8

A/N: Thanks to my Beta, Angel Mischa! You're the best!

"Do you think it means that the clock is going to come back for us in two days?" Hermione asked, reading the message for the tenth time.

"No."

"And why not?" she asked indignantly.

"I think you're placing too much importance on the message itself. It's clear to me that the uppercase letters are what's important here. The clock came back exactly twelve hours from the time it dropped us off before. Why wouldn't it happen that way again?"

Hermione frowned at the lounging boy. "And what if you're wrong? What if we leave the safety of this cave to go gallivanting through the jungle filled with nocturnal man-eating animals and then arrive at the spot where we were dropped off, and it's not there?" she asked. "What then?"

Draco rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. "Well, then I guess I'll just run off a cliff and kill myself!"

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I'd rather die than listen to you say 'I told you so' for the rest of eternity!"

Hermione picked up a small stone and chucked it at him. He raised his hand and caught it, not even flinching.

"You throw like a girl, Granger." He rolled over and sat up slowly. "I'm bored," he said, tossing the rock up and down. "Amuse me."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "And what exactly did you have in mind, Malfoy? As if I couldn't guess."

Draco inched closer to her. "For your information, my dirty-minded witch, I was thinking about you telling a joke... but if it's sex you want..." He grabbed her and pulled her over to him, making her skirt ride up dangerously.

Hermione struggled to get out of his clutches. "Let me go, you pervert!"

"Never." He brushed her tangled hair away from her neck and lightly kissed the soft flesh he found there. "You have nice legs, Granger," he whispered in her ear while his hand caressed her upper thigh. "What time do they open?" His fingers circled her skin lightly, making goosebumps break out all over her body.

Hermione felt him slide his hand over the flimsy material of her knickers, and she almost melted. "I shouldn't be letting him do this," she said to herself. "Oh, god, that feels so good!" Her mind was screaming at her to stop before it went too far, but her body was saying something entirely different.

"You want me, Granger. Don't you?" he asked, removing his hand and turning her so that she was straddling his lap. He rested his forehead on hers, looking into her beautiful eyes. He could feel tiny breaths from her sweet mouth and longed to kiss her delicate pink lips.

"Yes," she said softly. Her eyes closed in anticipation as she felt her heart hammering in her chest, her mind swirling with desire. "You have no idea just how much I want you." She slowly began to grind her hips, making him moan as his erection came into contact with her wet knickers. She wondered, when she was around him, why she couldn't control her hormones? Of course, she had never really been 'alone' with him until this year because Harry and Ron had always been with her. Had she always felt this way about him and just never realized it?

He slowly and sensually kissed her, their hot lips connecting with fierce passion. She sat up, unbuttoning her shirt as he slipped his hands under her skirt and rubbed her aching cunt.

Tossing her tattered shirt and bra aside, she ran her fingers through his fine hair as he trailed kisses down her throat and shuddered with pleasure as he licked her nipples.

He leaned forward until she was lying on the ground under him and pulled her soaked panties and skirt off. After giving her pussy one long and slow lick that made her almost scream out, he sat up and took off his pants, releasing his throbbing cock from its prison.

Hermione felt him lift her legs and position himself at her opening. Suddenly, panic set in, and she sat up, almost knocking him over. "Stop!" she said breathlessly. "I can't do this!"

Draco looked at her like she was crazy. "What do you mean 'you can't do this'?"

Hermione snatched up her shirt and put it on. "I'm sorry! It's just that I always wanted my first time to be special, you know? Somewhere beautiful and with someone who actually loves me." She was talking rapidly, trying not to look at him. She quickly did up the buttons and searched around for her knickers and skirt. "Not in a cave with... with... well, someone who just wants to add me to his list of conquests."

Draco stood up and shoved his clothes back on. "There you go again, Granger! Assuming you know me! Everyone bloody thinks they know how I think and feel! I'm sick of it!"

She zipped up her skirt and looked over at him. His face was flushed, and he was shaking with anger. She was shocked at his outburst. "Calm dawn!" she said.

"I will not calm down!" he shouted. "This is the third time you've done this! You, Granger, are nothing but a tease!"

