Again, I am so bloody sorry it's been literally a million years since I updated. I hope you enjoy, despite this, and please leave a review!
Eve
He was going to explode. He was drifting towards the mindset that no matter what he did, there was no way he would be able to fix this. But then, how could he think that? He was Draco Malfoy. At one point in his schooling career, he had rivalled Hermione when it came to intelligence. He was perceptive, sharp-witted, tenacious, and he knew exactly what he wanted, and how he could get it. Yet, Hermione seemed to do something to Draco, despite his efforts to dissimulate this desire. He couldn't think properly when presented before her or even the mere thought of her. He couldn't organise his thoughts and they fell to complete disarray whenever he saw her. He knew this, and right now all he could do was distance himself from her. Quickly realising the library wasn't the best place to do this, considering her affinity towards it, he drew into the corner. The boy hoped that once in her life, Granger would fight her innate compulsion to stick her nose into places it didn't belong. In this case, it was the very far reaching corners of the library in the Invisibility Section.
Slapping himself alert, Draco squeezed his eyes open. She was stood in front of him. He could not elude her; most of all in his thoughts. Merlin, he would never get this finished. It didn't particularly help that he was in two minds about butchering Potter and Weasley to prevent them from pressuring him anymore about his task. It wasn't that he didn't want this. He wanted it more than anything. But every time he came to complete it, something was holding him back. Granted, he was behind on his deadline and most likely deserved those three howlers which arrived in succession two early mornings ago through his bedroom window.
"Granger, I don't have time for whatever you want." Draco groaned, and attempted to shuffle further away from her. She smirked with hooded eyes. He wasn't expecting that response.
"Are you sure you can't make time?" She inched closer to him, and he felt his mouth inadvertently drop a little as her skirt rode up just enough to reveal a pair of emerald green suspenders. She knew how to get to his heart, and she was exploiting it viciously. With two fingers, she dropped the skirt.
Losing his train of thought, he struggled to grasp onto anything coherent. "Granger, I can't..." Little did she know what she was hindering by carrying out an act of such filth. He shook his head, trying to convince himself more than her. "Seriously, I'm working."
Jutting her bottom lip out, she stomped to the other side of the table and sat. Hermione could work for as long as it took him to give in. Giving in was not an option for her. "That's fine. I have a Potions essay to finish."
"Fine." If she just stayed still and completely silent, he might be able to continue. Even better, he might finish.
The plan for 'Operation: Fix Granger' was that Draco, with his high caliber transfiguration skills, would conjugate a large number of rats fixed with tumours to be tested on by their potion. It was proving to be more difficult than expected, given that the recipe for triggering uncalculated cell division on animals was unfortunately not on the regular curriculum. And, of course, the stress was exacerbated by the fact that Potter wanted to make sure it was as ethical as possible. So, the tumours of any rats which weren't treated successfully by the 'cure' had to be removed. Draco didn't understand why they couldn't just transfigure them into goblets after they were done with them. Yet, he was past the point of trying to counter either of their requests.
The two, Granger and Malfoy, worked in silence for as long as they could, but she couldn't keep her eyes off of him, and neither could he. Resisting her, and knowing that she was clearly endeavoring to get to him, was becoming increasingly testing. Dropping his eyes to his parchment, he proceeded to work on the formula.
He risked a glimpse at her. She was biting her lip suggestively. This was not in her nature at all, but he couldn't disconnect how much this was making his heart race and what he truly understood. Merlin, but he throbbed and ached for her arms to be wrapped around his. Her legs to be entangled within his as she invaded his intimate space. She was everything he needed and he had needed it for so long. So exactly how was he supposed to resist?
He leant back on his armchair and stretched his legs, trying to muster some kind of courage to walk away. Hermione looked up. "Fuck." If this had been a test, he'd failed. "Come here." She grinned, but was slightly disappointed she hadn't been able to carry the game on for a little longer. She moved to stand before him.
Draco cocked his head and hesitantly hoisted her skirt up to reveal the hosiery underneath. "Fuck, Granger. Why are you doing this to me?" She had unbuttoned her shirt slightly, too. He smirked. Textbook.
Hermione swiftly advanced to straddle him. Moving forward, she tugged on his tie, her hair falling in front of her face and onto his heaving chest. He struggled to contain himself. "We're in the library, Granger…"
"I know! Isn't it filthy?" She hissed. He was laughing. Merlin, how had it taken him so long to notice her? To really notice her. He felt angry that with now so little time she had left, he had completely taken for granted the past few years. Draco may have actually enjoyed his time here at Hogwarts if he had been more observant and just a little less of a completely willful douchebag.
