Chapter Ten

Thanks to my beta, AmyLouise, and the credit is JKR's, WB's, and Scholastic's.

Chapter Ten

Hermione stood on Malfoy's porch, trying to come up with any excuse to leave which wouldn't make her feel like a murderer. She couldn't very well abandon Mrs. Malfoy now, but the thought of facing him after the incident last night made her Gryffindor bravery meow like a kitten. She had no idea what to s...

The door flew open, luckily revealing Liddy, the house-elf. "Greetings, Miss Granger. I is walking you to Master Malfoy's room, Miss, since he is telling me to bring you right away."

"Oh. Well, okay. He won't just come out to the couch?"

"No, Miss. I is not even seeing him drink his coffee today."

"Oh." Hermione followed as Liddy hastily flitted toward the hallway. Isn't there a more awkward way to do this? she thought sarcastically.

Just as Liddy had barely begun to rap on the door, Malfoy flung it open breathlessly, grabbing Hermione's arm and dragging her through the door before she had time to realize what was happening. As he slammed the door, he remarkably remembered to give Liddy a nod of thanks.

He turned to face Hermione, threading his hands together nervously on top of his head. "Er... sit down."

"Malfoy? What? I mean, you look like you've seen..."

"I have! I have seen a ghost, for Merlin's sake!"

"Okay. Okay, just calm down." She gently grabbed his arm and led him over to the bed, sitting them both on the end. "What happened?"

"It was just...it was just a nightmare, really, but you know how once you're awake for a bit you realize how silly you were to be scared?" Hermione nodded. "Well, it's been four hours! I can't even drink my fucking coffee!"

"Maybe you should tell me, and then we can try to figure it out." She spoke to him as if he were a small child, sensing that her usual "Malfoy Tone" might not be the best idea just now.

Malfoy flopped his elbows onto his knees, grabbing at his hair again. "I'm sorry. I must seem completely crazy, but it was just so real." He looked up, hoping for some reassurance that he wasn't being a complete Hufflepuff. He took Hermione's attentiveness as a good sign and went on.

"I was heading through a wood at night, foolishly ambling along without the slightest clue that it probably isn't the best idea to be meandering through woods at night in the first place, let alone without even paying attention. Before I knew it, I came upon this creepy old chapel...you know, the kind made from white stone all scrawled with those snakey viney designs and dirty with black dust?"

Hermione nodded, so he kept going. "It had no windows or anything, but I could see this faint light under the door, so my stupid dream self decided to open the damned thing."

Malfoy's forehead started to shine with sweat, and Hermione started to feel honestly scared. He never got this flustered by creepy things. He was a Slytherin, for crying out loud! She almost didn't want to know what was behind the door, but she braced herself.

"When I started to push the door, it was so heavy it was like it was moving in slow motion, but I heard this horrid giggle and pushed with all my might. For fuck's sake...you'd think I'd be smart enough to know that one doesn't try to find the source of evil laughter in a random old chapel in a dark wood! I just kept shoving like a damned Gryffindor!" Hermione rolled her eyes a little, although he didn't notice.

"Inch by inch, the door opened, and my eyes darted upward when I realized the light was coming from the ceiling." He looked at Hermione, a little embarrassed by his terror, but she looked rather intense herself. "Granger, it was a fucking white sheen. The wider the door opened, I began to realize my mother was hovering in there! I tried to scream, but I noticed someone else was in the room. When I looked down, some lunatic she-devil was staring at me with this crazed evil glee.

"I screamed like a girl until I heard all these high-pitched squeals of laughter from above my head. I looked up to see fucking thousands of those mother-fucking Death Faeries staring down at me, laughing and pointing. As they started flying at me, I woke up. I wish I hadn't, though, because every cell in my body feels like I should be looking for that place. I think I'm losing my fucking mind. My brain just won't see reason and stop thinking that place is out there somewhere."

Hermione didn't even care anymore about what had happened last night. In fact, she felt a bit silly for thinking it was important at all. She just put her arms around Malfoy's shaking form and pulled him close. He just breathed while she stroked his back. After a few moments, they both seemed to realize what they were doing at the same time, and they each pulled away a bit awkwardly. Without looking at her, Malfoy asked, "So, what do you think? Why would I feel like going there?"

