There was an unusual pep to her step as she made the long scorching journey up to the seventh floor. Things were starting to work out and it made her optimistic for the future. A future that might be muddled by numerous tribulations and calamities, sure, but one in which she had the slightest chance of getting everything she wanted. It was implausible and foolish to even hope…
And she didn't care.
She wanted to hold on to the belief that all of it was possible. They would win. No one else would die. Draco and her would end up together. Everyone would accept it. They would all live happily ever after. The End. Case closed.
Needless to say, she knew that wasn't the reality of the world she lived in. Yet, it was still nice to daydream as she rode the natural high of Katie's arrival back and the return to a fragile normalcy with her best friends. She thought of the night under the stars in December and how Draco had predicted this exact outcome.
Her smile widened as her contemplation moved to the boy who waited for her. She couldn't wait to hug him after their spat. Apologies went a long way in covering any lingering hurts. And yet, there was a marked difference in having the confirmation of his arms around her as they did something as ordinary as discussing their day or something else equally mundane. Another way to feed her new grand delusion of a regular life.
Once she was in front of the tapestry she turned to the section of wall directly across and wished that she could summon his room herself, but she waited patiently for Draco to come and get her. Trying not to let the reminder of hidden eyes damper her high spirits.
Hermione stood there under the muggy invisibility cloak. With the weather continuing to warm as Spring formally planted her roots, what was left of the winter chill that could still be found within the castle was swiftly dissipating. Leaving her with nothing to combat the trapped sweltering body heat and it didn't take long for her to start to worry she would look like a drowned poodle by the time he appeared…
As the minutes ticked on and the sweat started to pool in all of her crevices, she began to shift from one foot to the other. Beginning, despite her best efforts, to get annoyed with the fact that she couldn't whip out her wand and cast one of the many weather-modifying charms at her disposal. If there was a way she could guarantee that the two overworked house-elves were busy with their actual responsibilities… Instead of trailing the boy she waited for…
She sighed softly and opted to reach up and wipe the gathering moisture from her top lip.
More minutes went by and her displeasure moved towards the wizard on the other side of the wall. The one who knew she was out there anticipating his arrival… The one who was letting her wither like a wilting hydrangea in the summer heat…
After what felt like years, the door finally appeared and he popped his blonde head out, making a spectacle of checking for any witnesses as a way for her to sneak past. He didn't seem to notice when she slipped inside so she reached out and poked the back of his hand that grasped the doorknob in a tight fist. His startled jerk caused a smile to flash on her lips and she stepped back while he closed the door.
As soon as Hermione heard the latch catch, she ripped the cloak from her body, uncharacteristically letting it fall to the floor in her relief, "Took you long enough!"
"My apologies." He drawled. "Lost track of the time."
"So your plan wasn't to have me drown in a lake of my own sweat? Shocking…"
Draco's eyebrow cocked with his amusement at her outburst, "What is the sour mood for, Kitten?"
"It's hot under there!" She whined and indicated her drenched blouse.
Which his hungry eyes ran over appreciatively, not with the appropriate remorse he should have been feeling for his carelessness. He eventually found her eyes again and nodded toward the bathroom door, "Even though I have already apologized, let me offer my facilities for you to clean up…"
"Fine." She said with a quick shrug of her shoulders. When he went to follow behind her, she stopped and put her arm out to halt his advancement. He walked into her outstretched hand so it rested on his chest. "Nuh uh… You are in timeout, mister."
He blinked down at her for a second before smirking, "It is my bathroom."
"And I said no."
Her words were clipped with her earlier annoyance, but her eyebrows were raised in a playful challenge as she turned to continue her way to the loo. She heard rather than saw when his feet got tangled in the invisible bundle of fabric on the floor. And she almost laughed at the particularly creative stream of profanities that fell from Draco's mouth as he tried to disentangle himself, but she chose to close and lock the door behind her instead…
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She'd had every intention of staying under the rivulets of cool water until they had turned freezing. Let him metaphorically sweat it out and all that, but the time never came. It had to be the result of the same magic that allowed for his room to be the perfect temperature at all times and she was slightly cross that his preemptive design of his oasis had to include such creature comforts as an unlimited supply of perfectly degreed water…
She had no way to tell how long she had been in there.
Hermione sighed in resignation and turned the water off. She dried herself and then put her soiled partial uniform back on. Her hair was a tangled mess that she wasn't prepared to deal with, so she pulled it back over her shoulders and let the few curls that fell from the knotted mass to stay wherever they decided to go. She gave herself one last appraising glance and then headed out to face whatever form of Draco Malfoy that awaited because of her little stunt.
He was sitting on the couch, his back to her. The fabric of Dumblebore's invisibility cloak was folded neatly and set on the arm of the couch next to him. He picked at the wool, endeavoring to rid some blemish Hermione couldn't see from the doorway. He didn't look back at her, even though he had to have heard the click of the door as it opened and then closed.
