For an immeasurable moment of time that could have lasted a few seconds or a whole hour, Hermione stood perfectly still and continued to try to process her mind-boggling surroundings. It was as if someone had reached into the past and plucked a recurring scene from her childhood to bring it back to life. That was, of course, impossible. She had never even been there. Only obsessively read about it...
To the left was a small wooden cluster of matured oak and linden trees. To the right was a glistening river that flowed along the entire length of the wall. The two sides were connected by a lush carpet of green grass that was spotted with different bunches of wildflowers, some of which she had solely seen in photographs. The walls and ceiling had not escaped the magical remodeling, they had been enchanted to depict perfect white fluffy clouds floating on a bright blue sky.
On the riverbank sat a white picnic blanket adorned with the makings for a casual cup of tea. There were even bees buzzing lazily and the faint chatter of squirrels somewhere in the woods! A restlessness wound its way into her stomach, it was as if the White Rabbit really could jump out and run across the scene in front of her. To counteract the feeling her feet moved her into the surreal landscape attempting to verify the physical existence of the incarnate fantasy.
Slowly she made it over to the mid-way point between the tiny patch of woods and the blanket before stopping to take it all in from the different vantage point.
How?!
How had he flawlessly recreated the opening scene from her favorite childhood fairytale? How did he even know about the muggle story when her best friends didn't know? How was he able to read her mind without Legilimency?
She stood there unable to find the words to articulate her manic thoughts. Once again Hermione resorted to the singular question that seemed to enveloped the bafflement she felt. "How?"
"Magic..." Draco whispered playfully in her ear.
The shock of his close proximity caused her to start, she had not realized that he had followed her, but the mischievous taunting tone in his voice triggered her immediate mischievous defiance. Without thinking she flung her arm back and smacked him in the chest with the back of her hand like she would have done with any of her other close friends. She felt him tense under the playful assault. Instantly she found herself regretting her impulsive decision.
Why couldn't she respect other people's personal space? As soon as the thought registered she tried to pull away, but before she could get very far his fingers wrapped around her wrist stopping her recoil. When she tried a second time to draw her hand back he only tightened his hold causing her to peek over her shoulder. Instead of the anger she expected, his features were oddly blank as if he was assessing her own response before deciding on his.
Yet another silence stretched and she found her gaze wanting to slide from the one place she usually had to fight to ignore. To cover up the internal dilemma she inclined her head in agreement to his previously ignored answer to her question. "Right and a masterly example it is Draco! Let's see, you had to of used: 'Meteolocreo' for the weather. 'Augeoherba' for all the foliage. And should I wager a galleon on 'Eam Parvumrivus' being of great importance in the making of the river? I'd dare to say Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick would both be proud of the special interest you have taken in their subjects."
"Granger." Draco interrupted her, the same teasing tone from before her assault ringing his tone. "You are doing it again..."
"What?" She asked, her confusion evident on her face. Did he know she made it a habit to physically assault her friends?
"Rambling." He told her with his trademark smirk playing on his lips.
"Oh." Was the genius response that she could come up with when his usually stormy eyes gleamed with an impishness she had not been granted the honor of seeing before. It was no wonder Pansy could end up making a prat of herself where he was concerned…
"Yes..." He purred in her ear, finally letting go of her wrist. The simple gesture allowed her to turn around and fully face him before he continued. "And while I do enjoy listening to you ramble... I think our tea might be getting cold."
"One would assume that the wizard who could achieve such passable magic as all this would be able to perform a simple warming charm." Hermione jokingly challenged, adding an impression of his smirk at the end for good measure.
"That point could be argued." He conceded before leaning down so their lips were only inches apart and he could stare into her eyes. "What if I told you that the sight of you in that dress made me weak in the knees and I was suddenly struck with the need to sit down?"
A round of giggles escaped from between her lips and then the look of shock and concern that sprung across Draco's face caused another. When she finally gained control of herself again it wasn't a pale imitation of a smirk on her lips as she responded. "Does that line usually work on the girls you go after?"
Instantly his posture relaxed and a smile centered on his features. The exact smile that caused her stomach to jump into her throat and her heart to start galloping like a racehorse. He shook his head at her as the surprising sound of his breathy chuckle reached her ears. She felt her next inhalation get caught somewhere in her chest but was much too distracted to find the concern to care when he finally responded, "I have never tried before... But if I had to guess, I would have to say yes, it would have a high probability of moving things along in my favor. Though the question should be: Would I be willing to go through such effort for any of them?"
