Hermione dodged in between the trees of the Forbidden Forest, her feet crunching twigs and her muscles burning. She took a deep breath of the warm morning air and started to pick up her speed a little bit, making sure to watch out for the tree roots. Malfoy had suggested to all the lead parts to have a fixed fitness routine so that when it came to learning dance steps good stamina would make it that little bit easier, to hold good strong notes whilst singing and to keep their feet moving. Strictly, the Forest was completely forbidden, hence the name, but Hermione tended to ignore this rule. It was easy to get lost and the tale of missing students still haunting the Forest and Hogwarts grounds put most students off, but Hermione found it calm in the woods, and the air was always a little cooler in the thick shade of the trees, and as summer was still burning brightly, she liked to have the refreshing breeze wafting around her body.
She glanced a little to her left and grinned at Ron who was keeping in step with her, a short distance away. Normally Harry would run with them, but he was shooting big scenes for his movie today, leaving her alone with Ron. Ron was still slightly cautious about the Forest, and its safety, meaning that he kept his eyes darting around and Hermione's expression turned into a fond smile, as she weaved her way closer to him.
She pushed forward a little, noticing as Ron started to catch up with her and keep in step, this in turn drove her on even more and so a race started out between the two of them, short breathy giggles echoing in the forest as they tried to overtake each other. She felt as Ron fell back to run behind her, and then without any sort of warning, her grabbed her stomach and lifted her off the floor. Ignoring her laughing protests, he twisted her behind him, placing him in the lead as he kept on going. Hermione grinned for a moment, staring at the back of Ron's head for a moment, before finding her footing and sprinting off after him.
"Even with cheating," Hermione panted breathlessly, her hand resting against the big tree they had been racing towards, "I still beat you." She laughed as Ron came to stand next to her, her chest rising and falling as he rolled his eyes in amusement.
"I let you win," he muttered.
"Of course you did Ronald," she grinned and opened her mouth to suggest they head back when Ron lifted up a hand to silence her, his eyebrows narrowed and unusually serious expression on his face.
"What's wrong?" She whispered anxiously, his eyes darting around. He seemed to not notice as he took a step towards her, his hand resting on her arm protectively. "Ron?"
"Can you hear that?"
Hermione strained her ears into the silence for a moment, then she began to shake her head, extremely confused when the noise drifted quietly in her hearing range.
"That sounds like…"
"Someone crying," Ron finished her sentence, his eyes locking with hers and they both stood in silence for a moment, the faint sounds of painful moans floating around them.
"It's coming from this way," Hermione said, beginning to jog off in the direction of the noise. Ron suddenly reached out and grabbed hold of her hand, his eyes burning into hers for a second.
"It might not be safe," Ron said, his tone dark and his hand gripping on to hers tightly.
"Ron, we can't just leave that person," Hermione replied, linking her fingers through his and giving them a gentle squeeze. "Come on, they might be seriously hurt,"
"I don't know Hermione…"
"Come on Ronald, we have to at least see," she pulled on their hands and when Ron refused to move, she dropped her fingers from his. "Fine, I'll go by myself,"
"No, you will not," Ron replied firmly, jogging next to her as they moved towards the sound. His entire body screamed of reluctance, but Hermione's heart swelled a little at his refusal to leave her and the proximity in which he was standing next to her.
The cries got steadfastly louder, and Hermione pushed on, leaping over stray bushes and weeds to continue through the Forest, the light streaming through and hitting random patches of wood.
"I see someone," Ron murmured, jogging faster and in front of her, his body positioned directly in front of hers. "Hang on…"
"What?" Hermione said impatiently, pushing past Ronald to gasp at the figure on the ground.
"Professor Greengrass?"
"Oh thank God," their teacher replied, looking up at them through watering eyes and tear stained cheeks.
Hermione noticed the deep gash in her knee and how her ankle was positioned at a funny angle in front of her. Dirt was smeared across her hands, and her long blonde ponytail had some leaves protruding out of it.
"Did you fall?" Ron asked, a little bit obviously, as the two of them stood looking down at her.
