A Bellamort Tale

Part 26

Now Hermione Granger beamed at him. Draco narrowed his eyes and was already about to verbally attack her thinking she was making fun of him, when she ordered.

"Take out your wand. And now, do what I did just before. I couldn't find my happy memory either in his presence. But then I looked at your little baby cousin and how sweet and innocent she is despite who her parents are. Then I simply imagined that she might be the one to change everything in the future. Maybe she can bring us all together without prejudices and unreasonable fears. Close your eyes and remember how it feels to hold her. Because I would have never thought you to be the type who likes babies, so you certainly truly care and worry for Delfini. Think about the first time you held her. How did you feel? Don't tell me, just feel it. And now hold your wand in front of you and say the words. Together. 'Expecto patronum!'"

Again a still morphing figure emerged from the tip of her wand, while the young man only produced a thin silver lining. But he beamed widely.

"That's the first time I ever did at least something with this spell. You should consider becoming a teacher one day."

The Gryffindor girl scoffed.

"Yeah, right. If I somehow survive all of this and the ministry changes their ways again. How high do you guess are the chances for that?"

Malfoy shrugged, then got to his feet.

"We could use our arithmancy knowledge to calculate those chances."

Hermione jumped to her feet and looked down at him, stepping impatiently from one foot to the other.

"What are you waiting for? That's the most rousing thing any guy has ever said to me. If you start asking me to do an essay, I might really fall for you!" She joked, but her cheeks had a slight shade of pink as she did.

The blond boy blushed even more, as he wasn't used to being appreciated for anything but his wealth. Still he managed to gush out a cocky response.

"So you like my intellect but not my obvious good looks?"

She broke into a guffaw, making him frown.

"Please, Malfoy! You've always been this tiny, thin, pale dude. I could never even imagine that you've changed much except for growing at least a foot. I don't think you're hiding an athletic body under your robes. It would certainly be noticeable through your regular shirts. But it doesn't matter, because I don't care about looks, Malfoy."

"Obviously!" He said to himself but she had heard him.

"What do you mean?"

Now it was him laughing,

"Really? I mean, Krum? Weasley? Pah-lease! McLaggen had the looks if only he wasn't such a stupid mannerless oaf. You could have done a lot better for the Yule ball and Slughorn's party!" He exclaimed, getting all worked up.

"Yeah? Who would have asked me to the Yule ball at all? If you hadn't hexed me then, I..."

"You still had those terrible front teeth. Unbelievable that your parents earn their living by correcting those in other children. But after that had been corrected, well..." He tried to sound casual.

"How do you know what my parents do? Or even if you knew that they were dentists, how would you know what that means?" She inquired suspiciously.

"Muggles have libraries too, Granger. And there are wizards and witches in our world too who take care of any sort of injury, sickness or distortion. So, when you explained it during Slug's first party, I could put the things together. What was your excuse for the Weasel? He should have stayed with the blond who kept sucking his face. She's more in his range brain-wise, don't you think? If it had been Potter, well, he isn't what I would call handsome but at least his brain is working. For the brightest witch of our age you surely make poor choices when it comes to love interests."

The girl sneered at him, then spat.

"I'll only say one word to this, 'Draco'. Parkinson!"

He groaned.

"Please don't speak her name in this house. I admit, my choices weren't the best either. But at least I got laid. What about you?" He teased her.

"None of your business!" She snapped, making him grin.

"So it's a no. I knew you were still a virgin. What about Scarface and Weasel? Did Ron shag Brown? Who was it Potter was so fond of? Chang? She certainly didn't let him touch her after she had Diggory!"

"I told you, it's none of your business. And I neither know nor do I care about Harry or Ron." She now shouted. Malfoy eventually got to his feet and stomped towards her, making her back away quickly until she was stopped by his desk. Her eyes widened at his sudden ambush and lingering proximity, as he held her captive by propping both arms up beside her on the wooden surface and whispered dangerously.

"Don't get loud and shout at me. You have no idea what you will cause by that. Do you really want to meet any of the scumbags I just mentioned? Because if they see their chance to have their way with you..."

He shivered from the mere thought when he looked at her innocent face and her untouched body.

"I know, you're not a Slytherin, but Gryffindors should at least have a little sense of self preservation somewhere inside them. Don't give them any reason to come after you, Hermione!"

The young witch kept looking at him as he stood there, panting and shaking, their noses so close that they were almost touching, when she smelled something that made her gasp.

"What kind of toothpaste do you use, Malfoy?" She squeezed out in a high pitched tone.

He cocked his head.

"That's an odd question, Granger. Especially after a warning like that. If you're worried because you forgot yours, I'm sure you can handle using the same as I do." The Slytherin mocked her.

"That's not what I was asking. I just smelled spearmint and it reminded me of... nothing, it's not that important." She uttered and tried to duck under his arm and escape his hold. But he was faster and made a step forward, pinning her with his body against the edge of his desk.

His voice was low and hoarse as he hummed directly into her ear.