"Oh please!" She said dismissively. Gaining control back over herself as an unexpected tinge of iced cockiness that reminded her of the Old Draco found its way into the tone of his last question and put her on guard. Subconsciously, she was still waiting for the moment when he came to his senses and attacked. She turned away and started to make her way over to the blanket.
Before Hermione could make it a few feet his hand slipped over her own, his fingers entwining with hers. He kept up with her heated pace for the few feet it took for her sudden burst of emotion to vanish as quickly as it had appeared. They continued on to their destination in a comfortable silence after that. Draco's hand in hers helping to keep her grounded in the moment.
It did not take long to finish the rather brief walk and she moved to sit down on the soft blanket. She splayed her hands behind her and concentrated on the feeling of the blanket shifting against the thick grass. If she hadn't known better, she would have sworn they were floating inches above the hard cold stone that was underneath them.
"Miss Granger." Draco said, interrupting her reverie as he tried to pass her a cup of tea.
"Thank you very much, Mister Malfoy." She said, taking the cup and saucer. Keeping an edge of sobriety to her voice so he didn't think he was completely off the hook for the attitude given during his answer to her question.
"My pleasure." His reply was simple, before starting on making his own cup.
When he was done she pounced, unable to hold herself back from the answers that she so desperately wanted, no matter how angry she wanted to stay at the wizard across from her. "How did you...?"
"I already told you, Kitten. Do keep up... With magic."
"If you would have let me finish you would have realized that was not my question!" She snapped indignantly. He motioned for her to continue before taking a sip of tea as if to prove he was not going to butt in this time. "How did you know that Alice in Wonderland was my favorite fairytale?"
Draco watched her over the rim of his cup for a few seconds before returning the cup to the saucer and setting it down on the blanket. Once he was done making sure it wouldn't spill he looked back up at her. "I do not want to tell you."
"And why the hell not?" She asked surprised, setting down her own cup so she could lean forward in anticipation of the answer.
"You will get angry and I would rather not get punched in the face tonight." He said nonchalantly as he picked up a cookie from the tray and took a bite.
"Well... While I cannot promise to curb my anger, I can guarantee that I will not hit you. Fair?"
His eyebrow raised but he shrugged again and sighed before starting in on what she hoped to be a detailed explanation. "Last October after the Halloween Feast you and Lovegood were stargazing in the courtyard..."
As soon as the words left his mouth the memory was conjured from the lost recesses of her mind and she knew enough to connect the dots. She didn't stop him though, preferring to allow him to give his account.
"...And I happened to come across the merry little scene. Loon... Lovegood was yammering on about some creature her father loves to report on in his silly little magazine. When she was finally finished you just shook your head and said, 'Okay Alice'."
"Then Luna told me, 'My name isn't Alice silly, it's Luna!'." Hermione said with a laugh and shake of her head.
"Yes... And then what did you tell her?"
"That my favorite book growing up was about a girl that reminded me of her called 'Alice in Wonderland'. She told me that she was going to have to find a copy and read it." She shook her head again.
"Right you are. I wanted to know what it was about, so I wrote home with a lie about a muggle book burning taking place in the Slytherin common room. Mother sent a copy back within the week... And I became well versed in Alice's trip to Wonderland and her outlandish fight to get back home." Draco reached over and swirled the contents of his teacup before taking another sip. An excuse to watch her over the rim, trying to tactfully gauge her mood, no doubt.
She took a moment for her own sip of the scalding liquid, using the time to work over his explanation. Making sure that the anger that had been flared, but not for the reason he thought it would, was in check before setting the cup and saucer off to the side. Finally, she had to look up at him. She could hear the sober tone to her question but didn't care. "So Slytherins make book burning a habit, do they?"
"No... Not anymore." Draco responded carefully. "It is an antiquated pastime from my parents' generation that explained my need for muggle literature."
"I should not be surprised by that, I suppose. Considering..." She acknowledged, quickly starting to nibble on her bottom lip to stop the choice descriptions she truly wanted to use against the type of people who would commit such abhorrent acts.
"Considering almost all of them ended up signing their lives away to a murderous dictator?" The cold mask instantly washed over his features. His ever-present control slipped causing his hand that still held his cup to shake and a few drops of tea to fall from the rim. They both watched as the dark amber liquid splashed onto the white fabric and spread out, staining what was unblemished a split second before.
