Lunch was uneventful. McLaggen didn't turn up, much to Ginny's disappointment. Hermione had an idea though that could solve her problem. However she'd have to approach Malfoy in front of other people. She took a deep breath and went for it.
"Malfoy," she said as she stepped up to the slytherin table. A handful of very surprised faces all looked up at her. Malfoy rolled his eyes at the interruption. He was very annoyed that she dared talk to him in front of his friends. "Can I speak with you for a moment? Privately?" She asked briskly.
Much to the surprise of his friends, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood without a word, following her out into the entrance hall. She noted that it didn't seem he'd told anyone that he knew about their ordeal. Interesting.
"What is so important that you had to interrupt my lunch, Granger?" He followed her around a corner and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"I thought perhaps we could take turns on the potions assignment for each other. That could eliminate the potential for being alone together and deter anyone trying to dose us. Also that would mean we each take fourteen hours between having to work on the potion instead of seven." She finished smartly. She was very pleased with her plan.
He snorted "and trust my grades to you? How do I know you'll actually remember to show up at your time? Or that you'll get everything right?" She scoffed in offense but he continued "I don't think so. I'll be showing up every seven hours until it's done and I turn my own potion in."
"Malfoy," she started admonishingly. "Listen to reason," she looked around to make sure nobody paid them any mind "we can avoid any future issues by following my plan. AND you get more time to yourself. I'll even take the overnight shifts so your sleep doesn't get interrupted. It's a win for both of us." She tried.
"And I told you, Granger, I don't trust you with my potion. You let yours go bad once already. How do I know you won't fuck up mine this time too." He crossed his arms and sneered down at her.
"That's...!" She growled in frustration "Oh my god you're being ridiculous. You know the only reason that happened was because of you. And you know I'm more than capable of doing the potion correctly. You're just trying to be difficult." He was infuriating. Why couldn't he just take her offer?
He started walking away "see you in.." he checked his watch "two and a half hours". He called over his shoulder as he slid his hand back into his pocket and strolled into the great hall.
Hermione grit her teeth, trying not to scream in frustration. She spun around and marched up to her dorm, cursing his name with every step.
Draco entered the lab two minutes before he needed to adjust his potion. It was cutting it a bit close but he liked to live life on the edge.
Granger was already there with ingredients prepped, counting down on her watch before she added the next step. The she-weasel sat on a stool to her side. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Ah, a new babysitter. Have you created a schedule for the changing of the guard?" He quipped. He noticed she only prepared enough of the ingredients for one, which was unsurprising, given their last conversation. He quickly got to work on his own prep.
Granger ignored him, which only fueled his delight. He waited until just a few seconds were left on the potion countdown before he said somberly "I heard about Weasley's accident." Then he smirked. "Did he send his kid sister to make sure his girlfriend didn't kiss anyone else while he's on the mend?"
A loud clanging as Granger slammed her knife on the board in anger. The second hand on his watch ticked twice more and he added the next ingredient, stirring clockwise immediately, three and a quarter turns. Granger scrambled to keep up next to him.
"Why can't you just keep your mouth shut?" She ground out through her teeth after she'd completed the final step. "You just have to make a quip about everything." She angrily cleaned her station while Potters girlfriend glared at him.
"The fire in your eyes feeds my soul, Granger." Draco said as he casually leaned back against the table. He crossed his arms and simply watched the two gryffindors huff about in rage. He gave a flirty wave and a smug grin as Granger slammed the door behind her.
"Ahhh, I fucking hate him. Infuriating ferret." Hermione vented some of her frustration as she and Ginny walked to the common room. Ron should definitely still be asleep. She'd stop and check on him before dinner.
They climbed through the portrait hole to find McLaggen facing off with Harry and Neville in the common room. McLaggen had his hands up in surrender.
"I'm sorry, ok! It was an accident! You think I meant for Weasley to fall off his broom? I thought he had a handle on it."
Ginny scoffed as she shoved past him hard and stood next to her boyfriend, crossing her arms over her chest. "We all know you're still bitter that he beat you at keeper again. You killing him still isn't going to get you the position."
