The Dragon's Lair

"I still don't think this is a good idea, Albus," muttered Minerva McGonagall crossly. "You should have seen them in that compartment. I thought they were going to rip each other apart!"

The two elderly magicians sat in Dumbledore's office as the first night back at Hogwarts died away. Dumbledore chuckled.

"You think this is funny?" asked McGonagall sharply.

"Our two Head students do seem to have rather a... passion for each other, don't they?" he commented, smiling pleasantly.

McGonagall snorted. "Is that what you call it, Albus? Honestly, I'll be surprised if one of them doesn't die at the hands of the other by the end of September!"

"I think we'll all be surprised, Minerva," Dumbledore said. "But they both have good hearts." At this, McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "I believe the time they spend together will be good for both of them." Noticing the look on his Deputy Headmistress' face, Dumbledore chuckled again. "Yes, Draco has a good heart, deep down. And now, with Lucius gone, I think we have a chance here to help him find it. That's partly why I've put him with Miss Granger."

"But he hates Hermione!" said McGonagall, shaking her head confusedly.

"I suppose we'll have to see about that," Dumbledore replied softly, his eyes twinkling.

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This was unbelievable.

Draco brooded angrily to himself once alone in his new room. He finally had it all. He'd wanted the Head position ever since he had first arrived at Hogwarts. He deserved it. After everything he'd been through, after every time he had been shown up by Potter, he deserved to come out on top at least once. He'd wanted, for years, to look in the mirror and see the badge pinned to his robe. He'd wanted to have the power to tell all the other students to do whatever he wanted – he'd had that to an extent as a Prefect, but this was better. He'd wanted to have the most he could have as a student, and now he had it.

It should have been a moment of triumph, but once again, one of the Golden Trio stood in his way, ruining it. They seemed to love nothing as much as stealing his thunder. It just figured that Hermione Granger would be made Head Girl. Draco glared at the wall that separated his room from the common room, knowing Hermione was still out there, as though glaring could make her shrivel up.

He sighed bitterly and fell back onto his bed. This was, at least, a bonus. It was nothing compared to his room at home in the Manor, but it was a far cry better than the dorm he'd shared in the Slytherin dungeon. There was more room, the bed was larger and nicer, and he could do whatever he wanted without being interrupted.

As much as it bothered him to admit it, it felt good to be back at school. It felt like coming home. His father was dead now, so the Manor belonged to him, but this place, Hogwarts, was more of a home to him than the Manor had been in the last few years. He'd thought it would have caused him much more pain when his father was killed, but in an odd way it was freeing. He didn't have to worry about Lucius pushing him into the open arms of the Dark Lord anymore. That had never truly been the life he'd wanted. What pained him most was watching his mother suffer. She had truly loved his father, but his father had never loved him – spoiled him, yes, taken selfish pride in his accomplishments, yes, but loved him in the way his mother had, given of himself and put Draco's needs before his own, never. Narcissa Malfoy was a wreck these days, and Draco knew it. She had taken her husband's death hard, blaming herself for no explainable reason.

Draco lay in bed now and tried to focus on the present. He looked around the room and thought of things he'd like to fill it with. He'd made a marvelous discovery, when he'd been on his own over the summer, in the form of a 'VCR.' This was another reason he was glad to have a room to himself; he would sooner eat his own fist than let anyone see him with Muggle entertainment set-up in his room. The more he learned about the Muggle world, the more annoyed he grew with himself, for he couldn't help but be impressed by their originality. Who'd have thought that staring at a screen for close to two hours could be enjoyable?

He hoped he could figure a way to get around his newly acquired electronics malfunctioning in the castle.

His mind was again drawn back to the matter of his counterpart, Hermione Granger. He couldn't honestly tell himself that he was surprised that she had obtained the position. She had the marks and, as much as he despised admitting it, the brains for the job. There was really nobody else for it. This annoyed him very much. He couldn't stand Granger and her little sidekicks. Everyone thought that Potter was the ringleader of the Trio, but Draco knew better. Hermione was the brains behind the outfit, Harry the brawn, and Ron the useless idiot who had somehow managed to keep a place between the other two.

Draco stewed in his room for several minutes before deciding to take a bath. If he'd ever needed to relax, now was the time. He opened the other door in his room, which led into the joint bathroom, and walked in. Nice. A large standing shower with a sliding door jutted out from the opposite wall, and an impressive Jacuzzi-tub sat against the wall beside him. There was a large mirror hanging on the left wall of the room. Two washbasins sunken into a marble countertop, two wooden cabinets with empty shelves, two towel racks – one draped in green towels the other in scarlet, and a toilet completed the room's amenities.

He fiddled with a few of faucets in the tub, taking in the different aromas offered before settling on a spicy, woodsy scent and ran his fingers underneath the flow, testing the temperature. When it was just right, he pulled the plug up and began to undress. He looked over at Hermione's door and stopped himself. He was glad to see that he could lock her door from inside this room. He walked over and did just that. The last thing he needed was the Mudblood walking in on him while he was trying to relax. He stripped all the way down and stepped into the bath. The water was comfortably warm, and as he relaxed into it, he felt his frustrations melt away.

