AN:
English is not my native language, that's why some Beta readers are helping me: Sapphire Leo; Drawing On Converse; Twilight684
REMEMBER, if you want a PREVIEW of the NEXT CHAPTER before I upload it, write a review, and I will send it to you. The review must be signed so that I can answer it.
She threw me against the tree. I spun halfway and pushed myself against the trunk to attack her again, and I wasn't going to hold back this time. I threw a kick against her chest, but she blocked it with her arm and her fist slammed into my shoulder while my knee hit her ribs. Soon we were moving non stop, fighting with punches, kicks and blocks; completely forgetting the three wizards that were watched our fight with stunned expressions.
For a moment I managed to throw her flat to the ground, but when I sat on her back she had already figured out the best way to get rid of me. She raised her legs so that she grabbed me by my neck and she pushed me upwards just enough so that she could slide like a snake beneath me. As soon as she released my neck and got up she ran towards me, kicking my head continuously.
She was totally focused on trying to destroy my face or trying to break any type of concentration I could have at the moment. I didn't stop to think about which of them was she thinking about while she kicked me hard. I managed to block her last kick with my arm and I kicked her leg very hard just before I buried my elbow in her chest.
She grabbed me by my arm and threw me to the ground and she immediately sat over me, choking me with her thighs. I realize that sometimes I forget that I don't need to breathe anymore.
As soon as I stopped trying to get rid of her legs, and I stopped thinking about the countless punches she was throwing at me, I remembered I had legs and I started using them to throw kick after kick against her back. Since that was not very useful, I decided to use the same trick she had used before. I grabbed her neck between my ankles and I threw her forcefully away, finally managing to stand in one leap.
"So much fucking is softening you, Draco," she said while throwing me back against the tree with all her strength.
"Same to you, Isa." I flexed my legs so that I could gather more strength to throw her to the ground. "It seems that Blaise is stealing all your strength." I didn't give her time to recover before I buried my elbow into her stomach, and I turned around and my fist impacted against her beautiful face.
"Not as much as you would like." She blocked my next punch with her arm and immediately her leg hit the left side of my head. "You, sadly, cannot say the same... Herms will be the death of you." She started kicking and punching me continuously, and so fast that I could hardly avoid her. "You aren't focused on the fight and that's because you can't stop thinking about her."
"I'm sorry," I said without feeling it just before hitting her on her chin, throwing her backwards a few feet. "I guess it's hard to know that you're no longer the only one who takes my breath away," I joked before attacking her again.
"Wow, now I can say that you are definitely daydreaming." She took a step back in order to dodge one of my kicks, which was aimed to her ribs. "I would never be interested in someone as pale and skinny as you." She kicked me behind my knees and knocked me down. "Just admit it," she straddled me, discharging a punch on my face, "I won."
"Not yet." I avoided her nest next punch and I managed to get rid of her, standing up immediately, facing her once again. "I think that today neither of us is going to win." I blocked her kick with one arm and grabbed her leg with my other hand, but she freed herself by immediately kicking my arm in the process. She then jumped backwards and landed just a few feet away from my position, close enough to kick me in my face.
"Today you are determined to win, aren't you?" I bent down, dodging her punch while I kicked her legs, knocking her down.
"Well, you are determined to make me look like a fool in front of my girlfriend, so we are even." I sat on top of her so that she couldn't move. "Please…"
"Okay." She kissed the tip of my nose caringly, "You have won," she said reluctantly. "But you know that I would have won."
"Of course." I stepped back, helping her stand up in the process, "I think that now we owe them an explanation," I said when I noticed the faces of disbelief on Longbottom and Lovegood. I have to admit that while I fought with Isabel I totally forgot about their presence.
"Next time we should sell tickets," she said between laughs. "I will let you explain everything," she said as she kissed my cheek and started running towards the castle, surely to find Blaise. Traitor.
"I'm sorry for what just happened." I approached them while I tried to wipe out the dust of my clothes, which were partially destroyed. I will have to change clothes before going to dinner. "But Isa loves to play once in a while." I shrugged as if what just happened was the most normal thing in the world.
"Play?" Longbottom managed to say. "You call that 'play'?"
"Yes, it's some sort of a game." I smiled. "We didn't hurt each other, though maybe tomorrow we will have a bruise but nothing more."
"Your clothes disagree with you," Lovegood stressed.
"Yes, but that's because I fell a lot of times," I tried to explain the destroyed situation of my clothes.
"If you say so," she accepted skeptically.
"Can we go to the dining room?" Hermione asked, breaking the tension of the moment. "I'm hungry," she said while she started walking towards the castle with a small smile in her face.
"Malfoy." Lovegood stopped me. "Over the summer, were you in a relationship with that girl?" she asked me in a whisper.
"No. Why are you asking me that?" I asked her curiously.
