Lust, War, and... Love?

Chapter 10: Detention Date

       The prefects' meeting was underway in the Transfiguration classroom, and Hermione was struggling with her drowsiness and erotic hallucinations again. It was obvious that she was worse off by abstaining from sex with Malfoy. Her physical problem turned out to be a very minor one, and a simple spell took care of it just fine. She ought to have ordered the book the day it became clear that she was in for a long run with Malfoy. Hermione resolved to be nicer to Draco tonight.

"Did you say you wanted to change your night patrol partner, Patil?" asked Miriam Wasserstein, the Head Girl and a Ravenclaw.

"Yes, I did. I can't stand Goldstein's vampire stories anymore!" complained Padma. "Every time we go down to the dungeons he starts telling them. It's creepy!"

"Why do you have to scare girls with vampire stories, Goldstein?" wondered Erasmus Clayton, the Head Boy and a Hufflepuff.

"I just thought they were funny," Goldstein replied in a very miffed tone.

"Goldstein, you are not a vampire, are you?" Wasserstein asked sardonically. Ron Weasley and a couple more people chuckled loudly.

"When is your patrol, Padma?" Theo Nott asked the Ravenclaw prefect across the aisle.

"Sunday night. And yours?" Patil flashed a smile at the Slytherin prefect.

"It's supposed to be Saturday, but I'd rather do it on Sunday," Nott grinned back. "Clayton, Wasserstein, could you put me on for Sunday night?"

"Who's with me then?" Cassandra Thornton, a fifth-year student and Slytherin prefect, did not sound too happy.

"I could do it with you, Thornton," suggested Hermione. Tomorrow she would have her mind clear and bright, and she'd rather have a girl for company during the patrol.

"Do you really want to patrol with a Slytherin, Hermione?" Hermione heard Ron's astounded whisper behind her.

"Yes, you can do the patrol with Patil on Sunday, Nott. No, you can't patrol with Thornton, Granger. Only a boy and a girl, not two girls - it's safer that way." Wasserstein made corrections in her parchment. "Goldstein, you'll have to do it with Thornton tomorrow Saturday."

"I'm afraid of vampires!" squeaked Thornton.

"I'm not a vampire!" Goldstein grunted.

"Granger, would you mind patrolling with Goldstein then? That'll be Monday night," Clayton asked in a exasperated tone. Hermione nodded, and Wasserstein gave a visible sigh of relief.

"All right, then you'll patrol the castle with Weasley tomorrow, Thornton," the Head Girl announced unwaveringly.

"Blimey, how come I'm patrolling with a Slytherin?" Hermione heard Ron's very audible whisper.

"You Gryffindors had better forget your feuds!" Wasserstein made the last changes in her parchment. "By the way, Filch complained about an abandoned classroom on the third floor being jinxed. Please check every room in that wing each time you patrol there. Erasmus, do you have anything to say?"

Clayton picked up a parchment and cleared his throat. "Professor Sprout told me she needed help in the greenhouses. Three to four students, preferably fourth year or older. Any possible candidates?"

Hermione checked her watch: it was time to leave for the dreaded detention at Snape's office. She put her notes in her book bag and got up. "I've got to go - I already told you before, Miriam."

"Oh, yes, that detention thing," the Head Girl replied, her eyes checking her parchments again. "Good luck with Snape."

"Is it the detention together with Draco Malfoy, Hermione?" Padma asked a little too excitedly.

To her discomfort, Hermione realized that Nott's eyes were steady on her while she walked towards the exit. What kind of tales had the wretched Malfoy been spinning about her?

She entered Snape's office and the first person she saw was Malfoy sitting near the desk in the pool of the candlelight. His morose stare was fixed on her the entire time Hermione walked to the desk and took another seat. She glanced at him again: his thin lips were pressed together and his expression was far from friendly.

Snape stepped out of the shadows and into the light. His cold black eyes surveyed the two students in front of him. Hermione wanted to shrink into invisibility on the spot.

"Your assignment tonight is to sort the live flobberworms from the dead ones." Snape said emotionlessly and pointed to the large tank lurking in the dark near the desk. "The dead flobberworms shall go in this black container."

"Yes, Sir." Hermione gave a nervous nod while Draco sat motionless.

"The live flobberworms go in this green box." Snape waved his wand to the green and black boxes set side by side next to the desk. "I need to attend a staff meeting now. I shall be back in an hour and half, and I will dismiss you then. The door is locked for everyone except you, and everything on the shelves is under anti-theft charms. Is everything clear?"