Not deterred by the glacial welcome, she made her way over and sat down next to him. It took her a moment but she peaked over at him with a smirk playing at the corners of her lips. "Learn your lesson yet?"
He mirrored her, looking at her out of the corner of a blank gray eye. "What lesson was it that I was supposed to be learning again?"
"Oh, you know… How about keeping an eye on your watch, for one…" Hermione started to list the reasons off on her fingers. "To think of others, for two… And, last but certainly not least, to pay attention to your surroundings instead of allowing yourself to be distracted by staring at your girlfriend's breasts. Maybe then you might not have tripped..."
He turned to face her fully, the start of a soft pink blush staining the pale skin of his cheekbones, and stared at her for a long moment. "Caught me."
"It wasn't like you were hiding it, Draco." She said with an exasperated shake of her head before turning so they were finally looking at each other head on. His eyes never left her and his intensity quickly put her on edge, "What?"
"That's the first time you have referred to yourself as my girlfriend," He leaned over, closing the little distance between them in one fluid movement. "I… I like it."
Her own cheeks started to flush crimson, "I used to call you much more than that in our notes."
"Yes, I know. You've never vocalized it like that before though." His eyes swirled with amusement. "Do it again!"
He looked like the epitome of a kid on Christmas morning and it made a shy smile twitch on her lips, "I… I am your girlfriend?"
"Hmmm… You will have to work on making it sound a little more convincing, Kitten." He told her with a playful wink before leaning and pressing his lips to hers.
Hermione scoffed but quickly melted into the kiss when he reached up and cupped the side of her face. Unable to resist the magnetic draw, she leaned in to deepen it…
Draco smiled against her and then pulled away gently, just far enough that she could see his whole face. "How was your day?"
"Good."
"Tell me about it…" He instructed, moving so that he was more comfortable. His arm thrown lazily across the back of the couch in anticipation of her sitting back.
She sighed, still unsure of what he found so fascinating about her life, but nonetheless went into a detailed explanation of her day for him. Ending with a description on how Ginny had upset Dean over dinner by sharing a too-long glance with Harry, "But it doesn't really matter anymore, what with Katie being back… I'm sure she will be taking her spot back as Chaser."
The way he stiffened next to her set off alarm bells, but before she could think too much into the response, he was replying, "Katie Bell is back? That's good."
"Yes, she arrived yesterday and will be back to classes tomorrow." She watched his face carefully and couldn't see a single sign that he found the news anything besides mildly pleasant. It was as if she had told him it would, in fact, be a nice sunny day tomorrow.
"Bet Potter is just ecstatic, huh?"
"Why would you say that?" The defensive tone she used surprised the both of them. How could he possibly know Harry had been waiting to get answers from the injured witch since the attack in November?
"Having his Star Quidditch Team back? He must be strutting around like a damned peacock!" Draco eyed her, clearly trying to disguise his dislike for the other boy. Regardless, it was his turn to be cautious due to her strange heightened response to his request for more information.
"Oh, yeah… I mean, I don't think it's official or anything... Yet."
"As soon as it does… There goes any chance of Ravenclaw winning the House Cup."
"Slytherin would have a better chance if you decided to quit getting yourself into trouble and losing your House points…" She pointed out.
His persistently cocky smirk slid onto his features as he asked, "Where would the fun be in that?"
Hermione rolled her eyes with a second exasperated shake of her head. "None! That must be why you have such a problem with behaving."
"Can't have Gryffindor breaking their streak, now can we?"
"Of course not, the world would stop spinning on its axis."
"A horrid fate for all…"
During their flippant back and forth her own lips had turned up, returning his smug smirk, "Without a doubt."
It was Draco's turn to give a roll of his eyes at the notion of something as menial as the House Cup having a significant importance to anyone but the younger years who ran around under foot. Much too little to understand the severity of what was happening outside of the protective reinforcements of the castle.
"What about you?" She asked, breaking into his thoughts before he could get lost to the darkness.
He grimaced at the question, "What about me?"
"How was your day, silly?"
"I would rather not speak on my day, if you don't mind." He said as a way of dismissal.
She wanted to push and find out what had happened to make him close down, but Hermione knew better than to pry and cause the ever dreaded mask to fall back into place. "What would you like to talk about then?"
"I could think of quite a number of better things our mouths could be doing other than talking, pet…" He said, his eyes automatically falling to the bared skin where her blouse had been strategically left unbuttoned to give glimpses of cleavage.
"Oh, stop it!" She said with another roll of her eyes and playful swat at his knee.
"Alright then… What if we practiced your confidence in calling yourself my girlfriend?"
The look of confusion that crossed her face had to be comical and she wasn't able to reign in her uncertainty before she blurted out, "Why would we do that?"
"Might be a good time." He stated simply, with no other reasoning to offer.
"I highly doubt that…"
"We could always test the waters and see."
His insistence made her suspicious and she quickly looked away before he could see the unwarranted paranoia… Or insecurities. "I…"
"Where did my Brave Gryffindor go?" He goaded from her side.