Hermione blew a strand of bedraggled hair out of her face. "I am not!"

"Then why do you keep leading me on?" he said, backing her into a corner. "Making me think that you want me and then shoving me off? Why do you keep playing with my emotions, Granger?"

She poked him in the bare chest. "I TOLD you! I said I wanted it to be with a man who cared about me, a man who loves me! You, Draco Malfoy, are not that man!" she said, seething with anger. "You are uncaring, unfeeling, and you definitely do not have the capabilities to love anyone!"

Draco's eyes crackled in the firelight. "How dare you?" He grabbed her arm and dug his nails into her flesh. "Do you know why I asked you about that Amortensia potion?" She said nothing, but just looked at him fearfully. "It's because when I inhaled it, I smelled nothing. NOTHING!" he shook her. "Imagine it, Granger! Imagine how I felt when I realized that I loved nothing!"

Hermione's heart broke right then and there. This man standing before her, this man filled with so much anger, so much hatred, just wanted to love. "Draco, I..."

"I came back to school this year after making a promise to myself." He let her arm go. "I told myself that I would find love. I would find someone to love, someone who would love me in return. Don't I deserve that, Granger?" A sudden flash of lightning from an approaching storm lit up the entrance of the cave, making his hair glow like a halo. "Don't I deserve to be happy like everyone else?"

"Yes..." she said. "Is that why you've been... pursuing me?" She tried to choose her words carefully, so that she wouldn't upset him any more than he already was. "Because you wanted me to show you what love feels like?"

Draco smiled slightly. "What better person to teach me than the one girl whom everyone loves?"

Hermione blushed. "That's not true. People like me, but not romantically." She felt like crying and struggled to keep back her tears. "How could anyone think of me that way? Just look at me!"

Draco brushed the wild, frizzy hair from her face. "I do, and what I see is a beautiful, smart and sexy woman." He kissed her tenderly. 'A woman that one could easily fall in love with,' he thought to himself. They stared into each other's eyes until a rumble of thunder shook the cave, bringing them back to reality. "So, if you want to keep on thinking that I'm a black-hearted bastard, go right ahead. Everyone else does."

Hermione smiled at him. "I won't, and I'm sorry if I insinuated anything of the sort," she said, watching him walk over to the fire and kick dirt on it, putting out the flames.

"Apology accepted. Now, get over here and suck my cock!"

Hermione's jaw fell open in shock. "What?"

"Just kidding!" he said with a smirk. "Shall we go?"

Draco looked out of the cave cautiously, wondering if at any moment a hungry dinosaur would leap out and gobble him up. "The coast is clear," he whispered to her. "Great idea, making the entrance imperturbable. It kept all the disgusting, flesh-devouring beasties out."

"I am a genius, remember?"

"I think you've been hanging around me too much. You're getting an ego." He took her hand, laughing at her frown.

***

Twenty minutes later:

"How far away from the clock do you think we are?" Hermione shouted through the rain and wind.

"It can't be much further! I think it's just over this hill!"

The storm had intensified as they walked on; brilliant streaks of lightning shot through the dark sky, and deafening claps of thunder shook the ground. The rain was so heavy, they could barely see where they were going.

"What hill?" Hermione asked, squinting.

"That one!" Draco yelled, pointing toward a massive structure a short distance ahead of them.

"I don't remember any hill!" Hermione said, and then a scream erupted from her, and she clutched Draco, almost sending both of them falling to the ground.

In the darkness, a huge form of a T-Rex slowly rose up in front of them. It threw its massive head back and roared.

"I've had it with these fucking dinosaurs!" Draco said, aiming his wand at the advancing animal. "Avad..."

They both heard a heavy crash, and spinning around, they beheld another T-rex, snorting and slowly opening its jaws.

"Holy fucking hell!" Draco said in a tiny voice, barely audible over the torrential rain. "Run, Granger! That way! The clock is that way!"

Hermione started to run forward, but halted in her tracks when she realized that he meant for her to go alone. "I won't leave without you!"

"Just go! I can take care of this! It's important that you get to the clock!" he shouted in annoyance.

