Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and do not benefit in any way off J.K Rowling's characters.
She awoke with a start the next morning, having had her door rudely flung open.
"Malfoy, what is your problem? I was sleeping." She growled, letting her golden eyes scan over the offending boy in her doorway.
"Just making sure you won't be late," he said in a sickeningly sweet tone. Ugh, she could just kill him! It was only just five in the morning. She didn't need to be up for at least another hour.
She knew he had done it just to irritate her, not out of any consideration for her or her "lateness". Merlin, why was he even awake? She ignored her own question, not coming up with any answer other than to irritate her. But surely that would be ridiculous?
She tried to roll over and sleep again but the boy still standing in her doorway started to click his tongue at her making a faint tut sound of disapproval.
The absolute nerve.
It took everything in her not to hex the smug look right off his face.
In an angry huff, she shot up into a sitting position and threw the thick duvets off her less than decently clothed body, having been wearing only a short night dress. Draco's grey eyes went straight to scanning over her body, his eyes lingering over inappropriate places, making her cheeks redden immediately.
She quickly pulled the blanket all the way up to her chin, and indignant huff escaping her lips.
"Get out Malfoy!" She snapped irritated and his extended presence in her doorway. What the hell did he want now?
With a smirk Malfoy only proceeded to stride further into her room, startling her more than she would like to admit. The hand holding the duvet released and her fingers wrapped hurriedly around the wand on her bedside table, aiming it directly at his chest.
"I'm warning you Malfoy, leave, now." She spat out in a steely tone, her golden brown eyes flickering dangerously. But it didn't seem to affect him in the slightest. He came to a stop at the side of the bed, his form towering over her within touching distance.
She did not like this one bit.
"You know what, no. I don't think I will, princess." He said, finishing the last word in a mocking tone. His eyes flashed with anger and she found herself actually scared of him. Was this really the same Malfoy who had run away crying after she'd punched him in the face their third year?
She found it hard to believe it was.
Her wand was still pointed at his chest but now he had come so close, bending over her, that it was in direct contact with his white uniform shirt, making a small dent in the muscular flesh beneath.
She visibly gulped and found herself slowly lowering the wand from his chest, thinking provoking him was probably not the best idea right now. He'd already demonstrated how much stronger he was than her, at least physically. He wouldn't do anything to her surely?
Draco sneered at her and wrapped an unbelievable strong hand around her small wrist before forcefully dragging onto her feet.
Honestly, what made him think he could touch her?
He pulled her into his chest, flush against him. She blushed at both the close proximity and the mid thigh, low cut silky attire she was wearing, much to her own horror.
She felt uncomfortable wearing thick or restrictive clothing when she slept but she was entertaining that idea much easier now with the prospect of Draco doing something like this again.
His arm that was wrapped around her lower back forcefully pulled her up onto her toes, his head lowering down into the crook of her neck.
He had been able to think of nothing but her since he had woken from a nightmare that morning, her haunting screams of the previous year in his very manor startling him awake. It was something that shouldn't bother him, he was a Malfoy after all and she was just a filthy mudblood.
But it was one memory that he couldn't wrench out of his mind, having been unable to leave the room, all he could do was watch his deranged aunt carve the word Mudblood into her wrist as she screamed.
But everything was fine now, Bellatrix was dead, his father was in jail and his mother back at the manor alone. He was relieved to see no scar marring the creamy flesh of her wrist and with that he stared back into her confused eyes with a smirk.
"Oh my, princess, don't you just look delicious," his chest rumbled with the last word. With that a squeak escaped Hermione's parted lips and she was quite literally too shocked to do anything. Had the Draco Malfoy really just said that to her, one he considered to be less than filth?
When his lips touched her sensitive neck she was knocked out of stupor and with a spark from the wand still grasped tightly in her hand, Draco was knocked back against the wall of her bedroom.
"Stupefy." Was the soft word that left her mouth as she backed up to the other side of the room. Unfortunately the spell seemed to have a reduced effect on him, only having knocked him back and not unconscious.
Was it because of how flustered she was? She didn't know, but when she saw him standing up again and moving towards her, she found herself casting at him again.
This time however his wand was out and he easily deflected the spell away from him, then proceeding to knock her wand out from her hand. She gulped again as he took another step away from him, her back colliding with the wall.
His expression turned absolutely predatory and she found herself screaming, only to then have a hand tightly clasp over her mouth as his body pinned her against the wall. Her eyes widened with dread and she shivered having realised that she had no chance of escaping without her wand. He was unfairly strong and she was what could only be described as petite.
