Danger Zone

Revvin' up your engine

Listen to her howlin' roar

Metal under tension

Beggin' you to touch and go

Highway to the danger zone

Ride into the danger zone.

The Great Hall was silent.

Hermione's never heard it this silent before. Everyone was holding their breath, waiting for someone to strike first. Hermione stared down the length of the table at Malfoy, his wand drawn and pointed straight at her. His sleeves were rolled up, showing off his toned arms. She couldn't help but think that he was seriously hot, but she quickly snuffed that thought out. She had to focus if she wanted to beat him. It had been years since she was in a real combat situation, but the spells were still fresh in her mind. She never forgot them, in fear of having to use them again someday. She always wanted to be prepared, even though they've lived in peace for years now. Hermione shifted, there was not enough space between her and Malfoy and it made her uncomfortable. There was no use in denying the attraction she felt toward him anymore, but she was damn well going to try. She couldn't feel anything for him, he was her enemy, he tortured her throughout school, and he was the one behind so much of her pain. There was no love for Malfoy in her, at least that's what she told herself.

Malfoy smirked at her from across the table, flicking his wand, blue sparks flying from the tip. Hermione brought hers up, deflecting Malfoy's spell. There was a gasp from the students and Hermione could hear them whispering.

"They're not even saying the spells," someone whispered.

"Of course they're not. Did you really think two of the greatest wizards need to utter spells?"

This time Hermione smirked at Malfoy, taking a step forward and flicking her wand. Red sparks flew from her wand and Malfoy ducked, the spell missing him by a few inches. Gasps and howls came from the students as they started to cheer Hermione and Draco on.

"A sickle on Professor Granger," someone said and another student took them up on that. There was a flash of blue and red as Hermione and Draco sent curse after curse flying at each other. Hermione barely dodged a few of his spells, and they kept moving closer and closer together.

"Locomotor Wibbly!" Hermione shouted, flicking her wand and sending the jinx straight at Malfoy. It hit him right in the chest and he dropped to the table, his legs wobbling underneath him. The Great Hall erupted with laughter as Malfoy suffered from the jelly legs jinx and Hermione couldn't help but laugh as well. He looked utterly ridiculous flopping about on the table.

"Hermione!" He growled, not thinking that they would resort to pranking jinxes, but apparently he was wrong.

"Do you need some help Malfoy?" Hermione laughed.

"Finish him!" The students yelled, but Hermione wasn't going to fight dirty. She was going to beat him fair and square. Malfoy unjellified himself and got back to his feet, seeing that Hermione was still laughing and taking his shot.

"Titillando!" Malfoy yelled, smirking as it was Hermione's turn to drop to the table, purple hand shaped ribbons of light forming around her body and tickling her. Hermione laughed, the most beautiful sound that Malfoy's heard in years, and he stopped dead in his tracks. He loved Hermione's laugh. It was soft and melodic, and it made his heart stop.

"Ta…Tara…Tarantallegra," Hermione gasped between the laughs, pointing her wand at Malfoy. His eyes widened as he lost control of his feet and started dancing on the table. The students were laughing uncontrollably at their professors, enjoying the show. Even the other professors were enjoying themselves, laughing along with the students.

"Hermione stop this!" Malfoy yelled, throwing down moves that Hermione's never even seen before, but they were quite sexy. She managed to cast the counter curse to the tickling jinx and got up, her stomach still hurting from all the laughing.

"No way Malfoy, you've got the moves like Jagger!" The students laughed and Malfoy just shot Hermione a confused look.

"I don't know who that is!" He was clearly panicking, unable to stop his legs from dancing. Hermione flicked her wand, using the levicorpus jinx to propel Malfoy into the air. "Not so fast Granger!" He growled. "Relashio!" He pointed his wand at himself, breaking Hermione's jinx and landing on the edge of the table, the only thing keeping his up was his balance.

Hermione saw her opportunity and grabbed it. "Expelliarmus!" She shouted, sending Malfoy's wand flying from his hand as he stepped fully onto the table. The Great Hall grew silent again, everyone hanging on the edge of their seats, pretty sure that the fight was over.

Malfoy however, didn't seem fazed by the loss of his wand. "Did you really think I would need a wand to beat you Hermione?"

Another gasp rang through the halls as the students start to whisper excitedly.

"He can do wandless magic?"