"I don't know, Malfoy, but Harry used to have dreams like that, and sometimes they were important. Maybe we should talk to him."

"Er... I hate to break it to you, Granger, but Potter bloody hates me."

"No, he doesn't. Why would he have saved the life of someone he hates, especially when he could have easily died in that Fiendfyre? I'm pretty sure he doesn't like you any more than I do...well, did...but he would help if he could."

Hermione could see a cocky grin playing at the corners of Malfoy's mouth, and if he hadn't said anything, she would never have guessed why.

"You like me? I thought you said last night that you still hated me."

"Wha...well, I don't really...you said you hated me!"

"I only said that because I didn't want you to think... anything."

"What do you mean, "think anything"? I think you kissed me, and I think you felt disgusted because you think I'm nothing more than scum under your privileged shoe."

"Well, that's...I mean, for as clever a witch...that wasn't it at all! I just..."

"You just what? Don't know how to do something other than hate me? Don't want to admit that you don't really care about my blood anymore? Don't think we would work out? What?"

"Er... pretty much all of the above." Draco managed a weak smile.

"Oh." She paused sheepishly, not really expecting an honest or civil answer. "I guess... I can understand that. I mean, how would everyone take it, right?" She looked up shyly, wondering if he wanted to kiss her again.

He looked back, trying to steel himself against the monumentally stupid idea of just shoving her on her back and hoping for the best. She was right. It could really never work between them, maybe even as friends. "So... you think Potter would seriously talk to me?"

Granger sat and stared at him for a moment, almost as if she hadn't heard his blatant attempt at a subject change. She definitely wasn't thinking about Potter. In fact, she looked like she was thinking what he was thinking.

Fuck it. Draco pushed her down barbarically by the shoulders as he crashed his lips onto hers, forcing himself on top of her. Like last night, she wasn't fighting him (not that he had planned to stop if she was), so he moved his lips boldy, tasting hers, uselessly wishing he could be smoother.

He had never felt this kind of explosive attraction to anyone, and he just didn't have the will to slow down. Somehow he knew gentleness wasn't what she was looking for, anyway, and when he felt her open her lips, he groaned with hunger, ready to thrust his tongue inside of her at the invitation. She wasn't waiting for him to lead, though, and shocked him by pushing her tongue into his mouth, grabbing the back of his shirt and pulling it out of his jeans.

He knew in that moment that there was no stopping this. Last night he had been too surprised at himself and unsure of her reaction to lose control, but now he knew they both wanted this. He had always taken Granger for the conservative type who would make a poor bloke wait, but by the way she was tonguing him and pushing her fingers into the back of his jeans, he knew he had been dead wrong. She was no goody two shoes, this one.

When her palms slipped into his underwear and over his buttocks, his cock finished hardening to the point of pain. He immediately grabbed handfuls of her rippling hair, bringing her face closer to his, thrusting his tongue in time with hers, relishing the feeling of her fingers sliding back up his arse and under his shirt. He lifted slightly, moving his hands roughly over her arms and down to her hips, pushing them back up under her shirt to rub the soft skin of her belly.

When he felt her hands move to his chest to start ripping his buttons free, he could see that they both wanted to dominate, and it turned him on even more. Keeping himself in the competition, he flipped them both over so she was on top, grabbing the bottom of her t-shirt and shoving it up and over her head.

Fucking hell... He never would have expected Granger to be wearing a see-through black lace bra, but fuck if she wasn't. Too bad it wouldn't be staying on for long. He reached around her back, and since he was practically a professional fuck, he had it unhooked and off in less than two seconds.

She arched back, breathing hard, wordlessly begging him to touch her dark pink, fully hardened nipples. He wasn't about to disappoint. He lifted his head, latching his mouth onto one perfect breast, suckling her nipple whilst caressing her other breast with his palm. He smiled against her as he heard her gasp for air, grabbing onto the back of his head to keep him there.

She was in ecstasy. No one had ever taken her like this, recklessly, almost painfully, and she found that it was making her lose any will to be logical or cautious. She wanted Malfoy, every part of him. She wanted him to keep caressing and biting at her nipples, and then she wanted him to do anything and everything else.

