It took Blaise ten minutes to get Theo to stop crying. "Mate, I'm sorry," Blaise said in an exasperated tone for the umpteenth time.
"Do you truly mean it?" Theo sniffled, pulling away from Draco to wipe his teary eyes.
"Yes, I bloody mean it," Blaise lied with an eye roll.
Theo then opened his arms at Blaise and gave him an expectant look. Blaise scowled at shook his head, but when Nott's blue eyes began to water up again, he begrudgingly accepted a hug from the wizard. The hug was brief and Blaise tore himself way from Theo as kindly as he could. He hated it when Theo got emotional. There was always someone who had to parent him whenever Theo consumed Ferocia. Usually it was Blaise, because Draco would be loopy as well. At least when Draco was loopy, he didn't have the urge to hug everyone.
"Ginny, Hermione, try a bit!" Padma urged, running at full speed at Hermione. She pinned Hermione to the ground and straddled her waist. In Padma's hand was glowing grass. She shoved it at Hermione, who pursed her lips tightly shut. "Hermione, try it! Be courageous!"
"Yeah, Hermione! Don't be such a prude!" Lavender cut in.
Hermione scowled at the two witches. She didn't want to be loony. She was glad that Luna had not come along with them or else things would have been worse. Merlin, Luna acted loopy already. If she consumed Ferocia, perhaps she would act mundane. Hermione shook her head at the thought and pursed her lips even tighter.
"Yes, Granger. Don't be such a prude," Draco mocked, sending Hermione a malicious grin. There was a fire in his eyes that challenged her. "Can the Gryffindor Princess step off her throne and have some fun?"
Hermione glared hard at him. He was such a prat. There was a difference between being a prude and being sane. "Bug off, Mal-"
Padma shoved the grass in her mouth and covered Hermione's mouth so she couldn't spit it out. Hermione thrashed and sent Ginny a pleading look, only to find the red haired witch being hugged by Theo. Her honey colored eyes flashed into a bright alluring glow, and it was then when Padma got off her. Hermione spat out the grass and pouted.
"Ouch, Padma. You hurt me," she said softly, holding up her dirtied left elbow. It had collided with the ground when Padma tackled her. Hermione cradled it in her hand and turned to Draco. "This is you're fault," she said accusingly, her voice still soft and sweet. She sounded so soothing, even though she was clearly upset.
"It's your bloody fault for opening-"
"Kiss it."
Draco's eyes widened and he staggered back, as if she had slapped him. "Granger..."
"Kiss it," Hermione repeated, holding her elbow out to him. She took a step towards Draco in a slow predatory way. The lioness in her came out as she took another step towards him. "You have to kiss it to make it feel better." Hermione took one last step towards Draco, leaving a mere few inches between them. She looked up at him, and Draco's breath caught in his throat.
Hermione looked breath taking. Her hair was messy in a sexy way, and her full pink lips were slightly parted. Her glowing eyes were full of warmth, something that was rare within Slytherins. Hermione's cheeks were slightly flushed, and as Draco looked harder, he could make out the tiniest of freckles on the bridge of her small button nose.
Hermione didn't miss the way Draco was looking at her. He was drinking in her appearance, and she greedily did the same. She had never had the opportunity to actually look at Draco. Whenever she saw him, her mind blurred out his face to make him seem less revolting. He was always tormenting Ron and Harry or some poor first year. Draco lived to make the lives of others terrible. She still remembered when she had slapped him. He deserved it of course. He was always so infuriating. And yet there she was, demanding for him to kiss her elbow, which had stopped hurting already.
His silver eyes were transfixed on her, gazing over her face through long lashes. Hermione observed him, feeling the urge to run her fingers through his loose silky locks. His face had become less pointy over the years and more defined. His nose and cheekbones were prominent and his jaw was set hard. His lips were not thin, but not full enough to look feminine. They looked so soft from Hermione's perspective.
Suddenly Draco grabbed her forearm and waist. He leaned down and raised her elbow slightly. Then, he pressed a soft kiss just above the minor wound. "All better," he murmured against her skin. Then he let go of her, as if she was contaminated with a deathly disease, and stepped away.
Hermione frowned and blurted out, "Why are you so mean?"
"See! I'm not the only one who thinks Drakie is mean," Theo said proudly. He let go of Ginny to walk over to Hermione. He draped an arm around the witch and smiled. "You're my new friend, got it? Gryffindor or muggle-born or not- you're my friend," Theo said seriously. "And I shall call you...Mimi?...No not that. 'Mione is too common for you... Hermi?...Merlin, no." Theo began to ramble off nicknames that did not seem quite right. "Minnie. I shall call you Minnie. Simple enough, yes?" He gestured to everyone else dramatically with a wave of his hand. "And none of you may call her that but me."
Draco raised an eyebrow at that. He watched as Nott and Hermione began to twirl around. Hermione giggled. Her giggle was such a melodic sound that Draco felt compelled to hear more.
"Teddy! Teddy my feet hurt. I can't twirl much more," Hermione pouted. She stopped twirling to look at her feet, which were still wearing the horribly uncomfortable heels she hated.
"Then Teddy shall carry Minnie!" Theo announced, and he scooped her into his arms, as if she weighed nothing. He grinned at her, and she grinned back.
Draco felt a pang in his chest at the scene before him. His eyebrows furrowed together and his lips pressed into a line. His fingers curled into tight fists and he felt the urge to pull the witch out of Theo's arms. Instead, he just watched as an unfamiliar emotion raged on in his chest and played with his mind.
Theo began to twirl again, only faster than normal. Hermione shrieked as the world around her spun. She could feel her mind becoming dizzier and dizzier. "Teddy, slow down!" But Theo, who was too busy twirling, did not hear her. He spun around and around, watching as everything became a blur. "Teddy, slow!" Hermione gently hit Theo's chest. He looked down at her, confused, and in doing so, he tripped over his own feet.
The wizard fell to the ground ungraciously with Hermione crashing on him. She fell, straddling his waist as she sat on him. They both muttered, "Ow," and pouted childishly.
Draco glared hard at them and walked over, pulling Hermione off of Theo. "I think that's enough spinning like idiots for the night."
"You're just jealous because you are incapable of being as fun as Teddy," Hermione shot at him.
"Granger, you're not in your right mind," Draco sighed.
"And who's fault is that?"
They glared at each other for a few seconds before Hermione blurted out, "I hope our child is nothing like you."
"Like me?" Draco scoffed, clearly offended.
"Yes, like you. Snotty, mean, absolutely ugly." The last bit was a lie, but Hermione didn't stop there. "You're nothing but a no good prat who complains to his wealthy parents whenever things don't go his way. You're nothing but a-a-" Hermione suddenly felt light headed. "-a-"
"Hermione?" Ginny said worriedly. She rushed to her best friend's side and held her shoulders. "Hermione, do you feel alright?"
Hermione shook her head slowly and began to tug at her dress. "Hot," she murmured. "Hot."
Ginny pressed the back of her hand to Hermione's forehead to feel the brunette's skin burning up. She retracted her hand quickly, as if she was burned. Then she looked at Draco with alarmed eyes. "She's got a fever, Malfoy."
A/N And that's it for the effects of Ferocia. This will continue on later. Pardon my mistakes and thanks for reading!
~KittyKat