"I didn't mean to knock him off his broom." He repeated angrily this time.
Harry stood stoically with his arms crossed, listening and observing before he spoke. "Well, you didn't take your teammate to the hospital and ensure that he was ok after the accident you caused either. And I don't think we have room on our team for people who don't care about the health and safety of their teammates."
Neville tried not to show his shock at Harry's decision, he coughed and looked at the wall to his left. Ginny quirked a brow and grinned satisfactorily.
McLaggen dropped his hands to his sides finally. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He said in a low voice. "You're kicking me off the team? Because Weasley can't hang on to his own broom?" He gradually got louder.
"I'm kicking you off the team because you physically endangered the life of one of your own teammates during a friendly game and then you didn't give a flying fuck about his welfare afterward. There was absolutely no reason for you to fly at him so hard. And to be quite honest, you're shite as a chaser. It was a mistake to put you on the team at all." Harry turned dismissively to the sofa, indicating that the conversation was over and McLaggen stormed out of the portrait hole without another word.
Hermione joined her friends in sitting on the sofa by the fire. Ginny leaned into Harry, giving him a kiss. "Thank god you did it. I was going to suggest hanging him by his feet from the goal post, but kicking him off the team was a better punishment."
Hermione was genuinely impressed by how Harry handled the situation. She was furious with McLaggen. So much so it put her frustration with Malfoy on pause. "Any other news on Ron's recovery?" She asked.
Harry shook his head "no, I was planning on checking in before dinner. How's your potion?" He settled his arm around Ginny and got comfortablep.
"Fine." She checked her watch "six and a half more hours till the next step. How's yours?"
He checked his watch "two hours left before I have to go check on mine. This is the worst potion we've done. It's not that complicated per se. But not missing the time slot is a bitch. I nearly missed it this morning. I should have started it right when you did, instead of waiting until after dinner. Then we'd be going to the lab together every time and you might not have had any issues." He caught himself as he realized Neville and others were still in the common room and Hermione hadn't shared the malfoy incidents with anyone else.
She waved it off "it's fine. I'm really not worried about it at all. I only took Ginny with me so Ron wouldn't worry. But I can handle it. Really." She tried to reassure Harry. Then she changed the subject when it looked like Neville might ask what they're talking about. "So, when's the first real match? And who is going to replace McLaggen now?" She listened with no interest at all as the other three launched into a discussion about what they should do.
"So Granger is the one who's been putting you in such a fine mood the past few weeks?" Blaise clapped him on the shoulder jovially before dropping onto the sofa next to him.
"Fuck off. We're working on that potion together. That's all." Draco shrugged off Blaise's hand, not looking up from his book. He'd come back to the common room after the last check in but now he realized it was a mistake. He should have gone to the library.
"Exactly my point." Blaise continued, not the least discouraged by Draco's disinterest in the conversation. "If you'd work on something... else together, maybe the two of you would be a bit less snippy to the rest of us."
Pansy chimed in from across the room, "she's a mudblood, and a gryffindor." She said both with equal amounts of disgust.
"She has nice tits, and a nice arse. I'm guessing the cunt matches the set." Blaise shrugged in indifference. Draco chuckled meanly as Pansy scoffed and stormed away.
"Seriously though," Blaise continued. "We're not getting any younger here. Times ticking. Once we graduate the parental dictators will find us our purebred wives and we'll only be left with our youthful indiscretions to get us through the procreating years. Live it up while you can. Give yourself more wanking material for the future."
"Daph is an indiscretion?" Draco asked, looking curiously at Blaise.
He laughed and shrugged, which is the only discomfort the Italian wizard would ever show "I don't think her father would look at me any differently. I'm not getting my hopes up."
Draco didn't push the matter. Slytherins didn't talk things through or share their feelings. What they did do, was drink. So Draco summoned a bottle of Ogden's from the cabinet nearby and poured them both a drink.
After a long sip Blaise seemed to have shaken off his momentary acknowledgment of reality. "You know what we should do?" He grinned mischievously, "have a party."
Draco chuckled "and do what? We basically drink and hang out all weekend. What more is there to add?"
