17

* * * November 18, 1997 (continued) * * *

Judging by the cheers and catcalls that greeted him at breakfast, the little gargoyle had quite a network around Hogwarts. Draco held his head high and put on his best unfathomable smile. Most of the girls were scowling at him, but the seventh-year Ravenclaw prefect ran her gaze down his body and back up in such a predatory way, he had no doubt he was welcome to climb her roof any time.

"Checking out Trelawney through her window?" mocked Blaise as he budged over so Draco could sit beside him. "You gotta come visit the dungeon, Dray, if you're resorting to that bint."

Laughing, Draco reached for a plate of toast. "Trust me, B, that wasn't the view I was after."

"Why were you climbing her tower, then?"

"Because it was there, man. Because it was there." Leave it to Blaise to set him up with a straight line like that. His friend grinned and punched his upper arm, then both set to work on breakfast.

Granger came in sometime later and sat down casually with Neville Longbottom, but after a moment of huddled conversation, she turned and stared at Draco in pure disbelief. He smirked and tipped his chin in wry acknowledgement, and she spun back around immediately, hunching her shoulders. She's so funny, he thought with a grin, then considered stabbing himself in the hand with his own fork.

Though it wasn't Snape's turn to patrol that night, he made a point of accompanying Draco, which included escorting the Head Boy back to his suite when the rounds were finished. "I trust I needn't instruct your portrait to keep you contained once I leave?" the professor asked quietly.

"I get it, Uncle Severus," Draco sighed impatiently. He gave the password, seeing to his relief that the common room was both empty and dark. "Tell Mrs. Snape goodnight for me," he added somewhat awkwardly.

"I'll be Flooing her in an hour; I shall give her your regards."

Floo... what the hell? "She's not here?" he asked, reflexively pushing the portrait nearly shut.

Snape stiffened; Draco had hit a nerve. "My wife lives elsewhere, Draco. Somewhere very remote. She can't bear to be around strangers, both dreading and wishing she could hear them. I only see her when I leave the castle."

Fuck, no wonder you're so grouchy all the time. "How long have you been married?"

"ENOUGH, Draco," Snape growled, but relented with an annoyed huff. "Eight years. Good evening." He pulled the portrait back open and gestured for Draco to go in, in a way that suggested a shove would soon follow if he didn't proceed voluntarily.

Eight years? EIGHT? That fucker's been married longer than I've been at Hogwarts? The portrait literally whapped his bottom when it swung shut. He knew Snape could keep secrets but this was beyond all reason. If there was ever a night Draco needed to spend some time walking, it was this one.

Don't even toy with it. You KNOW he's right outside. Draco sighed. The greasy git probably didn't even need to lurk out there, he probably had a suit of armor or a portrait standing guard. Shit, I better make nice with that damn gargoyle or every eye in the castle will be on me for the rest of the year. He wondered dully how one went about soothing the feelings of a creature carved of granite. A diamond, perhaps? Fuck that. Even Pansy wasn't worth a diamond, not even when she was sucking him all the way down to the balls.

Now there's a thought. He hadn't taken an evening bath in ages. Maybe the warm water would break up some of the tension in his shoulders, and maybe Granger would put on a show. "Why the hell not?" he muttered to himself with as much cold contempt as he could muster, trumping the annoying pang of guilt that squeezed his belly as he gathered the potion and donned his bathrobe. It's only Granger, he reminded himself through gritted teeth. She's just a goddamn know-it-all Mudblood.

He cast the enchantment before turning on the tap, and found to his complete surprise that Granger was, in fact, already in her room. A single candle flickered on the stand beside her bed, where she lay on her back. Her nightdress was still lumped atop the woodstove. One hand cupped a breast, while the other moved in steady, firm circles through the tuft of curls between her legs.

Oh, yeah.

Draco leaned back to rest his bum against the edge of the countertop, letting his robe fall open, the bath forgotten. He set down the wand and the potion without looking, and barely registered the clatter of his wand sliding into the sink. He was hard already, but he was also determined to enjoy this treat to its fullest.