The pathetic taunt was enough to bait her to the challenge and then she saw in her peripherals as he raised his eyebrow in that antagonizing pompous way he had and she fully broke. "Fine… I'm…"
As soon as the first word was out of her mouth she felt him shift forward on the couch and the arm that had been relaxed behind her slipped down to her shoulders. In one swift movement, he pulled her forward until her weight did the rest of the work of spilling her clumsily into his lap. Her face heated to an unbelievable degree at the mixture of emotions that started to bounce around in her brain at the sudden predicament she found herself in. One of his legs propped her hips in the air, the other pinned her breasts against her body.
Once he was sure she was stable, Draco immediately let go. A clear message that she could stand if she chose to…
She glared over her shoulder at him, "What do you think you are doing?"
"I'm giving you the proper… motivation to do well, pet." His eyebrow was still cocked with his challenge but his fingers found the back of her lower thigh, right under where her skirt started, and he began to trail upward with a feather-light touch. "Give it a try…"
"You are certifiable!" Hermione snapped. Yet, when she went to stand the movement caused his hand to involuntarily slide higher up her thigh. The backs of his knuckles brushed at her core, stilling her departure. It vaguely registered just how crude the position she was currently frozen in was. Her back arched and ass raised in the air, she knew she had to look beyond salacious but with that simple accidental touch she couldn't remember why she should care…
His fingers twitched against the tender flesh of her inner thigh as he chuckled into her face. "Are you sure you don't want to be a good girl and give my way a try?"
Her breath left her in a shuddering pant and she stayed frozen. Unable to bring herself up to her feet with the intoxicating combination that his fingers and words stirred in her, even though the rational and egalitarian part of her noted that she should be offended by the outright request for submission. They had, obviously, played with power dynamics in their sexual relationship from the beginning. Yet, this… This was a whole different boundary. One that wasn't being prodded while in the throes of orgasms or when she was at the point that she would agree to anything he asked of her. This was a deliberate, albeit sarcastic, request.
Draco's eyes stayed on her face, studying the internal debate that she did not attempt to hide, he kept himself perfectly still. Allowing her the time she needed to come to a decision.
"...Okay?"
For the second time that night, she watched as the optimistic twinkle of someone being given a longed-for gift settled into the gray depths in front of her. He swallowed hard, his adam's apple bobbing, as she slowly settled herself back down into his lap. His voice was husky as he confirmed her consent, "You're sure?"
"Yes." The word slipped from her lips before she could give the circumstances the consideration he had intended. Hermione felt the blush work its way up to her hairline and looked down to the ground to cover up the tired and traitorous reaction.
Another amused chuckle rocked his frame, "Then relax…"
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Her mind stayed blissfully unaware for far longer than was normal for her after completion. But, eventually, other stimuli than the lightning tingling on her skin started to register…
Like the weight of his arms, the smell of him, the sound of air moving through his lung with his wheezy breaths. Of course, it was him to center her after… Everything…
Once her brain was able to take in more than just her five senses, it started to wander absently, going back to earlier in the corridor and her annoyance at the relatively small offense. Why had she let her emotions get the better of her? It was hard to remember such trivial details when all the feel-good hormones were still being pumped through her veins. And then it hit her…
The insane thought had an atypical giggle escaping and she tried to press her lips together to keep the bizarre reaction inside but failed miserably at the endeavor. Her shoulders shook with her stifled hilarity. Hermione felt as he shifted under her so he could look down and check on her.
Her hand clamped on her mouth, an attempt to suffocate the hysteria that threatened to boil over. He slipped her from his lap, so she was sitting in the crock of his arm and he could see her face better. The way his eyebrow came together in concern, as if he thought she had cracked, sent another round of shuddering laughs through her frame. There was no doubt that she was close to hyperventilating, but she couldn't stop.
"Are you alright, Granger?" His eyes kept glancing between her and the door, like he was deliberating on going and finding someone for help. Which set off another round of airless giggles… Where did he think he would go if she had lost it?
"I… I'm s… sorry." She managed to get out. "I'm… fine."
The look on his face told her that he didn't believe a choked word she said.
In an attempt to soothe his fears, she took a slow breath and tried to expound on her reassurances, "Earlier… Out in the hallway… I… I was thinking…"
"Yes?" Draco's tense stance relaxed slightly when he saw she was going to explain her manic behavior.
"About how… I was looking forward to… to doing something… normal… with you!" The absurdity hit her all over again and she shook her head, "I am such an idiot."
His relief at the fact that he hadn't done some irreparable damage to her psyche was palatable and he pulled her back against him with a chuckle and kiss to the top of her head, "No, you are not."
She curled into his chest and tilted her head up so she was able to keep looking at him. "Oh, please!"
"It's only natural, after what we have been up to in our free time lately, to need a break." He murmured as an acknowledgement of her previously unvoiced feelings.
"I guess…"
"Maybe it is time to continue my musical education, pet…"
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So… I did the thing again. ^.^
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