Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: I know Ron and Hermione's characters in my story do not mesh well together, but I had to add the pairing in to bring out jealous Draco! I can't resist!
Draco began to grow restless of his bland interactions with Granger the last few days. They had been showing up to meet each other in the Room of Requirement every night and Granger ran off as soon as their work was done. Although he had been trying to tell himself he didn't care about Granger's newfound hatred towards him, he knew he did. He hated to admit that he actually missed their conversations during their late nights on the seventh floor. He missed the feeling of her lips against his own. He missed the feeling of her curves under his hands, ready for the taking.
He was not used to being denied something he wanted. Girls, riches, making the Quidditch team. Draco always got what he wanted and not having Granger was starting to eat away at him.
Now that the progress with the cabinet was going smoothly, he had no excuses to use to cover up his desire for Granger. He could no longer tell himself he needed to have her wrapped around his finger to ensure her help… now he just wanted her wrapped around his finger because he wanted her.
"What's up your arse, Draco?" he heard Blaise ask from his bed in the Slytherin boys dorm next to him. "You've been all pissy for days."
Draco shot him a scowl. "Fuck off, Blaise." he muttered, pulling on his clothes for the day.
"Pansy isn't all over you again, is she?" he continued, ignoring Draco's crude response.
Draco scoffed as he buttoned up his shirt. "No. She finally seems to have taken the hint and left me alone." he responded.
"So what is it then? I feel like I'm living with a 15 year old girl these days." Blaise smirked, his eyes lingering on the Dark Mark on Draco's forearm before he muttered a concealment charm.
Blaise had been the only one Draco had told about his Dark Mark. The Zabini's were a pureblooded family, but Blaise and his mother had always remained indifferent to the war raging on. They had never picked a side to represent; neither light or dark. Draco had never heard Blaise use the term "mudblood" nor had he ever heard Blaise talk down on anyone for their blood status. He was unproblematic and the only person Draco trusted with his secret. Plus, Draco found it refreshing to be able to speak to someone who didn't have a side they were rooting for. The Slytherin was the closest thing Draco considered to be a friend, though he was hardly even that as Draco did not have any friends.
"I said fuck off, Zabini." he repeated dully as he pulled on his Slytherin robes.
Blaise had been questioning all of Draco's absences during the evenings when he met up with Granger. He had been brushing off his questions but he knew Blaise was clever. He would begin snooping around and connect a few dots for himself. Although he knew his housemate to be trustworthy with a secret, he couldn't tell him about Granger. That was a whole other ball game.
His mind wandered over to the Gryffindor who consumed so many of his thoughts. She had been driving him crazy. Word of Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley's new found romance was buzzing around the school and Draco gritted his teeth every time he saw the pair during meal times. One feeling that Draco absolutely despised was jealousy, and Granger was oh so good at bringing it out of him. He glared at the back of her curly head from across the hall and he felt his stomach turn in disgust as Weasley approached her a few minutes into breakfast, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
How dare the filthy Weasel place his lips on his Granger. And how dare she let him? He felt anger build up within him as he watched the pair throughout breakfast. He stood when Granger did and followed after her without a word, unaware of the dark eyes of a certain Slytherin following him.
It was time to stir the pot.
Draco followed closely behind Granger and when she passed by the empty classroom they had fooled around in a few weeks ago he sped up, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into it.
"What are you-" he cut her off, placing his hands on her hips and pressing her back to the closed door behind them.
"Rubbing it in my face now, are you?" he questioned, bending his neck to pepper kisses along her throat. He didn't care if she slapped him, or cursed him, or told him off anymore. He wanted to feel her touch again. The last few days of her barely even looking at him were driving him mad. He needed her attention.
He felt a twinge of satisfaction when she didn't resist him right away. Good. That was good. He continued, encouraged by her lack of resistance and he trailed his kisses up her neck until her lips were covered with his own. His hands moved up to press against the door on either side of her head and probed her lips with his tongue, requesting access to her mouth. He felt her hesitate before she parted her lips against him, returning his kisses and allowing his tongue to invade her mouth.