She must have been at it for some time already; her breath was rapid and soft little cries were accompanying each exhalation. That's right, Granger. Show me how it's done. He raised his own hands to his throat and swept them down to his nipples, giving each a firm pinch as he widened his stance. Draco groaned aloud, dropping one hand desperately to his cock. Do it, witch.

She was already beginning to buck her hips into her hand, and though Draco could probably have caught up with her, he wanted very much to watch this. He curled his long, slender fingers around himself but did not move, waiting raptly for her to finish first. Her back began to arch, her head tipped back to expose her throat. Come on, yes. He really could catch up; it felt like the slightest movement would bring him over. "Granger," he croaked, determined to see this to the end before he gave in.

"Nnn, oh, Draco!" cried the girl as her fingers froze and stiffened and she threw her knees wide apart into the air.

He didn't even get a chance to stroke himself; the sights and sounds were more then he could take. His knees gave way and he slid partway down the front of the cabinet, throbbing and sticky and utterly blissful. "Granger," he moaned when he could. "Granger."

This is too rich to pass up, he reasoned as soon as he came back to Earth. Draco yanked the nearest hand towel from the rack and dashed from the bathroom, rubbing his hand dry. He knocked on the girl's door and threw the towel toward the bathroom door, then cinched the belt on his robe. He had time; she couldn't possibly answer until she fumbled into some clothes, too.

He realized his cheeks were probably suspiciously ruddy, but what the hell, it was pretty dark. She'll be too flustered to notice, anyway, he thought with a wicked grin. He rested his forearm against the doorjamb, as much to support his shaky legs as to appear casual.

"What?" the girl squeaked, wide-eyed and flushed as she flung open the door. She was clearly expecting some sort of emergency, and the look on her face was utterly priceless as she realized it was not only him at the door, but he was standing right over her wearing nothing but a bathrobe. He wanted so badly to laugh it was almost painful, but he kept it to a too-broad smile.

"Easy, easy," he chided. "Just about to have a bath, and wondered if you felt like a fire later?" Her breath was still thready, but he realized suddenly that his was too. Shit! Well, at least he had the advantage of knowing what happened; the girl could only guess.

"What's wrong, Granger?" he asked, but it didn't come out nearly as innocently as he meant it to. Her eyes narrowed and they assessed each other with a long, knowing stare. "Something on your mind?" he purred.

"Malfoy... " she said hesitantly, then reached for the door. He caught her hand, her right, the one she'd just... Before he had time to think about it and reject the idea as insanely stupid, Draco tugged her hand to his chin and drew a deep breath through his mouth.

Oh, Goddess. He hadn't known he could get that hard so soon afterward. Draco's eyes fell shut and all thought ceased, leaving him to breathe deeply, over and over, filling his mouth with an essence like fresh baked bread and butter, only oh, so much better. He slowly turned his head to draw his face across her fingers, then did it again, this time letting the tip of his tongue protrude between his lips.

She made a little gasping sound and reality crashed back on top of him.

Her expression was an unlikely mixture of horror and desire. Draco could feel it in the pit of his stomach; he'd shown her far too much, willingly surrendered his innermost truth to this witch, who was far too smart not to recognize it. He set his jaw and reared his head, though he clung to her wrist as though his hand had declared a mutiny from the rest of him.

"Pathetic, isn't it?" he asked in a scraped voice. "That I've become so hard up." He finally managed to get the message to his hand and let go of her wrist, but he couldn't quite bring himself to cast it away with contempt.

Slackjawed, she gave her head a tiny shake and took a timid step closer to him. Draco threw up his his hands before his chest and backed away. "No, Granger," he grated. "Not even now. I'm nobody's fuck."

Draco spun on his heel without looking for the impact of his words and dashed into his room.

* * * * * * * * * *

A/N: Okay, I was trying for something sexy but tweaked, that would hopefully address some of the tired old DM/HG cliche's in a new way. Did it work? I have a few more chapters in me right now, but it seems like this story isn't particularly popular, so I'm not sure it's worth any more work.