"I tripped over a tree root and think I may have twisted this ankle, she replied gesturing to her right foot, which she had stripped off the trainer and sock. I tried hopping but got so lost, and then was afraid I might stay here without anyone ever finding me. It's such a huge Forest." Astoria giggled a little hysterically at herself, but Hermione could see the relief in her eyes and understood completely. The forest was massive, stretching for miles and some of it wasn't even technically Hogwarts property, if a person did get seriously lost, it could take days to find them.
"Look, Ron do you think you could lift her? Cos you could carry her back the way we came, while I run back to the school and get help," Hermione suggested and Astoria shook her head.
"How will you know how to get back?"
"We leave trails when we come running," Hermione explained sheepishly, realising that technically she was admitting that her and Ron hadn't just broken the rules once they'd been here before. It was one of the strictest rules of Hogwarts, the Forest was off bounds.
"That's a clever idea, but you'll get into a lot of trouble when the other teachers realise. You two had to have already been in the forest to find me," Astoria groaned slightly as she tried to shift her position.
"We'll worry about that later, you're in no fit state to walk and I'm sure Ron will be able to carry you?" Hermione asked glancing over at Ron, whose ears had started to turn a bit red at the tips.
"Urm, yeah, sure. If that' alright Miss?"
"I'd be hugely grateful Ron," Astoria smiled widely at him, a pretty blush beginning to stain her cheeks as well and Hermione's lip curled up at Ron's entranced look until she realised and dropped her face back down to a more mutual expression.
"I hope I'm not too heavy," she chuckled as she locked her arms around Ron's neck as he scooped her up into his arms. Hermione rolled her eyes at the comment, her dislike for the blonde growing continuously.
"I'll come back and find you," she said firmly to Ron who was looking slightly bewildered, but started to walk forward, following the trail of red thread that Hermione had left behind the two of them. Hermione pulled the tangle of thread out of her pocket and bit off the end, placing it on the floor next to Ron's feet. "Don't move the thread, I'll be as fast as I can."
Then, without warning or any planning, she stepped forward and placed her palm on Ron's cheek, stroking his face gently before tearing off through the woods.
"Hermione, what are you doing girl?" She murmured as she ran realising, that the gesture had been more for their teachers benefit than her own.
XXXXXXXXX
He grinned at the water, thinking of the day ahead of him. It was gonna be a very interesting day, himself, Astoria, Blaise, Weasley and the cherry on the cake- Granger, all in one room for hours at a time.
Draco had found an ally in Astoria, she was clever and knew exactly how to bring the best performance out of every student. All of his pupils had warmed up to her, except the curly haired girl, who seemed ready to keep an extreme amount of distance between both her Professors. He shook his head slightly at thoughts of Granger. Of how he had stupidly, unable to resist, brushed her fingers against her hand a couple of days ago. Of how his body had burned with an intense amount of need when she had been pressed against him and of how watching her perform with Blaise and Weasley made him feel physically sick.
But he had to focus now, he didn't need to get distracted by her and if needs be, he was sure Astoria would happily help him…release his tension. Her relentless flirting and obvious want for him had not gone without notice, and normally Draco would of pounced on the opportunity. She was perfect for him, literally the perfect partner. But then he thought of Granger, his student, and the crackle of electricity that always seemed to burn in the air between the two of them. He didn't have that with Astoria, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to live knowing that there was someone so close by who he could potentially have who made him feel so alive.
"Draco, what the fuck are you thinking? She's your student for one and secondly, she obviously not interested and even if she was, nothing could ever happen."
"Malfoy! Malfoy! Oh for goodness sake, Draco!" He turned and blinked against the sun. Lifting up a hand to shade his eyes, a jolt of excitement ran through him as he saw Granger running towards him. From the direction of the Forbidden Forest.
"Granger, were you just in the Forest?" He asked, his mouth open slightly at the idea of Granger breaking any rules.
"Oh, of course that's what you'd focus on. Listen, no time, Professor Greengrass is in there,"
"In the Forest?"
"No. In the sky," Hermione retorted, shaking her head at him and he held up his hands, a surprised bout of laughter escaping his lips.
"It's not funny," Hermione smiled pressing her lips together to try and look more serious, "She's in the Forest and she's hurt so we need to go now,"
Hermione pulled at his hand and he swallowed deeply at the touch as she started to run, dragging him behind her. He pulled away and ran beside her, letting her lead him back towards the one place Dumbledore had sworn to him was off bounds. He'd been told about the dangers of the Forest, of the strange men rumoured to lurk in there, and his heart growled at the thought of Hermione in there alone, defenceless. Then his heart roared at the fact that he cared.