"Because the way you two moved around each other during that fight tells me that you know her very, very well, and that she also knows you in the same way."
"She is not my type; we're just friends." I shrugged. "But it is a game that we both love," I said with a smile.
If I'm honest, it's something normal if everyone starts thinking that I had some kind of affair or relationship with Isabel. She is a very beautiful woman, she is almost as tall as me, she has a very attractive body that can be seen through the skinny clothes she always wears, she has long black hair that reaches her waist, a mischievous smile and olive green eyes. Yes, I can understand if people don't believe that we are just friends, especially if they see us fighting.
I have spent 20 years of my life fighting constantly with her, and because of that I know every inch of her body almost as good as I know Hermione's. But it doesn't matter, she is not Hermione and she will never be anything like her. What I'm trying to say is that she is not my type.
Another thing that occurred while I was away was that they had decided what costumes we would wear to the Halloween party. I don't even understand how Isabel could agree to their choice. Ginevra said that Luc didn't allow her to buy a costume because he said that he would be honored to lend her one. Ginevra was very happy with that option, on the other hand, I was a little bit worried about what my sire would choose. She could end up wearing a dominatrix costume or going as the incarnation of purity. When they told me their decision I thought that they were kidding, but they weren't. In my opinion our costume wasn't an easy one and I wasn't sure if we would be able to make it believable.
"Are you seriously telling me that we are going to dress up as vampires?" I asked Isabel while we studied in Gryffindor's common room.
"Why not?" she shrugged. "It's Halloween."
"I'll go disguised as a damsel in distress," Hermione said without looking up from the book she was reading.
"It suits you too well," I groaned beside her. "Maybe we can complete your costume with a bite on your neck so that it's more realistic," I said sarcastically. I didn't like the idea of walking around the castle with my fangs exposed.
"It would be nice..." she said looking at me with lust in her brown eyes. "Will you be the one biting me, or do I have to ask Isabel?"
I didn't take her question into account; what I took into account was the look she was sending me, which was daring me to say no. "I will be the one doing it. Isa can bite Blaise's neck and that way you two will match with our... costumes," I said with a frown.
"You are no fun," Isabel protested behind me. "Why do you have to study so much?" she asked a little bit later. "You both know all those books by heart, so I don't really understand why you insist on reading them again and again."
"So that we can know them better," Hermione answered, trying to hide her amused smile.
"You will not need anything like that." She took the book I was holding and decided to sit next to me. "Poisons and Antidotes: How to Use and Detect Them," she read the title. "Why are you reading this? Those poisons can't affect you any longer." She looked at me, confused.
"It doesn't matter. I have an exam on them next week and I want to know everything about them, thank you." I recovered my book. "Why don't you go and help Blaise with his studies? I'm sure that he will appreciate it," I told her.
"You're a fucking nerd," she grumbled as she stood up. "You should pay a little more attention to your training because, since I forced you to train with me the other day, I wanted to continue where we left it." She looked at me longingly. "You owe me a rematch."
"Once I finish with this we can go into the forest for a while and you can kick my ass as much as you want," I said, knowing that she wouldn't let it go. "Somewhere where we can fight without witnesses so that I don't have to give stupid explanations once we're finished-if it's possible."
"Okay... Ah, before I forget, Blaise told me that there is a visit to Hogsmeade this weekend. What's that?"
"Hogsmeade is the town that's near the castle. You won't like it."
"Why not?" she asked.
"Because it's a town full of wizards. There is not a single muggle there."
As I had guessed, she snorted at that. "Are you going?" she asked Hermione with interest.
"I have to go because I have to buy a new book, some quills to replace the ones I have now, and some other supplies that I need for classes. And maybe I'll stop by the Three Broomsticks so I can drink a butterbeer with my friends," Hermione listed. "I should also find something to wear with my costume. What do you think I should buy?"
"Even if you decide to wear a bag, this idiot will keep thinking that you're the most beautiful being in the universe," she protested, pointing at me. "A simple dress, preferably a white one and strapless," she added thoughtfully. "That way we will be able to paint it with red and it will appear that you had a severe loss of blood," she said, smiling. "Are you going with her?" She looked at me pleadingly.
"No, I will stay inside the castle," I answered, pleased with myself. "You will have to go shopping with her while I stay in my chamber to rest."
"You don't have any idea how much I hate you sometimes," she murmured as she left the common room.
"Why don't you come with me? That way she can be the one resting," Hermione asked me. "I don't want to go shopping in Hogsmeade with a grumbling assassin."
"Even if I go with you she will go too. She doesn't trust that I can protect you." I shuddered. "This way I can rest a little bit."
"Why don't both of you rest while I go shopping alone?" she suggested.
"Alone? In a town without any protection? No way." I smiled mischievously.