"Right." The sudden transformation,once again caught her off guard and caused her hands to start to tremble in her lap. She found herself searching for any way to get her version of him back and ended up blurting the first thing that came to her mind. "Did you happen to bring your copy of the supposedly offensive text with you tonight?"
An unexpected chuckle had her gaze drawn back up to the uncommonly relaxed expression that slid onto his face as he set the cup to the side. "No, but I do have a better surprise for you."
"Oh? A better surprise than all this?" She asked, gesturing to the room as a whole.
"Yes."
Hermione stilled as she watched Draco reach into the pocket that he had tried to covertly slip something into earlier. He pulled out a small emerald green rectangular box before grabbing his wand from where it sat next to the ornately decorated teapot. A quick tap to the lid caused the case to start to swell. Once he was satisfied with the size another tap halted the inflation. Unable to hide her appreciation for the seemingly natural use of non-verbal magic she nodded, recognizing the effort. "You've been practicing?"
"You have not been?" He asked sarcastically with a roll of his storm-gray eyes.
She gave a noncommittal one-shouldered shrug and leaned forward in an attempt to get a better look. "So what is inside?"
When he didn't respond she once again found her gaze being drawn back up to the chiseled veneer that would forever be burned on the back of her eyelids. He shifted under her scrutiny but would not meet her eye. She tried being patient and staying quiet but her inquiring mind won out in the end. "What is wrong?"
"I..." Draco paused. It was as if he was fighting with himself... He even gave a quick shake of his head before one side seemed to win out over the other. Thankfully it was the one that was going to answer her. "I think I have found a less dangerous form of communication for us. I am just... Worried that you might be offended."
"Offended? Why? You don't have some cursed house elf's hand in there or something... Do you?" She asked, pulling herself up from the hunched position she had been holding.
"Worse..." He muttered ominously. Not giving her mind long enough to conjure up what could possibly be worse than a house elf's hand being imbued with dark magic, he pressed an undetectable clasp on the side of the box causing the top to spring open on hidden hinges. He thrust the box forward as if wanting to get the awful contents away from him as quickly as possible.
Instinctively she shied from looking down. How horrible was it if a Malfoy was repulsed? Yet she knew she had to find out, and if appeasing her curiosity wasn't a big enough inspiration, there was always the fact that he would never let her live it down if she didn't. Good-natured ribbing or not, the prospect was far from an ideal looking future. So with her heart hammering away in her chest, she forced her gaze down…
And let out an incredulous laugh as she gave the shiny trinket a hasty glance. The amusement she felt was quickly replaced with the slow-burning anger that he had been worried about. Instead of being directed at the beautifully crafted bauble laying on the satin cushion like had been promised, he was the target. Before she could stop, she snapped. "Don't do that!"
"Do what exactly? Solve a major problem we were having or give you a gift?" He asked, the corners of his lips twitching as he fought not to smile.
"No! Don't make it seem as if you are going to be showing me some crazy dark magic and then..." She took a breath, knowing that her reaction was overboard but not knowing how to defuse the bomb that was ticking. She scrambled to her knees, ready to get up and run before letting herself say something she would regret. "And then give me a damned piece of JEWELRY, Malfoy!"
"Wait..." Draco set the box to the side and went to grab her wrist. Something must have stopped him because he raised his hand in front of him in a placating gesture. "You are right. I was being my normal halfwitted self. I apologize."
The instant and clear expression of regret pulled her up short. She had been prepared for their typical strained back and forth bickering, not for him to easily admit any fault. It stopped her in her tracks and the toxic flame in her stomach flickered out. Feeling foolish for the sudden burst of emotion she gave him a soft smile and whispered. "Always with that whole underestimating yourself thing."
"Mmmm... Habit." His eyes twinkled with amusement but the rest of his face was stone as he sat and once again gauged her response.
She didn't hold back the snort as she sat back down and fixed her skirt. Like the embarrassed coward she was, she took the momentary justification for no eye contact to give her own apology. "I'm sorry for overreacting..."
"Obviously I was expecting it. I just thought it would be over you thinking I was trying to "buy" you with gifts."
"That does sound like something I would do."
"Hence the poor attempt at humor."
Hermione finally looked up at him and gave him a half smile. "If it was anyone but me it probably would have been a hit."
"Probably not, Kitten. It was a shit venture to begin with. I should have stuck to the truth."