He felt a fire roar from within him. He hadn't expected her to kiss him back, at least not until she got a few slaps in. He was pleasantly surprised. He pressed himself against her, wanting her to feel his hardened cock through his trousers. He remembered the way she had blushed and smiled against his lips when he had shown her the effect she had on his body.
His hands dropped from beside her head and onto her shoulders before they trailed down to cup her full breasts. He groaned against her mouth as he palmed the mounds through her shirt, his cock straining in his pants. He savoured the taste of her in his mouth, the feeling of her in his hands.
Just as his teeth nipped at her pouty lower lip, she turned her head to the side, breaking their kiss. "Stop." she said quietly, pressing herself flat against the door behind her.
Draco felt the excited bubble within him pop and he dropped his head to her shoulder. His hands fell from her chest and rested lightly on her hips. "Granger…" he trailed off, annoyed. Why couldn't she just admit that she wanted him?
"I'm with Ron now. This isn't fair to him." he heard her mutter before she placed her hands on his shoulders in an attempt to push him back.
He didn't budge, though lifted his head from her shoulder to look at her. "I noticed that." he said through gritted teeth.
"So then you know that this shouldn't be happening." she continued, and Draco was surprised with her calm response.
"Why are you with him? We both know you don't see him that way." he asked, his tone dripping with distaste.
She finally looked at him, glaring. "Because he actually cares about me. And he treats me like a human being." she hissed, pushing against his shoulders again. "I loved him. Before you came and…" she trailed off. "I'm giving us a chance. And I'm not going to let you ruin it." she finished.
"Let me ruin it?" he repeated. "You don't need to let me ruin anything. Anyone with eyes can see that you don't fancy him."
"Stop it." she said firmly, finally pushing him off of her with a final shove.
"You kissed me back." he pointed out, feeling a bit childish as he did.
She blushed and averted her gaze, a guilty expression on her face. "I know. It was wrong of me. You seem to bring out the worst in me."
Draco stared at her, unsure of how to respond to that. As she turned towards the door to pull it open, Draco raised a hand to press against the wooden door, slamming it shut again. He held it closed with his hand.
"I won't stop." he warned. He had finally gotten a taste of her after so long. There was no going back now.
"This is unhealthy, Malfoy." she shot him a dirty look. "I'm just a lowly Mudblood, remember? I'm sure you can find some other unfortunate witch to pursue." she raised a hand, shoving his own off the door before she slipped out of the classroom.
Draco gritted his teeth in annoyance. He was certainly tired of being left hanging in empty rooms by one Hermione Granger.
Hermione rushed out of the room, her heart racing. She had cheated on Ron! They had just begun dating and she had already messed it up!
After many days dwelling on Ron's proposal to try and rekindle their romance, she had finally given in and agreed. She didn't know if it was to spite Malfoy, distract herself from him or to just genuinely try and move on. She thought it was a combination of the three. She felt horrible for what she had just done.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she made her way to her first class of the day. She felt trapped. Her mind knew she shouldn't be with Malfoy; he was toxic and unstable. But her body and her heart… they seemed to ache for the Slytherin. Now she had given in to Ron's advances because she was certain whatever game she and Malfoy had previously been playing was over. But here he was, butting into her life again just when she had begun trying to move on.
She felt like a dark cloud had been following her throughout the day as she attended all of her classes. She made sure to avoid Ron at all costs, unable to face him. How could she suddenly break up with him when they had only begun dating? He would hate her. But if she let him get too deeply involved with her and then suddenly broke up with him, wouldn't he hate her more?
She shook her head. No, this was just a little bump in the road. It wouldn't happen again… she wouldn't let Malfoy get to her like that again. She would continue trying to make her relationship with Ron work and she would reject all of Malfoy's advances going forward. Yes, that seemed like the sensible thing to do.
