.
"You don't want to be around me and I don't want to be around you, so why are you punishing both of us?"
"Maybe I think it's worth it as long as you're bothered."
"You would. Why not make it easier on yourself?"
"Because I don't want to make it easier on you."
"I could promise to not have any fun?" she tried.
"Seems to me that you can't help having 'fun' all the time."
"I'm not having any fun now."
His lip quirked slightly. "That's the point."
She narrowed her eyes. "I could, you know. Why would I care if you were around?"
"Good luck getting someone to snog you between here and my room."
He shouldn't have said that. He knew it as soon as the words had left his mouth. He really shouldn't have said that. Hermione's eyes narrowed and she purposefully began scanning for prospects. Draco was thankful that they didn't seem to pass many other students – that was, until they turned a corner and they both spotted Theo coming in the opposite direction.
"No, Granger, don't—" Draco began, but she ignored him. He made a grab for her arm, but she dodged his hands. He could do nothing but watch what was about to happen. The girl really didn't have a merciful bone in her body. She had to know that he was only giving her a hard time because she wouldn't kiss him. She didn't need to rub it in like this. And not with Theo of all people.
She walked straight up to Theo, who looked slightly puzzled at her purposeful strides and even more baffled when she drew down his head and firmly placed her own lips against his.
Draco leaned against the wall. It was stupid, really. What did she think she was proving? He could feel the defiance and determination in her, but that was all he felt. She didn't feel like she had the last time she'd kissed Theo. She wasn't getting any pleasure. True, he didn't much care for the visual, but he was hardly going to react when she was only doing this to provoke him.
Theo seemed to recover from his surprise and drew her closer. Of course he would. Draco looked away. It was becoming just a little bit harder to not react. His heart was pounding and his breath coming a little bit faster as he fought to ignore them. He tried telling himself to get used to it, but he hadn't been quite prepared to have to watch.
Then, slowly, Hermione's defiance began melting away, being replaced by the feeling Draco dreaded the most. Or wanted. Depending on where he was in the picture. Right now, he definitely dreaded it. He knew that if he were to look at her, she would be flushed and her eyes would be closed. She would be leaning into Theo, seeking more, opening up to him.
Bile was rising in his throat. She was a cruel, cold-hearted bitch for doing this, for not stopping, for allowing herself to feel this way, when she knew… she knew. She had to know. He stared down at his ring. It was such a curse. He supposed there was a reason that you weren't supposed to make a girl wear the bracelet until you'd married her. If it made you want her like this, if it made you want to take a fist to your friend's face for having her in ways you never could… then this kind of arrangement really wasn't the best.
She was forgetting herself. Her pleasure was coursing through his veins. It was making him sick with disgust at both her and himself. The bile was growing more insistent and he had to swallow repeatedly. He needed to end it. They had been at it for a while now, anyway. Anyone would be getting impatient.
"All right, Granger, enough," he said, a little hoarsely to his own ears.
She didn't react.
"I said: Enough, Granger!" he repeated, a little louder.
The little bitch still ignored him… or maybe she hadn't heard. Could she really be that consumed by the kiss?
He forced himself to look in their direction. The sight was exactly what he expected, yet he still felt as if someone had punched him in the guts.
Why won't she kiss me like that?
It was a useless question, and he already knew the answer. She couldn't stand him. And she was probably more than halfway in love with Theo. Theo was the better person, the smarter person. Draco was a Malfoy, and that was really all he was. He was a nobody. Why would she want to kiss him? He looked away again and took a deep breath. He needed to stop thinking so damn much. It didn't help matters.
He stepped closer to the pair and grabbed Hermione by the arm, forcefully pulling her away from Theo. "Are you deaf?" he snarled. "I have better things to do than stand around all day watching you snog people."
She didn't even look at him. Instead she was still looking at Theo and biting her lip and giggling, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling. Funny how he hadn't thought this thing could hurt any more.
"You proved your point," he said, giving her a very ungentle push in the direction they were going. "Dungeons!"
"Feel free to prove your point any time," Theo said in a low, teasing voice and Hermione giggled again.
Draco loathed it when she giggled. "Go!"
Still looking disgustingly like she had just been kissed and loved it, Hermione did as ordered. Draco was about to follow her when Theo's calm voice stopped him.
"No matter what you tell yourself, it hurts, doesn't it?"
Gahhh... You're so spoiled... Teasers are difficult to find sometimes. :P
"And you're such an expert on girls," Draco muttered sarcastically.
Unfortunately it took more than sarcasm to fend off Blaise. "I've been around."
"Slut."
Blaise's eyes widened in surprise and humor. "Did you just call me a slut?"