"No, I mean a real party. Inviting all the eligible bachelors and Hogwarts' finest assortment of ass, all to our common room, fueled by liquor and darkness." Blaise grinned. Draco knew there wouldn't be any changing his mind by the look on his friend's face. "Tonight." Blaise stood "I must begin preparations immediately. Have Granger here by eleven." He winked at Draco and set off.
Hermione peeked in on Ron, who was fast asleep. She'd checked on him before dinner with Harry and Ginny and here she was checking again before her nighttime potion continuation. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead before tucking the blankets in again, and brushing his hair with her fingers.
As she turned to leave and go to the dungeons she spotted a large envelope on the table at Ron's bedside. It hadn't been there last time she'd been here. She was sure. She picked it up and flipped it over. Nothing was written anywhere on it. It wasn't sealed.
She looked around the hospital before opening the envelope and pulling out its contents. She froze as she looked at a stack of photographs. The top was of her straddling Malfoy in the library. The magical loop of the photo showed her lustfully grabbing his face and kissing him while rocking her hips on his lap.
She quickly pressed the stack of photos to her chest and looked around in alarm. Ron was still asleep. He couldn't have seen these yet, right? She put the stack back in the envelope and shoved it into her pocket before running out of the hospital wing. She found an alcove behind a tapestry and lit her wand, shakily pulling the envelope back out and flipping to the next photo in the stack.
As she feared, the next was her on her knees undoing Malfoys belt. He'd threaded his fingers in her hair at her neck and grinned sinfully down at her. She was biting her lip, leaning into him. Present Hermione covered her mouth with a shaking hand as she saw what she looked like under the influence of the potion. Utterly and indisputably obsessed.
She flipped quickly to the next photo, barely able to hold the stack still enough to see. She was enraged. This was a new level of violation that she hadn't even known existed. She'd thought she and Malfoy had been alone during every encounter. But someone had stood near enough to photograph them.
The next photo showed Malfoy pressed against her and the shelves in the potions lab, her wrists secured in one of his hands above her as he held her leg up around his waist. He rutted into her and devoured her neck. To Hermione's dismay, her face in this photograph was showing the same lust and desire as the previous ones. Only that time she hadn't been under the influence of the potion.
She watched in horror as she, in the photograph, had rolled her eyes back briefly, tipped her head up to give him better access to her neck, and leaned her hips forward into him.
No, that's not how she remembered it. She'd struggled the whole time, she'd fought to get him off of her. Where was the moment when she'd petrified him and called for help? She flipped through the stack again.
A photo of her and Malfoy arguing in the corridor, this had been today, this morning. When she'd asked him to take turns on the potions. In the photo they were standing much closer to each other than she'd remembered. She flipped again, another photo of them today, after talking to the aurors they'd argued in the hall. They were standing nose to nose, she was defiantly staring up at him, he was grinning smugly down at her, eyes flicking between her eyes and mouth.
Without context, the series of photos made it look like they were having some torrid affair. She had no doubt that the person who had drugged them had taken these and left them for Ron on purpose. Or had they known she would see them before he woke up?
She chewed her lip. She wanted to cry at the invasion of privacy. She was frustrated beyond belief at the violation. Her watch dinged and she hastily stuffed the photos back in the envelope and into her pocket before running frantically to the potions lab before she missed the mark.
She burst into the lab, Malfoy was already in place with his ingredients prepped, counting down the seconds. He glanced at her briefly before looking back at his watch. She rushed to the ingredients cabinet, scrambling to grab what she needed to add first when Malfoy cleared his throat.
She looked at him as he gestured to the table, he'd prepped two of everything for some reason. She didn't have time to question it. She ran to the table and got to work with him. It only took a couple of minutes, and he'd given no snide remarks the whole time. She was still shaken by the photos.
When they were done, she turned to him. "Thank you, I..." her voice caught. The first time she'd spoken since seeing the photos. "I'm grateful for your help here." He turned, leaning back against the table next to her, crossing his arms over his middle. He just nodded and looked curiously at her.