"He's going to do wandless magic!"

"That's really advanced magic!"

Hermione raised her brows at Malfoy, challenging him. Did he really think he could take her on without his wand?

Malfoy waggled his brows, indicating that he wasn't backing down, and that he was perfectly capable of beating her without a wand.

"If that's how you want to play it then," Hermione said, throwing her wand down on the floor. Another gasp rang through the hall, everyone excited to see them duelling without wands.

Malfoy made the first move, flicking his hand toward Hermione. The spell hit her in the chest, knocking her back a few feet. Wandless magic wasn't as powerful as magic with a wand, but it would do, since neither of them were giving up. Hermione cursed under her breath, sending the same spell back at Malfoy as she moved forward. They spells flew back and forth, Hermione and Draco dodging them and slowly moving toward each other. It was like watching a dance between two partners who knew each other very well. They moved in sync, like magnets, never touching but always close to each other.

Everyone was silent, holding their breath as the crescendo of the fight approached. Draco and Hermione were inches apart, breathing hard as they came to a stop nose to nose. One move would send one of them flying back, now it was just a matter of who made the move first.

Hermione was frozen, caught up in Draco's silver eyes. They were captivating, holding her in place. He was so close she could almost taste him, taste his lips on hers. She was lost, caught up in him. There was a moment where she could have sworn she saw the feelings he had for her reflected in his eyes, but the moment passed when he placed his hand on her chest, knocking her backwards and off the table. There was a roar from the students as they cheered Draco on.

"Let's give it up for professor Malfoy!" Chad Murray announced and the Great Hall cheered. Malfoy jumped off the table, retrieving his wand and Hermione's before rushing over to where she fell on the ground.

"Are you alright?" He asked, helping Hermione up off the stone floor. She nodded, but he could see the hurt in her eyes. He had played dirty and he knew it, but it was the only way. He handed her back her wand and she stuffed it into her sleeve.

"Congrats," she muttered, turning on her heel and walking out of the Great Hall. She didn't know why she was so mad at him. It wasn't because he played dirty, no she had come to expect that from him, but maybe it was because he used a moment between them to his advantage. She should have expected it from him, but she thought for one moment that he was actually a decent guy. Looks like she was wrong yet again.

"Hermione wait!" Draco chased after her, leaving a cheering Great Hall behind. Hermione didn't stop, she just kept making her way back to her quarters. "Hermione wait!"

Draco caught up with her, catching her by the wrist.

"Let me go!" She yelled, trying to shake him off, but he wouldn't hear of it. She looked at him, burning hatred in her eyes. "Let go of me you pompous prick!"

Draco couldn't take it anymore, he just couldn't. She was so fucking hot when she got angry with him. He pulled her closer to him, not listening to a single word coming out of her mouth. He just wanted to taste her lips, and that's what he was going to do.

His lips crashed against hers, hard and with purpose. Hermione stood stunned, but only for a second before she returned his kiss equally hard. He was the air she needed to breathe and she had been suffocating for so long. She let go of every rational thought inside her brain and replaced it with Draco Malfoy. He was all she wanted to see and hear and smell and touch.

His lips were hungry against hers, his tongue pushing past her lips and into her mouth. She moaned softly as his tongue explored her mouth and he growled. She tasted so fucking good. He took a step forward, pushing her into the wall behind them, his lips never leaving hers. Passion exploded between the two of them, and all they knew was that they wanted each other.

Hermione caught his tongue between her teeth, biting him playfully and teasing him. He could feel his member twitch and harden and he rolled his hips into hers, wanting to let her feel what she did to him. Hermione gasped, not realising that she had such an effect on him, but she liked it. He made everything south of her waistline clench, and it was only fair that she did the same to him.

"My room," she managed to breathe against his lips and he nodded. Draco nodded, reluctantly pulling his lips away from Hermione's. He didn't want to wait another second, but he knew they couldn't go at it in the middle of the hallway. He grabbed her hand and quickly pulled her toward her room. Hermione refused to form a coherent thought, all she felt was her hand in Draco's, the taste of him still on her lips. Running through the corridors, hand in hand, reminded her of a scene from another life….

Yule Ball, 4th Year

Draco Malfoy could not stop staring at Hermione Granger. She looked…well like an actual human being for once. She was wearing a soft blue dress with capped sleeves. The dress clung to her body until the middle, where it flared out. Her hair was put up in a bun, soft curls escaping to frame her face. Her make-up was soft and natural, not caked on like some of the other guys.

