Signum Vitalis (a dramione story)

In which there are spells (or lack thereof)

Hermione pressed her quill down against the paper, fingers clawing into the stem. He was about to give another assignment, she could tell by the buildup. There was already a project and a paper, she hadn't calculated any more time for this class! But, heedless of Hermione's building death glare, the professor continued with the inevitability of an avalanche. As the professor cast a spell for the assignment to be visible on the front wall, Hermione gripped her quill a little tighter and it snapped, splashing something against her face. Slowly, she looked down. Black ink was speckled across her parchment, hands, and desk. She glared at her soiled hands and looked around for something to wipe them off. Someone snorted and she snapped a glance towards her right where John was sitting.

"What?" she asked sharply.

John covered his mouth but he was still laughing. With his free hand he pointed at her face. "You look like a Dalmatian" –he snorted again- "and your face!" He gestured at his own and made an exaggerated shocked expression.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, too annoyed to try to grace his statement with a response. She raised her hand to wipe it on her sleeve when a voice from her other side stopped her.

"Granger, just put your hand out."

Hermione turned to him, her face turning into a suspicious frown out of habit.

Malfoy merely looked down his nose at her, eyes lazily half shut.

Hermione put her hand out, like a lady would for a gentleman to kiss.

He glanced down at it, smirked, and then slid his fingers along the outside of her wrist to the spot where no ink had gotten. Hermione's fingers twitched involuntarily at his touch.

"Tergeo." Her hand clean, he removed his fingers and beckoned for her other hand.

She held it out as well and he pressed his fingertips to the underside of her forearm, presumably to steady her arm.

"Tergeo." Her other hand was clean. "Honestly, Granger. Did you used to be such a klutz? Hold still, I'm going to spell your face."

Caught up in the insult and his lingering touch on her arm, Hermione didn't follow his words until his wand was out and pointed at her face. She froze as she stared down the wand tip. She could already feel her breathing picking up, her mouth drying out. She attempted to swallow and then had to attempt it again.

Malfoy saw her expression and lowered his wand. "Still?" He was almost sneering. "Just ask Joh-"

Hermione reached out and grabbed Malfoy's left hand with both of hers. "You just caught me off guard, Malfoy. I'm not a klutz. It was all the quill's fau-"

His hand squeezed hers back, his blocky rough fingers ghosting along the back of her hand. She looked down at their hands in surprise. She hadn't held a guy's hand in... Well, it had been awhile. The ending flick of Malfoy's wand caught her eye and she glanced up. Her hands went up to her face. Clean.

"Tergeo? You said 'Tergeo,' right, Malfoy?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "No, I Avada-ed you."

Hermione frowned and smacked his shoulder. "That's not funny."

"Just get your back-up or the back-up-quill to your back-up and copy down the assignment. Knowing you, if you don't, you're going to run me down and blame me in your shrill little voice."

Not quite shaking the memory of his hands on hers, she gave a little dignified sniff and turned away to follow his advice.

...