She sighed but decided against arguing with him. There was no need to insist on any of her faults with him. The ones he didn't already know about would show themselves eventually. They always did, no matter how hard she tried to stifle them. Not allowing herself to dwell on the unalterable quandaries in her life, she distracted herself with the more immediate matter right in front of her…
"So... Um... Can I see my gift again? Or has the offer been rescinded?" A blush started to creep up into her cheeks as the lingering sheepishness from her earlier stunt was rekindled by having to ask. Her rudeness must know no bounds.
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth but it never fully appeared. The flash of playfulness was stamped out so quickly she was left wondering if it was an optimistic figment of her imagination. Draco shifted like he was planning to get up off the blanket but halfway through the motion his eyes caught hers. He instantly stilled and was left kneeling so close to her that she was forced to lean back and place her weight on her arms to be able to see his face.
"Are you leaving?" She muttered, letting her gaze fall to his shoulder so that he wouldn't be able to read the disappointment if he had finally had enough of her mood swings.
"No."
His succinct answer did little to reduce the tense set of her shoulders or the way her heart continued to pound. She still could not bring herself to look him in the eye, choosing to stick with the safer and less distracting solution found in the crisp white fabric that covered his shoulder. When another long stretch of silence threatened to descend on the moment she cleared her throat and started speaking without thinking. "That's good. I... I mean... I would hate for you to..."
Suddenly he bent over, leveraging himself with an arm on either side of her, leaving her no choice but to look up at him. A flash of silver in the swirling gray and an involuntary twitch in his left eyebrow were the only indicators that he was messing with her. Even his voice was in line with the perfected performance of indifference. "And to answer your previous question... No. You cannot have your gift."
Before she was able to come up with any reply he leaned in and brought his lips so close to her ear she could feel his hot breath when he whispered. "At least not until you use the manners I am sure your parents painstakingly instilled in you."
Again before her mind was able to process the goading remark he was distracting her by sighing in mock disappointment. The hot breath against the sensitive skin of her neck caused her stomach to twist and her back to arch ever so slightly. Seemingly encouraged by the fact that she did not protest, he brushed his bottom lip along her earlobe, barely making contact with her skin. His teasing tickled the fine hairs as he worked his way down to the collar of the blue dress he had complimented her on after Slughorn's Christmas party.
She eagerly tilted her head to the side granting him better access to the now tender flesh that begged to feel his lips. A soft breathy chuckle briefly registered in her ears but her attention was fully diverted to the vexing agony as he inched back up to her jaw. Unintended whimpering fell from her parted lips as her back arched even higher in an attempt to press her chest against his. Her body's instinctual way of trying to fulfill the need for some kind of contact.
When he started to make his way back over to her earlobe she lost any self-control and moaned. "Please!"
"Please what, Kitten?" He prompted her.
The murmur sent shivers down her spine causing her to squirm and warmth to fill her panties. She didn't know what to ask for as her mind ran through a number of enticing scenarios. Each one more ambrosian than the last.
As if he sensed that she had become lost in her own imagination and refused to be ignored, Draco took her lobe between his lips before quickly pulling away. Frustration at the deprivation had her desperate to regain any tangible touch between them. She shifted all of her weight to one arm and lifted the other up to entwine in his hair as she gasped. "Just kiss me, please!"
"As always... All you had to do was ask." Amusement rang in his reply but thankfully he cupped her chin and brought his lips to hers in a sweet teasing peck.
The whole exchange was over much too quickly for Hermione's liking and she stopped him from pulling away by clenching her fingers that were still wrapped in his hair. She brushed her bottom lip against his before sucking it into her mouth and giving a flirtatious pull.
Rather than responding in kind like she had been expecting, he smiled into the kiss. He did not stop her when she slipped her hand from his hair and started to undo the top buttons of his shirt. Yet there wasn't the normal insistence in the responding press of his lips.
Exasperated by the apparent humor he found in her attempts she edged away and glared up at him. "What is it?"
His uncertainty at her reaction showed for a second, and then he was showing off that smug smirk. "Well... I had thought you wanted to see your gift but I might have been mistaken."
"Oh, Shut up." She huffed with a roll of her eyes.
His own eyes rolled in an exact impersonation of her before he slid off of her and returned to his previous spot on the blanket. Lounged back as if he didn't have a care in the world, he ran his long fingers invitingly over the top of the jewelry box.
"Come on, Miss Granger. We both know you want to."
Of course, the question was... Did she really want to allow herself to be distracted?