The top of her head only just reached his chin and she found herself having to tilt her head upwards to make eye contact.
Once he had seen she'd calmed down he unclasped his hand from her mouth.
"Please... let me go," she spoke quietly now, more than a little disheartened by her helpless predicament.
Immediately she felt the pressure of his body lift and he pushed himself away from the wall, a smirk still in place.
"Get ready, I have something I want to show you," he ordered nonchalantly, his hands dipping into his pockets and he turned heel and left her room, the door closing with a click.
It took her a long time to compose herself, having been caught entirely off guard by Malfoy's manhandling of her person.
He wanted to show her something? Seriously?
She shuddered.
She didn't want to be anywhere near him anytime soon. There had been very few occasions in her life where she had felt so utterly helpless and she did not like it at all.
Taking deep breaths she pushed herself away from the wall and walked over to where her wand had landed, grasping it tightly between her fingers.
She left her room 20 minutes later when she was dressed and had brushed her hair out of the awful dishevelled mess it had been earlier.
It took every bit of her composure not to squeak when an arm snaked around her shoulder, pulling her into a muscular chest.
"Stop touching me!" she hissed, hand defensively gripped around her wand once again. A smirk crossed his face but he dropped the arm he had wrapped around her and slid it back into his pocket, a mask of indifference painted across his face.
But somehow she could feel the anger and she uneasily shifted another foot away from him. He paid her no mind as he silently led her forward, out of their common room presumably to whatever it was he wanted to show her.
She kept her eyes on the floor her discomfort evident all the way until he stopped, she found herself crashing into his back and falling pathetically onto her arse.
She looked up to see an incredulous eyebrow raised in her direction his lips curled into an amused smirk but he made no move to help her up. Not that she expected him to of course, the arrogant git that he was.
She pushed herself off the floor steadying herself only to almost fall over again at the gust of wind that slammed into her as Draco opened the door in front of him. It was a door that led outside onto one of the very few balconies at Hogwarts. The sight was breathtaking, the sky was a dusty pink, sparkling diamond like stars were littered across the sky, all glistening brightly around a near orange moon.
"Wow," she couldn't help herself saying. Draco smirked at her speechless expression but kept silent, keeping his gaze fixed on her.
Why had he wanted to show her this? It was sweet, but that was exactly the problem, Malfoy was not sweet. She noticed how he kept his gaze on her the entire time, instead of on the breathtaking view of the sky.
She cleared her throat, her cheeks reddening when he looked at her expectantly.
"Why did you want to show me this?" She asked, she couldn't help her voice quivering slightly as she asked, not sure how he'd respond to that question.
But he didn't, instead shrugging his shoulders and strolling past her and back into the castle. She didn't follow behind him, instead resuming her gaze on the slowly fading pink sky before her as the sun slowly ascended in the sky.
She sunk into her seat in Charms class, just barely listening to professor Flitwick ramble on about a charm she had already mastered.
What was wrong with Draco? She couldn't seem to get the bastard out of her head, she felt so alone and vulnerable without Harry and Ron by her side this year.
A determined look crossed her face, she would not let Malfoy get to her. She had dealt with him just fine her entire stay at Hogwarts and after the atrocities she had faced in the war, she could deal with one pesky boy flaunting his strength at her.
Said pesky boy walks into class late, professor Flitwick pausing midsentence to look at him before returning to explaining the charm he was demonstrating.
There was a scrawny looking Hufflepuff boy sitting in the seat next to her. Unlike her he was focussing intently on the lesson, intrigued.
That was until the current bane of her existence came to stop next to him and he looked up at him with a nervous expression.
"Move," he growled under his breath and he chuckled when the boy entirely scrambled out of his seat.
How dare he even sit next to what was his, he was lucky he got away so lightly. Draco slumped into the seat next to her, the seat still warm from its last occupant.
She looked over at him with distaste and it took all he had not to chuckle again. She looked beyond exasperated with him.
She froze when he started twirling her brown tresses between his fingers before his hand came to rest on the nape of her neck.
She attempted to slap his hand away but he only squeezed harder, catching a pressure point as he did so and causing her to almost squeak again.
Hermione tried to ignore him but she had an uncomfortable amount of eyes on her, many of which were swimming in jealously. Believe me I am just as mad as you are. She thought, her eyes rolling in annoyance.
Why couldn't he just let her be? She most certainly had not come back to Hogwarts to be harassed by the likes of Draco Malfoy.