His hands gracefully found her haunches and he gave them a sharp slap. She let out a mincing gasp, the brief, outward breath cooling his face. Fuck, he couldn't breathe. Millimetres apart, she looked into his eyes once again and his expression was intense, almost threatening. Hermione paused, contemplating as to if she had angered him. His lingering stare began to burn, but he yanked her to him and covered her mouth with his famished kiss. He was biting her lips. The pleasure seemed to override the pain and she moaned in response against his hot tongue. Her hands were in his hair; her fingers caught in his silver curls; her nails scraping at his neck as the desperation to be closer to him in any way possible dazed her.
Draco pushed her back. She sat on his lap at arm's length, struggling to pat down her hair. Groaning, he looked away. "I can't." Hermione felt her heart sink. "Give me until the evening. I'll be all yours." This was really testing his mettle.
She brought her fingers to her lips which were still tingling. "I don't have forever, Draco."
The muscle in his jaw flexed. "I know."
Hesitating, she looked at him, before she gathered her things and walked away.
"I've cracked it. I've fucking cracked it, Potter."
"About bloody time!" Ron popped up behind Harry as Malfoy strode over to the Gryffindor table. A few astounded faces looked up to see the unexpected trio conversing casually.
"Alright, Weasel, pipe down." Draco really did try and be civil with Ron now the dynamics had changed within the group, but he deemed it quite an exorbitant request. "It's done. I have twenty diseased rodents pissing in my dorm as we speak. Could we make this quick?"
The three arrived swiftly in the Head's Common Room, making a quick stop along the way to collect the potion which supposedly contained the 'cure' for Hermione's condition and had been brewing in their dorm for quite some time. Rosy in colour, it was thankfully odorous.
The head boy led them to his room, promptly and covertly pushing his journal behind the bookshelf. "Don't touch anything. And for Merlin's sake, don't let any of them out of that cage."
Harry and Ron, furtively stepping over the threshold, looked sheepish. "I must ask; why hasn't this been done before?" Draco probed, as the three stood woodenly in the middle of the room.
"It's interesting actually." Harry answered. "Hermione knows all about it. As you know, cancer is quite rare within the wizarding world. I hadn't realised that this was the case, because, you know, being a half-blood – I get the best of both worlds. Sadly, cancer's a pretty big thing within the muggle community. But there is a reason it's so uncommon. The gene that is responsible for being a wizard is associated with the gene that controls cell growth. Being a wizard; you're basically turning off the button for abnormal cell division. Biologically, pure-bloods are the least likely to develop it. That's why I was surprised you knew what it was, as it's extremely rare within such a heritage. Muggle-borns are the most likely, as their magical gene is not as strong and thus, they are more susceptible to cancerous tumours. Still, though, it's unlikely."
"But, people in the past have still had it! I remember my Great-Aunt Tessie telling a story about one of her old friends who had given in to the same illness." The tips of Ron's ears were tinged red; he was almost cross they were the first ones to have tried curing cancer in the wizarding world.
Harry shrugged. "If it's not beneficial to the masses, what's the point? Especially when the majority of cases afflict muggle-borns."
Draco looked away and cringed. He was sure they were all reflecting on the same incident which had widened the rift between the trio and himself since their second year. "Let's get on with it, shall we?"
Ron paused. "Wait, how are we going to know whether it's working? It might take months!"
Harry gestured to the cage of rodents. "The tumour is slightly exposed on the rats, so we can see. I know it's not scientifically sound but it's all we can do. Also, I've done a few variations of the potion. Three of them are made specifically to be fast acting."
"Right. And if they work, and there are no horrific side effects… we might as well give it a go on Hermione?"
Draco looked down, still dubious.
He was feeling pessimistic about the entire pursuit.
Hermione was not in the mood for Draco's shit. Or more appropriately, Draco being a shit.
She deserved this. Merlin, she fucking deserved it. And she wanted him to hear it all. She had cancer, for crying out loud. She didn't know when would be her time, but she sure as hell knew she deserved to be happy. Right now, he wasn't making her happy.
It was the evening. She had managed to distract herself with various subject matters, but at this point she no longer cared as much. She didn't see the point, and besides, her mind kept drifting to other topics - as to what exactly was Draco so caught up about so neither exorbitant flirting in the library nor lacy, house-coloured garters could rouse him. There are few things in the world that Draco Malfoy deems more salient than titillating affairs; it was beyond her. Alas, she was too angry to attempt to figure it out. All Hermione wanted to do was give him a sock on the jaw and leave him wondering why he had treated her this way.
When she arrived at the Head's tower, Patricia swung open the door with a welcoming smile. "Honestly, Hermione! You mustn't keep coming without notice, I'd really love to have some shortcake ready for you. Or maybe lemon drizzle? Are you a fan? I can knock some up quite hastily."