"You shouldn't have been in there," Draco said, his words harsh and unlike the light tone of conversation they had had before. Granger glanced at him from the corner of her eyes.
"It's a good place to run-"
"I don't care. You broke an important rule,"
Granger frowned slightly, "So did she,"
"Excuse me?"
"She broke the rule, exactly the same as us."
"It's not the same thing,"
"How is it not?" Granger asked, her anger starting to show as she stopped and looked at him, her chest heaving a little from the heat. He turned to look back at her, and his fingers clenched into a fist as he drank in the sight of her, flushed and a light sweat breaking out across her skin.
"It's completely different, I'm sure she had a very good reason to be out here-"
"So did we?"
"We?"
"Me and Ron," she replied casually, her golden eyes watching him, burning with that little flicker of emotion that he seemed to evoke in her. He clenched his jaw quickly at the thought of Weasley seeing her the way she was now, in a tight vest and incredibly short shorts.
It made him want to punch something, preferably Weasley's face. He snarled at her, his anger at her boiling up inside him. She had to ruin this, his perfectly planned job, she had to go and screw it all up.
"Oh brilliant, so both you and the Weasley boy are out here, being stupid." He took a moment to watch at the first insult hit her, and a sick kind of pleasure twisted in his stomach, he ignored the strong feeling of guilt that was trying to burn its way up to his head and warn him that he was being stupid and needed so much more control of himself, "Come out here for a quick fumble did you?"
The second the last syllable was out of his mouth, he knew he'd crossed the line. Any kind of professionalism the two had been maintaining was shot to the sky now, as her face contorted in a kind of rage he didn't know people possessed. But what scared him more, was that she was going to argue. Right now she would reply, instead of marching off and reporting it, she was going to stay locked in this moment of anger and a strong dislike burning between the two of them.
"How dare you!" She practically screamed at him, stepping closer into his personal space. "Don't you dare to talk me like that about Ron, honestly that is none of your business, and if you ever consider to insult my intelligence again-"
And just like that, with her in this proximity, and her quick tongue spitting out retorts that no women he'd met yet had been able to provide, he was lost. Lost to the argument, and the wit and completely lost to her.
"No, I think bringing your intelligence into this is a good idea. Who decided to go running in the middle of the Forbidden Forest-"
"I took precautions!"
"Oh please, you took Weasley-"
"I have thread it helps me find my way back to the castle-"
"Thread! Oh how reliable, that is the stupidest-"
"Professor Greengrass came out here with nothing, she took nothing to help her find her way back, so I hope to God you're gonna have the same 'conversation' with her-"
"She's an adult, if hadn't been injured she would have found a way-"
Hermione scoffed and looked away from him out into the trees, her arms crossed, forcing him to step further into her. "Don't give me that,"
"What are you insinuating Granger?"
"Nothing. I just can't believe that that's the excuse you're covering to protect her,"
"She's a capable independent woman-"
Granger laughed bitterly, looking deep at Draco with a dark humour in her eyes. "What'd she do? Bat her eyelashes and flip her pretty hair to convince you of her maturity and capability. Oh, you and Greengrass, I can see it now, the innocent victim and the tall hero,"
"Leave my relationship with her out of this-"
"I couldn't care less about your relationship Malfoy-"
"It's Professor Malfoy to you-"
"Then it's Miss Granger to you-"
"Why are you so affected?" He looked down at her, his anger slowly seeping away to make way for a new curiosity. One loose curl hung by Granger's face and she impatiently tucked it behind her ear, a move that was slowly worming its way into Malfoy heart. He watched with interest as she refused to meet his eyes, and paused before answering.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. We should go," Hermione turned to walk away and Malfoy gritted his teeth and reached out, grabbing her wrist with his long fingers. She whirled round and stared at his hand, her mouth open as she slowly drew her eyes up to look at him.
"Yes, you do. You're the only person in my whole class that still calls her Professor, that doesn't ask her opinion on scenes they're walking on, the only student I have who doesn't trust her, that I know, genuinely dislikes her?"
