Baton Rouge

- 28 -

The bars closed with a loud rattle and Draco leaned against the wall as the golden elevator continued up to Blaise's office. Actually, he should prepare himself inwardly for the upcoming conversation, but the memories of the night before were still buzzing around in his head. He closed his eyes with a sigh.

At some point he had told Granger that he had only come to tell her that he was leaving town for a few days to track down Potter in Cornwall. That hadn't been the whole truth, of course, and he wasn't sure if Granger had believed him either, but she had accepted it. At least she hadn't criticized him for going ahead with his plan. She had listened to him in silence and when he had said goodbye to her, she had told him to take care.

She had told him to take care!

Merlin, what the hell was wrong with him? As if it wasn't weird enough that he had wanted to kiss her again when she had stood so vulnerable in front of him. And even though her face had been black and blue and her lips still caked with blood, the thought had flashed through his mind how incredibly beautiful she was. Granger. Beautiful. Draco snorted.

Something, and only Merlin knew exactly what, had clearly clouded his senses. He blamed it on the adrenaline pumping through his veins so violently after smashing the face of this fucker who, thanks to Granger's brilliance, at least wouldn't remember it. Draco had to give her the credits for that: he probably wouldn't have thought of the Obliviate himself. He had been way too angry. He also had to admit that he wasn't sure what would have happened if she hadn't intervened. If she hadn't thrown him off by saying his name. His first name.

Draco sighed again. And her laugh. He didn't know why he had thought of it at that moment, but after kissing her, he couldn't help but recall her own words from a few days ago. Before he had been able to stop them, they had slipped his lips. And the sound of her laughter had been a fitting reward.

He hadn't seen her laugh like that since he had met her in the Baton Rouge. Of course, Draco had already seen Granger laugh heartily. But that had never been meant for him. He had seen it countless times at school when Potter and Weasley had said something that hadn't been funny at all. Or when she had been in Hogsmeade with the little Weasley. If he was honest with himself, he hadn't paid much attention to it then either. Why should he have done that?

But last night her laugh had really caught him off guard. Her incredulous expression had even surpassed it. And Merlin, when she had formed his last name with her lips while looking into his eyes so defiantly...

Draco's trousers got tight and he groaned in surprise. Considering he was alone in the elevator, he had actually nothing to worry about, yet a wave of embarrassment washed over him. Frantically he closed his robes. He would reach his destination in a few seconds, and instead he now felt an urgent need never to get there.

So now the time had come - just the thought of Hermione Granger and her laughter made him get an erection. Great. Simply terrific.

With a sullen expression on his face, Draco exited the elevator as it stopped and sauntered down the hallway as slowly as possible to regain his composure before he had to face Blaise. After all, he thought his black-haired friend capable of immediately noticing what was wrong with him.

+.+.+

Blaise was already waiting for him when, after a quick knock, Draco entered his office. He leaned back in his chair and Draco's blood froze for a moment as his expression was rather menacing.

"You wanted to see me?" Draco asked, plopping into one of the chairs in front of Blaise's desk, which was once again cluttered with countless maps and parchments.