The rest of the evening was spent unpacking his trunk and making several failed attempts to charm his television and VCR to work. He'd figure something out...

In the morning, his body woke itself up reluctantly as the light of dawn poured through the window and onto his closed eyelids. He stayed in bed for a while, adjusting himself into consciousness. After what was probably half an hour, he rose and went to the window, yawning.

This was an odd year. The first of September had fallen on a Monday, and classes wouldn't be starting until the following Monday. It was a week wasted, but Draco didn't mind. The longer he could spend trying to figure out a charm to get his electronics to work before he had to spend all his time on homework and Head duties, the better. He could do whatever he wanted today.

He grabbed a simple, grey undershirt out of his drawer and pulled it on. He walked out of his room and into the study to find Hermione already there. He groaned inwardly, but he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of knowing she was already ruining his day.

Hermione barely glanced up before continuing to read the paper. Apparently, she was a subscriber to the early-morning Prophet. She held a half-eaten piece of toast in one hand and the paper in the other. She was leaning back in one of the wooden chairs, her legs scrunched up against her, resting her feet lightly on the edge of the glass.

"Get your feet off the table, Granger," he said irritably. She didn't look at him, but obeyed, taking another bite.

As she moved her legs, he couldn't help but notice what she was wearing – very high-cut, cotton sleep shorts in a plaid pattern and a slinky, blue camisole. Her legs were toned and evenly tanned. Her shorts rode low on her hips, and he could see a small expanse of her sides and back as she bent forward to resituate herself. Draco couldn't deny that the summer had been good to her.

As she leaned back again, straightening the paper to continue reading, Draco couldn't stop himself from looking at her upper body – he was a teenage male after all. It was easy to forget who he was and who she was with his hormones insistently whispering girl... Her breasts weren't particularly large, but they weren't tiny either. They fit her curves, and he could see their outline through her top. He wondered if she had always looked like this under her robes or if this was a new thing. Draco realized he was staring and jerked his eyes away. He shouldn't have been looking at her at all, let alone looking at her and being impressed. He put his face right again, then crossed the room and sat down across from her, feeling the need to remind both of them who was in control here.

"All right, Granger," he said commandingly, "let's get a few things straight."

He fully intended to tell her exactly how it was going to be around here – that she would stay out of the study in the mornings until he has gone, that she would wait for her turn in the loo, and that under no circumstances would she have either of her pals over for a visit, but when she looked up at him, the words died on his tongue. Instead, his eyes were drawn to hers and then to her hair, pulled up into a messy bun on the crown of her head. How long had she had soft curls instead of bushy frizz?

She rolled her eyes at him, and her head moved slightly; a few small strands of curly, russet-colored hair fell over her eyes. For a tiny instant, he felt an urge to reach forward and tuck one behind her ear, but it was gone before he could examine it. He also couldn't help noticing just how brown her eyes were and how bright they looked in the morning light. It was then that Draco realized how out of place his thoughts were. Was it possible? Was he actually attracted to Granger?

"Not now, Malfoy. I'm getting in the shower," she said in a bored tone.

He remained speechless, not knowing what to think, let alone say. She got up and walked toward the bathroom door, and Draco's eyes followed her. Her hips swayed ever so slightly as she went. She raised her arms above her head in a stretch, and her top hitched up a bit, giving him a glimpse of the gently indented small of her back. She disappeared behind the door, and Draco was left to stare blankly ahead, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened to him.

This was certainly unexpected.

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About half an hour later, Hermione emerged from her own room, fully clothed in casual attire with her hair in a simple braid that fell to the middle of her back. She wanted to peruse the books in the study before she started her day. She walked by Draco, who was curiously staring hard at the floor instead of taking advantage of this obvious opportunity to verbally abuse her. This was odd, but if he was going to ignore her, Hermione had no problem with it. It would be a vast improvement from having to sit through his usual arrogant diatribe.

She walked over to the bookcase by the window closest to her bedroom and noticed that it was quite a bit fuller than it had been when she'd arrived the night before. She ran her fingers over bindings, looking closely at the titles. She grinned as she realized that this bookcase was filled with of her favorites. Someone knew exactly what she loved and had done this for her. Austen, Shakespeare, Crichton, Bronte, Frost, Tolkien, Herbert... they were all here, as well as many of her favorite wizard texts. She pulled out her favorite novel and went over to her armchair. She curled up and immediately opened it to chapter one.

She didn't even notice when Draco left the room.

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After quite a bit longer than the half hour it had taken Hermione, Draco emerged from his room, dressed in his usual robes. It had only taken him a few minutes to shower, but he had spent several before and several after trying to drive from his brain the faint, sweet scent of raspberries he'd breathed in when Hermione had walked by after her shower.

After some reflection, he'd come to the conclusion that as a guy, he could admit she was physically attractive enough, but that it didn't mean anything deeper than that. It was a completely normal reaction for any male who was faced with a female wearing less than modest clothing. Any attraction he felt to her would be ignored. It was as simple as that.