"That's a lie," Hermione stuttered out, her breathing short sharp breaths against his face and it was only then when he realised how close he was to her. His entire body was leant down as if he was about to mould into her. Her eyes flickered across his face.
"It's not a lie, what has made you so against her?"
The two of them stayed frozen, both staring at the other as if there was no other option for them. He felt like he was drowning and not a good kind of drowning, anger surged up in him. She was so ordinary. Nothing, nothing, nothing special about her. And yet, he was so attracted to her.
"Hermione? Is that you?" Hearing Weasley's voice made Draco stumble away from her, watching as she blinked and swallowed, trying to grab her composure back.
"Yes Ron, we're coming to get you," she replied, turning to Draco and inclining her head towards Ron's voice. Showing no emotion, he took off after her as she ran to aide him.
XXXXXXXXX
Hermione sat with Ron outside the Hospital Wing, her hands clasped in her laps, weaving her fingers together nervously. Ron sat quietly beside her, not fidgeting or moving at all.
"Hermione?"
"It's his biggest rule Ron, the one rule he made every student understand he was deadly serious about. Oh God, what was I thinking?"
"What were we thinking Hermione. Me and Harry were there with you,"
"Yes, but you two are the dangerous ones, I'm the sensible one that helps us out of those situations, but this time I have no excuse,"
"Hey, don't worry so much, we'll just have to explain and hope that saving Tori manages to loosen the heat on us. Look at me,"
She twisted her head to the left and peered nervously at him, chewing slightly on her lower lip.
"It'll be fine," Ron murmured, brushing his fingers against her face and Hermione released a sigh as she leant into the gesture.
"Uh huh,"
They both shot their heads up and Hermione blushed an alarming shade as Malfoy stood, staring with an incredibly bored expression at the pair of them.
"Professor Dumbledore will see you now,"
All three of them walked into the Hospital Wing, and Hermione kept her eyes fixed on the ground as she walked towards a man she respected and liked very much. Dumbledore had never really been a major character in her life, just a comforting presence that reassured her of things she had already known, and offered words he had twisted into strange riddles as comfort and advice. It had always been Harry that Dumbledore loved, and the loyalty and affection between boy and man was evident for anyone to see.
"A wise man once said 'Curiosity is lying in wait for every secret'. And it seems he was right. Curiosity is natural to the soul of man, and the two of you, or I should say three, knowing that wherever there is two of you, inevitably there is three, and the three of you channel curiosity is almost every aspect of life. You draw danger to you with a courage that should be commended. But then one has to wonder, if courage just another form of stupidity?"
Dumbledore looked between the two of them from the seat next to Professor Greengrass' beard. His eyes twinkled as he stroked his beard, and stood from his chair, surveying the two of them.
"But it is of no matter, merely the ramblings of an old man. You will serve detentions for two weeks, and are lucky but also unfortunate that Miss Greengrass was out in the Forest at the same time. I will not ban you from the Forest, for your tendency to ignore rules, may only heighten your desire to go there, instead I shall strongly warn you against it. You three are powerful, more than you can imagine, but not everything in that Forest can be beaten. Good day to you all,"
And with that he strolled out of the Hospital Wing, humming softly as he went.
"You know everyone thinks Luna's absolutely nuts, but really she isn't all that different to him," Ron said, breaking the silence and Hermione glanced up at Draco before quickly averting her eyes to Ron's face.
"How do we know what detentions we have?"
"I'm sure we'll get the letter tomorrow at breakfast," Ron said moodily.
"We should go," Hermione muttered, keeping her eyes moving about the room. Harry will be arriving from his shoot soon.
"Yeah, we can meet him out front." Ron nodded to Professor Greengrass, who smiled and whispered a thanks, whilst barely looking at Malfoy before storming off.
Hermione turned to follow him.
"Granger,"
Her heart thudded in her chest, as she turned slowly back around.
"Yes?"
"I'm not suggesting or warning, I'm telling. Do not go back in that Forest," Malfoy said darkly, his face a frown as he watched her, one hand resting on Astoria's bed.
Hermione opened her mouth to make a retort about independence, before she thought better of it. It was not just the two of them, another Professor was in the room, which is exactly why he had said it. Giving her no other option but to agree to what he had said.