She was starting to rock her hips against his gloriously excruciating erection, and he started to grab at the waistline of her pants, wanting to get to the naked part as soon as possible. He knew she felt his hardness, too, because she moaned and rocked harder, rubbing him until he had to stop her. This time, she smiled down at him knowingly, obviously enjoying regaining the upper hand.

She was equally motivated to keep him from coming too soon, though, so she slid her hips down his legs and expertly began to loosen his belt and open his pants. He let out a harsh breath he didn't realize he was holding, and she yanked the jeans and his underwear down to his knees in one flash, obviously leaving them there to trap his legs, bowing him to her will. She looked down at his cock and feverishly back at his face, biting her lower lip, and he nearly came with the realization that she liked what she saw.

When Hermione noticed that his face hadn't relaxed in the slightest, she knew she had better slow things down much more, so she paused and just looked at him. He had to be the hottest, sexiest thing she'd ever seen, from his steel gray eyes to his perfectly toned chest and abdomen to his almost frighteningly large cock. Oh, she couldn't wait to have it inside her, driving her apart.

Finally, she bent her head down, arching her back like a cat, her buttocks in the air, him wishing again that they were already naked. He watched her hair fall on his stomach, hiding her face from view, and he could hardly stand waiting for her next touch. His breath caught and he stiffened when he suddenly felt her sliding her tongue down his abdomen, stopping when she reached his navel. He had known she would torture him whilst he couldn't move, but he didn't care. She could do anything she wanted as far as he was concerned.

As she lingered over his lower abdomen, she looked up into his eyes, teasing him for a few seconds. Then without warning, she whipped her face down to his cock, licking it up and down, kissing it like she was already fantasizing about what it would do to her. He just hoped he could keep himself from coming before he had the chance to do it.

At last her warm, wet mouth took him in, moving up and down his length slowly, making him moan with agony since he was unable to rock his hips while trapped in his fucking jeans. It was bloody amazing. As she licked and sucked, his legs started to tremble, and he knew he was getting dangerously close once again. Out of breath, he barely managed to gasp out, "You better stop."

She let him slide out of her mouth, grinning up at him, definitely getting a kick out of her ultimate power over him. "Okay," she replied coyly.

She slid off of him, standing up so she could pull his jeans completely off, one leg at a time. Thank the gods. Before he had a chance to make the next move, though, she shackled him by starting to unbutton her own pants, unzipping the fly in an agonizingly lazy motion, knowing he was entering a place beyond coherent thought by the hungry look in his eyes. He was mesmerized.

After what seemed like a week, she finally started to pull at the waistline. He was frozen with anticipation, wanting desperately to spring off the bed and strip her down before she knew what happened, but he somehow managed to hold himself back with miraculous will. She was killing him, and he wanted her to keep doing it.

She actually smirked at him as she threw her pants across the room and grabbed the waist of her underwear. She apparently knew she was handily winning the war for dominance at the moment, but it couldn't be helped. Thank Merlin her underwear wasn't see-through, too, or he would have been undone. Oh, gods, he couldn't wait to see what was under that lace.

She pulled gently, looking him right in the eye. Oh, fuck... He could see some soft brown curls peeking over before she cruelly let go of the band, winking at him. He couldn't help it...he groaned with impatience. She just smiled and started pulling again, and he had never wanted to see a naked body more in his life.

Finally, he could see the curls again, and she pulled a little lower until the top of her slit started to show. She paused, and he didn't even try to hold back the whimper. He could see glistening moisture beginning to soak the waistline of her knickers and, as she kept pulling down, he got the full view he was waiting for. She was bloody gorgeous...spectacular, really...and when she finally had her underwear at the top of her thighs, he let himself lose control.