Hermione had no intention of getting roped into Patricia's woes, and she wasn't entirely sure why she had suddenly become her go-to confidant. "I'm sorry Patricia, I'm in quite a rush, actually. Is Malfoy here?"
Patricia nodded. "I have no idea what's been going on with him. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were here earlier and they were all crashing about in his room. I've decided to just stay out of it. In fact, I just don't want to know what's going on up there." She strode across the kitchen area to call up Draco's steps. "Malfoy! You have a visitor!"
Hermione frowned. What had Harry and Ron been doing with Draco? She looked up when he called down after a long pause. He was quiet. "Who is it?"
"It's me." Hermione stepped forward as if he could see her. He appeared at the landing, wearing his pyjamas. She heard the faint footsteps of Patricia backing away, who had quickly realised the delicacy of the situation.
"Come up."
"So, are you going to explain why you had my best friends, who, by the way, you despise, here this afternoon? Oh, and whilst we're at it, why you've been treating me like dirt. Please, Malfoy, I'd love to hear an explanation as to..." Her bursting tirade soon came to a halt as they entered his bedroom and her attention was immediately caught by a box full of rodents in the corner next to his desk.
He followed her gaze and took her hands, "I'm going to explain everything. Have a seat." He gestured towards the bed and she gingerly followed, keeping a wary eye on the cage at all times.
"Hermione, when you told me you had cancer, it was fucking scary. I can't deny it. I know you know it's quite literally unheard of in the wizarding community. And when you do hear of it, it's usually an old wives' tale. You never think it's going to happen to you, because it's so rare, and nine times out of ten it doesn't. So I was unaccustomed to it, and that frightened me. The kind of horror stories you hear..." Draco shuddered. "At the time, I hadn't fully comprehended the idea of trying to get you better. I'd simply accepted the fact that... you weren't going to be here in this world soon. This awful, terrifying disease was going to take my Granger away from me. I knew that it was unimaginable but I had somehow imagined it, and I was prepared." Hermione was watching him relay this with a fine glaze over her eyes, her chin undeniably trembling. His hand found hers across the bed and he squeezed it. "To cut a long story short, because I don't want to upset you, Potter, Weasley and I end up deciding we want to do it. We want to fucking cure it. And Merlin, there have been so many trials and errors, but we may have come to a resolution." He saw her gulp and her eyes begin to water more intensely. "Look, I know the others will have wanted to tell you themselves, but the look on your face today was tearing me apart."
There was a long silence as she took what he had just offered to her in. She rolled onto her back and was staring at the ceiling contemplatively. "So, you're testing on the rats?"
"Yes. We gave them the potion today. I don't know how long it will take before we see results. Hermione..." He trailed off. A quiet teardrop was rolling down her temple and onto the bedsheets.
"I'm not crying because I'm sad." Her voice was thick with the tears. "I'm so grateful, you don't understand how much. I owe a lifetime to Harry and Ron. And you... Draco, you've come into my life like a ton of bricks. Even if it's just been for a short amount of time, you've made me feel. Ever since I was diagnosed I've either felt numb or wrecked with grief or pain, but you changed that. I need to thank you everyday for that. But I can't get my hopes up. Because when you tell me that all the rats have died or the potion just hasn't succeeded at all, the pain that will result may just kill me. I can't do it."
She noticed that Draco had gone completely quiet and was staring at her. It made her self-conscious, but she was unable to look away once their eyes had met. He shuffled closer and began to lay minute kisses on her hand, slowly making his way up her arm. "Draco..." He hoisted himself up so he looked down on her face, cupping it with his hands.
The light in the room was starting to fade as the Saturday night sky began to darken. The way his hands were holding her jaw and the flickering of the few lit candles in the room... it made her feel alive. She savoured the heat as his nose brushed along her neck; fervently he kissed her as she tugged anxiously at the fabric of the satin duvet. Their heavy and nervous breaths were circulating the room before a low throaty growl rolled up his chest and he pressed his lips desperately to her neck. Letting out a moan, Hermione ran her fraught fingers down his back, gripping onto the contours of his body.
Draco left out a soft huff of hair as he brushed his lips on her exposed stomach, and his fingers gripped at the hem of her shirt, dragging it slowly upward - a heated trail of kisses following suit. He dropped his hands quickly. "Hermione, are you sure you want to do this?"
She looked down at him, her russet eyes meeting with his. Despite his icy exterior, all that she felt when she was around him was warmth. She wanted this, and she needed this, "More than anything."
He nodded before preceding to undress her, his cool hands giving her blushing goose-bumps all at the same time.
OK! I've left it on a cliffhanger... but do not be afraid, I will not be skipping their 'titillating affairs!'
Don't hesitate to review! Thanks guys x