She nodded, her eyes narrowing a little at him as she did, before turning and stomping off after Ron.
Draco shook his head after her, a small barely there amused smile on his face, as he remembered Grangers stormy expression.
"Draco?"
He turned back to Astoria and smiled down at her, allowing the flow of conversation to dance between them.
XXXXXXXX
"You have got to be kidding me?"
Draco lifted his head from the newspaper he was currently reading at the Professors table and glanced down at the table the outburst had come from. A small smile flitted across his features for a moment as he watched Granger stare at the letter in front of her, anger and annoyance laced into her features.
Weasel and Potter were both leaning towards her sympathetically, as Potter slowly tugged the letter from Grangers grasp and placed it on the table. Usual noise slowly bled back into the Hall, only being silenced for a short moment by Grangers outburst.
"Do you think she's alright?" Astoria asked, leaning slightly into Draco, keeping her eyes fixed on the bushy haired girl, whilst Draco became very aware of the way she was pressed slightly into him, her fruity perfume drifting through the air.
"I'm sure she'll be fine," Draco smirked, lifting a drink to his lips as he watched Granger twist towards him. He cocked an eyebrow at her outraged expression and if anything she seemed to get even more angry, her brown eyes seemed to smoulder even from the distance she was away from him. Grabbing her bag, she pulled it forcefully from underneath the table and sashayed out of the Hall, her hips swinging as she marched away.
He noticed Weasley staring after her, looking as entranced as he felt and inwardly groaned. The little hip action Granger had got when she was angry, really should not have been attractive. However it was, incredibly so.
Placing his cup back on the table, Draco stood from the table. "One moment," he murmured to Astoria, before quickly walking down the Hall and out its front doors, ignoring the looks from students and professors alike.
He looked up through the stairs trying to see if he could spot the curly haired girl before she got too far away.
"Malfoy?"
The voice drew his attention and he turned to the left to see Granger staring at him, her letter clutched in one hand and her other hand a tight fist.
"Woah, planning on punching me?" He grinned at the ludicrousness of the question, but the way she took a step towards him, seemed to dull down his amusement slightly. He had a feeling, that if she really wanted to, her fist would be thrown very hardly against his face.
"What is this?" She hissed, holding up her detention letter.
"It's your detention letter," he replied blankly, loving the way his blood seemed beat faster and the emotions raged through his body as he wound her up. The adrenaline pumped through him as he watched her face burn with intense dislike, and he despite himself, despite his morals and knowing that this indulgence was so so wrong, he loved it.
"I know that! I meant why the Hell am I doing it with you?"
"Oh, you don't want to?" He smirked as she took another step closer.
"The idea of spending any time with you, alone or otherwise and for the period of two whole weeks, makes me feel physically sick," she spat and he blinked at the way the words kind of pierced him a little, like little small splinters against his feelings. He frowned and the words, instead of causing him to back down, riled in him what he'd obviously riled in her.
Bending his head down to intimidate and crowd her personal space even more, he murmured softly "See the thing is Granger, I think you're lying,"
"You think you're so clever-" She retorted and he grinned, rocking back on his feet.
"I know I am,"
"Oh will you take your head out of your own backside, it's incredibly annoying. I will attend this detention, but only because of the importance of this Final Piece," she said her voice exasperated and he nodded, still grinning.
"That's made me so pleased," his voice dripped with sarcasm and she glowered at him, turning and practically running up the stairs.
Malfoy allowed himself a small chuckle before he turned and almost collided with another Professor. Severus Snape was a strong friend of his fathers, though recently a lot of distance had been put between the two. Draco had always like Snape, despite rarely seeing him, and now the man watched him steadily, his black eyes shining.
"Be careful Draco," he murmured silkily, sweeping past him and Draco turned to watch him slowly descend the steps to the dungeons, he heart racing at the knowing look Snape had held in his eyes as he spoke.
XXXXXX
The library was quiet as always, and Hermione sighed happily at her place of refuge. The days rehearsal had gone badly. She hadn't been able to create with Blaise the right amount of burning sexual tension that Professor Greengrass insisted was so important. And despite her dislike of the woman, Hermione understood her point. The whole point of the dance they had been practising was it showed Leah's strong conflict over the two men who had become part of her life.