Snape's narrowed eyes lingered on Hermione. She looked into his face. Did a tiny smile cross his lips just now? Hermione shifted in her seat and threw a glance at Malfoy who was now gazing at the desk surface. His tension was palpable. Hermione felt a haunting urge to hold and stroke his hand.

"Yes, Sir... The dead flobberworms go in the black box and the live ones go in the green," Hermione stuttered.

"Exactly. Always good at parroting, Miss Granger," Snape said derisively and swung towards the exit.

When the heavy door closed smoothly after the teacher, Hermione walked up to the tank with the flobberworms, trying not to pay much attention to Malfoy.

"The flobberworms can wait, Granger," she heard his menacingly quiet voice and turned around. His leaden grey eyes were fixed on her. "Get back here."

"But - but we need to sort them..."

"Damn it. You still don't get it, Granger?" He was clearly irked now. "Snape has figured out everything. He left us here to have a shag. Get here and take off your clothes."

"You - you mean he read our minds?" Hermione fumbled with the buttons of her robes and cast her contraception spells at the same time. The thought of having sex with Malfoy made her feel weak in her knees. She trudged back to her seat and discovered that he already had his belt unfastened and trousers unzipped. His robes were in a heap on the floor.

"Whatever it was." He looked on as Hermione struggled with her tights. "Can't you move faster, slowcoach?"

"Don't hurry me, Malfoy!" She shot an indignant look at him and finally peeled her tights off together with her knickers.

"Enough mucking me up, Granger!" Draco seized Hermione by her shoulders roughly and ripped her blouse together with her bra off. She tried to push him away, only to find herself writhing under him the next second on the uneven stone floor. She gasped for air, her whole self disintegrating from her maddening libido and hurt.

Draco took Hermione's bucking body mindlessly, not bothering to kiss or caress her in any way. Very soon he reached the summit and the waves of blissful release washed over him. After a fleeting pause he pulled away from her abruptly. He wished he could bonk the stubborn girl more but he was already spent and worn out. Draco got up and sank into his seat. He looked at Hermione who was still lying naked at his feet.

Hermione bit her lip, as she stared at him towering over her in his chair. The whole act was over too quickly, and she had not gotten her release yet. Malfoy brought her very close to the edge but he sated his need before she was able to satisfy hers. His manhandling hurt her pride like hell, and there was no way she could ask him to help her get her relief.

"Not enough for you, Granger?" he asked languidly and his eyes met her dark stare.

Hermione scrambled to her feet and leaned against the desk, her legs still weak. She detested Malfoy with all of her heart and at the same time her body needed him badly. It made Hermione resent both him and herself. Silently, she surveyed his crumpled grey shirt and bare long legs. Just above his eyebrows, perspiration glistened in the candlelight.

Draco's eyes were glued to Hermione's creamy body. When she got up from the floor, the sway of her hips fascinated him, and now he wanted to have her in his palms. He put his hand on Hermione's stomach. She made an attempt to move away from him. He got his other arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap harshly. She did not resist much.

The skin of his thighs felt cool to her heated flesh. When his fingers traced her collarbones and travelled all the way to her navel, an undulating desire flowed through her, and her body arched in his arms. She saw his eyes follow her movements.

Hermione's response mesmerized Draco. He remembered how she reacted to his fondling the other night, and began caressing her in the same fashion. Spellbound, Draco watched her sensuous body arch and sway, her feverish lips quiver and emit moans, and her heavy-lidded eyes meet his own and then wander away. He let his fingers roam all over her torso, rubbing and nipping. Her hands gripped his shoulders. Suddenly, she jerked in his arms and groaned loudly. The next minute she went quiet and slumped against his chest, her cheek nested in the crook of his neck.

"Merlin..." Draco uttered, hugging Hermione with both his arms. "What was that, Granger?"

She raised her head. Her blessed relief had finally come, and it felt so good. "I think I - I had what the books refer to as climaxing," she whispered breathlessly.

Draco gazed at her curiously. The scant few times he had sex before, Draco barely paid attention to the partner under him, but he couldn't see much of her either. It was the first time he witnessed a girl do it in his arms. Granger at the height of her ecstasy was a marvellous sight to behold.

They sat together perfectly still for a few minutes, then Hermione cautiously slid out of his embrace, and Draco did not hold her back.

"I'd better get dressed and start on the flobberworms," Hermione muttered as she reached for her underwear and tights. She was very aware that Malfoy's stare was steady upon her, while she moved around. "Snape might be back any minute now... Reparo." She mended the broken clasp of her bra.