"Stop that!" She hissed as quietly as she could under her breath. Draco didn't seem to like what she'd said and delivered a punishing squeeze to her neck again.
Her eyes squeezed shut and she subconsciously noticed that the Professor had stopped talking. She opened her eyes to see that he was staring at them. Well, more specifically, at Draco.
"Mr. Malfoy, may I ask what it is that you are doing to Ms. Granger?" He asked skeptically, annoyed at having the attention drawn away from his lesson. Draco's hand quickly dropped from her neck.
"Why, just massaging her neck of course, she was complaining about it being tense Professor," he replied in a charming tone, his lips curling up into an attractive "smile".
You filthy little liar!
She was about to interject but snapped her mouth close at the threatening glint in Draco's eyes that promised to do horrible things to her if she said anything.
So she didn't and just forced a smile, muttering a quick apology to the professor before he continued with the mediocre protection spell they were learning. She had already used much stronger on many occasions the previous year.
She glared intensely at Malfoy but only seemed to amuse him further.
That gave her an idea. She could place a protective ward over her room so she could at least sleep in peace. She knew it would be pointless to simply magically lock her door. Even first years knew how to cast Alohomora.
As soon as her classes were over she slipped as discreetly as she could into the library, hoping with every fibre of her being that she could be alone for the first time in hours. She had Draco sit next to her in EVERY class today and he seemed to be incapable of keeping his filthy hands off of her.
She grabbed a couple of books she had yet to read before, one called The Various Effects and Uses of the Limpseed and the other called Magical Creatures and You. She wasn't particularly interested in either but she was in desperate need of getting her mind off of Draco's tedious antics.
She curled up in an area she deemed to be her favourite spot, sporting a long square shaped cushioned couch surrounding a square table. If she were to lie down flat on the couch she would be hidden from sight, more or less. That gave her some sort of comfort, even though she would hardly be childish enough to actually do it.
She had been reading for a few hours and had ignored supper entirely, having had her apatite disappear with any sort of good mood she may have had today.
The hair on the back of her neck bristled and she just knew, even without being able to see him, that he was staring at her once more.
She just wanted to scream with aggravation! She slammed the book shut and stared straight into his expressionless grey eyes.
"Oh I'm sorry for trying to be responsible," he said sarcastically at her angry expression. Her eyebrow rose in annoyance.
"We have rounds now princess, all the students should be in bed now." Her eyes widened in shock, was it really so late?
She nodded begrudgingly and gathered the books up off the table, choosing to put them back where she had found them instead of taking them with her to read later.
Their job was to check that nobody was roaming the hallways or were in places they weren't supposed to be. The restricted section of the library was checked first as it was closest to them and after it was deemed clear they continued to the rest of the castle.
It was a quiet night fortunately, they had found nobody out of bed and returned to their own quarters.
"Cursum Perficio" was the first words uttered since the library. The portrait of a beautiful black haired woman with a snake wrapped around her shoulder and encircling her arm smiled at Malfoy the way she had seen so many pining Slytherin girls do, and opened to reveal their Cosy quarters.
Awkwardly he stood aside and waited for her to go in before her, being met with only a dumbfound expression on her part.
"What are you waiting for Granger?" Draco scoffed, this is what he got for being chivalrous.
Realising she was being a complete idiot, she blushed and walked through the door. Excuse her for not expecting him to act so civilised after his many displays today proving otherwise.
She walked quickly past him only to have her wrist grabbed and be yanked back, not so gently into his chest.
"Did your muggle parents never teach you any manners?" he sneered, obviously at her lack of a thank you.
"Thanks," she mumbled angrily under her breath, before tugging her hand out of his and all but running into her room.
She begun the process of warding her room, hoping this would keep him out. Somehow she knew that was a long shot though.
She was out of his sight but all he could think about was her; her cinnamon scent, her creamy skin, her petal soft lips. She was driving him crazy and he didn't know what to do about it.
All he wanted to do was bash her door down and be in her presence again. The girl he could never have and the only girl he had ever wanted.
His eyes hardened. He was a Malfoy, he was rich and influential and he would get what he wanted, he'd make sure of it.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my story, it really means a lot to me :)
This was quite a quick update, in future it will probably take me longer as I have quite a lot due for this next week.
My future chapters will probably also be a bit longer, I'm just starting to get into the story.
If you liked this chapter and my story so far, please review, it really inspires me to write faster and really just write in general when others enjoy my work. :)
Until next time.
Xxx - Seph