He was on his knees, grabbing and ripping at those fucking panties, making her cry out as he thrust his tongue roughly right between her legs, grabbing her tight buttocks and kneading them with his hands. He licked back and forth, up and down over her swollen clit, devouring her scent and her taste, and she grabbed fistfuls of his hair to bring his face closer and brace herself. Within seconds she was moaning and rocking her hips again, moving in time with his tongue. She thought she might incinerate right there and miss the finale. "Oh... oh, gods... Draco..." She panted harder and harder as he lapped at her sex, until he could feel her thigh muscles tightening. He knew she was close, so he pulled away with a slow suck, getting her back for torturing him by looking up at her with an evil smirk.

She looked absolutely murderous at the prospect of not being satisfied, and he was loving gaining the upper hand, watching her breaking for him. "Please, Draco, for fuck's sake..."she hissed, pulling at his hair and trying to force him back between her legs.

His Seeker hands were too fast for her, though, and he grabbed her wrists, bringing his face down to the bottom of her right thigh. She moaned and threw her head back, trying to free her hands as he licked his way slowly back to her sex. She was soaking wet, and he knew it wouldn't take much effort to bring her over the edge. He smiled and flicked his tongue over her clit lightly, then stopped to look up at her. "Draco! Oh, gods! Please!"

At that moment he shoved his fingers inside of her, sucking her clit between his lips as he pumped his fingers in and out. She came hard, screaming out his name again, shaking as the waves clutched at his still moving fingers.

When she started to relax her legs, he stood up, looking right into her chocolate brown eyes. They just stood there, trying to catch their breath, locked in a stare neither of them understood. He had to be inside of her...now.

Judging by her handling of him, she wasn't into gentle, so he pulled her around so she was closest to the bed, turned her, and bent her over. She caught on quickly, and rather than shying away, she got on all fours and looked back at him with pure lust, daring him to pound into her. She didn't have to ask twice. He shoved his cock into her hard, and he didn't even attempt to control his pace. He thrust in and out of her fully, maybe even hurting her, but she was definitely not complaining. "Hermione...oh, fuck!" He felt his balls tighten and crashed deep inside her, having the orgasm of his life.

He had had many an incredible fuck since losing his virginity in 4^th year, but he had never experienced anything like this. She actually matched him, even controlled him, not intimidated in the slightest. When his pulses finally began to die down, he collapsed onto her back, catching his breath. "Fucking amazing..."

She was panting hard, too, but she managed to gasp out, "You, too..."

When he was able, he lifted off of her, crawled onto his bed, and pulled her on to him. It didn't occur to him to feel awkward about holding her. He latched the covers onto one foot and yanked them up until he could reach with his hand and pull them the rest of the way, and they just lay there peacefully, her breathing against his chest.

"You called me Hermione."

He sure had. "You called me Draco," he countered with a smile.

He wasn't sure what conversation he wanted to have here. He wasn't sure what had just happened, really, except that it was the fuck of a lifetime. Could they really do this? He didn't know. A few days ago, they were still in the hateful, taunting phase they had been in since first year. Even going through a war and coming out basically on the same side hadn't changed that. Something powerful had just overtaken them, though, and there was no denying that he wanted more. He had second-guessed himself last night, but he was absolutely sure now that she wanted more, too. This was just plain fucking confusing. It might also be the best thing that ever happened to him.

Hermione lay there, feeling like jelly, wondering with amusement who the fuck she was. Last night, she had clearly returned Draco's kiss, and despite the fact that his explanation of his actions had stung her, she had hurried at work today to get here by lunch. Sure, she had nearly lost her nerve and left as soon as she arrived, but she had obsessed all morning about whether or not he really meant what he had said.

And what the fuck had just come over her?! One minute she's feeling humiliated about last night, the next she's lowering herself to completely forgiving him without even expecting an apology, and the next she's sexually attacking him as though it were the most natural thing in the world. She had never made love to Ron with that kind of brazen fearlessness. Come to think of it, she didn't think she had ever kissed Ron the way she kissed Draco. She had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing out loud when she realized that Draco had brought out the true Bedroom Gryffindor in her today. She rather liked her.

The true reason for her bliss, though, was the fact that when they were passionately out of control, they had both used each other's names for the first time. In their most basic state, they felt safe with each other. Something had happened in the last couple of days which had erased the malice of the past, and because he had said her name, she knew she could trust it. She nuzzled closer so she could just lie there and listen to his heartbeat.