Hermione watched Malfoy pull his trousers on. He stood up and fastened his belt. The way his limbs and body moved captivated her and stirred something deep inside her. It unnerved Hermione to feel like this because it was so contrary to her own logic and mind. She knew she had just revealed something very private to Malfoy, which she didn't fathom about herself before. Now she had made an intimate discovery and he had his share in it. Their first experience left rather jumbled and confused memories, but Hermione was certain she would remember this one forever. Now she felt heavy with fatigue, but she still had to follow through with her mission.

"Could I see your Dark Mark, Draco?" she asked tentatively. "Just curious..."

Draco gave her a slightly alarmed look. "You didn't tell anyone, did you? If you did, you're in a big trouble, Granger!"

"No, I didn't." Hermione shook her head vigorously to assure him. Malfoy pulled his left sleeve up. She took his forearm and peered at the sinister dark form etched into his pale skin.

"How does it work, Malfoy? It must hurt a lot when you received it."

"Hurt like hell. It doesn't pain now though. The Dark Lord uses it to muster us all. I can call him if I need to."

"That's so cruel, Draco. To inflict all that pain for nothing."

"The Dark Lord brands only his most trusted vassals with the Mark. It's a big distinction to be a Death Eater. Some wizards would give up anything for it!" Draco wondered what a Mudblood could understand about the intricacies of the pureblood elite.

"Can you exchange messages with You-Know-Who or other Death Eaters through the Mark? I mean passing on some information, more than just calling up."

"Not really. The Dark Lord can use it to inflict pain on those he is angry with. Never did that with me." Hermione could discern a certain smugness in Malfoy's voice.

"It looks like a type of a Protean Charm, right?" Hermione touched the Mark with her finger lightly, and Draco did not object.

"Did you use that Charm on those coins last year, Granger?" Draco had got some great ideas coming to his mind. "We could use it to set up our dates. Can you show how to make it?"

"Not with Galleons, but we definitely must have a way to talk in secret." Hermione agreed eagerly. She did not want to risk being spotted with Malfoy in the library anymore.

"I wouldn't want the whole Dumbledore's Army to find out about our shags either, if you use a wrong Galleon!" Draco smirked, dipped in his bag and produced a few blank parchments. "How about these?"

He jotted the spells down, while Hermione charmed two pieces of parchment.

"This way, if you use this incantation, your words would appear on my piece. This other one - you use it to erase the message that you've received, " she dictated as she waved her wand over the parchments. Then she took a quill and put a large splotch of ink on each piece. "So we won't mix them up with other parchments!"

Draco pocketed his enchanted parchment together with the notes. Mudblood or not, but she could be of some use... He came up to the tank with the flobberworms and poked his finger at them.

"See, we ought to have our dates more often than that." He turned towards Granger. "How about tomorrow night?"

Hermione shifted in her seat uneasily. "Maybe Sunday? I'm so exhausted, and I'd like to sleep in tomorrow, then catch up on my homework."

"I'm not going to mess up anymore like I did!" he snapped back. "You'd better get used to it, Granger."

"Did you know that Ron's on night patrol on Saturdays, Malfoy? All prefects were told to check the abandoned classrooms on the third floor. Do you want him to discover us? I went to the prefects' meeting before the detention!" Hermione searched for more arguments to persuade Malfoy. She couldn't remember which teacher was going to be on duty but did it matter? "McGonagall's said she might be patrolling the castle too."

Draco seemed to be convinced. "All right, who's on patrol on Sunday night?" He poked at the flobberworms again.

"Nott and Padma Patil."

"Sunday night then. Eight-thirty - just before the curfew." Better Nott than Weasel, Draco thought. Sunday could be even more convenient than Saturday. He could shag Granger and then sneak out to meet Aunt Bella. "Let's use the Room of Requirement."

"Okay," Hermione nodded and began picking live flobberworms out of the tank. "By the way, what have you been telling boys about me again?"

"Nothing." Draco flung a few dead flobberworms into the black box with his wand.

"Nott kept ogling me during the prefects' meeting!"

"Nott's just a moron. A complete and utter oaf, Granger." Draco made a mental note to tell Theo to stop fancying Gryffindor girls. No later than this weekend.

"Nott isn't exactly an oaf, Malfoy. He's actually very intelligent."

I must talk to Nott. No later than tonight. Granger is none of his damned business! Draco stabbed his wand at a bunch of innocent and perfectly alive flobberworms, and sent them to the black box

They heard the door opening, and in a second Snape was scrutinizing their meagre output in the green and black containers. He snorted disdainfully and settled at his desk. Draco and Hermione continued sorting the flobberworms in a relative silence behind Snape's back. To Hermione's slight annoyance, Malfoy made a point to brush his elbow against her arm whenever he flicked his wand to send a flobberworm to one of the boxes. She resolved to let it pass for the time being and did her best to sort the squirmy creatures as fast as possible.