That night she didn't show up to meet Malfoy in the Room of Requirement. She had performed the spell the night before, so today was his turn. He could do it on his own, just this once. She was much too ashamed with herself to go and meet him knowing he would try to kiss her again.
"I won't stop." she recalled his words as she tucked herself into bed for the night. He would have to stop eventually.
The following day Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table for breakfast, Harry and Ginny sitting across her. Much to her relief, Ron had decided to sleep in this morning and so he was absent from their table.
Owls began to flood the hall as the daily post came in for the day. She watched as hundreds of owls flew in, dropping off packages to their respective owners. A rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet landed in front of her and Hermione finished chewing on her bacon before she picked it up. She frowned at the sudden quietness within the usually bustling Great Hall. Students were exchanging hushed whispers and Hermione looked over at Harry and Ginny in question. They both shrugged, gesturing to her copy of the paper. What was going on?
She quickly unrolled her copy of the Daily Prophet and she felt her stomach plummet as she read the morning's front page.
Lucius Malfoy, known Death Eater escapes Azkaban. read the bold font of the front page. Just under the headline was a picture of a filthy looking Lucius Malfoy wearing his Azkaban uniform.
Her head snapped up as Harry took the paper from her hand, reading the article for himself. Her eyes sought out the familiar silver blonde hair of Draco Malfoy and she watched as he stared down at the paper in front of him. All eyes in the hall were on him and Hermione felt her heart twist as she noticed the muscle in his jaw clench. She knew that muscle all too well. It twitched against his sharp jawline whenever he was restraining himself.
A part of her wanted nothing more than to make her way across the hall and pull him into her arms. She didn't care that she had spent the last two weeks pushing Malfoy away. She knew how Malfoy and his father's relationship was. He hated the man, he had hurt him as a child and forced his prejudice beliefs on him growing up. She knew Lucius Malfoy was the root of Malfoy's cold persona and bullying ways growing up. She also knew that the news of his break out of Azkaban would send Malfoy spiralling.
She watched along with everyone else in the Great Hall as Malfoy rose from his seat, the Daily Prophet crumpled in his fist. Without a word he headed for the exit, ignoring all of the eyes following him as he went.
He's not your responsibility, Hermione. she told herself as people around her began whispering about the news. You can't go against all of your morals and offer him a shoulder to cry on whenever he's hurting.
"We know what this means." she heard Harry from across her. She pulled her eyes away from the doors of the Great Hall and focused them on her friend.
"Voldemort's gathering all of his followers back up. He's planning something. No way Lucius Malfoy broke out of Azkaban all on his own." Harry continued in a hushed tone.
"Do you think he knows?" Ginny asked, glancing over at the Slytherin table. She was referring to Draco Malfoy. "What Voldemort's planning, I mean."
"He's one of them. Of course he knows." Harry's face contorted into a scowl.
Hermione swallowed the lump in her throat, lowering her gaze back onto the moving photo of Lucius Malfoy on the front cover of the paper. They were wrong. Malfoy wasn't one of them… he couldn't be.
That night she made her way up to the Room of Requirement. It was her turn to perform the spell today since Malfoy had done it the night before. Her heart raced as she approached the entrance to the room, but not because of the kiss she had regretfully shared with Malfoy the day before. No, her heart was racing because she didn't trust herself around a broken and battered Draco Malfoy. She didn't know if she could turn him away if he needed her this time.
Malfoy was a private person who didn't confide in anyone. She knew the stories he shared with her, the tears he had shed in front of her and the part of his life he had exposed to her were not things he shared with others. Just a few months ago she thought Draco Malfoy's life was picture perfect. He was filthy rich, devilishly handsome, well connected and up until Lucius' arrest he came from a prestigious family. That was the Draco Malfoy everyone knew.
But not her. She knew his life wasn't as perfect as people might think. She knew the reasons behind his cold exterior. And because she knew, she felt obligated to comfort him if he needed it.