"Okay, then you are coming with me. You can rest some other time." She stuck out her tongue at me.
"You are a cruel woman!" I kissed her, playing with her tongue. Her book fell to the floor from her lap when she turned around to put her arms around my neck. I picked her up and sat her on my lap without breaking our kiss.
"Please! Can you do us a favor? Get a room!" Ginerva protested behind us.
"She's jealous..." I said against Hermione's lips before smiling lasciviously, "but I agree. Let's go to your bedroom."
One night, while I was devoting myself to counting every freckle on Hermione's back with my kisses, the moment I had feared and expected arrived; she asked me to promise something...
"Draco, can I ask you to promise me something?" she whispered against the pillow.
"You can ask, but that doesn't mean that I will promise you what you want. You are supposed to trust me," I said, approaching her ear and nibbling her earlobe.
"I know I can trust you, but I don't know if I can trust that you will answer truthfully. If I ask you one thing that I have been wanting to ask you since you returned…" She turned around to look at me. "It really doesn't matter if you promise to tell the truth... I'm pretty sure I can tell if you are lying or not, and that's because I'm sure I already know the answer to my question."
"If you already know the answer, why do you want to ask me the question?" I smiled.
"Because I need to know it for sure, because I need to hear the answer from you," she said with a frown.
"Okay, you can ask me." I sighed, resting my head in my hands.
"Did you sleep with other women while you were away?"
Straight to the point. She knows the answer, she knows that I had sex with others, she also knows that I will be lying if I answer no, and if that's the case she will stop trusting me. But if the answer is yes, surely she will stop being intimate with me. That's a lovely dilemma, especially taking into account that it is taking place just after making love with her and just before doing it once again. She has absolutely no sense of timing.
"What would happen if I say yes?" I replied with another question. "You don't know the real reasons of why I did it, not that it matters much anymore, because I'm back and I'm here with you, right?"
"I need to know it, Draco. You haven't answered any of my questions."
"Yes." It's best to go straight to the point. "After a week watching you ignore me, treat me indifferently...I admit that I needed some sort of exorcism. I wanted to erase you from my mind, my mouth and my memory." I sighed resignedly, "That's why I went to Tony's house. If you need an orgy, he is your guy. He is very good at organizing them. The only problems is that I have to keep him far away so that he doesn't feel tempted by my ass."
She looked at me in confusion.
"It seems that I'm still innocent enough for him to feel the impulse to corrupt or even rape me, something that is not easy because, thanks to Isabel's training, I'm capable of ripping him apart; but then I would have to endure Julia's fury... I don't want to fight against an army of zombies." I looked at her, "The thing is that, yes, I devoted myself to fuck every woman who crossed my path, including Julia." I slumped back against the bed, "Is now when you try to drive a stake through my heart?"
"No. As you said before, you're back and you're with me." She leaned on her elbow to look at me straight in the eye. "But I needed to know." Her face wore a sadness that made me fall apart.
"They meant nothing, Hermione…" I caressed her cheek, "nothing at all."
"Not even Julia?" she asked quietly.
"Not even her. They were only bodies… Simple silicone dolls. You can't feel threatened by some Barbie Dolls made of silicone, right?"
"I still don't understand why you did it," she whispered.
"Because I was an immature idiot and I hadn't realized how much I love you, and because I was so stupid that I believed that if I sleep with many women I would manage to erase you from my heart," I said, trying to show her how little they had meant to me. "You are not even a little angry? You know that I would rather if you get angry than being like this..." I took her face tenderly in my hands. "Are you sure that you don't want to hit me or something similar?"
"No." She looked at me with tears in her beautiful brown eyes. "I don't want to do that..." I wiped a tear with my thumb.
"Kiss me, please, Draco. Show me that they didn't mean anything to you."
I fulfilled her wish. I kissed her, and I tried to show her everything that my dead heart felt in that kiss.
"I believe you," she said when she caught her breath. "But, please, promise me that you will not do it again."
"That's easy. I will not leave you again," I said with a smile.
Hi everybody!
I'm here again with a new chapter. Thanks for being so patient with me, I really appreciate it.
Did you like the chapter? I hope so. What do you think about the costume choice? And about Draco and Hermione's last conversation?
I don't know when I will update the next chapter, but it will be before the end of the month.
Remember, REVIEW = PREVIEW!
This are the reviews of the Betas that corrected this chapter:
It was really good. I'm excited for the Halloween party.~Sapphire Leo
Hi! I really loved the fight scene at the beginning! ~Drawing On Converse
Twilight684: That was interesting. The fight scene was pretty good, and I'm a little curious about this Halloween party now, and I'm proud of Hermione for not getting bitchy with Draco for what he did while he was gone. I mean it was her fault anyways so she really couldn't say anything. Anyways I'll be waiting for the next chapter.