A strange feeling blossomed in his chest as he watched her dance with that Krum bloke. Bloody git thought he could get any girl just because he was a famous Quidditch player.

"What's got you so hot under the collar?" Pansy asked, half snapping at him because he wasn't giving her any attention. Draco had barely looked at her ever since Hermione entered the Great Hall, dressed in that damn dress. She was by far the prettiest girl in the room.

"Nothing," Draco said, shaking his head to clear it and tearing his eyes away from Hermione as she danced with Krum. "You wanna dance?" He asked Pansy, who seemed delighted at the request. Draco led her to the dance floor, but his eyes were still on Hermione. She was such a graceful dancer, moving with such ease and skill. She really was good at everything.

"Ouch Draco, that was my foot," Pansy complained.

"Sorry," he mumbled, but who was he kidding? He sucked on the dance floor.

There was a commotion and he heard Granger yelling at Weasley. Another insufferable idiot he couldn't stand. He often wondered if Weasley had mush for brains, it certainly seemed that way. He didn't know what Potter and Granger saw in him or why they were friends. Potter wasn't entirely stupid, and Granger wasn't stupid at all.

Draco left a pouting Pansy on the dance floor, his feet moving on their own accord, taking him straight to where the shouting was coming from.

"Just go Ronald Weasley!" Hermione yelled at a red faced Weasley, who huffed and abruptly turned around, heading for the Gryffindor tower. Hermione raced out of the entrance hall into the snowy courtyard, not even taking a coat with her. Draco cursed under his breath, she would freeze out there.

He quickly rushed outside, summoning his coat and Granger's with his wand. They flew into his hands and he chased after her, following her fresh footprints in the snow.

He found her sitting on a bench that managed to avoid the snow, but only because it was underneath a tree. Her arms were wrapped around her shaking body and he knew it was from the cold and the crying. He was unsure of how to approach her, how to even talk to her. His father had always told him that muggleborns were beneath him, not worth his notice, and he wanted his father's approval.

In reality he knew Hermione was not beneath him, that she was just a girl and he just a boy, but the whole world seemed to rest on their shoulders. Things were brewing in the darkness, Draco knew from the hushed conversations that took place in the corners of the Manor, and he knew there would soon be a turning point where everything would go to hell.

Draco took a step forward, his foot slipping on the ice and he landed face first in the snow at Hermione's feet.

"Malfoy?" She asked uncertainly, her tears stopping for the moment. Draco quickly picked himself up, brushing the snow off his dress robes. She stared at him and he could tell she was trying not to laugh at him, but at the same time her face showed a little bit of disdain. "What are you doing here?"

He stared at her awkwardly, gaping like goldfish. He remembered he had her coat and held it out for her. "I brought you this."

Hermione stared at the coat, afraid that if she put it on it might squeeze her to death.

"Oh Merlin's beard Granger, it's not hexed." He said and Hermione reluctantly took the coat from him, shrugging on. They stood in silence for a few moments before she gestured to the empty space next to her.

"Want to sit?"

He nodded, sitting down next to her.

"Why are you here Malfoy?"

"I really don't have an answer for you Granger."

They sat in silence again, Draco playing with his thumbs.

"I'm sorry," he said awkwardly.

She turned her head, looking at him. "Sorry for what?"

"Everything."

Hermione gasped, snapping back to the present. She came to a stop, pulling Draco to a stop with her.

"What's wrong?" He asked, seeing the shocked expression on her face. His stomach dropped, afraid that she might have changed her mind.

"You altered my memories…we were together from the fourth year. Before the war you altered my memories, took away every kiss, every touch, everything. Made me hate you…"

"Hermione…" Draco pulled her into him, cupping her cheeks and searching her eyes for any sign of emotion. Was she angry with him? Hurt that he did it? Did she understand why?

"All this time it was you…" she mumbled, meeting his eyes. She wasn't angry with him, she understood now why he did what he did, why he tried to protect her and keep her safe. She had it wrong all along, he didn't hate her and she didn't hate him. "I love you."

Draco's heart felt like it was going to explode. He leaned down, kissing her lips softly before whispering against them.

"I love you too."

Hopefully this one reads better. Technology is not on my side this week. Apologies.