As she entered the Room of Requirement and headed to their usual spot by the Vanishing Cabinet, she was surprised to see that Malfoy was not there. The sheet covering the cabinet remained untouched and the room was eerily quiet.
Was he going to show up? She hadn't shown up yesterday… maybe he was trying to get back at her.
She pulled the sheet off the cabinet and performed the spell. She would wait a few minutes for him. Just to make sure he was alright.
A few minutes soon turned into an hour and Hermione glanced towards the room's entrance. He wasn't going to show up. The selfish part of her felt a tiny bit relieved that she wouldn't have to face him. But the kind, concerned part of her ached not knowing how he was.
She sighed, throwing the sheet back over the cabinet before she headed off back to Gryffindor Tower. Hopefully he would show up tomorrow.
Draco sat on his bed in his dorm, heart pounding as he reread that morning's paper for the fifteenth time. He couldn't believe it. His father had broken out. He had only just been sent to Azkaban last summer after his fifth year. It was too soon. This wasn't meant to happen. He deserved to rot away in the cell for many, many years.
Draco resented the man. His failure to complete his own mission had resulted in Draco being forced to take the Dark Mark and complete the impossible task of killing Albus Dumbledore. It was meant to be a punishment to Lucius for his failure, but instead it was more of a punishment to Draco simply for being his son.
When the year had begun, Draco had fought with Potter on the Hogwart's Express, stomping on the Gryffindor's face before leaving him to rot away on the train. He had told Potter that the attack was revenge for his father's arrest but Draco knew it wasn't. He let out his anger on Potter because Lucius Malfoy's arrest had landed Draco in the fucked up position he was in right now.
Once Draco had accepted the fact that his task was not going to be revoked and he was expected to complete it, he felt pleased that his father was rotting away in Azkaban. He was glad. If he was going to suffer then he felt better knowing his father was suffering as well. But now… now his father was out. And Draco was still trapped with his impossible task to be completed within the next month.
He let out a shuddering breath, glancing up as the door to the dormitory opened and in slid in Blaise Zabini.
"You alright, mate?" Blaise asked, cautiously eyeing his housemate.
Blaise and Draco had grown up in each other's presence quite often. Their mother's were good friends and as children the two boys spent a lot of time at one another's manors. Blaise had witnessed many of Draco's punishments at the hands of his father and he knew first hand how bad it had got at times.
Draco looked away, gritting his teeth. No. Of course he wasn't fucking alright.
"You know I'm here for you, right?" Blaise continued when Draco didn't respond. "Everyone's already talking about-"
"I don't need you, Blaise." Draco hissed, cutting him off. He was angry and Blaise being here made him the perfect punching bag.
"I bet you're loving this." he rose from his place on the bed, heading over to Blaise and stopping when he was just in front of him. "I bet you feel fucking amazing that you never chose a side."
Blaise held his ground, not one to be provoked. "Come on, Draco. Don't start this up."
"Fuck you, Blaise." he spat, reaching out and shoving Blaise back so the boy stumbled back against the dormitory door. "Fuck you. You don't know how fucking easy you have it. You'll never have to worry about the outcome of this war. Either way you'll be fine. The Dark Lord will accept you for coming from such a prestigious pureblooded family and Potter's little army will accept you for staying neutral." he reached out again, shoving his housemate back against the door again, this time a bit harder. He wanted a reaction out of him. He wanted him to fight back.
Blaise remained silent, though Draco noticed his hand twitch at his side when he was shoved a second time. Good.
"You think you can come in here acting all sorry for me?" Draco reached out, fisting the collar of Blaise's shirt.
Blaise glared at him, raising a hand to place on Draco's. "I'm warning you, Draco. Don't do this shit with me." he said quietly, attempting to pull Draco's hand off his collar.