"No!" she shouted back and whipped out her wand. "We do this together!" She turned and pointed her wand at the carnivore behind them.

Draco smiled at her courageous stance; legs apart, head held high, wand aimed. He had never truly seen anyone so fearless... or stupid. "It's your funeral, Granger!" he said as the T-rex in front of him lunged, catching him off guard. He staggered and fell, slipping in the mud.

Hermione shot a spell from her wand, missing the dinosaur. It roared angrily, and the ground shook as it ran for her. She quickly turned, pulled Draco up and sprinted through the other T-Rex's legs. "Shit!" she said, as both now pursued them, uprooting trees and snapping their mighty jaws.

A blinding flash of lightning hit the ground in front of them, sending sparks flying and making a giant hole in their path. "Watch out!" Draco screamed as they skirted around the steaming hole, slipping in the puddles of rain and mud.

The T-Rex that was out in front made a horrific sound as its foot caught in the pit and it fell, smashing into the ground. The other ran right over it and kept going.

Draco and Hermione blasted trees and bushes out of their way, desperately trying to out-run the animal. Suddenly, the trees ended, and they sprinted out into the open. They didn't see the cliff until it was too late. The ground was so slick that stopping was not an option.

"Ahhhh!" Hermione yelled as she slid over the cliff.

"Hermione!!!" Draco yelled and fell to his stomach, holding onto her by one hand. "Hold on!"

The T-Rex came running full force through the trees and skidded right over the edge, crashing to its death on the rocks below.

Hermione was clinging desperately to Draco's hand, crying and screaming. Her wand was on a small ledge close by. She stretched her hand toward it, her finger-tips just out of reach. "My wand!"

"I need both of your hands, Granger!" he shouted as her tiny hand began to slip through his. "Now!" He held out his other hand for her.

Hermione looked down at her wand. "I think I can reach it!" She struggled to move closer, her hand slipping out of Draco's grip even more. He took hold of her sleeve with the other hand, trying to pull her up. She heard it rip, and suddenly she felt herself drop a tiny bit.

"Never mind the fucking wand, Granger. Just grab my hand!"

"I don't want to die!" she cried. She was dangling precariously, swaying back and forth.

"I can't hold on much longer! Do what I said, or you ARE going to die!"

"I can't!"

"Yes, you can! Now do it!"

Hermione closed her eyes, pushed her feet off the wall of the cliff and reached her hand up to his.

He grabbed it and pulled her up onto her feet. "This damsel in distress thing is getting a little old, Granger," he panted.

"Tell me about it!" She rolled off him and lay on her back, the now-drizzling rain falling onto her face. After a second of silence, she heard something. A chiming sound.

"Do you hear that?" Draco asked, his eyes wide with excitement. "It's the clock!" He pulled her to her feet, and together they ran toward the sound.

"There it is!" she shouted.

They had no idea how many chimes the clock had gone through and hoped it wouldn't disappear before they got to the secret panel.

Hermione flung herself at the timepiece and opened the door. "Hurry!" she said almost hysterically.

Draco stopped at the door and stuck his middle finger up at the jungle. "Go fuck yourselves, and I'm glad you all went extinct!" He threw himself in and shut the door. Almost instantly the clock began to vibrate and make some weird whirling sound.

"I am so happy to be leaving that horrible place!" Hermione said, leaning against the wall to catch her breath.

"Yeah. Definitely not a place for a honeymoon."

The clock became silent, and they both glanced uneasily at each other.

"I'm afraid," Hermione said.

"Me too."

Draco took a deep breath, opened the door, and together they stepped out. They looked around at the beautiful scenery, and behind them the clock disappeared.

"At least this is some place civilized," Draco said, picking an olive off a tree and plopping it into his mouth. He made a sour looking face and spat it out. "Where do you think we are?" He took the olive and held it out to her. In the distance, they could see and hear people talking and laughing, and fainter still, applause and loud cheering.

Hermione took it and looked at it. "Well, judging from the olive grove we're standing in and the people dressed in classic Greek clothing and speaking Greek, I'd have to say... Greece.

to be continued...