He didn't immediately see Hermione, as her body was mostly hidden behind the chair she was sitting in. In his hand were the papers McGonagall had given him on the train. He walked over to sit in his armchair to peruse them and was surprised to find Hermione already in hers, curled up with a rather thick book.

"Merlin, Granger!" he breathed loudly. "You can't startle me like that!"

Hermione looked up at him incredulously as the ridiculousness of his statement struck her, then rolled her eyes and went back to her book, ignoring him. He sat down in his chair, which was tilted toward hers, and began to examine his papers. Several minutes passed, Draco reading his 'Rules of Conduct' and Hermione quickly devouring her favorite novel. Neither noticed the other until Draco's eyes were drawn to Hermione as she shifted in her chair, showing a bit of her side when her shirt moved before it was covered again. He stared ahead blankly, the events of the morning rolling back into his thoughts. He was annoyed with her for putting them there and angry with himself for allowing them to be there.

"Granger!" he snapped.

Hermione jumped and glared at him. That was more like it, he thought. He shouldn't be the only one agitated.

He smirked and held up the papers in his hand. "McGonagall said we should look these over."

"I already did," she muttered before going back to her book, clearly not interested in arguing or even talking to him.

He scowled. He wanted her to get angry, fight back, and take his bait so that he could snarl at her in peace without thinking of what she smelled like or what color her hair was in the light, but she didn't seem willing or interested in doing anything of the sort.

Draco scowled even harder. He was irritated that anything could be more important than arguing with him. His eyes flew resentfully to the culprit – Hermione's book. He read the title and was reluctantly intrigued. He'd never heard of it.

"What the hell is that thing anyway?" he muttered, nodding his head at her challengingly.

She didn't even look up. "It's called a book, Malfoy," she replied coolly.

He'd set himself up for that one...

"You don't say," he said sarcastically. "Let me see that thing." He reached forward and snatched the book out of her hands.

"Hey!" she yelled in protest, rising out of her chair.

That did it... Draco thought to himself with a smug smile.

"Dune by Frank Herbert," he said, holding it out of her reach.

"It's a Muggle book," she snapped angrily. "You wouldn't understand."

"Don't tell me what I would and wouldn't understand, Granger!" he snarled, still holding it out of her reach.

She stood with her hands on her hips, fuming. Draco thought she looked... cute that way. He dismissed that idea as quickly as he could.

"Give it back," she demanded.

"No," he replied smugly.

"Give it back," she repeated, her voice icy.

"Make me," he taunted.

After a pause, Hermione took him at his word and lunged for him. He barely had time to feel surprised before he toppled back into his chair and she was on top of him, snatching wildly at his hands.

He smelled raspberries again.

They wrestled around for a moment until Draco started laughing. He meant it to be a mean, taunting laugh, but it sounded more like what it really meant – that he was enjoying himself, having fun playing with her.

He hoped his laughter would goad Hermione even further, but instead, he looked at her face and saw that she was grinning. Their eyes met, and they both slowed their movements, realizing at the same time what an intimate position they were in. Neither of them blinked, and Draco was suddenly very aware of his breathing, of his whole body, really. Hermione had stopped grabbing for her book and was now resting her hands on his shoulders, kneeling on his lap.

She licked her lips nervously, and Draco's eyes were drawn to the movement. She was so close...

He stopped thinking. He was staring into her eyes avidly and noticing the beginnings of a tightening in his groin when she put a stop to it.

Hermione hastily slipped herself off his lap and straightened her clothes, looking flustered. She cleared her throat quickly and said, "Keep it."

She turned away and hurried out of their common room, no doubt to spend the day with her friends.

Draco was left, once again, to wonder what the hell had just happened... and to berate himself.

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Hermione hurried down the hall, not even noticing which direction she was headed in. She just had to get away from the scene that had just taken place.

What the hell had just happened?

One minute she had been irate with Draco for stealing her book, and the next, she had practically tackled him. What was even more confusing was that he had let her do it, no, encouraged her to do it! When she'd sat there on his lap, he hadn't called her filthy, or a Mudblood, or any other foul word. He hadn't pushed her off roughly, insisting that he would catch whatever disease she inherently carried. She was trying to make sense of the look he'd had in his eyes – and just exactly why she'd found herself speechless – when Harry and Ron came around the corner, obviously headed to the Great Hall for an early lunch.

"Hermione!" Ron greeted her enthusiastically. "How was your first night in the Dragon's Lair?"

"Shut up, Ron," she snapped. The last thing she needed right now was to be reminded that she shared living quarters with Draco Malfoy, especially after she'd practically just...

"Hey, Hermione," said Ginny brightly, joining them as they reached the doors to the Great Hall.

Hermione smiled back at Ginny, glad of the excuse to push Malfoy's fierce, grey eyes from her mind. The four of them took seats next to Neville at the table and dug into their food.

SB's Notes: Okay! First off, thanks go to my awesome friend and beta, Southern_Witch_69. :-D

Was there some fluff in this chapter? Yes. Will it happen again? Yes. Soon? *shakes head*

Read it twice if you need it to tide you over. Things are about to get crazy. lol

Reviews are cherished.