"Why not?" Draco continued, tightening his grip on his shirt. His other hand balled into a fist at his side. "What did you think was going to happen when you came in here? Did you think I'd cry my heart out to you? Tell you about how shitty I feel while we baked cookies together?"
Blaise shook his head, lip curled in anger. "Back off, Malfoy." he hissed, roughly shoving Draco's hand off him.
Draco reacted instantly, his fist reaching out to slam into Blaise's nose. He felt a twinge of satisfaction in himself when he heard the crunch of his bones under his fist. Blaise let out a groan of pain before he tackled Draco to the ground, his own fist slamming into Draco's jaw. The boys tousled for a minute before Blaise finally pinned Draco down, repeatedly landing punches on the blonde's face. He continued, punching over and over without hesitation until Draco began to laugh.
It was a cold, humourless laugh that sounded almost insane given the fact that his nose and lip were bleeding profoundly after having taken so many punches.
Draco felt good. The pain of Blaise's punches distracted him from everything else going on in his life and for the first time in weeks, he felt good. He deserved these punches. He needed them. He had fucked up his little arrangement with Granger, the only light in his pathetic life. His sorry excuse of a father had broken out of the prison he so greatly deserved. And by the end of the month, Draco was going to be a murderer. So he welcomed Blaise's brutal punches with a smile on his face.
Blaise's raised fist faltered before it dropped to his side and he slowly stood, wiping the back of his hand across his own bleeding nose. He shook his head, staring down at Draco.
"You need help, Draco." he said quietly when Draco's laughing ceased. "You're fucked up. You've been sneaking around this entire year and we hardly get to see you around ever since you've got that mark. Look at yourself," he said, gesturing to his bleeding face. "What the fuck has gotten into you?"
Draco stared up at him from his position on the floor. He didn't want to have this conversation with Blaise. He wouldn't.
Without a word, Draco lifted his aching body from the floor and he turned his head to spit a mouthful of blood from his mouth. Blaise watched him in silence, massaging his own aching fists.
"Like I said," Draco croaked in a raspy voice. "I don't need you,".
Without another word Draco pushed past him and out of the dorm. He made his way through the common room, ignoring the whispers that followed him. He didn't know if they were whispering about his bleeding face or about his father's escape. Either way, he didn't give a shit.
His face throbbed painfully as he walked down the dungeons and Draco welcomed it. He had gotten what he wanted out of provoking Blaise. A good beating to make him feel less shitty about everything going on.
He glanced down at his watch. He was meant to meet Granger an hour ago. Could she still be up there? Waiting for him in the Room of Requirement? Would she open her arms to him and envelop him in her warm embrace like she had that night in the sixth floor boy's bathroom? Would she nurse his wounds when she saw him? He felt a bit of hope rise within him as he made his way up to the seventh floor.
Pulling open the door when he reached the entrance to the Room of Requirement, Draco stepped in. It was silent, but he still hoped Granger would be there, waiting for him in front of the cabinet. He rushed past the thousands of objects in the Room of Hidden Things as he made his way to the Vanishing Cabinet, his heart beating quickly in his chest.
He froze in his step when the cabinet came into view. There was no one there but him. Granger had not waited for him. She was not going to carry him through this one. He had pushed her too far.
He thought back to the kiss they had shared just the day before. She had responded to him; she had kissed him back for a few heavenly seconds before turning him down. He wanted to turn back in time and go back to that moment, before the news of his father's escape broke. He felt pathetic for wanting to feel the comfort only she could provide.
He felt bile rise in his throat as she stared at the empty space before him. Fine. He didn't need her. Just like every other time, Draco would pick himself up from this. He would take care of himself. Granger wasn't no longer putting up with his shit and he finally began to accept that.
You don't need that little Mudblood. he thought darkly to himself as he slid down the side of the cabinet and onto the cold stone floor.
A/N: I know in the books Lucius escapes Azkaban during the summer after their sixth year, but I decided to push it forward to add a little more drama. As always, let me know what you think!