Hermione was tremendously relieved to finally get out of Snape's office, even with Malfoy at her heels. But her joy was premature - Draco had his hands on her shoulders instantly. She turned her head and he attempted to put his mouth to hers. Hermione jerked out of his embrace only to be pulled back, his lips slamming onto hers. She tried to keep her mouth closed tightly but the clever Slytherin pinched her bum which made her gasp against her will. Malfoy kissed her possessively, blatantly stuffing his tongue into her mouth. She couldn't do anything until he got his fill and released her. Hermione ran down the dark empty corridor to the stairs up to the Great Hall without looking back.

The Gryffindor Common Room was crowded. The moment Hermione climbed out of the portrait hole, Katie Bell came up and handed her a folded note. She opened it immediately.

Dear Hermione,

I would like to see you this Sunday. Kindly come along to my office at 4pm.

Yours sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore.

P.S. Would you like Lemon Drops?
If not for her crushing fatigue, Hermione could jump all the way to the ceiling. Dumbledore was back in the castle, and Wasserstein dutifully passed her request on to him!

"Oi Hermione! How did your detention go?" She heard Ron calling out to her. He was with Harry at one of the tables.

"Dreadfully. Sorted flobberworms. Like Harry did last time except that he didn't have Malfoy next to him!" Hermione answered as she got closer to them. Sure enough, Harry was perusing his beloved Potions book again. But she had no energy for arguing over the dubious book. "I'm so exhausted - I'd better go to bed."

"Poor Hermione. Snape and Malfoy are no piece of cake, I reckon," Hermione heard Ron's sympathetic comment to Harry as she directed her steps to her dorm. Dear, sweet Ron - she wished she could hug him for his kind words but it was out of question at the moment. It made her want to cry and she hurried up the stairs to the dorms.

In the dorm Hermione found Parvati lounging on her bed and petting Crookshanks. The cat gave a loud purr, and was at Hermione's feet in a second.

"How did the detention go? Was Snape really mean?" Parvati questioned her.

"Snape was away at a staff meeting. Malfoy and I sorted flobberworms," Hermione pulled her robes off wearily. "Just the two of us. Snape told us he jinxed everything in the office except the flobberworms."

"Do you think Draco Malfoy is really good-looking?" Parvati let out a small giggle.

"Not when he's in detention and hopping mad like a blast-ended skrewt." Hermione flopped down on her bed. "Besides, he's a Slytherin and that's telling a whole lot."

"You know, I don't care about that Gryffindor-Slytherin vendetta thing anymore." Parvati apparently believed she was making a revelation of epic proportions. "But don't tell that to Lavender, okay?"

"Okay." Hermione scratched Crookshanks behind his ears.

"By the way, there's a really good anti-frizz charm for hair. Want to know?" Parvati made a dive into her trunk and emerged with a bright pink bottle of a hair lotion. "This thing does miracles. You must try it, Hermione - you wouldn't believe the difference!"

"I've got absolutely no time for it, Parvati. Think of it - the classes, homework and prefect duties!"

"Oh, Hermione, do you know what some Slytherin blokes have been saying about you lately?"

"I've got no interest in silly gossips." She turned down Parvati's hair treatments unequivocally. Hermione was certainly not going to doll herself up for a liar like Malfoy. Patil shrugged and left the dorm, much to Hermione's relief. She extracted her Mum's letter from her bookbag. It arrived in the morning but Hermione got to reading it only now. She scanned the news about Dad taking the car to an auto shop, Aunt Perpetua visiting the other day, cousin Matt winning an obscure scholarship to study the art of brewing ale, Fetch, the neighbour's dog, biting Molly, another neighbour's dog and so on. Then she came upon words that vexed her to no end.

... I recall your complaining a lot about a boy, named Draco Malfoy, a while ago. You didn't mention him in your more recent letter, so I hope the relations had improved between you both. I'd like to note that sometimes a boy can go totally out of his way and do all sorts of crazy (and even mean) things just to get the attention of a certain girl. The best action often can be being civil to him and encouraging him to be civil in return. If it doesn't help, then you'll be better off by ignoring him and not letting him push your buttons..."

Hermione didn't finish reading the letter. How could she explain it to her Mum now? Heorte Lustbaere, the Dark Mark, Death Eaters, the pureblood Malfoys - everything was beyond her parents' comprehension. Hermione yanked the bed curtains shut. She rolled onto her stomach, hid her head under the pillow and wept miserably until sleep took her.