The dance incorporated Hermione and both Blaise and Ron, with Hermione being spun between them. Hermione's dance steps with Ron had to be loving and tender, precise and easy to watch, whereas with Blaise it had to be burning. It had to be hatred and love all rolled into one, and Hermione just wasn't able to reach inside her and pull out those emotions for the dance, leaving every person involved tense and frustrated.
"Granger,"
Hermione glanced up to see Malfoy and her shoulders drooped a little. She turned her head back to the shelves off books, and trailed her fingers along their spine.
"Just don't, not today,"
"I just wanted to say, that when working it's probably best to listen to the teacher who is trying to help you and not just swan out of the room, leaving everybody waiting," Malfoy finished and watched her expectantly, waiting no doubt for her short witty reply. Instead, Hermione sighed. She blinked back the tears that had angrily sprung to her eyes and whipped around to face him.
"Malfoy, is there any chance you could be rude to me tomorrow? You will be sitting on our performance practise again, and you can be rude to me then, or even better at the detention which I have to do with you. 'Cos I have to have to deal with this today, I swear to you I will lose it. So please, I'd appreciate it."
She finished talking and turned back to the books, walking calmly around the shelves, breathing deeply in the smell of pages unturned and information just waiting to be read.
"Hermione,"
She turned around in surprise at his use of her first name, and tucked the stray curl behind her ear as she stood and waited for him to speak. She kept her arms wrapped around herself, to hold herself up. People make mistakes all the time, she just takes the mistakes she made a lot harder than other people. And today, for whatever reason she had let not only herself down in the rehearsal, but Ron and Blaise too.
"Stop trying to hold onto your mistakes, you can't start the next chapter of your story if you keep re-reading your last one." Draco said quietly to her, his voice sincere and almost kind. His face was blank and unreadable, like always, but it didn't hold that bitter hostile sharpness that it usually did. He wasn't speaking to prove his superiority or to try and get a rise out of her. He was offering her some small form of comfort.
Hermione opened and closed mouth, frustration at the man in front of her, bubbling up. He was so…
"You're so-"
She trailed off and continued her search for the right book, ignoring him completely as she drifted between the shelves. He grinned at her change in manner, and followed her round the shelves.
"Charming?" He supplied for her, "Wholesome?"
Despite her stony features her lips quirked a little and she snapped back without missing a beat.
"Unwelcome."
"You're not as mean as you think you are, you know that?" He pressed and she whipped her head around to look at him.
"And you're not as brilliant and perfect as you think you are," she replied, plucking a book of the shelf and pressing it to her chest. She wandered around in search of a free table, and sunk into the chair, placing her book on the table in front of her.
"Well someone's touchy," Malfoy replied, picking the book up and flicking through the pages. Hermione rolled her eyes and lurched out of her seat, snatching the book back, and stroking the cover softly as though Malfoy had harmed it with her ungentle touch.
"Leave," Hermione commanded, her tone light but with a hint of authority that made Malfoy smirk.
"Whatever you want dear," he replied, slowly strolling out of the library, Hermione twisted in her seat to watch him walk away a small from on her forehead.
"Dear?" She murmured in confusion, shaking her head and letting her eyes drift over the words of the book, lulling her slowly away from Hogwarts and into a whole new world.
XXXXXXXXX
Dear? Draco rubbed across his face and pushed the same hand into his hair. Dear? What was he doing?
XXXXXXXXX
Bonjour! Marvellous to see you again. Now, I have been getting a lot of questions regarding the ages of Hermione and Draco so I thought I would clear it up now for you all. In my head, I had Hermione and everyone in her year to be seventeen or eighteen, with Hermione being seventeen. And Draco isn't reeeaaaallllyy old, but twenty four, giving enough age gap between the two of them for their blooming relationship to be a little bit frowned upon if you were looking at their relationship primarily on their age, and forgetting the whole teacher/student part, but still for Draco to be young enough to be seen as a young and modern genius. As I mentioned before, my keyboard is stubbornly refusing to be fixed, so if there are any mistakes with things such as speech marks or so on, please let me know so I can edit them. Leave reviews telling me what you think, if you so wish. Thank you!