She looked up at him. Perhaps he could see that she was upset about something other than him this time because he simply waited. She pulled the envelope from her pocket with shaky hands. "I was checking on Ron, just before coming here. And this was on his table. Someone had left it for him sometime after the start of supper. Because it definitely wasn't there when I visited before." She held it out to Malfoy who narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
He took the envelope and pulled out the photographs. His eyes widened in brief shock as he realized what they were. He flipped quickly through them once, then again, taking a moment staring at each one more closely. His brow furrowing more and more.
When he finally looked up at her, his eyes flashed in an anger that mirrored hers. "Who the fuck..." he began in a quiet simmering rage.
She shook her head, "I don't know. I think we should give these to the aurors." She started.
"Fuck no. They won't be able to do shit. This is personal. This mother fucker is going to pay." He stuffed the photos back into the envelope. "Potter and the she-weasel know now?" He asked, waving his wand and cleaning up their potions equipment.
Hermione nodded, oddly grateful that she wasn't alone in this and that he seemed to finally wake up and want to do something to stop it. "It's possible that Ron is the target. These photos would crush him. Although they also hurt us... so it could still just be about us." She started to speculate.
"I don't give a fuck if anyone sees these." Malfoy spat as he clenched a fist around his wand. "That won't hurt me in the slightest. I do give a fuck about the slimey git who's been following us in secret. Dosing us to take pictures. Sick fucker is going to hope we never find out who he is."
"Or she." Hermione hugged her middle tightly.
"No, this is a guy. I'm sure of it. I'm going to hex his bollocks off." Malfoy slipped the envelope into his pocket and then assessed her for a moment. "Come with me." He walked to the door and held it open.She hesitated a moment before he looked at her exasperatedly and she hurried after him.
They walked down the corridor to the entrance to the slytherin common room. Hermione was surprised that he casually uttered the password in front of her and then led her into his common room.
It was packed with people, music pumping and lights flashing. It resembled a muggle rave. Hermione looked around in awe. The room itself was gorgeous. Tall ceilings with a view of the lake through an upper window, the moon glowing eerily through the water. Black marble, leather sofas. The complete opposite of the cozy gryffindor common room.
She hadn't realized she'd lost Malfoy until he pushed back through a group of people near her and grabbed her hand, yanking her along behind him through the crowd. She spied Seamus Finnegan and Lavender Brown dancing provocatively together holding drinks in their hands. She looked around again and saw many of her housemates and classmates on the floor.
"Bloody hell..." she felt like she'd entered the twilight zone. She knew Blaise Zabini had been inviting people to his party all evening. But this was intense. Not at all what she'd pictured.
"What?" Malfoy shouted at her over the music as he stopped them by a table of drinks. He leaned toward her and she yelled into his ear.
"I said bloody hell! This is insane!" She let go of his hand finally.
He poured a drink and held it out to her. She shook her head in alarm. He rolled his eyes, leaning close to her ear "they can't be dosing us through drinks. There's a hundred people in here drinking from the same bottles." Still she shook her head. "Fine." He shouted. He shrugged and tossed the drink back himself, swallowing it all at once before pouring another. Then he took her hand and dragged her out to the middle of the dance floor.
They approached Zabini who nodded emphatically when he saw the two of them. Malfoy said something to his ear and Zabini grinned wickedly. Hermione stood still behind Malfoy as he held her hand. The crowd jumped wildly around them, bumping into her and shoving her closer to Malfoy. He gripped her hand tighter.
Suddenly she spotted Ginny and Harry across the room. She let go of Malfoy and tried to run to them but the dancing crowd was thick. She had to dodge and swerve to get through. She lost sight of Malfoy completely. The darkness and flashing lights making it hard to see clearly.
She made it to Ginny. "What are you doing here?" She shouted to Ginny's ear. She and Harry were dancing together on the edge of the crowd, sharing a cup between them.
"Hey! We're partying! Woo!" Ginny threw her hands in the air
"Is something wrong?" Harry asked her then, he noticed her nervousness.
Hermione observed her friends for a moment. They both seemed very drunk and having a good time together. She didn't want to be a Debbie downer all the time. She chewed her lip and shook her head. "No! I just didn't know you were here." It was impossible to have a conversation here. And malfoy had the pictures still. Shit, she had to get them back.
"I'll find you later!" She assured them and they nodded, getting lost in dancing together again.
She turned looking through the crowd for that platinum head. He wasn't anywhere she could see. The crowd was thick and she was overheating. She pulled the jumper over her head and fanned herself with her hand. She spotted Zabini dancing with Daphne Greengrass and went to them.
"Where'd he go?" She shouted without any preamble. She assumed everyone was too drunk, the music too loud, no sense in wasting conversation.
Zabini grinned mischievously "I think he went to bed. You hurt his feelings." He quirked his brow, never missing a beat as he swayed with his partner. She didn't even look at Hermione. Daphne seemed utterly immersed in the music and dancing, guiding Zabini's hands along her waist and hips.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Fine!" She shouted, "tell him I left too!" She turned on her heel but someone caught her hand.
McLaggen grinned at her, pulling her body up against his. She dropped her sweater as she brought her hands up, shoving him back. "Come on." He drawled, obviously drunk. "We can dance. It's just dancing! Live a little!" He grabbed her wrist tightly and pulled her close to him again. The crowd around them pressing in.
Hermione looked around helplessly. He had a too strong grip on her arm and she couldn't move away from him. She punched weakly at his chest. "You put my boyfriend in the hospital!" She spat angrily in his face.
He sneered down at her and opened his mouth to respond but another body wedged between them. McLaggen let go of her wrist as Malfoy shoved him hard, the crowd parting finally with shrieks and gasps. She followed close behind Malfoy as he continued pushing McLaggen off of the dance floor. The space filled back in after they passed as people resumed their dancing as if they'd never been disturbed.
It was fucking hot the way Malfoy came to her rescue, manhandling McLaggen like that. She shook her head of the thought as they neared the door, she grabbed Malfoy's arm to stop him from hitting McLaggen again. He didn't even look at her "get out." He shouted, pointing at the door. McLaggen glared at them and left without a word.
Finally he turned to her "are you alright?" He growled, still angry at having to rescue her from her own housemate. The look was doing something to her. She blinked up at him and nodded, uncontrollably biting her lip and glancing at his mouth. She wanted to kiss him for it.
She took his hand for the hundredth time that night, gentler this time and pulled him along with her, never taking her eyes off of his. He followed cautiously onto the dance floor. She slid her hands up his chest sensually, up and around his neck. He slid his around her waist, pulling her close to him and they started swaying to the beat.
She wanted to be closer to him. Their knees were keeping them too far apart. He seemed to understand and adjusted them so that their legs were in between each other. She gyrated and bounced on his thigh, the music loud, drowning everything else out but the feel of him.
She tugged on his neck and he leaned down for her, she kissed him then, giving him a preview of what she truly wanted. Then she shouted to his ear "I need you." Before pulling back and staring into his eyes.
He growled again, taking her hand and pulling her through the crowd. She held tightly to his hand, fingers threaded through his, and kept close to him. They emerged from the sweaty cluster of bodies on the other side of the room, he led her down a staircase and the music dimmed behind them.
He opened a door and she followed him into a dorm room, with a few large four poster beds in a row. He shut the door and locked it before turning to her, breathing heavily. Her stomach flipped as she felt the need for him arise. He stared at her hungrily.
A tiny voice in the back of her head recognized it this time. That she'd been dosed. She was powerless to stop it though, because it seemed he had been too. They launched at each other simultaneously, he grabbed her hips as she jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. They both kissed each other with reckless abandon, oblivious to anything but the need to be together.
He stumbled through the room, finally tossing her backward onto one of the beds before ripping his shirt off and climbing over her. She skimmed her nails across his skin, his shoulders, neck and up into his hair, kissing him all the way. He palmed her breast over her camisole and she preened, pressing her chest into his touch, begging for more.
The door to the dorm shot open in a burst of magic. Hermione shrieked and Malfoy shielded her with his arms as Harry and Ginny rushed into the room. Harry stunned Malfoy who collapsed on top of her. Hermione remembered protesting and reaching for her own wand before Harry stunned her too.